Let us turn again to the psalm
that we read, Psalm 18, and directing you this evening to the words
that we have here at verse 35. Psalm 18, 35, Thou hast also
given me the shield of Thy salvation, and Thy right hand hath aldened
me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great. And I want to
speak on the subject matter of God's gentleness, this attribute
of gentleness that belongs unto God. Thou hast also given me
the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand hath holden
me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. the words are of course repeated
because we have the psalm also back in the second book of Samuel
and if you compare the 22nd chapter there in that book with the psalm
you'll see it's the same psalm it's the same psalm and in fact
there in 2 Samuel 22 36 the words of our text are in part repeated. God's gentleness, it's a remarkable
attribute in God. The attributes, of course, tell
us something of the character of God. We know that He is the
Omnipotent One, the All-Powerful One. But what of God's gentleness? Well, isn't this revealed to
us, particularly in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is
He not there in the Incarnation? We see so much of God's gentleness,
His lowliness. We sang just now in our opening
praise the 709th hymn, The Lord that made both heaven and earth
and was himself made man, lay in the womb before his birth,
contracted to a span. And then again, no less almighty
at his birth than on his throne supreme, his shoulders held up
heaven and earth when Mary held up him. It's almost impossible
for us really to begin to comprehend what is being said there by the
hymn writer, that that little bay a gentle little babe, so
dependent on his mother, supported by his mother, put to her breast,
set upon her knee, and yet he was never anything less than
true Almighty God. All the strength of God is owned
by all, but who his weakness knows. Well, I want to try to
speak tonight in some measure on what we read here concerning
this remarkable attribute of gentleness. And I want us to
consider it in terms of three individuals. Firstly, to say
something with regards to David, then to speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and then finally to say something with regards to the
individual believer. There might be something for
us as individuals in what is said here by David in the psalm. First of all, then, to look at
the historical context. And it is, of course, a psalm
of David. We're told quite explicitly here
in the opening, well, the title. You're probably aware in the,
for example, in the Dutch Bible, what we have as the title would
be the first verse of the psalm to the chief musician Psalm of
David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words
of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the
hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And he said, and then what we
know now as the psalm follows, but the title is as much part
of the psalm, it's inspired, as is all, of course, of the
psalm. It's all the words of God. and it is interesting because
what we have here is a reference to David's history and his early
history although he had been anointed by Samuel to become
the king remember how cruelly he was persecuted by King Saul
But the Lord God delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies,
even out of the hand of Saul. And we find that there are several
Psalms, certainly in the 50s, in which we have repeated reference
to the context in which those Psalms were written. Psalm 52,
for example, to the chief musician Maskell, meaning a psalm to give
instruction, a psalm of David, when Doab the Edomite came and
told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of
Himalek. Again in the 54th psalm, to the
chief musician of Neginoth, Maskell, a psalm of David, when the Ziphims
came and said to Saul, does not David hide himself with us? You can go through those psalms
in the 50s and see how time and again the title tells us something
about David's early history in those days when he was having
so often to flee from persecuting Saul. How he says to his great
friend Jonathan Saul's son, there is but a step between me and
death." He feared that his next step would be his last step,
that Saul would kill him. Oh, he says again there in 1
Samuel 27, I shall now perish one day at the hand of thy father,
at the hand of Saul. Again, when he writes in the
119th Psalm, in verse 109, he says, my soul is continually
in my hand. Oh, it's in my hand, it's so
vulnerable, I might lose hold of it. It might be taken from
me. This was David. But now, repeatedly in those
days, David cried to God, and God heard his cry and God answered
his prayer and God preserved him. He says here at verse 6, in my distress I called upon
the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of his
temple and my cry came before him even into his ears. Then
the earth shook and trembled. Oh, how God was pleased to hear
the man in his prayers as he cries to his gods. Again, in
verse 9, he says of God, he bowed the heavens also and came down,
and darkness was under his feet. The Lord appears for him. The
Lord answers all his prayers as he cries out to his gods. He says at the end, great deliverance.
great deliverance giveth he to his king, and showeth mercy to
his anointed, to David, and to his seed forevermore." Oh God
answers the prayers of his people, sometimes in remarkable ways. Again, you can think of the language
that we have later in that 65th Psalm. In Psalm 65, again David's
Psalm, And what does he say there at verse 5? By terrible things
in righteousness, will thou answer us, O God of our salvation, who
art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them
that are afar off upon the sun. And here then, in the words that
I've announced with our text this evening, David says, Thou
hast also given me the shield. of thy salvation. Thy right hand
hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great." Oh, how
kindly and graciously and tenderly did the Lord God watch over him. Even, as he says in Psalm 23,
the Lord was his shepherd. Just as David the shepherd boy
would watch over his sheep, so he knew that the Lord would keep
him. and preserve him even to what
was appointed for him for he must become king in Israel. There is then David that we have
to take account of because the psalm is David's psalm and he's
writing out of the fullness of all his own experience. He's writing his own words in
a sense and yet he's writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit He's not just having some words dictated to him that
he doesn't feel. No, he feels these things. This
is the miracle, really, of divine inspiration in the Scriptures.
The Bible, written by a multitude of different authors. And how
those holy men of God, they spake, they wrote as they were moved
by the Spirit of God, and yet, their writings are so personal. And we must never lose sight
of that. This is David, who writes of himself. But then also, this
psalm belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. This psalm is messianic. What do we read right at the
end of the psalm? Great deliverance giveth he to
his king, and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to
his seed forevermore. Now David is the anointed, of
course. He was anointed by Samuel to be king. But David is a type
of one greater than himself. We read here of his seed. Who
is the seed of David? Well, the same who is the seed
of Abraham. The same who is the seed of the
woman. The true seed. thy seed which
is Christ says Paul to the Galatians the seed is Christ the anointed
is the Christ why the very name Christ Messiah of course means
the anointed one and God giveth not the spirit by measure unto
him none were ever anointed as Jesus of Nazareth was anointed
oh Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, as
Peter confesses there in Caesarea Philippi. So the Psalms really
speak to us of Christ, and we have the authority of the New
Testament to say that. Look at the words that we have
here at verse 49, will I give thanks unto thee,
O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. And those words are found in
the New Testament, Paul writing there at the end of the epistle
to the Romans, in Romans chapter 15 and verse 9. But we read the context.
Look at what Paul is saying here, Romans 15.8. Now I say that Jesus
Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of
God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. A minister
of the circumcision, he comes unto his own. His ministry is
to the Jew first. And he comes on that mission
to confirm the promises that God had given to the fathers
in the Old Testament. I say that Jesus Christ was a
minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm
the promises made unto the fathers. And then, verse 9, and that the
Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written,
for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and
sing praise unto thy name." And then we look at the margin to see what the
reference is, and we find Psalm 18 verse 49, 1 Samuel 22 verse
50. And as I said, that's the same
Psalm really, recorded both in that first book of Samuel and
then repeated here in the book of Psalms. And so the scripture
that is being fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ is what we
have here in verse 49. There's no disputing the fact
that this psalm is to be understood and interpreted principally in
terms of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always the promise of the gospel
as we read there in Romans 15a, that is fulfilled as this psalm
as its ultimate accomplishment with Christ coming and Christ
living and Christ dying. Now look at the language that
we have previously in the psalm. At verse 20, David writes, the
Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. according to
the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have
kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from
my God. For all his judgments were before
me, and I did not put away his statutes from them. I was also
upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore
hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight." Whatever David was, there's no
dispute in the fact that David was a sinner. David sinned grievously. David was an adulterer. David
was a murderer. And yet, he writes these words,
and in a sense they are true to him, but they're only true
to him as all this righteousness was accomplished in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who is the one that is really
able to speak those words that we've just read here from verse
20 through to verse 24? Only the Lord Jesus that one
of whom Paul speaks who is holy and harmless and undefiled and
separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the only truly holy and righteous man that has lived. Though, of
course, Adam and Eve, when they come from the hand of their Creator,
they are pristine in their uprightness, made in the image after the likeness
of God. But Adam and Eve sinned, and
all who have come from them, all descended from them by natural
generation, have partaken of that sin. We all have sinful
natures. You know these things. You don't need me to tell you
these things. We know what we are. We know
anything of ourselves. We know that we're sinners. We
know that all nature clings and cleaves to us. We know we long
to be seeing the end of it, to mortify the deeds of the body
and to live in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Christ is that one
who was altogether whole. But there are other parts of
the psalm that indicate that this is Christ. He says here
at verse 43, Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the
people, and Thou hast made me the head of the heathen. The
people whom I have not known shall serve me. Now, that's fulfilled
in Christ with the gospel coming, of course, to the heathen. As we have it there in verse
49 again, O Lord among the heathen. He says, therefore will I give
thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, amongst the Gentiles,
and praise unto thy name. But when we read of him as the
head, is he not that one who has come and is the head? Oh, he is the head of his body,
the church. God has put all things under
his feet, we're told. and given Him to be head over
all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of
Him that filleth all in all. And now He came. Oh, the wonder
of His coming, the mystery of the incarnation, the miracle
of the virgin birth. Here at verse 9 we're told He
bowed the heavens also and came down. Where was it that God came
down? Was it not in the coming of Christ, in the
birth of Him who is to be the Saviour of sinners? And what
we have here to bow down. He bowed the heavens also and
came down. It means, it has the idea of
humility. He humbled himself. He humbled
himself. And John Trapp, the old Puritan,
in his quaint commentary says this, by humbling thou hast magnified
me. Or he came down, he humbled himself
in coming. And what has God done? God has
magnified him. And can we not say that these
words in the text Thy gentleness hath made me great. Also applied
to the Lord Jesus, the margin gives the alternative meekness.
Thy meekness hath made me great. And meekness, of course, that
that is associated with humility. Oh, we bow to the heavens. You
being in the form of God, thought it not robbly to be equal with
God? but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
was made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Wherefore, says Paul, God also
has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name. Now writes his dear John Traft,
by humbling thou hast magnified mine. O how the Lord Jesus Christ,
having accomplished that great work here upon the earth, and
the meekness of the man, the gentleness of the man, and now
God has vindicated him, raised him from the dead, received him
into the highest heavens. O remember, Oh, he's spoken of
here in another psalm. I think of the language there
in Psalm 24. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart and not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn
deceitfully. Who is this man? Well, it's that
one of whom David goes on to speak. Lift up your heads, O
ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the
King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the
King of glory. This is Emmanuel, sir. the man
Christ Jesus now exalted to the highest heavens, the one who
bowed down, who humbled himself. O again we sang it there in the
hymn, did we not? Behold, from what beginning small
our great salvation rose. The strength of God is owned
by all but who his weakness knows. the wonder the wonder of Christ
in his person Christ in his work he was crucified and we are told
he was crucified through weakness do you ever think of that word
there in 2nd Corinthians 13.4 and what it can really mean he
was crucified through weakness and yet he is never anything
less than true almighty God And yet in all of this, He is triumphant over all the
powers of darkness. He's vanquishing sin and Satan. Oh, Isaac Watts says, I sing
my Saviour's wondrous death He conquered when He fell. Tis finished said His dying breath
and shook the gates of hell. He conquered when he fell. His death, you see, is the end
of death. Think of the title of that famous
work by John Owen on particular redemption, really. The death
of death in the death of Christ. The death of death in the death
of Christ. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is
here. as in all the Psalms, Christ is the image of the invisible
God and when we think of his incarnation and his living, his
tabernacling amongst men here upon the earth oh what gentleness,
what meekness, tenderness how it's revealed constantly in all
his ministry, what compassion he shows to men how it's spoken
of there in the Gospel in Matthew chapter 12 we read of him verse
19 he shall not strive nor cry neither shall neither shall any
man hear his voice in the streets a bruised reed shall he not break
And smoking flack shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment
unto victory, and in his name shall the Gentiles cross. Oh,
what kindness we see repeatedly in the Lord Jesus! Thou hast
also given me the shield of salvation. Thy right hand hath holden me
up, Thy gentleness hath made me great." Can it not be the
Lord Jesus Christ who is speaking these words to the Father? The Lord Jesus here, as it were,
speaking to the Father in His prayers. Because what we have
in the Psalms, in these Messianic Psalms, so often is this. We're
looking into the very soul of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean,
that's the wonder of the Psalms. Or we have the record of His
life, of His ministry. We have so much in the Fourfold
Gospel. But what a rich treasure we find here in the book of Psalms
when we are permitted as it were to look into that human soul
as he comes to execute the great work of redemption and salvation. God had given him the shield
of salvation. God upheld him. by his right hand he lived the
life of faith here upon the earth and he says to his father thy
gentleness hath made me great this is the gospel you see the
Psalms is full of gospel you know that it's not just that
we have the fourfold gospel it's not just that we say well there's
gospel in the New Testament and there's law in the Old Testament
that's not the way we divide the Bible we know that the Old
Testament is full of gospel and at times there's law also in
the New Testament and now we have to be those who would be
diligent in rightly dividing the word of truth but there is
gospel, so much gospel here in the book of Psalms and in this
psalm it is the Lord Jesus Christ, there is that historical context
that we have to take account of. It's David's words, David
writing out of the fullness of his own experiences, but it's
really a prophetic word that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then, finally this evening, to say something with regards
to the believer, because there's an application here. And doesn't
the Psalmist also tell us something of the experiences of the people
of God? As I said, this word gentleness
might also be rendered as meekness. And what is meekness? Well, meekness
is associated with humility. And believers are exhorted, are
they not, to be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves therefore
unto the mighty hand of God, that she might be exalted in
due time, says Peter. God's people are to live that
life of humble dependence upon God. Thy whole dependence on
me fix, nor entertaineth thought thy worthless schemes with mine
to mix, but venture to be nought that's what we have to come to
is it not? we have to be those who are as
nothing Paul says though I be nothing there in 2nd Corinthians
12 how he's brought to that confession he is nothing and the Lord Jesus
Christ is everything that's Paul's experience Remember at the birth of the
Lord Jesus we have those various individuals spoken of in the
second chapter of Luke's Gospel when his parents present him
at the temple. We read of one Simeon for example. And what do we read concerning
Simeon? He takes the child in his arms and he makes remarkable
prophetic utterances concerning this child there in Luke 2 verse 34 well previous to that we're told how Joseph and his
mother that is the mother of Christ marveled at those things
which were spoken of him and he says and Simeon blessed them
And said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword also shall pierce
through thy own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. And he goes on, There was one
Anna, a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asa.
and so on. These are remarkable happenings
that we have. They're only recorded in Luke's
Gospel, aren't they? But thinking of what he says
here, Simeon, Behold, his child is set for the fall and rising
again of many in Israel, and a sign that shall be spoken against. What of this falling and rising
again? Well, we're told this falling
and rising by Christ is to be understood spiritually. And that's
indicated by what we have at the end of verse 35, after that
little parenthesis, that bracketed section at the beginning of that
verse. It says that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
The rising, or the falling and rising again, associated with
the thoughts of many hearts being revealed. And we see it, do we
not? We see it in a remarkable sense
in a man like the Apostle Paul. How that man has to fall and
then that man rises again. Now this Christ is said for the
falling and rising again of many in Israel. Now we know what Saul
was. He was a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He says, touching the righteousness
of the Lord he was a Pharisee. He kept the law like a very devout
Pharisee. In fact, there in Philippians
3 he boasts, or he could boast, he thought as a Pharisee that
touching the righteousness which is of the Lord he was blameless. But now all that has to fall.
and how it all fell away. How the man was humbled, brought
down. In that very same chapter, he
can later say that his one desire is to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. To be found in Him, he says,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, that which
was once all his boast, or touching the righteousness of the law.
I'm a Pharisee, I've done it, I've kept it. but no more does
he want that he wants that righteousness which is of God by faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ and remember this is a man who is a pattern
to all them that should hereafter believe there is to be a humbling
before there can be a rising again And how the Lord does it, you
see, meekness or gentleness and then greatness. Thy gentleness
hath made me great. How the Lord deals with his people.
And I want, as we begin to come to a conclusion this evening,
I want to mention or to observe two things here in David's experience. As he unfolds something of his
experience in the psalm as i said he's writing out of the fullness
of his own experience and what's written of course is written
for our learning and these things happened unto them we're told
for for examples for types now what does david do he he certainly
felt his sin and how he sorrowed over that sin we see it here
In verse 4 he says, the sorrows of death compassed me, the floods
of ungodly men made me afraid, the sorrows of hell compassed
me about, the snares of death prevented me, went before me.
He is sorrowful. He is sorrowful. We see it time and again, he
feels himself to be what he is, he feels himself really to be
a great sinner in the sight of his God. Remember the language
of Psalm 38, David's Psalm to bring to remembrance. What does
he remember? Verse 3, There is no soundness
in my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest
in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head, as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me my
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness I am
troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there
is no soundness in my flesh I am feeble and sore broken I have
wrought by reason of the disquietness of my heart Oh, what an experience
this man has, when he realizes what he is against thee, the
only of thy sin decries that, and done this evil in thy sight. And it's not just David, is it?
Not just David, Asaph. Asaph cries out in Psalm 73,
I was as a beast before thee, I was so bestial, he says. And
yet it's not really a simile, as we know. The little word has
there, introduced, but not really there. Literally it says, I was
a beast. Not just making a comparison,
not just using a simile and saying I was like a beast, I was a beast.
Not just David, you see. This is the experience of the
godless. They're made to feel what they are. And what do we
see of David here in the psalm? Besides that felt sense of his
sin and the sorrowing over it, the grieving because of it, we
see him as one whose whole dependence is upon God. There's nothing
he can do for himself, nothing he can do to help himself, to
save himself. God is the one who must do it
and he acknowledges that. And he acknowledges it repeatedly. He says at verse 16, He sent
from above. He took me. He drew me out of
many waters. He delivered me from my strong
enemy and from them which hated me, for they were too strong
for me. They prevented me. They went
before me in the day of my calamity. But the Lord was my star. Oh,
can we not understand these things in terms of ourselves and indwelling
sins? And yet there's deliverance.
Verse 19, He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered
me because He delighted in me. Oh, you must constantly be looking
to God, acknowledging God. He says at verse 32, It is God
that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. He
maketh my feet like hind's feet and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war,
so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou also hast
given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand hath holden
me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great." Oh, when God
comes to us in all the tenderness and the graciousness of the Gospel,
what deliverances God is pleased to bestow upon His people. Again,
he says at the end of the psalm, verse 48, He delivereth me from
mine enemies. Yea, thou liftest me up above
those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the
violent man. It is God who delivers. And what
is David saying then? All his dependence is upon God
and it's true of every child of God. In all our conflicts
with sin, with Satan, with the world, how dependent we are upon
God. But what does God say? He says
to the Apostle, My strength is made perfect in weakness. In
all our weakness, that's where we see the perfection of God's
strength and Paul's response he says when I am weak then am
I strong all nothing in self you see nothing in self all things
are in the Lord Jesus Christ isn't that what Paul's brought
there at the end of Romans 7 all wretched man that I am who shall
deliver me from the body of this dirty Christ I thank God through
Jesus Christ Ah good. So with the mind I myself serve
God. But with the flesh serves sin.
There's that conflict. The believer feels it. David. David knew it. Paul knew it.
But God's dealings, thy gentleness hath made me great. It's the most comforting attribute
in God, is it not, when we think of how he has revealed himself.
in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ how Christ descended and
descended made a little lower than the angels we are told he
doesn't take upon him the nature of the angels he is lower than
the angels for the suffering of death how he comes where his
people are oh the gentleness of our God how comforting is
this attribute in God again We can think of the language of
David in the 103rd Psalm like as a father pitieth his children
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knoweth our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
All of this is revealed to us ultimately in the one of whom
the Psalm is speaking. It's Christ. It's Christ. And Peter says of him there in
Acts chapter 10 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing
all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him. Oh God did truly uphold him in
all that work that he came to perform and to accomplish thy
right hand hath holden me up and thy gentleness hath made
me great what a blessing what a blessing it is to know God
as he has revealed himself in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed himself in the work
that the Lord Jesus Christ came to do all the humiliation of
that work when he humbled himself to become obedient even to the
death of the cross. How are we to receive his word
then? How are we to receive these things? Well, we surely need
to heed the words of Peter, be clothed with humility, he says. God resisteth the proud. God
giveth grace to the humble we are to receive with meekness
this word James says receive with meekness the engrafted word
that is able to save your souls or here then we read ultimately
of Christ or that we might see him in this In this text thou
hast also given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right
hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. May the Lord be pleased to bless
these things to us. Amen.