Verse by Verse Bible Study | 2 Samuel 21-22 | Gary Hamrick

we're going to be chapter 21 so if you brought your Bibles or if you have uh your Bibles on your phones uh look up 2 Samuel chapter 21 where we left off several weeks ago and let me pause here and and we'll pray and then we'll dive in my intention is tonight to get through chapters 21 and 22 and then next week 2324 and finish out 2 Samuel just in time for um the Easter um celebration of the of the resurrection of Christ and then we'll we'll pick up in First Kings after uh Easter um

and so chapter 21 I'm going to go verse by verse I'll do the same thing for chapter 22 tonight but it's a pretty straight read as you will see um when we get to it but let's first pause and have a word of prayer father it is good to be in your house tonight and to open up your word and to let your word just refresh us tonight thank you Father for the the ability to gather here in your name in your house and to open up our Bibles to worship you to have fellowship with

one another and we're just grateful for how you refresh the weary and how you encourage the discouraged and how you challenge the complacent Lord there's a little bit of all of that in each of us and so we just come before you tonight do your good work in our hearts and we commit this time to you now in jesus' name and every everyone said amen well for those of you who take notes I want you to make a notation here that in chapter 21 most Bible scholars uh believe that this is not in chronological order

that this is in fact uh David looking back it's kind of an epilogue it is a review of his Reign and some of the highlights of things that happened in his Reign so it's kind of uh odd that it's out of order in this way but um we're drawing year to the end of David's life in fact um in my Bible in chapter 23 uh it's subtitled David's last words so we'll get to that Lord willing next week um but this is you know we're nearing the end of not only his Reign we're nearing the

end of his life and so chapter 21 is somewhat of a review looking back on different things that happened uh in the course of his Reign and it tells us here in in verse one of of chapter 21 now that was a famine in the days of David for 3 years year after year and David inquired of the Lord and the Lord answered it is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house because he killed the gianitsos sworn protection to them but Saul notice this but Saul had sought to kill them in his Zeal for the

children of Israel and Judah so pause there for a moment what we see happening here in this recollection of events in David's Reign is that year after year for three years there was famine in the land and in those days God often revealed his displeasure or um his disdain for something happening in the nation of Israel by in inflicting a famine upon the land it was a form of his judgment and David realized this you know a passing famine or two not necessarily God's judgment year after year for three years David inquires of the Lord

and he realizes this is probably your judgment Lord so what is it all about and the Lord answers him and says it is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house because he killed the ganit and it says a little further down um in in verse uh 2 but Saul had sought to kill them in his Zeal for the children of Israel in Judah that event that this speaks of is not recorded in the Bible at when did Saul go after trying to slaughter the gibeonites it's just not recorded in scripture but God says it happened

and he tells David that this is why he has withheld his hand there has not been uh rain there has not been the productivity of the crops there's been famine in the land because God is bringing judgment and and he's calling them to repent so David inquires why God says because Saul was slaughtering the gibeonites now who are the gibit and what is the background to this in the margin of your Bible you can just write Joshua chapter 9 if you were with us in our study in Joshua 9 you might remember that this is

when Joshua comes into the promised land he has succeeded Moses as the leader of the people of Israel and they have to displace those foreign people who have come in into the land that God had uh made on oath to the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so Joshua systematically in obedience to the Lord begins to drive out these foreign Nations and he will slaughter them if there's a resistance if there's a fight and among them are the gianitsos Sha is going to slaughter them like the rest of those who have inhabited the promised

land the giban ites resort to a ruse and the ruse was that they pretended to have come from a distant land so they show up to Joshua with moldy bread and tattered clothing and they say we're we're not really among you we we've come from a far distant land and so no need to slaughter us because we're foreigners we we we we aren't from here well they were from there but the Bible says sadly that Joshua and the leaders sampled the provision in other words tasted the moldy bread and did not inquire of the Lord

that's a very important life lesson for us to learn you know don't rely on your senses friends you have a sixth sense which is seeking the face of the Lord and the Lord can help us to navigate what may not be obvious and so we have to be wise and Discerning about things Joshua and his leaders were not wise and Discerning they didn't pray and inquire of the Lord as to whether or not they could trust the gibeonites they just s the moldy bread they looked at their tattered clothes and how disheveled they were and

they're like yep you guys have come from a distant land we're not going to slaughter you we're going to make an oath with you that you guys can live come to find out later Joshua realized that he was duped but it was too late because they had made a vow they had made a covenant with these people yes you can make the argument well they were deceived in making the Covenant okay but they didn't inquire of the Lord to they would have recognized they were being deceived and so the the burden was on Joshua and

the leadership that they did not inquire of the Lord or they would have known they were deceived and instead they make a covenant with these people that they will not slaughter them and so they have to be true to their word and in being true to their word they made the giban ites they weren't happy about it so they didn't let the gibeonites just you know Thrive freely but they made the gianitsos Advanced now a few hundred years and Saul is King before David and at some point Saul decided to slaughter the gibit you you

guys deceived us way back when with Joshua I'm going to get even now and I'm going to start to slaughter you and apparently there was some kind of indiscriminate Slaughter that went on he didn't kill them all he didn't wipe them all out because David is going to bring some of the gites before him but this is what the Lord shows him the reason why there's famine in the land is because Saul has slaughtered the gibit at least a majority of them and this was displeasing to the Lord now David you know David's Reign comes

later but it's interesting how God has delayed on this and now it's kind of David's problem to deal with even though it happened under the reign of Saul and so David David then uh has to make things right uh by the way the last uh sentence of verse two where it says says but Saul had sought to kill them in his Zeal for the children of Israel and Judah would you please underline that in your Bibles because notice this was usually the way Saul operated he didn't do things because he was motivated to please God

he did things because he was motivated to please the people it says he did this the Zeal was there for the children of Israel and Judah so we've been looking at different principles through these various chapters and here's one for tonight from chapter 21 like Saul a people pleaser is never a good leader Saul was not a good leader he failed God in many ways and this is just one example he was more interested in pleasing the people of Israel if the if the Israelites you know are offended that the gites are among us then

we'll Slaughter the gibon ites he didn't he didn't really lead to please God he led to please the people so David now has to make atonement he has to make amends for this so verse three therefore David said to the gibeonites what shall I do for you and with what shall I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord and the gonit said to him we will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house like we don't want any money you know there's no uh payment here uh nor shall

you kill any man in Israel for us like we we don't want you to just start slaughtering people like Saul slaughtered us so they're be they're being very magnanimous here and so he said so David said whatever you say I will do for you and then they answered the king as for the man who consumed us and plotted against us Saul that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us and we will hang them before the Lord in giba of Saul

whom the Lord chose and the King said I will give them now in this ancient culture this was not an unreasonable request in the ancient culture it would normally be eye for an eye tooth for tooth and the gibeonites are not saying we want to slaughter a bunch of people like we were slaughtered the gibeonites are saying we want Justice give me just seven men seven descendants of Saul's family and will put them to death and that will count for all the slaughter that Saul carried out against our people and David David sees this as

reasonable and he wants to you know he's got a tone here and and God is withholding things because um the Israelites have done this under Saul's leadership so so King David said I will give them but verse 7 but the king spared mbath the son of Jonathan remember Jonathan was David's best friend Jonathan's dead now but David made a PCT with Jonathan that he would take care of mbth M mbth had um a disability in his legs it appears that he was dropped as a child and had broken legs and he'd never really healed properly

and and so David is not going to turn over mbath he's made an oath to Jonathan on that uh and it and it says continuing mbth was the son of Jonathan Jonathan was the son of Saul because of the Lord's oath that was between them between David and Jonathan the son of Saul and so the king took Armani who has great suits um now that's Armani okay anyway Armon Armani and meseth the two sons of rizpa the daughter of AI whom she bore to Saul and the five sons of Mall the daughter of Saul whom

she brought up for Adriel the son of barzel the melite and he delivered them into the hands of the giban ites and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord and so they fell all seven together and were put to death in the days of harvest in the first days in the beginning of barley har okay so here in this passage it starts out by saying that he protects mbth but now we're introduced to a different mbth in this story so don't think it's a contradiction the first mbath is the son of Jonathan um

but this mbath is uh not the grandson that that David turns over along with Armani Armani and mbth are not the grandson of Saul but they are the sons of Saul mbth the first mbth don't get your mbth mixed up here okay first mbth is the grandson of Saul the son of Jonathan the second mbth is the son of Saul along with Armani and those two sons are the result of Saul's relationship with rispa who was Saul's concubine now rispa interestingly rispa her name in Hebrew means hot coal hot coal so she was sizzl and

hot apparently and had the name to prove it and Saul slept with her has two sons Armani and mbth and then it says and the five sons of Mall the daughter of Saul Now if you remember mall was given in marriage to David and remember how Mall mocked David when David was worshiping the Lord bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem he was kind of dancing in his linen garment you know stripped down to something almost like his underwear and McCall's just like you're a disgrace in Israel that's a shame you know I you're

embarrassment to me and God's like okay sassy uh you'll never have kids and so sassy McCall never had kids so what is so when we read here that that there are five sons of Mcall if you notice in most of your Bibles mine does it as a footnote there at McCall's name do you see the footnote how many of you have a footnote at mall okay and at the bottom of the footnote it says or meab meab meab was McCall's sister now if you notice in our text it says the five sons of Mall the

daughter of Saul whom she brought up for Adriel well back in 1st Samuel 18: 19 it says that meab was married to Adriel so this looks like it's confusing and I will tell you that some Bible scholars say that because it is true um that mall had no children that this is either a copyist error that the that the copier should have said morab instead of mall they were sisters or some believe if you notice the language where it says the five sons of McCall the daughter of Saul whom she brought up for Adriel doesn't

say whom she bore whom she brought up for Adriel the son of barel the melite so it is believed that actually meob Mall's sister had died and Mall being Barren herself childless raised the five sons of her sister so it's either it's either a copious error which doesn't change the Integrity of scripture or or it's a reference to the fact that morab has probably died and Mall brought up those five boys as if they were her own nevertheless between the two sons born to Saul and rispa and the five son here uh also born um

to uh Saul's daughter and again it's probably born to morab you got seven boys now seven boys of the descendants of Saul's family and it says in verse 9 and he that's David delivered them into the hands of the gibeonites and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord and so they fell all seven together and were put to death in the days of harvest in the first days in the beginning of the barley Harvest so this is early spring um and they are hanged as a result of Saul's sin it says in verse

10 now rispa the daughter of AI took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the Rock from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven and she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night this is not only a tragic scene of a mother grieving for her sons but this is kind of a gruesome thing because the beginning of barley Harvest is April the the rains don't come it's referred to here the beginning of harvest until the

late rains late rains and it says poured on them late rains are October so you got two corpses here or maybe all seven but at least risus two sons for sure you got you got these corpses lying here from April till October thereabouts and uh it's just a very sad and um you know can you imagine just how um you know kind of gruesome this whole scene is there is you got these rotting bodies lying there she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the Beast of the

field by night she's protecting their bodies but yet this went on month after month and David was told what Risa the daughter of AI that the concubine of Saul had done and then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of jabish Gilead who had stolen them from the street of bean where the Philistines had hung them up after the Philistines had struck down Saul and gioa and so he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there and they

gathered the bones of those who had been hanged and they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in zah in the Tomb of kish's father that's the father of Saul and so they performed all that the king commanded and after that God heeded the prayer for the land so it's another Point here that is a reminder to us there are times when God may not answer our prayers until we deal with our sin the heavens were shut up for 3 years David inquires of the Lord what's going on

God shows David what the problem is and then David makes it right here there's Justice for the gianitsos and after those sons are hanged and then eventually all buried um in in the Tomb of Kish the father of Saul then after that God heeded the prayer for the lamb uh it says in Psalm 66:8 if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear and so it's a good reminder to us you know we can't we can't be living in willful Disobedience and then wonder why God's not answering our prayers I mean you

know God is not obligated to do except what God wants to do but he certainly is not obligated to answer our prayers when we are walking in willful Disobedience to him and the people of Israel were in Disobedience to the Lord David had to inquire to find out exactly what but when he did he made things right and it was only then that God heeded the prayer for the land verse 15 we get into a little bizar uh passage here closing out chapter 21:1 15 says when the Philistines were at War again with Israel David

and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines and David grew faint you know even great warriors will at times grow faint and it says and then ish bab what a name ish bab who was one of the sons of the giant the weight of whose bronze spear was 300 shekels that's about 10 lounds who was bearing a new sword thought he could kill David but abashi the son of Zariah Zariah was David's sister so abashi is David's nephew along with remember joab joab was the general of David's Army joab and abashi

were uh Brothers um both nephews of the king abashi the son of Zarah came to his Aid and struck the Philistine and killed him then the men of David swore to him saying you shall go out no more with us to battle lest you quench the lamp of Israel so David's men are like you know what you know you're too valuable to lose in in war so you ain't going out with us anymore and you're going to be hanging back um but we introduced here to this giant ishi bab and this is the only time

he's mentioned in all the Bible but it's not the only time that Giants are mentioned let's keep reading through the end of the chapter because there's a few more here ho ho ho uh and verse 13 Verse 18 now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines of Gob then shibai the husti killed sath who was one of the sons of the giant again there was war at Gob with the Philistines SC where elhanan the son of Jer orim the bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the gitite the shaft of whose

spear was like a Weaver's beam and yet again there was war aath where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot and just so that the Holy Spirit can make sure that that we add that all up 24 in number and he also was born to the Giant and so when he defied Israel Jonathan the son of Shema David's brother killed him these four were born to the Giant in gath and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants

okay what is this um if you if you just want to listen or you can turn quickly back to Genesis 6 I'm not going to do an extensive uh study on this because I I want to be mindful of the time but just to kind of give us a little backdrop um this is not the first time that we will hear about Giants in in the Old Testament uh this will be the last time but it's not the first the first time we hear of them mention is Genesis chapter 6 where there is uh a

race of people an anomaly of people people who are giants and back in Genesis 6 I'll just read the first uh four verses it says now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth and daughters were born to them that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose and the Lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh yet his days shall be 120 years there were

giants on the earth in those days and also afterward like what we're reading in 2 Samuel when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them those were the Mighty Men Who were of old men of renown all right now there in verse uh four circle the word John sence it is in the original Hebrew language the word Nephilim NE e p h i l i m Nephilim Nephilim translates in Hebrew Fallen ones Fallen ones when it says here the the sons of God went into the daughters of

men sons of God that phrase in Hebrew is BHA Elohim BHA Elohim is used only three other times in the old test and all three times are in the Book of Job uh job6 job 2 1 and job 38:7 and every time that phrase in the original language bohim is used it refers to Angels so in Genesis 6 this is a bizarre concept and I don't have too much time to develop this as I said but what it's telling us is that Fallen Angels Among those who rebelled with Satan B Elohim these Fallen Angels took

took on bodily form or possessed people and took on their bodies and then had sexual relations with the daughters of men meaning human daughters and It produced a giant race of people and in the Bible it speaks about the the giant race of people throughout throughout it's in Genesis 6 Genesis 14 Deuteronomy 2 Deuteronomy 3 and 2 Samuel CH 21 and whenever you hear the terms Nephilim rephaites zoites emites horites or anakites those are all references to Giant races of people you see them before the flood here in Genesis 6 and you see them after

the flood they reappear in Deuteronomy chapter 2 Deuteronomy chapter 3 and again still in the time of David so the most famous of these this giant race of people among the rephaites was Goliath now goliath stood 9' 9 in that is a giant that's huge I mean compared by most standards but it was even bigger by standards in this day because archaeologists uncovering Bones from ancient civilizations in the Middle East the average height of a man was 5T to 53 that's it Jesus forget what he looks like on the chosen okay he looks like he's

6'3 on the chosen Jesus was probably not more than 55 at best and that's just the size of what men were we have bones and archaeological evidence to substantiate this so if you're like average say 54 and Goliath is 99 like that's huge so when we read here back here in in 2 Samuel 21 the list of these guys you have this one giant named is ishp Bob you have another giant named uh there in verse 18 sath you have uh another giant who's mentioned as the brother of Goliath and in 1 Chronicles 20:5 it

gives us his name his name was Lami LMI or Lambie kind of a you know that's kind of a delicate name isn't it like for a giant call him lamby but anyway um and and then you have this guy with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot and he's not named but you have these four and it is believed that all four are the brother of Goliath or the brothers of Goliath the one for sure is he's mentioned that way as the brother of Goliath there in verse 19 but it is

believe that all four are actually brothers of Goliath which would make sense because it tells us that when when David went to get stones in 1st Samuel 17:40 he gathered stones for his sling because he went to fight Goliath it tells us specifically he gathered five Stones now he didn't need five because on the first stone he got Goliath and killed Goliath but there's this speculation this is purely speculation that he had four more because of potentially Goliath's brothers so this is the list to of these guys and it just ends here by saying that

they were born to they were all born to the giant so you know apparently it's like potentially Goliath's dad was known as the Giant in gath and David's men killed them so we don't see any more reference to these now you know what is curious is there because you see them before the flood you see them after the flood like they didn't get what whatever whatever of them got wiped out in the flood there was another incident that must have happened after the flood because again you see them reappearing so what is to say that

that couldn't happen again Sasquatch okay I'm just saying Bigfoot I don't know I'm just saying uh who knows but uh you know there's a lot of weird things happening between aliens and and stuff today so who knows maybe we'll end up seeing more Giants again but you you got the preview of it here chapter 22 chapter 22 you can make a notation in the margin of your Bible that chapter 22 is almost identical word for word to Psalm 18 Psalm 18 Psalm 18 was written by David this here is written by David it appears that

David will write this Psalm which is a Song Remember The Book of Psalms is a song book for the nation of Israel every one of the Psalms was put to music and they were sung and so apparently David here near the end of his um life writes this song to the Lord and he gets the Levites to include this in the psalm book of Israel because it appears in Psalm 18 and again it's not quite word for word but what the the the the tiny changes between 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 are probably due

to the fact that it is a song that is sung in the psalm books and so David probably had to change the words a little bit in Psalm 18 to fit with the the the meter of the music and and the Cadence of the song but other than that these two chapters are almost identical and so it's pretty much a straight read because it is a Psalm of Praise David is reflecting on how faithful God was to him over his life and so I'm going to read it I'm going to give a little bit of

commentary when we come to different things but not too much it's kind of a straight read and it's and it's a Psalm of praise to the Lord a Psalm of Thanksgiving um David is grateful to the Lord and so here we go Psalm 22:1 then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul so all his enemies and Saul he's looking back on all of this great deliverance and he said the Lord is

my rock and my Fortress and my deliverer the god of my strength in whom I will trust my shield and the Horn of my salvation now what does that mean the horn the Horn of an animal was a symbol of power and strength David is saying the Lord is my power and the strength of my salvation he's my stronghold stronghold was a defensive structure so he's hiding in the stronghold and my Refuge My Savior you save me from violence I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and so shall I be

saved from my enemies when the waves of death surrounded me the floods of ungodliness made me afraid the Sorrows of Shel surrounded me now Shel in your Greek New Testament instead of Shel it says Hades so it's the place of death so David there was a time when he he's I feel like I'm dying I'm close to death the SARS of shol the graves surround me the snares of death confronted me in my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God he heard my voice from his Temple and My Cry entered

his ears isn't that good to be reminded that God hears us and then the Earth Shook and trembled the foundations of heaven quak and were shaken because he was angry and so David here is picturing the Lord's the Lord the Lord's angry with Revenge toward David's adversaries so so David is picturing the the Lord angry at his adversaries verse 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth coals were kindled by it he he bowed the heavens also bowed the heavens also and came down with Darkness under his feet he rode

upon a cherub and flew and he was seen upon the wings of the wing now the Cherub is a reference to Angels don't think those chubby little babies that he David David's picturing God coming on the wings of angels to meet his need he made Darkness canopies around him dark Waters and thick clouds of the Skies from the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled the Lord thundered From Heaven and the most high UT uted his voice he sent out arrows and Scattered them lightning bolts and he vanquished them and then the channels of

the sea were seen the foundation of the world were uncovered and the rebuke of the Lord at the blast of the breath of his nostrils he's basically saying here God is moving Heaven and Earth on my behalf verse 17 he sent he sent from above he took me he drew me out of many Waters he delivered me look at all those action points God sent God took God drew me God delivered me from my strong enemy from those who hated me for they were too strong for me they confronted me in the day of my

Calamity but the Lord was my support he also brought me out into a broad place he delivered me because he delighted in me the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness now look at these next several verses the the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God for all his judgments were before me and as for his statutes I did not depart from them I was also blameless before him

and I kept myself from iniquity therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness according to my clean cleanness in his eyes now a lot of um Scholars disagree on this I'll just tell you what the disagreement is some say David had to have written this before his affair with basba because how can he sing this song about God's a reward of me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands I've kept the ways of the Lord I've not wickedly departed from my God I was blameless before him I mean that

section I just read there David speaks about his own Purity before God and so some Bible scholars say this song could not have been written before uh or rather after his affair of basba had to have been written before others on the other hand other Scholars say no because the rest of the context of the song indicates this was late in his life and that instead this is a statement about how David understood and embraced the mercy and forgiveness of God because after he sinned with baseba and Nathan the prophet confronted him David repented he

was not only repented he was remorseful and Nathan then in response to David's humility and Brokenness Nathan says to him in 2 Samuel 12:13 the Lord has put away your sin the Lord David has put away your sin and so others say and this is where I like to land and maybe just because I I like this theme better than the previous theme is that David is writing here after his sin with basba because he is fully embraced and and understands who he is in the Lord because of the Lord's mercy and forgiveness that's how

he's able to say these things and so to that point for those of you taking notes this is a good reminder it's important to see ourselves the way God sees us in Christ forgiven forgiven whatever you done in your life if you humble yourself and you're broken before the Lord and you ask for his forgiveness God sees you in the righteousness of his son there's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit and so God has a new view of you and you

should too let me keep reading through this chapter with the merciful you will show yourself merciful with a blameless man you will show yourself blameless with the pure you will show yourself pure and with the devious you will show yourself shrewd literally it means to the Twisted you will show yourself Twisted in other words God will give a man whatever he deserves you will save the humble but your eyes are on the Hy that you may bring them down for you are my lamp O Lord the Lord shall Enlighten my darkness for by you I

can run against a troop but my God by my God I can leap over a wall as for God his way is perfect the word of the Lord is proven he is a shield to all who trust in him for who is God except the Lord and who is a rock except our God God is my strength and power and he makes my way perfect he makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my high places he teaches my hands to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of

bronze you have also given me the shield of your salvation your gentl has made me great you enlarged my path under me so my feet did not slip I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed and I have destroyed them and wounded them so that they could not rise they have not Fallen under my feet they rather they have fallen under my feet for you have armed me with strength for the battle you have subdued under me those who Rose against me you have also given

me the necks of my en enemies so that I destroyed those who hated me they looked but there was none to save even to the Lord but he did not answer them and then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth I trod them like dirt in the streets and I spread them out you have also delivered me from the strivings of my people you have kept me as the head of the Nations a people I have not known Shall Serve me the foreigners submit to me as soon as they hear they

obey me me the foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts the Lord lives Blessed Be My Rock let God be exalted the rock of my salvation it is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me he delivers me from my enemies you also Lift Me Up above those who rise against me you have delivered me from the violent man therefore I will give thanks to you oh Lord among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name he is the Tower of Salvation to his King and shows Mercy underline that and shows

Mercy to his anointed to David and his descendants forever and last point because of the way he ends that song at the end of the day it's all about God's mercy earlier in that song David wrote of his righteousness but he concludes at the end here it's really all about God's mercy and so it is father thank you for your word and may these words that David writes as a song to you be a song on our own lips giving thanks for you the older we get the more we can look back in the rearview

mirror and see the wonderful ways that you've been at work in our lives working in ways at the time we did not see or understand but you are faithful to us Lord you are faithful to David he looks back over the course of his life and he sees how you were Merc merble to him how you were forgiving and gracious and gentle and Lord may this be our song also as we praise you and worship you for who you are and we give you all the glory all the praise all the honor in Jesus name

and everyone said amen and amen