If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to 1st Samuel chapter 22 and chapter 24. First Samuel chapter 22 and 24, it's also there in your worship guide. And as you open your Bibles or, open your app of your Bible, let me ask you a question. We've now been going through the life of David for about 10 weeks or so. Who at this point is the king of Israel?
Joel Brooks:Is he? It's not quite that simple. It's kind of a difficult question to answer when you really think about it, because who is the anointed king of Israel at this point? David. Who is the appointed king?
Joel Brooks:Well, Saul. So is David king or is Saul? Is it the one who's on the throne or is the one who's living in the cave? We're at this in between period in, David's life where he's been anointed, but he's not officially been appointed. The there's a theological phrase for this.
Joel Brooks:It's called living in the now and not yet period. The now and not yet. There are certain promises that God has made to David that are being realized now, but yet they haven't come in full. So he's living in this now and not yet. And this is why I find this period in David's life to be so helpful to us as believers because this is the period that we live in.
Joel Brooks:Through Jesus, the kingdom has broken into our lives. The kingdom of God has, yet we are still waiting for the kingdom to come in full. We are saved now, yet we are still waiting to be saved. We've been given new life now, yet we are still waiting for the new life that comes with our resurrected bodies. We have been given a new heart now, yet we still struggle with sin.
Joel Brooks:We have been given the spirit of God, yet we still long for his presence to be known in full. So we're citizens of heaven now, and yet we're still waiting for that kingdom to come physically here on earth. We're we're in this in between period. There are some things that are broken into our lives now, and there are some things that we are still waiting on. And so the question is this, what are we supposed to do during this time?
Joel Brooks:When the kingdom of God is broken through, but it's not here yet fully realized, How are we as Christians supposed to live? And I think that's where David gives us a great example. What David, during this period, between his being anointed as king and being appointed as king, gives us an example to look to as to how we are to live during this now and not yet period of our lives. And that's what I think this passage is about. So I'm just gonna read the first two verses of first Samuel 22, and then, we'll jump to chapter 24.
Joel Brooks: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, gather to him. And he became commander over them, and they were with him about 400 men. Chapter 24.
Joel Brooks:We'll read the first, 15 verses. When Saul returned from the Philistines, he was told, behold David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wild Goat's Rocks. And he came to the the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner most parts of the cave.
Joel Brooks:And the men of David said to him. Here is the day of which the Lord said to you. Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward, David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.
Joel Brooks:He said to his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord. The Lord's anointed. To put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed. So David persuaded his men with these words, and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
Joel Brooks:Afterward, David also arose and went out of the cave and he called after Saul, my lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'Behold, David seeks you harm? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you.
Joel Brooks:I said, I will not put out my hand against my Lord for he is the Lord's anointed. See my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand? For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you through though you hunt me my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you.
Joel Brooks:May the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancient say, out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the King of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
Joel Brooks:May the Lord therefore judge be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Now pray with me. Father, we thank you for your word.
Joel Brooks:Thank you for preserving it for us. Thank you that we might learn from it, not just to learn about you, but, Lord, that we might hear from you. We believe that your words are life, and they profoundly shape who we are. So Jesus, would you, through your spirit, through your words, speak. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Joel Brooks:But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. We actually opened with a psalm, Psalm 57, which David wrote about this experience. David wrote, several Psalms about his times in, in the caves and in particular the time in this cave.
Joel Brooks:So he wrote Psalm 57. Another Psalm that he wrote is Psalm 142. And I particularly like that Psalm, because he speaks out of a heart of loneliness there, but it ends with, with a note of confidence that God will indeed give him friends. It ends with a hope, quote, the righteous will surround me. After having left Jonathan, David was lonely.
Joel Brooks:He lost his best friend. And so in that Psalm, he cries out to God. God, would you give me a new community? Would you give me a community of righteous people that I can be a part of? And God hears him and God answers his prayers.
Joel Brooks:But not at all in the way that David hoped for or was in any way expecting. In first Samuel 22, we read about this community that begins to form around David. We read first that his brothers, who he didn't get along with, remember, and his father, who didn't think he was worthy of being king, they come to be with David, which is exactly what you want. Is your family coming to live with you in your tiny little one bedroom cave, your family you don't get along with. Some of you will be experiencing that this Thanksgiving.
Joel Brooks:And it's likely they didn't come by choice, not that they had a change of heart and they really loved David now. That might have happened, but likely they were being hunted too by Saul. Saul was trying to end all of David's house. And so they flee to David. In addition to them, 400 other people come.
Joel Brooks:400 people who are described as being in distress, in debt, and bitter in soul. I mean, just the kind of people you want. Isn't it? David prays for a community of the righteous, and God gives him 400 people who are distressed in debt and bitter in soul. Do you think that's what he hoped for?
Joel Brooks:I mean is that what you hope for when you pray for friends? God, would you give me some friends and and really if you could just make them extra needy, that would, I'd really appreciate that. Maybe unemployed too, so I could pay for everything when we go out. And on top of all of that, Lord, I mean, please, could they be bitter? I need to be surrounded by bitter people to get me through this trying period in my life.
Joel Brooks:I mean, no one prays for that. Not when we're praying for friends. Not when we're praying for a community of faith or a community of righteous people around us. But that is what the Lord gives David. And it might be what the Lord has given you.
Joel Brooks:It might be that you are surrounded by some pretty needy, bitter people in your life. And that's whom the Lord has told you to build this righteous community with. And if you're thinking, well, I I, you know, I don't think I really have that many needy or bitter people, in my community. That's because you're the needy and bitter person. Every community has it.
Joel Brooks:But we see that's how God decides to answer David's prayer, is by giving them those people. I'm reminded of Paul's words in 1st Corinthians 1 when he's talking to Christians. And I crack up when I when I hear this because these are real people listening to Paul say this to them. He says, for consider who you are, brothers and sisters. Not many of you are wise, not according to worldly standards.
Joel Brooks:Not many were powerful. Not many of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.
Joel Brooks:The church is full of foolish, weak, nobodies. These are these are the type of people that are drawn to Jesus. Chapter 22 here could, could be right at home with Mark chapter 1 in which we read that all those who were sick and all those who were who were oppressed were flocking to Jesus. And of course when Jesus first called his disciples, he didn't call the the educational or cultural elite to him. He didn't call those who had their whole lives together.
Joel Brooks:You know, he didn't pick, Peter and say, you know, you, you had a great Harvard education. You're in. Matthew, I love your government connections. You come in. These people were nobodies.
Joel Brooks:Some became traitors, skeptics. Some were embittered. But this is the community that Jesus formed around them, and he called them friends. And he turns that group of ragtag disciples into the church. Those who were not happy under Saul's oppressive regime flocked to David, just as a 1000 years later people would flock to Christ.
Joel Brooks:First, we see here it was David's family, then the number grows to 400, and then the number grows up to 600. And they're not just Israelites. You you will read later that some of these people were non Jews. And so really the the Psalm we read in Psalm 57, let your glory cover over all of the earth. David is seeing that picture.
Joel Brooks:He is seeing people outside of Israel come to be a part of this new community. And David takes this ragtag group of embittered souls. And he creates a gospel community. This is how David chooses to live his life during this period of the now and the not yet. He doesn't complain about the group that he has all around us or around him.
Joel Brooks:He looks around. He says, Lord, this is the people you brought here. Would you transform us into a gospel community? With this group of misfits, David decides to begin his reign. And he reigns in righteousness.
Joel Brooks:And he teaches them how to live under the the kingdom rules, God's kingdom rules that are to come. How they have to trust God. They need to love and to serve one another. They need to love their enemies. They need to seek out reconciliation.
Joel Brooks:They need to forgive. They need to stand up for the oppressed. Here, we are given this beautiful picture of the church. 3000 years ago, we're given this beautiful picture of the church. In this text, David and his 600 men, they're on the run.
Joel Brooks:There's not many places to hide and so they run off to the wilderness of the En Gedi, where there are 100 of large caves there. David and his men, they pick out a cave in front of Wild Goat's Rocks. Probably because that a cool name. There actually is a rock band called Wild Goats. Looked it up.
Joel Brooks:That's what you do when you study. You just get on these random little tangents. As coincidence would have it though, he he picks the the one cave. Out of the hundreds of caves out there, he picks the one cave that Saul decides to go in to use the restroom. I mean, what are the odds?
Joel Brooks:And Saul enters into this cave thinking he has a very private bathroom, but there's actually, it's kinda creepy, there are over a 1,000 eyeballs looking at him in the dark. And he thinks he's completely alone. I mean, you could not be in a more vulnerable position that he is in. He's literally caught with his pants down, in the cave. David's men, they can they can hardly believe their luck.
Joel Brooks:Oh my gosh, that's Saul. He's in here and said they can whisper one another quietly. They they they whisper to David in his ear. This is the day. This is what the Lord has promised to you all along.
Joel Brooks:The day when He said He was gonna deliver your enemy into your hands and that you get to go and kill him. This is what God has told us that what's gonna happen. But did God say that? I mean, did did God actually promise that to David? I mean, it sounds very godlike, doesn't it?
Joel Brooks:It kinda like, you know, the the bumper stickers you read. You're like, this this is that in the Bible? Maybe. Kind of. God helps those who help themselves.
Joel Brooks:You know, God will never give you more than you can handle. You know, different things like that sound godlike, but did God actually say it? Years ago, many years ago, my wife sent me on a Home Depot run. I would never do something like this now. In which she, she sent me to go pick up some mushroom compost, and I came back with a new power saw.
Joel Brooks:And so, I I come back and Lauren, she's looking she's like, where's my mushroom compost? And, why in the world do you need a new saw? And, don't she she was just like, don't you already have another saw? And so I felt the need to mansplain things to her. And I said, yes, darling, I do have a saw.
Joel Brooks:But there are many different types of power saws. There are circular saws. There are jig saws. This one right here is what's known as a reciprocating saw, and it is completely different than all the other saws that I have. And then I tell her, like, why I had to get it.
Joel Brooks:I how I was on my way to the gardening section, when lo and behold, like an angel from heaven, some Home Depot employee comes and literally sets this thing down in front of me because it just been refurbished, and that was 40% off, and it even came with a bunch of new blades. And I really had no choice. That's what I told her. It's like, I mean, it would have almost been disobedient or wrong for me not to do this because God obviously wanted me to have this. And Lorna's just looking at me.
Joel Brooks:Just looking. And finally she goes, Just say you wanted it. I mean, just say you wanted it. Let's be honest, when it comes to our morals, what we think is right and what we think is wrong, we usually start with our gut and not with God. That doesn't mean we don't eventually get to God.
Joel Brooks:I'm just saying that our initial instinct as to what's right, what's wrong, what do we need to do, that intuition, that's that's normally what we lean into. We we lean into our gut and not into God. That's what first shapes what we believe to be right or wrong. And then after shaped by our gut, we then go on to try to justify that decision. When I went to Home Depot and I saw that power tool, the truth is I wanted it.
Joel Brooks:I just saw it and I in a gut level, like I wanted it. And so I determined that buying it was the right thing for me to do, and I I said all these reasons to justify it. Now, that's fine to do with a power tool. It's fine to do, you know, if you see a new pair of shoes that caught your eye, you know, it's fine for you to go and buy those things. It's good to have you.
Joel Brooks:Gut level reaction, fine if you want to do that. But you cannot trust your gut when it comes to your morality. To choosing what is right or what is wrong. Because your gut will lead you astray. That's what Proverbs 14 warns us about.
Joel Brooks:Proverbs 14:12 says, there is a way that seems right to man. That means your gut is gonna tell you this is what you need to do. There is a way that seems right to man, but the end is the way to death. Your gut will mislead you. David's gut, his men's gut was telling him, kill Saul.
Joel Brooks:I mean, after all, here's the justification. God obviously brought Saul here. God obviously put him in this vulnerable position. I mean, what are the odds of all of this? David, it's for you to kill him.
Joel Brooks:The problem is God never told David to do this. Never promised this to him. So what does David do? Well at first, we think he's gonna go through with it and kill him. You know, he, he sneaks up to Saul but apparently has this change of change of heart or change of mind, and instead of thrusting his sword in Saul, he just gets and he cuts off a little bit of the robe.
Joel Brooks:I mean can you imagine the skill that it took to do that? To not make a sound in the dark and to sneak up on somebody? I mean, he's like a ninja. Like, he could get in there and just do that with no one noticing. And then the moment he cuts that off, like, he's pierced in the heart.
Joel Brooks:He believes he did the wrong thing. He comes back and he tells the guys, he's like, guys, I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I I couldn't kill Him. I mean, I could have because, I mean, I moved out.
Joel Brooks:I snuck up there. It was amazing. I could have killed Him, but it would have been wrong for me to do so. And he says, you know, he even feels terrible for having cut off that little bit of his robe. Verse 5 says that, his heart struck him.
Joel Brooks:And the author there is making a contrast. Like he didn't strike Saul, but he did strike a little bit of that garment. And then after he did that, he was struck. His own heart pierced him with conviction. And then David passionately tells the men there that they are not to kill Saul at all.
Joel Brooks:We read in verse 7. It says that David persuaded his men. Literally in Hebrew, it says David tore his men apart. It's a strong term there. He he tore into these men.
Joel Brooks:These men really wanted to kill Saul. And so Saul or David just tears into them telling them how wrong it was to do so. Now keep in mind, they have to do this in complete silence. I have no idea how they did this. They're just using gestures like, no, like no, like I have no clue how they're like having this entire debate back and forth, probably pinning one another down.
Joel Brooks:They do it in total silence, but eventually David wins. It's like, we're not doing it. We're not stretching out our hand against the Lord's anointed. And then they get to see Saul finish his business, get up, and leave. And I wonder what these men thought as their enemy, Saul, left.
Joel Brooks:Did they look at David and think, wow. This is a man who knows how to wait on the Lord? Or did they think, this is a man who knows how to waste an opportunity? What do they think? Waiting on the Lord is hard.
Joel Brooks:Do you know how many times in the Psalms we read about waiting on the Lord? I don't, because I gave up counting. I tried to go through this week, and it's so many times. Chapter 25, for you I wait all the day. Those who wait on you will not be ashamed.
Joel Brooks:Chapter 33, our soul waits for the Lord. Chapter 37, wait for the Lord. Those who wait on the Lord will inherit the land. Chapter 39, know Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is you.
Joel Brooks:Chapter 40, I patiently waited for the Lord. 62, my soul waits in silence for God only. Over and over and over again, you see David crying out. I am waiting on you. I wait for the Lord.
Joel Brooks:Rarely do you find him waiting for anything else. You wait for the things that you have placed your trust and your hope in. What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for the test result to come in? Are you waiting for inflation to go down?
Joel Brooks:Are you waiting for better interest rates? Are you waiting for a spouse? Are you waiting for the next election? Where where is it exactly that you put your hope? Over and over again, David says, I wait, not necessarily for a change of circumstances.
Joel Brooks:I'm waiting for you, lord, for you and your timing. Now waiting does not mean that David's not doing anything at this point. Not at all. Actually waiting on the lord and trusting in him, that empowers David to do the most risky and beautiful thing I think David ever does. It's more risky than even when he took on Goliath.
Joel Brooks:After Saul leaves, the smart play for David would have been to just keep quiet. I mean, he hasn't been discovered yet. His men haven't been discovered yet. He could just stay quiet in the in the cave. That's the smart play to do.
Joel Brooks:Some would say it's the only play that he has. But instead he takes this beautiful gospel risk. He walks out of that cave and he calls to Saul, who is now with his 3,000 elite soldiers. That is insane to do that. I'm sure as David's with his men and he's getting up, his men are trying to like physically hold him down, and then he walks out there and they're like, what a freaking idiot.
Joel Brooks:I mean they're embittered soldiers, so it was probably a lot more colorful what they were saying. But they cannot believe David's walking out there. It's like, he's gonna get us all killed. But David walks out there, calls out to Saul, putting all of his men at risk just for the hope, for the possibility of reconciliation. What is David's reasoning here?
Joel Brooks:What's this driving impulse in David for him to do such a thing? Hear this. This is important. Yes. God had promised that David would be king, but it's not David's pursuit of being king that drives him here.
Joel Brooks:It's David's pursuit to be a part of the kingdom of God. A kingdom that embraces love and not power. A kingdom that honors weakness over strength. A kingdom that does not hold on to grudges. A kingdom of mercy and not of vengeance.
Joel Brooks:David knows that he is called to be a part of that kingdom now, not just after he ascends to the throne. And because he is called to be a part of that kingdom, which he knows will come, he can act out in boldness. That's what living in this now and not yet period looks like. It means that because we know God's kingdom is coming, we can live as if the is if it has come now. We could begin living according to its rules.
Joel Brooks:We're empowered to love. We're empowered to serve. We're empowered to forgive. Empowered to take huge risk for God knowing the certainty of what he has promised. We are even empowered and free to give our own lives because we are certain of the resurrection.
Joel Brooks:David is powerless. He's trapped in a cave with a community of misfits. He's outnumbered 5 to 1, and yet he's already acting like a king living in the kingdom. There is absolutely no fear in his eyes as he walks out and he calls out to Saul. It's just a heart that's moved out of love for God and love for his enemy.
Joel Brooks:Boy, does the world need to see that in the church? What do you think what do you think the world sees when they look us in the eye, when they look Christians in the eye? I think too often they see fear. They see a people who fear losing an election, fear losing out on some legislation, fear of losing power, fear of being insulted or persecuted, fear of no longer getting their way. I think they see fear often when they look in our eyes.
Joel Brooks:But the when the world looks in our eyes, they should see no fear in those things because our hope does not depend on those things. God has promised us the kingdom will come, and we live into that reality. What they should see in our eyes is this bold mercy that will we are willing to risk anything for love of God and love of our enemy. That's what the world needs. You want a picture of how we're supposed to live in the now and not yet?
Joel Brooks:Picture David walking out of that cave, calling out to his enemies seeking reconciliation. David came out, and he he called to Saul. He said, Saul, why are you listening to your men and trying to kill me? I didn't listen to my men when they said I was supposed to kill you. He goes, I cut off the corner of your robe, but I refuse to kill you.
Joel Brooks:I I refuse to raise my hand against the Lord's anointed. And then notice in verse 11, David appeals to Saul as his father. He doesn't just call him my lord, he says my father. Shows that he's he's seeking a restoration in their relationship. He's seeking reconciliation here.
Joel Brooks:And what we actually see, at least for this brief moment, Saul is softened. David through his words and through his bold mercy here, Saul is at least temporarily moved. He begins to weep. He even comes to acknowledge that David will soon be king. It's important for us to note that Saul's, you know, softening of his heart, his confession here did not come because David forced his hand.
Joel Brooks:It did not come through any display of power. It came by David risking his own life in a display of mercy. The fearless mercy of David is what changes his heart here. Forcing your will on somebody, trying to win an argument will never change a heart, but demonstrating mercy can. And now this repentance, let's, you know, let's not fool ourselves.
Joel Brooks:It's short lived with Saul. He's gonna come back to kill him just a little bit while from now. He's gonna he's gonna want to try to kill him. But at least here for the moment, we see a softening of his heart. Alright.
Joel Brooks:So there's a lot we could glean from this story, and we've just skimmed the surface of it. But ultimately, where does this story lead us? What is our takeaway? And as always, this story points us to Christ. David here at his absolute best, and that's what we've been looking at, his absolute best here.
Joel Brooks:He merely points us to the greater David, the one who'd be called the son of David. He points us to Jesus. Jesus, he did not just risk his life for the possibility of reconciliation. Jesus gave his life for the certainty of reconciliation. Jesus did not like David just leave the safety of a cave.
Joel Brooks:Jesus came from heaven itself down to us in order to lay down his life to call us to himself. Just as this band of misfits gathered all around David, we too gather all around Christ. We too are embittered of soul. We too come to him with debts. We come to him with a debt we can never repay.
Joel Brooks:But Jesus looks at our sin and the debt we owe for our sin and he says, I've got it covered. And he literally gives his life so that we can be reconciled to him. You have this beautiful picture here with David that points forward as all these people are flocking to him. I cannot help but picture Jesus' words. Come to me, all who are weary and who are heavy laden.
Joel Brooks:Come to me and I will give you rest. What a beautiful picture we have here and what a beautiful savior we have. So the question is this, have you come to Jesus? Those who are distressed, those who are in debt, those of you who are embittered in your soul, have you come to him to find new life? Let's pray to him.
Joel Brooks:Lord Jesus says, David prayed, you are our refuge. A cave is not our refuge. A country is not our refuge. Our position is not our refuge. Jesus, You are our refuge.
Joel Brooks:And may we come to You and find rest for our weary souls. And father, I thank you for the community that you have placed us in. And sometimes we look around in our community and what we see are those who are distressed and debt and bitter, and yet you are transforming us through your power into a people that look like Christ. So thank you for the gospel community that you are forming and we pray that you would not stop, but you would continue to grow and to grow and to grow us. Jesus, we love you and we praise you, and we pray this in your name.
Joel Brooks:Amen.