Knowing When To Back Down Series

Series: The Songs Of A King [#2]

KNOWING WHEN TO BACK DOWN

Psalm 11:1-7

Introduction:

In 1 Samuel 19, we find Saul telling his son Jonathan and those that worked for King Saul to kill David. After David had killed Goliath, he started becoming more popular and famous than King Saul and King Saul wasn’t going to put up with that. What upset King Saul the most was that he heard women singing a song that said “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Now, David was married to King Saul’s daughter Michal and had done nothing but help King Saul.

Jonathan loved David like a brother and so he told David to go into hiding. I need to remind you that David was a warrior and he wasn’t ok with running away or hiding. He had killed Goliath and there wasn’t anyone that was going to bully him into hiding. Jonathan went, spoke to his father, convinced him to leave David alone, and that worked for a little while.

David went to war again against the Philistines and once again he had victory. You would think that this would have made King Saul happy; but instead, an evil spirit came upon him and he threw his spear at David and tried to kill him. David dodged the spear and ran off. Saul sent guards to watch David’s house and then were to kill him the next morning. That night, David had his wife help him escape out of a window. That morning the guards asked to see David and his wife told them that he was sick. That only worked for a moment and they came back to get him anyways. When they went into his room, they found that David wasn’t there.

This brings us to our Psalm this morning. David is expressing his frustrations and the fact that it makes no sense for him to back down. Why would God have someone that is serving Him back down and run away?

Psalm 11:1 (NIV)

“In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.”

There are times when…

1. God wants you to back down.

I know that this hard for you to believe; but sometimes God wants us to get out of His way and trust Him.

 It is not a sin to back down.

Many of us are fighters and so the thought of not fighting every battle is a terrible one. After all, with God on our side, we’re supposed to stomp our enemies into the ground. You can try as hard as you can to convince yourself that every fight is worth fighting and God wants you to fight; but it’s just not true.

 Don’t fight in your own power.

Some of the greatest defeats in Israel’s history were when they tried to fight a battle in their own power. Fighting every fight will put you in a position that you end up fighting a battle that God told you not fight; and therefore, you fight the battle in your own power. You can find 1000’s of examples on Facebook. How many times has someone said something really evil about you or a friend on Facebook and although there should have been no reply, the person could not help themselves and replied any ways? Let me tell you, the times that I have fallen in that trap, things got very bad.

 Don’t be prideful.

It is hard not to fight back and the main reason is- We have to save face. We are so worried about what everybody will think that we just have to fight back. That is called pride and the Bible says that pride goes before the fall. Let me repeat, there are times when God wants you to get out of His way by backing down.

Psalm 11:2-7 (NIV)

“For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.”

There are times when…

2. God is not going to use you.

I know you are now thinking that I have lost my mind. You have heard me say 1000’s of times that you need to let God use you; but really I should have said that you need to be willing and useable. God chooses who He uses. Many times, you are like my friend Kevin who says, “God is going to drop the hammer on my enemies, and my name is Hammer”. David wanted to be the one to deal with Saul; but God had a different plan.