Mike Bickle emphasizes the Lord's protection over David during a tumultuous period in his life, where he faced multiple assassination attempts from King Saul. Despite the threats and challenges, David remained steadfast in his faith, relying on God's intervention and the support of his friend Jonathan. Bickle highlights the importance of trusting in God's plan and timing, as David did not take matters into his own hands to secure his future. The sermon illustrates how God provided unique deliverance for David in various situations, reinforcing the idea that divine protection does not always equate to an easy path. Ultimately, Bickle encourages believers to seek God's guidance and remain faithful amidst adversity.

Chapter 19, we looked at David's confidence in chapter 18, and of course it's still the same season of his life, so that could also be the theme here, but we're going to highlight the Lord's protection, the way the Lord is intervening time and time again and unique in different situations. Paragraph 8 in chapter 19, there are four distinct incidences in which David's life was threatened, and it's remarkable that these four happened all within a short period of time, a year or two. Now think about this for a second, let's personalize this. Four times in the next 12 to 18 months, four times your life is threatened, and the political authorities are backing up the threat over your life, and you're 22 years old, and you're on the run. That's intense, because you can read the story and just, well that was David in the old days. Think about your life getting threatened four times with the political and military authorities backing it up in the next 12 to 18 months of your life, and how you would feel about where God is. Lord, where are you in all this? I thought I was supposed to be anointed with promises, and the Lord says you do, but you're in the seminary of Saul right now, and I'm training you to believe in me, to grow in humility, to get your identity and who I am and not be swayed, and I want this root to go deep in you. In each one of these four episodes in David's life, Saul is attempting to kill him, and he stopped first by Jonathan, his favorite, I mean his beloved son, the heir to the throne. Saul and Jonathan were like very close father-son relationship, and Jonathan stops Saul the first time here in chapter 19. Then it's David who escapes the spear, so he avoids dying. The next one is his daughter Michael, and the third one is Samuel the prophet, or rather the Holy Spirit, intervenes and delivers David's life in relationship to David visits Samuel. Again, I want you to get familiar with these four stories here in chapter 19, so that you can read them over and over, and then they'll begin to really connect in your life in a much more personal way. Now one of the main messages of chapter 19 is that David did not usurp the throne, but David had was promised a position, but he didn't ever use his own hand to establish his prominence. That's the one of the major themes here, because if David would have used deception or manipulation to end up on the throne, he wouldn't be a man after God's own heart. And another theme is the way that God protected him, and all these unique and different ways God broke in and provided sufficient for David to do the will of God in that season of his life. Now I like to think that God, I just want my life blessed, and the Lord says I've committed to give you sufficient protection and provision and direction for you to do the will of God in this season of your life. Well I'd like to do the will of God, plus have a little extra blessing to go along with it. And in the will of God there is blessing, but sometimes in the will of God there's tremendous challenges, and there's even setbacks. And the Lord doesn't promise that everything will be easy in our divine assignment, but He does promise that there will be sufficient protection, provision, and direction to do the will of God, and that's what happened. That's David's testimony. Paragraph B, in surprising ways God delivered David four different times in surprising ways. And you could say it the other way, the enemy attacked in surprising ways four different times. And so we get surprised by the enemy's attack, and we get surprised by the way the Lord protects us and delivers us from that. Look at paragraph 2, I mean Roman numeral 2. We're looking now at Jonathan's intercession for David. This is a real important passage about Jonathan and David's relationship. Paragraph A, but in order to understand chapter 19 verse 1, you got to go back again to the verse right before chapter 19 verse 1. That's 8 chapter 18 verse 30, the verse before. Because it's when you put the two together, you can see the relationship to what's going on. Well let's review and go back to chapter 18 verse 30. What had happened, the final verse of our last session, the military leaders of the Philistines, they went to war. They took on an aggressive campaign against Israel, and I think it was provoked by David killing the 200 Philistines. That the Philistines are stirred back, stirred up, and they said, it's got to be eye for an eye. We've got to go and treat the Israelites not, they can't do this. But what happened is that David, in the midst of this attack, behaved more wisely. Meaning he was, the Lord was blessing him and prospering him, and more good things are happening. He was wiser than all of Saul's other military leaders, and all the other leaders in the royal court. So the name of David was getting esteemed and blessed. This was a parallel to when the ladies were singing about him. It stirred Saul up. It stirs Saul up again. Things were kind of okay for a while. Now David gets prominence because he has victory. And people are grateful for the victory. They're grateful for the power and the blessing of God being released through David. So it stirs up Saul. Chapter 1, chapter 19, I mean chapter 19 verse 1. Saul went to Jonathan and says, I've had it. I've had it with this guy. He's trouble. And he tells Jonathan, in the course of various conversations, Jonathan, you put a couple other chapters together, this guy is the threat to your future. He goes, don't side with him, side with me. I'm fighting for you. No, Saul was fighting for himself, but he liked to say it, presented like he was caring for the monarchy and the destiny of their family and Jonathan. But that's not exactly what was happening. But anyway, verse 1, Saul spoke to Jonathan and to all the servants in the royal court, the other leaders. It's time to kill David. He goes, it's not enough that he goes to the Philistines to win the right to marry my daughter, Michael. That didn't work. The Philistines didn't kill him. He killed 200 of them and they didn't kill him. How did that happen? He goes, let's just take matters into our own hands. It's time for us to kill him. Jonathan's looking at his dad and Jonathan greatly delighted in David. He had this covenant with David. Remember the last chapter, chapter 18, verse 3 and 4. So verse 2, Jonathan told David, he went to David and he says, you have to know, now this isn't like court gossip. This is saving David's physical life. Some people pass words that somebody says, I'm just trying to be a good friend. And they actually create more division in the relationship by saying, this guy said this about you. Don't tell nobody, but I was there. And then the guy gets all stirred up and they don't say it exactly right and they create division by, quote, in the name of friendship, passing on information. But this is a much more intense. This is, David's life is going to be cut short. He's going to be murdered. It was a plot to murder him. So don't be emboldened by this for just kind of passing stories back and forth, even true stories, kind of whispering behind the scenes. Jonathan told David, my father, he wants to kill you. He wants to murder you. So be on your guard until tomorrow morning. He goes, the plot is to kill you tomorrow morning. He goes, that's the plot. So, I mean, the plot's to kill you in the next 24 hours. So here's what I encourage you to do. Don't go to your house. Go to a secret place, this particular field, and go hide there for 24 hours because the plot's only on for the next 24 hours. Verse 3, I'll go out to that field and you'll be kind of hiding behind the bushes and I'll talk to my father out in that field where you are, you're hidden, and I'll speak to him about you. Then whatever he says about you, if his plans are to hurt you, I will tell you so you can escape. And the reason David was out in that field where Saul would, I assume, would go on regular walks in that field, and Jonathan went and joined him, and he says, because if my dad is against you and you're trapped in the city and you're trapped in your house, you're going to be surrounded and you won't be able to escape. So you better be on the outskirts already. And I give you the nod. If it's bad news, you can take off and you don't, there won't be any guards around the city gates and that kind of thing. Paragraph B, now we see Jonathan, he's a picture of, he's a model of reconciliation. And reconciling relationships is a form of intercession. See, as intercessors, we stand before God and talk to God on behalf of people. But we also talk to people on behalf of God. That's part of intercession. Or we are peacemakers. Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. We talk to people in ways that cause offense to go. We don't talk to people to create offense, like give them insider information so they get angry. We talk to them a way to remove the offense. Again, a lot of goes on in the name of friendship where people are telling insider information, and the relationships get really wounded, and they get really tainted, and it doesn't build anything. And so much of that happens in the kingdom. I've witnessed so much of it over the years. But the goal of reconciliation is to take the offense out of somebody's heart, between one another, so they can have peace with each other. So verse 4, David, I mean Jonathan, he's out there walking in the field with his dad. David's hiding over somewhere. He's in the vicinity, in case Jonathan has to say, you know, leave town. You know, you're, again, not trapped in the, in the city gates or in your house. You're ready to flee. So Jonathan, he's talking to his dad, and he speaks well of David. And this disturbs Saul, because he's saying, Jonathan, don't you understand? This kid's in your way. He goes, why are you trying to get me to have confidence in him? And he talks to the king, because it's his father, but he's still the king. And he says, very bold. I'm sure he said it with a humble tone, but he said, don't sin against your servant David. David's your servant, number one. He's on your team. And if you go against him, father, your majesty, whichever one works right now, you're sinning against him. You don't talk to a king that way. I mean, you look through history, even a part of the royal family, they don't, the kings are, you know, top authority in their nation in a, in a way where it was dangerous, even for part of the royal family to speak against him. He goes, not only are you about to sin against him, because you told me you're gonna kill him, I want you to tell, I want you to know he's not sinning against you. Your information is wrong. You're reading the information wrong about him. Not only are you reading it wrong, let me remind you of what he really did that benefits you and benefits the kingdom. His works have been very good. Verse 5, for he took his own life in his hands. He sacrificially served you. He risked his life, but in our context, he's sacrificially, he's given everything. He goes, can't you see that? Because Saul was so tainted by the fear and jealousy, he couldn't see the good service and the sacrifice that David had given for the king and for the nation. He goes, and it's not only that he risked his life and was sacrificial and all these things, the Lord was in it. The Lord blessed what he did. It wasn't just that he had a good personality, the Lord was actually in it. He goes, and if you remember, dad, if you remember, oh mighty king, you rejoiced in it. Don't you remember how excited you were when your first acquaintance is with him? So he's bringing his father, the king, back to this, to reality. Number one, because this is a model of reconciliation, he goes, your attitude is wrong and your perception is wrong. You're about to sin. Number two, your interpretation of what you did is wrong because he hasn't sinned against you. You're charging David. You're accusing him in an inappropriate way, in an inaccurate way, and you have forgotten the good that he did, the sacrifice, and the fact that God was on it, and the fact that you were happy about it. Those are the things that he appeals to. And again, this is a tremendous model of reconciliation, which again, the way to approach how to go to somebody that's offended to help get two people together. He says, so why? Now he really presses this point again. The end of verse 5. Why then? You're going to sin if you do this. He's innocent. There's no cause to kill him. And you'll have innocent blood on your hands. Verse 6. This is a miracle. The king heeded. I mean, we got a distressed, oppressed, demon-inspired king, but this appeal was so effective that it shifted the whole way that Saul felt. That's why this is such a good model to study and break down the specific approach that he made in this reconciliation that Jonathan made. Saul was moved so deeply that he made a vow to God. He swore, as the Lord lives, I swear before God. Now that oath didn't end up sticking very long, but it was, that's how deeply Saul was moved at that hour. That's how effective the reconciliation was, and that at least in the temporary. So Jonathan is so excited. Verse 7. He calls David. David, come here. You're not going to believe it. He made an oath to God. He believes that you haven't sinned against him. He believes you've sacrificed. He believes the Lord was in what you were doing. He believes he now remembers that he liked you. So at the end of verse 7, Jonathan brought David back to Saul, which means he brought him back to the royal court, because David had fled the royal court after Saul had thrown those spears and and then tried to get him killed. And he was in Saul's presence as in times past, meaning he got his old staff position back. He's back in his role like he was before, involved in the military, and involved still again in the ministry, the prophetic music that ministered to Saul in a personal way. Now the thing I want to highlight here is that the bold, risky move that Jonathan, the stand he took, because reconciliation is, many times it's a little bit thankless. I've been involved in reconciliation many times of relationships, and I'll tell the guy, I mean, they're, you know, for reconciliation to work, they both got to trust the person that's the mediator. And I like to always bring the person I'm talking to into some kind of responsible, I mean, a faithful response to their own wrong attitudes. And that gets you mad, that gets people mad at you. I go, yeah, that guy, yeah, these things, he does do that sometimes. But your attitude, I mean, look at the way you're responding to him. And the guy goes, what? I thought you were on my team. I go, well, I am on your team. But it's that first part when Jonathan told Saul, you sinned. He wants Saul to take responsibility. I find that there's a great blessing on being a peacemaker, a reconciler, but often there's a downside because both sides sometimes get mad at you. But the Lord says it's good work. It's important work in the kingdom. Keep doing it. But don't just flatter the guy that you're talking to. Help him take responsibility for his wrong attitudes. Well, let's turn to page two. So David's back in the court, back in his old job. You know, the court staff is, hey, David, good to have you back. We were hoping this wouldn't last long. Man, we need you. Things aren't the same when you're not around. Verse 8, war broke out again. Now this always goes bad for David because when war breaks out, the enemy attacks, David ends up anointed and victorious. When David gets anointed and victorious, people get excited. People get excited Saul gets mad. Saul gets mad. A demon gets him. They throw a spear at David. I mean, it happens every time that way. So a war. So I got David thinking, here we go. I'm gonna probably be anointed and be used of God. It's gonna get people happy because they're gonna, their lives are gonna get protected. And that's gonna set off a whole trajectory, a domino effect of negative emotions of Saul. Well, David went out and he fought the Philistines. Well, that's what he was supposed to do because the Philistines were attacking. And he struck them with a mighty blow. Uh-oh. You got anointed, David. Here it goes. The Lord's in favor. His blessings on you. Well, he got a, he struck them with a mighty blow. Verse 9, Saul gets stirred up again. Now there's a corresponding relationship that when David does good and people are rejoicing in it, it stirs Saul up emotionally. And then he gets in unity with those demons that are tormenting him. Came upon Saul. As Saul sat in his house, he had the spear in his hand. Because this, this distressing spirit, this oppression, wasn't on Saul 24 hours a day. It would come on him and then leave him for quite a while. I mean, I don't know how long, maybe weeks or months. They'd come back on him and it'd be like a fit of insanity, of a depression, oppression, all combined in one. Then Saul's in his house. He's got a spear in his hand and David's playing the music. It's like I can imagine when they said, uh, we're gonna bring you back to your staff position. David says, I'm bringing my guitar with me. I guarantee you I'm gonna do that. Saul has a spear in his hand. Verse 10, Saul sought to pin him against the wall. Again, to pin a man against the wall doesn't mean to trap him, you know, like using the spear in a horizontal way, you know, to trap him against the wall. It means to pin him. It means to impel him. But David slipped away and Saul drove the spear into the wall. That's the force of which he threw that spear. David fled and escaped. David is often in 1st Samuel from chapter 16 to 31, where David is before he's the king, he's often described as fleeing and escaping. And this goes on for about six, five, six, seven years. He's constantly in this tension where the Lord is blessing him, but he's, he's in peril, setbacks, enemies, accusations. Again, he's like, Lord, I want to, I want you to bless me. The Lord says, I'll give you sufficient protection and blessing, provision for you to do the will of God. That doesn't mean everything will be easy in your life, though. Some people interpret the blessing of God to everything is easy. The blessing of God is sufficient to be faithful, to accomplish the will of God. And sometimes things are easy. I love it when it's easy. Paragraph C, there's an ebb and flow in how God trains us, meaning there's a time where things seem at peace and things are going well, and then there's the setback. And you think it's never going to end, and then it goes well again. And if there's this ebb and flow dimension, and it's never all bad or all good. I have found over the years that when positive things are happening, often there's a negative side to it. When your life and ministry and marketplace assignment is being blessed, there's enemies, there's people that are mad at you, they're attacking you. There's a downside to blessing. It's like Francis Frangipane, I love how he says it, new levels, new devils. New levels of anointing, new levels of God's purpose, new levels of power, new devils to counter attack, I mean to come in the counter attack, to stop you, to resist you. Well I love the increase of God, but there's a downside because there's a human and demonic resistance when there's the blessing of God. But then it goes the other way, when there's the negative attack, there's blessing in the midst of it. The Lord says, I'm with you, I'm near you, I'm protecting you, I'm showing you my hand is with you, even though many negative, you know, some negative things are taking place in a big way in your life in that season. Paragraph F, David's playing the music. Now some people ask, if David's been that successful in the military, I mean he's got to be one of the top leaders in the military. He's not Abner, that's again the absolute top guy under Saul. We'll run into Abner later in the story. But David's at the, it's in the top circle of the leadership of the military. Some people, why is he still playing the music in Saul's house? I mean wouldn't he lay that down? And the answer is no, because David is the picture of the worshiping warrior. David is that lovesick worshiper who's a warrior king. To David it's not, he's not going to say, well I'm getting so blessed and honored in my military career, I'm going to lay down my worship leading. He said, no I'm not going to do that, because my calling is to build the tabernacle of David. I don't know that he knew that then. He's going to establish a whole worship order in his generation that would continue for generations. David goes, no I'm not drawing back from the worship, because my military career is taking off. So you see him, he keeps those together. And all through his life he has this warrior kingly assignment, but this gazing on the beauty of God and giving himself to the Lord as a worshiper. And I love how, I love how he didn't outgrow his quote, worship calling when his profile in the nation got so big in the military and having power in the government. Well David escaped when that spear was thrown, and what that means is he ran out of the king's court, the royal court, and he went to his house. Man, you know he's married to Michael, the troublesome daughter. She's not troublesome yet, but she's going to end up troublesome. Saul knew that when he gave, he said, hey how about Michael, this will be good. She will snare you, and it will end up going bad for you, and it will maybe end up with your elimination. Let's look at Roman numeral four. So now David escaped from the royal court after the throwing of the spear, verse 11. Now Saul sends a group of soldiers, messengers, but they're military men, to David's house. And what they're going to do, they're going to watch him. They're going to surround the house, kind of stay out of sight, to watch, make sure he's in the house. We don't know how many, but there's probably a good number of them. They're going to kill him in the morning. So they're setting a watch around the house, the surveillance, setting up the surveillance. And the reason they're not going to kill him at night, I'm guessing, because they have to go into a, because remember David's house, he's married to Michael, the daughter of the king, so it's a part of the, one of the royal households. You don't want a bunch of soldiers coming in the night, you know, they didn't have electric lights, and just start killing the best soldier in the, in the whole of the land. I mean, in the night time, you go, no, no, why don't we wait until the morning, where he walks out kind of unassumed, you know, go get the morning newspaper, have his coffee in the morning, and about 20 of us will just surround him and kill him, and we'll catch him unaware. But we don't want to fight him at night, where we can't see him, and he's crafty, and he's good, and no. And we don't want to injure anybody in the royal household either. So they're going to wait till the morning. David's completely unaware. Well, Michael, his wife, she's connected to the court intrigue, and the people who work in the royal court, and remember the people in the royal court, they love David. So they're coming to Michael and saying, Michael, don't, if you say my name, I'm going to get in big trouble, because I know Saul is determined to kill your husband. And Michael gets it, so she gets the information from somewhere, we assume it's by the people who love David in the royal court, getting the message to Michael. Because David's hiding out at his house, he escaped from Saul, he's hiding out at home. So Michael goes and says, honey, if you don't save your life tonight, if you don't escape tonight, there's a whole group of guys out there tomorrow, when the light's there, they're going to surround you, and you're going to, they're going to kill you. So, verse 12, Michael let David down through a window, an unguarded window on the other, the back side of the building, I'm adding into the text. And he fled, here he is again, David fled and escaped, how many times, I think it's like eight times, some number like that, David fled and escaped in the, in this narrative from chapter 16 on to verse, chapter 31, in 1st Samuel. I mean that's, every time you see he fled and escaped, you're thinking he's under trouble, his life is threatened, he's like, here we go again, I mean, once is major, once in your life is major, I mean, it happens like, I don't know the exact number, seven or eight times, it's like, come on Lord, when is this over? The Lord says it's sufficient for the will of God to train you, I'm raising you up as a great worshiping warrior king, and you're, I'm under the, in the seminary of a demonized king, that's, I'm teaching you, how to touch me and find your identity in me and live before me and trust me, because you're going to need this root system when Saul is gone. Verse 13, Michael took an image, which is an idol, she had a wooden, like a statue, laid it in bed, put goat's hair over the head of the statue, covered it with clothes, put some, like a mannequin, I mean, it's kind of the image, I mean, it's a, it's a wooden idol, so she puts hair, so it looks like a man, and put some clothes on, his pajamas and his robe or whatever. Verse 14, so when the messengers, that next morning, here they are, knock on the door, and they're all around the house, boom, boom, boom, boom, they come to take David, that means to arrest him, that's what to take him means, to arrest him and then execute him. She lies, and she says, oh, David's sick, oh, I know he'd love to go with you, I mean, I'm sure, but he's sick, maybe tomorrow, and all she's doing is buying time, because David has escaped some hours early in the middle of the night, so that David can get way out of town, and so they take a little peek at him, and they go, well, you know, they saw his hair, and they saw his robe, his bathrobe, and his pajamas, whatever, they go, well, okay, I guess he is sick, and you are the king's daughter, I mean, they're royal servants, but when you don't turn down the king's daughter, you better, they're respectful, okay, okay, yeah, well, we don't know what to do, because the king told us to get him, but you said no, and you're, you're gonna come after us, I mean, that's a tough role. Verse 15, goes back and tells Saul, this group of messengers, and again, I assume they're soldiers, they go, well, he was sick, he goes, sick, what? He goes, I'm gonna kill him, I don't care if he's sick, he goes, bring him to me in the bed, just go pick up the bed, sure wouldn't a real big bed, and marching over here, so I can run a spear through it, so the messengers, verse 16, they come back in, knock on the door, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and Mike goes, yeah, what are you guys doing, I thought you were sick, well, can we take one more look, we just glanced at him, there he is, that image, that idol, that statue type, you know, that about the size of a man's in there, with the goat hair, the fake hair, the wig-ish, and they, the soldiers, the messengers, they, we've been tricked, and so my, Saul goes, you tell that daughter of mine to get over here to the king's court, so she goes over there, verse 17, he goes, why did you deceive me, you totally deceived me, and you sent my enemy away, and he escaped, now, it's interesting, that all that Saul could see in David, was he was an enemy, David was the greatest blessing that Saul ever had, in terms of a soldier, or a part of his royal leadership team, I mean, he never had anybody like this, anointed of God, tremendous victories, the wisdom of God, the power of God, and all that David, all that Saul, through his jealousy, his clouded thinking, through jealousy and fear, all he can see, is an enemy, that's what happens, people get jealous, and they don't own it, that jealousy grows in them, their perspective is so distorted, and even if the person they're jealous, does have their faults, their faults get magnified, they might have three or four areas, that are in their life, that need to get corrected, but those areas become giant, they're magnified, when you got jealousy, looking and seeing the faults of the person you're jealous at, Michael answered Saul, she lies again, first she lied to the soldier messengers, and now she lies to her father, that's two lies here, she goes, oh, oh, David threatened me, I'll kill you woman, if you don't let me go, she goes, I had to let him go, I got so afraid daddy, I was so afraid, I can just picture her, now here's what's interesting, Saul gave Michael to David, with deception, he used deception, Saul did, so that Michael would be a snare to David, she's now a snare to Saul, and deceived him, she did everything back to Saul, that Saul did, when he gave Michael to her, she became a snare to Saul, and she was deceptive, just like Saul was, everything he wanted, is what he had come back to him, it's just like when David sent, I mean, when the king sent David to go kill the Philistines, for the, to win her, her bride price, her dowry, he wanted the Philistines to kill David, remember when David killed 200 of them in our last session, he sent there for the Philistines to kill him, it's not an accident, that at the end of Saul's life, it was the Philistines that killed Saul, I mean, there's this tremendous reaping and sowing going on throughout Saul's life, what he does, is what comes back to him, some months or years later, he wanted the Philistines to kill David, and he created this scheme, and some years, 10 years later, whatever, the Philistines end up killing Saul in battle, turn to top, to page 3, Roman numeral 5, right in the middle of page 3, towards the bottom, so now, Saul, I mean, David, he escaped out of the window, middle of the night, you know, he's got a 5-6 hour jump start on the army, no one knows where he went, because they don't figure the plot out, till maybe 8 or 9 or 10 o'clock the next morning, when, you know, they went, knocked on the door again, and they brought the news back, and then, you know, so it's, he's got a good jump start on him, and he's, you know, some miles down the road, verse 18, Roman numeral 5, verse 18, so David fled and escaped, and he went to visit Samuel at Ramah, now Ramah was the city where the old prophet lived at, he lived at Ramah, and that was his base city there, and I have a little bit of information on that, and next to Ramah was this kind of retreat center, and we'll call it a retreat center, but it was a piece of property called Naoth of Ramah, and it was where he had a training center for the prophets, and Saul was the head of the prophets, and that area was called Naoth, that was like a retreat center, a small piece of ground where they had dwellings, where Samuel, the mature prophet, was training the school of the prophets, so David escapes, and he says, man, I need to hear from God direct, I'm going to go to the man that anointed me, the man that prophesied over me 5 or 6 years ago, when I was, you know, maybe 5, 6, 7 years ago, when I was 15, 16 years old, I'm going to go back to that man and say, what's God saying? That's the man that told me God chose me, that's the man that says God looks at the heart and looks at the inside, am I doing anything wrong? What should I be doing? I'm so confused, this hostility from the king is just not relaxing, it's getting more intensified, it's not letting up, so David goes to Ramah, it's about 20 miles, there's 3 different Ramahs in the land of Israel, and so I assume this is the one about 20 miles away, because the one's only about 3 miles away, I think he probably escaped from Saul a little bit further than that, and so Samuel went, he and Samuel, look at verse 18 at the end, went and they stayed at Naoth, they went to, quote, the school of prophets, that retreat center, that's not really the right term, retreat center, but where it's, you know, it's that little piece of property where they, that little religious compound, so to speak, verse 19, and the word got out, because, I mean, David is the most celebrated man in the nation, and he's hanging out with the other most celebrated man in the nation, the prophet Samuel, I mean, young David, old prophet, here they are together, and people are going, wow, this is newsworthy, I mean, the word's spreading out, spreading around, verse 19, and it was told Saul, take note, something big's happening, I mean, pay attention, take note, I mean, be aware, David is at Naoth, he's at the school of the prophets with Saul, he's at the, it would be like the main revival center, it's, you know, it's a little bit, it's not exactly the right way to say it, but he's at the spiritual revival center place with the mighty prophet, when it says take note, like, be aware, something big just happened, now, when David fled, here, verse 18, he never again was back at Saul's court, never again, this was it, him and Saul never ever worked together again, he only saw Saul two more times, and they were both intense encounters in chapter 24 and chapter 26, so it's over, David's not in the royal court anymore, he's gone for good, from Gibeah, never to go back again, in terms of who lived there, David, when he fled this time, he begins his five, six, seven years of wandering as a fugitive, as an outlaw in the land, let's go to page 4, paragraph 8, so, Saul goes, okay, he's at Ramah, he's in that kind of revival center, school of the prophets, I'll go, I'll send some guys up there, I'm not gonna be deterred, now, Samuel, I mean, king Saul hasn't seen Samuel for about 10 years, the last time he saw the prophet Samuel, the prophet Samuel, about 10 years ago, was right at the time when Samuel was anointing David and he said to the king in chapter 15, you're finished, you're not king, the spirit's leaving you in essence, God has rejected you, that's been about 10 years ago, and he hadn't seen the prophet since then, so, verse 20, as Saul sent messengers to David's house three times, because he wouldn't be deterred, because that means he's zealous, he won't be turned back, he sends messengers to Ramah three times, which means, again, he's determined, this is not a, kind of, he's just given a shot at this, he is going to see this to a completion, so, he sent the first group of messengers to take David, and when they saw the group of prophets, again, it's a school of prophets are based there, and Samuel was standing over the leader, meaning, he's the head guy training them, the spirit of God comes on these soldiers, they had never prophesied before, I assume, and all of a sudden, they start declaring, and the Lord says, and the spirit of God's on them, you know, it's like, wow, this kind of ecstatic prophesy, and the Lord says, and the spirit of God's on them, you know, it's like, wow, this kind of ecstatic prophesy, and the Lord says, and the spirit of God's on them, you know, it's like, wow, this kind of ecstatic prophesy, and the Lord says, and the spirit of God's on them, you know, it's like, wow, this kind of ecstatic prophesy, and the Lord says, and the spirit of God's on them, and this is a prophecy where a tremendous sense of power came on them, and clarity, and they were just boldly declaring and prophesying, I'd like to know what they were prophesying, well, what it did is it immobilized them from their task, it took them off their task, they got so caught up in prophesying, and the spirit, they were completely, you know, set aside from what they came to, came to arrest David and take him back to kill him. Verse 21. It's about a 20-mile walk and so, you know, it takes a few days for all this to happen. Verse 21, Saul was told. He goes, hey, that group of guys, those, I'm assuming five or ten guys, maybe more, because they, David could kill 200 Philistines. They better send a good size of guys after David. I mean, I mean a good, uh, large group. They said, hey, Saul, verse 21, when he went out to see Samuel, the spirit fell on these guys. They started prophesying and they kind of, kind of totally got off task and they got so happy and they got flowing in God and Samuel, I mean, the king goes, oh man. He goes, nothing's going my way. My son Jonathan talks me out of it. Then my daughter lies to me. David dodges the spears. Now the spirit's falling on the army, the soldiers I sent up there. So he sent another group, you know, maybe five, 10, 20 messengers. They get up there. They get to Naoth, where the school of the prophets are. They start prophesying. It's kind of strange. Saul sent a third group. They start prophesying. I mean, three for three. Verse 22, he says, okay, I'll take matters into my own hands. He went to Ramah and he goes to the great well, the famous, uh, water, uh, reservoir, I mean, well there where the water supply is. And he said, hey, I mean, everybody's talking about it, but where are, where exactly is Samuel and David? King, you're the king of the nation. I mean, what a surprise to have the king standing right there by the well. Someone says, well, they're indeed, you're right. Just like you thought they're at Naoth. That's where they're at. Everybody's talking about it. And Saul, I think he goes, oh no, not at Naoth. So he went there and the spirit of God came on him. This is really intense because the spirit had departed from Saul. Number one, number two, a spirit of oppression, a demonic spirit is on Saul. But stranger than that is why I believe Saul was hesitating when this was happening. He goes, oh no, I got to go to Naoth. I'm adding the oh no in there. Because in first Samuel, because we're right here at first Samuel 19, go back to first Samuel 10. I mean, just do it later on your own time. First Samuel 10, when Saul was brand new as a young man, first getting called, it was at this place with Samuel. It's called the hill of God where the school of the prophets were. So we, most scholars assume it's at Naoth because it's what's called the hill of God where Saul is over prophets. And Saul, I mean 30 years ago, went to that very place and the spirit came on him as a brand new king. And he prophesied and he began his kingship under the anointing of the spirit. So now he's going, I got to go back to that revival place. Oh no, I remember it like it was yesterday when the spirit came on me. And so Saul, I could just picture him kind of hesitantly walking there and going, wow, I haven't seen the prophet Samuel for 10 years. And I remember what happened over 30 years ago when I first went there. That was intense. Now what's happening is that 30 years ago, and that's not exact time, but about 30 years ago when this, when he went there and the spirit came on him, it confirmed Saul's kingship. This time we're going to see in a minute, the spirit comes on him and it's going to confirm his rejection as king, the same Holy Spirit, presumably the same location. Again, it was called the hill of God in first Samuel 10. And here it's called Naoth, but it's Samuel. It's the prophets. It's the musicians. It's the whole deal. Samuel goes there and the strangest thing happens. Verse 24 spirit comes on him and he strips off his clothes. Now you could take this all the wrong way because what's happening, he's taking off his royal garments in the presence of God. He's prophesying and he's doing this before Samuel, who's the representative of God. And he laid down and he's taken all of his royal garments, just like, you know, how Jonathan gave his royal garments to David saying, hey, I'm acknowledging who you are under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit. And it goes on all day and all night. I mean, it goes on for 20 hours or some big number like that. I mean, Saul must just be spent at the end of this. I mean, the spirit's on him for hours and hours and the casting off of his clothes, this, the point of it is that in the presence of God, the Lord is saying, you cannot wear those garments in my presence for you have been rejected. You've rejected the word of the Lord and I have rejected you. And so this prophetic encounter is exactly the opposite of the one 30 years plus earlier. That one confirmed his calling. This one confirms his rejection. Let's look at paragraph K. Just read this real quick. David wrote Psalm 59, as you've read in the textbook we're using, the Alan Redpath textbook on the life of David. Psalm 59, that in the title of Psalm 59, in many biblical translations, they say Saul wrote that. I mean, David wrote this when Saul was coming to his house, sending the soldiers to kill him, you know, when Michael tricked his dad, tricked her dad. David wrote this in that context in the first Samuel 19. So I've reduced, I mean, I've edited it way down. You can read it. I really encourage you to read it. This is what a man after God's own heart would say to God when his life has been attacked four times to be murdered in a period of about one or two years, I'm guessing. He cries out, deliver me, O God. Verse 3, look, they lie in wait for my life. Because, you know, it's the middle of the night, he sneaks out through the window. He goes, look, they're all around the house. He goes, they don't see me, but I can see them. You know, David, he's a crafty soldier and he's, they're all lying in wait. The mighty, the soldiers, they're gathering. And it's not because I said, I didn't do anything. They're against me. And the, the, uh, uh, clear meaning is because Saul is jealous and got a distressing spirit on him. Verse four, they run and prepare themselves. And then again, he goes, I didn't do anything because David's real graphic about what he sends. I mean, David is not shy about saying when he said throughout the Psalms, he says to God, and this is a prayer you want to use awake. Oh God. And help me. That's a good prayer awake. And when you say awake to help me to God, you're, you're, you're invoking his activity. You're not, not God's not sleeping, but you're saying you're, you're being inactive on my account, awake, show your activity openly to me. That's what that means. Verse seven swords are their lips. They're telling all kinds of lies about me at the court, but you will God, you shall laugh at them. I can't help, but tie this, that this, uh, revelation, the David says, you'll laugh at them. You'll mock their threats against me, Lord, because I'm your anointed. You'll laugh at them in Psalm two, when it says the Lord laughs at the Kings of the nations that rail against the great son of David, Jesus, for you'll have all the nations and derision. I, I can't help, but think that Psalm two was written in the aftermath of this verse nine, but I wait for you God. That's the key because we're tempted to move in our anger, our offense, take matters into our hands, start striking back, verbally manipulating. He goes, no, no, I'm going to wait. It's not just, I'm in prayer. I'm not going to do it verbally. I'm not going to manipulate. I'm not going to set things in motion. I'm going to wait till your intervention comes. You're my defense. Verse 10, my God of mercy. I love verse 16. I will sing of your power. I will sing of your mercy in the morning. Well, it was in the morning when David was running out, when all the soldiers were still around his house, he escaped at night and, uh, you know, he's a couple hours down the road and it's in the morning hours and the soldiers are just finding out David's escaped. He goes, I love you. God is awesome. I mean, David, your life is being threatened. The King is mobilizing a bunch of soldiers to kill you. He goes, I love you. God, I believe you. I believe you're with me. I mean, David's interaction with God. There's no offense here. There's no bitterness. There's no self pity. There's no, I can't take it anymore. I'm quitting that kind of thing. That's so prevalent in so many people's mindset. He goes, you've been my defense verse 17 to you. You're my strength. I will praise you, which means I'm grateful. I'm trusting. I'm believing your word. That's what it means. It's not just that you're a good God over there. I believe in your good leadership in my life. It's personal. Oh my God of mercy. Amen and amen. Let's stand. I'm gonna ask the worship team to come. We want to have a ministry time. Some of you are in a time where there are voices coming against you. It's not an army like David. I mean, obviously, I mean like Saul's army, but it hurts. And, and, uh, there's pressures that are mounting up against you that people are the source of, you know, here or there or back home or wherever. And you're saying, Lord, I want to respond like David. I want to sing of your power. I want to ask you to awake and help me awake in your activity. I'm not going to complain. I'm not going to doubt your leadership. I'm going to sing. I'm going to praise the glory of your leadership. I'm going to engage with you. God, I want to invite any of you that are, you got folks, a small number or a large number. It doesn't matter. You feel like you're being resisted by people in the will of God, the purpose of your life. And you want to stand before the Lord for prayer. I want to invite you to come up. Anyone in the room? Well, this will be true of everybody sooner or later, a few times in your life. This will happen to every believer. There'll be seasons like this, and then there'll be reprieve and then another season. And the Lord says, I will awake. I will hear your cry. I am the God of mercy. I will deliver you. I'm going to invite others that come and you're saying, no, I feel like my heart is in turmoil. I got unsettled emotions that could be good or bad. And just saying, I would like prayer. I just, I'm just, I need God to touch my heart tonight. I'd like to invite you to come up if you'd like that. Not necessarily an attack of people. Some of you in the room, like I have been tempted many times, you're being tempted to let a negative heart response develop in you. Complaint, bitterness, offense about that one guy, that one gal, that family member, that leader. The Lord says, I want you to move in the opposite spirit of that. Go the other direction. Go the other direction. You can pray. If you can come and receive prayer just in your chair. Critical. Your future is in the balance on how you respond to this. Father, here we are. Holy Spirit, we invite your presence. God, I ask you for the release of your spirit across this room right now, all over the room, not just up front. Release the fire of the Holy Spirit across this room, I ask. Here we are, Lord, before you. Psalm 59, the verse I read a minute ago. David said, I will sing of your power. David said, I will sing of your mercy in the morning. I will sing of your leadership over my life. I won't draw back. I sing of your leadership. I trust your leadership. Just declare to the Lord, I want to trust your leadership. I won't draw back. I won't give in. I want to invite anybody to come up that wants to pray for folks. Lord, I ask you for deliverance. I ask you for the spirit of grace to be released. I trust you. I sing of your mercy. I sing of your leadership. I trust you. I trust you. Psalm 59, deliver me, Lord. Look at me, Lord. I trust your leadership. I trust you. I do not have any complaints about your leadership, Lord. Awake to help me, O God. Break in with deliverance. Come and deliver me from this situation. Come and deliver me. Release your presence. Release your fire, Lord. Right now, I ask. Release your fire. Lord, God of mercy, have mercy. For you are my defense. Oh, God of mercy. You are my shield. You are my strength now. My refuge in the day of trouble. These are the very words of David to the Lord in that day. Come deliver me. I will wait for you, Lord. I won't take things into my own hands. I will wait upon you. Oh, God of mercy, come and deliver me. I trust you, Lord. And I trust you. And I love your leadership. You surround me. I wait upon you for my strength and my defense. This is my cry. I will not be put to shame. I will not be put to shame. I will set my feet upon this solid rock I have. Tonight, I ask for tonight. For deliverance, for faith to shift tonight. I ask that even now your hand would go forth. Shift things, change things. Cut off the voice of accusation against us. Into your hands I commit my spirit. Into your hands. Into your hands. I wait, I wait upon you. I wait, I wait upon you. Into your hands, oh God. For my eyes are on you, says the Lord. I see the trouble in your heart. I see the enemy gathered to attack you. I hear your cry, for you are my beloved. The very apple of my eyes, says the Lord. For I'm the God of deliverance. You are the apple of my eyes. For I have plans for good to deliver. To break in, to help you, to use you. I have not forgotten. I have not overlooked you. On you, I wait upon you. Into your hands. On you, I wait, I wait upon you. On you, upon you. Into your hands. For you are magnified good even now. This blesses me. Is with you now. For I have chosen you. I have called you. I have set you apart. I have cleansed you. I have forgiven you. Into your hands. On you, I wait.