Hiding in Caves
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Scriptures: I Sam 18 and 24, II Sam 1
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Summary: In the third sermon of our Becoming King series we discover just how fraught the journey of becoming king can be as Scott takes us through several character-shaping moments between David and Saul.
Timelapses: When we look at David’s path to the throne, we can find a relatable pattern - no one’s life is straightforward. David knows that he is anointed to be the king of Israel, yet he has to go through starts and stops, living in the tension of fame and honour but also Saul’s intensifying suspicions and attempts to get rid of him. Scott mentioned that 20 years ago he could not have imagined what his life would look like today. We build character through the beauty and the losses and the wisdom and experience of grace we find along the way.
A Plot Hole: When David has a chance to actually take matters into his hands - Saul being in the same cave as David, without his bodyguards - David refuses to harm him. His militia bros encourage him to take Saul’s life and end the cycles of persecution, by saying that it is God who has given Saul into David’s hands in this vulnerable moment. Yet, this is a plot hole - nowhere in the scriptures leading to this moment do we see God say such things to David. Scott makes an observation that often our actions might come as a result of who we have around us to fill the “plot holes” in our stories. Who are the voices that we listen to, who shape the narratives we trust, and who might inform our imagination with assumptions, rage, or fear.
A Little Proverb: The wisdom of David’s little proverb is meted out over David’s entire life, as it is over ours. Just as with David, it’s our lived out actions that tell the true story of who we are and who we are becoming. Scott pointed out that after David said that to Saul, Saul’s heart was touched and he could see a certain regret in him over what kind of relationship has been lost over all the years that he pursued David. David, in his turn, is a very complex character in the scriptures, who will definitely lean into the darker sides of humanity, and yet, the character building work is always on offer for him and for us.
Lament as Learning: David mourns the loss of his most persistent adversary, Saul. And in his lament, David models for us that we can face grief and practice lament - how sitting with our grief, with our regret, with the time-lapses of our lives which we forgot to honour, how all of that can be part of our learning and healing, and becoming.
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Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: Speaking of timelpases and winding pathways to where you are today, could you name one moment in your life that acted as a reset button or something that has set you on a new and unexpected trajectory, or helped you reframe something.?
You don’t need to go into your story in depth, just name one thing that comes to mind when you think about those life turns you’ve been through.
Share: about your experience of other voices filling out “plot holes” for you.
How often are those voices correct?
And how often do you listen with a grain of salt?
Or how do you navigate the situations where those around you say something that seems right but goes against your gut instinct or values?Use this quote to guide your reflection.
When talking about the drama between David and Saul, Scott says:
“How much of the tension here is built up and shaped by the people they’re listening to?
I think there’s a subtle observation made here about the forces that so often turn us against each other. Like, how many times is the insecurity and tension in our current relationships informed by the cruel thing a teacher, a parent, a friend said to us…years ago?
How many times do we make assumptions of others in our work, or in our family dynamics — and pull away them — simply because those around us make assertions, hold grudges, tell one-sided stories?
How many times, if we’re honest, does our anxiety…our low level rage…our barely-concealed fear of the future bleed out into the way we treat others — all it fuelled by feeds and pundits and prognosticators that are in our ear?
These are the questions an ancient tale can inspire as it reminds us to be careful who we let fill in the plot holes and shape the narratives we trust.”
Reflect: Reflect: on the idea of lament as learning.
What is your relationship with lament?
Would you agree that it is a form of learning?What do you find is helpful for you personally in these different ways Scott sees David model lament:
“[David’s] lament isn’t just here because it helps hold the story together. I think it models something deeply true about human experience. See, it’s in the forming of these words…in processing memory and loss…in sitting with and through waves of emotion that David begins to find a way forward. His approach — facing grief and practicing lament — is both poignant for the narrative…but it’s also clinically and therapeutically sound.
There’s a model here for anyone who’s ever had to honour a complicated past — like David had to with Saul. How some relationships loom so large for us — how their fault lines stay with us — how their shadow can stretch long and deep across years. How sometimes we have to seek help because grief is a long and winding process.
There’s a model here for you if you’ve ever had to lament lost time. Ever ached over a missed opportunity. Or over a situation you couldn’t control. If you’ve ever had to reconcile yourself to the “if onlys”. If you’ve ever worked to forgive yourself.
There’s a model here for any of us who might be living through this moment with so much anxiety about the future. It can feel like so much has unraveled. We want so desperately for things to be different. We might find it hard to hold to faith. We might not know what else to do. And there can be a tendency to lash out in these moments. To cast blame. To grow rigid with anger and despair — When what we might need to do is first admit that we’re sad.
You might want to pen a lament yourself this week.”
Engage: with the idea of the importance that beliefs and actions play in our lives. David confronted Saul with the following proverb, “From evil doers come evil deeds.” Consider Scott’s words on this passage:
“Character is always, always the summation of our actions in the world. Not our tightly held beliefs. Not our eloquent, well-intentioned words.
The wisdom of this proverb is meted out over David’s entire life as it is for ours. And we should take some consolation that character is cumulative; that like David, we can never be reduced to our worst decision…our harshest word…our most regrettable episode.
We can, today and tomorrow…begin the spirit-inspired work of building character.”
Do you agree with this quote? What thoughts do you have on this quote?
How might this passage's emphasis on actions over intentions apply to our modern context, where image and public perception often play a large role?
Takeaway: What is your takeaway from the message or today’s conversation?
Benediction based on the sermon
Lament is a form of learning. So in times of lament, may we see it as a kind of grieving that will lead us into new forms of becoming. The kind of grief that honours all the time-lapses of our life, the kind of grief that grounds us, reminding us of God’s quiet and persistent presence in those who’ve been there to support and comfort. The kind of grief that bears witness to who we’ve been, and opens us to the new chapters and beginnings ahead.Amen.
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CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 51
MUSIC Curated by Kevin Borst
Mission House - I Don't Have Much
John Mark McMillian - Ancient Love
Brooke Ligertwood - Holy Song
Mission House - Great Are You LordTHE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those
who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.SERIES BUMPER
Becoming King
