The Lord Accomplishes His Purposes

Our sermon passage is the entire chapter of 1 Samuel chapter 23.

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

! So please turn to 1 Samuel chapter 23.

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

! I'll read these 29 verses trusting that it's God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient word.

It's God's very own word for you and me, his people.

1 Samuel chapter 23.

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

Then they told David, saying,

Look, the Philistines are fighting against Calah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.

Therefore 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 save Calah.

But David's men said to him,

Look, we are afraid here in Judah.

How much more if we go to Calah against the armies of the Philistines?

Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said,

Arise, go down to Calah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.

And David and his men went to Calah and fought with the Philistines,

struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock.

So David saved the inhabitants of Calah.

Now it happened when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech,

fled to David and Calah,

that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

And Saul was told that David had gone to Calah.

So Saul said,

Go and deliver him into my hand,

for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.

Then Saul called all the people together for war.

Go down to Calah to besiege David and his men.

When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him,

he said to Abiathar the priest,

Bring the ephod here.

Then David said,

O Lord God of Israel,

your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Calah

to destroy the city for my sake.

Will the men of Calah deliver me into his hand?

Will Saul come down 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 Calah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?

And the Lord said,

They will deliver you.

So David and his men,

about 600,

arose and departed from Calah

and went wherever they could go.

Then it was told Saul

that David had escaped from Calah,

so he halted the expedition.

And David stayed in the strongholds in the wilderness

and remained in the mountains of the wilderness of Ziph.

Saul sought him every day,

but God did not deliver him into his hand.

So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life,

and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a forest.

Then Jonathan, Saul's son,

arose and went to David in the woods

and strengthened his hand in God.

And he said to him,

Do not fear,

for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you.

You shall be king over Israel,

and I shall be next to you.

Even my father Saul knows that.

So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord,

and David stayed in the woods,

and Jonathan went to his own house.

Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah,

saying,

Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds in the woods,

in the hill of Makalah,

which is on the south of Jeshimon?

Now therefore, O king,

come down according to all the desire of your soul

to come down,

and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.

And Saul said,

Blessed are you of the Lord,

for you have compassion on me.

Please go and find out for sure,

and see the place where his hideout is,

and who has seen him there.

For I am told he is very crafty.

See therefore,

and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides,

and come back to me with certainty,

and I will go with you.

And it shall be,

if he is in the land,

that I will search for him

throughout all the clans of Judah.

So they arose,

and went to Ziph before Saul.

But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon,

in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

When Saul and his men went to seek him,

they told David,

therefore,

he went back,

he went down to the rock,

and stayed in the wilderness of Maon.

And when Saul heard that,

he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

Then Saul went on his side of the mountain,

and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain.

So David made haste to get away from Saul,

and Saul and his men were encircling David,

and his men to take them.

But a messenger came to Saul,

saying,

Hurry,

and come,

for the Philistines have invaded the land.

Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David,

and went against the Philistines.

So they called that place the rock of escape.

Then David went up from there,

and dwelt in the strongholds at En Gedi.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

The grass withers,

the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord,

every last word,

endures forever.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord,

we thank you for how you have acted

with such power throughout redemptive history.

We thank you for how you haven't let your actions go

forgotten by your people.

You've recorded them,

and you've poured out your spirit to interpret your word.

We thank you, Lord,

how every part of the Bible testifies

of your redemption ultimately in Jesus Christ.

We pray that by your spirit,

you'll help us to see who you are,

and what a wonderful, trustworthy,

sovereign Savior you are, Lord.

Please make this so clear to your people,

and we trust that you'll apply your truth to our lives

the way that each one needs it.

In this moment, we ask, Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, our congregation has experienced difficult losses

this week.

There's intense stress in many homes.

There are unexplainable frustrations

that we can feel stuck in,

at least for a while.

Not one of us can fully understand

why things happen the way they do.

No one can make complete sense

out of those hardest experiences

that each one of us have to go through

at different points in our lives.

And this leaves us with two options.

It has to be one or the other.

The first option seems to be the path of Saul.

We can attempt to compensate for our smallness

and our weakness by trying to control

what is not ours to control.

Isn't that what Saul's doing?

Or number two,

with the Holy Spirit as our teacher,

this seems to be what he's doing for David,

we slowly learn to trust in God's complete,

sovereign power and total providence

over every aspect of our lives.

1 Samuel 23 is a wonderful illustration of this,

isn't it?

The theme of this whole chapter

is captured in verse 14.

Would you look at that?

Look at the second part of verse 14.

We read that Saul,

the wicked king Saul,

who's trying to control everything

and unwilling to let God

put who he wants on the throne over Israel,

Saul sought David every day,

but God did not deliver him into his hand.

Picture being Saul,

what should we do today?

Let's do what we did yesterday.

Let's try to capture David.

That's all he can obsess about.

And then David, on the other hand,

doesn't even have that luxury.

I don't get to pick what I want to do today.

I know what I'm doing.

I'm running away from Saul.

Every day.

But verse 14 interprets for us

all that's going on in this chapter.

God did not deliver him over.

David was preserved.

David escaped.

David was even perhaps crafty.

But it was God delivering him,

preserving him.

The second London Confession of Faith,

chapter 5, paragraph 1,

declares, professes what the Scripture says.

God, the good creator of all things,

in his infinite power and wisdom,

does uphold, direct, dispose.

That's a word we've got to come back to.

All things for his glory and our good.

Amen?

So Noah Webster's Dictionary, 1828,

helped me with that word I didn't understand.

Dispose.

I would think of a garbage disposal.

You know, it's getting rid of something.

But what the word dispose means,

it's rich.

It's to arrange things in order,

to adapt them for a purpose,

to bestow them upon others,

to incline the mind toward a choice,

conduct, guide,

and authoritatively determine

a final outcome.

It's the perfect word.

God disposes.

He sovereignly governs all things

for the final outcome

for which he intended them.

So brothers and sisters in the Lord,

the question for us today,

and it's really just an opportunity

to marvel and praise God,

it's how the Lord accomplishes his purposes.

It's how the Lord accomplishes his purposes.

That's my message for you today.

Let's see it first in verses 1 through 5.

Observe in these verses

how the Lord accomplishes his purposes

through hearing and answering prayer.

The Lord accomplishes his purposes,

and it's his pleasure to do this

even by hearing and answering our prayers.

Isn't that so good of him?

Look at verse 1.

They told David, saying,

Look, the Philistines,

we haven't heard about them for a while

because it's all been about Saul

being the bad guy, chasing him down.

The Philistines are fighting against Calah.

Calah is a city of the Israelites,

and they are robbing the threshing floors.

Can you picture the Philistine army

coming with all their iron weapons?

We know the Philistines also brought with them

their own supply chain,

so they brought livestock with them

to feed their own army and troops.

There's a lot of them,

and they're just going around

like it's taking candy from a baby,

taking food off the threshing floors

of the people of Israel in the south.

I wonder why the Philistines

came up with this idea to attack now.

You remember how the last chapter ended?

David was among the Philistines, right?

But he was acting crazy,

and he wasn't with Saul anymore.

And why is David on the run,

not in Israel,

acting crazy over here in our country,

in Gath?

That means a few things here.

That means David is the one

who God has worked mightily through.

We keep getting chased out

and beaten by God through David,

but remember how easy it was when it was Saul?

Look at David now.

It's just Saul over there.

God doesn't have a pattern of helping that king.

Let's go back.

Let's take over.

Verse 2.

Notice what David does.

Saul's making his own decisions,

and two times now,

even before the ephod of Abiathar,

which we'll talk about,

that's not even with him yet.

But look in verse 2.

David inquired of the Lord.

And then look again at verse 3.

David inquired of the Lord once again.

This is the wonderful point of application briefly.

What do we do, Lord?

What would you have us do?

Remember, the Lord will accomplish his purposes,

and it's God's pleasure to do that

through hearing and answering our prayers.

And this attack by the Philistines

stirred this up in David, his servant.

This is part of his preparation

as a man in submission to God.

Think of how our Lord Jesus,

according to his human nature,

was a man of prayer.

He needed to be.

Mark 1.35.

Jesus got up a long while before daylight,

and he went out and departed to a solitary place,

and there he prayed.

Before big decisions in planting his church,

our Lord Jesus,

before calling the disciples in Luke 6.12,

he went out to the mountain to pray,

and continued all night in prayer to God.

Our Lord knew his dependence on God,

and how it's God's pleasure to accomplish his purpose

through hearing and answering prayer.

We even know that Jesus had a favorite place of prayer,

at least one.

He went there so often that Judas knew that's where he would be.

Luke 22.41 tells us,

Jesus withdrew from the disciples about a stone's throw,

and he knelt down and prayed,

saying,

Father, if it is your will,

yet not my will but yours be done.

And being in agony,

he prayed even more earnestly.

The Lord will accomplish his will,

his purposes in your life and in mine.

And one of the ways he's pleased to do that

is by us praying to him,

telling him what's hard,

agonizing,

even staying up all night praying,

as I know some of you have in the last few weeks.

Ephesians 6.18 encourages us,

as Christians, as a church,

we need to be people who are praying always,

with all prayer and supplication,

in the spirit,

being watchful to this end,

with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Colossians 4.2,

continue earnestly in prayer,

being vigilant in it,

and with thanksgiving.

So when David inquired of the Lord,

shall I go and attack the Philistines?

Verse 2,

the Lord said to David,

we don't know how,

we're not given that detail.

It's in prayer.

It's without the help of the priest.

He knew to go and attack the Philistines,

and save this city,

that has walls and gates,

called Calah.

Verse 3,

but David's men said to him,

look,

we're afraid here in Judah.

Remember how they were in the stronghold,

but God sent them back into the land of Judah,

into the forest,

and we didn't really know why.

We're afraid.

We're afraid.

How much more if we actually go on the offensive now?

Go to Calah,

and attack the Philistine armies.

So David inquired of the Lord once again in verse 4.

And the Lord answered him again.

The Lord said,

arise,

go to Calah,

for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.

It's not David winning the battle.

It's not his 600 men going to win it.

It's the Lord delivering the Philistines one more time into his hand.

So David and his men went to Calah

and fought with the Philistines,

struck them with a mighty blow

by the power of the Lord we know,

and took away their livestock while they were at it.

I'm sure they had a great barbecue that night.

These 600 men in hiding.

Notice the livestock is referring to the Philistines' livestock.

And so David,

by God's power,

saved the inhabitants of Calah.

because the Lord accomplished his purpose

through hearing and answering David's prayer.

The Lord hears your prayer,

and the Lord loves to answer our prayer

when it's in the mind of Christ,

when it's according to his will,

when it's for his glory.

Well, the second way in which the Lord accomplishes his purpose

is it really builds right off of what just happened.

It's even through selfishness,

betrayal,

and cruelty of men,

the Lord still accomplishes his purposes.

We see this over and over in Scripture, don't we?

Men are evil.

Men do bad things,

intending harm,

and the Lord still somehow uses it

to accomplish his ultimate purpose.

So our second point is this,

that even through the selfishness,

betrayal,

and cruelty of men,

the Lord accomplishes his purposes.

Verse 6 reads,

Now it happened when Abiathar,

the son of Ahimelech,

fled to David at Calah,

that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

The ephod in his hand

is what the priest would put on

over their linen garments.

We don't know a lot about this,

but there was something called the Urim,

I always say it wrong,

Urim and Thunim,

and it was a binary way of determining God's will.

Like a God-directed,

Holy Spirit-governed,

you know, disposed way of telling

yes or no to an answer.

And so the priest brings that along,

and remember,

Saul had left himself

without any way of seeking the will of God.

He killed all the other priests.

There's one priest left.

And even said,

it even made the connection with the language,

all those priests that Saul killed

were the ones wearing an ephod.

They're all dead now.

How can Saul seek the will of the Lord

in the ways that God has given them?

There's one who can seek the will of the Lord,

and it's David,

because the priest is with him.

In verse 7, we read this,

Saul was told that David had gone to Cala.

So here are spies everywhere,

and the word gets back to Saul.

So Saul said,

God has delivered him into my hand,

for he has shut himself in

by entering a town

that has gates and bars.

Remember on the Psalms

where David compares himself

to a caged bird?

This might be the inspiration

for that feeling.

In verse 8,

Then Saul called all the people together

for war

to go down to Cala

and besiege David and his men.

To besiege a town

is to take your vast army

and surround it on all sides,

cut off their water supply,

cut off their access to food,

and then just wait

and let them starve

and become weak and desperate

so that the people inside

that are besieged

will send a representative out

who will make a negotiation

and settle for

very unfavorable terms.

And Saul will now dominate

all of them.

And so of course

the people of Cala

know this is coming.

They will likely all die

or become enslaved to Saul

and have to pay him taxes

for the rest of their life

at an even higher rate.

Verse 9,

When David knew that Saul

plotted evil against him,

he said to Abiathar the priest,

Bring the ephod here.

One commentator

from a long time ago

observed,

No sooner was the ephod

brought to David

than he made use of it.

We have the Bible

in our hands.

Let us make use of it.

Let's encourage one another.

You're surrounded by believers

who trust the Word of God

as His breathed out will of God.

We know His will.

And to encourage one another,

to give everybody else a visual,

lift up your Bible

so everybody can see

these are people of the book.

And we turn to the Word of God.

We have it in hand

and we make use of it

to know the Lord's will.

Verse 10,

David said,

O Lord God of Israel,

your servant has certainly heard

that Saul seeks to come to Cala

to destroy the city

for my sake.

Remember,

he already was feeling

in the previous chapter,

all the priests died

for my sake.

This was my fault.

I can't have even more blood

on my hands.

Verse 11,

Will the men of Cala

deliver me into Saul's hand?

Now,

put your finger right there

in the middle of verse 11,

but look back at verse 5.

Remember what it says

in verse 5?

David saved

saved the inhabitants

of Cala.

These are the exact same people

he just saved

by God's power.

And so he,

you've got to double check

this one with the Lord.

Will Saul come down

as your servant has said?

O Lord God of Israel,

I pray tell your servant.

Verse 11,

the Lord said

he will come down.

Verse 12,

David said,

Will the men of Cala

deliver me

and my men

into the hand of Saul?

Rather than their whole city

being besieged,

just take them.

That's who you want.

Leave us alone.

The Lord said

they will deliver you.

Verse 13,

So David and his men

about 600 arose

and departed from Cala

and went wherever

they could go.

600 men

on the height

of a great victory

enjoying a great barbecue

now going.

Doesn't even say

where they went.

They just scattered.

They went

wherever they could go,

probably taking

a little bit of livestock

with them each.

And then it was told Saul

that David

had escaped from Cala

so he halted

the expedition.

We have to see

a shadow here

of the great

anointed king

that was to come.

The one

who came

for the purpose

of delivering

these people

that are helpless

from the real enemy,

the Philistines.

Their deliverer now

sent away from them

outside the city,

driven away

by the very people

he just came

to save.

But the Lord

through the selfishness,

betrayal,

and cruelty

of men,

the Lord still

accomplishes

his purposes.

And he did this

through the Lord

Jesus Christ.

You and I

are the betrayers.

We are enemies

of God.

You and I

have every seed

known to man,

as Robert Murray

Mishane said,

is in our heart.

We're capable

of any cruelty.

Left to ourselves,

we are the most

selfish people.

And yet,

we're the ones

the Lord Jesus

came to save.

He suffered

outside the city gate.

His disciples

were scattered.

That same imagery,

isn't it?

They went

wherever they

could go.

And yet,

our Lord did this

to accomplish

his purpose,

to show that

our salvation

is not anything

we have done,

nothing we contribute,

but it's all

of his grace.

Amen?

Number three,

when it seems

impossible for God

to accomplish

his purposes,

he reminds you

of his presence.

When it seems

impossible for God

to accomplish

his purposes,

he reminds you

the very best

comfort we could

have,

his presence

with us.

Remember,

David's men

are scattered.

We don't know

how much time

passes.

The very people

in Judah,

the city he delivered

by God's power,

betrayed him.

Where can I go?

How is God

ever going to

keep his promise

and establish

a kingdom

through me

like he said?

I don't even

want it anymore.

He can almost

hear him saying.

In verse 14,

we pick up again.

David stayed

in strongholds

in the wilderness

and remained

in the mountains

in the wilderness

of Ziph.

The focus here

in these verses

is to a lot

of geography,

topography,

and it's probably

because they came

to know these places

very intimately.

This was their

new home now.

From what I researched

about the wilderness

of Ziph,

Ziph was the name

of the city.

It's in the hill

country of Judah.

The city sat

on a high ridge

overlooking the

Judean wilderness

to the east.

The limestone

geology of this area

is honeycombed

with caves,

and these served

as natural bunkers

where David's men

could hide

in total darkness

while monitoring

Saul's movements

in the bright

valley below.

Remember,

Saul sought David

every day,

verse 14,

but God did not

deliver him

into his hand.

Verse 15,

so David saw

that Saul had come

out to seek his life.

Saul seeking his life.

One of the Psalms

inspired during this time

was Psalm 63, 9,

which mirrors

that phrasing exactly.

In that Psalm,

David wrote,

those who seek

my life

to destroy it.

shall go

into the lower

parts of the earth.

For eternity,

they will lose.

Verse 15,

David was in the wilderness

of Ziph

in a forest.

This forest provided

that coverage

and camouflage

for his 600 men,

making it even more

difficult for Saul's men

to spot them.

In this wilderness,

Psalm 63, verse 1,

Psalms 63:1

David cried out.

It gives us an insight

into what he and his men

might have been experiencing.

My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh longs for you

in a dry and thirsty land.

And look at how the Lord

answers David's prayer

from the wilderness,

crying out.

Verse 16,

Then,

Jonathan.

The Lord stirred his heart

in that moment

when David needed

the encouragement.

Jonathan,

Saul's son,

arose

and went to David

in the woods

and strengthened

David's hand,

how?

In God.

That's the type

of Christian friend

we need to be

for one another.

And that's the type

of Christian friend

no Christian can do

without.

Someone who the Lord

will stir their heart.

They'll come visit you

or call you

or text you

and they will strengthen

your hand in God.

The only source

of strength.

Verse 17,

Jonathan said to David,

Do not fear

for the hand of Saul

my father

shall not find you.

You shall be king

over Israel

and I shall be next

to you.

Even my father

Saul knows that.

I don't think

Jonathan is telling

the future here

serving as a prophet.

I think the Lord

has shown Jonathan

the promised

anointed one,

the redemption

of God's people,

the deliverer,

the shadow of Christ

is David.

And that grace

ministered to Jonathan

so much.

He said,

I'm by your side.

I'm with what God

is doing.

Jonathan didn't know

he would die in war.

He would never be

by David's side

as king.

But his heart

was with David.

And it's true,

the Lord has made

a promise

and Jonathan

is reminding David,

trust God's promise.

He will establish

his kingdom.

Do not fear

man.

Psalm 54

is another one

that God breathed out

through David

with this context.

David cries out

in verse 4,

Behold,

God is my helper.

The Lord

is with those

who uphold

my life.

It's Jonathan

here propping him up,

upholding his life

and he takes it

as a ministry

of the Lord.

The Lord

is with Jonathan

serving me

this way.

It's the presence

of the Lord

with me

through Jonathan.

I will freely

sacrifice to you

and praise your name,

O Lord,

for it is good.

And look at exactly

what they do

in verse 18.

The two of them

made a covenant

before the Lord.

they renew

this pledge

to show

God's

covenant faithfulness

one to another

in the presence

of God.

I will freely

sacrifice

to you,

O Lord.

I will praise

your name,

O Lord,

for it is good.

They worship

God together.

Verse 18,

So the two of them

made this covenant

but then David

stayed in the woods

and Jonathan

went to his own house.

And this is

where the scene

picks up.

It's back in Gibeah,

the land of the Benjamites,

not in Judah

where David's from.

And another twist

in our story happens.

In verse 19,

then the Ziphites,

the people of Ziph,

also from Judah,

go all the way up

to Saul

at Gibeah

to the land

of Benjamin.

They're going

out of their way

to tell Saul

where their fellow

man from Judah

is hiding.

Is David not

hiding with us

in the strongholds

in the woods?

This is betrayal

once again now.

He just got betrayed

by those

he delivered

by God's power

and now he's being

betrayed again

by his fellow

Judeans.

And they say to Saul,

come king,

come down

according to all

the desire

of your soul.

Instead of seeking

the will of the Lord,

it's man seeking

to do whatever

he thinks is right.

Follow your own soul,

Saul,

and our part

shall be

to deliver him

into the king's hand.

In Psalm 54,

the superscription

says it's a

contemplation of David

when the Ziphites

went and said

to Saul,

is David not

hiding with us?

David cried out,

save me,

O God,

by your name,

vindicate me

by your strength.

Hear my prayer,

O God,

give ear to the words

of my mouth,

for strangers

have risen up

against me.

These people of Ziph,

his fellow tribesmen,

he calls strangers.

Oppressors.

Oppressors

have sought

after my life.

Saul and the army

of Israel

are the oppressors.

They are the Egyptians.

They are the Philistines.

His countrymen

and former brothers

in battle

are his oppressors.

And why is it

they have not

set God

before them?

The very thing

Jonathan did.

Jonathan came close

and set God

before David

one more time.

And Saul and his army

and these people of Ziph

have forgotten God.

And David says,

they will receive

justice from God.

He will repay

my enemies

for their evil.

Cut them off

in your truth.

For he has delivered me

out of all my troubles.

My eye has seen

its desire

upon my enemies.

They have not

set God

before them.

They have not

known the joy

of being in God's presence

in the wilderness.

like he and Jonathan

just enjoyed.

Our confession of faith

says,

God providentially

superintends

all creatures

and things

from the greatest

even to the least

by his most wise

and holy providence

to the end

for which they were

created.

And God reminds us

he does this

because that's who

he is.

And when it seems

impossible for God

to accomplish

his purposes,

he is so kind

to always remind

you and me

just like he did David

that his presence

is with us.

And that's enough.

That's all we need.

Well, the fourth

and final observation

for today

is that looking back

on God's providence,

we will see

if not in this life

than in the life

to come,

we will see

how God always

accomplishes

his purposes.

And he gives us

these little moments

to pause

and look back

and point out

the ways in which

he was superintending

all things

for his glory.

We need to pause

and praise him

and celebrate

his faithfulness.

Looking back

on God's providence,

we will see

how he always

accomplishes

his purposes.

Verse 21,

Saul said,

Blessed are you

of the Lord

for you have

compassion on me.

He's buttering up

the Ziphites

that betrayed David.

Please go

and find out

where he is.

And then look

at verse 24,

So they,

these men of Ziph,

arose and went

to Ziph

before Saul.

The men who were

there really

helping David

and his men

to stay in hiding

are now coming back

as spies for Saul.

Because Ziph

was a city of Judah,

according to Joshua,

15, 24.

David likely expected

protection from these men,

but instead,

they used their

intimate knowledge

of these strongholds

to track David's

hiding places

and report them

to Saul.

The one way

in which he had

an Achilles heel

he could be trapped

was if the locals

would tattle on him.

And sure enough,

it's exposed.

David and his men

were in the wilderness.

Verse 25,

we read that

Saul and his men

went out to seek him

because the Ziphites

had told them

where they could find him.

And there's no way

that Saul

and all the army of Israel

that he summoned

to go help him,

there's no way

these 600 men

with the help

of the Ziphites

to aid Saul,

they can get away.

this wilderness

is described as

barren,

chalky hills

in the northeastern

Judean desert

that overlook

the Dead Sea.

Not a lot of wildlife here.

If you've been to the,

I think it's called

the paint caves

or something like that

in the southeast

of Colorado,

you can see this.

It's barren.

It's like a desert,

but then it drops down

into these ravines,

these little canyons,

and all kinds

of little places

to walk in and out

where the rock

has washed away.

And they tried

to keep their high ground

so they could see Saul

and his approaching army.

We read in verse 25,

when Saul and his men

went to seek him,

they told David,

and therefore he went

down to the rock

and stayed in the wilderness.

And when Saul heard that,

he pursued David

into this wilderness.

And then Saul

went on one side

of the mountain

and David and his

men went on the other side.

And don't picture

just a sloping hill

with grass.

I mean, picture

like rocky terrain.

Might have been

a steep wadi

or a ravine

on one side

and Saul on the other.

Because the terrain

was fractured,

some think that Saul

and his men

could even see

where David was,

but they couldn't

get to him quickly

of all the climbing

you had to do.

So David made haste

to get away from Saul,

for Saul and his men

were encircling David

and his men

to take them.

He really seems trapped now.

He's been found out.

And there's way too many

and even going back

and forth around this mountain

isn't enough.

They're coming

encircling on both sides.

And then in verse 27,

look what happens.

A messenger came to Saul.

God's timing and providence

is so perfect.

And he said,

hurry and come

for the Philistines

have invaded the land.

Remember how verse 1

of this chapter started?

The Philistines

were invading the land.

And this is how it ends.

And that's what God uses

to spare his anointed one.

Verse 28,

therefore Saul returned

from pursuing David

and went against

the Philistines,

the real enemy.

Matthew Henry

had this wonderful observation.

Now we find

why the prophet Gad

in the previous chapter,

remember,

gave David

this derine direction

and ordered David

to go into the land

of Judah,

into the woods of Judah.

And the men said,

no, it's more dangerous there.

Now we find out

why God was doing that

in hindsight.

It was so that

since Saul neglected

the public safety

of Israel,

God would still

take care of his people,

notwithstanding

the ill treatment

that was given him

for he must render

good for evil

and therein

be a type of him

who not only

ventured his life

but laid down his life

for those

who were his enemies.

God was overseeing

the salvation

of all Israel.

Saul wasn't using

the army of Israel

to fight off the Philistines.

It was David

and his men

that went and did it.

And God used

David as a bait

to bring Saul

and his armies

to Judah

where the Philistines

were going to invade.

And here now

we have a full army

and God turns them

to fight off

the Philistines.

See how the king

has no power.

It's God

who steers

the heart of the king

by his sovereign decree.

And they called

that place

the rock of escape.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

super intends

everything good

for his people

in the same way.

1 Corinthians 10, 13

reminds us

no temptation

must overtake you.

God is faithful.

He will not allow you

to be tempted

beyond what you are able

but with the temptation

will also make way

of escape

that you may be able

to bear it.

There may be times

in life

where the temptation

is so great

the suffering

the despair

is so great

and it feels like

being encircled

on all sides

and maybe betrayed

and just stuck

like there's

no hope for me

on my own.

And God promises

he will always

make a way

of escape.

He will always

spare and protect

and preserve

for his ultimate good

so that we do not stumble

and fall into sin.

And God gets

all the glory

for sparing us

in that.

We read in verse 29

then David went up

from there

and dwelt

in the strongholds

of En Gedi.

David was in these rocks

these strongholds

but more importantly

he was in God's hand.

God had proved that

over and over.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

does the same

for his church.

He proves

that we can trust

God.

We see the infinite

wisdom of God

in full display

on the cross

of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus

on the cross

he became the rock

the cornerstone

the foundation.

Like the hymn says

the rock of ages

cleft

struck

broken open

for me

to have a hiding place

in him

so we can hide

ourselves in Jesus.

He is the only

solid rock

the only refuge

in him alone

are we safe.

From our confession

one last time

God

sovereignly

governs

all

that comes

to pass

according

unto his

infallible

foreknowledge

and the free

immutable counsel

of his own will

to the praise

of the glory

of his wisdom

power

justice

infinite goodness

and mercy.

Brothers and sisters

we need to trust

God.

We need to trust

our loving

sovereign

Lord.

We need to trust

that he is arranging

all things

that happen

in purposeful

order.

He bestows

to each

whatever suits

his pleasure

which is for

your good

and for his glory.

He inclines

each mind

toward the choice

that serves

his grand

design.

He is conducting

guiding

and he will

authoritatively

determine

the final

outcome.

Amen.

Trust

the Lord.

He will

accomplish

all his

purposes

in your life

and mine

and in his

church.

All glory

be to God.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord

our faith

is weak.

We believe

but please

help our unbelief

help us

to trust

you

fully

Lord

to know

your presence

with your people

so that we

will one

day

by the

ministry of

your spirit

even if it's

in glory

be able to

look back

on your

providence

and see how

you always

accomplish

your purposes.

You are

always faithful.

We must

trust you

always.

Please help us

to do this

Lord by your

power

by Christ's

active obedience

being worked out

in our lives

by the powerful

ministry

of the Holy

Spirit we pray.

Amen.