I SAMUEL – LESSON 6



I SAMUEL – LESSON 6

“Making God Our Refuge”

Kay Arthur, Teacher

When you are in trouble, my friend, when you are full of fear, where will you turn? Who, or what, will be your refuge? When your enemies pursue you, and when you think that they are about to take over, (And believe me, your enemies will pursue you if you live for Christ, if you stand for the word of God, if you are all that God intended you to be, you can know this, your enemies will pursue you. They will seek to silence you), whom will you fear? Will you fear the face of man, or will you fear the face of God? This is what we want to talk about as we look at I Samuel 21, 22, and 23—three very rich chapters, richer than they seem on the surface. They are richer than they seem on the surface because, when we look at Samuel, we are looking at what is going on in David, what is going on in the body, so to speak. What is David dealing with in the body? When we look at these chapters in Samuel, we also have to look at the Psalms that were penned by David during this time. Then God gives us another look, a look to the inside of the man, a look into the soul. Today, we are going to look at the body, what the body goes through in the midst of fear, in the midst of trials, in the midst of difficulties. We are going to look at the soul, and how that soul can handle those fears and those difficulties and those traumatic situations, and those assaults of the enemy. So, we are going to look at body and soul.

As we look at all this, we are going to see that what God is showing us is very similar to what we saw with the life of Joseph. When you looked at Joseph, what did you see? You saw that Joseph, or the account of Joseph, opens up with a promise from God. That promise comes in the form of a dream. That promise is that someday his brothers and his father and his mother will bow down before him. So he has that promise. But from that promise, he goes right into a pit. He goes into a pit of despair, a pit where he cries out to God for deliverance. He cries out to God for deliverance, because his brothers have come against him out of jealousy. They don’t like what they have just heard from their brother. They don’t like the fact that he is Papa’s favorite. So, he goes from the promise to the pit. If you can remember from Genesis, give me another “P”. Potiphar’s house. And from Potiphar’s house to the prison. From the prison, he goes to the palace, where he is ruling with Pharaoh over Egypt.

When you look at the life of David, David has a promise just like Joseph had a promise. What is David going to be? What has David been consecrated to be? He is consecrated to be the king. David is to be the king over Israel. Who knows that David is to be the king over Israel? David knows, and Jonathan knows. So, we have him with the promise of being king. He is going to rule, even as Joseph would someday rule, and others would bow down to him. But what happens to him after he has this promise that he is going to be king. He doesn’t go into a pit, but where do we find David in the next three chapters? We find him in a cave. We don’t find him in a pit, but we find him hiding in a cave.

It is in this account, in these three chapters, we are going to see God’s precepts of life that can hold us in our troubles, and enable us to conquer all our fears, and give us the peace that passes all understanding. So there are three things that we are going to see—we are going to see that God’s precepts of life: #1. can hold us in our troubles, and #2. enable us to conquer all our fears, (We can go through trouble, and we can be held, but we can be trembling so bad that we are literally sick from fear.) and #3. can give us a peace that passes understanding. When the world would look at Joseph, and what Joseph goes through, they would not expect him to have a peace that passes understanding. When they look at David, and they see what David goes through, they would not expect him to have a peace that passes all understanding. The other thing we are going to see is how we can learn to make God our refuge. We are going to see the precepts of life that hold us in our troubles and enable us to conquer fears, and give us a peace that passes all understanding, and we are going to learn how to make God our refuge, our very present help in the time of trouble.

How do you make God your refuge? As we look at this, I want to stop and tell you a story. Years ago, when I went to Atlanta, Georgia, I taught in the home of Grace Kinser. Grace Kinser had a Bible study going there, and I was invited to be the next teacher, because the present teacher was going to go on staff with Campus Crusade. They had prayed, and they had brought me to Atlanta. It was right in the very first year of my time in Grace Kinser’s home, teaching. I went to Atlanta for seven years. Every Wednesday morning we would get up and drive to Atlanta, and I would teach. Then I would go out to lunch, and then I would come back. It was during that time that I saw all those women sit in Grace Kinser’s home. It was there that Precept Upon Precept, the inductive Bible study courses, were born. God laid it on my heart to teach those women how to study the Bible. I knew that I would never leave Chattanooga, but I knew that someday God would tell me to stop going to Atlanta. I thought, “What will they have when I leave Atlanta?” God laid on my heart that I was to teach them how to study inductively, and I would give them homework. I said, “If any of you want to learn how to study, make me a sandwich, and I will teach you how to study.” I would give them homework, and then I would grade their homework. Every week I would do that, and then I would take a second group. Then I said, “This is too slow.” Then God laid on my heart that I was to write these inductive Bible study courses called Precept Upon Precept. Why? “Through Thy precepts I get understanding, and I hate every false way.”

So I started writing these Precept courses. But before this ever happened, at the beginning, one day I taught on “What is Your Refuge?” Where do you run in the time of trouble? Who do you run to? What is your source? Do you run to drugs? Do you run to an affair? Do you run to eating more food, just overeating? Do you run to alcohol? Where do you run in the time of trouble? Do you run to the bed, and just get in the bed and pull up the covers, and stay there for days and days on end? Where do you run in the time of trouble? What is your refuge?

This gal came up to me afterwards, and she told me this story. Her name was Gloria James. Gloria James lives in Atlanta, and is one of our dear friends and co-workers and a mentor of women. Gloria came up to me and said, “You know, when you taught that lesson, I realized that my pills were my refuge.” She took all sorts of tranquilizers to get her through the day. She said, “I realized that those were my refuge. I went home, and I took those pills (and this is not what I would necessarily advise, because this is not usually you go off of them), I lifted up the toilet seat, and I took all those pills and poured them down the toilet, and flushed the toilet. I said, ‘God, You are going to be my refuge. You will be my very present help in the time of trouble.’”

David had God as his refuge. Go to I Samuel 21:1. When David was in this predicament, pursued by Saul, you have to know, and you have to understand that David was not a neophyte as a child of God. David was a consecrated man of God. David was the one that fought the lion and the bear; David was the one that was the shepherd; David was the one that wrote the Psalms as he sat there by the flocks, playing his lyre, playing his harp, overseeing these sheep—but in solitude with God. This was a man who knew his God, and because he knew his God (as Daniel 11:32b says) he was able to be strong, and he was able to do exploits.

(1) “When David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone and no one with you?’”

Just to bring us into context, what is David doing? David is fleeing; David is running away from Saul. Why? Because he has been told by Jonathan, “Yes, my father is intent on killing you.” They have parted, and let’s go back and look at 22:41. “When the lad was gone (the lad that shot an arrow in order to get a message to David that he had to leave, that Saul was truly going to go after him), David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David more.” [Here is a man whose love (and this is a brotherly love) is dearer to him than the love of any woman. Here is his companion; here is his covenant partner; here is this man whose heart is welded to David’s, and David’s to his, and now they are having to part. And they are wondering what is going to happen, and how long it will be before they see each other, but they know that if David doesn’t leave, that Saul will surely kill him. So they weep, but I want you to see that they wept together. But who is weeping the most? David is weeping the most. This is a very, very painful moment in David’s life, because he is walking away, and he is all alone. Have you ever felt all alone? Has there been a time when you have been separated—separated from your loved ones, separated from Christian support, separated from people whose hearts beat the same as yours? This is David as he comes to Nob; this is David (we believe, in all probability that he is all alone, or there are a few men out there hidden in the bushes) who is walking away. David is walking away from his wife. David is walking away from a man named Saul, his king, whom he loves, the king whom he has brought solace to. David is walking away from him. David is walking away, deemed an enemy. David is walking away with a death sentence on him. I want you to catch this. He is in pain, and he is alone.

When he comes to Ahimelech (and you know because you have studied it), he is coming because David is hungry. David has to sustain himself, so he goes to the priest to get some bread. He goes to the priest because he is leaving with absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing. When Neda(?) and Paton(?), dear friends of ours, left their country, the government took literally everything away from them. They took her gorgeous diamond ring, and all her jewelry. They had two children, and they took everything but twenty dollars. They left to come to the United States with only twenty dollars in their pockets. Their home was gone; their friends were gone; they were totally isolated. But God was not gone. There would be setbacks along the way, but they made God their refuge, and now that dear couple are not only dear friends of ours, but they are strong supporters financially of Precept Ministries. God has blessed them, but God was with them when they were in that trial. They knew God.

As he goes to get the bread, and as he asks for a weapon, he is given the sword of Goliath that is there, wrapped up in an ephod. But there is a man standing there, a man who is a Edomite, and that man is Doeg. Look at v. 7. (7) “Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.” [David is dealing with the priest, and over here is a man listening. Whether he is visible or invisible, we don’t know, except that we know that later David remembers seeing him there—so maybe he stepped into the shadows, maybe he stepped back in a way he could listen—we don’t know. But we know that the man was there, and that he was an enemy in the camp. When David leaves, he leaves with the consecrated bread, bread that he has been given for him and the men that are with him, men that have kept themselves from women, men that are consecrated so they can eat the consecrated bread. This bread was normally reserved for priests, but even Jesus uses this point. Jesus refers back to this event when they are criticizing Jesus for picking grains on the Sabbath and eating those grains. He says, “Don’t you remember what David did? Don’t you remember how David got the consecrated bread?”]

(10) “Then David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. (11) But the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands”’? (12) And David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. ((13) So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands,” [Now watch, he has got spit coming down over his beard, and he is doing all these little things—you know—acting insane. This is the man who is going to be king; this is David who has slain his tens of thousands, his hundreds of thousands; this is David the warrior. But something has happened. He is going to Achish the king of Gath because his is alone, because he got to flee. When does he run to? What is going to be his refuge? He runs to this king, and he realizes that these men are (possibly) on to him, and that he is not going to be safe and secure. What does he do? He plays like he is insane. He is a very clever man. I believe that God just led him at that time. I don’t know what you believe, and the Bible doesn’t tell us, but no where is he criticized for what he does. But immediately he senses the atmosphere; immediately he knows what is going on, so he plays the insane man.]

(14) “Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me?” [Watch that, “Why did you bring him to me?”, because apparently, from this, David was going, but the men discovered him and know who David is. The men feel that David’s intent on being there is not good, and the men are fearing him. The men get David and take him to the king, and David is standing before the king, and the men began saying, “This is David. This is David. Don’t trust him.” So David immediately plays the insane man. The beard of a man was his pride, his macho symbol. Here he is letting spittle run down it, and he is groping like a mad man.] (15) “’Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?’

22:1, “So David departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam.” [Do you know what Adullam means? It means, “refuge”. David ran, and David escaped, and he escaped to the cave of refuge. He escaped to a physical cave of refuge in his body. But also, he escaped to God, who was his refuge, his very present help in the time of trouble.]

Go to Psalm 56. We don’t have any way of really knowing, but we believe that chronically, in the Psalms and in the spirit, that Psalm 56 would come before Psalm 34. These are two psalms that David wrote at this time in his life. Look at the introduction. “For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.” So he is in Gath. We do not have an account of the Philistines seizing him in Gath, but we do have an account of the king saying to his men, “Why did you bring him to me?” So we believe that this is the psalm that David wrote. I want you to see that David is a spiritual man, a man that is in tune with God. If you are going to make it through a trial, if God is going to be your refuge, if you are going to fear God and not man, then listen, it doesn’t begin in the trial. It begins before then. It begins day by day, meeting with God, getting to know God, sitting at God’s feet, and becoming a friend (so to speak) of God, and letting God (in the right sense of covenant) become your friend, so that you really know and you are really bonded to God.

Psalm 56:1. “Be gracious, O God, for man has trampled upon me; fighting all day long he oppresses me. (2) My foes have trampled upon me all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.” [In other words, “God, I have enemies, and my enemies are constantly before me. My enemies are constantly trying to trample me down.” So what do you do? Watch what he says.] (3) “When I am afraid,” [a key refrain in this psalm. It is going to be said two different ways, and it is going to divide the psalm, so to speak.] “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. (4) In God, whose word I praise.” [When I am afraid, I am going to put my trust in whom? In God, whose word I praise. In other words, he knows the word, and that is why I want to commend you. I want to commend those of you that are here, that are doing your homework, that are studying five hours a week so that you might know God. I want to commend those of you who are faithful in watching on television, or doing Precept out there. I want to commend you, and I want to assure you that what you are doing will bear fruit.] (4) “In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” [He has man in the right perspective. It is mere man in the light of who God is.] (5) “All day long they distort my words…”

In v. 9, he begins the second refrain, the second line in it. (9b) “This I know, that God is for me.” [Do you know that? Do you know that you have the promise of God? He will never leave you; He will never forsake you. Do you know that you are scheduled to be a king, a kingdom of priests unto God, and that you will rule and reign with Jesus Christ, even as Joseph was going to rule and to reign? And even as David was going to rule and to reign, so you and I are going to rule and reign with Jesus Christ. That is absolutely sure; it is a done deal in the mind and heart and economy of God, if you are child of God. Although the road may be hard, and the road may be hard, this is where it leads. It doesn’t matter; this is where it leads. You can know that God is for you.]

Listen to what he says, in v. 10. “In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise.” [He wants you to get the point.] (11) “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.” [If you are praising the word of God, then you are honoring the word of God for what it is. Do you understand? If you are praising the word of God, you are not doubting the word of God.] (11) “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” [In this circumstance, what is he doing? In this circumstance, who is his refuge? God is his refuge. Whom is he fearing? Is he fearing man? No, he is fearing God.

The next psalm that he writes at this time is Psalm 34, a very, very special psalm to me. I love Psalm 34. It opens up like this: (1) “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” [What is he saying? On this rough journey from the promise to the crown, we are going to praise him at all times. No matter what, we are going to praise Him at all times.] “His praise shall be continually in my mouth.” [When you do that, watch what happens to others.] (2) “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice.” [Not the proud, but the humble. Those that are humble before God will hear it and rejoice.] (3) “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

Let’s go back to I Samuel 22:1. “So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Abdullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. (2) And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.”

From there, go to I Chronicles 12:8, because we are feeding in the Psalms and feeding in the Chronicles, so that we get the entire picture of what is going on in David’s life. (8) “And from the Gadites there came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains.” [These are men that are skilled warriors.] (16) “Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. (17) And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, ‘If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.’ (18) Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said, ‘We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to him who helps you; indeed, your God helps you!’”[So here are men that are attracted to David (not only because of their circumstances) and rallying around the man, but they know that peace is with David. They know that the God of peace is there, and that the God of peace is helping David—so they want to unite themselves to him. You can know this, that when you take this journey from the promise to (eventually) the palace where you are going to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, that whatever it is, no matter how hard and difficult the path, that you, on that path, are not only a man/woman who is trusting in God, and making God your refuge, and fearing God, and walking in the peace that passes all understanding, but you are a magnet, a spiritual magnet, for others who want the same thing, who want the same walk, others that God has called.]

When I was a tiny little girl, they used to have these two Scotties—a white Scottie dog and a black Scottie dog that had magnets in them. You would put them together on a table, and they would go—swish (just like that). That is what we are to be here. Why is Psalm 34 so dear to me? Why is it such a precious Psalm to me? Jack and I were on the mission field, and we were living in Mexico. We lived from month to month just from a small amount of money that was sent to us, but we had determined that we were going to live by faith. We knew that God had called us, and what we got every month (about $300, or something like that) was really sufficient and adequate for us to get by every month, without any contingencies. But in the process of living in Mexico as missionaries, I got what they said was typhoid fever. And because I got typhoid fever, the family had to take a dose of medicine that was going to cost the horrendous sum of $34.00. We didn’t have $34.00. It was Christmas time, and we didn’t even have money for Christmas presents. We had food in the house, but that was all we had. We had no cash on hand. We had to make it through the rest of the money—until January. I remember just crying out to God, and Jack was so concerned. He was concerned about me; he was concerned about the boys; he was concerned about us being typhoid carriers. Finally, I just grabbed my Bible (and we had a tiny little bathroom), and went into the bathroom and shut the door. David was just a baby, and I put the lid down and sat on that toilet seat. I opened my Bible, and said, “God, I am scared, and I need a word from You, because there is no way that I can figure out that You are going to send us the money we need in order to get this medicine. So, God, I am crying out to you.”

I opened up to Psalm 34, and I began to read. “I will bless the Lord at all times,” so I began to praise God. I began to praise God for who He was; I began to praise God that He had the solution to my problem. Then I read, in v. 4, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” [“Fear” is a good word to mark. What am I going to do?] (5) “They looked to him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” [I went into the bathroom like this, sitting on the toilet seat, and my face is going like this.] “They looked to him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (6) This poor man cried (or this poor woman cried; she had no money) and the Lord heard him (her), and saved him out of all his troubles. (7) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. (8) O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

Now, David had taken refuge in the cave of refuge, physically. Now, in his soul, he is taking refuge in God. (8b) “How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (9) O fear the Lord, you His saints;” [What does it mean “to fear God”? It means to respect Him; it means to trust; it means that you recognize who God is, and you honor Him as God.] (9) “O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him, there is no want. (10) The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.” [I got off that toilet seat; I opened the door, and I said, “Honey, it is all right. It is all right. I don’t know how, but I can tell you that it is all right. ‘The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.’ Honey, it is O.K. It is coming. I don’t know where, and I don’t know how, but I have got my verse, because God directed me to Psalm 34, and there was my verse. ‘They who seek the Lord (and we were seeking God) shall not be in want of any good thing’” So I just praised the Lord, and said, “It is O.K.” There was no more fear; there was no more trembling. I had put my trust in Him; I had the word of God; and I went on.

Then on the last day, when we had to go buy that medicine, there was a ringing of the doorbell. I opened it up, and there was a man standing there in uniform. I thought, “They have come to arrest us.” I had never seen the uniform before, but we were there on a tourist visa. We would just go over the border every six months, and that is the way we stayed in the country. I thought, “They have found us out, and they have come to get us.” This man is saying something to me in Spanish (and I had just flunked language school. I don’t understand a thing he is saying). He holds out a pad for me to sign, and there was a letter on it. It was Western Union, and it was a $50.00 check. It was $50.00! All we needed was $34.00. “The young lions do lack and suffer want, but they that love the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” You couldn’t pull me down to the ground. I mean, I was higher than a kite, and even higher than a kite when I discovered what had happened. That $50.00 came from a very poor family, a very poor family that raised dogs. They had sold a dog (I think it was a Labrador Retriever) for $50.00, and God told that poor family to send this poor family the $50.00 from the sale of that dog. Not only did we have medicine, but the children had some toys for Christmas. There is no lack to those who want Him.

In this Psalm, through v. 14, you see the work of faith. You see the “I.” You see the “He.” Watch. (4) “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (5) They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (6) This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him… (7) And the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.” [You see the work of faith. You see that they are doing what they need to do. They are blessing the Lord; they are seeking the Lord; they are looking to the Lord; they are crying to God. When they do that, you see the work of faith. You see that faith is not passive, but it is active. Then, when you get to v. 15, you see the doctrine, the why of it all. You see the foundation of faith. In the first 14 verses, you see the demonstration of faith. In vv. 15-22, you see the doctrine of that faith, the basis of that faith, the foundation. He explains who God is.]

(15) “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. (16) The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” [Look, he is going to take “righteous” and “evil”, and he is going to show you the consequences of righteousness, and the consequences of being evil.] (17) “The righteous cry and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. (18) The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” [Was David brokenhearted? Yes, we saw him weeping with Jonathan.] (19) “Many are the afflictions of the righteous;” [That path is going to be a path of affliction.] “but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (20) He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” [When David sat and wrote that, little did he realize he was writing a prophetic word about the Messiah who was to come, the Messiah that would sit on the throne of David. Now watch, this is the immutable, unchangeable reality.] (21) “Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. (22) The Lord redeems the soul of His servants; and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” [Who is going to be condemned? Those who are evil. Who are not going to be condemned? Those who take refuge in Him, those that are righteous. So you see the contrast. God never changes. You see that in this passage. God never changes, but we must. We must go from evil to righteousness if we expect the blessing of God upon us. And you know what? He gives us the power to do it. He gave David the power to do it.]

Let’s go back to I Samuel 22:22. You know how Saul pursues David, and when Saul pursues David, Saul finds out that Ahimelech has given David help, and when he find this out, he puts him to death, and he puts all of his family to death. Can you imagine what happens when David finds out about that? David knows that he is responsible, but on this path, we all have the promise, the Old Testament saints had the promise, the promise of faith in the coming Messiah, the promise that some day they would be with God. What does he do? David, in this situation, does not despair; David does not give up. It is our tendency, so many times, that when our loved ones, our friends, are suffering because of our Christianity, because of our walk with the Lord, or because of their identification with us, or because of their help with us, it is our tendency to back off, to want to protect them. You can not do it—you can not do it. And you have got to know, you have got to keep looking “not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen.” Because the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

(22) “Then David said to Abiathar, ‘I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.” [He says this to the one son who escapes.] (23) “Stay with me, do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life; for you are safe with me.” [Listen to me very carefully—when you walk in the way that God tells you to walk, when you make God your refuge, when you fear God and not man, when you put your trust in God, and you cling to Him, as the Bible says, “as the waistband clings to waist of a man”, others that gather around you are safe, because they are following the same path, and God, who is our refuge, will never desert us. He will never fail us. We will be victorious. This is what He wants us to see.]

When we look at this, I want you to see something else. In the next chapter, we find another Psalm happening. It is Psalm 52 (and you have read it and studied it). I want you to see that there is a situation, a circumstance in life, and then there is a response of the soul. That is what you are finding in the Psalms. This is why journaling (and I don’t do it. I have started it a hundred times. It lasts for three days, and that is it. I think it is because I write so much) is so valuable. When I go back and see what I got down, I remember the goodness of the Lord, and I remember the faithfulness of the Lord. This is what David does. He is in a trial, a situation, and what does he do? He sits down and writes, and he pours out his soul to the Lord—so you see body and soul. So Psalm 52 is here.

The next thing that I want you to see is what David does. David makes God his refuge, and he writes the Psalms, and he hides in the strength of the Lord. He pours out his soul to God, but David does something else too. In the midst of this trial, along this path that is headed toward eternity, headed toward the crown, headed toward the promises of God, what does he do? He stops, and he inquires of God. You have got to have direction. I Samuel 23:1, “Then they told David, saying, ‘Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are plundering the threshing floors.’ (2) So David inquired of the Lord…” [He hears about the enemy; he hears what the enemy is doing, so what does David do?] (2) “So David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines, and deliver Keilah.’ (3) But David’s men said to him, ‘Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?’” [He had inquired of God; he has got the word of God, but he has men, his mighty valiant warriors that are saying, “We are afraid. We don’t want to go.” So what does David do, as a leader? Does he say, “Listen, I talked to God about it. God said, ‘Go.’ We are going.”? No, he takes that caution, and he goes back to God again. God doesn’t say to him, “Why are you here a second time?” He goes back to God again to make sure that he has the word of the Lord.]

(4) “Then David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.’” [When you lack wisdom, when you are in a trial, James 1 says, “If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…but let him ask in faith, not wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea, tossed to and fro.” You are to ask in faith, and you are to trust that God will give you the answer. It doesn’t mean that you can’t go back again, and say, “God, these people that are going with me have told me that they don’t want to go, so what do I do?” You can go back to God, but you are going back to get His answer. Once you get His answer, and once you have it affirmed, what do you do? You go forward, and you go forward in the fear of the Lord.]

The fear of the Lord is the respect of the Lord. Job 28:28 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” As you go through Proverbs, you are going to find that the fear of Lord gives you wisdom. The fear of the Lord delivers you from evil. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. So when we talk about “the fear of the Lord”, we are talking about resting in the Lord. We are talking about trusting in the Lord. We are finding out what God has to say, and then we are doing it.

I Samuel 23:9, “Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod here.’ (10) Then David said, ‘O Lord God of Israel, Thy servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. (11) Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Thy servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Thy servant’” [What is he doing again? He is inquiring of the Lord. On your journey, as you make the Lord you refuge, as you make Him your hiding place, as you trust in Him, as you walk in the fear of the Lord and not in the fear of man, you still need direction, so you go and you inquire of God. You inquire, trusting in Him, and knowing that God will answer.]

As you go through the rest of this story, you see that God protects David, and this is what I want you to see, and what I want us to close with. (14) “And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph.” [Where is David living at this period in his life, between the promise and crown? Where is he living? He is living in a wilderness, and so many times we feel like we are in a wilderness, and many times we are. This world, this life, is really a wilderness kind of journey, and yet God is with him all the way. God is with him because he is trusting in the Lord; he is making the Lord his refuge, he is inquiring of God, and watch what God does.] (14b) “And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.” [Why did God not deliver David into his hand? Because God had made a promise, and the promises of God are, “Yea and amen.” God can be trusted.]

In v.19, when the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, and they tried to betray David, God protects David again. David hears about it. Go to Psalm 54. David writes another Psalm. I want you to see that in the circumstances, David is pouring out his heart to God. David is talking to God; David is communicating with God—not just communicating with God to get help, but communicating with God to get strength. Watch what he does, because Psalm 54 is a wonderful pattern for us. It is like Philippians 4, which says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God, and He will give you the peace that passes all understanding.”

In Psalm 54:1-5a, you see the prayer. (1) “Save me, O God, by Thy name,” [God has magnified his word together with His name. His word stands because His name stands. His name stands, and therefore His word stands, as it says in Psalm 138:2.] “and vindicate me by Thy power. (20) Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. (3) For strangers have risen against me, and violent men have sought my life; they have not set God before them. (4) Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul. (5) He will recompense the evil to my foes; destroy them in Thy faithfulness. (6) Willingly I will sacrifice to Thee; I will give thanks to Thy name, O Lord, for it is good. (7) For He has delivered me from all trouble; and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.” [Vv. 6-7 show you the peace that comes when you, in your anxiety, come to Him in prayer and supplication, and you let your requests be made known unto God. Then He will give you the peace that passes all understanding.]

Precious one, know this: In the time of trouble, there is a refuge, there is a place. That place is in the arms of God, the cave where He surrounds you with His presence, with the power of His name, and where He protects you. He promises you that He will be with you, and that He will deliver you. Where do you run in the time of trouble? What do you when you are afraid? “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.”

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