The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
In Session 9 when David felt that he and his men had been disrespected for the job they had done in protecting the staff and assets of a wealthy man who refused to share his profits which was typically done in those days. God's providence kicked in in the form of a very wise woman to keep David from exacting revenge.
In Session 10 David after his success in not taking revenge on his advisories changes his focus from a vertical one, seeking God, to a horizontal perspective, using human reasoning. The result is depression, deception, and eventually tragedy.
For our study we will be using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, and The Hand of God by Alistair Begg. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole, He is in control of the physical world, He is in control of the affairs of nations, He’s in control of human destiny, He’s in control of human successes and failures, He protects His people. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will.
Last week we talked about David losing his cool and almost taking revenge on someone that he felt had done him wrong. This after not taking revenge on someone who was trying to kill him. Perhaps he had just had enough.
Anyway, God’s providence kicked in and God used a woman, who David later married, to keep David from exacting revenge and letting God do what it says in
Romans 12:17-21 NIV Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We talked about the entire incident last week which ended with the man that David was upset with dying and then David marrying his widow.
1 Samuel 25:32-35 NIV David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
1 Samuel 25:36-38 NIV When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
Lessons Learned
First of all, whatever you do when conflicts arise, be wise. David wasn’t wise but Abigal was.
Second, take each conflict as it comes . . . and handle it separately. Don’t take it for granted that you can react the same with each conflict that comes so be discerning.
Wait before you act.
David finds himself in the pits.
After two spiritual and emotional highs David becomes depressed and falls into the pits. That often happens to us. After great victory there is a tendency to take a break and congratulate ourselves. It is at that time we are very vulnerable. One of the things we said last week is that conflict or trouble is inevitable. We like to think not but in a fallen world trouble is inevitable. It’s how we handle it that will determine whether we will be victorious or not.
Remember, David could have killed Saul, but he didn’t. Then he was about to kill Nabal, but Abigail talked him out of that, thankfully.
There is nothing ethically, morally, or spiritually wrong with our experiencing cloudy days and dark nights in fact the bible says when the dark days come, we should rejoice.
James 1:2-3 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And at first blush it looked as if that is what David did
1 Samuel 24:11-15, 20-21 NIV See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you. “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.” I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
1 Samuel 25:32-35 NIV David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
However something happened that caused him to become depressed. Perhaps he reflected over what had happened to him.
The first thing to go was his position in the kingdom. The next thing was his wife. He lost his counselor Samuel, he lost his best friend Johathan, and we said that the lost his self-respect. He actually went to the enemy. 1 Samuel 21:10 NIV That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.
So now David is depressed. Here’s what Chuck Swindal says caused this depression.
David took a humanistic viewpoint and not a spiritual one. In other words his viewpoint was horizontal not vertical. Woah is me. In fact, in chaper 27 of 1 Samuel where we are going to concentrate today you will not find one time that David prayed. He started out saying woah is me.
He also resorted to pessimistic reasoning. He also used rationalistic logic.
We see all of these things, a humanistic or horizontal viewpoint, pessimism and rationalistic logic. In
1 Samuel 27:1 NIV But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
But David thought to himself … Horizontal
“One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. Pessimism.
Worrying about something that you can’t control because you can’t control the future and assuming that the future holds bad for you. David forgot all of God’s promises
Samuel anointed him on God’s instructions
1 Samuel 16:1, 10-13 NIV The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 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.” 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.” 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.
Other’s realized that he was going to be king including the man that was trying to kill him.
1 Samuel 24:16-20 NIV When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.
The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” Rational logic.
He thought, “Times are hard. God’s has deserted me. I thought I could be king, but I’ll never be king. I’m gonna die if I keep on the front edge of Saul’s army. They’ll finally catch up with me. I’ll have to escape. The best solution is to go to Philistia.”
So in essence David says I’m on my own. You remember a study we did some time ago, Christian Atheist. Remember what a Christian atheist is - someone who believes in God but acts as if he doesn’t exist. That is David right now.
He is a believer on the inside, but on the outside, he looks just like a non-believer because of the way he’s living his life.
There’s a statement by a Psychologist Rollo May “Man is the only animal that runs faster when he has lost his way.”
The only problem is that David is now alone he is dragging 600 men and their familes along with his family down it the pits with him. It’s the same with us. We forget that we influence other people and, in many cases, as with David others depend on us and our ability to deal with whatever is going on.
David, in his depressed state, runs back to the enemy again. Remember the first time he went they kicked him out, but he obviously convinced them to let him stay this time. They even gave him his own town.
Here’s the first time
1 Samuel 21:10-11 NIV That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “ ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
Here he is again back in Gath
1 Samuel 27:2-4 NIV So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
1 Samuel 27:5-7 NIV Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, 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 Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. David lived in Philistine territory for a year and four months.
So, here’s depressed David and all these other people.
He thinks he’s safe. One of the problems with rationalizing things on a horizontal basis is that you can get a false sense of security .
1 Samuel 27:4 NIV When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
We we feel a sense of relief, we often let our guard down and we are susceptible to attack from the enemy, and we may and often do sin.
Then we leave ourselves open to working with the enemy. David got his own town to live in.
1 Samuel 27:5-7 NIV Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, 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 Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
Then it is hard to get out of the trap.
He has to keep up his charade. He is an Israelite and actually the anointed king but he feels that in order to stay alive he has to appear to be working with the enemy. We also try often to have one foot in the enemy camp and one in the kingdom. Christian Atheist.
David is trying to make the Philistines think that he is on their side when he really isn’t he’s playing charades to try to survive.
1 Samuel 27:8-12 NIV Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish. When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
The Geshurites and Girzites and Amalekites were the enemies of Israel, but they were not enemies of the Philistines. Still, they were not their allies either. So, when David slaughters these Geshurites and Girzites and Amalekites, he slaughters people who are neither enemies nor allies of Philistia. He had to kill everybody to cover his tracks. We will destroy relationships often times in order to not be found out. You don’t want anybody asking. So you cover up.
That’s what happens when you spend your time in what a pastor friend of mine calls the “carnal corral.” Inside, you’re a believer, but on the outside you want to look like the rest of the world.
There’s a lack of absolute allegiance. This miserable dilemma creates the need to compromise.
When you are in this type of situation you don’t get better you become more depressed and you bring those who follow you down with you.
When one first walks away from God, it feels pleasurable and freeing, maybe even delightful. But after a while the bills come due and you gotta pay the piper. It’s when you start paying the piper that disillusionment sets in. Then the bottom drops out.
First his protection goes. The Philistines tell David’s benefactor that David has to go. Read 1 Samuel chapter 29 for the full story but a few verses.
1 Samuel 29:1-5, 9-11 NIV The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.” But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances: “ ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’ Now get up early, along with your master’s servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light.” So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
And when they get back to Ziklag
1 Samuel 30:1-6 NIV David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
Now there is a big problem not only are David’s wives gone so are the families of David’s men. Now everybody is upset.
We you lose your perspective you view is horizontal not vertical and those following you go down to the pits because they followed you they begin to see you as the problem, and as the leader you are the problem so they start to distrust you and may start thinking of ways to get rid of you.
David was now so far down the ladder of despair that he’d reached the bottom rung. The last stop. The place where you either jump off into oblivion or you cry out to God for His forgiveness. For rescue. The wonderful thing is that we do have that choice, because God never gives up on His children.
1 Samuel 30:6-8 NIV David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
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