10 June 2012
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to 2 Samuel 22 -- today we're going to be looking at 2 Samuel 22:1-20 -- but rather than opening up with the entire passage as I normally do, I just want to open up by reading the first seven verses
-- verse 1-7
2 Samuel 22:1-7 (NIV)
1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the
LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said: "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer;
3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and
the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from
violent men you save me.
4 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am
saved from my enemies.
5 "The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of
destruction overwhelmed me.
6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of
death confronted me.
7 In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my
God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.
-- last
week the world paused to celebrate two historic milestone events -- the first,
which took up most of the media's attention early last week, was the
celebration in London and throughout the English empire of Queen Elizabeth's
diamond jubilee
-- June 2nd
marked 60 years that Queen Elizabeth has sat on the throne -- only one other
monarch in English history has ever ruled so long -- Queen -- I think this celebration is a testimony of the queen's popularity and her ability to rise above trying family circumstances to continue to serve the English people in that role as she has for so long
-- the second historic event that we paused to remember last week was on June 6th -- D-Day -- the date of the allied invasion of Normandy that led to the eventual collapse of Hitler's reign and the end of World War II -- and while it did not get the attention that Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee did in the media, it was arguably the most significant event of the 20th century -- the day when evil was defeated
-- these
events remind me of a story that I happened across this week that involved
Queen Victoria -- this is one of the minor blips in history -- one of those
events that isn't remembered or celebrated by many, but it is considered one of
the most significant military expeditions to ever have occurred, comparable to
the Allied invasion of France on D-Day
-- in 1874,
the Ethiopian emperor took 53 Europeans hostage -- 30 adults and 23 children,
including some missionary families and British officials -- he imprisoned them
in a remote 9,000-foot-high fortress deep in the interior of Ethiopia and,
despite the official requests and pleas from Queen Victoria, he refused to
release them even after holding them captive for four years-- finally, Queen
-- The invasion force included 32,000 men, heavy artillery, and 44 elephants to carry the guns -- they carried with them 50,000 tons of beef and pork and 30,000 gallons of rum -- Engineers built landing piers, water treatment plants, a railroad, and a telegraph line to the interior, not counting all the bridges they had to build to cross the many rivers and streams
-- and Queen Victoria did all of this -- not to conquer the country or make it a British colony, but simply to rescue this tiny band of civilians -- she moved heaven and earth and expended untold resources just for one decisive battle to free her people [Modified from: Jim Reapsome, Current Thoughts and Trends (May 1999); submitted by Darren Wride, Hinton, AB, Canada, Preaching Today Website]
II. God Protects Us
-- you've
heard the saying, "Don't mess with -- that's the same thing that God seems to be saying about His people in this passage here in 2 Samuel 22 -- this is one of the attributes of God -- part of His character and nature that we tend to overlook
-- we talk about His omniscience -- how He is all-knowing -- we talk about His omnipotence -- how He is all-powerful -- we talk about His omnipresence -- how He is everywhere at once
-- we talk about His love and His grace and His mercy -- we talk about His peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and faithfulness -- we'll even talk about His wrath and judgment and discipline
-- but we rarely talk about His attribute of protectiveness -- when God looks down at the world and says, "Don't mess with My children"
-- Jesus gave us a glimpse of God's heart when He looked over
-- David knew this part of God's heart -- and here in 2 Samuel 22, as his days are ending and as he is pausing to reflect on the events of his life, David writes a Psalm of praise to remember and rejoice over how God had delivered him and protected him time and time again over the years of his life
-- let's take a moment here and look at this passage together and see what we can learn from David's psalm of praise for protection
III. Scripture Lesson (2 Samuel 22:1-20)
-- verse 1
2 Samuel 22:1-7 (NIV)
1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the
LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said: "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer;
3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and
the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from
violent men you save me.
-- I want
you to see something in these verses -- David doesn't just know about God --
David knows God -- David has a personal, intimate relationship with the God of
all the universe
-- one of
the ways that I use to gauge where a person is in their relationship with
Christ is by asking them the question, "Who is Jesus to you?" -- not
"Who is Jesus?" -- but "Who is Jesus to you?" -- and
if a person knows Jesus -- if they have a personal relationship with Him --
most of the time they are going to respond by saying, "He is my..."
-- I don't
know if you mark in your Bibles or not, but I'd like you to underline or at
least put your finger on each time David says "my" in these verses --
look at it again
-- nine times in these three
short verses David refers to God as "My" -- David knows God -- this
isn't just head knowledge -- this is heart knowledge
-- and look
at the words that David uses to describe his experiences with God -- look at
how he knows God in his own life -- rock -- fortress -- deliverer -- shield --
horn of my salvation -- stronghold -- refuge -- savior-- these are descriptions of a powerful God -- a strong God -- a mighty God -- a God that protects -- a God that delivers -- a God that saves
-- all his life, David had not just seen God at a distance, but he had experienced God working through his life to protect him and save him and deliver him from everything that came against him -- physically and spiritually
-- first it was the bear and lion that came against his flock -- then it was the giant Goliath in the valley of Elah -- God kept him safe when Saul wanted to take his life -- God protected him during the many battles that he fought in as warrior and king of Israel -- and God was with him when his son Absalom tried to usurp the throne
-- and when David fell spiritually -- when he sinned against God by sleeping with another man's wife and murdering that man -- when he sinned against God by numbering the people of Israel -- God delivered him from his sins and restored him to a right relationship once again
-- our Father in Heaven longs to deliver us -- to protect us from all evil and from all harm -- but there's a prerequisite -- we first have to know Him -- not know about Him -- we have to know Him, personally and intimately, if we want Him to be our God and Savior
-- a lot of people think they know God just because they come to church -- they think that Christianity is just about singing hymns and listening to a sermon on Sunday morning -- but that's not what Christianity is all about
-- I had a disciple call me yesterday and tell me that his family has started complaining about his enthusiastic discussions about God -- they don't like him asking them what God is doing in their lives -- they don't like him asking them if they really know God -- they told him that they get enough of God on Sunday -- they don't need to hear about Him the rest of the week and they want him to quit talking about God so much
-- this is evidence of people who know about God -- who think they're okay because they go to church and have a designated seat on the pew -- but who don't know God in their hearts the way that David knew Him
-- the question for us is "do we know God as David did or do we just know about Him?"
-- verse 4-6
4 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am
saved from my enemies.
5 "The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of
destruction overwhelmed me.
6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of
death confronted me.
-- "the waves of death swirled about me" -- that is a picture of a person lost in a raging sea -- I imagine most of us here have been to the beach at one time or the other -- do you remember what it feels like when you're out there in the waves -- being tossed around by the power of the sea slamming you towards shore?
-- that's what David is picturing here -- he is adrift in the ocean -- being tossed back and forth and about to pulled beneath the waves
-- the next is "the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me" -- this carries with it the idea of a flood -- of a person being swept up in a mighty flow that he can't control and that is taking him places that he doesn't want to go
-- it felt, David said, like the cords of death were wrapped around him -- he was being pulled to the grave -- as if there were no hope -- no way out
-- we've all been there -- we've all been in situations that felt hopeless -- that felt overwhelming -- that felt like we were going to drown -- if not physically -- then at least spiritually or emotionally
-- so what do we do in those times? -- we do like David did
-- verse 7a
7 In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my
God.
-- we call
out to God
-- sounds
so simple, doesn't it? -- then why don't we do it? -- honestly, when you've got
a problem, the last thing you do is pray -- we try to solve it on our own
first, don't we? -- we go through all the scenarios in our head -- we go
through all the escape options -- we try to come up with some plan to get us
out of trouble -- and only when that fails -- only when there's nothing else we
can do -- we pray-- we've got it backwards -- when David was in the raging sea -- when he was caught up in the roaring floodwaters -- David prayed
-- that's what we should learn to do, too -- we should pray first
-- look
back at verse 7
7 In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my
God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.
-- the only prayer that God can't answer is the prayer that is not prayed
-- how many times does God allow us to hit rock bottom because we are trying to solve our own issues in our own ways when all He wants us to do is come to Him first -- to cry out for help and trust that He will hear
-- David cried out in his distress and God heard his pleas
-- before
we leave this verse, I want to point one thing that is important to know -- in
the Hebrew, the true meaning of this verse is one of continual action
-- not
"I was in trouble one time and I called and you saved me" but "I
am always in trouble and I am always calling and you are always saving
me" -- David isn't just remembering a past event in this passage -- but he is realizing God's activity in the present and is praising God because he has the reassurance of God's continuing deliverance in the future
-- verse 8
2 Samuel 22:8-16 (NIV)
8 "The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of
the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his
mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were
under his feet.
11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings
of the wind.
12 He made darkness his canopy around him-- the dark rain
clouds of the sky.
13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning
blazed forth.
14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most
High resounded.
15 He shot arrows and scattered [the enemies], bolts of
lightning and routed them.
16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations
of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from
his nostrils.
-- I can
sum up verses 8-16 in just five words -- "Don't mess with My family"
-- when
David cried out for God's help, our Father responded-- the earth trembled and shook -- smoke and fire billowed forth -- and God moved into action -- there was no hesitancy -- no deliberation -- there was only righteous anger at the injustice being done -- when David prayed, God moved
-- I
remember when I was a little kid my mother got a threatening letter delivered
to her at school one day by a student -- it was supposedly written by this
student's mother -- and it said that if my mother did not back off, that she
was going to get hurt and went into all the different ways they were going to
do it
-- Mama
showed that letter to Daddy when he got home that night -- he didn't say a word
-- he just took that letter, walked out, got in his truck and left
-- I found
out later that he knew this girl's parents -- that her family had either worked
for him on the farm or was related to people who had worked for him -- so, when
he saw that letter, he went straight over to their house and demanded an
explanation -- he entered their house loaded for bear
-- the same
response you see right here with God -- immediate, righteous indignation --
anger over the fact that someone would dare to hurt a member of his family
-- God is
making a declaration here -- you mess with My family, you mess with Me-- I like that about God -- I like knowing that I've got a heavenly Father who has my back -- a protector and a deliverer who isn't about to let this world or Satan and his demons bully me -- when I get in trouble, I know that all I have to do is cry out and God is going to move
-- David
describes here what we call in theological terms a theophany -- a manifestation
of God to man -- in other words, David cried out and God is coming
-- the
first sign we have of His appearance is a powerful earthquake that shakes the
earth to its core -- smoke and fire and burning coals appeared in response to
God's presence-- when I read verses 8-9, I think of a volcanic eruption -- of the ground shaking and the explosion of fire and burning coals and the smoke billowing up from the caldera
-- in verse 10 we read that God parted the heavens and came down -- they literally bowed before Him and He stood on the dark clouds -- He mounted on wings of angels and soared with the wind -- He surrounded Himself within a powerful thunderstorm -- dark clouds and thunder and lightning
-- the overall picture we see in these verses is one of power and majesty and wrath -- the foundations of the earth were laid bare before the presence of the Lord -- the valleys of the sea were exposed -- no one could hide from the wrath of God -- David's enemies had no where to flee from God's power and judgment
-- God's son was in danger and God was coming to help
-- verse 17
2 Samuel 22:17-20 (NIV)
17 "He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who
were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the
LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me
because he delighted in me.
-- God
reaches down and plucks David from the grasp of his enemies -- He pulls David
from the raging sea and the rushing torrent -- He delivers him from the evil
that threatened his very life -- both physical, spiritual, and emotional
-- notice
that David was not up to the task -- even though he was a warrior -- even
though he had been king for decades -- even though he commanded a mighty army
-- David wasn't strong enough to defeat the enemies that surrounded him
-- so God
did what only God could do -- when David cried out for help, God responded and
rescued David and delivered him from his enemies and brought him into a
spacious place -- and He did all of this -- not because David said the right words in his prayer -- not because David went to temple every Sabbath like a good Jew should -- not because David tithed and gave offerings
-- God did this because He delighted in David -- David knew God and God knew David -- God knew that David was a man after God's own heart -- and even though David occasionally slipped and fell, his heart was still in the right place -- he still longed to be with His God -- not just on the Sabbath -- but every moment of every day
-- this is where we should be in our life -- this is what we should be striving for -- God was delighted in David and God delivered him when he was in need
IV. Closing
-- several
years ago, I was doing some wildlife photography on Ossabaw Island off the coast
of Savannah -- me and a couple others had hiked in to a remote area where there
was a heron rookery -- a place where colonial waterbirds gather together to
nest and raise their young -- we wanted to take pictures of the young birds as
they were sitting on the nest-- as we wading through the marsh and water in the rookery taking pictures, I heard an odd sound just in front of me -- this high-pitched grunt -- almost like a peep, but a little deeper and more persistent -- and I looked down and noticed that I had disturbed a group of baby alligators that had just hatched and were hanging around the nest
-- they were about 8-10 inches long and I thought about grabbing one and taking a few photos when all of a sudden the water started to boil -- literally, there were bubbles coming up and I heard bushes breaking and I thought to myself, "Uh, oh -- I need to move now"
-- you see, these baby alligators were in distress and they cried out and mama was coming and she wasn't wasting any time -- she was going to deliver her babies from the enemy that was threatening them -- in other words, me
-- so I did what any other highly trained wildlife biologist would do -- I screamed like a girl and ran away as fast as I could -- I didn't want any part of that mama gator and I didn't wait around to see what she was going to do when she got there
-- that's a
good picture of what God does for us -- when we're in distress like David was,
if we would only just cry out for help, God will hear our cries and move heaven
and earth to deliver us from our enemies
-- in fact,
that's what the cross was all about -- when we were held captive by sin and
death, God launched an invasion of earth that put both Queen Victoria's
invasion of Ethiopia and the allies' invasion of Normandy on D-Day to shame -- God didn't send an army -- He came Himself, and He went to the cross and suffered in our place to do what we were not strong enough to do -- He came because He loved us and delighted in us and because He is our Father and that's what our Father does
-- so, the
next time you find yourself in a raging sea or in a roaring tempest, cry out to
God for deliverance and watch as He moves heaven and earth just to save you
-- let us
pray
1 comment:
I found your sermon while googling the word "buckler." Excellent and encouraging. Thank you for posting.
Don't be discouraged; keep speaking the truth. God has those who hear.
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