Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. - Psalm 54:4

Today's Scripture Reading (February 8, 2106): Psalm 54

Neither will admit it, but there has to be a little disappointment in both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders camps after the virtual tie in Iowa. Clinton can, and has, claimed victory for Iowa, but the problem is that the margin was so tight. Sanders on the other hand can claim victory because in a few short months, and with no corporate money, he went from being an afterthought in the Democratic Nomination process to tying one of the most powerful politicians in the country in the first leg of the nomination process. Both groups are spinning what the virtual tie means, but when it comes right down to it – it is still a tie. A decisive win by either candidate may have been an indication of a shorter nomination season, but a tie likely means that we are in for a long fight through the next few months. In elections, the early wins matter – often influencing in a very real way what happens next. In Iowa we already have seen evidence of this – both the Democratic and Republican fields became smaller after the first vote. Because where you place the numbers matters – and Iowa is an important field of testing.

In counting, it matters in what order you place your numbers. A friend of mine was trying to teach his son to count and to write down his numbers, and from 1 to 9 the kid really seemed to understand what was going on. But at 10 a problem revealed itself. His son struggled with the difference between 10 and 01. I mean, both numbers contain both a one and a zero, so why aren't they the same. And, of course, the problem is that order matters in counting, where you place the one is important in telling the whole story.

David has support in Israel. His support is found in the six hundred men that are standing with him. They are in the thirty-three mighty men who have gathered around him as David's personal body guards. His support was found in every citizen of Israel who questioned Saul's actions and were growing tired of Saul's paganism. And every single one of those people were important to David. But essentially they were all zeros.

What David needed was a one to place at the beginning of his list of numbers, because a one in front of a list of zeros totally changes the story. And David clearly understood who the number one was – it had to be God. Without God the supporters of David were clearly outmatched by their opponents. With God they became an unstoppable force – as long as they kept God in first slot. His presence changes everything.

And so David writes “Surely God is my help.” He is not discounting all of the other help that he finds around him. He just simply knows that it matters where you place the one.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 24