Scriptures: 1st Samuel 24:1-22, Psalm 57
Structure:
- Introduction
- I will give thanks
- Be exalted, O God
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
When I was a kid I was lucky enough to spend holidays at the beach. My Nan told me that if I held an empty shell to my ear I could hear the sea, even if I was hundreds of miles away from the ocean.
Of course, when I got older and stopped taking everything so literally, I learned that my Nan was speaking in metaphor. Scientists will tell you that when you listen to a shell, you’re not really hearing the sound of the ocean. The shell acts as a resonator for ambient sound. Normally our brains filter out background noises, like the wind and the sea and traffic and birds, but when you put a shell over your ear, some frequencies are amplified and others get suppressed. It sounds like the sea because the movement of the ocean is one of those background noises that your brain normally filters out.
Personally, I prefer my Nan’s explanation. The idea that an empty shell can pick up the sound of the sea from anywhere is way cooler.
Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series. In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.
The song we are looking at this morning is called Be Exalted, O God.
Be Exalted is one of those songs that sounds like the sea. On the one hand it is comforting and hopeful. But on the other hand it is at risk of being filtered out of by our brains as background noise, because the words sound so familiar.
The lyrics for Be Exalted were written thousands of years ago by king David. We find them in Psalm 57. But the tune we sing it to today was written by a New Zealander called Brent Chambers.
Brent was born in Napier in 1948. He became a Christian at a Youth for Christ meeting in 1966. In an interview with Lindsay Terry, Brent talks about his conversion. Brent says…
“I didn’t have a great deal of interest in the [YFC] meeting but decided to go along. The Lord spoke to me during that service, and I became a Christian that very night. A couple of years later, I realized that I was not including Jesus into my life’s activities. I somehow knew that I could not be an effective Christian unless he had my whole life. Consequently, I surrendered everything to Christ, and from that time, even as a new Christian, songs began to pour out of me.”
Brent has written over 500 songs during his lifetime, alongside making a living by painting houses. He wrote Be Exalted, O God in 1977.
You know sometimes we can sing worship songs that are familiar to us and not really engage with them. The words come out of our mouth but our mind is elsewhere. It’s the same with reading Scripture or listening to sermons. Sometimes the words just wash over us without really going in or being real and then, one-day, God gently cups a shell over the ear of our soul and we pick up what he’s saying. Brent describes his resonator moment when Be Exalted, O God became real for him…
“After hearing my song, David Garrett [one of the founders of Scripture in Song music] asked me, Brent, do you think maybe God is speaking to you through these words?’ Up until that moment it was just another song that I had written, but when he said those words, my song became the Word of God to me, and my life’s call – my heart’s desire. I suddenly wanted to give thanks among the people and to sing praises among the nations. By the grace of God, we’ve done just that in many places, singing Be Exalted, O God’ and other songs.”
To help us hear God’s word in this song let’s turn to Psalm 57 now. The title of Psalm 57 says that David wrote this when he had fled into a cave to get away from king Saul. We read about David’s experience in the cave earlier in today’s service, from 1st Samuel chapter 24. Let’s read the corresponding Psalm now…
1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me.
3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me – God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.
7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to you among the peoples. 10 For your steadfast love reaches to the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
I will give thanks
Caves are like sea shells, they are resonators. Hollow spaces tend to increase resonance – they help us to hear more layers of sound. You notice this when you are in a cave. Small sounds that we might not ordinarily notice, like footsteps or breathing or water dripping are amplified in a cave – we hear them more fully, more clearly, than when we are outside in the open.
The psalms are like resonators. As we hold the psalms to our ear, they show us ourselves; all the different layers of being human. They help us to be honest in expressing both the good things and the bad and to move beyond what we feel to adoration of God.
Brent Champers’ song begins with the line…
I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples.
I will sing praises to Thee among the nations.
These words come from verse 9 of Psalm 57; which is towards the end of the Psalm. While giving thanks to God is a good thing to do, it is not always the first thing to do. As human beings we need to give voice to the difficulties we are facing alongside the things we are thankful for.
With this in view, David does not begin with thanksgiving. David begins by asking God for mercy. Not the mercy of forgiveness (he hasn’t done anything wrong) but rather the mercy of God’s help and protection. David has been unfairly treated and he wants God to vindicate him.
Before launching into thanksgiving David acknowledges before the Lord the fear, stress, homelessness and injustice he has been living with. In verse 4 of Psalm 57 David describes in graphic terms the danger he is in…
4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
David is comparing the people who are after him (Saul and Co) as beasts hungry to kill him, not just physically but relationally as well. By spreading lies about David his enemies are alienating him, isolating him, from his community.
David has been under immense pressure and that pressure acts as a kind of emotional resonator. It makes David more aware of his need for God and consequently of God’s faithfulness in providing for him. To most people a cave is a dark spooky place to be avoided. But David’s vision of God’s goodness transforms the cave from a dingy hole in the ground to a refuge under the shadow of His wings.
This resonates with the story of Ruth, where Boaz says to Ruth, ‘May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’ Ruth was, of course, one of David’s ancestors.
Despite the unfairness of his situation David (in verse 3) is able to see that God is on his side. The Lord has sent love and faithfulness from heaven to help him. David is not thankful for the stress of being on the run for his life and nor should he be. That wouldn’t be true or right. But David is thankful for God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. David is acutely aware of God’s reliability, when everything else around him is unreliable and uncertain.
God’s love and faithfulness are continually poured out from heaven for us, but we don’t always notice it. Like background noise, our brain filters it out and we tend to take God’s goodness for granted. But when we find ourselves in extreme circumstances; when we are acutely aware of our need, this acts as a kind of resonator and we notice those little things that God does under the radar to help us.
For the past six weeks or more, we have been in a cave of sorts. We have been forced (by Covid-19) to stay at home in lockdown, hiding from the virus. We are aware of the collateral damage Covid-19 has caused around the world. It has taken lives. It has cost people their jobs and their businesses. It has created pressure and strain in families. We need to acknowledge that this experience has been harder for some than others. At the same time, it has not been without collateral beauty.
Collateral beauty is the opposite of collateral damage. Collateral beauty is recognising and cherishing moments of light and goodness in the midst of dark and difficult circumstances. Collateral beauty is what we get when God sends his love and faithfulness from heaven. Collateral beauty transforms a cave into the shadow of God’s wings, a place of sanctuary and comfort.
I had a collateral beauty moment on the first Sunday we were in level 4. I was in the church carpark, by myself, and I noticed the stillness. The Main Rd of Tawa is normally very busy. But on this particular day, there were no cars or people or any sort of background noise. There was just the silence of the sunrise. It was beautiful. I stood still for a moment to simply experience it. Was this what it was like for Elijah as he stood at the entrance of the cave on Mount Carmel all those centuries ago? Was this what it was like for the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee? The stillness was so rare, so precious. I’m not sure I would have known (or appreciated) that sort of profound stillness apart from lockdown and I’m not sure I’ll ever know it again, at least not in the church carpark.
That was one of my collateral beauty moments during level 4. What was your moment? In what ways have you noticed God sending his love and faithfulness? You might like to pause the audio recording at this point and share with others your collateral beauty moment.
Be exalted
You know, my Nan was a clever lady. She didn’t say a lot but she knew the right thing to say and when to say it. She could have given me the scientific explanation of why empty shells always sound like the sea but she knew that science by itself is not enough for the human soul. She knew that during a cold foggy winter’s day in Hamilton, when I was back at school, holding a sea shell to my ear would act as a resonator of happy memories at the beach. More than that though, it would also make me look forward in hope to the next summer holidays. My Nan’s explanation exercised my imagination and it filled me with wonder.
In Psalm 57 we find a David who is so confident, so full of hope. His back is against the wall (literally) but he doesn’t give up. Saul and 3,000 of Israel’s finest soldiers have David cornered in a cave. David is outnumbered with nowhere to run and yet he can still remember God’s love and faithfulness. Not only that but he can even imagine a good future for himself, one in which he is set free and vindicated by God.
Jesus had the same kind of confidence and hope in going to the cross. He knew that, even though he would die, God would not abandon him to the grave. Jesus knew God would set him free from death and raise him to eternal life and that’s exactly what God did.
The chorus of Brent Chambers’ song is the same as David’s chorus in Psalm 57;
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
To be exalted is to be lifted up, to be promoted. This refrain (for God to be exalted) is repeated twice in Psalm 57, once in the middle (in verse 5) and then again at the end (in verse 11).
What we notice is that although the exact same words are used both times, they are given a different meaning by the context. In verse 5 be exalted, O God is really a prayer for God to save David from real and present danger. Whereas, in verse 11, it is an expression of thankfulness for God’s salvation.
In verse 4 of Psalm 57 David describes his enemies as ravenous beasts. So, when David says straight after this (in verse 5) 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; what he means is: ‘Use your power God to save me from my enemies.’ [1] You be in charge God and put evil in its place.
Be exalted O God, resonates with the Lord’s prayer where we say, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’ Hallowed be your name means may your name be lifted up and treated as sacred.
In the same vein, when David says, let your glory be over all the earth, he is really asking for God’s purpose to be achieved everywhere. “God’s glory” is the manifestation (the outworking) of his sovereign rule. [2] Or said another way, “God’s glory” is his justice and mercy at work in the world. To sing, let your glory be over all the earth is basically the same as saying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.
In verse 6 of Psalm 57 David describes the way in which God has exalted his justice and mercy in the cave…
6 They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.
While Saul was out hunting for David, he felt the call of nature. (He needed to relieve himself.) So he goes into a cave for some privacy. We can imagine the sound resonating around the cave walls. Little does Saul know that this is the very same cave that David and his men are hiding in. Saul has fallen into the pit he dug for David. Saul had planned to trap David and kill him, but now it is Saul who is at David’s mercy.
David’s men see this as God’s providence for David. They encourage David to kill Saul. It is tempting. David creeps up behind Saul and cuts a piece off the corner of the king’s robe. But then David is conscience stricken. He returns to his men and rebukes them saying, ‘Lord forbid that I should do such a thing…’ David will not exalt himself. He will not promote himself at Saul’s expense. David wants God to be exalted and murder does not achieve that.
David may be hiding in a hole but he has the moral high ground and this enables him to say, in verse 7, My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast;
To have a steadfast heart is to have courage and a clear conscience. To be resolute and unafraid. Why is David’s heart steadfast? Because he has done the right thing and he knows it.
We see something of David’s steadfastness of heart in the way he addresses Saul. After Saul has left the cave David says…
‘May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.’
This is another way of saying: Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
This shows us that God can be exalted by the choices we make. Yes, God exalts himself by saving his people through acts of justice and mercy. But we human beings also exalt God (we raise up and promote God’s purpose) when we obey him.
In verses 8 & 9 of Psalm 57 David says, Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations;
This demonstrates David’s confidence in God to save him.
‘To awaken the dawn’ with praise for God means getting up while it is still dark (before the sunrise) and singing worship songs to God. I understand the ‘dawn’ here to be a metaphor for God’s salvation. It’s a way of saying, ‘I will give thanks and praise to God while I’m still waiting in the dark, even before I have seen the light of his salvation.’ David is steadfastly confident that God will act to save him. He’s so confident in fact that he thanks God in advance, even before God has actually answered his prayer. It’s a bit like asking God to deliver us from Covid-19 and then thanking him for saving us even before a vaccine has been created. Or, it’s like holding a shell to your ear in the middle of winter and thanking God in advance for the summer holidays that are coming.
The first time David sings be exalted, O God (in verse 5)it was said in the context of being afraid for his life and was meant as a prayer for the Lord to save him. The second time David sings be exalted, O God (in verse 11) it is with grateful love, as one who anticipates being saved and coming through the other side.
We know this because in verses 9 & 10 of Psalm 57 David says, 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord… 10 For your steadfast love reaches to the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies. This is a poetic way of saying, God’s love and faithfulness is everywhere all the time. God’s love and faithfulness is like the air we breathe; it is abundant and life giving and always present.
As I said before, the risk with God’s love and faithfulness being so plentiful is that it can become like background noise; something our brain filters out. Something we take for granted.
Prayer isn’t just about asking God for stuff. Prayer includes being aware of the oxygen of God’s love and faithfulness; putting a metaphorical shell (or resonator) to our spiritual ear; being intentional about noticing the many small things God does under the radar which support our life.
The incident in the cave (in 1st Samuel 24) ended with king Saul admitting he was wrong and leaving David unharmed. We see God’s hand in this. David took a leap of faith in speaking his truth to Saul. Saul was prone to bouts of insanity. The tormented king was just as likely to turn on David in that moment, but he didn’t. God exalted himself by using David’s act of justice and mercy to soften Saul’s heart and turn away the king’s anger. So David was given some respite.
But this wasn’t the end of it. David knew better than to trust Saul. It would not be long before Saul’s paranoia got the better of him and he went in pursuit of David again.
Conclusion
Last Thursday we transitioned to level 2, with a limit on gatherings of 10 people. We are thankful to be able to catch up with family and friends in small groups. But at the same time we are not quite out of the woods (or out of the cave) just yet.
Nevertheless, we can give thanks to God for his grace in bringing us this far and we can continue to pray that God’s purpose will be exalted in all the earth.
God exalted himself most significantly in raising Jesus from the dead. Because of Jesus’ resurrection we can be confident that the sun of God’s salvation will rise on the night time of whatever trials and difficulties we may face.
Intercessory Prayer
In a moment I will lead us in an intercessory prayer. David’s prayer for God to be exalted is a universal prayer. It can be applied in so many different situations because it is essentially asking for God’s will to be done in the world. It is a prayer for God’s justice & mercy to be lifted up everywhere. With this in mind I will offer words of intercession for various people and situations and I invite you to respond by saying, “Be exalted, O God”. When I pause that is your cue to pray, “Be exalted, O God”.
Let us pray…
Lord Jesus, you were a teacher. We pray for students who are returning to school this week. Keep them safe. Help pupils, teachers and parents with this transition.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you are the well of living water. We pray for those people and animals in the Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Northland who are adversely affected by the drought. May you bring the rain they need. Restore the land we ask.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you were a self-employed carpenter. We pray for business owners who have lost income and livelihoods. May you restore what the locusts have eaten.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you are the corner stone of the church. We ask your blessing on the churches in Tawa. May you be present through the on-line Alpha course and touch the lives of each one who participates in this.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you were beaten, mocked and scorned. We ask your deliverance for those women and children who are trapped in abusive relationships. Set the captives free we pray.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you are our King. We pray for wisdom for our government. May they act as your servants, promoting justice and compassion in our society.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you have the power to heal: mind, body, soul and relationships. Make us whole and grant us your peace we pray.
“Be exalted, O God”
Lord Jesus, you are risen from the dead. May your resurrection be real in and through us. Strengthen our hope, renew our joy and keep us in God’s purpose we ask.
“Be exalted, O God”
Thank you Lord Jesus that you hear our prayer. Amen.
Let’s stand and sing Be exalted, O God…
I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples
I will sing praises to Thee among the nations
For Thy steadfast love is great, it is great to the heavens
And Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness to the clouds
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth (x2)
Questions for discussion or reflection:
Listen to the song ‘Be exalted, O God’. What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?)
How might the Psalms help us to be honest with ourselves and worship God?
Why do you think David saw the cave he was in as ‘a refuge under the shadow of God’s wings’?
What collateral damage have you experienced because of Covid-19? What collateral beauty have you experienced?
What can we do to make/keep ourselves aware of the oxygen of God’s love & faithfulness?
Why did David pray ‘Be exalted, O God’ in verse 5 of Psalm 57? (What did he mean in that context?) And what did David mean when he said ‘Be exalted, O God’ in verse 11? How is the nuance different in each repetition of this refrain?
How can we exalt God? (How can we lift up his purpose in the world?)
Take some time this week to awaken the dawn with praise for God – that is, to thank God for his love and faithfulness.
[1] Refer James Mays’ commentary on the Psalms, page 210.
[2] Ibid.
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