David was content to live in rocks and caves in the forest for ten years. God can make life good anywhere.

1. Stone
Creek
www.rossvillechurch.com
781 Salem Road, Rossville, GA 30741
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October 14, 2012

2. 1 Samuel 23
David defended Keilah and
defeated the Philistines in
a battle there.
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3. Saul heard about it and was bringing his army to
defeat and kill David.
God told David that the men of Keilah would hand
him over to Saul, so David moved out.
People will sometimes do you wrong
when you do them good;
Do good anyway.
Galatians 6:9 (KJV) And let us not be weary in
well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we
faint not.
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4. 1Samuel 23:13 Then
David and his men, which were
about six hundred, arose and departed out of
Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And
it was told Saul that David was escaped from
Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
David's band of men has grown from 400 to 600
during this time.
Six hundred men who remained faithful!
Availability and dependability
are great traits.
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5. 14a And David abode in the
wilderness in strongholds,
and remained in a mountain
in the wilderness of Ziph.
Strongholds speaks of
mountain caves in the
wilderness of Ziph.
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6. 14b And Saul sought him every day, but God
delivered him not into his hand.
Psalms 46 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
The devil and ungodly men may hate us and wish
to do us harm, but God
is faithful, dependable, and well able to protect.
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7. 15 And David saw that Saul was come out to
seek his life: and David was in the wilderness
of Ziph in a wood.
David made no attempt against Saul; he kept God's
way, waited God's time, and was content to secure
himself in woods and wildernesses.
Let it make us think the worse of this world, which
often gives such bad treatment to its best men: let it
make us long for that Kingdom where goodness
shall forever be in glory, and holiness in honor.
Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary.
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8. 8

9. 16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to
David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in
God. 17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the
hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou
shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto
thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
Proverbs 18 24 A man that hath friends must shew
himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother.
Jesus is such a friend, but we
can also be such friends.
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10. 18 And they two made a covenant before the Lord:
and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went
to his house.
Jonathan encouraged David, causing him to
remember and rely on his faith in God.
I find it interesting that Saul couldn't find David,
but Jonathan walked right into his camp.
David and Jonathan would always be and remain
true friends, loving God and one another.
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11. 19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah,
saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in
strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah,
which is on the south of Jeshimon?
Betrayed!
David could have said as Hezekiah did later:
2 Chronicles 32 8 With him is an arm of flesh; but
with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight
our battles. …
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12. 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to
all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our
part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.
21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord; for ye
have compassion on me. words with no power
God would not honor that blessing.
God is not honoring anything that
Saul says or does.
Sin is to blame for it all!
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13. 22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his
place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him
there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the
lurking places where he hideth himself, and come
ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with
you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the
land, that I will search him out throughout all the
thousands of Judah.
Saul is making big plans.
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14. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) Many are the plans in a
man's heart, but it is the Lord's Purpose that
prevails.
(TLB) Man proposes, but God disposes.
Let us always make certain that our
plans fit within God's Plan.
We can only accomplish what God Wills.
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15. 24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul:
but David and his men were in the wilderness of
Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And
they told David: wherefore he came down into a
rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And
when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the
wilderness of Maon.
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16. 26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and
David and his men on that side of the mountain:
and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul;
for Saul and his men compassed David and his
men round about to take them.
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17. 27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying,
Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have
invaded the land. 28 Wherefore Saul returned from
pursuing after David, and went against the
Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela
ham MAH le koth ((rock of the division). 29 And
David went up from thence, and dwelt in
strongholds at Engedi (an oasis).
The invasion of the Philistines was no coincidence.
God's deliverance 17

18. David endured ten years of persecution by the
king of Israel. We too will be persecuted.
John 15 (Jesus) 17 These things I command
you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate
you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you.
We must love one another, and encourage one
another, because nobody else will.
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19. John 15:20 -21 Remember
the Word that I said unto you,
The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they
have kept My Saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for My
Name's Sake, because they know not Him that sent
Me.
Simply being mistreated is not persecution.
Being mistreated because we are true
Christians standing up for Jesus is persecution.
"For My Name's Sake"
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20. Romans 8 31 What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not His Own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? God won't quit on us.
We can not depend on the world -- the
government, business, or worldly people.
Depend on God Almighty.
Be content in whatever situation He provides.
David was content in forests and caves for ten
years. God can make life good anywhere. 20