1 Samuel 21:10-15 NKJ
10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”[a]
12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
I want you to realize something, this is David we're talking about here. A man after gods own heart. This is also someone who is facing intense persecution, who wants them eradicated.
David was a lot of things to a lot of people, but in the end he was still human.
This is clearly a low point for David. David was always a warrior, known for a man of valor and hero status.
This is definitely one of his lower points in his life and in his walk.
King Saul had gone crazy, because he had learned that his son Jonathan had signed a covenant with David.
Through Sauls relentless pursuit as someone who knew his inevitable end , David had become somewhat delirious himself. We read a little bit more into the way that David felt, in psalms 56
Psalms 56:1-13 MSG
56 1-4 Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
to beat me up.
(notice here how we read the entrance to self effort,
This is when David is only relying on David)
When I get really afraid
I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God;
fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?
(Here he realizes God's ability and finds rest for a moment, but quickly
Resorts back to unrest and fear)
5-6 They don’t let up—
they smear my reputation
and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
wait their chance to get me.
7 Pay them back in evil!
Get angry, God!
Down with these people!
(He comes to the conclusion, like all of us do when
We finally push our human nature aside, that only God
Is going to be able to take care of this battle. And when he does
He also senses, that God was always there and never far away
From even one thing he had gone through!)
8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away,
turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I’ll know
that God is on my side.
10-11 I’m proud to praise God,
proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
what can mere mortals do to me?
(What he senses is God's Grace and love, and when he senses Grace and Love,
he finds The peace that passes all understanding. And with that he finds comfort and rest.)
12-13 God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
Now when we read this...Remember David is a prisoner in a foreign land, he has been on the run fleeing for his life...to the point, he acts like he's on trial and pleads insanity, to keep himself from annihilation!
He's trying to get away from King Saul and runs right into the Philistine army, do you think for one minute their ever going to get over the fact, he killed their greatest warrior ever, Goliath!
I imagine right about this time he's saying
"I didn't sign up for this...You said I would be the King"
The Philistines were the enemy of the people of Israel and no doubt they had heard the same story that had spread through the countryside, from the moment the David walked onto the battlefield to fight Goliath…
He had been a thorn in their side, from the moment up till now, and now they had him right were any enemy would want, captured and in prison…with His life hanging in the balance of an insanity plea!
I can imagine how all of Philistine must have been celebrating his capture.
Oh great giant killer…
What are you going to do now?
Where's your God now?
You're not so great now are you?
Who are you going to call on now?
What they didn't realize was, while David was in prison…
David's God was not in prison!
David's God was still on the throne...
David's God was still great and worthy to be praised! Amen??
David’s God was still bigger than anything they could do to David!
David's God was just waiting for the word!
So what is David to do?
What would you have done?
I don't know about you..but I'd be getting my Worship on, just like he did!
At this point their was nowhere to go but to the Lord...He had nowhere else to turn, but to the Lord...
Looked like David was at the end of the rope, seemed to be that David was down to nothing… But how many of you know when it seems you're down to nothing...God is always up to something. Amen??
It wasn't over! And even though the verse had not been written yet in the Bible, He who started the work in David, was going to be faithful, and was going to finish the work in David! David realized the Victory was in God’s hands, nothing has changed...every Victory, every gift, originates in God’s hands and then sifts through His hands to our point of need!
In verses 1-4 of this Psalm...David declares that GOD IS MERCIFUL!
1-2: Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up
God not only knows what's going on in your life...He also cares about
What's going on in your life! He's also interested, how you react to what's going on in your Life! Do you react in faith, or fear?
3-4: When I get really afraid I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?
As I read this… I couldn't help but think how David was a man of faith and also a man after gods own heart...but when we read here it says "when I get really afraid I come to you in trust"
I realize that david had a lot of human nature and him just like all of us do!
This gives me hope and courage...because no matter how many triumphs
and accomplishments we read about David… There were times in his life like all of us, where he was afraid...
He may have been a man after gods own heart, but he was still a man, he was
flesh and bones like you and I. Amen??
Like David, we all get caught up in the moment and what we think
we are capable of doing…but the reality of the situation,
always comes back to God's capabilities and God's capabilities alone
In the time of need!
"I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?"
Perfect love, cast out all fear. And when the fear is gone from our lives, it
Produces Courage! Realizing the power of God's love in every situation produces courage.
David's new found confidence says it this way...
"If God be for me...who can be against me"
And while the accuser would like nothing better than the turmoil and strife to never end! he knows, if God is for you "nothing else matters". Game Over, turn out the lights!
While David recognized and received God's mercy…by David's words God recognized David's faith! Amen??
Your WORDS have power! OUR WORDS HAVE SO MUCH POWER! And when we harness them to the Word of God we have hid in our heart, they become Gods ability to do the impossible every time!
Your words, learn to use them wisely...use them to your benefit, use them to your enemies demise!
In verses 12-13, David reminds us Gods ability working in our situation, the reward of our faith, produces results! David can't help but declare that GOD IS MIGHTY and true to His Word!
God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
God had rescued David and for that David was Grateful and he was
offering up his thanks For keeping His Promise...David never forgot to offer his thanksgiving to God, for the things God did in his life.
We should all strive, to have the same said about ourselves. To never be guilty of forgetting to give God thanks for meeting our needs!
Let me remind you this morning that...
God keeps His Promises / God keeps His Word!
And the truth is sometimes we need to be reminded of those things… That God keeps His promises and keeps His word to us consistently!
When we're the ones going through the difficulties...when we're the one
down in the valley, sometimes it seems like we're the only ones around.
But David reminds us here in scripture that nothing could be further from the truth
Vs 8: You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
David reminds us here that God is mindful of our circumstances and
aware of everything that we go through and He is not only there with us...
but He also keeps a perfect record of what happens while we're going
through the trial! Amen??
"No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me, O how much He cared for me."
Can you imagine just for a moment… The attentiveness it takes to capture a tear when it squeezes from someone's eye, before it evaporates?
We know a person's pride can hide the first one or two tears, when we think we need to portray strength in the time of need. But the truth is, while we may hide those tears from those around us, we can never hide them from a loving, and attentive God!
Now I don’t know about you child of God. But I find a sweet resting atmosphere in the caring nature of God! I rejoice in the fact that I serve the same great God that David served!
The same God that Delivered David from the hands of the Philistines,
the hand of King Saul and made him the King of all israel. And that same
God is still just as powerful...
Still on the throne...
Still as attentive and caring as He was when David wrote this Psalm.
That's why If we were to ask David if he were here today.....
David, how did you know...that those days there in that prison, weren't your last days?
How did you know that your prayers weren't in vain?
How did you know David that those wouldn't be your last days...
and that your best days were still yet to come?
If he could tell you… I believe he would tell you its because I know that God is for me and that's all I need to know!!! Amen??
And that's all you need to know!
There's not some grand equation to figure out
Some Long list of rules that you need to memorize
All you need to know is that God is for you and that He loves you so very very much!
He's not a respecter of persons… He respects you enough
to treat you the same as every other child He calls His own.
What He freely gave to David, He will also freely give to you! If you are willing to have faith and receive the gift! The question is, are you?
But David was a Bible hero...and David had great courage and David had great faith and David was a man after Gods own Heart...
Yes he was all those things… And God wants you to know that you can be all those things and more. Amen?? I'm certain God has said those same words to many a faithful servant!
Really? Yes really!
Let me ask you was David greater than Jesus? No he wasn't
Let me remind you of what JESUS said about greater things...
John 14:12 KJ
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Every Christian should find Great rest and comfort in this promise!
God has made this promise, because of His amazing love He has for us?
If your not resting in God’s ability, your doing more than you need
to be doing! Your carrying more than you need to be carrying
TBS. In Matthew 11:30 NKJ
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The MSG says it like this:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
No matter what you may be facing..God wants you to know its only temporary...
Why not simply try resting in His ability from here on out..instead of your own.
Trust Him and know that's all you need to know...
If God is for me...nothing else MATTERS!
Amen??
Let's pray!
