Courage in a Cave

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for tonight, the brief opportunity that we have on this evening to spend time in your Word. We pray that you'd encourage us and teach us that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank you for David's life and how you molded him into the man you wanted him to be. Pray that we learn from this man that we might be the kind of people that represent your kingdom. In Jesus' name we ask. Amen. If you have your Bible turn with me to 1st Samuel chapter 22.

1st Samuel chapter 22. If you haven't been with us, then you have missed a lot in terms of David's life and David's ministry. And yet we are still early on in our study of David and this man of royalty and what God is doing in his life. And we left him just two weeks ago with these words out of Psalm 34 as he was fleeing from King Achish, the king of, of Gath. And this is what he said in Psalm 34 verse number 17. The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He wrote that as he was fleeing from Achish, the king of Gath. The problem is he delivers him, but not yet. God's deliverance is not always immediate. David knows that he will be delivered because he trusts in the living God. And as David would pray and realize what God was doing and that it was God who delivered him out of the hands of King Achish, he knows that his full deliverance is not yet. In other words, he is not yet going to ascend the throne.

He's got quite a few years yet. And once he ascends the throne, it's only over Judah. He has to wait another seven and a half years to be the king of Israel. And so he's got a long while to go yet. Why is that? God is going to deliver you out of all your troubles. Maybe not immediately, but always ultimately God will do that because God is in complete control of all things. And yet David had many lessons yet to learn. He still had to be developed as a man, deepened in his character. There are many trials he had to go through yet.

Many temptations, many tasks, many, many difficulties he would still have to face in his life because God was concerned about developing this man, making his character what it needed to be so he could rule the nation of Israel. It would take some time. And while he would pray that the Lord deliver us, the man of God, the righteous man, out of all of his troubles, he found himself in the cave of Adullam. And while it was in this cave, he would write another psalm. He'd write two more psalms about God's work in his life and what God was going to do in and through him.

You know, we as modern-day people are very impulsive and impatient. We pray and expect God to do his work right now.

And we expect God to work in our time frame. Now he doesn't do that. He exists outside of clocks and calendars. He does this thing in his own way. He's got it all mapped out anyway. And yet we expect him to do it in our time frame. And when he doesn't do it, we get very frustrated with the plan of God, the workings of God, wondering whether or not God's listening. It could be a marital issue. It could be a financial issue. It could be a relational issue. It could be a physical issue. Somehow, someway, God must answer and deliver me out of all my troubles.

And yet when he doesn't do it in my time period, I get a little frustrated. And yet God is still in charge. He's ruling overall. He knows the best time to deliver you. He knows that before he delivers you, there's so much more you must learn from him. And the story of David is about learning to wait upon the Lord. Psalm 37, David would write in verse number seven, these words, rest in the Lord and patiently for him. We don't like to do that, but we need to, to rest in the Lord, to trust him, and to wait patiently for him.

As David would sit in the cave of Adullam, we are reminded of what the writer of Hebrews said, Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 38, when he talks about the heroes of faith, not mentioning all of them, but he does say this, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. The people in the hall of faith were the kind of people that had to wander through caves and holes and forests because they were ridiculed and they were sought after by the enemy because of their stand for the Lord God of Israel.

And yet they believed in the promises of God. They had to learn to rest in him, wait patiently for him. David is at the lowest point of his life. He will reach a lower point, unfortunately, but at this point, this is the lowest, the lowest place he's ever been. He lost his job because he had to flee from Saul. He was a chief musician in Saul's court. He was the ruler of his armies. But when Saul decided David must die, David had to flee. He lost his job. It was quite a great job. Having fled in the middle of the night from his home, he lost his wife, Michael, and his home.

He could not go back there because Saul wanted him dead. Having fled from his home and fled from his wife, he also fled from Samuel, his counselor, from Naoth in Ramah. He also would have to flee from Jonathan, his best friend, because Jonathan was the son of Saul. In all that fleeing, in all that running, in all that losing, he finds himself in a cave at the lowest point of his life. Having already lied and had Jonathan lie for him to Jonathan's father, having lied to the priest in Nob, having the whole city killed because of his fleeing of Saul and his lying, the priest and the 85 people of that city were massacred.

He has reaped the negative consequences and now is at the lowest part of his life. To add a little bit more confusion to his problem, he finds himself in a deep dark cave, the cave of Adullam. And yet God wasn't done with him yet. God would use the cave in his life. Caves can be a blessing if we understand that God is into building our character. Let me read to you the first five verses of 1 Samuel 22, because that's what we're going to cover this evening.

So David departed from there and escaped. Remember he was acting like a madman in Achish or in Gath before King Achish and he fled, escaped. He went to the cave of Adullam and when his brothers and all his father's household heard of it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was discontented, you see even the Bible alliterates. So that's where we get the whole aspect about alliterating things. Gathered to him and he became captain over them.

Now there were about 400 men with him. David went from there to Mitzpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me. Then he left them with the king of Moab and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. David finds himself in a cave. We're going to go over our outline with you. It's very simple. We'll give you first of all the facts about the cave.

Then we'll talk to you about the family at the cave. Then his followers at the cave, and then his faith at the cave. Very simple outline. First of all, it begins with some facts about the cave.

Where is this cave of Adullam? Well, it's in the land or the Valley of Elah. Now we know about the Valley of Elah because that's where the battle of David and Goliath took place, right? So we understand that. And in some place next to the city of Adullam and there were a variety of caves there on the mountain range. And this probably was one of the largest caves historians tell us. That's why it was called the cave of Adullam. It was named after the city. It was large enough to house at least 400 men because they were the followers who came to be with David.

And so it would at least be big enough to put 400 people in. Now, I don't know if you've ever been in a cave or not, but caves are dark. Caves are damp. Caves are dismal. And when you're in them, you are extremely disillusioned. That's what David was. The cave of Adullam is a location, but the cave is not so much a location as it is a condition in David's life. You need to understand that because some of you have found yourself in a dark, damp, dismal cave, completely disillusioned as to what God is doing.

And that's where David was. Yes, it is a real cave, but yet this cave would become a blessing for David because God would bring to him some men, 400 men to be exact. We told you on Sunday, but reiterate this evening that God gave David a ministry when he was in the most misery. And that point is very well taken by all of us because when we're miserable, we don't want to minister to anybody. We want somebody to minister to us. Well, the Bible flips that around and says, no, when you are the most miserable, ministry will take on its greatest form.

So remember that next time you find yourself in a cave, damp and dark and dismal as it may be, and ask yourself, God, where is the ministry you have for me? God brought the men to David so that David would have a ministry with these men at the lowest part, a point of his life. And God wants to do that with you as well. Just because you're miserable doesn't mean God doesn't want to use you. And just because you're miserable doesn't mean God can't use you. God wants to use you. And it's that point in your life when you are in the most misery that your ministry can be at its best.

And this is where David's ministry began to take off. And these 400 men would soon become 600 men and he would teach them, he would train them in warfare and they would begin to grow and they would become some of his government officials later down the road as he became king over all of Israel. But this cave, not only is the location, but it speaks because of its condition, the loneliness of man. If you read through the scriptures, you're going to realize that there are many great men of God who found themselves in a cave-like experience.

And maybe it wasn't a quote a physical cave, maybe it was a dungeon, maybe it was a pit, maybe it was a prison, or maybe it was on the back side of the desert, but it was a cave-like experience. And you'll notice that all the great men of God in scripture found themselves at one time or another in that cave-like condition.

Go all the way back to Moses, the man of destiny, found himself on the back side of the desert for 40 years, 40 years before he came out at 80 years of age to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Moses, the man of destiny. Go to Joseph, he was a man of integrity. David's the man of royalty, but Joseph was the man of integrity. Because of his integrity, because he would not compromise, he found himself in a pit. That was his cave when he was just a teenage boy, because he would speak to his brothers the truth.

And they would sell him to abandoned slaves that would sell him to Egypt. And there he rose to prominence, but part of his wife would lie about him and he'd find himself in another cave, in another prison. The man of integrity, the man of destiny, the man of royalty. And then if you go beyond that, you go to men like Daniel. Daniel is the man of loyalty, extremely loyal to his God. He found himself in a lion's den. That's quite a cave because his life was on the line. But yet he was a man of great loyalty to his God.

And then there was Jeremiah. He was the man of authority. He was a prophet of God. He found himself in a miry pit because he would be a spokesperson for God. And then there was John the Baptist. He was the man of tenacity. No one preached like John the Baptist did. He was a man who could preach like nobody's business. He found himself in a dungeon and a prison under Herod's palace there on the north side of the Dead Sea, a place called Macarii. He was beheaded. Then there was Paul, the man of supreme ministry, who wrote 13 epistles of our New Testament, found himself in a prison there in Rome, the Mamertine prison in Rome.

All these men, great men of God, because their stand for God, because their commitment to God, had a life that would enter a cave-like existence, a pit, a prison, a dungeon, a place of loneliness, a place of humility, a place of isolation. And that's where they were. And God would use all of those things in these men's lives to develop their character and make them great for His kingdom. So the next time you find yourself in a cave, a place that's damp and dark and dismal, and amidst all that you find yourself disillusioned, realize that God has a ministry for you, a ministry how it's going to affect other people, and how it is God wants to cause you to rise above your situation and your condition, that you might be used of Him in a great and mighty way.

Let's move from the facts about the cave to the family at the cave. The Bible says his family joined him.

Quite ironic, you know, the last time we saw his family, he was talking to Eliab there on the front lines as they were getting to go to battle against Goliath. Remember? And Eliab criticized him for coming down to just want to see the show of what was happening, and so he was criticized by his older brother, Eliab. We don't know much about the family of David. We don't know much about what they did in his life. And last time we saw his father, he had forgotten about David that even was around. When Samuel came to anoint his sons, David was out in the backside of Bethlehem tending sheep, and wasn't even brought before Samuel to be anointed because his father had just kind of passed over him, not even thought anything about David.

So there's not much said about the influence of Jesse in the life of David, or his older brother Eliab in the of David, but they come to join him for support and safety. They come because they want to somehow support him. Now Bethlehem is 10 miles from the Valley of Elah, and David's family's from Bethlehem. So you kind of get an idea of how far they had to travel, not very far, 10 miles, to get to where David is in the cave of Adullam. And so they get there because they want to be a part of what David's doing.

They want to support him. But remember that when you are the king, anybody who's your rival to be your king, you must obliterate their entire family. So David's whole family, their life was on the line. And so they had to find David, and they heard about the fact that he was in the cave of Adullam, and that's where they went, and that's where they met up with him. But I want you to know something, that although his family was there, he was still all alone. Because your family cannot do for you what only God could do for you.

And that's a lesson that is hard for some of us to learn, because we depend so much upon our family for support, for security, for safety. And yet David's family was unable to do for him what only God could do. I'm going to show that to you in a moment here, and explain that to you, and show you what he says. But in spite of the fact that his family was there, and in spite of the fact that there would be 400 men that would join him there, he would still be all alone. To emphasize the fact that leadership is a very lonely position.

It's not a position where you have a lot of friends, and a lot of camaraderie. It's a very lonely position. And David found himself in a very lonely, isolated position. Even though he was surrounded by 400 different men, and even though he was surrounded by the support and love of his family, however that was, we don't know sure, not sure how that was manifested to him, he was still alone. And yet God would use all that in his life to make him into the kind of man that God wanted him to be. Notice that David took care of his parents.

He went to the king of Moab to take care of his father and his mother. David honored his mom and dad, took care of them. Why would he go to the king of Moab? Well his great-grandmother was who? Ruth. She was a Moabitess, right? She married Boaz. Boaz was from Bethlehem. And so maybe there was family ties to Moab still at this time, and he felt like that would be the best place for his family to be, and to be safe. He took care of his mother and his father, and he honored them. David was that kind of individual.

Then we move to the followers at the cave. There were 400 of them. It says they were in distress. They were in debt, and they were discontented. Just like David, okay? Then they had no money. They were emotionally distraught. They were discontent. Maybe not so much because of what they had done. Maybe it was because of what King Saul in his leadership had done to them. We don't know why they were in the condition they were in, but they were in that condition. And God would move these men to David.

He would lead them to David, and they would become a part of David's ministry. And not only that, David would develop them to become great men in his army. And these men would learn many valuable lessons from King David, and these men became his followers. He became captain over them, the text says. He became their captain. So we know that they were submissive by nature. They weren't malcontents necessarily. They weren't rebellious individuals because they would submit themselves to David's leadership, and they would look to him to follow, and their lives would change because David, that man of royalty, would lead them in a way that would help them get out of debt, no longer be discontented and distressed, and he would be able to lead them the right way.

Only after though, he would learn the lessons that God would have for him. Very important. Now remember, Saul would come after David with 3,000 plus men. David was always outnumbered. When he was fleeing by himself, he was outnumbered, and when he had even 400 men with him, which would soon swell to 600 men, as we read later on in the text. So we'll have 600 men following him, but that's still not a lot of people when Saul has 3,000 men coming after you, and yet God would use David and preserve him and protect him through all that, and these men's lives, they'd be changed because of one man's leadership, one man's influence, one man's impact, basically one man's commitment to God, and they would learn to follow this king, this royal man, and God would bless them in a tremendous, tremendous way, which leads us to this, our last point, faith in the cave.

What did David learn while he was there? David has made so many mistakes up to this point. We told you last time we were together that the Bible records more of his mistakes and more of his mishaps and more of his sin than any of the good things that he did, although the Bible records that he was a man up to God's own heart, and we can learn so many valuable lessons from this man and what God did in his life and how God revolutionized his character and how God molded him. This is such a good lesson for us because we find ourselves, like David, lying, deceiving, lusting, God forbid, even adultery, murder, and all these things God would use in his life to teach him and to train him, to show us that no matter how severe the sin, God's grace overrides all that.

God's mercy is abundant, and God will still use you. Were the consequences severe? Oh, yeah, they were severe. Whole city died because he lied. He lost control of his family because of his adultery, his murder of Uriah. He lost the opportunity to be that fatherly influence in his family, but yet God would still use him as king of Israel, a great man of God. There's hope for every soul. There's never a place where hope is lost when you're a believer in the Lord God of Israel. There's never a place where hope is lost when you believe in the Lord God of Israel.

God will restore you and God will use you like he did David. So there are two Psalms I want you to see about faith in the cave. One is Psalm 142. So if you got your Bible, turn back with me if you would to Psalm 142. And then we're going to look at Psalm 57 because most, most commentators believe that these two Psalms were written in the cave of Adullam.

In fact, if you look at the heading, it says, this is the Masculine of David. That is an instructional Psalm. There are 13 of those of the 150 Psalms. 13 of them are called Masculine Psalms. That is, they are instructional Psalms. That is, they give you instruction about how to deal with certain issues in your life. So that's pretty basic, right? Pretty practical. So how do you deal with your cave-like existence? How do you deal with your disillusionment? How do you deal with your prison or your, your dungeon?

How do you deal with the fact that you have failed the Lord and yet God still wants to use you in the midst of your misery, have a ministry? What do you do? How does God bring you through that? And that's what Psalm 142 is, is about. It's a Psalm that says, when he was in the cave. Some would say it's the cave of En-Gedi. Now we're not there yet. We're going to get to the cave of En-Gedi here in a couple of weeks. And that's when Saul comes in and he goes in to relieve himself and David cuts off a piece of his garment.

It's one of the, one of the great messages we use when we go to Israel. When we go to En-Gedi, we preach on 1 Samuel 24 to show you that this man is not one who is out for revenge. He's a man after God's own heart. It's a, it's a wonderful, wonderful story of, of God's grace in the life of Saul. And yet, is it the cave of En-Gedi or is it the cave of a Dulem that David writes? I believe it's the cave of a Dulem and not En-Gedi because I think Psalm 142 proves that. Let me read it to you.

Then we'll make some comments about it. I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord. I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, thou didst know my path. In the way where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see, for there's no one who regards me. There is no escape for me. No one cares for my soul. I cried out to the, to thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to thy name. The righteous will surround me, for thou wilt deal bountifully with me. I want you to notice, first of all, the cry about his troubles, the cry about his troubles.

He says, I cried aloud with my voice. The word for cry is the word that means to shriek, to shriek. See, God doesn't want you silent in your trouble, and he doesn't want you to feel, feel self-pity about your trouble. He wants you to shriek aloud about your trouble. To him. I cried aloud. Now, have you ever been in a cave, and how it echoes throughout the cave? You can imagine what it must have sounded like in the cave when David is shrieking and crying out to the Lord God of Israel. I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord.

I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. It's with my voice I do this. Now, so why does David do that? Why does he tell God his trouble? Doesn't God already know his trouble? Well, the answer to that is, of course he does. It's like he knows your trouble. He knows your problem, but he still wants you to cry to him. He wants you to verbalize it. He wants you to cry aloud about it. He doesn't want you to be quiet about your troubles.

He wants you to scream out to him when you're in trouble. It's a cry of desperation. Where else was David going to go? What else was he going to do? He'd already acted like a fool before the king of Gath. He had already lied to the priest at Nob. The city had already been destroyed because of his lie. He is fleeing for his life from Saul. He's lost his friend. He's lost his confidant. He's lost his wife. He has lost his home. He has no place to turn, no place to go. What else is he going to do except turn to the Lord?

You know, sometimes God has to knock out all the props that you depend on for you to cry. And one of the reasons you haven't cried out to the Lord yet in the midst of your cave is because you're still leaning on a prop that you think is going to support you through your difficulty. Well, stay tuned because God will wipe that out sooner or later so that you'll cry to him. He takes away all those props, all those crutches that you rely on that you might scream to him. He wants you to cry aloud to him.

I declare my trouble before him. Notice he doesn't declare his trouble to anybody else but to the Lord.

That's a lesson every one of us needs to learn because we want somebody else to hear our trouble, don't we? If somebody can just sympathize with me a little bit, I'll feel a little bit better about my problems. But he cries aloud to the Lord. God wants you to shriek to him, not to anybody else but to him. Because then you come and you cast all your cares upon him because he's the one who cares for you. You know what Peter says? Cast all your cares upon the Lord because he's the one who cares for you.

He doesn't say cast all your cares upon your pastor because he cares for you because he probably doesn't. I don't mean that, you know, truthfully, I'm just saying that, you know, think about it. Doesn't he cast all your cares upon your husband because he loves you? He said, cast all your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you. There's nobody who cares for you like the Lord cares for you. As much as you might be loved by your spouse or by your parents or by your friends, no one loves you like the Lord loves and so your cry in the midst of your trouble is to the Lord.

It's to him. Next thing I want you to see is not only the cry, but I want you to look at the character of his troubles.

He says, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, that's a word that means disillusioned or disoriented. I don't know, just overwhelmed. I can no longer handle it. You see, God has to bring you to a point where you can't handle it any longer because there are so many resources available to us that we believe we can handle our problem. God has to strip all those things away so that you are utterly overwhelmed by your condition. Maybe it's a physical condition, maybe it's a mental condition or emotional condition or social condition.

I don't know what it is, but you're so overwhelmed that there's no one else to turn to but the Lord and the character of his troubles is that he was overwhelmed. It also says this in verse number four, not only was he disoriented in disillusion, he was deserted. Look to the right and see for there is no one who regards me. There is no escape for me. No one cares for my soul and yet he's surrounded by 400 men and yet he's surrounded by his family and David knows that even though he's surrounded by his family, none of them cares for his soul.

He's alone. He's deserted. He's isolated and in the midst of that dark, damp, dismal cave, he cries out to God, nobody cares for my soul and it echoes all throughout the cave and God is listening because God always hears the cry of the brokenhearted. He says in verse six, I am brought very low. That's a term of depression. So he's disoriented, he's disillusioned, he's deserted, he's depressed. He's brought very low. He's in distress and then he says, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison.

He already feels defeated. That's the character of his trouble. Disillusioned, disoriented, deserted, depressed, distressed, discouraged and already defeated and he's the king of Israel, the anointed royal king of Israel and you think you got problems? He got problems. So what's he do? He cries out to the Lord who hears him. Then I want you to notice the callousness about his troubles and that's verse four.

No one cares for my soul and even though he cries and even though we understand the character of his troubles, there's a callousness to his troubles because no one does really care for him like the Lord does. You ever been to that point where you're in the midst of your misery and you believe that no one really cares enough to do anything about it and it's not that they don't care. They do care. They just don't care enough, right? No one can ever care enough except God. He's the only one who can.

He's the only one who can identify. Nobody else can identify with your pain. No one can identify with your peril. No one can because they're not you, right? You're you but God can identify and that's why he cries out to the Lord. Here's his comfort. Point number four in his troubles. That's in verse number five. I cried out to thee O Lord. I said thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Not you were my portion. Not you will be my portion. He says you are my portion. You are my refuge.

He says in verse three thou didst know my path in the way where I walk. This is his comfort in his trouble. What's his comfort? God you know where I'm going and I don't know and you are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. It was that black preacher who said there is no living in the land of the living like living on the living God and that's the truth. Job would say in Job 23 these words. He says behold I go forward but he is not there. Verse eight and backward but I cannot perceive him when he acts on the left I cannot behold him.

He turns on the right I cannot see him but he knows the way I take. When he's tried me I shall come forth as gold. He knows my way. That's what David said. He knows my path. He knows the way that I take. He knows those things and the part being is that God knows you don't so you must cry to him. You must trust him. You must believe in him because he has it all mapped out and God did. He had it all mapped out. He's the one who delivers me from all my troubles yet not yet. Not yet because David had so many more lessons to learn.

That's why God doesn't deliver you immediately. You got some lessons to learn. You got a character that needs to be developed. A dependency that needs to be deepened right and so here was David. He knows the way that I take. He knows my path and he knows and I know he's my refuge in the land of the living. This is his comfort in the midst of his trouble. Here is his confidence during his trouble. Verse seven bring my soul out of prison so that I may give thanks to thy name. The righteous will surround me for thou wilt deal bountifully with me.

Here's his confidence freedom, fellowship, and fulfillment. Bring me out of prison. Bring me out of this prison so I can ascend the throne. Nope. So I can be relieved of my suffering. No. So I can give thanks to thee. I want to exalt your name. I want to praise your name. I want to lift your name on high and his whole confidence was the fact that God will deal bountifully with me. Here's the point when you're in the prison know this God will deal bountifully with his own. He will. Do you believe that?

I want to exalt your name and that then leads us to Psalm 57. Turn to Psalm 57 with me for a second and we'll conclude here.

This is the other song he wrote. Psalm 57. Be gracious to me O God, be gracious to me for my soul takes refuge in thee and in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God most high to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me. He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth his loving kindness and his truth. Here is his plea. Lord help me. Lord hear me. Lord hide me. That's his plea. Lord I need you to hide me in the shadow of your wings.

That's his plea. Lord I need you to hear me. That's why I cry to you and Lord I need you to help me send from heaven and save me. That's his cry. That's his plea. My soul is among the lions. Verse four. I must lie among those who breathe forth fire even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. Verse six. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dug a pit before me. They themselves have fallen in the midst of it. His plea is because of his perils.

He says destruction in verse one. They trample upon me. Verse three. My soul is among the lions. Verse four. They have spears and arrows. Their tongues are sharp. Verse four again. Verse six. They have prepared a net for me. They've dug a pit for me. The perils are severe. Here's my plea. Hide me. Help me and hear me. Why? Because I want to honor you. That's what he says twice. Verse five. Verse 11. Be exalted above the heavens O God. Let that glory be above all the earth. Now we sing that knowing.

We sing that song, that chorus. Be exalted O Lord above the heavens. That song is from Psalm 57. Words of David in the cave of a dulem. Believing that God in the midst of his perils based on his plea would preserve his life. And this is his praise. Verse seven. My heart is steadfast O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing. Yes I will sing praises. Awake my glory. Awake harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to thee O Lord among the peoples. I will sing praises to thee among the nations.

For that loving kindness is great to the heavens and thy truth to the clouds. Here's my praise. My praise will be with music. I will sing and I will play. My praise will be because of your mercy, your loving kindness, and my praise will be because of your majesty. He says be exalted above the heavens O God. Let thy truth, let thy glory be above all the earth. That was David. That's what happened in the cave of a dulem. That's why God brought those 400 men to him. That they might learn what David was about to learn.

And David records all this under the inspiration of the Spirit of God for you on this night. That's why you're here. Why did God bring you here? Why did God bring you here tonight? Why did God bring Reggie here, who's visiting for the very first time this evening?

Why did God bring Natalie here, who's visiting for the very first time this evening? Was it by accident? Did he move in across the street by accident or was it by divine sovereign providence? And why did God bring you here? Same reason he brought me here. So I would learn that in those caves that are dark and damp and dismal, whether it's a prison, whether it's a dungeon, whether it's the backside of the desert, or whether it's a cave condition, God says you come to me, you cry to me, you shriek and yell to me in the midst of your trouble.

And you have this confidence that I will deal bountifully with you. Because that's what David said. And that's what David learned. And he will begin to come out of this cave like condition filled with courage. That's why the sermon is Courage in a Cave. He learns to be courageous because he hasn't been, has he? Oh, he was courageous in the Valley of Elah when he fought Goliath. But since then, his courage has waned. He's run like a scared cat from the grips of Saul. But the courage will begin to come back simply because he cried out to the Lord God in the midst of his cave so that he could develop the courage he needs to lead these men in the midst of your misery.

God will give you ministry, but you need the courage and the strength to do what God needs you to do. You follow what Psalm 142 says. Psalm 57 says, because that's what David did. And God brought David out of that pit, out of that cave, and used him in a mighty way, just like he wants to do with you. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight. I don't know all that's happening in the lives of each individual soul tonight, but you do. For you know the way that each one of us takes. I don't need to know. You do know. That's all that matters. And my prayer is for every soul in his room, no matter how dark and dismal and damp that cave might be that they find themselves in this evening, they would cry out to God. All their troubles, they would just voice them, verbalize them to you. You don't want us to be silent.

You want us to speak and speak to you. So our prayer, Father, is that as we experience these situations in our lives, we would learn from David. The wonderful, wonderful ministry you gave this man. Oh, you brought him through so much. His life was at its lowest point. And yet you brought him up. You gave him courage. There might be someone here tonight who needs to be brought up out of that cave-like condition to experience the courage of Almighty God. May they follow what David said in Psalm 142 and Psalm 57.

Stand direct, stand strong, knowing that God will deal bountifully with them as you did with David. Praise you and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.