The King and the Cave

October 17, 2021

In this message, we see David go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Ben Stuart leads us through how King David handled the crisis. Through three practical points, we discover how we can follow David’s example in handling hardship.

Key Takeaway

When you are walking through your lowest low with the entire world coming against you, you can still trust God who is walking through that with you. Sometimes the wilderness is God's way to redirect, sometimes the cave is where He forges kings. You don't have to love the darkness, but you can love the King who leads you through it. You don't have to love the beating, but you can kiss the rod of the One who carries it because you can trust His heart.

In 1 Samuel 18:1-4 David gains a friend in Saul's son, Jonathan. He gives particular articles of his clothing to David that symbolizes the power of royalty. David goes on to receive a military promotion and fame, and marries into King Saul's family. Saul becomes very jealous of David and tries to kill him twice. In chapter 19, Saul attempts to kill David again and David is forced to flee. In one day he loses his career, his home, and his wife. He would later go on to lose his mentor, his best friend, and had to seek refuge in the land of the Philistines, his enemy. He loses his safety and his self-respect. In chapter 22, we find David holed up in a cave. He would go on to spent 10 years in the wilderness. That time would define him more than anything he had previously experienced; it would forge a king.

What do we do when we go from castle to cave? When following God isn't fun anymore? When we have gone from anointed to attacked?

1) Get Honest. Look at the verbs used in Psalm 142: cry, plead, complain, tell my trouble. Are we allowed to complain to God? Yes! It's called lament! David complains to God that he has no where to go, no one even cares about him.

We can't have intimacy without honesty. We have to let sadness in if we have any hope for joy. If we don't allow ourselves to be completely honest with God, we deny the emotions that drive our actions and we are sacrificing intimacy with God, ourself, and others. Honesty and authenticity are the starting place, but we are not meant to stay there forever. Our honestly allows us to move forward.

2) Get Perspective. External circumstances cause us to reflect on what is going on internally inside of us. Through his honesty, David was able to gain perspective on where he was and start reminding himself of who God is. The cave wasn't his refuge, God was. Saul wasn't in charge, God was. David addresses God as "God Most High" which harkened back to Abraham, the father of his faith, who called God by this name when he was in the wilderness and battling earthly kings. And just like Abraham had to leave his idols, David's idols were revealed to him while he was in isolation. David had accomplished nothing on his own. The clarity of the cave applies to us as well.

God Most High rules over us.

God will fulfill his promises to us.

God will send out His covenantal, steadfast love for us. He will never let go.

3) Get Moving. David does not wait for deliverance before he starts praising God. While David is in the cave, God brings him men that will eventually become his cabinet, men willing to fight with him. When David starts to move where the Lord leads, they go with him. David lands in the forest of Hereth, which means "to cut". God was doing that exact thing to David. He was carving character into him and shaping a king. David learned to excel at the revealed things and trust that God has purposes beyond what can be seen.

Jesus took the same route. When the time had come for him to fulfill His purpose on earth, he...

Got Honest- He asked His Father is there was any other way to accomplish His purpose.

Got Perspective- Submitted to the will of His Father, which He knew was sovereign.

Got Moving- He laid down His life for us and walked toward the cross.

“

"Most of your unhappiness in life is due to listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself...Defy yourself, defy other people, defy the devil, defy the world, and say with this man, 'I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance'."

”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Discussion Questions

Ben shared how his dream of being a star football player was shattered when his femur was broken at the height of his playing. Have you experienced something similar?
Read Psalm 142. As David is forced into hiding, he becomes extremely honest with God. What are some of the forms he took to express himself to God?
Are you comfortable being this honest with God? Is there a part of you that feels like you aren't supposed to speak to Him that way?
David talks to himself to lead his soul into gaining perspective. Sometimes he is asking himself, "Soul, why are you so sad?" and other times, he has a different view. Read Psalm 57, including the instructions to the director, what is David's position after he fled? Do you think the tune would have been upbeat or in a minor key?
Ben made is a point to mention David addressing God as "God Most High". Because this is also tied to Abraham, whom David would have been well acquainted with, it is tied to having hope in the midst of hardship. When have you needed to call God by the name "God Most High"?
Isolation reveals idols. What idols have been revealed to you? Do you need to take time away to see what you have been clinging to outside of God?
Ben mentioned that society today applauds complete authenticity, but that it was never meant to be a place where we set up camp. It is to give us clarity and be a stepping stone to moving forward. Have you been lingering too long or are you too quick to jump to the next thing?
David stayed in a forest named, Hereth, which means "to cut" and that is where he was shaped and molded in the character of a king. How has God been carving you? What are character qualities he is chiseling at in your life?
As Jesus was heading toward the cross, He also got honest, got perspective, and got moving. How do you need to do the same in your time with Him?
Do you trust that God is always working and that even though it is hard, He has purposed beyond what you can see?

Scripture References

Psalm 142

maskil

of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

1I cry aloud to the

Lord

;

I lift up my voice to the

Lord

for mercy.

2I pour out before him my complaint;

before him I tell my trouble.

3When my spirit grows faint within me,

it is you who watch over my way.

In the path where I walk

people have hidden a snare for me.

4Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;

no one is concerned for me.

I have no refuge;

no one cares for my life.

5I cry to you,

Lord

;

I say, “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”

6Listen to my cry,

for I am in desperate need;

rescue me from those who pursue me,

for they are too strong for me.

7Set me free from my prison,

that I may praise your name.

Then the righteous will gather about me

because of your goodness to me.

Psalm 57

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A

miktam.

When he had fled from Saul into the cave.

1Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

until the disaster has passed.

2I cry out to God Most High,

to God, who vindicates me.

3He sends from heaven and saves me,

rebuking those who hotly pursue me—

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

4I am in the midst of lions;

I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

6They spread a net for my feet—

I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path—

but they have fallen into it themselves.

7My heart, O God, is steadfast,

my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and make music.

8Awake, my soul!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

9I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

10For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

1David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

2My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, but I find no rest.

3Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

you are the one Israel praises.

4In you our ancestors put their trust;

they trusted and you delivered them.

5To you they cried out and were saved;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8“He trusts in the

Lord

,” they say,

“let the

Lord

rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

9Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

10From birth I was cast on you;

from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11Do not be far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

12Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

14I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

15My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16Dogs surround me,

a pack of villains encircles me;

they pierce my hands and my feet.

17All my bones are on display;

people stare and gloat over me.

18They divide my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.

19But you,

Lord

, do not be far from me.

You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20Deliver me from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;

save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22I will declare your name to my people;

in the assembly I will praise you.

23You who fear the

Lord

, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24For he has not despised or scorned

the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

but has listened to his cry for help.

25From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.

26The poor will eat and be satisfied;

those who seek the

Lord

will praise him—

may your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the

Lord

and all the families of the nations

will bow down before him,

28for dominion belongs to the

Lord

and he rules over the nations.

29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30Posterity will serve him;

future generations will be told about the Lord.

31They will proclaim his righteousness,

declaring to a people yet unborn:

He has done it!

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

36As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.

2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,”

said Jesus,

“but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.

“Go,”

he told him,

“wash in the Pool of Siloam”

(this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”

9Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

11He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

12“Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing the praises of your name.”

10Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;

let all the peoples extol him.”

12And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,

one who will arise to rule over the nations;

in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

22This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

23But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

30I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

18Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

19and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

20And praise be to God Most High,

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

8And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Ben Stuart

Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.