When Power Becomes Possible

If you got your Bibles with you, let's turn to 1st Samuel, chapter 24. We're going to continue our study in the series of Samuel. And where are we at? We are we are four chapters deep into David flying away from Saul who's hunting him. And we've been in the wilderness for a while. Well, today's passage, I think, is going to be a blessing to everybody here because we've all experienced what David's about to experience. Not necessarily the way that David is experiencing it, but we've all experienced it. It's that moment that everybody here who has been wronged, who has been who has who has been offended, who's who's just in that period of recovery, it's that that moment between when the wrong occurs and when the vindication finally arrives. It's that moment in between those two where the power shifts and all of a sudden you're not just the victim, but you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And something has changed because for four chapters, David has been hunted. He's f fled from the palace to the field. He's he's fled from the from the city to the cave. He's fled from from from security to uncertainty. and he's absorbed all kinds of injustices without retaliation and lived under these threats without striking back. And now in a t startling turn of events, the very man who is chasing him walks alone into a cave where David and his men are hiding. So what we're going to pull out of this because this chapter is not primarily about what a person does when survival is no longer the question. It's about what a person does when power becomes possible. Because there is a kind of strength that is required to endure suffering. But y'all, there is an even deeper strength that's required to refuse revenge when we're revenge is within reach. So, please get your Bibles, read along with me. I hope to pull out some things that maybe you haven't seen before or maybe see it in a different light. If you don't have a Bible, get it on your phone. If you don't have it on your phone, there's one in the pull p the pew. So, pull it on out. We're going to start with verse one. And it came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines that it was told him, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engeti." Let's pause real quick and appreciate where David is because Engeti is a series of limestone rocks that were pretty close to the sea um of the Dead Sea. and caves had been carved into these rocks um by natural forces. And so they were kind of natural strongholds. It's the kind of place where hunted men would hide. And it says that as soon as Saul got back from the Philistines, hunting the Philistines, that he found out David was down there. So So he's going to take some action. He He is so obsessed with getting David, he doesn't even give his men time to time to rest. I mean, it's just immediate turnaround. And this this chapter opens up with Saul mobilizing his forces. And have you ever noticed in life how threatened people react with excessive force? Sometimes threatened people will they'll raise their voices. They'll they'll have an exaggerated response. They'll go on a smear campaign. They'll they'll have an overreaction because this is what happens when you live life afraid of what's going to happen. you um you magnify the opposition. And we know from the previous chapters that Saul really fears losing his throne. So he mobilizes thousands of people to go after a shepherd. Uh and sometimes, and y'all forgive me, I just I just got to go on a detour for a second because my brain doesn't work right. And sometimes I think about, well, what if because there's nothing new under the sun and the same problems they had back then are the same problems we have today, but we're so much blessed because we know Jesus now. But imagine the cast of characters today facing these problems today. You know, they come before the king. There's this guy. He's the appointed one. He's the anointed one. You're going to lose your throne. And can you imagine the conversations that took place in that cabinet meeting? I'm not good at I'm not good at imitation, so y'all just throw me some grace here. probably be something like, well, I'm not saying, but some people say that he was never called by Samuel, that the guy was a cook. I'm not saying, but some people are saying that it's a conspiracy with Jesse the Bethleamite. Did he really kill Goliath? I mean, a tiny little stone. I don't think so. You can imagine that kind of personality going forward. Well, that's that's Saul right here. And he's getting 3,000 people to go after a shepherd. Now, in fairness, the shepherd did have 600 bankrupt narrwells with him, but it's still a little bit over reaction. And it says, "And Saul took 3,000 men out of all Israel to make Israel great again and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats." to 3,000 soldiers against 600 caved dwelling, bankrupt, distressed, dislocated people and a shepherd. Saul has institutional power. Saul has supply lines. Saul has the public authority. David, meanwhile, is in a cave. And I want to pause here to speak honestly about something because there are seasons in my life and seasons in your life when you feel like the enemy has 3,000 advantages against you, 3,000 resources, 3,000 accusations, 3,000 anxieties, 3,000 reasons to panic. And there are seasons when it feels like the enemy has 3,000 advantages and all you have is a rock. They have the position. They have the backing. They have the numbers. They have the resources. And you think all I have is this cave rock. But y'all, rock is enough because the numerical advantage, the positional advantage, the backing of your opposition means nothing when God governs the outcome. Because long before David ever hid in a cave, Moses hid in a rock in the cliff of the rock when the glory of God passed by in Exodus chapter 33. And long after David left in Getty, the Apostle Paul told us that rock, that was Christ. Tells us that in 1 Corinthians 10. So when you say, "All I have is a rock." All I have is this. Really, what you could say is, "All I have Christ because Christ is our ultimate defense. Christ is the clft in the rock. He's your shelter when the arrows fly. He's your covering then when the pressure closes in." And and there are seasons when it feels like the enemy has 3,000 advantages, but that's okay because you have the rock. And here's the twist on the story. It says in verse three, "And he," that's talking about Saul, came to the sheep coats, by the way, where was a cave and Saul went in to cover his feet. That's King James language. It meant that he went in, he cpped a squat, and he's about to go to the bathroom. Let's just get that out of the way. And David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. Now, it is almost impossible not to see the providence of God in this moment right here because after months of pursuit, after endless close calls, narrow escapes, the enemy is suddenly vulnerable. And Saul doesn't even know how exposed he really is. And if this was the movie, the soundtrack would stop, the tension would build, and David men interpret this moment like almost every single one of us would have interpreted the moment. This is what they say. Verse four. And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I'll deliver thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. Translation: David, God just delivered Saul into your hand. He walked into your hiding spot. He's alone. He's unarmed. He's vulnerable. And it looks like providence. It feels like an opportunity. It smells like destiny. But I want to tell you something. Providence is not the same thing as permission. The fact that God arranges this moment, the fact that God arranges any moment doesn't mean that he necessarily endorses every impulse in that moment. So David rises up. He quietly moves towards Saul. The cave is dim. The air is heavy with tension. His men are hiding their breath. Here stands Saul, the man who has pursued him, who has thrown spears at him, who has driven him from his home. And if David strikes now, the pursuit ends. The suffering stops. The promise is accelerated. David's anointed. God's promised him the throne. Let's get it over with. Let's let's get moving. But instead of taking action, this is what it says. And David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privy. Now, that seems like kind of a small act. I mean, you cut a piece of the fabric of his robe off. I mean, it's kind of harmless, right? What's what's going on here? Um,

they used to do this at West Point. NVMI, they used to do it in the military, too. They stopped it at the academy when a cadet committed suicide. But if you ever got dishonorably discharged, they would have the cadet come up in front of the core. The captain would pull out his saber and they used to do this in military too and and that the full dress had all these buttons on it and they would take the sword and the buttons would fall off. You would disrespect the attire. They used to do that in the military too, but they stopped it atmies. wasn't in the military. It was a symbolic way of showing you don't have any power. And it was the same thing back then because if I can get to the king and I can cut his robe, I can send him a clear message. You are not secure. And that little robe which represents your throne. It the end is coming. So David arose and cut the skirt of Saul's robe privly. I hope y'all appreciate that because it explains this verse five. And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smoked him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. So why did he feel bad for cutting the fabric? Because the robe represented the authority of the kingdom. David. Even though David had not taken Saul's life, he had reached out and taken something that God had yet to remove. And in that moment, the wilderness has served his purpose because David is convicted about what he did. Those months of hiding, your months of pain, the long nights in the cave, the fear, the betrayal, all those things have formed David's heart to be more sensitive. And a lesser man might have justified the act. Ah, a hardened heart would have said, you know what? Uh, at least I didn't kill him. But it says right here that David's heart trembled even at this symbolic aggression. Because David's power at this moment, and I want you to appreciate this, David's power was not in the cut of his knife. It was in his restraint. Because spiritual maturity is often revealed not in the sins that we avoid, but in the lines that our conscience will not allow us to cross. And can you imagine being one of David's men right now where you know David goes around the corner, he sneaks up to Saul, he cuts it back and you're expected to come back with Saul's head. I mean that's what he did with Goliath, right? At least we're but he comes back with a piece of fabric and your brain is sitting there thinking, "Bro, you missed it." Because so many of us think that that that God's victories have to look dramatic. And sometimes victory is just self-control. And and self-control not always flashy. Um it's not Instagrammable. Nobody is doing hashtag didn't retaliate today. Blessed.

But heaven sees. Heaven sees. And then David turns to his men. And this is some leadership. The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed. I want y'all to notice the language because he doesn't deny Saul's injustice. He doesn't pretend that Saul is righteous, but he recognizes that as God's appointed Saul, he and he's recognizing that and he refuses to seize what God must remove in God's own perfect timing. This is not weakness. It's a profound trust that's going on right here. So then we go to verse six and it says, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, seeing that he is anointed of the Lord." And David restrains his men. And I want you to notice this carefully because it wasn't just Dave's impulse that he had to control. He had to control the crowd's encouragement to do this thing. It's one thing to refuse to strike. Now y'all listen. It's one thing to refuse to strike. It is quite a different thing to refuse to listen to the voices that are encouraging you to strike. Hey, take your shot. Hey, clap back. Hey, secure your throne. Hey, defend your reputation. And David says, "No, I'm not going to have anything to do with it." Not because Saul deserves mercy, but because there is a greater strength that can wait. Young people, hear me. Sometimes the best flex is not doing it. And this chapter is not about David being weak. It's about confidence in a God who rules over all events. Because David knew something. If this throne is mine, I don't have to steal it. God's promise is real. Don't have to manipulate it. So after Saul exits the cave, David steps into the light and calls after him. And what follows is one of the more remarkable one of the more remarkable confrontations in all the scripture. David bows himself with his face to the earth and addresses Saul as my lord the king. So he's showing some respect. There's no sarcasm. There's no bitterness dripping from his words. There's dignity. And he shows Saul the piece of the robe. And he makes his case plainly. It says verse eight. We'll read some verses here. David also arose afterwards and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord the king." And when Saul looked behind him, David stopped with his face to the earth and bowed himself. And David said to Saul, "Wherefore hearest thou men's words? Why you listen to these people saying, Behold, David, seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how the Lord's delivered thee today into my hand in the cave. And some bade me killed thee, but mine I spared thee, and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see yay, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe killed thee not. Know thou, and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee, yet thou hest my soul to take it. So David here is not denying the injustice that he suffered, but he also doesn't weaponize the moment. Instead, he's putting judgment back where judgment belongs. Here's what he says. Verse 12. The Lord judge between me and thee. The Lord avenge me of thine thee. My hand shall not be upon thee. says, "I saith the proverbs of the as say saith the proverbs of the ancient, wickedness proceedth from the wicked, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. For whom is the king of Israel come out?" After whom does thou pursue? Who you looking for, Saul? After a dead dog with after a flea? I'm nothing. The Lord, therefore, be the judge. So, he's putting judgment where it belongs. The Lord be the judge between me and thee. and see and plead my cause and deliver me out of thy hand. Man, that's restraint. Because David decided that he would not act as a judge. He wouldn't be the jury. He wouldn't be an executioner. He trusted God who sees fully and judges rightly. Y'all, waiting for j God is not passivity. It's confidence that justice does not require your immediate intervention to exist. If the throne is by God's promise, David doesn't need to stain it to secure it. Now, let's close out with those last few verses. We'll take some lessons from it. And it came to pass, verse 16. And it came to pass when David had made an end to speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, "Is this the voice of my son David?" And and Saul lifted up and Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to David, "Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil, and thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dwelt well with me. For as much as when the Lord delivered me into thy hand, thou klest me not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord reward thee good, for thou hast done unto me this day, and and now behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now, therefore, unto me by the Lord, that thou will not cut off my seed after me, and thou will not destroy my name out of my father's house." David swear to Saul. Saul went home. David and his man got them up into the hole. So Saul is moved and he lifted his voice and he weeps. He acknowledges everything that David has done to repay him, good for the evil, and he even confesses. And for a moment, for a moment, it seems as though clarity has pierced Saul's blindness. But scripture does not confuse emotion with repentance. Saul's tears are real, but they're not lasting. Saul's words acknowledging David's future kingship doesn't result in a heart change. And David discerns the difference. And he swears to Saul concerning his descendants. But David does not return to the palace. And the wilderness has taught him another thing that sincerity in the moment doesn't guarantee stability in life. So Saul leaves. David goes back to the cave. The conflict is not over. We have more chapters to go where Saul is going to be hunting him. So, let's dig a little bit deeper into what we just read because this chapter is not just about David sparing Saul. It's about the kind of man that David must become before he ever sits on the throne. Because a throne does not just require courage. It requires character and character is not formed in your coronation. It's formed in the caves that you're going through right now. So if David had taken power, I want you to think about this because if if David had taken power through violence, even if the outcome looked justified, that act would have shaped the entire architecture of his kingdom and his reign. The first decision that a king makes about how he obtains authority is the blueprint for how he's going to exercise it. If if he raises by the sword, he's going to have to rule by the sword. If if he grasps, he's going to have to govern by grasping. If if he eliminates rivals to ascend, he's going to have to eliminate threats to remain. The the method of becoming who you are becomes the model. And that's why these cave moments, your cave moments matter so deeply, what you do in your cave, because God is not only preparing David to rule Israel, he's he he's preparing David to rule Israel without becoming Saul. And and I want you to think about what would have happened if if David had killed Saul in that cave. Yeah. The pursuit would have ended. the throne would have been closer. The but the whispers would have followed him throughout his entire kingdom and would have followed him to Jerusalem. He took it. He seized it. He eliminated the king. And if David had justified it, a seed would have been planted forever. Power is preserved by force. And when you believe that power must be preserved by force, you begin to rule in fear. You begin to scan for threats. you begin to silence disscent, you you begin to protect position rather than shaping and shephering people. And and Saul had already gone down that road. David cannot begin there. And but there's also a deeper truth because the wilderness was not just protecting David from Saul. It was protecting Israel from a future version of David. So the wilderness, if David had taken that throne prematurely in this wilderness through bloodshed, without restraint, Israel would not have gained a shepherd king. They would have gained another insecure ruler. God was not only shaping David's destiny, he was actually safeguarding Israel's future in the wilderness. Because authority is seldom neutral, it magnifies whatever is already present. If insecurity obtains authority, insecurity rules. If humility obtains authority, humility governs. And the cave reveals David's soul right here. He doesn't grab what God has promised. He waits for God to remove what God has installed. And that waiting shapes him. And that waiting and your waiting and it it it builds trust where grasping builds anxiety. And and when you seize what God has not given, you'll spend the rest of your life defending it. When when God gives you what you waited for, you can hold on to it without fear. But this this is this is not isolated to David. The this is a pattern through scripture. A Abraham had to wait on Isaac. Joseph had to endure prison before the palace. Moses spent 40 years in Midian before leading the people of Israel. Why is that? Because just getting authority without any formation becomes destructive and and God is more concerned with who you become than how fast you get there. The cave was never delaying David's kingship. It was refining it. So if David had taken this throne by killing Saul, Israel would have gained a king but lost a shepherd. how how you obtain your influence and authority. How you actually if if you if you rise through manipulation, you're going to govern through manipulation. If you rise through fear, you will rule through fear. If you rise in trust, you will govern in peace. And this cave was not about sparing Saul. It was about shaping shaping de. And I want to go back to the story because there's a whisper that goes on through this whole story from the very beginning of David's story. But man, it's getting louder right now because there was another anointed one, another king rejected, hunted, misunderstood, and his name was Jesus. And when his enemy surrounded him, he did not cut garments. He allowed his to be stripped off. When he was betrayed, he did not strike. He surrendered. When when he was mocked, he did not defend. He he entrusted himself to the father. And Peter tells us when he was reviled, he reviled not. and he committed himself to the judge that judges rightly. In the wilderness, Satan offered our Lord authority over the kingdoms of the world. And he offered it to him with you can have authority over the kingdom of the world without a cross. All he had to do was bow. But he refused because a crown without a cross would have shaped the wrong kind of kingdom. And in the cave, David spared his enemy. And at the cross, Jesus prayed for his enemies. David refused to take the throne by force. Jesus refused to call down 12 legions of angels to defend him. So, we have a gospel message here in 1st Samuel chapter 24 that the true king secured his kingdom not by violence but by obedience. And that's good news because your salvation, your eternal salvation was not achieved by your moral effort. It was accomplished by Christ's faithfulness. And you were not rescued because you restrained yourself. You were rescued because of the finished work of the Savior. And that changes everything. Maybe right now, and I know some of you definitely are in a cave. Misunderstood, overlooked, sidelined, attacked unfairly. And this text does not minimize your pain, but it shows something more powerful. God's purpose do not does not require your manipulation. You don't have to fight for validation. You don't have to crush your enemies. You don't have to orchestrate your rise. But you can rest in what God has already secured in Christ. You are not fighting for a crown. You are living from one that has already been won by Jesus. Now, we hear a lot nowadays about this phrase called trust the process. And you got to be careful. We don't trust the process. We trust the Lord who governs the process. And here's the beauty of it. Years later, David did fail very publicly. He would not always have the same restraint that is showing right here. But the story of scripture does not end with David. It culminates in Christ who never failed a single test. And your hope is not in becoming better. It is in the son of David. How does Jesus make a difference? You know, David cut the hymn of Saul's robe and That hymn represented authority like we talked about. Thousand years later, a woman would reach out for a hymn, hem of the garment, and power would flow not from her effort, but from the one that wore the robe. David cut a robe and felt convicted. But the lady touched the robe of Jesus's garment and found healing. What's the difference? Jesus is a greater king. And in this story, David goes back to his stronghold. Saul goes home. The throne remains occupied for now. But the ending is certain. And God's purpose is going to stand. Now, tonight, today, you might feel hidden. You might feel overlooked. You might feel unfairly treated. But I want you to know this. The palace is coming and until it does, you can trust the God who forms kings in the cave. If you'd like to serve him as we worship him at Camp Creek Church, give you that chance as we stand him sing him number him number 60. We'll sing the first and the last stand of him number 60.

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