2 Samuel 22:5-19 - David's Psalm Of Thanksgiving.

God's answer to the cry of distress.

The facts are:

1 . David represents death, the grave, and ungodly men, under various figures, as causing him deep distress.

2 . He states that, on crying unto God out of the greatness of his distress, his voice entered even into his ears.

3 . He thus indicates, in strong figurative language, the tokens of God's attention to his cry.

I. PROVIDENCE PERMITS MEN TO COME INTO GREAT EXTREMITIES . David's life was especially providential. He was from his youth the child of Providence, and yet, for no other traceable reason than his patriotism and his goodness, he was persecuted by Saul, a jealous, suspicious king, even to the degree that life was despaired of. All the forces of society and of nature seemed to go against him, and meanwhile the God of his youth and early manhood was silent and apparently far away. Our only interpretation of the facts is that God allows his servants sometimes to be brought very low. He does not give them the immunity from pain and peril which their relative goodness and fidelity would seem to warrant. Yet this is not the result of mere arbitrariness or neglect. It is part of an educational purpose, and inseparable from a government of men free in their deeds of wrong. The latent qualities of the righteous and their powers for future use can often be best developed by means of adverse events which throw them more absolutely on God than under smooth and easy conditions they ever could be. We need not be surprised if we fall into manifold trials ( 1 Peter 4:12 ).

II. THE EXTREMITIES OF LIFE DEVELOP THE FULL STRENGTH OF PRAYER . David had been accustomed, like all pious men, to pray, but now he cried unto God. There was a reserve store of prayer in him which now became developed. He realized as never before his need of God, his helplessness, apart from pure Divine interposition and aid, to accomplish the purpose for which he had been selected by Samuel. There was more faith in him than he had been aware of, and now it was brought into exercise. This was the first gain in the educational process. In the spiritual life, as in the physical and mental, our capacities become atrophied if not well used, and circumstances that draw them forth in unusual degree enrich us with a permanent legacy of increased power. There is a natural tendency to inertia, which the stress of our environment urges us to overcome. How great is the power placed in our hands by the privilege of prayer, who can tell? There are indications of its greatness in particular instances recorded in the Bible and known in modern life. It availeth much. It is the human agency by which the exercise of the Almighty Power has conditioned its own exercise. How seldom do we cry unto God as though we really wanted him and his aid!

III. THE INTERPOSITION OF GOD ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE IS A REALITY IN LIFE . David contrasts in thought his position and that of his enemies. He was apparently left alone by God and man; they were prosperous, numerous, strong, and eager as rolling waves. Death was before and behind him, so that he could not move; they were free to act, and no one to put them in peril. But a change came; the cry of distress had entered into the very ear of God, and, as though there were a sudden change in the Divine relationship to human forces, rescue came. To David the interposition was as real as the previous peril and agony. It was not mere faint heartedness in Saul, not accidental diversion of his thoughts, not a simple refusal of his men to go further in pursuit of the victim of his malice; it was God who had somehow so acted on men and things as to bring about deliverance. The strong figures used by David in 2 Samuel 22:8-12 express the conviction that God had come to his help, not simply by the action of normal laws, but by the invisible contact of the eternal energy with those laws, wondrously subordinating them to a special design. The true believer still sees God in his great deliverances. The answer to prayer is a great reality. God can and does get at his suffering children. Men see not the invisible hand, but those who cry to God recognize it. The profoundest matters of life are objects of faith, and in faith, as in intention, there is a transcendent knowledge passing all demonstration and all communication.

IV. A REVIEW OF DIVINE INTERPOSITIONS BRINGS OUT TO THE EYE OF FAITH THEIR STRONG CHARACTERISTICS . David here reflects on the deliverances wrought for him in answer to earnest prayer, and their characteristics appear to him to be best represented by the bold and vigorous language in 2 Samuel 22:8-16 . Among these we may notice:

1 . A twofold revelation —to himself, as the God of power actually stooping to his help, and holding in his hand the most terrible and most subtle forces of nature; and to his enemies, as the great God causing his voice so to be heard in the course of things as to reveal his wrath and impress men with a sense of his greatness and majesty.

2 . An assurance blended with uncertainty. The coming down and the Divine brightness brought assurance unmistakable; but the darkness and mystery of his movements indicated that his methods of working out a saving purpose were beyond human penetration.

3 . Use of appropriate agencies for frustrating wicked purposes. The Divine "arrows" were so directed by unerring wisdom as to scatter those who hitherto were bent on pursuit.

4 . Thoroughness in clearing away all natural obstacles to the perfecting of the deliverance. So thorough was the reserve to be that the swollen torrents and deep places were to be entirely made bare of water in order to render escape complete. We may look at our deliverances as from enemies human or fiendish, and we shall find that God does make himself known as our Friend, and causes our foes to feel his displeasure. We know that he helps, but we know not all his ways. He brings influences to bear on our foes, so that they are weakened, and what he does he does perfectly, clearing away whatever may hinder our safety. The same general truths will hold good if we look at our many deliverances from spiritual peril. He sets himself against evil, and comes to our sorrowing soul. He lets us know enough for our cheer, but does not throw full light on all his methods. He brings the mighty influences of his Word and Spirit to destroy the power of sin, and by the tremendous work of Christ clears away every obstacle to our full salvation.

GENERAL LESSONS .

1 . When we come into great troubles let us take comfort that in this matter we are sharing in an experience which, in the case of some of the best of men, has developed a more earnest spirit of prayer.

2 . The records of God's dealings with his saints shows that there is no distress too deep for him to reach and remedy.

3 . There is no place on earth but that the voice of prayer is free to enter into God's holy temple and even to his ear.

4 . Although for a season during the prosperity of those who persecute the pious it may seem as though they were exempt from displeasure, yet God is angry with them, and will in some significant way cause them to know it.

5 . However desperate our case, we may rest assured that God is in possession of all the means of gaining access to our need, and of scattering whatever evils threaten us with ruin.

6 . There are no powers, however deep seated and established, but that, if we trust in God, he will clear them out of the way, so that we may find a position of safety, and consequent elevation to honour and blessedness.