Podcasts about david no

What happens when success comes before humility? When power comes before character? What happens when abundance comes before dependence? We tend to think God's promises will solve our problems. It sure can feel like the hardest part of receiving God's promises is waiting for them. But what if the harder task is becoming the kind of person who can receive them well? What happens when a promise arrives before we're prepared for it? Here’s another question. Is God being cruel when He delays His promises? Or punishing us when He keeps us waiting? Some of God's greatest acts of mercy come in the form of delays. God never gives His children His promises too soon. He prepares us first. Not because He expects us to “earn” His promises. We never would, and we never could. No, He loves us enough to prepare us beforehand for those promises. In this passage, David is finally standing at the edge of everything God promised him. Saul is dead. The throne is within reach. The years of waiting are almost over. The promise is now arriving. And in this song, we discover something surprising. The greatest evidence of God's grace in David's life is not that he eventually received the kingdom. It's the kind of man God made him while he was waiting for it.

Have you ever thought you understood what makes someone tick but found out you were completely wrong? You knew the important facts about them. You knew what they liked, what they believed, what they had accomplished, but you completely misread their character, you fundamentally misunderstood who they really were. You assumed they would respond to something one way, and they responded the exact opposite. You thought they would approve of something, celebrate something, reward something... and instead they were offended by it, and rejected it. The fact is, it's possible to know a lot about someone and still completely misunderstand who they are. That's true in relationships. It's even more dangerous when it's true about God. Today we find a story of someone who knows a lot about David but completely misunderstands who he is.

Resumen del capítulo: Desánimo – David vence a GoliatEste episodio muestra cómo David enfrentó el desánimo y las voces que intentaban descalificarlo, revelando que la verdadera batalla no era contra Goliat, sino contra los pensamientos que intentan apagar la fe.El desánimo y las voces internas: A veces surgen pensamientos que dicen “no puedes”, “ya fallaste demasiado”, “Dios no te ayudará”. Son montañas mentales que buscan definir nuestra identidad y alejarnos de la verdad de Dios.La raíz espiritual: El enemigo se disfraza como ángel de luz y usa la duda para debilitar la fe (Efesios 6:12). Pero la fe se activa por lo que oímos —si escuchamos la Palabra de Dios, producirá vida; si escuchamos la mentira, producirá muerte (Proverbios 18:20‑21).La respuesta de David: No permitió que el miedo ni las palabras de otros lo definieran. Dijo: “Tú vienes a mí con espada y lanza, mas yo vengo a ti en el nombre de Jehová de los ejércitos” (1 Samuel 17:45).Principio espiritual: La fe habla al monte y lo mueve (Marcos 11:23). David habló con autoridad, creyó y actuó.Ejemplo de Jesús: Cuando Pedro dudó y comenzó a hundirse, Jesús lo levantó. Así también Dios levanta al que se siente desanimado y le recuerda que la batalla es Suya.✨ Idea central: El desánimo se vence hablando la verdad de Dios, no la voz del miedo. Como David, debemos mirar al gigante y declarar: “De Jehová es la batalla”.

Want to get better sales leads? It starts with tracking what works. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today’s episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will discuss the topic of where are your best leads coming from? Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you. And I’m just going to answer the question. I don’t know. (laughing) I’m just… David: Short podcast. Thanks for listening. Jay: Yeah, I’m just going to say it straight up. I mean, I do have some systems. We do try and use Google Analytics and things like that, and that helps a little bit. But I’ve never done a deep dive yet on this is the source, this is the well or the font of where my best leads have come from. So I’m looking forward to this discussion. David: This is really a good one to look at and to dive into a bit, because I’ve always maintained that if you don’t know where your best leads are coming from, then you don’t know where to go to get more of them, and when you are able to identify it, everything else gets a whole lot easier because now you can go fishing in the same ponds, rather than just trying to put stuff out to anyone and everyone, which is very expensive to do. You can really tune in and focus in on what people are doing, where they’re coming from, how they’re hearing about you so that you can go find more of them. In addition to… well, a number of the businesses that I’ve been involved in over the years, one of them was a retail mail order catalog business that I owned. And in a business like that, it’s absolutely critical to know where your best leads are coming from. Jay: Mm-hmm. David: We would run magazine ads and we would get people out of different magazines. We had ads running on television that were designed to get leads for our catalog business. And every single one of the ads we ran had some sort of mechanism to let us know where they were coming from. If it was calling an 800 number, we had one primary 800 number, but we would give them an extension to ask for. So we’d say, call this 800 number extension 214. Right? And 214 meant that it was coming from this particular TV station or whatever. If they were seeing something online, there would be specific links that they would click through that would tell us where it was coming from. If it was a magazine ad, it was a similar kind of thing on the back of the magazine, it would say, call this number, dial this extension, or go to this web address, and there would be a slash with a suffix on the url.. Jay: Mm-hmm. David: And that would tell us where it came from. And when people would call in, one of the first things that our people were required to ask them is, “where did you hear about us?” And there was a box there that they would fill out. Where did you hear about us? Oh, I saw your ad on such and such a magazine, or, I saw your ad on such and such a TV station. And so we would have the data that the computer said based on what they came in and said, and then we would also have the data corresponding with whatever the person said. So I was pretty pathological about it, and to this day I’m still very pathological about determining where leads come from. Even now when, you know, at the end of this podcast, when you say, how do people find out more? And I give out a link that link tracks back to the podcast, it lets me know that the people who register on that link, Came from the podcast. And if they’re coming from some other ad, then it’s going to have a different code and that sort of thing. So it’s not that hard to do when you discipline yourself to do it. And most people don’t do that until and unless they realize how much it is actually worth to you when you do that right. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. And in today’s world, honestly, there is no excuse. It is so easy. There is so much data out there. If you want to target a specific group, you can target that group. And that’s kind of the process, right? You’re going to send out a link for this podcast, you’ll know who you get back. You’ll know age groups and those types of things. And then you’ll be like, well, let’s adjust it this way, or let’s adjust it that way. I mean, never in our history has there been such an easy way to say, I want this age group who’s interested in this type of thing. Then you can target that group. And then based upon that new batch of information you can target in even more. I know we all kind of complain that we’re being tracked everywhere we go, but at the same time, we’re all asking for it. We’re subscribing to newsletters, we’re hitting the like button. We’re feeding all of that information. So it becomes this circle, right? And I think it’s incredible personally. And if I am going to get sent an ad, I want it to apply to me. When I get something that I’m like, there’s no way that this is something that I would ever consider. I almost get angry. Like, come on, get your algorithms together here. David: Yeah. And what you’re talking about is probably a level or two above what I’m even talking about. Jay: Mm-hmm. David: I’m talking about simple things that most small or medium sized businesses can integrate into their own business, just so they have an idea of where the people who are paying them money are largely coming from. And I don’t mean every site they’ve visited over the past 20 years. Jay: Sure, sure. David: I mean, where did they hear from us most recently? Did they hear about us from the podcast? Did they hear about us from an email broadcast that went out through an email broadcast platform? If so, which one? If there is some sort of ad, which ad did they click on? There are some ads that we run on some websites where there’s an ad at the top of the page, there’s an ad on the side of the page. The ads say different things. We track those separately so we know which message and which ad. Does the top position get more of a response? Does the side position get more of a response? Because that tells us where to focus our attention on getting more people. And a lot of it, in the early stages especially, is just about seeing where the people are basically coming from. But then when you see who’s actually buying, that narrows it down even more. Jay: Yes. David: Because you may be getting more leads from one source than another, but you find out that the leads from that source aren’t converting. Jay: Yes. David: At which point you can stop advertising there and put your money behind the ads that work. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. And when I mentioned how easy it is today, I even mean for small businesses. I mean, we started a small business and I don’t know anything about pay per click or, you know, anything like that. But I looked on Fiverr, you know, the website, Fiverr and Upwork, and I found somebody who said, I’ll do this for you for a month for 30 bucks and I’m like, it’s 30 bucks. I’ll try it out. We did the $30 and the results were dramatic. So we’re like, wait a minute, if we do 30, let’s do 60. Now we’ve got this guy we spend about maybe 250 a month with him, and we get constant leads that convert from him. I don’t know how he’s doing it and I don’t need to know how he’s doing it. Right? Now I can spend my time focusing on those leads. The other thing he’ll do is come back and say, okay, you’ve got a lot of people who are landing on your checkout page, but they’re not converting. So we’re like, “oh, wait a minute, what’s going on?” Is it the language we’re using? Is it the pictures we’re using? Are we not conveying the message? These things can be done for relatively cheap nowadays, and so even if you’re at the smallest point, I would definitely try some of those things. David: Yeah, it’s simple enough to be able to at least get an idea of where most people are coming from to be able to go back and get more. And obviously, we’re talking quite a bit about online, but there are a lot of offline sources. If you do networking, you go to networking functions, you may find that one networking function does much better than another. You may find that you go to one particular networking function and you don’t get any leads from it. You go back again and again and again, and you’re not getting leads. Everybody’s just schmoozing. That happens a lot in business. Jay: Yeah. David: Particularly in B2B. Well, B2C as well. So in those situations you can make determinations if you’re keeping track of it. But very many small businesses in particular will just go out, go to some sort of networking function or go to something that’s supposed to generate business, and they use that as an excuse like, “I’m doing something.” But if you go out to something like that and you’re not going out there with the idea of coming back with leads that you can follow up on, it’s really just a waste of time. So there’s a focus aspect to this. There’s an online versus offline aspect to this. But ultimately what it boils down to is the subject of this podcast. Where are your best leads coming from? Jay: Yeah. David: Where can I go to find more? Jay: Yeah, and I see this a lot and I’ve been a victim of it. Movement for the sake of movement. You know? I’m doing something, I’m going to these networking events. Going to these shows. Placing these ads. So when is it going to start working? Movement for the sake of movement is of no value. Right? There has to be some intent. It has to be trackable. It has to be adjustable. And I think it’s so easy to fall into that trap of “I’m doing something!” And so, where’s the result? David: Yeah, it reminds me of that Zig Ziglar quote, “Don’t look for your ship to come in if you haven’t sent one out.” Jay: Yeah. David: And very often we’re trying to do things that are generating results. We talked about goal setting in a previous podcast, and a lot of times we’re so focused on the goal, “I need to generate X dollars per month or X dollars per year.” And what am I going to do to do that? And we just run around in a lot of different directions trying to generate that amount of money. Well, what we need to be doing is saying, “okay, what is going to get me to that?” In other words, how many leads do I need to generate in a month in order to get to my number? If I know how many leads I need to generate in a month, because a certain percentage of them will convert and a certain percentage won’t convert. If I know how many people I need to initiate contact with on any given month, then we can track those metrics and say, “okay, well today is the 20th of the month” or whatever the date is. How many people have I initiated contact with so far this month? And if it’s less than the number that you know, you need to reach to hit your numbers, then okay, I need to initiate contact with this many more people. Because when you focus on those lead metrics, the things that you can actually control as opposed to the lag metrics, like how much actually came in for the month. You can focus on the lead measures and then the lag measures will follow. Jay: Yeah. And again, the focus of this podcast, the high value leads. So if you’re just not fishing in any pond, but you’re fishing in that pond where you know you’ve gotten some good leads before, maybe you won’t get as many leads, but who cares, right? Because you’ve got quality customers who are going to come back to you. And we’d all rather have that than, you know, a hundred little minnows on our line, right? David: Yeah, and it absolutely ties into the topic of what we’re talking about. Because when you find those really popular or those really productive fishing holes, then you say, okay, well if I go here, primarily, I can get fewer leads and know I’m still going to hit my numbers, so why would I want to waste time bringing in more leads over here if it’s not going to produce at the same level? Jay: Yeah, maybe ’cause some people like movement. It feels like you’re busy, so that’s a good thing. It’s not always a good thing, right? David: No. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Jay: Yeah. Well, how do people find out more? David? David: Well, you can go to TopSecrets.com/call. Schedule a call with myself or my team. We’d love to have a conversation with you. If you’re looking to attract more high quality leads in your business. If you’d like to start focusing on the high value, high dollar leads that can do better things for your business, it’s probably worth a call. TopSecrets.com/call. Jay: All right, as always, great conversation. Can’t wait till we talk again. David: Thanks a lot, Jay. Are You Ready to Determine Where Your Best Leads are Coming From? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. Need Clients Now? If you're already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry. Time to Hire Salespeople? If you want to hire others to grow your promo sales, click here. Ready to Dominate Your Market? If you're serious about creating top-of-mind-awareness with the very best prospects in your market, schedule a one-on-one Strategy Session here.

What would it take for you to conclude that God's promises had failed? What circumstances would have to unfold before you finally say, "This is it. God's plan has collapsed. The enemy has won." Now, us "church people" know we're not supposed to say that out loud. But let's be honest. Most of us have faced moments that tempted us to think exactly that. "Well... there's no coming back from this." Maybe you poured years into a job, a business, or a relationship, only to watch it collapse. Maybe you thought you knew where life was headed, and suddenly it wasn't. Maybe you prayed for something that seemed right, only to watch the door slam shut. Maybe you found yourself in a season, or situation you never planned for and never would have chosen. Or maybe you’re someone who feels like you've simply made too many mistakes, taken too many wrong turns, and you will never recover what you've lost. Those are the moments when the very things we've been pointing to as evidence that God is at work suddenly begin falling apart. That's the tension of 1 Samuel 31. Can God's promises survive the collapse of everything that appears to support them? Today we'll discover that when God's promises appear closest to dying, God is often accomplishing them most powerfully.

What would it take for you to conclude that God's promises had failed? What circumstances would have to unfold before you finally say, "This is it. God's plan has collapsed. The enemy has won." Now, us "church people" know we're not supposed to say that out loud. But let's be honest. Most of us have faced moments that tempted us to think exactly that. "Well... there's no coming back from this." Maybe you poured years into a job, a business, or a relationship, only to watch it collapse. Maybe you thought you knew where life was headed, and suddenly it wasn't. Maybe you prayed for something that seemed right, only to watch the door slam shut. Maybe you found yourself in a season, or situation you never planned for and never would have chosen. Or maybe you’re someone who feels like you've simply made too many mistakes, taken too many wrong turns, and you will never recover what you've lost. Those are the moments when the very things we've been pointing to as evidence that God is at work suddenly begin falling apart. That's the tension of 1 Samuel 31. Can God's promises survive the collapse of everything that appears to support them? Today we'll discover that when God's promises appear closest to dying, God is often accomplishing them most powerfully.

Do you ever look around at other Christians and assume most everybody else is doing better spiritually than you? Like somehow, they’re winning battles you keep struggling with. Their faith seems stronger. Their life seems cleaner. Their prayers seem more confident. Meanwhile, you’re exhausted just trying to hold yourself together. Or maybe you’re on the other side of that. Maybe life is stable right now. Your faith feels strong. You’re productive, disciplined, serving, succeeding, and without even realizing it, you slowly begin measuring yourself against weaker, struggling people. We don’t like admitting that part out loud, but it happens all the time in the human heart. We compare, rank, measure. We quietly decide who seems spiritually strong, useful, mature, valuable & who doesn’t. We understand grace in theory; We still seem to operate like the Kingdom of God works the same way the world does: That blessings in the Kingdom of God are on a merit-based system. Those who are doing their best deserve more. The people who contribute the most should receive the greatest reward. But in 1 Samuel 30, David looks at the exhausted, weak men who couldn’t even finish the battle… and declares they share equally in the king’s victory. And behind that moment is one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in the entire wilderness story of David.

Do you ever look around at other Christians and assume most everybody else is doing better spiritually than you? Like somehow, they’re winning battles you keep struggling with. Their faith seems stronger. Their life seems cleaner. Their prayers seem more confident. Meanwhile, you’re exhausted just trying to hold yourself together. Or maybe you’re on the other side of that. Maybe life is stable right now. Your faith feels strong. You’re productive, disciplined, serving, succeeding, and without even realizing it, you slowly begin measuring yourself against weaker, struggling people. We don’t like admitting that part out loud, but it happens all the time in the human heart. We compare, rank, measure. We quietly decide who seems spiritually strong, useful, mature, valuable & who doesn’t. We understand grace in theory; We still seem to operate like the Kingdom of God works the same way the world does: That blessings in the Kingdom of God are on a merit-based system. Those who are doing their best deserve more. The people who contribute the most should receive the greatest reward. But in 1 Samuel 30, David looks at the exhausted, weak men who couldn’t even finish the battle… and declares they share equally in the king’s victory. And behind that moment is one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in the entire wilderness story of David.

Have you ever had a moment where life changed so fast it felt like the ground disappeared underneath you? Where suddenly the life you were building, the future you imagined, the things that made you feel stable and secure all started collapsing at once? For a child of God, those moments are deeply spiritual. We start asking questions we usually neglect when life is comfortable. What’s God doing? Why would God allow this? Has He abandoned me? Is this punishment? And if we’re honest, sometimes the hardest part isn’t even the pain itself. It’s the confusion. Some suffering clearly comes from our own foolishness. But some suffering crashes into our lives completely uninvited. Sometimes we suffer because we wandered. Other times because we live in a fallen world filled with sin, evil, disease, betrayal, and death. But either way, when life turns to ashes, the question underneath all the others is usually the same: “Can God still be at work here?” That’s what I see in 1 Samuel 30. This is the most powerful moment in the wilderness.

Have you ever had a moment where life changed so fast it felt like the ground disappeared underneath you? Where suddenly the life you were building, the future you imagined, the things that made you feel stable and secure all started collapsing at once? For a child of God, those moments are deeply spiritual. We start asking questions we usually neglect when life is comfortable. What’s God doing? Why would God allow this? Has He abandoned me? Is this punishment? And if we’re honest, sometimes the hardest part isn’t even the pain itself. It’s the confusion. Some suffering clearly comes from our own foolishness. But some suffering crashes into our lives completely uninvited. Sometimes we suffer because we wandered. Other times because we live in a fallen world filled with sin, evil, disease, betrayal, and death. But either way, when life turns to ashes, the question underneath all the others is usually the same: “Can God still be at work here?” That’s what I see in 1 Samuel 30. This is the most powerful moment in the wilderness.

Have you ever found yourself somewhere you never thought you’d be, asking yourself, “How did I get here?” You didn’t just wake up one morning wanting to rebel against God. Instead, a series of small, seemingly reasonable decisions slowly took you there. Not because you stopped loving Jesus or stopped believing the Bible, but because fear, exhaustion, disappointment, or simply the pressure of real life slowly convinced you that trusting God wasn’t enough. At least not right now. You didn’t walk away from God. That would have been obvious. You started making practical choices that seemed wise at the time, but they slowly pulled you away from God and His people. And before you knew it, you’re standing in a place you never thought you’d stand, wondering how in the world you got there. This morning, we’re going to watch the man who stood up to Goliath… now finds himself standing shoulder to shoulder with the enemies of God’s people. The most unsettling part is, he doesn’t seem to realize how close he is to disaster.

Have you ever found yourself somewhere you never thought you’d be, asking yourself, “How did I get here?” You didn’t just wake up one morning wanting to rebel against God. Instead, a series of small, seemingly reasonable decisions slowly took you there. Not because you stopped loving Jesus or stopped believing the Bible, but because fear, exhaustion, disappointment, or simply the pressure of real life slowly convinced you that trusting God wasn’t enough. At least not right now. You didn’t walk away from God. That would have been obvious. You started making practical choices that seemed wise at the time, but they slowly pulled you away from God and His people. And before you knew it, you’re standing in a place you never thought you’d stand, wondering how in the world you got there. This morning, we’re going to watch the man who stood up to Goliath… now finds himself standing shoulder to shoulder with the enemies of God’s people. The most unsettling part is, he doesn’t seem to realize how close he is to disaster.

As a Christian you’ve had moments where you knew exactly what God wanted from you, but if you’re honest, you didn’t really want to hear it. Maybe it was forgiving someone. Maybe it was telling the truth when lying would have been easier. Maybe it was ending a relationship, confessing a sin, having a hard conversation, or walking away from something you knew was pulling your heart away from God. If you’re anything like me, in those moments we usually don’t say, “God, I don’t want to obey You.” That’s too obvious. Instead, we put it off. We delay obedience… “I just need more clarity.” “I’m just waiting on the Lord.” And honestly, sometimes all of that can be true. But other times, we’re not really waiting on God at all. We expect God to wait on us. Today’s passage takes us into the final stages of one of the darkest, sobering personal stories in the OT. It may reveal something in you, you didn’t realize needed your attention.

As a Christian you’ve had moments where you knew exactly what God wanted from you, but if you’re honest, you didn’t really want to hear it. Maybe it was forgiving someone. Maybe it was telling the truth when lying would have been easier. Maybe it was ending a relationship, confessing a sin, having a hard conversation, or walking away from something you knew was pulling your heart away from God. If you’re anything like me, in those moments we usually don’t say, “God, I don’t want to obey You.” That’s too obvious. Instead, we put it off. We delay obedience… “I just need more clarity.” “I’m just waiting on the Lord.” And honestly, sometimes all of that can be true. But other times, we’re not really waiting on God at all. We expect God to wait on us. Today’s passage takes us into the final stages of one of the darkest, sobering personal stories in the OT. It may reveal something in you, you didn’t realize needed your attention.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’ve had those moments when you desperately wanted God to speak, but what came back felt like deafening silence. Those moments can make it feel like life, and even your faith, is starting to unravel. It can be a diagnosis, betrayal, a child making destructive choices, and you feel powerless to stop them. It can be a marriage hanging by a thread, a financial situation you can’t fix. A temptation you thought you were past suddenly coming back stronger than ever. So you do what Christians are supposed to do, right? You open your Bible. You pray for wisdom, direction, clarity… for God to make the next step obvious. But instead of clarity, instead of direction, you get what feels like silence from Heaven. That kind of silence can mess with you. It can make strong people weak, confident people anxious, and faithful people start asking dangerous questions: Did I do something wrong? Is God disappointed in me? Is He testing me? Or worse, has God cut me off or forgotten me? Are you even there Lord? In those moments, there’s a powerful opportunity for faith to be exposed, strengthened, and even deepened. Because what you do in that silence reveals more about your heart than almost anything else in your life. Do you run to God… or do you start looking somewhere else? Saul, sadly & not surprisingly, looked somewhere else.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’ve had those moments when you desperately wanted God to speak, but what came back felt like deafening silence. Those moments can make it feel like life, and even your faith, is starting to unravel. It can be a diagnosis, betrayal, a child making destructive choices, and you feel powerless to stop them. It can be a marriage hanging by a thread, a financial situation you can’t fix. A temptation you thought you were past suddenly coming back stronger than ever. So you do what Christians are supposed to do, right? You open your Bible. You pray for wisdom, direction, clarity… for God to make the next step obvious. But instead of clarity, instead of direction, you get what feels like silence from Heaven. That kind of silence can mess with you. It can make strong people weak, confident people anxious, and faithful people start asking dangerous questions: Did I do something wrong? Is God disappointed in me? Is He testing me? Or worse, has God cut me off or forgotten me? Are you even there Lord? In those moments, there’s a powerful opportunity for faith to be exposed, strengthened, and even deepened. Because what you do in that silence reveals more about your heart than almost anything else in your life. Do you run to God… or do you start looking somewhere else? Saul, sadly & not surprisingly, looked somewhere else.

We’ve all had moments where we knew what God said, even believed it, but somehow, it just didn’t feel like enough. Not enough to fully trust what He’s promised. Not enough to build your decision on or hold you up in real life. So, you didn’t walk away from God, I mean that would be silly. But you did start looking for “other options”. Perhaps something a little more practical, a little more immediate. Something you feel like you can make work. And if you’re honest, it did work. At least for a while, it gives you some relief, or it makes things feel manageable. It might have even brought a little bit of earthly success. But somewhere in the middle of all that… something felt off. Because deep down, you knew you were building part of your life on something that wasn’t true. You didn’t stop believing in God… You had just started trusting something else more. And the scary part is, that kind of shift almost never happens at all. It’s subtle, quiet, feels reasonable, even logical, like you have no other choice. That’s exactly where we find David in 1 Samuel 27. And trust me, there’s a lot to learn from this one.

We’ve all had moments where we knew what God said, even believed it, but somehow, it just didn’t feel like enough. Not enough to fully trust what He’s promised. Not enough to build your decision on or hold you up in real life. So, you didn’t walk away from God, I mean that would be silly. But you did start looking for “other options”. Perhaps something a little more practical, a little more immediate. Something you feel like you can make work. And if you’re honest, it did work. At least for a while, it gives you some relief, or it makes things feel manageable. It might have even brought a little bit of earthly success. But somewhere in the middle of all that… something felt off. Because deep down, you knew you were building part of your life on something that wasn’t true. You didn’t stop believing in God… You had just started trusting something else more. And the scary part is, that kind of shift almost never happens at all. It’s subtle, quiet, feels reasonable, even logical, like you have no other choice. That’s exactly where we find David in 1 Samuel 27. And trust me, there’s a lot to learn from this one.

We’ve all had certain moments that seem powerful & spiritual. You hear truth, and you feel it. It lands on you, maybe even hits you hard. You agree with it, you know it’s right, and for a moment, it feels like something is going to change… but then life keeps moving, and somehow, nothing does change. If we’re honest, most of us have a growing collection of moments like that, powerful moments that slowly fade into the background. And over time, truth that once felt urgent starts to feel familiar. What once stopped you in your tracks doesn’t even slow you down anymore. And here’s the uncomfortable question that comes with that: How is it possible to hear the truth, recognize it, even feel the weight of it… yet remain completely unchanged? We tend to assume that if something is clear enough, explained well enough, or felt deeply enough, then change will naturally follow. But experience tells us that’s not always true. There’s a kind of hearing that doesn’t lead to obedience, a kind of conviction that doesn’t lead to repentance. If that’s true, then the real issue isn’t just whether we’ve heard the truth… it’s what happens in us when we do. That’s what we see in today’s passage.

We’ve all had certain moments that seem powerful & spiritual. You hear truth, and you feel it. It lands on you, maybe even hits you hard. You agree with it, you know it’s right, and for a moment, it feels like something is going to change… but then life keeps moving, and somehow, nothing does change. If we’re honest, most of us have a growing collection of moments like that, powerful moments that slowly fade into the background. And over time, truth that once felt urgent starts to feel familiar. What once stopped you in your tracks doesn’t even slow you down anymore. And here’s the uncomfortable question that comes with that: How is it possible to hear the truth, recognize it, even feel the weight of it… yet remain completely unchanged? We tend to assume that if something is clear enough, explained well enough, or felt deeply enough, then change will naturally follow. But experience tells us that’s not always true. There’s a kind of hearing that doesn’t lead to obedience, a kind of conviction that doesn’t lead to repentance. If that’s true, then the real issue isn’t just whether we’ve heard the truth… it’s what happens in us when we do. That’s what we see in today’s passage.

We learned recently in this series how as Christians, we must be willing have hard, loving conversations with each other. But we often face another kind of moment that will require wisdom and courage… when we are confronted by evil. Have you ever personally been confronted by evil & walked away thinking, “Man, I should’ve taken a stand”? Or maybe you walked away thinking, “I shouldn’t have said that… I shouldn’t have done that”? Same kind of moment. Completely different regrets. When we come face to face with evil, how we respond in that moment is critical. In those moments, something is driving you. It’s fear trying to protect you. Pride is convincing you to take control, as if you’re qualified to step into the role of God. And most of the time, we don’t even slow down long enough to recognize it. Do you see how important these moments are? When confronted with evil, we need to handle it correctly. How can we walk into those moments, see them clearly, and not get it wrong? That’s where this passage takes us.

We learned recently in this series how as Christians, we must be willing have hard, loving conversations with each other. But we often face another kind of moment that will require wisdom and courage… when we are confronted by evil. Have you ever personally been confronted by evil & walked away thinking, “Man, I should’ve taken a stand”? Or maybe you walked away thinking, “I shouldn’t have said that… I shouldn’t have done that”? Same kind of moment. Completely different regrets. When we come face to face with evil, how we respond in that moment is critical. In those moments, something is driving you. It’s fear trying to protect you. Pride is convincing you to take control, as if you’re qualified to step into the role of God. And most of the time, we don’t even slow down long enough to recognize it. Do you see how important these moments are? When confronted with evil, we need to handle it correctly. How can we walk into those moments, see them clearly, and not get it wrong? That’s where this passage takes us.

It’s easy to recognize grace when it shows up as mercy, forgiveness, or as escaping consequences we deserve. We like it when God’s grace sounds like “yes.” YES, to mercy. YES, to blessing. YES, to provision. That’s the kind of grace we like to hear about in sermons, and sing about in worship. But sometimes God’s grace is harder to recognize. Because sometimes, grace sounds like “no.” And those “no” moments can be the most important moments in your life. When grace steps in, protects you from yourself, stops you from sinning, keeps you from blowing your life up, it may not feel like grace. “No” moments feel inconvenient, interruptive, resistant, even frustrating. Imagine if God gave us the kind of heart that could recognize those moments for what they really are: moments when grace has stopped us in our tracks. Imagine how that would change our day-to-day walk with Jesus. Imagine how much stronger our precious church family would be if we all could have that wisdom. It’s the kind of grace most of us don’t recognize… and even fewer of us are willing to embrace. That’s the kind of moment we’re stepping into today.

It’s easy to recognize grace when it shows up as mercy, forgiveness, or as escaping consequences we deserve. We like it when God’s grace sounds like “yes.” YES, to mercy. YES, to blessing. YES, to provision. That’s the kind of grace we like to hear about in sermons, and sing about in worship. But sometimes God’s grace is harder to recognize. Because sometimes, grace sounds like “no.” And those “no” moments can be the most important moments in your life. When grace steps in, protects you from yourself, stops you from sinning, keeps you from blowing your life up, it may not feel like grace. “No” moments feel inconvenient, interruptive, resistant, even frustrating. Imagine if God gave us the kind of heart that could recognize those moments for what they really are: moments when grace has stopped us in our tracks. Imagine how that would change our day-to-day walk with Jesus. Imagine how much stronger our precious church family would be if we all could have that wisdom. It’s the kind of grace most of us don’t recognize… and even fewer of us are willing to embrace. That’s the kind of moment we’re stepping into today.

Sometimes, someone steps into your life… and say something you didn’t want to hear… but deep down you knew they were right. Not an enemy, or someone trying to hurt you, but someone who actually cared about you. And everything in you wanted to push back? To explain it away? To justify yourself. To say, “They don’t understand.” But if you’re honest… you knew they did understand. You just didn’t want to listen. And here’s the tension… Sometimes the greatest moments of grace don’t feel like grace. It feels like criticism. But what if it’s literally God stepping into your life before you make a sinful or unwise choice you can’t take back? Listen, we all love that part of grace that forgives us after we mess up. But we seem to be annoyed by the part of grace that stops us BEFORE we make that big mistake, we would need forgiveness for. The kind that shows up through people… at just the right moment… to say the one thing we don’t really want to hear. Maybe even more uncomfortable… Sometimes God uses you to be that person for someone else? Today is a moment where one person’s wisdom steps into another man’s life… and stops him from becoming something he never intended to be.

Sometimes, someone steps into your life… and say something you didn’t want to hear… but deep down you knew they were right. Not an enemy, or someone trying to hurt you, but someone who actually cared about you. And everything in you wanted to push back? To explain it away? To justify yourself. To say, “They don’t understand.” But if you’re honest… you knew they did understand. You just didn’t want to listen. And here’s the tension… Sometimes the greatest moments of grace don’t feel like grace. It feels like criticism. But what if it’s literally God stepping into your life before you make a sinful or unwise choice you can’t take back? Listen, we all love that part of grace that forgives us after we mess up. But we seem to be annoyed by the part of grace that stops us BEFORE we make that big mistake, we would need forgiveness for. The kind that shows up through people… at just the right moment… to say the one thing we don’t really want to hear. Maybe even more uncomfortable… Sometimes God uses you to be that person for someone else? Today is a moment where one person’s wisdom steps into another man’s life… and stops him from becoming something he never intended to be.

This week we begin a 3-sermon miniseries if you will, about foolishness, wisdom, and how we should respond to both. We tend to think foolishness is obvious. It looks like bad decisions, reckless living, people who don’t know any better. But what if the most dangerous kind of foolishness… doesn’t look foolish at all? What if it looks successful? Respected? - Even… blessed? The truth is, you can believe in God, go to church, say all the right things… and still be a fool. That’s why the greatest danger in your life right now might not be what you’re doing wrong… but what you’re convinced is right. That’s what scripture defines as foolishness. It’s not ignorance, inexperience, or even human error. It’s deciding, for whatever reason, a part of, or all of God’s authority somehow doesn’t apply to you. Today we’re going to see just how dangerous this kind of foolishness is. Because even if you look very successful, if you’re holding on to foolishness, you could be standing one step away from destruction… without even knowing it.

This week we begin a 3-sermon miniseries if you will, about foolishness, wisdom, and how we should respond to both. We tend to think foolishness is obvious. It looks like bad decisions, reckless living, people who don’t know any better. But what if the most dangerous kind of foolishness… doesn’t look foolish at all? What if it looks successful? Respected? - Even… blessed? The truth is, you can believe in God, go to church, say all the right things… and still be a fool. That’s why the greatest danger in your life right now might not be what you’re doing wrong… but what you’re convinced is right. That’s what scripture defines as foolishness. It’s not ignorance, inexperience, or even human error. It’s deciding, for whatever reason, a part of, or all of God’s authority somehow doesn’t apply to you. Today we’re going to see just how dangerous this kind of foolishness is. Because even if you look very successful, if you’re holding on to foolishness, you could be standing one step away from destruction… without even knowing it.

We all know songs that trigger an emotional response, a feeling, that takes you back to a specific point in the past. You hear it, maybe put it on repeat, and you get caught in this nostalgic loop for a bit. There is something in the movement of the notes or the lyrics that put you right there again. To a person. A season. A place. It’s enjoyable for a moment, but then suddenly it’s not. Because you realize, you can’t go back. When the song is over, and the comforting flashback is gone, it’s back to the reality of the hard things in life today. But what if there was a song that triggered something different, instead of pulling you back, it points you forward? A song that isn’t nostalgic but provides a future hope even though your current reality is confusing, heavy, threatening. You know that kind of life? The “cave life”, where you feel trapped, tired, hunted, and buried under fear, or grief, or pressure, or confusion, or disappointment? Maybe even shame or guilt. It’s such a deep, dark pit, one that you possibly may have even dug yourself into. In that situation, we need something more than a song that makes us nostalgic. Those kinds of songs cannot provide any hope of escaping whatever tomb your soul is stuck in. A tomb of grief, loss, sorrow, broken relationships, politics, culture wars, bitterness, anger, resentment or obsession. We need a different kind of song in our playlist. One so good we can’t help but sing it over & over in our heart & mind. A song that provides real hope. A song about how to get out of whatever hopeless tomb you are stuck in. This morning I’m going to teach you a new song like that. A song David wrote & probably had on repeat in his cave. Because some of you here this Easter, like David was, are stuck in a deep dark cave. You don’t need any more songs about the past. You need a song with truth strong enough to get you out of the tombs your heart is trapped in.

We all know songs that trigger an emotional response, a feeling, that takes you back to a specific point in the past. You hear it, maybe put it on repeat, and you get caught in this nostalgic loop for a bit. There is something in the movement of the notes or the lyrics that put you right there again. To a person. A season. A place. It’s enjoyable for a moment, but then suddenly it’s not. Because you realize, you can’t go back. When the song is over, and the comforting flashback is gone, it’s back to the reality of the hard things in life today. But what if there was a song that triggered something different, instead of pulling you back, it points you forward? A song that isn’t nostalgic but provides a future hope even though your current reality is confusing, heavy, threatening. You know that kind of life? The “cave life”, where you feel trapped, tired, hunted, and buried under fear, or grief, or pressure, or confusion, or disappointment? Maybe even shame or guilt. It’s such a deep, dark pit, one that you possibly may have even dug yourself into. In that situation, we need something more than a song that makes us nostalgic. Those kinds of songs cannot provide any hope of escaping whatever tomb your soul is stuck in. A tomb of grief, loss, sorrow, broken relationships, politics, culture wars, bitterness, anger, resentment or obsession. We need a different kind of song in our playlist. One so good we can’t help but sing it over & over in our heart & mind. A song that provides real hope. A song about how to get out of whatever hopeless tomb you are stuck in. This morning I’m going to teach you a new song like that. A song David wrote & probably had on repeat in his cave. Because some of you here this Easter, like David was, are stuck in a deep dark cave. You don’t need any more songs about the past. You need a song with truth strong enough to get you out of the tombs your heart is trapped in.

Have you ever had a moment where you knew you were wrong… and you felt it? A moment when you said the right words. You even shed a few tears, said you were sorry, but deep down… nothing changed? How about this question: Have you ever admired Jesus, but quietly kept control? Ever said, “Lord, you’re right”, but walked away still negotiating? We’ve built a church culture, especially in America, that confuses emotion with devotion. We think intensity equals authenticity, assume that because we feel deeply, we’ve been transformed deeply. But sentiment doesn’t = surrender. Scripture makes a clear, uncomfortable distinction between regret & redemption, tears & surrender. If we don’t understand the difference, we can spend years looking spiritual. Singing. Confessing. Agreeing. Even weeping, but still never stepping off our throne. That’s the story we’ll see today. A man who has what seems to be a deeply spiritual moment complete with public confession, emotional breakdown, declaration of truth, all of it! In fact, if there had been some kind of “an altar call”, he probably would have gone forward, knelt, cried, prayed. Yet he walks away from that powerful moment unchanged. I call it “almost surrender.”, a dangerous spiritual condition. That’s why we need this sermon, to help us know if we are just weeping, or surrendering, & how to do that.

Have you ever had a moment where you knew you were wrong… and you felt it? A moment when you said the right words. You even shed a few tears, said you were sorry, but deep down… nothing changed? How about this question: Have you ever admired Jesus, but quietly kept control? Ever said, “Lord, you’re right”, but walked away still negotiating? We’ve built a church culture, especially in America, that confuses emotion with devotion. We think intensity equals authenticity, assume that because we feel deeply, we’ve been transformed deeply. But sentiment doesn’t = surrender. Scripture makes a clear, uncomfortable distinction between regret & redemption, tears & surrender. If we don’t understand the difference, we can spend years looking spiritual. Singing. Confessing. Agreeing. Even weeping, but still never stepping off our throne. That’s the story we’ll see today. A man who has what seems to be a deeply spiritual moment complete with public confession, emotional breakdown, declaration of truth, all of it! In fact, if there had been some kind of “an altar call”, he probably would have gone forward, knelt, cried, prayed. Yet he walks away from that powerful moment unchanged. I call it “almost surrender.”, a dangerous spiritual condition. That’s why we need this sermon, to help us know if we are just weeping, or surrendering, & how to do that.

Have you ever said, “After everything I’ve endured… I deserve this”? There are moments in life when opportunity, when timing, when a situation seems so perfect, it must be God. When grabbing feels like faith, even if it requires compromise. Have you ever been convinced, because a door opened, it must be God’s will? In those moments, what reveals your heart isn’t what you want. It’s what you’re willing to do to get it. What do you do when the thing that has been chasing you suddenly looks like an opportunity? When providence feels obvious? When the shortcut feels justified? In 1 Sam 24, David has what looks like a God-given opportunity to end his suffering. Instead, he discovers something far more important than escape. He discovers whether he trusts God’s promise more than his own wisdom, hands, and timing.

Have you ever said, “After everything I’ve endured… I deserve this”? There are moments in life when opportunity, when timing, when a situation seems so perfect, it must be God. When grabbing feels like faith, even if it requires compromise. Have you ever been convinced, because a door opened, it must be God’s will? In those moments, what reveals your heart isn’t what you want. It’s what you’re willing to do to get it. What do you do when the thing that has been chasing you suddenly looks like an opportunity? When providence feels obvious? When the shortcut feels justified? In 1 Sam 24, David has what looks like a God-given opportunity to end his suffering. Instead, he discovers something far more important than escape. He discovers whether he trusts God’s promise more than his own wisdom, hands, and timing.

Can you relate to that title? Do you ever feel like evil is right on your tail, like you’re barely one step in front of it? Do you ever notice how we tend to assume if we’re walking with God, things should settle down and go well. That faithfulness should produce safety. We’re comfortable saying God is sovereign, as long as it makes us feel secure. Until the gap between us and the evil chasing us starts closing. Until the options shrink. Until it feels like something is gaining on you. What then? What happens when you’re doing your best to follow Jesus, but life still feels like a manhunt? What happens when you’re faithful, but afraid? You really do believe His promises! But you still feel the pressure! What are we supposed to do when we know we’re walking in obedience… but still feel like we’re losing ground? Today we’re going to look at a moment in David’s life that forces us to confront a hard truth: you can belong to God, trust His promises, and still be on the run. Because if we don’t understand where God is when evil is chasing us, or what He’s doing, we can let fear can rewrite our theology. And after all, who wants fear to be in control of our theology?

Can you relate to that title? Do you ever feel like evil is right on your tail, like you’re barely one step in front of it? Do you ever notice how we tend to assume if we’re walking with God, things should settle down and go well. That faithfulness should produce safety. We’re comfortable saying God is sovereign, as long as it makes us feel secure. Until the gap between us and the evil chasing us starts closing. Until the options shrink. Until it feels like something is gaining on you. What then? What happens when you’re doing your best to follow Jesus, but life still feels like a manhunt? What happens when you’re faithful, but afraid? You really do believe His promises! But you still feel the pressure! What are we supposed to do when we know we’re walking in obedience… but still feel like we’re losing ground? Today we’re going to look at a moment in David’s life that forces us to confront a hard truth: you can belong to God, trust His promises, and still be on the run. Because if we don’t understand where God is when evil is chasing us, or what He’s doing, we can let fear can rewrite our theology. And after all, who wants fear to be in control of our theology?

Have you ever experienced times in your life where you felt like God was silent? Hard to hear? Difficult to access? I hear people say they need clarity, direction, guidance for God’s will, as if the issue is whether God is willing to speak. I’ve seen people assume the silence they perceive is because they’re unworthy & as a result God has cut off access! Let me break the suspense. Left to ourselves, none of us are ever worthy of Access to God, of hearing from God. Sometimes the issue isn’t whether God is willing to speak, but if we have forgotten how (or chosen not) to listen. There are stories in scripture where God’s silence is terrifying. And moments where God’s nearness is sheer grace. Today we see how God refuses to guide one man but gives explicit direction to another. What’s going on? Have you ever wondered how to interpret God’s silence?... Or for that matter wondered why God answers others but not you? This story sits in that tension. One king can no longer hear from God, another is hunted, betrayed, yet still somehow guided step by step by God’s word. It’s a story about access to God. Who has it? Who doesn’t? The questions are crucial! Because of Jesus, here is the reality. God is NEVER silent with His people. We ALWAYS have access to God. That’s why today’s story in our series on the Life of David is critical for many of you here who think God has gone silent in your life.

Have you ever experienced times in your life where you felt like God was silent? Hard to hear? Difficult to access? I hear people say they need clarity, direction, guidance for God’s will, as if the issue is whether God is willing to speak. I’ve seen people assume the silence they perceive is because they’re unworthy & as a result God has cut off access! Let me break the suspense. Left to ourselves, none of us are ever worthy of Access to God, of hearing from God. Sometimes the issue isn’t whether God is willing to speak, but if we have forgotten how (or chosen not) to listen. There are stories in scripture where God’s silence is terrifying. And moments where God’s nearness is sheer grace. Today we see how God refuses to guide one man but gives explicit direction to another. What’s going on? Have you ever wondered how to interpret God’s silence?... Or for that matter wondered why God answers others but not you? This story sits in that tension. One king can no longer hear from God, another is hunted, betrayed, yet still somehow guided step by step by God’s word. It’s a story about access to God. Who has it? Who doesn’t? The questions are crucial! Because of Jesus, here is the reality. God is NEVER silent with His people. We ALWAYS have access to God. That’s why today’s story in our series on the Life of David is critical for many of you here who think God has gone silent in your life.

There are parts of the Bible we love to frame & hang on the wall, make cute memes to post on SM. Then the parts we’re not quite sure what to do with. Stories that don’t feel encouraging, that even make us uncomfortable with God and His Word. Today is one of those. At some point in our lives, we will be forced to answer the question: Lord, why? Why did this tragedy happen? It seems so senseless, so out of step with what I expect from You. It’s not a place we want to visit, but many of us will. It’s a tragic place called “Nob”. It’s a place of brutality, injustice, and loss, that forces us to ask whether God is still sovereign when evil seems to win. But it also shows us something else. That even in places where judgment is real, even where evil is unleashed, God is still present, preserving what belongs to Him. If you’ve ever wondered how God’s judgement and mercy can occupy the same space, this sermon is for you.

There are parts of the Bible we love to frame & hang on the wall, make cute memes to post on SM. Then the parts we’re not quite sure what to do with. Stories that don’t feel encouraging, that even make us uncomfortable with God and His Word. Today is one of those. At some point in our lives, we will be forced to answer the question: Lord, why? Why did this tragedy happen? It seems so senseless, so out of step with what I expect from You. It’s not a place we want to visit, but many of us will. It’s a tragic place called “Nob”. It’s a place of brutality, injustice, and loss, that forces us to ask whether God is still sovereign when evil seems to win. But it also shows us something else. That even in places where judgment is real, even where evil is unleashed, God is still present, preserving what belongs to Him. If you’ve ever wondered how God’s judgement and mercy can occupy the same space, this sermon is for you.

There’s a movement within the church today, especially in America, that assumes God builds His Kingdom the way the world builds theirs: through power, polish, strategy, influence, and impressive people. It’s the instinct that says the church must be culturally respected, politically connected, socially adored, and publicly successful if we’re going to make any real difference. And if we’re being honest, part of us wants that. Because it feels safer. It feels legitimate. It feels like winning. I call this the “Popularity Gospel”. Make Jesus popular enough, and we will change the world. But Scripture keeps confronting us with a different pattern. God builds in places we would never think to look, and He starts with people we would never think to choose. When God forms a kingdom, He doesn’t go to the palace first, He almost always goes to the wilderness. He gathers the weary, not the strong. He picks caves over cathedrals, fishermen over Pharisees, tax collectors over senators, shepherd boys over kings. And today’s passage is one of the clearest windows into that pattern. David’s kingdom doesn’t begin with splendor and coronation, power or influence. It begins in fear, rejection, vulnerability, and a cave full of misfits. It’s a moment that forces us to ask a provocative question before we read the text: What kind of people does God gather to build His Kingdom with? And Where does He build it?

There’s a movement within the church today, especially in America, that assumes God builds His Kingdom the way the world builds theirs: through power, polish, strategy, influence, and impressive people. It’s the instinct that says the church must be culturally respected, politically connected, socially adored, and publicly successful if we’re going to make any real difference. And if we’re being honest, part of us wants that. Because it feels safer. It feels legitimate. It feels like winning. I call this the “Popularity Gospel”. Make Jesus popular enough, and we will change the world. But Scripture keeps confronting us with a different pattern. God builds in places we would never think to look, and He starts with people we would never think to choose. When God forms a kingdom, He doesn’t go to the palace first, He almost always goes to the wilderness. He gathers the weary, not the strong. He picks caves over cathedrals, fishermen over Pharisees, tax collectors over senators, shepherd boys over kings. And today’s passage is one of the clearest windows into that pattern. David’s kingdom doesn’t begin with splendor and coronation, power or influence. It begins in fear, rejection, vulnerability, and a cave full of misfits. It’s a moment that forces us to ask a provocative question before we read the text: What kind of people does God gather to build His Kingdom with? And Where does He build it?

There’s a movement within the church today, especially in America, that assumes God builds His Kingdom the way the world builds theirs: through power, polish, strategy, influence, and impressive people. It’s the instinct that says the church must be culturally respected, politically connected, socially adored, and publicly successful if we’re going to make any real difference. And if we’re being honest, part of us wants that. Because it feels safer. It feels legitimate. It feels like winning. I call this the “Popularity Gospel”. Make Jesus popular enough, and we will change the world. But Scripture keeps confronting us with a different pattern. God builds in places we would never think to look, and He starts with people we would never think to choose. When God forms a kingdom, He doesn’t go to the palace first, He almost always goes to the wilderness. He gathers the weary, not the strong. He picks caves over cathedrals, fishermen over Pharisees, tax collectors over senators, shepherd boys over kings. And today’s passage is one of the clearest windows into that pattern. David’s kingdom doesn’t begin with splendor and coronation, power or influence. It begins in fear, rejection, vulnerability, and a cave full of misfits. It’s a moment that forces us to ask a provocative question before we read the text: What kind of people does God gather to build His Kingdom with? And Where does He build it?

Have you ever noticed how instinctively we assume being in the presence of God requires being put together first? Most of us feel it. Before we pray. Before we repent. Before we worship. Before we come to this Table of the Lord. We think we need to be ready, emotionally calm. We need to be strong. We need to be moral. We need to be worthy. But what makes a person worthy of God’s presence? Is it repentance? Sincerity? Performance? “Spiritual momentum”? Does grace require worthiness, or does grace create it? Can the presence of God ever be dangerous for God’s people? In the OT, the presence of God was powerful enough to bless, but holy enough to kill. People mishandled holy things and died for it. Priests trembled. So what happens when an unarmed, hungry, desperate, imperfect man, who lies to a priest and violates ceremonial law, walks right into the presence of God & eats holy bread that he has no right to eat? What does God do with him? Lightning? Correction? Judgment? In 1 Sam 21, David eats bread he shouldn’t & lives. If we’re paying attention, that moment is a preview of something far greater, it’s a preview of the Table set before us this morning. Because at the Lord’s Table, the same question stands: Who gets to feed on the presence of God? David’s story is going to answer that question for us and prepare us to answer it as we come to Jesus’ Table today.

Have you ever noticed how instinctively we assume being in the presence of God requires being put together first? Most of us feel it. Before we pray. Before we repent. Before we worship. Before we come to this Table of the Lord. We think we need to be ready, emotionally calm. We need to be strong. We need to be moral. We need to be worthy. But what makes a person worthy of God’s presence? Is it repentance? Sincerity? Performance? “Spiritual momentum”? Does grace require worthiness, or does grace create it? Can the presence of God ever be dangerous for God’s people? In the OT, the presence of God was powerful enough to bless, but holy enough to kill. People mishandled holy things and died for it. Priests trembled. So what happens when an unarmed, hungry, desperate, imperfect man, who lies to a priest and violates ceremonial law, walks right into the presence of God & eats holy bread that he has no right to eat? What does God do with him? Lightning? Correction? Judgment? In 1 Sam 21, David eats bread he shouldn’t & lives. If we’re paying attention, that moment is a preview of something far greater, it’s a preview of the Table set before us this morning. Because at the Lord’s Table, the same question stands: Who gets to feed on the presence of God? David’s story is going to answer that question for us and prepare us to answer it as we come to Jesus’ Table today.

I think most of us desire to be loyal to our King. The real struggle is our expectations of what that loyalty will produce. I think many of us, especially in the American church assume loyalty to Christ leads to earthly blessings, or that loyal obedience should result in stability, peace, clarity, or at least fewer problems in this life than disobedience would bring. But what happens when being loyal to Jesus doesn’t improve your circumstances, but complicates them? What about when faithfulness costs you a future you thought was promised? Relationships, security, reputation? How do you process obedience when it leads to grief instead of comfort? Here’s what most of us are unprepared for: Scripture never promises that covenant loyalty will protect us from pain. But it will prepare us to walk through it. Failure to understand this causes us to become disillusioned, resentful, and quietly begin to loosen our grip on loyalty. If we don’t comprehend that tension, we’ll start reading our grief as failure, our sorrow as punishment, and our suffering as some kind of evidence that we’ve stepped outside of God’s will. This morning, we’ll face that lie honestly, to see what God is truly doing when loyalty and obedience to Him hurts, and to hear Scripture’s comfort: Grief isn’t the absence of faith and loyalty, but very often, in the life a follower of Christ, the evidence of it.

I think most of us desire to be loyal to our King. The real struggle is our expectations of what that loyalty will produce. I think many of us, especially in the American church assume loyalty to Christ leads to earthly blessings, or that loyal obedience should result in stability, peace, clarity, or at least fewer problems in this life than disobedience would bring. But what happens when being loyal to Jesus doesn’t improve your circumstances, but complicates them? What about when faithfulness costs you a future you thought was promised? Relationships, security, reputation? How do you process obedience when it leads to grief instead of comfort? Here’s what most of us are unprepared for: Scripture never promises that covenant loyalty will protect us from pain. But it will prepare us to walk through it. Failure to understand this causes us to become disillusioned, resentful, and quietly begin to loosen our grip on loyalty. If we don’t comprehend that tension, we’ll start reading our grief as failure, our sorrow as punishment, and our suffering as some kind of evidence that we’ve stepped outside of God’s will. This morning, we’ll face that lie honestly, to see what God is truly doing when loyalty and obedience to Him hurts, and to hear Scripture’s comfort: Grief isn’t the absence of faith and loyalty, but very often, in the life a follower of Christ, the evidence of it.

Do you ever negotiate your loyalty to God? Oh, we would never admit this out loud. But our actions often say something different. Our loyalty to follow Jesus can rise and fall with our circumstances. We trust Him, but when life becomes unmanageable, we start to renegotiate the things we once committed to God. We’ll make Christ our priority, but only while the emotional or financial costs feel reasonable. We’ll surrender, but only after we have a pretty good idea of where God is leading us. And before we realize it, our obedience, our loyalty to God, has become conditional. I mean we would never actually reject God’s will outright. We just want clarity first. Certainty first. Security first. Scripture asks a harder question: Will we trust God before we know what obedience will cost us? That struggle between choosing daily faithfulness & loyalty to God & fear of what it might cause us to miss out on in this life because of it defines the Christian life. If we don’t address that tension, we will always find ourselves stuck in a cycle of delayed obedience, diluted faith, and compromised loyalty. Today, we’ll confront that tension head-on, to define what loyalty to God actually looks like.

Do you ever negotiate your loyalty to God? Oh, we would never admit this out loud. But our actions often say something different. Our loyalty to follow Jesus can rise and fall with our circumstances. We trust Him, but when life becomes unmanageable, we start to renegotiate the things we once committed to God. We’ll make Christ our priority, but only while the emotional or financial costs feel reasonable. We’ll surrender, but only after we have a pretty good idea of where God is leading us. And before we realize it, our obedience, our loyalty to God, has become conditional. I mean we would never actually reject God’s will outright. We just want clarity first. Certainty first. Security first. Scripture asks a harder question: Will we trust God before we know what obedience will cost us? That struggle between choosing daily faithfulness & loyalty to God & fear of what it might cause us to miss out on in this life because of it defines the Christian life. If we don’t address that tension, we will always find ourselves stuck in a cycle of delayed obedience, diluted faith, and compromised loyalty. Today, we’ll confront that tension head-on, to define what loyalty to God actually looks like.

Have you ever noticed how rarely we talk about the Holy Spirit? When it comes to the Spirit of God, most Christians often speak in vague, soft, sentimental terms. We know He’s the Comforter & Helper. We picture Him as a quiet whisper, a warm feeling, a subtle nudge. But is that all He is? Is the Spirit of God simply a gentle presence… or is He someone far more overwhelming? What about how the Holy Spirit interacts with evil in this word, and the wicked? What does the Holy Spirit do when someone opposes God? What about stubborn, rebellious, unrepentant hearts? We don’t often talk about that side of Him. But Scripture does. Repeatedly. The Holy Spirit is not just the Comforter. He is also the Confronter of God’s enemies. He judges. He restrains. He exposes. He overrules. He acts with authority & overwhelming force. Can the same Spirit who produces love, joy, peace, and patience also bring confusion, collapse, exposure, and judgment on those who resist Him? Can He bring comfort to one person but terror to another? We’re about to see a side of the Holy Spirit we cannot afford to ignore.