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1st
Samuel 26:1-25 “And
the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in
the hill Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon? 2
Then Saul arose, and went down to the
wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to
seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3
And Saul pitched in the hill Hachilah,
which is before Jeshimon, by the way.
But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him
into the wilderness. 4 David
therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed. 5
And David arose, and came to the place
where Saul had pitched: and David beheld
the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his
host: and Saul lay in the trench, and
the people pitched round about him. 6
Then answered David and said to
Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Job,
saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. 7
So David and Abishai came to the people
by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping
within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
8 Then
said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this
day: now therefore let me smite him, I
pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite
him the second time. 9 And
David said to Abishai, Destroy him not:
for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’s
anointed, and be guiltless? 10 David
said furthermore, As the LORD
liveth, the LORD
shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle,
and perish. 11 The
LORD
forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’s
anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou
now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us
go. 12 So
David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat
them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a
deep sleep from the LORD
was fallen upon them. 13 Then
David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a
great space being between them: 14
And David cried to the people, and to
Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art
thou that criest to the king? 15
And David said to Abner, Art not
thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore
then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in
to destroy the king thy lord. 16 This
thing is not good that thou hast done.
As the LORD
liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the
LORD’s
anointed. And now see where the king’s
spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. 17
And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is
this thy voice, my son David? And David
said, It is my voice, O king. 18
And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus
pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine
hand? 19 Now
therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his
servant. If the LORD
have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering; but if they be
the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD;
for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD,
saying, Go, serve other gods. 20 Now
therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a
flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. 21
Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my
soul was precious in thine eyes this day:
behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. 22
And David answered and said, Behold the
king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.
23 The LORD
render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD
delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine
hand against the LORD’s
anointed. 24 And,
behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be
much set by in the eyes of the LORD,
and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. 25
Then Saul said to David, Blessed be
thou, my son David: thou shalt both do
great things, and also shalt prevail.
So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED662] “We
have come to the end of David’s encounter with Nabal, Nabal then dying, David
taking Abigail his widow to be his wife.
And that chapter ending, which was almost a major failure in David’s
life, and we come now to the 26th chapter where again we find the
Ziphites involved. I hope you remember
the Ziphites from the 23rd chapter.
It says, “And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not
David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”
(verse 1) So, the Ziphites, Ziph is
“a place of refining,” Ziphites are refiners, and that’s their assignment in
your life, if you have someone whose testing your patience all the time, you
can say ‘I know who you are, you’re a Ziphite.’ And these Ziphites now, no doubt afraid that
if David in fact moved towards the throne, that he may want to revenge their
betrayal earlier in 1st Samuel, so they go to Saul again to betray
David and let Saul know where David and his men are at this point in time. The
Ziphites Betray David’s Location Again--David Reacts Proactively It
says “Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three
thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of
Ziph.” (verse 2) So, again, three
thousand Special Forces chosen men it says, the best of the army, Saul goes
down to pursue David who has 600 men with him.
It is complicated, because David has 600 men, and their wives and their
children with him, so it is becoming more complicated as more are joining
themselves to David. [In the series
called Sharpe’s Rifles you can see historically, that some of the
soldiers in the duke of Wellington’s army often had their wives and children
following them within the camp of the British army, so this is nothing
new.] Saul takes 3,000 soldiers down now
to pursue David, to take his life. “And
Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the
way. But David abode in the wilderness,
and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. David therefore sent out spies, and
understood that Saul was come in very deed.” (verses 3-4) So David, instead of just fleeing, is
proactive, he sends out some reconnaissance, he finds out where Saul is, and he
comes to see for himself, instead of waiting until Saul comes on him. “And David arose, and came to the place
where Saul had pitched: and David beheld
the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his
host: and Saul lay in the trench, and
the people pitched round about him.” (verse 5) he’s laying in the trench,
get that picture out of your mind, Saul’s not laying in a trench, when they
circled their wagons, there’s 3,000 men, they have supplies, they have oxen and
wagons, they would pull those wagons in a circle, the wheels in the valley
would dig up and make an indentation, they called that “the trench,” it doesn’t
really give the idea, it’s a proper translation of the word, but the idea is,
where the wagons are circled. And what
they would do, is the king would lay in the middle of that, all of the soldiers
would be around him, and the commanding officer right next to the king, so he
was right in the middle of the whole thing.
So anybody would have a hard time sneaking in there to kill the king,
with the wagons circled around him, with all those Special Forces all over the
ground. And David sees from the heights,
he looks down and he sees exactly where Saul is, and he’s sleeping next to
Abner the son of Ner. That’s an
interesting name, Abner, Abba is father, so a guy named Ner had a son, and
named his son “my father is Ner.” I
guess they were in a rush and didn’t have time to look for a book of baby names
or something, imagine that, naming your son Abner. David’s
Nephew Abishai Goes With David Into Saul’s Camp By Night And
it says, David’s with his men, he’s looking down, “Then answered David and
said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of
Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.”
(verse 6) Now David, it seems like
he’s forsaking wisdom, no doubt he has the Spirit’s leading, and that would
preserve Saul’s life in this circumstance.
For some reason he has it in his heart to go down there, to get close to
Saul. He asked Abishai the son of
Zeruiah and Ahimelech, and Abishai says ‘I’ll go with you.’ Now it’s interesting, Zeruiah is David’s
sister, and David was the youngest out of eight brothers, and it seems that
she’s older. We don’t even know in fact,
I have a hard time tracking the age of Abishai, Abishai’s brother is Joab, and
the third brother is Asahel, there are three of them. It may have been a situation where Zeruiah is
that much older than David, that she got married, she already had kids, Joab
and Abishai, and they said ‘You’re uncle was just born, David.’ We
don’t know, their age may be very similar.
But no doubt, Zeruiah, the oldest sister in the family, would have a
particular relationship with the youngest boy out of eight. Now doubt she appreciated David’s sensitivity
as he was growing up, David was the one who wrote songs, David was the one with
a heart, she was well aware that Samuel had come and anointed David. She must have thought ‘There was always
something special about him, I love David.’
And she has schooled her sons well, she has made sure to tell Joab,
Abishai and Asahel ‘Your uncle David is the next king of Israel, so get in
while the getting’s good.’ And these
end up to be remarkable men, they draw close to David, in fact Joab, we’ll meet
them as we go on. And we’ll find Abner
finally will come to David’s side, too little too late. But Joab ends up to be a guy that David can’t
get rid of, Joab is just that personality, he works his way up through the
ranks where he becomes David’s main officer, and David decides he wants to get
rid of him, so Joab, you know, he'll come back and say ‘I just killed all
the other generals you appointed, here I am, I’m still your general,’ you
know, you can’t get rid of Joab. You may
know people like that in your life, when we get further on we’ll see it. But Abishai’s one of the brothers, daring, a
mighty man of valour, we’re going to find out more about him as we go on, and
remarkably he says to David ‘I’ll go on down with you.’ In his heart he may know from Zeruiah his
mother, ‘Hey, he’s anointed to be king of Israel,’ Abishai may be
thinking ‘Ain’t nothing’s going to happen to him, he’s going to be the next
king, I will go with him.’ So
remarkably he says “I will go down with thee.” “So David and Abishai came to the people by
night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping
within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster:” his
pillow, he never leaves home without it “but Abner and the people lay round
about.” (verse 7) have spear will travel, everywhere you get near this guy
he’s either throwing this thing at you or throwing it up and down in his hand,
while he’s sleeping he’s got his spear stuck in the ground right by his pillow,
‘and Abner and the people lay round about him.’ “Then said Abishai to David, God hath
delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day:
now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the
earth once, and I will not smite him the second time.” (verse 8) ‘You know, the fact David, we got up here
on these guys, standing right over top of them, this never happens, we got
through 3,000 crack troops and they’re all snoring and sawing Z’s and we’re
standing right here,’ I don’t know if David’s going ‘Shhhhh!’ Abishai’s saying ‘This is the LORD,
this is the LORD,
you know you had the chance to kill him before, and you said you wouldn’t touch
the LORD’s
anointed, and Saul said he repented and that he loved you, and it would never
happen again, and now here he is again looking for your life, David. And I know you have this thing about the LORD’s
anointed,’ so Abishai’s going to say to David,
‘So let me do it. You don’t have
to do it, I understand, you’ll be under conviction if you do it, let me take
the spear, one shot, I will pin this fool to the ground with one blow.’ And I guarantee you, it’s harder the
second time around, please listen to me.
It wasn’t like Saul had gossiped about David one time before, and then
asked forgiveness and said he would never do it again, but again, some of you
are ready to pin somebody to the ground because they talk about you. Saul had attempted to kill David, Saul had
driven David from his home, Saul had driven David from his country, Saul had
demoralized David, chased him through the woods, Saul again and again tried to
kill him, he took everything that David had.
You know, it’s not a light thing.
And David had once turned away and said ‘No, he’s the LORD’s
anointed, I’m not going to do this.’
And we kind of understand in this
picture, that if it wasn’t for the fool, Nabal, in the chapter before this, where
David was going to take things into his own hands and kill Nabal, and because
of Abigail he restrained himself, and then it says Nabal had a stroke and he
died ten days afterwards. And when David
heard he was dead he said ‘Praise the LORD! You know, if God knows how to kill fools he
doesn’t need me, he got this guy out of my hair when I was going to do
this.’ So
it’s almost the lesson of chapter 25 is very much alive in David’s heart here,
but Abishai’s saying ‘Let me do it, you don’t have to do it, let me do
it. God hath delivered thine enemy into
thine hand, this day.’ “Now
therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at
once, and I will not smite him the second time.” (verse 8b) ‘Just one shot, let me have him.’ “And David said to Abishai, Destroy him
not: for who can stretch forth his hand
against the LORD’s
anointed, and be guiltless?” (verse 9) David is being refined, and that’s a good
principle to establish amongst your mighty men of valour, if you’re going to be
God’s anointed, to get it into their minds early you don’t lift your hands
against the LORD’s
anointed. “And David said
furthermore, As the LORD
liveth, the LORD
shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle,
and perish.” (verse 10) ‘Abishai, we
serve the Living God, he doesn’t need our help to kill anybody.’ “The LORD
forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’s
anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou
now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us
go.” (verse 11) ‘Let’s do this, I
don’t want you to touch him, grab the spear, I’m tired of that thing, make sure
we leave with that, and get the water that’s by his head,’ no
doubt in some type of wineskin. Notice,
David took the spear, he didn’t want Abishai to have it, it was too much for
Abishai, he couldn’t have stood it. “So
David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat
them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a
deep sleep from the LORD
was fallen upon them.” (verse 15) I
think I had one of those last night, I like it when those come [as you get
older, it’s harder to sleep the entire night].
“A deep sleep from the LORD
was the fallen upon them,” God didn’t put a deep sleep upon them so that
Abishai could pin him to the ground, that wasn’t the reason. And no doubt David now, as we look at this,
was led of God in the first place to go down there, because it says as they
went down, they went through the camp, nobody woke up, because the LORD
had put a deep sleep on them. David
Challenges Abner “Then
David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off;” there’s
a ravine, David goes up the other side, “a great space being between
them: and David cried to the people, and
to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art
thou that criest to the king?” (verses 13-14) because it’s dark, no
streetlights, it’s dark, ok? you’re in the wilderness, you can’t see. ‘Who are you? you’re waking up the king, who are you
screaming at?’ “And David
said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like
to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept the lord the king? for
there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.” (verse 15)
David’s really giving him the business here.
‘Whose the big bad bodyguard now Abner?’ “for there came one
of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.
This thing is not good that thou hast done.” ‘You are bad,
Abner, I’m gonna tell Ner.’ He
is challenging, saying ‘Whose more loyal to the king, you who were supposed
to guard his life, and failed, or I who could have taken it, and showed him
mercy,’ is his challenge here. “As
the LORD
liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the
LORD’s
anointed. And now see where the king’s
spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.” (verse
16) ‘Look,
Abner, and see if it’s there?’ And
notice verse 17, “And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is this thy
voice, my son David? And David said, It
is my voice, my lord, O king.” Saul
knew David’s voice, before Abner, Abner doesn’t recognize it. But Saul recognizes David’s voice. The last time he said “father,” he doesn’t
call him father now, he’s had enough, and Saul has given his wife away to
another man, so he says “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” “And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue
after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?”
(verse 18) this is like a dashavu, we’ve been through this before. This is what he said to Saul. “Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord
the king hear the words of his servant.
If the LORD
have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering;” ‘If it’s the LORD
that’s telling you to pursue me because there’s some sin or something in my
life that isn’t right, then let me go before the LORD,
let me go to the Tabernacle, and let me offer a sin offering or a trespass
offering, let me offer an offering.’ “but
if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD;
for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD,
saying, Go, serve other gods.” (verse 19) In other words the idea is ‘They’ve driven
me out of the land of Israel, I can no longer go to the Tabernacle, I don’t
have access to the priests, I don’t have access to the altar, I can’t worship
the True and Living God as he’s prescribed.’
It was taboo in Israel to take anybody’s inheritance from him, he
says ‘You’ve driven me from my land, my father’s inheritance, to go serve
other gods in a strange land, let them be cursed.’ “Now therefore, let not my blood fall to
the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a
flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.” (verse 20) ‘Saul, you’re hunting a nobody with 3,000
Special Forces, what is the deal? Cut me
a break!’ it doesn’t say that in the Hebrew. “Then said Saul, I have sinned:” ya,
for over 10 years, it’s nothing new, Saul’s rebellion has troubled Israel, it’s
troubled David, it’s troubled Jonathan, it’s troubled so many, somebody else’s
rebellion always troubles those that are around them, he says “I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my
soul was precious in thine eyes this day:
behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” (verse 21) David is probably thinking ‘Ya, right.’ And remarkably, this is Saul’s
autobiographical statement here, sadly, he says “behold, I have played the fool,
and have erred exceedingly.” First
time in the Bible, English Bible, you have the word “fool,” right there. “I have played the fool, and have erred
exceedingly.” ‘I’ve repented, I’ll turn to a witch next.’ I’ll read a verse quickly if I can
find it here, my computer notes. “So
Saul” this is sad, it is about his death, “So Saul died for his
transgression which he committed against the LORD,
even against the word of the LORD,”
he sinned against the Word of the LORD,
Scripture, “which he kept not, and also for asking counsel at one that had a
familiar spirit to enquire of it, and inquired not of the LORD”
which
he could have done and should have done, “for he” the LORD
“slew him and turned the kingdom unto David, son of Jesse.” Even at this point, if Saul was genuine,
and he says “I have sinned, I have played the fool,” he could have gone back to
Israel, he could have gone to the encampment where the priests were, he could
have offered a lamb for sacrifice, he could have asked for God’s forgiveness,
and I believe God would have spared his life.
[Comment: Saul had effectively
shut that door, when he had Doeg slay all the priests, where the only surviving
priest at Nob fled to David, so in a real sense, Saul didn’t have any priests
to enquire of, he’d had them all slaughtered in front of his eyes. There were a few prophets, but I don’t think
they wanted to get near Saul.] But when
you’re that invested sometimes with something, you’ve got 3,000 other people
involved, even when you know that you’re a fool, sometimes it’s really hard to
turn back, when your ego is that committed.
He says “I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” “And David answered and said, Behold the
king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.” (verse 22) ‘I’m not coming over there, don’t call
me your son, send one of the guys over here, I’ll give you your spear
back.’ “The LORD
render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD
delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine
hand against the LORD’s
anointed. And, behold, as thy life was
much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of
the LORD,
and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.” (verses 23-24) ‘Saul, I pray that God will show me the
same mercy I showed to you, as your life was valuable in my hands, I pray that
my life would be valuable in his.’ “and
let him deliver me out of all tribulation.” very telling statement at this
point in time. “Then Saul said to
David, Blessed be thou, my son David:
thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still
prevail. So David went on his way, and
Saul returned to his place.” (verse 25) ‘David,
the kingdom will be yours,’ as he’s said before. “So David went on his way, and Saul returned
to his place.” and these are the last recorded words of Saul to David in the
record, “Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and
also shalt still prevail.” Interesting.
So David went his way. 1st
Samuel 27:1-12 “And
David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than
that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall
despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so I shall escape out of his hand. 2
And David arose, and he passed over with
the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch,
king of Gath. 3 And
David dwelt with Achish of Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even
David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the
Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. 4 And
it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath:
and he sought no more again for him. 5
And David said unto Achish, If I have
now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the
country, that I may dwell there: for why
should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? 6
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that
day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto
the kings of Judah unto this day. 7
And the time that David dwelt in the
country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. 8
And David and his men went up, and
invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the
inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. 9
And David smote the land, and left
neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the
asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. 10
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a
road to day? And David said, Against the
south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the
south of the Kenites. 11 And
David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath,
saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be
his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believed David, saying, He
hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my
servant for ever.” A
Huge Responsibility Weighs On David “Now
as we come to chapter 27, we’re not sure of the time sequence between the 26th
and 27th chapters, it could have happened quickly, or there could be
a timeframe here, which it seems to me, as I look at this. It says, interesting picture now, “And
David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than
that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall
despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.” (verse 1) Now look, it just said in verse 24b of
the previous chapter, “so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD,
and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.” ‘God’s gonna take care of
me.’
Now it seems that some time has gone by, because David said in his heart
“I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul” ‘he’s gonna catch
up to me, he’s gonna get me.’ “there
is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land
of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me,” ‘he won’t follow me
there, he’ll finally leave me alone,’ “and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any
more in any coast of Israel: so shall I
escape out of his hand.” ‘he won’t have to chase me through the nation of
Israel anymore, so shall I escape out of his hand.’ David, as we go here, listen, remember, he’s
fleeing from Saul, Saul has, each time we hear, at least 3,000 Special
Forces. And every time Saul follows
David into the wilderness of Judah, this has gone on for years, he becomes more
and more familiar with the caves, the ravines, with the places David knew as a
shepherd boy, where David was very familiar, Saul is becoming more and more
familiar with the places that David will hide out. And David has this responsibility now for 600
men, we’re going to read here, plus their wives and children. He may have 2,000 to 3,000 people with
him. And David is getting worn out. Look, this is, as we read through this,
there’s lessons here and we want to see them.
But when you think of the man, just imagine the responsibility that he
has, women, children, fleeing, always moving, telling the kids ‘Shhhh! Don’t
laugh, don’t make any noise,’ just being quiet, trying to move, trying to
evade, and doing that endlessly. You
know, it’s not like, you go through a trial, you go through a trial this week,
who likes a week-long trial? I don’t
like that, you look at me like ‘no Sprechen sie English’ you know what
I’m talking about. But this is at least
a ten-year trial. You don’t use those
phrases together in your life, 10-year, and trial. And I think he’s worn out. Listen, God is training him. God is dealing in his life. It is during this time, and I’ll read a few
things, I have an old book, it’s 100 years old, and all it does is it tracks,
Alexander McClaren, the Psalms and lines them up with the different eras of
David’s life. And these are some of the
Psalms written during this time, Psalm 10 he says this “Why
standest thou afar off O LORD? Why hidest thou thyself in times of
trouble? The wicked in his pride doth
persecute the poor, let them be taken in the devices that they have imaged.” That’s just the way that Psalm starts. Psalm 13 starts “How long
wilt thou forget me, O LORD,
forever?”
You ever feel that way? [yes] “How
long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart
daily? How long shall my enemy be
exalted over me?” Wonderfully
David will write, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the
words of my roaring? O my God I cry in
the day time, but thou hearest not, and in the night season I am not silent.” And you go through these Psalms and you
think, the difficulty this man was going through, God dug so deeply into his
heart during these times. There is a
day, I’m sure, when David will look back and he’ll think ‘My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?’ and you read Psalm 22, and it becomes the
Crucifixion of Christ, and he somehow realizes in some of the most difficult
and despairing times of his life, to a degree, not in the way we do in the New
Testament, but there’s the fellowship of his sufferings there, where God reveals
something to him, of his own suffering Son, his own heart, of his own love
towards his Beloved, his only Begotten Son, when David is crying ‘You’ve
forgotten me, you’ve turned away.’
And I think, in our lives, how many times in our greatest struggles,
sometimes when we feel forsaken and our world’s crashing down around us, all of
a sudden God is showing us something about his Son, that we would never have
seen. How many times do we hear people
in the church say ‘I know, but I wouldn’t trade it away,’ you look at
them, you see what they’re going through, your heart is so broken for them, and
they say ‘But God has drawn so near, he’s given me such peace.’ And God is building this man, he’s taking him
through these things. David said ‘You’ve
forgotten me, where are you?’ and he’s got that pressure on the horizontal
which is tremendous, 600 men, their wives, their children, that’s a huge
responsibility. And however long of a
time there was that transpired, David says at this point in time, in his heart,
he seeks the LORD,
you know, in times past he was there, sought the prophet, sought the Urim and
Thummim, it just says at this point, David’s saying in his heart ‘I feel
like I can’t go on. I feel like God’s
forgotten me, I feel like this.’ That’s one of our favorite phrases, isn’t it? ‘I feel like you don’t care,’ and it’s at that time David is going to learn,
as life goes on, to raise up his sight, and the thing that will be true is the
Word of God and not his feelings, not his feelings. But you and I are still learning that, aren’t
we, though it’s been years in our journey.
“David said in his heart, I shall now perish” and it couldn’t
have been further from the truth. In
fact, about 18 months after this, Saul would be dead, and David would begin to
ascend the throne. He’s so close to the
culmination of a long, long, training process.
‘I’ll perish one day by the hand of Saul,’ that wasn’t
true at all. “there is nothing
better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines”
now when you’re making a bad decision, don’t make it fast. You know, “speedily,” James
says ‘Wisdom from above is first pure, then it’s peaceable.’ You know, people come to me and ask me
sometimes, ‘Pastor Joe, I’m praying about this,’ and I don’t know. And I sit there looking at him thinking ‘I’m
trying to figure out what he wants me to do, I don’t know why he would
think I would know what he wants you to do.
He’s got your phone number, if he wants to talk to you he’s gonna call
you, not gonna call me.’ But one
thing I can say, as I look at the Scripture, James says ‘Wisdom from
above, when it’s God guiding, it’s pure, it’s never going to be anything
unclean or unright about it. It’s first
pure, and then peaceable.’ Is it
really right, do you have a peace about it?
And David, there’s none of that here, he makes this decision speedily, ‘I
have to do this now!’ There
was no sword to his head, no gun to his head, this is just how he feels. “I should speedily escape into the land of
the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast
of Israel: so shall I escape out of his
hand.” Now remarkably, David had
been such an example to these men that were with him, he had prevented Saul’s
death, he had done remarkable things, and here he is now despairing. The Book of Deuteronomy, interesting, said
this, this is about the armies of Israel when they would go to war, “the
officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is
there that is fearful and fainthearted?
Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as
well as his heart.” What the LORD
says is when you’re ready for battle, when you’re ready to face the enemy, if
you have somebody whose whining and complaining, they’re doubting and filled
with unbelief, just let him go, because they’re going to drag everybody else’s
heart down with him. And the battle
belongs to the LORD,
it doesn’t, it’s not fought in your strength or your abilities. How many times we see God’s supernatural hand
with his people throughout the Scripture.
[Comment: As seen both in The
Band of Brothers, the documentary history about Easy Company from France
into Germany, or The Pacific, the true documentary about the 1st
and 7th Marine Divisions conquering across the Solomon Islands and
Peleliu, when a soldier or Marine got so fearful that he was emotionally losing
it, and it was observed by others, they immediately took that soldier off the
front lines, for this very reason, his fear would be contagious and spread
amongst the ranks. The soldier wasn’t
disparaged or penalized, they knew better, sometimes the grinding of war can
lead a soldier to become demoralized to the point of abject fear.] But David’s the one at this point in time,
faltering, very interesting. David
Is Worn Out “And
David arose, and he passed over with six hundred men that were with him
unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.” (verse 2) Now you guys remember Achish, he’s the king
of Gath, Gath is where Goliath came from.
David had killed their hero, and then when he (earlier, his first
attempt to flee to Gath) feigned madness, remember he came into Gath when
Achish was there, and the Philistines said ‘Hey, you know that young guy
who they were singing Saul has slain his thousands, David has slain his ten thousands,
you know the hit song up in Israel? The
guy they’re singing about, he’s here, and he’s got the big sword with
him.’ And then David started
drooling, acting like he was insane, and he drooled his way out of town. And Achish drove him off, saying ‘I
already have a staff, I got enough screwy people, I don’t need one more in the
palace, get this guy outa here.’
That’s what it says, go back and read it if you don’t believe me. [David had a few men with him, but not the
400 who would join him later at the Cave of Adullam. Now he has an army of 600 men with him,
backing him up.] But now, at this point
in time, all through the Philistine country, they know that David has become
enemy’s with Saul, the word has spread.
We heard that Abigail and Nabal heard of it, and they’re south of Gath,
where he was with him. And now David has
600 trained men, battle-hardened, and David has with him their wives and their
children, and Achish is going to see this as an opportunity, so he’s thinking ‘Certainly
this man now is a warrior, he’s a hero, he’s enemy’s with Saul, this will be a
great ally for me in the process. The
next time I have a battle with the Israelites, he knows there territory, he
knows their designs, he knows their battle plans.’ So David now decides, he’s going to go unto
Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. “And
David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even
David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the
Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.” (verse 3)
So Achish welcomes him now as he comes there. This is very interesting, because David had
said to Saul, ‘If I’ve sinned, tell me, and I’ll offer a sacrifice, and
if there’s some rascals stirring you up against me, realize, they’re driving me
from the land, they’re driving me from the place of worship, to false gods.’
Now here’s David willfully leaving
Israel, going to the land of idols, going there of his own volition. He is discouraged, he is depressed. Listen to those Psalms, he’s depressed. People will come to me sometimes and say ‘Pastor
Joe, I’m depressed,’ and somedays I think ‘Join the club’ And I’ll say ‘Come on, what do you mean by
depressed, are you suicidal?’ ‘No, no, no, no.’ ‘Do you need to see a professional?’ ‘no, I’m just depressed, what should I do?’ and I’ll say ‘Be depressed,’ there’s
no prohibition of that in Scripture.
There’s times David said his heart was cast down, there are tremendous
lessons to learn there. God allows us
sometimes to go to those places where all of the colors fade away and the hues
are all gray and purple and blue, and they’re deeper colours, and they are more
still in a solemn place, and God can say things to us there that he can’t say
to us in other places. David hasn’t
sinned here, he hasn’t committed adultery, he hasn’t committed murder, those
things will come. David is just worn
out. I understand that. David is broken, he’s just exasperated, he’s
had enough, he’s basically saying ‘I don’t want to be king, I don’t need to
be anointed, I don’t need any of that stuff, I got 600 guys, I got their wives,
I got their kids, I don’t need nothing else, just let me live on the sidelines,
just go dump oil on somebody else, I am tired.’
“And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he
sought no more again for him.” (verse 4)
Isn’t it interesting. Listen, the
end never justifies the means. Within a
year and a half Saul would be gone, and he would not pursue David any more, and
that would be God’s plan. This is not
God’s plan for David, we’re going to see that.
David ends up in this place. Just
because you’re resting, or you come to some cessation of trouble, doesn’t mean
you’re in God’s will. David maneuvered
himself out of this, and God was dealing with him. Just because it’s smooth doesn’t mean that
it’s divine. So, he’s there, Saul’s no
longer pursuing him. Look what it says, “And
David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give
me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal
city with thee?” (verse 5) “thy
servant,” doesn’t that sting a little bit?
David, you’re the LORD’s
servant or your Achish’s servant. He’s
kind of buttering Achish up a little. “Then
Achish gave him Ziklag that day:
wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.”
(verse 6) Now David no doubt feels a
little bit of the pressure, David may see some of his men or their David
Gets Himself (and his men) Into A Web Of Lies “And
David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and
the Amalekites: for those nations
were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto
the land of Egypt.” (verse 8) David couldn’t be idle there, David takes his
men, and he’s attacking certain groups of people, the names of them, they were
Canaanite people, they aren’t Philistines, and they weren’t of the Israelites. And we’re going to find out that David is
going, he’s attacking them, he’s having victory, no doubt protecting some of
the population of southern Judah as he does it.
1st Chronicles chapter 12 will tell us “Now these
are they that came to David to Ziklag while he yet kept himself close because
of Saul the son of Kish, and they were among the mighty men, the helpers of
war, they were armed with bows and could use both right hand and left hand
hurling stones and shooting arrows out of the bow, even of Saul’s brethren,” there
were even men of Benjamin coming to David now to Ziklag. The interesting thing, God is using it, God
is still working, but it wasn’t God’s will for him to be there. And 1st Chronicles 12 is a long
list of his mighty men that came and joined him. So he’s growing in strength there. He’s going out and he’s killing these groups
of people, they are not the battles of the LORD,
and it tells us not only that, that he’s killing men, women, children, he’s not
leaving anybody alive. He’s taking the
cattle and the goods and raiment, he’s taking the spoils. And we’re going to read that Achish is saying
to him ‘David, who are you out raiding today?’ and he says ‘Oh
I was in this town and that town, southern towns in Judah,’ and it says
he’s growing more dear to Achish because Achish thinks he’s going up to Judah
and killing Israelites, and David is lying to him. And Achish the king, it says David is
endearing himself to him. Achish is
thinking, ‘Man, they’re going to detest him now, the more this goes on, him
and I really got something cooking now.’
And David is lying, and he is getting himself into a deeper and
deeper mess, it compounds. Listen, you
get in a situation that you shouldn’t be in, then when you get there,
sometimes, the unbeliever asks you ‘Why are you there?’ And then you got to make up a story, you know
you spend your life writing Psalms and killing giants and being a hero amongst
God’s people, telling people to trust the Lord, he’s going to keep you, and all
of a sudden they see you living, somewhere they see you sitting in a bar and
say ‘Ain’t you one of those Bible-thumpers?’
‘No, I got a twin brother that goes up there, you got me mistaken with
him.’ and it gets to the point where the unbelievers start to like you,
because you’re getting like them, you’re in trouble then, you’re not where
you’re supposed to be. They went in and
they started to attack these groups of people, no doubt David is patting his
conscience a bit, with works, that God had never set out for him. “And David smote the land, and left
neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses,
and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.” (verse
9) Achish would see him returning
from these raids that he would be on, David making his own path, no longer on
God’s. “And Achish said, Whither have
ye made a road to day? And David said,
Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and
against the south of the Kenites.” (verse 10)
King James says “road,” it means “where have you made your raid
today David?” He’s saying ‘I’ve
been going up there marauding into southern Judah.’ And Achish thinks ‘This is great! I’m so glad he’s onboard here.’ And I’m sure David, he must come back,
because we know his heart, before it says his heart was tender, he said ‘I’m
not going to put my hand on the LORD’s
anointed.’ He
must come back after these raids, where he has to kill men, women and children,
he wants to leave no living witnesses so Achish doesn’t know what’s going
on. It’s hard for me to believe he
didn’t sit inside the walls of Ziklag, the word Ziklag means “winding” or
“twisting,” and that’s what’s happening [inside of David]. He must have sat there and have been tortured
to some degree. You know, it would be
Martin Luther, as he fled early in his life, was being pursued to the point of
death, and would be housed in a castle by German nobles, finally he would say ‘You
know, it’s not God’s will for my life,’ and he would leave the cover and
protection of the fortress and would write “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, A Bulwark,
Never Failing.” He put himself back out
there, and David had not reached that point here, David is still in Ziklag at
this point in time. And he lies to
Achish and says ‘I’m raiding southern Judah, bumping off some of the
Israelites up there that gave me a hard time.’
And it says “And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to
bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So
did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the
country of the Philistines. And Achish
believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him;
therefore he shall be my servant for ever.” (verses 11-12) So the situation is becoming more complicated,
look what it says, next chapter, “And it came to pass in those days, that
the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with
Israel. And Achish” who by now is
convinced that David is his best ally because he’s been going out there and
slaughtering the tribes in Judah, “And Achish said unto David, Know thou
assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.” (1st
Samuel 28:1) ‘Isn’t this great David, we’re going to be side by side,
finally the Philistines are going to go with you and we’re going to get those
Israelites, this will be great.’ “And
David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do.” and
that’s true, but I don’t think that’s the way David meant it. “And Achish
said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.” (verse
2) ‘you’re going to be my
personal bodyguard and aid, this will be great, let’s go kill Israelites.’ And David is in a pickle. Did you ever lie your way into one of these
circumstances? That’s what he’s
done. Listen, here’s the problem in
lying. You have to be good at it, and we
know you’re not because you were stupid to start in the first place. Some liars are better than others, but none
of them are good, and the problem with lying is, each time you tell a lie, you
gotta remember the lie you told. Because
then somebody’s saying, ‘What? I
heard, you told me,’ and once you start telling lies you gotta remember
every lie down the line, because you start getting caught, and your world
starts falling apart. The wonderful
thing about telling the truth, you can be stupid like me, and fat and happy,
when you tell the truth you don’t have to cover it up or worry about it. You ain’t gotta worry about it, you don’t get
ulcers over people trying to figure you out or get caught, if you’re just
telling the truth it’s so much easier.
And David’s got himself into a situation where he’s gotta cover
himself. In
closing Now,
listen, as we journey through this, you’re going to read ahead, if the Lord
tarries, next week we’re going to see David end up heading into the battle,
we’re going to see Saul go to the witch of Endor and try to consult and figure
out what he should do. He says when he
prays, the LORD
won’t answer him, the Urim and Thummim won’t work, no prophet will speak to him,
because God tried to talk to him, tried to talk to him, he would not listen to
the Word of the LORD,
and now it’s silent, and Saul realizes the trouble he’s in. We’re going to see David returning from
battle, and Ziklag burned to the ground, and he’s going to have to go with his
men and retrieve their wives and retrieve their children. God is gracious all the way along. God will be merciful to him. God knows when we’re tired, God knows when
we’re worn out. Listen, David did a
great thing in the chapter before, the chapter before that he didn’t do a great
thing, he wanted to kill an old fool, he took 400 soldiers to kill an old
farmer. And Abigail talked him out of
that, and by the end of the chapter, by the end of that scene he realizes, God
had Nabal drop dead, ‘LORD,
you don’t need me, praise the LORD,
you kept my hand, you’ve done this, I can trust you.’ And
no doubt God had set Nabal in his life.
Is there a fool in your life right now, beside the one you shave every
morning? [ya, I’ve got quite a few of
them] Is there one in your life right
now. Because he [or she] may be the best
friend you have down the line. You may
be learning the lessons, learn Fool-101 so you don’t have to go to Fool-102,
just learn everything God has for you, pray for that person, learn what God
wants you to learn, because no doubt, somewhere down the line, the lesson
you’re learning now is going to keep you.
I’m convinced if David hadn’t been in the situation with Nabal, he may
have crossed the line and said to Abishai, ‘Go on, pin him to the ground,
pin him to the ground, because he lied
to me, he has chased me, he told me he’d never do this again, he told me
he repented, he sinned against God, he’s sinning against me, pin him to the
ground.’ But David instead said ‘No,
either God will take him, to do it with a stroke or heart attack, or he’ll run
out of days, keel over in old age, go the way of all the earth, or he’s going
to get slain on the battlefield,’ that would be in a year and a half,
and he restrained himself. And at that
point, he seemed very convinced, ‘The LORD’s
gonna sustain me, he’s going to deliver me from all tribulation.’ And
then a period of time goes by, we’re not sure how long, and we see David again,
God is not apologetic, he puts the humanness of people in front of us. Because how many times have we been excited,
we come from a men’s retreat, a women’s retreat, great stuff, we’re excited, ‘Man,
I’m on fire, man I am stoked up,’ and then a week later, ‘You know, I
think I’m a Christian, I’m not sure, I don’t know if God loves me,’ it can
happen to us [you ain’t kidding], it happens to God’s man here. And again, when I sit back and think about
it, he had a tremendous responsibility with his men and their wives and their
children, and fleeing in the wilderness, constantly being pursued. How many times at night did he hear their
wives saying to his warriors, ‘Are you sure!? this guy’s anointed to be
king? I hope this ain’t going to be his
kingdom, I hope for the rest of our lives I hope our grandchildren aren’t gonna
be running around here in the caves.’ Did
he hear his men sitting around thinking ‘I don’t know, man. Abishai, next time you get the chance, kill
that man [Saul].’ I mean, David got
worn out, as it happens to all of us. No
doubt, his mistake was, he did not seek the LORD,
he did not pray. Did he forget? Or did he say to himself ‘I know if I seek
him he’s going to tell me to stay here.’
I don’t know. Did he just say in
his own heart, ‘That’s it, like Pop-Eye, that’s all I can stands, I can’t
stands no more, Saul’s gonna hunt me down till he kills me, he never stops, God
promises me, he makes me this promise that he’ll provide this, he makes me this
promise that he’ll provide that, he makes me this promise that he’ll provide
somebody for my life, you know that God’s children, you never see them forsaken
or begging bread, God’s made me this promise, God’s made me this promise, but
it seems it never comes true, my life seems like it’s falling apart, how can I
trust him, it’s safer in Ziklag, there’s more security there, there’s walls, I
can take a deep breath, there’s comfort, there’s rest, all this insanity
stops.’ It doesn’t mean it’s the LORD’s
will, it’s not what it means. The end
never justifies the means. David’s path
to the throne, as you have a path to the throne (cf. Revelation 5:9-10), was
God’s path for him. You are on your way
to the throne, so am I, and God has a path for us, and he leads us, as a
Shepherd, as a Father, as a Groom with his Bride. And I can’t imagine what do some of the
Christians in Haiti think, ‘Lord, where’s your love, where’s my child, I
haven’t seen my child in two weeks, is my husband alive? Lord, I’m tired, I’m just going to go to
Ziklag, I just want rest, I just want to sit somewhere with a refrigerator and
running water, I just want to turn away.’
I can do that, I can do that.
I don’t know about you, this is written for me, because I can do
this. I do it once a week, ‘Honey,
tell everybody to leave me alone, especially the Ziphites. Just tell ‘em I’m in Ziklag.’ You know, don’t you do that? you’re
overwhelmed and all of a sudden you have rights. We don’t have any rights. There’s no entitlements, everything is Blood
Bought, everything’s his, there’s no rights in the Kingdom, there’s only a King
and those that are his, it’s a Lordship issue, no rights. But I find my rights pretty regularly. But God is still faithful, he’s still loving,
the stupid things I’ve done in the last 30 years as I’ve been saved, and how
faithful the Lord is, and I know he is to you.
And if you’re his child tonight, look, if you don’t know Christ, at the
end of this service you can come up, we’d like to pray with you, give you a
Bible. But those of you, his children, I
have the utmost confidence in you, because I know if our world starts to fall
apart, you’re not gonna become a Buddhist, or a
Hari Krishna, I am completely convinced you’re going to get on your
knees and say ‘Lord, I may have been messing up, but I am serious, woo Lord,
I am serious now, the things I couldn’t get victory over last week I got
victory now, Lord Jesus.’ Isn’t it
right? So what a privilege it is that we
get to come together, to look at this great human, over 66 chapters on David,
more than anybody in Scripture except for Jesus himself, this man who has been
placed before us so that we can look at his life. I encourage you to read ahead, let’s stand,
let’s pray, we’ll have the musicians come.
If you’re worn out tonight, I didn’t know that, your mom didn’t call and
say ‘Make sure you preach on Ziklag, my son’s really worn out,’ you
know, if the shoe fits, sandal fits, wear it.
And as we worship, just pray, and say ‘Lord, I’m shot Lord, I’m ready
to head to Philistine territory, I need you to speak to my heart, I need you to
encourage me, I need you to remind me that your hand will never be off of my
life. I was the most expensive thing in
the Universe, you paid for me in the blood of your Son.’…[transcript of a
connective expository sermon on 1st Samuel 26:1-25 and 1st
Samuel 27:1-12, 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=WED662
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