I SAMUEL
Listen to this study TH3106
Please turn in your Bibles this evening to I Samuel chapter
20 as we continue our study through the Word of God. We have seen
in our study of I Samuel that Saul is going to fight to keep his
position as king even though the Lord, through the prophet Samuel,
told him that the kingdom is going to be removed from him because
of his disobedience to the Lord.
Samuel said to king Saul back in I Samuel 15:26, “
. . . ‘The Lord has torn the
And God is raising David up, but it will be some 20 years
before he ascends to the throne in
Now please understand that David did nothing wrong, he
did not deserve this. He loved king Saul, he served him faithfully,
he was not trying to usurp Saul’s position as king. But Saul
was a man who was unstable, he knew what Samuel told him and thus,
he was trying to hold onto this position. So David comes to his
dear friend Jonathan, the son of Saul and supposedly the next
king in
Are there ever times when people will come against the work we are doing, try to kill our character? Absolutely, but don’t let that stop you. It doesn’t mean we try to usurp a position from another or fight for something to help God out, but if God has called us then He will take care of it. We are to be faithful in what we are doing and He will be the one to raise us up.
Jonathan tells David that his dad, king Saul, would not hide anything from him, even this issue about killing David. But David tells Jonathan that Saul knows that there is a friendship between his son and David and thus, he will not tell him what he desires, to have David put to death!
Was David a little down, discouraged here? I think so for he says, “ . . . ‘But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.’” It seems that David felt that it didn’t matter what he did. Saul still wanted him dead. Now, I love what Jonathan doesn’t do. He doesn’t say, “Hey bro’, where is your faith? Why are you not trusting in the Lord?” Jonathan instead tells David, “ . . . ‘Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.’” Jonathan was trying to encourage David by telling him, “I am with you David, let me know what I can do to help you.” That truly is a friend. Yes, what Jonathan could have said would have been true, but that is not what David needed at that point. He needed a friend to love him because he already knew that he needed to trust the Lord, that was not the issue, he just needed the encouragement of a friend. What a lesson for us!
Here is David’s plan. David was expected at the monthly
feast that Saul had for those high officials of Saul and David
wants Jonathan to see Saul’s reaction to why David was not
there. The sad thing here is that David wants Jonathan to lie
about why he is not there. He wants Jonathan to tell his father
that David is in
David also tells Jonathan that if he has done anything wrong, if there is iniquity in him, then Jonathan should kill him himself instead of bringing him to his father to have his father kill him. Again, David is just not sure about Jonathan, if his loyalty to his father was more than the loyalty he had towards David. And yet, everything we have seen about this man indicates that Jonathan was a man of God who loved David and saw that God was preparing him for the throne. Remember what took place back in I Samuel 18, “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. . . . Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” I Samuel 16:1, 3-4. Jonathan gave to David the robes that were to be his because he recognized that David was the next king. So I think David is a little paranoid here, but it is hard to fault him with that because of what is taking place.
What is interesting is the friendship that these two had. Jonathan did not just get mad a David and walk away as happens so often with friendships because many times they are built upon what we can get out of them instead of the Lord. If a friendship is built upon the Lord, then nothing will cause it to crumble, but if it is built upon our own selfish desires, our emotions, when things go wrong, the relationship will crumble and fall apart! And listen to what Jonathan says to David in the next verse.
VERSE
9
Again, Jonathan does not get mad at David, he does not walk away in disgust saying, “This relationship is over!” No, Jonathan tells David that if he knew of any plan of his father’s that was meant to harm David, he would have told him. He is trying to encourage David, as David is a little unsure of what is going on. That truly is a friend!
VERSES
10-17
David is still not sure and Jonathan tells him again that he will find out and he will let David know if the situation is good and he can stay or if his father really wants him dead and he needs to flee. But in either case, the Lord is with David and that will never change. What a great friend Jonathan was as he keeps pointing David back to the Lord!
Again, Jonathan knew that David was the next king and thus, he wants David to make a vow that he will not destroy his family but treat them kindly. You see, when a new king took the throne, they would often kill the family of the previous king so that they could not rise up and try to usurp that position. And David will remember this vow he made with Jonathan and will deal kindly with the family of Jonathan.
VERSES
18-23
Here is the plan. As Jonathan attends this feast he will find out what his father wants to do with David. And once he does he will come back and let David know through this signal. Jonathan will do some target practice you might say, and if the arrows land on this side of the stone, in front of where David is hiding out, then things are well between him and Saul. But, if the arrows land on the other side of this rock, beyond David, then he needs to flee for his life because Saul wants to kill him!
Think about this. All David could do is wait by this rock to see what he was to do and folks, what a lesson for us. There are many times all we can do in a given situation is wait by THE ROCK, Jesus Christ and see which way the arrows will fly you might say! It is as we are told in Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” And in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” That is what we need to do, wait upon Him and know that we do not have to fear because He will be there to strengthen us in the situation we are in, He will guide us in what we need to do!
VERSES
24-29
So David is hiding out in this field and Jonathan attends this feast and it says in verse 25, “Jonathan arose” and that seems strange, was he leaving?. Please understand that it does not mean he stood up but it means to abide, he remained at this feast he was not leaving. And when king Saul sees David missing that first night he came to the conclusion that he must be unclean but when it happened the next day he still could not be unclean, that would only last one day and thus, he inquired of his son why David was not there. And Jonathan lies to his father and tells him that David is with his family in Bethlehem and that is why he could not come to the feast and I guess Jonathan must have forgot to mention that to his father. Does Saul buy this? Let’s read on and see!
VERSES
30-34
Saul loses it here. A father knows when his son is lying and Saul knew right away! Thus, he is furious at his son and what others might think of this situation of Jonathan giving the kingdom to David. Saul basically says that others will think that your mother was a whore and thus, you are a bastard. That there must not be any royal blood in his veins and thus, he does not have any right to the throne. In other words, he was not only making himself look bad but also his mother and Saul! And Saul is seeing that David is going to be the king and unless he kills David; the kingdom will be taken away from him!
And Jonathan, he just can’t understand this. He asks his father why he wants David dead, what has he done that brings you to this decision? And Saul is so mad, he is so out of control he picks up a spear and throws it at his own son to kill him! And it says, “Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.” Do you think!
VERSES
35-40
How hard this must have been for Jonathan. As he shoots this arrow he tells this lad to go and fetch it, that it is farther out and that is the signal to David that Saul does want to kill him. Think about this for a minute. No longer would David be welcome in Saul’s army, in Saul’s presence, and he could not even return home for fear of Saul finding him there and killing him and his family!
There are times when we find ourselves in situations like this. We have done nothing wrong, we have obeyed the Lord and yet, the arrow flies and we must go. It is as Meyer wrote, “You have hoped against hope; you have tried to keep your position; you have done your duty, pleaded your cause, sought the intercession of your friends, prayed, wept, agonized. But it is all in vain; the arrows’ flight proves you must go wither you may.” That is where we must trust in the Lord because we know that all things are working for good. We may not see it, we may not feel it but we do KNOW and that should be a comfort to our lives!
One more point here and that is the faithfulness of Jonathan. He was in a difficult situation. If his dad found out what he was doing, he would surely kill him. In fact, he has already tried. And yet, David’s friendship, his obedience to the Lord was more important than anything else. Again Meyer wrote, “But there is something still nobler - when one dares in any company to avow his loyalty to the Lord Jesus. Like David, he is now in obscurity and disrepute; his name is not popular; his gospel is misrepresented; his followers are subjected to rebuke and scorn. These are days when to stand up for anything more than mere conventional religion must cost something; and for this reason let us never flinch.” That is so true today, that we need to stand up for what is right no matter who may come against us or what we may loose!
VERSES
41-42
I Remember when Julie and I came up here from Calvary Chapel of Elk Grove and the tears that were shed when we left our church family down there, it was hard, we loved them very much and they loved us. But here with Jonathan and David, their departure was the result of Saul wanting to kill David and they will only see each other one more time before Jonathan is killed. And they wept over this situation and David more, why? Because David was now an outcast, a wanted man and he will be on the run for a long time before he becomes king. He lost much but was willing to sacrifice his life for the Lord because the Lord had appointed him as king. It just was not time!
Now, as some look at this they may wonder, “Is David in the Lord’s will here? It doesn’t seem like it with all that is happening. He must have done something wrong, right?” No, not at all! Then how could God do this to David? Because God was going to teach David some lessons of faith through these trials he was going through and will be going through. Yes, Satan will try to tempt him but God is trying to grow him in the faith, as He will in our own lives. If David was to be king he needed to learn to submit to the Lord and understand that his defense is the Lord and no one else. He was not to trust in anyone but the Lord! It is as Redpath wrote, “Let God empty you out that He may save you from becoming spiritually stale, and lead you ever onward. He is always calling us to pass beyond the thing we know into the unknown. A throne is God’s purpose for you; a cross is God’s path for you; faith is God’s plan for you.” We don’t always see it that way, but God does have a purpose and to get to glory there is the cross! May we not loose sight of that!
VERSE
1
After David departs from Jonathan he heads to Nob, which was about 12 miles northeast of Jerusalem and this is the place where Ahimelech the priest was located. In other words, David comes to the house of God as he was traveling on this dark and uncertain road of life, and he is at the place where he needed to be. That is true for us. Instead of trying to be the Lone Ranger, go into the house of God, seek His peace, His direction as you go through those dark times as David was doing.
Now we are not sure why, but Ahimelech is a little uncertain about the reason David is there and he is alone. Maybe he knew Saul and his behavior, but he did not know that Saul wanted to kill David. All Ahimelech could do is look at the situation that David was in, that he was alone, and he thought something must have happened and he is on the run! How was David going to ease the fear of this priest and explain the situation? Let’s read on and see.
VERSES
2-6
David is also unsure of where Ahimelech’s loyalties were since his brother, Ahijah, was the spiritual advisor for king Saul after Samuel withdrew from him. And David, to put it bluntly, comes up with this lie to save him in this situation instead of relying on the Lord! And folk’s, believe it or not, there are consequences to our sin and many times it not only affects us but those around us as David will soon find out! I realize that some say that David did not sin by lying here, but it is hard to justify this as Trapp tells us, “Some go about to excuse David’s lying here: but that cannot be. The consequences of it were very sad . . . and afterward made his soul melt for very heaviness, whilst he bewailed it, and begged pardoning and prevailing grace (Psalm 119:28-29).”
Let me also say this, because the first time through this I missed it. David talks about the men that were with him on this supposed mission but there is no indication here in I Samuel that anyone was traveling with him. It seems that he was alone and thus, was this another lie by David? In Matthew chapter 12, which we will read in a minute, Jesus does tell us that there was other men with him, we just don’t know how many.
Now David, being on the run, was hungry, there was no place to get food and he asks Ahimelech to give him some food, five loaves of bread. But all this priest had was the showbread. If you remember, the table of showbread stood on the right side of the tabernacle just before the holy of holies and the seven branched oil burning lamp was on the left side with the altar of incense in the middle. On this table of showbread were twelve loaves of bread representing the twelve tribes of Israel and each week a new set would be put out and the priests would partake of the twelve loaves that were removed. And the priest asks David if he and his men have kept themselves from women, if their bodies are holy and David says they were. Thus, they should be able to partake of it. The reality is, the priest were the ones who could partake but Ahimelech saw the need of David and was willing to give them this bread as long as they were holy.
This incident here is expounded on by Jesus in Matthew 12:1-8, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’ But He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Also in Mark 2:23-28).
You see, the Pharisees were upset with the disciples of Jesus, for they were plucking and then eating grain on the Sabbath, and everyone knew that it is unlawful to do any work on the Sabbath. And Jesus points them back to this incident in which their king, David, actually went against the Law and ate the showbread. And Jesus is saying that human need always supersedes ceremonial law. In fact Jesus even healed on the Sabbath. We need to be sensitive to human need, just as Jesus was.
VERSES
7-9
Doeg, this Edomite, is in Nob and he overhears this conversation between Ahimelech and David. Now, since he is working for Saul, he has inside information where David is and that is not going to be a good thing. The name “Doeg” means one who acts with unrestraint or one that can’t rest, one that is restless. That is interesting to me because Peter tells us to, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8. Satan is restless, he is looking for someone to devour and that is the heart of Doeg, as we will see!
David has no weapon, at least in his mind and he asks the priest if he has a sword or spear that he can give to him since he is involved with the kings business, which was another lie. And Ahimelech says that the only thing he has on hand is the sword of Goliath and David takes it. Now you may be wondering how David can use this giant’s sword. Well, it is possible that David took Goliath’s dagger, which would have been like a sword to David. You see, the Hebrew word that is used for “sword” is not specific.
Now this is sad. You see, I am sure that David had his sling with him, but now he is not trusting in the Lord, he is lying, and thus, he needs physical weapons to defeat his enemies. This is truly a tragic picture here as one writer tells us as he wrote, “It is painful to the last degree to see one whose faith towered to such a lofty height in the encounter with Goliath, coming down from that noble elevation, to find him resorting for self-protection to the lies and artifices of an impostor.” (Balikie). What a lesson for us to learn, the one that David will have to learn before he is king! And if you still think David is not in the wrong, look at verse 10.
VERSE
10
David is now trying to figure this situation out, what he should do using human reasoning and wisdom and thus, he goes to Gath, a Philistine city and the hometown of Goliath! Why would he run to hide among the enemies of Israel? Maybe he thought he would be safe from Saul there. Maybe he thought they would not recognize him. No matter what he thought, it was foolish! Before we are too harsh on David, how many Christians, when they are in trouble, try to hide away amongst the enemies of God? In other words, you try to blend into the world so no one will recognize you are a Christian! Folk’s, it is not going to work with David and it won’t work with us, God will expose our sin because He wants us to look to Him to be the strength of our life!
VERSE
11
Busted, they recognized David, they heard that top 10 hit, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” They must have thought, “What in the world is this giant killer doing here with us?” In fact, think about this, they recognized David as the “king of the land” and yet, he was not acting that way now as you will see! How would David respond in this situation? Let’s read on and see.
VERSE
12
When David found out that his cover was blown, he was afraid, they in no way would let this giant killer go! And Psalm 56 helps us to understand what was going on here for David wrote of this incident when he was captured and we get some insight to what went on that we don’t get here in I Samuel. Let’s look at this Psalm to get a picture of what went on with David, as the introduction of what this Psalm is about tells us, “A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.” And I tend to think this was written after David was removed from this situation and he is looking back on what was taking place.
We are told, “Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?” Psalm 56:1-13.
In other words, David is learning again to trust in the Lord, he is not trusting in what he can do but what the Lord has done and as we will see, there were some tough lessons. The key for us is the Word of God, trusting in the promises of God that He has made to us, and then just walk by faith. We don’t have to lie, cheat or steal, we just need to walk and see the salvation that the Lord will bring to the situation we are in. If we don’t trust in God’s Word, we will find dangerous roads before us. In 1998 a crew of five Navy fliers was killed in California’s Sequoia National Forest when their helicopter smashed into power lines. How can something like this happen? Three years earlier, a crash involving the same power lines had killed two people. In 1999, NATO forces bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese journalists and injuring 20 others.
As you read this it is hard to imagine such tragic loss of life. What was the problem? Each of these tragedies had the same cause: faulty maps. Investigators say that the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and its predecessor organization have played a role in at least a dozen accidents since 1985, some involving fatalities and loss of military aircraft. If you don’t have the right map, you will get into trouble. God’s Word is the map for our lives. So, when David says, “I will praise His word”, he is back in touch with the essential road map for his life. How about you? Are you back in touch with the essential road map for your life, the Word of God? You need to be!
VERSE
13
Notice the solution that David has to this problem, he pretends to be mad, he fakes being crazy, he acts like a nut case! He is scratching on doors; he lets salvia drip down from his mouth. A much different picture than we see earlier on where Samuel anointed David as king and the oil flowed down his face, the empowering of God’s Spirit was the picture! And this was dishonoring to God, this was the king of Israel and this is the way he was acting! Why was David doing this? Because David took his eyes off the Lord and was trying to figure a way out of this mess that he was in. Some argue that David humiliated himself and thus, this is the way to get out of this situation and God approved of it. I disagree.
You see, when David fought Goliath it was foolish for him to have a sling and a stone to fight against this giant who had all this battle armor on and this huge sword in his hand, and yet God used the foolishness of man to defeat the proud giant. Don’t you think God could have delivered David out of this situation without pretending to be crazy? Absolutely He could have. David looked at the situation and was fearful and those fears lead him to this behavior! It is as Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” What a lesson here. When we begin to fear what man can do to us, we can resort to all kinds of ungodly behavior. But when we learn to just trust in the Lord, we will be safe, He will take care of us!
It is easy to come down on David for his behavior, but how many of us do the same? I don’t mean that we go around scratching on doors or letting saliva drip down from our mouth, but that our Christian values change when we are around the unsaved so we won’t be recognized. Or if they know we are Christians, they won’t bother us because we have the most bizarre behavior and no one wants to be around us. May we stand strong in the faith and have a boldness that is grounded in the love of Christ. May we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh!
Achish wants nothing to do with David in this condition. “If he is out of his mind then don’t bring him near me, into my house” is what Achish is saying! And as much as some try to justify the behavior of David, deceit and hypocrisy can never be pleasing in the sight of God. Did God deliver David from this? Yes He did but God did not need David’s help and he should have never gone down to the camp of the Philistines for safety in the first place! And next time, as chapter 22 opens up, we are told, “David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.” I Samuel 22:1-2. So now David is on the run from Saul, he is running for his life and in that trial God is teaching him to trust in the Lord while Satan is trying to tempt him to sin!
As I begin to close this evening, keep in mind that David wrote many Psalms out of his experiences on the run from Saul. Here in regards to Achish letting him go free, David wrote Psalm 34 and the introduction gives us insight to this fact as it tells us, “A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.” Keep in mind that Abimelech is the title but his name is Achish. And thus, David wrote:
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.” Psalm 34:1-22.
Notice the focus in this Psalm. It is the LORD! And David is praising God for his deliverance, that he was brought to safety and it was not his might or strength or plan, it was the Lord! The Lord delivered David in spite of his plans! Did David make some mistakes here? You bet he did. The remarkable thing is that he learned from these mistakes and they caused him to draw close to the Lord. That does not mean that his lessons are over, in fact, they are just beginning. Folk’s, the same is true for us. We will fail, but God is not done. Thus, don’t beat yourself up, repent, get right and walk with the Lord and learn from those failures, those mistakes, those sins and grow in the Lord, learn to trust in Him more and more!
You see, faith needs to not only have legs but those legs need to walk. Some of you have heard this story before, but it does drive home the point of faith. We are told:
In college I was asked to prepare a lesson to teach my speech class. We were to be graded on our creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of my talk was, “The Law of the Pendulum.” I spent 20 minutes carefully teaching the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum.
The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal.
I attached a 3-foot string to a child’s toy top and secured it to the top of the blackboard with a thumbtack. I pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where I let it go. Each time it swung back I made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When I finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard proved my thesis. I then asked how many people in the room BELIEVED the law of the pendulum was true. All of my classmates raised their hands, so did the teacher. He started to walk to the front of the room thinking the class was over. In reality it had just begun. Hanging from the steel ceiling beams in the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum (250 pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500-pound test parachute cord.).
I invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in a chair with the back of his head against a cement wall. Then I brought the 250 pounds of metal up to his nose. Holding the huge pendulum just a fraction of an inch from his face, I once again explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, “If the law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be in no danger.” After that final restatement of this law, I looked him in the eye and asked, “Sir, do you believe this law is true?”
There was a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he nodded and whispered, “Yes.” I released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started back. I never saw a man move so fast in my life. He literally dived from the table. Deftly [precisely] stepping around the still-swinging pendulum, I asked the class, “Does he believe in the law of the pendulum?”
The students unanimously answered, “NO!”
- Ken Davis, How To Speak To Youth, pp 104-106
Folk’s, we have heard the Words of God. Many of you have been with us for the past 14 years as we have completed the entire Bible verse by verse. We know all the facts, the question is, “Do you believe?” William Booth put it like this as he said, “Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again - until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.” (William Booth in The Founder's Messages to Soldiers, Christianity Today, October 5, 1992, p. 48). May we learn to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting in the Lord! May we take the Words of God and apply them to our lives as we walk in faith!