1 Samuel 29-30
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab a Bible and head to First Samuel, chapter 29. We're gonna be in chapter 29 and 30 today. We are working our way through the book of First Samuel. And what we've been seeing in the story is that the story has followed David until he worked himself into a corner. And right at the moment, you were like, what's gonna happen? Then it was like, hey, let's talk about Saul. And then it worked Saul into an even worse corner, and you were like, what's gonna happen with Saul? And then now it's going, hey, let's go talk about David. It's going. It's going back. That's where we are today.
So what happened was David went to the Philistines. He decided that the best thing for him to do was to go live among the Philistines, that Saul was eventually going to kill him. So he goes and lives among the Philistines, and he begins to attack and raid towns and cities around him. And then going back to Achish, the King of Gath, and saying, here's who I attacked. And he lies to him. He says, I've been attacking the Israelites. I've been attacking Judah. I've been attacking the Kenites, who are friends of Judah and live in that area. And so that's what he's been doing. And then the last thing we saw was Achish said, well, hey, good news. We're going to go kill some more Israelites. All of us are going, and you get to go, too. And David said, well, you're going to find out what I can do. And what does that mean? Find out that you actually will kill Israelites? Find out, are you going to hurt Achish? Like, what's going to happen? It's a little bit like you've been lying and telling people that Adam Sandler is a family friend of yours. And now he's coming to the Colonial Life arena, and they want you to help him get tickets. That's kind of the situation we're in. We're trying to figure out what is David going to do, what's going to happen? And then it stops. Says, let's talk about Saul.
So the Philistines have marched in. Saul is trying to figure out what he's going to do, and God is no longer talking to him because Saul has been rejected as king and no longer has the privileges, the right to seek the Lord and has not ever really seemed like he knows the Lord. And so in his desire to hear what he ought to do, he goes to a medium, a witch, someone's going to speak to the dead on his behalf. They summon Samuel, which she seems really surprised. Works. Samuel shows up and says, you're going to war tomorrow and you're going to die and the kingdom's been taken from you. And then it now we're headed back over to David. So we were watching is this slow motion train wreck where Dave, David is now marching in with the Philistines to go fight against Saul, who's going to die and what is going to happen and what is going to play out. And as we're reading this today, we're going to see that something very bad happens. And you might be like, yeah, we thought that was going to happen, but something very bad happens to David and it's not what we think is coming. But as we read this story today, we're going to see how David responds to this absolute tragedy and hopefully gain some wisdom in how we ought to respond in situations where the bottom falls out for us. So that's the hope. This morning we're gonna pray and then we're gonna step into the text.
Father, we ask for your spirit to be at work, to guide us, to help us to hear your word, to help us to hear your voice and to follow you. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
> Now the Philistines had gathered all their armies at Aphek; and the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.
> And the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish.
> And the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?"
> And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me these days or these years, and I have found nothing in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?"
> But the commanders of the Philistines were displeased at him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, "Send the man away, that he may return to the place from which you have assigned him. Let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?"
> Is not this David, of whom they kept singing to one another in dances, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?
> Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems to me that you should go out and go in with me in the campaign." And David said to Achish, "Very well, then you shall know what your servant can do."
> And Achish said to David, "I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God. Nevertheless the lords of the Philistines have said, 'He shall not go up with us to battle.'
> Now therefore rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and as soon as you have light be on your way." So David and his men rose up in the morning to depart in the first light and to return to the land of the Philistines; and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
So they're passing on, everybody's getting ready, we're going to war. And all of a sudden the other commanders start going, whoa, who's bringing Hebrews to fight Hebrews? And why are they stupid? We've done this before. The last time we saw this is when Jonathan went up and fought against the Philistines. And it said that the Hebrews that were with the Philistines turned on them and started fighting against them. So they're like, hey, we learned this lesson. We don't want Hebrews to go fight Hebrews. So who's bringing them? Why are they here? And then it says this, Achish says this, it says, what are these Hebrew doing here? And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel? Which is just the worst way to start, because that's who they're going to fight. He's trying to work his way out. Have you ever done this? You're trying to work your way out of a situation and you just start the wrong sentence and you're like, wait, wait, wait, let me finish. I started this wrong. But that's what it seems like, because he's like. They're like, who are these Hebrews? He's like, oh, Saul's servant, you guys. And, you know, they gotta be looking at him like, what are you talking about? Okay. He keeps going. He says, this is not David, servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me, I have found no fault in him to this day. So what he's saying is, yeah, this guy's against Saul. He used to be his servant, but now he's with us. So this is going to go great.
But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. So he says. They say, no, no, no, no, no. You might like him. We don't know him. That sounds terrible. Send him back. Otherwise we might get in the middle of the fight and he might start fighting us. Then they say, for how could this fellow reconcile himself to his Lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Like, wouldn't be like a good way for him to get back in good with Saul, for him to just start killing us? Haven't we seen this guy raise one of the heads of a Philistine above him before? Haven't we. We've lived this out, right? We remember what he did with Goliath. Don't you think that'd be a good way for him to get back in his good graces? That's what they're arguing, and then they say, is not this David of whom they sing to one another in dances, Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands, which I just. I love this song that has just made its way through this whole book. It was a problem when it first started. Saul was mad about it. This is the second time Philistines have quoted it. This song is such a hit. It's international. It's not just a hit in Israel. They know it. It's like, who let the dogs out? Everyone knows it's not good, but for some reason it just has run across the globe and it's stuck in your head. And there were Philistines, like, bouncing around their house doing yard work, and they hear themselves going, and David is 10th. Come on. That's what happens. So they're like, we know this. This is the guy they have a song about. Absolutely not.
Then Achish called David and said to him, as the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and end with me in the campaign. No, he hasn't. Achish is wrong. So he says, look, David, you've been great, and you've been killing all these Israelites. And David's like, mm. He says, so I think you should come, for I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you, so go back now and go peaceably that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines. So he calls him over and says, hey, man, look, I think you're great, but they don't like you. And we just had a whole meeting where they were real mean to me about it. And I know that you would never lie to me and trick me and that you're totally on our team, but they don't know that. And so you're going to have to leave.
And then David said, David said to Achish, but what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? So David says, this is an outrage. What do they think? Like, that I've secretly not been killing Israelites and I've been killing other people and that I might turn on you in this battle. Is that what they think? And he's like, yeah, I know, it's crazy, right? And David's like, yeah, this is really unfair. David says that I can't fight against the enemies of my lord the King. It's still unclear to us in this text whether or not he actually means a kish or whether or not he means Saul. David is very tactical in his approach to all of this. He seems outraged, but he's going to leave. And Achish answered David and said, I know that you are blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, he shall not go up with us to the battle. Now then, rise early in the morning with the servants of your Lord who came with you, and start early in the morning and depart as soon as you have light.
So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel. Okay, so a couple of things happened in this text. First of all, we are, I think, intended to see some of the humor of this situation. And I do believe that the Philistine lords are right and that Akish is wrong, but we're not actually going to ever find out what David fully intended to do. But David's leaving. So this slow moving crash that we've been watching is not going to have David in it. And in some ways we see that the Lord is guiding this kind of behind the scenes. Doesn't really tell us that, but it just seems like the Lord's helping David out. But also some of what the text is doing is for all of time and all the readers forever to say, when Saul fought the Philistines and died, David was not there. He had been with the Philistines. He was not there. They sent him home. That's some of the work that this passage is doing is. It's just helping, you know, helping everybody know. It's not skipping this information. David wasn't there.
But I said, david's going to face a tragedy, and it's not what we thought. So we're about to find out what, what has happened, what, what is, what's going on.
> Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,
> and had taken the women and those who were in it captive, both small and great; they killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way.
> So David and his men came to the city and found it burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters taken captive.
> Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep.
> David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
> And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
> Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
> And David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue after this raiding party? Shall I overtake them?" He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and rescue."
> So David set out, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
> But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred remained behind, who were so weak that they could not cross the brook Besor.
> They found an Egyptian in the open country, and they brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate; and they gave him water to drink,
> and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.
> And David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?" He said, "I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.
> We made a raid on the Negeb of the Cherethites and on the Negeb of Judah and on the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire."
> And David said to him, "Can you take me down to this raiding party?" And he said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this raiding party."
> And he took him down and behold, they were spread out over the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
> And David struck them from the twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
> And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.
> Nothing was lacking to them, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David brought them all back.
> And David took all the flocks and the herds, and drove them before those who were with him, and they drove on before him as far as Aroer.
> And when David came to the two hundred men who were so weak that they could not follow him, they came out to meet him to meet the men who had come with him. And David came near to the people and greeted them.
> But all the wicked men and worthless fellows among the men who went with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may take his wife and his children, and be gone."
> Then David said, "You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.
> For who will listen to you in this matter? But as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike."
> And he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel from that day onward to this day.
> Then David came to Ziklag, and sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Behold a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD:
> to those in Bethel, and to those in Ramoth of the Negeb, to those in Jattir,
> to those in Aroer, to the people in Siphmoth, to those in Eshtemoa,
> to those in Rachal, to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those in the cities of the Kenaites,
> to those in Hormah, to those in Bor-ashan, to those in Athach, and to those in Hebron,
> to all the places where David and his men had wandered."
So when they came back on the third day, the Amalekites had attacked and had burned Ziklag and taken their wives and children. When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and daughters taken captive. They raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.
First response is just brokenness, lament, weeping, raising their voices until they're spent. David's two wives also had been taken captive. Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because all the people were bitter in soul. Each for his sons and daughters. So there's this moment where they start just saying, well, let's just kill David. They're bitter in soul. They don't really have a good plan. They don't really know what to do, but they just say, well, let's just kill David. If this is what it's like to follow him, let's be done with that.
And there is this moment, and you can see it, where there's something very real about men who spend their lives defending and protecting and caring for their wives and children. And when that's not there, what am I doing and what do we do next? And it says, but David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God. And David said to Abiathar, we're see, somehow he does that. Abiathar, the priest, the son of Ahimelech, bring me the ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. Now, this is the first time we've seen him do this since chapter 26. The last time we saw David make a big decision, it said he just reasoned it in his heart and did something. And now he's saying, bring me the ephod. And this is good. We've been wanting to see this, but David, in this moment of utter despair, absolutely bottomed out. He turns to the Lord.
And David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue. Can you imagine the moment that David hears that? He says, should we chase after him? And God says, go, because it'll work. And you know, David had to go strap his belt on. He said, we're going to. The Lord said, it's going to work. Let's go. We're going to catch them. Let's go. And they would have left some sort of sign. A whole group coming in and a whole group going out is going to leave some sign. Now there's a chance that they could lose it or they could split up, but they've got something to go on and they begin to head in that direction, tracking after this group that's burned their city and taken their families. And if there's a group of focused men, it's right here.
David set out and the 600 men who were with him and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued. He and 400 men, 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. So they've traveled up, traveled back, wept themselves dry, and then said, let's go to war. They get to a place that's going to be difficult to travel over, difficult to get baggage across, and 200 of them just can't keep going. I don't know if you've ever been working and working and working or running and running and running and laboring and doing these sort of things, and then you stop for just a bit, drink some water, catch your breath, and suddenly your body doesn't work anymore. And if you hadn't stopped, you might could have kept going. But now it's not functioning. That seems what some of these guys happen, they just, they sit down and they're crazy, cramping up legs. They're just like, I can't keep going. But 400 keep going.
They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. So as they're traveling along, as they're tracking, they find an Egyptian. And it seems like they have some people out in different areas trying to scout and figure out which way to go. They find this guy, they bring him to David and they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink. They gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived. Okay, so he was having a spirit problem, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. He was sick. So he was doing poorly before he got left there, but he's been there. So they find a guy who's almost dead and they're just pumping him full of stuff till he can talk. David said to him, to whom do you belong and where are you from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. My master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites, which is most likely the way that they refer to the Philistines, and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.
And David said to him, will you take me down to this band? So they found a guy who was with them and they said, tell us where they're going. He said, swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master and I will take you down to this band. So he's all hyped up on raisins and figs, and now he's negotiating and he says, yes, I'll take you if you don't kill me, which is a real good chance that they might and don't return me to their master. Well, they're not showing up and giving presents to the Amalekites. So that one, I don't think they were in really any danger of happening. He doesn't seem to know who he's talking to. But these people really want to find them. And they seem to agree to some terms because he makes a statement. And then it just goes to verse 16.
And when he had taken him down behold they were spread abroad over all the land eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. So they find this group that has suddenly just started taking over this whole section. Partying. And if we weren't upset with them enough, this party has eating. And as Baptists were like, okay, but then drinking and dancing. They gotta die, y'. All. They are celebrating with the spoils that they have this massive celebration spread out across the land. And it says they see them, they've caught them, and here's what happens.
And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. And not a man of them escaped except for 400 young men who mounted camels and fled. So interesting. This takes a long time. They are just fighting for a long time. At least twilight sometimes can refer to morning twilight, even though we don't use it that way. And evening of the next day, their day started at 6pm so it is possible that what it is saying is the shortest amount of time was one whole day, but it could have been a night and a day or a day and another night, but at least the whole day of working their way through and fighting and differing amounts of, you know, if there's a party going on down there and people start yelling and it sounds like there's a fight, you might. Wouldn't catch you exactly what was happening until it was happening. And it says not a man was left except for 400 of them that got away on camels. Which tells us a couple of things.
One, I just appreciate the way that's worded. Everyone was dead and someone was like, what about those 400, except for the 400 guys on camels? Which makes you think that camels are like the motorcycle of that day. You know, my wife and I watch cop shows and police officers will thank people on motorcycles. They'll be like, thank you for pulling over like that. They'll chase you in a car. Motorcycles are just like. That's what camels are like. They're like, pull. They're on camels. Ain't nobody catching them. But it also tells you that there was a massive amount of people because David shows up with 400 and it says they killed everybody except for 400. Meaning that the amount of Amalekites here, they were way outnumbered, but they win.
And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing. Whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds and the people drove the livestock before him and said, this is David's spoil. And then David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to follow David and who had been left at the brook Besor. So they drove the cattle in front of them. So these guys are exhausted. It's been another, at least day, two days, three days. They're regaining their strength and they're waiting, not really knowing what to do now. And then flocks and herds start showing up. At first you're thinking maybe somebody. And then it's like there's too many of them. And you're like, this is a good sign. And then their families show up. And you know, there's got to be people looking for everybody. And there's moments where you don't know, are they here? Are they here? And guess what, y'? All, it says that they're all there. There wasn't a single husband, father that went out and didn't get that moment of wrapping his arms back around and retrieving what was left lost.
And when they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with them, and when David came near to the people, he greeted them then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that has been, that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children and depart. So some of them say, well, they sat here hanging out by a creek, like, they don't. They can have their kids back, but that's it. But David said, you shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, he has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage, they shall share alike. And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
So some of what it's helping us see is like, why that's a rule for them. But it's also, this isn't the main thing we're going to talk about today. But I can't help but point this out. In this, I see a beautiful picture of what Jesus is like. When they're marching all the spoil back. They announce, this is David's spoil, that it was all his and at his discretion. And then worthless fellows get in the middle of it, and he immediately calls them brother. He says, you won't do that, brother. And then it goes to everybody. Everybody's blessed and it's like that's what Jesus does. He's a good, wise king who restores what is lost and brings it all back. That through the work of Christ in the middle of our sin, our sin doesn't win. And he ultimately restores everything the way it was meant to be. He's ultimately eternally going to fix it. And he makes worthless people his brothers. And everybody is brought in and shared with, even the ones who couldn't accomplish anything on their own. So I sorry I can't read that and not tell you how amazing Jesus is.
When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. So he's sending gifts. It was for those in Bethel and Ramoth, of the Negeb, in Jatir, in Aroer, in Sifmoth, in Eshtemoah, in Rachal, in the cities of the Jerahomeliites, in the cities of the Kenites. I got that one in Horma, in Borshan, in Ak, in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed. So he sends out, he has all this spoil that they got, and he sends it back and out to all the people where he's been wandering around. And he doesn't send any to the zip. It's because they told on him multiple times. But he sends it to the other people near where he had been, and he gives them gifts and says, this is from the enemies of the Lord, and he blesses all of them.
I want to go back in the story to the moment where they find out that their families are gone and their city is burned. Because I want us to take a moment to investigate what does it look like to come out of those kind of moments. And I think David gives us a good example. So I just want to go back to verse four, it says they wept. And then in verse six, it says, and David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him because all the people were bitter soul, each for his sons and daughters. Okay. I think it is helpful for us to realize that we are perfectly capable of that type of decision making. Is stoning David going to fix anything? No. Will it make the situation worse? Yes. Is David the one who's actually going to lead them out of this problem? Yes. But they're starting to think maybe we should just kill David. And they probably have some reasons, but their reasoning is not good.
And one of the things that we need to know is perfectly within our grasp in these type of situations is for us to have an overwhelming desire to do something, to react, to respond, got to do something. And quite often the thing we pick is unwise, harmful. Quite often the ideas that we come up with are not good ideas. This is one of the reasons why we're blessed to have church family around us. So that when we announce, I'm going to do this, sometimes it's like, no, don't, don't do that. And you're really annoyed by them saying that, don't tell me what to do. It's like, but I don't want to. But, no, don't do that. Telling you what not to do is different. This is, we'll choose people, start making big life decisions, change their job, move locations, run to whatever makes them feel safe, run to whatever makes them forget. This is how we get run. We run to substances, we run to sin, we run to anger, sexual sin. This is how we get hermits and hoarders. Like, this is the stuff where we respond to something and we just got to make a decision that is perfectly within our ability to do that.
But David takes a different track. It says, but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. So David turns to the Lord in this moment. He does. He has nowhere else to turn. He turns to the Lord, which is the place to turn. And one of the things I think we need to realize is that if you've never turned to the Lord ever, when something really bad happens, then you should. But as Christians, we want to be very practiced in this so that when everything falls apart, this is the only thing we know how to do. This is one of the reasons why people who do like fighting sports and those sort of things, they practice over and over and over and over again so that when they get their bell rung and they're not thinking clearly, they can keep moving and doing what they're. And that's some of what we need to be. You need to be in the Word on a regular basis. You need to. So that when these kind of moments happen in life that you go, I don't know what else to do, but I'm going to read, I'm going to pray. I'm going to get around church, family. You're going to call people and say, y' all need to come read, you need to come pray, you need to come. I don't have the strength for this right now. I need somebody to read this to me. I need someone to talk this out with me. I need somebody when I say some idea that doesn't make any sense. I need some people here who are going to help point me back to Jesus.
But that's what he does. He turns to the Lord, and we're going to see what he does, specifically, how he strengthens himself. David said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Ahimelech, bring me the Ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue this band? What David seeks is a word from the Lord, some clarity from the Lord, some direction from the Lord, and he goes to the place that he has access to it, which is in the Ephod, but we have access to it in the Scriptures, so that we get to be people who read our Bibles. And in these moments, read more, not less. There are times where as pastors, we'll say, you need to go home and you need to open the New Testament, you need to go to Ephesians, you need to go to Romans, and you need to start reading. And I know that sometimes it's like I don't have the energy for that. It's like, you don't have the energy to not do that. It's like I'm dying in a desert. And we're like, you need to drink water. And you're like, I don't know if I can. It's like, no, you've got to. We get to and have to. We must come to the Word and say, lord, I need your help. I need your wisdom. I need your clarity. And lean into the Word the way that David does. He seeks a word from the Lord.
I think sometimes when we say that, when we say, anytime, we say, you need to read your Bible. It's like, okay, good, but I really want something to do. I really want something actual. And what we mean is something along the lines of stoning David. I want something I can do. I get it. Read my Bible. Then what? And it's like, but you're missing it if that's the way you think about it. When Jesus teaches a sermon on the mount, he ends with, if you'll hear my words and do them, you'll be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rains came and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. So if you hear my words and you don't do them, then you'll be like a fool who built his house on sand. And the rains came and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and the house fell. And great was the fall of it. The storm hits both houses, the winds beat both houses, but one of them has a foundation, has something to hold on to, has something it's built into. It'd be like if you hired a contractor. And I said, how's the house development going? You're like, they're wasting a lot of time on that foundation. We could have a three story house by now. And it's like, with no foundation. What are you talking about? Like, you need the foundation. You need. We have to have that. You need direction before you move.
In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies where Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow and he's doing all this all the time, he's got a compass. And we find out in one of the later movies that that compass isn't a real compass. It doesn't point north. It points towards what Jack most wants. And so many of us, that's the compass we're running around with. It just points towards what we want. And so we're going, I'm looking at my compass and it says, go this way. And it's like, that compass is not a compass. At one point they're out in the ocean and it's pointing at a girl who's on the boat. That's the compass we run around with. So often it's just pointing at something that's moving around that changes from day to day. Do you know how often your moods change, your desires change, how often your wisdom falters and fails? And how many times you've said, if I could just have this, I'd be happy. If I could just have that, I. I'd be happy. And how often your Compass has been bouncing around, and we need one that points to the same place all the time. And if you're in a storm in the middle of the ocean, you don't have any landmarks. So when the clouds begin to clear and you get to set a course, you don't know where you are. And if you have a compass that points nowhere, you don't know where to go. So we need to be people of the Word who know how to move. And that's what happens. David seeks the Lord and it says this. He says, shall I pursue? Shall I overtake? He answered them, pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue. So David set out.
Now, if that had said anything else, we would be furious. If it said, you shall pursue, that's a command. You shall surely overtake. You shall surely rescue. And then it said, so David sat down. So David cried more, louder. He'd be like, what is what go? Because we would be reading the text and saying, you have a promise, you have a command, you have something to stand on, you have something to hold on to. You have something that will help drive you forward. You have something solid. And so often we're in the middle of these situations and I want you to know that the Bible has something solid that we can hold onto. It's got some truth, some promises that have been made to us, some realities that are ours. When Jesus commissions the church, he says, I will be with you always to the end of the age. That there's never a time where he leaves us or forsakes us. And in these moments we can know that, Lord, you've promised to be with me, so be with me. But I'm going to act. I'm going to move as if you're here and you're helping. I'm going to trust your spirit to indwell me. He says that the spirit not to grieve the Holy Spirit who sealed us from the day of redemption. Meaning that if I belong to Jesus, if I trust him, his spirit is in me and I am kept. He tells his disciples, my disciples know my voice. They hear my voice and they follow. My sheep hear my voice and follow me. And he says, and no one will snatch them out of my hand so that you can in these moments go, Lord, I know that you're going to keep me. I know that you're going to hold me, and I need you to that we have promises that we can lean into because what you believe matters. You act out of what you believe. So we have to be people who know what is true, know what is real, know the promises of God and hold onto them. And also know that he holds on to us so that we won't be lost in these situations when we don't know what to do.
I want to read Romans 8 because I just want you to see one of these promises. Romans 8 begins by saying there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
> There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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> Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
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> As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
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> No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
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> For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
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> nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That when you're going, everything is falling apart. Well, there's a promise that you won't be separated from his love, that he'll be with you, that he'll keep you, that he'll get you to the end, that he can't be conquered by circumstance. There's some things that help ground us and hold us so that we might move forward in faith and in hope. He says no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. He covers that. Because if you were like, well, what about this? He said, all of it will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, that if you belong to Jesus, you belong to Jesus and you are his and he will keep you and he will hold you, and you will be able to stand in the middle of these things and you get to run to His Word and say, Lord, I need this more than I need anything else. And then you can move forward with practical steps. But you've got to do this first.
Let's pray.
Lord, we pray that we would be people who in the depths of our despair, because the storm is coming. It hits every house, it hits every life. There's moments where we all have ziklag or smoke rises. Lord, we pray that we would be people who would cling to the promises, that would know your word and would trust you. You. Because a promise is as good as the one who makes it. And you have died for us. You have risen, you have resurrected, you have hope that is ours in you. You are the king of all things. So may we be a people of the word, who seek you in the midst of our despair. Who love one another well in the midst of our despair. And who cling to the hope that's in Christ. Because there's nothing else to cling to. In Jesus name, Amen.
The band's gonna come. We're gonna sing. One of the reasons we sing on Sundays is to worship the Lord. But also to help truth go from our heads to our hearts. And to rehearse for ourselves what is real. And so we're gonna sing together, reminding ourselves and each other of how good the Lord is and the hope that we have.