Category: 1 Samuel (Page 1 of 3)

We are nearing the end of our study in 1^st Samuel. Ultimately, this story is about the sovereign hand of God as he establishes the kingdom of Israel on earth amidst the ups and downs of a nation that continually turns her back on God. It has been a story of disturbingly dark contrasts between what is holy and what is unholy – between what honors God and what is despised by God.

Our passage today describes one of David’s great failures as a leader as he flees from Saul, takes shelter with the enemy, settles down to live in the enemy camp, and ultimately earns the trust of one of Israel’s greatest enemies.

If you have been following along in our study of First Samuel, you might feel a sense of déjà vu when you read this chapter because it is so similar to the events of Chapter 24when David spared Saul’s life in the cave of Engedi.

The passage in front of us today reads like a romance novel with a twist of action-packed drama. It is kind of like a Hallmark romance movie meets a good old fashioned Clint Eastwood revenge western.

It has been said that you can learn a lot about a person when they are enduring intense pressure. Take away a person’s job, spouse, kids, reputation, belongings, or any other number of things that we hold dear, and you will learn a lot about the inner workings of that person’s heart. Suffering has a tendency to squeeze us like grapes, until something oozes out.

How do you endure suffering? How do you resist the urge to tap out, give up, and throw in the towel? How do you resist the urge to lash out or fall into sin when you face suffering of different kinds?

As we dive into the passage before us today, I think it is important to see David as a servant as he serves a city who is under attack from the enemy, and as he subsequently serves that same city by leaving when he learns that his enemy, Saul, is about to attack the city because David is there. Serving God’s people is not for the faint of heart. It requires grit and grace.

As we jump back into our study of 1 Samuel today, we find David still running from King Saul as well as the Philistines whom he had tried to find shelter with, in the last chapter. God’s chosen king is running for his life; he is suffering in ways that seem foreign to our modern understanding of Christianity which treats Jesus like a gene in a bottle and treats the church like a gumball machine.

I must admit that I felt really puzzled, the first time I read this passage in preparation to preach it to all of you. It struck me as a really weird passage of Scripture. I honestly could not get past David’s seeming stupidity as he sought refuge with Israel’s greatest enemies.

In our passage today, we find David, running for his life from king Saul. He has just learned in Chapter 20, that Saul is in fact, still on the warpath, ready to murder David at the first chance he gets. I imagine that David had held onto a small shred of hope that king Saul would have come to his senses and relented from his evil, hate-filled, mindset towards him, but his best friend, Jonathan had just confirmed that nothing had changed and that he better run for his life.