I Will Call Upon The Lord
Notes
Transcript
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
Life is fascinating.
You could liken it to a road or path and along that road or path you encounter many things
Some things you encounter are expected
Many things are unexpected
Its the unexpected things that often bring the most worry and fear
But its the constant and consistent things that bring the most stability, security, and hope that propel us forward.
The greatest constant that we can depend on and expect, and know, and expect is that Jesus is always there.
Bertha Mae Lillenas the great gospel song writer put it this way:
Sometimes our skies are cloudy and dreary,
Sometimes our hearts and burdened with care;
But we may know, whate’er may befall us,
Jesus is always there.
Often this is best seen and perceived in hindsight, or when we look back:
John W. Peterson put it to lyric this way:
If God should let me there [in heaven] review
The winding paths of earth I knew,
It would be proven clear and true
Jesus led me all the way.
This seems to be the approach of the Psalmist in the Psalm before us today.
One has titled it, “A WARRIOR KING LOOKS BACK” (Derek Kidner TOTC)
In fifty verses - the fourth longest Psalm after 119, 78, and 89 - this magnificent royal Psalm - is a psalm of thanksgiving that looks back at how the Lord delivered David from his enemies.
The superscription (the text at the beginning of the Psalm) is even more specific - it says:
King James Version Psalm 18
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, athe servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of bthis song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,
Now
Like a blacksmith forging a mighty chain, David links together nine powerful images that display the Lord’s power and protection in his life.
Note that David is not ashamed of the repetition of the personal pronoun “my” before each one.
Each title—
The Lord is ‘my strength,’
'my rock,' (2x’s)
'my fortress,'
‘my deliverer,’
‘my God’
‘my refuge’
‘my shield'
‘the horn of my salvation’
and ‘my stronghold’
Each title—is another iron link, hammered and refined in the fires of experience.
Together, they form an unbreakable chain of security, binding him to the unwavering faithfulness of God."
The accumulative power of these word pictures caused John Calvin to write:
“David … furnishes the faithful with a complete suit of armour, that they may feel that they are in no danger of being wounded” (Smith & Akin, CCE)
Psalm 18 is the second edition of the psalm - we first meet it in scripture in 2 Sam. 22.
As Matthew Henry notes - “here [in Psalm 18] we have it revived, altered a little and fitted for the service of the church”
David sang this song after God delivered him from his enemies and established him as the king of Israel.
Keep in mind, however, that David often sang to God in the midst of his trials too.
“It is easier to sing after the victory; it takes faith to sing during the battle”
But as David takes this backward look he found mile markers that proved:
God’s faithfulness (Psalm 18:1-3) this is the section I want to look at in a little bit
God’s righteousness (Psalm 18:4-27) Those had been stormy years for David, yet God rescued him and upheld him.
God’s gentleness (Psalm 18:28-36) God did many things to make David a great soldier, but his gentleness made David what he was (Verse 35 “thy gentleness hath made me great” God was doing more in David’s life than winning wars; He was building character.
God’s exaltedness (Psalm 18:37-50) David didn’t dare take the credit for his victories; he gave all the glory to the LORD (Wiersbe WWBC)
While the entire Psalm is worth reading for times sake I want us to take a special look at the third verse -
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
This word “call” depending on the context and grammar - has meanings while all similar in nature vary in degree and emphasis - but means in its more than 730 appearances things like:
to declare, summon, invite, read, be called, be invoked, be named.
It is used, for example, of summoning someone, as when God “called unto Adam” (Gen. 3:9), when God “called unto [Moses] out of the midst of the bush” (Exod. 3:4), and for Adam naming the animals (Gen. 2:20) and Eve (3:20). It is also used of reading aloud from a book or scroll (Exod. 24:7; Neh. 13:1; Jer. 36:6, 8). It is even used for the act of preaching (Neh. 6:7; Jonah 3:2, March 16). Another significant use of qārā’ is in men calling upon God, a use we see often and that graphically illustrates prayer. After the fall, some men realized the all-encompassing consequences of sin and began to call on God’s name (Gen. 4:26; 12:8; 13:4). We are especially struck by verses such as Psalm 3:4: “I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.” Also, Psalm 18:6: “In my distress I called [qārā’] upon the LORD, and cried [qārā’] unto my God.”
Watson, J. D. “Doc”. A Hebrew Word for the Day: Key Words from the Old Testament (Kindle Locations 2140-2162). AMG Publishers. Kindle Edition.
And here at the outset of this fifty verse Psalm David, puts out the formula he has used for help and deliverance time and time again
Psalm 18:3 “3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
As you read through this Psalm and through David’s life you find that:
David called upon the Lord: IN CRISIS
David called upon the Lord: IN CRISIS
President J.F. Kennedy once remarked that ‘when written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.’ Every crisis is, at the same time, an opportunity. Crises are often caused by unexpected difficulties.
Your crisis your trouble, your pain, your disturbance is made of these two characters
Danger - danger of overcoming you, of breaking your hold on faith in God, danger of shaking your core and integrity
But it is also made of a tremendous opportunity
An opportunity to see the bigness and greatness of God
To see the salvation and deliverance of God on display
To see God come through like he has never come through in your life before
To see the prison shake and the prisoners be saved.
I love verse 6 as well look at that:
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Oh my, if there is anything I could ever teach you it is this - Yes we should consistently be calling upon God - but you can and should call upon him in crisis. He hears and answers prayer.
In his sermon “Big God, Little God” John Ortberg said:
Many years ago I was walking in Newport Beach, a beach in Southern California, with two friends. Two of us were on staff together at a church, and one was an elder at the same church. We walked past a bar where a fight had been going on inside. The fight had spilled out into the street, just like in an old western. Several guys were beating up on another guy, and he was bleeding from the forehead. We knew we had to do something, so we went over to break up the fight. … I don't think we were very intimidating. [All we did was walk over and say,] "Hey, you guys, cut that out!" It didn't do much good.
Then all of a sudden they looked at us with fear in their eyes. The guys who had been beating up on the one guy stopped and started to slink away. I didn't know why until we turned and looked behind us. Out of the bar had come the biggest man I think I've ever seen. He was something like six feet, seven inches, maybe 300 pounds, maybe 2 percent body fat. Just huge. We called him "Bubba" (not to his face, but afterwards, when we talked about him).
Bubba didn't say a word. He just stood there and flexed. You could tell he was hoping they would try and have a go at him. All of a sudden my attitude was transformed, and I said to those guys, "You better not let us catch you coming around here again!" I was a different person because I had great, big Bubba. I was ready to confront with resolve and firmness. I was released from anxiety and fear. I was filled with boldness and confidence. I was ready to help somebody that needed helping. I was ready to serve where serving was required. Why? Because I had a great, big Bubba. I was convinced that I was not alone. I was safe.
If I were convinced that Bubba were with me 24 hours a day, I would have a fundamentally different approach to my life. If I knew Bubba was behind me all day long, you wouldn't want to mess with me. But he's not. I can't count on Bubba.
Again and again, the writers of Scripture pose this question for us: How big is your God? Again and again we are reminded that One who is greater than Bubba has come, and you don't have to wonder whether or not he'll show up. He's always there. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to live your life in hiding. You have a great, big God, and he's called you to do something, so get on with it!
Source:
John Ortberg, in the sermon "Big God/Little God," PreachingToday.com
Now I will be honest with you, I love that example - but I never knew John Ortberg.
But I do know Jerry & Becky Schenck
She came and shared recently in elementary chapel the story that was also included in the Gouges book When God Stepped In
It was a balmy, peaceful afternoon at Tambul, in the rugged Highlands of Papua New Guinea. But suddenly, the quietness was broken by the sounds of fighting at the government station, located about a mile away. Bro. Robert Brock, our fellow missionary, and Jerry quickly got in the car to go see if they could do anything to help stop the fighting. Those of us at the school just stood outside, listening to the battle cries, wondering what was happening. Our hearts were aching, not knowing who might be injured or even killed.
The four Brock children and our own three were very frightened. This was so unlike the "Tambul home" that we knew! It was heart-rending for our little ones to cling to us, crying, with fear written all over their little faces. They were looking to us for protection and assurance that everything would be all right. But how could we tell them, "No, they won't come to the station to fight and they won't hurt us?" At that point, we didn't really know what was going to happen! Years ago, before the Bible school came into existence, this had been their battle ground!
While standing there, word came that one tribe was coming up from the river to our station. There had already been some men come on the other end of the station with bows and arrows. Were we to be trapped, right in the middle of a big fight-right on our Bible School campus?! But wait! God said, "Fear thou not, be not dismayed, for I AM WITH THEE!" So we gathered our children into the house, left the battle cries outside, and began interceding with our Heavenly Father-the One who has NEVER lost a battle!
I'm sure the Lord was touched that afternoon as He looked down upon those little missionary children, with such fear in their hearts, tearfully asking Jesus to "please stop that fight!!" And Jesus heard!! Miraculously, it began to RAIN!! We hadn't had rain for a long time, but God knew exactly what to do to stop the fight-and it worked!!
They tell another story of when they Called on God and God Heard!!!!
On Saturday night, the week before Christmas, a man was stabbed to death in a tavern near Tambul in the country of Papua New Guinea. After receiving word on Sunday morning about the incident, Jerry, Bro. Brock and a group of national Christians, went to the scene, hoping to be able to help in some way.
On the way to the village, they saw the tribe of the man who had been murdered, carrying their bows and arrows, spears and axes, with "war-painted" faces, going to the tribe of the murderer. Konjil Yano, the provincial government member for the Tambul area, was there, trying to block the road with his car. However, he was thrown into the ditch and the angry tribe marched on. Konjil asked the Christian men to go on ahead and try to stop them. Jerry and the others locked arms and literally formed a “human roadblock," while Bro. Brock stood on the hood of the car and began praying. The Christians were in a very vulnerable position, as the angry men came within inches of where they were standing, causing the Christians and the warriors to be literally face to face. But the Christians stood their ground, knowing they were not there in their own strength, and Bro. Brock continued praying. Miraculously, the angry warriors went no further and, after a while, they began to disband.
Of course, the warriors were not too happy at first about the Christians trying to "interfere," but their story was this: "When we saw Bro. Brock standing on that car praying, our bodies just felt weak! We felt like we'd been doing a hard day's work!!" They had no energy to go on!! There is still POWER IN PRAYER!
I can look back and see many mile markers in my own life of when I called on the Lord and HE WAS THERE!!!
He delivered - he brought the salvation that was needed
He will be there for you if you will call on him.
You can call on him in crisis
You can call on him in comfort
You should call on him continuously, constantly, consistently - you will find him every bit as faithful and true as David did.
