In your truth, Lord, bring merit thee, And thank offerings I will bring. I will praise your name with gladness, For your name, O Lord, is good. He has saved me, Amen. Let us turn then to the narrative of 1st Samuel, 1st Samuel chapter 23. page 314 in most of the Bibles under the seats. Last week, for those who were with us, we were in the city of Keilah. David comes in to do the work of the king, the work that Saul is not doing, to defeat the Philistines there in that border city. But then David inquires of God, he's told These men of Keilah will betray you if you stay. And so he is on the move again. And just for a little bit of that context, we'll begin our reading in verse 13 and then into verse 14. And we'll be looking especially at verses 14 through the end of the chapter, verse 29. As David moves out of Keilah and into the wilderness of Ziph, which is part of the wilderness of Judah, the land of the tribe of Judah. Let us read then 1 Samuel chapter 23, beginning at verse 13. Then David and his men, who were about 600, arose and departed from Keilah and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, Do not fear for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this. And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh and Jonathan went home. Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah saying, is not David hiding among us in the strongholds of Horesh? on the hill of Hakkila, which is south of Jashimon. Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand. And Saul said, may you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. Go, make yet more sure. know and see the place where his foot is and who has seen him there. For it is told me that he is very cunning. See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the Ereba to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on one side of the mountain and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul as Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. A messenger came to Saul saying, hurry and come for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-Gedi. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament letter of James, we are given some weighty images of the tongue, like the small bit and bridle which can guide a whole horse, so the tongue can guide our whole bodies, James 3 verse 3. Like the small rudder which steers a great ship, so the tongue is a small thing which can boast of great things, James 3, 4 and 5. And like the small fire that can set a whole forest ablaze, so the tongue can set the course of our life ablaze, James 3 verse 6. And then James says this, continuing his wisdom on the tongue in James chapter three, verses eight through 10. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing, My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Well, people of God in our text this morning from the Old Testament narrative, we see tongues which at time are speaking true and trusting praise to God and strengthening one's fellow man in the Lord. And we also see the name of God spoken from the tongue in a blasphemous manner. And through all this the hand of God is vividly evident in God's protection of David from the attempts of Saul. And so this is our theme this morning. Following David through the wilderness of Zip, Our theme is to give much more than any mere lip service to God. We must give much more than any mere lip service to God. And considering the words that we would speak to God and of God and for God, we're going to have these three points. God's will trusted, verses 15 to 18. God's name blasphemed, verse 19 to 24. And then God's protection. Exalted, verses 14 and the end of 24 to the end of 29, the end of the chapter. So first, let's see God's will trusted. God has just allowed David to be among neighbors who would betray him. Remember, that's what he was told that the people of Keilah would do. You stay in Keilah, they will betray you, David, you must go. And so David has gone, he's in the wilderness. Well, this would be a discouraging time, right? I've just taken up my task as the king's anointed. I've just defeated the Philistines, and yet I was surrounded by those who wanted to betray me. But we remember what the Lord says through his apostle in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. God does not tempt anyone beyond their ability. And so just after We don't know how long verse 14 takes, but sometime after this discouraging event in the life of David, what does God do? God sends to him a friend who will strengthen him, who will encourage him, who will risk himself to encourage David. For though the text does not say this, we must know that if word comes back to Saul that Jonathan knows where David is, and is not telling him it will not be well for Jonathan. But Jonathan will risk his own safety to go and encourage his friend in the Lord. And he does encourage him in the Lord. One commentator said that David and Jonathan's love for God is the glue which holds their friendship together. And so Jonathan goes and we find him encouraging David in the Lord. The end of verse 16, Jonathan strengthened David's hand in God. Do you see what the picture is there? It's as though by giving encouragement in the name of the Lord and directing David to the Lord, it's as though Jonathan is taking David's hand and putting David's hand into God's hand. Now, this is This is certainly the last recorded time that Jonathan and David ever see each other. Most likely, this is the last time they ever see each other. What is Jonathan doing? It's like he's saying, there's nothing else that I can do for you right now, but I can put your hand into God's hand. And people of God, this is a picture of godly friendship and godly encouragement. not saying I'm not gonna do what I can, not saying that I'm not gonna seek to be God's hands and feet as much as I can. Jonathan has done that, we've seen that. Jonathan even here is risking his own safety. Jonathan has been more than willing to help David as much as he can. But there comes a time when we say, I can't carry you. Indeed, we can never really be carrying our friends and their burdens through everything. No, we do what we can. We do what God would give us an opportunity to do, but ultimately, what do we do? We take the hands of our friend and we place that hand in God's hand. We direct our friends to God when they are in the wilderness of Ziph, when they're being pursued and going through trial, and at all times. This is godly friendship, this is godly encouragement, this is words directing one another to trust in God and God's name. Jonathan also speaks about the very promises of God. David having been anointed some time ago by God's faithful servant Samuel, David has a direct divine appointment and promise that he will be king through that anointing. And Jonathan reminds David of this. He says, you will be king. It's almost as though he's saying, remember God's promises. You are his anointed. You will be on the throne. Jonathan also speaks of his hope. in the Lord. So when he says, I will be with you, well, now he's not talking about a direct divine promise anymore. He's talking about his hope. And he's reminding David of his willingness to be under David, though he is the king's son. And he's saying, David, I will be under you. I will serve you. Of course, this hope will not be realized. He's speaking a good hope, but we know that the Lord will call Jonathan to the heavenly courts before he can ever sit beside David in David's courts. And so here we have a talk which is not just talk, Jonathan is more than willing to act, but in the end it is a directing of his friend to God, God's words, God's promises, God's hand of peace and mercy. And so, brothers and sisters, let us both speak peace and act for peace. Let us direct our fellow brothers and sisters to God's hand. And this is one way to use the name of God. This is one way to speak with a sincere trust in God's promises and who God is. Let's come to our second point, a much different scene, and the name of God blasphemed. For we move from two friends trusting in God and using his covenant name and trusting in his covenant promises, and we move from there into verse 19, and we have certain Ziphites who approach Saul with an offer. Now, they go all the way to Gibeah to do this. They have to travel some distance. In other words, they're going out of their way to betray David. In Psalm 54, the psalm that we sung, the psalm written at the time when the Ziphites went and told Saul, is not David hiding amongst us? In that psalm, David says, strangers have risen against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do not set God before themselves. And so the Ziphites here are men who do not care for God. They do not care that they may be hurting their fellow man to their own advantage. We know that wickedness will always have allies in this sinful world. And especially that's true when wickedness is tied to a position of power. And that's how the Ziphites speak. Our part shall be to surrender him into the King's hand. End of verse 20. they are going to give David up. Now let's think a little bit about where David is, which helps us to make sense of the narrative. The wilderness of Ziph, like most places mentioned, less frequently. We don't know exactly where it is, but we can make a very good guess. And what it is, is we're talking about the wilderness of Judah, that we know. We're talking about the land at the southern edge of the nation of Israel, which moves into the desert region, which is to the south of Israel, and begins to have some desert-like qualities. It is the drier place of the promised land. It is a place where, with that dryness, it's gonna be more difficult to track a group of men, good place it's a good hiding place it's a place with many caves and cracks and crevices that's another reason why it's a good hiding place but it's not a place with much water and so it's going to be a difficult place physically for David and his men indeed Psalm 63 which was written at the time when David was in the wilderness of Judah, almost certainly this time when he was in the wilderness of Ziph, which is part of the wilderness of Judah. David speaks in Psalm 63 verse one about a time when he was in a dry and parched land where there is no water. Certainly there's not enough water to supply a moving band of 600 men and plus their families who were at least at times with them. as we read on in the narrative. Now, at the end of our text, David goes up to En Gedi in verse 29. Well, En Gedi is the opposite of the wilderness of Zith. We do know where En Gedi is. It's gonna be a place where it's harder to hide, but where there's all kinds of running water. In short, David is in a place now where as long as he's not given up, as long as they can find enough water and supplies, it is going to be very difficult for Saul to track him down. But with help from the locals who know the caves and cracks and crevices, Saul can track him down. And so Saul takes up the Ziphites on their offer. We know that he's consumed with his pursuit of David, as the narrative has made clear, bringing us to this point. And when he hears their offer, he says, may you be blessed by the Lord. Have you ever heard someone with no sincerity, say thanks be to God? Is Saul really glad in the Lord? Does he really give thanks to the Lord in accordance with the Lord's will? Not at all. Saul simply uses the Lord's name when he hears the news that he wants, which might help him advance his own will. All this at a time when deep down, as Jonathan told us back in verse 17, he does know that David is the Lord's anointed. He does know that David is God's king, and certainly he has not forgotten when the faithful prophet Samuel stood and told him, the kingdom will be taken from you. He knows what God has said. We've grown up, many of you, in church, even if you have not. You've heard God's word. You've heard God's law. We know what God says. And we know the words to say to give thanks to the Lord. We know what should come out of our lips. Will we give praise to God with the sincerity, with a real thankfulness that praises God's will and His plan and His ways and His laws, or will it just be lip service? And we'll just say, thanks be to God when things are going the way we think they should be going. When out of the other side of our mouth, we're speaking curses against those who have only acted integrity. And that's exactly what Saul does after saying, thanks be to the Lord. Then what does he start doing? He starts talking about his very cunning foe, who's lurking in places. What is that? That's James, that's the warning of James three. Do not speak blessings in the name of God and at the same time curse those who are made in God's image. And this is a curse. He's speaking defilement against someone who's only acted with integrity, who's just fought for God's people and defeated the Philistines. May it not be so. now with this new information, speaking a false blessing, a blasphemous thanks in the name of God while cursing David's name. Saul has confirmation of his new information. He goes to seek out David, and he almost captures David. By God's providential hand, Saul turns away at the last moment, as we see in verses 27 and 28. Why? Why is Saul turn away? Well, there's a couple of things that we can guess, and there's one thing that we know for sure. One of the things that we can guess is that maybe Saul did not know how trapped David was. Maybe it's only David from his place on the mountain who could tell, I don't have any way of escape down that way. I'm really trapped, Saul has finally got me. It may be that Saul knows that he can't risk the Philistines doing too much damage because we know that he's worried about public opinion. I mean, chapter 15 made that very clear. I know that was some time ago. We've been working through 1 Samuel, but back in chapter 15, remember, he's worried about public opinion. He cares about what the people think, even if he doesn't really care about protecting them whenever he can, as we saw. in the beginning of chapter 23. So these are some reasons why Saul maybe turned around at the last moment. He has to at least protect the people enough to keep up his image. He maybe doesn't know how trapped he has David. Those are guesses we can make. One thing we know for sure, whatever is going on here, whatever is making Saul to turn around, we know for sure that this was God watching over David. And that takes us to our third point, God's protection exalted. And we know that from the narrative, whoever wrote 1 Samuel made sure that we would know this is God's hand of protection. Verse 14, and as David was in the wilderness of Ziph, Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. And we know this from David's words in his Holy Spirit-inspired prayer journal. Please turn with me to Psalm chapter 54, and we'll look also at a verse from Psalm 63. Psalm 54, the psalm we sang before the reading of the word, that psalm written at the time when the Ziphites went to Saul. And let's read just the last few verses of that psalm. Psalm 54 verses 4 to 7. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies. In your faithfulness, put an end to them. With a freewill offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good, for He has delivered me from every trouble. And my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies." David doesn't say, What great luck we just had. David must have not seen that we were trapped and we couldn't get down the other side of that mountain. David does not say anything like that. Thanks be to the Lord, my helper, the upholder of my life. He has delivered me. In his wilderness moments, in his wilderness of Zipf, David is directing all praise to God. All praise to God, not just with his lips. Please turn over to Psalm 63, if you're still in the Psalms. Psalm 63, now, this one is, the entry in the prayer journal is not as specific, it just says, in the wilderness of Judah, but almost certainly that would be this time, when he's in the wilderness of Ziph, the wilderness of Moan, which is all part of the wilderness of Judah. This is no lip service. Hear the words of the psalmist David, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Psalm 63 verses 1 to 3. Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory, because your steadfast love is better than life. My lips will praise you. Remember, he's in a dry place. He's got a large band of men. He's thirsty. Do you hear what David is doing? He's taking his moment of weakness and thirst, and he's not focusing on the fact that he's thirsty. He is using that as an image for his longing from not just his lips but from the depths of his soul with his whole being to speak about his desire and love for the only true God. This is no mere lip service. Now here is a moment when we step back, we know First of all, this is a psalm. It's not just an ordinary prayer. It's a prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit. And we also step back and we remember David is no perfect example of faithfulness. In many ways, he is a great example, part of the cloud of witnesses of the faith in his wilderness times. It's in the palace when he struggles, We'll see in chapter 25 that his sins already grab hold of him in his fugitive days. But he is here an example of faith. But we have enough in the narrative. We know that David and no other saint is perfect. And so who do we look to? Do our children and our youngest know who is the only one who's perfect? Who's the only one who washes away our sins? only Jesus Christ, Jesus our Savior. And we spoke last week, for those who are here, about Jesus in the gardens. Let us now think for a moment about Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus in the wilderness, facing hunger and thirst. Jesus tempted by the devil himself. Jesus perfectly faithful. faithful through the wilderness, through His ministry, into the garden and on to the hill of Golgotha, which is also a type of wilderness. It's a place of death. It's a place of suffering. It's a place of desertion. And on that hill, dying for our sins as we would repent and trust in Him for that payment of sins which He alone has made. Brothers and sisters, how will we praise our one God and Savior? How will we praise our one God and Savior when we have a season of wilderness, our own wilderness of Zipf, a season of hunger, of thirst, spiritual and or physical? What will we say? And will the words that we say be pleasing to God and will they reflect not just sound ways but will the words be that which comes from our heart. May our praise never be mere lip service. May we quickly repent of such things even as we must repent of all sins. I think I've used an echo as an illustration before. I use it a little bit differently now. I am fascinated by an echo. When I was little, if I was standing in a place where I could make an echo, I was going to do it. I'm going to yell echo. I'm going to hear it. It's just fun. And now, I'm not a child anymore, but really, I still do the same thing. If I'm standing in a place where there's a cave where I can make an echo, I'm going to do it. You make the sound waves, and it's not just the sound waves, it comes back at you. While any one of us is capable of making sound waves, that would speak praise to God. And when we're standing in the right place, we can make that echo in a cave. We can all shout hallelujah into the depths of a cave and hear that praise to Yahweh, praise to the Lord echo back to us. But God is not concerned with just the sound waves that come from our mouth. God desires that what comes from our mouth and prays to Him would be an echo of our soul. When we speak praise to God, what is the echo of our soul? Does it agree? with the words that come from our lips? Does it sound the same? Do we say hallelujah and does the echo reverberate from the depths of our being and from our soul and say the same thing? Hallelujah. Praise to God alone. In the wilderness, on the mountaintop, and everywhere in between, You know, there are some who with the weakness of the mind and the body, there are some who can reach a point where they can't make the sound waves anymore. Perhaps you've known a saint whose wilderness, whose trial was a disease, a weakness of the flesh, which leaves one so weak in mind and body that they cannot even make the sound waves anymore. Perhaps you've had the privilege of seeing a saint in such weakness, in such a wilderness, who lights up at one thing. the hearing of God's holy scriptures, and the singing of psalms and hymns in praise to God. And it's as though the body cannot do anything. But upon hearing the word of God and the great promises of God, it's almost like the soul can still give some kind of echo which is seen in some kind of glow that's the only thing left in the body. Have you ever seen something like that? Do we have praise to God which would be of our whole being? That our soul from its depths would echo, yes, God, I love you. I know that you are my only savior. and the only true God through whatever my wilderness of Zipf is.