Chapter 23, we continue David on the run from Saul, if you remember in chapter 22 was where
Doeg the Edomite had slaughtered the priests of the Lord, they were all unarmed, the whole
town had no weapons, and so Doeg the Edomite had Saul's bidding, went in and killed the
priests, but then he took it a step further and he just massacred a whole town of innocent
people, men, women, and children. He was a real monster. Now in chapter 23, David's
still on the run from Saul, it says in verse 1, then they told David, say, behold, the
Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors, therefore David
inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said
unto David, go and smite the Philistines and save Keilah. So here David's on the
run, but he's got 600 men with him, he started out with 400, and if you remember
these guys were kind of the dregs of society, kind of losers as the world would call them,
people who were in distress, people who were in debt, people who didn't really have anything
going for them. But David had trained these guys, he led them, he taught them, and he
had turned them into a very powerful fighting force, they're numbering 600 now. He hears
about how the Philistines have invaded the land of Israel and have attacked the
city of Keilah, and are basically just wreaking havoc on the people, robbing their threshing
floors, stealing their property, and so this makes David upset. So David is going to go
protect these people, even though he's not the official military of the land, even though
he's really an outlaw, and he just has these 600 guys following him, he knows he
can defeat these Philistines, he wants to go down there and save these people, just
because he sees the need, he wants to step in and fill that need. Well, he prays and
asks God if he should do it, and God tells him to do it. Well, he goes and tells his men, and they
don't think it's such a good idea, it says in verse 3, and David's men said unto him,
Behold, we be afraid here in Judah, how much more then if we come to Keilah against
the armies of the Philistines. They're basically saying, you know, we're 600 guys, are we going to face off
with an entire army of the Philistines? So he asks God again in verse 4, it says,
Then David inquired of the Lord yet again, and the Lord answered him and said,
You're not going to believe this, but God said the same thing the second time he asked him,
Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
So, here's something we can learn from that right away. When we read something in the Bible,
when God tells us something, and obviously God is not speaking to us audibly, now in those
days, David was spoken to by God. David did receive revelation directly from God.
We do not today receive a direct revelation from God, but we have better than what David had,
because we have the whole Bible. We basically have everything God told David and more.
So we have God's word right here, and when we see something in God's word,
and then we consult with man, you know, man may not agree with what's in the Bible,
with what God has told. So God's telling us one thing, oftentimes man is going to tell us
something different, but it doesn't change what God has said, and when he goes back and asks God,
God tells him the same thing a second time, because God doesn't change.
And so God just keeps telling him, go do it. I will deliver them. It doesn't matter whether
you're only 600 and they have a great host, if I'm with you, you can defeat them,
and you can save Keilah. So he asked God, and he basically tells his men, look we're
going to do this anyway, because God has told us to do it. So David and his men, verse 5,
went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their cattle and smoked them
with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah, and it came to pass
when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, fled to David to Keilah, then he came down with an
ephod in his hand. If you remember Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, Ahimelech is the guy
who helped David, gave him the sword of Goliath, and that's who Saul was angry with
and had killed in the previous chapter, and that one son Abiathar had escaped. Well now he's
with David. It says in verse 7, it was told to Saul that David was come to Keilah, and
Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into
a town that has gates and bars. And Saul called all the people together to war
to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. Now isn't this amazing? Here's
Keilah, the city's in trouble, the city's being invaded by a foreign enemy, the Philistines.
They're being robbed, they're being pillaged. David is the one who goes in to save them.
He steps in and really does what should be Saul's job. He comes in and gets the job
done. And then Saul looks at that and says, oh now I've got him, now he's in that
town, I can corner him in that town and defeat him. Now look, where was Saul with
this big bad army when Keilah was being attacked by the Philistines? When Keilah
was really in trouble, he's not responding, he's not reacting. David, even with David
going back and forth, talking to God, talking to his men, talking to God, he still got
there first and took care of it. There's no indication that Saul was even on his way
down there. But then as soon as he sees an opportunity to attack David, he gets all
the people, I mean look what it says. It says that he called all the people together
to war in verse 8, to go down to Keilah to besiege David. So he gets everybody together
and he's just down there with his troops that fast to go get David. Now let me skip
around a little bit. We already read the whole chapter, but let me jump forward
in the chapter. Look what happens at the end of the chapter. At the end of the
chapter, Saul's back to hunting David, he's chasing him again, he gets him cornered
in verse 20. It says, and Saul went on this side of the mountain and David and
his men on that side of the mountain were in verse 26. And David made haste to get away
for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about
to take him. So here's Saul at the end of the chapter, he's got him cornered, he's
got him surrounded, he's got all these troops ready to attack David. Verse 27,
But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines
have invaded the land. So at the end of the chapter, now the Philistines are wreaking
havoc again on another part of the kingdom, because he's so busy with his
army after David, he's not even doing his job of defending the nation. He's too
busy after David. Now what can we learn from this? Well, David in this
story really represents a Christian who's living for God, he's serving God, he's
right with God. The Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord is resting upon him.
He's obedient to God, God tells him to go do a job, he gets it done. He's
serving God, he's on track with his life, and who is Saul in the story? Saul is
backslidden. Saul, he's a Christian, he's saved, he's a believer, but he's not
living for God. He used to be, he used to have the Spirit of God upon him.
Now he's backslidden, he's in sin, he's not doing the job that he's
supposed to do, he's not doing the work that God's called him to do, and who
does he hate, and who is he attacking? The guy who's doing everything the
right way. And you see, this is always how it is. You see, your biggest enemy is
going to be two people. There's really two bad guys here that are after David.
Number one is Saul. He's the backslidden Christian. And then number
two is Doeg the Edomite, who's a wicked evil reprobate. I mean just a
total bloodthirsty savage reprobate with no conscience. These are the two
people that are the biggest enemy and the biggest threat unto David here that
are after. And see, this is how it's going to be in your life. When you're
serving God, when you're doing what's right, you're going to have backslidden
or liberal so-called Christians. They're going to be the ones that are going to
come after you the hardest. And it's amazing, those same people who will come
after the one who's serving God and come after and attack the guy who's
doing the most work for God or the lady that's serving God the most, they're the
same one who have no problem with the felicities. I mean, they'll condone
the world, they'll condone filth, they'll condone sin, but oh, that
preacher that's preaching on sin, or oh, she and her wearing her skirts and
dresses and she thinks she's better than everybody. That's who they're going to be after. That's who they
don't like. They don't like the one who's living for God. You see, the Bible says,
not as Cain. Remember Cain and Abel? Not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he in? Why did Cain kill Abel? I can't even talk. Why did Cain kill Abel?
The Bible says in 1 John 3, because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. The Bible says that the reason that Cain
persecuted Abel is because Abel's works were righteous and Cain's were not. Why did Saul hate
David? The Bible says that the more David excelled, the greater things he did for God,
the more Saul hated him. The more it made Saul mad. Why? Because it made Saul look bad. It
was always about a comparison. The first thing that made Saul angry was when it was said,
Saul has slain his thousands and David has slain his ten thousands. That's what made him
mad because it made him look bad. Do you think it makes Saul look good? When the inhabitants
of Keilah are being ravaged, Saul is slacking off on the job and then David comes in as the
hero and saves the day. That's going to make Saul even more angry. And you see, people hate
you when you do what's right because it makes them look bad. I mean, think about it. If some
church is doing zero souling and then another church comes in and starts knocking a ton of
doors, getting a bunch of people saved, you'd think that they'd be happy. Just that the
gospel is being preached. You'd think that they would just be rejoicing and just say,
hey, this is great. People are getting saved. The gospel is going out. But see,
you have to understand the backslidden mind. Because King Saul in this story, he should have
looked at that and said, wow, this is great. A foreign invader, the Philistines, came in
and attacked the city. And we were able to repel them. David was able to, I didn't even
have to bring my army down there. David and his men repelled them. He should be thanking him.
He should be thrilled. I mean, if he's the king of Israel, he probably doesn't want foreign
invaders in his land. I mean, later in the chapter when the Philistines come in the land,
he goes over and fights them off. He doesn't want the Philistines taking over.
Saul, when he first became king, the whole land was enslaved by the Philistines,
and he delivered them. I don't think he wanted to go back to those days
when they were paying taxes to the Philistines and paying tribute to the Philistines.
You'd think that he'd be jumping for joy. But instead, it just makes him want to defeat
David even more. And he uses David's success at Keilah as a trap to put him in so that
he can come there and say, oh, he's in a walled city. We can surround him. We can get him.
This is the backslid in mind. Instead of seeing somebody out soul-wanting and saying, well,
praise God, somebody's soul-wanting. People are being saved. People are hearing the gospel.
Who cares whether I agree with everything that church is doing? At least if they're
preaching the gospel, they're preaching the church. But no, no, no. No, it makes them
mad because it makes them look lazy because they are lazy because they're doing nothing.
And Saul was doing nothing. And he sees somebody who's doing something,
David, and it makes him angry. He wants to stop him because he wants to be number one.
You know, that's not the attitude of the Bible. The Bible's attitude is what John the Baptist
said. I must decrease. He must increase. It's not all about elevating yourself and lifting
up yourself. Hey, if other people are doing greater works than you or greater works for God,
you've got to be jumping for joy that the work's getting done, that the gospel's being
preached. But people who are backslid have a tendency to get angry at people who are
more righteous than they are. The canes of this world always hate the ables of this world.
The ishmaels of this world will always persecute the isaacs of this world. And you remember,
that's what it teaches in the book of Galatians. That's how it was in Genesis. Ishmael
persecuted Isaac. And Paul in the book of Galatians said, and to this day, it's the same
way today. The children of the flesh persecute the children of promise. And Christians
who live in the flesh will persecute Christians who live in the spirit. And you'd think that
your greatest persecution would come from the world, wouldn't you? I mean, you'd think
it'd be the unsaved that would attack you the most. But honestly, in my ministry,
I've been attacked more by liberal, backslidden Christians, and I've been attacked by the
doyed, the edomites in this world, just the total reprobates. But your average Joe
unsaved is not really going to persecute you as much as those two groups right there.
Those are the two groups that are going to attack you the most. The doe eggs and the
souls are the two that are going to be after you the hardest. And they're going to hate
you the most. And so, marvel not, my brother, if the world hates you. They hated Jesus
Christ. They persecuted him. And who persecuted him the most? The religious ones. The ones
who were claiming to be saved. The ones who were, the religious crowd were the ones
who persecuted him the most. And even Saul here. Saul was saved. There's no question
about that. And I've gone into that in many other sermons. I've proved that up one side
and down the other. But the bottom line is, he's not right with God. He's backslidden.
And I've noticed that when it comes to hard preaching, when you preach a Bible sermon
that's straight down the line, and you preach hard, there's a group of people that
doesn't like it. It's the backslidden Christians that don't like it. Now, new believers,
they're fine with it. They love it. They thrive on it. And here's the thing. Sometimes even
unsaved people can tolerate it. Because here's what they look at it. An unsaved person,
I mean, they're not going to love it and thrive on it, obviously. But I've noticed that
a lot of unsaved people can handle it. They're not into it, but they can handle it. And here's
why they can handle it. Because they just expect, well, yeah, obviously, I mean, if it's church,
if it's the Bible, it's going to be stuff that I don't agree with. Maybe it's going to be
strict. It's going to be all old-fashioned and everything. They just kind of expect it to be
like that. So they're not shocked. An unsaved person's not shocked. Because I've had unsaved
people, let's say people that worked with me. And since I was their supervisor, I was their
boss who was like, we're going to church tonight. You're coming to my church since you
worked for me. You're coming to church. I've had that happen a few times. So I've brought
people that were not saved and not interested in church, and they still were okay with the
sermon. It didn't flip them out or anything. They can handle it. Because they just expected
you to step on their toes. Because it's church. They know they're not living right.
They know they're not following the Bible. But you see, backslidden Christians, they want
to pretend that they are following the Bible. They want to think that they are living for
God, even though they're not. And so when you have somebody who actually is living for
God, that reminds them that they're not. And they don't like that at all. And they're
too prideful to admit that they're backslidden. Nobody wants to walk around saying, I'm backslidden.
I'm lame. I'm a used-to-be. I'm all washed up. Okay? And so this is what we see
just totally demonstrated in this chapter. We see Saul, the backslidden Christian. He's
fine with Hollywood. He's not after the Philistines. That's an afterthought. He's fine with Hollywood.
He's fine with rock and roll. He's fine with all the heathens coming into the land and
taking over Keilah. Whatever. Don't judge them. Let's not be judgmental of all these heathens
and Philistines. But oh, oh, oh, this guy David, who does he think he is? Is he fundamental?
You know? And he thinks he's going to do something big for God. And that's who he
goes after. And that's the way it always is. And it's a sad thing. I mean, look, it doesn't
make any sense that Saul would react this way. He ought to be happy. So anyway, here he is,
David. He's in the city. He just delivered them and saved them from the Philistines.
He should be a hero, right? Now to them, he is a hero. Saul wants him dead. So Saul comes and
he's going to come and surround the city and take David captive. Well, David asks God
and he says, is it true? Is Saul coming to get me? And God tells him, yes he is. And then
he asked God, he said, will the men of Keilah deliver me up to them? Because he's thinking
to himself, surely, first of all, he's thinking, surely Saul can't be coming to apprehend me
when I just did in this great favor and just saved the people. But lo and behold, he's on
his way. Well, then he says, well, wait a minute. I just saved these people from the
foreign invader. I just saved these people from the Philistines. Surely they're not going to
hand me over to Saul. Surely they're not going to betray me. And he asked God, well,
are the men of Keilah going to betray me? And he says, yes, they will. They will betray
me. And here's the other thing. If you're serving God because you want to have the
praise of men and because you want to have recognition and you want to be the hero and
you want people to like you, you're serving God for the wrong reason because guess what?
It ain't going to happen. I mean, when you serve God, you know, God's going to be pleased
with you. He's going to love you. But sometimes people around you are, I mean,
they're not going to appreciate it in many cases. And here's even the beneficiaries
of his service for God. Even the people that he even saved from the Philistines,
even they're ready to turn their back on him and to betray him. And it's a sad thing, but,
you know, people will let you down. People will betray you. And so if you're serving God
because you want the accolades and you want to be the hero, well, think again because you'll
get the accolades when you get to heaven. You're not going to get them before then.
And so you better just serve God because it's the right thing to do. Save Keilah because
it's the right thing to do. You know, you go out and you knock doors and you win people to Christ
in South Keilah, you know, or West Keilah over here or, you know, these different various
central Keilah, you know, and you go out soloing in these places and you win these
people to Christ. But do they appreciate it enough to show up to church? Most of the time,
no. Do they appreciate it enough to come by and thank you and become a part of the church
and certainly not. They don't appreciate it as much as you'd expect them to. And it's the same
thing here. You know, he saved Keilah. Well, guess what? They didn't appreciate it enough
to risk their own life. As soon as Saul comes with his army, they're ready to just
turn him over to him and just turn right around and sell out the guy who just saved him.
And that's what we see in the story here. So it says in verse 12, then said David,
will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said,
they will deliver the other. So now David knows he's got to get out of there. I mean,
these guys are going to betray him. They're going to turn on him. And it says in verse 13,
then David and his men, which were about 600, arose and departed out of Keilah and went
whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah
and he forbear to go forth. He forbear to go forth means he decided not to go.
Forbearance is when you don't do something. And so when he hears that he's not at Keilah
anymore, he says, oh, well, he's not as vulnerable. I'm not going to go after him for now.
And it says in verse 14, David abode in the wilderness in strongholds and remained in a
mountain in the wilderness of Zipp. And Saul saw him every day. Isn't that amazing?
How he's just obsessed. Let it go. Live your own life. I mean, is David trying to take over
the kingdom here? No. He's just trying to do his own thing. He's got 600 guys. It's not
that big of an army. He's got his small gang that he's leading up, 600 guys. He's not
causing any problems. In fact, he's helping the kingdom. He saved Keilah. And Saul is
just obsessed every day with bringing him down. Why? It doesn't make any sense.
And so it says, but God delivered him not into his head. God's already prophesied that
David's going to be the next king. Nothing can change that. Once God says something like
that, it's going to happen. And that's why David shouldn't be afraid. And David keeps
being nervous that he's going to be captured. But really, God has already promised him that
he will be the next king. And Saul should know that, and David should know that.
And so it says in verse 15, and David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life.
And David was in the wilderness of Zipp in a wood. And Jonathan, Saul's son arose and went
to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God. So Jonathan, Saul's son,
actually goes and finds David in his hiding place in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.
He goes there and encourages him and builds him up. And it says in verse 17,
and he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee,
and thou shalt be king over Israel. And he knew that because God had promised that.
And then the next thing he says, and I shall be next unto thee, well, unfortunately,
that's not going to happen. He wanted to be the second in command. That was basically his dream.
Jonathan didn't mind that the kingdom was going to David. He knew that that's what God wanted.
So he just resigned himself. Hey, I'm not going to be the king. David's going to be the
next king. But hey, I want to be second in command. I want to be your right-hand man.
And David was willing to do that. But God had other plans. God's punishment upon Saul
reached unto the fact that none of his seed would ever sit on that throne,
and that just isn't the way that God worked it out. But it says in verse 17,
he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee,
and thou shalt be king over Israel. And I shall be next unto thee. And that also
Saul my father knows. And look, Jonathan was a good guy. But you know why Jonathan died?
The Bible's clear. It was because Saul, Saul failed as a leader. Saul committed sin.
And I remember we talked about this a week or two ago, how God does not punish us
for our parents' actions or punish our children for what we do. And we, as a justice system,
whether it be the United States or any government, should never punish the children
for what the parents have done. And should never punish the parents for what the children
have done. That's what the Bible says. Every man bears his own sin. But that being said,
we do suffer for the actions of our parents just because of the nature of the judgment of God.
I mean, if God sends judgment upon a city in the form of famine or pestilence,
everybody suffers. It hurts everybody. And if I started living just a wicked life of sin,
obviously that's going to cause my family to suffer. Obviously my wife's going to suffer
if I go into sin. Obviously my children are going to suffer. It's going to cause grief
under my parents. Other people suffer. You know, when Saul went into battle,
he lost that battle because the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. That's why he was
defeated by the Philistines. And that's why all his sons died, because they were fighting
side by side with him in a battle that he was destined to lose because of his sin.
And so our sins can definitely harm the people around us. And a lot of people would say,
well, it's my life. You know, I'll do what I want. It's my life. No, you're always harming
other people around you. Jonathan was a great guy, but he ends up dying and suffering
because of his dad's foolishness and failure. I'll prove it. You say, well, I don't know if
that's it. Well, think about this. God had said under Saul that his son would have sat on
the throne after him if he would have done right. But because he didn't, then the kingdom
was taken from the house of Saul and given unto the house of David. And so that shows right there
that Jonathan, even though he's a good guy, even though his heart's in the right place,
he's going to end up dying because of his father's foolishness. And so we see that here,
Jonathan again is staying loyal to his friend. He's staying true to his oath and even confirms
the covenant and makes the covenant again with him. It says in verse number 18,
and they too made a covenant before the Lord and David abode in the wood and Jonathan
went to his house. So Jonathan doesn't remain with David. He just goes there for a little visit,
shows up in the woods and says, look, I know you're going to be the next king.
I just want to be the second in command. My dad knows it. That's why he hates you.
Let's make a covenant once again. You know, I love you. You're my friend. And he just
encouraged him and then took off. That's a true friend right there that'll stick with you
through thick and thin. And that's what Jonathan was to David. That's what David was to
Jonathan. It says in verse 19, then came up the Ziphites to Saul. Remember he's in the
forest there of Ziph. It says the Ziphites came to Saul to give you saying,
does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the hill of
Hikeilah, which is on the south of Jeshimah? Now therefore, O king, come down according to
all the desire of thy soul to come down. And our part shall be to deliver him into the
king's hand. And Saul said, blessed be ye of the Lord for you have compassion on me.
Oh, you poor guy. You know, compassion on you for what? But you see, there's always
people out there who are willing to sell you out for money or for popularity or for
fame and people that are ready to turn on you. That's why the Bible says it's better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Because people are going to turn on
you. People are going to let you down. David thought he was safe with these people.
And then they're going behind his back. Hey, Saul, come get him. We'll hand him over to
you. Why? Because they want to be rewarded. They don't have compassion on Saul. There's
no reason that he doesn't have anything going wrong. Why would people feel sorry
for him? That's what he said in the last chapter, remember? None of you feel sorry
for me. Whiny. And then Doeg, the Edomite, the reprobate, felt sorry for him. So
and then decided to go slaughter a whole town of people to make him happy. So we
see here that they're going to sell out David the zip bites. And Saul is telling
thank you for having compassion. Verse 22. Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place
where his haunt is. And who has seen him there? For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly.
See therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. I love
the words that he uses here. His haunt. His subtlety. His lurking places. You know, like
he's just trying to make him out to be this evil, lurking, haunting villain.
Like he's in the woods, just this monster. The guy has done nothing wrong. He slew the
Philistine. He killed Goliath. He saved Kiela. He's just trying to run away and hide
for life. And this shows you can't believe what you hear about people. Just because somebody
tells you bad stuff about somebody else, don't just believe it. Somebody tells you about some
lurking, haunting devil. You know, some lurking, haunting, subtle, you know, villain.
You can't just believe people. And honestly, I've heard people bad mouth before and they
turned out to be great people. And so if somebody tells you bad stuff about me, okay,
listen. If somebody tells you bad stuff about people, you shouldn't believe it unless it's
confirmed. Unless it's substantiated. You know, in the mouth of two or three witnesses. And
even then, you know, you want to make sure and make diligent inquiry whether it's really
true. You can't just believe every bad rumor you hear about somebody. Because even,
and really, the better somebody is and the more righteous they are, the more people are
going to lie about them and debate them. Because look at David. He's the most righteous
man in the whole land. He's the man after God's own heart. That's who everybody's
talking bad about, lying about. And if you look at Jesus, they talk bad about Jesus.
They talk bad about the Apostle Paul. I mean, everywhere he went, they were spreading lies
about him. They spread lies about Barnabas. They spread lies about the Apostle John.
They hated him. And look, even the other disciples hated John half the time just because
he was the disciple who Jesus loved. So they were always after John and saying,
you know, oh, why does he, you know, like Peter, you know, why does he get to live longer
or whatever? You know, what about this man? What's he going to do? And, you know,
and remember, they were mad at James and John because John and James wanted to excel and they
wanted to be in his right and left hand and his kingdom. You see, the people who are doing the
most for God, people are going to hate him. People are going to talk bad about him. And so
when somebody comes to you and says, hey, you know, old so-and-so or sister so-and-so is
this, this, and this, take it with a grain of salt. Don't just automatically believe it,
okay? Because it's so easy, especially today with the internet, to just lie about people
and just spread lies or even just in person or however. But, you know, you can't just believe
everything you hear. You know, some people contact me with the craziest stuff. Is this
really true about you? And I'm like, what? There's this big rumor on the internet. I mean,
you're not even going to believe this. They're always, I've had several people
come to me and say this to me. I've had tons of people say this to me. You know,
Pastor Harrison, is it true that you say that it's okay for women to be topless?
You think that's fine? I'm like, what? It's insane. They're like, oh yeah, Pastor so-and-so
told me. Pastor so-and-so told me that you said it's okay for women to be topless.
Yeah, right. I'm preaching that women should wear all this modest clothing.
I'm screaming and yelling about a low cut top on Sunday morning. But oh yeah, topless is fine.
I mean, where do these lies come up with? But literally, people spread that lie about me.
What? Where do they even come up with this? That's nonsense. But let's just give you an idea.
And then somebody said, oh, you know, there's this rumor going around that when you lived in
the dormitory in Hyles Anderson, blah, blah, blah. I never lived in a dormitory. I got
married when I was 19. I never even stayed in a dormitory when I was 19. They're like,
this guy was your dorm. He was your dormitory roommate in college and he told me this about
you. I'm like, I never lived in a dormitory in my life. You know, hey, I did like the Bible said,
I left father and mother and cleaved unto my wife. I didn't cleave unto a bunk bed.
You know, and that's what these Baptists do now. They leave their father and their mother
and they cleave unto a bunk bed. And they go in their little bunk bed. It's like a little
summer camp. They go and they have their little guides and their little dormitory and their
little bunk bed. I skipped that whole phase. I'd rather hop in the sack with her than in some
bunk bed in some Bible college somewhere. You know, and so I'm just saying the lies that
people tell about you are just out of this world. Yeah, back when you were in the dorms.
So that's the kind of nonsense. This is to give you an example, but I mean, there's crazy
lies. People are going to tell crazy lies about you and everybody. And you know,
I don't even have time to respond to it. I don't really even care.
But look at how it is here. You know, it's haunting. It sounds like he's a ghost or
something. He's haunting and lurking and all this stuff. And so it says in verse 23,
see therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself.
And come, well, yeah, he's hiding. You're trying to kill him. He's just trying to survive.
And come ye again to be with certainty. And I will go with you. And it shall come to pass,
if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness
of Mahon in the plain on the south of Jeshima. Saul also and his men went to seek him.
And they told David, wherefore he came down into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Mahon.
And when he heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Mahon.
Now it's easy to read this, but wait a minute. This is kind of a tough lifestyle to live.
You're living in the woods. And just when you start building your tree house,
you know, now you got to go somewhere else. And I mean, he's living off the land with 600
guys. And just when he gets comfortable in one place, boom, he's got to go somewhere else.
I mean, he doesn't have a house to live in. He can't even have a normal way of life here.
He's just on the run. He's living off the land. He's living in the woods.
You got to figure it's cold. It's hot. He's living in the weather. He's really going through
a lot of suffering. And you know, it's easy to look at David and think, oh yeah,
the glorious king of Israel. But man alive, he had to pay his dues before he got to that point.
I mean, when he was the king of Israel, he had paid his dues because he spent years,
years living this kind of a lifestyle of being on the run, not feeling safe, having to stay in
the woods and in these wilderness places. Because if you think about it, he can't go to
a nice place or a civilized place because it's too populated. And that's where they're going
to turn him over to Saul. So he has to go to the worst climates and the worst landscapes
and the most unfriendly climates of rocks and wilderness and forest. And that's where he has
to hide out at camp just to stay alive. And so he's in the wilderness of Mahon.
And Saul went on this side of the mountain. And by the way, the word wilderness in the Bible,
usually it's referring to deserts. Because the Bible used the word wilderness and desert
interchangeably in the New Testament. And like the voice crying in the wilderness,
and it's the voice in the desert. It uses those two words about the same thing,
about John the Baptist being in the wilderness, being in the desert. So he's in forests,
he's in deserts, he's in a lot of rough climates. And it says in verse 26,
And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain.
And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul. Now notice, David's not trying to attack
Saul. He's got 600 well-trained troops. He's already defeated the army of the Philistines.
He probably could, if he wanted to, get himself in a really fortified position,
get a really good defensive posture, let Saul come upon him, and then attack, then fight back,
defeat Saul, destroy Saul. But you see, David did not want to kill Saul. He did not want to
lay his hand upon God's anointing. Later on, he's going to have opportunities to kill Saul.
He's going to pass those opportunities up because he's waiting for God's timing. He
doesn't want to take it into his own hands and be guilty of shedding the blood of the
king of Israel. So he's just trying to get away. He just wants to escape. He doesn't
want to hurt anybody. He's just trying to save his skin and stay alive.
And so it says he made haste to get away for fear of Saul.
For Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about to take them.
And this is obviously where God steps in, because David is completely surrounded by Saul.
David's making haste to get out of there, but he's surrounded. And then right then,
right when Saul is closing in, and he's got him surrounded, he's about to close the trap,
right then, boom, Saul gets word, hey, the Philistines have invaded the land.
He has to pull back. It says in verse 28, wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David
and went against the Philistines. Therefore, they called that place
Selahamelech. Well, of course they're going to call it Selahamelech,
if that's what happened. But anyway, so David
is being protected by God. And think about it. If God promises you, hey, you're going to be the
next king of Israel. You've been anointed. He knows that if he just does what's right
and serves God, he's going to be okay. And look, this shows how God can protect you,
even in the worst circumstances. Even when the whole nation's against you and everybody's
turning you in, David was still safe. And even when he was outmaneuvered and outflanked here,
God stepped in. He used the Philistine's invasion to pull Saul away and to keep David
safe. So God can protect you in any situation. You just have to worry about keeping yourself
right with God and serving him and pleasing him. And he can protect you from enemies.
And he can keep you safe. He can divinely intervene like he did here.
And so that's why he called it Selahamelech. And David went out from thence and dwelled in
strongholds and in jedi. So basically that gave David the opportunity to escape.
And so we see here just another step in Saul's downward spiral. I mean, he's not doing his job.
He's not protecting the people. He's not protecting them from foreign invaders.
He didn't protect Keilah. He's not protecting from this invasion. David's doing all the right
things. But everybody's betraying him because he can't do anything for them. And they're all
just looking out for number one. And so we see here that sometimes when we do what's right
and we serve God and do everything the best we can, it doesn't mean life's going to be easy.
We might live in some wilderness times. We might go through some deserts and some forests that
we have to live in spiritually. And we're going to go through hard times. People are going
to turn on us. We're going to do things to help people. People aren't going to appreciate
it. And sometimes it's frustrating. Sometimes you can really help somebody out with something.
Obviously winning people to Christ. But beyond that, maybe you just help somebody out.
And somebody needs your help. And you do something for them. And you help them.
And they don't appreciate it. And that can get you frustrated. They're like,
man, they don't even care. They don't even appreciate what I did for them. What I sacrificed
for them. But you know what? That's why at the end of the day you have to just be doing
it for God. And Jesus talked about when you help somebody, he said, and as much as you've
done it under one of these, the least of these, my brethren, you've done it under me.
He said, when you bought them groceries, you bought me groceries. When you helped them move,
you helped me move. When you visited them, you visited me. When you bought them dinner,
you bought me dinner. So you have to do it unto the Lord. If you help out a fellow believer,
you help out your fellow church member, hey, I hope they appreciate it. I hope they thank you.
I hope that they love you for it. But you know what? Sometimes they're not going to appreciate
you. Sometimes, you know, maybe you do things for your kids. And they don't appreciate it
like they should. Because kids don't really understand everything sometimes that goes into
stuff. You know, they don't understand what goes into earning $100 or whatever. They just
think of it as, oh yeah, buy me this or whatever. So sometimes you'll do things for
people. You'll do things for your children. You'll do things for church members.
You'll do things for other family members or friends or your parents or whatever.
They're not always going to appreciate it. Don't let that discourage you. Because you've
got to do it for the Lord. Because He appreciates it. He'll respect you for it.
He'll love you for it. Don't get discouraged when you do good things for people. Just think
of it as, hey, I did it for Jesus Christ. I did it for Him. He appreciates it. Because
other people aren't always going to appreciate it. And they're not always going to return
the favor. Now when people do good things for you, I hope you'll return the favor.
But when you do good things for others, they may not return the favor. That's what David
experienced in this chapter. People let him down every step he took. But guess what? God
is eventually going to reward him for everything he's done. He's going to be sitting
on the kingdom. God's going to bless him. God's going to take care of him because he
did what was right. And so God will reward you when you do right, even if man won't.
You're not going to get the accolades of men. You're not going to get the praise
of men. But you will get the praise of God when you do what's right.
Let's bow your eyes to that word of prayer.
Father, thank you so much for David, a man in the Bible we can learn from.
We can learn from Saul's mistakes in this chapter, dear God. And help us to just stay
the course. And even when people lie about us and criticize us. Or maybe people are
ungrateful when we do good things. Or they don't appreciate things. Or they betray us
and turn on us and hate us without a cause. Help us to just remember that that's really
how it's been for every great man and woman in the Bible who pretty much went through
the same thing in the Bible. And so help us to just stay with it and do it for you,
not for them. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.