Psalm 18 - Horn of Salvation

Introduction:

We’re back in Psalm 18 this week continuing through this amazing and intense Psalm of David.As we had mentioned last week, one of the things that makes this Psalm so amazing is that it’s words happen to be King David’s final words before his death.What we have, in Psalm 18, is a life in retrospect.It’s a summary of David’s life with God.

Transition:

David employs metaphor to describe his life with God here in Psalm 18... and so far we’ve discussed two of them... God is our Rock and God is our Strength.Tonight I’d like to focus on the third metaphor, “God is the Horn of our Salvation.”vs.1-2

God is the Horn of our Salvation:

This metaphor appears only this once in David’s Psalm and only three times in the Bible. (One in the Old Testament in 2 Samuel 22, the other in Luke 1:69)The kind of horn meant here is not a musical instrument but a deadly weapon (wild ox or rhino).It was a sign of strength and a means of victory.David is saying here that God is his defense (his shield) and his offense (his deadly and powerful horn).He is a horn of salvation because he uses his power to secure and protect his people.

Luke 1:

Which brings us to Luke 1 and our application.Begin reading with me in vs.5-7But God, desiring to show that he regards the broken-hearted and that nothing human can stop his resolves on their behalf, sends the mighty angel Gabriel with a word for old Zechariah: vs.13-17Zechariah couldn't believe the news. And said as much. So Gabriel responded with indignation: vs.19-20Nine months later the time came. Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. At the child's circumcision the neighbors started to call the child Zechariah after his father, but, in obedience to God, Zechariah wrote on a tablet: "His name is John." And immediately his tongue was loosed and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: vs.68-69

Jesus is our horn of salvation... Zechariah prophecies this here in Luke telling us that the Messiah will one day literally destroy his enemies and gather his people into his land and rule them in peace. And indeed, he will when he comes a second time. But Zechariah's words imply more than that, vs.74-75

Application:

The goal of God's redemption in raising up a horn of salvation is to "grant that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." God's aim in raising a horn of salvation is not merely to liberate an oppressed people, but to create a holy and righteous people who live in no fear because they trust him.This means that the redemption spoken of in verse 68 must include redemption from fear of enemies and from all unrighteousness. To view Jesus as a horn of salvation is to see him not only as a national liberator but, much more importantly for us now, as a spiritual conqueror.This means that we are not to cower and hide ourselves away in the Horn of our Salvation... but that we are to stand confidently unrighteousness in our own lives... we are to attack it.This is what it means to have Jesus as our Savior.  This is what Paul was talking about when he told us to put to death our old nature.We not only have security in our salvation but we have strength and we have victory.Whatever unrighteousness might be attacking your heart and/or holding you hostage... you have the resources to destroy it.We are not helpless if we are in Jesus.  He is the horn of our salvation.  Claim Him, invoke His name and His power as you struggle against eradicating unrighteousness in your own heart and life.