1 Sam. 29 & 30 Never abandoned by God !!

Intro: We saw in our study last time where David made a huge mistake in listening to his heart – following his heart – BACKSLIDDEN

A)At a time when he was really discouraged – instead of turning to the Lord/ he turns to the world – runs to Gath

B) It was there that David the Servant of the Lord – makes himself the Servant of Achish the King of the Philistines

1) What transpires is a Period of 16 months where David loses his identity his sense of purpose / mission in life / Leading a Double life

C) During that period of David’s life there is no record of him writing any Psalms or having any real communion w/ God

1) To a certain extent David has turned his Back on God / But God would not turn his back on David !!!

D) As we come to ch.29 we see the graciousness of God to bring back his wayward Servant !!!! Read v.1-2

So the Philistines Gather to fight against Israel & David is where he never thought that he would be Lined up to Fight against the people of God

A)That often is the case when we sin, when we backslide, when we turn away from the things of God,

B) We can find ourselves in a place we never thought we would be.

C) But it is here that we see the Lord is going to intervene – to get David out of a very disastrous situation

1) God is still on the throne – He will not let go of David so easily v3-5

C)The Leaders among the Philistines looked at David and his men, and said, “They aren’t one of us. They are Hebrews. The worship another God. They live in the land God promised to them. We don’t belong together!”

 The Philistine leaders could see what David was blinded to.

A)David had started to think and act like a Philistine, and was ready to fight with them against the people of God.

B) But the Philistine leaders could see that this wasn’t right, that David wasn’t really one of them!!!!

“It is very terrible when the children of the world have a higher sense of Christian morality & rightness than Christians themselves, and say to one another, ‘What are they doing here?’” (Meyer)

C)That is something that we often forget – is Unbelievers expect Christians to act is a certain way –

1) They have certain expectations of those who call themselves followers of Christ – Honest/Polite/ Integrity/ Name Christian isn’t used to be

D) It is not a good thing when they are looking at us – Wondering why are they doing that / or why we are in that place

1) So the Princes of the Philistines come declaring what David should have Known all along – He doesn’t belong w/ us

At first Achish defends David –v. 3 “David has been with me” and “I have found no fault in him” since “he defected to me”

A)To hear an ungodly ruler say, such a thing should have been a great wake-up call to David.

B) It would be as if an ungodly coworker insisted to other coworkers that you really weren’t a Christian after all, because he had seen how you live!

1) God was speaking to David through this, but David wasn’t listening?

C) The Philistine princes obviously didn’t trust David & probably went away thinking – WE SHOWED HIM – STUPID HEBREW

1) But in actuality they were merely instruments in the hands of the Lord to get David where the Lord wanted him . v.6-10

David Appeals to Achish

A)But what have I done? David seems genuinely disappointed that he will not be able to fight for the Philistines against Israel.

B) David is upset that he had caused the Princes of the Philistines to be displeased w/ Him

C) Is this the same David who fought Goliath?

1) Could you imagine someone coming to David before that battle, and saying,

“Excuse me David, I don’t think you should do that. You might displease the lords of the Philistines.”

B)What do you think David’s response would be? He might have said

“Of course I will displease the lords of the Philistines! I want to displease the lords of the Philistines!

I can’t wait to displease the lords of the Philistines! Let me know if I ever stop displeasing the lords of the Philistines!”

C)But all of that is a distant memory, in this time of backsliding and compromise for David.

1) David is more Concerned at this point in his life w/ the fear of man than he is the fear of God

D) The bible declares that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom –right Path/ direction / Actions/ but the fear of man is a snare

1) Here David is getting all tripped up in his direction – motives his Purpose / because of the FEAR OF MAN

But in the mist of all of it – we see the hand of God at work in David’s life keeping him from doing something he would really regret

A) David wanted to fight with the Philistines against Israel, but God wouldn’t let him.

B)David’s heart is in a bad place, but God hasn’t abandoned him!

C) We should praise God for the times when He kept us from sinning as bad as we wanted to sin!

1) Pastor who before conversion – drinking problem – low point gave into temptation to get a Beer – Unknown area – Best friends walks in

D)Now he could have went to another Liquor store – got the message – David could have attacked Israel on his own – instead

v.11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

D) David returns to Ziklag and the Philistines army prepares to meet Saul

All of that happened in this chapter should have awakened David

A)He should have saw God’s hand in all of this , but he didn’t.

B) Now God is going to get David’s attention/ but at what Price ? What will it take to bring David around?

1) Know this Because God loves David, He will do what it takes. Ch.30 1-5

C) David & his men leave their families unguarded & unprotected in their compromise to join forces w/ the enemy to fight against the People of God –

1) Upon return they find a disaster – their city is burned down / their cities are in ruins & their families are gone

D) That is usually the case w/ sin & compromise can do –It leaves your family in ruins/ House divided and Family taken captive by the enemy

David & his men begin to weep – until there was no power left in them to cry – They wept until they had no more strength to WEEP!

A)Now picture this : these are commandos / warriors – some of the finest fighters in Israel’s History – Sobbing uncontrollable

B) These men are broken - why ? Because of the loss of their families

1) Often takes this to break a MAN OF HIS PRIDE!!

BB) Seen too many men go down this road of Compromise & double life who weren’t broken until their families were ruined

C) What they do at this point makes all of the difference in the world /Chose the pathway that will result in any hope of Restoration

1) Or Will they continue on the one that leads to further death & Despair

The tendency of some people when confronted like this w/ the results of their sin is to turn inward & get bitter

A)They get bitter at themselves / bitter at God / bitter at those who hurt them

B) And that ROOT OF BITTERNESS permeates the soil of their hearts & bitterness spreads like poison throughout their whole being

1) They sub consciously make a pact w/ themselves that they will never hurt like this again.

C) They turn themselves off to people & to the Lord – they are not going to trust God or anyone else for that matter anymore !!

D) THIS PATH LEADS TO DEATH

1)They go to their graves ANGRY BITTER / CANTERKOROUS individuals who make everyone’s life around them miserable

So some turn inward – others turn outward – They look for someone to blame - - I am in this mess not my fault, it is their fault

A)They are looking for someone to get mad at – someone to blame – which is what David’s men to v.6

B) They turn to David & were talking about Stoning Him –

1) Instead of dealing w/ their own hearts they turn to David who they willingly followed into Sin

C) This dates back to Adam in the Garden – Looking to make excuses for our actions – not me – it was the Women you gave me

D) This path leads to Disaster because it means that it is going to take another loss / another tragedy / another home wrecked

1) until they come to their senses

So some turn within & get bitter – Some turn outward looking for someone to blame – But the wise man / woman turns to the Lord

A)Now it took 16 months / it took a severe tragedy – but that is what David finally does v. 6c – David strengthens himself in the Lord

B) This is what matters most – not recovering family – but it is getting right w/ the Lord – RETURN TO SANITY – Prodigal came to senses

1) Too often that never happens – see people who because of their sin / compromise – have lost their families / or Ministry.

C) But instead of really surrendering their hearts to the Lord / instead of really repenting of their sin – they go through the motions

1) Great EMOTION- cry tears / anguish / they seem sincere

D) But they don’t stop the drinking / they don’t totally break off the relationships w/ the person or people who were bad influences

1) They keep a stash of drugs in a secret place just incase it doesn’t work out – they don’t throw away the # of their dealer

E) Talking the other day – why there are so many recommitments / answer people really don’t want to surrender to the Lord / Walk the walk

1) Quick Fix

Some times guys come to me & say what is it going to take for me to regain my family’s trust

A)And I tell them – it is going to take 3-6 months of them being able to see you really walk w/ God – no games – totally surrendered to the Lord

B) Bottom line it is always you & the Lord – Dennis – it took 3 yrs but he was patient & grew in the Lord

1) People spend 3 yrs reckoning their lives – breaking trust – they want it to be fixed in one week - & a few counseling appointments

C) You can be right w/ God in a MOMENT if you really repent – but it is going to take those whom you hurt a while to get over the scars

David Strengthened Himself in the Lord

A)David turned to the Lord broken hearted in full surrender – And God was more than READY to supply David w/ the Strength courage & Assurance that He Needed

C)The Amalikites were Savages who made their reputation in battle by attacking the rear ranks – Weak /women & Children –

D)They would emotionally Pulverize an army w/ a surprise attack killing their families

1) Here they take them captive – God’s gracious hand

v.7-20

A)Twilight is probably a bad translation in v.17 here, and it should be from dawn until evening of the next day.

1) “The Hebrew word nesep, translated ‘dawn’ in Job 7:4 and Psalm 119:147, has this sense here . . .

B) It was wise to attack the Amalekites when they were hung over from the party the night before. “

God’s promise was proved true.

A)When David inquired of the Lord, God promised You shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all (1 Samuel 30:8).

B)The promise was fulfilled exactly, but it wasn’t fulfilled as David sat back passively and said, “All right God, now You can do it.”

1) The Lord fulfilled His promise, but He used David’s actions to fulfill the promise.

C) God’s promise didn’t exclude David’s cooperation, the promise invited his cooperation.

1) David cooperated w/ God – trusting in the Promise of the Word of God & recovered all .

D) God can RESTORE THE YRS THAT THE LOCUST EATEN

REMINDED OF JESUS

A)All that was lost by sin, our glorious and victorious Captain has recovered. What then shall be his spoil?

B)Treasure in the Field – buys the field to get the treasure –

Let your hearts and mine, and all we are, and all we have, be yielded up to him, and let us say of it all, ‘This is Jesus’ spoil, and to him be glory evermore!’”

“Now, in the great battle of Christ on our behalf, He has not only given us back what we lost, but He has given us what Adam in his perfection never had. And I want you to dwell upon that, because this part of it is peculiarly our Lord’s spoil. Those good things, which we now possess, over and above what we lost by sin, come to us by the Lord Jesus. Now that the Son of God has come into the field, He is not content with restoration, He turns the loss into a gain, the fall into a greater rising.” (Spurgeon)

C)We should come to Jesus, and by our free will give Him everything we have, everything we are.

1) We give our lives to Him and say, “This is Jesus’ spoil.” We give our gifts and abilities to Him and say, “This is Jesus’ spoil.”

D)We give our possessions to Him and say, “This is Jesus’ spoil.” We give our praise to Him and say, “This is Jesus’ spoil.”

1) We give our time to Him and say, “This is Jesus’ spoil.”

V.13 David asks the Egyptian man that they found 2 questions I want to close w/ today – Who do you Belong to ?

A)Is it Christ – are you his follower – His servant – Is it seen by your actions the way that you live your life ?

B) 2^nd Where are you from – Who have you been hanging out w/? Where have you been spending your time

i. Spurgeon has a wonderful sermon on David’s question to the Egyptian, “To whom do you belong?” (A Searching Question). In one section, he helps his listeners discover to whom they really belong by asking these questions: 1. Where were you born? 2. What company do you keep? 3. What is your dialect? 4. What have you learned to do? 5. What do the angels see you do?