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1st
Samuel 19:19-24 “And
it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 20
And Saul sent messengers to take
David: and when they saw the company of
the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them,
the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21
And when it was told Saul, he sent other
messengers, and they prophesied likewise.
And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.
22 Then
went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are
Samuel and David? And one said,
Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. 23
And he went thither to Naioth in
Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon
him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24
And he stripped off his clothes, and
prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and
all that night. Wherefore they say, Is
Saul also among the prophets?” Introduction [Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED658] “So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to
Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.”
(verse 18) Now look what’s happening, again, you have to
imagine this. His position is stripped
away, he has to run from his home, his wife has betrayed him [not really, she
was just trying to stay alive]. Those
are real issues, and when we deal with a husband or wife here, they’re going
through considering a divorce, or their marriage is disintegrating, the stress
is unbelievable. The heartache is
genuine and is deep. When you go through
those kinds of things, you find a counselor.
Well that’s what David does here, he goes to Samuel. He’s lost his position, he’s lost his home,
his family, his wife, and now he flees to the one man that he knows he can
trust. David fled and he escaped and he
came to Samuel at Ramah, “and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth” which
is where the school of the prophets was, and no doubt he comes to Samuel and
says ‘Samuel,
come on, what’s up, you show up at my house one day, dump the oil on my head,
lean over in my ear and tell me I’m the king of Israel, this king stuff is
tough, I haven’t had this many problems in my whole life since you anointed
me--what’s the story?’ “And it was told Saul, saying,
Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. And Saul send messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets
prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon
the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.” (verses 19-20) So the
soldiers come up to get David at Ramah in Naioth, when they get there the Holy
Spirit’s falling, where Samuel is and the prophets, and the Holy Spirit falls
upon these soldiers, and they instead of getting David, they begin to
prophesy. “And when it was told Saul,
he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third
time, and they prophesied also.” (verse 21) the prayer-meeting is getting
real big by now. “Then went he also
to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu:
and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David?
And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also,” believe me, this is God’s grace, [and sense of
humour 😊] because God could have struck him down dead at
this point in time “and he went on,
and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and
prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked” with just his
loincloth on “all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?” (verses 22-24) no doubt he
had a loincloth underneath. Now this
gives David a good head-start, obviously.
So isn’t this interesting? David
flees to Samuel, God intervenes supernaturally to hold off the soldiers, and even Saul lays himself up
all day and all night in a stupor with the Spirit of God upon him, can’t move, can’t pursue
David. David is having everything
striped away now, even his most trusted counselor, Samuel now being taken away.” 1st Samuel 20:1-42 “And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and
said before Jonathan, What have I done?
what is mine iniquity?
and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2 And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not
die: behold, my father will do nothing
either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from
me? it is not so. 3 And
David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found
grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be
grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will
even do it for thee. 5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with
the king at meat: but let me go, that I
may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his
city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 7 If he say thus, It
is well; thy
servant shall have peace: but if he be
very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast
brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if
there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to
thy father? 9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were
determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell thee? 10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? 11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the
field. And they went out both of them
into the field. 12 And
Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of
Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee,
and shew it thee; 13 the LORD do so and much more to Jonathan:
but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee
away, that thou mayest go in peace: and
the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15 but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house
for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the
earth. 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. 17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon:
and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. 19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place
where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. 20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the
arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come
thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth. 22 But if I
say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. 23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of,
behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever. 24 And David hid himself in the field:
and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. 25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s
side, and David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him,
he is not clean; surely he is not clean. 27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son,
Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: 29 and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in
the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let
me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.
Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table. 30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him,
Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of
Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the
ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for
he shall surely die. 32 And
Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be
slain? what hath he done? 33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined
of his father to slay David. 34 So
Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second
day of the month: for he was grieved for
David, because his father had done him shame. 35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the
field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. 36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I
shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had
shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows,
and came to his master. 39 But the
lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan
and David knew the matter. 40 And
Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. 41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the
ground, and bowed himself three times:
and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David
exceeded. 42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch
as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be
between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.” David Says “I’m A Step From Death” “It says in chapter 20 “And David fled from
Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan,” and notice his
questions here, “What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my
life?” (verse 1) you can hear him, ‘Why is this going on? What in the world is happening? What is this all about?’ you know, when you get in that panic of ‘I can’t believe it,
what is going on? All I’ve done is
right, what is he after me for, what have I done? What’s this guy trying kill me for?’ David
is pouring out his heart to Jonathan, and Jonathan says “And he said unto
him, God forbid; thou shalt not die:
behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he
will shew it me: and why should my
father hide this thing from me? it is
not so.” (verse 2) because back in chapter 19, verse 6, if
you look back there, it said “Saul hearkened unto the voice of
Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the
LORD
liveth, he” David “shall not be slain.” he
had made that promise and an oath to his son Jonathan. Again, Jonathan is probably about 40 years
old at this point in time, David is about 20 years old. Jonathan is old enough to be his father, but
their hearts had been knit together because they were both bold, they were both
warriors, they were both, Jonathan was the kind of man that drew men after him
to where his armourbearer was able and willing to go and fight the entire
Philistine army, just the two of them, he was that drawn to Jonathan, he was
that kind of a man. And Jonathan sees
that in David. And he sees the LORD
is with David, and he has made his father swear not to touch David, and he says
to David now, verse 2, he says “God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either
great or small, but that he will shew it me:” ‘I’m close enough to him,
David, he lets me know what’s going on,’ “and why should my father hide
this thing from me?” “And David
sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace
in thine eyes;” ‘Jonathan, he knows about our relationship,’ “and he
saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me
and death.” (verse 3) “Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever
thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.” (verse 4) When he saw how serious David was, he
says ‘Alright, alright, what can I do? you tell me. I’m in with you, we’re on the same page here,
what can I do?’ This is David’s
path to the throne, there’s no way David’s going to die. Samuel had anointed him to be king of Israel,
if God wanted him dead he could have squashed him with Goliath. There’s lots of times he could have had him
killed. And it’s true of all of us, you
know it says in Daniel chapter 5, verse 23, that our next breath is in his
hand. It says Belshazzar refused to give
glory to the God in whose hand his next breath was. At the same time, we can feel kind of indestructible, we have this
idea of ourselves, and the truth is, we’re so fragile, human life is so
fragile. Saint Augustine said that “the
Lord keeps that step,” David said “there is but a step between me and
death.” Where is that step?-- that’s true in all of our lives. It may be when we’re 80 or 90, but the step
is there, someday we’re going to take it.
And Augustine said “The Lord keeps that step secret, so that we might
measure the rest of our steps.”
Because there’s one step that God knows, that’s set aside. Moses, when he wrote the 90th
Psalm, he said “LORD
teach us in wisdom to number our days.”
Because Moses led the longest funeral procession in history, 40 years, and he
saw over two million Israelites die before his eyes in the wilderness, and he
watched how fragile life was, he said “LORD”
as he wrote the 90th Psalm, “teach us to number our days.” And here David has that sense of mortality,
of vulnerability, and he says ‘I’m a step from death,” and
Jonathan, sensing that says ‘Alright David, what can I do, tell me,
whatever you ask.’ “And David
said to Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not
fail to sit with the king at meat: but
let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at
even.” (verse 5) it was a feast of the new moon. “And if thy father at all miss me, then say,
David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his
city: for there is a yearly
sacrifice there for all the family.” (verse 6) what he’s saying here is ‘I
want you to lie to your dad for me.’
“If he say, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure
that evil is determined by him.” (verse 7) ‘If he blows his gasket, then be
sure that evil is determined by him.’ He
says ‘We’re going to make up this story, we’re going to tell your dad,’ which
is not true, he’s asking him to lie to his father, David’s desperate, he’s very
human, very much like the rest of us.
[Saul’s just getting a tiny little bit of duplicity shoved his way,
after all the wicked duplicity he’s been guilty of toward David, I’d say.] He is weary, everything has been taken away
from him, and he can’t stand another hour of confrontation. You ever get to that point, you just want to
tell somebody what they want to hear so they’ll leave you alone? David says to Jonathan, ‘Whatever you
do, don’t say this when you talk to them, he said, just tell him I had to go to
my family in Bethlehem who have a family deal there, and if he says ‘Hey, I
understand, no big deal,’ great, but if he flips his lid, you need to tell me.’ Are
We Willing To Love Someone At The Cost Of Our Own Throne? “Therefore
thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into
a covenant of the LORD
with thee: notwithstanding, if there be
in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy
father?” (verse 8) ‘Jonathan, if I’ve
done something wrong, slay me thyself.
I’d rather die at your hand than in king Saul’s.’ “And Jonathan said, Far be if from
thee: for if I knew certainly that evil
were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?”
(verse 9) “Then
said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer
thee roughly?” (verse 10)‘What are we gonna do? Let’s go forward.’ “And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let
us go out into the field. And they went
out both of them into the field.” (verse 11)
“And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD
God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or
the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I
then send not unto thee, and shew it thee; the LORD
do so and much more to Jonathan: but if
it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send
thee away, that thou mayest go in peace:
and the LORD
be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD,
that I die not: but also thou
shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD
hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.”
(verses 12-15) He
says ‘David, I know that you’re going to be king, I know God is going to cut
off your enemies from the face of the earth.’ This is very remarkable, because it should
have been Jonathan’s throne, by birth. It
should have been his inheritance, and he is willing to say to David, this is
not just about a meeting they had, this is telling us without a doubt that
Jonathan recognized that God’s anointing and calling and destiny is on the life
of this young man half his age. And
Jonathan constantly brought the LORD
into the picture, and Jonathan says ‘I want you to sware that when you
take the throne, you’ll show kindness to my house.’ Because in the culture, it was quite often
common if you took the throne, and there were remnants of the preceding dynasty
around you who might have ill will, want to bump you off to get the throne
back, sometimes the new king, when he came in would slaughter the remnants of
the dynasty of the family that was on the throne before him. He said ‘David, I want you to sware
you’ll show kindness to my family, not just when I’m alive, but afterwards, to
my house, that you’re not going to wreak any kind of vengeance on them, if
there are any heirs that are alive, you’ll let them live.’ And very interesting, by asking David
to take this oath, not only will he preserve the life his father, Saul, which
was the house which David could have killed in the cave, and refused to, but Mephibosheth
will come there, crippled son of Jonathan, whose afraid of David, and he’s
shown great kindness by the king. So,
Jonathan here, very aware. “So
Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the
LORD even
require it at the hand of David’s enemies. And Jonathan caused David to sware again,
because he loved him: for he loved him
as he loved his own soul.” (verses 16-17) Look, are we willing to love someone at the
cost of our own throne? It’s of course a
much smaller throne, nobody’s going to write about it, they’re not going to
make a movie about you, and you’re not going to be a best-seller, but you have
your throne. ‘Why are you picking on
me?’ Sometimes we want to draw the
battle lines over right and wrong. I
know because I’m an expert. ‘It’s my
right, this person is validating my right, don’t they read the Bible!? they
could at least read the red letters and they’d know enough about this.’ you know, we can get in this place, but the
cause of Christ is bigger than that.
Sometimes it’s about turning the other cheek. Sometimes it’s about going the extra
mile. Sometimes in God’s heart
there’s something higher than right and wrong, and you may be right, but you
might be wrong to try to be vindictive or prove your point. Because some time, at the cost of a throne,
the Lord is asking us to love. And it
isn’t easy, and it isn’t natural, it’s supernatural. But I believe when we’re willing to take
those steps, the fellowship of his suffering is there. But he speaks to us in those moments, so that
he will be real to us when we are willing sometimes to take the difficult part
of the situation for his sake, for the sake of peace. I think Jonathan is one of the most
remarkable men in Scripture. He’s seeing
something that’s not going to materialize for 15 years, and he somehow in his
heart, he knows. David’s in the process
of learning that the ultimate decisions are not in his hands, that God’s
providence is at work. David, by the
time he comes to the throne, will know that there’s one King in Israel that’s
not him, it’s God. He will come to the
throne and he will yield to the direction and the Providence of God, he is
becoming a better and a deeper man as all of this takes place. So David and Jonathan reaffirm this covenant. The
Stone Ezel “Then
Jonathan” verse 18, “said to David, To morrow is the new
moon: and thou shalt be missed, because
thy seat will be empty. And when
thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come
to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand,
and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.” (verses 18-19) ‘’Okay, this is what you’re gonna do,
disappear for the three days, and we’ll go through this thing, and you come
back to this place so I can find you,’ and he tells him to come back to
the stone Ezel, no doubt a landmarker, a milemarker, some type of memorial, the
stone Ezel is the stone that sheweth the way.
And as David, everything else might seem like it’s falling apart, your
life may seem like you’re a step from death, but I want you to abide by the
stone that sheweth the way, which is where we are, to abide in Christ, the Rock
of our Salvation, to build our house upon that Rock, the Stone that the
builders have set at naught, the Chief Cornerstone laid in Zion, certainly
Jesus is for us, the stone that sheweth the way. Look, it says our lives are to be built on
the Cornerstone of Christ and the Apostles, not the job market. But listen, we’re Christians, but we’re to be
in the job market, we’re to be competitive, we should be better than anybody,
we should use our minds, we should be able to compete in all of that, but it
shouldn’t be the foundation of our lives.
Where we measure, the cornerstone where we measure everything else we
build in life, that cornerstone is Jesus Christ, we should measure our morality
there, we should measure our character and our attitude there, we should
measure excellence there, we’re supposed to do everything we do with all of our
strength unto the Lord. Listen, if I
played football and I was the quarterback, I would not be content unless I was
the greatest quarterback that ever played in the NFL. If I was a boxer and I was a Christian, I
would not be content unless I was the heavyweight champion of the world. If I owned a business I would not be content
unless ours was the most respected in the entire area. You know, I think whatever we do we should
seek to do with excellence, because we’re doing it unto the Lord, and
we want the door open to give a testimony.
‘Yes, I knocked that guy out cold, Jesus helped me,’ whatever,
however it goes, I don’t know. But the
point is, we should want whatever we do to be in excellence, but the
cornerstone, the stone that sheweth the way, he has a way, he has
a way for our lives, where we measure our lives off of him, off of his Word,
and excel, I believe that we should do our best. But the measuring and weighing of life should
be vastly different for us. He says ‘I
want you to remain here by the stone Ezel,’ The
Sign As To Whether David Should Stay Or Flee and
he says “And I will shoot three
arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.” (verse 20)
‘I’ll come to the field, I’ll pretend I’m shooting at a target.’
“And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the
arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad,
Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come
thou: for there is peace to thee,
and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.” (verse 21) ‘I’ll bring one of my young guys to assist me with,
so it doesn’t look conspicuous, without suspicion here, and I’ll say, Go find
out the arrows.’ “If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the
arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come
thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.” ‘So if the arrows are short, if I shoot them on this
side of Ezel, and you hear me tell the lad, Here, they’re on this side, grab
them,’ then you know there’s no problem, just come in this direction, because
it’s going to be between you and I, so you come towards the arrows. “But if I say thus unto the young man,
Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.” (verse 22) ‘If I shoot
the arrows over you, and on the other side, that means you get outa town, it
means you gotta go.’ Listen to Jonathan’s
perspective, “for the LORD hath
sent thee away.” (verse 22b) remarkable, “And as
touching the
matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.” (verse 23) ‘David, we’ve made this
covenant, you’re going to hold your word to my house, I’m doing everything I
can for you, I love you.’ “So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat
him down to eat meat. And the king sat
upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s
side, and David’s place was empty.” (verses 24-25) and here’s Abner, remarkably, Abner sat by Saul’s
side. “Nevertheless Saul spake not
any thing that day: for he thought,
Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.” (verse 26) the idea is, ceremonially, ‘he won’t be clean till
evening, he had to offer sacrifices, he’ll be here tomorrow.’ “And it came to pass on the
morrow, which
was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son,
Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to
day? And Jonathan answered Saul, David
earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in
the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let
me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.
Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.” (verses 27-29) I think dads
know when their kids are lying to them.
Girls are tougher, they scare me more.
There’s lots of places in the Bible, guys, that warn men about women,
there’s not a single place in the Bible that warns women about men, they just
got it all over us in some ways. You
know, when my girls were younger in the house, they would tell me a story, I’d
be looking, thinking ‘I
don’t know whether I believe you or not.’ Boys are
vastly different, they start to tell the story, ‘Ah, I was abducted by aliens,’ ‘Don’t
even tell me that, stop right now, right now, if you tell me the truth right
now you might not die, but if you keep up this alien abduction story there’s
gonna be trouble, you’ll wish they had taken you.’ I think Saul knows right away by the way Jonathan is telling this
story, he says ‘Where’s
David?’ ‘And Jonathan answers and said “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in
the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there:” Saul needs
to know that David would never listen to his older brother, they always banged
heads, “and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let
me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.
Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.” he just told a big story there. “Then Saul’s anger was kindled against
Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of
Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s
nakedness?” (verse 30) I don’t think that’s good, I think he might be cussing there, I’m not
sure, we might have shortened that in our vernacular, but it’s cold, he’s
taking about his wife, to his son, he’s taking about his wife. It might explain why his daughter is the way
she is, but, ‘Thou
son of a perverse rebellious woman,’ in front of the rest of the guys at the table, I
don’t know, Saul was going off the deep end, “do not I know that thou hast
chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy
mother’s nakedness? For as long as the
son of Jesses liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy
kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch
him unto me, for he shall surely die.” (verses 30b-31) ‘Jonathan, this is all going to be yours some
day…’ “And Jonathan answered Saul his father,
and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite
him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was
determined of his father to slay David.” (verses 32-33) He got a distinct impression Saul was in a
bad mood, that’s pretty serious here, ‘I tried to ask him a question, he tried to pin me
to a wall with his javelin, I probably
should take that as a hint.’ “So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger,
and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his
father had done him shame.” (verse 34) because he had sworn that he wouldn’t hurt David,
now he’s changed the whole thing. “And
it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the
time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now
the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.”
(verses 35-36) Now, this lad, I wonder if we’re gonna meet
this lad in heaven? He had no idea, the
arrow that was flying that day was determining the outcome of human history,
because in David’s line was the Messiah, Jesus Christ who would come. And that arrow flying that day, which would
seem like a menial task, that boy was in fact, as it were from God’s quiver,
preserving the life of his servant David.
I think, how many times are we unaware of some incredible things
happening right around us. I’m sure many
times, it says when we get to heaven we’ll know fully, even as we we’ve been
fully known, I think we’re going to be amazed, I think, of some of the things
that happened around us, some of the times God saved our lives. Sometimes his angels were worn out by us, by
the end of the day, just some of the things that happened around us. He shot the arrow beyond this young man, “And
when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot,
Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?” (verse 37) now for David’s sake Jonathan cries out loud “Jonathan
cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?” which is the signal to David, “And Jonathan
cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows,
and came to his master. But the lad knew
not any thing: only Jonathan and David
knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his
artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the
ground, and bowed himself three times:
and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David
exceeded.” (verses 38-41) he wept louder than Jonathan, David is now an outlaw, he’s now a
fugitive, another crutch has been knocked away from him. “And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace,
forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be
between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.” (verse
42) What a heartbreaking scene this must have been, “And
he arose” David, “and departed:
and Jonathan went into the city.”
and Jonathan, wondering if he would see David at least one more time
that we know about, many years after this, before he’s killed on the
battlefield, with his father, at Gilboa.
He would stay faithful to his father, Jonathan. “and Jonathan went into the city.” David now, being taken to the place
where, we’re going to find by the end of the next chapter, where he has to look
up again. He’s been embroiled in the
royal court, several years have gone by, as he has to some degree forgotten
those early days. Has he lost his first
love, the joy of his salvation as we would say to some degree, we don’t know,
we can’t judge him. But we know God has
taken, look, and as we look at this, you know, he’s headed towards the lowest
point in his life. This here, where we
are right now, is the lowest point in his life.
This is where you say ‘It
can’t get any worse,’ that’s before you read the next chapter, ‘it can’t get any worse,’ and sometimes when we’re at the lowest point,
God’s promises seem to be in contrast with his providence, we don’t understand ‘You’ve made me
promises, here I am a fugitive, my home is gone, my wife is gone, my position’s
gone, my mentor’s gone, my best friend is gone, every single thing in my life
has been removed, and I’m a fugitive now.’ And Abner’s an incredible warrior, he’s part of the
team that’s going to be hunting David, David knows what the military force of
Saul’s court is like. And you know, we
get sometimes in those places where God’s promises to us, that we try to hold
onto, and what’s happening in our life, seem to be in complete disagreement and
in contrast to those promises. And David
is now lying, he’s a fugitive, he’s fearful, and he’s forgotten about “I come to thee in the
name of the God of Israel, the LORD of hosts,” somehow that has cooled in his life, and now
Jonathan, the very last thing, in some ways, his best friend, removed, and he’s
out on his own. You know, he’s turned
away from the familiar, sometimes we have to do that. The familiar is behind his back, warm
relations are behind his back, home is behind his back, and all that’s in front
of him is uncertainty at this point in time.
He’s never read the chapter, he’s not saying ‘Wait till you see what happens by the time you get
to chapter 23, you’ll love it.’ He doesn’t know the story, he’s living it out.” 1st Samuel 21:1-15 “Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the
priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the
meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a
business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business
whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is
hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us these three days, since I have come
out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified
this day in the vessel. 6 So the
priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that
was taken from before the LORD, to put
hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that
belonged to Saul. 8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand
spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me,
because the king’s business required haste. 9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest
in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like it; give it me. 10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish
the king of Gath. 11 And the
servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not
sing one to another of him in the dances, saying, Saul hath slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands? 12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of
Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he
changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and
scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his
beard. 14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the
man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?” David’s Next Stop, Ahimelech The High Priest “It says “Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech
the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at
the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?” (verse 1) to Nob, several miles from there. Remember, he’s about 20 years old. What did you know when you were 20 years
old? At 59 I can’t remember. Around 20 years old, he’s a kid in some ways,
he’s a young man. “Then came David to
Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and
Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?” he had known David, the whole nation knew
David. ‘Why art thou alone?’ that was very suspicious, David had led the armies
of Israel. He senses there’s something
very strange about the circumstance right away, we’re going to find out David
doesn’t have any armour on, he doesn’t have a weapon on, all of a sudden he
shows up running, now he’s at Nob where there is a community of priests, it
seems the Tabernacle is there. The Ark
of the Covenant is at Kiriat-Jearim, in 2nd Samuel chapter 6 where
it’s brought back to Jerusalem, but it seems the Tabernacle is here at
Nob. And the priest sees him, knows him
and says ‘Why
are you alone, you have no army accompanying you, no body guard, what’s going
on?’ “And David said unto Ahimelech the priest,
The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know
any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded
thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.” (verse 2) Now he’s lying
to a priest, he’s really down there, you know.
We love the humanness of him, he says ‘Well the king has sent me on business,’ “and hath
said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business” ‘I’d love to tell you,
but I can’t.’ “whereabout I send thee, and
what I have commanded thee: and I have
appointed my
servants to
such and such a place.” Now he’s saying, ‘Now I’m on a
top-secret mission, I can’t tell you, working for the CIA this week, and Seal
Team-6 is going to meet me not far from here, the king’s given us a special
dispatch, and we’ve got an assignment, and I’m going through here, and I’ve got
some needs.’ “Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is
hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.”
(verses 3-4) sorry
girls, I didn’t write this, “And David answered the priest, and said unto
him, Of a truth women have
been kept from
us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the
young men are holy, and the
bread is in a
manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.” (verse
5) and boy that
was true, even his own wife. He’s
saying, ‘though
it were sanctified this day in the vessel,’ so it must be the Sabbath, scholars feel, and what
he’s saying is, there are new loaves that are hot, baked of the showbread they
put on the altar of showbread, and then the loaves that had sat there were
taken, and the priests were allowed to eat them, the priest is saying ‘but we do have these
loaves that are going to be taken off, and when they’re taken off, you can have
those.’ [Comment:
where it says “and the vessels of the young men are holy,” in
verse 5, it would indicate that David has a few of the soldiers that were under
him, that have followed him in his escape from Saul. Pastor Joe doesn’t mention this, but it
appears to be true. These men will
become part of the core of David’s future army, multiplying to about 400 men
when he finally gets to the Cave of Adullam.]
Now you remember, the Pharisees caught the disciples of Jesus going
through the grainfields plucking grain and accused them, and said ‘what are you doing?’ and Jesus said ‘You ever hear of David?’ (he just loved to get under their skin) ‘He was one of your
kings, remember? and that how he ate the bread that was appointed for the
priests?’ that
human need takes precedent, and here Ahimelech realizes that, and he says ‘This day we’re going
to change out the bread,’ “So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread,
that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.” (verse 6) just as it seems things were looking up here, “Now
a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that
belonged
to Saul.”
(verse 7) they have to
come that day, don’t they? just when we think things were getting better, he
has to show up that day, “and his name was Doeg,” David just probably called him “dog,” Doeg is the
Hebrew name that means “fearful,” it means “to be anxious” or “filled with
anxiety,” and no doubt what David sees on top of everything else is he
recognizes this guy. It tells us Doeg is
an Edomite, and he was the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. He was in charge of all of Saul’s herds of
flocks. Now David as a shepherd, no
doubt would have known him earlier, and no doubt they recognized each other,
and David’s now going ‘Ohhh,
Doeg, he’s gonna tell Saul…’ Now Doeg is going to betray
Ahimelech for the sake I think of wanting to move ahead in Saul’s court, and
all of these priests at Nob will be slaughtered, except one of them, Abiathar,
their blood will be shed. So Doeg is a
no-good guy, he’s like his name, ‘Dawg.’ “And
David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or
sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the
king’s business required haste.” (verse 8) ‘It was a secret mission, I had to get right out of
there, I couldn’t even go home and get my stuff.’ “And the
priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the
valley of Elah, behold, it is
here wrapped
in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou
wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.” (verse 9) Isn’t it
interesting, where David has come? He’s
traded in his sling for the sword of the man he killed with his sling, for the
sword of Goliath, look at how he has slipped away from the place of faith that
he had been in, ‘Man,
there’s no sword like that one, give it to me.’ David’s
young, that sword was so long it probably drug on the ground when he walked, he
said ‘I’ll
take that one, there’s nothing like that.’
David Goes To Gath & The King Of Gath And look, it says, “And David arose, and fled
that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.” (verse 10)
“for fear of Saul,” that’s his driving motivation here, and it can be in all of
our lives. “and went to Achish the
king of Gath” he lost his mind. He
goes to Gath, that’s Goliath’s hometown, with Goliath’s sword right on his
side. You know, he’s fleeing to enemy
territory. Has he done an equation in
his mind where he thinks it’s more dangerous to stay with Saul in Judah than it
is to go to Philistine territory and move in ‘with my old enemies.’ Has he thought that through? If
he has, he’s lost track of the LORD completely
in the process here. And he ends up in
Gath, remarkably, with Goliath’s sword, Israel’s even removed from him now at
this point, everything. And look what it
says here, “The servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in
dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?”
(verse 11) ‘his servants said unto
the king, Achish, ‘I recognize this kid with the giant’s sword out there, isn’t
this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him, in
the dances, saying Saul has slain his thousands, we heard that number 1 hit all
the way down here in Philistine territory, it was on the radio for months, it
made us sick, remember it says he killed tens of thousands of our brethren,
remember that song?’ “And David laid up these words in his heart, and
was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.” (verse 12) I guess he was sore afraid. Gath, isn’t it, look, when you get far enough
away from the Lord that unbelievers are telling you that you are somewhere you
shouldn’t be, you know you’ve crossed the line.
And look, that happens to a believer sometimes, sometimes you have an
unbeliever saying, ‘I
ain’t the one who said You don’t need to drink none of this, smoke one of this,
I ain’t the one who told us We don’t need to be here,’ when you’re getting reproved by the world for what
you’re doing, you’ve fallen away, ‘It
ain’t me, it was my twin brother, ya, he’s a Bible thumper, that’s not me,’ you’re in trouble when the unbelievers are telling
you. And look, he’s not there, you have
to take note of this, David’s not there because of sin. When we follow his life, God is going to deal
with him because of sin, it will come.
There’s none of that here, it’s not sin that’s put him into this position,
God is whittling away at this young man, he is crumbling under some of the
pressure, as no doubt I would or you would.
But he isn’t there because of disobedience or because of sin, God is
taking him somewhere. David hears them
now talking about ‘This
is the guy who slayed tens of thousands, what are you going to do about this?’ “And he changed” verse 13
“his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and
scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his
beard.” this is God’s anointed king, this is the place he’s come to. They said ‘We recognize him,’ and he started going Eeoooh, and he’s scratching on the door with his
fingernails and he’s letting spit run out of his mouth and down through his
beard. Now he’s evidently a pretty good
actor, because they all go for it. [yup,
he’s gonna get out of there ok 😊] Imagine,
the last crutch, self-respect, his dignity, everything is gone now, he’s
scratching, he’s drooling, acting like a mental case, and spit is running
through his beard now, that’s a far cry from Samuel’s oil, isn’t it. “Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo,
ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?” (verse 14) Now look, in some of these cultures in this part of the world, someone
whose insane is reverenced, they consider them holy men, evidently they feel
that way, most of the Philistines, they don’t just kill him, ‘Achish said unto his
servants, Lo, you see the man, he’s
mad, he’s insane, wherefore then have you brought him to me? Have I need of mad men? I already have a staff, I have enough
government workers here, you’re bringing one more screwball, what are you guys
doing bringing this guy to me, he’s insane, look at him, he’s scratching on the
door, he’s drooling through his beard, he must have been hit on the head, why
do you bring him here?’ He
said “Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to
play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?”
(verse 15) he cries now. And “David
therefore departed” I would probably say he did departed, like little Fresh
Prince of Belaire when that kid gets thrown out the front door all the time, I
think that’s how he departed. I think
they threw him out of there is what I think happened. And he flees, and he comes back to Judah to
this place. David
Ends Up In The Cave Of Adullam “David
therefore departed from thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam” (1st
Samuel 22:1a) that’s where God was taking him
all the while. This is where God wants
him, in the Cave of Adullam, Adullam is the word that means “Resting
Place.” It doesn’t seem like a resting
place, does it, your home is gone, your position’s gone, your employment’s
gone, your wife is gone, your friends are gone, and your best friends are gone,
your mentors are gone, your counselors are gone, your dignity is gone. And he ends up in a cave, a resting
place. Because it’s here where he looks
back, to heaven. It’s in this place
where he begins to write psalms again, he begins to write and he begins to
worship. It’s in this place where
there’s nowhere to look but up, it seems, in a cave. As he goes to the door of that cave he can
see the Valley Elah from there, where it all started. He’s been reduced to nothing, as it were, and
yet it’s God’s path to the throne of the kingdom. He’s safe there, that’s for sure. Certain things will take place. I’ll read some of this to you, he will write Psalm
142, when you look there on your own, it’s a prayer when he was in the
Cave, so this is a Caveman song, “I cried unto the LORD
with my voice, with my voice unto the LORD
did I make my supplication, I poured out my complaint before him. I showed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
then thou knewest my path, in the way wherein I walked have they privately laid
a snare for me. I looked on my right
hand, behold, but there was no man that would know me.” ‘LORD,
you had taken everything away.’ “Refuge
failed me. No man cared for my
soul. I cried unto thee, LORD,
I said Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very
low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for
they are stronger than I. Bring my soul
out of prison, that I may pray thy name, and the righteous shall compass me
about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” That
was Psalm 142. Psalm
56, I’ll read a few verses, it says it was written of David when the
Philistines had taken him in Gath, evidently he didn’t say ‘Hey guys, let me
go from here, I gotta write this great song, just a song which just came to my
mind while you guys were beating me up.’
It came to him no doubt recorded in Adullam. Some of it is familiar to you, he speaks
about his enemies and so forth. But in verse
8 he says “Thou tellest my wanderings,” he says ‘You
know this journey, these places I have wandered, LORD,’
“Thou tellest my wanderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle, are they not
written in they book.” He
says ‘LORD,
in the loneliest place of my life, every tear that ran down my cheek was
recorded by you, when I felt that you did not care and you had forsaken me, and
I was completely alone, and everything was ripped away from my life, put thou
my tears into thy bottle, are they not written in thy book.’ When
you are in the loneliest, most broken place of your life, as he said, ‘where
there is no man, there’s no one that cares for my soul, where are you LORD?’ he said, ‘In that place you knew my wanderings,
you knew where my feet were, you know, I was in a cave, and LORD
all of my tears were noticed by you, every one of them, individual tears,
they’re all recorded LORD.’ It
says back here in chapter 22, “and when his brethren and all his
father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.” (verse 1b)
no doubt for their own safety, afraid that Saul would seek David back amongst
his family in Bethlehem, and slaughter them.
We’re going to find David takes his mom and dad over to Moab, where some
of their relatives are, where Aunt Ruth was from, great-great grandma
Ruth. So his parents come down there to
him. And then it says, look at verse
2, “And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in
debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him;
and he became a captain over them: and
there were with him about four hundred men.” everybody whose stressed out
in Israel comes to David in the cave, everyone that was in debt, no doubt
probably in the place of being slaves or servants, everybody who was in debt
came down there to the cave where David was.
And discontented, that means they’re complaining, they have no peace in
their soul at all, completely discontent, they gather themselves unto him. He became a captain over them, there were
with him about four hundred of them. Now
I don’t know about you guys, but when I’m miserable and I’m in the cave, I want
to be alone. I don’t want my mom and
four hundred miserable grumblers with me, I just want to be in my own cave,
nail the door shut, leave me alone, I’m not miserable that often, and when I am
I want to do it right, I want to excel at it.
I want to get it over with, and I want to be as miserable as a human can
be until I’m done. Now, just, he’s in a
cave and all his family, his mom and dad show up, his older brothers, they were
giving him a hard time before, they must have said ‘You did it now, we’re
running for our lives you little jerk!
You had to come to the battlefield, you had to fight the giant, now Saul
wants to kill our whole family,’ and then everybody whose stressed out is
there with him. Imagine that, being in a
cave with a bunch of stressed out people, everybody whose in debt, ‘What’s
the difference, let ‘em kill us, we got no money anyhow,’ and then the
stressed out people saying ‘Don’t listen to them, we don’t want to die!’ and
then everybody, it says, whose distressed, their soul, they’re just discontent ‘Ah,
what’s the difference, let ‘em kill us.’
Imagine this crew. Now look,
these are the ones that are still coming to the [real] king of Israel, still
gathering themselves to the King of kings [Yahweh, the future Jesus Christ],
those who are stressed, still coming to him, who find no rest in this world,
they’re still coming to our King, Jesus, those who are indebted to both God and
man, who have failed in so many ways in this world, they’re coming, those with
discontented souls and emptiness, disillusioned. Very important to be in that state, because
as long as you’re illusioned you never come, when you’re living in your
illusions. When you’re disillusioned
you’re ready, still coming to the King.
David would write this Psalm, and I love it, it says he wrote this when
he was in the Cave, Psalm 34, where he had changed his appearance
before Achish, he said “I will bless the LORD
at all times.” now he changed in the
Cave, didn’t he, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear thereof and shall be
glad. O magnify the LORD
with me and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD,
and he heard me. He delivered me from
all of my fears. They looked to him, and
were lightened, their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried and the LORD
heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel(s) of the LORD
encampeth around them that fear him, and delivereth them.” (verses 1-7) You
can see him singing to the guys in the cave, “O taste and see that the LORD
is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” You know, his parents, his brothers, these
four hundred men, this was the core group of the greatest army in the history
of the nation of Israel, these discontented, indebted, overstressed men that
had gathered to him. “O fear the LORD
ye his saints, for there is no want to
them that fear him.” (verse 9) that’s
good to say to debtors, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but
they that seek the LORD
shall not lack any good thing.” (verse 10) and
then he says “Come ye children, hearken unto me.” Imagine with him in a cave, looking into
their faces, “Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the
fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth
many days, that he may see good?” (verses 11-12) listen
to what he says, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking
guile.” (verse 13) Because they
were there, distressed, they were there angry, they were there in debt, I’m
sure they had nothing but venom relative to Saul and his government. David said ‘No, I’m not going to do
that. That man is bothered by evil
spirits, he’s sitting on the throne, he has wealth unimaginable, and he has
nothing. We’re his [the LORD’s]
saints, we have his peace, we have his victory, we have everything the LORD’s
bestowed upon us, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile,
depart from evil, do good, seek peace, pursue it, for the eyes of the LORD
are upon the righteous, his ears are open to their cry, the face of the LORD
is against them that do evil, to cut off
the remembrance of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the LORD
hears, and delivers them out of all of their troubles, the LORD
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as have a
contrite spirit.’ (compilation of Psalm 34:1-22) Let
me say it again for you this evening, the Lord is nigh unto them of a broken
heart. A few days before this David
hadn’t believed that at all. But in a
cave, in the quietness, when he could once more hear his voice, he realized
that again, “The LORD
is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous: but the LORD
delivereth him out of them all. He
keepeth all of his bones: not one of them
is broken. Evil shall slay the
wicked: and they that hate the righteous
shall be desolate. The LORD
redeemeth the soul of his servants: and
none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” (verses 18-22) What a teacher he was, David is in the cave,
having been trained to be the king, the men that are gathered to him are being
trained to be an army, and God is fast at work in their hearts, fast at work in
their hearts. Look, there’s glory in
this, as we look at it. David is not in
the Cave of Adullam just to get there and mope and complain. We hear it in Psalm 142, he did when he got
there, ‘You have forsaken me.’
But has he sat there quietly, please listen, we, and let me speak for
myself, I am constantly, as you are, bombarded with imagery, with sounds, with
people, with needs, with good things, with busy-ness. Great, one of the things I love about this
season…and to come and get into his presence and sing his praises and worship
with all of you and take communion, and see people saved and just remembering
what it’s all about. And whatever we do
with our senses, with our abilities, we should excel. If we’re not alone, if I’m not alone with him,
I’m failing, as a husband, as a father, certainly as a pastor. If I’m not alone with him, oh, my wife puts
up with me, she’ll say ‘What’s wrong with you?’ and I’ll say ‘There’s
nothing wrong with me!!! Raaa!’ put him back in the cave, quick! The problem is, I haven’t been alone with
him, I’ve been with the Doeg, with the drool in my beard and everything else
driving me crazy, but I haven’t been with him.
I’m a better father then, I’m a less selfish man when I’ve sat in his
presence and remember what he’s done for me on the cross, about what a sinner I
am. Because you get alone with Jesus,
you get alone with him, and you start to pray ‘This person, and this
situation,’ and he kind of listens to you, kind of burn all that stuff off,
then all of a sudden you’re saying, ‘Ya, you’re right Lord, that does need
to change, doesn’t it. Do we have to
talk about that right now? Yes, son, I
think we should talk about that right now.
And your poor wife. I know Lord,
but you put her in this situation,’ ‘that’s why I’m going to change you,
because I love her.’ You know, isn’t
it true, you get there, in no time you’re undone, you’re flayed, you’re open,
because his Word divides down between soul and spirit, and him and his love,
that fact that he gives you victory over a bear and a lion, before he gives you
victory over a giant, it’s a place where you begin to sing again and praise
again, and raise your hands in surrender, it’s a place where you start to say
again, ‘Lord, you’re right, I know I’m filled with joy and I don’t have any
of that stuff that was all taken away, Lord.’…[transcript of a connective expository
sermon on 1st Samuel 19:19-24, 1st Samuel 20:1-42 and 1st
Samuel 21:1-15, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia,
13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
19116] related
links: Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED658 Psalm 34, https://unityinchrist.com/Psalms/Psalms33-34.htm
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