This document discusses how David's pains from being pursued by King Saul led him to a profound faith in God. It describes three usual crutches that David leaned on - his position in Saul's army, people like Michal, Samuel and Jonathan, and his own pride. However, these crutches were only temporary and kept David's focus horizontal rather than turning to God. The pains documented in the Psalms show how David's suffering strengthened his faith in the eternal God as his true source of strength.

1. HOW OUR PAINS
LEAD TO A
PROFOUND
FAITH
1 Samuel 18-21

2. 1 Samuel 18

3. 1 Samuel 19:9-10 “Then a harmful spirit
from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat
in his house with his spear in his hand.
And David was playing the lyre. 10 And
Saul sought to pin David to the wall with
the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he
struck the spear into the wall. And David
fled and escaped that night.”

4. If we are honest, we don’t want
to look at painful circumstances
in our lives and feel pain.
Instead, we find things to lean
on and turn to our crutches.

5. 3 Usual Crutches We Lean On
1. POSITION
For David it was his position in King
Saul’s army.

6. 3 Usual Crutches We Lean On
2. PEOPLE
Michal, Samuel and Jonathan

7. Michal
1 Samuel 19:17 “Saul said to Michal,
"Why did you deceive me like this
and send my enemy away so that
he escaped?“ Michal told him, "He
said to me, 'Let me get away. Why
should I kill you?'"

8. Samuel
1 Samuel 19:18 “Now David fled and
escaped and came to Samuel at
Ramah, and told him all that Saul had
done to him. And he and Samuel went
and stayed in Naioth.”

9. Jonathan
1 Samuel 20:1-3 “Then David fled from
Naioth at Ramah and went to
Jonathan and asked, "What have I
done? What is my crime? How have I
wronged your father, that he is trying
to take my life?"

10. 2 "Never!" Jonathan replied. "You are
not going to die! Look, my father
doesn't do anything, great or small,
without confiding in me. Why would he
hide this from me? It's not so!" 3 But
David took an oath and said, "Your
father knows very well that I have
found favor in your eyes, and he has
said to himself, 'Jonathan must not
know this or he will be grieved.'

11. Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as
you live, there is only a step between
me and death."

12. 3 Usual Crutches We Lean On
3. PRIDE
“Then David arose and fled that
day from Saul, and went to Achish
king of Gath.” 1 Samuel 21:10

13. 1 Samuel 21:11-13 “But the servants
of Achish said to him, “Is this not
David the king of the land? Did they
not sing of this one as they danced,
saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”

14. And David took these words to heart,
and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.
So he disguised his sanity before them,
and acted insanely in their hands, and
scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and
let his saliva run down into his beard.

15. As evidenced by the Psalms of
David, pains lead to a profound
faith
•Psalm 59, when Saul sent men to watch
David’s house and kill him (1 Samuel 19:11)
•Psalm 56, when David fled to Gath (1
Samuel 21:10)
•Psalm 34, when David pretended to be
insane (1 Samuel 21:13)

16. •Psalm 142, when David escaped to the
cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1)
•Psalm 52, when Doeg the Edomite
informed Saul where David was
(1 Samuel 22:9)
•Psalm 54, when the Ziphites betrayed
David to Saul (1 Samuel 23:19)
•Psalm 57, when David was hiding from
Saul in a cave (1 Samuel 24:1)

17. Warnings Against Crutches
*Crutches become substitute
for God
Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God
is a dwelling place, and underneath
are the everlasting arms.” Only God is
to be our strength; in the final
analysis, we are to lean only on His
everlasting arms.”

18. Warnings Against Crutches
*Crutches become substitute
for God
Isaiah 41:10 says, “Do not fear, for I
am with you; do not anxiously look
about you, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, surely I will help you,
surely I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand.” I will hold you
up, God says.

19. Warnings Against Crutches
*Crutches keep our focus
horizontal
*Crutches offer only
temporary relief

20. Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely He took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered Him stricken by
God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.”

21. Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know
Christ and the power of His
resurrection
and the fellowship of sharing in His
sufferings, becoming like Him in His
death, 11 and so, somehow, to
attain to the resurrection from the
dead.”

22. HOW OUR PAINS
LEAD TO A
PROFOUND
FAITH
1 Samuel 18-21