Well, I invite you to turn tonight, the Bible's in front of you, to page 295, that is 1 Samuel 27. As we're continuing our study in this book, 1 Samuel 27, we're almost through this book, and tonight we come to a fascinating little chapter here, and we will consider all 12 verses of 1 Samuel 27. This has been a long struggle of David dealing with Saul's attacks, murderous attacks, And now we come to a decision that David makes here, and we'll begin at verse 1. Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. So David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Ashish, the son of Maok, king of Gath. And David lived with Ashish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. Then David said to Ashish, if I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? So that day Ashish gave him Ziklag. Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. Now, David and his men went up and made raids against the Gersherites. The Gerzites, the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as sure to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the carmel, the camels, and the garments and come back to Ashish. When Ashish asked, where have you made a raid today? David would say, against the Negev of Judah or against the Negev of the Jeremelites or against the Negev of the Kenites. And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, lest they should tell about us and say, so David has done. Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. And Ashes trusted David, thinking, he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel. Therefore, he shall always be my servant. Just the first two verses of the next section. In those days, the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. And Asha said to David, understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army. David said to Asha, very well, you shall know what your servant can do. And Asha said to David, very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life. And there ends the reading of God's Word. Well, I'm sure you have been in moments in life, maybe you're in that presently, where you are done with the circumstance that you are faced with. You are absolutely done with it, and you are no longer going to deal with it. You feel completely helpless in the midst of it. You feel without strength. You have no real answers, and you've been just pushed too far with it. That is a common experience at life with some circumstances that people face. I've seen this more than a few times in the ministry of very difficult circumstances that God's people face, and you stand back from it and you say, I see, I don't see the answers right now. I see no answer in this. In fact, I have no idea how you're going to get out of it. I remember an old wise elder said to me that years ago when he said, life can be simply so complex, and as an elder you stand back and you tell people, I don't know what to say in light of what you're facing. If that resonates at all, maybe it will at some point, but if that does now, this is exactly where David is. What I appreciate so much about God's Word, what I love about the Word of God, is how real it is in capturing for us and inspiring for us the stories of these people who we think are the spiritual giants of the Scripture, who were really suffering at times and really struggling at times and not knowing how to handle things and then capturing for us the very messes that they make by bad decisions. We've been studying real progress in David, haven't we? He has successfully made it through now three opportunities to take out his enemies and it's been remarkable the trust that David has displayed. It really has. These passages have shown us a remarkable maturity in David in learning through all the circumstances of life to trust the Lord, to believe the Word, and to do what is right. I think if I look back on the last three chapters, I probably moved too quickly because there's so much said there that is helpful and instructive for learning how to trust the Lord. Somebody walked up to me last week and said, well, I've learned a lot from this because I think we all would have slashed Saul. I think we all would have taken him out in the midst of this if we had these opportunities. In today's passage, in tonight's passage, I believe he's bottomed out. I believe this is the end for him. I've been saying this the whole time. How much longer is this going to go on? This has been grueling to study. and I think that's part of the purpose of this. I think that's part of the effect of this. It just seems never to end. This same thing continues to happen over and over. Here comes Saul again, and here comes Saul who attack, and it just seems to get worse and worse. Is God doing anything? And the Scriptures capture for us tonight, which I love, simultaneously a just man and a sinner in his struggle. What happens when we fail? at these moments? What happens when we make the wrong choices? How instructive this is going to be for us tonight? Because the ugliness of sin is captured for us, the ugliness of David's choice, and I believe as we read this, it's meant to be very instructive for you. It's meant to help you through the very sort of similar circumstances in life when you get to moments like this of a real breaking point where you've reached it and you say, I can't do it any longer. I can't. I'm pushed too far. It's too messy. There's too much pressure. There's too much, and I say to you tonight, well, you're not alone. The great King David was right here. The great King David faced the same thing, and it's a marvel because 1 Samuel 27 captures another very bad moment in the midst of all these good moments, and that's what I believe the message is saying to us tonight is that is that even in the failures your covenant God our covenant God will not abandon God will deliver us and God will fulfill his word and his promise to us we say that over and over you won't see that yet tonight you'll see him stuck tonight you'll see him creating a real a worse mess tonight but God will deliver him God will save him and it has a wonderful message for us so I want to briefly look at tonight, first David's confusion here, before we look at the compromise and then the consequence of it all. Whenever Saul would come after David, there was always somebody who was betraying David. Have you noticed that throughout the study of this book? Somebody would come and say, we know just where David is. We've looked at this so many times now that it should have stood out to you. Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul. I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitu. Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hakala? When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, by who? We don't know. Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. He's being betrayed and he's being pointed out and he can't trust anyone. That's how bad it's gotten. He has lost trust in everyone. In the last section, Saul had promised that he would now leave David alone, but would you believe him? After all of this, Saul said, I'm done. But obviously this chapter says that Saul was still going after David. David had really, throughout all of this, great success in God's preservation, hadn't he? The marvel of this entire section is, the whole time, God had been protecting him and preserving him so that later for us, he would write great psalms and reflection. And all of these wonderful psalms that we love and that we study and that we sing, and that's why they're important to sing. Why we do that is because they're exactly what David learned through this wilderness experience of trial and testing and hardship. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. That sort of confidence that we love, that sort of happiness that we sing about, of God preserving our life, is what makes now chapter 27 so utterly shocking. Look at verse 1. Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. Don't you say, what? Did you just hear Psalm 121? Did you sing that? Did you write that, David? David said in his heart, I am going to perish by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better, he says. Now listen to the language here. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel and I shall escape out of his hand. I will be done with this forever. And you stop and you say, really? A Bible teacher has to make a choice and a preacher. Is that right or is that wrong? And who would tell me that's a right choice tonight? There's nothing right about it. it's not good there's no prayer there's no name of the lord here there's no trust expressed there's no indication of a psalm that came from this moment notice how the text begins then david said in his heart you know i looked up in scripture it's not always the case but in the majority of the cases when people say in their heart it's never a good thing. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. Who wrote that? David. Jeroboam said in his heart, there came the idols. We always are saying, listen to the heart. David listened to his heart and it wasn't good. David said in his heart, I will perish by the hand of Saul. To which you say, is that true? And the answer is not at all. The answer is not true. The statement is not true. David would not die by the hand of Saul, but he reasoned in his heart, that's how it'll be. I'm going to die. I will perish. All kinds of promises and assurances had been given to him the whole time that that would not be the case. Remember, Abigail, in one of those beautiful moments, said to David this, if men rise up to pursue you and seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be bound up in the bundle of the living care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as a hollow from the hollow of a sling. Remember Goliath? God's holding you, David. He's caring for you. I just love the language that she chose. Bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. You're bound in the bundle of the living. It's just a beautiful statement. The Lord will care for you. The Lord will watch over you. You see, fear is always contrary to the promises of God. It's contrary when we worry this way. In reality, it's really remarkable of all of our fears, how many of them in the scriptures, and what the scriptures are constantly showing us is how directly contrary they are to the promises. Often God speaks through his people at just the right moment, too. So God gives promise in scripture and says, in the end, I promise you that you will be delivered from this, and in the end there's a good purpose for you. And then people come along all the time in our lives that the Lord places in our lives, and they give words of encouragement to us. And do you think they're just saying those things aimlessly? The Lord is speaking through his people. The Lord loves you. The Lord cares for you. The Lord's watching out for you. He has a good plan. I've had the best moments as a pastor, yes, from the Word of God, but from you. The calls that come in the times of the hardest moments. God will speak through his people that way. David says in his heart, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Therefore, I'm out. It's the flight response. I'm out. I'm done. I'm not dealing with this anymore. I don't have to deal with this anymore. Enough's enough. Ralph Davis says something so effective here as I was reading him this week. He says, hunted, tracked, and attacked by Saul, treacherously exposed, making thrilling escapes, and executing daring escapades, nine chapters full of high blood pressure narrative. It's the stuff that makes for great movies, but it takes its toll on real people. you read these things and we get engaged in these stories. This is a real life struggle for somebody. David's done. I'm done. He reasons in his heart and he leaves. And he puts an end to it that way. Here's where I think it's easy to be critical of David. What would be our response to somebody in the midst of this? It's really, this is where the words get difficult, I understand, even as preaching tonight, the easy response is always to say, ah, David, just trust the Lord. Proverbs 3. David, trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he'll make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It would be easy to just say that, wouldn't it? The longer I live, and what I've witnessed people face in the ministry, it's not so easy just to come to them and say, just trust. Fact is, there are real times and moments when we face things that we can't handle. Did you know that? There are real times when you face things you cannot handle. We like to throw around that phrase, well, God will never give you more than you can handle, David just got it. He can't handle this. He can't. The interesting thing is his wrong assessment is what stands out though, doesn't it? His wrong assessment of things. I would go to Philistia too. I really would. I'd pack up and I would leave. But the thing to notice is how wrong the choice is in his assessment. He would not die by the hands of Saul. That is not true. I'm under no delusion that to say tonight just wait on the Lord in his providence is some easy thing. That is not an easy thing. I understand it. It's a bitter pill for Christians who have been in this sort of struggle for a long time and don't see the light. when they have for years trusted the Lord and seen no light in their hardships and no answering in their sufferings. To continue on, it's hard. And that's when I said, this now is David facing the breaking point. The choices that we make, the paths that we choose, now are a crucial moment when we hit these points because in reality, we can make things a lot worse. Fear of outcome cannot direct my present course. You understand that? Fear of the outcome can't. And the thing to always ask here is, is my fear really true? In other words, does my action demonstrate that I believe that God is still holding the reins? in the choice that I'm making, in the way that I'm going forward? And should I base my path forward on that? It's not to say that Christians in harmful circumstances of life can never make wise decisions to avoid harm. That's where it gets a little complex. Of course they can. That's not what I'm talking about tonight. What David does is different. Without any trust in the Lord, without any expression of trust, He makes a decision, reasoning in his heart, to leave the land, to leave God's people, and find a place of refuge away from Saul with Israel's worst of enemies. Can you remember this? When you're feeling like you're at a breaking point, I'm going to say the very thing that I said is difficult to hear. It's still a far better choice to trust the Lord than to take matters into your own hands. It's still a far better choice when you're at your breaking point. And I think that what's captured for us now shows David made a real mess of things by choosing a different course. Has the Lord not carried you this far? Had his hand of protection not been on him the whole time? If you're at a breaking point, has he not been the whole way upholding you? I'm not saying it's been easy. But has he not? Are you here? In the most distressing of moments, in the most depressing of moments, in the moments of tears, has the Lord not always still provided and sustained? Here, no prayer, no seeking. All we read is, so David arose, and he went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Ashish, to the son of Maok, king of Gath. And David lived with Ashish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. Guess what? It worked. It worked. He got his relief for a little bit. The question, of course, is how does this go? What is captured for us in the text? Is this a good period in David's life? Does this demonstrate the character that we know and what we've studied of David's development so far as he's been such a stellar figure that we've studied? How many writers have told us over and over, It was fun reading the commentaries on this one because they all make the same point. And I thought the very same thing. How many times when God's people left the land, was it a bad choice? Abraham. Well, there's a famine. I'm heading down to Egypt. And his wife is dumped off twice. God has to intervene. Who can forget Lot? Separates out and he looks at the land of Sodom and he says, wow, that is beautiful. I'm going to go pitch my tent there. And slowly that tent moves into the city. And you know the story. Of all these examples of these wrong choices to move away from the Lord and away from the land, and you'll notice here that this is exactly what's being captured here. So David has, in this interesting moment, he goes to Ashish with 2,000, probably around 2,000 people, and asks them for a dwelling place within their border. And the king doesn't want to live next to David, so he gives him on the outskirt of the border, he gives him Ziklag. There's only one reason Ashish did it. Ashish was told by David that David would go out and he would conduct raids. When Ashish asked, where have you made a raid today? David would say, against the Negev of Judah. Huh? Judah? or against the Negev of the Jeremialites or against the Negev of the Kenites. The only problem is that's a bold-faced lie. The text shows it to you. What Ashish thought is David is making himself a stench to his own people. Yeah, I want this guy in my camp. That's what he says there. He shall always be my servant this way. The problem is that's not what David was doing. Now David and his men went up and made raids against the who? The Gersherites, the Gesherites, the Gerzites, the Amalekites. For these were inhabitants of the land of old as far as sure, the land of Egypt, and he would leave no one alive so that a report would never make it back to Ashish. Now when God told people to take out the enemies, remember, it was for his purposes and judgment. David is taking out everyone to save himself. How's this for righteousness? You've done so well, and now you've spent a year and four months lying and killing. These were the enemies of the Lord he was taking out, and they were under the ban. This is Old Testament warfare. But in one sense, it's the one thing here to notice that when the Lord tells you to do it, It's quite another when you take matters into your own hands without faith. Saul should have been doing this as king. David's not enthroned. Deceit and ruthlessness, as one pastor said, were the staples that kept him alive. Deceit and ruthlessness were the staples that kept him alive as he fled from the Lord and as he went into sin. verse 11 tells us that his most motivation was to wipe them out so that he would never be be found out did david once write this in my distress i called to the lord and he answered me deliver me oh lord from lying lips from a deceitful tongue what shall be given to you and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? Did you write that? You've become. You've become that. Now my question is, is that a better way? It's a clear answer, isn't it? How many people who've not waited on the Lord take matters into their own hands and made things incredibly worse? We all have choices in life. If you look at the choices that people make, They often become leading lives that become a lie, that become a lie. There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is death. David is in a far worse place, and the end result here is in the first two verses of chapter 28, where Asius simply says, and this is a terrible scenario now, War begins, the Philistines and Israel, and David is enlisted to go out and kill the people of Israel. You are my servant now. What a mess. What a mess. What an awful predicament. Now, in a worse place scenario, he is fighting against the heritage of the Lord. I said tonight, I think this passage captures something beautiful for us to see at the same time. And that's where sometimes studying the failures of God's people is meant to strike into us. The real understanding that even the greats in Scripture needed saving. What is the one thing that's been said the whole time that David had been warned against? You will not become the Savior. You will not become the Savior. David will be given the throne but I can't help but to think that the very truth that we've been studying is what chapter 27 is meant to show us. David is not the Savior. David is not the Savior. Was David better than Saul? Was Esau, was Jacob better than Esau? Are we better than the worst of sinners? It's this sort of thing that challenges us that we are just as weak, just as needy. When we face the hardships of life, we can be just as compromised and our lives can become just as messy. But the promise of the Lord is still in front of us. That's what I love to say. The promise of the Lord is still in front of us. What is the promise of the Lord? I'll read it. I read it this morning from Psalm 40. David, when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of some of their troubles, all of their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. You have a choice. Are you going to believe that? Because that's his promise to you. You can make life hard on yourself if you want to test the waters. He'll still prove it to you. He'll still come get you. But listen to the wisdom that's being shown here. I think to myself tonight, when the Lord Jesus Christ came here, our Savior, what did you see this morning in John's gospel? He stepped in front of those who wanted to kill him, didn't he? How many times did it say the Jews wanted to kill him? Did he back down under that pressure? Listen to John 18. It's one of my favorite sections in John. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went in with lanterns and torches and weapons, then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, if you knew that you would be beaten and crushed and mocked and spit upon and hung on a cross to die, and then know you're going to face the wrath of God for it, what would you do? You'd run. He came forward, it says. He stepped forward. to them. David ran, whom do you seek? They answered, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to him, I am. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to him, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. I told you, I am. And if I have said that, let them go. It's a beautiful moment of him stepping into the place of suffering and death and estrangement and releasing his people. He went forward to set you free. He stepped over and crossed over to his own death so that you would live. That promise is yes and amen. Never once fleeing, the whole time praying, shepherding Israel as his flock. And then he rises triumphal over death and is seated on the throne of David. Seated on the throne of David forever. That's why the scriptures constantly say to us tonight, he is able to the uttermost to save those who draw near to God through him. No temptation has indeed overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation here's what he'll do he will provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it it's his help and strength that will rest on you what a god we have not only is he long-suffering not only is he patient with us who even when we try to take matters into our own hands promises he'll come and rescue us you're going to see that with david but who also will guide us in his light and help us no matter what we are put through. He will never leave us nor will he forsake us is the promise of the covenant of grace. So trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. It always and still always will be the right choice. Let's praise the Lord tonight. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word that gives life and for guiding us in its light and helping us to see. You have the right way in front of us. You know best. Keep us, O Lord, from trying to take matters into our own hands and using our own wisdom apart from calling out upon the name of the Lord. We know there's an end to every difficult moment. We know there's an end to the sufferings of this life for the light, momentary affliction, which is just for a moment. is working in us a far and exceeding weight of eternal glory, you say. So give us that perspective as we go out into our weeks. May you be praised in our lives. May we trust you in everything. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.