What Are You Telling Yourself? (Pastor Eric Phillips of Midtown Baptist Temple)

He he commanded them to commit mass murder suicide.

And this of involved over 600 adults and roughly 300 children.

Now, what you need to know is that this tragedy didn't begin with poison.

Now, this was the that was pretty much the method of death, is that they all uh took this poison and and these parents they gave their children this this poison and they all died.

Um but this began, it didn't begin with poison, it began with ideas.

Cult leader Jim Jones slowly convinced his followers that they couldn't trust their family, they couldn't trust the media, they couldn't trust the government.

He convinced them that they couldn't leave because the outside world wanted to destroy them, and he alone possessed the truth.

And so here's what I want you to understand.

What he did was he captured their thinking.

And in capturing their thinking, he controlled their behavior.

These parents willingly gave poison to their own children because they believed a lie, because they believed his lies.

And perhaps this seems like a very extreme example, but the subject that we're gonna discuss this morning is mission critical.

You know, when I was learning to grow, follow the Lord and growing in my walk with the Lord, one of the things that I would hear the old saints say is that the battle is for the mind.

Anybody ever heard that that phrase before?

The battle is for the mind.

Um and here's what that means: it means that if Satan can control what you're thinking, he can control everything else.

If he can control what's going on in your mind, he can control everything else.

Because everything that you do in your life is an outpouring of what's going on up here in your mind.

And so I want to look at a story in the Old Testament that's gonna help illustrate just how much this truth matters.

So we're gonna spend some time examining the life of King David.

And really we're gonna focus on some of the events leading up to him taking the throne as king.

And so we need to set the stage because I want to make sure everybody has the background and the context of what happened and how David um got to the throne.

And my I was sharing this with a brother uh just a couple days ago.

You know, some of my favorite passages of scripture are the stories of David uh after he was anointed king and that that process of him uh that he had to go through in order for him to become king.

And so we're gonna take time and look at that.

So now, if you don't know the history of Israel, before the time of the kings, Israel had judges, okay?

And you can read about that in the book of Judges.

Some of you may know the story.

Well, what happened is they the Israel got to a place to where they were, they didn't like the judges, they didn't like the way that the judges were acting, and so the the Israel comes to uh the prophet Samuel.

Go with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 8.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

Israel comes to the prophet Samuel and they ask him for a king.

And the problem is that they're asking for a king ahead of God's timing.

It was in God's plan to give them a king, but this was not the time for a king.

And so we see this in 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 3, uh speaking about Samuel's sons, and his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment.

1 Samuel 8:3

Um verse 4, 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 4.

1 Samuel 8:4

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel unto Ramah and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways.

Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

So they asked God for a king, and because they're asking for it outside of God's timing, God warns them about the type of king that they would get.

So in 1 Samuel chapter Samuel chapter 8, drop down to verse 10.

Um, look at what Samuel says.

And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that will reign over you.

He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, to be his horsemen, and shall run before his chariots, and he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and will set them to his ear, his ear to the ground, and reap his harvest, to make his instruments of war, and instruments of this his chariots, and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers, and will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive yards and the best of them, and give them to his servants, and he will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers and to his servants, and he will take your men servants and your maidservants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your sheep and it and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king, which ye sh which ye shall have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

Okay, so he God gives them full warning.

Hey, you're asking for a king, you're asking for it outside of my timing, and this is what's going to happen.

And look at their response in verse 19.

Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations.

And so God grants their request, and you see that in verse 7.

Uh he tells Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, they have rejected me, that I should reign over them.

And you see it again in verse 22.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voices and make them a king.

And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go every man into his city.

And so the people wickedly ask God for a king, and God grants their request.

Now, I don't want you to miss the lesson here, okay?

Uh there's something important that I want you to see.

Oftentimes we perceive God as being the one that's keeping us from the fun things, like, oh, keeping us from the best things, and God is just holding out.

When in reality, God keeping us from certain things is actually a mechanism of his restraining mercy.

I am so glad that there have been seasons in my life where God didn't give me what I wanted, where God kept me from what I was wanting.

In his mercy, God at times doesn't allow you to have the thing that you want so much.

But this is the next key point.

This is the other side of it.

This is the first key point for study.

Be careful because sometimes you getting exactly what you want is because of God's judgment in your life, not his favor.

Sometimes you getting exactly what you want is because of God's judgment in your life, not his favor.

You see that over in Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 1 and verse 18.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Look at what it says.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

So it's talking about the wrath of God being revealed.

Verse 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.

Okay, so he's saying, Hey, you know God exists, because verse 20, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Verse 21, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

And at first twenty-three, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man and to birds and to four footed beasts and creeping things.

So it is a rejection of God that creates the idolatry.

Idolatry is not a search for truth.

Idolatry is a rejection of truth.

And that's what that passage is telling you.

But look at what happens.

What does it say God does?

As a result of their rejecting the knowledge of God, look at what God does.

Verse 24.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness.

God says, Hey, you want it?

Okay, I'm gonna give it to you.

I'm just gonna give you over to it.

If that's what you want, I'm giving, I'm giving, I'm gonna let you do it.

Verse 24, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

Amen.

And here it happens again, verse 26.

For this cause God gave them up to vow affections.

Okay, if that's what you want, if that's what you want to do, I'm giving you over to it.

For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat.

Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.

Okay, verse 28, here it is again.

God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.

And it goes on from there.

And so let's endeavor to guard our hearts so that we don't find ourselves being given over to the sinful things that we want.

Because that's what we're seeing, that's what we saw that took place in 1 Samuel chapter 8.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

Israel wanted a king, God told them what was gonna happen.

If they went that route, they said we want it anyway, and God gives it to them.

And that's a mechanism of God's judgment.

So now Saul becomes that king.

Okay, if you just follow the story, Saul becomes that king and he and he does everything that God told him he was gonna do.

He was a wicked king.

Uh but ultimately Saul's wickedness resulted in God rejecting Saul.

Okay, so let's go look at that real quick.

1 Samuel chapter 15.

1 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 11.

1 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

Samuel, uh God is talking to uh Samuel and he says, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me.

We already knew that was going to happen, and hath not performed my commandments, and it grieves Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night.

So Samuel gets this news, and he's he's grieved by it, and he cries to the Lord.

And um now he's got to go deliver this news to Saul that God has rejected him as king.

And so you just drop down to verse 26.

Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected thee from being king over Israel.

And Samuel turned about to go away, and he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent, and Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to his neighbor, uh, to a neighbor of thine that is better than thou.

Okay, so this is a bad day for Saul, because he's basically terminated.

Okay, he finds out that he's big, that God is going to replace him.

But what I want you to notice, and you see this as you study scripture, even though God rejects King Saul, he doesn't immediately remove him from his kingship.

As a matter of fact, it's probably another seven to ten years that transpires before Saul is actually removed from being king, even though God rejected him.

And then you fast forward, uh, just go over to that next chapter.

So God rejects Samuel, or he rejects Saul, uh, and then David gets anointed to be king, okay?

But he's it happens in secret.

It's not this big fanfare that you might expect.

Uh David gets anointed to be king.

So let's just look at that real quick.

1 Samuel chapter 16, verses 1 and 2.

1 Samuel 16:1

And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?

Fill thine horn with oil and go, and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons.

And Samuel said, Now Samuel's scared to go, okay, because he knows Saul is still still in power.

How can I go?

If Saul, if if Saul hear it, he will kill me.

And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I'm come to sacrifice to the Lord.

So so so uh he gets direction on how to go about it.

Go do your sacrifice, but you need to anoint him.

Uh 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse 12, look at what happens.

1 Samuel 16:12

And he sent and brought him.

Now he was ruddy.

Uh ruddy means he was uh David was a redhead.

I don't know if you know that, but that's what ruddy means.

Okay.

So he was uh he was ruddy and withal of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to.

And the Lord said, Arise and anoint him, for this is he.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren.

So that's it.

It's just David and his brothers.

He gets anointed, nobody else knows.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

Okay.

So some of you know the story.

Um things start off well, okay.

Next thing you know, God works it out so that uh David finds himself in service to King Saul.

So God begins to put the pieces together, but it doesn't happen immediately.

So you look at verse 14 in 1 Samuel 16.

But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit of the Lord troubled him.

And Saul's servant said unto him, Behold, now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

Drop down to verse 17.

And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well and bring him to me.

So even Saul knows that music has the ability to change the mood.

Right?

Worship has the ability to change the atmosphere.

Um, and that's not this is that's not even necessarily part of the lesson this morning, but man, uh getting into worship so that you can get into the presence of God, it it definitely has the ability to change the atmosphere.

So verse 18, then answered one of the servants and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is a cunning and playing, and a mighty man, a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, prudent in matters and comely and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.

Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

And Jesse took an ass laden with bread and a bottle of wine and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

And so, next thing you know, David finds himself in service to King Saul.

Verse 23, and it came to pass when an evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp and played with his hands, and Saul was refreshed as well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

And so some of you know things started off well, but things quickly went astray, okay?

So, fast forward, uh you get this this giant, Goliath, one of the Philistines, okay?

Uh, and uh everybody's afraid to go out against him.

The the armies of Israel, they're afraid to go out against them, but David is willing to do it, okay?

Uh and he goes out and he he kills Goliath, and it's a mighty victory, okay?

And so what God is doing is he's beginning to magnify David in the eyes of the people of Israel, but David still hasn't taken the throne yet.

Well, what happens is that Saul gets jealous.

1 Samuel chapter 18.

1 Samuel 18 · chapter mention

Look at what happens.

1 Samuel 18, and it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the Goliath, the giant Goliath, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with the tabrats and with joy and with instruments of music.

And when the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him.

And he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands.

What can he have more but the kingdom?

Well, that's coming too, okay?

He's getting ready to have the kingdom.

It's gonna take some time.

Uh but look at what it says in verse 9.

And Saul eyed David from that day forward.

Saul eyed David from that day forward.

And so what you see is what we're gonna see is David is gonna spend the next seven to ten years of his life running from Saul because Saul is seeking to kill him.

Saul is jealous of David, uh, Saul suspects David, and Saul wants to kill David.

Now that's interesting, and that brings us to our next key point.

Concerning vision, God often shows us the mountaintop, and what we often miss is that where there's a mountaintop, there's also a valley.

Where there's a mountaintop, there is also a valley.

So, yeah, David was anointed as king, and that's great.

But what he didn't also see, what he didn't see at that time was there was going to be a process before he took the throne.

Because there were some things that God needed to show him and teach him to prepare him to be king.

And the same thing can be true for you and me.

God could have called you to something, uh, and you're like, man, I have this thing that I feel like God has called me to, but why is it so hard right now?

Because what God will often do, and you see it in scripture, is he will show you the mountaintop, but what you're not looking at is that there is a valley to get there.

Okay?

There are things that you have to go to that God has to prepare you for.

Because he's got to toughen you up.

And you just study this time that David spent running for his life from King Saul, and what David is learning, though, is he's learning how to lead men.

He's learning how to lead men under pressure.

He's learning how to talk to men, he's learning how to how to lead a nation.

There's all these things that he needed to learn, and God uses this time with David running for his life to produce some things in David.

Now, I want you to just understand just how bad it got for David during this time because David struggled in his faith while he was running from Saul.

Go over to 1 Samuel chapter 21.

1 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 21, verse 10.

1 Samuel 21:10

And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul and went to Akish, king of Gath.

Okay?

And he's so afraid.

Now Akish is king of the Philistines.

Now you just got through killing one of the giants of the Philistines, and now you're running to them?

Okay, but he's this is how afraid he is.

Uh and it says, verse 11, and the servants of Akish said unto him, Is this not David the king of the land?

Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul have slain his thousands and David his ten thousands?

And David laid these words up in his heart and was sore afraid of Akish the king of Gath.

And look at what happens.

David now he pretends to be crazy.

And he changed his behavior before them and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and left his spittle fall down upon his beard.

He's doing all this stuff because he's afraid, right?

He's afraid of King Saul.

He goes to the king of Gath, the king of the Philistines, he's afraid of him.

And then go over to 1 Samuel 23.

He's still on the run for his life.

He goes to the people of Keilah, and he helps these people.

He helps to deliver these people.

But then he learns that Saul is coming.

Saul knows he's went with the people of Keilah.

And so David prays to God and asks, God, are the people of Keilah, are they going to betray me?

Are they going to deliver me up into the hands of Saul?

And look at what it says.

1 Samuel 23, 11.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand?

Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard?

O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.

And the Lord said, He will come down.

Verse 12.

Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?

And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.

Then David and his men, which were about 600, arose and departed out of Keilah and went whithersoever they could go.

And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah and he forbear to go forth.

Man, so you just got through helping these people, helping to save these people, and now Saul is coming for you, and he goes to he asked God, Are these people going to betray me?

And the answer is yes.

And the only thing he can do is leave.

And God doesn't even tell him where to go.

The passage just says he just went wherever he could go.

And so David is he's in a dark time right now.

But God is using this to refine David and to teach David.

And then you see down in verse 23, or chapter 23, verse 24.

Look at what happens.

And they arose and went to Zif before Saul.

But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon and the plain of the south of Jishmon.

Saul also and his men went to seek him, and they told David wherefore he came down into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Maon.

And when Saul heard it, that he heard that he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

Verse 26 Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain.

And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men come past David and his men round about to take them.

And so here's another example of David narrowly escaping Saul.

Now, believe it or not, all of that was just background for what I wanted to talk to you about this morning.

Okay?

I needed you to get the background so that you can appreciate where we're going.

Alright, so go over to 1 Samuel 27.

I want you to understand what's happening here.

And this is where we'll camp out.

1 Samuel 27.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.

There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul shall despair of me to seek me anymore in the coast of Israel.

So shall I escape out of his hand.

Verse 2.

And David arose and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him into Akish, the son of Mach, king of Gath.

And David dwelt with Akish at Gath, and he and his men, and every man in his household with his household, and even David with his two wives, Hinoim the Jezreelites, and Abigail the Carmelites, and Nabal's wife.

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath, and he sought no more for him.

And David said to Akish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town of the country that I may dwell there, for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

So David goes to the king of the Philistines, the king of Gath, and he makes this agreement with them.

And so what you're seeing here is that David is faltering in his faith.

His circumstances are telling him that he's never going to be king.

And he's thinking about his future through the lens of his current situation rather than thinking about his future through the lens of what God has said.

I don't know if you've ever been there before.

God's given you something, but it's so hard to see it based on what's happening in your situation.

I mean, that was Peter, right?

When he was walking on the water, God said, He said, Jesus bid me come unto thee.

And Jesus was like, okay, come on.

And he gets out there and he starts walking on water, and it's great until he puts his eyes on his circumstances.

And what happens?

He starts to sink.

And so David is faltering in his faith.

And notice here that David deceives himself.

He tells himself a lie.

He tells himself a lie.

He says in his heart, I'm going to perish one day by the hand of Saul.

There's nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.

And this is going to affect everything that he does.

It's going to affect where he goes and who he leads.

And so this is your next key point.

One of the most common forms of spiritual deception is self-deception.

Self-deception.

It's what we tell ourselves.

That's a problem.

Over in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 24, look at what it says.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patient.

And what this is giving us, it's giving the servant of the Lord the prescription.

For here's how you counsel somebody.

Okay?

Be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patient.

In meekness, instructing those that, listen to this, oppose themselves.

If God peradventure will give them repentance to what?

The acknowledging of the truth.

Verse 26, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his wills.

See, this verse tells you that people oppose themselves.

Did you know you can be your own worst enemy?

You can be your own worst enemy.

And the way out, according to 1 Timothy 2.25, is acknowledging the truth.

You've got to own it and acknowledge it so that verse 26, you can recover yourself.

And so I want to camp out here a bit because this is mission critical.

You know what?

So much of the counseling that I do and the counseling situations that I have are a result of someone who has adopted some type of dysfunctional belief.

And the key to their healing, the key to their success is acknowledging this lie that they've started to believe.

Listen to here are some of the most common ones.

No one loves me, everyone hates me.

That's not biblical.

He died on the cross for your sins to show you he loves you.

No one loves me, everyone hates me.

I'll never get victory in this area of my life.

Well, what does the scripture say?

That we're more than conquerors.

That I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.

It's impossible to do this thing.

I am a failure.

I am so afraid.

I can't do this thing that God is asking me.

And these dysfunctional beliefs that we tell ourselves are affecting our behavior.

It's what's driving the decision making.

So the breakthrough happens when you uncover the lies that you've been believing.

And what we're seeing here is the lie that David told himself, it drives him to a place of great spiritual compromise.

Now think about what's happening.

David is making a league with the Philistines.

We don't have time to look at it, but the Philistines were notoriously enemies of Israel and enemies of God.

These were pagan idol worshipers.

Okay, they were constantly attacking Israel, trying to destroy Israel.

And David's the one that defeated Goliath, who was a Philistine.

And now he's making a pact with them.

And if you think about it, forming a league with the Philistines was unthinkable, right?

If King Saul had come to David and said, I'm going to force you into service with the Philistines, David would have been like, No, you're not.

Over my dead body.

You can't make me do that.

Right?

Like he would have flat refused it.

I would rather die than serve the Philistines.

But here's your next key point.

Get this down.

Discouragement and despair will drive you farther from God's will than any external opposition ever could.

Discouragement and despair.

See, David is in this dark place because he's discouraged and he's despairing.

And that's what got him in league with the Philistines.

It's the lie that he told himself.

This is why the voice in your head matters, because what you tell yourself about your situation is driving the decision making.

All David cared about was getting away from King Saul.

And he was willing to compromise his principles to do so.

So, brothers and sisters, hear what I'm saying.

When you focus on your circumstances, that can drive you to dark places.

It can drive you to do dark things.

And what I've learned in the time that I've been serving the Lord is that tough circumstances, even seemingly impossible circumstances, that is a part of the Christian experience.

It's a part of it.

And the human tendency is to run, to get away from it.

Listen, for me, it's my job, okay?

I've had uh I work in business, some of you know that, and and oftentimes when I get hired, um things are already really bad.

They hire me to fix uh you know broken companies, uh basically.

And it can be incredibly stressful, you know?

Uh and I can just remember seasons where it's like, you know what?

I just I don't have to do this.

I can do something else.

Okay, let me get on LinkedIn, get on Indeed, and just get the resume out there, you know, because it's like I don't have to put up with this.

Um and and I've had God say, no, you're gonna stay there.

Stay there.

That's where I want you.

And what I had to do is I had to learn to trust God.

To trust God to take care of me.

And what David is doing is he's prioritizing his comfort over obedience.

God didn't tell him to go make a pact with the Philistines, but it was just easier to leave.

But understand this, okay?

We want comfort.

That is just like the American way.

That is everything is optimized just to be comfortable, right?

Convenient.

But here's your next key point.

God prioritizes our refining over our comfort.

He prioritizes our refining over our comfort.

See, God wants to produce something in you and me, and he's willing to let us go through hard times in order to produce it.

Look at what Job says over in Job 23, chapter 10.

He says, But he knoweth the way that I take, and when he have tried me, okay, when he's tested me, when I've gone through the fire, when I've gone through the pressure, when he have tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

I shall come forth as gold.

Man, if only God's people could get a hold of that.

If only we could prioritize, man, just being who God has called us to be.

God, I'm willing to go through it.

Make me like you.

Make me like you.

Go over to Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

Malachi chapter 3, verse 2 and 3.

Malachi 3:2

But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth?

For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Man, God is interested in our transformation.

And that typically requires pressure and fire.

That's what that requires.

And so what you see back over in 1 Samuel chapter 27 is, yeah, David gets the break he was looking for.

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

So he goes over to the land of the Philistines.

He gets the break that he's looking for.

But what we don't see here in this chapter, and what we don't see mentioned for a very long time, are any prayers that David prayed.

We don't see here or hear about any of the psalms mentioned that David wrote.

And, you know, some one of the you just go through the Psalms and you see while David was in the land of Israel, yeah, he was running for his life, but he was also crying out to God.

And he was worshiping.

But we don't see that anymore.

So the sweet psalmist is silenced.

The prayers have stopped.

And so this is your next key point.

One of the worst exchanges you can make is when you trade intimacy with God for comfortable and convenient circumstances.

When you trade intimacy with God for comfortable and convenient circumstances.

Go over to 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 7.

2 Corinthians 4:7

It says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

And here it is, we are troubled on every side yet not distressed.

We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed.

And all of those things, notice here, there's a semicolon.

Okay, so we're continuing the thought.

All of these things that are happening, verse 10, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body.

For we which live are always delivered unto death.

Why?

For Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Man, all the stuff we don't want to go through is the stuff God is using to manifest Christ in us.

It's the stuff God is using to produce Christ in us.

So if life is purely comfortable and convenient for you, then you'd better double check that you're in the will of God.

Because God often calls his people to hard things.

That's what you see in Scripture.

Just because something is hard and painful doesn't mean it's wrong.

And what this does is it actually gets to the core of why we even exist.

Do we just exist for our own enjoyment and pleasure?

Is that it?

You know, you read the Hebrews Hall of Faith and you see what those men endured.

Let's look at that really quick.

You see what the men and women endured.

You see what Christ endured on the cross.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2.

Hebrews 12:1

Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And then Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32.

Hebrews 11:32

Listen to what it says about these people.

And what shall I shall I more say?

For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Abarak and Samson and Jephthah and David also and Samuel and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Verse 35.

Women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Verse 36, and others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, the bonds of imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder.

These people, some of these people, were sawn in half, literally, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.

And look at what God's commentary is about these people, of whom the world was not worthy.

They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth.

All these and all these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.

God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect.

And so it does get at the core of why are we even here?

So now let's keep reading and finish up our story.

Back over in 1 Samuel chapter 27.

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

David's going, he's gone to the king of the Philistines.

And what you see here in verse 5 is that David is submitting himself to the king of the Philistines.

David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes.

Okay?

So he's submitting himself to the king of the Philistines.

And so this is your next key point.

Thinking the wrong thoughts leads to serving the wrong master.

Thinking the wrong thoughts leads to serving the wrong master.

For some Christians, the wrong master is their career.

Still, for other Christians, the wrong master is the flesh.

You're serving your flesh, you're gratifying your flesh.

And for others, the wrong master is a relationship they shouldn't be in.

Either way, wrong thinking leads to submitting to the wrong master.

But the biblical prescription is found over in Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18.

Ephesians 5:18

Paul says, And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and unto the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

See, the issue with David is not that he was talking to himself.

There's no problem with him talking to himself.

The problem is that the talk wasn't biblical.

Because you see, in Ephesians, you're commanded to talk to yourself.

Speaking to yourselves, how?

In Psalms and hymns.

So the issue is what he was speaking to himself, and so this is your next key point.

Self-talk is good talk when it's rooted in God's truth.

Self-talk is good talk when it's rooted in God's truth.

This is why the title of the message is What Are You Speaking to Yourself?

What Are You Saying to Yourself?

What's going on up here?

What are you saying to yourself?

Is it God's truth?

Philippians 4.8.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.

These are the things you are to be thinking on.

You're commanded over in Colossians to set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth.

And so, God's people, brothers and sisters, we've got to make an intentional effort to focus our hearts and minds on God's truth.

Listen, there is no shortage of filth to focus on, right?

Just you just turn on the TV, you turn on the radio, you get online, it's you just bombarded with it.

This is why I just I cut out all social media.

Now I'm not trying to be legalistic, okay, if you want to get on Instagram or TikTok or whatever you do, okay, that's between you and the Lord.

But I'm just telling you what I did, okay?

I'm like, I don't have time for it because it's just, there's always just trash showing up.

Man.

And so it's like, man, it's there's no shortage of junk coming at God's people.

And so we've got to be intentional to focus our hearts and our minds on those things that are that are uh rooted in God's truth, okay?

Alright, so what you see back over in 1 Samuel 27, we're on the final stretch, okay?

Uh 1 Samuel chapter 27, verse 7.

1 Samuel 27:7

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

He's with the Philistines a full year and four months.

And David and his men went up and invaded the Gesherites and the Gezrites and the Amalekites, for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.

And Akish said, Whither have ye made a road today?

Okay, so now he's so David's using this time in the land of the Philistines to go after some of the enemies of the children of Israel.

Okay.

So now he got he comes back to the king of Gath and he's got to report what he did.

And so verse 10, and Akish said, Whither have you made a road today?

And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jeremiahites, and against the south of the Kenites, and so it's a half-truth.

Okay, he's not telling King Achish exactly what he did.

He's just telling him, I, you know, I went after some people in these areas.

Uh and David, verse 11, it says, Save neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Gaf, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.

But look at what happened, verse 12.

And Akish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him, therefore he shall be my servant forever.

And so David goes on these guerrilla raids, and he's obeying God's commands when he kills those people.

This was something that God had commanded, but he lies to Akish about it.

He tells a half-truth and convinces Akish that he's on his team.

And Achish is like, he's gonna be my servant forever.

And here's your next key point.

The world will love you as long as they think they can take advantage of you.

The world will love you as long as they think they can take advantage of you.

Man, are you compromising what you believe in front of the law so that they will like you?

Because that's what this is about.

Compromising what you believe so that they will like you.

We've all done that before, right?

At some point in time.

You you know you're with people who aren't Christian and you you change what you say, you change what you do because you want them to like you.

You compromise.

And that's what David is doing.

And the world, the the world, you know, they'll love you as long as they think they can take advantage of you.

And so, if you will, in the in the few moments I have remaining, I want to give you four key takeaways just to think about as as we consider this study.

Takeaway number one, our chief pursuit must be God's glory, not our convenience.

Man, I exist to bring God glory.

That's got to be my chief pursuit.

Not my pleasure, not my comfort.

It's got to be about God's glory.

Number two, accept that God often calls us to things that are uncomfortable and hard.

So I want you to think about what's that next step that God is calling you to?

Is it discipleship?

Is he asking you to take the next step in your faith?

And man, I need to grow in discipleship.

Is it church membership?

Man, I need to, I need to, I need to do more than just attend.

I need to become a member here and be a part of what God is doing.

Man, is God asking you to leave an unholy relationship?

Is that what you need to do?

But oftentimes what what God is calling us to is uncomfortable.

It's larger than us because it forces us to have to depend on Him.

Does that make sense?

How would life be if you could solve all your problems yourself?

You'd never pray, right?

You'd never pray.

Point number three, we must purpose to speak God's truth to ourselves and not fear and despair.

So when you are talking to yourself, man, what are you saying?

It should be God's truth that you are giving yourself, that you are reinforcing.

And then here's the final one.

Learn to move from praying, God, please take this away, to God, please strengthen me to bear this.

Strengthen me to bear this.

God, I need your strength.

This was the Apostle Paul, right?

He had a thorn in the flesh.

And God said, okay, listen, you can start by asking God to take it away.

I'm not saying you can't do that.

And sometimes God may do that, but Paul says over in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 8, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me, this thorn in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

And look at God's response.

Verse 9, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Man, that that is good news for me.

Because there's been plenty of things I've asked God to take away.

Okay.

And finally, I'm just like, all right, God, please strengthen me.

Like if you and your wisdom think that this is the way it should be, then Lord, just strengthen me to bring you glory.