Reflections Of A Faith-Filled Man Series

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.”