• Saul tried to kill David (1 Samuel 18, 19, 24, 26)
• Saul repents of this, but David didn’t believe him (1 Samuel 26:21-25) and runs to Gath, where the people hated him for killing Goliath (1 Sam 17)
  • Fear of man:
    • Leads you to make unwise decisions that simply don’t make sense
    • Leads you to become desperate
  • 1 John 4:18-19
    • God’s love is perfect
    • God’s love is the antidote to fear
    • God’s love gives you stability and victory in your life

Learning to resist the temptation to manipulate life

• David deceives Achish (1 Samuel 27:8-12)
  • He manipulated (lied to) the king to get in his good graces.
  • Achish gave him land and safety, but expected David to be his slave
  • David’s fear and manipulation led to family tragedy (1 Samuel 30:1-5)
    • Read Psalms 128

Learning to hear from God?

• Maybe the greatest need of every believer is to hear from God and the natural reaction should be to follow His leading!
• It was because of Saul’s disobedience (1 Samuel 28:6,15-20) that God’s attention and blessing was turned away from Saul.
• Disobedience can put you in a position where God’s fellowship is absent in your life ( 59:1-2) but through God’s mercy and your repentance (Ephesians 2:4) God can use you again
• David, who was far from perfect, did hear from God (1 Samuel 30:7-8)
  • God’s children can hear from God, but the unsaved cannot – John 8:44-47
  • Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 – national repentance leads to God’s hearing. Personal repentance is needed as well

Learning to know what to fight for (1 Samuel 30:1-20)

• David had some extreme pressures:
  • Loss of families (2-5)
  • Much weeping (4)
  • The people turned on David (6)
• If you have similar pressures, or any pressure, be encouraged in the Lord today (6)
• If you have family problems – fight for what is right! Fight for your family!  Fight with God’s help (18-19)