Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Are you in a really tough spot now? Pastor Ed says there's a wonderful rock of escape.

Pastor Ed Taylor: You know, Jesus is that rock of escape for us. He's truly our help in times of need, in times of despair, in times of being trapped. Whether it comes from the outside of us, or we find that we are trapped because of our own decisions and our own bad mistakes. So many times I come to that place where I just don't know what to do, and I just don't know where to go. I just don't know how to respond. I feel trapped. I feel like there's no way out. And yet there's always that rock of escape between me and my problems.

There's always that place of protection between me and the issues in my life.

Guest (Male): Hi there friend. It is good to be with you today. Pastor Ed Taylor is about to open a very encouraging passage found in 1 Samuel 23 that I know will really speak to you. So to bring you up to speed, King Saul and his men are chasing after David. They want to destroy him. It appears David is trapped. But we'll learn today where he found safety. It was in the rock of escape. Pastor Ed will bring this all down to a very personal level for us and reveal there is a rock of escape for us too.

So please join us as we bring you a bounding grace. You need to have people in your life that will strengthen your hand in God. Not just give you the practicalities. You know, David, you've gotten away so soon, you'll get away again. You know, David, you've learned to run. You know, David, you know, we don't need practical wisdom when we're going through a spiritual battle. We need spiritual truth in order to do spiritual battle. We don't just need Well, you know, I went through this before. When I went through that, you know, there may be a time to use your own testimony as a way to encourage.

But the very first layer of encouragement Listen, if God is calling you to come alongside someone and encourage them, you must strengthen their hand in the Lord. If you just get encouraged and we go, it's okay, all right. That that's going to give some encouragement, but it won't last. But when you strengthen someone's hand in the Lord, when you open up and you share a scripture that God put on your heart, when you open up the Bible and say, you know, I don't know really what's going on, but I tell you what. I was just reading this section of scripture and it says, but God, and God can change anything.

So So let me just read the word to you. That's going to make a lasting difference. It's not just friends. You don't want to be just the friend that can strengthen someone. You want to be the kind of friend, and I want to be the kind of friend, and I want to have those kind of people around me. And over the years, I've learned that I need those kind of people around me to strengthen my hand in the Lord. That's the only thing that's going to get us through this sense-sick, crazy world that we're in.

And that's what David gets. He gets exactly God sent Jonathan to him. He set this up. If Jonathan sent as a messenger of God, he better do the work of God. And think of it in your own life. As God sends you in and out of people's lives, you must think You You're an ambassador of God. So be sure you do God's work. Strengthen your friend's hand in the Lord. Bring the truth in their lives. Bring about a lasting word, not a temporary comfort. And certainly don't come alongside and, you know, get all worrisome and make the worry and anxiety even worse.

You know, you just like So sometimes we have to be very very careful with our mouths. You know, someone has a a serious diagnosis and they just came back from the hospital. The The last thing they need to hear of someone that had that same diagnosis but didn't make it. You know, you don't need to strengthen their hand in the Lord. See, we're going to make it. I know what the doctor said, but we're I'll be there with you. What's your next appointment? We need to encourage them in the things of God. The last thing they need to hear is, well, you know, I was on WebMD and this No no no.

Stop it. Stop it. I don't know. And And I need I need to You know, that that's It's a hopeless thing. You know, the the last thing, you know, you need to hear is that, you know, I just lost my job. You know, yeah, I remember when we lost our job, we lost everything. Dude. Seriously. No. It would do us well to remember this scripture. When Jonathan shows up in David, he strengthened his hand in God. Not some opinion or stuff that he knew about his dad or whatever. And he even shares, you know, don't fear.

The hand of Saul, my father, won't find you verse 17. You're going to be king over Israel. And I'll be with you, man. I mean, those are some of the most strongest words you can share with somebody. I'll be with you. I'm with you all the way to eternity. I'm with you. I I remember when somebody years ago I used it myself sometimes. Uh years ago they would wrote me an email and they were just encouraging me and things are going on. And then in the bottom of the email, he said, you'll always have someone in your corner.

Now I don't box or MMA or anything like that, but I watch that kind of stuff. And the corner people are very important. You want somebody always in your corner, and you want to be that person always in the corner. Be loyal. We learned that when Jonathan in another study you can study it for yourself but you You know, Jonathan had that He He was loyal and he inspired loyalty among the people that were with him like his armor bearer. It's just awesome. Different study. 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 Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down. And our part shall be deliver him into the king's hands. Well, that's great news. The folks in Keilah try to sell him out and he got away. He comes up into the area of Ziph and what do they do? He king will deliver him to you. We'll end this nonsense. Here there he is. Now Saul said, blessed are you verse 21. You of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Oh, such spiritual words. Do you know some of the most sinful, ungodly people can speak some of the most fake spiritual words.

I mean, if you're reading Saul's life, you go, wow, what a neat guy, what a great king. Maybe there's a change. He's a rat. He hasn't repented. There's been no change. But you know, people that it's very easy When I say people, let's include all of us. We can We can go forth with the language and have a heart that's far from the Lord. Remember what Jesus told to the religious the religious rulers, the ones that had the appearance of spirituality, had the appearance of spiritual leadership. He looked at them and he said, you guys are like whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones.

The A picture was of a of a coffin painted white, you know, a tombstone painted white. And it looks so clean and it looks so pretty. But in reality it it just marked where there was deadness and lifelessness among the spiritual leaders of the day. And here he is sounding so spiritual. Please go verse 22 and find out for sure and see the place where the hideout is. And who has seen him there? For I am told that he's very crafty. I mean, seriously, you just want to Come on, man. 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's in the land that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah. So not only is did David betrayed by the men of Keilah, but now the people of Ziph are ready to turn him in. And then they It makes sense. They want loyalty from the king. I mean, from a practical from a practical standpoint, you know, I could see how they just want peace for themselves and, you know, with the king. It's not good, but I I can see the practicality of it.

And King Saul is one of those guys that just knows all the right words to say in order not to give the appearance that he's a very spiritual man. These are not words from a deep, abiding, obedient relationship with God, but the words of a murderer, a liar, and a conniver. And so it is where we need to be very very careful because the actions in someone's life speak louder than their words. The actions speak louder than their words. And so it's easy to come up with all the spiritual lingo, but it 's not the spiritual lingo that that really matters.

It's what's coming from the heart. And over time the heart will win. Over time the heart will reveal unless there's a major change, which unfortunately there wasn't in King Saul because rather than walking with God, submitting to God, obeying God as he started out with such great potential, King Saul chooses instead to talk like he is. And it always has always baffled me when I watch, I guess for a lack of a better word, Christian posers where they spin all this energy and effort trying to put up a front, trying to put up like it's all okay.

They spin all this energy and effort when they could spin a quarter of all that energy and effort abiding in the Lord and just watching God do great and wondrous things in their lives in their life. But they'd rather spend their whole time, you know, doing stuff that talking the talk and, you know, pretending and doing their own thing and, you know, you If that's you and it maybe the Lord is just pricking your heart right now, just stop. Submit to God. And not only will do do a great work in your heart, but also he will he will You have that power of God in you to do everything that you desire anyway for his glory.

Just know there's no need to be hypocritical. Verse 24. So said they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him and they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And then when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. Then Saul went on the side of the mountain and David with his men on the other side of the mountain.

So David made haste to get away from Saul for Saul and his men were in circling David and his men to take them. But a messenger came to Saul saying, hasten and come for the Philistines have invaded the land. Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David. He went against the Philistines. So they called that place the rock of escaping. Or another translation, the rock of protection. And then David went up from there and he dwelt in the strongholds of En Gedi. So as David experiences full time a real time, it doesn't look good. I mean, he's being encircled.

It appears that he's trapped with no way out. From verse 14 you noticed that Saul said It says that Saul sought him every day. The Hebrew word there has the idea of constantly seeking and knocking, just constantly going after. Now to verse 25 it doesn't get better. Saul and his men went to seek him. The idea behind that word is due to persecute, to chase, to to destroy. It's the same word that is used back in Exodus chapter 14 to describe Pharaoh going after the children of Israel. It's a heavy duty like he went to destroy him.

He went to He went to take them back. And the progression here in King Saul's intensity of sin reminds me of two things. Number one, we generally find what we're looking for. Have you found that to be true? I mean, if you're looking for good in something, you're going to find the good. If you're one of those people that likes to find the bad in everything, you'll find the bad in everything. And And if you are turning your life towards sin, you will find enough sin to keep you busy. We generally find what we're looking for.

If we go after goodness and righteousness and godliness, our lives will just be filled with goodness, righteousness, godliness. I mean, you'll look You'll find what you're looking for. But if we go after compromise, if we go after fleshly things, we'll soon see ourselves involved in unimaginable sins. That's why the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 6 verse 11 it says, do not let sin control the way you live. Do not give in to its lustful desires. In the from verses 11 to 14 it also says, give yourselves completely to God since you've been given new life.

Sin is no longer your master, verse 14. You're no longer subject to the law which enslaves you to sin. Instead you are free by God's grace. So Saul sought this sin in his life and he got more of it, not less. Secondly, we generally see things increase in intensity. They don't stay. It's impossible to stay in the same place for very long. You You're going to move. There There seems to be always that progression that comes. And the progression comes in the way that you started. So the progression in life is going to go If you start your life toward the things of God, then you're going to progress in your life toward God.

Does that make sense? You set your height, you know, you set your your mind and your heart toward the things of God. When you start taking steps, you're going to start taking steps where? Toward God. If you come on the other side and you say, no, I'm going to take my I'm going to take this little compromise. And when you take that first step of compromise, it's going to lead you into what? More compromise and more compromise. Progression happens. Not only do we generally find what we're looking for, but we also generally see things increase in intensity.

If you're like King Saul and you find yourself feeding your anger, feeding your bitterness, feeding your jealousy, understand that that will grow into full-blown destructive behaviors. James put it this way, James chapter 1 verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I'm tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it's full-grown brings forth death. That's the progression. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

And you find that God again intervenes at the end here in verse 27 with using even the tax of the Philistine to deliver David. You never know what God's going to use. He uses Jonathan in one point one time. He now he uses the Philistines in another. Remember Romans chapter 8 verse 28. God is working what? All things together for the good for those that love him. It's a principle not only in the New Testament but it's the nature of God. It's all throughout the scriptures. God hasn't changed from the Old Testament to the new.

He's always working things out. Everyone is a servant and a tool in God's hands. He can use anything and he does use everything. But I really love in verse 28 that in the midst of being trapped, what was the place of safety? The rock of escape. This is the second time now in our study and following David's life that a rock a specific rock has been used to describe a place of safety, a place of spiritual growth. You Bible students, you remember the first one was back in chapter 20 where we learned how David was what?

He was go He was to go to the stone Ezel, to the rock Ezel. Remember what it meant? It meant the rock that shows the way. He was in a great crisis in his life. He He wasn't sure which direction to go. What What am I supposed to do? And the answer was you go to the stone Ezel. That's the rock that shows the way. And in that we saw a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ as the rock in our lives that shows the way. David was to stay close to that rock waiting for the direction he needed for his life.

Now where do we find him? At the rock of escape or the rock of protection under great duress, friends turning their back on King Saul after him, friends turning their back on him, people that he just finished saving their lives ready to offer him up. Where is he Where is he now? At the rock of escaping or the rock of protection, the place of safety as King Saul went back to battle the Philistines. And you know, Jesus is that rock of escape for us. He is truly our help in times of need, in times of despair, in times of being trapped.

Whether it comes from the outside of us, or we find that we are trapped because of our own decisions and our own bad mistakes. So many times I come to that place where I just don't know what to do, and I just don't know where to go. I just don't know how to respond. I feel trapped. I feel like there's no way out. And yet there's always that rock of escape between me and my problems. There's always that place of protection between me and the issues in my life. And this is really where man-made religion fails.

This is where the religion of men just doesn't just This is one of the places where you could just see where where something's religion and something's truly from God. Because religion can only speak to us and demand from us and from the outside. Can only impose rules on us, regulations on us. It can It can only place things to change it from the outside. And there's always the outward pressure. We have to process them. And then once we get through one, we got to figure out the next step. But with Jesus he dwells inside of us leading and guiding and impressing upon our hearts the right actions.

Not only does he give us like the Bible says to will, but also what? To do for his good pleasure. And that's where David is. He's experiencing this all. He He's remembering and and finding God as a place of comfort at the rock of escape. A beautiful picture and type of the coming Messiah. God is David's protector even as he's ours. Without taking things into his own hands, David is delivered once again as he has the rock of escape between him and his enemy. It doesn't make sense, does it? You're surrounded, you're trapped, you and 600 men.

You might as well try to fight your way out. I mean, why die just given up? Let's fight our way out. Let's do something. You You 300 you go that way and 300 you go that way. Maybe half of us will make it. But instead the word we just stay at the rock. Just stay there. Just stay there at the rock. What do you want me to do, Lord? Just stay there. What? Yeah, just stay there. Just stay at the rock. It's a rock of escaping. Yeah, but escaping makes me think I should do something.

I mean, escaping. I got to do something. They're surrounding me. And God I can hear God and I'm sure you have as well. You don't need to do anything. Just watch me. And then all of a sudden, hey, oh, the Philistines are coming. All right. And then they're gone and he's safe. But God all throughout the scriptures. Okay. We're almost out of time here. Turn over now to Psalm 54. It's here in this time period that David penned Psalm 54. He cries out to God. You see, we read this often looking at it from a place of Well, hey, man, David You know, he's cool, man.

He got out of He got out and he waited on the Lord and and and he didn't have any issues in his heart and No no no no no no. Any of you that are familiar with the Psalms, you've learned the heart of David. He often wrestled and struggled with things including this time. You notice when it says the the little subtitle. You know, now if you're studying 1 Samuel, let me just tell you, you will never read the Psalms the same way again because you will always read the subtitles now because you're going to find out where he wrote it.

And you go, oh, I remember now. It says right here, a contemplation of David when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, is David not hiding with us? Whereas Where is that in the Bible? Good good. You know, some of you good. Some of you were going to give you another scan tron and retest you. 1 Samuel 23 you can do your own little cross reference here. It's what we just looked at 1 Samuel 23. So here How did he feel? Okay, David, tell us about how it was at the rock. What were you feeling?

Save me, O God, by your name. Vindicate me by your strength. Hear my prayer, O God. Give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and oppressors have sought after my life. They have not set God before them. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in your truth. I will freely sacrifice to you and I'll praise your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he is delivered me out of all trouble and my eye has seen his desire upon my enemies.

So David struggled a little bit. He dealt with some feelings here. He He sees the He understood the magnitude of what he was going through. He felt like he needed God's protection. He cried out. Yeah, I think he even had a sense of man. Are you hearing my prayers? Why am I surrounded? What did I do? And yet at the same time I see by the time I don't know We don't have the exact time frame of what this what what this Psalm encompassed where they sat down and thought the whole process. But we see by the end of verse 7 we have the beginning of them uh surrounding them and in verse 7 the deliverance.

It's a beautiful thing. And then from there at the end of chapter 23 he goes into the caves of En Gedi, which is by far one of the sweetest, most beautiful stops on our tour in Israel to take that hike up into the area of En Gedi where the water flows coming down and David will seek refuge in that area. It's beautiful. Today on a bounding grace we've been in 1 Samuel as Pastor Ed Taylor is leading us verse by verse through this marvelous Old Testament book. Now if you joined us late or we'd just like to hear the message again, drop by aboundinggrace radio.com.

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Pastor Ed Taylor: Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado and online at aboundinggrace radio.com.