“I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. “Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness around him his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. Out of the brightness before him coals of fire flamed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. “He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.” (2 Samuel 22:4-19 ESV)
David was in distress. As a matter of fact, he was in big trouble. His enemies were out to get him. It seems like everything was crashing in on him all at the same time. Things didn’t look good for him. Have you ever experienced something like this? I have and it’s no fun. When it seems your whole world is crashing in on you, you have a tendency to lose hope.
But not David! Even with the waves of death coming against him, and even with the armies of Saul chasing him, David knew who to call on for help. The Lord! David knew that God would come to his rescue. Whenever we are being attacked by the enemy, we must learn from the example of David and call on the Lord immediately. If we will, God will come to our rescue!
Whenever the enemy is attacking you, whenever all the forces of darkness are coming against you, your family, or your church, you must not try to fight the devil on your own. Give a call to your Commander-in-Chief and ask for help, for if you will He will always be there for you. Too many of us have tried to fight our battles alone and handle our problems by ourselves. We have to stop doing that if we are to see mighty victories in the Name of the Lord.
When David called on the Lord, he didn’t do it meek and quietly. He came before his God with power and authority, and when God heard His servant David calling Him, He came to his rescue immediately, just as David had come to God immediately. And when God came forth, He also didn’t come forth meekly and quietly. He came to David's rescue in power and demonstration. Verse 8 told us that “the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry.” God actually became angry with David’s enemies. The enemies of David were now His enemies. And whereas David had no power to defeat all of them at once, God did!
“Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.” (v.9) God became so angry at David’s enemies that fire literally came out of His mouth and started devouring all of David’s enemies. I don’t know about you, but that is the God that I want to serve. That is the God that I want on my side when times get tough. That is the God that I want fighting beside me in every battle that I may ever go through.
What was the result of God coming to David’s rescue? David said, “He rescued me from my strong enemy” (v.18) Isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God that not only will hear us when we call on Him, but also is able to defeat all of our enemies and rescue us from their clutches? I thank God that I have a Heavenly Father who gets mad at the devil when he attacks me. All He is waiting on is for us to call on Him. If we never call on Him, we never get help. But when we do, He shows up in power!
Now that we have seen what God’s reaction is when we call on Him for help, I want to show you a picture of what the devil sees when God comes to our defense. What exactly does the enemy see when we call on God? First of all, we must always remember that satan is a spirit being, and as such, he is able to see in the supernatural realm, whereas you and I can only see in the natural realm. With God being a spirit, you can be sure that satan sees Him coming when God comes to our defense.
Whenever David called on God, look at what verse 11 says about how God came down to rescue David: “He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind.” God came riding down from the heavens on a cherub. Now, we know that God sits upon a throne, but did you know that God’s throne is capable of being transported from one place to the next? According to Ezekiel, chapters 1, 10, and 11, God’s throne is transported from place to place by cherubim! They literally are responsible for carrying God’s throne. Read what Ezekiel 1:26 says about their job “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.”
When we call on the Lord God Almighty for help in our battles, God comes riding down on His throne as His cherubim carry Him! Can you just imagine being satan and seeing the Almighty riding down from the heavens in such a manner? He has no other option but to flee. If I was the enemy of one of God’s children, I would flee too! Picture this: Here comes God riding on His throne, being carried by his cherubim; as the cherubim beat their wings He comes forth, thunders and lightnings shoot from the heavens; smoke boils out of His nostrils; fire shoots forth from His mouth consuming everyone and everything that has come against His child; arrows are piercing the skies. What are we picturing here? A God coming tiptoeing in quietly so no one will know He is there? No! He is a God who comes in with power to save His children!
There is one other thing I want you to picture, and that is what verse 10 describes: “thick darkness was under his feet.” You see, God has already defeated all the powers of darkness. Jesus destroyed them when He gave His life as a ransom for us. Jesus crushed the head of the serpent and now all things are under His feet! That’s the God we serve! That’s our Commander!