A Step (1 Samuel #24)

A step

Text: 1 Samuel 20:3

History of Saul, David and how we got here.

David learned the value of steps

  • David must stay a step ahead of Saul or else he’ll be killed. He can’t stumble. David says there is only a step between me and death.
  • Value to avoid danger
    • Stumbling is death.
    • Backsliding heifer is how the LORD characterized the nation of Israel.
  • Deuteronomy 32:35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
    • Time was the only thing between you and calamity. There is no other way these steps end.
    • Must be careful not careless in steps. There is a sense in which David’s statement is true of every soul.
  • Value to get to a destination
    • Goals and long term big picture thinking is fine but without steps the vision is just a dream.
    • An Arab proverb says the journey of 10k miles begins with a single step.
    • Someone wisely added the journey of 10k miles begins with a single step and ends the same way.
    • Books that say how to get rich in 5 STEPS, how to have a great marriage in 7 STEPS, how to be successful in 3 STEPS.
  • Steps are valuable enough that parents celebrate their child’s first STEPS.

David let the LORD order his steps

  • David is aware of the danger, but Jonathan doesn’t want to be aware of his dad’s murderous ways.
    • Jonathan wants to see the best in his dad so he ignores all the warning signs.
    • David doesn’t ignore the warning signs and deals with the reality of the situation.
  • Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD…
  • Psalms 119:133 Order my steps in thy word…
  • Prodigal son stepping out of the hog pen in rags and starving. You say what a tragedy! No. The tragedy was when he left his father’s house clean shaven, with money, new clothes and took a step away from the father and toward the hog pen. Now, as he steps out of the hog pen toward the fathers house, that’s not tragedy, that’s triumph.
  • Maybe it’s not a step forward but a step back… seek the old paths. Go back to the step you knew was right

The LORD enlarged David’s steps

  • 2 Samuel 22:37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
  • It’s easier to walk on a big step than a tiny step. The LORD makes the steps sure by enlarging them.

I’d like you to consider your next step this morning. What’s certain is you will take another step. The question is will you consider that step? Are you concerned where that next step will take you? Is that a sure step? Are your steps making you closer to the LORD or getting you further from Him?