Community Baptist Church
November 2, 2025

      • 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12HCSB

  • All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name (Coronation)
  • His Name Is Wonderful

      • Psalm 32:1–5HCSB

  • Jesus Paid It All (Christ I Owe)

      • Isaiah 1:16–18HCSB

  • Jesus Paid It All (Christ I Owe)

      • Luke 19:1–10HCSB

  • 2 Samuel 22

    Only one individual in all of biblical history is identifed as a person ‘after God’s own heart’ (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22).
    We know him as David. David is described in God’s word as a shepherd, musician, warrior, counselor, military strategist, king, father (often unengaged), adulterer, murderer, liar…and that is not an exhaustive list!
    You might think that the last items on the list would disqualify anyone from such a designation!
    As we look and listen to some of the last words recorded by David we can discover what kind of person is indeed one after God’s own heart.

    One after God’s Own Heart is One Knows God’s Presence Regularly

    David’s words begin with what one writer describes a
    …staccato, machine-gun exuberance…[which] arises from his utter inability to stretch his praise to match God’s splendor. He can’t say enough but he will say much - he will pile up plaudits in his vain quest to overcome his delicious frustration of adequately lauding [praising] Yahweh.
    Dale Ralph Davis 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity, Focus on the Bible Commentary Series (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1999, 2009) 284.
    2 Samuel 22:2–4 HCSB
    He said: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge. My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
    This exuberance was born of David’s myriad experiences of God’s provision and protection. Time and again David found himself surrounded by enemies, sought after by Saul, alone in a wilderness, fighting against overwhelming odds. Every time God delivered him. From the highest places in his homeland to the deepest valleys imaginable David trusted God to act, to be present, to do that which only God can do.
    In vs 7 - 20 David paints a vivid picture of how God operates. These poetic metaphors are David’s way of drawing his listeners in to the activity of God.
    The crucial phrase:
    2 Samuel 22:7 HCSB
    I called to the Lord in my distress; I called to my God. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.
    David called on God because he knew God! As a shepherd he had known the presence and protection of God -
    1 Samuel 17:34–37 HCSB
    David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
    Before we leave this let me remind you that far too often you and I expect to experience the presence of God in the comfort of our recliners in front of the TV. David knew God’s presence - in the face of bears, lions, and even a nine foot tall giant named Goliath.
    In the most recently read section of Jeff Iorg’s book, Seasons of a Leaders Life he relates the account of Peter from the gospels as Jesus, walking on water invited the disciples to join Him. Only Peter got out of the boat! Yes, he took his eyes off Jesus, but don’t miss this: HE GOT OUT OF THE BOAT while the others stayed put.
    Iorg asks,
    What are you facing in the future that will require a risk to expand God’s kingdom?
    Iorg, Jeff. Seasons of a Leader’s Life: Learning, Leading, and Leaving a Legacy (p. 40). (Function). Kindle Edition.

    One after God’s Own Heart is One Who Learns to Use God’s Strength to Fight

    In 2 Sam 22:32-46 David explains how he was able to experience victory.
    Look at the tools he used:
    2 Samuel 22:29–31 HCSB
    Lord, You are my lamp; the Lord illuminates my darkness. With You I can attack a barrier, and with my God I can leap over a wall. God—His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
    2 Samuel 22:33 HCSB
    God is my strong refuge; He makes my way perfect.
    2 Samuel 22:36 HCSB
    You have given me the shield of Your salvation; Your help exalts me.
    2 Samuel 22:37 HCSB
    You widen a place beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.
    2 Samuel 22:40 HCSB
    You have clothed me with strength for battle; You subdue my adversaries beneath me.
    God’s Word is the guide. David did not have the advantage we do - the word of God he knew was simply the first five books of the Bible, Genesis - Deuteronomy.
    I remember hearing that if all one had were the first eleven chapters of Genesis, one would have an outline of all the truth of God!
    I ran across this earlier this week:
    The goal isn't to read the Bible. The goal is to let the Bible read you.
    Reading plans have their place, but they can become spiritual productivity measures that miss the point entirely. Scripture wasn't meant to be conquered but encountered. Not consumed but absorbed.
    Look what God did through David…
    David used the tool he had - and through God’s word any darkness was dispelled, with God’s word there are no enemies that can stand, with the pure word of God there are no obstacles too big, no challenges to daunting, no problems to large.

    One After God’s Own Heart is One Who Freely Affirms God’s Righteousness

    2 Samuel 22:21–25 HCSB
    The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness. Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind and have not disregarded His statutes. I was blameless before Him and kept myself from sinning. So the Lord repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight.
    Knowing the full account of David’s life as we do these words appear to border on heresy. David committed adultery. He killed the woman’s husband. David ignored his own children. David lied - more than once.
    How does he claim
    2 Samuel 22:22 HCSB
    For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
    There are two important truths to grab on to:
    The righteousness David highlights is God’s, not His
    When Nathan the prophet confronted David after his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Nathan spoke this word from God:
    2 Samuel 12:10–12 HCSB
    Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’ “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly. You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ”
    David confessed. God, in His righteousness acted.
    Now compare what Nathan said to what the Apostle Paul wrote over a thousand years later:
    Romans 3:23–26 HCSB
    For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.
    Look at 2 Sam 22:28
    2 Samuel 22:28 HCSB
    You rescue an afflicted people, but Your eyes are set against the proud— You humble them.
    …the ‘afflicted’ are those who know their desperate need for the Lord. God saves people who are not proud, those who know how wicked and broken they are.
    Heath Thomas, J.D. Greear Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 252

    REFLECT AND RESPOND

    Years after David’s death a great…grandson named Asa ruled. During one crisis Asa sought the assistance of Aramites. In response, Hanani, the seer, came to Asa and said,
    2 Chronicles 16:9 HCSB
    For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His.
    God is still seeking for men and women whose hearts are completely His.
    We can be those people:
    Coming to Jesus for certainty and assurance of our salvation -
    Confessing Him as Savior and Lord
    Fully obeying Him
    Baptism
    Church membership
    Allowing His Word to be our guide, our light in the present darkness…

      • 2 Samuel 22:2–4HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:7HCSB

      • 1 Samuel 17:34–37HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:29–31HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:33HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:36HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:37HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:40HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:21–25HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:22HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 12:10–12HCSB

      • Romans 3:23–26HCSB

      • 2 Samuel 22:28HCSB

      • 2 Chronicles 16:9HCSB

      • 2 Timothy 2:11–13HCSB

Community Baptist Church
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5416799569
http://www.winstoncommunitybaptist.com
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