David's song of praise

David's song of praise 2 Samuel 22 As we come to the end of our studies on David we finish by looking at David's reflections on God's blessings of him over his life. Last week we thought about his deep relationship with God so wonderfully expressed in the 23rd Psalm, today we look at another psalm of David, placed towards the end of 2 Samuel but also found, with only a few alterations, in the book of Psalms themselves; as Psalm 18. And in this psalm David combines what he knows about God from the experiences of the Lord that the people of Israel have had down through the ages, with his own experiences. In other words combining what the Word of God tells him about God's character, with his own personal knowledge of the one with whom he's had a very personal relationship. And the result of this is a song of high praise. Psalm 18, in contrast to our reading from 2 Samuel, actually begins with a declaration that highlights David's deep knowledge of God when it says, verse 1: "I love you, O Lord, my strength." As Spurgeon says, "Here is a fixed resolution to abide in the nearest and most intimate union with the Most High." This then is the atmosphere within which David is able to write down his thoughts of praise for the Lord his God, this atmosphere of deepest love. Something that, surely, we ourselves should also feel if we know ourselves to be one of God's family purchased by Christ's blood. Because if we're in that position then he is the strength of our whole life as well. He's the one to whom we owe all that we are, all that we have and all that we will become. And so David begins by expressing just what the Lord who he loves with all his heart means to him; using a serious of metaphors to get his feelings across. "The Lord", he says (verse 2 of our passage) "is my rock" He is the one "in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation." The Lord is his rock, he's the one on whom David has built his life, the one who is steady, sure, reliable and dependable. Not only that He's also the one in whom David takes refuge, in whom he hides himself. He no doubt remembers back to when he hid from Saul in the caves of the desert when he was escaping from him. But as he does so he realises that the truth is that it was actually God who was always hiding and protecting him. The Lord God who is his fortress, who places his protective arms around him so that no enemy can overpower him. He's the one who is David's shield, his defence, and his horn ... that is his strength for the fight. God is his stronghold or, as the authorised version has it, his "high tower". Much like the Peel towers that were once dotted around the Border lands in days gone by to which the locals would flee with their animals to escape the attacks of raiding parties. God is the one who saves David from his enemies. And so he's the one to whom David calls, to whom he brings his prayers. Because David is confident that the Lord will continue to hide, to protect, defend, equip, and save him, just as he did in the past. Because, says David (verse 5), "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." He'd been in great distress, not knowing where to turn, overwhelmed by the situation that he faced so that all seemed lost and death was closing in on him. But it was then that he'd called to the Lord. And not only called but called out ... no polite preliminaries here, just a desperation induced cry. And God heard, and he acted, in such a wonderful and mighty way! So that David can say, from verse 8, that then "the earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook ... Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it." And then he continues to give a graphic description of what God did in response to his cry when he was in such dire straits saying: "He mounted the cherubim and flew ...The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the most high resounded ...The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare." This is how God comes to the rescue of his servant, declares David. But wait a minute, we know that these things didn't actually happen to David. And what's more, envisaging God with smoke coming from his nose and burning coals from his mouth isn't perhaps really a very helpful picture for us to think on. However what these descriptions do put across to us is something of the reality of God's anger and of his judgement upon David's enemies. And also, some of the events described had actually happened in the history of Israel. Times in the past, which David would have known about, when God's great power was clearly and awesomely demonstrated. For example there were the events of the Exodus when the plagues were unleashed on the Egyptians, when the people of Israel escaped on dry land across the Red Sea, which then re-gathered to destroy their pursuing enemy, as well as God's descent on Mount Sinai amidst fire and smoke. What David is saying then is that this God, who acted in such obvious and dramatic ways in the past, is in fact the same God who's been acting during his lifetime to protect and defend him ... perhaps in quieter ways, but nevertheless in no less real ways. He's the one for example who rescued him time and time again from the clutches of Saul and who many times saved him from himself. In other words, when he looks back from the vantage point of his deliverances, he knows that they could only have been achieved by the Lord of Sinai, by the Lord of the judgments on Egypt and of the Red Sea. David recognises, in other words, that behind all his circumstances lies the powerful supernatural working of God. In a similar way, whilst we may never see such dramatic examples of God's protection as even David did, let alone Moses, the fact remains that our God is the same all powerful God, and so he will act in the ways that he considers are necessary to rescue us from times of trouble. Perhaps times that we've recently been through or are going through at the moment, so that we will also be able to say with confidence, along with the writer of psalm 118, and no doubt David too, that: "the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes." Because however great and powerful are our enemies and the forces and the circumstances that appear to be against us, our God is without any doubt far greater than any of them. It was to Him that David called out and, as we read in verse 17 of our passage, God answered his prayer in a very personal way. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me" David tells us, "he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me." In other words the God of Sinai, of the whole people of Israel, was also the God who cared intimately for the needs of this one individual, David. And this is the God who cares intimately for each one of us too, so that all these things, and much more, also apply to us. But why should there be all this care from God? Well, says David, (verse 20) "he rescued me because he delighted in me." Before he goes on, apparently, to give us a list of all the ways he's earned God's blessings upon him saying: "the Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me", continuing to declare that he he's never turned away from God, that he's kept all his laws, that he's faultless. But, again, how can this be true? Even if we were to assume that David wrote his psalm before the incident of Bathsheba and Uriah, surely he wouldn't be claiming such things for himself. Isn't this the same man who in the previous 19 verses has told us of the extent of his dependence on the Lord? So how can he now be saying that the most important thing about his relationship with God is his own good character, that he's basically responsible for his own deliverance, for his own salvation? Well of course he couldn't be ... so what is David saying? Well, he's speaking not as one who's earning his salvation by his good actions and good life style, but rather as one who recognises that his actions and life style are able to be considered good only as a result of the salvation that he's already been granted through God's grace, as one who's been counted as righteous by God. Just as Moses realised when he told the Israelites in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 7-8: "The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples ... it was because the Lord loved you." David then is showing his confidence that the one who chose him, who delighted in him, and who rescued him, will now continue to bless him as he seeks to walk obediently before him. Because that's God's nature, that's what God does, which David is convinced is the case, saying from verse 26: "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, .." That is, of course, those whom God has declared perfect, those whom God has declared to be pure. And yet he is also a God who judges between the righteous and the wicked, so that David can say: "but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd" and "You save the humble but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low." God in other words is just and faithful to his own nature so that David is confident that he's the one who turns his darkness into light and with whose help he is able to overcome all people and things. What we see here is David grasping the truth of God's word and praying that truth back to him saying in effect: "this is what your word says you will do for the one who looks to you, Lord I pray that you will make that a reality in my life as I seek to be obedient to you; such that you will be praised for your faithfulness to your promises." I wonder, how often do we make our prayers less than effective because we either don't claim God's promises to us, or else we're failing to work at being obedient to him, or both? But then David has believed and has claimed God's promises, including that promise that we found in 2 Samuel Chapter 7, that He will establish David's house forever. David is convinced that God's way is perfect and his word flawless, that there is no one like him ... and so as a result he's been blessed by God, and he marvels at this ... praising Him for all that he has done. The God, whose way is perfect, he says, is the one "who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect" (Verse 33), going on to list before the Lord all the things that he is doing for him. Verse 38 for example says "I pursued my enemies and crushed them"; and verse 40: "You armed me with strength for battle". It's interesting though that not all translations of the Bible see these verses in the same way. Some view them as being in the present, whilst for others David is talking about the future saying: "I will pursue my enemies, you will give me strength". And really none of these views are necessarily wrong because the Hebrew language's verb tenses don't distinguish between past, present and future so in fact any of them could be right. What it does mean is that we're able to take these words of David in the past and project them prophetically into the future, to the one who was to fully fulfil God's promises to him. So that when David says, for instance in verses 44 and 45 "You have delivered me from the attacks of my people; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know are subject to me, and foreigners come cringing to me; as soon as they hear me, they obey me", then we immediately begin to think of Christ Jesus and of what he has achieved through his death and resurrection. What's more the words of David continue to be just as fresh today for us, still pointing to a time yet to happen, since we read in the book of Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 the same promise when, at the close of the age, loud voices in heaven say: "The Kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." So then, in conclusion, David's psalm of praise to the Lord found here is motivated by his knowledge of God's nature and of God's faithfulness to His nature demonstrated to David through his life's experiences, so that he's finally led to say, "Therefore I will praise you, O lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name" It is a wonderful psalm, as relevant today as it was then. And indeed one 17th century writer, reflecting on it, says: "Holy David, here looks on his former dangers and deliverances with a thankful heart, and writes this Psalm to bless the Lord: as if each of you that are grown into years should review your lives and observe the wonderful goodness and providence of God towards you; and then sit down and write a modest memorial of his most remarkable mercies, for the comfort of yourselves and posterity; an excellent practise." There's a thought! And some of us might well perhaps think about writing down our life story for our grandchildren, but I wonder would it centre on God's merciful dealings with us? Do we in fact reflect as much as we should on all that God has done for us, on all the dangers he's brought us through, all the times that he's been merciful to us, all the ways in which he's been faithful to his promises, and do we praise him as we should? If we genuinely know the Lord then surely we should be able to write such a memorial ... but could we, will we? In Psalm 103 verses 1 and 2 David say's "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." David obviously feels that it's possible to do just that, to remember and in remembering to praise ... may it be so for each of us too. Amen