Slough of Despond (1 Samuel 30:6)

 

Slough of Despond

 

Text:  1 Samuel 30:6

Reading:  1 Samuel 27-30

 

 

Introduction

 

      One of the most popular book ever written which changed so many lives (including mine) was a book called the Pilgrim’s Progress, written by Paul Bunyan (during his third term in prison).

ð  At one point in this story, while Pilgrim is making his journey to the City of God, he falls into a deep, miry, muddy hole called the Slough of Despond.

ð  He cannot get out by himself, but when he begins to cry out … then …

ð  Help – a picture of the Holy Spirit – reaches down and lifts him up from his despondency.

 

      If we were to translate Bunyan’s Slough of Despond into today’s term, we would call that muddy hole, “the pits.”

ð  Many Believers may believe that there is something ethically, morally, or spiritually wrong with a Christian going through “the pit.”

ð  But there is no way a Believer can go through this life without spending some time in “the pits” . . . and that is where we find David in this chapter.

 

 

What Caused This?

 

David did not just happen to tumble into “the pits.”  He experienced it because of three things:

 

      Humanistic Viewpoint  (Humanism)

ð  Notice, 1 Samuel 27:1a begins, “Then David thought (said) to himself . . .”  This was his first problem.

ð  It’s important when we talk to ourselves that we tell ourselves the right thing.  David didn’t!

ð  He looked at his situation and sized it up strictly horizontally – he never looked up & he never prayed.

Remember that David was coming off a spiritual and emotional high.  He could have slain Saul twice, but he didn’t.  Then he was about to kill Nabal, but Abigail talked him out of it.  So he’s walked in victory for quite some time.  He’s come off the crest of victory, and, as all of us know, that’s a very vulnerable spot.

 

 

      Pessimistic Reasoning  (Pessimism)

ð  David says to himself, “I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul . . .” (27:1b)

ð  He should have known better than to say, “I will be destroyed . . .”

ð  He did not know the future.  No one does except God alone.

ð  When David said, “I will be destroyed . . .,” this enabled him to only see the downside of the future!

Samuel anointed David with oil and told him that he would be the next king.  God told him this through Abigail.  God spoke to him numerously through Saul’s son Jonathan that David would become king.  He even heard this through his very own enemy, Saul, that he would be the next king.  But he ignored these numerous reminders of God and decided to listen to himself.

 

 

      Rationalistic Logic

But David thought to himself, one of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand."  (1 Sam 27:1)

ð  David was essentially saying,

“Times are hard.  God has deserted me.  I thought I could be king, but I’ll never be king.  I’m gonna die if I keep on the front edge of Saul’s army.  They’ll finally catch up with me.  I’ll have to escape.  The best solution is to go to Philistia.”

ð  Definitely Saul would not look for David there, because that is enemy campground!

ð  What a picture this is of a Christian who deliberately opts for (chooses) carnality.

ð  Psycologist Rolo May once said, “Man is the only animal that runs faster when he has lost his way.”  Isn’t it remarkable how when we lose our way, we move quickly in the wrong direction and play into the enemy’s hand?

So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath.  David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.  (1 Sam 27:2-3)

 

 

The Consequences of David’s Decision

 

When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.  (1 Sam 27:4)

 

      It Created a False Sense of Security

ð  David said, … “Hey, just like I thought . . . I am safe here.  Saul has stopped dogging my every move, hunting and haunting me.  The pressures are gone!  What a relief!”

ð  Sin has temporary pleasures.

q  Disobedience has its exhilarating moments.

q  We’re fools to deny it.

q  There are times when we relax and enjoy disobedience because of those pleasures

ð  But they are passing, they are short-lived . . . they never bring ultimate satisfaction!

 

 

Then David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"  (1 Sam 27:5)

 

      It Causes Us to Submit to the Adversary’s (Enemy’s) Cause

 

ð  When we choose of live in disobedience, we actually submit to the enemy and willingly serve his wicked purpose!

q  Thus becoming an “enemy of God”.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  (James 4:4)

 

 

So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.  David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.  (1 Sam 27:6-7)

 

      Brings Lengthy Period of Compromise

ð  “Oh day or two won’t hurt!  I can always get back into swing of things”

ð  “What is a couple of months of compromise compared to a life of obedience?”

ð  But we know that things do not work this way!

q  When Abraham went to Egypt, he stayed for a quite a while.

û  When Lot went to Sodom, he pitched a tent near by …

û  Then later he became one of the elders who sat at the gate of the city.

q  When David intended to stay just a little while, he ended up staying sixteen months!

 

 

David “Sows the Wind”

(Hypocrisy Sets In)

 

      Duplicity begins to mark David’s steps

ð  Webster defines “duplicity” as “deception by pretending.”

ð  Deep inside David was an Israelite!  He will always be one!

ð  What happens is the Believer will begin to lack allegiance to both & this causes dilemma to compromise.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)  Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.  (1 Sam 27:8-9)

ð  The Geshuites, Girzites & the Amalekites were enemies of Israel but neither enemy nor allies of Philistines …

q  But David killed them all, including women to protect himself!

q  David broke all laws of warfare (killing women & children)!  (e.g,Geneva Convention/ ROE)

 

 

      Duplicity Leads to Vagueness

 

ð  When asked by the king, “Where have you been?  Where did you make the raid today?”  David answered, “Against the Negev of Judah” (1 Sam. 27:10)

ð  Negev is a broad Hebrew word meaning “South.”

ð  So, David was saying, “Oh, I was fighting in the southern part of Judah,” implying that he was killing the people of Judah, who were Israelites.  But he wasn’t killing Israelites!

ð  But he did such a good job telling his lies, that Achish believed him (1 Sam. 27:12).

 

 

David “Reaps the Whirlwind”

(As the Result of Hypocrisy)

 

      David Loses His Identity

 

ð  Achish begins getting complaints from the people of Philisita.

q  They want to know why David and his men are in the midst of them.

q  “Why in the world are all those Israelites living down in Ziklag?”

q  Achish defended David, but could not for long!

So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don't approve of you.  Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers."  "But what have I done?" asked David. "What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"  (1 Sam 29:6-8)

ð  David becomes a man without a country.

q  He becomes a displaced person.

ð  “Who am I?”  “What is my mission?”  “Where am I going?”

ð  These were tough questions that David lived with which had no answer!

 

 

      David Descends into Depression

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.  When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.  So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.  (1 Sam 30:1-4)

ð  They come home over the hill top and find their homes burned and their wives and children taken as captives by the Amalekites.

ð  They cried until they had no more tears!

 

 

      David is Faced with Distrust

 

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters . . .  (1 Sam 30:6a)

 

ð  The very people who had looked to David as a guide and a friend and a leader now turned away!

ð  They wanted to stone him!

 

 

Conclusion

 

But David found strength in the LORD his God.  (1 Sam 30:6b)

 

      But David turns to God from this bottomless pit and the help was there waiting for him!

      God is always waiting for us to come back to him.

      No matter how hopeless our situations seem . . . no matter how late we think it is . . . God has the answers for us and is waiting!

 

by pastor;Oh, yun- seok