Well, tonight I invite you to turn your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 22, 1 Samuel chapter 22. You'll find that on page 312 tonight in those Bibles in front of you, 1 Samuel chapter 22. Let's give our attention tonight to the reading of God's wonderful, holy, and inspired Word. David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him and he became commander over them. And there were with him about 400 men. And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab and he sent to the king of Moab, please let my father and mother stay with you till I know what God will do for me. And he left them with the king of Moab. And there stayed with him all the time. You notice that it says, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, do not remain in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah. So David departed and went into the forest of Horeth. Now Saul heard that David was discovered and the men who were with him. was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, hear now, people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait as it as at this day then answered doag the edomite who stood by the servants of saul i saw the son of jesse coming to nob and ahimelech the son of ahithub and he inquired of the lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of goliath the philistine then the king sent to summon ahimelech the priest and the son of Ahitob, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. And Saul said, Here now, son of Ahitob. He answered, Here I am, my lord. And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him so that he has risen against me to lie in wait as at this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king, and who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law and captain over your bodyguard and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No. Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little. And the king said, you shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house. And the king said to the guard who stood about him, turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand is also with David. And they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, you turn and strike the priests. And Doag the Edomite turned and struck down the priests and killed on that date 85 persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword, both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. But one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahithub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me. Do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping. And there ends the reading of God's Word. Tonight we have a significant turn in the story here with both characters of David and Saul. One takes the ultimate stand in lawlessness against the Lord and against his anointed, wanting to completely wipe him out as he's been trying to do and wipe out the priests of the Lord. The other, David, finally begins to assume, if you will, and understand his role as a king. It's a big moment here and something that's beautiful that's shown to us in the midst of such wickedness and such evil. This is an important chapter because it's teaching us something crucial to understand that in the midst of great opposition and in the midst of great times of turmoil and when the kingdom of darkness and the Antichrist rises up against us, that the Lord always has a place of refuge and safekeeping for his people. You can't miss that at the very end, and we're going to come back to that here in a moment. But this should encourage us greatly because tonight we see unfold certain things that are teaching us about the way that God works and the way that God is doing things. You'll notice here that a surprising twist in this story happens as we really are starting to see the development of the kingdom of God in the midst of all of this. We're seeing the development of the kingdom of God in the midst of the rise of the Antichrist in all of his rage and in all of his fury against the Lord and against his anointed. And at the very end, we see the standing up and the rising of the king. That's the way I'm breaking this down tonight if you have your notes in front of you. You'll see that there. It's important as the kingdom is breaking in, the Antichrist and his kingdom are raging against it, and the centerpiece, of course, will ultimately be the king who rises up to defend his sheep. In the safekeeping of the king, we have nothing to fear. And that's the beauty of what's shown to us here tonight. This is a fascinating text that is before us. You'll notice here, beginning in this first section, the emphasis on the coming of the kingdom. The coming of the kingdom of God. Remember, Israel has been really in a state of apostasy, hasn't it? Under an antichrist figure. And I will say this in a minute, but I feel like saying it now. Don't ever feel bad for Saul. Did you see what he just did? Did you read about how bad this man became? And how wicked and how he destroyed the priests of the Lord. Tonight we're going to see this as Israel here is in this awful state under this horrific leader who is oppressing them. But you remember that last time the surprising thing that had happened was God's choice of a king was in a backslidden state. Remember, he is in flight and perplexed by this whole thing, discouraged by this whole thing. He was a king in training, wasn't he? But he wasn't there yet. And he utterly fell apart in chapter 21. You remember what happened in chapter 21? He came to Nob and he flat out lied to Ahimelech. And he ended up going back to the sword and trusting in his own wisdom. This is the man who had taken out Goliath, the Philistine giant, the warrior of the Philistines, with just a few stones. And now he wants Goliath's sword. And in lying and in running, he ends up in Goliath's hometown with the king there. And there he is acting like a madman with the spittle running down his beard that he had become his nemesis. He had looked like Saul in the end. We wondered, is this God's choice of a king? Could this be the choice? Is really deliverance coming through David? And that's an important emphasis here in this particular section. But I think we have to remember that David is a king in training at this point. God was training David in this period. The Psalms will reflect this. I'm going to come back to that too. God is training David in this period to trust him. God is helping David to understand the nature of the kingdom, what the kingdom looks like and how this will go. But the king must look to the king. And that's important. The king must look to the king. And through it all, God shows us in that last chapter that he still loved David, that even in his backslidden state, the Lord would not let him go. And the Lord was caring for him and providing for him and shepherding him and giving him even the bread of the presence, as we looked at last time. Well, David has now come to the cave of Adullam. This was a pivotal moment in David's life. This was a big moment in David's life. In fact, two psalms were written in this cave. This had been a real turning point for David. This had been a big moment for David. But what was so big about it? Well, I think the first few verses help us with that. We read in verse 1 that David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. Listen to what follows in verse 2. And everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him. You have this massive gathering of all of the oppressed around the king. It's a big moment. It's a big moment that the Lord wants us to think about. The picture here is God's anointed. God's king of Israel, is in the wilderness, is in flight. He's now stuck in a cave because of this mad king of Israel who wants his life and wants to destroy him and kill him, who's in crazy pursuit of his life. But think of what's just happened here for a moment. His family has come. And all the outcasts of Israel, all of those who were bitter in soul, all of those who were in great debt. What did the Lord say the king would do to Israel when he became king? Remember how many times we looked at that in 1 Samuel 8? He would take, he would take, he would take, he would take, and he would take. And he took everything from them. He put them all in major debt, taking everything from them. And he oppressed them with his wickedness. And He oppressed them with His evil. Israel had, in their choice of this king, had the worst sort of oppression they had ever seen. And this is the state of them. And here they are, under this choice, here they are beginning to flock out into the wilderness. To God's choice. To God's choice. In that day, said the Lord, you will cry out to me because of your king. Saul was oppressing them to death. Distressing them. Oppression. It was so bad that people couldn't take it. It was so bad that people couldn't take it. How much wickedness. There's something, of course, much larger going on. I'm always afraid when you preach passages like this, we sort of read it into our current political context and miss things. We're being taxed to death, aren't we? We're all divided up right now. And everyone could say we're facing real oppression. And we fall into the red and blue stuff. That is not what this ultimately is about, is it? The kingdom of God has been filled with darkness. The kingdom of God has been filled with darkness. An antichrist is at the helm. A wicked tyrant is standing, a ruthless tyrant, in the courts of the Lord. I mean, the Psalms complain about this all the time. How could they not think of Saul? No one's free with the king they chose. There is no freedom with this king. They are in the darkness. They're stuck in the darkness. They're in miserable darkness. Great darkness has, Isaiah 60, come over the people. But something beautiful is captured for us here, isn't it? The spiritual darkness that has invaded the kingdom of God. The great darkness that has covered his people. All of a sudden, the outcasts are leaving. And the outcasts are looking for a king. And the outcasts are looking to the Lord for answers. And they're coming to David. They're coming to David. It's a powerful scene if you think about it. This is not where we would ever pick the kingdom of God to be shown coming with power. In a sense, it began under David in the cave of Adullam. Think about that. The kingdom of God in its development, in its growth, and as God would ordain it under his king, is starting in a cave. And breaking free from the oppression of Saul is the emphasis here. In the midst of this corrupt king, seeking to murder his life In the midst of wild corruption, wild evil, in a murderous world, they are gathering to their king in a cave. Who are these people? Well, this is the nucleus of David's kingdom. This is David's kingdom right here. These are the great men of David's kingdom. These are the strong men of David's kingdom. But guess what? They're the nobodies. They're the oppressed. They're the poor. Notice that. I say that. They're the poor. They're all in debt. They can't pay anything. They're the afflicted. They're the weak. And that's where the kingdom began. Have I triggered anything yet? That's what you studied this morning. That's exactly what you studied this morning. Where was the king? And where was he going to gather his people? Out in the outskirts. Out in Blythe. He was gathering the nobodies. He was gathering Nathaniel. He was gathering people like this and building his kingdom with these oppressed people, with these people who were weak, with these people that nobody in Israel or Rome would ever have taken notice of. Not the nobles. It has always been this way. Great King David's kingdom began in the cave. And that's how this goes in this world, by the way. That's how this goes in this world. Understand this. The kingdom will not be gathered in Washington, D.C. in the way you think it will, and it will not be gathered by Donald Trump. The kingdom will not be found at Westminster Abbey in all of its greatness. The kingdom will not be found in the greatness of what we think. The kingdom will be found in this life, in the wilderness, on the fringes, in the unexpected places, in the church. And this is important, isn't it? That's not to say that the Lord doesn't rule everything. He rules everything. Of course He does. It's all His kingdom. But we see that visible kingdom in the gathering of the outcasts of Israel to the king, don't we? We see that visible kingdom in the outcasts gathering to their king. And that's what you're doing tonight. That's exactly what you're doing tonight. I don't think this is a cave, by the way, but we get a little nicer one. We will always be a wilderness wandering people in this life. But keep in mind, this struggle is how David's great reign began. And this struggle is how Jesus' great reign began on this earth. I'm going to come back to David here, but I want to show you what this triggers. Now we turn as the kingdom is forming around the king. Guess what happens? The Antichrist rises in his worst form. We see just how far the people's choice has fallen. He has not just fallen, He is in full antichrist mode. He is in full rage against the Lord and against his anointed with everything he's got. Keep in mind, this is the guy who at the beginning would not go in and kill the Amalekites. And now he's willing to kill the priests of the Lord. Look at that descent into evil. Look at this wickedness. Saul hears that David's been discovered. So he gathers all of his mighty men around him and all of the leaders of Israel around him and he gives the worst kind of speech, doesn't he? A panic speech. A pathetic speech. What a wimp of a leader. You've all conspired against me. Doesn't anyone consider me? No one tells me where... Notice he won't even mention David's name. No one tells me where this son of Jesse is. Even my own son has conspired and none of you tell me about any of that. And even though he's made this covenant with the son of Jesse, none of you are sorry for me. None of you discloses this to me. Where is he? Well, there's always someone willing in the kingdom of the Antichrist to make a hero of themselves. Doeg, who was at Nob, who saw all of this, speaks up. I saw him. I know exactly where he is. I'll tell you where he is. He was at Nob, and guess who helped him? The priest helped him. And not only that, they fed him and they gave him Goliath's sword. Well, Saul brings all of them right in front of him. I mean, this is an awful moment. This is a great church trial. Hear now, son of Ahitub, Why have you conspired against me and this son of Jesse and given him bread and Goliath's sword? You know what Saul's going to do here. Eighty-five priests of the Lord will be slaughtered here. You realize this is the ultimate end of the Antichrist, isn't it? The ultimate goal. I know we don't think like this, but it's always been in history. The Antichrist has always behaved this way. And this is what we studied when we went through the book of Revelation. You'll remember the goal of Satan in history and his beast, the goal of Satan and his Antichrist in history has always been to attack the Lord and his people. And he can't attack the Lord. The Lord's victorious. So his rage is given against the people of the Lord. This is what he wants to do in our day. I said this before, And we have to be understanding of this. All societies fill up their measure of iniquity, run in a cycle of iniquity that they're moving. And even now, I think what we're seeing in the West and what we're seeing on a large scale in the world is a dismantling of Christianity, a de-Christianizing of everything. There's a deconstruction happening. Well, you need to understand that whatever form that takes, whatever future this holds, there is an activity of Satan and his Antichrist that is working to do this. To destroy God and his people. That's the ultimate aim here. This is what Revelation teaches us. This is what everything in the Scriptures teach us about his activity. This is Revelation chapter 12. He was thrown down to the earth and he knows he has a short time, so what has he done? He has spewed his rage out after the woman. Our bitterness is not over high taxes in this world. Bad gas prices. Our grief is much greater. It's the sad escalation of wickedness in crushing the truth of God and His anointed that is being proclaimed to the ends of the earth. that's the goal notice carefully what Saul said kill them because their hand is with David substitute the ultimate goal of any antichrist activity is this kill them because their hand is with Jesus that's the ultimate goal that's why all of a sudden there's such hate jesus told us this in john 16 we'll get there don't be surprised that the world hates you they ultimately hate me and you're identified with me it's always been this way and this is exactly what we see in the kingdom here surprisingly as this unfolds in israel but there's an encouragement here tonight such wickedness is always frustrated isn't it it's always frustrated notice the opposition to Saul in his own kingdom Jesus told us a kingdom that's divided against itself can't stand his servants won't do the bidding will they they won't kill him they have enough fear of God but doag the edomite stands up and does it and i pondered that this week and i thought why did the lord allow that to happen why here's a here's a strange twist in the story that none of you probably thought about this is actually fulfilling the judgment against eli's house this is the judgment against eli's house and yet you'll notice here that through it all these men were believing servants of the lord notice how they testified notice how himalek testified what a good and righteous and honorable response why have you conspired against me the himalek says and who among all your servants is so faithful as David. What's he doing? He's speaking well of the king. He's testifying about the king. Who is the king's son-in-law and captain over your bodyguard and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I inquired of God for him? No, let not the king impute anything to his servant or to the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all of this much or little. The king says, you're dead. And I think the encouragement there is always, There's always been a martyred church. But our responsibility is not to be obnoxious, but simply speak the truth. Speak the truth. But here's the bright spot tonight. A big bright spot, because this is a dark section. It dawned on me, Tear, as I was reading this this week, that in this very chapter, we see something great happen in David. It's a powerful moment. in the midst of all of this. Think of this for a minute. He's terribly backslidden. The king is in full rage and all of a sudden the kingdom is coming. And notice here that all of a sudden surprising things and clues are being given as to what's happening with David. All of a sudden the prophet Gad is now speaking. Always a good sign. When the prophets come and deliver the word of the Lord to the king, This was a beautiful thing. Don't remain in the stronghold. Depart and go to the land of Judah. The word of the Lord again came to David and all of a sudden it's as if the man is revived. It's not the same figure from before. The word of the Lord has revived him. But I want to show you that. Two psalms were written in this cave. Two psalms. I'm just going to read them. They're short psalms. A total perspective change of this man. First is Psalm 142. A mascal of David when he was in the cave. A prayer. With my voice, I cry out to the Lord. With my voice, I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before Him. I tell my trouble to Him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way. In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see. There is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains to me. No one cares for my soul. I cry to you, O Lord. I say you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you deal bountifully with me. Lord, revive me, is the caught cry. The righteous have come. That's the first. Then Psalm 57, to the choir master, according to do not destroy a mictom of David when he fled from Saul in the cave. I cry to God most high, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me. He will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness. My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down amid fierce beasts, the children of man whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. They set a snare for my steps. My soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody. Awake my glory. Awake. He's singing in the midst of this now. He gets up. Here's my imagery. Here's what came as I was thinking of this this week and writing this. I pictured the king all of a sudden as he sees them coming, standing up. And here comes Abiathar who escaped and tells him everything. And here's what happens. David said, I knew on that day when Doag the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. But here's the greatest verse, I think, in the whole passage. Stay with me and do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. Listen to this. With me, you shall be in safekeeping. Wow. How can he say that? Because he's just become a king. He's just become God's king. He's just owning it. He's rising into it. He's stepping up and he's accepting it. I am God's chosen king. what a big moment with me there is safekeeping do you see why i would say at this point that david is a type of jesus this is a king in the making this is a king rising think of all the fears that you have today of all the worries that fill your life think of all the despairs think of the wickedness think of the sin think of the sorrow think of the sadness what do you do you gather to your king you come to your king you are the kingdom of God and when you come and you gather in worship around your king he is telling you something not only is he helping you but he's giving you the sweetest words and the sweetest help he can give your king is jesus and he says these words to you tonight don't fear little flock it's the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom with me says jesus there's always safe keeping i think what we need to be a lot more about is asking our king to rise up i'm not saying he's like david what i'm saying is one of the prayers of the saints recorded in the psalter always was this rise up oh lord and come to our help redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love psalm 44 psalm 92 rise up oh judge of the earth we pray to the proud what they deserve this is why he came and when that prayer went up in revelation chapter 8 and the prayers of the saints went up before the throne it went silent in heaven and the message was our savior's coming down. He's going to come get us. He's going to rescue us. But he wants you in this day to understand that in all of the distresses and in all of the hardships, you have a place to come and worship him and adore him. And he promises you until he comes again to receive you to himself safekeeping that's his promise to you you can't be lost you can't be taken by the enemy ultimately you can't be destroyed fear not him who can kill the body fear him who can kill the body and soul and hell you're his children i just take this with you this week what a beautiful word to go out into your new week into your new week here beginning today stay with me do not be afraid with me says jesus to you there is safe keeping amen heavenly father thank you for such a glorious word to us tonight in the midst of evil in the midst of the rage of the world in the rage of the antichrist in the kingdom of darkness Thank You that You have given us a place of refuge in Jesus. And thank You that He is not a passive King, but a King who defends His kingdom and His sheep, and who protects us and gives us joy and freedom in what He won for us. Thank You that in this kingdom there isn't the oppression that comes in this world. Thank You that in this kingdom there is fullness of joy. Thank You that around Your throne are pleasures forevermore. Keep us in these truths and let us be greatly encouraged by them and not lose heart, for it is indeed the Father's good pleasure to give us this kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.