To be a friend when it counts. I mean anybody can be a friend on a sunny day. The sunny days of life, but what about when it counts? What about when everybody's against you? Can you still be a friend?
Can you hold true and not blame them?
Well, you must have done something. As Job's, they did not come to strengthen his hand in God. They came to Chop him up. and make themselves feel good about doing it. and there's no shortage of people like this.
This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Aston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio. specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
And now here's Pastor Rick with his continuing teaching in 1 Samuel chapter 23 on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Counsel serves command. Command does not serve counsel. And with the both sides understand that, you have a rhythm, a well-running machine. It should even be that way in the home.
Yet, these men had not yet fully come to trust David. They knew he was better than Saul, but. Was he making the right decision? You know? Anything goes wrong, the leader gets, you must have done something.
That's how it is. And we're going to see that. They're going to rebel against him later. And they're going to do that very thing. David takes them off to Gath, and they come back, and their camp is gone.
their women, their children, gone. And they wanted to kill David for that. They didn't mind when they set out on their journey, did they?
Well, that's how it is. First Corinthians two. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. For their foolishness to him. Nor can he know them.
because they are spiritually discerned. You've got to be in touch with the Spirit. To identify him, to recognize that he is working. Verse four now then David inquired Of Yahweh once again. And Yahweh answered him and said, Arise, go to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.
So he goes back for confirmation. He's challenged. And instead of getting, you know what? I'm the leader. You came to follow me, this is what we're doing.
But she could have done. He goes back to God. And he gave it. Returns for confirmation. He's not rebuked by God, nor was Gideon when Gideon went.
Okay, one more thing, Lord. Let's do it this way now. God does not rebuke Gideon for that, and He doesn't rebuke us.
However, David does not go back ten times. There's still a limit on how much. we can uh get away with. Abraham, you know, God finally had to say, okay, Abraham, that's it. Ten people, that's it.
No more of this discussion. But what did God get from that? In front of all of us, here you have a righteous man praying for slobs. for unrighteous people that are about to come under the judgment of God. And we walk away saying, I don't do that.
I pray for the fire and brimstone. And uh here's Abraham interceding on their behalf, and they don't even know it. They went to their graves not knowing a righteous man was praying for them. David Acted And did not ask again. Verse 5: And David and his men went to Keilah.
and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock, so David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
So there it is. This was a large campaign, evidently. The Philistines came with supplies, they came with livestock. feed and supply their troops, So this was not a small campaign. And as I mentioned, they had to slug it out with them.
God could have, you know, just sent a plague, but He sent the sword of David. And this was God's way of delivering his people from the Philistines. Also, firmly planting David's leadership. In his camp, his own camp, the men would say, This is the man to follow. Again, they mean it, they're sincere, they're going to love David, but there are going to be times where they're going to give Maharaj a difficult way to go.
But not only does he deliver The people of Keila. and establish David's name. But they replenish their supplies, which is critical, is vital. You gotta have food.
So, David. It says here in verse five, save the inhabitants of Keilah. then why won't God save David from Saul? Long suffering, patience, endurance, perseverance. We reach a point where logic doesn't apply here.
Your philosophies, your theology, the only part of your theology that will work sometimes is trust God. And everything else has to take A second seat to that in that moment. It will revive, but for the for the moment it will be by faith we are carried. David's obedience is not dependent on his rescue from Saul. David does not save Keilah and say, okay, Lord, now.
As reward, or why can't you just bump us all off? or just have them stop chasing me. There's a lot of illnesses you can give him. That was keep him away? But again, it's not conditional.
David's obedience was not dependent on God rescuing him from anything. He's God all by himself, and that's enough. And we learn from that. God, I don't serve you because of what you do for me. I serve you because of who you are.
And that you do things are for me is is bonus. Is this life worth it sometimes? You know, stick around long enough, or some go through it early. Is it worth it? And God says in Romans, yeah.
It's very worth it. You can't even calculate. How worth it's going to be when you get to heaven. You're gonna be like wow I can't believe this. But it will be real.
Verse Six.
Now it happened when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, sorry, there is an Abimelech, but that's not him, this is Ahimelech. The son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, That he went down with an ephod in his hand.
So the historian now is just taking us back to the last chapter. And he's saying, David sought God. Let me tell you how he did it.
Now, and this is throughout their style of scripture, and it often causes just a tremendous amount of work sometimes. But He's referencing events from the last chapter when Abiathar escaped the slaughter of the priests and took with him the ephod. And the ephod essentially was a vest, but. The breastplate that went with it had the pouch, and that went with the ephod, and they collectively make up the ephod. And in that pouch on the breastplate that was over the heart was the Urim and the Thumum, which evidently were some sort of Um stone.
that the lights and the perfection that would indicate If God was blackballing something or whiteballing something, a yes or no. They did not preserve for us the details. Exodus 28, verse 30, and you shall put in the breastplate. of judgment, the Urum and the Thumim. And they shall be over Aaron's heart.
We pause there. That's a big part, it's intentional. He doesn't say put it over his chest, he put it over his heart, the bosom. It is a meaningful statement when he goes in before Yahweh.
So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before Yahweh continually. It's a very beautiful picture, but I'm sure Aaron had his struggles. carrying out his ministry. because all ministry has struggles or otherwise it's not ministry. I mean, I would like a ministry on the beach of Maui.
Where I just Meals paid, room and board, place of my choice, and we could just call it ministry. But of course it it doesn't work that way. Verse 7, Saul was told. And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah.
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.
So Saul is familiar with Keilah. Perhaps maybe he was briefed. Perhaps not. It doesn't matter. He is completely, spiritually delusional.
He is gone to the point of he is irretrievable. If he were still alive in our time, we could not say he was irretrievable. But the case is closed with him, and we know how it ends. And he is irretrievable. He's not coming back, he's not going to have an epiphany.
Where he says, wait a minute, what am I doing chasing this man of God? God is not only Not with him, God is against him. And for him to say, God has delivered him into my hand is delusional. He's out of his mind. especially after the slaughter of 85 priests and the village.
with women and children, as mentioned before. He is demonic. and out of his head. And it's his fault. Beware of feeling sorry for someone who is elected to be evil.
It happens. Again, I Last session, I read to you, Paul, saying, I've turned them over to Satan. That's pretty powerful. And he's a Christian. I didn't know Christians could do that.
Well, the problem is, we get Christians doing that to other Christians when they don't like what church they go to. I've turned you over to Satan.
Well, I've never heard of anybody actually doing that, but I've had my suspicions. Verse 8. And Saul called all the people together for war. to go down the Key Island To besiege David and his men. What about the Philistines?
Why didn't you rally to fight them? Aren't you the king? You call an army together. Are you kidding me? This man is insane.
Again, where was Saul when the Philistines were robbing the people? He could care less about them. The universe revolved around Saul according to Saul. Only when David, righteous David, shows up to help the people. Does Saul rise up to hunt?
David. He's the center of the universe, and because of this, everything he touches dies. Everything he touches goes bad. You know, the phrase a narcissist, a person that is so in love with themselves. that they become a problem to everybody else.
That's Saul. This is his 13th attempt, depending on again how you count the attempts. This is at least the 13th. Verse 9. when David knew that Saul plotted evil against him He said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod here.
So again, he's. Consulting. God He's seeking the Lord. This is what he does. He has the ephod.
The question is, we are a royal priesthood. as Christians. Do we have the ephard of God on our heart, on our chest, as the breastplate? Do we pray? Do we consult God?
Is my heart. covered in God's things, in His direction. The Holy Spirit has become our ephod in that sense. Zechariah the prophet said, Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. Rebuilding will come.
Not by might. Not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. And so David avails himself of the ephod as we Avail ourselves of prayer. You know, I pray primarily for two reasons. one I'm commanded to.
Two I can't stop. How do you stop talking to God if you're born again? How do you do that? I don't know how to do that. Even when I'm really upset with what he allows or disallows or his inactions or just what's going on, I still have to talk to him.
Reverently. It's a mark of a believer is to talk to God according to Scripture. And no one else like that. We pray to no one else, the Godhead, and that's it. In verse 10, Then David said, O Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Kealah to destroy the city for my sake.
Will the men of Kealah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down? As your servant has heard? O Yahweh, God of Israel, I pray, tell your servant. And Yahweh said he will come down.
He said, but that's more than one question, David. He's not succumbed to fatalism. which would then produce bitterness. And the hardship He has without bitterness. And this is what the lessons are for.
This is why we're reading about the life of David and not. Joab Yeah. Joab just is a whole nother character.
Solves the problem. And he's got thousands of people helping him push that problem forward. David knows that he is innocent before Saul, that he doesn't deserve this, and he knows that the people are going to save themselves. Can you blame them? Who can blame them?
I mean, I would have given Saul, David, a heads up, but when you're terrorized, when you're terrorized, you're afraid to do anything. That would uh be me offend the uh person that's terrorizing you. And this is the case with the people of Ziph and the people of Keilah. They're afraid that any hint to Saul will bring down bloodshed on them.
So they ain't saying anything to David. They probably didn't just nodded when he left, didn't even say thank you. Verse 12. I don't know that for sure. Just threw that in.
Then David said, verse 12: Will the men of Kealah deliver me? and my men into the hand of Saul, and Yahweh said, They will deliver you. As I mentioned. Who can blame what choice did they have? David is, okay, so that's the people of Keilah, they're doing the logical thing.
And if they don't, they're going to get slaughtered. David knows that, and so he's leaving without any, you know, he's got that long suffering going on with them. But still He's got feelings of being betrayed. It's still, this is not right. This is an injustice.
This is not how it should be. And even though he's got A few hundred people with him, he's going to feel like he's all alone. Because he's at the top. The only place he can go is to God, and God, you know, he doesn't just show up, you know, when you. When you summons him, And Paul was this way.
He just plodded forward. Paul knew what he had to do, and he just kept doing it over and over again. And he never saw the persecution. 2 Timothy, he said, At my first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
See the long-suffering? I would like to insert myself there and say, okay, I would say the same thing. If I really felt I was right. And they agreed. But if they disagree with me Would I be so magnanimous?
Would I be so noble and long-suffering?
Well, I look back over the years, and yes is the answer, but I'm always shaky about the future. Am I going to be able to pull that off again? Of course, I don't walk around wringing my fingers thinking that, but I'm at the same time never going, when I get it right, I'm not going to say, yeah, man, I know how to do it. I just try to just stay focused on the Lord, keep it simple. Paul says, But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
so that the message might be preached fully through me, And that all the Gentiles might hear. Also, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
So that's his story on this episode, but there was another one where Paul said, we wanted to die. We despaired of life. It was that bad. He just makes that comment and he moves forward. That's Paul's style.
He doesn't wallow in things. And so God Speaking to David, directing David. uh relieving him from this event. He says, move on. People under your care.
Verse 13.
So David and his men, about 600.
Now, there's the note. It was 400.
Now there is just. Six hundred. arose and departed from Kealah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, so he halted the expedition. We don't even always know why God allows this or that.
We may never know. That's all right. We know what our instructions are. Awful situation that this is. And yet David's Followers are growing.
Saul says at the bottom of verse 13, well, it says that he halted the expedition. He says, What? Never mind. It's no righteous man to kill. Let's all go back home.
He's just a complete fool out of his head. Could you just see his face as he's just plodding down on his horse going back to? sit under a tree with a spear in his hand, It's just uh the face of evil. I don't know that an artist can easily capture that. Verse fourteen.
And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness and remained in the mountains. In the wilderness of Ziph, Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands.
So remember, I mentioned when you're counting how many times Saul. We were up to 13.
Well, what's the everyday do? How many times is that? Of course, we're not told, so we'll just keep counting verse 15 as the 14th episode, leaving out the others. Just obsessed with he lives to murder David. That's his whole purpose in life.
The stronghold Of course, the natural fortification. He's moved from the stronghold, which may have been Masada, the fortress of Hereth. The wilderness of Ziph. He's got other milder wilderness stops waiting for David. Uh he's just the wilderness man.
The terrain just lended to, made it difficult for Saul to corner him in. Of course, at Keilah, Saul was hoping he was going to box him in, put the city under siege, and just. Yeah. Say Send David out or I kill everybody, and they would have sent David out. Verse 15.
So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life, and David was in the wilderness of Ziph. In a forest, number fourteen. Could you imagine being stalked? By one person with an army. And you can just count how many times they've tried to kill you.
It's maddening. Verse 16: Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. What a friend! This is a friend. How do I be a friend, Lord?
Look at a man like Jonathan who risked his life. To go and strengthen a friend in God. Not just give him a pep talk. He's gonna, it's recorded what he said. To be a friend when it counts.
I mean, anybody can be a friend on a sunny day. The sunny days of life. But what about when it counts? What about when everybody's against you? Can you still be a friend?
Can you hold true and not blame them?
Well, you must have done something. As Stobes, they did not come to strengthen his hand in God. They came to Chop him up. and make themselves feel good about doing it. And there's no shortage of people like this.
A lot of friends will abandon you when you're down. They just will abandon you.
Some will kick you when you're down. Others will just leave you. This is the last recorded meeting between these two friends, verse 17. And here's how he strengthened him: he said to him, Do not fear. For the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find you.
You shall be king over Israel. And I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that. David, I'm sure, struggled to believe this because when you're in David's position and your life is unraveling, you have a hard time sometimes receiving. Such an encouragement when you've already received 80 of them already and they've not worked.
You're still being chased. But There are other witnesses to this. Samuel and Jonathan has said. All Israel knew this. Abigail will come along and mention it.
Saul even knows it, and Jonathan said, My father knows this. One of the reasons why he hates you. He knows God has given you the throne because you are worthy and He is not. Instead of submitting to God and just going retiring somewhere, because He's well off, He'll be fine. No, He just wants to kill you and anybody involved.
1 Samuel 27, this got to David. This wasn't enough. This is later now. And David said in his heart, Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There's nothing better for me.
Than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines, and Saul will despair of me. Seek me anymore. In the part of Israel.
so I shall escape out of his hand. My point is, here's Jonathan encouraging him, and David is receiving the encouragement, but he's on that roller coaster that we get on when life is really beating us up. The day will come where he's just He's gonna get me. I'm gonna just go to the enemy. Again, it didn't work the last day.
He's desperate. It caused problems. It did not work the second time either. Jonathan says, You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. And because of Jonathan's father Saul, of course, this would never happen.
It could have happened. But it did not happen. How many times did David reflect on these? David preserved this for us. The historian gets hold of it.
How many times did he Reflect on the words of his dearest friend. You know how hard it is in life to have someone this close of a friend? It just kind of happens. You cannot put an ad in the paper. Will somebody be a good friend?
And David. When he was crowned king, did he not reflect on this? Did he not think about this from time to time? I believe he did. How could he not?
He says, even my father knows this. And it was public knowledge by this time. Saul hated what God wanted. And um His actions make that clear. Verse 18: So the two of them.
made a covenant before Yahweh And David stayed in the woods and Jonathan went to his own house. This covenant is a loyalty-love covenant. David, I will always be loyal to you. Jonathan, I will always be loyal to you. They would never harm each other.
This is the kind of friendship. This is why their friendship was so In another class, the common friendships, they would never harm each other. Is there anybody in your life That you can say that person will never harm me. I mean, if I come at him with a machete, he might. But just as without that.
It's a gift. And a lot of people they say it. But when the pressure's on, They do harm you. They're not there, they do abandon you. And so it uh It is not a It's sort of a heartfelt contract to protect each other, to not violate.
each other. This is the third covenant they made. Verse 19 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds in the woods? In the hill of Hakala, you got it right there, Hakalaya. which is on the south side of Jeshamon.
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Rick is in the book of 1 Samuel.
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