Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: The Doctrine of Election

Safety And Security Are In The Lord - Part 2 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2013-10-26

Synopsis: In this second part of his message on 1 Samuel 23, Pastor John Weaver examines David's narrow escape from Saul through the betrayal of the Ziphites and a providential Philistine invasion. He highlights the depth of human depravity in the Ziphites' willingness to betray their own kinsman, Saul's hypocritical self-pity, and God's sovereign protection over David. Applications emphasize drawing near to God in danger, the believer's immortality until God's purpose is complete, and the call to courageous faith.

[John Weaver] 1st Samuel 23, and this is the second part of my message on safety and security are in the Lord. You'll remember that last Lord's Day, we read through 1st Samuel chapter 23, down through verse 18. I'll take a moment and review that, but today we're going to read from verses 19 through 29. So 1st Samuel chapter 23, beginning there with verse Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeas, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood, in the hill of Hekelah, which is on the south of Jejimon?

[John Weaver] Now therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare ye it, and know and see his place, where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there. For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. And come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.' And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul.

[John Weaver] But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the plain, on the south of Jechemon. Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David, whereof he came down into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul. For Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them. But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines.

[John Weaver] Therefore they called that place Selah-Hamakathoth. And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-Gedi."

[John Weaver] Now, last week, we began looking at 1 Samuel chapter 23, in order for me to demonstrate that true safety and security are in the Lord our God. In fact, I hope, again, before this message is over, you will see the truth of Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10, where the Bible says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous rooted into it and is safe. You remember last week as we looked at the first 18 verses, we saw how King Saul was incessantly, constantly, continually seeking David's life. In fact, the Bible says, In verse 14, Saul sought him every day. So the entire government of Saul was summoned together to find David so that Saul might kill him. Time and time again, they sought for David, and time and time again, they failed. Here's a truth that I want you to understand. The entirety of Saul's government was seeking after David, and they could not discover him, and they could not capture him. All the governments of men put together cannot capture one man unless God delivers him into their hand.

[John Weaver] And if you'll look at verse 14 again, this is the theme, And David abode in the wilderness and the strongholds, and remained in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. So God sovereignly, powerfully protected David and preserved him.

[John Weaver] Now, last week we were able only to cover two points from this chapter. First, we saw providential endeavors, where David and his men risked their lives to go save the inhabitants of Keilah and their possessions. I might add, it was Saul's responsibility to do that. Remember, Saul was king. Saul was the one ordained of God to bring forth justice and judgment and to protect the righteous. But Saul failed in his responsibility and God sent David and David's men to accomplish this task. Saul was far from helping the inhabitants of Keilah.

[John Weaver] Let me make this statement and I want you to apply it to our modern day situation. An ungodly man is not normally inclined to do anything that is godly and right. So Saul was basically an ungodly man. He had turned against God, he had turned against His Word, and he's certainly not about to do that which is godly and right.

[John Weaver] Secondly, in this chapter we saw providential encouragement. Saul could not find David, and yet Jonathan his son knew exactly where David was. And Jonathan went to David and encouraged him in the Lord. I pointed out three things about Jonathan's friendship. First of all, he was a pious friend. Secondly, he was a selfless or self-denying friend. And thirdly, he was a constant friend. And may I point out the fact that Jonathan was willing to take the back seat to David. He told David, Saul, my father, doth know that you're going to be king, and I'll be second to you. In other words, I'm willing for you to be king.

[John Weaver] I don't have to have the kingdom. God has designed for you to have the kingdom. That's my heart's desire for you. I'll take back seat. And so David had a wonderful friend in Jonathan.

[John Weaver] Now today we come to the third and fourth points of this message. The third point is this providential escapes. And you're going to find this in verses 19 through 26.

[John Weaver] Now in consideration of this point, this great escape that God provided for David, I also want you to see the depth of the depravity of man. There's nothing more thrilling than an escape, unless it is a very narrow escape, which really tends to get the adrenaline flowing. Many of you will remember years ago there was a war movie titled The Great Escape with Steve McQueen and a number of other folks in it, and it's an excellent movie. I've seen it a number of times and certainly how these men were breaking out of the Stalag or out of the prison there during the German occupation and they had them there as prison. It was a tremendous movie.

[John Weaver] Well, when wickedness seeks to prosper at the expense of righteousness, we're even doubly thankful for what you and I would call a narrow escape. Now Saul had been seeking for David. and he couldn't find him, and so he went back to Gibeah. Gibeah was the place of Saul's residence, and it was also the place where he held court. While Saul was at Gibeah, the Ziphites come, and they bring to Saul a proposal. That is, if you come, we will turn David over to you. We know where David is. So the question has to be asked, how did they know where David was? because David is hiding himself in the wilderness of Ziph.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a quote right quickly from John Gill. I want you to listen carefully. John Gill said this, Hekelah is called by Jerome Ekelah and he speaks of a village of that name seven miles from Eurothelopolis and of Gesheimon as ten miles from Jericho to the south near the Dead Sea on the top of the hill which has an ascent of thirty furlongs or about four miles. Jonathan the high priest built a castle and called it Masada, often spoken of by Josephus. You remember Masada, the high mountain that the Romans had to build a road up to, to attack the inhabitants there. From Masada, you could see the panorama of the whole area, the entire vicinity. Undoubtedly, the Ziphites on that mountain could see very clearly, way off in the distances, and they saw David and his men as they went back and forth in the wilderness. In fact, the Bible says that he was on the hill of Hakalot in verse 19. Then came up the Zephites of Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood in the hill of Hakalot, which is on the south side of Jeshimon?

[John Weaver] And so they hastened then, once they saw David, to King Saul and said, We found him. Now, once David has been observed, They then come to Saul with this proposal. Look in verse 20.

[John Weaver] Now, therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. Now, the interesting thing is this. The Zephites were not only willing to betray David here in 1 Samuel chapter 23, but if you look in 1 Samuel chapter 26 and verse 1, Here is the second time the Zephites are willing to betray David. And the Zephites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hakkalah, which is before Jez Shimon? So twice now, they're willing to betray David. Let me just say this, they volunteered to betray David. Now, I chose the term volunteered because they were certainly under no obligation to report David to Saul. David was not a criminal. David was not seeking Saul's life. Saul was seeking David's life. And interestingly, Saul did not threaten the Ziphites. He did not examine the Ziphites. He did not send people there and say, well, have you seen him? No. He did not examine them.

[John Weaver] He did not threaten them. They volunteered to deliver David into Saul. In fact, they were worse than Judas. At least Judas said, what will you give me? They didn't ask for anything. They were just simply willing to betray because they knew that Saul was thirsting after David's blood.

[John Weaver] Now, there are several questions that should arise in our mind and those questions have to be answered if we're going to see the greatness of man's depravity and also the greatness of God's deliverance. Here are the three questions I want to ask. We'll not cover them just this moment, but I will cover them momentarily. First, why would the Ziphites betray David to Saul?

[John Weaver] Secondly, what made their betrayal so wicked? And thirdly, how close was David's escape from Saul? Now, before I answer these questions, I want you to notice the sanctimonious of the hypocritical attitude of Saul. This same sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude is manifested in our politicians today. We see it on every hand because it abounds in wicked rulers. Look if you would at verses 21 and 23. When the Zephites now have come down and volunteered to betray David, verse 21, and Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, and prepare yet, and know, and see his place where his haunt is.

[John Weaver] And who hath seen him there? For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. But come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass. If he be in the land, I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to know, This unhappy, wicked king blesses those men who are ready to betray David and his men. He views their betrayal as having pity upon him, and he is saying that here he is in his palace, suffering at the hands of David. I want to show you this attitude. I want you to flip back to 1 Samuel chapter 22, and look at verses 7 and 8. This attitude of King Saul is manifested even today. Watch 1 Samuel 22, beginning of verse 7.

[John Weaver] Then Saul said to his servants that stood about him, Here now, you Benjamites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of a hundred? That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son have made a league with the son of Jesse. And there is none of you that is sorry for me and showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me to lie and wait as it is this day."

[John Weaver] Can you hear this pathetic murmuring? Would you not have compassion on me? None of you are sorry for me. Nobody's looking after me. No one's taking care of me. If you really loved me, if you really concerned yourself, you would be wanting to help me. So his attitude is, If you're not for me, you're against me. If you're not with me, you're against me. I think we've heard that before.

[John Weaver] Not just from our Lord, but from one of our presidents. And we hear that all the time. In other words, if you don't support this program, if you don't stand with me on this, then obviously you're against me as well. So poor Saul, here he is thinking that David is the source of all of his troubles. He did not and he would not blame himself or take responsibility himself. Let me tell you, if you were to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 15, it was not David that disobeyed God, it was Saul that disobeyed God. It was Saul that rejected the commandments of God. It was Saul that turned against God. It was Saul that was rejected by God Himself. And here Saul is saying, I want you to have compassion on me. I want you to be sorrowful for me because everybody is against me. Well, they should have been against him.

[John Weaver] How many Christians do you know with the same attitude? How many politicians do you know with the same attitude? The truth of the matter is this, folks. We blame everything on everybody but ourselves. Our sins are our own. We are the transgressors. We are the ones that have sinned. We bring the trouble and condemnation upon our own heads. We are the problem. Everyone in this room can quote 2 Chronicles 7.14. What did God say?

[John Weaver] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. You know the verse. The problem is with us. We need to repent and cease blaming others. So Saul now is saying, I'm blessing you for betraying innocent individuals. Saul is blaming all of his troubles upon David. And Saul is accusing David of acting subtly. While at the same time, he's acting subtly himself. He says, now here's what I want you to do.

[John Weaver] You go and spy out where he is. You find out where He is certainly. And when you find out, you come back and tell me, and then I'll take all my men, and we'll go down, and we have to go through the thousands of Judah. We'll do it until we find Him. So he's accusing David of acting subtly, while he's acting subtly himself. What he's trying to do is this. He's trying to find out for certain exactly where David is, so he will not spook his prey. I want you to note what he's doing.

[John Weaver] Here's what most tyrants and most wicked politicians do. They set up their targets for destruction and they let other people do the dirty work. You find him and I'll come get him.

[John Weaver] Now let's go back to these questions I ask. First, why would the Zephites betray David to Saul? The answer is in all probability it was done for self-preservation and also for self-interest. They not only feared for their lives, but they also wanted to endear themselves to Saul who held the governmental, the military, and the political power. Now, when I tell you that they acted out of self-preservation, the question automatically has to arise What spooked them? Why were they afraid? Why would they think that Saul would harm them? Well, look back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 22 and let's begin reading there with verse 6. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. We'll read through verse 19. I want you to see what Saul has just done. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having a spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him, then said Saul to his servants that stood about him, Here now, you Benjamites, will the son

[John Weaver] of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, And there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sure of me, that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie and wait as it is this day. Now watch. Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Himalek, the son of Ahitab. And he inquired of the Lord for him, which is a lie, and gave him vittles, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Hithub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob, and they came, all of them, to the king. And Saul said, Here now thou, son of Hithub.

[John Weaver] And he answered, Here am I, my lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise up against me to lie in wait as it is this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, and who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is an honorable in all of thine house. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him?

[John Weaver] Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything unto thy servant, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. Then the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Himalek, thou and all thy father's house. And the king said unto the footman that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David. And because they knew when he fled, and did not show it me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day four score and five persons." That's 85 persons.

[John Weaver] that did wear the linen ephod." Now watch,"...and Nob, the city of the priests, smote him with the edge of the sword, both men and women and children, sucklings and oxen and ass and sheep with the edge of the sword." What did Saul just do? He just murdered an entire city. Because he said, you knew when David fled, and you didn't tell me. And of course the truth of the matter is this, Ahimelech and all those people were absolutely totally innocent. If you will go back to verse 1 of chapter 22, look at how David deceives Ahimelech. He could not tell him the truth. David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave of Adullam.

[John Weaver] And when his brother and all of his father's house heard it, they went down thither unto him. Chapter 21 is what I want. Chapter 21. Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of thy business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my service to such and such a place.

[John Weaver] Now therefore, what is under thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present." And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread, if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest and said unto him of a truth, Women have been kept from us for about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in a vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now therefore a man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord and his name was Doeg and Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. And David said unto him, Elech, and is there not here under thine hand spear or sword?

[John Weaver] For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. And the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here, wrapped in the cloth behind the ethod. If I will take that, take it, for there is none other save that here. And David said, there is none like that, give it to me. So what has David done? David has answered the priest, and he said, the king just has commanded me a business, and told me not to tell anyone.

[John Weaver] And the reason I don't have my weapon, I had to leave in too big of a hurry. So Ahimelech gave him the bread. Ahimelech gave him the sword. But he did not inquire of God for him. He did absolutely nothing for him. And now Saul comes along and says, you knew when David fled and you didn't show me. And Ahimelech rightly, truthfully says, he's your son-in-law. There's no one more honorable in your house than David. He's the one that obeys you. How would we know?

[John Weaver] Innocence has never deterred a tyrant or a murderer. And the mere suspicion that Ahimelech had helped David was sufficient, not only for Ahimelech's murder, but for the entire priestly family and all those people who lived in Nob. So, you could say that the Zephites did indeed have a reason to fear Saul. They probably knew about the murder of the inhabitants of Nob. And if Saul is going to slay the Lord's priests, he's certainly not going to hold back against a normal everyday citizen. So they did have a right to fear Saul. However, they were craven and cowardly because they were as bad as Saul. They were willing to sacrifice David and his men who were innocent in order to preserve their own lives and in order to gain favor with Saul. So they were not only innocent, willing to betray an innocent man and his men, they were willing to endear themselves with Saul at the price of their heads, and thus they were as wicked as no egg. They were as bad as Saul himself.

[John Weaver] Now let's ask this second question. What made their betrayal so base and so wicked? You can understand self-preservation, but you cannot understand preserving your life with the lives of innocent men. What made their betrayal so base? Well, you have to remember that David was of the tribe of Judah. I want you to look in your Bibles, whole 1 Samuel 23, but turn right over to 1 Chronicles chapter 2. 1 Chronicles chapter 2, and let's look at verses 12 through 16. 1 Chronicles chapter 2. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 12. 1 Chronicles 2 verse 12. And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat his firstborn, Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shema the third, Nethaniel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem VI, David VII, whose sisters were Zeuriah and Abigail, the sons of Zeuriah, Abishai and Joab, and Asahel III, and Abigail Baramasah, the father of Amasa, was Jethro the Ishmaelite. Now, I want you to note, if you would, here's David listed of the tribe of Judah.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to skip down to verse 42. Skip down to verse 42. We're still in the tribe of Judah.

[John Weaver] Now the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jeremiel, where Misha is first born, who is the father of Ziph? And the sons of Mereshah, the father of Hebron. So Ziph was the grandson of godly Caleb. The Ziphites, were Judahites. They were David's own tribe. They were Caleb's good stock. Thus you have David's own kindred willing to sacrifice David and his men in order to save themselves. Now Caleb was a good, godly, and faithful man as you know.

[John Weaver] If you will look in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3. And Caleb had another descendant who was not so good nor godly. Notice in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3 you read about Nabal. Now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was the house of Caleb. You remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies that brought back an honest report when Moses sent them to spy up the land. Caleb was the man who said, I want that mountain. Give me Heber. Give me that mountain. And God did give him that. And now you have The Zephites, who were descendants of Caleb, who were of the tribe of Judah, betraying David and his men, who were Judahites as well.

[John Weaver] We need to learn a very important lesson. Here it is. Not all descendants of godly men turn out to be godly themselves. Not all descendants of patriots turn out to be patriotic themselves. It is possible to destroy a good and godly heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is not only possible, it happens. Look at what happened to the Ziphites. I can assure you, Caleb would be enraged at his descendants.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a quote. Psalm 61 verse 5. David said, For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Did you hear what he says? Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. I come from a goodly stock. I come from believers. You've given me heritage. It's possible to destroy that heritage. Now, I want you to hold 1 Samuel 23, but I want you to turn to Psalm 54. I want you to see Psalm 54 in light of 1 Samuel chapter 23. It is important that we read the heading of Psalm 54 before we read the Psalm. You're going to understand why David wrote Psalm 54. It happened during this time, 1 Samuel chapter 23. So look at the heading of Psalm 54. So Psalm 54 is written when the Ziphites were betraying David to Saul. So let's read these seven verses.

[John Weaver] David says, Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God before them. Behold, God is mine helper, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies, cut them off in thy truth, I will freely sacrifice unto Thee, I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good. For He delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye hath seen His desire upon mine enemies."

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to remember last week, I quoted our Lord from Matthew chapter 10, when He said,"...and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." I want you to look at this. In verse 3 of Psalm 54, what does David say when the Zephites go to betray him? He says, for strangers are risen up against me. Strangers? What? They were Judahites. And yet he calls them strangers.

[John Weaver] And the Hebrew word for stranger here literally means a foreigner, a stranger, or a prostitute. Isn't that amazing? David is saying, these are supposed to be my people, but they've so prostituted themselves, they're strangers to me. They were not only Israelites, they were David's own tribe of Judah, and yet he calls them strangers. Why? Because they were indeed strangers to faith, they were strangers to character, they were strangers to integrity, they were strangers to honor, And no doubt, godly Caleb would have described them the same way, calling them a stranger. They may have had the blood of Caleb, but they did not have the character of Caleb.

[John Weaver] Look at verses 4 and verse 7. David says, Behold, God is mine helper. The Lord is with them that uphold my soul. In verse 4. Watch verse 5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies. Wow! Skip down to verse 7. For He had delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye had seen His desire upon mine enemies."

[John Weaver] Now, the Zephites are referred to as not just strangers, but enemies. So the Zephites lost the godly heritage that had been given to them and passed down to them through Caleb. Let me ask you a question. What has happened to the godly heritage in America? Do you realize we have become a nation of strangers? We are strangers in our own land. Strangers who are alien to our God and His law. We marvel at how America turns her back upon her friends? We should not marvel, for we've turned our back upon God. If we've deserted and forsaken and betrayed the one true and the living God, it's nothing to betray people or nations. What has happened to America's godly heritage? We're being ruled over by men who hate God and who hate God's law. Betrayal has become a way of life for Americans. Since we've betrayed our God, it's a small step to betray others. We have enemies and control in our government because we've become enemies to God. We've forsaken our own heritage. The baseness and the depravity of this betrayal, because it was done by David's own people, his own kindred, his own tribe.

[John Weaver] Third, you have to ask this question, how close was David's escape? Well, we have several adages that I think that are applicable. We have one adage, it's too close for comfort. Or, he made it by the skin of his teeth. Well, here's what happened. Saul has come out with his army. And he's come to the mountain where David is. Saul is on this side of the mountain. David is on this side of the mountain. But Saul is wise. He knows he's chasing David around the mountain. And so he divides his forces, and he sends some to cut David off as David comes around the other side of the mountain.

[John Weaver] If you will skip down to verse 26. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain, And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them. So Saul then divided his men, and he basically had David cornered. It was at this point, had God not sovereignly, miraculously, and powerfully intervened, humanly speaking, David would have been captured. So David makes his escape by the skin of his teeth. Now, I want you to see my last point. Providential emergencies.

[John Weaver] Look if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 23 at verses 27 and 29. But there came a messenger unto Saul saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Let me just stop right there for right now. Note if you would, there came a messenger to Saul saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land.

[John Weaver] I find this extremely interesting. What did David pray? Don't turn back there, but in Psalm 54 and verse 3, David said, Behold, God is my helper. God, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. So he said, God is my helper. Certainly God helped David in this providential emergency. Just what it seems is if David's going to be captured, Saul has to quit the chase. So David then is extricated from the snare of Saul by the skin of his teeth. What did they say in verse 27?

[John Weaver] Haste thee and come for the Philistines have invaded the land. This had to be a special kind of emergency. Let me ask you a question. Did anybody send Saul word and say haste thee and come? For the Philistines have invaded Keilah? Uh-uh. Saul didn't care about Keilah. He didn't care about the inhabitants. Why would Saul be concerned now? The answer is because undoubtedly the Philistines were robbing and raiding where Saul had private interests.

[John Weaver] It was his own property that was at stake now. So now all of a sudden, it is an emergency. He's got to go protect what he has. Have you ever stopped to think about this? How many times emergencies have saved our lives? How many times emergencies have protected us? And many times we have absolutely no idea what has happened. But an emergency comes up and we have to quit something.

[John Weaver] We have to stop what we're doing and we're aggravated and irritated. And yet, in the providence of God, God arranged that emergency to preserve our lives. Let me point something else out. When the Philistines invaded the land, they did not intend to help David. It was not their intention. Oh, Saul is after David. Let's invade some of Saul's territory and we'll save David's life. No, the Philistines hated David. Because once David was made king, they came up to attack him again. The point I'm trying to make is this. God is absolutely sovereign. And although our enemies mean it for evil, God means it for good. And God is never at a loss to save us, even if He has to use those who are against us. So God sovereignly, powerfully delivered David. Now, let me show you something. Watch this carefully. Look in verse 29. After God has sent this providential emergency, the Philistines have invaded the land. Saul has to leave.

[John Weaver] He has to quit the chase. Look in verse 29. And David went up from fence and dwelt in the strongholds of En Gedi. I want you to note the wisdom that David exercised. David was not a presumptuous individual in this instance. He did not say, what? Praise the Lord. The Lord has just protected me here and preserved me here. I think I'm going to just stay here. No.

[John Weaver] He knew that Saul knew where he was. And he knew how close he had come to being captured. And so although David trusted God, He used wisdom to get out of harm's way. It's wise when God delivers us to not hang around the place where He delivered us. David said, I'll find another stronghold. Do you realize it is foolish? It is rash? And it is a tempting of God to plunge headlong into danger, willingly, knowingly, premeditatedly, thinking somehow, well, God's just going to protect me. No. God gives us wisdom. God gives us common sense. And God teaches us to use the means that He's placed at our disposal. And when David escaped with the skin of his teeth, he got out of there.

[John Weaver] Go back to verse 14. I want you to look at the latter part. 1 Samuel 23 verse 14. I love this. And Saul sought Him every day, but God delivered Him not into His hand. Can you imagine that? God delivered Him not into His hand. The only reason, humanly speaking, David was not captured, is God sovereignly, providentially did not deliver David into the hand of Saul.

[John Weaver] Now let me make several applications this morning. The first one is this. I hope you've already put this one down in your mind. We must draw near to God as danger draws near to us. I told you last week the safest place to be is right smack dab in the middle of the will of God, wrapped in His protective embrace. I quoted last week and I quoted this week, Proverbs 18 and verse 10.

[John Weaver] The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and are safe. We need to learn, the more dangerous it becomes in our lives, in our environment, in our surroundings, the closer we need to draw to God. You look at the riots, the home invasions, I've got news for you. I'd rather God keep me from those things than to protect me in one of those things. I mean, I don't mind Him protecting me in one, and I'd certainly ask Him to, but I much prefer not even to be in that situation at all. So the more danger surrounds us, the closer we need to get to the Lord.

[John Weaver] Here's a second application, and this is based upon verse 14 of 1 Samuel 23, where the Bible said, and Saul sought Him every day, but God delivered Him not into His hand. especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him. Stop and think about that. I don't care how great our enemies are. I don't care how powerful our enemies are. I don't care how multitudinous our enemies are. They cannot touch us until God is through with us.

[John Weaver] We may as well go ahead and be men and women of courage and determination, for we serve the Lord God, and He's the one that holds our souls in life. The Bible says in Psalm 66 and verse 9, talking about God, who holdeth our soul in life, listen, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. Wow. I want to leave you with Psalm 37 verse 28. Listen carefully. For the Lord loveth the judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.

[John Weaver] They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." God does not forsake His saints. Since He does not forsake us, we may as well be courageous and bold. I just read an article this morning concerning a pastor friend of mine who died recently, we prayed for him, Pastor Jim Grove. We have his wife on the prayer list. I read an article commending Pastor Jim Grove, written by an atheist. And the atheist was saying, how courteous, how courageous, And how visible Pastor Grove was. And every year when they had the fair up in Pennsylvania, or whatever, when the atheists had the booth, the atheists said Pastor Grove would always come by and engage us.

[John Weaver] He would preach to us. He would reason with us. But he was always courteous and courageous. And the atheists went on to say, we will miss him this year. at our booth. Isn't that amazing? Folks, let me tell you, we might as well be courageous. We don't have to be uncivil or unkind, but we might as well be courageous because God holds our souls in life. And until God is through with us, we're mortal. We cannot die until He determines.

[John Weaver] Safety and security are in the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, for Your gracious, sovereign protection. Help us, Lord, to flee to Thee, to trust in Thee, to look to Thee, to lean upon Thee. Lord, Thou art our protector, Thou art our shield, Thou art our buckler. Without Thee, Lord, we are nothing. Without Thee, we are lost. O God, grant us Thy sovereign safety and security and preserve us for Christ's sake. But Lord, as Thou dost preserve us, make us bold and courageous and make us heavenly Father, submissive to Thee in all things. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Safety And Security Are In The Lord - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	wTrz9F0cwus
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: The Doctrine of Election
Genre	Sermon
Date	2013-10-26
Dictation Name
Book	Book 117: Safety And Security Are In The Lord — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	66

Formatted Transcript

Review of Part 1

Weaver recaps the first part of the message, covering David's providential endeavors to save Keilah and the providential encouragement from Jonathan.

1 Samuel 23, and this is the second part of my message on safety and security are in the Lord. You'll remember that last Lord's Day, we read through 1 Samuel chapter 23, down through verse 18. I'll take a moment and review that, but today we're going to read from verses 19 through 29. So 1 Samuel chapter 23, beginning there with verse 19:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?" "Now therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand."

And Saul said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare ye it, and know and see his place, where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there. For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. And come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."

And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the plain, on the south of Jeshimon. Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David, whereof he came down into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul. For Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them. But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land."

Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines.

Therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi. Now, last week, we began looking at 1 Samuel chapter 23, in order for me to demonstrate that true safety and security are in the Lord our God. In fact, I hope, again, before this message is over, you will see the truth of Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10, where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:10

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe."

You remember last week as we looked at the first 18 verses, we saw how King Saul was incessantly, constantly, continually seeking David's life. In fact, the Bible says, in verse 14, "Saul sought him every day." So the entire government of Saul was summoned together to find David so that Saul might kill him. Time and time again, they sought for David, and time and time again, they failed. Here's a truth that I want you to understand. The entirety of Saul's government was seeking after David, and they could not discover him, and they could not capture him. All the governments of men put together cannot capture one man unless God delivers him into their hand.

And if you'll look at verse 14 again, this is the theme, "And David abode in the wilderness and the strongholds, and remained in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand." So God sovereignly, powerfully protected David and preserved him. Now, last week we were able only to cover two points from this chapter. First, we saw providential endeavors, where David and his men risked their lives to go save the inhabitants of Keilah and their possessions. I might add, it was Saul's responsibility to do that. Remember, Saul was king. Saul was the one ordained of God to bring forth justice and judgment and to protect the righteous. But Saul failed in his responsibility and God sent David and David's men to accomplish this task. Saul was far from helping the inhabitants of Keilah.

Let me make this statement and I want you to apply it to our modern day situation. An ungodly man is not normally inclined to do anything that is godly and right. So Saul was basically an ungodly man. He had turned against God, he had turned against His Word, and he's certainly not about to do that which is godly and right. Secondly, in this chapter we saw providential encouragement. Saul could not find David, and yet Jonathan his son knew exactly where David was. And Jonathan went to David and encouraged him in the Lord. I pointed out three things about Jonathan's friendship. First of all, he was a pious friend. Secondly, he was a selfless or self-denying friend. And thirdly, he was a constant friend. And may I point out the fact that Jonathan was willing to take the back seat to David. He told David, "Saul, my father, doth know that you're going to be king, and I'll be second to you." In other words, I'm willing for you to be king.

I don't have to have the kingdom. God has designed for you to have the kingdom. That's my heart's desire for you. I'll take back seat. And so David had a wonderful friend in Jonathan.

Now today we come to the third and fourth points of this message. The third point is this: providential escapes. And you're going to find this in verses 19 through 26. Now in consideration of this point, this great escape that God provided for David, I also want you to see the depth of the depravity of man. There's nothing more thrilling than an escape, unless it is a very narrow escape, which really tends to get the adrenaline flowing. Many of you will remember years ago there was a war movie titled "The Great Escape" with Steve McQueen and a number of other folks in it, and it's an excellent movie. I've seen it a number of times and certainly how these men were breaking out of the Stalag or out of the prison there during the German occupation and they had them there as prison. It was a tremendous movie.

Providential Escapes: The Ziphites' Betrayal

The Ziphites volunteer to betray David to Saul, revealing their depravity and self-interest. Saul hypocritically blesses them while plotting David's capture.

Well, when wickedness seeks to prosper at the expense of righteousness, we're even doubly thankful for what you and I would call a narrow escape. Now Saul had been seeking for David, and he couldn't find him, and so he went back to Gibeah. Gibeah was the place of Saul's residence, and it was also the place where he held court. While Saul was at Gibeah, the Ziphites come, and they bring to Saul a proposal. That is, if you come, we will turn David over to you. We know where David is. So the question has to be asked, how did they know where David was? Because David is hiding himself in the wilderness of Ziph.

Let me give you a quote right quickly from John Gill. I want you to listen carefully. John Gill said this, "Hachilah is called by Jerome Ekelah and he speaks of a village of that name seven miles from Eleutheropolis and of Jeshimon as ten miles from Jericho to the south near the Dead Sea on the top of the hill which has an ascent of thirty furlongs or about four miles. Jonathan the high priest built a castle and called it Masada, often spoken of by Josephus." You remember Masada, the high mountain that the Romans had to build a road up to, to attack the inhabitants there. From Masada, you could see the panorama of the whole area, the entire vicinity. Undoubtedly, the Ziphites on that mountain could see very clearly, way off in the distances, and they saw David and his men as they went back and forth in the wilderness. In fact, the Bible says that he was on the hill of Hachilah in verse 19. "Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south side of Jeshimon?"

And so they hastened then, once they saw David, to King Saul and said, "We found him." Now, once David has been observed, they then come to Saul with this proposal. Look in verse 20. "Now, therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." Now, the interesting thing is this. The Ziphites were not only willing to betray David here in 1 Samuel chapter 23, but if you look in 1 Samuel chapter 26 and verse 1, here is the second time the Ziphites are willing to betray David.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 26:1

"And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?"

So twice now, they're willing to betray David. Let me just say this, they volunteered to betray David. Now, I chose the term "volunteered" because they were certainly under no obligation to report David to Saul. David was not a criminal. David was not seeking Saul's life. Saul was seeking David's life. And interestingly, Saul did not threaten the Ziphites. He did not examine the Ziphites. He did not send people there and say, "Well, have you seen him?" No. He did not examine them.

He did not threaten them. They volunteered to deliver David into Saul. In fact, they were worse than Judas. At least Judas said, "What will you give me?" They didn't ask for anything. They were just simply willing to betray because they knew that Saul was thirsting after David's blood.

Now, there are several questions that should arise in our mind and those questions have to be answered if we're going to see the greatness of man's depravity and also the greatness of God's deliverance. Here are the three questions I want to ask. We'll not cover them just this moment, but I will cover them momentarily. First, why would the Ziphites betray David to Saul? Secondly, what made their betrayal so wicked? And thirdly, how close was David's escape from Saul? Now, before I answer these questions, I want you to notice the sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude of Saul. This same sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude is manifested in our politicians today. We see it on every hand because it abounds in wicked rulers. Look if you would at verses 21 and 23. When the Ziphites now have come down and volunteered to betray David, verse 21, "And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, and prepare yet, and know, and see his place where his haunt is."

"And who hath seen him there? For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. But come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass. If he be in the land, I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."

Now, I want you to know, this unhappy, wicked king blesses those men who are ready to betray David and his men. He views their betrayal as having pity upon him, and he is saying that here he is in his palace, suffering at the hands of David. I want to show you this attitude. I want you to flip back to 1 Samuel chapter 22, and look at verses 7 and 8. This attitude of King Saul is manifested even today. Watch 1 Samuel 22, beginning of verse 7. "Then Saul said to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of a hundred? That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son have made a league with the son of Jesse. And there is none of you that is sorry for me and showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me to lie and wait as it is this day."

Can you hear this pathetic murmuring? "Would you not have compassion on me? None of you are sorry for me. Nobody's looking after me. No one's taking care of me. If you really loved me, if you really concerned yourself, you would be wanting to help me." So his attitude is, "If you're not for me, you're against me. If you're not with me, you're against me." I think we've heard that before.

Not just from our Lord, but from one of our presidents. And we hear that all the time. In other words, if you don't support this program, if you don't stand with me on this, then obviously you're against me as well. So poor Saul, here he is thinking that David is the source of all of his troubles. He did not and he would not blame himself or take responsibility himself. Let me tell you, if you were to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 15, it was not David that disobeyed God, it was Saul that disobeyed God. It was Saul that rejected the commandments of God. It was Saul that turned against God. It was Saul that was rejected by God Himself. And here Saul is saying, "I want you to have compassion on me. I want you to be sorrowful for me because everybody is against me." Well, they should have been against him.

How many Christians do you know with the same attitude? How many politicians do you know with the same attitude? The truth of the matter is this, folks. We blame everything on everybody but ourselves. Our sins are our own. We are the transgressors. We are the ones that have sinned. We bring the trouble and condemnation upon our own heads. We are the problem. Everyone in this room can quote 2 Chronicles 7:14. What did God say?

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves..." You know the verse. The problem is with us. We need to repent and cease blaming others. So Saul now is saying, "I'm blessing you for betraying innocent individuals." Saul is blaming all of his troubles upon David. And Saul is accusing David of acting subtly, while at the same time, he's acting subtly himself. He says, "Now here's what I want you to do." "You go and spy out where he is. You find out where he is certainly. And when you find out, you come back and tell me, and then I'll take all my men, and we'll go down, and we have to go through the thousands of Judah. We'll do it until we find him." So he's accusing David of acting subtly, while he's acting subtly himself. What he's trying to do is this. He's trying to find out for certain exactly where David is, so he will not spook his prey. I want you to note what he's doing.

Here's what most tyrants and most wicked politicians do. They set up their targets for destruction and they let other people do the dirty work. "You find him and I'll come get him."

Why the Ziphites Betrayed David

The Ziphites acted out of self-preservation and self-interest, fearing Saul after his massacre of Nob, and sought to endear themselves to the king.

Now let's go back to these questions I ask. First, why would the Ziphites betray David to Saul? The answer is in all probability it was done for self-preservation and also for self-interest. They not only feared for their lives, but they also wanted to endear themselves to Saul who held the governmental, the military, and the political power. Now, when I tell you that they acted out of self-preservation, the question automatically has to arise: What spooked them? Why were they afraid? Why would they think that Saul would harm them? Well, look back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 22 and let's begin reading there with verse 6. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. We'll read through verse 19. I want you to see what Saul has just done. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. "When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having a spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him, then said Saul to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites, will the son

of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, And there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me, that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie and wait as it is this day." Now watch. "Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him," which is a lie, "and gave him vittles, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob, and they came, all of them, to the king. And Saul said, Hear now thou, son of Ahitub."

And he answered, "Here am I, my lord." And Saul said unto him, "Why have you conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise up against me to lie in wait as it is this day?" Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is an honorable in all of thine house. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything unto thy servant, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more." Then the king said, "Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father's house." And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, "Turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David. And because they knew when he fled, and did not show it me." But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, "Turn thou, and fall upon the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons. That's 85 persons.

"...that did wear the linen ephod." Now watch,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 22:6-19

"...and Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women and children, sucklings and oxen and ass and sheep with the edge of the sword."

What did Saul just do? He just murdered an entire city. Because he said, "You knew when David fled, and you didn't tell me." And of course the truth of the matter is this, Ahimelech and all those people were absolutely totally innocent. If you will go back to verse 1 of chapter 22, look at how David deceives Ahimelech. He could not tell him the truth. "David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave of Adullam." "And when his brother and all of his father's house heard it, they went down thither unto him." Chapter 21 is what I want. Chapter 21.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 22:6-19

"Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of thy business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my service to such and such a place."

"Now therefore, what is under thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present." And the priest answered David and said, "There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread, if the young men have kept themselves at least from women." And David answered the priest and said unto him, "Of a truth, women have been kept from us for about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in a vessel." So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now therefore a man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. And David said unto Ahimelech, "And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword?

For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." And the priest said, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here, wrapped in the cloth behind the ephod. If thou wilt take that, take it, for there is none other save that here." And David said, "There is none like that, give it to me." So what has David done? David has answered the priest, and he said, "The king just has commanded me a business, and told me not to tell anyone." And the reason I don't have my weapon, I had to leave in too big of a hurry. So Ahimelech gave him the bread. Ahimelech gave him the sword. But he did not inquire of God for him. He did absolutely nothing for him. And now Saul comes along and says, "You knew when David fled and you didn't show me." And Ahimelech rightly, truthfully says, "He's your son-in-law. There's no one more honorable in your house than David. He's the one that obeys you. How would we know?"

Innocence has never deterred a tyrant or a murderer. And the mere suspicion that Ahimelech had helped David was sufficient, not only for Ahimelech's murder, but for the entire priestly family and all those people who lived in Nob. So, you could say that the Ziphites did indeed have a reason to fear Saul. They probably knew about the murder of the inhabitants of Nob. And if Saul is going to slay the Lord's priests, he's certainly not going to hold back against a normal everyday citizen. So they did have a right to fear Saul. However, they were craven and cowardly because they were as bad as Saul. They were willing to sacrifice David and his men who were innocent in order to preserve their own lives and in order to gain favor with Saul. So they were not only willing to betray an innocent man and his men, they were willing to endear themselves with Saul at the price of their heads, and thus they were as wicked as Doeg. They were as bad as Saul himself.

The Wickedness of the Betrayal

The betrayal was especially base because the Ziphites were David's own tribe of Judah, descendants of Caleb, yet they became strangers to faith and character.

Now let's ask this second question. What made their betrayal so base and so wicked? You can understand self-preservation, but you cannot understand preserving your life with the lives of innocent men. What made their betrayal so base? Well, you have to remember that David was of the tribe of Judah. I want you to look in your Bibles, hold 1 Samuel 23, but turn right over to 1 Chronicles chapter 2. 1 Chronicles chapter 2, and let's look at verses 12 through 16. 1 Chronicles chapter 2. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 12. 1 Chronicles 2 verse 12. "And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat his firstborn, Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh, whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail, the sons of Zeruiah, Abishai and Joab, and Asahel three, and Abigail bare Amasa, the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite." Now, I want you to note, if you would, here's David listed of the tribe of Judah.

Now, I want you to skip down to verse 42. Skip down to verse 42. We're still in the tribe of Judah. "Now the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel, were Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph? And the sons of Mareshah, the father of Hebron." So Ziph was the grandson of godly Caleb. The Ziphites were Judahites. They were David's own tribe. They were Caleb's good stock. Thus you have David's own kindred willing to sacrifice David and his men in order to save themselves. Now Caleb was a good, godly, and faithful man as you know.

If you will look in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3. And Caleb had another descendant who was not so good nor godly. Notice in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3 you read about Nabal.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 25:3

"Now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was the house of Caleb."

You remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies that brought back an honest report when Moses sent them to spy out the land. Caleb was the man who said, "I want that mountain. Give me Hebron. Give me that mountain." And God did give him that. And now you have the Ziphites, who were descendants of Caleb, who were of the tribe of Judah, betraying David and his men, who were Judahites as well.

We need to learn a very important lesson. Here it is. Not all descendants of godly men turn out to be godly themselves. Not all descendants of patriots turn out to be patriotic themselves. It is possible to destroy a good and godly heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is not only possible, it happens. Look at what happened to the Ziphites. I can assure you, Caleb would be enraged at his descendants.

Let me give you a quote. Psalm 61 verse 5. David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 61:5

"For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name."

Did you hear what he says?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 61:5

"Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name."

I come from a goodly stock. I come from believers. You've given me heritage. It's possible to destroy that heritage. Now, I want you to hold 1 Samuel 23, but I want you to turn to Psalm 54. I want you to see Psalm 54 in light of 1 Samuel chapter 23. It is important that we read the heading of Psalm 54 before we read the Psalm. You're going to understand why David wrote Psalm 54. It happened during this time, 1 Samuel chapter 23. So look at the heading of Psalm 54. "To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?" So Psalm 54 is written when the Ziphites were betraying David to Saul. So let's read these seven verses.

David says, "Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God before them. Behold, God is mine helper, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies, cut them off in thy truth, I will freely sacrifice unto Thee, I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good. For He delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye hath seen His desire upon mine enemies."

Now, I want you to remember last week, I quoted our Lord from Matthew chapter 10, when He said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:36

"...and a man's foes shall be they of his own household."

I want you to look at this. In verse 3 of Psalm 54, what does David say when the Ziphites go to betray him? He says, "For strangers are risen up against me." Strangers? What? They were Judahites. And yet he calls them strangers. And the Hebrew word for "stranger" here literally means a foreigner, a stranger, or a prostitute. Isn't that amazing? David is saying, "These are supposed to be my people, but they've so prostituted themselves, they're strangers to me." They were not only Israelites, they were David's own tribe of Judah, and yet he calls them strangers. Why? Because they were indeed strangers to faith, they were strangers to character, they were strangers to integrity, they were strangers to honor, and no doubt, godly Caleb would have described them the same way, calling them a stranger. They may have had the blood of Caleb, but they did not have the character of Caleb.

Look at verses 4 and verse 7. David says, "Behold, God is mine helper. The Lord is with them that uphold my soul." In verse 4. Watch verse 5. "He shall reward evil unto mine enemies." Wow! Skip down to verse 7. "For He had delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye had seen His desire upon mine enemies."

Now, the Ziphites are referred to as not just strangers, but enemies. So the Ziphites lost the godly heritage that had been given to them and passed down to them through Caleb. Let me ask you a question. What has happened to the godly heritage in America? Do you realize we have become a nation of strangers? We are strangers in our own land. Strangers who are alien to our God and His law. We marvel at how America turns her back upon her friends? We should not marvel, for we've turned our back upon God. If we've deserted and forsaken and betrayed the one true and the living God, it's nothing to betray people or nations. What has happened to America's godly heritage? We're being ruled over by men who hate God and who hate God's law. Betrayal has become a way of life for Americans. Since we've betrayed our God, it's a small step to betray others. We have enemies in control in our government because we've become enemies to God. We've forsaken our own heritage. The baseness and the depravity of this betrayal, because it was done by David's own people, his own kindred, his own tribe.

David's Narrow Escape

Saul's forces surround David on a mountain, but God intervenes through a Philistine invasion, forcing Saul to abandon the chase.

Third, you have to ask this question, how close was David's escape? Well, we have several adages that I think that are applicable. We have one adage, "It's too close for comfort." Or, "He made it by the skin of his teeth." Well, here's what happened. Saul has come out with his army. And he's come to the mountain where David is. Saul is on this side of the mountain. David is on this side of the mountain. But Saul is wise. He knows he's chasing David around the mountain. And so he divides his forces, and he sends some to cut David off as David comes around the other side of the mountain.

If you will skip down to verse 26. "And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain, And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them." So Saul then divided his men, and he basically had David cornered. It was at this point, had God not sovereignly, miraculously, and powerfully intervened, humanly speaking, David would have been captured. So David makes his escape by the skin of his teeth. Now, I want you to see my last point. Providential emergencies. Look if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 23 at verses 27 and 29. "But there came a messenger unto Saul saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines." Let me just stop right there for right now. Note if you would, there came a messenger to Saul saying, "Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land."

I find this extremely interesting. What did David pray? Don't turn back there, but in Psalm 54 and verse 3, David said, "Behold, God is my helper. God, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul." So he said, "God is my helper." Certainly God helped David in this providential emergency. Just what it seems is if David's going to be captured, Saul has to quit the chase. So David then is extricated from the snare of Saul by the skin of his teeth. What did they say in verse 27?

"Haste thee and come for the Philistines have invaded the land." This had to be a special kind of emergency. Let me ask you a question. Did anybody send Saul word and say, "Haste thee and come! For the Philistines have invaded Keilah?" Uh-uh. Saul didn't care about Keilah. He didn't care about the inhabitants. Why would Saul be concerned now? The answer is because undoubtedly the Philistines were robbing and raiding where Saul had private interests.

Providential Emergencies and God's Sovereignty

God used the Philistine emergency to deliver David, demonstrating that He can use even enemies to accomplish His purposes. David wisely moved to a new stronghold.

Look if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 23 at verses 27 and 29. "But there came a messenger unto Saul saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines." Let me just stop right there for right now. Note if you would, there came a messenger to Saul saying, "Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land." I find this extremely interesting. What did David pray? Don't turn back there, but in Psalm 54 and verse 3, David said, "Behold, God is my helper. God, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul." So he said, "God is my helper." Certainly God helped David in this providential emergency. Just what it seems is if David's going to be captured, Saul has to quit the chase. So David then is extricated from the snare of Saul by the skin of his teeth. What did they say in verse 27?

It was his own property that was at stake now. So now all of a sudden, it is an emergency. He's got to go protect what he has. Have you ever stopped to think about this? How many times emergencies have saved our lives? How many times emergencies have protected us? And many times we have absolutely no idea what has happened. But an emergency comes up and we have to quit something.

We have to stop what we're doing and we're aggravated and irritated. And yet, in the providence of God, God arranged that emergency to preserve our lives. Let me point something else out. When the Philistines invaded the land, they did not intend to help David. It was not their intention. "Oh, Saul is after David. Let's invade some of Saul's territory and we'll save David's life." No, the Philistines hated David. Because once David was made king, they came up to attack him again. The point I'm trying to make is this. God is absolutely sovereign. And although our enemies mean it for evil, God means it for good. And God is never at a loss to save us, even if He has to use those who are against us. So God sovereignly, powerfully delivered David. Now, let me show you something. Watch this carefully. Look in verse 29. After God has sent this providential emergency, the Philistines have invaded the land. Saul has to leave.

He has to quit the chase. Look in verse 29. "And David went up from thence and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi." I want you to note the wisdom that David exercised. David was not a presumptuous individual in this instance. He did not say, "What? Praise the Lord. The Lord has just protected me here and preserved me here. I think I'm going to just stay here." No.

He knew that Saul knew where he was. And he knew how close he had come to being captured. And so although David trusted God, he used wisdom to get out of harm's way. It's wise when God delivers us to not hang around the place where He delivered us. David said, "I'll find another stronghold." Do you realize it is foolish? It is rash? And it is a tempting of God to plunge headlong into danger, willingly, knowingly, premeditatedly, thinking somehow, "Well, God's just going to protect me." No. God gives us wisdom. God gives us common sense. And God teaches us to use the means that He's placed at our disposal. And when David escaped with the skin of his teeth, he got out of there.

Applications for Believers

Weaver applies the text: draw near to God in danger, recognize our immortality until God's purpose is done, and live with courage because God holds our souls.

Now let me make several applications this morning. The first one is this. I hope you've already put this one down in your mind. We must draw near to God as danger draws near to us. I told you last week the safest place to be is right smack dab in the middle of the will of God, wrapped in His protective embrace. I quoted last week and I quoted this week, Proverbs 18 and verse 10. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and are safe." We need to learn, the more dangerous it becomes in our lives, in our environment, in our surroundings, the closer we need to draw to God. You look at the riots, the home invasions, I've got news for you. I'd rather God keep me from those things than to protect me in one of those things. I mean, I don't mind Him protecting me in one, and I'd certainly ask Him to, but I much prefer not even to be in that situation at all. So the more danger surrounds us, the closer we need to get to the Lord.

Here's a second application, and this is based upon verse 14 of 1 Samuel 23, where the Bible said, "And Saul sought Him every day, but God delivered Him not into His hand." Especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him. Stop and think about that. I don't care how great our enemies are. I don't care how powerful our enemies are. I don't care how multitudinous our enemies are. They cannot touch us until God is through with us. We may as well go ahead and be men and women of courage and determination, for we serve the Lord God, and He's the one that holds our souls in life. The Bible says in Psalm 66 and verse 9, talking about God,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:9

"Who holdeth our soul in life,"

listen,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:9

"and suffereth not our feet to be moved."

Wow. I want to leave you with Psalm 37 verse 28. Listen carefully. "For the Lord loveth the judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.

They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." God does not forsake His saints. Since He does not forsake us, we may as well be courageous and bold. I just read an article this morning concerning a pastor friend of mine who died recently, we prayed for him, Pastor Jim Grove. We have his wife on the prayer list. I read an article commending Pastor Jim Grove, written by an atheist. And the atheist was saying, how courteous, how courageous, and how visible Pastor Grove was. And every year when they had the fair up in Pennsylvania, or whatever, when the atheists had the booth, the atheists said Pastor Grove would always come by and engage us.

He would preach to us. He would reason with us. But he was always courteous and courageous. And the atheists went on to say, "We will miss him this year at our booth." Isn't that amazing? Folks, let me tell you, we might as well be courageous. We don't have to be uncivil or unkind, but we might as well be courageous because God holds our souls in life. And until God is through with us, we're immortal. We cannot die until He determines.

Safety and security are in the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, for Your gracious, sovereign protection. Help us, Lord, to flee to Thee, to trust in Thee, to look to Thee, to lean upon Thee. Lord, Thou art our protector, Thou art our shield, Thou art our buckler. Without Thee, Lord, we are nothing. Without Thee, we are lost. O God, grant us Thy sovereign safety and security and preserve us for Christ's sake. But Lord, as Thou dost preserve us, make us bold and courageous and make us, heavenly Father, submissive to Thee in all things. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Sovereign Protection

Summary: God alone provides true safety and security, delivering David from Saul's relentless pursuit by His sovereign power.

Evidence: Verse 14: 'Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.' Weaver emphasizes that all governments cannot capture one man unless God delivers him.

Human Depravity and Betrayal

Summary: The Ziphites' voluntary betrayal of David, their own kinsman, illustrates the depth of human wickedness and the loss of godly heritage.

Evidence: Weaver notes the Ziphites were worse than Judas, volunteering without payment, and were descendants of Caleb who became strangers to faith.

Hypocrisy of Wicked Rulers

Summary: Saul's sanctimonious blessing of the betrayers and his self-pity reveal the hypocrisy common among ungodly leaders.

Evidence: Saul says 'Blessed be ye of the Lord' to those betraying innocent David, while blaming David for his own troubles.

Providential Emergencies as Deliverance

Summary: God uses unexpected events, like the Philistine invasion, to rescue His people from danger.

Evidence: The messenger's urgent call about the Philistines forced Saul to abandon his pursuit of David at the critical moment.

The Believer's Immortality and Courage

Summary: Until God's purpose for a believer is complete, no enemy can harm them; therefore, Christians should live boldly.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him,' citing Psalm 37:28.

Key Arguments

God's deliverance is the only reason David escaped

Summary: Humanly speaking, David should have been captured, but God sovereignly prevented Saul from taking him.

Evidence: Weaver points to verse 14: 'God delivered him not into his hand,' and the narrow escape on the mountain.

The Ziphites betrayed David out of fear and self-interest

Summary: After Saul's massacre of Nob, the Ziphites feared for their lives and sought favor with Saul by betraying David.

Evidence: Weaver connects the Ziphites' actions to the slaughter of the priests in 1 Samuel 22, showing their motive of self-preservation.

Betrayal by one's own people is especially wicked

Summary: The Ziphites were Judahites, David's own tribe, making their betrayal a profound loss of godly heritage.

Evidence: Weaver traces the Ziphites' lineage to Caleb in 1 Chronicles 2 and calls them 'strangers' as David did in Psalm 54.

Saul's hypocrisy mirrors modern politicians

Summary: Saul's self-pity and manipulation are patterns seen in ungodly rulers today.

Evidence: Weaver compares Saul's 'if you're not for me, you're against me' attitude to contemporary political rhetoric.

God can use even enemies to accomplish His purposes

Summary: The Philistine invasion, though not intended to help David, was used by God to save him.

Evidence: Weaver notes the Philistines hated David, yet their raid forced Saul to retreat, showing God's sovereignty over all events.

Scripture References

1 Samuel 23:19-29

Context: The primary text of the sermon, detailing the Ziphites' betrayal and David's escape.

Proverbs 18:10

Context: Quoted as the theme verse: 'The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.'

1 Samuel 23:14

Context: Key verse emphasizing God's sovereign protection: 'Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.'

1 Samuel 26:1

Context: Shows the Ziphites betrayed David a second time, reinforcing their treachery.

1 Samuel 22:6-19

Context: The massacre of the priests at Nob, demonstrating Saul's brutality and the Ziphites' reason to fear him.

1 Samuel 21:1-9

Context: David's deception of Ahimelech, showing the priest's innocence in aiding David.

1 Chronicles 2:12-16, 42

Context: Genealogy showing the Ziphites were descendants of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah.

1 Samuel 25:3

Context: Nabal, another descendant of Caleb, was churlish and evil, illustrating the loss of godly heritage.

Psalm 54:1-7

Context: David's psalm written when the Ziphites betrayed him, calling them strangers and enemies.

Psalm 61:5

Context: David acknowledges the heritage of those who fear God, contrasting with the Ziphites' apostasy.

Matthew 10:36

Context: Quoted to show that a man's foes may be of his own household, applied to the Ziphites' betrayal.

Psalm 66:9

Context: God holds our soul in life and does not let our feet be moved.

Psalm 37:28

Context: The Lord does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Context: Referenced to emphasize that the problem is with God's people, who need to humble themselves and repent.

Historical References

John Gill's commentary on Hachilah and Masada

Context: Weaver quotes Gill describing the geography of Hachilah and the fortress of Masada, explaining how the Ziphites could see David.

The Great Escape (1963 film)

Context: Used as an illustration of a thrilling escape, comparing it to David's narrow escape from Saul.

Pastor Jim Grove

Context: A recently deceased pastor friend commended by an atheist for his courteous and courageous witness, used as an example of bold faith.

Important Quotes

All the governments of men put together cannot capture one man unless God delivers him into their hand.

Significance: Summarizes the sermon's central thesis on God's absolute sovereignty over human authorities.

An ungodly man is not normally inclined to do anything that is godly and right.

Significance: Explains Saul's failure to protect Keilah and his overall character.

They were worse than Judas. At least Judas said, 'What will you give me?' They didn't ask for anything.

Significance: Highlights the extreme depravity of the Ziphites' voluntary betrayal.

Innocence has never deterred a tyrant or a murderer.

Significance: Comments on Saul's slaughter of the priests despite their innocence.

Not all descendants of godly men turn out to be godly themselves.

Significance: Key lesson from the Ziphites' betrayal, warning about the loss of godly heritage.

Especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him.

Significance: Application encouraging believers that their lives are in God's hands until His purpose is complete.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.

Significance: The theme verse of the entire message, quoted from Proverbs 18:10.

Discussion Questions

How does the truth that 'God delivered him not into his hand' shape our understanding of safety and security in dangerous times?

Context: Based on 1 Samuel 23:14 and the sermon's emphasis on God's sovereign protection.

In what ways do we see the same sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude of Saul in modern leaders or even in ourselves?

Context: Weaver compares Saul's self-pity and manipulation to contemporary politicians.

What can we learn from the Ziphites about the danger of losing a godly heritage, and how can we guard against it?

Context: The Ziphites were descendants of Caleb but became strangers to faith.

How have you experienced a 'providential emergency' that turned out to be God's means of protection or redirection?

Context: Weaver discusses how the Philistine invasion saved David and how emergencies can preserve us.

What does it mean to be 'immortal until God is through with you,' and how should that affect our daily courage?

Context: Application point based on Psalm 37:28 and the example of Pastor Jim Grove.

Applications

Draw near to God as danger draws near

Summary: The more dangerous our circumstances, the closer we should cling to the Lord, who is our strong tower.

Evidence: Weaver urges, 'We must draw near to God as danger draws near to us,' citing Proverbs 18:10.

Live with courage because God holds our lives

Summary: Since God preserves His saints and determines our days, we can be bold and courageous in our witness.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We may as well be courageous because God holds our souls in life,' referencing Psalm 66:9 and the example of Pastor Grove.

Use wisdom and avoid presumption after deliverance

Summary: After God rescues us, we should not remain in the place of danger but wisely move to safety.

Evidence: David moved to En-gedi after his escape; Weaver warns against tempting God by plunging headlong into danger.

Repent of blaming others for our troubles

Summary: Like Saul, we often blame others for problems caused by our own sin; we must humble ourselves and repent.

Evidence: Weaver applies 2 Chronicles 7:14, stating, 'The problem is with us. We need to repent and cease blaming others.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T19:38:30Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T21:26:54Z

Clean Transcript

Safety And Security Are In The Lord - Part 2 of 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

1 Samuel 23, and this is the second part of my message on safety and security are in the Lord. You'll remember that last Lord's Day, we read through 1 Samuel chapter 23, down through verse 18. I'll take a moment and review that, but today we're going to read from verses 19 through 29. So 1 Samuel chapter 23, beginning there with verse 19: "Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?"
#1 | 0:14 to 0:57 | cleaned
"Now therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." And Saul said, "Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare ye it, and know and see his place, where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there. For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. And come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah." And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul.
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But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the plain, on the south of Jeshimon. Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David, whereof he came down into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul. For Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them. But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, "Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land." Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines.
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Therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.
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Now, last week, we began looking at 1 Samuel chapter 23, in order for me to demonstrate that true safety and security are in the Lord our God. In fact, I hope, again, before this message is over, you will see the truth of Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10, where the Bible says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe." You remember last week as we looked at the first 18 verses, we saw how King Saul was incessantly, constantly, continually seeking David's life. In fact, the Bible says, in verse 14, "Saul sought him every day." So the entire government of Saul was summoned together to find David so that Saul might kill him. Time and time again, they sought for David, and time and time again, they failed. Here's a truth that I want you to understand. The entirety of Saul's government was seeking after David, and they could not discover him, and they could not capture him. All the governments of men put together cannot capture one man unless God delivers him into their hand.
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And if you'll look at verse 14 again, this is the theme, "And David abode in the wilderness and the strongholds, and remained in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand." So God sovereignly, powerfully protected David and preserved him.
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Now, last week we were able only to cover two points from this chapter. First, we saw providential endeavors, where David and his men risked their lives to go save the inhabitants of Keilah and their possessions. I might add, it was Saul's responsibility to do that. Remember, Saul was king. Saul was the one ordained of God to bring forth justice and judgment and to protect the righteous. But Saul failed in his responsibility and God sent David and David's men to accomplish this task. Saul was far from helping the inhabitants of Keilah.
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Let me make this statement and I want you to apply it to our modern day situation. An ungodly man is not normally inclined to do anything that is godly and right. So Saul was basically an ungodly man. He had turned against God, he had turned against His Word, and he's certainly not about to do that which is godly and right.
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Secondly, in this chapter we saw providential encouragement. Saul could not find David, and yet Jonathan his son knew exactly where David was. And Jonathan went to David and encouraged him in the Lord. I pointed out three things about Jonathan's friendship. First of all, he was a pious friend. Secondly, he was a selfless or self-denying friend. And thirdly, he was a constant friend. And may I point out the fact that Jonathan was willing to take the back seat to David. He told David, "Saul, my father, doth know that you're going to be king, and I'll be second to you." In other words, I'm willing for you to be king.
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I don't have to have the kingdom. God has designed for you to have the kingdom. That's my heart's desire for you. I'll take back seat. And so David had a wonderful friend in Jonathan.
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Now today we come to the third and fourth points of this message. The third point is this: providential escapes. And you're going to find this in verses 19 through 26.
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Now in consideration of this point, this great escape that God provided for David, I also want you to see the depth of the depravity of man. There's nothing more thrilling than an escape, unless it is a very narrow escape, which really tends to get the adrenaline flowing. Many of you will remember years ago there was a war movie titled "The Great Escape" with Steve McQueen and a number of other folks in it, and it's an excellent movie. I've seen it a number of times and certainly how these men were breaking out of the Stalag or out of the prison there during the German occupation and they had them there as prison. It was a tremendous movie.
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Well, when wickedness seeks to prosper at the expense of righteousness, we're even doubly thankful for what you and I would call a narrow escape. Now Saul had been seeking for David, and he couldn't find him, and so he went back to Gibeah. Gibeah was the place of Saul's residence, and it was also the place where he held court. While Saul was at Gibeah, the Ziphites come, and they bring to Saul a proposal. That is, if you come, we will turn David over to you. We know where David is. So the question has to be asked, how did they know where David was? Because David is hiding himself in the wilderness of Ziph.
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Let me give you a quote right quickly from John Gill. I want you to listen carefully. John Gill said this, "Hachilah is called by Jerome Ekelah and he speaks of a village of that name seven miles from Eleutheropolis and of Jeshimon as ten miles from Jericho to the south near the Dead Sea on the top of the hill which has an ascent of thirty furlongs or about four miles. Jonathan the high priest built a castle and called it Masada, often spoken of by Josephus." You remember Masada, the high mountain that the Romans had to build a road up to, to attack the inhabitants there. From Masada, you could see the panorama of the whole area, the entire vicinity. Undoubtedly, the Ziphites on that mountain could see very clearly, way off in the distances, and they saw David and his men as they went back and forth in the wilderness. In fact, the Bible says that he was on the hill of Hachilah in verse 19. "Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south side of Jeshimon?"
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And so they hastened then, once they saw David, to King Saul and said, "We found him." Now, once David has been observed, they then come to Saul with this proposal. Look in verse 20.
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"Now, therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." Now, the interesting thing is this. The Ziphites were not only willing to betray David here in 1 Samuel chapter 23, but if you look in 1 Samuel chapter 26 and verse 1, here is the second time the Ziphites are willing to betray David. "And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?" So twice now, they're willing to betray David. Let me just say this, they volunteered to betray David. Now, I chose the term "volunteered" because they were certainly under no obligation to report David to Saul. David was not a criminal. David was not seeking Saul's life. Saul was seeking David's life. And interestingly, Saul did not threaten the Ziphites. He did not examine the Ziphites. He did not send people there and say, "Well, have you seen him?" No. He did not examine them.
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He did not threaten them. They volunteered to deliver David into Saul. In fact, they were worse than Judas. At least Judas said, "What will you give me?" They didn't ask for anything. They were just simply willing to betray because they knew that Saul was thirsting after David's blood.
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Now, there are several questions that should arise in our mind and those questions have to be answered if we're going to see the greatness of man's depravity and also the greatness of God's deliverance. Here are the three questions I want to ask. We'll not cover them just this moment, but I will cover them momentarily. First, why would the Ziphites betray David to Saul?
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Secondly, what made their betrayal so wicked? And thirdly, how close was David's escape from Saul? Now, before I answer these questions, I want you to notice the sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude of Saul. This same sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude is manifested in our politicians today. We see it on every hand because it abounds in wicked rulers. Look if you would at verses 21 and 23. When the Ziphites now have come down and volunteered to betray David, verse 21, "And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, and prepare yet, and know, and see his place where his haunt is."
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"And who hath seen him there? For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. But come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass. If he be in the land, I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."
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Now, I want you to know, this unhappy, wicked king blesses those men who are ready to betray David and his men. He views their betrayal as having pity upon him, and he is saying that here he is in his palace, suffering at the hands of David. I want to show you this attitude. I want you to flip back to 1 Samuel chapter 22, and look at verses 7 and 8. This attitude of King Saul is manifested even today. Watch 1 Samuel 22, beginning of verse 7.
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"Then Saul said to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of a hundred? That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son have made a league with the son of Jesse. And there is none of you that is sorry for me and showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me to lie and wait as it is this day."
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Can you hear this pathetic murmuring? "Would you not have compassion on me? None of you are sorry for me. Nobody's looking after me. No one's taking care of me. If you really loved me, if you really concerned yourself, you would be wanting to help me." So his attitude is, "If you're not for me, you're against me. If you're not with me, you're against me." I think we've heard that before.
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Not just from our Lord, but from one of our presidents. And we hear that all the time. In other words, if you don't support this program, if you don't stand with me on this, then obviously you're against me as well. So poor Saul, here he is thinking that David is the source of all of his troubles. He did not and he would not blame himself or take responsibility himself. Let me tell you, if you were to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 15, it was not David that disobeyed God, it was Saul that disobeyed God. It was Saul that rejected the commandments of God. It was Saul that turned against God. It was Saul that was rejected by God Himself. And here Saul is saying, "I want you to have compassion on me. I want you to be sorrowful for me because everybody is against me." Well, they should have been against him.
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How many Christians do you know with the same attitude? How many politicians do you know with the same attitude? The truth of the matter is this, folks. We blame everything on everybody but ourselves. Our sins are our own. We are the transgressors. We are the ones that have sinned. We bring the trouble and condemnation upon our own heads. We are the problem. Everyone in this room can quote 2 Chronicles 7:14. What did God say?
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"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves..." You know the verse. The problem is with us. We need to repent and cease blaming others. So Saul now is saying, "I'm blessing you for betraying innocent individuals." Saul is blaming all of his troubles upon David. And Saul is accusing David of acting subtly, while at the same time, he's acting subtly himself. He says, "Now here's what I want you to do."
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"You go and spy out where he is. You find out where he is certainly. And when you find out, you come back and tell me, and then I'll take all my men, and we'll go down, and we have to go through the thousands of Judah. We'll do it until we find him." So he's accusing David of acting subtly, while he's acting subtly himself. What he's trying to do is this. He's trying to find out for certain exactly where David is, so he will not spook his prey. I want you to note what he's doing.
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Here's what most tyrants and most wicked politicians do. They set up their targets for destruction and they let other people do the dirty work. "You find him and I'll come get him."
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Now let's go back to these questions I ask. First, why would the Ziphites betray David to Saul? The answer is in all probability it was done for self-preservation and also for self-interest. They not only feared for their lives, but they also wanted to endear themselves to Saul who held the governmental, the military, and the political power. Now, when I tell you that they acted out of self-preservation, the question automatically has to arise: What spooked them? Why were they afraid? Why would they think that Saul would harm them? Well, look back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 22 and let's begin reading there with verse 6. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. We'll read through verse 19. I want you to see what Saul has just done. 1 Samuel 22 verse 6. "When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having a spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him, then said Saul to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites, will the son
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of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, And there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me, that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie and wait as it is this day." Now watch. "Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him," which is a lie, "and gave him vittles, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob, and they came, all of them, to the king. And Saul said, Hear now thou, son of Ahitub."
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And he answered, "Here am I, my lord." And Saul said unto him, "Why have you conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise up against me to lie in wait as it is this day?" Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is an honorable in all of thine house. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him?
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Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything unto thy servant, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more." Then the king said, "Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father's house." And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, "Turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David. And because they knew when he fled, and did not show it me." But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, "Turn thou, and fall upon the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons. That's 85 persons.
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"...that did wear the linen ephod." Now watch, "...and Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women and children, sucklings and oxen and ass and sheep with the edge of the sword." What did Saul just do? He just murdered an entire city. Because he said, "You knew when David fled, and you didn't tell me." And of course the truth of the matter is this, Ahimelech and all those people were absolutely totally innocent. If you will go back to verse 1 of chapter 22, look at how David deceives Ahimelech. He could not tell him the truth. "David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave of Adullam."
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"And when his brother and all of his father's house heard it, they went down thither unto him." Chapter 21 is what I want. Chapter 21. "Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of thy business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my service to such and such a place."
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"Now therefore, what is under thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present." And the priest answered David and said, "There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread, if the young men have kept themselves at least from women." And David answered the priest and said unto him, "Of a truth, women have been kept from us for about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in a vessel." So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now therefore a man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. And David said unto Ahimelech, "And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword?
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For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." And the priest said, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here, wrapped in the cloth behind the ephod. If thou wilt take that, take it, for there is none other save that here." And David said, "There is none like that, give it to me." So what has David done? David has answered the priest, and he said, "The king just has commanded me a business, and told me not to tell anyone."
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And the reason I don't have my weapon, I had to leave in too big of a hurry. So Ahimelech gave him the bread. Ahimelech gave him the sword. But he did not inquire of God for him. He did absolutely nothing for him. And now Saul comes along and says, "You knew when David fled and you didn't show me." And Ahimelech rightly, truthfully says, "He's your son-in-law. There's no one more honorable in your house than David. He's the one that obeys you. How would we know?"
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Innocence has never deterred a tyrant or a murderer. And the mere suspicion that Ahimelech had helped David was sufficient, not only for Ahimelech's murder, but for the entire priestly family and all those people who lived in Nob. So, you could say that the Ziphites did indeed have a reason to fear Saul. They probably knew about the murder of the inhabitants of Nob. And if Saul is going to slay the Lord's priests, he's certainly not going to hold back against a normal everyday citizen. So they did have a right to fear Saul. However, they were craven and cowardly because they were as bad as Saul. They were willing to sacrifice David and his men who were innocent in order to preserve their own lives and in order to gain favor with Saul. So they were not only willing to betray an innocent man and his men, they were willing to endear themselves with Saul at the price of their heads, and thus they were as wicked as Doeg. They were as bad as Saul himself.
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Now let's ask this second question. What made their betrayal so base and so wicked? You can understand self-preservation, but you cannot understand preserving your life with the lives of innocent men. What made their betrayal so base? Well, you have to remember that David was of the tribe of Judah. I want you to look in your Bibles, hold 1 Samuel 23, but turn right over to 1 Chronicles chapter 2. 1 Chronicles chapter 2, and let's look at verses 12 through 16. 1 Chronicles chapter 2. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 12. 1 Chronicles 2 verse 12. "And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat his firstborn, Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh, whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail, the sons of Zeruiah, Abishai and Joab, and Asahel three, and Abigail bare Amasa, the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite." Now, I want you to note, if you would, here's David listed of the tribe of Judah.
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Now, I want you to skip down to verse 42. Skip down to verse 42. We're still in the tribe of Judah.
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"Now the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel, were Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph? And the sons of Mareshah, the father of Hebron." So Ziph was the grandson of godly Caleb. The Ziphites were Judahites. They were David's own tribe. They were Caleb's good stock. Thus you have David's own kindred willing to sacrifice David and his men in order to save themselves. Now Caleb was a good, godly, and faithful man as you know.
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If you will look in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3. And Caleb had another descendant who was not so good nor godly. Notice in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3 you read about Nabal. "Now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was the house of Caleb." You remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies that brought back an honest report when Moses sent them to spy out the land. Caleb was the man who said, "I want that mountain. Give me Hebron. Give me that mountain." And God did give him that. And now you have the Ziphites, who were descendants of Caleb, who were of the tribe of Judah, betraying David and his men, who were Judahites as well.
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We need to learn a very important lesson. Here it is. Not all descendants of godly men turn out to be godly themselves. Not all descendants of patriots turn out to be patriotic themselves. It is possible to destroy a good and godly heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is not only possible, it happens. Look at what happened to the Ziphites. I can assure you, Caleb would be enraged at his descendants.
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Let me give you a quote. Psalm 61 verse 5. David said, "For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name." Did you hear what he says? "Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name." I come from a goodly stock. I come from believers. You've given me heritage. It's possible to destroy that heritage. Now, I want you to hold 1 Samuel 23, but I want you to turn to Psalm 54. I want you to see Psalm 54 in light of 1 Samuel chapter 23. It is important that we read the heading of Psalm 54 before we read the Psalm. You're going to understand why David wrote Psalm 54. It happened during this time, 1 Samuel chapter 23. So look at the heading of Psalm 54. "To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?" So Psalm 54 is written when the Ziphites were betraying David to Saul. So let's read these seven verses.
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David says, "Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God before them. Behold, God is mine helper, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies, cut them off in thy truth, I will freely sacrifice unto Thee, I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good. For He delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye hath seen His desire upon mine enemies."
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Now, I want you to remember last week, I quoted our Lord from Matthew chapter 10, when He said, "...and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." I want you to look at this. In verse 3 of Psalm 54, what does David say when the Ziphites go to betray him? He says, "For strangers are risen up against me." Strangers? What? They were Judahites. And yet he calls them strangers.
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And the Hebrew word for "stranger" here literally means a foreigner, a stranger, or a prostitute. Isn't that amazing? David is saying, "These are supposed to be my people, but they've so prostituted themselves, they're strangers to me." They were not only Israelites, they were David's own tribe of Judah, and yet he calls them strangers. Why? Because they were indeed strangers to faith, they were strangers to character, they were strangers to integrity, they were strangers to honor, and no doubt, godly Caleb would have described them the same way, calling them a stranger. They may have had the blood of Caleb, but they did not have the character of Caleb.
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Look at verses 4 and verse 7. David says, "Behold, God is mine helper. The Lord is with them that uphold my soul." In verse 4. Watch verse 5. "He shall reward evil unto mine enemies." Wow! Skip down to verse 7. "For He had delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye had seen His desire upon mine enemies."
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Now, the Ziphites are referred to as not just strangers, but enemies. So the Ziphites lost the godly heritage that had been given to them and passed down to them through Caleb. Let me ask you a question. What has happened to the godly heritage in America? Do you realize we have become a nation of strangers? We are strangers in our own land. Strangers who are alien to our God and His law. We marvel at how America turns her back upon her friends? We should not marvel, for we've turned our back upon God. If we've deserted and forsaken and betrayed the one true and the living God, it's nothing to betray people or nations. What has happened to America's godly heritage? We're being ruled over by men who hate God and who hate God's law. Betrayal has become a way of life for Americans. Since we've betrayed our God, it's a small step to betray others. We have enemies in control in our government because we've become enemies to God. We've forsaken our own heritage. The baseness and the depravity of this betrayal, because it was done by David's own people, his own kindred, his own tribe.
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Third, you have to ask this question, how close was David's escape? Well, we have several adages that I think that are applicable. We have one adage, "It's too close for comfort." Or, "He made it by the skin of his teeth." Well, here's what happened. Saul has come out with his army. And he's come to the mountain where David is. Saul is on this side of the mountain. David is on this side of the mountain. But Saul is wise. He knows he's chasing David around the mountain. And so he divides his forces, and he sends some to cut David off as David comes around the other side of the mountain.
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If you will skip down to verse 26. "And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain, And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men compassed David, and his men round about to take them." So Saul then divided his men, and he basically had David cornered. It was at this point, had God not sovereignly, miraculously, and powerfully intervened, humanly speaking, David would have been captured. So David makes his escape by the skin of his teeth. Now, I want you to see my last point. Providential emergencies.
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Look if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 23 at verses 27 and 29. "But there came a messenger unto Saul saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines." Let me just stop right there for right now. Note if you would, there came a messenger to Saul saying, "Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land."
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I find this extremely interesting. What did David pray? Don't turn back there, but in Psalm 54 and verse 3, David said, "Behold, God is my helper. God, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul." So he said, "God is my helper." Certainly God helped David in this providential emergency. Just what it seems is if David's going to be captured, Saul has to quit the chase. So David then is extricated from the snare of Saul by the skin of his teeth. What did they say in verse 27?
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"Haste thee and come for the Philistines have invaded the land." This had to be a special kind of emergency. Let me ask you a question. Did anybody send Saul word and say, "Haste thee and come! For the Philistines have invaded Keilah?" Uh-uh. Saul didn't care about Keilah. He didn't care about the inhabitants. Why would Saul be concerned now? The answer is because undoubtedly the Philistines were robbing and raiding where Saul had private interests.
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It was his own property that was at stake now. So now all of a sudden, it is an emergency. He's got to go protect what he has. Have you ever stopped to think about this? How many times emergencies have saved our lives? How many times emergencies have protected us? And many times we have absolutely no idea what has happened. But an emergency comes up and we have to quit something.
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We have to stop what we're doing and we're aggravated and irritated. And yet, in the providence of God, God arranged that emergency to preserve our lives. Let me point something else out. When the Philistines invaded the land, they did not intend to help David. It was not their intention. "Oh, Saul is after David. Let's invade some of Saul's territory and we'll save David's life." No, the Philistines hated David. Because once David was made king, they came up to attack him again. The point I'm trying to make is this. God is absolutely sovereign. And although our enemies mean it for evil, God means it for good. And God is never at a loss to save us, even if He has to use those who are against us. So God sovereignly, powerfully delivered David. Now, let me show you something. Watch this carefully. Look in verse 29. After God has sent this providential emergency, the Philistines have invaded the land. Saul has to leave.
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He has to quit the chase. Look in verse 29. "And David went up from thence and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi." I want you to note the wisdom that David exercised. David was not a presumptuous individual in this instance. He did not say, "What? Praise the Lord. The Lord has just protected me here and preserved me here. I think I'm going to just stay here." No.
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He knew that Saul knew where he was. And he knew how close he had come to being captured. And so although David trusted God, he used wisdom to get out of harm's way. It's wise when God delivers us to not hang around the place where He delivered us. David said, "I'll find another stronghold." Do you realize it is foolish? It is rash? And it is a tempting of God to plunge headlong into danger, willingly, knowingly, premeditatedly, thinking somehow, "Well, God's just going to protect me." No. God gives us wisdom. God gives us common sense. And God teaches us to use the means that He's placed at our disposal. And when David escaped with the skin of his teeth, he got out of there.
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Go back to verse 14. I want you to look at the latter part. 1 Samuel 23 verse 14. I love this. "And Saul sought Him every day, but God delivered Him not into His hand." Can you imagine that? God delivered Him not into His hand. The only reason, humanly speaking, David was not captured, is God sovereignly, providentially did not deliver David into the hand of Saul.
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Now let me make several applications this morning. The first one is this. I hope you've already put this one down in your mind. We must draw near to God as danger draws near to us. I told you last week the safest place to be is right smack dab in the middle of the will of God, wrapped in His protective embrace. I quoted last week and I quoted this week, Proverbs 18 and verse 10.
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"The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and are safe." We need to learn, the more dangerous it becomes in our lives, in our environment, in our surroundings, the closer we need to draw to God. You look at the riots, the home invasions, I've got news for you. I'd rather God keep me from those things than to protect me in one of those things. I mean, I don't mind Him protecting me in one, and I'd certainly ask Him to, but I much prefer not even to be in that situation at all. So the more danger surrounds us, the closer we need to get to the Lord.
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Here's a second application, and this is based upon verse 14 of 1 Samuel 23, where the Bible said, "And Saul sought Him every day, but God delivered Him not into His hand." Especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him. Stop and think about that. I don't care how great our enemies are. I don't care how powerful our enemies are. I don't care how multitudinous our enemies are. They cannot touch us until God is through with us.
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We may as well go ahead and be men and women of courage and determination, for we serve the Lord God, and He's the one that holds our souls in life. The Bible says in Psalm 66 and verse 9, talking about God, "Who holdeth our soul in life," listen, "and suffereth not our feet to be moved." Wow. I want to leave you with Psalm 37 verse 28. Listen carefully. "For the Lord loveth the judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.
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They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." God does not forsake His saints. Since He does not forsake us, we may as well be courageous and bold. I just read an article this morning concerning a pastor friend of mine who died recently, we prayed for him, Pastor Jim Grove. We have his wife on the prayer list. I read an article commending Pastor Jim Grove, written by an atheist. And the atheist was saying, how courteous, how courageous, and how visible Pastor Grove was. And every year when they had the fair up in Pennsylvania, or whatever, when the atheists had the booth, the atheists said Pastor Grove would always come by and engage us.
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He would preach to us. He would reason with us. But he was always courteous and courageous. And the atheists went on to say, "We will miss him this year at our booth." Isn't that amazing? Folks, let me tell you, we might as well be courageous. We don't have to be uncivil or unkind, but we might as well be courageous because God holds our souls in life. And until God is through with us, we're immortal. We cannot die until He determines.
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Safety and security are in the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, for Your gracious, sovereign protection. Help us, Lord, to flee to Thee, to trust in Thee, to look to Thee, to lean upon Thee. Lord, Thou art our protector, Thou art our shield, Thou art our buckler. Without Thee, Lord, we are nothing. Without Thee, we are lost. O God, grant us Thy sovereign safety and security and preserve us for Christ's sake. But Lord, as Thou dost preserve us, make us bold and courageous and make us, heavenly Father, submissive to Thee in all things. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T19:38:30Z

Safety And Security Are In The Lord - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this second part of his message on 1 Samuel 23, Pastor John Weaver examines David's narrow escape from Saul through the betrayal of the Ziphites and a providential Philistine invasion. He highlights the depth of human depravity in the Ziphites' willingness to betray their own kinsman, Saul's hypocritical self-pity, and God's sovereign protection over David. Applications emphasize drawing near to God in danger, the believer's immortality until God's purpose is complete, and the call to courageous faith.

Review of Part 1

Weaver recaps the first part of the message, covering David's providential endeavors to save Keilah and the providential encouragement from Jonathan.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds of the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?" "Now therefore, O king, come down according to all thy desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand."

And Saul said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare ye it, and know and see his place, where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there. For it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself. And come ye again to me with a certainty, and I will go with you, and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 23:19-29

"Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land."

Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:10

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe."

I don't have to have the kingdom. God has designed for you to have the kingdom. That's my heart's desire for you. I'll take back seat. And so David had a wonderful friend in Jonathan.

Providential Escapes: The Ziphites' Betrayal

The Ziphites volunteer to betray David to Saul, revealing their depravity and self-interest. Saul hypocritically blesses them while plotting David's capture.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 26:1

"And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?"

Here's what most tyrants and most wicked politicians do. They set up their targets for destruction and they let other people do the dirty work. "You find him and I'll come get him."

Why the Ziphites Betrayed David

The Ziphites acted out of self-preservation and self-interest, fearing Saul after his massacre of Nob, and sought to endear themselves to the king.

"...that did wear the linen ephod." Now watch,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 22:6-19

"...and Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women and children, sucklings and oxen and ass and sheep with the edge of the sword."

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 22:6-19

"Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of thy business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my service to such and such a place."

The Wickedness of the Betrayal

The betrayal was especially base because the Ziphites were David's own tribe of Judah, descendants of Caleb, yet they became strangers to faith and character.

If you will look in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3. And Caleb had another descendant who was not so good nor godly. Notice in 1 Samuel chapter 25 at verse 3 you read about Nabal.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 25:3

"Now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was the house of Caleb."

Let me give you a quote. Psalm 61 verse 5. David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 61:5

"For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name."

Did you hear what he says?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 61:5

"Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name."

Now, I want you to remember last week, I quoted our Lord from Matthew chapter 10, when He said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:36

"...and a man's foes shall be they of his own household."

David's Narrow Escape

Saul's forces surround David on a mountain, but God intervenes through a Philistine invasion, forcing Saul to abandon the chase.

Providential Emergencies and God's Sovereignty

God used the Philistine emergency to deliver David, demonstrating that He can use even enemies to accomplish His purposes. David wisely moved to a new stronghold.

Applications for Believers

Weaver applies the text: draw near to God in danger, recognize our immortality until God's purpose is done, and live with courage because God holds our souls.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:9

"Who holdeth our soul in life,"

listen,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:9

"and suffereth not our feet to be moved."

Wow. I want to leave you with Psalm 37 verse 28. Listen carefully. "For the Lord loveth the judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.

Safety And Security Are In The Lord - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	wTrz9F0cwus
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: The Doctrine of Election
Genre	Sermon
Date	2013-10-26
Dictation Name
Book	Book 117: Safety And Security Are In The Lord — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	66

Lecture Guide

Outline

Review of Part 1: Weaver recaps the first part of the message, covering David's providential endeavors to save Keilah and the providential encouragement from Jonathan.
Providential Escapes: The Ziphites' Betrayal: The Ziphites volunteer to betray David to Saul, revealing their depravity and self-interest. Saul hypocritically blesses them while plotting David's capture.
Why the Ziphites Betrayed David: The Ziphites acted out of self-preservation and self-interest, fearing Saul after his massacre of Nob, and sought to endear themselves to the king.
The Wickedness of the Betrayal: The betrayal was especially base because the Ziphites were David's own tribe of Judah, descendants of Caleb, yet they became strangers to faith and character.
David's Narrow Escape: Saul's forces surround David on a mountain, but God intervenes through a Philistine invasion, forcing Saul to abandon the chase.
Providential Emergencies and God's Sovereignty: God used the Philistine emergency to deliver David, demonstrating that He can use even enemies to accomplish His purposes. David wisely moved to a new stronghold.
Applications for Believers: Weaver applies the text: draw near to God in danger, recognize our immortality until God's purpose is done, and live with courage because God holds our souls.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's deliverance is the only reason David escaped

Humanly speaking, David should have been captured, but God sovereignly prevented Saul from taking him.

Weaver points to verse 14: 'God delivered him not into his hand,' and the narrow escape on the mountain.

The Ziphites betrayed David out of fear and self-interest

After Saul's massacre of Nob, the Ziphites feared for their lives and sought favor with Saul by betraying David.

Weaver connects the Ziphites' actions to the slaughter of the priests in 1 Samuel 22, showing their motive of self-preservation.

Betrayal by one's own people is especially wicked

The Ziphites were Judahites, David's own tribe, making their betrayal a profound loss of godly heritage.

Weaver traces the Ziphites' lineage to Caleb in 1 Chronicles 2 and calls them 'strangers' as David did in Psalm 54.

Saul's hypocrisy mirrors modern politicians

Saul's self-pity and manipulation are patterns seen in ungodly rulers today.

Weaver compares Saul's 'if you're not for me, you're against me' attitude to contemporary political rhetoric.

God can use even enemies to accomplish His purposes

The Philistine invasion, though not intended to help David, was used by God to save him.

Weaver notes the Philistines hated David, yet their raid forced Saul to retreat, showing God's sovereignty over all events.

Scripture References

1 Samuel 23:19-29: The primary text of the sermon, detailing the Ziphites' betrayal and David's escape.
Proverbs 18:10: Quoted as the theme verse: 'The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.'
1 Samuel 23:14: Key verse emphasizing God's sovereign protection: 'Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.'
1 Samuel 26:1: Shows the Ziphites betrayed David a second time, reinforcing their treachery.
1 Samuel 22:6-19: The massacre of the priests at Nob, demonstrating Saul's brutality and the Ziphites' reason to fear him.
1 Samuel 21:1-9: David's deception of Ahimelech, showing the priest's innocence in aiding David.
1 Chronicles 2:12-16, 42: Genealogy showing the Ziphites were descendants of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah.
1 Samuel 25:3: Nabal, another descendant of Caleb, was churlish and evil, illustrating the loss of godly heritage.
Psalm 54:1-7: David's psalm written when the Ziphites betrayed him, calling them strangers and enemies.
Psalm 61:5: David acknowledges the heritage of those who fear God, contrasting with the Ziphites' apostasy.
Matthew 10:36: Quoted to show that a man's foes may be of his own household, applied to the Ziphites' betrayal.
Psalm 66:9: God holds our soul in life and does not let our feet be moved.
Psalm 37:28: The Lord does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever.
2 Chronicles 7:14: Referenced to emphasize that the problem is with God's people, who need to humble themselves and repent.

Historical References

John Gill's commentary on Hachilah and Masada: Weaver quotes Gill describing the geography of Hachilah and the fortress of Masada, explaining how the Ziphites could see David.
The Great Escape (1963 film): Used as an illustration of a thrilling escape, comparing it to David's narrow escape from Saul.
Pastor Jim Grove: A recently deceased pastor friend commended by an atheist for his courteous and courageous witness, used as an example of bold faith.

Important Quotes

All the governments of men put together cannot capture one man unless God delivers him into their hand.

Summarizes the sermon's central thesis on God's absolute sovereignty over human authorities.

An ungodly man is not normally inclined to do anything that is godly and right.

Explains Saul's failure to protect Keilah and his overall character.

They were worse than Judas. At least Judas said, 'What will you give me?' They didn't ask for anything.

Highlights the extreme depravity of the Ziphites' voluntary betrayal.

Innocence has never deterred a tyrant or a murderer.

Comments on Saul's slaughter of the priests despite their innocence.

Not all descendants of godly men turn out to be godly themselves.

Key lesson from the Ziphites' betrayal, warning about the loss of godly heritage.

Especially a Christian man, is immortal until God is through with him.

Application encouraging believers that their lives are in God's hands until His purpose is complete.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.

The theme verse of the entire message, quoted from Proverbs 18:10.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the truth that 'God delivered him not into his hand' shape our understanding of safety and security in dangerous times?

[Context]

Based on 1 Samuel 23:14 and the sermon's emphasis on God's sovereign protection.

[Question]

In what ways do we see the same sanctimonious, hypocritical attitude of Saul in modern leaders or even in ourselves?

[Context]

Weaver compares Saul's self-pity and manipulation to contemporary politicians.

[Question]

What can we learn from the Ziphites about the danger of losing a godly heritage, and how can we guard against it?

[Context]

The Ziphites were descendants of Caleb but became strangers to faith.

[Question]

How have you experienced a 'providential emergency' that turned out to be God's means of protection or redirection?

[Context]

Weaver discusses how the Philistine invasion saved David and how emergencies can preserve us.

[Question]

What does it mean to be 'immortal until God is through with you,' and how should that affect our daily courage?

[Context]

Application point based on Psalm 37:28 and the example of Pastor Jim Grove.

Applications

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