Introduction
Well, having looked at
that well-known and much-loved theme of God the Shepherd last week, today we’re
looking at another image of God from the Psalms; one certainly less familiar to
us.
Personally, I have
preached many times on the Lord as shepherd, and Jesus the good shepherd,
indeed the great shepherd, the chief shepherd. But as I searched with the aid
of a computer this week though my whole preaching career (826 in English and
465 in French) I found, as I suspected, that I have never once given a single
talk on the theme of God as a rock before today.
It’s perhaps a strange
thing to compare God to. Rocks are heavy, lifeless, usually unattractive, often
in the way, dull, inanimate objects. What inspired anyone to ever think that
God was like a rock?
In
popular culture today we think about dependable, reliable, supportive people
and say “Oh, he’s an absolute rock.”
Queen Elizabeth 1, who
had to assert her authority in a man’s world, famously said, “Though the sex to
which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that
bends to no wind.”
We
all know people who are steady as a rock, hard as rock and solid as a rock.
Conversely,
when a relationship goes badly wrong, couples talk of their marriage hitting
the rocks. When you’re as discouraged as you can get you hit rock bottom. And
if you are faced with an impossible dilemma we say you’re between a rock and a
hard place.
And yet 33 times in the Bible this is what God is named.
And yet 33 times in the Bible this is what God is named.
"Ascribe
greatness to our God, the Rock! His work is perfect, and all His ways are just”
(says Moses in Deuteronomy 32).
"You
are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation” (says Ethan in Psalm 89).
“For
you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the rock
of your refuge” (says Isaiah in Isaiah 17).
And
then here in our Psalm today, Psalm 18, David says, “The Lord is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
I
want to say today that God as a rock means three distinct and important things.
1) God, the Rock, is my
Fortress for Perspective
Firstly,
God, the rock, is my fortress for perspective. This is what David says in the first half of v2. “The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer.”
He’s
thinking of a steep, inaccessible, natural defence that is hard to climb but
from which there is a great view and a natural strategic advantage. It’s easier
to throw spears from a great height at an advancing enemy than it is to throw
them up a sheer cliff as you attempt to scale it to attack it.
If
ever you travel to the Holy Land for a guided tour, it’s likely they’ll take
you on a bus trip from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the Earth’s
surface.
And
close to the Dead Sea, there is a huge, isolated rock plateau called Masada. King
Herod the Great (that’s the one who tried to kill the infant Christ) built
himself a palace on top of it. It’s a natural fortification, and at about 400
metres high, it’s impregnable. You can also see for miles.
Our
Psalm says that is what God is like. If you build your life on him, your
perspective changes.
When God is your rock, your fortress, you don't tell God how big your
problems are; you tell the problems how big God is.
James Irwin was lunar module pilot on Apollo
15, an astronaut who walked and drove on the lunar surface and picked up moon
rocks in his hands. But he said, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important
than man walking on the moon.”
When God is your rock, your fortress, your perspective on everything
changes forever.
2) God, the Rock, is my Shelter for Protection
Secondly,
God, the rock, is my shelter for protection. This is what David says in the
second half of v2. “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”
If
you’ve ever read the story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel, you know he spent many
years on the run from an insanely jealous, insecure, controlling king called
Saul. He pursued David with armies, with spears, with bows and arrows. He
hunted him down with dogs.
There
is an introductory note in our Bibles before v1 of this Psalm, and it says, “Of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang
to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him form the hand of
all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”
David
had many close shaves. And whenever Saul and his men got too close for comfort,
David would find concealed caves and secret hideouts in the rocky Judean desert
and seek refuge in God.
David
Livingstone, the famous missionary to Africa, tells how he was once chased up a
tree and besieged by a pride of lions. He said the tree was so small that he was
barely out of reach of these ferocious beasts.
He
said they would stand on their back feet and roar and shake the little tree,
and that he could actually feel their hot breath as they went for him.
"But," his diary says this; "I had a good night and felt happier
and safer in that little tree besieged by lions, in the savannah of Africa, in
the will of God, than I would have been out of the will of God in
England."
Trusting
in God does not mean that none of the things you are afraid of will happen to
you. They may well, but when you turn to God, the change in you will mean that
whatever you fear will turn out in the end to be no bug deal to you.
3) God, the Rock, is my
Foundation for Life
Thirdly,
God, the rock, is my foundation for life. Perhaps this is the kind of place
Jesus was thinking about when he told his story in Matthew 7.
“Everyone
who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man
who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock.”
If
you build your life on the permanent,
eternal, solid bedrock of Jesus and his word, you have a wholesome,
sound foundation for life which defines your principles, your morals, your
ideals and your destiny. You will live by permanent
tried and tested values, not muddled, fashionable opinions.
Ending
As
I end, I want to say a few words on our second reading from 1 Corinthians 10.
It refers to when the Israelites were journeying from Egypt through the desert
to the Promised Land. Twice, they ran out of water. Twice, Moses got water out
of a rock.
Paul,
referring back to this says that the rock was Christ. He doesn’t mean that in
his pre-incarnation existence, Jesus was literally a magic mineral.
Every
page of the OT is watermarked with previews of Jesus; every prophet a foreshadowing
of Jesus the Word of God; every priest a foreshadowing of Jesus the Great High
Priest; every king a foreshadowing of Jesus the King of kings; every sacrifice
a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; every
holy place a foreshadowing of Christ dwelling with us.
A
dry rock in a desert place giving water to a thirsty nation is a foreshadowing
of the one who can bring hope out of utter despair and life out of death.
A
fortress for perspective, a shelter for protection, a foundation for life
and an abundant supply of life for the desperate – that’s Jesus. Do you trust
in him today?
Let’s stand to pray…
Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 10 June 2018
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