No Shortcuts: Behave in the Cave | 1 Samuel 24:1–7

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

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. Welcome to church.

Grab your seat if you have your Bible handy.

If you want to open it up to Psalm 57, verse two and First

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 24, that's Psalm 57 verse 2, and that is Psalm.

Psalms 57:2

Excuse me, First Samuel chapter 24, That is once again Psalm 57,

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention Psalms 57:2

verse 2. And then we're going to flip

back over to First Samuel chapter 24.

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

Today is a very special day in my life.

My wife and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage.

Come on, talk about the faithfulness of God.

Talk about His sustaining power. That was like back in the day

when we would sing songs like the steadfast love of the Lord

never ceases. His mercies never come to an

end. You remember those?

They are new every morning. That's what I say in my

marriage. New every morning, greatest thy

faithfulness. Remember that.

Remember those songs. Oh Lord, you're beautiful.

Remember that time. Your face is all I seek, and

when your eyes are on these child, Your grace abounds to me.

That was our youth group days. Happy 29 years, honey.

Happy 29 years. God is faithful.

It is just been perfect. No problems.

It's been full of 1 bliss, adventure, marriage.

Marriage is an amazing, amazing miracle of the Lord.

And if you're single, it's OK. If you're married, it's going to

be OK. God is faithful.

I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you this

morning about not taking any shortcuts in your life.

And we're going to look at a topic out of First Samuel

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24 where David had an opportunity to take a shortcut

in his life. And so I would really love for

you if you could just look at your neighbor and say, like, I

have to my wife, this, this these last few days, I've got a

long way to go. Just tell your neighbor that I

got a long way to go. And then if you're a friend

sitting by them, just say Amen to that.

Amen. I got a long way to go.

I told my wife this week, after considering our marriage and

these last 29 years, I just think I just have such a long

way to go. And it is getting better and

better every single day and every year.

But I, I just want you to remember that we have a long way

to go. And in Jesus, there's grace and

mercy as he forms and molds us. But also, I want you to just

look at your neighbor and say it's not worth it.

Yeah, just it's not worth it. It's not worth it.

I don't mean marriage. Sorry.

You guys. Like what was that attached?

Is that attached to your 29 years?

No, this is attached to cutting corners in your life.

It's just not worth it. OK, 29 years is worth it and the

30 more that are coming is going to be worth it.

One person's clapping. That's great.

Let's get started here. Let's get started church.

Father, thank you so much for allowing us to worship and sing.

Thank you for allowing us to study Your word.

We want to ask and pray as we read your Word that Your Word by

Your Spirit would Pierce our hearts and transform our lives.

We pray that we would go out of here encouraged, filled with

hope for some of us, maybe even conviction for some of us, drawn

together by the working of your Holy Spirit.

We just pray Lord, that you would breathe life into

everything that we're facing today.

And so Lord, we just ask that you would do this in Jesus name.

And everybody said, Amen, I'm reading from the new King James

Version in my Bible and the Bible reads these words in Psalm

Psalms 57:2

57 verse 2. I will cry out to God most high,

to God who performs all things for me.

I want you to hear that verse again.

If I could just repeat this over our lives this morning, David

writes. I will cry out to God most high,

to God who performs all things for me.

Let's try that together. If you have a new King James

Version Bible, if you could just repeat after me, I will cry out

to God Most high to God who performs all things for me.

Turn over in your Bible the first Samuel chapter 24.

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

And if you would, I want you to pay attention to verse 4 and

verse 5. And then we're going to go

through a bit of portion of this chapter.

The author writes, Then the men of David said to him, This is

the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver

your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him, as it seems

good to you. And David arose and secretly cut

off a corner of Saul's rope. Now it happened afterward that

David's heart was troubled. It troubled him because he had

cut Saul's rope. I want to remind you if this is

your journey here as we've been traveling through First Samuel

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24 now, but through the whole book with us, that First

Samuel is not a hard book to understand.

First Samuel's written at a period of time where the Bible

says that every man in the book of Judges was doing that which

was right in his own eyes. We remember some very key

figures in the book of First Samuel.

The first one is a prophet by the name of Eli.

If you're taking note, Eli was the high priest at this time.

And in walks a woman who had can't, who had come with her

husband named Hannah, and her husband's name was Alkana.

Alkana, as you know, had two wives.

One was named Pinena and one was named Hannah Pinena.

Her name means Jem, but she was actually stone cold.

She provoked Hannah because Pinena had children, but Hannah

had no children. So Hannah finds himself at the

altar of the Lord, worshipping the Lord and crying out that God

would give her a son. In that moment, Eli the priest

looked at Hannah and said you were drunk.

He said, I, she said, I am not drunk, Sir.

I am grievous of heart. And in that moment Hannah tells

Eli what is going on in her life.

And Eli said, this day you will have a son.

In that moment we remember that the character by the name of

Samuel was brought into the picture of First Samuel.

Samuel was a prophet, also a judge in Israel, the last judge

of Israel, because in this moment, in the context which

we're going through in the history of Israel, Israel was a

theocracy where they were governed by God, but they wanted

to be like all the other kings and be a monarchy.

So they asked for a king like all the other nations.

In walks God giving them a man by the name of King Saul.

Saul was head and shoulders above everybody else, but in his

calling he was hiding behind the baggage, as he's hiding behind

the baggage of the Lord calls him out.

But we know that God had called Samuel or excuse me, Saul to

fulfill a mission and that is to wipe out the Amalekites.

But he saved some because he listened to the voice of the

people. Now this is very important point

because when I listen to the voice of people, I often deafen

the voice of God. And in this moment Saul spares

some. And the Lord says, I have

retrieved or taken back the Kingdom from you.

I am giving it to another man. In walks the second king at the

House of Jesse, and we find that he has eight sons, but he only

presents seven of them. And in walks Samuel to say,

where's the other? Is there any other?

And the Bible says as Samuel was anointing them or finding the

king, the Bible says that God spoke to Samuel and said these

words, that you are looking at the outward appearance, but I am

looking at the heart. And so we've been travelling

through the heart of every matter.

And Samuel says, is there any other?

And he says there's one out in the field.

He's Ruddy in appearance, he's young, he's little.

His name is David. David is now anointed as king to

be reigning now in Israel. This doesn't happen until 10 to

15 years later. In between this time, David is

running for his life. And as he's running for his

life, a man by the name of Saul is chasing him.

We could entitle David's life. He's chased but not caught.

And in this moment, David comes to the second cave in his

experience that's recorded. I wanted to entitle this message

behave in The Cave, but that that sounds kind of weird,

doesn't it? It's kind of cheesy.

So, so I entitled this nor no, no shortcuts because it's really

not worth it. Can you just look at your

neighbor and say it's really not worth it?

It's not worth it. I want to induce you introduce

you to a woman on April 21st of 1980, her name was Rosie Ruiz.

She won the Boston Marathon. She ran the race at record pace.

She actually finished the race with the fastest female time in

Boston Marathon history. As celebration erupted for her,

the investigation started about her DC Rosie Ruiz never entered

the race through the starting line.

She actually cut off mile one, Mile 2, Mile three, mile four,

mile five, Mile six, mile 7, mile 8.

She cut through mile 9, Mile 10, Mile 11, Mile 12, Mile 1314,

151617181920 She again went and cut through mile 2120220324 and

25. She entered through the midst of

an enormous crowd at mile 25, and as she was running at mile

25, she slipped through the crowd and she saw people

running, but she did not realize that she was ahead of every

other woman. So she entered the race and she

ran the last 1.2 miles crossing the finish line in first place,

1st place. This investigation with over

10,000 pictures never saw her on any part of the race.

She actually cut through, but this wasn't her first time

cutting. She also did this in the Chicago

Marathon where she took the subway and how she qualified for

the Boston Marathon was taking the subway at the New York

Marathon. We'll get to her life later.

But Rosie, one article reads, tried to take a shortcut to

glory and in doing so became one of the most in famous figures in

winning history. The article read that her story

serves as a reminder that in sports, there are no shortcuts

to success. The author goes on to write.

The race is 1/1 mile at a time. I want to repeat those words to

you again. The race is 1/1 mile at a time.

I believe that this isn't just for running.

This is actually for living. To become who God wants you to

become. To go where God wants you to go.

To receive all that God wants you to receive in life.

It is one mile at a time. Why are only two people saying

Amen to this? This is the Lord's way of slow

and steady entering. The Christian life is long and

laborious. It is for us, this Christianity.

It might feel boring for you right now, but he's actually

building you right now. Because many times what often

happens is we try to rush what God is redeeming.

And because we're rushing what God is redeeming, we put

ourselves in a posture of hurry, not holiness.

And because we're hurrying along, we choose a quick fix

over character. We choose within our lives an

instant gratification over the eternal glory.

We we choose the immediate over our obedience to God and when we

find ourselves not wanting to live in this place of delay and

denial, we determined to live in short term satisfaction with

long term consequences. I need you this morning as much

as you need me this morning. I need you to come alongside of

me in this race and not try to cut any corners in the race that

God has put you at. I need us to come along and say

together that we are willing to be in this for the long haul.

And this is what happens because it's long.

We begin to take the path of least resistance.

We begin to sabotage our future and we lose opportunities to

grow. Can I just tell you today, it's

not worth it. It's not worth it when we come

to First Samuel. Chapter 24 proclaims to us that

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

life is built on discipline, not dopamine.

I want to say that again that your life is built on

discipline, not dopamine. We're not constantly looking for

the next quick fix. I think some are looking for

instant gratification and it's the shortcut to the graveyard.

You cannot attain all that God wants for you in the long run by

cutting corners in the short term.

When author put it this way about Christianity and

Christians, there's a great market for religious experience

in our world. There is little enthusiasm for

the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to

sign up for a long apprenticeship in that earlier

in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.

Religion in our time has become been captured by the tourist

mindset. I want to read that sentence.

Religion in our time has been captured by the tourist mindset.

Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to

be made when we have adequate leisure to get there.

David's life at this time could be summed up in this term that I

shared with you earlier. He's chased, but he's not

caught. He's won a lot of battles, but

he's still battling. He's been given the anointing of

God, but he also has the antagonizing of Saul.

And he finds himself in First Samuel chapter 24 in a cave

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

where he could have taken matters into his own own hands.

But when he chooses to obey God rather than following his own

heart, he is not short cutting the process of becoming king.

And here in this moment of Psalm 57, verse 2 is written from the

Psalms 57:2

context of First Samuel chapter 24.

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

The verse you just read in Psalm 57 verse 2 is written in the

Psalms 57:2

whole scene of David being in The Cave.

I want to read it to you again, if I may.

I cry out to God most high. It is God who will fulfill his

purpose for me. It is God who will fulfill his

purpose for me. So, so I, I choose no shortcuts.

I, I choose this in my life because God will fulfill his

purpose for me. Now, Now I want to give you some

things that you can just hold on to for a moment.

I was going to try to go through the whole chapter, but there is

a lot in this chapter. So I just want to take us

through the 1st 8 verses if I may, or the 1st 7.

I want you to understand, as Jr. Tolkien once said in the

Fellowship of the Rings, shortcuts make long delays.

And So what I want to do this morning is take the life of

David, where he's at and where you're at in Glendora.

Because some of you are like, I'm not in a literal cave right

now, that this is not the place I'm actually at.

But you are in Glendora. You are in San Dimas, you are in

Azusa, you are in Laverne, you are in Rancho Cucamonga,

Fontana, the high desert, you are in Covina Brea.

And sometimes The Cave is not the literal city you live in,

it's the situation you find yourself in.

And so I want to take it from that vantage point, from the

life of David. Because Saul led to David, but

David's going to lead to a greater king, and that king is

Jesus. And because David is pointing us

to Jesus, we understand that David is pointing to the perfect

king. David himself is not perfect,

but he's purposed. And then this, he's a foreshadow

of the Kingdom that's coming in Jesus Christ.

So what do I do when I find myself in a cave?

Check it out if you would. There are no shortcuts.

Write this down. There are no shortcuts no matter

the place. There are no shortcuts no matter

the place. I want to say that again.

There are no shortcuts no matter the place.

I just want to repeat that again because they say if you're you

repeat things three times that people remember it.

There are no shortcuts no matter the place.

The Bible says now it happened. What has just happened?

Saul, you remember, has gone back to fight the the

Philistines as David was spared at a place called the Rock of

escaping. And in this moment David finds

himself. This happened when Saul had

returned from following the Philistines.

We know that the Philistines are the enemy army of Israel, not

Saul, but Saul became David's quote UN quote enemy in this

moment to seek his life. And then it was told to Saul.

Take note. Now the the the word take note

there literally just means to behold or we want you to hear

this or we want you to pay attention to this right now.

Why? Because whatever has your

attention takes your ambition. And so Saul's attention was on

David. Thus Saul's ambition was David

and getting rid of him. And notice this.

David is in the wilderness of ingetty.

Can you just stop there for a minute?

Then notice the place where David is at.

The Bible says that he is in the wilderness of ingetty.

If you take note, I want you to equal the wilderness as waiting.

David in this moment is in the wilderness of in Getty.

Now, now, I want you to pay attention to this because the

name in Getty means springs of young goats.

Now, we might think that this is a ultimate place of paradise,

but David's not in a palace. He's not in a place where he's

sitting reclining at the Dead Sea in a beach chair with his

towel at sunbathing. David is running for his life.

Now understand this, David had the anointing of God, but he's

still running from Saul. So there's the anointing of

promise, and there's the running of process.

Oh, that, that, that, that, that, listen, that there was the

anointing of promise, but there's running a process.

David had the promise, but it would take 10 to 15 years for

the fulfillment of that promise. And he finds himself not in this

castle or refuge or throne. He finds himself in the

wilderness, in the wilderness, torn between the promise and the

process. And here is David in this

moment, and he's at this specific place.

Now, I don't know if you've ever been given a promise, but the

promise in your life is really not matching the place that

you're in in your life. David wasn't being worshipped or

served. David was taken to a dry place.

They do have waterfalls and springs here, but this is a dry

place. This is not like our wilderness

in California. And Getty, Josh, if we could

just post that picture and and Getty actually just looks like

this. This is what and Getty looks

like. This is where David's at.

I don't know if you have the other picture, Josh, if you

could display that this is dry, this is dirty, this is muddy,

this isn't clean. And here in this place, David's

actually running for his life. And I don't know if you've ever

been at a dry place, that God has made it a delivering place.

You know what I'm saying? This place of danger is often a

dry place in your life. But I want you to get this.

Just because it's parched doesn't mean that God can't

provide and protect for you in this place, in this place that

seems like I don't get why I'm actually here.

I didn't make these decisions to be here.

I didn't sign up for the direction that I'm going, but

you're actually it feels dry, it feels dirty, it feels confusing.

And we, we could say this all the time.

I, I didn't, I didn't sign up for this, this place.

Why am I still single after all I've done for you, Lord?

Why am I still single, Lord? You provided throughout the

Bible people for people. Adam had Eve Ruth, God, God, you

provided. You provided.

I'm single. I'm single.

God. I didn't sign up to be single

this long. I thought when I came to Jesus

and being born again that you would bring me a born again

woman. Every story is not the same.

I met my wife when I was 10 and she was 8.

Our parents then signed a contract that we would get

married at Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino.

That's that's my story. Not, not all of that is not

true, but but but I, I did meet my wife at that age.

But that's not everyone's story. And what we do is we compare our

place to other people's places. Why am I single?

God, I'm coming every single Sunday to worship you.

I do go to the young adults group, not just at Bridgetown,

but every other church. I have invited myself to the

singles ministry. Lord, I am doing what's right.

Why can't I find the right person?

And that's the aim, finding the right person.

And we use all of our energy to find the right person.

God, I know what you've spoken, but I just don't understand what

is happening. And this is what happens.

We shortcut God in the dating process.

Now theologically, I don't know if you believe in courting or

dating or dorting. I don't know where you might

find yourself wherever that might be where you're finding

yourself in. Listen, don't shortcut God's

provision for your immediate pleasure.

Thank you in the back God, but I got married and it hasn't been

yay. It's actually been really hard

God. But this was you told you said

this was your plan is marriage. The place I'm at is God, but why

is it so hard? Why doesn't it feel like the

pastor said paradise? It actually feels like a

wilderness. It feels like wild beasts have

surrounded me. It feels like the person that

was my friend has become ferocious.

It feels. I didn't see that coming.

I didn't know this would be like this.

I didn't know they had that habit.

God, I prayed, I sought wisdom, I sought counsel.

But Lord, this is heart. And sometimes in marriage, the

wrong theology is that we made the goal to be happy rather than

holy. And in marriage, sometimes we

think like the ultimate goal is your happiness.

The ultimate goal is your holiness.

And I'm not saying that your spouse should be mean and rude

and unkind. I'm not saying any of that.

But what I'm saying is this, don't shortcut the process of

your marriage because it feels like a wilderness right now.

Don't, don't, don't just pull the plug out.

I'm, I'm going to seek attention from somebody at work because

they're not giving me the attention right now.

I'm at this place where, you know what, they didn't

compliment me. So I'm going to look for

compliments outside of my marriage.

And I'm going to live in the comments of Instagram and I'm

going to secretly DM people just to find out if they're even

interested in a relationship when you're already in a

covenant relationship with the Lord.

Listen, we're all in different places in our lives, but we

could shortcut everything at our job because we're, we're willing

to lie. We could shortcut everything

with our friends. We can shortcut things

financially because we're struggling with all of our bills

that we begin to do things that are outside of the will of God.

Listen, please, and understand this.

Because you don't see God fulfilling His Word yet doesn't

mean that you cut corners. Now.

David is in in Getty, not Jerusalem.

And it won't be another 10 to 15 years before he actually gets in

this spot of his life of reigning.

And this is what I want you to remember that the spot of your

life should never determine how you step in your life.

And I want us to start saying something different if we can

say this. Stop saying ASAP.

Stop saying ASAP. And this is what I want you to

start saying AL AT as long as it takes.

Why do you get like it got super quiet right now.

You guys are like really pastor to see like not as soon as

possible, but let's stay in something as long as it takes

for the glory of God. Did you see, as you know from my

last week announcement to you, I've been battling a really bad

flare up in my Lyme's disease. I was diagnosed with Lyme's

disease in 2007 with a parasite infection and it is just been

four weeks of just immense pain. This week.

It's gone from roaring to meowing.

It's it's lessened and I thank you for your prayers.

But this has been for me 18 years of pain and there's been

discouragement. There has been for me

frustration. Now, don't get me wrong, I

believe in the healing of God. I believe in the power of God,

but I also believe in the timing of God.

In the last 18 years, in these moments that I'm in, I I've

questioned God's sovereignty. I have in my life not just

questioned God's sovereignty, but I have argued with His

Majesty over my situation. Not only that, I have doubted if

this is really loving and this always brings me back to this

fact that while I might be questioning, arguing and

doubting God, that God is using this place to fulfill his

purpose for me. God is using this place of my

life to fulfill his purpose for me.

Yesterday, Thursday, I got a call from a gentleman who who's

number was given to him, my number, and he called me.

He said hi, my name is and he gave me his name.

And then he began to tell me his story.

He's been sick, severely sick, and he really can't find an

answer just yet for what's happening in his life.

And I realized again in that moment of God's, God's

providential way of reminding me that He is using every ounce of

my pain, every ounce of my disease, every ounce of my hurt,

every ounce of it to reach another person for His glory.

The question often given to me is, what are you taking?

This is what I'm taking right now.

I'm taking the promise of God over my life that the journey

for me is not just finding an answer for Lyme's disease, it's

helping people find an answer in Jesus.

And I think in that time, I want to just share this with you.

This place is not what I thought it would be for me.

This place in my life does not mean that it's not what God had

planned though for me. And in this moment I'm in, I

want us to look at how we can use this painful place that

could lead for his piece possibly in other people.

Because I know some of you right now, because of what you're

facing in the place that you're in, you actually just want to

run. You want to run.

You want to get up out of this room and you actually just want

to go. You're, you're, you're, you're

in this place of your life at, at your, at your school.

And you're just like, I don't even want to be there anymore at

this school. You're in this situation with

your friendships and that you don't you don't even want to be

there in this moment. And these are the things that

I've said to the Lord. This place is too hard.

It hurts too much. The healing is taken too long,

but in this painful process of this place, as I've said before,

I don't want to settle for the sandbox when God wants to give

me the whole beach because I just want to cut some corners

for my own feelings. Now, I'm not saying that I don't

seek to feel well. What I am saying, I want to seek

to do God's will first. So if I could encourage us as I

walk alongside of you in my own process of this place, and that

is this stop cutting corners. Stop cutting corners with your

character. Stop cutting corners with how

you communicate to people. Stop cutting corners on the

freeway. You're in the carpool lane, but

you're driving by yourself. That's called the corner.

Stop cutting corners at work. When you said that you would do

your job, but you really didn't do it to its fullest potential.

Stop cutting corners in your classroom where you let chat do

all of your homework for you. Stop.

That's cutting the corner. That's actually hindering your

growth for future potential. Stop cutting corners.

And in stopping, what happens is I just surrender myself to God.

Listen, God already knew where David was.

God already knew what David was going through.

And sometimes this is what happens.

We get so fixed on the wilderness that we miss Jesus in

the wilderness. And this is the moment that no

matter the place, we no longer excuse our sinful choices

because of the spot that we're in.

We have a promise, but it's not fulfilled.

And the wilderness should always lead me not to wandering around,

but to worshipping Jesus more. There is one King that went

through the wilderness and prevailed.

His name is Jesus. Even though he was tempted to

take the shortcut in life, he chose not to and he surrendered

himself to the will of God. The wilderness led to a garden

and in the garden the wilderness decision was more even evident

where he said not my will be done, but your will be done.

If there's any way the suffering can pass, let it pass.

But God the Father sent an Angel and energize Jesus that no

matter the place, we have a forerunner who would say to us,

you can make it. Listen not only no matter the

place, but listen, listen to this.

No matter the perspective, listen.

Then Saul took 3000 chosen men. He took 3000 chosen men.

The chosen men were the Navy Seals.

They were the Recon, they were the Army Rangers.

They were all the spec OPS guys. They, they, they were elite.

Saul took 3000 of them and did what?

And went to see David and his men at the rocks of the wild

goats. Listen.

So we came to the sheepfolds by the road.

What is David first known as Shepherd?

Saul comes to the sheepfolds in the road where there was a cave,

and Saul went in to attend to his needs.

Now stop there for a minute. John MacArthur says.

I'll just quote him. So I don't make any of you

offended John MacArthur. You could be offended at him.

He said that Saul had a bowel movement and a bowel movement.

So here's Saul. He went to go attend to his

needs. He had to go to the bathroom.

So Saul goes into The Cave and in the darkness he pulls his

robe aside and he squats down. And here is Saul in this moment,

3000 men outside, Saul on the inside, David and his men hiding

in the dark. I wonder if they're like the

king is going to the bathroom. Have you ever been involved in

somebody's else stinky mess? And David now has a chance to do

something about it. He's crouched down, inner

garments to his ankles. I just want you to get the

picture. And as he's at this spot,

listen, no matter the place, I want you to write this down.

No shortcuts, no matter the perspective.

No matter your perspective. Now.

Now Saul is using the restroom and his men are staying outside

of The Cave. Now, now, now, get this.

The Bible tells us that Saul had how many men?

3000 in another spot in the Bible.

The Bible says that David had 600 men.

Now you want to do some math with me today?

If we can, let's do the math. You ready?

Saul has 3000 soldiers. David has 600.

The odds were against David. I want you to see this.

Saul had 3000. David had 600.

To simplify the odds, let's just let's get down to the greatest

common divisor. Both numbers is 600.

David 3000 / 600 = 5. Notice this.

Divide 600 by 600 that equals one.

Let's simplify the odds of David 521.

David's odds were against him. This didn't look good for him.

The outcome looked not to be in his favor.

The probability is bleak. Come on, David.

Take a shortcut. The odds are against you.

You didn't sign up for this. You're already king.

The odds are against you. And here is David in this

moment. And this is what I want you to

remember over and over again this week.

When I read odds in the Bible, I see opportunities of God in the

Bible. When I see odds in the Bible, I

see opportunities of God to work in the Bible.

Can you just tell your neighbor odds equal opportunities with

the Lord? Your odds will always equal your

opportunity. Even right now.

I know the math is not measuring up in your life right now, but

with God, odds always become opportunities because look at

what God does. David's outnumbered.

He's out noticed. He's out man.

But God moves saw supernaturally, in a natural

way. God moves Saul away from 3000

elite soldiers, moves him by himself in a cave, places him

there at David's beckoning and in this spot, notice as Saul

moves away from his soldiers that he is completely

defenseless. God did this so working of the

Lord providentially, God moving in the life of David.

And this is what I want to you to remember is that when odds

are against you, it doesn't mean that God is against you.

God is still moving. And this is what often times

happens. Our perspective becomes so

earthly that we missed the supernatural moment that God

wants to work in. So here's what happens to David

in his life. David already viewed Goliath as

a man. He went and fought in the name

of the Lord. So what David did in the Valley

of Elah is how David responded in The Cave.

Your decisions build on each other.

It's what happened to Moses. You remember when he's at the

Red Sea, his back's up against the wall.

God says stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Joshua, six days. I want you to March around this

city and do not say a word. The ark of the Lord will go

before you, the presence of God. No notice this Esther, she said

for such a time as this, but this is what oftentimes happens

when we're in a cave. This is what happens.

We get cynical, we get critical, we get bitter, we get jaded, and

then we get isolated. That's what happens when you

find yourself in a cave, But not only is David facing Saul, but

notice this. David's actually waiting in the

dark. The Cave is not lit up by LE DS.

It doesn't have cool orange lights on the side of it.

It doesn't set the vibe. In the mood for Huga.

It's not this golden hour moment.

It is complete darkness. In The Cave.

David was not only facing Saul, but he's facing the darkness.

I like to equate sometimes waiting on God in the darkness

feels like getting an MRI. You ever had an MRI?

They put you in this little capsule and then you're just,

I'm so claustrophobic. And then they shoot this dye in

you that if you're allergic to it, like me, it sends you

through the wall. And then you're sitting in this

dark, closed space and you're just hearing all these noises

and you're wondering, is this really going to take a good

picture? Is this really worth it?

You're like 30 more minutes, like 30 minutes.

I got 30 seconds in me. I think it just, it feels like

you just want to RIP out every IV that's in you and just get

out of the room. But listen, this is a place

where God is portraying His greatest picture, and just

because your perspective is negative doesn't mean that God

won't do something positive. Cutting corners is never worth

it. It's never worth it for you to

go get drunk because you're depressed.

It's never worth it for you to go seek another relationship

because you're empty inside of your heart.

It's never worth it for you to continue.

For me to live in a state of bitterness and jaded all the

time and see now every person I meet through this, it's not

worth it. It is not worth it because when

I don't have the right perspective, I don't just miss

the situation I'm in. I miss the Savior who is with

me. And this is what happens in this

moment is David comes into this cave.

In verse 4, the men of David said to him, This is the day of

which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your

enemy into your hand, that you may do to him, as it seems good

to you. And David arose and secretly cut

off a corner of Saul's robe. Look at what happened.

Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him

because he had cut Saul's robe. And he said to his men, The Lord

forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's

anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the

anointed of the people. So David restrained his servants

with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul,

and saw God up from The Cave and went on his way.

All of David's 600 soldiers said to him, This is the day which

the Lord said, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your

hands, no matter the place, no matter the perspective, no

matter the pressure. The pressure, the pressure is

real. His soldiers are saying The Lord

said He would give his enemies into your hand, which is true.

But what was not true was the second part that you may do to

him, as it seems good to you. That was not from the Lord.

That was not what God had said. The first part's good, the

second part is not good, and his men are pressuring him.

So what does David do? He kneels down and I wonder if

it was with the sword that he killed Goliath with the same

victory he had in the Lord with Goliath, the same sword that he

had taken from Goliath. He now takes that and cuts a

corner of Saul's robe off all the men were.

It was like watching the Texas game last Saturday, yesterday,

screaming people, You could just hear the men.

And David within the side of his heart said, no, something's not

right. Something's not right.

Notice it troubled David's heart.

That's called conviction. When conviction hits, what does

David do? He said to his men, the truth.

The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master.

He is the Lord's anointed to stretch out my hand against him,

seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.

Now. Now, listen.

David restrained his men. How did David restrain his men?

That word means he restrained them forcibly.

Because David was able to restrain himself, he can only

lead people as far as you have gone.

And here in this moment the pressure amounted and David, but

the greater pressure that David felt was the conviction of the

Lord rather than the comments of people.

And he came to this place and said, God forbid Paul put it

this way, should I continue and sin that grace may abound.

And he said, God forbid that I should do this thing to my

master. And some of you have come in and

you've cut so many corners. You're just thinking, God forbid

that I should do this any longer.

And it is this awakening moment in your heart and in your life

to stop what you're doing. God forbid that I should do this

to my master. The Lord's anointed, notice what

he called Saul. He's the Lord's anointed to

stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the

Lord. David's heart went back to where

Joseph's heart went, and that was back to the Lord.

If you find yourself in a place today, cutting corners is a

single cutting corners on the Internet, cutting corners

wherever it might be in your life, in your marriage, through

the process of your own divorce, through the agony of your own

defeat. This is a moment that the Spirit

awakens your heart and you're troubled within to say, God

forbid I keep doing this, Jesus will change you.

Today in that pressure, I want us to bring ourselves to the

Lord. What I mean by that is this, if

this is a moment that you just need to come up and get prayer,

that we allow that pressure to stop driving us away from the

Lord. But to the Lord, if this is in

your marriage for some of you, if this is in your health for

some of you, if this is in your mind, if this isn't your job, if

this isn't your school for your young men and women, if this is

in your singleness, whatever it might be, allow the pressure to

bring you to the spot of Lord forbid, Lord forbid.

Lord, would you right now, by the power of your spirit draw

men and women to yourself? Would you by the power of your

spirit bring conviction of sin, but by your grace bring

transformation of life. I pray a lot like this woman we

looked at at the beginning of our study of Rosie Ruiz, never

confessed to what she did, but lived a life where she was fired

at her job, arrested due to cocaine, and held on to all of

her secrets. Lord, I pray that no one would

do that. That today would be a day of

complete release. That today would be a day of

repentance and restoration. That today would be a day of

promise and power over people. Would you do this now?

Lord, by your strength, in Jesus name, Amen.

As we end our time together, we're going to remember Jesus.

He is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

We have communion to my left and to your right.

As a child of God is born again by his Spirit.

I want to constantly remind myself of the work of Jesus.

And so today, if this is you and you're like, God forbid, I'm not

going any further, Let's let's, let's get prayer up in front as

we're LED in worship. 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.