God Is Our Rock

Introduction

Just a brief PSA. I must acknowledge the presence of T Burke today. Taylor, Berkner, and Vanessa are here. And I’m not, I haven’t seen them since the wedding. And I’m going to say this just to encourage you, young people. When I first came here, Taylor was a big part of our young people group. And he set a good example. And he was energetic and enthusiastic, and the young people looked up to him, and we miss him. And I wanted you to know what you did was important as a high school kid. And I miss, I miss T. Burke. Good to have you all here today. Sometimes our games may not amount to a whole lot, but I will tell you that playing words with friends is helpful to me.

I get to beat Alyssa regularly. I love that. Love that. I learned a new word this week. Bloviate. Unfortunately, it was played against me by my good preacher friend from Georgia, Bobby Hall, to the tune of 143 points. I am in trouble in that game. He said, as he sent me a note after playing such word, we should not be doing this. And that’s all he said. And so I had to look up the term bloviate, which means to speak at length, especially in an inflated or empty way. So, I have no intentions of bloviating today.

Sounds like something awful that happens after you eat lunch, anyway. This is the no bloviate Zoe today. If you have come to the conclusion that my sermons have taken on a unique and different flavor. Maybe they have. Maybe you didn’t notice. I ask you to indulge me for a number of reasons. Number one, my life circumstances have drastically changed. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. Pretty sure you have. Secondly, I’m learning some valuable things about my walk with God. And I feel compelled to tell a younger generation about some things that I’ve missed. Things that I want to share. Things I wish had been emphasized with me. And three, I will not apologize for an overriding emphasis on the character and person of God. Because I believe it may be one of the most neglected things that I’ve seen.

1. God Is Constantly Compared to Rock

We need to be fully aware of who our God is. How powerful and real he is. And how much we need him. And so I say to you that nothing says strong like a rock. Rock. That says strong. And throughout Scripture, God is constantly compared to rock. In fact, over thirty-five times in the Old Testament, twenty-four times in the Psalms alone. God is a rock. Father, Son, and Spirit are a rock to us. Or, as wisdom Wednesday pointed out, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. Or towers were built of rock. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe. In that song of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 32, for I proclaim the name of the Lord, the song that they were to sing throughout the generations, for I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God, the rock.

His work is perfect. All his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he. And then later in the song in verse 15, not only speaking of their past but foreshadowing their future, but Jesharon, Israel, the upright one, grew fat and kicked. You are grown fat, thick, and sleek. Then he forsook God who made him and scorned the rock of his salvation. You neglected the rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth. Isn’t it interesting in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 2 that Hannah mentions God as her rock, as she has gone through the distress of being without child, and now a child has come. There is no one holy like the Lord. Indeed, there is no one beside you, nor is there any rock like our God.

In Psalm 71, this is the prayer of deliverance of an old man. In thee, O Lord, I have taken refuge. Let me never be ashamed. In your righteousness, deliver me and rescue me. Incline your ear to me and save me. You know, when you get older, especially in this culture, you become dependent upon others for security and strength. You’re not the man of battle you used to be. And so he realizes more his need. Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come. You have given commandment to save me. You are to me a rock and my fortress, he says, You are my hope. I praise you continually, he concludes. And then in one of the history psalms in Psalm 78, we read one of them not long ago, Psalm 136, but Psalm 105 and 106 and 135 also are history psalms.

And this one is another of those of Asaph. And he speaks to Israel’s past when God had to get their attention. When he killed them. Then they sought him. Wake up, call, and they returned and searched diligently for God. That, my friends, is the message of your spiritual revival. No matter how far you may have gone, no matter the detour you may have taken, wake up. Return. Search diligently for God. And they remembered that God was their rock, renewal, and the most high God their redeemer. Just a couple of more. We’re not going to go through all 35 in the Old Testament, but in Isaiah chapter 26. This is a marvelous context that I want to draw your attention to. Please read verses 3 through 9 that surround this.

Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock. And then in 44 and verse 8. In contrast to the idols that are empty. Isaiah 44 and verse 8. Do not tremble and do not be afraid. Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? Or is there any other rock? I know no other. Of all the things upon which people build their lives and hopes.

There is no rock like that which comes or emanates from him. There is no rock like our Savior Jesus Christ. There is no other comparable to our God. That’s your brief tour. And now I want to take you to the passage upon which we will focus for a few minutes. Remember, no obloviating.

2. The Lord Is My Rock

If you’re reading Psalm 18, you’re getting the material of 2 Samuel 22. The only difference is you have a lengthy heading which serves as verse 1 of 2 Samuel 22. The really problem thing for the way my mind works is that makes 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 one verse off. So when you have verse 2 and 2 Samuel 22, you have verse 1 in Psalm 18. I wish when they were writing that they could have matched all of that. But anyway, it’s one verse off. And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He has been delivered by God from many enemies, not just Saul, whose clutches that he had to escape several times.

He says, The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock. Remember, this is the guy who took down the champion of the Philistines, Goliath, and yet he knew where his strength derived, he knew that God was his rock. I take my refuge in him, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold and my refuge and my savior from violent people. You save me. I called to the Lord who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. Later in the song in verse 32, who is God besides the Lord? And who is the rock except our God? The Lord lives. Praise be to my rock. Exalted be my God. The rock my Savior. Is God indeed your rock?

3. You Pretty Much Decide What You Get from Him

There’s some other nuggets in this psalm or in this chapter in 2 Samuel chapter 22 that extols God as the rock and our Savior that I want to share with you for a few minutes and make some observations, some life lessons about. I want you to look at verses 26 through 28. These verses stand out to me. Again, this would be verses 25 through 27 in Psalm 18. 2 Samuel 22 and verse 26. To the faithful, you show yourself faithful. To the blameless, you show yourself blameless. Further evidence of his rock status. To the pure, you show yourself pure. But to the devious, you show yourself true. You save the humble. But your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. Can I make this important observation about your approach to God and your relationship with him?

You pretty much decide what you get from Him.

You come to God in faithfulness, and you get extraordinary faithfulness in return. You come to God blameless, purifying your hands and hearts, and you get that from God. You come to him pure, you show yourself pure, and this is what you get.

But you try to manipulate God. You try to put one over on him. You reject or ignore him. You’re not going to like what you get in return. The eyes, his eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. Life lesson number one about our great and mighty God who is our rock. Don’t put God in a box. He’s too big. He’s too great. He’s too good for a box. Too often men want to usurp his place. We see that in the New Testament in a local church. We see a man who wanted to have the preeminence, who loved it, who wanted to be the kingpin of a local church. And he rejected the words of an apostle. Dr. Fees is mentioned in 3 John and verse 9.

4. He Makes My Ways Perfect

Beware of losing your place. He wants to do all men good, but he will not be manipulated. He will not be trifled with or ignored. And I learned something else from this text. That is my theme this morning. God won’t push you against your will. You come to God in the way these verses prescribe, and you get wonderful things as a result. God will be an awesome rock and support to your world, to your life. He will be a help to you like no one else, and nothing else can be. But he will not push you against your will. The choice is completely yours. Next section, verse 29. You are my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord illumines my darkness or turns my darkness into light.

As for God, his way is blameless. The word of the Lord is tested. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God? That’s in that section. He shields all who take refuge in him. He trains my hands for battle. He makes me able to pull a bow of bronze. Your help has made me great. Life lesson about our great and mighty rock. He makes my ways perfect. He equips and elevates my life.

The Lord is molding me after his will, as we saw last week. It is occasions like this where he is further equipping and elevating my life. He makes my way perfect. He trains my hands for battle, the psalmist says. He trains us for spiritual battle. It is by the spirit that we put to death the deeds of the flesh. We have heavenly assistance in defeating our adversary. Just as they received assistance in the military, in the physical military warfare that they fought. But know this. God won’t push you against your will. You want your life to be worthwhile, meaningful, and leave a lasting legacy that has an impact upon others. You let him make your ways perfect. Isn’t that amazing? Let me go back. Isn’t it amazing that God can take the mess of our past?

And we all have one of those. That God can take the mess of our past and turn it into something beautiful and good and productive and helpful and impact the lives of many others.

5. Admiration and Gratitude Lead Naturally to Praise

But it’s up to you. God won’t push you against your will. You know, we need to spend time, particularly in the Psalms of David, to notice how much he adored God. How much he depended upon God. And here is somebody you would think who would be tempted to depend upon himself. He was a warrior. He was a leader. He was a ruler. And one of the mightiest men in the world in his time. And yet he saw all of it as his dependence upon God and him being a conduit for God to work in him to influence others for good. And so he was continually about the business of praise. It is why he said, I was glad unto me when they said, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

Therefore, because you are my rock, because all of these other things that he has mentioned in this Psalm that are true, therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations. It’s not just enough to praise you in Jerusalem, to praise you among your people who reside nearby. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations, anybody with whom I have a voice.

David’s worship unto God was voluntary, flowing from a willing heart. Life lesson. Admiration and gratitude lead naturally to praise. If you if you have to force yourself to praise, something is not what it should be in your reflection, in your meditation, and probably in the course of your life in the way you’re living. David didn’t have to twist his arm. He didn’t have to twist his own arm to find time for praise of God. It flew out naturally because of his admiration and gratitude. And I think this, I am willing to adamantly venture that God is greatly unimpressed with a coerced service. Well, I’m not ready for that yet. Thought there was another line on the slides that said, God will not push. You’ve seen that before.

God will not push you against your will. A coerced serviceell, I showed up today because if I didn’t, some family members would be disappointed. I showed up today because it’s my tradition. I want to be religious. I want that to be part of my image. I want to get what is promised in the Bible, if indeed God exists, because I know I’m pretty sure I’m not going to live forever on this earth, and I want what’s coming thereafter. So I come. I want the goodies. It’s my tradition. It’s my family. I certainly don’t want to be indicted when the preacher preaches if I’m going to show up. And he’s going to talk about consistent attendance. And I certainly don’t want the elders showing up on my doorstep and telling me I need to do better.

That my attendance pattern is not good. And if you want to know what yours is, Tom has just done some research. Remember the percentages I rolled out about a year ago? Tom knows the percentages. But God is not greatly impressed with a coerced service. God will not push you to praise him. God will not push his rockdom on you.

6. Our Rock Provides Water

Water flowed from rocks, did it not? God, our rock, quenches our thirst. And the spirit and the bride invite, come, let the one who hears come. Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Our rock provides water. He did it in the Old Testament. That’s why we’ve been singing about it this morning. When I read this verse, I marvel at such an invitation. Drink. Let the one who is thirsty. I can satisfy, I can quench your thirst. Only God can.

Your bank account can’t. Your dwelling, your car, your games, your friends, your retirement, your travels. None of that ultimately quenches your thirst. And God says, here, I’ve got it for you. And guess what it’s going to cost you?

It’s yours for the taking. You don’t need a large bank account. You don’t need talent. You simply’ve got to embrace it and grasp it. I marvel at the imitation. I marvel at what it’s unto. I marvel that he extends it every moment for as long as we live. It was extended yesterday. It’s extended today. And if the sun rises tomorrow, it’ll be extended tomorrow, a life that he’s sustaining and could take away at any moment. But it’s always there. The invitation. Come to the water of life. Why don’t people take such an offer? Because they don’t think it’s real. But more often, because they don’t value it. Or because they value other things, inferior things as worth more. And some just hesitate and put it off.

Okay, I have made this abundantly clear. There it is. God will not push you against your will. You know what’s interesting? Is that there’s a verse about that right before he makes that offer. In Revelation 22 and verse 17. He says, let the one who does wrong still do wrong. And let the one who is filthy still be filthy. And let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and let the one who is holy still keep himself holy. You know what he’s saying there? If you’re of a bent to do a certain thing, it’s up to you. I won’t push you against your will. It’s completely your choice. The letters to the seven churches grip me. I just wish that the Lord’s church at the end of the first century would have been doing better.

Conclusion

A lot of them, a lot of them had negative things going on. Only Smyrna was rich, only Philadelphia had an open door in front of them. The rest of them had significant problems. They had started well. Sardis had a name that they were alive, but they were dead. Dead. Not just sort of alive. They were dead. Ephesus had left her first love. If Jesus wrote us a letter, what would it say? To the saints in Decker Prairie, I write.

But what do you say because of the behavior of some of us? But I have this against you.

Every one of them, he said, get your act together. Keep your act together. Wake up, strengthen the things that remain. Where are you in your walk with God? Are you? Are you relying on the rock? Is there someone in this audience this morning who desperately needs to start drinking from the rock? The Spirit and the bride say, come. Let’s stand and sing.