Barry Stagner: Under The Circumstances

[Music] what do you open your Bibles tonight to First Samuel chapter 27 will read all the 27 up through 28 verse 2 now last week we examine the final encounter and conversation between King Saul and soon-to-be King David and we learn some lessons from that encounter and David's actions and thoughts and activities concerning the chase that he was under constantly and how he was facing constant opposition facing constant persecution and the enemy was on his tail so to speak continually and we learned that if we remember that God is our strong deliverer then we could come away with these three conclusions even when we are being pursued and under enemy fire anybody ever been harassed by the adversary and relentlessly it seems what we were reminded of were these three things one our most important asset when under enemy fire is our spiritual integrity we need to maintain our witness maintain our testimony even when we are under fire for a seemingly long duration of time we also needed to remember that the primary purpose purpose of every attack is to cause us to doubt or deny that God is our strong deliverer that's what the enemy attacks us for he can't have our soul amen he can't have or snatch us from the Father's hand he cannot separate us from the father's love so all he can do is cause us to doubt or deny and cease to believe that God is able to deliver but we also noted that sometimes our strong deliverance is as simple as avoidance or distance and distance I should say now remember David would not stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and he told his nephew hey I have a shy you cannot do so without suffering consequences for having done so and at first Samuel 26 19 to 20 David said to Saul now therefore please let my lord the King hear the words of his servant if the Lord has stirred you up against me let him accept an offering but if it is a children of men may they be cursed before the Lord for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inherits of the Lord saying go serve other gods now we noted last week that based on this statement it appears that David understood somehow whether it was discernment or word of mouth then Abner the commander of the armies of Saul was indeed whispering into Saul's ear that he needed to get rid of David that David was trying to overtake the throne and David called him out so to speak and even told him last week if you remember that Abner you are worthy of death because you have not protected your master and I have proof right here in deny of the javelin and water pot that was once right next to King Saul's head and the fact was he was stirring up King Saul in order to drive David from his portion of the inheritance given by God to the Jews and even push him through that to serve other gods now this is always the core issue of the enemies plots against us to keep us from walking in our inheritance and doubt that God is for us now we also noted that when Saul admitted that he had erred exceedingly and played the fool and that he had sinned against David and even promised not to harm him any more David didn't go running to Saul to return the sphere in the water brought to him that he had taken as proof that he once again was close enough to Saul to have killed him yet spared him David said to Saul send one of your young men over to get these things and take them back to you so David was avoiding Saul and his proximity to Saul had to be at a safe distance and we're told then Saul went home and David stayed in the wilderness of Ziff now it's interesting that we could well tell where our text is going to go tonight the tone of our chapter so to speak in that we have introduced the idea in previous chapters in this pursuing of david so to speak that out of this time at david's life were birth several songs 52 through 57 came out of these experiences that david was having but our text tonight breaks the pattern there is no psalm that is birthed out of what we're about to read and you'll find out why as we go through it there is no psalm about our chapter because the cycle of flesh and spirit flesh and spirit desolation that david was constantly going through as expressed by his actions takes an ugly turn toward the flesh even though he just made a very godly and spiritual decision to preserve the life of saul now in psalm 32 2 to 4 King David wrote blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity somebody say amen to that and in whose spirit there is no deceit and David said when I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all day long for night and day your hand was heavy upon me my vitality was turned into the drought of summer David was in a dry season and because of this drought that he was experiencing the Psalms coming from the end of his pen and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit had dried up as well at least for the moment now what led David to such a place as evidenced as much by what is not in the text as what is found in the text and we have been reading of Saul's with litmus pursuit of David David's battle between his flesh and emotions versus those of walking in the spirit and according to God's Word and what we don't find at the end of our last chapter or at the any of this chapter is a prayer to the Lord or a petition for God to give him direction now we close with the first two verses of our chapter this week we'll look at them again where David said someday Saul is going to get his wish someday Saul is going to kill me so what the enemy's wished for me all along which was to drive me from my inheritance within the Land of Israel David in essence says I'm going to give in to that and move to the land of the Philistines now we're going to find David not only living in the land of the Philistines we're going to find him living in a state or condition that none of us should live in even when the enemy is pursuing and pushing us to doubt what God has proclaimed to us and where David was living we could well described as and here's our title under the circumstances David was living under the circumstances and that's not where we're supposed to live our lives and that's not to say that when life is hard we don't feel it that's not to say that things in life that we experience are going to hurt and it doesn't mean that we're not going to get frustrated by the relentlessness of trials and tribulations anybody ever having a car breakdown at the worst possible time or get a flat tire when it couldn't have happened at a more terrible time we've all been there we've all experienced those things and therefore we need a reminder I believe all of us do that we cannot live underneath the circumstances of life but we need to live with trust in them through them and even over them and Hebrews reminds us in 12:1 and 2 excuse me therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses pointing back to the Hall of faith in chapter 11 Hebrews says let us lay aside every weight the things are burden us and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before here's how you do that looking unto Jesus here's what you remember the author and finisher of our faith here's an application of his own life before the joy that was set before him did what he endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God now our personal application portion of our text tonight is going to be about how we can live in the circumstances of life yet not live under the circumstances of life but even over the circumstances of life and our example is going to be through the actions of David and what we are to remember and also what we should not do according to the things that he does in the text this evening now listen first of all David did not have a record of inconsistency with how God had treated him David couldn't look back and say the Lord let me down in this situation Saul's javelin actually pinned me to the wall and hurt my shoulder and my shoulder isn't the same anymore or anything else he couldn't say any of those things because all three attempts to pin David to the wall while he paid played soothing music for King Saul were unsuccessful every effort no matter how many men Saul brought with them to trap David to kill David were unsuccessful remember he had as we'll visit tonight even set a guard outside of David and Saul's daughter Michael's house in order to trap the even and kill him but all of these things were unfruitful and the weapons formed against David did not prosper nor will they prosper against us somebody say Amen so let's learn how to live in and over the circumstances instead of under the circumstances through a man after God's own heart who in this case let his emotions and fear get the best of him so Stan Arriva three please first samuel 27 we'll start with 1 through 7 and as I said read up through 28 to 1 through 7 first samuel 27 and david said in his heart now i shall perish someday by the hand of Saul there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more in any part of Israel so I shall escape out of his hand then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to a Koosh the son of Mayock the king of Gath so David dwelt with a kiss at Gath he and his men each man with his household and David with his two wives he no Amma the Jezreel lightest and Abigail the Karman lightest navels widow and it was told Saul that David had fled together so he sought him no more then David said to a Koosh if I have now found favor in your eyes let them give me a place in some town in the country that I may dwell there for why should your servant dwell in the Royal City with you so Ankush gave him Ziklag that day and therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day now the time the David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and for much you may be seated interesting that archaeologists have just recently uncovered the ruins of the city of Ziklag once again pointing to the accurate history that the Bible communicates now the first thing for us to notice the word heart David said he said in his heart and this would be a phrase that we would use to describe something we have experienced within the same context where we might say something broke my heart or I was heavy hearted it doesn't mean that you're literal heart was physically broken or that it was somehow become literally heavy it's a figure of speech and therefore the figure of speech means the feelings the will and the intellect and David is admitting to the fact that he had said based on his feelings based on his emotions based on human reasoning that it was better for him to live in the land of the Philistines because Saul was eventually going to succeed in ffs in his efforts to kill him if he didn't do something now did not the Lord promised David that he was going to be king was David King yet no was David going to be king absolutely because God is true to his word amen so David had nothing to fear there was no reason for concern and this is a denial of what the Lord had promised David even though he had acted with confidence in time passed over both his colleague and his equipping all the way back to the Goliath incident if you remember back in chapter 17 of First Samuel when David had observed after going to his brothers to bring their bread and cheese at this Philistine giant the champion of the Philistines stood in the valley of elah and challenged the Israeli army from morning until evening every day and no one would go down and fight him and everyone was afraid of him and in David after telling the people in asking the question what will be done for the man who kills this giant and David was answered by his own brother's harshly about his insolent and prideful hard and solid heard about this young man and when Saul had sent for him David said to Saul your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock I went out after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it rose against me I caught it by its beard and struck it and killed it your servant is killed both lion and bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them see he has defied the armies of the Living God moreover David said the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine don't you love David's God confidence in this scene does he have it now No he says you know what Saul's gonna kill me it's inevitable I'm Israel go live in the lands of the enemy and David's emotion causing the reason and it's hard and intellect that there's nothing better for him than to escape Philistine territory where Saul would not pursue him because it would be at Saul's own peril and then we're told that after three days of fasting and fervent prayer do you see that anywhere in one through seven I don't see it either but the truth is this David allowed his emotions to push him into being led by feelings instead of acting based on his historical facts he had been delivered from Saul multiple times when the Lord protected his life he had been given the advantage over Saul two times when he could have taken Saul's life and at those times he did not give in to the feelings or even the fatigue of being pursued constantly and living in the wilderness of Zef but rather he did what was right in the eyes of God and here he's being pushed around by his feelings thinking even what happened when naval and David had sent his 10 young men to petition naval at a time of feasting because David had protected his Fox and his herds and his Shearer's he told naval through these men how about some provisions for we who have watched out for your men and neighbor replied unkindly to them and David again was instantly driven into the flesh he said to his men saddle up we're going to take care of this guy and it was even revealed to have a gal later that he was not going to leave a single male of navels household alive by morning and yet David when he was instantly in the flesh because his emotions got the best of him he had an encounter with Abigail and for Samuel 25 32 and 33 where he said to her blessed is the Lord God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me and blessed is your advice and blessed are you because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand so instantly David is back in the realm that he ought to dwell in in the same place we all should walk in even when we are being pushed or prodded by our emotions and feelings and David therefore had a long history of divine deliverance behind him but he also had a long history of poor decisions as well that it even caused great harm and death to others if you remember he went to the city of Nob he lied to the priest I am black and said that he was on a commissioned mission from King Saul himself and it was urgent and that's why he was without sword or provision and he took the sword of Goliath and went on his way then Saul question ahem elect called him before him and not only did he slay a hemlock he went to the city of Nob where all the priests live and he slayed all the people in the city including women and children and this was all because David had lied and he again here decides to live under the circumstances and not over them in spite of the fact that he had been together for he had already tried to flee there before and in order to spare his own life he had to act like he was crazy but slobber run down his beard which in that day was in very poor form because the beard was a symbol of a man's wisdom and stature and for him to let spittle fall down the front of his beard for him to cloth the door like he was crazy was the only way that he could escape and yet he regions in his mind because of his feelings and his emotions and he says yep that's what I need to go back to it's better for me to go to where I was almost killed to live with the sworn enemies of Israel than to stay where I am and count on God to protect me this is in essence what David's decision and statement was but listen here's what you and I need to take away when we are being relentlessly pursued when the attacks seemed to be won upon the other when the times of trials are seemed to be in the order that when one ends another begins here's what we need to remember are you ready I'm sorry what was that here we go listen what was true in times of blessing is still true in the midst of our trials what was true in times of blessing is still true in the midst of our trials anybody ever feel like enough is enough enough already these things just have to stop I remember there was a poster in a sales manager's office that I happened onto one time it said I've only got one nerve left and you just got on it you ever feel like that and I'm sure we've all had that particular feeling at one time or another this is where David is this is where he is emotionally this is where he is mentally his feelings and emotions drive into a decision that it would be better to live in enemy territory though it was actually occupied territory that belonged to the tribe of Judah given to them in Joshua 1521 than to stay put and let the Lord continue to be his defense now here's the thing it worked but not without cost Saul heard David was a GAF so Saul decided not to pursue him anymore which implies obviously he had an in his heart to go after David again if David stayed in the wilderness of Zef this was what David wanted this was the whole motivation behind his decision of what he said in his heart David then asked a coach for a city under the guise of feigned obeisance to a Kish and the King gives him Ziklag where David do what dwelt were told for a year and four months now consider David's words in Psalm 31 - 6 David wrote Lord how they have increased who trouble me many are they who rise up against me many are they who say of me there is no help for him in God but you O Lord are a shield for me my glory and one who lifts up my head I cried to the Lord with my voice and he heard me from his holy hill I lay down and slept I awoke for the Lord sustained me listen to what he says here I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around now David said he wouldn't be afraid when ten thousand were set against him it's Saul and his three thousand men drove David to living under the circumstances in enemy territory now our point is one of those things as easy to believe but it's hard to achieve it's something that we will all say amen to but we will all have to fight to apply to our own lives listen just because it's hard not to get pushed under the circumstances doesn't mean we're destined to go there doesn't mean we're destined to live there and what was true on the day the Lord used Samuel to single out David from his older brothers anoint him as King continued to be true on this day when David was still on the run from Israel's current king King Saul and therefore in our times of trial and trouble we need to remember what's true in times of blessing is still true in the midst of our trials are you here tonight now let's take a look at verses 8 through 12 and David and his men went up and raided the gage rites the Gers ice and the Amalekites for those nations were the inhabitants of the land from a bald as you go to shore even as far as the land of the egypt now whenever david attacked the land he left neither man nor a woman alive but took away the sheep the oxen the donkeys and camels the apparel and returned and came to a Koosh then a Koosh would say where have you made a raid today and David would say against the southern area of Judah or against the southern area of the Jeremy gerrae me or against the southern area of the Kenites David would save either man or woman alive to bring news to gaff saying lest they should inform on us saying thus David did and thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines so anchors believe David saying he has made his people Israel utterly abhor him therefore he will be my servant for how long forever remember what we mentioned earlier about what David said to Saul in chapter 26 about listening to men specifically in verse 19 Saul said when he knew David's voice is that your voice my son David David said it is my voice my lord o king and he said why does my Lord thus pursue his servant for what have I done or what evil is in my hand now therefore please let the Lord the King hear the words of his servant if the Lord has stirred you up against me let him accept an offering but if it is the children of men maybe be cursed before the Lord for the observe and me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord saying go serve other gods now this is what David said to Saul and yet here the next chapter we find David in enemy territory dishonestly committing himself to a pagan King so to speak and he is killing entire villages of people including the descendants of Esau his grandson Amalek or the Amalekites and he kills to cover his sin which is a sin that he will repeat in the future to cover his sin with Bathsheba though not on the same scale now remember David's justification in his mind that was emotion and feelings driven he said there's nothing better for me to escape than to escape to the land of the Philistines I think David's assessment was wrong based on what we have read thus far and thus his feelings and emotions which he mentally justified are obviously what is driving his steps at this point in time and incus believe David was actually raiding and plundering southern cities of Israel and David said if I go to Gath Saul will quit pursuing me and he was right they even intentionally tried to dupe a Koosh and it worked a Koosh believed him David sent a cache up by calling himself a Koosh servant and this was an appeal to a man of great pride after all David was a man about which it was sought he has slain his ten thousands he was a man who slayed the legendary Philistine champion Goliath and now by his own profession he was a servant of a Koosh and this was a feather in a Koosh prideful cap to be sure now a Koosh has an interesting name it means I will terrify he viewed himself as a terrifying ruler one to be greatly feared and here the Giant Killer has now assigned himself the role of a servant to a Koosh now this leads us to our next point we packaged it as kind of a profundity upper fund that he is just a simple truth with a profound meaning and it is something we all need to remember especially when we're being relentlessly harassed pursued and oppressed and by David's example here's our takeaway listen tonight there is no right way to do the wrong thing there is no right way to do the wrong thing if it's wrong it's wrong David's feeling and emotion driven plans may have worked but they didn't work together for good look at all that he could examine as justification of his actions 1 if I go there Salih quit pursuing me and he did the king of Israel's primary enemy believed him so therefore now he is embedded behind enemy lines with 600 of his men who on an instant could turn on a Koosh in his army or the Philistine armies and yet Akos trusted him completely leave David's false statement that he was his servant and David and his men were now inside Israeli enemy headquarters now that's what David saw at the moment but what David didn't see was what was coming peaking forward a little bit into first Samuel twenty nine one two seven here's what's coming that David was unaware of even as he made his decisions rather than staying under God's protection in the Land of Israel where he would have protected him from Saul in 1 through 7 were told then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at a 'fuck and the Israelites camp by a fountain which is in Jezreel and the Lords of the Philistines past and review by hundreds and thousands but David and his men past him review at the rear with a Koosh then the princes of the Philistines said what are these Hebrews doing here and Enki said to the princes of the Philistines is this not David the servant of Saul king of Israel who has been with what's the next word me David they should say David is my guy he's my servant the Giant Killer is my servant the servant of King Saul are my servant and he mentioned this all these days or these years and to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me but the princes of the Philistines were angry with him so the princes of the Philistines said to him to a Kish make this fellow return that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him and do not let him go down with us to battle lest in the battle he become our adversary that was David's plan well with what he could what he could reconcile himself to his master if not the heads of these men is this not David of whom they sang to one another and dances saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands then he called David and said to him surely as the Lord lives you've been upright and you're going out and you're coming in with me in the army as good at my sight for it to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me even though David have been lying to him all along nevertheless the Lord's do not favor you therefore return now and go on peace that you may not displease the Lords of the Philistines David's covert op did not work the advantage that he hoped he would have on behalf of Israel didn't come to pass he would have definitely done what the Philistine princess said he would do but that is not where it ends David's choice to live under the circumstances be pushed by his feelings and emotions and reason within himself that it's better to be in the land of the Philistines also led to this First Samuel 31 through six it told what happened it happened after the scene we just read when David and his men came to Ziklag having been refused by the Philistine Lords sent home on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded South the south and Ziklag in a tactical act and burned it with fire and had taken captive the women and those who were there from small degree they did not kill anyone but carried them away and went their way so David and his men came to the city and there it was burned with fire and their wives their sons and their daughters have been taken captive then David and the people who were with them lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep and David's two wives he know I'm the Jezreel lightest and Abigail the widow of naval the Carmelite had been taken captive now David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of what stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his sons and daughters but David strengthened himself where in the Lord his God now think about the contrast this is the same six hundred men who were hiding in a cave with David in and gety these are the same counselors who said the Lord has delivered your enemy into your hand now kill Saul and David said I will not stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed and the same six hundred men obeyed King David and did not act against King Saul at David's word and now here he is on the verge of being stoned by this same group because David chose to live under the pressures of his emotions and feelings now he may have gotten the results that he desired for a moment but in the end all he sought to do was wrong and it showed itself to be such now personally we might be able to create through manipulation or movement a respite from enemy attacks or personal trials and tribulations and even as we noted and mentioned last week in this evening the common-sense aspect of God being our strong deliverer in the right thing that we try and do in those times whether it be avoidance or a change of location listen that change of location will never mean doing the wrong thing it will never mean contrary actions contrary to the Word of God if we think about what we have examined we could summarize David's actions like this the man after God's own heart had begun to act like the man from whom God's Spirit had departed in other words David who was acting more like Saul now than he was David he wasn't trusting in the Lord he was taking matters in his own hands a Peter would remind you and I a man who knew a little bit about failure in 1st Peter 5 6 through 11 where he said therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you when in due time not in your time not in my time but in God's time were in dude time casting all your care upon him for he cares for you be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour resist him steadfast in the faith knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your Brotherhood in the world but made a God of all Grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a little while perfect establish strengthen and settle you this is exactly the progression that David experienced he had suffered for a while he had failed in that suffering but then in the end he sought the Lord and and settled him to him be the glory and Dominion forever and ever somebody say Amen listen David took control of his own circumstances and he wound up underneath them and his plans Oh seemingly successful for a moment didn't achieve what David hoped for and almost got him killed by the six hundred men who had followed him faithfully there is no right way to do the wrong thing there's no justification for us getting outside of the word and the will of God even if it makes sense to our flesh and even if it works for the moment somebody say that was a weak amen but I'll take it now look at 28 1 & 2 it will wrap up our time now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war to fight with Israel and ink you've said to David you certainly know that you will go out with me to battle you and your men and David said to a Koosh surely you know what your servant can do and Enki said to David therefore I will make you one of my chief Guardians forever and David reiterates to a Koosh that he is his servant and then he cites his credentials based on his past lies that he told them about these supposed reeds into southern Israel and then a Koosh makes an empty promise to David as we already looked ahead to 29 and 30 about being one of its chief Guardians forever for the balance of Akos life now Ankush believed that David had made himself an enemy of a Koosh own enemies and this position of honor bestowed upon David for this reason didn't come to fruition as we read a few moments ago as a matter of fact things actually went from bad to worse in a digression that began with one simple statement from David a decision based on feelings and emotions and that is what is best for me is not to continue and faith based on past evidence what's best for me is what I am thinking and feeling right and that is to get out of Israel and camp inside of enemy territory now we mentioned this earlier but I'll remind you when Saul sent men to watch over David and Michaels house to catch David and kill him or at least bring him to us also Saul could kill him David wrote words in Psalm 59 about this very event where he said this in 9 and 10 I will wait for you oh you his strength for God is my defense my God of mercy shall come to meet me God shall let me see my desires on my enemies now David obviously wrote this after the events that were looking at here this evening but before he wrote it it was true and he wrote it because it was true and yet here he is all if I can use a vernacular of today he was all fleshed out he was being pushed around by his emotions and his feelings and even rationalizing his decision and it was even pushing him further because it was successful to a degree and for a moment he's deceiving in lying to a Koosh he's killing people to cover his lies it worked for a while and Nanette even got him a promise from the king but the princes of the Philistines saw through David and David's plans came to absolutely nothing and even the Hometown temporarily of Ziklag given to David and his men was raided and burned by the surviving Amalekites from other cities who had obviously heard what David did to their kinsmen now this brings us to our final consideration as to why it's best not to live under the circumstances and not to let feelings and emotions be our decision-making barometer and here's our last of three observations and applications tonight listen the benefits and blessings of God's will are found in God's will the benefits and blessings of God's will are found in God's will now David also made the observation where can I flee from your spear if I make my bed and or if I'm a total failure even there your hand will hold me and it's not that we ever get outside of God's domain of love and protection for us but sometimes we get ourselves in harm's way and find ourselves facing things that could have been completely avoided if we didn't get pushed around by our emotions and feeling anybody know what I'm talking about tonight are just a testimony now a few of you will admit it now Saul quit chasing David but David was God's chosen King anyway and there wasn't even the remotest possibility that Saul could ever be successful in his efforts to kill David God had said David was going to be king and David was going to be king David thought he got on the inside of the Philistine army but when it came time to go to battle and betray them he was sent home and when he gets solved with an empty promise from a Koosh he sees that his two wives have been carried away and the men who were once faithful to him sought to stone him and this is what caused David the depth of his hardship to turn and look once again to the Lord now just a reminder from David's son Solomon from proverbs 10:22 we're told the blessing of the Lord makes one rich and he adds what what are the next two words no Saul with it now David may not have liked being in the wilderness of Ziff have you ever been in a circumstance you didn't like for a prolonged period you ever been in a situation it seemed like it was never going to end and yet you had the promises of God and his past record of faithfulness he probably didn't like the relentless pursuit of Saul nor did he like the times where he had to flee for his own life when he was playing soothing music for Saul and he threw his javelin at him however even with the addition of 3,000 men and the wilderness of Ziff when Saul was pursuing David and seeking to take his life David was never in any real danger because he had a promise and an anointing from God and when he got under the circumstances that when things started to turn for the worse and then I think we could all bear witness to having done that at some point in our lives now when we take control of our lives or circumstances in a sense we have rejected the direction and therefore the control of the all-knowing ever-present and all-powerful God and this is what David said when he let his emotions and feelings cause them to say in his heart you know the best thing for me is to just to get out of Israel altogether and live in a place where I was almost killed one other time now when we make these same thought processes and feelings and emotions of the source of them we've chosen the inferior dry and thirsty land as opposed to the blessings of God that are absent of any attached sorrows there's no evidence that there is any relation between Psalm 37 and first samuel 27 and we do know it was written after the events here but looking back on his life so far David did write this in Psalm 37 1 2 5 do not fret because of evildoers will be envious of the workers of iniquity for they so shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb trust in the Lord and what do good dwell outside the land Boulware dwell in the land and feed on what his faithfulness remember god's faithfulness when being pursued by the adversary delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you what the desires of your heart commit your way to the Lord Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass as I said there's absolutely zero textual evidence that this is related to our chapter tonight but it is definitely related to the vacillating of David between his flesh and spirit that he went to time and I went through time and time again now if David were here tonight someday we're gonna get to talk to him that would be cool amen that's after the first million years where we stare at Jesus with our mouths hanging open then we'll start chatting with some of the other Saints that are there but if David were here tonight I think it would he would tell us don't live under the circumstances don't let feelings and emotions push you around because living under them is not a place of blessing it's a place that leads to compromise and empty promises of rewards and successes given by the enemy now one last thing I want you to consider tonight we do not read anywhere in Scripture that David this is not a word but it will be after tonight David unbel the man after God's own heart even with all that he did even with all of his failures even letting himself be pushed around by his feelings when he had just stood firm in his faith and on the word and directors of God and that tells us says David was never never undergone heart a man of his own choosing what that translates into for you and I tonight is this if you have been living under the circumstances recently you're free to come out from under them immediately and stay out from under them permanently and get back to the realm of sorrow less blessings because these are the things that make us rich how do we do that we just read it do not fret because of evildoers nor the Indias of the workers of iniquity for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and whether is the greener trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart commit your way to the Lord Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass somebody say Amen listen we've all had these things happen to us we've all had our emotions get the best of us we've all made decisions based on our feelings I said all some raising my hand for all y'all we've all been there done that and we've all experienced the consequences of a poor decision at one time or another but I am always encouraged by the proverbs that remind us though the righteous may fall seven times remember seven is the number of what completeness I think we could well translate that to say it mean to us though the righteous may fall completely completely mess up completely doubt God completely question is faithfulness though the righteous may do that they rise again so listen you don't have to I don't have to live under the circumstances we can walk with God in the circumstances and live our life over there circumstances and that can happen for us all immediately and permanently anytime we decide to embrace his plan because he will bring those things to pass when we commit our way to the Lord and trust in him somebody say Amen

Channel: The Truth About God

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Length: 47min 38sec (2858 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 23 2019