Needs of others. They're not always They're calling often. Yeah. But for whom? And for what?
Maybe it's not yours. Just because somebody has a need doesn't mean it's for you to go ahead and try to meet it. And then on the other hand There could be a situation where it would be gross negligence of you to do nothing. How do you know the difference? You have to seek the Lord.
Make it a habit of life. 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. And now here's Pastor Rick as he teaches in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 23 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. 1 Samuel chapter 23. Hardship without bitterness seems to be a dominant theme that comes out of this chapter. There was nothing David could do to free himself from being.
Hunted. by this King Saul. as much as he prayed, as righteously as he lived, as What would become Psalms of the Bible, as many as he wrote into Scripture. Still nothing could stop Saul from coming after him, Life is this way sometimes. There are things that just will not let us go.
Uh were things that He could do to make the situation worse, and there are things that he could do to make the situation better. He opted to do for the better. There were things he could do for others. And this is significant to the theme this evening, the hardship without bitterness, because he certainly had hardship. And yet he still looks out for other people.
So much so that 200 more Individuals will join him. in this chapter. God is molding him into the leader he wants him to be. Throughout these hardships, David, we get no indication that David grew bitter towards God. for allowing Saul to hunt him, nor anyone else.
In fact, he doesn't really even get bitter towards Saul.
So we look now at verse 1. Then they told David, saying, Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah. and they are robbing the threshing floors. Only a few miles Key Isler was from David's current hideout. And They're going to be helped by David, of course.
Saul has terrorized them. And they're going to turn on David. They will trade their lives for David's life. You have to ask yourself, what would you do in this situation, knowing the history of Saul that he massacred? The priest, without hesitation, the slaughter of the priest, And the village of the priest.
The women, the children. The men. They knew they would be next. He wouldn't hesitate to come after them. This was the Israel that Saul had.
colored in Darkness. He says here, they are robbing the threshing floors of Keilah, the threshing floors, of course, where they would take the harvest, the grain, and they would thrash it and take to separate the kernel from the husk. These were David's people. And he could not ignore this. Could not ignore that the Philistines were attacking his people, taking their food from them.
A Kealer is a type of our Spiritual hope. that gets from time to time invaded robbed. by a carnal nature or some other, Enemy of innocence. taking what is ours to satisfy itself. Maybe you have a problem with, for example, anger.
And you get in the spirit, and the anger comes along, and it robs you. Of the harvest, of all that you've been working for. Maybe it's something else, but. I see in this First verse, a parallel. Between events in my own life as a believer.
and of course in the historical record before us. When we are being robbed like this, We tend to feel like we are being cheated. We are. That's why we're being robbed. and we find ourselves questioning God's goodness.
We want what other people have. Other villages weren't getting robbed, but this one was. We're entitled to good health and a good marriage. Do a good job. Not only to see others with them, but to have them ourselves.
Life does not always work out that way. And so David, he saw the people in need. And instead of being bitter against God for that, too, he prayed. What could he do for others? And he's going to jump into action.
Well, if I can't deliver myself, maybe I can deliver somebody else. Quite a noble characteristic. I don't know that he even put that much thought into it. He heard that his people were being attacked by the Philistines. He knew what he had to do, but he did not know if he was permitted to do it by God.
And that is a big lesson from this message. Message from the scripture. Verse 2: Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go and attack the Philistines? And Yahweh said to David, Go. and attack the Philistines, save Keilah.
David made a habit of seeking God. was not a one-time event. Saul didn't really get into this much because God wouldn't do what He wanted him to do fast enough. or well enough Two unique ways David could seek the Lord at this time. He had the prophet Gad with him.
And he also had Abiathar, the priest, who had the ephod, and within the ephod, of course, were the Urim and the Thumim, which they would seek God, and David's going to avail himself of this. Says here in verse 2, David speaking, saying, Shall I go attack these Philistines? He's not leaning on his own understanding. We know the verse very well: trust in Yahweh with all your heart. Not easy to do when the pressure's on.
Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him. and he shall direct your paths. Be a lot of squirming. It could be a lot of squirming, waiting for God to tell you which path to take. David, of course, having sought the Lord.
is better off, but he still has to slug it out. He still has to engage the Philistines. That's how life is. You seek God and. You're better able to slug it out.
He's going to cross swords. New Testament says it this way in one space, Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
Well, that should be very o it should be obvious, but it is not. If you follow God. You're going to be led by God. You're going to submit. He's the Lord.
He's the shepherd. He goes ahead of the flock, and we follow Him. Those who do not have the Lord as Lord. They're not led by Him. They're not sons of God.
Now, being led is not synonymous with being heartache-free. For Paul, it was the other way around. He was led into danger. The Lord, of course, led to the cross. Needs of others.
They're not always They're calling often. But for whom? And for what? Maybe it's not yours. Just because somebody has a need doesn't mean it's for you to go ahead and try to meet it.
And then on the other hand, There could be a situation where it would be gross negligence of you to do nothing. How do you know the difference? You have to seek the Lord. Make it a habit of life. David sees the need, but he goes to God.
He doesn't just say, hey, they're attacking. Those are the Philistines. They don't belong in the land. These are our people. Let's go get them.
What a lesson. He goes to God. And it doesn't go just once. Before he takes matters into his hands, he gets direction. And He feels that God is going to answer him.
He feels that he should help, but that's not enough. And Yahweh said to David, verse 2. Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. Ironically, David is the one behaving as a king. Whereas Saul He is behaving as an outlaw against God because he is an outlaw against God.
Unlike Saul in chapter 14, where Saul dismissed the priest. I can't wait, got to do things. David gets his answer from God. God had stopped answering Saul because of that. little stunt that he pulled.
But he gets permission. to help others. Who would turn on him? God knows this. David, he's probably.
He's probably not going to be surprised when he finds out that they are going to turn on him.
So, not only can God be long-suffering, He calls us to be long-suffering. Yeah, patience is main, you know, for the sake of this point I'm making, patience is with time and things and events. Long-suffering is with people. I find it very difficult to put up with someone internally, not externally always, but when I know I'm right on a critical point, I know I'm right and they are wrong and they don't see it. And they don't mind continuing to make a mess doing it the wrong way.
I struggle. internally. It's like, God, can I just like el-cabang them one time and force them to see it my way? No, it's never been yes. Imagine, maybe that's what heaven's gonna have a little bit.
You can go ahead and clunk people if you really Think you're right and they're wrong. I'm glad you laugh, but Long suffering, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Yeah. Christian love is not easy. Joy.
Christian joy is not easy to hold on to. Peace, somebody will always come and attack it. No matter what, even if it could just be an insect. That will mess up the peace. Long suffering.
Kindness, goodness, faithfulness. You know which one stands out to me the most that I see lacks? Very often in Christian people, Kindness. Just simple kindness. Colossians 3:12, therefore, as the elect of God, Paul is saying, Therefore, because God has chosen you, when you accepted Christ.
You became his. He says, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness. Long suffering. And so David gets permission to help those who will turn on him, and he is going to be long-suffering towards them for it. He is not going to hold a grudge against them for that.
And he's going to be turned on twice in this chapter alone. Verse 3. But David's men said to him, Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? He's got 400 men at this point, six in a minute, but He says they say to him We're running from Saul.
With just a, you know, his battalion regiment coming after you. This was the army of the Philistines and. These people hate us. We're not going to get any mercy. I don't think we can take them.
There is wisdom in the counsel of many, but there is not wisdom in the counsel of any.
Some folks, you don't want their supposed wisdom. Proverbs 15, 22, Without counsel plans go awry. But in the multitude of counselors, they are established, if they are good counselors. There's a caveat that belongs to that.
Solomon would say, well, of course they got to be smart. They can't be big dummies. You don't want their counsel. Depart from the presence of a foolish man when you do not detect in him the righteous spirit. Ultimately, leaders have to decide.
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. Yeah, 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 he could have done. He goes back to God. And he Returns for confirmation. He's not rebuked by God, nor was Gideon when Gideon went back.
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 Mohari 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, it is vital. You gotta have food.
So, David. It says here in verse 5, 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 a reward, or why can't you just bump us all off? Or just have him 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 put like wow I can't believe this.
But it will be real. Verse Six.
Now it happened when Abiatha, 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, he's 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 Abiatha 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 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, women board, place of my choice, and we could just call it ministry.
But of course 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's 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 irretrieved. 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, last session I read to you, Paul, saying, I've turned them over to Satan. That's pretty powerful. 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 Keila 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. The soul 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 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. 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. Uh 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 crossreference radio.com.
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