My Rock, My Fortress, MyDeliverer
Notes
Transcript
1 David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul.
2 He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
Intro
Intro
1 David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul.
We are nearing the end of David’s life, by 2 Samuel 22
and this verse says that David sang this after being rescued from all his enemies and Saul, and that would indicate the later years of his life, because he had lots of enemies
and now that David has made it through many hard trials and troubles, he has gained wisdom and proper perspective
and wisdom and the proper perspective causes David to praise the Lord
sometimes we don’t praise because we lack wisdom and proper perspective
like it’s a blessing that you are still alive during a pandemic
walk or talk
have transportation or somebody with transportation cared enough to get you
2 And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
This is a long hymn of praise, but verse two is more than enough to help us this morning
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer
First of all, by saying “The Lord”, David names a specific God
The all caps in English represent the God of the Israelites
The only God, the one who actually created the universe,
The one who holds the world in his hands
David knows who his help comes from, and gives credit to this God, the true God
He saying that it’s not that I was lucky, or fortunate, or I was in the right place at the right time
No, The Lord is the reason for my season
Others may have assisted me, but it was the Lord behind it all
I had soldiers fight with me, but it was the Lord winning the battle
if I had a good plan, it was the Lord who inspired the plan
all honor belongs to God!
let’s look at these pictures of physical elements that convey spiritual realities
The Lord is my rock!
The Lord is my rock!
A rock is strong, and its strength endures
you build your foundation upon a rock, strong and steady
even today, the pouring of a foundation for a new home/building is a big thing because as the foundation goes, the house goes
David is saying that I built my life upon the Lord, and he is a solid foundation, he is a rock!
everything I am, everything I do, is wrapped up in the Lord, the Lord is my center
In every situation, I can lean on him . . . and that’s good because he is rock solid
Through the prophet Samuel, the Lord gave me my true identity
Through the Word of the Lord, my morals, values, and convictions were set to the truth
Through prayer, the Lord gives me the right directions
Through walking with the Lord, I learned my purpose
Through the rebuke of the Lord’s priests and prophets like Nathan, the Lord corrects me and puts me back on the right path
When I needed encouragement, I encouraged myself in the Lord
David says The Lord is my foundation, and he is a solid rock of a foundation, and that’s why I’m still standing!
despite every enemy, trial, tragedy, and storm
And it naturally begs the questions, “Who or What is your rock?”
Who or what tells you your identity
who or what tells you what is right or wrong
who or what tells you which way to go in life
who or what corrects you when you are wrong
who or what gives you encouragement when no on else can or will
and is it so strong that you are able to stand despite every enemy, trial, tragedy, and storm
is it so strong that you can lean on it in every situation
you do know that life has more than summer days and light rains . . . real storms out there
The Lord is my fortress!
The Lord is my fortress!
fortresses are made for battle
you build a fortress because you expect war
fortresses offer protection, and safety, from the enemy
high walls, reinforced doors, storehouses for provision
fortresses also provide an advantage in war
they allow you to defeat a much stronger enemy
out in the open, you would not stand a chance . . . but behind the fortress
you have the victory
And David says the Lord is my fortress
my protection, my advantage over the enemy
though the giant Goliath was bigger than me, better trained, more experience, I won because the Lord is my fortress
Though King Saul had a whole army and I had just a few men, I won because the Lord is my fortress
When my own son came for me with soldiers from every tribe of Israel, I won because
in each of those situations, the odds were against me, but nevertheless I was victorious
The Lord was my protection, he was my advantage, the Lord was my fortress
if you serve the Lord, you have an advantage
you can defeat enemies stronger than you
you can have victory despite overwhelming odds
because the Lord is your fortress
whatever you are facing, there is no need to fear or be afraid, because the Lord is your fortress
just like a real fortress, victory comes because of the strength of the walls
so when enemies come at you, just hide behind the walls and do your part
fire some arrows, throw some rocks
you do your little bit, but depend upon the Lord for the victory
let encourage you, the walls will hold!
there’s a lot of banging, and knocking, but the walls will hold!
the enemy has battering rams and fiery arrows, but the walls will hold
as long as you stay behind the walls! As long as you stay in the ship!
you will be saved!
The Lord is my fortress
The Lord is my deliverer!
The Lord is my deliverer!
savior
when you are in deep trouble, and you need help quick and in a hurry . . . you need a deliverer
David found himself in a lot of close calls, near death experiences, and he testifies that the Lord is his deliverer!
like the time he had to act crazy in front of the Philistines
The Lord is our 911 - you can call on him, and he will come to your rescue
and just like 911, you can call him at anytime, morning, noonday, evening, late in the midnight hour
and he will come see about you
Just trust in him, LIke david, Then you can say,, the LOrd is my deliever!
Rock, Fortress, Deliverer
I suggest that you allow God to fulfill all three roles in your life
build your entire LIfe on God so that he will be your rock
Hide behind the Lord, so he will be your fortress
Call on him when in need and follow instructions and patiently wait, so he can be your deliverer!
let me warn you of a fake rock
money: cash, checking account, savings, investment, credit card limit, retirement, secret stash
it’s a bad idea to make money your rock . . . don’t get me wrong, money is nice, but don’t make it your rock
money can let you down: the value of money is unstable, money can be stolen, is not loyal
money will leave you, pack up and go! . . . even if you worked and saved your whole life!
all it takes is a new tax from congress, an executive order from the president,
a crook on Wall Street, a hacker from half way across the world
then of course there are some things that money cannot buy
money can buy people, but not a true friend
money can buy doctors, but not a cure
money can buy a house, but not a home
money can buy you things, but not peace
money is a fake rock, So let the Lord be your rock!
one fake fortress is youth
i’m young and strong and and full of fresh ideas, I have lot’s of time
fake fortress!
you might be young, strong, and full of fresh ideas but it’s a trick to think that this will protect your or provide you with a real advantage
If this is your fortress, I know that you cannot imagine not feeling young, looking young, being young
even though you see older people, you can’t imagine being old . . . because you’ve always been young
and you feel secure about our looks, strength, energy, and future successes
until one day, somebody who is in their twenties says, “yes ma’am”
until one day, you say a popular phrase, and a teenager corrects you, “we don’t say it like that”
until one day, for the first time you say, “let me sit down some where”
until one day, you find out that the older person that you thought was so weak was actually toying with you and using your inexperience against you
until one day, you find yourself going to more funerals than weddings
until one day, harsh reality has replaced dreams
don’t allow youth to be your fortress . . . it’s fake
I don’t care how young and strong you are . . . put your hope in the Lord!
he’s your advantage, he’s your protection, shield, secret weapon
Then you give up on God and try a fake deliver, like family
cause family is supposed to be there in tough times: the spouse, the kids, the parents, siblings, the cousins . . .
family is nice and all, but It’s a bad idea to trust that family will deliver you
in fact family can be the one who injures you, hurts you, try you, betray you, ungrateful towards you, forget about you, take advantage of you, molest you, abuse you
family will even kill you
Don’t believe me . . .
Why are family reunion always filled with tense moments
Why are funerals filled with tense moments, the grief is bad enough, then you have to deal with half the family cutting their eyes at one another and not speaking
Why are weddings filled with tense moments
When family gets together . . .
everybody’s scared the truth will just be put out there
you always have to tell somebody to behave, this is not the time or the place
someone always feels obliged to say, “we argue, we fight, and sometimes we cuss each other out, but in the end, we are still family”
Now, I’m not saying don’t love your family . . . but don’t trust family be your deliver
don’t put that burden on your family, they will not be able to meet that expectation
in fact, you need the Lord to help yo deliver your family
Let me help you with this deliverer, coming to your rescue, 911 thing
Even when 911 is working perfectly, we can still get frustrated with them, one thing is all the questions
911 . . .send an ambulance!
what address are you at? . . .1234 Sunnyvale
is that way or drive . . . drive I think, I don’t know, just send an ambulance
Can I have your name sir and a a call back number . . . .Dimitri Caver 484-949-1219
Sir, I need you to slow down, and tell me one more time . . . .just send help, please
Sir your name and call back number . . . . my cousin’s been shot . . . please send an ambulance
one more time, your name and call back number . . . Dimitri Caver 484-949-1291
tell me exactly what happened . . . . I’ve been telling you, my cousin has been shot
walk me through it . . . .
what’s your cousin’s age
what are you wearing
describe the injury
is he conscious
is he breathing
we don’t like all these questions, but the answer to these questions are critical
the answers help them help your cousin
prepare personnel who are already on the way
determine the level of help you need, how many and what type of emergency workers to send
It will determine if they instruct you to perform CPR or some type of first aid
what you are wearing will keep cops from mistaking you for the shooter
and we can get frustrated and exasperated . . . but trained dispatchers never ask questions that are unnecessary.
and it’s often the same way with God, most of us are pretty decent at making that initial call to the Lord’s 911, but we get frustrated and exasperated by his initial response
God help me please, no other help I know, Savior! Savior!
Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down, so I can help you
calm down!
sir, are you still going to church?
going to church? going to church? I’m in a situation here!
listen carefully, I’m going to need you to go to church and Bible study too
what!!!
There is a word for you that will help you in this situation, and another bad situation that is on the horizon that you are not prepared for . . .in addition, at Bible study I have already prepared a person to give you aid
I’m too stressed to go church, just send help! now!
Sir, help is on the way, but it’s going to take some time. I just need you to be at the right place so that you can open the door when the help arrives
I don’t have time
please sir, be still and wait on the salvation of the Lord . . . (dial tone)
So when you call on the Lord to save you: trust in him, wait on him, follow his directions
he knows what he is doing
Jesus is on the main line, so don’t hang up on him!