To listen to the audio of the message, please click here. To listen to the video of this message on YouTube, please click here.
DAVID BETWEEN TWO SPEAR POINTS. I SAMUEL 21:10-15. 6/7/20. #68.
1 Samuel 21:10-15 [New King James Version (NKJV)]
10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?” 12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
- David in the grip of the vice
- David is seeking a place of refuge
- David is not safe in Israel, for Saul seeks his life
- David is heading for the Philistines, an enemy he has slain
- David does not cross the Jordan or the Sinai to go to Egypt
- Many of David’s Psalms were written about his flight from Saul
- There were enemies on all sides of him
- David felt threatened, abandoned, and hopeless
- The dynamics of persecution:
- David had done nothing wrong that he deserved death
- David was alone in his trial (his friends could not endure it for him or even be much help in bearing the load)
- God often seems silent and distant in the midst of trials
- God is actually very near and working through it
- Romans 8:28 God will work good via the trials
- The dynamics of faith
- Proverbs 3:5-6 David had to trust God’s leading (Job 13:15)
- Galatians 6:9 David must not quit or succumb (Jeremiah, Elijah)
- John 16:33 David needed to continue serving faithfully while he worked through the anxious moments
- David must not try to take over God’s job by manipulating the outcome (unlike Jacob, Saul, Jephthah, Balaam)
- Trust in Lord, obey his Word, and allow God to work (Romans 12:12-21)
- David is seeking a place of refuge
- A Gaff at Gath
- David ends up at Gath (home of Goliath)
- It is hard to know why David chose to go to Gath
- David had successfully fled Saul but ends up at the gate of Israel’s greatest enemy
- David stands before King Achish
- The king’s servants recognize David as the one the Israelite women sang about: “David has slain his 10,000s”
- David immediately fears for his life
- David had to think fast in order to save his own life
- David feigns madness (foaming at the mouth and clawing the city gate)
- Madmen (moon-struck—thus the word lunatic) were considered possessed by spirits
- Kings kept some madmen around to receive insight from the spirit world about the future of secret events
- King Achish orders David removed from him (he has enough madmen)
- God protected David, though the Philistines would be expected to kill him as a brutal enemy
- David ends up at Gath (home of Goliath)
- Renegade and Rebel
- Odd things begin to happen: David joins forces with the Philistines
- Was David a traitor?
- How could the Philistines trust David?
- David’s life had taken several dramatic turns
- He was a shepherd boy in a minor family (#8 son)
- He is anointed by Samuel to be the next king
- He slays Goliath the Giant of Gath and wins a great victory
- He becomes a captain in the army + Saul’s son-in-law
- He has to flee for his life from Saul
- He ends up in Gath, the home of Goliath
- Being in great distress is of great benefit to us
- Teaches faith, trust, patience, and humility
- It prepares us to comfort, guide, and help others + for tasks
- Odd things begin to happen: David joins forces with the Philistines