Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): God is not finished with you. That's the great lesson ahead of us today on Abounding Grace.

It's been well said that fear is the wrong use of our imagination, for when fear moves in, bad decisions are sure to follow. Fear can get the better of us, that's for sure. So to have an awareness of it is huge.

Today on Abounding Grace, we come back to our study of 1 Samuel. At this particular time, David is fleeing from Saul in fear, and his decisions are based in fear rather than on the promises of God. Now, I might add, there are far-reaching consequences for going in that direction. Let's see what we can take away from all of this. Here is Pastor Ed Taylor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles to 1 Samuel, chapter 21. That's where we are in our Bible study following the life of David. You know, at the end of chapter 20, two very significant changes occurred that will forever change the course of David's life. At the end of chapter 20, two very important things happened. Number one, David experienced the loss of friendship with Jonathan. Not that he lost a friend—he didn't lose a friend—but because of Jonathan's father, he is going to lose the benefit of this very important friendship. He's going to lose the close intimacy and enjoyment of friendship. As we learned, they would see each other no more.

The second loss in David's life at the end of chapter 20 is the loss, not only of his friendship but also the loss of comfort. He lost comfort as you and I would know it. It won't be permanent, but it will be significant. He would now be on the run from King Saul, running literally for his life. And think of it: here's the anointed one of God, here's the man that God has chosen, and yet he's under increased levels of strain and spiritual warfare by the one who has the authority—not the God-given authority primarily, but the authority of his position.

It's worth being reminded that not everything goes our way in this world. It's worth being reminded that even with the hand of God upon your life, bad things happen to good people. You know, bad things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people too. Peter would write it this way in 1 Peter, chapter 4. I'll read from the Message version, it's my favorite translation of this very familiar passage. It says, "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you're in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process with glory just around the corner." Amen.

In another version, it speaks of the fiery trials that happen in our lives. Because fiery trials happen. They happen in the life of believers, followers of Jesus. And the fiery trials, we've learned, work for our benefit—the end result of what God desires in our lives. And so it's true that God will send storms our way. He'll allow storms in our lives. You know, we often will use the word "storm" in all that it means in the physical realm to refer to things that happen in the spiritual realm. It's not a light drizzle, it's not a soft wind blowing; it's a storm. An overwhelming, topsy-turvy event in our lives.

They're allowed into our lives to test, to reveal. God is wanting to seek to reveal deep in our hearts where our trust lies, what we're holding on to, what we believe—not just with our lips, but with our lives. You know, some storms you're involved in, some storms and there's nothing that you can do but trust in the Lord, if that. And David will be experiencing quite a bit of that, just holding on for dear life. God wants to reveal things. It's not new knowledge for God, you know. It's not as if He's wondering how you're doing and let's just see where he's at right now. God knows exactly where you are. He knows everything about you and me.

The revelation is not for God; the revelation is for you and it's for me. And I have to say, there have been many times when I've been shocked at what's been revealed in my life. It's not what I would have expected. It's not what I would have answered on a written test if it was given to me. But God knows better. The Bible says in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 2, that you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all these ways 40 years in the wilderness. Why? To humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

And so God is at work. In the old King James, it would talk about Peter would be translated as, "Don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trials that are about to try you." And the fiery trials, the things that light up around our lives—God is at work and it's not strange. And don't think it's strange. It's normal and it's regular. And there is a glorious work of God by His spirit leading us to the end that God desires. And yet, in the fiery trial, it's also a place where mistakes happen.

Certainly, if you can trace back to some of the mistakes that you've made, some of the wrong things that you've said, some of the wrong decisions that you've made, you could trace them back to the midst of a fiery trial. It was part of the revelation process. It was part of you working through the things that have come into your life so suddenly, so quickly, or over time. This is a place where mistakes can happen and sinful decisions are made. And yet, through the life of David, we'll learn that nothing is wasted by God. It's all redeemed and works together according to Romans 8:28. Everything God is working all things together for the good.

And so David faces these changes as we open up chapter 21 and verse 1. It says, "Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David and said to him, 'Why are you alone and no one is with you?' So David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has ordered me on some business and said to me, 'Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you or what I have commanded you,' and I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand or whatever can be found.'"

And the priest answered David and said, "There is no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread if the young men have at least kept themselves from women." And David answered the priest and said, verse 5, "Truly women have been kept from us for about three days since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy and the bread is in effect common, even though it is sanctified in the vessel this day." So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread, which had been taken from before the Lord in order not to or in order to put hot bread in its place on the day which it was taken.

Chapter 21 opens up with David lying to a priest. That's the first thing that we see in David's heart. He's lying as he's on the run. As David begins his life on the run, running to save his own life, he comes to this priestly city, meeting this priest. The tabernacle of worship at the time was located there, and I'm sure David expected to find refuge and help here. He expected to find comfort among the priests because he was close to Samuel and he had that relationship.

He's met by this priest, his name is Ahimelech, we meet. And you'll notice that name is mentioned many times, I believe, by the Holy Spirit to emphasize that David is lying to a priest. That's the condition of his life in this moment, this snapshot of his life. Now, remember David is the king's son-in-law, a member of the king's court, and a man of great prominence. And the lack of an official escort is very concerning to the priest. He sees it right away. What are you doing here? This is unusual. David tells Ahimelech, as in verse 1 he says, "Why are you alone?" A very simple question. "No one is with you." David responds with this lie.

What does David do when he's asked a simple question on the run? He lies. Lying is an action we choose when we take things into our own hands. Lying is an act of scheming and not trusting. Perhaps he was trying to protect himself, perhaps he was trying to protect the men, perhaps he had a lot of reasons. But he was in the flesh. At any rate, David also recognizes that he's hungry and so are his men. And the only bread that was available in this priestly city was the holy bread. You can jot it down in Leviticus chapter 24 and in verses 5 through 9. It lays out why and what this bread was for, and what the purpose of it and how it was set apart.

The priest would set apart bread and they would move it. It was sanctified as unto the Lord. Now, at the end in verse 6, it ends up that the priest now gives him this holy bread. And it opens a question: why would the priest do that? Why would the priest seemingly, at first glance, break the law? Now, it's an interesting thing as you remember the Bible is all tied together. It's one big unit. It's not a chapter here, and it's not one guy writing over here. The author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. God is the author of the word of God, and you're going to find all sorts as you study through the Bible, Old and New Testament, it's all tied together.

In this bread is an important lesson that we learn, that there is something more important than the law. You want to know what it is? Love. Love is greater than the law. Human need always has a higher priority than religious traditions or regulations because love is supreme. Love is the highest, and yet as the needs arise with the spiritual evaluation, the priest was still very cautious, recognizing human need. The priest is a spiritual man and he just wants to make sure are your everybody clean? Is there a holiness about you?

Today you would call that as you're questioning and walking in wisdom, you would we would call that today discernment. We would call that walking in wisdom. The priest is walking in discernment and wisdom right now. And so at the end, the priest gives him bread. Now, remember, it's very important to recognize that as the Lord leads you and I into very difficult situations, that we enter into them with discernment and wisdom. And that we're really led of the Lord, that we could say that God is leading us, that we could say, you know, Jesus would use this same scenario as a revelation of the supremacy of love over law.

He would look back and use this as an illustration in His life. He would say, "Look, don't you recognize? Are you elevating your traditions and your religious expression over the love of God?" We want to walk in wisdom and discernment. We want to be careful. And we certainly, from David's life, want to be very careful to shy away from taking things into our own hands and scheming. In this case, he uses the technique of lying, which in reality, he doesn't make any spiritual progress at all. Yet they're fed the bread, they gain the strength.

In verse 7, notice this: "Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg." If you like to write in your Bibles, you can circle that word. His name means fearful. That's the kind of man that he was. People were fearful in his presence. People were trembling, you could say. He wasn't a good man. You'll notice if you read ahead, you'll know and you'll begin to see he wasn't a good man. His name was Doeg, he's an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

And David said to Ahimelech, "Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword?" Now, do you guys remember a couple studies back, a few weeks ago, many weeks ago, I'm sure, that we asked the question, "What do you want in your hand, a harp or a spear?" Remember that Bible study? If you don't, go back and listen to it. We saw a great contrast between King Saul with what did he have in his hand? A spear. Really represented why he had it in his hand. And David had in his hand the harp. And we really spent some time looking at the difference of how very careful you need to be. You know what kind of person you are by what's in your hand.

Now, we find David not too many years ahead and he's asking for a spear and a sword. We don't know why. We know some practicalities of why he's on the run, he doesn't have any weapons. I get that. But the very thing that's been thrown at him multiple times by Saul, now he wants one in his hand. "Do you got one?" Because if they had one, he would have taken it. How quick things can change. How careful we must be. David is heading downward in his relationship with God here. He loves God, but so quickly trusts in his own lies. Well, he also is trusting in a sword or a spear. Let's see what he gets.

It says he asks the question, you know, "Do you have a spear or sword?" Verse 8. "For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's business required haste." We would call that lie upon lie. Because you know what happens: sin always begets more sin. It's not going to get you where you think you're supposed you have a destination in mind. I want you to know that destination, you will not arrive there through the pathway of sin. Unless that destination is hell, then you're fine. But you want to grow in the things of God, you want to follow God, you want to make the right decisions, the right decisions won't come through sinful decisions.

And sin just will beget sin in your life constantly. That's why that's such the danger of compromise. And so the priest said in verse 9, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. And if you'll take it, if you'll take that, then take it, for there's no one other except the one that's here." And David said, "There is none like it. Give it to me." I just thought it was interesting that in order to get to the sword, he had to get past the ephod, which was a garment of worship that the priest would wear.

It was very symbolic. It was unique to the priest. It's almost like, you know, God gives us the ability to make our own decisions, but I find so often that God will put things in our path to make it very hard to sin. You know, David, you could pick up the ephod, you can pray. You can seek Me, or you could take David, you know, you can take the priest's presence. You could take the sword of Goliath. I mean, we've already found out how strong the sword of Goliath was. David cut his head off with it. It was nothing. It was nothing in the hands of Goliath. It was just a hunk of metal.

David here is trusting in his own lies and the sword of Goliath, what we could say today that the sword of Goliath in David's life right here represents the strength of man—trusting in his own resources. It's really the beginning of the ups and downs that are so common to David in his life, as well as common to us. The Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 20, verse 7. The Psalmist said, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright. Save, Lord. May the King answer us when we call."

Save, Lord. Before, David was living by faith in God. We were inspired by the earlier studies in David's life. We were inspired by this ruddy little kid that would sense all the unbelief around him. Everybody afraid of Goliath, and he would just stand up. "You know what? This guy is a blasphemer, uncircumcised. I'll go with him. I don't want your armor, King Saul. It doesn't fit me. I don't need your weapons. Just stones and a sling and great faith." And this is, yes, the same person who seems to be so far.

So grateful for the patience of God in our lives. So grateful that the story of David doesn't end in chapter 21. Turn over to John, chapter 18 with me, would you? As we noted earlier in the study, "What do you want in your hands, a spear or harp?" I believe it's worth our time to be reminded and cautioned that we need to be careful what weapons we choose in war. We need to be careful what weapons we choose in battle. Peter made a similar mistake, you'll recall. In John chapter 18, pick up with me in verse 4. In John chapter 18, verse 4, Peter, overcome with emotion, overcome with passion.

Jesus, therefore, knowing all the things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" And they answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." And Jesus said to them, "I am." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. And then when He said to them, "I am," they drew back and fell to the ground. And He asked them again, "Whom are you seeking?" and they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." And Jesus answered, "I've told you that I am. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way," that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me, I have lost none." Now at this point, don't you think Jesus is taking care of business? Don't you think He's got it all under control? Did He ask for any help?

Well, Simon Peter, having a sword, in verse 10 drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Peter chose to take things into his own hands here. He probably was a great fisherman, but he was a horrible swordsman. And if it wasn't for the compassion of Jesus, it could have been a fourth cross there on the day that Jesus was crucified. This was a capital offense. But he missed, cut off the guy's ear. I don't know what that was like, but what a sight that must have been. And Jesus just taking care of business, picking it up and putting it back on, and everything's fine, everything's alright. "No, he should go to he should go to the crucifixion! They should crucify Peter! What kind of man is he? Look what he did!" And Jesus says, "What did he do? I don't see anything. Ear looks fine to me."

But Jesus didn't need any help. He didn't need the strength of man. He didn't need the weapon that was with Peter. As a matter of fact, earlier, He told him, "If you go forward with the sword, man, you're going to live by the sword, you're going to die by it." How careful we need to be. I think Peter demonstrates a passionate love for his Savior. Who wouldn't? But how careful we need to be what weapons we choose, especially when we're hyped up with emotion and passion. Jesus didn't need any help here; Peter needed Jesus's help. And so often in our lives, that's the way it is. God doesn't need our help, we need God's help. We need to learn to trust Him. Peter becomes a great picture here of zeal without knowledge. He's passionate about helping but lacks that foundation of wisdom. There are many in the church today that are zealous, many in the church at large that are zealous, passionate, but lack a foundation.

They lack a foundation of God's word. And what happens is they run to and fro with things they have said they have heard from the Lord, and in reality, they're not rooted in God at all. And how careful we need to be. Zeal needs to be channeled with the truth so it doesn't hurt others. Excitement needs to be rooted in the truth of God's word, otherwise you'll find yourself cutting off ears.