(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, look at Psalm 18 verse 50, look at verse number 50 there, and it says, Great deliverance bringeth he to his King. Great deliverance is the title for the sermon this morning, great deliverance, and you'll notice that deliverance or delivery or the deliverer is one of the key themes of this Psalm. In verse number two, God is called my deliverer. In verse number 17 it says he delivered. In verse number 19 it says he delivered. In verse 43 it says thou hast delivered. Verse number 48, he delivereth and thou hast delivered. And again in verse number 50, great deliverance. So you'll notice that this is one of the key themes in this Psalm. Now if your Psalm has the introduction to this Psalm, I don't know if all your Bibles have this, but notice what it says. It says to the chief musician, a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of soul, and he said, I don't know if you all have that introduction there in your Bibles, okay. So what is this referring to here? And then it says in verse number one, As he said, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. Okay, so just to help you understand, this Psalm that we're looking at is almost identical to 2 Samuel 22. 2 Samuel 22, you see in 2 Samuel 21, we have a recent war with the Philistines there, and in particular with the families of Goliath. You know, Goliath the giant? Well, some of the families of Goliath want to revenge on the Israelites, on King David, and they have a great victory over these giants. And then we're led into chapter number 22 in 2 Samuel, chapter 22. Notice verse number one, if you turn there, 2 Samuel 22 verse one, it says, And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of soul. So you see, and you know, we haven't got time to go through 2 Samuel 22 here, but I just want to show you that it's almost identical. If you put them side by side, they're almost the same. But as it's said there in 2 Samuel 22 verse one, it says in the day that the Lord had delivered him. Okay, that's from the hands of all his enemies and the hands of soul. Okay, that's being King Saul. So David writes this song at a time where he finally can say, All my enemies have been subdued. All my enemies have been defeated. All right, so he writes this song in praise to the Lord, but it says that the Lord had delivered him. Point number one for this sermon is the Lord is the deliverer. The Lord is the deliverer. Look at verse number two in Psalm 18. Psalm 18 verse number two, the Bible reads, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I would trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from mine enemies. Hey, who was the deliverer for King David? Did King David rely on his own strength? Did he rely on his riches? Did he rely on his popularity, his wealth? What was he dependent on? Did he depend on his own strength and his own flesh to have victory, to be delivered from the enemies? No, he says the Lord is my deliverer. And brethren, what I have to say to you today is that when you're going through hardships, when you're going through difficulties, you must understand the only one that can deliver you from that difficulty is the Lord God. The only one that is the deliverer is the Lord God. Why could King David have so many victories in his life? Why was he so successful? Why was he a great man of war? Because the Lord was his deliverer. And so, you know, I want you to think about this now. You may not find yourself in a time of war, all right? We have enemies surrounding you, but there are other things in our lives that we need deliverance from. Yes, it could very well be some enemies. It could be some sickness that you need deliverance from. It could be addictions that you have and you're trying to overcome those addictions. It could be some habitual sin that you're struggling with. It could be just personal insecurities that you need deliverance from, or it could just be fear in general, fear of certain things. And the only way you're going to have victory, the only way you're going to have deliverance is by setting the Lord God as your deliverer. What did he say there in verse number three? I will call upon the Lord. And yes, we ought to call upon the Lord for salvation. But once we are saved, we continue down this road of calling upon the Lord because we need his help, we need his safety, we need his deliverance in times of difficulties in our lives. Look at verse number four. It says, the sorrows of death come past me and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell come past me about. The snares of death prevented me. You might ask yourself the question, how do I know that God can deliver me from this challenge, from this difficulty, from this trial? Well, the first thing that you need to bring to your remembrance is the fact that the Lord has delivered you from hell. And you can see the Psalmist says in verse number five, the sorrows of hell come past me about. The snares of death prevented me. Hey, there was a time in his life when he had a fear of hell, when he had a fear of death, but now he can say, no, the Lord has delivered me from that as well. And brethren, if you've been saved, if you know you're going to heaven, if you've trusted Christ because of your faith in his finished work, then you have been delivered from death. You've been delivered from the second death. You've been delivered from hell. And even when this body perishes, when this body dies, your soul and spirit will forever be with the Lord in heaven. Hey, you've been delivered from hell. You've been delivered from your sins. So if you've been able to have this great spiritual deliverance, this great spiritual victory, then the promise is the same God that could save you from hell, that could deliver you from your sins is the same God that will help you for your trials that you have in your Christian life. You know, the Bible says in Acts chapter four, verse 12, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's only one salvation. There's only one way to heaven, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Point number one, as I said, the Lord is the deliverer. The Lord is the deliverer from hell. He's also the deliverer through the trials of your everyday life. Let's look at verse number six. And I will be speeding through this Psalm. It's quite a long Psalm as you saw, but look at verse number six. In my distress, I called upon the Lord, there it is, the calling upon the Lord, and cried unto my Lord, or unto my God. He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him even into his ears. And brethren, point number two is that the deliverer will respond. The deliverer will respond. What does the Psalmist say? I've called upon the Lord and it's entered into his ears. The cry of the prayer has entered into the ears of God. And you must have the faith to believe that when you pray, when you call upon the Lord, that he's going to hear you. Guaranteed as a child of God, he's going to hear, not only hear what you have to say, but he's going to respond to your request. He's going to respond with deliverance. And look at verse number seven. How does the Lord respond? It says here, Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wrath. Listen, if you're being persecuted, if you have enemies lifting themselves against you, it's going to make the God of the Bible, the God created of all things, your father God, it's going to make him very wrathful. It's going to make him full of wrath. He's going to be angered against those enemies. He loves you, brethren. He loves you and he hates the thoughts of people trying to destroy you. It'll bring him to wrath. Verse number eight. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured. Colds were kindled by it. It's almost this idea of like a fire breathing dragon, right? How the Lord will respond to your need for deliverance. Verse number nine. He bowed the heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet. Now what we're reading, brethren, is obviously not to be taken literally. Okay? This is figurative language, what we're just reading here, about the coals of the smoke out of the nostrils of God, the coals that were kindled by the fire coming out of his mouth. And one thing you need to understand about the Bible is that the Bible many times is literal and you understand it literally. You can read it and understand it for what it means. And sometimes the Bible is figurative, okay? And it's there to just teach you some greater spiritual truth out of the figurative language. But this is so important for you to differentiate between what is literal and what is figurative. I'll tell you why. Because as you're reading this, you're going to wonder, man, when is this happening? When do I see this smoke and this, the fire coming out of God's mouth? Hey, is this how God responds? Hey, when I've gone to pray to God and he's answered those prayers, I don't remember seeing all these fires and this smoke coming out of God, okay? Well, that's because it's not literal, okay? God answers your prayers. But as I said, there's a greater spiritual truth here. You see, God wants you to know that he will respond to your request of deliverance in a very real and powerful way. When God answers your prayers, things move. Circumstances change. You know, God puts into effect things to go about and change the natural world in order for your prayers to be answered. The Lord is seeking to deliver you, even if you never see it literally figuratively, it's as though the Lord has risen and this fire has come to consume your enemies, to destroy that which is bringing you down that you need deliverance from. Look at verse number 10. And he rode upon a cherub and did fly. Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. And notice that, a cherub, I don't know if you know what that is, a cherub is a type of angel or heavenly host that's up in heaven. And, you know, this is saying that God is riding on that cherub. Now is God, again, literally riding that cherub? No. And then it says there, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. Do you see, when you see the wind blow, do you see God riding on that wind? No. Again, it's not to be taken literally. It's figurative language. And, you know, the first time the Lord brings up the cherub, it's when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and he sent some cherubs to prevent them from coming back into the garden. I don't know if you remember that story. I'll just read it to you in Genesis 3.24. It says, so he drove out the man and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims, so that's plural, cherubims are singular, cherubims are plural, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. So there's this flaming sword, but there's also these cherubims to prevent any man from coming back to the Garden of Eden to eat of the tree of life. And, you know, also in the Bible, in Exodus, when God commands Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant, it says in Exodus 25 verse 18, and thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work thou shalt make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. So above the mercy seat, you had these two angels, these two cherubims, and what this represents is, and I'll just show you this, what this represents, you're in Psalms, so you might as well keep your finger there, and go to Psalms 80, Psalms 80. What this represents is heaven, like what it's like in heaven, and in Psalm 80 verse 1, the Bible reads, Give Ea, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. You see, God on his throne in heaven is surrounded by cherubims. Okay, he sits between these heavenly hosts. You're in Psalm, go to Psalm 99, Psalm 99 in verse number 1, the Bible reads, The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble, he sitteth between the cherubims, let the earth be moved. So again, the Lord sits between cherubims. And in Isaiah 37, you don't need to turn there, Isaiah 37 verse 16, the Bible says, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. And so the point I'm driving to you here, brethren, the reason the Bible says that God rides upon the cherub is the fact that on his throne in heaven, he's surrounded by cherubs. And as we saw in the Garden of Eden, he will send cherubs to the earth from time to time to do his will. And so what I believe verse number 10 is speaking about is the fact that God will send his messengers, he'll send his cherubs to do the work that he wants to do, just like at the end of verse number 10 it says, And he did fly upon the wings of the wind, that sometimes the Lord will use the wind to do his will. The Lord will use weather to accomplish his will. And so the Lord can make use of natural forces that are in this world, but also the heavenly host to do the work that he wants to do upon this earth. But it's so important, brethren, that you understand the difference between figurative and literal language in the Bible. If you struggle in this area, you're going to sometimes think what is figurative and take that as literal. And if you start developing doctrines on what is figurative, you're going to find yourself opening a door to heresy, opening a door to things that aren't even true. You're missing the point, the spiritual point that God is trying to drive home there, and you take it literally, I mean, you end up thinking that God is literally riding on a cherub, you know, or when the wind blows, that God is actually on those wings of that wind or something like that, okay. And so it can lead, and I've seen this, it can lead to some really unusual and weird doctrines. My desire is one day that I'll preach about this, you know, the importance of understanding the difference between what is literal and figurative language. And let's go back to Psalm 18 and verse number 11. Psalm 18 verse number 11, let's move along. It says, He made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies, and the brightness that was before him, his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the highest gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Again, listen, this is in reference to the answered prayers. This is in reference to the fact that God will respond. God will deliver you from the cries of your, from the things that are causing you to cry out to him, the things that are causing you to be challenged and the difficulties that you face in life. This is how the Lord responds in a figurative way. God will move all natural forces out of the way to answer your prayers. Look at verse number 14. Yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shut out lightnings and discomfited them. I mean, have you ever prayed and saw lightning strikes hit people, you know, against people that you've prayed? Again, this is not literal. This is figurative language. Hey, but the Lord will many times destroy your enemies. Okay, he'll do that. And it's as though that, you know, lightning hit them. Verse number 15. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. So, you know, the Bible's saying here that even the Lord can move the waters and even the foundations of the world will be seen. And the idea here, of course, is the winds and the waters, you know, erode in rock and you're starting to, you know, it opens up, I don't know. You know, it creates openings in the earth, I suppose. You know, so what the Psalmist is saying, he's trying to use natural disasters, you know, harsh weather to be symbolic, an example, of how God can respond in his wrath against those that are trying to hurt you, those that are trying to harm you. The deliverer will respond. The deliverer will answer your prayers, okay? Just like you can see some harsh weather events and God will pour out his wrath on the enemies, God can do it in, you know, in that same way against those that are trying to bring you down, or the sins that you're struggling with, the difficulties that you're going through. God can deliver you in a very powerful way. Verse number 16 says, he sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. So the example here of God using the waters to destroy the wicked, well, while God is doing that, he can draw you out of many waters. He's going to protect you, okay? So while God's pouring out his wrath, he's going to make sure that you don't become, you know, a victim of the wrath of God. And again, this kind of ties into the post-trib pre-wrath rapture, you know, that we can go through tribulation, we can go through hardships, but when God pours out his wrath on the enemies, the wickedness of this world, he will protect us from his wrath. Verse number 17, he delivered me from my strong enemy and from them which hated me, for they were too strong for me. Hey, what a humble thing for King David to say, that some of his enemies that hated him were too strong for him. And brethren, it is a good thing, there's nothing wrong with admitting from time to time that your enemy is too strong for you, that the sin that you struggle with is too strong for you. It's fine to admit that the sickness you're going through is too strong for you. That's fine, because when you can humble yourself and admit that you can't do it on your own, that's what's going to cause you to call upon the deliverer. That's what's going to cause you to know that God can come in and deliver you from that difficulty. You see, it's a good thing to be humble, to acknowledge when you're struggling, when you're weak, when you're defeated, because that's what's going to cause your brethren to run to the Lord. If you think you can go through life in your own strength, in your own abilities, you're going to fail and you're going to fall and you may even well be destroyed. That's why we need the Lord God to be our deliverer. Look at verse number 18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. Why does God deliver us from our trials and difficulties? Because it says here, because he delighted in me. You will notice that there is a connection between being delivered, God's powerful deliverance in your life, with how much he delights in you. So I'll just read to you from Proverbs 11 verse 20. Now pay attention to this one. Proverbs 11 verse 20. It says, they that are of a forward heart are abomination to the Lord, but such as one are upright, in their way are his delight. Listen, are you upright in your way? When you live your life, are you living righteously? Are you living uprightly? Are you living after the commandments of God? Are you living and basing your decisions, your walk, based on biblical principles and biblical commands? Is that you? Well, if you are, if you're striving to live godly, if you're striving to please him, the Bible says that he will delight in you. And you may say, man, I can't experience the deliverance of God. Where is God? Why isn't he delivering me from this difficulty? It might be because you're not walking uprightly. It might be because you're not walking righteously. You see, the Lord God will come and delight in those that are trying to live for him, that are trying to serve him, that are trying to live biblically. They're the ones that delight the Lord, and those are the ones that are going to see deliverance in their lives. If deliverance is not there for you, you can't say to me that I've been delivered from my hardships, or I can look back in my life and see how the Lord has come through in my life and delivered me. It might be because you're not living righteously. It might be because you're not living uprightly. Brethren, you need to have this desire to live for the Lord, to live righteously, so you can then know for a certainty that the Lord will come and deliver you from your enemies or from your sins or from your hardships. You'll notice that this comes together. Look at verse number 20. Verse number 20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, have he recompensed me. Why did the Lord deliver King David? He says, because I've been righteous. The Lord has rewarded me because I've been righteous, because I've kept my hands clean. I've tried to live godly. You see, these things come together. Point number three, brethren, is that rewards will be delivered. Yes, God is our deliverer, but God is also wanting to deliver rewards. Point number three is rewards will be delivered. Look at verse number 20 again. The Lord rewarded me. And one way the Lord can reward us, I mean, we talk about the treasures in heaven. That's important. We talk about the treasures in heaven. That's important. Of course, we're looking forward to the days of seeing the treasures that we've been able to put together for the Lord. But the Lord can also reward you on this earth by delivering you from your challenges, from your difficulties, from your hardships. Hey, that could very well be a reward because you've walked uprightly, because you've kept your hands clean, because you've lived a righteous life, because you've tried to follow after the commands and the laws of God that he's laid out in his Bible. So understand this reality, these two things. Walking uprightly, walking godly will cause you to be delight in the Lord and he will reward you in the deliverance. But that's not the only way he rewards us. Look at verse number 21. So what is David saying? Look, I've kept close fellowship with God. Verse number 22. Hey, the judgments and the statutes of God are found in his word, okay? And so he's saying, look, the word of God, his judgments, his judgments, these things are before me. This is how I live my life. Before I take a step in life, I make sure to see what the Bible says about how I ought to live or conduct myself. Verse number 23. Hey, so he's trying to not sin. He's having victory over sin. Verse number 24. Do you see that? Do you see how the way you're living your life can determine how much or how powerful your deliverance will be from your enemies or from your difficulties, okay? The more righteously you live, the more of a delight you are to the Lord, the more he's going to reward you by delivering you through trials and difficulties. So you need to put some effort in, brethren. You know, you want to see great victories, well, you need to start living righteously, okay? You need to start cleaning your hands of your sins. You need to start finding victory over those sinful acts that you can, you know, that you do every day of your life. Verse number 25. Do you want God's mercy in your life? Well, if you want God's mercy, that can be a reward to you if you've been merciful yourself. Do you want God to be upright with you, to do right for you? Well, you need to be upright to others around you. That's what we see there in verse number 25. Look at verse number 26. So with the pure, you know, if you want God to be pure with you, to treat you truthfully or honestly with you, you must also be true or honest or pure with others, with the people that you come across. And the opposite is true as well. It says, and with the froward, if you're difficult, if you're difficult to get along with, if you're constantly arguing and fighting and always upset with somebody, well, with the froward, that will show thyself froward, all right? So if you make yourself a difficult person, then God will treat you difficultly as well, okay? It's all about sowing what you reap. And, you know, when you reap from the Lord, hey, that is a reward for the sowing that you've been able to do. You know, I'm hoping that you're sowing righteously, uprightly, so the Lord can reward you righteously and uprightly in this life. Verse number 27. So what the Psalmist is saying here is that God will give you strength, you know, and this is part of his reward to you. What does it say in verse number 29? He's saying, look, I've been able to defeat a whole troop of soldiers, just myself, because the Lord has strengthened me, and I've been able to leap over a wall easily, just been able to jump over a wall. You know, again, this is figurative language, of course, right? But the Lord gives him strength. God has given him the ability to have victory. You see, the more faithful and righteous you are, the better prepared you will be in difficult times when you need deliverance, because the Lord has strengthened you. The Lord is guiding you. Verse number 30. So it's just reaffirming point number one, that only the Lord is the deliverer, all right? For who is God save the Lord? And who is a rock save our God? The only God, the only rock, the only deliverer is our Lord God, is our Lord Jesus Christ, okay? And here's the one that's going to be able to deliver you through your difficulties. Notice verse 32 and verse 33. It says it is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hind's feet, and setteth me upon my high places. What are hind? What's hind's feet? You guys know what a hind is? It's a deer, okay? So it says, look, my feet are like the feet of a deer, and seteth me upon my high places. You know, there are some deers that are very capable mountain climbers. They can climb very steep, you know, or cliffs and mountains, kind of like your mountain goats. And so what he's saying is, look, this cliff, this mountain is too hard for the average man to climb, but the Lord has given me hind feet. He's given me the ability to do what is otherwise impossible to do. He sets me on those high places. I'm able to climb that mountain. Look at verse number 34. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken in mine arms. See, the Lord will teach you how to be a fighter, to be a soldier, to be a soldier of the army of God. And so point number four that I have for you is participate in deliverance. Participate in deliverance. You know, one idea we have with deliverance is that the Lord will deliver us away from all our problems, and he will. But one thing that you must understand is that he will use you, he will ask you to participate in your own deliverance through the strength and power that he gives you, but also that you can be able to deliver others from their difficulties. You can be a help that God can use you through his process of deliverance. And as we saw, we saw how David is strengthened because of the Lord. The Lord wants to use him in the process of deliverance. He wants you as part of his delivering army. Verse number 35 says, There has also given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand have holden me up, and thy gentleness have made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. All right, so notice that. Okay, so it's the Lord that makes him great. All right, it's the law that enlarges his steps. The idea here is that you might be walking on a fragile surface or something kind of like, what do you call those people? Like daredevils that try to walk on a line. What do you call those people? I've forgotten. It's escaped my mind. But if you're taking steps that are difficult, steps that might look a little dangerous, that the Lord will be able to open up or enlarge those steps before you so you can have a strong footing. You take one step at a time as the Lord directs you. He won't allow you for your feet to slip, that we saw in verse number 36. And my thought here, because he already spoke about David referring to having hinds feet, like the feet of deer, that he can be set on high places. And then we have again that the Lord enlarges our steps so our feet do not slip. Well, the thought that I had immediately was in Isaiah 52 verse 7. I'll just read it to you. Isaiah 52 verse 7. It says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. You see, you can have beautiful feet. You can have hinds feet. And the illustration is that on the mountains there are beautiful feet to those that bring good tidings. You know, this is also repeated for us in Romans chapter 10 verse 15 which reads, How shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Preaching the gospel, preaching salvation is been illustrated here as someone that has a feet capable of climbing a mountain, having those hind feet. You see, you've been delivered, haven't you, by the deliverer when it comes to salvation. But God wants you to participate in the deliverance of others. God wants to use you and your feet to go and preach the gospel to others and see them saved. Brethren, God wants to use you for you to be participating in the deliverance of other people. So it's not just how can I be delivered, but how can I deliver others. Look at verse number 37, Psalm 18 verse 37. I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them, neither did I turn again till they were consumed. So I want you to, as we're reading these verses, I want you to think spiritually. Again, it's unlikely that you're going to be fighting a war. It's unlikely that you're going to be in the middle of warfare here. And as King David speaks about his victory of his enemies, I want you to start thinking about victory over those things you need deliverance from. Like I said, it could be your fears, illnesses, sins, it could be insecurities, all these things that people need deliverance from. You know, maybe it's just somebody that's accusing you, some type of persecution you're going through, some type of difficulty. I want you to start thinking about how can I have victory of these things. And as I said, God wants you to participate in the deliverance. Verse number 38, I have wounded them and they were not able to rise. They are fallen under my feet. You know, God wants you to have victory. God wants to deliver you where those things that were upsetting you, those things that were causing you to struggle, he wants those things to fall at your feet or under your feet. Verse number 39, for thou has girded me with strength unto the battle. Thou has subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou has also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me. What verse number 40 is saying, look, that God has given the necks of the enemies. You know, the idea is that, you know, King David can come and basically cut off the heads. You know, have full victory, the necks are on show, cut the head off the neck there and have victory over his enemies. Or it could be that, you know, King David is able to put a yoke upon those necks and cause his enemies to become his servants. You know, brethren, God wants you to be delivered from the struggles you're going through. God wants you to have great victory over those things. Look at verse number 41, they cried but there was none to save them. Even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. I'm going to read to you from 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4. It says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. You see, we're not fighting this carnal warfare, but we do have the power to pull down strongholds. You know, there are strongholds in your life where the devil has strength over you, where there is some sin that has strength over you. In then it says in verse number 5, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts of itself against the knowledge of God and bring it into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Brethren, there's a war in your minds. There are imaginations that you come up with that are ungodly, that are sinful, okay. And you need to, these are strongholds. These are strongholds, okay. And the devil can use this to weaken you, to destroy you. And the Bible is saying here that through the power of God, we're able to pull down these strongholds. We're able to fight a good warfare and have victory over our thought life. So many sins occur in the thought life that you'll never see occur outwardly. And we see King David in Psalm 18 have victory over his enemies. I want you to see those wicked imaginations, those wicked thoughts that you have as your own personal enemy. And you need to be able to pull them down and defeat them. Look at verse number 43. And I'm up to my fifth point now. My fifth point is that his deliverance is great. When God delivers, it's a great deliverance, okay. Great deliverance was the title for the sermon this morning. And it says in verse number 43, Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people, and thou hast made me the head of the heathen. A people whom I have not known shall serve me. You know what he's saying? He's saying these guys that were my enemy, these guys that went to war against me, not only have I defeated them, but I've been exalted above them. He's been made the head of the heathen. Yes, King David was the king of Israel, he was, but he also had power over many of the Canaanites of the land. Many other nations he had strength and power and was able to tax them and put them in servitude. And the Bible says in 1 Peter 5 verse 6, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. You know God wants to exalt you. God wants to deliver you, not just deliver you, but also exalt you above your enemies. And let's keep reading verse number 44. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. The strangers shall submit themselves unto me. The strangers shall fade away and be afraid out of their close places. The Lord liveth and blessed be my rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted. So King David is exalted, but he doesn't get full of pride. He doesn't say it's all me, I've been so successful. He says, no, I want the Lord to be exalted. And brethren, I want you to be exalted. I want you to have victory. I want you to be successful. I want those that are trying to destroy you, the sins that are trying to bring you down, I want to see you have victory over them. I want to see you be delivered and be exalted. And when you do have victory, when you are delivered, when you are exalted, I want to see you then exalt the Lord God. Church is so important. We come to church because we come to exalt the Lord God. We come to exalt Jesus Christ. We don't come to exalt the preacher, the pastor. We don't come to exalt man. We come to exalt the Lord God who gives us deliverance. Look at verse number 47. David says, look, there were those that were trying to exalt themselves above me. Hey, I wanted to leave them alone, Lord. But they've come, they've been trying to exalt themselves above me. But Lord, through your power, for your strength, for your deliverance, I'm now exalted above them. And you know, the Lord will lift you in places that your enemy desired. You know, and it's so important for you to remain humble. It's so important for you to remain acknowledging that God is the deliverer. And I promise you that you're going to be put into places of authority. You're going to find yourself with power over those that were trying to seek to have power over you. I've seen this in my life. This is a true Psalm. I'm not just preaching this because I'm up to Psalm 18. This is true. I've seen this time and time and time again in my life. You know, it's a reality that I've experienced in my life. And I've never desired to be exalted, you know. But time and time, I've been exalted. And I hesitate to say this because it sounds like I'm boasting, but I'm not. It's the Lord God that deserves to be exalted because he's the deliverer. I can't tell you, I can give you so many examples, and I don't want to go through them because, you know. But just in my workplace, in the places I've been before, how I've been promoted into positions I never desired. Or I never thought that I'd be in those positions. Only to find there were other people desiring or seeking that position, trying to exalt themselves, trying to pull me down. Oh, who are you? You know, where's your university degree? What have you achieved in your life? Only to find then later on that I'm actually, I've become their boss. I oversee them. I've been exalted into that position because of the Lord. Because I've cried out to the Lord. Because he's been my deliverer. And what we need to strive to do, as we saw before, brethren, is just walk uprightly. Just clean your hands. Try to live a godly life. Try to be a delight to the Lord. And I promise you this, he will promote you. He will put you in positions where you are overseeing multiple people. Boy, how many people can I think about in my life, in churches? Men that desire to be pastors, to take on positions of leadership. And they boast about their Bible college degrees and what they've been able to accomplish. Only them now are out of church. They're not serving the Lord of their lives anymore. And the Lord has promoted me, has exalted me in a position of authority over two churches. Over two locations in Australia. Again, it wasn't really my plan. But the Lord is able to deliver you. And I can think about several things. Several things where the Lord was able to turn the tables. And I see those that were trying to lift themselves up above me, only for them to fail. And the Lord to exalt me in positions that they wanted. Positions that they desired. I don't know. It's not something that I'm seeking. But I just know if we live righteously, like the psalm says, it is so true. God will lift you up. God will exalt you. You want to be exalted? You want to have deliverance? Just humble yourself. Live the best life you can live in light of God's Word. Live how God wants you to live. Be a delight to the Lord. Let's keep going. Verse number 49. We're almost done here. 49. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen. Don't forget to thank the Lord when he delivers you. 50. And sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king, and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David and to his seed forevermore. Okay, so obviously, David, that's referring to himself in the third person. And then it says unto his seed forevermore. And we know the seed, of course, is Jesus Christ. Okay. Who is this psalm for? Is it only King David that can be lifted and be delivered? All of us can. We can all be delivered. We can all have victory and power over those things that are bringing us down. Okay. We can all be promoted in positions and find ourselves, you know, in positions of authority over those that were trying to persecute us. We can all experience that because the seed is Jesus Christ. And just as a reminder, in Galatians 3 29, it says, And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So when it says here, and to David and to his seed forevermore, well, that seed is Christ. And if you're in Christ, you are that seed as well. You are Abraham's seed. And the promises, the reality of this psalm can also be a reality in your life. Brethren, I want you to be delivered, not only delivered as far as salvation is concerned, because I believe pretty much everybody in your life after the church, unless it's little children, infants, are saved. You've been delivered from hell. And if God is able to deliver your soul from hell fire, you know, he's been able to forgive you. Christ has, you know, put his iniquity upon himself on the cross of Calvary, then how much more can the Lord deliver you from the struggles and the difficulties that you have on this earth? The Lord can deliver you, and he can deliver you in a very powerful way. Okay, let's pray.