2 SAMUEL 22 MY SONG TO GOD2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 22 My Song To God

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. This morning as we look at 2 Samuel chapter 22, I've titled the message, My Song to God.

It's looking at a song that David wrote to the Lord. And as we look at this song that David wrote, I want to encourage you to take this as an example for you to also have your own song to God. Now, as we talk about songs and singing today, I would like you to understand that singing is an important part of

of our faith in Jesus Christ. And if you need an example of that, an illustration of that, you can simply look at the Bible that God has provided for us. And there in the midst of the scriptures, right in the middle of the Bible is the book of Psalms. And it's the longest book of the Bible. And so God decided, you know, I'm going to take the

biggest chunk and devote it not to necessarily, you know, this is doctrine and here's the theology book or, you know, here's all of the encyclopedia of all things God. But he said, I'm going to take this section and I'm going to devote it to worship and praise because, well, it's really important for us. It's an essential part of our walk with God.

It's not just for this moment as well, but as we look into the book of Revelation, we can see the church there worshiping God. It tells us in Revelation 5, verse 9, that they sing a new song. And there's worship and praise that's happening in heaven, in eternity, because, again, it's part of who God has created us to be.

For us, as we are on the way to eternity, there is a command for us, several times in the scriptures, for us to sing to the Lord. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 16, the apostle Paul tells us, "...let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

God wants us to sing. It's part of our walk with God. It's also part of our ministry to one another.

When we sing to God, I would encourage you, first of all, to make sure that you don't just mouth words and that also you don't just stand there with your arms folded and just watch a good, you know, music show. But that our times of worship are meant to be times where our voices are lifted up, where your voice is heard, where you audibly, verbally bring forth praise and worship to God. And

And so I would encourage you as we spend time in worship, and we'll have an opportunity to worship at the end of service as well, make sure that you understand the words and mean the words and even make them your own. Because as you verbalize the things that we're singing and the way that we're worshiping, it does something important for you. It ministers to you.

Even truths that we know, even things that we're confident in that we've known for many years, it is incredibly helpful for us to

to speak out those truths, whether it be in song or without a tune whatsoever, to speak forth the truths of God, to speak forth the praise of God and thanks to God is valuable to us. It's important to us, and it does an important work in our hearts. But not only that, singing is an important part of our ministry to one another.

Now, this may not be your favorite aspect of singing in a worship service. You may not want people next to you to hear you or your voice as you're singing the song, right? You might be hoping nobody else can hear you. But the reality is, it's not about how well you can carry a tune, what notes you can hit. You know, it's not American Idol, and you're not out to impress people with your amazing talent.

When you sing out, when you lift up your voice in the midst of worship, the person next to you hears and it ministers to them. And just as you speak forth those words of God and the truth of God and it ministers to you and it builds up your faith, it impacts and it ministers to the people around you as well. You're encouraging them. You're strengthening them and building them up in the ways of the Lord and the things of the Lord as you lift up your voice and sing.

And as we all gather together corporately and sing together, there's a unique ministry that God does. There's a unique work that God does. As we hear the voices of us all together in agreement saying, yes, God is good. God is my strength. God is my savior. The different things that we sing throughout the various songs, we're encouraging, we're helping, we're strengthening one another. And so God has designed ministry.

the faith. He's designed our walk with the Lord to include singing, to include song, because it's helpful for us individually, but also helpful in ministering to one another, and it's helpful as we gather together corporately to sing. Now, this morning, we're looking at a song of David.

And it tells us in verse 1 that it's a song that he spoke to the Lord. He presented these words to the Lord. He's talking about God. He's not informing God. God knows everything. But he's presenting these things about God to God. Again, it's a declaration of his faith, his belief, and his trust in God.

And so as we look at this song of David, I want to encourage you to take this song of David and make it your own. You know, give it the Ronnie remix. You know, it's like put in your own words, put in your own thoughts, put in your own beat or whatever rhythm you have and let it be a song that you can sing to God. And so again, the title is My Song to God. I'm not saying Jerry's song to God. I'm saying let you say this is my song to

And we're going to look at five points to kind of just look at various aspects of this song. We're going to go pretty quickly. Usually we don't cover this many verses. So, you know, pay attention. Stay up with us. And grab the things that the Lord's highlighting for you so that you can sing your song to God. So that...

as we close in a time of worship, you'll be able to worship him with your heart, with a meaningful experience with God as he's speaking to you. Well, we're going to start with the first point in verses one through seven, and point number one is God is my Savior. God is my Savior. Not just the Savior, not generic, you know, not just in general he is the Savior of the whole world, but

But it's very personal as David writes this song. God is my savior. For me, he is my savior. In verse one, it starts out saying, then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

And so again, we see David spoke to the Lord the words of this song. It's him interacting with God. It's an expression of his personal relationship with God, the real communication that he had with God. He expressed himself to the Lord in this way. And what does he say? Verse 2.

And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. Verse 3, the God of my strength in whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. Notice in verse 2 and 3, the word my. David is writing this song to the Lord, but it's, well, it's his Lord. It's very personal for him.

He says, the Lord is my rock. Again, not just general, not just generic, the Lord is a rock or the Lord is the rock, but he's my rock. My life is built upon the Lord and he's my fortress and my deliverer. Nine times he uses the word my. This is very personal to David. This is something that is near to him that is actually coming from his heart. This is true for him. God has been all of these things to him personally.

personally. And that's where our praise to God and our worship of God comes from. It comes from our own encounters and experiences with God. And notice the words that David uses to express who God is to him. He says, God is my rock.

God is my fortress, my deliverer, my strength, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge. God is my savior.

Now, we could spend, you know, a lot of time talking about each of those things individually. David just rattles them off. God has done these amazing things in my life. He's been so important to me. Such a huge part of who I am and what's happened in my life is because of God and his place in my life. Now, this psalm here in 2 Samuel chapter 22 falls toward the end of David's life.

It's possible that he also wrote this earlier, and it seems to be that he wrote it earlier, and he used this song repeatedly at various times in his life. But at this point, he's looking back, and he's reflecting on all that God has done.

He's perhaps reflecting on how God delivered him from Goliath there when he was very young and he had that battle and he was victorious. Perhaps he's thinking about Saul and how Saul pursued David in the wilderness for years. In fact, verse 1 specifically says that this was coming out of the Lord delivering David from Saul.

David also went through different seasons of backsliding and messing up and having failures, and God delivered him out of those things. He had many battles, and so perhaps he's reflecting on those wars and those battles against the enemies that David encountered.

just recently in the text that we're looking at, David had been delivered from his son Absalom, who tried to overthrow David and take over the kingdom. And so David's able to look back on his life now, an old man, and look at how God has delivered him and done these incredible things. And he says, God is my rock. He's my refuge. God is my savior. Now, as David refers to God as my savior, he's

I think our minds typically go to the way that we would talk about Jesus as Savior in the sense of we're talking about eternity when we talk about Jesus being our Savior. We're talking about how he, being God, became man and died upon the cross for us, that by believing on him we can have forgiveness, that we can have everlasting life. And so we say Jesus must be your Savior.

Now, those things are true, and Jesus is our Savior in that way. But understand, as David says that God is my Savior, he wasn't talking about sin and eternity. He was talking about issues of life. He was talking about difficult circumstances and trials and distresses that he was going through.

Notice at the end of verse 3, he says, you saved me from violence. He's talking about the problems that are right there in front of him, the things that he faces in daily life. And he says, God is my Savior. Is God your Savior? Yes.

Yes, it's important that God is your savior for all of eternity, that you trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, that you become born again so that you can have the hope of everlasting life. That is crucial, and that's the most important way for God to be your savior. But sometimes, even as believers, we forget that God is our savior for everything else too, for the rest of life as well.

And so I would ask you to consider for your life, is God your savior? And the real test for that, the way that you can tell if God is your savior is very simple. Do you ask God to save you? As you encounter difficulties, as you go through distresses, as you go through difficult situations, do you ask God to save you? Check out verse four.

David says, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. See, David says, God is my savior. And then he says, I will call upon the Lord and I'll be saved. God is my savior. So I will call upon the Lord. This is what we need to do. We need to call upon the Lord and then let God save us.

Again, not just for eternity, but for all of life. If you don't call upon the Lord, then he's not your savior. You must call upon the Lord in order for him to be your savior. And if you call upon the Lord, then you also need to let him save you. So if you call upon the Lord in the situation that you're in,

But then say, oh, never mind, I figured it out, and you take care of it yourself. Then that's not God being your savior. That's God being your backup plan. All right, I think I got this. But just in case I don't got it, Lord, you know, will you take care of it?

If my house is on fire and I call the fire department and they're on their way, but I grab the hose and I put out the fire myself, when the fire department shows up, I can't say to them, you guys are my heroes. You saved me. They're like, no, you put out the fire before we got here, right? That's not the saving that is necessary. Now, I'm not saying if you have a fire, don't put it out and wait for the fire department. I'm saying, that's fine. You can put it out. But when it comes to life circumstances, so many times,

We lift things up to God, but then we take it back and we say, never mind, God, I figured out a way. I don't need you anymore. And so I'm going to do it my way. I'm going to do what I thought of in order to handle this situation. And so many times we need to just stop and wait and let God direct us. Now, sometimes God will tell you to do something. And the way that he saves you is he shows you what to do. He tells you what to do.

But sometimes God saves you by saying, just don't do anything and let me handle it. We really want to take the reins and get back involved and do what we think is best. And God wants us to just wait and let him do the saving. God is my savior. Verse 5.

Notice what he says there in verse 7. Amen.

In the midst of the turmoil, in the midst of the difficulty, in the midst of the chaos, right in the middle of the problem, I called out to the Lord. And then the beautiful thing there, he says, he heard my voice from his temple.

When you call out to God, when you cry out to him in times of distress, God hears you. When you're running for your life, when you're in the midst of the worst difficulties you've ever had to face before, the hardest things for your heart, the hardest things for your life, and you cry out to the Lord, God hears your cry because God is your Savior. God is your Savior. But again, I want you to take this and make it your own. Make it yours.

personal to you, your own remix, so that you could testify, God is my Savior for eternity. God is my Savior for all of life. God is my Savior for you could fill in the blank, for my situation at work, for the things I'm going through at school, for these issues in my marriage, for these addictions that I battle. God is my Savior. And as David is singing this to the Lord, speaking this to the Lord,

He's not just writing down some cool words, but he's reminding himself. And we need these kinds of reminders. Again, speaking forth these things and singing them to the Lord is helpful for us. It builds us up and strengthens us in the faith. And so I'm going to ask you to do something I don't usually ask you to do, but that is to respond a little bit as we go through these things. And so repeat after me to strengthen yourself, to encourage yourself.

to help you grasp hold of who God is in your life. Would you repeat after me? God is my Savior. There you go. God is my Savior. Good job. Are you in distress? Call upon God to save you. Let God be your Savior for eternity, for your sin, but also for all the rest of your life, for every situation you face, for every issue you wrestle with.

Let God be your savior. Well, moving on to the second point, we're going to look at verses 8 through 20. And here, point number two is that God moves heaven and earth for me. Now, that may sound a little bit arrogant to say, right? But here's the reality. David paints this picture for us. I think it's so cool. And I really pray that this truth sinks deep into your heart. We need to have this truth established. You are so important to God.

You are so valuable to him. When you call out to him in distress, not only does he hear you, but he will move heaven and earth for you. Check out verse 8. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken because he was angry. His child is distressed.

And so God is angry. He's disturbed. And so he shakes, he moves heaven and earth. Now, of course, David is speaking poetically here. He's not talking about a literal earthquake that happens, right? He's speaking poetically, which is appropriate for a song. That's very often how, you know, the things that we sing, they're poetic in nature. They're painting a picture. And so this is poetic. And yet I want us to understand it's true. It's true.

It paints a picture of reality. God moves heaven and earth to take care of his people. We may not always feel like that is the truth, but it is the truth whether we feel it or not. Consider one of the great promises that we often refer to, Romans 8, verse 28. Paul says, "'We know that all things work together for good "'to those who love God, "'to those who are the called according to his purpose.'"

This is something we know. Everything works together for good because God works it together. God makes it, uses it, accomplishes good from it. Now, the only way for this promise to be true is if God moves heaven and earth for me. The only way for it to be true that God can take every aspect of my life, what I would consider the deepest parts, the lowest parts, and the highest parts.

And for God to use those things and to work out good from the midst of those things, the only way for that to possibly be true is if God moves heaven and earth for me. The idea here is that God accomplishes his will for me no matter what. And God's will for you is for good.

And nothing will stand in the way. For those who love God, nothing will stand in the way of God accomplishing his will for you. And if it requires that nations be raised up

For your good, God will raise up nations. And if it requires that nations be cast down, God will cast down nations. If it requires that businesses be opened or businesses be closed, God will do that. If it requires healing or provision or protection or anything else, God is able to work all things together for good. And there's no limit to what he will do to accomplish his will in your life because he wants what's best for you.

God moves heaven and earth for you. Would you encourage yourself in that? Repeat after me. God moves heaven and earth for me. He really does. Don't just mouth the words, but understand, recognize you're so important to God. You're so valuable to God. There's no limit to what he will do to accomplish his goodwill and his purposes in your life. Verse 9 says,

Verse 14. Verse 14.

The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning bolts, and he vanquished them. Verse 16. Then the channels of the sea were seen. The foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. You see that picture, the imagery there? Just this incredible, awesome scene. The smoke everywhere, God moving, and

and he just blasts from his nostrils. He's just breathing, and the water is just fleeing away, and the seas are uncovered. You can see the depths, the channels, and the foundation of the earth is uncovered. Again, there's no limit to what God will do. He's big, and the breath of his nostrils can wash away the seas, blow away the seas. He is big. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth.

And notice what he says in verse 17. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. David, as he reflects upon his life and how God has worked, he says God has shown up in this way. He's done mighty things. He's worked miracles. He's moved heaven and earth and he sent from above and he drew me out of many waters. I was drowning. I was in over my head and God pulled me out. God moves heaven and earth for me.

Now, I'd like you to keep in mind as you consider these things. David here is not talking about the instant removal of all problems. David is writing these things after some time has passed as he looks back. But remember that David ran for his life from Saul for years. For years, he was on the run. He was dodging. His life was threatened. But as he came out the other side of that...

He was able to look back and say, God moves heaven and earth for me. It doesn't mean that we don't have any problems. It doesn't mean that we don't face any issues. But what it does mean is that at the end, as we look back, we'll be able to testify like David. God moved heaven and earth for me. When you call upon the Lord, you may not see an instant removal of all issues. You probably won't see that. But that doesn't mean that God is not working for

Understand that God is working as you call upon the Lord. And you may not see it, but he is moving heaven and earth for you. And at the end, you'll be able to see and testify like David. But it requires faith. It's faith very similar to the faith that we have for salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ means that we believe that Jesus died upon the cross for our sins. And that by believing in him, we have forgiveness for our sins.

But the reality is we still sin even when we believe in Jesus. And so what we see right in front of us is different than what we know to be true, than what we believe to be true. You have God's promise that God has forgiven you, but you won't see the fulfillment of the removal of sin until eternity. And salvation from our situations and distresses in this life is very similar. It

As you call out to God, you have God's promise that he's at work and that he will work all things together for good to those who love him. You have the promise, but it might not match with what you see right in front of you. It may take some time before you can see it, but the promise is and the guarantee is you will see it. And like David, as you come out the other side, you'll be able to look back and say, God moved heaven and earth for me. He is at work for you. He is at work in your life. Verse 18.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. David says, I was overwhelmed. My enemies were too strong. The enemies that we face in our life are stronger than us as well. But God is stronger than anything that opposes us. Verse 19, they confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place. He delivered me.

Whoa, do you see that last phrase there? Notice what it says in verse 20. He delivered me because he delighted in me. God delivered me because he delighted in me. You know that God delights in you? I know many times we don't feel that way. And the enemy loves to keep you from feeling that way, laying on all kinds of condemnation, letting you think that God hates you, that God's out to get you, that God's trying to ruin your life.

God delights in you because you believe in Jesus. Even when your life is a mess, even when you're in distress, right? When we're in distress, we're in the worst situations of our lives, the biggest mess. Sometimes the biggest mess that we're in is because of our own sinfulness. And so we think, yeah, God's probably fed up with me. Sure, I can understand. I'm fed up with me too. But you need to understand, even then in your distress, in the worst condition of your life,

God delights in you if you believe in Jesus Christ. He delights in you. That's what he requires. That's the only thing for you to accept what he has done for you. When you do that, God delights in you. He's excited about you. He's passionate for you. It's the only thing he requires.

For you to trust him with your life and for you to trust him with your eternity. This is an important truth. In fact, it's so important, maybe you should encourage yourself in this a little bit. Repeat after me. God delights in me. I pray you believe it and don't just say it. God delights in you. He's excited about you. He's happy about you. So much so that he will move heaven and earth and nothing will stand in the way of him accomplishing his will, his purposes for your good for all of eternity.

Because he delights in you. Moving on to point number three, we're going to look at verses 21 through 29. And here we see that God rewards me for obeying. Verse 21 says, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. The Lord rewarded me, he says, according to my righteousness. And maybe you're starting to think, okay, well, that explains it.

No wonder I'm not experiencing, you know, good things and deliverance because, well, maybe God doesn't delight in me that much because I'm not very righteous. And so I'm not getting rewarded for my righteousness. But understand, David here is not claiming to be perfect and he's not even claiming to be close to perfect. What David is declaring is that he is pursuing God and

as opposed to running from God. Check out verse 22. He says, for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. You see, there's a contrast that he's drawing here. There's two options to keep the ways of God. Now he's not saying I'm perfect and I do everything that God wants me to do and everything that God says and I don't sin. That's not what he's saying. He's saying I'm drawing near to God as opposed to wickedly departing from God. Those are the two options that everybody has.

And he says, I've turned to draw near to God. I fall short. I make mistakes. But I'm drawing near to God. I'm seeking God. I'm wanting to honor and pursue God. And so God rewards me according to my righteousness. Hebrews 11, 6 tells us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. When you believe that he is and you diligently seek him, God rewards you for righteousness. He rewards you for choosing him.

to know him and to walk with him. Verse 23, for all his judgments were before me. And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyes. Notice that in verse 25, according to my cleanness in the eyes of God. How does God see you?

Did you know that God sees everything about you? Jesus taught us that God even knows the number of hairs upon your head. He knows every detail. He knows every aspect of every moment of your life. He knows the depths of your heart. He sees the stuff that nobody else sees, and he sees the stuff that you don't even see because there's so much in your own heart, in your own mind, in your own life that you don't even see. You don't even know.

but God sees it. And maybe that makes us cringe a little bit to think that God can see all those things that we try so hard to keep everybody else from seeing. But notice what David says. He says, according to my cleanness in his eyes, God looks at you. And if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you're born again, God looks at you and he sees you as righteous. He sees you clean in his eyes.

Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, tells us that he, that's the Father, made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. The Father sent the Son to die upon the cross. And that was Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. There's a substitution that takes place. Jesus took our place upon the cross, received our judgment, our punishment, and

so that our sin is completely paid for. So as a believer in Jesus Christ, when God looks at you, he doesn't see all that sin and junk that you try so hard to hide. He doesn't see that. It's paid for. It's done. Instead, he sees the perfect life of Jesus Christ. The scriptures also talk about us being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. When God looks at you, he sees your cleanness, the cleanness of Jesus.

And so then God deals with you. He relates to you as if you lived the righteous life that Jesus lived. In verse 26, he says, with the merciful, you will show yourself merciful. With a blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. He looks at you and he sees you as merciful, as Christ, and blameless as Christ. Verse 27, with the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the devious, you will show yourself shrewd.

He looks at you and he sees you as pure. And so he shows himself pure physically.

in relationship to you. Now, with the devious, however, so you want to outsmart God. You want to try to get away with sin. You know, OK, I want heaven. And I don't want to have judgment for sin. But I want to live in sin. And so I'm going to work out some system, work out some way. I'm going to outsmart God. No, God's going to be more shrewd than you. And you're never going to work that out. You're always going to experience his judgment if you're living in sin and running from God, but trying to experience the benefits of walking with God. Verse 28 says,

You will save the humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty that you may bring them down. And so there's the contrast between the humble and the haughty. Humble people call upon the Lord for salvation and he saves them. Haughty people don't call upon the Lord. They are convinced they can solve their own problems. They don't need God to handle their issues. Humble people ask God for help.

and obeying him and walking with him. Haughty people try to get away with disobedience, and he won't stand for the haughty, but for the humble, God will reward you for obeying, for being humble, for calling upon him. In verse 29, he says, for you are my lamp, O Lord. The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. You're my lamp. You light up my path before me.

And there is darkness in my life. There is difficulty. But you bring light to it. You bring hope and joy and truth. God rewards me for obeying. Now understand, God does not have to reward me. Obeying is the right thing to do because God is God. He is the creator. We belong to him, whether we like it or not. He's the master. He's the Lord. Obedience is owed to God. He doesn't have to reward us for obedience.

You ever have a police officer pull you over, hand you a gift card and say, hey, good job. I saw you were going the speed limit, so I just want to give you a reward. Say thank you for going the speed limit. No, that's what you're supposed to do. You don't get rewarded for that, except when it comes to God. God is so incredibly gracious and loving towards us and good to us that even though it's owed, even though we have to and we're supposed to, it's the only right thing to do. God rewards us.

for obeying him, for turning towards him, for seeking him to know him. And as you do that, the Lord rewards you according to your righteousness, according to your cleanness in his eyes. You need to know that God rewards you. God wants to bless you. He wants to pour out great things in your life. And so would you encourage yourself and remind yourself and the person next to you and repeat after me, God rewards me for obeying.

He really does. God is so good to us. We need to walk in that obedience, walk in pursuit of God, and allow him to do the work in us that he desires to do. Well, moving on to point number four, now we see in verses 30 through 46 that God is my strength. God is my strength. Now, we've been talking about God being our Savior and God bringing deliverance, and

God can bring salvation in our lives in a couple ways. Sometimes he brings salvation in the sense that he just removes the problem or he takes us out of the situation altogether. And we love that kind of salvation, don't we? We love that kind of deliverance. But sometimes, I would say probably more often, God delivers us, he saves us,

By helping us endure the situation. Sometimes it's by escape. You're gone. And we're looking forward to the rapture, right? So that we don't have to endure this world and the tribulation that comes. But sometimes God wants us to endure. And the way that he saves us is that he gives us strength to make it through the difficulties that we face. Eternity is coming. And that will be the complete removal of all opposition. And we can look forward to that.

But until then, God wants to give you strength to endure, strength to do what he has called you to do. Verse 30, he says, for by you, I can run against a troop. By my God, I can leap over a wall. He says, God, by you, I can run against a troop. This may not sound very exciting to us. I can run against a troop? What's the big deal? Here's what David's describing.

I'm outnumbered. There's a whole army, a whole troop against me, and I'm just here by myself. But God, when you're my strength, with you, I can pursue them. Not that I'm running from them, but God, you turn things around, and by you, I can run against a troop. I can fight when I'm outnumbered. I can fight. I can have victory even when the circumstances and situations of life are far stronger and greater than I am.

He says, by my God, I can leap over a wall. Now, I remember, you know, I've read this chapter many times. I've read this verse many times ever since I was young. And I kind of remember thinking, like, what's the big deal? Now, when I was growing up, I lived over in Riverside. And we had a wall or a fence around our yard. It was a block wall with wrought iron. And it was no big deal to leap over the wall. So what's the big deal? By my God, I can, you know, get out of the yard. What's the big deal?

But understand that David here is not talking about a fence around your yard. He's talking about a city wall. And city walls are quite different than what might be around your yard. So I threw a quick diagram up there for you. So there's you. And get the proportions there. And the wall around the city is...

is significant. It's massive. It's not something that you could be able to leap over. But David says, by my God, I can leap over a wall. Essentially, David says, I'm Superman. He had a Superman shirt on. He said, I can leap tall buildings in a single bound by God. The point is, God is my strength. And with God,

I can accomplish big things. I can have great victories, even when I'm outnumbered, even when all the situations are against me, even when everything is bleak and grim, and it looks like there's no hope at all. By God, I can run against a troop. And by my God, I can leap the wall. God gives you strength to handle whatever situation you face. Verse 31, as for God,

Verse 35. Verse 35.

Do you need to bend a bow of bronze or a bro of bonds? Do you need to have your hands trained for war? It's what David needed. But again, I would like to encourage you, take the thoughts here and make them your own. Personalize it. He teaches my hands to rebuild the sanctuary floor. He trains me to teach the Bible. By my God, I can be a good husband.

You see, David here is expressing the situations that he was in, but we all have our own unique situations. And God is able to give you strength to be the man or woman that he's called you to be, to do the things that he's called you to do, to have victory in the various things that you wrestle with in this life. God is your strength.

Verse 36, he says, you have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me so my feet did not slip. You've been my protection. You're my shield. And you've enlarged my path. Have you ever been on a narrow path? You may be going switchbacks up a mountain. And as you go, there's this little path. And you're just trying to be careful. And you look down. And the higher up you go, you're switching back and forth, all the way to the top. And you're looking down thinking, if I slip,

I'm going to be rolling down the mountain for a long time. It's just a long fall, and there's not much holding me up here. But David says, you've enlarged my path. There's no danger of falling. I've got all the security and comfort in the world because my path is large. I don't need to worry about slipping because God's taking care of me. He's established my footsteps.

And so sometimes God delivers and brings deliverance and gives us strength by enlarging our path, by establishing us on solid ground. But sometimes God delivers us by sending us in pursuit of our enemies. Verse 38, I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. And I have destroyed them and wounded them so that they could not rise. They have fallen under my feet.

Verse 44. Verse 44.

Here David is describing a variety of situations where God has given him strength. So sometimes God provides strength and helps him to withstand attacks where God is his shield.

has taken the brunt of the battle on his behalf. Sometimes God sends him in pursuit of his enemies. And so by God, he runs against the troop. And it shouldn't make sense that he could run against a thousand, but by God's strength, he's able to have victory and to have those situations resolved in his life. But sometimes the danger that he faces, he says in verse 44, you've delivered me from the strivings of my people.

Sometimes it's not those outside enemies, but those who are close to him, his own people. He says, God, you've given me strength and brought deliverance in those situations as well. But then also with the strangers and foreigners, those that we don't know, you've brought honor and deliverance in our contact with them as well. The point is, in a variety of contexts, all kinds of situations, God is my strength. God is able to give you strength to handle whatever you face.

And sometimes he'll give you that strength to help you endure. Sometimes he'll give you that strength because he wants you to fight. Sometimes he's going to call you to run. Sometimes he's going to call you to jump. Sometimes he's going to call you to stay there and he's going to be your armor. He's going to be your protection and shield. And you just rest and trust in him. But whatever way he calls you to do it,

He is your strength. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6, verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Be strong in the Lord. How do you be strong in the Lord? Do you have to have a special kind of weight set, you know, kind of exercise those spiritual muscles? How do you become strong in the Lord? It's something that you receive from God as you rely upon him and trust in him.

Be strong in the Lord by relying on him, by trusting in him and obeying him as he gives you instruction. So when he tells you to run, you run. When he tells you to stay, you stay. Whatever God tells you to do, he's going to equip you. He's going to enable you to do what he's called you to do. And so you can encourage yourself. You can strengthen yourself and repeat after me. God is my strength. He is your strength.

He has great strength for you. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. There are many situations that we face and we think, I can't handle this. This is way too much for me. But God can strengthen you. And by God, you can run against a troop. You can leap over a wall. You can handle anything that comes your way because God is your strength. Well, the final point now, verses 47 through 51, as we close out the chapter, point number five is I will praise God.

He comes to the end of this song again. He's thinking about all these things that God has done. And he says, you know what? I'm going to praise God. Verse 47, the Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let the God of my salvation be exalted, the rock of my salvation. The Lord lives. David looks back at his life and says, God's alive. He's not dead. He's at work. He's doing amazing things. God is not inactive.

He hasn't just, you know, like wound it up like a top and he's just like standing back and watching. No, the Lord lives, David's saying. He's at work in my life. I've seen him do amazing things. He's alive. He's well. He's at work. And then he says, blessed be my rock. Again, notice that he says, blessed be my rock.

Not a rock or the rock, just speaking generally. But David says, Lord, to me, you have been my rock. You've been steadfast. You've been reliable. You've been 100% faithful every time without exception. It reminded me of what Jesus taught us in Luke chapter 6. He says, I'll tell you what it's like. The person who hears my word and puts it into practice is like a man who digs down deep into

and builds his house upon the rock so that when the storm comes, the house is not shaken by it because it was founded on the rock. David says, this is how God has been to me. He's dug down deep. He's responded to the word of God. He's trusted in God, and God has been his rock. Now, I like what Alexander McLaren, the commentator, says about this. He says, if we start with the Lord is my rock,

then we will end with, blessed be my rock. In verse 2, David says, the Lord is my rock. And so then the end result is, blessed be my rock. Do you understand that if you start out with, the Lord is my rock, if you will trust in God, put yourself completely in him, believe in him wholly, completely,

Follow his instructions completely, just full surrender to God. If you will rest on God and make him your rock, there will never be a case where someone comes to the end and says, well, I made God my rock, but he was just kind of so-so for me. Everyone who makes God their rock at the end will say, blessed be my rock. That is that God will be faithful to bring blessing, to do a great work for those who trust in him.

If you start out with the Lord is my rock, you will end up exclaiming, declaring, praising, blessed be my rock. Let God be exalted, the rock of my salvation. Verse 48, it is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have delivered me from the violent man. Verse 50,

Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. He says, therefore, God has been my rock. He's provided for me. He's delivered me. He saved me over and over and over again. And so therefore, I will give thanks. I will be grateful. I will give thanks. He says, among the Gentiles, I will thank God among unbelievers.

Before the people who don't know you, I will recognize you. I will honor your name. I will give you glory. And he says, I will sing praises to your name. And there we have it again, that importance of song, to sing praises to God because he is so good to us because he is our blessed rock. Verse 51, he is the tower of salvation to his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore.

God is a tower of salvation. The tower, again, it's this imagery here. It was a place that was lifted high, that was safe, that was secure, that was untouchable from the enemies that came against it. And he says, God is my tower of salvation. He's lifted me high. He's kept me above the battle, the damage, the harm. He's preserved me and kept me safe. And he's shown me mercy. He's shown me mercy.

We deserve judgment, but God has shown us mercy. God deserves praise. Let's not withhold it. He deserves our thanks. He deserves our praise. And so he says, he shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore. Personalize it. He doesn't just show mercy to David. He shows mercy to you. He shows mercy to me. And it should bring us peace.

to this same point where David is saying, I will praise God. And would you encourage yourself and stir up your own heart and allow God to do this work in you and repeat after me, I will praise God. I'd like for you to prove that. And I'm going to invite Ronnie to come up and lead us in one last song. And as he leads us in this last song, I would like for you to

to take to account all these things that we've talked about. God is my savior. He moves heaven and earth for me. He rewards me for obeying. He is my strength. And so I will praise him. And you can personalize that. Whatever aspects are ministering to you and speaking to you, how God has worked in your life, he is worthy of praise.

And so I would encourage you to sing it out, to lift up your voice and let your voice be heard. It's important for you. It's important for the people next to you. It's important for us as a congregation. God does a work as we lift up our voices to him. As we get into this time of worship, I just want to share one last word. And that is that these truths that I've been talking about all morning are for those who have received the forgiveness that's offered by Jesus Christ.

to have the promise of God's work and strength and protection and for God to work all things together for good, that can only take place for those who are the children of God, for those who have received Jesus as their Savior and Lord. But if you want these things to be true, you want God to be all these things to you, all you gotta do is call out to God. Remember in verse four, he says, "'I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, "'so shall I be saved from my enemies.'"

to be forgiven of all sin, to have the hope of everlasting life, all we need to do is call upon the Lord. Paul the Apostle tells us this in Romans chapter 10, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so if you're in distress this morning, whether it's a physical situation, a relationship situation that you're facing right now, or maybe you're in distress over your sin, as we worship the Lord, call out to him. He will save you.

It's his promise. Let's worship him together.