1 Samuel #23: An exposition of 1 Samuel 23:1-29. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, July 22, 2012.
Intro:
“Why?” The question is unavoidable. In times of suffering or distress we naturally ask, “Why?” It is part of the fabric of our being. If this is a moral universe why is there such suffering? This cannot be life as it was intended, why? A tsunami wipes out hundreds of thousands and we ask, “Why?” A teenage girl is killed sitting in the car with her boyfriend the night of her high school graduation and we ask, “Why?” A toddler is molested by one who is to love and protect her and we ask, “Why?” The doctor says, “I’m sorry there is nothing more we can do” and we ask, “Why?” As for the case of molestation we can say, “There are wicked people in this world” but that really doesn’t solve the mystery. In the case of cancer we can say sickness is no respecter of persons but that doesn’t ease the suffering or silence our anguish cry. There are scientific explanations for tsunamis and other “natural disasters” but they provide little comfort. The theological short answer is that we live in a fallen world and bad things happen. True but not comforting. True but far from bringing an end to the questioning it only creates more, some more troubling than the original! Maybe we are focused on the wrong question. We think we have a right to know why but we have no such “right.” Further, if we were told why, we most likely wouldn’t accept it. It still would not make sense. We would deem it unsatisfactory. I think we are better served by asking other questions. What? What am I to do in light of this? How? How do I move on?
Biblically the question is not so much why but who? Who is in charge? Who do I turn to? Who will see me through? Job demanded to know why but settled for who. Let’s face it, often when we ask why we don’t expect and really do not want an answer. What I do want is to know I’m not alone. I want to know there is someone there with me and for me. Listen to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart…But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
12 So death is at work in us, but life in you…So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-12, 16-18)
How is it we keep from “losing heart?”
He was Israel’s anointed king yet he is living an outlaw existence in the hills of Judah. Son-in-law of the king, leader of the king’s bodyguard, the nation’s most decorated and beloved soldier yet a fugitive. “Why?” Our text this evening is found in 1 Samuel 23.
Text: 1 Samuel 23:1-29
Hunted and hounded.
Threatened and betrayed.
David’s life was one of heartache, suffering and persecution yet he remained faithful to his God, his country and most surprising, his king! As we consider 1 Samuel 23 we are reminded that…
Thesis: In times of intense pain and heartache the believer finds rest in God’s gracious provision.
Our rest, as the people of God, is not dependent upon circumstance. We have rest in spite of our circumstance.
It’s not that we finally achieve peace when the storm blows over but that we have peace in the midst of the storm.
This peace, this rest, is the result of God’s gracious provision. We note three such provisions in this text.
- The provision of divine guidance. (23:1-13)
- The provision of timely encouragement. (23:14-18)
- The provision of Providence. (23:19-28)