Nick of time

19 The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 20 Now, O king, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for handing him over to the king."

 21 Saul replied, "The LORD bless you for your concern for me. 22 Go and make further preparation. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. 23 Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah."

 24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.

 26 Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land." 28 Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth. ^[b]
29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi. 1 Samuel 23:19-29

Have you ever been in a place where God has to come through or you are doomed?

David was, he was surrounded and Saul was closing in. But, in the "nick of time" God used the unlikely, the Philistines, to deliver David from the hands of Saul.

Take some time to read through Psalm 107 and call out to him if it looks desperate for you. Or maybe you just need to thank God for he is your deliverer who came and will continue to come in the "nick of time".

1-3 Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out.
   All of you set free by God, tell the world!
      Tell how he freed you from oppression,
   Then rounded you up from all over the place,
      from the four winds, from the seven seas.

 4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
      looking but not finding a good place to live,
   Half-starved and parched with thirst,
      staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
   Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
      He got you out in the nick of time;
   He put your feet on a wonderful road
      that took you straight to a good place to live.
   So thank God for his marvelous love,
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
   He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
      the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

 10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
      cruelly confined behind bars,
   Punished for defying God's Word,
      for turning your back on the High God's counsel—
   A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
      and not a soul in sight to help.
   Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
      he got you out in the nick of time.
   He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
      broke open the jail and led you out.
   So thank God for his marvelous love,
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
   He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
      he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

 17-22 Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life,
      your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
   You couldn't stand the sight of food,
      so miserable you thought you'd be better off dead.
   Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
      he got you out in the nick of time.
   He spoke the word that healed you,
      that pulled you back from the brink of death.
   So thank God for his marvelous love,
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
   Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
      tell the world what he's done—sing it out!

 23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
      you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
   Out at sea you saw God in action,
      saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
   With a word he called up the wind—
      an ocean storm, towering waves!
   You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
      your hearts were stuck in your throats.
   You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
      you didn't know which end was up.
   Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
      he got you out in the nick of time.
   He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
      put a muzzle on all the big waves.
   And you were so glad when the storm died down,
      and he led you safely back to harbor.
   So thank God for his marvelous love,
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
   Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
      shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

 33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
      springs of water into sunbaked mud;
   Luscious orchards became alkali flats
      because of the evil of the people who lived there.
   Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
      arid earth into springs of water,
   Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
      they moved in—what a great place to live!
   They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
      they reaped a bountiful harvest.
   He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
      their herds of cattle never decreased.
   But abuse and evil and trouble declined
      as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
   He gave the poor a safe place to live,
      treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

 42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
      bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
   If you are really wise, you'll think this over—
      it's time you appreciated God's deep love. Psalm 107    

Went home?

18 The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh. 1 Samuel 23:18

This particular verse has meant
so much to me over the past year. Here's why.

I have some of those covenant relationships in my life. But, I was beginning to doubt whether I was upholding my end of the covenants. It's been almost two years ago that I got the call in my life to leave the church I loved, the one that God used to change my life, to physically leave the people that I walked with.

As I pursued the call
of God in my life and moved to Tallahassee, I watched as my friends faced persecution, lost their jobs, got involved in major accidents and the church I love split. I carried an incredible burden that I should be there with them in those crises.

But notice the verse above, Jonathan went home. Why? Wasn't he the one who made three eternal covenants with David? Why not stand and fight with him? Why leave?

Then it hit me. If I am a man of faith, then my faith tells me that there is a battle going on that is much bigger than me.

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:12

How do I fight in a battle like that?

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Eph 6:13-18

This was a spiritual battle and all Jonathan could do was go back and pray for both David and his father.

My greatest weapon in this battle, the thing I can do best, is prayer, which I have done every day since I left.

Stand

17 "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." 1 Samuel 23:17

Fear causes you to forget who God is and His promises.

David forgot the promises of God and became afraid. What are you forgetting?

We need friends to point us to Christ, to push us to depend on God and not them.

Yesterday I wrote about Jonathan strengthening David's hand in God. He did it by reminding him of a promise that God had made and of his destiny.

He reminds David that he will be king after Saul.

Who does that for you?

How'd he know
that David would be king over Israel?

They were deep friends and so it is hard to imagine that David had not told Jonathan about the time when the prophet Samuel had anointed David as a boy to be king over Israel.

Do you have someone in your life that you share the secret stuff with? Someone who is safe enough to share the "crazy" things with? Think about it, how crazy would it be for the shepherd boy to say to the heir of the throne, "Samuel said I would be king." David trusted Jonathan enough to share everything.

"And I will stand with you."

Really? He intends to stand by David, a throne that should have belonged to Jonathan. What a picture of selfless, personal sacrifice; Jonathan is not jealous of David.

Who will you stand with?

Go!

15While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.
1 Samuel 23:15-16

David still had one loyal friend, Jonathan (which means "Jehovah has given"). Remember, he was God's gift to young David, strategically placed in David's life at the very time David needed a genuine friend. From the beginning Jonathan loved David just as he was. David was a "nobody from nowhere" (shepherd boy, last one in line), but Jonathan saw something in David. Their friendship was born in the presence of God and in the love of God; it stood the test of time.

He hears that he is in the Wilderness and goes.

It's the start that stops most people.

Do you know a friend that's in trouble?

Have you done anything about it?

Jonathan didn't accidentally meet David; he didn't wait until he ran into him. He PLANNED to go and strengthen him. You don't just do it on the fly; you rise and go.

The mark of maturity is that you build into your life the intention and occasions to strengthen someone's hand in God; not in themselves, not their self-confidence, but in God.

David needed someone to point him to the rock that will protect us in all storms.

We all need a friend who will say something or do something that will cause us to depend on God and not ourselves.

We must have a radical God-centeredness in all we do, even in our friendship. It must be a friendship FOR Jesus, one that always points us back to Him!

Whose hand are you going to strengthen in God?

Do you have a friend like Jonathan who is committed to helping you fight?

Even when times are tough?

David had one.

How Long?

7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars." 8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

 9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod." 10 David said, "O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant."
      And the LORD said, "He will."

 12 Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?"
      And the LORD said, "They will."

 13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.

 14 David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. 1 Samuel 23:7-14

How long?

Have you ever asked that question?

Of course you have, it starts when you're a child on a trip, right? And then, we ask that about so many other things in our lives. But, have you asked God that?

Ever felt that God didn't care because He kept letting the attacks come? David must have, "come on God, can't you take care of Saul?"

Actually he probably had been reciting this prayer over and over since the cave in 1 Samuel 22;

I cry out to the Lord;
      I plead for the Lord's mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him
      and tell him all my troubles.
When I am overwhelmed,
      you alone know the way I should turn.
   Wherever I go,
      my enemies have set traps for me.
I look for someone to come and help me,
      but no one gives me a passing thought!
   No one will help me;
      no one cares a bit what happens to me.
Then I pray to you, O Lord.
      I say, "You are my place of refuge.
      You are all I really want in life.
Hear my cry,
      for I am very low.
   Rescue me from my persecutors,
      for they are too strong for me.
Bring me out of prison
      so I can thank you.
   The godly will crowd around me,
      for you are good to me." Psalm 142

Funny how we don't trust that He knows what He is doing, but if we are patient and endure trials our character is shaped and our hope in Him is increased.

Have you ever been at a place where the frequency of "the attacks" just seem to accelerate? You know the saying when it rains it pours? Usually this happens because those attacking us think we are vulnerable and are close to giving up. That's what Saul thought.

David endured and consulted God on every decision. How many decisions do you make on a daily basis? Is God consulted in them?

Another thing I noticed, David didn't let his personal battle spill over into those who had no stake in it. If he would have stayed, the town would have been pillaged and possibly it could have led to a civil war that would have affected generations.

As a leader I must make sure my personal battles don't affect the innocent around me. I've seen how personal battles between opposing leaders can cause people to chose sides and split the flock. David chose not to do this and neither should we; no civil war should ever happen in the church because of leadership struggles.

He’s good on it

1 One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors. 2 David asked the Lord, "Should I go and attack them?"

   "Yes, go and save Keilah," the Lord told him.

 3 But David's men said, "We're afraid even here in Judah. We certainly don't want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!"

 4 So David asked the Lord again, and again the Lord replied, "Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines."

 5 So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah. 6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him. 1 Samuel 23:1-6

There are some great leadership insights in these few verses.

First thing I noticed was how often we do what we know to do without asking God first. Think about David, he is a warrior, he's been trained to fight, his natural tendency would be just to go and fight, but he didn't. He asked the Lord.

Usually when we are comfortable, confident that we can handle the task, we just go and do it without consulting God. David shows us a different pattern. He didn't rely on his past experiences; he waited and received a fresh command.

Second, when a leader proposes a direction that is unfamiliar or dangerous they will run into objections. The men's concerns were valid, they would now how have two enemies, Saul and the Philistines, that they would possibly have to go against out in the open, away from the stronghold. Besides it was King Saul's responsibility to deal with the Philistines.

In leading Christ followers I've found those are two very prominent issues, comfort and responsibility. We constantly have to lead people out of the safe areas where they've been able to hide to the more difficult open terrain where they will be exposed to greater risk. We also have to challenge people to do the "good works" even if it appears not to be their responsibility, which ultimately is.

Third, David listened to their objections and went back to God. He didn't call them "wimps" and diminish them, nor did he give in and say "okay we'll stay". He took it before the Lord, again.

Fourth thing I noticed is, when those you lead
know that you have spent serious time
seeking the will of God, they will follow you into impossible situations. By doing this it opens their eyes to divine possibilities awaiting them. But it starts with a leader who acts in obedience to the will of God.

God delivered on His promise, or should I say promises.

Did you notice that Abiathar brought the ephod? Who? Brought the what?

Read the blogs from yesterday and the day before about Ahimelech, the priests and Abiathar, who escaped from being killed and came to David.

Here's the other promise that was fulfilled:

27And there came
a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus the LORD has said, 'Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me?
I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29Why then do you scorn
my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?' 30Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold,
the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32Then
in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33The only one of you (that's Abiathar) whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men.
34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 1 Samuel 2:27-34

Whoa! He made good on His word!

Regret

20 But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, 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 father's whole family. 23 Stay with me; don't be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me." 1 Samuel 22:20-23

Have you ever seen it coming?

David did, and at this point he probably realized he should have taken it more seriously. If David had spoke the truth then maybe Ahimelech could have at least prepared for the trouble, he possibly could have stopped Doeg.

Can you imagine the regret David carried?

Because of his inaction a whole community was destroyed and David probably carried those scars for a long time.

I've made mistakes like that, which has taught me to confront things early. I'm still learning how to do that, but it does come with some cost. Be prepared to be labeled judgmental and prideful; but would you be willing to be called that to save a whole community?

Then, there are those times you were just wrong about your assessment. Those are times to practice humility and understanding, which can lead to better intimacy. It's better to bring those things out than to let them fester and grow inside of you, that whole root of bitterness thing. Bring it out in the open, the light to be seen for what it is.

20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."
John 3:20-21

When prompted take action, for if you don't you may have to live with regret.