Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

!! A.           David Escaped To the Cave of Adullam (v.1-2).

!!! 1.            ‘David /therefore /departed from there…’  (v.1a).

!!!! a)            David fears man (1Sam.21:12-15)

!!!!! (1)           David took the /words of man/ to heart.

David allowed what people said to affect him 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…’  (1Sam.21:12b).

(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, *"Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine…”  Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you…!”  "Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with 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 defied.

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.

And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”“

(1 Samuel 17:32, 37, 45-47)

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)

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

*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…’  (1Sam21:13)  

(1)           David’s 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: Don’t 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)           The Fear of man has kept people from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.21:8).

!!!!! (3)           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)            David has been through a lot (1Sam.22).

!!!!! (1)           He had the high of immediate fame, a recent marriage, dangers from the Philistines, repeated attempts on his life, and a heartbreaking farewell from everyday life to live as a fugitive for who knows how long.

Then, David had a brief but intense period of backsliding, a dramatic turn to the LORD and deliverance from a life threatening situation.

!!!!! (2)           As David left Gath, he praised God with the exaltation we read in Psalm 34.

David was pumped!

But after that exhilaration wore off, he had a serious problem to consider: /what do I do now?/

!!! 2.            ‘…David escaped to the cave of Adullam…’ (v.1b).

!!!! a)            A place of refuge.

!!!!! (1)           The name *Adullam *means /refuge./

There was in the O.T. /“cities of refuge”/ which was a place of safety or protection from enemies.

Six of the Levitical cities were designated as cities of refuge (Josh.

20:7-9) where one who accidentally caused a death might seek refuge from avengers until his case could be judged by the elders of the city.

If he was found to be innocent of deliberate murder, he could continue to live in sanctuary in the city of refuge (Num.

35:6-28; Deut.

19:1-13).

!!!!! (2)           The regulations concerning these cities are found in (Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19:1–13, and Joshua 20).

If the manslayer reached a city of refuge before the avenger of blood could slay him, he was given a fair trial and provided asylum until the death of the high priest.

After that the manslayer was permitted to return home; but if he left the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, he was subject to death at the hands of the avenger of blood.

!!!!! (3)           In the New Testament, the cities of refuge apparently became a type, or symbolic illustration, of the salvation that is found in Christ:

*In Hebrews we read that* “We . . .

have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Heb.

6:18).

*In other words, when the sinner flees to Christ Jesus for refuge he is safe from the divine Avenger of Blood.

The apostle Paul wrote, *“Having now been justified by his [Christ’s] blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom.

5:9) and “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom.

8:1).

*Regardless of his sin, the sinner may find asylum and sanctuary in Christ; all who flee to Him find refuge:* “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

*The believer is safe forever in the heavenly city of refuge *because the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, will never die: “He ever lives to make intercession for him” (Heb.

7:25).

!!!!! (4)           Now, even though David fled to the cave, the cave wasn’t to be David’s refuge.

The LORD wanted to be David’s refuge in this time of discouragement.

!!!!! (5)           However, unfortunately, sometimes when believers face trials, they often forget what they know about God.

They lose their confident trust in Him, lose their self-control and spiritual stability, and are defeated.

Even strong believers are not immune to an occasional lapse, as we see from the life of David.

*Listen to what David says about the Lord in 2 Samuel: *“Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies."

(2 Samuel 22:1-4, NKJV)

                                               

!!!!! (6)           As David was seeking refuge from Saul’s relentless pursuit, David sought refuge in the Philistine city of Gath.

!!!!!! (a)           *Some of the Philistines recognized him and said to Achish, the king of Gath,* /“Is this not David the king of the land?

Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?

/(1 Sam.

21:11).

!!!!!! (b)           *Realizing that his true identity had become known,* /“David … greatly feared Achish king of Gath” (v.

12)/.

!!!!!! (c)           *Instead of trusting God to deliver him, David panicked and */“disguised his sanity before [the Philistines], and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard” (v.

13)/.

!!!!!! (d)           *His act produced the desired results: */“Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman.

Why do you bring him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence?

Shall this one come into my house?’

” (vv.

14–15)/.

!!!!!! (e)           *As a result,* /“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam” (1 Sam.

22:1)/.

!!!!!! (f)            There, with the crisis past, David had time to reflect on how he should have handled the situation in Gath.

In Psalm 57, written at that time, he reaffirmed the truths about God that he had temporarily forgotten (Psalm 57:1-11):

*David says* "Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by.

I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.

He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me.

Selah.

God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth."