The Lord is My Rock - Psalm 18:1–6

Introduction

Opening Illustration: One of the great surprises many encounter when they begin reading the Bible is the utter honesty of the characters they meet throughout. Unlike many religious texts that paint their saints of old as nearly flawless individuals, the Bible is very real and very raw when it comes to the weaknesses, the flaws, and the tremendous sufferings that the great heroes of the faith endured. The issues the Bible confronts run the entire gamut of a Christian’s life. From struggles with drunkenness to proneness to anger. From doubting our faith to contorting our faith to something it was never supposed to be. From marriage struggles to infertility. From natural disasters to war. From sickness to loneliness. And everything in between. The Bible does not hide the hardships of living in a fallen world, but rather exposes it, and offers a hope in the midst of it.

Personal: As we begin today I would like to suggest a few personal questions. Where do you turn in your hardest moments? How do you deal with the challenges you face in this life? Where do you seek strenght to endure?

Context: Today we look a Psalm penned by King David in the Old Testament, Psalm 18. We are told in the heading of Psalm that it was written by King David. In fact, the entire Psalm is found in nearly identical language in another chapter in the Bible at the end of 2 Samuel, a book that largely tells the story of King David’s life. In that book, these are some of the very last words David speaks before dying as an older man. In a sense, they are therefore the words of an old man, looking back over his life and thanking God for all the ways God has been with him. Let us read verses 1-6.

Main Idea: The main theme of verses 1-6, the takeaway for today, is that God alone is the rock.

Psalm 18:1–6 “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”

Learning

[Examining the Sense of the Text]

Let’s begin by understanding this text on its own terms.

Opening Verse: The psalm begins with that beautiful phrase, “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” These are intimate words filled with emotion and inner experience with God. These are not compulary religious prayers of a man going through the motions of faith. He’s penning his inner thoughts, how he really feels. “I love you, O Lord.” And the words “my strength” can also have the meaning “the source of my strength.” Very interesting words being said by a man whose strength was drying up as he approached his final breath. It is as if David is glimpsing the journey that lie ahead of him, through death, and saying “You alone will carry me even through this as you have carried me so often before.”

Verse 2: And in verse 2, David lists out seven different images to tell a story of God and his provision: strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation, stronghold. We get the sense of these words don’t we. We can understand from storybooks what a fortress was used for, and what a shield was used for. But admittedly, some of these terms are a bit distant from our personal experience. But for David they were incredibly personal. David had often fled to physical refuges. He had often held physical shields. In a sense David painting a picture of the spiritual reality of his life undergirding the physical reality. “Yes God in that moment of desparation I hid in that fortress. But as I look back now, it was you that was hiding me all along. You were the true fortress that protected me.”

Verses 3-6: Throughout these verses David speaks of God as the one who has delivered him time and time again. In verse 2 he uses language of God his refuge and shield. In verse 3 God “saves him from his enemies.” In verses 4-5 he speaks of being in circumstances where death seemed the only way forward, and yet God delivered him. You can almost picture him playing the reel of his life over in his head and recounting the stories.

Battles: God how you delivered me when my enemies were pursuing me from every corner and I was certain me and my men would die in battle. “I love you, O Lord, my strength. You are my rock and my fortress.”

Family: God how you delivered when my family was in disarray, and my own son betrayed me, and nearly ruined all that I had worked for. “I love you, O Lord, my strength. You are my rock and my fortress.”

Sin: God how you delievered me from myself. Too many times to count I have fallen into sinful behavior. From lust, to pride, to envy and murder. I’ve done it all Lord. “I love you, O Lord, my strength. You are my rock and my fortress.”

Wrap Up…

Reproof

[Corrections for False Practice]

It is one thing to read of David’s words in this Psalm and understand what he meant by them. But I want to ask us to be very honest with ourselves and evaluate whether we can rightly them say these words ourselves. If we are a Christian, then we have been saved by Christ, and equipped with the Holy Spirit to walk with us and comfort us through every hardship, every trial. And yet so often, many Christians, in their moments of difficulty, truly attempt to draw strength and security from everywhere but God.

Consider the Words: Twice in thie passage, David says that God is his “rock.” Let us use this term “rock” and what David meant by it, to eavluate ourselves and to perhaps draw out some false practices in our lives.

#1 Protection From Shade: First, on a sunny hot day in Israel, David would have often refreshed himself in the shade of the great rocks that broke up the flat countryside. The rock would have been a source of comfort from the suffering heat. He would rested from his difficult work, took a breath, and drawn strength to continue on his journey. Perhaps we might ask this question of ourselves. Throughout the week, as the burdens of life bear down on us, and the demands of our peers are ever before us, do we find ourselves taking rest and respite, in the shade of the Almighty? What might this look like for you?

I think of those who have demanding office environments, which very regularly draw you to a place of frustration, of angst, of concern. What do you do in those moments? How do you blow off steam, if I can put it that way? Where do you find real comfort? Is it by just plowing through your work? Do you numb yourself by doom scrolling on social media? Or from time to time to draw away, find a quiet space, open the Scripture, and let God’s Word refresh your soul.

I think of those who are stay at home moms, talk about a demanding office environment! When the children are crying, and they’ve torn the house apart, and all you want is a moment of peace to yourself. Where do you find comfort?

God is our rock who gives us shade through the day.

#2 Refuge From Danger: Second, rocks were places to hide from danger. When David fled his enemies he would hide in rocks along the countryside. Though you may not be escape a physical enemy the way David had to, we do face an enemy who does want to destroy us. The Devil and all his armies are set against you, to distract you and to tempt you into all kinds of sin and error.

Christian, where did you turn, when the Devil throws his temptations at you? Did you submit to his schemes, or did you take refuge in God by drawing on his strength in prayer? Did you turn to him, who is your deliverer and say, “I need you now.”

When the enemy surrounds you, o man of God, and tempts you to bring the stress of work home with you and be quick tempered and angry with your spouse and short fused with your children, rather than displaying the love and tenderness of the great bridegroom Jesus Christ himself, where did you turn? Did you run to Christ, and take refuge in his shelter? O how quickly a short prayer on the ride home can draw from the immeasurable storehouses of strength to protect you from such temptation.

When the Devil tempts you, o woman of God, to worry with anxiety about concerns of tomorrow. When you are tempted to let your heart ponder all the possibilities of all that could go wrong, rather than letting todays worries be enough for today, as Christ commanded us, where did you run? The temptation to plow ahead in our worry is ever before us. But God is our rock, our refuge from danger. We must turn to him and find protection from such unhealthy worry.

God is our rock who is our refuge from danger.

#3 Foundation For Feet: Third, a rock was stable, it was steady. It was a place to stand and know that the ground would not sink beneath your feet.

Psalm 40:2 “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.”

Who among us can deny that we are living in incredibly uncertain times. Politically, who can deny that the future of our country, of our state, and of our city, feels gloomy? Culturally. there is so much ideology floating through the airwaves, that you can be on the right side of culture today, and culture’s biggest enemy tomorrow. Personal Life. Then of course each of personal lives takes turns and changes that none of us can see coming. When you see the sand shifting around you, where do you find anchorage and steadfastness? We must learn to daily draw our substance from the only rock that is unmoving, and capable of providing steadiness through every turn of our lives.

Improving

[Warnings & Exhortations]

You see, one of the great mistakes we make in this life, is that we place the burden of being our rock, on something or someone who is unable to provide for us in that way. There is only one rock, that is Jesus Christ. He alone can sustain your life. He alone will not let you down. But I want to warn you, if you make anything else your rock, it will fail you. The moment that it will fail you, is when you need it most. The moment it will fail is when you hit that time of trial and hardship, when you actually need a rock to stand on.

Illustration - Mack Truck: It’s a bit like a bridge. If you build a bridge correctly, it can take a heavy load. All kinds of weight can be driven over that bridge and it will sustain and continue function the way it was made to. But if that bridge is built with cheap material, what will happen is cracks will begin to appear in the hidden corners. Perhaps invisible to the eye, but there nonetheless. And the bridge may function for a time even with the cracks. But then one day when a fully loaded 18 wheeler drives over it, with 40 tons of cargo, the cracks are suddenly revealed, and the false material fails. It was never meant to handle that much weight. This is what we do when make anything other than Jesus Christ our rock. I see this mistake all the time.

Spouse: I see this in marriages. The engaged couple goes into marriage thinking that the other person can be their rock. And for a few years, things go very well. But then one day the spouse realizes that the person they married is just as flawed, just as sinful, and has just as many bad habits as they did. And when that marriage hits a difficult moment, when the trial comes in like a 40 ton mack truck, suddenly the cracks are revealed, and the marriage hits trouble. Our spouse cannot be our rock.

Ability: Others do this with their own strength. Especially those who are young and living in Chicago, a city of accomplishment, a city of hard work, big shoulders. Your rock is yourself. You can accomplish. You can get the get the promotion. You can achieve much. But don’t you see just how cracked a foundation you are laying if you are your own rock? What will you do when you are weak? What will you do if you get sick, or hurt? What will you do when get old, and can no longer work? When that 40 ton mack truck drives over your life, it will reveal the faulty foundation. We are so frail, like dust in the wind, here today and gone tomorrow. Only Christ can be that rock that can sustain your life through every trial.

I think this illustration should go up at the top of this section…

Christ’s Teaching: Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:24-27 that,

Matthew 7:24–27 ““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.””

Do not wait until your life has become ruins to build your life upon Christ. He alone is the rock that can survive the storm. He alone is the hope that can survive the challenges of this fallen world that we inhabit.

Instruction That Leads to Goodness & Piety

What does it look like to take steps in deepening our life and our soul’s convictions on Christ, our rock? Well I believe we can take good instruction from David himself in verse 6. He writes,

Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”

I would like to suggest from this text three very practical instructions for improving our piety and godliness in this life.

A Recognition of the Hardship: First, notice the simplicty of this text. David does not deny the distress he had endured. In fact just looking backwards in verses 4-6 we see that David labels his “distress” with all sorts bold language. He calls his experiencs “the cords of death”, the “torrents of destruction”, the “cords of Sheol”, and the “snares of death.” Here, David is using poetry to put into human language the hardships he endured over the course of his life. He acknowledges it.

Three Common Traps: Sometimes the very first step in growing in godliness, and learning what it means that God is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer, is learning how to put words to the hardships we’re facing. As humans living with a sinful condition, we have developed all kinds of methods of avoiding pain in this life. John Mark Comer in his wonderful series ‘Practicing the Way’ has an excellent discussion on this. He begins by listing out three ways people often deal with hardships.

Deny: Some deny their pain. They bury it and pretend like it doesn’t exit, like they can move forward without confronting it. This indeed works for a moment. But what everyone finds out eventually, is that simply pretending like real difficulties and real wounds do not exist in our soul, is a recipe for disaster. You can no more deny the wounds of a soul, than you can deny a diagnosis of cancer. Eventually the symptoms will reveal themselves, and you’ll be forced to deal with it one way or the other.

Detach: Some detach themselves from their pain from emotional pain. They don’t deny its existence, they just emotionally attempt to separate themselves from it so as not to deal with it. Detaching yourself from legitimate pain is unbelievably dangerous because your training your body not to feel what all the God-given sensors in your body are designed to feel. Pain is a sensor that says something is not going right. And so if you detach yourself from that sensor, you are avoiding the very thing God is possibly using to get your attention.

Drug: The third D, many will drug themselves. In our modern day of hyper-medication, and hyper media-stimulation, numbing ourselves to the pain is not overly difficult. Whether we take a pharmaceutical drug to trick our minds into believing the pain is not there, or we inundate our minds with television shows and social media stimulus, we drug ourselves tos imply push the pain away.

All thre of these common approaches is common, unfortunately even among Christians. But Christian we cannot settle for any of these. What David reveals to us in Psalm 18, is that we are not supposed to go through life dismissing our pain, our worries, our fears, our trials pushing it to the side. It begins with acknowledging it. Speaking it.

A Calling out To God: But secondly, look at the text, we don’t just speak into the air, as if we were atheists. We call out to God in our distress! In our pain we are to direct our angst, our worries, our fears, our hurts, to God. So many Christians, assume the title Christian, but make little good on some of the profound promises of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is most revealed in our lack of an emotionally prayer life. No, Christian, train yourself not just to feel what you are feeling, but to lay them down at Christ’s feet. To speak them to him in prayer. O how sweet it is that first time a man or a woman really starts to pray, not just with their mouth, but with their heart.

A Faith that God Hears: And thirdly, what we discover, according to verse 6, and according to the hope of our faith in Jesus Christ, is that we have a God who hears. This was demonstrated incredibly by Jesus. John Mark Comer, again when speaking about the fact that God hears, draws our attention to Jesus in the Garden of Gesthemane. In Matthew 26, we discover Jesus’ most painful moment of his life. It was the night before his crucifixion. His betrayal by Judas was about to take place. He knew he was soon to face an illigitimate trial, rejection, humiliation, torture and death. As fully human, his soul was aching at the thought of what was coming upon him. What does Jesus do? Does he deny the reality of it all and just blindly go forward pretending it’s not coming his way? Does he detach from it and just not deal with the emotional weight of it all? Does he drug himself, and turn to his best friends, the Apostles, and say “Let’s just go out guys have a good night.” No.

Matthew 26:36–39 “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””

Notice very carefully in this text, “Jesus began to be sorrowful.” David teaches us much in Psalm 18, but Christ teaches it with even greater clarity. In his humanity, Jesus called out to God. Christ’s feelings and worries and anxieties did not dominate his life, but he submitted them to the will God through prayer. This is the model. This is what you need to learn from Psalm 18. This is what it means to say honestly with the Psalmist.

Psalm 18:1–2 “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Church, we must learn to bring the hardships we face in this life directly to God and permit him, who is our strength, him who is our rock, him who is our shield to receive them, for he is the only rock capable of doing so.

Conclusion

[Comfort & Consolation]

O and Christian, see the great comfort and consolation of our Savior Jesus Christ that he offers us when we learn to do this. For though he knew no sin, and though he alone lived the perfect righteous life, obedient to all of God’s commands, never straying for a moment from the will of God. He suffered under the weight of death for you. In and through the death of Christ, your sins that separated you from God, that cut you off from his promises and goodnes and his friendship and his security and his stability, have all been put away. For Jesus Christ has paid the penalty in full. By faith in Jesus Christ, you are accepted as a Son and a Daughter to God the Father.

Illustration: Running Father: Though our sins be many, like that Prodigal Son who squandered father’s inheritance, treating his family name like a piece of dirt. When in repentance we turn from our sin and follow Jesus, our heavenly Father races over the hill to pick us up in his arms and comfort us with the love of God. This is the transformation Christ wants to form in you, dependence on God, trust in God, experiencing the comfort of God in the midst of our sorrow, the same way Christ experienced the comfort of God in the midst of His sorrow.

This is the Love of God: The New Testament teaches us that as Christians, God is able to take that which the rest of the world has no proper category for, pain, hardship, and suffering, and place that pain and that hardship into the grand storyline of Scripture, into the reality of Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, and he is able to infuse that suffering with meaning. So that you too can say with David.

Psalm 18:1–2 “I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Moment of Reflection & Prayer: I’d like to invite you to stand. As the worship team leads us in our response, I want to give you a moment to put this Psalm into practice.

Backwards: This morning as I prayed this Psalm, the Lord took me on a journey of all the ways he has been my rock and my shield. I was thinking about all my foolishness in my teenage years, through the various challenges I faced in my twenties, through hardships I’ve navigated in my family, and even within this Church. And like David I can confidently look back at each of these seasons and see how the Lord delivered me. Take a moment in reflection, navigate the seasons of your life with God, at each juncture, see how God has been your rock. [Give a moment]

Present: Now, see the hardships in front of you. See what you are facing now, today, that weighs heavily on your soul. That same God, who was your strength then, will be your strength now. He is your rock. Your fortress. Your deliverer. Your God in whom you take refuge. Your shield. Your horn of salvation. Your stronghold.