Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

“Hurry up and get here, because we’re going to die.”

That’s the text message that Kevin Ott--a 53-year old boat repairman near Fort Myers, Florida--recieved from his kids’ grandmother Mary Ann as the floodwaters from Hurricane Ian began to rise, according to a story published by the Washington Post on October 4th.

Hurricane Ian was a Category 4 storm that tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to hit the United States, killed more than 140 people, and caused damage likely in excess of $67 billion.

Mary Ann had decided that she would weather the storm, so she made sure she had a generator and enough food and water to get her through.

Initially, things were looking alright.

But before long, the power had gone out, the cell service wasn’t working very well, and the water began to rise.

She called a couple times and asked Kevin to come get her, even though earlier she had said she would be fine.

After the call dropped for the last time, Kevin borrowed a pontoon boat from a friend and hitched it to his truck.

Then, he and his kids drove toward Mary Ann’s place to get as close as they could.

When they were about a mile and a half out, they had to go the rest of the way by boat.

As they were dodging bent trees and fallen power lines and big boats floating by, Kevin and the kids came on a man in a boat who had tried to rescue his neighbors when his boat gave out and got stuck in a fallen tree.

Kevin and the kids stopped to help him, and together they helped the other neighbors, one of whom was an old man “just about on his last breath.”

As they kept going, they were able to rescue several others, including a man and woman with their young toddler, who was wearing a life jacket.

Finally, as Kevin and the newly rescued neighbors reached Mary Ann’s house and started to scope out how they could get in, she shot off one final text to Kevin: “We’re going to die in here.”

If Kevin didn’t arrive, she wouldn’t be able to get out.

She was in need of rescue.

FCF: Mary Ann isn’t the only one.

Though we might face different circumstances than she was facing, we’re all in need of rescue.

Background:

This morning we are continuing our series on the Life of David.

Last week, we looked at 1 Samuel 19:1-17, which tells the story about King Saul trying another plan to have David killed.

Instead of trying to have the Philistines kill David on the battlefield, Saul tries to convince some of his servants and even his own son Jonathan to murder David.

After Jonathan stands up to Saul, Saul initially promises to give up his plot to kill David.

Jonathan is relieved to hear that Saul is sorry for trying to kill David and he quickly tells David that the coast is clear and that Saul is a changed man.

But before long, David is playing his instrument for King Saul and the King grabs a spear again and tries to pin David to the wall, exactly what he had done before.

David dodges the spear, and then runs for his life.

His first stop is home, but as soon as David gets home and tells his wife, Michal, she tells David that he needs to run and hide.

Otherwise, she says, he’s going to die.

So, she helps David escape through the window and then sets up a dummy in his bed to try and buy David some time.

Before too long, some of Saul’s soldiers arrive outside David’s house and set up a perimeter.

As soon as David tries to leave the house, they’ll take him out.

David is running for his life and trying desperately not to get caught by Saul’s soldiers.

He just needs to find a place to go and a place to hide.

David was is need of rescue.

At some point, David writes a song about this experience, the song that we call Psalm 59.

We don’t know if David wrote a quick version while he was still at home, before he escaped out the window.

Or maybe he wrote this song while he was in a cave a little later on in his journey.

Another possibility is that David wrote a song about this experience many years later, when he was the reigning King of Israel.

We don’t know for certain.

But chronologically and thematically, Psalm 59 fits here in the story.

Here in this Psalm, through the lens of the life of David, I believe we can see that Because we’re all in need of rescue, we need to trust in God for rescue.

Listen to Psalm 59.

Psalm 59 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy.

A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;

2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me.

For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Awake, come to meet me, and see!

5 You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.

Selah

6 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths with swords in their lips— for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

8 But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision.

9 O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.

10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11 Kill them not, lest my people forget; make them totter by your power and bring them down, O Lord, our shield!

12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

13 consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth.

Selah

14 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

15 They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill.

16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

Big Idea: Because we’re all in need of rescue, we need to trust in God for rescue.

Here in Psalm 59, I want us to see that David demonstrates trust in God for rescue in three main ways:

FIRST, (1) By PRAYING TO God (vv.

1-5)

SECOND, (2) By FOCUSING ON God (vv.

6-13)

THIRD, (3) By WORSHIPING God (vv.

14-17)

___________

Explanation (1) -

FIRST, (1) By PRAYING TO God (vv.

1-5)

David begins the Psalm as a prayer.

He when he finds himself in need of rescue, he immediately calls out to God.

He prays.

And there are three elements of his prayer that are instructive for us in our lives.

Look at the first one.

We need to trust in God for rescue by praying to God while:

(A) Remembering external enemies (vv.

1-3a)

Psalm 59:1–3 (ESV)

1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;

2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me.

Explanation (1A)

When we find ourselves facing an external enemy that is strong and scary and threatening, God invites us to bring our requests to Him.

In David’s case, the enemies he was facing were trying to kill him.

He calls them “bloodthirsty” or violent men in verse 3.

He says that they “lie in wait for my life,” in verse 3 lurking and waiting for just the right moment to strike.

Make no mistake, enemy #1 in David’s life and the main foe that we should be thinking of in this Psalm is King Saul himself!

King Saul is the one seeking David’s life.

And so in David’s prayer, he doesn’t try to cover up the reality of His situation from God.

Instead he prays while remembering external enemies.

He prays “deliver me” in verses 1 and 2 because he knew that the external enemies in his life were too strong and powerful for him to overcome.

So just like in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus teaches his followers, David prays for God to “deliver him from evil.”