Sermon for Sunday morning, August 25, 2024 at Unionville Presbyterian Church, BPC
Old Testament reading:
[Isa 51:1-12 ESV] 1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. 3 For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. 4 “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. 5 My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. 7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.” 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? 10 Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 12 “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,
New Testament reading:
[2Co 4:7-18 ESV] 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Gospel reading:
[Mat 10:26-33 ESV] 26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Scripture reading:
[1Sa 27:1-12 ESV] 1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. 4 And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. 5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. 8 Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. 10 When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” 11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.'” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
Introduction
Some months ago I watched a number of videos on in-depth airplane crash investigations. And the man who made the videos was himself a pilot and even a trainer of pilots. And so he had great knowledge of flying. And something he noted in one of his videos really stuck with me. In fact I’ve been waiting for the right sermon in which to note what he said. And, now this is it! The man spoke about what a pilot is to do when many things have gone wrong with the flight controls. Now, my natural inclination is to figure out what is wrong and to fix it! But sometimes, he noted, there isn’t much time, and there’s a lot to be fixed. So pilots are taught a different approach. They are taught to “figure out WHAT IS WORKING and use those features to safely land the plane.” Don’t focus on what is broken, but focus on what is working.
How do you land a plane? Don’t look at what isn’t working, but look at what is working. If one engine on the right wing is working, and your rudder is working, use that to land the plane.
Now today, as we look at 1 Samuel chapter 27, we come to the subject of despair. And when it comes to despair — and the solution to it — it is good not to focus on what isn’t working, but rather to look at what is working and so go from despair to joy. Against all our despair is Joy in the Lord; with His promises despair is defeating.
We have two main sections or subjects today.
First is “despair and its consequences”
And then, conquering that despair we have “Joy in the Promises of God.”
I. Despair and its Consequences.
We see despair in David’s heart at the first verse of chapter 27:
1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.
David says “in his heart” (which probably means he didn’t say this out loud, but God knows David’s thoughts), “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul.” REPEAT” “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul.”
This despair of a David is a surprising development some respects. Didn’t Saul just call David “my son” and admit his own mistake and even declare David righteous?
And furthermore, wasn’t David just praying (and trusting God) saying “Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may he [God] deliver me out of all tribulation.”
But even so, now David is in despair.
And we can see why/how. He’s burned out. For some time Saul has continue to pursue his very life. And the promises of Saul that such actions are over and done with haven’t proven to be true. So David takes little stock of the Saul’s latest promise not to pursue David anymore.
And so David is in despair.
Despair is a powerful negative emotion.
Despair is when you’ve convinced yourself of something negative even though it isn’t true.
Despair is focus on “inevitable evil,” thinking there is no hope for relief.
The despairing person says:
-The Lord has departed from me.
-I’ll never find a job.
-I’ll never find a spouse.
-A difficult relationship strains me.
-This pain will never go away.
-I am worthless in this world.
-I might as well … well… live with the Philistines.
That’s David solution. Go live with the Philistines.
And this is truly surprising.
Has he forgotten the promises of the Lord that he will be King of Israel?
Has he forgotten the trouble last time he went to Philistia and had to pretend to be insane to get away?
And now, we find there are the consequences of David’s despair:
Consequence 1: Living in Philistia
To get away from Saul, David goes to Philistia, the land of the Philistines, that enemy of Israel.
And he’s not going there alone. He has with him 600 men plus their wives and children. So he has brought these people to live among the heathens, apart from the people of Israel. Even living with the enemy!
He’s got permission to stay there from Achish, the king of Gath. But the king is probably happy when David asks to move out to a small town called Zilkag rather than staying in Gath.
This is a coup of sorts. A victory for David and the people of Israel because this was to be an Israelite town in the first place during the conquest of the land generations ago, but they never took it. It is mentioned in Joshua 15 as one of the towns allotted to the tribe of Judah. But now, David has the town, and as the text says, “Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.” So clearly 1 Samuel was written while there were kings of Judah.
So there is a positive consequences: territory the Lord said to take is now taken.
But, also a negative consequences: living with heathens. And the Israelites are supposed to be separate, a people holy unto the Lord. That’s not going to happen while they live among foreign people’s with foreign gods.
Consequence 2: David lies to Achish.
There is a consequence of David’s despair and move to Philistia. It is at the end of our chapter. David fights battles (and wins) against the Geshurites, Girzites, Amalekites, Jerahmeelites,”and Kenites. And, at first you might think this is terrible David attacking these people’s for no reason, and laying waste to their towns and killing everyone there. But, in reality this is looked upon favorably. This is what the Lord has called the Israelites to do, in taking Canaan and putting to death the wicked heathen who believed in false Gods. So David is actually doing what Saul should be doing.
The negative consequences is not the victories he wins, but the lying he resorts to. Because David wants to be allowed to stay in Ziklag, he doesn’t tell King Achish what is truly going on in his battles. David kills everyone so that there are no witnesses. And he merely tells Achish that he is fighting in certain places in the Negev, in the desert, implying that he is fighting against Israel when he is in fact fighting against enemies of Israel.
Had David stayed in Israel and not worried about Saul, David would have been able to fight the Amalekites, etc. without lying about it. But his despair has now led to these lies.
So we are to be cautioned against such despair as David had. While David is often an example for us, in much of this text he is a counterexample. We are warned not to be like David.
Instead of trusting in the Lord, he despairs in his own heart. That is out trouble – our own heart! Jeremiah 17:9 tells us [Jer 17:9 KJV] 9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
David should have looked to the Lord. But he looks into his own heart and falls into despair.
All believers are called to a greater patience and fortitude. It is not easy though. David is harassed wherever he is turned. For years running from Saul who wants to murder him. David just wants relief. And “Consulting his own heart only, and not the ephod or the prophet, he concludes, ‘There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines.’”
So we learn, long trials often lead to despair.
These are our hardest trials.
I mentioned some before:
Bodily pain that doesn’t go away.
The desire for marriage that isn’t fulfilled.
And there are many other such trials:
Crippling poverty that never allows you to “get ahead.”
Difficult relationships with family or friends that just doesn’t seem to get better.
These NATURALLY lead to despair.
II. Joy in the Promises of God
But SUPER-NATURALLY they need not lead to despair.
We have in the Christian Faith — and the Christian Faith alone — a solid answer to despair. What is the opposite of despair? It is hope and joy. And that is what we have — hope and joy. And not without reason. We don’t just “find it within us.” Hope and joy are not something we are to manufacture. Rather, hope and joy come from outside of us. They come from knowledge of the Lord and of his promises for us, so that we NEED NOT DESPAIR. The plane can be landed.
With hope in Christ “we can land this plane.” Crucial systems are a go. He provides adequately, abundantly for our needs so that our despair may turn to joy. REPEAT: “Despair may turn to joy.”
But how is this so? Why should we not despair? Despair is the way of the world, the natural conclusion of its philosophy. The Nihilists boldly conclude in despair. And the Buddhists say all is pain and we can only seek to ignore it and not make it worse. But, if you’ve tried these things, you know that they do not work. Despair is a giant, hard to overcome.
In Pilgrims’s Progress one of the evil characters is “Giant Despair” who lives at Doubting Castle. And he captures Christian and his friend Hopeful while their sleeping one night on his grounds. And the author, Bunyan, says “So they were forced to go, because he was stronger than they.” DESPAIR WAS STRONGER THAN THEY. Does that ring true for you? Despair is more than you can handle? Alone, I do not doubt that. But know that you have with you the Lord God. You have Jesus Christ, and you have the Holy Spirit within you. And by the power of God, despair is defeated.
But it does little good when someone says “despair not.”
It does little good for me to come up to you and say “be happy!” “Don’t worry, be happy.”
You need a REASON for Joy, and you need a CAUSE for joy.
Despair is not without its purpose in the plan of God.
By despair, we learn not to trust in ourselves.
And in our greatest despair, we must reach out to God.
Despair leads us to Christ.
And Christ brings us to joy.
So David, in his despair, had forgotten the promise of God that he would be anointed king. All will work out; there is no need to panic and flee to Philistia.
And we, likewise, are to look to the promises of God. Not that we are promised to be anointed king, but that the greater anointed King Jesus Christ has promise and fulfilled out salvation.
Here’s what I tell myself, and here’s what you can tell yourself when in despair:
1. We serve a good God.
2. Count your blessings.
3. We have a reason for hope. We have joy in the Promises of God. What are those promises? Christ promises you eternal life in heaven where there is no sin, grief, or despair. And the Scriptures promise that all things work together for the good of those who trust in God.
So instead of despair we are called to trust, called to hope, and called to joy.
And that is such a great way to live. A blessing from God.
Imagine that, casting all your burdens away. Now, do it. Cast your burdens on the Lord, and live trusting in his, without despair.
The texts we’ve read today note some of those promises of God. And from those promises we are encouraged not to despair.
Consider our NT reading:
[2Co 4:7-18 ESV] 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
And Jesus in our Gospel reading:
1 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven
And Isaiah:
3 For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
6 the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever
11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
REPEAT: “I am he who comforts you.”
Do not despair.
Trust in God who’s promises are all yes and amen.
As for the Pilgrims Christian and Hopeful, after many days locked away in Doubting Castle it was the key called Promise that made their escape from Giant Despair.
Let’s conclude with that part of the story:
Now a little before it was day, good CHRISTIAN, as one half amazed, break out in this passionate speech: “What a fool,” quoth he, “am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom called Promise; that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” Then said HOPEFUL, “That’s good news; good brother, pluck it out of thy bosom, and try.” Then CHRISTIAN pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the dungeon door; whose bolt (as he turned the key) gave back, and the door flew open with ease: and CHRISTIAN and HOPEFUL both came out.
So I pray that the Promises of God are the key for you to escape despair. I know personally that they are.