1. After God’s own heart series Pt 9 Out of Options …Directionless and Hungry

2. 1 Samuel 21:1-9 David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.” 4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the L ORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

3. 7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the L ORD ; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd. 8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.” 9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

4. A. Seeking Direction

5. 1) David in fear and desperation initially relies on deceit and manipulation to get direction from the priest

6. 2) David sought direction from him as he had in the past

7. 1 Samuel 22:9-10 9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelek inquired of the L ORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

8. 3) Apparently God directs David to go to Gath

9. 1 Samuel 21:10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

10. 4) David obeys and goes to King Achish feigning madness

11. 1 Samuel 21:13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

12. When dealing with uncertainty we tend to vacillate between two extremes: CONTROL AVOIDANCE IN BETWEEN LIES MADNESS Let go of both the illusion of control, and the fear that produces avoidance and you will find peace.

13. Psalm 34:1-6 1 I will extol the L ORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 I will glory in the L ORD ; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the L ORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the L ORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the L ORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.

14. Praise necessitates ACCEPTANCE ACCEPTANCE is the key to sanity in a world you can neither control nor predict with any certainty

15. Psalm 62:1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

16. You can release control to God because he is trustworthy

17. Psalm 62:11-12 11 One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, 12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.”

18. God is all powerful …and ……God is all loving

19. B. The Bread of Presence

20. Presence…Hebrew…Paneh…….means: Face, appearance, in front of, in the presence of

21. Luke 6:1-5 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

22. John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

23. John 6:47-56 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

24. C. The Sword of Goliath

25. When scared, directionless, lost, and alone..……Remember who you are in Christ Jesus.

26. 1 Samuel 21:8-9 8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.” 9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

27. D. Out of Options?

28. 1. Seek direction……Let go the illusion of control and avoidance….Trust the all powerful…all loving God

29. 2. Feast on the very presence of Jesus…… The Bread of Life

30. 3. Remember whose you are….. who you are in Christ Jesus