The Song of the Saved – Part 2
Psalms 18 (4-50)
December 2, 2018
Well finally we are able to return to this Psalm we began 3 weeks ago.
I told you then you had homework which was to study this Psalm on your own for 3 weeks, and so take out a piece of paper for a pop quiz.
I suppose I could give you a quiz like one of my seminary professors did one day.
• He assigned a portion to read and when we came into class the next day he told us to take out a sheet of paper for a quiz.
• He then said, “This is an ethics quiz. If you read the material, give yourself 100 and if you did not read it, give yourself a 0 and pass your papers to the front.”
So we’ll just say that tonight.
If you read this Psalm at all, give yourself 100, if you didn’t, give yourself a 0.
Either way, since it has been 3 weeks since we looked at this Psalm
We do need to do a bit of recap and remembering
So we can get back into the flow of it.
We certainly again look to the context of the song in that subheading.
We see WHO sings this song:
“For the choir director”
• It is for the church to sing. It is a divinely inspired song for the church to sing.
We see HOW to sing this song:
“A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD”
• It doesn’t come from the king or from the warrior, it comes from the servant. We sing this song as one who is service to the LORD. Not in pride, not in arrogance, but in submission.
We who the song is FOR:
“who spoke to the LORD the words of this song”
• It is a song for God’s enjoyment. It is not sung for men’s applause, it is not sung for human entertainment. It is sung for God’s pleasure.
We see WHY & WHEN the song is sung:
“in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”
• This is the song of the saved. We sing this song upon revelation of salvation.
And as we said.
That may refer to the day you were saved (i.e. JUSTIFICATION)
• On the day you are saved and forgiven you sing this song to God.
That may refer to the salvation you currently experience daily (i.e. SANCTIFICATION)
• As the Lord gives you daily victory over sin in your life you sing this song.
That may refer to the coming total and final salvation (i.e. GLORIFICATION)
• Certainly the saints of heaven who will never sin again sing this song rejoicing in the finality and completion of their salvation.
So that tells us the context and the setting of the song.
The who, the how, the for, the why, and the when of the song.
I also told you the easiest way I can find to understand this Psalm
Is to break it down much as you would a current song that you hear.
Every song has a main theme, a main point, a heartbeat.
• It is the most important part of the song, the part you should get and learn and repeat and sing if you get nothing else.
That part of the song is THE CHORUS
• It is typically the catchiest, it is the part typically repeated several times.
• If you don’t know the rest of the song you should at least jump in and sing that chorus.
Now, that is what we looked at last time.
#1 THE CHORUS
Psalms 18:1-3
And as we looked at the heartbeat of this Psalm;
As we looked at the chorus, we simply learned
What the main declaration was that David desired to make to God.
And since this is a song for the church
We also learned the main declaration
That David expects the church to make to God.
And we saw 3 things.
1) I LOVE YOU O LORD MY STRENGTH (1)
If you will remember,
• The word for “love” there is not the typical Hebrew word for “love”.
• The word David uses is typically translated “compassion” and it has to do with cherishing or valuing.
David is not just expressing a commitment to put God first,
David is expressing an emotional reality
That He actually cherishes God.
And the reason David cherishes God is because
God has always been “my strength”
• It wasn’t the strength of David’s arm that won his deliverance…
• It wasn’t the accuracy of David’s aim that won his deliverance…
• It wasn’t the cleverness of David’s mind that won his deliverance…
• It was God.
God was the most valuable and cherished asset to David.
God is the reason he defeated his enemies.
David first and foremost sings that.
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.”
2) I PRAISE YOU O LORD MY STRONGHOLD (2)
And there we saw those synonyms.
David gave 8.
“my rock” – “my fortress” – “my deliverer” – “My God” – “my rock in whom I take refuge” – “My shield” – “the horn of my salvation” – “my stronghold”
Those words really are all synonyms.
They all speak of God being David’s security and protection.
As David stood on the victor’s side of the battle,
• He doesn’t look back and credit his own steadfastness or endurance or resolve as the reason he was secure,
• He credits the fact that God protected him.
When we stand in glory, WE WON’T look back on our life
And give ourselves credit for getting to heaven
Because we were so perseverant or enduring.
We will most certainly credit the Shepherd of the sheep
Who refused to let any of us be snatched from His hand.
We will praise the Savior who kept us from stumbling and caused us to stand.
We will praise the One who protected us.
That is what David did.
I Love You O Lord my strength
I Praise You O Lord my stronghold
3) I TRUST YOU O LORD MY SALVATION (3)
This song says that David sang this on the day
When the LORD delivered him from all his enemies.
We might accurately say that David has “SO FAR”
Been delivered from all his enemies.
There was no way that David could have known that
He had fought his last battle at the time of this song.
What David was saying was that every single battle he had fought
Had been won by the LORD, and if he faced another battled
There was no doubt where he was going to turn.
He was going to call on the LORD
Because when he calls on the LORD he is saved.
David had been through enough battles to know God is a reliable Savior.
He had never known God to fail him and so David was confident.
• I Love You O LORD my Strength
• I Praise You O LORD my Stronghold
• I Trust You O LORD my Salvation
Now, as we said, that is the heartbeat.
• That is the main point of this Psalm.
• That is the part you are supposed to get
• That is the part you are supposed to sing.
• You are supposed to declare that same thing with David.
THAT IS THE CHORUS.
But hopefully you will remember that we said in any song
There is typically MORE THAN JUST A CHORUS.
The chorus is the main point and the heartbeat,
But most songs also include VERSES
And verses, we said, are typically information filled lines
That are meant to give you the understanding
That will drive you to the chorus.
They provide the explanation.
So after we see David’s chorus, which is bold and magnificent,
We might approach him and ask, “David, why do you sing all that?”
WELL THAT IS WHERE THE VERSES COME IN.
David is going to explain in the verses of this song
Why he is singing that chorus.
So tonight we move into the next segment of this Psalm.
We saw the Chorus
#2 THE VERSES
Psalms 8:4-45
Now, you also know from last time
That in this Psalm we see 3 verses that David sings.
There are 3 points that David makes and after each of those points
We could easily return and sing that chorus with David.
We hear David’s verse and we better understand
Why David sang that chorus.
We also see the similarities in that what God did for David
He has also done for us and then we sing that chorus with David.
So now we look at those verses.
• There are 3.
• They are all explanations of why to sing that chorus
Here’s the first one.
David Explains:
1) THE DELIVERANCE WHICH GOD EXECUTED (4-19)
This is the first main verse that David gives
As explanation for why he is singing that chorus.
Let’s work our way through it.
It begins with David giving us an idea of the distress in which he found himself.
(4-5) “The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.”
It paints the picture of David being caught in an undertow
And being hammered by each coming wave
And being helplessly pulled under.
• It was as though death “encompassed” him (surrounded him)
• And “the torrents” (waves) kept beating him.
• “Sheol surrounded” him
• He was caught in the “snares”
It is a picture of a man who can do nothing to escape his plight.
He is helpless – He is powerless
And based on the introduction to this Psalm
We can understand that David is REFERRING HERE
TO HIS ENEMIES who sought to kill him.
• Maybe a time when he was all but captured by Saul
• Perhaps the time when he had to feign madness before Abimelech
Who knows?
David just speaks of a time when he was a drowning man.
And in utter desperation he had but one choice.
(6) “In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help;”
There was no other option.
And the first beauty is seen in that:
“He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.”
First we note that God COULD hear, unlike the false gods of the world.
And then we note that God DID hear. As if to say, “God gave me His attention”
David was afflicted at the hands of the ungodly, he was all but dead,
He cried to God and God was willing to hear his request.
And then we note God’s response!
(READ 7-15)
When David recognized the way God responded
It is easy to see the main thing David noticed.
GOD WAS ANGRY!
• “the earth shook”
• “the foundations of the mountains were trembling”
• “smoke went up from His nostrils”
• “fire from His mouth”
God was livid!
And then God “came down” (9)
This is all poetic language speaking of the intervention of God.
Do you remember when God came down on Sinai?
Exodus 19:16-18 “So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.”
David is referring to an appearance like that.
God came down in full holiness and fury!
He came fast!
(10) “He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.”
And He came in power!
(11-13) “darkness” – “hailstones and coals of fire”
“thundered” – “hailstones and coals of fire”
And the result?
(14) “He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.”
God arrived in swiftly in full fury and full demonstration of power
And scattered David’s enemies.
God, in effect, split the waters were David was drowning, (15) “the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.”
God delivered Him!
(16) “He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.”
That follows that same poetic picture David began with.
• I was drowning among the wicked
• I cried out to God
• He came and split the sea and made the wicked flee
• He pulled me out of the waters
(17) “He delivered me from my strong enemy, And 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 stay.”
That word “stay” there means “support of every kind”
I wouldn’t have survived if God had not intervened and supported me.
(19) “He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.”
And so as David sings this song
He tells the audience about how God intervened in wrath
And delivered him from a powerful foe.
David was a goner
• The enemy was bigger, badder, more numerous, and David was caught
• He had no hope
• He had no chance
And yet, when he called upon God,
God intervened with fury and delivered him totally from all his foes!
And that is why David is singing that chorus!
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” 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. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
If you want to know why I’m singing that song
It is because God proved to be my stronghold.
• God proved to be the place where I hid from the enemy.
• God proved to be that mountain crag, that mountain fortress, the unfailing refuge, that cave in the rock, that horn of salvation
(18) “But the LORD was my stay”
• That’s why I sing!
• That’s why I praise Him!
When I was afflicted He came in fury to deliver and He did not let me fall!
He did the same for us when in Christ He delivered us
And when Christ bore the fully fury of God’s wrath on our behalf.
THE DELIVERANCE WHICH GOD EXECUTED
Verse 2 – and the second explanation for why he sings
2) THE DEVOTION WHICH GOD EMPOWERED (20-29)
Alright, now be honest, that one seems difficult to deal with.
Verses 20-24 seem to fly in the face of everything we know
About human depravity and human goodness and the lack of it.
It almost sounds like David is out of touch with his own integrity
And even promoting a “works-based” righteousness
Whereby he actually earned God’s deliverance.
That’s what it sounds like doesn’t it?
Listen to it again:
(20-24) “The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.”
Wow, again it just doesn’t seem right.
• “rewarded me according to my righteousness”?
• “I have kept the ways of the LORD”?
• “I was also blameless before Him”?
• “I kept myself from my iniquity”?
• “the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness”?
That just doesn’t seem right does it?
I suppose at this point we could say, “Oh, well this must be a Psalm about Christ not David since only Christ is righteous.”
You could go there, but then you’d have an awful tough time explaining that last section where David faced enemies that were too might for him.
This is a great explanation as to why
We don’t take Scripture out of context.
Keep reading.
David does say that God rewarded his righteousness,
But let’s get a better understanding of what he meant.
Next David reminds that IT WAS GOD WHO INSPIRED THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(25-27) “With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.”
Now this doesn’t yet answer our main question,
But it does reveal to us something important about David.
David said that he was righteous.
Here we learn why David chose to be righteous.
Why did David choose righteousness?
Because God responds favorably to righteousness.
• God is kind to the kind
• God is blameless to the blameless
• God is pure to the pure
• God is astute to the crooked
God saves afflicted and humble people
And turns away from those who greedily pursue this world
(i.e. “haughty eyes”)
So after rejoicing that God delivered him because of his righteousness David then says, “That’s the whole reason I chose righteousness!”
“I determined to be righteous because I knew God rewarded righteousness, and now here I rejoicing that He did just that!”
So while we still don’t fully understand David’s statement in verses 20-24
We do understand at least part of the faith that was involved.
David chose to sacrifice the world and choose righteousness
Because he believed that God would honor that.
And now that God has delivered him, David is rejoicing.
But that still doesn’t answer our question
About David being able to boast in how good he was.
So:
(28-29) “For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness. For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.”
Do you hear what David is saying there?
He is giving all the credit for his righteousness to God.
• It was God who lit his “lamp”
• It was God who illumined his “darkness”
• God was the one who allowed him to walk in righteousness.
• God was the one who empowered to walk in truth.
In fact, through God I can do anything.
“For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.”
This is the Old Testament equivalent of Philippians 4:13
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
And if you are familiar with the accurate understanding of that verse
• You know that it wasn’t Paul saying “I can dunk a basketball if I have Christ”,
• Rather He was saying through Christ I can actually fulfill the most stringent
requirements of righteous living.
• In that specific case Paul was saying that through the strength of Christ he
could even endure having nothing and dwelling in prison.
That is what David is saying.
• I knew God desired righteousness and so I desired righteousness
• God then gave me the ability to walk in righteousness
• And when I did God then rewarded me for that righteousness
Do you know what David is talking about here?
SALVATION
Is this not what God does for us?
• He creates in us awareness and a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• He then supplies the ability for that righteousness through Christ and through His Spirit
• He then rewards us for that righteousness in the world in which we live
We call that salvation
David says, that is what God did for me!
• He made me want righteousness
• He made me righteous
• He rewarded me for being righteous
NOW DO YOU KNOW WHY I SING?
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” 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. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
• I sing that because of the DELIVERANCE WHICH GOD EXECUTED
• I sing that because of the DEVOTION WHICH GOD EMPOWERED
God gets all the glory and gratitude for what He did in me!
And then the 3rd verse of explanation…why I sing!
3) THE DOMINION WHICH GOD ESTABLISHED (30-45)
• Deliverance alone would have been enough…
• Devotion alone would have been enough…
BUT GOD WENT THE ABSOLUTE EXTRA MILE.
Not only did He make me righteous and save me because of that righteousness, but God saw fit to exalt me…ME!
And here you see the ABSURDITY whereby David accounts for his life.
David acknowledges that every one of his successes
Came only because of the power which God supplied.
LOOK at (30-36)
Do you see how David credits God for everything?
• “He is a shield”
• He is the “rock”
• He “makes my way blameless”
• He “makes my feet like hinds’ feet”
(Incidentally Carrie loves that analogy. David is referring there to a mountain goat, and if you’ve ever seen them climb a cliff it is absolutely unbelievable)
• He “sets me upon my high places”
• “He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze”
• “You have also given me the shield”
• “Your gentleness makes me great”
• “You enlarge my steps”
I mean it’s all because of God.
Every victory, every achievement, God gets credit for it all.
AND LOOK AT WHAT DAVID ACCOMPLISHED!
(READ 37-42)
I mean that is really unfathomable.
• “I pursued”
• I “overtook”
• “I shattered”
• “They fell”
“For You girded me with strength”
And when they cried to You for help, You said no!
Because they weren’t righteous!
(42) “Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.”
David speaks of an improbable and yet total victory.
Even today people use the phrase “David and Goliath”
As an analogy when someone is facing an insurmountable foe.
THAT VICTORY WAS THAT ABSURD.
And really, I’m not even sure Goliath was the biggest foe David ever faced.
We really should talk about it as “David and Saul”
That was a real battle.
• Killing one giant is one thing.
• One man overcoming a king and his entire army is quite another
And yet here David stood on the other side of victory
Seeing how God had given him total dominion.
And then David glories in that dominion which God provided.
And you can hear David’s shock that God would do such things for him.
(READ 43-45)
Do you hear how bizarre that all is?
• “A people whom I have not known serve me”
• “As soon as they hear, they obey me”
• “Foreigners submit to me”
That’s crazy!
It is total dominion which God has established for David.
SO DO YOU SEE WHY HE IS SINGING THAT CHORUS?
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” 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. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
So there’s the first two points.
The Chorus, The Verses
#3 THE BRIDGE
Psalms 18:46-50
As I told you, the bridge is often the final great motivator to sing that chorus.
• It often comes with a crescendo
• It can reveal new information
• It can focus on the most important information
• It can reiterate how unbelievable the information is
The last is what David does here.
He summarizes for the congregation in a concise statement
All that he just explained in those verses.
We see all three verses summarized here.
• The Deliverance which God Executed
• The Devotion which God Empowered
• The Dominion which God Established
They are all revisited in this brief bridge.
(READ 46-50)
Look at it!
• GOD (the God) executes vengeance FOR ME!
• GOD (the God) subdues people UNDER ME!
• GOD (the God) DELIVERS ME from my enemies!
• He does it totally
• He does it despite their violence and power
AND THAT IS WHY I SING!
THAT IS WHY I AM GRATEFUL!
God is so faithful to me!
(50) “He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.”
And then of course you can go sing that chorus 3 more times!
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” 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. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
So it all makes sense to me now.
• God you delivered me – I love You!
• God you made me righteous and rewarded me for it – I love You!
• God you exalted me into a position of authority – I love You!
David’s song makes sense to us.
And you hopefully now you see why we call it a song of salvation.
This is the song we sing at every point of our salvation.
On the day when Christ lifts you up out of the miry clay and saves you from the wrath of God. On the day He justifies you and delivers you from drowning in your sin. On the day He justifies you we sing – I LOVE YOU!
And then on the day when we fight battles against sin in this Christian life. We face temptations and struggles and the linger effects of the old man. And on that day when the Lord gives us the victory to put away a sinful habit or to resist a nagging temptation. On the day He sanctifies you we sing – I LOVE YOU!
And of course on the day of our exaltation. On the day when we stand in glory, exalted above this world and beyond our sin. On the day when the body of flesh no longer corrupts or tempts and we are totally saved. On the day He glorifies you we sing – I LOVE YOU!
This is the song we sing at every aspect of salvation.
• For it is God who has delivered us when we were weak and helpless
• It is God who has given us strength for every battle
• It is God who ultimately gives us victory over those battles
And at every realization we sing:
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” 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. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
