Introduction:
A. I like the story told of the jet that was making a transatlantic flight, when suddenly the pilot’s voice came on the intercom: “Those of you on the left side of the plane have probably noticed that one of our engines has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can still fly on three engines, but we will probably arrive about 15 minutes late.”
1. A few minutes later, the pilot’s calm voice came on again: “Those of you on the right side of the plane are probably aware that a second engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it on two engines, though we will probably be at least 30 minutes late now.”
2. A few minutes later the pilot spoke to the passengers again: “It has just come to my attention that a third engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it to the airport on only one engine. However, we will arrive approximately 45 minutes late.”
3. One passenger turned to another and said, “Boy, I hope that fourth engine doesn’t fail, or we could be up here all night!”
B. A story like that makes a good joke, but if it were really to happen to us, there would be no one laughing.
1. When you are flying, your security literally depends upon the functioning of those engines.
2. Just as a flyer’s sense of security is wrapped up in the proper functioning of those engines, so, too, in life, our sense of security is often dependent upon various factors in our lives such as our jobs, our bank accounts, our families, our friends, our health, and our position in society. We can become very secure in these things.
3. So a person with a good job, a nice house, a loving family, the respect of other people, good health, well, what else could he or she need? Right? Maybe he or she doesn’t even need God.
4. And therein lies the problem. God wants us to find our security ultimately in Him.
5. All of these other things are temporary and somewhat unreliable, but God is eternal and completely reliable.
C. It’s kind of like our use of crutches or training wheels.
1. Crutches come in very handy when you have had an injury, and training wheels are a great help when learning to ride a bike.
2. But once your injury has healed, it would seem strange to keep using the crutches, right?
3. And once we have learned to ride the bike, the training wheels should be removed, right?
4. But what if we are too afraid to let go of the crutches or the training wheels?
D. There is an immature and unspiritual part in most or all of us that causes us to neglect to develop our security and trust in God when there are so many other things that offer what we think is secure.
1. Many times we don’t even recognize that we are trusting in these things rather than God or we may not realize that these things are not only our crutch, they have become an idol – the god we are serving.
2. In many cases, God allows us to lose some of the things we find our security in, in order to test us, and/or develop our trust in Him.
E. And this leads us to today’s segment from the story of David.
1. We are actually going to touch on parts of the story from four chapters of 1 Samuel – chapters 18 through 21.
2. Although we could learn many other lessons from these stories, I want us to focus on just one.
3. Last week we saw that Saul had now become jealous of David, and it was a turning point in their relationship.
4. Saul’s jealousy of David consumed him – within him was an ongoing civil war – he was miserable, suspicious, and angry.
5. The Bible says, “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.” (1 Sam. 18:10-11)
6. Stop and try to picture this volatile scene in your mind.
7. Here’s David, doing what he can to lighten the king’s dark spirits, when all of a sudden whoosh, a sharp-pointed spear flies right past his head.
8. Suddenly reality strikes, “Man, this guy is nuts! He just tried to kill me!”
9. That’s enough to scare anyone, yet the next verse doesn’t say David was scared of Saul, rather it says, “Saul was afraid of David.” (1 Sam. 18:12)
10. Isn’t that intriguing? The very people who are out to get us are often the ones who are afraid of us.
F. Now please remember that David had done nothing wrong.
1. He had been a model of humility, dependability and integrity.
2. He had done everything right, but none of that mattered because his superior, King Saul, was tormented by an evil spirit and was out of control.
3. It must have been a terrifying experience for the young man, especially since he had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
4. Surprisingly, that incident wasn’t enough to scare David off. He continued to serve Saul and fight against Saul’s enemies both external and internal.
5. In blind fury Saul ordered both Jonathan and the rest of the men to murder David at their earliest opportunity, but Jonathan stood up for David and momentarily at least, the truth seemed to sink into Saul’s darkened soul.
6. The Bible says, “Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: ‘As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.’” (1 Sam. 19:6)
7. But that promise was short lived. Three verses later the Bible says, “But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.” (1 Sam. 19:9-10)
8. Note the words, David “made his escape,” because those words will characterize the next segment of David’s life, and will become the pattern and means of his survival.
9. Let’s notice how God works with David, removing every supporting crutch until all David had to rely on was God – and guess what? David discovers that God is enough!
I. The Removal of the Supporting Crutches
A. The first thing David lost was the crutch of his position.
1. David had been brought into the army, and as a soldier had proven himself faithful, even heroic.
2. But now that is all gone in the flash of a spear.
3. Never again would David serve in Saul’s army.
4. So David fled Saul’s presence and army and went home to his wife, Saul’s daughter.
B. The next support God removed was David’s wife.
1. We haven’t mentioned her yet, so let’s take a few steps back in the story.
2. You remember that Saul had promised the man who slew Goliath would have his daughter as a wife, right?
3. Saul had reneged and gave his other daughter to another man.
4. But then Saul discovered that another of his daughters was in love with David and saw it as a way to try to bring about David’s demise.
5. Saul used his daughter as a pawn, asking David to pay a dowry for her that required him to kill a hundred Philistines, secretly hoping that David would be killed trying to do so.
6. David, however, managed to double the number that Saul required, and did so without being killed, which made Saul even more afraid of him.
7. Now back to our story, so David fled Saul’s presence and went home to his wife.
8. The Bible says, “Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, ‘If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped.” (19:11-12)
9. So David became a fugitive, and Michal deceived her father to aid his escape.
10. The story continues, “Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head. When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, ‘He is ill.’ Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, ‘Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.’ But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair. Saul said to Michal, ‘Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?’” (19:13-17)
11. Michal lied to her father, saying, “I had to…he threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
12. In essence, David’s wife deliberately walked away from him. Never again will they live in harmony.
13. Her lie didn’t help David – it only deepened Saul’s anger against him.
14. Thus another crutch is removed and David runs through the hills trying to find some secure place to hide.
15. As we might expect, he goes to Samuel, and man who had anointed him to replace Saul.
C. The next support that would be taken from David is his mentor – Samuel.
1. The Bible says, “When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.” (19:18)
2. An archaeological dig at Naioth some time ago turned up something interesting.
a. In the ancient remains they found what we would call condominiums – houses built back to back, side to side – in a mazelike arrangement.
b. It was a great place to hide.
3. Unfortunately, no sooner had they gotten there, than someone informed Saul that David is at Naioth in Ramah, so once again, David was on the move and in the process he lost Samuel as a crutch.
4. If you don’t think God has a sense of humor, just look at 1 Sam. 19:19-24.
a. Saul sent soldiers to Naioth to get David, but as they approached the area, they began to prophesy as the Spirit of God came upon them.
b. This happened with two more groups that Saul sent, and so finally he went after David himself.
c. As he approached Naioth, the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied, and stripped off his robe and lay there prophesying the entire day and night.
d. You talk about God trying to send a message to someone!
e. Basically God was trying to tell Saul, “You are barking up the wrong tree. You are after the wrong man. My Spirit is protecting him.”
f. In spite of that powerful sign, ultimately Saul would not be deterred.
5. Meanwhile, the Bible says, “Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan…” (20:1)
D. David is about to lose perhaps his most significant crutch – His friend Jonathan.
1. Gradually we see David is losing all his support – all those things he is used to leaning on.
2. We notice that his emotional stability is slowly eroding – this once calm, confident young warrior is feeling the squeeze.
3. Notice the desperation in what he says to Jonathan, “[he] asked, ‘What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?’” (20:1)
4. Jonathan tries to assure him that this was not his father’s intention.
5. But David came right back, “But David took an oath and said, ‘Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, “Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.” Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.’” (20:3)
6. What a statement! Death was dogging his steps. David knew that he was just a breath away from death.
7. The truth, of course, was that Saul hated David and wanted him dead.
8. The two of them come up with an elaborate plan to determine Saul’s real intentions.
9. As the plan was carried out and Jonathan asked his father, “‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.” (20:32-33)
10. Jonathan finally came to grips with the truth and said to David, “‘Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, “The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.”’ Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.” (20:42)
11. What a sad moment that must have been for David. God had separated him from his position, his wife, his mentor and now his best friend.
12. Ultimately, Jonathan went in one direction and David went in the other.
13. Their friendship was not over, but now it had to be a secretive, long-distance, relationship.
14. Don’t you find it ironic that two of Saul’s children, Jonathan and Michal, both seek to protect the man who is destined to take the throne after Saul? They are more loyal to David than to their own father!
E. The last crutch we see removed is the crutch of David’s self-respect.
1. After a brief stop in Nod where David deceives Abimelech the priest, exposing him to unnecessary danger, David leaves with the consecrated bread and Goliath’s sword.
2. Then the Bible says, “That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.” (21:10)
3. So David’s next step took him outside the borders of Israel.
4. It is common for outlaws to go into exile in some friendly or neutral territory, but how unusual for an outlaw to go into enemy territory.
5. Don’t you find it interesting that David went to Gath – the home town of Goliath the giant and the headquarters of the Philistines?
6. Why go there? Perhaps because it would be the last place Saul would look for him.
7. Do you think that David could live there incognito? Don’t you think people would recognize him?
8. The Bible says, “But the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances…’” (21:11)
9. Well, David wasn’t stupid, he knew that there was only one way he would be safe in enemy territory, and how was that?
10. The Bible says, “David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.” (21:12-13)
10. Try to imagine the scene – David the champion warrior – foaming at the mouth, scratching on the gate, looking like a madman as he drools from his beard.
11. I love King Achish’s response to this, the Bible says, “Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?’” (21:14-15)
12. In other words Achish said, “I’ve got enough nuts in this court already, don’t bring me another one. Get this man out of here.”
13. David knew that insanity was often believed in the ancient world to be an affliction of the gods, and it was customary to treat madmen as taboo, people who should not be harmed in any way.
14. David’s ruse was quite clever and proved effective.
F. So David has definitely been stripped of all the supports of his life.
1. He had had a high position, and he lost it. He had had a wife, and he lost her.
2. He had had a wise counselor, and he lost him. He had had a close friend, and he lost him.
3. He had had self-respect, and he lost it.
Conclusion:
A. Can any of us relate to any of this? I’m sure that many of us have had our supporting crutches removed and we can attest to the pain and instability that resulted.
1. For some the crutch that was removed was a trusted friend or a broken romance.
a. We thought they were the right one for us, or we thought they would be our friend forever.
b. But that’s not how it turned out – it hurt and it shook our world.
2. Others have experienced the instability that comes as one looses a spouse to death or divorce.
a. Those words from the doctor, “It’s malignant,” and those words from a spouse, “I don’t love you anymore, or there is someone else,” they just pull the rug right out from under you and send you into a tailspin.
3. Others, especially in today’s economy, are receiving pink slips that ultimately say, “Your services are no longer needed.” The loss of a job can bring a flood of insecurity.
4. Still others have experienced the loss of finances - bank accounts have dwindled, IRAs and other investments have disappeared, resulting in foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcy, and fear.
B. So what should we do about all this? We ultimately should do the same thing whether the times be good or bad – we should put our trust in the Lord and lean on Him.
1. Nothing is wrong with leaning as long as we are leaning on the Lord.
2. Deut. 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
3. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
4. In the text we read as the Scripture reading, it appears that David wrote this Psalm during this period in his life, notice again the refrain, “In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise- in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Ps. 56:10-11)
5. Listen to Paul’s understanding, he wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8-9)
C. Our best game plan is to seek to make the Lord our security from the get go – to hold on to God’s hand and never let go.
1. We must not make an idol out of our mate, our children, our parents or friends.
2. We must not make an idol out of our work or our reputation.
3. We must not make an idol out of our money and possessions.
4. Our security is not in any of these things – Our security comes from the Lord who has promised us “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
5. That’s the lesson that David learned and the one that we can learn as well – Lean on the Lord!
Hold on to Him! Let Him give the security that we need!
Resources:
David – A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1997.
David I, by W. Phillip Keller, Word Books, 1985.
The Making of a Man of God, by Alan Redpath, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1962.
I and II Samuel, David F. Payne, The Daily Study Bible Series, Westminster Press, 1982
First and Second Samuel, J. Carl Laney, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Bible Institute, 1982.
“What To Do When You Lose Your Security,” Sermon by Michael Cassara.
