1 Samuel 23:14-15 Wilderness Moment

 ”And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The Wilderness of Ziph: Ziph was a town below the southern tip of the Dead Sea, with a dramatically varied landscape. It was not a comfortable or easy place to be. God guided and protected David, but it wasn’t comfortable or easy. This was an essential time for God’s work in David’s life. He became a man after God’s heart in the shepherd’s field, but he became a king in the wilderness.

b. Saul sought him every day: Saul was a determined enemy, unrelenting in his pursuit of David. Saul was so obsessed with killing David that he didn’t give attention to the work God called him to do.

c. But God did not deliver him into his hand: Saul can be as determined as he pleases but he does not dictate these events – God does. Man can intend, attempt, and work all kinds of evil but God is still in charge. (Guzik)

Wilderness 

Every one of us has our time in the wilderness. It’s in that time that Gods builds us up for his purposes. It’s a time of schooling, a time of hard knocks!

David “became a man after God’s heart in the shepherd’s field, but he became a king in the wilderness.”

After we had adopted our son I was particularly having a hard time juggling work driving to and fro, about an hour and a half each way and dealing with our son’s daily crises. At one particular time I met with our pastor and told him I needed prayer for patience! After that prayer God took me into the wilderness and taught me how to be a father the hard way. It brought me to the edge of the precipice to the point of almost cracking. It was as if God was saying, you want patience? Have a BIG serving of chaos and eat it too! 😳

At that particular moment I did something I shouldn’t have done with my son because of his PTSD, I lost my temper and I got into his face and yelled at him. He went into fight mode and pushed me and I fell backwards and broke my wrist.

It was at that moment God said to me:

”And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.“

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I had my wilderness moment, was humbled and learned patience through the school of hard knocks! Through the surgery, pin removal, therapy and recovery I was reminded everyday by God that, “I prayed for patience” and He taught me the hard way how to be a loving father with “patience” in the same way God the Father had patience with me and my sinful ways.

Have you had your David moments in life when you “became a man after God’s heart in the shepherd’s field, but he became a king in the wilderness.”?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 23:9-13 Pray

 ”When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.” So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭9‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Bring the ephod here: David was in a bad place, and he was in a bad place because the Lord led him there. Some people might be angry with the Lord but David did the right thing – he inquired of the Lord again.

i. “Here is a second inquiry. God loveth to be often sought unto by his praying people (Luke 18:1), and therefore answereth them by degrees, that he may frequently hear from them.” (Trapp)

b. He will come down…. They will deliver you: This is another example of David seeking God through the priest using the Urim and Thummim. Notice how the questions are presented in a “Yes or No” format because that is how the Urim and Thummim were used.

i. This was a true word of the Lord. Obviously, the word of the Lord to David was true depending on David’s actions. If David stayed in Keilah the word would have surely come to pass.

c. So David and his men…arose and departed from Keilah: David could have stood and fought and there was something in him that probably wanted to. But David knew that it was not of the Lord and that a lot of innocent people would get hurt in the battle. So, David, who was a great warrior, humbled himself and escaped. David was not the kind of man to sneak away from a battle, but he didn’t let his pride get the best of him in this matter.

d. Saul…halted the expedition: David’s humble heart saved the city of Keilah. In this, he shows the same heart as the greater Son of David, Jesus, who through His humble action spared us from not only Satan, but also from the righteous judgment of God. (Guzik)

Pray

”Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Our prayer life could always be improved! For it is written:

”pray without ceasing,“

‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do you know someone hurting? Pray for them.

Are you struggling? Pray for yourself.

Are you angry with someone? Pray for your bitterness to be removed.

Is your world in turmoil? Pray for peace!

What if you don’t know how to pray?

”Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”“ Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Blessings 

1 Samuel 23:6-8 War

 ”Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand. And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand”: Saul thought that God had blessed him and given him victory over David. It was true that God lead David to Keilah and it was true that this exposed David to Saul’s attack. But it was not true that the Lord had delivered him into my hand, as Saul said.

b. Then Saul called all the people together for war: This was not a war against the Philistines, against the Edomites, against the Amalekites, or against the Moabites. This was against David. Saul made the common mistake of assuming that someone is an enemy of the Lord just because they are our enemy.

i. Saul wouldn’t go to Keilah to save the people from the Philistines, but he would go there to try and save himself from David. Saul was completely motivated by self-interest. (Guzik)

War

Our world seems to be on the path to another world war. I’ve read that the type of missiles that Ukraine is shooting into Russia are so sophisticated that either the United States or NATO actually has to be deploying and shooting them into Russia. Russia has stated that they may retaliate with nuclear weapons.

”And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.“

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Will you join me in prayer? 

Dear Heavenly Father we lift this war and escalation up to You and pray for peace. Please bring an end to the death, destruction and allow cooler heads to prevail. 

Use these events to draw people to You and we pray that Your will be done.

In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Blessings 

1 Samuel 23:5 Obedience

And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 1 Samuel 23:5

a. So David and his men went to Keilah and fought: David did what God told him to do. It isn’t enough to ask or know God’s will. We must have a commitment to obey God’s will, even when it is difficult.

b. Struck them with a mighty blow…. David saved the inhabitants of Keilah: God blessed the obedience of David. God perfectly kept His promise to David (1 Samuel 23:4-5). (Guzik)

Obedience 

Jesus went to the cross through obedience for it is written: 

”saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭42‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Our obedience 

”And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,“ ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When we accept the free gift of salvation and are born again it’s up to us to use our gifts of the Spirit for the work of the ministry.

Are you being obedient?

Blessings 

https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ephesians-4-11

1 Samuel 23:1-4 Inquired of the Lord

 ”Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”“ I Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors: They brought this plea for help to David and not to King Saul because Saul was not fulfilling his role as king over Israel. It was Saul’s job to protect Keilah and it was Saul’s job to fight the Philistines, but Saul wasn’t doing his job and the Lord called David to do it.

i. God loved His people too much to let them suffer under an unfaithful king. If Saul wasn’t up to the task, God would raise up a man who was, and David was the one. God directed David to act like a king even if he was not the king yet.

b. Therefore David inquired of the Lord: This showed David’s wisdom and godliness. Some might have immediately said, “This isn’t my responsibility, let Saul deal with it.” Others might have immediately said, “Let’s go! I can fix this problem!” Either course was foolish, but David was wise because he inquired of the Lord.

c. Go, and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah: By all outward appearance, this was a crazy thing to do. First, David had 400 men with thin resumes and bad credit reports (1 Samuel 22:2) – not exactly a regular army. Second, David had enough trouble with Saul and he didn’t need to add trouble from the Philistines – one enemy is usually enough. Third, this would bring David wide open out before King Saul. This was a dangerous course of action.

i. David did this for two reasons. He had the command of God and the need of the people. David was willing to endanger himself to obey the command of God and to meet the need of the people.

d. But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah”: David’s men counseled him to not go to Keilah. We can understand their counsel, but we should not agree with it. It was good that David became captain over them (1 Samuel 22:2) and that this wasn’t a democracy.

e. David inquired of the Lord once again: Wisely, David took the words from his men into great account. He wrestled with their advice and saw that in many ways it made a lot of sense. At the same time, he knew this was an issue that had to be decided before the Lord.

f. Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand: God likes to confirm His word, especially when He directs us to do something hard or unusual. This time the Lord not only confirmed His previous command, but He also gave a promise with the confirmation: I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. (Guzik)

Inquired of the Lord

There are times in life that we need to make difficult decisions and when we are at this crossroad is when we, inquired of the Lord.

We lift it up in prayer, we open the Bible randomly and begin to look for the Lord to speak to us and in His timing, He will give you the answer. We may not like the answer but it is in faith that we accept it just as David did.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

”What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Blessings 

1 Samuel 22:20-23 Turned His Heart

 ”Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”“ I Samuel‬ ‭22‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: David showed how he felt about this in Psalm 52, which says in its title A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”

i. In Psalm 52, David showed his outrage against Doeg: Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue (Psalm 52:1a, 2-4).

ii. In Psalm 52, David showed his confidence in God’s judgments: God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living (Psalm 52:5).

iii. In Psalm 52, David showed his focus on the LORD: But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good (Psalm 52:8-9).

b. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house: David meant this in two ways. In the greater way, it was David’s mere presence with Ahimelech that made him guilty before Saul and there really wasn’t anything David or anyone could do about that. In the lesser way, David’s lying to Ahimelech made the priest vulnerable before Saul.

i. David’s lies did not directly kill Ahimelech and the other priests. But at the very least, he kept Ahimelech from dying with greater honor. If Ahimelech knew of the conflict between David and Saul, he could have chosen to stand with David and die with greater honor.

ii. We know from both 1 Samuel and the Psalms that David turned his heart back to the LORD and asked forgiveness after his lies to Ahimelech. David was restored, but there was still bad fruit to come of the lies, and now David sees and tastes that bad fruit.

c. With me you shall be safe: David could not do anything about the priests who were already murdered. He confessed his guilt in the matter and sought forgiveness from the LORD. Now, all he can do is minister to the need in front of him – Abiathar, the surviving priest. (Guzik)

Turned His Heart

David turned his heart back to the Lord, confessed his sin of lying and admitted his mere presence caused the death of all the priests.

All of us have this choice because of our free will. We can make ourselves right with God or deny He exists and die in our sins.

Saturday we attended a grave site service for a friend’s father and his grandson gave the eulogy. He said he didn’t know his grandfathers heart, if in the final minutes if he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior for the forgiveness of his sins, but he stated we still have the chance to do that while we are alive. He pleaded with everyone there, not to die in their sins.

He read from John 3:

”There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”“

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Like David you can turn your heart back to the Lord.

Are you “born again”?

Blessings