Many times. Those who come to follow Jesus are just this way. But Oftentimes, those who have, who are not in distress, who are not in debt, Who are not in a state of Discontent? They too can come to Christ when they see their sins. I had a friend years ago.
He says, you know, I'm around all these guys with these, you know. Drug addict stories and drug pushing stories and gangbangers that come to Christ, but Me, I was doing pretty good. I cannot came to Christ. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. 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. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 22 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. This is a good one.
I think many of them, all of them, in the Samuel, the story of David, the struggles with Saul. Very exciting, very educational. And choosing sides is the topic. Could have gone in so many directions with a topic for this. this section.
But I think that's where the message l lays for us faith to be authentic. will be repeatedly Tested And those testings will quite often involve other people. find ourselves face to face with Wrong and right actions of Those that are around us. And of course, sometimes we have to make hard choices. Choices as to which side we're going to be on.
We're going to side with what's right or what's wrong. We're going to side with God or not with God. And that's going to be in the story. There are consequences. For choosing God.
If you're going to serve God, there are going to be consequences and there are going to be rewards. If you don't choose God, There are going to be consequences and there will be no rewards. This is what the Bible teaches us. In these difficult days of David's life, while others were against him, he chose to draw near to God, and he stayed there. There were four Psalms.
Really five. written since he escaped the assassins that came to his house, So he's very busy talking to God, very busy getting it down on paper. For us, well, parchment, for us to be able to Examine today. The flaws of the Bible's heroes are not Covered up by God. They're laid before us, but so are their strengths.
Much benefit in that. There are four Psalms. Two from He had one of escaping the assassins, two about his Crazy behavior for seeking. The help from the world and spiritual in a spiritual situation. And then he has Two.
From this chapter, possibly two. One about Doeg the monster, and then one about him being in the cave. Psalm 142 is likely. written about this episode in the cave, though There is another one coming. Spurgeon says this about David's praying to the Lord in these days of struggle.
Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon His latter days. How true? Here is a man being hunted. His life was being hunted. He didn't have problems with co-workers and peers and just health issues.
Those are serious problems, trivializing them. But his life was being hunted by an army. He was an enemy of the state. serving God. And during that time, he seeks God.
But then when he gets to the high life in the palace, He still seeks God. He cannot take that away from him. He just got tripped up. We'll get to that when we get to 2 Samuel. The events again in this chapter.
Involving Psalm 142 and Psalm 52. I'll reference some of the other Psalms maybe as we go along. But the characters The characters in this Chapter. All of them. Meeting, well, let's just cover their names, the main ones.
David, of course. Then there's David's family. his brothers and his mother and his father. And that extends to Moab, where his in-laws are. There Will be his new friends.
And they were. under great pressure. Abimelech the priest, and the priest with him, Saul, of course. Saul's men And then there is again satanic doag, a special kind of a rat of a man. These are the characters, they all had to make a choice, every one of them.
having to do with God. It wasn't just, you know, we all make choices, but these were serious choices. Proverbs 12, verse 26, the righteous. should choose his friends carefully. For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Oh man If we could If we could just Get that into us. Billy Sunday. I don't want to say a wild man preacher. He was a bit extravagant, but he preached the word. Billy Sunday said, A man who lets the devil choose his friends will.
Soon do anything the devil wants him to do. Isn't that accurate? You hang with the wrong crowd. You think you're tough, or you think you're. You're cool.
And Satan is just basting you for the roaster. One of the most tragic. and demonic sections of the Bible is this chapter. Let's look into verse one now. David, therefore, departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Abdulam, So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, They went down there to him.
Well, here begins the epic wilderness experience of David. This cave is located uh about halfway between Gath, where he escaped, King Hakish acting like a madman. And Bethlehem is hometown, and not too far from the valley of Elah, and incidentally, where he slew Goliath. For the next seven to ten years, according to my calculations and others too. He's going to be on the run.
He's going to be hunted. That's a long time. not only living in caves, but caves were a part of it. How frustrating to have been so successful. With God's people.
Only to suffer, God. allowing you to suffer persecution. You would think that the rewards would be now, that he would be spared. These things. And he's not.
And we are learning from it. And of course, This king that is persecuting him happens to be a king whom God sent the great prophet Samuel to anoint. Things went as we would say haywire. They weren't supposed to turn out this way. David was supposed to slay the giant and serve Saul.
and live happily ever after. married a the king's daughter. And it did not turn out that way. Great victories, great praise, great position. But what good is all of that?
If you become a fugitive living in a cave. And still he prayed. Psalm 34, verse 8: Oh, taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. There's a psalm that comes out of this period in his life where he is being chaste.
But he is under great pressure. That's not the only thing he says. He rides the roller coaster. One minute he's up praising the Lord in his Psalms, we find out. And the next minute he's down, Lord, where are you?
I'm crying out to you. I cannot find you. And Again, Psalm 142, which I'd like to. That would that would be nice to just go over a little Psalm Yeah. I'll take just verses 4 through 7, the bottom part of verse 4.
No one cares for my soul. That's where he was. Have you been there as an adult? Maybe as a kid, you know. I don't like my mommy because she didn't something like that.
But as an adult, it's more intense. When you feel no one cares for your soul, I cried out to you, O Lord. I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from.
My persecutors. but they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison. That I may praise your name. The righteous shall Surround me.
but you shall deal bountifully with me. Take me out of this prison. Deliver me from this jail. I can't just go to wherever. I can't just go to wherever I want.
not without risk of being Murdered. And so that's the man we're looking at As we go through this twenty-second Chapter. Dependent on God, faithful to the Lord in the darkest of times. And He says here in Verse 1.
So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down to him. See, he was alone. We read from Psalm 142, verse 4: No one cares for my soul. But of course, people did care for him. But he felt, you know what, it wasn't helping him.
That they loved him was not getting this monster off his tail. He's still being chased. But oh, he valued that love.
So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down to him there.
So David had men with him when he left the temple and got went to Gath, and then he escapes Gath. He's got men with him, and evidently word gets out. He's holed up at the cave of Adulum. His family, they're in jeopardy themselves. They're in danger from Saul.
Saul is going to voice that. He's going to speak about the house of Jesse. Which means he's you know he's going to eliminate them. if it serves his purpose.
So Word is out. And the first members of his following were his family. The first ones to come to him, They knew he was in trouble. They were in trouble. They believed they could help, no doubt.
And And now they are refugees of this silly little war that is so avoidable, so ridiculous. It costs to belong to the king, though. It costs to be on the side of God.
Next will come the misfits. The motley Group. the outcasts, the malcontents. Later the leaders And later the tribal the tribes, the nation will be formed. Through this time, David has this great ability to appeal.
to kings. We'll cover that as we move on. It's so spread out, so much. Verse two. And anyone who was in distress.
everyone who was in debt And every one who was discontented gathered to him.
So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. It certainly reads as though everyone came, but only 400.
So, and there are a lot more people who are discontent and in debt and. This is no way to build an army. Misfits coming to you like that. People who were socially in trouble who Emotionally, uh in d in distress. But these men and their families came out to him.
They were attracted to him. Donald Rumsfield. was uh once our, I think, Secretary of Defense. Said, you go to war with the army you have and not the army that you want. Yeah.
Oh, that's true here. Not everyone. was doing well under Saul's leadership. In fact, Very few were, but these managed to come out. They're probably mostly at this point from Judah.
Benjamites from Saul's own tribe will catch up with David later, but not yet. That will come. He's out at Ziplag.
Well, many times Those who come to follow Jesus are just this way. But Oftentimes, those who are not in distress, who are not in debt, Who are not in a state of discontent. They too can come to Christ when they see their sins. I had a friend years ago. He says, you know, I'm around all these guys with these, you know.
Drug addict stories and drug pushing stories and gangbangers that come to Christ. Me, I was doing pretty good. Again, he came to Christ.
Well, that was me too. I wasn't doing too bad when the Lord got me.
So it's not always when you are in distress. That distress means they were squeezed because of this evil rule. They were in debt because Saul was not mining the economy. All he wanted was David's head. And of course, they were discontent, they were bitter.
because the evil ruler created such a situation. This is a verse that you do a whole topical sermon on. It is a lot of meat there to ponder. But no matter what, Before we come to Christ, spiritually, we are in distress, we are in debt, and we are discontent spiritually. Jesus said this about the evil ruler, just this quick comment: He says, The ruler of this world is judged.
Saul was the ruler of Israel. And he he, of course, was judged in the sense that Sentence was passed, but it just was not executed yet.
So he became, it says here in verse 2, captain over them. He did not turn them away. He said, I got my own problems. I don't I don't need this. It doesn't do that.
He takes them in because he's got a shepherd's heart. And he is going to have so much influence on these men that it will last, it lasts to this day, David has. an effect on the na the nation of Israel. The prophets, you know, when they wrote their prophecies woven within them. Is the name of David, is the influence of David?
He influenced the worship of the entire nation. And it all starts here. Here's the nucleus. Not only of the change in heart of the people. Beginning of the mighty men, but the lasting influence of David, even into deep into the New Testament church and into the millennial reign of Christ.
quite profound. They made their choice to come to him. And all he had was a cave to offer them. Nothing else. But they made their choice.
And that's again our topic, these choices that we have to make. Here we see it happening. Spurgeon again. Happy are they who can follow a good cause in its worse state. But there is his true glory.
That's loyalty. That's commitment. When the cause that you're following doesn't offer hope, but it's right. It's true. And these are the ones that had come to him.
Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Problem is, many people don't stick around and wait for that. They think that it means I'll give you a A resort. In this life, And so he's captain over them socially. Militarily.
but also spiritually. Again, Psalm 34, verse 11, a Psalm of David, Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you. The fear of the Lord. And he did that.
That's another psalm from this time. And he did this very thing, he taught them the fear of God. The fear of the Lord. so much a part of Psalm one nineteen. Yeah.
And continuing verse 2. And there were about 400 men with him. Not even half an infantry battalion. not very many men at all to fight Saul. But a lot to care for, a lot to look out for, a lot to influence.
So that's how you look at it.
Well, you get these men that come to you, and you can either say, I don't want your problems, please leave me alone, I'm better on my own, or you can say, Hey, I can be useful to God. He had to have known that God had sent these men to him. He had just written in Psalm 141 that no one cared for his soul, and now he's got a bunch to care for himself. Pretty exciting to see the hand of God working like this.
So if we're going through problems and we read this story, We have no right now to expect immediate relief from whatever's burdening us. As I mentioned, seven to ten years. For being good. He did nothing wrong. He did nothing to bring this on himself.
And there it was. In chapter twenty three We'll read that this number grows to 600 men. Another 200 he'll pick up. And then more and more and more. And very exciting when we get to uh First Chronicles twelve and David is being crowned king of all the na nation and all the men and troops that are coming out.
The comments about them is Very Exciting. Verse three now. Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab, And he said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and my mother come here with you. Till I know what God will do for me. He's got a shepherd's heart, even for his aged parents.
He's looking out for them. David's great-grandmother was Ruth. the Moabitis. And there are family ties here.
So he puts that relationship to good use. Jesse, David's father, who he's bringing there. He's now amongst cousins. There's probably still a Jewish remnant there none the less. Ruth was Jesse, David's father's mother, uh grandmother, of course.
Now here's an interesting Uh combination. Ruth was a Moabite. that had been taken in by Naomi a Jew, and then to the promised land. But in this, it's the reverse. Jesse and his wife are Jews, and they are taken in outside the promised land by Moabites.
The hand of God. I think one of the lessons here is don't needlessly burn bridges. You know, if you can keep, you know, me, I might need that later on. And that's what we're learning. Uh from this um trick in David's life About Choosing sides.
Verse 4 So he brought them before the king of Moab. And they dwelt with him. all the time that David was in the stronghold, Now Israel and Moab were enemies. Even back in chapter 14, David, Saul's fighting the Moabites. being an enemy Of Saul happened to work for David in this case, and in this case with Achish also, in the case with two kings: the Moabite king, the Philistine king.
An enemy of my enemy is my friend. And we see this taking place that, you know, again, David gets in front of these people of power. He's got nothing. Far right, you know, you see he's Saul's enemy, but he's got a little bit more. When I say he has nothing, he really doesn't have a kingdom.
But there's still something about this man that's getting him in front of kings. And it is God. And it is the personality of David that God is working with. God was his shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Another Psalm of David. And so these roots That he had in Moab are a benefit to him now, they are making a difference. His parents and Again, or have a safe place. He knows that if he can't care for them. While he's on the run, And so he is obedient.
to the first commandment with promise, honor your mother and father. The stronghold, that Hebrew word there, is literally Masada.
Now in Israel there is there in Southern part of Israel near the Dead Sea is this mountain fortress, this giant. Hill, mountain, it just It's a fortress, it sticks out. And it's a natural fortress. That is likely the place that is here mentioned, but it's not guaranteed. It could be another place named a stronghold, but it's the same name.
1 Chronicles chapter 8.
Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear. whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were swift as gazelles on mountains. And so David picked up A few men from the tribe of Gad. Verse five now. Actually, I have another quote from Chronicles I want to do.
1 Chronicles 12, it also mentions.
Now, 1 Chronicles, when David is being coronated, but there's these comments, and some sons of Benjamin. And Judah came to David at the stronghold.
So there's the tribe. Yeah. Benjamin, Saul's tribe, some of them defected away from him. Verse five now. 1 Samuel 22, verse 5.
Now the prophet Gad said to David, Do not stay in the stronghold, depart and go to the land of Judah.
So David departed and went into the forests of Hereath. Yeah. God made sure that a prophet got with this godly man. You would think that, well, David's so godly, bumping out psalms like this. What does he need a prophet for?
He is a prophet. But God wants to send an official. That's got a a link direct to the throne of heaven. This prophet is Gad. Later on, Nathan will also have the king's ear.
Even until David dies, Nathan will be there. And so, as godly as David was. God decided he still needed This official man of God in order to survive. Unfortunately, some Christians think they don't need a pastor. The Bible disagrees with them.
And I don't say that because I'm a pastor. I say that because I'm a Christian. I didn't ask to be a pastor. I was called to be one. And like Jeremiah said, Lord, you tricked me.
I expected other things. Jeremiah said that. And when I read that Jeremiah said that, I said, Well, I can say it too So It's um When we are hurting in life, like David was. You are hungry for a man of God, a child of God, to come into your life. It is a bonus if it is a person in an official capacity, they're calling on their life.
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.
If you'd like to listen again to this or other messages or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreferenceradio.com. Here, you can also listen to interviews with Pastor Rick to learn more about his life and ministry. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss another edition. All you have to do is find us on your favorite podcast app. You can also access full-length video messages on YouTube.
So, many options are available to you. Again, if you're not sure where to go, just go to crossreferenceradio.com for resources. Tune in again next time for more Crossreference Radio. Mm.
