II Samuel 22:44-51 – Praise for God’s Lovingkindness
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 22:44-51 – Praise for God’s Lovingkindness
Welcome to "The Living Word" with Chuck Davis. 2 Samuel 22, 44 to 51. Praise for God's loving kindness. You delivered me from strife with my people. You kept me as the head of the nations. People whom I had not known served me. Partners came cringing to me as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. The Lord lives and blessed be my rock and exalted be my God the rock of my salvation. The Lord who gave me vengeance and brought down people under me, who brought me out from my enemies. You exalted me above those who rose against me, you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his King and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David, and his offspring forever. We get a clear picture of a theology of praise over the course of this chapter, four days of unfolding this declaration. One of the things that marks David apart from all of the other Kings is how many of the Psalms are attributed to him in some way. He was a worshipper. David worshiped in the fields as a shepherd, get the feeling that David worshiped with his ragtag group of militants, and David, by the end of his life, is still giving praise to God. This is one of the common threads, David inquired of the Lord. He kept his accounts straight with God. He repented before the Lord. He recognized the Lord was the one who brought every level of success into his life. This kind of forms an inclusio to the beginning, "The rock of my salvation, blessed be my rock." There is a recognition of God's hand being released to him, and I think it's appropriate, the very final verse declares that out of the depth of who God is, his steadfast love, he has poured this bounty in favor in his anointed one. Eugene Peterson, in giving some application in response to David's life of praise, says this, "If we are not adoring, believing, and obeying, we miss out most of what is right before us." This morning I was reading a bit about George Washington Carver. He was, I believe, an emancipated slave in the late 1800s, early 1900s. He did a lot of work around science. He's the one that developed resources out of peanuts, but he talked about how he found God in the smallest pieces of science. When we're adoring, believing, or obeying, I would use the words of anti-secularism when we're still enchanted people by what God is doing in our world. We will not miss out on what is right before us, and it will just spontaneously lead us to praise. The soul watt is that we're all called to a life of praise and thanksgiving, and for me it flows out of a heart of gratitude. It's viewing all of life itself as a gift from God. The now watt is that I'm in a choice in the battle, very similar to David. There were multiple times when David could have interpreted his circumstances, and such a way as to put him in deep sorrow, but he chose to look to God and find his life in him. I read this quote from Nancy DeMoss in a book called "Choosing Gratitude" this morning. Gratitude is a lifestyle, a hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle. You just quote that again. Gratitude is a lifestyle, a hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle. David fought to keep his relationship right with God, and he knew that his relationship was grace-infused. It was this steadfast love, a set of God, and it led him to a proper response, not all the time, but in the majority of his life. So Lord, out of this foundation of gratitude, of recognizing all that you've poured into us, we bring an offering of praise and thanksgiving, and we do this in Jesus' name, Amen.