Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 22
Okay, you can turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 22. 2 Samuel chapter 22. We covered most of this chapter last week. We left off at verse 31, but I'll read the whole chapter because it does go together as a unit. Remember, these last several chapters in 2 Samuel, beginning in chapter 21, are a final assessment of David's reign, chapters 21 to 24.
They serve as a precursor or a transition to the succession narrative in 1 Kings 1 and 2, where Solomon occupies the throne of his father David. And this final assessment in chapters 21 to 24 is favorable and positive. Certainly David did not live as a sinless man. He did not live as a perfect man, but he was indeed a faithful man to God Most High in his role as the king over Israel.
And in many respects, this is David's assessment, a theological assessment of his career. If persons were tempted to study all that had preceded this and saw David victorious in battle, they might conclude that David was a military strategist of the highest order, that he was a proven warrior, that he was trained with weaponry, that he was skillful in the art of war. but David wants to make sure nobody is left with that impression. He wants the reader to know that the reason for his success is the power of God Almighty. In other words, David wasn't David as the king over Israel without the muscle of God behind him.
So, beginning in 2 Samuel 22 at verse 1, And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, the God of my strength and whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid, the sorrows of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God.
He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry entered his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth.
Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down with darkness under his feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew, and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness, canopies around him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before him, coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me. for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place.
He delivered me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands. He has 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 as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyes. With the merciful, you will show yourself merciful.
With a blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. With the pure, you will show yourself pure. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down.
For you are my lamp, O Lord. The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God except the Lord, and who is a rock except our God?
God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on high places. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of your salvation.
Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me so my feet did not slip. I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. Neither did I turn back again until they were destroyed.
And I have destroyed them and wounded them so that they could not rise. They have fallen under my feet. For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose against me.
You have also given me the necks of my enemies, so that I destroyed those who hated me. They looked, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but He did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I trod them like dirt in the streets, and I spread them out.
You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people. You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners submit to me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock.
Let God be exalted, the rock of my salvation. It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me.
You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name. He is the tower of salvation to his king and shows mercy to his anointed. To David and his descendants forevermore.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said last week, this is also Psalm 18. There are differences in terms of the wording, in terms of some of the phrases, but it's the same essential psalm. Most likely David sang a version of this while he was living. He comes to compose this toward the end of his life.
He prepares as well Psalm 18 to contribute to the chief musician for the songs of Zion, for the nation of Israel, to sing in their public worship to the living and true God. So, if you compare 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, you will see that they are essentially the same. The psalm breaks down probably in a whole host of ways, but we're approaching it under three considerations, two of them we looked at last week. In the first place, the deliverance of God's servant.
Notice in verse 1, it speaks specifically to David's oppression by Saul. David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. So that first section deals with the deliverance from Saul, who sought David, who persecuted David, who hunted David, who wanted ultimately to destroy David, and from the enemies such as the Philistines and whatnot. So in verses 1 to 20, we see the deliverance of God's servant.
In verses 21 to 31, we consider the faithfulness of God's servant. We'll touch on that again at the end of our study tonight, just so we're not mistaken concerning David's assertion of his righteousness in verse 21. And then as well, tonight we're going to look at verses 32 to 51 under the consideration of the invincibility of God's kingdom. The invincibility of God's kingdom.
Davis says that this particular section corresponds in bulk to verses 2 to 20. Although the emphasis here is not on the king's deliverance, but on his dominion. Again, David asserting the reality that any victory he has enjoyed, any success that he has achieved, is not by his might nor by his strength, but it's attributed directly to the power and the majesty and the excellence of Israel's God.
The Invincibility of God's Kingdom
So let's look at the invincibility of God's kingdom in four considerations. First, the power behind the kingdom. Secondly, the people encompassed by the kingdom. Thirdly, the praise ascribed to the God of the kingdom.
And then finally, the promise that advances the kingdom.
The Power Behind the Kingdom
Note the power of God in verses 32 to 37. For who is a God except Yahweh? And who is a rock except our God? I love when the psalmists and the men in Scripture make this assertion.
When they make this question and they ask, who is God except the Lord? Obviously, the answer is no one. There is no living and true God save Yahweh. And in highlighting this, what the author does is stress the incomparability of God.
There is nothing that you can compare the living and true God to. He is not creature. He has not been fashioned. He has not been assembled out of some God parts.
He is creator. He is removed from us. He is distinct from the creature. And so David rightly asks, who is God except the Lord?
This question becomes the foil upon which that he can then answer and ascribe majesty and power to the Lord Most High. He ascribes or he says concerning God, He is my strength and power and He makes my way perfect. As Davis says, David's kingdom rests on Yahweh's muscle. It's not on David's muscle, it's not on his ability as we've already outlined, but rather it's on the fact that God is strength, God is power, He makes my way perfect.
David then highlights the fact that God makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my high places. We referred to this when we looked at Habakkuk 3 a few weeks ago. Habakkuk lifts this from Psalm 18, which of course is 2 Samuel 22. He makes my feet like the feet of deer.
This is the stability that God affords to His servant. When we trace and we rehearse and we have gone through at length the life of David, he had a lot of issues and he had a lot of sorrows and he had a lot of trials and difficulties. The Lord Christ is identified in Isaiah 53 as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The Lord Christ is also identified as David's son.
And so if the Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, certainly His Father, according to the flesh, David, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I mean, how could you not be fleeing from Saul? How could you not be facing, you know, the various enemies from without, when you're going through this, how do you manage if God is not there as your power, as the one who makes your way perfect, and as the one who makes your feet like the feet of deer and sets you on high places? He is the one that affords stability in the midst of difficulty.
Now, the fact that David composed this psalm, gave it to the chief musician, and put it in the psalter for the church at large to sing forever and ever is indicative of the fact that this is not only the case for David, but it is the case for all those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ. We can all say and we can all attest and we can all ascribe the same sorts of things to God. We might say in the midst of our sorrows and our difficulties and our hardships, who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock except our God?
The statement or the assertion that God is a rock, comes from the song of Moses in Deuteronomy. And it does not mean that he's static or inert or that he doesn't have any affection or love or perfections toward his people. It bespeaks his stability. It bespeaks his unchanging faithfulness, his steadfastness to his people.
And so as David includes this among the larger collection of Psalms, in the Psalter, it's for all of God's people to sing, it's for all of God's people to testify to, and it's for all of us to consider and to take to heart. It is He who makes our feet like the feet of deer, and He sets us on high places. Any stability that you know in your life has been given to you by the living and true God. You're not stable because you've just become well-adjusted.
You're not stable because you're emotionally brighter than the person next to you. I hope that's not the case, but we're all looking at who's next to us. You're stable because of God. And this is the assertion in Psalm 46, be still and know that I am God.
What comforts the people of God? What keeps their feet like the feet of deer? What keeps them in that posture of being able to face the trials and the difficulties? It's the knowledge of our God who is a rock.
This God who is our strength, this God who is our power, this God who makes our way perfect. He is the one that affords stability to His servants, And David sees this as cause to praise, cause to rejoice, cause to celebrate. This psalm was written to be chanted and sung in Israel. It wasn't a dirge, it wasn't a lament, it was a song of praise to the living and true God.
Notice that David then goes on to highlight how God has furnished him for battle. Verse 35,
God Furnishes His Servant for Battle
he teaches my hands to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. Now in just a moment, he's going to reflect upon the fact that he has utterly decimated his enemies. And as we've considered 1 and 2 Samuel, David has won some very amazing battles in terms of the enemies of God. But he ascribes that strength to God Most High.
He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. This is His ascription. God provides. The incomparable God, the God of strength and power, this God not only has these resources, but He provides them to His people.
There's something we need to understand, I think, that we saw vividly in Matthew chapters 8 and 9. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses authority. We know that He can speak to the wind and the waves. We know that He can raise the dead.
We know that He can cure the blind and He can make the mute speak and the deaf hear. He can do all those things. But if He does not have the compassion or the desire or the will to engage in that, then it's really not that good of news. But our Savior is both willing and able, as 393 says when we sing it.
He is able, He is able, He is able. He is willing, doubt no more. The same is true concerning God in the Old Testament. David knows that the Lord is all that he's ascribed to him, but he also knows that God provides, God gives, God sustains.
God gives these resources to David so that David can indeed go out to battle. He indicates in verses 36 and 37, you have also given me the shield of your salvation. And I love this, your gentleness has made me great. Now, you've probably heard those people that think that the Old Testament is filled with gloom and doom and war and hardship and all manner of blood and guts and horrible things.
Look at what David says concerning God. Your gentleness has made me great. The fact that God, in His dealings with David, has been gentle with David, that's what's led to David's military victories, to David's fame spreading throughout the earth, and the reality that David had indeed become a great man. He doesn't say, I'm a great man because I went to the best schools, I'm a great man because I made the best deals, I'm a great man because God Most High has been gentle in His dealings with me.
Great turn of phrase there. He then says in verse 37, you enlarged my path under me so my feet did not slip. Something you see often in David. In the Psalms, here in 2 Samuel 22, David rejoices in stability.
You know what, this time in the life of the church, everybody wants excitement. Stability was good enough for David. He had enough excitement. Stability was the most blessed reality for him.
I think at times we get bored with the mundane. We ought not to get bored with the mundane. We ought to be very thankful that life is indeed stable. We ought to be very thankful that the Lord God, in the language of David, enlarges our path under us so that our feet do not slip.
We may not ever be a Spurgeon, we may not ever be an Edwards, we may not ever be, you know, whoever the best guy in your career field is, but if we are stable because of the grace of the living God, what more could we ever want? I mean, that is most blessed. and most wonderful, and as David writes praise to God, he rejoices in stability over and over and over again. And then notice, specifically in verses 38 to 43, he highlights the reality of his victory. He says, I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them.
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. Here's the opponent of the Old Testament saying, oh, here's the war, here's the warfare and the bloodshed and all that sort of thing. Yes, exactly. God Most High raised up Israel to occupy the land of Canaan, to dispossess the Canaanites from the land so that Israel could occupy, so that Israel could receive the promised blessing given to Abraham.
Holy War and God's Righteous Judgment
In fact, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7 for just a moment. I alluded to this the other day, we ought to refresh ourselves concerning God's command to His people, Israel, with reference to holy war. Deuteronomy 7 verse 1, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages with them.
You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. but thus you shall deal with them, you shall destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire." Now that makes humanists go nuts and unfortunately it makes professing Christians go nuts because we become limp-wristed and weak concerning our vision of a triune God. The Lord God Most High is just and righteous and He executes judgment upon the earth. Now in this instance, He raises up Israel and sends them into the land in order to destroy the inhabitants.
Let's go back to Leviticus 18. Some of the rationale involved in all of this. Again, the idea being that God sent Israel in to destroy those poor innocent Canaanites. They weren't poor innocent Canaanites.
Notice in Leviticus 18.24, the prohibition here is specifically with reference to sexual sin. No adultery, no homosexuality, no bestiality. And then in verse 24, do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants." You see that?
The Canaanites weren't a bunch of innocent people just growing vineyards and having businesses and engaging in commerce and not doing anything unsavory. No, God the Lord says they're guilty of adultery, homosexuality, bestiality. and the land is going to vomit out its inhabitants. Verse 26, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you, and thus the land is defiled.
Lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. Now, we know that in the future, post-David, the land does vomit out Israel from its mouth. Because Israel does conduct themselves in the same way that the Canaanites did. And so God raises up Assyria to send them in to destroy the northern kingdom.
Later, God will raise up Babylon and send them in to destroy the southern kingdom. But all this to say that this instruction concerning holy war is being carried out by David, and this is cause for praise, and it's not cause for embarrassment. In other words, this is David and Israel functioning as God commanded them to function. The church ought not to be embarrassed about this.
We ought not to try and explain it away. We ought to meet the objections of the God-haters who say, well, that just seems harsh and unkind and untoward. We ought to respond by saying, our God is holy. Our God must punish sin. the nations of the earth before our Lord engaged in the sorts of things indicated in Leviticus 18.
So God raises up Israel, He sends them in to chasten, to discipline and to judge those Canaanites. When Israel falls prey to the same sorts of sins, God raises up other nations and sends them in. We get into the New Testament and Jesus takes up that image of that language when He speaks to the church in Laodicea. He says, because you're neither hot nor cold, I will what?
I will vomit you out of my mouth. You see, in the Old Covenant, the land that was given via promise to Abraham is that by which the people are vomited out. In the New Covenant, those who falsely profess faith in Jesus Christ, those who play games with reference to the church of Jesus Christ, those who conduct themselves like Laodiceans, that are neither hot nor cold, He is going to spit from His mouth. And for those who misunderstand what Jesus is saying in that statement, he's not saying that hot represents vital, earnest Christianity and cold is blatant atheism.
Jesus is not saying, I would wish that you were atheists. That would be more pleasing to me. That's not the point of the metaphor. That's not the point of the analogy.
There is pleasure in hot drinks in our mouths. There is pleasure in cold, refreshing drinks in our mouths. The cities around Laodicea at that particular time, Colossae for instance, was known for their fresh and refreshing cold water, and Hierapolis was known for their medicinally hot healing water. And Laodicea was such that it had to be piped in, and when this water was piped in it was lukewarm.
Well, the religion of the Laodiceans mocked the very water that was piped into their city. It wasn't refreshing and cold and that which invigorates, and it wasn't hot and medicinal, it was lukewarm. It was this pathetic, wretched, anemic Christianity that never seeks to do anything for the Lord God Most High, that comes and shows up and just sort of mumbles through the hymns, doesn't pay attention at the preaching of God's Word, thinks about everything that's going on in the coming week, never goes out and does a nice thing for a brother or sister, the kind of Christianity that never calls anybody, that never seeks to exhort one another daily while it is called today, the kind of Christianity that more often than not is practiced in mass Jesus says, if you engage in that kind of nonsense, I will spit you out of my mouth. The way that Canaan, the land, spit out those wretched Canaanites, and then those wretched Israelites who came after them.
So when we see David rehearsing the glory and the power of God in the destruction of his enemies, instead of embarrassment, We rejoice, we sing with the saints in heaven a fourfold hallelujah. He says, I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them, neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed, and I have destroyed them and wounded them so that they could not rise. They have fallen under my feet. Four, here's the reason.
Why is it, David, that you have received or you have engaged in such victory? For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose against me. You have also given me the necks of my enemies so that I destroyed those who hated me.
Have you ever considered those in the world and those in the church that are embarrassed by such passages? They put themselves on a higher plane than God Almighty. In other words, they're so supra-righteous, they can't even imagine the thought that those Canaanites would be killed in battle by these Israelites. It's almost as if to say, well, you know, we're much more superior in our ethical theory than God is.
God approves of David. God legitimizes David. God gives the victory to David. So if it's a worldling or it's some sort of a Christian that's imbibed this idea that the Old Testament God of war is a harsh, nasty being that we really don't like and we're thankful that Jesus has come to replace him, that is nonsensical and it finds no warrant in scripture whatsoever.
That Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 6 is the one that the Bible describes that men are trying to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb. In fact, turn there. I think it's important for us because somehow this gets in our heads that we get a little bit embarrassed by what goes on in that Old Testament. We don't see the fact that God's gentleness makes David great.
We just see the bloodshed of the Canaanites and we freak out. We forget that this is a moral universe. God is a just judge and God most willingly and earnestly renders judgment upon the wicked.
The Wrath of the Lamb in Revelation
Notice in Revelation 6.12, I looked when he opened the sixth seal. And behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of air, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up. and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath It's a terrifying image, isn't it? We ought to imitate God. God is a God of justice and of righteousness. The execution of justice is a joy to the righteous.
So Solomon says in the book of Proverbs. Why is it today? We have this embarrassment over what God does in the Old Testament. David ascribes the victory over his enemies to God Almighty.
Notice in verse 42, back in chapter 22 of 2 Samuel. They looked, but there was none to save." Probably a reference to the pagans, calling upon Baal, calling upon Molech. The god of the Philistines was Dagon. Was Dagon equipped to keep his people from the vengeance of David?
Absolutely not. When the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the temple of Dagon, what happens? Dagon falls down before it. They have to go and pick Dagon up.
As you've heard me say before, I will say it hopefully until my dying day. If you have to pick your god up and prop him up, you've got the wrong god. If you have to put his hands back on and you have to reattach his head, I would encourage you to find the god of heaven and earth. That's one of the things that differentiates the God of heaven and earth versus these pagan gods.
You have to pick up Dagon, you have to mend him, you have to put him together. It is Yahweh, the Lord of hosts, that picks up His people. It is Yahweh, the Lord of hosts, who mends His people. It is He who sustains, it is He who stabilizes, it is He who makes our way perfect, as David says.
So they looked, but there was none to save. You can hear the Philistines crying out to Dagon, from whom no blessing flows. And then he says in verse 42b, even to Yahweh, but he did not answer them. Probably a reference to Saul.
Remember that Saul was an Israelite king. He would have had at least some semblance of allegiance to Yahweh. He would have asked for help in the midst of battle. David says even to him, but he did not answer them.
He goes on to say, then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I trod them like dirt in the streets, and I spread them out. So that's the power behind the kingdom. The power of God is the reason for the victory of David.
The People Encompassed by the Kingdom
Note the people encompassed by the kingdom in verses 44 to 46. You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people. If you've been here for the last several weeks, this ought not to give you any concern whatsoever. I ought not to puzzle you.
You're probably not wondering, what does he mean, you have delivered me from the strivings of my people? We have seen that one of the constant trials for the King of Israel is not merely the external threat facing the people of God. It's the internal threat facing the people of God. The same is true for the church today.
It's not just the pagan government. It's not just them legislating immorality. It's not just them saying, you need to sanction homosexuality, you need to be okay with abortion, and you need to be okay with euthanasia. It's not just the external threat that the church poses.
Solomon speaks In Proverbs 6, about six things that Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him. You know what He doesn't say? The godless state. That's assumed.
I believe that in my heart of hearts. God abominates a godless state. But one thing that He does underscore at the very end of the list is one who sows discord among the brethren. It's unfortunate, there are external threats, but we ought to expect that, be prepared for that, pray against it, and do everything we can to maneuver through it.
It's the internal threats that cause great difficulty, like we studied in Galatians 1 on Sunday night. There are some who want to trouble you. There are some who want to take the gospel and twist it or distort it or make it some fuzzy mystical message that is devoid of any biblical justification, atonement, imputation, or anything concrete as Scripture sets it forth. Or you've got people that just like to stir up trouble.
They like to gossip. They like to slander. They like to say evil things about other people. They are an internal threat with reference to the church.
So when David says, you have also delivered me from the strivings of my people, one need only be reminded of Ish-bosheth. Remember after the death of Saul, David takes over the southern kingdom. Ish-bosheth, under Abner literally, is propped up as the king of the north. David has to deal with that as well.
The usurpation by Absalom. You think your son has given you difficulties? You think your son has given you sleepless nights? Imagine fathering Absalom, that man who went to the city gate and stole the hearts of Israel, stole the crown of his father, stole the throne of his father, and made David go packing out of Jerusalem.
That was an issue for David. God brought resolution. You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people." And then recently in 2 Samuel chapter 20, the rebellion of Sheba. It's not the case that David assumed the crown and just, you know, sat on easy street.
It's one of those things you see in these presidential campaigns. It's almost like this entitlement mentality. Once I get in the White House, well, I just get everything for free, or if I get into Ottawa. I just, you know, get nice cars, I get summer homes, I get...
What happened to the concept of service? The government is not there for us to serve them. They're supposed to serve us. Presidents and monarchs and prime ministers aren't there to be served, but they're supposed to serve.
They're supposed to model something of the servant leadership exemplified by Jesus. He said, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many. So you see, David didn't occupy the throne and just sit there and have attendants rub his feet and feed him grapes and massage his scalp. That was not the reality for David.
He had Philistines on the outside, he had usurpers on the inside, and he says to Yahweh, You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people. You have kept me as the head of the nations. That's no small feat. I mean, in the ancient Near Eastern world, that was no small task.
And the fact is that David occupied the throne for as long as he did, and as successfully as he did, because God kept him as the head of the nations.
External Nations Submit to David
Notice, he goes on to speak to the external. He says, a people I have not known shall serve me. There's a great example of this in the man called Toy from Hamath in 2 Samuel chapter 8. 2 Samuel chapter 8. We could rehearse several victories of David from external enemies.
The victory over Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, victory over the Philistines in 1 Samuel 18.8. That 1 Samuel 18.8 victory over the Philistines is particularly unique in the sense that at that time Saul is hunting David. So not only is Saul not doing his job in killing Philistines, he is doing the exact opposite in trying to kill the man who's killing the Philistines. I mean, Saul was just a wretch.
If you didn't get that on Sunday, hear me again. I mean, he's chasing David. David is being chased. And while David is being chased, he's dispatching Philistines.
He's dealing with Philistines. And he gives all glory and praise to God for this. But notice specifically in 2 Samuel 8, at verse 9. When Toy, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, then Toy sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him.
For Hadadezer had been at war with Toy. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, articles of gold, and articles of bronze. King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued. You see, Toy, king of Amath, heard about David, and Toy didn't want to face David on the field of battle.
So, Toy sends Joram to grease the wheels. He says, give him this gift, make peace with him. This is what David's referring to with reference to this provision that God has given to him. A people I have not known shall serve me.
I mean, here comes Toy via his son to bring tribute to King David. David adds that tribute to all that he has collected from the various nations and presents it in terms of a service to the Lord God Almighty. So he says, a people I have not known shall serve me. Verse 45, the foreigners submit to me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts. You see, that's the kind of effect that King David of Israel had upon his enemies. But you see, in all of this, we need to remember, it's not because King David had a mean face.
It's not because he had the biggest muscles in the kingdom. It's because God was behind him. It's because the Lord Most High sustained him. He made his way perfect.
He made him great. He caused his fame to spread because God brought victory to David. That's what David wants you to get. The secret of his success is no secret.
He writes about it throughout the Psalms, and he ascribes the praise and the glory to the living and true God. Brethren, let us learn that from David. Any good thing we ever have, any good thing we ever do, any stability that we enjoy, obviously the salvation that we have benefited from, let us praise our God. Why is it that when it comes time to singing hymns of praise or psalms of praise, it's hard to hear us at times?
I'm not necessarily speaking about us. I think the singing in our church is quite grand, actually. It's an encouragement to hear the people of God sing. But in other churches, it's like, what are we doing here?
We are in the presence of the great God of heaven and earth, who we confess has saved us by the blood of his precious Son. Shall we not praise? Shall we not worship? Shall we not take these tongues and present them in honor to the living and true God?
Why is it that we would approach Him with sluggishness, with lethargy, with apathy, or with a, well, I guess I have to attitude? It is the greatest privilege for the creature on this side of heaven to enter into the public place, the worship of the living and true God, and to sing praises with the saints in Zion. If the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob, what should that indicate to us? We ought to be in those gates of Zion singing praises with the people of Zion to this God for His so great a salvation to us.
Learn from David. He knew how to praise his God.
The Praise Ascribed to the God of the Kingdom
Now notice the third thing. The praise ascribed to the God of the kingdom. Verses 47 to 50. He can't stop himself.
He is in that mode, isn't he? He just can't stop praising God. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock.
Let God be exalted, the rock of my salvation. It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me.
You have delivered me from the violent man. He is the living God. The Lord lives. The Lord lives.
Do you know how many times the Bible refers to Him as the living God, contra the dead idols of the heathen? He is the living God. He has ears that, not physically, but He hears, and He sees, and He speaks, and He knows, and He's intimate with His people. The Lord lives.
Blessed be my rock, he says. Let God be exalted. That's David's instruction to the church. Let God be exalted.
Notice what he says in verse 4. He says, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. David, by example, is telling us what we are supposed to be doing when we gather before the Lord Most High. He is to be exalted.
He is to be praised. He is to be glorified. Now notice what he goes on to say in verse 50. He says, Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.
Interestingly enough, Paul quotes this in Romans 15, when Paul is dealing with the inclusion of Gentiles into the covenant promises of God. Well, that inclusion was known by David. It was known by Abraham. The fact that Gentiles would be included in the saving purpose of God wasn't something new at the advent of Christ.
This was the promise made to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It wouldn't just simply be the nation of Israel, but it would be this worldwide conglomeration from every tribe, tongue, people and nation, the Lord Christ would come to save them. And so David says, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. Now, we ought to observe something.
Hannah's Song and David's Retrospective
Keep your pencil in 2 Samuel 22 and go back to 1 Samuel 2. In many respects, 1 Samuel 2 and 2 Samuel 22 are helpful bookends to the entire Samuel narratives. In 1 Samuel 2, we have Hannah's song, and Hannah in her praise to God has a prospective view of the kingdom. I alluded to this last Wednesday.
A prospective means a forward-looking. You get a prospectus when you start school or a job that tells you what the requirements are, that tells you what you can expect in the future. Hannah's song is a prospective concerning the kingdom. Notice what she says in verse 10 of 1 Samuel 2.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. From heaven he will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
We get to 2 Samuel 22 and we get a retrospective view. David says, Hannah was right. David says, Hannah was absolutely right. The kingdom of Yahweh has been realized, the kingdom of Yahweh has been secured, and it will be advanced by the power, not of David, but by God.
Vanoi says, while Hannah's song anticipates the establishment of kingship in Israel, David's song celebrates both its realization and the remarkable promise associated with his own reign as the Lord's anointed one. It is these broad theological perspectives that provide the reader with the lens through which the narrative material of 1 and 2 Samuel is to be read. I think that's an accurate description. As we have had cause to know many times in our studies on Wednesday night, there's not always a theological comment by the author.
There's not always, you know, an extra verse or two that says, and this is what God was doing, and this is why God was doing it. We get to 2 Samuel 22, and we get, this is what God was doing, and this is why God was doing it. This is the explanation, or the assessment rather, of the theological interpretation of the success of David as the king over Israel.
The Promise That Advances the Kingdom
And then notice, in the final place, with reference to our study in 2 Samuel 22, the promise that advances the kingdom. the promise that advances the kingdom, verse 51. He is the tower of salvation to his king and shows mercy. That's that beautiful word hesed or steadfast love. He shows mercy to his anointed, that's David, to David and his descendants forevermore.
Now those of you who have been with us the entire study should be thinking 2 Samuel 7. That is crucial to understand the promise that advances the kingdom. As David refers to the mercy that God has shown to him, he then indicates or adds to David and his descendants forevermore. Where did we have a word concerning David and his descendants? 2 Samuel 7.
It's the promise of the Davidic covenant. In fact, you can turn there. 2 Samuel 7. We'll just read the last part. Remember the particular scene.
David is sitting in his house. He has a measure of success and victory, and he wants to build a house for Yahweh. This is a good desire, a good hope, a good longing. And he expresses this to Nathan the prophet.
God tells Nathan, you tell David that he's not going to build a house for me, but I'm going to build a house for him. And the house is specifically a dynasty. Notice 2 Samuel 7, 11. Since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies, also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house." He will make you a dynasty.
This is a reference to David's greater son, the Lord Jesus. Notice in verse 12, "...when your days are fulfilled, and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.
Now, anyone who has read Luke chapter 1 knows that Luke chapter 1 is alluding to this Davidic covenant. The Lord Jesus is the one who sits upon the throne of David and rules and reigns forever. The Apostle Peter interprets it in the same way. You see the Davidic Covenant in Psalm 89, Psalm 132.
So here David, rehearsing that, reflecting upon that, knows that it's because of this promise of God's steadfast love to His people that he will indeed advance the kingdom. He shows mercy to his anointed David, to David and his descendants forevermore. Again, Vannoy I think is appropriate here. He says, with this final statement, David shifts the focus from how the Lord had sustained him during the course of his own reign to the long-term implications of the Lord's promise to him that his dynasty would endure forever.
This statement serves as a transition to David's last words that immediately follow in 23, 1-7. And it anticipates the rise of messianic expectation in Israel that was linked with his royal line. You know, in our studies in Matthew, isn't that a big thing for the people? Is this the son of David?
What do you think they're thinking of? They're thinking 2 Samuel 7 and the promise that from David's line, one would sit upon the throne of Israel and his kingdom would have no end. So David ends this psalm of praise to the living God with this reference to the faithfulness of God as the means by which that this kingdom will be advanced to David and his descendants forevermore. Davis makes this observation on the author's use of hesed here.
He says, the mention of devoted love, David's seed, and the phrase for all time conjures up Yahweh's covenant promise to David in 7.12-16. This last verse reminds us that the kingdom and its grand finale do not depend on the lucky breaks of history, but on a decree that determines and shapes history. Because God's kingdom rests on God's promise, it is sure. Such certainty is urgent for God's often-battered people, for most of them can keep on trudging through many dangers, toils, and snares so long as they know their kingdom is invincible and sure.
And it is so because of this promise. and it's intriguing, based on 2 Samuel 7 and this promise that the son of David would build a house for God. Jesus speaks to that very thing in Matthew 16 when he says, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. You know what's really intriguing is that just prior to that, Peter confesses him as Jesus, the Son of the Living God. Jesus, the Son of God, comes to build a house for God in accordance with 2 Samuel 7.
That has significance certainly in the New Covenant, but for David it had significance in his own life, in his own reign, in his own ministry. As he looked down the tunnel of time, he realized that this promise was indeed sure because God Most High had affirmed it to him.
Application
Well, brethren, there are several things, but we only have a couple of minutes. First, we ought to appreciate the doctrine of God as presented to us in 2 Samuel 22. His being, we've mentioned His incomparability, no one like Him. We've mentioned the fact that He is the living God. as well his attributes.
It doesn't rehearse specifically justice, goodness, mercy, truth, all those particulars, but the various words employed by the author brings to our minds those particulars. The fact that he is rock or fortress or deliverer highlights the fact that he's immutable, the fact that he's good, the fact that he's kind to his people. He is shield. He is the horn of our salvation.
He is our stronghold, our refuge, our savior, our lamp. He is perfect. As well, we ought to appreciate in this Word, with reference to the doctrine of God, the Word of God. Notice in verse 31, we didn't cover this tonight, but last week, he says, As for God, His way is perfect.
The Word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Do you feel like that with your God? The Word of the Lord is proven.
I don't need 15 evidences to believe this particular promise. I have a thousand evidences just from today. The fact that I'm still breathing, the fact that I'm a blood-bot, the fact that I'm heaven-bound. The Lord God's Word is proven.
It's sure, it's a shield to all who trust in Him. And then as well, His providence. David describes the coming of God in terms of these battles in the language used at the Theophany in Sinai. The way God comes to Sinai, the way the mountains tremble, the way the lightnings come, the way the thunderous voice of God comes. in His providence, we are to interpret it that way.
It may seem like something insignificant, but when the Lord God brings victory, He does it with great glory. As well, the doctrine of soteriology, or salvation. David's righteousness, according to verse 21, is the righteousness of Christ imputed to him. David did not have a different doctrine of justification by faith.
In fact, the Apostle Paul developed his doctrine of justification by faith in large part because of David in Psalm 32. We cannot think that just because something is in the New Testament, it hasn't predated it in the Old Testament. For instance, in Romans 5.14, Paul tells us that Adam is a type of Christ. Does Adam become a type of Christ when Paul pens those words?
He becomes a type of Christ the moment he's hatched or the moment he's created. He is a type of Christ in the garden. Paul is simply theologizing and explaining it to us. In the same token, Paul takes Psalm 32 in Romans 4 and teaches the doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus.
You cannot tell me for a moment that David thought his righteousness was due to his perfection or his sinlessness. He knew that Jesus was his blood and righteousness. He knew that Jesus was his only hope. He was prospective in that regard, looking to the promised Messiah to come.
David understood imputation. David understood atonement. And David understood the doctrine of remaining corruption. Just rehearse Psalm 51 sometime.
Take not thine holy spirit from me. He says, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Isn't that the expression of a new covenant saint? Somebody that's in Christ?
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He doesn't say, save me. He was a saved man. But when he kept silent about his sins, his bones grew weary.
He was in pain. He was in turmoil. But once the Lord God comes and forgives him and deals mercifully with him, he says, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. David understood the doctrine of remaining sin.
As well, and I've already indicated this, but we ought to end here, the response of the church. The recognition of David, verses 4 and 47. 4 says, who is worthy to be praised. 47, let God be exalted. David recognized that God is worthy to be praised. David then responded by praising and by writing.
Now, what's the response of the church in light of this same God who is great and worthy to be praised? We ought to take the writings that David penned under the inspiration of the Spirit and we ought to praise God. We ought to be in the scriptures rehearsing the glory of God. praising and honoring our God for who He is and for what He has done. The response of the church is to join with David in praising this great God.
And the response of the church is to join with David in trusting this great God. Now, I don't think we have the same sorts of troubles that David has. I can't imagine what it would be like to administrate an entire kingdom. It's hard to get out of bed sometimes, isn't it?
And David was doing amazing things, killing Philistines, running from Saul, doing tremendous things. Well, he's up here, and God sustained and supplied and gave him grace through many dangers, toils, and snares. God will do the same for his people. that aren't up there. He doesn't say, well, you're not David, so you're not getting any grace.
No, all of the people of God who are in Jesus Christ get that grace, and we ought to praise Him and be comforted by that. Well, let us close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the Psalms and for these records of praise to our God. Help us to be faithful in this. Help us in private and in public to open our mouths, open our hearts and sing to you our great God. And help us to be in the Scriptures.
David certainly knew his God. He knew what adjectives and what attributes to ascribe to you. Help us to do so likewise. And just go with us now.
Bring us together on the Lord's day that we may worship you in spirit and truth. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.