Worthy to Be Praised

We can turn back to our reading in the book of Psalms, Psalm 18.

We're going to look at the beginning of this, Psalm 1-3.

Psalm 18, verse 1-3.

Psalms 18:1–3

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

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.

As I said this morning, we were thinking about coming away from a communion weekend,

and this morning we were reflecting on that sense of the Lord being worthy of all our thanksgiving.

In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 15, it's thanks be to God for that indescribable gift.

2 Corinthians 9:15

There's just no way that we can almost think of a word to describe the gift that God has given us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So he is worthy of all thanksgiving.

And this evening we're going to think about the Lord and how worthy he is to be praised.

And that's what we read there in verse 3.

I called upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised.

There's this sense of going on in worship of God.

And you note at the beginning of the psalm, if you have a Bible,

the ESV Bible in particular, it has a few words mentioning the context of the psalm before you come into verse 1.

So it says there to the choir master, it's a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord,

who addressed the words of the song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies

and from the hand of Saul, he said, and then it goes into his song from verse 1,

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

So the context is there given to us of a day when David was delivered from all of his enemies.

And you can read about that in 2 Samuel 22, where you have this song mentioned as well.

And David has known victory over his enemies,

a victory that maybe at one stage seemed impossible for him,

as he saw his enemies all around him.

And yet God has given him this glorious victory as he was running from Saul,

as he was running from his enemies.

He was in constant danger of death.

But now he has been delivered from that.

And he has this praise being offered up to God.

And as we see there in verse 3, he is worthy to be praised,

the God who has given him this victory.

So this is David's song of victory.

But in many ways we could say it is our song of victory as well,

because God has given us this song for us to sing.

And we can sing these words ourselves,

and we can sing them maybe with the same meaning behind them as what David had.

When we know the Lord, when we love the Lord,

we recognize just how he is our strength,

how he is all of these things to us,

and how he has given us victory in this world as well.

Because when God saves us, he gives us victory over our enemies.

And we think of the greatest enemies that we have in this world as a people,

the enemy of sin, the enemy of death,

the enemy of a lost eternity.

We have all of these enemies.

And yet as we look to the Lord Jesus and the victory that he has won for us,

we realize what he has saved us from,

and that we are saved by his grace.

And so we, therefore, can sing this song ourselves with that sense of victory

and see that worthy to be praised is God.

Worthy to be praised is the Lord.

We read in the New Testament, 2 Timothy 3, verse 16,

2 Timothy 3:16

that all Scripture is breathed out by God.

So God has given us his word through various writers,

as you see throughout the Bible.

And so here we have David writing this song.

As we read in Timothy, we're seeing that he is inspired,

he is moved by the Lord to write these words.

And you can almost think, well, is this not then God praising himself?

It's not this God giving words, boasting words to David to write about him.

But God is not that way.

God isn't like some leaders we might see in the world

who want all the praise for themselves.

So they write their own way of praising and their qualities

and all that they have done,

speaking about it all the time in that sense of,

look at me and what I have done.

God inspired David.

He was moved by the Spirit to write these words.

But David inspired his writing from his own experience.

He is writing these words, having known God with him.

God is the one who has brought him through and given him this victory.

And so now he can see God as his Savior.

And now he can express his thankfulness

that he has brought him through all of this.

And with thankfulness, he sees, as is often David's case,

he expresses it in song.

In song, David writes these words.

And so verse 1 to 3, as we look at this psalm this evening,

they show us David beginning his praise to God

by expressing his love of God and what God has done for him.

Then he proceeds to describe how much the Lord means to him

by using different expressions there,

especially in verse 2, of who God is for him.

And as someone wrote, you could say he sees this as the Lord,

the source of his strength, stability, safety, and salvation.

All of these things come across in the way that David describes the Lord in verse 2.

And then in verse 3, we see that God has proved himself reliable,

that he can be depended upon, and so he is worthy to be praised.

Worthy to be praised.

We have that same kind of song ourselves.

This evening we're going to sing this psalm at the end of our service.

Will we be singing these words with that sense of,

this is my song too, this is the same song as David had as my song,

that I can say, I love the Lord.

He is my strength.

He is my rock.

He is my deliverer.

He is my refuge, my shield.

All of these things.

Can we sing that?

Are we worshiping the Lord as we should,

as he is worthy to be praised?

One person said this,

one of the great tragedies of the human spirit

is to become a prisoner of ingratitude.

For ingratitude shuts the human spirit up

and the world lightened only by the self,

which is no light at all.

A spirit of, a prisoner of ingratitude.

We're not thankful for what we have.

And so the opposite is true of that.

Gratitude then gives us light.

And not light of self,

but light as we see revealed by God through his word.

And so we want to be a people who worship God as we should,

that he is worthy to be praised in all things.

And how then can we worship God?

Well, that's what we see with David here.

We see him worshiping, first of all, in verse 1,

by delighting in God.

He is delighting in God.

He makes two declarations here in verse 1.

He starts by first declaring his love for the Lord.

I love you, O Lord.

And then the second declaration is that absolute dependence upon the Lord as my strength.

So from the outset of this psalm, he's indicating that as he lives his life here,

these two great themes are what the manner in which he is living his life.

They are constantly before him.

And he's telling us this, that he finds his great delight in God.

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Isn't it an amazing thing to be able to say,

I love you, the Lord.

I love you, my Lord.

Psalm 116, which we sang together, has the expression of that in the psalm as well.

I love the Lord because my voice and prayers heeded here.

And you see it recurring again and again.

But what kind of love is it?

And are you able to say with David tonight,

I love you, O Lord.

Well, when you look at the kind of love it is,

it's a love that is full of worship towards God.

As we read in Matthew 28, in verse 9,

when Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, met his disciples,

what did they do with him?

It says in verse 9,

And behold, Jesus met them and said,

Greetings.

And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.

They came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.

There was this sense of just being in the presence of the risen Savior,

that they could do nothing else but worship him,

fall at his feet and worship him.

It's the same as you see with Mary Magdalene.

We read of it in Matthew.

It doesn't go into the same details as it does in the Gospel of John.

But when she encountered Jesus in the garden,

John 20, verse 17,

John 20:17

Jesus said to her, he called her by name,

Mary.

She didn't realize who it was that was in front of him at first.

She turned and said to him in Aramaic,

Rabboni, which means teacher.

And there was a sense of worship with her because Jesus goes on to say,

Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.

So she has obviously taken hold of Jesus.

She is clinging on to him,

just like the disciples took hold of his feet and worshipped him.

There is that sense of when we love the Lord,

we are giving our worship to him by just coming before him,

clinging on to him,

depending on him.

We recognize that if we love him,

we only do so because he first loved us.

And when our eyes are open to see this,

what else can we do but just come

and throw ourselves at his feet

and just plead,

I love you,

O Lord.

Because there is nowhere else to go.

There is no one else who can give us

that relationship that satisfies,

that gives us hope,

that gives us an eternity

to look forward to.

When we consider all the things

that the Lord has done for us

and his love towards us,

our hearts should be filled

with that sense of worship.

Saying, I love you,

O Lord.

Do you,

this evening,

have that love for the Lord?

Where your worship is just one,

where you see,

you can do nothing

but throw yourself at his feet,

cling to him,

because there's nowhere else to go.

As the disciple of old said,

to whom else shall we go?

For you alone are the words

of eternal life.

There's nowhere else to go.

And the second declaration

seen there in verse one is,

I love you,

O Lord,

my strength.

My strength.

We're going on to see this

in a moment in verse two as well,

but nine times

in these first two verses,

David uses that personal word,

my.

My strength,

he says here in verse one.

My is often a word

that children learn

at a very young age

when they're able

to express themselves

by telling others

what belongs to them.

My toy,

my food,

my room,

my house.

They learn these words

so quickly.

My,

what belongs to me.

And this is almost like

just the childlike nature

that we have

where we're looking at

what we think belongs

to us.

But here David has

that childlike faith

when he's expressing it

in this way.

The Lord is my strength.

My strength.

He's delighting in God.

And we're going to just see

this in a moment

as we think of

depending on God

in verse two,

the way we see

him expressing it

using this word,

my.

But just as before

we go into verse two,

ask yourself this again.

Is God my strength?

Can I say,

can you say tonight

that he is my strength?

In other words,

how are we living our lives?

How are we going forward

in this life?

Are we living it

depending on him

as he is my strength

because I love him?

Or does he mean nothing?

That we just go forward

in our own strength?

So the first aspect

of this worship

that we see with David

is delighting in God.

And we as a people

are to be those

who delight in God ourselves.

Then we come into verse two

and we see this dependence

on God.

Just read through this verse.

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.

My, my, my.

He's repeating it constantly

and using different words

to describe this relationship

that he has with God

and this dependence on God.

And when you pray with God,

what kind of language

do you use?

Do you use these kinds of words

as you come to him?

This is a song,

it's a psalm,

but it can also be a prayer.

Very often you can say that

about the psalms,

you can use them as a prayer.

And it's a good thing for us

to use God's word

as we come to prayer,

to read God's word

before we pray

and even to pray God's word

as we do pray with God.

And so is this the kind of language

that you use

as you come to God in prayer?

Do you say,

I love you, O Lord,

my strength,

my rock,

my fortress,

my deliverer,

my God,

my refuge,

my shield,

my horn,

my stronghold.

Do you use all of that language

with God?

Because it's a great way

to come to him

because it reminds us

of just how dependent

we are on him.

And just to go through

some of these words

in verse 2

and just think,

well,

how can they apply to us

and our dependence on him?

He uses the word,

my rock,

twice.

The Lord is my rock.

He uses it in the third line

there as well,

my God,

my rock in whom I take refuge.

And the word rock there

just has behind it

a security.

It's to do with

an immovable rock,

something that is solid,

something that is secure

so that when everything else

in the world

is being thrown around,

tossed around,

when everything is in chaos,

God remains the same

and that he is stable.

He is the place of security.

So David here

is reminding himself

and reminding us

that when it appears

that the world

is spinning out of control,

that as a believer

we can stand above it all

and stand on the Lord,

that he is my rock.

It reminds us of

another couple of psalms,

Psalm 40,

that we sing so often

when we set our feet

upon a rock,

when we have that security

as we come to trust

in the Lord Jesus,

that he is the rock

of our salvation.

We have it in Psalm 46

as well,

when God is a refuge

and a strength.

Verse 5 says,

God is in the midst of us.

She shall not be moved.

God will help her

when morning dawns.

You have that security

when the Lord

is my rock.

Someone put it like this,

when we stand on him,

we see our trials

through his eyes.

And even though

the difficulties of life

might break our hearts,

they still cause our hearts

to bow in worship.

So that no matter

what we are going through,

David here is writing

in a time of victory,

but as we know so well,

David had times

of despair as well,

but yet he was able

to still say,

the Lord is my rock.

That is the hope

that we can have ourselves.

That as we love the Lord

and see that he is my strength,

he is my rock,

the one who is immovable.

Then he goes on

to speak about God

as his deliverer

and his shield.

God is my fortress

and my deliverer

and then later on

he says my shield.

And so deliverer

and shield

we could almost take together

and again see

how they apply to us.

When trouble comes

into our lives,

when David has experienced

this trouble,

the Lord has been

a shield to him

and he has been

a deliverer to him.

And so David

is able to see

in the sense of deliverer,

he is able to see

what he has been

brought through.

He saw his enemies

fall around him.

He saw a victory won.

He was able to see

the evidence of this.

God is my deliverer.

But God as my shield

reminds us too

that there are things

that we do not see

that the Lord

keeps from us.

That as he is

our shield,

he protects us

even at times

when we are unaware

of it.

I'm sure we are not

always aware

of the way

God has been with us

day by day

in our lives.

Maybe eternity

will reveal it for us,

what he has kept us from.

But you know,

you could think

of just situations

where

but for the grace

of God

something different

might have happened.

That God has been

a shield to us,

protecting us

in a circumstance,

taking us through things

even as we didn't

see them.

And David is aware

of that,

that God has been

his shield

and also

his deliverer.

So there is

a dependence

on God.

He is the one

who rescues.

He is the one

who delivers

from danger.

And isn't that

a great assurance

to us?

That as we put

our trust in him

he gives us

that promise

as well.

Through faith

he delivers us

from the consequences

of sin.

We don't realize

just now

just what he is

shielding us from.

But we put our

trust in him

to protect us

as our redeemer

and our deliverer.

And then he goes

on to say

my strength

and the horn

of my salvation.

The horn

of my salvation.

The horn

as it mentioned

here was something

in David's day

that was a particular

symbol of

strength

and conquest.

The horn

could be used

to make a noise,

a cry,

a shout

of victory.

But it was also

used in a way

where the horn

was a reminder

of the abundance

of God's goodness.

Because at harvest time

especially

the horn

would be filled

to overflowing

with the produce

of the harvest.

And it would be

a symbol

of an overflowing

abundance

of God's goodness.

And so it has

these two sides

to it

and he is

the horn

of my salvation.

In other words

we have this sense

of rejoicing

in God.

That God

gives us

an abundance

as we were

thinking about

this morning.

Abounding

in grace

for example.

That God

gives us

that

in a way

that we are

able to rejoice

in him.

He is my strength.

He is

the horn

of my salvation.

He gives us

all of these

things.

And so we too

can see

that the Lord

blesses us

with an abundance

of good things.

Then he goes on

to say

God is

my fortress

and my

stronghold.

A high tower

is what this

refers to.

It's a place

of security

a place

of safety

for God's

people.

The stronghold

the high tower

was a place

where a city

would be

defended from

so that those

in the stronghold

would be looking

out over the

enemies and

able to defend

the city

from there.

It's a reminder

to us that

God sees

all things.

That he is

over us

in all things.

That there's

nothing out

of his view,

out of his

vision.

That God

sees every

situation

that we are

going through

and that he

is able

to protect

us from

his stronghold.

When the

battle rages

we can go

to him.

He is the

one who is

able to

keep us,

to protect

us,

to help

us.

And so as

David says

all of these

things here

in verse 2,

when he's

using that

word my,

he is reminding

us just of

the greatness

of God.

Who he is

in all of

these ways.

My rock,

my fortress,

my deliverer,

my God,

my rock,

my shield,

my horn,

my stronghold.

They are

all ways

of expressing

that dependence

on God.

But they are

all ways

that we

can express

our dependence

on God

as well.

Because when

we know God

and we come

to trust

in the Lord

Jesus,

he is all

of these

things to

us.

A deliverer,

a rock,

a shield,

salvation,

a stronghold.

Every aspect

of this

can be our

song

through faith

in the Lord

Jesus Christ

as well.

So then

the final

thing we

see here

is as we

go into

verse 3,

worship

leads us

to a

devotion

to God.

I call

upon the

Lord

who is

worthy

to be

praised

and I

am saved

from my

enemies.

So David

here is

making

a pledge.

He is

devoting

himself

to God.

I call

upon the

Lord

who is

worthy

to be

praised.

God

is a

God

to

worship.

And when

you think

of David

and all

the situations

that he

has been

through

here,

you would

say that

David would

surely be

able to

say that

there was

a time

when he

thought the

outcome

would be

different,

when he

thought the

enemies would

capture him,

when he

would be

killed,

when Saul

would have

him killed.

But God

has taken

him through

and God

has proved

to him

that he

can be

dependent

on.

So David

knew that

if God

could help

him in

these past

days,

he could

help him

in his

future days

as well.

So that's

what he is

making clear

here in

verse 3,

I call

upon the

Lord who

is worthy

to be

praised and

I am

saved from

my enemies.

This is an

ongoing

salvation,

that he

has this

trust in

God.

He is

worshipping

God.

And the

word

worship

itself,

what's

behind

that?

Well,

the word

worship

is with

this word

worthy,

worthship,

the one

who is

worthy

to be

praised.

And so

he is

showing

himself to

be on

God's

side,

that he

will

trust in

the Lord

in all

his days.

So David

knew the

Lord was

worthy to

be praised

because of

the way

he had

brought him

through.

And in

your life

and my

life,

I'm sure

there's

been times

as we

looked ahead,

as we

looked forward

in our

lives,

where all

we could

see was

defeat.

all we

could see

was there

wasn't a

way ahead

for us.

Everything

seemed to

weigh heavy

upon us.

All we

could see

was our

unworthiness,

our sin,

and no way

forward for

ourselves.

That is what

David was

seeing here

at times in

his own

life.

But yet he

was brought

through and

so can we.

that as

we trust

in the

Lord,

as we

look to

him,

that there

is that

assurance

that he

is able

to bring

us through.

And what

a lesson

there is

in that

for us.

That as

David learned

to trust

in God,

so can

we.

That as

David was

protected,

so will

he protect

us.

As David

was provided

for,

so he

will provide

for us.

As he

helped

David,

so he

will help

us.

As he

refreshed

David,

so he

will

refresh

us.

He can

do all

of these

things

because he

is God

who is

able.

And he

is the

one who

is worthy

to be

praised.

Jim

Parker,

in one

of his

books,

he said

this about

worship.

This then

is worship

in its

largest sense.

And he

goes on to

describe it

in this

way.

Petition

as well

as praise.

Preaching

as well

as prayer.

Hearing

as well

as speaking.

Actions

as well

as words.

Obeying

as well

as offering.

Loving

people

as well

as loving

God.

So he

has all

these

aspects

of worship

that we

are to

have

ourselves.

But he

goes on

to say

this,

however,

the primary

acts of

worship

are those

which focus

on God

directly.

and we

must not

imagine

that work

for God

in the

world

is a

substitute

for direct

fellowship

with him

in praise

and prayer

and devotion.

So there

are important

things for us

to be doing

in this

world.

But there

is nothing

more important,

there is no

substitute,

as Jim

Packer

says here,

than direct

fellowship

with him

in praise

and prayer

and devotion.

And that

is what

David

is showing

here.

In everything

that he

did for

the Lord,

he sees

it is all

about worship.

There is no

substitute,

as David

is saying

here,

for this

fellowship,

this praise,

prayer,

and devotion

that this

psalm

shows to

us.

Is that

our worship

today?

Is that

the way

we are

living

our lives

today?

With that

praise,

prayer,

and devotion

to God,

the one

who is

worthy

to be

praised.

A little

boy had

been to

church,

and at

the end

of the

day,

at night,

as he

knelt

beside his

bedside,

to pray

to God.

This

was his

prayer.

Dear

God,

we had

a good

time in

church

today.

But I

wish you

had been

there.

Coming

to church

is not

about having

a good

time with

each other.

It's not

about coming

to see

the person

sitting beside

you or to

catch up

with others

around you.

It's about

recognizing

that God

is here

and that

we meet

with him,

the one

who is

worthy

of all

our

praise.

We are

so thankful

to God

for all

that he

does for

us.

He is

worthy

of our

thanksgiving.

And this

evening we

think of

the fact

that he

is worthy

of worship,

worthy

to be

praised.

So may

our hearts

praise him

tonight.

Praise him

with that

sense of

thanksgiving,

praise him

and recognizing

our delight

in him,

our dependence

on him

and our

ongoing

devotion

to him.

May we

be a

people

who have

that praise

and prayer

and devotion

with him

in that

relationship

where we

can come

and say

I love

you my

Lord,

my strength.

Let us

pray.

Lord,

our

gracious

God,

we do

thank you

for your

word again

that reminds

us of our

ongoing

dependence

of you.

And we

thank you

that you

are worthy

to be

praised.

And help

us,

Lord,

to come

and acknowledge

you in that

way,

that you

are one

we are

to worship

and you

alone,

so that

from the

outset of

our time

and as we

go from

here this

evening

into all

the week

ahead,

that whatever

we do

for you,

that we

recognize

that there

is no

substitute

for that

fellowship

with you

in praise

and prayer

and devotion.

Teach us

to pray,

teach us

to walk

with you,

teach us

to love

you and

to love

one another,

even as

your word

commands.

We ask it

all with the

forgiveness

of our

sins.

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We'll

conclude

then by

singing

in this

psalm,

Psalm 18,

these three

verses we've

been looking

for,

page 218

of the

psalm book,

the

Scottish

Psalter

version.

Psalm 18,

Psalms 18:1

verse 1

to verse 3,

The will I

love,

O Lord,

my strength,

my fortress

is the

Lord,

my rock,

and he

that doth

to me

deliverance

afford.

Verse 1

to 3,

the tune

is spot,

we stand

to sing

to God's

praise.

Amen.

The will

I love,

O Lord,

my strength,

my fortress

is the

Lord,

my rock,

and he

acteth

to me

deliverance

afford.

My God,

my strength,

through my

will trust.

Abaklar

unto thee

heart

of thy

salvation

and my

night

of

redeemed.

Upon the Lord who worthy is, all praises will I cry.

And then shall I preserve thee, save from my enemy.

After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my right. We'll close with the benediction.

Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore. Amen.

Amen.