Okay, let's go back to 1 Samuel,
chapter 22. The first two verses of this
chapter, very short but very full, and they speak of the time
that David, after he fled from Achish, the king of Gath, after
he was turned away actually and fled from there, fleeing from
Saul, how he went to a cave. a cave called Adalim, or Adullam. Verse 1 says, David therefore
departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adalim. And when
his brethren in all his father's house heard it, they went down
thither to him. And every one that was in distress,
and every one that was in debt, or had a creditor, And every
one that was discontented gathered themselves unto him, and he became
a captain over them." What an army. And it says, "...and there
were with him about four hundred men." Now that's all that's said
about David in Adolim. And out of that, as I said, those
two Psalms, Psalm 57 and Psalm 142 came. So there must have
been a glorious time in this cave. And I want to talk about
that. But I want you to look at just
a couple of things here in these two verses. There's some interesting
things that go on in chapter 22, but I want to camp here tonight
for us to take in what the Lord has for us. I've entitled this
message Christ a refuge for sinners. Christ a refuge for sinners. Now the first thing we see is
David's descent. His going down. As one old writer
said, his declension. That means his downward, it's
like a downward spiral. So the first thing we see is
David's descent to a place of refuge. his descent to a place
of refuge. When we left 1 Samuel 21, we
saw David probably up to this point now in his life as we are
studying the life of David as a type of Christ, as an example
of a sinner saved by grace, an example of God working his sovereign
will and providence to accomplish his purpose. So up to this point,
Here, back in 1 Samuel 21, we saw David probably at his lowest. At his lowest. He was faking
madness. You remember what we dealt with
last week when he was in Akish, or he was in Gath among the king
of Akish. And when they got word, when
the Philistines in Gath got word that this was David, The one
who was fleeing from Saul, they made mention of it. And David,
in this downward spiral, not only did he lie, but he also
faked or feigned madness. And we know up to this point,
as we read in David's life, that at times David behaved himself
wisely. And that's a good example to
follow. Of course, we know our supreme example of wisdom is
Christ. He is the very wisdom of God. But at times, David acted foolishly
and then even sinfully. But you see, God had a purpose
to bring David to the throne of Israel. And sometimes we see
that God did it in spite of David. And I think about that quite
a bit because I believe sincerely that God saves every one of us
by His grace through Christ in spite of ourselves. We don't
give Him any help in that matter. It's not that we always every
moment of our lives act foolishly. Sometimes God does give us wisdom
to act wisely, but that's His grace. But what I'm saying is
salvation from its very beginning to its culmination when it comes
to us It's not us helping God to help ourselves. That's not
even in the Bible. You know, somebody said God helps
those who help themselves. That's not in the Bible. Did
you know that? A lot of people think it is. God doesn't help
those who help themselves. I'll tell you who God helps.
He helps the helpless. That's who he helps. That's who
he saves. that help those that help themselves. Benjamin Franklin
used to say it. I don't think it was original
with him, but it's not scriptural. God helps the helpless. So here
we see God working forth his purpose in spite of David. And even when David acted wisely,
it was by God's grace. Now, as we consider David as
a type of Christ, We certainly do not want to attribute any
of David's sinfulness or his foolishness to our Lord. You
have to keep in mind, you have to remember that David is only
a type of Christ officially, not personally. There are things
in his personal life that you cannot relate to our Savior except
to say this, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
You can relate that. He came to save such sinners
as David. He came to save such sinners
as me. He came to save such sinners
as you. But when it comes to David being
a type of Christ, you have to speak of him officially and not
personally. When he was groveling down on
the door making his marks and letting the spittle come down
on his beard, he wasn't a type of Christ in that sense personally. But let me show you something
that we can consider. We can consider that in order
to save us from our sins, our Lord Himself came to the lowest
point in His life. That's so. First of all, He became
incarnate. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. What a condescension that is.
He came in our name and in our nature, that is, human nature,
without sin. And He walked among sinners.
He ate with publicans and sinners. You know, sometimes you can almost
take the words as recorded in the Holy Scriptures of unbelievers
and construct a whole doctrine of Christ. Your Master eats with
publicans and sinners, they said. Amen. That's gospel truth. Do you know that? He eats with
publicans and sinners. Remember, even old Caiaphas said
it's expedient that one die for the people. Amen to that. Caiaphas didn't know what he
was saying. Neither did those Pharisees who said he ate with
publicans and sinners. But I'll tell you, that's truth,
isn't it? And it sounds good to these old ears. How about
yours? That he eats with publicans and sinners. Because that's what
I am by nature and by practice. But he kept going down, not because
of his own personal disobedience or sin. He had no disobedience
or sin. He kept the law perfectly. But
he kept going down as he became incarnate, as he was made flesh.
He was on his way downward to the death of the cross. And on
his way, it says he was despised of men, just like David was despised
of Saul and everyone who followed Saul. He was rejected of men,
just like David was rejected of Saul and everyone who followed
Saul. You see, Saul represents the
world. Saul represents the flesh. Saul represents the natural man
who cannot know and understand and receive the things of the
Spirit of God, the unregenerate man. Our Lord was pursued by
the religious leaders. They followed Him and tried to
catch Him in every corner. And they couldn't do it. Just
like Saul's trying to follow and catch David. But Christ was
obedient in all that he did. He was perfect in all that he
did. He was obedient unto death. And Paul wrote there in Philippians
chapter 2, even the death of the cross. How low can you go? Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. That's how low he went. He was
so rejected and despised that man by nature labeled him a malefactor. That means a criminal. A criminal. We esteemed him smitten of God. Now, he was smitten of God, for
it pleased the Father to bruise him. But man by nature esteemed
him smitten because he deserved it as his own sinfulness, and
it was not so. He became guilty in my place. My guilt became His. He became
sin. He was made sin, the Scripture
says. That means He took our place
and He became responsible, legally, for all our sins. And it was
more than just a legal transaction. It was an actual experience that
He went down to, even the death of the cross. that he experienced
and felt in his soul, in his mind, in his affections, in his
will. Everything about him felt the
pain and the sorrow and the agony of the cross. And just as David
descended far in 1 Samuel 21, look at verse 15 of 1 Samuel
21. This is Achish, the king of Gath. And here's David down
on all fours probably frothing at the mouth, faking it. And
he says, have I need of madmen? Do I need madmen that you have
brought this to play? And it says this fellow that's
in italics. That means the translators of
the King James version supplied it. And here's how I would probably
read that you have brought this to play the madman in my presence. Shall this come into my house? You see, Achish wouldn't even
recognize David as being a man. He's a thing. You bring this
thing into me? Do I need this thing? And that's
the way it was. Well, I'll tell you what. That's
the way man by nature looks at the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
exactly right. Christ our Lord condescended
to come down from His glory to save us. And just like Achish
would not even refer to David as a man. I want to show you
something. Turn over to Psalm 22. Turn to
Psalm 22. This is the psalm of the cross.
This is one of those messianic psalms that confuse a lot of
people because they want to make it more than what it is. And
some want to make it less than what it is. But it starts out
in verse 1 of Psalm 22. Listen to it. My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?" Our Savior was forsaken of the Father. And I cannot explain that to
you, but I know it so. You know what separated Him from
the Father? Our sins laid upon Him, imputed
to Him. And it was an actual separation.
Now, don't let anybody tell you that just because it was sin
imputed that it wasn't real. They don't know what imputation
is. I'm telling you, they don't. They don't understand it. They've
missed it. It was a real separation. Now,
what that separation meant to him, and what went through his
mind, and how he felt it, I don't know. Because the Scripture doesn't
tell us. I don't believe we could enter
into that kind of thing. But I just know it was a real
separation. He said, Why hast thou forsaken me? He said, Why
art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring? You see, the Father couldn't
help him. And the reason the Father could not help him is
because he was there to satisfy the justice of God. And it had
to be satisfied. He had to finish the work that
the Father gave him to do. It wasn't that the Father didn't
have the power to do it. He's all-powerful. But he had
to be true to himself and his glory. Why did Christ go to that
cross? He went there to do a work, and
it had to be finished. And the Father couldn't take
him off the cross until it was finished. He says in verse 2,
Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. Can you
imagine that? The son not being heard by the
father. Why? Because of our sins imputed
to him. He said, and in the night season,
and am not silent, but thou art holy. In other words, what this,
the son does not, Christ is not like us. You see, when we go
through troubles and trials, we blame God. We say, God, why
am I suffering this? You're not just to do that. But
the Son didn't do that. He said, but thou art holy. O
thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. He's right to do this. And he says in verse 4, our fathers
trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee
and were not confounded." Now, here's the words of our Savior,
verse 6, "...but I, a worm, I am a worm, and no man, a reproach
of men, and despised of the people." That's how low He sank to save
me from my sins. You say, why did He have to use
that language, I am a worm? Well, turn over to Isaiah chapter
41. And I want to show you why. Why this language befits our
Savior, the perfect God-man on the cross, based on our sins
imputed to Him, charged to Him. Isaiah 41, and look at verse
14. He's speaking of the promise
of salvation to God's people through Christ, and he says in
verse 14, Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Now, who do you suppose
that's talking about? He says, you men of Israel, I
will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. You know why he said, I'm a worm?
Because he came to save worms like us. And I know people don't
like that kind of language, because that just offends man's dignity. You know what that's called?
That's called the offense of the cross. I'll tell you what,
it don't offend you, does it? It doesn't offend me either.
I know what I am. Yeah, thou worm Jacob, I am the
Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Yes, he had to come as low as
we are. That's right. Under the sins
of his people charged to him. That's right. And it was real. Now look back at 1 Samuel 22. You see, he had to condescend
to the lowest depths Because you know who he came to save?
The people on the bottom. The people on the bottom. That's
right. Us. Sinners. Sinners. Who need salvation. Well, over
here in 1 Samuel 22, David ended up in a cave. You know, I thought
about that. Our Lord, He closed His descent
in a cave of sorts. His grave, His tomb. You know,
when He raised Lazarus from the dead, They called his tomb a
cave, and our Lord went to a cave. And all this signifies His death
on the cross. You see, as I told you, Adalim,
there it goes, verse 1, David therefore departed thence and
escaped to the cave Adalim. That word Adalim means refuge. David went to the refuge. And
our Lord is our refuge, isn't He? He is our Adalim, Christ
crucified. For it was on the cross that
He put away our sins by His own precious blood. It was on the
cross that He established our righteousness before God, His
imputed to us, so that we can stand forever and forever and
forever complete and whole and unblameable and without charge
before a holy God who does what's right. That's a refuge, my friend. There's no greater refuge than
Christ. And that's what David testified
of in those two Psalms that he wrote out of this cave. He was
in a cave. Think about it. Here's the man
who slew Goliath, who walked through the streets of Jerusalem
with the people singing praises to him, who was destined to take
the throne of Israel, and here he is down in a cave. Well, my
friend, there's no better place to be. And in that cave, Adalim,
Christ, our refuge. And the way that cave is down,
we'll see that in just a moment. But now look at the next part
here. Secondly, David's followers go
to him for refuge. And this is what it says. Now,
David's followers were drawn to him while he was in the cave
of refuge, while he was in Adalim. And I believe that's a good illustration
of how sinners are drawn to Christ in His death, His propitiation,
His satisfaction to God for our sins. The cross is our salvation. And we can't stress that enough.
The cross is our hope. Paul wrote, he said, I strive
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul wrote, he said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross is our refuge. Christ on that cross dying for
our sins. But now our refuge doesn't end
at the cross. He's not a dead martyr. He's
risen from the dead. And that proves the cross is
our refuge. David didn't stay in that cave
here. He came out. But here we see
exactly the type or kind of people who are drawn to Christ. Now,
what kind of people does He save? He saves sinners. But look how He
describes them here. Look at verse 1. After the word
of Adalim, the refuge, it says, And when his brethren and his
father's house heard it, they went down thither, or there to
him. Who are these people? Well, that's his family. His
brethren and His Father's house. Well, Christ has a family. They were a family chosen before
the foundation of the world, chosen by God and given to Him. And He's the head of this family,
the church. He's the head. We're the body.
And He calls us His brethren. Turn to Matthew chapter 12. I
want to show you something here. His brethren. In Matthew chapter 12, our Lord
is preaching. And look over at verse 46. Talking
to people. Talking about the gospel. Talking
about the kingdom of heaven. And he says in verse 46, While
he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren
stood without, desiring to speak with him. Now that's Mary, who
was his human mother. And it was his half-brothers
that were with him. who were born of Joseph. Christ
wasn't born of man. But it says in verse 47, Then
one said unto him, Behold thy mother, and thy brethren stand
without desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said
unto him that told him, Who is my mother? Who are my brethren?
Who is my family? That's what he's asking there.
Who is my family? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples, that's his followers, and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren. That means behold my family.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,
the same is my brother and sister and mother." He said, there's
my family. Now, he wasn't showing any disrespect
or lack of love for his earthly mother or his half-brothers.
But he was making a vital point here. People, our family, our
family, now and forever, is the body of Christ. And I know it's
tough, you know, when we have physical, earthly family members
who get in the way of that. We talked about that Sunday.
And sometimes they do. And I tell you, they can make
life hard, can't they? Sometimes. But you're my family. You're my family. And that's
what Christ said. I will turn there, over in Hebrews
chapter 2. He said, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. That's who his brothers are.
That's who come and follow him. He declares the name of God,
the God of salvation. It says he's not ashamed to call
us brethren. That's what he's talking about.
That's what's illustrated here. When David's brothers and his
father's house came to him. The next thing it says back over
here in 1 Samuel 22, it says when his brethren and all his
father's house heard it, That's the next thing that's shown,
who come to Him, who come for refuge, those who heard it. You
can't follow Christ if you've never heard of Him. And you can't
hear Him, except God give you ears to hear. The hearing ear
is a gift from God. That's why He told the disciples,
blessed are your ears, for they hear. They hear things that the
Pharisees aren't hearing. The Pharisees hear it, and they're
offended. They hate it. They walk away mad and angry. But when you hear it, it pricks
your heart, just like when Peter in Acts chapter 2 preached that
message of Pentecost. It said, when they heard these
things, they were pricked in their heart, and they fell down
and said, men and brethren, what shall we do? They were convicted
by the Holy Spirit. When Stephen, over a few chapters
in Acts chapter 7, preached to the angry mob that he preached
to, they rejected it. And here is how he described
them in Acts chapter 7 and verse 51. He said, O ye stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears. The Holy Spirit had not
done His work, you see, of conviction. But some hear it. Some hear it. Look at John 6 in verse 44. Let
me show you who hears it. Hears the gospel with the ear
of faith. Sees the glory of Christ with
the eye of faith. Look at John 6.44. And again, I know a lot of people
don't like to hear this, but it's Scripture. It says in verse
44, No man can come to me. except the Father which hath
sent me draw him." And that word, draw, there is literally drag,
like the dragnet. And it's not saying that people
come against their will. It's saying that God is the one
who makes them willing. And he says, "...and I will raise
him up at the last day." Well, who does he draw? Look at verse
45, "...it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all
taught of God." Taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." You know
who walks away from this refuge? You know who walks away from
Christ? Those who haven't heard. Somebody says, well, they hear
you. They didn't hear God. They walked away unaffected.
My friend, this is a message of life and death. Look back
at 1 Samuel 22. It says over there in verse 1,
the next thing it says, they heard it and they went down there
to Him. The way of salvation is down. That means humility. A lot of
people, when they desire salvation, they think, well, I'll step up. Show what I can contribute. Show
what I've done. Give my testimony. Talk about
my experiences. See where the Lord wants to use
me to make him successful. Oh no, that's pride. The way
to Christ, the way to this refuge, just like the way to this cave,
and to David, they went down. And who knows where they went
down to? They went down to Him. These followers of David went
down to David. The followers of Christ go down
to Him. To whom shall we go, Peter said,
thou hast the words of eternal life. Salvation is going to Him. Not just some mystical Him now,
but He who is identified. and preached out in the Word
of God as the Son of God incarnate, the Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus
who shall save His people from their sins, who lived and died,
was buried and rose again the third day, not just to be a good
example, but to satisfy law and justice and enable God to be
just and justify the ungodly, so that I know that in that refuge
I have all that God requires of me in Him. All wisdom, all
righteousness, all holiness, and all redemption. So notice
the next description. Look at verse 2 now. Listen to
how he describes them here. Everyone that was in distress. Now that word distress means
anguish. Actually, it's like to be in
a strait. You've heard of people being
in dire straits. It means they're trapped and
there's no way to go. And another word for it is disabled.
Lost and helpless. That's what he's talking about.
People who are lost and helpless. Why don't people come to Christ?
I'll tell you why. They don't need Him. They don't see their
need of Him. They're not distressed, you see. They think they've already got
it. They think they're already okay. Whatever they're depending
on. It may be their baptism, their
church membership, their tithing, they're an American, whatever
they think. They're moral. They've done their
best. They've tried to treat their neighbor right. But you
see, they're not distressed to the point to see that they are
totally disabled. That means an anguish that comes
from a total lack of ability, a total lack of strength, a total
lack of power. You see, as long as we think
we have some spiritual ability, we'll never come to Christ. The
whole need not a physician. And we'll never see the reality
of God's grace and mercy. What inability do we have? Well,
we lack the ability to keep the law. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We're sinners by nature and by
practice. And we can't keep the law. We
even lack the ability to understand or receive the things of the
Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 teaches
that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
We even lack the ability to come to Christ. We won't do it of
our own will. No man can come, we read in John
6, verse 44, except the Spirit to draw him. I think about those
blind men who looked upon the Lord and said, Jesus, thou Son
of David, would you heal us? And he asked them, he said, do
you believe enough? That's not what he asked them.
Is your faith strong enough? Have you persevered in faith
long enough? No, he didn't ask him any of
those questions. He asked him one question. He said, do you
believe that I am able to do this? You see, the distressed
know their own inability, but they also know his ability. For
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him. You see, I know whom I believe,
Paul wrote, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. Abraham believed
God because he was persuaded that what God had promised, God
was what? Able to perform. You know why
I fled to Christ? Because I'm unable and he's able.
He's able to save me to the uttermost. Do you believe that I'm able?
Look at the next description of them. He says, everyone that
was in debt. What's that mean? That means
they're bankrupt. It means they have no money to pay. What is
that an emblem of in the scripture? It means we have no righteousness
of our own. That's what it means. There's
none righteous. No, not one. It means we have
no holiness of our own. It means we have no goodness
of our own. No righteousness cannot be accepted
on the basis of our works. We have nothing to pay. Our salvation
has to be a matter of pure, free, 100% sovereign grace. That's
what that means. You see, when we sin, we run
up a debt before God. That's what sin is sometimes
called. But those who see their indebtedness, those who are distressed,
God teaches us this, that before the foundation of the world,
Christ was set up to be our what? Our surety. Now, what does a
surety do? A surety is one who says, I'll
pay the debt if they can't. Well, we can't. Christ is our
surety. It was laid on Him before we
were ever born. Isn't that something? And I'll
tell you something else. God is not a debtor to us. You
know, most preachers preach God as being in debt to men. He's
not a debtor to us. Romans chapter 4 teaches that.
Brother Stan read that in the study. You see, if it's of works,
in other words, if salvation is by our works in any way, at
any stage, to any degree, Then it's not grace, it's simply what
God owes us. A debt that He owes us. But God
never puts Himself in a position where He's indebted to the creature.
That's right. You see, we owe the debt to God.
And we don't have anything to pay. But thank God we have a
refuge from the collector. And His name is Jesus Christ,
the Lord, our righteousness. He paid my debt. in full, paid
it all. That's the kind of people that
come to this refuge, Christ. And then look at the last one
here. He says, and everyone that was discontented, that word discontented
literally means unsatisfied, bitter of soul. Dissatisfied
with themselves, dissatisfied with life in general, Unfulfilled. It's like a hunger
that goes unfulfilled. It's like a thirst that goes
unquenched. It's like being cold and you
just can't get warm. Like being naked without clothes.
That's what this discontented is. You have a need, but it cannot
be met. And those who are shown their
discontentedness, are those who are under the conviction of the
Holy Spirit of God to see their sins and their nakedness and
their unrighteousness and their need, and He drives them to Christ. Christ said, Come unto Me, all
ye that are labored and heavy laden. That's discontentedness. And He said, I'll give you rest.
Give you rest. Everyone who's truly discontented,
they're poor in spirit, they're meek and lowly, They're mourners. They'll be filled. They'll have
the kingdom of God because Christ will meet their need. You see,
if God ever shows us our nakedness, He does it for one reason. To
show us that Christ is our righteousness. He'll clothe us. God never makes
a sinner hungry just to leave him hungry. He always makes the
sinner hungry to give him the bread of life. He never makes
a sinner thirsty to leave him parched and dry. He makes him
thirsty Quenches thirst with the water of life, Christ. That's
why Christ is our refuge in all these things. It says here in
verse 2 that David became a captain over them. Christ is called the
captain of our salvation, isn't He, in Hebrews chapter 2. That
means He's the forerunner, He's the leader, He's the head of
it all, He's the victor, He's the planner, the purposer, and
the actual doer of it all. He's the captain of our salvation. And it says there, and there
were with him about 400 men. Now there's a specific number
there, and there's a specific number in God's kingdom too.
Only God knows that. We're to go preach the gospel
to every creature, and command all everywhere to repent. But
notice here it says, there were with him. And there's the key. You see, wherever we are, whether
we're in a cave or whether we're on the mountaintop, whether we're
down at the door scratching and foaming at the mouth or on the
throne of Israel, the key is, are we with Him? Are we with
Him? That's the key. He prayed that
in John 17. He said, Father, I will that
they who Thou hast given me shall be with me. That's what we are,
with Him. How? God. who spared not his
only begotten Son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not
with him freely give us all things?" If we're with him, we have all
things. If we're with him, we have all
wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption. I want to be
with him. How about you? Don't you want
to be with him too? You say, well, I'm not sure I'm
the kind of person who wants to be with him. You don't want
to be with Him yet. But if God ever shows you your
distress, your debt, your discontentedness, you'll want to be with Him. And
I'll tell you what, there won't be anybody who can stop you.
And you won't be worried about walking down an aisle. You won't
be worried about anything. You'll just say, I've got to
get to Christ. That's a spiritual thing, isn't
it? You can get to Christ where you're sitting right now. Isn't
that right? You don't have to move a muscle
to get to Him. It's a heart thing, you see. It's a heart that the
Holy Spirit draws out towards Christ that puts you in the cave
of Adullam, puts you in the cave of refuge, which is Christ our
Lord and our Savior.