Use Your Inside Voice | 1 Samuel 23

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. In First Samuel chapter 23,

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 27, the author writes these words.

But a messenger came to Saul saying, hasten and come, for the

Philistines have invaded the land.

Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David and went against

the Philistines. So they called the place the

Rock of escaping. If you could just say the rock

of escaping. We'll come back to that at the

very end of my sermon. And then David went up from

there and dwelt in the strongholds at in Getty.

If you can, just look at your neighbor and say neighbor my

neighbor. Use your inside voice.

If I could just set up the picture for you of where David

is at, at this point in time in his life.

We know that the book of First Samuel is not a very hard book

to understand the context and the timing of First Samuel is

written at a time where it's the time of the judges, where the

Bible says that every man was doing that which was right in

his own eyes. It was in this story story that

we were introduced to a woman by the name of Hannah and a man by

the name of Elkana. Elkana had Hannah as a wife and

Panina as a wife. Panina, her name means Jem, but

she was stone cold. She had children while Hannah

had no children. On their way to worship the Lord

at the temple and at the altar, Hannah found herself crying out

to the Lord that God would provide for her a son for her

family. And that that moment you

remember Eli, the priest was looking on and thought that

Hannah was drunk. And so he said, please don't

drink here. And she said, Sir, I'm not

drunk, I'm just sorrowful of spirit.

And while she's there, Eli blesses her.

And it says at this time you will have a son.

What Hannah thought would bring a son into her family, actually

God was using to being bring a prophet into the nation of

Israel. God's timing is perfect.

And in his timing he always has a purpose.

And in that it's always greater and bigger and far wider than we

could ever have dreamed of. This time of waiting for Hannah

was a time of anguish of heart, but it was producing in her a

life that would bless the multitudes of people in the

nation. Samuel is raised up as a prophet

of the Lord. And as he's raised up as a

prophet of the Lord, the nation of Israel is crying out for a

king. And as they are crying out for a

king, you remember they said we want a king just like all the

other nations. It was at this time that God

said to Samuel, give them what they want.

At that time a man by the name of Saul was raised up to be the

first king of Israel. The Bible says that he was head

and shoulders above everybody else in the magazine for GQ for

Israel. He would have been the picture

perfect male at this time because God gave them what they

had asked for. It was at this point in time

that we remember that God told Saul to wipe out all the

Amalekites, but he didn't. He spared some.

And the Bible says that God had disregarded Saul as being king

and he was going to anoint another king.

So we remember that God at this time goes now send Samuel to the

House of Jesse and there he goes through every son in the family.

And at this point in time, Samuel's about to anoint one who

looks just like Saul. He looks good and God, this is

not that one for you. Look at the outward appearance,

but I look at the heart. And it is in that moment that

saw Samuel said to Jesse, do you have any other boys?

And he said yes. There's.

One out in the field, he's ready in appearance.

His name is David and at that time he said call David over.

God uses Samuel, he anoints David with oil, and at that

point in time he raises up not just the first king of Israel,

but the second king of Israel. You remember the episode in

First Samuel where David walks into the valley of Elah and he

slays a giant by the name of Goliath?

At this point in time in First Samuel, David is now being

pursued after by Saul. So I want you to understand this

as we come into First Samuel chapter 23, that David is

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

running for his life. The man Saul, who has lost his

kingship is now pursuing David to kill him.

David received a promise by God, but it wasn't fulfilled until 10

to 15 years later. And here in First Samuel chapter

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

23, David is actually hiding from Saul.

If we were to paint the picture and look at the kings of Israel,

First Samuel tells us of the 1st 2 kings of Israel.

That is Saul and David pointing to a greater king by the name of

Jesus. We know that the king always

needs a greater king and that is the king Jesus.

Throughout the life of David, the Bible says he wasn't a

perfect man, but he was a very purposed man.

David was a man who inquired of the Lords.

Saul was a man who sought the people's opinion.

And so when we come today, I want you to get the

understanding that David is in a not a lush wilderness.

He's in in Getty, which is a dry desert wilderness hiding for the

sake of his own life. He carries within his own heart

a word from the Lord, but it's not fully fulfilled yet.

I don't know if you've ever been there where you've been given

something by God, but it's not fully there yet.

And in this moment, we have two options.

Like David, we can inquire of the Lord or like Saul, we could

seek the opinion of the people. So today I want to challenge you

to use your inside voice. My mom was my first preacher.

That was a good spot for moms to say Amen.

My mom was my first preacher. I remember at six years old

hearing this term for the very first time when I walked in the

door of my house, excited with all of my friends.

We had just won the the the the two hand touch football game.

And I walked into the house and my voice was loud and my mom got

her pulpit out and pointed her finger at me and looked at me

very sternly and very seriously. But I knew there was love in her

heart for me. She said use your inside voice.

I remember now, not just in my house but going to school, my

teacher became my second preacher.

I was upset about a test and in that frustration my voice had

some lifted agitation in it. My teacher got out her pulpit.

She pointed her finger at me also and she said use your

inside voice. I carried on in my life, I just

wouldn't get the message he ever had to tell someone something

more than once. That's me.

I'm a little bit older now and I was in a meeting in an office

and I'd found myself even upset about the meeting and I walked

in and my Co workers became my next preacher.

They pulled out their pulpit and they all pointed their fingers

at me in the office and they said use your inside voice.

Just look at your neighbor and say use your inside voice and

say it really loud. Use your inside voice.

Use your inside voice. I can if I can.

I don't think this is just a message for inside the house.

I don't think this is a message that's just in for inside the

classroom or at the office in the boardroom.

I think this is a message that needs to come to the House of

God and the church today and that is use your inside voice.

Now, when it comes to using your inside voice, I know that we're

prone to wander into the lies that are loud.

We're prone to give our ears to the noise of the news.

We'll often listen very rapidly to the rumors that are very

rambunctious. I mean, the opinions of others

are often thundering, and the reports that we're hearing are

often roaring in our lives. And the data that we receive

every day is deafening that we miss the voice of God in the

mess of the noise and we become content to live in the comments

of other people rather than the commandments of scripture.

When I talk about using your inside voice, I'm not talking

about you working yourself up and self talk.

I'm not talking about for you listening to yourself and just

saying positive things about yourself.

What I'm talking about in the inside voice is for those who

are born again. The Bible says is that God from

an outside source called His word has placed His word inside

of your heart. If you were to look at First

1 Kings 19:11–13

Kings chapter 19, verse 11 through 13, God was not in the

earthquake, God was not in the wind, God was not in the fire.

God was in the whisper. And the whisper for us is not

necessarily about the volume. It's about the truth, the love

and the wisdom that God has for you today.

His voice is gentle yet powerful and it calls us to trust, hope

and love in Jesus Christ. Did you see in our lives God has

given to us His voice, and He's invested His voice inside of my

heart by the working of the Holy Scriptures and His Holy Spirit.

This is the proof. David said it this way in Psalm

Psalms 119:11

119, verse 11, He says your word.

Have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you?

Listen to what the Bible said. Paul said in Colossians 3 verse

Colossians 3:16

16. I know all of you have

remembered memorized John 316. I want you to memorize

Colossians 316. Colossians 316 says let the word

of Christ dwell in you richly. Listen what the Bible says in

Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 6, and these words which I

Deuteronomy 6:6

commanded you today shall be in your heart.

Now notice the Bible goes on to tell us about the word of God,

that God has placed his outside word into the inner part of my

heart and life through Holy Scriptures.

That means this, that my feelings are real, but they're

not the final authority. That means that my feelings can

be an indicator, but they're not the dictator of my life.

What is the dictator of my life is the Bible.

So when it comes to the Word of God, I allow the Word of God to

be the inside voice of my life. I allow my life to be driven,

directed, dedicated, devoted to the Word because it's the Word

that leads me to the Word. Oh, come on, church, It is the

Word that leads me to the Word, who is Jesus Christ.

So I find that within myself I can inquire of the Lord.

And here's what David does. David is not following after his

feelings. He doesn't live by the opinions

of the people. He's not directed by his

anxiety, but he's hearing the Almighty God and he makes the

voice of the Lord the loudest voice in his life.

This is David, this is the story.

Pick it up with me. If you would look at first

1 Samuel 23:2

Samuel 23 verse 2 and the Bible says therefore David inquired of

the Lord. No Notice if you would the life

of David in verse 4. Then David inquired of the Lord.

Then notice if you would not not just verse 4, but notice verse 9

when David knew that Saul plotted evil against him.

He said to Abbie Afar the priest, bring the ephod here.

That was the direction of the Lord.

Then David said these words in verse 10, O Lord God of Israel.

Notice if you would not just in verse 9 and verse 10, but look

at verse 18 in your Bible, Samuel chapter 23.

The Bible says so. The two of them made a covenant

before the. Lord.

Now notice where David is constantly coming back to, and

that is, Lord, what do you have to say to me in this moment?

Now I know some of you. You're not being pursued after.

You're not. Someone is not seeking to rob,

kill and destroy your life. Well, maybe there is.

Maybe his name is Satan. I mean, in this story it was

Saul. But maybe there's another enemy

who's seeking to destroy your life, and that is the devil who

is out to steal, kill and destroy, who wants you to listen

to another voice rather than the voice of God.

And then, now, now I know you're not hiding in a desert, but

we're all living in a valley and what God has called us to in the

midst of our pickups and our let downs.

Your papers and your exams, in your office meetings and your

office confrontations, in your parent counseling, teacher

meetings and in your doctor's appointments, in your

appointments and all of your accidents.

The question today is not are you running?

We know you're all running. The question is, is are you

listening when you're running? Now the hardest thing for me to

do is to run and talk. You ever ran with someone and

all they wanted to do was just talk next to you because they're

so fit. They have the level of oxygen as

they're running and they're, they're, hey, how are you doing

today? I'm like, just be quiet.

I'm just trying to breathe. I, I'm just trying to make it to

the next corner. I, I, I think when we're running

it, it's hard to stay in communication, but, but we can

always be maybe not talking when we're running, but we can be

listening. We can all be listening.

They, they say at low levels sound is imperceptible, but at

high levels it's unignorable. Do you know this, that if sound

exceeds 110 decibels, your blood pressure changes?

You sitting in the front row, you're like, Amen.

Pastor Casey, that was a little loud today, you know, at 141

decibels you become nauseous. Do you know what the?

Decibels of levels. Of music or noise.

At 1:45 decibels you can lose your vision.

At a 195 decibels, your eardrums will burst.

At 202 decibels, it can actually cause death.

When God chose to speak, He chose to speak at a whisper.

A whisper is 15 decibels. I remember when my mom was

really sick, she she grabbed my ear and she said can you lean

down closer to me? And she whispered something in

my ear. When someone you love whispers,

you listen and all the baby said Amen.

Thank you for life Lord, thank you for multiplying.

At 15 decibels is the sound of a whisper.

Someone once said that we tend to dismiss an insignificant and

natural phenomena that preceded the whisper because God was not

in them, but I bet they got Elijah's attention.

He goes on to write Elijah. God has an outside voice and

he's not afraid to use it. But when God wants to be heard,

when what he has to say is too important to miss, He often

speaks in a whisper just above absolute threshold of hearing.

And this is what David is experiencing now.

If you've ever. Read a book.

If I could ever recommend a book for you to read, it is called

The Anxious Generation. And it is a.

Book that talks about the devastating effects of people

who are constantly on their phones, people who are

constantly addicted to their screens.

People who are constantly cannot get off of social media that

spend over 7 hours a day on a regular basis on their phone

because they want to distract themselves from the pain and

reality of their life many times.

The author writes these words. People can't.

People can't really multitask. All we can do is shift attention

back and forth between tasks while wasting a lot of it on

each shift of attention. What has your attention takes

your ambition? Whatever has your attention

takes your ambition. I want to just say that again,

whatever has your attention will take your ambition.

And if this is how I'm driving my life through Instagram,

TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, all the things that I've entrenched

myself into my phone, what happens is, is my phone has my

attention. And then my phone begins to

direct my ambition. And this is important because I

believe the phone can be used to display the word of God and we

can follow what God says through our phones.

But what they're finding now is not just the good aspects of of

the phone life or the screens. It has been very devastating to

this next generation. It has led to isolation,

depression and anxiety because through this we never measure

up. But through the Word of God

directing my attention here, it shows me that someone has

measured up for me and I could. Follow what he has to say.

So what does the inside voice do to your life?

I think it does what it did to David's life.

And that is this. Can you just remember this?

Write this down, take note of this.

His voice quiets my fears, his voice quiets my fears.

And they told David, saying, look, the Philistines are

fighting against key law and they are robbing the threshing

floor. So David's running for his life,

but he hears the news that in the city of Key Law that the

Philistines have invaded and they're robbing them at the

threshing floor. Now, we don't have threshing

floors in Glendora. We're not often talking about

threshing floors, nor are we often talking about a city of

key law. I mean, who cares about key law,

right? David did.

And at the threshing floor, this was the place where the harvest

would come of the wheat, and they would take the wheat and

they would throw the wheat up in the air.

And at the threshing floor, the breeze and the wind that came to

the threshing floor would separate the wheat from the

chaff, and all of it would fall upon the ground.

That was really the real harvest, but everything else

would blow away. So the Philistines are taking

the abundance of the harvest, and David gets the news that

this has happened at the threshing floor.

Now, things being stolen don't just happen at the threshing

floor. They happen in your office, they

happen at your school, they happen in regards to the

freeways that you drive on. How many of you have had your

patients stolen or you've given up freely just because you were

so upset? How many of you have found

yourself that you were at your harvest in your home and it was

going well, Then all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye,

things turned. Now there's holes in your walls

and dents in your doors. I know, I think that in our

lives, often times when we hear this term, Threshing Floor, we

think that oh, this is just an old term.

This is an old term. But it also has very present

significance to us because many of us are losing things at

Threshing Floors and we need a David to come alongside of us

and win our battle. And let me tell you, there is

one who's greater than David. And therefore notice this.

David inquired of the Lord, the inside voice, Lord, what do you

want? Shall I go and attack these

Philistines? You remember that the

Philistines were the enemy of Israel.

And the Lord said to David, I'll just underline that circle, that

highlight that the Lord said to David.

David didn't get a word from somebody else.

The Lord said this to David. The Lord had said, go and attack

the Philistines and save Keilah. And David's men said to him,

look, we are bold. Nope, Look, we're strong.

Nope. Look, we're mighty.

Nope. Look, we are afraid.

We're afraid, David, here in Judah.

How much more than if we go down to Keilah against the armies of

the Philistines? Then David inquired of the Lord

once again. Did you see the principal?

Notice the voice of the people did not deter David from the

voice of the Lords. We'll get into this in just a

minute. And the Lord answered him and

said, Arise and go down to Keela, for I will deliver the

Philistines in your hands. Notice God did not promise David

that the fear would leave his men.

God promised David that victory would come.

Sometimes we say faith over fear, but I think it's faith

even in the midst of fear. Can I tell you today that coming

up on this stage, I am afraid every single time.

Coming up here, fear has not left since I've been 17 years.

Old. I'm I'm 30.

No, I'm not. I'm not 30I I'm I'm 50 years

old. I'm 50 years old.

So now 17 to 50, the fear hasn't left.

Does that mean that I stopped doing what God's called me to do

simply because the fear is still there?

I have to listen to the voice of the Lord.

His voice quiets my fear. It doesn't always remove the

fear, but it does quiet the fear.

So David hears the voice of the Lord.

And again the Lord says, I am giving them into your hand.

Notice this. David's men were afraid, but

David was aware. I wonder how often the fear of

other people direct the faith in which you live by.

I wonder in my life how many times I can come to this place

called Key Law, which means a fortress city, and have a

perplexing place surrounded by panicked people and not have the

right prescription. The right prescription is this

is that David would inquire of the Lord.

So I just want to put it this way.

Look at what David does in the tragedy of the attack.

The Bible says David inquires of the Lord in the trauma of fear.

The Bible says that David inquired of the Lord in the

triggers of other people and possibly David himself.

The Bible says that David had inquired of the Lord.

Look at this. The voice of the Lord was over

their feelings, which then led to their victory.

That's so important is that we understand the voice of the

Lord. Why is this is Because fear

always paralyzes and it will make you stay in the same place

and pay way too much. But faith and obedience in His

Word in the midst of the fearful feelings will always lead to

progression and will take you to new places.

So you experience a new power, and that power is through the

presence of the Lord. The basis of the children of

Israel's victory was solely found in the voice of the Lord,

and the victory foundational principle of our lives is going

to be found in the voice of the Lord.

No, no, notice this. The voice of the Almighty came

at such a place that although they had a mighty blow, and

although they had taken away their harvest, His voice would

call them to quiet their fears. I like to put it this way if I

can for you in life. You can be stunned, but you

don't have to be stolen from. Did you get that?

You can be stunned by life and things, but those things don't

have to steal from you. There are things that are going

to stun you. There are things and seasons I

go through, they're very stunning.

The loss of someone you love, the diagnosis of the disease,

the marriage that fell apart, the singleness that you're still

battling even right now. Going to school can be a

stunning effect upon people. And all the students said doing

homeschool can be stunning. It can stun you.

Your level of exams can be just stunning you.

Let me just tell you something. I was at the.

Bridgetown bowl games in the month of September.

Our last game was the kickball game.

We played kickball and I was the last kicker and I had to run the

whole base to make it home. And so I kicked the ball and the

foul ball just went off into the street and then the ball came

again and I kicked it as hard as I could and I ran with

everything that I had. 50 year old man running around a grass

field of make believe bases. I had to make it home.

If you don't know me yet, I'm very competitive and most of the

time in those moments I lose my salvation.

No, I'm just kidding. And so I'm running and I'm like,

I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it.

But then I see Matt coming on the side of me and I see Kaden

coming on the side of me. And someone threw the kickball

and the rule was you're supposed to throw it underneath the

waist. But they as your pastor, they

threw it at my head. Talk about persecution for

following Jesus. And I'm just, I'm just playing

with you. And so I'm I'm sliding into

first and then someone steps on my hand, stunned.

To this day, I'm still stunned. I cannot use this pointer and

I'm running and the ball hits me.

I'm stunned. I slide.

He steps on my finger. I'm stunned, and I'm out.

Stunned that I'm out. I should have been safe.

So. Then I made my way to the end of

the game, they came down to the final play and even though I was

stunned and out, we still won the game.

And I just want you to hear this this morning.

Come on, This is where the Southern Baptist preacher comes

out of me that you might be stunned and out, but you're

still going to win the game. You might have found yourself

like sliding in with all that you had and running with all

that you had and you are stunned and you feel out, but you are

going to win the game. And I, I just want you to hear

that today because some of us were allowing what has stunned

us to steal from us. Did you see David had not just

one enemy, he had two enemies. He had Saul and he had the

Philistines. And at this moment, Saul is

pursuing his life while David's seeking to preserve the life of

other people. And he's allowing this moment

for what has stunned the people and his own mighty men.

Listen, you can still be mighty and have fear not to be stunned

and stolen from, but stunned and take the next step.

Did you see here you might have come into this place and you

allow the past experience to determine your present victory?

David says no, no, no, no, no, no.

Listen, I want you to hear the word of the Lord, the word of

the Lord. Calm their fear in their hearts.

And just because you've been stunned in that marriage, you've

been stunned in your relationship, you've been

stunned at school, you've been stunned because of that

depression, you've been stunned because of that breakup that

does not have to steal from your life.

You can still inquire of the Lord.

They they they say that in moments of fear.

In moments of fear, your brain sends a warning signal to your

hypothalamus and this is the reaction that normally follows.

The reaction of this fear is normally fight, flight or

freeze, Fight, flight, or freeze.

Some of you when you're fearful, you just want to fight.

Some of you, you just want to run.

Some of. Us, we freeze.

We're stuck. I want to give you another F Can

I give you another F? Because I like to use these FS,

these acronyms a lot or these these like same letter word.

Like you guys know, you're like, that's super cheesy, Casey, but

we get it. Follow, follow.

And that means this. Don't just follow the voice

that's in your head. Follow the one who's leading

your heart. I want you to follow.

Listen to what the Bible says. I want you to hear the voice of

the Lord. And you, Lord my God, I put my

trust. These are the Psalms of David.

Listen, the Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? Listen to the voice of the Lord.

Listen. It's going to quiet your fear.

Lord. He gives strength to His people.

I love this verse. You ready?

You ready? I sought the Lord and he

answered me. He delivered me from.

All. Of my fears doesn't mean that

they were gone, but he delivers you from the power of them over

you. Listen, use your.

Inner voice. His voice will quiet my fears

and he will conquer my enemy. And in that listen to what

someone once said. And I'll take this from the book

again. Anxious generation.

Neurons that fire together wire together.

The neurons that fire together, they wire together.

So wherever I'm spending my most time and my most experiential

time, either in our generation on a screen or in the Bible,

those neurons that fire together, they wire together and

then they create new pathways in your brain of how you think you

was you escape from your reality.

I want his voice to be that which quiets our fierce You can

read your Bible. You can listen to your Bible.

We have no excuse of why we're not people of the book.

I mean, we're not. We're not at the printing press

days where where we're wondering if we can even get a portion.

We're not living in China where people are passing out the book

of Matthew. You're in America.

You're in a place where you have a written book in your hands,

but you also have digitally over your phone.

Well, I just didn't have time for the word.

No, no, no, you didn't make time for the word.

I, I, I just don't have the time.

I'm so busy. When you drive, can you turn off

the talk radio and turn on your Bible?

Will you turn off the music and just turn on your Bible?

If you want to listen to the Bible on like a cool like street

light app, they go through the whole Bible, but they do it

through hip hop. It's really cool.

I know you're looking at me like what you like hip hop.

Yes, I do. Listen, you have this

opportunity to allow yourself to come back to the scripture, and

I just kind of put it this way in a graceful way.

The screen will not fix your children, but I know the

scripture will. You don't need more screen time.

What you really need is more scripture.

Time got kind of quiet. Let's move on here.

His voice not only quiets my fear, his voice protects my

life. No, Notice what happens with

David now. It happened when Abbie Athar,

the son of him, Alec, fled to David at Keela that he went down

with an F odd in his hand. Can you just underline the the

term F odd in his hand and Saul was told that David had gone to

Keela. So Saul said, God has delivered

him into my hand for he has shut himself in by entering a town

that has gates and bars. Then Saul called all the people

together for war to go down to Keela to besiege David and his

men. And when David knew that Saul

plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest,

bring the ephod here. Notice this.

Then David said, O Lord God of Israel, your servant has

certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keela to.

Destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Kela deliver me

into his hand? Who is David asking?

The Lord will. Saul, come down as your servant

is heard, O Lord God of Israel, I pray tell your servant.

And the Lord said he will come down.

And David then David said, will the men of Kela deliver me from

the my men into the hand of Saul.

And the Lord said, They will deliver you.

So David and his men about 600 arose and departed from Kela and

went wherever they can go. And then it was told Saul that

David had escaped from Key loss, and we halted the expedition.

And David said in the strongholds in the wilderness,

he stayed there and remained in the mountains, in the wilderness

of Ziff. Saul sought him.

Every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

So Saul. So David saw that Saul had come

out to seek his life, and David was in the wilderness of Ziff in

the forest. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose

and went to David in the woods. And notice this, he strengthened

his hand in God. Check this out, David.

Not only has his fears quieted by God's voice, but David's life

is protected by the voice of God.

No notice David had taken in Abby Athar.

You you remember that? Ahem, Alec was slaughtered with

all the other priests because of Saul's jealousy and rage.

And the Bible says that Abby Athar took in his hand the

ephod. Now during this time the high

priest would wear a garment. And the ephod was the apron that

was made of a very important and rich wear and beautiful stones.

On their chest was the 1212 stones that represented the 12

tribes of Israel, the priest. The priest would also carry into

the Holy of Holies the incense, which would then represent the

aroma that would arise to God and it would cover the stench of

the sacrifice. Then the priest would also, many

scholars believe, have within their bosom in a pocketed area,

the Urim and the Thummim. The Urim and the Thummim was,

some scholars believe, was used to cast lots to determine what

God wanted in that moment. Now notice what the Bible says.

The Bible says to us that we have become a holy priesthood, a

holy priesthood. Notice this.

There's many people who want to be prophets, but not many people

who want to be priests. And so in the holy priesthood we

carry the prayers of the Saints up to God in lifting our incense

and worship to him. And God has given to us the will

and the power because of His Word to discern what is right

and what is wrong. David sought the proper channels

to get the proper message, and thus David's life was protected

by the Lord. David would use the ephod and

the Urim and the Thummim, and he would now know what God was

calling him to do. God now is not calling you to

determine what His will is through a rock, Two rocks.

Is that yes or no? I've heard people wondering if

they should travel to Israel and one guy wakes up at 7:47 and he

takes that as the will of God, that he travels to Israel on a

747 jet. I don't know if you've ever

prayed. Lord, if this is your will, let

me hit every green light going down the street right now.

I don't know if you've ever prayed.

God, if it's your will for me to be at this donut shop, just

provide me a parking space at this place.

I don't know what type of prayers you've often prayed, but

here is the final authority. Here's the final authority.

Do you want to go to Israel? Go to Israel.

Do you? I used to have a Bible college

friend. He's he was in the next bunk

over. He's to say, Lord, what do you

want me to wear today? And he would come back from the

woods for four hours. I'm like, where have you been?

So I'm just praying and asking God what I should wear today.

Now, I believe in the will of God.

I believe that God speaks to us. But listen, do you want to wear

a blue shirt for the glory of God?

Wear a blue shirt for the glory of God.

David determines the will of God through the Word of God.

Now this is so important because people are going to say things

to you that they say is from the Lord.

That's not the Lord. And you're going to have to

measure what they say by the word of God.

So this is so important because this is this is very prevalent

in our day and age. And I believe in the gift of

prophecy. I believe that God could give

someone a word of knowledge about a situation.

But listen, be very careful. Be very careful.

If you say the Lord told me to tell you and it's not found in

here, that's not the right Lord. And it's important that we hear

this because in this moment, what often times happens in our

lives is we commit things to God that he actually never said to

the people. And what we often do is it leads

to blaming God for things that God never said.

And so it's important that we come to a place and understand

that God has given to us something very easy and that is

his work. Now I know we might face

different situations and have to make different decisions, but

listen, measure that according to the word of God and then

bring it into, bring it into the confirmation of people.

Now your experience God can use, but the final authority is not

the experience, it's the exhortation.

And this is important for us to understand because how Saul

lived his life was through fear and insecurity, jealousy and

pride, self centeredness and selfish ambition, rebellion and

disobedience. And then look what Saul says.

This is what Saul says to the people in verse 21.

And Saul said, blessed are you of the Lord, because you have

compassion on me. He used the Lord even though he

wasn't really living for the Lord.

And it's important that we understand and protect ourselves

under the word of God, to listen like David in a place of

dependence, in a place of his declaration, in a place that

will lead to the devotion that God has given to us.

His voice protects your life. But we often get into the mess

of our own decisions because we don't listen to the message that

the Father has given to us. We find ourselves in a place of.

I looked up the 10 top sins of our generation.

Narcissism, entitlement, instant gratification, anger, fear,

materialism, pride, greed, lust, envy, laziness, sexual

immorality, abortion, lies all at a spot where we can now give

in to what we want to do. Now here's the thing, we think

our way is better. So what happens is is we break

ourselves away from what God has said in his word and we lose the

protection that God often has for us.

We often ask why am I facing this?

Many times it's either because of persecution and you're doing

what is right, or maybe some of the times it wasn't the devil

that led you to it, it was your decision that led you to it.

And I think it's important that we own that because we have to

come back and understand that. His voice reveals what I need to

remember in the midst of what I'm going through.

And that is the nature of God, the sinfulness of sin, the work

of Christ. I need to remember the sorrows

of the past because of that sin, but the blessings of future

obedience. And remember you have the help

of. The Holy Spirit use the inner

voice and match it to the Word of God.

Lastly, because I think I'm going over, His voice will save

your life. His voice will save your life.

Notice, if you would, here is David at this place, and here is

Saul pursuing his life. Jonathan, Saul's son comes to

David, he strengthens his hand in God.

David now flees and the Bible says in verse 19 then the zip

heights came to David or to Saul at Gibby.

Us saying is David not hiding with us in the strongholds, in

the woods, in the hills of Hakaliah, which is on the South?

Of Jeshuman. Now therefore, O king, come down

according to all the desire of your soul to come down, and our

part shall be to deliver him into the King's, the King's

hand. So what was Saul waiting for?

The people? We're going to betray David and

give them over to Saul. And Saul said, Blessed are you

of the Lord. For you have compassion on me,

please go and find out for sure and see the place where this

hideout is and who has seen him there.

For I am told. That he is very crafty, See.

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

hides, and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with

you. And it shall be if he is in the

land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of

Judah. So they arose and went to Ziff

before Saul. But David and his men were in

the wilderness of Mayon, in the plain of the South of Jeshiman.

And when Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David.

And therefore he went down to the rock.

He went down to the rock, the rock, I just want you to

highlight that. And he stayed in the wilderness

of Mayon. And when Saul heard that, he

pursued David in the wilderness of Mayon.

And then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David on

the other side, with his men on the mountain.

So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men

were encircling David and his men to take them.

But a messenger came to Saul saying, Hasten and come, for the

Philistines have invaded the land.

God brings now. Therefore Saul returned pursuing

David and went against the Philistines.

So they called the place the Rock of Escaping.

Notice this. Then David went up from there

and dwelt in the strongholds of and Getty.

Where was David at in the wilderness?

He was on the rock. This is important because

wilderness moments need the rock, but we don't think there's

a rock in wilderness moments. But the men were so excited

about how God delivered them that they named the place the

Rock of Escaping. Notice they didn't name the

place the Rock of escape. They named it the Rock of

Escaping because God's constantly delivering people.

Did you get that? So notice what happens?

How does God speak? Because I want you to use your

inner voice. His voice has spoken a word.

The Bible says in John 11 that in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word in John 114 became flesh, and He dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory. The glory is the only begotten

from the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

What is the rock of escape? Netflix The rock of escape is

Netflix binge watching all of your shows so you can you can.

The rock of escape is Instagram. The rock of escape is me

watching a Bitcoin rise and go down.

The rock of escape is fantasy football.

The rock of escape is me covering my shame with another

drink. The rock of escape is me coming

to a place to calm down. I actually think I have to get

high. The rock of escape is not any of

those things. It's Jesus.

The rock of escape is Jesus. What delivers you is Jesus.

So you hold within your hand. Today, 66 books by 40 different

authors written over three different continents over a 1500

year period in three different languages, all pointing me to

one person, and that is the person of Jesus Christ and one

author. Put it this way, in the Old

Testament it's the anticipation of Jesus.

In the Gospel, it's the manifestation of Jesus.

In the book of Acts, it's the proclamation of Jesus.

In the epistles, it's the explanations of Jesus.

In Revelation, it's the consummation of Jesus.

You see, the scriptures always point me to the rock of escape

and his name is Jesus. So here is I'm I'm studying.

I kept praying as I was studying Lord.

What, what, what, what about what about my life?

How do I? How do I?

How do I? React to your inner voice of my

life. This is the one word that kept

popping in my mind and my heart. Hesitation, hesitation.

You know the word. But we're hesitating to do what

God said to do because if we do, it's going to come at a cost.

But the cost of obedience is nothing compared to the cost of

disobedience in your life. And I just want to point you

back to Jesus, that you would find your rock and your refuge

in Him. 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.