Return to Learning to Wait Series
Return to Wed. Bible Study Series
1 Samuel 29:1-30:6
“When It Seems That Life Doesn't Make Sense”[1]
Series:
“Learning to Wait on God: The Life of David Before
He Became King”
1 Samuel 16-31
Think
about it:
Have you ever been through a time when
it seems that life doesn't make sense? What
lessons did you learn during that experience (about God, about yourself, about
your perspective)?
Last Week:
We saw the continued rise of David, and fall of Saul.
We learned these lessons:
1.
God can use unusual means to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
2.
It's possible to come to God for wrong reasons.
Saul did. He wanted to use
God to accomplish His own self-centered agenda.
3.
The time to get right with God is now, not later.
Saul learned the hard way.
Most of us have an inaccurate understanding of trials and hardships.
Our tendency is to despise them and look for ways to avoid them.
We view them as plagues, as signs that something is wrong with our
Christian experience.
The biblical perspective is just the opposite.
"My brethren, count it all joy when you face various trials (James
1:2)." Too often, our prayer
is, "God, remove the trial!" when He is saying, "Remove it?
My purpose is to use it. I aim to use it
to refine you, and to advance my kingdom agenda."
Key: Great Christians are not
those who face trial-free lives, but are those who have learned to respond to
trials in a godly way. For example,
think of Elizabeth Elliott, Joni Erickson Tada, the Litteral family.
And tonight, consider David.
Discuss: Prior to 1 Samuel
29, what trials has David already endured in life?
Ridiculed by older brothers, anointed king but forced to wait and run for
his life for over ten years, rejected by his father-in-law, had a javelin thrown
at him twice, lost his first wife due to Saul's unjust treatment, hunted for
years like an animal, forced to leave his best friend, betrayed by people he had
helped (people of Keilah, Nabal, the Ziphites), felt indirectly responsible for
the murder of 85 priests, forced to leave the promised land, "wasted"
the prime years of his youth just trying to survive.
Humanly speaking, here was a man who could have been bitter.
And the hardships weren't over. In
fact, the pit may have been darkest for David during the events we'll see in
this study.
I.
Hardship #1: David's
integrity was attacked (29:1-11).
Let's probe the account with a series
of questions...
A. When? (1-2)
Q:
What's the setting for this hardship?
1. The Philistines prepared
to attack
Q:
Where were the Philistines? V
1 At Aphek
The Philistines rendezvoused at Aphek.
This was precisely where they had defeated
Q:
Where were the Israelites? V
1
Note: Aphek was about 60
miles from Ziklag (a 3 day journey, 30:1).
2. David and his men joined
the ranks.
Q:
Where were they located? V 2
The rear
B. What happened? (3-10)
Follow the sequence...
1. The Philistine commanders
questioned David's allegiance (3a).
Q:
Why did they object? They
called them "Hebrews," and that was whom they were fighting!
Q:
How did Achish respond?
2. Achish defended David
(3b).
Q:
How did Achish describe David in v 3?
3. The Philistine commanders
outvoted Achish (4-5).
Q:
Why were they so opposed to the idea?
The commanders could care less about David's integrity.
The only issue to them was what? Winning
the battle! To them, David was an
expendable, even potentially dangerous commodity.
4. Achish informed David of
the unpleasant news (6-7).
He had to leave (6).
His feelings weren't as important as the group's
success (7).
Notice two things about Achish. One,
his use of the LORD's name in v 6 (Had David taught Achish about the Lord?).
And two, what was the bottom line for Achish according to v 7?
"Don't rock the boat, David! Peace
is more important than integrity."
5. David protested (8).
Q:
How did David address Achish? "My
Lord, the king"
Q:
What reaction did David's appeal bring from Achish in v 9?
6. David's appeal was denied
(9-10).
Q:
What does Achish call David in v 9? "An
angel of God"
C. How did David respond?
(11)
1. With acceptance
2. With immediate obedience
Q:
What in v 11 indicates this? "rose
up early to depart in the morning"
Note: 1 Chr 12:20-22 gives a listing of some of David's men who made this
trip.
Q:
The big question is this, "Would David really have fought against
his own people?" We're not told
here. The B.K.C.
comments, "David, offering a feeble protest (v. 8) but obviously greatly
relieved, was discharged and returned to Ziklag."
D. What was God doing in this
trial?
Don't miss this. God was at
work (David couldn't see it at the time).
Q:
What would have happened if the Philistine generals had NOT protested?!
1. He used this injustice to
keep David from attacking his own people.
God was at work in this trial in
another way which isn't apparent until ch 30.
2. He used this injustice to
take David to where he needed to be.
David was needed desperately back in
Ziklag. Though he didn't know it,
God did.
II.
Hardship #2: David's family
was attacked (30:1-6).
A. What was the source of his
pain?
The pain came from two sources...
1. He felt the pain of the
attack of an enemy (1-5).
Q:
What enemy? V 1
The Amalekites
Q:
What had they done? Vv 1-2
Plundered and burned David's city, and took the women
Q:
How did David and his men respond to this tragedy?
V 4 Intense weeping
Q:
What was David's personal loss, acc. to v 5?
His two wives were gone.
Q:
The pain grew even worse. How
so acc. to v 6?
2. He felt the pain of the
attack of his own friends (6).
B. How did he respond to his
pain? (6)
1. He felt stress.
(v 6 says "greatly distressed")
2. He found strength in the
LORD his God.
Q:
How did David deal with his great stress?
V 6 "But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God" (NIV
"But David found strength in the LORD his God").
The words, "his God," are key.
How so?
Key: Our goal is not to avoid
stress, but to be God's kind of person in the midst of it.
This bleak scene in David's life was overwhelming from David's
perspective. He felt rejection,
loneliness, even perhaps disillusioned. Yet
what he could not see was this. God
was at work. In fact, God was using
these trials to move David closer to the throne!
Dale Ralph Davis, in applying the significance of this chapter, offers
this theme, “God’s presence is so quiet.”
[Read lengthy quote, pp. 245-6]
Lessons:
1.
Don't be disheartened by closed doors.
2.
Be grateful God doesn't always give us what we think we want.
3.
Stressful situations can either destroy us or develop us.
4.
Our goal is not to avoid stress, but to be God's kind of person in the
midst of it.
The Key: We must choose to
find strength in the Lord our God (30:6).
[1]
These are unedited
teaching notes used initially for a Wednesday evening Bible study at