Clean Transcript

The Lord as Deliverer

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• And I want you to open your Bibles to Psalm 18. And let's take up where we left off, Psalm 18. And I want us to read verses 7 through 19, that is our text today. This is the fourth message. I had two messages entitled, "I Will Love the Lord," and then one message, "I Will Call upon the Lord." And now the fourth message is "The Lord as Deliverer." So David said, "I will love the Lord. I will call upon the Lord."

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• Now look in verse seven. "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hailstones and coals of fire."

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• "Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay."

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• "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me."

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• Now, let me just call your attention, first of all, to verses 1 and 2, where David said there, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength." And I pointed out, here is David's determination. "I will love thee, O LORD." And I pointed out how that real biblical love, first of all, is attitude.

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• Secondly, affection, and thirdly, action. If your attitude is right, you're going to always have affection. If your affection and attitude are right, it's always going to be demonstrated by action. So David here makes the determination, "I will love thee, O LORD." And I pointed out that his love was a response to God's love, and then the reasons for that love you found in verse 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." And then he says, "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised."

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• "So shall I be saved from mine enemies." And then we looked at verses three through six. And I just showed you David's distress, he says in verse four, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me." Now look what he says: "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God."

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• "He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears." Now, I want to just try to connect verse 6 and verse 7. I pointed out to you how David not only called, he cried. And then he said, my voice was heard. And I asked a question last week, does God recognize your voice? David said, I've cried and I've prayed enough that God knew that it was me, David, calling upon him. So he says in verse six, "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God." Now, watch. "He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came before him, even into his ears."

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• "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth."

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• Now, I want you to note David, in great distress, cries in verse 6. And then, in verse 7, God answers. I want you to take note of God's rapid response to David's cry. And that rapid response is given to us in verses 7-19. The point needs to be emphasized that there was no long delay. God answered immediately and he answered in such a way that everyone knew that it was God.

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• Now, please understand that the people in the Old Testament did indeed comprehend in some way and in some degree what you and I would call the presence of God. God was a God at hand and not just a God who was afar off. In fact, the Bible, in Jeremiah 23 and verse 23, God asked this question. He asked, "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?" God is a God at hand, and God is a God afar off, I'll explain later, because God is omnipresent.

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• He is everywhere at one time in the totality of His being. But let me just show you how the Old Testament saints at least understood the nearness of God and God's presence. If you would hold Psalm 18, but look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 30, Deuteronomy chapter 30, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. And as you find Deuteronomy 30, please go ahead and turn in your Bibles as well to the book of Romans chapter 10. Deuteronomy 30 and Romans chapter 10. Because you're going to see how the Apostle Paul applies Deuteronomy chapter 30. Notice if you would, Deuteronomy 30 beginning there with verse 10. Look what the scripture says. Deuteronomy 30 verse 10. "If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in the book of the law, and if thou turn to the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul," now look, "for this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it afar off."

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• "It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."

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• Now, here's what God is saying. I am where my word is. I am present. You don't have to climb up into heaven. You don't have to go across the sea. My word is nigh thee and where my word is, that is where I am.

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• Now, if you look at Romans chapter 10, Romans 10, beginning there of verse six, notice how the Apostle Paul now quotes Deuteronomy 30. And he says this, "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart," now watch. "Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Notice once again how Christ is intimately connected with His Word. God is indeed omnipresent.

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• He is everywhere at one time in the totality of His person. The saints in the Old Testament understood this. The saints in the New Testament understood this. That's why when you look back at Psalm 18, it does not take days or months or years or long periods of time for God to hear, answer, and respond. David said, I cried unto Him out of my distress. Then the heavens move. You remember this verse that I gave you last week from Isaiah 65 in verse 24, God said, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Psalm 18 is a wonderful illustration of this truth, and it demonstrates the swiftness of God in hearing and answering our prayer. That's why in verse 6, David cried, and then that very important word, "then," is found in verse 7, "then the earth shook." So today I want to deal with one point, David's deliverer. We've seen David's determination, David's distress, and now David's deliverer. God comes to David when David calls and cries out of his helplessness and out of his distress.

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• Now, the picture that David gives us here is how that God responds and moves in power and in anger. He moves in power in and through his creation, but he deals with anger toward those sinners and the wicked who are persecuting David. God appeared on David's behalf in a miraculous and a glorious manner with the great terror, consternation, and confusion of all of David's enemies. The appearance is that of an earthquake. An earthquake that is so deep and so violent that it shook the foundations of the world, that it overthrew the mountains.

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• Now, let me just simply point out, when you look in verse 7, "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken." Many times when you talk about the foundations being moved and shaken and mountains being overturned and uprooted, it has reference to kingdoms. It's a picture of an entire kingdom basically being overthrown, and especially the kingdom of the wicked. Thus, David states, the earth trembled. Why? Because God was wroth. He was angry. And of course, he was angry at the ungodly, at those who were persecuting David. And so, David then is painting us a picture of how when God is angry, He arms Himself with His righteous indignation that He may defend His people.

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• Now, if we were to take the time to go through Scripture, you would find that when our Lord prayed in Matthew chapter 27, the earth shook. You'll also find in Acts chapter 4 that when the disciples prayed, once again the earth shook.

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• Now, when the Bible talks about a shaking, it is not only showing us the presence and power of God, it is also showing us that that which is shaken is only temporary. That which cannot be shaken is permanent.

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• Now, let me show you. Hold Psalm 18, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse 26. This ought to really excite you in one sense of the word. And you'll see why. Look in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning there, if you would please, with verse 26. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26. In fact, let's read verse 25. Now you can see it's God speaking. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth," talking about Moses, "much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." Now, let's stop there just for a moment. God says that he's going to speak and he's going to shake.

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• This world. And those things that are shaken are going to be removed. Those things that cannot be shaken are going to remain.

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• Now look in verse 28. "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved," that is the kingdom of Jesus Christ, "let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Every kingdom besides Christ may be shaken and moved.

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• Now the Bible says in Psalm 18, when David cried unto the Lord in great distress, "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken." Why? "Because he was wroth." You know, the Bible teaches that God can be an angry God. You remember there used to be an old movie. I don't remember the name of it. It was a TV series.

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• Walter Brennan was in it. It was a family picture. And old Walter Brennan used to say this: "I'm a peaceable man. But don't get me stirred up." You know, that's the way God is. But this verse tells us that God was wroth. That is, He was angry. He was kicked off. Are you listening? He was ready to fight. You know what we forget? We forget that God is the defender of His people. Why? Because, basically speaking, His people are His property. We belong to Him.

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• We have been bought body, soul, and spirit, everything we are, we have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, the Hebrew word for wrath here is the word kara, which literally means to be wroth, to be hot, to be angry, to be displeased, to be incensed. And it refers to the kindling of wrath and anger. So the Bible says that God's wrath was kindled. Why?

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• Because God defends His own. Let me just quote some scriptures for you. Listen to this. Deuteronomy 32 in verse 9. And I love this verse because of this truth. "For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." The LORD's portion is His people. You know, I've often thought about this. Guess what? We get the grace of God, the mercy of God. We get the Lord Jesus Christ. We get eternal life.

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• And all He gets is us. You know, I think sometimes we get the far better bargain out of that, you know. But He says the LORD's portion is His people. We belong to Him. And here's what God says in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 10, talking about Israel. "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye," that is, the pupil. You do anything and everything to defend the pupil of your eye. In Psalm 17, verse 8, David prayed, "Keep me as the apple of the eye."

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• "Hide me under the shadow of thy wings." And then in Zechariah 2 and verse 8, the Scripture says, "For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." Would you be upset if I came up to you and took my finger and poked you in the eye?

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• I can assure you, you would. And God said, whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye. Wow. Now, let me show you how wroth God was. Look in Psalm 18 and verse 8. "There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it."

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• Now, you have to remember the language here is anthropomorphic. That is, he is speaking man-form because God is spirit. And David is describing this as if God were a man so that we could understand his wrath and his anger. Since the breath from the nostrils is heated by strong emotion, the figure portrays the Almighty deliverer pouring forth smoke in the heat of his wrath and the impetuousness of his zeal. Nothing makes God angrier than for someone to attack his children. I've said this before. As a father, you mess with my children and you can really be in trouble, but as a grandfather, you mess with my grandchildren and you are then really in deeper trouble. Is it right to feel that way about your children?

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• Well, of course it is. You want to protect your own. God wants to protect his own as well. It is true that God is not subject to passions which govern you and I. But it does show us here that there is a righteous anger. And God's righteous anger is poetically set forth in this image so that we can understand it. And so God is here pictured literally as smoke coming out of his nostrils.

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• I mean, he's breathing fire. He's angry. He's upset. Just stop and think about this. The only thing God has to do to destroy us is withhold air from us. God really doesn't have to do anything. You understand what I'm saying? God could destroy us just simply opening His mouth. But when you get the picture here of a God that is so righteously angered that He's breathing fire and smoke, you get the idea He's really upset. You know, unhappily, many people do not understand the righteous anger of God. Not only is this true concerning the ungodly, that's why the Scripture says over and over there is no fear of God before their eyes. That's why people do what they do when it's so wicked and so vile and so ungodly. They don't fear God. There's no fear of God. They don't even believe God. But unhappily, that attitude is not just simply confined to the ungodly. Sometimes the godly do not comprehend the righteous anger of God either. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 7 and verse 11?

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• Listen to this. Psalm 7 and verse 11, "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. There's not a day in which God's anger does not burn hot toward the wicked. There's not an hour. There's not a minute. There's not a second. Sinners may have many feast days, but they never have any safe days. Because God is angry with the wicked.

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• Let me just show you several verses. I want you to turn with me because I want to show you that God may be righteously angry with the wicked, but God also may be righteously angry with His people because of our sins and our rebellion toward Him. Look in your Bibles, first of all, to Numbers 11. Numbers 11 and verse 1. Then we'll go to the book of Deuteronomy. Numbers 11 and verse 1. Here it is. So the people that God has brought into the wilderness are complaining against God. Watch this. Numbers 11 verse 1.

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• "And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." Did God get angry? Oh, yes. Did He destroy? Oh, yes. And here in this instance, He's angry with His people. Look in Deuteronomy 29 and verse 23. Deuteronomy 29.

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• Do you remember how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Well, there were other cities that were destroyed at the same time. Some of them are listed here. Watch this. "And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath." Wow. Was God angry at Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim? Oh yes.

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• If you will look in your Bibles to the book of Zephaniah, that little book toward the end of the Old Testament, Zephaniah, and then we'll go to the book of Zechariah, which is right before the book of Malachi, the last book in the Bible in the Old Testament. We're going to look in Zephaniah first. Notice Zephaniah chapter two and verse three, right after the little book of Habakkuk and right before the book of Haggai, you have the book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 3. Listen.

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• "Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger." Does the Lord have anger? Oh yes, he does. Look now in the book of Zechariah. Chapter 3 and verse 8. Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 8. Look what our Lord says. Zechariah chapter 3, and I've got verse 8, but that is not the verse that I want. "Therefore wait ye upon me" is the verse I want. I said Zechariah 3:8. Let me see. I might have— Well, let me quote the verse. I've got the verse. I don't see it right now. I thought I might have just transposed it, but here it is. "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey." Oh, Zephaniah. Zephaniah, said Zechariah. Zephaniah, back to where we were. Zephaniah 3 in verse 8.

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• No, that's not it either. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." What did he say? "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey." I'm going to rise up to destruction. "For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even my fierce anger." So God is saying, yes, I do have an anger. Yes, I'm going to destroy the wicked.

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• Now, go back to Psalm 18. Let me show you.

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• Now, David has said the earth is shaken. God was angry. He's also said a smoke went out of his nostrils, fire in his mouth, coals were kindled by it.

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• Now look at verses 9 and 10. You can talk about impressive. Here it is. "He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind." Amid the terror of the storm, Jehovah the Avenger descends, bending beneath His foot the arch of heaven. He comes to execute His wrath and His vengeance upon wicked men, especially those wicked men who are menacing His children. You know, Christians have been hated and despised by tyrants and wicked people throughout history. And it would be a wonderful study just to find what happened to all of those tyrants who persecuted the people of God. Pharaoh is a wonderful example. Balak is another example. The king of Moab. So many. The darkness that he speaks about is expressive of the fact that God hides Himself from wicked men and it portrays also the awful vengeance that awaits the wicked.

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• Let me show you hold Psalm 18, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 97 and look at the same picture beginning there with verse 2. Psalm 97 verse 2. Psalm 97 verse 2. Look what the Bible says. Psalm 97 verse 2. "Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about."

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• "His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth." Notice if you would, clouds and darkness around about him, righteousness and judgment, fire goeth out and burning of his enemies, lightnings, his lightnings enlighten the world. In other words, here, God is showing that he's coming in great vengeance, in great wrath, and in great judgment.

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• And the Bible also tells us, if you look there in verse 10, "and he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind." So God is here pictured as riding upon the tempest. Riding upon the wings of the wind. According to Psalm 104 and verse 3, the Bible tells us he walks upon the wings of the wind. Rides upon a cherub.

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• What is that talking about? It just shows us, first of all, God is in absolute, sovereign control of everything. He's in control of the wind. He's in control of the weather. And it also pictures here the absolute swiftness and suddenness with which God avenges and protects His own. William S. Plumer, a godly commentator in years past, said this, and I love it. "When God comes to punish his foes and rescue his people, nothing has ever surprised his friends or his foes more than the admirable swiftness with which he moves and acts. He flies upon the wings of the wind." And I can assure you that not only his friends, but his foes are surprised at the swiftness with which God acts. God knows how to clean their plows, and He can do a good job on it. Look in verse 11.

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• "He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." Guess what? This verse speaks of the darkness with which God wraps Himself in and conceals himself from his enemies. It is as if God is ready to shoot at them, and he does so, but they cannot tell from which the shots originate or the source of the shots.

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• Can you imagine the horror of horrors of being fired upon with perfect accuracy, when you cannot even see your enemy, and you don't even know where he's shooting from, and every shot hits the target? God conceals himself. They cannot see, but yet they're destroyed. The Scottish version of the Psalter gives us couplet, it's actually three stanzas. And let me just read this. I thought this was beautiful.

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• And this is talking basically from 9 to 11 there. Here's what the Scotch version says in the Psalter. "He also bowed the heavens, and thence he did descend, and thick as clouds of darkness did under his feet attend. And upon a cherub he rode, and thereby he did fly; he owned swift wings of the wind, his flight was from on high. He darkness made his secret place, about him from his tent, dark waters were, and thickest clouds of the airy firmament."

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• And so they sang this psalm concerning the righteous anger and judgment of God. Now look at verse 12, and let's read through verse 15. Verse 12, "At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hailstones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them."

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• "He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils." Let me give you two quotes. Both of these commentators made wonderful observations on this passage. The first one is by Spurgeon. Listen to what he said. "Suddenly, the terrible artillery of heaven was discharged.

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• The brightness of lightning lit up the clouds, as were the glory proceeding from him who was concealed within the cloudy pavilion. And the volleys of hailstones and coals of fire were hurled forth upon the enemy. The lightning seemed to cleave the clouds and kindle them into a blaze, and then hailstones and flakes of fire with flashes of terrific grandeur terrified the sons of men." Wow. Then Calvin said it like this.

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• "We should remember what I have said before, that David, under these figures, describes to us the dreadful power of God, the better to exalt and magnify the divine grace which was manifested in his deliverance. He declares a little after this, which was his intention, for when speaking of his enemies, he says, and they were scattered, put to flight by the arrows of God, as if He had said, they have been overthrown not by the hands or swords of men, but by God who openly launched His thunderbolts against them." Wow.

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• Let me tell you something, folks. This world in which we live today knows nothing of what it is like to have God to fight against you. But this world shall discover. You'll find that thunder in the Bible is a sign of God's anger. In 1 Samuel 2 and verse 10. 1 Samuel 7 verse 10. When Samuel prayed and it thundered, oh man, were the people afraid because they knew that God was angry against them. And now God is thundering forth his voice.

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• You know, when you stop and think about the wicked in this world, look at their arrogance, their haughtiness, their headiness, their high-mindedness, I mean, their boastfulness. And they openly challenge God. One verse that demonstrates their persons and their attitude is Psalm 12 and verse 4. Let me just read to you what the wicked say in Psalm 12 and verse 4.

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• "Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?" With our lips, with our tongues we will prevail. We can talk our way out of anything. Who is Lord over us? We don't need God. We don't recognize God. We are our own Lord. Let me tell you something. Sinners are very boastful and arrogant before the battle. But when God enters into a battle with them, they soon turn tail and run.

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• They appear to be nothing but cowards. And they quake and cower before the least demonstration of His righteous anger. And when you stop and think, when God shoots His arrows, He never misses. His arrows are feathered with lightning and barbed with eternal death.

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• If God is so great and so powerful in and of himself, and he is, what in the world do you think it's going to be like for the man or for the men with whom God appears in arms against? What do you think it's going to be like when God demonstrates His righteous anger? Do you remember that passage in Revelation 6 where the great men and the mighty men and the captains are crying to the rocks and the mountains saying, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb"? Look in verse 15. God is sending out His arrows, His lightnings. Verse 15, "Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils."

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• Once again, let me tell you and give you a quote from Spurgeon. Spurgeon said on verse 15, "So tremendous was the shock of God's assault in arms that the order of nature was changed, and the bottoms of rivers and seas were laid bare. The channels of waters were seen, and the deep cavernous bowels of the earth were upheaved, till the foundations of the world were discovered. What will not Jehovah's rebuke do?

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• If the blast of the breath of thy nostrils, O Lord, be so terrible, what must thine arm be? Vain are the attempts of men to conceal anything from Him whose word unbars the deep and lifts up the doors of the earth from their hinges. Vain are all the hopes of resistance, for a whisper of His voice makes the whole earth quail in abject terror." Isn't that beautiful? If a breath, if a blast of the breath of His nostrils does this to the earth, what will His arm do? Wow.

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• God does and God is righteously angry. He does have a righteous anger. He is righteously angry. And he uses the blast of his nostrils to destroy his enemies.

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• Now, I want us to look at verses 16 through 19, because I want to spend the rest of my time on these three verses. Verse 16, "He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay."

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• "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me."

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• Now, I want you to note, in verse 6, David calls and cries to the Lord in great distress. In verses 7-15, David gives us a picture of the awful power and righteous anger of God when God comes to deliver him and his people. Now you have, in verses 16-19, basically, everything that David has said earlier, but this time he's put it in plain, simple language where anyone and everyone could understand it. Without me rereading verses 16 through 19, let me just show you how David clearly alludes to the fact that his deliverance was nothing more than marvelous and miraculous. It was an act of God. David says this, watch, he said "from above," "he took me," "he drew me," "he delivered me," "he brought me forth," "he delivered me," and "he delighted in me." What is David saying? All of this was something that God had done. It was not David's skill that delivered him. It was not David's battle tactics that delivered him. It was not David's better technological weaponry that delivered him.

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• It was not the aid of men that delivered him. No, it was an act of God and an act of God alone. Now, if you'll hold Psalm 18, but turn in your Bibles to Psalm 44, and I want you to see the confession in Psalm 44, and once again, it demonstrates how the deliverance is an act of God. Look in Psalm 44, beginning with verse one. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob."

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• Now let me ask you a question. Did Israel have to fight when she went into Canaan? Well, of course. But was it their skill and their weaponry and their battle tactics that got them the victory? Well, of course not. And that's what Psalm 44 is saying. It was all of God. Did David have to fight? Sure, David had to fight. But the deliverance was from God. God enabled and empowered David. And you're going to see this as we get down in Psalm 18, where God taught David to fight. But it was God who was doing the delivering. Now, I want you to note what David says in verse 16. Look carefully. "He sent from above, he took me."

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• "He drew me out of many waters." Now, what is David talking about? "He drew me out of many waters." Well, go back to verse 4. "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid." What are the many waters? The many waters are the many enemies, or the torrents of enemies, the floods of ungodly men that had surrounded Him. So, He said He sent from above. He drew me out of the floods of the ungodly men. I love what Spurgeon said on this verse.

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• Listen to what he said. "Now comes the rescue. The author is divine. He sent. The work is heavenly from above. The deliverance is marvelous. He drew me out of many waters. Here, David was like another Moses, drawn from the water. And thus are all believers like their Lord, whose baptism in many waters of agony and in His own blood has redeemed us from the wrath to come. Torrents of evil shall not drown the man whose God sitteth upon the floods to restrain their fury." No amount of ungodly men, no amount of floods and torrents of enemies can destroy us when God controls the floods. David gives praise, he said in verse 17.

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• "He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me."

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• Now, I'm sure there are plenty of ideas when it comes to this phrase, "he delivered me from my strong enemy." Well, David could be referring to Goliath. He certainly got delivered from Goliath. Could have been referred to Saul, who persecuted him. He could be referring to Ishbi-benob, who thought to have slain David. Whoever it was, was a very strong enemy. "He delivered me from my strong enemy."

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• Notice, that may be singular, but the next is plural. "And from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me." It does not matter the multitude, the magnitude, or the strength of the enemy. God is still able to deliver. Look in verse 18.

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• Now the enemy thought they really had David because he said, "They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay." You remember I told you last week the word "prevented" is an old English word, which literally means they preceded me in the day of my calamity. What he meant by that was this, that the enemy preceded him there and had laid traps for him, laid snares for him. And since they were there, David was basically surrounded. And David is saying, look, they surprised me.

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• And here I am entrapped and ensnared. And what am I going to do? Well, he said the LORD was my stay. You know what a stay is? It's like a staff. It's like a walking stick. It's something you put your weight on, you lean on, you put your trust in it. So He says, the LORD was my stay. I was surrounded by my enemies. They had laid these traps and these snares.

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• They had gone before me. They had set them. I walked right smack dab into it. It looked like I was caught. But the LORD was my stay. And then He says in verse 19, "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me." Now, the large place denotes a place of safety or relief, and it is contrasted with the straits of distress. How did David begin? He was in great distress. He was in a tight place. He was surrounded.

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• He was ensnared and entrapped. He couldn't get out. But now the Lord has delivered him and has brought him into a large place. Listen to what David said in Psalm 4 and verse 1. "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer." Thou hast enlarged me. In other words, you've gotten me into a large place. You've gotten me out of the tight spot, out of the cramped quarters. Listen to what he says now in verse 19. "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me." So he's given God the praise. And then he says this, "because he delighted in me."

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• Now, I want to take the time and explain that phrase "because he delighted in me." God delivered David because He was a man after his own heart in whom God delighted, not for any merit in David, not for any worthiness in David, not for any works in David, but out of God's own goodwill and pleasure. When David says that he, God, delighted in me, the phrase indicates that God had a love to David, had a goodwill to David, and David is ascribing all of his mercies and all of his deliverance to the free, sovereign grace of God. David is not boasting of his own works. He's not boasting of his own merits. He's saying that it is because of God's supernatural and sovereign favor. I want to give you one more quote by Spurgeon. I love this. Here's what Spurgeon said on this phrase. "Because he delighted in me," Spurgeon wrote, "free grace lies at the foundation. Rest assured, if we go deep enough, sovereign grace is the truth which lies at the bottom of every well of mercy.

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• Deep sea fisheries in the ocean of divine bounty will always bring the pearls of electing discriminating love to light. Why Jehovah should delight in us is a question without an answer, and a mystery which angels cannot solve. But that He does delight in His Beloved is certain, and is the fruitful root of favors as numerous as they are precious. Believer, sit down and inwardly digest the instructive sentence now before us, and learn to view the uncaused love of God as the cause of all the lovingkindness of which we are partakers. Learn to view the uncaused love of God as the cause of loving-kindness, every loving-kindness of which we are partakers.

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• Let me just quote a verse. Don't turn there. David says that he delivered me because he delighted in me. What he's saying is he delivered me because he loved me. Because he favored me. Why did God love David? Why did God favor David? Out of God's own sovereign grace and mercy.

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• Now listen to Deuteronomy 7 verses 7 and 8. Listen. Here's what the scripture says. "The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you." You know why God loved you? Because He loved you. Not anything in you, you didn't earn it, you didn't merit it, you didn't draw it forth. God loved you just simply because He loved you.

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• That's what Spurgeon meant when he said if you will go deep enough in the deep sea fishery of the bounties of grace, you will always find the pearls of electing discriminating love. God did not love us because we were lovely. For we were unlovely. God did not love us because we were good. For there's none good, no, not one. God did not love us because we sought Him, for there is none that seeketh after God, no, not one. God did not love us because we were righteous, for there is none righteous, no, not one. God did not love us because we were godly, for the love of God is commended to us while we were sinners. Why did God love us? Because God loved us. When you come down to it, it all comes down to God's sovereign, electing, gracious and merciful grace. You know, I don't know if you ever thought about this or not.

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• But you can ask yourself some questions. You can ask this question. Why has God allowed you to live as long as you've lived? I mean, look at some of your friends, some of your family, they were cut off in the prime of life. You've been allowed to live. Why are you in the health that you're in? Why do you have the family that you have? Why do you have the friends that you have?

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• Why do you have the financial standing that you have? Everything that you have is based upon the mercy and the grace of God. And the Lord loves you because he loves you. And that's what David is saying.

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• Now, let me make three very quick applications. The first one is this. We should rejoice and be extremely thankful that David's Deliverer is our Deliverer. We have the same sovereign, majestic, omnipotent, immortal, eternal God that David had. As he was God's child, so are we God's children. And you know what he promised us in Hebrews 13 and verse 5? He said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." God is immutable. God is unchangeable. Therefore, He is the eternal deliverer of God's people.

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• And folks, I'm here to tell you, He has delivered us out of so many things. We should be eternally grateful. The second application is this. We need to learn to cry for deliverance as David cried in verse 6 in his distress. He'd not only call, but he cried. I genuinely, sincerely believe that one of the reasons we do not see the hand of God's mighty deliverance in our day and time the way they did in the Old Testament and New Testament is we as God's people have not cried unto God. We've not cried. We've not repented. We've not turned. We live in a day when everybody trusts the arm of the flesh.

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• We can work it out. We can handle it. We can do it. We've got friends. You know what the Bible says in Jeremiah 17, verse 5? "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." When we fail to cry to God, and when we trust in man, we only bring judgment and destruction upon ourselves. We need, Lord, to cry, as David did when he said, "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men."

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• And the third application should give you great courage. I give you heart. For neither the multitude nor the magnitude of sinners arrayed against us matters when the sovereign God of the universe fights for us. How can they stand? They cannot stand. There is absolutely no hope for those who fight against God. There is not one ounce or one glimmer of hope for anyone who fights against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and God of Gods.

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• I don't care if you're rebelling personally. I don't care if you're rebelling as a family. I don't care if you're rebelling as a church. I don't care if you're rebelling as a nation or as a country or the world. There is no hope as long as you fight against God. Why? Because God is invincible. You cannot win. And therefore He demands His enemies throw down their weapons of warfare and kneel before Him and worship Him. You must worship Him. You must trust Him. You must believe Him. You must bow to Him. He and He alone is God. It's useless to fight against God.

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• You want your own way? Fine. Fight. You want your own will? Fine. Fight. You will lose and you will die. Because no one has ever successfully fought against God and no one ever will. The safest thing for you to do is bow and worship and believe and trust. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we do ask today that You would help us, encourage us, enable us to see and to know Thy mighty deliverance.

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• Thou art David's deliverer and Thou art our deliverer. You may deliver us personally, familiarly, ecclesiastically, nationally, Lord, we must trust in Thee. We must cry to Thee. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear, knowing that the kingdom of Jesus Christ can never be shaken and never be moved. In Thy name we ask and pray, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T19:50:47Z