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[0:00] 74 of the Blue Bibles. The children will remain with us for the sermon today until their children's programs recommence in a couple of weeks.

[0:11] Again, that's 2 Samuel 22, page 274. On account of the length of the passage, you may remain seated for the reading of God's Word. And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

[0:31] He said, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my Savior, you save me from violence.

[0:46] I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me, the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

[1:00] In my distress, I called upon the Lord, to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked, the foundations of the heavens trembled, and quaked because he was angry.

[1:15] Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth, glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down, thick darkness was under his feet, he rode on a cherub and flew, he was seen on the wings of the wind.

[1:30] He made darkness around him his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. Out of the brightness before him, coals of fire flamed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.

[1:42] And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

[1:56] He sent from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.

[2:11] He brought me out into a broad place, he rescued me, because he delighted in me. The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me.

[2:23] For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt.

[2:36] And the Lord has rewarded me, according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. With the merciful you show yourself merciful, with the blameless man you show yourself blameless, with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

[2:54] You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

[3:09] This God, his way is perfect, the word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God but the Lord?

[3:19] And who is a rock except our God? This God is my strong refuge, and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer, and set me secure on the heights.

[3:31] He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

[3:45] I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed. I consumed them. I thrust them through so that they did not rise. They fell under my feet. For you equipped me with strength for the battle.

[3:57] You made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them. They looked, but there was none to save. They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

[4:11] I beat them fine as the dust of the earth. I crushed them and stamped them down like a mire of the streets. You delivered me from strife with my people. You kept me as the head of the nations.

[4:22] People whom I had not known served me. Foreigners came cringing to me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

[4:34] The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies.

[4:46] You exalted me above those who rose against me. You delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

[5:03] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Doreen. Good morning to you. It's good to be in God's house again in the midst of God's people with the opportunity, the privilege to proclaim God's word.

[5:23] David, the beloved king of Israel. He's been our focus over the last few weeks. And then we have a few more weeks to conclude this series that we have called Following the King.

[5:41] If you're familiar at all with David, you know that his resume includes the non-battlefield credits of being a songwriter, a musician, and a poet.

[5:58] 2 Samuel 22 is one of his compositions, one of his many compositions. Many of his writings are in Scripture, in the Psalms. But this marvelous composition today that is before us, it really deserves our prayerful reflection and attention.

[6:18] It comes at the end of the Samuel narratives. But it really echoes what we see at the beginning of the Samuel narratives. And let me invite you to turn to 1 Samuel chapter 2.

[6:32] 1 Samuel chapter 2. All the way back there. What you will notice in chapter 2 and verse 1, verses 1 through 10, there Hannah, she lifts her high-pitched voice, if you will, in prophetic praise to God.

[7:00] Notice what she says in verse 1. 1 Samuel chapter 2.

[7:33] Here, early in the narrative, and at the end of the narrative, we hear echoes of what we hear at the beginning of it.

[7:58] what we have in prophecy in 1 Samuel 2 becomes David's reality in 2 Samuel 22.

[8:10] The song found there is about the Lord exalting the power of his anointed king over his enemies. That's what we have here.

[8:22] And as you look in verse 1 of chapter 22, we see the occasion for the song that we find there. See it there? David spoke to the Lord the words of the song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

[8:43] Think about it. David. Military veteran, if you will. Sitting perhaps one day in a sitting room.

[8:55] His uniform is on the rack. You can see some of the chevrons and the medals, if you will, that he's had from his military's exploits.

[9:06] But he begins to think about his career as the head of God's armies, as God's anointed. God had delivered him from his enemies, both the external ones as well as the internal ones.

[9:23] The specific setting of this psalm, it's rather debatable. Even earlier in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 1 speaks of the Lord giving David rest from all of his enemies.

[9:37] In chapters 8 through 10 we see David's military victories over the Palestinian powers of that day. the end of chapter 1 even that we see right before this it speaks about David striking down on four different occasions the perennial enemies of Israel the Philistines.

[10:00] All of these and even perhaps more may come to mind as David he is pondering his career if you will as the Lord's anointed victory and deliverance from the enemies.

[10:14] That was the norm. That was the overarching characteristic of David's career. So the narrator includes in this particular section chapter 21 through 24 at the end what we see here these are David's career highlights if you will career highlights in the life of David.

[10:40] Time doesn't allow a full treatment of all 51 verses of this chapter but there are three things that I really want to bring to your attention that I believe will help us understand and to unpack what is here.

[10:54] The first thing I want you to see is the God who saves. The God who saves. Then I want you to see the king who was saved and in the midst of all of that we'll see the enemies that are defeated.

[11:10] The God who saves, the king who was saved and in the midst of that the enemies who are defeated. Isn't the poetry that we have before us here very, very vivid?

[11:25] It's almost as if David gives us his audience three-dimensional glasses. In various places in the Samuel narratives we've been to the battlefield before.

[11:38] But here David takes us to the battlefield and he takes us there using the medium of poetry. His creative writing leaves no question as to whom the main character is.

[11:55] In verse two God's credits right up front they begin to roll don't they? The God who saves comes into clear light.

[12:05] Look what he says. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my rock in whom I take refuge my shield and the heart of my salvation my stronghold and my refuge my savior you saved me from violence God there he is and you have this multi-dimensional snapshot of the God who saves nine adjectives he used bringing into focus God in his role as protector and defender these words roll off of its lips in staccato like fashion one word is inadequate it prompts another word we know about that don't we we have a similar pattern God is holy that's not enough he's holy holy holy yeah he's redeemer but he's also redeemer savior friend he is immortal invisible

[13:12] God only wise he is our maker defender redeemer and friend and haven't we sung about it this morning here he's indescribable he's uncontainable he's all powerful he's untamable wish I had somebody to say amen this morning ah that's our God folks that is our God the picture before us is one who is rock strong he's fortress like he's unmovable he's impregnable he is impenetrable given these realities Joan we can go to sleep at night we can chill out if you know God in this vein if you know him in this way safety security salvation if we have the protection of

[14:24] God in verses 2 and 3 and verses 8 through 20 we have the pursuit of God who saves and he comes listen he comes in response to David's distress call that we see in verse 7 you see it there in my distress I called upon the Lord to my God I called from his temple he heard my voice my cry came into his ear God to the rescue this is one of those great God to the rescue passages one of many scenes in scripture it's a theophany if you will God shows up and in the process he disrupts things he disrupts things on earth you see it there verse eight the earth reeled and the foundations and rocked and the foundations earth and heaven and heavens trembled and quaked because he was angry he is being transported on heavenly beings in verse 11 he commandeers the forces of nature he's the one in control guess what folks nothing stopping him no mountain too high no valley too low no river too wide to keep him from getting to the one that he's out to save that he's out to rescue that's

[15:52] God that's the way he rolls folks he is the God who saves perhaps by now you've noticed the repetition of the save words in the passage that's the leading word the salvation word those are the key words in the passage from the beginning you see it in verse three my God in whom I take refuge my shield and the horn!

[16:25] salvation he brings to his king you see it again in verse three four thirty six forty two forty forty forty nine there's this cluster of such words huh you see them there look in verse four four I call upon the Lord who is worthy that you to be praised!

[16:45] and I am saved he is my savior! You saved me from violence leading word there but in the process of God doing all of these things the enemies are defeated huh call upon the Lord and I am saved verse four from my enemies now not as many times as you see the saved words but the enemy words are also prominent beginning in verse one ending in verse forty nine he David here is celebrating through song the deliverance of God over his enemies huh look at verses five and six if you will the opposing forces here these are these death dealing enemies huh look at the words there the waves of death encompass me the torrents of destruction assailed me the cards of she entangled me the snares of death confronted me huh facing his enemies had created again and again how many times had

[17:56] David lived this out on the battlefield huh death stalking David huh repeatedly again and again in his life perhaps more times than he wanted to think huh think about talking about a near death experience this is it he had it many times it was out of this stressful situation that he had called upon the Lord and such friends is the experience of the saints of God such was the case last week as Wendy in her prayer mentioned our own Julia Dennis seriously ill seriously ill the saints called on the Lord and out of that serious situation of distress God delivered let me ask you this morning what about your stressful circumstances are you waiting for him but are you calling on him have you asked him how you have you out of the very distress of your situation it may be a family dilemma it may be a sickness or an illness it may be a relational tomorrow may be turmoil in the marketplace what are you waiting on call him call him

[19:18] Jesus is singing the church Jesus on the main line tell him what you want call him up we have to do it a little differently now but tell him tell him what you want in my distress anybody anybody got any stress if I were to look in some of your bags and I probably could see a little little what do they call antidepressants a little stress anybody got stress now is the first place that you go to the medicine cabinet what about prayer I'm talking to somebody this morning call him up what you waiting on call him up tell him what you want look at verse 18 and perhaps this describes some of you you see he described me notice how the enemy is being described he is a strong enemy anybody know anything about strong enemy those who hated me they are too mighty for me verse 18 how they're described what are you waiting on call him up but the story friends doesn't end with the enemy in pursuit the

[20:53] God who saves shows up and rescues from the strong enemy as a matter of fact if you look at verses 32 through 46 demonstrate this is a demonstration what happens when the God who saves strengthens his king in him in pursuit calling on the Lord God shows up with his strength you see it there but who is God but the Lord and then he reprises some of these words that he's used earlier who is a rock except that God this God is my strong refuge what happens the king is delivered enemies are defeated look at what he does in verse 34 God gives sure footed security what just what is this it's safety on dangerous terrain is what is in view there you see it there don't you love that he made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the height what he does rather than barely making it when the

[22:03] Lord shows up he gives offensive momentum to put the enemy to flight so we're not running anymore the enemy is running now when the Lord shows up look at verses 38 to 43 I love this look who's doing the pursuing now I pursued!

[22:26] until they were consumed I consumed them I thrust them through so that they did not rise they fell under my feet just think David rolling over his mind the particular battles one battle after another God showing up the enemy is going to flight for you equip me with strength for the battle you made those who rise against me sink under me you made my enemies turn their backs to me those who hated!

[22:56] They looked but there was none to say they cried to the Lord but he did not answer them I beat them fine as the dust of the earth I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets look at the victory the nature of the victory that God has given it's not just barely getting by the psalmist is called God has answered God has showed establishment of the king in verses 44 to 46 comes into view I'm saved from my enemies son let me focus now on the king who was saved or vindicated son look at verse 21 the Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me the subject you go from the subject of salvation the object of salvation

[24:07] David comes into view why was the king rescued and delivered look at verse 20 because it is from there that we transition into verse 21 he brought me into a broad place he rescued me because he delighted in me that's what it says the word delighted is used elsewhere in scripture to speak of the Lord desiring or delighting in mercy speaks about that in the prophets negatively as we see it in Psalm 51 and 18 the Lord does not desire sacrifice and offerings why was David then marked for rescue by God because the Lord took pleasure in him he was God's chosen king but that said there also was an integrity factor as we begin to look in verse 21 and following according to

[25:16] David's own personal testimony look at that see it in verse 21 according to my righteousness and we see that's bookend in verse 25 the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he was blameless at least by his testimony now this is extremely puzzling given the fact that we've read the previous chapters right Ben we've read the previous chapter so what is in view here how do we reconcile David's claims given what we know of him well let's start right here let's talk first about what it cannot mean here it cannot mean that David was morally blameless we've seen him up close and personal in chapters 11 and 12 his hands were not clean his heart was not right in regarding the matters of

[26:20] Bathsheba and his overall sexual ethics he was not a man of honor so it can't mean that let me say next what it may refer to while it can't mean that David is morally blameless in a personal sense it could be a reference to his overall shepherding leadership of God's people listen to what scripture has to say otherwise about him and I love this scripture psalm 78 verses 71 and 72 you may get it later let me read it for you from following the nursing youth he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people Israel his inheritance with upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with a skillful hand again as you look at his overall leadership of the nation he was a leader with integrity what it can't mean what it could mean this is what it likely means context is important given the context what we see here is

[27:42] David referencing himself as a covenant keeping king here he is he is a righteous warrior if you will who distanced himself from those who were under the judgment of God and therefore were overthrown by God it seems like David's warfare ethics are likely in view here after all is this not where we find ourselves in chapter 22 he's looking at his career he's looking at his career as a warrior he's looking at his career as the head of God's armies he was anointed who fought God's battles now David did not lift up his hand against the Lord's anointed even when he could have you remember several times he had the opportunity and also another one incident that comes to mind you remember how he treated

[28:47] Nabal where he could have rent Nabal's house and Abigail comes and said you know David you probably don't want to do that matter of fact look and think what would happen how this would stain your reputation if you went there in the scope of his career as king David did not adopt the ways of the wicked David who's speaking here as the leader of God's people as God's king now here's the contrast with that David's career unlike that of Saul was characterized by integrity now even think about this think about earlier in chapter 21 the Gibeonite matter Saul did not honor the covenant and God brought famine on the land David on the other hand honored that covenant that they made with this people that they got in under the radar but he honored it think of how

[29:55] Saul's family ended up 2nd Samuel begins with the career of the first king of Israel and guess what we have there folks there is David David has what a song of mourning for the king who failed he was defeated by his enemies but here on the other end we have a song of joyful praise and deliverance because David triumphed over his enemies as God's king what was the difference Saul's refusal in the matters of national governance to follow God unlike Saul David verse 24 kept himself from guilt his hands in this regard were clean he was blamed and so the song before us here has a clear theme it is the salvation of

[31:12] God's king and guess what it is it's a life story for him it speaks about the trajectory of his life the life of one who would embrace God's calling it was it was a life of integrity verses 21 through 25 but there's a shift in verse 26 it goes from a life of integrity for two examples of reminders for integrity you see that there with the mindful you sow yourself merciful you sow yourself merciful the blameless man you sow yourself blameless purified you deal purely again on and on he reminders to be merciful and blameless and pure not crooked and not haughty huh if you look at the structure of 2nd Samuel 22 you'll find that verses 21 through 30 they're right at the center of it right at the center of the song that focuses on a man who

[32:13] God has rescued from his enemies and it focuses on his character this chapter fits what the author is doing in the book he's wrapping up this literary work and in the life of the principal person in it David we've walked with David haven't we from 1st Samuel chapter 16 the person who would set the standard for kingship in the nation but also there's another way to look at verses 21 through 25 by way of application after we hear the testimony of David in verses 21 through 25 might there be a prophetic ring here do David's words remind us of the one who indeed was righteous in all of his ways who would eventually be rewarded for cleanness of hands even Jesus our savior and listen to me here this morning friends please know clean hands do count for something what do they count for it seems like from this text clean hands or indeed worth something clean hands make for a good career dirty hands though ask

[33:33] Jesse Jackson Jr and his wife even in the news this week now our clean hands will never be enough to merit salvation but they are essential for success and essential for our Christian testimony how clean are your hands this morning and I'm not talking about washing them with soap that's just good hygiene right there are you a man or woman of integrity they may not save you but you're better off with them listen to David's words in Psalm 24 who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord who shall stand in his holy place he who has clean hands seeking of integrity the pure heart doesn't lift up his soul to what is false doesn't swear deceitfully this person will receive a blessing from the

[34:37] Lord righteousness from the God of salvation never dismiss the integrity factor in closing let me point to the final verses 47 to 51 there we have the bookend verses for the chapter as well as the Samuel narratives as a whole let's look what David does he looks back on his life and career and he bursts forth again into praise to God God's hand was evident and David's heart therefore was jubilant and here's the thing when he looked back and he saw the banner over his life it could read in big bold letters one word saved saved rescued delivered what a banner saved is that banner over your head this morning in a spiritual sense has the

[35:55] Lord rescued you from the greatest of all enemies sin and self has he done it in and through his savior the banner over his life save the means of that the God who saves for this cause I praise you among the nations and sing praises to your name look at verse 51 don't you love it great salvation he gives brings to his king and shows steadfast love to his anointed great salvation warrants great praise that was the case then that is the case now and what we have in this chapter is a great God who provides great salvation from great enemies and is therefore worthy of great praise that's him in a nutshell and certainly this causes us again to think of

[37:04] David's greater son the Lord Jesus Christ who defeated humanity's greatest enemies of sin and death Colossians speaks of that triumph in the following manner and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross and listen to this he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to an open shame by triumphing over them in him is the banner over your head this morning has he delivered you from the greatest of all enemies sin and ultimately death if so may your heart as the heart of

[38:05]  David rejoice I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved Lord we love you we thank you and we give you praise for your great salvation Lord you are mighty mighty mighty to save and we celebrate you this morning through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in whose name we pray and praise amen let's stand and sing through