0:10 Powerful worship. Thank you for that. Thank you for using your gifts praise team to bless us, and thank you for participating with your voices tonight. Now we continue to worship, don't we? We worship in the word.
0:22 We worship over the word as the word washes over us. And so meet me in the Old Testament, in the book of first Samuel chapter 27. First Samuel chapter 27. And immediately, you're going to recognize that this is a much shorter chapter than what we are used to in this book. And so we are going to, by the grace of God, cover every verse, though we will not be able to expound as much as we would like to on every verse.
0:54 We are going to, by the Spirit's help, learn what we need to learn. And you will probably, hopefully, prayfully take what you hear tonight and be a berean and experience the word for yourself as you get a taste of it tonight. Let's ask God to help us. Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, we know that it is alive.
1:18 We know that it has been authored by you, preserved by you, provided by you, for us tonight. And so, Lord, just help us see the honor and the privilege that we have to be able to open the scriptures together. Thank you for this place, for the people that fill this place. Thank you for the shared love for truth. We ask, Lord, that it would not just be a love for knowledge, but that it would be a love for the knowledge of you, and so that we can love you and obey you and worship you the way you've called us to.
1:57 Lord, protect this service from distractions and protect our minds and our hearts from unbelief. We pray, Lord, that this word would not miss our hearts. It would grip us. And we pray that the Holy Spirit would do what only he can do. Oh, Lord, help us see Christ.
2:16 Help us relish in your wisdom tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you've ever taken the time to study the word of God, particularly the lives of certain men that God has recorded for our edification, perhaps you have made an interesting observation about some of their God glorifying, faith filled accomplishments. What I'm speaking about more specifically, what I'm referring to is how there are great temptations that often appear after some of the most renowned triumphs.
2:58 There are great temptations that seem to immediately meet these men almost right after their renowned victories for the glory of God. And perhaps there are some names running through your mind now, and I'm curious to know if you know what I'm speaking about or who I'm speaking about. It's gonna be David in this case, but there are others who share what David is about to experience. Can you tell me some men in the scriptures who after great triumph have known great, great turmoil? Very good.
3:30 Elijah, Mount Carmel. Yes. Anyone else? That's the most common one. Job?
3:37 We can say Job. Yes. I think his life was just a long series of successes and all for a sudden things changed. Sure. But I'm talking about like an hour of victory.
3:48 I'm talking about like a testimony that changed the course of someone's life. Elijah's one of them. Noah, you can argue maybe. Who remembers Hezekiah? When Hezekiah was healed of his illness, what happened to him afterwards?
4:07 Does anybody remember? There are visitors from where who came to just check up on him? From where? Very good Babylon. And what did he do?
4:18 Oh, he showed him all that he owned, all that God had given, all the the ins and outs of the temple and his palace and all these things. It was an act of pride. So after his great healing, he was rebuked for his pride. And as we come to this place, as we come to this chapter, and there are other instances, not just on an individual level, you can think on a macro level. When you think about Joshua and the conquest, think about how after certain defeats over the enemy, they fell because of their arrogance.
4:51 But when we come to this chapter in our study of David, we realize that this pattern of potential failure being presented after great success is becoming very obvious. It's becoming very obvious in David's life. Because David, after his first, victory over the temptation of assassinating Saul, in the next chapter, in chapter 25 was met with the temptation to do what? Kill Nabal. The same David, the same David who resisted the urge to, to hurt the one who's been hurting him after a man hurled a few insults to him and his men was ready to destroy him and his family and all that he owned.
5:36 Proving to us that it's, it's quite difficult to be consistent with our convictions. And then we come to this point where in chapter 26, there was a second occasion where David had the opportunity to rid of Saul once and for all. And there was great, great mounting pressure to do so, but we learned that he overcame that because he learned from how God intervened with Nabal, and he's not going to make that mistake. If God intervened for him then, surely he'll intervene for him once more. But sure enough, just like the first time he overcame, in the second time, we're going to see that David is going to reach, he's going to plummet actually to one of the lowest lows that he will experience in his whole life.
6:20 It's in this chapter. It's in this very chapter where we will see that after a great successful encounter with the king, he's going to find himself making some serious mistakes. This pattern that I bring before us tonight is important for us as Christians. And the reason why it's so crucial for us to understand how this is very common among those who are faithful to God's work and God's will is because when we talk about overcoming temptation, you know what we usually do? We focus on how to be prepared with the lies and the fears that would try to hinder us from moving forward in obedience.
7:04 But what's rarely talked about are the temptations that await us on the other side of obedience. What what we don't really prepare for is what is ready to ensnare us once we actually do what God's called us to do. And that's why we have this chapter. Because you and I are going to see just how how easy it is for those who do great things for God, who are consistent with God to fall all for a sudden. And there are a unique set of temptations that the obedient experienced, like David, that we have to be aware of, lest we are imbalanced in our preparation to overcome the things that want to take us out.
7:49 I remember hearing an interview with a German pastor. Europe is not looking too good in many ways and one of the ways it's not looking good is in their spiritual climate and that's been for years and years, decades actually. I don't remember how old this interview was, but I remember that this pastor was known for his bold stance for the truth while his neighboring ministers and friends and associates were crushed by the culture and were caving in to the pressures of the narratives of their day. So this pastor was praised by his congregation, praised by people who love the truth that were not in his immediate context. But he he was open in that interview to say, though I overcame the fears and the persecutions, there are still challenges that I face in my obedience.
8:33 And in his broken English, he shared that almost every week when he preaches faithfully from the word of God, without apology, the moment he says amen, the moment he closes his message, as he steps off the pulpit to go sit where he usually sits, he hears in his heart what a wonderful preacher you are. There's no one like you. Look at the courage that you have while everybody else is crumbling. Oh, you're the man of the hour. You're what people need.
9:08 And he admitted that he has to reject those thoughts on a continual basis. So you see in that situation, you have on one side of disobedience, people who who crumbled because of fear and threats. And then on the other side, you have a man, though he overcame such things, he experienced things that the former did not, and that is arrogance and self worth and self praise springing up in his heart. And so you and I are going to see that it's not just pride that dangles over those who walk on the path of faithfulness. There are other things that those who live for God will experience as they move forward in obedience, and this is a chapter in David's life where we will learn such things.
9:59 So let's read in verse one. Mind you that before we read, David just finished overcoming a great series of temptations to kill Saul. Remember that. Look what happens immediately after the fact. In 27 verse one we read, then David said in his heart, now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul.
10:22 There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. So David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Ahish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David lived with Ahish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
11:02 We could stay in verse one for the rest of this Bible study, but we're not gonna do that. There is so much in verse one alone. And what we can take out of this is what this man experienced, the difficulty that he had to deal with after overcoming such great temptations in the previous chapter was a massive flood of discouragement. We're gonna hear a lot tonight about discouragement. Perhaps we are not convinced of just how powerful discouragement can be in a believer's life.
11:38 Would it shock you for me to tell you that discouragement is one of Satan's favorite weapons to attack God's most faithful servants. If the enemy cannot disqualify a Christian and his ministry through scandal, or character flaws, or immorality, then he will ensure to so debilitate him, to so suck the life and hope out of his heart that he himself will not wanna move forward in God's will. And that's exactly what's happening to this man. He overcame great temptations that would have ruined his reputation and yet at the same time, he is going to go in the wrong direction still. And in the same way that you and I as Christians, should be reminded of how we should be guarded against sexual temptation, for example, or how we should be aware of the foothold that we can give to satan through our anger or our jealousy, you and I must also know what to do when discouragement visits our hearts.
12:47 Because if not, it will lead you in a direction that you never thought discouragement can lead you to. It's quite fascinating to read a case study of what power discouragement has over someone who doesn't know how to discern doesn't know how to discern what discouragement can do. And this is how we're gonna learn it, by looking at this man's life. By looking at what fueled his discouragement. And though David's situation is very uncommon, unless you are being chased by somebody and you're living in the streets, and it's been a few months now, though his situation is not very relatable, his his lack of rationale, his inability to think straight is very, very, very common.
13:34 Why do you think he was discouraged? Any ideas? Why do you think he's discouraged? The situation never seems to change. Very good.
13:45 The situation never seems to change. Any disagreement with that? Would everybody agree with that? I would say that's probably the main reason why that David is discouraged, because this man is just weathering a persistent assault of a crazy person. And there seems to be no final intervention from God.
14:11 The man who is attacking him does not have any weight to his words. He has a very impressive intelligence agency that finds his every step. And so this, this David is worn out. Now put yourself in his shoes before we pick up our stones and ready to throw it at him. Imagine living in caves for weeks and months.
14:36 Imagine having to always look over your shoulder not knowing if at any moment 3,000 of Saul's men can come and surround you around a mountain. Imagine having to take care of 600 men and their families. You have your own family. You are held responsible for their lives. You don't know how you're gonna make ends meet.
14:56 You don't know how you're gonna provide for these people in the most practical ways. All of this is crushing. It's overwhelming. And David here is ready to give up. He's ready to just give in.
15:10 Because trusting God is not easy. It's not. It it can if you don't know how God's work manifests and how his ways are more complex than how we would like, then you are you are not going to know great strides and great longevity. And this is proven here, and we can relate to it in many ways. Because I'm sure you have experienced disappointment while serving God.
15:41 I'm sure you have experienced discouragement while trusting God. In fact, the more you wait on something, the more you pray for something with no result, the more open and susceptible you are to not just being discouraged, but imagining the worst possible outcome for your life. It's incredible what discouragement does. It not just makes you feel a certain way, it actually deceives you. It begins to magnify the negative and blur any positive.
16:12 And what happens is, like David, you you take all of that and then it reinterprets your future. You just take what is ugly and you take what is not happening. You bundle it all together and what you have is a complete different understanding of what's happening in the now and what will happen tomorrow. And we panic, and we get frustrated, and we make strange conclusions. And look what he says here.
16:40 He says, now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. Well, what about what Samuel told you about being king? What about your friend Jonathan? What about your wife Abigail? What about what even Saul said?
16:53 Saul even told you that you were gonna become king. What about all the times that God has providentially and supernaturally rescued you from Saul? What about even the fact that all the ways that God has provided you in your time during the wilderness? All of that was disregarded. All of that was forgotten.
17:12 Why? Because that's how persuasive discouragement is. It's very convincing. It's extremely powerful. And there are some people who are serving God even now, maybe it's you, maybe it's not, who have come to a place where they just say to themselves, this is getting too hard.
17:32 The frequency of the challenges, waiting on God, the difficulty of circumstances and and the people that I have to I don't know if I can live like this. I don't know if this is really worth it. I don't know if I if I want to move forward. And if we're not constantly if we're not constantly aware of the faithfulness of God, and if we're not constantly, listen to this, surrounded by God's people, if we're if we don't have those two things, then there's no knowing how discouragement can direct you to spiritual death. And it can happen very quickly.
18:13 Look at verse one again. What what stands out from verse one? Not just now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. Very good. We're gonna come to that in a moment.
18:23 There is nothing better for me. That's quite fascinating. Look at something before that though. Very good. Then David said where?
18:38 It's there. I'm wondering what people are looking at. David said in his heart Now this is telling us more than just Holy Spirit showing us what David is thinking. No, no, no, no, no. There's an application here.
18:53 David is meditating. David is internalizing. David is reflecting, confining within himself, and he is not communicating what is concerning him. There's a lot of wisdom in not sharing certain things about your life, or about what you feel, or about what you think. There's a lot of wisdom in that.
19:14 But there is also wisdom in making sure that you share certain things, and not keeping it to yourself. Because there are some things that come through sharing with God and with others that can rescue you. That can deliver you. That can save you. David's first problem here is that he set it in his heart, but there's no indication that he was pouring out his heart before God.
19:43 There's no prayer here. There's no psalm written. There's nothing. He's keeping it within himself. And my question is, where's the psalmist?
19:51 My question is, where's the man who in difficult situations cried out to God and God was able to give him almost immediate, immediate answers? Where's that David? For whatever reason this man is so dejected that he doesn't even feel the, the, the need to come before God and just to share what's going on within him. And here's the point that I want to make. If you are serving God, let me give you a heads up.
20:15 It's not a prophetic word. It's very, very obvious. You will know discouragement at one point or another. You will. And when you feel that, when you feel that loss of enthusiasm, when you feel that loss of hope, when you begin to question whether you are supposed to be serving God in this way, or if you are effective for God, whatever the case may be, never let your discouragement bar you from coming to God.
20:38 Let it be the reason to come to God. Come before him. Honestly, come before him and and be broken in his presence. Because I want to tell you something very fascinating that happens as you express those emotions, as you express those thoughts before him. Oftentimes what will happen is in the process, there will be a change.
20:59 I can testify that many times when I brought my worries before God, it's, it's turned into worship. Because something happens as you are in faith communicating to the Lord. The, the air clears a little bit and you realize I'm talking to God Almighty. And then in that moment you're reminded, and though it may not be immediate as you persist, God begins to open your eyes and show you who he is. And then you realize I'm talking to the one who is in control of everything.
21:27 I'm the, I'm talking to the one who can make things happen like that. I'm I'm talking to the one who will, who will be faithful to me, who has been faithful to me. Something happens in the pursuit of God. And sometimes God is encouraged in supernatural ways, sometimes in practical ways, but he will not leave you in that that place if you in faith come to him in your brokenness. David doesn't do that here, and that's a problem.
21:53 But what else does he not do? He doesn't share what he's feeling with with others. He doesn't, he doesn't open his heart. Do you remember what Jonathan was able to offer David in one of the most depressing times of his life? It says that he strengthened his hand in the Lord.
22:10 Jonathan did that. Does anybody remember what Jonathan's name means? That might be on a quiz one day because it's so precious. God has given. Jonathan means God has given, and Jonathan lived out that name because he offered so much.
22:28 He offered so much to David. His presence, his words built David up. And though you may not have a friend whose name is Jonathan, God has given people in your life. Yes. God has placed certain individuals in your life that have the ability to not judge you in that state of confusion or turmoil, but to to help you realize who God is and who you are in him.
22:58 And I think David made the mistake of not sharing his heart. Though Jonathan was unavailable, and though maybe he looked at the 600, remember, the 600 men didn't have the best of faith. They relied on David's faith. But there was somebody I believe you could have gone to. Do you know who I'm talking about?
23:14 Who do you think? Somebody said it. Abigail, his wife. What a woman of discernment and discretion. What a profound woman she was.
23:24 She was, she was able to speak into his life to, to sway him, not to make a mistake that he would regret for the rest of his days. Oh, David, if you only just went home to your wife, and you just sat across the table, though you didn't have one, you were in a ca a rock, whatever. And you just poured out your heart, and you said, this is what I'm experiencing. I don't know why this dark cloud is over my soul. Who knows what you could have been saved from?
23:48 Who knows how you could have avoided first Samuel chapter 27? But he doesn't. He keeps it within himself. Can I tell you something? In moments of discouragement, I don't care how crazy your thoughts are.
24:03 It doesn't matter how out of touch with reality your imagination is about something. Do not forget that a simple conversation with somebody who fears God and loves you can do much, much help. Really. Don't forget that one simple phone call saying, brother, I know that this sounds silly. I know that this sounds I know we've had this conversation a 100 times, but I just feel and fill in the blank.
24:34 And as believers, we should not be weary of hearing somebody even if it's repetitive because we're called to to lift each other's burdens. So if somebody comes up to you as a brother or sister and says, I just feel like I'm gonna be single forever. And you've had that conversation 50 times, have it 51 times. Have it 75 times. And provide faith and provide encouragement from the scriptures.
25:01 If somebody feels like whatever the case may be, you and I can potentially save someone from sinking into a place that can destroy their testimony as we're about to find out. Don't underestimate somebody who is broken in failure even. Don't under don't underestimate the ministry of answering that text message or going for a cup of coffee with a fellow brother or sister and just speaking life to them. Because this man, as he's swirling in these thoughts, is gonna make some serious mistakes. And it could have been solved, I'm sure, if he had just opened his heart primarily to the Lord and then to the Lord's people.
25:42 Now, this is what happens. If you and I are not careful to deal with discouragement and wisdom with what you just heard, then you can be misdirected and you can be derailed in significant ways. And that's what we see here in verse two. He's about to make some serious decisions. But before we go there, look at what he says in verse one.
26:03 And we heard it earlier from our dear sister. He says, there is nothing for me, there is nothing better for me than I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Are you serious? There is nothing better. I can think of like 50 things that are better than you going to the land of the Philistines.
26:22 In fact, what David thought would be the best thing turned out to be the worst thing. God had never given permission to his people to move out of the promised land. Read the book of Ruth and that is another principle of such a truth. God had never instructed, unless it was a clear, clear command to go to Egypt or there or wherever the case may be, There was never a time where a person had the liberty to go out of bounds of God's promises and his will without there being a price. And for him to come to this conclusion shows how deluded David has become.
27:01 He actually thought that the, the greatest remedy was to go to the Philistines because then Saul would not be as bold to find him in that place and to even do something about it. And we're ready to go, David, you lost it. We're ready to say, David, you, you, you are so out of touch with God. And yet I say, how many people do this today? Even believers.
27:26 Even Christians. That in their moments where they are low, in their moments where they are out of gas, in their moments where they feel like, this isn't worth it anymore. They go to the wrong remedies. They turn to the wrong solutions. Sometimes it's substances.
27:43 Sometimes it's a behavior. Sometimes it's a way of life. Sometimes it's a door that you open that you think you can vent your frustration for a little bit, when it's clearly sin. And you have some people that, you know, they give themselves to extended mindless distractions so they don't have to deal with what's disturbing them. And then you have people like David who just flirt and even entertain full out disobedience.
28:08 I'm just gonna do this because it's gonna bring me some kind of relief, some kind of satisfaction, some kind of distraction from the pain and the difficulty and the darkness that I'm in. Could you actually believe with me today that discouragement can lead people to disobedience? It can. We are seeing it right here. And consider how these verses tell us that David went somewhere.
28:37 Where did he go exactly? He went to a specific person. Who is that person? Achish. Does he sound familiar or no?
28:50 Who thinks we've seen him before? And if we have, where we've seen him before? Oh, very good. A few chapters ago, that is one of the first places that he went when he was running from Saul initially. And so go back a few chapters.
29:12 Look, I wanna make a point from this connection in chapter 21 verse 10. In first Samuel 21, verse 10, we read, and David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Ahish the king of Gath. The same king. The same leader. The same ruler.
29:26 The same environment. The same atmosphere. He goes back to the place where he did what we read in verse 13 of first Samuel 21. What does he do in verse 13? So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let spittle run down his beard.
29:46 Why would you go back to the place that encouraged you to be a crazy man? Why would you go back to such a vulnerable position where you actually behave in such an ungodly, inhumane way. And the point is so obvious, it's so clear. It's an illustration of how we are willing to go back to sin. And not just sin, sin that has at one point brought us through much shame and dishonor.
30:22 Oh, you remember, I'm sure if you, if you have a testimony where you went into the world for a bit, or you grew up in a Christian household and you were never really born again till later, I'm sure you remember of doing certain things, saying certain things, participating in certain things where you told yourself, I will never do that again. Only to find yourself doing what? That very same thing again once the memories of disgrace disappear. But I'm not just talking about sinners. I'm talking about how even the most righteous can revisit the unthinkable.
30:57 They can. This is David we're speaking about here, and he's willing to go back to the same place where he rolled around as though he had lost his mind. Why would you do this? And the point is very obvious. Discouragement encourages us to do things like that.
31:15 Isn't that funny? Discouragement encourages. It encourages you to even do things that you never thought you would do. I I know this sounds kind of exaggerated, but it's true. Because what is his reason of discouragement?
31:34 He is discouraged in the will of God. He is discouraged while obeying God. He is discouraged while trusting God. And so what what is the flesh trying to convince him of? Well, surely there's some kind of relief outside of the will of God.
31:51 If this is what it is, serving God, then maybe you have to step outside of this lane, just for a little break, get a breather, and then come back in. Do you know there are some people who are in ministry, who after they've been caught in certain sin, confessed that what they told themselves before sinning? And usually in the case of sexual morality was, well, I've been serving God so much, I thought I I deserved a break. And so before we think that this is out there, before we think this is fairytale, you have some people who are convinced in discouragement, in the in the weariness of ministry, and serving people who have bought into the lie that maybe I just need some kind of relief in the flesh. David's doing that.
32:35 He just wants to step out into the territory of the Philistines for a little while, not for a long while, until Saul gives up, until Saul just lays off. What is that gonna lead him to? It's gonna lead him to messed up things. But here's the point I wanna make in in this this topic of discouragement. David's decision to do this is not just gonna affect David.
33:00 Who else is it gonna affect? Everybody with him. Look at verse three quickly. And David lived with Achish, Agath, he and his men, every man with his household. So remember the 600 came to follow David and whether it was at that time or later on, these men with their wives and their children now are with him.
33:20 And David is leading all of them into the land of the Philistines. Not just him. And I read that today and I thought to myself, discouragement is so powerful, but it is especially dangerous for those who are in leadership positions. I'm not saying this because of the position that I might be serving in. I'm saying this for all people, in any position of authority, in any position of influence, and anybody who has great responsibility.
33:52 Can I, can I tell you something, please? Don't, don't be a reason to discourage them. They already have enough discouragement to deal with. They already have the lies of the devil to deal with. They already have the world to deal with.
34:03 They already have crazy people to deal with, crazy emails, crazy things that they have to answer and they have to try to all these assaults and attacks. Here's here's what Satan would love to do, to so overwhelm someone who is in a position where there are others under his influence. Because like David, if they become so, burdened by that discouragement, they can make decisions that will influence others in the end. And that can look like somebody quitting when they're not supposed to be quitting. And that can look like somebody who is so charged emotionally that they do things in the flesh out of exhaustion or whatever the case may be that affects and has ramifications beyond their own lives.
34:45 Pray for your leaders. Be an encouragement to those I'm not just talking about church leaders. Fathers who work hours upon hours in a week to feed their families. Those that you know that have served in a particular ministry and and they are taking extra time out of what they would usually have what we call a break from their regular works. Encourage them.
35:10 Because discouragement can cause them to not just misdirect their own lives, but even others'. And so for the rest of this chapter, that clock is telling me something. We're gonna keep going. For the rest of this chapter, I want us to see quickly, just quickly, consider the insights that we find in the place of a righteous man who willfully chooses to step out of bounds in the will of God. For the rest of this chapter, you and I are gonna just, we're gonna take a flat little rock and skip it over a bed of this passage of scripture and just lightly tap and see what becomes of a man, what can happen to a woman who willfully, like David, willfully, David is making a choice here.
36:00 He's not slipping. He's not caught off guard. He has calculated and been convinced to do this. When a righteous man or woman chooses to go out of bounds, what can they expect? And I hope that this will protect you, and I hope that this will be a source of wisdom if you know somebody that you love that is entertaining such thoughts.
36:21 Let's look at verse four. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. The first thing that happens to David when he moves out of God's promise, the promised land, is that apparently he he experienced some relief. There was there was immediate success. And so we see here that he seemed to get what he wanted.
36:51 The desire was fulfilled. What he had hoped for came to pass. And David just wanted to avoid the surveillance of Saul. He could not live knowing that there were spies in those hills or there were those among his brethren in the land of Judah that were betraying him. He couldn't live like that any longer.
37:08 So he goes to a place where no Israelite would willfully go, and for a moment, he's enjoying the reward of his apparent wisdom. And I want to tell you this, that there is an element to sin that is somewhat pleasurable, and even to our understanding to the natural mind, profitable. Or else you wouldn't be tempted to sin. Hebrews 11 tells us that sin is pleasurable, but it's fleeting pleasure. Psalms tells us that in his presence is the fullness of joy.
37:49 Sin offers something, but it evaporates very quickly. And what we see here is that no matter what kind of reward you might experience in the place of disobedience, it's temporary. It's always temporary. Yeah, so you fulfilled a fantasy by living in an adulterous relationship, but that's temporary. It's gonna turn into a nightmare real, real soon.
38:13 Okay, so you made extra money by lying and cheating with the numbers, and so you can afford maybe a little bit of better vacation than you did before that. It's gonna come to haunt you. It will. That's just the rule. That's just the law that God has established in his universe.
38:28 And so what we see here first is that there is a sense in which David experienced what he desired and this is a nearsightedness when it comes to sin. We we are able to see things very clearly upfront, but we can't see beyond. We can't see where this can take us And that's why God in his perfect love gives us a chapter like this, so that we can examine and have a helicopter view of what becomes of a man when they willfully choose to go out outside of God's will. This is what he's experiencing. And if we fail to see it or we are so confused and give into something without realizing where it'll take us, it doesn't matter.
39:10 It will take us where we don't want to go. And so remember that. Whatever reward is in rebellion, it will always always be temporary. Always, no matter what it is. Now we come to verse five and six.
39:24 Then David said to Ahish, if I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? The second thing that can happen to a person who willfully chooses to disobey God, and it's really just in one area. Let me remind you something. David is not becoming an apostate.
39:52 He's not saying I'm not gonna serve the God of Israel anymore. I'm gonna serve the God of the Philistines. All he wants to do is just change his address. Changing your address isn't wrong, but in this context it was. It was sin.
40:03 You couldn't leave the boundaries of the promised land. So it's just an area of his life. It was just a little window in the house. It wasn't the whole thing. It It wasn't burning the place down.
40:14 Meaning the the heart and his devotion to God. Just a sliver of it. But what begins to happen is first, you do it and you don't see any consequence to it. But second, things begin to transpire. And here's what's happening with David.
40:29 Now he is willing to associate with the unrighteous. He's willing to tolerate relationships that he should not be tolerating. Do you see how he's speaking to Achish? Look how he's talking to him. If I have found favor in your eyes.
40:47 What are you saying? If I have found favor in your eyes. Now some would say, well this is David being strategic because he has a, he has a, as he has an end in mind and it's for the good and it's for the glory of God. So he's kind of tricking Akish. Okay, fine.
41:02 If you believe that or not, it doesn't matter. Why is he communicating with somebody that he's supposed to be at war with? That's the point. You're dealing with a people that have defied the God of Israel, that you have went to war with since your young adult years. And now all for a sudden you're willing to have these casual conversations and make deals with?
41:26 And consider this. Consider perhaps why David would even justify this. Consider how Ahish is treating David because he does give it to him. Verse six, so that day Achish gave him Ziklag, therefore Ziklag had belonged has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. It's no wonder that a person who has especially been discouraged by how they've been treated by supposed Christians will veer off and embrace those who are not Christians.
42:02 Because who wants to really live with a hypocrite anyway, right? It's like this is how people think. If I'm gonna if I'm gonna deal with those who claim to serve God but live like, live like heathens, I'd rather deal with those who live like heathens and admit they're heathens. And I I can't help but be embarrassed seeing how Ahish, a a a Philistine, is willing to embrace David and provide for David upon request, when you compare the treatment of his own brethren in the land of Judah, who betrayed him and told on him over and over again. And Saul, who was supposed to be not just his king, but his father-in-law.
42:48 This is how my father-in-law is going to treat me. This is how my brethren from my own land, from the closest tribe possible are going to, are going to relate to me. And then you come here, and this is how, this is how the unbelieving are embracing me? I'm going to stay here. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be comfortable here.
43:08 I've been lacking this kind of love and support for so long. And so here's what we have to understand. As a community of believers, the warmth and the welcome that we share with one another should outshine, should radiate without comparison to those who are outside the family of God. I mean, there should be such an affection in this place. There should be such a a service, such a kindness, such a willingness to support and to sacrifice that it would never be a temptation in anyone to crave the companionship of those who are outside of covenant with God.
43:48 That make sense? I mean, we should be able to to so walk in unity and so walk in love that when we look out there, we would see a cruel world. Nothing breaks my heart more, and I've heard this more than once throughout my Christian experience. Nothing breaks my heart more when I hear a Christian, a genuine Christian, not a Christian that finds a negative and a demon under every rock, But genuine Christians who say, you know, it's so sad that non Christians in this area have been more of a blessing to me than Christians. Like, it shatters me.
44:23 It shatters me. And it's not an unrealistic expectation. That should not be the case. Now I know there are some who will make an excuse of everything and will magnify everything because they think Christians should be, should just be perfect. I'm not saying that either.
44:37 What I'm saying here is that the treatment that David has endured could possibly have been the reason, one of the reasons why he was willing to just not visit the area of the Philistines, but now live there. I can I can ride this out? But even though it may be true that there are some believers in our lives that contradict their testimony and treat you and treat you like like dirt, it never gives you and I the right to yoke with those who are not yoked to Christ. Never. But unfortunately, this is what he does.
45:10 He begins to not entertain and associate with those that he's not supposed to. And we read on and see something in verse seven. Here's the third point. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. Wow.
45:25 A year and four months. Why do you think the Holy Spirit told us how long he was there for? Maybe to tell us that he was there for a very long time and he shouldn't have been. And the patience of God, we're gonna see that next week. But not just that, which is a great point.
45:48 We're seeing here a very important point when it comes to entertaining any disobedience in our lives, that when we think that we will just take a tour in the land of the Philistines, often you will stay longer than you have anticipated. You will end up finding a place that looks nice, and you will end up, buying that place and staying there. And I think the reason why David stayed so long is because he did not see any consequences to his compromise. He didn't. If anything, you're gonna read here, he's gonna just see prosperity and success.
46:24 So he's like, this is wonderful. I wanna stay here. This is this is better than I thought. And that's unfortunately what many people do today. When divine discipline is delayed, and when there seems to be no dangers to your decisions, there is a deception in that that causes you to stay in disobedience longer.
46:48 Okay. So when David was with Achish the first time in first Samuel 21, he felt, he felt the danger. He felt the threats. So what does he do? He falls over and he starts acting, drooling and scratching.
46:59 He wants to get out of there. This time when he comes, he's welcomed. He's given a town, not not a car. Here's a town. And he's like, woah.
47:08 Okay. And so what's happening here? God is not saying I'm doing something wrong. And these people who are supposed to hurt me, they're not hurting me. This stuff that I'm doing, the stuff that I'm watching, the stuff that I'm entertained, the stuff that I'm injecting, the stuff that I'm, this isn't hurting me.
47:24 It's actually helping me. And then what happens is you begin to, you begin to dig your heels in and you become more concrete in your compromise. You don't have to turn there, but I want to read a verse to prove my point. It's in Ecclesiastes eight eleven. Just listen to this.
47:42 It says, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set on doing evil. So what happens is you press the button that you're not supposed to press and nothing happens. No doors open. No no nothing underneath you opens up.
48:11 You're like, oh, wow. And then you keep pressing and you keep where it says do not press. And that's the point. The point is this, that men are set in their disobedience because there seems to be a delay in divine discipline. And it's a sad thing that the greatest encouragement that people have to not sin is that they don't want to be punished for it.
48:35 If that's your only motivation to not sin, then you're not gonna know a joy in the Lord and you're gonna be deceived when there is, as we heard, an extended period of God's mercy over your life and you thinking that you're gonna get away with it. David was there for a year and four months. That's a long time, and that's the point. I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen.
49:03 You know you know what else? Can I tell you what I've seen? I've seen when a person has been truly saved and then they backslide, their backslidden state is worse than when they were before they were saved. Like, you were messing with Satan's territory. And sometimes, like David, it was a year and four months, sometimes people stay in that kind of condition for years before they wake up again.
49:28 And I can tell you they were just looking for some kind of some kind of, relief just for a moment. And that becoming a long term commitment to compromise. And so be careful. The scriptures show us here that we are able, we are capable of remaining somewhere that we never intended to remain in because that is how powerful the pull of sin is. The clutch of disobedience is so so strong.
49:58 Verse eight, we see another point. Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Gerzites and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive and would take away the sheep, the ox and the donkeys, camels and the garments and come back to Ahish. So now what's happening is he she has this place and I mean, you can imagine how excited David and his men were. They've been living in caves for who knows how long.
50:32 Now they actually have a house. Houses, living rooms, bedrooms. They can put their kids in a comfy warm place. They can actually cook with instruments and tools. They don't have to wait for some raid before they get more.
50:43 And so now they're set and once they're set, they feel a boldness and a confidence to go out and perform more raids. And we have to be careful here. David is not killing Philistines, and David is not killing Israelites. These tribes are those who remain due to the failure of Joshua and that generation who initially came into the Promised Land. Remember, they were supposed to eradicate all of these men and they failed to do so.
51:15 So you know what David is doing? He's actually doing a good thing. David is finishing what the previous generations could not complete. He is trying to actually obey God in this. He is zealously obeying God.
51:30 How do you make sense of this? I think one way you can make sense of it is this. That sometimes when somebody is in disobedience and they know the Lord, they know God's word, and they have a they have an area of compromise in their lives, one way they think that they can quiet their conscience is busying themselves with righteous activity. And so to silence that nagging voice that's saying that is wrong, that is wrong, they want to justify that by telling themselves and maybe even telling God, but look what else I'm doing. Look what else I'm doing.
52:09 Look at all these other things that I'm accomplishing for your will. If it's not for me, this wouldn't be done in my church. Look at the role that I play. And so they begin to try to balance consecration and compromise and and they begin to try to outweigh the good, or the bad with the good. And and this is this is really the pattern of many people's lives, unfortunately.
52:32 But here's the thing. God is not looking for you to give him more good than your bad. He's looking for you and I to repent. He wants you to to just get rid of the thing altogether. He he wants obedience, not sacrifice.
52:47 And listen, if you're trying to deal with your conscience, it's not gonna happen by getting busier with religious activity. It's gonna happen when you say, I'm getting rid of this. I'm nailing it to the cross once and for all. When you just put it aside and die to that thing, then you will know true liberty. Then you'll know true rest.
53:08 Then you will be whole again. But here's David. Think about it. He's in the land of the Philistines and he's trying to obey God in another area and it looks silly. It it just it's actually sad.
53:21 It really is. In David's mind, he's probably thinking that he's he's right here. And oftentimes you you see people who try to do the same, who try to do the same. Remember, nothing will be able to truly give you that sense of healing and restoration and completion until you confess and you turn away from it. To try to spray it with righteous perfume isn't going to work.
53:52 The death of the thing is going to overwhelm anything that you try to sprinkle it with. And I see many people like that. We come to verse 10 and we see another thing that happens when somebody willfully chooses to step outside of God's will. When Ahish asked, where have you made a raid today? David would say against the Negeb of Judah or against the Negeb Of Jermamalites or against the Negeb of the Kenites.
54:19 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking lest they should tell about us and say, so David has done. Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. So what's happening here? David is making these raids and he's actually, he's actually chipping away at these Amalekites and these different people groups. But then he's coming home with possessions and with animals and with clothing, and he's even giving a portion of that to the king for his kind treatment of him and his willingness to give him a town and and all these wonderful things.
54:59 So the man asks, he's like, where did you go to get this? Or probably with with Glee, it's like, who did you take over this time? Now if David told the truth, he's gonna be in trouble with Ahish. Because what David is actually doing is killing this man's allies. He, he and his people are enemies to Israel.
55:21 These tribes that we read in verse eight are enemies to Israel. And so what is David left to do? What he did earlier when he also was disconnected to the Lord. What was that? He lies.
55:35 He lies. David has a lying problem. And the more he's out of tune with God, the more he gives into lying and he does it with ease, and he's like a professional at it. And so he begins to tell him, oh, we went here. He's being very general and he's he's tell he's not telling the truth.
55:55 And here's the point that I want to make. That when a person who knows God, knows God's word, chooses to come to a place where they compromise in one area, it is inevitable where they will compromise in another area. Because when you think, well look, I've done this and nothing has happened. The flesh now begins to tell you, well if if nothing happened here, then what makes me think that if I do this that nothing will happen? Nothing will happen.
56:24 If it didn't happen here, surely it won't happen here. And what started as a little visitation to the land of the Philistines, look what it says here, such was his custom all the while he lived. So now he develops a custom. Now he develops a habit and his habit was to lie. His habit was to not tell the truth.
56:45 I'm sure David did not plan on doing that back in verse one. He just wanted to be in a different location so that he could be protected from Saul's spies and say, oh, he's there. We don't want to deal with it. And now it went from that, give it a little bit of months, and now he is now lying. His custom now is to be a deceiver.
57:06 And so it is with those who choose to, who choose to go outside of God's will. It begins with one thing and then you adopt another thing. And then another thing. And then now you develop new habits. Now you're talking differently.
57:20 Now you're regularly with those people, regularly doing such things. David's relocation led him to a new habit. He had no issue adopting this habit because he didn't see any consequence to his first decision. But here's what we're about to find out. David's relocation and his lying is going to catch up to him very soon.
57:47 In the coming chapters, he's going to see how every move that he made, though it did not show itself at first, ends up saying, here's the bill. Happens to all of us. Look at verse 12. Here's the final thing. And Achish trusted David thinking he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel.
58:11 Therefore, he shall always be my servant. Wow. So this is what happens. David, over the months, lies to Ahish and then Ahish believes him and because he believes him, his testimony is ruined. He sees him as a traitor to his own people, and not only does he see him as a traitor, he actually sees him now as an asset.
58:40 And he realizes that there's something I can do with this David. And this man who who came to a point where he was exhausted in trusting God has now reached the point where he's also going to be used by the world. It went from finding relief to adopting a custom and now potentially being a vessel that would do damage to the side that you once stood for. And that was God's side. Here's the point that I wanna make.
59:22 David at this point, though he chose to be deceiving and and maybe he thought that he it was working, like, this is it. Like, it can't go any more than this. He's believing what I'm saying. What he didn't realize was that because of his sin, because of his persistence, Ahish is gonna make demands on David. And those demands will be near impossible to refuse without without a price.
59:49 Meaning, David could choose not to do what Ahish is about to ask him to do, but if he did, he would expose himself and he might find himself in a war himself. What am I trying to say? Just quickly look at verse one of chapter 28. In those days, the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel and Ahish said to David, understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army. You see what he's what he's saying here?
1:00:20 That's not an invitation. That's a command. And what is he saying? David, you're going to war with us against the Israelites. Now compare verse one here and verse one and verse 27 and think of of how far those two things are.
1:00:43 From from discouragement all the way down to potential apostasy. This is fascinating. And that's the point I wanna make in conclusion. That what began as a little trip would end up becoming potentially total allegiance to the wrong side. And now David could potentially find himself going to war with somebody that he vowed that he would never touch, and that's Saul himself.
1:01:24 Be careful with discouragement. I'm gonna end it this way, if you know somebody who is discouraged, don't underestimate where that can direct that person. And be what Jonathan was like, and be what Abigail was like, a source of hope. And if you are that person who struggles with discouragement in your will, in your ambition, in your, even your thoughts about God, your conclusions about how things turned out in life. Do not fail to first spill that before God's presence, and do not, in your pride, reserve what you feel from those who care about you and are able to grab you by the hand and pull you out of that sinking sensation.
1:02:12 Discouragement is powerful, but more powerful is godly encouragement. Oh, it can strengthen our hands. Oh, it can provide fresh grace. Oh, it can provide great, great, great and wonderful abilities to move forward in something that we thought we could never endure again. Let's ask God to help us, shall we?
1:02:31 Let's pray. Lord, in this moment tonight, We are so thankful for providing us such rich insight into something that we all have experienced before and perhaps some are experiencing even tonight. A sense of discouragement, a loss of hope, feelings, emotions, conclusions that might even lead us to make decisions that would harm us and harm our testimony. Lord, we pray for those who are serving you. They're trying to serve you, oh God, But they are regularly choked by lies.
1:03:45 They are bent on looking at what is wrong instead of what is right. We pray Lord that we would not fail to take heed to the warnings found in this chapter. We would long to pour our hearts before you, and we would we would be humble enough to to speak to a brother or to a sister. Lord, make us sensitive enough to those around us who might not be quick to share what they feel and to be sensitive enough to to show them that we love them so that they can trust us. And Lord, we just ask that you would help us, help us believe you in times where we don't see what we believe we need to see, where we feel like you're not giving us what we think we need and what we've been praying for for so long.
1:04:34 Lord, by your spirit, would you just resurrect us? Build us up again for your glory. We don't want to fall into the trap that David did. We don't want to dishonor you, oh God. We don't want to be led into disgrace because of discouragement.
1:04:48 Keep us strong. Keep us strong. Keep this church strong. May this church provide such a love that would make it very difficult for anybody to doubt your work in our hearts. We wanna give you all glory and praise for this bible study.
1:05:08 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord in closing, shall we?
