Our text tonight is found in 1 Samuel 27. Turn there with me, please. 1 Samuel 27. I've titled the message, Grace in a Faithless Season. God keeps his people even when fear takes their faith. When we're in fear, we're doubting God. And in this chapter, as we'll see, there's no prayers from David. no psalms of praise, no inquiring of the Lord, just fear, panic, compromise, and deception.

God never leaves out such dark moments in the history of His saints. God records on the pages of Scripture all His people's fault, Noah's drunkenness, Abraham's lies, Sarah's unbelief, Jacob's deceitfulness, all recorded in this book. Moses' anger, struck the rock twice in anger. Aaron's golden calf. What Aaron say? I just put gold in the furnace and this thing popped out. Not only his calf, but his lies about. What about Jonah's hatred? He hated the people of Nineveh. He said, I'm not going there. Peter's denial, Thomas' unbelief, and all the disciples' cowardice. They all fled and left the Lord. And David is no exception.

1 Samuel shows David at one of his lowest times here in chapter 27. Now he's been hunted by Saul at this time, seven to 10 years. Can you imagine? Somebody out to kill you for seven to 10 years. And not just somebody, the king. Somebody who's got the resources to do so, but not of God's own yourself. He's worn down, he's convinced he's out of options, and he's convinced that he's going to die.

Look at verse one. And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. And look at this next line. There is nothing better for me than I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines and Saul shall despair of me to seek me any more in any cost of Israel, so shall I escape out of his hand. And when our biggest concern is what is better for us, is always a problem. He said, it's better for me. That's where our problems begin, when we start thinking about what's better. for us.

David, who at one time said, the Lord would deliver me. That's what he told Goliath. Goliath laughed at him. He said, send a boy out to fight me. And David said, the Lord will deliver me. He delivered me, delivered you into my hand. God gonna take care of me. And now he says, I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. He who had been repeatedly delivered by the hand of the Lord now believes that fleeing in fear is better for him. He's seen time and time again over these, a decade almost. That when he falls and calls on the Lord for help, he's delivered out of his trouble. That's what the scriptures promise us. We cry unto the Lord and he delivers us out of our trouble. I forget which psalm it is that I cried unto the Lord and he delivered me from my trouble over and over again. He does. He does.

But this anointed one, he who's the apple of God's eye, this man who is after God's own heart, that's what God said about him, is but flesh and blood. He's like us, he's frail, a frail human vessel. And welcome to the real life of the child of God. With the mind, Paul said, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. That's true of all of us, every one of us. When we look to anything or anyone other than Christ, we have but one state to operate in, the unbelief of the flesh. And faith, true faith, faith in Christ is only operative when our eyes are fixed on Him. He's the object of our faith. No such thing as blind faith. People talk about faith and they don't know what they have faith in. Christ's the object of faith. It's in Him we have put our faith. And like that brazen serpent, it's only when we look to Christ that we live. No life apart from that. The poison of sin has permeated our body. We're dying. How we gonna live? Look to Christ. Look to that serpent lifted high upon that pole. Look and live. That's the message of the Bible. Look and live. Are we looking?

You know, yesterday's mercies are wonderful, but they're only a fond remembrance if they're not given again today. I need mercy today. I wake up in the morning and when my feet hit the floor, And I'm not saying I do this every day, but I am conscious and thankful that the Lord. has given me another day. I may not make it through the whole day, but I think to myself, the Lord's been merciful to me again. He's continuing to show me mercy. He promised He would. We must continue every day, every day to look unto Christ, look unto Christ.

Why? Because He's the author and the finisher of our faith. Our faith begins with Him. Our faith ends with Him. That's what an author and finisher is. A finisher of what? Our faith. And many times we, as believers, look to Christ as the author of our faith. We'll say, oh yeah, I wouldn't have faith if God hadn't given it to me. But then we turn to the logic of our own thinking, and we don't look to him as the finisher of our faith. And we begin to worry, and we begin to fret, and we begin, like David, say, you know, This is going to kill me. This or that or the other. One of these days is going to be the end of me. You ever said that? It's going to be the end of me.

He's Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end. He's the first and the last. And listen, He's everything in between.

Verse 2, And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Mach, king of Gath. Now, remember, God had promised David that he was going to be king. Listen, nothing is going to keep that from happening. Only God could. Nothing or no one's going to keep that from happening. God would allow no harm to come to David. Look at the last verse in Exodus. in chapter 26 that we just finished, verse 25. Look at what it says. It says, then Saul said to David, you remember the story. David could have taken Saul's life again and spared him. And he said, Saul said to David, bless me thou, my son David, thou shalt both do great things and also shalt still prevail. And David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

But in verse one here, this is not faith talking. This is fear talking. David is fearful for his life. And again, even the strongest of believers can fall into a fear and unbelief. We've all done it. Did you notice there in verse one that it said, David said this in his heart? That's where it always begins. Always begins inwardly. in the heart, and then it manifests itself outwardly. We begin to fear in our heart, no matter what it is, and then pretty soon it manifests itself. And we must not forget what our hearts are by nature, deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Your heart will lie to you. So deceitful and desperately wicked that Jeremiah said, who can know it? Who can know it? Well, I pretty much know my heart. No, you don't. No, you don't. I know that it's capable of the most horrific things, but I don't know what God does.

So now in fear, David's human logic overrides what he knows to be true, and nothing but heartbreak awaits him here in Gath. David seeks help among one of Israel's greatest enemies. Isn't that just, that's just amazing. And listen, when we seek help and counsel from the world, that's exactly what we're doing. The world and the things of it are enemies of God and enemies to God. John said, if any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. And uh, How many times have we said that names in the Bible mean something? You know the name Achishir, the king of the Philistines, means only a man. He's king of the Philistine. He's got giants under his command. Goliath was from Philistia. He was Goliath of Gath, only a man. Oh, man, when we seek the counsel of the world, we're just seeking man. His name also means I will blacken or terrify. How many times, how many times have we seen the names mean something?

David, by his actions, has left the divine help of a sovereign God, and now he seeks man's help. Aphish, it says, is the son of Mach. That's how you pronounce that, I believe. And his name means oppression. David in fear seeks man's help, which brings nothing but oppression. How can this world give you godly counsel when it don't know God? The name Gath. Goliath of Gath, the place called Gath, means wine press. And the word of God throughout the scripture is synonymous with trial and tribulation. And David like all of us, do such ignorant, foolish things, and we do them out of self-preservation and fear. Like David, we ignorantly say, there's nothing better for me than I should do this. And most of the time, it's the worst thing.

Achish sees David as a valuable, high-ranking defector from Israel. He likes the fact that David's come to him. Last time he saw him, David acted insane. Remember him? He let the spitball down on his beard and put on an Academy Award performance. Acted like he was insane. But this time he comes and he saw David as one who could be used to weaken Saul's kingdom. by granting David asylum. Achish here believes that he was gaining a loyal servant who would be a strategic asset against Saul, who was one of his greatest enemies. You know, there's an old saying that goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That's a true statement. In other words, Saul, the enemy of Achish, was now also David's enemy. So being friendly with David suited his cause very well.

And verse three says, and David dwelt with Achish at Gath. That's just an amazing story. He and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitis, and Abigail, the Carmelitis, Nabal's wife, you remember her. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Goth, and he sought no more again for him. That's it. Saul's done. David brings 600 men. They bring their families. David brings his two wives. And I got to thinking about this. I've known professing believers who've moved to places where there is no gospel priest. Listen, it's all the way. Always a bad decision. You know folks too that have done that. Bad decision. Like gath or goth, it will be a place of trial and tribulation. We need the constant nourishment of the word of God. And God gives it through preaching. I don't say this to bring attention to myself at all, but I've worked on this message for three days now. I've been preparing this meal for you. And I want to see you come and partake of it.

David relocates God's people, their families and his own family into this trouble and temptation to sin. And all because he believes that God can't keep him alive in Israel anymore. What is that? Unbelief. God has taken care of him for seven to 10 years. And he wakes up the next day after Saul done bid him a good fortune and said, you're going to profit, you're going to be king. I'm gonna leave you alone. And he wakes up and says, Saul's lying to me again. He's gonna try to kill me. He's gonna do a sneak attack on me. So what does he do? I'm gonna run to Achish. And the last words of verse four tell us that Saul sought him no more.

Now listen, this is an amazing thing. David's escape proves to be foolish, but God is still graciously protecting him. He's now a fearful man who's no longer seeking God's protection, but God is still protecting him. Saul sought him no more. You know what that is? Grace. That's grace. No wonder we call it amazing grace. And one of the amazing, wondrous, that's what the word amazing means, about the grace of God is that God supplies this grace to and for His people even when they don't know it or ask for it. How many times has God providentially worked behind the scenes, without my knowledge, and been gracious to me. And you, we don't even know it.

Verse five, and David said unto Achish, if I have now found grace in thine eyes. Well, he's nobody to give grace. That's what we say to God. If I found grace in your eyes, he's the only one that can show grace. All grace is his. It's his grace. But he said, if I found grace in thine eyes, Let them give me a place in some town in the country that I may dwell there, for why should I serve? And he calls himself Achish's servant. Why should I serve and dwell in the royal city with thee?

And again, the amazing thing that just what kept standing out to me in this is that even while in exile in Gath or Golf, while under the protection of a foreign king who's just gonna use him, God's propitential care prevails. Isn't that something? God's taking care of him in spite of him. That's what grace is, isn't it? God being merciful to us Undeservingly? Without a cause? Freely? That's what the word means. God can provide a place of safety for his people, regardless of where they are, and what a foreshadow this is of the Lord Jesus Christ, who provides refuge for sinners in their most vulnerable state.

David's stay in Ziklag is part of God's larger purpose. while lining himself with a Philistine king, God uses his ignorance, and that's what it was, to preserve him for the throne. Ziglag just became a spiritual training ground for David, Israel's future king. And similarly, the gospel teaches that Christ's work and God's providence are often hidden in what seems ordinary or Difficult, but trials and trouble always serve God's eternal purpose.

I'm going through a real trial right now, one might say. If you're one of God's people, that's a good thing. He sent the trouble. David says, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, but I might learn his statutes. It's in trouble that we call upon God. It's sad that that's, seems to be the time that we do, we should be calling on him all the time. In good times and bad times. In peace and in trouble. But most of the time, we get serious about this thing when we're in trouble. Because naturally speaking, we want what's best for us, don't we? Good for us, what's good for us? That's what they can see.

And God, Such is David's life before he bears the crown. Such was Joseph's life. Remember the story of Joseph? Before he sat on the throne, he was sold into slavery. He was falsely accused. He was in prison. And God is showing us that although someone means evil against us, God meant it for good. Trust in God in your tribe. He'll see you through. and you'll come out stronger, and you'll come out with more faith, knowing that once again, God did what he promised.

Moses spent 40 years in the desert after fleeing Egypt. Unpleasant? No doubt it was. He'd been raised as a prince of Egypt. He had servants waiting on him hand and foot, and now he's on the backside of the desert keeping sheep. He's a shepherd. but God was shaping Moses. God was teaching Moses to lead Israel and deliver them from slavery. God knows what he's doing. What often seems like a delay or exile here in David's case is actually preparation. God prepares his chosen servants.

Beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, marked Paul's life, which seemed to be full of constant suffering. And God used all his trials to advance the gospel, to strengthen Paul's testimony, and to preserve God's church. Every trial and trouble that Paul went through was for his good, God's glory, and the good of God's people. Every one of them. Do I understand that? No, but I believe it. If you're in a trial, if you're having trouble, wait on the Lord. It's gonna prove to be a good thing.

These are frequent providences in a believer's life. A job, I lost my job. I've got health issues. I'm experiencing a failed relationship. Ordinary, everyday, unordinary circumstances often, most always prove If God gives us eyes to see God's eternal purpose, we can't see it. But with God, nothing is ordinary by accident or chance. Even in tragedy, God is working out his eternal purpose in Christ. God gives us eyes to see, we can, by faith, see his unseen hand in every detail. Every detail.

Now, David didn't call David to go to Philistia. God didn't tell David to serve a pagan ruler. God can't be blamed for this. David did all this on his own out of fear and self-preservation. But being the Lord's chosen, now listen to me, grab some comfort from this. God worked it all for David's good and for his own glory. That's the way God does something. He made a bad situation into something good. God does that.

Verse six, then Achish gave him Ziklag, that day wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. For 16 months he dwelt there. You know, what a shame that seems, naturally speaking. He's been promised the throne. Saul's no longer after him, but he cowtails and is scared to death and spends 16 months of his life in a place that he shouldn't have been. But God uses it. How often we see that in our life? What seems like a bad situation, God is able to make a blessing. And what looked here like a low point, God uses to fulfill His promise.

And I immediately think of the cross of our Lord as being the ultimate version of this. What looked like defeat became the means of our salvation. The religious leaders of the day, the Jews, they sought to take the Lord's life from the time He was born until they actually crucified Him on the cross. And on the day they crucified Him, they pulled up chairs to sit there and to watch Him. And they rejoiced. We've got Him now. We've put an end to Him. What they thought was success was actually defeat. You see, that's how God does things. It was the very means of his people's salvation. And here we see the permanence of God's grace despite man's temporary failures. When God gives grace in Christ, he doesn't take it back. We used to call that an Indian giver. Somebody would say, here, I'm gonna give you this, and then the next day they say, can I have my, can I have that back? And we'd say, Indian giver. I don't know if that's politically correct, but that's what we call it. But our failures never, ever, ever erase God's eternal gifts that are given in Christ.

David, the anointed king, he lives outside of Israel because of the hatred of those in Israel who should have loved him. And like David, the Lord Jesus, the true king, came unto his own and his own received him not. It was his own people. that crucified Him. And people say, well, no, it was the Romans. Listen, you read the story of Christ and you'll see it was the Jews encouraging and, you know, just constantly after the Romans to put an end to Christ's life. It was the Jews, His own people that killed Him.

Here's the difference. David here is living and a place he shouldn't be, but the difference is that our Lord Jesus didn't run and hide like David. He identified with those that hated him without a cause, and he did so to rescue and to save them. Isn't that something? He met his enemies head on. And what a picture, again, David is of Christ. The Lord said, foxes have holes and birds of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had no place to lay his head.

Verse 8, And David and his men went up and invaded the Jesuits and the Amalekites. For those nations were of old and the inhabitants of the land. As thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David smoked the land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish. And Achish said, whither have you made a road today?" In other words, what have you been doing? And David said, against the south of Judah and against the south of Jeremiah alikes. and against the south of the Kenites. He said, I've been out defeating the people of Israel. He just flat out lied.

And David, verse 11, saying, neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Goth, saying, lest they should tell on us, saying, so David did, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistine. Just has become a deceitful liar.

Now in verse eight, we see David actually honoring God, by destroying the enemies that God had initially told Israel to demolish, but they didn't. And the Jesuits were the descendants of the Amorites. Their land had been given to the half-tribe of Manasseh with instructions to destroy all of them, but they didn't. Still alive. The Jezrites land was given to Ephraim and they too spared them and Israel just became complacent. And the Amalekites were sworn enemies of Israel and they too were ignored.

But David, living where he shouldn't be, now destroys them all. Who's behind that? Even while in his compromised state, David, by the will, purpose, and providence of God, being where he is, he strikes and he destroys and he carries out the very will and purpose of God, even in his disobedience. What is, what do we call that? God's sovereign providence. God doing in his time what he had purposed to do in eternity. God's purpose does not collapse because his servant's weak.

These nations had long opposed God and his people. But sin's not ignored. It's always judged. God's gonna see to it. The gospel is much bigger than one man. Preachers, we've heard some great ones in our lifetime. We have, no doubt in my mind. But God didn't fold up the gospel when these men died. We've lost several, but the gospel continues because God continues to raise up man to accomplish his will. And until God's finished, that'll be the case.

The gospel doesn't remove judgment. This is a point I want to make. It removes it from the believer. And it puts the judgment and the wrath of God that you and I should have received on Christ Now that's the beauty of this gospel. That's what this is about. That's why this, our message is about Christ.

Sin's gotta be dealt with and God is too holy for it not to be. God's people's sin was dealt with by God putting it on his beloved son on the cross at Calvary. And he suffered and he died there on that cross in the room instead of his people. And because of their sin, and our sin was harshly dealt with when it was found on the spotless Lamb of God. That's why we sung tonight and sing and preach, look to the Lamb of God. That's the only place that there's any comfort, the only place there's any forgiveness of sin.

And David's faith wavered, but God's promise of judgment didn't. And the inadequacy of David shows us our need of the kingdom kings. But God accomplished His will through David, even in his time of Wayfaring. We need a king. We need a strong king. We need a perfect king that carries out God's will without any confusion, fear, or compromise. Jesus Christ is that king. He's the king of kings. He's the Lord of lords who can deliver us from sin and self and death and Satan.

You see, friends, God's faithfulness is the backbone of this story and every story in this book. It's God's faithfulness. We don't talk about our faithfulness. Our faithfulness is nothing to talk about. Our faith, nothing to talk about. Weak, sick, puny at best. Our security doesn't rest on our steadfast. I don't know what makes people think it does, but on the steadfastness, the faithfulness of God Almighty. And how glorious is that in light of the fact that there's still an old man within us that wars against the new. That old man is gonna be there until we die. And that's what's going on here with David. That's how we can explain David's actions in the 27th chapter of 1st Samuel.

The best of men are men at best. And as I said, this is one of the darkest periods in David's life. Now, he goes into the land of the Philistines. He becomes a servant to the Philistine king, who's the enemy of his own people. And in verse 10, David told Achish that he had destroyed The Jeremelites, who were of the tribe of Judah, he told Achish that he had slaughtered the Kenites, who were the descendants of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who were friendly to the people of Israel. And according to verse 11, David saved neither man or woman alive because he was afraid that they'd tell Achish what he'd done. And so let me ask you, does this sound like a man that fears God? It sounds like a man that fears man. He lied to Achish to make him think he had warred against his own people, the people of God. He did this to solidify his security with Achish. Just flat out lying.

And then look at verse 12. And Achish believed David, saying, he made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. If they hated him before, they definitely hate him now. Therefore, he shall be my servant forever." God said, no, he's my servant. He's my servant. And what an example David is to you and me of what fear can, it almost always leads to unbelief. And where does it begin? With just a thought in our heart. Just a little thought in our heart. Maybe just a little passing thought. And then we begin to dwell on it, and we begin to look at it outside of faith. And what if this? And what if that? And my, my. It has a chain reaction. Fear does. So does unbelief. Fear leads to unbelief. Unbelief leads to compromise, and compromise leads to deception. That's what we see here.

Achish believes David, and David keeps digging the hole deeper. And we see that in Abraham's life, when he lied to Pharaoh about Sarah being his sister. And this just forced more half-truths and more deception and ends with the man of God being rebuked by a pagan king. Pharaoh told Abraham, the father of Phaecyd, get out of here, don't come back. Man, you've caused me a lot of trouble. Abraham repeated the same pattern again in Genesis 20. He did it with another king. Then in Genesis chapter 26, Isaac, Abraham's son, repeats the same lie concerning Rebekah, his wife, being his sister.

And listen, sinful patterns tend to reproduce themselves. We received them from our father, Adam, and what do we do? We pass them right on down to our own sons. And this is the course of a fallen nature. Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, and he has to keep on lying to steal his brother's birthright. He gets into that tent with the food that he made for his father, and he says, you don't sound like Esau. And I'm sure he lowered his voice a little more, don't you? Well, I don't think so. And he said, well, let me feel you and see. And he had, you know, glued, whatever it was on his arm and hand to make him feel hairy. Just one lie after another, one lie after another.

The brothers of Joseph lied to Isaac about him. And what do they do? They have to stage the evidence. They take that coat of many colors and they put animal blood on it. And they say, he's gone, dad. And they live with this life for decades. And the cover-up is more painful than the original sin. Lies lead to lies. More lies, more deceit, more deception. The one denial of Peter turned into two, and then turned into three. All before the rooster crowed that morning, just as Christ said it would. And each each denial stronger than the last, and it ended in cursing and swearing until Peter just collapsed under the lies and eventually said, I'm going back fishing. I'm going to get my old job back. I can't do this.

And when the Lord resurrected, He said, go tell my disciples. God didn't give up on them. Ananias and Sapphira lied about the money they gave, and they both perished. You can't lie to God. You can lie to men and maybe get away with it, but you can't lie to God. Covering sin always produces more sin. And only truth can break the chain. Lies do nothing but just multiply themselves.

So with all that said, where's the gospel found in there? Where's the gospel found in this story? Well, let me leave you with a few things. God preserves his people even when they wander. That's good news. Because we're prone to wonder. We wonder all the time. Like she that we looked at Sunday. David wondered, God kept him. David wondered, God went after him. Grace doesn't wait for perfect faith. I'm so glad because none of us will ever have it. God's promises, secondly, are not broken by our fear and unbelief. Isn't that wonderful news? That's gospel news. David's fear never canceled God's purpose. God's oath is always stronger than our doubts. God's mercies always outlast our worst actions. Aren't you glad about that? Isn't that good news? If salvation depended on our faithfulness, our steadfastness, We'd all perish, every single one. David's failure points us to the Son of God who never falters and never fails.

David lies to save himself from death. Christ's truth and his death saves liars like us. David hides among God's enemies. The Lord Jesus walked straight toward his. They said, where's Jesus of Nazareth? In the Garden of Gethsemane? He said, I'm him. Let these go their way.

David breaks under pressure. He'd been chased for seven, 10 years. He just flat wore out mentally, physically, but our Lord Jesus stood firm under the weight of the cross.

In 1 Samuel chapter 27 shows us the great danger in listening to our own fearful hearts. It shows us the reality that God allows even believers to make horrible decisions. It reveals to us that the unwavering faithfulness of God to his chosen people, regardless of our weak faith. That's good news. That's gospel.

Why does he do it? Because of what Christ did. Friends, the story of redemption doesn't collapse when we do. God's grace and mercy endures for how long? Now David's gonna rise again, and then he's gonna fall again, and then he's gonna rise again, and then he's gonna fall again. Does that sound familiar? And God records it on the pages of this book to let us know we're no different. And yet, his mercy to us in Christ endures forever. Never leave that out. It's always in Christ. That's the only reason.

God doesn't have continued mercy on you because you're a good boy or a good girl. Like this world and like we endeavor to teach our children when they're growing up, there is none good. No, not one. There's none that seeketh after God. We've all gone astray. So never, ever, ever look to yourself, look to your faith, but look to Christ, the object of our faith. And again, let me say, He's the author and finisher of that faith. Without Him, we never receive it. Without Him, we'll die without it.

Hebrews 12, two says, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, He despised the cross as shame, and He's now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. And then verse three of Hebrews 12 goes on to say this. Now listen, for consider Him. That's what we do when we meet together to hear preaching, we consider Him. that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

That's what happened to David. He quit looking to Christ. He quit looking to his God. And if we don't keep looking to him, listen, we will be wearied and faint in our minds. You can count on it. May God be pleased to keep us Both in the hands.