2 Samuel 22:1-51


David has not had an easy life by any stretch of the imagination, yet his life has been uniquely blessed by God.  David takes the time to look back over the blessings of God and he records this song of praise to the Lord as a result of this reflection.  Too often we spend all of our time looking at what we want but do not have instead of being thankful for the many blessings of the Lord that we already have.  God is pleased by the praise of His people and we certainly have many motives to praise Him.  We simply need to stop with our wanting and start with our worshiping.  It is an important thing to stop and reflect on the goodness of the Lord and then praise Him for the amazing things that He has done and for the amazing person that He is.

GOD COMES TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLING: As we have seen, David has been in distress for almost his entire life.  He has been chased all over the country by his former King.  He has had endless war with the nations surrounding him.  As if that were not enough, he has had two civil wars one of which was against his own son.  There has been an endless line of people who wanted David dead.  However, David is not dead.  The reason that he is not dead is because of the deliverance of the Lord.  The Lord delivered David because he called upon Him.  David recognized that he needed the Lord and was desperate for the Lord to rescue him.  David was not too proud, thinking that he could handle his problems on his own.  He knew he needed help and He trusted God to help him so he called on the Lord.  We often face trials but we are tempted to think that we can just stand up on our own and we fail to call on the Lord.  He is faithful to come to those who are faithful to call.

GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO ARE RIGHTEOUS: David’s confidence to call on the Lord stems from His commitment to obey the Lord.  David was an obedient and righteous man, especially in the beginning of his life.  We have seen that he was disobedient towards the end of his reign and paid dearly for his sin; but he started out as a man who was sensitive to the Lord and His will.  David’s confidence before the Lord comes from his commitment to the Lord.  He knows that God is faithful to reward those who serve Him faithfully.  David experienced the protection of God, enjoyed the provision of God and felt the power of God at work on his behalf.  David knew that these rewards were the result of his trust in and faithfulness to God.  We often wonder why we don’t experience these rewards from God in our lives, yet we don’t take the time to stop and examine our hearts to see if we are being obedient to the Lord.  When we trust and obey the Lord; He gives us a confidence of His power and presence in our lives.

GOD WANTS THOSE WHO ARE WORSHIPING: David has experienced the coming of the Lord to rescue him and he has experienced the rewards of the Lord for his obedience.  Now he does exactly what the Lord desires that all of us do as a result of His faithfulness; he worships.  This entire chapter is a song of worship to the Lord.  David stops and takes the time to remember what God has done and then he puts for the effort to praise the Lord.  God is pleased when we praise Him and we are most fulfilled when we praise Him.  This is the purpose for which we have been created and we will always experience our greatest joys when we are fulfilling His purpose in our lives.

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