God Qualifies the Called

Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 22

This morning we are going to conclude our series on King David which stretches all the way back to September when Pastor Daniel introduced it to us from 1 Samuel 15 which refers to the rejection by God of Saul and the anointing of King David.

Many of your bibles will include a heading for this chapter. In my Bible it is titled, ‘David’s Song of Deliverance’.

There were many occasions in David’s life that he was in need of deliverance - where he was in need of saving. It probably doesn’t take us long to relate in some small way as we all have stories of deliverance.

I recently watched the movie Thirteen Lives. The story of a youth soccer team that is deep inside a cave when monsoon rains come down and trap them inside. They are trapped in the cave for a number of days, everyone presuming that they’ve all been killed. A small team of scuba divers decide to risk navigating the caves while they’re flooding to see if the kids are still alive. Miraculously, they find them. They are not able to bring them out at that moment and the scuba divers return to the mouth of the cave. When they tell the people that the kids are alive there are tremendous shouts, but when you look at the scuba team all you see is hopelessness. They know that getting these kids out of the cave will be impossible. Over the course of the movie we see that every attempt to rescue the kids fails and eventually they have to resort to a plan that is incredibly risky and to many, seemed perhaps unethical.

They decided that they would send teams of divers to bring the kids all of the supplies they’d need to scuba dive out of the cave, but the rescue team knew that as soon as the kids were under the water, they would panic. And that’s why they made the decision to dose the kids with ketamine to make them unconscious. They would then tie the kids up with their scuba gear to make sure their arms and legs wouldn’t get caught in the tight spaces through the cave. Amazingly, every single one of the children survived the journey out of the cave.

Now the movie isn’t really about the kids, it’s about the rescuers. It’s not about those that were seeking deliverance, but about the deliverers. And that’s very much the story we’re going to see today. David is pouring out his heart in this chapter, but this passage isn’t about David, it’s about God, his deliverer.

Let’s pray

Looking at 2 Samuel 22, it doesn’t take long to recognize that this chapter is a song. We’ve made our way through Samuel as a narrative. The story of Hannah and her son Samuel. Samuel is then given to live with Eli, the priest, and when Eli dies, Samuel becomes the judge of Israel, Israel’s last judge.

It is Samuel who hears the cry of the people of Israel for a king like the nations around them. Samuel then, at God’s direction, anoints Saul to be the first king of Israel. As the story progresses, we see God’s eventual rejection of Saul and the anointing of King David.

The life of David has been described throughout this sermon series, and no doubt many of the stories are familiar: David as a young shepherd, David and Goliath, David’s years running from Saul, David’s capture of Jerusalem, Bathsheeba and Urriah, the treason of David’s son Absolom, and the trouble within David’s household which was described last week.

Here we see a transition, for at the end of this book the narrative ends and we are given a song.

This is not that unusual of Hebrew writing. Genesis ends in a song as does Deuteronomy. Samuel is bookended with songs, as the narrative begins with Hannah’s song and then ends with David’s. And if you turn to Psalm 18 you will find that the passage we’re examining today is found there as well in a nearly identical form.

As we read the first few verses it will also become apparent that this song does not fit the chronology of this book. The song was not written at the end of David’s life but when he was much younger. We are not exactly sure when David wrote it but it must have been after the death of Saul and near the beginning of his reign as king.

What is clear in this chapter is David’s commitment to give all the glory to God and recognize his role in providing deliverance for David.

Let’s look at the first few verses together.

Read 2 Samuel 22:1-3

Immediately we see that this song is directed to God, and God alone. While the song focuses on a particular time in David’s life everything in the song is directed toward God’s work in his life.

Repeat the ‘mys’.

How would you fill in the blank? ‘God is my _____________________.’ I know many of you take notes during the sermon, I’d love for you to fill in that blank. Let me know after the service. God is my ________________. Today in our examination of this passage we would say, ‘God is my deliverer.’ But you may be in a place right now where God doesn’t seem to be delivering you from difficulties you find yourself in. God is requiring patience from you at this moment. Therefore, what is God to you right now? David reflecting back on this time sees God as his fortress, rock, salvation.

Read v. 4-8

This might be my favourite part of this passage. David’s description of God when He hears David’s cries for help.

There is a beauty, a power, in poetic writing. I know many of you may be rolling your eyes. I’m guessing we don’t have many poetry fans. I remember in university I was invited to a poetry reading. I was intrigued. I'd never been to a poetry reading, and I figured that you know this was a time in my life to seek out some new experiences, and then he told me it was a group that was reading aloud Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost and it would take about 4 -5 hours. Nope, don’t think I can handle that much poetry.

But the poetic imagery that David provides us really does give us imagery to enhance our understanding of the emotion he is attempting to convey.

In this passage I really get the impression of the anger of a protective father who sees a child threatened.

Read v. 21-28

Now the irony here is quite obvious. It runs deep. Here we have a man of whom we’ve just read over the last few weeks, has committed adultery, ordered the killing of a man so that he can steal his wife and cover up his sin, has no control over the conduct of his children and here he is pointing out his righteousness.

We are directed in this passage to the dangers of pride. In fact when we looked at the life of King Saul, one of his great failures was his inability to see anyone but himself receive any kind of praise. This is one of the ways that pride manifested itself in his life.

Glancing at this passage we may presume that David himself is guilty of pride. Doesn’t he sound quite righteous? Read v. 21-22. Isn’t this pride?

Paul tells us in Romans 12:3 - “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

God wants us to have an accurate understanding of our relationship with him. We should not exaggerate the work of God in our lives nor should we downplay what God has and is doing.

Pride is when you choose your own assessment over and above God’s assessment of your life. Pride is where you attempt to shout God down with your own narrative.

We all have a narrative, a way that we look at ourselves. And in our narrative we’re the protagonist. We’re always the hero. We lean toward telling our story with ourselves at the centre. David puts God at the centre and then describes the role God is playing in David’s life at that particular time.

Have confidence not in yourself but in the work Christ is doing in you. Put your confidence in him.

The danger lies in our tendency to boast in our good works so as to belittle or disparage others. I think a common assessment from those outside of the church toward those inside the church. Don’t hesitate to describe the good things God is doing and seeking to do through you so that you can lift up God, but let’s ensure that we don’t give the impression that we can do anything on our own. We aren’t the hero in the story.

This is what David is doing. He’s praising God for the work he’s doing in his life. He’s rejoicing while recognizing God’s place in the story.

This is what many of us get wrong. The protagonist in the book of Samuel is NOT David. The protagonist is NOT Samuel. The protagonist is God. That’s what the narrative is about.

David understood this. Let’s look at verses 32-44a.

It is obvious that David understands that it’s not about him. He boasts, but he boasts in what God does through him. He sees himself as God sees him.

Verses 47-51

As David closes this song we see that he goes back to the metaphor he used at the beginning: that God is his rock. He praises God again for his deliverance but here we see that David does not want to just praise him in his home, or the nation but throughout all nations. He wants all nations to know the greatness of the God of Israel.

*Pause*

At the beginning of this sermon series it was introduced to us that we would be focussing on the declaration that David was ‘a man after God’s own heart.’

Yet as we read this song, it seems strange that it would be placed here. The song was written before David committed the transgressions for which he is best remembered. So, why does the writer of Samuel so obviously create this irony.

The men who compiled the book of Samuel knew full well David’s sin. God, who ultimately ordained how this book was constructed, knew every transgression David ever had. So, why construct the book in this way?

I think often we misunderstand what God meant when he called David a man after God’s own heart:

The first time this phrase is used, is in 1 Samuel 13:14.

Read1 Samuel 13:14. “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

This passage describes God removing the kingdom and his favor from King Saul and giving it to another. This is before David is even anointed as the next king.

This term is used again in Acts 13:22.

“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

It does not say that David was a man after God’s own heart because of what David did. It says that he was a man who will do my will. Not has done my will, but will do my will.

David was a man after God’s own heart because God chose him. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Saul, a man who looked the part of the king, was man’s choice. God turned the tables. Look at who I will choose. I will choose from amongst the least of these.

The story of David is the story of Israel. Why did God choose Israel?

Deuteronomy 7:7-10

“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

God chose Israel because he made a decision to use them as his people. He chose the least of all people to bring forward his message.

God didn’t choose David because he was more righteous than those around him. It was not due to David’s merit. David was not chosen because the good he did far outweigh the bad.

This is exactly what Paul, in the New Testament, is warning us against. This is a different Gospel. It’s a trap. We can’t earn our way into right standing with God. The devil uses this idea to either shame us with our sin so we believe us unworthy of the saving grace of Christ or he makes us believe that we can earn our way to God. He uses it to show us that we are either not worthy of deliverance or that we are capable of delivering ourselves and both are a lie.

This is not the Gospel. Deliverance is salvation. And the Gospel teaches that salvation is a free gift given to each one of us. This gift is given to us only by the God of the Bible. And by his saving power to everyone who believes will be given deliverance from sin and rest in the power of Jesus Christ.

God didn’t choose David because he was more righteous.

The story of David is the story of Israel. It’s the story of Noah, Gideon, Esther, Ruth, Rehab, .

God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

And what amazing hope that should give to each one of us. Look at the amazing things God accomplished through a simple shepherd. Let’s not forget all that David did. We spent weeks looking at David’s life and there is much to admire. Through God’s work in David he became a man that developed a unique relationship with God, like Moses before him.

Charles Spurgeon said of David, “Before God, the man after God’s own heart was a humble sinner, but before his slanderers he could, with unblushing face, speak of the ‘cleanness of his hands’ and the righteousness of his life.”

David was but a humble sinner like you and me but don’t discount the fact that there is much there to admire. It only takes a few minutes reading through David’s Psalms that we understand the relationship he had with God.

But let’s not fall into the trap of believing that David was called a man after God’s own heart because he lived a perfect life. There is certainly danger in this.

I think that often we fall into looking at David this way because we misunderstand that the book that we’ve been studying isn’t about David, it’s ultimately about God and his story.

This song was placed at the end of David’s narrative to point us to the deliverer. Not only David’s but our own. God’s redemptive plan of salvation was established at the very beginning. David’s song points to this plan. It’s for this reason that the apostle Paul in Romans refers specifically to this passage:

Romans 15:8-9

“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[a] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing the praises of your name.”

Paul uses this passage from 2 Samuel to point out that it was God’s plan from the very beginning that all men, Jew and Gentile alike would be offered God’s grace and deliverance from sin and condemnation.

This story isn’t about David. It isn’t about the one who was delivered, it’s about the deliverer. It’s a story of how God chose David, from amongst the least of his people to become Israel’s greatest king. How David, despite his failures developed a relationship with God that was unique and something that we should aspire to. And David was only able to develop a relationship like this because he understood the story wasn’t about him.

Psalm 24:1-10

Everything in our culture tells us that the story we’re living is about us. It’s not. It’s about our need for deliverance. It’s about our desperate condition and how God in his mercy provides us saving grace. The story’s about him and the sooner we act like our story is about him, the sooner we’ll find God’s purpose for us in that story.

This morning through communion, we have the opportunity to be reminded that we have been delivered from the power of sin and death through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection. Through the bread and the juice we will again reflect on our need for salvation and the precious gift of grace that has been provided to each one of us.