Afraid And Alone: How David Turned Terror Into Triumph - 1 Samuel 21 Series

Psalm 34:1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Introduction

Imagine that you were a US soldier fighting in Afghanistan, and you were falsely accused of treason. You were set to be executed, but before that happens you escape and the only place for you to hide is a village deep inside Taliban-controlled territory. You are hiding, praying that you won’t be captured, but soon you are discovered and dragged in to the local Taliban warlord who is known for his merciless torture and brutality. No one from home is going to save you and now you are at the mercy of a monster who considers you his greatest enemy in the world. What do you do? That’s almost exactly the situation in which David finds himself in 1 Samuel 21.

Why the life of David?

We return this morning to our study of the life of David after a long break. In fact it has been so long I should probably remind you why we are doing this study. If you have been in my hermeneutics class you know that I am not a big fan of character studies. The reason we have stories in the Bible is not so we can study the people; it is so we can study God. God is the main character of all the Bible stories, and it is a mistake, in most cases, to focus on the human beings in the story.

David, however, is an exception. David is an individual that God does want us to focus our attention on and to learn from his example. David’s name is mentioned more times in the Bible than anyone except the Lord Himself - 1089 times! That is 400 more than Adam, Isaiah, Noah, Elijah, Paul and Abraham all put together. David is mentioned twice by name before he is even born. God devoted 68 chapters of Scripture to the life of David. Second place is Joseph, with 13.

I think there are at least three reasons for that. One is that knowing about the life of David is important for understanding the Psalms. Secondly, understanding David is crucial for understanding Jesus. Almost all messianic prophecy in is based on David and God’s promises to him. And the third reason why God wants us to know about the life of David is because Scripture says that David’s life is to be an example for us. All the kings that followed David are measured in Scripture according to how well they compare to David. He is the Old Testament standard for godliness, not only for kings, but also for the people themselves. The reason the kingdom was divided in the first place was because God punished them for not following the example of David’s faithfulness (1 Ki.11:33). Very few people, if any, (except for Jesus Himself), have ever loved God like David loved God. God gave us 68 chapters on David because He wanted us to have a crystal clear idea of what a man after God’s own heart looks like.