Thanks. Yes, let me add my word of welcome. My name is David Reimer. For those of you
who don't know me, and it's my privilege to be sharing with you from God's Word tonight.
As Gary mentioned, and as you'll see momentarily, we have a long psalm, not the longest psalm,
but still a long psalm this evening. And this is the last sermon in our series of psalm
studies over the past few weeks, nine in all. So we thought it would be an opportune evening
just to have a little glimpse back and set up and read this long psalm together. Then
we'll sing again before we tuck in and look at what God has to say to us this evening from
His Word. So as I mentioned, last of our psalm studies. So there's, I can do the maths, 141
more psalms to look at. And we're working our way through them on the Wednesday evening Bible
studies. We're up to 39, are we? 38? So lots more to go. So do come along Wednesday evenings
if you just haven't had enough of the psalms yet. But as I say, ninth of nine sermons. And
we began back in April with Psalm 19. Peter Irvine opened that out for us. And this evening
we come up to Psalm 18. So it's almost like we've gone full circle. But as I say, only
nine psalms, whether planned or not. See later, maybe this is planning and maybe I'm making
this up. But it seems to me that they fall into three groups of three, in fact, as we look
back over our sermons. Psalms 19, 33, and 24, our first three, really are about the praise
of God in creation. We see God as creator really clearly in those first three psalms.
In the middle three psalms, Psalms 13, 10, and 73, in each of those we see a psalmist in distress
for various reasons and a moment of deliverance. So if in our first three psalms we especially
saw God as creator, in our middle three psalms we especially see God as redeemer. And when
we come to these last three studies, Psalm 30, a couple weeks ago, 27, last week, and tonight
Psalm 19, in each of these three psalms we see someone has been delivered. And the response
to that and a sense of longing for more of God, a sense of yearning and a sense of being
sustained in the life of faith. So it seems to me we have quite a nice Trinitarian shape
to our set of studies with God as creator, redeemer, and sustainer. In fact, those themes running
through all our psalms in one way or another. And we've also had mentioned, I think, in almost
every sermon of the nine, that taking account of neighboring psalms can really help us understand
the particular psalm we're interested in. I think sometimes we get the sense that psalms
are not quite a random lucky dip of psalms, but a fairly amorphous, unshaped collection.
But I think we have seen through this series that actually taking attention to the context
of a psalm can help us to understand that individual psalm. And so too, this evening,
Psalms 17, 18, and 19, as a trio, form quite a remarkable set. And we won't be taking time
this evening to attend to that aspect to them, but perhaps in your own reading of the psalms,
your own studies and meditations, that will be a help.
Well, I'll make three introductory comments to Psalm 18 in particular now, and then we'll read
it, and as I say, then we'll sing again. So first of three introductory comments, Psalm
18 is quite special in many ways. One of the most striking things about this psalm, we don't
see from looking at it, but by realizing that it actually occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament.
There are other psalms that get repeated within the psalms, but as I'm sure most of you will
realize, Psalm 18 appears again at the end of 2 Samuel. So 2 Samuel chapter 22 is Psalm 18,
with some very minor changes. In 2 Samuel 22, the psalm there comes very near the end of David's life.
In fact, the next chapter is the last words of David. Well, he's not quite dead yet. And there's
some small differences between them, one or two significant differences, and one of those will
come back to as almost the last thing we consider later on this evening. But to notice this, that
our psalm this evening comes at the end of David's career, really embeds this psalm in the life of David
in a significant way, and in a special way, more so than most of the psalms, in fact. Which leads me to my
second introductory comment. In the psalms, you'll often notice there's a little bit in small print
at the heading of the psalm. Now, that's not, I don't mean the modern editor's title for the psalm,
but often there's a little verse or instruction or comment that isn't numbered in our English
versions. In fact, if we had our Hebrew Bibles open in front of us this evening, we see they're
numbered in the Hebrew psalms. And there is a superscription, which is what they're called,
to our psalm this evening. And in fact, it's one of the, it is the longest superscription of all the
psalms. For the director of music, of David, the servant of the Lord, he 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.
And although other psalm superscriptions might be shorter or more specific, this one, again,
just as we notice with the repetition of this psalm in 2 Samuel 22, really locates and embeds this
psalm in David's career. There's a very clear resonance between the circumstance of David's life
that the superscription sets out. David's been given peace from his enemies. That situation calls forth
this song of praise that we see this evening. Now, in some ways, it looks as if the psalm that we're
going to read comes when he's just enjoying that first period of rest from his enemies, whereas in
2 Samuel, it comes near the end of his career. But however it works out chronologically, it's very clear
that God's working in David's life to grant him this peace calls for this song in response.
And my final introductory comment, I mentioned already it's a long psalm. It's precisely the third
longest psalm. We're not reading Psalm 119 tonight. Psalm 78 is the other second longest psalm.
But given that it's a long psalm, it makes it a little bit difficult, I think, to take in.
I mean, as we read it, we'll see that the chunks in the psalm are quite clear. But as we read through it,
what kind of shape does it have? It's a challenge to take that in at first sight or even at first hearing.
And its language is a bit intense. So I'll give you a little sketch map of the psalm, and then we'll
read it together. And then we'll take a break to sing again. So essentially, it divides up into three
big chunks, topped and tailed, with a little frame around it. The first chunk and the third chunk really
correspond to each other. So basically, verses 4 to 19 are about the Lord acting in response to David.
Then we have a middle section in which we see David's life and the life of his Lord sort of woven
together. And the third section is about David acting in response to the Lord. So if the first section is
about the Lord acting for David, the third section is about David acting in response to the Lord,
the middle section is a kind of mediating section in which we see their characters and in some sense
their life intertwined. And then, as I say, the first verse and the last few verses stand out as a kind of
response of praise to what's happening in between. So with that sketch map in mind, these three chunks,
let's read the song together, and then we'll sing. So for the director of music of David, the servant
of the Lord, he 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. He said,
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock in
whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord
who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me. The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave
coiled around me. The snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called to the Lord.
I cried to my God for help. From his temple, he heard my voice. My cry came before him into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked. The foundations of the mountains shook. They trembled because he was
angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils. Consuming fire came from his mouth. Burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down. Dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew.
He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him.
The dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence, clouds advanced with
hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven. The voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies. Great bolts of lightning and routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke,
O Lord. At the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong
for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster. But the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because he delighted in me.
The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of
my hands, he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord. I have not done evil by
turning from my God. All his laws are before me, and I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him, and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according
to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. To the faithful, you show
yourself faithful. To the blameless, you show yourself blameless. To the pure, you show yourself
pure. But to the crooked, you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but bring low those whose
eyes are haughty. You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning. My God turns my darkness into light. With your help,
I can advance against a troop. With my God, I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the
Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is a God besides the Lord? And who is
the rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for
battle. My arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains
me. You stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn over.
So I pursued my enemies and overtook them. I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they
could not rise. They fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle. You made my adversaries bow at my
feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. They cried for help. But there was no one to be a
one to save them. To the Lord. But he did not answer. I beat them fine as dust born on the wind. I poured them out like mud in the streets.
You have delivered me from the attacks of the people. You have made me the head of nations. People I did not know are subject to me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me. Foreigners cringe before me. They all lose heart. They come trembling from their strongholds.
The Lord lives. Praise be to my rock. Exalted be God, my Savior. He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes. From violent men you rescued me. Therefore, I will praise you among the nations, O Lord. I will sing praises to your name.
Amen. He gives his king great victories. He shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever. Amen.
Well, as this psalm settles into our hearts and minds, let's sing again to the praise of this God.
Let's just take a moment to pray before we study God's word.
Hosanna in the highest.
Lord, these are ancient words of praise as well as a cry for help.
So we ask for your help now.
As we attend to your word, your spirit might take it, work it into our lives so that we might be a people who glorify you.
For your glory's sake we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Well, perhaps as we read this long psalm, you'll have noticed that it has many striking features,
and we certainly can't deal with the whole psalm.
And there's plenty, plenty that I know I'll be leaving unsaid this evening.
And perhaps you found some of its language extreme or difficult to relate to.
So what I'm going to do this evening as we look at this psalm is just pick out a theme from each of those three sections.
Who is the God who comes to save David?
What is the nature of this David who's in distress?
And who are the enemies that David deals with?
Those three questions, in some ways slightly uncomfortable questions,
to see where they lead us in reflecting on this psalm as we observe God saving David
and David's response to the God who saves.
So our three questions corresponding to the three sections then,
who is the God who saves?
Who is this God who saves?
Who is this David who's in distress?
And who are those enemies who are defeated?
So first of all then, who is the God who saves?
Well, the psalm begins with very personal descriptions of this God who saves,
and I think that's unmissable.
The God who is my God, my rock, my shield, my stronghold, and on it goes.
And I think these are terms that we're used to seeing not only from other psalms that we read,
but from other songs that we sing together as a congregation.
And what we might find less comfortable is the God who turns up in response to David's cry.
So in verses 4 through 6, you'll have heard the desperation that David has.
Chords of death entangled me.
Snares of death confronted me.
In my distress, I called out to the Lord.
And the Lord comes.
Now, I hope you've got Bibles open in front of you as we work through this psalm.
And so then we have in verses 7 to 15 the description of this God who turns up to save.
And these verses are frankly somewhat terrifying.
We hear the voice of the desperate, the distressed, the drowning David, weak and helpless.
And the one who responds to his cry as the earth trembles and quakes is in every sense larger than life.
He's not only powerful, but his very presence brings upheavals,
even convulsions to the natural order.
If David is fragile and is in the face of the enemies,
we think at least the earth has a kind of permanence.
But then this God comes.
And what does this permanent world look like?
The earth quakes.
Mountains shake.
The heavens tear.
Lightning splits.
Oceans flee.
And the hand of God reaches down
and grasps a lost and limp David
and brings him, in verse 19, to a spacious place.
Perhaps a green pasture beside still waters where his soul is restored and his spirit revived.
We sometimes sing the hymn has this verse.
Father-like.
Father-like he tends and spares us.
Well, our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us.
Rescues us from all our foes.
It's just what David's experienced here.
But the one who gently bears in his hand to this place of safety
is also the ones whose very presence brings upheavals in the created order.
Now, this isn't new language to Psalm 18.
This language harks back to other aspects of Israel's story with this God.
Most clearly to the language of the Exodus.
In which God's presence in fire and cloud parted the waters to save and rescue God's people.
Not for nothing does the song of Moses in Exodus 15 call this God a man of war.
It echoes other Exodus language.
Especially the experience at the mountain of God
when the law of God is given to the people of God.
When God spoke from a mountain on fire through thunder and lightning
and smoke on a mountain that trembled in Exodus 19.
And as Moses reflects on that in Deuteronomy 5, he says,
speaking God's words to them,
they were right to be afraid at the mountain
and ask for Moses to intercede on their behalf.
And it resonates through the experience of God's people in the Old Testament.
As other experiences of the divine warrior rescue the people.
One of the closest parallels to our Psalm this evening
comes at the end of the little book of Habakkuk.
Habakkuk.
Chapter 3.
And there the prophet prays a Psalm very much in these languages,
using these words to come back to God
and pray that this God would be the one who saves his imperiled people
from the hand of the enemy.
Well, I rehearse these echoes of Psalm 18 in the Old Testament
to point out that this language is maybe intense,
but it's fundamental and important to the Old Testament people of God
that this picture is a true picture of the God who saves.
For all that, we have a more complete picture of this saving God
in the person of his Son in the New Testament.
I want to suggest that even though that's a more full picture,
a more complete picture,
it's still one that's coherent with this picture in Psalm 18.
It remains fully coherent with it.
Just think for a moment about Jesus' earthly life,
his ministry as we've been thinking about it over weeks
in our Luke series in the morning services.
We catch a glimpse of this God of Psalm 18 in Jesus' life on this earth.
Jesus is the one who stills the storm.
And who can still the storm except the one who brings it?
Jesus is the one who cleanses the temple in his wrath.
And we see as he conquers his enemies,
laying down his life on the cross,
disturbances in the natural world.
And as other parts of the New Testament go on to tell us,
when Christ comes again, so it will be.
There will be these disturbances in the natural world,
just as we see in Psalm 18 here,
as the saving God responded to David's cry.
So I think as we spend time in Psalm 18 and with it,
we need to and are expected to,
insofar as our feeble senses permit,
to take in the very Godness of this God who comes to save.
This God is not like us,
as I heard it put in a sermon recently.
This God isn't like us.
This is the God that we have come to worship this evening,
one who is wholly other.
And I do wonder sometimes how our approaches
to times of corporate worship
or the lives that we live before this God
might be different if it had really settled
into our spirits and into our hearts and minds
who this God is.
Yes, we are accompanied by his Son
and brought into his presence by our Savior.
It's no less this God.
This is the one whose presence split the skies,
shakes the earth,
empties the sea,
and rescues.
This is the God who saves,
the one that we've come to worship this evening.
So if that's a glimpse into the
who is this God,
the God who saves,
our second who question
is who is this one in distress?
Well, we can answer that question pretty quickly.
It's David.
Okay, let's move on to section three.
Well, not quite so quickly.
Mention that the first and third sections
really correspond to each other
as God acts on David's behalf,
David acts in response to God.
And then there's this middle section
which mediates between them.
And here we see the characterization
of the psalmist of his own standing
before this God.
And it comes out strikingly in three statements.
So I slightly paused over them as we read,
and you won't have missed them, I don't think.
Verse 19,
He brought me out into a spacious place.
He rescued me because He delighted in me.
And it carries on into verse 24.
The Lord has dealt with me
according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands,
He has rewarded me.
And then there's some reflection
on how that might be,
and then it's repeated in verse 24,
almost word for word.
The Lord has rewarded me
according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands
in His sight.
This is, most definitely,
not the way we're used to thinking of ourselves.
Christians commonly self-identify as sinners.
It's a good reason for that.
We are.
But David's perception here
seems quite different.
And we should pause then for a moment
just to think about what's going on
as David makes this claim.
In fact, this isn't the first time in our series
we've heard this kind of language.
But some weeks ago,
when we looked at Psalm 24,
we heard it there as well.
We heard the question posed,
Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?
And who shall stand in His holy place?
To which came the reply,
The one with clean hands
and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul
to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully,
this one will receive a blessing
from the Lord.
Nor is this the only place in the Psalms
where we see this kind of language,
where the psalmist really says,
It's because I'm doing right
that God has acted on my behalf.
Psalm 7, Psalm 17, Psalm 26, Psalm 44, Psalm 112,
and there's a number of others.
They all point in the same direction.
So, our question then,
what's with David's righteousness language here?
I think it's important to note
that righteousness in Scripture
isn't simply a mysterious religious word
for something that's out of the grasp
of human beings.
It simply means this.
Righteousness is to be right.
It's to act in accord with a given standard
or to have a status in accord with that standard.
It's to have your actions or your being
in accordance with a given standard.
To be sure, when it is God's standard,
then it's exacting and demanding.
But it's also a joy and a delight
to do what is right,
to be righteous in his eyes.
Jesus said,
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness.
They shall be satisfied.
And he instructed his followers
to seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness.
So, do we simply dismiss David's language here
as being enlightened,
or at least unchristian,
somewhat self-righteous?
Well, no.
I believe this would be a misreading of our psalm.
Rather, we should think in terms
of the well-known claim
on the life of the people of God
from Leviticus.
Be holy,
because I, the Lord your God,
am holy.
So, when we look at David
used these words,
what we're seeing
is the character of David
being conformed
to the character of God.
It isn't about David
being absolutely perfect.
Clearly, clearly,
even in the Old Testament,
the property of sinless perfection
belongs only to the Creator.
But it's equally clear
that it's the business of those
who bear the image of God
to be in a creaturely sense
conformed to that holiness
and that righteousness
of the Creator.
So, it's important to see, again,
that this isn't simply
an Old Testament principle,
but is at work
in the New Testament.
I've mentioned already
Jesus' words
encouraging his followers,
his disciples,
to be righteous,
to seek righteousness.
And in Matthew 25,
he describes this discrimination,
the division of the sheep
and the goats.
And he identified the sheep
as those righteous ones
who had fed the hungry,
clothed the naked,
visited the sick
and the prisoner.
That is what it means
to be a sheep,
to be among the righteous.
Or as Paul says
in Romans 8,
God foreknew
those he foreknew,
he progestened
to be conformed
to the image
of his Son.
Or in the letters
to Timothy,
twice giving the instruction
to pursue righteousness.
This is, in fact,
the lasting picture
of the Christian life
right up to the end
of the New Testament.
In all of the writings
of John that conclude it,
but perhaps most clearly
in these verses
from 1 John 3,
verses 7 and 8.
Dear children,
do not let anyone
lead you astray.
He who does
what is right
is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
He who does
what is sinful
is of the devil,
because the devil
has been sinning
from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God
appeared
was to destroy
the devil's work.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
was a German pastor-theologian,
executed just three weeks
before his concentration camp
was emancipated
by American troops.
But he wrote a little devotional book
on the Psalms,
and in that he wrote this,
If, in other respects,
we take God's action
toward us
at all seriously,
then we not only may,
but plainly must,
in all humility
and certainty,
pray,
I was blameless
before God,
and I kept myself
from guilt.
Psalm 18,
verse 23.
If, in other respects,
we take God's action
towards us
at all seriously,
this is the God who saves,
then we not only may,
but plainly must,
pray,
in all humility
and certainty,
I was blameless
before God,
I kept myself
free from guilt.
Bonhoeffer's point is
that as we reflect
on the life
of the desperate David
who cries out
to the God who saves
in Psalm 18,
we feel that claim, too,
to live a righteous life,
quite simply,
a life in accord
with God's will
and God's ways.
Now, perhaps you're here
this evening,
I don't know
everyone in the room,
perhaps you're here
this evening
as one who's begun
to recognize
in this God
someone to be revered,
someone to be worshipped,
and you also recognize
in yourself
a life that is not lived,
conformed to the character
of this God.
Well, if that's you,
let me encourage you.
There was one man
who brought together
completely
the holiness
and righteousness
of the Creator
in the life
of a creature.
That one man
was Jesus Christ.
And in his life
and death
and resurrection,
he triumphed
over sin and death,
living the life
we should have lived.
He died the death
we should have died.
And now invites us
to turn from sin
and turn to the living God.
That's what we call repentance.
And to place our trust in him,
to live our life
with and for him.
And if this captures
your sense right now,
then I'd be happy
to speak with you about it
after the service
or let the friend
that you've come with
this evening know
and I'm sure they'd be
happy to do the same.
So we've reflected on
who is the God
who saves.
We've reflected on
who is this David
in distress.
And finally,
we reflect on
who is,
who are,
these enemies
who are defeated.
And again,
I think we have
a little discomfort level
with each of these
three sections
that perhaps
it is most acute
in this third one.
I characterize
this third section
as David defeats
the Lord's enemies.
The Lord defeats
David's enemies
in section one.
In section three,
David defeats
the Lord's enemies.
But you say to me,
aha,
aren't these actually
David's enemies?
Well, yes,
they are.
But there are also
the Lord's
and it's important
to see how this works
in our psalm.
In biblical psalms,
there are often,
very often,
three characters
in the psalm.
There's God,
there's the psalmist,
the one who prays,
the poet,
and there's the enemies.
And these three
come together
again and again
through the biblical psalms.
And so here too,
you'll have seen this
right throughout Psalm 18.
This is the three characters,
if you like,
in the narrative
that unfolds.
God,
the psalmist,
the enemies.
And just as David
calls this God
my God,
so too he calls
these enemies
my enemies.
Verse 3,
verse 17,
verse 37,
verse 40,
40,
40.
It's right through the psalm.
And in fact,
our superscription
that we noted
at the beginning
sets it up this way too.
The Lord delivered him
from the hand
of all his enemies,
presume that's David's,
and from the hand
of Saul,
that's certainly
David's enemy.
So where do we find
the clue
to this fuller identity
of who these enemies are?
God's enemies?
David's enemies?
Well,
we find it
in contrasting
verses 6 and 41.
Verse 6,
we read,
in my distress
I called to the Lord.
I cried to my God
for help
from his temple.
He heard my voice.
My cry came before him
and he comes to save.
Now,
with that precise language
in mind,
look at verse 41
as David's dealing
with the enemies.
They cried for help.
There was no one
to save them.
To the Lord,
he didn't answer.
Well,
we might find
this contrast
between verses 6 and 41
uncomfortable
for more than one reason.
Aren't we supposed
to love our enemies?
Can one cry to God
and not be heard?
And so we need
to think about this.
It's important then
to note,
well,
three quick things.
First of all,
this isn't personal.
This isn't about
David's spat
with neighboring monarchs
or his being
an imperialist
or settling old scores
with old enemies
when he was on the run.
It's David
as the Lord's king
dealing with the Lord's enemies.
Second thing,
we're not David.
You're not David.
Well,
I'm not David
in this sense.
None of us are this.
We had a lot.
We had four Davids
in one pew this morning.
But we're not David.
You haven't been placed
at the head
of Israel's armies.
And the third
quick thing to note,
we do have enemies.
And I'll say
a little bit more
about that
in just a moment.
So this is David's position
in the psalm,
however.
His enemies
are the enemies of God.
And hating what God
hates in the Old Testament
is the counterpart
of loving what God loves.
Or as we sang
in the song
just before the sermon,
what breaks God's heart
breaks our hearts.
And so we begin to see,
I think,
in reflecting on things
this way,
what Psalm 18
is telling us here.
That the Holy God
is a God of justice.
And it is right,
we would want it to be right,
that this God visits justice
on oppression
and injustice.
That this God
should consume
his enemies.
It's a truth
that Jesus teaches
in his parables
as we've seen
from Luke.
And this is the point
at which I think
it's helpful to think
about our enemy.
Our enemy.
Our enemy is,
we become God's enemy
when our sin
separates us from him.
And Isaiah
spelt this out
fairly clearly.
He affirmed a truth
and then drew out
an implication.
So listen to his words.
This is Isaiah 59.
Surely the arm
of the Lord
isn't too short to save.
Of course the arm
of the Lord
isn't too short to save.
Nor is his ear
too dull to hear.
Verse 41.
This God can hear.
But Isaiah goes on.
Your iniquities
have separated you
from your God.
Your sins have hidden
his face from you
so that he does not hear.
That's precisely the situation
of Psalm 18.
41.
The holy God
is a God of justice.
But it's important too
then to realize
that the holy God
is a God of mercy.
mercy.
And rightly received,
his judgments
can turn enemies
into friends.
C.S. Lewis
reflected on his time
as an unbeliever
in his autobiography
in these terms.
It's a slightly difficult sentence
but it's worth hearing.
So he's thinking back now
to the time
when he
was an atheist
and he was an enemy
of God
and the things
that God sowed
into his life.
He writes,
not that I might not
have learned this
sooner and more safely
in ways I shall never
now know
without apostasy
but that
divine punishments
are also mercies
and particular good
is worked out
of particular evil
and the penal blindness
is made sanative.
A penitential blindness
becomes a cure.
So attending rightly
to the judgments
of God
can realign our lives
so that we are
no longer
God's enemies
but his friends.
And for those of us
conformed to God's character
then we strive
to have rightly
ordered affections
like David
to hate those things
that God hates
to have our heart breaks
for the things
that break God's heart
to love those things
that God loves.
much as James
put it in
James chapter 4
and sums up
in these words
in James 4
don't you know
friendship with the world
is enmity with God?
And so we seek
as we look at
David's psalm
and experience of God
being conformed
to the character of God
also to have
rightly ordered affections
to sow
beyond the Lord's side.
well it's
time to draw
our thoughts together
we've reflected on
who is this God
who saves
who is this
David in distress
and who are
these enemies
we see through the psalm
but we stand back
to make two observations
one a little bit longer
and one very very short.
the first thing
I hope you've seen
and we've reflected
on it directly
in some sense
is the way
in which
God and David
form a partnership
in this psalm.
Did you see
how David's life
is woven
into the life
of God
and especially
in that central section
and the acts
of God
and David
are woven together?
I think it comes out
so well
it comes out
clearly in many ways
but just set
these two
part verses together
verse 30
as for God
his way is perfect
verse 32
it is God
who makes my way perfect
God and David
God acts
and David acts.
I think we have
an understandable
tendency
to look at
some of this
kind of language
that we see
in Psalm 18
and say
God calls us
to do X
we can't do X
Jesus did X
we don't have
to do X
it's the good news
well there's a truth
there
but if that's
all we say
then the truth
I'm afraid
becomes a half truth
and a less than a truth
is on its way
to becoming
a snare
I think a better way
of putting it
is this way
with Jonathan Edwards
now some of you
will know of
Jonathan Edwards
he was the revival
preacher during
the New England
revivals
in the early
18th century
in the early
1700s
and he was writing
about a particular
theological controversy
in his day
and he's writing
here about
efficacious grace
the effective grace
that God works
into the lives
of those
who turn to him
and Edwards
writes this
I'll use his
18th century language
in efficacious grace
we are not
merely passive
nor yet does
God do some
and we do the rest
that God does
all
and we
do all
God produces
all
we act
all
for that is what
he produces
in other words
our own acts
God is the only
proper author
and fountain
we are
the only
proper actors
we are
in different
respects
wholly
passive
and wholly
active
we are
in different
respects
wholly
passive
and wholly
active
in the metrics
of the kingdom
it's not
50-50
in the metrics
of the kingdom
it's this
paradoxical
100%
God
100%
you
that's David
in Psalm
18
and as we
spend time
with Psalm
18's
David
so we're
called
into this
same kind
of life
it's the
same paradox
I think
that Jesus
invited us
into
when he
reflected
on the
teaching
of the
true
vine
if you
keep
my
commands
doing
all
you
will
abide
in my
love
resting
all
just as
I have
kept
acting
my
father's
commands
and
abide
resting
in his
love
or just
one more
example
from the
very end
almost end
of the
New Testament
the little
letter of
Jude
addresses
Christians
in his
day
and he
writes to
those who
are loved
by God
the father
and kept
for Jesus
Christ
passive
kept
and
finishes
the letter
by addressing
those same
people
and instructing
them
keep
yourselves
in God's
love
as you
wait for
the mercy
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ
to bring
you to
eternal
life
active
so God
does all
Christ
has
one
all
and there
is all
for us
to do
first
reflection
as we
stand back
the second
one
much
shorter
where the
psalm ends
we end
I will
praise you
among the
nations
oh Lord
I will
sing praises
to your
name
and as
our week
begins
let's
begin it
where the
psalmist
begins
I love
you
oh Lord
my
strength
let's
pray
and as
we draw
our thoughts
together
and reflect
back over
the psalms
that it's
been our
privilege to
see
let's just
take a
moment of
quiet
let's
consider
first
this
God
who
comes
to
save
we know
that saving
God
let's
thank him
and ask
him to
show us
more
of who
he
is
and
perhaps
we
come
tonight
as
one
of
those
who
is
desperate
and
needing
help
is there
sin in
the way
this is
the moment
to say
Lord
I'm
sorry
I've
been
acting
like
an
enemy
please
forgive
me
so I
can be
your
friend
Lord
we
know
you
are
the
one
at
work
in
our
lives
to
accomplish
your
good
pleasure
so
grant
us
as
your
people
gathered
here
in
this
place
in
this
part
of
Edinburgh
in
this
neighborhood
and
in
the
neighborhoods
where
we
live
as
your
people
distributed
may
we
work
out
our
salvation
with
fear
and
trembling
and
lift
high
your
name
in
our
lives
for
your
glory
sake
and
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
Amen