The LORD Is My Rock

as you are tuning in

let me open us up with a word of prayer

would you bow with me

God we come and just pray that

you would just help us

quieten ourselves before you this evening

God that we would just calm

calm our thoughts

God that we would

just put the concerns

that we brought in this evening and just

God hold those

at bay for us so that

we can be open to you

and open to your spirit and

open to your teaching God so

that we can pray

with conviction

so God that we can

pray with great

insight and pray in ways

that glorify you

God in ways that

expose us for who we are

we ask all this in your name amen

so if you look at

Psalm 18

we'll preface this with a few things

one of those is that

the message this evening is

is a message to

followers of Jesus

and

so

that is the

the approach that I'm taking

so if

you are a follower of Jesus

this message is for you

if that's not a decision

that has been made

then

the message for you this evening

would be

follow Jesus

and

the also

just want to

provide some of the terminology

that I'll use

and

so the

the word for God

that I'll be using

is the Lord

as much as I can

and the reason I'll be using that

is because that's the

that's the phrasing here

in the psalm

and so

when I refer to the Lord

that refers to God

but I

might say God

and mean Lord

and say Lord

and mean God

so

the same

and

and then

finally

Psalm 18

is

is a long read

and

so

just in

in thought

of our time

that we have

I'll be using

a format

to help us get through

the entire psalm

but

to do that

we'll actually

read it in sections

and so

the

I've divided the psalm

up into sections

and so I'll be reading those

and

then parts of what would be

a little bit different too

is that

often

in a sermon

we read the

the passage

and then

it's explained to us

in this case

I'm actually going to explain

before we read

and the

purpose for doing that

is that

I want the

the psalm

to be able to speak

for itself

and so

hopefully I'm going to try to

set you up

so that you're ready to hear the psalm

and allow it

to speak for itself

and then

finally also

just in

recognition of just the length

of this psalm

is that

I will try to be succinct

in what I say

so I

the words will be few

hopefully

and

and then we will be

into the passage

so to

to set us up

the

the question I have for you

is

when you find yourself

in weakness

from

where do you

seek strength

do you

seek

strength

from family

from well

perhaps you

seek strength

from your charisma

or your intelligence

perhaps you're

well connected

a person of power

and influence

perhaps you have

good friends

and you know

just who to call

perhaps you have

that little thing

we call grit

that strength

of will

so in that moment

of weakness

you rely upon it

well I can tell you this

that whatever

earthly qualities

that you possess

whatever

things that God

has blessed you with

that God

blessed David

more

David who is

the psalmist

is someone who has

all that the world

could offer

and this is the psalm

that David says

so

I would say

as we look at this

we're going to see

that David

in the time of weakness

he seeks strength

and protection

from the Lord

not earthly things

and if David

is willing to make

that choice

then so should we

let us look here

at the first portion

of Psalm 18

with the idea

of the Lord

protects

beginning in verse 1

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

we see that the Lord

protects

but to what purpose

does the Lord protect

it is certainly

not to a life

of ease

despite the protection

of the Lord

the psalmist

still faces

great difficulty

and we will see

that as the psalmist

calls upon the Lord

the Lord

hears

his cries

now I want you to see

that the Lord

hears

beginning in verse 4

the cords of death

encompassed me

the torrents

of destruction

assailed me

the cords of Sheol

entangled me

the snares of death

confronted me

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

so we see

that the Lord

here

not only does he

hear

but he also

responds

to the very

foundations

of the earth

he responds

and the Lord

he is formidable

he is fearsome

he is terrifying

are you comfortable

of thinking of the Lord

in this fashion

if not

then why

and if so

does your

personal prayer life

reflect this

comfort

with understanding

the Lord

as formidable

as fearsome

and as terrifying

now I want you to hear

how the Lord

thunders

beginning in verse 7

then the earth

reeled

and rocked

and the foundations

also of the mountains

trembled

and quaked

because he was angry

smoke went up

from his nostrils

and 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

hell stones

and coals

of fires

broke through

his clouds

the Lord

also thundered

in the heavens

and the most high

uttered his voice

hell stones

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

and the foundations

of the world

would lay bare

at your rebuke

oh Lord

and the blast

of it

the breath

of your nostrils

we have seen

that people

matter to the Lord

he protects them

and hears them

we have seen

the fearsomeness

of the Lord

he thunders

we find that

the Lord

holds all

things together

and makes plans

for the individual

the Lord

makes plans

for the individual

personally

I can't make plans

to get three families

at my house

at the same time

but yet

the Lord

in his plans

is able

to focus

on the individuals

why does the Lord

do this

why does the Lord

show such great concern

for individuals

we see that

the Lord

delights

in some people

now I want you

to hear how

the Lord

rescues

beginning in verse

16

he sent from

on high

he took me

he drew me

out of the waters

he rescued me

from my strong

enemy

from my strong

enemy

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

so why does

the Lord

delight in some

people

because they

are righteous

no they are

not

they are not

perfect

and yes

they are still

sinners

but they are

true to their

Lord

in their actions

and their

thoughts

does the Lord

ever seem far

from you

does this

relationship

that's described

here in this

psalm

seem alien

to you

the question

I would have

is are you

righteous

I think the

pitfall of

many

would be what

I would call

conditional

righteousness

have the

audacity

to say to

the Lord

I will

follow you

completely

once I

experience

the blessing

to the Lord

we do not

get to say

if you do

this

then

I will

do that

I want

you to hear

now

why

the Lord

rewards

so we will

see that the

Lord rewards

beginning in

verse 20

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

and 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

with the

merciful

you show

yourself

merciful

with the

blameless

man

you show

yourself

blameless

with the

purified

you show

yourself

pure

with the

crooked

you make

yourself

seem

torturous

for you

save a

humble

person

but the

haughty

eyes

you

bring

down

I have

a question

for you

supposing

that you

had some

money you

wanted to

invest

would you

invest it

with an

accountant

who is

currently

in prison

because that

accountant

was overseeing

a Ponzi

scheme

and has

defrauded

millions of

dollars from

people

would you

invest

with such

a person

of course

not

the

Lord

is similar

with his

blessings

the

Lord

gives to

the

righteous

because

such

blessings

will not

be

misused

now

I want

you to

see

that the

Lord

gives

beginning

in verse

28

for it

is you

who

light

my

lamp

for

the

Lord

my

God

lightens

my

darkness

for

by

you

I

cannot

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

those

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

set

me

secure

on

the

heights

he

trained

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

me

a

wide

place

for my

steps

under

me

and

my

feet

did

not

slip

evil

will

sometimes

prevail

evil

will

sometimes

win

for the

day

but

against

the

favor

of the

Lord

evil

collapses

are

you

someone

the

Lord

will

favor

to

answer

this

question

there's

another

question

if

the

Lord

did

show

you

favor

would

you

give

him

glory

or

keep

that

glory

for

yourself

now

I

want

you

to

see

that

the

Lord

favors

beginning

in

verse

37

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

have

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

they

cried

for

help

but

there

cried

to

save

the

Lord

but

he

did

not

answer

them

I

beat

them

with

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

favor of

the

Lord

is

contingent

upon

its

recipient

the

recipient

needs

to be

righteous

but

also

contend

that

the

recipient

needs

to

give

glory

to

God

and

not

take

glory

to

the

self

how

does

the

psalmist

do

in

this

regard

does

the

psalmist

give

glory

to

God

let

us

hear

the

answer

the

Lord

be

praised

we

begin

in

verse

46

the

Lord

lives

and

blessed

be

my

rock

and

exalted

be

the

God

of

my

salvation

the

God

who

gave

me

vengeance

and

subdued

people

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

bonnet

for

this

I

praise

you

oh

Lord

among

the

nations

and

sing

to

your

name

great

salvation

he

brings

to

his

kings

and

shows

steadfast

love

to

his

anointed

to

David

and

his

offspring

forever