Man Caves: Adullam; Escape From Funky Town Series

Man Caves: Adullam - Getting out of Funky Town

I am wanting to do a series about Man Caves in the bible, it is interesting some of the things that happened in caves. I am not sure I will do the whole series now we will see how the Lord leads.

Today I want to talk about the cave Adullam and how David went there in one of the most difficult times in his life. I want to talk about how this cave can become a "funky town," ( a place of sulking) or it can be a springboard to great things. I will give a brief summary of 1 Sam 16-22 and then 4 principles on how to leave funky town.

Background

David is the youngest of 8 boys. He gets stuck with sheep duty.

He does what boys do when they are bored. He played with his weapon.

For David it was a sling. I think it was near an obsession with him. I am sure he hit trees, squirrels, birds everything and anything that moved. He shot at tree trunks, then specific branches, than individual leaves.

His mother probably complained, can’t you ever play a game that doesn’t have killing in it?

That aggressive spirit was in David by the will of God. We live in a day and age where society is trying to neuter men. We like football, we like boxing, its in the genes. There are other societies where aggression by men is highly prized and if we don’t stay with them, they will overcome us some day.

I bet David’s mother had a totally different idea about David and the sling the day he came home and told her a bear came to attack one of the lambs and he killed it. She probably wished he had just turned and ran, and then in another instance he did the same with a lion. She probably did not realize that warfare would be a part of David for as long as he lived.

David had another passion, playing the harp/guitar. I imagine him looking up at the stars at night, thinking on the awesomeness of God, playing and worshipping God. David is the epitome of what a Christian man should be .... a worshipping warrior.

He gets anointed king, by the prophet Samuel

He faces a Goliath and kills him with just one shot from his sling.

The good times are rolling.

He becomes king Saul’s armor bearer, and chief of his personal guard.

The woman of Israel sing songs of his bravery at 17 years of age. Saul the king gets very jealous and envious of David. But because of his popularity he offers him the hand of one of his daughters in marriage, at the last minute he has his daughter marry another man.

One of Saul’s daughters named Michal (Mekawl) let her father know that she loves David. I think David also loved her, but that is a whole ’nother story. Anyway Saul thinks to himself, I can use this to my advantage as a way to kill David. I will let the Philistines kill him, and then I will be free of any blame. So he says to David, I will let you marry my daughter, but I want a dowry of 100 foreskins of the Philistines. He knew there is only one way to get that, and David would have to kill. It was Saul’s hope and belief that David would be killed in the endeavor. But to his surprise David brings him 200 foreskins and claims his daughter as his bride. (Interesting that David later used the same type thinking to get rid of Uriah. Beware the spirit that attacks your father, doesn’t also come after you.)

David’s heroics are noticed by Saul’s son Jonathon and they become best buddies. Jonathon recognizes that though he is the blood heir to the throne of Israel, God had chosen David for that honor instead of him. They become blood covenant brothers, swearing to protect each others lives and families.

Saul’s envy and hatred of David grows to the point he has to flee Jerusalem. His wife warns him of a plot and helps David escape, keeping his escape secret giving him time to get away. When her father, King Saul, finds out he is furious with his daughter and in hatred to David makes her marry another man.

Then Jonathon tries to rationalize with his father that David is a true and loyal man, but his father in rage tries to kill Jonathon with a spear, saying that he was siding with his enemies. Jonathon meets secretly with David and tells him he has to flee for his life. They part with tears.

David flees to a town called Nob. Where the high priest was. The priest is fearful of him, he asks David where all his men were and why was he alone. David lies and says he was there on a secret mission for the king. He asks for food and was told only the bread they had was sacred bread, David talks him into giving it to him. Asks if he has any weapons, and amazingly the priest had the sword of Goliath, which David happily takes. He had left Jerusalem so fast, he didn’t have any weapons with him.