Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

How do you know what to do next?

How do you know what God wants you to do next?

That's easy slaughter a sheep and take out its liver, and based on its shape, you can tell what God wants.

If that doesn't work, have a cup of tea; after it's all gone, see how the tea leaves form on the bottom of the cup.

Based on the patterns that you see, you can tell the future.

If that doesn't work, look to the stars, astrology is still prevalent, as people look desperately to the "universe" to give them a sign.

In that desire, we see how inbuilt our belief that God/someone is directing the course of history.

And that if I could somehow know which way he wants me to go, then my life would be blessed.

Of course, the problem is that people seeking the future from an impersonal "universe" are absurd, and looking at livers or teacups is no better.

But we as Christians are not immune from strange ways of trying to determine God's will.

We know indubitably that God is directing the course of history, including the path he chose for us.

We know that he is not just sovereign over ends but also over every means of achieving those ends.

Yet Even Christians find themselves drawn to bizarre methods of discerning God's will.

There's the guy who broke down in front of the Phillippine embassy and took that as a sign he should sell everything and be a missionary to the Philippines.

Or there is the empty your mind method of praying, where you pray that God reveals his will, and the first thing that comes to mind is God's will.

Or there is the flip to a random bible text method.

Take your bible out and let it flip to a random page and then read whatever you put your finger on.

Bruce Waltke recounts this method calling it "bible roulette."

A humorous cautionary tale against playing this kind of “Bible roulette” is of a man whose first finger pointing hit “[Judas] went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5); his second, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:27); and his third, “What you are to do, do quickly”!

(John 13:27).

But all these beg the question, How can we discern God’s will?

More importantly, is that even a good question, should we be trying to discern God's will?

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the narrator of 1 Samuel was giving us three little vignettes of David, the one in Nob with Ahimelech, the one in Gath with Achish, and the one back in Judah at the Cave of Adullam, which surfaced character themes that would be developed more fully in David later on.

We noted in ch.

21 that David made some erratic choices that had disastrous consequences.

Part of the problem was David was not relying on the Lord.

He had not made efforts to inquire of the Lord to find out what God wanted him to do next.

But then we noted by the end of those three little vignettes, that David was learning to rely on God.

Because when back in Judah David listened to the voice of the prophet Gad, as the Lord directed him to stay in Judah.

Now in our text today in ch.

23:1-14 we see the narrator draw out the way in which David has learned to rely on God.

David does not make a move without first inquiring of the Lord and then listening for his response.

Through this episode in David's life, we learn the importance of relying on God's ordinary means to discern God's will.

Because God has given us His ordinary means of grace, we must rely on his word with prayer to discern God’s will.

Summary of the text.

One thing that is important to note is that part of the events of this chapter is happening simultaneously with ch.

22.

So that while David is saving Keilah from the Philistine raiders, Saul is executing holy war against Nob.

Notice in v. 6 that when Abiathar fled to David, he came to Keilah.

So from this, we may assume that David hears the news that philistine raiders are attacking the city of Keilah while headquartered in the wilderness of Judah.

Upon hearing this, he inquires of the Lord, asking whether he and his men should go and deliver them.

The Word from the Lord is yes, go up and deliver Keilah.

Now there is some hesitation, so David again consults the Lord, and again the answer is, go up.

So they deliver the city from these philistine raiders.

It seems then that David takes up residence within the city.

Meanwhile, Abiathar has escaped from Doeg's massacre at Nob and fled to David at Keilah.

The narrator gives us an important note that he escaped with the ephod when he came.

This is important, and we'll get to the significance of the ephod in a moment.

Then Saul finds out David is holed up in Keilah, which, as Saul notes, is a walled city.

Saul thinks perfect now I have David trapped.

Of course, having just slaughtered all the priests and having no prophetic counsel, Saul believes this is an omen from God that he is giving David to him.

Beware tyrants often think that their tyranny is sanctioned and blessed by God, fueling their often prideful vendettas.

But somehow, David finds out that Saul finds out that David is holed up in Keilah.

So naturally, he asks God what to do about it.

David is worried that the inhabitants of Keilah might not be too keen on David once Saul comes around threatening.

Again God directs his course and tells David it's time to move on from Keilah.

By inquiring of the Lord.

The narrator presented two pairs of two times when David inquired of the lord; each pair is similar but different.

We noticed a moment ago that the first context for David's inquiry was while still in the wilderness of Judah.

The question is, what's going on here.

When the text says, "David inquired of the LORD," what does that mean exactly?

Is David just praying and then hearing an audible voice from God?

I am sure that many have read stories of particularly OT saints like this one and wondered what was going on.

The theological question underneath this relates to revelation.

How has God revealed himself to us? Theologians have distinguished between a general revelation and a special revelation.

God has revealed himself generally in his creation.

The order, beauty, complexity all point to a creator.

Romans 1 maintain that:

Romans 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

But this knowledge that there is a god is not enough to save man from his sin, only enough to render him without excuse for not worshipping him.

But to know God for salvation, man needs special revelation.

Special revelation is God's Word; first and primarily, the Word is His son, the second person of the trinity, the divine Word (Logos) of God.

God has fully revealed Himself in the person and work of His Son.

But as of course, you have noticed, Jesus does show up until midway through history.

So before Christ, how did God reveal himself?

Special revelation is the progressive unfolding of God's revelation of Himself by His Word and Acts, by what he has said (of himself and of us), and what he has done (creation and providence).

Both of these are written down for us by prophets, men whom God spoke to you, or were witnesses of his mighty acts.

But we may further ask how did the prophet hear God's words?

There were many ways that God spoke to his people in the Old covenant.

By dreams and visions, by signs, by what's called Urim and Thummim, which we'll talk more about in a moment, by messengers like angels, and sometimes God spoke directly to them, like Moses.

But the usual way that God spoke was through his prophets, some of whom heard God speak to them, but many received dreams or visions where God told them what to say.

David has the prophet, Gad, with him (see 22:5).

So it is most likely that he inquirers of the Lord through him.

But there was also a way for a priest to get a straightforward yes or no answer through Urim and Thummim.

Now not a lot is known about how these work.

Most think they were some sort of flat stone, maybe with white on one side and black on the other.

You would cast them like dice; if you got two white sides, it was yes, two black sides not, and one of each no answer from God.

These were kept in the priest's ephod, which is evidently why the narrator alludes to Abiathar bringing with him an ephod.

So in the second pair of inquiries, David seems to have consulted with these for an answer from God, receiving two yes answers.

First, I want to draw out a couple of essential things from David inquiring of the Lord.

First, Saul is always in Samuel, a foil for David.

The hallmark of Saul's kingship is his refusal to listen to God.

He did this by not listening to God's spokesmen, His prophets, but chiefly Samuel.

On the other hand, David is shown to be attentive to the voice of the Lord through the prophet.

They give him a word from God, and he does it.

That is what it means to be a man after God's own heart.

It is to be a king whose attention is directed to God, waiting to hear his voice and responding in absolute obedience.

Secondly, whereas Saul continues to act as king, he does so without a prophet or priest to guide him.