BIG IDEA:
GOD SPECIALIZES IN ENGINEERING NARROW ESCAPES
INTRODUCTION:
Dangerous form of Hide and Seek; David hiding with his loyal band of followers (now about 600 men); Saul seeking to destroy him with all the power and resources of the military at his command as well as intelligence gathering resources
Have you ever been in a tight spot … questioning God’s ability to deliver;
Finding grace to help just in the nick of time
I. (:1-14) NARROW ESCAPE #1 – TRAPPED IN KEILAL —
WHEN GOD LEADS US INTO DANGER, HE PROVIDES THE PATH OF ESCAPE
A. (:1-5) Obedience to Our Mission Requires Submitting to God’s Leading Instead of Being Paralyzed by Fear
1. (:1) Leadership Dilemma: Should I put my troops at risk to fulfill my mission to protect the nation?
“the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are plundering the threshing floors”
2. (:2) Clarity of Guidance – Directly tied to the willingness to obey
“Go and attack the Philistines, and deliver Keilah”
3. (:3) Fear Can Cause Us to Question God’s Leading
“Behold, we are afraid here in Judah.”
4. (:4) Patience of God in Helping Us Work Through Our Fears –
Restatement of God’s Clear Guidance
“Arise, go down to Keilah”
5. (:5) Obedience Leads to Blessing (but can also heighten our danger)
“he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter”
B. (:6-12) Boxed in by Obedience
1. (:6) Availability of Priestly Resources for Seeking God’s Guidance
“he came down with an ephod in his hand”
2. (:7-8) Opportunities on the Part of Saul
“So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.”
3. (:9-12) David Asks the Hard Questions
“Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?”
C. (:13-14) The Hardship of the Wilderness is Better than the Comforts of the Palace
“And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds.”
II. (:15-18) ASIDE: ENCOURAGING COVENANT BETWEEN DAVID AND JONATHAN
A. (:15) David Knew the Danger
“Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.”
B. (:16-18) Jonathan Took the Risk of Encouraging David
“And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.”
III. (:19-29) NARROW ESCAPE #2 – CLOSE CALL IN WILDERNESS OF MAON (BETRAYED BY THE ZIPHITES) –
THE LORD CAN PROVIDENTIALLY INTERVENE EVEN WHEN OUR ENEMIES HAVE US SURROUNDED
A. (:19-23) Ziphites Betray David to Saul
B. (:24-29) Lord Providentially Intervenes to Distract Saul at the Last Minute
Roe: They commemorated it. That says something about David and his men’s view of their own resources as adequate. They memorialized that place as a worship act to their God, as an altar like Abraham. As Abraham trekked through the land, wherever God appeared to him, he erected an altar. David and his men knew who got them out of that mess, YHWH, and they called it the Rock of Escape, literally “the Rock of Slipperies.” They slipped away from Saul.