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Blessed Be My Rock (Pt 2)
Psalm 18:20-50
July 14, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
The sermon starts at 17:55 in the audio file.
Or, Exalting in the God of Deliverance
Series: The Soundtrack of the Righteous
Life is hard, and then you sing about it. That’s not exactly how the saying goes, but it is the frequent minor theme of the Psalms. Many of these inspired poetic efforts teach God’s people which direction to moan in. Are you sick, slandered, attacked, or how about even guilty of sin? Select a song and go to God with it.
When I sit in the field as a shepherd and listen to the sheep, I hear a good number of Christians say that they get a good amount of comfort in tough times from the Psalms. Otherwise Bible-believing though not extremely concerned with the Old Testament Christians read the Psalms when life is hard. They appreciate David’s articulation of difficulty, his weeping, his cries for help, his emotive expressions of intention to trust the Lord. They are willing to say that they relate to David in many of these ways.
But I don’t remember ever hearing any Christian say that he relates to David when he wins. This isn’t to say that a claim to relate in some ways requires that a man relate in every way, of course not. Unlike David, we are not Jews, we are not kings, most of us have not been fugitives of our home state, nor have we killed a lion or bear with our bare hands, or committed adultery from palace rooftop ogling.
Yet we almost instinctively relate to his sad songs, and I believe we ought to learn how to hear, and match, the pitch of his glad songs, his triumph songs, as well. Psalm 18 is one of those victory psalms.
We are also watching for the ways in which this desire to win, and celebration of winning, are not that of a hypocrite. Look at the attitude of the man when he hasn’t won yet, consider the nature of the One to whom he looks for help, note what he expects to spend of himself in the process, and then see his response when the battle is finished.
Last Lord’s Day we considered the first two sections of the song. David expressed his affection for the Beloved Rock (verses 1-3), and for the Epic Rescuer (verses 4-19). Who knew that we’d get a little taste of the earth reeling and rocking, of the earth quaking (verse 7) so close to home?
This morning we have three more sections of the song, the Righteous Rewarder (verses 20-29), the Epic Sponsor (verses 30-45), and the Blessed Rock (verses 46-50). There’s a lot of song here to cover, but it’s a good song.
The Righteous Rewarder (verses 20-29)
David’s beliefs here cause the Sola Fide crowd some theological heartburn. What exactly is he claiming?
He begins in verse 20, and bookends it in verse 24, with a declaration of his righteousness, the second statement more bold than the first. Initially he claims that The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness and then finishes with the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. The “dealing” and the “rewarding” are parallel; they are different ways of saying the same thing. The LORD rewarded him for keeping his hands clean, twice (verses 20, 24).
Who can claim to be righteous before God? “There is none who does good,” also written by David, twice in Psalm 14, verses 1 and 3. There is “not even one.” And this is true, but it is not the only thing that is true. It can also be true that men obey God, keep their hands clean, and do what He says.
So David says, I have kept the ways of the LORD, all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. David didn’t do good on his own, he did good because he trusted God’s word to tell him what was good, and so he could say in this battle that he was blameless before God. (For the very nervous, note verse 32 when David says how he got to be blameless.) This is why David had confidence. He feared the LORD, and gave[...]
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By Trinity Evangel ChurchPsalm 18:20-50
July 14, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
The sermon starts at 17:55 in the audio file.
Or, Exalting in the God of Deliverance
Series: The Soundtrack of the Righteous
Life is hard, and then you sing about it. That’s not exactly how the saying goes, but it is the frequent minor theme of the Psalms. Many of these inspired poetic efforts teach God’s people which direction to moan in. Are you sick, slandered, attacked, or how about even guilty of sin? Select a song and go to God with it.
When I sit in the field as a shepherd and listen to the sheep, I hear a good number of Christians say that they get a good amount of comfort in tough times from the Psalms. Otherwise Bible-believing though not extremely concerned with the Old Testament Christians read the Psalms when life is hard. They appreciate David’s articulation of difficulty, his weeping, his cries for help, his emotive expressions of intention to trust the Lord. They are willing to say that they relate to David in many of these ways.
But I don’t remember ever hearing any Christian say that he relates to David when he wins. This isn’t to say that a claim to relate in some ways requires that a man relate in every way, of course not. Unlike David, we are not Jews, we are not kings, most of us have not been fugitives of our home state, nor have we killed a lion or bear with our bare hands, or committed adultery from palace rooftop ogling.
Yet we almost instinctively relate to his sad songs, and I believe we ought to learn how to hear, and match, the pitch of his glad songs, his triumph songs, as well. Psalm 18 is one of those victory psalms.
We are also watching for the ways in which this desire to win, and celebration of winning, are not that of a hypocrite. Look at the attitude of the man when he hasn’t won yet, consider the nature of the One to whom he looks for help, note what he expects to spend of himself in the process, and then see his response when the battle is finished.
Last Lord’s Day we considered the first two sections of the song. David expressed his affection for the Beloved Rock (verses 1-3), and for the Epic Rescuer (verses 4-19). Who knew that we’d get a little taste of the earth reeling and rocking, of the earth quaking (verse 7) so close to home?
This morning we have three more sections of the song, the Righteous Rewarder (verses 20-29), the Epic Sponsor (verses 30-45), and the Blessed Rock (verses 46-50). There’s a lot of song here to cover, but it’s a good song.
The Righteous Rewarder (verses 20-29)
David’s beliefs here cause the Sola Fide crowd some theological heartburn. What exactly is he claiming?
He begins in verse 20, and bookends it in verse 24, with a declaration of his righteousness, the second statement more bold than the first. Initially he claims that The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness and then finishes with the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. The “dealing” and the “rewarding” are parallel; they are different ways of saying the same thing. The LORD rewarded him for keeping his hands clean, twice (verses 20, 24).
Who can claim to be righteous before God? “There is none who does good,” also written by David, twice in Psalm 14, verses 1 and 3. There is “not even one.” And this is true, but it is not the only thing that is true. It can also be true that men obey God, keep their hands clean, and do what He says.
So David says, I have kept the ways of the LORD, all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. David didn’t do good on his own, he did good because he trusted God’s word to tell him what was good, and so he could say in this battle that he was blameless before God. (For the very nervous, note verse 32 when David says how he got to be blameless.) This is why David had confidence. He feared the LORD, and gave[...]