Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20020519.htm

1 AND 2 SAMUEL: GOD'S SOLUTION TO PROBLEMS IN OVERSIGHT
Part XXVIII: Learning To Function By Faith In Overwhelming Trials
(1 Samuel 23:19-29 with Psalm 54:1-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. Many "how to" books dot the Christian landscape today to tell us how to handle every kind of problem in marriage, family, finances, leadership, ministry and worship to name but a select group of topics.
    2. However, the life of faith in GOD involves genuinely TRUSTING the LORD for what WE can NOT handle, so to LEARN this, we often must "buy" from God an expanded depth of faith, "gold tried in the fire" where we learn to trust Him in overwhelming trials (to cite Revelation 3:18). 1 Samuel 23:19-29 reveals David's beginning to learn to trust God in overwhelming trials (as follows):
  2. Learning To Function By Faith In Overwhelming Trials, 1 Samuel 23:19-29 with Psalm 54:1-7.
    1. Though he had formerly tried to escape Saul's oppression by leaving Israel, God had directed David through His prophet, Gad to remain in the land of Judah, 1 Samuel 22:5.
    2. Thus, to obey God and yet diminish Saul's unedifying effects on him, David hid in the woods the plateau of Ziph 4 miles southeast of Hebron, 1 Sam. 23:14-15; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to 1 Samuel 23:14.
    3. However, David came to face a series of circumstances there that overwhelmingly threatened his life:
      1. The Ziphites who lived where David and his men hid chose to inform Saul of his presence among them, 1 Sam. 23:19. They offered Saul their cooperation in delivering David over to him, 23:20.
      2. Saul, in his spiritually warped mind, blessed these Ziphites' decision to inform on David, saying this move was an act of compassion upon him (as though David were a vicious enemy!), 1 Sam. 23:21. Saul urged the Ziphites to scout out David's location so he could attack him, 1 Samuel 23:22-23.
      3. When David learned Saul was en route to find him, he moved to the wilderness of Moan, 23:24-25a.
      4. However, apparently due to the successful scouting of the Ziphites, Saul learned of David's move, so he pursued David to the wilderness of Moan where he hid, 1 Samuel 23:25b.
      5. At one point, Saul went along one side of a mountain and David along the other in an attempt to enclose David with no room for escape, leaving him afraid for his life, 1 Samuel 23:26 NIV.
    4. Now, we know from Psalm 54:1-7 that David had called unto God for help in this circumstance when he had first heard the Ziphites had decided to betray his location to Saul:
      1. The introductory notes before verse 1 of Psalm 54 actually comprise the first 2 verses of the Hebrew text's 54th psalm, making them part of inspired Scripture, cf. Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 1021.
      2. These verses relate the Psalm was written when David was betrayed by the Ziphites to Saul.
      3. Accordingly, the psalm reveals David looked to God for what he could not then obtain on his own:
        1. David sought God's deliverance both from the Ziphites who unjustly betrayed him as well as from Saul and his oppressors who sought to kill him, Psalm 54:1-3a.
        2. In doing so, David noted his opponents in Saul and the Ziphites had not sought God or God's will in what they were doing to harm him, something that he could use in asking God for help, 54:3a,b.
        3. In his petition, David acknowledged God, His Master, was his "Screen-cover" where the woods of Ziph had failed to provide such adequate cover due to the betrayal of its inhabitants, Psalm 54:4.
        4. That said, David asked God to return the calamity meant for him by his opponents in the Ziphites and Saul and his forces upon their own heads, Psalm 54:5.
        5. David pledged to offer a freewill offering of appreciation to the Lord for this deliverance (Ps. 54:6) and expected God to "snatch" him away (lit.) from his opponents to his satisfaction, Psalm 54:7.
    5. Just when Saul nearly had David cornered, God answered David's prayer by letting the Philistines suddenly invade Israel to divert Saul to fight the Philistines, 23:27-28a. Hence, David named the place "the Rock of Escape," Ibid., ftn. to 1 Sam. 23:28, and could move to another place, 1 Samuel 23:29.
Lesson: When his efforts to avoid Saul were overcome to where he was helpless before Saul, David's trust in GOD resulted in God's giving him ALL he NEEDED in TIME to be delivered from harm.

Application: Overwhelming trials are allowed by God in the believer's life to teach him not to trust in himself and even his best efforts, but to TRUST in GOD INSTEAD, cf. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, 10!