Okay, 2 Samuel chapter 22. Last
week we saw David begin this psalm. He's thanking God, praising
God for who God is. And he ended it there in verse
4. He said, I'll call on the Lord who's worthy to be praised. He's worthy to be praised simply
for who he is. Now David turns to praising the
Lord and thanking the Lord for the many and miraculous ways
that the Lord had delivered David. for many dangers, toils and snares."
That's the title of the lesson, through many dangers, toils and
snares. We pick up here in verse 5, David
says, when the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly
men made me afraid. Now, there were many times that
David's trials made him feel like a sailor in rough seas. Those were the huge, big waves
that were breaking over top of his head The ways of death were
everywhere. It seemed like these were the
ways that were going to swallow him up and destroy him. They
were either going to drive him into the rocks and everything
would be destroyed and lost. He'd be left stranded or they'd
kill him. And he said, if that wasn't enough,
ungodly and wicked men just kept coming at him, kept coming at
him, repeatedly kept coming at him, just like floodwaters do.
You know, here in the East, we're getting a lot of rain right now.
And I saw on the news last night, the floodwaters just sweeping
through these cities. Kids in kayaks on top of what
should be roads. And there's no defense against
these floodwaters. There's nothing anybody can do.
You're defenseless. You just watch the waters just
rise, rise, rise, and just come sweep everything away. And that's
the way David said he felt. Defenseless. And he said, I was
terrified. And David knows what he's talking
about here. You remember when Saul was chasing David, David
said, I'm sure Saul's going to destroy me. And later, the more
deliverance from Saul and David was just sure Absalom and his
army were going to kill David and kill all his wives and children.
The floodwaters just kept coming at him. In verse six, he said,
the sorrows of hell compassed me about. The snares of death
prevented me. Death and hell compassed me.
They circled me like a pack of wild dogs on the hunt. And when
he says compassed me, he doesn't just mean that they circled him.
They circled him and they kept closing in, kept closing in,
just compressing him, just making him feel the pressure by closing
in on him. And the sorrows of hell that he's talking about,
that word sorrows is better translated cords. The cords of hell, the
ropes of hell, tied me up and rendered me helpless. And I had
to deal with the snares of death. Not only did I have to deal,
defend myself from the attack of these wild dogs, death set
traps for me that would kill me if I fell into them. And these
snares prevented me. And that word prevented is not
like we use the word prevented, you know, like stop something
from happening. It means they came out and met me. They came
out and confronted me. I couldn't get away from them.
They wouldn't leave me alone. They kept coming out and confronting
me and attacking me. And it just seemed like destruction
was upon me and I couldn't see any way out. Look back at 1 Samuel
chapter 27. This is one of the times I'm
sure David is referring to in this psalm. 1 Samuel 27. David just could not see any
way out. In 1 Samuel 27, David said in
his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
There's nothing better for me than that I should escape speedily
into the land of the Philistines, because if I don't, surely I'm
going to perish by the hand of Saul. He couldn't see any way
out. So he goes on, verse 7 in our text, and he says, in my
distress, now this certainly is a time of 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. Now David was in trouble, and
he prayed. He cried unto the Lord. Prayer
is always the way of escape, isn't it? What did James say
in James 5, verse 13? Is any among you afflicted? Let
him pray. Pray and call unto the Lord.
And here's comfort for the child of God. Even though the sea will
rage and roar around us. Now I've been at the ocean or
beach sometimes and boy that sea gets loud doesn't it? Even though those waves are loud
and they're roaring. Even though the dogs of hell
are howling and encompassing us about. Even though we feel
like that bird caught in a snare. Our God hears the most feeble
cries of His children. He hears prayer. Prayer is not
eloquence. Prayer is talking to our Father. My daughter does not have to
be eloquent to talk to me. Not at all. I mean, from the
time she could use words when she's two and three years old,
her language is cute and it's, you know, got a little list to
it. She doesn't have to be eloquent to talk to me. She can always
talk to her Father. The child of God is the exact
same way. He hears even the most feeble
promises. Prayer is sincerity. It comes from the heart. This
word David used, cry, doesn't mean just a cry aloud. It means a cry of extreme anxiety
or grief. Instead of a cry, it's more like
a shriek, a shriek of terror. And that's the way David cried
to the Lord, in a shriek. And the Lord hears those cries
of his children. This afternoon, read Psalm 107.
Time after time after time, every time God's people cried unto
the Lord in their trouble, He heard them and He delivered them. Every time, time after time after
time. Oh, when will men learn to praise
the Lord for His goodness to us? When will we learn? Time
after time, He hears the cries of His people. The cries of God's
children are heard in heaven itself, in the throne room of
heaven. The cries of God's children are
heard. They're heard. Now it'll be a
comfort to us. In verse 8, David said, I cried
to the Lord and then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations
of heaven moved and shook because he was wrong. Now, I don't know
if David ever saw this actually happen or not, that the earth
shook because God was angry. But we shouldn't be surprised
if when the Creator is angry, because his children are mistreated,
that he shakes the foundation of the world. We ought not be
surprised. Look over in Acts chapter 16. Like I said, I don't
know if there was a time David saw this happen or not, but here's
a time it did. In Acts 16. Verse 22. And the multitude rose up together
against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely. Who, having received such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the
stocks." They had just been beaten with many stripes, and he tightened
those stocks up good and tight. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed. And they sang praises unto God.
See, God's worthy to be praised no matter what's happening to
us. They prayed because they were in trouble, and they sang
praises unto God because He's worthy to be praised. And the
prisoners heard them. Well, that's not the only people
that heard their cry. And suddenly, there was a great earthquake,
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately
all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison, waking out of his sleep and seeing
the prison doors open, He drew out his sword and would have
killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for
we are all here. Then he called for a light, and
he sprang in, and came trembling and fell down before Paul and
Silas. And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they
spake unto him, the word of the Lord, and all that were in his
house. And he took them the same hour
of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he
in all his straight way. And when he brought them into
his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house." Paul and Silas cried to the Lord.
The foundations of the earth shook. He was set free. Paul and Silas were, but so was
his tailor, wasn't he? He was set free. He and his house
set free because God shook the earth. Now look at verse 9 in
our text, 2 Samuel 22. David goes on and he says, there
went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it. How
angry is the Lord his people are mistreated? He's breathing
fire. And that fire destroys everything
in its path. Verse 10, he bowed the heavens
also and came down, and darkness was under his feet. And he rode
upon a cherub and did fly, and he was seen upon the wings of
the wind. Now the Lord himself comes to the aid of his people.
He bowed down heaven to come and save his people from many
dangers, toils and snares. David refers here to a cherub.
Now angels are created beings, they're ministering beings who
God sends to minister to his elect. But it's not just angels
that come to the aid of God's children. It's the Lord himself. Now he does send angels, but
the Lord himself comes to rescue, save his people. David is just
using poetic language here to tell us how quickly and how powerfully
the Lord comes to the aid of his children. On the wings of
angels, Sounds pretty fast and pretty powerful to you and me.
David's just using this poetic language to tell us how swiftly
and how powerfully the Lord comes to the aid of his children. In
verse 12 he says, And he made darkness pavilions round about
him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Through the brightness
before him were coals of fire kindled. Now the Lord surrounds
our enemies with darkness. And darkness scares me. Because you can't see. If you
can't see, you can't defend yourself against what's coming. You know,
about all of us forget what real darkness really is. Because at
night, we're always around some sort of artificial light. And
even if you're right where you are, there's none. You typically
see some light, you know, somewhere. Unless you're just out in the
boondocks somewhere. The Lord covers Himself with
darkness, so he cannot be seen." Now that's a sobering thought,
isn't it? He covers himself with darkness so he cannot be seen. That pillar of fire that was
with Israel as they came out of Egypt, that pillar of fire
was light to Israel, but it was darkness to the Egyptians, complete
darkness. The Lord reveals himself to his
people, but he hides himself from unbelievers. They cover
themselves with darkness and the Lord covers them with the
darkness of sin and unbelief so they cannot see. In verse
14, the Lord thundered from heaven and the Most High uttered his
voice. Now if you look back at 1 Samuel
7, I don't know if David was here, he probably was not, but
he is very familiar with this story. This happened in David's
lifetime where the Lord thundered from heaven. 1 Samuel 7, verse 10. And as Samuel was offering up
the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel.
But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the
Philistines, and discomfited them, and they were smitten before
Israel. Israel was delivered because
God thundered upon the enemy. In verse 15, He sent out arrows
and scattered them, lightning and disconfitted them. Now that
God surrounded himself with darkness. He surrounded those enemies with
darkness. And suddenly, God's artillery
lights up the sky. Lightning that comes and destroys
the enemy. And God's arrows never miss their
mark. Never. This means lightning,
but it also means hail. Now, we don't read of God fighting
for Israel with hail during David's lifetime. But if you look back
at Joshua chapter 10, here's another story David would have
been very familiar with. We do know of a time when God
did just this. He fought for Israel with hail. Here in Joshua chapter 10, the
Amorites have gathered a hoax against Israel. They're coming
to destroy Israel. And in verse 11 of Joshua 10,
And it came to pass as they fled from before Israel, and we're
going down to Bathurin, that the Lord cast down great stones
from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died. They were more
which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel
slew with the sword." Now, I'm not a fan of hellfire and brimstone
preaching, because you can't scare people into faith. You
can't scare people into loving the Lord. But this is a clear
warning to all of us. Flee to Christ. Flee to this
rock, this rock of safety that David talked about in the first
five verses or first four verses of this psalm that he sings. Now look over in Exodus chapter
9. I'll show you why I'm not a fan
of this hellfire and brimstone preaching. can't scare anyone
into loving and trusting the Lord. Exodus 9, verse 22, And the Lord said unto Moses,
Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail
in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon
every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses
stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder
and hail. And the fire ran upon the ground,
and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was
hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as
there was never like it in all the land of Egypt since it became
a nation. And the hail smote throughout
all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and
beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke
every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where
the children of Israel were, was there no hail." And Pharaoh
sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I
have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I
and my people are wicked. Entreat the Lord, for it is enough,
we have learned it is enough, that there be no more mighty
thunderings in hell, and I will let you go, and you shall stay
no longer. And Moses said unto him, As soon
as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands
unto the Lord, and the thunders will cease, neither shall there
be any more hell. that thou mayest know how that
the earth is the Lord's. But as for thee and thy servants,
I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God." That's why I cannot
be a fan of hellfire and brimstone preaching. It don't work. It don't scare anybody into heaven.
We'll just stick to the gospel, won't we? We'll stick to preaching
the gospel. This gospel is the power that
gives life. Now, fire and brimstone preaching.
Now, verse 16 back in our text, 2 Samuel 22, ìAnd the channels of the sea
appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at
the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his
nostrils.î Now, these shockwaves that hit the earth from Godís
artillery were so strong it reversed the order of nature. the bottoms
of the sea was laid bare. You could see the foundations
of the world. Isn't that what happened to the children of Israel
at the Red Sea? The bottom of that sea appeared
and they crossed over on dry ground at the breath of God's
nostrils. Now, all these things are things
that happen to someone when they touch the apple of God's eye.
Spurgeon made this statement. He said, if I have an enemy,
let him not be a man of prayer. or he'll soon get the better
of me by calling in his God to the quorum. This is the God we
call on in prayer. And look what David says in verse
17. He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of
many waters. See, the work of deliverance
is the work of our Father in heaven. He took. He sent. He drew. He delivered. He pulled
me out. Moses, when he was a baby, was
pulled out of those waters, the waters of that river by Pharaoh's
daughter. David says, he pulled me out
of those waters where the waves were going to crash upon me and
kill me. God pulled me out. In verse 18, he delivered me
from my strong enemy and from them that hated me, for they
were too strong for me. Every last one of our enemies
is too strong for us. And our weakness is the very
reason God delivers. Our weakness is the reason that
we must have God's work. He must deliver us from every
trial, every danger, toil, and snare. God must do all the work
because we're too weak to do any of it. We're weak and our
enemies are strong. But, verse 19, they prevented
me. Remember that word prevent is
they came out against me. They came out to confront me.
They came out to prevent me, to confront me in the day of
my calamity. But the Lord was my stay. They're strong, but there's no
problem because the Lord is my stay. If the Lord's my stay,
I shall not be moved. Though the thunders roll, though
the earthquakes, though the mountains be removed, I won't be moved
because the Lord is my stay. In verse 20, he brought me forth
also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted
in me. He brought me to this large place,
a wide place where there's plenty of room. No more being trapped
and confined under the pressure of our enemies encompassing us
anymore. A wide place, no more pressure,
no more attack of the enemy. Now the Lord delivered David
from many troubles. We've seen that through our study
here in 1 and 2 Samuel. And that's a comfort to us. God
will deliver us in the same way for the same reasons and with
the same power that he delivered David. And I love the honesty
of the scriptures and the honesty of the gospel. David nowhere
here says there won't be trouble and trial. There won't be waves
and enemies. He doesn't say that. There will
be trouble and trial in all of our lives. I'll never promise
you anything different because God's Word doesn't promise us
anything different. But what the Lord does promise us is that
in those times, He will be with us. His ear will hear our cry. He'll give us grace and strength
equal to the trial that He sends. And often, the Lord will not
deliver us until we think we're going down for the last time.
He's not going to deliver us until we think there's no more
hope. So we learn this. It is the Lord
that delivers us from every trouble, from every danger, from every
toil and snare. Now the blessing of this passage
is this. This is a Messianic song. David
here is speaking of Christ. Not just how the Lord delivered
David from his earthly troubles, but how Christ is going to deliver
his people from their sin that would send them down to death
and eternal hell were it not for the work of Christ our substitute.
I look up again at verse 5. David said, When the waves of
death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
That word waves is pangs. The pangs of death and the flood
of ungodly men surrounded me. Now, that's not just David, that's
Christ speaking. What did Peter say there when
he's preaching to those men? He said, Now you took the Lord
with wicked hands, you crucified and slain him, whom God raised
from the dead. And he loosed him from the pains
of death, because it was not possible he beholden of them. Our Lord suffered these pains
of death, but he was set free from those. The pains of death
and the flood of ungodly men surrounded our Lord, but God
loosed him, because it's not possible that he beholden of
them. Because all that sin that was
laid on him was washed away under his blood. In verse 6, the sorrows
of hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me,
came out to meet me. Now this is David speaking, but
it's also the son of David speaking. In the garden of Gethsemane,
our Savior said with David, the sorrows of hell compassed me
about. My soul, he says, exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, had
just the anticipation of being made sin. He didn't die from any of these
troubles. He died of old age. But Christ did die. He died because
the sin of His people was laid on Him, and He died under the
justice of His Father. Now, David gives us four metaphors
here that are all fulfilled in Christ. First, he talks about
a malefactor, bound, tied up for execution. Isn't that what
they did to our Lord? They tied Him up and led Him
away to crucify Him between two other malefactors. Second, David
talks about a shipwrecked sailor. Maybe he waves and wrecked the
ship and he's abandoned on an island. That's the way our Lord
died. Abandoned. Abandoned by his father,
abandoned by his disciples. He died alone. Then David talks
about a hunted prey who's surrounded by his enemy. If you read Psalm
22, the Psalm of the Cross. They say our Lord recited from
the cross. He talks about these strong bulls' ovation encompassing
him about. These wild dogs have encompassed
me, encircled me, surrounded by his enemy. And fourth, David
talks about a bird caught in the snare, in the fowler's snare.
Our Lord allowed himself to be taken in that snare, to suffer
at the hands of justice, so his people would never enter into
that snare. Verse 7, David said, in my distress,
I called upon the Lord. I cried to my God, and he did
hear my voice out of his temple. My cry did enter into his ears. Now the cries of all God's children
are heard in heaven itself, aren't they? Why are they heard? Because Christ, our substitute,
was taken and put to death. And our prayers are heard. We're
delivered from hell because Christ suffered hell And he cried. Look over in Hebrews chapter
5. This cry that David is referring
to here is attributed to our Lord in Hebrews chapter 5. Verse 7. Who in the days of his
flesh, when he offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death,
and he was heard in that he feared." Our substitute, our representative
was heard, and that's the only reason you and I will ever be
heard, because our substitute, our representative was heard.
In verse 8, then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations
of heaven moved and shook because he was wrong. What happened after
Christ gave up the ghost and died? The earth shook, rocks
were torn in two. This is God's anger, the creation
rebelling against the death. All creation went backwards because
of the death of the Creator. Verse 9, there went up a smoke
out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured. Coals
were kindled by it. This is very similar to the scene
at Sinai when the children of Israel came up to Sinai and God
was going to give the law. They saw Sinai covered in darkness
and blackness. The thunders and the lightning
and the smoke and the fire scared them to death. So they said,
don't let God speak with us. This is God and his holy anger
against sin, breathing fire. And this is the anger, this is
the fire our Savior endured. as the substitute of his people.
Every sinner, without exception, will be consumed by this fire.
We'll either be consumed by it personally, or we'll be consumed
by it in our substitute. But one way or another, this
fire is going to consume every sinner. Now who can stand before
the Lord when he's angry? Look here at verse 10. He bowed
down to heavens also and came down. was under his feet. The Lord Jesus himself came down
from heaven to save his people from their sins. And when it
was time for that sin to be judged, the Father judged the Son. And during that three hours of
judgment, the Son refused to shine. The earth was covered
in darkness. Now who could stand? Who could
stand there? None. except the Lord Jesus Christ,
who took the sins of His people and He stood before God's holy
justice and before God's anger against sin. And because our
Savior did that, because He suffered all the wrath that our sins deserve,
God's people are delivered. Everyone who believes in Him
is delivered from all condemnation. Now let me ask you. Speaking
to believers here, this only applies to believers. If Christ suffered for you, he
went to this extreme to suffer and pay for your sin, do you
think he's going to let some puny thing on this earth destroy
you? Absolutely not. Now, something
will kill our bodies. Something, somehow, eventually
will kill our bodies, but nothing will ever harm the child of God. Not that you it won't. You're
not that body you're sitting there in. Not you it won't. Your
soul cannot be touched if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because you're safe in Christ. The worst thing that can ever
happen to you on this earth is that something happens to set
you free from that sinful body. To depart this body. and go be
with the Lord. That's the worst thing they can
ever do. That's as far as they can ever touch. In verse 18,
he says, he delivered me from my strong enemy and from them
that hated me. They were too strong for me.
Like I said a minute ago, all of our enemies are too strong
for us. Chief among them. These are our
real enemies, not just people out there that may dislike us.
These are our enemies, spiritual enemies. The law. The law is against us. Satan,
death, and believers are delivered from every one of those strong
enemies in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ defeated them all. In
verse 20, he brought me forth also into a large place, and
he delivered me, because he delighted in me. Now, how could it ever
be possible that God Almighty could delight in any son of Adam? How can a holy God ever delight
in any sinner? The only way that's possible
is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who this psalm is really referring
to. God's free grace is the foundation
and the fountain of every blessing God ever has for And it will
always be found in Christ. It's in the Son. In Christ, we're
put in that large, wide place where there's plenty of room.
No more trapped and confined by sin, death, and hell. We've
been set free in Christ. And in Christ, we've been delivered. Everyone who believes Christ
has been delivered for this reason. Not because God delighted in
me, not because God delighted in you, but because He delights
in His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, He
said that in Isaiah 42. He said, I'm sending someone
and you behold him. Behold my servant in whom my
soul delights. And God will delight in you and
delight in me if we're found in Him. in whom his soul delights. All right, well, I hope the Lord
blessed that too.