Bad decisions

Marcus Deloach

Sermon • Submitted 10 months ago • Presented 10 months ago

0 ratings

· 8 views

Notes

Transcript

1 Samuel 27

Introduction: As we begin

This evening

Allow me

To tell you a true story

Former president

Ronald Reagan

once had an aunt

who took him to a cobbler

for a pair of new shoes.

And

The cobbler asked

young Reagan,

"Do you want square toes

or round toes?"

Unable to decide,

Reagan didn't answer,

so the cobbler

gave him a few days.

to think it over!

Several days later

the cobbler saw Reagan

on the street

and asked him again

what kind of toes

he wanted on his shoes.

Reagan still couldn't decide,

so the shoemaker replied,

"Well, come by

in a couple of days.

Your shoes will be ready."

but

When the future president

did so,

he found

one square-toed

and one round-toed shoe!

"This will teach you

to never let people

make decisions for you,"

the cobbler said

to his indecisive customer.

"I learned right then and there,"

Reagan said later,

"if you don't make

your own decisions,

someone else will!

But

Be that as it may

As Christians

When it comes to our life

If we don’t allow God

to influence

our decisions

We will probably

Make bad ones

And with that in mind

Let’s read our text

For this evening

It is 1 Samuel 27: 1 – 3

1 Samuel 27:1–3 KJV 1900

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.

Let’s Go to the Lord

In a word of prayer

(Pray)

I. The recognition of bad decisions

Declaration

Now

Notice again

The key verse

This evening

Here in chapter 27

Is in verse 1

We are told that

(1 Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”

Now

Think about that phrase

It says

David said

In his heart

You know that means

It means that David

Made a decision

In his heart and mind

And

By the way

We make decisions

Every single day

Don’t we?

For example

We decide

What to wear each day

Don’t we

We decide

What to eat for breakfast

Most every morning

We decide

Which route to take

In going to work

We decide

How to pay for gas

At the gas pumps

Do I use cash

Or do I use

an ATM card

We decide

Where to eat

For lunch that day

Or Whether or not

To take

A sack lunch

We decide

Which route to take home

We decide

To treat our family

To something special

On occasion

But see

We make decisions

Every single day

And

Speaking of decisions

I read a true story

Last week

About Luciano Pavarotti

And

I want you to listen

To what he said

He said

“When I was a boy,

my father,

a baker,

introduced

me to the wonders

of song,”

And then

Speaking About his dad

Again

Pavarotti said

“dad urged me

to work

very hard

to develop my voice.

and

Arrigo Pola,

a professional tenor

in my hometown

of Modena, Italy,

took me on

as a pupil.

And later

I also enrolled

in a teachers college.

and on graduating,

I asked my father,

‘Shall I be a teacher

or a singer?’

“‘Luciano,’

my father replied,

‘if you try to sit

on two chairs,

you will fall

between them.

His dad said

For life,

you must choose

one chair.’

and

“I chose one.

and It took

seven years of study

and frustration

before I made my first

professional appearance.

It took another seven

to reach

the Metropolitan Opera.

And now

I think

whether it’s laying bricks,

writing a book

whatever we choose

we should give ourselves

to it.

Commitment,

that’s the key.

Choose one chair.”

but

The truth is

We make choices

We choose this chair

Or that chair

We choose

This career

Or that career

We choose this place

Or that place

Like Pavarotti

But

Sometimes

If were not real careful

We make the wrong choice

And

Here is David

In our text

In 1 Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”

This evening

For just a little while

I want to preach

on the subject

Of bad decisions

And I want to conclude

with the thought

Changing

bad decisions

Into good ones

Discussion

But

As we read verse 1

And if we have read

The passages prior

To chapter 27:1

We realize

We recognize

That David’s decision

To escape

Into the land of the Philistines

Was a bad decision

In fact

Let’s review

The things

That led

to this decision

You will recall

That in the earlier part

Of the book of 1 Samuel

David was content

To be a shepherd

In fact

Keep

Your place here

In chapter 27

And turn back a few pages

To chapter 16

And read with me

Versus 1 – 13

The Bible says

In 1 Samuel 16: 1 – 13

1 Samuel 16:1–13 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. 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 brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

Now

Before we talk about David

We need to understand

the context

What is taking place

During this period of time

Some 10 to 15 years

Before the events of chapter 27

Saul was king of Israel

And

During his tenure

He made some terrible blunders

In fact

on one occasion

In chapter 15

God gave Saul

Specific instructions

But yet

King Saul

Did not obey

God’s instructions

And as a result

God dispatched Samuel

To rebuke Saul

And

He said

Saul

1 Samuel 15:26 “And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.”

And

We also know

As students of the Bible

That God decided

To choose a man

After His own heart

To become the king of Israel

And that man

Would eventually be David

But

In verse 11

Chapter 16

We find that David was content

To be a keeper of sheep

In other words

He was a shepherd

But God had great plans

For David’s future

Because

the Bible says

In verse 13 there

(1 Samuel 16:13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”

David

At the instruction of God

Was anointed

To be the next king

of Israel

But

As chapter 16

Comes to a close

And as chapter 17

begins

There were problems

in Israel

Read

The first 11 verses

Here in this chapter

The Bible says

(1 Samuel17: 1– 11

1 Samuel 17:1–11 KJV 1900

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

By the way

When you’re not

walking with God

And Saul wasn’t

But when you’re

not walking with God

The Giants in life

Will make you afraid

An otherwise helpless

And Saul and his army

Were

But

If you read on

You Find that David

This young shepherd

A young man

Probably in his late teens

But

You find that David

Willingly surrendered

To face Goliath

And he did

And

We know what happened

When David

Confronted Goliath

He told him

(1 Samuel 17:45–46 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

And then

(1 Samuel 17:49–50 “And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.”

God

Use this young teenager

To defeat the giant

Saving Israel

From annihilation

And

When that happened

The people of Israel

were thrilled

They began to sing

Saul hath slain his thousands

But David

His 10,000’s

but

The Bible goes on to say

In 1 Samuel 18:8 “And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?”

Now

What’s happening there?

Well Saul

Was jealous

Saul was jealous

Of David’s success

And of the accolades

He was getting

Deliberation

And

Do you recall

What happened?

The Bible says

In verse 10

There in chapter 18

(1 Samuel 18:10-11

1 Samuel 18:10–11 KJV 1900

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

There David was

Just trying to help

And God used David

To help the kingdom of Israel!

But

Because of Soul’s jealousy

He was trying to kill David

Because God

Was planning on replacing him

With this young teenager

Who was a man

After God’s own heart

And

For the next 10

To 15 years

Saul hounded David

For example

In chapter 18: 17

The Bible says

(1 Samuel 18:17 “And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.”

In verse 21

The Bible says

(1 Samuel 18:21 “And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.”

Then again

The Bible says

In 1 Samuel 19:1 “And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.”

And in verse 11

We are told

(1 Samuel 19:11 “Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.”

Then again

It tells us

In 1 Samuel 19:15 “And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.”

And

On and on

I could go tonight

But for 10 to 15 years

David was hounded

By King Saul

Till finally

In chapter 26

Saul sought

David again

At a place

called Ziph

In fact

Turn

To chapter 26

And read me

Verse 1

It says (1 Samuel 26:1 “And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”

But

Through a series

of circumstances

David got the drop

On King Saul

and the Bible tells us

In verse 8 (1 Samuel 26:8 “Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.”

Oh but

David said

1 Samuel 26:9 “And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?”

By the way

David showed grace

Where King Saul

Only showed grudging

What a gracious man

He was

And

As you read on

You read that

Saul

Decided

To spare David’s life

In fact

It says in verse 25

(1 Samuel 26:25 “Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.”

But again

From chapter 17

Down through chapter 26

10 to 15 years

Had elapsed

And in that time

Saul

Had hounded David

Threatening his life

Again

And again

Till finally

When chapter 27

Rolls around

We find these words

1 Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”

But

Allow me

To make a statement

If I may

The decision

To leave Israel

And to escape

Into the land of the Philistines

Was a dreadful mistake

Deliberation

And let me

Tell you why

If I may

God

Had a plan for David

That did not include

Philistia

See

God had determined

To make David

the king of Israel

God positioned David

To eventually

Rise

to a place of prominence

And then

As time went on

God not only

Brought David

To a place of prominence

But

God likewise brought him

To place of provision

God In fact

provided for David

Occasion after occasion

Whether it was protection

That God provided him

From Saul

Whether it was provision

That God provided David

While he was in the wilderness

What I’m saying is

Time and time again

God showed Himself strong

For this young man

Giving him

A place of prominence

And plenty of provision

In order to demonstrate

to David

That

God

WILL

Bring David

To the place of kingship

one day

And

God will!!

Because

It was is Will

To do so

And

No matter how many times

Saul hunted David

Or hounded David

Well again and again

God demonstrated

to David

That

I will bring you

To the head

Of the kingdom

One day

And

All David

Had to do

Was to just

do right

And trust God

That’s it!

Because

If he would

His God

Was well able

To take care of him

But

Even though

God protected David

Again and again

For those 10 to 15 years

Well

Notice the decision

That he made

Immediately following

His deliverance from Saul

In chapter 26

The

Bible says

Now

Did you see that?

David said

in his heart

God

had anointed David

To be the next King

Of Israel

Therefore

The will of God

For David

Was not Philistia

It was Israel

For David

To up and leave his country

Was for David

To step outside

The will of God

For his life

What a foolish decision

He made

Listen to him

Again please

David said

Delegation

Now

Let me make

An observation

If I may

Just because something

Looks good

Even looks like

The best thing

Doesn’t always make it good

And certainly

it Doesn’t make it

best

Because

The best thing

you can do

Is to be

Where God has placed you

Even Though that place

Is a place of trial

And adversity

See

All things work together for good

To them that love God

The Bible says

In Romans 8:28

But yet

David decided

To leave the place

Where God had put him

What a foolish decision

And

The reason is clear

In that moment

And after all those brushes

With Death

David

Wasn’t trusting God

Like he should’ve been

Was in a bad way

And he didn’t trust God

And as a result

He stepped out

Of the will of God

But

Before we criticize him

We better look at ourselves

Because

How many times

Have we as God’s people

Failed to trust God

In the midst of a trial

or in the midst

Of the storm of life

How often

Has adversity

Came our way

And rather than trust the Lord

Through the adversity

We looked for a way

Out of it

Whether or not God

Had allowed the Adversity

But

Back in our text

There David is

He is a man

After God’s own heart

But yet

In that instant

He is not trusting God

He is rather trusting

In his own understanding

What

A foolish mistake

For a godly man

to make

Because

Solomon wrote

In Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”

Oh but

David made

A foolish decision

When he didn’t trust the Lord

It was foolish

In light of the fact

That David had left

The will of God

Was likewise Foolish

In light of the fact

That God

Had not let down David

Once

In his life

And

In like manner

When we lean

On our own understanding

It is likewise foolish

Because our understanding

Is very limited

By the way

Let’s be honest

We all make Bad decisions

From time to time

When we fail to make them

In view of the Lord

And

By that

I mean

In view of His Sovereignty

Because

Either God is sovereign

Or He isn’t

either God is the source

Of our protection

Or He isn’t

But

When we fail

To make decisions

In view of the Lord

They will undoubtedly

Be Bad decisions

II. The reason for David’s decision

Declaration

And

Let me share with you

A number of reasons

That David made

This Bad decision

Where again

He said (1 Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”

First of all

David trusted

In The wrong confidant

Because

As I read that

I realize

That David

Did not consult

With his Lord

About leaving Israel

He only consulted

With himself

He became

His own confidant

Said in his heart

The Bible says

See

Rather than looking up

He looked within

Instead of turning to God

In prayer

As he had done so often

David turned to himself

For counsel

Oh but

The advice he received

From his own heart

Was anything but wise

Because

He told himself

I know the future

Listen to him

He said

“I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul”

Other words

I’m certain

This is going to happen to me

At some point

In the future

But

The truth is

David didn’t know the future

No more than we do

And

Not only that, but

David figured

That he knew best!

Again he said

“there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines”

He was saying

Going to Philistine land

Is the best thing for me

In this situation

I understand

That is a pagan place

I understand

They do not worship God

But in this particular situation

this is

the best thing for me

But

David really

Didn’t always know what was best

For his life

And neither do we

But

Let me say that

God does

God knows what is best

Every time

And in every situation

In fact

God knows what is that good

And perfect will

For our life

He Inspired Paul to write

(Romans 12:1–2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

And

The point I’m making is

God’s will is both good

It is acceptable

It is perfect

God’s will

Is the best thing

It is the best choice

The best decision

We can ever make

When we tell ourselves

We know best

We better be careful

We are about to make

A bad decision

But again

David figured

He knew the future

And David figured

He knew what was best

And he told himself

Everything will be okay

If I just follow

my heart

Again

Listen to him

What a dangerous thing

To tell yourself

And yet

So many people

Even believers

From time to time

Live by the philosophy

That if I just follow

My heart

Everything will be okay

But

The Bible says

In Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Deliberation

But

Not only did David

Trust In the wrong confidant

But at the same time too

David believed

The wrong counsel

That

When David communed

With his own heart

He immediately forgot

All the great promises

Which the Lord

Had made him

Because again

God had promised David

That he would be the king

One day

In fact

Look again

Chapter 16

The Bible says

In verse 1

(1 Samuel 16:1 “And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.”

And then again

Verses 12 to 13 (1 Samuel 16:12–13 “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. 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 brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”

And

As a reminder

That anointing

Was God’s promise

To young David

And then

God

Reiterated that promise

By Jonathan 1 Samuel 23:17

By Abigail 1 Samuel 25:30 to 31

And God even confirmed this promise

By King Saul

In 1 Samuel 24:20

Yet

David forgot

All of these promises

When he began to listen

To his own heart

But

What about us

This evening?

When adversity strikes

And when we look

for answers

Within

What great promises

Do we forget

Maybe

It’s God’s promise

In Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Or perhaps

It is God’s promise

Made by the Lord Jesus Christ

In Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

But listen please

When we forget God’s promises

AND TRUST

the wrong confidant

And when we believe

The Wrong counsel

Then

Just like David

We might make

Some really bad decisions

In our life

But

David did

He trusted

In the wrong confidant

David believed

The wrong counsel

Deliberation

And

Number 3

And this is important

But David reached

The wrong conclusion

After

All of the adversity

He had been through

with Saul

Some

10 to 15 years of it

David said

I shall now perish

At the hands of Saul

The best thing for me to do

Is to flee

To the Philistine

He Concluded

He would be better off

Where he thought

he would be safe

From Saul

Now

Think about that

The future King

Of Israel

Was running

To the archenemies

Of God

To beg for help

But

That’s the kind of trouble

David’s heart

Got him into

And

I would say

To all of us

This evening

Beware

Of trusting your own heart

Because

When we consult

our heart

It’s going to put us in touch

With our human nature

And listen please

our old human nature

Is Corrupt

Always looks at things

From a human perspective

Sadly

People say so often

Well

I feel it in my heart

That this decision is right

I’m just

Following my heart

But

I remind us

This evening

The Bible says

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

And

Not only that

But Solomon wrote

In Proverbs 28:26 “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

When you talk to yourself

When you counsel

Your self

Like David did here

Be sure to talk to yourself

About the things of God

And

When someone says to you

Just listen

to what your heart is telling you

You need to understand

They are giving you

Bad advice

Advice that can lead you

To Very bad decisions

III. The results of David’s decision

Declaration

Decisions

By the way

That might have

terrible results

In fact

Think about David

He said to himself

The best thing I can do

Is to escape to Philistine land

But

When he made that decision

When he left Israel

To go to Philistia

David affected

The people in his life

Read

With me if you would

Versus 1 – 3 again

The Bible says

(1 Samuel 27: 1 – 3

1 Samuel 27:1–3 KJV 1900

Now

Think about that

The people in David’s life

Went with him

In to Philistine land

But

As you read

Chapter 30

You find that things went

From bad to worse

In fact

Read With me

The first 6 versus

1 Samuel 30:1–6 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

But

The point

I’m trying to make is

David’s bad decision

Didn’t just affect him

and take him

Out of the will of God

But

It likewise had

An adverse effect

On his own family

And

In like manner

When we look within

For answers

To our dilemmas

Instead of looking to God

Thus

Making bad decisions

To help ourselves

If we’re not careful

It cannot only hurt us

But our decisions

Can hurt our loved ones

as well

IV. The recovery from David’s decision

Declaration

But

As we bring this sermon

To a close

This evening

Let’s talk about

The recovery

From David’s decision

Again

Notice verse 6

Here in chapter 30

The Bible says (1 Samuel 30:6 “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”

Now

Think about that

He began to realize

My strength

Is in the Lord

That’s what that phrase

Encouraged himself

in the Lord

means

He realized

My strength

Is not in what

I can figure out

But it is

in the Lord

But

He not only came

To the proper realization

But

He likewise came

To the proper reliance

The Bible says

(1 Samuel 30:7–8 “And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

Did

You see that?

David inquired

At the Lord

He prayed

To the Lord

He relied

On the Lord

For His direction

And

Let me say

That when we have made

Bad decisions

In our life

That’s when

We need to realize

That the only right way

Is God’s way

And

That’s when

We likewise

Need to start relying

On God again

Asking for His direction

For our life

Decision

What decision

Should we make

This evening?

During the invitation?

Well

In view the fact

That we are all faced

With decisions daily

Need to decide

To trust the Lord

And seek His advice

In making them

In a moment

When Invitation begins

Why not come to the altar

And ask the Lord

To help you

Make the right decisions

And

If by chance

You have made

some bad decisions

In your life

Well

You can’t always undo

bad decisions

But you can determine

Realize

That God’s way

Is the best way

And then

You can once again

Rely on Him

And pray to Him

To help you

Recover your losses

As a result

Of your bad decisions

Because

The Lord

Helped David

Recover his losses

And He can surely

Help you too

Why not get alone

With God this evening

And seek His advice

Conclusion: Let’s close in prayer

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.