The Cave
Notes
Transcript
Well at Olivet (the college I attended) they had this park and it was a hidden gem in the area because it looks like a regular park but then in the back of the park there is this beautiful area that is hidden and heres a picture of it.
You can tell that there is this creek running through these rocks that are almost like a cliff.
but the creek actually had rea
And so whenever its warm people would always go back and climb these rocks because they were almost like mini cliffs.
A
So one time me and a couple of my friends were free climbing and my two friends were down on the ground while I was pretty high up on the cliff and I got stuck.
and I wasn’t so high where my life was in danger but I was high enough where if I fell I could definitely break something.
And I remember I had one friend telling me to do one thing and step on a certain rock
And then my other friend was going no if you do that your going to fall, do this.
And I remember clinging to this cliff trying to figure out who do I listen to, because if I listen to the wrong person I was possibly going to fall off this cliff and break something.
And I am just stuck and not sure who to listen to.
But you know as I was thinking of that have you ever been at that place in your life where you are stuck on a cliff or in a tough situation
and you are trying to figure out how how do I get out of this?
This is a terrible place, where the stakes are higher then ever and I have to decide how do I navigate through this storm.
When a friend betrays you
How do I respond?
When your boss does something that drives you crazy
When you your child or spouse does something to hurt you.
How do I respond?
And today we are talking about in the middle of these hard moments in our life how do we handle the situation and which voices do we listen too.
So turn with me to because we are going to be around this area.
And as I mentioned we are continuing our series that we have been going through the life of David
and if you have been with us David was annointed king
He fought Goliath and became a huge hero almost entirely overnight.
and if you were with us last week an issue came up where Saul who was the current king started to become extremely Jealous of David the current king
And this story turns dark quickly because Saul makes his goal to end Davids life.
And so David leaves and he eventually ends up in a cave alone, he has no one with him, but something neat happens because in the middle of David having no one
It says that God actually started to give David a community of people to surround him (it actually says 400 people)
But it says these were rough people. The Bible describes these people as ones who were in debt, they were in distress and had bitter souls and somehow they have all corralled around David in a cave.
And you can almost picture David saying this is great. I am stuck hiding in a cave in the wilderness, with Israels finest and I am still being hunted by the King of Israel.
And this brings us to where we are today because while David and his men are hiding, Saul and his men are surrounding them.
and they are thinking we do not stand a chance.
But all of the sudden somthing happens
Sauls stomach starts to growl,
and verse 3 says Saul Went to relieve himself
and I love this because the Bible tells us Saul has to go to the bathroom!
I mean you have to love how the Bible includes this.
And it says Saul goes into the cave to go to the restroom and its actually the cave that David and his men are in
So here is David whose life has been ruined by this one person (Saul) and now this person right in front of him completely vulnerable.
and now David has to decide how do I handle this situation?
and look at verse 4 because it says
4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ”
Davids men are going David this is your chance, God has brought Saul to you and now you have the opportunity to do whatever you see fit.
You can end his life,
and David actually has a choice where he has to decide am I going to do whats right in my own eyes or the eyes of God.
And look what happens because it says
Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
David what are you doing?!
You could have killed him, and we would stop living life in this cave and you would probably be the next king
but I think David knew that he had an option where he could listen to his men and what he thought was right, or he could look and ask God what was right.
And I believe he asked God to a certain extent,
But you know everyday we have an option where we can either ask God, what we need to do or we can ask ourselves or others,
and when we are going through a hard time where we are in a cave and there are personal feelings involved it gets challenging because there are so many voices speaking into the situation.
Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
You know when I was rock-climbing there was a rock below where I was standing I thought I could put my foot on.
My friend yelled out not to do it because he said I would fall because he could see things I could not.
But when we are in a cave in our life, the first thing we should do is say God what is it you want me to do?
Because God sees the big picture and he knows what is life giving and what leads to pain and brokeness
And thats simple enough right? Alright you are dismissed. (Not really)
Because its difficult to do. But there are things that we can do that helps us be obedient to God even in the cave
3. Because David gets this wrong
Davids men are going
and look at this next chunk of scripture in verses 8-15 because it says:
(ESV)
5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12 May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
So the first thing that can help us be obedient is right in verse 5 because Saul has ruined Davids life and David cuts Sauls Robe,
which in my head isn’t terrible but in verse 5 it says that David’s heart struck him.
in my opinion David should have done a lot worse then just mess up Sauls coat, but he ends up doing that and he feels convicted about it.
But you know I think this verse shows us why David was considered a man after God’s own heart.
Because David did not allow his heart to become caleced even from the smallest sin.
If you have ever worked out or done manuel labor, one thing you will probably start to notice is after a short period you start to develop callaces on your hand,
Which is great because they make your hands tough and you dont feel pain because they are calleced.
But you know an issue we have is we allow our hearts to become calleced where we can’t hear what God wants or doesn’t want us to do
And this doesent happen overnight but it happens because we ignore God’s call on the small things, and then when somthing big comes up we miss that.
I mean think about it David felt convicted about cutting Sauls robe.
We need to be obedient in the small things to be obedient in the big things.
The second thing is this shows us what it starts to look like because David realizes that he needs to confront the reason he is in the cave.
and look how David does this. You think he would run out going Saul you ruined my life and Im going to destroy yours!
But it actually says he bows to the ground, and says my lord and king and shows respect to Saul.
and then David starts to bring the truth into the situation, because he starts telling Saul, look why are you listening to people who say I want to harm you?
because its not true, and David actually shows him the piece of fabric he cut from Sauls outfit, and he goes I could have killed you but I didn’t, because I will not touch the lords annointed.
And this is an emotional word I mean how could David call this guy father when
But Davud recognized that in order for him to get out of the cave he had to shine the light on some things and tell Saul the truth.
Where he goes I have done no wrong, but you are trying to destroy my life.
And I think David does this for two reasons, he does it to confront Saul and say this is wrong.
But I believe he does it partly to shine light on his situation for himself.
You know there are times in our life where we feel like we have done wrong and we carry a burden around and we have to step back and say no this is the truth of what is happening.
And I want to be clear I am not saying this to say just clear your consience and say I have not done anything wrong,
But I am saying it because often times we carry around a burden where we might be saying I did this wrong or I did this other thing which caused this to happen,
And we just need to shine the truth and own up to where we messed up and but we also need to shine truth where we did not.
And then regardless we can give that burden to God.
and look at this next point because the truth is great but its important that we give the truth in love.
because David does this respectfully but he also does it in love.
Because in verse 11 he actually calls Saul Father. (almost like a Luke sky-walker and Darth Vador moment)
and this is a strong term of endearment.
It implies that he cares about Saul.
And look at the result of David telling Saul the truth in love.
Verses 16-20
16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
Truth and love melt Sauls hardened heart.
I mean here is this man (Saul) who thinks he is right, he has done all he can to get rid of David.
If you look before this passage Saul actually says God has delivered David to me.
Saul actually thinks he is doing God’s will, but because David confronts Saul with truth and love
Sauls heart melts.
and it says that he weeps and repents.
You know this morning I just wan’t to really ask you a question.
Does your heart need melting today?
Because David was in a literal cave, but Saul was in a cave to, because he was stuck dwelling on David,
And maybe this morning you are in a cave and you have two paths to choose from to get out of that cave.
You can do things your way or you can do things God’s way.
when you do things God’s way its amazing what can happen.
Because look at the chain reaction that occurs because of David doing things God’s way instead of his own way.
Saul repents (thats almost unimaginable for how out of control this situation is)
and he actually acknolledged David as the next king.
and not only that but he actually ends up calling David his son.
Reconciliation is happening
but you know that is the power of what us following Christ can do. He can mend a relationship that is un-mendable.
and wether its you or someone else that needs their heart melted this morning, the only way in can happen is through Christ.
You know Christ really is the ultimate representation of truth and love in our lives. He showed this to everyone he encountered.
He showed it when people hurt him
and he showed it until the very end of his life on earth where he died on the cross for us.
And this morning we are going to remember this by receving communion.
because the night Jesus was betrayed he was having a meal with his disciples and Jesus in the meal said this is my body broken for you and to eat it in remembrance of Him.
and they ate it
and then at the end of the meal he raised the cup and said this is my blood shed for you.
and bred and juice we are having today remind us of the grace that Christ gives us.
because Christ gives us all grace (he gave Judas the bread and drink even)
And Christ knew Judas would betray Him, but Christ was commited to pouring out his love
but we have to decide do I want to receive that that love and grace in our lives.
Because this is the only thing that can melt our hardened hearts
And so as I mentioned we are receiving communion and those helping will come forward and they will be serving up front.
and I want to invite you to come forward during this last song when your ready to receive the elements.
but don’t eat them right when you get them.
Take them back to your seat and we will receive them together as the body of Christ.
As long as you have placed your trust in Christ you are welcome to take part in communion
Pray with me and then we will receive communion