(1 Samuel) Discouraged and Running Away

There's something very wonderful about going through the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and that's what we've been doing on Sunday mornings for quite a while now. And now we come to 1 Samuel chapter 27, where we've been considering this extended period in David's life, a time of maybe 10, 15, 20 years, where David was on the run from King Saul. Saul was the king of Israel, and David was anointed by God to be the next king of Israel.

And Saul had a murderous rage and jealousy towards David, and many times tried to kill him. But each time that Saul came close, the Lord delivered David out of Saul's hands. I don't know if you've ever experienced this in your life.

I trust that many of you have. Where it's not so much the pressure of a trial in itself that's of difficulty for you, but it's the fact that it seems that the trial never seems to end. It goes on and on and on.

And that's how David felt. Five years. Ten years.

Fifteen years. He's on the run in the wilderness in Saul, his life always a short place away from being taken away from him. And what that extended trial can do to us oftentimes is it can lead us into a place of true discouragement and despair.

And that's where we find David in 1 Samuel chapter 27, verse 1. It says, I want you to notice how verse 1 begins. The sad story of 1 Samuel chapter 27 begins with something that David said in his heart. He may have never said it out loud.

He may have never said it to anybody else. He may have never said it to God. We certainly have no record of it in the Psalms.

But David did say it in his heart. My friends, do you understand that what you say in your heart has a tremendous power to shape your thinking, your actions and your entire destiny? Let me explain to you what I mean by this. Many years ago, there came a wind of doctrine blowing through the church.

And I suppose that in some places it's still around to some degree. But people called it the positive confession doctrine. And the idea behind the positive confession doctrine was that what you say you get.

So if you want to be rich, you have to say, I will be rich. You know, if you want to be happy, you have to say, I will be happy. And it also worked the other way, too, right? If you said bad things because they said that there's a creative power in the words that you use.

My friends, that's a completely unbiblical doctrine. That has more to do with the science of mind religions than it has to do with a biblical Christianity. But there is a shadow of truth in it.

And the shadow of truth has to do with the principle that we find here in 1 Samuel chapter 27, verse 1. What David said in his heart had a very powerful effect on him. And it does to you also. Let me explain it to you this way.

If someone says in their heart, God doesn't care about me, is that going to affect their life? If someone says in their heart, I deserve better than this, is that going to have an effect on their life? If someone says in their heart, I come before others, that's going to have an impact on their life, isn't it? By the same token, you could flip each one of those aside. If somebody says in their heart, God loves me and I don't have to earn His love, that's going to make a difference in their thinking and their whole approach to life, isn't it? If someone says in their heart, I'm going to be grateful for every blessing that I have, that's going to change their outlook. If somebody says in their heart, others come first, that's going to make a tremendous difference for good in their life.

You see, my friends, what we say in our heart has a great power for good or evil, for blessing or cursing. And you see this in David. What did David say in his heart? Notice the first thing it says there in verse 1. He says, now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul.

Do you see David walking around saying, you know what? Saul's going to kill me someday. David, what? What are you saying? Haven't you seen the deliverance of the Lord time and time again in your life? Remember the time when the Lord allowed you to escape when Saul sent assassins to your house? Remember when you were almost surrounded on that hill, but Saul got called away because the Philistines attacked Israel? Remember this instance? Remember that instance? David, the Lord has delivered you so many times before. Yeah, I know.

But one day I know Saul is going to get me. You see, in his discouragement, David forgot God's past deliverance. We need to remember that, don't we? You know, sometimes the most effective sermon you could ever hear isn't going to be preached to you by me.

It'll be preached to you by yourself. If you could speak to yourself the way you were a couple years ago. Right now, you're in that pit of discouragement.

You're in the swamp of despair. Talk to yourself the way you were a couple years ago. Remember, you used to encourage people when they were in that pit.

You used to lift people up out of that swamp. Listen to your own sermon. I was reading a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on this text, and he gives a marvelous example about how one occasion, when he was in so much discouragement and depression and despair, and he was just all mopey thinking everything was against him, and a friend came over and brought him a piece of paper and said, Charles, let me read this to you.

And he starts reading it, and Spurgeon goes, man, that's good. Man, that really speaks to me. And all of a sudden, he realized he was reading to him a sermon that Spurgeon had preached a couple years before.

Now, the friend was kind enough. He didn't say, see, you preach this. Why don't you believe it? He didn't have to say that.

He was convicted of his own words. He knew in his own self that he just needed to listen to what he had said before. You see, my friends, David is in such a far place from where he was before.

Now, you notice what else David said to himself in verse 1. First, he said, now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. That's not a good thing to say, right? Secondly, he said in his own heart, there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines. David is actually telling himself to leave the land of Israel and to go live among the ungodly Philistines.

What, David? You're going to leave the people of God and go live among the ungodly? What are you thinking? Now, the David of a few years before could have had quite a talk with the David of 1 Samuel chapter 27, right? But he doesn't. And I'm really struck by the words there in verse 1 where he says, there is nothing better for me than that I should do this. Nothing better.

Oh, really, David? There's nothing better. There's nothing better for David in Israel among God's people than there was for him among the ungodly. Well, isn't the love of the Lord and His kindness and His goodness and His mercy, isn't that something better, David? But David doubted God's care.

When David says, there's nothing better for me here than there is among the ungodly, David is doubting God's love and care for him. Friends, if you're in that place this morning where you are doubting God's care for you, maybe you wouldn't say it that you doubt God's love. You know, you kind of know God loves everybody.

He kind of has to, right? But you doubt that God really cares for you. You think, if God really cared for me, would He allow me in such a situation like this? If God really cared about me, would He? No, God must not care very much about me. If you're in that place, I need to say two things to you.

The first thing I need to say to you is, I'm so sorry and I want to comfort you and strengthen you and just support you. The other thing I want to do is I want to challenge you. Because your denial of God's care for you is sin.

You're charging God with something that He didn't do. God cares for you and He's extended His care to you every moment of your life. But can you imagine in the same way that a child might look up at the parent and say, because you won't give me everything I want, you don't care for me? Parents, how many times have your children expressed that kind of thought to you? What, I can't have as much ice cream as I want? You don't love me.

You don't care about me. Yes, I do love you. I do care about you.

But you can't see it. See, my friends, it's sad when we think that God doesn't care about us. But it's also sin.

Because it defames God's character. So it's a very bad thing to doubt the loving kindness of God. But that's what David did when he said there's nothing better for him.

And if you notice, one more thing he says here in verse 1. He says, Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore in any part of Israel, so I shall escape out of his hand. Now, there was a time in David's life where he trusted in the Lord to protect him. Now he's trusting in the Philistines to protect him.

He's going to leave the land of promise. He's going to leave the people of God. And he's going to find protection among the Philistines.

And I think it's amazing what David says in verse 1. He says that Saul will despair of him. I want you to see how discouragement has kind of warped David's thinking. Think about this now.

Put yourself in Saul's place. And you get the news. David has left the people of Israel and he's living among the Philistines.

Does that drive you to despair if you're Saul? No. You want to throw a party. Great.

Now he's not going to succeed me. I don't have to worry about David anymore. No, David had it all mixed up in his thinking.

It wasn't Saul that was going to despair of David. No, it was David who was despairing of God. David was the one in despair, not Saul.

And in his discouraged despair, David's at a place that many people find themselves at some point in their lives. He's saying, I give up. I can't take this anymore.

The stress of trusting God is too much. I have to find some protection somewhere else. It's going to end in trouble for David.

You know, I think something else very fascinating about this is that what do you think would have happened if Saul would have come to David and Saul would have said to David, David, get out of the land of Israel. David, leave the people of God. Go to the Philistines.

I don't want you around here anymore. What do you think David would have done if Saul would have said that to him? He would have said, no way. Leave the people of God? Leave my portion among the promised land? Leave my family? Leave this land that God has given Israel? No way.

I'm not leaving Saul. Saul could have never forced David out of the promised land, but discouragement can do it. Isn't it amazing what a powerful weapon discouragement is? Discouragement could be a mightier weapon against David than even Saul himself was.

Discouragement will drive him out of the promised land, even when Saul couldn't do it. And so David's at a very bad place right now. He's looking at Saul.

He's not looking at God. He's listening to himself. He's not listening to God.

And it all began with what David said in his heart. Look at what happens next, beginning at verse 2. Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish, the son of Maok, king of Gath. So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow.

And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he sought him no more. Interesting about this. First of all, you notice that David's sin didn't only affect himself.

It affected six hundred other people and their families. Isn't that striking? It's bad enough that David was doing this on his own, but also in his own way, he was off out leading these other people astray also. It wasn't just David that left the promised land and went to live among the Philistines.

Six hundred men and all of their families as well. Oftentimes their sin has a much broader, broader effect than we can ever dream of. And so here's David in this place where he goes and he lives with Achish at Gath.

And so there's David living among the Philistines there in the city of Gath, which is ruled by the Philistine king of Achish, and there's David living there. Now, I want you to see something else that's very important for us to understand this as we read verse four. It says, and it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he sought him no more.

Let's lay it on the line here. This was a good thing for David, wasn't it? Saul sought him no more. David's sin had some benefit to it, right? He's not dumb.

He's not going to sin in a way that's obviously going to hurt himself. There was an immediate payoff for it. He escapes the clutches of Saul and it paid off.

David received this benefit. There was some reward for the wrong that David was doing. First of all, he escaped Saul's hands.

You know, there was another reward for what David did too. This is kind of a subtle point, but to me it's very interesting. I hope there might be one person in here who finds it interesting as well.

David also became a better musician while he was in Gath. You say, what? What are you talking about? I don't see that in the text. Okay, hold with me here.

Turn in your Bibles. Keep your finger there in 1 Samuel chapter 27. Turn in your Bible to Psalm 8. Yes, I'm telling you, David became a better musician while he was in Gath.

Now, it's important to understand that David did not write a single psalm during this entire period. He wasn't the sweet singer of Israel during this time. No, not at all.

But, he learned how to play an instrument better. Psalm 8. Look at the title of the psalm. It says to the chief musician, On the instrument of Gath.

There are three psalms. Psalm 8, I believe Psalm 84 and Psalm 87. Which, in their title, speak of the instrument of Gath.

That's the city David went to. Apparently, when he went to Gath, he walked by a music store and he saw a hot new instrument of Gath in there. And, you know, just like a musician, wouldn't you know, I've got to have that.

And so, he walks in there and, you know, he lays down his last shackle to get that instrument. And, man, he jams on. Oh, wow, this is fantastic.

Isn't this great? Now, no songs to the Lord, right? There's not a single psalm that David wrote during this period. Not a single one. No, no songs to the Lord.

But, man, did he learn some hot licks. Now, later on, he used that instrument for singing songs to the Lord. But, there were some benefits to David's time in Gath, right? He escaped Saul.

He became a better musician. Friends, there were some benefits to it. But, the overall effect was going to be disastrous for David.

You know, the last time David had dealings with Philistines, or one of the last times, he was killing one of their champions. Now, he's finding refuge under their rulers. Well, can it get any worse? Sure it can.

Look at verse 5. Then David said to Achish, If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? So, Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

Now, the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months. Oh, yeah, it gets worse. First of all, David comes to Achish, and doesn't this just grate on you? To me, this is like fingernails on the chalkboard.

To hear David say, in verse 5, to the king of the Philistines, If I have now found favor in your eyes. Hello, David. When's the last time you cared about finding favor in the eyes of a Philistine? Can you imagine David going up to Goliath? If I have now found favor in your eyes.

It doesn't fit, does it? Friends, sometimes we can be too concerned about finding favor in the eyes of the ungodly. And that's where David was at. Who cares? This is a Philistine king.

This is an enemy of Israel. He shouldn't care about finding favor in his eyes. Look what else David says to him in verse 5. He says, Your servant.

There at the end of the verse. David what? Now you're a servant to a Philistine king? To an ungodly king? What are you thinking, David? But he comes and he says, Please, give me a city. And he gives him the city of Ziklag.

And David lives there. Why did he want the city? Notice there at the end of verse 5, he says, That I may dwell there. David wasn't just going to visit the land of the Philistines.

He wanted to live there. He made his plans. He was going to take up his place among the ungodly.

Now again, were there benefits to this? Yes, there were. Put yourself in David's position. For years, maybe 10, maybe 15 years, you've been living out in the wilderness.

You know the roof over your head? It's the starry night sky. You know what kind of refuge and protection you have? It's rocks and caves. Now look, let's be honest.

This is summer. It's camping season. And of all that outdoor stuff, it's pretty nice for a few days.

Then you want to get home and get back to your bed, right? David had been living in the wilderness for 10, 15 years. He's tired of it. He's tired of the discomfort.

He's tired of the insecurity. Now he lives in a city where he has a house where there's fortified walls protecting him. Isn't this great? I'll tell you something that David came to learn.

Are you safer in the wilderness in God's will or are you safer in a fortified city out of God's will? Well, David would find the answer to that and we'll come across that in a few chapters. But here's David. He's in this fortified city.

And you just ask yourself, can it get worse? Yes, it can. Look at verse 8. And David and his men went up and raided the Gesherites, the Gerazites, and the Amalekites, for those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old as you go to shore, even as far as the land of Egypt. Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor women alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camel, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.

Well, do you see what David's doing now? How is he making his living? He's a roving bandit. He goes out with his 600 men with their swords drawn and the fury of their horses. They look for some village or nomadic band moving through the wilderness and they go and they wipe them all out.

They raided. The Hebrew word for raided there in verse 8, it comes from the idea of to strip. And what it especially means is to strip the dead for their loot.

That's how David was making his living. Go and massacre a whole village of people, men and women both, and strip their bodies for their treasure and their armor and rob the village and the encampment and move on their way. My, that's a high calling for a man of God, isn't it? And so what does David do? David attacks all these people and he left neither man nor woman alive, but he took them all away.

He kills everybody. And he's fighting now not for the honor of God, not for the glory of God, but for his own selfish purposes. If you notice here, you just ask, can it get worse than this? Yes, it even gets worse.

Look at verse 10. Then Achish would say, where have you made a raid today? And David would say, against the southern area of Judah or against the southern area of the Jehielamites or against the southern area of the Kenites. David would say, neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, saying, lest they should inform on us, saying thus David did.

And so was his behavior all the time that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. So Achish believed David, saying he has made his people Israel utterly abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.

So here's David out making these raids against all the people of the southern area there. And then when he comes back, he tells Achish, the king of the Philistines, that he's been raiding Israelites. Well, Achish says, oh, this is great.

Now his own people hate him. Now he's on my side. Isn't this wonderful? So what does David do to cover his lie? He kills everybody.

When he goes to a village, he's extra careful not to leave a single man or woman alive, but he kills them all so that nobody can go back and tell Achish. Much later in his life, David would have a far more notorious sin with a woman named Bathsheba. And David would end up killing Bathsheba's husband named Uriah.

Why? To cover his sin. I want you to see that David did the same thing then as he was doing now. Right now it was established in David's mind that he was willing to kill these men and women so that his lie wouldn't be exposed.

David was willing to kill to cover his sin. So we see in here that there's a root of sin in David way back in 1 Samuel 27 that comes out later in this much more notorious season of sin. And friends, doesn't it challenge us in our own lives? If there's a root of sin in your life, you need to deal with it.

Because it will come up again as it came up with David. So Achish believed David. He said he's going to be his servant forever.

At the end of verse 12, he said he's made his people Israel utterly abhor him, therefore he will be my servant forever. Achish felt like he was in a good place. David was trapped in a web and Achish was the spider.

Achish had believed that David burned all his bridges with the people of God. And it all looks pretty dark. Let me assure you something.

It seemed that David had burned all of his bridges with the people of God, right? But I'll tell you one thing David couldn't burn. David couldn't burn his bridge with God. David might try, but God would keep rebuilding it.

God knows what he's doing. God has a plan with David right here. Even though I have to say, it gets even worse.

Look at chapter 28, the first two verses, because it goes along with this context. We read there. Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war to fight with Israel.

And Achish said to David, you assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle you and your men. And David said to Achish, surely you know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.

David has gone from being a champion of Israel to being a bodyguard for a Philistine king. What's going on here? Now, when there's finally war again between the Israelites and the Philistines, whose side is David going to be on? David's going to be on the side of the Philistines. He's going to go to war with the Philistines against the people of God.

Friends, this is a terrible situation. How is David ever going to get out of this mess? You know, the Lord knows. Now, you could read ahead if you want.

It's in 1 Samuel chapter 29. And we'll read about it then. Friends, it's pretty amazing how the Lord gets David out of this occasion.

Now, I think we need to really conclude with some important, important ideas here. First of all, I think that there's a powerful lesson to us. And perhaps this is a very general thing, but I think it's very powerful to notice that this speaks to us about the honesty of the Bible.

Isn't it remarkable that David, one of these great heroes of the Bible, has his story so pointedly painted right here in the pages of Scripture? Doesn't it make you feel like you can trust your Bible? I mean, if it'll tell you the truth about David's bad points, you know it's not lying when it tells you the truth about his good points. We can trust our Bibles. There's another thing that this chapter teaches us, and I think this is an important lesson, my friends.

It teaches us that even the best of men are only men. There's no doubt that David was a godly man. But we see that even a godly man like David can find himself in a place like this.

We all have a tendency to want to put people on a pedestal, to want to think that they're high or great or more exalted than they really are. Friends, the best of us are only men. We have to be careful, not only with our estimation of others, but that should also change our estimation of ourselves, shouldn't it? The other lesson in this that I think we need to consider next is, I don't know about you, but doesn't it seem to me, it seems to me, I should say, that God's being awfully easy on David, don't you think? I mean, I know what I would do if I was the Lord.

David leaves, the people of God goes among the Philistines. I would have said to David, hey, you know all that business about you being the next king of Israel? I take it back. Forget it, you're on your own.

You want to leave my land? You want to leave my people? You want to go among the ungodly? Fine, take it. I don't have anything to do with you. We might even say that God would be justified in doing that, but we scratch our head and say, man, the Lord's being awfully nice to David, isn't He? Why is He being so merciful? Then we think back just to the previous chapter when David showed such outstanding mercy.

Remember what we saw last week? We saw the principle that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount that whatever measure that you give to other people, the Lord will give you the same measure. So David dealt with Saul with the extra jumbo scoop size of mercy. That's his measure.

And so when it came for David to need mercy, that's how much mercy God gave him. Friends, that's convicting, isn't it? Do you want the Lord to deal with you the way you've been dealing with others? Some of you would say yes. Some of you would say, please, no, Lord.

Give me a few more days to change this around. But you see, David's heart, God was giving him mercy for mercy. Now, a fourth lesson beyond the honesty of the Bible and the idea that the best of men are only men and the idea of mercy for mercy, a fourth lesson from this that I think is very important for us is we look at this and we scratch our heads and we say, is this a man after God's own heart? And can I answer that by saying, yes, it is.

You say, well, no, wait a minute. Wait a minute. A man after God's own heart wouldn't sin this way, would he? Yeah, perhaps at times.

I think we should forever give up the idea that we're going to be an example of perfection to other people. Have you somehow been cherishing that idea? That you're going to be an example of perfection to somebody else? If you didn't know it already, let me clue you in on it. You've blown it.

You can't be an example of perfection to other people and the idea of doing that has brought such stress and pressure into your life and such a focus on yourself and not a focus on the Lord. You can never be an example of perfection to other people, but this is what you can be. You can be an example of repentance.

How about that as it relates to your children? There you are, you're trying to discipline your children. You blow up at them. You've blown it.

So what do you do? Well, you can't play the perfect card anymore. That's kind of out the window. You know it and your kids know it.

So you know what you can do? You can be an example of repentance to them. You can humbly apologize to your children and ask them to forgive you and then move on. Say, well, I can't do that.

Then my kids won't respect me. Sure they will. They'll respect you even more.

How about on your job? There you are, you're talking among the people on the job and you get mad and you let go a string of language that shouldn't come out of the mouth of any person who's a child of God. You think, oh man, I've blown it forever among those people. I can never testify to them of the goodness of Jesus Christ again.

Yes, you can. You can't be an example of perfection, but you can be an example of repentance. Tell them you're sorry and demonstrate a repentant heart before them.

Talk about blowing their minds. That'll blow their minds. See, I guess what we need to realize is everybody around us knows we're not perfect.

But we really can be examples of repentance and David is still a man after God's own heart as we're going to see how he responds to this in the coming chapters. But if I could conclude with two final lessons, maybe these are the most precious to my own heart. When I look at this and when I look at David, I think of David's greater son, Jesus Christ.

When I look at Jesus, I say, you know what? He never stumbled. Never. He never sinned.

Isn't that amazing? One man walked this earth from beginning to end and never sinned. He never slid back in his walk with God. He never had a time of carnality like David is experiencing now.

He never left the people of God and went to find refuge with the ungodly. He never turned his back on the Lord. There's never a chapter written in Jesus' life that doesn't mention God.

Did anybody notice that as we went through 1 Samuel 27, there's not one mention of God in the entire chapter? Friends, do you notice? There's never a chapter like that in the life of Jesus. He was perfect, blameless, the Son of God. Jesus never stumbled.

And here's the other thing, and I suppose our final life lesson to draw from this. Any one of us in this room would probably be excited to be as good as David was in the Bible. Man, to write those Psalms, to live as he did, to be known as the greatest king of Israel, man, that's a high ground to walk on.

Yes, thank you, Lord. We'd all be excited to be as great as David was. But God says, no, I want you better than that.

I don't want you to have the goodness of King David. I want you to have the goodness of Jesus Christ. You say, well, Lord, I can't do that.

I can't even measure up to David. How am I going to measure up to Jesus who never stumbled? And then the Lord says to you, you can't do it by what you've done, but you can do it by a relationship of faith. And God says, you come to me by faith, trusting in what my Son did for you on the cross, where He took your guilt, where He took your sin, and then He'll give you His goodness.

Friends, we're not saved by having the goodness of David in our life. We're saved by having the goodness of Jesus Christ. And that's the gift that He gives you freely by faith.

You can't earn it. You don't have to earn it. He offers it to you freely.

So if you read this and you say, man, this is me, or this has been me, or this will be me. Friends, the answer isn't looking to the goodness of David. The answer is looking to the goodness of Jesus Christ and your relationship of faith in Him.

Trust in what Jesus has done for you on the cross. He took your guilt. He took your sin.

And then ask Him to give you His goodness, His righteousness. And you'll be filled with the goodness, with the righteousness that's far, far greater than David ever showed. And you know, if we're going to say anything to ourselves in our heart, I think that's what we should say.

Not, I shall surely perish one day by the hand of Saul. Instead, why not leave here today saying in your heart, Lord, I want the goodness of Jesus Christ in my life. I can't earn it, but I can receive it.

I put my trust in You. What's great is I look out among you people. I know that that applies to every person here because every person needs the goodness of Jesus Christ.

So let's pray and ask God to impress that into our hearts. Father, we come before You and we're so grateful for Your Word, Lord. I know, God, that so many of us know by experience, Lord, the kind of thing that David went through, his own spiritual struggle as it's displayed in this chapter.

Lord, I pray that You would help us, first of all, Lord, to say what is true in our hearts. Say what is filled with trust in You, that, Lord, we love You and that we want to live in the shadow of the cross and what Jesus did for us on the cross. So, God, I suppose more than anything this morning, I want to pray for every dear saint here this morning who is discouraged or who's in despair.

Maybe, Lord, the weariness of standing up under that long-term trial has them feeling like they can't go a step further. Lord, I pray that You would strengthen them with an unexpected strength, but a strength that comes from the Son of God and His goodness in their life. Lord, we need to be more like Jesus.

We need to have His goodness given to us by faith. So, we come to You, Lord. We ask that You do this.

We plead, Lord, because I pray, Lord, that those who are in despair or discouragement wouldn't fall into the place that David fell into. We don't want to have to spend a year and four months among the Philistines as David did to learn this lesson. We want to learn it by Your Word, Lord.

Lord, walk in Your truth and in Your grace with our focus on Jesus Christ. Help us to do that, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name.