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David – A Rock-Solid Life

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David: A Long Obedience in Seeking God Builds A Rock Solid Life

II Samuel 22

Transcript

As we turn back for just a moment to the 18th psalm on our way to 2 Samuel 22, we are looking, continuing to look, at David’s life, especially in light of Hebrews as it says, he being dead yet speaks talking about Abel. I think that’s so true also of David’s life. David had a lifelong love for the Lord. As we saw this morning, it was an embracing love. It was a love that didn’t just sit there passively waiting. It was a love that sought after God and longed for God. David was drawn toward the Lord and was a model placed before us in God’s Word of what pleases the Lord. And for a clue, if you look at that superscription, if your Bible has that little paragraph just before the first verse, I just want to point out a few words in there that are very unique in all the Bible that will set our course this evening. Because we see in these last recorded words of David, that David’s relationship with the Lord was not theoretical. It wasn’t just something he’d heard about maybe at the tabernacle or through the ministry of Samuel as he was preaching. It was more than theoretical. It was a real possession. It was what he said was his, that the Lord was his. He knew it and he said it to the end.

But what we see in the little super script there is that David was a bond servant of the Lord. And I just want you to think about this concept because we think of this in the New Testament, and this will help bridge in your minds between the New Testament servant of the Lord that we’re to be and this great champion in the Old Testament, David’s life. In the psalm as we read it this morning, David becomes the third and the final person in the Old Testament to be described as the servant of the Lord.

It says that in that little paragraph before the first verse. It says, To the Chief Musician a Psalm of David, and then look at those next words, the servant of the Lord. That’s a rare title in the Old Testament. In fact, it’s only given, among all the verses of God’s Word, it’s only given to Moses and Joshua. Although it’s a familiar title that Paul and Peter and others in the New Testament often take, in the Old Testament it’s a rare thing. And so, David is in a rare group. In fact, in Deuteronomy, we’re introduced to this title first as it says in Deuteronomy 34, at the end of Moses’ life in Deuteronomy 34:5. I’ll just read it to you. It says, so Moses, and here again at the end of his life, Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to Word of the Lord. So, God looked at Moses’s life and had him given the title at the end, after he looked at what he had done, and said Moses was the servant of the Lord. His life was characterized by being a bond slave, someone that did My bidding, someone that wanted to serve Me, that just laid aside their own agenda and did Mine and acted like a slave. And Moses, by the way, is called that 17 times. There’s only 21 uses of this in the Old Testament and one in the New with the definite article but Moses gets the prize, 17 times. In Joshua, at the end of Joshua, chapter 24, Joshua’s talked about the same way at the end of his life. And it says, Joshua 24:29, now come to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died being 110. So Joshua, at the end of his life, the Lord looked at him and said, there is a servant of the Lord.

Now, there were many others that served the Lord but the next time God, at the end of someone’s life says this is right here where we are. Psalm 18:1. It says A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. Now look over at Psalm 36, because it’s the same thing in the 36th psalm, the same little superscription title there, because as in the opening of Psalm 18 so in the opening of Psalm 36 we find David being granted by God this honorable title. And it says in Psalm 36 to The Chief Musician, a Psalm or Song of David, and there it is again, the servant of the Lord. Amazing how God honored him. So, David was a servant of the Lord. And we need to always remember that not only was David a servant of the Lord, but the most written about man in the Bible portrays for us what a servant of the Lord lives like, responds to adversity like, acts like, talks like, and that’s what we see.

But that little title shows up one more time in the Bible after David gets it twice. It shows up again at the end. And if you want to turn over to 2 Timothy 2, I want to show you the last time that this little title of the Servant of the Lord is used. It’s in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 24. Because in 2 Timothy, it’s probably the most challenging verse about what God expects from us as His servants. Now, we’re supposed to be living and breathing and walking and talking, functioning servants of the Lord. Moses was and remember it says he was the meekest man. Joshua was, and it says that he meditated on God’s law day and night. David was, and as we’re looking at this evening in the 18th psalm in, 2 Samuel 22, David had a lifelong pursuit of God, sought God, and God looked at that pursuit and said he was His servant, the servant of the Lord. But look what the Lord directs Paul to write. 2 Timothy 2:24, and the servant of the Lord must not strive or as new King James puts it quarrel, but this is what characterizes the life and character and attitude, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. In this verse, God says two very clear things, distinguishing who and what His servants are going to look like and act like. And what he says is, first something negatively, they have to flee something. And tonight, we’re all called to be servants of the Lord. In fact, the people that are going to be in Heaven are called servants of the Lord. It says that those who dwell forever with God serve Him. His servants serve Him. Remember we looked at that, way at the front end of David’s life, way back in January. So, in Revelation 21 and 22, Heaven is made up of God’s servants who serve Him. So, all of us are to be servants of the Lord. And so, this really speaks to all of us. The servant of the Lord must not be characterized and must flee something, and that is someone who quarrels.

And here’s a page I just pulled, cut and pasted a page out of the Greek dictionary of New Testament words. And this word is the word… now listen, this is one of those neat words that goes right from the Greek language into the English language, okay? They call it transliteration. It’s like baptism. The word for baptism in Greek is bapto. Doesn’t it sound like, bapto, baptism? So, it’s very interesting when a word doesn’t even need to be translated. It just jumps into the English language. We call that transliteration. It just slides across without needing to be translated. Let’s see if I’ll say this word in Greek and see if it rings a bell with you. Okay. It says, the servant of the Lord must not machomai. Hey. Hey, that’s an English word, isn’t it? Macho. You ever heard of a macho person? Someone that’s, they walk in, assess the situation and they’re better than everyone else and they’ll let you know it too. They’re tough and they are very, very confident in themself. machomai means someone who fights, who engages in hand to hand struggles (that’s a secondary use). The primary use is someone who fights engaging in a war of words, who wrangles quarrels, disputes for themself. That’s a machomai. And you know what it says? The servants of the Lord must not be machomai.

And it’s interesting, that’s what characterizes David. He was a mighty warrior, but he was a man who wept and who was constantly on his face before the Lord. And was such a humble servant that when his wife said, you’re acting too much like a slave he says, you’re going to see more of that than you’ve seen yet. He says, because I’ll do anything for my God that I serve. He wasn’t real macho in her sight. But in this verse, God says that we’re to flee that. As much as we are to speak boldly for the Lord without compromise, we’re to do so with the attitude that we are the servant of the Lord. And the Lord does not need defending. He doesn’t need defense. He defends himself. Spurgeon used to say it. He says that God’s Word is like a caged up lion or tiger, you don’t need to defend it. You just need to open the door and let it out because God can handle it and He can take care of Himself.

And so, the servant of the Lord doesn’t have to be constantly machomai, and being quarrelsome, being one who has an attitude that is harsh or abusive or overbearing or unkind or thoughtless or ignitions, a fighting kind of person. Someone’s just ready to debate any time with anyone. Rather, he says, we’re to have the attitude of meekness and gentleness and humility. In fact, Jesus said, if you want to really be a servant of the Lord, Matthew 11:29, He says, learn of me.

Dr. Imad, last Sunday morning, gave one of the most finest sermons I’ve ever heard, just a beautiful treatment on being like Christ. And Jesus said, if you want to be like Me, let My mind be upon you, and He said this is what you’ll learn. Matthew 11:29. I am meek and lowly in heart. Jesus was not machomai. He was not quarrelsome. Yes, he stood eye to eye with the false leaders and the religious stuffed shirts of his day, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, but Matthew 11:29, His personal testimony is, if you take My yoke and learn of Me, you’ll find I’m gentle and lowly in heart. And when you live that way, He says, you’ll have rest in your souls. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Must not be machomai.

But Paul, quickly look at the rest of verse 24. He doesn’t just give the negative. That’s the blessing. He doesn’t just say, duh, don’t do that. He follows it up, with three in that verse we could go through but I’m not going through 2 Timothy 2 tonight. But just in that verse, he gives three quick, successive positive attributes we are to pursue. If we’re supposed to flee being machomai, what are we supposed to pursue? Number one, able to teach. And that doesn’t mean having vast knowledge or understanding. It means effectively communicating God’s Word. We have a little Tuesday morning Bible study; I just love it. We meet early and just meet week after week, same group of guys. And two weeks ago, we had a great exercise. I cut on the paper cutter, little pieces of paper like this and said, everybody write down the sins that you’re seeing God point out in your life that you want to work on. Just write down your besetting sins. Just write them on a piece of paper and we put them in a basket and shuffle them all up so no one could tell who is who. And then one of the men just took them out and he started reading. And I said, now what you’re supposed to do is, you’re supposed to, if you hear one of your friends, someone you love in the Lord that comes up and says, I’m struggling with, and he read the first one. The first one said, anger. And I said, okay. What verse would you share with them if they’re struggling with anger? Everyone was hoping their card wouldn’t get up. And the guy threatened. He said, I’m going to read these in the order around the table so we know who’s struggling with what. And everyone was just getting nervous, but he didn’t do it. He shuffled them. I said, okay, where would you go with anger? And they all started thinking, and we started sharing verses. Someone who is look back at this verse, able to teach it doesn’t mean that they possess a complete and vast knowledge and understanding of every possible nuance of the scripture. It means they can effectively communicate God’s Word to a specific need. Did you know all of us can do that?

A friend of mine told me that he’s discipling one of the folks that was recently baptized and he asked me what I thought. And he told me everything we’re doing. I said, I just have one little thing I’d add to your plan. I said, this person is seeing God work in their life in different areas. I said they need to put a nail into God’s work in each one of those areas. If they’re struggling with their anger, they need to be angry and sin not, and learn that verse, let the sun not go down on your wrath and the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Teach them some of those verses. Effectively communicate to them how they can have biblical change through the Word of God. And that’s what a servant’s doing. A servant is not just reading this book to be able to say that I’ve read it x number of times and I know… you can ask me any hard question, I can get it. That’s not apt to teach. That’s apt to pride. Knowledge what? Puffs. But love makes us have an aptitude to teach. It makes us effectively communicate the Word of God. And in our time in the Word of God, we should be servants the Lord asking Him to teach us how to effectively communicate His Word.

The second in this quick succession is, patient when wrong. It’s probably the hardest of all the qualifications here. Only Jesus was like that. Even Paul, remember Paul was wronged in front of the High Priest and he says, God smite you, you whitewashed wall. And they slapped him and said, you shouldn’t talk that way to the High Priest. And he goes, oops. No, I shouldn’t. Sorry. He was humble and apologized, but he was pretty not patient when wronged. And that’s why I think he wrote this because it’s only something the sphere of God can do long term in our lives.

And then the last of the three it says patient, it’s a fruit of Christ’s Holy Spirit. He gives us the strength we need so we’re bond slaves of God. So, David in a real sense, gives us in the New Testament era, a pattern, a model, because David and Joshua and Moses are the three prime servants of the Lord that God singles out in the Old Testament.

So, let’s go back to the 18th psalm real quickly and let me just show you just a few simple lessons from the 18th psalm. We read it all this morning. You saw it’s huge. It’s as long as a New Testament epistle. Okay. It’s a big section of scripture, but let me just give you some little tiny truths. Psalm 18 is the record of David’s confession about seeking God. It’s a record of David’s heart and his deep affections and love for the Lord all throughout life. Remember I told you, it covers all the phases of his life, as we saw, as we read it this morning. But no matter how often David stumbled and fell he was sheltered and secured and sought by the Lord that he always trusted, that he always loved. And here’s some simple lessons we can see from David’s life.

The first one actually is in the 17th psalm, because these two go together. Look at Psalm 17. Let me just show you the first verse of 17th psalm. Hear a just cause oh Lord. Attend to my cry, Psalm 17:1. And give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Do you know what David’s lifelong cry to the Lord was? Hear my prayer. Hear my prayer. God hear my prayer. I’m on the run. I’m struggling. I’m going through this. I’m facing this. And you know what the whole 18th psalm is? It’s a beautiful record that God hears our cries. Psalm 17:1. David saying, I’m pleading to You God, hear my cry. You know what the whole 18th psalm is? You heard my cry. The 18th psalm is the reality that God hears the cries of the hearts of His servants. It’s a beautiful thought to think that the Lord is listening. So often in our world, people aren’t. You can hear people talking all the time. Those little ear things, they just walk through and it’s just like you learn to not listen because you know that no one’s talking to you, everyone’s just talking out loud. They’re talking their little cell phone or they’re holding it and other people just are talking and it just seems like we’re getting in the world where there’s so much sound and everything, we don’t really listen anymore. And spiritually that’s happening too because we’re almost on spiritual overdrive. There’s so many channels of communication to us. There’s so many printed and video and audio and electronic and just everything is, just as Solomon said of books. There’s no end. So sometimes we just stop listening.

But David said there’s someone that never stops listening. God hears our cries. And look at verse 3 of the 18th psalm. God responds to our cries. He doesn’t just hear them. I guess in real sense, we do hear everything, but we don’t really respond to it because we know it’s not for us, people are talking around us. In fact, what’s really sad and if you ever are in a gathering where young and old people converge which I was recently at one, I’m not sure if I’m young or old, but compared to the person I’m talking to I guess I was young, but it was an older person. And there was one of these people with the Bluetooth or whatever it is, cell phone thing in their ear where you just talk and you don’t see them holding anything. And that older person thought they were talking to them and this businessman was just talking away, and the older person was smiling and nodding their head. And all of us seeing that thing knew that they weren’t talking to that older person. But the older person who couldn’t hear very well thought they were, and they were just smiling and trying to be so polite. And it’s amazing how we talk, a lot of people never hear. But God hears and He says in verse 3, I love this verse.

This is the second simple lesson. The first simple lesson is God hears our cries. The second one is God responds to our cries and it says in Psalm 18 and verse 3, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I’ll be saved from my enemies. He says, I can tell you I have called in the Lord, and the Lord hears and He’s worthy of praise because He doesn’t just hear our cries, He responds to them. See the end of verse 3, so shall I be saved from my enemies? There’s a song about that. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, thus shall I be saved from my enemies. The Lord liveth and blessed be my rock. That’s all about this psalm because of David seeing the Lord as worthy of praise it was because God responded to his cries. Look at verse 16. We’re just going to skip through this psalm. We could take a very long time going through it, but I just want to give you some quick lessons. God hears our cries. God responds to our cries.

Thirdly, God delivers us from evil. David expressed his life as the Lord delivering him from his enemies. Psalm 18 and verse 16 says this, He sent from above, He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, from those who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity. Verse 18, but the Lord was my support. You know what He said? God delivered me from evil. Isn’t that what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer? Deliver us from evil. God delivered David and David says, God delivers me from evil. My life has been the Lord delivering me from my enemies. And this is what we need today. See, David is living what we need to experience in this psalm. He’s experiencing what we need to experience. We need a personal deliverer. He had a personal deliverer. He says, I know you hear me and I know You respond to me, and You deliver me from my enemies. From the constant onslaught of those that are, look what the text says. Those who are strong, verse 17, at the end of verse 17, they’re too strong for me.

Do you remember when the Israelites conquered the promised Land? That, if you read carefully the Lord left different groups there to see if they would seek the Lord there. There were some of the Canaanites lodged in key places so that the people couldn’t easily dislodge them, so that they would have to call on the Lord who had gone before them and conquered the land for them. The Israelis didn’t really conquer the land. They stood in wonder as they obeyed the Lord and He conquered the land. In fact, there were no casualties other than when they were disobedient. That isn’t a real war. It’s not normal to have no casualties; to do sword and bow and arrow and slingshot fighting and have no one killed on one side of the army. That’s not real warfare. It was God going before them. Yes, He made them bear the sword. Yes, He made them go out into battle, but He fought for them, it says all the way through but He left some lodged Canaanites to see if they would need Him or think they could do it themselves. And as you know the story, they thought they could do it themselves, and they miserably failed and became in servitude to the Canaanites. And that’s what we do in our lives. God wants to deliver us from evil. He is a deliverer who knows just where we are all the time. And He’s strong enough to deliver us from even the strongest of our enemies, which is our flesh and the world around us, and the Devil and his hoards. But He’s able to deliver us from the strongest of our enemies and think about what we know about the cross of Jesus. Jesus Christ has already defeated all of our enemies once and for all. He’s only waiting to make that real and true in our lives today. So, what David is saying here, the little lesson of his lifelong seeking the Lord from verses 16 to 18 is, God will deliver us from evil. But what we need to do is engage a personal deliverer.

And if we need help right now, Jesus is available. He can deliver us right now from any fear, any bondage, any addiction, any abuse induced hatred or debilitating shame. You name it. Even stuff that others have never heard of God knows all about it. He’s acquainted with our weaknesses. Jesus Christ, it says in Hebrews 5, is a High Priest that is acquainted with our weaknesses. He has made like unto us so He can come and comfort us and help us in time of need because He was an all-points tempted, as we are, yet without sin. So, He’s a personal deliverer. And David said, I know You’re able, You’re my strength and tower and all those metaphors we read about in the first two verses. He said, and You deliver me from evil and I can trust in You.

God, here’s our cries. He responds to our cries. He delivers us from evil. But you know what is wonderful? He wants to walk with us. See, David says at the end of verse 18, the Lord was my support. It is such a moving thing to think of, David realizing in his infirmity as he got weaker, as he got older, that the Lord was his support helping him through life. It’s a touching thing to see a younger person helping the grand person through some struggle they’re having to get along, maybe unstable or weak or whatever. How much more touching is it to be able to say what David [did at] the end of verse 18, the Lord was my support. God wants to walk with us. He says, do you need a partner, a friend today? Then I recommend Jesus. That’s what David is doing. He calls Him the Lord. But the son of David is Jesus Christ, and he recommends Him to us. He is waiting. He’s walking beside us even now. He wants to share our thoughts and our actions. Jesus already said, I will never leave you or forsake you. He says, I want to help you, like I help David. David hardly knew anything that you and I know about the Lord. We have it all. We have the rest of the story. We have it all. We know exactly what God’s doing. We know why He’s doing it. We know how He’s doing it. We know it’s done. David saw through a mirror darkly. He didn’t understand. He searched what he was writing about and yet he was after God’s own heart. To whom much is given, much will be required. You and I know so much more than David knew, and we’re so much more responsible. God wants us to walk with Him.

What’s amazing is, the longer that we depend on the Lord more each year of our lives the more we realize that He does deliver us from evil, that He does accompany us through life and that life is sweetest when walked with Christ. And that’s what Psalm 92 says. And if you ever want to think about what you’re supposed to end like, Psalm 92 says that the righteous, the older they get, the more godly they get and the more influential they are on all those around us. It should be that the older people are the powerhouses of the church because they are. To use modern lore, they’re the ones that are well trained in the ways of God’s power. I think about it and all the science fiction things, they always have these old, like that little short puppet thing from Star Wars. He was so old, but he really knew the power. Whatever his name is, I don’t even remember, but you know who I mean. The little one with the crinkly face. He, yeah. What was it? Yoda. Yeah. He was an old guy that taught the young guys. Did you know that’s just borrowing from the truth of God that says that the older that you get, Psalm 92 says, we dwell in the courts of the Lord and we’re overflowing with His power. It should be that the masters of the Christian life are the people who have longest walk with the Lord.

Don’t check out. I just got back at midnight from one of my dear, dear, dear, dear friends, who I’ve known for almost my whole time I’ve been a pastor. And he just was installed as the president of a new seminary. And I just went there to be with him. And what was such a blessing is, I remember 25 years ago talking to him. I said, Darrell, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? And he said, I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. He said, I just know one thing, I’m going to serve the Lord my whole life. And that’s never changed in his life. And I sat around a table with him and some other wonderful servants of the Lord, and they all said the same thing. They said, we are just committed to this lifelong walking with God and serving Him. And the older we get, the weaker our bodies are. And though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed and our strength grows in Christ, our faith, our prayer lives, our ability to wage spiritual warfare, we understand the wiles of the devil, and we do take the armor the older and the closer and the deeper we walk.

Here’s another one. Look at verse 26. I love this, in Psalm 18. Here’s another one. God hears our cries, response to our cries, delivers us from evil. He wants to walk with us all the way through life and deliver us from evil, but here’s the next one, verse 26, God will not be mocked. And this is one of those verses that if you read the commentators from 26 down through this section, especially when you get to the end of the 26th verse it starts in 25. Merciful. You’ll be merciful, blameless. You’ll be blameless. 26, pure. You’ll be pure. But look at this one with the devious, You will show Yourself shrewd. And commentators say, oh, wait a minute. God can’t, because actually with the devious, You’ll be devious. But we know that God can’t be devious because within Him there’s no darkness at all. But it’s not saying God’s going to do something wrong. What it’s saying is, God will never be mocked. And the rendering here showing Himself shrewd is so well. God is shown as the one who repays man according to his deeds. The whole law of sowing and reaping and the unstoppable wheels of the consequence engine are something David was very aware of.

Now, think about this. What the Lord is saying is much like Haman, who was hung on the very gallows he built for innocent Mordecai. That’s God showing Himself shrewd, Haman was going to destroy the Jews and he was going to hang righteous Mordecai in that gallows. And it ended up; God worked it out that he got hung on it. See, that’s how God works to the devious, He shrewdly gives them their own medicine, we would put it in English. How about this one? It was Laban cheating the same Jacob who already cheated his own brother, Esau. See, Jacob getting cheated by his father-in-law is one who went through life cheating his own brother. God gives us back the consequences of what we sow. And another one, David, right here, David, who reaped murder and adultery from his sons. Remember, his own son committed adultery with his father’s wives. Absalom put a tent up and spread out all of David’s wives and in front of all of Israel committed adultery with them and tried to murder his dad, who had already committed adultery and murdered someone else. God gave him what he had sown. With the those who are devious, God shows Himself shrewd. God has never mocked. And David, at the end of his life testifies whatever man sows that he’ll reap. He says, God is worthy of our worship. He is the one who is so righteous that He will not be deceived. And we should learn that young in our lives. And if you’ve been watching the news, what a tragic, I don’t know anything that’s going on, but I do know the horrible things are being said about a very famous Christian. But you know what? You don’t get into those situations if you don’t make little wrong choices. And the ones he’s admitted to are bad enough.

But look at verse 31, another beautiful truth, God is worthy of our worship. The word used for God here in chapter 18, verse 31, is so powerful. For who is God except the Lord? That word God is ‘elôha. It’s one of the special names of God. It’s the God who is to be worshiped. God is worthy of our worship. He’s saying there, that who is God except the Lord. Who is a rock except our God. He’s talking about God is worthy to be worshiped. He’s this rock. He’s worthy of building your life on a rock solid life. One, that you know God hears our cries and responds, and delivers us, and walks with us, and won’t be mocked. He is worthy of worship.

Verse 32 has another name for God. It’s just hidden away as G.O.D. but it’s another name for God. It’s the word ‘el which speaks of the omnipotent, all powerful God who has everything possible, every power that is needed. And he says that’s the one we can trust. He is the God who is all we need, is the omnipotent almighty God in His power.

In verse 46, he just ends his psalm with a wonderful, wonderful, which again is part of the psalm, verse 46. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let the God of my salvation be exalted. And what he says is, God is worthy of lifelong praise. Remember the 18th psalm is the summary of his whole life. You know what the summary of his life is. He starts it with saying, I love You. I will love You. I will embrace You, oh God. And he ends it in verse 46 by saying, God is worthy of my lifelong praise. His lifelong praise to God, the Lord lives. Blessed be the rock. Remember the one that shelters me, the one that I’ve been able to stand on, the one that I knew would never forsake me or leave me. He says, that rock. I bless my Rock and He is the God of my salvation and I’ll exalt Him.

This psalm, remember I told you it’s so important, it’s twice. Let’s, real quickly before we go tonight, go back to the first occurrence of it in 2 Samuel. Okay, so, back up in your Bible, 2 Samuel 22, because I want to show you just the conclusion of this whole psalm. Because this psalm is a psalm of praise to God recorded twice in the Bible, Psalm 18 and also 2 Samuel 22. It was repeated intentionally for emphasis. [2 Samuel] 22, which we’re going to look at right now, is the historic record of David’s final words. Psalm 18 is captured as his personal testimony that he was a lifelong seeking servant of the Lord.

In 2 Samuel 22, and you’ll notice that it starts out the same. Verse 1. Then David spoke to the Lord, the words of this song, on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said. And it skips over the first verse of Psalm 18. Do you remember what that is? I will love the Lord. Remember that embracing love in this record. That’s not in there because that was David’s personal worship to the Lord. That was in the song that he sang in his personal worship. And that is how it starts out when he looks at the summary of his life. But here’s the historic record. And it’s still true, but it’s set in a different light. And if you look and some men have spent their lives studying the dissimilarities and similarities in all, and why. Let me just say this is a perfect historic record. And in verse 2, the Word the Lord is my rock. Is the word that we would know from the land of Israel is ma?ôz. He is the fortress. He is the impregnable fortress we flee to. And David believed that and knew that.

What David had, and let’s skip to chapter 23 because I want you to see, after David goes through this whole 18th psalm in chapter 22, he ends in verse 51. He is the tower of salvation to His king, shows mercy to His anointing. Now, look at 23:1. Now, these are the last words of David, and he just gives this little super script that says, look at verse 2, the Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. His Word was on my tongue. He said, I didn’t say all this myself. He said, God spoke through me. That’s one of the most beautiful verses on inspiration. David said, I didn’t think all this up. I didn’t invent all this stuff. The Spirit of God, 2 Samuel 23:2, was upon me and spoke through me so that what you’re holding in your hands is actually God’s communication. What a powerful word from David. But I love that. Now, these are the last words of David. So, David summarizes his life and God inspired him to do that. That’s amazing because at the end of his life, in his last words, David gets to look back. And when David looked back, all he sees is God’s grace. Isn’t that amazing? God has covered the sins and left the record of David’s life as a long pursuit seeking the Lord.

If you read this whole psalm, you just see a lifelong pursuit of God, and that’s how God looks at our life. He burns away the wood, hay, and stubble and leaves that which pleases and glorifies him. And that’s what’s in that 18th psalm in 2 Samuel 22. You know there’s some given names that stick and stay. Take for instance, if you’re in the business world, do you ever hear someone say, hey, can you go xerox this for me? 99 times out of a hundred, it’s not a Xerox machine, but what is it? It’s the original. Remember the original copy machine was a Xerox machine? How about someone saying, could you go and grab me a Kleenex? Probably there’ll be an older person. But you know what, that hearkens back to when there was only one kind and it was called Kleenex. Some names stick, and even though they’re far removed from the origin, you just can’t stop calling things by the original name. That happens when God puts a title on a person. And I want you to think of, David’s title sticks but it’s just one of many examples. In the scriptures, like when I say friend of God many of us want and hope to be. But that’s what God calls who? Abraham, that was his title. God stuck him with a memorable name. He says, Abraham, you’re My friend. And that stuck with him. And when God calls us something, it sticks with us.

Another one I think is fascinating is the Apostle John will always be the one that Jesus loved. Remember, the one that Jesus loved. Now, he loves us all, but in a special sense, John was that apostle that he loved. Moses, we got to know him as the one that got to know God face to face. It doesn’t say that about anybody else. It says that Moses got to know God face to face. And he got a second one. He was the meekest man on all the Earth. But when we come to the end of David’s life, God identifies him by a special title. In Acts 13, he says that he was a man after God’s own heart. And that sticks. And we should never forget that David was a man who was pursuing after God. And he was right after God’s own heart. He was a man who loved the Lord and pursued Him. And as far as we know, David never heard that title that’s in Acts, that he was a man after God’s own heart. He just lived that title. And what God saw in his lifelong obedience was he was God hearted.

Now, the question for all of us before we leave this is, what does God see in your life and mine? If God is going to, at the end of our life like to Moses, and to Joshua, and to David, say there’s a servant of the Lord, and far after our life, say there’s someone after My own heart, what is it that characterizes our lives that God sees inside of us? Maybe others don’t see it, but what is it that God sees? What are our lifelong habits that God admires about us? God wrote the 18th psalm because He admired the fact that David cried to Him. He admired the fact that David needed the Lord. He admired the fact that David noticed every time God responded. God liked it that David wanted God to deliver him from his enemies. David wanted God to come with him through life. He just took God everywhere. God liked that about him. God wants to admire those things in us. David practiced a lifelong obedience of seeking God in the future days. I want to show you his lifelong practice of worshiping God. If you want to learn how to worship God, David gives us so much to sift through to see. He also had a lifelong record in his life of a life that served God, that sought God, that worshiped God. We can just pick one thing after another. How he dealt with adversity is another study, and we’re just going to touch on these. But I want to kind of get you in the gear of looking at his life as a model, and that’s how the psalms come alive. How he trusted God. How he worshiped God. How he sought God.

But to close. I want to take you to one more place. I want to show you the 23rd psalm in a different light than maybe you’ve ever thought of it before. So, turn there with me, and in the last six or seven minutes I want to challenge you about something. Because this is the last way that I want to talk to you about how David sought the Lord. David sought the Lord all through his life. David compounded his investments in God. He cultivated a lifelong desire to seek the Lord in every avenue of life, and so should we. But as soon as I say that in your mind, you’re thinking, uh-huh, okay, where do I start? It’s kind of like in Bible study someone gets saved. In fact, yesterday morning Bonnie and I were eating breakfast and whenever I get alone with Bonnie, I always, we always bring the Bible because we’re going to read at breakfast. And so, we were out to eat and I brought my Bible and I set it on the table, had it all open, of course to Psalm 18 because that’s all I’ve been thinking about all week long. And the waitress walked over, she was from Jamaica, her name was Sharon. She walked over and she stood at our table and she just looked at that Bible. And then she looked right at us and she said, in her beautiful British accent so sweetly. She said, when I got up this morning I said, God, send me someone. She said, I just moved here from Jamaica. And she says, I have no church. I have no Christian friend. I just have a job. And I said God, send me someone today. I need help, today. And she looked at us and she said, and you sat at my table and opened the Bible. And she said, could you share something with me? And I thought, isn’t that sweet? Carry your Bible with you. Can you believe, what if I hadn’t brought my Bible? I would’ve missed that blessing of that woman, fresh off the island of Jamaica, coming straight here, left her church home. Her pastor said, take God with you. And she got there and she’s looking for a church. And it was so sweet to have her come up to our table and say that. And I shared. Of course, I preached to my sermon this morning to her until the food got cold and it was really fun.

But what I want show you in the 23rd psalm is that a great way to start is to do what David did. What did David do? He sought God while he was at work. Did you know that’s what the 23rd psalm is about? Did you know that’s probably the most favorite psalm in all the Book of Psalms? You know what it is? It’s David’s reflections on God while he was at work. That’s not how we think of it. We think of it for either a funeral or as a child that it’s one, or we think of it because it’s beautiful but a lot of times, we don’t think about it. That was David’s reflection on God at work. And for just a second, let me show you what I mean. I’m going to read through this because if you’ve ever thought about where David was when he made one of his greatest discoveries about God, David was young, alone, and at work. And what does Samuel tell us was his job. He was a shepherd boy. He was working outdoors. He was with the sheep. And as a boy, he began this lifelong seeking God, and he thought, if I’m going to seek God, I’m going to have to start on the job looking for what He did in my work. And so, David just started looking around at the sheep and he started thinking about all the truth he knew about God. And he started looking at the sheep and he started thinking and meditating and all of a sudden, he saw God through everyday life. And you know the connection. The Lord’s the Shepherd and David was the sheep. And he just looked at that. It’s amazing.

As a boy, David declared that he would seek God and decided he would seek Him at work every long day and night. And from his earliest days on the hillside as a shepherd, David sought God and he looked at life, even life as lonely and monotonous and mundane as a life with a job of watching sheep. You know what? David could have written in the 23rd psalm, I am so bored, my dad neglects me, I am not liked at home, and the sheep stink. Can you imagine how differently we could have done this? All that is true, but he didn’t look at life in his own eyes. He looked at life at work through God’s eyes. And so, what we come up with is, who could ever look at the lowliest job of the day, which was being a shepherd, in the same way as we did before once you read the 23rd psalm?

David showed us how he viewed his job through Psalm 23. We find that to David, the secret of God, the Lord became his shepherd. He wasn’t just those little sheep shepherd the Lord became his shepherd. So, all of a sudden, he started thinking and he looked at himself and saw that he was just like the weak and helpless and often confused little sheep. And if he, a mere human child, could care for sheep and meet all their earthly needs, how much more would the Lord be sure that David would not want? Do you ever think about that? Whatever your job is. I go and visit, I’ve visited 125 minutes, their workplaces and been absolutely amazed at all the different jobs there in Tulsa. And most of them I could never do. I’ve seen people from computer systems things to shaping things out of aluminum and everything in between. Is just unbelievable. But if we can do all those things, just think what God can do. That’s what David started thinking about. And from the desolation and bareness of the arid deserts, David could believe that he could have as much provision, that he could lie down in green pastures instead of anxiously eating as if there would never be enough, he could rest quietly satisfied. He said, those sheep, they die without me, they don’t know where to eat. Sheep have to be led. They have to be brought to the water and to the food. And he says, if a human can do that for an animal, how much more will God make sure that I can lie down in green pastures. Facing the deadly thirst of the wilderness David saw that seeking God meant that he could always be led by waters that are still, to drink in peace and safety.

As a little boy, he saw the anxious sheep was prone to sickness and injury, and always made the sheep feel safe and secure. And just so, the Lord could restore his soul. Sheep don’t do well when they’re agitated and nervous, and neither do people when tempted to displease the Lord or dishonor Him. David thought about how he led his sheep, and so he asked the Lord to lead him in paths of righteousness for the sake of God’s name. Even the narrow canyons where the sheer vertical drop met certain death. David said that he would protect his sheep so that the adversaries wouldn’t get them. And so, in his own life the Lord led him in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. And David says, I’m not going to let my life dishonor the name, just like I wouldn’t let the sheep fall off and I wouldn’t let them get in endangered. He says, I am going to make sure that I don’t dishonor His name.

Thinking about God at work made David also look on his tools. He looked down and saw his rod and staff. And he said, just as my rod and my staff comfort these sheep, God uses His rod and staff to comfort me. And he said, I know that God must have protect me and correct me. And even when enemies were prowling around, the shepherd kept him at such a distance with his sling and staff that the weakened, timid lambs could be confident enough to put their head down in the grass. So, David accepted God could prepare a table before him. Do you remember when Absolom was chasing? We were reading the 31st psalm. Do you remember that David laid down and slept? He said that I can lay down and sleep even when all the armies are coming against me. That’s the serenity that is unearthly, that God offered him. And we could go through the whole 23rd psalm.

But finally, just as David, for all those years, had a safe and secure place prepared every night for his flock to rest in complete security and comfort so David, as the years passed swiftly by, could also rest assured that at the exact and perfect moment he would get home and dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He saw God at work. We should see God pursuing him through all of life, pursuing him in every avenue of life and say, God, I want to see You and I want You to show me. And I want You to reveal Yourself to me through Your words so I can see You. Because I love You and I want to pursue You and embrace You and love. So, in the midst of a hard life of stress and constant demands, David had a long obedience seeking God. He compounded his investment in God. He cultivated a lifelong desire to seek the Lord in every avenue of life. And so should we.

Let’s bow for word of prayer. Father, I thank you for David. I thank you for his life. I thank you for the simplicity. I thank you for the power that You wrought in him. Because he simply sought you with all of his heart. May we this week by Your grace do the same and be the servants of the Lord. In the name of Jesus we pray. And all God’s people said, amen. And God bless you as you go.

Notes

David had a lifelong love for God that drew him to seek the Lord. He was drawn toward the Lord with an embracing kind of love. He is a model placed before us in God’s Word of what pleases the Lord.

Start with me at the beginning of Psalm 18, where we saw the last recorded words of David. David’s relationship with the Lord was not theoretical, it was real and it was HIS and he knew it and said it—to the end!

DAVID WAS A BONDSLAVE OF GOD

In the Psalm we read this morning, David becomes the third and final person in the Old Testament to be described as “the servant of the Lord”. This is the powerful word “bondservant” we know from the New Testament. So David’s life has many examples for us.

Note again the first verse in Hebrew, the little paragraph before the first verse.

Psalm 18:1-2 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

Among the verses of God’s Word only Moses and Joshua are given this familiar title from the New Testament.

In Deuteronomy we are introduced to Moses as ‘the servant of the Lord’ (17x):

Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

Then Joshua (2x) is also given that title in Joshua 24:29.

Joshua 24:29 Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

Then in our opening section of Psalm 18 as well as Psalm 36 we find David being granted this honorable title. Look at the superscription of this Psalm.

Psalm 36:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

So David was a servant of the Lord. We need to always remember that—

WE ARE BONDSLAVES OF GOD

Now, there is one last place these words appear in all of God’s Word. Look at II Timothy 2:24 for one of the most challenging verses about what God expects from us as his servants.

2 Timothy 2:24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,

In this verse God says His servants are to first flee something; they as a true servant of God must not to be characterized as those who “quarrel”. Here is the page out of the Greek dictionary of New Testament Words.

#3164 machomai: “to fight (of armed combatants, or those who engage in a hand to hand struggle); of those who engage in a war of words, to quarrel, wrangle, dispute”.

As much as we are to speak boldly for the Lord without compromise, we are to do so with the attitude of meekness, gentleness, and humility. We are never to be harsh, abusive, overbearing, unkind, thoughtless, or pugnacious. There is to be a softness in the authority of a godly Christian, just as there was in Jesus when He said:

Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Then Paul explains in quick succession three positive attributes to pursue. Christ’s bondservant must also be able to teach. The term does not refer so much to possessing vast knowledge or understanding as to having notable ability to communicate effectively the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word.

The godly leader who is an honorable vessel must be patient when wronged, which is perhaps the hardest qualification mentioned here.

When we are faithfully witnessing and living for the Lord, it is not easy to graciously accept unjust criticism. In addition to being our example, Jesus is also our resource for being patient. Patience is a fruit of Christ’s own Holy Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22), who will provide the strength we need for bearing His fruit.1

So David in a real sense gives us New Testament era servants of the Lord so much of an example. And that is what we see in—

Psalm 18: DAVID’S CONFESSION ABOUT SEEKING GOD

Psalm 18 is the record of David’s heart and his deep affections and love for the Lord throughout his life. No matter how often David stumbled and fell—he was sheltered, secured, and sought by the God who can always be trusted. There are some simple lessons about his life we can see.

1. God hears our cries. In Psalm 17 listen to David’s pleadings to God as he requests:

Psalm 17:1 Hear a just cause, O Lord, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

2. God responds to our cries. Psalm 18 is God’s answer; an incredible description of the God who responds. So because of that David saw the Lord (18:3) as worthy of praise.

3. God delivers us from evil. David expressed his life as the Lord delivering him from his enemies. “He delivered me..” (Psalm 18:16) This is what we need today—a personal deliverer who knows just where we are at all time, and who is strong enough to deliver us from even the strongest of enemies. Think of what you know about the Cross of Jesus. Christ has already defeated all our enemies once and for all. He is only waiting to make that real and true in our lives today. If you need help right now—He is available and able to deliver you right now from any fear, any bondage, any addiction, any abuse induced hatred or debilitating shame.

4. God wants to walk with us. Do you need a partner or friend today? May I recommend Jesus? He is waiting, walking beside you even now and wanting to share your thoughts and actions. Jesus will never leave you, He will never forsake you or dump you for someone else. He promises that “…I am with you always…” (Matthew 28:20). That is why I depend on Him more and more each year of my life. And that is what should be happening to all of us.

5. God will not be mocked. In v. 26 God is shown as the One who repays man according to his deeds. The who law of sowing and reaping and the unstoppable wheels of the consequence engine is reflected by the last like of this verse.

Much like Haman who was hung on the very gallows he built for innocent Mordecai; and Laban cheating the same Jacob who has already cheated his own brother Esau; and David who reaped murder and adultery from his sons after he had himself adulterated and murdered Uriah for Bathsheba—we serve a God who warns us to not be deceived, God is never mocked—for whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap (Galatians 6:7).

God is worthy of our worship. The word used for “God” in Psalm 18:31 is Eloah—the God who is to be worshiped.

6. God is all we could need. And in v. 32 the word for “God” is EL—the Almighty God of Omnipotence in His Power.

7. God is worthy of our life long praise. Especially note his life long praise to God in Psalm 18:46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

This Psalm of praise to God is actually recorded twice in the Bible here and in II Samuel 22. It is repeated intentionally for emphasis. In II Samuel 22 it is set as the historical record of David’s final words. In Psalm 18 it is captured as the personal testimony of this life long, God seeking servant of the Lord.

This evening please join me in your Bibles at II Samuel 22:1-23:7. This morning we saw these words made into David’s personal song in Psalm 18. This evening we are going to see some life long disciplines or habits that made David have a rock solid life even under stress. I call this a–

A GOD SEEKING LIFESTYLE

At the end of his life, in his last words David gets to look back. II Samuel 22 is that summary. When David does look back–all he sees is grace. God has covered the sins, and left the record of David’s life long pursuit of seeking the Lord.

There are some given names that stick and stay. Take for instance how many people still Xerox documents although they have never seen a Xerox copier; the same for ‘hand me a Kleenex’, even though it is far from being made by Kleenex. But the use of that name has spread to the entire usage of that action. We see something similar when God puts a title on people.

• When I say the Friend of God many of us may want and hope to be—but that is what God calls Abraham.

• Similarly the Apostle John will always be the one that Jesus loved. That is his special title given in God’s Word, and what God says sticks.

• Moses was the one that we know got to know God face-to-face and he was also the meekest man on earth. It is hard to shake such a handle when God puts it on you.

• As we come to the end of David’s life God identifies him by a special title, he says that David was a man after God’s own heart.

As far as we know David didn’t hear that title; that is just how God saw his life long obedience. What do you have in your life that God sees? What life long habits does He admire about you?

In these next few weeks look back on David’s and see what God saw in him. David practiced a long obedience in seeking God as we have seen in Psalm 18 and II Samuel 22 today. This was that unusual habit David had to look for God wherever he was.

Next time we will see David’s long obedience in—

• worshipping God (that incredible heart that gushed up rivers of worship even from the parched ground of difficult days);

• trusting God (that amazing way David turned his fears into opportunities to trust God even more. So what we find id David–

So in the midst of a hard life, a life of stress, a life of constant demands, a life on the run and a life of endless struggles—David chose to make regular, long term investments in seeking God. A long obedience in seeking God means–SEEKING GOD THROUGH ALL OF LIFE. David compounded his investment in God. David cultivated a life long desire to seek the Lord in every avenue of life. So should we.

A great way to start is to do what David did. There are three general areas David sought the Lord—while at work, when in danger and fear, and when he was discouraged and depressed. Let’s start with seeking God at work since most of us spend a long time each week working.

• Seeking God when at work is Psalm 23.

Have you ever thought of where David was when he made on of his greatest discoveries about God? He was young, alone, and at work! What does Samuel tell us was his job? He was a shepherd boy. So he worked outdoors with sheep.

Seeking God all through life would mean that David would have to start on the job looking at what he did through the eyes of God, and seeing God’s Hand in all he did. What I just described is maybe the best known of all the Psalms, the 23rd!

As a boy, David decided to seek God while at work each long day and night. From his earliest days on the hillsides as a shepherd, David sought God. He looked at life, even a life as lonely, monotonous, and mundane as watching sheep—with such a God heartedness that just his reflections on seeking God as a shepherd are immortal.

Who could ever look on the lowliest job of the day (being a shepherd) in the same way as before once David showed how he viewed his job? Through Psalm 23 we find that to David the seeker of God, the Lord became his [my] shepherd.

He looked at himself and saw that he was just like a weak, helpless and often confused lamb. And if he a mere human child could care for sheep and meet all of their earthly needs—how much more would the Lord be sure that David shall not want.

From the desolation and barrenness of the arid desert David could believe that he could have so much provision that he could lie down in green pastures. Instead of anxiously eating as if there would never be enough, he could quietly rest satisfied.

Facing the deadly thirst of the wilderness, David saw that seeking God meant that he would always be led by waters that are stilled and drink in peace and safety. As a boy he saw that an anxious sheep was prone to sickness and injury so he always made his sheep feel safe and secure so the Lord as he entrusted his life into His care restored his soul.

When tempted to displease the Lord or dishonor Him David thought about how he led his sheep so he asked the Lord to lead him in paths of righteousness for the sake of God’s Name. Even in the narrow canyons where a sheer vertical drop meant certain death for any sheep and so there was no place to go in a predator showed up, the sheep could completely trust the shepherd who was guarding as well as guiding them so that yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou are with me.

Thinking about God at work also made David look down at his tools and see that God’s rod and staff could comfort him, just as his tools were used for the protection and correction of his flock.

Even when enemies were prowling all around the shepherd kept them at such a distance by his sling and staff that a weak and timid lamb could be confident enough to put its head down in the grass where it couldn’t see what was going on—and just trust the shepherd. So David accepted that God prepared a table for David so that even in the most anxious times David could resort to trusting God and eat in the presence of my enemies.

Although his enemies never left him alone for his entire life time, David had his eyes opened do that as he looked back at life he saw in every trouble, every struggle and every pain was covered with God’s tracks because surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Most sheep never realize how much the shepherd does for them—but David decided he was going to look back and see just how great it was to have God always directing and leading in each situation for the glory and good of God.

And finally just as David for all those years always had a safe and secure place prepared each night for his flock to rest in complete security and comfort. So David as the years passed swiftly by he could also rest assured that at the exactly perfect moment—he also would head home and dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

David had a life long pursuit of God and he started by seeing God while he was at work. Have you started looking for the Lord in His Word and carrying Him in your heart and mind all day long?

• Seeking God when in danger and distress is Psalm 59, 56, and 34.

Have you ever gone on a vacation, or stayed with friends, or headed off to school or a conference–and found that all of your normal spiritual routines go all messed up?

How would you like to live on the go? Sleeping in a cave one night, by a stream the next and staying up all the next running for your life? How would your spiritual life do under those circumstances? David lived like that for much of his life in danger, yet he made it. How did he do that? He was seeking God when in danger and fear, in struggles and pain, and in discouragement and depression. Let me just sketch a few of these ways we can also learn to seek the Lord.

In I Samuel 19:11 David faces family conflict and danger. Just after Saul tries to murder him, David writes Psalm 59. His prayerful responses to these tough times are captured and show a pathway through conflict and danger to the One who is closest of all.

David finds an unshakeable trust in God’s protection. Some key truths from this Psalm are:

• David turns to God in his fearful times v.1.

• David trusts God in his fearful times v.9.

• David triumphs through God in his fearful times v. 16.

Remember when Paul was in similar times? 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Soon after, David is captured and goes from fear to terror to nearly a complete breakdown because of fear.

In 1 Sam. 21:10-12 when David is captured at Gath he writes about this in Psalm 56. In this Psalm David is confident (Ps. 56:9)! Why! “THIS I KNOW THAT GOD IS FOR ME”. He confesses a distinct impression God is on his side!

• Seek God.

• Cry out to Him. Four times in three verses (v. 4, 10-11) David cries to Elohim—the Creator of the dove and everything else!

• Remember His closeness in alone times. This Psalm was very popular. Psalm 56 is quoted by the writer of Hebrews 13:6 (Psalm 56:4, 11); by Paul in Romans 8:31 (Psalm 56:9); and most of all by Jesus Himself in John 8:12.

• Remember that God cares. The tears in the bottle phrase speaks loudly of God’s promise to never leave us, never forget us, a

But as the time goes on his confidence fades and in 1 Sam. 21:13-15 we see him go into a terrible time of fear. Yet as he looks back on this dark hour he writes Psalm 34. In this Psalm we see David magnifying God. Because of his unwavering awareness God was watching.

• Psalm 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.[he gives glory to God]

• Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, [even in tough times he always sought for God]

• Psalm 34:6 This poor man cried out, [During tough times he had a proper view of himself; he was poor in spirit as Christ would later say.]

• Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD [is] good; [he had a personal experience of God] Blessed [is] the man [who] trusts in Him!

• Psalm 34:9 Oh, fear the LORD, [During tough times he practiced the presence of God, acknowledging Him is to fear him. it changed his behavior. If we believe right we will behave right!]

• Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the LORD [are] on the righteous, [During tough times he knew he was in touch with God]

• Psalm 34:22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. [During tough times the cross is the ultimate refuge] (NKJV)

• Seeking God when in doubt and discouragement is Psalm 13, 40, and 70.

David left Gath and was so alone that he despairs. And now David feels abandoned as moves to a new location that is very foreign to him. David wrote Psalm 13—how to overcome the feelings of despair, abandonment and loneliness when we are in a very dark situation that seems hopeless.

1. My life feels like an endless struggle. Psalm 13:1a How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? By repeating himself four times he shows how deep this feeling runs. What David says is, “I just can’t go on.”

2. My life seems to have lost God’s blessing. Psalm 13:1b How long will You hide Your face from me? David saw a lack of the apparent blessing on God. My family doesn’t seem blessed anymore. My work doesn’t seem blessed anymore. My ministry doesn’t seem blessed anymore. My spiritual life doesn’t seem blessed anymore. What David says is, “I don’t SEE YOU anymore in my home, my work, or my life.”

3. My mind seems so troubled. Psalm 13:2a How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? David said that he had dark thoughts and uncontrolled emotions. What David says is, “I can’t stop these feelings of dejection and abandonment.”

4. My life seems to have lost God’s victory. Psalm 13:2b How long will my enemy be exalted over me? What David says is, “I am constantly defeated.”

• David feels intensely alone as moves to a new location that is very foreign to him. In First Samuel 21:11 as he fled from Saul to the Philistine city of Gath, David wrote Psalms 40 and 70—how to overcome the feelings of loneliness when we are in a new situation that is very foreign situation. And in these Psalms he gives the pathway out of the pit that end with praising from the pits and praying from the pits. The Pathway out of the Pits

1. LIKE DAVID–REMEMBER GOD’S WORK IN YOUR LIFE. David first notes the five ways God had worked in his life. Here is God’s grace directed towards David—Psalm 40:1-3 The first step out of the pits is to remember God’s work in our lives. Like David, we need to remember God’s work of grace in our lives.

2. LIKE DAVID–REAFFIRM YOUR TRUST IN GOD. Psalm 40:4-5 David verbally says that he trusts God. Like David, we need to reaffirm our trust in the Lord.

3. LIKE DAVID—RENEW YOUR SUBMISSION TO GOD. Psalm 40:6-8 What a beautiful way to look at hard times! God is tunneling a well of water to refresh me; God is making room to bury into my life His greatest treasures.

4. LIKE DAVID–REPEAT TRUTHS ABOUT GOD—He is Righteous. Psalm 40:9-12. Like David, we need to repeat truths about the Lord.

5. LIKE DAVID–REJOICE IN GOD EVEN IN THE PITS. Psalm 40:13-17 (=Psalm 70:2-5) Like David, we need to rejoice in the Lord.

6. LIKE DAVID–PRAY FOR OTHERS WHILE YOU GO THROUGH THE PITS. Psalm 40:16-17

1 Adapted from MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; II Timothy, (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983, electronic edition, in loc.

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