David's Song of Deliverance, Part 2

If you have your Bible, turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 22. 2 Samuel chapter 22, David's song of deliverance. It's a song that extols the name of God. It's a song that David wants to sing concerning what his God had done for him. It truly is a song that helps us understand the character and nature of God. It's all about the Lord God. And he gives testimony to the fact that God had done a great and marvelous work. And the theme of the song is about God's delivering power. It's David's testimony as to what God did in his life during his reign as king and before he became king by running from Saul.

It talks about how God delivered him from his enemies. It's kind of a testimonial. It's different than testimonies today. You know, people get up and they give testimonies and they spend 20 minutes talking about how things used to be. And they spend two minutes talking about Jesus because it's all about them and the way it used to be. And then they want to throw Jesus in at the end. That's not a testimony that glorifies the Lord, that glorifies man. What David does is talk about God's delivering power and what God did in his life, how God manifested his power.

So he begins in point number one by looking at the confidence he had in the Lord. That's how the song begins. And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord. In the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, he said, 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 and my refuge, my savior. Thou does save me from violence. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised for I am saved from my enemies.

Everything is about his confidence in God because God is his rock. God is his strength. God is his stability. He also says that God is my fortress, meaning God is my security. God is my deliverer, meaning God is my savior. God is my refuge, meaning that God is my shelter. God is my shield, meaning that God satisfies all my longings. He is the horn of my salvation, meaning that God is sufficient. He is my stronghold, speaking of God and his safety. It's all about God. It's all about what God did. Everything about David was based on his confidence in the Lord.

And so he gives us these titles of God that exemplify his character, that we can understand that this is the God who delivered him. The same God that delivers him delivers us. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the Old Testament is not necessarily a record of what took place. It's a record of the God who does the things that he does even today. And so we need to believe in what David says and have our confidence in the Lord. And that was our last time together. We talked about David's confidence in the Lord.

And so I'm going to move to point number two, and that is not only that David have confidence in the Lord, but also the conditions that David faced that would enable him to have his confidence in the Lord.

Look at verses five to seven. It says, For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me, the cords of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God. And from his temple, he heard my voice, and my cry for help came into his ears. David describes his condition. He describes it with all these different metaphors that describe what he was feeling and how he saw life around him. It was like a raging sea, these enemies were, that kept beating up against him as the waves on the sea.

He says that as he understands this, as Saul and Abner and Absalom begin to pursue him, it was almost as if he was going to die. He felt like he was going to die. In 1 Samuel 27, he really believed that his death was imminent because Saul was constantly pursuing him. He knew, he just knew that one day he was going to die. And yet his confidence was still in the Lord, his God. And so what did he do? He called upon the Lord. He cried unto the Lord. That's what he did. Where else was he going to go?

Who else is he going to go to? Who would he seek for refuge? Who would he ask for help? He would go to the Lord. I called on his name. I cried unto the Lord. You know, God put David in a very unique situation. God told him he was going to be the king when he was very young. But it was many years before he actually became the king. And that was just only over part of Israel. It would be seven years after that before he became king over all of Israel. And yet God would use all those different times in David's life to mold him and make him to the kind of man he wanted him to be.

And part of that had to do with Saul's pursuit of his life. And then when he became king, there were still enemies that surrounded him, enemies that came against him. He didn't have a lot of friends because he was a man, as we said last time, after God's own heart, not a man after man's heart. And because he wanted to please God, he wanted to honor God, he didn't have a lot of friends. He had a few friends. He had Jonathan. Jonathan would die. But he didn't have a lot of close friends. He had a lot of wives, a lot of concubines.

I'm not sure they were all his friends though. You see, he was a man who was after God's own heart. And therefore, he had very few friends. Hosea 5.15 says, In their affliction, speaking of Israel, they will seek me early. You know, something about affliction that caused you to seek after God. And God wanted David to be constantly dependent upon him. And sometimes God doesn't allow the affliction to go away until we learn how to be dependent always upon God. Because we love to stray away from him.

We love to do our own thing. And God says, well, he's going to bring it right back to him and say, I need you to trust me.

I need you to believe in me. I need you to depend upon me for everything. So God allows that affliction to continue. He allows the adversity to continue. He allows the stress of those things around you to be so overwhelming at times that you call on to God and you cry out to his name, as David did. But so many times when the enemy pursues and things look bleak, things look dark, we sulk into rebellion. David never did that. He didn't sulk, woe is me. Why me? And then go off into some rebellious period of his life.

No, he, he trusted in the Lord, depended upon the Lord and cried out to him. Listen to the words of Psalm 107. In fact, if you've got your Bible, turn me to Psalm 107. It begins by saying this, so give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary. It's a Psalm that talks about how God delivers his own. Down to verse six, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them out of their distresses.

Verse 13, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Verse 19, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. He saved them out of their distresses. It's a constant reminder that when we cry out to God, God saves us from our distress. How does he do that? Listen to verse number 20. He sent his word and he healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Boy, the power of God's word to deliver the soul, to deliver you from your distress.

The psalmist would speak about it in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse number 28 says this, my soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to thy word. The psalmist knew that in this period of grief, he needed strength that would only come from the words of God. Look what it says then in verse 25 of Psalm 119. My soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to thy word. So the psalmist knew that something about the word of God that would enliven him, it would revive his soul. Look what it says in verse number 49.

Remember the word to thy servant in which thou hast made me hope. This is my comfort and my affliction, that thy word has revived me. What is our comfort amidst our affliction? It is this very fact that it's the word of God that delivers us from our distress. It's the word of God that counsels us. It's the word of God that comforts us. That's why when we cry out to God and call out to his name, we are driven to his word to hear the voice of God speak to us as if it were because we read the very words of God.

That's so important. The psalmist would go on to say in verse number 76, oh may thy loving kindnesses comfort me according to thy word to thy servant. In other words, the loving kindnesses are the testimonies of God. Verse number 88, revive me according to thy loving kindness so that I may keep thy testimony or the testimony of thy mouth. I will never forget thy precepts. Verse 93, for by them thou hast revived me. Verse 107, I am exceedingly afflicted. Revive me, oh Lord, according to thy word. The psalmist knew that.

The psalmist understood it. He could grasp it. He understood it. I am exceedingly afflicted. What does that mean? Well, why can't he just say I'm afflicted? Why does he have to say I'm exceedingly afflicted? It's because it never ends. It's overwhelming. It's all consuming. But the only way he would be revived was through the word of God. Same is true for you and me. There's only one way to experience a revival of the soul, and that's through the word of God. There's only one thing to do when distress overwhelms you, when your enemy encompasses you.

It's to go to God, cry out to him, call out to his name, and he will answer you and revive you and save you according to his word. He gave you his word that it would be an anchor for your soul. So I don't know where you're at tonight. I don't know what's happening in your life individually or in your family. I have no idea what's going on in the inner recesses of your home, but there's something about the word of God that when you cry out to him, it will bring comfort to your affliction. But if you don't go to his word, you don't call out to him, then you will bypass that comfort.

David knew where to go because his confidence was in the Lord. See, the conditions that David faced, as overwhelming as they were, could be faced because of his confidence in the Lord. We have to have confidence in who God is. Matthew Henry comments on this passage in 2 Samuel 22 by saying these words about these metaphors. First, David says them because they set forth the glory of God, which was manifested in his deliverance, his wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness, his justice and holiness, and his sovereign dominion over all the creatures and all the counsels of men, which appeared in favor of David, were as clear and bright a discovery of God's glory to an eye of faith as those would have been to an eye of sense.

Second, to set forth God's displeasure against his enemies. God so espoused his cause that he showed himself an enemy to all his enemies. His anger is set forth by a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth, who knows the power and terror of his wrath. Third, to set forth the vast confusion which his enemies were put into and the consternation that seized them as if the earth had trembled and the foundations of the world had been discovered.

Who can stand before God when he is angry? And God was. And that leads us to point number three, the consequences, the consequences of God's power.

You see, David's confidence was in the Lord. So whatever the conditions he faced, he could trust God to accomplish great things. And then what he does is give us the consequences of the power of God revealed through his life because he wants you to see God for who he is. So as he gives this testimonial, he says, you need to understand the anger of God. And that's where it begins. It begins with the revelation of God's anger. In verse number eight, he says these words. Then the earth shook and quaked.

The foundations of heaven were trembling and were shaken because he was angry. Smoke went up out of his nostrils and fire from his mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down with the thick darkness under his feet. And he rode on a cherub and flew and he appeared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness canopies around him, a massive water stick clouds of the sky from the brightness before him. Coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven and the most high uttered his voice and he sent out arrows and scattered them lightning and routed them.

Then the channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare, but the rebuke of the Lord at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He speaks of God's intervention in his life. He wants you to understand that God is angry at your enemies and the anger of God causes him to act swiftly when you call upon him. It was almost as if he was on his cherubs and he flew amidst my distress to come and rescue me. He was there when I called upon his name. He was there in this poetic imagery he gives us to help us understand God's response to your enemies.

You know, sometimes we look at life and think, you know, what does God feel about my enemies? What does he do with my enemies? And we forget that when we are, as Israel was, the apple of God's eye, that most sensitive part of God's being is that when you do something evil against Israel, it's like poking God in the eye. We are the children of the living God. God protects his children. He protects his own. He will do whatever he has to to preserve his people. And that's why I love what Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 3 when he quotes, he quotes Psalm 34 because he's talking to people who are in distress.

He's talking to people who are being persecuted. He's talking to people who feel all alone. He talks to them about being submissive to authorities, authorities that are evil authorities. He talks to them about being submissive in your homes, even though your spouse is unsaved. And then he says these words, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

In other words, he says, look, you need to receive a blessing. You've been called to inherit a blessing. Therefore you cannot return evil for evil. You must return good for evil. For when you do that, then you understand your calling, what you're calling to receive a blessing. So you live harmonious with one another, sympathetic with one another. Why? Tells you that him who means to love life and see good days, refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile and let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. He hears, he sees and his face is against those who do evil to his children. David had great confidence in God. He knew that God would intervene. He knew that God would step in. He knew that God would somehow manifest his presence and do something unique to deliver David because David had been called by God as you and I are called by God.

David had been protected by God as you and I are protected by God. So he knew where to go. He knew what to say because all of his confidence was in God, no matter what the conditions, no matter what the situation, the confidence he had in God was real. And the consequences that God manifested were marvelous in David's eyes. Then notice this, because this becomes very, very unique.

The consequences of God's power is seen not only in the revelation of his anger, but in the rescue of David. Look at verse 17.

He sent from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me forth into a broad place. He rescued me because he delighted in me. Isn't that beautiful? He took me, he drew me, he delivered me, he rescued me. Why? Because he delighted in me. That's why. Can you grasp that? Can you wrap your hands around that, that somehow God delights in his own?

We forget that sometimes. When bad things are happening all around us and to us, we forget that God delights in us. God delights in us so much that he will stop at nothing to make us like him. So whatever it takes to make us like him, that's what he will do. But he delights so much in us. That's what David says. He delivers me. He takes me. He draws me. He does all this for me. Why? Because my enemy was too strong for me. That's why. I was overwhelmed. Saul came at him with 3,000 men. He had 600 men.

He was overwhelmed. Absalom had all of Israel on his side. David just had a few men on his side and yet 20,000 of Absalom's men died and David's men survived. They were too strong for me. Beautiful verse in 2 Chronicles 20 verse number 12 where King Jehoshaphat was surrounded by the enemy. He didn't know what to do. That's what he says. 2 Chronicles 20 verse number 12. For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do. But our eyes are on thee. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on the Lord.

That's just a great verse. Years ago, when my first wife got cancer and ended up going home to be with the Lord, that verse became a key verse for us because we didn't know what to do.

She was young. She was 26 years of age. She had developed breast cancer and the doctor said, look, your wife's going to die. You need to have a radical mastectomy and you need to make sure that she goes through chemotherapy and she has about a 5% chance to live five years. We said, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. Now the problem is she's pregnant. So what you have to do is you have to abort the baby. So the chemotherapy drugs will take their full effect. If you don't abort the baby, the wife will die, but she might die anyway.

Even if you do abort the baby, we said, Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. They said, if you don't abort the baby, the drugs are so powerful, they will kill the baby in the womb. We said, Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. We know what to do. What do you do? You're 28 years old. You have, you know, very little wisdom. What do you do? Our eyes are upon thee. We don't know what to do. The enemy's too strong for us. So what do we do? We did nothing. Just trusted the Lord.

What else are you going to do? The baby lives. The wife lives. You think everything's going to be okay. Then the wife dies. What do you do? We don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. We have no idea. Lord, what do we do next? And the Lord is so good because no good thing would the Lord withhold for those who walk uprightly. And he who finds the wife finds a good thing. And the Lord brought Lori into my life. When we got married, we had eight kids. And I said, Oh Lord, we got eight kids.

I don't know what to do, but my eyes are upon you. You know, that's the way it's been my whole life. And the Lord gave us a church. And he called me to the pastor of this church, been here 18 years. And my cry is still the same. Lord, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are upon you. I don't know what to do with you guys. I have no idea what to do with you guys, except give you the word, but my eyes are upon the Lord. That's gotta be the motto of our life. Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

That's what Joseph has said. That's what David said. The enemy was too strong for me, but you delivered me. You rescued me. You took me. You came down and did for me what no one else would do simply because you delighted in me. Well, that's just so overwhelming. Remember what the Lord said to the prophet Zephaniah, Zephaniah three verse number 17, the Lord, your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exalt over you with joy. He will be quiet in his love. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Really? God's going to, is going to rejoice over people like you and me with shouts of joy. I know it particularly refers to the, the nation of Israel when, when, when God redeems them and calls them back. But can you imagine God saying, I exult in you. I rejoice over you because I delight in you. That just is overwhelming. Psalm 147, Psalm 147 states it this way. I love this because it's so incredibly powerful. Verse 10, he does not delight in the strength of the horse. Now you know what God doesn't delight in.

He does not take pleasure in the legs of man. I don't care how pretty they are. The Lord takes delight in those who fear him. Those who wait for his loving kindness. God delights in those who fear him. Listen, if you're like David, you live in the fear of the Lord all day long. God delights in you. He doesn't delight in man made things. He doesn't delight in the strength that you obtain from those things round about you. He doesn't like it when you delight in your own prowess, in your own initiative, in your own education, but he delights in those who fear him and trust in him and believe in him because he delights over them.

He wants you to delight in him. That's why he says, delight yourself in the Lord. He'll give you the desires of your heart. Why? Because his delight is in you as well. Boy, that just is incredible. Over in the book of Jeremiah, when the Lord speaks of that new covenant, he says this in Jeremiah 32, verse number 40, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them and I will not turn away from them to do them good. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will turn away from me or not turn away from me.

And I will rejoice over them to do them good. See, we forget that God wants to do us good. We forget that God wants to delight in us. We forget that God wants to do those things in you and me. But you see, if we don't fear the Lord, if we don't delight in him, if our confidence is not in him, we miss that blessing he wants to bestow upon us. David experienced God's rescuing power. He knew the only reason he was rescued is because God delighted in him. Can you imagine that? I wonder if we could ever say that.

I know David did it on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but that's exactly what took place in David's life. He understood that. He grasped that concept. Most of us have never even begun to grasp that. Somehow God delights in me, wants to rejoice over me, wants to exalt in me, so much so that he'll deliver me, he'll come down, he'll take me, he'll draw me, he'll rescue me because that's what he wants to do. And David says, that's exactly what took place in my life. He speaks of the rescuing power of God.

He speaks of God's conquering power. He wants you to see it. He wants you to see it in the revelation of his anger and in the rescue of David. He says, David does, that when he rescued me, he did it because he delighted in me, but he brought me forth into a broad place. You know, David was always in a tight squeeze. Did you ever notice that?

No matter where he was, it was always a tight place. But when God rescued him, he put him in a broad place. He put him in an open space. He was hiding in caves in tight places. He was hiding in the crevices of rocks. He was running from the enemy and God would rescue him, remove him from the tight place and put him in the broad place, the open space. And that's what the Bible says in Psalm four, verse number one, answer me when I call a God of my righteousness, thou has relieved me in my distress, be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

In other words, thou has made room for me in my distress. Thou has opened up the spaces for me in my distress. You know, whenever you are distressed, you feel squeezed in. You feel like everything's tight around you. But God, when you call out to him, opens the space. Psalm 18, verse number 19, he brought me forth also into a broad place. He rescued me because he delighted in me. Verse 35, thou has also given me the shield of thy salvation and thy right hand upholds me and thy gentleness makes me great.

Thou dost enlarge my steps under me and my feet have not slipped. Again, he speaks how God broadens his space. And then over in Psalm 118, verse number five, from my distress, I called upon the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me. I will not fear. What can man do to me? See, the Psalmist knew God's for me. Not only does he delight in me, God's on my side. He is for me. God's not against you. God is for you. David understood that. That's why he gives us a song of deliverance because we need to understand it.

We need to understand what took place in David's life, how God was so good to him because he delighted in him. Go back with me, if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 22. It says in verse number 21, David talks about his reward. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands. He has recompensed me for I've kept the ways of the Lord and have not acted wickedly against my God for all his ordinances were before me. And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

I was also blameless toward him and I kept myself from my iniquity. Say, wait, wait, wait a minute. He didn't do that. He was a thief. He was a murderer. He was a deceiver. Time out. 2 Samuel 22 is the song of deliverance from all of his enemies. It's not a song about his entire life. Not talking about Bathsheba, not talking about his sin with Bathsheba. He's not talking about the death of Uriah. He's talking about how God delivered him from all of his enemies. This is a particular aspect of it. Listen, in his dealings with Goliath, in his dealings with with Saul, in his dealings with Abner, and in his dealings with Absalom, he did not sin against the Lord.

He did keep the word of the Lord. He did honor the Lord. He did live a righteous life. So he could say this with a clear conscience. When he was fleeing from his enemies, he was not malicious against them. He did not seek revenge on them. He did not do any sinful behavior toward his enemies. So when he says these things, they're all correct. He's not lying. He's telling the truth. He says very clearly, I was blameless and I kept myself from iniquity. Therefore, verse 25, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before his eyes.

You see, in his efforts and his dealings against his enemy, he was clean. Not very many of us can say that because when our enemies come against us, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna be nasty. David wasn't. You can go back and read the account of his fleeing from Saul for all those 13 years. He was a clean man. He didn't do the wrong thing against Saul. He didn't do the wrong thing against Abner, against his enemies, the Philistines, against all those people that came against him.

No, he lived righteously before his God. He did the right things and God rewarded him. God honored him. And that's why, that's how Samuel begins. That's how 1 Samuel begins. We keep going back to the same verse, 1 Samuel 2 30. He honors me. I will honor. That's what God says.

You honor me. I'm going to honor you. You deal with people my way. I'm going to honor you. And that's what David is saying. He honored the Lord God in his dealings with all of his enemies. Can you say that? Can you say that when your enemies come against you, they have nothing negative to say about you because you treated them righteously. You treated them in a way that God would treat them. You would speak the truth. Yes. But there was no malicious intent. There was no malice on your part. There was no anger on your part.

You did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And that was David. So we could give that testimony and God would reward him. And then, and then he talks about the response of God's people. Verse 26, with the kind, thou dost show thyself kind. With the blameless, thou dost show thyself blameless. With the pure, thou dost show thyself pure. And with the perverted or those who wrestle against you, thou dost show thyself astute. And thou dost save an afflicted people. But thine eyes are on the haughty whom thou dost abase.

He speaks of the character of God. God always acts in conjunction with his attributes. He never acts outside of who he is. He can't do that. He always acts righteously. And the Bible says that God is merciful to those who show mercy.

Well, David wanted to show mercy to Saul. And God was merciful to David. God is kind to those who show kindness. And he showed kindness to Saul. He had an opportunity to kill Saul on several occasions, but never did. He left him in the hands of God. He left his enemy in the hands of God to deal with him. And he says very simply, David, verse number 27, and with those who wrestle against you, the word perverted means to wrestle against. You ever wrestle against God? David knew what it meant to submit himself to the hand of God.

I marvel at David as for all those years he waited to become king, he never rebelled against God's call upon his life. He just waited for God to exalt him. But he would submit himself to God's hand. Saul never did that. Saul would not come under God's authority. He wanted to do his own thing. He was a man-pleaser. He was not a God-pleaser. David was a God-pleaser. He was a man after God's own heart. He wanted to please his God. He wanted to honor his God. And that's all he's saying. He says, when you seek to do the things God wants you to do, God is pleased.

And God rewards those because he delights in them. He made it his ambition, excuse me, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 9, to please the Lord. I wonder if you make that your ambition. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, verse number 9, we make it our ambition, 2 Corinthians 5, 9, to be pleasing unto the Lord. That's a high and lofty ambition, to please the Lord. Paul would say in Galatians chapter 1, verse number 10, if we seek to please man, we cease to be a bondservant of God. In other words, we no longer are setting our sights on pleasing God because we're too busy pleasing man.

You can't please man and please God. If you please God, ultimately you'll please man because you're honoring God. But if you seek to please man, you will dishonor God. And Paul would say, we make it our ambition to please him. I wonder if that's your ambition. That was David's ambition. As he would fight against his enemies who were too strong for him and trust his God to rescue him, he wanted to live a life of righteousness, of holiness that was pleasing to God. We must live lives that honor God and please God.

And you might be here tonight and say, that's what I want to do. How do I do that? Let me tell you how you do that.

Let me tell you how you do that. Number one, you please God by exalting Jesus Christ, his son. That's what David does here. He exalts God. He lifts God up. You can never please God and exalt yourself. You can't do that. So by exalting Christ, you please God. Remember that voice from heaven in Matthew chapter three, verse number 17, at the baptism of Christ, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So if God is pleased with the son, when we exalt Christ, his son, he is himself pleased. So if I'm going to please God, I must exalt Christ himself.

If I'm going to please God, I must believe in the promises of God. I must believe in the promises of God. The Bible says in Hebrews 11 six, without faith, it's impossible to please him.

That what it says. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So it emphasized the fact that God delights in you and God rewards you, but you must seek him. You must believe in what he has said. That's what faith is, right? Faith is believing in what God has already said. Faith is not believing in something God hasn't said and hoping it's accomplished. Faith is believing in what God has already said. So the writer of Hebrews says that without faith, it's impossible to believe God.

And so you have this whole hall of faith of people who believed what God said. Noah, Abel, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, the list goes on and on and on. People of whom the world was not even worthy, but they believed in what God said. And that's why they please God. And that's why if we're going to please God, not only must we exalt Christ as a son of God, we must believe in the promises of God and believe that means to act upon them, to live a life of faith. If I want to please God, I somehow have to proclaim the message of the cross.

First Corinthians chapter one, verse number 18 says this, for the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved, that is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever. I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world for a sense in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God though was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe what please God. What please God was the foolishness of the message that was preached.

What was that message? The message of the cross. So if I'm going to please God, I must exalt the son over exalting myself. I must believe in what he has said, because without doing that, I can't please him. And then I must tell other people what Jesus said by proclaiming the message of the cross. When I do that, he is very well pleased. So you ask yourself, are you pleasing the Lord? Is your life about exalting Christ, lifting him up to the highest place? Is your life simply about believing everything God says and not questioning him?

Is your life about proclaiming the message of the cross? And then you need to understand that if you're going to be pleasing to God, you must ask God for wisdom that pleases him. From second Samuel, you can go over to first Kings over in first Kings chapter three, verse number six, it says, then Solomon said, thou has shown great loving kindness to thy servant, David, my father, according to this, he walked before thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward thee, and thou has reserved for him the great loving kindness that thou has given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day.

And now, oh Lord, my God, thou has made thy servant king in place of my father, David, yet I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou has chosen a great people who cannot be numbered or counted for multitude. So give thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, to discern between good and evil, for who is able to judge this great people of thine. And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

What did he ask for? Wisdom. To discern between what is right and wrong. Do you know that when you ask God for wisdom, it pleases him? He is the only wise God there is, right? There is no other God. He is all wise, all knowing. And so you go to him and you ask him for wisdom. Lord, I need wisdom to discern between what is right and wrong. I need wisdom in my marriage, wisdom in my parenting, wisdom in my job, wisdom in my church. I need wisdom on how to make right decisions. That pleases God. Because Solomon could have asked for anything he wanted.

He asked for wisdom. Because the great multitude of people, how was he going to govern all those people? Lord, give me understanding to discern between what is right and what is wrong, what is good and evil. And that was well-pleasing to the Lord. That's why in James 1, it says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. And the context of that is all about suffering and trials. It's not about asking God for any kind of wisdom. It's asking God particularly for wisdom when it comes to enduring trials.

How do I do this, Lord? That pleases the Lord, because you're going to him, you're dependent upon him, you're asking him, Lord, I need to know what to do, because I don't know what to do. And God says, I'll direct you.

I'll give you wisdom. Wisdom comes from the mouth of God, and wisdom comes from the Word of God, because these are his words from his mouth. You see that? That pleases the Lord. So how do you please God? By exalting Christ, the Son of God, by proclaiming the message of the cross, by believing in God's promises, by asking God for wisdom. Oh, how about this one? By staying away from sexual sin. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Listen to what it says. Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you, as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk, and please, God, just as you actually do walk, that you may excel still more.

For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that you go on. He goes on to talk about how you learn to possess your own vessel and protect it from sin. Paul says, we want you to walk and please God. How do you do that? By staying away from sexual sin. If you don't want to stay away from it, you can't please God, because God is displeased with those who use their bodies for the wrong purpose.

And until you repent from that, you can never be in the pleasing mode of God. And so, we, by staying away from sexual sin, have the opportunity to walk and please God. So, ask yourself this question. Do you stay away from sexual sin? Do you make it your ambition to please God, as Paul said? David said, to the pure, you are pure. To the merciful, you show yourself merciful. He says, to those who don't wrestle with you, you don't wrestle with. But those who do, you deal with them. He knew what it took to please God.

And that's what he wanted to do. The Bible is very clear about what it means to please God, because it tells us. You exalt Christ, you please God. You proclaim the message of the cross, you please God. You believe in the promises of God, that pleases Him. You stay away from sexual sin, that pleases God. If you are the kind of person who asks for wisdom, God is well-pleased. How about this one? By giving to others in a time of need, that pleases God. Philippians chapter 4, verse number 10, says this.

Philippians 4, verse number 10. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have received, or you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity in any, in every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.

For even at Thessalonica, you send a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God." Your willingness to sacrifice on my behalf was well-pleasing to God. Whenever you give to someone in need, it pleases the Lord. David was a giver.

He gave in abundance to people who were in need. And if we want to please the Lord, we will give to those who are in need. And then by submitting to authority, do you know that when you submit to authority, you please the Lord God? Colossians chapter three, verse number 20. Colossians three, verse number 20 says, children, be obedient to your parents and all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Isn't that good? As parents, we all say, amen. But when children submit to the parents, submit to authority, it's well-pleasing to the Lord.

Over in first John chapter three, verse number 22, it says these words, and whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

In other words, when we submit to God and his word and do what he asks, it's pleasing to him. So when we go to him and ask, he gives, because we are seeking to honor his life and praise his name. And so when we submit to authority, it is well-pleasing to God. And lastly, when we praise God in all things and for all things, it is pleasing to God. Psalm 69, verse number 30 says this, I will praise the name of God with song and shall magnify him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

Do you know that when you praise God, it is so pleasing to him? We were created to praise him. Revelation 4.11, we are created for his will and for his pleasure. And when we praise him, we are extolling him. And when we praise him, we magnify his name. It's better than anything else we do. It's just to lift his name up on high, to praise him when things are good, to praise him when things are bad, but to praise his glorious name. Hebrews 13 talks about it being a sacrifice of praise, which is well-pleasing to the Lord God.

That's what David did. This whole song of deliverance is about praising God, giving him the glory, magnifying his name, lifting him above David. David wanted to please his God. Do you want to do that? You want to live a life that says, Lord, I am here today to please you. I don't want to please me. I want to please you. I make it my ambition to please the name of the living God. That's what David did. And because he did, his whole life was about honoring God, God honored him. He took him, he drew him, he rescued him, he delivered him simply because God delighted in him.

Leave tonight knowing that God delights in his own. And all God asks that you honor him. All he asks, honor him above everything and everyone else and watch what he does. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you, Lord, for tonight, a chance to once again, to be into your word, to study it, to understand it, to believe that what you said is true and how you worked in David's life was just so over the top, Lord, that you delivered him, you rescued him, you protected him. You were truly his shield, his defender, his horn of salvation. You were a shelter, his refuge, his fortress. Lord, I pray that we'd leave tonight knowing you are the same way with us and you want us to live a life that honors you.

I mean, after all that we have read, would it not be that our whole desire in life would be to please you and to honor you? I pray that that would be the case. Our whole life would be committed to the praise and glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.