Cave Behavior

All right, you guys may have a seat.

It's my favorite sound. There's no more sound

appropriate for Mother's Day, I guess.

By the way, shout out to the moms, the G GS, the meemaws, all

of those surrogate mothers, mothers in waiting, mothers yet

to come. How y'all doing?

Well, last night we took a busload of teenagers up the

cranberry and I have not recovered.

But as you can imagine, since it's Mother's Day, there's only

one kind of appropriate sermon to give, and that's one that

mothers can relate to. And so this morning, we're going

to talk a little bit about settling conflicts at rest

stops. OK, But road trip season is

almost here. And Can you believe it's almost

summer already? I cannot, but I'm really looking

forward to some time on the road this summer.

But I'm also looking forward to some time going off road.

Some of you may have already planned some vacation time and

are are already nervous about how much more expensive gas is

and how it might impact your budget.

But if you are a seasoned traveler, perhaps you have your

rest stops planned out really well.

And if you are a pro traveller, not only do you have your AAA

trip ticket, but you know exactly how far it is to the

promised land of rest stops. You have even perhaps

specifically planned around the rest stop, and the joy is in the

destination, perhaps, but it is sure also about the stops along

the way, especially if you end up here.

That, my friends, is a Bucky's. Have you been?

You roll off the Interstate into a neon lit Kingdom where a

Beaver in a bow tie reigns supreme and the aroma of smoked

brisket slings you into instant euphoria.

The vibe is like a festival. Shelves are treasure maps lined

with delectable treats. Buttery kalaches, I don't even

know how to say that. And jerky that bites back with a

wicked grin each find daring you to taste it right there, sticky

fingers and all. Although you must go pay for it.

And Beaver Nuggets are the best $4.99 you've ever spent.

And the staff? They smile like they were

trained at Chick-fil-A. That's right, I love Chick-fil-A

too. It's the Lord's chicken and a

deli counter where the brisket falls apart like slow jam, and

this place turns any detour into the plot twist of your dreams.

Fill your cooler with contraband snacks, snag a Beaver branded

memento, and drive off knowing that your road trip will be

remembered forever. All of that's great, but the

thing that I care the most about is the bathroom.

If you read the blog this week, you already know that there's an

undercurrent connected in this week's message through restroom

propaganda. Angel Soft is the best.

And you know, food you can find just about anywhere but an Angel

soft stalked sanctuary on the road.

They are one in a million. And at Bucky's, the restrooms

are so pristine they feel like a cathedral of comfort, a shelter

from the storm, a refuge for the weary.

Nothing can get to you there, and for a moment everything in

the world is in its place. But if you're not near a

Bucky's, you got to hold it, and you might as well be in a

dystopian novel for the next 262 miles.

The amount of resilience to hang on is something I still need to

acquire, and there's nothing more dangerous than an unplanned

rest stop because you never know what you're going to get.

Let's just say there's a big difference between Jane Lew, WV

and GEM, West Virginia and they're so close that if you

just go by name and you don't make the right choice, you end

up in a gem of a situation in Gem, West Virginia.

Am I standing here today? Let's you know that I survived

that encounter. There's a story.

I won't get into it though, but I will forever carry with me the

scars of Gem, West Virginia. And if I ever write a book, it

will be unsure to include that gem.

But this morning we are going to see one such encounter at a rest

stop. This encounter is going to turn

out maybe differently than we might expect.

But first, let's pray. Lord, we are so fired up this

morning. Brothers Titus and Brother Sal

sharing their faith. Let us respond continually in

worship as we dive into your word and all God's people said

so this is in first Samuel 24 verse one when Saul returned

from following the Philistines, which means he was trying to I

mean, he was fighting them really.

He was told, behold, David is in the wilderness of N Getty.

Now this is a long shot from the Dead Sea and as you can tell,

it's pretty rocky and then roundabouts where the water

would be is where the green is right?

This was considered paradise level, right, considered

paradise level. And so Saul had finished up

following and fighting with the Philistines and turn back to

focus on trying to capture David.

And he gets a hot tip that David is in the wilderness of Engetti.

And then Engetti is this Canyon that runs westward from the from

the Dead Sea. And you can see how beautiful

that looks and at different spots, there's waterfalls,

right? There's Beaver Nuggets, there's

all this kind of fun stuff in Engetti, right?

And and so this is an an exceptional place, one to try to

lose somebody in, but also to sneak up on somebody because

there's caves everywhere. Verse 2 Then Saul took 3000

chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men

in front of the wild goats rocks.

This is Gem, West Virginia. And so, I mean, but, but have

you ever seen how crazy goats can be?

Like, they're nuts. They will climb just about

anything without any real sense of danger.

And in this rocky, craggy kind of area, it's well known that

the goats are just doing their thing, running around.

And so this is where the pursuit picks up and it's getting pretty

intense. And as they are pursuing David,

nature calls Saul, and you Better Call Saul verse 3.

And he came to the sheepfolds, by the way, where there was a

cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself.

The Bible is about real people with real situations.

God uses all of our lives, in case you were wondering, for His

purposes and glory. And another translation puts it

this way. Saul went in to attend to his

needs. So he had this group of people

with him. And it's highly likely what did

they do? They stayed outside and he goes

inside. Now this cave, right?

When you think of a cave, maybe your experience is in the

Highlands, right? You can just kind of spelunk

around. It is something like that.

The Cave that is being described is actually quite large and

here's why we know that continuation of verse 3.

Now David and his men we're sitting in the in the in most

parts of The Cave, David 600 men roughly pretty big cave.

So Saul went to the Bucky's of caves.

I mean, what are the odds, right, of all these caves that

are in that area? 1 David's hiding in that one,

and two, Saul decides that's where he wants to go.

But it says now David and his men were sitting in the inmost

parts of The Cave. And the men of David said to

him, Here is the day that the Lord said to you, Behold, I will

give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him, as it

shall seem good to you, lock that sentence up and put it in

your back pocket. Then David arose and stealthily

cut off a corner of Saul's robe. I can imagine those guys hiding

and David's like of all the caves and all the wildernesses

in all the desert he walks into. Mine got him.

And David's men sure think so. They're trying to talk him into

like, hey, this is it. This is our opportunity.

We can end this now if you go take him out.

And so David sneaks over and chops off some of Saul's robe.

Verse 5. And afterward David's heart

struck him because he had cut off the corner of Saul's robe.

He almost instantly regretted this.

He said to his men. So he he gets the piece and he

takes it back to the guys who were hiding.

And this is what he says. He said the Lord forbid that I

should do this to my Lord. Saul's been after him for some

time. The Lord's anointed to put out

my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.

There's a lot going on right there.

So David persuaded his men and like, Can you imagine?

Like they're like quiet guys, We're not going to do this.

But he persuades his men with these words and they and he

says, I, I don't permit you, like, don't take it into your

own hands to go attack Saul. And then Saul rose up and left

The Cave and went on his way. So this is like perfect

scenario, right? And David doesn't cash in.

Why? Because he had a crisis in his

heart as much as he could have pursued revenge.

This is the same guy that's always talking about like we

just heard in Psalm 51, Like, hey, take my sin and get rid of

it. Like David is a conflicted man

and a lot of times he acts impulsively, right?

But then in that moment, he comes to grips with what he had

done, and you can see God working in real time in his

heart. And Saul was able to walk away

clean and alive. Verse 8.

Afterward David also rose and went out of The Cave and called

after Saul, My Lord the king. And then Saul looked behind him,

and David bowed his face to the earth and paid homage.

This was a major risk. Why?

Because Saul has been looking for David, and Saul wants to get

rid of David. And then he sees David by

himself. Opportunity knocks.

Just because David had a change of heart in that cave doesn't

mean Saul. One knows about it. 2 cares.

Three, would it impact him if he knew?

But David, and this is kind of a commentator's speculation here

is the David. He says that David is really

banking on the fact that God told him that eventually he

would be king. So that's where the boldness

comes from. And he uses this opportunity to

do something different. And here's what he says, verse

9. And David said to Saul, why do

you listen to the words of men who say, Behold, David seeks

your harm, behold this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave

you today into my hand in this cave, and he told me to kill

you, but I spared you that. Remember that sentence I told

you to put in your pocket? It said does what seems good to

you. That's not the same thing as he

told me to kill you, right. So even in David's trying to do

the right things, he's like, I don't always get the details

right. And so you have he's appealing.

And he said I will not put my hand against my Lord, for he is

the Lord's anointed. See my father?

See the corner of your robe in my hand.

So it's one thing to say, hey, I could have got you.

It's another thing to say, hey, I got receipts.

I got receipts for by the fact that I cut off the corner of

your robe and did not kill you. You may know and see, know and

see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands.

I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take

it. And may the Lord judge between

me and you. May the Lord avenge me against

you, but my hand shall not be against you.

As the proverb of the ancients says, Out of the wicked comes

wickedness. But my hand shall not be against

you. After whom has the King of

Israel come out? After whom do you pursue after a

dead dog? A flea?

May the Lord therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and

you, and see to it, and plead my cause, and deliver me from your

hand. What a speech.

And you see in real time the best of David and maybe even

some not of the best of him on display.

He is literally learning how to be king right here.

Think about it. This is on the job training and

this is the kind of king that God would desire him to be.

The kind of king who knows what is possible, but in the end does

what is right by the Lord. David understood that he was not

to kill the king, but he most certainly understood that he

could approach him. And you also see Saul, I mean,

imagine what he's doing like maybe he maybe he's like this.

And as David is talking. Perhaps some memories are

flooding back to him. Maybe this has happened before

this cut robe. It's like God is sending a

message specifically to Saul that only Saul would get.

So this robe is a picture of Saul's authority and and through

this God said and first Samuel 15, if you go back, there's

another instance where there's talking about a robe being cut.

It says I, I am cutting away your royal authority.

And some are Samuel 15. The prophet Samuel rebukes Saul

for his hard hearted disobedience.

And in his distress, Saul tried to keep Samuel from leaving.

And he grabbed his robe and he wouldn't let it go.

And guess what happened? He kept going.

He wouldn't let go. What ends up in his hand?

A piece of robe. Saul was left holding a torn

piece of Samuel's robe. And then Samuel says to him, the

Lord has torn the Kingdom of Israel from you today and has

given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

And now when David confronts Saul with the with a torn robe,

I have to believe that's all, remembers this.

I have to believe it. And God's message to him in that

moment is loud and clear, and the heart melts.

These seeming enemies are brought face to face.

And it could have went one way. It could have went another way,

but it's going a third way. Verse 16, as soon as David had

finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, is this your

voice, my son David? That's not enemies words.

And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

He said to David, You are more righteous than I, For you have

repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.

And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me,

in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe?

So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to

me this day. And both David and Saul's hearts

grew 3 times that day. Verse 20 And now, behold, I know

that you surely or shall surely be king, and that the Kingdom of

Israel shall be established in your hand.

This is where the negotiation happens.

Swear to me, therefore, by the Lord, that you will not cut off

my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out

of my Father's house. And David swore this to Saul.

Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the

stronghold, which was a another way of just saying he went back

to The Cave. Saul has come to grips with the

ultimate destination of his trip in the oath swearing.

Saul simply wanted the same kind of promise from David that he

himself made to Jonathan in First Samuel 20.

I suggest you look that up at some point.

Homework. And in that day when 1 royal

house replaced another, it was common for the new royal house

to kill all the potential rulers from the old royal house.

And Saul knew that one day David and his descendants would rule

over Israel. And he wanted a promise from

David that when that happens, he won't be customary.

And David swore that oath. And Saul departed, and David

remained back. The human part of this story is

I still have a little bit of doubt about Saul.

Like, was he really, was he really that upset?

And that might be why David doesn't just go like, he goes

back to his men. Like, maybe there's still some

caution there because after all, he's been wanting to kill you

this whole time. What would you do with that?

From either character's perspective, you have a conflict

with someone and they are coming for you, and then somehow you

gain the advantage and they're dropped into your lap and you

have the moral high ground and you have the ability to just

simply end it. What would you do?

I have no doubt that we've all been in either Saul or David's

place before, and I have indeed been both, and I'm a better Saul

than I am a David. But God requires us to be both

of them. Hearts that are able to be

changed because He does all the work.

Have you noticed this? He orchestrated this in such a

way that neither man could claim ownership of the situation.

But in both of their reactions we see that God moved them both

towards His desired outcome. Not one, not two, but the three.

This is an amazing case of the destination, which is far off is

on equal footing with the journey to get there.

It was at a rest stop in and Getty this paradise in the

desert that God worked in their lives in a rather significant

way. And do not be surprised if God

decides to use Gem West Virginia in your life to help you become

more of who you need to be for who you are when you arrive.

Your unplanned rest stops and life are indeed planned.

Your job, my job is not to be the one who knows all the

details about where we're going, but it's the trust, the one

who's taking us on the trip. And as much as there might be

uncertainty on the road and you might be attempted to ask Dad,

are we there yet, his response might be now there's still 262

miles to go. You can hold it.

Let's pray, Lord, you have shown us mercy.

That is uncalculable. It is unbelievable, It is

amazing. We ask, as we continue to

worship you this morning, that we would be front and center,

bringing everything we have to your feet, that we might

understand that we are forgiven, and that while we were still

sinners, you died for us. You redeemed us, You restored

us, and you've purposed us so that we might go into all the

world sharing the good news of our great Savior.

And it's your name we pray. Amen.