We will continue our study that
we've been going through here on Sunday nights through 2 Samuel
chapter 22. The name of the message is delivered
by God, kept by God. Delivered by God, kept by God. 2 Samuel chapter 22. We'll read verses 27 to 39 tonight. 27 to 39. With the pure thou wilt show
thyself pure, and with the forward thou wilt show thyself unsavory. And the afflicted people thou
wilt save. But thine eyes are upon the haughty,
that thou mayest bring them down. For thou art my lamp, O Lord,
and the Lord will lighten my darkness. For by thee have I
run through a troop, By my God have I leaped over a wall. As
for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all them that
trust in Him. For who is God? Save the Lord. And who is a rock? Save our God. God is my strength and power. He maketh my way perfect. He
maketh my feet like hind's feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so
that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also
given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy gentleness hath made
me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under
me, so that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies and
destroyed them, and turned not again until I had consumed them.
And I have consumed them and wounded them, that they could
not arise, yea, they are fallen under my feet. Now last week
we looked at verses 27 to 31 where we considered that we are
only pure in the eyes of God in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's no other way for us to be pure. And we consider
that all our acceptance with God comes in and through Christ
and Christ alone. No other way. No other way. Outside of Christ, there's no
acceptance by God. And in the ark itself, we have
a picture, don't we? Because all who were in the ark
were safe. But all outside of the ark perished. Perished. Well, it's the same. All outside
of Christ will perish in their sins. All in Christ shall be
safe, just as Noah and his family were safe in the ark. We also
considered the wicked's end. We consider the wicked's end,
and think of this, too. We know their end, but think
of this. If the Lord should mark iniquity,
who shall stand? No one. No one. So that magnifies even more,
then, the mercy and the grace that we've received in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Because if the Lord marked iniquity,
we'd all perish. But praise be to God. that his
people are forgiven in and through Christ Jesus, our Lord. And then
we consider that God's people are an afflicted people. We suffer.
We suffer affliction from the world, and we suffer sometimes
more affliction from religious people, from religious people
who would see to rob us of the peace that we have in Christ
Jesus, the one who is the perfect sacrifice. And how do religious
people rob or try to rob you of the peace and joy that you
have in Christ? Well, by telling you, you've
got to do something to be saved. No. Our salvation is complete
and whole in Jesus Christ our Lord. And what joy that gives
the believer. What peace that gives the believer.
To know that all our peace with God comes in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. And it is He, it is He and in
Him that we have the perfect sin atoning sacrifice. Because
He's the sinless one. And it's His precious blood that
cleanses us from all sin, beloved. All sin. So that our faith is
in Him. In our faith, our trust for our
eternal souls is in the one who completed the work in our place. Who did that which is impossible
for you and I to do. We can't save ourselves, let
alone we can't save anyone else either. But we look to the one
who saved us from all our sins. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ
and him alone. We also considered how the wicked
prosper in this world. We look in this world and we
see the wicked prosper. But we know their end, beloved. We know their end. We know that one day they'll
be bought down. If they are left in their sins, they'll be bought
down. Bought down. Then we consider
how the Lord Himself is a lamp to us. He's a light unto our
path. He's the light of the world,
we know the scripture says. And His word, though, is a lamp
unto our feet, isn't it? In it we find instruction and
guidance. And what does the word of God
do? It points us right to Christ. It points us right to Christ,
who is our light. And it's He who has lighted our
darkness, isn't it? We were in the darkness of sin.
We didn't even know we were in that last week. I had mentioned
how how sometimes you get up in the middle of the night and
It's so dark, and you're walking around next thing. You know you
bump into something Or you're stumbling around trying to get
a light on or something My there's nothing worse is there
That's how we were in our natural state. We were groping around
in the dark beloved We had no idea We had no idea that we even
were groping around. We couldn't see nothing. We couldn't
see God, who He is. We couldn't see Christ. I like what Brother Neal said
today. That was spectacular, brother, what you said to me
on the way out. Brother Neal said, he said, you can't keep
a Christian from church, a true believer from church, and you
can't get an unbeliever hardly in the door, unless God makes
them willing, eh? And then they'll come in, but
other than that, it's so true. Because God's people, we want
to hear the gospel. We desire to hear the gospel. But we only understand it as
we saw today, this morning, because God, the Holy Spirit, has illuminated
us, or regenerated us, where the scriptures are now illuminated,
where before we didn't even understand them. We may have read them,
but we didn't understand them. Now, oh my goodness, this is a wonderful
book. Absolutely wonderful book. So
it's he who is a lamp unto our feet. It's he who has lightened
the darkness of our natural state. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And now the Holy Spirit guides
us into all truth, all truth, which we know again is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we consider it how the Lord
has delivered us in various circumstances in our lives, constantly being
delivered. We can look back, and I know
I say that all the time, but it's good for us to look back,
because we can reflect now that we're out of that storm. Usually
when you're in a storm, you're just thinking, how am I gonna
get out of this storm? Or this trial, but we can look back and
go, look what the Lord has done, it's amazing. Vicki and I've
talked many times about through the years of how you just see
his sovereign hand at work carrying you right through things. At
the time, we didn't see it, but oh, my, we see it now. We see
it now. And I know you all have seen
it in your lives, too, as believers. My. And then we consider how the
Lord's triumphed over all our enemies. Praise be to God, he's
triumphed over all our enemies. It is he who has conquered Satan.
It's he who has conquered our sins, too, hasn't he? He paid
everything that was demanded for them. My. Our sins were against us. He
paid for everything. The law of God was against us.
He satisfied it. The justice of God was against
us. He satisfied that, too. He fully honored the law of God
in our place. And then he conquered death,
too, didn't he? He was raised from the dead for our justification.
where we will be there one day with Him. Then we considered
how God's way is perfect, and the way there is singular, singular. His way is perfect, which ties
in with the scripture in the New Testament, which say, neither
is there salvation in any other, for there's none under the name
of heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Then we considered
how Christ is a shield, a buckler, which is a small shield. He's
a shield, but he's not just a small shield, is he? No, he's everything
to us. He's everything to us. He's a
shield for his people, for all who trust in him. Ancient armies
used a buckler in defense or for protection in battles, and
that's what he is for us. And he alone is our shield, he
alone. Now let's consider verse 32 tonight.
It says, for who is our God? Save the Lord. And who is a rock
save our God? Now David brings forth this question
set forth, who is God save the Lord, which is Jehovah in the
Hebrew, which is the self-existent one? Who is God save Jehovah? And who is a rock save our God,
which is Elohim? Well, there are no other gods
beside our God, is there? Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah,
chapter 10. There's no other God beside our
God. Jehovah is the one true God.
All other gods are little Gs. And our God is God. He's God. He's the one true God, and beside
Him, there's none like Him. And we believe that, don't we?
Because he's revealed himself to us. He's revealed himself
to us. Praise be to his name. He's revealed
himself to us. The one true God has manifested
himself to us through the preaching of the gospel. God speaks to his people through
the word, doesn't he? Not in dreams and visions and all this
other stuff that people say they do and have. No, he speaks to
his people through the word. Through the Word of God. Oh my. There are none like him. Now
look at this in Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 6 and 7. For as much
as there is none like unto thee, O Lord. None. O Lord. Jeremiah 10, 6. For as much as there is none
like unto thee. What a statement. There are none.
Oh Lord, Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might. He's Jehovah. Jehovah means the
self-existent one. Who needs nothing or nobody,
beloved. He has no rivals. None at all. Look at that. For as much as
there is none like unto thee, O Lord, thou art great, and thy
name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King
of Nations? Well, the fear of the Lord is
what? The beginning of knowledge. But
fools despise wisdom and instruction. Look at that, Jeremiah chapter
10, verse 7. Who would not fear thee? Look
at the title, O King of Nations. This speaks of his absolute sovereignty,
doesn't it? Over everything. For to thee
doth it appertain, for as much as among
the wise men of the nations in all their kingdoms, there is
none like unto thee. None. Absolutely none. Jeremiah 10, verses six and seven. None like him. Now there are
many called gods, little g, who are not by nature gods. They are fictitious. They are
fictitious. They are idols of the Gentiles. Remember this morning we saw
how God had turned the Gentile believers at Thessalonica from
idols to serve the living God? These idols that the Gentiles
made, they're made of gold and silver and brass and wood and
stone, but beloved, there's only one true God. There's only one true God. And
David proclaims who He is in our text. He's the Lord. He's Jehovah. The Eternal One. In Hebrew it means the eternal
one, the self-existent one. That's who our God is. That's
who our Savior is. In wonder of wonders, the Word
of God, Jehovah, became a man and dwelt among us to save His
people from their sins. And our great God, Jehovah, is
the great three-in-one. The Father is Jehovah. The Son is Jehovah. The Holy
Spirit is Jehovah. All three are one God. It says
this in 1 John 5, 7. For there are three that bear
record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Three persons of the Trinity,
one God. One God. And we see then that the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one. The Father is God, the Son
is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. One. As Brother Henry Mahan
brings forth, they are one in essence, one in unity, one in
purpose, and one in testimony. One God. Let's go back to our
text and look at David brings forth in their latter part of
this verse, who is our rock? Save the Lord. Let's read verse
32 again. So, let's read this. For who
is God? Save Jehovah, the Lord. And who
is a rock? Save our God, Elohim, the Mighty
One. The Mighty One. So we saw David
bring forth in the first part of this verse the vanity of false
gods. When he asked the question, for
who has God saved Jehovah? Just in that question alone,
he's bringing forth the vanity of false gods. Again, little
g's. And then, in the latter part
of this verse, we see that David's only confidence In our great
God He alone is the only refuge that we who are as people have
He's the only refuge For who is God save the Lord and the
Lord is our Shepherd He's our Shepherd he's our Redeemer Look at that For who is God save
the Lord, and who is a rock save our God? Keep a close eye on the mercies
of God, which we will see David manifest in his life as he brings
forth what the Lord has enabled him to do. And he refers all
his deliverances, beloved, just as every child of God does. He
refers all his deliverances, all His victories to the will
and sovereignty and goodness of God, of Jehovah. And we see that David not only
dwells not only on what the Lord has enabled him to do, but again
what the Lord has done for him. He dwells ever more largely on
the Lord. We see this just as he has in
verse 32 there. Let's read verses 33 to 39. God
is my strength and power, and he maketh my way perfect. See,
the emphasis is on our great God. He maketh my feet like hinds
places, and setteth me upon my high places. Again, it's God
doing all this. He teacheth my hands to war,
so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arm. Thou hast also given
me the shield of thy salvation, What has God given us, beloved?
The gift of faith and salvation in Christ and Christ alone. And
thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps unto
me so that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies and
destroyed them and turned not again until I had consumed them. And I have consumed them and
wounded them that they could not arise, yet they are fallen
under my feet." Now David knows that all the victories that he's
had and all the deliverances that he's had comes from God
and God alone. All the mercy that he's received
comes from God. All the grace that he's received
comes from God. He knows that. And we see in
these verses, he's ascribing all the glory to God. And so we see here before us
just how infinitely precious the Lord is to David. And we know from experience how
precious He is to us, don't we? We do, from experience. Oh, He's
so precious to us. Men and women who've been born
again by the Holy Spirit of God and trust the Lord Jesus Christ
for all their salvation, what do we do? We sing of our great
Redeemer, don't we? We sing of our great Redeemer.
We sing praises to God the Father. We sing praises to God the Son.
We sing praises to the Holy Spirit, the great three in one, for all that He's done for us.
for the fact that He has regenerated us, for the fact that He makes
us willing in the day of His power to flee to Christ. Because
we know there's none that seeketh after God. There's none that
understand it. Not in our natural state, is
there? Again, the only reason you and I seek God is because
God made us willing. The only reason we understand
what we know is because God the Holy Spirit has illuminated the
Scriptures and taught us the things of Christ. Glory to His
name. Glory to His name, beloved. And our God is to His people
the only refuge of our souls. He's our shield, He's our protector,
He's our shelter in the time of storm, isn't He? He's all
that to us and more, even more. And Christ alone is the only
one we trust our eternal souls to. false gods are, you know
what false gods are, beloved? They're nothing but a refuge
of lies. That's what they are. They're nothing but a refuge
of lies. And on that great day of judgment,
the man, the man will spend eternity in hell who put their hope and
trust in false gods. Unless the Lord saves them before
they pass on. But the moment they step into
eternity, My, they realized they had a false refuge. It's too
late then. It's too late then. Let's turn
again to Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah chapter 10. Let's look
at what the holy scriptures here proclaim about our great God. And then what the scriptures
proclaim about false idols made with man's hands. And an idol
is nothing, something man's crafted up in their hands. They used
to be, in the old days they would take a, they would chop down
a tree. And then they would take some of that wood and they'd
use it to build a fire, to get warm. They'd use some of it to
cook the food. And then they'd keep, probably
the nicest part I would think, I don't know, I don't remember,
but they would take a piece of wood and they would take it,
or stone, and they would take it to the craftsman, the idol
maker, and he would manufacture an idol for them. Whatever little
G they wanted, whatever little idol they wanted. And then, that
same tree they cut down or that same rock they hewn, they'd bow
down to it. They'd bow down to it. And we
can't say anything, can we? Because left in our natural state,
we'd have done the same thing. But praise be to God, he's revealed
himself to us, to we who are his people. Oh my. Y'all know
when I came out of there, they used to, when I came out of there,
battle statues all the time. And they had these silly little
crucifixes they put on doors, nothing but an idol, beloved.
Nothing but an idol. That's all that is. Nothing but
an idol. Oh my. Look at this in Jeremiah
chapter 10. Look at this in verses 9 to 15.
Silver spread into plates is bought from tarnish and gold
from Eupaz, the work of the workmen in the hands of the founder.
Blue and purple is their clothing. They are all the work of cunning
men. But the Lord is the true God. But Jehovah is the true God. He is the living God and an everlasting
King and His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nations
shall not be able to abide His indignation. Thus shall ye say
to them, the gods little g again that have not made the heavens
and the earth because what are these things they're nothing
but the creation of man right they come out of the idle factories
of man's hearts one grace preacher says I like
that these idols are nothing nothing our hearts are are their
idle factories beloved in our natural state in our natural
state we were talking after church with with with sister Karen brother
Travis and sister deed and we were talking about how our Man,
we can come up with the wildest things can't we in our natural
state and people bow down to all different kinds of things
They may worship money. They may worship something else.
They may worship this they may worship that oh My all kinds
of things because anything can become an idol Anything can become
an idol Look at this Thus shall ye say unto them,
the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, they're
nothing but false gods, false ravens, even they shall perish
from the earth. They're gonna perish. And from
under these heavens, he hath made the earth, this is Jehovah,
by his power, by the word of his power, he hath established
the world by his wisdom. And hath stretched out the heavens
by his discretion. When He uttereth His voice, there
is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causes the vapors
to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with
rain and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures. And the
ancients used to bow down to local deities that someone crafted
with their hands to pray for the weather, to pray for rain
to come. But look who gives the rain. It's the great Jehovah. It's the great Jehovah. Those
pieces of rock and stone couldn't do nothing. They got ears that
don't hear and eyes that don't see. And mouths that don't even
speak. As scripture says, they're nothing
but a dumb idol. That's what they are. Look at
this. When He utters His voice, there's
a multitude of waters in the heavens and causes the vapors
to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with
rain and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures. Now look
at this. Every man is brutish in his nature.
Every founder is confounded by the graven image. For his molten
image is what? Falsehood. This is why we grace
preachers say this is a refuge of lies. This is a refuge of lies. These
people are bowing down to these idols. They're bowing down to
a refuge of lies. And there is no breath in them.
They're not alive. They're either a piece of stone,
or a piece of rock, or a piece of ceramic, or just a piece of metal that
hangs on the wall. My. Look at this. They are vanity and the work
of errors. In the time of their visitation,
they shall perish. And you know what, all who trusted
them will perish too. My, aren't you thankful God's
revealed himself to you? Aren't you thankful that our
Lord is the rock of our salvation, the true God? Think of all the people again
that go by here every day. Sunday all kinds of folks go
by here. They have no care, like Brother Neal said, no care for
the things of God. And here we come. We desire to
hear the Word of God. We desire to hear about our great
God. Tell me about Jehovah. Tell me
about my Savior. Tell me about what He done for
me. And then just keep telling me. Each time we gather together,
let me hear about Him. Who gave you that desire? Who gave you that desire? It's
God who gave you that desire. It's God who's distinguished
you from all those people out there. And that's what the Greek
says when it says who made you to differ. In the Greek it means
who distinguished you. All them folks just like us in
our natural state driving by. And here we are, worshiping,
rejoicing in the truths of the gospel. Truly our God has been
good to us, hasn't he? Truly our God has been merciful
to us. Truly. Truly our God has shown
us grace. Shown us grace. So we see in
these verses here, very strikingly in Jeremiah chapter 10, That
the prophet in the Lord's name bring forth that God's divine
nature and sovereignty. We saw it all through those verses
there. And then he displays the folly
of idols in the latter verses. The folly of idols. And again,
the end of those who trust in these false gods. The idols will
perish in their parish too. So let's go back to verse 32
then, and it says, for who is God save the Lord, which is Jehovah,
and who is a rock save our God? Well, we now know the answer
by looking at these scriptures, right? No one's like him. No one. No one compares to him. There's only one true God, and
that's Jehovah. Only one. All these other gods
are false gods, again, figments of man's imagination, manufactured
from the idle factory of man's heart. And we who are the blood-bought
people of God, we declare with David, look what he says in verse
33, God is my strength. That's what we declare, don't
we? God is my strength and power, and He maketh my way perfect. Now this part here, He maketh
my way perfect, can only be said of Christ. He was perfect in the eyes of
God, and this speaks of His glorious triumphs as our risen Savior,
our exalted Savior. It is He who has conquered our
sin, and He alone is our Almighty Leader and Commander. In Isaiah
chapter 54, the Scriptures declare this. Actually, let's. Let's turn to Isaiah 55, it's
Isaiah 55, let's turn there quick. We'll read verses one to nine
and look what it declares about our our great God, our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 55. Oh, everyone that thirsts, come
ye to the waters, verse one. And he that hath no money, come
ye buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk, without money
and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Speaks a man trying to earn their
way to glory. Doesn't satisfy God. The only
work that God has satisfied is in the work of Christ and Christ
alone. Hearken diligently unto Me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
Me, here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Now look at
this, speaking of Christ in verse 4. Behold, I have given Him for
a witness to the people. A leader and commander to the
people. That's our Lord. He's a leader
and a commander for us. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew thee not shall run
unto thee. That's true of God's elect, isn't it? Out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, who do we flee to? Christ. We
shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, for the Holy
One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. And he
will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. And oh, how he's abundantly pardoned
us in Christ, beloved. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. God is so
far above us. He doesn't think like we think,
and His ways are not like our ways. But Christ alone we see
there in verse 4. Christ alone is the leader of
God's blood-bought people. He's the commander. And He's
always guiding and directing us, beloved. And making His people
more than conquerors through Him. And He'll keep doing that
as we go through the wilderness of this world, until we see Him
face to face. Let's go back to 2 Samuel, chapter
22. We'll read verses 34 and 35. It says this, He maketh my feet
like Hines' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teaches
my hands to war so that the bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
How many times has the Lord delivered and preserved us from our trials
in our lives? How many times? Countless times. How many times has the Lord delivered
and preserved us through temptations and trials? And how many times
has he delivered us from our enemies? Time and time and time
again. Look at verse 34 again. He maketh
my feet like Hines' feet and setteth me upon my high places. Notice David gives God all the
glory. He did this. God did this for
his preserving grace. He did this. He maketh my feet
like Hines' feet and setteth me upon high places. God did
this. And remember, David proclaims
this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. And then David proclaims that
all his skill and use in weapons and military skill, they all
come from the Lord. Look what he proclaims in verse
35. He teaches my hands to work. So that a bow of steel is broken
by mine arms. God's done this. Again, you've
heard me say many times, all the knowledge we know comes from
God. We can't boast of nothing. But
Christ, we're hemmed up to boast in Christ, and we love that,
don't we? We love that. So David doesn't
offer up self-praise, does he? Not at all. Not at all. He gives all the glory to God
for his skills, the skills of war, and no sacrifice offered
at the shrine of self will ever be, will ever satisfy God. He is the giver of these skills.
We see that in the text here before us. Spurgeon brings forth
that when it says he teaches my hands to war so that a bow
of steel is broken by mine arms. Spurgeon brings forth that a
bow of brass is probably meant here and these bows could scarcely
be bent by arms alone. The archer had to gain the assistance
of his foot. It was therefore a great feat
of strength to bend the bow so far as to even snap it in half. This is meant of the enemy's
bow, which he not only snaps from his grasp, but rendered
useless by breaking it in pieces. Now let us keep an eye to Christ
in these verses right here. Look at verse 34. He maketh my
feet like Hines' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. Let's
turn to Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Christ is compared to a roe or
young harp for swiftness. Over in Song of Solomon. And
in our text there, it says, He maketh my feet like Hines' feet,
and setteth me upon high places. Look at this in Song of Solomon,
chapter 2, verses 8 to 10. It says this, the voice of my
beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping
upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a
young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through
the lattice. My beloved spake, and he said
unto me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. What
we see here, my beloved is like a roe or a young heart. Now think
of this. It's Christ who came here to
this world to do the will of the Father, to do the will of
God. And when did He come? At the
appointed time of God. And it was He who Acre brings
forth, made haste to do the work of God in which He took the utmost
pleasure. And our Lord is a very present
help to His people in times of trouble. It is Christ who is now set upon
the high places, beloved. Right now. Right now. Which means the strong and fortified
places. God has highly exalted him, hasn't
he? He's given him a name above every name. And he's right now
seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. High above all his enemies. High above all his enemies. far above all princes and principalities,
beloved. And everything is subject to
Him, both visible and invisible. Everything. Let's look at verse
36. It says, Thou hast also given
me the shield of Thy salvation, and Thy gentleness hath made
me great. Thou hast also given me the shield
of Thy salvation, But we all take refuge in He
who is our shield, don't we? Who's our shield? Christ. Remember the whole armor of God
that Paul describes in Ephesians chapter 6? That armor of God
is Christ. It's Christ. And the elect of
God are equipped with the armor of God by who? By God. He's the one who equips us. When
I was in religion, you know, they used to say, well, you need
to put this on. Brother Norman and I were talking one day, he
said, God already put it on us. We're equipped in Christ. We're clothed in His perfect,
spotless righteousness. And we have the sword of the
Spirit right here, don't we? The Word of God. We have the
helmet of salvation whose Who's our salvation? The Lord Jesus
Christ. We have the breastplate of righteousness.
Who's our righteousness? And whose righteousness are we
clothed in? The Lord Jesus Christ. We have the shield of faith.
Who's our faith in? The Lord Jesus Christ. We have
our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. Who's the gospel
all about? The Lord Jesus Christ. And we have the sword of the
spirit. Who does this book tell us about? It's all about Christ,
beloved. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. All about Christ. Glory to His name. Glory to His
name. So Christ alone is our shield.
And He's the only one who can quench all the fiery darts of
Satan, isn't He? He's the only one. And we know
faith is a gift from God. Spurgeon brings forth that this
shield is of celestial workmanship. When it says, thou hast given
me the shield of thy salvation, he says, this shield is of celestial
workmanship. It's a direct gift from God himself.
Our faith is in Christ. He's our shield. And it's he
who has accomplished our salvation. How? By the sacrifice of himself.
God incarnate in the flesh died for me, the believer, since.
In my place. He's the only one who's the perfect
spotless lamb of God. Scripture says this in Deuteronomy
33, 29. It says, happy art thou, O Israel. Who is like unto thee,
O people saved by the Lord? Who's like unto us, who's saved
by the Lord? We don't deserve this mercy. We don't get what we deserve.
But we're so joyful, aren't we? That the Lord saved us. Oh my. Happier thou, O Israel. Who is
like unto thee? O people saved by the Lord. Now
catch that right there. People saved by the Lord. Not
saved by ourselves. Not saved by anything we say
or do. Saved by the Lord. Saved by the Lord of glory, beloved.
The shield of thy help, that's what he is to us. And who is
the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found
liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Deuteronomy 33, 29. What a beautiful verse. O people saved by the Lord. I
get the privilege of proclaiming the gospel to people saved by
the Lord. And I'm also that number, so
I get the privilege of studying about A people saved by the Lord. Isn't it glorious? All by Him. All by His work. And why? Because it pleased Him to do
so. Oh my. Amazing grace. Truly, truly amazing, amazing
grace. And the scripture brings forth
there in Deuteronomy that God's people are happy people. Well,
because we know the Lord is the cause of our salvation. We know
He's our only salvation. And it brings us great joy, knowing
that God purposed our salvation in Christ. Knowing that God,
who purposed that salvation, executed our salvation in Christ's
dying on the cross for us. And knowing that God, the Holy
Spirit, is the one who applies the salvation that we have in
Christ. Therefore we're happy, aren't
we? We're joyous for what our great God has done for us. And
by the words, shield and sword has made a perfect defense over
there in Deuteronomy 33, 29. He's the shield of thy help and
the sword of thy excellency. That means perfect defense, beloved. And where's that found for the
believer? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. Could you imagine
if the Lord left us to our enemies? Could you imagine if the Lord
just left us alone? Boy, we'd be in trouble, wouldn't we? But
he doesn't do that. He's our shield. He's our protector. And he's ever with his people.
Ever with his people. And we are upheld by him. Never
forget that. You're upheld by him. You're
kept by him. My. Think of this, He's the shield
which saves us from our sin and all the damning power of it. It is He who has made a curse
for us when He died upon the cross. It is He who satisfied
the law of God in our place. It is He who endured the wrath
of God as our substitute. He's our shield. And therefore we stand behind
the shield. We stand, just like a soldier
in a battle would stand behind that shield, and that shield
would protect him. We stand behind that shield,
don't we, beloved? And that's Christ. That's Christ. Protected by that shield, which
is Christ. We are upheld by God's hand.
Note how verse 36 closes, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Now, Lange brings forth that
this means the bowing of oneself. And how this speaks, beloved,
of the condescension of Christ. Our Lord was meek and lowly,
and what condescension is seen when our Savior came from glory
to this world to die in our place? And remember, turn if you would
to Colossians 1. Remember this, we are qualified
for heaven, how? In Christ. Colossians 1 brings this forth
very clearly. Because of the condescension
of Christ, according to God's providential goodness, we've
been made by the power of God, a child of God, an heir of God,
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this, Colossians
1. giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet, verse
12, which hath made us meet. You know what that Greek word
there means? It means qualified to make sufficient, to render
fit. Now, in our natural state, we
are not fit to be in God's presence, are we? Because we're sinners. From the top of our head, the
scripture says, to the bottom of our feet. So we are not in
our natural state fit to be in the presence of God. But look
what the scripture says. giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, qualified, or to make sufficient, or to
render fit, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light, who hath delivered us." Who did this? God did this. God has delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption. How? Through his blood, even
the forgiveness of sins. Praise be to God. It's all because of God. It's
all what Christ has done. All what He's done. John Gill brings forth that when
it says, Thy gentleness hath made me great. He says the words
may be rendered, Thy humility hath made me great. And again, if we keep our eyes
to Christ and His condescension of becoming a man and dying on
the cross for us, that was a lowest state of His humiliation. But now where is he? He's made
great. He's exalted in glory, at the
right hand of the Father. Thy gentleness hath made me great.
That speaks Christ. He endured great sufferings and
then entered into glory. He endured great sufferance and
then entered into glory. And it can be said of him, thy
gentleness hath made me great. Now let's read verses 37 to 39.
And we'll see David preserved from his enemies. Thou hast enlarged
my steps unto me so that my feet did not slip. I have pursued
mine enemies and destroyed them and turn not again until I had
consumed them. And I have consumed them and
wounded them, that they could not arise, yea, they are fallen
under my feet. Note that our great God keeps
his people. He does not let us utterly fall
away. We may stumble, but our Lord upholds us, and he destroys
our enemies. And look at these verses also
as an eye to Christ. He destroyed all our enemies.
He conquered all His enemies. Scripture says He triumphed over
princes and principalities. He made an open show of them
at the cross. And all who have come against
Christ, all who have come against our great God, have perished. They've all perished. They all
perish. They've been destroyed. By He
who is our shield. by he who is our defender, by
he who is the very one who preserves us in all circumstances, beloved. And what's our response? Praises
my name. Praises my name. Heavenly Father,
again, we thank you for allowing us to gather together and allowing
us to read thy word and for giving us an interest in the things
of you, Lord Jesus, my. Truly thy grace is amazing. Truly we who are your people
have received mercy. And we know that truly you are
the one true God. All other gods are false gods,
refuge of lies. And we thank you, Lord, that
you, you have caused us to put our
hope and trust in thee and thee alone. You've granted us The
gift of faith and repentance. We're born again by thy Holy
Spirit. And we give you all the glory and all the honor and all
the praise in Jesus' name. Amen.