WHEN STORM
CLOUDS GATHER
Have you ever thought to yourself,
“What did I do to deserve this?”
Sometimes through no fault of your own, you find yourself in trouble and
cannot help but wonder why.
If you lived in
Florida right now, you might be asking what is going on as Ivan, the third
hurricane in just a few weeks, threatens to destroy what remains after
hurricanes Charley and Frances did their damage to life and property. No one actually thinks that the folks in
Polk and Osceola Counties did anything to deserve all this trouble, but neither
can we anticipate what path the storm clouds may take with the next hurricane.
In most of our
lives, each of us has run into a series of storms that took a major toll on
us. Our sense of well-being and
confidence drowned under the waters which flooded over us. Neither friends nor family, experience or
training, could keep us afloat.
Occasionally we have seen it coming for a while, like the tracking
systems for the hurricanes, and have had a chance to prepare. Other times, the storm hit us like a tornado
with no warning—we just got clobbered!
We all have our stories!
Here in the
life of David we discover that storms are no respecters of persons. Israel’s anointed king-to-be, God’s choice
for the present and future glory of His people, was blown over by the
devastating storms of adversity he faced—and that through no fault of his own!
THESIS: When the storms of life arrive, God wants us
to face them with courage and confidence because we trust Him more than we fear
them.
As we observe David’s response to the
storms Saul produced in his life, there are a couple of important lessons to
learn for those times when we face our own storms.
I. DOING WELL AND PROSPERING DO NOT GUARANTEE A TROUBLE-FREE LIFE.
--The American dream is to get rich and achieve success with
two purposes in mind: self-satisfaction
and self-indulgence.
--David had emerged as a successful leader in Israel by
quickly ascending to a place of prominence and power.
A. David was enjoying great success and acclaim.
1 Samuel 18:5, 14, 30
So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set
him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and
also in the sight of Saul’s servants… 14
And David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him…30David
behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so his name was
highly esteemed
--From the appearance of things, David was enjoying the
favor of the Lord and a great reputation among the people.
--But a storm was brewing which not only would disturb
David’s peace but would threaten to destroy his life.
B. SAUL WAS
OVERCOME BY JEALOUSY AND FEAR.
--The more David’s success was celebrated among the people,
the more Saul’s anger was fueled by his jealousy of David’s popularity and fear
of his power.
1 Samuel 18:8-9
Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he
said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed
thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul looked at David with
suspicion from that day on… 15When Saul
saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him (was afraid of him).
--Saul is like so many of us in the way he handled his jealousy
and fear…he gave in to them instead of resisting them.
1. Fighting
against reason
--In rational moments, Saul could see how out of control his
feelings and rage were getting, but instead of letting reason and common sense
prevail, he gave free rein to his emotions.
1 Samuel 19:4-6
Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him,
“Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned
against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. 5 “For he took his life in his
hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance
for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent
blood, by putting David to death without a cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul
vowed, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”
--Unfortunately, his passion overcame his reason and soon he
was out to kill David again!
2. Battling
with the Lord
--Since Samuel had explained to Saul that God was no longer
going to allow him to be king, he knew that what was going on with David was
evidence of the blessing and favor of the Lord on his life…and it was killing
him with envy and threatening his future as king.
--God had made it clear that David was going to be king of
Israel and now Saul was intent on keeping that from happening…making him an enemy not only of David but an
enemy of the Lord!
--Saul set out to destroy David one way or another…
·
Demoted him in rank
(18:13)
·
Deceived him regarding
marriage (18:19)
·
Delivered to
front-line dangers (18:25)
·
Drew up his own
weapons against him (18:11; 19:10)
·
Deployed agents to
kill him (19:11)
--As a shepherd who was content tending the sheep, he had
done nothing to be elevated to such prominence and popularity in the first
place—this was all God’s doing.
--So why this sudden shift, this radical twist in the story
line of his life yet again?
No one is immune to troubled times.
The source of the trouble however cannot always be anticipated and prevented. Life is going along smoothly for a while and
then the roof blows off, the rains pour in, the waters start to rise.
You did nothing to invite the
trouble—if anything you took every precaution, followed every rule. But then it hits…a tragedy costs you the
life of someone dear to you…your company down-sizes you out of a job…one of
your children makes a disastrous choice with severe consequences…you have a
serious health problem from out of nowhere.
Everything was going along fine and
then…that was David’s experience.
II. LOSING EVERYTHING IN THE STORM DOES NOT MEAN LOSING HOPE.
--David lost everything we would think mattered to him as
the storm unleashed its full fury around him:
His
family – He left them
behind in Bethlehem when God called him to the courts of Saul
His
vocation – Working as a
shepherd was all he had known and now he serves as musician for the king and
commander of the army
His
position – No sooner had he
started making the adjustments to this new life, his place was taken away
His
wife – The one promised
and the one married—both were taken from him through no fault of his own.
His
friend – Jonathan, who had
become a loyal and trusted friend, had to be left behind when David fled for
his life.
His
mentor – Samuel, who had
been God’s spokesman for David, now could no longer follow David (19:18; 20:1)
--What was going on?
How could God allow such devastation to come upon David when all he had
ever done was follow the Lord?
--In order to find out what David was feeling and where his
heart was during this time, we are not left to guess.
--Psalm 59, we
are told in the title and preface, was written by David: Prayer
for Deliverance from Enemies…A Mikhtam of David, when Saul sent men and they
watched the house in order to kill him.
--From one perspective, David had lost everything that
mattered, but from God’s perspective, those things had to be stripped away
before David could gain what really
mattered—the ability to trust in God alone!
III. TURNING TO AND DEPENDING ON GOD ALONE WILL
SECURE OUR PEACE IN ANY STORM.
--For those who think life is unfair and who always see
themselves as victims, there is another choice.
--We are either victims or we are students being taught to
trust the Lord even when all hope appears to be gone.
--When all is going well with us, we are less likely to keep
our eyes on the Lord and keep our trust anchored in Him.
--Our success and achievements may deceive us into thinking
that we are the ones responsible for the good in our lives and start taking
credit for those things which God alone has done.
--Through all the troubles over all the years of his exile,
David learned more about trusting God than he ever would have if instead of
storms he had enjoyed nothing but sunny days.
--Job discovered this truth and affirmed his hope, peace and
confidence in the Lord when he said:
--When we know what David and Job discovered, we will not
fear the stormy times of life, nor will we be inclined to question God’s wisdom
for allowing them to come…even when we have done no wrong and no offense or sin
of our own has brought on the trouble.
--Instead we will end up where David did in the last verses
of Psalm 59:
Psalm 59:16-17 But I will sing of your strength, in the
morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times
of trouble. 17O my Strength,
I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
You cannot always tell when the storms
will come. And yes, you can pray that
they will take another course and be turned away from your house.
But the mark of
our hope and trust in the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God can be found
in whether we are willing to learn the lessons of the storm. Peace in our hearts means little when there
is nothing to challenge it on the surface.
But when we have a peace which surpasses all comprehension even when the
wind and rains beat down on us, we will know that God is our Strength, our
fortress, our refuge—and it is in Him that we have put our trust.
Scott Krippayne
wrote and recorded a song about this back in 1995:
He has a reason for each trial
that we pass through in life.
And though we're shaken
we cannot be pulled apart from Christ.
No matter how the driving rain beats down
on those who hold to faith,
a heart of trust will always
be a quiet peaceful place.
Sometimes He calms the storm
with a whispered "Peace be still."
He can settle any sea,
but it doesn't mean He will.
Sometimes He holds us close
and lets the wind and waves go wild.
Sometimes He calms the storm,
and other times He calms His child.
© 1995 Scott Krippayne
Would you choose to avoid the storms if
it meant missing out on what it means to discover the perfect sufficiency and
peace of Christ? David would have loved
to miss “Hurricane Saul” but in the final analysis would never have wanted to
miss the lessons about trusting God that he learned from the storm!
Providence
Baptist Church
© David
Horner 2004
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