Faith Baptist Church
03/08/26 Worship Service

      • 1 John 1:8-10KJV

  • The Power Of The Cross
  • He Died for Me
  • In Christ Alone
  • I Run To Christ

      • Psalms 56:1-3ESV

      • Psalms 56:4-7ESV

      • Psalms 56:8-11ESV

      • Psalms 56:12-13ESV

  • Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know what to do and you were terrified you might make a mistake?
    Illustration: Our second born- Joseph. Home birth. Our midwife was in Chicago when we called her. She thought she would have enough time. Sharon progressed through labor much more rapidly than with our firstborn. There were moments during that period of waiting when I thought I was going to have to deliver this baby on my own.
    Usually before you take on a difficult task you mentally prepare yourself. You go over in you mind what you will do, how you will do it, when you will do it. I had no idea! Catch! That is all I knew. I was unsure and I was terrified.
    Does your life ever feel like that?
    You know God wants you to GO into your community and share the gospel. So you timidly go to your local coffee shop, order a drink, and sit down to hopefully meet new people, begin a friendship, and share Jesus with them. The only problem is you have no idea what you are doing, and you are terrified you will make a mess of the whole process.
    You love your family. You love your children. But with children come problems. And there is that one child that you have done everything you can think of to reach their hearts for the Lord and nothing seems to be working. You have prayed until your eyes have run dry of tears. You have tried everything you can think of and now you are unsure of how to proceed and you are terrified for the eternal destiny of your little one. What do you do?
    You know God is calling you to serve Him in a new way. I’ve heard of pastors who resign their current ministry not knowing where God will lead them next, but knowing it is His will for their life. Young people God might be calling you into ministry and you are scared to death to follow because you have no idea how to go about serving the Lord like that.
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward?
    This is exactly where we find David. Out of nowhere this prophet Samuel comes along and anoints David as the next king.
    Then the current king attempts to kill David 10 separate times. And recently David’s best friend Jonathan risked his life to determine if his father, King Saul, intended to kill David. Jonathan discovered that Saul was unwilling to repent of his false status of counterfeit honor. Saul was unwilling to renounce his claim on the kingdom. He wanted instead to save face, to protect his status instead of fully trusting in God’s plan.
    So Jonathan signals David by shooting an arrow. Jonathan and David weep together and then David flees from the city. He doesn’t know where he is going. He doesn’t know how he will get there. All he knows is God’s word that he will one day be king of Israel. David is unsure and afraid, and yet he trusts God.
    Psalm 56:1–2 ESV
    1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; 2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.
    Psalm 56:3–4 ESV
    3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
    Context: We will get there in just a moment, but David wrote this right after he acted like an insane person to escape the clutches of King Achish of Gath. So in Psalm 56 trusting God looked like letting drool run David’s beard and carving nonsense into the wooden doors. Really? This is what trusting God looks like?
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward?

    1. Sometimes trusting God is messy (21:1-9)

    1 Samuel 21:1–3 ESV
    1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.”
    David’s response to Ahimelech, true or false?
    Some commentators try to side step the issue by saying that David never tells Ahimelech which “king” charged him with his assignment. Ahimelech assumed it was king Saul, but David really meant God. So technically, David didn’t lie.
    Perhaps David knew Ahimelech. David knew that Ahimelech was Saul’s man through and through. And since Saul has openly declared war on David, Saul (and by extension Ahimelech) has no right to the intelligence of his enemy.
    David is wrongly telling a lie and the Bible is merely recording his actions, and not condoning them.
    How many days did David wait for Jonathan to give him a signal? Three days (1 Sam. 20:19). Why doesn’t David already have food, clothing, weapons, provisions with him?
    What does David ask Ahimelech for? Five loaves of bread.
    What is the only bread available? The bread of the Presence, holy bread. Is this messy? Who is allowed to eat this bread? According to the law? Only the priests. Jesus does have something to say about this latter on (that is for another sermon).
    Then what happens?
    1 Samuel 21:7 ESV
    7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.
    Why is this an issue? Who is Doeg? He is an Edomite. He is also Saul’s head shepherd. Is this odd?
    1 Samuel 14:47 ESV
    47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.
    Doeg is an enemy. Should Saul have even employed Doeg? Is Doeg a nice guy? Does he complicate things? Does it add to the mess?
    Finally David needs a weapon of some kind and ends up with the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
    And look at the first part of v. 10.
    1 Samuel 21:10 ESV
    10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul
    Just trying to preach these nine verses is a mess, let a lone actually living them. And yet sometimes this is exactly what trusting the Lord feels like. It feels like fleeing for you life.
    Illustration: John Paton
    “Being entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends, I, though perplexed, felt it best to obey. I climbed into the tree, and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there lie all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among these chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus.
    Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior's spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”
    “Have you a Friend that will not fail you then?” Life is messy. Do you have a Friend who will not fail you when everything seems to be a mess?
    1 I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! He loved me ere I knew Him; He drew me with the cords of love, And thus He bound me to Him;
    2 I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! He bled, He died to save me; And not alone the gift of life, But His own self He gave me.
    3 I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! So kind and true and tender, So wise a counsellor and guide, So mighty a defender!
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward? First and foremost, you need Jesus. He is the only friend that will be with you and help you through the mess of life.
    1 John 2:1 ESV
    1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
    John Paton went to an island of cannibals to share the gospel. He ended up hiding in a tree because the whole island was trying to kill him. This is what trusting God looks like. Alone, yet not alone.
    If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”
    Sometime we go through life and it seems like it a mess, yet we have a Friend that will not fail.
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward?

    2. Sometimes trusting God is full of mistakes (21:10-15)

    1 Samuel 21:10 ESV
    10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
    David is fleeing! He is running for his life. It’s messy. And where does David decide to run? To the Philistines. To the Kingdom of Gath. Does that sound familiar? Where have you heard of the kingdom of Gath before? Does this sound like a wise decision on David’s part?
    Why would David flee there? He is afraid. He doesn’t know what to do. Perhaps Gath is the one place that Saul wouldn’t dare to follow.
    But what happens to David when he arrives?
    1 Samuel 21:11–15 ESV
    11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
    Was it a wise decision on David’s part to flee to Gath? No.
    Do we ever make mistakes when we are trying to trust God and follow Him? Yes.
    Is God still able to accomplish His plan? Can God use even our mistakes for His purposes?
    Why did God allow the servants of Achish to immediately detect David’s presence and report it to the king?
    If David stays in Gath and finds his source of protection from Achish how might that impact His ability to trust God in the future? (God doesn’t want David depending on foreign kings for protection)
    Now David is in a mess. How does he get himself out of the fire? He pretends to be insane. Not his finest moment! Nails scratching grooves in the wooden doors, spittle saturating and seeping down his beard. This is not David’s finest hour.
    But this is where we get Psalm 56!
    Psalm 56:3 ESV
    3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
    It is one thing to say, “put your trust in the Lord.” What do we mean by that? God is a spirit. You can’t see Him or touch Him. When you are standing before a powerful king who wants your head on a pike, what does it mean to trust the Lord?
    Psalm 56:4 ESV
    4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
    For David trusting in God was identical to trusting in God’s word!
    Psalm 56:10–11 ESV
    10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
    What word did David have to trust in?
    1 Samuel 16:12 ESV
    12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
    The Lord said to David, you are my king. Trusting God meant trusting God’s word. Now was this running through David’s head when we was standing before Achish of Gath?
    1 Samuel 21:12 ESV
    12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
    But after David escaped the hands of Achish look where he goes.
    1 Samuel 22:1 ESV
    1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.
    Perhaps it was in that very cave that David penned Psalm 56. Once David’s heartbeat came down from the 200’s and he was able to reflect over his blunder he could think, “You know, God really protected me!”
    Illustration: Raising children. Many times when my wife and I wished we could change our kid’s hearts. And sometimes there is genuine fear. Especially when I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say. I have already made so many mistakes as a dad. Those are the moments I need to remind myself...
    Psalm 56:3–4 “3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
    What words of God do you need to put your trust in today?
    After all that, David is still not done making mistakes.
    In chapter 22 David leaves Gath and escapes to the cave of Adullam. His family finds him there and about 400 men who were in trouble or desperate or in debt or just plan unhappy joined his cause. And David became their leader.
    Can you imagine? God tells David, “you are going to be my next king.” Here’s 400 misfits that I want you to lead.
    So what does David do?
    1 Samuel 22:3 ESV
    3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
    Where does David flee to next? Moab.
    1 Samuel 14:47 “47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.”
    David ran to Achish of Gath (Philistines), then he runs to Mizpeh of Moab. David is desperately trying to find protection from a foreign power. What does God have to say about this?
    1 Samuel 22:5 ESV
    5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
    “Go into the land of Judah.” God used the prophet Gad to send David back into the frying pan.
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward?
    Put your trust in God’s words. Move forward, even with imperfect obedience, and God will use even your mistakes to direct your path.
    Some 20 years ago Pastor Stevens became the interim pastor. There were 12 adults and one baby. By all human criteria this church should have closed its doors. Here we are all these years later. Did we make any mistakes along the way? To many to count. But God has used even our mistakes to accomplish his plan.

    3. Sometimes trusting God means enduring heartache (22:6-23)

    In this section of the narrative Saul, in a blind and jealous rage, orders Doeg the Edomite to kill Ahimelech the priest and 85 priests in total plus the entire city of Nob- men, women, children, and animals.
    Some facts that help us think through this tragedy.
    Saul really is sinking into extreme paranoia at this time.
    1 Samuel 22:7–8 ESV
    7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.”
    2. Ahimelech was from the line of Eli.
    1 Samuel 22:9 ESV
    9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub,
    Ahimelech— (brother Ahijah, those some think they are the same person, or Ahijah is Ahimelech’s father) son of Ahitub— (Ichabod’s brother)— son of Phinehas— son of Eli.
    Why is this important?
    1 Samuel 2:33 “33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men.”
    3. Ahimelech seems more concerned to save his own skin, than to align himself with David, the Lord’s anointed.
    Saul accuses Ahimelech of treason.
    1 Samuel 22:13 ESV
    13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?”
    Saul equates Ahimelech and David. You have conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse.
    You gave him bread and a sword and you inquired of God for him. You enabled him to lie in wait for me. (None of this is true).
    How does Ahimelech respond? He says whatever he can to distance himself from David and align himself with Saul. It seems like Ahimelech has followed in the footsteps of his great-great grandfather Eli. He is more concerned with saving his own skin that knowing and doing God’s will.
    4. Saul abuses his power and unjustly orders the destruction of the priests at Nob.
    1 Samuel 22:17 ESV
    17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord.
    The king’s servants would not obey their king. They knew it was wrong. They obeyed God rather than man.
    Who did carry out the king’s order?
    1 Samuel 22:18 ESV
    18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.
    Edom is the enemy of Israel. Doeg had no problem obeying an unjust order because he had no love for Israel.
    5. Saul devotes to destruction the city of Nob, something he was unwilling to do to the Amalekites.
    1 Samuel 22:19 ESV
    19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
    “Saul treated Nob like some enemy city that had been put under the “ban”...Thus, Saul carried out “total destruction” on the priests’ city, while neglecting to put the Amalekites under a ban... When they reject God and his “justice,” human beings can become cruel, totally destroying innocent people, and at the same time become tolerant toward the evil, letting them live on whether in war or in peace.” —David Tsumura NICOT
    1 Samuel 22:20–21 ESV
    20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.
    1 Samuel 22:22 ESV
    22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house.
    “I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house.”
    Can you imagine the guilt that is weighing down David’s shoulders at that moment?
    How does David continue to trust the Lord even when he is afraid, even when he is unsure, even when he is riddled with guilt?
    Psalm 52 ESV
    To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.” 1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. 5 But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!” 8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9 I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
    c.f. Psalm 52- God’s loyal love (hesed) protects me all day long!
    David, writing under the inspiration of the HS shows how this was an evil act that God would vindicate one day.
    Forever- עוֹלָם
    2x’s in vv. 8-9.
    God will vindicate and God will bring about justice- in this life or the next. After this age is done, all men will stand before God as their judge. And there before the Great White Throne God will judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous.
    I Samuel 22 makes no sense and displays no hope without an eternal perspective.
    Psalm 52:8 ESV
    8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
    What does trusting God look like when you are afraid and you are unsure of how to move forward? It looks like Psalm 52:8.
    Friend, what heartache are you going through? Not a Doeg level of heartache. Although, some of our brothers and sisters around the world are. God is worthy of all of our trust. Trust in his Word. Cast your eyes forward. Trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
    Is life messy? Is it full of mistakes? Is it full of heartache?
    How do you trust God when you are afraid and unsure?
    Psalm 56:3–4 ESV
    3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
    Put your trust in the very words of God. Move forward in obedience. It will be imperfect obedience in an imperfect world, but God is faithful. He has given us so many great and precious promises. I can trust His words and move forward in faith and obedience.
    What does that look like?
    Example: You know God wants you to GO into your community and share the gospel. So you timidly go to your local coffee shop, order a drink, and sit down to hopefully meet new people, begin a friendship, and share Jesus with them. The only problem is you have no idea what you are doing, and you are terrified you will make a mess of the whole process.
    What words of God can we put our trust in to move forward even through the fear and uncertainty?
    Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
    18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
    Is it going to be messy? Will I make mistakes? Will I have to endure heartache?
    But I can trust in the words of God and give Him my imperfect obedience and know that He will direct my steps just as he directed the steps of king David.
    Will you trust him?
    God uses the betrayal and abandonment of others to accomplish His plan (23:1-14)
    Keilah was willing to surrender David and his men into the hand of Saul, even though David had just rescued them from the Philistines.
    God uses the encouragement of others to accomplish His plan (23:15-18)
    God uses divine providence to accomplish His plan (23:19-28)
    God uses our own confidence in His will to accomplish His plan (24)
    David’s trust in the Lord grew from the time he fled as a 20 year in chapter 21 to now. Instead of fleeing to foreign kings, or fortresses, or walled cities for help- David solidly puts the full weight of his trust in the Lord.
    “Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul...”
    English Standard Version Chapter 24

    May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.

      • Psalm 56:1–2ESV

      • Psalm 56:3–4ESV

      • 1 Samuel 21:7ESV

      • 1 Samuel 14:47ESV

      • 1 Samuel 21:10ESV

      • 1 John 2:1ESV

      • 1 Samuel 21:10ESV

      • Psalm 56:3ESV

      • Psalm 56:4ESV

      • Psalm 56:10–11ESV

      • 1 Samuel 16:12ESV

      • 1 Samuel 21:12ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:1ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:3ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:5ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:7–8ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:9ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:13ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:17ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:18ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:19ESV

      • 1 Samuel 22:22ESV

      • Psalm 52ESV

      • Psalm 52:8ESV

      • Psalm 56:3–4ESV

      • Matthew 28:18–20ESV

  • Trust His Word
Faith Baptist Church
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262-567-0040
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