My Rock and My Salavation
Notes
Transcript
THANKS TO TIM for his teaching in 2 Sam
You’re the mighty King David, standing near the end of a long, eventful life.
Your enemies are finally silent,
Your arch enemy and predecessor as King, King Saul is long gone.
your crown secure,
and you have time to look back.
What would you say, what song would you write to celebrate your lifes work?
Frank Sinatras; ‘I did it my way’ -
Sammy Davis Jr “I've Gotta Be Me"
Kelly Clarksons, ‘Stronger’
In 2 Samuel 22. David, Israel’s great king, bursts into a psalm, a song, not about his way and strength, but of praise to God for his way and strength.
Pray
If the reading sounded more familiar that your expected - that’s becasue it is almost identical to Psalm 18.
Psalm 18 uses slightly simpler language and structure so it’s more suitable for congregational singing.
It’s the Getty version of 2 Sam 22.
- but here - it’s more than just a song,
it also functions as the theological conclusion of his reign.
After decades of fleeing from Saul,
leading armies,
ruling a restless people,
and experiencing both triumph and tragedy,
David sings of the Lord who has been his Rock and salvation.
And as we go through it, remember this is more than simple autobiography.
David is not merely a private believer,
like Hudson Taylor, or a JC Ryle,
who we can be encouraged by as we read of their life and service.
No, David is the Lord’s anointed,
the covenant king through whom God’s promises flow.
What God does for His king, He does for His people - Israel.
God’s rescues of David they reveal God’s character and His plan and pattern of redemption for all His people.
That means we must read this psalm on three levels:
through David – the historical king recounting his own deliverances.
through Christ – the greater Son of David who fulfils the psalm perfectly.
through The Christian – all who belong to Christ share in the salvation the psalm celebrates.
Or to put it more memorably:
What David sang imperfectly, Christ sings perfectly, and we now sing in Him.
This song unfolds in four sections:
Delivered from death (vv. 1–20)
Rewarded for righteousness (vv. 21–30)
Strengthened for Success (vv. 31–46)
Exalted to reign forever (vv. 47–51)
Let’s take each in turn, listening to David’s testimony and learning how, in Christ, it becomes ours.
1. Delivered from Death (vv. 1–20)
1. Delivered from Death (vv. 1–20)
David begins with a flood of metaphors:
v2-3
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my saviour.”
He piles image upon image because one picture cannot contain the greatness of God’s protection.
“Rock” speaks of stability,
“fortress” of security,
“shield” of defence,
“horn” of power.
And notice the personal nature of his song
“my rock, my fortress, my deliverer;
my God is my rock,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my saviour.”
This is not abstract theology;
it is personal trust born from real experience.
Think back through our time in 2 Sam and 1 Sam before that,
David has run for his life from Saul,
hidden in caves,
Lost his armies,
and dodged the spear of Saul when he didn’t like His harp playing .
(Always a worry of mine when I play guitar in chruch)
He knows what it is to be rescued.
For us this sets the tone of the whole song.
salvation is not merely a doctrine;
it is a relationship to be enjoyed.
Can you say with David, “The Lord is my rock”?
If we struggle to know that,
, then perhaps we haven’t truly recognised what God has saved us from!
Not spears and caves, but our own sin and deserved judgement.
For David, he knows just how incredible God HIs Rock is,
because he remembers and aknowledges just how close to death he really was:
v5-6
“The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.”
The imagery of drowning, of being dragged down by a deadly current, is vivid.
David faced threats from Saul,
from foreign nations,
from his own sin and family rebellion.
His life often hung by a thread.
It’s easy to think our life feels like that sometimes -
but we shouldn’t be too quick to put ourselves in David’s position in this Song.
We’re less King David and more ‘bog standard Israelite’ under the King’s rule.
But, what happens to the King will have implications for us.
If he is defeated, so are we,
there is no hope if the King dies in battle against the enemy.
In otherwords - we have real vested interest in the sucess of the king.
If he drowns in destruction and death we are done for!
If we believe Christ is the fulfiment of David’s line - the ulitmate King and saviour,
then we read this Pslam and firstly see Christ surrounded by his enemies - Satan,
If Christ Jesus faces the enemy Satan, and dies on a Roman cross and the story ends, then God is not Christ’s Rock or ours!
SO as we sing this song through Christ - we remeber his suffering and death for us,
Just as th eISraleits will celebrate David’s suffering for them.
SO the real question so far is, Will our king overcome death itself?
If he does, we sing of our Rock,
If he doesn’t we have a problem!
v7
“In my distress I called to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.”
The God who is enthroned in heaven bends down to hear the cry of His servant King as his enemies surround,
As he hangs on a cross,
and What follows is some of the most dramatic poetry in the Old Testament,
This is what happens when God’s annointed King faces death at the hands of evil:
The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
This is not literal description -
we don’t read of any of this literally happening in 1 or 2 Samuel. (although earthquakes and darkness do accompany Christ’s death on the cross!)
But it is intentional use of exaggeration to emphasise a point .
This is what it feels like when the God of the universe rises to rescue His anointed one and therefore HIs people.
‘He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
After the earthquakes and fire and lightening towards God’s enemies,
the language softens to handle His own:
v20
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
The God who shakes mountains stoops like a father to lift His child.
And the reason for rescue? “Because he delighted in me.”
This is covenant love in its warmest expression
—God saves not merely out of duty, because he’s promised,
but he pormised because He takes pleasure in His annointed one, and by extention his people.
So When our floodwaters of doubt,
the fear that we are beyond forgiveness,
The trials of life worry us that God has forgotten us,
Sin overtakes us,
Remeber that God moved heaven and earth to deliver his anointed King David and later Christ Jesus from Death.
For he delights in his anointed and what is true of the King, is enjoyed by His people.
And as sure as Jesus defeated death and is delighted in,
So too are His people - delivered and delighted in.
Our security and rescue, rests not in our grip on God,
but in His delight in His Son.
What David sang imperfectly, Christ sings perfectly, and we now sing in Him.
2. Rewarded for Righteousness (vv. 21–30)
2. Rewarded for Righteousness (vv. 21–30)
‘The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
That’s a statement that probably surprises us.
If after the service Adrian, comes up to you as a new elder and said
‘The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
With eldership,
we’d rightly think he’s lost the plot
- if by that he meant that he is sinless and perfect and so God has rewarded him.
How can King David speak this way when we know of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah?
But righteousness in the OT is not normally speaking of perfection, but direction.
V21 is explained in v22-23
For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.
Despite grievous lapses, David never turned aside to idols.
He repented, confessed, and remained fundamentally loyal to God.
Not in perfection, but in direction.
-Unlike Saul, who hardened his heart, and walked against God’s ways,
David kept returning to the Lord.
His life, taken as a whole, bore the marks of genuine faith.
And so he can state the general principle in v26-7
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.”
In short, David, despite his Sin has shown himself to be a true covenant member of God’s family,
Becasue, he has remained humble and repentant,
as we read in 15v13,
and so his life trajectory has been one of righteousness.
As such, our NT understanding of Righteousness - of complete perfection and holiness,
was and is a gift of God to all those who humble themselevs in repentance and seek God’s ways.
IN other words if you repent and believe,
that is evidence of your righteousness,
As it’s a fruit, if genuine, of seeking God’s ways again,
To to put it another way,
God’s rewards, his salvation,
are expressions of covenant relationship and love towards us as we respond rightly to him,
, not tit-for-tat paychecks.
There is both challenge and comfort here.
Our faithfulness matters.
The patterns of obedience, repentance, and loyalty to Christ are not trivial.
We can’t pray the sinners prayer once and carry on living our own way.
No, if we are loved by God and know it - we will live for Him as well. Not to be saved, but because we are.
So the deeper comfort is that this principle reaches its climax in Jesus.
He alone kept the ways of the Lord perfectly.
The Father rewarded Him with resurrection and exaltation.
And it is His perfect righteousness that is credited to all who trust Him.
It’s why David can sing this Song -
not perfectly, but rightly,
as Even he points to a holy righteousness not his own.
What David sang imperfectly, Christ sings perfectly, and we now sing in Him.
3. Strengthened for Success (vv. 31–46)
3. Strengthened for Success (vv. 31–46)
Having celebrated God’s reward, David now recounts the strength God supplied for every battle - spiritual and physical.
In other words - David aknowledges that even his righteousness and success in faith and life - where gifts by the strength of God.
a few examples:
a few examples:
‘As for God, his way is perfect: the Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
David grounds his confidence not in military strategy or personal courage but in God’s character and promises. The Lord’s word is tested and true; His protection never fails.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Every skill, every success is traced back to God’s training.
David does not even boast in natural ability
or his impressive strength from being a gym rat.
He recognises the Lord as the one who forms and strengthens His servant physically and spritually.
and in vv. 38–46
and in vv. 38–46
David describes pursuing enemies,
striking them down,
crushing them,
and ruling over nations that once opposed him.
The language is bold and sweeping - it could sound boastful,
but
he recognises every success in life and faith is the Lords:
‘You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me,
At one level we’re unsure if we want to sing this part of the song,
But remmeebr we don’t sing it directly,
we sing it through Christ and his eternal reign,
These verse help us recall all sorts of imagery from Revelation,
Christ’s return to rule,
and judge and cast out those who stood against him in this life.
Enemies crushed beneath Christs feet,
Satan being cast into the lake of eternal fire,
Every knee bowing down to Him.
Christ Jesus is foreshadowed by David, but Christ’s success with be eternally victories.
Christ’s enemies are still those who oppose him.
And it is right we celebrate that Christ will one day overcome all his enemies,
including our own sin and the forces of evil.
And need I point out,
if you have not turned to Christ Jesus in repentance and faith for the forgivenss of your sins,
or you think you have done that but have no righteous desire to live in accordance with His ways
Then you will not have any sort of eternal success with Christ.
ON that final day, you will be the poeple of v42
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the Lord, but he did not answer.
It will be too late.
No, repent and believe today in the Anointed King and saviour Jesus.
He has been strengthen by His Heavenly Father,
raised to new life and sits on the throne now and forever.
And His people, through him, will find eternal victory with him.
What David sang imperfectly, Christ sings perfectly, and we now sing in Him.
4. Exalted to Reign Forever (vv. 47–51)
4. Exalted to Reign Forever (vv. 47–51)
The psalm ends in a crescendo of praise:
‘The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!
And then comes the clue that we see even David anticipated something beyond even his own reign:
‘He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.’
God’s mercy to David’s line guarantees a kingdom that will not end.
He knows the Christ is coming.
And who are David’s descendants?
It’s not just Jews as Paul points out in Romans by quoting v50 here
(you look at v50, I’ll read:
Romans 15:9
and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles (or nations); I will sing the praises of your name.’
Jesus, the true Son of David, is the King whom God has exalted to reign forever,
and he brings salavtion to all nations.
That’s you and me, sitting here today in WP,
Inextricably linked to King David, the anointed,
Through Christ the perfectly righteous.
So that we all together can remember that God delights in HIs people.
He is our Rock.
What David sang imperfectly. Christ sings perfectly. And we now sing in Him.
Let’s read v47-51 together in praise.
Thinking of the victory over evil and sin that God has given and promised us in his King.
47 ‘The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!
48 He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,
49 who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.
51 ‘He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.’
