In our last episode, we saw that after Saul had plotted to kill him, David ran away to fight another day. For David, this was a brand-new experience. He had never seen such anger and rejection before. Until now, everyone had recognized David for what he was, an obedient servant of God, and of those whom God had placed over him. For David, this was a shocking and unsettling situation. He panicked, and instead of turning to God, he relied upon his own skills and judgment.
There is nothing like good judgment in a leader, but sadly, David often exercised nothing like good judgment. David was human and flawed. He turned to deception and violence to survive, and he was also arrogant and lustful. As David tried to escape Saul, he became just like him in many ways. In the end, he did turn back to God, but not before making many mistakes.
All that said, God used David’s time on the run to educate him and to teach him to be a leader of God’s people. Tal Bonham, former executive director of the Ohio Baptist Convention once joked that, “Well digging is the only job where you start at the top.” David learned how to lead God’s people while leaning on God’s will and way in the school of hard knocks. David had many natural skills, and he also had gifts given to him through his anointing from God. Still, having tools is not the same as knowing how to use them. That’s what God taught David, beginning in 1 Samuel 22:1-5,
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there. In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
David Learned When To Go Together:
Leadership experts have embraced an old African proverb that says, If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." This is like the saying that “Many hands make light work.” Working in a group provides endurance and power that no one working alone has.
A great example of the power of a group is the expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1953 that allowed Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to make the first recorded successful summit of the world’s tallest mountain. To put those two men at the top of the world took over four hundred people, including thirty-five Western climbers, twenty Sherpa guides, and three-hundred and sixty-two porters. Hillary and Norgay stood on the shoulders of hundreds of unknown people to get to the top.
Another case of the power of a group was the Manhattan Project of World War Two that produced the first nuclear bombs. In telling the story of this massive effort, popular media often will focus on two people, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, and Major General Leslie Groves, most likely because both men were forceful and peculiar personalities and they make for interesting viewing. In reality, several hundred scientists were involved in multiple locations, and thousands of construction workers and factory workers were essential to the task. The town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was founded to house many of those who labored in the darkness of secrecy in the effort to end World War Two with a literal bang.
So, then why don’t people always go together as opposed to going it alone? The people we go with are just like us; they are fallen and sinful and stubborn. The group that gathered around David were not the best and the brightest. They were not the hand-picked soldiers of Saul’s army that David had led into battle. These people were the least, the last, and the lost. And David was their leader, and he would learn to lean on God as he led this mob through the wilderness.
Of course, David and his motley band of followers are not alone in the Bible. Moses didn’t lead just a gang, but an entire nation into the promised land. The men Jesus called to be his twelve Disciples were mostly outcasts as well. The lesson we learn from all of these examples is that leadership is productive, but it is also difficult, and the leaders of God’s people must lean on Him to be successful. Next, let’s read 1 Samuel 22:3-5,
From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
David Learned When To Go Alone:
Even though there is power and endurance in going together, sometimes we must go alone. In this case, David took his parents to a place of refuge and he left them there. It was safer for them to be in Moab than it was to be chasing around the wilderness of Judah with David and his followers. Sometimes going alone is simply necessary.
An early example of going alone is the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Once a year the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice for the sins of God’s people. The only one who could do that was the high priest, and anyone else who entered there would die. This process, of course, was a model of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Only Jesus could die for our sins, and only He could provide us salvation. Jesus had to do this alone, and blessedly for us, He did!
Another example of something we must do alone is to profess Christ as our Savior and to accept His sacrifice for our sins. One of the mistakes that the Jews made was that they believed that their heritage was what made the difference in their spiritual wellness. In their minds, the decisions made by someone’s ancestors in generations past still covered them as they lived frail and human lives in their current day. In Matthew 3:7-10, John the Baptist told them very directly that they were wrong and in no uncertain terms!
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
God’s family has no grandchildren! Each of us, on our own, must decide to surrender to God and be saved through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is something we must do alone, as we learn to lean on Jesus.
Sometimes, the only way that God can communicate with us is when we are alone. Moses was herding Jethro’s sheep when God came to him in the burning bush. Elijah was alone when God appeared to him as the still small voice. Both Jonah, in the belly of the fish, and the Prodigal Son feeding the pigs, were alone when they finally came to their senses and turned to God. Jesus fasted alone in the desert with God before He was tempted by Satan. Some spiritual lessons are tailored for individuals to learn on their own. Self-paced learning is common today, but God already had that concept in place in His Kingdom, almost from the beginning!
One other thing we must do on our own is to repair our relationships. Jesus told His followers that if they were in conflict with someone, that they must leave their gifts at the altar and go be reconciled with that person. He outlined this process in Mathew 18:15-17,
“If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.”
Although others can become involved in this process, reconciliation begins with a lone individual taking an action by themselves. Sometimes we just have to go it alone, but even then, however, God is always with us! Next, let’s read 1 Samuel 23:1-14,
It was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and raiding the threshing floors.” So David inquired of the Lord: “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?” The Lord answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!” Once again, David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.” Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah. Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him. When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.” Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men. When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.” Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, your servant has reliable information that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell your servant.” The Lord answered, “He will come down.” Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” “They will,” the Lord responded. So David and his men, numbering about six hundred, left Keilah at once and moved from place to place. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition. David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.
David Learned When To Go Forward:
An old saying is, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” This may have come from Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In Chapter 6, Alice asks the Cheshire Cat for directions: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where—” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
Our God is an intentional God. He is not aimless or random, or haphazard. From the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden, God has had a plan for the salvation of humanity, and for the redemption and the renewal of the world that our sin has spoiled. Even when the Children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God had a purpose; He needed to cleanse His people by allowing a faithless generation to die out.
God’s plan is marching onward, and He wants us to have a part in that plan: first to be saved ourselves, and then to help others to be saved as well. God is going somewhere and He wants us to come with Him. The problem we often have, however, is that God is spirit and His plans are spiritual plans. We can’t see a spirit, nor can we see a spiritual plan. God, of course, has a plan for that problem also. In James 1:5-7 we read,
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
In 2016, billionaire investor Mark Cuban gave his Number One Rule of Investing, which was, “When you don’t know what to do, do nothing.” This might be great advice for an investor, but I like the corollary as stated by Oprah Winfrey. She said, “When you don’t know what to do, do nothing. Get quiet so you can hear the still, small voice.” This is great spiritual advice, as long as the still small voice you listen for is God’s!
When it is time to act, turn to God, and He will tell you where and when to go, and what to do when you get there. He might also tell you to stay, as well. Next, let’s read 1 Samuel 25:4-13,
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, so David sent ten young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him[b] in my name. Then say this: ‘Long life to you, and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours. I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’” David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, and they waited. Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.” David’s young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words. He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
David Learned When To Stand Fast:
If it is important to know when to go forward, it is equally important to know when to stand fast. Sometimes we are like the Jolene of the famous song by Dolly Parten. In the song, the character represented by Parten begs Jolene not to take her man. She sings, “Please don’t take him just because you can.” Like Jolene, at times we do things just because we can, and without seeking God’s guidance and leadership. This is where David found himself in 1 Samuel 25.
David was learning to be a good leader, and like all good leaders, he thought it was a good idea to throw his troops a party. He also thought it was a good idea to reach out to Nabal for a donation. So far, so good, but when Nabal refused David by using offensive language, David fell back on his baser instincts. He had become too comfortable with violence, and he told his men to saddle-up, intending to lead them out on a mission of revenge and sheep rustling. No where in this process do we see David seeking God’s guidance about any of these plans. It was good for him that Abigail, Nabal’s wife, had a better head on her shoulders than either David or her husband. Not only did she bring David a gift, but she also brought him a word from God that prevented him from unnecessary bloodshed and regret. We can see David’s grateful response in 1 Samuel 25:32-34,
Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males left by morning light.”
Too often God’s people make their own plans and then ask God to bless them. When we do, we are approaching things from back to front, instead of from front to back. We must seek God’s guidance first, because sometimes He wants us to stand fast instead of charging off into the darkness.
Conclusion:
As we close, you might be saying to yourself, “That’s nice for David, but I’m not a leader.” You may not be a leader of a gang of four hundred malcontents and misfits, but if you are a parent, you are a leader of your children. If you are a husband, God expects you to become the leader of your household. If you are a teacher, then you lead your students. If you are none of these, you are the leader of yourself. The lessons David learned apply to all of us in some way or the other, but the primary lesson is universal: we all must lean on God. He will not only uphold us, but He will also lead us into His rest as well!
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