Sermon Tone Analysis
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Rough, rocky, dry, lifeless ground.
That is how the wilderness is defined.
A territory incapable of sowing in new life.
Yet God would use this place as a place of turn around.
God would use the wilderness in remarkable ways.
Our series “Out of the Wilderness” continues today with a study that is a bit unlike the others we have covered thus far.
Moses was in the wilderness for taking matters into his own hands.
The Pharaoh looked to kill him as punishment for the slaying of an Egyptian man.
Yes Moses was trying to defend a fellow Hebrew according to scripture, but he took control instead of giving God control of the situation.
The Israelites would spend 40 years in the wilderness due to their grumbling.
As they stood on the very edge of the land promised to them by God, they grumbled over the obstacles that had to be dealt with.
In both cases, the wilderness was a place of discipline.
In both cases, the people were driven to the wilderness for their disobedience to God.
But God did not leave them there.
In the case of Moses, the Lord wasn’t finished with him yet!
God turned it around.
Moses would be redirected by God and led his people to freedom by fervently obeying the Lord’s commands.
In the case of the Israelites, God wasn’t finished with them yet!
After 40 years they would go up and take the country that God had promised.
The grumblers were no more, and God’s people received the promised land!
Tonight we look at the wilderness comes from a different perspective.
It is not seen as a place of discipline, but rather something else entirely.
Tonight the wilderness will serve as a place of refuge.
Now one might ask, “How can such a desolate, lifeless, barren territory be used as a place of safety and refuge?”
Refuge defined is not a place, but is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble.
When the tornado sirens wail and the storm is on the horizon, we find refuge by going to the basement or most safe place in our home, and wait for the storm to pass.
Now, if your storm shelter is anything like ours it is cold, cement walls creating a room that is dreary and damp, but, it’s safe.
It’s strong.
It’s not pretty, but it certainly gets the job done.
Tonight we watch someone who is described as “A man after God’s own heart” must take refuge in the wilderness for fear of losing his life.
David is in trouble.
His trouble is unique in that it was caused by over achieving.
He was good at what he did because he served with all his heart.
He was faithful to God in all things.
He was also faithful to the king, Saul.
We see a quick description of the situation in 1 Samuel 18:5-7
Now, you would think that a king would be pleased with this kind of servant!
David went above and beyond expectation!
But pleased is not the word used to describe Saul’s reaction.
We see in 1 Samuel 18:8
It was from this moment that the tension began to rise.
Saul was… jealous.
In his mind, he was not about to take the backseat to a guy like David.
So Saul began to look for ways to dispose of David.
In this situation, David has a choice, He can either:
Fight.
Take up arms and defend his life.
This means going up against Saul, the anointed king of Israel.
Take flight.
Flee.
Run for his life Take to the wilderness and hope Saul doesn’t catch up.
Was David in the wrong for going the extra mile?
Was David trying to build up for himself a name greater than that of Saul?
Was there an overthrow attempt in the making?
No.
And David makes that clear in his choice to… flee.
David could have taken a stand against Saul.
Remember, this is the same David that just one chapter back, stood toe to toe with a nine foot giant and won the fight!
David knew how to fight, but David also knew how to pick the battles he would fight.
David made a choice to not go against the Lord’s anointed.
By doing so, David takes the high road.
David’s flesh was probably crawling with things like justification and human reasoning.
He could have ended this pursuit by ending Saul.
In fact, as we will study in a moment, David had what you might call the perfect opportunity to stop Saul for good!
But David would not give in to his flesh.
David, like he did in the battle against the giant, followed his faith.
In the name of honoring God, David chose to flee to the wilderness.
In all of our choices, in all of our conversations, conflicts, and confrontations, as believers in Christ we are called to take the high road.
This is especially true when our flesh wants to go the other direction.
What this means is we never back down from God’s truth.
What this means is we never stop shining God’s love.
David made the choice to honor God… even if it meant leaving comfort behind for the wilderness.
He finds his escape from the hand of Saul in the wilderness.
David placed honoring God above everything else.
David displays an amazing attitude…
What David displays for us in the taking of the high road is an attitude Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:5.
Jesus said “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
To be meek is not to be confused with being weak, or powerless or wimpy.
Meek defined is strength under control.
In who’s control?
In the believers case… God’s control.
Giving God lordship over our lives means giving Him lordship of ALL of our lives.
This includes our weaknesses and strengths.
We give it all to God.
We submissively follow His ways.
David demonstrates this amazingly while running for his life in the wilderness.
With Saul on his heels, David and his men hide in a cave.
Saul and his three thousand men begin to search the area and Saul decides to stop and rest… in the very same cave David was hiding in!
David and his men were far enough into the cave that Saul was completely unaware of their presence.
David’s men quickly see an opportunity.
Now’s the chance!
We can end this easily!
Instead, David approaches Saul undetected and cuts off a corner of his robe.
Immediately after doing this David, as 1 Samuel 24:5 reads, was conscious-stricken for doing what he did.
David could have ended Saul’s life, and all he did was cut a corner off his robe.
Yet David backed down and told his men in 1 Samuel 24:6-7
Talk about strength under God’s control!
Talk about faith, not flesh, in the lead!
Talk about taking the high road!
Why is such an example so important to us today?
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