Direction through the Detours of LIFE

PREVIOUS DISCOURAGEMENT (21.1-6)

1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

 2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

 4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

 5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s things are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21.1-6

• Encouragement through the Lord’s Presence

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Psalm 122.1

• Discovering the will of God

• Making sacrifices to God

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Hebrews 13.15-16

• Encouragement through the Lord’s Provision

• Given to us by grace … we cannot earn it by effort or good deeds

• Given to us by justification … holiness though right relationship not right living

PRESENT DANGER (21.7-9)

7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd.

 8 David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s business was urgent.”

 9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”

David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

1 Samuel 21.7-9

• Unforeseen tragedy

• We live in a world marred by sin

16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2.16-17

• We have a God who watches out for us

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:26-28

• Undesired trouble

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Ephesians 6.10-11

• Find strength in God, not yourself

• Recognize who the real enemy is

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6.12

POTENTIAL DOWNFALL (21.10-15)

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

 ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

• The Consequence of our choices

• Those who accept Christ must also accept being recognized as a Christian 

• Are you ready to face the scrutiny of the choice to follow Christ?

12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

2 Timothy 1.12

• The Compromise of our decisions

• God is our refuge, our ever-present help

• We must associate regularly with the people of God

• The Consideration of our actions

• We are examples to the world ... We might be surprised to find out how much others know about our everyday activities

• We are witnesses to the truth ... how we face the detours of this life can have a profound effect on non-believers