Session #16

I Samuel 29,30

“The Faithful God Of Restoration” • 1.8.08 • Autonomy, Authority & The Man Of God, Session ^#16

Intro.

- When we last left David, he was lining up against the people of God, the people that he was going to be king over! When we sin, we’ll find ourselves in the most bizarre places.

- The scene in I Samuel 29 is the battle review when the rest of the Philistines see David and his band of mighty men.

• I Samuel 29:3-5 : “Then the princes of the Philistines said, ‘What are these Hebrews doing here?’ And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, ‘Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.’ But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, ‘Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?’”

- As a result of this, David and his men are dismissed and return to Ziklag. The irony is that God again protected David from taking vengeance or even being near the scene where Saul was about to die, for this happened the day before Saul’s death!

- David was still going to have to fight. Upon returning, they come upon a disastrous scene.

• I Samuel 30:1-4 : “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”

- David’s wives and the wives and children of all of his men were missing at the hands of the Amalekites. The grief became so intense that the men openly spoke of killing David.

• I Samuel 30:6 : “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

- After this moment, David, called the priest and sought the Lord’s counsel, David and his men pursued the Amalekites and caught up to them.

• I Samuel 30:17-19 : “Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.”

- This story that we have synopsized is the story of God’s faithfulness to His sometimes faithless people. In this instance, David had truly been faithless, in his decision to trust in his own strength, rather than in God’s, by defecting to the Philistines so that Saul would stop hunting him.

- I see God protecting David, from the fruit of his own choices by 3 devices

I. He Soured His Worldly Relationships (29:4,5)

II. He Awakened Him To The Dangers Surrounding Him (30:1)

III. He Set Him Back On His Right Course (30:7,8)

Text

I. He Soured His Worldly Relationships (29:4,5)

• I Samuel 29:4,5 : “But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, ‘Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?’” : Beside Achish, the majority of the Philistine military, did not trust David or his true motives.

- David’s victory over Goliath was won many years ago, but was fresh in the minds of the princes on this day of war.

- You can hear the hate in their voices as they coldly point to the place that had been appointed them by Achish. This was not their decision and they were not in concert with it.

- In this, David is relieved of duty and likely relieved in his spirit.

- God has given David a way out from his sinful situation, created by his own fear

- David objects and Achish affirms him in an interesting and no doubt convicting way.

• I Samuel 29:6 : “Then Achish called David and said to him, ‘Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you.”

- This had to sting David, as none of this that Achish said was true.

- Let me mention here how greatly we destroy our witness among those of the world when we fail to have faith. David lived a lie for over a year. How could David now be a witness to Achish?

- This reminds me of another Old Testament story of a man, who out of fear, decided to ask his wife to lie about her true identity.

- As a result, Abimilech took Sarah into his harem, but was disturbed in a dream by the Lord himself, threatening to kill him because of the married woman that he had taken.

- Abimilech was truly unaware, which the Lord knew, and God exposed to Abimilech Abraham’s sin, who promptly brought Abraham into his court.

- He asked what evil had been done to him that would justify this behavior. Abraham, explained the full story, justifying his behavior, but coming short of an apology.

• Genesis 20:14-18 : “Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, ‘See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.’ Then to Sarah he said, ‘Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody. Thus she was rebuked. So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”

- Because of the lack of truth in the believer, these relationships were never destined to be what God might have intended.

- God soured these relationships for this reason. In the case of the believer, it is always done in order to protect him from entering into irreversibly sinful situations.

II. He Awakened Him To The Dangers Surrounding Him (30:1)

• I Samuel 30:1 : “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,” : In God’s faithfulness to David, He allows David to experience the true dangers around him.

- Remember that he is with the Philistines and in their land, because he was afraid for his life.

- The false sense of security had dulled his senses to the real dangers around him.

- The Amalekites, whom God had ordered Saul to destroy, were everyone’s enemy.

- While David was out on the front line, being rejected by the Philistines.

- In the meantime, on his way back from this episode, the marauding invaders took the opportunity to raid the defenseless city of Ziklag, which had been apportioned to the David.

- As usual, the Amalekites showed no mercy and little regard for property.

- David is shocked to be the recipient of such treatment. The men with him are furious and want to kill David for his poor leadership.

- Now, he was no good to the Philistines and no good for his loyal friends who had fought and stayed with the man who would be their king. David turns to the only place left.

- This event, however difficult, will awaken David to his true purpose.

• I Samuel 30:6 : “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

- What does it mean to strengthen oneself in the Lord? He resolved to trust again in the Lord. He resolved to firm up his conviction that God could raise him from the ashes that lay before him.

˚ “[David] took all patiently, and exercised faith on his God; he encouraged himself in the power and providence of God; in the promises of God, and his faithfulness in keeping them; in a view of his covenant relation to God; in remembrance of the grace, mercy, and goodness of God, and his former experiences of it; hoping and believing that God would appear for him in some way or another, and work salvation for him.” Pastor John Gill

- Encouraging myself in the Lord means to remind myself of everything I have learned to this moment about the character of the Lord and his intervention in my lives.

- Everything has fallen around him. He is no good to the Philistines, his friends or even his home country and the people of his God. He will be useful in hands of God again soon.

- It’s interesting that the Lord allows us to experience the pain of our own mishandled situations, and lets them fall all around us.

- It’s also of interest to me that we criticize men who come to the Lord in such foxholes, jaded because we have seen so many confessions born out of duress.

- But God will go to such lengths for any man that belongs to him and will strengthen those confessions in his time. David would later pen this Psalm as a tribute to that thought.

• Psalm 61:1-4 : “Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.”

- Thank you Lord for overwhelming us back into your arms of love.

III. He Set Him Back On His Right Course (30:7,8)

• I Samuel 30:7,8 : “Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, ‘Please bring the ephod here to me.’ And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?’ And He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.’” : David calls the priest to himself and asks the Lord about the action he is to take.

- I think it’s important to reflect here upon the emotional state of David, being one of fear, anger the overwhelming urge for justice.

- This may be one of David’s most intense moments, even more so than his own self-preservation at the hands of Saul. He is defending his family, two wives and possibly, a child or two.

- I mention this because David does the right thing here in spite of the intense emotions.

- He stops, calls the priest, and sets the time apart for the action of inquiring of the Lord.

- This is always the best, most spiritual, most effective course of action for anyone wishing to place himself under the authority of the Lord. David got it right, here in this moment.

- I will also take a moment and reflect that this does not happen when David has been the best boy in the Kingdom. He has spent a year plus living a lie, among the enemies of the Lord, having taken wives. There is no thought of whether God will answer or not because of his sin.

- He just runs back to the Lord and the Lord reciprocates and answers him.

- We have this humanistic conception of God that speaks to this “deserving” principle. We believe that God will answer us only when we are the best behaved, most “deserving.”

- I believe that the first step that any man makes toward God will be the first step that God will make toward man! We are never deserving of His grace; He just freely gives it.

- God’s promise to David is that he would pursue and overtake them and then, in the most gracious and loving turn, tells him what is deepest on his heart: You will recover all!

- The enemy has stolen a year out of David’s life, and then the enemies have literally stolen David’s family away. His word of total recovery is timely for each of us, as God is the God of restoration.

- In the book of Joel, the people are called to return to the Lord because of the coming of the day of the Lord. He calls them to rend their hearts, call a feast, etc.

- He says to them “then the Lord will be zealous for His people.” But what about all the destruction from the locusts, the loss of profitablity?

• Joel 2:25-27 : “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.”

Conclusion

- It seems that there is a theme running deep over our church these last two days.

- God would have us men renounce the life of self-will and self-confidence.

- Today, you might be in the company of a worldly friendship. Look for God to sour that.

- You may find yourself floundering. Look for God to awaken you to your purpose, prayerfully, you might see it before the Lord does something drastic.

- But finally, and the best of all, God wants to set you back in the right place. There is no retraining or loss of privilege with him. If we make one move toward Him, He will restore all.