The Lord prepares David, His anointed one, for the Kingship.
• Step by step, little by little, the young shepherd is being taught and trained to trust God and manage difficult circumstances.
• God prepares him, not in a classroom but through the crucible of life – through trials and tests. The run became his training course.
• The throne will not be handed over to David on a silver platter. God moulds him and equips him for the Kingship.
I came across this poem that captures this truth.
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man;
When God wants to mould a man
To play the noblest part,
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways—
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects.
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows, converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
Which only God understands,
While his tortured heart is crying,
And he lifts beseeching hands.
How he bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes.
How He uses
Whom He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses him,
By every act induces him
To try his splendour out.
God knows what He’s about.
God knows what He’s about. With David, with Moses, Joseph, Elijah, Daniel, Paul… and the many other servants of God we read in the Scriptures.
• God knows what He is doing. Whatever that happens to David might seems random but behind it all stands the Lord with His unseen hand, guiding his every step. If you ask, “Where is God?” He is right there with him.
• Just because we don’t see God or feel Him does not mean He is absent.
• God is with us in our trials and tests, even when we feel abandoned or forgotten.
Let’s read 1 Samuel 23:1-14. David and his men were hiding in the FOREST OF HERETH in Judah, when they heard this news...
We see TWO very different MOTIVATIONS – that of David and Saul.
• David was moved by the NEEDS of his people. He cares. David wants to do something and so he inquired of God.
• If he was thinking about himself, he would have ignored Keilah and stayed in hiding. That’s the comfort zone and the safest thing.
• Anyway, this is not his responsibility. King Saul, being the King, out to have taken this up and fight for Keilah.
Instead, we see David being moved by the plight of his people whilst Saul was caught up by his own selfish desires.
• Saul was busy defending his throne, not his nation. He was concern about his own welfare, not the needs of his people.
• We see that in many countries today, where corruption is rampant, and leaders are serving for their own gains and not the needs of their people.
David’s men were not keen to leave the hiding place; that’s their comfort zone. They were afraid.
• Keilah is on the plain nearer the border with the Philistines. If they leave, they will be out in the open and exposing themselves to greater danger.
• They have to not only fight the Philistines, but also to make sure that they can get back into hiding before Saul catches up with them.
• There is too much to risk, the men felt. David inquired of the Lord YET AGAIN.
David took the words of his men seriously, but it is the Lord’s will that matters.
• He submits to what God says. The Lord said it again – go and save Keilah, and added a promise, “I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.” (23:4)
• With that, David moved.
We saw David’s MOTIVATION, and now we see his DETERMINATION. David is determine to HEAR from God. It is obvious from this text.
• It’s not about what he can do. Basing on past track records, I believe David is capable of doing a good job in fighting the Philistines.
• Or he could have taken this task up to gain greater mileage or popularity with the people. But his only question is: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
• This is his concern and it should be ours too. Lord, what do you want me to do?
We see David’s WILLINGNESS TO OBEY. He moves once he knows that it is the will of God.
• It will mean he has to persuade his men. It will mean they will have to fight. It will mean there are exposing themselves to dangers and risks.
• Even King Saul commented in 23:7 "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars."
• Saul prepares to besiege the city.
There is a price to pay when we do the will of God. Yet we do it because God has spoken! David has already decided to OBEY when God answers.
• Keilah is a bad place to be in with Saul coming after you, but it is a “bad place” that God leads him to, so David would have to trust God.
• God will provide a way out for David and his men.
We see David’s motivation, his determination to SEEK God and HEAR from Him, and his WILLINGNESS to obey God’s Word. What about Saul?
When Saul heard that David had gone to Keilah, he called up all his forces for battle and besiege the city (23:7-8).
• Imagine this, Saul marshalled all his forces for war – not to fight against his enemies the Philistines, or Amalekites or Moabites, but against one of his own!
• He is more keen to fight David than the Philistines, because he was MOTIVATED! – motivated by self-interest. It’s all about protecting his throne.
• And he was so deluded to even think that God was helping him capture David.
What really motivates you today? When you find yourself caught up by something you like to do, over and over again, stop and check your motivation!
• Why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you so driven and so passionate about it?
• Pray that we will not fall into Saul’s state of mind, when we believe that what we want is what God wants.
How not to be deluded? We mentioned it last week, REFLECT AND LEARN.
• Inquire of the Lord and listen well to what He says. Be submissive and obey.
• God has been speaking to Saul, through the prophet, his son and the priest. We have the WORD of God, our LOVED ONES, and CHURCH leaders to guide us.
The problem usually is not on God’s side. It is on our side. We are not LISTENING well to what He is saying. David SEEKS God and he is WILLING to listen.
He did it again in verse 9 when David learned that Saul was plotting against him.
• He asked Abiathar the priest to bring him the ephod. He wants to pray!
About the ephod. Exodus 28:29-30
29 "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. 30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.
• Likely a YES or NO answer, because the questions pose to God are in that manner.
• Not the only way God answers. 1 Sam 28:6 Saul inquired of the Lord but God did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Used only for a period of time in history.
David asks God 2 questions:
(1) “Will Saul come after me in Keilah?” (23:11) YES, the Lord replied.
(2) “Will the men of Keilah turn me over to Saul?” (23:12) Again the answer was YES.
Once again, David took his men and “hit the road” in response to what God said.
• He sought the Lord and the Lord showed him what he needs to do.
• 23:14b “Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.”
• David was not caught because God protected him. It was the providence of God that makes David’s flight from Saul so successful! God orchestrated his escape!
This is our assurance today. God cares for us and He watches over us.
• We are secure today not because there is no trouble in life. We are secure today because God is here with us and He is watching over us.
• David did not escape by chance or accident. He escaped by God’s providence.
• And it will be God’s providence that will save us today. We shall WALK THROUGH the darkest valley, David says in Psalm 23.
Our common expectation is for God to remove all our troubles. Sometimes, that’s what God will do.
• But at other times, His will is for us to RUN with Him through the trials and testings of life. He is moulding us and training us.
• Paul says, “Take this thorn away!” The Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (cf. 2 Cor 12:8-9)
In the old THE KARATE KID movie (1984), Daniel a skinny boy was being bullied at school often and he asked his neighbour to teach him karate. The Master agreed under one condition - Daniel must submit totally to his instruction and not question his methods. So Daniel agreed and showed up the next day eager to learn.
To his surprise, the Master had him paint a fence. He demonstrated the precise motion for the job: up and down, up and down. It took Daniel days to finish the job.
Next, the Master told Daniel to wash and wax three weather-beaten cars and again prescribed the motion – “wax on, wax off.” Daniel wondered, “What does this have to do with karate?” But he said nothing.
Finally, the Master had him sand the deck using a prescribed stroke. At the end of the day, Daniel had reached his limit, and he said to the Master: “I thought you were going to teach me karate, but all you have done is have me do your unwanted chores!”
Daniel had broken the Master’s one condition, and the old man turned angry. “I have been teaching you karate! Defend yourself!” And he threw a punch toward Daniel, who instinctively defended himself with an arm motion exactly like that used in one of his chores. Next the Master unleashed another vicious kick, and again Daniel averted the blow with a motion used in his chores.
After Daniel successfully defended himself from a few more blows, the Master simply walked away, leaving Daniel to discover what the Master had known all along: skill comes from repeating the correct but seemingly mundane motion.
We may not understand it all but when we obey God in each small step we take, we soon develop the strength and trust we need to surmount even the strongest storm.
• That’s what makes David so different from Saul. He is MOTIVATED to do God’s will. He is DETERMINED to seek God and OBEY Him. Saul is determined to do it his way.
• Saul fails. David succeeds. Saul is deluded. David is blessed. Who do you want to be?
