Well, that last verse might be a good baby name there.
Silahama Lekov, great name, right?
First saying on chapter 23, you know,
if you remember last week, we talked about Saul
and we kind of saw his continual downward spiral,
how he was suffering majorly from paranoia.
He was imagining there was this big conspiracy against him,
even though it wasn't happening.
And it caused him to go down a really wicked road
to where he even ordered that the Lord's priests
would be slain.
And of course, he had his wicked yes man with him,
Doeg, the Edomite, that went ahead and fulfilled that request.
And here in verse number one, it says,
then they told David, saying,
behold, the Philistines fight against Kayla
and they rob the threshing floors.
Now, who's the they there?
If you remember, in the last chapter,
it talked about this large band of men that went to David
and kind of sought him as a leader.
And the Bible described them as being people
that kind of had a lot of issues, being in debt
and discontented and just having some issues.
And you can kind of see a little bit
of their immaturity here,
because this is something that an immature person does.
Then they told David saying,
Behold, the Philistines fight against Kayla and they rob the threshing floors.
Notice they just like point out an issue, but this is what, the issue is not pointing
out an issue.
The problem is pointing out an issue without ever bringing a solution.
And this is something that just annoys me and it quite frankly annoys your boss.
It annoys anyone in a position of leadership when someone's just like, hey David, here's
a problem.
Like that's not fun to hear that's not a good thing to hear as a leader
You know you want to hear a solution when a problem is brought to you
I'll read for you a verse in Proverbs 11 you could stay there
Verses 14 says where no counsel is the people fall,
but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.
See, there's a lot of people there
that could have maybe offered some sort of a solution
like saying, hey, the Philistines
are gonna go fight against Kayla.
They're robbing all the threshing floors.
Hey, David, what do you think about us going and helping them?
Or, hey, David, do you have any contacts
that we can go get in touch with to help these people?
But notice they just kind of bring a problem to David.
and they just leave it right there,
they don't really offer any solutions,
and that is kind of an annoying thing.
You know, just to tip,
if you bring a problem to your boss,
or you know, I don't, no one's in the military here,
but if someone's in the military, you know,
you bring a problem to your commanding officer,
something like that.
Generally speaking, you want to be providing multiple solutions to bring them that idea.
It's a good idea to just bring them multiple ideas and then let them decide.
Once they decide, you just obey with what your leader goes with, but you don't really
want to be the person that just brings problems and just doesn't do anything about it.
All the time when I was working for Steadfast, sometimes people would crack me up and it'd
be like, hey, brother Dylan, I was brother Dylan, hey, brother Dylan, the coffee's out.
How are we going to fix this?
Maybe we could make another pot of coffee
or we could just quit the ministry or something like that.
We could just fold up the church, one of the two.
But it's like, you know, sometimes you just need to come up with a solution.
Sometimes you need to bring solutions.
Not just be like, hey, there's a problem.
Fix it. Do something about it.
Like, hey, actually just bring a solution to the table.
Now, David is a good leader.
So notice what he does in verse 2.
It says, 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 Kayla.
So notice David as a good leader, he's confronted with a problem, he's confronted with an issue
and he doesn't panic, he doesn't say, What are we going to do?
He doesn't say like, Oh, let's throw our hands up and just give up.
And this is what separates people like his followers and leaders like King David is that when David's confronted with a problem, he starts looking for answers.
He starts seeking a solution and notice the first place he went for a solution was to the Lord.
You know, that should be our default setting as Christians when we face a situation where we don't know what to do.
where we feel overwhelmed when there feels like there's this big challenge in
front of us, your default setting should be to go to the Lord and inquire of Him
what you should do. Now go to Proverbs chapter 2. I'm gonna read James 1-5. The
Bible says, if any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God.
that giveth to all men liberally, and abradeth not, and it shall be given him."
See, David here, he didn't just have his own fleshly wisdom that he was relying on,
he wanted to know what the right thing to do was.
God, should I go up to Kayla? Should I go up and deliver these people?
You know, he was sincerely asking that of the Lord, and we could do the same thing,
because the Bible says in James that if we lack wisdom,
we can go to God and ask Him for that wisdom, and He's not going to deny us.
He's not going to tell us no.
You know, that's a prayer request that if you are sincerely asking God,
God, I want wisdom, God, I want answers, He's for sure going to answer that prayer.
That's not even a question.
If you want wisdom and you are sincere, you will get wisdom.
Proverbs 2, verse 6 says this,
out of his mouth, cometh knowledge and understanding.
So, you know, there's two ways to figure out what you need to do when you don't know what
to do.
The first thing is inquire of the Lord, pray, right?
And that's an important aspect.
You know, you shouldn't skip that step.
That's very important to show God that you're serious, that you want the answers.
But you know what else is equally, if not more important, is actually listening to what's
come out of the mouth of the Lord.
Because that's where wisdom comes from, it says there.
Come with knowledge and understanding.
Here's the thing, God speaks to us today through His word.
Yes, wisdom, knowledge, it comes from the mouth of God.
But here's the thing, you're not going to just pray to Him
and hear some voice in your head.
There was times in the Old Testament where God spake to man, where he was face to face
with man, or where he spoke with man in a vision or in a dream or something like that.
That's not how it is in the New Testament.
You know, today God speaks to us through his word.
So if you want to know what to do, if you want wisdom in a situation where you don't
know what to do, yes, pray, but don't just stop there, read the Bible.
where they're facing this situation and to them, it's a really challenging situation.
And here's the thing, we all have different levels of wisdom and different levels of knowledge
and I'm sure there's situations that I go through that I think are really challenging
and the answers are right here. I just need to look at what the Bible says, right?
But sometimes I hear people, they're like,
man, I'm just really struggling with what the right decision is here
and I'm just praying that God will give me the answer.
I'm just praying that God will show me what's right, and I'm just thinking like,
the Bible clearly says what you need to do.
Like, in this situation, there's no question.
There's no waiting for an answer from God.
All you have to do to get the answer is go to the mouth of the Lord, the Bible.
Let me give you a really clear example of things I've heard where this situation comes into play.
Divorce and remarriage.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard, you know, I'm just praying that God shows
me what the right thing to do is.
You know, I just want God to show me, should I stay with my spouse?
Should I go on and find someone better?
Or someone will already be divorced and they're struggling and they're wrestling and they're
praying, you know, God, should I remarry this other guy?
Should I get remarried as a divorced person while their spouse is still alive?
And it's like, look.
stop praying, or here's what you need to pray,
pray for wisdom, then open the Bible and believe it.
But a person who's not sincere,
this is what an insincere person does.
They tell you they're praying for answers,
but then they don't listen to what the Bible says.
That's an insincere person.
If you truly want to know the answers, God will give you the answers.
God's given us the book.
God's given us everything we need to know in this life,
but you have to actually want to know the truth.
And a lot of people, they just want to say,
oh, this isn't hard saying.
Oh, you know, if the case be so with a man, it's good not to marry.
You know, that's an insincere person that doesn't want to know what Jesus said.
Okay?
Now, let's look at some verses on divorce and remarriage.
And let's just use this as an example.
You want to pray for wisdom?
You want to look at what the Bible says, Matthew chapter 5 verse 32, turn to Matthew chapter 5 verse 32.
The Bible says, but I say unto you, that's Jesus speaking, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery.
And whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, commit if adultery.
What is Jesus saying?
There is one...
You know annulment provision in the Bible where if before you consummate the marriage you find out that there was some sort of
Marital fraud going on where your wife, you know or husband claimed to be a virgin and it comes to your attention that they were not
You were allowed to have what we would call in our modern vernacular an annulment
And you were able to put her away and that's not adultery, but if it's for any other reason
Any other reason you divorce your spouse?
Adultery, abuse, abandonment,
all the things that people use as excuses to get divorced.
If it's for any other reason,
and that person goes and marries someone else,
they have committed adultery.
Now here's the thing, it's like,
oh God, you know, should I stay with my spouse?
Okay, pray that, then open your Bible,
start reading the New Testament,
you'll get five chapters in,
and you'll get the answer.
It's not hard to know what to do.
It's hard to do it.
But it's not hard to know what to do.
Go to Romans chapter 7.
Romans chapter 7.
You say, I don't know, that verse is kind of confusing.
I need to see something more clear on that.
Okay, there's plenty of scripture on this.
Romans chapter 7, verse 2.
Notice what the Bible says,
for the woman which hath an husband
is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth.
That's pretty severe right? It's pretty intense saying like as long as your husband is alive. You are bound to him
Period end of story, but if the husband be dead
She is loosed from the law of her husband
So then if while her husband liveth she'd be married to another man. She shall be called an adulteress
But if her husband be dead, she is free from the law so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
You see how clear the Bible is?
And isn't it just a shame how so many preachers will twist and corrupt what the Bible says on this issue?
And they'll sit there and counsel women and counsel people in marriage
that, oh, you know, you could get a divorce in certain situations, abuse, abandonment, all these different things
when it's like if we just go to what the Bible says, it's, hey, if your husband's alive, you're bound to him.
And if you get remarried while your spouse is still alive, that's adultery.
That is a wicked sin.
Now, here's the thing.
If your husband, if your wife has died,
or if your wife has died, if your husband,
you're free to get remarried.
There's no sin there whatsoever.
It's not like the Mormons
where we're eternally married or something like that.
It is till death do us part.
That is a biblical statement.
Till death do us part.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
1 Corinthians chapter number 7.
So, we're looking at three different books of the New Testament and they're all very
consistent on this issue.
First Corinthians 7 verse 10 says, And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the
Lord.
You say, God, tell me what the married people should do.
Okay, here's what God says.
Let not the wife depart from her husband.
Now, can you get any more clear than that?
Well, what if in this situation, let not the wife depart from her husband?
Let's keep reading, but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled
to her husband and let not the husband put away his wife.
I often talk about how there's a difference between what's right and what's ideal and
what people will do, right?
And God knows that too.
He says, here's what's right.
Don't depart from your spouse.
The wife should not depart from her husband.
But if they do, if that does happen,
here's what's supposed to happen.
That person is supposed to remain unmarried.
Because what did Jesus say?
If you got remarried,
if you're with someone else while your spouse is alive,
you're committing adultery.
And notice what it says.
Or, so here's your other option.
So you've separated from your spouse.
You've divorced from your spouse.
You didn't get remarried.
Here's your other option.
Be reconciled to your husband.
And it's so funny.
Like, I've seen people in this exact situation.
They've divorced right and and this person's praying like should I go back to my spouse?
Should I reconcile this relationship or should I get married to someone else and it's like okay pray for wisdom?
But here's the answer
God gave God gave you the word of God so that you can know what to do
The Bible is described as a light to our path right as a lamp that goes before us
Living in this dark world. We don't know what to do on our own. We don't have enough wisdom
We have the Bible to shine the way for us and God's word is very clear that divorce is wrong
That remarriage is wrong if your spouse is alive that these things are adultery. You know God hates it
and this applies to not just marriage, not just divorce, you know, this applies to anything,
any of God's commandments. What you should do is pray for wisdom and then read your Bible
and do what it says, right? Like how the Bible tells us that we're supposed to go out into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature, right? Then you have
Humanists coming along and people using their own carnal wisdom that want to tell you like no
You know, you shouldn't go preach the gospel to them
You can get them saved by like lifestyle evangelism, right by you just being a good person
You're just gonna have this glowing effect and get people saved. No, that's called leaning on your own wisdom
Leaning on your own understanding pray God. I want to get people saved God use me for you
Use me for the kingdom of God, then you open your Bible and it's like oh preach the gospel
Oh, he that went into souls is wise, you know,
there's constantly the Bible is telling us exactly
what we need to do.
You know, how about going to church,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is,
and so much the more as we see the day approaching.
It's like, hey, God, should I go to church
or should I just watch the live stream?
It's like, God wants you to go to church.
You can sit there and pray about it all you want, God's given you the answers.
You know, God, how do I raise my kids? God, I'm not sure.
You know, the psychologists are saying put them in a corner, put their nose in a corner.
You know, the psychologists are telling me to give them timeouts.
It's like the Bible says to spank them.
The Bible says to beat them with the rod.
So pray all you want, but God's given you the answer.
You know, this is just with so many things in life, God's already given us the answer.
It's very, very few situations.
that I've encountered having read the Bible a lot,
where I even have any hesitancy in my mind
of what's right because the Bible is just so clear.
And it's only like in some bizarre, weird, obscure situation
where sometimes we have to stop and pray
and read the Bible and pray and read the Bible, right?
But most of the time, if you've read the Bible,
the Bible's clear on what we should do, folks.
There's no question about what we need to do.
Go back to 1 Samuel 23.
1 Samuel chapter number 23.
So, we saw David prayed, God said, go against them.
Verse 3 says in David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah.
How much more then if we come to Kayla against the armies of the Philistines?
This is an immature attitude that they have here, right?
And it's very similar to the attitudes that a babe in Christ would have, where meanwhile
David he's prayed, David's gotten the answer from God.
But even though sometimes you know what's right,
that doesn't necessarily mean that it's easy to do what's right.
That doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to feel super excited about doing what's right.
And that comes with maturity to where you just see something in the Word of God
and you know what you've been like, hey, I've trusted the Lord before.
I know that God's commandments are always for my benefit
and I'm going to just do what he says.
I'll read for you 1st John 5.3.
The Bible says, for this is the love of God that we keep as commandments
grievous. See the spiritual person realizes that whatever God tells us to do is for our benefit
and is not grievous. God is not giving us rules for the sole purpose of just making our lives
harder, keeping us from having fun, keeping us from enjoying life. You know the Bible says that
His commandments are not grievous. You know Jesus said that He came to give us life and life more
And that's the most important thing, right?
That's the motivator to get saved.
But beyond that, not only did he save us from hell,
but he also came to give us a better way of life on this earth.
And so anything that the Bible says,
regardless of how you feel about it,
regardless if you're scared to obey it,
you know, it's for your betterment.
It's going to make your life better.
It's going to bless you.
You know, I think sometimes, especially ladies in the culture that we're living in, when
every woman it seems like grows up wearing pants only, and it's kind of seen as a weird
thing to some people.
If you wear skirts and dresses only, they might have that feeling of fear of saying like,
I don't know.
I don't know if I want to go through that with this.
But the question is, is it what God said or not?
Because if God told David, go, fight, and you're one of David's men, go do what David said,
And you know, when you're faced with anything, and just apply this to yourself,
anything in the Bible you read that you say,
that's scary, that's hard to follow, that's going to take a lot of faith.
Look, if God said it, not only is it true, but it's for your own benefit, every single time.
Look at verse number 4 of 1 Samuel 23.
It says,
And the Lord answered him and said,
go, rise down to Kayla, for I will deliver
the Philistines into thine hand.
So notice, I mean, David's being extra careful here.
He's double checking everything.
He goes and checks again with the Lord.
Lord, are you sure about this?
God says, yes, go down to Kayla.
I'm gonna, you know, make you guys prosperous.
And at this point, it's just time to execute.
It's just time to do what God said.
You know, if you're a leader, if you're a husband,
If you're a father, if you're a business owner, you know, and even ladies, there's people that
look up to you and that you're influencing in this world. Sometimes you have to realize that
not everyone around you is going to understand what you're doing or like what you're doing
or agree with what you're doing. But here's what you have to think about as a leader,
is what did God say?
At the end of the day, that's who you're accountable to.
That's who you need to be following.
And it doesn't matter if you go to make a decision
and everyone around you is telling you, you know,
they're afraid.
They don't see how it could work.
This is a bad decision.
If it's what the Bible says, then it's the right thing to do.
and you should have the courage to do that regardless.
You know, that's what made David a great leader.
I mean, he's got all these men around him.
But keep in mind,
there's a big difference between David and all these men
that are discontented and in debt and having all these issues.
You know, David is right with the Lord.
David is a man of God.
When David hears from God and David knows what to do,
he needs to just go through and do that
whether people are afraid or not.
And the people following him could just get on board
or get out at that point.
Verse 5 says,
Notice the result and the benefit of having a leader that just sticks to his guns and does what was right.
You know, if David would have just caved into the pressure of his followers being scared,
and he decided not to go through with that, I mean, look at the result.
They got a bunch of cattle, they smote the enemy with a great slaughter, and they saved
the inhabitants of Kayla.
So David wrought salvation to Kayla even though his followers were scared, even though they weren't on board.
It makes me think about this idea that the old IFB has of a church voting run system for a church or a deacon board
or some sort of system where the whole church votes on everything.
you know, church manuals written by independent fundamental Baptist pastors
that literally recommend that the church votes on everything down to
every penny that is spent at the church.
I'm talking toilet paper, I'm talking office supplies,
like raise your hand and have a vote type thing for everything.
How would that have worked in David's situation here?
How would that have worked for the inhabitants of Kayla?
You know, if David just asked his followers for a vote,
you know, this idea of democracy is a terrible idea.
And it's so exalted, and it's like this buzzword in our society, especially by leftists.
I mean, it's just like, oh, we got to save our democracy.
Oh, you know, this person's a threat to our democracy.
Look, democracy is trash.
Democracy is a terrible idea.
You know that your home should not be a democracy.
How would you like it in my home if I took a vote with my kids of what we're eating for dinner every night?
It's like lollipops, chicken nuggets, soda, right?
That'd be a nightmare.
Do you think I should take a vote with my children on whether or not I should go to work?
I would never go.
They would want me to stay home every single day.
And if David would have taken this vote, you know what would have happened?
The people of Cala would have been destroyed.
We need pastors in America to say like, hey, our church is going to be a confrontational
soul-winning church.
We're going to go out and preach the gospel with the King James Bible and we're not having
to vote about it.
Because guess what?
And if we took a vote, hey, do we want to be soul winning?
There'd be even less churches that are soul winning.
Because let me tell you something, soul winning
is not super popular.
Soul winning does not come naturally to the flesh.
People don't want to be like, hey, I know what I'll do.
I'll wake up super early on a Saturday in the cold, okay?
I'm gonna go knock on random people's houses in the ghetto
where their pit bull is almost biting my legs off.
I have to smell their stupid marijuana.
I have to step over all the crap on the ground
and all this nasty stuff and just, you know,
in the eyes of the world, make it fool of myself.
She'd be like, hey, random stranger.
If you were to die today, are you 100% sure
you'd be going to heaven?
Right, that doesn't come natural to the flesh.
And if we just took a vote for that,
I'm pretty sure most Christians would be like,
yeah, no, that doesn't sound fun.
Let's just leave a door hanger, you know?
Let's try to get them on the bus ministry
or something like that.
But you know what, I'm glad we go soul winning
because we saved the inhabitants of Oklahoma City.
I'm glad that David said you know what you guys are scared well too bad
We're gonna go fight them anyways and guess what they won and when you do what God says
You know what happens you win
When you pray you ask for wisdom you say this is what the Bible says and we're just gonna do it
God always gives us the victory go to Luke chapter number five Luke chapter number five
This exact thing happened when it came to the disciples of Christ listening to Jesus's instructions
If you're in Luke 5, look at verse 1.
Now when he had left speaking he said unto Simon launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft
And Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.
Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net."
So notice, he kind of has a negative attitude towards it at first.
He's saying,
Look, Jesus, you're telling me to do something I've already done.
We've been toiling all night.
We haven't caught any of the fish.
But I like this phrase.
He says, nevertheless, at thy word.
Let's go ahead and do it.
Let's do what you say.
And notice what happens when you actually obey God.
Verse 6, And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break.
When you listen to Jesus, when you follow his instructions, fruit is a result of that.
There will be results.
And look, there's a lot of people in 2025 that are down on the idea of soul winning.
There's people that disparage soul winning, that say it's not effective, that think that
our numbers are highly inflated, that we're not getting that many people saved.
Look, we need to go at the word of Jesus Christ.
When He said, go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, you know,
you could sit here and be afraid, you could sit here and doubt, I'm going to go do what
He says.
You know what's going to happen?
We're going to have a great harvest and already this year we're seeing lots of people getting
saved.
We're seeing other churches that are friends doing great exploits for God and you want to
know how it's getting done.
It's getting done through soul winning.
It's getting done by confrontationally looking someone in the eye and preaching them the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
That's the way to get results.
That's the way that God said to do it.
Don't sit here and pray all day about how to get someone saved.
Pray and listen to the truth. Go back to 1 Samuel 23.
1 Samuel 23.
Verse 6, And it came to pass when a Biathar, the son of a Himalek, fled to David to Cala, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
And it was told Saul that David was come to Caleb.
And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into
a town that hath gates and bars.
Notice the difference between David, a man right with the Lord, and Saul, a man who is
not.
What is David doing?
He's asking an inquiring of God, he hears the answer and he's going out and doing it.
He's going out and fighting the enemies of God, he's going out and bringing salvation,
he's going out bringing forth fruit, right?
Whereas Saul noticed the self-deception that he has.
As David's over here doing these great exploits, as David is over here close with God, Saul
is so deceived in his own mind that he thinks that God is actually for him.
He literally, look what he says,
God hath delivered him into my hand.
Can you see how blinding pride is?
Nothing could be further from the truth.
God just answered David.
God just told David what to do and he did it
and God came through for him with a great victory.
Meanwhile, Saul just finding out where he is,
thinks, oh, God must be on my side.
Go to 1 Samuel chapter 15.
Here's the truth of the situation, and we could find out the truth by comparing scripture with scripture,
is that God no longer had any favor toward Saul.
God was done with Saul.
God was with David, and Saul could think all he wants, that God's with him, that doesn't make that statement true.
Look at 1 Samuel 15 verse 10.
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king.
Why? For he has turned back from following me and hath not performed my commandments.
So notice Saul is in a position. Saul has a title. Saul's the king.
But in the eyes of God, God is standing there saying,
I regret making this guy king.
And why is it that God regrets making him king?
Because he's turned his back from him.
Because he's turned his back from following the commandments.
You know, you ought not to be so simple
as to just see a person with the pastor title,
with the evangelist title, with the deacon title,
and just automatically think like,
God is with this person.
or God is with this church.
You know, you could have a title, you could have a position,
you could have a building, you could have a kingdom,
yet the truth could be that God has departed from you.
That God is no longer with you.
And you know, Saul could think all day long,
oh, you know, God's delivering David into my hand.
Yes, God's going to let me kill him.
No, God's far from you, Saul.
God has already rejected you.
And so, yeah, wear your throne.
You know, wear your crown, sit on your throne,
but those things don't mean anything
when you actually don't have any closeness with the Lord.
You know, I'd rather be like David, who's actually right with God, than just having the title of king and having an army and having followers and not actually being with the Lord.
Go to 1 Samuel 15 verse 23.
It says,
He have also rejected thee from being king.
You know, we think about sins like witchcraft and idolatry.
I mean, those are extremely serious sins.
I don't know anyone that's a witch, right?
I know people who struggle with covetousness.
I know people who struggle with anger.
I know people who struggle with lust.
I don't know a witch, right?
That's a serious sin, right?
Idolaters, people bowing down before statues.
I know those people exist.
They're called Catholics.
They're called Hindus, but you know, I don't know a Baptist that struggles with idolatry.
I'm just gonna be honest with you. I've never known a Baptist to kneel down before an altar
or before a idol and worship an idol. You know, but here's the thing. God compares those extremely
wicked sins to this rebellion. See, I do know some people that are rebellious. I do know some
people that are stubborn.
And when someone is rebellious, you know, rebelling against rightful authority,
stubborn, against being corrected by the Word of God or being corrected by a man of God,
you know, God looks down at that rebellious person and says,
this is just like a witch, this is just like an idolater,
and that is to the point where Saul got in his life.
He went from being the guy that God chose to God as saying,
like, you're like a witch, you're like an idolater.
That's how wicked you are because of the rebellion in your heart.
Flip the page to chapter 16, look at verse 14.
But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul
and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
You know, you read it in this book.
We read about David continuing to do great exploits, we see God coming through for him,
we see David praying to the Lord, and every time we see Saul, he's sitting under a tree,
doing nothing, holding a spear, or attacking David. And it's like, which one do you think God is with?
The one that's, you know, bringing in tons of fish in his net, the one who's saving cities,
Or the guy doing nothing but attacking God's people.
Who do you think God is actually with?
Yet, Saul's, they think God's with them.
Because they're attacking David.
They think that they're justified in their mind,
but God is not with them.
Verse 8 of 1 Samuel 23, look at 1 Samuel chapter 23.
It says,
So, as soon as he finds out that David is there, he's just going straight to war.
He doesn't do what David did, David inquired of the Lord.
David asked, God, is this the right thing to do?
Yes.
He asked again, just to make sure, God, is this right, the right thing to do?
Yes.
I'm going to deliver them into your hands.
Then he gets the victory.
Saul, notice what he is.
Same problem he's always had.
He's self-willed and presumptuous, right?
He's self-willed and presumptuous.
He doesn't ask God, hey, God, should I go attack David right now?
Should I go try to kill David right now?
Because the answer would have been no.
So, he just does it on his own, he doesn't ask advice from God, he just acts with whatever
is in his own heart.
Now, there's a reason why in the New Testament, one of the qualifications of a pastor is that
you would not be self-willed.
Okay, let me read this verse for you, stay there, Titus 1.7, for a bishop must be blameless
as the steward of God, not self-willed.
You know, it is a terrible attribute in any leader, especially a pastor, when you are self-willed.
Right? Because the role of a pastor is to take what God said and apply it to the people,
to feed the flock of God, right? To rule in the house of God.
But we're not just ruling on a whim or on our own opinions or on our own philosophies.
We're supposed to submit ourselves to the Word of God.
And when we go out to war, when we go out to fight a spiritual battle,
I'm not supposed to just pick fights that are just my pet peeves or just my opinions.
I'm supposed to stand on the rock here.
I'm supposed to stand on what the Bible says and fight the way that God told me to fight.
Not like Saul, where he's just like, oh, okay, let's just go attack David.
We're not even going to ask if that's the right thing to do.
We're not going to think about it.
Just being self-willed.
And you know, a self-willed leader is a scary, scary thing.
Because that person, they're not going to just get corrected very easily.
It's going to take something major or in the case of Saul, you know, it never really happens.
They never get corrected and he ends up just dying in shame.
1 Samuel 23 verse 9.
And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him.
And he said to Abithor, the priest, bring hither the ephod.
Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Kailah to destroy the city for my sake.
You know, notice how Saul's just willing to kill all these people just to get to David.
He's willing to attack anyone and destroy the city just to kill David.
Verse 11, will the men of Kailah deliver me up into his hand?
He's saying like, are these people going to betray me?
Will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?
O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.
And the Lord said, he will come down.
Then said David, will the men of Kayla deliver me
and my men into the hand of Saul?
And the Lord said, they will deliver thee up.
So, notice David continues to do the right thing, he's very close with the Lord here,
he's having good fellowship and good communion with the Lord, but he asks God this question
and it's such an interesting question because you would think that it'd be a given when
you just saved the city from the Philistines that these people would just have some level
of loyalty to you, right?
Like you would think David and his men just came through and saved everyone's life literally
But David, as a leader, knows what all leaders know,
that people are so quick to be disloyal.
People are so quick to stab you in the back,
and here David is, he literally just saved their town,
but he asked God, are these people
gonna just give me up to Saul?
You know what God said?
Yes, that's exactly what they're gonna do.
The Bible says, a faithful man who can find.
It's a rare trait for a person to be loyal,
but you know what, just because that's the truth
doesn't mean that that should be so for us.
right? Just because most people are disloyal and most people will stab you in the back
at the drop of a hat, doesn't mean that you should be that way, doesn't mean that I should be that
way. I'll read for you this verse, 2nd Corinthians 12-15.
The Apostle Paul said,
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you,
though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved."
Isn't that a sad statement?
I mean, could you imagine living in the New Testament at the time of the Apostle Paul
and he's preaching at your church and he's starting churches all over your area,
he's getting everyone saved,
and yet the people that were actually around Saul,
or the Apostle Paul, excuse me,
Very close together there.
You know, the people that he actually ministered to,
the people that he actually loved,
it says that the more that he loved them,
the less that he got love and return.
You know, that's just a reality of life
and it's a sad reality of life.
You know, the admonition for us is,
hey, someone comes through and saves our town.
Let's have some loyalty to that guy.
When someone ministers to us,
when someone helps us,
when someone's done good unto us,
let's be loyal to that person.
Let's be looking for reasons to be loyal to that person, not just trying to be, oh,
oh, Saul wants me to turn him up, no problem.
We'll just deliver him into the hands of Saul.
You know, that's wicked, cowardly, pathetic behavior.
Getting saved like that, taking the good from David and just turning him over like that,
it's disgusting, but you know what, Christians do the exact same thing.
Christians will get saved.
And they'll go to a church, the church that got them saved,
the church that invested into them,
and a year later, their cult survivors on YouTube,
detoxing from their cult experience.
You know, it's a sickening thought,
but it's just the reality of church,
and I've seen it for over a decade.
There's probably someone in this room right now
that someday will be a cult survivor.
And, you know, that's sad, and I hope that's not the case.
I hope I'm wrong about that.
But, you know, I was told that when I'd started church,
or I'd become a pastor, that in five years,
the church would look totally different.
But no one told me it'd be five months.
Okay, it was supposed to be five years.
So, you know, if you think that I'm just 100% convinced
that, you know, in 10 years that everyone's
still gonna be here, you know, I hate to say it,
I'm not 100% convinced of that.
I want that to be true.
I want you to be loyal. I want to be loyal to the Word of God.
I want to be loyal to my office as a pastor,
but I'm just telling you that human nature is to be a snake.
That's just how it is.
But you know what? You should decide in your heart
that you're going to be the exception to that.
That you're not going to be like the men of Kayla
that literally just take salvation and then just turn him over
at the drop of a hat. It's disgusting.
Go to Proverbs chapter 3, Proverbs chapter 3.
You know, I also like the beauty here of the relationship between David and the Lord.
Because even though David's going through hard stuff,
it's cool to see, you know, from the bird's eye view of the Bible where we get to know all the details,
it's cool to see how God is just guiding David every step of the way.
And, you know, in our lives, we don't have that same, you know, ability to communicate
with God where we just pray and He speaks back to us audibly.
But, you know, I do believe that for us too, God is working on our behalf when we're right
with Him.
And that is a good thought.
Psalm 3723 says, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
You know, that's a comforting verse to know.
that when you're doing what's right,
when you're on the side of God,
when you're a sincere person that wants wisdom,
that wants to do what's right,
the Bible says that your steps are ordered by the Lord.
And you know, yeah, you got enemies coming after you.
Yeah, Saul wants to kill you.
Yeah, the men of Kayla are about to betray you,
but at least God's there to let you know about it.
At least God is there to warn you about it.
I told you to go to Proverbs 3, verse 5 says,
See, it's not a guaranteed promise
that God is going to direct your paths in life
if you don't acknowledge Him.
But what does David do here?
He prays.
He asks counsel of the Lord and then he takes the word of the Lord and does it.
And if you want God to direct your paths in life, it's not some spiritual, mystic, you
know, experience or something like that.
You're not going to see a bright shining light showing you the way to go.
You're not going to hear an audible voice.
You know what it's going to be?
It's going to be you opening up your Bible, reading the black words on a white page in
front of your face and doing what it says.
You know, people like to just over-spiritualize Christianity and everything's this, you know,
Pentecostal, charismatic experience.
No, spirituality, if you want God to direct your steps, it's actually read what God told you to do and do it.
And you could have God direct your steps in the same exact way as David's steps were ordered,
but you have to have the same mentality as David.
You have to do the same things as David, praying to him sincerely, wanting wisdom,
and when you get the answer, actually just obeying him.
and just doing what he said.
Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 23.
1 Samuel chapter 23.
Verse 13 says, then David and his men,
which were about 600, arose and departed out of Cala
and went with or so ever they could go.
And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Cala and he forbear to go forth.
You know, I find it interesting that King David, one of the greatest men in the Bible,
a man who went on to be one of the greatest king in the nation's history, he's just wandering
around aimlessly in the desert here with or so ever he could go.
And it kind of reminds me of the Lord Jesus Christ, how the foxes have holes, the birds
of the air have nests, but the son of man have not to lay his head, right?
David was willing to go through this season of life.
David was willing to go through the pain, the suffering,
the, you know, just turmoil of this crazy aspect of his life,
and he reaped the rewards later, right?
And Jesus Christ was willing to endure the cross.
He was willing to endure temptation from the devil 40 days, 40 nights.
He was willing to endure hell for three days and three nights for us.
And guess what?
He's king of kings and lord of lords.
And every knee will bow to him.
And, you know, even though David's in this low spot where he's got just this rag tag
group of people around him and he's just out in the desert by himself, doesn't look like
he's going to become a great king, but soon he's going to be at charge.
Soon he's going to be running the show.
Soon the nations of the earth are going to be scared of him and his kingdom.
And I just think it's an interesting picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Also notice it says it was told Saul that day.
David was escaped from Kayla and he forbear to go forth. So notice as soon as David's not there to attack
Saul's out. Why? Because Saul has one motivation to live and one motivation to live only and that's to attack David
You know, that's a sad life right there. There are Christians that are the exact same way verse 14
and David abode in the wilderness and strongholds and
remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziff and
Saul sought him every day
but God delivered him not into his hand.
You know, there are Christians like this today
that live to attack other Christians,
that live to be envious and hate on other Christians,
but here's the sad part about this,
is that they are only hurting themselves.
You know, Saul here,
King Saul, if he would have repented a long time ago, if he would have gotten right with
God, his life would have looked a lot different, and his end probably would have looked a lot
different.
But you know what?
He's wasting, the Bible says, every day, he's wasting his time, he's wasting his influence
and power that God gave him as the king, not to use it to bless his nation, to lead his
armies, to fight the enemies of God, it's just to attack David.
And you know what, he's only hurting himself doing that or he's especially hurting himself
doing that I should say.
He's also hurting his nation but he's especially hurting himself and this is like Christians
that do this.
You know what?
Now is the only time that we have to earn rewards for Jesus Christ.
Now is the only time that we have to win souls, to earn rewards in heaven, you know, if you
just waste your whole life attacking other Christians and hating good men, you are the
You're the one that's going to be empty-handed at the judgment seat of Christ.
David is still getting victories.
David's still saving people.
David's still doing great works for God.
David is still communing with God and getting answers.
You could attack him all you want.
You're hurting yourself. You're not hurting David.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
1 Corinthians chapter 3.
No, I think it's a good reminder to every once in a while,
put your life in perspective of eternity.
Because we live in the flesh, right? We live in this carnal world, and it's very easy for us as human beings, all of us, to get caught up in the affairs of this life.
And to just be thinking about your job, and your bills, and your money, and food, and clothing, and just all the things that we do in this world.
But you know, we need to constantly remind ourselves of what's going to happen to us in the future.
1 Corinthians 3-10 says,
According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder,
I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how
he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every man's work shall be made manifest.
For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Someday our works are going to be made manifest, every person that is saved will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account for the works that He has done in His body.
You know, God is going to look at your works and look at your life and all of the wood
and hay and stubble and worthless things that we all waste our time on.
But you know, you don't want to be like Saul where every single day is just doing something
vain, worthless, yay, sinful.
Yay actually going against the kingdom of God, hurting the kingdom of God.
I mean, imagine standing before the Lord Jesus Christ and this was your testimony.
That's a terrifying place to be
How would you like to stand before your Creator and here's what you've done with your life?
You spent every day attacking David you think that God's pleased with someone like that
No, that's why God departed from him a long time ago. That's why God was sorry that he made him king
A long time ago, right?
You know, I think there's some people that God is sorry, that God into positions of leadership
in this world, in this country, pastors, preachers, because it just seems like so many people are
so envious and just waste their life attacking David.
And guess what?
You're going to be the one that has to stand before Jesus Christ and answer for it.
You know, we're going to be over here serving the Lord.
We're going to put our head down and try to get a ton of people saved and try to preach
and not just sit here and hating David our entire life.
That's a waste of a life right there.
Verse 14, if any man's work abide,
which he hath built ther upon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss,
but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
You know, that's what happened to Saul.
He suffered loss.
He lost his kingdom.
He ended up losing his life.
He lost his son, Jonathan died with him.
You know, that's kind of a picture of a Christian that just wastes their life, whether that's
on the vain things of this world, money, pleasure, vacations, you know, whatever it is that you're
into or whether it's a Christian that actually attacks the work of God, that hinders the
work of God.
At the end of the day, those are the people that are going to be lacking at the judgment
seat of Christ.
You know, we need to take our lives seriously and constantly remind ourselves that this
Your house is not what's important.
Your car, your job, what's important is that day
when you stand before Jesus Christ.
And you're gonna regret how much time you've wasted.
I'm gonna regret how much time I've wasted.
You know what, we should try to keep that in perspective now
so we could waste as little time as possible
and do things that actually matter.
Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 23.
1 Samuel 23 verse 15.
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life and David was in the wilderness of
Zeph in a wood.
And Jonathan Saul's son arose and went to David into the wood and noticed and strengthened
his hand in God.
You know, these are the friends that you want to have in your life.
Friends that don't, you know, tempt you to sin, tempt you to go back into the world,
tempt you to be worldly, but a friend that when you're around them, they actually strengthen
your hand in God.
They actually make you want to be a more spiritual person.
They make you want to love God more and serve God more.
That was the result of Jonathan and David's friendship.
And you want to know why they had such a deep friendship to where their love in an emotional, friendly connection actually surpassed that of the love of women.
It was because of how much they both loved God and how they strengthened the love of God in each other.
Stay there, Romans 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed.
You know, I think it's a fool's errand to try to be friends with everyone.
I think it's a foolish idea to think that every person is just going to have tons of close friends.
Look, we should be friendly to everyone, we should be kind, we should be pleasant,
but the Bible says, hey, can two walk together except they be agreed?
You know, for someone to truly be my friend, they have to share my vision and they have to share my values.
Period.
And if they don't, I'm never going to truly be that person's friend.
That's what real friendship is, is that, hey, we could actually walk together, meaning
we're actually going the same direction.
How can you walk together with someone when you're going two opposite directions?
That'll last for about a second and then you're apart, right?
And yet people today, they try to hang on to every friendship.
They try to hang on to every relationship if they just have one little tiny thing in
common.
It's like, you know what?
Life's too short for that.
And those friends have to be agreed with me.
I have to be agreed with those people.
And if I don't agree with those people,
I'm not interested in being their friend.
Go to Romans chapter 16.
Let me give you an example of this, Romans chapter 16.
Romans 16 verse 17, when you turn there, the Bible says,
which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them.
You know, you're saying like, hey, I beg you, I'm beseeching you, mark them, make them known,
make it plain of the people that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned
and avoid them.
So notice people that don't agree.
people that don't share the same vision, that don't share the same values, when they're causing division and offenses contrary
to the teachings, to the doctrine, to the truth that we believe, we're supposed to mark those people and
avoid them.
A lot of people get the first part down,
marking them, but then sometimes they forget the second part. And you know, for me, when I was a church member,
If my pastor marked someone, if my pastor kicked someone out of church, or publicly marked someone as someone to be aware of,
you know, I was never going to be that person's friend.
I was never going to want to hang out with that person.
And look, I'm not a respective person because I've applied this to guys that I really liked.
and that I was friends with for a long time.
But look, the best thing that I could do to that person,
if I care about that person,
is for them to experience the punishment of church discipline
so that their heart will get right,
that they will repent and get right with God
and get restored to fellowship in the church.
And let me tell you this, not only...
This is just my personal opinion. I'm never gonna police anyone on this. I don't care what you do
I'm just saying this was my
standard when I was a church member if someone even just left our church and they don't like our church and
They don't they don't you know our church isn't good enough for them
Our pastor isn't good enough for them our program isn't good enough
You know they don't like our church anymore even if they weren't marked even if they weren't kicked out of church
I don't want to be that person's friend anymore. Why because to be that person's friend. We have to agree
But here's the thing people are simple because people like to emotionally manipulate you here's what they'll do
They'll say that they won't say this part, but they'll say hey your church isn't good enough for me
Your pastor isn't good enough for me. It's not good enough that we could hang out at church
That's not good enough for me, but I still want to be your friend. I still want to hang out with you
I still want to be buddies with you because I love you because I think so highly of you
You know that is that's a person that's manipulative
Because or maybe I just have some sort of crazy standard because for me when someone left our church on a bad note
When someone doesn't like our church, I'm just thinking like hey, if you want to be my friend, why can't you come to church?
Why can't we be friends at church? You know, I've known people that left church. They don't like the pastor
They don't like the program, but they'll show up on a soul winning time with their friend that leads the soul winning time
What's wrong with you?
Look, if you think that person cares about you, you are simple.
You are deceived.
No, when someone is divisive, division contrary to what we believe,
when someone's not agreed with us, I don't want to walk with them anymore.
Now, look, I will never, never police someone as to their...
You know, I'm not going to be lording over God's heritage.
I'm not the boss of who your friends are.
But I'm just saying, when I was a church member, that's what I did.
And to me, it kind of says something like,
like, bro, they're manipulating you.
They're taking advantage of you.
Because if they were actually your friend,
then they would agree with you.
They would be having the same vision as you.
They would have the same values as you.
Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 23.
1 Samuel chapter 23.
You know, and I'm not saying it's easy.
You get emotionally attached to a person, you truly love a person, and it's hard sometimes
to let those relationships go.
You know, at least at first.
Quite honestly I'm past that in my life because I just want to spend time with people that
agree because I want to walk in the same direction.
And I want to bring people alongside of us as we're going this direction, but I'm not
interested in stopping, you know, our hike here.
I'm not interested in taking a detour.
I'm interested in just going in our destination of serving Christ.
And if you want to join, great, we're happy to have you.
And if you don't, see you later.
I don't want to drag anyone along serving Christ.
I don't want to drag anyone along going to Anchor Baptist Church.
Look, come here if you like it here.
Come here if you agree with us.
for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou
shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and
that also Saul my father knoweth. And they too made a covenant
before the Lord and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went
to his house. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to give you,
give you, saying, doth not David hide himself with us in
strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hakkulah, which is on
the south of Jeshemen. So notice just
Everywhere we turn in this chapter, people are just betraying David.
It's like the men of Kayla, yep, delivering them up.
Oh, the Ziphites.
Hey, Saul, let me just tell you exactly where it is.
It's like, what is wrong with people?
But it's like, people say, oh, you know, this pastor or the new IFB, you know, they just have too much drama.
They have too much drama and it's a proof that they're not right with God.
And it's like, David's as right as God as you can get in this chapter.
He is close to the Lord.
He's praying.
He's sincere.
He wants wisdom.
He wants to know the truth.
God tells him what to do.
He does it.
He executes, right?
He's right with God, yet what surrounds him?
Drama everywhere.
Drama everywhere. What did David do wrong here?
Nothing. Did he ask for this? No, he didn't.
David is minding his own business, trying to get away from Saul,
trying to remove himself from Saul,
and yet all this drama surrounds him.
Saul trying to kill him.
The men of Kayla, betraying him.
The Ziphites, betraying him.
Let me just tell you something.
If you actually want to serve God, there's going to be drama.
Get used to it.
Stop being so squeamish.
Stop acting like it's weird, stop acting like you're uncomfortable with it. I'm just telling you that's the reality of serving God
You know, you guys probably know I love World War Two.
I love reading about World War Two, okay?
And I love reading about the bombing campaign,
World War Two, and in World War Two,
there was something known as FLAC.
And FLAC is basically these cannons
that people from the ground shoot into the air
and they explode at the same altitude as the aircraft
and they send shrapnel all throughout the aircraft,
going through the people, going through the aircraft systems,
and there's this saying that you get the most FLAC.
when you're flying over the target.
You know, during World War II,
you know who is not getting flak?
Planes flying in Australia.
Planes flying in Oklahoma.
There was no flak hitting those planes.
Why?
Because they weren't in the battle, that's why.
But if you're going to actually be in the battle,
if you actually want to charge the enemy,
if you actually want to fly over the enemy and do some damage,
and drop some bombs on the enemy spiritually,
there's going to be flak around you.
There's going to be casualties.
There's going to be drama.
There's going to be blood. It's going to be nasty.
But guess what? That's the price of actually fighting.
Or you could have just peace, and no drama, and no problems, and no explosions, and no bombs,
but guess what? You're not in the fight. You're not doing anything.
Go to any of the Baptist church in this area, and it's going to be peaceful, and nice, and calm, and quiet,
and the preacher's never going to yell. There's never going to be any drama.
But guess what? Those churches aren't doing a lot of things for God.
Oh, that's prideful. That's the truth.
That's the reality.
And so when you see someone where they're doing what's right,
they're preaching what's right, and drama surrounds them,
that's an indicator that they're good, not that they're bad.
Okay?
You know, don't look at David here and say,
oh, what's wrong with David?
I've heard people say to Pastor Shelley,
oh, the fact that you had the lawsuits and the protest means
you're not right with God, you know, quite the opposite.
Quite the opposite.
Steadfast Baptist Church was doing great works for God,
and that's why the devil attacked it.
Because when you're flying over the enemy,
Go to verse 20 says now therefore oh 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 ye have
Compassion on me such a pathetic attitude verse 22 go
I pray you prepare yet and know and see his place where his haunt is and who hath 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.
And come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come
to pass if he be in the land that I will search him throughout all the thousands of Judah."
Again, the Bible just highlighting how this is the singular obsession of Saul's life.
He's willing to kill innocent people to get to him, and if he has to search through thousands
That's what he's going to do.
What a wicked attitude.
You know, it kind of even makes me think of Herod.
How Herod wanted to seek out and kill Jesus so bad that he said hey anyone any of these kids in Bethlehem that are two
Years and under just kill them all because he wanted to seek out Jesus
He wanted to kill Jesus and Saul just kind of has the same just bloodthirsty
Insatiable implacable mentality where he's like I'll go through thousands of people to find David. That is a wicked attitude verse 24
And they rose and went to ziff before Saul, but David and his men were in the wilderness
of Maon in the plain on the south of Jeshemun.
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 Maon, and when Saul heard that, he pursued after
David in the wilderness of Maon.
And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the
mountain.
Notice, for Saul and his men, compass David and his men round about to take them.
Put yourself in David's shoes here.
You've been fleeing, you've been on the run, you've been fighting, you're probably tired,
your men are probably tired.
You get sold out, right?
You get betrayed and you just continue to run and run and run.
And finally, you're at the point where the Bible says that Saul and his men compass David
and his men round about, you know, they're surrounded.
They're probably feeling like, this is it, this is the end of the road, Saul's got me, I'm dead.
Right? I mean, that is where David is at in his life.
But notice what happens, verse 27.
But there came a messenger unto Saul saying,
haste the income, for the Philistines have invaded the land,
wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines,
therefore they called that place Silahama Lekkoth.
And David went up from dense and dwelt in the stronghold at
Ingeti. You know, right at the end, right where it seems like
it's all over, David's going to die. You know what was happening?
God was working for David, even though he couldn't see it.
Because right as they were surrounded, all of a sudden Saul hears,
hey, the Philistines are coming in the land,
you know, we got to go into the land, we got to defend them,
and then the whole army gets diverted and goes and fights against the Philistines.
And this is the principle that God is highlighting in this chapter.
God is highlighting two different Christians right here.
One Christian is rebellious, prideful, self-willed, presumptuous on his own program, doesn't care
what God's will is, he's not seeking the Lord, he's not asking God for wisdom, he's
not doing what the Bible says, he's just doing his own thing and being wicked.
Then you have David who's close to God, praying, asking for wisdom, doing what God says, doesn't
Doesn't mean that everything's peaches and roses.
He's going through tribulation,
but you know what's happening in the midst of that tribulation?
God is working for him, even though he doesn't see it.
You know, the application for us is that we could have that exact same thing.
But guess what? It's not just being saved.
Look, being saved, it gets you into heaven, folks.
But you know what? If you want God working for you
in your trials, in your tribulations,
in your fights, in the midst of people betraying you,
In the midst of people attacking you, if you want God on your side then you got to be like David and actually be on the Lord's side.
Draw a knight of God and he'll draw a knight of you.
What was David doing this whole chapter? Drawing a knight of God.
He wasn't asking in anything in return from God.
He was just simply loving God.
And as a result, God was helping him.
Go to Romans chapter 8. We'll finish in Romans chapter 8.
Romans 8 28 says, and we know that all things work together for good is more to that verse to them that love God
To them who are the called according to his purpose. See not everything works out for good to every person
Not everything works out for good to every Christian
Because, you know, I firmly believe that King Saul was a saved man,
but you know what? It wasn't working well in his life.
Things weren't working well. He didn't end well.
He dies by committing suicide surrounded by the enemies of God.
Not all things were working together for good for him.
But you know what? It was working together good for King David.
that even though he could look at his life right now and say,
wow, you know, God supposedly chose me to be the next king of Israel.
Here I am almost getting killed. Here I am in the desert.
This isn't what a king should be doing. There's no honor in this. There's no glory in this.
I'm running around in the desert. I'm getting betrayed.
I've got this ragtag group of people following me,
but yet God worked it all out together for good for David.
And not only did he just work things out together for him,
God was even extremely merciful to David in times in his life where he sinned greatly.
Why? Because he actually was a man after God's own heart.
He actually sincerely desired the truth.
He actually sincerely wanted to follow God even though he was a man who messed up.
He wasn't just this completely self-willed, presumptuous, prideful jerk like Saul was.
Look at verse 31.
You know I wonder what David's men were saying when they were surrounded what were they saying to these things?
They're probably saying this is it. We're done
It's over, but look at this as if God be for us who can be against us
Don't let that just be a verse in your Bible that you just read once a year and skip over.
Ask yourself that question.
If God be for us, who can be against us?
We get to make the decision as a church.
You get to make the decision as an individual.
Are you going to be like Saul?
Are you going to be rebellious?
Are you going to be prideful?
Are you going to attack people, men of God, good Christians?
Or are you going to align yourself with God's Word?
Or are you going to align yourself with seeking wisdom, seeking to do what's right?
and actually doing it when you know to do it.
Let's pray, Lord.
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for this great story.
And thank you for King David
just being a good example of a leader here
that sought you, stuck to his guns,
did what was right,
and we saw that you came through for him, Lord.
I pray that we would all have the same faith
to realize that you can come through for us
in any situation,
regardless of how hopeless it may seem
or frustrating the ordeal might be.
I just pray that you'd all give us a heart here.
to desire truth and desire to follow your commandments.
We love you in Jesus' name, we pray, amen.