Learning From David's Praise

­­­­­­­­­­­2 Samuel 22:1-6 - And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2 And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. When the waves of death compassed me, The floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; The snares of death prevented me;[1]

Introduction

If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 22. Shortly before the death of King David, Samuel records David’s song of praise. David has lived a rough life, prior to his kingship on the run from King Saul, who tried constantly to slay him. In the days of his reign, he went to war against his own son, and the war ended with the death of his son. King David was a man of war, and the Lord delivered to him his enemies time and time again, so much so, that his son Solomon ruled over a kingdom filled with peace the duration of his reign.

King David properly so, then, ends his life with this song of praise poured unto God. From deliverance from enemies, to the mercy he received, to salvation, David looks back on his life and is grateful for what God has given him.

Today I intend to examine with you this chapter of praise, and examine multiple aspects of David’s words and discuss what we can learn about God from David’s life. What do we know about God, and how can we praise God in response to His goodness to us?

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

Verse 2 “And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;[2]”

David begins his praise of God by stating who God is. This is the basis for all praise. Who is God? David says the Lord is my rock – A rock is solid, not easily moved. The foundations upon which are mountains stand is called bedrock, because it stands the pressures and stresses of time. The Lord is the rock, He is sure and is unmovable. When the facts and circumstances of this world change, the Lord remains. His truth and word endures throughout the ages. When we are discouraged and lose hope, we stand firm on the word of Jesus.

David continues, He is my fortress – A fortress is a military stronghold, typically heavily fortified and defended. Many ancient fortresses were built in strategic locations because it offered natural defenses. In other words, a fortress should be seen as a safe place. The Lord is my fortress, David says. He is my shelter and fortitude then. When the invisible enemies surround me, it is behind the Lord that I hide. The Lord provides safety, and behind His word is power.

I am reminded of Proverbs 18:10

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.[3]”

Notice the proverb, our strong tower is the name of the Lord. Jesus is our strong tower. Safety is found in running to the Lord. A man fleeing danger would run to a fortress, where his enemy would be required to fight against fortified defenses to touch the man. Many strongholds have fallen, but contrast with the safety our Lord provides, no enemy can breech the line. Contrast also with the wicked man, who finds protection and safety in walls built by man, the righteous find refuge in the Lord.

David says, the Lord is my deliverer! I hardly know where to begin with this, the number of times the Lord has delivered David is mind-blowing. I can think immediately of Goliath, around the time David becomes a major character in the Bible. David was delivered from Saul, not once, not twice, but over and over. The psalms are full of praise from David’s deliverance. David here, recognizes the source of this deliverance is from the Lord. The Lord, he says, is my deliverer.

It is one thing to state general truths about God, but David is not generalizing who God is. David is pouring out who God has been to him specifically. David’s song is sincere and from the heart, and it comes from a personal relationship with God.

These attributes David gives to God are also generalized. These are the true nature of our Lord, we too can experience. Is God your rock? Last week we discussed proverbs 3:5, trusting in God and not on your own understanding. Is God the rock we stand on when the rain starts to pour on the ground? Is God your fortress? Do you run to Him for shelter and peace? Do you rather find your safe place in walls put up by man? Is God your deliverer? From your battles? How about from your sin? We too can and should experience these great attributes of God.

From David’s opening, he moves to a statement of fact regarding God…

He is worthy to be praised

I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised:[4]

As I was reading this, immediately the words from Revelation jumped into my head, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty”. This is not a statement of opinion, but is a fact of God. Unlike in our last point, where those attributes are experienced individually, this is a generalized truth regardless of your personal relationship with God.

So what makes God worthy?

Let’s start with the fact that He alone is Holy. All others have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God alone is sinless, and that alone makes Him worthy. If there is anything good, if there is anything righteous, it has come from God.

Revelation 5:12 gives us another reason – Worthy is the Lamb who was slain – It is because Jesus was slain that He is worthy. Just three verses earlier, it is written that He has redeemed us to God by His blood. For I would say, any person who is perfect, and dies to take the place of a sinner, is worthy of praise! It happens, as it is, that Christ is the only person who has done that.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says “ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.[5]”

Revelation 4:11 gives us another reason to praise God “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and hhonour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.[6]” We were made to praise and glorify God. He has created all things. As rebellious as we are against God, for as many would say “God doesn’t own me”, God has created you. He is supreme over all creation.

The scriptures declare forth that God is worthy of praise, and David has acknowledged this fact. In addition to God’s holiness, David may also have in mind that in addition, God’s worthiness comes from His love for us. For He provides, He protects, He delivers, our God is worthy!

While we can sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy” today, I long for the day when we are in Heaven with that heavenly host singing to God our praise for all He has done. I long to be part of that grand choir and I receive goosebumps just thinking about that day. Holy is my God, God you are Holy! Say that with me if you would, “God you are Holy”.

In Him will I trust

Verse 3a says “The God of my rock; in him will I trust:[7]”

The other day, just as I was sitting down to prepare for this message, I read a post on Facebook, it said “I can’t trust in the Bible because it was written by man”, yet these people trust in the news, blog post’s, journals, ect all that are written by man. The reality is we will all trust in something. For some, they will trust in the government of man, in the science journals and the news media (regardless of political side). For me, I will trust in the Lord.

David’s life was built upon the principle that the Lord is his rock. David lived according to the word of God, and the Lord was with Him. Contextually, David is praising God for delivering him from violence. The scope of the violence is not mentioned, but David makes this thing clear – The sum of his entire strategy is the Lord. Going back to David’s fight with Goliath, the sum of his strategy has never changed.

1 Samuel 17:45-46, lets examine David’s attitude

“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand[8]”

I find David’s faith to be inspiring! You’ve come to me with a sword, David says, but I come to you in the name of God! And that God will deliver you to me! Such confidence, such trust! Can you imagine for a moment, just think, if we exercised that type of trust in God?

Many people, mostly on Facebook, because let’s be honest, is where most conversations take place today: will tell me, “while you trust in your imaginary friend for healing, I will trust the science.” Surely, there is a place for medicine, and God has used medicine and doctors in healing. But I will trust my God before I trust my doctor. There is a history, thousands of years of it, where God has healed people. And yet, we rarely see it in the world we live in today. Why? What is the denominator those of the past shared that we are missing?

Faith and trust – We live in a world where when God does perform a miracle, we explain it away and give credit to man. And then we say, “where was your God then? Hmm?” And that is in the rare case that one has the faith in the first place.

When I hear people pray today, this is what I hear “God, if it be your will, or if you want to, maybe you will heal me?” And then they go their way lacking in faith that it will even happen. There is a lack of trust.

Look at David, “I come to you in the name of the Lord and He will deliver me”. David didn’t say “and I hope He will deliver me” or “He might, if He is willing, deliver me.” David had complete trust in the Lord. Let us develop David’s trust in our God.

Delivered from enemies, the Lord is my stay

Verses 17-19 David says ”He sent from above, he took me; He drew me out of many waters;[9] He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: But the Lord was my stay.[10]”

We’ve discussed earlier in the message the numerous times that the Lord has delivered David from his enemies. We don’t need to discuss that more, rather, I want to discuss what David says about this deliverance. From these three verses, we see three things that come to our attention.

1. Verse 18, David said that his enemy was strong, too strong for him. David does not portray himself as this super human macho man that is undefeatable. David shows us the reality of his weakness. His enemy is too strong for him. But David shows us the reality of his strength (Verse 33 “God is my strength and power:[11]”) He says “The Lord is my strength.” While the enemy is too strong for David, the enemy is not too strong for the Lord. While we fight according to our flesh and strength, we will ultimately find failure. But when we surrender our weakness to the Lord, He will make us strong.

I am reminded here of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.[12]”

Just like David, we too have weakness. The world we live in, the invisible enemy we fight, and the trials of this world are too strong for us. Let us then rejoice in our weakness, that God’s strength may be made perfect.

2. In Verse 17, David says “He sent help from above, he took me”. The only escape for the chains and bondage that we suffer is divine help from above. As it was, our curse required divine intervention from God, that He had to come down. David personalizes this deliverance, “He took me.” Salvation then, is a personal experience, where you must individually experience God. We are told in Johns recounting of Jesus conversation with Nicodemus that we must be born again, not of flesh, but of above if we are to see the kingdom of God.

The greatest enemy to be delivered from is the enemy of sin, the curse of the law. As God delivered David from his enemies, so too, can God deliver us from our enemy.

3. In verse 19, David says that the Lord was his stay. Sometimes our English translations do not properly state what the Hebrew author was attempting to say. The Hebrew word translated as stay, in all four occurrences in the Old Testament, is Misan, and it means support. This word is a sub word, coming from its root word, Misenet, meaning staff. So David is saying that the Lord is his staff, his support. David’s song of praise reveals to us, in all these repeated themes, that he greatly relied upon the Lord. The Lord was His everything.

Merciful and perfect

Verse 26 “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,[13]

In this portion of David’s praise, he gives thanks to God for His mercy, proclaiming that God is merciful to those who show mercy. This is paralleled in Matthew 5:7, when Christ says blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

In our God’s great mercy, He provided for us the greatest gift, the gift of His Son. The law requires a payment for transgressions against it, and a Holy God must condemn all evil. But a merciful God will also provide a way for those who cannot provide a way themselves.

David addresses this praise to the Lord, but it is intended to instruct the reader in God pleasing behavior. David address that to the faithful, those who shew mercy, compassion and love, God will be faithful. To the morally upright, God will be upright. In verse 27 David address the pure, God will shew Himself pure, and in verse 28, the humble, the afflicted will God save.

Contrast this to haughty, and the froward, in verses 27 and 28, whom God will shew Himself unsavoury and bring them down. David address then, the behaviors that one with a new heart given of Christ should posses.

Verse 31 “As for God, his way is perfect; The word of the Lord is tried:[14]”

David’s praise briefly switches focus and David praises the ways of God. For they are all perfect and His word is tried. As we discussed last week, God’s commandments are for our benefit. David has grown to be greatly blessed and he says in the psalms “I love your word.” David describes that His ways are tried, meaning that David has sought after God and His word and has tested it over his life.

If we would grow to love God and His ways, we can then try His word. When we live His word and are greatly blessed, it too shall give us cause to sing praises to God. As we live a godly life, I believe that we too at the end of the run will look back and sing, God, your ways are perfect, your word is tried and true.

God Lives

In verse 47a, David speaks a truth about God “The Lord liveth”. Of the many things that make Christianity unique from the many other world religions that have come and gone is that we serve a living God. We serve a God who has lived from the beginning today. I love that David just says it so plainly, the Lord liveth! He just proclaims it, the Lord liveth!

As I have discussed my beliefs with people, they struggle with the concept of God. They struggle with the concept of praying to a person we cannot see. But surely, God lives! Friday night, I was discussing with Troy the God’s Not Dead movie series, and if you haven’t watched it, you should. But we we’re discussing they are now producing a fourth movie for it. And it was making me think, in our culture, people just assume that God is either dead or doesn’t care about us anymore. I’ve heard it said – Your God was very active in the Old Testament and early church, where is He now? But the reality is, God is at work all around us.

In fact, God reveals Himself as alive, Revelation 2:8, “These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;[15]”

If David had cause of praise, for God liveth, then so much more do we. We have so much cause for praise, because we live past the time when Christ died, and then was alive. We live past the time when Christ rose from the grave, giving victory over death. For as much as David praised that God was alive, let us praise that our God liveth! And so let us praise, for that Christ being alive gives us hope as He spoke, that we too should arise from our grave as well.

For we have hope, that as we have died to self, we will die but once. And then we shall rise with Christ in the resurrection. For as long as our God lives, so too, shall we live.

Summary

David’s praise is beautiful, and is a great reflection on what God has done for his life. Throughout the psalms, David praises God for His goodness, mercy, deliverance and companionship. David spent his entire life with God, praising God, and trusting in God. In these final days of His life, David taught up much about our God, and His character. We’ve learned universal truths, that exist outside of personal experience. For example, We have learned that God is alive, a fact that changes not based on your personal experience or lack thereof. We have learned that God’s ways are perfect, and that God is worthy of praise. Both of these are unchanging, regardless of your relationship with God, but all of these can be experienced as well. We can experience the joy in praising God and just letting the depths of our hearts pour out to Him. We can experience that His word is perfect as we implement it in our own lives, and we can experience that God is in deed alive today. But we have also learned that God is merciful, that He is upright, and that He is just. David poured out praise for deliverance, and has taught us how we can place our trust in God and claim Him as our strength. We all have our Goliaths in live, but we all have a God we can stand in. In our strength we find failure, but in our weakness, God’s strength is made perfect. Let God work through your weakness that you may be made strong in Him.

But all of David’s praise has pointed us to and prepared us for the only door of which we can enter the kingdom…

Application

This entire chapter, David has spent his praise referring to Jesus Christ. In the last portion of verse 47, David says “God of the rock of my salvation”. Jesus Christ is the rock of each of our salvations and Jesus Christ is the object of David’s praise (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

As we wrap up today’s message, let us ponder three things about the rock of our salvation.

1. Jesus Christ is the only door by which we can enter into salvation. Acts 4:12 tells us “12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.[16]”

By no other name under heaven or earth will you be saved. If you desire, and I hope you desire, to enter the kingdom of God, it will be through Jesus Christ alone. Christ described that there be wide and many paths that lead us to destruction, but there straight (narrow) is the only path that leads to eternal life. Contrary to what many others teach, everyone will not make it to heaven. There is not another way, whether by another “god” or by your own works.

We are told in John 3:16 that God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

2. The Rock of our salvation, that is, Christ, changes us completely when we ask Him into our hearts. 2 Corinthians 5:12 says “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [17]”

When we enter into the rock of our salvation, our entire beings are changed. We are new. Christ has given us a new beginning and a new life. It is at this moment that we can trust in the Lord, that we can claim the Lord is my strength. It is with this new heart that we can try the Lords ways and word and find them to be true and perfect. This new heart and mind is also the sign by which you and others know that you have received salvation. Without this new birth, we would not be able to enter the kingdom.

3. When you make this commitment to Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit and are cleansed. The Holy Spirit is the token and seal which identifies you as one of God’s, and teaches you, corrects and reproves you, comforts you, and protects you. The Holy Spirit begins in you a work of sanctification which continues until you enter into the presence of God.

David’s life was cause indeed for praise. David has seen the hand of God move mountains for him. He has seen the Lord take down giants, deliver entire nations, save Him from Saul, and establish his (David’s) throne. David experienced the forgiveness and mercy of God and has forever since been the example of a man after God’s own heart. But it is impossible to have this cause for joy and praise unless you belong to God to experience God yourself.

Invitation

Do you feel like your surrounded by enemies that are too strong for you? How about the world, is it feeling overbearing right now? If you are feeling too weak to deal with everything going on around you, you can allow the Lord to be your strength. You can claim Him as your own shield! If you are looking for deliverance, from sorrow and depression, to sin, to anger, or whatever you are dealing with, God can take that from you.

Do you need a rock to stand on? A firm foundation, whose truth never changes through the ages? Do you need one whose ways are perfect? I can tell you, my ways are not perfect, and neither are yours, but Christ’s ways are.

Do you need mercy? Forgiveness? Love and compassion? God is already provided all that, He is just waiting for you to accept it.

It all starts with admitting that Jesus is Lord. That He is the God-man, or, God in the flesh. Believe that He is the creator of all that exists, and that He entered into this creation to die for it, that it could be saved. Believe that He went to the cross and the grave and rose again the third day, that your sins could be forgiven. And then confess – Confess those things you just admitted to and believed. Confess that you are a sinner in need of saving. Confess that your ways are flawed and His way are not.

Christ says, whosover will confess me before men, him will I confess before the Father which is above. And Paul tells us how to get saved, for whosoever shall confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and will believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved.

Tomorrow is not promised to any man, so I’m begging with you, start now. Give your life to Jesus now, and be born again. It all begins with those steps and a prayer. So if you are ready to Admit, Believe, and Confess, then say the first portion of our closing prayer with me, and ask God into your heart. And then confess Him to the world as your Lord, as your God, as your strength and shield, and begin to follow His ways.

***Prayer***