1 Sam. 23:1-18 David inquires of God
Intro:
Do you consider yourself a Leader ? How about A person of Influence ? A true leader doesn’t need to announce it to
anyone !!!
A)Whether we like it or
not all of us – are called at times to lead someone
B) Husbands lead wife & kids
/ Moms – lead Children / In Dating – Man is called to
be the spiritual leader
1) Older Christian – leads younger – by example & testimony
C) Some of
you are in positions of leadership at work
– Some are in positions of leadership in Ministry.
1)
We All have our times
when called upon to lead –
D) For some it is a stretch / awkward / difficult / others natural /
comfortable
Enjoyable
1)
Well whatever Category
that you find yourself in our text today we see in David a very Important ingredient of a Good leader Read v.1-4
We
saw in our last study that David had escaped to the cave of Adullam – It was
there that God Met David needs
A)Brought his Family / Brought 400 men who would become David’s mighty men
B) From there God
directs David to go to the area of Judah – this was a more Dangerous place for
David to be than in the area of Adullam
–
1) But there was a purpose that God had for David to be in this area
C) When David was hiding
out in the CAVE of Adullam he was
safe, but he couldn’t be reached in a time of need to help God’s people.
D)So One of the
reasons why God called David out of the stronghold, into a place of
greater danger (the land of Judah), Make him AVAILABLE
1)
was so that he could serve and bless God’s people more effectively.
So
the word comes to David The Philistines
are fighting against Keliah, and they are robbing the threshing floors:
A)Why did they bring
this plea for help to David, and not to King Saul? Because Saul
was not fulfilling his role as king over Israel.
B) It was Saul’s
job to protect Keliah, it was Saul’s job to fight against the
Philistines, but Saul wasn’t doing his job, so the
Lord called David to do it.
C)At this point David
& his men take on a sort of Robin Hood & His merry men – KIND OF
PERSONA
1)Stationed to help the People who were not getting Help from
King Saul
So
the Need is presented to David & watch what – He does / Here we are given
great insight into what Made David a great leader!!
A)Lesson for all of us who are in Ministry / everyone here who is in a Position at work / over people/
B) Every Husband called lead family / Every mom who has the responsibility of being involved in the training of her Children
1) Every man who is involved in courting a woman / Every mature believer who is discipling or has an influence on a younger believer
C) What is this Radical thing that David does? – Found in the 2nd verse
1) Therefore David
inquired of the Lord-
Now
this tells us several things about David’s leadership
A)#1
This shows David’s wisdom and godliness.
1)
Some might have
immediately said, "This isn’t my
responsibility, it is Saul’s. Let him deal with it."
B)Others might
have immediately said, "Let’s go! I can fix this problem! Get out of my way
and let’s do it!"
1) Either course would have been foolish, but David was
wise because he inquired of the Lord.
C) The mark of David’s Great leadership is that David was a man
of Prayer: He was a man who was interested in God’s will & God’s way
1)
He wanted & sought
after God’s direction
#2
When David inquired of the Lord, & he was willing to do just as the Lord
commanded.
A)Sometimes we inquire
of the Lord, but our minds are already made up / Our inquiring of the Lord is
merely a Token Formality / I prayed about it
B) But That isn’t really inquiring of the Lord at
all! Lloyd Ogilvie
Even though we pray about our challenges and
problems, all too often what we really want is strength to accomplish what
we've already decided is best for ourselves and others. Meanwhile we press on with our own
priorities and plans. We remain the
script writer, casting director, choreographer, and producer of the drama of
our own lives, in which we are the star performer. –
C) True Inquiring of the
Lord is when we come ready & expecting to Listen – And
willing to do whatever the Lord tells us
1) That is an essential trait for anyone who is called to be a leader over people in any capacity!!
A
leader/Boss/ Husband/ Parent who makes
it his/her habit to inquire of the Lord concerning Decisions shows that they
are
A)1) A person who is in Submission to the Lord–
B) The very practice of
truly seeking the Lord acknowledges that I am not going to take matters into my
own hands
1) I am not going to try & call the shots
C) John Powell, "Prayer as Surrender," I have a sign in the mirror of my room I see it
every morning in my groggy condition, when I first wake up: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT GOING TODAY, GOD? I'D LIKE TO BE A PART OF
IT. THANKS FOR LOVING ME.
D) A person
who is in submission to Christ is seeking to find their place in God’s plans
1) rather than making their own plans &
asking God to support them
E) The way that happens
is by regularly inquiring of the Lord
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives
to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
So
Prayer speaks of Submission 2nd
Prayer speaks of Dependency
A)It is telling the Lord that I know that thru Him all can do all things/ but w/out Him I can do nothing
B) It is acknowledging
that I don’t want to move to the right or the left / forward or backward –
until I Know that He is leading
1)
Dependency is
acknowledging to the Lord that I know that I am a follower long before I am a
leader – He is the one I am following
The reason why many are still
troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they
have not yet come to the end of themselves. TOZER
C) The mark of
dependency is seen by the fact that we are actively & constantly seeking
God !!!!
Looking back, [my wife] Jan and I have learned that the
wilderness is part of the landscape of faith, and every bit as essential as the
mountaintop. On the mountaintop we are overwhelmed by God's presence. In the
wilderness we are overwhelmed by his absence. Both places should bring us to
our knees; the one, in utter awe; the other, in utter dependence.
Dave Dravecky in When You
Can't Come Back.
Listen
If you are in a position at work or a position of ministry to be a leader over
people
A)The people who are working w/ you will respect you/ they will be more inclined to follow your leadership & enjoy working w/ you
IF THEY KNOW YOU ARE A MAN OR
WOMAN OF PRAYER
B) Husbands – Your wife & family will respect you & more gladly submit to you – if they have the confidence that you are seeking God
1)
If they Know that you
are a man of Prayer & the decisions that you are making about your family /
finances are born out of your prayer
times
C) Mothers listen your kids will listen to what you are teaching them & training them – more attentively
1)
If they Know that you
are seeking your direction from the Lord / That Jesus
is the Lord / that He is the Center
So
one of the things that made David such a great leader who was respected by the
men who were following Him – David
inquired……
A)It was very apparent to all that David wanted to be led
by God – And God said to David go & Rescue
Keliah-
B) But notice how David’s men responded v.3 - his men are hesitant & fearful –
C) What would you do in that situation ? As an Employer – How do you respond when you are
questioned on a decision ?
1) Is it – You are either in of out – My way or the Highway – or are
you humble enough to consider that you might be wrong?
D)Husband – What
do you say when your wife questions you on a decision ? Woman you are called by God to submit / My way…..Highway
1)
That is a great way to
make a bitter enemy of your wife
Maybe
like David you pray – you feel that God spoke to you – confirmation – tell your
wife of your decision –
A)She is apprehensive / she is concerned – not settling well w/ her for some reason & she questions if you are really hearing from God
B) Now your Pride has
the Potential of being wounded – She is questioning
my relationship w/ God - What do you do fellows
1)
Do you Chide her &
condemn her saying she is lacking faith / being
silly / do you accuse her of quenching the spirit / fighting w/ God
C) David could have done
all of those things w/ his men – He could have sought to ram rod this thing –
thru – we are going forward Period
1)
He could have went
spiritual on them – You guys are such spiritual
wimps - / no faith what is wrong w/ you.
D) But David didn’t do
that: 2nd Trait we see in David that made Him a great leader /
connected to his heart for prayer He was HUMBLE
–
1)
A person who regularly
lives in the presence of God isn’t going to think too highly of themselves –
see themselves in light of the Lord
E) David shows his
humility by allowing himself to be questions –
David are you sure this is the Lord maybe I am wrong
1) He simply went again & inquired of the Lord -And
his men respected & responded to that –
The
people in your life that you are called to lead will do the Same when see that
trait in you.
A)Wives love to follow a husband that they Know is actively seeking the Lord -
B)Sometimes this will test peoples patience – I tell our guys here don’t expect me to make a lot of spur of the minute decisions – Pray
1) That means they have to be more prepared / organized
/ get things to me sooner – so I can pray about them!!!
C)This
can be a real struggle though for some people- I was once asked to speak at a
Large & Popular place of ministry
1)
I was honored that I
was asked to speak – but I told the person who called me who was heading up
this ministry that I wanted a couple of days to pray about – whether God wanted
me to do it
D) They were so offended
by that – asked Why wouldn’t God want you to speak there?
1) Well I have been in situations that I thought was
great – that I didn’t pray about – I went to speak & God stayed home- ended
up never calling back
E)
David’s men respected His prayer life & when He
came back the 2nd time they respected his Decision
1)
This time the Lord adds a Promise to the direction God
said Arise, go down to
Keiliah, & I will deliver
the Philistines into your hand:
F) The promise
was intended to give both David and his men more and more confidence in God and
His command.
1)
Lesson for us God
likes to confirm His word, especially when He directs us to do something hard
or unusual. Go
Oregon/ Back to Vista
5And David and his men went to Keilah
and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away
their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Watch what
happens next –v. 6-12
A)The Ephod was the Vest that the High Priest wore – Ahimelech Abiathars father who was killed by Saul
B) Attached to the Vest
was a small Breastplate – pouch – two stones
1)The breastplate had in it a pouch with two
stones, known as the Urim and Thummim Lights & Perfections / One
light / other dark
C)When David inquired of
the Lord, he probably asked Abiathar to use the Urim and Thummim. God
honored that in OT
Now
today we don’t need to go to stones because we have the word of God & the
HS living in our hearts –
A)Jesus said that the HS would guide us into all truth
B) But here is the interesting thing – The very people that David rescues are now turning their backs on him & Rejecting him
C) Ministry can be that
way - You can give & give of yourself to help someone / to help bring
healing to a family / a marriage / -
1) Then have those
people turn on you / find some reason to get upset w/ you People are fickle –
Paul declared 2
Cor 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be
spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am
loved.
D) Why is that –
sometimes in loving – you have to do the right thing – which means you have to
tell the truth –
1)
The truth
hurts – people sometimes respond by
rejecting you / getting angry w/ you – Comes w/ the territory Read
v.13-18
Now
picture David at this point / how discourage he would be – after he is rejected
for doing the right thing again
A)Now He flees to the wilderness of Ziph which was a difficult place to be in w/ varied terrain – Saul has resorted to seeking David Continually
B) But Notice who God
sends to Strengthen David is this difficult time
1) Jonathan comes along & strengthens David’s hands in the Lord
C) Strengthening hands = to fasten upon / to seize / to make strong / to repair / to fortify / to make Vailant
1)
That is what Jonathan
did for David – Helped his friend in this low time – become stronger / more
Valiant / Help fortify Him in the Lord
D) Consider what David’s hands were used for
– Used to work for the Lord
1)
Used to fight / Used
to write beautiful Psalms / Used to lift in Praise
E) After Jonathan’s
visit David was able to do all of those things again
Notice How
Jonathan strengthened David’s hands in the Lord – 3 things
A)1st He reminded David of the Lord’s Presence
w/ Him – Do
not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you.
B) David could reject
fear because God would ultimately protect him (Saul
my father shall not find you).
1) Jonathan was reminding David that One w/ God is a
majority
Heb
13:5 For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”
C) One of the greatest
things we can do to strengthen a bro/sis/ in a difficult time is to remind them
of the Lord’s Presence w/ them.
1) Peace is not
the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.
J. Oswald Sanders.
D) Think of it this way
– most of us who are parent have had our kids come & climb in bed w/ us
after being sacred by a Storm / Wind or rain
1)
They are not asking
for us to take the storm away but simply to stay w/ them & help them rest
in the mist of the Storm
E) We some times need
that reminder that God is w/ us in the mist of the Storm –
None of us can face the past unless we know we are forgiven
by the grace of God. None of us can face the present unless we know we are
strengthened by the presence of God. None of us can face the future unless we
are certain of the love of God.
2nd
thing that Jonathan did was to remind David of God’s promise to him You shall be king over Israel).
A)We are called to be
Promise believers – sometimes in the mist of our situations the Devil gets us
to forget the promise of God!!!
B) In those times
especially we need to remember that our Lord is a God who keeps His promises
C)Sometimes a political
candidate who wishes to be returned to office will say, "I stand on my record."
1) Well Our faith stands on the record of what God has
done, on the record of promises kept. Jn 20:31 says "These
are written that you may believe."
D)Faith
is not inherited, nor does it come by accident. Faith comes by hearing the Word
of God and discovering that God keeps his promises.
1) Faith is "standing on the promises."
The
Chronicles of Narnia, are wonderful children's stories written by
A)In the second book, Prince Caspian, Lucy
enters Narnia again, and she hasn't seen Aslan, this lion figure who represents
Christ.
B) She has not seen him
in a long time,& they have a wonderful reunion. Lucy says to Aslan, who
represents Christ, "Aslan, you're bigger
now."
1)Aslan says, "Lucy, that's because
you are older. You see, Lucy, every year that you
grow, you will find me bigger."
C) Same holds true for
us the more we grow in the Lord / the longer we walk w/ the Lord we find him
bigger in his grace and in his goodness
1) and in his faithfulness and in those
promises that he has given us upon which we can depend all the days of our
lives
D) Sometimes we just
need a friend like Jonathan to come along & remind us of the bigness &
the faithfulness of God
1) Jonathan gave David an affirmation of
what God was doing in His life
Listen we need that sometimes because quite frankly
it is hard for us to see sometimes what God is doing / if we are growing
3rd
thing that Jonathan did to Strengthen David’s hands in the Lord was to remind
him of the Lord’s Power in his life
A)My father even knows this to be true
B) Reminder of God’s Power in our lives – we are in his hands we cannot be in the hands of the enemy
God wants us
to be those who strengthen each other’s hands in the Lord
A)Other examples – Jesus w/ Peter – Condemnation-
A)Barnabas w/ Paul & John Mark
B) Stir up each other to love & good works –
The word stir
up = to Stimulate – Paddles used to
stimulate the heart to get it going again / Electrical currents – limbs going
D.) We need Friendships
that stimulate your walk with the Lord!
1.) Build up rather
than tear down!
Think
about your closest relationships - what are the key ingredients? What effects
does time together have on you?
A)Idea of stirring up reminds us of what happens when coals are
in a fire! Get hotter! - On fire for Jesus!
C.) I pray be a stirred up church –Stimulating
one another – to Love Christ more / to Serve Him more / Seek Him more
diligently -
1) Excited about Lord's return. Excited
about serving; evangelism!
Why
is there a great Need to do this? – The bible declares that to whom much is
given much is required !!!
A)Those to whom much is required are those who are going to be under greater attack
B)Those
of you who are working for someone else – especially if they are Christians –
they are under greater attack – why?
1)
Satan’s goal is to
kill Rob & destroy – He knows that if He can bring that person down – it
will affect many other lives
C) Pastor Brian – Seemed
so out of it – Rob you just wait until God calls you to be a senior Pastor –
Naw – Epstein bar / Richard
1)
I know now by
experience when I moved to Oregon& even more so since I have moved back
here – WARFARE IS INTENSE
D) Warfare is 10 times greater than I could ever imagine
–
1) Attacked in areas / never ever thought
D) Bob Coy – 250 staff
people – Pressure – God brings me down destroys the work here – affect the
lives of a whole bunch of people.
1)
I know that pressure –
smaller scale – God has used you guys to strengthen me & my family in the
Lord
E) Women’s ministry –
Those cards – Times I have been down / feeling like not making a difference – impact – Open the mail card
1)
God uses that –
F) I am sure that others
feel the same way – You affirming to them – God is working in your life – I see
it
1) God used you the other day in my life – Know it
Listen
Wives your husband is going to be under greater warfare than you ? Why ? More
required
A)The wife is under the covering of her husband – Eve had her problems only after she wandered out from under that covering
B) But Satan knows that
the man is called to be the spiritual leader & if he can get that husband
off course / derail the whole family
1)
He knows that if He
can influence the husband – keep the whole family from growing
C)
Wives do you see yourself as an instrument of
God in your husbands life to strengthen his hands in the Lord – not nagging but
1) Reminding him God’s Presence / Promise / Power
Result of Jonathan’s actions Ch. 30 David Strenghtened Himself in the Lord