Keion Henderson - The Fugitive

First Samuel, chapter 23. I’m going to read verse 14 and a couple of the following verses, and we’re going to see what the Lord has to say today. I feel the Spirit of God in this place. I know it’s raining outside, but I want all of you to look around and see how many people are here in spite of the rain. I want you to look around, and I don’t know what’s going to happen at 11:00. I think partly we praise God for your other half, as you were here before it started; so we just thank God, either way it goes. About First Samuel, chapter 23, here’s what the Bible says in verse 14: «And David abode,» meaning he lived, «in the wilderness and strongholds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day-not every other day, but every day. Yet God delivered him not into his hand.» The devil is after something you have; he may be after you, your children, your relationship, your resources, or your mind. But the Bible says that even though Saul sought him every day, God did not deliver him into his hand. I want to preach on this subject: «The Fugitive.» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord-"The Fugitive.» I want to talk about this because I suspect that several of you are on the run from something; on the run from something that you know, ahead of time, if it catches you, it’s going to be all over. There 's no reason not to tell the truth about this matter because dogs don’t chase parked cars. The reason the enemy is after you, your children, and your family is that you are on the move. Have you not noticed that your greatest attacks happen in the same season as your greatest accomplishments? Here you are, succeeding in one area while failure is taking place in another. If you are honest, and I’ll be honest with myself and transparent, sometimes you can’t see the fruit of your success because you keep looking at the seeds of your failure. And when you’re focused on your failure-by the way, the Scripture says God did not deliver him into his hand-whenever you’re focused on your failure, it is because you have chosen, either through admission or omission, not to focus on the hand of God. Because the truth is, your success didn’t even come because of your hand. You know that area that you’d like to brag about? That doesn’t have anything to do with your hand; it was the hand of God. Here’s the way my mother used to say it when we were growing up: «All night and all day, the angels are watching over me.» So, in the areas of your success, it was the hand of God. What may be surprising is that even in your failure, you can still be under the hand of God. Because a thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at the other, but the Bible says that none shall come nigh thee. That is to suggest that the enemy is what the Bible calls a roaring lion. Now, Paul says it this way: " I am perplexed; I’m troubled on every side. Yet, in what I want to do, good evil is always present.» He said, «I’ve got problems; I’ve got issues, but I’m still a Christian.» I don’t always act like it; I don’t always talk like it; I don’t always dress like it; I don’t always think like it. When I was a child, I did childish things; when I became a man, I put away those things. «For we see now through a glass darkly.» Do you know, at the time of this text, that David has been on the run from Saul for ten years? This is not him getting tired because he’s been on the run for ten months. He’s not exhausted because of a ten-week journey. Year after year after year after year, times two, he has been on the run from a very capable warrior who is currently the king of Israel. By that, we should know and surmise that he has carte blanche access to a regiment of soldiers, while David is just fresh out of shepherd school; he has no regiment, he has no group, he has no army. He is a lone wolf running from a man who has an army. He is a fugitive, on the run. For a decade, he has been running from his former employer. Listen, forget that Saul hired David to come into the palace and to play the harp to soothe him in his moments of anxiety. Now, the man who played the harp for the man who owned the palace is on the run from somebody he has served; he’s on the run from somebody who brought him into their life. I know how you feel because it’s one thing to be ostracized by somebody you met; it’s another thing to be wronged by somebody who invited you into their life. I didn’t-I don’t want to get off into that, but some of y’all are saying, «I wasn’t bothering you; you asked me for my phone number.» I wasn’t — you asked me to go on a date; I wasn’t looking for nobody. I told you I wasn’t interested. But because you had so much game, I gave in. And now I wish I wouldn’t have gone to Chili’s with you. I’m glad we went to the On the Run concert; that was good .