1st Samuel Ch 27

- Recap 26

So in chapter 26 we read about David having yet another opportunity to Kill Saul in the Mountains

but he didn’t

Instead of reacting in his flesh He Handled the situation in a Godly way by showing Mercy to Saul

this was the second time David did this

but if you guys remember the 1st time David didn’t handle to situation all that well

he allowed an outside influence creep in and he reacted out of His flesh a little and cut the robe of Saul

now in chapter 26 we see clearly that David learned His lesson and doesn’t react with His flesh

and it pays off , it convicted king Saul and forced him to admit that he was wrong in seeking Davids Life

In the Last verse of chapter 26 it says

1 Samuel 26:25 “25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.”

David went on His way , and Saul returned to His place

So David was still unsure of what he would do because for the last 13 years he has ran from a man that had lost his way

Saul went home, but this left some doubt in the mind of David

He didn’t believe that the man seeking his life would stop

its something that he had to wrestle with all these years

now finally from an outsiders view it is over

but not for David

these years of running and being bold and strong and courageous have finally come to an end

the affects of the torment from Saul are starting to sink in !

David has done almost everything right to this very point here in chapter 27

So lets begin reading ch 27

1st Samuel CH 27

1 Samuel 27:1 “1 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”

1 Samuel 27:2 “2 Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.”

1 Samuel 27:3 “3 So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow.”

1 Samuel 27:4 “4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.”

here we see in this opening verse that David starts to succumb to the torment from Saul

we see David do something that we have yet to see him do

and that is , Instead of talking to the Lord or seeking out the Lord

He starts talking to Himself

He starts to have a conversation with Himself

and you can see as the verse unfolds, just how bad he had gotten into his own head

His way of dealing with the situation is to run and hide in the enemy territory

the philistines !

now David was not alone , He had 600 men with him and also their wives and children !

So it wasn’t just 600 people it was more like over a thousand people , easily

and that matters because David is a leader here and we start to see his humanity as he crumbles to fear

all these people went through this with him

but this first verse brings me to my first point

Fear leads to Doubt

Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the awareness of danger

Doubt: uncertainty about the truth and reality of spiritual things

when we deal with fear of the flesh it creates doubt in our heart

David ran in fear of Saul instead of walking in faith

13 years of walking in faith and trusting the lord all of the sudden is crippled by fear , and that fear lead David to start doubting who was actually in control

now when we look at what fear is we can understand what it shouldn’t be

A Healthy Fear

YES ; there is such thing as a healthy fear and thats what we call fear of the Lord

A healthy fear of the Lord means to have a deep reverence and awe for the Lord. That reverence is seeing God in a greater Light within scripture

it means that we know and understand who he is through His word !

it doesn’t mean that we are afraid of God and his divine power; his ability to crush us at any given second

rather it is a fear that causes us to do good

a healthy fear is driven by our love for God

it is a respect for our creator

to the NON believer the fear of the Lord is the view of Him that He is a Judge , and they are awaiting Judgement

to the believer ; the fear of the lord is understanding that we are reconciled through christ

reverence, respect, and fear of the Lord to the believer are on display in our life

it is obedience to His word and it produces fruit !

a healthy fear is; the more you know who he is , the More you love who he is !

Again a healthy fear of who God is, is understanding that through scripture , we get to see His reverence

we get to see exactly who it is that loves us through his word

Genesis 15:1 “1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.””

God protects us

Genesis 46:3 “3 So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.”

God does not forget us

Psalm 25:12–14 “12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”

we should fear God

we should respect God

Psalm 27:1 “1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

we should not fear people ,

David feared Saul , why ? because he Lost sight of the fear of the Lord

Psalm 46:1–3 “1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah”

God is the one who gives us strength

Psalm 91:5 “5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,”

violence and darkness are not ours to fear

God keeps us safe even when we don’t realize it

Psalm 112:7 “7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

Bad news is not something we should fear

we have God on our side and he will walk us through the fire

1 John 4:18 “18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

Love Casts out fear

love drives fear away from us

David lost sight of these things because the enemy knew His weakness and now as we continue through ch 27 we see the intro into Davids weakness

Unhealthy Fear

now an unhealthy fear is the fear that we see in this first 4 verses

its a fear that causes us to question the Lord rather than trust in the Lord

an Unhealthy fear is a fear that cripples us and causes us to have doubt , like David

an Unhealthy fear is a fear that causes us to run from the fire that is about to Burn us Like David

an unhealthy fear is a fear that traps us and doesn’t allow us to see that God is in control

an unhealthy fear makes us forget the reverence of God

an unhealthy fear causes us to view God through an unhealthy lens

Davids Unhealthy fear forced him to go lay in bed with the enemy

for what ever reason, he allowed that to creep in

all because instead of trusting God, He trusted Himself

( Talk about the dangers of trusting Self )

Does it line up with Gods word ? Is it immoral ? is it Illegal ?

Jeremiah 17:9 “9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

our hearts are wicked , its part of the curse and part of the fall

the worst thing you can do is think you have the answers to life

Philippians 4:6–7 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

God gives us peace through prayer and through his word

what ever we go through , if our first resort is running to the lord , you will never be let down

Self Help is self destruction ; if you want to destroy yourself, like we have seen with Saul and now we start to see it with David then of course self help is for you

Self help is never the answer to the struggles that we may have

Seeking the lord and biblical counsel are the only things that keep us making stupid decisions like David

Proverbs 11:14 “14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

you wanna walk through fire and get help and figure out Life , run to God and run to others to help you with what ever it is you need help with

don’t run to yourself

Next Section :

1 Samuel 27:5 “5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?””

Achish , he is the king of Gath

does anyone remember who was from Gath ? ( Goliath )

the king of Gath knew David because David killed Goliath

1 Samuel 27:6 “6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.”

So David is Living in Philistine territory close to some enemies of Israel

1 Samuel 27:7 “7 Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.”

1 Samuel 27:8 “8 And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt.”

1 Samuel 27:9 “9 Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.”

David has become a raider

killing Israels enemies, but for the wrong reasons

His reasons are for self gain not to help protect the Kingdom of God

David never went to the Lord for permission

He took it upon himself to go raid and kill

he then profited from all of his evil deeds

now this is all a result of the 1st verse

His sin was not dealt with properly and now its being played out and it is getting worst

1 Samuel 27:10 “10 Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites.”

Now David to find favor in the eyes of the King of Gath lies to him about where he has been raiding

he’s doing this to create a diversion and to make it look like the people of Israel hate him

1 Samuel 27:11 “11 David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.”

David would make sure that all His bases were covered, no one was left to tell the truth because he killed everyone

1 Samuel 27:12 “12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.””

David is starting His downfall

So at the beginning of this chapter David sinned agains the Lord by not consulting Him and trusting in Him

His selfish heart is what we see here in these last seven verses

David never really dealt with the fear in His life or the doubt in His life

so for a year and 4 months that unhealthy fear and doubt in His life took root in his heart

He no longer lived for the Lord but he lived for Himself

and this brings me to my next point

Sin not Dealt with takes root

when we don’t properly deal with sin it takes root in our heart and the desires of our heart change

we no longer live for God but we live for Sin

James 1:13–15 “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

Sin will always lead to destruction and death

Saul’s life was a life consumed by sin ,

Davids life is a life as we get into second Samuel is a life full of ups and downs

still with Sin !

when we sin when we have a relationship with God , our first response to that sin is to try to cover it up and Hide it

this is what David did by Lying to the King of Gath

He lied about who he actually raided, and he Killed everyone to make sure no one could expose Him

Now we know that David doesn’t really deal with this sin in His life because He does the same thing again later on

in 2nd Samuel ch 11 David gave in to His flesh and he Sleeps with another mans wife

She gets pregnant and then again David goes into panic mode

He sends her husband Uriah to the front lines of a battle to be killed

His plan works and he dies

now this is the exact same thing he just Did in chapter 27 and its a result of not dealing with the Sin in His life

He kinda just moves along in life

but like we just read in James chapter 1 sin when it goes un-dealt with, it leads to death

Sin that is not dealt with , always comes back stronger than before

Davids sin isn’t comparable because here and in 2nd Samuel it is equally Sin but this time its personal and its against one of His own

when people don’t completely let go of the sin in their life it will come back and it comes back much worst and stronger

Sin literally takes root like a tree in the ground

you cant shake it no matter what you do

Sin has to become smaller than the Love you have for God if you ever want to find victory over it

Slapping a bandaid over it is not going to fix it

It goes back to having a healthy Fear of the Lord

when a healthy fear of the Lord is at work in your heart, you will know that when sin is in your life to run to God !

So How do you deal wit Sin in your Life ?

Now keep in mind some of these verses are talking about sexual sin but it is no different than sin itself

SIn is Sin

1) Pray

Psalm 19:13 “13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.”

Hebrews 4:16 “16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

asking God for the strength that is required is necessary

he is the only one who can provide us that strength

Understanding that Satan does not have dominion over us and that God is in control is something we need to understand

the book of Ecclesiastes says over and over again that there is nothing new under the Sun

anything and everything when it comes to sin is nothing new

everyone of us has done something someone before us has

you aren’t alone in your sin and you have the ability to over come it by running to God in Prayer

David did not run to God in prayer , instead he had a conversation in His mind and in his heart

look at where it lead Him

down a path that was not good

2) Stop feeding your flesh the food it wants

this is a big one

what we take in is what comes out

you can tell a lot about a person by the way they act and treat others ( especially if they are a believer) these things come to the surface

feeding the flesh only grows our appetite for our flesh

it will get to the point where it is never satisfied so the only way to satisfy it is to do something worst

if you struggle with an inappropriate sexual relationship with a girl or boyfriend , cut it off

the more you engage the more it gets out of control

if you struggle with lust ; get off the computer and get off the social media

don’t watch things that spark thoughts in your mind

Again Stop feeding your flesh the food it wants

Burger king tastes good but if i eat it everyday i’m probably going to blow up !

its just not worth it

3) Focus on Who God is

1 John 3:3 “3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

when we focus on Jesus and who he was , we are no longer focusing on the sin thats in our Life

Jesus is bigger than any sin , He’s bigger than any fear , and he’s bigger than any doubt in your mind

David lost sight of who God was in his life

all those years of trusting Him and believing Him , gone out the window all because for but a moment he wasn’t focused on who God is

if you do not focus on who God is , you will focus on other things , filling those voids in your heart with the world

Don’t forget who Jesus is and what he did on the cross for you

4) Read Gods word

Psalm 119:11 “11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Gods word when it is memorized helps us to combat sin

Joshua 1:8 “8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Gods word brings success in life , not only physical but also Spiritual

Abstain from the flesh

this is for what ever reason the hardest one

When you love God more than you love the Sin in your life , you will have the ability to Abstain from your flesh

its not just Sexual sin

1 Corinthians 10:13 “13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

God has given us a way of escape from the sin in our life and that is through Him !

the temptation that leads to Sin is not uncommon to anyone

everyone deals with temptation

its how we respond to it that makes us different

Davids response to His Sin and His temptation was a total failure

our strength is Found in God

It is the Fear of the Lord

God is our father and he does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle

the life of Job is another great example , Satan had to ask permission to test Job to see if He could get Him to curse God

Job 1:6–12 “6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

God is the one in control

the temptation of Life is nothing we cant handle

especially when we Have God to run to

the creator of Life is also the sustainer of Life

He is the one who can help us over come the temptation and the Sin

We have to be willing with an open heart and he will Meet us where we are

We will Close : but before we do id like to read the lyrics to the Song Fear is a Liar

FEAR IS A LIAR

Fear, he is a liar

He will take your breath

Stop you in your steps

Fear, he is a liar

He will rob your rest

Steal your happiness

Cast your fear in the fire

'Cause fear, he is a liar

When he told you were troubled

You'll forever be alone

When he told you you should run away

You'll never find a home

When he told you you were dirty

And you should be ashamed

When he told you you could be the one

That grace could never change