2nd Samuel chapter 22 this evening
Again 2nd Samuel 22 verse 31 tonight You'll recall we've been
studying David's song of praise that he wrote toward the end
of his life song of praise to God For all of his Mercy and goodness
toward David and verse 31 says 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 As for God, that's the title tonight as for God,
what would a song of praise to God be without? Describing God
we need to know what God David is singing to here. There's many
false gods. So David describes God himself.
David has sung so far about what God has done for him and how
and why. And now he sings as for God,
his way is perfect. The word way there means road,
a path. And it's come to mean manner.
the manner in which you arrive, where you're going. The learning
of the spiritual truth here comes in understanding road, not as
a physical road, but what is it in spiritual terms? God doesn't
need a physical road to get anywhere like we do. The scripture says
he rides his chariots or the whirlwinds or the tornadoes.
rides upon the storm. The fact is that God is already
there, wherever he's going, in a physical sense and in spiritual
reality. We have to get somewhere, God
is somewhere. David wrote in Psalm 139, eight,
if I send up into heaven, you're there. And if I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. A road is how you get where you're
going. a path. And of course, as we
said in spiritual things, it means the manner in which you
arrive there. Because once you get past the
idea of a dirt road or a gravel road or a paved road, you realize
that road in a spiritual sense just means how you get where
you're going. In any concept of a road, the destination is vital to an
understanding of the concept. Way, way to where? Where is God going? Turn with
me to 1 Corinthians 15 and chapter 20. 1 Corinthians, I said, yeah,
it's verse 20, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 20. And let's
read a few verses here. 1 Corinthians 15, 20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. This
is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on Calvary
and his rising from the dead. And in verse 21, since by man
came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam, all die spiritually and we physically die. But even
so, in Christ, all that Adam represented are subject to death. Even so, in Christ, it doesn't
mean everybody is gonna be made a lot, but everybody he represents,
as Adam did in the garden, as the representative and federal
head of a people. Even so, in Christ, everybody
Christ represents. shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they
that are Christ at his coming, then cometh the end." Where's
God going? Here's the end. The scripture
says, in the beginning, God. That's how the scripture begins.
In the beginning, God. Well, what about the end? God,
also God. Look at it with me. Then come
at the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the father, when he, Christ, shall have put down all rule
and all authority and all power, for he, Christ, must reign till
he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it's manifest that he's accepted, which did
put all things under him. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God, here's the
end, this is the end. God may be all in all, in the
beginning God, in the end God. Did he not say, I'm the alpha
and the omega? And that's the truth. Now, God has always been all
in all. in the sense that he's sovereign,
utterly self-sufficient and all glorious. He doesn't need anybody.
He's declared that clearly in the scripture or anything. But
how will he be glorified? How will he be glorified in all
of his attributes, in his saving mercy, the riches of his glory
that Paul talked about in Romans chapter nine? How is that gonna
be set forth without verses 20 through 22 of what we just read? He's died and was risen. My man
came the resurrection of the dead, death and the resurrection.
In Adam all die, in Christ all should be made alive. That's
how God is getting where he's going. That God may be all in
all. So when the end comes, God is
gonna be all glorious in all of his attributes and seen to
be. He already was, he's gonna be
seen to be. and unrivaled in his sovereign
majesty, all enemies having been put down, they weren't real rivals
anyway, they just thought they were. Everyone in glory will
be praising his holy name for the riches of his glory in Christ
Jesus, singing worthy is the lamb. And everybody in hell will
by default exalt his justice and power. God in a sense as
yet unfathomable will be all and in all. How did he get there? Well, we saw that in the passage
that we just read, didn't we? Christ. Christ is God's way. He got there by Christ doing
what he did, living and dying for his people and setting forth God's righteousness
in this world and exalting him in all that he did and didn't
do. Did you think that I was going
to say that God's way is for you to quit smoking and drinking
and cussing and be good to your mama? I recommend all of that. But read the scripture. Where
is God going? God's the beginning and he's
the end. And how does he get there? Included
in what we just read is the salvation of all of God's elect. How's
God gonna get there? How is all of his elect gonna
be saved? Christ, he's the way. Romans
8, 29, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he, Christ, might be
the firstborn, that he might be preeminent among many brethren. In salvation, Christ is the destination,
and he's also the way. predestinated for what? To be Christ, to be like Christ,
to be exactly like God's son. Salvation in its ultimate realization
is all of those for whom he died being exactly like him. How did they arrive at that destination? Well, think about it. Do you
know what predestination simply is? It's a road. It's a road. My family and I are going on
vacation in a week or so. And we have predestinated that
we will arrive in a certain place at a certain time by a certain
way. That's what God has done for
his elect. That's it. He predestinated beforehand. We planned it out. Now, this
is where we're going. This is when we're going to get
there. And this is how we're going to get there. God's way,
though, is perfect, perfect. Where are we going? Well, we
just read it, Christ. That's our destination, is to
be just like Christ. How are we gonna get there? Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter one and verse three. Ephesians one, three. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
This is the road we're on by God's grace, the road of salvation
predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace. The road is paved with grace
wherein he hath made us accepted in the blood. How are you going
to get to God? You got to be accepted of God.
Religion loves to talk about accepting God. He's not up for
you to accept him or reject him, but you're up for acceptance
or reject. How's God gonna accept a sinner like you? That's what
we're finding out. Accepted in the beloved in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of his grace. So Christ is, we're predestinated
to be conformed to the image of God's son. Christ is our destiny. And we just described the road.
Think about it. Here's where we're going. We're
going to be just like him, with him forever, and just like him.
His blessing, we read about, his choice, his adoption, his
good pleasure, his will, his glory, his grace, his acceptance,
his redemption, his blood, his forgiveness. And where does all
that bring us? His likeness, his presence. His way is perfect. When the Lord said to his disciples
in John 14, I am the way. What was he talking about? Listen
to it with me. John 14 one, let not your heart
be troubled. The way to where? Think about
that question as I'm reading it. The way to where? The way,
I'm the way. To where? Let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. That's where we're going,
someplace he's talking about. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. That's where we're going.
If we're his, and whither I go, you know, and the way you know.
And Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest,
and how can we know the way? You see the contact? And Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way. What's the destination? Him,
to be with me where I am, there you may be also. What's the way? Christ is the way. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. What happened in the Garden of
Eden? Sin. But what was the consequence
of that sin? Banishment from the presence
in favor of God. What has been the point of everything
since then? Getting back to God. What's the
way? Well, how do you get back to
God? What road are you going to take to get back not only
into God's presence, but his favor? We just read accepted
in the beloved. How are we going to get there?
1 Peter 3.18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Where are you going and how are
you going to get there? Where's God going? How did he
get there? That he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh. but quickened by the spirit.
Christ crucified is the way to God. Do you remember what our
Lord said when he was put to death in the flesh? We just read
there, being put to death in the flesh. He did that to bring
us to God. He was put to death in the flesh
to bring us to God. Do you remember what he said
when he did that? It's finished. That's one word in the original
Greek. You know what it means? Perfect.
His way is perfect. That's our text. Now the word
of the Lord is also called his way because all what we just
talked about is revealed only in the word. And so that's the
way. Look at the next phrase of our
text. The word of the Lord is tried. So when you're speaking
of his way, the word is integral to that. And that word is tried, it means
refined, smelted, as gold is smelted in a refiner's fire.
So you see these pictures that he uses, they're simple, aren't
they? The way, the way to where? We've asked those questions and
answered them from the word of God. What is this refinement? What does the refiner's fire
do? Well, gold or other metals are smelted for just one reason,
to eliminate impurities. So this word in our text is the
same word, the word tried there, it's the same word as in Psalm
119, 140, which says this, thy word is, and here's the word
that's used, it's called tried in our text, but listen to it
here, thy word is very pure. It's been smelted in the fire
of God's integrity and holiness. And I don't even know if that's
a good analogy there because his word went for gold to be
pure, which I don't suspect any of us have ever seen pure gold,
but it's got to be just gold. Well, God's word, his truth is
just truth. That's all it is. There's nothing
mixed in with it. There's no impurity in his word. Thy word is very pure. Therefore,
Psalm 119, 140 says, therefore thy servant loveth it. People say, well, I believe the
word of God. Well, some people call the word of God is not the
word of God, but also To believe truth is one thing, in your head. Intellectually acknowledge, to
be a theologian and study facts and doctrines and things like
that and be an intellectual proponent of scripture is one thing. But
do you love the truth? Do you love God's word? What David is singing about in
our text is that with men, what men say has to be tested. It
has to be tried. The impurities have to be separated
from the truth. There might be some truth in
there. There may not be. But there's always more than
just the truth. There's a motive behind it that's
not right. There's something. But when God
speaks, there's no need for that. God's word is already pure. It's
perfect because of its source, the holy, righteous, perfect
God of heaven. God's word has been tested by
his people in the sense that our experience bears out every
truth that God has revealed. But his word in and of itself
is very pure. Something is true just because
he said it. That's why it has proven to be
true in our experience because it is true. Christ himself is
also referred to as the Word of God, because again, this is
spiritual language. We need words here on earth to
communicate. There's English, there's all
kinds of different other languages that people use to communicate,
but spiritual communication, if God is speaking to a sinner,
he doesn't communicate to us in English, although we have
an English Bible that we're able to understand, and that's part
of God, that's, of course, you know, God uses that, but God
communicates to sinners by his son. As human beings, we need
a language to hear and to understand, and so English is used for us,
and he's given us that. But what does this word reveal? Not just facts, but somebody. Words without the word, capital
W, words are meaningless without him. Listen to Hebrews 1, 1 and
2. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. And that word his is in italics
there in the King James, which means it's not actually, there's
no original Greek word for that there. What it really is saying
is this, God hath in these last days spoken unto us by son. His son is the language of God
by which he reveals himself and every truth that he has purposed
to reveal to sinners. It's revealed in his son. God
has spoken unto us by son. In order to know what we need
to know from God, we must know Christ. Now, again, I'm not saying
that God just puts that in your head, that we have English that
we understand, and you might understand some other languages.
And God has written his word, plainly revealed it in language. But that is not gonna save you
unless you understand son. He's got to reveal spiritually
Himself to you and he doesn't do that by English. He uses English
But you have to understand son and only he can speak to you
in that language Christ is the language of God to sinners Whom
he saves in order to know I got to know him. Knowing the scriptures
is vital because again, we're human beings, but knowing the
scriptures won't save you. That's what he said to the Pharisees.
You know, you search the scriptures and you think you have life because
you do, but you won't come to me. And they, the scriptures
are they which testify of me. The gospel of Christ that we
preach is pure. That gospel is pure. The gospel
of the salvation of a sinner by Christ Jesus alone is a truth
purged of all impurities. What Paul was saying there in
2 Corinthians 11, 3, he said, I fear less by any means as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. What God had
spoken to Adam and Eve in the garden was simple, wasn't it?
It was so clear, nobody could have misunderstood it. The problem
was Satan came along and he twisted it, he added, he took away, he
changed. Well, Paul is saying, that's
my fear now. And what has God said now, Christ? And the way that that is corrupted
is you add or take away something besides him. The simplicity that
is in Christ, singleness, without hypocrisy, without pretense. Pure gold is just gold. Pure gospel is just Christ. Not Christ plus, not Christ minus. It's him. Now Christ's gospel
is pure grace. There can't be any mixture, Romans
11, six, and if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise
grace is no more grace, but if it be of works, then it's no
more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. If Christ has done
all he can do and now left salvation up to the sinner, then there's
no such thing as of grace by Paul's definition, by God's definition. There's no such thing. Now we've
been talking about getting somewhere. the way and the word. Do you know what my greatest
concern about going on vacation next week is? I'm not sitting
around thinking, how are we going to have the best time we can
have? That'd be great. That'd be a good thing to think
about. That's not it. That's not what I'm thinking
about. I hope we do have a good time, but that's not what I'm
concerned with the most. It's getting there safely. I
can't quit thinking about it. The road to God is one that believers
have described as dark at times and long and weary. David called it the valley of
the shadow of death. And we could see many places
in the scriptures where it's called things like that. But
do you remember what David said about the valley of the shadow
of death? He said, yea, though I walk through it, Though I'm
in the body of this death, Paul said, I'm saved through Christ
Jesus. And David said, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because you're with me.
Because you're with me. This is the last phrase of our
text. The Lord is a buckler to those
that trust him. As you're getting where you're
going, we're on the way to being just like the Lord Jesus Christ
as his elect now. And his word is pure. It's a lamp to our feet and a
light unto our path. But our hearts now, the Lord
knows us. He knows us. He remembers that
we're dust. He knows that our hearts are
full of doubt and fear and unbelief. Christ is the answer to that
too. Trust him. The last part of our text says
trust him. He's your defense, he's your
protection, he's your safety, he's your security. He's all
to the center. Trust him, hear him, go to him,
he's the way, he's where we're going. Follow him and all the
way, all the way, look to him. That's the last part, look to
him, trust him. He's a shield to all that trust
in Him. Are you wretched? Do you get
more wretched every day? Trust Him as your righteousness
before God. Do your sins become more hideous
to you as you grow in His grace and in the knowledge of Him?
Trust His precious blood as your sin offering before God. A shield,
a buckler is a shield. A shield is defense. It blocks
the weapons of any enemy and protects from harm. What is that spiritually? There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. He is our shield. Trust him and
rest. Paul described the armor of salvation
in Ephesians chapter six, and in verse 16 he said this, above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The shield of faith,
what's that? Trust him. May God, by his grace,
cause us to trust him alone. Amen.