I invite you to turn to 2 Samuel chapter 22, reading verses 8 through 25. It's on page 1254, and the Bible's in your seats. This is a reminder of this. These words of David are contained in Psalm 18. And so I've been referring kind of back and forth between 2 Samuel and Psalm 18. But here are the way they are recorded here in 2 Samuel 22, beginning with verse 8. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken. because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth, coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down, with darkness under his feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew, and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness canopies around him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning bolts and He vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast, at the breath of His nostrils. He sent from above. 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 my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before him, and I kept myself from iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyes. Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. These words of David might ring hollow in your ears, especially given the fact that we know David. We have spent many months with David. We've known his victories, his calling, his courage, his failings, his sins. How is it that David could write words like this? The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, the cleanness of my hands. Maybe you even think very personally about this. For David gave these words to us to sing as well. How is it that we can take up these words Lord has rewarded me for my righteousness. Are you righteous? We'll have some good conversations later, won't we, Suki? I'll speak for myself. I am not righteous. in and of myself. And therein lies the answer to why we can sing this song. Because the righteousness that is described here is the righteousness of Christ. It is the righteousness of the Son of God who became man, who laid down his life on the cross for our sins, taking the penalty upon himself and giving us his perfect righteousness. This passage is so clearly messianic when it turns to speak of the psalmist or the singer of this psalm of his righteousness. It is so clearly messianic because It is the righteousness of Christ which is proclaimed. I remind you of what I read in Acts chapter two that David as a prophet foresaw the coming of Jesus and proclaimed his work. And in this Psalm, he speaks of our Savior's death and of his resurrection and of his righteousness. So I want you to Think of this psalm, and I will, like last week, I'll be giving references to how David is writing it in his own context. But I really want you to see Jesus in this passage. And I want you to see how you may cry out to God as well. And be answered by God, answered swiftly, as swiftly as God coming on the cherub and on the wings of the wind to answer your prayers as well. So let's look at verses 8 through 16, and you'll hear in this portion that God poured out his just judgment on Christ. God poured out his just judgment on Christ. If you look back at verse seven, you might remember that David prayed, he cried out to God. He asked the Lord to save him from the enemies that he was facing. What comes next is God's answer. And the power of these words just shines through. If I put it in a dramatic fashion, I would say that God enters the battle and he comes with all of his glorious might to scatter his enemies. And David could reflect on this. He could look back and see that God had indeed delivered David many, many times. And as the title that's given of this psalm references the deliverance from Saul, just think of what was leading up to that. That God delivered David from Goliath, from the Philistines, and then from someone right out of the nation of Israel, the king of Israel, who was trying to kill him. So David could say, as he does in verse 18, Those enemies were too strong for him, but that the Lord was his support. The Lord was his deliverer. And with Jesus, we know that he too was delivered. He was delivered from the enemies that accused him from the death itself that he suffered. And I'll get there pretty soon. But before that, I remind you that before the glory comes to the cross, See, when Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary, you could say that God entered the battle with all of his glorious might to strike down the enemy. And as Jesus hung on the cross, he was that suffering servant. He was that enemy that was the subject of all of God's terrifying wrath. In Isaiah 53, another prophet foresaw the coming of the Christ. He is that suffering servant who was beaten and struck and crucified and died so that by his wounds we would be healed. David's language is full of the power of that. Maybe you got a sense of it just singing those words. Let me highlight a few of them again. I want you to hear and to recognize the poetic foreshadowing of the day and the hour of Jesus's crucifixion. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken because he, the Lord, was angry. Verse eight, verse 10. He bowed the heavens also, he came down with darkness under his feet. In verse 12, also dark canopies, clouds are around him. Verse 9 and 13 through 16 describe great storms of lightning, thunder, mighty winds and waves, the Lord blasting from his mouth, from his nostrils, smoke and fire against his enemy. Now think of the words of Matthew who records this day. Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out, a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli. Lama Sabachthani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of those who stood there, when they heard that said, this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it in a reed, put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink. The rest said, let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split. The graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection. They went into the city and appeared to many. Jesus, the King of righteousness, became sin for us. He bore our sin on the cross, and God the Father turned his just judgment fully upon Jesus. And all of creation shook At this mighty display of God's judgment, all of creation shook. The earth, which is not supposed to move, did. The sun, which does not vary day by day by day, was darkened. For three hours, this is no mere eclipse of the sun, which happens frequently and lasts four, five, six minutes at most. For three hours, as Jesus suffered the wrath of the Father, it was dark. All of creation was testifying to this Most important hour in all of creation. Suffering and death of the sun for our sins. Which leads us gloriously to the next aspect of Psalm 18. For God did indeed pour out his wrath upon Jesus, but there was a purpose for that. Because by his death, Jesus accomplished redemption. This is why he died, this is why he came. Jesus took and paid fully what was owed. I'm fascinated sometimes in talking to people When asked why they should go to heaven and they say, well, God overlooks my sin. As if the judgment of a holy God against sin somehow just disappears. God grades on a curve. He was kind to me. He knew I had a bad day. He knew I tried hard. But no. Why would Jesus die if that were the case? Judgment didn't just disappear, it was fulfilled by the death of Jesus. And so out of God's love comes redemption by this terrifying wrath of God poured out upon Jesus Christ. I'll say again, he who knew no sin became sin for us. And now whoever believes in Jesus will not die, but have everlasting life. And David's words allude to this in a beautiful way. I want you to look at verse 11. Here, as David cries out, he then sees God coming Riding on a cherub, and that word may prompt you to think of a little cute baby with wings, maybe even got a Valentine's Day card this week. A cherub, a little baby with a bow shooting arrows of love into your heart. That's what you might think of when you hear the word cherub. That's not what the Bible thinks about at all. Cherub is the singular word for another word that you might recognize, the cherubim. Now just think of when the cherubim appear in the Bible. Think of Genesis chapter three. God came in judgment to speak to Adam and Eve, who had sinned against him. There's promised redemption, but there is judgment and he casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. At the border, he stationed his cherubim with flaming swords to stop that way back into the garden. Go and read the book of Ezekiel and you'll be confronted with cherubim, unearthly creatures that Ezekiel tries to find words to describe. These are awesome, sinless, fearful, mighty beings of God. Types of angels that serve his purpose. And in this case, you see God coming in the midst of his judgment against sin, riding on a cherub and on the wings of the wind. But the Bible also connects cherubim to redemption. The Ark of the Covenant was covered with a lid that's called the mercy seat. And on that mercy seat are two cherubim. And they stretch out their wings, two over the mercy seat and two reaching out to the corners of the Holy of Holies. And it's there at the mercy seat that the Bible describes the Lord enthroned amidst the cherubim. It is describing the presence of that holy God who does not countenance sin in the midst of his people and unholy people, us. Well, how is that? Well, it's pictured in that Old Testament system by the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. where the blood of a sacrificial lamb was sprinkled for the atonement of sins. And then remember that God for glory and for beauty also said to those who were building the temple and the tabernacle, There must be a veil between the holiest holies and the rest of the tabernacle and the rest of the people. And that veil would be made, a heavy veil of woven fibers of beautiful colors, rich colors of blue, purple, scarlet thread, decorated in the weaving with the artistic design of cherubim. Mighty angels of God. It was this very curtain that was torn in two. Christ died on the cross. All of these things, the chair then remind you of redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. For it was indeed the blood of a lamb, the lamb of God, that was shed for us. And on that basis, the Lord shows mercy to us. And by Christ's sacrifice, there is a way made forever through that earthly veil that brings us to God forever. His death accomplishes redemption. That's not the end of the story. There's more glory to come. If you look at verses 17 through 20, David uses great poetry again now to describe the way that God delivered Jesus. I said I would get here. You could hear even in this deliverance the weight of the difficulties that that David faced and that Jesus faced. Deep waters, a powerful enemy. Can't you just feel the weight of being overwhelmed, drowned, attacked, and crushed? But the force of these verses is not on the weight, but on the deliverance from this. From the depths of deep waters, God sent from heaven above and drew him out. He delivered him from the enemy, brought him out into a broad place, meaning a place of freedom, a place to enjoy the love and the fellowship of God, who delighted in him. And you can't help but think of Jesus with these words. There is the weight of the enemies, both earthly and spiritual. But even more than that, even more than that is the deliverance that God brings to Jesus. This is part of the call to worship from Acts chapter 2. This Jesus, though put to death by the hands of lawless men, God raised up. having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. God raised him up, he delivered him from all of sin and Satan and death he had humbled himself to bear. And so Christ is risen. This is Easter morning, isn't it? Christ is risen, and the whole earth shook again. Listen to the way Matthew describes this. I won't read out, I'll summarize this. An angel of the Lord descended on that morning of the third day, and he rolled back the stone of Jesus' tomb, and he sat on the stone, as if he was saying, Yeah, you just try to change what God has done. And as the soldiers, the Roman soldiers saw this mighty angel, it says they were terrified. This is no baby faced, sweet little winged angel. This is one of God's mighty messengers that terrified the soldiers. They fell down like they were dead men. But this angel says to the women, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. He is risen. I know what you seek. You seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here. He is risen, as he said, come and see the place where the Lord lay. He is risen because it was not possible for death to hold him. Tying in David's words in verse 17, I can't help but think of one other way that Jesus foretold it to his disciples. 17 describes those great depths into which Jesus descended but then was delivered. You remember that Jesus used Jonah as an example of this, another Old Testament prophet, now foreshadowing Jesus in a different way. As Jonah was three days in the depths of the ocean and the belly of the fish, so too, after three days, Jesus rose from the dead. And he gave that as a sign. anticipating his resurrection. So we come now to those words of the righteousness that David professes. What comes in verses 21 through 25 tell that the resurrection was the Lord's reward to Jesus. Listen again to verse 21. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. How could David say this? Well, he could speak of his character and of his resolve when it came to King Saul. And it is an example of righteousness. He did not lift up his hands against King Saul. But ultimately, These words ring true when you apply them to Jesus. He was and is perfectly righteousness, not in any narrow sense or application of the term, but in all of his life, in all of his activities, he obeyed Father perfectly. He never said, he never diverted, from that obedience. And by his obedience, he is indeed declared to be the righteous one. And it can be said, therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyes. This portion does indeed make it a perfect example why we call this psalm messianic. Because while David can speak of genuine heartfelt obedience, he cannot speak of perfect righteousness. And here's the point, that the resurrection indicates the Father's approval of Christ's obedience. It indicates his recognition of his righteousness. and it recognizes and accepts Jesus' atoning sacrifice. For Jesus humbled himself to the point of death on the cross. Therefore, God exalted him above everything. Part of that exaltation is the glory of the resurrection. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us so that in him we might be righteous as well. Not having a righteousness of our own, but the righteousness of Christ that is now given to us in our justification. This is the gospel, is it not? We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are all deserving of the thundering, flaming, terrifying wrath of God against sin. But the Lord has placed that on Jesus. It has an application to you if you are not a Christian. you may be delivered from that terrifying wrath of God by asking Jesus to forgive your sins. And you can think of it, you can think of it, even in these words of David, think of the crush of the judgment of God not falling on you. But falling on Jesus, and if you find yourself in this position of being afraid, knowing that you are a sinner and being afraid of that wrath to come, ask the Lord Jesus to take your place. It has an application to you who are Christians as well, where there is a righteousness that belongs to you. Righteousness of Christ. But what do we see in our lives now? We see that we still sin. We see that there is sin around us and temptation and enemies. There is a crush that we still face. But the Lord says, cry out to me for deliverance. And if you do, I will answer from on high. I love the way that the commentator Ash puts this. When the weakest of believers cries out in Jesus's name, it is not fanciful to see the same majestic Savior God mount his chariot cherub and come with infinite speed and matchless power to answer prayer and to save you. So I hope that I have given you a different picture of a cherub today. But more than that, I hope that you've seen Jesus, the Redeemer of our sins. By faith in Jesus, you can say, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Lord God, hear our prayers today and send answer. Lord, hear us as we cry out for loved ones who are not Christians. Hear the voice of those here or in churches around the world who are hearing that gospel message and are convicted and convinced by your spirit that they need Jesus. Hear their voices, they cry out to you, and come swiftly to save. And God, in our Christian walk, there are many things that assail us, and many things that crush us. And as we cry out to you, O Lord, come quickly, O Lord Jesus. Ride on the wind. and on your cherub to deliver us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So we'll sing the next portion of Psalm 18 now, of the glory of the resurrection, righteousness of Christ. Psalm 18c, I invite you to please stand to sing.