It’s an Inside Job | 1 Samuel 27

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Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. We're in.

First Samuel, chapter 27. First Samuel, chapter 27.

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention 1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

If you have your Bible handy, literal Bible or maybe the

Bible's on your phone right now that you're being you're using

when you get there, can you just say Amen so I know when we can

start first Samuel chapter 27. When you get there, can you just

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

say Amen, Amen, First Samuel chapter 27.

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

We're going to begin in verse one.

If you have your Bible ready and handy, we're just going to read

verse one, but we're going to cover the whole chapter

together. It's only 12 verses.

And I know that all of you can do this because you just went

through with me 40 verses last week and we.

Can we? Can we can.

Dissect 12 together. David the Bible says in chapter

27 verse one. And David said in his heart, Now

I shall perish someday by the hand of.

Saul, and there is. Nothing better for me than that

I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines, and

Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore in any part of

Israel. So David says I shall escape out

of his hand. I want to take you back to the

first portion of the verse in the first line and sentence

before the comma, The Bible says, and David said in his

heart, if you could just look at your neighbor and say neighbor,

my neighbor, it's an inside job. Yep, it's an inside job.

The The Bible says that David said in his heart.

Today's sermon, today's preaching centers around this

topic of it's an inside job. These two words inside job

contain one meaningful definition.

The definition of inside job means that it was done by the

help of someone in a position within an organization or a

group. And that is exactly what

happened in the year of 1997. And what they have entitled is

the Dunbar Armored Robbery. This remains, they say, the

largest cash heist in U.S. history and it was masterminded

by a guy by the name of Alan Pace.

He was a safety inspector for the Dunbar Armored Trucking

Company in Los Angeles, CA Pace used his insider knowledge to

time the security cameras and to recruit 5 childhood friends to

help him rob the vault during a lunch break for the guards.

In this insider knowledge, the crew stole 18.9 million.

Dollars. With insider knowledge, they

were eventually caught when one of the robbers lent some of the

stolen cash to a friend without removing the original cash

straps, which still had the original bank packaging.

I believe the inside job many times is not because of the

pressure that's on the outside, it's the people that are on the

inside. I believe that the problem

wasn't necessarily out there. The plan was in here.

I think for all of us there is an attack that is not

necessarily peripheral, but it's because we have knowledge of

what's happening in the internal.

I want to talk to you this morning, not about a heist that

has happened instilling of cash, but that which has stolen the

strength out of your own heart. I want to talk to you today

about the security that has been breached.

I want to talk to you about the trust that has been broken.

I want to talk to you today about the vault of the vision

that has been robbed. I'm not talking to you today

about dollars. I want to talk to you today

about disappointments. I want to talk to you today

about the inside work of divine disappointments in our lives.

Normally what happens, humanly speaking, is disappointments

lead to discouragement and discouragement leads to despair.

Once again, this inside job is the disappointment has led to

discouragement and this discouragement has led to

despair. Now I know sitting in this room,

many of us is not, we have not lost millions of dollars, but

all of us at some time and some place in our lives.

We've all lost hope. We've all lost hope in regards

to the marriage that we thought we would have.

You remember the day for me it was October 12th of 1996.

You remember that she walked down in that beautiful white

gown and he wore this black tux with a white shirt and a black

bow tie. Possibly you remember the day it

was on the beach or it was in the mountains, or it was at the

church and everything was just absolutely beautiful.

And you're wondering now years later, how something could be so

beautiful at one time and can go to brokenness in so many days.

You've not lost hope maybe in your marriage, but you've walked

in here losing hope about singleness.

I mean, you have walked with God, trusted God, prayed to God,

fasted towards God for a specific person, and this is not

yet just been fulfilled. Maybe for you, it's not the job

that you've had that you've lost hoping.

Maybe it's not the disease that you carry in your body that you

have. Maybe it's not the relationship

that you've lost the hope in, But maybe for you, you've lost

hope that anything really can change about this condition.

And you find yourself this morning a lot like Henry Ward

said. He said these words

discouragement. It is dissatisfaction with the

past, it's distaste for the present and distrust for the

future. It is in gratitude for the

blessings of yesterday, indifference to the

opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding the

strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the

presence of beauty, the unconcerned for the needs of our

fellow man, and the unbelief in the promises of Olds

discouragement. It is the impatience with time.

It's the immaturity of our own thoughts, and eventually it's

impoliteness. He writes towards God.

Maybe you've come into this place and you have found

yourself in this specific predicament.

I want you to know in Glendora. California, that you're not

alone. There are people that are

sitting all around you right now, that we look OK on the

outside, but inside we're deeply discouraged.

We have not just been disappointed, but now it's moved

to discouragement. And that discouragement in this

room, even now there's despair. You're wondering, will this

really ever change? Just look at your neighbor and

say you're not alone. Do you know in the Bible Jonah

felt discouraged when he walked into Nineveh?

You're not alone. Do you know in the Bible that

not only Jonah, but Elijah when he met the prophets of the El

was discouraged? You're not alone.

Do you know that Ruth the Moabitest was discouraged?

In Moab, you're not alone. Do you know that Gideon, who was

the weakest of his clan? You ever felt like that in your

family was discouraged? Do you know that in the Bible,

Naomi was discouraged? Do you know that in Scripture,

Job was discouraged when he lost his children?

And he's sitting in this room with friends who just don't get

it. Did you know that today you were

not alone? And when we come to First Samuel

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

Chapter 27, what we read in this story is this is the exact spot

that David finds himself in. He is disappointed and he is

discouraged. And this discouragement is

leading to despair. And here in this moment of

David's life, David, the man who was anointed, who was called,

who was victorious, who was obedient, the one who beat

giants, he walked through valleys, who experienced the oil

of gladness poured upon his life by Samuel is in deep despair and

sadness at this point of the story.

You, I might remember the story, but this is David's lowest

place. I would be safe to say about

David in his life right now that he is depleted and defeated.

And when we come into First Samuel chapter 27, we've

1 Samuel 27 · chapter mention

realized the story that David is now walking in.

And this is what I want to submit to you before we jump

into the text. If the enemy cannot disqualify

you, he will discourage you. And this is exactly where David

finds himself at today. You know the story.

It was in chapter 24 that David meets Saul in The Cave.

And Saul is so bent on murdering David that he relieves himself

in The Cave. And as he's there, the Bible

says that David sees him with his men.

David cuts off a piece of his robe, but yet he spares Saul's

life. The next chapter, in first

1 Samuel 25 · chapter mention

Samuel, chapter 25, David meets a Wildman by the name of Nabal

out in the field who won't give him what he should have given

him. This angry man dies, but David,

who has saved Saul, wants to murder Nabal.

And now we jump into chapter 26, and David meets Saul again, who

is seeking his life to murder him.

And it's at this point in time that in the darkness of night

that David spares Saul again. Each time David is obese,

obedient to the Lord, but your obedience is does not mean that

that makes you immune from discouragement.

And I think that's important because we set this expectation

in our lives and in our hearts and if we're really obedient

towards the Lord that we really will never be discouraged of

anything that is in life. Chapter 27 here of David's story

is only 1 chapter of his story, but it's not all the chapters of

his story. This chapter 27 is followed by

chapter 2828, is followed by chapter 2929 is followed by

chapter 3030 is followed by chapter 31, and then we get a

whole nother story of David's life in Second Samuel.

Now the reason why I share that with you is because sometimes in

despair and in our darkest days that we feel discouraged, we

feel like that's the end of our story.

But this is just one chapter of the story, that this is just one

place in David's life where the story is being told.

And that does not mean that that this is the end of your story.

This is maybe just the chapter of your story.

And what I want you to hear today is 28 is coming.

Chapter 28 is coming. Chapter 28 is coming right

behind us. And David will rule and lead for

40 more years. We learned last week that the

number 40 is a number in scripture of testing and

transformation. And Ryan Pavich told us that 41

was coming. And we here today notice that in

our lives that David will rule for 40 more years and you have

40 more years. To serve the Lord.

This is not ending. For you right now, this.

Is maybe just the bend in the road, but it is not the end of.

The road. And David now finds himself in

this place in the story of testing, but also

transformation. And look at what happens.

What happens in this place of testing David.

The Bible says these words in verse one of for Samuel 27 that

David said in his hearts, the I want you to circle the word in

because the word in there, I know it's a very small word in

the text, but it's the expression that's enclosed or

surrounded by something. David comes to a place in his

life that when he is discouraged.

It became an inside job for him. Now what happens?

So when you walk through these moments, you're aware of these

issues in your life that when you're discouraged, a lot like

David, you can find yourself aware that you can keep moving

forward. Now, notice if you would, the

number one thing I think that happens, it happened to David,

is that David loses his conviction.

David loses his conviction when you were discouraged.

Often times we begin to lose our conviction.

Notice David said in his heart and then notice that in the text

David did not bring up God once in verse one.

David did not write a Psalm out of first Samuel 27.

David right now in this place, David is not leading worship.

He just begins to speak to himself and he speaks things

over his life that aren't really true because God had never said

this to David. No notice, if you would, what

David says over his life. Verse one.

Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul.

And then he says in verse one, there's nothing better for me

than that I should speedily escape to the land of the

Philistines. Now look at this.

He then says, And Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore

in any part of Israel, so I shall escape out of his hand.

Notice not once did David mention the.

Lord in verse 1 he. Speaks to himself and notice all

the personal pronouns David uses.

I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul.

Notice this personal pronoun. There is nothing better for me.

No, no, notice this if you would also I need to escape.

No, notice it in this verse. He he says I shall and should

speedily escape. Saul will no longer seek me.

Now notice this if you would. This is the same David who

defeated Goliath. This is the same David that

would say to Goliath, you come to me with swords and Spears,

but I come to you in the name of the Lord.

The battle is the Lord's. This is the same David who would

write Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.

He makes me lie down. He leads me besides still

waters. He restores my soul.

You are with me. Notice if you would.

David's focus in First Samuel 27 turns back to the situation that

only deals with himself, and he doesn't bring it back to the

Lord, and he loses the conviction that he once had in

Psalm 23 when his eyes are on the Lord.

When my eyes are off the Lord, I lose the conviction of the.

Lord, in my heart. And I begin to say things and do

things I should have never said and I should have never done.

Now notice this, if you would the word conviction, if you're

taking note, it literally means a firmly held belief.

And I want you to hear me today. Discouragement will always cloud

conviction. I'm going to say that again.

Discouragement in my life will always cloud the conviction of

Jesus in my life. And what is dangerous about

discouragement is that we don't even notice.

That we're losing our conviction.

Because discouragement weighs so much, we begin to live by what

we tell ourselves rather than what God has already said to us.

We begin to tell ourselves present lies.

That will negate, we think, past and powerful truths.

Now, I'm not opposed to you speaking the.

Truth of God's Word over your life.

What I am opposed? To is the negative belief you

have. Because of the situation that

you're in and because of that, we no.

Longer filter. Our lens through what the.

Lord has said, We begin to allow discouragement to determine

where and how we see things. And where and how we step into

the next thing. And so because of that, in our

lives, I think we need people that help us see where we need

to step next, because sometimes discouragement blinds the

ability to recognize the. Path that God's calling you on.

I just had this. Happen I was with my wife on an

airplane this past week and and they moved our flight because of

the government shutdown from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM at LAX.

We were tired and my feet began to swell. 2 things are happening

in my life as I'm getting older. I'm losing my eyesight and when

I hop on a plane now my feet swell.

And so I thought, man, I'm going to right now I'm I'm, I'm going

to take my shoes off. I committed the airplane crime.

Don't ever take your shoes off when you're on the airplane.

And my wife, she put her chest up on my chest, her head up on

my chest, and I'm holding her and she fell asleep.

I'm thinking, oh, man, I I'm just so focused on my cheese.

It's on the airplane. And I'm focused on Fox News

because the government shutdown was about to end.

And I'm like, yes, Lord. And then at the end of the

flight, I reached down and I put on my shoes and my wife said,

man, I kept smelling something very familiar.

I was so focused on my cheese that's in Fox News.

I'm like, oh, it's probably like someone in the plane had like

did I said, did someone have like a certain Cologne on that

you that you didn't like or did you smell something coming out

of the bathroom of the plane or did someone burp on the plane

with their Jersey Mikes or she's all No, I realized, she said.

I realized when you put on your shoes, I realized what it was,

she said. I've smelled those stinky feet

before. I didn't even smell it.

I'm super conscious of that. I couldn't even smell it.

I was so focused on cheese. It's in the Fox News.

I couldn't even smell what was my wife called it out on me.

And I, I wonder how many other people on that plane ride

smelled the I think sometimes we don't have stinky feet.

We have stinking thinking. We have in our lives this this

thought pattern that's so negative that it begins to allow

the aroma on the plane ride to impact everybody else that's on

the journey. And because of that, what often

times happens is we allow in our discouragement and we decide to

begin to think about things about our lives.

That aren't actually true and so I want to give you some things

that would help. Casey in this process.

That would help David in this process of.

Of discouragement and losing conviction.

Can you just write some things down if you feel discouraged

today? Would you write this down?

For me, if you're taking note and that is this, when you're

discouraged, pray and be honest. When you're discouraged, let's

pray. And let's be honest.

If there's people up. Front at our church.

After this gathering and. We're we're asking you to.

Come up for prayer. Come up for.

Prayer and just be honest. Let's just be.

Honest about what God is doing let's be honest where we're.

Sad or where we're. Hurting where we're.

Where we're maybe. Needing a bit of encouragement.

#2 would you write this down? Not just pray and be honest, but

would you shift your focus? Would you shift?

Your focus into what? God.

Has said shift your focus and I want to encourage you to do

this. Number three, stop talking to

yourself and start. Believing what God has said

about yourself. Stop talking to yourself in the

moment and start believing what God has said about yourself.

Can I encourage you to do this? Give thanks give.

Thanks. Someone once said that gratitude

is a. Powerful antidote to despair.

Ron told us today in team huddle that negative thinking and

Thanksgiving and positive thinking in your mind cannot

coexist. You'll do one or the other in

your life. Can I?

Encourage you also with this feel.

Discouragement. But resist the pool to fear so I

can feel discouragement. OK, that's really real.

But I can resist this pool. In my life to fear.

Can I just encourage you to this?

Stop expecting the worst. Stop expecting the.

Worst thing to happen, I do that all the time.

God will if you're. Taking note, write this down.

God will do it. Because God finishes what He

starts, God will do it and He will take care of you.

Can you write? This down that your work is not

was not in vain. It's an inside job.

It's an inside job, David says to himself.

All of these things that aren't necessarily true in that moment.

And this is what it leads to. A loss of conviction for David

leads to #2A step towards compromise.

A step towards compromise. And then notice what happened.

In verse 2, then David. Arose notice he gets up from

thinking this and went. Over with 600 men who were with

him to Achish, the son of Mayo, the king of Gath.

Now notice what David did. He's thinking this.

You sow a thought, you reap an action.

He reaps the action. Now he gets up with 600 men, and

he goes to Akash, the son of Mayoch, the king of Gath.

Now understand this, David goes to the same king where Goliath

would. Come out.

Of he goes to enemy territory and he finds himself in this

spot. The Bible says in verse three

that David dwelt with a kish at Gath.

So he arose and he went there. And then the Bible says that he

begins to dwell there, each man with his own household.

So now notice this, that not only David gets up from this

spot, but now he takes 600 men with him, and these 600 men take

their 600 families with him. And notice where they end up.

They go with David, with his two wives, which was another

problem. Ah, I know him, the Jezreelite

and Abigail the Carmelitis, Nabal's widow.

And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he sought

him no more. And then David said to Akish, If

I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place

in some town in the country. Notice he arose, he dwelt, and

then he asked for a city notice. He says that I, I may dwell

there. Notice the the the consequences

of his actions, the pattern of it.

He arose, he went, he dwells. For why should your servant

dwell in the royal city with you?

So a cash gave David a city called Ziklag.

Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to

the kings of Judah to this day. Now, the time that David dwelt

in the country of the Philistines was one full year

and four months. No notice.

David's compromise. He goes to the land of the

Philistines. The Philistines are the enemy to

God. Israel's name means governed.

By God. He leaves the place where he's

no longer governed by God, but now he sits and lives, breaks

bread, eat meals with the enemies.

Of God. This is what we call compromise.

This is not one big step that you take away from God.

It is the small steps that has now LED you to live in a place

for. One year and four months.

In a place that you should. Not have been.

I love what Alan Redpath says in his book called The Making of a

Man of God. He writes these words.

He traded the smile of God for the grin of the devil, he

writes. At one moment we find David

facing circumstances calculated to tempt him to blazing anger

and immediate retaliation. At the next moment he is

surrounded by such constant and overwhelming attacks from his

lifelong enemy that he is discouraged and almost ready to

give up. Here is the anvil, he writes,

upon which the character of a man of God is hammered out, the

fiery furnace through which he is melted and poured as steel

for the glory of his God. Notice he writes in this last

sentence of this chapter. Thus the iron gets into a man's

soul. The language of David at this

point in his life is in the minor key of depression and

sadness. And this is where David now goes

in the area of compromise. And this is what happens to us

when we've been fighting for something.

For a long. Time when you've been fighting

for your marriage for a long time you think Oh well my wife

he no longer wants to respect me so I'm going to now find.

Another woman who respects me. And I'm not fully going to break

off my relationship. With my wife, but I'm going to

flirt with other women because. The validation that I expected

from my wife. Is not the is the validation I

get at my job. Or it might be reversed.

Now you look at your husband saying.

He was once warm and. Cuddly and like a bear.

And now he's like a. Porcupine.

To me, everything he does pokes me in the wrong way.

It is just bothers me day after day how he sleeps, how he eats,

how he chews, how he watches news, how he turns.

Up the music. And now this is in your life an.

Area now that you've. Turned in the opposite direction

to seek another man. 'S worth in your life.

This happens to singles all the time, especially born again

Christian single young men and young women.

Oh, we have sought the Lord, We have sought the Lord.

And now you're facing. So much pressure.

Well, now, now because of that pressure, I'm going to start.

Dating someone who says they go to church but they won't tell me

what. Church they go to if your

boyfriend or girlfriend. Can't tell you their pastor

that's teaching and. Where they go to church, be

aware. Stop asking single.

Stop asking the person around you if they're a Christian.

Start asking them if they're born again and filled with the

Spirit of God. Because this is what?

Happens we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait and some guy

comes along on upward or eHarmony and they, they, they

tell you in their profile, I'm spiritual, they're spiritual.

Does that mean demonic, like a spirit of demons or is that a

spirit of the Holy Spirit or Well, well there I'm at high

school right now and there's just this cute guy.

He, he's even homeschooled. Not all homeschool young men

love Jesus. You have to be careful.

Listen to your parents. They know a little bit about

this aspect called relationships.

No, they don't. They're just so old and old

fashioned. They're like that old fashioned

doughnut. Whoever picks an old fashioned

doughnut right now, Like who? Whoever follows that pattern.

Who would ever think that my parents have wisdom to actually

help direct? And this is what?

We do. We enter into things that that

we should never have entered. Into We do this at our job.

You. We do.

This with with our. Job because of the.

Pressure at our job. We begin to cut corners at our

job and things that we should actually be thoroughly doing and

paying attention to detail because of the pressure of the

job and the finances. We we begin to move our life in

this direction. It's not this big thing where

we're saying I never hear David in this chapter go I hate you.

God never, but he begins to compromise.

And he begins to compromise. And Dietrich.

Bonhoeffer put it this way in the moment of.

Sexual temptation, he writes. Satan.

Does not. Fill you with a hatred.

Of God. He fills you with a

forgetfulness of God. And we?

Begin to you could clap for that.

Thank you, Henry. You, you, you begin to, and I

begin to live a life that is simply directed by the pressure

we're under rather than the proclamation we've already.

Been given and we begin to compromise.

I've seen this young men and young women begin to lie to

their parents because of the pressure that I now in my life,

I begin to in David's case, and we'll see this stay in a place

for one year and four months. I should never have entered into

how does all of this happen because we are all susceptible

to this in our lives. How did this happen?

Well, this is what happens. It subtly begins in your heart.

It subtly begins in your heart, a lot like David.

This subtly begins in your heart, and then it leads to.

Rationalizing it, you begin to rationalize it in your life.

Rationalizing means this well, because I'm under so much

pressure, this is the only thing that will actually.

Help me calm down. Really, that's the only thing

David says. I'm better in the land of the.

Philistines, I should escape. From Saul.

I wonder what you escape into. Is it the food that you're

eating? I feel depressed so I need a

chocolate cake right now. I'm so depressed.

I'm going to eat extra pizza. Is it the drinks that you drink?

I'm so depressed. I need this to actually calm my

nerves. Is it the marijuana you smoke?

Is it the relationship that you keep entering into?

Back and forth, back and forth, thinking that it's rationalizing

away the situation that you're in.

And this is what happens is it begins suddenly in your.

Heart we begin to rationalize it, and then we fail to submit

to God's way. We fail to.

Submit to God's way, and this is.

The last thing that happens? Is we give.

Our desires the preference over God, and that's exactly what.

Happened to David. Despair leads to fear.

About his life. And he goes to the land of the

Philistines, and he thinks that he will escape his

discouragement in a brand new. Place and 600 men and their

families are impacted by David's compromise.

Can I just speak to you men just for a minute?

Your family's impacted by your compromise.

Your family is impacted by how you cuss.

Your family's impacted how you lead them towards Jesus.

Can I just speak to you men, just for a little bit?

Your family is impacted by the times that you think it's OK to

get drunk or go get high. Your family's impacted by what

you're doing in your life and the shows that you're watching

and the music that you're listening to.

It's not just about you, it's about everybody else that's

surrounding you. And now David is leading these

folks astray. Not just 600 men, but think of

their wives and their children down to the land of the

Philistines. Can you imagine?

Teenagers, if your parents were were were just like, hey, we're

following David and we're we're where, where?

Well, where, where's he leading us?

We're going to go down to the Philistines.

What? Where are we?

Going. Yeah, we're going to.

We're going to put you at Philistine High School now.

But, but isn't that mom and dad? Isn't that who David beat?

And fought against and won. Yeah.

Yeah. But but we're going to follow

David. And in David's discouragement,

he makes a decision. And in that decision, he leads

him to the enemies of Israel. And notice what happens is.

When you lose your conviction and you begin to compromise, now

you live a life of cover up. Cover up.

You live a life of cover up. Check this out about David.

The Bible says in verse 8 and David and his men went up and

raided. The Gesherites.

The Gurzites, the Amalekites, for those nations were the

inhabitants of the land from the old.

As you go to shore, even as far as the land of Egypt, you

remember this is the place where God told Joshua to rid

themselves of every person in this land, because God has

claimed it as his own. Now David is finishing the work.

So yes, David's doing something that might seem to be good, but

he's still living in what is bad.

Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor

woman alive, but took. Away the.

Sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels and the apparel and

returned and came to a kish. Now that that's a whole verse

that will take a whole three-week series.

Check this out. Then Akash would say, where have

you made a raid today? And David would say against the

southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of

Jeremy Lights or against the southern area of the Kenites.

David would save neither man nor woman alive to bring news to.

Gath. Don't say anything.

To the people back at gaffe lest they should inform on us saying

thus David did and so his behavior all the time he.

Dwelt in the country of the Philistines so.

Akesh believed David, saying he has made his people Israeli,

utterly abhor him, therefore he will be my servant forever.

David begins to. Lie and cover his steps.

And this is what happens. Check out chapter 28.

Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered

their armies together for war to fight with Israel and.

Akash said to David you. Assuredly know that you will go

out with me to battle you and your men.

So now, because you're with me, David, now we're going to go

fight against Israel all together.

Isn't that interesting? The same guy who brought victory

to Israel is now called upon due to his compromise and cover up

to go fight against Israel. And David said to Akash, surely

you know that what your. Servant can do and.

Akash said to David. Therefore I will make you.

One of my chief guardians forever.

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and

buried him in Rama in his own city.

And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritist out of the land.

And then the Philistines gathered together and came and

encamped to shoot him. So Saul gathered all of Israel

together, and they encamped. And when Saul saw the army of

the Philistines, he was what? Afraid.

And they encamped at Gilboa. And when Saul saw the army of

the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.

And Saul. And when Saul inquired of the

Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by

Urim, or by the prophets. David is now, because of his

cover up, about to fight against the people he is called to lead.

Now notice this if you would, what happens in the midst of

cover up and making a decision, possibly out of discouragement.

You will have immediate relief. There will be immediately

relief. Verse 4 tells us that Saul no

longer sought David. There was immediate relief.

And when you choose to sin, there is something about sin

that brings an element of pleasure and relief for the

moment, but pain for a lifetime. What else happens is you begin

to be willing to associate with the unrighteous Now you begin to

now join hands with people who say they are not going to follow

God. And I believe this happened in

David's life. That happens in ours.

This makes you stay longer than you want to stay, and it makes

you pay more than you've ever wanted to pay.

Then this happens. You begin to like David, quiet

your conscience by busy activity.

You know that you're in the wrong and you begin to get busy.

And then you quiet that busyness or that busyness in your mind

with busy activity. Listen, being busy for the Lord

does not mean in my life that it takes away a guilty conscience

before the Lord. Then we try to balance

consecration and compromise together.

And then David lies. And then what we read about

David is that a little trip turns into total allegiance on

the wrong side. What I encourage you to do today

is to allow the Lord to speak to your heart and bring what He has

said on the inside and hold it and believe it and ground

yourself in the Word of God. I was talking to a pastor who

started a Bible study with a Christian music artist.

And So what I found fascinating was is that none of the

Christian music artists that I was talking to knew their

Bibles. They didn't tell the difference.

They couldn't tell the difference between Joseph and

Noah. And we live right now on a very

biblical illiterate society. And I want to encourage you to

come back to the Bible. Now, with that being said,

here's what I want to encourage you to do.

This is not the end of David's story.

This is just the bend In David's story.

God actually redeems David and delivers David.

And brings him in a. Restorative form back to the

place to lead. And I've seen that happen over

and over again as we as men and women submit ourselves to God.

I just saw that this. I was thinking of individual

that used to sit in the back of church, not this church, but

another church I pastored at with long hair.

And he would come in the back and then he would leave really

quick. Then he would come in the back,

Then he would leave really quick.

Then he would come in the back again during service and leave

really quick. And then I saw him in our

baptism, not Bridgetown Church, but at Calvary Chapel where I

was serving, and I played volleyball against him.

And I began to see in this guy's life this radical change

happening. He was no longer coming late to

service and leaving early. He'd actually sit there and

learn and grow and be transformed.

And I saw him give his life to Jesus.

I saw him give his life to Jesus.

And I've seen this transformation of redemption in

his life in a very powerful and mighty way.

And you might know him. His name is Rudy Martinez.

I've watched God work in men and women's lives and he redeems

your situation. And you might have made a

decision out of discouragement. You might be fighting against

God in despair even now. But I know this about God is

that He redeems to the uttermost and as Billy Sunday used to say,

the old time preacher to the guttermost God redeems.

And I want you to be left with this as you leave this place.

Is it in the name of Jesus? And because of the work of

Jesus, He is the only person that could bring everlasting

change and hope to your heart. He is the only one that can free

you. So I just want to encourage you

today is it? Is it?

You don't see it right now. Some of you don't see it.

It's dark, it's ugly, it's muddy, it's messy, it's dirty.

You don't see it at all. But I want you to hear me as

your pastor today. God is redeeming you.

He's redeeming you right now. He's redeeming your marriages.

He's redeeming the pain of divorce.

He's he's redeeming the choices that you made that were against

him. This is just part of your story,

but God's redeeming you. He is in the person of Jesus.

We hope you enjoyed this message and we'd love for you to join us

in person every Sunday at 10:30 AM.

For more information and updates, visit

wearebridgetown.com. Thanks for tuning in and we'll

see you next week.