David's Foolish Conduct

It's so good to have you with us this evening. You know I know it's tough for some of you to get here on the middle of the week to study God's Word because you're so busy with all the things you have at home and at work and I just appreciate you coming and I know that God's gonna bless you tremendously tonight because we're gonna study God's Word and see how it applies to our life. There's nothing more appropriate for your life than to study God's Word and to understand how it applies to everything you go through and you're gonna see tonight in David's foolish conduct how it is we act in such foolish ways as well and you're gonna see a man who is at his lowest point in life up to this point.

It will get lower unfortunately for David but this is at his lowest point up to this this point in our study of his life and yet God does a great work to turn him around. We're gonna see that at the end this evening and see exactly what God does and so if you got your Bible turn to 1st Samuel chapter 21. We're gonna read it together. It's a really short chapter compared to the other chapters we've been reading but it's filled with all kinds of wonderful truths that will help us in our walk with the Lord.

1st Samuel chapter 21 verse number 1. Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him why are you alone and no one with you and David said to Ahimelech the priest the king has commissioned me with the matter and has said to me let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I've commissioned you and I have directed the young men to a certain place now therefore what do you have on hand give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found and the priest answered David and said there is no ordinary bread on hand but there is consecrated bread if only the young men have kept themselves from women and David answered the priest and said to him surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy though it was an ordinary journey how much more than today will their vessels be holy so the priest gave him consecrated bread for there was no bread there but the bread of the presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away now one of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord and his name was Doeg the Edomite the chief of Saul's shepherds and David said to Ahimelech now is there not a spear or sword on hand for I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's matter was urgent then the priest said the sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Elah behold it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod if you would take it for yourself take it for there is no other except it here and David said there is none like it give it to me then David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath but the servants of Achish said to him is this not David the king of the land did they not sing of this one as they dance saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands and David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath so he disguised his sanity before them and acted insanely in their hands and scribbled on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard then Achish said to his servants behold you see the man behaving as a madman why do you bring him to me do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence shall this one come into my house thus ends the story of first Samuel chapter 21 now I want you to note that during this decade plus that David flees from Saul all the events of his life are not recorded just certain events and not everything in that event is recorded just highlights of those events but this is David's foolish conduct what got him here what happened how does a man the sweet singer of Israel the great warrior of God the man after God's own heart lie twice to the priest in the tabernacle and then go to the land of the Philistines leaving the land of promise why would he flee the place that God has brought him to what led him that way what caused him to act such foolish foolish ways in his commentary on David says this he says when a real saint is out of touch with God when he is in a black back sitting state his conduct presents a strange enigma and his inconsistent ways are such as no one can explain where fellowship with the Lord is broken the mind is no longer illuminated from heaven the judgment is clouded and a lack of wisdom yea folly itself will then characterize all our actions David was a man who like many of us decided to take things into his own hands and a plan his future as he saw fit this is what David did this is what we do but David wasn't that first saint in scripture to do that way back in Genesis chapter 12 there was that great call of Abraham when God called him from the Chaldeans brought him over the great Euphrates River and told him that he was going to make him a father of a great nation and and the Hebrew people would be born through this man called Abraham the father of our faith and the Bible says very clearly back in Genesis chapter 12 these words now there was a famine in the land what land the land of promise the land where God brought Abram to the land that God promised to Abram and his descendants there happened to be a famine in the land there happened to be a problem that arose in the land what do you do well you should call upon the name of the Lord Abraham doesn't do that instead it says so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land he went to Egypt he left the land the promised land and he went to Egypt prophet Isaiah says woe to all those who go down to Egypt why because Egypt is representative of the world never trust in the world for for your provisions never trust in the world to do for you what only God himself can do but that's what our father of faith did but it gets worse and it came about when he came near to Egypt that he said to Sarah his wife see now I know that you are a beautiful woman and it will come about when the Egyptians see you that they will say this is his wife and they will kill me but they will let you live please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you and that I may live on account of you this is the classic husband that says forget about my forget about your life just think about my life I'm willing to compromise your purity and I'm willing to compromise your integrity for the sake of my own life this is this is the great sacrifice of Abraham and so Sarah obeys him but bad things happen it says that it came about when Abram came into Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful and Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house therefore he treated Abram well for her sake and gave him sheep and oxen donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels but the Lord struck Pharaoh in his house with great plagues because of Sarah Abram's wife then Pharaoh called Abram and said what is this that you have done to me why did you not tell me that she was your wife why did you say she is my sister so I took her for my wife now then here is your wife take her and go and Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and they escorted him away with his wife and all that belonged to him Abraham's testimony was compromised but he took matters into his own hand he could have called on the name of the Lord in the promised land he didn't do that a famine arose there was a crisis so like all great leaders when a crisis arises what do we do we take matters into our own hands we solve the problem so Abram solved the problem he went to Egypt but lo and behold he told Sarah we got a lie now she was his half-sister so it was only a really a partial lie ok it was partially true and partially wrong which is really all wrong but that's another sermon for another day but he lied.

It says in chapter 13 very interestingly so Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev he and his wife and all that belonged to him and lot with him now Abram was very rich in livestock and silver and gold and he went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel which is the house of God to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly and there Abram called on the name of the Lord he could have done that earlier but he didn't now you'd think he'd learned the lesson but he didn't because if you go to Genesis chapter 20 the same thing happens now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur so he sojourned in Gerar and Abram said of Sarah his wife she is my sister so Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah he does the same thing again it worked once it'll work again right if I lie once I'll lie again especially if it works and it worked he did it again this is our great father the faith now between Genesis 12 and Genesis 20 you remember now that they got that Egyptian the handmaid Hagar while they were in Egypt they brought her back God had promised Abraham that he'd be a father of a great nation but there was no nation there was no kid there was no son so Sarah took Madison to her own hands and said go into Hagar my handmaid lie with her and maybe God will bless me that way instead of Abraham saying you know honey that's just not a really good thing I'm married to you I'm committed to you Abraham said hey that's a good idea I'll do that he laid with Hagar she got pregnant they had Ishmael and they've been problems ever since since that time Genesis chapter 15 I believe it was and so you know one thing leads to another we want to take matters into our own hands but it even gets worse because if you go to Genesis 26 Isaac the son of Abraham says the same thing about his wife that she is his sister like father like son right you go a little further in Genesis you got Jacob and Jacob's been called by God to go back from where Laban is to go back to the land of promise so he makes his journey back and God says in Genesis 31 you go back and I will be with you now remember they couldn't read their Bible they had to wait for God to speak and when God spoke they heard his voice and they knew exactly what they should do and God says I'm gonna be with you so he makes his journey back and some of his friends meet him and say guess who's coming Jacob Esau's coming to meet you he has 400 men with him and Genesis 32 verse number 7 says that great fear came upon Jacob why the Lord God said he'd be with him what's he afraid of well if you know the story of Esau and Jacob and what took place years earlier between he and his brother well you might be a little afraid to now remember we serve the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob we serve the the the God of these men these men who lied these men who were willing to to fear man rather than fear God and and the reason I share that with you is because you know the Bible paints a true picture of the Saints none of them are perfect like none of us are perfect and all each of us has our flaws the point being is that we'd like to take matters into our own hands we want to settle matters our way and sometimes we don't have time to wait on God and David didn't have time to wait for God for fear that he would die in the meantime God promised him you're the king of Israel I'm anointed you as the next king of Israel so he's either gonna be the next king or he's not well David took matters into his own hands but for ten plus years this man would flee from the presence of Saul for fear that he was going to die and there would be times in which he would be restored back to the Lord and great things would happen and he'd write some wonderful Psalms a boy he took matters into his own hands and it all begins for us here tonight the first day of 21 by understanding first of all David's deception before Ahimelech the priest and then we'll look at David's degradation before Achish the Philistine and see what happened in David's life and then and then we'll see what Psalms he wrote two of them three of them in particular that pertain to this chapter alone okay it says in verse one then David came to Nob Nob is where the tabernacle was it was moved from Shiloh to Nob this is where the priest was Ahimelech this is where David went first this was three miles from Gibeah which is where Saul lived okay he would then travel another 26 miles to Gath but this is where the tabernacle was and the question comes is why is Ahimelech afraid of David when he sees him the question comes that did he know about David's fleeing from Saul did he know that the out by Saul that this man must be put to death did he not know all the details of David's life we don't know David didn't have his men with him he left them behind he went into the village to the city himself okay he went in by himself and he's afraid and he asked David why are you alone and no one with you listen to David's response the king has commissioned me that's a lie king didn't commission David he's not representing the king he's running from the king but he says to the priest no less not just some farmer guy out there in the in the in the lowlands someplace to the priest of Israel the king has commissioned me with the matter and they said to me let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you and I directed the young men to a certain place he lied to the priest he lied to the priest in the house of God's presence it would be like going to church on Sunday and and and one of the elders coming up to you or the pastor gonna do say hey you know what are you doing here and then you lie in the house of God about whatever it is you're lying about you know why would he do that what was David doing what was David thinking I mean he could have went to him a lick and said you know what here's my situation I'm on the run from the king I need you to pray for me I need you to help me out here I'm in a I'm in a whole bunch of problem and I need your help but instead he resorts to a lie now he's already done this in the previous chapter with with Jonathan this becomes a habit pattern of David the man after God's own heart to not tell the truth and so he is one who succumbs to lies the tabernacle was a was a sacred place and yet he would go to that sacred place and he would lie you know once you allow sin any room in your life and you don't repent from that sin it begins to move into all rooms of your life and you got to be careful and David wasn't very careful he hasn't called upon the name of the Lord in 1st Samuel chapter 20 and he didn't do it here in 1st Samuel chapter 21 he is the king taking matters into his own hands thinking that he can solve whatever problem comes his way so he lies to the priest there in Nod and he asks is there any food I need something to eat and a Himalayan says well all we have is the the sacred bread that the consecrated bread and that bread was specifically on what is called the table of showbread in the tabernacle it would be used to foreshadow specifically Christ as the bread of life there would be 12 loaves six on the bottom six on top they would be placed there and after the Sabbath the priests could eat them but only the priests could eat them according to Levitical law and Ahimelech said you know what all I have is the consecrated bread the showbread the bread of his presence it's all I have if your men have kept themselves pure and holy they are more than welcome to partake of that bread and this was a great thing by Ahimelech Christ would use this later on in Matthew chapter 12 remember when the the disciples were going around the fields and and taking grain and the Pharisees criticized Christ because they were quote working on the Sabbath and Christ would go back and use this illustration with David and his men and the showbread that would be given by the priest to them to demonstrate how important it is to have compassion and concern for people that it takes precedence over the letter of the law and he would even go on to say you know what even this whole thing about working on Sunday guess who works on Sunday every hour on the Sabbath every Sabbath the priests work and you have all these laws about working on the Sabbath and every Sabbath every priest is at work doing what God has ordained for them to do and so he would use this illustration about David and his men to show how it is we are to have concern and compassion for those who have needs David had a need he was hungry and it wasn't like in our day you know if we're traveling along you know we look for the golden arches and say hey man we're going there for dinner you know we can see those fast-food restaurants I mean there's no fast-food falafel restaurant there in the land of Israel you know there's no place called Sammy schnitzel here you know you're not you're not gonna be able to get it so you just can't be traveling along say hey you know there's a fast-food place here let's just stop here get something to eat no man you've got to kill the the the animals then you got then you got to cook the animals I mean that takes time right so David says look I'm here on Kings business I'm so I need something to eat Ahimelech says look this is all I got and so as he's speaking there's a little verse that's there you need to catch and that little verse is in verse number seven now one of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord and his name was Doeg the Edomite the chief of Saul's shepherds why is that verse so important well you gotta ask yourself this question what is a descendant of Esau doing serving the king of Israel because the descendants of Esau the Edomites heeded the descendants of Jacob they hated him and yet in Saul's defeat of the Edomites for some reason he would take Doeg in and he would make him the chief of his shepherds he was in Nob that day he would hear the conversation between David and Ahimelech the priest and he would hear the lies of David why is this so important well you got to go to the next chapter to read it because it says this verse 9 then Doeg the Edomite who was standing by the servants of Saul answered and said I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub and he inquired of the Lord for him gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine well Saul is absolutely furious so he beckons Ahimelech the priest to come and he speaks to him concerning this matter okay Saul is so furious with Ahimelech he commands his servants to kill the priest of Israel they won't do it so he commands Doeg to do it look at this then the king said to Doeg you turn around and attack the priest and Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priest and killed that day 85 men who wore the linen ephod and he struck Nob the city of the priest with the edge of the sword both men and women children and infants also oxen donkeys and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword he killed everybody killed everybody except for one person but one son of Ahimelech verse 20 the son of Ahitub named Abiathar escaped and fled after David and Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priest of the Lord then David said to Abiathar I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household stay with me do not be afraid for he who seeks my life seeks your life for you are safe with me David never would escape the guilt of his lie and the consequences of his lie to Ahimelech see we think that when we sin it's only about us nobody ever sins solo it affects others around you little did David know oh he says to Abiathar look I knew when I saw Doeg at the corner of my eye there was gonna be a problem I just didn't know it was gonna be this severe when we sin we never know how severe the consequences are going to be and David didn't know how severe they were gonna be but they were great everybody in the city was killed every livestock was slaughtered Saul was so enraged with David he would do everything to put the fear of his kingship that is Saul's kingship in everybody's heart well back to our story in first Samuel 21 verse 8 and David said to Ahimelech now is there not a spear or sword on hand for I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's matter was urgent again lie I didn't have time to get him you mean the King commissioned you to go someplace and he was so so concerned about getting you to the place you needed to be you couldn't have time to grab your sword you have no weapons that don't have any you got anything Ahimelech says well you know all we got Goliath's sword you should know about that David David says I'll take that sword I'll take that sword that's a good sword you know way back in in first Samuel 17 when he killed Goliath he advanced on Goliath with without a sword he had a stone five stones to be exact and a slingshot but he lived in the fear of the Lord well now that he's living in the fear of man he now depends on carnal means to protect himself and he uses that which Goliath could not use to protect himself with to protect now David thinking that in his hand he would have a sword that would protect him from Saul back in first Samuel 17 we told you about Proverbs 28 1 the righteous are as bold as a lion but the unrighteous live in fear and David in first Samuel 17 was as bold as a lion but at first Samuel 21 he lives in fear he's afraid in fact it says then David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath why why would it leave the presence of the land and the presence of the tabernacle maybe he thought maybe he thought maybe he went the knob because this was the last time he was going to see the tabernacle maybe that's what he was thinking we don't know and because he we knew we know for the story that he's on his way to Gath the land of the Philistines we know he's going that why would he go there why would he go there what a foolish decision does he think he's gonna be accepted there do you think they're gonna say oh David we're so glad you're here you killed our favorite hero come on in I mean that's not how it's gonna work what's he thinking he's not thinking at least he's not thinking biblically he's acting foolishly he's going to Gath and so when he gets there it says the servants of Achish said to him is this not David the king of the land they even know he was the king David didn't even know he was the king but they knew he was the king did they not sing of this one as a dance saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands hey look they even knew the song they knew this it was number one on the top billboard charts for at least four or five years man that thing was always number one they played it on FM radio AM radio all over the land of Israel everybody knew the song they could quote it verbatim back and this is a guy we know the song except they didn't like it in Gath they listen to the radio in Gath they want to hear that song see but they knew the words look at verse 12 and David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath first time it said of David's fear of another man he was fearing another man should have ever went there but he did so now he takes matters into his own hand again how am I gonna get out of this thing what am I gonna do I'm gonna act like a madman I'm gonna act like I am absolutely bonkers I'm gonna start drooling out of my lips man let's saliva run down my beard on my robe I'm gonna bang my head against the wall I'm gonna scratch on the floor I'm gonna let people think I am a crazy man that's exactly what he did that's exactly what he did sweet singer of Israel the writer of our Psalms acting like a fool in front of all these people in Gath the king says you're bringing another madman to me I don't need this I don't want this guy here get him out of here and the story ends so he ends and you pick up chapter 22 so David departed from there and escaped to the cave of a doom boy what happens here is great but the point is this look folks this man lived a life of deception and degradation because he took matters into his own hands he didn't trust the Lord he didn't wait upon the Lord he sought wrong counsel wrong counsel led to wrong choices wrong choices led to woeful consequences way back in chapter 19 he could have stayed he could have stayed with with Samuel the prophet he was protected there remember the story he was protected by a supernatural act of God which caused the the soldiers of Saul to prophesy and even Saul himself to prophesy there in the school of the prophets David could have stayed right there he was protected by God God had done a great work he could have gone to Samuels and Samuel what do you want me to do how do we deal with this thing how do you deal with with with Saul because you anointed him king of Israel now you've anointed me king of Israel you've got to deal with this thing Samuel how are you gonna do it he didn't do that instead he fled he ran away and he went to Jonathan he lied and got Jonathan to lie but never once did he call upon the name of the Lord he taking matters into his own hands I got to control this thing it does your father want me dead or does he not I think he does and Jonathan says no I don't think so David David says no he does and they did the whole thing about shooting the arrows and if the arrows go beyond you you got to flee because my dad wants you dead and sure enough the arrows went beyond him he had to flee and now he finds himself in Nod now in Gath doing what he thinks he needs to do but it's not wrong counsel so many times we we go to people for counsel and we get the wrong counsel doesn't lead us closer to the Lord it leads us further away from the Lord and it caused us to make bad choices he made a horrible choice he made a choice to lie to a Himalaya he made a choice to take a sword trusting in a sword of Goliath to protect him rather than the God who said he would protect him and and then he chose to go to the city of the Philistines for for God knows why he did that who knows but that's what he did and then he made a choice to act like a fool in front of all those people the sweet singer of Israel the anointed king of Israel so that he could escape thinking that that would get him out of there it did but it wasn't because he acted like a fool it truly was the Lord God himself I'll show you that in a minute and then the consequences horrible wretched consequences a whole village of people is slaughtered because of David's foolish conduct that's sad I read the story I think to myself you know God is so good to paint this picture for us for David because what we read about David most of it's not good most of it's bad nicely he slays Goliath that's good that's exciting we know that story but all these other little stories that go out from first Samuel chapter 18 19 20 21 22 and so forth we don't know too much about them and then he ascends the throne he's the king of Israel and things are great but it's his best Sheba and then oh gee his home home life is just wrecked forever forever his home life is wrecked forever after that event and you begin to see that yeah he was a man to God's own heart yes he never sought revenge on other other people that's what marked him as a man for God's own heart a boy his life was filled with bad choices horrible consequences upon himself and his family and those around about him because God exposed this man's sin for us through him would come the Messiah who would be sinless who would be perfect the perfect king of Israel but but there's hope for us because how many times do we act foolishly how many times do we lie don't tell the truth we might not you know scratch the floor and let you know drool drip down on our beard and act like a fool at work maybe maybe you do I don't know I'm not there I don't know but you know I don't know what you do but so many times we our conduct is so bizarre sometimes so out of whack with our Christian faith our love for the Lord right well the good news about this whole story is that David would write three particular songs there are eight of them he wrote that we know of that were around the time in which he would flee from from King Saul three of them particular deal with this chapter alone Psalm 52 was about Doeg and the weakness of that man and David write a psalm about that Psalm 52 if you got your Bible turn to Psalm 52 just real briefly Psalm 52 why do you boast an evil almighty man the loving kindness of God endures all day long your tongue devises destruction like a sharp razor or worker of deceit you love evil more than good falsehood more than speaking what is right this is the wickedness of Doeg you love all words that devour Oh deceitful tongue but God will break you down forever he will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent and uproot you from the land of the living and the righteous will see and fear and will laugh at him saying behold the man who would not make God his refuge but trusted in the abundance of his riches and was wrong was strong in his evil desire but as for me I am like a green olive tree in the house of God I trust in the loving kindness of God forever and ever I will give thee thanks forever because thou has done it and I will wait on my name for it is good in the presence of thy godly ones David writes us about Doeg and his wickedness in his own well-being and what God does and he would that imprecatory Psalm praying that that God would deal with this man and destroy this man and God would do that David was not a man of vengeance you'll read that throughout the whole life of David he would trust God for that part of his life and he wrote this Psalm the one I want to I want to take you to first of Psalm 56 because Psalm 56 is is a Psalm that deals with the pressure and then I'm gonna take you to Psalm 34 because Psalm 34 talks to you about the praise Psalm 56 is about the trial and Psalm 34 is about the Thanksgiving they go hand-in-hand together because when David would leave Gath and go to the cave of Adullam there he would sit and there he would begin to write down all that took place and begin to record for us though the words of God as we would understand this man's life and what God did in his life you see once you sin you have got to get right with God and David did David did and David's like us you know we we sin and we get right with God and and things go along for a while and then we sin again and and we get right with God then we sin again and we get right with God that that's our pattern of life that's how that's how we live our lives and David is a model of a man who repented of a sin he was a true repenter of his sin and when you look at his life you can see a man broken in contrite Psalm 56 is a great song it tells us about the trials and in those trials he tells us three things God is merciful of those in those trials God is mindful of your trials and God is mighty over your trials and David sees that listen what he says be gracious to me O God for man has trampled upon me fighting all day long he opposes me oppresses me excuse me my foes have trampled upon me all day long for they are many who fight proudly against me when I'm afraid I will put my trust in thee in God whose word I praise in God I put my trust I should not be afraid what can mere men do to me remember it was in first Samuel 21 that he feared Achish king of Gath and now he's writing about the fact that now I'm trusting God what can mere man do to me man can't do anything to me because God is my protector he is my deliverer all day long they distort my words all their thoughts are against me for evil they attack they lurk they watch my steps as they have waited to take my life he says these trials are daily they're all day long all day long all day long he says not only the daily they're dangerous they want to take my life they say attack attack attack they lurk to find me they want to take my life the trial he says was was daily this is the way it was in Gath and and and it was so dangerous and then he says thou has taken account of my wanderings God's mindful of David's wanderings God is so merciful to him God could have said David you are a fool you're a fool I'm just gonna forget about you I'm getting so I'm getting another king cuz you're not you're not a very good King David I'm getting another one but he didn't do that to him he was merciful he was so merciful because he was mindful of all the wanderings of David and David understood that thou has taken account of my wanderings put my tears in my bottle this man was a man who who had shed tears day in and day night and in night are they not thy book then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call this I know that God is for me that good verse this I know that God is for me boy he should have known that before he went to Nob and then went to Gath but at least he learned the lesson God is for me in God whose word I praise in the Lord whose word I praise in God I will I have put my trust shall and I shall not be afraid what can man do to me thy vows are binding upon me O God I will render thank offerings to thee for thou hast delivered my soul from death indeed my feet from stumbling so that I may walk before God in the light of the living he recognizes that God delivered him he recognizes that it wasn't his foolish actions by by by looking like an idiot there in Gath that delivered him he was God who delivered him it was God who who took him through a trial that was daily and through a trial that was dangerous in order to deliver him in a unique and special way we don't know all the ins and outs in terms of how he left Gath and went to the cave of Adullam we don't know that but we do know from Psalm 56 that he trusted God he believed in God and when he sat in that cave he would write about what God did in his life and talk about that trial that pressure that he found himself in but he knew that God was merciful to him God was mindful of him and God was mighty to deliver him they did and that's this that's the song he writes about the trial in Gath now go to Psalm 34 because Psalm 34 Psalm 34 is a psalm that he writes concerning the praise of what God did this is so good notice the heading that says a Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech now it's not Abimelech it's really Akish but Abimelech is a name like Pharaoh okay it's the title of the ruler of the city okay and who drove him away and he departed this is what Psalm 34 is about this is a very familiar song we know it well but we don't always identify why David wrote the song it's because of what took place in first Samuel 21 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make its boast in the Lord the humble shall hear it and rejoice Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears you see we know that David repented because he sought the Lord he went after the Lord and God delivered him from all of his fears they looked to him and were radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles the Lord saved me the Lord did he gives credit to where credit is due he gives it to the Lord this poor man cried to the Lord listen I don't know what you're in today I know what kind of sin you've committed this day this week this month this year I don't know that God knows and you know but you gotta be like David a poor man who cries out to the Lord and says Lord deliver me from all my fears take care of me protect me Lord I have sinned against you be gracious unto me be merciful unto me that I might praise your name and glorify your name God please deliver me so David did that's what David did Alan Redpath has written a commentary on David and then he talks about our need to cry out to God and our need to come before him and to see where our lives stand with the Lord God he says this your Christianity is inadequate if it cannot stand down to earth examination in the simple details of life before you come to church on Sunday morning you spend time decorating your body how long do you spend preparing your heart you come to teach the children of Sunday school or to preach the word and certainly to worship the Living God do you preface it with an hour of dedication or an hour of decoration has God heard from you the cry of a hungry soul that recognizes this need for daily grace or are you teaching preaching witnessing serving and banking upon the experience of 20 years ago when you met God for the first time or what emptiness of heart there is today in so many Christians no wonder fear comes in through the door and faith goes out through the window he says it's just a simple examination of your life you go to church you get all decorated up but what about your dedication to the Lord God did you spend time preparing your heart to receive what he has to hear and David this poor man cried to the Lord and God heard him David knew that the outward veneer would not serve him well although he trusted in it although he believed in it David was a handsome man he was a rugged man he was a strong man he was a well-liked man and there's a lot of things about his charisma about his personality that drew men to him we'll see it next week in the cave of a duel him where he gets these 400 men I mean they're misfits they're riffraff yeah they are but but he turns him into great warriors he does he's a great leader and we can we can tend to trust that our own our own charisma our own personality our our own talents and giftedness that outward veneer but the inner man the inner man needs to be replenished the inner man needs to be strong in the Lord in the power of his might David recognized that he goes on to say in verse number seven the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them he recognizes that it was the angel who recognized it was the angel Lord which is the pre-incarnate Christ the Messiah who was to come he would be protected but he says oh taste and see that the Lord is good how blessed it is the man who takes refuge in him something he's saying you know I didn't do that I should have but I didn't but but I want to Oh fear the Lord you as Saints for to those who fear him there is no one the young lions who lack and suffer hunger but they who seek the Lord should not be in one of any good thing come you children listen to me I will teach you the fear of the Lord really the man who was afraid of a kiss King of Gath the man who was afraid of King Saul and then lied the man who acted like a fool come I've learned some lessons David says I want to teach about the fear of the Lord who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good here it goes ready keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit it's a song we read all the time we've got songs about this song we have no idea where it came from we know who wrote it we just don't know the events surrounding it and David says look you want to you want to let you desire life and not death don't speak lies don't be a deceiver depart from evil and do good seek peace and pursue it and then he then he says these words that Peter quotes in first Peter chapter 3 that is so profound listen to this the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears are open to their cry the face of the Lord's against evil doers to cut off the memory of them from the earth that good the eyes of the Lord see you the ears of the Lord hear you and the face of the Lord is against all those who are against you boy if he had known that when he went into Gath what he probably never went to get say he was stayed he was stayed in the land that God had given to him he says 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 see that that's that's where David was he recognizes that because he was broken he was a broken man he realized what took place with Abiathar the only one to escape Gath and the death he caused all those people he was a broken man crushed many of the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all he keeps all his bones not one of them is broken evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous will be condemned the Lord redeems the soul of their servants and none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned this was the psalm of Thanksgiving based on the psalm of trial Psalm 56 and when exactly he wrote these we don't know maybe it was in the cave of Adullam we don't know it was sometime after 1st Samuel chapter 21 the good news about all this is that even though you might seek wrong counsel and even though you might make some bad choices and even though you might suffer some grave consequences there is hope and that hope is only in the Lord only in the Lord Jesus Christ for those who are broken and crushed in spirit and that's what David was he was broken and God would use him to write these psalms so that you and I could read him today and realize that the Lord would deliver us out of all of our afflictions out of all of our troubles that his eye is on us his ear is open to our cry in his face is against everybody who was against his righteous ones seek peace pursue what he says wouldn't live keep your tongue from evil and keep it from speaking lies and deceit don't do that David says these are some lessons that all of us need to learn need to apply to our lives this is why the study is so practical for you and me because all of us can identify with this there's not one person in this room who hasn't lied there's not one person in this room who hasn't acted foolishly there's not one person in this room who doesn't sin every one of us fall into that category so what happens what do we do next we do what David did we go to the Lord repent of our sin with a broken and contrite heart and ask God to deal with us mercifully and he will he will he did it for David and God will God picks him up every time he always picks him up God always will pick you up you go to him he'll pick you up you go to him and cry to him he will take you where you need to be David is that great king of Israel but before he became that great king there are so many ups and downs in this man's life you would think who would ever want this man to rule anybody but God did and if we knew what happened in the dark crevices of your home we'd wonder who would let you leave anybody either right so you see we know that God is at work in God as he worked in David's life he wants to do the same thing in your life none of us is without sin none of us is is without any kind of iniquity but we have a God who will forgive us and a God will pick us up in a God that will take us where he wants us to be for his glory and for his honor God's work in David was for God not for David God's work in David was all about his sovereign control over a man's life and how he would use him to bring about God's perfect purposes for Israel and the redemption of the world there was a bigger picture at stake here than David just like there's a bigger picture at stake with you God's at work trust him and believe in him and follow what David said and see God do a great work let me pray with you father we thank you for your word the truth that's there the great joy we have in believing and understanding that you are a great God of forgiveness and that you are a great God of mercy kindness and compassion and oh how desperately we need you forgive us Lord for resorting to lies forgive us Lord for resorting to deceit forget us Lord for for twisting truths to to manipulate our circumstances Lord forgive us forgive us for acting foolishly on so many occasions help us Lord to trust you help us Lord not to fear man help us Lord to believe in you and to follow you that we might be used of you as David was used of you well we are so thankful for these these snapshots of David that help us understand his life and thank you for the songs that were written by him that we can understand what it is you do for your very own I pray for every person man woman boy and girl in this room this evening that Lord you would encourage them through your word cause them to stand strong in the power of your might may they leave this place differently than when they arrived we pray in Jesus name Amen