Scripture: 1 Samuel 21:10-22:5
David gets worse before he gets better. He escapes to Gath, the hometown of Goliath. He tries to forge a friendship based on a mutual adversary. If your enemy is Saul and my enemy is Saul, we become friends, right? In this case, wrong. The Gittites aren’t hospitable. David panics. He is a lamb in a pack of wolves. He pretends to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard. Finally, they shove him out the city gates and leave him with nowhere to go. Can you relate to David’s story? Are you seeking refuge in Gath?
But in the cave of Adullam, David gathers himself. Here he sits. All alone. But then he remembers: he’s not. He’s not alone. The faithful shepherd boy surfaces again. The giant killer rediscovered courage. He returns his focus to God and finds refuge. Refuge surfaces as a favourite word of David’s. The introduction to Psalm 57 explains its background: “A song of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.”
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. (v1)
Wilderness survivors find refuge in God’s presence. They also discover community among God’s people. David is a magnet for marginal people. So David creates a community of God-seeking misfits.
Gath, Wilderness, Adullam.
Folly, Loneliness, Restoration.
David found all three. Are you in the wilderness? Find refuge in God’s presence. Find comfort in his people.
Reference: Facing your giants: God still does the impossible by Max Lucado
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