MK040 Sermons
Arch Rivals Become Teammates (Audio)
highlights for you about that a little bit later this month. Well after I graduated from college, my college roommate, he had bought a mobile home in a mobile home park and he was not going to get married for about a month and so he offered me a place to stay and I said sure I'll take you up on that because I was actually buying a mobile home across the street and it was going to be my first home and so I lived with him while I finished the transaction as I was starting graduate school and it was finally an opportunity for me to be on my own and as I got, as I obtained ownership and then walk through the place, I realized there's nothing inside this place when you walk through it except like walls and carpet that's like it and all of a sudden the being on your own and the reality of being on your own hit me because although I was comfortable with making meals, I saw a job that I had in college and graduate school, there were no dishes and there were no cups and there were no plates and there was no silverware, I would need all of these things. There was no bed in the bedroom and no dresser, there was no couch in the living room and of course the all important TV didn't exist either and did I forget to mention there was no kitchen table and chairs either you know and so upon realization that I was going to need all of these things, I would assume that it was my mother who contacted her dad, my grandfather and somehow I ended up with a moving van at his door and all these things that were in his basement that I think were headed for goodwill or the curb, they ended up in my moving van and so I got a 35 year old mattress and I got a 50 year old couch that was vinyl, see vinyl pads on it, I got some leftover dishes that didn't match and of course somehow somebody managed to spring and release their 13 inch TV that I was able to take with me to our first place and so throughout that first year I began to discover all of these things that you would need when you were on your own, it wasn't just a simple saying I'm going to be on my own, there was a whole boatload of things that came along with it. Then I forget to mention that the first time I came out of the bathroom I realized oh I should probably get some curtains for the window before my fiance, Christine and I get married and later next year and she moves in, that would be a good idea as well. But there's this thrill and excitement of being on our own, you know, a venturing out and whether that's on your own when you get the keys to the car for the first time you've got your license and you can go and you have no idea how much your parents are praying as you go, as you pull out of that driveway to maybe it's your first job and you're on your own, your chance to make some money or maybe it's when you move out of mom and dad's house and maybe you finished college, somebody who graduated this past weekend and now you're venturing into your own place on your own and so you have all these new experiences being on your own and there's something incredibly exciting, incredibly thrilling, but if you're really honest there's a little bit of that that's very, very uncertain and as you think about this transition and being on your own this morning we're going to look at the story of a man who found himself it appears to be on his own as it relates to God and there are times in our lives no matter where you're at in your faith journey that we don't want to be on our own with God we want God to tell us what to do we want God to give us direction we would love to hear a voice from heaven saying do this but God is silent and there's nothing said and we wonder where is he and does he really know I'm kind of stuck here and I would really like some direction and some input but nothing is coming and the truth is that no matter where you are in your faith journey most people at some point find themselves trying to get something from God as it relates to direction and God not showing up the way they would like him to even Jesus on the cross when he was there hanging on the cross with the sins of all of mankind he cried out and said God where are you you have forsaken and abandoned me and so this morning we're going to dive back into the life of David and reengage in historian and I think this morning no matter where you are on your journey of faith I think that the story is going to surprise you with where it ends up it's not one that I think we're all expecting the story of David is a story that I've entitled unlikely hero it's a story of a young man who wasn't prepared to be a hero wasn't prepared to step up wasn't prepared to be have his name celebrated by thousands of people much like the stories of superheroes that are popular today but he got tapped on the shoulder and said I have a job for you to do why he was simply out on the hillsides of Judea taking care of the sheep and God said I want you to go and I want you to fight for me against a nine foot giant and the result of that was great praise and positions of honor and privilege and authority and responsibility at a very very young age the result was that was his name was celebrated people were cheering for him the song of the day was saw the king of the day has killed his thousand David's killed his ten thousands the result of that was incredible jealousy on the part of King Saul and he attempted to track David down and have him killed David literally ran for the hills and attempted to hide from Saul but he wasn't being very successful and so that's where we're going to enter the story this morning if you have a bible with you if you turn to first Samuel 27 27 if you don't have a bible our guys have summoned they'll pass them out and make them available to you if you don't have a bible of your own we encourage you to take this with you as our gift to you and then just mark this somehow and go back and read over this during the week you can also follow on your phone or tablet as well first Samuel 27 first Samuel 27 and so we're going to pick up the story after David has had several encounters where it seems like Saul is getting close he's getting close one time at least on two different occasions saw David is hiding in the back of the cave and Saul ends up in the front of the cave he's that close to him and David escapes and so he's had a couple of near misses close calls where he just got away and so first Samuel 27 verse 1 is really the first place where we get to hear what's going on in David's head you're like well he had to be thinking about other things this whole time you're absolutely right he was and those are recorded for us in the book of Psalms and this summer we're going to look at the heart and soul of David we're going to look at some Psalms that were written during the time he was on the run from King Saul and see what was going on inside of this man who the bible says was a man that pursued after God when he was in a tough place and so first Samuel 27 verse 1 is the first place we get some of David's thoughts look at his thoughts David thought to himself one of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul he said I can't run forever it's inevitable that he's going to catch me the best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in the land of Israel and I will slip out of his hand now there's no evidence at this point based on David's wrestling that he believes God's going to rescue him he knows a while back that that this guy had showed up at his house the prophet Samuel and said of all the sons of Jesse you will one day be the king but there is no campaign to get him there anytime soon and so he's wondering how is this going to happen it doesn't appear that there's any way that it's going to happen and I somehow simply have to save my neck. And if you listen to David what he's saying he just sounds pretty pragmatic he said maybe this is going to be my lot in life I know he anointed me king and maybe that'll happen but maybe this is just the way things are going to be for me and maybe you're at one of those places in your journey right now maybe you've been battling some health issues and the doctors keep saying you're going to get better and this is where you're going to we think this can get turned around and you're like maybe this is where I'm going to be at it's not where you thought you would be or maybe you're battling some things with your kids and it just doesn't seem to get any closer and you keep trying to do the things that others encourage you and counseling and you're like maybe we're just going to struggle in this area or maybe you and your spouse just aren't on the same page and you've tried and you can't seem to get there and you feel a sense of resignation that maybe that this is as good as it's going to get you know right now and so David seemed to be in one of those places that provides us a certain degree of comfort because it appears to be part of the human existence that at times we get to these places where we can't figure out how to get out of them and we just have to try to find a way to navigate through them and David says if I'm off of Saul's radar other responsibilities will occupy the head of state and maybe he just maybe he will forget about me and so what happens what does David do in verse two it says David and the six hundred men with him left went over to achish king of son of mayok king of Gath David and his men settled in Gath with achish each man had his own family with him and David had his two wives the Hinoem of Jezreal and the Abigail Carmel the widow of navel when Saul was told that David had fled to Gath he no longer searched for him so who's achish who is he well he was one he was the king he was the leader of the Philistine people and the Philistines were at that time the people of Israel's arch enemies and so David went to his arch enemy the king of Philistine and said hey can I come hang out in your country for a little while now that seems a little odd it seems a little strange it says that he was the king of Gath which is one of the cities in the land of the Philistines there was a really really tall guy who was from Gath a few earlier in the story anybody remember his name tall guy by the name of Goliath that's where he was from his hometown so David basically goes to his arch enemy and says can I live here with my men now that seems a little odd that this would happen but just take a moment and think about the logic of it I use a sports analogy to help you understand so so Eagles fans kind of understand this because last year during the off season their arch enemy the Dallas Cowboys had a free agent by the name of DiMarco Murray who the Eagles signed for this ridiculous amount of money and the Eagles fans were just glad what that the Cowboys didn't have him on their team didn't turn out too well this past year but just imagine if Tony Romo said I'm sick of playing for the Cowboys I don't want to play for them anymore and he contacted the Eagles management said hey any chance that you guys would be interested in how even signed below market value just I just want to play for you guys and considering the Eagles current cowboy the current quarterback situation you know that probably wouldn't be a bad deal I mean think about who David was David was the top battle lawyer the top military leader David never lost he was undefeated and he said I'll come work for you essentially as a mercenary what do you think what do you think now if you put yourself an acre shit he's like man this is awesome acres is like how did I don't know how this happened I don't know why you but sure come on over you know bring them all over bring the whole clan over you know all 600 of his men came over and notice what happened in verse four exactly what David hoped would happen saw stopped hunting him down exactly what David wanted to have happened happened exactly think about the irony of that a king who is Israel's enemy provides safe haven for their future king it doesn't make sense it doesn't add up you know if I were playing in this story maybe I'd find a way to take saw out well that's gonna happen in a few chapters or or give David a safe place to hide but to hide amongst your mortal enemy just seems like an odd odd odd plan but it pictures for us a little bit of the way that God works in people's lives you know if you spend time at all reading the Bible one of the things you discover is God has no limits he's not limited by the physical universe and the limits that we experience he's not limited by people who are for him or against him God uses all of these things to accomplish his plan so that he gets the glory for that and over and over again throughout history God will use pagan nations nations that have no concern for the God of the universe no concern for the God of Israel and he will use those nations to accomplish his purposes and I hope you don't lose sight of that especially in this current political season that we are in because regardless of your political party regardless of the political outcome I hope as people of faith that we have a firm conviction that God will do what God's going to do regardless of even who's in our White House and that's what that's what David was experiencing here that it didn't matter if it was his arch enemy that God was gonna make something happen so what happens in the story so verse five David says the aikish if I found favor with you let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns that I may live there why should your servant live in the royal city with you so on that day aikish gave him zikrag and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since and David lived in the territory a year and 14 a year and four months and so what happened there's a map that's going to come up on the screen here for you to take a look at David was over in the land of Felicia which is where the Philistine armies were and about at the end of the yellow arrow that's about where where gap was located and so David just went a little bit to the to the south there to the city of ziklag that's where he was located you can see the kingdom of Saul is that other larger area that David had been a part of in the and where he had been running and hiding from Saul and so David says can I have this place to live in if you think about it David's with six hundred of his men and they each have a family so I calculated there's probably between twenty five hundred three thousand maybe people that are part of this group that they need a place for them to live to literally resettle is what we're talking about happening and so that's what takes place in the story here and so what does David do when he's down there will conversely David and his men went up and they raided the gershowites the gearsites and the malachites from ancient times these people have lived in the land extending to sure in Egypt whenever David attacked an area he did not leave a man or a woman alive it took sheep and cattle donkeys camels and cloths and then he returned to Akish and so what did David do well what David did is David if we go to the next map go a little bit head to the next map want the David what he did is he went and he was involved in battle raids against the enemies of the people of of Israel and so he went down you can see the key knights the key knights are down there the the malachites are down there these are all nations that are to the south of the land of Israel going down towards Egypt and he highlights the Amalekites the Amalekites if you if you want to go back and read in Exodus chapter 17 when the people of Israel were leaving the land of Egypt and heading to the promised land they attacked the people of Israel was an unprovoked attacked and it's a story there where God instructed Aaron and her to hold up Moses hands and as long as Moses hands were held up then the people of Israel even though these were slaves running for their lives they defeated the Amalekites and God says because you attacked my people in an unprovoked way God said we're gonna take care and wipe these people out and so earlier in the book of first Samuel saw as the king of Israel was instructed to do that by God he failed to finish the task he took all the stuff but he left everybody live which from our perspective would be very humanitarian but from God's perspective he said these are people that oppose God and oppose my people and he said they must be destroyed and so now what David was doing is David was involved in raids to the south in which he would do that so then he comes back after raid and he comes back to report to the king what does he say to the king by the way I'm wiping out a summer and these the Amalekites and all these nations that were down there they were they were partners with the Philistines to defeat the people of Israel that's the best way to understand them okay they were partners and so he said they weren't defeating the Philistines but he was defeating his partners in battle so what does David say when he comes back in verse 10 when Aikis asked him where did you go raiding today David would say against the negative of Judah against the negative of Jeremiah against the negative of the keenites he didn't leave a man or woman alive to be brought to gathry thought they might inform on us and say this is what David did and such was his practice as long as he lived in the Philistine territory the word negative simply means desert that's what it means so it's the people of the desert and so if we go to the map there you can see that the the people that were that that there we go you can see the keenites who are down there and some of these other nations are located in that area Aikis thought they were going over to defeat enemies who were people that were just in the southern part of Saul's kingdom David was going a little bit further south and defeating the Philistines teammates or partners in this battle against the land of Israel he would defeat him he would take all the spoils of war he would kill all the people in the village so that no one could tell them what it's taking place and so think about what David is doing David is basically living the life of a double agent in our military context he was living in one country that wasn't his own telling the people of that country this is what I was doing what he was actually doing something to help and benefit his own countrymen in this battle and so as you listen to this story of David you're like how did this guy end up in this role he went from the military leader to now he's like basically a double agent and you're wondering when is he going to get caught who's going to figure out this scheme there's got to be somebody that's going to slip through the cracks and tell us what's going on so that Aikis is going to figure this all out and it doesn't happen and he does this for sixteen months sixteen months is how long this takes place and as you think about this story you're kind of scratching your head a little bit thinking okay genocide deception lies where's God in all of this stuff God doesn't seem to be anywhere present it's a bit confusing but Aikis really trust David look what Aikis goes on to say in verse twelve Aikis trusted David and said to himself he's become so obnoxious as people to Israelites he will be my servant for life and those days the Philistines gather forces of fighting in Israel Aikis said to David you must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army David said then you will see for yourselves what your servant can do Aikis replied very well I will make you my bodyguard for life now I don't know much about Aikis other than what the Bible tells us but this guy was getting snowed I mean literally is what was happening I mean he's all excited because he gets Israelites best warrior to come and fight for him he thinks he's helping him to feed his enemies and he's actually wiping out his own teammates and Aikis thinks I hit the jackpot he said you're going to be my bodyguard you're going to be my servant for life and that's the situation David found himself in and so as you think about this story where David appears to be on his own there there's no reference to God anywhere in this story anywhere and God had promised David that he was going to be Saul's successor but there's no evidence that this is going to happen and without God's input in this life David appears to have to have to make the best decision he can in the situation that he finds himself and he uses his logic and his diplomacy to make that happen you say what do you mean John well go back and look in verse 5 in verse 5 David shows up to his enemy King Aikis and says can we come live with you and then David says and by the way do you have a place that we can live Aikis proceeds to give him a city which the text tells us became a city that was ruled by the P kings of Judah for all of their days how did this king just handed over a city to David how did that happen you know how you got a city in that day you would fight for the city and you would surround the city and you would withhold water and food and eventually you would what conquer the city right or you would trade something we've got something and you want you got something we want well trade for the city that's not what happened the city was just granted to David Aikis's enemy simply because he asked I don't know about you but it doesn't make a lot of sense there's no moral analysis of David he lied he deceived and there's no critique of his actions and again it leaves us a bit confused you say what do we know about David from the story what you know about David from the story is that he was wise and he was crafty and he was cunning we know that David was a military leader David weighed his odds he said if I keep running in the hills guess what's going to happen Saul's gonna one day get the drop on me and I'm gonna be done for so I'm gonna wait hedge my bet and I you know what I think I'm better have a better chance to be safe with the Philistine king and so that's where I'm going to go we don't have any evidence of God telling David why don't you go stay with the Philistine king he'll give you safe haven for a little while no evidence of that at all and so as you read this story of David what are you left with you're left with his using his his mind and his intellect and his wisdom to come up with the solution that was the best option for him in that day he said John was was God trusting was David trusting God during this time I don't know I don't know there's no evidence of it in this story now I think when we get to the Psalms a little later this summer and we look at the heart and soul of David we're gonna see a little bit different side of that but for right now I think we conclude that David made wise judgments in difficult times when God was silent and he was left on his own we all have to make decisions in life and we all have kind of a unique way that we're wired to make decisions and one of the things that Christine and I do when we're with couples that are preparing to get married we spend some time counseling them is we talk to them and try to help them understand the unique way in which they're wired to make decisions and there's two unique ways we're all wired one of these two ways to make decisions some of us make decisions by the gut we just kind of instinctively know what the right thing to do is we don't always know the logic we don't always have rationale for it we might not always have empirical evidence for it but we just kind of know by the gut this is the right thing that I should do okay there's another way that we make decisions and that is a logical rational decision we look at the facts we lay out the evidence we come to conclusions and we decide and we're all wired one direction or the other okay now if you don't know ask your spouse they know which way you make decisions or kids ask your parents but how many of you think that you are probably by the gut decision makers let me see your hands put them up boldly no need to be ashamed okay put them up boldly okay you can see there's men women all across the room okay it's not gender specific all right now how many of you think that you're logical rational decision makers let me see your hands okay kind of see them around the room as well which one do you think I am which one do you think I am logical or by the gut which one oh you guys got it right by the gut I'm a by the gut decision first service thought I was logical there but I must have fooled him I don't know how I fooled him but I'm a by the gut decision maker you know that's kind of the way I'm wired and and I've learned over time from my wife and from others how to make logical decisions but my my natural tendencies to say this just feels right this is the right thing to do now the important thing to understand is there's not a right and wrong way to make decisions it's not right or wrong it's the unique way God has wired you and they both have great value you see a by the gut decision maker these are individuals that it's much easier for them to trust God when they can't see the evidence it's much easier for them to take a step of faith and say I think this is what God wants us to do I'm not clearly understand why I don't know what the outcome is going to be but I just believe this is what God their faith is usually stronger to trust God in that way in the same way logical decision makers they look at the facts they look at the evidence they say I am going to do what God wants me to do because I have evidence that this is what he he's done in the past and he'll do this in the future and so they trust God but in a very different way and so it's important not to see one way is right and one way is wrong this morning but as we look at the story of David and as I wrestled with this story and said what is the point of this story and what do we walk away with as we look at David's life this morning I want to talk to the by the gut decision makers this morning okay so if you're by the gut decision maker pay attention if you're a logical rational you can just sit and listen but this really isn't for you okay but I think this story about David this morning who I think you could probably argue he goes one direction or the other because sometimes he makes snap decisions you know but I think the story by David this morning illustrates the times in life when you need to make a logical rational decision I mean anybody that knows me knows that if you come to me and talk to me about a problem we're going to talk about God's perspective on it we're going to say where's God leading you we're going to pray about it someone came in my office this week and said John I'm faced with this big job decision can we just pray about it we did but there are times in life where even though you do that you get no clear direction from God you don't get a voice from heaven you don't get a verse in the Bible and some of you sit who are by the God to see you're so compelled by that you're like God I need to hear from you I need you kind of put out this fleece and that fleece and God give me this sign and that sign and and sometimes God says you know what I think you need to look at the evidence and lay it out and decide you say how do I do that well there's two important components for those of us that are by the gut decision makers the first important component is you can't make that decision quickly you can't make that decision quickly those of us that are by the gut decision we can make a quick decision and go and we'll run with it we won't know turn it back right no turn it back we don't think twice about it and if it doesn't work out oh well that's just the way life happens you know whereas the logical rational they thought of making a bad decision just paralyzes them you know well yeah who cares it'll work out you know we'll just go with it you know but so those of us that operate and make decision like we have to learn to wait we have to learn to wait so what do you mean by wait well one of the things that we tried to teach our kids when they were younger especially about money because kids when they're younger especially certain kids money burns a hole in their pocket right they got money man they got to spend that money and so they're out and they got to go buy something and so we try to teach our kids this rules when you want something you have to wait 24 hours before you spend that money and that was a good lesson for me because I didn't do that now I do that so I taught my kids and I learned something along the way and so what happens in that waiting what happens in that waiting is you get perspective you see it differently you learn to understand you make your decision can get changed very quickly in just a 24 hour period of time and so one of the critical things in a by the gut decision maker to to learn to do it and the different ways to wait there's a second component and that is to seek wise counsel the bible talks about this over and over again you see the logical rational decision makers they do that naturally they they analyze they get input they get counsel they weigh it all out they look at the pros and cons but those of us that are by the gut we don't really do it that way we go and ask for advice but we only do that because we know we're supposed to we don't listen to them anyways because we just know we're we're we're right because it's by the gut you know and so we have to learn to have the humility to say even though my gut is telling me this I'm going to listen to Godly counsel about this decision in front of me as I look at the story of David it appears to me that what David does in this situation when God is not talking to him God is silent David uses the mind and the intellect and the wisdom that God has given him to make the best decision to make the best decision you know one of the one of the most empowering things I can do for someone who volunteers or that I'm overseeing or that I lead when they come to me with the decision that I know the answer to is for me to say you decide you decide you decide one of the most empowering things for me to say to one of my kids when they come to me with the decision and I and I know what the I think I know what the right answers say what are you going to do what do you think you should do and why there's something very empowering about that there's something freeing about there's something something transformational that happens and do I think that we need to turn to God for wisdom absolutely do I think we need to listen for the voice of God to guide us absolutely Solomon says in Proverbs he says trust in the world with all your heart and lean on what your own understanding but I also believe that there are times in our lives where God says to us I've given you a mind I've given you an intellect I've given you the wisdom to make the best decision possible now you decide you decide is it possible that our faith could be stretched and we can grow in those times when God says it's time for you to decide I wonder if that's the case in this story in the life of David and so as you face decisions that are in front of you regardless of the way that you're wired but especially for those of us that are by the God decision makers it might be a bigger step of faith for you in this moment in time to say God I'm going to use the wisdom the counsel that I've been provided and I'm just going to decide and I'm going to trust you with the outcome whatever that's going to be and as we close this morning I want all of you to just take a moment and think about the decisions that are in front of you the reality is is all of us in this room have some kind of decisions that are facing you in the next three six nine or twelve months maybe you're a student and you play to sport this fall and you're like man that consumed all of my time and do I want to do that moving forward or you're evaluating some class scheduling that could make a difference in terms of what college looks like maybe some of you are looking at job options maybe some of you who just graduated are looking at what's next and you're weighing lots of decisions that are in front of you maybe you got a career decision that in the next 12 months could change housing decision a financial decision a family decision and life can change drastically in the 12 month window but what's coming at you that you at least at this moment in time anticipate might happen and then second of all the second question for you to consider is this got up here to be with you or do you feel on your own maybe you've been talking to God about this and and you feel like God's kind of pointed the way for you or this is one where you you know God I've been asking I've been praying been asking I've been praying not getting anything God I don't know I don't know that that's your situation look at this last one who do you need to turn to for wisdom if you find yourself in an on your own decision who do you need to turn to for godly wisdom when you're looking for someone to seek godly wisdom from my words advice are always this look for someone who is where you want to be ask one of your buddies who's in the same dilemma you are with no more advice than you have yourself look for someone who is where you want to be and say how did you get from here to there and learn from them as we close this morning I want to I want to just give you a moment to sit quietly with the things that I've said this morning maybe you need to talk to God and say God I I don't I'm not hearing anything from you and I know this seems kind of crazy but it seems like maybe you're trusting me to just decide and and that's that's a little scary because I'd like to know you're leading me but I have to decide god maybe it's just to say god who's where I want to be who can I ask some advice from and pick their brain and learn from and maybe get some real wisdom from God as we look at the life of David it's kind of an odd story that leaves us a bit with more questions than answers some questions that I didn't even dive into this morning and yet we know that the the reputation of David is that he's a man after God's own heart and so what does he do when God doesn't show up in the story what I pray that is we walk away with this and we walk away with the decisions that are in front of each of us that we would recognize that there sometimes when you just trust us enough to say I want you to decide on this one and what for some of us that's really scary and it will require a big step of faith because we don't trust ourselves very well so give us the courage give us the capacity to know how much you love us and that you are for us and we need to do that on our own in your name we pray as a band comes forward to lead us in a song to close you know when we are faced with those kinds of decisions and we step up and we do it we decide or something can be very frightening about that but something that can be very freeing about that and so as we sing this last song just as an opportunity to close the service this morning I hope you think about those things Johnny thanks John let's all stand as we celebrate the freedom in not being so stressed out about those decisions but just relying on God and just trusting in that journey whatever the journey is he already knows it anyway so let's just enjoy that. (guitar music) (upbeat music)