MOVING FROM VICTIM TO VICTOR
Psalms 18:1-5
Psalms 18:1-5 1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
Roadrunner v. Wiley Coyote
1. Wiley had the best-laid plans. He invested in the most up to date gadgets in order that he might win the battle.
2. Yet the best-laid plans always backfired on poor ole coyote.
Now just for a moment lets parallel the life of coyote with our own.
1. The battle was not only a physical but a mental
2. …Keep in mind Coyote dealt with defeat everyday and sometimes several times everyday and that tends to play on ones mind and its in the mind
that most of our battles rage.
3. Coyote tried to handle things on his own.
4. No matter how many times he failed he still depended on his wit and will to win the battle
5. But Coyote was far to proud to seek help this was his battle and he would win it on his own. I can identify.
6. I am sure in the beginning ole Coyote thought this was no big battle
7. The no big battle theory does nothing but add confidence in our own strength.
8. The good news is there’s a way to turn your mourning into dancing and your sorrow into joy and there is a way to move from the victim to the victor!
First lets look at David the Victim.
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death
prevented me.
A. No matter how you slice it David was as my dad used to say in a “heap of trouble”
B. Now we don’t have much problem admitting the victim part. In today’s society everybody is a victim…either a victim of somebody else’s doing
or a victim of our own doing
C. But David did not just play the victim role, David decided that he would much rather be the victor than the victim.
This message is for those who are tired of fighting a losing battle and want to move from victim to victor.
The key to my entire sermon is found in verse 6.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God.
Two keys tonight from moving from victim to victor
I. There must be a confession of
weakness.
1. David when finding himself in distress.
2. David when finding himself in a battle.
3. David when finding his mind being attacked with doubt and defeat.
Admits he is weak and
Cannot defeat the enemy.
4. The first step in moving from Victim to Victor is to admit our weakness.
A. Why must we admit our weakness because only
when we confess our weakness are we able to
possess His strength.
2 Cor. 12:9-10 New International Version (NIV)
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that 2 Cor. 12:9-10 Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Notice the turnaround.
Verse 9 & 10 said His strength is made (complete). His strength is made complete in my weakness.
B. I CONFESS my weakness that I might POSESS His
strength.
The reason why a lot of US never move from victim to victor is because we refuse to admit our weakness. We are back to the Coyote syndrome of I can handle things on my own.
A. It is human nature to handle things in our own strength and NOT to admit we are weak
1. because we have come to believe that weakness is linked to failure.
B. But God’s way of thinking says to admit our Weakness
1. This allows us to possess His strength and His strength is not failure but success guaranteed.
The first key is to confess our weakness but there has to be more than just a confession. Then I must do the second thing David did to move from victim to victor.
Psalm 18:6. In my distress I called upon the LORD,and cried unto my God.
1. David admits his weakness and then he does the 2nd thing--Pursue God
I. DAVID PURSUES GOD.
After the confession there must be Pursuit or the seeking of God.
A. The Important key in moving from victim to victory lies In our seeking of GOD—God then pursues the enemy!
1. David declared that he was depending on the Lord to deliver him.
2. David’s dependence on God is found in his seeking of God.
3. Our dependence on God is found in our seeking of God.
4. If we are not seeking Him then we are not depending on Him.
1.…OUR confession of WEAKNESS is only as good as our PURSUIT of God.
2. The word pursuit means to go after with every intention of overtaking whatever it is that one is after.
3. This was no game to David. He was a man in hot pursuit of God because the enemy was in hot pursuit of him.
4. David did not only intended to get close to God. David intended to pursue Him until he caught Him.
It’s the type of pursuit described in Psalms 42:1-2
1. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
In other words just as the deer depends on the water brook to not only cure his thirst David depends on God to cure his thirst and to provide protection from the enemy.
Some may say oh so David’s scared and he’s running from the enemy…but I believe more accurate is that David was not running FROM the enemy but was running TO God.
For Psalms 18 declares that David after pursuing God pursued the enemy and wiped them out.
LISTEN TO HOW MANY TIMES DAVID REFERS TO THE SOURCE OF HIS VICTORY.
Psalms 18:6-7 says
6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him,
into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.
36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 39 You armed me with strength for battle; you made my
adversaries bow at my feet
1. David moved from victim to victor because God stepped off the chopper and onto his battlefield.
2. What we need is for God to step off the chopper and onto our battlefield.
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need.
a. You can have confidence that God can handle your battle because God has already defeated every enemy that you or I will ever face.
He has not only defeated your enemy today but has defeated your enemy of tomorrow.
David started off with
4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. But concluded with vs. 46
46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
A. He began with a confession of weakness and concluded with a shout of victory.
b. We can move from victim to victor when we confess our weakness and pursue God.
In closing,
You know why Jarius laid aside his position in life and pursued Christ and fell at His feet…because his daughters life depended on it.
You know why the lady with the issue of blood did not allow a crowd to crowd her out in her pursuit of Christ…because her healing depended on it.
You know why when told to shut his mouth blind Bartemeius screamed even the louder Jesus thou Son of David have mercy on me…because his sight depended on it.
Come unto me all of you who labor and are heavily laden and I will give you rest.
Are you tired of fighting a losing battle—then stop and instead start pursuing a victorious God.
Now I want you to make a statement of weakness by coming to the alter, and by coming you’re saying God I am pursuing you. I am confessing my weakness that I might possess your strength.
