Song of Deliverance

Order of Service

• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Call to Worship — Revelation 4:8-11
• Hymn — O Worship the King (congregational singing)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Belgic Confession, Article 1
• Scripture Reading — Acts 23:1-22
• Hymn — He Leadeth Me
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
• Sermon
• Closing Hymn — Blessed Assurance
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: Song of Deliverance

Scripture: 2 Samuel 22

I. Deliverance Comes Through Providence (vv. 4–20)

A. David in dire straits cries out to the Lord (2 Samuel 22:5-7)

1. Death and Sheol encompass him; he is in desperate need
2. Echoes throughout 1–2 Samuel: David the fugitive from Saul, David fleeing Absalom

B. God's dramatic response employs cosmic, theophanic language (2 Samuel 22:8-20)

1. Foundations of heaven tremble; channels of the sea laid bare
2. Language evokes the parting of the Red Sea and God's thundering at Sinai

C. The hidden Providence of God is the Mighty God of Sinai at work

1. God's name is often not explicitly invoked in 1–2 Samuel, yet he works providentially for David
2. Taking inventory of God's faithfulness reveals his mighty hand in ordinary circumstances
3. Application: God's preservation of his children in a fallen world is the work of Almighty God
4. Colossians 2:15 — at Calvary God disarmed rulers and authorities, triumphing over them openly; only eyes of faith can perceive it
5. The Lord currently thunders from heaven, working all things for his children's good and his own glory (Romans 8:28)

II. Deliverance Comes Through Faithfulness/Righteousness (vv. 21–31)

A. The righteousness David claims is not a spotless, perfect righteousness but a righteousness of trajectory (2 Samuel 22:21-25)

1. The orientation and trajectory of his heart is set toward God's law
2. This answers the objection that David could not have written this after the sin with Bathsheba

B. The Beatitudes illuminate this section: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6)

1. David places God's statutes before his heart daily (2 Samuel 22:23)
2. David is poor in spirit, not boasting in works but in the Lord who is his lamp and shield (2 Samuel 22:29-31)
3. David aligns with the tax collector, not the self-righteous Pharisee

C. Old Testament saints called righteous are not sinlessly perfect; their righteousness includes faithful use of the sacrificial system

1. Noah called blameless (Genesis 6); his first act off the ark is a burnt offering (Genesis 8)
2. Only after smelling the substitutionary sacrifice does God stay his wrath upon fallen creation
3. The hunger for righteousness is satisfied in a perfect substitute — pointing forward to Christ

D. Jeremiah Burroughs: "In the Covenant of Grace, God accepts the desire for the deed"

1. Thirsting for righteousness quenches base sinful desires
2. The soul cannot desire righteousness unless righteousness has already begun in it

E. Application: Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?

1. Do you look to Christ not only for justification (his righteousness imputed) but also for sanctification?
2. Is the trajectory of your soul oriented toward Christ and his Word?
3. If so, your chief foes have already been and will be destroyed

III. Deliverance Comes Through Giftedness (vv. 32–49)

A. David uses striking first-person language to describe his victories (2 Samuel 22:38-43)

1. "I pursued… I consumed… I thrust them through… I beat them fine as dust"
2. David's extraordinary gifts as a soldier are evident throughout 1–2 Samuel

B. Yet all credit is ascribed to God — the gifts and the success both come from him

1. God gifted David and went alongside him to give him success
2. Deliverance is for those who recognize their talents as gifts from God and use them for his glory

C. Critique of the modern cultural view of self-creation and self-discovery

1. The modern man delays or wastes God-given gifts in an endless search for an undiscovered self
2. Romans 12 — "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them" (imperative)
3. You are a creature made in the image of God; God, not you, determines where you are gifted

D. Application: Use your gifts for God's glory and find joy in him

1. Do not waste your life comparing your gifts to others or striving for gifts God has not given
2. Be content with and faithful in the gifts God has bestowed; there is joy in using them for his glory

E. Summary: God's deliverance — won by and in the Lord's Anointed — is for those who

1. See his mighty Providence at work in Redemptive promises
2. Orient their lives by faith around God's Word, clinging to Christ
3. Use the gifts of God for the glory of God and their enjoyment in him forever