Some quick thoughts from 1 Peter 1:1-5…

v1 – “pilgrims” – those who have no claim to the place they find themselves; passers-through. Does that describe me today? Am I comfortable in this world with its toys, games, diversions, anger, violence, sexuality, etc? Hopefully not!

v2 – “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” – People often debate the doctrine of Election, but it is clearly in Scripture. I won’t get into it right now, but here again, if “Election” really meant “foreknowledge” (i.e.: God fore-knew who would be saved, which He does anyway) than why would the Holy Spirit inspire Peter to write both words, “elect” and “foreknowledge”? God has elected or chosen some.

v2 – “in sanctification of the Spirit” – It is the Holy Spirit who makes us more like Jesus.

v2 – Why are we chosen? Why does God save us? “So you can live and do what you want” Um, NO. Scripture does NOT say that. It says “for obedience” as Peter writes in verse 2. I heard over the weekend the statement, “Jesus does not own those whom He can’t command.”

v2 – “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” – Just as Moses sprinkled the people of Israel with the blood of animals to signify their being under covenant with God, we are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Himself into a much better and lasting covenant.

v3 – “according to His abundant mercy” – God the Father is abundantly merciful! When you are tempted to doubt God’s mercy, by faith STOP and recall His mercy! How many examples from Scripture can you name? How many from your own life?

v3 – Christians have now a “living hope” – a vibrant anticipation. But based on what?

v3 – “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” – “In Him we have life” John writes.

v4 – Look at what is stored up for you, Believer! An inheritance “incorruptible”, “undefiled”, that “does not fade away” that is “reserved in heaven for” (___Insert Your Name Here!!___)

v5 – That inheritance is not for everyone. If you don’t know Christ you can write your name in there all you want, but does you no good. It is for those who are “kept” not by their own works but by “the power of God through faith for salvation”

Reader, have you checked your eternal retirement savings lately? Are you rich through God because of His mercy, and faith to obedience, or are you bankrupt because of your own rejection of the goodness and kindness of God?

Posted: January 11th, 2010 under Challenge, Devotions, Scripture.
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Today we’ll wrap up this series on Waiting as we continue looking at 1 Samuel 22:1-5 and David’s time living in the cave at Adullum.

I passed over it without comment earlier, but I want to bring to your attention the qualifier David includes in his request to the King of Moab regarding how long his (David’s) parents should live with him: “…til I know what God will do for me.” David didn’t say “…til I figure out how to get myself out of this mess”. Even in this trying circumstance David a) was determined to let God determine the next steps b) used it to testify about God and His faithfulness to the king. As hard as it is for us, if we name Christ as Lord (“Master”), we absolutely, resolutely wait on Him for our orders. While we wait, let us follow David’s example of using the time to testify to others of God’s faithfulness in all things.

David, as I mentioned, was determined to stay in the stronghold of the cave until the Lord directed him otherwise. He knew that to leave early and go his own way was sin. We know, as I pointed out in another post, by the multiplicity of events in this passage that they couldn’t all happen on a single day. David was waiting for some time. However long it was, it was long enough for his family to find out and travel to visit him (v1), for others to find out and eventually come to have him as their captain (v2), long enough for him to travel to Mizpah and back (v3), and just the way verse 4 records how David’s parents stayed with the King “all the time that David was in the stronghold.” Likewise, in our lives it is sin for us to get ahead of God’s plans and strike out on our own path and leave our own cave of waiting prematurely.

But “the Lord is not slack concerning His promises” (2 Peter 3:9). Look what happens next: “Now the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the stronghold, depart, and go to the land of Judah.‘” (v5)

God has answered!

It is time to leave the cave!

God has spoken, He sent David’s orders down through His servant Gad. It is time to move out.

Just moments before he got the news, it would’ve been sin for David to leave to cave. Now God has spoken and it would be sin to stay in the cave. Remember when, in effect, God kept telling Noah, “Not yet” but then He gave the go-ahead? Think of all the times over their forty years in the desert God had Israel stay camped where they were? It was sometimes a short time, sometimes a long time. But then the cloudy pillar would move and it was time to go. If you haven’t already, you too will have times where God says “Wait” and then times when He says “Go”. I can recall stories of missionaries carrying suitcases of Bibles across hostile borders and their primary directive as far as getting through Customs was exactly this: “Wait. Wait for God to tell you when to go, then go!”

So what did David do? Verse 5 tells us, “So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.” David waited on the Lord, listened to the counsel of the godly, and obeyed what the Lord said. Waiting on God is as simple as that. The working out of that is certainly easier said than done, but there is greater stress and frustration in store not following God’s process than following it!

Some final thoughts:
- Remember what David wrote in Psalm 34 as was noted in Waiting, Part 3: Keep trusting God.

- Be faithful in the things God has called you while you wait, that includes being faithful in your roles as a husband/wife, father/mother, church member, worker, etc.

- Expectancy–Wait for God to lead you. Remember the words David wrote during this time in Psalm 57:1-3
 ¹ Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
         For my soul trusts in You;
         And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
         Until these calamities have passed by.
         
 ² I will cry out to God Most High,
         To God who performs all things for me.
 ³ He shall send from heaven and save me;
         He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.  Selah  
         God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
          (Psalm 57:1-3, New King James Version)

and Psalm 142:7

 ⁷ Bring my soul out of prison,
         That I may praise Your name;
         The righteous shall surround me,
         For You shall deal bountifully with me.”
(Psalm 142:7,New King James Version)

- Remember all the Biblical examples of those who were taught to wait and God did not ‘forget’ any of them and leave them there. In due time–in His time!–He brought them all to where He wanted them.

- When the Lord sends word to you…obey!

Posted: December 16th, 2009 under Devotions, Encouragement, Hope, Learning & Growing, Scripture.
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This series of posts is looking at the life of David based on events recorded in 1 Samuel 22:1-5. David has fled for his life from Saul who is trying to kill him despite David’s innocence before him. David, though called by God Himself to be king over Israel in place of Saul, has ended up for the time-being in hiding in a cave waiting upon God for direction. Although the circumstances which bring us to our own caves of waiting are probably very unlike David’s, looking at David’s circumstances can encourage you and me in our own times of waiting upon the Lord.

The last post was David’s psalm written after the events that led him to seek refuge in the cave. In this post we’re going to look at the two psalms we know he wrote while he lived in the cave: Psalm 142 and Psalm 57.

I could be wrong, but Psalm 142, although it appears later in the Psalms, seems to have been written first. For one thing, it just seems darker and more desperately clinging to God. Also, (and I didn’t catch this myself) David writes that “there is no one who acknowledges me…no one cares for my soul” (v4). As was noted in yesterday’s post, besides his family, four hundred people would eventually come and give allegiance to David there at Adullum, so I can’t imagine he’d write that no one cares for his soul when 400+ people are around him. (Already we can see an answer to prayer. He was alone but the Lord brought him people who cared about him.)

Psalm 57 is, by contrast, lighter than Psalm 142. Yes, his soul “is among the lions” and “they have prepared a net for [David's] steps” (v4,6). But David writes that “in the shadow of Your wings I will take my refuge, until these calamities have passed by” (v1). And unlike the desperate cries of 142, David seems to have come to a place of understanding and trust that God has not forsaken him. There are still questions. He is still living out of a cave and his life is still in danger (humanly speaking), but his heart is calmer and settled: “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise” (v7).

The Lord is good. He is kind and patient with His children. He knows when you are full of anxiety and strife inside. David escaped to a cave and poured his heart out to God and God gave him peace amidst the strife. David didn’t say the cave was his refuge. He said the Lord was (Psalm 142:5 and Psalm 57:1). Jesus tells us to go to our rooms, close the door, and pray in secret–to get alone with the Lord. Like David, our hearts cannot get settled so they can become steadfast until God himself becomes our refuge.

Next time we’ll look at some other practical aspects of what our attitudes should be while we wait on the Lord. But until then one important question remains: Is God your refuge?

Posted: December 14th, 2009 under Devotions, Encouragement, Hope, Learning & Growing, Scripture.
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David believed his life was in grave danger. Saul was on the hunt wanting to kill him. David had just pretended to be insane before the Philistine king, who in-turn sent him away. Now David has escaped to a cave. This man, who has on himself the anointing of the Lord to be king one day, is reduced to living in a cave like a hunted animal. You and I would undoubtedly be reduced to misery and tears asking “Why, God, why?”, seeing only our present circumstances. But look at what David wrote during this time. May we both be challenged to see things not as we see them, but as God does, trusting Him for His goodness and deliverance.

(Psalm 34, New King James Version)

 ¹ I will bless the LORD at all times;
         His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
 ² My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
         The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
 ³ Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
         And let us exalt His name together.
         
 ⁴ I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
         And delivered me from all my fears.
 ⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
         And their faces were not ashamed.
 ⁶ This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
         And saved him out of all his troubles.
 ⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
         And delivers them.
         
 ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
         Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
 ⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
         There is no want to those who fear Him.
 ¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
         But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
         
 ¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me;
         I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
 ¹² Who is the man who desires life,
         And loves many days, that he may see good?
 ¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
         And your lips from speaking deceit.
 ¹⁴ Depart from evil and do good;
         Seek peace and pursue it.
         
 ¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
         And His ears are open to their cry.
 ¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
         To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
         
 ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
         And delivers them out of all their troubles.
 ¹⁸ The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
         And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
         
 ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
         But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
 ²⁰ He guards all his bones;
         Not one of them is broken.
 ²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked,
         And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
 ²² The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
         And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Posted: December 13th, 2009 under Devotions, Encouragement, Hope, Learning & Growing, Scripture.
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1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. – 1 Samuel 22:1-4 (NKJV)

For a fuller treatment of this passage, I highly recommend Alan Redpath’s “The Making of a Man of God…Studies in the Life of David”. I won’t do it justice in one brief sentence, but Redpath shows that just as “everyone who was in distress…in debt…and discontented gathered to [David]“, he was a type (picture) of Christ. The Gospel is this: God loves us rebellious sinners so much that rather than punish us as we deserve, His first preference is to offer us amnesty against His righteous judgment, and He does so through the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. Like those of old running to David for safety and shepherding, we who are distressed by our sin, indebted by our sin, and discontented in our sin can find protection and peace through the greater than David, Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Note here that David honors his parents by bringing them to the Moabite king that he would give them care while his own life, by all natural appearances, was in grave danger. This detail includes something important: a period of time. How long we don’t know, but the text says “and they dwelt with him all the time David was in the stronghold.”

In another sense, we do know exactly how long that period of time was. We know for a certain fact that it was exactly as long as the Lord willed that it would be. Not one second longer. The Lord can do what He wants, for as long as He wants. Just because He loves us as much as He does, God absolutely never abdicated His Sovereignty over all things. He is God, and He deserves all praise. It was the Lord who chose David to eventually be king and would one day raise him up for such a purpose. But, for now, it was the Lord who allowed this time of waiting in David’s life.

Why? That’s between the Lord and David. But we can surmise at least a couple reasons: One is time for people to come and find their safe harbor in David. Another is that God was honing David’s leadership skills. Of course, God was also working in David’s life to make him evermore reliant upon Him.

Believer, how long is your Adullum? I don’t know and neither do you. But use the time to take stock of the goodness of God, forget not His mercies and love. (David wrote Psalm 34 during this time. I’ll post it next so you can see what God was doing in his life.) Know also that God is assuredly using this to discipline you, to grow you, and to accomplish whatever other purposes He has for others around you.

Keep trusting the Lord. David’s time in the cave didn’t last forever, and neither will yours.

Posted: December 13th, 2009 under Devotions, Encouragement, Hope, Learning & Growing, Scripture.
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“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.” – 1 Samuel 22:1

I’ve only been in a real cave a couple of times in my life. I think my first cave experience was Crystal Cave in Pennsylvania and the other was Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN. Of course, these were commercial caves complete with lighting, handrails, and a gift shop.

But David didn’t visit the cave of Adullam as tourist. The Bible says he “escaped” there. The anointed-king-in-waiting was, at present, the anointed-king-in-running. He was being hunted by Saul, from whom the Lord’s favor had departed. (See previous post, “There is but a Step between Me and Death”.) He had also just dodged another king–Achish of Gath–who was king over one of five chief cities of Israel’s arch-enemy of the day, the Philistines. David pretended to be insane at his doorstep and the king sent him away.

Adullam, by the way, was about 17 miles southwest of Jerusalem and 10 miles southeast of Gath. It is here, geographically and chronologically in the story where we meet up with David in 1 Samuel 22:1.

I’m going to take the next few posts to consider this time in David’s life. It is a short passage but deals with waiting. Lord-willing, together you and I will look at his experience and compare it to others so we can apply the Scriptures to our lives regarding the topic of waiting.

In the meantime, here is a picture of what is believed to be the cave at Adullam…thankfully, without a gift shop.

Posted: December 5th, 2009 under Devotions, Learning & Growing, Scripture.
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