Good evening. Turn with me to
2 Samuel chapter 22. 2 Samuel chapter 22. While you're turning there, let
me just say that from time to time for many years,
the Lord has brought to my mind what I wanna bring before you
this evening, and it's found in this chapter of 2 Samuel,
in this song of David. And it's been a blessing to me,
and I think the Lord has taught me a little more of what he has
in this, and I trust it'll be a blessing to you. But in this
chapter, in 2 Samuel, we have the words of a song of
David. And in the first verse there
we read, then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song
on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of
all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And as we see this
song of David, we We know, too, that it's recorded for us again
in Psalm 18. And it's a tremendous psalm. And part of the reason is it
speaks not only of King David and the Lord's deliverance of
him, but it also speaks of the covenant mercies of God towards
his people. And not only that, it speaks
of the Redeemer of God's covenant people. It speaks of Christ. And I hope we'll touch on just
a little bit of each of those tonight. Now, David was a great king. That's how
he's presented to us in the scriptures. He was a man of formidable courage,
a military genius. He was a mighty man of war. And
under his reign, the enemies of Israel were utterly defeated. In the 43rd verse of this chapter,
David says, I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I trod
them like dirt in the streets. So great was his victory over
the enemies of the Lord's people. King David, too, was a man of
great character. A man of real wisdom and strength. And he was a leader of men. He
was a man who was loved and honored and respected. But David knew that his greatness
was entirely outside of himself and was entirely of God. All of his abilities, all of
his accomplishments, all of his wisdom and strength, All of these
great victories David knew were all of God. David never failed
to give the honor and the glory to the Lord his God. This was
his desire above all else when we read of him in the scriptures.
And this is why the scriptures speak of him as a man after God's
own heart. But more than that, David knew
that the only greatness that matters is spiritual greatness.
Read with me, beginning in verse 32 of this chapter. David says, for who is God except
the Lord? And who is a rock except our
God? God is my strength and power
and he makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet
of deer and he sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands
to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield
of your salvation. And we would expect the next
phrase to say, your strength has made me great, or your power
has made me great, or even that your greatness has made me great. But he doesn't say that. He says,
your gentleness has made me great. Now, that's a great statement,
isn't it? Well, there's so much in this
Song of David But I would like for us to consider this phrase,
this phrase, and what the Spirit has to teach us when David says,
your gentleness has made me great. The greatest and most glorious
actions of God are not found in his acts of power, but in
his acts of grace. The actions of God's grace are
the most excellent the most excellent revelation of the nature of God. And it's in these actions that
the attributes of God are most gloriously displayed to us. The
actions of God's grace often seem so little, so insignificant,
but it's in these actions that we find the fullest expression
of God in his infiniteness, in his eternality, in his unchangeableness,
in his wisdom, in his power, in his grace, in his righteousness,
and in his love, and goodness, and mercy, and we could go on. All of the most wonderful attributes
of God are displayed to us in His grace. The highest expression of the
greatness of God's glory are not displayed in the creation
of the world. We know that. Nor in His mighty
acts in the material world, and there have been, they've been
numerous, haven't they? No, the greatness of God's glory
is displayed in the one who grew up as a tender plant out of dry
ground. The one who said of himself,
I am gentle and lowly in heart. The greatest of God's glory is
displayed through his grace. In that passage, where Christ
speaks those words, he's speaking of the gentleness of grace. I
am gentle and lowly in heart. And it's this aspect of the glorious
grace of God that David has in mind when he says, your gentleness
has made me great. David would make this statement,
especially following what he's What he sang about earlier in
this song is remarkable. Look back to verse five. And let's
see where David tells us he is. He says, when the waves of death
surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid, the
sorrows of shale surrounded me, the snares of death confronted
me. And here he is. And he's in great
distress. And he cries unto the Lord. And
we're told that my cry entered his ears. His voice was heard. And then we're given a terrifying
glimpse of the power and might of the glorious majesty of the
Lord coming in the greatness of his strength to save his people
from their enemies. Now listen, verse eight. Then
the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked
and were shaken because he was angry. Smoke went up from his
nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Coals were kindled
by it. He bowed the heavens also and
came down with darkness under his feet He rode upon a cherub
and flew. And he was seen upon the wings
of the wind. He made darkness canopies around
him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness
before him, coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from
heaven and the Most High uttered his voice. He sent out arrows
and scattered them, lightning bolts, and he vanquished them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen. The foundations of
the earth were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast
of the breath of his nostrils. Having seen this glorious, picture of the majesty of the
Lord God coming, we would especially expect David to say, your omnipotence
has made me great, or your majesty has made me great. But the words
of David, again, are your gentleness has made me great. And why is
that? Because the grace of God to David,
that is what mattered. That's what he was concerned
with. This is what mattered most of
all to David because the gentleness of God's grace he knew is what
had made him great. It meant everything to David.
Look at the next verse, verse 17. He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of
many waters. He delivered me from my strong
enemy. from those who hated me, for
they were too strong for me." What is our strong enemy? What
is your strong enemy? Our strong enemy is our own sin,
isn't it? That's our great enemy. Not Satan,
not all the hordes of of hell. No, no. If it weren't for our
sin, we would be able to say, like Christ said, he has nothing
in me and could do nothing to me. It's our sin, our sin, which
destroys us. It's our great enemy. And there's
no doubt that David had this especially in mind as he wrote
these words. We are in the deep waters of
sin. with the waves of death surrounding
us and our enemy. It's too strong for us. In New Guinea, we live in a river
valley high in the mountains, as you know. And at times during
the season of rain, the Kataga River in our valley becomes a
raging torrent of many waters, lifting boulders the size of
cars and carrying trees along as if they were matchsticks.
And the roar is frightening. Just the roar itself is frightening.
And I'll forever cherish the testimony of a young woman. This is what she said, speaking
of God's saving grace to her. She said she was like a day-old
chick in the midst of that raging torrent, the river of her sin, her own sin, when the Lord reached
down and lifted her up and delivered her. David says, he sent from
above. He took me. He drew me out of
many waters. He delivered me from my strong
enemy. The most wonderful works of God
are not found in his spectacular acts of might and power. We tend to think that, don't
we? But they're not. They're not. They're found in
his works of grace. And we get a sense of this when
we read the assurance of the Lord to the prophet Zachariah. I want you to bring that to your
mind. Our pastor has been, in these past months, has preached
on these things to us. Now think of that. Think of that.
The people were instructed of the Lord to
rebuild the temple. And there seemed to be so many
great barriers in the way, didn't there? The Lord assured them
that the temple most certainly would be rebuilt. I don't know if we... No, I do know. We don't fully
grasp the importance of this today, the importance of the
temple to the people in the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel
could not exist without the temple. It couldn't. The temple was the
foundation of the nation, according to God's purpose and constitution
of that nation. Why is this important? Because
the true spiritual Israel, the holy nation, chosen by God and
precious, can't exist apart from Christ, the true temple, the
spiritual temple. In Zechariah 4, you don't need
to turn there. I think all of you are familiar
with it since we've just been looking at these things, or our
pastor has. And you know that the children
of Israel, thinking back to when the Lord brought them out of
Egypt, he brought them out with mighty signs and wonders. But he tells them specifically
that that's not going to be the case in the building of the temple.
This work of the building of the temple would be wholly different.
It would be brought about by the hidden operation and the
internal influences of the spirit of God on the minds and hearts
of men, even turning the hearts of kings, whithersoever he willed. Whole nations would be silently
and mysteriously moved to bring about God's purpose. God's good
purpose toward his people, Israel, in restoring that temple. And
that's where we read, this is what the word of the Lord comes
through Zachariah the prophet there in chapter four, and he
says, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord
of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain?
Before as rubble, you shall become a plane. It didn't matter what
barriers might come in the way. And there were many. They could
be a great mountain, but they would be leveled. They would
become as a plane, as nothing. This work would be accomplished. The temple would be rebuilt. And he says, and he shall bring
forth the capstone. with shouts of grace, grace to
it. The greatest works of God are
in these things, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit,
says the Lord. And that's what's magnified,
isn't it? The grace of God, grace, grace to it. Well, We find this
truth illustrated too in a powerful way in God's dealings with Elijah,
which we're all very familiar with. So turn over to 1 Kings
chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. And as you know, Elijah was a
great prophet in the history of Israel and Like his antitype,
John the Baptist, he came preaching repentance to the people who
had turned away from their God. This was the people of Israel
in the time of Elijah. They had turned away to all sorts
of wickedness, led by their King Ahab. And through this prophet,
the Lord did mighty works. Mighty works of power. We saw that it seemed that Elijah
had dominion of the skies. He prayed, he prayed earnestly
that it would not rain and it didn't rain for three years and
six months. And we're told that in James,
it says that he prayed again in God's appointed time to bring
relief to this parched and starving land. He prayed, and the heavens
broke. And these were just some of the
works that God did through this great prophet, Elijah. And in this event, we see, too,
before this, that Elijah challenges those 450 prophets of Baal on
Mount Carmel in this contest of worship. It's a scene of tremendous dramatic
power, isn't it? It's a historic event. The 450
prophets of Baal called upon their God from the morning till
the time of the evening sacrifice, leaping about the altar, crying
out, cutting themselves until the blood gushed out. And what
do we read? There was no voice. Note that
now. There was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. I'm just
bringing it back to your mind. And then we see Elijah begin
to act. Look there in verse 32 of the
previous chapter, of chapter 18, verse 32, and then Elijah begins to act. It says,
then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord.
And he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two
sails of seed. And he put the wood in order,
cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood and said, fill
four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice
and on the wood. Then he said, do it a second
time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third
time. And they did it a third time. So the water ran all around
the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. And what did Elijah do? How did
he defeat these 450 prophets of Baal? A simple prayer to his God. Verse 36, and it came to pass
at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah
the prophet came near and said, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and
Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel
and I am your servant and that I have done these things at your
word. Hear me, O Lord. hear me, that
this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you
have turned their hearts back to you again.' And then the fire
of the Lord fell, and consumed the bird's sacrifice, the wood,
the stones, and dust, and it licked up the water that was
in the trench. Now when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, he is God, the
Lord, he is God. Well, then it didn't end there,
did it? We witnessed the bloody execution
by the Brook Kishon of these 450 prophets of Baal by Elijah
the prophet. And we see the victorious prophet
go up Mount Carmel again, on the summit alone, bowed to the
ground in prayer. And we see him when the hand
of God comes upon him, And he girded up his loins and he ran
before that chariot of Ahab, 16 miles through the driving
storm from Carmel to Jezreel. And you can't help but feel the
thrill and the exultation of the spirit of the prophet as
he runs before the chariot of this evil monarch. What a scene,
what a scene. But the next day, We find him
running for his life at the threat of a woman. Why? Well, there are a number
of reasons. But the most significant is that
Elijah did not yet know his God to be able to understand the
works of God. And neither do we. Neither do
we. Elijah expected that through
all these mighty works of God at Carmel that the Lord would
bring about a whole scale return of the people of Israel. Isn't
that what he expected? That's what all the people said
after seeing all these mighty, wondrous works. Well, God, he's
God, right? But he awakens to a message from
Jezebel, a message from Jezebel, and nothing has changed. The evil king is still in power.
His wicked wife is still destroying the prophets of God. And Elijah
is disheartened, greatly disheartened. I mean, I would be too. He fled for his life, and he
prayed in despair that he might die, and said, it is enough. Now, Lord, take my life. Had the great triumph of these
glorious works of God been for nothing? Fire had fallen from
heaven. The blood of the false prophets
had flowed like water. The rain had come down according
to his prayer. And the Lord God had vindicated
his own name before the people of Israel. Were all these mighty
works for nothing? And Elijah loses heart because
God's ways are not his ways. I know that's why I lose heart. because I so often don't understand
God's ways. Instead of trusting him, instead
of believing him, I think things are really bad. But they're not,
and they never are. And so God, in his grace, leads
the prophet into the wilderness. And as you know, he goes, miraculously
sustained for 40 days and 40 nights. But the Lord doesn't take him
just anywhere. No, no, where does he take him?
He takes him to the mountain of the Lord. He takes him to
Horeb, where the law was given, delivered to the people, where
the nation was constituted, a nation of people of God. And the Lord
leads him to the place where God granted Moses the simple
request of surpassing excellence. that he might see the glory of
God. The Lord put Moses in the cleft
of the rock upon the mountain, and he covered him with his hand,
and the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood with him there, and
he passed before Moses, and he proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness
and truth. Well, Elijah goes into a cave
upon Mount Horeb, and it goes without saying that the significance
of this place and the history of this place would have pressed
heavily upon the prophet, wouldn't it? Perhaps this cave was the
very place that the Lord had placed Moses in the cleft of
the rock. There's so much unspoken teaching
in this passage. Well, let's pick up there in
verse 9 of chapter 19. And there he went into the cave
and spent the night in that place. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him. And he said to him, what are
you doing here, Elijah? So he said, I have been very
zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have
forsaken your covenant. torn down your altars, and killed
your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left, and they
seek to take my life." In this searching question, what are
you doing here, Elijah? The Lord is calling for reflection. He's calling Elijah to think,
consider, look into your heart. And this reflection will bring
greater light and greater understanding to this despairing prophet. In
the response of Elijah, what do we see? We see distrust of
God, don't we? How can this be happening? We
see even a hint of bitterness that God has left Elijah alone. Poor Elijah, he's the only one
left. Almost as if God, the cause of
God and his covenant have been left upon his shoulders. You
know, sometimes we're so foolish we can begin to think like that.
How gracious the Lord is with his prophet. He gives no rebuke. The Lord is about to demonstrate
to him the glories of his grace. Look at verse 11. Then he said,
go out, this is God, Then he said, go out and stand on the
mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by. And a great and strong wind tore
into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the
Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind,
an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire, a still, small voice. Well, we want to see the Almighty
come down like a great wind. That's our natural propensity,
isn't it? We want to see him come down like a great wind,
tear the mountains and smash the rocks, shake the earth, send
down fire. This is what Elijah wanted. This
is what he wanted visited upon this disobedient people, for
God to show himself in this way. For they'd broken his covenant,
torn down his altars, killed the prophets. It seemed that the purpose of
God for Israel hung in the balance, and Elijah was jealous for his
name. He wanted God to reveal himself
to Israel once again in mighty signs and wonders. In Romans
11, as you know, we read that Elijah pleaded with God against
Israel. And it's so often our way of
thinking. We might not express it in words,
but we're like the disciples. when the Samaritan village refused
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. And you remember when James and
John saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire
to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them
and said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. for the Son of Man did not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Elijah was about to
learn that God is above all else, the God of mercy and grace. The Lord passed by, and a great
and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks
in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord wasn't in that wind. And he wasn't in the earthquake.
And he wasn't in the fire. Now, how can that be? Well, he was. He was in these
things. He was in the wind in this sense.
He commanded this great and strong wind. And the wind tore into
the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before him. It was
according to his will and purpose, as was the earthquake. And he
was in the fire. They were all according to his
will and purpose and his power and his might. But the word of
the Lord says he was not in these things. Why? Because his grace. His covenant mercies and purpose
of redemption are not found in these things. Then we read what? A gentle stillness. After these things, a gentle
stillness, a delicate whispering voice, more awesome and powerful
than 10,000 terrible storms. Or the quaking of the foundations
of the earth, or the consuming flame of fire. Elijah doesn't
need to be told now where God is, does he? God's purpose of redemption is
never in jeopardy. Never in jeopardy. With respect to this incident,
what are we told in Romans? That there's a remnant according
to the election of grace. That was God's answer to Elijah,
wasn't it? Don't ever think that all of
these things are necessary to sustain his purpose according
to election, the election of grace. He's reserved 7,000 in
Israel who have not vowed the need to bail. No, not one will
ever be lost. You know, when I was preparing
this, I thought, this is the single instance in history that
we know the elect, those who are saved, the elect of God in
a point in time, isn't it? 7,000 plus Elijah. That's what God told him. God
always has his people. He always, and they're never
in jeopardy. They're never in jeopardy. Not
one will be lost. The Lord will be found by his
covenant people, and he'll be found, and this is what we're
thinking about tonight, he'll be found not in the wings of
the wind, with the darkness canopied about him, but he'll be found
enshrouded in the gentle stillness of grace. Turn over to Matthew chapter
11, and we'll just finish there. Matthew chapter 11. It's the revelation of the love
of God, not the wrath of God, which saves the world. The wrath of God never has and
never will lead a single soul to repentance. In Romans, in
speaking of the righteous judgment of God against the sinner, we
read, or do you despise the riches of his goodness? Or do you despise
the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Where is the
Lord to be found? That's what you and I need to
know, isn't it? Well, where is the grace of God found? Where
is the grace of God revealed? Well, it's revealed in his son,
isn't it? It's revealed in his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what he says there in
verse 27. All things have been delivered
to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father,
nor does anyone know the father except the son, and the one to
whom the son wills to reveal him. Now listen, here into the
hands of the Lord Jesus Christ is delivered all things. All
things. Who is this who's speaking? It's,
well, we could say many things, but he's, let me just sum it
up like this. He's the one who Isaiah tells
us inhabits eternity. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He inhabits eternity. And not only that, all things
with respect to the redemption of God's people, all things have
been delivered into his hand. We cannot even begin to comprehend
the glory and majesty and power of this person, this being. Are you burdened by your great
enemy who you know is too strong for you? Are you laboring in
many waters? Well, listen to what he says.
Verse 28, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. What a promise. Can there be
any more words more full of grace and truth, of kindness and love,
of compassion and tenderness? Are you weary and heavy laden? Come unto me and I will give
you rest. There's no greater promise for
a perishing sinner. Come to him and what will you
find? What have you found? What is
he like? Look at verse 29. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me for I am gentle and lowly. in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls." What a wonder that he speaks of himself in
that way, that I am gentle and lowly in heart. The grace and
the power and the glory in that statement. He's gracious. He's long-suffering. He's abundant in goodness and
mercy and truth. Well, let me finish by telling
you a parable of repentance. Jesus spoke this parable of a
man having 100 sheep. And if he loses one of them,
he leaves the 99 and goes after that one that's lost until he
finds it. It makes no matter how long it
takes or where that sheep may be. In treacherous mountains
or in the darkness of the depths, he'll go after that sheep until
he finds it. He'll go into the waves of death
for the sheep where the sorrows of shale surrounded him and the
snares of death confronted him. He did, didn't he? He'll draw
the sheep out of many waters, many waters. And he'll deliver
him from his strong enemy. And when he's found it, what
does he do? You all know what he does. When he's found it,
he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing, and he takes it home. And when he comes home, he'll
call together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,
rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. And
this is what Jesus said. Likewise, I say to you, there
is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. Come unto
Jesus, and coming to him you'll find the shepherd of the sheep
has found you, and taken you, and drawn you out of many waters,
tenderly bound you up, and laid you upon his shoulders, and gently
carried you home, rejoicing. And we praise him, and we adore
him. And we'll sing this song with
David in eternity. Your gentleness has made me great. Amen.