“David, Worshiping a step ahead of doubts”
1 Samuel 20:1-23
Vs. 1-10 Seeking hope in hopelessness
Vs. 11-17 Reassurance in God’s field
Vs. 18-23 A rock in the road
Intro.
I believe that the greatest obstacle we face in leading a worshipful life is doubts. Doubts? Yes you see we have no problem worshiping God as long as He continues to bless above and beyond our expectations. Ah but things do not go according to our plans and we begin to think we might be off track somewhere. Now doubts usually are cumulative in nature as our life’s experiences continually testify against God’s character and promises towards us. We may start out in trust but as things continue to mount against what we believe is God’s plan for us we slip into unbelief.
So what do we do? Well I don’t know what you do but I usually find my closest friend and do what comes very naturally to me “COMPLAIN”! I’m a world class complainer and if there was an Olympic event in complaining I’m pretty sure I would finish in the medals. Well it’s a comfort to me that a “man after God’s own heart” like David did just that. But follow me on this one dear saint, David complained to his best friend Jonathan but he should have done his complaining as he had in the 19th chapter at a worship service to his best friend the Lord. Yet with that we shall see that Jonathan does three things that the Lord does as we come to him in times of doubt:
- Vs. 1-10 He listens to our complaints: Simply Put the Lord is big enough to handle our doubts of His love.
- Vs. 11-17 He reassures us of His love and plans for us: The Lord will take us to His word and show us of His great love and the fact that He has a wonderful plan for us.
- Vs. 18-23 He reminds us that “bump’s in the road” don’t deter us from His destination they correct towards them. There is nothing that you and I will face that can separate us from the love God, Paul wrote in Romans 8:39 in fact they will only severely draw us closer to Him.
Vs. 1-10 Seeking hope in hopelessness
Vs. 1 What we have here before us is David’s conversation with his friend Jonathan and his doubts of Jonathan’s love for him. The greater question is, “Why did David leave the place of worship and security for one of insecurity?” There is little doubt that the Lord could have continued to protect David there with Samuel worshiping the Lord.
You will recall that Saul sent three groups of assassins to kill David and each time they ended up worshiping the Lord as well. So when the worship service became a revival Saul went himself to kill David and he too had an encounter with the power and presence of God. Of course the tragedy of Saul is that this encounter with the Lord did not change his heart, it only changed his emotions. Perhaps David wanted to see if Saul’s heart had been pierced this time as four times prior the only thing that Saul wanted pierced was David.
But be that as it may I find at times in my life that I’m not willing to rest quietly in His presence and let Him work things out in my life. Now I’ve got to do something and when I venture out away from His presence and security I’m again flooded with doubt, discouraged feeling if my life is ruined.
David has a series of questions for Jonathan that he needs answered. Now we must not forget that these are David’s thoughts and doubts. This is the man that God declared was after His heart, the man who had just proclaimed the Gad was his “High Tower” against the storms of life. Simply put David was a man just like us who experienced doubt, disappointment, and disillusionment, when his real life experiences seemed to make God’s word a lie! Look at David’s threefold question to Jonathan:
- “What have I done?”: The word used here has to do with what we would say. “Why me?” What in my life as a whole deserves this trial. Perhaps David was wanting to test Jonathan’s loyalty to see if his father Saul had begun to influence his opinion of him. This phrase speaks to me about how I often view life as some sort of score card with my “good works” on one side and my failures on the other. It seems to me that I have little complaint when God is rewarding me based upon His grace in spite of me. You will seldom hear me say those words “What have I done” then. Oh but when I’ve been a good boy and I’m not getting what I think I should then you will hear those words. The truth is David hadn’t done anything, period, neither good or bad.
- “What is my iniquity”: Here the word he uses is found over 300 times and it speaks of moral perversity. The point of David here seems to be looking over his lifestyle and saying “Hey I’m a good guy!” “I’m active at church, keeping myself away from the things of the world.” We fall into this way of thinking don’t we? When we face prolonged adversity we start looking at our lives ledger sheet seeing if we are in the black or the red. And if we see that our lives are in the black then we begin to think that we need to go to accounts payable as we have not received what is due!
- “What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”: It is possible for you and I to not be practicing an immoral lifestyle and still be guilty of a sin against another. So David wants to know what sin he had committed against Saul that was worthy of death.
- In each of these three questions David is looking at his circumstances as unjust and unfair and though from man’s perspective it is true David has lost his eternal perspective. Now I do not fault David for this. I’m not saying that I could have done better, no in fact I marvel that it took so long for him to do so.
Vs. 2 Based upon Jonathan’s response to David’s complaint there seems to be an unasked question of David directed at Jonathan which is why he answers David this way. Do you see that? Jonathan seems to pick up on it and attempts to reassure him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” David’s unasked question is, “Where were you when these three sets of assassins and finally your father came out to kill me?” “We made a deal to be best friends through thick and thin and you didn’t say a word about what was coming my way?”
Jonathan’s answer was “Hey, you must be mistaken all’s well with dad and you since we made the deal out in the field.” Jonathan clearly loved his father and believed that he had a close enough relationship with him that Saul would not dare make a move without first telling him.
Here’s what I find in my own life, when I get away from the presence of the Lord my insecurity can be seen in the distrust I have of those who have proven their love for me. We begin to doubt those who love us attentions towards us; why is that so? Well it is because we are looking for our security in the wrong place!
Vs. 3-4 David asks Jonathan to swear to him again as he is “just a step away from death at the hands of Saul”! “I’m hanging on by a thread”, says David. Have you ever felt like that? I find that most people live in either two extremes:
- “I’m a step away from death”: Depending upon where our hearts are at we will either think life is precious or we will become paranoid.
- “This could never happen to me”: I think most folks live in this attitude as they think cancer, car wrecks and other catastrophes always happen to the other fellow.
Jonathan’s reply is what every friend does, “I’m on your side, what can I do for you!” I believe you and you tell me what you want and it’s yours. As great as those words were, they do little to ease David’s despair over his circumstances.
Vs. 5-8 One can hear the desperation in David’s scheme to determine the truth. Why is he so desperate to find out the truth that he is willing to live in untruth himself! The Jews kept a lunar calendar and as such the start of every month was a celebration of God’s faithfulness. So they would meet for a three-day feast praising the Lord for His goodness towards them and David decides that this would be a great time to see what Saul’s heart was towards him as he would deliberately miss the feast at his table and lie saying that he had a family reunion to attend instead. On the first day nothing would be said and Saul would just think that David had gotten sick but if he asks tell him that I’ve gone to celebrate the feast with my family and that I asked you for permission.
How ironic this was that it was a celebration of God’s faithfulness that David devises this plan. Oh don’t miss this Christian His goodness is new every morning we need not wait to find out once a month! Look up into heaven and you will see his goodness. Man can I relate to David can’t you? Now David closes this with, “Look Jonathan if you are on your fathers side just kill me now!”
Vs. 9-10 Jonathan reassures him that there is no way that he is about to harm him and furthermore he will let him in on Saul’s attitude then David asks “How are you going to let me know if he is upset with me?”
Hey, Christian may I suggest to you a better thing than what David does here? Why not take your insecurities and doubts to the Lord? God is a great listener and a better source of comfort than even your best friend. And you know that you don’t have to polish your words or attitudes with Him. You can say just how you feel, even about how He is treating you and how you deserve better than you are getting from Him.
It’s not like He doesn’t know what you’re thinking anyway. Have you ever been mad at God? I mean have you ever been so mad that you thought about just throwing in the towel on your faith? Why didn’t you tell Him? “Well I was afraid He would make matters worse!” Hey news flash He knew what was going on in your heart before time began. I believe that the best person to tell I’m upset about the circumstances and situations of my life is God and you know what I’ve found? He is a great listener and just getting those things off my chest helps me out tremendously because as I say them to them and hear them out loud myself and blow off that steam they sound so ridiculous that I end falling in His arms of love!
Vs. 11-17 Reassurance in God’s field
There are two great things Jonathan does in these verses:
- Vs. 11-13 “Come, and let us go out into the field.” The field? Yes this was the same field in 19:2-5 where David heard all the things that his best friend thought of him and how he defended him. I suggest to you that this field was an assurance of Jonathan’s love as it was there that he had demonstrated his commitment to him before his enemy. Again Jonathan tells David that he is on his side and that he makes an oath to him that if he does not do so that the Lord may do to him more than this.
- Vs. 14-17 “You shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” Here is what Jonathan does in these verses, as he makes David swear an oath not to harm his descendents long after he is gone. So? Well that suggests to David that God’s plan was not going to be thwarted no matter how it looked at the time. Jonathan reveals to David that even if David doubted God’s plan the Lord was still none the less going to bring it into fruition.
Christian that is the assurance God wishes to give you during a season of doubt and discouragement! He wants you to know that He loves you and that your security rests in Him not in you! He wants you to know that He has a glorious plan for your life and it’s His plan and as such can not be thwarted! Doesn’t that make you want to worship Him?
Vs. 18-23 A rock in the road
Vs. 18-23 Yes you say but what about this “road block” I’m facing? Well Jonathan has David stay three days in the field by a stone called “Ezel” and that he would shoot three arrows which would indicate which way David was to go, either back to the palace or out on the road. Now obviously this covert system was designed to keep Saul from knowing that Jonathan was tipping David off on his plans.
But there is more than this to the story. You see, the word “Ezel” means separation and that coupled with the arrows reveal something very interesting to me as it relates to worshiping the Lord in seasons of doubt. You see David saw Saul as a “stone” that blocked him from getting to where the Lord had called him but the truth was Saul was nothing more than a stone pointing him in the direction the Lord was taking him. Do you get it?
They say the arrow points us in the right direction and it is true, so the stone set in the road does not take us on a detour but rather takes us on the most direct route the Lord had planned for our lives. How do we know this Pastor? How can I be sure of this? Well look at Jonathan’s words here as he tells us three truths concerning the road that we are on:
- Vs. 21 “As the LORD lives, there is safety for you and no harm”: The first truth that God would have us know is that in His arms there is safety and no harm. Oh don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying you won’t experience things that will leave you bewildered but ultimately you and I will proclaim that those things, which wounded us, made us better. Yes it is true that every scar is a testimony of an injury but they are an even greater witness of healing!
- Vs. 22 “Go your way, for the LORD has sent you away”: This just takes all the uncertainty out of our circumstances doesn’t it? Wherever way we may find the “bump in the road” takes us we can be assured that the Lord has sent us. Isn’t that great?
- Vs. 23 “The LORD be between you and me forever.”: Finally we have the assurance that the Lord is between us in the situation or circumstance we face.
So we can worship in season of doubts because:
- We know that He listens to every cry of our hearts and there isn’t a thing we may think or say that he doesn’t understand.
- He offers us such great assurances both of His love for us as well as the outcome being for His glory and our betterment.
- Finally we can worship because we can be certain that the bump we may think Is hindering us from going in the right direction is in Fact pointing us in the way we should go.
“David, Worshiping on the Road Called Life”
Vs. 24-34 A throne, God’s purpose for us
Vs. 35-40 A cross, God’s path for us
Vs. 41-42 Faith, God’s plan for us
Intro.
In the 24th verse we are told that David hid in the field by the stone called Ezel whose name means, “to show the way”. You will recall that this was part of the plan that Jonathan and David devised to determine a safe way to let David know if he was going back to the palace or to be a fugitive. Furthermore in this chapter we know that David waited by that stone for three days. As far as David was concerned an arrow that would be shot from a bow that he did not control would determine the direction his life was going.
Have you ever felt like that? That your life’s direction is hinging upon some fanciful flight of an arrow that is completely out of your control? What must those three days have been like for David? I can only say that they would have been pure turmoil for me, as I would have felt as my life was spinning out of control. Ah but that is not the case dear Christian! Though we may pass by the stone “that shows the way” many times and arrows are shot by another’s bow that seem to decide our fate, there is Someone else who decides our destiny.
As Jeremiah surveyed the devastation left in the wake of the nation’s refusal to obey the Lord, he wrote, “She did not consider her destiny”! (Lam 1:9) Did not consider her destiny? No it seems as though she had made sinful choices, rebellious decisions without regards to the truth that she was the apple of God’s eye (Zech. 2:8). Mark this, note this dear Christian “Your life may be out of your control but it is not out of control!”
Perhaps you’ve heard it this way, “You may not know what the future holds but you know Who holds the future.” In this chapter we shall see three truths that will keep us worshiping on the road called life. For purpose of outlining this morning I shall give them to you at the start:
- Vs. 24-34 God’s purpose for us is a throne: Vs. 31 “For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom.” Even Saul knew that God’s purpose for David was the throne and so too God’s plan for us according to Revelation 1:6 where we are told that Jesus “has made us kings and priests to His God and Father”.
- Vs. 35-40 God’s path for us is a cross: Vs. 38 “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” Oh but the path to the throne is one that will lead us to our cross. Did not Jesus tell us all this in Math 16:24 that “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Jesus told Peter prior to His ascension “When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” (John 21:18)
- Vs. 41-42 God’s plan for us is faith: Vs. 42 “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.” God has even given us the means by which we can navigate the path to His purpose for us and it is only by trusting Him!
Vs. 24-34 A throne, God’s purpose for us
Vs. 24-25 As David awaited his fate in the field Saul sat down to celebrate the new moon feast. The seating arrangement is given as Saul made sure that his back was to the wall with his general beside him and across the table was Jonathan and if present David so he could keep an eye on them.
I mention this to say that once we get away from the security we have in the Lord our insecurity becomes a real visible part of our lives. Saul wants to make sure that no one could sneak up behind him and that he had some muscle next to him as well as the ability to keep an eye upon his son and a man who had risked his life for the betterment of Saul’s reputation. Apart from the Lord all the world is after us and our family and friends are our enemies!
Vs. 26-27 As the new moon feast began and David’s chair at the table was empty Saul thought nothing of it, as it was not uncommon for a person to be unclean for the feast. Leviticus 22 gives us several reasons for a person to miss the first day of a feast and it required only that they skip the first night.
It is important to realize that Israel centered their social life around their relationship with the Lord and getting together to thank and praise the Lord for His provisions was no small matter. Yet at the same time Saul had turned it into mere religion, as we too are prone to do. It never ceases to amaze me at how those precious times of fellowship and communing with the Lord can be turned into every other thing but what ought to be sweet praise to our God.
As the 2nd day of the feast began and still no David Saul began to give himself over to his insecurities. Now we know this because he refers to David when he says, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?” Three times Saul calls David the “son of Jesse” and not by his name or calling him his son in-law.
This phrase was used as a derogatory statement about his family’s low societal position. What Saul was saying by its use was, “That low class country bumpkin ought to be here seeing that he’s not fit to buss my table let alone sit at it as a honored guest!” The truth of course is that it was Saul who insisted in elevating David to this position of honor; furthermore David was now royalty as he was married to Saul’s daughter.
Vs. 28-29 Jonathan is very careful to word David’s request in such a way as to give no reason for any negative response from his father concerning David’s absence.
- “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem”: First off David submitted to authority by asking permission to go. In other words David did not just blow this feast off or take for granted the privileged position given to him by Saul. Jonathan also mentions David’s destination so as not to arouse suspicions that he was somehow mounting a force to take the throne.
- “Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there”: The reason for the request and the force behind it are also stated. All of this was untrue but what Jonathan said is that David’s brother who was a soldier in Saul’s army commanded David to go to the feast in their hometown as a family reunion. Clearly if Saul was a reasonable man he would have said no big deal.
- “If I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers”: Finally with a great touch of humility on David’s part Jonathan suggests in the words “get away” that his leaving was going to be as brief as possible and that he would soon return from this obligation.
Vs. 30-31 Saul’s insecurity in the Lord immediately manifests itself at his distrust in Jonathan’s words. As a parent we can almost always tell in the tone of our children’s voices and their hesitation when they are telling us a tall tale and such must have been the case with Saul.
Two things are revealed in Saul’s words “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!” And “ the shame of your mother’s nakedness?” Not only does this suggest that what was wrong with Jonathan in Saul’s eyes was his mothers fault. But it goes further as these words suggest that Saul is saying that his choice to support David at the expense of his own advancement would make people think that he is not Saul’s son but that his wife had an affair with another man. Saul is trying to shame Jonathan for his mothers sake to take action upon David because in not doing so everybody is going to think that she had slept around and that he was the offspring of her indiscretion.
Saul again appeals to Jonathan’s sense of advancement and say’s, “Your kingdom will not happen unless David is dead and I’ll kill him for you!” It is here that we gain application for our own lives and how at times it seems as though our lives hang upon where the arrow lands. Know this dear Christian even our enemy Satan knows that you and I are God’s children destined for the throne of His grace!
We can worship the Lord now even during the times when our life is out of our control because they are never out of His control. You may have just gotten those test results back from the doctor or the notice from your job and you see the arrow fly in a direction that you can not see any good coming from. But know this dear saint as Paul wrote of this in 2nd Corinthians 4:17 “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. God’s purpose for you and I is for the throne as 2 Tim 2:12 say’s that “We shall also reign with Him.”
I suggest to you that it is much easier to wait at the stone that shows the way and see the arrow fly in a direction that we can not control when we realize that we are standing next to our “Rock” and nothing shall change where He is taking us as He said in John 14:3 “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Vs. 32-34 Jonathan’s friendship was based upon truth and not just feelings and that is how he responds to his dad. Though Jonathan tries to reason with Saul there is no point (pardon the pun) to it. Insecurity in the Lord causes us to do so many dumb things doesn’t it? I mean one moment Saul is chastising Jonathan for not wanting the throne and the next thing he is trying to kill him thus eliminating him from the opportunity of ever taking his seat as King, where is the wisdom in this?
Saul had great determination to disobey but loved his sin so much that he would not take that same determination to do what was right. I hear people speak of the Christian life in terms that seem to suggest that it takes greater faith then they have. But the truth is that it is not the lack of faith that is the problem rather it is what object of what their trust is in!
Jonathan now leaves the table and the feast knowing his fathers resolve to kill David and it breaks his heart to see it. There are those who would rather stay in their disobedient state at any cost even the cost of eternity and there is nothing anyone can say or do that will change their resolve.
Vs. 35-40 A cross, God’s path for us
Vs. 35-40 The plan was that the distance of the arrow would represent the direction that the Lord was sending David. The shorter distance meant that it was safe for him to come back to the place and perhaps the distance to the throne would have been shorter and easier to obtain, but the greater distance meant the opposite. No doubt the lad was there for a twofold purpose:
- First to dispel any suspicions that Saul may have had concerning Jonathan’s activities.
- Second it was through conversations with the lad that he could further clarify the meaning of the spent arrow thus letting David know of which road the Lord was sending him on.
There are times in our lives that the paths to where the Lord wants us are shorter and much more favorable to our liking. Other times they are much longer and filled with great adversity but no matter how far the arrows of life are we can not with certainty that which Jonathan had said in verse 22 “the LORD has sent you away.”
Oftentimes it is a small thing that signals to us a great change. The truth be told we are not “captains of our own ship’s” we are but sailors on His. Further more the joy of the cruise is not based upon the calm of the seas but rather in the knowledge that our captain has not only sailed these waters he has conquered the seas towards our destination.
As David watched that arrow take flight and go on past him it must have first pierced his own heart. God was sending him away and perhaps for a moment he wondered, “Did my friend mean to pull the bow so tight to send it on its flight?” Oh but Jonathan’s words to the lad told the story “Is not the arrow beyond you?” “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” The journey the Lord was taking David on to the throne was going to be a long one that would take him far “beyond” where he wanted to go and it was one that he could not delay his departure.
So now we come to our second application point for our lives to worship the Lord while on the road called life and that is the course that God has us all on is the road to Calvary. Yes we are going to the throne but there will be far less of us when we get there! Make no mistake about it Christian you may successfully avoid this road called the cross but we all will trod it’s path sooner or later.
We all will watch the arrow pass over our heads taking us to where we would not on our own go. Ah but we know that this is as much His road as is the short path and frankly any road that does not cause me to lose some of my excess baggage along the way is probably not best for me. Mark this saint there is no shortcut to maturity in Him it all runs through the bumpy road where we are a fugitive from the world!
Oh how often the whimsical flight of the arrow’s flight and place in which it lands cause us to doubt God’s love, purposes and promises towards us. Oh but it should not. He will get us to where He wants us if we remember the road that we are on.
Vs. 41-42 Faith, God’s plan for us
Vs. 41 I’m certain that neither of these two had thought that this is how their lives as friends would have ended up. In fact Jonathan had hoped for many years of serving the Lord together as friends but that was not God’s plan for them. The Bible only records one other meeting between the two best friends and it is not long after this that Jonathan will be killed with his father and brothers while fighting the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. There in the 23rd chapter some ten years later they meet and Jonathan encouraged David saying, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.”
The arrow meant separation from two close friends and it broke both their hearts but David’s more so as he was the one going through such great adversity. I suppose most of us would prefer the “correspondence course” on this road of heartaches but there is none available. There will come a time and most likely more than one where we will cry out to the Lord and ask, “Why are you allowing me to go through this? It’s the most difficult thing I have ever gone through!”
Years ago when T.V. was still at its infant stage when errors happened originating from the point of broadcast a voice would come on over our screens saying, “Do not attempt to adjust your set the circumstances are beyond your control!” That is true often in our lives as well isn’t it? Our disappointments are often God’s appointments and we must learn that these difficulties don’t represent His heart towards us. Some of God’s favorite people have spent most of their lives on the road of the cross.
Vs. 42 This is the earth and not heaven but we are not alone on this road the rock not only points the way He will go with us as well. There is only one way to navigate on this road and Jonathan tells David, “Go in peace”! Our heart longs to cling to the familiar but the Lord desires to be that which is most familiar to us! We can not manipulate the circumstances forever we will all spend time walking by faith on this road that leads to the throne.
God was calling David past the things known to the One that knows him. “The Lord is between the throne and the path of the cross!” May these truths cause us to worship at His feet because we know what His purpose is for us, we know that the road is rough but we know that He walks it with us!