Our Strong Refuge

The Road of Transformation

Imagine with me for a moment you have heard from the Lord this is who you are to me… and you will serve me… and I will be with you and will raise you into this glory.

The immediate joy that fills our life, I know who I am to the Lord.

What happens when the luster of the new has worn off? Year one… year two… year five… 10 years in and still you are not functioning in that space

What is worse over that time you encountered betrayal, you encountered moments of backsliding, you encountered moments in which you outright were abused by the very space the Lord called you into.

How long before we surrender this call we once believed? How long before we question if we really heard the Lord say? How long before we shake our fists to the heavens and declare Lord you said I would be…but look at me I am broken, unwanted, shamed, abused, where are you Lord?, this is too much for me to bear”

Suddenly you are reminded of a day you raised your hand said “Jesus I make you Lord of my life…?” You are reminded of a time where you asked the Lord to know more of who He is.

Suddenly you hear the voice of the Lord once more as He declares

“I have never left you, I have never forsaken you…I am not a man that I would lie…but this season needed to happen for you to know more of me so you could carry what I am now going to pour out.”

Would it be worth it to you?

Consider this for a moment that in order to have your heart transformed to be of the heart posture of one who is after God’s own heart this journey must be a part of your walk.

To be someone known as a man after God’s own heart you have to come to know of God as your strong refuge.

Acts 13:21–23 ESV

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

A rebellious people are given a king modeled after their desire

The Lord after 40 years gives them a King after His Desires

What the Lord says about David

The Lord went and searched the hearts of men…He didnt settle or even decide beforehand David would be the one. He searched until He could say

I (not you, your desires, or anything could look at) have found a man after my heart

Will do my will

if you know David’s story you know he didnt always do as the Lord Commanded (did the Lord lie or turn the other way?)

David as you will see was willing to stay on the journey of transformation until he got to know the God of Strong Refuge

It wasnt just Yes Lord the end… it was yes over and over and over again until from his lineage comes Jesus the Savior as promised

If you were to know that today the Lord is searching for those who will be known as men and women after His own heart would you commit to the journey? What did that Journey look like for David

From Anointed to Appointed

Samuel sent to the house of Jesse and he examines 7 of Jesse’s children none of them were it.

their external appearance did not reveal what was internal

David is out tending sheep (11-15yoa) hidden away

what was his cry to the Lord?

why was he hidden away

1 Samuel 16:12–13 ESV

And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

This 11-15 yo boy managed to captivate the heart of God…

From a young age he has the benefit of walking with the Spirit of God who will teach him the heart of the Father.

His processing before finally being appointed would be a 15-19 year process.

Some of us want it now as if God is your JG Wentworth…Its my appointment and I need it now

During this time he would slay lions, bears, a 9 foot giant;

he would be despised by his brothers

considered the offspring of a sinful encounter

lose his friends, his home, family and eventually would end up hunted

Finally after 15 years or so he would step into the appointment he had been called to. Every step of the way he would learn parts of God the were absolutely necessary for him to be the king God wanted him to be. He would desire the heart of God more than his own desires.

Marked by the road

Brief look at the 10 places David’s transformation journey led him on

Escape for Fear (1 Sam 19)

Leaves the kingdom and seeks the voice of the Prophet Samuel

Saul hears of it and sends 3 groups to kill David

each of the three groups ends up prophesying and stripping themselves naked

Saul sets out as the 4th expedition to kill David and ends up prophesying and naked as well

Before David could ascend to kingship his anointing had already threatened others to the point of death ( how is your anointing affecting people?)

From Samuel back to a friend in the kingdom (20:1)

Samuel could not help him maybe Jonathan can

Saul threatens to kill Jonathan

Flees to the priest at Nob (21)

In fear lies to the priest that he is on a secret mission from the king

Takes the priestly bread

in his haste is unaware there is a spy embedded with the priest that will tell on him

Now a rock and a slingshot will no longer do…he takes Goliath’s sword to protect himself

this is the same man who slayed beasts and fearlessly slayed Goliath

1st attempt in the Enemies camp He runs to Achish king of Gath (21:10)

His anointing and testimony tell on him

He really ran back to the ones who wanted to make him a slave

They can see the anointing and cause him to have to act crazy to not be killed by them

There 7 more places in which David would encounter a transformation but his greatest was in the 5th

the other 6 are

Wilderness of Ziph

Wilderness of Maron

Wilderness of En-Gedi

Wilderness of Paran

Hill of Hicalah

Finally, one final attempt in the enemies camp in which He begins to succeed at looking and acting like the enemy until the enemy is forced to reject him

His anointing told on him once more.

The Encounter in the Cave

Back to the 5th stop in David’s journey

After having acted like a madman he arrives at the cave of adullam He is alone, rejected, being hunted and yet anointed, but in utter desperation

1 Samuel 22:1 ESV

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.

what is of importance is when he first set out to run Jonathan said to him

“My father wants to do you harm…stay in the secret place…hidden away”

Adullam mean the hiding place or secret place…hedged in

In his running as he went from the prophet to the priest to the friend to the enemies camp what was needed was for him to go to the hiding place

It would be in this cave that what he needed would be added to him

It is here that he pens several Psalms 34 57 and 142

each tell of a man who is in despair

but now he is crying out to God no longer is he looking to man

He has cried out to the strong refuge… read them and see how they tell of how David finally came to know God

Psalm 142:5 ESV

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

To be like David a man after God’s own heart count the spaces he had to be found and how many times he is in such despair it provokes him to do even foolish things yet…

His anointing tells on him… he continues to say yes to the God he cried out to as a young shepherd boy…

hidden in the secret place his cry ascends the heavens as he encounters God the strong Refuge…

Today the Lord is looking for those who will say yes, who are willing to go through the wilderness to be transformed to have a heart after his own heart…

today there is an enemy that wants to destroy your life…wherever you go your anointing tells on you the as Jonathan told David go stay hidden in that secret place… Find yourself hedged in by the Living God that you will know God the Strong Refuge