SEEKING GOD FAITHFULLY-
A LOOK AT THE LIFE OF DAVID
What To Do When Your Lose Your Security
1 Samuel 18:6-21:15
INTRODUCTION
The scene is a four engine jet liner. The pilot’s voice comes on the intercom: "Those of you on the left side of the plane have probably noticed that one of our engines has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can still fly on three engines, but we will probably arrive about 15 minutes late." A few minutes later, the pilot’s calm voice came on again: "Those of you on the right side of the plane are probably aware that a second engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it on two engines, though we will probably be at least 30 minutes late now." A few minutes later the pilot spoke to the passengers again: "It has just come to my attention that a third engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it to the airport on only one engine. However, we will arrive approximately 45 minutes late." One passenger turned to another and said, "Boy, I hope that fourth engine doesn’t fail, or we could be up here all night!"
A story like that makes a good joke, but if it were really to happen to us, there would be no one laughing. When you are flying, your security literally depends upon the functioning of those engines.
Just as a flyer’s sense of security is wrapped up in the proper functioning of those engines, so, too, in life, our sense of security is often dependent upon various factors in our lives such as our jobs, our families, our friends, our position in society. And we can become very secure in these things. A person with a good job, a nice house, a loving family, the respect of other people, good health, well, what else could he need? Right? Maybe he doesn’t even need God.
And therein lies a problem. God wants us to find our security ultimately in Him. All of these things are temporary but our relationship with Him has the potential of being eternal. But there is an independent streak in all of us that tends sometimes to neglect to develop our security and trust in God when there are so many other things that offer what we think is secure. Though it is not always the case, it is often true that the person who is secure in these other things will have somewhat of a problem trusting God. Oh, he won’t know it - unless he begins to lose any or all of these things that make him feel secure.
In many cases, God allows us to lose some of the things we find our security in, in order to test, and/or develop our trust in Him.
Young David, the anointed, but not yet actual King of Israel, back about 1000 years before Christ, was flying high above the clouds of secure circumstances. He had been brought out of obscurity as a shepherd and anointed by Samuel the Prophet to be the next King of Israel. He had taken on the giant, Goliath, and been victorious when everyone else was afraid.
Because of his victory, Saul, the incumbent King had put him in charge of his army. David led that army out into battle and won time and again. He was very popular among the army rank and file. When the army came home, he found he was popular among the people, too - even more popular than King Saul himself.
David was on a roll of success! But then, suddenly, one at a time, his engines of security began to sputter and go out. And God allowed it to happen, though David had done nothing wrong. Chapters 18-21 of 1 Samuel describe how all of his earthly securities were removed from him. He lost his position in the King’s army. He lost his wife who was given to him after the victory over Goliath. He lost his mentor and long time counselor, Samuel. He lost his best friend, Jonathan, and he even lost his self respect.
Like the airline passenger who sees the last engine fail, he had nothing else to depend on but God.
David’s life at this stage typifies the person whom God is teaching to depend upon Him.
It seems to be human nature that you and I tend to find our security in everything else except God. Our bank account, our job, our family, you name it. And often, it isn’t until these things are actually taken away that we finally learn to lean on the Lord.
It is seldom a pleasant experience. Let’s watch this slice out of David’s life as he loses the things he finds his security in, one at a time and see what we might learn. This lesson is important to all of us, but particularly any of us who have experienced losing the things we place our security in.
THE THINGS DAVID LOST
His prestigious position
After his amazing defeat of Goliath, David was brought to Saul, the king of Israel, who simply asked, "Who are you?" Saul was as amazed at what David had accomplished as everyone else.
Saul brought David into his administration and 1 Samuel 18:5 tells us that whatever Saul sent him to do, David did so successfully. David was a real up and comer.
A few months ago Newsweek magazine ran an article on some of the best business minds among the twenty-somethings. Guys and gals who were 26 and 27 years old already running major companies and corporations. Daniel Snyder was just 34 when he purchased the Washington Redskins and the stadium they play in. He was a self made millionaire before his 22nd birthday. Kevin McAllister was 32 when he purchased the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
David was a young guy on the fast track of success. Whatever he did turned to gold. So much so that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. People loved David. They were very pleased that Saul had placed him in such a high position.
In his new position, he continued to have success. 14:5- In everything he did he had great success. Saul saw how successful he was.
David’s success began to make Saul very uncomfortable. Throughout chapter 18, we learn that Saul was angry that the people applauded David, he was jealous of him, and he was afraid of David. But all of Israel loved David. (16). 1 Samuel 18:30 David met with more success than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known.
As David continued his rise to the top, 1 Samuel 18:29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.
Saul then begins to plot David’s murder. He has to get rid of David. David has become too popular and Saul fears an overthrow and coup attempt of his throne, though David never even considered that. David happened to be married to Saul’s daughter and his best friend was Saul’s son. They both alerted David to their father’s murderous intention and assisted David in his escape.
David, at the height of his popularity, as he was climbing the corporate latter, lost his position due to the jealousy and unwarranted fears of the king.
Most of you men and some of you women get a lot of security from what you do for a living. Among a group of men, after names are exchanged in an introduction, what is usually the next question that is asked? "And what do you do for a living?" Most men derive a sense of who they are by what they do as an occupation.
How would it effect you if suddenly you permanently lost your job and position through no fault of your own. You could never go back. Would it effect your sense of security?
We all have seen people who have lost a job they held for 20-25 years. It is a devastating experience.
Some of you may know well what I am talking about. You really don’t know just how much sense of security you derive from your job until you lose it for some reason. David lost his position.
The Second Thing David Lost Was His Close Relationships
As I mentioned earlier, David was married to Saul’s daughter, Michal and his best friend was Saul’s son Jonathon. Michal had assisted David in his escape, and Jonathon hides David for a while. In between, David visits his old friend Samuel who had anointed him to become the next king of Israel.
In each case, David had to give up the relationships because Saul would have killed each of the three if he knew they were involved in protecting David.
In fact, Saul does find out that Jonathon had sided with David and he did try to kill Jonathon, his own son.
It wasn’t safe being David’s friend or wife. To protect the people he was closest with David had to give up those relationships.
Perhaps some of you would know what that feels like. You know first hand what it means to lose someone you’ve depended upon and loved. You have endured the loss of spouse, whether through death or divorce. Your mom or dad may have recently passed away and you are feeling this tremendous loss of security. A close friend to you was tragically killed or maybe they had to move across country. They were always there for you to talk to and share and offer you the security you desperately need.
Some of you have, during a time of loss like that, learned in a special way what it means to lean upon the Lord and get your security from him. But there are some who are completely devastated by such a loss.
Well, through no fault of his own, David has lost his position and his close friends.
The Third Thing He Lost Was His Personal Dignity
Hiding places begin to run out for David as Saul is starting to close in on his whereabouts. This is a real life fugitive on the run story.
Wherever David went, Saul had his spies on the outlook.
David eventually ends up in the city of Gath, the same place where Goliath was from. As soon as he enters the city, people begin to recognize him, which is the last thing he needs at this point.
1 Samuel 21:13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
This is the ultimate humiliation. David, the best known warrior in the land, the man who was a household word had to set his personal dignity aside and act like a crazy man.
Tell me, is that the behavior commensurate with the King elect? Is that the personality of the mightiest man of war in Israel? Apparently it was so contrary to what people might expect from the King-elect that they were fully convinced this man was just a mad man, not King-elect David.
David is forced to abandon even his personal dignity as he disguises his sanity and dribbles in his beard and scribbles on the gate.
Back in February, Jerry was going to share a lesson on extreme faith with the teens. He wanted to make up a video to go along with his lesson. His idea: he would dress up in a football uniform and I would train him. So we got my daughter Michelle to be our camera person and Jerry put on a football helmet and jersey with fatigue pants and army boots on and we went outside in the snow and started filming this spoof. Then Jerry decides he wants us to film him running up Smithtown Blvd toward the Handy Pantry as he runs toward a big snow pile he plans to dive into. All this at 2:30 in the afternoon in full view of everyone who happened to be driving down Smithtown Blvd at that time. At that, I thought to myself, Jerry has abandoned his personal dignity.
David has lost his position. He has lost his close friends and wife. And he has lost his dignity.
LESSONS TO LEARN
Losing our security forces us to take one day at a time.
A life of faith is all about not necessarily knowing what is around each corner.
When we lose something from our life that has been a major source of our security, whether it be a job, a spouse, a parent, our home, the tendency is to start imagining the worst case scenarios six months to a year down the road.
When I was out of work in September of 1996, I had pretty much assured myself that by Christmas we would lose the house and by February we’d be moving in with my in-laws in West Virginia. As a matter of fact, in the nine months between the time my ministry in Ohio ended and I moved here, I never did miss a mortgage payment or a car payment. When I lost the security of my job, I focused my attention on what I thought might happen six months down the road. Instead I should have focused on the day I was living in.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
If you have lost something from your life that provided security for you, try to live one day at a time. Don’t envision all the worst case scenarios. Trust me, been there, done that. It will drive you crazy.
"It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis." - Margaret Bonano
Losing our security teaches us to trust in God
There is only one place in all of scripture, at least the only place I have ever found, where the question of why do we suffer, is explained.
2 Cor 1:8-9. By the time Paul writes these words, he had lost everything man puts his security in. He was penniless, he was hated by most of his own people, the Jews, he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel on numerous occasions, he was homeless. Yet listen to what he writes.
2 Cor. 1:8-9 Brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be ignorant about the suffering we experienced in the province of Asia. It was so extreme that it was beyond our ability to endure. We even wondered if we could go on living. [9] In fact, we still feel as if we’re under a death sentence. But we suffered so that we would stop trusting ourselves and learn to trust God, who brings the dead back to life.
When you lose something in your life that was a great source of security, you have a tremendous opportunity to stop trusting in things the world offers up for security, and to learn to trust God.
Brenda was a young woman that wanted to learn to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death she went with a group and they faced this tremendous cliff of rock. Practically perpendicular. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear and she took a hold of the rope and she started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, whoever was holding the rope up at the top of the cliff made a mistake and snapped the rope against Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens. You know how tiny contact lenses are and how almost impossible to find. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with who knows how many hundreds of feet behind and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping that she would be able to find that contact lens. Here she was, very far from home. Her sight was now blurry. She was very upset by the fact that she wouldn’t be anywhere near a place where she could get a new contact lens. And she prayed that the Lord would help her to find it. Well, her last hope was that perhaps when she got to the top of the cliff, one of the girls that was up there on the top might be able to find her contact lens in the corner of her eye.
When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye. There was no contact lens to be found. She sat down with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to come up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth." [2 Chron 16:9] She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every single stone and leaf that’s on those mountains and You know exactly where my contact lens is."
Finally, the time came when it was time to go down. They walked down the trail to the bottom. Just as they got there, there was a new party of rock climbers coming along. As one of them started up the face of the cliff, she shouted out, "Hey, you guys! anybody lose a contact lens?"
Only God Offers Lasting Security
The real problem lies in the fact that most of us have misplaced our security. We find our security in things that are temporary and often will fail and disappoint. Money, relationships, careers, retirement plans.
Instead, we need to learn to put our security in God who is the same yesterday, today and forever and who will never leave you or forsake you.
Randy Reid, a 34 year old welder was working near the top of a newly constructed water tower outside Chicago when he slipped and fell 110 feet. Barely missing rocks and debris, Reid landed in a six-foot pile of soft sand near the base of the tower. Co-workers called 911 and within minutes the rescue crew was on the scene. Miraculously a bruised lung was the only injury the construction worker sustained. Ironically while he was being carried to the ambulance on a stretcher (about 3 feet above the ground) he looked into the faces of the paramedics and nervously pleaded, "Please don’t drop me."
The guy falls off an 11 story water tower and lives, only to be concerned about a stretcher ride a couple feet above the pavement.
Consider: How often we find ourselves questioning God’s ability to carry us? The health of our marriage, our children’s safety, the loneliness of involuntary singleness, our aging parents. Sky rocketing college tuition’s. Job Security. Investments gone sour. Rejection depression..
It is easy to feel overwhelmed with fears. We cry out, "Please God, don’t drop me. "
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Part of God’s plan for your life may involve the loss of something you place security in. God is saying to you, stop trusting in the things man trusts in. Trust in me. I will not disappoint you. You may not understand how I am working and I may not be making much sense to you, but trust me and in the end you will not be disappointed.
If you fail in business, if your spouse leaves you, if you work in a menial occupation, if you can afford only a small house and one used car, you can still enjoy the thrilling security of belonging to the Ruler of the Universe
CONCLUSION
True Security is only found in JESUS CHRIST. No matter how many friends you have who love you deeply, no matter how much money you have in the bank to bring "Security," with out Jesus you have nothing....certainly no security.
Harry Houdini was an incredible escape artist. He would venture into a new city and immediately head to the local police building. There he would make sure the press was waiting as he challenged the local force to see if they could keep him from escaping from their jail.
Walter Gibson, Houdini’s biographer told the story of how Houdini almost lost the challenge. He was handcuffed and searched for any keys and led to a jail cell in which he was to escape. Left alone, Houdini had no problem with the cuffs, but as he began working on the jail cell door, he realized that he might be in over his head. Everything he tried, he couldn’t pick the lock on this unique gate. About to give up, Houdini in frustration leaned against the gate and it opened. The guards had forgotten to lock it.
Consider: There are many things in this life that seem inescapable to us. They often frustrate us to the point of giving up. What we need to do when we feel that frustration restricting our freedom, is to "lean against the Gate."
In John 10:9 Jesus said, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved."
