And I know we struggle with sin. I know we struggle with unbelief.
I know we struggle with things that go on in our lives. But oh, as we look at this portion
of Scripture tonight, and we're gonna be spending a few weeks
on this chapter, may we be a thankful people. May we leave here, as
Brother John mentioned this morning, thankful, just rejoicing over
our great God. 2 Samuel 22. And again, we'll start a small
study tonight on a wonderful chapter of the Bible, the Scriptures.
It'll take us a few Sunday evenings to travel through this psalm,
but I think it'll be a real blessing for us. I think it'll be a real
blessing for we who are the people of God. Now this song before
us is David's song of deliverance, his song of deliverance. We see
in verse one, in the day that the Lord had delivered him out
of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.
And we will see in our study of this song that it contains
from beginning to end manifold praises, manifold praises for
manifold deliverances. I was talking to Roy tonight
about how if we really look back on our lives, we can see, we
who are God's people, even before we're saved, we can see how God
delivered us from circumstances that we were in. And especially
after we're saved, we can see things that the Lord has taken
us through. And they have been for our good,
some of them have been really hard. But they have been for
our good and for His glory because ultimately we give Him all the
praise and glory after we're done going through something. So we're seeing this study of
this song, again it contains from beginning to end, manifold
praises for manifold deliverances. David is praising God for his
continued deliverance. from the hands of his enemies.
Tonight we'll look at verses 1 to 4, but I'd like us to read
verses 1 to 20 to start our study. And David spake unto the Lord
the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of
Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
the God of my rock. Him will I trust. He is my shield
and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge,
my savior. Thou savest me from violence.
I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall
I be saved from mine enemies. When the waves of death compassed
me, the floods of ungodly man made me afraid. The souls of
hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me. In my distress, I called upon
the Lord and cried to my God, and he did hear my voice out
of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the
earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven moved and
shook because he was wrought. There went up a smoke out of
his nostrils and fire out of his mouth. The devoured coals
were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens and came
down, and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a
cherub and did fly, and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters and thick
clouds of the skies. Through the brightness before
him were coals of fire kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows
and scattered them, lightening and discomforted them. And the
channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world
were discovered at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of
the breath of his nostrils. He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy and from them that aided
me, for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in
the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought
me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted
in me." Now, there's definite references here to Christ all
through that portion there. But also remember that David
was delivered multiple times. David was a man of war, and he
was delivered multiple times from his enemies. Multiple times. And David we know from the Psalms
that he wrote was one who was often filled with thanksgiving
and often times at the end of a trial or at the conclusion
of his military battles he would cast his eye gratefully over
the whole experience. He would cast his eye gratefully
over the whole experience. And he often in the Psalms acknowledges
the goodness and mercy of God that followed him all along.
All along. It's no different here, beloved.
It's no different here. And we see also in this song
as David looks back and exalts the Lord for the deliverance
he has had from his enemies. And he is going to give God all
the glory. And he does. He gives him all the glory and
all the honor and all the praise for the deliverances that have
occurred to him. It's God who has protected him. It's God who
has watched over him. It's God who has continuously
delivered him time and time and time again. And David had his
mind focused upon the great things that the Lord had done for him.
He kept his mind focused upon the great things that God had
done for him. Look at verse 1 again. And David spake unto the Lord
the words of this song In the day that the Lord had delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of
Saul, David speaks to the Lord with a grateful, thankful heart. Exactly what Brother John was
hitting on this morning. We should approach our God in
prayer with a grateful and thankful heart. Not everyone has the privilege
to approach God like we do. We who are purchased by the precious
blood of the Lamb. We have access to the throne
of grace only because of what Christ has done. So let us approach
that throne, the throne of grace, the throne of mercy, with thanksgiving,
with thanksgiving, with a grateful and thankful heart. Let us cease
our murmuring and complaining and be thankful for the wondrous
things that the Lord has done for us. He's done wondrous things
for us. And let us be consumed, beloved,
with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving. Let our lips be filled with praise
for the great things that God has done for us. For just thinking
upon the wonderful salvation that we have in Christ will bring
words of praise to our lips. How undeserving are we? How unmerited
is this favor that God shows us in Christ? And when we ponder
these things, When we think upon them, as Brother Jim said, think
upon them through the week. When we think about these things,
I'll tell you, it'll fill your heart with joy. It will. It really
will. It's absolutely incredible. This
salvation will leave you in awe that we have in Christ. And David
kept the goodness which the Lord had done for him ever before
him. He kept the goodness that the Lord had done ever before
him. And David spake unto the Lord
the words of the song and the day that the Lord had delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of
Saul. Just read the Psalms with that
in mind and you'll see David filled with thanksgiving. There's
a time when he's cast down. And Joe Terrell, I've talked
about this. We believe he was depressed because you know what?
He's a man just like all of us. Yeah, he gets, he got down. He
got down. So he struggled with unbelief
just like we do. But there's a scripture that
says, he says, why are they'll cast down on my soul and why
are they'll disquieted me? Hope that one God. You see, he's,
he's down and he's, and then all of a sudden he says, hope
that one God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his
countenance. See, he turns that to focusing
upon Christ. And what does it do when that
happens? When I get down and depressed, because I do sometimes,
I just try to focus on what the Lord's done for me. I love reading
the Psalms when I'm in a situation like that. Because it just lifts
your soul. And my brother David, he went
through the same things. And he just constantly brings
you to Christ. He constantly brings you the
great things that the Lord has done for us. And that's what
the scriptures does. It gives us comfort. It fills
us with joy. David kept the goodness which
the Lord had done for him ever before him. It was a fire to
his soul, beloved. And may it be for us. May our
lips be filled with thanksgiving and praise. May the wondrous
things that God has done for us be a fire to our souls. Oh my. And because the goodness
of the Lord was a fire to his souls, and the mercy of the Lord,
and the continuance deliverances that the Lord had done for him,
it was a fire for his souls, and therefore his lips were what?
They're filled with praise. They're filled with praise. His
soul is turned to joy. You ever heard that happen? I've heard it happen. Your soul
becomes turned to joy. when you focus on Christ, when
you look to Christ. And remember, by keeping the
goodness and the mercy and the grace of God before us, and by
praising Him, we are giving praise to the author of all the mercies
that we receive. We are giving praise to the author
of all the grace that we receive. And that's our great God. And
all the mercies of God And all the grace of God come to us in
and through Christ and Christ alone. So we see in verse, look at verses
two to four, we see an adoring acknowledgement by David of what
the Lord had been and still was to him. David acknowledged that
God was the author of all his deliverances from his enemies.
He uses very strong descriptive language in these next three
verses. Take note, and he said, the Lord
is my rock and my fortress. and my Deliverer, the God of
my rock, in Him will I trust. He is my shield, the horn of
my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Savior. Thou savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord, I love
this, who is worthy to be praised. We'll look at that a little later
on. He is the only one who's worthy to be praised. He's the
only one. So shall I be saved from mine
enemies. So note David just keeps bringing
forth what God is to him in these verses. He just continues to
build upon from verse 2 to verse 4, or verse 2 and 3, he continues
to build upon what God is to him and who he is to him. Look at verse 2, and he said,
the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. Now Christ
is our rock, beloved. He's the rock of our salvation,
isn't he? He's the shelter in the time
of storm, the hymn writer wrote. And Christ is our rock. The saints
have safety and shelter, supply and support and divine refreshment
when we think upon Christ. when we think upon Him. He's
our rock. He keeps us safe from all our
enemies, beloved, and from all danger. Therefore, on these accounts,
Christ is a rock to His people. He's the one we take shelter
behind. And remember, when it's spoken of, He's our rock, it's
spoken of like a large rock. Remember, there were nomads.
There were those guys that traveled through the desert, and you're
in the middle of the heat, and you see a big old rock. Oh my,
what a comfort, because there's shade under that rock. And if
the rain is beating down, there's shelter under that rock. So we've
got to remember the picture that's being painted before us. He's
a great rock. He's our rock, beloved. And David
continues, he proclaims that God is his fortress. Now this
is a fortress of difficult access. and forming a secure retreat.
It speaks of a natural rock formation and not a building. It speaks
of a natural rock formation. Well, Christ is our rock, beloved. He's our rock and He's our fortress.
And we who are His people are safe and secure in Him. Outside
of Him is only condemnation. Outside of him is condemnation
and wrath. But in Christ, the believer is
safe. Absolutely safe as one in an
invincible fortress. An impenetrable fortress. The
one that you cannot penetrate it. You cannot penetrate it. Not at all. Remember the ark?
Again, we've looked at this. The ark was a picture of Christ.
Not a drop of the wrath of God. which that rain pictured fell
upon those inside the ark. Because remember, it was pitched
from within, without. That picture's the blood of Christ,
beloved. We're safe in Him. We're secure in Him. And the
saints of God are kept at all times, beloved. All the times
of our life. How? By the power of God. By
the power of God. And we're kept in Him. We're
garrisoned in Him, beloved. were garrisoned in Him. In what
comfort and joy this can bring the saint of God, knowing that,
knowing that, that amidst all the storms of life, we are safe
in Christ. And David was delivered from
his enemies time and time and time again. And it all came by
the hand of the Lord. It all came by the hand of the
Lord. In verse 2, David proclaims that the Lord is his deliverer.
And take note of something. Take note. Look at this verse
here. And he said, the Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer. The Lord. Do you know that? Notice that David takes no credit
to himself. David gives no credit and no
glory to himself or to his men. Because we know he had men with
him. Do you notice that? All the glory goes to God, the
Lord. The Lord is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer. He gives all the glory to God. The Lord is the one. He takes
no credit to himself and he gives no glory to himself or his captains.
The glory is all the Lord's. That's what God's people do.
We give all the glory to the Lord. We say, the Lord saved
me. The Lord saved me. He did it
all. He did it all, from beginning
to end. Salvation's of the Lord. It's all His doing. He gets all the glory. And God
will not share His glory with anyone. He will not share His
glory with anyone. No one at all. So He doesn't
take any credit to Himself. He gives all the glory to God.
He sees God so supremely as the author of his deliverances that
the human instruments that helped him are, for a moment, quite
out of view. His captains and his soldiers. He is totally consumed
with the fact that God is his deliverer. That God did it all. That he did it all. He knows that this deliverance
is as others that occurred in his life, all by the divine power
and hand of God. And it's true for we who are
believers in Christ. David recognized again that God
is the author of all his deliverances. Think, beloved, how we are delivered
from our enemies. Think how we're delivered from
our enemies. All in Christ. The believers being delivered
from our sins. Our sins were our enemies. Our enemies. We've been delivered
from the law of God, which was our enemy. It had a claim on
us. It had a rightful claim on us.
We've been delivered from the justice of God, which was our
enemy as well. And it fell upon Christ instead
of us. It's a great substitute. We would
have been condemned if Christ had not paid the price demanded
for the ransom of our souls. So David, just as every believer,
sees that God and God alone is the rock of our salvation. And note that God is only in
his view. Everything else is faded away in this song. He's
singing praises to our great God. He proclaims how great God is. And this again is true of every
believer in Christ. We proclaim that God alone is
our salvation. God alone is our salvation. God
alone has redeemed us. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ the righteous. Christ
is God incarnate in the flesh. And we proclaim that only Christ
is our fortress. Only Christ is our fortress.
Only Christ is our deliverer. We could never deliver ourselves
from our sins. We could never deliver ourselves
from the law and justice of God. Again, which has a rightful claim
on us. But oh, what a great deliverer
Christ is. And He is the only refuge for
sinners. Note how David brings this forth again in verse 3.
The God of my rock, in Him will I trust. He is my shield and
the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my
Savior. Thou savest me from violence. Again, all the emphasis is on
God. This is a song of thanksgiving
and praise for what God has done. What did the Lord tell the demoniac? who had all those demons cast
out of him. And he wanted to go with the
Lord, remember? The Lord said, you go and tell the great things
that God has done for you. David's proclaiming the great
things that God has done for him, beloved. Just like every
believer in Christ does. The God of my rock, in Him will
I trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation. My high tower and my refuge.
Thou savest me from violence. David proclaims that God is his
rock. This speaks again of a rock as
a vast mountainous mass. It brings forth the idea of grandeur
and immovable might. That's what it brings forth.
It's often used for God's glory as being the strength and protection
of his people. God of my rock. God alone is the strong and mighty
one of His people. He alone is able to save. He alone is the covenant God
and Father of His people. And His people trust in Him.
We see that very evidently tonight in the Scriptures here. This is David's God. This is
who he trusts. Is he yours? Is he yours? It is he who is David's shield.
Now David was a soldier. He would know the value and importance
of a shield. And O beloved It is Christ who
is the believer's trust and it is Christ who is our shield. Shield is a defensive weapon.
You take refuge behind it. Think of the refuge of our souls. We take refuge in Christ and
the wrath of God fell upon him in our place. He bore it all. He bore it all. Just like a shield. And we who are behind the shield
are protected from a drop of that wrath. What a great God. What a great
Savior, beloved. Wrath of God fell upon He who
is our shield. He who is our refuge. And it
fell upon Him in our place. As He died on Calvary's cross
as our substitute. And again we are protected behind
He who is our shield as a soldier is protected behind a shield
on the battlefield in ancient days. And it says He is the horn of
my salvation. David proclaims this. I like what John Gill brings
forth. He says this is the metaphor
taken from a horned beast who pushes and scatters and destroys
their enemies. That's what the Lord is to us.
He pushes and destroys and scatters our enemies. So Christ, the mighty Savior,
is called the horn of salvation for his people. Turn, if you
would, to Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. Christ is the
horn of our salvation, beloved. He is the horn of our salvation. Look at verse 67, starting in
verse 67. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he hath visited his people and redeemed his people, and
hath raised up, what? The Lord of salvation. This is
speaking of Christ. For us, in the house of his servant
David, As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have
been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies,
oh, that's what David spoke about too, wasn't it? From the hand of all that hate
us, delivered from our enemies, beloved. To perform the mercy
promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the
oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant
unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him all the days of our life. Oh my. And thou, child, shalt
be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, and speaking of John,
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission
of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby whereby
the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to
them that sit in darkness and shadow of death, to guide our
feet into the way of peace. But we see there our Lord is
called, the horn of our salvation. In verse 69, God hath raised
up in the horn of salvation, beloved, and that's Christ. That
we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that
hate us. To perform the mercy promise to our fathers and to
remember his holy covenant. The horn of salvation for God's
people is the Messiah. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who came
to this sin-cursed world to die for his people. To what? To save
us from our sins. To do that which is impossible
for us. Let's go back to 2 Samuel chapter
22 and we see David bring forth in verse 3, he keeps building
upon the perfections and the greatness of God. He is my high
tower, refuge and savior. Look at verse 3. God of my rock, in Him will I
trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation. My high tower and my refuge,
my Savior, Thou savest me from violence. We see David here called the
Lord his high tower. The name high tower for the Lord
is expressive of how the righteous run to Christ and are safe. Safe
in Christ is a high tower. High above our enemies. High
above our enemies. Far out of the reach of our enemies. It speaks of a refuge that's
high on a craggy out rock. High where it's hard to get to. And think of who is our high
tower. It's the Lord Jesus Christ and
He's in heaven right now. seated at the right hand of the
Father, far to the reach of any of our enemies. David then brings
forth that God is his refuge, my Savior. Thou savest me from
violence. These various descriptions show
the fullness of safety in Jehovah. The fullness of safety in Jehovah. The various ways he has to deliver
his people from their enemies and secure them from danger.
And what a foreshadowing of Christ! What a foreshadowing of Christ!
Christ is to His people. He's our refuge. He's our high
tower. He's our Savior. And we are safe and complete
in Him. We who are His people. We who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. It is He who is the refuge of
our souls. He is the one the cities of refuge
picture. Let's read verses 2 and 3 again
and take note of the possessive adjective, my. As we read these
verses, these two verses. David speaks of these things
that God is to him. And he brings forth that this
is personal and possessive. And he said, the Lord is my rock.
His. Personally. My fortress. My deliverer. The God of my rock. In Him will
I trust. He is my shield. Note again. Personal and possessive. And
the horn of my salvation. My high tower. my refuge, my
savior, thou savest me from violence. Wow. And does not every born-again,
blood-washed saint of God say these things, that Christ is
my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, the God of my rock, my shield,
the horn of my salvation? This is what we say as believers.
My high tower, my refuge, my salvation, It is He who has redeemed us
and saved us from our sins. It's all His work. It's all His
work. And there was a time when He
was not our Savior. in our minds, we didn't acknowledge
these things. We've always been his people,
chosen him from the foundation of the world, but there was a
time when we could say he wasn't these things to us, but praise
God, now he is. So you see how this should fill
our hearts with joy? Because he's not that to everybody,
but he is to his people. The people of his choosing. The
people who are made willing in the day of His power to flee
to Christ. The people who have received
His unmerited favor and grace. But what does the Lord say? We
don't know who the elect are. We have no clue. Therefore we
say, come on. The Lord says, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavily laden, and I'll give you rest.
The gospel call goes out, and God does the saving. He doesn't
say that. But the call goes out. Come to
Christ. He's the only refuge for sinners.
There's no hope outside of Christ. None at all. God's people, our
lips have been taken from cursing His name to praising His name. Isn't that wondrous? Only God
can do that. Only God can do that. That's
amazing. Truly amazing grace. Truly amazing grace. It's absolutely
incredible. he's my rock, he's my shield,
the horn of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my savior,
the one who has redeemed me. And we can only say that by God's
grace. We can only say that by God's
grace. Now when we get to heaven, beloved,
and we're with our Lord and Savior, then we'll be completely and
fully delivered from our enemies, from all of them. And we see
that it is We will see that it's God who took us all through our
lives, all the way to glory, preserving and protecting us. All through this life. And we're
giving Him glory and honor and praise. Face to face then. Face to face then. Oh, it'll
be glorious, beloved. What a day that will be. David,
in this song, in just these first three verses, has expressed his
utter dependence upon God. Have you noticed that? There's
nothing in there about him, about David, and about what he's done,
is there? There's nothing. He has expressed
in these, especially verses 2 and 3, he's expressed his utter dependence
upon God, and God alone. And he said, the Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer. The God of my rock, in Him will
I trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my savior. Thou
savest me from violence. God's the one who saves us. He's
the one who saves us. Now look at verse four. I will
call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. I'll call on the
Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from mine
enemies. Note in this verse again, David
gives all the glory to the Lord. I will call on the Lord who is
worthy to be praised. No one else is worthy to be praised
but God. No one else. And the believer
has been taught that, haven't we? We've been taught that by
God. He gives all the glory to the
Lord, the one whom He has called upon. The one who He's called
upon in the past, and the one who He will call upon in the
future. In all conflicts and trials, the believer calls on
the Lord. We call on Him. Now we may try
to take care of a situation at first in our own strength, but
we soon find out how weak we are, aren't we? We soon find
out how we need the Lord. Oh my, oh my. And we all chuckle because we're
all on that boat, all of us. Oh my. But He continues to deliver
us and He will deliver us in the future. This is why we need
to, you've heard me often say this, we need to look back and
see how much the Lord's delivered us. Know and know and know that
He'll continue to do that for us. for His people. He's delivered
us in the past and seeing those deliverances in our lives will
bring the believer great comfort. It will actually fill our hearts
with praise for Him and thanksgiving for what He's done for us. And
then it will bring us comfort knowing that whatever comes next
in our lives, He'll never leave us nor forsake us. He'll continue
to take care of us. And beloved, He'll take us all
the way home to glory. He's promised to do that. I'll
never leave you nor forsake you. Never, not ever, never. In the
Greek again, that's in the triple, triple negative. He will not
desert his people. So it's our great God in him
alone who's worthy of all praise. He's worthy. He's worthy of all
praise. He deserves all the praise. He
deserves all the glory. We can praise His mighty name
as David does here, and we can exalt Him. Because again, He
alone is worthy of our praise. Think of this. It's God who drew
out salvation's plan. It's God who drew out salvation's
plan. It's God who sent the Lord Jesus
Christ. God incarnated in the flesh to
die in our room and place on Calvary. God the Father did this. He sent Christ to save us from
all our sins, and Christ came willingly, God Himself, to deliver
us from the condemnation and judgment of God's law and justice. It's God who raised up Jesus
from the grave, for what? For our justification, the Scripture
says. It's God who did this. Well, then He's worthy of all
our praise, isn't He? It's God Himself who's redeemed
us He's the one who purchased us on Calvary's cross. He's the
one who paid all that God demanded for our eternal souls. He's worthy
of all praise. He's the one who spoke all things
that we see and the things that we don't see, visible and invisible,
into existence just by the word of His power. He's the one who
upholds all things by the word of His power. He's the one who
gives us the very breath we breathe every day. It's Him. It's God. Therefore, the believer proclaims
he's worthy to be praised. He's worthy to be praised. He is great and greatly to be
praised. Note the word saved in verse
4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall
I be saved from mine enemies. David knew that he could face
future trials, knowing that he would receive fresh mercy and
grace from God in his time of need. He'd been saved from his
enemies time and time and time again. And he knew he had a confidence
in God. He didn't have a confidence in
himself, but he had a confidence in God. He had a confidence in
God, who had in past experiences delivered him from all his enemies. Now think of that. What a manifestation
of divine love toward David. To have seen that, look back
and see how the Lord has delivered you and carried you and taken
you. What a manifestation of God's
love for each born again believer. We know that the greatest manifestation
of God's love was what occurred on Calvary's cross when Christ
died in our room and place and is our substitute. But we can
also see God's love manifested in our life. God's eternal love,
too. Remember, it's eternal love because
he's eternal. We can see God's love manifested
in our lives by how he's just continually taking care of us
all along the way. Absolutely incredible. And we're
not worthy of this. Not one of us is worthy of this,
but God, by His mercy and grace, He purposed. He purposed this
in eternity. What a manifestation of divine
love in the fact that our Savior, our God, the Lord Jesus Christ
has saved us from our enemies, within and without. Within and
without. and he will continue to do this
for his people until he brings them safe into his presence. Have you ever thought of that?
Have you ever thought that no matter what comes tomorrow, because
we don't know tomorrow, but he knows it, but that whatever comes
tomorrow, that he will continue to be with his people, that he
will continue to deliver us, that he will continue to be ever
with us, until we're in His presence, and then we're with Him forever,
like I mentioned this morning. Then we'll never be separated
from His presence. Isn't that wonderful? My, it's
absolutely wonderful. Turn if you would to Revelation
chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. I'm going to read the verse
in our text again here. It says in verse 4, it says,
I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. Note that
word, worthy to be praised. Those words, worthy to be praised.
So shall I be saved from mine enemy. So David says, I'm going
to call on him, on the Lord, Jehovah, the self-existent one.
He's worthy to be praised. Let's read in verses 8 to 11
in Revelation chapter 4. And take note of what is said
in verses 9 and 11. Revelation 4 verses 8 to 11. And the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within,
and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord
God Almighty." There's the Holy, Holy, Holy. That's the Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit, beloved. The Trinity. The Lord God Almighty,
which was and is and is to come. And when those beasts give glory
and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fell down before
Him and sat on the throne, or that sat on the throne and worshipped
Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying what? Remember what it says over in
our text? I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised.
Look what it says here. Thou art worthy, O Lord. Thou art worthy to receive glory
and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and
for Thy pleasure they are and were created. He alone is worthy. Only God is worthy. The four
and 20 elders say, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honor and power. And David says, like every believer,
I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. That's
the song in heaven too, beloved. Oh, thou art worthy, O Lord.
Thou art worthy. David again in our text, I will
call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So we see that
in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, We see that
our God is the only one who's worthy to be praised. We see
David expressing that here, in what we're studying tonight,
and we see the 4 and 20 elders proclaiming the same thing. And
we know, in glory, the blood-bought saints of God say, worthy is
the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's
worthy to receive glory, honor, and power and praise. And He
will be praised by His people forever. Forever. For those He has purchased with
His own precious blood. And so just thinking about that,
just thinking that we are of that number should fill our hearts
with praise, shouldn't it? With thanksgiving. With thanksgiving
so we can We can see why David approached God with thanksgiving,
with thanksgiving for the great things. Why he said, The Lord
is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer, the God of my rock,
in Him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my Savior. Thou
savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord, who
is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from mine
enemies. Paul summed it up in the New Testament. He said, Christ
is all. Christ is all. He's all in all
to the believer. He's all in all to the believer,
beloved. And think of this, David having
dwelt among the crags and mountains and the vastness of Judea and
had escaped the hand of Saul and had been brought forth in
these, he brings forth in these verses tonight that the fact
that the Lord and the Lord alone is His only place of concealment,
safety and security. And it's so with we who are His
people. It's so with us. Same thing with us. This is true
of all believers in Christ. All who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. All who've been purchased by
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We only find safety
and refuge, security in Christ. In Christ alone. Whether it be
from the fury of the storms and troubles of life, we only find
refuge in Christ. And so for the believer, Christ
is the strength of our life. He's called the God of all grace.
And we who are his people have experienced that. We know that
to be true. And think of this, close with
this, and think of this. May this bring comfort to your
soul this week. He alone is our sure, unchanging, eternal confidence
and support. Christ, and Christ alone. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for allowing us the privilege of gathering together, looking
in thy word, oh Lord. And oh, we see reflected in this
song of praise, every believer's heart, and how you, Lord, alone
are our fortress, our refuge, our strength, our high tower,
our shield, our savior, our redeemer, you and you alone. Oh, may you
be glorified. As we study this chapter, Lord,
in the next few weeks, may you be glorified and magnified. May
our hearts be lifted up in praise, just as David's was, in seeing
thy great hand at work in our lives. Praise you, Lord Jesus,
for saving our souls. Praise you for your mighty work
of redemption. We love you because you first
loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.