1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:05,280 Going to be in First Samuel, First Samuel, Chapter 21. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:10,960 We started this chapter last week looking at David as he is fleeing 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:12,240 from Saul. 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,319 King Saul is after David here now. 5 00:00:16,319 --> 00:00:21,840 And obviously we've tracked Saul's character from when he was 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,840 first appointed anointed as king and where he is at now. 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:31,600 And obviously Saul has allowed for pride, for envy, for bitterness, 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,880 anger, and then obviously hatred and ultimately murder in this 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,200 whole escapade that he has with chasing after David. 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:41,160 And David is on the run. 11 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,679 And we can understand why David would be fearing. 12 00:00:43,679 --> 00:00:46,920 I mean, think about pretty much the most powerful person that 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,560 would have been known to David is coming after him and chasing after 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,080 him and trying to kill him. 15 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,680 And David is overwhelmed with a sense of fear. 16 00:00:56,390 --> 00:00:59,190 And obviously there's times in our life where we're going to have 17 00:00:59,190 --> 00:01:01,670 instances where fear is overwhelming. 18 00:01:01,990 --> 00:01:04,590 Maybe it's a circumstance that we're facing in our life. 19 00:01:04,590 --> 00:01:07,630 Maybe it's a person that we're dealing with, maybe it's a health 20 00:01:07,630 --> 00:01:09,030 concern, whatever it might be. 21 00:01:09,190 --> 00:01:12,270 There's a lot of sources to the fear that we experience in our 22 00:01:12,270 --> 00:01:12,470 life. 23 00:01:12,470 --> 00:01:15,110 And we know that the Bible tells us that we are supposed to 24 00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:17,870 have a healthy fear, the healthy fear of God. 25 00:01:17,870 --> 00:01:21,860 But then we see David actually slipping into a place where the fear 26 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:24,860 of man has allowed him to do things that he typically was not 27 00:01:24,940 --> 00:01:26,900 living like in his life with his character. 28 00:01:26,900 --> 00:01:29,900 And he goes to Elimelech in the. 29 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:32,540 In the place there that we were talking about last week, and 30 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:33,100 he. 31 00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:36,820 He basically lies to Ahimelech and tells him that he's on business 32 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:37,580 for the king. 33 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:42,260 And he basically gets to a place where he misrepresents what 34 00:01:42,260 --> 00:01:44,500 he is doing and he gets the showbread. 35 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:45,820 We talked all about that last week. 36 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:49,370 And then eventually he leaves with the sword of Goliath. 37 00:01:49,370 --> 00:01:51,730 But in the time that that happened, there was an individual 38 00:01:51,730 --> 00:01:54,810 named Doeg, the Edomite, who witnessed all of this happening. 39 00:01:54,810 --> 00:01:56,250 That's going to play a part later on. 40 00:01:56,410 --> 00:01:59,690 So keep that in your mind for later and keep Ahimelech in your 41 00:01:59,690 --> 00:02:00,250 mind for later. 42 00:02:00,410 --> 00:02:03,329 But we're going to pick up in verse number 10 of First Samuel, 43 00:02:03,329 --> 00:02:05,250 chapter 21 here tonight. 44 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:08,170 We're going to see what David does after he leaves Ahimelech. 45 00:02:08,170 --> 00:02:09,850 Where does he go and what does he want to do? 46 00:02:10,170 --> 00:02:12,930 Well, that's what we're going to study here this evening along 47 00:02:12,930 --> 00:02:14,650 with 1st Samuel, chapter 21. 48 00:02:14,650 --> 00:02:17,770 We're also going to be looking at Psalm 56. 49 00:02:18,490 --> 00:02:21,890 And so if you want to mark Psalm 56 or just get ready to turn 50 00:02:21,890 --> 00:02:25,130 there, here In a little bit, Psalm 56 is going to play a huge 51 00:02:25,130 --> 00:02:28,170 part in understanding what's going through David's mind and his 52 00:02:28,170 --> 00:02:31,970 heart during this time, because it doesn't tell us everything 53 00:02:31,970 --> 00:02:33,650 here in 1st Samuel chapter 21. 54 00:02:33,650 --> 00:02:38,330 But Psalm 56 is all about what is happening in the midst of this 55 00:02:38,730 --> 00:02:39,770 running to Gath. 56 00:02:39,770 --> 00:02:41,650 And we're going to talk about that a little bit later. 57 00:02:41,650 --> 00:02:45,450 So look here with me to 1st Samuel, chapter 21, verse 10, it 58 00:02:45,450 --> 00:02:49,940 says, and David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul and went 59 00:02:49,940 --> 00:02:51,940 to Achish, the king of Gath. 60 00:02:52,420 --> 00:02:54,340 Now, why is this significant? 61 00:02:54,500 --> 00:02:59,500 Well, because Gath was one of the major city states of the Philistine 62 00:02:59,500 --> 00:02:59,940 empire. 63 00:02:59,940 --> 00:03:02,860 And, you know, the Philistines were the ones that were against the 64 00:03:02,860 --> 00:03:03,580 Israelites. 65 00:03:03,580 --> 00:03:07,300 Obviously, one Philistine that you are aware of probably is Goliath. 66 00:03:07,620 --> 00:03:09,780 Obviously, there was a lot of other Philistines that were causing 67 00:03:09,780 --> 00:03:12,020 problems for the Israelites, but Goliath is that famous one. 68 00:03:12,430 --> 00:03:14,630 And believe it or not, Goliath is from Gath. 69 00:03:14,630 --> 00:03:17,910 So he goes to the very place that Goliath was from, and we see 70 00:03:17,910 --> 00:03:23,630 that he is going to flee to actually find solace, peace, protection 71 00:03:23,790 --> 00:03:28,830 from the king of Gath, the king of this Philistine land. 72 00:03:28,830 --> 00:03:29,870 Now, why would he do this? 73 00:03:30,430 --> 00:03:33,670 Well, obviously, because his own people have turned against him. 74 00:03:33,670 --> 00:03:36,350 Essentially, Saul, his leader, has turned against him, and he's 75 00:03:36,350 --> 00:03:37,790 looking for some type of hope. 76 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:39,900 This is not the place for him to go. 77 00:03:39,900 --> 00:03:41,180 He shouldn't go to the enemy. 78 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:43,340 But he's doing something out of desperation. 79 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:44,180 Sometimes that's the. 80 00:03:44,180 --> 00:03:44,860 That's what we do. 81 00:03:44,860 --> 00:03:45,180 We. 82 00:03:45,180 --> 00:03:49,060 We make decisions in the flesh out of desperation, because we think 83 00:03:49,060 --> 00:03:50,540 it's the only thing that we can do. 84 00:03:51,020 --> 00:03:54,019 But David nonetheless thinks about the Gath, and he says, okay, 85 00:03:54,019 --> 00:03:55,980 maybe I can find some kind of protection here. 86 00:03:56,140 --> 00:03:59,260 And that's a sad state of affairs, that Saul would be so against 87 00:03:59,580 --> 00:04:03,420 the will of God that instead of David, in the midst of fear, would 88 00:04:03,420 --> 00:04:04,420 turn to his own people. 89 00:04:04,420 --> 00:04:05,980 He would turn to his enemies. 90 00:04:06,450 --> 00:04:09,170 Verse 11, it says, and the servants of Achish said unto him, 91 00:04:09,330 --> 00:04:12,250 is not this David the king of the land? 92 00:04:12,250 --> 00:04:17,170 So even they recognize David's rightful place as the king of Israel. 93 00:04:17,650 --> 00:04:21,970 And so these Philistine people are like, hey, king, this is David. 94 00:04:21,970 --> 00:04:23,650 This is the leader of the Israelites. 95 00:04:23,650 --> 00:04:26,690 And they even recount some of the things that had been said about 96 00:04:26,690 --> 00:04:27,010 him. 97 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:29,890 Did they not sing one to another of him in dances saying, 98 00:04:29,890 --> 00:04:33,100 saul hath slain his thousands, and David is ten thousands? 99 00:04:33,420 --> 00:04:37,500 That's the very song that was being sung that made Saul upset and 100 00:04:37,820 --> 00:04:42,540 angry and prideful and selfish when it came to dealing with David 101 00:04:42,540 --> 00:04:42,860 before. 102 00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:45,340 And so they recognize who David is. 103 00:04:45,340 --> 00:04:48,060 And David is going to have to make a decision here. 104 00:04:48,540 --> 00:04:51,220 David is going to have to make a decision whether or not he's going 105 00:04:51,220 --> 00:04:54,260 to face the King of Gath or he's going to take another path. 106 00:04:54,260 --> 00:04:56,660 And verse 12, it says, and David laid up these words in his 107 00:04:56,660 --> 00:04:58,310 heart, so he's going to think about this. 108 00:04:58,710 --> 00:05:01,470 And then was sore afraid of Achish, the King of Gath. 109 00:05:01,470 --> 00:05:05,270 So now he's gone from being afraid of Saul, and now he's turned 110 00:05:05,270 --> 00:05:07,510 to being afraid of the King of Gath that he's run to. 111 00:05:08,070 --> 00:05:10,870 And I'm going to tell you that, you know, even within our own 112 00:05:10,870 --> 00:05:14,310 lives, if we're running from fear, eventually fear is going to 113 00:05:14,310 --> 00:05:14,830 catch up with us. 114 00:05:14,830 --> 00:05:15,990 We can't run away from it. 115 00:05:16,390 --> 00:05:19,110 The fear of man, as the Bible says, is a snare. 116 00:05:19,110 --> 00:05:22,310 It's going to be something that leads us to a place of more 117 00:05:22,310 --> 00:05:22,710 fear. 118 00:05:23,210 --> 00:05:27,890 And it's just going to be more and more a plague in our life if 119 00:05:27,890 --> 00:05:31,010 we continue to try to run away from the fear that we have. 120 00:05:31,010 --> 00:05:34,930 And a long time ago, I heard a sermon preached, and it was a really 121 00:05:34,930 --> 00:05:35,890 impactful sermon. 122 00:05:35,890 --> 00:05:38,610 And one of the reasons why it was so impactful is because I can 123 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:42,010 remember the title of the sermon to this very day. 124 00:05:42,330 --> 00:05:44,850 This guy got up and he says, okay, we're gonna. 125 00:05:44,850 --> 00:05:48,010 We're gonna talk about today faithing our fears. 126 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:50,540 And I'm like, is he trying to say facing our fears? 127 00:05:50,540 --> 00:05:52,820 With a lisp I couldn't understand, he says, faith in our 128 00:05:52,820 --> 00:05:53,060 fears. 129 00:05:53,060 --> 00:05:54,340 And I'm like, faith, I'm. 130 00:05:54,340 --> 00:05:55,660 And then he got to the point. 131 00:05:55,660 --> 00:05:58,620 Basically, instead of facing our fear like the world tells us, 132 00:05:58,620 --> 00:05:59,780 you know, you gotta face our fear. 133 00:06:00,580 --> 00:06:03,140 Instead, we face our fear with faith. 134 00:06:03,140 --> 00:06:07,900 We come to the situations or the circumstances or the people in 135 00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:11,340 our lives that are causing fear, and we face it with faith. 136 00:06:11,340 --> 00:06:12,940 And that's what David is going to do here. 137 00:06:12,940 --> 00:06:16,140 Now, what we're going to read might seem a little bit confusing 138 00:06:16,140 --> 00:06:19,700 because some commentators say that David is in the wrong for what 139 00:06:19,700 --> 00:06:20,580 he's about to do. 140 00:06:21,460 --> 00:06:21,780 And. 141 00:06:21,780 --> 00:06:24,620 And even I was reading this and I was thinking, well, maybe he 142 00:06:24,620 --> 00:06:25,060 is wrong. 143 00:06:25,060 --> 00:06:26,860 Maybe he's just doing another scheme. 144 00:06:26,860 --> 00:06:30,660 Maybe he's doing another trick to try to get out of his situation. 145 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:36,580 But when we read a parallel passage in Psalm 56, he is writing 146 00:06:36,660 --> 00:06:38,060 this at the very same time. 147 00:06:38,060 --> 00:06:43,820 And we do know that ultimately David is submitting himself to God. 148 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:47,360 And so I believe this response is, is God giving him a way out, 149 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:53,520 a way of facing his fear with faith so that he can have salvation, 150 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,440 so that he could have peace, so that he could have a confidence 151 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:56,960 in the Lord. 152 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:57,880 So look at it with me here. 153 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:03,720 In verse 13, he's afraid of the king and he changed his behavior. 154 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:05,840 So a lot happens between verses 12 and 13. 155 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,320 He has to make a decision on what he's going to do. 156 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:12,530 Is he going to face the king and say, yes, I am David, yes, I 157 00:07:12,530 --> 00:07:15,650 am the leader of the Israelites and get killed? 158 00:07:15,650 --> 00:07:17,450 Well, we know that God has a plan for David. 159 00:07:17,450 --> 00:07:18,970 We have to understand the bigger picture. 160 00:07:18,970 --> 00:07:20,450 God has a plan for David. 161 00:07:20,450 --> 00:07:21,570 And what's his plan for David? 162 00:07:21,570 --> 00:07:23,290 That he's going to be the next king of Israel. 163 00:07:23,290 --> 00:07:24,370 God made a promise. 164 00:07:24,370 --> 00:07:26,410 And when God makes a promise, he keeps his promise. 165 00:07:27,050 --> 00:07:29,810 David remembered that all the way back from the very beginning, 166 00:07:29,810 --> 00:07:31,170 God had kept his promises. 167 00:07:31,170 --> 00:07:32,730 And so now he's going to make a decision. 168 00:07:33,210 --> 00:07:38,530 He changes his behavior before them and feigned himself mad in their 169 00:07:38,530 --> 00:07:38,970 hands. 170 00:07:39,230 --> 00:07:40,630 So he basically acts crazy. 171 00:07:40,630 --> 00:07:41,990 That's, that's what it's saying here. 172 00:07:41,990 --> 00:07:43,950 He begins to act like a madman. 173 00:07:44,030 --> 00:07:47,510 And it says, and he scrabbled on the doors of the gate. 174 00:07:47,510 --> 00:07:50,590 Well, basically that means he just rubbed his nails down the door 175 00:07:50,590 --> 00:07:51,710 like a crazy person. 176 00:07:51,870 --> 00:07:54,990 And he says it scrabble the doors of the gate and left his spittle 177 00:07:55,150 --> 00:07:56,830 fall down upon his beard. 178 00:07:57,310 --> 00:07:58,990 So basically he's foaming at the mouth. 179 00:07:59,390 --> 00:08:03,750 And I think all of us would agree that if we were seeing someone 180 00:08:03,750 --> 00:08:06,550 act like this, we would say, that's a, that's a madman. 181 00:08:06,550 --> 00:08:09,670 That's someone who's lost their sense of who they are. 182 00:08:09,670 --> 00:08:12,830 Or maybe they've, you know, gotten some issue in their life and 183 00:08:12,830 --> 00:08:13,750 they're acting this way. 184 00:08:14,470 --> 00:08:17,590 We were, my family and I were out at a restaurant recently, and 185 00:08:18,310 --> 00:08:21,070 this guy, like, runs into the restaurant and he's like, excuse 186 00:08:21,070 --> 00:08:21,550 me, everybody. 187 00:08:21,550 --> 00:08:22,550 And he's acting really strange. 188 00:08:22,550 --> 00:08:24,870 And like we were thinking, this guy's going to do something. 189 00:08:25,270 --> 00:08:27,830 And he was, he was upset about something that was happening at the 190 00:08:27,830 --> 00:08:28,270 restaurant. 191 00:08:28,270 --> 00:08:29,670 And he, he was acting like. 192 00:08:29,750 --> 00:08:31,510 And so David acts this way. 193 00:08:31,510 --> 00:08:34,099 And, and one of the other things about this, this last part 194 00:08:34,099 --> 00:08:36,899 of verse 13 was the spittle falling down his beard. 195 00:08:36,899 --> 00:08:39,499 That, that sounds like, yeah, that's crazy. 196 00:08:39,499 --> 00:08:41,339 But that would have been a disgrace back then. 197 00:08:41,339 --> 00:08:43,899 A man's beard was his was his honor. 198 00:08:43,899 --> 00:08:46,899 So for him to do this was very shameful. 199 00:08:46,899 --> 00:08:48,219 It was, it was humbling. 200 00:08:48,699 --> 00:08:51,379 And really we see that God is Going to sometimes get us to a place 201 00:08:51,379 --> 00:08:54,219 in our life where we have to humble ourselves, to get to a place 202 00:08:54,219 --> 00:08:56,779 to follow him and understand that we can't save ourselves. 203 00:08:56,779 --> 00:08:58,059 And that's really what David has to do. 204 00:08:58,059 --> 00:08:59,880 He has to humble himself before the. 205 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,440 The king in verse 14, then said, Aish unto his servants, Lo, 206 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,680 ye see, this man is mad. 207 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,000 Wherefore then have you brought him to me? 208 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,800 So he basically says, this isn't. 209 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:10,560 This can't be David. 210 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:11,240 This guy's crazy. 211 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,240 This guy, this guy is, is off his rocker here. 212 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,040 He says, verse 15, have I need of mad men, that ye have brought 213 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,600 this fellow to play the mad men in my presence. 214 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:21,920 Shall this fellow come unto my house. 215 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,370 So essentially what we see is that if chapter 22, that David gets 216 00:09:26,370 --> 00:09:28,370 to leave because they don't think that this is David. 217 00:09:28,370 --> 00:09:30,290 This can't be the man who's the leader. 218 00:09:30,290 --> 00:09:33,410 This can't be the man who is the great warrior, because he's a 219 00:09:33,410 --> 00:09:33,810 madman. 220 00:09:33,810 --> 00:09:35,330 And he says, I have no use for this guy. 221 00:09:35,330 --> 00:09:36,890 This guy can't be here. 222 00:09:36,890 --> 00:09:38,890 This is, this is not beneficial for us. 223 00:09:39,130 --> 00:09:41,250 And I wish I could tell you that this is the only time that David 224 00:09:41,250 --> 00:09:43,490 ran to Gath in his life out of fear. 225 00:09:43,490 --> 00:09:45,730 But he's going to do this again later on in First Samuel. 226 00:09:45,730 --> 00:09:47,450 We're going to get to that in our study. 227 00:09:47,450 --> 00:09:51,010 But I want us to understand what happens to David between verses 228 00:09:51,010 --> 00:09:52,010 12 and verses 13. 229 00:09:52,490 --> 00:09:55,370 And so turn with me to Psalm 56. 230 00:09:55,690 --> 00:10:01,370 Psalm 56 is said to be the psalm in which David writes when 231 00:10:01,370 --> 00:10:03,050 the Philistines took him in Gath. 232 00:10:03,050 --> 00:10:06,050 And so what we can understand here is that at some point when David 233 00:10:06,050 --> 00:10:10,210 arrives in Gath, these military leaders take him into captivity 234 00:10:10,210 --> 00:10:11,450 and bring him to the king. 235 00:10:11,770 --> 00:10:14,650 And so this is a time of distress for David and he has to 236 00:10:14,650 --> 00:10:15,090 make a decision. 237 00:10:15,090 --> 00:10:17,130 It's a decision of desperation. 238 00:10:17,850 --> 00:10:19,570 And he calls out to God. 239 00:10:19,570 --> 00:10:22,010 Here in Psalm 56, we see that he calls out to God. 240 00:10:22,010 --> 00:10:26,330 And I think that this is a great example for us to learn from. 241 00:10:26,330 --> 00:10:28,970 When it comes to times in our life where we're desperate, when 242 00:10:28,970 --> 00:10:32,570 it comes to times in our life where we have overwhelming fear, 243 00:10:32,570 --> 00:10:35,570 when we have overwhelming circumstances, where we don't really 244 00:10:35,570 --> 00:10:38,370 know where to turn, where, where we're, where we're fleeing 245 00:10:38,370 --> 00:10:40,130 and going all every which direction. 246 00:10:40,210 --> 00:10:42,290 And David is really alone in this place. 247 00:10:42,290 --> 00:10:46,370 Physically speaking, David is alone probably in his life at this 248 00:10:46,370 --> 00:10:49,370 point, the most alone he's ever been outside of having the presence 249 00:10:49,370 --> 00:10:50,130 of God with him. 250 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,200 He's running for his life on his own. 251 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,120 He is not with his family anymore. 252 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,040 He hasn't met these men that are going to help him on the battlefield. 253 00:10:58,120 --> 00:10:58,840 He's lost. 254 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,200 He hasn't lost his friend Jonathan, but he's lost the presence 255 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:02,280 of Jonathan in his life. 256 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,720 Someone who he looked up to in King Saul has now turned against 257 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:06,120 him. 258 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,320 So in the eyes of man, David is alone here. 259 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,040 And I don't know about you, but there's times in my life that 260 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:13,880 I feel alone. 261 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,680 And I know that that's not always just about being physically 262 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:18,120 alone. 263 00:11:18,330 --> 00:11:20,730 I mean, you could be around a bunch of people and still feel alone 264 00:11:20,730 --> 00:11:22,890 because of the situation that you're facing in your life. 265 00:11:23,130 --> 00:11:24,970 And so David here is alone. 266 00:11:24,970 --> 00:11:25,810 And what does he do? 267 00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:26,330 Well, he. 268 00:11:26,410 --> 00:11:28,650 We see in verse one that he calls out to God. 269 00:11:28,650 --> 00:11:32,010 He says in verse one, be merciful unto me, oh God. 270 00:11:32,650 --> 00:11:36,890 He recognizes his great need for God's mercy. 271 00:11:37,290 --> 00:11:39,210 I think that's where we all have to start. 272 00:11:39,450 --> 00:11:42,930 In any situation in our life, where we're facing a trial, when 273 00:11:42,930 --> 00:11:46,810 we're facing a fearful situation, when we're facing persecution, 274 00:11:46,810 --> 00:11:50,940 when we're facing something that is overwhelming, we have to 275 00:11:50,940 --> 00:11:53,860 recognize that it's only by God's grace that we can ever find 276 00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:55,980 any type of peace, comfort, or strength. 277 00:11:56,380 --> 00:12:00,060 He says, be merciful unto me, oh God, for man would swallow me 278 00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:00,380 up. 279 00:12:00,780 --> 00:12:02,900 So he recognizes that there's a difficult situation. 280 00:12:02,900 --> 00:12:03,779 He says, the. 281 00:12:03,779 --> 00:12:06,220 The people that are around me want to take me. 282 00:12:06,460 --> 00:12:08,780 He fighting daily oppresseth me. 283 00:12:09,420 --> 00:12:09,740 So. 284 00:12:09,740 --> 00:12:11,380 So David's not in denial. 285 00:12:11,380 --> 00:12:16,100 I mean, sometimes I. I think that some individuals think, well, 286 00:12:16,100 --> 00:12:18,980 for me to trust in God means I need to be in denial of my situation. 287 00:12:19,380 --> 00:12:22,700 No, you're not in denial of the pain and the suffering and the 288 00:12:22,700 --> 00:12:23,700 fear around you. 289 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:27,340 It's recognizing that, yes, there is a trial in front of me, 290 00:12:27,340 --> 00:12:29,340 but I'm in need of God's mercy. 291 00:12:29,340 --> 00:12:31,100 In the midst of this, he says, verse 2. 292 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:35,380 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that 293 00:12:35,380 --> 00:12:36,220 fight against me. 294 00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:37,540 Oh, thou most high. 295 00:12:38,100 --> 00:12:41,230 Again, he recognizes the trial before him. 296 00:12:41,230 --> 00:12:44,550 But then he also recognizes that God is above them, almost high, 297 00:12:44,550 --> 00:12:46,030 meaning you're above them. 298 00:12:46,030 --> 00:12:47,430 You're more powerful than them. 299 00:12:47,590 --> 00:12:47,990 You're. 300 00:12:47,990 --> 00:12:48,310 You're. 301 00:12:48,310 --> 00:12:50,070 You're more wise than them. 302 00:12:50,310 --> 00:12:50,950 Verse 3. 303 00:12:50,950 --> 00:12:55,190 Then he says this famous verse, what time I am afraid, I will 304 00:12:55,190 --> 00:12:56,070 trust in thee. 305 00:12:56,950 --> 00:12:58,990 What does David acknowledge? 306 00:12:58,990 --> 00:13:02,950 He says, the only way to deal with my fear is trusting in you, 307 00:13:03,430 --> 00:13:07,430 is turning myself over to you and facing this fear with faith, 308 00:13:07,510 --> 00:13:10,510 believing that you will do what you say you will do. 309 00:13:10,510 --> 00:13:11,110 Verse 4. 310 00:13:11,190 --> 00:13:16,310 In God I will praise his word in God I have put my trust I will 311 00:13:16,310 --> 00:13:19,350 not fear what flesh can do unto me. 312 00:13:19,990 --> 00:13:21,910 This is reminiscent of many of the Psalms. 313 00:13:21,910 --> 00:13:25,150 I think of Psalm 118, basically, what can man do to me 314 00:13:25,150 --> 00:13:26,470 when God is on my side? 315 00:13:26,470 --> 00:13:29,790 We see that theme over and over again in Scripture. 316 00:13:29,790 --> 00:13:33,750 So he is recounting that God has given him his word. 317 00:13:33,750 --> 00:13:36,580 And he's recounting and essentially preaching to himself 318 00:13:36,580 --> 00:13:39,980 that he will not fear what man can do because he knows that God 319 00:13:39,980 --> 00:13:40,740 is on his side. 320 00:13:41,540 --> 00:13:42,140 Verse 5. 321 00:13:42,140 --> 00:13:44,260 Every day they rest my words. 322 00:13:44,660 --> 00:13:47,140 All their thoughts are against me for evil. 323 00:13:47,780 --> 00:13:48,100 He. 324 00:13:48,100 --> 00:13:48,580 He's. 325 00:13:48,580 --> 00:13:50,140 You see this going back and forth. 326 00:13:50,140 --> 00:13:50,380 It's. 327 00:13:50,380 --> 00:13:50,940 It's poetic. 328 00:13:50,940 --> 00:13:52,900 Obviously, this is a psalm, so it's a song. 329 00:13:53,220 --> 00:13:56,260 So he's going back and forth, he's talking about what he's facing, 330 00:13:56,420 --> 00:13:59,060 and then he's going to go back to trusting in the Lord. 331 00:13:59,140 --> 00:13:59,740 Verse 5. 332 00:13:59,740 --> 00:14:02,060 Every day they rest my words, all their thoughts are against me 333 00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:02,460 for evil. 334 00:14:02,460 --> 00:14:02,900 Verse 6. 335 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:05,600 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they 336 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,640 mark my steps when they wait for my soul shall they escape by 337 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,880 iniquity and thine anger cast down the people. 338 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,320 O God, now tell us my wanderings. 339 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:17,880 Put down my tears into thy bottle. 340 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:19,600 Are they not in thy book? 341 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,760 Now you might say, what in the world is he talking about there? 342 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:26,040 In verse 8, he is understanding that God hears his 343 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,160 pain, that God understands his pain. 344 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,360 And he uses this analogy, essentially, that God is catching 345 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:36,430 the tears in the bottle that he has there of David and recognizing 346 00:14:36,430 --> 00:14:38,190 how much pain that David is in. 347 00:14:38,350 --> 00:14:41,510 There was actually later on in history, it wasn't at the same time, 348 00:14:41,510 --> 00:14:43,150 but later on in history, there was a. 349 00:14:43,150 --> 00:14:47,750 A Roman custom of when someone would pass away, the family or the 350 00:14:47,750 --> 00:14:50,910 friends would be weeping, and they would basically catch all of 351 00:14:50,910 --> 00:14:53,750 their tears, and they would put it in a vial, and then they would 352 00:14:53,750 --> 00:14:57,110 go to the resting place of the individual who had passed, and they 353 00:14:57,110 --> 00:15:00,290 would show how much they're recognizing the pain and of loss. 354 00:15:00,290 --> 00:15:00,730 They would. 355 00:15:00,730 --> 00:15:03,330 They would show that basically this is how broken I am. 356 00:15:03,410 --> 00:15:06,050 And so what he's saying here is that David is saying, lord, I'm 357 00:15:06,050 --> 00:15:07,050 showing you that I'm broken. 358 00:15:07,050 --> 00:15:09,050 And you're recognizing that this is. 359 00:15:09,050 --> 00:15:12,450 This is my offering to you to show you where I'm at in my brokenness. 360 00:15:12,770 --> 00:15:13,450 And I think that. 361 00:15:13,450 --> 00:15:16,810 That sometimes what we need in our life to be broken before the 362 00:15:16,810 --> 00:15:20,970 Lord, to be in desperation of understanding that it's only he who 363 00:15:20,970 --> 00:15:23,890 can fix us, only he who can change the situation. 364 00:15:24,290 --> 00:15:28,230 So then he talks about his assurance that he has in what God 365 00:15:28,230 --> 00:15:29,350 is going to do in his protection. 366 00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:34,350 He says, when I cry unto thee, when I cry out to you, then shall 367 00:15:34,350 --> 00:15:35,590 mine enemies turn back. 368 00:15:35,590 --> 00:15:38,070 This I know, for God is for me. 369 00:15:39,110 --> 00:15:39,910 I know that. 370 00:15:39,910 --> 00:15:41,589 We know that God is for us. 371 00:15:41,589 --> 00:15:44,910 But sometimes we need to be reminded that God is on our side. 372 00:15:44,910 --> 00:15:47,910 That when he is for us, who can be against us? 373 00:15:47,910 --> 00:15:51,310 When we go to Romans chapter 8 and we read all those wonderful things 374 00:15:51,310 --> 00:15:54,700 about God being there for us, there's no more condemnation. 375 00:15:54,700 --> 00:15:56,420 That nothing can separate us from his love. 376 00:15:56,660 --> 00:15:59,300 Sometimes as Christians, even though we intellectually understand 377 00:15:59,300 --> 00:16:02,220 that, we need to be reminded in our heart that God is there for 378 00:16:02,220 --> 00:16:03,940 us, that God is good. 379 00:16:04,580 --> 00:16:07,380 And I know for me that there's times in my life that I. I don't 380 00:16:07,620 --> 00:16:13,380 necessarily doubt that God is good, but I sometimes feel this nagging 381 00:16:13,380 --> 00:16:16,060 feeling that, well, maybe just this time he's not gonna be good 382 00:16:16,060 --> 00:16:16,500 to me. 383 00:16:16,820 --> 00:16:18,860 And that's exactly what David wrestles with. 384 00:16:18,860 --> 00:16:21,290 Sometimes God is there for him over and over again. 385 00:16:21,290 --> 00:16:24,610 But he has to remind himself that God has always been there for 386 00:16:24,610 --> 00:16:25,930 him in the midst of his trials. 387 00:16:25,930 --> 00:16:26,490 Verse 10. 388 00:16:26,490 --> 00:16:30,570 In God will I praise His Word, and the Lord will I praise His Word. 389 00:16:31,210 --> 00:16:32,210 Part of faith is. 390 00:16:32,210 --> 00:16:34,010 Is always tied up in our worship. 391 00:16:34,410 --> 00:16:34,930 You know, if. 392 00:16:34,930 --> 00:16:38,730 If we are characterized by our faith, we are always going to be 393 00:16:38,730 --> 00:16:42,810 pouring out to God his great mercies and his great grace and his 394 00:16:42,810 --> 00:16:43,210 great love. 395 00:16:43,210 --> 00:16:44,570 We're going to remind him. 396 00:16:44,570 --> 00:16:46,730 Not that he needs to be reminded, but we're going to remind 397 00:16:46,730 --> 00:16:49,890 ourselves as we are talking to him, about how wonderful and blessed 398 00:16:49,890 --> 00:16:50,730 he is in our life. 399 00:16:51,130 --> 00:16:51,890 He says, thou. 400 00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:53,250 Thou vows are upon me. 401 00:16:53,250 --> 00:16:54,250 Thy vows are upon me. 402 00:16:54,250 --> 00:16:56,330 Oh God, I will render praises unto thee. 403 00:16:56,490 --> 00:16:58,730 He's reminding himself of the promises of God. 404 00:16:58,890 --> 00:16:59,570 Verse 13. 405 00:16:59,570 --> 00:17:01,530 For thou has delivered my soul from death. 406 00:17:01,610 --> 00:17:05,770 Will not thou deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before 407 00:17:05,770 --> 00:17:07,530 God in the light of the living? 408 00:17:08,890 --> 00:17:12,570 So when we read verse 50 or all, chapter 56, verses 1 through 409 00:17:12,570 --> 00:17:15,930 13, we recognize that David, as we go back to 1st Samuel, chapter 410 00:17:15,930 --> 00:17:20,790 21, that David recognized that the only way that he could face this 411 00:17:20,790 --> 00:17:25,790 fear of running from Saul and running from or facing Achish there 412 00:17:25,790 --> 00:17:29,190 in Gath, was to turn to God in the midst of his pain and recognize 413 00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:32,470 that he needed God's mercy, that he needed God's grace, that 414 00:17:32,470 --> 00:17:35,030 he needed God's provisions, that he needed God's power. 415 00:17:35,030 --> 00:17:37,510 And ultimately he needed to trust in the promises of God. 416 00:17:38,070 --> 00:17:39,590 Now, what does that mean for us? 417 00:17:39,590 --> 00:17:40,630 What does that mean for us today? 418 00:17:40,630 --> 00:17:44,070 Because not all of us none of us probably are being chased by a 419 00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:44,310 king. 420 00:17:44,310 --> 00:17:49,570 Okay, none of us are probably facing a Philistine king today either. 421 00:17:50,210 --> 00:17:53,490 But all of us are facing some degree of a trial in our life. 422 00:17:54,050 --> 00:17:54,490 Maybe. 423 00:17:54,490 --> 00:17:58,650 You know, I used to hear this all the time when I was in a Christian 424 00:17:58,650 --> 00:17:59,330 school setting. 425 00:17:59,490 --> 00:18:01,290 There would be a preacher coming in and this. 426 00:18:01,290 --> 00:18:02,490 I never wanted to hear this. 427 00:18:02,490 --> 00:18:03,050 I was like. 428 00:18:03,050 --> 00:18:04,850 It would give me so upset when he would. 429 00:18:04,850 --> 00:18:07,570 When a pastor would say this, he would say, you know, you're either 430 00:18:07,890 --> 00:18:10,770 going into a trial, you're in a trial, you're coming out of a trial. 431 00:18:10,770 --> 00:18:13,500 And I'm like, ah, you know, it just sounded like the Christian life 432 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,540 was just always going to be, like, depressing and sad and, like, 433 00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:17,340 always painful. 434 00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:21,260 And as I've gotten older, I've recognized that, yeah, our life is 435 00:18:21,260 --> 00:18:22,780 characterized by trials. 436 00:18:22,780 --> 00:18:25,780 But at the same time, it's the perspective of what a trial is. 437 00:18:25,780 --> 00:18:28,219 I think that's the bigger picture that we have to understand 438 00:18:28,220 --> 00:18:29,740 is what is a trial? 439 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:32,700 Well, all the world, all the word trial means is a test. 440 00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:35,620 God is going to allow for tests in our life, whether they be 441 00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:37,020 physical, spiritual, emotional. 442 00:18:37,100 --> 00:18:39,630 There's going to be these tests in our life that we're going 443 00:18:39,630 --> 00:18:40,390 to have to face. 444 00:18:40,710 --> 00:18:44,590 And really it's how we deal with the test that reveals where 445 00:18:44,590 --> 00:18:45,350 our faith is. 446 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:48,390 So if I have a test in my life, if I have a trial in my life, 447 00:18:48,390 --> 00:18:50,230 and maybe someone's coming against me or. 448 00:18:50,310 --> 00:18:52,830 Or maybe I'm just going through a time that I'm struggling 449 00:18:52,830 --> 00:18:56,190 with in doubt or fear, I can make a decision to say, you know 450 00:18:56,190 --> 00:18:56,390 what? 451 00:18:56,390 --> 00:18:57,590 Maybe God isn't right. 452 00:18:57,590 --> 00:19:00,150 Maybe God doesn't have what's best for me. 453 00:19:00,230 --> 00:19:02,190 Maybe I know that my path is better. 454 00:19:02,190 --> 00:19:05,840 And I can, instead of acting in faith, act in my flesh and I can 455 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:10,320 just react, react in anger, react in bitterness, react in doubt, 456 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:11,600 react in whatever it is. 457 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,720 And in my fleshly reaction, what I've done is I've allowed that 458 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,240 trial or that test to lead to a place of sin. 459 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,880 And the book of James talks all about that. 460 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,160 The book of James talks about how we deal with these trials and 461 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:24,080 temptations in our life. 462 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:25,720 So this is a test for David. 463 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,880 And we know that ultimately David is going to fail some of these 464 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,280 tests, and ultimately David is going to succeed in some of these 465 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:32,600 tests. 466 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,980 But he sustains through the faith that he has in God. 467 00:19:35,980 --> 00:19:36,940 And that's how we're sustained. 468 00:19:36,940 --> 00:19:38,220 We're sustained through our faith. 469 00:19:39,100 --> 00:19:40,060 So back to the trial. 470 00:19:40,060 --> 00:19:41,980 So let's see, we have a trial here before us. 471 00:19:42,620 --> 00:19:43,740 We have a decision to make. 472 00:19:43,740 --> 00:19:45,020 Am I going to face this in faith? 473 00:19:45,020 --> 00:19:48,300 If I face it in faith, I'm not going to act out in the flesh. 474 00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:50,980 I'm going to act out trusting that God is going to keep his word. 475 00:19:50,980 --> 00:19:52,540 And then he's going to provide for me. 476 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:55,380 He's going to give me power, he's going to give me the provisions 477 00:19:55,380 --> 00:19:58,700 like he does for David here now with this victory. 478 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:01,380 Because right after, and I'm not going to tell you, take what 479 00:20:01,380 --> 00:20:04,220 Pastor Ethan is going to preach about in chapter 22, but we're 480 00:20:04,220 --> 00:20:09,140 going to see that after this happens, David is going to have some, 481 00:20:09,140 --> 00:20:12,820 some really interesting tests that's going to come up to him. 482 00:20:12,980 --> 00:20:17,300 And again, we're going to see that David is going to have a great 483 00:20:17,300 --> 00:20:17,780 victory. 484 00:20:18,180 --> 00:20:20,940 But then we're also going to see that David is going to come to 485 00:20:20,940 --> 00:20:23,620 a place in his life where he's going to forget about these things 486 00:20:23,700 --> 00:20:27,220 and David is going to refuse to kill Saul at one point. 487 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,640 David is going to claim his loyalty to Saul at one point. 488 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,680 And then eventually we do know that David sees the fulfillment of 489 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,160 God's promise in becoming the king. 490 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,040 Now, I know that most of you, that's not a spoiler alert. 491 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,560 You guys know that David eventually becomes king, but just 492 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:43,799 put yourself in David's shoes. 493 00:20:43,799 --> 00:20:47,120 At this point in time in his life, when David is running from 494 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,680 Saul, he knows that God has made a promise, but he doesn't know 495 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:50,360 the end of the story. 496 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:51,000 All. 497 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,960 All he knows is that what God has promised them in that moment, 498 00:20:54,630 --> 00:20:57,310 now we get the benefit of seeing David become king and all 499 00:20:57,310 --> 00:20:59,030 the blessings that came along with that. 500 00:20:59,350 --> 00:21:02,470 But think about David in that moment as he's running and he's alone. 501 00:21:02,470 --> 00:21:05,790 He probably doesn't understand or see how that's all going to come 502 00:21:05,790 --> 00:21:06,070 together. 503 00:21:06,230 --> 00:21:09,230 But it's the trust that God will do that, and it's the trust 504 00:21:09,230 --> 00:21:11,630 that God will allow us to weather the storms. 505 00:21:11,630 --> 00:21:14,030 But eventually there's going to be a place in our life where we 506 00:21:14,030 --> 00:21:15,590 are going to be tested in our faith. 507 00:21:16,310 --> 00:21:19,630 And I want to take just a break here from First Samuel, chapter 508 00:21:19,630 --> 00:21:19,950 21. 509 00:21:19,950 --> 00:21:21,790 We're going to come back here in a moment, and I want us to go 510 00:21:21,790 --> 00:21:24,250 to Hebrews chapter 11 again. 511 00:21:24,250 --> 00:21:27,770 You guys know that Hebrews chapter 11 is that classic passage 512 00:21:27,930 --> 00:21:29,450 that deals with faith. 513 00:21:30,010 --> 00:21:34,690 And we see the definition of faith, we see the importance of faith, 514 00:21:34,690 --> 00:21:36,850 we see the examples of faith. 515 00:21:36,850 --> 00:21:40,450 But I just want us to look at a few different passages here when 516 00:21:40,450 --> 00:21:42,890 it comes to looking at faith here. 517 00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:44,930 And I want us to look at the definition of faith. 518 00:21:44,930 --> 00:21:48,170 Because sometimes, at least for me, I don't want to ever project 519 00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:49,410 what you think, okay? 520 00:21:49,410 --> 00:21:50,490 Because I don't know what you think. 521 00:21:51,100 --> 00:21:53,820 But let me just kind of go through what I've thought in my past 522 00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:54,940 as a Christian. 523 00:21:55,340 --> 00:21:57,980 Sometimes I feel like faith is okay. 524 00:21:57,980 --> 00:21:59,580 God, you've shown me just a little bit. 525 00:21:59,580 --> 00:22:01,660 You've given me a couple steps ahead. 526 00:22:01,660 --> 00:22:04,700 And so, yeah, of course I'm going to trust that, or I got to 527 00:22:04,700 --> 00:22:07,099 see something, give me some type of proof. 528 00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:08,700 I'm going to throw out the fleece. 529 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:11,260 I. I need to see something before I take a step of faith. 530 00:22:11,340 --> 00:22:14,340 But what we see here In Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, it 531 00:22:14,340 --> 00:22:17,060 says now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 532 00:22:17,060 --> 00:22:18,700 evidence of things not seen. 533 00:22:19,620 --> 00:22:22,220 So the reality is, is that all of us are going to have to be tested 534 00:22:22,220 --> 00:22:24,900 in something that we don't know how it's going to turn out, 535 00:22:24,980 --> 00:22:28,540 but we're trusting that God's Word and His truth and His. 536 00:22:28,540 --> 00:22:32,540 His love for us and his power will be the thing that we put our 537 00:22:32,540 --> 00:22:34,660 object of faith on and we're going to trust in. 538 00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:38,020 So he says there, it's the evidence of things not seen. 539 00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:41,940 So faith is not okay, I saw this happen. 540 00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:45,340 God made this promise for me, and then he showed me how it's all 541 00:22:45,340 --> 00:22:45,660 going to be. 542 00:22:45,660 --> 00:22:48,110 And now I'm going to go, what faith is, is. 543 00:22:48,110 --> 00:22:50,270 I don't know how this is going to end, but I'm going to trust that 544 00:22:50,270 --> 00:22:51,510 God is going to keep his word. 545 00:22:51,830 --> 00:22:55,030 It's very similar to the biblical word that we use for hope. 546 00:22:55,270 --> 00:22:58,550 Hope is a confident expectation that God is going to 547 00:22:58,550 --> 00:22:59,270 keep his word. 548 00:23:00,150 --> 00:23:03,430 Now, there's times in my life where I'm tempted to doubt that. 549 00:23:03,590 --> 00:23:06,990 But he goes on to say in something that I think is so very 550 00:23:06,990 --> 00:23:10,310 important in verse number six, because. 551 00:23:10,390 --> 00:23:13,030 Because I think that oftentimes we think that faith is 552 00:23:13,030 --> 00:23:16,710 this thing that, like, well, maybe I can have it or maybe I don't 553 00:23:16,710 --> 00:23:18,630 have it, but I'm just going to do my best. 554 00:23:18,790 --> 00:23:20,190 And I think that's what we should be doing. 555 00:23:20,190 --> 00:23:21,070 We should be doing our best. 556 00:23:21,070 --> 00:23:22,790 But I want you to see what verse six says. 557 00:23:22,790 --> 00:23:24,070 It's not an optional thing. 558 00:23:24,070 --> 00:23:28,070 He says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. 559 00:23:28,070 --> 00:23:32,270 If I want to please God, if I want to walk in his will, if I want 560 00:23:32,270 --> 00:23:36,510 to honor him by what I say and by what I do, I must live in faith. 561 00:23:36,510 --> 00:23:37,590 I must trust Him. 562 00:23:38,070 --> 00:23:40,150 And faith is going to take a. 563 00:23:40,230 --> 00:23:42,870 So from our perspective, faith takes a risk. 564 00:23:44,230 --> 00:23:45,390 I Think you understand that. 565 00:23:45,390 --> 00:23:48,270 I think you understand what it means to say, okay, I'm going to 566 00:23:48,270 --> 00:23:52,390 take a step of faith and know that this might be a risk on my side 567 00:23:52,390 --> 00:23:54,030 of my perspective now for God. 568 00:23:54,030 --> 00:23:54,790 It's not a risk. 569 00:23:55,190 --> 00:23:56,710 Nothing surprises God. 570 00:23:56,790 --> 00:23:58,150 Nothing takes him off guard. 571 00:23:58,470 --> 00:23:59,870 Nothing is too powerful for him. 572 00:23:59,870 --> 00:24:00,830 It's not a risk for him. 573 00:24:00,830 --> 00:24:04,190 But if God is leading us to do something or to go through something 574 00:24:04,190 --> 00:24:06,990 in our life, he's calling us to please him through faith. 575 00:24:06,990 --> 00:24:09,890 And it says, for he that cometh to God must believe that he 576 00:24:09,890 --> 00:24:13,490 is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 577 00:24:14,290 --> 00:24:17,650 So the Bible tells us that God does reward those that diligently 578 00:24:17,650 --> 00:24:18,290 seek him. 579 00:24:18,850 --> 00:24:22,330 And ultimately, as Christians, we are called to live lives of faith. 580 00:24:22,330 --> 00:24:25,170 Now, what does that mean for the average everyday Christian today? 581 00:24:25,250 --> 00:24:26,250 How many of us. 582 00:24:26,250 --> 00:24:28,050 And I'm including myself in this. 583 00:24:28,210 --> 00:24:30,290 I'm really including myself in this. 584 00:24:30,290 --> 00:24:34,250 How many of us are living a life where we don't know what's going 585 00:24:34,250 --> 00:24:34,770 to come next? 586 00:24:34,770 --> 00:24:38,050 Now, all of us know, like, mentally we don't know what's coming 587 00:24:38,050 --> 00:24:38,290 next. 588 00:24:38,290 --> 00:24:40,610 Like, I don't know if I'm going to get in a car wreck on the 589 00:24:40,610 --> 00:24:40,810 way home. 590 00:24:40,810 --> 00:24:43,170 I hope not that my prayer is that I don't get in a car wreck, 591 00:24:43,490 --> 00:24:46,170 but there was a time where I drove out of a church service one 592 00:24:46,170 --> 00:24:48,810 night and I'm like, I'm not thinking I'm going to get a car wreck 593 00:24:48,810 --> 00:24:49,570 and I got in a car wreck. 594 00:24:49,570 --> 00:24:50,490 Okay, that happens. 595 00:24:50,490 --> 00:24:50,690 So. 596 00:24:50,690 --> 00:24:53,290 So none of us really know what tomorrow brings, but all of us kind 597 00:24:53,290 --> 00:24:55,770 of think, like, none of us are struggling with where our next meal 598 00:24:55,770 --> 00:24:56,450 is coming from. 599 00:24:57,010 --> 00:24:59,290 Most of us kind of have our plans for this week. 600 00:24:59,290 --> 00:25:01,810 Most of us kind of feel like we're in our comfort zone. 601 00:25:01,810 --> 00:25:04,450 But the Bible does say there's going to be times and places where 602 00:25:04,450 --> 00:25:05,850 we have to be stretched in our life. 603 00:25:05,850 --> 00:25:06,170 We're. 604 00:25:06,170 --> 00:25:08,890 We're going to have to live in such a way that God is so clearly 605 00:25:08,890 --> 00:25:11,570 seeing that we're like, hey, this is only by faith that this was 606 00:25:11,570 --> 00:25:12,170 able to happen. 607 00:25:12,970 --> 00:25:17,490 And I think we live in a society today that is so focused 608 00:25:17,490 --> 00:25:20,170 on comfort that we forget about. 609 00:25:20,170 --> 00:25:22,610 There's times in our life that it's so important to be stretched 610 00:25:22,610 --> 00:25:23,290 in our faith. 611 00:25:23,690 --> 00:25:27,740 I know for me, you know, I. I wake up, I come to church, I wake 612 00:25:27,740 --> 00:25:29,980 up, I go to, you know, the store. 613 00:25:29,980 --> 00:25:32,980 I wake up, I go do the things that I need to do, and I really don't 614 00:25:32,980 --> 00:25:35,460 think about, like, where how am I Exercising my faith today. 615 00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:38,340 But there's times in our life where we have to take a step that's 616 00:25:38,340 --> 00:25:40,100 going to go beyond our comfort zone. 617 00:25:40,340 --> 00:25:40,860 There was a. 618 00:25:40,860 --> 00:25:43,300 There was another sermon that I thought about not too long ago. 619 00:25:43,380 --> 00:25:44,500 It was a preacher at our. 620 00:25:44,820 --> 00:25:46,020 Our church in Florida. 621 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:48,500 And he preached a message about being stretched. 622 00:25:49,460 --> 00:25:50,340 And he. 623 00:25:50,340 --> 00:25:54,060 He was preaching about how sometimes when you're growing, it 624 00:25:54,060 --> 00:25:54,740 is painful. 625 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,080 You know, as you guys see, I didn't grow a lot when I was younger. 626 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,600 Okay, I did have one growth spur, but it was all at once, and 627 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:02,280 it was like shoop. 628 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,080 And it went up and then never grew again. 629 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,400 But I remember in that time growing really quickly, it was painful. 630 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,400 Like, my legs would hurt, and there would be things like that. 631 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:11,279 And there was. 632 00:26:11,279 --> 00:26:12,320 There was that sense of. 633 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:13,840 Of stretching and growing. 634 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,120 And I think sometimes as Christians, we don't want to necessarily 635 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:19,160 go through those trials because they're. 636 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:19,960 Sometimes they're painful. 637 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:20,800 Trials are painful. 638 00:26:21,260 --> 00:26:24,780 But oftentimes what happens is that in the midst of that moment 639 00:26:24,780 --> 00:26:29,660 of pain or difficulty comes the greatest lessons when we exercise 640 00:26:29,740 --> 00:26:31,020 and trust in faith. 641 00:26:31,100 --> 00:26:32,620 And that's what we see with David here. 642 00:26:32,620 --> 00:26:35,460 David's going to learn a lesson here in 1st Samuel, chapter 643 00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:39,820 21, that God has got his back, that God preserves him with Saul 644 00:26:39,820 --> 00:26:43,980 on his tail, with the King of Gath right in his face. 645 00:26:44,220 --> 00:26:46,260 I wish I could tell you that all the lessons that I've learned 646 00:26:46,260 --> 00:26:48,780 have been in a classroom, but that would be a complete lie. 647 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:50,960 Okay, I've learned a lot of lessons in the classroom. 648 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:52,680 I've learned a lot of lessons writing papers. 649 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,480 I've learned a lot of lessons taking tests. 650 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,840 But I'm going to tell you that some of the greatest lessons that 651 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,760 I've learned have not been with a professor sitting right in 652 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:00,120 front of me. 653 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,240 It's been in the middle of a trial with tears in my eyes, not 654 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:04,400 knowing what's going to come next. 655 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:05,400 I'm going to tell you that. 656 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,200 I'm going to tell you that there's been trials in my life that 657 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:09,560 I wasn't enjoying in the moment. 658 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,480 I wasn't giving glory to God in the midst of that pain. 659 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,960 But coming through that, we understand that that is where God 660 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,890 teaches us some of the greatest, most impactful lessons. 661 00:27:19,610 --> 00:27:23,970 I remember, like, three years ago in January, there was. 662 00:27:23,970 --> 00:27:25,330 There was a test for us. 663 00:27:25,330 --> 00:27:27,650 We had Silas sitting there, and we didn't know what was going 664 00:27:27,650 --> 00:27:28,250 to come next. 665 00:27:28,250 --> 00:27:30,610 And I. I think about that time. 666 00:27:30,610 --> 00:27:31,490 I think about that time. 667 00:27:31,490 --> 00:27:34,530 And I wish I could tell you that every moment when I was in the 668 00:27:34,530 --> 00:27:36,650 ICU I was saying, God's got this. 669 00:27:36,890 --> 00:27:41,490 But there were times where I was physically overwhelmed and weeping, 670 00:27:41,490 --> 00:27:43,250 thinking, well, I don't know what's going to happen. 671 00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:46,950 And, and, but I, I remember saying very clearly, lord, whatever 672 00:27:46,950 --> 00:27:49,310 you do, I'm going to have to give you glory. 673 00:27:49,790 --> 00:27:52,870 And, and I'm going to tell you here in that moment that there's 674 00:27:52,870 --> 00:27:56,710 lessons that I learned through that trial that I can take with me 675 00:27:56,710 --> 00:27:58,750 today and say, you know what, that's something that I'm going to 676 00:27:58,750 --> 00:27:59,429 grasp onto. 677 00:27:59,429 --> 00:28:02,470 I don't want to forget about that reliance on God in that moment. 678 00:28:02,470 --> 00:28:05,270 I don't want to forget about trusting in him no matter what the 679 00:28:05,270 --> 00:28:07,070 outcome was in that moment. 680 00:28:07,470 --> 00:28:10,550 And I'm going to tell you here tonight that I think all of us to 681 00:28:10,550 --> 00:28:14,040 some degree have to go through those trials in our life to get to 682 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,920 a place where we can go back and say, yes, I know that God is 683 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,680 going to get me through this today because he got me through this 684 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:20,320 yesterday. 685 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,200 But we're tempted to forget about yesterday. 686 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,920 We're tempted to forget about 20 years ago. 687 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,760 We look at the pain and suffering that we're in now and we 688 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,480 think, well, there's no chance we're going to get through it this 689 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:28,800 time. 690 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,920 But just as God is faithful yesterday, he's faithful today. 691 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,320 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 692 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,480 And I want to tell you that there are things in my life that 693 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,200 I would have not planned for. 694 00:28:41,690 --> 00:28:45,210 There are things in my life that I would say if I was writing 695 00:28:45,210 --> 00:28:47,130 the script I would not have happen. 696 00:28:47,290 --> 00:28:50,730 But I am thankful now that those things were able to happen 697 00:28:50,810 --> 00:28:54,610 because that was God's way of teaching and testing me and growing 698 00:28:54,610 --> 00:28:58,370 me and allowing me to get to a place in my life where I can learn 699 00:28:58,370 --> 00:28:58,770 a lesson. 700 00:28:58,770 --> 00:29:01,730 And sometimes, maybe you're not like me, but I'm hard headed. 701 00:29:01,730 --> 00:29:04,890 I need to have someone hit me over the head sometimes and let me 702 00:29:04,890 --> 00:29:06,090 know what's going on in my life. 703 00:29:06,980 --> 00:29:10,340 And so David comes to that place here where he asked the Lord, 704 00:29:10,340 --> 00:29:12,740 he says, lord, I need your mercy, I need your grace. 705 00:29:12,740 --> 00:29:15,260 And there's a, there's another passage of scripture and we looked 706 00:29:15,260 --> 00:29:18,820 a little bit in this passage last week, but Psalm 34. 707 00:29:19,300 --> 00:29:21,700 So if you go to Psalm 34, we're probably not going to go through 708 00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:23,060 the whole chapter here this evening. 709 00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:27,540 But this was a psalm of David when he changed his behavior before 710 00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:35,550 Himch who drove him away and then departed and or not Himlech 711 00:29:35,790 --> 00:29:38,630 the Achish which we see there in this case. 712 00:29:38,630 --> 00:29:39,630 And so this is. 713 00:29:39,630 --> 00:29:42,630 So the other one, the Psalm 56 was written in the time where he 714 00:29:42,630 --> 00:29:44,590 got abducted by the people there in Gap. 715 00:29:44,670 --> 00:29:46,430 And this is as he departs. 716 00:29:46,670 --> 00:29:49,830 And so he kind of comes to a place of like, this is the conclusion 717 00:29:49,830 --> 00:29:50,430 of the matter. 718 00:29:50,910 --> 00:29:53,390 And I think that there's a couple of verses here that we could 719 00:29:53,390 --> 00:29:56,270 really take with us as a lesson here. 720 00:29:56,750 --> 00:29:59,190 Verse one, he says, I will bless the Lord at all times. 721 00:29:59,190 --> 00:30:01,390 His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 722 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:07,680 You know, I, I think that sometimes when I hear other people 723 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,120 praising God, I, I, I'm thankful for that. 724 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:12,440 I'm excited for that. 725 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,720 But there was times in my life where I would hear people thanking 726 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,160 the Lord for something and I'd be like, instead of saying, well, 727 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,880 you know, yeah, I can look back at something in my life, I'd 728 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:22,160 be like, why isn't God doing that in my life? 729 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,920 Or why hasn't God showed me that yet? 730 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,160 And there's going to be times in our life where we are excited 731 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,440 about continuously praising God, and we should never get upset 732 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,470 with someone else's continually praising God. 733 00:30:31,470 --> 00:30:34,390 And we should be continually praising God with what we do in our 734 00:30:34,390 --> 00:30:34,550 life. 735 00:30:34,550 --> 00:30:36,950 And then he says in verse three, oh, magnify the Lord with 736 00:30:36,950 --> 00:30:37,150 me. 737 00:30:37,150 --> 00:30:38,990 Let us exalt his holy name together. 738 00:30:39,630 --> 00:30:43,710 So David's test and God's provision in the midst of the test 739 00:30:43,950 --> 00:30:47,510 allowed for David to affect others and to call others to a sense 740 00:30:47,510 --> 00:30:48,190 of worship. 741 00:30:48,430 --> 00:30:50,030 He says, I sought the Lord, verse 4. 742 00:30:50,030 --> 00:30:52,750 And he heard me and delivered me from all of my fears. 743 00:30:53,470 --> 00:30:55,750 And go on a little bit further there in verse nine, he says, oh, 744 00:30:55,750 --> 00:30:58,830 fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that 745 00:30:58,830 --> 00:30:59,390 fear him. 746 00:31:00,370 --> 00:31:05,810 You see that David here is allowing for God's work in his life 747 00:31:05,890 --> 00:31:09,490 to affect the way that he lives so that other people will see 748 00:31:09,490 --> 00:31:10,850 the way that God works. 749 00:31:11,010 --> 00:31:15,730 So ultimately, it's a proclamation of God's blessing and 750 00:31:15,730 --> 00:31:17,330 the blessing of faith in our life. 751 00:31:17,650 --> 00:31:21,090 You see, there's admonitions here, there's exhortations here. 752 00:31:21,490 --> 00:31:22,210 He says, come. 753 00:31:22,210 --> 00:31:24,130 Verse 11, Come, ye children, hearken unto me. 754 00:31:24,130 --> 00:31:25,810 I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 755 00:31:27,150 --> 00:31:29,070 So instead of the fear of man, he says, I want to teach you the 756 00:31:29,070 --> 00:31:29,670 fear of the Lord. 757 00:31:29,670 --> 00:31:32,190 One of the best things that we can instill in other Christians around 758 00:31:32,190 --> 00:31:34,190 us is understanding what the fear of the Lord is. 759 00:31:34,190 --> 00:31:37,590 A healthy understanding, a healthy awe, a healthy respect for 760 00:31:37,590 --> 00:31:38,430 who God is. 761 00:31:39,390 --> 00:31:43,150 He goes on to say in verse number 14 or 13, he says, keep thy 762 00:31:43,150 --> 00:31:45,230 tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. 763 00:31:45,230 --> 00:31:47,790 Depart from Evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. 764 00:31:47,790 --> 00:31:51,270 He's giving them all of these things that they're supposed to do 765 00:31:51,270 --> 00:31:53,960 in their life, but it's all tied up together with who, what God 766 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:55,640 has shown him in his own life. 767 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,680 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open 768 00:31:58,680 --> 00:31:59,640 to them that cry. 769 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,160 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, but to 770 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,560 them to cut the remembrance off of them of the earth. 771 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,960 And so he ultimately is saying this. 772 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,040 These are lessons that I have learned, and I want to pass these 773 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:12,040 lessons on to you. 774 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:13,360 That's what the Christian life is. 775 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:14,600 That's what discipleship is. 776 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,240 The Christian life should always be that, hey, I didn't go 777 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:18,160 through this trial for. 778 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,370 For just my own pain. 779 00:32:20,450 --> 00:32:22,770 I didn't go through this trial just for my own blessing. 780 00:32:22,850 --> 00:32:26,450 No, it's the trial that we learn the lesson that we can teach 781 00:32:26,450 --> 00:32:28,650 others so that they might not have to go through another trial. 782 00:32:28,650 --> 00:32:30,890 Or maybe they do go through a trial, but now we're able to tell 783 00:32:30,890 --> 00:32:32,770 them what to do in the midst of that trial. 784 00:32:33,810 --> 00:32:36,770 I think about 2 Corinthians, chapter one, where it talks about 785 00:32:36,770 --> 00:32:40,530 how God comforts us not so that we can just receive that comfort 786 00:32:40,530 --> 00:32:41,970 and be, you know, blessed. 787 00:32:42,130 --> 00:32:44,770 It is so that we're blessed, but it's also so that we can help 788 00:32:44,770 --> 00:32:47,740 other people find that comfort in the time of need. 789 00:32:48,060 --> 00:32:53,380 So in Psalm 34, he goes on and he says in verse 18, the Lord is 790 00:32:53,380 --> 00:32:58,500 nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save as such as 791 00:32:58,500 --> 00:33:00,060 be of a contrite spirit. 792 00:33:00,140 --> 00:33:03,980 David recognizes here that God is near those who have a broken heart, 793 00:33:03,980 --> 00:33:04,740 a humble heart. 794 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:07,740 David had to humble himself in that situation. 795 00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:08,940 He had to call out to God. 796 00:33:08,940 --> 00:33:10,180 He could not figure it out himself. 797 00:33:10,180 --> 00:33:11,260 He could not save himself. 798 00:33:11,590 --> 00:33:15,350 And he says, God saves those that have a contrite spirit, a humbled 799 00:33:15,350 --> 00:33:15,830 spirit. 800 00:33:16,150 --> 00:33:18,750 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth 801 00:33:18,750 --> 00:33:19,670 him out of them all. 802 00:33:19,830 --> 00:33:21,030 He keepeth all of his bones. 803 00:33:21,030 --> 00:33:22,070 Not one of them is broken. 804 00:33:22,070 --> 00:33:25,190 Evil shall slay the wicked, and they shall hate the righteous. 805 00:33:25,830 --> 00:33:28,310 And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 806 00:33:28,310 --> 00:33:31,550 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that 807 00:33:31,550 --> 00:33:33,350 trust in him shall be desolate. 808 00:33:33,830 --> 00:33:36,030 I want you to think about that last verse that he says there, verse 809 00:33:36,030 --> 00:33:37,270 22, because that is so. 810 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,440 So important for us to remember in our life. 811 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,960 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants. 812 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:43,040 God redeems us. 813 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:44,040 He's our Redeemer. 814 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:48,600 And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. 815 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:50,040 None, none of them will lack. 816 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,400 None of them will be hopeless. 817 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,320 All of us have a greater hope in something bigger than this world, 818 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,960 something bigger than our trial, something bigger than the 819 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,640 persecution, something bigger than all the fears that we might 820 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:01,320 face in our life. 821 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,040 He says, no, there's something bigger because we have the redemption 822 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:05,320 of the Lord in our lives. 823 00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:09,260 I, I know that there's so many people that live in this world looking 824 00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:09,820 for hope. 825 00:34:10,780 --> 00:34:11,420 Think about it. 826 00:34:11,420 --> 00:34:15,660 Think about, like, all of the things that people try to do to find 827 00:34:15,660 --> 00:34:16,340 hope in their life. 828 00:34:16,340 --> 00:34:19,740 There could be substances, it could be relationships, it could 829 00:34:19,740 --> 00:34:22,820 be money, it could be a job, it could be a hobby, it could be 830 00:34:22,820 --> 00:34:26,140 anything that people are trying to find some sort of substance 831 00:34:26,140 --> 00:34:29,260 and hope and satisfaction and purpose in their life. 832 00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:32,620 But what we see here as Christians is it's not about what 833 00:34:32,620 --> 00:34:33,820 we necessarily do. 834 00:34:34,190 --> 00:34:36,470 It's about who we are in and who our redeemer is. 835 00:34:36,470 --> 00:34:38,910 And so if we're redeemed by Jesus Christ, we have everything 836 00:34:38,910 --> 00:34:40,910 that we need and there's no reason to be desolate. 837 00:34:41,390 --> 00:34:45,190 I, I, I know that all of us want good things to happen. 838 00:34:45,190 --> 00:34:47,430 I want good things to happen not only to me, but to you. 839 00:34:47,430 --> 00:34:48,950 I want us all to be blessed. 840 00:34:48,950 --> 00:34:50,309 I want us all to have abundance. 841 00:34:50,309 --> 00:34:51,790 I want us all to have good health. 842 00:34:52,270 --> 00:34:57,670 But the reality is, is that in our life, if, if Abraham had to go 843 00:34:57,670 --> 00:35:04,310 through trials, if, if Joseph had to go through trials, if David 844 00:35:04,310 --> 00:35:08,150 had to go through trials, if, if any of the New Testament saints 845 00:35:08,150 --> 00:35:09,310 had to go through trials, guess what? 846 00:35:09,310 --> 00:35:11,150 We are going to have to go through trials. 847 00:35:11,150 --> 00:35:13,870 And if I got up here and just said to you, love God enough and 848 00:35:13,870 --> 00:35:16,270 you'll never have to go through a trial, that would be very 849 00:35:16,270 --> 00:35:16,830 misleading. 850 00:35:16,830 --> 00:35:19,670 But it is something that's being taught today that if you just 851 00:35:19,670 --> 00:35:21,390 have enough faith, everything will be okay. 852 00:35:21,390 --> 00:35:23,190 And if you're going through a struggle right now, it's probably 853 00:35:23,190 --> 00:35:24,430 because you've done something wrong. 854 00:35:24,910 --> 00:35:26,270 We know that that's not the case. 855 00:35:27,170 --> 00:35:29,050 We know that there's individuals in Scripture that had 856 00:35:29,050 --> 00:35:31,170 to go through trials for a lesson to be taught. 857 00:35:31,170 --> 00:35:33,290 Now, some of the trials that they're going through are because 858 00:35:33,290 --> 00:35:35,770 of their own sin, but some of the trials that they're going through 859 00:35:35,770 --> 00:35:38,290 are simply because it's a test from God in faith. 860 00:35:38,850 --> 00:35:41,410 Think about, think about that big test that Abraham had. 861 00:35:42,529 --> 00:35:43,890 You guys know the test? 862 00:35:43,890 --> 00:35:48,410 He took his only son Isaac up to the mountaintop of Moriah, and 863 00:35:48,410 --> 00:35:49,970 God says, okay, how much do you love me? 864 00:35:49,970 --> 00:35:53,010 Are you willing to commit to slay Your own son. 865 00:35:53,390 --> 00:35:56,110 That's a. I don't know about you guys, but that's one of those 866 00:35:56,110 --> 00:35:57,630 ones that I don't understand. 867 00:35:57,870 --> 00:35:58,990 I'm not there yet. 868 00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:04,910 But Abraham takes his son up that hill, and he commits. 869 00:36:05,310 --> 00:36:08,790 Now, we know in the book of Hebrews that he had so much faith 870 00:36:08,790 --> 00:36:13,950 that he said, even if I had to go through this and finish that sacrifice, 871 00:36:14,110 --> 00:36:16,750 he believed that God would raise him from the dead. 872 00:36:17,310 --> 00:36:18,910 That's the type of faith that is. 873 00:36:18,910 --> 00:36:20,030 Is admirable. 874 00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:23,100 That's the type of faith that he believed that God had a purpose 875 00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:26,540 and a plan for his son, that he would be a father of a great nation, 876 00:36:26,700 --> 00:36:29,100 and that God would take care of all of this. 877 00:36:29,820 --> 00:36:32,300 That's the type of faith that we're all supposed to strive for 878 00:36:32,300 --> 00:36:32,620 that. 879 00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:35,380 I don't know how this is all going to work, but God is asking 880 00:36:35,380 --> 00:36:37,980 me to do this, and I believe that he is going to make this all 881 00:36:37,980 --> 00:36:38,300 right. 882 00:36:39,260 --> 00:36:43,060 So David comes to that place in First Samuel, Chapter 21, where 883 00:36:43,060 --> 00:36:46,900 he evades there, that king in Gath. 884 00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:49,960 And now he's going to be going out, and David is going to depart. 885 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,880 He's going to escape to a cave, and he is going to. 886 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,560 In this next passage of scripture, some of you have heard 887 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,520 of the 400 men that come along with them, and that's going to be 888 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:02,160 the passage of scripture that teaches us about that. 889 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:04,600 But I won't go into that because that'll be Pastor Ethan's. 890 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:06,360 But what I will say is this. 891 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,600 If we could take any lesson with us tonight, it's that the reality 892 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,200 is, is that we're going to face things that are going to cause 893 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:15,640 us in our own selves. 894 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:16,290 Face fear. 895 00:37:17,170 --> 00:37:18,450 I don't know what makes you, like. 896 00:37:18,450 --> 00:37:19,530 I don't know what scares you. 897 00:37:19,530 --> 00:37:23,650 Like, you know, like, there's a spider in our house. 898 00:37:23,970 --> 00:37:26,410 My family freaks out, and I'm like, guys, it's just a spider. 899 00:37:26,410 --> 00:37:28,730 Just, you know, I don't like spiders. 900 00:37:28,730 --> 00:37:30,250 Kill the other bugs, but I can't. 901 00:37:30,250 --> 00:37:31,450 That argument doesn't work in our house. 902 00:37:31,450 --> 00:37:32,170 I got to take them out. 903 00:37:32,170 --> 00:37:32,970 Okay, so we take. 904 00:37:32,970 --> 00:37:33,290 We take. 905 00:37:33,290 --> 00:37:34,770 You know, it might be bugs, it might be. 906 00:37:34,930 --> 00:37:37,290 It might be a fear of, like, speaking in front of people. 907 00:37:37,290 --> 00:37:38,650 It might be the fear of isolation. 908 00:37:38,650 --> 00:37:40,610 It might be the fear of the dark, Whatever the fear is. 909 00:37:40,690 --> 00:37:41,330 Okay? 910 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:41,640 We. 911 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,120 We know that there's a lot of people that have fears, and. 912 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:46,360 And fears are a real thing as a human, that's something that we're 913 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:47,320 going to have to wrestle with. 914 00:37:47,720 --> 00:37:51,000 But at the same time, it's how we deal with that fear? 915 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,880 Do we allow that fear to be a snare in our life so that we don't 916 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:56,360 do the things that God has called us to do? 917 00:37:56,440 --> 00:38:01,560 Or do we allow that fear to be something that we see God's promises 918 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,080 come in and we shine the light of faith upon it and we see that 919 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,280 it's not going to overcome us, that we see that we can have the 920 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:07,560 victory. 921 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,410 And so really, the true test here this evening is how do we face 922 00:38:10,410 --> 00:38:11,010 our fear? 923 00:38:11,250 --> 00:38:14,530 Do we face it with our flesh or do we face it with our faith? 924 00:38:14,850 --> 00:38:17,610 And in so doing, if we face it, face it with our flesh, well, 925 00:38:17,610 --> 00:38:19,770 it's just going to be manifested more and more in our lives. 926 00:38:19,770 --> 00:38:23,730 But if we face it with faith, though, we might not have the situation 927 00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:24,769 removed from our life. 928 00:38:25,170 --> 00:38:27,210 Okay, I wish I could tell you that every time you face something 929 00:38:27,210 --> 00:38:29,250 with faith, that problem would just go away. 930 00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:30,530 But it's not always going to go away. 931 00:38:30,530 --> 00:38:33,930 But we can face that fear with faith and know that God is with us 932 00:38:33,930 --> 00:38:34,850 through the midst of that. 933 00:38:35,690 --> 00:38:36,330 Think about the. 934 00:38:36,890 --> 00:38:41,090 Think about the guys who were on the boat there in the Sea of Galilee, 935 00:38:41,090 --> 00:38:42,170 and they're gonna go across. 936 00:38:42,490 --> 00:38:44,130 Jesus makes a promise, right? 937 00:38:44,130 --> 00:38:44,930 He makes a promise. 938 00:38:44,930 --> 00:38:46,810 He says, like, we're gonna go to the other side. 939 00:38:46,810 --> 00:38:47,490 So that's enough. 940 00:38:47,490 --> 00:38:48,530 That's the word of God. 941 00:38:48,530 --> 00:38:50,130 The word of God, literally. 942 00:38:50,130 --> 00:38:51,650 Jesus says, we're gonna go to the other side. 943 00:38:51,650 --> 00:38:53,210 If Jesus says they're gonna go to the other side, they're gonna 944 00:38:53,210 --> 00:38:53,890 go to the other side. 945 00:38:53,890 --> 00:38:57,610 And then the storm comes and they're like, jesus, what's going 946 00:38:57,610 --> 00:38:57,810 on? 947 00:38:57,810 --> 00:38:58,290 They're mad. 948 00:38:58,290 --> 00:38:58,850 They're afraid. 949 00:38:58,850 --> 00:39:00,290 They're afraid that they're going to die. 950 00:39:00,290 --> 00:39:00,570 They. 951 00:39:00,570 --> 00:39:02,650 They forget the promise that Jesus made. 952 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:04,360 Jesus is there in the boat sleeping. 953 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:05,800 And they get mad that Jesus is sleeping. 954 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:06,720 Why is Jesus sleeping? 955 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:07,360 He needs to wake up. 956 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,880 He doesn't care about us and sometimes how we are in our life. 957 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:11,120 Why isn't God talking? 958 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:12,000 Why isn't God moving? 959 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:12,960 Why isn't God answering? 960 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:13,920 He doesn't love me. 961 00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:14,680 What's going on? 962 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,400 Well, obviously Jesus wakes up. 963 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,600 And then Jesus says, look, you guys don't have faith. 964 00:39:18,679 --> 00:39:19,920 I told you we're going to get to the other side. 965 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:20,960 And then he says, peace, be still. 966 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:21,560 And it's over. 967 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:23,800 Jesus never promises us. 968 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:24,760 And you guys heard the statement. 969 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,320 Jesus never promises us that we won't go through storms in our 970 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,160 life, but he promises us that he's going to be with us in the boat 971 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:30,840 through the storm. 972 00:39:31,130 --> 00:39:33,930 And at any moment that he wants, he can make it peace be still. 973 00:39:34,250 --> 00:39:36,330 And we have to trust in him in the midst of that. 974 00:39:36,890 --> 00:39:40,650 So I pray for you to understand that when that faith comes 975 00:39:41,450 --> 00:39:45,210 or that opportunity to express that faith comes, that we exercise 976 00:39:45,210 --> 00:39:48,810 it in trusting in the promises of God and not in the promises of 977 00:39:48,810 --> 00:39:49,130 man. 978 00:39:49,370 --> 00:39:52,650 Not in the fear of man, but ultimately in the fear of God. 979 00:39:52,650 --> 00:39:55,730 Trusting in His Word and trusting in the promises that he 980 00:39:55,730 --> 00:39:56,170 gives us.