Well, thank you very much Fiona, Christy and Kat for reading that passage to us.
It would be helpful if you keep that passage open as we journey through this evening.
But before we get started, let me just pray.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, we pray that the words that we have just sung would be true in our lives,
that they would be true this evening as we hear your word.
Father, that we would walk by faith and not by sight.
As we come to a difficult passage, we pray you would help us
and that we would learn from it what you want us to learn.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
To start us off this evening, I'm going with a little bit of a stranger introduction.
And I'd like you, instead of having a nice picture on the PowerPoint,
I'd like you to hold up your hand in front of your face for me.
So if everyone just has a wee look at their hand.
There you go. The majority of you are joining in. That's always good.
We use our hands on a daily basis, don't we?
But how often do we really think about them?
These hands can be tools both for good and for bad.
So how many of you...
You can put your hands down now if you will.
So how many of you have used your hands to wipe away the tear from a child's face?
And with that same hand have smacked a table in frustration or anger?
How many of you have used your hand to write a love letter?
And how many of you have used the same hand to write that angry email to a work colleague?
Our hands can be stretched out to welcome friends and family members into the warmness of our home.
Or they can be weapons that can turn people away in pain.
These hands can both harm and heal.
They can hurt and they can comfort.
They can build up or they can destroy.
And that's just our hands.
This evening in 1 Samuel chapter 23, I wonder if you noticed as Kat was reading to us the recurring word hand or hands.
It's as if there's a power play going on.
Saul thinks that David is in his hands.
He's got him in his grasp.
That he's nearly one.
But God does not deliver David into Saul's hand, the passage says.
So in this whole power play, the question that I want us to think about this evening is whose hand will prevail?
As we break into this next installment of the fugitive narrative of David's life in 1 Samuel,
we've seen David on the run.
He's fleeing from place to place for his life.
And we've seen Saul, the king of Israel, slaughter priests and a whole town just to get his enemy.
Saul has completely lost it.
David, as God's anointed king, is facing hostility from God's enemies.
And I'm sure that time and time again in this whole period in David's life, he was thinking,
whose hand will prevail?
Is God really going to win?
Will Saul's hand tighten his grip around me or will God deliver me by his mighty hand?
Whose hand will prevail?
But as we will see this evening, even though Saul seems so close and seems to have David on the ropes,
God's hand is working and nothing will prevail against it.
God's hand will prevail.
And in this passage, we see three things that the hand of God is doing.
And the first thing that we see in this passage is the helping hand of God.
In 1 Samuel 23, verses 1 to 14, the helping hand of God.
So in the beginning of chapter 23, we find David and his motley crew of the distressed,
the debtors and the discontent outcasts of Israel hiding in a forest.
And in verse 1, David is told that the Philistines are looting the threshing floors of Kyla,
a town around five miles away from where he currently is.
Now a threshing floor is a place usually outside the town where grain was stored.
And during harvest time, everyone would be there, separating the chaff from the grain.
And so it is the ideal place to attack because you'd get all the benefits of harvest without all the work.
So the Philistines were smart. That is exactly what they were doing.
But what would you expect David to do at this moment?
Now remember, he has no obligation to the people of this town.
He doesn't need to put his neck on the line.
He's got the king of Israel on his heels with a massive army, I might add.
Everything in this situation is screaming out, David, don't even think about it.
Go home, put your feet up.
Let Saul deal with his own mess.
But notice what he does in verse 2.
David hears about the plight of his countrymen.
And his reaction is not hot anger.
It's not rage. It's not a battle cry.
No, his first reaction is to turn to God.
Verse 2 says,
David's priority since defeating Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17
has been fighting with the Philistines.
And interestingly, that's actually what Saul was commanded to do by God in chapter 9 verse 16.
So David is doing the job that the king should be doing.
But instead of running into battle, David turns to God.
Now how often do we wait and inquire of God and his word before we act?
Before we attack others who have wronged us?
I know my first gut reaction is to react.
But what our transformed lives should lead us to do is to inquire of God and his word.
So David is placing himself under the authority and protection of God.
He's under God's authority because he is admitting that he is nothing but a tool in God's hand.
And he's putting himself under God's protection because he only has 600 of Israel's rejects with him.
He does not have a mighty army.
If he goes against the Philistines and he wins,
then there is no doubt on earth that God has won the victory for him.
Humanly speaking, this is a no-brainer.
David, go home.
Chill out.
But he inquires of the Lord and God helps David.
In verse 2, God says,
Go attack the Philistines and save Kyla.
Now we can't jump over this verse without noticing the significance of this event.
God has spoken to David.
This is the first time that God has spoken to David in the book so far.
God is revealing his will to his king for his people.
Go and save them, God says.
And understandably, David's men are afraid in verse 3.
So David asks God again.
And in verse 4, God says,
Go down to Kyla, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.
God says, Go, David.
The battle is already won.
The victory is mine.
You and your weak army will win, but not by your strength.
Not by your skill, but by my helping hand.
So David and his reject army win and defeat the Philistines.
God's hand had been in this battle, helping and fighting for David.
But just like every good story, after the triumph of an underdog,
comes a devastating event.
Saul gets wind of David's whereabouts.
And so he jumps to the worst conclusion possible.
In verse 7, he says,
God has delivered him into my hands.
For David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.
What an absolute fool.
The man who should be sitting on the throne and ruling in righteousness and wisdom
has become the court jester.
He's become the clown.
In his hatred for David, he completely bypasses God.
He isn't thinking that God has been working in David's life.
That God has been helping him and defending him.
No, he is completely blind to it all.
So do you see the difference between David and Saul?
David sees his enemy and he inquires of what God's will is and he acts upon it.
Saul has no thought for God's will.
But simply presumes that he is blameless and that God is on his side.
Somehow Saul thinks that God is pleased with him,
even though he has no regard for his people.
Saul, as king, should have been the one to protect Kyla,
to save the town from the Philistines, but he is not fit to be king.
And nor is he the right king.
And so the real king steps in and accomplishes God's will.
So Saul calls an army to go and get David in verse 8.
But this is not a thank you party.
This is not a parade with presents and flowers,
but this is a force equipped with swords and hatred,
with the only goal in mind to attack, capture and kill David.
So what does David do?
Well, again, in verse 10, he turns to God.
He prays, Lord God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely
that Saul plans to come to Kyla and destroy the town on account of me.
Will the citizens of Kyla surrender me to him?
Will Saul come down as your servant has heard?
Lord God of Israel, tell your servant.
So God does.
God tells David that the town will hand him over to Saul.
And so David and his 600 men leave in verse 13,
and they go from place to place, running for their lives.
But two things to notice about this little event in the life of David.
The first is the absolute tyranny of Saul.
The people of Kyla are so afraid of this king
that they're willing to hand David over to him.
They're happy to sell out the man who's just put his life on the line for them.
But the second thing to notice is how God is helping David.
God has helped David by giving him and his 600 men victory.
He has protected them and warned them of the town's intentions,
giving them time to flee.
So the unrighteous king has lost the plot.
The righteous king is being obedient and relying on God,
and the true and ultimate king of the universe
is ruling over this whole situation,
helping his servant David.
Look at the end of verse 14.
God did not give David into his hand.
God's helping hand is at work in David's life.
Now people can look at this passage and use it as a justification
for a desire to hear the voice of God directing them in everything they do.
But the truth is that God has already spoken
and revealed himself to us in his words.
The question is, in our times of need, where do we run?
Do we run and hide wishing for the comfort of an easy life?
Or when we face opposition, do we run to God?
Our first response should be to cry out to God in prayer
and earnestly seek his will by reading his word,
by speaking to his people,
and then actively doing something about it.
But how often are we like Saul?
How often don't we take God's word into account
and we just live our lives according to our own wishes
and our own desires?
Sometimes God's helping hand is very visible in our life,
and sometimes he completely turns situations around
and lifts us out of difficult circumstances.
But on the most part,
God keeps us in our difficult places
and he helps us through them.
He helps us by giving us endurance, patience,
and a greater reliance on him.
God is helping you because in the future you'll look back
and you will see God's goodness in your suffering.
Seeing the helping hand of God in our lives
should mean that as Christians we have the attitude of David,
attitudes of humility, of service,
of complete dependence and obedience to God.
Our lives should be marked by a complete surrendering to God's will.
God's helping hand is at work in our lives all the time.
And seeing him at work in our lives,
both in the day to day and through the work of Jesus Christ,
we should be able to wholeheartedly say,
Lord, take my life and let it be consecrated to thee.
It is yours, not mine.
So as David is on the run,
as he is fleeing for his life,
we see the helping hand of God.
And the second thing that we see in this passage
is the strengthening hand of God.
The strengthening hand of God in verses 15 to 18.
So David is now in the desert of Ziph
and he knows that Saul is searching high and low for him.
He's got nowhere to hide.
Saul is convinced of David's treachery
and determined that killing him is God's will.
But put yourself in David's shoes for a second.
He's been on the run for a while now.
He's been imprisoned and he's escaped.
He's hidden in caves with 400 men.
He's been as low as can be
from the palace courts to a cave in the middle of nowhere.
But also remember that he has been anointed king over Israel.
And he started off his life of running as one man,
as an individual.
And now he has 600 men with him.
David is growing in popularity.
He saved a town from being killed by the Philistines,
but he is still on the run.
Can you imagine how discouraged he is at this stage?
Everything in his life seems to be going wrong.
He knows where God has promised he will be.
He's been seeking to live out his life obediently and according to God's will,
but nothing is going his way.
I'm sure he was thinking,
God, when are you going to give me a break?
And in verse 16, we see a daring but caring move from Jonathan.
See, he went to David and it says that Jonathan helped him find strength in God.
What a godly friend Jonathan is.
He put his own life on the line to go and encourage his friend,
but not just with a pat on the back or a nice little motivational speech.
Jonathan is pointing David to God,
pointing to the source of all strength,
pointing him to the only one who can sustain him now in the time of his fear.
In verse 17, Jonathan says,
Jonathan is strengthening David by reiterating the promises of God to him that he will be king.
God is strengthening David through Jonathan.
Now here we get a little glimpse into how deep this friendship really is.
Jonathan knows exactly where David is and how to find him.
And yet he doesn't tell his own dad.
And he puts his life on the line to go and encourage David.
And he says to David,
I will be second to you.
So as the prince of Israel,
Jonathan is relinquishing his place of authority and power and bowing down to God's will.
Jonathan is a true friend.
When was the last time that you saw a fellow Christian struggling
and you encouraged them by pointing them to God?
All too often,
I think we casually say,
I'm praying for you.
Or we pull a verse out of context and we quote it and we think that we've somehow helped that person.
And those are good things to do,
to pray for people and to tell verses that will encourage them.
But do you know what's helped me most in my times of pain and suffering and despair?
Having a fellow believer come alongside me,
weep and mourn with me,
but ultimately pointing me to the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The world will tell us that we cannot help people,
but that is a lie.
Because as Christians,
we can point people to the only source of peace,
to the only source of assurance,
God,
that is how God can use you
and can use me
to strengthen people.
David isn't only strengthened by having a friend in Jonathan,
but much more than that,
David is strengthened by Jonathan's certainty
that God is faithful
and that his promises will be fulfilled.
Jonathan is certain that God's plan will prevail,
that God's hand will prevail.
And he knows that David's life is in God's hand.
God uses people to strengthen people.
Now it's so easy, isn't it,
to walk into church on a Sunday morning
or to walk into a small group during the week
and to moan,
to complain about how busy we are
or how hard work is
or how difficult the kids are at this moment in time.
And those are things that we should be praying for.
Absolutely.
But so often I think we moan instead of praying.
How different would our church life be
if instead of coming to moan,
we turned up and asked the question,
how can we encourage people?
How different would our church life be
if instead of showing up
and consuming everything we can,
instead of looking out for our own interests,
our own wishes,
our own desires,
but we actually came with a question in mind,
how can I build up my brother and sister in Christ today?
I can tell you the difference.
Our church would be transformed.
People would be happier
and more willing to serve and care for others.
But the thing that makes this change,
this transformation,
is not behavior modification.
Because if we think that,
then we've missed the point.
It is not simply putting on your Sunday best
and smiling until your cheeks hurt.
No.
It is walking into a room
with fellow broken brothers and sisters of Christ
and pointing them to the one place
where they can find real strength,
lasting certain hope
and endurance through struggles
and peace that passes all understanding.
So the question we should ask
when we prepare to go to any meeting,
whether that's Sundays,
small group,
or whether that's coffee
with a friend or family member,
the question is,
how can I best point this person
to the promises of God?
How might God use me
to strengthen this individual?
How can I best serve this person
so that they are absolutely overwhelmed
by God's goodness?
How can I best point this person
to see the sheer beauty of the gospel?
God uses people to strengthen people.
That is what Jonathan did.
That is how God could be working for you
and that is how God could be working through you.
What a privilege it is
that God would see fit to use us
to be instruments in his hand
to strengthen people.
So here's a little practical challenge for you.
After our service this evening,
turn to the person next to you.
Ask them how you can pray for them.
Encourage them
and then pray together.
Nothing out there,
nothing weird,
nothing too strange
for a Sunday evening.
It'll add five minutes
to our Sunday evening service,
but it will be a huge encouragement
to your fellow brother and sister
sitting next to you.
That is how God can use you
to strengthen others
and that is how God can strengthen you.
The third thing
and final thing
that we see in this passage
is the mighty hand of God.
Verses 19 to 29,
the mighty hand of God.
So imagine for a second
how Saul is feeling.
He's been chasing David down
for absolutely ages.
But each time David manages
to escape his grip.
And so you can imagine
his delight as the citizens
of, as the Ziphites
come to him in verse 19
and tell him exactly
where David is hiding.
He thinks his lucky day has come.
In verse 20, they say,
now your majesty,
come down whenever it pleases you
to do so
and we will be responsible
for giving him into your hands.
Now,
Saul couldn't have asked
for any better subjects,
could he?
These men are happily
bowing low
and kissing the ring
of a treacherous ruler.
Saul thinks that his hand
will prevail
and that he will finally
get his grip
around David's throat.
The scales, he's thinking,
are finally tipped in my favor.
And so he responds
in verses 21 to 23,
saying,
the Lord bless you
for your concern for me.
Go and get more information.
Find out where David
usually goes
and who has seen him there.
They tell me
he is very crafty.
Find out about
all the hiding places
he uses
and come back to me
with definite information.
Then I will go with you.
If he is in the area,
I will track him down
among all the clans
of Judah.
Do you notice something
about his response?
He is absolutely paranoid.
He starts off with a blessing
on the Ziphites,
which is really ironic
because he's using
God's name
to bless a people
who are betraying
God's anointed king.
And then he gives
a kind of arrogant statement.
Oh, you're doing all this
for little old me.
And he becomes
more and more paranoid
and more concerned
about the minute details
of the plan
and the strategy.
He's asking
for more information.
He wants to know
exactly where David moves,
how many steps
he has done that day
and how many people
he has seen.
It's like the scenes
in those police movies
where they're staking out
a suspect.
They lie in hiding,
waiting to get
all the dirt
that they need.
Patiently taking pictures,
usually got a big
mind map on the wall.
Checking faces
to find that one weak link
that will crack the case.
And that is what Saul wants.
But he doesn't just want
mug shots or pictures.
He wants full-blown
thick folders
on everyone
who is around David.
Why?
Because the end of verse 22,
Saul says,
they tell me
he is very crafty.
Again, Saul,
how foolish are you?
He is attributing
David's success
to skill
and cunning.
The only reason
David is still
in the wind
is because God's hand
is protecting
and strengthening
him.
God's hand
is so mighty
that all the forces
of Israel
could descend
and nothing
could touch David.
God is working.
So Saul
is absolutely
paranoid
and he wants
more information
but notice
how his speech
ends in verse 23.
I will track
him down
among all
the clans
of Judah.
So much
pride
but no mention
of prayer.
No desire
to seek God.
No inkling
of any desire
to do God's will.
Saul's priority
is himself.
King Saul
is proud
because he sees
the forces
that are behind him
and he thinks
that his whole army
will bring David
to his knees
but he forgets
who is standing
behind David.
David has
the great God
of the universe
who is on his side.
The God who speaks
and it happens.
The God who parts
the sea
for his people
to be free.
The God who does
the impossible
and the God
who is faithful
to every single
one of his promises.
God's mighty hand
is on David
and Saul's
puny army
in comparison
can do absolutely
nothing about it.
And so in verses
24 to 26
we see the ultimate
cat and mouse chase.
Saul is on David's heels
and these short verses
are packed
with so much tension.
So if this were a movie
you could imagine
the scary music
getting louder
and louder
as you read.
Ramping up the intensity
as you see David
nearly being caught.
And then in verse 26
the tension
is almost so unbearable
that you're on the edge
of your seat.
Saul is on one side
of the mountain
David on the other.
And it's at this point
you grab the pillow
that's on the couch
next to you
because you can't bear
seeing David
captured,
humiliated and killed.
But just as the tension
is at its highest
in verse 27
a messenger came
to Saul
saying come quickly
the Philistines
are raiding the land.
And then Saul
broke off his pursuit
of David
and went to meet
the Philistines.
Now we can read
this blindly
and think that this
is nothing but a coincidence.
Or
we can read this
with an understanding
of who
our great God is
and how mighty
he is
and what he does
for his people
he delivers them
from trouble
and nothing
not even an army
can thwart his plans.
God's mighty hand
is protecting
his servant.
God's hand
will always
prevail.
Now you might be
sitting there thinking
well that all sounds nice
but I don't feel it.
as we walk out
of this building
this evening
we step into a world
that is holding
its fist against us
in hostility.
A world that
despises us
for what we believe
and who we serve.
How on earth
can God be working
in all of that?
How can God's mighty hand
be at work
if Christians
all over the world
are suffering
and being persecuted
for their faith?
how can God
be at work
in my life
if everything
around me
is screaming
the exact opposite?
Well God is working
because he is
building his church.
He is calling
people to himself
and nothing
not even the gates
of hell
will prevail
against it.
As Christians
we've been warned
that we will suffer
for Jesus
but we see
that the suffering
that we face
now
for following
God's anointed
king
the king Jesus
is preparing us
for an eternity
with him.
The promise
far outweighs
the pain.
This whole chapter
and how God
has been working
in it
is so relevant
for us today
because we see
God doing the same
things in our lives.
lives.
So God
the creator
of this world
the father
who lovingly
gave life
to humanity
has watched us
descend
into the depths
of despair
and sin
and rebellion
against him
but instead
of walking away
instead of
turning his back
he looked at us
struggling
in the depths
of despair
and he helped
but not just
by throwing
us a lifeline
not just
by giving us
a hand
out of the muck
no he helped
by stepping
into our mess
God in the flesh
stepped into
our ruin
and mess
and he became
one of us
why?
So that we can
be reconciled
to God
brought back
into a right
relationship
with him
and taken
from being
a wretch
under God's wrath
to being
sons and
daughters
clothed
in royalty
God makes
the impossible
possible
Jesus took
our punishment
and brought
us to God
and he is
strengthening us
daily because
we are not
alone
Jesus promised
his disciples
that once he
left he would
send a comforter
and that person
is the Holy Spirit
who dwells within
every Christian
and is making
us more into
the image
and likeness
of Jesus
we are constantly
being strengthened
because as Christians
we are being
transformed from
the inside
out
and being pointed
to the goodness
the glory
and the majesty
of our great
and mighty God
now if this is
not the act
of an
all powerful
all loving
God
then I do not
know what is
Jesus going
to the cross
carrying all
of our sin
and shame
being in
darkness
and torment
in our place
and finishing
the payment
with the cry
it is finished
that is the
mightiest work
that this world
will ever see
but that is not
the end of the
story
because God
raised Jesus
from the dead
and has promised
his return
and until that
day
until the
whole church
will gather
as one body
before the
throne of God
and sing
holy
as the
Lord God
almighty
we have a
mission
we have a
message to
proclaim
and the
message is
that God
is still
at work
and that God's
hand
will prevail
that is the
message that we
walk out of here
with this evening
victory belongs
to our God
God's hand
will and
has prevailed
let's pray
together
father in our
suffering
in our pain
in our hurt
and in our
broken lives
would you
help us
in our
discouragements
in our
doubts
in our
questions
would you
strengthen us
and would you
help us
strengthen others
and in the
time where we
feel down
and out
where we
feel on the
ropes
and we
feel that the
world is
winning
would your
mighty hand
be at work
in us
and would you
put people
around us
who point
us to your
goodness
people who
remind us
of the good
news of the
gospel that
Jesus Christ
has won
that nothing
on earth
will stop
your plan
and that your
church is
being built
we ask this
for your fame
and your fame
alone
in Jesus
holy and
precious name
amen