God is Our Safe Space | A Sermon on Psalm 142:5 & 1 Samuel 23-24

Introduction
VBS at Stark is July 13-17.  Kristin has been working diligently to get ready.  There will be crafts, Bible lessons, games, snack.  I heard a rumor the Bible character David will be our guest one day.  I’m excited about this opportunity to serve the kids and families of our community.  And I’m excited to see you pitching in to help with everything.  See Kristin Williams to find out how you can get involved.

As we are previewing the 5 lessons of Rainforest Falls VBS, the title for Day 3 is “God is Our Safe Place”.  The theme for the day is:  You can find comfort and peace.  The Memory verse for the lesson is Psalm 142:5

Psalm 142:5
Then I pray to you, O Lord.  I say, “You are my place of refuge.  You are all I really want in life.

David, Alone, Watching the Sheep
We touched on the life of David from the Bible last week.  God Saw David as a young boy watching the sheep alone; his family overlooked him and took him for granted.  God never takes us for granted.  God knows everything and that He sees our heart, even when no one else does.   

Today, we zoom in on a time in David’s life when he was a fugitive, running for his life while King Saul tried to kill him.  

Now, David had been faithful to King Saul and served him well.  David was an honest man and a valiant warrior fighting the enemies of King Saul and Israel.  But Saul was jealous.  Saul was not following God and he knew God favored David.  Saul grew paranoid and felt threatened by David’s popularity, even though David was faithful.  So, Saul tried to kill David.

David fled into the wilderness of Judah, the rugged desert region east and south of Hebron overlooking the Dead Sea.  I have been to Israel, to the place where David hid from Saul. 

The Wilderness of Judea
To the left is a picture from 2008 when I traveled to Israel and we made a stop in the Judean wilderness.  As you can see, it is a desolate place with crags and crevasses, cliffs and caves.  It isn’t a very hospitable, but it’s a great place to hide out.
This particular place is overlooks “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”.  It is thought to be the inspiration for David’s famous words in Psalm 23. 
Can you imagine David hiding out here while Saul and his army hunt for him, trying to kill him?  And David prays, “Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me…” 

It would be one thing for David to be all alone, hiding from Saul in the wilderness.  But since King Saul was an unjust ruler who was going mad with paranoia, there quickly grew up a large number of people fleeing from his tyrannical rule.  

And do you know where they often fled?  To David in the wilderness.  There were soon about 600 people who fled to David in the wilderness.   And though he didn’t ask for it, they looked to David for leadership.  So he didn’t just have to worry about his own safety, he was now responsible for there’s too.

I have reflected on something quite often as a husband and a father.  I’m a survivor.  I survived a lot in my life.  In my childhood, things were rough at home and we lived in rough neighborhoods, but I learned to survive.  And as I grew into adulthood, I always had confidence I coudl survive just about anything.  I can sleep in my care or on the floor, I can eat just about anything, I'm fit, and now how to adapt.  I can survive--even if life is tough.  

But as a husband and then later as a father, I'm charged with providing for my family, protecting them.  And I realized, it's a lot harder to survive when you have a family to take care of.  I can't expect my wife or kids to endure the hardships I would endure on my own.  So, I can survive, but how can I ensure my family survives?

And then as a pastor, I don’t just have to look out for my family, I also to look out for my flock.  These people are in my care and I need to protect them and help them.  Life get's a lot more complicated when it's not only yourself you need to look after.

And here is David, hiding out in the wilderness, but now he is also responsible for 600 people looking to him for leadership.  That's a heavy responsibility--something too big for David to carry all on his own.

So today, God’s reminder to me—to all of us—is a great comfort.  God is our safe place.  Repeatedly, the Scriptures remind us, “God is our refuge and strength…” (Ps 46:1).  “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (Ps 18:2)  It is God who keeps us safe.  He is our fortress and shield.

1 Samuel 23:14 - "David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him."

Saul and his army of 3,000 elite troops were hunting David and his small band of 600.  Saul was on one side of the mountain and David was on the other side.  And then Saul had to leave before he found David.  God is the one who kept Saul from finding David, because God is our refuge.

The Cave Story
Another time, Saul was chasing David in the wilderness and David and his men hid in a cave.

These caves weren't little holes in the rock. The caves around En Gedi were like natural underground rooms with twisting passages and hidden chambers. The entrances may have been small, but then they opened up into large chambers with high ceilings where many men could hide and feel safe.  David and his men were deep in the darkness while Saul unknowingly walked into the entrance unguarded. The cave that looked like David's hiding place became the place where God protected him.

David’s men urged David to take advantage of the situation and kill Saul, but David refused to kill Saul because Saul was still the king of Israel.  Instead, David snuck up and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe. 

After Saul left the cave and was a distance away, 1 Samuel 24:9-12 says, “David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him. “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’ Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.  May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you.”  And verse 15 – “May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!”

David trusted God to be his advocate, keep him safe, to be a fair judge, and to punish the guilty. 

Who is Your Safe Place?
But what does all of this mean for us?  Most of us have never hidden in a cave while a king hunted us.  But all of us know what it's like to need a safe place.  Some of you are living in a wilderness right now.  
Maybe your wilderness is a doctor's office where you're waiting for test results.
Maybe it's a marriage that feels like it's falling apart.
Maybe it's grief after losing someone you love.
Maybe it's financial pressure that keeps you awake at night.
Maybe it's anxiety, depression, loneliness, or fear about the future.
Maybe you've been treated unfairly like David was. You've been lied about, overlooked, betrayed, or hurt by someone you trusted.
The details are different for each of us, but the feeling is the same.
You wonder, "Where can I go? Where can I find peace? Where will I be safe?"

Our first instinct is usually to run somewhere.
Some people run to money, hoping it will make them feel secure.
Some run to success or achievement.
Some run to entertainment or social media to escape reality for a while.
Some run to alcohol, drugs, pornography, or other addictions to numb the pain.
Some simply keep themselves so busy they never have to think about what's hurting inside.
But none of those places can truly protect us. They're only temporary hiding places.

David eventually learned something remarkable. His refuge wasn't really the cave.  The cave could collapse. Saul could have found the entrance and attacked.  The wilderness itself offered no guarantees.

David’s refuge was God.  That's why David could pray in Psalm 142:5, "You are my refuge. You are all I really want in life."  Notice he doesn't say, "The cave is my refuge" or "My six hundred men are my refuge."  He doesn't say, "One day when I'm king, then I'll finally be safe."

No—while he is still hiding, while Saul is still hunting him, while nothing about his circumstances has changed, David says, "Lord, You are my refuge."

That changes everything.  Because if God is your refuge, you can have peace before your problems are solved.  You can have hope before the diagnosis changes.  You can have courage before the relationship is restored.  You can sleep at night even when the future is uncertain.  Not because life is safe—but because God is.

Invitation
You can come to God as your refuge today.  You can trust God to be your advocate, your safe place, and a mighty warrior to fight for you.  And you don’t have to worry about your sin--even if you’ve done something awful.  Because Jesus already paid the penalty for all our sin.  So we can come to God with a clear conscious, knowing He loves us unconditionally, and welcomes us just as He welcomes His own son, Jesus.  

But each of us has to make a choice.  We must put our faith in Jesus and decide to follow Him as Lord.  Then we will be welcomed into God’s Kingdom—which starts in your life the moment you say yes to Jesus.  Won’t you say yes today?

Today, God is inviting you to run to Him.  If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, today is the day. Turn away from your sin. Place your faith in Jesus. Tell Him, "Lord, I trust You. I want to follow You."  The Bible says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Maybe you've already trusted Christ, but you've been running somewhere else for your security. Today, it's time to come home. Lay your burdens at His feet. Let Him be your refuge again.  Run to Jesus.   You'll discover that the safest place in all the world isn't a cave.   It's in the arms of your Savior.