Now all through this song of
David takes up this whole chapter, 2 Samuel 22, he doesn't ever
mention all his failures and falls and stumbles that occurred
throughout David's life. All he talks about in this song
is the victories that the Lord has given him, how the Lord has
delivered him, how the Lord gave him this victory, how the Lord
did this and that for him. And the title I've given the
lesson this morning is Victory in Jesus. All the victories that
we have are in Him because of His power, His mercy, and His
goodness and grace to us. Now, we should always remember
who and what we are. We shouldn't just forget about
the mistakes that we've made in the past so we can learn from
them and not repeat them. But it's also a mistake to dwell
on those things. It's a mistake to constantly
dwell on our sin and our failures and just always be down to mouth
and morbid like the old Puritans were. Christ has given us the
victory. And it's wrong for us. It's wrong
for a child of God to go around all the time acting like a defeated,
conquered person. Christ has given us the victory. And that's the theme of these
verses that we see here and we'll look at this morning. Beginning
in verse 29, David says, For thou art my lamp, O Lord, And
the Lord will lighten my darkness. Now we're born, all of us, in
spiritual darkness. And if we're going to have any
light, we must be given light. We can't produce any light or
any understanding. Light must be given to those
in darkness. Well, Christ is the believer's
light. He doesn't just give light, come turn the light on. Christ
is our light. The darkness is mine. He's the
light. Now, light is precious. In our
day, we don't think a whole lot about light, because we have
artificial lights readily available to us. We were up at our daughter
Holly's this week, and the electricity went out. It's daytime, and the
electricity went out, and the first thing I thought was, I'm
glad it's not night. We're not left in the darkness.
David, in his time, light was precious to him. Darkness was
a scary thing to those ancients. Look in Ecclesiastes chapter
11. It was a scary thing to them.
I read where they would buy less food so they'd have money to
buy oil for their lamp to give them light at night because it
was so important to them. In Ecclesiastes 11, verse 7,
truly the light is sweet. And a pleasant thing it is for
the eyes to behold the sun. Now that's true, obviously, in
a physical sense. It's sweet to have light. If
you don't believe me, just sit in the darkness for a while without
any light. You'll see that's true. But boy,
isn't this true spiritually? Light is sweet. Light and understanding. Light to see Christ. That's sweet. And the lighting of the lamp
in David's time, even up until we had electricity, the time
of the evening when they would light the lamp was a cheerful
time because they had light. And when we see the light of
God's countenance, if God ever lets us see his light, that's
a cheerful time. It's cheerful because we don't
have to sit in ignorance and darkness of unbelief and ignorance
anymore. It's a sweet time. In verse 30,
David says, For by thee I have run through a troop. By my God,
have I leaped over a wall. Now we can't leap tall buildings
with a single bound. Sometimes it may be even hard
for us to just get up off the floor if you're sitting on the
floor with your grandchildren. Maybe it's hard to get up off
the floor. Gary was telling me it's hard. I don't get down with
them too much. It's hard to get back up. But we can't leap tall buildings
with a single bound now. But the Lord does enable His
people to do things that by nature We cannot do. By nature, we cannot
come to Christ. But if you believe Christ, you
have. Well, how'd you do that? You're not able. God enabled
you to do it. By nature, we can't believe God.
We can't believe God's word. But you do. Why? God enabled you to do it. He
gave you the power and the strength. By nature, we can't see God.
We can't hear God's voice. We can't love God. By nature,
we hate God. Well, you love God. How'd you
do that? God gave you the power to do something that by nature
you cannot do. And that should give us confidence. The next time we face a trial,
we think, I can't endure this. I'm not able to do this. That's
good. It's good to know that because
when I'm weak, then am I strong. I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me. And if he doesn't strengthen
me to do it, I can't do it. I'm not able to do this. I'm
not sufficient for the job in front of me. But God is. His grace is sufficient. Just think about your own life.
Haven't you come through trials that the Lord has sent in the
past? You've come through every one of them. Haven't you been
in situations in the past where you think, I don't see any way
out of this one? And the Lord has always made
a way of escape, hasn't he? In 1 Corinthians 10, that's what
the Apostle Paul says here, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 13. There hath no temptation
taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that you are able, but will, with the temptation
also, make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it."
He's made a way to escape, always, through many dangers, toils and
snares. I've already come, and you'll
come through the next ones, all the ones in the future, the same
way you've come through your past trials, by His grace, by
His power, by Him making a way of escape. And when we face these
difficult situations, we face the enemy, we face trials, we
face difficult situations. Let's just determine to acquit
ourselves as men and act like somebody who believes God. And
when it's over and we've been delivered, we've come through
it, let's be sure to give God all the glory and acknowledge
I didn't do that by myself. That didn't happen by my strength.
That was God's strength. David says, By Thee, I've run
through a troop. By my God, I've leaped over a
wall. That wasn't by my power, that was by Him and the power
that He gave me. In verse 31, He said, that's
for God. His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried.
He's a buckler to all them that trust in Him. Now, we know all
of God's ways are perfect. All of God's ways are filled
with holiness, justice, truth, and grace. And that includes
all of his dealings with me. Now, I may not always see it,
but it's so. If I don't see it, the problem
is with me that I can't see it. It's so. Whatever's happening
to me right now is filled with God's justice and his goodness
and his grace and his truth. Now, David says God's way. That
does mean all the way that God has done things, all the way
that he's arranged the events of providence. That's his way.
And it's right. It's good. And it's best. But
it also means God's way for his creatures to follow. In his word,
God's given us his way. And that way is the way that's
the opposite of the way of the world. It's a way of holiness
and uprightness and honesty and integrity. God's way may not seem like the
way we want to choose sometimes. We find ourselves in a situation
and we just think, well, it'd be a whole lot easier to follow
the way of the world here. It just seems like it might be
best to me to operate in the gray areas. Just do something
that's not, maybe it's not completely crooked, but you know, if I just
do this, it's a little bit crooked. It just seems like that's going
to profit me. No, it won't. No, it won't. Follow God's way. Now it's the
best way. It'll always be the best way
because his way is perfect. And his word is tried. This has
been tried and proven over all the generations. This word tried
means tested in the refiner's fire. It's been tested and found
to be perfect and holy and pure by generations of believers.
The promises of God's word have been trusted. by generations
of believers, and they've never one time been let down. Not one
word of it. His promise has fallen to the
ground. Millions of God's people have rested upon God's Word,
and every one of them has found it to be true and faithful. And
we will too. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a buckler. He is a thick shield to everyone
who trusts in Him. Now the most reliable shield
that anyone can have is Christ. What can be more dependable than
the covenant God? If God's promised to shield and
protect His people, then nothing's going to get past that shield
and harm His people. Now, if God's promised to protect
them, it won't. We've been kept safe from every enemy. It's not
like we've gone through our life without any enemies. But we've
been kept safe from every enemy because the Lord Himself has
shielded us. In verse 32, David says, For
who is God, save the Lord? And who is a rock, save our God? At the beginning of this song,
David says, the Lord's my rock. And now he says, who else is
a rock? Who else is a rock like Jehovah? And he's speaking specifically
to idolaters and he's asking them, now what idol is worthy
to be compared to God? Who else creates and sustains
life? Both physical and spiritual life.
Who else gives physical life and sustains it? And who else
gives spiritual life and sustains that spiritual life? None. None
but God. Who else is perfect and holy
in all of His ways? You just read about all these
idols of men. None of them are perfect. The only way they can
explain away things is by saying, well, He's not perfect. He makes
mistakes every now and then, you know. Who else is perfect
and holy? in all his ways. None but God. Who else saves sinners? Who else
has grace and mercy that's reserved for the most vile sinner? None. Every other idol requires you
to clean up and do better and live better and be better. Only
God has grace for sinners. Who else has the wisdom to save
sinners? and remain holy and just. None
but God. Where else can you put all of
your hope of eternal life there and leave it? None. None but Christ. Look over in
Isaiah 40. Who else are you going to compare
to our rock? What other rock is so sure that
your soul can find rest and eternal stability? None but God. In Isaiah 40, verse 25, To whom then will ye liken me,
or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on
high, behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out
their host by number? He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power,
not one failing. Now why sayest thou, O Jacob,
and speakest thou Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known,
hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary,
and there is no searching of his understanding? He giveth
power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth
strength." Now who else are you going to compare to that? Who
else is worthy of your worship? Who else is so wonderful that
you're comfortable bowing in humility at His feet? None. None but God. He's worthy. In verse 33, back in our text,
2 Samuel 22, God is my strength and power, and He maketh my way
perfect. Now, I don't have any strength.
I don't have any power of my own. No man by nature has any
power. No power to please God. No power
to come to God. No man has the strength or ability
to worship God. Because when Adam fell, all men
lost all spiritual ability. When Adam fell, we died. And
we lost all the capabilities and strength of life. We lost
it all. Because in Adam, we died. But
the believer can honestly say, I have strength because Christ
is my strength. I can't come to God by nature.
I have no ability, no power, but I do come to God by Christ. I can't please God. I have no
power to please God, but I have pleased him in Christ. A believer can say that I have
pleased God in his son. Christ is the power of God that
enables me to believe God. He's the power that enables me
to see God. And He's the power that enables us to worship God.
Now this psalm of David is recorded again in Psalm 18. And verse
32 of Psalm 18 is a little bit different than this verse. It
says, it's God that girds me with strength. Now look over
Ephesians chapter 6. What is this girding of strength
that David's referring to here? When Ephesians 6 Verse 14, the Apostle says, Stand therefore,
having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness. Now, David says that the Lord
girds him with strength. Paul says that the believer is
girded with truth. Well, they're saying the same
thing. What this means is that knowing the truth, having the
truth, will give you strength. And our strength is the truth
of Christ. Now that's truth, knowing the
truth. That's knowing the gospel. It's knowing the right doctrine
of the gospel. But most importantly, the root where all that comes
from is this. It's knowing and having Christ, who is the truth
of God. Christ is the truth that gives
the believer strength. Now that's comfort to a weary
pilgrim. And that's what every believer
is, is a weary pilgrim. I mean, you just, there are times
you get so hot and tired from this long, hard journey, and
you just think, I don't have the strength to take another
step. When that happens, remember this. God's your strength. If you are a believer, God is
your strength. Now think about that statement.
If God's your strength, what can't you do? He's got all strength. He's got all power. If God's
your strength, then you're going to make this trip. I don't care
how long, how difficult it may be, however long it will be for
you. You'll finish this trip. You'll finish this pilgrimage
because God's your strength. God's my strength and David says
he makes my way perfect. Now, all of us are the opposite
of perfect. We're totally depraved, completely
sinful. Not only is my way not perfect,
I don't know the way of perfection. I don't know how to find it.
Adam had perfection, didn't he? But he lost his perfect standing.
And when he lost that perfect standing, you and I did too.
But the Lord Jesus Christ makes his people perfect. He makes
his people just like him. Adam made everybody he represented
just like him. He made us dead. Christ makes
everyone that he represents just like him, perfect, holy. His way is perfect and he makes
his people perfect. And that's the only way he can
have fellowship with them, is if he makes them perfect, makes
them just like him. In verse 34 in our text, David
says, he makes my feet like Hines' feet and sets me upon my high
places. Now, a believer's feet don't
slip. because our feet have been planted on the rock, Christ Jesus.
Arthur Pink wrote this, he said, God fits every believer for the
position which he has appointed him to occupy, no matter how
honorable or how hazardous. Our feet, the believer's feet
can stand where God puts you. Just like these wild animals,
they get up in these mountains and they can stand on these rocks
and things and you think, how on this earth Can they stand
on those rocks and leap from rock to rock? They don't fall?
How can they do that? Well, God's given them feet,
the ability to stand there. And that's what He's done for
the believer, for all of His children, wherever He puts you.
It may be a hazardous, difficult place. It may be a place of honor,
wherever it is. God's given you the feet to stand
without slipping, wherever He puts you. Now, if you look over
in Ephesians chapter 6, I'll show you what will keep your
feet from slipping. You'll find yourself in some very slippery
places. You'll find yourself in some rocky places. It doesn't
look like there's very good footing there. But I'll show you what
will give you good footing when God puts you there. Ephesians
6, verse 15. And have your feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. If you want to be prepared
for trials that will surely come, be where you can hear the gospel.
Be where you can hear the gospel priest on a regular basis. That'll
give you a good pair of shoes when you go into battle. It's
the gospel. If you want to be able to stand, if you want to
be prepared to stand in this world of sin through which these
pilgrims walk, get you a good pair of shoes. Look up verse
13 if you're still in Ephesians 6. Wherefore take unto you the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand an evil
day, and having done all, to stand. If you want to be able
to, having done all stand, get you a good pair of shoes. And
you'll get that through the hearing of the gospel and the knowledge
of the gospel. A steady diet of the gospel of
Christ will give you a good pair of shoes. Now look at verse 35. David says, now that's what the
Lord's given his people. In verse 35, back in 2 Samuel
22, he teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken
by mine arms. Now believers are in a war. Don't be mistaken, we're in a
war. It's a war against sin, inward
sin. It's a war against inward sin
and unbelief in our hearts. But it's also a war against sin
and unbelief in others, those that we preach to, those that
we live amongst. Now how do you fight this war?
We're in a war. How do you fight it? Look at
2 Corinthians chapter 10. David said he teaches my hands
to war. But what do I learn? How do I fight this war? What
weapons do I take to fight this war? 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ." Now, how are we going
to pull down the stronghold of sin and unbelief before we worry
about others in ourselves? How are we going to pull down
that stronghold of sin and unbelief that's in all of us? through
the Gospel, through the Word of God. How are we going to then
pull down this stronghold of unbelief and sin and everybody
else? The same way. It's through the Word of God.
How are we going to cast down these wicked imaginations that
are both in ourselves and others? How are we going to cast down
the high imagination we have of ourselves and the low estimation
that we have of God? How are you going to pull that
down? How are you going to cast that down? How are we going to
put ourselves in the dust before God where we belong? How are
we going to bring ourselves and others to the feet of King Jesus? How are we going to bring ourselves
and others to submit ourselves to the righteousness of King
Christ? Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul is giving young Timothy
instructions. In this letter he writes to him,
because he's going out to the war. He's going out to the battle. Now, Timothy, how are you going
to fight this warfare? 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Now, what
prophecies are these which went before on thee? It's the Old
Testament Scriptures, the Word of God. That's our only weapon. When our Lord was tempted by
Satan, what did our Lord use to defend himself from these
arrows that Satan just kept firing at him? With the Word of God. Every time Satan fired an arrow,
our Lord replied, it's written. It's written. It's written. And
for long, Satan went away. Both the bow and the arrows were
broken. It was by the word of God. Now, our warfare will end
one day in victory. And it will. We just looked at
that. Christ has given us the victory. We're not a defeated
people. The outcome of the war is not in question. We're going
to have the victory. But now the battle will never
end as long as we're in this flesh. When we awake in glory
in Christ's likeness, only then where we have the warfare end,
we have victory, it'll just be complete there. And we'll look
at more of that next week. But you know why we'll have that?
Because Christ already won the war. He already is the mighty
victor. He's already won the war, and
he gives that to his people. There are no more enemies left
standing before him. Now, verse 36, back in our text. Thou hast also given me the shield
of thy salvation, and thy gentleness have made me great." Now part
of the, you know well, the armor of the warfare that a believer
has, the armor of salvation. Part of that armor is the shield
of faith. Now here David calls it the shield
of salvation. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians
6 calls it the shield of faith. Again, they're both saying the
same thing. Nothing will stop or quench those fiery darts like
the shield of faith. That this is the shield of salvation
that God gives. He gives it to us. That's what
David said. He gives it to us. Gives it to me. Well, then reach
out and take it. That's an act of faith. Reach
out and take this shield and put it to use. The shield that
God gives his people. It'll protect you. And David
says here that this is a blessing. I want you to listen to this.
Thy gentleness hath made me great. Now, this word gentleness has
many meanings. And you have to understand what
David's saying here. All these meetings have to be
considered together to understand and get the full blessing of
what he's saying. Thy gentleness has made me great. Now, first,
this word, it means goodness. Everything we have comes from
God's goodness, doesn't it? Everything. It's his goodness.
If a sinner's saved, that's God's goodness. And if God saves a
sinner, What does Scripture say He does with that sinner? He
makes them a sinner, just like His Son. Now isn't that being
made great? What could be greater than being
made just like God's Son? In the Lord Jesus Christ, we're
made to be what we're not. We're made to be great. And that
is a gift of God's goodness. Only God, who's infinitely good,
would take sinners who live in rebellion against Him and make
us great. Make us just like His Son. That's
God's goodness. But second, this word also means
discipline. Discipline. This is our Heavenly
Father's wise, loving discipline. Now that discipline is not pleasant
for the moment. It's grievous, isn't it? I thought
of my earthly father. I thought, man, I thought he
was strict. I mean, my goodness, I thought
he was strict. And he lived it. Now, I thought,
never will I be able to live up to the example that he set.
I thought he was so strict. And I'm telling you, I didn't
like his discipline. I mean, I chafed against it.
Oh, I didn't like it. Now, I am so thankful for it. I know it was the best thing
for me. And I shudder to think where
I'd be without it. Isn't this same thing true for
a child of God? Now, our Father's discipline
is grievous, I know, for the moment. But when it's done, you
get a little maturity, and you look back, don't you say, that's
the best thing for me? It's the best thing for me. I
think of the trials, Jane, I've gone through during our married
life. I didn't like one of them. I
look back, and I say, well, that's the best thing for us. I'd just
as soon not do it again. But it was the best thing for
us. It was the best thing. And I shudder to think, shudder
to think where we'd be without it. I can promise you it wouldn't
be here. It wouldn't be in His Son. We'd
leave Him if He let us. If it wasn't for His wise, loving
discipline. That's His goodness to us. And
third, I get a hold of this. This word gentleness, it means
humility and condescension. Now, the only way any of this
could happen, the only way a sinner could be made great, the only
way a sinner, a son of Adam, could be made just like God's
Son, the only way we can be made to be what we're not, is for
the Lord Jesus Christ to humble himself. He condescended further
than our pea brains will ever be able to comprehend. How far
did he condescend to be made what you and I are? We can't
comprehend it. God's Son, the Prince of Glory,
the Glory of Heaven, made Himself little. He made Himself of no
reputation so that His people could be made great. He became
what He was not. So His people could be made what
we're not. Great in Him. That's gentleness. Oh, isn't that gentleness to
His fallen creatures? Thank God for His gentleness,
His goodness, His wise, loving discipline, and His condescension
to make His people great. He did all that. See, that's
the theme of all these verses. That's what He did. He did all
of it. I didn't do anything. He gave
it to us. He gives it freely to his people.
And verse 37, this is where we'll quit. Thou hast enlarged my steps
under me, so that my feet did not slip. Now, the way of salvation
is a narrow way. But this narrow way is not like
walking on a balance beam. You know, you've got to just
be so careful you fall off. It's a wide way. It's narrow,
but to the believer, the one who brings no self-righteousness,
who brings no goodness, who brings no ability, this narrow way is
a wide way. Once your feet are planted on
it, you cannot fall off. Can't be done. See, the narrow
way is not restrictive. The only thing it restricts is
self-righteousness. If you're naked, you've got no
goodness, you've got no ability, you've got no hope, it's an easy
fit. It's a perfect fit for you, for
a sinner. The only thing it restricts is
self-righteousness. This narrow way is a way of freedom
and liberty in Christ. This narrow way, the way that
God puts His perfect way, the way that He puts all of His people
in, is a way of victory. Victory in Jesus. All right. Well, I hope the Lord will bless
that too.