This Is Not What I Expected (2) use

This Is Not What I Expected

4/24/22

Text: 1 Samuel 22:1-2

22:1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.

2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. [1]

In the text, David is on the run from Saul, and he flees to Achish, the king of Gath; the king's servants recognize him, and he acts as if he is mentally challenged before the king to get away from him. He flees from there and escapes to a cave at Adullam.

I would like to draw from the thought: This Is Not What I Expected

From the time David was anointed in his father’s house in Bethlehem, his life seemed to be in a downhill spiral because anytime you have an anointing of God in your life, you will go through some things on the way to your purpose you are anointed for.

· He becomes the worship leader for Saul, worshiping the demons off of Saul

· He becomes the armor-bearer for Saul and Saul censuses something special about David. Saul senses God is up to something, and he wasn't even at the anointing of David. 1 Samuel 16

It's amazing that sometimes jealous people are spiritual because they can see that God is up to something in your life sometimes before you see it.

· Sometimes you just need to thank the people who are coming against you because they see God is up to something before you see it.

· You didn't know you were that awesome till they started messing with you.

So, David ends up at this cave twenty miles outside of Adullam; put yourself in the shoes of David!

· Here you are, the next king chosen by God!

· Here you are anointed for royalty

· Here you are being told by God that you are elevating for kingship

· And now your life has you in a dark, damp, dingy depressing place.

David has to be looking around, knowing who he is and seeing where he is, and saying, “This Is Not What I Expected.”

· Have you ever had something go down in life, and you say to yourself? This is not what I expected?

· Life can take some strange turns on the path to where God is taking you

Is there anybody here today who can testify that you got in some stuff that you thought was good, but nobody told you about the bad?

· You took a job for more money, and you found out more money equals more problems

· You got married for better or worse, and better never showed up, and worse took up residence

· You got the promotion and along with the promotion came more headaches

· You moved to a new city, and you found out they are more scandalous there then where you moved from

· And every now and then, you can look at your life and say to God, “This Is Not What I Expected”!

And if you're not careful, you will turn and walk away from your blessing because you didn't recognize you can't go from the pasture to the place without going through the cave.

· The cave is a necessary stop before making your way to the palace

· So how do I deal with my cave situation, so I don't forfeit where God's trying to take me

There are Three things this text teaches us:

First:

The Cave is a place of cultivationand not cancellation – Repeat!

To cultivate means to prepare or develop a skill, a ground for planting – God is cultivating you for the assignment on your life!

Cancellation means canceling something out – You just out the picture or plan!

· So, don't judge the condition of the journey by the place you are currently at – God is preparing you!

· In other words, don't look at where you are at and have second thoughts about where God is taking you.

· Better yet, don't let where you are at become the definition of where you are going

· 2 Corinthians 5:7 - 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.[2]

· 2 Corinthians 4:18 - 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. [3]

By sight: This is a hot mess

· He's on the run from a man he has served

· If it were not for David, Saul would be still tormented by evil spirits

· If it wasn't for David, Israel would be living in fear of a giant named Goliath

o David had been faithful

o David had served, and here he was in a cave that didn’t look anything like a castle

And if you’re sight driven, you might come to the conclusion that God is not in it because you would not be where you’re

Because we connect the favor of God with the condition… we’re in you have to realize it’s God’s favor that’s keeping you… while you’re going through

· You still got your mind

· You still got your sanity

· You still got your peace

· You still got your joy

· And that’s the favor of God

You can’t look at where you are at… and begin to doubt where God is taking you!

· The place you are in is cultivating you for the assignment

Look at Vs2: 2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. [4]

He became their leader…. He became what God had pre-ordained him to be… in the cave

· You may feel like you are in a cave

· But could it be God is preparing you for the assignment that He has for you!

· God has you where you are at because while he is working on you, he has you in the cave

· You maybe thinking, “This is not what I expected, “but hold on to God’s unchanging hand

o He's preparing you!

o It's not cancellation; it's cultivation!

The Second Thing this text shows us:

You have to learn how to do ministry while you are dealing with your own misery

· Can I drop this on you: If the only time you are of use to God is when everything is good, then you are no use to nobody – Repeat!

· There have been many Sundays I didn’t feel up to it preaching

· There have been some Sundays that everything hasn’t been peachy at home from Monday to Sunday!

· But you or I don’t have the luxury of telling God that we don’t feel like doing it today because we have so much stuff going on

o What if God decided to tell you that He had a busy day and would get back to you next week?

· The mature person is the person that God can use to do ministry while you need ministering to yourself (powerful) repeat!

I'm in the text: The text says God sends this group to David… get the picture:

· David is on the run from Saul; he already had to play crazy and he is hiding out in this cave.

· Now you would think God would send him people who can minister to him, people who could tell him what God is elevating him too!

Look at vs2 of those God sent: And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. [5]

· These people are distressed

· Some in debt

· And people who were discontent... They weren't happy, bitter with their lives

Let me put it like this God sent him:

· The distressed people… those who are depressed… and those who are broke… that’s a recipe that’s not for any leader to minister to…

o What if that was David’s first church?

o You got people who are crazy

o Depressed

o And those who are broke

God sends to David people who don’t have the resources to help David reach God's assignment for him.

That’s why you have to be careful not to judge people by the way they look… because you haven’t always looked that way!

· David has to deal with them… The Message Bible says it like this: So, David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around – losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.

· And when you look at the situation, David became their leader, which means he had to train them while going through his own challenges.

· Which means he has to minister to them while he needs ministering to himself.

It hit me that this was David’s first army; he needed these men who he could trust, and it was in the cave that they became friends and loyal to him.

· And when it comes to friendship, if you can’t be my friend while I am in the cave, I sure don’t want you to be my friend when I get to the palace!

· David needed these men!

Sometimes God may not deliver you, but He will give you the endurance to get you through the situation!

Watch This: The first two depression and distress are spirits; they can be healed while they are in the cave

· But those who were in debt, he couldn’t help because there were no banks in the cave

· So, those who had spirit issues could come out with better spirits, but those with debt would come out with the same debt that they walked in with!

What do you do when God forces you to live with something that He could change?

· What do you do when other people come out of the cave delivered, and you have to deal with your problem?

· What do you do if God doesn’t heal you of the cancer?

· What do you do while you watch your family fall apart?

· What do you do if your child doesn’t become what you want?

· What do you do while everyone else is being delivered and you are still dealing with something, and you know God has the power to change it?

Third Thing This Text shows us:

· You have to learn how to have endurance even if you don’t get deliverance

Saul was still looking to kill David vs6: 1 Samuel 22: 6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him.[6]

Sometimes God will give you the endurance to endure with what He doesn’t change! Look at Job life: You remember the story in Job 1:6

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 Lordsaid 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?”[7]

Scholars tell us that David wrote 3 Psalms while he was in the cave, and while he wrote them, he shared them with the others, and while they all sang and went over what David was writing, it got into their spirit and prepared them to leave the cave!

You also have to look at these Psalms in the reverse order of how they’re arranged in the Psalms.

The First Psalm was 142: With my voice I cry out to the Lord;

with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.

2 I pour out my complaint before him;

I tell my trouble before him.

3 When my spirit faints within me,

you know my way!

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me. [8]

· In Psalm 142, David is complaining about why God has him in the cave in the first place, so when complaining does not work, he wrote Psalm 54

In Psalm 54, he is praying for God to get him out of the cave, and when complaining didn’t work and praying didn’t work. - O God, save me by your name,

and vindicate me by your might.

2 O God, hear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth. [9]

He wrote Psalm 34: I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together! [10]

Can I Tell You How to get through the cave when God doesn’t change things!

· If you complain and that doesn’t work

· If you pray and that doesn’t work

· You got to say to God, even if you don’t change it: I will bless the Lord at all times

o Even if I don’t get out: I will bless the Lord

o God, even if you don’t fix it: I will still praise you

o You have to learn how to lift Him up: when things are falling apart!

o If you don’t fix it: I will still give you the glory

If he doesn’t change it: You have to learn how to bless Him anyhow!

You have to learn how to bless Him—even if He doesn’t do what you want Him to!

You have to learn how to bless Him – even if He doesn’t fix what you want Him to fix!

You have to learn how to lift Him up – even if He doesn’t change what you want Him to change!

You have to wake up every day and say: 24 This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. [11](Ps. 118:24)

Is there anybody here who is willing to say?

· I will praise Him in the cave!

· I will bless Him in the cave!

· Because when l praise Him, He will sustain me!

· If I praise Him, He will bless me

You have to learn how to bless Him in the middle of your situation!

You have to learn how to bless Him in the middle of your crises!

You have to learn how to bless Him, even if He doesn’t heal you!

You have to learn how to bless Him, even if you don’t get the job!

You maybe thinking: This Is Not What I Expected – but hold on God has an assignment on your life for His glory!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Sa 22:1–2. [2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 2 Co 5:7. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 4:18. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Sa 22:2. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Sa 22:2. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Sa 22:6. [7] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Job 1:6–8. [8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 142:1–3. [9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 54:1–2. [10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 34:1–3. [11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 118:24.