God is our Salvation
Reading Eugene Peterson really opened my eyes to something, especially regarding David and the Psalms. He said,
“Anything we know about God that’s not prayed soon turns bad. The name of God without prayer to God is the stuff of blasphemy. The truth about God without love for God quickly becomes oppression. So-called theologians, whether amateur or professional, who don’t pray are in league with the devil. Indeed, the devil can be defined as that species of theologian who knows everything about God but will have nothing to do with him.
David prayed. David prayed the metaphors, prayed the experience, prayed the revelation. Everything that happened to him through prayer became God’s salvation within him.”[1]
You know where we see David’s prayers the most? In the psalms. We have so many of them recorded in the psalms. The chapter for today, 2 Samuel 22, is almost identical to Psalm 18. Psalm 18 is the third-longest of the psalms.
In these verses, David is looking back over his life. “The psalm appears almost as David’s final words. Hence, it is a summary thanksgiving for God’s many deliverances of him through his long life of service.”[2] And in verse 1, it says, “David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.”
This is a song he was singing and prayer he was praying throughout his life, but especially as he looked back and saw God’s hand on every aspect of his life. And I’m sure as you look on your life, you will be able to see God’s hand on every aspect of yours as well.
God is our only sure foundation.(1-7)
David starts off by saying that the Lord is his rock. This is a common phrase used throughout the Bible, and by David, that denotes a place of stability and safety.[3]
Think to the parable Jesus told of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7.
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Who is the foolish builder? The one who built his house on sand. Who is the wise builder? The one who built his house on rock. Why? Because it is a firm foundation. What is the moral of that parable? Those who hear the words of Jesus and do them are the wise ones. God is our only sure foundation in life.
David found this to be true. David is writing about God delivering him from his enemies here. And who was his main enemy? Saul. Being a master songwriter, look what David does in verse 6, he says, “the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.” Sheol and Saul sound similar. That’s good songwriting, but it’s also good practical theology for David. Whether facing Saul or death itself, God is David’s only sure foundation. David knows he can call out to the Lord amidst whatever distress he is in, and God will hear and act.
And the waves of death itself were entangling him on more than one occasion. He said that very thing to his friend Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20:3: “There is but a step between me and death.” And David lived in that reality. But here he is still alive, praying to God with gratitude.
God is our only source of rescue. (8-20)
In verses 8-16, David is imagining, as if a participant himself, the exodus out of Egypt and the happenings at Sinai. He’s seeing himself in the redemptive story. Have you ever read the stories of the Old Testament, and they’ve just come alive for you? Have you ever read them, and it’s made you have faith as if you were actually there? That’s what it’s meant to do.
The greatest act of deliverance in the Old Testament was the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. That is what David is imagining here. He’s doing so in colorful, poetic imagery. You can tell he has meditated long on these events. He’s pictured them in his mind. He’s gone over the details. He’s envisioned them and thought about what they’ve meant. Now see what it leads to.
David uses “me” and “my” in verses 17-20, seeing himself in God’s past deliverance of redemptive history. Those past events of God’s deliverance play an active part in David’s present deliverance. God took them out then, He will take David out now. God rescued them then, He will rescue David now. God supported them amidst opposition then, He will support David amidst opposition now. God brought them into a broad place then, He will bring David from caves and hiding and into a broad place now. And you know what? God did. God doesn’t change. He’s true to His character. He is who He is. Always. He is immutable.[4]
David found strength in God through His Word. He had faith in the faithfulness of God. God didn’t fail them then, so he knew He wouldn’t fail him now. And it’s the same with you now.
I love what Alistair Begg says about this:
“Do you understand that your life, our lives, the drama of history, is not a series of haphazard eventualities, despite what historians may say? That God is sovereign over the affairs. That he sweeps even my difficulties, my regrets into the unfolding drama of his purposes.”[5]
You may look at David and think, “but I can’t measure up to someone like him.” That’s the thing, though. David was just like us.
God is our only righteousness.(21-28)
God did everything for David. David didn’t earn anything on his own. David seems somewhat delusional here, knowing everything we know about him. He was a murderer and an adulterer. How can he say he had righteousness and cleanness in verse 21 and others?
Here’s what we need to recognize. This “righteousness” is covenant language. And the Davidic covenant is unconditional. As Alistair Begg says,
“David was the man of God’s own choosing. The great mystery was not that David loved God but that God chose David. If you think about it, that is also true of all who are in Christ. And in choosing David, you will remember, he promised him. He promised him that he would make of him a great name,[6] he promised him that he would establish his throne,[7] and he promised him that even when he did wrong, he would discipline him.[8] But then, he said, “my steadfast love will not depart from him.”[9] The covenant love of God: “I have made a commitment to him, and I will not go back on that commitment.” And that is all contained in a prophecy that came to David in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel.”
And when David speaks of being blameless, as in verse 24, it isn’t about perfection, but it’s about, as one commentary says, “genuine commitment to the Lord.”[10] It’s repentance when you sin, not sinless perfection. Since this is covenant language, you are either in the covenant or you aren’t. You either have the righteousness from outside of you or you don’t.
1 Corinthians 1:30 – And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption
2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Romans 4:1-8 makes it even more clear, and even speaks of David and alludes to the covenants but shows that it’s also by faith:
1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
But there is an active component to it as well. There must be a willingness to repent. That’s what sets David apart from Saul and why God later calls David someone who walked in His commandments.[11] You can see both aspects in two different Psalms of David:
Psalm 24:4 – He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.Psalm 26:6 – I wash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar, O Lord
David is a man after God’s own heart, because he repented of his sin, not because he never sinned.
God is the One who equips us for what He calls us to.(29-46)
“This is not a process in which David has stood back and waited (as Israel had at the Red Sea; Ex 14:14) but one that has demanded active, but dependent involvement.[12]
Some of the things God calls us to aren’t things we would have ever chosen for ourselves, but God equips us for what He calls us to. Eugene Peterson has us think about the type of work God had called David to do. He said,
“Work isn’t a distraction from God but a working out of God in the world. But when we look at the actual work that David does, we’re shocked: David’s primary work is war. Most of the work that David exults in doing because God makes it possible for him to do it has to do with killing people. His work world features weapons and fighting.”[13]
Though David is king, here is what he realizes: God’s mode of working is through a humble people.[14] Because it is God who is working through them. And that is exactly who David is. David was a shepherd boy who was called to be a warrior, and God “made those who rise against [him] sink under [him],” because God equipped him “with strength for the battle” (vs. 40).
“By my God I can leap over a wall” (22:30) is David’s equivalent to Paul’s “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13) —the secret of every life humbly committed to God.”[15] He killed a giant with a stone when he was just a young boy. He became king though he was just a shepherd. He was a man after God’s own heart, though his heart and life was full of lust and murder. We don’t have to clean ourselves up to come to God. He makes us new creatures in Him.
God is the only source of salvation for all peoples.(47-51)
Salvation is written all through David’s story, as it is yours and mine. We see “salvation” and “savior” and “you save me” in verses 4 and 28 and 36 and 42 and 47 and 51.
This passage is quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:8-9.
8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
Paul, in essence, puts these words in the lips of Christ, showing salvation is intended for the Gentiles also. You know what that means? It’s for you and me. Salvation. And that’s how David’s psalm ends in verse 51. “Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.” David didn’t fully know what he was saying, but you and I do. The fulfillment—the king, the anointed, the forever offspring—Jesus is the one who alone brings salvation.
We must do as Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:8, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.”
We must remember Christ as David is doing so here, looking back over his life and looking forward to Christ. I want to read a quote by Martyn Lloyd-Jones to conclude that captures how we are to do this perfectly, he says,
“There is but one cure for the ills of [our world]. When my conscience accuses me there is … one thing I know of that can give me rest and peace. It is to know that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, … has forgiven me. It is to believe, and to know, that because He loved me and died for me, I am clear of accusation. And, conscious as I am of my weakness and failure, and my lack of power to live a life worthy of [His] name, I am again driven back to Him. It is only from Him and the power of the Holy Spirit which He imparts that I can be made more than conqueror. And as I contemplate myself lying on my deathbed and going on to meet my Maker and my Judge Eternal, my only hope is that I shall be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that He will take me by the hand and present me “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” It is always, and only, in Christ that I find satisfaction. It is only in Him that my problems are solved. The world, with all its methods, cannot help me at the moment of my greatest need. … Christ never fails. He satisfies always and in every respect.”[16]
[1] Eugene H. Peterson, Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 207.
[2] Boice, James Montgomery Psalms, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994)
[3] https://www.gotquestions.org/Lord-is-my-rock.html
[4] https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/the-immutability-of-god-2020-09
[5] https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/davids-song-salvation
[10] John L. Mackay, “1–2 Samuel,” in ESV Expository Commentary: 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles, vol. 3, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 465
[11] 1 Kings 3:14; 9:4; 11:33-34, 38; 14:8
[12]ESV Expository Commentary, 466
[13] Peterson, Leap Over a Wall, 214.
[14] Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5
[15]ESV Expository Commentary, 469
[16] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Truth Unchanged, Unchanging (London: James Clarke, 1951), 117–18.
