1 Samuel 22:1-5 From Fear To Refuge

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Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:09

All right. First Samuel 22, verse 1 will read today. So just a little review. We are considering the life of David, which takes us primarily to 1st and 2 Samuel. Now, we're not just looking at the history, although I'm all for history. We are really looking at the change in David's life. That there's this thing that God is more interested in working in us than really through us. There was a plan for David to be king, but he had some growing to do. He had years of running and learning to trust God. And God does the same thing with us. It's this idea of sanctification, this process of God making us a little more like him. It was his failure. He's running from Saul and he runs to the priests. Not a bad place to run, the house of God. But there, um, in fear rather than faith, he he begins to lie about what's going on. He doesn't even tell the truth to the priest there. And from there, he actually goes to the incase of God with Saul. He goes to anchor there in Yah. And when things go south and it's not looking so good for him, he feigns uh craziness, you know, insanity. He's scratching on the door, he's drooling all over himself. And and and you see where David Ken in this place of fear, uh, he lies, he he's a fake, and it's not a real good place for him. Now we've considered at the very end last week, Psalm 34, and we saw some vital things here that led to change in David's life in Psalm 34. Uh David comes clean with this idea of lying. Don't let don't let lies be on your lips. Um, he comes to a place of repentance where not just in his heart he admits that he was wrong, in his actions he begins to change direction. That's what repentance means. And it's so important that our life isn't just based on our feelings or even our words, but our actions as well. And there's this determination we saw last week that he decides, I will bless the Lord at all times. Um, this determination to trust God. Now, he's brought to a new place here in chapter 22. After this ugly place of fear, there's this new place in chapter 22 of 1 Samuel. It's a cave, right? And you can get through that. It's a cave. Cave, I I feel, uh, deals with solitude in some ways, doesn't it? Don't you just feel sometimes like you're having a bad day? I'm just gonna find a cave and go lay down. You know, uh, solitude. Um, it's safety, right? Um, Elijah in his life, he ran into a cave when he was being chased by Jezebel. Um, it's just that place of safety. Now, um, David is there alone, and we'll see that more people are added to him there in the cave. Um, but let's read our passage here before we get too far. David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adulum, where when his brothers, so when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them, and there were about four hundred men with him. And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, please let my father and my mother come here with you till I know what God will do for me. So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Um, so here we see David, and and he's he's in a cave. Now, for us, we can picture it. Maybe it's those caves in Branson, right? They were big caves in Israel. They were long, you know, uh expansive caves. Um, 400 people with their family survived in that area, according to this. Um, but you can picture it. But David, I think, flashed back to his time as a shepherd. This was a common shepherd place to be at night. When you wanted to bunk down with the sheep there, you would find a place like a cave. It makes sense. There's only one way in, one way out. And the shepherd would lay down at the front of the cave, and the sheep would be inside, be safe. So here, David named flashing back to his days of a shepherd, and maybe he thought some of the same thought, same thought in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I'm safe here. Nobody can get to me. And and he found a lot of comfort in that. But what do you learn in this um cave? There, we want to turn to Psalm 142. So turn from Psalm 22 to Psalm 142. Um, not all the Psalms have an explanation of when they took place, when David wrote those psalms, but Psalm 142, as well as Psalm 57, have a heading for us. Notice Psalm 142, a contemplation of David, a prayer when he was in the cave. So there is these alone theme in this cave. David thought. Let's read Psalm 142 to get a little picture of what's going on in David's heart. I cry out to the Lord with my voice, with my voice to the Lord and make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path, in the way in which I walked. They have secretly set a snare for me. Look on my right hand and see. For there is no one who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me. No one cares for my soul. I cried to you, O Lord. I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name. The righteous soul shall surround me, for you shall deal bountifully with me. So here's David's thoughts while in the cave. There's a little bit of darkness, of course. Verse 4 and 5, he says, uh, no one cares. No one cares about me, but God you care about me. Umtice um verse 4. Um refuge has failed me. Um, there's nowhere for protection. He he looked at all around him, but God is my refuge in verse 5. Now, David names this cave um Abdulan, which means refuge of the people. So it's neat that this place became a little bit of a refuge, but it was what he felt about God. God was like this cave all around him, protecting him and keeping him safe. Um God cared. Nobody cared what God gave. Um, and uh he took care of David. I think these verses show that. You know, notice he also says there, um, verse six my enemies are stronger than I. Um he thought about it. God, I can't get away from Saul. He's got an army, he's chasing me down. He's stronger than I am. But check it out. He came to this right perspective that we all need to come to. That, but nobody is stronger than God. Nobody is bigger than God, nobody is more powerful than God. Um, we saw that in Psalm 34, where David says, Magnify the Lord with me. And it's that idea, come back, it's that idea of making God big. Now you can't make God any bigger than he is. He is great, he is big, you can't stop that in any kind of way. But we get such a small perspective of God when we see our problems, right? When you see the bills, when you see the illness, you you you get this small picture of God, and everything else seems so big, and God seems so small. But the reality is, God is so much bigger. There's nothing greater than God. We have to have that perspective. Now, look at verse 7, it leads David to a confidence in verse 7. This is how it all ends there for him. He says, Um, bring my soul out of prison that I may praise your name, the righteous shall surround me, for you shall deal bountifully uh with me. Now, this isn't a name it and claim it kind of thing, but this is just knowing who God is. God, you're gonna deal bountifully with me. God, you're gonna be faithful. And when you consider the idea of God's faithfulness, and David could have looked back in his history, in his past, and said, God, you were faithful. And when I faced the life and sling one around and that rock went and lit him, it wasn't my strength, God, it was your strength. God, you were faithful to take care of me against that big guy. He could have looked back to his history, God, you've been faithful. But really, to understand the character of God, the attribute of God, that God is faithful. Now, check it out. That doesn't mean that God just does faithfully, intends to be faithful. He is faithful. So he can't be anything but faithful, no matter what life looks like. God will not be unfaithful. It's not in his character. So the conclusion is, God, you most certainly will deal bountyfully with me because that's who you are. You're gonna do what you said you're gonna do. I'm gonna be king, David might think. Now, a lot of strength was found in that cave. Um, but but David was taking um comfort in the Lord. Now, back in 2 Samuel, I think, back in 2 Samuel, um, really early on there. Uh so verse 1, his brothers uh and all his family's father's house heard of this, and they went down there to him. So as David's sitting there, just picture it. His family comes around the corner, right? They're in the wilderness. It's a little bit of a reunion, and and I'm sure it was a wonderful comfort to have his family, right? I'm sure his mom brought, just guessing, you know, his mom brought his favorite meal and probably like the pillow he left at home, you know, like oh mom, you know. And and and you know, his family came. But now notice verse 2 and everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to him, and he became captain over them. So another group comes, and it's not a small group, right? Day after day of the same people just coming out to the cave uh to to find David. 400 men plus their families. Now, they're not exactly a band of married men here, as Robin Hood perhaps had. Umtice their description, they were in distress, in debt, and discontented. Right? This is a group that gathers around David. Now, later on, David has this army. This is where the army, David's army, starts. They're known as David's mighty men. And in 2 Samuel 23, um, these mighty men do some radical things, face giants and armies and all sorts of things. You can read about what these guys become, but right now they're not a very good-looking group of guys, uh, in debt, in distress, discontented. Let's look at this real quick. Notice they were in distress. Um, the word here describes being in a narrow place with no way out. Um in distress. Man, I've got my notes all out of order. This is not their work night. Okay, we're not supposed to let me know about that. They were in distress, right? And you can imagine. You can imagine they were pressed in on the spotties. Uh, this is the way they felt in life. Um, much like the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. Do you remember that? They came out of Egypt and God delivered them, and da da da. And and they came to the Red Sea, and there were cliffs on each side of them, a red sea in front of them, and Pharaoh's army comes barreling down behind them, and they freak out, right? Uh, they were that's what this idea of distress means. It means to be enclosed in a narrow spot, and God delivered them in this distress, and that's wonderful to see here. Um, they were in debt. Uh, God had said about Saul that this king will tax you for all of his projects. He will take, take, take. And so it turns out economically, these folks were in debt. And because of that, they were discontented, right? Uh, they became discontented. And and here, David has this group of men around him, uh, that he becomes their leader and their captain. Fellowship is a wonderful thing. I am so grateful for the fellowship that I have with you guys, friends in my life. Man, it is so nice that God gives us people to relate to and encourage. Uh, and David here now, he has this group around him to encourage him, this community. Um, but here again we see you know, God's working on David. Just trust me, I'll provide for you, I'll keep you safe. Um, but at the same time, God's also doing this radical thing of making him look more like Jesus. Because there's no way to get around it in this. These are the kind of people that Jesus draws to himself as we look at this. We see really ourselves in it, don't we? Uh notice um they're uh those in distress. We don't realize how much distress we're actually in in life without Jesus. We're surrounded. Our sins are surroundedness, there's no way out. And Jesus becomes our salvation, opens up the Red Sea, and parts it down. Um this being death, being in death is a horrible thing, isn't it? I don't know. Maybe no, maybe some of you have never experienced being in debt. Uh, but I have made some pretty foolish decisions in my married life, and you get to that point where you see the balance and you see how much you have, and you go, oh man, what am I gonna do? Well, we know we have a debt. The wages of sin is death. You knew it! Good job, faith plus, and and it is, but when look at that, it's so easy to sing that verse. The wages of sin is death, and and yet there was nothing we could do to pay that debt. We were overwhelmed, and yet on the cross, Jesus said it is finished. Paid in full as an accounting term, it is finished. That's what it means, paid in full. So when we look at our debt, Jesus on the cross paid our debt for us. Um but also these folks were discontented. Now, there's a lot of times in my life that I felt discontented, but that word means bitterness, right? It's when you taste something and you go, oh, oh, that wasn't what I expected. Bitter, you get that look on your face, right? You know, you see that bitter look on your face. Doesn't I feel that way sometimes when we look at the news? Right? There is lots of bitter news. Kidnappings and murders and wars and scandals, right? All over the place. And your face can always be in that bitter, oh gosh, it's just bitter. Life without Jesus is so bitter. Remember the children of Israel there in the book of Exodus. They came out of Egypt and and they're thirsty, and God led them to a pool of water. Yes, pool of water. And they all ran down to it. They start drinking like you would a you know, bottle of Gatorade kind of thing, and and they find out it's bitter, they spit it out, it's toxic, you know? And and and they called the place bitterness. They called it Mara. And and God told Moses, here's how you deal with that. Water's bitter. See that tree over there, Mo? Yeah, see that tree. I want you to chop that tree down and throw it in the water. Okay, I will do lots of things Moses had to do. Well, it says he threw the tree in and it became sweet. Now, I bet it was the best water you could find after that. But God turned it sweet. And of course, that's a wonderful picture for life. Life is bitter, sickness and death, and just bitterness of life. And yet, we throw the tree in. Peter says the tree is a picture of the cross that Jesus died on the tree, right? And and and so we throw the cross in and it changes everything, right? There's still difficulty in life, but everything changes. Death can be so bitter. Like, have you ever been to a funeral? It's death, it's it's hard. But when a person is truly a believer, and you go, but I know they're in heaven, and I know one day I'm gonna see him again. And you find yourself smiling at a funeral because death doesn't have any power with the cross. And God takes the most bitter things of our life, and he works all things together for the good, right? Because of what Jesus did for us. And so, once again, here we have this opportunity to see Jesus as David runs to a cave, and certainly it was a comfort to be in that cave. Feel safe. Some solitary time there with God. God works in his heart, shows him this perspective of his goodness and his greatness. And then all these folks just gather around David. Wonderful fellowship. People who have been distressed and discontented and in debt. But but now they have the enemies online. But that's that's just a picture of a very small picture of what Jesus does for us at the cross. So, God, uh, we need all those truths this week. Uh life can be very bitter. And and our times can be bitter and hard sometimes. But God, I know you want to bring us sweetness, even how with some of the worst times. God, you can because we have hope. God, you see how death, we see how everything's just closed in on us without sin and death. There's no hope. But God, you loved us, and he provided a way for us to be forgiven. Uh to have all that debt taken away. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God. Is eternal life. In Christ Jesus, because of what you've done for us. And God, we do want to thank you once again for your cross, for your love, demonstrated for each one of us. God, we can come to you with all of our mess ups, all of our sin, our unrighteousness, unrighteous thoughts who come to you and return to you. God, we want what you have for us. We don't want our own lives. God help us to receive that gift of salvation. Not because we understand all of it, but because you said God, it's true. God help us to know that a little bit more this week. Help us to rest in that. God been faithful in so many ways. God, you'll be faithful to us this week. God be with my friends, pray watch over them and keep them safe. Encourage and strengthen them in every way until immediately. Amen. Amen.