EVEN IN MY DARKEST VALLEY
I WILL TRUST YOU LORD
Pastor KC Liu  /  1 Samuel 21-22  /   Feb. 19, 2017

Today, we are continuing our study in the book of 1 Samuel, in chapter 21.  Last week, we learned in chapter 18 of how King Saul’s envy and jealousy of David destroyed him. We saw how Saul was in bondage to fear, and plotting to kill David.  We learned how to overcome envy in our own hearts.  That was chapter 18.  We aren’t going to cover chapter 19 and 20 in detail, but I will give a brief synopsis of what happened. 

Saul continues his plot to kill David.  But his daughter Michal and his son Jonathan helped David get away.  This was a slap to Saul’s face.  His own son and daughter helping the person that he wants to kill.  Now David is fearing for his life.  He is super confused and sad.  He was thinking, “why does the King want to kill me? I’ve done everything he told me to. I’ve led his army in many victorious battles.  I am covenant brothers with his son.  He wanted me to marry his daughters.  I am loyal to him to a fault. I see him as my own father. Why does he want to kill me? I don’t understand! Why God is this happening to me?!”

Now, Jonathan meets up with David for one last time, as he sends him off, not knowing if he will ever see his best friend, his covenant brother again.  What was going through David’s heart at this point? 

​1 Samuel 20:41 tells us, “David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.”

He just lost it.  He wept, and wept and wept.  Have you ever lost a best friend, and it just tore you apart? That’s David right now.  And that’s where we will enter into our primary text for today, 1 Samuel 21: 1-15.

1 Samuel 21: 1-2  
David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?”
2 “The king has sent me on a private matter,” David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later.

Now let’s be interactive here.  David said that he was on official business here on behalf of the king. Did David tell the truth? No? Then why was David there? He was fleeing for his life! He was also there for necessary supplies and for comfort and counsel.

So why did he lie?  Maybe he was afraid that the priest will tell Saul where he is.  Maybe he was trying to protect Ahimelech for getting involved and aiding a fugitive. Maybe both, to protect himself and protect the priest.  

​1 Samuel 21: 3-4
3 Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”
4 “We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.” 5 “Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”

I think that was a awkward conversation to have with a priest.  But David was telling him, I don’t let my soldiers get distracted with the ladies.  They have to be 100% focused on the mission, or we will get killed from our enemies.  So the priest decides to give David the hot bread to eat, seeing that he’s tired and hungry.  

Verse 7- Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was there that day, having been detained before the Lord. 

In other words, Doeg was Saul’s chief of police, who happens to be there for a religious activity.  And later on we will find out, Doeg is very bad news.  He is like the villain Negan in Walking Dead.  We will see Doeg’s true colors in chapter 22.  Now David knows that he has to get away from Doeg, and he needs to do that fast. 

Verse 8 - David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword? The king’s business was so urgent that I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon!” 9 “I only have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah,” the priest replied. “It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here.” “There is nothing like it!” David replied. “Give it to me!”

Now David got both food and weapon from the priest. That was a good supply run.  

Verse 10 - So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath.

David now has food and weapon, so he is ready to run from Doeg, Saul’s right hand man.  And he runs to the city of Gath.  Gath is actually enemy territory, it was the home of Goliath, the Philistine giant that David killed in a previous battle in chapter 17.  And David is walking into town with a giant sword that belonged to Goliath! Why would David seek refuge in enemy territory?!  Perhaps he hoped that no one would recognize him there, and he can just blend in. Surly Saul and his men wouldn’t go to Gath looking for him.  Or perhaps he was hoping to gain alliance with the Philistines, hoping the enemy of his enemy, might be his ally. Let’s see what happens.

Verse 11 -  But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

​These officers knew that David slained tens of thousands of not just anyone, but Philistines!  Oh o, big trouble! 

​Verse 12 - David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard. 14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

He was so afraid that they would kill him on the spot that he pretended to be a crazy man, drooling everywhere.  The king was so disgusted with him that he kicked him out of the royal palace!  He knew that he didn’t have safety in that city.  He couldn’t stay low key to blend in.  He couldn’t gain an alliance with anyone.  So he ran for his life once again. 

So was it David’s acting skills that saved him?  I don’t know about that.  Even David knew that it wasn’t his acting skills.  Even in the process of running for his life, he was praying and praising God. 

We can see his emotional and spiritual condition in the Psalms. in Psalm 34, it says this.
A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.
2.  I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.
4.  I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
6.  In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.
7.  For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

David said it was THE LORD who freed him, it was THE LORD who saved him from all his troubles.  He knew he didn’t get out of this danger by himself. 
Now, he is still running, and he is writing in his journal and praying to God at the same time. 

Let’s read chapter 22: 1-2 - So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. 2 Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men.

Now we see that David is hiding in the Cave of Adullam, it was a large cave. He was distressed for sure, maybe he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But then the Lord helps him reunited with his friends and family and soldiers who fought with David and were loyal to him.  

 3 Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Please allow my father and mother to live here with you until I know what God is going to do for me.” 4 So David’s parents stayed in Moab with the king during the entire time David was living in his stronghold.

We see here that the King of Moab was favorable to David, and helped keep his family save. Why was that? Perhaps it was because David had Moabite blood in him! Remember David’s great-grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite. We see the hand of the Lord orchestrating this whole situation, it was the Lord who saved them, and it was the Lord who prepared the way for them.  Now, it was THE LORD who provided them safe shelter. 

And one thing to observe here is that, when the Lord calls you to do something, he will also take care of your father and mother.  Don’t hesitate in doing what the Lord tells you to do because you are worried about your parents.  The Lord will take care of your parents.  

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​Verse 5 - One day the prophet Gad told David, “Leave the stronghold and return to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

Does David know why he should go to Judah? Not really.  He didn’t have a planned out strategy.  But he heard the voice of the Lord from the prophet, and he simply obeyed.  He knew that if it was the Lord who speaks and directs, it was the safest place to be.  In the center of God’s will is the safest place to be.

You see, David may be running for his life as a fugitive, but the Lord is with him. The Lord provides, The Lord delivers and The Lord directs him. How do you think David felt? Hard to see from historical records like 1 Samuel but we can read it again from the psalms.

Psalm 57 was his prayer to God when he was in the cave at Adullam.

Throughout this time of trouble, David didn’t run away from God, he didn’t run away from his faith because his life was falling apart. In fact, He is “running with God”.  And in the midst of his troubles, he was praising and worshipping God!  Yes, God! Great is your love, reaching to the Heavens!  Your Faithfulness reaches to the skies!!

We tend to think we need to get out of the cave to praise God, to be freed from our troubles before we can sing and make music, or for God to fulfils His purpose for me (v.2), but not so. David worships God in the midst of it all! To him, there is no correlation between what he is experiencing and the character of God.

God is good, no matter what. He is my refuge, no matter what. He will deliver me, no matter what. He has His purpose and I know His great love and His faithfulness. This is the posture of David’s heart. And this is the reason that God declares that this man DAVID is “a man after MY own heart!”

His trust in the character of God does not waver, no matter what.  This is the right perspective, but a difficult one for many people. If things are in a mess, how can God be good? If I’m running for my life, how can God be loving?

Don’t use hardships to “color” God. God will not change. Sing like David: “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.” (34:7)
God is on our side. He is IN the suffering with us. He provides, He delivers and He directs. “God is on the run with you.”

Philip Yancey puts it this way in his book, WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS?  “Where is God when it hurts? He is IN us – not in the things that hurt – but helping us to transform bad into good.”  That’s what God is committed to and that’s why Jesus came. 

If you are in trouble today, if you walking through your dark valley, if you are hiding in the Cave of Adullam from your enemies, there is great hope for you. 
It is THE LORD who saves.  It is THE LORD who provides for you.  It is the Lord who speaks to you.  He will bring you out of your bad situation.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  Keep your faith in the Lord, and He will deliver you.