Pastor Allan Kircher
Shell Point Baptist Church
Oct 19th, 2013
Psalm 18:1-3
Intro: read/inscription/precedes/Psalm because it gives us some insight/background/verses.
• Inscription states/Psalm/originally/song/written/glorify/Lord
• honor Him/delivering David from King Saul
• From all his enemies.
• also be found in 2 Samuel 22
Psalm/written/all David’s foes lay vanquished/feet.
David/given absolute victory/wanted/express his gratitude to the Lord for His glorious provision.
You see, during the time David was running from Saul, he was in constant danger of death.
• He/delivered/all enemies/lifts his voice/praise/Lord God Who has given him the victory.
• This is David’s song of victory
• you and I have a victory song to sing as well.
• When God saved us, He gave us victory over our enemies
• 1 Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 4:17; Rom. 8:37.
Now, we who were hounded by Hell and in danger of dying without Jesus Christ have been eternally saved through His grace.
• Since/been saved/delivered/snare/enemy
• We also have ample reason to worship and praise the Lord.
• Isn’t enough time/consider/entire Psalm today.
• After all, it is the fourth largest in the Book of Psalms.
• Spend/few minutes/first three verses/preach/The God We Worship.
Spend our time/verses, let’s allow/Lord’s Word/remind us:
• Who He is/what He has done for us/what He can do for us.
• Remind us today why our God is The God We Worship.
“Worship”/Old English word means “worthship”.
“To ascribe worth to someone”.
• We worship God because He is worthy.
• Our worship ascribes worth to Him because of Who He is and What He does.
• Let me share a few reasons with you from these verses that teach is why our God is worthy of our worship.
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I. v. 1 GOD IS WORTHY OF_OUR DELIGHT
• Very beginning/Psalmist/two great/profound declarations.
• He bears his heart/tells us what he/determined to do.
First, he declares his love for the Lord.
Second, he declares his absolute dependence upon the Lord.
He/indicating/will live his life/these two great themes ever before him.
• Telling us he finds his greatest delight in the Lord!
Let’s examine these two themes a little more closely and see what they mean for us tonight.
1. I will love the Lord.
• Translated "love" here is a word that means "to fondle."
• It carries the idea of hugging.
• If it doesn't sound too irreverent
• Psalmist is saying he is so filled with love for the Lord that he just wants to slide up real close to the Lord and hug him.
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• We all felt this way about someone we love.
• How many have felt their heart fill up with love for a child
• a mate, or some other loved one
• You want to reach out and hug them and hold them?
This/emotion felt by Mary Magdalene when she encountered the risen Christ, John 20:17
• Disciples when they saw Him also, Matt. 28:9.
• Considering all the Lord has done for us
• how He loves us and has made a way for us to be saved
• Our hearts should be filled with same love for Him, 1 John 4:19.
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I Will Lean On The Lord
• He calls God “My Strength” Nine times/first two verses,
• David uses the personal possessive pronoun “my”.
• “My” is the first pronoun learned by most children?
• Things like “my toys”, “my house”, “my room”,
• Their childish way/stating they know what is theirs.
What David/doing/expressing simple, childlike faith his relationship with the Lord.
• Telling us he/totally dependent upon/Lord/everything.
• Every ounce of his strength came from the Lord.
• Paul - 1 Cor. 15:10
• What we can do without Him - John 15:5
• what we can do with him, Phil. 4:13.
David’s plan is to live for the Lord, love the Lord and to lean on the Lord for everything he needs, does and is in life.
• I think/worthy goal for every believer!
• He deserves nothing less
• Nothing less will be blessed by the Lord.
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II. v. 2 GOD IS WORTHY OF_OUR DEPENDENCE
David allows us to see a heart of worship engaged in the praise of the object of its love: God!
A. There Is Praise For A Personal God
• The usage of “my” again.
• most important thing/life/knowing you are right with God
• Above everything else you are saved by grace.
• It isn’t enough to be good or religious
• go to church or to stop doing some things that are wrong
• Join the church or to be baptized.
To be saved, there must be a time when you turn to Jesus Christ in absolute faith for salvation.
Nothing else will work for anyone ever, Acts 16:31
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B. There is Praise For A Powerful God
• In God and in his relationship with Him
• David finds all the strength he needs to make it through
• Notice/eight metaphors David uses/describe God
• His power in our lives.
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1. God Is Our Stability
• David describes God as a “Rock”/Refers to a “craggy cliff”.
David reminds us that when it appears the world is spinning out of control, the believer can stand above it all when he stands on the Lord.
• God allows His people to live above/trials/turmoil that engulfs the world beneath.
• Our relationship/Lord gives/different perspective/trials/life.
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2. God Is Our Safety
• David says God is like a “fortress”.
• Reference/lofty mountain citadels/he fled/running from Saul.
• David reminds us/Lord/place of safety to which the saint can flee in times of adversity and trial, Psa. 57:1.
• Satan is like a roaring lion, 1 Pet. 5:8.
• Saint has/place/safe refuge/day of attack.
• God is our fortress, out place of perfect peace and safety.
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3. God Is Our Savior
• David refers to the Lord as his “deliverer”.
• Refers to “one who saves, one who rescues, one who delivers another from danger”.
• This is a word that is filled with glory!
not only did the Lord saved us when we received Him by faith, but He goes on saving us day by day, 1 John 1:7
• When this life is over, we will be ultimately saved when we arrive home in Heaven.
• Surely/redeemed can find within them to praise the Lord for His saving grace, Psa. 107:2.
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4. God Is Our Sovereign
• God as the Almighty God.
• pictures God/One Who is over all things
• One who is in control of all things.
Saints of God should surely rejoice in the knowledge that everything that happens is in God’s plan and that He is in control of all things, even when we cannot make sense of it, God is still on His throne, Rom. 8:28.
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5. God Is Our Strength
• Word refers to “a cliff, or an unmovable rock”.
• Everything else/world is being tossed and twisted
• God forever remains the same.
• We are on the Rock, Psa. 40:2, not on the rocks!
• Word “rock” comes from a root word that means “lofty”.
• Jesus is our Gibraltar!
• He is anchored deep and rises above everything.
• He is unmovable and unassailable!
David tells us that God is all we need.
We should rejoice in the truth that the Lord God of Heaven will be the strength of our lives.
• None of us knows what we will face/years of our lives.
• We can know God/Heaven give us strength.
• Strength over the trials/battles’ of life
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6. God Is Our Shield
• David calls the Lord a “buckler”/means “a shield”.
• When trouble comes into your life and mine
• Sometimes/Lord allows those things to come
However, there are times when the Lord steps between His children and their trials and acts as a shield to stand between His child and the storm that is coming.
• I like it when the Lord is my shield!
• Only in Heaven/fully comprehend/times when God has intervened in our lives and delivered us from some terrible thing that was headed our way!
• Calvary – He was our shield on that day!
• He stood between us and the terrible wrath of God!
West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska exploded on Tuesday evening, March 1, 1950, at 7:36 PM.
• When building exploded, it was totally demolished!
• Not a timber or a brick was left standing above ground.
• Totally devastating explosion.
• Choir always met for practice promptly at 7:30 PM on Tuesdays for practice.
• One particular Tuesday evening, no one made it to the church on time.
One became ill, several had car trouble, another got a last minute phone call, others were busy with homework, dirty children, and other various problems.
Each of the 40+ choir members, including their leader, was somehow hindered from being at the church at 7:30 on that Tuesday evening.
At 7:36 PM, gas/leaking/ruptured gas line under the church exploded, totally demolishing the church.
Had there been any one there, they would have been killed, but thanks to the providence of God, they were all spared!
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7. God Is Our Security
• Here, the Lord is called a “horn of salvation.”
• Horn is the symbol of strength/conquest.
When David calls God/horn of salvation he is saying the Lord is the strength of salvation, and that in His salvation, we have absolute security.
• I believe we can all rejoice/knowledge if we are in the Lord, then we are totally secure in Him!
• He has never lost one yet, and He isn’t going to start with you!
• He didn’t save you to lose you along the way
• but He saved you to take you to Heaven, John 6:38-41.
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When I read about the “horn of salvation”
• “cornucopia” or the “horn of plenty.”
• Curved goat’s horn filled overflowing/fruit/ears of grain.
• It is a symbol of overflowing abundance.
• What the sinner finds when he comes to the Lord.
• Many just come to Jesus to be saved from Hell
• In Jesus they receive so much more than they could ever have imagined.
• He is our security/He is also our source!
• When you came to Him, you left with more than you bargained for!
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8. God Is Our Supply
• Last metaphor, David says/Lord is our “High Tower”
• Refers/great towers were built around the ancient cities.
From these towers, soldiers could look down on their attackers and send volleys of arrows down on their heads.
• Towers were usually stocked/ammunition/supplies.
• When soldiers ran/high tower/they were above the battle
• they were in a place of rest, refreshment and ready supply
• God is the same for the child of God.
When the battle rages about us, we can run to Him and be lifted above our battles and find the rest and refreshment we need to be able to fight the battles and win!
• Surely we can rejoice/knowledge/Lord is ever there for us to run to in the day of battle.
• Surely we can remember that the “battle is the LORD’s”
• It is no wonder that David praised the Lord!
• We have the very same reasons that he did.
• Let’s praise Him and honor Him
Resolve/our hearts we will worship/serve Him “spirit and in truth.”
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III. v. 3 GOD IS WORTHY OF_OUR DEVOTION
In this verse, David makes a pledge to call on God
• To trust Him and Him alone for the victories of life.
• The Psalmist is aware/power/praise to worthy God
• Pledging his life/walk/awareness/greatness/power/God.
• Pledges to walk by faith and not by sight, Heb. 11:6!
David knew that his faith/Lord would result in his perpetual victory over his enemies.
Surely there had been times when David was on the run/he thought he would be captured and killed by Saul
• But God had proven greater than his enemy at every turn.
David knew that if God could do it yesterday, then He could be counted on to do it tomorrow
What a lesson for us!
As children of God, we must learn God is all these things that David said He was.
• He will protect you/provide for you
• He will help you/refresh you/ever be there for you.
• Our duty, then, is to walk by faith and not by sight.
Let us remember whom the Lord our God is
• What He has done/let us worship Him/honor Him/praise Him.
• Let us live like we believe He is the God of the universe.
• Let us pledge to walk by faith
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Conc: David reminds us our God is a God Whom, is worthy to be worshipped!
• Worthy of being our delight.
• Worthy of our dependence.
• Worthy of our devotion.
• Worthy to be loved/praised/exalted and to be followed.
• As David says in verse 46 of this Psalm
“The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!”
We need to examine our priorities today.
We need to be in the business of exalting our God.
Would you join me in bowing before Him to worship, praise and exalt the Great God of our salvation?
