INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• I you take the time to examine the life of David; you will find that David lived an interesting life. He lived a life that at times you could see his faith in God shine through and at other times he seemed to struggle to find his bearings.
• No matter how far off David would stray, he always found his way back home.
• The times in which his faith really controlled his life were the times he was closest to God.
• Why did David have ups and downs in his walk with God? Why do we?
• How was David who was a man after God’s own heart capable of committing adultery and subsequently be responsible for the death of another person?
• What is it that keeps us close to God? How is it that we can follow Jesus for sometimes a long time and yet still not be Christ-like?
• The obvious answer is that none of us are nor will any of us be perfect no matter how hard we try.
• I believe that one of the reasons that David was able to always find his way back to God is that one, God pursued David. Even with YOUR THE MAN moment David had with the prophet Nathan, God was trying to get David’s attention.
• The second reason David was able to get back on track was that he had a life-changing view of God.
• The longer I live in Christ the more I realize that our view of God will affect how we live for Him.
• There are so many views of God even within the church. I used to assume early in my walk that ALL Christians had the same view of God, but the longer I serve the more I know that is not necessarily true.
• In our text today we will see the life-changing view of God that David possessed.
• This passage is repeated in Psalm 18 also. The text indicates that David wrote it in celebration of his deliverance from the hand of Saul and other enemies, but some feel that David wrote this after Absalom’s rebellion toward the end of David’s reign.
• Our view of God will either take us to a deeper relationship with God or it will keep us distant and aloof in our relationship.
• Let’s turn to 2 Samuel 22:1-3 top begin.
• SLIDE #2
• 2 Samuel 22:1–3 (ESV) 1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
We will experience real life change when we see…
I. God as our rock.
• In verse 2 it David starts off by saying that he sees God has his ROCK.
• In Psalm 18:1-2 it begins with the thought that David LOVES God.
• By the way the entire song we find in this chapter is a lightly edited version of Psalm 18.
• Psalm 18 is the longest Psalm written by David in the bible.
• SLIDE #4
• Psalm 18:1–2 (ESV) I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
• I love the imagery that David uses when describing how he feels about God. When David was running for his life from Saul he would seek refuse in the rocky wastelands of the Judean wilderness.
• As David was going through these harrowing times he would need something to anchor to, something solid something that would hold steady.
• When we face the difficulties of life, we need something to anchor our lives on.
• If you have been in a boat in rough water having something solid to anchor to can keep you for being carried out to sea.
• David kept his sanity during times that made no sense to him. David was in trouble for doing nothing wrong, for most they would have forsaken God long ago, but David knew who his anchor was!
• While David was evading Saul he used the refuge of the rocks to keep him protected also.
• This imagery of God being a Rock is used throughout the Old Testament.
• Genesis 49:24; 1 Samuel 2:2 in Hannah’s song to God and the imagery is used throughout the Psalms.
• When you think of a ROCK this is not meant to be an image of a small driveway rock, but rather a large outcropping from the ground, a rock so into the ground that it cannot be moved.
• God being our rock reminds us that HE is where we can enjoy stability in what many times proves to be an unstable world.
• Notice as you will with all these figures of speech David uses that he uses a KEY WORD- MY!
• God was not just some rock or one of many rocks, he called God MY ROCK. This implies a personal relationship.
• When God is YOUR ROCK you too can anchor to Him. God cannot be one of many rocks you use; He needs to be YOUR ROCK!
• What are you anchored to? When you look for stability in this ever-changing world, what is your rock?
• Let’s examine the next image David uses to show how he feels about God.
• SLIDE #5
We will experience real life change when we see…
II. God as our fortress.
• and my fortress
• The next image that David uses to try to explain his view concerning God is that of God being HIS fortress.
• Once again you see the theme of this being something personal. God is not just a fortress, but David calls God MY fortress!
• When you think of a fortress what do you think about?
• The dictionary defines a “fortress” “as something that is impenetrable or acts as protection.”
• When David needed protection from the world around him, he turned to God. Who can stand against God?
• Paul asks this question in Romans 8:31
• SLIDE #6
• Romans 8:31 (ESV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
• It is so easy to be afraid of the many things that can happen to us in this world.
• In the midst of all the wonderful people in the world there are very cruel people all around us, there are economic concerns, relationships that go bad. There is a lot that can cause us fear.
• If we have nowhere to turn when we need protection it will be a cause for panic.
• In verses 2-3 David uses a few words that imply protection.
• He uses the word STRONGHOLD and REFUGE throughout verse 3 of our text.
• These words all imply protection.
• SLIDE #7
• A fortress is a place where you can be safe. This word pictures an impenetrable spot on the top of a mountain peak, a mountain castle.
• The picture is that of a place called Masada overlooking the Dead Sea. Even this was overrun by the Romans in 73 AD after laying siege to it beginning in 72 AD.
• NO ONE WILL OVERRUN GOD!
• God is our shelter in a time of storm!
• Who or what is your fortress?
• When you need protection from the world, where do you go? I pray that we can lead people to Jesus and His church. I pray people can see the church as a fortress, a place of safety.
• God was a personal fortress for David, the intimate relationship he had with God afforded him that blessing.
• God wants to be your fortress, your refuge, your shield!
• Let’s examine a third image David uses.
• SLIDE #8
We will experience real life change when we see…
III. God as our deliverer.
• my deliverer, horn of my salvation, my savior
• For David this was a very special image for him.
• David had been saved on many occasions in his life from the paws of the lions and bears, from the hand of Goliath, all the battles God gave victory to him from run in’s with Saul and some of David’s own family.
• Without God delivering David he would have died at a very early age.
• God watch over David and God delivered David time and time again.
• One of the images that David uses to drive home this point is that he calls God “the HORN OF MY SALVATION.”
• This figure is borrowed from animals that derived their strength and defense from their horns.
• As God delivered David time and time again from his enemies who sought to kill him, David saw God act on his behalf in an aggressive manner like a large horned animal going after another animal.
• David states that God protected him from violent men. The HORN stands for might and power!
• When we see that God is the one who delivers us we will give the glory where it is due.
• Knowing God is our deliverer keeps us humble because we understand it is God who takes care of us.
• Who do you trust for your deliverance?
• Let’s look at a final thought in verse 4 of our text.
• SLIDE #9
• 2 Samuel 22:4 (ESV) I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
• SLIDE #10
We will experience real life change when we see…
IV. God as our focus of worship.
• When David examines His God, he determined a long time ago that he would call upon the Lord!
• Whatever the situation, David would call upon the Lord.
• All the saints of old called upon the Lord, and all Christians even to this day are to call upon the Lord!
• God had been such a consistent source of help that he had the confidence to call upon the Lord at ANYTIME.
• Have you seen God work in your life enough for you to confidently call upon the Lord?
• Is your relationship so close that you can count on Him being there for you?
• David concludes this thought be stating that the Lord is worthy to be praised!
• When we come before God, He deserves our full praise and worship.
• When we sing songs of worship, they are directed at God because He is the one we are called to worship!
• How easy would I have been for David to look at himself as the one who was worthy of praise?
• Too many people forget who the one to be praised is God!
• Too many times we give the God LUCK the praise for good fortune or deliverance.
• Luck has nothing to do with it, whenever you are tempted to give LUCK the praise, remember who should really get the praise!
CONCLUSION
• When it is all said and done David’s view of God was that God was all he needed in life. His view of God was that He was EVERYTHING to David.
• My question for each one of us today is thus, does your view of God put Him at that high a level in your life?
• As each of us examines ourselves if we feel deficient in our relationship with God, I would submit that we get to know Him better so that we can have the same life-changing view of God that David had.
• Are you ready to go on the adventure of a life-time.
