2 Sam 4:9, And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress…
	In this morning’s reading we have a most wonderful statement of fact that is seemingly inserted in the midst of so many desperate and violent actions of humanity. Amid all the revenge and retribution and power struggles and conflicts, we have this simple, yet so powerful statement of the work of God. It would be so easy to overlook it as just a statement of custom, and yet it carries the weight of eternity in the midst of the walk of humanity on this earth. It might have been a simple vow of convention, but it proclaims the essence of the redemption of our lives by God, Himself. 
	This is what we need to have so fully instilled into our hearts and minds as Christians, redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus. He is the only way of the eternal salvation of mankind from the just and righteous, yet ceaseless punishment that awaits those who would rather blaspheme the so great love and work of God, Almighty. The fact is that God is the only One Who can ever be the Redeemer of those who willingly receive the covering of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection power of the Only Begotten Son of God. 
	David was referring to the relationship that God had established with him and with all those chosen by God as the means of bringing forth His so great salvation. This is indicative of a people whose hearts and lives were unto Him, proclaiming the fact that it has always been God Who is the Redeemer. 
Throughout the Old Testament history of mankind, looking forward to the Promised Messiah, there was that eternal covering in the hope that God had set into place with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those forefathers, and their resulting heritage, were all in place so that, in the fullness of time, the Messiah would be brought forth, sinless and perfect. He became the only means of redemption, not only of those who looked unto Him all their lives on this earth, but those, as well, who would eventually believe and acknowledge Him as the only way of salvation! 
	Jesus is the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Promised and Glorious One in whom all the hope of humanity is fulfilled! The words of David’s lips declare the fact that God is the One Who redeems those who trust and love Him. He lives and He works to bring His people, all His people, every man, woman, and child, whom He has chosen unto Himself, through every time of distress and danger and persecution and threat and testing and tribulation. He is the One Who saves, not just eternally, but daily, in the every detail of the walk of His people on this earth. 
	David understood the nature of this statement of fact. He had suffered through all those times of being chased by Saul in the depths of the wilderness regions. God had covered and protected and kept him from the so powerful clutches of that jealous and determined king of Israel. 
David had even found some respite in the camps of his enemies, the Philistines. This was only because God had gone before and made a way for him in the midst of those who would, otherwise, have, as well, sought his life. David knew whereof he spoke as he declared the truth of Who God was and all that God had done in the course of the life of this one, a young shepherd boy who was now wearing the crown as king of Judah and soon as king of the entire nation of Israel. 
	Even toward the end of his life, when David was dealing with the manner of who would next sit on the throne, he still proclaimed the reality that Jehovah, the Living Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Only True and Magnificent God Almighty was his Redeemer from the midst of every distress and conflict. This was after a kingly life that had been disrupted with acts of selfishness and murder and adultery and then betrayal and the usurpation of his throne by his own son and the resultant civil war that brought about the death of that son as well as so many Hebrews on both sides of the conflict. 
	Consider how David made the promise to Bathsheba to place Solomon on the throne in 1 Kings 1:29+30. At the same time, there is that declaration that God lives. He was the One in Whom David had placed his compete trust and hope as the Redeemer from all the distress that had plagued David day in and day out. Considering all the anguish and trials and tribulations of David’s life, this, again, is not just a statement of convenience. It is a proclamation from the heart of one who knew and trusted and honored The Lord God Jehovah!
	1 Kings 1:29+30, And the king vowed and said, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, surely as I vowed to you by the Lord the God of Israel, saying,' Your son Solomon shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place'; I will indeed do so this day." 
	The essence of this reality is carried forward for all the readers of the Word of God as evidenced in the writing and reading of the Psalms. Actually, there is that evidence throughout the scriptures, as it is detailed in every book of the Bible. This is with reference to the eternal place and purpose of God in the giving of His Promised Messiah, the Redeemer from the very heart of God.
	For the course of this consideration, we will see how the Psalmist continually described this knowledge of the greatness and the honor and the glory that God deserves in the hearts and praise of those whom He has redeemed unto Himself. This is encapsulated for us in the Psalms as we will read a few of them together. 
The Psalmist declares the majesty and the honor and the faithfulness and the established glory of God Most High. This is especially in the manner in which Jehovah perfectly works to the redemption of those who will so trust and obey Him with reverence as they honor the precepts of Yahweh.
	Please let us read together, initially, Ps 31:3-5. This is a wonderful verbal expression of exactly how fully God maintains the cause of those who belong to Him.
	Ps 31:3-5, For Thou art my rock and my fortress; For Thy name's sake Thou wilt lead me and guide me. Thou wilt pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me; For Thou art my strength. Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth. 
	Notice several elements of this short assertion concerning the fact that God has fully done all the work necessary for those who belong to Him, those whom He has ransomed from the clutches of the enemy. There is the security that is ours in God as He is our Rock and our Fortress! This is no small truth concerning God and His relationship with His people! 
	Think for a moment about what it means that God is our Rock. We stand firmly upon Him and His Faithful Word. He is our Fortress against all the onslaughts of the raging storms of the scheming nations who would try to harm us. He, the Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent Lord God Almighty is the very basis of our grounded stand against anything of this age! He is also the One in Whom we are guarded and kept and securely placed near to His very heart of love. No one and nothing can get to us in terms of our eternal security and well-being! 
	The other detail of this passage is the fact that He is the One Who keeps us there! He is the One Whose strength has drawn us out of the snares of the enemy and made us fully part of His very family in Jesus Christ. It is all the work of God, from beginning to end! In His Omnipotence, and never, ever take that boundless power of God for granted, in the might of His unconquerable work, He has made us His own! No one can remove us from the place of safety and security that He is in surrounding us and even indwelling us with His very presence! 
	Next consider some measure of what we are told in Ps 34:4-8. Ps 34:4-8, I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 
	It is all the work of God as so acclaimed marvelously and triumphantly by the Psalmist. Every good and amazing and precious detail is met in the miraculously working and protecting and providing hand of the Lord God Jehovah, the Creator of all that is made. Consider how this passage details the partial measure of how God redeems our lives from distress.
	The first aspect is that when we seek Him, He responds! That is no insignificant little statement! It heralds the fullness of a living and active relationship with the Almighty. When we seek Him, when we call out to Him, as we lift our prayers unto Him, He hears, He listens, and He answers! 
	Please maintain the incredulous fact that is before us. God, The Infinite, The Omniscient, The Omnipresent, The Omnipotent, the Eternally Victorious Lord of all deigns to hear each man, woman, or child who will call out to Him! And He responds! Oh the depths of the very heart of God that is contained in this proclamation of the immeasurable, unceasing, and magnificent love of God for each and every one of His people! 
	When we are in distress and we call out to Him, He hears! He responds! He moves heaven and earth to make a way for us to come to know and understand that He lovingly hovers over us and eternally maintains us! This is especially in the very midst of the most brutal and vile manipulations of humanity. Nothing stands against Him and the power of His response to the prayers of His people! 
Then there is the fact that because He does hear and He does answer, He delivers us from all our distress and fears!~ This is another major reality that we need to come to grips with in the core fabric of our churning and whirling minds. He deals with us in the reality of even those fears which can so beset us as to blind us, to make us stumble, to cause us to give up hope, and even paralyze us into utter despair. 
Our fears are the issues of the depravity of our hearts and imaginations of what could happen. When we get so caught up in the battles of the “what ifs” and the “should haves” and the “oh woe is mes” because the entire weight of our minds is pushing us into desperation, we need to call out to God, knowing that He will respond! 
The key is that His response will be the perfect one. It may not be what we think we should have to make our lives easier or less complicated. However, when the crisis of fear and trepidation is met by the Supremacy of God Almighty, there will be no doubt that He works perfectly and timely to bring forth the absolutely correct manner of holding us well and forever in His loving hands of mercy and grace and peace. 
He calms the storms of our distress. He shatters the threats of our thoughts and so faulty imaginations. He speaks peace, and all is calmed and put into the proper perspective that He, Alone, has all things well in hand. 
Then consider the fact that even the visage of those who have gone through the very fires of hell, carried by the might and the presence and the utter reliance upon the Lord, will come forth in the radiance of His power and in His awesome victory. …They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces shall never be ashamed. 
Our very faces will reveal to all of creation the fact that we are kept by the Lord God, Himself. We will give evidence, in word and deed and thought and visage, much like the Psalmist indicates, that the Hand of God is upon us! Jehovah is carrying us through the every fire with nothing burnt except the ties and restraints with which this world has bound us! 
The radiance will be that of the Lord and the light that He is in us and unto us. There will be that confident assurance in evidence growing stronger and more unyielding through the every conflict and tribulation as God proves Himself over and over and over again! As the Psalmist declares with all triumphant majesty unto Jehovah, O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 
As we bring this morning’s message to an end, we need to check the core essence of our hearts’ and our mind’s consideration of Who God is and all that He has done. Can we declare, with the every fiber of our beings, that which was so spoken by David …"As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress…?
We certainly all recognize and acquiesce to the fact that the Lord God Almighty - Our Heavenly Father; Our Savior and Lord, Jesus; and Our Beloved and so Faithfully Indwelling Holy Spirit lives! That is an assured relationship of our essential beings. We are also very comfortable with the fact that when we call out to Him, He hears us. Some of us may be struggling with the manner in which He answers, but He always does, even if that answer is to wait. We need to learn to trust Him to prove Himself gloriously and triumphantly, especially with the need to wait to see His response in evidence.
Entwined in this trust of waiting upon God’s response is the greater issue in our minds and hearts of knowing that God has redeemed us from all our distress. This is especially the case when we are in the midst of the battle, when we are being tossed around by the crashing waves of the storms and fierce gales of this life. Do we have that absolute and unshakeable foundation with our every essence set upon the rock and the refuge that is The Lord God Jehovah? The key that we need to discover, through all that is raging around us, is that we come to know this reality only as God proves Himself, over and over and over again right in the midst of the trial and the tribulation and the upheaval! 
Keep in mind that as David could make this proclamation in the course of his life, it was because he had been first hand witness to the way in which God had proved Himself. This was in the wilderness regions, in the battle with Goliath, in the course of the betrayals and the usurpations and the illnesses and the deaths of loved ones. No matter what the distress, David had the first hand experience with the faithful intervention of Jehovah proving Himself to be the Redeemer David’s life, then and forevermore. 
Thus is the means in which we come to know God in this divine course of His preservation and deliverance as Our Lord, Our Savior, Our Redeemer, and Our Provider. He shows Himself to be our peace and security in the midst of each dilemma. We learn to trust Him as we are lead and so covered by His Sovereignty in the very midst of our tumultuous walk unto which we are called as His obedient and honoring witnesses on this earth! So be it!  
And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress… Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 18:48+49. He delivers me from my enemies; Surely Thou dost lift me above those who rise up against me; Thou dost rescue me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to Thee among the nations, O Lord, And I will sing praises to Thy name. Amen.