PONDERING... How Do You Make It Through? (Ps 18)

How Do You Make It Through? (PM Lesson Outline)

GIST: Follow His direction, trust in His enabling provision, and look to His return!

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 18

Tonight is our last time together in what I pray will only be our first Summer in the Psalms. I’ve loved it, and pray I have grown from it. I pray the same for you.

This evening, we’re going to look at the second half of Psalm 18. This morning we look at the importance of remembering God as we look back on our lives. Tonight, I want to look at “looking forward”. How do we face this life present tense? Well that’s the gist: follow His direction, trust in His enabling provision, and look to His return!

I. FOLLOW HIS DIRECTION.

28 For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.

Let’s break this down a bit.

You Light My Lamp. The only reason I can walk in the dark is because of You. You are the light. Apart from you, I could never see. Why? Because→

You Lighten My Darkness. I am not only walking in the darkness, but I am also myself part of that darkness. My heart is naturally sinful. I need You to be the difference.

Don’t Follow Your Heart; Seek His Face. When I talk to teenagers at events like graduation, this is always a point I try to make. This has been hammered into our heads by our society. Follow your heart. Trust your heart. What does that even mean? It means do whatever you feel is right in that moment. The problem? My feelings aren’t always right! In fact, by nature, they’re typically sinful. So, when you’re trying to make a decision, don’t follow your heart, follow His leading.

II. TRUST IN HIS ENABLING PROVISION

You Make It Possible For Me To Overcome Obstacles Which Should Be Impossible For Me. “29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. “

Remember Who God Is. “30 This God--his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?--” In the middle of several statements about what God has done for him personal, David pauses to remember who this God is!

Perfect- All He does is right.

True- He is real and what He says is reality.

Protector- He is the refuge and shield for His people.

Solid- He is an unshakable foundation.

God- He ALONE is GOD!

You Make Me Stable and Strong. “32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” This is a spiritual reality as well as physical. David was successful in combat. But, as we talked about this morning, that success had much deeper roots. It was because of God’s hand that any victory was ever won. So we have this two fold truth. Physically, You have made me who I am, so that I can serve You as You will. Spiritually, You have taken my shaky sinful heart and made it balance secure in this sin-filled life. The key in both? God is the doer!

You guard me by Your salvation. Your strength supports me. Your grace is the only reason for any of my success! “35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.”

You make it possible for me to walk the narrow road. “36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. “

My success is Your doing. I am able to accomplish fully the tasks you set before me because of You. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.

III. LOOK TO HIS RETURN!

Judgment Is Coming. “40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.” Harsh? This is a reference to God’s enemies and allusion to future judgment, Hell. Their calling out to the Lord was based on no love or relationship. They wanted help, but did not want God. (Example: The atheist who prayed in a storm, but then denied it afterwards.)

But So Is Jesus’ Kingdom! 43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.” Again, a picture of David’s success given by God. Yet, this is also a picture of the ultimate David, Jesus Christ!

Praise God for all He has done and remember all He will do. Jesus is the fulfillment of this final verse, and we can be HIS! “46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation-- 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, 48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence. 49 For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever."

TAKEAWAYS

1. Follow His direction,

2. Trust in His enabling provision.

3. Look to His return!

PONDERING...What Do You Remember? (Psalm 18)

VIDEO

What Do You Remember? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: Look back at your successes and praise God for them; look at your hardships and remember His love; and in the midst of both, love Him.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 18

Today we’re coming to the last psalm in what is, Lord willing, only the first of many summers studying these powerful songs together. And... this is a biggie ☺️. However, as I said last Sunday night, we’re not going to take this in one chunk, but will be dividing this up and talking about it in both the morning and evening services. In fact, rather than read the entire passage, as we typically do in opening, I just want to read the first verse. As much as is in this passage, I feel this summarizes the overall message so well.

"1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O LORD, my strength. “

David had faced trials and had seen God’s faithfulness. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he then wrote this song of praise starting by proclaiming his love for the God who is his strength! It’s a beautiful picture. When he looked back at his life, he had the right perspective. I want us to hold on to that as we move through the passage this morning. When we look back at our lives, will we do the same?

To further alleviate the potential shock of looking at such a hefty chunk of Scripture, our gist and takeaways are one and the same this morning☺️: look back at your successes and praise God for them; look at your hardships and remember His love; and in the midst of both, love Him.

I. LOOK BACK AT YOUR SUCCESSES AND PRAISE GOD FOR THEM.

Remembering Who God Is (2-3)! “2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” In this opening praise, David establishes who he’s talking about.  He describes God as his rock, fortress, refuge, stronghold, and shield, all pointing to God has his protector. Throughout his life, David had diverse places of refuge, from caves to palaces. Nonetheless, he knew his real refuge was always God who was always his deliverer and the horn of his salvation, the One who alone has power (horn) to save him.

Remembering this, he says, “3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” David has been through a lot at this point, and in many conquests he has found success. Why? Not by the strength of his hand, or the wisdom of his mind, or the power of his position, but by the powerful Grace of God alone!

And that is precisely what we see described in these next few verses.

Remembering God’s Power in Provision (4-15).

4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

Using storm imagery, David recalls that when he was in trouble, God showed up! We will see this thought continued tonight as we look at David’s statements about God pulling him through impossibilities. For now, let’s just look at this passage a bit more.

In verses 4-6, David calls for help and is heard. His situation is dire (he’s facing death!), and his immediate reaction is to cry out to God, the only one who can make a difference. And what a difference that was! We would do well to do likewise. Rather than panic, pray.

Verses 7-15 then use vivid, figurative language to describe how God shows up. Let’s just note a few points here.

1. Anger. We’re given a picture of smoke coming from God’s nostrils, and are even told directly that He is angry. Rather than being some kind of scare tactic here, what we’re given is a beautiful truth. God hates sin. When He sees it destroying those He loves, He’s righteously angry. His anger isn’t tainted by sin, like ours. He is angry without being malicious, because He is love! We’ve talked about this before, but it bares repeating. Anger is not the opposite of love, indifference is. God is not indifferent to the sufferings of His children!

2. Cherubs. There is also mention of Him riding on a cherub. This, of course, is figurative language. This isn’t implying God needs to “catch an angelic ride” in order to come to the aid of His people. Instead, we seem to have some temple imagery here. David says God answers from His temple, keeping consistent with that, though there have been many proposed interpretations, we likely have a reference here to the ark of covenant which had two cherubs on the top of it. Now that might just seem like an incidental tidbit, but I wanted to point it out, because in the middle of this display of God’s cosmic power, which reminds us how separate we are from God, we’re given a picture of God’s presence amongst His people, which reminds us that though He is the God of the universe, He has chosen to be here with us, as well. Man, just let that sink in.

3. Storm and Arrows. The last thing I want to point out here is the “big stuff”. Most of these verses drip with storm imagery, and there is a reference to arrows in there, as well. Both play the same role though. This is a picture of the power of God. We live in Missouri, so we’ve seen some storms in our lives. It’s hard to think of a more vivid image for God’s power. Storms are awesome to watch from a distance, and often terrifying to experience up close. Why? Their sheer force is amazing! Yet, our complete impotence in the face of them leaves us trembling. We are powerless to do anything to stop them. God isn’t. He is the hand behind the storm. When He moves, who can stop Him? Romans 8:31b, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The answer? Absolutely no one and nothing! David got this. In all that he had done in his life, he knew it was only possible because God, in all HIS power, moved.

So look at your successes and praise God for them. Why? Because He is the only reason any of them happened! And→

II. LOOK AT YOUR HARDSHIPS AND REMEMBER HIS LOVE.

Remember, You Can Be Rescued. After giving us this awesome imagery, verses 16-18 point out the result of this display of power was David’s rescue. “16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.” I’m not going to go much further here. I don’t have to. This is amazing! David was sinking fast, and God showed up in all His power and saved him. David didn’t deserve this. Neither did I. Neither did you. Lost and destined for Hell. That’s your state. But God showed up. He came to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life and died the death you deserved, taking Hell in your place, and if you give Him your life, the life that was made to be for Him in the first place, then you can rest assured that you have been rescued!

The next verses continue to point this out, as they explain the reason for our assurance is→

Because He Establishes Your Feet! 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. 20 The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. 23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. 24 So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

Why has God remembered him? Because David is His. He has been made clean by God, and has an intimate, personal relationship with Him! When we’re in the storm, oh, how we need reminded of this! David looked back at his successes and praised God for being the true source of them all, but he also remember that in the times that he was most broken (remember, he was crying out at the point of death!) he was still marvelously and undeservedly loved, and seen as clean, though he was not by his own merits. So are you if you belong to Him. “26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.” Oh, come to Him!

III. In The Midst Of Both, Love Him. (1)

Love Never Fails. That is a familiar line from 1 Corinthians 13. God is love, and He never fails! In the same way, our love for Him should remain faithful through are victories and defeats. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again, for myself if for no one else. If we don’t love God in the hard times, we don’t really love Him in the good times either. If we have truly been transformed by Him, that means our love is being transformed, too!

Look at the opening verse again, "1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.” What a start to this beautiful psalm! He loves God, knows his success comes from God (my strength), and recognizes God’s love for him (why else would He provide as He does?) I guess we could have just taken this first verse☺️.

TAKEAWAYS

Here are the takeaways in review.

1. Look back at your successes and praise God for them.

2. Look at your hardships and remember His love.

3. In the midst of both, love Him.