King David’s life was a life in which we all can relate. David had great disappointments and great times of joy and happiness. He had inward and outward struggles, great sins and times of moral clarity and purity, He had loves and loves lost, but David recognized one constant and sure thing in his life. It was God.
When we meet David in 2 Samuel we meet him near the end of his life. He is reflecting on all that had happened to him. We often do you, especially around the New Year or around our birthday. We take time to reflect on all the things we wish had never happened and the things we wish had. But David, more so, is reflecting on the fact that through all the things he went through God was there for Him.
Many times David found himself in situations he thought he might not escape, but he thanks God here for his protection. God had been a firm foundation in his life, a rescuer in the time of dire trouble. He knew that whoever and whatever came against him that God was his refuge and stronghold.
It reminds me of the story of a mother and her little four-year-old daughter who were preparing to retire for the night. The child was afraid of the dark, and the mother, on this occasion alone with the child, felt fearful also. When the light was out, the child caught a glimpse of the moon outside the window. “Mother,” she asked, “is the moon God’s light?” “Yes,” said the mother. The next question was, “Will God put out His light and go to sleep?” The mother replied, “No, my child, God never goes to sleep.” Then out of the simplicity of a child’s faith, she said words that gave reassurance to the fearful mother, “Well, as long as God is awake, there is no sense both of us staying awake.”
It doesn’t matter if we are God’s chosen king like David or small child afraid of the dark. God is always the calm place in times of fear and perceived danger. In God we find a sure arm.
David looks back on his life and remembers how God’s power was evident in impossible situations. He remembered those times when outnumbered on all sides that God’s power was displayed in victory. David learned the truth of Jesus when he said, “Without Me ye can do nothing.”
It reminds me of the words of the Hymn “One Beside Us”
It says, “Without Me ye can do nothing.”Lord, I know, I know! “Without Me ye can do nothing”—Only a big “0.”Stand by my side, O Master, Then One and 0 become ten; Stand by me friend and we, Lord—We can be a hundred then. A little group of two or three are gathered in Thy name—it’s a hundred or a thousand if You are standing there with them. Stand by the side of each of us—
Your servants in the fight—with each new “nothing” our numbers grow and the demons of hell take fright. Ten thousand millions-myriads—An adjustment to our thinking—’Tis the One who stands beside us who brings value to our “nothings.”
David also looked back on his life and despite all that he had went through he noticed that God always provided. Whether it was food, or weapons, or a place to hide God always provided.
When I think of what God has provided for his people in Christ I too have to give God thanks. God has provided in Christ a love that can never be fathomed; A life that can never die; A righteousness that can never be tarnished; A peace that can never be understood; A rest that can never be disturbed; A joy that can never be diminished; A hope that can never be disappointed; A glory that can never be clouded; A light that can never be darkened; A happiness that can never be interrupted; A strength that can never be enfeebled; A purity that can never be defiled; A beauty that can never be marred; A wisdom that can never be baffled; And resources that can never be exhausted.
David looked back at his life and was overwhelmed by God’s justice. It was a justice that David himself experienced. When David wronged, when David sinned he felt God’s justice upon his life. David was still thankful that God held him accountable for his life and actions, because it also meant that God didn’t let those around David get away with it either. It was a justice that David saw as perfect. It overlook the sins of anyone.
In a Japanese street there was a sudden commotion. A man leaped at another one and started beating him with shrieking fury. “Confess,” he yelled. “No,” gasped his victim, “I didn’t do it!”
This was the culminating scene of a Japanese tragedy—a man sent to prison for a crime he had not committed.
Many years ago, a traveler was robbed and killed on a lonely road, and Ishimatsu Yoshida was accused. Two witnesses against him sealed his fate. He went to prison, where he stayed for twenty-three years.
Finally he was released, and immediately began a hunt for his two accusers. One of them he soon found, and forced that witness to admit his testimony had been false and that the crime had actually been committed by the accusing witness.
After this Ishimatsu’s search was intensified. Month after month he hunted far and wide until after a year he found his second false accuser, spied him on the street, and flew at him with the bitterness of twenty-three years in prison. “Confess that you committed the murder,” he yelled as he beat the man with mad fury.
The other denied it, until finally, under the terror of the attack, he admitted: “Yes, I confess, I killed him.” Ishimatsu Yoshida reopened his case and won a retrial. He was exonerated and proclaimed innocent, but he couldn’t get back those twenty-three years.
In this world we experience injustice. People get away with crimes. They steal and lie, abuse and murder. They plot and foil the best laid plans. They take portions of our life from us, but we can have the assurance of God’s justice like David. Unless they are acquitted by their repentance and cleansing of their sins through Christ, and unless they dedicate themselves to live in love with God and neighbor they will not escape God’s justice. “Vengeance is mine, thus saith the Lord.” So as we hear Paul and even Jesus say, “Bless your enemies. Do good to them and in doing so your acts of kindness will be a witness against their wickedness and their refusal of God’s love and forgiveness in the end. It will be as if you had helped heap burning coals upon their head.” We also have the assurance of Jesus Christ that in Christ the time stolen from us here on earth by those who hurt us will be restored and eternity will be ours.
David looks back at his life and he is overwhelmed by the faithfulness and dependability of God. Through good times and in bad times God had never forsaken him. God over and over again in my own life has shown me that He is faithful. It reminds me of the tale of the Robbins.
A Canadian pastor, in a period of great turmoil, received the faithful help of God he needed from reading about the following true incident. In his town the local parks commission had been ordered to remove the trees from a street they were going to widen.
As they were about to begin, the foreman and his men noticed a robin’s nest in one of the trees and the mother robin sitting on the nest. The foreman ordered the men to leave the tree until later.
Returning, they found the nest occupied by little wide-mouthed robins. Again they left the tree. When they returned at a later date they found the nest empty. The family had grown and flown away. But something at the bottom of the nest caught the eye of one of the workmen—a soiled, little white card.
When he had separated it from the mud and sticks, he found that it was a small Sunday school card and on it the words, “We trust in the Lord our God”
The God who knows the number of hairs on your head, the God who knows when a sparrow’s life ends, the God who knows every mistake we will ever make and any danger we will face is the faithful God on whom you can trust. And in these days of uncertainty and financial turmoil this is something you can take to the bank.
David in this chapter then begins to thank God. He calls God the warrior. The God who gave him everything he ever really needed, the strength to overcome, the skill to conquer every bad situation that entered his life, and somewhere in throws of thanksgiving I am certain that David’s thanksgiving turned into worship.
As he has pondered God’s faithfulness sin thanksgiving, his heart makes a turn and in an act of worship he cries out writing, “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!
I have experienced times when my thanksgiving has turned into times of praise and worship, but our true praise and worship results when our hearts like David’s begins to appreciate God. It births a love for God, and because of God’s faithfulness we learn to exalt and worship our God at every moment, in every situation, and in love and sincerity.
A.W. Tozer when meditating on this passage came to the conclusion that the more He learned about God, the more God proved Himself over and over in his life. This was Tozer’s evidence that he need to respond by exalting God even more in his life.
People all the time are exalting diet plans that worked for them, investments that worked out for them, movies they liked and books that touched them, but this God of ours ought to be highly exalted in our life at every turn.
Tozer inspired by our scripture today wrote this prayer in his book the Pursuit of God.
“O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase; let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, "Hosanna in the highest."
Some time ago Puerto Rican churches had to make some changes in order to comply with the government’s announced war on noise. In some cases, members had to restrain themselves in singing and praying; in others, amplifiers had to be turned down or off, and instruments muted.
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled, after a fourteen-year delay, that churches cannot produce noise that will annoy neighbors and that they must limit the volume of sound. A dispute had erupted over the noise produced by the Pentecostal Church of God in San Juan. Traditional Christmas masses were nearly cancelled in a Catholic church in San Juan when a neighbor reportedly complained that the music would disturb his early-morning sleep. Catholic and Protestant leaders alike sounded off against the new regulations.
Now I don’t know if this has changed in Puerto Rico, but I do know that there are some in our nation that would like all Christians to be quiet. Now I know that many of the things the church believes, the world does not. It is hard for the world to understand the love, unity, and wholeness that God has provided in His plan and order for life, especially when it has been taught everything contrary to God’s word.
Because of this there are many churches that fail to speak the truth in love. Some in response to the world’s rejection become militant and come across angry and hateful. I reject both of these approaches to Christianity, but I also reject the idea that I must close my lips and suppress the exaltation of my God in any area of my life. Whether I am at school, or at work I resent the idea that I must deny myself, by denying the God I am ever grateful too. I was raised to believe that this is a free country and like our forefathers and mothers of old I will fight for that freedom, and I will fight in the character and power of Christ.
Do not let your exaltation of God be quieted because of your busy calendar, or because others might take offense. Speak proudly of your affections for the Lord. Speak proudly of the God who provides and helps, protects, saves, and is faithful in every area of your life. Exalt Him. He is savior, redeemer, life giver, and life sustainer. God is just and fair, He is love and He has given His life on the cross for our mistakes and sins and has drawn us close to himself. For once we were enemies and apart from God, but now we are sealed and children of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All Illustrations are taken from - Tan, Paul Lee: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers. Garland TX : Bible Communications, 1996, c1979
