Heart Trouble

1 Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” 

When it became all too apparent that Saul was sooner or later going to kill him if he remained within reach, David chose to flee into the land of the Philistines and joined with the Philistine leader Achish. David’s decision was based on what he said in his heart.

“And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”

 

The sad story of 1 Samuel 27 begins with something David said in his heart. He may have never said it out loud or to anyone else. In fact he may have never said it to God, but David said it to himself in his heart. What we say in our heart has a tremendous power to shape our thinking, our actions, even our whole destiny.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

 

If someone says in their heart, “God doesn’t care about me,” it will make a difference in their life. If someone says in their heart, “I deserve better than this,” it will make a difference in their life. If someone says in their heart, “I come before others,” it will make a difference in their life. By the same principle, if someone says in their heart, “God loves me and I don’t have to earn His love,” it will make a difference. If they say in their heart, “I am grateful for every blessing I have,” it will make a difference. If someone says, “Others come first,” it will make difference in their life. What we say in our heart has great power for good or evil, for blessing or cursing.

David suffered a spiritual heart attack. He allowed discouragement and despair to enter his heart and completely block out the spirit and power of God. Those two emotions turned his faith from God to himself and the beginning of a very critical time in David’s life.

 

What did David say in his heart that caused him to suffer this heart attack? 

(1) “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul.” 

That was a word of discouragement, coming from a heart that was tired of trusting God for His continued deliverance. God had protected David so many times before, so why wouldn’t He continue to protect him from the hand of Saul? However, in his discouragement, David forgets God’s past deliverance and begins to plot his own course.

 

(2) “There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines.”

David is actually telling himself to leave the land of Israel and go live among the idol worshipping Philistines. In this, David tells himself to do what he feared in 1 Samuel 26:19: “For they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.” 

This temptation, these words in David’s heart, had been working their way in for quite a while. Now, David considers something he would have never considered before which was leaving the land of God’s people, the land of promise, and to go and live among the Philistines.

 

(3) “Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”

Beforehand David trusted in the Lord to protect him from the hand of Saul. Now, David gives up trusting in the Lord, listens to his heart, and decides to leave the land of promise, the people of God, and find “protection” among the Philistines, who were his enemies.

 

David’s decision did not affect Saul. Is Saul going to despair because David leaves the land of promise? Will Saul despair if David forsakes the people of God and joins the ungodly? No, Saul will rejoice because he has forced him out of the country! It is David who is in despair and that despair will lead him down a path only desperate people take.

 

David is at a place that many find themselves at some point in their lives. He says, “I give up. I can’t take this anymore. I am tired of fighting this battle over and over. The stress of trusting God is too much, and I have to find protection somewhere else.” 

 

Saul could never drive David to the Philistines. In fact, if Saul were to tell David, “You must leave the people of God and go live among the Philistines,” David would never ever bow to it. But discouragement and despair are more powerful enemies than even Saul was. Discouragement and despair will drive David to do something that Saul could never make him do.

 

All of these are reasons to deal with what we say in our hearts, to deal with discouragement and despair instead of simply ignoring them. When we don’t try to deal with them, they can build up a wedge between us and God and drive us to far worse places than we ever thought possible.

 

It was at this point, that David looked only at Saul as an obstacle and not at God as a solution. David listened to himself, to what he was saying in his heart, and not to God. Remember, this will always end in trouble.

When your heart’s not working right bad things can happen!

(1) We question God on why our enemies prosper and we struggle!

Psalm 73:3-5 “For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men.”

I had supper with a man one time who mentioned that something was really bothering him. "I really don't have a problem with the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people. I understand that God gives man free will and that sometimes those choices, even good ones, have bad results. I'm actually OK with that." "Then what is bothering you?" I asked. "Well, I don't understand why good things seem to always happen to bad people. Why do criminals get away with crimes? Why do corrupt politicians have their sins exposed and yet see their popularity rise?" He continued on with this final thought by saying, "And why is it that an atheist famous for calling Christians a bunch of losers is allowed to accumulate fame and wealth beyond imagination? Why has he been so blessed?" "Well, let's see," I began. "You know this man is an atheist that has had several marriages break up?" He nodded. "So here is a man with a miserable family life and unless he changes his views on Jesus Christ will never see heaven. And you call him blessed?" I continued. "Let me ask you something. Despite his fame and riches, would you trade places with this man?" "No way, not even for a second," he replied. 

We must remember that we will all give an account some day. There’s no one that will escape the final judgment of God. We don’t understand everything about life that we want to, but when it seems we are always struggling and the wicked are prospering the devil will do all he can to invade and destroy our faith. That’s when we must refuse to let our heart fail us because we are trusting in a God that will make things right one day and is in total control of our destiny.

(2) We want to challenge God on every direction He places in our life!

Proverbs 21:1-3 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” 
      

When our priorities get all out of sorts with God, we start listening to the wrong voices and go in the wrong direction. Jesus spoke of this in

Matthew 6:21 when he said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We cannot let our hearts fail us in this hour-the end of days is at hand!

Psalm 112:6-8 “Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established; He will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.” 

Many people have a destiny that is yet to be fulfilled. They have seemingly fought the same enemy over and over and have become emotionally and spiritually exhausted due to the heat of the battle. Yet when you have gone as far as you can go you must never allow your heart to be turned by the enemy. A righteous person will refuse to listen to their own words of defeat when they know they are trusting in the promises of God. So what should we do when our heart begins to attack our spirit and our faith?

(1) We must remember that our hearts must be steadfast and not filled with fear! 

Isaiah 35:4 “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”

(2) We must also believe that our hearts are established in trusting in the Lord no matter what! 

Psalm 27:3 “Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.”