Sermon Tone Analysis

March 2, 2012

By John Barnett

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As we open to I Samuel 23 we are coming to the final stages of David’s life on the run.

From the desolate wastelands of Israel’s geography we hear the cries of David’s heart from desert where he now find that added to danger, deprivation, and despair are the twin struggles of betrayal and loneliness.

That is what happened next in David’s life.

He has survived a fight with the Philistines.

He is surviving daily advances against him by King Saul.

But now after those he had risked his life to protect and save from the Philistines, turned against him.

David now shows for all the world to see, how does a godly person deal with:

*The Loneliness and Pain of Betrayal*

One of the painful situations in life is betrayal.

The pain of one in whom we trusted, who hurts us at a level others cannot.

When we trusted someone and they turn on us it makes everything come slightly loosened in our lives.

We begin to wonder who else out there is secretly on the side of our enemies.

This pain and hurt gets compounded when those who betray us are family members.

So for all of us, if we live long enough, we will feel what David felt and if we want to, we can find comfort like he found.

When this Ziphite region in the tribe of Judah (that means David’s kin, David’s clan, and David’s relatives), turns on David and betrays him; David faces a new level of loneliness, mixed with the bitter poison of betrayal.

Not only had the men of Keilah planned to deliver David over to Saul—even though he’d just rescued them from the Philistines—but he now he was also being betrayed by men he trusted in the Wilderness of Ziph.

As we open to I Samuel 23:14, if you have ever had your marriage partner cheat on you and betray the vows of your marriage, you know the bitter poison David tasted.

If you have ever poured your life into your work, given far beyond what was asked or paid for, and then with no reason had your job stripped away and given to someone else, you know the loneliness of betrayal David felt.

If you gave the best years of your life to your children and or spouse, and they used you and then cast you off when you were no longer useful to them, you have felt the stab of betrayal and the wave of loneliness David felt.

What can God do with betrayal and loneliness?

He can make beautiful songs out of them.

*Songs of God’s Faithfulness*

From this passage come two of the sweetest Psalms of David’s life.

As always grace prevails, God is good, and David finds Him closest in the fiery trials of life.

Please join me as we read the next backdrop God uses to paint another beautiful picture of his great faithfulness in 1 Samuel 23:14-29 (NKJV):

v. 14 [God protects us even when we are not aware of it.]

And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph.*

Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.*

15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life.

And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.

v. 16 [God wants to use people to help and encourage us.]

16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you.

You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you.

Even my father Saul knows that.”

18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD.

And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

v. 19 [People will always disappoint and hurt us.]

Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

[Setting for Psalm 54] 21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me.

22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there.

For I am told he is very crafty.

23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you.

And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.”

24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul.

But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David.

Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon.

And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.

26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain.

So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.

v. 27 [God always has things under control.]

But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape.

29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.

*David Was Betrayed by Men He Trusted*

If you have ever been betrayed or maligned by someone you trusted, you know how David felt when the Ziphites turned against him.

He probably thought that his recent rescue of the inhabitants of Keilah would make a difference in how he was viewed, but it didn’t.

This time of betrayal prompted David to respond to the event of v. 19-20.

That response became Psalm 54: birthed in the lonely fires of betrayal.

Here we’ll find David appealed to the Lord for deliverance and vindication in this betrayal—praising God that he is good and would hear his prayers!

*Psalm 54: A Cry for Help When Betrayed*

To the Chief Musician.

With stringed instruments, A Contemplation of David when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”

*Verses 1-3 give us point one: Like David I will Seek the Lord First I am deeply hurt.*

1 *Save me*, O God, by Your name, And *vindicate me* by Your strength.

2* Hear my prayer*, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them.

Selah

*Verses 4-5 give us point two: Like David I will Allow the Lord to Repay my Betrayers, instead of getting even*.

4 Behold, *God is my helper*; The LORD is with those who uphold my life.

5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.

Cut them off in Your truth.

*Verses 6-7 give us point three: Like David even when betrayed I will wait, and watch, and pray until I find something to praise the Lord about.*

6 I will freely sacrifice to You; *I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.*

7 For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Did God hear David’s prayers?

Look back at I Samuel 23.

This Psalm is a prayer, it is flowing from David’s heart, and while David was calling, God was answering.

Here’s the really neat part— just as Saul and his men were encircling David and his men, “a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!”

Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the *Rock of Escape*” (1 Samuel 23:27-28).

Don’t you just love to see the Lord’s sovereignty at work like that?

It’s so comforting to know that nothing can come into a believer’s life without first passing through the Lord’s hands—and then He promises to work good through it (Romans 8:28)!

*Romans 8: Three Markers for Life*

Open to Romans 8 and mark three markers with me.

• This chapter opens with: *No Condemnation because He bought me.*

• This chapter closes with *No Separation because He loves me.*

• This chapter is filled with *No Frustration because I trust Him.*

The God who meets us in our loneliness and betrayal is the One who has promised if you follow me there is no condemnation, as you trust me there is no frustration; and as you love me there is no separation.

While Saul was off chasing the Philistines who had invaded Israel, *David and his men safely relocated to the Wilderness of En Gedi* (1 Samuel 23:29).

Jot somewhere in the margin of your Bible, Psalm 63 belongs around this time in David’s life.

As we find David’s change of address recorded in v. 29, we find the state of his soul captured in Psalm 63.

As David takes time to write *Psalm 63*—he is teaching us at God’s request, how to overcome the feelings of loneliness when we are insecure.

This was a time of no sure place to live, no reliable source of income and provision.

What stands out most of all in this Psalm is that we see David seeking and finding the abundant satisfaction that only God can give.

This Psalm is full of meaning for those separated from family and friends, or isolated from fellowship by handicap or disaster.

The truth that God alone, with no one else around, and with nothing else needed: can provide joy for our souls, satisfaction for our hearts, and strength to go on!

Some Bible scholars have those Psalm 63 goes along with the psalms of David fleeing his son Absolom; that is possible and would align this Psalm with Psalms 3, 4, and 5.