Jackson parks had some chest
pains last night. Is he still in the hospital right
now, or he's got got him home They did some tests on him He
had some damage to one of the leads to his pacemaker But now
they don't think that was causing the pain so I don't know if they've
really gotten to the bottom of it have they? But Okay, so it's working. That's
good. Okay, good. I wanted to thank
everyone who was able to make it out to Charlie and Tamra's
on Sunday. I was standing there in the road
thinking, you know, like kind of letting everybody know kind
of where to go and stuff about You know, half an hour before
time to start, I was thinking, this is crazy. Nobody's even
going to show up out here. I wouldn't have blamed you, really.
But it was good. I believe the Lord blessed it.
And I'm glad we did that. But I appreciate you coming out. Second Samuel, chapter 22. And Lauren and Becca had babies. Two baby goats. Second Samuel chapter 22 verse
one. Just it won't get any simpler
than than tonight. I always want the message to
be simple and plain. And I believe this will be if
the Lord blesses it. 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 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. So think first of the occasion
of this song. It's hard not to if you've been
in on this study, to hear those words God had delivered him from
all of his enemies. There was a bunch of them, wasn't
there? Over many, many years, David started fighting as a young
boy, probably a young teenager, possibly even younger. Ever since
he had left the sheepfold at his father's house, He'd been
fighting, even before Saul became his enemy, David was slaying
his 10,000, as they sang in 1 Samuel 18, seven, as he went out to
war at Saul's direction. And then Saul becomes angry with
David, not because David defied him or threatened him in any
way, but because David was better than him. By God's grace, he
was a better man. because the grace of God was
upon him. And that's why Saul hated him. Same reason Cain slew
Abel, because he was accepted of the Lord and Cain was not. Then after having been anointed
king by God for years, but pursued to the death by Saul, not ascending
to the throne for a long time after he had been anointed. But
then finally he's inaugurated as king and there's nothing but
conflict from the start. Both from enemies without and
inside the camp of Israel. Nothing but turmoil and conflict
and heartache. The Philistines and other enemies
but also those even of his own family, his own son. led a rebellion against his own
father. And so after a lifetime of conflict,
turmoil, and grief, David comes to a place where he, for a time,
has no enemies left to fight. Notice those words in verse one,
all of his enemies. We said that David's life had
been one of conflict and turmoil and grief, but we'd have to add
one more word to that if we're gonna truly represent David's
life, victory. It was one win after another,
wasn't it? In spite of David's foolishness
at times, in spite of his own pride, in spite of his own sin,
God brought him through everything. But the wording of verse one
is a commentary on the life of every believer. David had done
all the things that winners do. And he was a successful human
being. There's no denying that. A hero
as a boy. And of course despised too, all
heroes are. But successful. And many followed
him throughout his life, sometimes less than at other times. But
to ascend the throne, David was anointed by God. He was chosen,
that's why. But you know, he did everything
that winter did. He was courageous, wasn't he? He wasn't afraid of
anything most of the time. He was honorable. When he had
a chance to kill Saul, he said, that's God's anointed king, I'm
not gonna do that. God's going to have to do this. I'm not going
to do that. He was an honorable man. He put
his heart and soul into everything that he did. He fought with strength
and tenacity and conviction. But his coming to the place where
all of the enemies in his life were vanquished is summed up
simply this way. The Lord saved him. Now think
about that. We've seen a lot of David's life.
It's all summed up. All of the blood, sweat, and
tears that David shed are summed up like this in the end. The
Lord saved him. That word delivered there is
saved. He saved him. And what did David do? He sang the Lord a song. Please don't miss this. I pray
the Lord will not let me or you miss this. He didn't build
a statue like religion does. He didn't build a monument. He
didn't raise some kind of a religious monument. Whenever those who
worship the Lord built something for the worship of the Lord,
they did so at the Lord's strict and specific instruction. Otherwise,
nothing got built. David did not erect a monument.
He didn't try to pay God back somehow. David understood by
God's grace this thing of who is doing what for whom. There
are very few that understand that. People talk about, well,
I just want to do something for the Lord. I just want to live
for the Lord. I want to serve the Lord. You have never done
anything for the Lord and you're not going to. And we've talked about this so
many times now. Paul said, I'm a servant of Jesus
Christ. Don't you serve the Lord, Chris?
Yes, I do. And you know what that is? That's him doing something
for me. Every step of it, every move
I make, every thought that's God honoring that ever comes
into my head, that's him doing something for me. That's not
me doing something for him. What are you gonna do for God?
We have to ask ourselves that every once in a while, don't
we? Because we get to thinking we're doing something for God.
Religion thrives on that. You need to do this, you know,
for the Lord. God don't need you. If he loves
you, he's gonna have you. But he don't need you. Not to
serve him, not to do something for him. He created the universe.
Where were you when he did that? Where was I? He didn't need me
then and he don't need me now. But thank God I'm precious to
him because of his love for his own, his electing infinite love. He sang me a song. understood,
you see, this thing of who's doing what for whom. Listen to
Psalm 116.12, "'What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits
toward me?' Does that apply to our text? God has done, He's
brought David through some horrible, horrible. You remember Ziklag?
You remember when David because of his idiocy was out fixing
to fight against his own people with the Philistines? And while
he's doing that he's he's on some errand of absolute insanity
the people of Israel get looted and all their wives get kidnapped
and taken away and everything they own gets taken away. And David's own followers are
talking about stoning him. And it says, David encouraged
himself in the Lord. Where else are you going to encourage
yourself when it comes to that? And he cried unto the Lord, Lord,
will you deliver them into my hand? And God said, I will surely
deliver them into your hand and you will recover all. You will
recover all. And he did. Now, what shall I
render unto the Lord for everything he's done for me? You know what
his next words are? I will take. I'm not gonna give
God anything. I will take the cup. of salvation and call on his
name. That's how God is honored, not
by you doing something for him. He is honored in what he does
for us. I'm just going to receive by his grace. I can't even do
that without his grace. But here's how God's, I'm going
to receive what he's done for me. I'm going to receive that
cup of the new covenant. We do that in symbol once a month. But with all of my heart, I receive
him. I take the cup of salvation from him. That's how he's honored,
by us taking from him. And David understood that. He
didn't raise some great monument. He just sang him a song. We show forth his death, how? He's glorified, how? In his redeeming,
his redemptive character, by us taking the cup, by us showing
what he did for us, not us doing something for him. We show forth
what he did for us. So when the Lord had saved him,
he sat down and probably played a harp. We see that in the scripture.
He played very skillfully. on a stringed instrument, a harp
of some kind, and simply sang a song to God that started out
this way. The Lord. That's the way you
start a song right there. The Lord. What did David learn
in all of these past years and decades of his life? Here it
is, the Lord is. He found out who God is. And
he found out, importantly now, who God is to him. The Lord is
my rock. That's what we're learning. That's
what you're here for tonight. That's what I'm here for tonight,
as believers. There's not anything else worth
learning. I mean, I know we have to know things to do our jobs.
so that we can prosper in this life, that we might honor him
in it. This is what it's about. All of his experience, he finally
is able to sit down for a while and say, I've got nobody to fight. He probably half didn't know
what to do with himself. Think about his life. Here's what I'll do. I'll sing
the Lord a song. The Lord is. He's mine. He's mine. How will David sum up all of
the battles fought and the victories won? The Lord's my rock. What will David do and what can
we do in response to a lifetime of God saving us? Salvation is
not something that happened a long time ago. Salvation is something
that's happening right now if you're his. He's been saving
me for a long, long time. If he ever stops saving me, I'll
be lost. What will David do and what can
we do in response to a lifetime of God saving us? He sang a song
and he declared from his heart, the Lord is mine. He's my rock,
he's my fortress, he's my deliverer, he's my savior, he's mine. Simple worship. Not go out and win the world
for me, not go out and build a bunch of buildings. Just tell
your friends what great things the Lord has done for you, your
family. Go home to your family and tell them what great things
the Lord has done. That's what David's doing. The
Lord is my rock. Simple worship. I'm reminded of the woman with
the alabaster box of ointment. You remember what the Lord said
about her? In Mark 14, 3, it says, being
in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as the Lord sat at
meet, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment
of spikenard, very precious. And she break the box and poured
it on his head. And there were some that had
indignation within themselves and said, why was this waste
of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for
more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor. Well,
that sounds real noble, doesn't it? And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, leave her alone. I like that, don't you? You leave
her alone. And I'll tell you this, he was
standing there in her defense and said, you leave her alone.
He may not be physically standing by us when we need to be defended,
but this is our same savior, our same defender, our same rock. And he said, I won't ever leave
you, nor forsake you. Leave her alone. Why are you
troubling her? She hath wrought a good work
on me. For you have the poor with you always, and whensoever
you will, you may do them good, but me you have not always. She
hath done what she could. David was a singer. He could
sing pretty good, apparently. You remember when he played and
sang for Saul? Saul had evil spirits troubling him, and they
went away when David would sing and play the instrument. She did what she could. She's
come beforehand to anoint my body. To the very. We remember her. He said this
will be a memorial for her, but what do we remember her for? For honoring him. David didn't
try to pay back, but pay God back, you know. He just did what
he could. He did what believers have always
done in the worship of God. He did what they did on the far
bank of the Red Sea when God delivered them from the oppression
and evil of the Egyptians and Pharaoh. They sat down on the
far bank of the Red Sea and they sang God a song. That's what
they did. thousands and thousands of years
ago. He did what we did 15 minutes
ago. He sang God a song. He sang unto the Lord a song,
and look how simple it was. The Lord is my rock. And notice
it says he spake, in verse one it says he spake these words. I want to point something out
that's kind of subtle here, but it's, it's, it's, he spake unto
the Lord, the words of this song. And then in verse two, it says,
and he said, you know, a song says something. There's a lot
of music in the world. And I like, I like a lot of music
that has nothing to do with spiritual things. And there's nothing wrong
with that. The Lord, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof. And he, he blesses his, he blesses his people with it.
That's what he does with it. And that's part of it, all of
the arts and things like that. And I like some songs, but you
know, his music is not just a pretty melody. I like some songs just
because the melody. I find myself singing them, and
I'm like, I'm singing some really stupid words right now. You ever
think about that sometimes? Imagine there's no heaven? That's
got a beautiful melody. I'm not going to sing that, though.
I can't sing that. I don't want to imagine that. A beautiful song, except the
song has got to say something, doesn't it? Got to say something. It's not just a pretty melody
and a bunch of mindless drivel. Not his music. He sang a song
and he said something. Remember that when we're singing.
We're saying something. That's why we don't just sing
one day at a time or some of the nonsense that's in the hymn
book. Some of the classic hymns, you
know, they're horrible. They're absolutely horrible when
you look at what they say. He said something. He sang it,
but he was saying this, the Lord is my rock. Now this word rock
was used commonly to indicate a stronghold, a refuge. And that's absolutely what David
is saying here. He needed one throughout his
whole life, didn't he? He needed a refuge. He needed
a rock. He needed a hiding place. Hmm. He's saying none of my enemies
have been able to take me down. And here's why. Here I sit, after
all I've been through, because the Lord is my rock. When God
would show Moses his glory and didn't want it to kill him, he
said, you can't see my face now, it'll kill you. But I'll show
you what I can't. But when he did that, you remember what else
he did? He hit him in the cleft of the rock. That rock was Christ. The Lord
is my rock. The Lord is why I can see his
glory in the face of his son and not die, because I'm washed
in that precious blood. In the desert, when the whole
nation of Israel was dying of thirst, or thought they were,
they complained to that effect, God told Moses, strike that rock
with that rod, and water flowed out. Can you imagine enough water
flowing out of a rock, a river poured out of that thing? The
nation of Israel was, it's speculation, but they say there was hundreds
of thousands of them, if not more. That rock was Christ. The Lord's
my rock. He's my provision everywhere
I go. And here David said, the Lord's my rock too. He was their
rock. He was Moses' rock. He was the
whole nation's rock. He's my rock too. Now I mentioned
the simplicity of this, and I want to make a point of this tonight.
We want our songs, we want our messages, we want everything
in the worship of God to be the truth. But it don't need to be
deep. The gospel is deep in the simplicity
of it. The simplicity that's in Christ
is fathomless. But we don't need to try to make
it deep with, as Paul said it, fancy words of man's wisdom. I actually had somebody say to
me one time, our preacher's so smart, I can't even understand
what he's saying half the time. I'm thinking, why are you going
there then? That's not smart, by the way. That's not smart.
I wouldn't stand up and presume to speak for God and then nobody
be able to understand me. I don't think that's very smart. Our songs don't have to sound
like an excerpt from John Gill's Body of Divinity, and neither
do our messages. Our Lords didn't. This is a long song that David
sings. We'll be on it for several weeks, likely, but it's simple
all the way through it. Very simple language all the
way through it. It acknowledges God's sovereignty and God's power. It has doctrine in it. But in
very plain language, Some people love to complicate the doctrine
of Christ, the gospel, using big words, and they usually often
will go beyond even what the scripture has revealed. You know,
you can write a thousand page book on the doctrine of election,
but you could also just go around saying God saves who he wants
to. People can understand that, right? A lot of them won't like
that. He saves who he wants to. He's
not waiting on anybody to do anything. He saves whoever he
wants to save. He chose his people a long time
ago, and he's going to save every one of them. That's simple, isn't
it? You don't need a doctorate in theology to get that. God
said, here's God's declaration of his doctrine of election. Now I've read a lot on this subject. John Gill, I mentioned John Gill
because he's one of my favorites. I still enjoy reading it. Don't
get me wrong, don't misunderstand me, but that's not how the Lord
taught. That's not how His disciples
taught. That's not how His Apostles taught. He didn't teach that
way and neither did anybody He sends. He just didn't. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. That's not unclear, is it? If
God wants to have mercy on you, he'll have mercy on you. It's
not your decision, it's his. Well, you know how the scripture,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. I will. The Lord set
that up. That's the way he chose to teach,
that he's sovereign in salvation. That's the way he chose to teach,
that salvation is according to his will, not the sinner's. If
you will, you can make me clean. I will. I will. It seems that the more that theologians
expand upon the simplicity of the gospel, the less clear it
gets. Have you ever noticed that? This
song reflects the simple truth of the one who inspired it and
who is the subject of it. It's simple. And I like that because you see,
God didn't save smart people. He saved sinners. He saved the
foolish. That doesn't mean that people,
and let me, I need to move on, but when I say God didn't save
smart people, that doesn't mean he didn't save some intelligent
people, but in the things of God, we're fools. I don't care how smart you are,
you're a fool with regard to the things of God, and you're
not gonna know anything unless God shows it to you. And he can
do that whenever and however and to whatever degree he pleases.
And he doesn't necessarily, him doing that has nothing to do
with your level of intelligence. Nothing. And then David said, and he's
my fortress. The same idea is conveyed here,
but listen to this subtle difference. A refuge, but And both are a
rock, a fortress. But listen, a rock is a place
that you might hide for the night if you're traveling on a journey
and you just need a place to get out of the weather or protection
from wild beasts. A rock is like that. It's protection
on our daily walk. But a fortress is where you go
when you've got a real battle on your hands. God is both. You see the difference? God is
both. He's my daily refuge. And He's
also, when the whole world is caving in on my head, He's my
fortress. He's my fortress. But the Lord
is not just my defense either. That's so far negative protection,
keeping bad things from, He's not just my defense, He's my
offense too. That's the next phrase, he's my savior, my deliverer. In other words, he's not just
my help in a negative sense in that he keeps enemies from getting
at me, but also he actually saves me from them in a positive sense. And this same thing is expressed
in verse two, three. Look at verse three, the God
of my rock in him will I trust. I'm gonna trust him. This is
another thing that David learned, and I think we'll look back at
verse three some next week, because I'm really just kind of looking
ahead, but in him will I trust. That's something that David learned
over the years. Have you learned that? Over the
years of hearing the gospel, you can trust the Lord. My father told me sometime before
he died, I don't remember, it was years before he died. Rarely did he have father-son talks with
me. It didn't happen very often,
and I remember the ones that did. But he said to me, he said,
Chris, he said, I love you, but I may very well let you down.
He said, people that have loved me have let me down in my life.
may let you down, but the Lord will never let you down. That's simple. That's not deep,
is it? But it meant a lot to me. It's the truth. I'm going
to trust him, David said, because I've learned over many, many
years. I can trust him. I can trust
him. look what it says, He is my shield. In other words nothing is going
to get at me. Nothing is going to touch me.
But also He is the power of my salvation. The horn is power.
The power of my salvation. So defense and offense. My high
tower. My refuge. There is defense. My Savior. There is offense.
What He did. And He is going to spend a lot
of time in the rest this song talking about how He saved me,
things that He did. And He's going to use a lot of
metaphorical language in doing that and we'll see that later.
But you see that He's my shield and the power of my salvation. And in spiritual terms the Lord
is our defense. He's our refuge. He's our fortress.
Listen, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. Nothing bad can happen to me.
because I'm in him, I'm in my rock, I'm in my fortress. That's
salvation in a negative sense, you see what I mean, there's
nothing negative about it in the way we usually use that term,
but in the sense of nothing bad can happen to me. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. touch me. Nobody can even accuse
me. But also Christ is my Savior in a positive, active sense. Not only can nothing bad happen
to me because of Christ, but everything good happens to me
because of Him. Everything good. No good thing
will He withhold from them that love Him. Scripture says, well
boy I prayed Christ for that for a long time and I didn't
get it. It wasn't good for you then was it? On the authority
of God's Word it wasn't. No good thing will he withhold.
Listen to Ephesians 1, 3 again, very familiar, but listen to
it in this context now. Not only nothing bad, but everything
good. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he has
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 by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the Beloved." In the Beloved. You've
got to go in a fortress for it to do you any good, right? God
put us in our fortress. And nothing can get at us. But
not only that, while we're there, everything good is bestowed upon
us. Not only not condemned, but accepted
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Not only defended
in the court of God's holy justice, but saved in every way that a
sinner can be saved. David sings in beautiful metaphorical
terms what all the Lord does to save me. In much of the rest
of this song, and I just want to look at one of them tonight
and then we'll close. Look at verse seven. 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. So here
I am, I'm in trouble, and I've cried to God. And he heard me. So what does he do then the earth
shook? And trembled the foundations
of heaven moved and shook because he was wrong He wasn't mad at
David, you know who he was mad at he was mad at the enemy and
The spiritual teaching of that is made clear in Matthew 27. I'll have you turn there since
it's the only scripture. I don't think I've had you turn
anywhere yet. Turn to Matthew 27, verse 50. Has God shaken the earth for
me? You know where we're going, don't you? Of course he has. He shook the earth for us, didn't
he, Bob? Matthew 27, 50. Jesus, when he had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were
opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into
the holy city, And notice it says after his resurrection,
clearly he had not chronologically risen from the grip, but it means
after the similitude, like his resurrection. And appeared unto
many, verse 54, now when the centurion and they that were
with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake, that was the thing
that stuck with him, the earthquake and the things that were done.
They feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the Son of God. What did God do for me when I
was in great distress and need? He shook the earth. He sent his
only begotten Son, well-beloved Son, to live for me and to die
for me. And as he died, he cried, it
is finished, and gave up the ghost, and the whole earth shook. That's how he saved me. I can't shake the earth and you
can't either, but he did. I couldn't do anything. That's why I was crying to him.
You see, when you run out of things to do for him. When you've
spent all you have. And they're only worse. You're going to cry. that he
might do something for you. And he shook the earth for his
people. And let me just close by saying this. May God put a
song in our hearts unto him tonight. A simple, beautiful song of saving
grace and love and power. Christ Jesus is my rock and my
fortress and my savior. Let's pray.