WEBVTT 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:16.719 Amen. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:18.079 Good morning. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.239 Welcome to Community Bible Fellowship Church. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:26.079 It's a joy to be with you, to worship, to sing. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:31.039 He will hold us fast until our faith is turned to say he will hold us fast. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.079 And that's what we're going to be talking about actually today in chapter 23 of 1 Samuel. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:42.479 If you want to find your way to 1 Samuel 23, a copy of God's word, or we have some in the back as well, if you want to grab one. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.880 When I was in middle school, I was a relatively new believer. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.280 I was a young Christian, very immature, and just on fire for Jesus. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:56.399 I was so excited. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:01.840 My church gave me a Bible and I just devoured it, uh, read it every day. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:08.879 I was excited about spreading the gospel, and I took that to my middle school and to Walmart for some reason with like gospel tracts. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.959 It wasn't the most effective, but I was just excited to start conversations with people about Jesus. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:23.599 I went to my church's prayer meeting week in and week out until it had dwindled down to just um like the pastor Trent in me for like week in and week out. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:29.760 And by high school, I had very much run out of steam. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:34.239 And college was even harder and slower. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:44.079 And at this point, I think I can honestly say that my Bible reading habits were more intentional and more consistent as a middle schooler than they are now. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:46.319 I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but I did. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:54.079 My boldness in sharing the gospel was greater in middle school in many ways than it is now. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.920 I was more consistent and devoted to my church's prayer meeting as a middle schooler than I am today with ours. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.480 And I have grown in so many ways. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.319 The Lord has matured me immensely. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:14.400 I've been sanctified greatly by the Holy Spirit, but I've also continued to struggle with sins that I did near the start. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.759 I still find myself going through the motions at times. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:25.759 I find myself wrestling through uh old habits and temptations and doubts and fears and things I thought I should have conquered by this point. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:37.199 In fact, if there's like a repeated refrain that shows up in my prayers in almost every season of my Christian life, it's it's shouldn't I be further along by now, God? 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.639 Why am I not further along in this journey? 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.639 It takes work to endure in the Christian life. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:51.039 I'm guessing I'm not alone in these things. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:56.319 Maybe like me, you sat here last week as the Lord's Supper's being passed around. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:01.919 Jared's telling us to examine our hearts, and you're confessing the same sins that you did the time before. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.240 And the time before that, and the time before that. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.240 There are a million things that make it difficult to endure. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:16.639 Maybe you've buried a spouse, or you're caring for aging parents. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.080 Maybe you're fighting the same temptation that you have for years. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:31.120 Maybe you've you've watched your children wander, or you've been praying for someone to come to Christ for decades with no answer. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.240 Maybe you're just exhausted going through the motions. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:42.000 One of the great temptations of the Christian life isn't simply to sin, it's to lose heart. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.199 And the Bible assumes that that will be a temptation. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:51.039 Again and again and again, we are told to endure, to stand firm, to hold fast, to run with perseverance. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:53.599 Because Jesus understands this is hard. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:56.960 And it's long and it's slow and it's exhausting. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.639 He understands that. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:06.080 And he understands that we will grow weary on this long road between God's promises and their fulfillment. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.400 We will be tempted to lose heart. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:10.719 We will struggle to persevere. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:14.479 It's easy to start a marathon, right? 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.279 It's hard to endure all the way through the end. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.879 And that's exactly where we find David when we come to 1 Samuel 23. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.920 Almost everyone knows the story of chapter 17, right? 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:26.959 David and Goliath. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.120 Believe it or not, we've heard this story. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.160 David's been anointed as the new king of Israel. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.720 He's had an incredible victory over Goliath and the Philistines, the nation singing his praises. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.879 God's promises are coming to pass, right? 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:46.800 And then here we are, several chapters later, in unknown, unglamorous times of struggle. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:48.720 Years have passed. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:51.279 Still no throne. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.720 Instead, there are caves and wilderness and running and betrayal and hiding and waiting and starving and weeping. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:04.639 David is living in this long stretch between God's promise and God's fulfillment. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.680 And probably thinking, shouldn't I be further along by now? 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.879 And that's where many of us live too. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:22.160 So let's turn our eyes to God's word to find hope in the example of David and to learn to persevere with him on that long road from God's promises to their fulfillment. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:27.439 I invite you to stand with me if you're able, as we read from 1 Samuel 23. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:42.319 Beginning in verse 1, the word of God reads, Now they told David, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.600 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.439 And the Lord said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:58.000 But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah, how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.959 Then David inquired of the Lord again. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:07.360 And the Lord answered him, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:14.959 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their livestock, and struck them with a great blow. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.600 So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:24.879 When Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had fled to David to Kilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.199 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:36.800 And Saul said, God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:42.160 And Saul summoned all the people to war to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:47.279 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the Ephod here. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:56.879 Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant, has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.720 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.439 Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.639 O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.199 And the Lord said to him, He will come down. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:13.199 Then David said, Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul? 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.439 And the Lord said, They will surrender you. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:22.160 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:27.360 When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:37.759 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Zith, and Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.759 Then David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.800 David was in the wilderness of Zith at Horash. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:51.199 And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horash, and strengthened his hand in God. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:56.560 And he said to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find you. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:59.920 You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.399 Saul, my father, also knows this. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.040 And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.480 David remained at Horash, and Jonathan went home. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:19.360 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds of Horash, at Horash, on the hill of Hakilah, which is south of Jeshurman. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:26.720 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.920 And Saul said, May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:38.879 Go, make yet more shore, know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:43.840 See, therefore, and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with shore information. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.200 Then I will go with you. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.799 And if he is in the land I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.600 And they arose and went to Zith ahead of Saul. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:09:02.960 Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshemon, and Saul and his men went to seek him, and David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.519 And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:14.399 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain, and David was hurrying to get away from Saul. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:23.840 As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul and said, Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.240 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.679 Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.120 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:36.320 This is God's word. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:37.519 May be seated. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.440 Pray with me now. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:48.480 Gracious Lord, would you speak to us now by your word to preserve us with your promises? 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:56.000 And Lord, use our lives to cause one another in this room to persevere. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.320 Make us a means of each other's eternal salvation. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:07.919 And Lord, strengthen us in this long process on the road to your kingdom and to glory. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.360 We pray this in your name. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:10.320 Amen. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:27.440 As we walk through this chapter together, we're gonna discover that David does not persevere and make it to the throne because he's tougher than everyone else, or because he simply tries harder. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:32.559 He makes it because God's hand is preserving him every step of the way. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:38.879 And the wonderful news for us is that God preserves us in much the same ways that we'll see in David. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:44.159 He gives us his promises in his word to guide us when we can't see the way ahead. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:11:01.279 He gives us his people to strengthen us when our hands grow weak, and he gives, he uses the very process, the long, difficult road of waiting and suffering and struggle, not to destroy us, but to shape us into the people he has promised we will become. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:07.679 So that's the roadmap we're gonna use to navigate this text this morning as we walk through 1 Samuel 23 together. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.559 Promise, people, and process. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.039 Let's begin with promise. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:24.879 David faces a whole variety of difficulties in this chapter, and throughout it all, he repeatedly returns to God's revelation for direction. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.960 The Philistines attack the city of Keilah in verse 1. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:29.919 And what does David do? 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.200 Verse 2, David inquired of the Lord. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:37.840 And then his men object, they're afraid, they say, This is crazy, like it's a terrible idea. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.000 We've already been fugitives being hunted by Saul. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:41.919 Now you want us to go fight the Philistines too. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.200 So what does David do? 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:44.080 Verse 4. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.039 Then David inquired of the Lord again. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:55.519 And now the people, unified around God's word, go out boldly to Battle and are given a massive victory over the Philistines. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.240 But now David's in another predicament. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:00.399 He's in this walled-in city. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.600 Saul's approaching, trying to besiege it, and trap David inside and kill him and his men. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:07.440 So what does David do? 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:09.360 He seeks God's will again. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.879 He seeks God's revelation and guidance through his word. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:19.840 First times were probably through the prophet Gad that we're told about in chapter 22 that God brought to David. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:33.120 Here it's through the priest Abby Athar, who, in God's mysterious, incredible providence, through the wickedness and violence of Saul, has been brought to David with the high priest Ephod. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:41.519 Ephod was a sort of sacred garment, like the holy priest uniform thing that the priest would have. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:43.360 And the high priest's Ephod. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:44.879 I don't know if I'm saying that right. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.360 Does anyone know how to say Ephod, Ephod, Ephod? 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.120 Something like that. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:13:05.759 But the high priest one had a pocket in it containing the Urim and Thummim, which were these stones of some sort that we saw back in chapter 14, which were given by God to the priests as these holy instruments for discerning the will of God, for getting direction from the Lord. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:24.559 We don't know exactly how it worked, but the point that we should take here is not necessarily all of the ins and outs of how God spoke through the prophet Gad or how God spoke through the Yurm and Themim, but that God had provided David, his chosen one, with every means necessary to hear God's word and to respond to it in obedience. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:34.720 That's how David perseveres to the end, because God had provided him with every means necessary to hear his word and to respond to it in obedience. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.159 God has provided us in the same way. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:40.799 Notice the contrast, though. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:03.360 So David, unlike Saul, is not just drifting through the wilderness, making educated guesses, trying to receive intel from his different spies and messengers. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:14.240 He's not just following his instincts, he's not ruled by fear or shame or pride, but again and again, he stops and asks, Lord, what do you say? 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:16.159 What does God say? 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.240 Lord, what would you have me do? 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.679 And God doesn't simply give David information. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.519 He gives him his promises. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:28.159 Notice verse 4. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.039 God doesn't merely say, Go, fight the Philistines. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:36.720 He says, Go, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.080 The command comes attached to a promise. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.279 And that's so often how God works. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:49.600 Think about the great commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus says, Go and make disciples of all nations. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:50.559 But he doesn't just say that. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.320 If that's all we had, we'd be prone to despair and give up. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.000 But he also says, first of all, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:02.320 And then he adds, and I will be with you always, even to the end of the world. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.159 Jesus doesn't just say to us, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:17.600 He says, Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.879 He doesn't just say, Press on and be holy as I am holy, and finish the race. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:28.720 He says, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:32.399 That is God's promise for those who have trusted in Jesus. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.039 The commands of God are sustained by the promises of God. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:44.000 Now notice God's word doesn't remove David's wilderness. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.480 He still has to flee from Keila. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:56.639 He still gets betrayed by the people he saved, which is a defining mark of the suffering anointed one, pointing ultimately to Jesus and his betrayal. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:00.720 He still sleeps in caves, he's still running for his life, he still isn't king. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:07.679 We often want a map for the next 20 years. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.879 God usually gives us what we need for today. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:16.399 His word doesn't take away the difficult road, but it gives David enough light for the next faithful step. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:23.039 Psalm 119 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:28.559 Not a stadium floodlight that lets you see 50 miles ahead, but a lamp. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:29.120 Right? 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.919 Enough for the next step. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:43.840 One of the greatest dangers for weary Christians is that we can slowly stop placing ourselves under God's voice, under God's word. 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:50.320 And then that lamp dims and the path darkens, and we can't see, and it's dark, and we're confused and scared. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.879 No wonder we struggle to persevere. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.120 We're running through the woods in the dark. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:01.759 Brothers and sisters, God's word is given to us as a gift to navigate the wilderness. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:03.600 We're not left to do it alone. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.839 David had a prophet and a priest. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.559 We have something far greater. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:13.599 And we need to understand and believe that it is far greater. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:20.559 The Apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 1, he explains that he had walked with Jesus personally. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:32.400 He had seen him, he had heard his teaching, and he saw his glory, he calls it his majestic glory that was manifested on the Mount of Transfiguration, and he heard the voice of the Father speak and say, This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased, listen to him. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:38.319 And then he says that despite me having all of this, we have something fuller in God's word, the Scriptures. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:43.359 Something fuller, a greater promise, a greater prophetic word, a greater revelation. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.440 2 Peter 119. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:57.279 We have a fuller confirmation in the prophetic word, the scriptures, to which you will do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:04.400 We have the fullness of God's word, by which he holds us fast. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:10.319 We have our great high priest, Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit who indwells us. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:22.079 The God who preserved David has graciously given us everything we need in his word to keep walking until his promises become sight. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:28.319 Same God who sustained David through his word still sustains his people today. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:33.920 That's our first point. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:35.519 God's promises. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:44.559 The second way that God preserves David on this long road to the throne is through his people. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.480 Look with me at verse 16. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:57.920 And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horash and strengthened his hand in God. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:04.240 Now remember what the verses leading up to this have just told us. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.640 They say that David is in the wilderness. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:11.200 They say that Saul has been seeking his life every single day, trying to kill him. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:13.599 He's been running for his life for years at this point. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:21.759 We can imagine how exhausted he must have been and how how weak of a grip David must have had on God's promises. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.920 And just then a friend appears to strengthen his hand in God. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:33.119 Notice, first of all, that Jonathan sought David out. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:34.400 Right? 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:38.079 They didn't just run into each other at church on a Sunday morning and strike up a conversation. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.799 Jonathan has been paying attention to his friend, David. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.079 He sees that he's struggling. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:46.319 He knows David's soul is weak and needs strengthening, and so he leaves his home. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.119 He goes out, he seeks out David to comfort him. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:51.920 And notice also how he comforts him. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.119 He doesn't tell him, You've got this, be strong, be brave. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:56.880 He doesn't say, you're almost there. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:57.839 It's right around the corner. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.079 David's on mile three of a marathon. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:01.359 That would not be helpful. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.599 He doesn't say, you're an overcomer. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:08.400 Instead, he reminds David of God's word, God's promises. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.079 He says, Do not fear, you shall be king. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:26.079 It's striking that after all of David's inquiries of the Lord in the first half of this story, the next thing that God provides David is not another revelation, it's another believer. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.640 The word of God and the people of God belong together. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:39.519 Throughout the New Testament, to my knowledge, perseverance is almost never presented as an individual project. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:47.920 Hebrews 3 says, Exhort one another every day, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:53.359 There's a real possibility that our hearts can become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.759 And so God's word says, We need one another. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.759 We need to exhort and encourage and admonish and uplift one another in order for that not to happen. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:01.759 To persevere, we need one another. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:18.799 Hebrews 10 says, Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.799 The day is drawing near. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:26.000 Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.440 God knows that we will get weary. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:39.279 He knows that there will be days when our faith is weak, when our hands hang limp, when we struggle to grasp and hold tightly to his promises. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:40.400 So what does he do? 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:42.400 He gives us one another. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:56.480 And that fellowship and encouragement of fellow believers is one of the most powerful instruments that God uses to preserve his people as they struggle to persevere. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.680 We can sing, he will hold me fast, because we are singing. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279 It together. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:05.759 And that takes a variety of forms. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:22.720 It can look like Hugh Latimer in 1555 to his fellow pastor Nicholas Ridley as they are chained to the stake, about to be burned for their faith, given one last chance to recant, to take back what they've been preaching, and to say, We'll let you go. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:30.400 And Latimere turns to the man, chained next to him, and he says, Play the man, Master Ridley. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:36.400 We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:40.240 And they remain faithful and they are burned. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:47.279 That's Christian encouragement and brotherly fellowship as God's grace for perseverance in hard times. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:53.359 Or it can look like my friend Landon in college who sat me down at a McDonald's and said, How's your faith, man? 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:54.079 You seem off. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:55.039 You doing okay? 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.000 And I wasn't, and I needed him to ask me that. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:02.480 Or the woman I saw the other day hug her friend and say, You will be okay through this season. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:04.480 The Lord is with you. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:11.440 That's Christian encouragement and sibling fellowship as God's grace in our lives. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:26.160 It can be in a moment of life and death, or it can be at a McDonald's, but God's people are one of his primary means of sustaining us on this long road between his promises and their fulfillment. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.359 That's why fellowship on Sunday mornings is so important. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:35.039 Like reel, sit together, cry together, pray together, open your hearts to one another kind of fellowship. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:40.640 That's why our small groups are so important, being in each other's homes, in each other's lives throughout the week. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:45.039 That's why we have Monday morning prayer meetings that I go to sometimes. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:56.880 And Tuesday ladies' Bible study and Thursday men's Bible study and tailgating fellowship for the men, like we had yesterday, and consistent opportunities to be in each other's lives and strengthen one another's hands in God. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:58.000 We need this. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:02.880 So don't miss what this chapter is teaching us. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:11.920 It can be really difficult to be a Jonathan and to see another friend, a brother or sister struggling and seek them out to strengthen them. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:15.039 And it can be awkward, but we just need to do it. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:18.880 And it can be difficult to be a David, too. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:34.240 And to refuse to isolate, to refuse to avoid the closeness of community and vulnerability that God uses to preserve us, to choose to accept the encouragement and support of others, but we need to do it. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:48.319 God preserves weary saints through the voices, the encouragement, the prayers, the singing, the faithful presence of other weary saints. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:25:01.440 On the long road between God's promises and their fulfillment, he doesn't simply give us his word, he gives us one another, strengthening our hands in God until faith finally becomes sight. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:12.720 That's how God preserves his people through his promises and through his people. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:16.799 Let's look now at how he does this through the process itself. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:19.839 Look at the rest of the chapter. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:26.720 The Zipites now also betray David, the anointed one, the Christ. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:29.920 Saul comes after him again to kill him and again. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:36.319 David's running through the wilderness, experiencing another narrow escape by God's providence, using God's enemies to save David? 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.240 David's hiding in another cave, he's still not a king. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:44.000 Could God have put David on the throne immediately after David and Goliath? 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:45.680 Of course. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.359 In fact, that would have made a lot of sense to me if I was reading the story. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:55.519 God had already anointed him, he'd chosen him, he'd promised him the kingdom, he'd given him incredible victory and the support of the nation of Israel. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:58.480 So why years in caves? 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:05.359 Years of fear and fighting and struggle and waiting and waiting and waiting. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:10.559 Because God wasn't merely crowning a king, he was forming one. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.279 The throne was God's destination, but the wilderness was his workshop. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:21.200 Christian perseverance is not merely about the end result. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:26.319 It is about how God forms us into that in the process. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.039 Through the process. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:10.240 But I remember him looking into my eyes and saying, Daniel, God is glorified in you wrestling with sin, not just conquering it. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.599 And that changed everything for me. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:16.400 And of course, it's not that God wants us to keep fooling around with sin. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:20.319 He says, Be perfect, I'm perfect, be holy, I am holy, kill sin. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:30.480 But at the same time, God is glorified in us, not only in our conquering of sin, but even in the midst of the battle. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:50.559 Even in our daily efforts, as we struggle and fail and then repent and get back up again to keep fighting, even when it feels like we're losing, even when we are losing, even in our conviction and our guilt and our shame, the confusing mixture of complicated emotions that comes with going against the will of God, God magnifies himself in our lives through that battle. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:28:01.920 In Ephesians 2, God's word says that we are his workmanship, created to do good works. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.920 His craftsmanship. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:10.880 I find that ideal idea helpful of God being a craftsman and us being his craftsmanship. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.400 Because there are different types of workmanship, right? 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:25.680 There's a noticeable difference between a factory-produced piece of furniture from IKEA and a handcrafted, personally designed rocking chair from an old Amish man in Lancaster who's been making rocking chairs his whole life. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:26.960 There's a difference. 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:34.160 The IKEA chair was made almost immediately in an afternoon, and it's identical to thousands of others that are just like it. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:44.480 But the one made by the real craftsman has the personal touch of countless, grueling hours of individual hands-on work and years of experience and personally selected materials. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:49.440 It has all of the unique marks and subtle imperfections that come with any real work of art. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:52.799 And it's actually these imperfections that make it so valuable, right? 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.759 That's why AI art is so repulsive. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:00.400 But there's there's struggle involved in the craftsman's project. 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:02.240 It's real wood. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.319 Trees died to make it. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:06.559 There's risk involved in the craftsman's work. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:12.160 There's work, there's a process, there's artistry, and the unique touch of something real that a factory can't reproduce. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:17.200 And because of that, the IKEA chair may be cheaper and it may be quicker. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:31.839 You may know exactly what to expect from it every time, but the workman's handcrafted work of art is more beautiful and more valuable because the workman himself is put on display through the process, not merely the end result. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:32.960 Right? 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:43.039 It's the long, slow process of his artistry with all of its struggle and risk and uniqueness and imperfection along the way that showcases his craftsmanship. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:51.759 It's the hours and hours of sanding out the roughness by hand that displays his unique gifts as the creator. 00:29:51.839 --> 00:30:08.480 And in a similar way, church, God, in raising up sons and daughters and in crafting us to be glorious kings and queens, reflecting his majesty and divinity throughout the universe, God is not primarily concerned with quick, immediate, perfect results. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.839 He is magnified in and through the process. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:16.400 His craftsmanship is displayed in the struggle. 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:44.880 To say that you are God's workmanship is to say that God doesn't immediately solve all of our sin issues and remove all of our imperfections and struggles instantly, but that he works with us through hours and hours and decades of sanding out the roughness by hand because his workmanship is put on display for his glory in the process, not just in a perfect cookie cutter end result. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:52.559 Have you found yourself thinking, shouldn't I be further along by now? 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.119 Why am I still struggling with this? 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:57.359 Why is this taking so long? 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:06.880 Perhaps because the process itself is the place where God's craftsmanship is most clearly displayed. 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:15.759 James tells us to count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:17.440 It produces something. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:24.079 Romans says that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:26.799 God isn't wasting your wilderness. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:29.920 He's using it, he's producing something from it. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:36.559 He's using this season and this struggle and this process for your good, for his glory. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:47.200 And one day, Christian, you who have trusted in Christ, repented of your sins, been baptized, you will reign with Jesus Christ in a new creation. 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:48.079 That's God's promise. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:52.960 You will reign with him as kings and queens, conformed to his image. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:56.799 Until then, don't despise his process. 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:02.240 The long road isn't evidence that God has forgotten you. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:08.720 It might be the clearest evidence that he is still faithfully shaping you into the man or woman that he has promised that you will become. 00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:10.799 Persevere. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:13.359 Persevere. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:18.240 The greatest way to persevere is to look to Jesus. 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:22.960 Jesus was God's true anointed one, the Christ. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:32.559 He too walked the long road to the throne, and he too was rejected, betrayed, hunted, surrounded by enemies. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:40.960 He too suffered greatly, cried out to God, trusted God's word, and endured the greatest suffering before entering into glory. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:43.920 Listen to this from Hebrews 12. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:51.920 Therefore, this is right after Hebrews 11, he's just laid out all of these great saints, brothers and sisters who follow Jesus around us. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:58.400 Therefore, he says, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, that's the saints around you in this room right now. 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:22.880 Let us therefore lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:41.200 Church, because Jesus endured to the end, endured the cross, the most violent death, and the wrath of God for our sins, he now sits resurrected and ascended, enthroned at the Father's right hand, where he continues to do for us exactly what he did for David. 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:54.000 He preserves his people by his word, by his spirit through his church, through every joy and every trial, until the day our faith is turned to sight. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:58.640 So if you are weary this morning, do not lose heart. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:08.960 The road may be long, but the throne is certain, and he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:13.119 The God who made you a promise is the God who will hold you fast to the very end. 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:16.800 Keep listening to his promises, keep leaning on his people. 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:23.039 Don't despise his process, and above all, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith. 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:24.719 The one who calls you as faithful. 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:25.920 He will surely do it. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:27.440 Let's pray. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:45.440 Lord Jesus, you are the one and true Christ who endured the greatest suffering, greater than any other we could even imagine, Lord. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:35:01.760 Out of your love for us and for the joy that was set before you, may we now, as your people, for the joy set before us, take up our cross daily, follow you in your suffering, follow you in your death, that we may follow you in your resurrection. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:06.639 Lord, we long for that day when you will return and make all things new. 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:12.639 We ask that you would comfort us by your Holy Spirit this morning, by your word, by one another. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:19.280 Lord, fill our hearts with joy as we sing these praises to you, that you would be magnified.