The Cave of Adullam - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Samuel chapter 22 beginning in verse one. David departed from there and escaped to the Cave Of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was in bitter bitter in soul gathered to him, and he became commander over them. And there were with him about 400 men.

And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, please let my father and my mother stay with you till I know what God will do for me. And he left them with the king of Moab, and he stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, do not remain in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah.

So David departed and went into the Forest Of Harith. Let's pray together. Father, in this session, we ask that you would help us again, dependent upon you. But lord, we ask a very specific request that you would encourage those that find themselves in a cave today. And Lord, if one might not find themselves in the same position David was in, would you bring these words to remembrance if we do find ourselves in a cave at one time in our lives?

So, lord, we just pray not for ears to hear, but lord a heart to receive and for these words to remain. We trust in you, lord. And we pray that you would breathe life into us through these texts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Acts thirteen twenty two, probably one of the most glorious things that God could say about a man in covenant with him. In that one verse that we will explore in the next session, it says that God testifies of David that he found something in him. And what he found in David was a heart after God's. What a glorious testimony. Can you imagine being told by God that he looks in you and what he finds in you, what he sees in your heart is a man or a woman after his own.

David was such a man. What a thrilling idea. What a title to pursue. But based on these verses, we learned something. That to be a man or a woman with such a testimony given by God or to pursue such a reality in this life does not mean that we are exempted from the arrows of affliction in our lives.

That pursuit and walking in that obedience and that heart posture does not mean that you will live a life free from trials and temptations, moments in which you sense God's silence. Because when we do set our hearts on God and we do pursue him, you better believe that you can expect mountaintop experiences. God invites us. He he says seek my face. He says, come to me, and I will tell you things that you've never known.

Come into me. Come to my presence. Open this word, and I will reveal things too. It's an invitation into higher ground with God. But in God's wisdom, in God's knowing, in God's providence and His sovereignty, in knowing how to deal with us, not only will He lead us onto mountain tops, He will bring us into caves.

Now what does it mean to be on a mountain top? We all have that general understanding. I remember we had a retreat up in California, and it was on top of a mountain. I believe it was over 5,000 feet up. And we took the time to stop at different altitudes, and every single time, it just took my breath away, and I want to stay there.

Yet the person who took me and was familiar with that hill said there's more. There's more. And And I thought to myself, how can it be more than this? I mean, I see the whole land. He says, no, no, no.

There's greater heights. And I thought to myself, this is how God speaks to us, does he not? That when you reach a point in your relationship with God where you've come to a place, you've come to a height, you've come to a destination in which you see things that you never thought you could see. God says there's more. And He brings you up and it takes your breath away.

And sometimes you've come to a place in your relationship with God where he says, lord, exactly how my heart feels towards you right now, this faith that I feel and the presence that I sense and the obedience that I I'm longing to fulfill. Lord, would you keep me here? Would you keep me here? Have you ever said that in your relationship with God where he was more real to you than anything, and you just tell God, you said, Lord, just don't let this leave. I wanna stay right in this place.

Those are those mountaintop experiences in which you get a perspective on God that is beyond the average understanding. It goes beyond commonality. He he lets you see a facet of his beauty, and that glimpse alone is worth any trial. That glimpse alone is worth all the fasting and the praying and the striving. Is it not?

And when we get there, we say, lord, keep me here. But there are also k's, which is something completely and entirely different. Those moments, those seasons in which we find ourselves in a place in which there seems to be no sense of direction. You find yourself in a place not on top of mountain. You find yourself in a mountain.

You don't even know how to take your next step. If anything gets cold, it's frigid. There's a sense of not knowing. The unknown begins to creep in and almost makes you feel like you freeze in place with your relationship with god. And we all desire for the mountaintop moments.

We strive for those things, and we should. But would you believe would you believe that our experiences on the mountaintops are one thing, but there is something to be experienced in the cave that a mountaintop cannot offer you. Here's David. He slays Goliath. He receives attention and praise from the people of Israel.

He's recruited into Saul's army. He marries one of his daughters. And all for a sudden all for a sudden, he finds himself isolated in a gloomy, cold, frigid cave. How can it be? The man with the anointing, the man with the calling, why is he in a cave when he should be in a palace?

God set him apart. God revealed the plan. But now he find himself here alone. And all those songs were just echoes of memories and the comforts of the palace are no more. And the warmth of people's presence is no longer there.

It's because Saul is pursuing him. Saul has let that jealousy so creep into his heart that he begins to pursue David, possessed by the spirit of jealousy. And David can't go home because Saul knows where he lives, and he can't stick close enough because Saul's familiar with the territory. And so he crawls into a carved hole on the side of a mountain. What we have to understand about David is that he did not find himself in this position because of his own sin.

He did not provoke this upon himself. All David did was simply stay obedient. He was righteous. He was walking with God. He was just doing what God called him to do.

And now he just is led into this place, which tells you and me something. That obedience to God does not mean that we, again, are free from problems in life. We see that throughout the scriptures. You obey God, and he'll lead you into places where you never thought you would be. And perhaps you've never been there.

Perhaps you've been walking on a mountaintop experience for years. But do not be surprised if all for a sudden things go against what you thought your life would turn out to be. All it takes is a moment. All it takes is a phone call. All it takes is just a bad day.

You you never know what might come. And you realize I'm just I'm I'm here walking in obedience. I'm walking in righteous. God, I'm not there's no sin in me I don't think. Lord, search me and know me.

Why am I here? And there's silence. Lord, I'm willing to repent. Would you just show me? And there's silence.

I'm reading your word every day. Why do I feel dead inside in the silence? We see here David is being pursued by another. He's being hunted by another. And so when I follow Jesus, when I said yes to him, when I answered the call, that does not mean it eliminates the reality and the possibility of somebody betraying me, or sickness afflicting me, or loneliness being a part of the journey, or the enemy coming like Saul and trying to frustrate the plan of God in your life.

If anything, when you answer the call, you're inviting that into your life. And so you might not be in a cave today. Man after God's heart, woman after God's heart. But maybe you will find yourself in that position one day. And if you do, remember these words.

And if you can't relate what it feels like to be in a cave, then perhaps we can just read what David said when he was in a cave. We don't have any recorded words here, but Psalms 57 does. Psalms 57 and Psalms one forty two. But Psalms 57 verse one. You can turn there if you want, but I'm just gonna read it.

Psalms 57 verse one. This is what David says. Be merciful to me, oh, God. Be merciful to me. For in you, my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by. Till the storms of destruction pass by. Psalms one forty two verse four. Look to the right and see. There is none who takes notice of me.

No refuge remains to me. No one no one no one cares for my soul. Psalms one forty two verse seven. Bring me out of prison. Bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to your name.

The righteous will surround me for you will deal bountifully with me. Storms of destruction, a sense of abandonment, feeling like you are paralyzed in prison, why would God allow his chosen vessel to experience such dark and dreadful things? Well, it's because moments in a cave hear me very carefully. There are moments in a cave. There is a season in a cave that is necessary to carve out something in you that a mountain top cannot carve out.

There's something in those seasons in which God can pull something out of you. There's something that he can create through you. There's something that he must do in you that requires that kind of an atmosphere, that requires that kind of a season, that requires that kind of sensation. It needs that environment for something to be birthed. And if you want God to extract the most out of your life, if you want God to come in and to carve the image of his son, expect a cave, not just the mountain tops.

What do I mean by cave? I mean James. James one two, and four. Count it all joy. Only a Christian can say that.

Every time I read that verse, I realize only a Christian can say, count it all joy. What? When souls get saved after you preach a message? When people pat you on the back and say you are so godly and inspired by no. Count it all joy when what?

When you face and meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect. Let it. I mean, when it comes, let it have its full effect on your life. Why? Because it produces something in you that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Count it all joy. Why? Because there's something in the testing of your faith. There's something that carves out a perfection. There's it deals with the areas of your life that if you were in another season of life, it would not be touched.

And so you must count it all joy because there is a sanctification. There's a degree of cleansing and purity that is awaiting you. There's something that God wants to pull out of you. And so with that revelation, we can say all things work together for the good. All things.

We know that verse. Right? It's probably on your coffee cup. But why all things work together for my good? Why do I why do I why do I have that confidence?

Because of the next verse. Because you and I have been predestined to something as believers. Predestined to what? To be conformed into the image of his son. So you have to link those two verses together.

I can trust that all things in my life, no matter what's thrown at me, no matter what season I'm walking to, no matter what hell I'm experiencing. Why? Because as a believer, I've been predestined. I've been predestined. When I came into Christ, when I got into the car, the GPS has been set, and it's set to a destination.

What destination? Christ likeness. That's where I'm going. No matter what, it's thrown at me. I'm set.

I'm going towards that. And no matter what comes my way, god has predestined it for me to be conformant to the image of his son. Praise be to god. There is no losing in the Christian life. Amen.

It's a win win. Do you believe that? To live is Christ. To die is gain. Let me live more of Christ.

Let me die. I see Christ. It's a win win. As one person said, it's two heads on the same coin. Heads or tails?

Heads. Heads. It's heads heads. What a glorious faith we have. So there's something here.

In the cave, that cave, that trial, that season of God's silence, that sense of not knowing the next direction in my life, that persecution, that affliction, anything, name it, that puts you in a place in which it tests your faith and the quality of it, you're in a cave. You're in a cave. So what happens in the cave? Why does God allow David to go through it? What Why does he allow believers to experience it?

Because it affects something. And number one, it affects it affects it affects our relationship with him. When I go into that cave, as glorious as the mountaintop is, that cave, there's something in that moment that affects my relationship with God for the better. Notice I quoted two Psalms. Psalms 57, Psalms one forty two.

Why? Because those Psalms were believed to be written in this season of David's life. That he penned those writings during Samuel, first Samuel 22. Because there's a moment in a cave that creates a cry in your heart for God that would not be a reality otherwise. Is that not true?

It requires a little turbulence in our lives, some of us, for our prayer lives to get back intact. Does it not? God knows how to use moments to bring you back to your knees and to get you back on your face. And David, when he wrote, God, let these storms of destruction pass by. See, it was in the storm that David was able to write a song.

There's something out of that storm that God wants to create. And and through David's life, it was this intimate language before God in which you and I are benefiting of today. That Psalm could not have been produced if he was always on the mountain top. That that sense of desperation for God and that crying out to him would not be as extreme, lest he came to this place. Because it is in those moments, brothers and sisters, that we really experience something of God in a different way.

There's something there. We we find ourselves in these seasons, and it's almost like we can step out of ourselves and look at ourselves and say, how in the world am I still alive? When you step out of yourself and you say, I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to another day. I can't believe I'm even getting out of bed. And you realize that the strength that you have is not from you.

It's from God himself. You realize the very the very fact that you can get up and put a smile on your face and get to church and sing songs. You realize this is not me. If this was me before Christ, I would have crumbled to find powder. Not only that, there is in some sense, in some mysterious way.

I cannot explain it. And guess what? A lot of things concerning God, we we have to just trust and not try to figure out. But there is a sense of the nearness of God sometimes in those moments. What did Paul say at the end of his second letter to Timothy?

He says, you know what, Timothy? Everybody deserted me. Everybody deserted me, but the Lord stood by me. You know, everybody abandoned me. Nobody stuck with me here.

But I can tell you what, I felt the nearness of God like never before. I sensed his strength. He says he stood by me and he strengthened me. Be careful when you ask God, I wanna come near to you. He just might use a cave to do it.

You realize that? Oh, lord. I wanna know your nearness. I wanna know your comfort. Then let me put you in an uncomfortable situation.

Oh, lord. I wanna see I I say this more than once. So many people, we wanna see the miraculous. We wanna see God intervene. Then God will put you in a situation that requires his intervention.

If everything is going smooth, he's not gonna need to intervene. And so even in these seasons, God uses it for what? For us to draw nearer to him. And ultimately, how it affects our relationship with God is that we will see his faithfulness when he brings us out of that season. David knew this when he was in the cave.

David really believed this. Even though he couldn't see it right away, he had a revelation of the faithfulness of God. And I'll read it from Psalms fifty seven three. Look what he says. He will send from heaven and save me.

He'll do it. Just picture David in that cave. Here he is alone, probably crying out, and that voice of his is echoing through weird critters crawling around. And here he's saying, he will save me. He will send from heaven and save me.

He will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness, which also tells us something of vital importance when we find ourselves in these types of seasons. Don't you dare cut off communication with God. Oh, don't do it. If anything, it must be enhanced in those moments.

And so there's some people who think that if they unburden themselves, if they give their heavy hearts to God, it's a it's a sign of unbelief. I just have to pretend that everything is good and just put on a smile and not just pretend the situation is not happening because that's faith. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. And I'm just gonna trust God.

That's fine. You can trust God, but you have every right. In fact, God invites you to open your heart and sing, here I am. Lord, I'm a mess. I don't understand it, Lord.

Because as you approach God in such a manner, whether you realize it or not, it is an act of faith. It is an act of faith. When you cry out to God and you unburden your soul before Him, do you realize that pleases Him? Because you're acknowledging at least three things when you do that in those painful seasons of your life. Number one, you believe that God exists.

And that if we are to approach him, we must believe that he exists, Hebrews tells us. You're acknowledging that he hears you in those moments, and you got his attention. Secondly, you trust him with your worries and your cares. Cast all your anxieties on the lord for he cares for you. Not some of your anxieties, not just the big things.

Right? We would just wanna give the big things to god, and god will handle the little things. He says, no. Give me the little things. Give it all.

Lay it all on my feet. Be like Hezekiah and take those threats and take those worries and and bring them before me in my house. And lastly, you're believing that God will do something about it or you would not be speaking to him about it. Here I am, God. In the midst of my brokenness, in the sense of loneliness, even in not understanding how you're working right now, I come to you and I communicate to you.

And God is please, please believe it in those moments. Oh, sometimes we get so professional in our faith, don't we? Have you ever just found yourself on your face before God and the only two words that come out of your mouth is help me? Help me. Help me.

Help me. I don't even know how I'm gonna seek tomorrow. Have you ever felt so dry and you don't understand why you're so dry? Lord, I don't want this in my heart. I know that it's supposed to be bursting with joy.

God, I I I can't live another day. Lord, fill me. Fill me. Just fill me. He invites us to come with the simplicity of that language.

This is David being David. This is David expressing his heart. This is David communicating with God in the cave because though you may not sense him, he's there. He's right there. What happens?

It affects your relationship with God. But not only that, it brings revelation to your relationship to the body of Christ, to the body of Christ. Look what happens here in first Samuel 22, the second part of verse one. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. Why?

To comfort him. Why else would they join him in a cave? And I find this fascinating because God comforts David through his family. God uses people as an extension of his acts of compassion. And we see his family coming into the cave, and David had a revelation of this in Psalms one forty two verse seven.

Don't turn there. Just listen. Bring me out of prison. Remember he said that? That I may give thanks to your name.

Now look what he says. I love this. I love this. The righteous will surround me. The righteous will surround me for you will deal bountifully with me.

So he made the connection that the righteous and their presence and their words of comfort and their encouragement is actually the expression of God's comfort through them. What a revelation of the body of Christ. David learned that God uses people to comfort us. Second Corinthians seven six, Paul the apostle who knew the presence of God, who knew the nearness of God, said, but God who comforts the downcast, Oh, he comforts the downcast. Comforted us by the coming of Titus.

God does it, but he used Titus to do it. Oh, when Titus walked into that room, we knew that God was comforting us. Don't doubt it for a moment when that phone call comes and you think it's a random thing, and somebody says, brother, I've been praying for you. I don't know why you're on my heart. That's God.

When you hear a message and you have no idea where it's coming from, but you feel as though it is directly for you every single word, don't doubt for a moment. It's god. The men in the scriptures had a revelation that God uses people. Don't always expect for God to run the heavens and give you an answer through an angel or to send down a scroll with a brew a blueprint. No.

He uses people. He used people back then, and he uses people today. And we need to perceive it like David knew it. God, I see that you work through my brothers and sisters to comfort me. And I often use this example, this illustration to paint this picture.

That there was a statue in California of Christ in front of a church and it was vandalized and somebody cut off Christ's hands that were open like this. And instead of the person that was in charge of that land recovering those hands, he made a plaque and placed that plaque underneath that read this, Christ has no hands but yours. You're the extension of his mind. You're the extension of his heart. You and I are his hands and feet.

And David had a revelation of that. But let's flip the let's flip the perspective that not only did he have a revelation of that and whether the family did or not, we have to perceive and we have to understand that we can be the extension of God's comfort to other people that are in a cave. Listen. I do not know how his family found out how David was in the cave, but they found out. And that requires something.

That requires attention and sensitivity. Where's David been? I don't know. Have you heard about him lately? No.

He hasn't been coming to church. Where's David? I don't know. He hasn't been showing up to men's bible study. Wanna check up on him?

And guess what? It was a lot harder back then. They didn't have texting. They didn't have Facebook. They didn't have Google chat, whatever.

It requires effort really to seek out the benefit and the the blessing of others. Does it not? They search, they inquire, and they finally figure out, he's in a cave. What is he doing in there? And so they go out.

They comfort him, and they find him in this place. And I think that's wonderful. Because if you read carefully of David's life with his family, it's not the best picture. The hints that we have of David and his relationship with his family does not give off like it is the typical family, the family that you would aspire to be like. Right?

David is out in the field, and Samuel's like, is this all your sons? He goes, yeah. There's one out there. Like, you didn't even inquire and ask for your son to come and join with Samuel, ask for all your boys to come. David walks out after he's anointed, and he meets with his brother.

He goes, I know why you're here. You just wanna show off, David. You're just here to put on a show, aren't you? That doesn't sound like an awesome family to me. But it is amazing how crisis moments can even bring such people together.

It is amazing how in God's sovereignty and his wisdom, he can use these moments to bring family together. It's amazing what a tragedy can do. It's amazing how a family will start praying when one of the siblings are backslidden. God knows. Oh, he knows.

So they come to comfort him. And some of us last week were talking about the power of encouragement in our service. And if you just flip over to the next chapter in first Samuel chapter 23 verse 15, we see a manifestation of this not through his family necessarily, but through Jonathan. I wanna touch on this. Excuse me for some who know this already and are familiar with this.

David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. So here's the same principle that in order for us to minister effectively with encouragement, it requires us to be attentive. Where's David?

What's he going through? I've been hearing his conversations. He's he sounds so low. He sounds like things are going through hell at home. And and Jonathan here gets up and goes toward him, Meaning encouragement and comfort is an is an intentional act.

It requires us to get up and do it, and he comes and he strengthens him. How? How does he do it? That's verse 17. He said to him.

He said to him. He spoke words, and he said, what? Do not fear. For the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel.

I love this next part. And I shall be next to you. I'm here for you. And these simple words did something. It strengthened David.

He reminds him of the promises of God. He reminds him of the protection of God. And reminds him what? That no matter what you go through, brother, I'm here with you. And that's all that was needed for this man to be boosted again.

Because here's the reality, even men who are after God's heart need encouragement from time to time. Even those that you look at and you say that person is spiritual. I mean that person seems like that fire never dies. Those people even need encouragement. And Jonathan had a revelation of the power of it.

You have no idea what you can do to somebody's life if you just are aware of where they're at. And you speak those words of life, not some general soupy slushy way, but in a very caring and precise way, taking the promises of God and taking their particular situation and mingling them together and saying, brother, I'm here no matter what you're going through, and you speak words of life to them. David had that experience, the revelation of the body of Christ. And something else happens to this man in this cave, something so interesting. Verse two.

And everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him, and he became commander over them. And there were with him about 400 men. Now why would these men come to David at this point in his life? And you would think, perhaps for the same reason, to comfort David, but it doesn't look it like it, does it? Doesn't look like they're coming to seek to comfort David.

It looks like they're coming to receive comfort from David. They're bitter in soul. They're in debt. They're distressed. And they're coming to David at this point in his life, not to comfort the man, but they're expecting comfort from him.

Here's another glorious truth about moments and seasons in a cave. That any affliction, any scar that you bear, any scar that you bear, any arrow that has been shot at you and has left that mark, all of those things according to God in his way uses to minister to others. Minister to others. Is that not true? Here's David in distress.

Here's David in discomfort. And God saw it fit that David needed to go through that in order for these men to come to receive the comfort that he was being comforted by God. That's a verse. That's not an idea. That's second Corinthians one three and four.

Four. Blessed be the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the god of all comfort. Why? Why bless him? Who comforts us in all of our affliction so that what?

Why does he comfort you and me? Well, to comfort you, but also as a secondary consequence. So that we may be able to comfort all those who are in any affliction. How? With the comfort with which he has comforted us by god.

I received comfort in my affliction, and here I am sued by his goodness. He can do it through Titus. He can do it immediately. He can do it through his word, but he comforts me. And God has something in mind when he comforts you in your affliction that you may be comfort another with the same comfort that you were comforted by God.

So here's David being comforted by God, and God saw it in his school. He says, I'm letting you experience this. I'm gonna get you a degree in affliction so that you can know how to counsel other people. And I could tell you something. A season in a cave can do so much, so much, so much for us that no seminary degree can do.

God used this trial to enhance his ministry. Remember what David was called for? What was he called for? To be a king. And out of all the times in which he enhances his ministry to the next level, one of the moments he uses he used other moments.

He has times of victory and people were drawn to him. Absolutely. But he uses this moment in a cave to bring him to the next level into which God called him to walk in. And so these men come in, and he became commander over them. And you need to read the rest of the accounts of Samuel to understand who these men are.

They are the mighty men of David. At least some of them were. So these raggedy, rough rebels that came and were recruited by David and they were comforted by David turned out to be mighty men of God. Mighty men who represented the kingdom of God well. And it all started with David in a cave.

He went in lonely. He came out a leader. Don't underestimate what God wants to do in your life. Don't be shocked that as he's leading you into what he's called you to do to take you through these kind of seasons only with the purpose to enhance and develop you to be more effective in the ministry that he's called you. Again, win win.

Is it painful? Absolutely. Does it hurt? You better believe it. But that is necessary for you to sit on that chair across from somebody else who's going through so much pain for you know to to know exactly what to say, how to respond with the very tone of voice that is necessary to bring healing to that person.

These men needed comfort, and they came to a man who also experienced distress from Saul. They left because they were sick of Saul, and they found David who was being pursued by Saul, and he could minister to them. What are you going through? Do not be shocked. Do not be shocked if you sit across maybe a week from now, three months from now, two years from now, ten years from now.

You will sit in that chair. You will look at another person who's going through something that you went through that maybe nobody even knows about. And you begin to realize in that moment, God brings a download to you. Use the pain that you've experienced. Speak life.

And people can say, listen, I I've tried to talk to other people about this, but you know what I'm going through, don't you? Because you've experienced this, and you can say with total confidence, yes, and God brought me through. God brought me through. We can't move on without seeing Christ in this though. We can't.

You you can't move on without seeing Jesus here. The greater David and these men who are distressed, bitter in soul, and in debt, so sick and tired of living under the kingdom of Saul, saying I want to live under your rulership. In Christ, though he is rejected by men, recruits these men as he recruits you and I in our distress, in our debt, in our bitterness, when you're sick and tired of serving the devil. And then not only does he comfort you, he says here's a sword and here's a shield. I'm willing to use you as a mighty man of God and a mighty woman of God.

It's right there. Christ is right there. So I wanna encourage you wherever you are at with the Lord right now, if you're backslidden, bitter and soul and debt, whatever it may be, he's waiting to recruit you again. And he's willing not only to recruit you and comfort you, but what? To use you.

I find throughout this bible that God loves to recruit people that people would not recruit themselves. What happens? These men come to David, and David takes his parents in verse three. Please let my father and my mother stay with you till I know what God will do for me. This speaks volumes of this man's character.

That even in those moments, those seasons of trials and temptations, he is not lacking the sensitivity of the needs of others. Somebody once said, and I totally agree that David is a new covenant believer living in the old covenant times. He is really applying and manifesting new covenant realities. And here he is going through something clearly, but he is not insensitive, and he he takes care of other people. He's willing to still meet the needs of others.

See, there are some people that go through trials and temptations, and sometimes they just they take rather than give even in those moments. And I know it's difficult, but here's David somehow willing to even give in those moments and not just take and take and take. He did not give up on his duty. He did not allow it to cripple him. Though he could not serve to the capacity in which he thought he was called, he still served.

He still served. What a mighty example of a man. He strengthened himself in the Lord. And we're concluding very soon here. He takes him to Moab.

And verse four says he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Verse five. Then the prophet Gad said to David, do not remain in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah. People debate whether that stronghold was a actual castle like figure thing in which he found himself after the cave, and some people think that the stronghold is the cave itself.

Regardless, the principle is still true. And when you and I find ourselves in those moments, those seasons, God will send a word eventually, tell you it's time to get out. You don't stay there. He sends his messenger, the extension of his voice, and God comes and says, time to go. You graduated.

It's time to move on. What comfort, what hope that you and I have knowing that when we're stuck in those places where it seems like we are just cornered in a moment, God can send a word. God can lead us out of those things and lead us out of those seasons, and we realize, okay. I'm not in here forever. I'm not gonna stay in this place.

This pain is not gonna remain. This sense of loneliness is not gonna remain. This sense of distress is not gonna stay. He's gonna pull me out eventually. Prophet comes.

He says, do not remain, and he tells him to go to a specific place. I love this. David, don't stay in the stronghold. God wants you to go somewhere else. It's time to go to Judah.

What does Judah mean? Praise. You've been in that cave long enough, but God is gonna lead you into a place in which you can praise. It's time to go. What a wonderful truth that I know that when I'm finished with that season, I will come out.

Yes. There were songs in the cave, but I'm gonna have songs out of the cave. And I'm gonna be able to worship God for his faithfulness through it all. The mountain tops and in the mountain itself. God says it's time to go to Judah.

It's time to go to a place where you can praise. It's time to testify of my goodness. And so when you're in those moments, you better believe the same truth. That God wants me to have a testimony as I come out of this season in which I can sing his praises and all those around me would hear it. And I have something to share from the moments I was in it, and yet I have something even greater to share that I came out of it.

That's where God wants to lead you and me. You might not have that song of praise right now, but it's coming. It's coming. It came for David. So God will send the next step, believer.

You don't know the next step. You don't realize what's coming next. The prophet God is a picture of God giving that next direction in our lives. And so you wait in anticipation, you remain faithful, and you do not cut off communication. You pour out your heart, and you learn something of the nearness of God even though everybody abandons you like Paul.

You learn something about the nearness of the people of God and the comfort of the body of Christ. You allow God to do everything to its full effect to extract you and to pull out of you and to put into you the things that can only happen in that in that season. And as you come out of it, he will lead you to Judah. We go praise God. That cave, I'll have to deal with that again.

Not so. Because it's not the only time he finds himself in a cave. What happens? We see in first Samuel 24 verse three. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself.

Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. Do not be surprised that when he takes you out that you'll find yourself in another one. But it's never in vain. Because there's something in first Samuel 24 that happens that did not happen in first Samuel 22. All your steps are ordained, brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when you walk in obedience with Christ.

And all you rejoice in the mountain tops. You better. And you have every right and every it's okay to say, lord, keep me here. But would you find it within yourself to also count it with all joy when he takes you into a dark cave? Would you by faith as you feel it, you can feel him leading you, you feel it's getting colder.

You feel like you know where this is heading. You're saying, oh, you're leading me there, aren't you? That you would say, I'm gonna count it all joy. There's a Psalms, and I'm gonna end it with this Psalm. It is a beautiful Psalm.

It is a Psalm that you want to carry in your pocket when you go into that cave. Psalm seventy one twenty. You who have made me see many troubles and calamities. He says you have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. From the depths of the earth, you will bring me up again.

You've made me see so many calamities. You let me experience so many troubles, but I will know this, that you will revive me. You will bring me out of this. You will lead me to Judah. I'm waiting for that word, and until then, hear my words, god.

Are you there today? Maybe nobody else knows but you. If you are, even if there's one person in there today, consider this, God's encouragement through his word to saying, he sees you, he hears you, and one day he'll lead you out of it. If you don't find yourself there, do not be surprised if he does. Welcome to the Christian walk.

And it is always, always for our good. What a promise. Let's pray. Father, help us believe you in those moments as much as we aspire to those mountaintop experiences. Lord, we count it all joy when we find ourselves in a dark hole.

We thank you that we as believers have all the confidence to say that. Not wishful thinking, but, lord, as we see stories like this with David, we can take total confidence in the fact that you are with us. But, lord, give us the revelation of how you comfort us in those moments. And Lord, help us be the extension of comfort to those who find themselves in those moments. And Lord, help us remain faithful in those moments even with the littlest things to only realize that one day the word of the Lord will come and say it's time to get out.

It's time to go to Judah. Lord, we believe you. We believe you. We trust in you. And God, we we trust also that you do this for our good.

No matter what that affliction may be, within our mind, our bodies, our families, lord, we trust that you are doing it to carve something out of us. And so we say yes to it as hard as it may be, knowing that you've predestined us to be conformed to the image of your son. Thank you for the glorious promise. Thank you that in Christ, it's a win win situation. We give you praise and glory for these things.

In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.