The Song Of Salvation

To the choir master, a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

He said, I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.

My God, my rock in whom I take refuge.

My shield and the horn of my salvation.

My stronghold.

I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me.

The torrents of destruction assailed me.

The cords of Sheol entangled me.

The snares of death confronted me.

And in my distress, I called upon the Lord.

To my God, I cried for help.

From his temple, he heard my voice and my cry to him reached his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked.

The foundations also of the mountains trembled, quaked because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils, devouring fire from his mouth.

Glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down.

Thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew.

He came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him.

Thick clouds dark with water.

Out of the brightness before him, hellstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

The Lord also thundered in the heavens.

The Most High uttered his voice, hellstones and coals of fire.

And he sent out his arrows and scattered them.

He flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen.

The foundations of the world were laid bare.

At your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

He sent from on high.

He took me.

He drew me out of many waters.

He rescued me from my strong enemy.

And from those who hated me.

For they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity.

But the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a broad place.

He rescued me because he delighted in me.

The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness.

According to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord.

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his rules were before me.

His statutes I did not put away from me.

I was blameless before him.

And I kept myself from guilt.

So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness.

According to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

The merciful, you show yourself merciful.

With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless.

With the purified, you show yourself pure.

And with the crooked, you make yourself seem torturous.

For you save a humble people.

But the haughty eyes you bring down.

For it is you who light my lamp.

The Lord my God lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop.

And by my God I can leap over a wall.

This God, his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord proves true.

He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God but the Lord?

And who is a rock except our God?

The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

He made my feet like the feet of a deer.

And he set me secure on the heights.

He trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have given me the shield of your salvation.

And your right hand supported me.

And your gentleness made me great.

You gave a wide place for my steps under me.

And my feet did not slip.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them.

And did not turn back till they were consumed.

I thrust them through so that they were not able to rise.

They fell under my feet.

For you equipped me with strength for the battle.

You made those who rise against me seek under me.

You made my enemies turn their backs to me.

And those who hated me I destroyed.

They cried for help.

But there was none to save.

They cried to the Lord.

But he did not answer them.

I beat them fine as dust before the wind.

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

You delivered me from strife with the people.

You made me the head of the nations.

People whom I had not known served me.

As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me.

Foreigners came cringing to me.

Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

The Lord lives and blessed be my rock.

And exalted be the God of my salvation.

The God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me.

Who rescued me from my enemies.

Yes you exalted me above those who rose against me.

You delivered me from the man of violence.

And for this I praise you.

Oh Lord among the nations.

And sing to your name.

Great salvation.

He brings to his king.

And shows steadfast love to his anointed.

To David and his offspring forever.

Amen.

There's an old proverb I remember hearing so often when I was growing up.

I'm sure you're familiar with it.

It goes like this.

It's a simple one.

Beauty is only skin deep.

Right?

Beauty is only skin deep.

And what's that all about?

Young ones.

It basically just means there's more to a person than his or her outward appearance.

There's more to a person than the way that they look.

Great care should go into developing and discerning character.

Rather than fixating on physical attractiveness.

And of course most of us want to have the best of both worlds.

Don't we?

We want beauty on the outside.

And we want depth of character on the inside.

Well if we were to apply that thought to the Psalms.

When we get to Psalm 18.

We might say that this one is the whole package.

It's got it all.

As a literary piece.

It's one of the most beautiful text in all the scriptures.

But it's depth of meaning is actually far richer than we could possibly ascertain.

In a single setting.

In a single setting.

It's beauty is glorious.

It's meaning even more glorious.

As we dig in.

Salvation is its theme.

And in just 50 verses it beautifully illustrates God's plan of redemption that spans the entire Bible.

It's amazing in that way.

It takes the picture of salvation that all of the scriptures teach.

And it gives it to us in just this relatively short section of text.

And does so in an amazingly imaginative and illustrative way.

The particular focus is on how God saved his anointed king.

And thereby saved his people.

David is the author.

And he writes not only as an individual who has experienced God's kindness in salvation.

But he writes as a king.

Through whom the Lord rescues all of his people.

Israel in particular for David.

And throughout the song what we find he's doing is he's pointing the worshiper to Jesus.

A greater king.

Who wins a greater salvation.

And establishes and reigns over a greater kingdom.

For all who will trust in him.

It's nearly verbatim to 2 Samuel 22.

And in 2 Samuel 22 is where we can really begin to grasp the immediate context that is alluded to in the superscription of the psalm.

In 2 Samuel the narrator of the book he positions it strategically after decades of war with Saul and Absalom.

And many many wars with the Philistines.

After all of that has come to an end for David.

That's when the author puts in David's words.

It was his personal song of salvation.

Expressed in praise to God toward the end of his life.

And eventually it was adapted for corporate worship.

And included here in the book of Psalms as Psalm 18.

Which means that David's personal experience of salvation in 2 Samuel 22.

And all the things that he rehearses in his own life.

In the context of his own life.

Is not meant to be merely about him.

It's about something bigger than him.

And something greater than him.

It's something we can sing.

It's a prayer we can pray.

It's a praise we can give.

Just as all Israel did.

When Israel sang the hymn they praised God for saving his king.

Knowing that their salvation came through David's salvation.

Do you see that?

If the king is destroyed.

The nation is destroyed.

But if God raises up the king.

If God strengthens the king.

If God saves the king.

The people are saved along with him.

So Israel comes to Psalm 18.

They sing the hymn to the Lord as a hymn of praise to God.

Because they see God has saved his king.

Which means he has saved them as well.

And that's how we need to understand the psalm.

It's a song of worship and thanksgiving to God.

For what he has done for us.

In Jesus.

In Jesus the greater David.

We can also claim.

This song is a song of salvation for ourselves.

Now I want you to have an idea of the structure here.

Because it's a long one isn't it?

It's 50 verses.

It's not quite easy to keep all the structure together.

So I want to help you with that as we think about it.

We talked about chiasms before.

And this psalm has a chiastic structure.

I don't want to explain what all that is.

I want you to think about the psalm as if we're going to climb a mountain together.

We're at the base of the mountain right now.

We're going to start our climb.

And we're going to start with David's love.

And as we start this climb up the mountain.

We're going to get to David's rescue.

And then we're going to summit the mountain at the top.

And we're going to find that righteousness is at the heart of this salvation.

David's righteousness.

Along with God's righteousness.

And then we're going to start making our way back down the mountain.

It's going to mirror the first thing.

As we go up we're going to find that mirrored on the other side.

We're going to see David's conquest on the back end of the mountain.

And then we're going to settle in God's love.

Right?

So that's how I want you to think about it.

We're going to climb.

We're going to have to do some work to get there.

And we're going to rest for a little while on the summit.

Thinking about righteousness.

And righteousness for salvation.

The righteousness of God and salvation.

And then we're going to start to make our way back down.

In thinking about the kingdom.

The first thing I want you to see here.

Is the king's love for his God.

The king's love for his God.

This is verses 1 to 3.

I love you O Lord my strength.

The Lord's my rock.

He's my fortress.

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.

For he is worthy to be praised.

And I am saved from my enemies.

The king's love for his God.

David's opening declaration of love for the Lord.

What it does is it sets the tone for the whole song.

We find immediately what this song is about.

This is not a song of lament.

This is not a dirge that we might put sad music with.

Right?

No.

This is a song of praise.

It's a song of excitement.

It's an expression of love.

It sets the tone for the whole thing.

At the core of the psalm is pure affection.

David loves his God.

And he wants the world to know why.

As he looks back on his life.

After the wars have come to an end.

This is what he says.

This is how he recalls his life and God's work in it.

And the first thing he leads off with is his affection for God.

I love the Lord.

I love him.

And everything that follows in this opening line is an explanation of David's love.

He loves God because he has come to know God's love for him.

And so it is with all who truly love the Lord.

John helps us with in 1 John 4.

We love because he first loved us.

David leads with his love.

But he only does it upon reflection of God's love for him.

But what does this love actually look like?

We get a hint of that in verse 3.

Love, though undeniably containing a vital emotional component,

is described here in terms of action.

He says,

I call upon the Lord.

Showing his ongoing trust and devotion to God and his ways.

What does that actually mean?

What does it mean to call on the Lord?

Well, he helps us.

He explains.

To call upon the Lord is first an act of worship.

For David says,

The Lord alone is worthy to be praised.

He calls upon him in worship and in praise, recognizing the exclusivity of God.

I call upon the Lord and him alone I call on.

I call on no one else.

No other God is before me.

Only him.

Only Yahweh I call to.

He will not worship God alongside other gods.

He will not worship God alongside lesser gods.

He will worship the Lord alone.

But to call upon the Lord here, it's not only an act of worship.

It's first an act of worship.

But then it's a cry of faith, isn't it?

Trusting in the Lord alone for salvation from the enemy.

Isn't that what he says in verse 3?

I call upon the Lord.

He's worthy to be praised.

And I am saved.

I'm saved from my enemies.

Which indicates that there's been many times in David's life

where he's had to call on the Lord for salvation.

Help me God.

Save me God.

And he says, the Lord has always heard my prayer.

It's no surprise then that later prophets and apostles would use this same exact phrase

to describe repentance and faith unto salvation.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, we're told.

Romans 10.13.

What is that an expression of?

Faith and repentance demonstrating love for God.

So we see the king's love.

That's where we begin.

And now we have to start our climb, don't we?

And next we see the king's rescue.

The king's rescue.

And we find this in verses 4 to 19.

Now there's so many stories David could have told about God's deliverance.

But he doesn't do that here.

And there's a reason.

He speaks here in reflection on his life as a whole.

The rescue that he writes about, it's bigger than any one moment.

All of the ways that God saved him were signs of a greater concept of salvation for David.

God had set his covenant love on David.

That's what David has in mind at the end.

And he's only looking at all these other battles as evidences of that love.

He's speaking of something bigger here.

So rather than saying, God delivered me one day in the valley of Elah against a giant named Goliath.

He doesn't say that.

Instead, he writes in poetic, imaginative, illustrative language.

Showing that his understanding of God's deliverance was much bigger than one moment.

There's three movements to his rescue here.

I just want to march through them.

The first thing is deadly peril.

Deadly peril.

This is verses four and five.

The cords of death encompassed me.

The torrents of destruction assailed me.

The cords of Sheol entangled me.

The snares of death confronted me.

It's dramatic, isn't it?

Death here is personified as David's great enemy.

It's pictured as a hunter who has caught the king in his snare.

He's wrapped him in his cords.

He's pulling him under into the depths of Sheol, the realm of the dead, where there is no escape.

That's the picture.

Now what is this?

It's not merely David's experience in Elah.

It's not merely David's experience running from Saul.

It's not merely David's experience on the run from Absalom or any other battle.

This is the human condition he speaks of.

We're all caught in death's trap.

Powerless to free ourselves from its hold.

Needing someone who is greater than death to deliver us.

That's our only hope.

And in the midst of this, David cries out to his God.

He knows only God can deliver.

Of course, there's one notable exception to the human condition.

Jesus was not hopelessly bound by death in the way that David was, in the way that you and I are.

No, Jesus willingly subjects himself to death.

Why?

So that those of us who are bound by it might be freed.

For three days, it appears as if Jesus was no different than the rest of us.

Incapable of even saving himself, much less anyone else.

But on the third day, it all changes.

God raises him.

Showing that he is indeed greater than our enemy.

Peter says it this way in Acts 2.24.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death.

Pangs of death being David's reference here to the cords of death.

The entanglement of Sheol.

Peter says God raised Jesus up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be bound by it.

No, he subjects himself to it in order that he might free us from it.

Deadly peril.

Then we find as we continue up the mountain here, we see divine action.

Divine action.

This is 6 to 15.

Just look at verse 6.

In my distress, I called upon the Lord.

To my God, I cried for help.

From his temple, he heard my voice.

And my cry to him reached his ears.

Few words can bring the kind of hope and comfort that comes to us in this verse.

In my distress, I called upon the Lord, entangled in death.

And my cry reached his ears.

Do you remember the lady who had the issue of blood in the New Testament?

And Jesus comes by.

And there's a mob of people around him.

She's just doing everything that she can to get to him.

If I can just get to him and just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be healed.

Or the blind men who cried out to Jesus in the midst of the crowds and said,

Son of David, help!

That's the picture David gives here.

He cries to the Lord.

And what was the experience of the woman with the issue of the blood?

What was the experience of the men who were blind?

Jesus heard them.

And he turns to them.

And he heals them.

And David gives us the same picture here.

He cries to the Lord.

And God hears him.

Wow.

All at once, we see the majesty of God on his heavenly throne,

so far above his creatures, so much higher, so much holier,

so much more wonderful than we are.

And then also we see his nearness in his loving care and concern for his people.

He hears their cry.

And he comes to their aid.

And what follows in verses 7 to 15

is the creator of the universe,

acting in the fullness of his earth-shaking power

to answer the cry of his king.

Pictured as God's cosmic power in action against the enemy that has provoked his divine wrath.

He should cause us to tremble.

Smoke pours out of his nostrils.

He's like a dragon.

He's surrounded by darkness.

There is fear associated with his power and with his glory.

He bends the heavens in order that he might come to where his king is to deliver him.

He rains forth hell stones and fire from his clouds.

He thunders with his voice.

It's terrifying.

He's saying, this is our God.

There is no God like this.

Verse 15 is of particular interest here.

Then the channels of the sea were seen.

The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

David here intends to turn our minds back to Exodus 14,

the parting of the Red Sea.

Another instance of the creator's cosmic power at work to save his people

and to display his glory.

And what is David doing?

He understands himself to occupy a unique space in God's plan of redemption.

He's essentially linking himself to Moses.

He's saying what God did for them through Moses,

he has done now for Israel through me.

And he won't be the last to make the connection.

The gospels speak of a greater, ultimate exodus through Jesus Christ.

All of it speaks of God's power at work to save his king

in order that through his king he might save his people.

Divine action.

We must take another step forward up the mountain.

And we find here in verses 16 to 19, divine deliverance.

There's deadly peril.

Now God comes in terrifying form.

And what does he do?

He delivers.

Verse 16.

He sent from on high.

He took me.

He drew me out of many waters.

He rescued me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a broad place.

He rescued me

because he delighted in me.

Earlier, David describes his peril

as the, quote, torrents of destruction.

Here, he pictures his deliverance

as God plucking him out of those many waters.

Literally saved from death.

We might say a resurrection has taken place here.

David's weakness and inability to overcome the enemy

on his own is highlighted here in these verses.

Any salvation must be divinely supplied.

We're powerless on our own.

And divine deliverance is exactly what David receives.

For David, as it is for us in Christ,

this is pure grace.

God delivers him.

Why?

Because he delights in him.

He loves his king.

What did David do to deserve that?

Nothing.

God has set his love on his king.

And he redeems his king.

He saves his king out of his own love.

Just as he saves us.

Not because we're worthy of it.

Not because there's something in us

that is worthy of being loved,

but because simply,

he delights in us.

He loves his people.

Well, we're making our way to the summit here,

and we find that at the top of this mountain,

at the heart of the issue,

is the matter of righteousness.

And we see it in verses 20 to 30,

but there's two pieces of it here, isn't there?

There's, in verses 20 to 24,

we have first the righteousness of the king,

which we need to understand appropriately,

and we'll get to it in just a second.

But then there is the righteousness of God

that comes in verses 25 to 30.

Now, here's the thing I want you to understand up front.

Both are absolutely essential to salvation.

Both God's righteousness and the king's.

God, in his holiness,

must grant salvation righteously,

which means that the king

must be perfectly righteous

to receive that salvation.

If there's any unrighteousness in the king,

God's righteousness can only be revealed

in judgment.

He must judge sin.

And he's holy, he's the thrice holy God,

as we read at the beginning of the service.

Holy, holy, holy is he.

And he pours out his wrath against what?

Against sin.

Against those who are in rebellion against them.

If there's any rebellion in the king,

if there's any failure in the king,

if there's any unrighteousness at all in the king,

God must deal with him as he deals with all sinners.

He must judge him,

else God himself is not righteous.

Which confronts us with a serious problem

here in this text, doesn't it?

Because David claims blamelessness,

and we know he did not possess righteousness

in an absolute sense.

That is not who David was.

He wasn't a sinless person.

How are we to understand this?

How are we to think about salvation

as a reward for righteousness

in David's case?

There's a few things we have to get in order first.

First, David, for him,

righteousness, cleanness, blamelessness

did not equal sinlessness.

He's not intending to communicate that

on his own part here.

And we know that

because he was well aware of his own sin.

He would have never made that kind of claim.

What David means by righteousness

in his own sake,

what he means by righteousness

is his devotion to God.

That he is a righteous one

and that he belongs to God.

That is his standing

as God's king and God's son.

And verse 21 clarifies that for us.

He says,

I have not wickedly departed from my God.

Meaning that even in moments of failure,

I have been faithful to him.

To follow God's rules

and God's statutes

as is explained in verse 22,

includes following God's provisions

for forgiveness of sins.

David isn't saying here that he's sinless.

He's saying that even in his sin,

he has obeyed God.

He has offered the offerings

that he needed to offer.

He has not abandoned God

to follow some other God

or to follow himself.

No, he has come to the Lord

in contrition and humility

and in that way,

he has remained righteous.

He has remained faithful to God.

Now that's what David means

when he's thinking of himself here.

Like Abraham before him,

David was counted righteous

by faith.

He was righteous because he believed God

and was devoted to serving the Lord alone.

But is God righteous

to save someone who's truly guilty?

Yes, but only if one thing is true.

God can only be righteous to save David

and to count him as righteous

if someone who is truly innocent

makes an atonement on David's behalf.

Every time David followed the rules

and statutes of the Lord,

every time he took the one-year-old lamb

without blemish and without spot

to the tabernacle

in order that he might be sacrificed

as an atonement for David's own sin,

every time he did it,

it pointed to a greater atonement

that his future son,

the promised son

that God had given

in his covenant with David,

what he would do once and for all.

Jesus was the sinless one

who fulfilled all righteousness

in a way that David never could.

David is counted righteous

by faith in this psalm,

but the greater David

who this psalm pictures

is truly righteous.

He's perfectly righteous.

He's sinless.

He's blameless in every regard.

And that son of David,

Jesus Christ,

has laid down his life for us.

He himself is the Passover lamb.

And on the cross,

he gives himself for sinners

who will believe.

He demonstrated that faith,

David did,

by then obeying God's word

and trusting in God's promise.

He is righteous then by faith

and his righteousness by faith

is prefiguring a true righteousness,

an absolute righteousness

in the greater David,

Jesus.

Listen to how Paul writes about this

in Romans 3.

By the works of the law,

no human being will be justified

in God's sight.

For all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God.

That includes David.

And they're justified

not by their works of the law,

but they're justified by God's grace

as a gift.

How?

Paul says,

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation,

a satisfaction,

a payment

by his blood

to be received

by faith,

he says.

And this is what's interesting

is just after this,

he's explaining

this wonderful gospel truth

that we're all guilty,

including David,

except for Jesus.

Jesus is the sinless son of God.

And yet,

Jesus is put forward

as a payment

for our sin.

And then Paul concludes it this way.

It's amazing.

He says this,

this whole ordeal with Jesus,

this was to show God's righteousness

so that God might be just

in that he deals with sin,

100% of it.

No sin will go unpaid for.

He deals with sin.

And then Paul says,

but he's also the justifier

of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In other words,

all who come to him in faith,

who are counted righteous by faith,

their sin is credited

to the sinless son of God.

And in return,

the sinless son of God,

his righteousness

is then credited

to those who come to him

in faith.

That's why the king is righteous.

That's why David's righteous.

It's not because he never sinned.

His righteousness is anticipatory.

It's anticipating by faith

that God will fulfill his covenant,

that his son will come

and will deal with his sin

once and for all.

But then we see God's righteousness

in 25 to 30.

With the merciful,

you show yourself merciful.

With the blameless,

you show yourself blameless.

With the purified,

you show yourself pure.

With the crooked,

you make yourself seem tortuous.

For you save a humble people,

but the haughty eyes

you bring down.

For it is you

who light my lamp.

The Lord, my God,

lightens my darkness.

For by you,

I can run against a troop.

And by my God,

I can leap over a wall.

This God,

his way,

it's perfect.

It's righteous.

The word of the Lord

always proves to be true.

It never fails.

He is a shield

for all

who do their best

and try their hardest.

No.

He is a shield

for all who

take refuge

in him.

Now that's what David's doing.

He's taking refuge in God.

And God is counting

that faith

as righteousness

in anticipation

of what Christ will do

on David's behalf.

This is God's

righteous response

toward those

who fit the category

of righteousness

in verses 20 to 24.

A righteousness

that is won

ultimately by Jesus,

but credited

to those who believe

and serve the Lord.

These statements,

they sound a lot like

the Beatitudes

in Jesus' sermon

on the mount,

don't they?

The righteous

are merciful

because they know

they need mercy.

They're blameless

because they love

God's law

and seek to live

faithfully to it.

They are purified

through God's

atoning provisions

in worship

and his standards

for worship.

They humble themselves

before God

in repentance

and faith.

And he responds

in perfect mercy.

But to the prideful

who set themselves

against God,

the Lord displays

his righteous anger

and his judgment.

To them,

they see God

to only be

torturous.

God's point

is that God

is perfectly

righteous

to save

the faithful

and judge

the wicked.

And his conclusion

after thinking

this through

is expressed

in the praise

of verse 30.

This God,

he's perfect.

Everything he does

is perfect.

It's right.

His word

is true

and he is

indeed a shield

for all who

take refuge

in him by faith.

All right,

we've spent

a lot of time

on the summit here.

We've got

this vast

view

of righteousness.

The righteousness

of the king,

not absolute

in David,

but prefiguring

the absolute

righteousness

in the greater

David,

in Jesus.

We have the

righteousness

of God

who because

Jesus has paid

for our sins

will not judge

us again

according to them.

Amazing, right?

We're going to start

making our way

down the mountain,

right?

We're going to be

here all day.

Next step,

as we make

our way down,

this is the king's

conquest.

It's the king's

conquest.

Now this mirrors

the king's rescue

earlier in the psalm

and I'll make mention

of that as we go.

We find this in

verses 31 to 38

altogether.

And just as there's

three movements

to his rescue,

we find that there's

three movements here

to the conquest.

The king,

after having been

delivered from

all his enemies,

is empowered by God

now to turn around

and conquer them.

God has saved

his king

and now he gives

him a kingdom.

Again,

prefiguring the work

of Jesus,

the true savior

and king.

Now here's the

three movements.

The first one is

this.

We see divine

strength or divine

strengthening or

divine empowerment.

31 to 36,

for who is God

but the Lord?

Who is a rock

except our God?

The God who

equipped me with

strength and made

my way blameless.

And he goes on

to describe all the

ways that God

has done that.

In verses 16 to 19,

which is the part

that mirrors this

section,

David is seen as

weak,

unable to stand

against the might

of the strong enemy

in need of divine

rescue.

Here,

he is seen

with strength

the strength of God.

God equips him

to go on the

offensive now

against those

enemies.

His way is secure.

His hands are strong.

His weapons effective.

And the salvation

of God

shields him.

The king cannot

be defeated now

because he possesses

the very power

of God.

Paul says it

this way

in reference

to Jesus

in Romans 6.

We know

that Christ

being raised

from the dead

rescued

from death,

being raised

from the dead

will never die

again.

Death no longer

has dominion

over him.

For the death

he died,

he died to sin

once and for all.

But the life

he lives,

he lives to God.

Divine strength.

Then we get

to the second movement.

Divine judgment

now.

Divine judgment.

Now it's not hard

to see how this

mirrors the earlier

section.

What is it

that we see

following David's

cry for help?

We see the holiness

of God,

the terror

of God

coming against

David's enemy

to rescue him,

don't we?

Now we see

the flip side

of that.

We see the judgment

of God,

that terror

being applied

through the king

to conquer

his enemies.

What is it

that God

strengthens

his king

to do?

Carry out

his divine

wrath

against the wicked

who forsake

his way.

Look at it,

verse 37.

I pursued

my enemies.

I overtook

them.

I did not

turn back

till they

were consumed.

Every

last

one

defeated.

And then

it gets graphic,

doesn't it?

You boys

will like this.

I thrust

them through

so that they

were not able

to rise.

They fell

under my feet.

There's no hope

for them.

For you

equipped me

with strength

for the battle.

You made

those who

rise against

me sink

under me.

You made

my enemies

turn their

backs to me

and those

who hated

me I

destroyed.

He says.

He is

God's instrument

of judgment.

The same

cosmic power

that delivered

the king

is now at

work against

the enemies

to destroy

them.

David's

earlier

allusion

to Moses

and the

parting

of the Red

Sea

is now

an allusion

to Joshua

and the

conquest

of Canaan.

All

pointing

forward

to a

final

judgment

when Jesus

the true

king

will conquer

and destroy

all

who remain

impenitent

and align

themselves

with the

wicked one

by continuing

in their

rebellion

against God.

God

but what

are we

to do

with

verses

41

and 42

they cried

for help

but there

was no

one to

save them

they cried

to the

Lord

he did

not answer

them

so I

beat them

fine as

dust

before the

wind

I cast

them out

like the

mire

of the

streets

what are

we to

do

with this

what are

we to

do

with the

fact

that

these

people

do

finally

cry

to God

for salvation

in the

end

but they

don't

receive

it

does

that

not

contradict

the

fundamental

premise

of these

Psalms

that God

is a

refuge

for all

who seek

him

for it

but is

that what

they're

doing

are they

turning

to God

Christopher

Ash

quoting

John

Calvin

said it

this way

these

are they

who want

God

to rescue

them

but are

not willing

to forsake

their

wickedness

this

verse

reminds us

that

whosoever

look for

release

out of

their

trouble

and that

not

through

Christ

shall

have no

release

at all

what is

this

this

is a

cry

for

rescue

from a

circumstance

without a

heart of

repentance

and faith

toward God

that's what

this is

it's a

sober

reminder

that now

is the

day of

salvation

it's God's

call

to seek

the Lord

while he

may be

found

because there

will come

a day

where you

will find

no refuge

in him

it's the

warning

that today

if you

hear his

voice

do not

harden

your

heart

in this

psalm

you can

either be

saved

by faith

in the

king

or you

can be

conquered

by the

judgment

of the

king

and if

you wait

until the

judgment

comes

it will

be too

late

but now

is the

time

now

is the

accepted

time

writes

Paul

to the

Corinthians

now

is the

day

of

salvation

and God

will save

all

who come

to him

in repentance

and faith

all

who call

on the

name of

the Lord

as David

did in

verse 3

all who

decide

exclusively

I will

worship

him alone

I will

follow

him

alone

all

that cry

out to

him

and trust

that his

king

king

Jesus

truly is

the savior

and the

king

I will

trust in

him

for

salvation

everybody

who

does

that

now

gets

saved

that's

the

wonderful

truth

of

the

word

but

everyone

who

waits

everyone

who

delays

till the

day

of

judgment

will

find

no

salvation

at

all

you

will

cry

to

him

and

he

will

not

answer

just

as

those

who

mocked

and

ridiculed

Noah

all

the

years

that

he

built

the

boat

and

then

clamor

to

get

in

for

safety

after

God

had

shut

the

door

so

will

it

be

in

the

judgment

all

who

mock

and

rebel

and

turn

from

him

now

on

that

day

they

will

cry

out

for

mercy

and

there

will

be

no

mercy

for

them

to

find

it

will

only

be

judgment

and

who

will

be

the

instrument

of

the

judgment

in

this

case

David

is

the

instrument

of

judgment

the

king

is

and

he

is

prefiguring

!

God's

instrument

of

judgment

he

will

judge

the

world

but

then

we

have

the

third

movement

in

the

conquest

we

have

decisive

victory

decisive

victory

this

is

43

to

48

you

delivered

me

from

strife

with

the

people

in

other

words

he

means

you

gave

me

victory

you

made

me

the

head

of

the

nations

and

ruled

the

world

people

whom I

had not

known

served

me

his

kingdom

is

vast

as

soon

as they

heard

of me

they

obeyed

me

foreigners

came

cringing

to

me

foreigners

lost

heart

lost

heart

in

their

own

efforts

that is

in order

that they

might come

to the

king

for mercy

and they

came

trembling

out of

their

fortresses

their

fortresses

built

on

sand

and they

come

to the

rock

whom

David

praises

in

verse

46

again

the

Lord

lives

and

blessed

be

my

rock

exalted

be

the

God

of

my

salvation

the

God

who

gave

me

vengeance

and

subdued

peoples

under

me

who

rescued

me

from

my

enemies

yes

you

exalted

me

above

those

who

rose

against

me

you

delivered

me

from

the

man

of

violence

this is

the king

speaking

in contrast

to his

earlier

peril

this is

mirroring

verses

4 and

5

David

is given

a decisive

victory

and the

kingdom

language

here is

it's

unmistakably

messianic

David's

kingdom

did not

look

the way

that he's

describing

here

yeah

he was

a great

king

and there

were a lot

of people

in subjection

to him

he did

not rule

the world

in the way

that this

king rules

the world

and will

rule the world

people from

every nation

upon hearing

of the salvation

and might

of God's king

will come

to serve him

with joy

and exalt

his name

forever

for God

has given

him a name

that is above

every name

so that at the

name of Jesus

every knee

will bow

in heaven

and on earth

and under

the earth

and every tongue

confess that

Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God

the Father

that's what

David

is pointing

us to

here

this gospel

of salvation

through God's

king

it spreads

through the

world

making a

spiritual

and eschatological

kingdom

that is

unrivaled

and will

last

for eternity

and he

does this

for his

king

because he

delights

in his

king

and that

gets us

to the

very last

part

we've made

our way

back down

the mountain

we're down

at the base

again

except it

changes

now it's

not a

description

of the

king's

love for

his God

now in

verses 49

and 50

it's a

description

of God's

love for

his king

for this

I will

praise you

oh lord

among the

nations

and sing

to your

name

great

salvation

he brings

to his

king

and show

steadfast

love

to his

anointed

to David

and to

his

offspring

forever

now that

language

is very

important

to this

text

David

is resting

on the

covenant

he's

trusting

in what

God

will

do

whereas

we look

back

and we

trust

in what

God

has

done

faith

is at

the heart

no matter

what

and it's

all motivated

and supplied

by God's

love

love

is what

bookends

the story

of salvation

for David

for Jesus

for you

and me

love

and David

views his

life story

as a

glorious

display

of God's

covenant

love

but for

David

this covenant

love will be

displayed

supremely

in his

offspring

the promised

son

Jesus

the anointed

Messiah

king

who fulfilled

the psalm

truly

and completely

and again

John the

apostle

helps us

here

1 John 4

9 and 10

in this

the love

of God

was made

manifest

among us

the love

of God

is displayed

to us

that God

sent his

only son

into the

world

so that

we might

live

through him

in this

is love

not that

we have

loved

God

but that

he loved

us

and showed

it

by sending

his son

to be the

propitiation

for our

sins

that's the

love

that David

sees

which takes

us back

to verse

1

so that we

might understand

the love

that David

expresses

why would

we gather

Sunday by

Sunday

in an

elementary

school

gym

and do

what we're

doing

right now

if your

answer to

that is

well

I'm trying

to live

here on

the summit

of righteousness

and I

know that

if I just

get it

right

if I get

it right

God will

reward me

you've missed

it

you'll never

get it

right enough

no why

do we

come

why do