Beware Of The Bad Dogs

knows when they pull up in front of a house and see a sign on the fence that says, “Beware of the bad dog”, that sign means “BEWARE OF THE BAD DOG!”

The background for this Psalm is found in that passage of scripture known as 1 Samuel 19:8-17.

There are many things about this passage that are interesting. One of the things I want to show you is this:

• In 1 Sam. 19:6, he said, “And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan; and Saul sware, As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.”

• In 1 Sam. 19:11, we read, “Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning…”

Saul, the politician, did the opposite of what he said he would do.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR ABOUT POLITICIANS? It sounds like he said, “Read my lips”, and did the opposite of what he promised he would do.

WHY? Saul’s jealousy of David was so severe it practically drove him insane. David had outdone him by killing the almost ten-foot giant, Goliath, and was getting all the attention, and Saul could not stand it.

Illus: He reminds me of Kayleen Resusser. She said that her first-grader came home, and proudly reported to her dad that she recently joined the girl scout troop, and was now officially a "Brownie." Not to be outdone, her three-year-old brother, Christopher, rushed up to his dad also, and proudly announced that he was a cupcake! (Kayleen J. Reusser, Bluffton, Indiana. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom.)

Saul was waging an all out effort to make sure that he stayed in the lime light.

In this Psalm, David finds himself in a dilemma. The life of David makes the life of “007” look like a boy scout. This fellow was always barely escaping from his enemies, who were trying to kill him.

As bad as the LION, BEAR AND THE GIANT he had faced were, King Saul, eaten up with jealousy, was his worst nightmare.

Notice, David refers to his enemies as “dogs”. Look at Isaiah 56:11 “Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough...” David was saying that Saul had turned the dogs loose on him.

David referred to these enemies as DOGS, but Paul, in Acts 20:28-31 refers to them as WOLVES! Paul warns the church to beware of wolves, who would come in and spare not the flock of God.

Illus: Many times, a pastor will have these bad dogs and wolves within his own congregation, and he is ready to pack up and leave because their attacks are so severe.

But as he goes elsewhere to seek relief in another church, he often finds out that they have bad dogs and wolves in that church also. SOMETIMES HE ENDS UP IN A WORSE SITUATION THAN HE LEFT. All he did was jump from the frying pan into the fire.

You will find these bad dogs and wolves everywhere you go. Remember Jesus had Judas.

Today we face these savages, wild dogs, and wolves. Let us learn how to handle these situations from David's experience. Notice:

I. DAVID’S PETITION

Look at verses 1-2, we read, “…O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.”

He wrote this Psalm during a difficult situation. The old king, Saul, had turned on the new king with jealousy.

David had faced a lion, a bear, and even a giant almost ten feet tall, but it was these bad dogs that caused him to cry out to God.

When we face difficulties in this life, we generally have a number of places we can turn to for help. Sometimes we turn to:

• Loved ones

• Friends

• The courts of the land

• The police

• Institutions

But there are times we face difficulties and we have no one in this world we can turn to but God.

David had turned to everyone he knew that might help him, but he knew that he was up against something that only God Himself could help him with.

But notice some things as he turned to God.

A. WE SEE HIS ACKNOWLEDGMENT

He said in verse 1, “O MY God…”

There are times when we can see why people will do foolish things, like taking their own life.

Illus: I just told you a few minutes ago that there are times when we face some of the difficulties of life, and they are so severe that there is no one that can help us but God. NO ONE!

But listen, when the lost man faces these difficulties, and he has sought help everywhere he knows, and is convinced there is no solution to his problems, there are times when a lost man will get a gun, and point it to his head and pull the trigger.