God Delivers

The Language of Praise

Language is something we take for granted. We assume that when we use certain words, they’ll be understood the way we intend them. The truth is that communication and language are difficult things. Consider the word sad. We all know what sad means, right? Maybe. Sometimes we use sad to describe being unhappy or disappointed. Sometimes we use it to describe being down or blue. But when a loved one is being buried because of death, saying we’re just sad doesn’t capture the depth of what we feel. We’re devastated. We’re despondent. Yet we don’t use those words. Language really conveys deeper meaning if we think about it.

There are certain words we’ve heard in this room for so many years. We’ve heard the word cross, forgiven, and heaven. Like Bernard of Clairvaux asked, “What language should I borrow to thank thee, my dearest friend?” Every time someone says the word cross, obviously there’s an image that comes to mind. But we’ve used that word so many times that it’s easy to say without feeling its weight. When we say we’ve been forgiven, we kind of go, yes, we’ve been forgiven. But there’s a part of us that asks, what’s the language that can express the depth of our gratitude for forgiveness? It’s easy to say the words, but it doesn’t convey the depth. Within this room, we use language and words until we become so comfortable with them that they lose any emotional connection with us.

God is All These Things

When we look at Psalm 18, verses one through three, David must have had a lot of gratitude. He could look back on his life when he wrote this song and see the hand of God at work. Instead of trying to find a singular word to describe his praise, he just starts stacking words. He starts talking about how God is, using words to describe God. What language can we borrow to really express the depth of God? David’s words deserve appreciation.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.” That word for strength is found only here in all of Scripture, all the Old Testament. David’s word here for strength is the word you use to describe when you absolutely recognize you have no power, no ability, and no energy. God is the one who provides strength. Live long enough, and you’ll get there. We’ve all heard people say, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” That’s the word strength, because you don’t have it. David says, “I love you, Lord, because of your strength,” remembering his own times where he was completely without energy, completely without knowing how he was going to put one foot in front of the other. Where does that come from except from God?

Then he says, “The Lord is my rock.” This rock is not a big immovable stone. It’s a large overhang, like a craggy place where you can crawl in and be protected from the elements and from sight. David uses the same word in 1 Samuel chapter 23, when Saul came looking for him at a mountain. David was on one side and Saul on the other. God intervenes by pulling Saul away to attend to a city under attack by the Philistines. David uses the same word for rock to describe that he was hidden in the rock. So he’s thinking back to Saul, thinking back to that protection.

“He’s my fortress,” which means stronghold. In 1 Samuel chapter 24, after David has been in the cave with Saul and had an opportunity to kill him but didn’t, the Bible says Saul went home and David went back to his stronghold. It’s a place of protection. God is his strength, his rock, his stronghold, his fortress. And his deliverer—one who carries another to safety. This is not opening the door so you can escape. This is you can’t walk, so I pick you up and carry you. It ties back to that original word strength.

Then David repeats, “My God is my rock.” This is a different word—it means the immovable stone. God is faithful. He cannot be pushed around. He’s immovable. Then he uses the word shield, a protector. And “the horn of my salvation”—in the tabernacle, there was the altar of God with horns on it, elevated stones made to look like horns. If you wanted to be saved, you could run into the tabernacle and grab hold of the horns of salvation. That’s the image David has. It’s the place where he goes for his salvation. And he is the stronghold, a fortress where you can get to high ground and see your enemy approaching.

David coming out of his personal experience knows God is all of these things to him. He doesn’t have the ability to say everything about God, but he wants us to know that God can be described in what he has done for him in allowing him to escape the challenges he faced. He’s been his protector, the place where he’s hidden, the one who’s carried him into a new place, the one who’s allowed him to see what he never could have seen without being with him. He’s giving him energy that he never knew he had because it had to come from God.

Delivered from Our Enemies

Look at verse three: “I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies.” That’s passive voice. The difference is significant. If it was active voice, David would write, “I won. I saved myself.” But that’s not what he says. “I was saved from my enemies.” Something acted on his behalf. Passive voice means something acted on your behalf, so you can’t take credit for it. The only way David can write this is because God acted on his behalf. If God hadn’t acted, he would not be writing this song of praise. It’s all about what God has done.

Some people take the challenges of life and turn them into a question: Why didn’t God stop the challenge? Can you think of anyone we consider to be people of faith, anyone from Scripture, who didn’t have a challenge? Abraham, Ruth, Deborah, Elijah, Moses, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Daniel—even Jesus had a challenge. We’re all in good company. We keep asking the wrong question. It’s Satan’s question.

There are psalms in which David writes, “Deliver me, Lord, deliver me.” But then he comes to this song and looks back and says, “God is my strength, my rock, my stronghold, my fortress, my shield, my deliverer. He saved me.” It is only in our challenge that we discover the strength of God. God is still in the delivery business. He is still delivering people. We sit here because we have been delivered. We’ve been delivered from our sin. He carried us. We are saved by the hand of God.

The challenges are going to come. There’s no escaping those. Some challenges are harder than others, but when you’re in that challenge, it’s not a time for comparison. It’s your challenge. It’s difficult. And God is still being your strength and your rock. Remember what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said before they were thrown into the fiery furnace? “We know God can deliver us. But even if he does not, we will not serve your gods.” The Bible tells us as they’re being dragged toward the furnace, the guards who are dragging them in die because the heat is so great. That suggests they kind of had to walk in on their own, didn’t they?

None of us want to line up in the challenge line. I get it. But challenges come. And when the challenges come, let us find our praise. He has delivered us from our sin. That is the one thing we can count on already. He may not deliver us from all challenges. Jesus’ greatest challenge, he had to go through. And then God delivered him from death. But he had to die first. The challenges that we experience in this life are about our loyalty. It’s about trusting God. It’s about believing that he is still able. Even if he chooses not to deliver us, we will worship him only.

Praise him during the difficult times. Praise him when you’re lonely. Praise him when you’re devastated. Praise him when you’re sad and blue. Praise him when you’re uncertain. Praise him when you’re confused. Ask for deliverance, but even if he doesn’t, he will always be there for you. Praise him in your pain. Praise him in your challenge. Praise him in the darkness. Praise him when things are not going well. Find your praise. Because God is faithful.

You have to step into some fires just like we all do. Who’s going to give you the strength to step into them? Who’s going to give you the strength to get you through them? And who’s going to give you the strength so that when it’s all over, you can look back and say, “I saw him. I saw his hand at work.”

Finding Language for Gratitude

The cross has become an easy word to say. I suspect if we had stood at the cross that Jesus occupied, the image would be so entrenched in us that we would never hear the word cross the same again. But even though that image isn’t entrenched in us, the word forgiveness is a reminder to look back and remember. Don’t live in the sin, just remember. God delivered you. God delivered you from that sin. And he’s still delivering you from your sin.

If you want to become a follower of Jesus today and acknowledge that in baptism, we are ready. We have clothes for you to change into. We have warm water for you to be baptized in. We are ready for you to do that. Baptism is one of those words we speak in this room, and God says it is the line of demarcation. It is the place where you move from the sphere of sin, where sin rules your life, into the sphere of righteousness where God rules your life. It is that line that one must cross. God says it’s in your baptism that forgiveness takes place, and it’s in your baptism that he gives to you his Spirit who will live within you.

If you’re ready today to be baptized, we’re ready for you. We want you to come. If you want to do it after services, that’s fine. We’ll grab a bunch of people so that there will be people here who can welcome you afterwards. And if you’re in a challenge, let’s find our praise. If you want us together as a family to pray about your challenge, come tell me and we’ll pray together. We do this every Sunday. We can’t replicate emotions every Sunday. It’s not possible. But don’t let today go by without borrowing some language to express your gratitude, my dearest friend, Jesus.

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