Pursued By Evil Forces Series

We noted several weeks ago in the Book of 1 Samuel, David found a faith partner; Jonathan, the son of King Saul made a commitment to be a loving godly brother to David. Now King Saul, because of his ego and turning away from God, became wicked and decided to kill David. Even though David was a hero for the nation of Israel, David had to run and hide. Let us continue to learn from this story of David, Jonathan, and King Saul. But first, let us pray together our commitment to God’s Word……

Open your bibles to 1 Samuel 23…. read along with me v13-29….

David had known for a while now that King Saul wanted to kill him and so why did God make that statement in v15? In light of what we read in v16, I think God is telling us that David was really fearful for his life at that moment!

And, we may not read it, but because David was fearful, God sent Jonathan to David; how can we say this? How did Jonathan know where David was and what he needed? Because they were godly men, God was at work in David and Jonathan’s lives!

And what did Jonathan do for his faith partner?

v16: Jonathan encouraged David with his presence and godly words!

v17: Even though he was the prince, Jonathan was committed to follow David as king!

v18: Renewed their commitment to the Lord and to each other!

Jonathan humbled himself before the Lord and before his godly friend David.

Now, isn’t it interesting that right after this example of a good wonderful faith partnership, God tells us in v19-25 of another type of partnership, a “worldly” partnership! What can we say about this partnership?

v19-20: there was spying, flattery, and abducting

v21?? there was self-obsession (narcissism) and lies! Saul turned away from God a long time ago and yet he lies and gives the Ziphites God’s blessing (which Saul no longer had to give)!

And what do we note in v22-23? there was plotting and scheming!

And finally in v24-26, we note the interaction between the 2 opposing forces: one pursues, the other responds, which eventually becomes like a race side by side! This is a picture of our Christian life isn’t it? the devil, the world, and our own sins will pursue us and we have to respond. Praise God! Jesus Christ the Lord God is right beside us and for us, not against us!

Let’s finish the passage: what do we note at the end of v26??

David was at the brink of being captured!

But something interesting happened in v27-28!!! What happened??

Saul hated David so much, he was ready to do whatever it took to kill him; from using his own family members to partnering with his country’s enemies, to leaving the comforts of his throne but yet, Saul broke off his pursuit of David when he had David in a corner!! How perfectly timely for David; how can such a thing happen??

A miracle happened for David! They called the place Sela Hammahlekoth = The Cliff of Smoothness!

And so in v29: David was able to escape danger!

And so, what can Believers of God glean from this story? I believe it is this: Just like with David,

Believers of God will be pursued by worldly forces but God will provide help and a way of escape!

If this is true, should Christians today just wait for God to do something? Did David just sit around waiting for God to do something??

We can note a few things which David did that we Christians also should do as worldly forces pursues us!

a. Have a Faith Partner! – Be present is someone’s life and offer godly words!

b. Be discerning of “worldly” partnerships!

c. Respond with godly actions!

The world will influence us and we may end up on cliffs where we can fall off from! Call on Jesus Christ who can smooth out your life even on the verge of falling off!

How close are we to God? Do we have Jesus Christ in our minds always? Are we yielding to the Holy Spirit within us? Daily experience Cliffs of Smoothness with Jesus Christ!