Learning on the Run (1 Samuel 24-26) Rob Keller 8 th September 2013

Learning on the Run (1 Samuel 24-26) Rob Keller 8 th September 2013

Learning on the Run (1 Samuel 23) God will sustain his servant: By providing guidance and direction; Through the encouragement of friends speaking the Word of God; Through God’s hidden hand, quietly working in the background.

The Cave Episode (1 Samuel 24:3-7) 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

The Cave Episode (1 Samuel 24:3-7) 5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

What’s Going On in the Cave Episode? 1.The Lord’s servant does not “put out” his hand against the Lord’s anointed. (1 Sam 24:6) It’s God’s kingdom and God will deal with kingdom matters in His time and in His way. 2. There will be people to pressure you to take things into your own hand. (1 Sam 24:10) Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:2-4) 2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:9-11) 9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:12-13) 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:21-22) 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:25-26) 25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.

The Nabal Episode (1 Samuel 25:25-26) 32 David replied to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! 33 Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands. 34 For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from hurting you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me, not one of Nabal’s men would still be alive tomorrow morning.” (New Living Translation)

The Spear Episode (1 Samuel 26) 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”

The Spear Episode (1 Samuel 26:9-11) 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.”

The Spear Episode (1 Samuel 26:23a) 23 The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness,... Ephesians 4:22,24 Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,..., and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Hebrews 11:6a (NLT) And it is impossible to please God without faith.

1. God sustains His servants in different ways. 2. Don’t take things into your own hands when ministering in the Kingdom. 3. Retribution lays with God alone. Lessons for Us 4. God rewards His servants for their righteousness and their faithfulness.