“WHO IS THE ROCK EXCEPT OUR GOD?” (Psalm 18:31)
June 24, 2018
By Jeremy B. Stopford
TODAY’S FUNNY: “Get a Priest”
A man is struck by a bus on a busy street in New York City. He lies dying on the sidewalk as a crowd of spectators gathers around.
“A priest! Somebody get me a priest!” the man gasps.
A policeman checks the crowd but finds no priest, no minister, no man of God of any kind.
“A PRIEST, PLEASE!” the dying man says again.
Then out of the crowd steps a little old man of at least eighty years of age.
“Officer,” says the man, “I’m not a priest. I’m not even a Catholic. But for fifty years now I’ve been living behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Third Avenue, and every night I’m listening to the Catholic litany. Maybe I can be of some comfort to this man.”
The policeman agrees and brings the old guy over to the dying man. He kneels down, leans over the injured and says in a solemn voice: “B – 4. I – 19. N – 38. G – 54. O – 72.”
INTRODUCTION I have recently come to the conclusion that I am a blessed man, thanks to y’all. I am able to get up at any hour and spend quality time with the Lord. I don’t have the pressure of getting ready to drive off to work at any great distance from home. I simply have to clean up, get dressed, and walk a few yards to next door. The blessing is that that gives me a wonderful, open window to spend time in several passages each day – in particular, reading through the psalms each month. The other day I was in Psalm 18 when this verse leaped off the page. Then the word “rock”. Then the question, “how many times in scripture?” (149). How many in the NT (20). OT (129). Psalms? (28). Psalm 18? (3). Wow. And that’s how the inspiration comes to spend a few moments here today. Let’s ask the Lord to use this time together this morning to minister in a special and unique way to each of us today. PRAYER
# 1 AN ANTHROPO WHAT?
There is a term in literature which often appears in Scripture, especially when referring to the Lord. We learned it in Bible School over 40 years ago – and I discovered it again this past week that it is often used in secular writings.
The term is “anthropomorphism”. “Anthropo” what? “Anthropomorphism”! The secular dictionary defines it this way: “when human motivation, characteristics, or behavior are given to inanimate objects, animals, or nature phenomena.” “Anthropos” is the Latin root for “man or human”. “Morphism” implies “shape”. Put together, in secular writings, the author is giving human characteristics to something that isn’t human.
But what happens when what one is reading isn’t secular writings but rather is the Bible itself? Then it is used as a term to take an inanimate object to show a characteristic or quality of someone.
OK. One more step. What happens when the “someone” being described is the Lord Himself? What happens then? Then the “anthropomorphism” takes on a shape which is otherworldly!
Let’s have fun with this without getting too technical. You and I have read places in the Bible where this happens, but perhaps did not come to the right conclusion as to what the Holy Spirit was intending when He inspired the Word of God. Ready? Let’s go!
Exodus 17:15 “Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.”
ILLUSTRATION If I were an avid sports fan (Hello! Go Dolphins!) I might even have the flag representing my team hanging from a bedroom window at my home. That would show my allegiance to that team. That would show that there is no other team I support. That would show how exclusive my patriotism is for that particular team. Wait, I do have a team flag hanging from my bedroom window!
Moses’ description was showing what would soon happen in the history of Israel. Each team, well, tribe, was to have its own “banner” or flag. It would represent that tribe. It was an important banner. It would show to the other tribes the orderliness of the movement of the tribes as they went from place to place. But Moses said, “The Lord is my banner!”. I don’t know exactly how the Hebrew works, but that phrase is known as one of the names for God in the Hebrew language: “Jehovah-nissi – “the Lord my banner”.
Psalm 91:4 says in part, referring to God, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge…”. What has feathers and wings? Why KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKENS before they are prepared! I’m not being remotely irreverent here. This is a classic anthropomorphism! Believe it or not, the cults have problems with this. They don’t understand the difference between the phrases “The Lord is” and “The Lord is like”. The ERV (really, the “Easy-to-read Version” which is an excellent understanding of the Hebrew says, “You can go to him for protection. He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies. You can trust him to surround and protect you…”. The imagery is clear. The psalmist is using every day objects – in this case, a fowl – to describe eternal values.
With these thoughts in mind, let’s look at Psalm 18.
#2 A ROCK? MY GOD IS A ROCK?
Three times in Psalm 18 David used this image. Look at the context under the heading of the psalm. David is rejoicing that one more time the Lord in His grace delivered David from his jealous and very carnal enemy, King Saul. This song is originally sung in 2 Samuel 22, just a short time before King Saul and his sons are killed in battle.
Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, 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.” OK, we’ve studied these anthropomorphisms a little bit now. We’re getting better at this. There are several in this verse, aren’t there? The Lord Himself is giving the depiction as being a rock, a fortress, a deliverer, a shield, a horn, a stronghold. There is almost a progression here, from something seemingly small like one of David’s stones which he threw at Goliath, to a stronghold – a place of security.
And yet the word “rock” actually has the understanding of “bedrock” or “pillar”. It is really NOT a pebble one might skip across the pond. Rather, it is a foundation stone upon which one might build a mansion or castle. Or a life.
There is something called “The Passion Translation” – really! – and this is how it wonderfully relates this verse, “You’re as real to me as bedrock beneath my feet, like a castle on a cliff, my forever firm fortress, my mountain of hiding, my pathway of escape, my tower of rescue where none can reach me. My secret strength and shield around me, you are salvation’s ray of brightness shining on the hillside, always the champion of my cause.”
So the theme of Psalm 18:2 is that in God being my Rock HE IS MY REFUGE AND STRONGHOLD.
We’ve read verse 31. Psalm 18:31 says, “ For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?”
Well, by now we should be getting pretty good at anthropomorphisms. The one here once again is “rock”. That’s a given. But now we notice a different theme than the usage in verse 2. Whereas verse 2 was one of SECURITY, verse 31 is one of EXCLUSIVENESS. There is only ONE Who can properly be called the Rock of my life. There is only One available to be the true Rock of my life. There is no other True Rock. There may be many false rocks. But there is only one True Rock! And that Rock is the Lord Himself!
ILLUSTRATION I’ve shared with you before this unbelievable illustration. When I was in my senior year in Bible School, I had a job flipping burgers at Carrol’s Restaurant – the owner of Burger King. During my meal break I often would sit out in the lobby, and invariably someone – more often than not a customer – would come and sit and join me for supper. Indeed, one night an elderly gentleman sat down to share his supper time with me. It wasn’t too long before he inquired about my life, and eventually the topic of my going to Bible School came up. He said that he believed that the only way to heaven was through the teachings of the church he attended. I then shared with him 1 Timothy 2:5. The beginning of the verse says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind…”. You could tell by his expression that he was sure the next thing I was going to say as the mediator between God and man was the woman he worshiped, the Blessed Virgin Mary. But when I finished the verse with the conclusion, “the man Christ Jesus…”, his jaw dropped. His face changed. His heart was pricked with the reality of the exclusiveness of faith in the One God, the Lord Jesus.
That’s what Psalm 18:31 is sharing. GOD IS THE EXCLUSIVE ROCK.
The finally usage of “rock” in Psalm 18 is Psalm 18:46, which says, “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!”
OK let’s see what we’ve learned! Verse 2 shows God as a rock is my Refuge and Stronghold.
Verse 31 shows that God as a rock is the ONLY true Rock worthy of one’s eternal – and daily – trust.
So what does verse 46 teach us? Using the same – what was that word? – anthropomorphism, “rock”, David is here saying that since God is my Stronghold and Only One worthy of my trust, then HE IS WORTHY OF MY PRAISE! Isn’t that GREAT!
CONCLUSION
I hope we’ve had fun here. But in that fun-ness there is a big lesson to be learned. God does not inspire His servants to use words in a loose, trite, or meaningless way. He inspires His servants to say what He wants them to say, in their own personalities.
David understood battle. He understood trust. And he understood praise. And the best word to describe God in all 3 realms is a simple one: rock. The Lord was David’s rock. And He should be ours too – not just in name only. Not just on a Bible page. But in our hearts and in our daily lives.
Today, some of you here may need a place of refuge. Some of you may need to know that there is One Who claims to be and has been found worthy of being the ONLY true refuge. And He alone is worthy of our praise.
HIS NAME IS JESUS. Is He your rock? Have you allowed Him to be your Rock and Salvation for all eternity?
IF you love Him as your Savior, have you surrendered to Him as your Rock for every battle of your life?
Even David learned that the Lord is the Only Rock worthy of his trust and praise.
HAVE WE LEARNED THAT?
Close in prayer
Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, First Baptist Church, Earlville, New York