The Great Escape

God providentially preserves and protects so His will is accomplished.   ~~~   Have you had to escape before? Several years ago Jimmy Walker and I were at a friend’s house during the day, when that friend wasn’t home. We were there to pick up a piece of furniture. So I stepped out of the truck and walked towards the home when all of a sudden a huge dog comes out of the garage running straight towards me, barking its head off. So I take off running across a field and finally find refuge in a storage building that just happened to be open. Have you ever had to escape before? Sometimes the escape happens and you didn’t even realize it, (like in DR, Tanzania, etc) much like what we saw in 1 Samuel 18. Several times King Saul tried to indirectly assassinate David, but was unsuccessful. David escaped without ever realizing he was being hunted. And the reality is that you have been saved and rescued and escaped by the providential protection of God more times than you would ever like to know. We have the events of 1 Samuel 18 woven into our lives. It probably happens every day. Satan is like a prowling lion, seeking whom he may devour, as are the demons under him. They want to trap you, catch you and destroy you. Temptation lurks around every feasible corner, waiting to ensnare you, and yet time and again you have been spared without even realizing it. But when you turn the page to 1 Samuel 19, there is no denying Saul’s intentions. And it becomes clear to us, as God’s people that sometimes the threat is direct, right in front of our faces, and we must deal with it. There are false teachers, false systems, and other people with godless agendas who want to silence us, the church; they want to silence you. They are threatened by righteousness, they are fearful of God’s agenda, and they will do all they can to stop it. In 1 Samuel 18, David was on the rise. But now in 1 Samuel 19 David is on the run. And in our text we are going to see the author display for his audience that God reigned over Saul’s downward spiral in sin in order to provide ways of escape, preserve David, so that David could fulfill God’s purpose. God providentially preserves, protects, so God’s will is accomplished.