WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Africa, thanks for praying. It has been cold. 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.500 It has been really cold. And we're all just trying 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:08.259 to survive. We're all just trying to make it. 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:16.019 We have been doing a series called In the Wilderness. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:22.239 And I am encouraged to know that scripture is 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.320 replete with stories of humans who have both 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:28.839 literally and figuratively found themselves traveling 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:32.380 the wilderness seemingly in limbo and caught 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:35.880 in the in -between. I'm glad to know that scripture 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:39.119 does not sanitize those stories. They are difficult. 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:44.420 They are often long years and decades of wilderness 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:49.060 journeys. And so today we find ourselves in David's 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:52.469 story. as it comes to us through 1 Samuel 23 00:00:52.469 --> 00:00:55.549 and 24. It's a lot. I'm not going to read all 00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:57.570 of that, so I'm going to do a little bit of summary 00:00:57.570 --> 00:01:03.369 to start out with. So David, if you remember, 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:07.010 David from David and Goliath, or later on, King 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:09.349 David, whichever part of the story you're familiar 00:01:09.349 --> 00:01:15.290 with in his life. There's this thing, this cat 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:17.730 and mouse thing, that he and the current king 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:22.969 of Israel at his time, have been doing for years. 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:29.049 And so David has been really making King Saul, 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:33.109 who was Israel's first king, mad. And it simply 00:01:33.109 --> 00:01:37.010 comes down to people seem to like David better. 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:41.349 And so David started out actually as one of Saul's 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:44.510 favorites. He really liked him. He gave him gifts. 00:01:44.590 --> 00:01:47.909 He offered daughters as wives. But over time... 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.319 As people started singing comparative songs about 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.120 the two and David was getting rapt public attention, 00:01:56.459 --> 00:02:02.159 Saul grew more and more sour on him. And so Saul 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:07.760 started a little bit more in the background of 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.340 things. He was a little bit more subtle, maybe 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.780 like sending David out for a battle. You know, 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:15.620 David was a leader of warriors, and so he'd send 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:18.610 him out to a battle. hoping that perhaps David 00:02:18.610 --> 00:02:23.750 would fall, that it would get him killed. And 00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:27.750 it did not. David kept coming back with victories. 00:02:27.870 --> 00:02:31.469 And that was what was making Saul mad. And so 00:02:31.469 --> 00:02:33.969 Saul eventually made it very clear, like he started 00:02:33.969 --> 00:02:36.009 saying the quiet part out loud, that he wanted 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:38.909 David gone no matter what. And he became obsessed 00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:41.469 with this and barely attempting to hide it anymore. 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:45.469 And we read in 1 Samuel 23, 8. And Saul called 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:47.750 up his forces for battle to go down to Calah. 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:50.250 And this is where David was defending the city 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:52.030 against the Philistines. And guys, it's always 00:02:52.030 --> 00:02:54.770 the Philistines. It's like constantly the Philistines. 00:02:55.550 --> 00:02:59.590 In order to besiege David and his men, Saul basically 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:02.169 was like, it's a walled city. We're going to 00:03:02.169 --> 00:03:04.110 get him this time. He's going to be stuck in 00:03:04.110 --> 00:03:07.650 there. And so David and his men, about 600 of 00:03:07.650 --> 00:03:10.330 them, left Calah and kept moving from place to 00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:12.349 place. And when Saul was told that David had 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:14.930 escaped from there, he decided not to go there. 00:03:15.069 --> 00:03:19.210 It was about getting David. It was about retribution. 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.710 And so David stayed in the wilderness strongholds 00:03:22.710 --> 00:03:25.009 and in the hills of the desert of Ziph. And so 00:03:25.009 --> 00:03:26.969 this is right on what's known as the wilderness 00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:31.789 of Judah, which will be important. Day after 00:03:31.789 --> 00:03:35.240 day, Saul searched for him. But God did not give 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.280 David into his hands. Verse 15 says, While David 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:41.180 was at Horesh in the desert of Ziph, he learned 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:46.620 that Saul had come out to take his life. Worth 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:48.979 noting, David wasn't just hiding out from Saul 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:52.039 at this point. This had been going on long enough. 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:55.860 Enough tension and word getting out had built 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:59.120 at this point. But he was hiding out so as not 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.319 to be seen by anyone, or at least trying to stay 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.330 off. large radars. Anyone who saw him or knew 00:04:06.330 --> 00:04:09.250 about where he was going was going to give him 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:13.110 up. And did. Intel was passed along when someone 00:04:13.110 --> 00:04:17.069 had it. And where do you go when spies are everywhere? 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:20.310 And it gets so bad, David has to keep moving 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.610 all over the wilderness to keep away from Saul 00:04:22.610 --> 00:04:25.750 and really everybody else. David is desperate, 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:28.209 not just to save his own life, but now he's responsible 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:31.769 for... These hundreds of people. David was not 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:34.110 alone in this. He had these people traveling 00:04:34.110 --> 00:04:35.870 with him, and most of them were warriors, but 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:38.550 also some of them were enemies of his enemy, 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:42.029 you know? So they were all under threat, largely 00:04:42.029 --> 00:04:46.490 because David had the ire of the king. So imagine 00:04:46.490 --> 00:04:48.230 trying to stay out of the king's eye, and it 00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:52.050 makes me think of Sauron, the eye of Sauron. 00:04:52.069 --> 00:04:54.350 Thank you. You were right there for me. Good. 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:57.670 By the way, happy 25th anniversary for Fellowship 00:04:57.670 --> 00:04:59.470 of the Rings to all those that observe and celebrate. 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:04.790 That is this year, this month. So David and his 00:05:04.790 --> 00:05:06.990 600 companions were not easy to find shelter 00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:09.250 for without passing by someone's watchful eye. 00:05:09.370 --> 00:05:10.949 And this is where the wilderness of Judah is 00:05:10.949 --> 00:05:13.230 really important because it is craggy, it is 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:16.810 difficult, it is rocky, it is in fact a wilderness. 00:05:17.430 --> 00:05:20.470 People did not just go there to build communities. 00:05:22.350 --> 00:05:24.230 I imagine David's time in the wilderness must 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:26.790 have felt like he was very much going in the 00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:31.649 opposite direction of the plan. So let's pray 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:34.569 right now before we go forward. Because I think 00:05:34.569 --> 00:05:37.230 that idea right there is probably going to be 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:42.509 the one that hits most of us the strongest. So 00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:46.470 Lord, we give you our time, we give you our attention. 00:05:47.310 --> 00:05:52.180 We ask for your wisdom to be among us. and in 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:57.879 us. Open our eyes. Make things clear and settle 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:00.620 your word deep in our hearts today. I pray this 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:04.819 in your name. Amen. So I was 24 when I moved 00:06:04.819 --> 00:06:07.620 to the Quad Cities 25 years ago. I believe this 00:06:07.620 --> 00:06:10.779 very week. If not this week, it's next week. 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.819 I know. I was like writing this down and I was 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:17.120 like, oh my gosh. Also, a happy 25th anniversary 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.120 to Jen Moves to the Quad Cities for anybody who 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.750 observes and celebrates. It was the end of January 00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:27.170 2001, and I had been living back home in Rochester, 00:06:27.370 --> 00:06:30.610 New York for the previous eight months, and I 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:33.470 was working on raising support to move to England. 00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:36.649 I had secured a position in a church in a little 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:39.269 town a little bit west of London. I was pretty 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:42.829 stoked. It had been sort of like England was 00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:45.730 like one of these places that from childhood 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:49.879 I was like, if I could get there. my life is 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:53.660 going to be, like, that's the apex, is that. 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.519 Because it felt so unreachable, you know, these 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.819 places that feel unreachable. And so that felt 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:04.279 really, really exciting to see that, like, something 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.139 that I had been really passionate about or even 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:09.100 something that had been, like, put as a goal 00:07:09.100 --> 00:07:12.300 in front of me was really close. But I was making 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:14.759 no progress in fundraising, and if you know me, 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:18.250 this is still a difficult area. But I was making 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:20.649 no progress, and I needed a change. I was living 00:07:20.649 --> 00:07:23.050 at home, and that was not a long -term solution. 00:07:24.689 --> 00:07:28.149 A few years ago, we did a series called Summer 00:07:28.149 --> 00:07:30.110 Playlist, and a few of us that were preaching 00:07:30.110 --> 00:07:33.230 that summer chose a couple songs, two or three 00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:36.870 songs, to use as sort of a home base for lessons 00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:41.029 that God taught us. And U2's Stuck in a Moment 00:07:41.029 --> 00:07:45.810 was mine for that summer of 2000, heading into 00:07:45.810 --> 00:07:50.639 2001. It described my life in every way. And 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.180 I had thought, leaving college, my future felt 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:56.420 very clear. And then I watched it just get farther 00:07:56.420 --> 00:08:00.720 and farther away. And I was asked to consider, 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:04.259 in that time frame, moving out here to join a 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:08.259 team of, to join a young adult ministry team, 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:13.579 which I met Greg and Cindy and Robin. I literally 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:16.870 met them on the day I drove into town. That was 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:19.529 like Greg and Robin were sitting in the church 00:08:19.529 --> 00:08:25.269 I was coming to work at. And I was feeling very 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:27.870 lost about my future at that point. I was like, 00:08:27.870 --> 00:08:30.750 well, I'll come do this because I need to change. 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:35.070 Like I need to move. I need to make a move. And 00:08:35.070 --> 00:08:37.629 I imagine David had those moments too. Like this, 00:08:37.750 --> 00:08:40.870 I can't be here. I need to make a move. You know, 00:08:40.889 --> 00:08:42.429 he couldn't stay in one place because Saul was 00:08:42.429 --> 00:08:46.039 going to find him. And so I was like, well, I'll 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:49.419 move to the next place, but that's also temporary. 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.019 And when you just feel like you're in this place 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:56.139 of just making temporary moves, you don't feel 00:08:56.139 --> 00:09:00.100 like you can think long -term. You're just surviving. 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.960 Feeling very lost about my future, I told my 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.039 parents. I had been asked two months before, 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:08.440 but one week before I moved, I said, I'm moving 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:10.320 to Illinois next week. And my parents were like, 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:15.120 does she know somebody in Illinois? We are not 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.980 from the Midwest. I packed up my Camry and I 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:22.480 directed myself westward, which, if you're directionally 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.960 challenged, let me let you know, is not the direction 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.759 of London from New York State. If you're going 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.259 to be cranky about it, sure, you can go west 00:09:31.259 --> 00:09:33.000 and eventually get there. The earth is round. 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.860 But I remember pulling off the exit towards Moline 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:43.700 off a 280 and thinking, what? Have I done? I 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:46.679 just moved to the ends of the earth. Because 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:49.419 I, well, I had gone to college in the Midwest, 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:52.740 but that was not a long -term plan. Obviously, 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:55.779 England was. That felt like, this is cool and 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:58.639 amazing. And I was like, I moved back to the 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.580 Midwest. What is happening? So, comparatively, 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.799 was I being hunted down by a jealous and vengeful 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.460 king? I was not. Was my life in threat? Also 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:14.759 no. But the unknown, the moving in the opposite 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:17.519 direction of what you imagined the path of a 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.879 promised trajectory to be can sure be terribly 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:24.600 disorienting. And then to find yourself making 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:29.039 temporary moves constantly, the long term gets 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:33.360 lost. The sense that God has something for you 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.039 gets lost. And humans don't tend to react well 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:41.240 in this position. Now, finding oneself in a wilderness, 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:45.019 in these places, I mean, it can be surprising. 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:51.379 You don't choose to be there. And there are various 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.379 reasons you find yourself there. Sometimes something 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:55.820 just pushes you into it. In the case of David, 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.539 he didn't ask for the calling of the Lord to 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:02.059 put the future kingship on him. He didn't ask 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:05.120 for the king to turn on him. That was Saul's 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:08.220 heart turning sour. And he found that Saul's 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:10.639 homicidal intentions were kind of a lot to deal 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:14.220 with. And so he decided to get lost, literally. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:18.360 But sometimes you also just take an unintentional 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:20.500 wrong turn. You're on the wrong road, but you 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:22.840 don't know it until 10 miles in, and then there's 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:27.059 no turnaround for another 30 miles. Anyone? Yes. 00:11:28.379 --> 00:11:32.000 And sometimes you do get there yourself by making 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.539 poor decisions. It is a mix of these things. 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:41.720 And when you're there, you often don't realize 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.700 that until you're in these patterns of temporary, 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.720 short -term plans, moving around, feeling stuck. 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:53.399 Like, oh, when did this happen? How did I? We 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:55.840 don't walk into wildernesses thinking we're going 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:59.539 to stay there. And so our most basic instinct 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:01.860 when things are unfamiliar and feel unsafe is 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:05.740 to simply survive. And when we do go into survival 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.919 mode, we think only about practicalities. We 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:12.419 think about efficiency. We do not manage more 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:17.440 abstract ideas well. It's tactical. And so you 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.600 might find yourself in survival mode. You yourselves 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.220 right now may find yourself in survival mode, 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.559 making the most of basic decisions because you 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:28.720 have spent all your energy on merely surviving. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:32.799 A wilderness can take everything from you. mentally, 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:36.899 emotionally. Part of what's hard about a wilderness 00:12:36.899 --> 00:12:39.879 is that you're not prepared to be in them. You 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:43.360 didn't pack a bag for it. Or at least not for 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:45.580 an extended amount of time. Like I said, you 00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:47.799 make a lot of temporary moves. The landscape, 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.919 the weather, the wildlife, the food, the terrain. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:53.000 You're not long -term planned for it. So the 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.460 instinct, as I said, is to survive. To try to 00:12:56.460 --> 00:13:00.059 shift things to your advantage. It's counterintuitive 00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:05.899 then. to work less or to fight less or to try 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:10.240 less. We here on earth are very attached to results. 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.460 We are very attached to progress. We want tangible 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:16.860 things that prove we are making some kind of 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:21.720 calculable progress towards something and not 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:25.740 away from it or slowing down. And David's life 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:29.860 trajectory was headed for kingship. And it looked 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:33.620 like he was on that path. When he was a teenager, 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.320 there had been a promise, there had been a calling, 00:13:36.460 --> 00:13:42.220 there was an anointing, and now, and now. So 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:44.700 I imagine David wondered many times over if it 00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:48.960 was possible he misunderstood or, oh, not king 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.320 of Israel. No, you're right, I did mishear it. 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:53.639 Like if there were those moments for him, if 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:57.360 he was like, what? I'm confused. What was that? 00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:04.490 Times in the wilderness, though, are often opportunities 00:14:04.490 --> 00:14:07.230 to slow the roll on the progress train, at least 00:14:07.230 --> 00:14:10.909 in our own minds, to shift focus, to remember 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:13.909 something that was there before the calling and 00:14:13.909 --> 00:14:16.450 the purpose and the progress and the results 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:19.610 were, and to remember the relationship with the 00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:23.909 one from whom those things come. Because if we 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:26.470 are not tied in and caring for that relationship, 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.980 If we are getting preoccupied with progress and 00:14:29.980 --> 00:14:33.080 forsaking the one who called us in the first 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:36.139 place, we really will end up going nowhere, even 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:39.759 if it looks like we've arrived. And so David, 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:42.759 a one -time shepherd, cannot become the true 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:47.059 king of Israel without being deep in the heart 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:50.080 of God who created and called out the nation 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:53.419 in the first place. David cannot shepherd a people 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:56.809 of God's calling while forgetting God. which 00:14:56.809 --> 00:14:58.970 was what got the Israelites a king in the first 00:14:58.970 --> 00:15:02.850 place. One of the very cool things about scripture 00:15:02.850 --> 00:15:05.230 and how the Bible is assembled is that we know 00:15:05.230 --> 00:15:09.389 that David was thinking and how he was communicating 00:15:09.389 --> 00:15:12.289 with God during this time of survival. We have 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:16.009 it. David's time on the run and in the wilderness 00:15:16.009 --> 00:15:20.090 produced some psalms rich with imagery of the 00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:22.850 landscape he was mobilizing through, expressions 00:15:22.850 --> 00:15:27.529 of joy and fear. feelings, emotions, and thoughts 00:15:27.529 --> 00:15:30.350 that were in direct correlation with the landscape, 00:15:30.470 --> 00:15:33.850 with the moment, with where he was. A man on 00:15:33.850 --> 00:15:36.990 the run for his life, knowing he must keep hold 00:15:36.990 --> 00:15:41.250 of God. So I'm going to read through some of 00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:43.590 the psalms that he wrote while he was in the 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:47.529 wilderness. I won't read through all of them, 00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:49.250 but you may want to write them down just to go 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:55.259 back through and read the complete ones. Psalm 00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:58.700 59 is for the director of music to the tune of 00:15:58.700 --> 00:16:03.039 Do Not Destroy, of David, a mictum, when Saul 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.179 had sent men to watch David's house in order 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:09.659 to kill him. That's what this psalm is introduced 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:13.620 as. And he writes, deliver me from my enemies, 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:17.080 O God. Be my fortress against those who are attacking 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.139 me. Deliver me from evildoers and save me from 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:23.779 those who are after my blood. That is not metaphorical. 00:16:25.289 --> 00:16:31.529 That is real. Psalm 57 has a header of, for the 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:34.009 director of music, to the tune of Do Not Destroy 00:16:34.009 --> 00:16:37.649 of David a mictum, when he had fled from Saul 00:16:37.649 --> 00:16:43.129 into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, or have 00:16:43.129 --> 00:16:46.129 mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in 00:16:46.129 --> 00:16:49.929 you I take refuge. He's in a cave as a place 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:53.529 of refuge, realizing it's God in whom he needs 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:57.679 to take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.740 of your wings until the disaster has passed. 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:06.259 Psalm 142, a mascal of David when he was in the 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:11.160 cave, a prayer. I cry aloud to the Lord. I lift 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:14.180 up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:17.359 before him my complaint. Before him I tell my 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.319 trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:24.000 it is you who watch over my way. In the path 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.220 where I walk, people have hidden a snare for 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:29.299 me. Look and see, there is no one at my right 00:17:29.299 --> 00:17:32.220 hand. No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.779 No one cares for my life. When David is writing, 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.740 it is you who watch over my way. He knows what 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:43.259 it's like to have eyes on him and not know where 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:47.259 they are or who it is. But he reminds him that 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:51.500 it is God who watches over his way. Psalm 54, 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.640 for the director of music with stringed instruments, 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:55.980 a mascal of David, when the Ziphites had gone 00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:00.119 to Saul and said, is not David hiding among us? 00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:05.779 They turned him over. It says, save me, O God, 00:18:05.859 --> 00:18:08.180 by your name. Vindicate me by your might. Hear 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:10.720 my prayer, O God. Listen to the words of my mouth. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.259 Arrogant foes are attacking me. Ruthless people 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.460 are trying to kill me. People without regard 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:20.369 for God. Surely God is my help. The Lord is the 00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.789 one who sustains me. He is in the desert. We 00:18:23.789 --> 00:18:27.569 do not know how easy it is to get food or supplies. 00:18:28.890 --> 00:18:31.769 And so he recognizes that it is God who sustains 00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:36.269 him. And I will read the complete Psalm 63 because 00:18:36.269 --> 00:18:39.589 this takes place when he was in the wilderness 00:18:39.589 --> 00:18:44.289 of Judah. Psalm 63, a Psalm of David when he 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:48.170 was in the desert of Judah. You, God, are my 00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:52.210 God. Earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you. 00:18:52.769 --> 00:18:57.690 Knowing he's in the desert is important. I thirst 00:18:57.690 --> 00:19:00.410 for you. My whole being longs for you in a dry 00:19:00.410 --> 00:19:03.569 and parched land where there is no water. You 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:06.250 can imagine David hiding out in the rocks, looking 00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:12.250 over this arid land, knowing what this feels 00:19:12.250 --> 00:19:15.329 like for both himself and the land to be. in 00:19:15.329 --> 00:19:20.569 need of water. He is also parched and dry. I 00:19:20.569 --> 00:19:22.769 have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your 00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:25.650 power and your glory. Because your love is better 00:19:25.650 --> 00:19:29.190 than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise 00:19:29.190 --> 00:19:31.089 you as long as I live, and in your name I will 00:19:31.089 --> 00:19:34.190 lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied, 00:19:34.309 --> 00:19:37.410 as with the richest of foods, with singing lips 00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:41.000 in my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.180 you. I think of you through the watches of the 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:48.880 night. When you are being run down, you are watchful. 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:54.519 The watches of the night are familiar. Because 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:57.960 you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:01.299 wings. I cling to you. Your right hand upholds 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:04.279 me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:05.980 They will go down to the depths of the earth. 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:09.700 They will be given over to the sword and become 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:13.559 food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:18.180 God, and all who swear by God will glory in him, 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:21.400 while the mouths of liars will be silenced. There 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:25.759 were stories being told. Saul was telling stories 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.900 about David. He wants to kill me. That's why 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:32.099 I'm after him. Because it's not a good look when 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:33.640 you're like, I just don't like him because people 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:38.299 like him better. So you have to tell lies. You 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:40.420 have to tell lies to get the people to sympathize 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:44.259 with you. And so all who swear by God will glory 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:47.059 in him while the mouths of liars will be silenced. 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.720 That is a reminder of what God's promises are. 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:54.619 David connects with God in the wilderness because 00:20:54.619 --> 00:20:58.660 it's the wilderness. And he uses the landscape 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:01.420 and the geography and the feeling of the wilderness 00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:08.339 to express his own His own experience. David 00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:11.740 looks to God for his survival. And I said that 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:14.859 the instinct to survive is often what mobilizes 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:18.680 us when we're in this unfamiliar territory. This 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.460 territory that takes so much from us. But David 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:25.180 does something quite surprising here. And I believe 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:29.180 his deep connection to God, how we get to actually 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:33.619 see it. How he reached out to the Lord. how he 00:21:33.619 --> 00:21:36.920 was honest with God, his expressions, his reflections. 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:43.200 It altered his basic rules of survival. So I'm 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:49.140 going to have us read 1 Samuel 24. And we're 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:51.740 doing this part late in the message, but when 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:54.039 we read passages like this, we do invite people 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:56.819 to stand or take a posture of reverence. And 00:21:56.819 --> 00:21:59.619 so I will invite you to join me as I read 1 Samuel 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:09.380 24. 1 through 20. There are Bibles at your table, 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:11.920 and you can also use your Bible apps on your 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:16.140 phone. After Saul returned from pursuing the 00:22:16.140 --> 00:22:18.759 Philistines, he was told, David is in the desert 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:23.339 of En Gedi. So Saul took 3 ,000 able young men 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:25.559 from all Israel and set out to look for David 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.700 and his men near the crags of the wild goats. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.119 How many people does David have with him? 600. 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:36.539 How many people does Saul have? 3 ,000. He came 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:39.400 to the sheep pens along the way, and a cave was 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:42.259 there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. It 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:44.160 is what you think that is. He is going to the 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.900 bathroom. David and his men were far back in 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:53.200 the cave. Like, oh my gosh. The men said, this 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.559 is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:57.839 you, I will give your enemy into your hands for 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:02.200 you to deal with as you wish. Small pause. You 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.279 can almost imagine. I mean, this is David's crew 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:09.819 being like, this is it. He is being delivered 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:13.740 to you. It can all end now. You can put an end 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:16.819 to this. You are supposed to be king. We all 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:20.579 know it. Let's hurry this along. David had the 00:23:20.579 --> 00:23:23.960 chance to potentially speed up this holy plan 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:26.000 by taking things into his own hands when the 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.039 opportunity arose. The opportunity was there. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.900 Back to verse 4. Then David crept up unnoticed 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:38.279 and cut off a corner of Saul's robe. How quiet 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:42.319 do you have to be to do that? Afterward, David 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:45.279 was conscious stricken for having cut off a corner 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.920 of his robe. He said to his men, the Lord forbid 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.440 that I should do such a thing to my master, the 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:52.700 Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him, for he 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:55.680 is the anointed of the Lord. He is the king right 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.809 now. With these words, David sharply rebuked 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:01.049 his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. 00:24:01.190 --> 00:24:03.269 And Saul left the cave and went his way. I should 00:24:03.269 --> 00:24:06.609 also say he's his father -in -law, too. Saul 00:24:06.609 --> 00:24:09.589 was none the wiser. Then David went out to the 00:24:09.589 --> 00:24:11.910 cave and called out to Saul. So Saul leaves, 00:24:12.109 --> 00:24:15.230 and David sort of comes out behind him. My lord, 00:24:15.349 --> 00:24:18.670 the king! And Saul looked behind him. Oh, imagine 00:24:18.670 --> 00:24:22.569 what he thought. David bowed down and prostrated 00:24:22.569 --> 00:24:25.759 himself. He made himself vulnerable. with his 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:29.019 face to the ground. He said to Saul, why do you 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:32.259 listen when men say David is bent on harming 00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:35.359 you? This day you have seen with your own eyes 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:37.660 how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:40.720 cave. Some even urged me to kill you, but I spared 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.400 you. I said, I will not lay a hand on my Lord 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:46.079 because he is the Lord's anointed. See, my father, 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.539 look at this piece of your robe in my hand. I 00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:50.960 cut off the corner of your robe, but did not 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:54.470 kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand 00:24:54.470 --> 00:24:56.349 to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or 00:24:56.349 --> 00:24:59.490 rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:02.970 hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord 00:25:02.970 --> 00:25:05.750 judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge 00:25:05.750 --> 00:25:09.190 the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will 00:25:09.190 --> 00:25:12.769 not touch you. As the old saying goes, from evildoers 00:25:12.769 --> 00:25:15.930 come evil deeds, so my hand will not touch you. 00:25:16.529 --> 00:25:19.430 And when David finished saying this, Saul asked, 00:25:19.650 --> 00:25:23.170 Is that your voice, David, my son? And he wept 00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:26.450 aloud. You are more righteous than I, he said. 00:25:27.210 --> 00:25:29.130 You have treated me well, but I have treated 00:25:29.130 --> 00:25:32.289 you badly. You have just now told me about the 00:25:32.289 --> 00:25:35.170 good you did to me. The Lord delivered me into 00:25:35.170 --> 00:25:38.230 your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man 00:25:38.230 --> 00:25:40.549 finds his enemy, does he not let him get away 00:25:40.549 --> 00:25:43.789 unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the 00:25:43.789 --> 00:25:47.049 way you treated me. I know that you will surely 00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:50.160 be king. and that the kingdom of Israel will 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:53.640 be established in your hands. You may be seated. 00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:04.460 That's a really haunting encounter. David's instinct 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:10.579 to survive was overtaken by his heart to be merciful. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:24.009 And I... I have to think that what we see expressed 00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:26.750 by him throughout his time in the wilderness 00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:31.170 was that heart change. Because again, human instinct 00:26:31.170 --> 00:26:38.970 is different than that. It would have made the 00:26:38.970 --> 00:26:41.930 most sense for that story to go exactly the way 00:26:41.930 --> 00:26:45.210 you thought it should. For David to be like, 00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:47.130 I've been anointed king and you're a terrible 00:26:47.130 --> 00:26:51.670 person. Let's just, I'm going to take this as 00:26:51.670 --> 00:26:56.250 an opportunity and bring you down. And we're 00:26:56.250 --> 00:27:02.930 just done with this. And so Saul was still king 00:27:02.930 --> 00:27:09.490 until he wasn't, until he died. David still had 00:27:09.490 --> 00:27:14.109 to wait. So if you're finding your trajectory 00:27:14.109 --> 00:27:18.950 feels off, if you're heading west but the promises 00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:22.630 you were given were eastward, if you feel like 00:27:22.630 --> 00:27:24.730 the waiting has gone on longer than you think 00:27:24.730 --> 00:27:28.089 it should, please know that you are not being 00:27:28.089 --> 00:27:32.410 ignored. You are not being overlooked. Your trajectory 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:37.329 has not changed. God will fulfill his promises. 00:27:39.970 --> 00:27:45.269 When I sensed, In college. That God was. Calling 00:27:45.269 --> 00:27:48.650 me to serve in a global capacity. The work I 00:27:48.650 --> 00:27:52.349 currently do now. Was not a job. It didn't exist. 00:27:53.369 --> 00:27:56.069 So the calling was there. Before the path was. 00:27:56.549 --> 00:27:59.589 There was a path. That existed. But it was not. 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:02.990 It was the path I had to get on. To find the 00:28:02.990 --> 00:28:10.609 other path. Further down the road. And it was 00:28:10.609 --> 00:28:16.140 because I was here. While I was waiting for there, 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:20.059 that I got there through other pathways, but 00:28:20.059 --> 00:28:25.279 also longer timelines. And not only did I get 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:28.339 there, but it was far beyond what I could have 00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:32.799 conceived in the years before. Rushing it would 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:39.000 have been exactly what I wanted to do. But what 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:43.400 the long -term... how things have gone long term 00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:45.640 has been far better than I could have possibly 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:51.440 understood. And I'm so grateful. While our instinct 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.259 is to survive and preserve our resources and 00:28:54.259 --> 00:28:57.619 to think tactically and practically when feeling 00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:03.539 off course and in the wild places, remember that 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:05.680 God has already been caring for you and will 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.660 continue to care for you through these places. 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:12.359 God is taking care of you. God is protecting 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:16.819 you. God is leading you. We can let up a little 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:20.660 bit and we can trust him for the unseen path 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:25.079 and plan ahead of us. We can take the time to 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:29.019 worship him and to express our feelings about 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:33.119 the waiting to him. We can take the time to rest 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.720 in him. We can let down some of that. I just 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:40.279 need to figure this out. I need to shift things 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:43.779 to my advantage. I need to come up with a plan. 00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:47.720 I need to, like that survival mode, not just 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:50.299 thinking, but like physical thing that happens 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:57.160 in you, we can let up on that and just be with 00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:02.299 God. If God has promised you something, it is 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:06.660 still there. That promise exists. God has not 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:11.440 forgotten it. God has not forgotten you. So use 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:15.619 that time to hold on tightly to that relationship 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:19.039 that is the groundwork for the calling in the 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.180 first place. You don't have the vision and the 00:30:22.180 --> 00:30:23.960 calling and the thing and the purpose and the 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:27.019 progress and the results. You don't have that 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:31.079 without caring for what's at the core of it before 00:30:31.079 --> 00:30:35.819 any of that existed. So the Psalms are a great 00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:41.119 way to get a sense of what that looks like for 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.940 a human to ease back into God's presence when 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:49.819 the need to survive feels like the most important 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:55.039 thing. In our fear and in our discouragement, 00:30:55.059 --> 00:30:58.720 we can thank him and recognize that he is still 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:02.220 good and his mercies do, in fact, endure forever. 00:31:02.829 --> 00:31:06.170 And that is a good promise. That is a good promise 00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:10.970 for us. So if you are finding yourself in a wilderness, 00:31:11.069 --> 00:31:17.670 or that you could be in one, maybe you're for 00:31:17.670 --> 00:31:19.569 sure, you're like, yeah, I've been here a minute. 00:31:19.769 --> 00:31:23.750 I am so tired. We got to get moving on this. 00:31:24.750 --> 00:31:28.369 There may still be years ahead. That's true. 00:31:28.670 --> 00:31:31.910 That's a real thing. But while you're in the 00:31:31.910 --> 00:31:35.069 wilderness, you are not abandoned. You are not 00:31:35.069 --> 00:31:38.130 abandoned. And perhaps that's the most important 00:31:38.130 --> 00:31:40.230 message of all, because when you are in a wilderness, 00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:44.250 you can feel lonely. But if you trust that God 00:31:44.250 --> 00:31:50.130 is there and just attempt to believe, he will 00:31:50.130 --> 00:31:55.750 meet you. There will be fruit there. Let's pray. 00:31:58.069 --> 00:32:02.400 God, as we... live this very human life. We have 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:08.960 no other life to live but a human one. It can 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:12.000 sometimes feel very marked by long periods of 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:19.619 these wandering survival mode wildernesses. That 00:32:19.619 --> 00:32:23.319 can be really hard. It's exhausting. It's a lot 00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:33.599 of things. I pray that you would help us remember 00:32:33.599 --> 00:32:36.500 that we can unclench our hands a little bit, 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:39.500 which just feels really counterintuitive, but 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:43.720 we can unclench our hands a little bit. We can 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:50.619 even jettison off some of those worries and rest 00:32:50.619 --> 00:32:55.190 in you. We can... look to you, we can thank you, 00:32:55.250 --> 00:32:57.210 we can worship you, we can acknowledge you, we 00:32:57.210 --> 00:32:59.829 can express our concerns, we can express our 00:32:59.829 --> 00:33:04.289 fears, we can express our joys. We can recall 00:33:04.289 --> 00:33:07.950 promises that you've given either specifically 00:33:07.950 --> 00:33:14.309 to us or to us through your word. But there is 00:33:14.309 --> 00:33:19.150 more than just the wandering and the moving from 00:33:19.150 --> 00:33:23.059 place to place. Because whatever it is that you've 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:28.339 called us to, it is nothing without you in it 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:33.400 anyway. So while we are here, help us remember 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:40.400 that you are the most important thing. We pray 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:41.980 this in your name. Amen.