Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You, Kirk.
Good morning, church.
Good to see you guys this morning.
My name is Craig McAlevy.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: I am one of the pastors and
[00:00:12] Speaker A: it is an honor, a privilege, and yes, a joy to be with you here this morning.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: It's been a wonderful time already, hasn't it?
It's been a wonderful time already, hasn't it?
Amen. Amen this morning. Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel, chapter 21. If you need a Bible, Bibles can be found at the end of the rows at the bottom on the floor there. Feel free to use one of those. And if you do not have a copy of God's Word as we see every week, please feel free to take one of those home with you. It is important to have a physical copy of the Word of God and
[00:00:46] Speaker A: we offer that to you.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Our current series this morning that began last week is called here in one Samuel is called God's Path in the Badlands.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: You'll see the slide up there.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: We're going to be in this series for a while. For the rest of First Samuel, we find David fleeing from Saul in exile and Saul, King Saul wants David dead. And so we're going to be in this for a little bit of time here. I don't know if you consider as your faith as one of faith, as your journey of faith. I don't know if you consider your journey or not as one of exile, but it is.
Peter says as much in First Peter, Chapter two when he says, dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage
[00:01:37] Speaker A: war against your soul.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: So we are as Christians, not of this world. And we are, whether we realize it
[00:01:45] Speaker A: or not, are exiles as Christians.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Sometimes we feel that innately, I know, but oftentimes I think we forget it. And to make life even more challenging as exiled Christians, we all know that we're still works in progress, aren't we? We have not yet arrived. We are being sanctified. We are still sinful. We still do and say and are things that we don't want to, but we do because sin is still a part of us until one day God
[00:02:14] Speaker A: will glorify us with a new body.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: And so the life of an exile is one of difficulty and loneliness, right? But the good news is that God is in the lonely places with us and even in our exile. It's important for us to understand that God glorifies himself and he sanctifies us.
And so how then do we walk faithfully? How do we walk in faithfulness, even when it means we have to accept our place as an exile, as a Christian in this world, especially.
Especially when what I said earlier, sin is still a part of our lives.
We're in a broken world, but our own personal sinfulness, our own brokenness, often
[00:03:01] Speaker A: we find ourselves in times of loneliness and desperateness.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: And so my main point this morning in light of that is that God provides graciously in times of our desperation.
And in our text this morning in 1st Samuel 21, we're going to see David what at first might see like some questionable choices in his desperate situation. And maybe some of our stories will resonate with him as we consider this story and the ensuing stories of David in exile, and we consider our own poor choices, whether choices in the past or choices in the present, in our own desperation.
But what we're also going to see
[00:03:44] Speaker A: is the heart of David.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: And even better than that, we're going
[00:03:48] Speaker A: to see the very heart of God this morning.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: And so let's pray and we'll get into our text this morning in 1st Samuel 21. Lord, I would ask that you incline
[00:03:58] Speaker A: our hearts, Lord, to your word this
[00:04:00] Speaker B: morning, because we do not naturally come here desiring always to seek you in your word. And so we need you to incline
[00:04:07] Speaker A: our hearts, Lord, to your testimony.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Lord, open our eyes that we would see wonderful things in your word, Lord, not simply words on a page or words spoken, Lord, but we would see truth, glorious truth. Father, unite our hearts to fear you. We are divided and distracted in our hearts often.
And so we need you to get
[00:04:30] Speaker A: our hearts together, Lord, to fear you,
[00:04:32] Speaker B: to lock in to what you have
[00:04:34] Speaker A: for us this morning.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: And finally, Lord, satisfy us, satisfy us in your Word in Jesus, who is the Word made flesh as only he
[00:04:43] Speaker A: can satisfy us this morning, Lord, do this work in us, Lord. Humble us, humble me as we bring,
[00:04:50] Speaker B: as I bring this message this morning.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: We pray this all in Jesus name.
Amen.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: So to briefly set the scene here in this chapter, David is in full on exile, as we know, and he's in danger. King Saul sees him as an enemy and he wants him dead.
Last week, Pastor Jesse took us through the first text in this exile series that we're going to be in, where David reconnects with Jonathan for the very last time.
And he asked Jonathan, what have I done? How have I sinned that your father the king should want me dead? And we saw this beautiful example last week of Christ's love for us through the covenant of God's grace and the necessity of deep Christian friendship by looking at this covenant relationship. That's how it's termed in scripture, this covenant relationship between David and Jonathan. And Jesse said this as his main point. Ultimately, that's what this life is about.
Not about our achievements, but about how well we reflect the love of Jesus in our lives, how that love pours out of us as God's love pours into us. And so, after David's heartfelt and emotional farewell with Jonathan, David flees into exile. Where does he go? Thanks for asking. Let's go to 1 Samuel 21, verse 1, where it says David went to the priest Ahimelech. At nobility, Ahimelech was afraid to meet David.
So he said to him, why are you alone and no one is with you?
David answered the priest Ahimelech, the king gave me a mission, but he told me, don't let anyone know anything about the mission I'm sending you on or
[00:06:31] Speaker A: what I have ordered you to do.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: And then David says, I stationed my young men at a certain place, and
[00:06:37] Speaker A: this is the word of God.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: David flees to the city of Nob. Now, Nob is just about three to five miles south of Ramah, where he had been. He's unarmed, he's without food, he's without shelter, and he is in desperate need of an ally. So much so that he apparently left with no other option but to lie to the priest Ahimelech at Nob.
Now, you may recall the temple shot was at Shiloh and that had been destroyed. The ark had now now resides in the house of Abimenob and Kiriath Jearim. And the city of Nob has now become the priestly city and the location of where the central sanctuary and the tabernacle would be, where the priests serve.
And so, just for context, the priest Ahimelech has a brother Abisha, and his brother Ahisha has joined Saul, King Saul, who wants David dead, as his spiritual advisor. After Samuel, the prophet withdrew his services from Saul. So it makes some sense that Ahimelech would have been afraid to meet with David, likely out of fear of what Saul might do to him, had he known he was harboring, not only harboring David, but giving him food and giving him weapons.
And David's mission was apparently so secretive that he left without those food, provisions and weapons.
And so David's first interaction as he goes into exile, in his desperation, as he lies to the priest, it's likely true that there are men that he will meet later on. We know that David collects his mighty men as he goes on in First Samuel. So that part is likely true. But he was fleeing from King Saul. He was in exile. That was the truth of the matter. He was not on a secret mission.
And so David, in his desperation and his loneliness, he sees no other option but to lie.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Have you ever been there?
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Have you ever lied in desperation to cover your tracks? Or maybe you didn't lie, but at best, maybe you've made poor decisions.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: I have.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: But the honest truth is sin is so prevalent within us and sin is so insidious, it really doesn't take a
[00:08:56] Speaker A: hopeless situation for us to bend the truth or to be deceptive in our hearts.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: No. Fear, desperation, the trappings of lies and deception that come with it become normalized
[00:09:12] Speaker A: when we're not anchored to the one who holds us fast, Jesus Christ.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: One of the beautiful aspects of this passage is that we will see where David's desperation truly led him.
But actions do have consequences.
There are consequences to David visiting the priest at Nob, and we won't see those consequences until next week. Sam will bring that to you. But for now, David lies to the priest, and after he does, he quickly changes the subject and we read on. In verse three, he says, now what do you have on hand? David says, give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.
The priest told him, there's no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat only if they have kept themselves from women. And David answers, I swear that women
[00:10:04] Speaker A: are being kept from us.
[00:10:06] Speaker B: As always, when I go out to battle, the young men's bodies are consecrated, even on an ordinary mission.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: So of course, their bodies are consecrated today.
So the priest gave him the consecrated
[00:10:18] Speaker B: bread, for there was no bread there
[00:10:20] Speaker A: except the bread of presence that had been removed from the presence of the Lord.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.
One of Saul's servants, detained before the
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Lord, was there that day. His name was Deg, the Edomite, chief of Saul's shepherds.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: David said to Ahimelech, do you have a spear or a sword on hand?
I didn't even bring my sword or
[00:10:45] Speaker A: my weapons since the king's mission was urgent.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: The priest replied, the sword of Goliath,
[00:10:51] Speaker A: the Philistine whom you killed in the
[00:10:53] Speaker B: valley of Elah, is here wrapped in
[00:10:55] Speaker A: a cloth behind the ephod.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: If you want to take it for
[00:10:59] Speaker A: yourself, then take it, for there isn't another one here.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: There is none like it.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: David said, give it to me.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: So in these verses, David asks the priest two questions. But in the middle of these questions, there's a brief comment about DEG, the Edomite in verse 7.
Sam will talk more about DEG next week.
We'll have to wait then to find out the significance. And it is a very significant presence
[00:11:25] Speaker A: that he has there.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: And it plays part of the tragic consequences that David will reap because of
[00:11:31] Speaker A: his visit to the city of Nam.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: But what we see before and after verse seven is this. We see physical examples, physical reminders of God's present provision and God's past deliverance in the life of David.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: How do we see this?
[00:11:47] Speaker B: Well, let's first talk about God's provision. David asked the priest for food.
Specifically, he asks him for five loaves of bread, but he'll take whatever can be found.
The only available bread, it says, is the consecrated bread, also known as the bread of Presence. Perhaps some of your Bibles say showbread.
No ordinary bread that could be eaten by anyone was available at the time. And the only people that were allowed to eat the consecrated bread were the priests. And only if ceremonial clean and only in a holy place, as described described
[00:12:18] Speaker A: in Leviticus 24 in the law.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Now, the bread of Presence was compromised of 12 loaves, or comprised of 12 loaves, signifying the 12 tribes of Israel, stacked on the tabernacle table in rows of two, in two rows of six. And it would have been baked fresh every Sabbath day and sat out on the tabernacle table.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: There's a slider somewhere that will pop up at the. Somewhere here.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: And that is a symbol. Well, this bread clearly wasn't there to feed Yahweh. The bread of Presence, as everything in the tabernacle and in the temple, was a symbol of something, a symbol of something exceedingly significant in the life of Israel.
And that is, it was a symbol of God's covenant promise of his presence with them and the fact that God sustains his people and supplies their needs, and he always will.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Let me repeat this.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Bread of Presence, as many things, if not all things in the tabernacle is a symbol of God's covenant promise, his presence with them, and the fact that God sustains his people and supplies their needs always.
Ahimelech the priest, even in his fear,
[00:13:39] Speaker A: recognized David was in dire circumstances. And so he allows David to eat
[00:13:44] Speaker B: the bread, and only if he was clean and they kept themselves from women,
[00:13:48] Speaker A: which David said that they had, so he gives him the bread to eat. Now, Jesus has something to say about
[00:13:55] Speaker B: this in Matthew chapter 12. Jesus points back to this text this morning and he provides some commentary even better he provides meaning as to what's
[00:14:06] Speaker A: going on here in first Samuel as
[00:14:09] Speaker B: a response to the Pharisees criticism of his disciples. If you recall plucking grain as they were going and eating it on the Sabbath, thereby breaking the law set down in Leviticus. Jesus replies to the pharisees in Matthew 12.
He points to this passage in 1st Samuel 21 in Matthew chapter 12. He says, he said to them, haven't you read what David did when he and those were with him hungry?
How he entered the house of God and they ate the sacred bread which is not lawful for him or for
[00:14:42] Speaker A: those with him to eat, but only for the priests.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Or haven't you read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent?
But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
If you'd have known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Anytime Jesus points back to a piece of Old Testament scripture, we must spend a little bit of time in it. We can't fully unpack what's going on here in Matthew. But I think it's important to point out a couple of things points to our main point that God graciously provides for us in times of desperation. Let me highlight two things in Jesus.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: Answer.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: In responding to the Pharisees critique of the disciples breaking the Sabbath, Jesus knows
[00:15:36] Speaker A: that the Pharisees have read the Word.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: That's what the Pharisees do.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: They read the Word. They simply have missed the point, as Pharisees do, they've missed the meaning.
Jesus is about to lay some truth on them as he usually does. First he says, but I tell you,
[00:15:54] Speaker B: which is a hint.
Jesus is about to completely change their way of thinking.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Jesus changes paradigms. It's what he does. It's who he is. Jesus turns things inside out and upside down.
Jesus fulfills the law.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: So he says something greater than the temple is here. Meaning of course himself.
Similar to what he says in John chapter two, destroy this temple and what in three days I will raise it up again.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: Pointing to his resurrection.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: He's telling them, listen to me.
Because I, Jesus, am the lens through which to view the promises of God. Because in this case, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I am God. Jesus has supreme authority. They were interacting with the very word of God that they claim to know and missed him, as they often did, right in front of him.
They couldn't see him.
So Jesus first tells them that I have the authority to interpret this Old Testament passage because I am the fulfillment
[00:17:03] Speaker A: of this Old Testament passage.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: I am the Word made flesh, I
[00:17:07] Speaker A: am the Lord of the Sabbath.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: So he establishes that truth with them. And the second thing Jesus says, if you'd had known what it means when I, when it says I desire mercy and, and not sacrifice, you wouldn't condemn innocent people.
Well, what was Jesus getting at? And what does that have to do with our text this morning about David?
[00:17:27] Speaker A: It's this.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: The sacrificial system, all of its trappings and temple worship cannot and does not compare to the importance of mercy.
Jesus quoting is quoting the prophet Hosea here who says on behalf of God in Hosea chapter six to an adulterous
[00:17:49] Speaker A: people, he says this, I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Now you'll notice in the Hosea quote it says steadfast love.
And in our text this morning it said Jesus, it says I desire mercy.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: And what it is is the Greek
[00:18:11] Speaker A: translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint translates this phrase steadfast love as mercy. So that's why the difference there.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: But Jesus is pointing, Jesus in Matthew is pointing to First Samuel and David
[00:18:26] Speaker A: and he highlights this truth that human need takes precedence over ceremonial law.
Human need takes precedence over religion, emphasizing
[00:18:38] Speaker B: mercy, emphasizing steadfast love, living out of
[00:18:43] Speaker A: compassion over rigid legalism.
Human need takes precedence over that.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: In Matthew, the actual intent of the Sabbath is what?
[00:18:54] Speaker A: It's to bring rest, it's to bring
[00:18:56] Speaker B: well being, not adherence to a legal obligation to God. In First Samuel, the actual intent of the law and the sacrificial system that exists to support it is simply a shadow. It's a symbol that points to God's
[00:19:10] Speaker A: covenant promise, the presence, his presence with
[00:19:13] Speaker B: them, and how God sustains his people.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: And that promise is Jesus Christ who perfectly fulfills the law. Jesus is the steadfast love of God.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Ahimelech, giving David the bread of presence to eat, thereby sustaining him in this hour of desperate need, points to our
[00:19:32] Speaker A: ultimate provision, the bread of life, Jesus Christ Church. We have to realize that.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: We have to realize that Jesus is
[00:19:41] Speaker A: our provision at all times.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Jesus is our provision in the good and in the bad, in the stressful, in the easy, in times of desperation and in times of quiet satisfaction.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: Jesus is your provision.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: He is the flow, the constant flow
[00:19:59] Speaker A: of refreshment, of rest, of well being in your soul.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: That's how we see God's present provision in David's life. In this passage and how we see it in our life. What about God's past deliverance?
Well, in verse eight, David asks for
[00:20:16] Speaker A: a spear or a sword. Doesn't matter which. He just says, do you have a spear? Do you have a sword? David is given the very sword of Goliath.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Now remember, this is the sword that
[00:20:26] Speaker A: David pulls from Goliath's sheath after he drops him with a slingshot in 1st Samuel 17.
And he uses this sword to sever his head.
He takes it back and he puts it on a stake and it prompts songs, if you recall of them, singing
[00:20:45] Speaker B: songs about David that were sung, that were the very songs that incited the
[00:20:50] Speaker A: jealousy of Saul that leads to his ultimate demise and exile and Saul wanting to kill him. This is the sword David is given.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: And I said everything in the temple was a symbol of something exceedingly significant
[00:21:03] Speaker A: in the life of Israel. And this sword of Goliath was likely kept as a trophy of sorts, a
[00:21:11] Speaker B: trophy of Israel's victory over the Philistines and a reminder of God's power and
[00:21:16] Speaker A: favor towards his chosen people.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: The sword would have kept, been kept, allegedly or apparently, in a tabernacle, carefully
[00:21:25] Speaker A: wrapped in cloth, as it says.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: It would have been placed behind the
[00:21:28] Speaker A: sacred ephod that the priests, priests would wear in the tabernacle during the sacrificial services.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: And what this sword represented is the
[00:21:38] Speaker A: very reminder that David needed as he entered into this period of desperate exile from King Saul. This is what he would have needed. He would have needed this reminder as he was going into further battles.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: Think back into Sam's sermon from 1st Samuel 17 about David and Goliath. Do you remember what Sam's main point is?
[00:21:56] Speaker A: Of course you do. You're good note takers.
[00:21:59] Speaker B: His point is this. The battle is the Lord's.
The battle is the Lord's. It's the Lord's doing that allows us to walk in strength and integrity.
And David would have needed this reminder
[00:22:13] Speaker A: for what he was about to go through, as I said, for the rest
[00:22:16] Speaker B: of almost the rest of First Samuel,
[00:22:18] Speaker A: for the next number of messages.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: David is in exile and he would
[00:22:21] Speaker A: have needed this sword as a reminder
[00:22:25] Speaker B: and as a useful tool to go
[00:22:26] Speaker A: into battle with as well, which would have been significant given the nature of how that sword was forged.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: So the battle is the Lord, and that's what it represents. And so David says, there's none like it.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Give it to me. The sword would have represented their testimony. It was their story of how God had saved them from the hands of the king of the giant Goliath. And so David takes this sword.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: And so the scene here where David
[00:22:56] Speaker A: eats the bread of presence and he's
[00:22:58] Speaker B: given the sword of Goliath is not
[00:23:00] Speaker A: a story of how David's deception is a means to an end. Because that's how we can read the story and think, oh, well, lies, deceptions, things of that nature, they're just a means to an end. Scripture just validates it. Well, we know that's not true.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: It's a reminder of God's present provision
[00:23:15] Speaker A: and past deliverance in the life, David,
[00:23:18] Speaker B: and for you and for me.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: It's a picture of God's steadfast love and his present provision and past deliverance from sin through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Never forget your testimony that sword was a testimony of the people of Israel what God had done in the past.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Never forget your testimony of what God
[00:23:40] Speaker A: has done in your life.
[00:23:42] Speaker B: Never forget how God has saved you
[00:23:44] Speaker A: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: Whether your story is one of a quiet, steadfast, boring, as Sam said earlier in the baby dedications, faithfulness to God
[00:23:56] Speaker A: as you grow up a Christian, perhaps that is your testimony. You don't think there's much to it, but there is.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Or maybe your testimony is one of shocking salvation in dire circumstances as an
[00:24:08] Speaker A: adult, where the spirit of the God quickened you to the Lord in an
[00:24:12] Speaker B: instant and the light went on in your. In your heart and in your mind,
[00:24:15] Speaker A: and you surrendered to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Regardless of which one of those are true, the same thing that has happened in your heart is the same thing that has happened in all of our hearts. And that is we have been brought from death to life.
Amen to that.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: So let's conclude and start to wind down in our passage.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: In verses 10 through 15, we read this. David fled that day from Saul's presence and he went to King Ahish of Gath. But Ahish's servants said to him, isn't this David the king of the land?
[00:24:51] Speaker B: Don't they sing about him during their dances?
[00:24:53] Speaker A: Saul has killed thousands, but David has ten thousands.
David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Ahish of Gath.
So he pretended to be insane in their presence.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: He acted like a madman around them,
[00:25:10] Speaker A: scribbling on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: Look, you can see the man is crazy.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Ahish said to his servants, why do
[00:25:20] Speaker B: you bring him to me? Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me. Is this one going to come into my house?
[00:25:31] Speaker A: You said there's not humor in Scripture.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: So having eaten the bread of presents and carrying the sword of Goliath, we
[00:25:38] Speaker A: read that David flees to the city of Gath.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: Now Gath is in now Philistine territory.
It's the hometown of Goliath. That's another 30 miles southeast of Nob
[00:25:49] Speaker A: where he had been. David is desperate. And in his desperation, David is pretty darn bold going into this hometown of Gath with the very sword of the giant Goliath that he killed.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: He then meets with King Ahish of Gath.
Now the servants of the king have
[00:26:09] Speaker A: heard of David by way of the popular song. Saul has killed his thousands, but David has ten thousands.
But look at verse 12.
David took this to heart.
And I find this very fascinating. What does it mean that David takes this to heart?
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Does it mean that David had fear only?
[00:26:32] Speaker A: I don't think so. I think there's something else in play here. There is legitimate fear that the text says so. It says that he took this to heart and he became very afraid of King Ahish of Gath. But David is in a fight or flight situation.
He's desperate, he's in Philistine territory.
[00:26:50] Speaker B: And to escape he has to act
[00:26:53] Speaker A: like a crazy man.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: And the king says, I've had enough crazy people in my life. I don't need another one.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: Send him away.
So was this just a case of David using his wit, acting like a madman, doing whatever it takes to escape?
Perhaps.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Or was it an example of David's
[00:27:14] Speaker A: desperation and lack of trust in God to deliver him out of this situation?
Not exactly sure, but I want to camp out a little bit on this phrase that David took this to heart.
Think about this. What do you do when you take things to heart?
Take them seriously, don't you?
You realize in those moments of your
[00:27:35] Speaker B: finiteness, you realize in those moments of
[00:27:38] Speaker A: your helplessness, perhaps you have a heightened awareness of your desperation. Perhaps you're coming to the grips that you're desperate.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Indeed, when you take things to heart,
[00:27:50] Speaker A: they affect the very core of your being. Yes, they shake you.
They may even lead you to despair.
[00:27:58] Speaker B: Taking something to heart may begin with confusion, but it ends in clarity.
You realize you have a decision to
[00:28:07] Speaker A: make, and it's a big one.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: That clarity for David, I believe, meant more than compelling him to act like a madman. I believe that this taking to heart
[00:28:18] Speaker A: in David drove him to the very throne of God. Let's remember this in our story of David. God is in this story, of course.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: But the lineage of Jesus comes through the day.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: The lineage of David. Correct.
God is sovereign over this. God is protecting, God is preserving.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: God is guiding. God is shaping. God is sovereign over all of these stories that we read about about David
[00:28:41] Speaker A: because his lineage leads to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the greater David.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: What God intends to be the result
[00:28:49] Speaker A: of your desperate situations are desperate cries of prayer.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: Prayer to the one who is sovereign
[00:28:55] Speaker A: over our desperate situations, but the one who listens and who acts, who is with us in the lonely places.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: So what does David do in this
[00:29:07] Speaker A: moment when he takes this to heart? So I would ask you to put on your theologian Bible caps.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: Adam.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: You can just turn your Bible cap around. There you go.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: And ask yourself this question. What do we know about David in
[00:29:25] Speaker A: all of Scripture that can be helpful to us in this situation?
We know that he was a writer, don't we?
[00:29:33] Speaker B: We know that he was a writer of Psalms.
Specifically, we know that he wrote Psalm 23.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: We sung it just a little while ago.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Even though I walk through the valley
[00:29:44] Speaker A: of the shadow of death, I will
[00:29:45] Speaker B: fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Now, we don't know that David wrote Psalm 23 during this situation or as a reflection after this situation. It's possible.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: But we do know that David was
[00:30:01] Speaker A: at his lowest here.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: We do know that he was in a most desperate situation.
Perhaps David acting crazy was in some
[00:30:10] Speaker A: way his crying out to God for deliverance.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: But if you know anything about the Psalms, if you read through the psalms, there are 14 Psalms, there's 150 total. But there's 14 Psalms that in that are introduced by the words that link them to incidents in David's life.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: There's an inscription in your Bibles, whether
[00:30:30] Speaker B: it's an app or a paper copy
[00:30:32] Speaker A: at the top of these 14 Psalms
[00:30:34] Speaker B: that link them to David, three of
[00:30:36] Speaker A: them, Psalm 34, 52 and 56, are
[00:30:39] Speaker B: linked specifically to David's time in exile
[00:30:43] Speaker A: that we're reading about today and that we will be reading about in the ensuing weeks.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: The title or the inscription in Psalm 34 says that it was written of the time of David. Listen. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away and left. Now, if you notice the the nuance there, Abimelech is not Ahimelech. Abimelech is just another name for the King of Gath, which in our text
[00:31:06] Speaker A: in 1st Samuel was ahish.
[00:31:09] Speaker B: But that's the inscription before Psalm 34
[00:31:12] Speaker A: is he pretended to be insane.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: So quite simply, in the Psalms, we see David's heart for God. Samuel said that when he told Saul, God has found a man after your
[00:31:20] Speaker A: own heart or after God's own heart.
[00:31:22] Speaker B: We see that in David's heart.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: Psalms.
[00:31:26] Speaker B: Now, these three Psalms that we can't talk about all three of them, can't unpack even one of them, but they are companion reading, and I would suggest that you go and you read them at some point over the next couple of weeks. Read these three Psalms 34, 52 and
[00:31:40] Speaker A: 56 as companion readings to what we're going through here.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: But as we wind down, as we close, I do want to say a few things about Psalm 34 that I
[00:31:49] Speaker A: think will be helpful for us this morning. So I would ask that you turn
[00:31:52] Speaker B: to Psalm 34 as we go through this. In 1st Samuel 21, we see the outward manifestation of David's desperation. We see lies, we see deception. We see him eating things he shouldn't be eating. We see fear, we see him acting like a crazy man. We see these outward manifestations of David's desperation. But in Psalm 34, we read what's going on inside David's heart.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: But when he took this to heart, in Psalm 34, verse 1, it says, I will praise the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord. The humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the Lord's greatness with me. Let us exalt his name together.
Did you hear that? I will praise the name of the Lord at all times.
Commenting on this psalm, James Boyce says this. He says, the person who has experienced God's mercy naturally looks to others. To praise God with corporate worship is
[00:32:59] Speaker B: one of the natural instincts of the
[00:33:01] Speaker A: new life of Christ in God's people.
I love that.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: I think this is one of the
[00:33:07] Speaker A: reasons the writer of Hebrews tells us not to neglect meeting together.
God's steadfast love should fuel our worship of him at all times and in everywhere, good or bad,
[00:33:23] Speaker B: and especially right now, right here, today, every Sunday, when
[00:33:28] Speaker A: we gather to worship, we should not neglect meeting together.
David was praising the Lord and he wanted those to join in with him, even in his dire circumstances. The second thing I would say is this. If David were here in person today and you could explain your situation to him, if you could unpack all that you take to heart, all that's in your heart of depression, of anxiety, of desperation, of loneliness, of sadness, of sin that seems to get the best of you constantly that you just can't seem to conquer. If he was here and you could
[00:34:09] Speaker B: unpack all of that to David, do
[00:34:11] Speaker A: you know what he would say to you?
He would say, beginning in verse four, I sought the Lord and he answered me, and he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: David says, this man, this man poor. This man, this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him
[00:34:35] Speaker A: from all his troubles.
[00:34:37] Speaker B: The angel of the Lord encamps around
[00:34:39] Speaker A: those who fear him and rescues them.
Consider these words in light of our passage today. David is at his lowest point.
[00:34:53] Speaker B: He is utterly alone.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: He has fled from Saul.
[00:34:56] Speaker B: He has no friends. He has no bodyguard. He has no food. He has no weapons. He has literally nothing. Wasn't even sure if he would escape,
[00:35:04] Speaker A: escape with his life. This psalm is for you and for me. This psalm is for poor men and poor women, poor in spirit, for all who are alone and destitute.
It's for you, it's for me.
If you have nothing, perhaps you aren't even certain if you will live long.
It's for those who are at the lowest point in their life.
As David was spiritually dry, hopelessly lost.
This is what David has for us. This is what is in his heart.
[00:35:42] Speaker B: The third thing I want to say
[00:35:43] Speaker A: is David closes out Psalm 34, where he's pouring out his heart to God after taking heart. He says the righteous verse 17. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near, the brokenhearted. He saves those crushed in spirit. Did you hear that? The Lord is near, the brokenhearted.
He saves those crushed in spirit.
Whose heart do we hear there?
The very heart of Jesus, the greater David.
David had a heart for God, and that heart was tuned in to God, the God who is compassionate, the God of steadfast love, who is near, the brokenhearted, who saves the crushed in spirit.
David knew God was with him. He knew that God was providing and protecting and shaping his very heart in the midst of his desperation and exile. And so David does the only thing
[00:36:50] Speaker B: that he can truly do.
[00:36:51] Speaker A: In his desperation. He turns his heart to praise and worship God, the God who is with him in his lonely places.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: In David, as we know from reading
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Scripture, David is a sinful man.
David does some pretty heinous things in his life.
He is a sinful man.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: However, we're also given in David an
[00:37:16] Speaker A: example of what it looks like to be a man or a woman after God's own heart. Even in our sin, even in our rebellion doesn't mean perfection.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: But it does mean honesty in our
[00:37:29] Speaker A: profession doesn't mean perfection. We are not perfect. David was not perfect. He knew that. We know that about ourselves.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: But it does mean that we are honest in our imperfection and that honesty
[00:37:43] Speaker A: in our imperfection can only lead to. To two things. Confession and repentance to God.
Seek his forgiveness for your sin and
[00:37:54] Speaker B: your willful rebellion of him.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: And trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
[00:38:00] Speaker B: As we close this out band, I
[00:38:02] Speaker A: would invite you to come back up. Where do you turn? Church?
[00:38:06] Speaker B: Where do you turn in your times of desperation and in your times of illness?
Could be large or could be small.
We don't have to be talking about times of desperation where you're running from the law.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: I hope no one here is.
[00:38:18] Speaker B: It doesn't have to be times where we're literally at the bottom of our barrel.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: But some of you probably are.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: We can trust God even in the small things. And I believe that faith and trust
[00:38:30] Speaker A: are muscles that require regular exercise.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: That if we're not trusting God in those small things in our lives, when the large things hit, what happens? I'll tell you what happens to me.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: Panic strike sets in very quickly and that's where poor decisions happen that can have tragic consequences.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: Trusting God. Repentance and faith in Christ is intended to be the lifestyle of the Christian. And God is always steadfast and faithful
[00:38:59] Speaker A: to hear us and welcome us back into his fold.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: We see a heart of compassion, understanding. In 1st Samuel 21 we see a life giving moment where we could see
[00:39:12] Speaker A: death by legalism, death by religion.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Because that's where legalism and religion will
[00:39:17] Speaker A: always lead to frustration and to death. That is the way of the world. Instead, we get to see Jesus.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: We see the foreshadowing of the One in this passage. The foreshadowing of the One and the only One who can take our burden, who can take our burdened, angry, lonely,
[00:39:35] Speaker A: desperate hearts that have been left to
[00:39:37] Speaker B: the ways of the world, kicked to
[00:39:39] Speaker A: the curb and left for dead.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: And God takes our heart by the power of his spirit and he breathes
[00:39:46] Speaker A: new life into us.
That's what we see here today.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: We see a life being given back to David that would sustain him for the rest of his life as David looks back and remembers what God has
[00:39:58] Speaker A: done in his life and in the life of Israel.
What about you?
[00:40:05] Speaker B: For some of you, the good news this morning is a reminder that God has saved you.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: And if that's true, praise God.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: Pray verses 1 to 3 and Psalm 34. And invite others to praise that with you.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: That's.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: That's part of the reason we come to church on Sundays to celebrate the
[00:40:22] Speaker A: goodness that God has been to us.
[00:40:25] Speaker B: But for those of you today who are chained to the ways of the world by the sin that leads to death, Jesus the good shepherd today is
[00:40:34] Speaker A: calling you to respond to him, perhaps for the first time.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: If you have not yet trusted the
[00:40:44] Speaker A: Lord Jesus as your Savior, if you've not yet submitted to Jesus Christ and
[00:40:49] Speaker B: taken refuge in him, if you have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good good and that all of what I'm talking about makes sense, if it doesn't, then you haven't.
Know that the Lord's heart is open for your cry of rescue this morning, believer.
Know that, that the Lord is here knocking on your heart in your time of desperation and in your time of need, when you're trying to make sense out of what this life is all about. As you desperately put your hope in the corrupt things of the world, those bright and shiny objects, those fleeting feelings and experiences that cannot and will not satisfy your needs. As you bounce from relationship to relationship or lament the lack thereof, you are wearing yourself out. To you, Jesus says this.
Come to me, all of you who
[00:41:43] Speaker A: are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
[00:41:47] Speaker B: All of you take up my yoke
[00:41:49] Speaker A: and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
To get there, to get there, to receive Jesus, all it takes, and this
[00:42:04] Speaker B: is no small thing, it takes an
[00:42:07] Speaker A: acknowledgement of that sin, of your sin.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: Sin is not a theory. Sin is personal.
It takes an acknowledgement that you are hopeless in your efforts to find value and meaning in this life outside of Christ.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: Christ only will satisfy your needs.
[00:42:25] Speaker B: Acknowledge your sin, confess and repent your sin, turn to Christ as your Savior, accept his unconditional love for you, accept his grace and then follow him because God provides graciously.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: In your time of desperation, the question is this, how are you going to respond this morning?
Let's pray. Father, we are grateful for Jesus.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: We are grateful, Father, that you. That you have taken some of us
[00:43:02] Speaker A: and that you have turned our lives upside down.
[00:43:07] Speaker B: And I am grateful that right now,
[00:43:08] Speaker A: in this moment, you are literally turning some other folks hearts and their world upside down to get their attention, that they would come to an understanding that what the world offers is hopeless.
Hope is only found in Jesus.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: So Father, I thank you, Father, for
[00:43:26] Speaker A: that truth, for all of us. Continue to drive that truth deeper into our hearts so that we would love God more and more with all of our heart and that we would love others as ourselves. Lord, we thank you for this time. Lord, we pray this in Jesus name as we do each week, and we
[00:43:46] Speaker B: spend a time of reflection and response.
I would invite you to do just that, to reflect on what has been said today. God has been speaking to you in some way.
There is a next step for you to take.
So spend some time thinking about that, praying through that, asking the Holy Spirit
[00:44:05] Speaker A: to illuminate and guide you.
[00:44:07] Speaker B: If you need anybody to help you through that process, I'm available. Sam is available.
[00:44:12] Speaker A: There are others in the room as well.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: And after you have sat and prayed and thought and pondered and taken some of these things to heart, whether it's your current sinful condition or you're praising
[00:44:23] Speaker A: the Lord because He has rescued you, I invite you to come and take communion.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: We talked about the Bread of presence being a symbol, something exceedingly different. Excuse me, exceedingly significant in the life of Israel. A symbol of God's covenant, promise of his presence with them and how God sustains you.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: That is what communion is to us as well.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: It's a symbol of something powerful.
It's a symbol of Christ's union with us in his death and in his resurrection. We are united with Christ. We are brought to new life.
And I invite you, after a time
[00:45:01] Speaker A: of reflection, if you were in Christ, to come and take and eat, take the bread,
[00:45:09] Speaker B: church, do the work that you need to do right now, and then come.
