Revering the Word
Psalm 54 God’s protection for David and God’s promise to his Church.
Good morning, everyone. This morning we are in Psalm 54 and we have quite a psalm regarding David's life. You might remember that God's people wanted a king. Some of the reasons that they wanted an earthly king was because the enemies of Israel were becoming strong and they felt like we need an earthly king. We need someone in our midst to help us to battle our enemies so that we're not overtaken. And although God was to be their king, I'll use the word "relented." He allowed them to have an earthly king, although part of him was disappointed that they would not just trust him as king. But he did allow it, and Saul became king. And Saul, for a very short period of time, started off okay, but then ended up not being a faithful king. And underneath Saul was someone from his own midst, David, who was becoming strong and becoming a good military leader. And people were thronging to David for the successes he had. And now Saul, the king, decided that he wanted to kill David. He was jealous of him, and people were beginning to want to make David king. And in fact, David even knew he was going to be king one day. He had been anointed by Samuel to be king, but he wasn't king yet. Saul was king. So this ended up being that Saul, the king, wanted to take David's life. But because God had a plan for David to be the king, God wasn't going to allow his life to be taken. And in fact, Saul had a son named Jonathan, who also knew that David one day was going to be king, and comforted David and was a friend to David. Saul saw Jonathan and said, "Don't worry, you're not going to be harmed because God's going to make you king." But although David wasn't to be harmed, it came incredibly close. And David had to be on the run often, and Saul was hunting him down, trying to kill him. But God miraculously saved him because God had a plan for David one day to be king. So in the midst of all of that before David's king, and while he's on the run from Saul killing him, that's when this psalm was written. Let's begin what David says, another masculine somber tone crying out to God, "Save me, O God, by your name. "Inventicate me by your power. Hear my prayer, O God. Give ear to the words of my mouth. "For strangers have risen against me, and violent men sought my life. They have not set God before them." And he's saying, "Really, they're enemies of God, and they're coming after me." But what is incredible is the trust that David had. Even though he had this spiritual understanding that one day would be king, you would think, "Well, that's going to mean that I'm going to survive these attacks." Sometimes, as humans, we'd be prone to doubt when we see everything coming against us, and this is what David felt and believed, even though he was being attacked. "Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the sustainer of my soul. He will recompense the evil to my foes. Destroy them in your faithfulness. "Willingly, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies." And what appears to have been in this psalm is that although David has not yet experienced the fullness of victory or escape from his enemies, he's not yet king, Saul still hunting him down, yet he in faith is as though he's already there. With faith, he's already believing that the Lord is going to deliver him, and he will look on satisfaction of his enemies. And part of that is likely his faith, David's faith, but also the promises and the anointing that was over him to be king, he had a confidence, even though the situation looked bleak, he had a confidence that God would see him through. Now, I believe there are things that we can take from this today. Yet, we are not David. We have not been anointed to be a king of this earth. We don't have the same promises, earthly promises that David had when his enemies were hunting him down, but yet we are the bride of Christ. We are a son, our daughter, of the most high. But I don't believe that that means that in this life, everything's going to go well. But it also doesn't mean that God won't protect us and that there won't be immense blessing on earth and that he won't see us through attacks or challenges from our enemies. But ultimately, I do believe that this promise is going to be fulfilled even for us, although we're not David, in the sense that one day we will look on triumph because we will be with Jesus in his heavenly home. We will be in the mansion above were a room that he has prepared for us. He will deliver us, I believe, from the trouble of the tribulation because we are the bride of Christ. So this is true of us in a spiritual kingdom of heaven perspective, but we are not David, and this is not necessarily going to be true for every believer on earth that we're going to be saved from all trouble miraculously because David, he had a promise to be king on earth. So it's interesting, isn't it? We have to look at scripture and context, and not all scripture is written to us, but it's written for us. So this was a Psalm and these promises were for David, but yet spiritually, I do believe they can apply to us today in the sense that we have a God who's promised us salvation, who's promised us heaven, and one day we will look on triumph with him from our heavenly home. There will be times in life when God miraculously works in our life here, but unless the rapture comes first, just like all the people of the Old Testament, we too will die on this earth, but yet that's not going to be the end for us because we have been a promised eternal life. And it's better to be away from the body and to be at home with the Lord. So it's good for us to rest like David did. David did that God was going to see him through this trial. God's going to see us through the trial too. And one of those trials he's going to see us through is the trial of death, because even in death we will have life with our Lord forever in heaven, Hallelujah. May this psalm comfort us in our future heavenly home, just like it comfort David, and when you see God's hand even work in this life to save you or to help you praise God for Hallelujah as David said, my eye has looked with satisfaction. God has delivered us from trouble and he will. Hallelujah. God bless you all. So I have something else that I want to say. In Psalm 54 as we saw David was given promises by God to be king to get a throne one day and God was going to see him through it. For that to happen and we too have been promised a throne, but it's not on earth. It's in heaven. And I want to encourage you that as God fulfilled his promise to David to give him a throne, one day we are going to be on thrones. And in the book of Revelation it several times promises the church that they will have thrones in heaven. In Revelation 3 21 it says he overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. And then John is ushered up into heaven and he gets this heavenly scene and there were people standing around thrones around the throne were 24 thrones and upon those thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. And then later in the book of Revelation when we have the millennium and the new heaven eventually and the new earth in Revelation 19 it says in the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worship God who sits on the throne. And there's this glorious setting that God has promised us to be kings and priests in the ages and places to come and that we will rule with him that's promised all throughout the New Testament and in the book of Revelation and that there will be elders I believe representing the church sitting on thrones. And I just wanted to illustrate that because I think it's beautiful as God was faithful to David to make him king and to give him an earthly throne. God is going to be faithful to his church and they will rule and reign with him one day not as I is promised but as he has promised and one day we will rule and reign on thrones as well. That's the promise of God. He came through for David. He will come through for his church. God bless you all.