THE VERY RELATABLE LIFE OF KING DAVID
REFLECTIONS OF A FAITH-FILLED MAN
2 SAMUEL 22:1-51
#kingdavid
INTRODUCTION
Today is our last sermon in this series on the Very Relatable Life of King David. I have enjoyed digging into David’s life these past weeks and I hope you have been challenged by what we have uncovered together. David goes from being an insignificant runt in his family to king over God’s people. We see David confident in the Lord and utterly failing at faith and every stage in between. We see David successful on the battle field and successful in politics, but a failure at being a father and is questionable (as are most of us) as a husband. Again (I know I’ve said it several times), one of the reasons David’s life is so relatable is the Bible presents his life honestly and also we have Psalms which show us his heart which combine to show us his life in a very relatable fashion.
Speaking of his heart, his heart is what we are looking at today. In Acts 13, the Apostle Paul is preaching to fellow Jews who do not yet believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and he mentions, in his sermon, that David was a man after God’s own heart.
READ ACTS 13:22 (ESV)
“And when He had removed him [Saul], He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will.”
Now, that is high praise for David and also something that the Apostle Paul did not just make up. Those words were reflective of the words of the Prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 13:14 as he was explaining to King Saul that the Kingdom of Israel was being taken from him and given to another.
READ 1 SAMUEL 13:14 (ESV)
“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
I’d like to spend some time looking at David’s heart today. 2 Samuel 22 has a song for us that he wrote that shares his heart. If you read the Psalms, Psalm 18 sounds suspiciously the same. I believe we should reflect on David’s words today. What I would like to do is a little bit different. I want us to read through 2 Samuel 22, but as I do so, I want to stop and let you think for a moment after we have read some verses and I have made a few reflections about his words. I want you to take a few moments to write down some thoughts. I have never done this before so it might be totally awkward, but we are going to pray that the Holy Spirit draws our hearts into these verses and we are able to honestly examine our own hearts even as we look at David’s heart. With the Holy Spirit involved, we cannot fail. Let’s pray.
PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DRAW OUR HEARTS INTO 2 SAMUEL 22
Let’s begin in 2 Samuel 22 with verses 2-3.
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 2-3
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:2-3 (ESV)
“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.
When we read those verses, we see words like ‘rock’ and ‘fortress’ and ‘deliverer’ and ‘shield’ and ‘salvation’ and ‘stronghold’ and ‘refuge’ and ‘savior.’ Those are praise-filled words from the heart of David to God. Those words are David’s default words when he thinks about God. When David paints a picture of God, those are the words that come to mind.
* The words ‘rock’ and ‘fortress’ and ‘stronghold’ show us that David has faith in the strength of God and knows that God is where his strength comes from to face this life.
* The words ‘shield’ and ‘refuge’ and ‘salvation’ and ‘deliverer’ show us that David praises God for the ways He has personally acted in his life. David fundamentally sees God as the source of all salvation and help and strength.
What about us? What are your default words when you think about God? What are your fundamental beliefs about God?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 4-7
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:4-7 (ESV)
“I call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 5 “For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 7 “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.”
When I think about the days in which David lived, it seemed like life was cheap and it was easy to die and sickness was lurking around every corner. That may or may not be true, but it is what I think nevertheless. In these verses, David reflects on death and the nearness of death. He feels like cords of death are always reaching out to him to drag him away. Death is something all of us deal with. Death and sometimes serious illness brings with it fear and anxiety and the unknown. David has real hope in the midst of the unknown of death in that he knows God is near when he prays. God brings hope. I do many funerals for funeral homes in the area, and I can tell you there is a great difference in those families with faith and those families with no faith… the difference is hope. Promised hope. Sure hope. David may not know about death, but God does and he trusts in God.
What about us? When it comes to death, what are your thoughts and feelings? When your death comes, do you have any fears? Is your soul settled with God?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 8-16
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:8-16 (ESV)
“Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because He was angry. 9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from Him. 10 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under His feet. 11 He rode on a cherub and flew; He was seen on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness around Him His canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. 13 Out of the brightness before Him coals of fire flamed forth. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. 15 And He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
David’s descriptions of the power of God in this passage are mind blowing! Did you catch that God is at the same time thick dark storm clouds of lightning and also total brightness with fire shooting out? We do not have the words in any human language to describe the God of the Universe! When I read such things, I think to myself how much I should fear God. I know there is a trend to interpret ‘fear’ in Bible verses as ‘respect and awe’ which is probably true. I also happen to think there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of shaking-in-our-boots fear of the Lord.
What about us? Where are you on your fear level of God… either respect or classic fear? How do you treat His Name? How do you treat His Word? How do you treat His Church? How do you talk about His Son?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 17-20
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:17-20 (ESV)
“He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. 20 He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.”
Here we have a section of verses much like the beginning of the song. Word after word is piled up overwhelming us with a sense of God’s identity in David’s sight. We have verbs like ‘took me’ and ‘rescued’ and ‘my support’ and ‘brought me out.’ God does that over and over and over again to us. And His motivation for continually and ongoingly supporting and rescuing us is clear in David’s heart… He delights in us. God delights in each one of His children who follow after Him in faith. If you are a person who wants evidence about God’s character based on what He does, He takes us and rescues us and supports us.
What about us? When you are in trouble, is God to Whom you go or is He your last resort? Why do you think God continually rescues or helps or supports us? Maybe you don’t think He does and you doubt this about God… do you doubt? Where has God helped and rescued you? In what situations have you seen His support?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 21-28
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:21-28 (ESV)
“The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all His rules were before me, and from His statutes I did not turn aside. 24 I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from guilt. 25 And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight. 26 “With the merciful You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless man You show Yourself blameless; 27 with the purified You deal purely, and with the crooked You make Yourself seem tortuous. 28 You save a humble people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.”
I read these verses and I think about the fact that most things in our world are month-to-month and contracts are made to be broken (cell phone companies will pay for you to break a contract and switch) and rarely does someone work for one company their whole lives and divorce is rampant and people hop frequently from church to church or attend several churches for different events. I think about those things because David expresses his absolute loyalty to God and we do not live in a culture that rewards loyalty even one little bit. David may have messed up over and over in his life, but he never once believed in another God and he stayed loyal.
David reflects that he has stayed loyal to God and in return God has been gracious to him and forgiven him and cleaned him up and made him blameless. David wants to humbly serve God and no other. In David’s world and in ours, there are plenty of options to draw our loyalty.
What about us? How faithful are you to God? How loyal are you to His Church? How loyal are you to this church? What has your attention in life other than God?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
INTERLUDE
We are 3/4 of the way done and I just wanted to say why what we are doing this morning is important. It is important to reflect on God. It is important to examine ourselves. It is most important to know what and why we believe what we do. We cannot know what we believe without examining our hearts. I pray that David’s heart challenges you today.
Let’s continue in 2 Samuel 22.
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 29-31
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:29-31 (ESV)
“For You are my lamp, O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness. 30 For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 31 This God—His way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.”
Well now David goes from reflecting on God to meddling in our lives. Maybe that is me and not him. Notice what David says in these verses. He says that he follows God’s way in the darkness of life. He follow’s God’s will. He walks in the way of God which is perfect. There are options in life as to directions to follow… the wide path of unrighteousness or the narrow path of righteousness. David messed up often, but repented of those alterations on his dark path and ran after God’s lit path.
What about us? I cannot help but wonder how much we follow God’s will in our lives and how much we follow our own will? Do we pray about decisions? Do we let God show us the way or do we make a decision and pray for God to keep up?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 32-49
READ 2 SAMUEL 22:32-49 (ESV)
“For Who is God, but the LORD? And Who is a rock, except our God? 33 This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. 34 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your gentleness made me great. 37 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip; 38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed. 39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet. 40 For You equipped me with strength for the battle; You made those who rise against me sink under me. 41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them. 43 I beat them fine as the dust of the earth; I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. 44 “You delivered me from strife with my people; You kept me as the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 45 Foreigners came cringing to me; as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. 46 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. 47 “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, 48 the God Who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me,49 who brought me out from my enemies; You exalted me above those who rose against me; You delivered me from men of violence.
So much of this life is so very unfair. It seems like sometimes there are even whole families who never even have a chance for various reasons. Many times we make a mistake and it just compounds and compounds and gets out of hand. We have folks at work at times who are out for themselves and we are a casualty. David had a very difficult and often unfair and uphill battle of a life and his perspective is that God proved Himself faithful and He always had his back.
Life is not fair. That is a true statement.
Life will never be fair. This is a true statement.
God as your back. That is a true statement.
Trusting in the faithfulness and power of God to handle what crashes into our lives is part of being a person of faith and is also a tall order. He knows what is best and we cannot always see what God is doing and how He is working for our God. David didn’t always see it and yet He had faith.
What about us? Do you trust God? Do you trust God only when life is good or at all times? Do you believe in your heart of hearts that God has your back?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
REFLECTIONS ON VERSES 50-51
READ 2 CHRONICLES 22:50-51 (ESV)
“For this I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to Your name. 51 Great salvation He brings to His king, and shows steadfast love to His anointed, to David and His offspring forever.”
I can’t help but notice the adjectives as the song concludes with these verses. God not only gives us salvation… but GREAT salvation. God not only has love for us… but STEADFAST love for us. When God does something for us, it deserves descriptive words because He is great and greatly to be praised!
Praise God for His great salvation!
Praise God for His steadfast love!
Praise God for His boundless goodness!
Praise God for His continual grace!
Praise God for His perfect plan!
What about us? How do you and I praise God? What are we thankful for? What words can we cobble together to try and describe how great God is?
MOMENTS OF SILENCE TO REFLECT
PRAYER OF THANKFULNESS OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT AND THAT HE WOULD SOLIDIFY THE EXAMINATIONS OF OURSELVES
INVITATION
