But He Promised

Text: 1 Samuel 27

To the child of God, belief in His promises is fundamental in finding happiness and contentment in this present world.
Imagine for a moment the faith of a little girl in the promise of her daddy that he would come to rescue her if ever she needed him to. All of a sudden there is a great tragedy and a tornado whips through town and her home is hit. Soon, the father desperately picks away at the rubble and continues to dig through the mess until he gets to the area where his little girl would be. He finds her safe under some broken pieces of the home and now watch her face as she simply puts her arms around his neck as he picks her up and wipes away her tears. Soon, the television reporters pick up on this story and rush over to the man with his little girl and ask how the events transpired. The man says, "that would have been the only place I could have found her" and then they ask the little girl why she stayed where she was and waited?
Her reply came back "My Daddy promised he'd rescue me."

As people who have responded to the promises of God in Christ Jesus, we must always remember those promises as we face the difficult times of life. It can be so easy at times to forget about God's promises and begin to believe they are not for us and then something tragic begins to happen in our own lives.
Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 27 and read with me something that happened in the life of David….

Now, as far as the Old Testament is concerned, David received a promise from God that probably would only be equaled by the promise He gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.

In 1 Samuel 16- David was anointed by Samuel (God's prophet) to be king of Israel.
David was the man after God's own heart and he was to be the leader or shepherd of God's sheep. Now, through the years, others have come to affirm this promise to David.
1 Samuel 23:37- Jonathon his best friend who would have been king if not for David.
1 Samuel 25:30- Abigail one of his wives also affirms it.
1 Samuel 24:20- even King Saul who wanted him dead acknowledged that God's promise would come true.

So, David has been riding along with God's promise out there. One day you will be king over Israel. So far, God has kept David safe through some tempestuous times. Time and time again Saul has tried to kill David, but God has kept rescuing David.
Until we get to 1 Samuel 26:25- even though Saul says this to David, something changes inside of David!
As you enter 1 Samuel 27, you enter one of the darkest moments of the lifetime of David. In fact, from 1 Samuel 27-30:6- David has approximately 16 months of disobedience. What is so amazing about this time period is the fact that never once is it recorded that David prayed to God. Also, there is not one song credited to being written during this time. Here is the sweet singer of Israel who even today fills our hymnbooks with his words of praise to God and he is silenced in this period.
I would like you to consider that as you distance yourself from God, you become less able to truly sing His praises.--Psalms 137:4. Sometimes we may not even realize it because we are not even focusing on God at all.

How did David get on the wrong track?
How could a man who was so big in faith during the battle with Goliath become so small?
What changes in a man to make him no longer shout the great battle cry of God but instead focus on the destruction that is sure to come?
How can you and I avoid this great tragedy in our lives?
Basically there are two things:

David forgot about the promise of God!

David began listening to himself!
Vs.1- Notice what David said to himself- I shall perish by the hand of Saul!
Oh David, say it ain't so! How can this be the same man who stood before Goliath and knew nobody could defeat the purposes of God?
Think for a moment about all that has happened before David makes this conclusion:
Samuel comes and declares him the next king. He takes a stand against a nine foot nine giant that no one else was willing to take and he defeats the giant and then leads Israel to victory over the Philistines. He starts to win battle after battle and is exalted in the people's eyes. He then begins to avoid the onslaught of a jealous king and continues to not engage in sinful activities. But even after all this-
this is how he feels!

Did you notice, God didn't say this?
God wasn't even asked about this. Why didn't David ask God if Saul would kill him?
He just concludes that he's going to be killed by Saul one day. There are Christians who sadly feel the same way. They hear about God's promises; it starts to take effect in their lives. They even begin to win some small battles (others bigger ones). They begin to say no to certain temptations, they start overcoming unhealthy habits, their hearts become more alive with love, joy & praise and then suddenly they stop listening to the promise of God and say in their hearts "Surely, I am going to perish".

So, what does this make David conclude?
Here is the grave danger of forgetting God's promises!
"There is nothing better for me than to go to the camp of the enemy". David, is this true?
Is there really nothing better for you?
What about being the shepherd of God's people?
David, why don't you ask what God's will is in this?
David became the captain of his own ship and he started to make it sink!

How sad it is that when Christians start forgetting about the wonderful promises of God- they can soon start convincing themselves that there is nothing better than to live the way of sin!
Vs.2,3- he goes to Gath- of note- Goliath's hometown. (1 Samuel 17:4)
Vs.4- notice what this move initially did:
it brought some relief! Ah! David could have thought, this plan of mine worked- I won't die now, because I made the right choice. You know, sometimes the pressures of having to live God's way can seem so tough, that the moment we let it go and decide to live a different way, there is some sort of relief. Why?
We don't have to face the challenge of triumph. Other times, the decision to go our own way and dive into sin can bring immediate pleasures and feel like it is truly satisfying. Let us ask this question: was being chased by Saul that much worse than joining Goliath's gang?
Is chasing the dream of God today much worse than facing the 'forgotten' God in the future? (2 Tim.4:10)
Let's go on however and see what consequences David's decision brought:
Vs.5- David declares himself a servant of the enemy!
A king of God's children allows himself to become a slave of God's enemy! Oh, David!
How could you believe that such is better?
How could you think that this should be where you would find your greatest amount of satisfaction?
When we decide to live no longer the way God wants us to, that's what we have declared.
Vs.7- 16 months long- this little decision had long standing consequences.
Just a little sin. Just a little fun. Just a little oversight. Just a little, can become a lot.
Vs.9-12- Look at how far David falls.
Here becomes another problem:
David was an Israelite on the inside trying to be a Philistine on the outside. Now, he can't kill Israelites, so he goes and attacks some other people. It says he would butcher them- men and women, why?
Well, he first of all would lie about what he did. (strike number 1- he now lies). "Where are you going tonight?" "Oh! Just out with so and so."
He also, killed everybody so nobody could tell the truth about him. (strike number 2- cover up his tracks). There's no way to check out my story.
This leads to strike number 3- David is accountable to no one, at least yet!

What a sad, sad story!
David promised to be king deserts his countrymen and joins the enemy. Then, he lies, does some terrible acts of violence just to cover up his tracks and feels he is accountable to no one. Where did it all begin?
By forgetting to focus on the promises of God!

But, here's the question, who was David?
Was he an Israelite, or Philistine?
What was his identity?
Turn to chapter 29,30 and you see David has lost his identity!

Notice in 29:6,7- he couldn't go with the Israelites and now he can't go with the Philistines.
In Chapter 30 he goes back to his home and discovers that all their wives and children had been taken captive by a people he attacked in chapter 27.
Note: this was David's fault.
Had he not gone there to begin with, they wouldn't have suffered this. Do not our decisions affect others today? (Romans 14:7)
Vs.3,4- great depression - have you ever cried to the point you couldn't anymore?
My friends, perhaps one of the greatest dangers facing the Christian today is losing sight of who he is and what has been promised.
David lost sight that he was the next king of Israel and God would establish him on the throne.
Because of that- his vision took him to a foreign land and then to do foreign things. Things unbecoming a servant of God.
Then his terrible decisions while bringing relief from Saul brought devastation to his wives and children and his loyal men's families as well.

Don't be like David. Remember God's promises to His children. Remember God's ability to deliver His promises and always remember who you are-
a child of the King, destined for greater things than what appear!

You want to know how David got out of this rut? (vs.6,8)
He strengthened himself in the Lord and he inquired of the Lord!

Do you feel like David that all seems to be lost and there is nothing better for you than to live like the rest of the world just spending your days in sinful activity?
Do you feel like things aren't going to turn out right?
Or, perhaps you have made David's decisions and are now realizing the awful pain of it all?
We have wonderful news to bring you:
God's promises are still there for His children and He offers you this moment to strengthen yourself in Him!

Let me relate a story from Jesus' day- Mark 5.
Vs.21-24- Jairus comes and needs Jesus to heal his daughter. "Jesus will heal her and things will be alright."
Then there's an interruption- vs.25-34
And after that interruption someone comes to you in vs.35 and says your daughter is dead- don't trouble Jesus anymore.
So, we are told Jairus goes into mourning and soon decides there is nothing better in this life so he visits the local tavern. Soon, he's getting drunk all the time (the pain of his loss is ripping him apart). He starts to yell at his wife and he blames her for not taking care of their daughter properly). He begins hitting her; she soon files for divorce things are as bad as they can get. But what really hurts is hearing others rejoice over the latest miracle of the Nazarene. In fact the worst is seeing that woman who was healed the very day his daughter died.

But, wait, that's not what happened:
Jesus said "Don't be afraid, only believe."
He comes to the body of the dead girl and says "Talitha, cumi" "Little girl arise" and Jairus has his daughter because the promises of God are too wonderful to miss.

Don't listen to the voices even if it's your inner one that urges you to no longer be troubled with the promises of God. Kings of Israel don't make good Philistine servants and redeemed souls don't make good bondservants of sin.

1 Peter 1:3-9

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