Introduction:

A.           The Promises & Motivation to Pursuing Fear.

1.            Do You Delight to be Afraid?

a)            Fear is Something Most of Us Want to Get Rid of, not get More Of.  Let’s Look at the Spectacular Promises of God to Those Who Fear Him.

The Friendship of the Lord—Psalm 25:14 cf. John 15:15 – Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear him.  With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.

The Watchful Care of the Lord—Psalm 33:18 – But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.

The Deliverance of the Lord’s Angels—Psalm 34:7 – The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.  (Psalms 34:7 NKJV)

Freedom From Craving—Psalm 34:9-10 – Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!  There is no want to those who fear Him.  The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.  (Psalms 34:9-10 NKJV)

The Lord’s Fatherly Pity (compassion)—Psalm 103:13 – As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.  (Psalms 103:13 NKJV)

The Permanent Love of God—Psalm 103:17 – But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, (Psalms 103:17 NKJV)

Being Enjoyed by the Lord—Psalm 147:11 – The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.  (Psalms 147:11 NKJV)

Having the Beginning and the Essence of Wisdom—Job 28:28; Ps.111:10; Pr.9:10 – And to man He said, `Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’  (Job 28:28 NKJV)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  (Proverbs 9:10 NKJV)

Confidence & Place of Refuge; Drinking at the Fountain of Life—Proverbs 14:26-27 – In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:26-27 NKJV)

Being Satisfied—Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.  (Proverbs 19:23 NKJV)

B.           David Flees to the Philistine King (v.10-15).

1.            David flees to Achish the king of Gath (v.10-11).

a)            ‘…David fled that day to Achish king of Gath…’  (v.10).

(1)           A good man in bad company.  Why has a man of God who has been anointed by the Spirit of God, gone to live with a Philistine and unbeliever?  Here is a truth that some of us would not like to admit, that sometimes a persecuted Christian gets better treatment from the enemies of God’s people then from his Christian friends. 

(2)           Jobs friends thought they had all the answers. 

The Scriptures say that we are to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”  (Romans 12:15, NKJV)

Compassion and sympathy are to be excercised on those who have been afflicted.  Job said "To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend" (Job 6:14, NKJV)

The writer of Hebrews says to "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also."  (Hebrews 13:3, NKJV)

(3)           Here are some promises to those who show compassion and sympathy:

The writer of Proverbs says that "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.”  (Proverbs 19:17, NKJV)

"And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." (Matthew 10:42, NKJV)

b)            Compassion and Sympathy Illustrated - The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37)

(1)           The Apostolic Confession, an ancient church confession, says, “If any Christian is condemned for Christ’s sake to the mines by the ungodly, do not overlook him, but from the proceeds of your toil and sweat, send him something to support himself, and to reward the soldier of Christ” You can see from this quote that the early church took seriously its responsibility to help people who were suffering persecution. To obtain money to free a fellow believer, some early Christians even sold themselves into slavery.

(2)           Through His healing miracles Jesus participated in human pain and sorrow in that He Himself took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases.  He participated first of all by sympathizing with man’s pain and sickness.

(3)           Jesus knew men’s hearts and all of their inner feelings.  He knew the agony, the confusion, the despair, and the frustration that disease and sickness bring in addition to physical pain.

(4)           Repeatedly the gospel writers tell of Jesus’ having compassion on those who came to hear Him teach and to experience His healing touch (Matt. 9:36; 15:32; Mark 1:41; Luke 10:33).

(5)           You can have loving empathy for someone in at least three ways.

(a)           First, you can simply “be there” as a friend to encourage the other person when he is in trouble.

(b)           A second way to show empathy is by “giving direct help”.  The Philippians shared with the apostle Paul in his affliction by financially supporting his ministry in other places (Phil. 4:14–16).  In this way they also encouraged him spiritually.

(c)           Third, you can give empathy “through prayer”.  Paul’s closing words to the Colossians, “Remember my imprisonment” (Col. 4:18), were an appeal for prayer. It was the only means remaining by which the church could effectively support him.

(d)           If we have Christ’s example, who is not “a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15), how can we possibly ignore the hurts of others, especially those of fellow believers?  Instead, sincere empathy should be a regular part of our service for the Lord.

c)             ‘…the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David…’  (v.11).

(1)           Isn’t this the guy that Israel sings about? 

(2)           The song and dance about David that swept the nation of Israel (1 Samuel 18:6-7) apparently also made the charts among the Philistines.  If he didn’t know it before, now David found that there was real price for fame.

2.            David fears man (v.12-15).

a)            ‘…David took these words to heart…’  (v.12a)

(1)           David took the words of man and allowed them to affect his heart to the point that he feared. 

But I love what the Psalmist says "Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You."  (Psalm 119:11, NASB95)

In the New Testament, Paul said that we are to "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  (Colossians 3:16, NASB95)

b)            ‘…David…was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath…’  (v.12b).

(1)           When David was walking in the Spirit, not even Goliath as big as he was, could bring fear to the heart of David. 

Listen to what David said to Saul about Goliath "David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine…”  "And David said, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “  This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.  …that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands."  (1 Samuel 17:32, 37, 45-47, NASB95)

(2)           And note that in (17:48) when Goliath ran toward David, David ran toward the enemy, not from him.  But now since he is walking after the flesh, he fears man.

The writer of Proverbs says that "The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”  (Proverbs 29:25, NKJV)

(3)           The fear of man has caused great men of God to fail, bringing them into many compromising positions. 

(a)           Abraham was afraid that the men of Gerar might kill him to take Sarah from him so he said that she was his sister, rather than his wife (Gen.20:1-11).

God is the One Whom we are to fear.  Isaiah says "The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.”  (Isaiah 8:13, NKJV)

The Lord says in Jeremiah 32 that "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”  (Jeremiah 32:39-40, NKJV)

c)            ‘…He changed his behavior before them…’  (v.13)  

(1)           Davids fear now led to a change of behavior before men. 

(2)           In (18:5) we read that “David behaved wisely” and the NASB interprests wisely as “prospered”…  In (18:12) says that "Saul was afraid of David, for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul "…  In (18:14-15) we read that "And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.  Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him." 

(3)           But here we read that because David feared, it caused him to change his behavior. 

d)            Several Reasons Why Men Have a Fear of Other Men: Dont be trapped by this fear.

(1)           Peer pressure—The fear of rejection—Pilate’s Fatal Choice (Mark 15:6-15).  Pilate for fear of being reported to Caesar as allowing another man to claim to be king, turned Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified.  Pilate gave into peer pressure; he didn’t want to be rejected.

(2)           Aaron yielded to the desire of the people to make them a god that they might worship (Exodus 32; 1-6, 23-24).

(3)           The Fear of man has kept people from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.21:8).

(a)           The fearful or cowardly: those who do not confess Christ because they fear what others might say; those who are afraid to give up the world and deny self; those who fear taking a stand for Christ; those who fear to fellowship or become identified with Christian people.

(b)           They sit their under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, in their heart they know that they should go forward and make a public commitment, but what will people think?

(c)           My friends will laugh at me, they will say that I've become religious; they will call me a Jesus freak.

Jesus said that Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.  (Matthew 10:32-33 NKJV)

The Apostle Paul said “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  (Romans 10:9 NKJV)

But he also said in 2 Timothy that If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. (2 Timothy 2:12 NKJV)

e)            Fearing God Will Lead to the Obedience of God

(1)           Noah (Gen.6:8-9, 22; Heb11:7)

(2)           Midwives in Egypt refused to take the lives of Hebrew children (Ex.1:15-21); they obeyed God rather than men (Acts 5:29)

(3)           Christians (Acts 9:23-31)

(4)           The thief on the cross (Luke 23:32-43 cf. Matt.27:44; Mk.15:32)

The Wisest man said to Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJV)

(5)           Now back to David - What would you say about a man who has become involved in such a mess like this?  Judged from a human standpoint, he is hopeless, God’s done with him.

(6)           From God’s view, He’s not done!

(7)           The Bible tells the worst about its heroes, but it tells the best too, praise the Lord!  At this point in David’s life he wrote two Psalms, (Psalm 56 & 34). 

(8)           David tells us in Psalm 34 that it was the Lord who delivered him through this crisis.  No matter what the crisis is, the Lord will deliver us, providing a way for us to escape the crisis or to overcome and conquer it.

(9)           The Lord delivers us through all our problems and troubles and the Word of God declares that the Lord will always save and deliver us:

Paul writing to the believers in Corinth says that "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."  (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB95)

Remember the man who denied the Lord 3 times?  Peter says "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9, NASB95)

Isaiah writes "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.”  (Isaiah 43:1-2, NASB95)

You may say, well Im to old now, the Lord would say "Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you!  I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you."  (Isaiah 46:4, NASB95)

3.            The blessings of God.

(1)           Many of Gods blessings are conditional and often He cannot do what He wants to do for you because you will not do what you should. 

(2)           What is the cause of your fear or doubting today? 

(3)           It is amazing how men and women of faith can gradually become men and women of fear and unbelief. If we get in a hurry, trust people, and trust our own plans, before long everything falls to pieces and we find ourselves out of the place of God’s blessing and protection.