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[0:00] Bible is going to 2 Samuel 22, 2 Samuel 22. We will be there. I'm going to read that entire passage in just a moment after we pray.

[0:16] It is a rather lengthy passage. It's 51 verses here in the 22nd chapter. I say that for a reason because I'll tell you in just a moment, but we'll read it in its entirety.

[0:28] But before we do, let's go ahead and pray. Lord, thank you so much just for allowing us the opportunity that we have together, together, and just to come together midweek to be encouraged by the reading and studying of your word.

[0:43] Lord, to be emboldened in our faith, to increase in our knowledge and understanding of who you are. Lord, I pray that as we read the word with one another, we study the word with one another.

[0:55] Lord, that it would lead us to a greater sense of worship. It would lead us to a greater sense of opportunity and obligation. And Lord, that we would follow you with our every step and our every movement.

[1:10] We pray for those working with the children in the back. We pray for those working with the youth and just in all aspects, in all manners. We pray that Christ would be glorified and magnified among them.

[1:20] And Lord, we just thank you for this grand opportunity of gathering together with brothers and sisters in Christ. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. 2 Samuel 22.

[1:33] You can read the same set of verses in its parallel passage of Psalm 18. So Psalm 18, 2 Samuel 22 are essentially the same chapters in Scripture.

[1:49] I say essentially because there are a couple of adjustments to them. Some Bible scholars believe, and we just have to take it as that when we study it, that what we have recorded for us in 2 Samuel is actually David's personal song of praise because this is a song.

[2:10] What we have in the 18th chapter of the book of Psalm with its minor adjustments are David's readjustment of it for corporate worship.

[2:22] So this would be his personal praise. And then in the 18th chapter was kind of the rewriting of some small portions of it. And it's nothing major.

[2:32] It doesn't take away from the theme. It doesn't take away from the context. Nothing of that nature. But it makes it more applicable to corporate worship and bringing the body coming together. It's astounding when we see this.

[2:45] Now, we need to know chronologically. Some of you are reading the chronological reading plan. Some of you are not. As long as you're in Scripture, it's great. If you're reading chronologically, you don't find this chapter here at this place in 2 Samuel.

[3:02] Because as is with most of the end of the book of 2 Samuel, these events didn't happen where we have them recorded for us in Scripture. That is, David didn't write this song or this psalm at the end of his life.

[3:16] We'll see it in just a moment. He wrote it when his kingdom was established. The matters that we have just studied concerning David near the end of his life are the outworkings of his sin.

[3:29] It is the consequences he pays for a forgiven sin, as some Bible translators and scholars have said. It is the detrimental things that came because of a choice he made.

[3:40] It is the animosity among his own children. It is the fighting within his own home. It is the reaping of what he has sown. Now, we need to know that because when we read this chapter, we will see that David declares that God has dealt with him in his righteousness.

[3:57] That God had dealt kindly with him because David had lived righteously and had lived not perfect. We'll see it in just a moment. But according to the law and the commandments and standards of God.

[4:08] That can't be said about the events that transpired at the end of his life because even though he was forgiven for his sin with Bathsheba, he absolutely sinned and made poor choices and were not living according to the commandments and dictates of God.

[4:25] And therefore, we see the events that happened from that. So you need to know that when we read it, that while we have come to it here at this passage, it does not mean it happened at the end of his life. It declares that it happened, that this overflowed while David or after David's kingdom had been established.

[4:41] So it would be more like 2 Samuel chapter 7. Okay, been a long time prior to this. So we read here, we'll read the entire 22nd chapter, 2 Samuel 22.

[4:53] And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

[5:08] My God, my rock in whom I take refuge. My shield and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold and my refuge. My Savior, you save me from violence.

[5:19] I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and am saved from my enemies. For the waves of death encompassed me. The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me.

[5:32] The snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God. And from his temple, he heard my voice. And my cry for help came into his ears.

[5:43] Then the earth shook and quaked. And the foundations of heaven were trembling and were shaken because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils. Fire from his mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it.

[5:54] He bowed the heavens also and came down. With thick darkness under his feet, and he rode on a cherub and flew. And he appeared on the wings of the wind. And he made darkness canopies around him.

[6:07] A mass of water, thick clouds of the sky. From the brightness before him, coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning, and routed them.

[6:20] Then the channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare. By the rebuke of the Lord at the blast of the breath of his nostrils, he sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.

[6:32] 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 forth into a broad place.

[6:46] He rescued me, because he delighted in me. The Lord has 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 acted wickedly against my God.

[7:02] For all his ordinances were before me. And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless toward him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before his eyes.

[7:18] With the kind, you show yourself kind. With the blameless, you show yourself blameless. With the pure, you show yourself pure. With the perverted, you show yourself astute. And you save an afflicted people.

[7:30] But your eyes are on the haughty whom you abase. For you are my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord illumines darkness. For by you I can run upon a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

[7:42] As for God, his way is blameless. The word of the Lord is tested. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him. For who is God beside the Lord? And who is a rock beside our God?

[7:54] God is my strong fortress, and he sets the blameless in his way. He makes my feet like hinds feet, and he sets me on my high places. He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

[8:08] You have also given me the shield of your salvation, and your help makes me great. You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped. I pursued my enemies and destroyed them.

[8:18] I did not turn back until they were consumed. And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise, and they fell under my feet. For you have girded me with strength for battle.

[8:28] You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me. They looked, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

[8:40] Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth, and I stamped on them as the mire of the streets. You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people. You have kept me as head of the nations, a people whom I have not known serve me.

[8:54] Foreigners pretend obedience to me. As soon as they hear, they obey me. Foreigners lose heart and come trembling out of their fortresses. The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.

[9:07] The God who executes vengeance for me and brings down peoples under me, who also brings me out from my enemies. You even lift me above those who rise up against me.

[9:19] You rescue me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing praises to your name. He is a tower of deliverance to his king and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

[9:37] 2 Samuel 22. As someone once said, that'll preach, and I probably can't do it justice. That is a strong passage of scripture. And we see there's a reason why it's in the Bible two times, right?

[9:48] We have it recorded for us here, and we have it also in Psalm 18. And what a song of praise it is. What a declaration of the mighty acts of God for an individual known David.

[10:01] We see here the praise song of the king. We see his praise of his rock and his deliverer. I don't know if you caught it. The repetition of the reality that God is his rock.

[10:13] God is my rock. God is my rock. God is my rock. He is my fortress. Now to David, that imagery meant something. Because to David who hid among the rocks of the wilderness, to David who held himself in the fortresses of nature, to David who would go into the wilderness and go into the caves, he was hiding amongst the rocks, but he knew who his true rock was.

[10:36] And it is here that he begins to praise the deliverance which has come to him. Again, he utters this song of praise when his kingdom is established.

[10:47] David waited ten plus years for God to fulfill what he had promised to him. Over ten years passed from the time he was anointed and appointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel.

[11:02] And when it was established, he waited another several years before it was finally firmly established. And then he praised the Lord God for fulfilling his word.

[11:13] Someone pointed out, and I can't remember who, we notice even here the integrity of David. Because he declares that God has delivered him from all his enemies and from Saul.

[11:26] He does not count Saul as an enemy. Think about that. Saul tried to kill him five to seven times. Saul pursued him for a number of those years.

[11:38] It was Saul from whom he was hiding amongst the rocks of the wilderness. Yet David says God delivered him from his enemies and from Saul. Why? Because he respected the anointing of Saul.

[11:53] It gives us a whole new outlook about what it looks like to look upon the people whom God has chosen, right? And to be careful who we declare to be our enemies. We notice here that David is uttering this grand song of praise and declaring the greatness of the God he serves.

[12:11] I want you to see four things from it. We won't do it justice. We would have to break it into smaller portions and we'd be here for multiple weeks just trying to look at it to do it justice.

[12:22] But I want you to see just four things we can take away from this song this evening. Number one, we notice the character of God realized. The character of God realized.

[12:34] He begins to declare the character attributes of the Lord God whom he serves. Again, he starts out with this, the Lord is my rock.

[12:46] And over and over and over again, he declares this reality that he is his fortress and he is his deliverer. He is his savior. He is the one who rescues him.

[12:58] Over and over again, he declares the reality, the character of God that God is greater and grander than any enemy he has ever faced. He goes into great detail about the enemies which he faced.

[13:12] He goes into detail about the tragedies that he found himself within. And yet through it all, these battles and these encounters reveal not just the character of David, but they reveal the character of God.

[13:28] Because he declares that the size of the enemy highlights the greatness of the God whom he trusts. Right? The greater the battle, the grander the deliverance, the more majestic the deliverer.

[13:40] Right? He understands this reality that everything that he faces, everything that he's come through are not revelations of the character of David. Rather, they are revelations of the character of God.

[13:54] They show us who God is. Friend, the things we go through, we say they build character and they do. We go through trials. We go through circumstances. We go through difficulties in life. And I tell, you know, I've told my kids growing up and I tell kids that I've coached throughout the ages and are, you know, that, yeah, things may hurt, but it builds character, right?

[14:14] These are character building exercises and they're going to make you better. And that's true. But the greater reality is, is that much of what we go through revealed to us the character of the God whom we trust. That he is imparting more of himself to us.

[14:28] It was Charles Spurgeon who said, and I know I've quoted it before, that God whispers to us in our enjoyment, that he speaks to us in our pain, but he shouts to us in our misery.

[14:40] Right? The greater the circumstances, the grander the character of God. When you open up scripture and you see God revealing names of himself, right? Disclosing more of himself to his people.

[14:53] He is disclosing more of his character. And he normally does it in difficult seasons. So why we pay attention to that. Some of you read in the book of Genesis right now.

[15:04] You've seen a great transition in the name of God. You saw it this morning or this evening, whenever you read it. I don't know if you've noticed it, but you saw it. It went from going Elohim, Elohim, Elohim, Elohim, Elohim to Adonai, Adonai, Adonai, Adonai.

[15:18] What happened? Why did we go from Elohim, creator God, to Adonai, personal God, relational God? Why did we make that transition? Why? Because Adam and Eve showed up and Adam and Eve had a problem and they didn't just need a great creator God.

[15:30] They needed a relational God who would skin an animal and clothe them with leather. Right? Now we have this transition. Because of the misery of man, because of the fall, we know more of the character of God.

[15:42] We know that the character of God is this reality. That he does not run away from man when they sin. Rather, he pursues man in his sin. He goes from Elohim to Adonai.

[15:56] He goes from creator to Lord God because we have a problem and we need a Lord over us. And we see the character being revealed. When David declares this song of praise, he speaks of the character of God.

[16:11] God is a rock. He is a fortress. He is a deliverer. He bowls the heavens and he comes down on the cherub of the wings of the wind. He causes the heavens to declare his majesty.

[16:23] There's thunder and lightning and the waters are being parted and the earth is quaking and all these things are going on. And they're revealing that he is creator God. He is almighty God. That he is greater and above and beyond anything.

[16:35] Listen, every battle David faced, he faced on the planet. And the God that he's speaking about is the God who disrupts the planet. And if he can disrupt the planet, then he's greater than the planet, right?

[16:46] We begin to see this. God is able is what we see of his character. But what's more astounding to me is not only is God able, but that God is also willing.

[17:00] Did you notice that? That David says, I called out to God and he answered. It's not just that there's a God who is able to deliver, but that there was a God who is willing to deliver.

[17:13] He declares here in verse four, I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and am saved from my enemies. And then we read down just a little bit more.

[17:25] Verse seven, in my distress, I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God. And look at this. And from his temple, he heard my voice. Isn't that good?

[17:37] The character of God revealed in the tragedies and trials of man is not that God can do something, but that God is willing to do something. That God hears the cries of his people.

[17:49] It's astounding. We realize here that God is greater than creation. That God is greater than every enemy feast.

[18:00] And that God hears from his temple in heaven and responds. What a revelation of the character of God. Second, we see the calling of man.

[18:13] Because the character of God is always united with the calling of man. That is, we are called to live according to his character.

[18:25] I've not been in the office as much this week, so I don't normally do this. I don't normally study two or three messages at a time, but I've been compelled this week because of the last couple weeks.

[18:36] And I'm studying two messages at a time. I'm not trying to preach Sunday's message to you now. But we're going to be at the end of Ephesians 3. In Ephesians 3, this prayer of Paul, right?

[18:47] And just this magnificent prayer of Paul for the believers at Ephesus and the believers everywhere. Some things that he wants them to know. And I began looking at why is it there, right?

[18:58] And why is it there? You remember Sunday morning Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3 are great theology, right? How we should live. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are grand application. But sandwiched between the theology and the application is a prayer.

[19:12] And the prayer, you'll hear this again Sunday morning. It's okay. You may forget it before then. And if you don't, it's worth hearing again. The prayer is there that we would be able to take our theology and live it out in practice.

[19:25] That we would base what we know about the character of God and let it affect the calling of man. Because who God is and what he does should absolutely dictate how we live.

[19:39] It is the calling of man. And David declares, now we know the end of his life. He did not end well. We see that so often in the Old Testament saints.

[19:51] And we have to call them saints because they're saints. So many of them do not end well. Even Samuel, the last one, the judge.

[20:02] He was the last judge and the first prophet. He anointed the first two kings. Right? But at the end of his life, you say, well, Samuel ended life. Well, right. But one of the last testimonies we have of him is that his sons aren't doing too good.

[20:14] That's why they need kings. Because his sons aren't walking circumspectly unto the Lord and they're doing things wrong. Well, before you're the priest of the nation, you're the priest of your home. Well, Deuteronomy chapter 6 is still there, right?

[20:28] Fathers should teach their children the way they should go. They should teach them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, with all their strength. And I know we're not putting the sins of the children on the father, but we also understand there had to be a little bit of weight upon the man Samuel.

[20:42] We understand that. But so many of these saints don't end well. But David here, when he declares this psalm, he is really setting at the feet of God. And he's declaring the worthiness of God.

[20:54] And he's praising God for who he is. God has just made this covenant with him, saying that, you know, the Davidic covenant, that I will anoint your family and your family will reign forever. This perpetual reign of David's family.

[21:06] Now, we know the ultimate fulfillment of that's in Jesus Christ. We understand all those things. But he realizes his calling. And that calling is this, that God dealt with him according to his righteousness.

[21:19] Now, that does not, David is not saying, don't look here and go, oh, what David's saying, he's perfect. No, he doesn't say he's perfect. Righteousness does not mean perfection. Righteousness means to be living in a right standing with a holy God.

[21:32] That's all the word means. Now, in that day, or what do we call it? In that dispensation of the law, to live in a right standing with a holy God would mean that the moment you knew you had sinned would be to offer the offering for that sin, to repent from that by declaring this offering and going in worshiping the Lord God and not having any unconfessed or unrepentant or unatoned for sin.

[21:55] And they were living according to the letter of the law. And David says, I'm doing those things. I'm living according to the law. I'm obeying the word of God. He declares that the word of God is perfect.

[22:05] It's powerful. It's true. Again, we wish he would have remembered that later on, but he didn't. But here we understand it. At least he knows his calling. His calling was not just to be king. His calling was to live in righteousness.

[22:17] And he declares what sounds a lot like the beatitudes found in Matthew 5, 5. Right? He declares them here. He says that the Lord has rewarded me in verse 21.

[22:30] The Lord has 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 acted wickedly against my God. For all his ordinances were before me and for his statutes I did not depart from them.

[22:43] And I was also blameless toward him. And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands. Look at this. With the kind you show yourself kind.

[22:56] With the kind you show yourself kind. With the blameless you show yourself blameless. With the pure you show yourself pure. Blessed are the pure for they shall see the Lord. Right? You show yourself pure.

[23:06] You reveal yourself to them. Sounds a whole lot like the beatitudes. Why? Because the character of God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So we see these things being repeated. He says with the perverted or the crooked you show yourself astute.

[23:19] That is you separate yourself. You pull back. And he reminds us here of the calling of man. The primary calling of man is not to win the battle. The calling of man is to walk in faithful obedience.

[23:34] The calling of man is not just to go out and pulverize the enemy. We'll get to that in just a minute. The calling of man is to walk in faithful obedience to the Lord his God. According to the word of God.

[23:47] As it has been revealed to him. That's man's calling. You see, the purpose of man stated in Genesis 2. To tend the garden and to, you know, work in the land.

[24:02] Grander translation is to worship the Lord your God. And live in obedience towards him. That's the calling of man. It's to labor and faithfulness and obedience.

[24:13] And to strive according to all that God has commanded him to do. But we notice the character of God connected to the calling of man. Because we also notice in this passage that while God can do these things.

[24:26] There were some that he did not do them for. Did you notice that, right? He said that the enemies called out to God and God didn't answer. Why? Because God's character is revealed to those walking according to his calling.

[24:40] Now, careful. Don't say. Oh, you can say it. I have to be careful how to word this. Okay. Obedience brings blessing. That's okay.

[24:52] But don't fall into the trap of Job's friends. And think just because things are going bad. You've got sin in your life. And you're not walking in obedience. Right. They looked at Job. Said, oh, surely you're doing wrong.

[25:02] Surely there's sin. You know, it was prosperity gospel. Ascension is what it is. It was. And that's what the book of Job is there for. It's to show us the really untruthfulness of that.

[25:14] That obedience always brings blessing. Sometimes obedience brings trials. Sometimes obedience brings struggles. Sometimes obedience brings character revealing things.

[25:24] Right. Because God says, if you consider my servant Job. One of the harshest words in all of scripture. Right. If you consider my servant Job. I want to show Job who I am.

[25:36] Why? Because what does Job get at the end of the book of Job? A greater revelation of who God is. Right. Were you there when I created the heavens?

[25:47] Were you there when I spoke in existence? Were you there? Right. So he sees more of God. But we also know that obedience is connected to God's movement.

[25:57] Because those walking in disobedience cannot declare to trust in the character of God to reveal them. So character and calling go hand in hand.

[26:10] Number two. Or number three. The confidence to be had in the face of adversity. We see here the character of God, the calling of man, the confidence to be had in the face of adversity.

[26:22] We really see this in this praise song because David makes this great declaration. David declares that the enemies he faced were too strong for him.

[26:36] I mean, this is David. Right. This is giant slaying with a stone, David. I'm going to knock you out with a stone and cut your head off with your own sword, David.

[26:48] That guy. Right. This is David who's killed the bear and the lion with his bare hands. This is David who's fought all these battles. But yet he makes this declaration.

[27:01] That when he cried out to God, he was wholly and completely relying upon God. Because he knew that the enemies he faced were too strong for him.

[27:11] And that's a great admittance. But it's also a humble acknowledgement. Man is prone to self-exaltation.

[27:26] Mankind typically gets in more trouble because they think they're greater than the enemy and therefore do not call out to the deliverer from the enemy rather than realizing the enemy they face is greater than them and depending upon another to rescue them from it.

[27:40] When we feel like we've got it under control, we feel like we can present ourselves in circumstances and opportunities which we should never be because we think we're strong enough and we think we're able enough and we think we're capable enough.

[27:55] David said, no, the enemy I faced was too strong for me. And that's a good place to be, by the way. To be in that place of humility to say that the enemy is stronger than I am. You say, oh, wait a minute, pastor.

[28:06] The Bible says, yeah, but finish it. As greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world never declares that you are greater than the enemy or that I am greater than the enemy. It declares that he who is in us is greater than the enemy.

[28:20] So we understand that. Right? David says, they're great. They're too strong for me, too powerful for me. But even after that declaration, a little bit later, based upon the character of God in whom he trusts, he says, I can run upon a troop.

[28:40] You put my feet in a broad path. I can bend a bow of bronze. Do you notice the confidence he gains because he's not trusting in his own abilities?

[28:52] Right? Because he's not trusting in his own worthiness, but he's relying upon the character and the attributes of God, and he realizes that though the enemy is too strong for him, he is not too strong for the one fighting with him and for him.

[29:10] And therefore, in absolute confidence, he can go and face the enemy. Should we shriek back and hide and be scared to death of the enemy? No, absolutely not. We need to acknowledge and realize that, yes, sometimes we've come face to face with an enemy that is so much stronger than us.

[29:32] Quite often, the enemy of our souls, if we're not careful, knows the scripture better than us. He's had a lot longer to study it. And his minions and demons and all those activities that are there, waging war against us, and you say, oh, pastor, you're getting a little fanatical.

[29:50] I'm just trying to be biblical, okay? And you're facing all these powers and principalities that are there and spiritual forces of darkness, and you look at them and it's stronger than you, but you push forward with confidence on the offensive because of he who is with you.

[30:05] You know, over the years, I've been called into circumstances that's made me very uncomfortable. I've been called into positions and spiritual battlefields that, you know, when I left there, I said, Lord, thank you.

[30:21] I mean, just to be honest. There was one time in particular I knew going in, I had two guys with me, and I said, listen, we're going to go in here because we got a call from a concerned individual, and we went to see this man, and I told the guys going away, and I said, listen, we're not fighting a, this is not a, hey, we're going to try to convince the mind.

[30:43] This is a spiritual battlefield. And they're like, yeah, yeah. I was like, no, I'm just telling you. This is darkness. And I'll be honest, the flesh side of me was a little worried because the man that we were talking to, literally, if he wanted to break me in half, he could have broke me in half.

[30:56] I knew him. He was a very, very strong guy. And there were times where he looked like he wanted to rip my head off. And then he would look up and go, hey, Billy Joe, when did you get here?

[31:08] I've been here about an hour. And then we'd go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It never once crossed my mind, well, if he comes at me, I did, it crossed my mind, if he comes at me, I'm just going to hit him.

[31:20] But then I was like, yeah, but that's not going to do anything. You know, because he just shrugged me off. He's a big guy. And I, you know, but I knew that the one we went in with was so much greater than the one we were facing.

[31:36] Why? Because the character of God. It's confidence. Friend, listen to me. You walk in obedience, you will confront things. Things that are greater than you and too powerful for you.

[31:48] But you have confidence in that moment that you can run up on a troop. You can bend a bow of bronze. Your feet are set in a broad place, a secure place.

[32:00] Why? Because of the God who goes with you, not because of who you are. So we see the character of God, the calling of man, the confidence we have. Now, let's look finally at the confession to all.

[32:11] Now, David gets carried away here in this praise, and he's declaring all that God has done for him. And he even comes to this point where he says, God, you know, people I don't even know.

[32:22] They honor me. They come to me. Remember the reality of the first time in the history of the nation of Israel that are on the offensive and they're spreading out, right? People are coming to David, and they're just like, wow.

[32:34] The fear of the Lord goes before him, and people are hearing about David. And if you think about this, put yourself in that position. Okay, you've just become the big man in the nation.

[32:45] And everybody's hearing about you. Everybody's singing about you. And the countries around you are kind of in awe of you. We see that, right? In all the battles that David faced. Remember, when he sent the men to go comfort the king whose father had just died, the king had been real friendly to David in the past, and he sent these men to kind of console them.

[33:05] And the counselors of that young man said, oh, they're here to search you out. So they shaved their heads off and cut their tunics up to, you know, above their waist. They humiliate them. What happens? Then they hear that David heard about it.

[33:16] And they got scared because David knew. That's what was going on, right? Oh, no, David knows. And that would have been a grand opportunity. And it is a grand opportunity for the flesh to go, yeah, that's right.

[33:28] That's who I am. But David declares, you know, all these nations are coming to me. And these people I don't even know. They're honoring me. And he makes this wonderful assessment.

[33:40] Verse 47. The Lord lives. Right? The Lord lives. And blessed be my rock and exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.

[33:50] He does not say exalted be David, the king of Israel. He does not say exalted be who I am and my household. He says exalted be God. And then he makes this confession at the end.

[34:04] Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations. Among the nations. I think if you ever really want to know why David is defined and declared to be a man after God's own heart, as we see it here.

[34:24] I will give thanks to you, O God, among the nations. David says, I'm going to use the opportunity of the people who are not the nation of Israel, the people who are coming to me and giving homage to me.

[34:40] I'm going to declare your worthiness, God, not mine. I'm going to give thanks to you among the nations. The great sin of David. We know all about it, right?

[34:51] We also know Psalm 51, the great repentance of David. Do you remember what David declares? He wants God to forgive him. He's asking God to cleanse. He means asking God to renew him. This great penitent psalm.

[35:03] And again, we see the character of God being highlighted there. But we also see why David wants to be forgiven. David doesn't want to be forgiven just so he feels better. David doesn't want to be forgiven so that the guilt of his sin is taken off his shoulders.

[35:15] No, he says at the end of Psalm 51, Lord, then the nations may know who you are. That's my paraphrase, right? So that worship of the Lord God wouldn't be hindered because of the sin of David.

[35:32] See, that's the confession. Too often, when we fall, and I'll say if, or I'm going to say if by chance, but when we fall, when we sin, and when we repent, our greatest concern is I don't want to feel bad anymore.

[35:47] When it ought to be, I don't want the name of God blasting because of who I am. God, I don't want to be a stumbling block to your exaltation.

[36:00] Because the reality is, is that we have spheres of influence, maybe not as large as David's, but just like David. And the confession that David wants to make is to declare the worthiness, and declare the praise, and to give thanks to God among everyone drawn to him.

[36:19] And it ought to be the same concern we have. Living as a confession to all. Declaring the worthiness of God. Because every trial we've went through, every circumstance we've went through, have revealed his character to us, and we have something to talk about.

[36:34] We have something to declare. And when God gives opportunity, we want to be faithful to do that. And we see that recorded for us here in 2 Samuel 22, with the praise song of the King.

[36:49]  Thank you, my brothers. Thank you.