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I was having a good talk with Bernie back there, finding all the people we know, our

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mutual friends.

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Would you take your Bible, please, and turn to the book of 1 Samuel.

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We've been looking at the life of David together on Sunday nights.

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This evening we're going to look at the theme from David's experience, what to do when the

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enemy surrounds.

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After his victory at Elah, killing Goliath the giant, David's popularity mushroomed,

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and he became prosperous as a young warrior in the nation.

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However, that was a test of his faith, that popularity.

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He passed it.

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And then Saul demoted him, as we've seen, perhaps hoping that because he was in a more

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vulnerable position he might be killed.

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That too was a test of his faith, the demotion.

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He passed it.

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And then Saul dishonored David, promising him his eldest daughter as a bride, and then

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ended up giving that daughter to another man.

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That was a test of disappointment.

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But David passed it.

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Saul used deceit on David.

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David did not retaliate using the same.

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He passed that test of faith.

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It seems as Saul watched this young man, he became more and more aware that in fact this

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was the young man upon whom God had put his hand, and who would one day take the spot

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of Saul as king.

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So he increasingly disliked and distrusted David.

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He sought in any way that he could to thwart the plan of God to crown David as the king.

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After all, he reasoned, a dead man cannot be crowned king.

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And in that he typifies Satan, who seeks to keep David's greater son, the Lord Jesus

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Christ, from reigning as king as well.

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And Satan will be as frustrated in that as Saul was frustrated in his effort.

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The story that we're going to look at here in 1 Samuel chapter 19 illustrates the attack

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of Satan against the believer, seeking to destroy the believer.

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In 1 Samuel 19 verse 11 it says, Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him

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in order to put him to death in the morning.

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But Michael, David's wife, told him, saying, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow

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you will be put to death.

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So Michael let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped.

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And Michael took the household idol and laid it on the bed and put a quilt of goat's hair

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at its head and covered it with clothes, when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said,

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He's sick.

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Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may

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put him to death.

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And when the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt

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of goat's hair at its head.

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And so Saul said to Michael, Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go,

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so that he has escaped?

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And Michael said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, why should I put you to death?

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Michael's character, unfortunately, is revealed in these verses.

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She was a woman that was dishonest, and her dishonesty is clearly written before us, it

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is not excused.

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Michael and David, in the house at night, looked out the windows and they saw the soldiers.

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And Michael was immediately aware of what her father had planned to do.

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David was surrounded by his enemy.

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Now what was he going to do?

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After all that he had experienced, after all the promises of God, now it seems it's all

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in vain, for he is surrounded and will be put to death within a few hours.

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Either at that time or later as he thought about that experience, David wrote Psalm 59.

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And that's where we're going to focus most of our attention this evening, so I invite

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you to turn over there with me.

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Psalm 59.

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You'll notice the inscription to the Psalm, it's said to be a mectum of David when Saul

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sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

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In other words, that was the occasion when the Psalm was written.

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Now with that background, let's read through the Psalm.

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Deliver me from my enemies, O my God.

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Set me securely on high, away from those who rise up against me.

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Deliver me from those who do iniquity and save me from men of bloodshed.

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For behold, they have set an ambush for my life.

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Those men launch an attack against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.

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For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.

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Arouse thyself to help me and see.

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And thou, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awaken to punish all the nations.

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Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity.

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They return at evening, they howl like a dog, and go around the city.

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Behold, they belch forth with their mouths.

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Swords are in their lips, for they say, Who hears?

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But thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them.

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Thou dost scoff at all the nations.

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Because of his strength, I will watch for thee.

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Or that could be, O my strength, I will watch for thee.

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For God is my stronghold.

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Thy God in his loving kindness will meet me.

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God will let me look triumphantly upon my enemies, my foes.

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Do not slay them, lest my people forget.

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Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.

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On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be caught

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in their pride.

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And on account of curses and lies which they utter, destroy them in wrath.

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Destroy them that they may be no more.

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That men may know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth.

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Selah.

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And they return at evening, they howl like a dog, and go around the city.

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They wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied.

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But as for me, I shall sing of thy strength.

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Yes, I shall joyfully sing of thy loving kindness in the morning.

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For thou hast been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.

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O my strength, I will sing praises to thee.

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For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me loving kindness.

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In Psalm 59, David tells us what to do when surrounded by the enemy.

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You may feel surrounded tonight where you are.

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You may feel that there is no way out from the predicament that you are facing.

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Let David tell you tonight what to do as you are surrounded by your enemy.

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Number one, turn to the Lord in patient trust.

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Do you notice that what David did was to pray?

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David cries out in verses 1 and 2, deliver me.

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Set me securely on high.

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Deliver me and save me.

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Actually three verbs are used there.

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He says deliver me.

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The word literally means to snatch me away.

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Tear me away from this situation, he cries out to the Lord.

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He says set me on high.

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Literally the word means to be lofty.

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It means to be raised up.

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David wishes that he could fly away from his situation and ask God to set him on high.

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And then he says save me.

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It means to be open, to be free.

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It means as though the gates which were barred should be burst open so he could run.

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Save me, he says.

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When surrounded by the enemy, the first thing that David did was to turn to the Lord in

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a patient trust.

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Rather than fret and fear, he turned to the Lord and asked the Lord for his deliverance.

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And there was a way for him to be delivered.

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God provided an escape for him.

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And that escape was through his wife, Michael, who let him down from the window.

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And he was able to elude those soldiers who had surrounded him.

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And where did David go?

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Well, the text in Samuel says that he went to Ramah to see Samuel to have a conversation

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with him.

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You say, well, I don't know how to get a hold of Samuel these days.

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Well, neither do I.

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But what David did was to seek out the word of the Lord.

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Because you see, that's how he heard from God, through God's man, God's prophet.

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And so he sought out the word of the Lord regarding this.

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What was he to do?

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How did all of this fit into God's plan for him?

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After all, it was Samuel who had declared him to be the next king and who anointed him

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in private as the king.

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So he sought out Samuel to know what the word of the Lord might be.

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And I say to you that that, too, is a part of our patient trust in him, not only crying

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out to him for deliverance from the enemy who surrounds, but turning to his word and

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saying, Lord, what are you trying to teach me?

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What is it that I should learn in this situation?

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This also may picture another thing that we might do when surrounded by the enemy, and

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that is to turn to a spiritual friend who can counsel us and help us.

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Because sometimes, folks, we get so close to our circumstances that we cannot see the

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trees for the forest.

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We cannot see even some of the things that should be clear to us, and we need a spiritual,

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God-honoring friend who knows the word, who can counsel us and help us to see our circumstances

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as they really are.

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And that's how Samuel served David on this occasion.

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So what do you do when you're under attack and surrounded by the enemy?

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Number one, turn to the Lord in patient trust.

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Number two, see the enemy in right perspective.

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David sees his enemy in contrast to God.

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It's not really that he sees one or the other, but David sees his enemy, and in the background,

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over it all, is the Lord.

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Last evening, my wife and I enjoyed the play, The Music Man, here on this stage.

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The actors, students here at Northwestern College did quite well.

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But behind those actors who were giving their lines and doing their thing, there were backdrops

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and sets.

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Now, why was that?

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In order to give us out there watching a certain perspective or a certain background, a certain

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setting to what was being said and the action that was taking place on the stage, I want

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to suggest to you that what we need to do when the enemy surrounds us is to put the

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enemy in perspective, to lift our focus just from the enemy and to put him in light of

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God.

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David cries out to the Lord regarding his enemies.

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He says, deliver me from my enemies, O my God.

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What does he call the Lord?

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Notice that there are at least five names that he calls the Lord in this psalm.

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In verse five, he calls him the Lord of Hosts.

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That is the warrior name of God.

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That is the name of God as he goes out to battle against his foes.

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That was the name that David invoked as he fought against Goliath in the valley of Elah.

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He said, I am going in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

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And so as he finds himself now surrounded by soldiers of his own blood, he cries out

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to the Lord of Hosts.

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He calls him as well his shield.

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In verse 11, O Lord, our shield.

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That word literally means the hide of a crocodile.

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But it was the word that the Hebrews used for a small buckler or shield that was used

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in combat.

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And David says, the Lord is my shield.

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He protects me.

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He calls him in verse 9, in verse 16, and in verse 17, my defense or my high tower or

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my stronghold.

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That word literally is a cliff.

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The Lord is my cliff, he says.

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When I think of that, I think of Masada, that fortress built into the cliff in Israel where

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the Jews withstood the Roman army to the last man.

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It is the place today where every Jewish soldier is taken as he is sworn into the army in Israel.

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And he promises by oath to defend the people of Israel in our day until his death because

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of what happened at Masada.

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He's saying here, the Lord is my Masada.

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He is my fortress.

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He is my stronghold.

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He lifts me up on high, and I am delivered.

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He calls him in verse 17, my strength.

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And then he calls him again in verse 16, my refuge.

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That comes from a verb which means to flee or to vanish.

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And that's what David wanted to do there in that house surrounded by the enemy.

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He wanted to vanish.

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In the noun form it means a retreat.

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He says, Lord, you are my retreat.

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What he is doing here is calling God by various names, but he is calling upon God as his inner

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strength and his outer protection.

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He calls God the one who empowers him within and encompasses him without so that he is

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safe.

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And it is that God who gives his enemy a certain perspective.

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Indeed, in another place the psalmist says, thou dost surround him that is the righteous

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with favor as a shield.

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And again he writes, the angel of the Lord encampeth round about those who fear him and

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delivereth them.

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That is the experience of the child of God.

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The Lord is our defense.

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There are times when you and I are tempted to defend ourselves.

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Particularly is that so when our reputation is at stake and someone is saying something

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about us that is not true.

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We are tempted then to fight back with words.

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The Lord is our defense.

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That is one thing that I especially admire Dr. Billy Graham for.

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The fact is that through the years he has had his critics.

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And there are certain aspects of his ministry that I disagree with as well.

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But those who have harshly criticized him have never heard a word of defense from him.

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Early in his ministry he determined that the Lord would be his defense.

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And God has defended him.

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That is a lesson for you and for me.

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David cries out in this imprecatory psalm as it is called, for his enemies to be destroyed.

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There are ten psalms that are called imprecatory in nature.

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That means that the psalmist calls God's judgment upon his enemies.

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He says, Lord destroy them.

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In one place he says, Lord don't kill them, just scatter them real good and make it slow.

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In another place he says, destroy them, that everybody in the whole earth will know that

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there is a God in Jacob.

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There is a God in Israel.

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That seems like strange words, doesn't it, from a believer?

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Remember that David here is not writing so much for himself and his own situation as

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he is for the glory of God.

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He says that they may know that there is a God in Jacob.

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That is his motivation for praying that way.

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He calls his enemies scavenger dogs.

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Do you notice that?

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Twice.

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He says they are but currs of the street.

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But he says God will eventually and gradually starve them to death.

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And so it is with all of those who are wicked and all of those who declare themselves to

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be enemies with the people of God.

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Do you realize that because you are a child of God there is no weapon that is formed against

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you which can prosper?

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Ultimately all of those who are the enemies of God's people will be destroyed.

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And that is taking place right now in our world.

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Because the world is passing away.

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It is passing away.

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Every enemy of the child of God will ultimately be consumed.

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And as David prays here, let me see their destruction.

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So every child of God will share in that.

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Your enemy may seem very large and looming tonight.

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Oh, it may be for some of you a person there in your office who is attacking you or ridiculing

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you, mocking you because of your witness.

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Perhaps it has not even been your witness.

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It is just your character in the office.

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Maybe it is someone in your family.

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Maybe it is a circumstance that has come upon you which threatens to destroy you and your

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family.

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I do not know what the enemy may be tonight.

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But this much I know you need to put that enemy in perspective and see that enemy against

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the backdrop of the Lord God who is your defense and leave it with Him.

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Number three, when surrounded by the enemy, respond from the heart in proper praise.

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David concludes this psalm in verses 16 and 17 by saying three times, I will sing.

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I will sing.

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I will sing, he says.

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You know it requires faith to sing when the enemy is surrounding.

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And will you even notice that David in verse 16 says, I shall joyfully sing of thy loving

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kindness when?

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In the morning.

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Pray tell me what was Saul's plan for the morning.

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He expected by morning to have David's neck, but David knew better.

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And he says as he finishes this psalm, I will sing in the morning because he knew the Lord

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would deliver him.

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There are many commands that we have in the Word to give thanks to the Lord.

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When you and I give thanks to Him in the midst of the battle, it takes faith.

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But there are few things that will lift the heart when we are oppressed than simply beginning

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to praise the Lord.

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I have a friend who at one time when he was in the service, was in the middle of a hurricane.

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A hurricane that stretched for hundreds of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, which caused

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the waves to roll and to beat upon the shore.

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It endangered the shipping.

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He was within a hundred feet of the eye of the hurricane, but was in complete calmness

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and serenity.

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Do you know how?

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He was in a submarine.

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A hundred feet down below the surface of the ocean, he was perfectly calm in the midst

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of the hurricane.

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What is the hurricane that blows against your life tonight?

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What's the answer to it?

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Go deep.

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Go deep.

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Turn to the Lord in patient trust.

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Cry out to Him.

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Express your needs to Him.

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He hears you.

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Even see your enemy with the right perspective and respond from your heart with thanksgiving

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and praise to the Lord.

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And as you go deep in that kind of a response to the enemy, you will be in complete serenity

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in your storm.

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Let me close with a final illustration.

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We turn to the New Testament for this, to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 4.

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The Apostle Paul is in a hurricane.

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He recounts in a few verses in the last part of chapter 4 the circumstances that he faced.

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He says, Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

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And then he mentions others of his companions who had gone for one reason or another, only

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Luke, the beloved physician, was with him.

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He particularly mentions Alexander in verse 14, who did him much harm.

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He says the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

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In verse 16, perhaps he shares the thing that hurt him most.

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At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me.

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How many thousands had this man led to faith in Jesus Christ?

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How many in Rome called themselves friends of Paul?

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And yet when he stood in his first trial before the Roman court, there was no one there who

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would identify with him.

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They all deserted him.

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He was in the midst of an attack from the enemy for sure.

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What did he do?

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Well, he says in verse 17, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me in order that

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through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might

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hear.

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And I was delivered.

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He turned to the Lord.

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The Lord stood with him.

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Paul had experienced that before in the book of Acts when no one was there but Jesus.

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And that's all he needed.

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And that's all you and I need too, though all others forsake us.

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And he says in verse 18, the Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me

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safely to his heavenly kingdom.

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There you see he puts his enemy in perspective.

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He says there's nothing, there's nothing that Rome or anything else or anyone else

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can do to keep me from my destiny.

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The Lord is going to deliver me one way or the other and preserve me for his heavenly

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kingdom.

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And then he concludes by saying to him, to the Lord, be the glory forever and ever.

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You see there is his proper praise from his heart.

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To God be the glory, he says, for his deliverance.

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Whatever your hurricane, whatever your battle, whatever enemy it is that surrounds you tonight,

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will you learn from the word of God what to do as your enemy surrounds.

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Let's bow together in prayer.

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As you're sitting there, I wonder if the Spirit of God has put his finger on your heart

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and encouraged you perhaps, at least reminded you of what to do in the circumstances that

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confront you this evening.

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Will you right now patiently trust him and express that?

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Will you in your mind put your enemy in right perspective?

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However loud the barking of those scavenger dogs in your life be, however harsh the sound

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of the enemy, greater is he who is in you than your enemy.

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And then will you look to the Lord and say, Lord, thank you.

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Will you by faith praise him tonight?

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Father, I pray that each of us who knows the meaning tonight of being surrounded may be

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able to respond as your word encourages us to do.

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We thank you for your deliverance.

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We thank you that you are our strength inwardly and our shield outwardly.

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And Father, this week as we talk with people who likewise are going through the battle,

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may we be discerning of their real need and compassionate to reach out to them where they

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are and share your word with them.

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In Jesus' name we pray.

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Amen.