Title: How To Behave In A Cave – 4
“David’s Cave – Five Keys to Victory – 3”
Text: I Samuel 22:1
A few weeks ago we started a series on “How to Behave in a Cave.” This series is meant to give you hope to know that you are coming out of that cave. God does not want you to stay in it forever. However, while we are in the cave it is very important that we learn how to behave in a proper and godly way. How we behave determines how quickly we will get out of this cave.
A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term cave should only apply to cavities that have some part that does not receive daylight.
There were several men in the Bible that dwelled in caves for a season of their life. A cave is a type of a dark hour, a struggle, a trial in your life that you face. It seems to be void of light. We all go through them. There are several people in this congregation that are in a spiritual cave as we speak, but after the first three messages of this series I know that we all are encouraged that we are coming out of that cave. We have already determined that we don’t care how long it takes or what it takes, we are coming out of that old cave.
The last week that I preached we started talking about David’s cave.
I Samuel 22:1-2; ¶ “David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.”
Four hundred men went with David into the cave. However, they were not exactly the kind of people you like to surround yourself with when you’re going through a trial. Usually, when you are down, you want to try to find people who are up. But here, people who were in distress, in debt and discontented surround David. These guys were losing at the game of life.
Something happened to those men before they left that cave. They may have been discouraged when they went in, but they didn’t stay that way for very long. They didn’t stay in debt; they didn’t stay in distress and discontentment. God showed them how to get out! And He wants to show you in the next few weeks how to come out of your cave.
In fact we find these same men in I Chronicles 11:
I Chronicles 11:9-10; “So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him. 10 ¶ These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.”
These same men were so successful and blessed that they joyfully contributed out of their vast wealth to finance the building of the temple of God. Now that is success! Something has happened to them. They were not the same men when they came out of the cave, as they were when they went in. That is God’s desire for each of us. He wants us to come out of our caves different then when we went in. He wants to strengthen us. He wants to renew us. He wants to make us mighty warriors for Him but sometimes we have to face the cave first. The cave experience was the best thing that could have ever happened to these men but I am sure that they did not think so when they were in the thick of that cave.
Then Sunday night we started talking about the five things that David learned while in the cave that caused him to come out victorious. In Psalm 57 we find five keys to successful behaviour in a cave. This Psalm is David’s own record of his own thoughts when he fled from Saul into the Cave of Adullam.
Psalm 57:1-11; ¶ <
I. DAVID LEARNED TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD
Psalm 57:1; ¶ “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”
David made God his refuge. REFUGE: DEFINITION
1. Shelter or protection from danger and distress
2. A place that provides shelter or protection
3. Something to which one has recourse in difficulty
4. Recourse actually means: A turning to someone or something for help or protection. A source of help or strength.
David realized that it was God that would protect him from every danger and calamity in his life. Even in the midst of his cave he knew that the cave was not his refuge, but God was. David learned to put his total concentration on God and fully trust in Him. This was the first step in David’s coming out of that cave. The next thing that David learned to do when in the cave was to:
II. CRY OUT TO GOD
The first key to your victory is learning to make God your refuge. This is way that David behaved in the cave. The second thing David learned was to cry out to God in the moment of his discouragement. First, you make God your refuge until everything else dissolves away in the spirit realm, then, when your eyes are only focused upon God, you cry out to Him.
III. DAVID LEARNED TO DECLARE THE PROMISES OF GOD
Psalm 57:2-3; “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.”
It is very important to note here that when David began to declare that God would perform all things for him, he was still in the cave. So, it didn’t look like any of those promises were being performed. David is speaking solely by faith here. He began to declare the promises of God before he ever saw the possibility of it coming to pass. This is a very important part of this behaving in the cave. We can’t declare the promises of God after they have already been fulfilled, we have to start declaring the promises of God while we are in the cave waiting to come out.
David declared: “My God performs ALL things for me!”
I want to stop and camp out on that one word ALL for the rest of this morning’s message. God is an ALL God. The Bible says:
Matthew 12:15; “But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;”
Matthew 4:23; ¶ “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”
Matthew 19:26; “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 21:22; “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Mark 7:37; “And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”
Mark 9:23; “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believes.”
Mark 14:36; “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee;”
John 1:3; “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Acts 7:9-10; “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.”
Acts 17:24; “God that made the world and all things therein,”
II Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
II Corinthians 9:8; “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”
Ephesians 1:22; “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,”
Philippians 4:13; “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:19; “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 1:16-20; “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
I Timothy 6:17; “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”
Revelation 4:11; “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. With all the Word that you have heard this morning, your faith must be at an all time high. I want you to leave this morning with the knowledge and understanding that we serve an ALL God. He is ALL things to all people. There is nothing impossible with God. Whatever cave you are in you can rest assured that God is going to bring you out of them ALL. If it is a cave of sickness, His promise is to heal you from ALL sickness and disease. If it is a cave of financial struggle, He has promised He is going to meet ALL your needs according to His riches in glory. If it is a cave of defeat, He has promised you that you are more then a conqueror. He has given you the authority over every devil in hell no matter what the cave is. He has already delivered you out of ALL your afflictions.
You are coming out of your cave, but before you do, you must always remember to declare the promises of God’s Word while you are in the midst of that cave. Don’t wait until you come out to thank God for His promises, you need to learn to do it while you are in the midst of it. Some of you have been in the cave for so long because you really didn’t know how to behave while in it. But now that you know you are coming out of that cave in the Name of Jesus Christ.
