beginning in verse 48 of 2 Samuel
chapter 22. It is God that avengeth me, and
that bringeth down the people under me, and that bringeth me
forth from mine enemies. Thou also hast lifted me up on
high, above those that rose up against me, thou hast delivered
me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks
unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises
unto thy name. He is the tower of salvation
for his king, and showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David and
to his seed, forevermore. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, how thankful we are
for him. For his beauty. For his glory. For the salvation that's in him.
How we thank you that we are complete in him. Lord, give us
the grace to actually believe on him. Lord, that's above the strength
and energy of the flesh. But I ask in Christ's name that
you might grant each one of us faith in our blessed son. Lord, we thank you for the forgiveness
of sins. We thank you for the freeness
of your grace. Now, Lord, meet with us, meet with all your people
wherever they meet together. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen. Now remember, whenever you're
looking at the Psalms, it's first of all the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the author and the speaker
in the Psalms. As a matter of fact, in this
particular Psalm, Paul quotes it. in Romans chapter 15 as being
the very words of Christ. So first of all, we want to look
at these as the words of Christ himself. And then we want to
look at these as the words of David. But look what he says
in verse 48. It is God. Look down in verse
50. Therefore, I will give thanks.
It's God. Therefore, I will give thanks. Now, can't we say this about
everything? It's God. It's God. I think of what the Lord Jesus
said when he said, be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. And we can say concerning everything,
no matter what it is, it's God. He's the first cause behind everything. It's God. I like what Rich said
to me after hearing Greg Wednesday night to talk about how everything
was used for the church. He said, I wish we would get
up in the morning and look at the paper and say, let's see
what God's going to do for us today. That's true. It's God. He is
in control of everything. All things are of God. Now look
what it says in verse 48. It is God that avengeth me. God will take vengeance on all
of Christ's enemies. Now, when we're talking about
the vengeance of God, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord. It's not like our vengeance.
The most powerful feeling that I've ever felt with regard to
anything was a desire for revenge. That was the most powerful. That's
horrible. I wanted to kill somebody. I
wanted him to suffer. You say, did you really feel
that way? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Vengeance. Now, God's vengeance
is not like that. God's vengeance is him meeting
out perfect justice. That's what his is. It's not
like ours, just a vengeful, somebody did me wrong. Somebody did something
wrong to somebody I love. I want to get him back. I want
him to suffer. I want him to hurt. No, God's vengeance is
not like that. His vengeance is according to
his perfect justice. It's him bringing justice to
pass. Now, all of God's enemies, all
of Christ's enemies are going to be brought to justice. And
you know what? All my enemies are going to be
brought to justice. You know who my enemies are? My sins. My sin and my sins. and they're all going to be brought
to justice. All my sins, my enemies, they're
going to be punished. You know, I'm glad. It's just
another demonstration of the justice of God. Now, I'm not
going to be punished. There's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus, but my sins were punished in my substitute,
and God got vengeance on my sins. I love the justice of God. Everything
about Him is altogether And the Lord says, he brings
the people down under me. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. Now he, his enemies, they're
gonna be brought down to hell. His people, they're gonna be
brought to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. But everybody is
going to be brought down to him. That is the experience of every
believer. Men do not know it, but they're all being used to
serve the church. Now, the thing that I thought
about was when everybody's going to be brought down, Caesar, the
most powerful man in the world, Augustus Caesar, he took it into
his mind that he was going to tax all the world to bring money
into the Roman coffers. He didn't know that he was nothing
more than a pawn in God's hand and the reason he taxed the world
was so that Joseph and Mary would go back to Bethlehem to be taxed
and the Lord would be born there according to answering the prophecy
of Micah chapter 5 verse 2. Now everything he is in complete
control of and everything is going to be brought down. Now
look in verse 49. and that bringeth me forth from
my enemies." It's God that brings me forth from my enemies. What
chance do the enemies of Christ have? Zero percent because there's
no such thing as chance. I love thinking about that. There's
no such thing as chance. Everything that happens is God's
will being done. And so obviously, He's going
to bring me forth from my enemies. And He's going to bring me forth
from my enemies too. I'm gonna be separated from my
sins. You know, the scripture says your sins have separated
you from God, but when God saves somebody, He separates them from
their sins. Their sins are separated from them as far as the East
is from the West. I'm going to be brought forth
from my enemies. And you think about, that's how
I see my sins, is my enemies. My deadly enemies. But how has
he brought me forth from them? Well, first by justifying me.
And then by regenerating me and giving me a new nature. And one
of these days by glorifying me when I will not be saved from
the very presence of sin. He's brought me forth from mine
enemies. Now look what it says next in
verse 49. He bringeth me forth from mine
enemies. Thou also has lifted me up on high above them that
rose against me. Now that's the resurrection of
Christ and Him being seated at the right hand of the Father.
How high is Christ? He's seated at the right hand
of the Father even now while I speak. And you know who's there
with Him? Every believer. Every believer is seated on high
with Him. How high is Christ? That's how
high I am. That's how secure I am. That's how safe I am. As
He is, so are we in this world. And then he says in verse 49,
thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Now when I think
of a violent man, I think of somebody who chokes people and
hits people to get what they want and so on, and I wouldn't
deny that. But the way this is first used
is The earth was filled with violence right before the flood.
Remember that? That's the first time this word was used. The
earth was filled with men were corrupt before God. The earth
was filled with violence. And that speaks of the sinfulness
of man. But you know the violent man
I need to be delivered from? Me. I need to be saved from myself. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
should deliver me from the body of this death? That's the violent
man I need to be saved from, myself. What is the prayer I
pray the most? Lord, save me. Save me. Now, look what he says in verse
50. Therefore, it is God that avenges me. It is God that brings
down the people under me. It is God that bringeth me forth
from mine enemies. It is God that's lifted me up
on high above those that rose up against me. It is God that
has delivered me from the violent man. Isn't that our testimony? God did this. We don't give ourself
the credit for anything. We realize God did this and we
rejoice in that. Therefore I will, verse 50, therefore
I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen. Now,
this is the only response to grace. The giving of thanks. What else is there to do? If
God has done this for me, I will give thanks. You know, the Lord
Jesus, during His time on earth, was always thanking the Father.
for everything. And we are to do that as well. I love the way Paul said in Romans
chapter 1 verse 8, first, first, this comes first. I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. And I love the way Paul wouldn't
just say, I thank God. He knows even when he says that,
my thanksgiving is sinful unless it's mediated through the Lord
Jesus Christ. I can't even thank God except
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now that should be the best thing
we could ever do, is thank God, praise God. But I wouldn't dare
want my thanks or my praise to be seen apart from the Lord Jesus
Christ. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Giving thanks, Paul said in Colossians
1, 12, to the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now, child of God,
right now, right now, you're meet for heaven. You're fit for
heaven. You're perfectly holy. Do you
know you're not gonna be any more holy in heaven than you
are right now? Now, that can only be known by
faith. But it's so, and that lets us know how much the flesh
drags us down, but you have the same holiness right now that
you'll have in glory. He has made you meet right now
to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Don't
you thank the Lord for that? You don't have anywhere else
to look, do you? But to thank the Lord for that. First Thessalonians 5.18, in
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Whatever you're going through
right now, give thanks for it. It's God's perfect will for you. Even the bad things, yes, even
the bad things. There's no such thing as bad
things. They're all good in Christ. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. I love what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2.13,
we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
And what is more amazing than that, that God chose you? He passed by many others. And
he chose you. We're bound to thank God for
that. And I want to do this before
the heathen. Look what he says in verse 50. Therefore, I will
give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will
sing praises unto thy name. I love what David said in Psalm
8. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth.
And his name is his attributes. I'll give thanks. Aren't you
thankful that He's sovereign, that He controls everything?
Aren't you thankful for His justice? Aren't you thankful for His mercy?
Aren't you thankful for His grace? Aren't you thankful that He is
who He is? Oh, His glorious attributes.
We sing praises before the heathen. I'm proud of the Lord, aren't
you? I'm proud of Him. I'm proud of the way He is. I'm
proud of His gospel. I love the gospel we believe.
It's worthy of God. It glorifies Him. And we're proud
of Him. Verse 51, He is the tower of
salvation for His King. And really the first half of
this psalm is about the Lord delivering, God the Father delivering
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful, well we've
already looked at it a couple of months ago, and what a tower
of salvation He is to us. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous run into it and are safe. Now, look at
this statement, he is the tower of salvation for his king, and
he showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed forevermore. Now, this concept, and I've been
thinking about this, it's something that I've not dealt with the
way it ought to be dealt with. He showeth mercy unto his anointed
David, which is speaking of Christ, and to his seed forevermore. Now this concept of seed is huge
in the scripture. In the New Testament, the word
seed is literally sperm. It is life. It is life that comes
from life. the seed of God. And notice he
says to Christ and His seed, mercy is promised forevermore. That means it's always been and
it always will be. It's eternal. Eternal mercy. I had mercy as the seed of Christ
before the foundation of the world. And I'll always have His
mercy on me because of the seed. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
turn with me for a moment to Galatians chapter 3. Now this
stuff that I'm going to talk about, the seed of Christ, I
don't understand this, but I believe it. I like it that way. I don't understand
this. I don't understand how I've been
eternally united to Christ as the seed. I don't understand
how When I get to heaven, I'll find out I've always been there
in the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed. This is stuff that is beyond
intellectual comprehension, but we believe. We believe. Now look in Galatians chapter
3. Verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, plural,
as of many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ is the seed of God. Christ is the life of God. There's not a bunch of seeds.
There's only one seed. the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down
at verse 19 of this same chapter. Wherefore then serveth the law,
it was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made. Now who is that seed to whom
the promise was made? That's the Lord Jesus. And what
was the promise? I'll give you a people. If you
pay for their sins, if you work out a perfect righteous for them,
if you save them, I will give you a people. He's the seed to
whom the promise was made. There's one seed, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if I have life, that life
came from this seed, this life of God. Now, once again, do I
understand this? No. Do I believe it with all
my heart? I wanna show you some other scriptures
with regard to the seed. Turn to Romans chapter nine. Verse 6, It's not as though the
word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Just because someone was born
an Israelite doesn't mean he's a true Israelite. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Now, who are the children
of the promise? Well, you go on reading this
passage of Scripture, what's it talking about? Election. Look in verse
9, For this is the word of promise, At this time I will come, and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebekah
also was conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the
children, being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. not of works, but of him that calleth. Now that's the
seed that can't be separated from Christ. Christ is the one
seed and the children are the seed. Look in Romans chapter
four, verse 16. Therefore it is a faith, let's
talk about salvation. How can I know if I'm saved?
Do I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God? Do I believe
that Christ is all that God requires of me? Do I rest in Him only
as all my salvation? That's what faith is. Therefore,
salvation is a faith. The evidence that God has done
something for you is believing the gospel. Faith is the evidence. It's the evidence of things hoped
for. Now, therefore it, salvation, is a faith that it might be by
grace to this end that the promise might be sure to who? To all
the seed, all the seed, David and his seed forevermore. Turn to 1 Peter 1. Verse 23. being born again, born from above,
not of corruptible seed, Adam's seed, which, you know the reason
I'm born a sinner? Adam. I was in his loins. I sinned when he sinned and all
of his seed is corrupt. That's the reason we're born
sinners, we're sons and daughters of Adam. Being born again, not
of corrupt seed, but of incorruptible. Incorruptible by the Word of
God. which liveth and abideth forever. Now that's the seed I've been
birthed from. That's the seed I've been given
life, the Word of God. And I think this is so glorious.
The Word of God is the Lord Jesus Christ, but it can't be separated.
He can't be separated from the actual content of the gospel.
Look what, here's the incorruptible seed which lives and abides forever
for all, verse 24, for all flesh is his grass. And all the glory
of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower
thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever, that incorruptible seed. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you." This is the gospel. Now let me
show you one other scripture. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. Whosoever, verse nine, 1 John
chapter three, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. I was talking to a preacher about
this passage of scripture just in the last few weeks. And he
said, well, that means whoever's born of God doesn't practice
sin. How do you fit in there? How
do you fit in there? You practice sin? Somebody says,
no, you're a liar. You're a liar. He that is born
of God doth not..." Well, that means he doesn't practice sin.
It's not his usual practice. Well, oh boy. I feel that's disgusting. I'm not lying. Yeah, you are.
Let's go on reading. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed, the seed of God, The new nature,
the holy nature, remaineth in him, and look at the next statement,
and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. He has the seed of God in him,
and this is talking about the new nature. It's not talking
about the old nature. All the old nature does is sin.
Somebody says, I don't practice sin. Yeah, you do. That's all
your old nature does. Nothing else but that. But you
have a new nature called the seed of God that doth not commit
sin. Now somebody says, I don't see
that. I don't either. I don't either. And I don't expect
to because I still have an old nature that's always breathing
on me and that I'm conscious of. But I have a new nature that
loves God. that does not commit sin, that
looks to Christ only. You see, that which is born of
God, can God sin? No. Can the new birth sin, that which
is born of the Spirit, that which is born of God, the new man,
the new creature in Christ Jesus. I like what Peter calls it when
he calls it that Spirit not subject to corruption and talking about
the meek and quiet Spirit which is in the sight of God of great
price. This holy nature does not sin. Well, I can't see any
part of me that doesn't sin. I can't either. But this is what the
Bible teaches. And I believe that I've got a
nature that cannot sin. That's the nature that believes
the gospel. That's the nature that loves
Christ. And that's the seed. Why is it? I love this. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in
him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Now back to our text. Maybe this
verse will mean something more to us now. In 2 Samuel 23, Or 22, verse 51, he is the tower
of salvation for his king and showeth mercy to his anointed
unto David and to his seed. Forevermore, eternal salvation
to the seed. Now this is big in scripture.
I've heard somebody say recently that one of the biggest concepts
in the book of Genesis, which is the whole Bible, is the concept
of the seed. The seed of woman, not Adam's
seed. The seed of woman shall crush the serpent's head. And
then we have Abraham's seed. Let me show you one other passage
of scripture that I think will make this... Genesis 17. Or Genesis 18, I'm sorry. Verse 17 of Genesis 18. And the Lord said, Shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall
surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he
will command his children and his household after him, and
they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment,
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken. Now does that mean Abraham, he's
such a good parent, that all of his kids are going to be perfect.
They're going to keep the ways of the Lord. They're going to
keep judgment. They're going to do justice because
he's going to be such a superior parent. Now, that's the way a
lot of people interpret this, you know, but he was such a good
parent. Was he? Read what he says about his own
kids in Genesis 49. I mean, he knew them, and he
said some pretty bad things about them. Unstable, instruments of
cruelty, habitation, I mean, just really bad stuff. What this
is talking about is Abraham's spiritual seed. Every one of
them are going to believe the gospel because they have the
seed of God in them. Thank God for this glorious seed. Amen.