Psalm 18:1-3

THE GOD WE WORSHIP

Intro: I read the inscription that precedes this Psalm because it gives us some insight into the background for these verses. As the inscription states, this Psalm was originally a song that was written to glorify the Lord and to honor Him for delivering David from King Saul and from all his enemies. It can also be found in 2 Samuel 22.

      This Psalm was written when all David’s foes lay vanquished at his feet. David had been given absolute victory and he wanted to express his gratitude to the Lord for His glorious provision. You see, during the time David was running from Saul, he was in constant danger of death. Now, he has been delivered from his all enemies and he lifts his voice in praise to the Lord God Who has given him the victory. This is David’s song of victory, but you and I have a victory song to sing as well.

      When God saved us, He gave us victory over our enemies, 1 Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 4:17; Rom. 8:37. Now, we who were hounded by Hell and in danger of dying without Jesus Christ have been eternally saved through His grace. Since we have been saved and delivered from the snare of the enemy, we also have ample reason to worship and praise the Lord.

      There isn’t enough time to consider this entire Psalm today. After all, it is the fourth largest in the Book of Psalms. However, I would like to spend a few minutes in these first three verses and preach for a while about The God We Worship.

      As we spend our time in these verses, let’s allow the Lord’s Word to remind us of Who He is and what He has done for us, and what He can do for us. Let us be reminded today why our God is The God We Worship. The word “worship” comes from an Old English word that means “worthship”. It means, “to ascribe worth to someone”. We worship God because He is worthy. Our worship ascribes worth to Him because of Who He is and What He does. Let me share a few reasons with you from these verses that teach is why our God is worthy of our worship.

 

  I.  v. 1        GOD IS WORTHY OF

                        OUR DELIGHT

A.  At the very beginning, the Psalmist makes two great and profound declarations. He bears his heart and tells us what he has determined to do. First, he declares his love for the Lord. Second, he declares his absolute dependence upon the Lord. He seems to be indicating that he will live his life with these two great themes ever before him. He is telling us that he finds his greatest delight in the Lord!

B.  Let’s examine these two themes a little more closely and see what they mean for us tonight.

1.  I Will Love The Lord - The word translated “love” here is a word that means, “to love deeply.” It is not the normal word translated love. The normal word speaks of “covenant love”. This word speaks of “tender intimacy”. It carries the idea of a mother’s love for an infant child. It has the idea of loving one so much; you just want to hug them real close! If it doesn’t sound too irreverent, the Psalmist is telling us that he is so filled with love for the Lord that he just wants to “slide up real close to the Lord and hug him forever”.

 

(Ill. We have all felt this way about someone we love. How many have felt their heart fill up with love for a child, a mate, or some other loved one and you want to reach out and hug them and hold them? This is the emotion felt by Mary Magdalene when she encountered the risen Christ, John 20:17, and by the Disciples when they saw Him also, Matt. 28:9. Considering all that the Lord has done for us and how He loves us and has made a way for us to be saved, our hearts should also be filled with that same kind of love for Him, 1 John 4:19.)

 

2.  I Will Lean On The Lord - He calls God “My Strength” - Nine times in the first two verses, David uses the personal possessive pronoun “my”. Did you realize that “my” is the first pronoun learned by most children? They say things like “my toys”, “my house”, “my room”, etc. This is just their childish way of stating that they know what is theirs. (Ill. Clayton is there now!)

      What David is doing is expressing simple, childlike faith in his relationship with the Lord. He is telling us that he is totally dependent upon the Lord for everything. Every ounce of his strength came from the Lord. (Ill. Paul - 1 Cor. 15:10) (Ill. What we can do without Him - John 15:5, and what we can do with him, Phil. 4:13.)

 

C.  David’s plan is to live for the Lord, love the Lord and to lean on the Lord for everything he needs, does and is in life. I think that is a worthy goal for every believer! He deserves nothing less and nothing less will be blessed by the Lord.

 

  I.  God Is Worthy Of Our Delight

 

 II.  v. 2       GOD IS WORTHY OF

                    OUR DEPENDENCE

(Ill. David allows us to see a heart of worship engaged in the praise of the object of its love: God!)

A.  There Is Praise For A Personal God - Ill. The usage of “my” again. The most important thing in life is knowing that you are right with God. Be sure, above everything else that you are saved by grace. It isn’t enough to be good or religious, to go to church or to stop doing some things that are wrong, to join the church or to be baptized. To be saved, there must be a time when you turn to Jesus Christ in absolute faith for salvation. Nothing else will work for anyone ever, Eph. 2:8-9; Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9, 13.

B.  There is Praise For A Powerful God - In God and in his relationship with Him; David finds all the strength that he needs to make it through life. Notice the eight metaphors that David uses to describe God and His power in our lives.

1.  God Is Our Stability - David describes God as a “Rock”. This word refers to a “craggy cliff”. David reminds us that when it appears the world is spinning out of control, the believer can stand above it all when he stands on the Lord. God allows His people to live above the trials and turmoil that engulfs the world beneath. Note: Our relationship with the Lord gives us a different perspective on the trials of life. When we stand in Him, we see them through His eyes and even though the difficulties of life might break our hearts, they still cause our hearts to bow in worship, Ill. Job – Job 1:20-21.

2.  God Is Our Safety - David says that God is like a “fortress”. This surely has reference to the lofty mountain citadels to which he fled when he was running from Saul. David reminds us that the Lord is a place of safety to which the saint can flee in times of adversity and trial, Psa. 57:1. (Ill. Satan is like a roaring lion, 1 Pet. 5:8. However, the saint has a place of safe refuge in the day of attack. God is our fortress, out place of perfect peace and safety.)

3.  God Is Our Savior - David refers to the Lord as his “deliverer”. This word refers to “one who saves, one who rescues, one who delivers another from danger”. This is a word that is filled with glory! You see, not only did the Lord saved us when we received Him by faith, but He goes on saving us day by day, 1 John 1:7, and when this life is over, we will be ultimately saved when we arrive home in Heaven. (Ill. If we can never find another anthem to raise to the glory of the Savior, surely the redeemed can find within them to praise the Lord for His saving grace, Psa. 107:2.)

4.  God Is Our Sovereign - David refers to Him as “God”. This is the word “El.” It refers to God as the Almighty God. This word pictures God as One Who is over all things and as One Who is in control of all things. The saints of God should surely rejoice in the knowledge that everything that happens is in God’s plan and that He is in control of all things, even when we cannot make sense of it, God is still on His throne, Isa. 45:7; Rom. 8:28; Job 23:10.

5.  God Is Our Strength–This word refers to “a cliff, or an unmovable rock”. When everything else in the world is being tossed and twisted, God forever remains the same. He is always stable, Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8. (Ill. We are on the Rock, Psa. 40:2, not on the rocks! Note: the word “rock” comes from a root word that means “lofty”. Jesus is our Gibraltar! He is anchored deep and rises above everything. He is unmovable and unassailable!

            David tells us that God is all we need. We should rejoice in the truth that the Lord God of Heaven will be the strength of our lives. None of knows what we will face as we go through the years of our lives, but we can know that God in Heaven will give us the strength we need to face life’s trials and battle and that He will help us all along the way, 2 Cor. 12:9-10; Isa. 43:2; Heb. 4:14-16. Remember that He is an ever present God - Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20; Psa. 46:1.

6.  God Is Our Shield - David calls the Lord a “buckler”. This simply means “a shield”. When trouble comes into your life and mine, sometimes the Lord will allow those things to come and He will give grace. However, there are times when the Lord steps between His children and their trials and acts as a shield to stand between His child and the storm that is coming. I like it when the Lord is my shield! Only in Heaven will we fully comprehend the times when God, in His providence, has intervened in our lived and delivered us from some terrible thing that was headed our way! (Ill. Calvary – He was our shield on that day! He stood between us an the terrible wrath of God!)

 

(Ill. West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska exploded on Tuesday evening, March 1, 1950, at 7:36 PM. When the building exploded, it was totally demolished! Not a timber or a brick was left standing above ground. It was a totally devastating explosion. The choir always met for practice promptly at 7:30 PM on Tuesdays for practice. However, on one particular Tuesday evening, no one made it to the church on time.

      One became ill, several had car trouble, another got a last minute phone call, others were busy with homework, dirty children, and other various problems. Each of the 40+ choir members, including their leader, was somehow hindered from being at the church at 7:30 on that Tuesday evening. At 7:36 PM, gas that had been leaking from a ruptured gas line under the church exploded, totally demolishing the church. Had there been any one there, they would have been killed, but thanks to the providence of God, they were all spared!)

 

7.  God Is Our Security - Here, the Lord is called a “horn of salvation.” The horn is the symbol of strength and conquest. When David calls God the horn of salvation he is saying that the Lord is the strength of salvation, and that in His salvation, we have absolute security. I believe that we can all rejoice in the knowledge that if we are in the Lord, then we are totally secure in Him, 1 Pet. 1:5! (Ill. He has never lost one yet, and He isn’t going to start with you! He didn’t save you to lose you along the way, but He saved you to take you to Heaven, John 6:38-41.)

 

(Ill. When I read about the “horn of salvation”, I think of the “cornucopia” or the “horn of plenty.” This was a curved goat’s horn filled to overflowing with fruit and ears of grain. It is a symbol of overflowing abundance.

      This is what the sinner finds when he comes to the Lord. Many just come to Jesus to be saved from Hell, but in Jesus they receive so much more than they could ever have imagined. He is our security, but He is also our source! When you came to Him, you left with more than you bargained for!)

 

8.  God Is Our Supply - In this last metaphor, David says that the Lord is our “High Tower”. This refers to the great towers that were built around the ancient cities. From these towers, soldiers could look down on their attackers and send volleys of arrows down on their heads. These towers were usually stocked with ammunition and supplies. When the soldiers ran to the high tower, they were above the battle; they were in a place of rest, refreshment and ready supply.

      God is the same for the child of God. When the battle rages about us, we can run to Him and be lifted above our battles and find the rest and refreshment we need to be able to fight the battles and win! Surely we can rejoice in the knowledge that the Lord is ever there for us to run to in the day of battle. Surely we can remember that the “battle is the LORD’s”, 1 Sam. 17:47.

 

C.  It is no wonder that David praised the Lord! However, we have the very same reasons that he did. Therefore, let’s praise Him and honor Him and resolve in our hearts that we will worship and serve Him in “spirit and in truth.”

 

  I.  God Is Worthy Of Our Delight

 II.  God Is Worthy Of Our

      Dependence

 

III. v. 3       GOD IS WORTHY OF

                      OUR DEVOTION

A.  In this verse, David makes a pledge to call on God and to trust Him and Him alone for the victories of life. The idea communicated here is that the Psalmist is aware of the power of this praise worthy God and that he is pledging his life to walk in the awareness of the greatness and power of God. He pledges to walk by faith and not by sight, Heb. 11:6! David knew that his faith in the Lord would result in his perpetual victory over his enemies.

 

(Ill. Surely there had been times when David was on the run that he thought he would be captured and killed by Saul, but God had proven greater than his enemy at every turn. David knew that if God could do it yesterday, then He could be counted on to do it tomorrow, Ill. vv. 4-19!)

 

B.  What a lesson for us! As children of God, we must learn that God is all these things that David said He was. He will protect you, He will provide for you, He will help you, He will refresh you, He will ever be there for you. Our duty, then, is to walk by faith and not by sight. Let us remember whom the Lord our God is, and what He has done and let us worship Him, honor Him and praise Him. Let us live like we believe He is the God of the universe. Let us pledge to walk by faith, Hab. 2:4.

 

Conc: David reminds us that our God is a God Whom, is worthy to be worshipped! He is worthy of being our delight. He is worthy of our dependence. He is worthy of our devotion. He is worthy to be loved; to be praised; to be exalted and to be followed. As David says in verse 46 of this Psalm, “The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.”

      We need to examine our priorities today. We need to be in the business of exalting our God. Would you join me in bowing before Him to worship, praise and exalt the Great God of our salvation?