I'm sure you've often heard the expression, when the cat's away, the mice will play. Well, that's exactly what happened in the story before us this evening, recorded here in 1 Samuel chapter 30. When David and his men were away with the Philistine army—a very sad association, by the way—the Amalekites descended upon their base. at Ziglag. They laid it to waste and they captured all the women folk and they carried away all of the children. presumably for future ransom or for sale into slavery eventually. David and his men were devastated and according to verse 4, they wept until they had no more power or strength to weep. Now due to this particular incident and these happenings, David's men actually turned against him and they began to talk about stoning him to death according to what we read here in verse 6. was not the captain responsible for what happened under his command. After all, they reasoned he brought us into this country and it was him who led us off to join with the Philistine army. Things were pretty tense for a while. David therefore had great cause to be greatly distressed, according to what we read here in verse 6. And because of the difficulties and because of the problems he faced, David encouraged himself in the Lord. And as a result of that, he immediately sought to discover God's will for him at that particular point of time. He wanted to know what he, as an individual, ought to do at this crucial time in his life. After getting clear guidance from the Lord, David and his 600 men started out in hot pursuit of the Amalekites, and of course after their loved ones, after their wives, and after their children. They had not gone very far when they came to the brook Besor, and there they found a young man lying in the field. He was in a bad way. In fact, he was at the point of death. David's encounter with this young man and the details surrounding the story presents us with a wonderful picture of the gospel and as a beautiful type of lost sinners being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here then is a wonderful illustration of the grace of God towards sinners in Christ, the well-beloved, represented in the story by David. So please keep that in mind as we seek to develop the message and as we seek to have a look at this young man brought to attention and the incident that took place at the Brook Beesore. We have already thought about Jacob at the brook Jabbok and there God blessed him. Then we thought about Elijah at Kerith and how God sent him there. And then last week we thought about David at the brook in the valley of Elah and of how God helped him there. And tonight we want to think of this incident before us and about this young man in particular and how he found him there. Let's have a look at the story before us tonight, thinking especially about this young man. In the first place we want to think about the misery that he was suffering. Now the plight of this young man was critical. Notice what he said in verse 13. This is his own testimony. This is what he confessed when David and his men arrived on the scene. He says, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite. So he's speaking about personal hurt and grief in his past. And he said, my master left me because I fell sick. This young Egyptian man is a picture of every unsaved sinner. And I say that for a number of reasons. In the first place, he is described as an Egyptian in verse 11. And in Scripture, Egypt is a symbol of this world to which the unregenerate belong and in which they seek satisfaction but to no avail. He belonged to a race that represented condemned sinners. For the people of Israel, Egypt was a place of bondage to them. And they spent many long, miserable years as bondsmen in that country until the time when they were delivered by faith in the blood of the Lamb that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I do believe that what they suffered in those years of bondage And what this young man was experiencing speaks to us of the misery that is experienced by every unconverted soul. The Word of God tells us that he was found in the field. Does this not suggest that he was lost? And that reminds me of the parables in Luke chapter 15. We have the parable of the lost sheep, of the lost silver, and of the lost son. These three things were lost, but by the end of the chapter we discover how these three lost things were found. And here is a young man. He's linked and associated with the world. He's lying in a bad way in a field. He's lost. He probably doesn't know where he's at, but thank God he was found. And you can be found tonight even as you gather with us here in the house of God. You've tried to find pleasure, you've tried to find contentment, you've tried to find what you're looking for in many things, but tonight you're still in the wilderness, you're still in the place of barrenness. and you are miserable in your soul, because you have not yet received the peace of God, that maketh rich, and out of no sorrow with it. So this young man was found in the field. And in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the field is a type of the world. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 38. Now this field was not some fertile field on a farm. It was a desert place. And being a dry and barren and parched place, there was nothing to eat or to drink. Now there was a brute nearby, but I suppose just like the story of Hagar, she was out in the wilderness, she was in a dry and barren place, there was a well nearby, but she couldn't see it. She couldn't avail herself of what was nearby, she couldn't see it. And this young man, he was sick, he was ill, he was at the point of death. There was a well nearby, but he was perishing with nothing to eat and nothing to drink. Isn't that a very sad state? He's perishing. He will soon be gone. He will soon be in eternity. But yet God had gracious purposes towards this young man and sent David across his path. And as I have said before, David is a wonderful figure and type of the Lord Jesus Christ. So David is in hot pursuit of the enemy. But as he follows the enemy, he encounters this young man by the brook Besor and shows mercy and compassion to him. Isn't this a wonderful picture of the grace of God and the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ? So here we find this young man, he's left to perish in the heat of the eastern sun. And this brings to mind what James says in the first chapter of his book in verse 15. He says, Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Sin is barren of good things. It puts us into a wilderness where the soul is starved of spiritual food and parts from lack of the water of life. He lost all hope of survival. As he lay there he felt no one cared. And no one cares for us like Jesus. There was no one nearby to show sympathy or compassion or to help him in his time of need until along came David and we were perishing in our sin. No one cared for our souls until we heard the good news of a wonderful Savior come from heaven's glory to make an atonement for our sins. Love so amazing, love so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all. Will you give your life to Christ tonight? Will you trust in Him for salvation? So here he is, he's friendless, he's forsaken, he's a foreigner, and he's famishing in a strange land. Such is the state of every descendant of Adam's fallen race. What a miserable, what a pathetic situation to be found in. And in addition to this, He called himself a young man in verse 13. How sad this is. He reminds us of another young man that we read of in Luke chapter 15, who on one occasion said, I perish. There's nobody young man here tonight, and unless you repent, you'll perish. You need Christ, and you need him urgently. There may be an older person here tonight, and if you die tonight, you'll perish. It gives me no pleasure to say that to you. But I say that in friendship to you and love for your soul. I'm not here to condemn you. I'm here to love you for Christ's sake. To show you a better way. To show you that Christ does really care for sinners. And though he was a young man, he was already involved in evil, such as in what the Amalekites were doing, for he was part of the atrocity upon Zaglag. Sin begins early in life. You don't have to be old to be found in the depths of sin. David said on one occasion, Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. I'm born a sinner. I can't help that. I'm born that way. I'm born estranged from God and from His grace. My face is heading in the direction of a lost eternity. and left to my own devices and my own ways. I will go to that place. I will come to the end of the journey and end up in a place of eternal separation from God unless grace intervenes." And then he acknowledged that he was an Egyptian serving an Amalekite. And that word servant simply means bondsman. And like the sinner, this young man was in bondage. Sin really does enslave. It does not free people. Freedom only comes through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said to you when I preached the series on my prodigal son in Luke 15, the young man wanted to be free. He wanted to be free from the restraints of the home and the restraints that his father imposed upon him, being the head of the home. He wanted to be free. He wanted this freedom. So when he did get this freedom, what did he do? He blew his inheritance. He lost everything that he had and he was brought down to that place of perishing. So he really did exchange the freedom that he had and the pleasure that he had in the home for what? He ended up eating the food that they threw to the swine. He's enjoying himself down there. He's in a mess. And it was when he thought about what the servants of his father had back home, when he thought of his father's house, he thought of a place of mercy and forgiveness. And then he set his thoughts towards home. So here is this young man. He's in bondage. He's miserable. He's been abandoned by his master. and left alone to die. Can you imagine how that must have felt? Just lying there all alone, far from home, he's dying. What thoughts were going through his mind? And this is exactly how Satan treats his servants. He uses them as long as he can and then he leaves them to their folly. Remember Judas? Judas started off well. We have great hopes for Judas. But then, as the time drew nigh for Christ to go to the cross, Satan entered into his heart and he went to the chief priest and the scribe and he said, What will you give me? And I will betray him thirty pieces of silver. That's the value he placed in his soul, 30 lousy, miserable pieces of silver. Did it bring him happiness? Did it bring him joy? After the deed was done, he was miserable. And in his misery, he went into the presence of the people who gave him the money. And he pleaded with them to take it back from him, because it was tormenting him. And they said, no, you have made the deal. We can't go back on this. And he went out and he hanged himself. He died and went to hell. The devil used him. And when he had no further use for him, he just left him. He abandoned him. And this young man says in verse 13, I fell sick. And it is always that a sickness made him too weak to go on. Sin makes people weak. When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. The situation of every unconverted soul. That is the condition of everyone out of Christ. And they need salvation. They need something that the church can give. And they need something that good works can bring. They need something that only Christ can give. A full pardon. A free salvation. Peace within. Pardon from God. The guarantee of eternal glory. And the promise of a home in heaven. Then, when he discovered the identity of the man who stood over him, his terror increased. He had helped burn David's town. He had helped assist in the carrying away of his family into bondage. He deserved to die. And had David decided to execute him then and there, there would be no court of appeal against his sentence. So, the Egyptian, like every other soul, stood condemned before God's anointed David, the type of Christ, God's anointed one. Sin makes us guilty. It makes us condemned in the sight of God. Now, let me bring it all together, what we know about this individual. He was a young man of the world, left by his master to perish in the field. He was unloved, he was hopeless, he was helpless, he urgently needed two things. He needed bread and he needed water. And this reminds us, surely does it not, of the sinner's great need. The need Christ, who is the bread of life. And the need Christ, who is the water of life. So we thought about the misery that he suffered. But then we must move on to think in the second place about the mercy that he was shown. Did the Egyptian die in the field? No. Was he slain by David and by David's men? No. That could have happened. had he not been saved by David. Notice what is recorded in verse 11b. Notice what it says there. It says they found him in the field, then it says they brought him to David, and then they gave him bread. So David's servants found this man, and the lesson is sinners do not find the Savior. But rather the Savior finds the sinner. But let me hasten to add, the Savior works through his servants to seek out lost sinners for salvation. That's where you and I come in as the people of God. We have got a responsibility to go out there to find sinners, to bring them to Jesus, and to give to them the bread of life. It says, they found him, plural. And this reminds me of the story in Mark chapter 2, where we read, they come unto him that is unto Jesus, bringing one sick of the palsy. He was born of four. These four individuals proved to be friends to this helpless, pathetic man. And they were united in the effort to get their friend to Jesus. I wonder, will we as the people of God unite together in this congregation to bring them to Jesus? you If you care for men, if you love your family and friends and your neighbors, then by the grace of God and with the help of God, you will bring them to Jesus. Now, you can do that in a number of ways. You can bring them to Jesus in prayer. You can bring them along to the house of God to hear the gospel preached. Or you can bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ by personal evangelism, pointing them to Him who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. It's interesting to notice that the sheep in Luke chapter 15 was found by the shepherd, singular. You can check out the New Testament and you can list the number of personal interviews Jesus had with individuals in the New Testament. Yes, Jesus sent out his disciples to evangelize. He gave them the power and the enabling to do so. But Jesus found men individually himself. He found Nicodemus at night. He brought to him a message. He must be born again. He found a woman at Sychar's well by himself. He was there on an evangelistic mission. And he spoke to her about the water in the well. And Christ is the well. And the water in the well is salvation found in Him. So Jesus presented to her that message of hope and salvation. What a wonderful, compassionate Savior we have. He witnessed to individuos. He brought them into union with Himself through faith. It says they found him in the field. Remember what was written of Joseph when he was sent by his father to take provisions to his brethren in Genesis 37 and verse 15. The Word of God tells us a certain man found him and behold he was wandering in the field. How many people out there tonight are wandering in the world, lost aimlessly, going through life? And the Word of God tells us that a man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? There was a man there. Now, you put this into the context of the United States. If you were wandering in a field or wandering aimlessly or lost somewhere and you asked someone the directions, you'd probably get mugged. They'd probably hit you over the head and rob you of your wallet. But this man met Joseph in the field, and he realized that Joseph was lost, and he asked him, What seekest thou? And Joseph told him what he was seeking for. The man gave Joseph good directions, because he told Joseph where to find who he was looking for. He pointed Joseph in a certain direction. And as a gospel preacher tonight, I stand in this pulpit. And I know that you're wandering. I know that you're lost. I know you are lost in sin. I am not condemning you. I am giving you some good directions. I am pointing you to Christ, the way, the truth and the life. I am pointing you to one who can save you by his grace, one who can change your life, one who can set you free, one who can make all things new. I am pointing you to Christ. Will you be like Joseph? Will you take this good advice? Will you go to the one I am sending you to? Joseph did and he found the people he was looking for. And you will find pleasure and peace and joy and forgiveness and eternal rest in Christ. And in Christ alone, you miss Christ, you miss these other things as well. You need Him more than anything else in this whole world. If your family wants to perish, that's their business. If your friends want to go on to a lost eternity, that's up to them. But you will appear before Almighty God. You will stand to give an account of your life, of your sin, before one who is infinitely holy. And on that day of judgment, you'll not have a light to stand on. And the Lord of all glory, the Judge of all the earth, will turn to you, and He will say to you, Depart from me, ye curses! I never knew you. And the Bible says, They shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And the soul will be cast into the pit of everlasting perdition, to be lost in hell forevermore. But there is mercy with God. Hallelujah! There's pardon for sinners at the foot of the cross. There's cleansing for sin and for sinners in the blood of the Lamb. Praise His name. There's power in Jesus' blood to save the vilest offender who comes to Christ in repentance because there's mercy with God and He's full of compassion and He's rich in mercy. And He's knocking upon your heart's door tonight. And He's saying, Friend, open, open, and I will come in. So here's a man in the field. He sees Joseph of Angra. He points him in the right direction. And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest or into the field. And then it says, they brought him to David. Isn't this a beautiful picture of bringing men to Christ? This is a picture of the grace of God in Christ. The sheep in Luke 15 was sought, the man in Mark chapter 2 was brought, and the woman in John chapter 4 was taught. Sinners need to be sought, they need to be brought, and they need to be taught. Probably he was too weak to come of himself. He had not eaten for three days and three nights. He was weak in body. And even if he did have the ability, he never would have come, for David was a stranger with a sword in his hand. That was the thought he had in his mind. No man can come to me, Jesus said, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. But each believing soul is brought to Christ by the Holy Spirit. And what a sight it was when David's men brought this pathetic young man into the presence of David. He deserved death, but his very ruin and wretchedness drew out David's compassion. So it is with Christ. I was sinking deep in sin, sinking to rise no more. Then the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, and Christ my Saviour lifted me. Now safe am I. The Lord Jesus never refused to receive those drawn to him by the Holy Spirit. None who come to him will ever be cast away. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now what kind of treatment did this man receive? This man who had burned their city? This man who had helped to carry away their wives and their children? Did they abuse him? Did they beat him up? The Word of God tells me that they gave him bread and they made him drink water. And that reminds me of the welcome the prodigal son received when he came again to his father's house. Rich fare was sent before him. The very best, a fatted calf. So this young man was the recipient of things freely provided and bestowed by David. And you will notice that everything was done for him. The bread and the water were brought to him. All he had to do was to eat and to drink. In other words, he had to appropriate what had been provided for him. And in so doing, he was saved. There's another thought before moving on here. After bringing the man to David, he was fed. And I think there's a word for us as the people of God here to learn from this story. So it is intended to be with the gospel. After bringing sinners to Jesus, we are to feed them with the gospel. They are to be saved through the gospel. And let me say something now. You don't need to understand all the intricate details about the Bible to be saved. You don't need to understand the great doctrines of the book. All the great teachings of Paul in Ephesians and Romans and everything else. All you need to know is that you're a sinner, that Christ died for sinners. And that if you come to Him tonight by faith, He will in no way cast out, that He will save you. But after you get right with God, after you become a Christian, then you begin to understand these things. Then you will have an appetite to study these things for yourself. And it is the responsibility of the church to feed the young convert, to feed him on the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ performed a miracle. in calling Lazarus from the dead. That was his work. And then he gave a work to those who assembled on that occasion. He said, listen and let him go. The Lord saves the sinner and then he hands that believing sinner into the hands and care of the church and says unto the church, listen, let him go, feed him, nourish him, take care of him, build him up, teach him the gospel. So don't wait until you know all of these things because you'll never understand them. The natural mind cannot comprehend the great depths and details of the Holy Scriptures. God has given you the capability to understand the simple message that a child in the medium tonight can understand. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And we can understand every word there. He makes it so simple. Don't miss it. Taste and see that God is good. Then David was standing there and no doubt there was fear in his heart. And David asked him a few questions. Who are you? Where have you come from? And the young man gave a very straight answer. He made a confession. He says, I am a young man of Egypt and we burned Ziglag. He campaigned with David. He admitted who he was and what he had done. He candidly acknowledged those things. And John tells us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And as he looked into the eyes of the one who had arrived on the scene, he could see in his eyes, in spite of the enormity of his sin, he could still see a chance to escape execution. And as he looked at the man who had allowed the life-giving water to trickle down his parched throat, his kindly smile reassured him, I am going to show mercy to you. David was willing to show mercy. A mother approached Napoleon many, many years ago, and she sought a pardon for her son. And the emperor replied that the young man had committed certain offenses more than once, and that justice demanded death. But the mother said, I don't ask for justice. I plead for mercy. I plead for mercy. And Napoleon said, But your son doesn't deserve mercy. And the woman said, Sir, it would not be mercy if he deserved it. Have mercy is all I ask for. Well, then the emperor said, I will have mercy. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me at the cross, at Calvary. That's where you receive mercy. That's where you receive the grace of God. That's where you receive the gift of God. Come to the cross. Come as a sinner to Jesus. Bow and bend at Calvary's cross. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And leave the house of God tonight. transformed by matchless grace, a recipient of the mercy of God, and go forth from this house to live for Christ until he calls you into his divine presence. The misery that he was suffering, the mercy that was shown him, and then finally, the man that he was serving. Well, as the story begins, he was serving an Amalekite. He was a bond slave. But as we come to the end of the story, he has changed sides. He's no longer serving the Amalekite. He's serving David. After salvation comes service. And this is something we need to keep ever before us. Now, let me illustrate this. David had the promise of God that he would recover all. God made this promise to him in verse 8. God says, follow after the Amalekites, pursue them, and you will recover all. But how was it to be accomplished? Where were those invading Amalekites? Who will guide me to their camp? This poor, unfortunate youth, the drop-out of the rags of the Amalekites, who was left by his heartless master to die, to perish by the roadside, this very one was the one appointed by God to assist him. And does that not prove what the Bible teaches us in 1 Corinthians 1, that God takes the weak things, the despised things, the things that in the eyes of the world are unproductive, useless things, insignificant things, and God takes these kind of people, lifts them out of the downhill of sin and uses them for the glory of his name. Our great David, the Lord Jesus Christ, picks up the world's dying and the world's dying castaways to nourish them into life and to use them in His service. Isn't this the grace of God? Isn't this a beautiful story? Isn't our Saviour a wonderful Saviour? This is what He can do. And David said to the young man, Canst thou bring me down to this company? Mercy must be equaled by responsibility, and David requires this service. And he renounced his old master, and he sought rest in the service of another. We are saved by grace to serve Almighty God. But the young man wanted to have the assurance from David himself. that he would not kill him, he didn't want to die, he wanted to live. And he wanted the assurance that David would not send him back to his former master. So he didn't want to die, and he didn't want to go back to the old life. He knew that he had received a pardon that he did not deserve. David therefore made that promise. And David said to this young man, You come and you serve me, and I will use you and I will reward you suitably. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God. This is your reasonable service. It's the least you can do." He therefore determined to prove to his new master how grateful he was. And he would devote his talents, the talents that he had, to the cause of David, and he would help to rescue the unfortunate people, those children and those women who had been taken into bondage, the cruel bondage that he had experienced himself. So he joined the ranks of David and his followers, and he committed himself to his cause. And then the Word of God tells us in verse 16, when he had brought David down, he did his job well. He finished his task, and the Word of God tells us that he was faithful. And then it says, when he did lead them into that camp, the Amalekites were spread abroad on the earth, eating and drinking and dancing. They were in no condition to fight. And because they were in no condition to fight, they therefore suffered a great loss. They were not ready for this act of judgment. Are you? Are you ready for the judgment day? They were not ready. And because they were not ready, they suffered a great loss. And the sinner that is not ready when they are called out into God's eternity will suffer a great loss, an eternal loss, the loss of their soul to God's eternity. So these Amalekites were having what people of this degenerate age would call a good time. They were having a good time, they were eating and drinking and dancing. But Mark the sequel, David smoked them from the twilight even until the evening of the next day. They were having a good time when suddenly judgment came and they were cut off. And that's the way the Lord Jesus Christ will find this world, eating and drinking, making merry, having a real good time. When the last trump shall be heard, and the voice of the archangels shall be heard, the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds. And the Word of God tells us that he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. And just as suddenly as David entered the camp of the Amalekites and smoked them and cut them off, in the twinkling of an eye, the Lord Jesus Christ will appear. He will reappear for his own. To reward them, he will reappear to judge the ungodly. And notice, in closing, what this young man was saved from. He was saved from a life of eating and drinking and dancing. Once he belonged to their company, and had he not been spared and rescued and saved by David, he would have shared in their fate. But he was saved from judgment when David smoked them, but saved him. Do you not see in this story a gospel picture? Do you not see the gospel here? And the Word of God tells me that David recovered all. And the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to recover all those for whom he died, and not one of them will be left behind. And according to what we read here, the way the story ends, that this young man shared in David's triumph. He probably stood by and watched the emancipated slaves rejoice with their loved ones when they were reunited again. And he probably had a deep sense of joy and commitment and contentment in his heart. And he rejoiced in the part that he had played in this rescue mission. He had faithfully served the man who had graciously saved him. He completed the task that the man gave him to do, and he shared in David's spoils. And every redeemed soul saved by the grace of God will share in the spoils of Christ, will share in his blessings and in his kingdom for all of God's great eternity. So the story is an interesting story. It's full of gospel significance. Think about the misery that he was suffering. Think about the mercy that he was shown. And think about the man he was serving. He has changed sides. He has been liberated. He has been set free. And he has been assisting David in this great labor of love, of rescuing the perishing, of caring for the dying, of liberating them from bondage in many ways the people of God share. In this great mission of love, of going out into the field of this world and pointing them in the right direction, telling them of Jesus the mighty to save. What a message! What grace? This is the grace of God in Christ. And the grace of God that was shown to this young man by David is the grace of God that is shown to every lost sinner who comes. Because God is rich in mercy. He's full of compassion. And He's willing to save you tonight. Praise God in His power to save. And may the Lord do that tonight for His name's sake. Amen.