Mike Bickle discusses David's journey through despair while hiding in the cave of Adullam, emphasizing the emotional turmoil he faced after the massacre of the priests at Nob due to his own deception. David, feeling overwhelmed and responsible for the tragedy, learns to trust in God's mercy and develops a steadfast heart despite his circumstances. He gathers a group of distressed and discontented men, transforming them into mighty warriors while navigating the challenges of leadership and personal failure. Bickle highlights the importance of character development through adversity, illustrating how God uses difficult seasons to shape our hearts and deepen our relationship with Him.

Coaching our seventh session, we have 24 sessions in this series. We'll take a break after this, come back and do session 10 and then have a ministry time. In this session, 1st Samuel chapter 22 is what we're going to be looking at. The cave of Adullam is where David has escaped from Gath. Remember he was in the last session, the last chapter, chapter 21, he was pretending to be mad before Achish, the king of Gath, because he got so filled with fear. And right before that, he was in the city of Nob and his lie caused the whole city to be slaughtered and massacred. 85 priests were killed because of his lie. And so David is feeling, just overcoming fear and the trauma of the city of Nob and he has depression and despair in this season. He's at an all-time low right here. And he's entering in what I call the Adullam years. The cave of Adullam. Now that's only, Adullam is a city and a cave is a, it's a well-known cave just outside the city. And David made that kind of his base camp for a while. Then he went out to various areas. And so I'm just identifying about the next five to seven years, the wilderness years with the cave of Adullam. And David's about 23, 24 and he goes on to age 30. So it's five, six, seven years. He's wandering around in the wilderness in what I call the Adullam years, the wilderness years. Now it's so perplexing to him because God could have got rid of Saul very easily in one moment. But the Lord didn't want David to be finished with this adversity. But he wanted him tested and tried in it. And so he has this strategic delay of not releasing the full promise to David. Because he's building character. He's building a history in God with David. And that's what he's doing in your lives, in our lives. He's delaying certain promises because it's creating an interaction of our heart with his heart. And we're developing a history in God. Okay, paragraph D. Let's jump right into the story. Verse 1, chapter 22, verse 1. Now David departed from there. That's the city of Gath, back in chapter 21. It's about ten miles away, the Philistine city. And he escaped to the cave of Adullam. It's about ten miles away. Now his brothers and his father's house heard of it. So news was getting around somehow that David had escaped and was back in the land of Israel. Because in Gath, he's in the Philistine area. He kind of crossed over the national border. So verse 1, his fathers, his brothers, and his father's house heard of it. And they went down to him. Now you might think, well that's nice. They went down to support him. Now that's not what's really happening. Is that Saul has, I mean David has, Saul is so infuriated at David. And you find out in 2 Samuel 23, I have the notes there, the Philistines are now attacking Bethlehem, David's home city. So his family, they're now under the attack of the Philistines, because Bethlehem is the home city. And they're very unnerved by that. And Saul has reprisals against David's family. And so they're terrified. They're thinking, David you got us in this mess from Saul. And the Philistines are attacking us. So you're anointed of the Lord. You have this grace of God on you in military matters. So they went to David. Now David was only 24, 25 years old. And his older brothers, he has seven older brothers, several of them are in the military. But four or five of them aren't. His older brothers come, David, young David, the grace of God's on you. Mom and Dad, we're coming to you, because we're terrified. It's an unusual situation. Verse 2, then everyone, now catch these three D's, that was in distress, number one. So they were all stressed out and in distress and depressed. They were in debt, number two. And number three, they were discontented with what was happening in the nation of Israel with Saul's government. They were very discontent. So they gathered to David. Now imagine, there's 400 men. They're distressed. They're not happy guys. They're troubled. They have no money. So they're coming to David asking him to provide for them. And they're discontent. I mean, what a, what a group to have a church plant with, you know. That's his group. And most of them are young men, because they're with David. Even decades later, we find in 2 Samuel 23, many of them are with him. So it's probably the most powerful transformed youth group in history. Because this youth group is really in trouble. Most of them are probably, I'm guessing, in their 20s like David. And it says in verse 2, he became captain over them. Meaning, here he is, again about 25 years old, something like that. He takes the leadership over them in a military way to train them, organize them, get them ready for battle. But he also takes spiritual leadership over them. I mean, this is a big task for a young man to take this off with, I mean, take this on with not so much experience, maybe a couple years of leadership experience. Now David, I have here in paragraph, end of paragraph D, that he had just written Psalm 34. We looked at that in our last session, where he said, I'll bless the Lord at all times. Because he had been filled with shame and fear, and he was really troubled. But he had a bit of a recovery. He restored his faith. His faith was renewed. I mean, because remember, David's faith, there's an ebb and flow over the next few years, where he's going strong with confidence for a few months. Then he's not so much in confidence for a few months. Then he is. And we look at it and say, well, what's the deal with that? Well, he's like us. Or we're like him. That's how it is. We would like a more perfect story of, here it is, the man of God just going from glory to glory. And we do go from glory to glory, meaning we mature in the things of God. But there's setbacks along the way. Sometimes it's three steps forward, two steps back. I mean, it's not always that way. But it's not just an unbroken increase of victories and confidence and clarity. But there's ebb and flow in it. But he's kind of in a bit of recovery. He's blessing the Lord. Psalm 134. He's connecting with God. He's overcoming the shame. Paragraph E. So he's now at the cave of Adullam. Well, he's used to being in the king's court. So the cave of Adullam and the king's court, there's a big difference there. But this cave of Adullam, I call it God's seminary for David. He's in the seminary of the Holy Spirit out in the wilderness in the cave of Adullam, or that's kind of his base of operation over the years. Or not exactly, but that's just a location that we identify for that five to six, seven year period. Now, in that cave or in that season, he wrote several more psalms. And we're just going to briefly mention them at the end of this session. Psalm 57, Psalm 142, Psalm 52. And the reason you want to read those psalms, you want to read them in the context to the drama that David's having again in his mid-twenties. He has shame. He has fear. He's very discouraged that he has a recovery of confidence, that he loses it again, that he gets it back. And so if you can relate to that at all, you want to study Psalm 57, Psalm 142 and Psalm 52 and Psalm 34. Those are right in that season of David's life. Okay, paragraph G, the 400 men. Now these 400 men become transformed into what the scripture calls the mighty men of David. I mean, they're a mess right now. They start off again in distress. A lot of folks see no hope. They have no potential. They have no future as far as many are concerned. But David said, Lord, these are the ones you gave me. And David saw something in them and he began to invest himself in them. I mean, I'm so grateful that the Lord doesn't give up on the 400 discontent, distressed, in-debt people. But the Lord says, I'll go after them. And he raised up none other than David to actually raise them up and bring them forward. Paragraph I, he's captain over them. He's training them in a military way, but he's also training them in a spiritual way. Now these 400 men, they're watching David through each one of the seasons. They're watching his integrity and secret. They're watching his fears, because David's very open about what he's struggling with. But they also see his confidence and his recovery. Now the thing that I'll say over and over that I so appreciate about David's life is this defining characteristic in David, this defining reality in his life. He has this confidence in God's mercy or God's goodness. That when he would stumble or fail, he could rebound and recover with confidence as though nothing ever happened. I mean, when I first began to see this in David's life, it kind of threw me off a little bit. I go, it seems like he's a little presumptuous. And it's not. No, he understood the heart of God and he understood the grace of God. Now these 400 men, they were with David in the wilderness years. And they were with him in the time of difficulty. And they were with him in the years when he was reigning as king. And of course, there's a clear spiritual principle that we're bearing the reproach of Christ in this hour, in this age, for a short season during our life in this age. But then we reign with him. Of course, we do some of that now in this life. But forever and ever we reign with him. And he says, you've borne reproach with me out in the wilderness years. That's the life in this fallen age here, this fallen world here. And the Lord says, I'll remember that. And this is a kind of a little snapshot right here of David and these 400 men. Now the thing that touches me, I have down here paragraph J about David. There's so many lessons. I could, you know, you could put 100 leadership lessons. We just have only a little bit of space on the page for so many. But there's so many that you could derive here. The thing that really challenges me is the fact that David didn't draw back. I mean, here he is. He has the trauma of the massacre of the priests at the city of Nob. He has the meltdown, the fear before Achish king of Gath when he pretended to be a man-man. Fear overcame him. And now he's got these 400 guys and they're not very productive or helpful on the front end. He's got his family have all come there because they're afraid of Saul and the Philistines, not because they're loyal to him. And they've got, and he's now got the pressure of leading them. You know, having been in leadership for some years, I could just see the temptation of him going, you know, I don't think so. I think you guys are on your own for now. You know, I'm managing so many emotions, fear and shame and uncertainty and perplexity. I don't really want to take you on. But the man after God's own heart, remember he's only 24, 25 years old. He takes hold of them and he goes, no, I'm going to be what God wants me to be to you. I mean, that's remarkable courage. It'd be so much easier to draw back and just say, you know, it's been a tough couple months and a tough, tough couple of years. I think I'll just let them find their own way in God. Roman numeral two. Well, David went from Adullam to Mizpah, verse three. So he goes over to Mizpah. It's just not so far away from Adullam to Mizpah, just maybe 10 or 20 miles, I'm guessing, maybe a little bit more. But it's over in Moab. Now again, that's another nation. You know, Philistines are to the west of Israel. Moab is to the east. And the nations are quite small. I mean, you know, they're 10 and 20 miles, you know, the distance of them, of a nation could be that small. So now he's going over to the east side, the nation on the east side of Israel, Moab. And he goes to the king of Moab and he goes, my mom and dad, he goes, they're elderly. He goes, they came to the cave of Adullam because it's not really safe for them. They're not very mobile. I've got Saul's army pursuing me. We're living in a cave. And so he goes to Moab and he asked the king there, he goes, could you provide for my family, for my parents, my elderly parents, for a season here? And verse 4, the king said, yes. Now you say, now why is that? Well, I have there in the notes that David's great-great-grandmother was Ruth. She was from Moab. And remember, she married Boaz, a very wealthy man in Israel. And this Moabite woman became famous in Israel. She was well known. It's David's great-great-grandmother. And the king undoubtedly knows the story and knows the stature that Ruth had in Israel. And she undoubtedly had, you know, a certain sentiment for her nation of Moab. And so there's still some goodwill going on here. So the king says, yes. But the part I want to highlight here in paragraph B is that David had so much on his plate. Where's his other seven older brothers at in terms of taking care of the parents? And what strikes me is that it, that doesn't strike David. David, you're the youngest. You're the eighth. You have all the problems. You've got a 3,000 men trying to kill you. You're going cave to cave. But you, you feel the responsibility to take care of your parents. I mean, that tells you a volume about the kind of man and the kind of character David had in his mid-twenties. Roman numeral three. Well he, verse five. They're over in Moab now, just on, on the east side of the nation, just to the east of Israel. Again, it's about 10 or 20 miles away from the cave of Adolah. The prophet Gad, he's introduced here. There, as we mentioned in the earlier sessions, there's three prophets that are associated with David in a prominent way. There was Samuel, the old prophet when David was young. There's Gad, who's David's peer. And then there's Nathan. When David's an older king, Nathan's a young prophet. These are the three prophets that, that you see throughout the storyline of David. Well anyway, Gad just appears here for the first time in the, in the narrative. The prophet Gad, he has some, some challenging news to David. Thus says the Lord, verse five. I'm adding a few words here. Don't stay over here in Moab, because things are relaxed. I mean, the king has got provisions. Saul's not going over there, because Saul doesn't want to stir up a war with, with the nation of Moab. And David's ain't, you know, ancestors, his great-great-grandmother, and he's got goodwill. And things are kind of calming down and feeling more comfortable. Thus says the Lord, don't stay here in the stronghold, meaning in the, the fortress city where the king of, of, of the Moabites, where he lives in this secure city, go back to Judah. That's where the cave of Adullam was. Like, no! Judah, no! Judah means, Saul's going to chase me. Judah means, I'm running cave to cave to cave, and no supplies, and I don't have, you know, the kind of weapons I need. And Judah, no! No, Lord, let me stay in Moab. Let me, it's kind of, I got a little reprieve here. And the Lord says, no. Thus says the Lord, go back to Judah. Far more dangerous, far more risky, because David has to trust the Lord, and interact with the Lord on a daily basis to survive in, in Judah. Because that's where Saul has authority. That's where Saul has room to move. That's where he has jurisdiction, and his whole government is in control there. So he departed, and he goes to the forest of Herod, which is close to Adullam, about three miles from Adullam. He goes back to the same general area, the forest of Herod. Now, the good thing about a forest is that you can hide, and you know, there's some, some crafty ways you can get lost in the forest from a big 3,000 member army. Because remember, Saul's army is 3,000 men. That's a big army, and they don't move so well through a forest. Paragraph C, back to Judah. I mean, what a challenge. So I said, the Lord, He speaks those kinds of words to His people. He'll do that to you on various times in your life. You'll be in the comfort zone over in Moab, where you got a reprieve. Things are relaxed. Things are quite a bit easier, a little bit more secure. And, and I don't mean every day He gives you this word, but there are seasons in your life. He says, take the challenge. It's in the will of God. It's not a challenge for the sake of challenge, but obey Me and step out of the comfort zone. Go back, well in this case, go back to Judah, because that's where David was. But He might challenge you to something that's far more risky, far more challenging, that without a divine miracle intervention, you're not going to make it. You're not going to make it. Because without God breaking through and provision and protection and the grace of God, you're going to die in that place. Some of you said, praise God, Kansas City sounds like Judah. I wasn't joking. Let's look top of page three. So David's back. He's in the forest of Herod. He's by the Cave of Adolim. He's back in Judah. And there's mountains, a lot of mountain, hilly areas, and some forest, some desert. And it's not a cultivated with lots of cities. It's not all developed. It's a kind of Wild West, so to speak, is what Judah is. It's not a, not an easy place to live if you're not living in one of the cities. Well, the story picks up in verse 6 of chapter 22. Saul's up in the capital at Gibeah. And he's, all of his top government authorities are there. In verse 6, Saul's, he said, hey, I heard some news. He's got all the government officials there, the top ones there. He's holding a, you know, cabinet meeting, so to speak. He goes, news, David's been discovered. He went to Moab, and we lost track of him, but he's back in Judah. He said, but I heard he was at the city of Nob, which is really, remember, it's only a couple miles from Gibeah, where Saul's capital is, where his government headquarters. He goes, I heard that David had been discovered just down the road in the city of Nob, where, you know, which was the spiritual center. Gibeah was the governmental center. They're only three, four miles apart. He goes, but I heard some pretty bad news about David. I heard that he was up to, or at least I want to know what he was doing there is, I guess, how the conversation starts. What was he doing in the city of Nob? What was he doing hanging out there? I got some reports about that. Verse 7, Saul said to his servants, who were standing about, and when the leaders are described as standing about the king, it means they're in attention, in their official government position, standing before the king. It doesn't mean they're just hanging out here. This is an official gathering. And he said, hear now you Benjaminites. Now he's from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul is. And all of his government is from the tribe of Benjamin, which is telling us that of the twelve tribes of Israel, when Saul, from Benjamin, became king, he showed favoritism. He gave all the top government positions and all the top military positions to the people from his tribe. The other eleven tribes aren't very happy about this. But he looks at these men and he goes, well the son of Jesse, now we know the son of Jesse is David, it's a derogatory, or it's Saul is, Saul won't call David David almost anymore. The word David in the Hebrew, it's the beloved of the Lord. He calls him, it's a name of contempt. He goes, he's the son of Jesse. He's the son of his dad, whoever his dad. I didn't even know his dad. He's that kid of that guy I didn't know. So it's a term of contempt. And he normally calls him the son of Jesse. That's not a positive thing. That's a put-down. He asked the guys around the court, he goes, will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards? He's talking to the fellow man from Benjamin. He goes, is he gonna give you favors like I gave you? Because the king has been giving them properties and farmlands. Is he gonna make you the captain over thousands in the army, these high military positions with prestige and authority? He goes, David's from Judah. He's gonna pick his own people. He's not gonna, he's from the tribe of Judah. He's not gonna pick people from Benjamin for high positions. He says, verse 8, well if he's not gonna give you the favor I've given you, why is it that every one of you are in a conspiracy against me? And these, you know, government officials from Benjamin, they go, what do you mean government, a conspiracy? He goes, you think I don't know what you guys are up to? And these guys are troubled because Saul is full paranoid by now. I mean, he's really paranoid. And when he gets troubled, he kills people that's on the other end of his fear and his paranoia. He goes, there's none of you, verse 8, that reveals to me that my own son is in a pact, a covenant, a political pact with the son of Jesse. He goes, my own son's betrayed me and you tell me you guys don't know my son is close to David like that? And these, you know, officials from Benjamin, they're kind of getting quiet and go, well technically I guess we did know that Jonathan and David were really close. He goes, I heard about that covenant they made, that political pact. I mean, more than a pact, there was a solemn covenant in the presence of God. He goes, isn't there even one of you that even feels sorry for me? Oh man, he just went like, Saul, wake up! That you don't reveal to me, now here, look at this, that my own loyal son Solomon has stirred up David to lie in wait to ambush me when I'm not thinking he's there to kill me. My own son is stirring up this conspiracy against me. And all of you guys know it, and they're looking at Saul going, man, we're in trouble. This guy is really losing it. Really losing it. Well, let's go all the way to the bottom of the page, paragraph I, verse 9. So Doeg, the Edomite, he's part of the top leadership in Saul's world. I mean, he's an Edomite. He's not an Israelite. He's a foreigner. And as I said last time, being an Edomite, that's a, that's a very negative thing, but that's another story for another day. Doeg, who's set over the servants of Saul, he's over the lot of those that are working in the, in the capital, in the government processes, and he's over Saul's, all of his herds and livestock. He's got a lot of money. Very wealthy man, Doeg. He's been made wealthy from Saul. He goes, Doeg says, well, Saul, I got some information. If you think everybody's betraying you, I'm not. You can trust me. What Doeg is after is a reward, a financial reward and a promotion. He goes, I saw the son of Jesse. I mean, again, that's a very negative word of contempt in terms of Saul. He went three miles down the road to the spiritual capital, the religious capital, the city of Nauv. We're all the, the high priest and the top priest of the nation. He went to Ahimelech, the high priest. He goes, let me tell you. Now, Doeg puts a spin on it because he, he's making this really bad for Ahimelech because Doeg wants to get a reward for being the one that Saul can trust. So, he's kind of, he's changing the presentation of what happened. He said, I, I saw him. I saw him there. And if you remember chapter 21, the chapter before this, David saw Doeg there. And David went, oh no, I better get out of here. That guy's going to tell on me. He goes, and Ahimelech, the high priest, he inquired of the Lord. Now, inquire of the Lord, remember, that means he, in our terminology, he sought the Lord and gave prophetic ministry to David to help him out. He goes, yeah, he did. So, inquire of the Lord's more than just I prayed for him. But it's, I prayed and I gave direction to him from the ephod, from the, we talked about that in the last session. That they would have the urim and the thummim. The ephod was a garment the high priest had. And they, the best that scholars can understand is that the ephod, the, again, it's a garment the high, only the high priest had. It had two stones in it. And the king, or a representative of the king, could ask a question. And through some way, the way they would like roll the stones out or something, there was two of them. Their yes and no answers could be given from the Lord immediately on demand in order to help the covenant nation, help the king, and help the priesthood, etc. He goes, he inquired of the Lord. He was seeking God for the son of Jesse. And Saul goes, yep, I knew those priests couldn't be trusted. He goes, not only that, gave him food. Not only that, gave him weapons. Top of page four. Saul is so angry right now. Saul is so angry. Paragraph J, verse 11. He sent to Ahimelech, the high priest. Again, it's only three miles down the road. To the spiritual capital, Saul's and Gibeah, the governmental capital. He said, tell Ahimelech, the high priest, and his entire family, everybody, all of them, come. I want to talk to them. And so all 85 priests, except for one, one stayed there, keep the fire on the altar. One of them stayed there, and 85 of them came. And they appear before the king's court. And they're a little bit uncertain, like this has never happened before. But they don't understand how serious this is. And Saul said, verse 13, I got a question for you, Mr. High Priest, Ahimelech. Why are you leading a conspiracy against me and my government? And Ahimelech goes, what? He goes, I know, I've got reliable evidence that you and the son of Jesse, remember he won't call him David, you and the son of Jesse, you're working together to overthrow my government. He goes, I heard, verse 13, you gave him bread, you gave him weapons, you inquired of the Lord, you got prophetic ministry, I know why you did it, end of verse 13. So he's going to rise up against me in an overthrow, a revolt against me. I'm going to have Lion Wade and ambush me and kill me, so he can be king and you can be his high priest. Verse 14, Ahimelech goes, what are you talking about? He goes, who among all of your servants as is loyal to you as David? He goes, he's the most loyal man except for your own son. He goes, nobody is more faithful or the idea to be loyal and he's your son-in-law, he's your own family, he's part of the royal family. He goes at your bidding, he runs the most, he goes on missions that are the most important and most sensitive and most, you know, really urgent ones for you. He's your ambassador, you trust him with everything. Who's more honored in your house than young David? Verse 15, he goes, did I just begin to inquire of the Lord for David? He goes, no, I've inquired of the Lord many times for David, because remember Nob's only three miles away and whenever David would go on a military excursion, he would go by and make a sacrifice and have the high priest pray for him and seek the Lord for him. He goes, I know David well, he's come many times. Paragraph K, verse 16, King is absolutely infuriated. Yep, I know the truth, you're lying to me, I can tell a liar. When a paranoid king is convinced you're lying, you're in trouble. Verse 16, and the king said, you'll die, you'll surely die. Not only you, everyone in your family will die. The women, the children, everybody. I mean, it's going to be an annihilation. Verse 17, the king said to his bodyguards, kill him. The bodyguards go, no, no. The guards go, no. Saul, this is insanity. Are you kidding me? Killing all the top priests of the nation because you're paranoid that he's in a conspiracy? They went and left their hand at the end of verse 17. They said, no. I mean, that was pretty bold. They said, we'd rather be killed by you than sin against the Lord. Verse 18, Doeg, he said, I'll do it. So King Saul said, kill all of them. And Doeg killed 85 men who wore the linen ephod. And the linen ephod, that's the priestly garment. Eighty-five priests. I mean, think of the labor that that would take to kill 85 people with a sword. The bloodshed. And then, verse 19, also, Nob, the city of the priests, he went to the city three miles away. He struck all the women and children, all the infants, the little babies. He killed all of them. It was one man. And he slaughtered the oxen, the sheep. I mean, this guy went on a mad whatever and slaughtered them all with the edge of the sword. Paragraph M. Now, this is a very interesting passage of Scripture, because this massacre fulfills a prophecy, a judgment that God gave over this family line back maybe 70, 80 years ago. I don't know the exact time. Back when Samuel was just a little boy. Now, Samuel was an elderly man about to die. So, I don't know how old Samuel was, but it was back when Samuel was first born. So, maybe Samuel was 80, 90 years old by now. I don't really know. But it was a generation, two generations ago when Samuel was born, and now he's 70, 80, 90 years old. What had happened is that the high priest back 80 years ago, his name was Eli. And Eli and his sons sinned and very, very, very, very grievous ways. It's not just they sinned. They sinned as the top spiritual leadership of the covenant nation. And they just cast off the word of God. And a prophet rose up and said, your entire family line is going to be wiped out and driven out of the priesthood and exterminated. Well, it's the Lord's way. 10 years go by, nothing happens. 20 years go by. 30 years go by. Now, it's again, I don't know exactly. 70, 80 years now have gone by, and this prophecy is now coming to pass. And the strange part about it is how four to five components come together in this great tragedy. Component number one, there's Eli's sin 80 years ago. And God said, your family line will be wiped out. And you say, well, that seems awful cruel. But remember, it's the family line of the top priest over the covenant nation, because they cast off the word of God. So it's this high position of a leadership on this family line, and they totally disregarded the Lord. So component number one is the sin of the leaders of that generation. Sin number two is Saul's decree. Kill them all. Saul's responsible. Sin number three, David's lie. Because when David was at the city of Nob, we looked at last week, he told the high priest a lie. He said, I'm here on a special mission from the king. And that wasn't true. He was running from the king. David's lie endangered the entire nation. I mean, the entire city. Number four, Doeg. His lie. I mean, he was spinning the whole story about how a Himelech was conspiring so that he could get a promotion and a reward from Saul. Plus, Doeg, he actually does the executing. Number five, God's judgment that was pronounced. All of these come together. I mean, that's a mysterious way that God's government unfolds in nations, because we typically only see the immediate issue in front of us, but often there are many other issues going on from God's point of view in something like this. Paragraph N. Now one of the sons of a Himelech, the only guy who stayed back at the city of Nob, again, I said, keep the fire on the altar. They had to have one priest stay back. It was Abathar. He was the number two man in the priesthood. He was the heir to become the high priest. He stayed behind. Maybe the father said, Abathar, this Saul, he's unpredictable. Maybe you should stay back. Maybe you should be the one to stay back instead of go with me. Abathar, he escaped and he fled. He looked for David and he found David, you know, out in Judah, in the wilderness in Judah. Verse 21, and Abathar told David, you know, I could just picture Abathar running up to David. You know, he's out in the forest, Hereth, and he comes up to him and he's got blood all over him and he's panting and he's grieving and his eyes are swollen with, he goes, David, David, and he says, Abathar, what's going on? Why did he have the blood? Settle down. What happened? They slaughtered all of them. They killed everybody. He goes, who killed? He goes, remember when you came, that Doeg guy was there and he said that we were conspiring and David goes, oh no. He goes, I knew when I saw Doeg, it was trouble. Verse 22, I knew the day I saw him. I knew he would go tell Saul and he'd spin it in a way. He goes, I've caused the death of everyone in your house. I've done it. That's interesting. David doesn't even highlight Saul's sin or Doeg's sin. He doesn't quote the 80-year-old prophecy that this house would be decimated one day. Doesn't do any of that. He goes, I did it. I take responsibility. He had the least contribution in it, though he was responsible in part. Verse 23, he makes a commitment to Abathar. He goes, Abathar, I want you to stay with me. I want you to know whoever seeks you, they're seeking me. Whoever seeks me seeks you. Meaning, I'm going to protect you. I want you to be in the family on the team. And Abathar looks around and goes, well, you know, it's out here in the woods, kind of running cave to cave, but I can't go back to the city of Nob. I can't go to Gibeah, the capital. I'm in. And Abathar stayed loyal to David, even right up to David's death, when he was 70 years old. Many years later, because he's only about 25 right now. They were friends and they were faithful co-workers and he was high priest in David's reign, together with Zadok. Top of page 5. I just want to highlight that, I'm not going to really spend much time on this, but Psalm 52 was written, this is just to give you a little hint, Psalm 52, so you could go search it out. There's a lot of commentaries, a lot of resources to get a lot of insight on these Psalms, even as you read them. Psalm 52 makes it clear David wrote this in the context of the tragedy with Doeg and the city of Nob. Okay, paragraph C. Now here's the issue. Both David and Doeg lied, because David's going to contrast him and Doeg in this Psalm. He's going to put them against each other and describe their differences. Both of them were guilty of lying. Both of them were guilty of causing the problem of the massacre and the tragedy. It wasn't just a tragedy of a city, it was a national tragedy. I mean, nothing like this had ever happened in Israel's history, where a king of Israel slaughtered the top leadership of the priesthood in a murderous rage. Nothing like that ever happened. Paragraph D. So David, now he's describing Doeg. He says, Doeg, verse 1, why are you boasting in evil, almighty man? Because he was a very wealthy man, he had a high position in Saul's court. He goes, why are you boasting in evil instead of repenting of evil? He goes, I did evil too, but I am bowing down. I understand the goodness of God. The goodness of God is continual. I mean, why defy the goodness of God when you've sinned? Why not bow down and own your sin, humble yourself? He goes, that's what I have done. Paragraph F. You can read a little bit more on your own. Now he describes himself. Here he is. Remember, the tragedy. I mean, this is a massacre of a city. This is a tragedy of unparalleled proportion. I mean, certainly one of the great tragedies of David's life. There's one or two others that would be in the category of one of the most tragic events of David's life, and this is in that category at the very top of the list. Look at verse 8. David, now remember, he's in the trauma of a massacre, the shame of having caused it. He told a lie, and he actually, his lie resulted in this because he was fearful. Look what David says. He goes, I get what I've done. Verse 8, I know about the goodness of God from verse 1 and 2, but I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God because I trust in his mercy. He goes, I have no argument, but I know what kind of God he is, and I'm not going to bring my negotiating with him. Oh God, if you forgive me, I'll do this, or I'm so bad. He says, no, I trust your mercy. I'm taking it at face value, and I'm taking it 100%. And look at this big statement. I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God because an olive tree, I've got quite a bit there about an olive tree. It was one of the, it was a tremendous source of food, of light, of hygiene, of healing. An olive tree was one of the most esteemed trees, a picture of beauty, a statement of honor. An olive tree is a very, very important symbol. David could have said, I'm the scum of the earth. I caused a national tragedy. I really did do it. But he goes, I've come to the Lord. I know who I am. I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to live in that. I'm not going to live in condemnation and failure. I have repented. I am, I'm clear before the Lord that don't make, why don't you do this? You boastful man. I mean, and the way that David saw himself is absolutely remarkable. As the green olive tree, and again, there's so much more to that. Top of page six. We'll just take a minute or two on the next ones here. Psalm 142. David is in Adullam. It says it right there. He's in the cave. Psalm 142. It's a prayer that David prays while he's in the cave, the cave of Adullam. It's the cave, the only cave mentioned in the narrative of first Samuel that David is in. It's mentioned by name, I mean. Verse two, it goes, God, I'm pouring out my complaint. Verse three, I'm overwhelmed. Now he's in Adullam. Now he's, you know, he's, he kind of had a recovery after Nob and Gath because in Nob he says, I'm an olive tree. After Gath, he writes Psalm 34 and he goes, I'll bless the Lord at all times. He's had some recovery, but now he's in Adullam and things are, all the situations are piling up and Saul is after him. His family's there, 400 men that are got a, you know, discontent. They're distressed. He's their leader and he goes, so much responsibility. He's been in the tragedy of his shame and failure and he says, Lord, I'm overwhelmed. I'm absolutely overwhelmed right now. He's 24 years old, 25, something like that. And the reason I keep mentioning his age, because it's not like he's been in leadership for 40 years and he's weathered all the storms. I mean, he's new at this, but the Lord says, my grace is sufficient. I've made you for such a time as this, but David, I'm actually forming you in this intensity so that you would be a King after my own heart in the years to come. I've actually got your future in view, even though I'm touching you right now. Look at paragraph D, look at verse 6. He goes, oh no, no, no. Paragraph D verse 4. He goes, no one acknowledges me. He goes, of the 400 men I'm with, nobody's even aware of what I'm going through. Not one of them is paying attention to me. Nobody cares for me. He goes, how I am even in a community of 400 people with their families and my own mother and father. He goes, no one really cares about me. They're only here so I can help them. I'm totally being used by everyone. Even the folks with me. I feel alone. I feel misunderstood. Nobody understands what's in my heart and what I'm going through. Verse 6, I'm very low. Verse 7, oh God, my soul is in prison. I mean, if you ever felt no one understood, no one cared, you're overwhelmed you're very low, your soul is in prison, but you've got 400 men waiting on you, 3,000 soldiers trying to kill you. You're going cave to cave. You have no certainty of what's going on. I mean, what a remarkable young man. I mean, a good man would have just given up and given in with all that pressure. God says, I'm making the man after my own heart as king of this nation. I know what I'm doing in him. It's intense, but it's not more than he can handle. Look what he says at the end of verse 7. You, he says, but one thing I know God, I, everything is piling up. But one thing I do know is you will treat me well when the whole story's told. I can't see it now. I can't see the whole story, but I know that when the whole story is known, I will say the Lord is good. His mercy endured. And I don't get the story Lord, but I'm going to hold onto the confession. You're bountiful in the way you treat me. Roman numeral seven, Psalm 57, he does the same sort of thing. Verse two, he says, I cry out to God. I know you will do good things for me. I know that you will intervene in your timing. I don't get your timing. I don't get the delay, but I know you will do this for me. You will perform all things, meaning you'll break in, you'll intervene. The delay won't be forever for the release of the promise. Here's the verse I love, verse seven. I mean, now notice all the pressure he's in. He put his foot down. He said, but God, my heart is steadfast. The other translation says my heart is fixed. He goes, I'm not moving. I'm not moving. Everyone's telling me it's not worth it. I'm fixed. Again, he's 24, 25 years old. All these pressures. He feels alone. Nobody cares for him. Overwhelmed because I'm set. I'm fixed. I am hurting, but I'm not moving. I am yours, God. All the days of my life, no matter what it looks like, I am set. I will obey you. I may stumble in fear, but I will come back. I'll get a hold of the word of God again, and I'll be steadfast. I'm yours. You can count on me. This verse is so powerful. You know, I taught, I remember when I first taught the life of David, I was 20 years old. That's 40 years ago. And this verse absolutely captured my heart. And I've pulled on this verse and drawn on this verse. And I'm saying that because a lot of 20-year-olds are in this, in this room. I want to give you this verse. The translation I use, it says my heart is fixed. I like steadfast. That's good too. But, and I, you know, difficulty. Because the enemy wants, when you sin, to get into condemnation and just give up, say, I'm not worth it. And I say, no, I'm fixed. I'm set. I'm God's. I'm gonna, I'm gonna receive his mercy, and I'm gonna stand strong, even though I failed. Or the pressure mounts up. Or the people stand against you. Or the promises are delayed. Or your disappointment. Over and over again. By the grace of God, I'd go back to Psalm 577. I'm fixed. I'd speak it to the Lord. I tell you, it's, it's good for the soul. I'm gonna, I'm gonna give that, that verse to you to, and he says, verse 8, I will awaken my glory. Down in paragraph D. His, his glory, he meant all the deepest part of my being. I'm gonna fully awaken all that I am to be fully yours, O God. Amen and amen. Let's stand. I'm gonna pray this over you.