I. Safety in Seeking God

(S1) — Scripture

(S2) — Sleeping securely?

Does this person look safe and secure? How could anyone sleep under these circumstances? One roll away from…Would you feel safe? Having great trust in one thing, that which is holding them safety to the side of the cliff!

How does one feel secure in this world…? How do we find security in troubled times?

Christians are supposed to have it all together or at least look that way..

Family on the way to church

(S3)

Do you feel secure in your faith? Are there times when when you feel like we’re hanging on for dear life!

Are there areas of your life where you don't feel as secure or safe as you would like? Like your just dangling from a cliff?

FINANCES/JOB/HOME—RELATIONSHIP—HEALTH/PHYSICAL/SPIRITUAL—SELF

I believe that most people are less secure then they let on…! How do we move from a place of insecurity…to more than just hanging on?

Who better to show us than David…

14 Day after day Saul searched for him, BUT GOD…did not give David into his hands.

(S4) — Title Slide

His life was grounded in one sure thing—Safety in Seeking God!

Psalm 32:7 “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

Do you feel secure in your faith? Your walk with the Lord? In following Jesus?

No matter what is going on in your life, in the world…you can find security knowing this one thing…there is always a BUT with God…

PRAYER/BIBLES

(S5)

David had ever reason to feel secure

— his birthright as the Son of Jesse, who was a servant of the King (17:58)

— his experience as a shepherd boy—rescuing his father's sheep from the mouth of a lion/bear (17:34-35)

— his confidence in facing the one who everyone feared—triumph over Goliath (17:50)

— his position of high rank in Saul’s army—his successes in battle (18:5)

— his growing popularity among those who saw him as king

18:7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

David...had every reason to feel safe and secure! He also had every reason not to!

— Pursued by the very king he served. His success only angered Saul— On the run from Saul’s army—In hiding/fearing for his life

(S6) — Today’s scripture reveals two contrasting lives—

Saul who had walked away form God

1 Samuel 15:10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

Who had only one motive; killing the man who threatened his position and power. And he would stop at nothing to do it— Killing of 85 priests Nob (22:18)

It proves the extent that one will go when they depart from God as Saul did. And the extent that God will go when we reject him

1 Samuel 16:14 “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”

(S7) — David a man after God’s own heart

1 Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

One whose insecurity was in the world—the other who’s security was in seeking God

How do we find security in a world that is anything but? That continues to rejects God?

(S8)

David takes refuge—the city of Keliah

7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” 8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

Saul’s spies—A city fortress—like a prison

Ever feel insecure in the most securest of places? Sometimes the safest places are the places we can feel most afraid.

Being with People—Social Anxiety

Saul’s Problem—he is driven by fear/impure motives—not inquiring of God, he falsely presumes to know God’s plan—“God has delivered him into my hands

God told me to...

Where does David find his security? What kept him hanging on? it was not in his great skill in hiding, or the place he found refuge but in...

(S9)

He was secure in seeking the WHOLE counsel of God!

It was common practice for David to inquire of the Lord

1 Samuel 23:2, 4

—he was not just seeking relief in the moment, but the entire scope of God’s purpose…

— in other words security in seeking God is not just about feeling secure in our circumstances, but in God’s greater plan of salvation…

Psalm 73:21–24 “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant…23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”

Is inquiring of God was more than just praying…he was very specific in his asking and very attentive to God’s answering

Acts 20:26 I declare today that I have been faithful. 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

How do you pray? Do you inquire or seek the whole counsel of God?

Three-pronged strategy in seeking the whole counsel of God…first through his

I. Seeking the WILL of God

(S10)

9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 10 David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me.

Spies—Saul’s plot—Abiathar (surviving priest

Ephod— Sacred vestments/garment/wool,linen, gold thread/worn by priest—when seeking the will of God (Exodus 28)

“God used these distinctive garments to set His spiritual leaders. Each piece of the priestly garments held significance related to the work the priests performed. The Israelites lived with a continual reminder of the importance of the priestly work.

David’s security was in the WILL of God…for the greater plan of God not yet revealed…through him

Matthew 1:6-16

David’s security and safety had a greater purpose. They ephod was a foreshadowing of Jesus, the “great high priest, who would carry out God’s plan of redemption to the world.

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Christians find their security not in the things of this world, but in Jesus, through God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Psalm 16:9 “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,”

(S11) —

Saul’s insecurity kept him pursuit of David—Our insecurity can keep us in pursuit of things that are not secure…that don’t last

Davids security was in seeking God—the WILL of God.

How do we know the will of God? By our relationaship with Jesus

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

His second strategy in seeking the whole counsel of God…

(S12)

I. Seeking TRUTH of God

11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will.” 12 Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will.”

It seems to me, that David was so secure in his relationship with God, he could ask direct questions and at the same time anticipating an honest answer

Are you able to ask God openly seeking God’s truth not your own?

Notice also, he doesn’t depend on the people of Keilah to keep him safe, but in the truth of God!

John 18:37–38—What is truth? (Pilate)

God’s truth? Divine—Absolute, immutable, and unwavering—Objective not subjective (feelings)—Authoritative —Pure

Who feels secure in our political climate (Truth)?

David didn’t seek his truth, but God’s — we find it in seeking the one who is truth…

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Our perception of the truth is relative to our seeking the truth of God

His third strategy in seeking the whole counsel of God…

(S13)

III. Seeking the WISDOM of God

13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there. 14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph.

David had grown wise by his life experience…its what kept him safe—moving from place to place—finding refuge in wilderness strongholds. But even so, it was not where he found his security.

A LESSON ABOUT A WISE MAN THAT PEOPLE TRAVELED HUNDREDS OF MILES TO SEEK HIS WISDOM…The wise man stood up, he looked to his left side. Then to his right. He paused and looked at the crowd behind him. He quickly turned around and faced the crowd in front of him. He looked down. He looked up. HE SAT DOWN WITHOUT SAYING A WORD… The huge crowd was UTTERLY AMAZED AT THE WISE MAN’S WISDOM. They started crying and applauding his wisdom.

Seeking the WISDOM of God, means trusting in the WILL and TRUTH of God!

It’s amazing the places and people we will go to for wisdom…when we have the wisdom of God with us (H.S).

David found safety not because of the people or his great wisdom, but in seeking the wisdom of God

(S14)

James 1:2–5 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Where do you go for wisdom? Do you seek God’s will, God’s truth in prayer?

(S15)

14 Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

Saul was secure only in Saul—David was secure in his relationship with God

Seeking the whole counsel of God—His WILL, TRUTH, and his WISDOM is seeking Jesus!

Prayer is not about-checking of our prayer list-not a “shopping list” of needs and wants.

Our battle is not with a visible enemy…Satan's greatest weapon—getting us to seek our security in things rather then in a right relationaship with God

Are you hanging on by a thread? Is Jesus your lifeline? Do you have a right relationaship with God?

(S16)

Psalm 32:1–2 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

So when your hanging on for dear life…make sure your hanging on to Jesus!

Seeking the WILL of God—The TRUTH of God—The WISDOM of God