David's Cave - Five Keys To Victory 3 Of 4 Series

Title: How To Behave In A Cave – 4

“David’s Cave – Five Keys to Victory – 3”

Text: I Samuel 22:1

A few weeks ago we started a series on “How to Behave in a Cave.” This series is meant to give you hope to know that you are coming out of that cave. God does not want you to stay in it forever. However, while we are in the cave it is very important that we learn how to behave in a proper and godly way. How we behave determines how quickly we will get out of this cave.

A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term cave should only apply to cavities that have some part that does not receive daylight.

There were several men in the Bible that dwelled in caves for a season of their life. A cave is a type of a dark hour, a struggle, a trial in your life that you face. It seems to be void of light. We all go through them. There are several people in this congregation that are in a spiritual cave as we speak, but after the first three messages of this series I know that we all are encouraged that we are coming out of that cave. We have already determined that we don’t care how long it takes or what it takes, we are coming out of that old cave.

The last week that I preached we started talking about David’s cave.

I Samuel 22:1-2; ¶ “David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.”

Four hundred men went with David into the cave. However, they were not exactly the kind of people you like to surround yourself with when you’re going through a trial. Usually, when you are down, you want to try to find people who are up. But here, people who were in distress, in debt and discontented surround David. These guys were losing at the game of life.

Something happened to those men before they left that cave. They may have been discouraged when they went in, but they didn’t stay that way for very long. They didn’t stay in debt; they didn’t stay in distress and discontentment. God showed them how to get out! And He wants to show you in the next few weeks how to come out of your cave.

In fact we find these same men in I Chronicles 11:

I Chronicles 11:9-10; “So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him. 10 ¶ These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.”

These same men were so successful and blessed that they joyfully contributed out of their vast wealth to finance the building of the temple of God. Now that is success! Something has happened to them. They were not the same men when they came out of the cave, as they were when they went in. That is God’s desire for each of us. He wants us to come out of our caves different then when we went in. He wants to strengthen us. He wants to renew us. He wants to make us mighty warriors for Him but sometimes we have to face the cave first. The cave experience was the best thing that could have ever happened to these men but I am sure that they did not think so when they were in the thick of that cave.

Then Sunday night we started talking about the five things that David learned while in the cave that caused him to come out victorious. In Psalm 57 we find five keys to successful behaviour in a cave. This Psalm is David’s own record of his own thoughts when he fled from Saul into the Cave of Adullam.

Psalm 57:1-11; ¶ <> “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. 4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. 6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. 7 ¶ My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.” (KJV)