Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm going to be in 2 Samuel chapter 22. 2 Samuel chapter 22. I'm just gonna read the first
four verses. 2 Samuel chapter 22, verse one. 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. I'm just gonna stop right there. When you feel yourself to be
utterly unworthy, you have hit the truth. Charles Spurgeon said
that. That's pretty good. You understand,
David is writing this song after the Lord had delivered him out
of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.
David had enemies. And I'm not gonna tell you that
David's the picture of a believer here because no, David is a believer
here. And the believer has enemies.
But God has promised us deliverance from all of our enemies. It may
not come in the form you assume. It may not come in the form or
the way you want. but he has promised us deliverance,
and he will fulfill every one of his promises. Now this is
repeated, I'm not gonna turn there, but this is repeated in
Psalms 18, which is a Messianic psalm. However, right here, this
is David's psalm here also, and that's what I'm gonna talk about.
This is a song of praise to the Lord who did deliver David from
his enemies and did deliver David out of the hand of Saul, the
king. And I'm gonna tell you this.
God was and God is all of these things and more to David and
every single believer. Because understand, David wrote
this as a personal thing. That's the way he wrote it. He's
writing of his personal deliverance. And as such, he is writing of
the believer's deliverance by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there
are nine things here. Luckily, there are no other preachers
today. that I'm gonna talk about, because there's a lot, and this
is in two verses. I'm gonna talk about verse two
and verse three, and a little bit of verse four at the end.
There's nine things here. If you want, I'll give you a
list of them right now. Let's find it here. There we go. The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
my deliverer, my trust, my shield, my high tower, my refuge, my
savior, and my salvation. That's the nine things. So we're
gonna start with the Lord is my rock. That's where David starts. And he said the Lord is my rock.
And I looked, this is the very first instance in the scripture
of the phrase, my rock. There'd been talk about rocks
before, but David says, this is my rock, this is my rock. A man after God's own heart sang
this as a song unto the Lord. The Lord delivered David out
of the hands of all his enemies. And whether you know it or not,
believers have enemies. Sometimes they reveal themselves.
Other times they don't. Sometimes they're sneaky. And
then you find out later, oh, I'm not going to tell you that
they're backstabbers, but they are. That's just the way it works. Been there, done that. Don't
want to do it again if I can avoid it. but it's not up to
me. Let's see. Oh my. David wrote in Psalm 62
in verse two, he only is my rock. Only is my rock. I shall not
be moved. Now what this word rock means
in this context, according to the Hebrew, is this is a high
rock. This is not some little boulder.
This is not some pebble. He's a high rock. He is actually
a boulder, a big boulder. And it says this, and it amazed
me when I read it. It's a boulder with a sharp edge.
You understand? If he's your rock, you want to
be on top. You don't want to be on the side
where that sharp edge is, because that'll cut people. Oh, the Lord
is my rock. And also in Psalm 62, David says
this twice. I shall not be moved. Now, I can tell you this. It's
not because David stood so fast. It's because the rock is not
going to be moved. I shall not be moved. because
he only is my rock. Got nothing to do with me, it's
got to do with the rock. It always has. Matter of fact,
the Lord is my rock. He gives rivers of water whenever
I thirst. Paul told us later on that that
rock in the wilderness that followed the people of Israel, the Hebrews,
followed them around, that rock was Christ. And I'm here to tell
you in 2 Samuel when he says the Lord is my rock, that rock
is Christ. That rock is Christ. He's the
chief cornerstone, he's the one that the builders rejected. He's the stumbling stone and
a rock of offense. He's the stumbling stone that
I'm gonna tell you something, the religious will trip over
him. That's why he's called the stumbling stone. He's the stone
upon which all his people, as Walter said last week, we fall. He that falls on that rock shall
be broken. But, but, that very same stone
falls on someone, they are ground to powder. That saying by Spurgeon
I just read, when you feel yourself to be utterly unworthy, you have
hit the truth. I'm gonna tell you something,
you're not gonna feel you're utterly unworthy till you fall on that stone and
you're broken. But that's still, still much,
much better than that stone falling on you. Being ground to powder
is not good. Oh, he's the one. It's better
to be broken than ground up. The Lord Jesus Christ, my rock,
is the foundation upon which his house is built. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
have a foundation of sand. He's the rock upon which everything
is built. of any eternal value. And the
Lord is my rock upon which he sets people. Psalms 40 in verse
two, put it this way. Excuse me. He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and. Now being delivered out of the
miry clay is good. Being out of the horrible pit
is good, but here's the better part. set my feet upon a rock. A rock. I'm telling you there's
no miry clay on the rock. There's no miry clay on the rock.
And the rock's not in a horrible pit. But not only that, he set
my feet upon a rock and established my goings. Established my goings. Oh, I like that. You understand? The Lord knows where every one of
his people is. He knows where every one of his
people are going. You don't know, I don't know. He knows. And that is good enough
if we believe him. Oh, the Lord is my rock. Therefore
I shall not be moved. The second thing, I'm gonna try
not to keep you too long, but there is nine of them. The Lord
is my fortress. Now look that up. And you know
what it means? It means fortress. That's what it means. Fortress. Well, or castle. And, A strong
place. I like that. A strong place. And here's the thing. In him,
I dwell. In him, David dwelt. In him,
every believer dwells. A fortress, a castle, a strong
place. Psalm 71, verse three, put it
this way. Be thou my strong habitation. Isn't that good? My strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. I like that, I like that. Thou
hast given commandment, whoa, to save me. to save me, God has
given a command to save his people. You think that commandment's
gonna be broken? I don't think so. Oh, I know so. What? Thou has given commandment to
save me for thou art my rock and my fortress. We dwell in
him. You understand, and there's not
a power around or ever has been that can assail the fortress
of Jesus Christ. He has all power, all power. Oh, God's people are in God's
fortress, and his fortress, my fortress, your fortress, if you
believe him, your fortress will never be breached, never be breached,
because he's a strong place. He is the strong place, and we
live in him, and here's the thing, he is the strong habitation. What's that mean? That's what
you inhabit, an inhabitation. That's where you live. You live
in him, in your fortress. Oh Lord, my strength and my fortress,
and my refuge in the day of affliction. This is Jeremiah 16, 19. The Gentiles shall come unto
thee. Where? From the ends of the earth.
From the ends of the earth. And shall say, surely our fathers
have inherited lies, vanity, and the things wherein there
is no profit. The Gentiles shall come and shall
know in the Lord, in the fortress, my fortress, David's fortress,
your fortress, is the truth. Is the truth. The Lord is my
strength and my fortress. There's none like him. What is
it David said later? I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever, forever, forever. Oh my. We live in him. He is our fortress, our strong
habitation. In him we live, we move, and
we have our being, even when we don't realize it. It's the
truth. And sometimes folks, we don't
realize it. I'm not talking about doubting
your salvation or doubting him, I'm talking about doubting, maybe
doubting your part in it. Or you don't feel it. You don't
feel him. That happens. Life happens. But listen, he is faithful. We're not. I'll include myself,
we are not faithful. We are only faithful in him and
because of him and because of him making us both to will and to
do of his good pleasure. That's the only time we're faithful.
But he is always faithful. He is our fortress. Oh my. Next one, my deliverer. The Lord
is my deliverer. You know what that word means? He's the one that carries you
away. That's good, I like that. Because
sometimes, folks, you need to get away. Sometimes, I like being
away from the world, Elizabeth. I really do. I like being away
from the world. You know why? Because this world
is ungodly. And it's full of ungodliness
and unrighteousness because of the ungodliness. But he is my
deliverer, he's the one that carries you away. Here's the
thing, he causes you to escape. Ain't that great? Because here's
the thing, folks, we need to be caused to escape. Understand,
talking about what we just said a minute ago, we were okay in
a horrible pit. Because you understand, at the
time, we didn't know there was anything else except a horrible
pit. And if that's your reality, if
that's all you know is the world, You're dealing with it as best
you can. You may not be happy in it, but you're not looking
for something else because here's the thing, you don't know that
there is anything else. Now sure, you might want more
money. You might want whatever you can buy with money, but that's
not better. In some ways, it's worse. You
know? Oh. Understand, people with money,
have a hard time understanding that with godliness is great
contentment. Because they're already content.
Oh, but he is the one that causes me to escape. The believer knows
that this one thing, the true believer knows, he or she did
not deliver themselves. They were delivered. They have
a deliverer. Because you understand, those
Hebrews were in Egypt until God delivered them. And they'd been
there 400 years as slaves before God delivered them. And they
were delivered because when God sent forth to deliver his people
from Egypt, guess what? They were coming out. You understand? And he fixed it so that even
if they had wanted to stay, they were kicked out. People don't
think about that. He created such an uproar in
Egypt with the death of the firstborn that they said, go. Here, take
this gold, what we owe you for 400 years of back wages. Wasn't
stealing, folks. It wasn't a bribe. It was what
they were owed. Yeah, I see it. but it's okay,
they were coming out because they had a deliverer, the deliverer. What is it? He, the Lord, is
the deliverer and he carries us away, oh, and here's the good
part, to himself, to himself. Oh, I like that, I do. Oh, here
it is. Psalms 40 and verse 17 says this. But I am poor and needy, yet,
glorious thing, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. The Lord thinketh upon me. Thou
art my help and my deliverer, Make no tarrying, my Lord, my
God. Oh, I like that. Because here's
the thing. Only the poor and the needy want
the deliverer. Only the poor and needy know
they need a deliverer. You understand? Pharaoh wasn't
looking for a deliverer. The deliverer came for the people
of God. And it left the other ones there. What'd you say? He's the one, the deliverer is
the one that carries you away. Oh my, I like that. Oh. The Lord, though I'm poor and
needy, yet the Lord thinks about me. He thinks about you. each and every one of his people.
The Lord thinks about you. And what's the Lord think about
his people? Well, Jeremiah 29 and verse 11. For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. And I love this verse of scripture.
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace. not evil, to give you an expected
end. Now that is one glorious piece
of scripture. Poor and needy though I am, weak
and wounded, sick and sore, the Lord thinks upon me. And thoughts
of peace, and not evil, thoughts of peace. Oh, you understand? No matter what you've gone through
in this life, no matter what you're going through in this
life, no matter what you will go through in this life, the
Lord thinks thoughts of peace to his people. Oh, and not only
that, see, because you understand, God's already thought everything
through. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning.
He's not making it up as he goes along, folks. He's not dealing
with circumstance like we do. He already knows. What? To give
you an expected end. Oh, I like that. You know, if
I'm poor and needy, the end I want is to not be poor and needy.
You know? I don't say I have to be rich
or anything. but I am in Christ, and you are. And like I said, preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ today. Oh, he's got more riches than
we could ever know what to do with. And he's promised to us,
oh, to give us an expected end. Oh, thoughts of peace to give
you an expected end. I'm gonna tell you something,
the end that I desire is to be, what? delivered by him from this
sinful world. You understand? Paul said it
in Romans. I desire to be delivered from
the body of this death. I know a lot of people read it. I want to be delivered from this
body of death. Well, that's true, but that's not what he said.
It's the body of this death. Oh my. He is my deliverer. Next in verse three of 2 Samuel
22. What does it say? The God of
my rock, in him will I trust. Trust. I'm gonna tell you something.
That word trust, the root word for that trust is the word flee. Run. Move. Go. Wait a minute. For protection. For protection,
oh. You understand, if you're in
a heap of trouble and you're on the run and you're moving
or you're running and you see somebody you know and you see
somebody you love and you see somebody you trust, what are
you gonna do? You're gonna run right to them. And if you're a little
kid, you're gonna run behind them and grab their legs. and
say, save me. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one whom we trust. He's the one we flee to. Oh,
my rock, my fortress, my deliverer is a person and he is the one
to whom I flee for protection, for protection. Oh, I like that. Believers flee to him. Believers flock to him, the good
shepherd, the good shepherd. We know his voice because the
Lord Jesus Christ is not a stranger to us, to believers. He's not a stranger and I know
he'll protect me. I know, oh, we follow him. The world doesn't trust him.
The world, religious and otherwise, will not hear him. What is it? You understand, I identify with
those that flee to him. Is that pretty good? I identify
with those that flee to him for protection. They're my brethren. They're my brethren. Those that
flee to Christ. I go to hear his gospel. I wanna hear the good news of
my Lord Jesus Christ. I wanna hear the gospel of God,
that Jesus Christ is my deliverer, is my rock, and is my fortress.
Oh, oh my. The world won't have him. They won't have this man to reign
over them. But he's my trust. He's the one
I flee to.