Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Deal With Being Let Down by God | David's Life in 22 Stories | 1 Samuel 29

Starting point is 00:00:05 Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're working through the story of David's life in First and Second Samuel. Today we're going to be in 1st Samuel 29, and we're going to look at an interesting story, and I think learn an important and valuable lesson from it. Most of us prefer to see God at work in our life in a way that's very visible, in a way that we can directly attribute it to Him. him. We can say, of course, God did that. Of course he was at work. Only he could have done that. And yet, that's not how God works most of the time. Most of the time he works in our life through

Starting point is 00:00:46 normal and ordinary circumstances. For example, Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread, but then we go to work. Now, how did our daily bread get provided for? Was it through a paycheck of us just kind of doing our job, or was it Jesus who did that? Well, I think the answer is both. I think the answer is that God worked through ordinary circumstances to provide for us. Well, there's a story in 1st Samuel that kind of starts in chapter 27, but concludes in chapter 29. And in these chapters, in this story, God is nowhere to be found. He is MIA. Or is he? Well, he, he's. Well, he. He's Here's a brief recap. David has been on the run from Saul, and he's wiped out exhausted. So he decides he's going to go over and try living in the land of the Philistines.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Now remember, they were Israel's enemies. And when Saul hears that David has gone over to the Philistine side, he just calls off all of his search parties. There's a Philistine leader, a guy named Akish. I think I'm pronouncing that name right. I'm not positive, but we're going to go with it. a leader named Akish, and he lets David and his family and all of his fighting men go live in a city named Zichlag. And while they're in this city, David and his men, they fight these renegade tribes. But when Akish asks him what he's doing, David lies and says, oh, we're fighting against the Israelites.

Starting point is 00:02:19 So Akish is deceived into putting his confidence in David's loyalty. Aikish thinks that David has left Israel and is now on the Philistine side. 1 Samuel 27 verse 12. It says, Aikish trusted David and said to himself, He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life. But now it gets tricky,

Starting point is 00:02:44 because in chapter 29, all the Philistine generals decide to go to war against Israel. And Aikish expects David to join him in the battle. Now remember, David has been anointed king of Israel. So how exactly is he going to go to war to fight against the people he hopes to lead in the future? Well, when all the Philistine soldiers, when they start to march into battle, David and his men don't know exactly what they do. But all right, here we go. Let's see what happens.

Starting point is 00:03:11 And so they joined this military procession heading into war against the Israelites, their own people, the people they love. But when the Philistine generals saw this, they became. angry at Akish and told them they didn't trust David. They had heard this song that the Israelites used to sing about Saul killing his thousands, but David killing his tens of thousands in battle. And so in their mind, David and Saul are linked together. They're both fighting for the Israelites. They're both good at being generals. And so these Philistine generals, they're afraid that when they get out into battle, David's going to turn on them and help out the Israelites. Verse 6. So Akish called David and said to him,

Starting point is 00:03:57 As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable, and I'd be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you. But the rulers don't approve of you. Now turn back and go in peace. Do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers. Now, did you see what just happened? David was in this predicament, where he had to fight for the Philistines,

Starting point is 00:04:23 but he couldn't fight against his own people. What's he supposed to do? What's going to happen? Well, does God miraculously provide? Does God intervene? Does God send lightning or right in the sky? No, no. Instead, what God does is the Philistine generals reject David's help

Starting point is 00:04:42 and have him sent away from the fight and thereby protecting David. Where's God when all this is happening? Well, he's not mentioned in any of these chapters. So what are we supposed to conclude that God was busy somewhere, that he was taking a nap? No, I think it is a literary technique, not mentioning God, is a literary technique to say, God was behind all of this. God was working in and through the normal course of events. He was working in and through the Philistine generals to protect David.

Starting point is 00:05:15 And here's the point for us. Just because God is not visible to you does not mean he's not working on your behalf. Just because you don't see God somehow miraculously provide a good job for you or miraculously reconcile a relationship with you, just because you don't see God working in your normal, everyday life doesn't mean he's not there. He's always present. He's always working on your behalf in the big things and in the small things, in the things where it's obvious and visible, but also in the things that are behind the scenes that are invisible to the human eye, but only visible by faith. The entire book of Esther never mentions God. It doesn't mention sacrifices or prayer

Starting point is 00:06:02 or all the things that you would expect, a book of the Bible to talk about. God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. And yet, that doesn't mean that God was not at work. It means that he was behind all the normal events that happened. Now, the book of Esther is a fascinating book. don't have time to go into it right now, but let's just say that God spared his people, protected his people from mass slaughter, not through the obvious direct intervention, but by working behind the scenes through the normal and ordinary things of life to protect his people. See, God can work in a way that we know it's him and only him, but often God works silently to meet our needs. It reminds me of this story. I doubt it's true. It doesn't sound true, but it sure makes a point. And it's about a very

Starting point is 00:06:54 religious man who was caught in rising floodwaters. So he climbs on top of his house and he prays and says, God, I'm going to trust you to rescue me. And a neighbor comes by in a canoe and said, hey, the waters are rising, hop in and we'll paddle the safety. And the guy says, oh, no things. No things. I'm very religious. I've prayed to God. He'll save me. A short time later, the police come by in a little bit bigger boat and they say look the waters are rising quickly hop in we'll take you to safety uh no thanks said the religious man i prayed and god said he will save me a little time later a rescue helicopter comes by and they drop down a rope ladder and they say look the waters are soon going to be over your house climb in and we'll fly you to safety oh no thanks said

Starting point is 00:07:39 the religious man i've prayed to god and i'm sure he's going to save me all this time the flood waters continue eyes until they reached the roof and the religious man drowned. And when he arrived in heaven, he demanded an audience with God. He's ushered into God's throne room and he said, Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me. I trusted you to save me from that flood. Yes, you did my child, replied the Lord. And I sent you a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter, but you never got in. You see the point, right? We pray for our daily bread and yet we go to work. How does God provide? Well, most of the time God provides through our job. How is the God answering this guy's prayer to save him from this flood? Well, by sending a canoe, a police and a boat, a rescue helicopter. But this guy wanted something spectacular. If you're always looking for extraordinary, you're going to miss the everyday movement of God's invisible hand. As we go through life, we're often, burdened and stressed by the difficulties we face. We cry out for a miracle. But when we open our eyes,

Starting point is 00:08:51 the burden is still there. The marriage is still hard. The finances are still a struggle. There's still an unease regarding a certain situation. There's no grand miracle, no angels showing up in bright light, no chariot that comes from heaven and wipes away our enemies. Then we wonder where God is and why he hasn't answered our prayers. But in those moments, don't mistake God's invisible hand, working behind the scenes, working in ordinary ways, working through friendships, working through a counselor, working through a job. Don't mistake God's ordinary working for him not working at all. Sometimes God just works through a small group you're in to encourage you or to help your faith. Maybe that's what it means to say that we walk by faith and not by sight.

Starting point is 00:09:39 I can see God's hand at work when he splits the seas and when giants like Goliath fall. But my faith is really put to the test when it's not so apparent. Do I trust God? Do I believe that God is still at work? Even when I can't see them? Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily.

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Deal With Being Let Down by God | David's Life in 22 Stories | 1 Samuel 29

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