WHAT PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE US IN THE MIDST OF A CRISIS? 1 SAMUEL 23:1-24:24:22 JUNE 18, 2006 I lived out on the front range of Colorado for 15 years. When I first moved out there, I would often travel from Ft. Collins to Boulder. One night, on a return trip to Ft. Collins, friends in Boulder convinced me to take a shortcut on some back roads instead of taking a longer route along 1-25. They gave me what they thought were clear directions, but it wasn t too long before I was lost. Somewhere I missed a turn and I had no idea where I was. And I didn t have a map in the car. Since I wasn t sure which road to take I figured I needed to head north. On the front range it is easy to determine your direction because the mountains are always visible and the mountains are in the west. So I kept driving with the mountains to my left, which meant I was headed north. Whenever I reached a dead end or I had to make some kind of turn, as quickly as I could I found a road that took me north. In time, I came upon familiar scenery and was able to make my way home. I was lost. It was a bit of a crisis. I didn t know which road to take. But I was able to find my way home by following a simple principle head north. Like my return trip, we can get into crises where we feel lost. We don t know which road to take. We don t know how to find our way back. Just as I was guided by the principle, head north, God has a couple principles we can follow to get us through our crises. If you have a Bible please open it to 1 Samuel 23 and 24. We will look at these chapters and try and answer the question, What principles should guide us in the midst of a crisis? Our story opens with David still on the run. King Saul perceives David as a threat to his throne, so he has set himself on ending David s life. Clearly, David is living a crisis. Let s see how David handles this ongoing threat. In chapter 23 verse 1, David finds out that the Philistines are stealing grain from Israel s farmers. Though his life is on the line, David has not lost his concern for God s people. So in verse 2 he seeks the Lord s direction. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And the LORD said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah. But David s men are a little skittish, so David again seeks the Lord. Let s read verses 3 and 4. But David s men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines? Then David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. In verse 5 we read that David and his men do indeed defeat the Philistines and deliver Keilah. David is living God s will and experiencing God s favor. Now in the midst of David delivering these people, we cannot forget that Saul is lurking, still wanting to end David s life. Let s read verses 7 and 8. When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars. So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. It is interesting how we can deceive ourselves. As we have seen earlier God has rejected Saul as king because Saul is living for himself. Saul is clearly living outside the will of God. Yet, in verse 7, Saul concludes that God is working for him by delivering David into his hands. Saul has deceived himself and we re capable of the same self-deception. I have counseled with Christian singles convinced that it is God s will that they marry their non-christian fiancé. I have tried to persuade Christian friends to turn down a job because it will take too much time away from their family. But they have been convinced the job was a provision of the Lord. I have met with Christian couples to try and convince them not to buy a house that will break their budget. But they have seen the house as God s blessing.
In each of these cases their decision has come back to hurt them. But at the time of the decision, there was no convincing them otherwise. They were convinced it was the will of the Lord. But, like Saul, they were deluded and presuming upon God, even though they weren t living for God. Let s be careful when we claim the will of the Lord in our decision-making process. In verse 9, David gets wind that Saul is plotting against him. So what does David do? Does he run? Does he seek to fortify the city? Let s read verses 10 through 12 to find out. Then David said, O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant. And the LORD said, He will come down. Then David said, Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will surrender you. Once David finds out Saul will pursue him he and his men leave the city for the wilderness. So Saul chose to give up his pursuit of David at Keilah. Do you notice a pattern here? Every time David comes to a point of decision he seeks the Lord. In fourteen verses David has sought the Lord three times. What principles should guide us in the midst of a crisis? In the midst of a crisis, we must continually seek the Lord. In the midst of a crisis, we must continually seek the Lord. I d like to suggest two fundamentals in seeking the Lord. First, our decision needs to be guided by God s Word. Perhaps the Word won t speak specifically to our situation, but often it will give us principles in making our decision. The Word won t tell us who to marry, but it will give us character qualities of a good spouse. The Word won t tell us which job to take, but it will give us general criteria in picking a job. First, in seeking the Lord we need to be guided by God s Word. Second in seeking the Lord, we need to get counsel from God-fearing people who are not afraid to tell us the truth. So often in seeking counsel we just look for someone who will tell us what we want to hear. When we get in a crisis, we need to be intentional about seeking the Lord through His Word and through the counsel of godly people.. Now because we are seeking God s will and living in God s will does not mean life will be easy. In the first 14 verses we have seen David seek the Lord and serve Him, yet circumstances don t ease up in David s life. Let s read verses 15. Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. Saul is still seeking David s life. At some point, David has got to wonder, How long, before Saul finally gets me. I can t run forever. In the midst of the ongoing stress, it is easy to forget the faithfulness of God. One of the ways that God provides spiritual strength for us is through the encouragement of others. Let s read verses 16 and 17. And Jonathan, Saul s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God. Thus he said to him, Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also. Jonathan simply reminded David of God s promises to him. Sometimes, particularly in the midst of a hard time, we need a close friend to simply remind us of God s faithfulness. That is why we encourage life groups. They are a great source of spiritual friendships. Starting in verse 19 we see that the people of Ziph conspire with Saul so that he can catch David. As a result in verses 19 through 25, Saul closes in on David. Let s pick up the chase in verses 26. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were
surrounding David and his men to seize them. It looks like David is had. Saul has finally caught him. It appears God s Word is going to fail. David won t be king after all, instead he will die at the hand of Saul. Let s see what happens in verses 27 and 28. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land. 28 So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape. What a coincidence! At the last second the Philistines raid Israel and Saul is forced to temporarily abandon his pursuit of David. Why is God allowing all this stuff in David s life? Why not just install David as king? Before he can be king, David has some things to learn about the faithfulness of God. Last week we saw in chapter 22, that God directed David out of Moab, where he was safe from Saul to Judah, where Saul could reach him. Why? God had some character development to do with David and He couldn t do it in Moab. He needed David in Judah. Maybe you are passing through difficult times right now and you wonder, Why God? Why this? Why now? Maybe God has some character development to do with you. And like He did with David, God has called you out of Moab and into Judah. He didn t cause your crisis, but He did allow it. And now He wants to use it, to build your trust in Him. What principles should guide us in the midst of a crisis? When we are in the midst of a crisis, we need to believe God is at work. We need to believe God is at work. I can t guarantee an immediate end to your crisis. But, I can tell you that God wants to work through it to prepare you for His purposes in your life. By faith, are you willing to seek God in the midst of your crisis that you might gain all God has for you? Hey, we don t have to enjoy our pain. And we sure don t need to seek a crisis. But when we are in the midst of one, let s view it as a unique opportunity to grow in our faith in God. After this encounter at Ziph, Saul is not through chasing David. No, far from it. Let s read the first three verses of chapter 24. Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. Saul is leading 3,000 men in pursuit of David. David s army numbers in the hundreds. In his quest of David, nature calls, so Saul heads into a cave to relieve himself. And who should be sitting in the cave but David and his men. Let s see what happens, 1 Samuel 24:4. 4 The men of David said to him, Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you. Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul s robe secretly. David s men encourage him to end it all by killing Saul. They even couch their encouragement in the Lord s will. Is it the Lord s will that David kill Saul? No. Look at verses 5 and 6. It came about afterward that David s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul s robe. So he said to his men, Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD S anointed. David knows he is not to lift a hand against God s anointed. God will deal with Saul in his time. But his men are saying, This is the Lord s will. What are the chances that Saul would walk into our cave? This is of God! Do it, David!
Most of the time, when we get in a crisis, we are tempted to take things into our own hands. God is not moving fast enough to end our crisis so, even though we violate God s will; we take an ill-advised step of action. Then we justify our action by claiming it is the will of the Lord. I had a colleague and friend in Arizona who mentored me through some hard times in my first pastorate. Sadly, it became obvious that the church where he served was moving to oust him. Obviously, he had a crisis. His crisis was compounded by the fact that, because of his age, he felt he had to find a new church soon. Out of desperation, he jumped to the first church that offered him a position. However, this church had its own set of problems. I begged him, Todd, don t do it. You know this church is going to die. But he had prayed about it and knew it was God s will. The last time I talked to him he told me that, Though it wasn t growing, at least the church wasn t losing any more people. What happened? I think a very godly man was in crisis and took things into his own hands. Then, he deluded himself thinking it was God s will. As a result he is in a miserable situation. Similar to David s men, Todd just wanted t put an end to his stressful job search. He took things into his own hands and rationalized his decision by claiming it was the will of God. Now Todd needs to look for another pastorate and he is more stressed because he is 5 years older than the last time. What principles should guide us in the midst of a crisis? When we are in a crisis, we need to resist the urge to take things into our own hands. We need to resist the urge to take things into our own hands. In verse 8, David leaves the cave and confronts Saul. Saul is very repentant and in verse 20 even admits that David will one day be king. Saul goes to his home and David heads up into his stronghold. The chase will resume another day. How many of you remember taking Algebra? The first time I took algebra, I was a freshman in high school, back in 1975. One of the things I will never forget is all the effort our teachers expended trying to teach us a simple principle: We needed to get the variable alone. They did skits, they did songs, and they made up little poems all with this message: Get the variable alone. They were trying to teach us that no matter how complicated the equations, no matter how difficult the problem, our goal was to get the variable or the unknown, on one side of the equal sign and everything else on the other side of the equal sign. I went on to study chemical engineering in college. Engineering is very much a problem solving discipline. In our problem solving we drew on principles we learned in calculus, physics, organic and physical chemistry, thermodynamics, etc. Often it was difficult how and where to apply these principles. However, once we figured how everything applied, we were left with a complicated set of equations. In looking at those equations, we were guided by that simple principle from freshman algebra: Get the variable alone. No matter how complicated the problem that simple truth from freshman algebra stood me well: Get the variable alone. In the same way, life can get pretty complicated. And our crises can get pretty deep. In the midst of the confusion, sometimes we don t know where to turn. Just as in the midst of difficult chemical engineering problems I drew back on something I learned my freshman year in high school, God gives us some principles to guide us in the midst of a crisis. What principles should guide us in the midst of a crisis? In the midst of a crisis, we need to continually seek God s guidance, we need to believe that God is at work in our lives and we need to resist the urge to take things into our own hands
*Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. North Pointe Community Church, PO Box 29,555 Lincoln, NE 68529 Copyright 2005 Andrew A. MacFarlane. All rights reserved.