The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 9: Send Out

Episode Date: June 19, 2022

He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! – Psalm 57:3 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! – Psalm 57:5 The reason that missions exist to the ends of the earth is because worship doesn’t yet. Even when David is hiding for his life in the darkness of a cave, he never loses sight of God’s glory to be spread over all the earth.

I hope I got the strength to do it again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, I think, Trey. I am glad Pastor Jobi to be here today because it gives me the opportunity to worship with my boys. I worship with my daughter every Sunday. Her husband is on staff at Valleydale, but to have today to worship with my boys as a treat for me. And since from the moment I showed up,

up in Jacksonville, your staff has represented you so incredibly. That says something about them, but it really says a lot about you. And your staff represents you well. They have made us feel so warm, so welcome. And I have two things I want to give you. Two things that mean a lot to me. One is from Dr. Henry Morris. This represents the beginning. This is a special edition of his book on Genesis. And I buried Dr. Morris. He ran, of course, the Institute of Creation Research, and I'm a trustee there.

And I wanted to give you what I believe to be one of the best commentaries on the book of Genesis. Now I'm going to go all the way to the end of the other expect. spectrum to the book of Revelation. And I've got what is probably the last, I think there are about three of these left, and I've got all three of them. And so I brought one to you. It's the leather-bound edition of Dr. Criswil's expository sermons on the book of Revelation. Leather-bound, gold leaf. I want to give these to you. Thank you. Thank you, brother. Bless you. Love you.

He has been so gracious to me and to give me this time in his pulpit. So Tumu, Yamaguchi, was a Japanese engineer for Japan working for the Mitsubishi Corporation in 1945, the end of World War II. In May of that year, they sent him to Hiroshima to work on a special project for three months. And at the end of those three months, he was so anxious to get back home, back to his family, back to his own home, back to his own workplace, that that morning he got up, August the 6th. He got up early, he packed his bags. He literally ran down to the subway station to be sure he was there in time. In all of his haste, he forgot some very vital papers that he left on the

desk that he had been using for the last three months. So he took off and he ran back to pick those up. About 8.15 in the morning, as he was running back to grab those papers, he could hear the wine of the engines of a bomber. But it was not a Mitsubishi bomber. It was not a Japanese bomber. He could tell by the pitch of the engine that this was a Boeing, an American-made Boeing bomber. It was a B-29 super fortress. It was the bomber, Enola Gay, that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He said in a blinding flash that literally it blinded him for a matter of minutes. He said, in that blinding flash and in that ear-splitting explosion that literally burst his eardrums,

he said, I felt a force that picked me up and threw me backwards. It knocked him out for a few minutes. He really didn't know how long he was out, but when he came to, he just sat there. He didn't move. He was burned over on the left side of his body by radiation. In fact, he was burned so badly that when he got home, his family did not even recognize him. He thought that what he would do is, I'll just stay here for the night in an air raid shelter. And then tomorrow morning, if there's a train left, I'll get on the same.

the train and I'll get home. If I can just get home, if I can get home, I can get medical treatment for my burns, for my ears, for my eyes. If I can just get home, everything will be okay. Everything will be all right. And the next morning, there was a train. He got on the train and he headed home to his home in a place called Nagasaki. We're on three days after the bomb fell on Hiroshima where he was, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. He had gone back to work that day, and he described what happened in that incident, but this man was the only man recognized by the Japanese government to survive two atomic bombs. Now, let me ask you a question.

ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like Yamaguchi that you just are one step ahead of the explosion in your life right behind you? Have you ever felt like that you are running away from something and everywhere you run there's an explosion right there behind you? You just barely make it out. You just barely get through the experience, the situation, the crisis. But there's always something right around you exploding? Well, let me tell you, when David wrote Psalm 57, that's exactly how he felt. In fact, this is what I told your staff the other day. We were talking about mood in preaching. What is the mood of the passage if I could take you out into the parking lot and tell you, I want you to run down there to the beach, stick your foot in the

water, and run back up here, and then pick up your copy of God's Word, and look with me at Psalm. 57, while you're out of breath, while you're exhausted, while you're pouring sweat, you would get somewhat of the mood of David when he writes Psalm 57. If you've got a copy of God's Word, I want you to look there with me this morning, Psalm 57. And I want you to look at the superscription. I don't hear pages turning. So pick up, y'all got a hymn book or something. Turn something.

Make me think you, at least make me think you doing something out there. Look at Psalm 57. but look at the superscription. Most of us think that that's an editorial note put in by those that print Bibles, but it's not. This is literally in the Hebrew text. This is a part of sacred scripture, and let me just read it to you. Because I'm going to set up the background of Psalm 57 for the choir director set to Al-Tash-Heth. Now, Al-Tash-Heth, there's...

Several times that's used in the superscription of a Psalm, just two or three times. We are not certain what it means, but we think that the word means literally not to destroy. Now, we're not certain what David is saying when he puts to the choir director and he said, do not destroy, but maybe the next word will give you an indication. for the choir director set to Al-Tasheth, a mith-htam. If you got a cold, it kind of helps you do this. A mith-tom of David when he fled from Saul in the cave. Now that's interesting.

This is a mick-tom. And the word may be a musical note. Nobody really knows. It may be something that indicates the timing of the psalm like it's set to music. but most scholars think that it comes from the Hebrew word to inscribe, a tool that inscribes something on stone or inscribes something into metal, so that what David may be saying is this. Do not destroy this, but inscribe this on your hearts.

Why? Now, watch the last part of this, because this was when he fled, from Saul in the cave. He's fleeing. He's in a time of desperation. He's in a moment and a situation of crisis. He's fleeing for his life. He's running for his life. He knows that Saul is about to catch him. He's just one step ahead. In fact, I'm going to show you in just a few moments, David is going to say to Jonathan, his best friend, there is hardly a step between me and death. My life keeps exploding right behind me. Things keep blowing up all around me. And out of this persecution that he's going through, God's going to lead him to a cave. And in that cave, it becomes that persecution,

that desperation literally becomes the classroom of preparation for God's mission in his life. And he says, listen, don't destroy this. Engrave this. Ingrave this. inscribe this on your heart because you are going to face moments of desperation, moments of crisis, moments of pain, moments of hurt, times of persecution where you're going to need to remember this, that God uses all of those things in your life as a classroom of preparation to get you ready for his mission. Now that's what I want you to look at. I want you to see that for the next few moments. So let's begin, not right here in Psalm 57, but go with me all the way back, if you will,

to 1 Samuel chapter 18. I've got to get you back to the background of all of this. What is behind Psalm 57? And it's going to take me a little bit. It's going to take a little while. You're going to want to check out, but don't check out because it's going to seem like there's just one incident after another, after another. after another of Saul trying to kill David. Do you know why it seems like that? Because that's what's happening. Saul's trying to kill David. You remember back in chapter 16, Samuel anoints David.

He's probably 13, 14 years of age at that time. You come to chapter 17. He's probably 14 or 15 years of age at that time. And he goes out, you recall, in chapter 17 to fight Goliath. and he does away with Goliath, he defeats Goliath, and now Saul thinks, I have found me a young Eisenhower, I have found me a young George Patton, I have found me a young Douglas MacArthur. This is a general, I'm going to put him over my armies, and so from there the valley of Eli, he begins to march the army of Israel with David at the head, and Saul is riding beside him. Now, as they go along, what happens is this. Everybody hears about the victory. Everybody hears what David has done, and all of the women gather along the way, and this is what they're doing.

They're singing, verse 7 of 1 Samuel chapter 18. Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10,000. Then Saul became very angry. He didn't like it. They're giving him too much attention. The saying displeased him. They have ascribed. to David, 10,000s, but to me they've ascribed thousands. Now, what more can he have but the kingdom? Now, watch this, verse 9. So Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on, and now it starts. Verse 10.

Watch this. Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul. And you say, what about that? I don't know. Your pastor will answer that next week. Now, it came about on the next day that an evil. evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house. He's raving, he's screaming, he's red in the face, he's upset. David was playing the harp with his hand.

Now notice this how the Holy Spirit states this. David is playing the heart with his hand. It's a picture of peace. It's a picture of serenity. It's a picture of just contemplation, just focusing on praising the Lord with the heart. His hand is on the harp. Look at this. And the spear was in Saul's hand. That gives you all the difference you need to see right there. David's got his hand on the harp. Saul's got his hand on the spear. Verse 11, Saul hurled the spear for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David escapes from his prep. Not once, twice. Now let me tell you something. Is God watching over David? Yes. They're in a confined place where David is a big target. He's hard to miss. Saul is a warrior. He's head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel.

He's not only a big man, but he is a seasoned warrior. He knows how to throw a spear. He's got that spear in his hand, and he just all of a sudden flings that thing at David, and David jumps out of the way. Why? Not once, twice. Why does he do that? Because God, listen, let me tell you something, you think you are too big a target to miss. God can make targets that are too big to miss small enough in a confined place that the devil can never hit. Amen? That's for you. You just remember that because some of you here this morning, you're going through this very thing. You're in a moment of desperation. You're in a moment of crisis right now. Listen, watch this. God's watching you. Even in those moments when your focus gets off of him and you're going to see this in David, his eyes are going to get off of God

and they're going to get on the circumstances and the situation, which is exactly what Satan wants us to do. Look, look, I'm going to have to teach y'all too. Amen. Amen goes right there. Now, you'll get out to lunch a lot faster now if you do that. If I have to roll my own, it'll take a little bit longer up here. But now I can aim in. Well, that's what happens. David runs. Now, Saul's going to get after him again.

I'm going to skip the rest of the 18th chapter and get you down now to the 19th chapter. He tries to get him again in the 18th chapter. This is just time after time after time. Chapter 19, Saul tells Jonathan his son, who is David's best friend. they're in covenant with one another and he tells all of his servants you're going to go and you're going to find David and you're going to put him to death.

Saul wants him dead. And yet his son talks him out of it and David comes back and there he is again. He is back there in the throne room of the palace of the king of Israel and he is playing his harp once again. Verse 9

Chapter 19. There was an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. And Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul's prayer. Here you go once again. That's the third time now. This has happened. This is the third time that Saul has tried to kill him with a spear. He tried to use the Philistines to kill him, but it didn't happen. So as he gets out, he runs home. He runs home to his wife, Michael, who happens to be Saul's daughter.

And as he runs into the house and he says, listen, your crazy dad is trying to kill me again. And she looks at him and she says, hey, I know my dad. If you don't spare your life, if you don't do something right now, by this time tomorrow, you'll be dead. You can't stay here tonight. You've got to get out. And so she helps him climb out the back bathroom window. And he escapes, he runs. and from there he goes to where?

The only other place he knows to go is to Samuel. And so he runs up to Ramah, the home of Samuel, the prophet, the old prophet that had anointed him. The last of the judges, he was a prophet, he was a priest. The only man in the Old Testament to hold those three possessions, judge, prophet, and priest. And so David runs, and he hides behind the robes of Samuel, and he says, listen, you've got to hide me, Saul's trying to kill me. Well, Saul discovers where he is, and he sends up one attachment,

and he sends up a second attachment. Neither one of them come back with David, and so Saul says, I'll go up myself, and he goes up to get David. And yet in the midst of doing that, the power of God's word is so strong that Saul can't do anything, but stand there and amen what the Word of God is saying. So that David now is going to slip away from there. He runs from Ramah. Look at chapter 20 now. Then David fled from Naoth and Ramah, and he came and he said to Jonathan.

He runs back now to Jonathan. Listen, let me tell you, it's like a steel ball in a pinball machine, and you're hitting the flappers, and that thing is just going all over. From this place to that place to this place to that place. David is getting frantic now running from Saul. He's going to kill me. What have I done? Verse 1 of chapter 20. What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father that he is seeking my life? Look down to the end of verse 3. He says, but truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death. He's after me. I take a step and something blows up. I take another step. I take another step. and something blows up. He says, why is your dad doing this?

And what is going to happen to me? And Jonathan says, I've got a plan. He says, this is what we'll do. You go hide yourself in the woods. And he says, I'll go in and I'll have dinner. There was the feast of the new moon. He says, I'll go in and I'll have dinner with dad, and I'll find out what his mood is.

And so he goes in and he's going to have dinner and he says, listen, David, You just hide out in the woods. When I get from my dad what his mood is, I'll come out like I'm going to take target practice with my bow and arrow. And he says, if I shoot short of where you are, I'll tell my runner to go and get those arrows and bring them back. You'll know it's okay.

You come on back in. It's all right for you to come back to the palace. But if I shoot beyond you and I tell my young servant, listen, just forget it. it's too far, it's out there. You'll know you better run and you'd better run far. So Jonathan goes in with his father and he sits down and let me tell you something, it doesn't go well because Saul gets so upset with Jonathan that he picks up a spear to kill Jonathan, his own son.

Happy Father's Day. So Jonathan goes out, you know the rest of the story, he shoots them well beyond David, and David realizes this man is just mad, and so he flees from there. And the only other place he can think to go to is to a place called Nob. It's where the priests lived. It's where they gathered. A Himalek was there. And he goes to the place where a Himalek and the priests are.

He doesn't know what else to do. Now listen to me. David at this point has gotten his eyes completely off of God. and they're on the circumstances, they're on the situation. Some of you are right there. You've shown up here where the Word of God is preached. You've shown up here where the men of God are, and you come into this place, and you don't even really know why.

It's that you're running, but in your running, you have come to the conclusion that nothing can save you, that you're beyond hope, that you're beyond help, and nothing can save me. I'm going to run to the last place that I know of that's supposed to care for me. I'll run to where the priests are, to where the people of God gather, I'll run there. Somebody here this morning, you've run into this place. Because your world is collapsing behind you. Your world is blowing up all around you. And now you've gotten your eyes on the situation, and that's all you see.

That's exactly where Satan wants you to look because when that happens, you begin to do some unusual things. Look at what David does here. He becomes unreliable. David is going to tell a lie. That's not the David we know. Have you ever had anybody say that to you? Well, what's wrong with you? You're not even acting like yourself.

David here is not acting like David. He's become unreliable. A Himalek goes out to see him. and he's afraid, he's trembling. He says, why are you alone and no one with you? Listen, David, you're the head of the army of Israel. You don't ever travel by yourself. You've always got a posse with you.

You've always got guards with you. Why are you by yourself? And David begins to lie. David said to a Himalek, the priest, the king has commissioned me with a matter, and has said to me, let no one know anything about the matter on which I'm sending you, and with which I have commissioned you, and I have directed you. the young men to a certain place, he says, listen, I'm on something that's so secret, I can't even tell you the priest. I've got to have some bread. I've got to have some supplies.

But the young men, they're hiding somewhere. I wouldn't even let them come with me. That's a lie. It's funny when we get our eyes off of Christ, how we will tell something that is not true. We do. Just be honest. We all do that. We hedge on the truth when we're afraid, when we're filled with anxiety, when stress has gripped our lives. We're in the moment of desperation. But not only that, listen, he's unrestrained. He begins just to talk out in a place where he should be restrained, where he should be

careful of what he says. He says to a Himalek down in verse 8, now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? for I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's matter was urgent. The priest said the sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Eli. Behold, it's wrapped in a cloth behind the Ephod. If you would take it for yourself, take it. There's no other except it here. And David says there's none like it.

That's the best sword in the land. Let me get it. Give it to me. Let me have it. Now David is saying all of this out in front of everybody. and Lord have mercy, look who is there. Verse 8. Verse 7.

One of the servants of Saul was there that day. Detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds. Now, what's he going to do? He's going straight back to Saul to say, I know where David is. He's down there in Knob, where the priests are, and he's looking for supplies, and he's looking for weapons. and you'd better get down there quickly and get to him. And you know what Saul does? I don't have time to go into this,

but Saul goes down there and he kills all of the priests but the son of a Himalek, Abiyathar, who escapes. And Abiyahir rides off with David. He's down there talking too much. What happens to you when you get stressed out? You talk too much? That's the spot right there. Brother, I found the spot right there.

That's the spot. We talk too much. We say things we shouldn't say. We get beyond ourselves. We are unrestrained. We're just pouring out all kind of stuff. Now watch. Now he's going to do a third thing that is just uncustomary of David.

David has got better sense than this. David's not thinking. Why? Because David is focused on the situation and the circumstance. And so he runs off from there. He leaves now. And where does he go? Verse 11 of chapter 21, but the servants of Acish said to him, is this not David? The king of the land, did they not sing of this one as they dance saying Saul has slain his thousands and David is 10,000?

He leaves Nob and he goes to, of all places, the city of Gath. Where was Goliath from? Gath, Goliath of Gath, the Philistine. If anybody knew what Goliath's sword looked like, it was the people in Gap. This was the Excalibur of that day. He walks into the city of Gath, and he's got the sword of Goliath on his side, and everybody goes, that's David right there. I mean, this is like a horse running to the glue factory.

You couldn't be screaming. Here I am. Come kill me. Well, Aecus looks at it and he just thinks, well, this guy's lost his mind. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's here and he's crazy. And David took these words to heart that they said, if you look in verse 12, and greatly feared Akech king of Gath. So now watch. This is funny if it wasn't so tragic. Here is David. Here's the great psalmist of his. Here is the great shepherd of Israel. Here is the great warrior king of Israel. And what is he doing? He's acting like he's nuts. He sits down on the ground by the gate, and he acted insanely. And he picked up a rock, and he began to scribble on the doors of the gate. He's just writing stuff there, just scribbling on the walls like a madman.

And he let his saliva run down into his beard. He's just drooling like he's just drooling like he's just wrilling like he's. He has no sense. And Acis said to his servants, good Lord have mercy, don't we have enough nuts around here that you don't have to bring me another one? That's a loose translation, but that's what it says. I've got enough crazies in here. There are enough crazy people around here.

Why don't you bring this one in here? What do you want me to do? Take him home with me to care for? And so while Akes is there looking at all of his people saying, this guy is not right. It's obvious he's not right. David slips away again. And he slips away from the Philistines and from Achish and from Gath in chapter 22, verse one. So David departed there and escaped to the cave of Adulham.

Now that's introduction, folks. I'm going to preach now. Take your Bibles and go with me to Psalm 57. I had to get you there. I mean, are you worn out? I'm sweating like a boar hog up here. Now, have you gotten? Are you, has that worn you out?

That wears me out preaching through it. Chapter 17 to 18, from 18 to 19, from 19 to 20 to 21 to 22 now. And he's gone off and he's in the place of isolation because the place of preparation will oftentimes turn into the place of isolation because God sometimes has to get you by yourself. alone and in that cave by yourself Psalm 57. Now, all this time, there's one thing David has not done. There's one thing you do not see David stop and do. There's one thing that David should have done, but he never did in all of this running,

and all of this getting more and more desperate, deeper and deeper into this anxiety, that his eyes are not on God, but his eyes are on the situation, and he's going to do it in this cave, he cries out, be gracious to me. Or as one of your missionaries read a moment ago, be merciful to me. Or as you can translate the word gracious or merciful or pity, pity me, oh God, pity me. Have mercy on me, have mercy. Be gracious to you. Be gracious to you. me, oh God, be gracious to me. He flies into that cave and he falls down because Samuel's not there and Michael's not there and Jonathan's not there and the priests of Nob are not there. He's by himself. He's alone and there he cries out. Oh, God, be gracious to me. Have you ever been

there? Listen, let me tell you something. I have. Man, I've been right there. I have never, never before in my life ever had a panic attack, but before I left Jacksonville, I had two that I thought I was going to die. I don't know if you've ever had a panic attack before, but I couldn't catch my breath. I didn't know if it was my heart. I didn't know what it was. I'd never experienced anything like it, but I was trying to suck air like a jet engine, and I just could not breathe. My breath had been taken away from me, and all I could do was cry out to God. oh God, have mercy on me. He prays. Now watch, this is a recognition of God's protection. Here's God. Now, he's praying, be gracious to me, oh God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in you.

He's in a cave, but he's saying, listen, God, this isn't a cave. This is you. I'm taking my refuge in you. And then he says, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge. As he walks through that cave, there are shadows on this wall and then on that wall. And he says, listen, Lord, these aren't shadows of a cave in here. These are the shadows of your wings. Listen, if y'all were Pentecostal, y'all be running right now. It's good stuff. This is your protection. Listen, it was a recognition of God's protection. I will cry to God most high to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will sin from heaven and save me, lost running in the darkness of a cave. I was at one time lost and in the darkness of a cave of sin

when God sent somebody from heaven to save me. He reproaches him who tramples upon me and God will send forth. Listen to this, his loving kindness. This is one of the great words of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew, it's called Hesed. Hesed. It's an interesting word. You can translate it.

Great grace. you can translate it mercy. Sometimes you can translate it loving kindness. And many times in the Old Testament, Hesed is translated as loving kindness. Now, listen, Hebrew is a word picture language. It's not like Greek at all that's very definite. But it is a word picture language. And for example, the word for a cat in Hebrew is the word curl.

Because what will a cat do? it'll curl up around your leg. The old nasty things. I don't like cats. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. If you're cat, people, I'm sorry. Forgive me. But that's what a cat will do. It'll just curl up around your leg. Now, it's a picture language, you see.

And so is the word Hesed. The word Hesed is a tender word of a young girl who gives birth to a baby. and when that baby cries, her milk begins to come in and flow. And so by that, when the child is in distress, when the child is crying, when the child is in need, her milk begins to flow. That's the picture of God's grace, his Hecid, his loving kindness, is that when he looks down and he sees us in desperation, in persecution, in hurt, in strife, in anxiety, and stress, the milk of his grace begins to flow down to us.

Now let me just tell you, it doesn't get any better than that. That's our God. That's what he feels when he sees us in a time of difficulty. David mentions it and he says, I have a recognition of your protection. But now watch it this. Pick it up in verse four, there's a recollection of provision. God, there's this recollection of your provision.

You have provided for me. Now, I've got to just show you, watch the verb tenses here, because there's going to be a shift in the verb tenses. Now, David begins to pray. You're going to see him erupt in a word of praise here. He comes and he says, my soul is among lions. He says, Lord, I feel like I'm in a lion's den. Now, Daniel comes way after David, but he could say with Daniel,

I'm surrounded by lions. I feel like they're fixing to jump on me at any moment. I must lie among those who breathe forth fire. He says, Lord, I feel like I have laid down here next to a dragon that's just breathing fire in my direction. And then he says, listen, get beyond the lion and get beyond the dragon. He says, these men, they're not usual men. These men, they have teeth that are spears and arrows, and their tongue is as sharp as a sword. They're coming to kill me.

They're coming to take my life. They'll eventually find out I'm in this cave and they're coming here for me. But now watch in the middle. What happens when you turn to God and you begin to pray and you begin to remember God's protection, God's going to take it, but you begin to remember God's provision. You give a shout of praise. Watch here, verse 5 is a shout of praise. Be exalted above the heavens, O God.

Let your glory be above all the earth. Now, now, I remember. Here's the recollection. A tense change from the present tense now to the past tense. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dug a pit before me. But I remember what happened. I didn't step into it. They did. They did. They did. That was your great provision in my life, and I remember now as I am running, God, you've provided for me, and the way you provided for me was the very trap they set for me. They stepped into themselves. Whew, three cheers for God, amen. Now watch what happens. Put your finger there in Psalm 57.

That's what God will do in preparation. In the place of isolation, he'll get you to the point to what. where you begin to pray and you begin to see his working in your life. But let me show you a second thing now that happens in the place of preparation, and that's education. He's going to teach David something here. When you get in the place of preparation, let me tell you, God's trying to teach you something. That's why you come here week by week.

You need this week by week. You don't need, listen, a little dab won't do you of this. You need this on a consistent, consistent basis. Week in, week out, I need to be nourished and strengthened by the Word of God. I need to be encouraged and lifted up by the fellowship. And so God's going to do some. There's the education. Here's the education that comes when you're in a place like this.

He's going to teach David two things. One, he's going to teach him compassion. Now let me show you this. If you're right there, we've made it through the heart. half part of verse one, which may tell you, we'll get out of here about two o'clock today. No, listen, listen, listen, I'll be quick now. And when his brothers, I'm picking up in middle of verse one, when his brothers and all his father's household heard of it, they went down there to see him. Now, they heard where David was. Let me tell you something. They're threatened,

their lives are threatened as well. Saul's kind of like the mafia, you know. The mafia comes up and says, hey, you know, you either do this, but we know where your son goes to school. We know where your daughter goes to school. We know where your wife works. You just remember, well, that's Saul. So his family, David's family was under threat as well. And so they all ran to the cave where David was and look at what David does. Now this is where God begins to teach him compassion. Do you remember the word of God says about David that he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart and he led them by the skillfulness of his hand. Well, where did that come from?

God taught him that. God taught him to be compassionate for people. God taught him compassion to care for people that people are to be cared for, even when it costs you something. It doesn't matter what it costs you. You are to be a compassionate king. You are to be a compassionate ruler. You are to be a compassionate people.

And so what he does is this. Look at this in verse three. David went from there to Mizpah of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God is going to do for me, until all of this works out and God's will. Can my mom and dad stay over here? That's a pagan king. The Moabites. That's a pagan king. Listen, it's not only that. It's clear across the country. He has to go from over there by the Mediterranean all the way across the country down. into the Dead Sea Basin across the Jordan River and up into the mountains of Moab. Now, why would David do that? Why would he take his parents there?

Because his great-grandmama was Ruth, who was a Moabitis. Makes sense now, doesn't it? When your kids come home, what do you got to do? You've got to take them in. There's nothing else you can do, but just take them in. Listen, to be excited, you excited, that they're getting married and fixing to go off,

they'll come back with more. They'll have more with them. He takes them over there. Why? Out of compassion. This compassion, I'll risk taking you to where you are safe. Even if it means that I get caught, I will get you to safety. God was teaching him compassion as a king.

You're going to see that compassion come out years later when he becomes king of all Israel. And he says, is there anyone yet from the house of Saul? that I might show kindness to. Maphibibchaf. And you see the compassion that God taught him. You'll learn that in the place of preparation. But let me show you the second thing, the instruction.

God's training you. Do you understand that? God is training you. And he's training you to instruct others. Now I want to show you what happens. Look at who comes to him in verse two. there in 1 Samuel 22, verse 2, everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented, gathered to him.

Sounds like a Baptist convention, doesn't it? They're in distress, they're in debt, they're discontent. You can't get more Baptist than that. They're discontented. They're not happy. They're upset. They're mad. and 400 men just all get together and they're mad and they leave their families and they leave

their homes and they go to David there in the cave. What's David going to do with him? He's going to instruct them in the Word of God. You say, now where do you get that? Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm going to take you to 2nd Samuel chapter 23. Because you come to the last four chapters of 2nd Samuel, they're epilogue. They're not in chronological position. The writer 2 Samuel is saying, this happened in David's life and then this happened in day. And oh yeah, by the way, I want to tell you, this happened in David's life. And they come to the last words of David here. And in the last words of David, David is going to speak about himself.

David, the son of Jesse declares the man who was raised on Hyde declares. Who's he talking about? Himself, God has raised me up. He's not being arrogant. He's just telling you what God did in his life. God has raised me up. The anointed one of God, the God of Jacob, the anointed of the God of Jacob, that's me, David says. The sweet psalmist of Israel, David says, that's me.

Look, this is what I did. The spirit of the Lord spoke by me. You want to see that in New Testament? Acts chapter 1, verse 16. The Holy Spirit said. through the mouth of David. God spoke through him. By the way, you know David was a prophet, too, don't you?

He was not just a king. It was not just a shepherd. He was also a prophet. God speaks through him, and this is what happens. What happens in that cave with those 400 in debt, in distress, discontented men? Do you see right here, 2 Samuel 23, verse 8, these are the names of the mighty men whom David had.

Jiminy Cricket! How in the world can you go from being a griping old redneck to being a mighty man of God? It's somebody instructed you who was speaking for the Lord. Somewhere there in the back of that cave, this is what David is doing. He is instructing these men what God has taught him. What's the one thing God's just taught him?

You'd better pray, David. You need to turn to me first in prayer. And David gets back there in that cave, and I can just see him now in the shadows of the flickering fire as he looks into these eyes of 400 and then 600 men, and he says, men, let me teach you how to worship God. Let me teach you how to praise God. Bless the Lord, oh my soul.

And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord. Sing it with me. Bless the Lord, oh, my soul. And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Now listen, you can get one or two men up here who play instruments to do that, but every man sitting in this place on this Father's Day is to be the Psalm leader of his home. Your wives crave it. Your children long for it.

God has made you priest of that family. And a priest is to teach and to instruct you some, but I don't know the word of God. Well, now, whose fault is that? You're to lead your family here to church. The wife is not to do it. The children are not to do it. The man's to be out front, leading the people, his people, to come and be a part of what God is doing here in this place. And let me tell you something.

That's where you go from men who are in debt and in distress and discontented. And all of a sudden, they begin to be mighty men. of God. Yeah. Listen, I'm telling you right now, we ought to just charge hell with a water gun. Amen? That's what God's called us to do. Get out front of them. Lead them, instruct them, do the best you can do, and just keep learning. God will grow you, man. If you'll let God do that, God will grow you. Let me get to my last point because, see, I'm three minutes beyond time now. So let me show you the last thing. Go back, if you will. Let me find, where do I want you to go? I want you to go back to 1 Samuel 22. I'm going to read this quickly. Show you something back in Psalm 57. We'll wrap it up. Here we go.

Psalm 21st Samuel 22, verse 5. Now David's in that cave. He's been in that cave. God's instructed him. God's given him some education. God's given him a period of isolation where he's taught him to pray. But now watch this. The third thing is this, is that place of preparation will begin to call you to mission. You hear it in here. I guarantee you week by week, you hear it and hear. If I know anything about your pastor, I know this. There's one thing he will do. He will get down into the Word of God and he'll teach it to you.

Now, let me tell you hear it. You hear it. This is a place of preparation. Here in this place of preparation, there's going to be a call to mission. David's back in this cave, and you're going to see. Gad the prophet for the first time. The prophet Gad said to David, now watch these three verbs here. Do not stay in the stronghold. Depart. Go into the land of Judah. You can't stay here. You've got to depart. You've got to go. You've got to go to the land of Judah. There are people

that are hurting, people that are under attack, people that are falling to the enemy. You can't stay here in this place. You have got to go. You've got to depart. That's what the Lord's saying to you. A lot of you come into this place. You were broken. You were wounded.

You were bleeding spiritually. And the Lord in this place has bound you up, wrapped up your wounds, and he's caused you to begin to heal. Some of you came in here with marriages that were a mess. And God in his grace and through his word has begun. to restore that marriage and that love and that family. Some of you've come in here financially. You were in debt like these men.

You were in distress. You were just discontented with places that played with the Word of God, toyed with the Word of God, but never preached the Word of God. That'll discontent you. I've got to get somewhere where I'm being fed. You've come to this place and you're being fed by the Lord now. But some of you have been here for years, and you've given no outlet to the Holy Spirit.

You just stay and stuff yourself at the table. You need to be in this place. You need to be fed. You need to be strengthened. You need to be nourished by the Word of God. But there comes a day you've got to walk out after church, and you've got to go out of cave. There's a world out there in distress. There's a world out there that's hungry. There's a world out there that's starving, church. Are you ready to commit to leaving the place of preparation

at least for a few days before you come back for nourishment to be involved in? You've got all these missionaries around the world. Beirut, Lebanon, Uganda, Ontario, Canada, places across the United States. Why would you let this summer go by that you're not going to be out there somewhere on mission? You've been prepared. You've got to get out the cave. You got to go. You can't stay. And I'm telling you, it may be just somewhere like down to Wendy's. I'm not proud of this. But when I was here in Jacksonville on Sunday nights, I had Sunday night service. I'd be so hungry. Debbie'd go home. She'd get out of church quickly. She'd go home. She was cooking dinner for me when I got home. It got in my head. Sin got in my

head. One night and said, you can stop at Wendy's and get a hamburger and eat it before you get home. If you throw that wrapper in the garbage can, she'll never know. So on Sunday nights, after church, she'd leave to go home. I'll have dinner waiting for you, honey. I'd say, okay, babe. And I'd slip and stop off at Wendy's and get a hamburger. And I'd just go. And I'd just go. And I'd just go. And I'd just. eat that thing before I get home. And I'd throw it in that garbage can out there by the garage, you know. Nobody knew. So one Sunday night, I drove through Wendy's, ordered a hamburger, and I drove up to the window, and the girl who just took my order was linked, she was at least halfway out the window. She was leaning out that window, looking out, and I thought, well, what is she

doing here. And I pull up, there's no car behind me, which is unusual. No cars behind me coming in. Usually there was a string of cars. And I get up to the window and this girl just looks off into space and she says, I'm just standing here wondering if there's anybody out there that loves me. And I thought, well, I've never had that happen at Wendy's before, you know. And I thought I'm trying to process what this girl said. Did I hear her right? Did I understand? what she was saying and the Holy Spirit kept saying there I mean literally I mean honestly literally the spirit just spoke to my heart he said are you going to say anything I mean you can't get a wider door than that and so I turned back to the girl and I looked at her and I said

ma'am let me tell you something there's a man who loves you so much he died for you and his name is Jesus Christ and in just 90 seconds I gave her the the fastest plan of salvation, you could ever give somebody in 90 seconds time because cars started lining back up behind me. Her boss walked in to see what she was doing, what was going on in there. And I said, all you need to do is trust in him. For as many as believed on him, to them gave he the power to become the sons and the daughters of God.

And with that, I had to drive off. And as I drove off, that girl was, she was back out the window again. And she was going, I'm trusting. I'm trusting. Listen, she didn't know anything about Christology or soteriology or demonology or hermodiology. She didn't know anything about that, but she did know when I drove off from there, Jesus loves you. If you'll trust him, he'll save you.

Now, listen, let me tell you something. You can do that too. You can do that too. I want you to bow your heads with me. I want every head bound. I want every eye closed as we come to the end of this. There's some of you that came in here today. God's speaking to your heart right now.

But you've never trusted. You've never put, you know about Jesus, you know about God. You probably have a Bible. You may have even been a member of a church somewhere. But let me tell you something. You've never, ever in a moment, ask God's forgiveness and told him that you commit your heart and your life to him. You say, I want to do that.

You feel God speaking to you right now. And you say, I want to do that. What do you do? Just do this, right where you're seated, right in the personal part of your heart, down in the heart of your hearts. Just pray this prayer with me. Dear Lord Jesus, I'm asking you to forgive me of my sins. I can't kid you about that. You know, I know, you know, we both know.

I'm a sinner. I can't do anything about that. I just feel like my life keeps exploding behind me of things that I've done, and I'm coming now to you. Jesus, I trust in you. You forgive me of my sins, and in the best way I know how, I give you my life. I give you all of me. I believe in you.

I believe that you were crucified for me. I believe you were raised from the dead to give me life, and I receive your free gift of eternal. salvation. Now let me just ask you something with all of our heads bowed and our eyes closed. Right now, if you just prayed that prayer, you say, I prayed that prayer in my heart. I meant that. I'm sincere. I want you just to stand up. No one's looking. No one's looking. I want you just to stand up. Just stand up and acknowledge. Don't be ashamed to do that. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Don't be ashamed to do that. Amen. Someone else. Yes. Amen.

someone else. Amen. God bless. You feel like in this moment God is drawing you to himself. Just stand up and say yes to Jesus. Great. Thank you, Lord, for all of these who've stood and who've acknowledged that they have now put their faith and trust in you. But now let me talk to the rest of you. You have feasted on the word of God and fed on the word of God. You've been nourished by the word of God. Now are you willing to get out of the place of preparation and go to the mission feel? I don't mean forever, but what about for a week? What about a day? What about an evening where you can go knock on the door and share Jesus Christ with somebody? What about a week with one of these missionaries that you already have? They're already there. All you've got to do is just get to them

and say, hey, I'm coming to serve alongside of you for just a week or 10 days, whatever it might be. Take your family. Deb and I took our children. We took them all the way around the world. practically. Everywhere from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Kiev, Ukraine, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and everywhere in between. Take your children, get on mission, show them, let God speak to them. It was on one of those trips overseas where I had Courtney that God called her, and she was in Beirut, Lebanon for several years as one of our missionaries. What about you? Mom and dad, are you willing to let your go? Are you willing to pray and say, Lord, help me to be willing? What about you? Would you just stand up right now and say, I'm willing to go? You said, but I don't know where. You don't have to

know where he does. Let him worry with that. You just stand up. All over this place, people are to be standing up saying, I'll go. I'll serve somewhere. If it's for a day, if it for a week, if it's for a lifetime, God's calling me to some type of mission. I'm getting you out of the cave of preparation all over this place. People are standing. What about you? Yes, people are still standing. Oh, Father, bless these who are saying, I'm willing. Lord, they may not know where, they may not know what, but, Father, you do. I put them in your hands because I trust you with their lives. I trust you with their future. and I say thank you, Lord Jesus, for speaking to our hearts today. And I pray it in your name.