We're going to be reading about a prophecy of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ from 2 Samuel chapter 22. And this song and then the song in chapter 23 are at the heart of the message on the kingdom summary from chapter 21 through the end of the book. And this is a long passage, but we're going to go ahead and read through all of it. and ask God to give us insight into what it is intended to teach. Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, that's a very key phrase, and from the hand of Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, the God of my strength in whom I will trust. my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, you saved me from violence. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid, the sorrows of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me, In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from his temple and my cry entered his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the 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 of 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 my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyes. With the merciful, you will show yourself merciful. With a blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. With the pure, you will show yourself pure. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people, but your eyes are on a hottie that you may bring them down. For you are my lamp, O Lord, The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by you, I can run against a troop. By my God, I can leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in him. For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? God is my strength and power, and he makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me so my feet did not slip. I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. And I have destroyed them and wounded them so that they could not rise. They have fallen under my feet. For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose against me. You have also given me the necks of my enemies, so that I destroyed those who hated me. They looked, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but he did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I trod them like dirt in the streets, and I spread them out. You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people. You have kept me as the heads of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners submit to me. As soon as they hear, they obey me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let God be exalted, the rock of my salvation. It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. He is the tower of salvation to his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore. Amen. Father, we thank you for this word. And even though we're only going to be able to have a survey of it, we pray it would be a scripture that would grip our hearts and give us faith for the battles that are before us in our own age. We love you and we continue to worship as we submit our hearts to your word. In Jesus' name, amen. There are different perspectives on what this chapter is talking about and who it is talking about. Before we can properly apply it, I think we need to dig into some of that preliminary debate and discussion. There are some who say that this is a survey of David's life and a theological interpretation of his life, but there are sections, three sections actually, in this psalm that give some people doubts. For example, verses 21 through 28 portray the speaker as having perfectly kept God's law, and with all of the faults in David's life in the previous few chapters, some people think, how could these words credibly come out of David's lips? Instead, they see it as a prophecy of Jesus, and to buttress their argument, they point to the fact that this psalm, that's recorded in chapter 22 here, this psalm is quoted two times in the New Testament as being the words of Jesus. Verse two is quoted in Hebrews 2.13 as the words of Jesus as he converts people with the spread of the gospel. And verse 50 is quoted in Romans 15.9 to prove that it's always been God's intention to include Gentiles within the church as the gospel conquers the world. And so there is a strong basis for their objection and saying, no, this has to be the words of Jesus. It has to be a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the first group responds that Jesus does not need a savior. And responds that verse one makes clear it was David himself who was speaking these words to the Lord. But when you study in depth the usage that Hebrews 2 and Romans 15 make of this psalm, you realize it's not an either-or situation. It's really both-and. It does describe David, and it does describe the gospel of Jesus. How does Jesus conquer the world in Romans chapter 15? He does so by preaching his gospel through his ministers, just like the pre-incarnate Son of God was preaching the gospel back then through David. Okay, the gospel only has power in the hearers as those hearers are united with Jesus. And it only has power in the preachers as the preachers are united with Jesus. In fact, why don't you go ahead and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2 where one of these quotes takes place. And I want to illustrate how Hebrews makes it a both and situation just like Romans 15 does. Hebrews 2 and beginning to read at verse 10. For it was fitting for him, that is Jesus, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, he is the author of all things, he is going to be the inheritor of all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. By the way, David was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as being a captain who would deliver his people. Verse 11, for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. I want you to notice it's not either or, it's a both and situation there. It's talking about both Jesus and those whom he sanctifies being united. He goes on, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. Now that quote from Psalm 22 indicates that Jesus is so united with those that he saves that when we sing in the congregation and the assembly of the brethren, Jesus is in that assembly singing with us, singing through us. Okay, it's both and. And then comes the quote from 2 Samuel 22 and again, I will put my trust in him. And again, here am I and the children whom God has given me. In as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted." Now I'm not going to get into all of the nuances of that text and how commentators relate this to 2 Samuel chapter 22. At this juncture, I just want to mention two facts, and the first is that it's quite clear in both this text, Hebrews 2, and in Romans 15, that 2 Samuel 22 is about both Jesus and those who were united to Jesus, including David. Okay? So if they're saved in the same way in the Old Testament as we are, it's all who are united to Jesus, including David. And that's a key, I think, to interpreting the passage. And then secondly, both passages indicate that this chapter, that is 2 Samuel 22, is talking about the gospel. The only way that David could sing this song is as one who was united to Jesus. And so I've titled, in the outline, I've titled the sermon, The Gospel according to David and I've developed an acrostic, you might notice that I didn't highlight the letters, an acrostic that has the six points with each of the letters of the word gospel. And the G of the gospel is God. Verses one through three indicate that God is the only foundation we can have for our salvation. This is not a man-centered gospel that glorifies man's free will. On the contrary, when quoting this psalm, 2 Samuel 22, Romans 15 says that it is, quote, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written. And then comes the quote from 2 Samuel 22. So because God alone has anything to do with the foundation of the gospel, God alone gets the glory. And so in 2 Samuel 22, verse 1, we see God's saving scripture. And in verses 1 through 3, we see God's saving power. That's the foundation. Okay, certainly David wrote these words, but every word of this psalm was inspired by God and contained the message of God's deliverance. Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, and then comes the song that both Hebrews and Romans says are the words of Jesus speaking through David, the pre-incarnate son of God was speaking through David. about this message of God's power. Now look at all the reflections upon what God alone could do for David or for any of us. Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer the God of my strength in whom I will trust. My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. And so it's very, very clear in verses one through three that David was saved by God's provision alone. David couldn't earn anything in his salvation. And it's pretty clear from the preceding chapters that we've gone through. He was a sinner, just like you and I are. And so his battles are symbolic of the great spiritual warfare for the souls of men in our own age. And Romans particularly applies it to the worldwide spread of the gospel. Were all enemies put under David's feet? Yes, absolutely they were. And Hebrews and Romans indicates all enemies are going to be put under Jesus' feet. Did it take a long time for David to do that, accomplish that? Yes. And Hebrews says it's going to take a long time for Jesus to accomplish this. There is a number of parallels between the two. And David ushers in a time of peace when all enemies are put under him, and there's just this long period of peace under his son Solomon. And in the same way as scripture says, there's going to be a long time of peace when the world is Christianized under the second David, Jesus, as well. But it's all of grace. The G is God, God alone is the foundation of our salvation. The O of the gospel is the word only and shows how only faith in God's provision can receive that salvation or that spread of the gospel. Verses four through seven showed David's total inability to save himself. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from his temple and my cry entered his ears. David couldn't handle his enemies. They were way too strong for him. And he lists his enemies as death, ungodliness, and the terrors of the afterlife. And those are really the three main enemies that we continue to face today. Has anybody ever been able to avoid death? No. And so the question is, if we're all going to face death, who is going to deliver us from death? Has anyone been able to escape the floods of ungodliness that threaten to send us into hell? No. Some people fool themselves into thinking that they are perfectly righteous in and of themselves. In fact, I knew one person out in California who said that he's never sinned in his life. Wow. That was a sin right there. Because you called God a liar. God says that we're all sinners. But anyway, when God opens our eyes, we are so confronted with our sinfulness that it feels like floods are going to drown us. Our own sin nature is an enemy. And then the third one, around the world, people face the afterlife with nervousness, fear, if they do not know the Lord. And these enemies make men feel helpless and hopeless. And the helplessness can be seen in the five descriptor words. The five descriptor words there, waves, Floods, sorrows, snares, and distress. Now if you've ever been on the ocean during a storm, as I have, when you feel like you are being crushed by the weight of those waves, you know the feelings of helplessness that David expressed. And he speaks also of floods of ungodliness. When floods come sweeping through an area, They take houses and lives and everything that you've accumulated in a lifetime, and it's vaporized. And that's what sin, the sin of the ungodly, will do to them in God's judgment. One of the first works of God's grace is to open our eyes to see our ungodliness. And when you truly see your own ungodliness, apart from the righteousness of Christ, yeah, it can be terrifying, just like a flood can be. He also speaks of the sorrows of Sheol. Now, Sheol was the place of the dead in the heart of the earth. In the Old Testament, it was lower Sheol was hell, upper Sheol was paradise. And if it's the sorrows of Sheol, it's the bad place, right? It's not the good place where people have nothing but joy. And so there are sorrows here that He has so offended God that he deserves such a fate. Now we don't know what time frame in his life that the sorrows of Sheol confronted him. A snare is the next word, snags its prey, will not let it go. So if you've been snared by death, you are being sucked into Sheol with no hope of escape. And this in turn brings the distress of verse seven. And anybody who's experienced the terror of facing God's light and his holiness in light of verses four through seven knows that there is nothing that we can offer God that would be of any worth to save us. Instead what we say is, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I claim. You cry out to God to save you. And David's crying out for deliverance from physical enemies I think is such an apt figure of our crying out for deliverance from the enemies, the same enemies actually that are listed in verses four through seven. So this paragraph starts and ends with crying out to God alone. That's what faith is. It's crying out to God alone in his provision. Verse four, I will call upon the Lord who was worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. So shall I be saved from my enemies. How? by crying out to the Lord who alone can save us, who alone can get the glory in our salvation. Verse 7 does the same, it shows when we cry out to God we will be saved, guaranteed. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from his temple and my cry entered his ears. Now, certainly David was saved from physical enemies, but it's worded in such a way that Hebrews and Romans rightly see this as applicable to our salvation based on the finished work of Jesus Christ. In other words, what happened to David is a type of the gospel. It's a picture, it's a foreshadowing. God is the foundation for our salvation. O, only faith can receive God's salvation. S is for stand. We must stand in total agreement with God's holy judgments. We don't run. We don't evade. We don't disagree with God's judgments. And this is really the flip side of faith, it's repentance. Repentance is confession. It's coming into agreement with God's evaluation of our sinfulness, with our evaluation of His judgment. We come into agreement with that. And by the way, since faith and repentance are flip sides of the same coin, you can't have a life of faith without a life of repentance. We are called through our lives to repent and constantly cling to Christ by faith. They're always flip sides. Anyway, this is an incredibly powerful description of God's judgments. And I'm not going to read all of these verses again, but let me very briefly summarize them. Verse eight describes heaven and earth shaking because of God's anger. And why would God not be angry over the sins of men? Verse 9 speaks of God's anger being so great that smoke goes out of his nostrils, fire comes out of his mouth. In other words, apart from safety in Jesus Christ, it's not pleasant being around God. It's a scary thing coming face to face with God. As Hebrews words it, he is a consuming fire. Do not think that God's character has changed in the New Testament. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 12, 28 through 29 says, therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire. He's still a consuming fire. Verse 10 speaks of God coming down, coming down to do what? To mete out judgment, to mete out his vengeance, his wrath against all sin. But then it says darkness is under his feet, indicating that, you know, from our perspective, we cannot always discern. His judgments are inscrutable. We can't figure out always why and how God judges. And verse 11 speaks of God using terrifying angels and whirlwinds to bring about his judgments. He still has angels at his beck and call who do much of his providence in human history. And again, don't think that's just the Old Testament because remember Hebrews 2 and Romans 15 says this chapter continues to be relevant for the new covenant age. Verses 12 and 13 swirling darkness and brightness verses 14 through 15 uses a metaphor of lightning flashes terrifying thunder verse 16 shows how God's rebuke can reach to the deepest channels of the ocean and Reach to the deepest recesses of the earth. In other words, there is absolutely no hiding from God's judgment now when confronted with such awesome holiness and judgment the tendency of the of humans is to try to cover their sin, to try to hide their sins from God. And that's exactly what Matthew says that the non-elect will try to do. They try to hide in the caves and they would rather die and have a mountain cover them if that would save them from God's wrath, but it doesn't. No one can escape from God's judgments. And so if the natural impulse is to hide our sins and to minimize our sins, the question comes, Why does a true believer stand in total agreement with God's judgments? Why is he not afraid to do that? Well, the reason is clear. Salvation is never ever a sweeping of sin under the carpet. OK, it is salvation from sin, not simply salvation from the consequences of sin. God instills in David's heart the same hatred for sin that caused God to create a hell for sinners. Realize that David is praising God for his judgments Okay, until we come to love God's holiness and love God's judgments We give no evidence that we have tasted of God's grace because God's grace causes us to come into agreement With him grace removes all indifference to sin makes us flee from sin and makes us long for holiness but in the process The gospel of grace so unites us to Jesus our Savior. We are no longer terrified by his holiness Instead, we long to follow Him and imitate Him in holiness. And so, S means that we must stand in total agreement with God's judgments against sin. We don't run, we don't hide, we don't rationalize. And what would give us confidence to stand boldly in the face of God's holy judgments against all sin? Well, that's the next point. The P in gospel is place. We must place ourselves and our confidence 100% in Christ's finished work of redemption. Every phrase in verses 17 through 28 must be seen within a Christological framework. Jesus was our representative. That satan sought to destroy and overcome but when the father rescued jesus from the grave He rescued us from the grave. We died. We were buried. We were raised with him. We ascended with him Ephesians says we are seated right now with him in the heavenlies That's why we can pray with such boldness because we're seated on the throne of christ. We're united with him Okay, that's that's our destiny for all of eternity is to be united with jesus It is only because jesus conquered death that David or any of us can conquer death. So let's look at verses 17 through 20. 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 into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. And because God delighted in his only beloved son, he can delight in all of us who are united to his son. And again, it's both and. Since God hates all workers of iniquity, the only way he could love any of us is if he saw us united to Jesus. Perfect in Jesus, right? So neither Hebrews nor Romans are doing eisegesis when they apply these things to both Jesus and believers. And likewise in verses 21 through 25, David could only say that he was perfectly righteous As he saw himself in Jesus, look at the boldness with which he speaks. Now, keep in mind, he is engaged in lying and murder and adultery in previous verses. But look at how boldly he speaks in verses 21 through 25. 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. I mean, after all of the chapters we've gone through, how can David say that? 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 my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness according to my cleanness in his eyes No wonder people say this has got to be the words of Jesus. How could it possibly be the words of David? How could David in any way base? Salvation upon his cleanness his works. He could not he was just too full of sin. I You know what? Even after the most horrible sin of adultery and murder, second Samuel 12 verse 13 says this. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. What a wonderful words. Incredibly wonderful words a marvelous summary of the gospel. I can truthfully say I have sinned and I can just as truthfully say Hey, I am a saint. I am perfect I have done all of the perfect deeds that the Lord Jesus Christ has done. You are saints You are perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture authorizes us to say that why? Because he has put away your sin 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21 says, for he, that is God, made him, that is Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. David was righteous in God's eyes because Jesus was righteous and if you don't interpret it that way It makes absolutely no sense when Hebrews 2 and Romans 15 use this passage in the way in which they do Okay, David was saved because Jesus legally credited to David's account every righteous deed that Jesus had ever done that imputation of Christ's righteousness is called justification when we're in the courtroom There's nothing. There's nothing there. All God sees is perfect righteousness in the courtroom of heaven. And what justification gave David legally, sanctification begins to work out experientially. And even with regard to sanctification, it's Jesus alone who can say these words in the full sense of the term. There's a lot of people think, OK, we're saved by grace alone when it comes to justification. But we have to live by our own striving, our own works of the law when it comes to sanctification. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul says in Galatians 2 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me in 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. What incredibly good news. This means that Jesus starts our Christian life. He continues our Christian life. He finishes our Christian life. And then come the odd expressions in verses 26 through 28. With the merciful, you will show yourself merciful. With a blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. With the pure, you will show yourself pure. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty that you may bring them down. Now, the words merciful. Blameless and pure all described David at some point in the preceding chapters, and they actually all describe us to anybody who is united to Jesus, who is a believer. And then the words devious and haughty describe those who are thinking outside of Christ. Now what kind of blamelessness is compatible with the need for mercy? Because keep in mind when he says here, with the merciful you will show yourself merciful, it implies that the merciful are in need of mercy themselves, right? So what kind of blamelessness and purity is compatible with a need for mercy? What's going on there? Well, let's think through each of these words. He says, with the merciful you will show yourself merciful. The New Testament words it that if you forgive your brother his trespasses against you, your heavenly father will forgive you your trespasses against him. And if you do not forgive your brother his trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive you of your trespasses. Why do we need to show mercy to each other? It's because we are recipients of such incredible mercy. That's why Ephesians 4, verse 32 says, and be kind to one another. tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. David repeatedly showed mercy to other people because he had tasted so deeply of the mercies of God in his own life. God continued then to pour out mercies upon him. When we start judging each other, refusing to forgive each other, refusing to show mercy to each other, we're beginning to be proud and arrogant against God's grace. Only when we realize our need of mercy do we feel the urge to show mercy. But the same verse says, with a blameless man you will show yourself blameless. Now how was David blameless? Only through the merits of Jesus. I want you to take a look down there at verse 33. It says, God is my strength and power and he makes my way perfect. Now the word perfect is exactly the same word as the word blameless. With the blameless, he shows himself blameless. Exactly the same word. So, in other words, this is a blamelessness that comes from Christ and is perfectly compatible with the fact that David himself was a sinner in need of mercy, and yet he's blameless in Jesus. He makes my way blameless or perfect. When you are blameless in Jesus, God can show you the perfections of his blamelessness, and you can still be secure. In fact, you're going to love it. You're going to love his holiness. You want to be like his holiness. The next phrase says, with the pure, you will show yourself pure. When we are legally blameless, legally pure in God's sight, we need not fear coming before his perfect blamelessness or before his perfect purity. Now, to an unjustified sinner, that would be sheer terror. coming into the presence of God's holiness. But to those who are righteous in Jesus, it's safe. We died to our old identity. We're now hidden in Christ. And in Christ, we can say, he has made my way blameless. He has made my way pure. And therefore, I can stand in the presence of his blameless purity. Now, here comes the irony. If we're devious and we don't own up to our sins, We pretend that we are blameless and pure in ourselves. God will expose the deception of our heart. It's only as we confess that we are worthy of God's judgments that we receive and experience his mercy. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty that you may bring them down. The good news, according to David, means that we can never be haughty. We must cling to the cross of Christ and his righteousness throughout our lives. Never stop placing your confidence in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Now, in addition to humility, this gospel also gives us energy. That's the E of the gospel. It causes us to energetically pursue the upward calling in Christ Jesus with all of our might. Now, this is the portion of our salvation known as sanctification. It's really too bad that so many Protestants use the term, I got saved, to mean justification. Salvation is far more than that. It starts in eternity past with election. But it moves on to our conversion, justification, sanctification, resurrection, glorification. It includes every aspect of our lives. So sanctification produces obedience to all God's commands, whether those commands involve warfare or love, resistance or nurture. And verses 29 through 46, I think are a wonderful testimony to living by grace every moment of our lives. Verse 29 promises God's wisdom to guide our path. Do you ask for God's wisdom every day or do you just operate in terms of your own wisdom? Everything's supposed to come from his throne. Verse 30 says, for by you, I can run against a troop. By my God, I can leap over a wall. Did the gospel relate to David's physical warfare? Yes, it did. It related to all that David did. He fought by grace. He had courage by grace. He loved by grace. He ruled by grace, worshiped by grace. In verse 31, David sees his security as being in God alone. In verse 32, he rejects idolatry and realizes everything has to be founded on God. And the following verses speak of strength, power, maturity, joy, warfare, gentleness, prosperity, rescue, spiritual warfare, taking dominion. Christianization of the earth, rule and peace as all flowing from the gospel. Now this means it is utterly foolish if we think of the gospel as only relating to justification to getting saved. No, it includes sanctification and everything that we talked about before, including guidance and healing and the formation of a new heavens and a new earth. Everything is part of the gospel. He renews all things. So Galatians 3 says, oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Therefore he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you Does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? It's by the hearing of faith, right? It is faith in christ moment by moment trying to keep the law in your own strength is useless. It's powerless It is only when christ lives that law through you by his grace that you find joy in the law paul's point was that nothing should be done apart from the spirit's empowering So the good news doesn't just rescue us from hell, it progressively rescues us from the power of sin, the consequences of sin, and it gradually makes all things new. And so as I said before, David was a type or a picture of this great plan of Jesus, the greater David. Just as all enemies were put under David's feet, the New Testament says the goal of history is for all things to be put under Christ's feet. In fact, earlier I read from Hebrews chapter two and how it quotes and uses this verse. But if you read the two verses before that, it's talking about God the Father giving everything in planet Earth to Jesus and saying that all things are to be put under his feet. But then it goes on to say that, well, We do not now yet see all things put under him, but we see Jesus, the captain of our salvation. And what does this captain do? He's taking the conquest of planet Earth. And so there is a tight connection typologically between David and Jesus and between Jesus and his people. We're all involved in putting everything in planet Earth under Christ's feet. Well, that's the theme throughout the New Testament. First Corinthians 15 says that Jesus must sit at the right hand of the Father until every enemy, and really everything else in planet Earth, is put under his feet. Nothing but the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ could accomplish such an impossible thing. Nothing but the gospel could do that. And yet, what does this psalm say about God? Is he up to the task? Perfectly powerful to do that. He is able to subdue Christ's enemies under his feet And so Paul says he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet We shouldn't be surprised that this is such a big-picture goal that God has given for the gospel And we we actually blaspheme God when we make that goal too small. No take it as impossible because it is apart from his grace and When that is accomplished will be unable to take the least bit of glory. I Like David, we will sing praises to God who alone should receive the glory. And so the L of gospel is lift praise to God and give him the glory. Let's read the tribute of praise from verses 47 through 51. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let God be exalted. The rock of my salvation. It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. He is the tower of salvation to his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore. Now that last verse indicates that this psalm was not just intended for David. It was intended for his descendants, which includes Jesus, right? And the two New Testament quotes indicate that this includes spiritual descendants from among the Gentiles, who would also become the seed of Jesus, who is the seed of David. As Hebrews 2 words it, we are all of one. We're all in this together in the gospelization of the world. And so we too can sing the psalm with a total confidence that all governments, all peoples, all occupations will eventually bow their knees before King Jesus to the glory of God the Father. Now sometime reread this psalm with this, everything I've told you in its background, and put these words as if they are your words being spoken by the power of Jesus speaking through you. And I think you'll see it in a totally new light. All of a sudden this psalm will give you courage to take on any of the the giants that are in our land today And there's a whole bunch of giants that are raising their fist against almighty god but the whole church needs to rise up with such faith Or we're going to go backwards. You either go forward or you go backwards And I think that's one of the reasons why things have gotten so bad in america. It's not because god is not powerful It's because the church is not living by faith in the comprehensive scope and the comprehensive power of the gospel. We have moved from celebrating a day of liberty based upon God's law and his word and his grace to a day of fireworks. OK, that's about all we can celebrate on July 4 anymore. We've lost almost everything worth celebrating in this country. But you know what? We still should not be discouraged. We can be a Gideon's band. who can do impossible things by God's grace. We can be a David's band who can do impossible things if we will live by faith. Don't worry about whether the church out there is living by faith. God will grant them faith in his due time. It is our calling to live by faith right now, and we can see spectacular changes in our country. There is nothing that can stop the church if a church will live by faith. May it be so, Lord Jesus. Amen. Father, we thank you for this psalm. What a glorious testimony to the power of your gospel, to the power of your grace. And we desire that we too would be filled with your Holy Spirit, that we would be filled with faith to be able to pray from the throne in heaven, not praying lifeless prayers that lack faith and confidence. but laying claim to your promises and praying with the full confidence of those who are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Oh, Father, give us faith, the faith of David, the faith of Jesus, to pray as we ought to pray, to work as we ought to work. May everything we do be done in the power of your Holy Spirit. You have called us to sing in the Spirit, to worship in the Spirit, to labor in the Spirit, to be guided by your Spirit. We want everything we do to be done by the power of your Spirit. so that Christ, by that spirit, is living his life, his kingdom through us. May your kingdom come. May your will be done in our lives, individually and corporately, more and more, that you might be glorified and that the name of your son might be lifted up. Father, we look forward with excitement to the time when this nation bows its knees to King Jesus. We look forward with excitement to seeing your gospel not just saving individuals, but your gospel absolutely transforming every aspect of life. May it happen, Father, even in our own lifetime, and give us the privilege of being a part of bringing and subduing the enemies of King Jesus under our feet, as well as under Jesus' feet, since we are united with Jesus. We love you, Lord Jesus, and we pray these things in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.