Refuge part 2

David: A Man After God's Own Heart
Refuge: Part II

What kind of man sacrifices safety for responsibility?
The short version: A man who is always ready to step forward and defend those in need.
Or apparently a really great husband.

Long version? Well, here goes nothing.

If you sit back and read Psalms for any given period of time there are going to be two major themes running through most of the book. Any guesses?
1. Rejoice! (Psalms 92: 4-5)
2. Save Me! (Psalms 69:1-3)

In the Psalms there are 43 references to the word "refuge" alone
Refuge
1. Shelter or protection from danger, trouble, etc.: to take refuge from a storm.
2. A place of shelter, protection, or safety.
3. Anything to which one has recourse for aid, relief, or escape.
Synonyms
1.  security, safety. 2.  asylum, retreat, sanctuary, haven, stronghold.

So, being chased through Israel, surrounded by people who are looking to him for protection, constantly praying to God to be saved. David is looking for a refuge at the same time he's acting as a refuge. Read the rest of Psalms 69 sometime, its a heavy, vivid prayer that begins with "I'm trapped in a mire and there is no place to stand" and ends with "you will be worshiped all through this land." and it gets even more difficult, because one day a messenger shows up with news of a Philistine invasion.

1 Samuel 23:1-5
 1 When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,”
2 he inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”   The LORD answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

 3 But David’s men said to him, “Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”
 4 Once again David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.”
5 So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah.

Now note: nowhere in the job description of "fugitive" is the requirements to save people, let alone cities. In fact for all David's running and hiding from Saul he rarely ever acts like someone who needs to be running. Saving Keilah isn't something that David was required to do, in fact it was probably Saul's job to rally and army and stop invaders. But no, Saul is keeping himself busy with other things. And its not like God showed up and said "Go save Keilah." David takes the inititative and seeks the Lord's direction in this matter. Notice the change in the answers: David comes and asks "Should I go?" And God says "Yes, go." David comes back and says "My men are afraid." God says "Go, you'll win."

So, what kind of man sacrifices safety for responsibility?
A man who does not believe that he is the one keeping himself safe.

Way back at the beginning of watching David's life unfold we see him stand up against Goliath, a 9 foot trained killer, with a stick and a slingshot, and he did it because of faith in God's promises and because he was unwilling to watch someone stand there and call God a liar. And this is David, who is sticking with that choice to trust in God's promises. He is living the life that all of us should be living, one that acts like the things we are promised will actually happen.

In this case, we are focusing on the promise of safety, of refuge.

Zeph 3:16-17
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Now, I think the whole idea of a warrior God has been kind of lost in the last couple generations, but that's a topic for another time.
But sidenote: what do you think it means by their hands hanging limp? (Surrender.)
Take a moment to think about the people that make you feel safe, that you know you could go to if you were in trouble, that would come to your help if you were in danger. I know that if someone broke into my house and tried to harm my sisters I'd be doing everything I could to protect them. I would fong them, there would be pain, lots of pain, their entrails would become their extrails... etc etc etc. If that person isn't your dad, I'm truly sorry, that's tragic, but anyway, think about that person and then think about God and think about Matthew 7:11

Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

If your dad or big brother or best friend would go to such great lengths to keep you safe, how much more will an all-powerful, all-knowing God?

Now for us, sitting in this room. Most of us will not be put into a place where we have to escape from an army or protect their families from intruders or travel to France to save our best friends. And believe me, I pray every day that we don't have to, but I've lost count of the evenings I've spent on the phone or sitting on a couch with a friend, listening to them pour their hearts out, with all the pain and confusion and stress and drama getting everywhere, and its not because I can say the magic words and make the pain go away, that I can wave my magic wand and make all their enemies disappear in a poof of smoke, as much as I wish I could its rare that I can do more than tell them I'll pray for them. They came and talked to me because they felt safe to do so, and in that way I was able to be a refuge for them. And I don't know how or where those situations will arise in you guys lives but they will if you are willing and live the kinds of lives that makes you a refuge, and I wish I could give you a ten point list of things you can do to become a sanctuary, but mainly it means being willing to and loving people.

Still working on getting the messages on Jonathan's loyalty and David's faith transcribed from their notebooks.

Recap + Refuge part 1

We have been studying the life of David for the last month, or maybe I should say lifetime of David because we’ve spent a surprisingly small amount of time actually discussing the man himself. Its time for a recap, except this time we’re going to be playing a little bit of fill in the blanks.

So, let us recap:
The story of David’s life begins with: (Saul).

Saul, the first king of Israel, began his life as king by (hiding in the baggage), living in (fear) and that led him to (compromise).
He obeyed part of what God asked of him, and part of what the world around him expected of him, and gained (nothing).

This compromise led God to find himself a (man after his own heart) to rule Israel, and He found David.

One of the first mentioned things David does after being anointed is he went out and killed Goliath. Why was he able to do this? Because he stepped out in (faith) to prove God’s (promises).

After this, Jonathan enters the scene and swears a (covenant) with David, declaring them BFF’s and eventually choosing his friendship with David over his (Kingdom).

Which leads us to now, the end of act one of the lifetime of David. David is running for his life while being chased by an angry king and his army. The heroic music swells as David makes his way into the wilderness throughout Israel.

Now, just out of curiosity, and I know we haven’t actually talked about him that much, we’ve pretty much stayed on the sidelines and watched the side characters, but in one word, how would you describe David?

Also, before we get any further into this, does anyone have any questions on what we’ve talked about so far?


1 Samuel 22:13-17
13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?
15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”
16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 22:18-23
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David.
21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.
22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family.
23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”

So, while David was escaping he dropped by the priests at Nob and gets bread and the sword of Goliath from them (apparently he’s all grown up now, and when Saul hears about this he freaks out, gathers his army and heads over to accuse the priests of treason.
Which, as a side note, is a really odd concept to throw at a priest, if only because the priests serve God, the king doesn’t really even show up in their chain of command.
So, Saul accuses and Ahimelek's answer is fascinating. If you will allow me to remix for a moment: The priest looks over at Saul and says “are we thinking about the same David. Married your daughter, captain of your bodyguard, personal musician, renown war hero, brilliant leader, who has never spoken a bad word against you, even after you tried to pin him to the wall? That David? Are you joking with me? Why wouldn’t I help him? And what are you doing chasing him?”

To which Saul says to his men “Okay, kill them all.” And to which they (still being sane) say “Oh definitely not.” Doeg, who gets top honors in the horrible people in the history of Israel awards, butchers the priests, their families, their animals.
And this is a tragedy, not only because it marks a massacre against the priests of God, but because this is a moment where Saul receives the first of a several wake up calls that moving against David is wrong, and in response he basically redefines the very idea of “epic fail”.

Guilty conscience much?

So, one priest escapes and comes to David who offers him a place to stay, a place where he needs not fear, he offers him safety.

We’ll come back to this idea, but let’s head back a chapter for a moment and dive deeper.

1 Samuel 22:1-5
1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?”
4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

So, David is on the run. He’s escaping Saul, who is after him with an army and intent to kill. He’s hiding in a cave. All of a sudden his family shows up, and then 400 other men show up, and that’s probably just the men. They’ve got families, so David’s gone from Israel’s most beloved son to Israel’s most wanted in 3 chapters, and now he’s gone from a guy hiding in a cave to a guy hiding in a cave responsible for 400+ people. The man basically has a small army, and all the responsibilities that come with that. At that point he decides the cave is getting way to cramped and drops his parents off at Mizpah before marching off on the bibles most dangerous camping trip. But think about that for a moment: David is hiding.

The perfect example of this is sardines. The larger the group gets the harder it is to keep them hidden and he’s gone from one man (easily hid) to a small army (not so much). He’s moved from hiding in a cave to having to hide in an entire forest.

He is beginning to sound an awful lot like Robin Hood.

What kind of man sacrifices safety for responsibility?

The short version: A man who is always ready to step forward and defend those in need.

We'll continue to look into this next week.

Crazy things I did this summer

So, I was hanging out at my friend Micah's house in MN, lazy summer afternoon, no plans, so we decide to make a stop motion concept film. The results were odd, but fun and certainly more interesting than sitting on the couch watching Community.

So here it is: Youtube Link

Notes from 8-17-11

1 Samuel 13:8-14
8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.
9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.
10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,

12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

For a long time I struggled with this verse because it seemed a little harsh. Saul makes an offering because he wants God favor, and God puts an end to his kingship right then and there. Right?
Why isn't that right?

Its not right because of two simple things:
1. You can't gather God's favor by disobeying Him.
2. Saul wasn't doing it to gather God's favor, he was doing it out of fear.

Saul had an army of some 3000 odd soldiers following him, and the philistines had brought 30,000 chariots, which were the biblical equivalent of tanks. The people were beginning to scatter in fear for their lives and I can just imagine Saul standing there, watching all this and thinking to himself "This is going all wrong, we're all going to die, I need to do something." And yes, he was right, he needed to wait for God's favor. Instead he tried to substitute his own work for God's timing because he was afraid of what would happen if he didn't.

My friend Ally twittered me to tell me that God's been showing her how favor isn't really great favor unless its coming against some major obstacle. Think about that, God did want to show His favor to Israel, but He's not a God of small gestures. He wanted to show great favor, and that meant major obstacles.

1 Samuel 15:12-15
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

Now, as we talked about last week Saul began his kingship by hiding in the baggage, and here is where we really begin to see what Saul has built on that foundation.

Now, I will give you a little hint that will serve you well over the course of your lifetime: if you meet a person whose entire job description is pretty well summed up in "hears directly from God on a regular basis." The first thing you do should probably not be "lie through your teeth."

Now, there are at least three simple things wrong here:
1. He's straight up lying to Samuel, which basically meant God.
2. He's set up a monument in his own honor, which simply wasn't done. Monuments were to mark were God did amazing things, not when men won battles.
3. He's chosen to compromise in his obedience to God's commands.

Have your parents ever told you that "partial obedience is disobedience." Yeah, mine did too.

Now, God told Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that they owned. Nothing to be left alive. Now, I think I've presumed on Sauls motivations enough, but the truth of the matter is that he spared the King of the Amalekites and the best of their sheep and cattle. Now why would he do this?

So, lets see Samuels response to this:

1 Samuel 15:22-23
22 But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD?"
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

You can substitute whatever you want into that verse in exchange for burnt offerings. Going to church, wearing christian tshirts, only listening to christian music, whatever. The truth is that God desires wholehearted and full obedience, as hard and as painful as that can be. Last week I talked about the importance of not making decisions based on fear, and heres the fruit of that: Saul compromises in his obedience, choosing to obey the convention of the day, the common practice of those around him. He obeyed part of what God asked of him, and part of what the world around him expected of him, and gained nothing.


1 Sanuel 16:10-13
10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.”
11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

And so here we have Saul, a man chosen by God to lead His nation but who instead followed fear and it led him to compromise. Set against that is David, whose life was characterized in many ways by his bravery and his reliance on God (and its funny how those things are so intertwined) and who was called "a man after God's own heart." Saul acted in fear from the beginning, while one of the first things David does once he comes onto the stage is still considered one of the coolest acts of bravery in the bible (which we will talk about next week).

Its funny though, David's greatest fall comes out of the same sin as Saul: hiding from his God given responsibilities. We will also talk about this in a later week.

I'm going to encourage you guys to read the whole story around the next week, and see what God will show you. Samuel 13 &15

Let us pray, that we would be people after God's own heart, that we would stand couragous in the face of the perils of the world, that we would not act in fear.

Notes from 8-3-11

David: A man after God's own heart
Part 1: The Context of Saul

The real trouble with having a biblical name is that when you grow up in the church you grow up hearing about how cool (or terrible) you namesake was. You land a name like David and wow, quite the reputation to live up to. Not that I'm recommending that anyone named Ruth goes out and weeds the garden of the man she wants to marry, but you get the idea.
I've spent a good portion of my life trying to live up to the reputation that my name has attached to it and studying his life. I'll tell you something really quick, you can study portions of the Bible your whole life and still learn new things about God and His will and love for His people.

So, I've been studying (and trying to live to the example set within that study) and why not? King David was an amazing guy who provided peace and security for his nation, he was a worship leader and is generally described by people now a days as "A man after God's own heart."

How cool would it to be described as that?

Pretty cool I think, and so I ask the question: What does that even mean?
What did it mean to David, and what does it mean to us?

That's what I'm hoping to explore as we, over the next couple of weeks, overview his life, his successes and failures.

And if we are going to study David then there can only be one place to start, and its not actually the famous story of him and Goliath's showdown.
Context for everything, and therefore to lay the groundwork for David's life we must spend some time looking at Sauls.

Onwards, to lots of reading!


1 Samuel 8:5-9
5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ]
9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

1 Samuel 8:19-20
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

Whats wrong here?
How about "we will be like all the other nations." We want to be just like everybody else. Israel was a chosen people, and everyone around them knew it, and feared them for it, and they wanted to abandon that. What they had wasn't working anymore. Samuel was old and his sons were punks, and so instead of seeking the Lord's will for what they should do next they looked around them, took a look at the status quo, whatever the latest fad was and said "Oh, we want that! Let's do that!" Because after all, they seem cool.

And Samuel warns them: if you get a king he will do all these things. He'll take your money to buy stuff, he'll take your food to eat, he'll take your daughters to be his servants and your sons to be his soldiers. And they're like: "But kings are so coooooooolllll."

And anyway, everybody's doing it.

So Samuel goes out and with God's direction, finds them a king. Fastforward to the day of the coronation.


1 Samuel 10:22
22 So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”

This seems really funny. Here is Sauls coronation, and not only that but its the first coronation in the nation of Israel, and the guest of honor is missing. He's hiding. Now, you must understand that up until this point Saul has been doing some great things, and God's blessing has been on him. It says that he went to the Prophets in Gilgash and started prophesying, and I don't know about you but that's not an everyday occurrence for me, and it says that God gave Him a new heart.

And here he is now, everyone has gathered to crown him king and he is nowhere to be found. He has run away and hidden in the supplies.

This seems really funny, but its a true tragedy. Because this really is the first time Saul is given a burden of real responsibility and he runs. Imagine what it would be like if this was a president of the united states. Imagine how you might feel if the FOX news person announced that the newly elected president was hiding in the broom closet, hoping that someone else would be sworn in in his place. What would you be thinking?

Saul was afraid, and that fear would continue to haunt him for all of his life, and lead to the downfall of his dynasty.

The Gray Letter Bible:

I read a quote the other day on twitter by a motivation speaker and photographer named Marcus A. Murphy:
"It's interesting that the bible doesn't have a section for life's gray areas, being that this is where the majority of us live."

Now, think about that statement and answer two questions:
1. Do I agree with that?
2. What is he really saying here?

Well, what he's really saying here is that for most of our lives we will be dealing with situations that the bible does not have answers for.

To which I had only two simple thoughts:
1. Are we reading the same Bible? Because thats not what I see
2. Thats just depressing, especially since I know that there are christians out there that believe this.

In fact, if you look at this mindset you see a separation of "Christian life, or church life" and "real life". The speaker divides the decisions between good and evil and the rest of our everyday decisions, theso-called gray areas of life, harmless decisions between the good and the less-good.

Probably known to the enemy as "Divide and Conquer" because if your "real life" falls, your "church life" is pretty much already broken.

And I could go on and on here about postmodernism and its effect on the church and the history of literature and philosophy and all this technical stuff but you know what?

Its not a new issue:
It stretches back further than the last fifty years, its been plaguing christians for a lot longer than we've had a name for it.


Christ himself dealt with this all the time when the Pharisees tried to play stump the chump with him.
Have you ever looked at the questions the Pharisees where asking Jesus?

The Sadducees questioned Jesus about the issue of a man's brother marrying the man's widow (Matthew 22:23-28).
The Pharisees asked Jesus about healing on the Sabbath (Mathew 12:10).
The Pharisees questioned Jesus on His disciples' hand washing (Matthew 15:2).
A Pharisee asked Jesus about the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36).


Are these, for the most part, earth shattering issues of theology and deep philosophy? No, not really.
I mean, hand washing? Man, that doesn't strike me as particularly divisive..

But you must understand that at this point the whole Jewish society had developed such a wide array of laws governing every facet of their lives that you couldn't throw a brick with hitting a law that would tell you what kind of brick should be thrown, what you could throw it at and the time of day when you could throw bricks over 5 lbs, and all these laws were designed to make people "holier" enough that they would be acceptable to God (or, if you want to take cheap shots at the Pharisees, who are kind of the nazi's of Christianity, you could say they were so one could be "holier" than their neighbor).

So In fact, these questions were grounded in the day-to-day minutia of ordinary life to Jesus's listeners.

They are totally trying to stump Jesus with situations that they say aren't answered in the Bible.
Sound familar?
Lets look at this last one, because I think its got some good things to say.

Matthew 22:34-36
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
So lawyer comes up wondering whats the most important law here is how Jesus answers him:
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In one single move Jesus removes the question and replaces the answer with a lesson.

Its like, I'm not sure if you guys have ever had this experience but I grew up homeschooled and somedays I'd be going along, doing my math and I would run into a problem that I couldn't quite figure out, so I'd come to my math teacher (my mom) and ask her "How do I solve this problem?" Always stressing the "this" so maybe she'd just tell me whether or not my answer is right. Instead she would always sit down with me and teach me how to do the problem correctly.


The bible is not a rulebook, it is an instruction manual. Some person once turned it into an acronym: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
It will not tell you exactly what to do in every situation, God is not the divine referee. It will teach you to live your life in a way to please and glorify God.


That passage in Matthew we read says that we are too "Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is the foundation of the Bible, everything we are supposed to do grows out of ( or hangs upon) these two things.


There is no situation or moral dilemna where we cannot discover what we should do by asking ourselves "what will show that I love God, and what will show that I love others."
Now, do not mistake "possible" for "easy" and do not mistake this as something you should apply to other peoples lives.
And certainly don't mistake love for fairness.
Ultimately, We can live the answers but that does not make them fun to live through.
But by the grace of God we can.

Let us pray.