20th April 2026

20th April 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 Samuel 24 focus v1-7)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Peer pressure, it might be a while since you have experienced it on the school playground, and maybe you’re thankful for that, or you’re thinking you wish you could go back to those days. Peer pressure is the influence of one’s peer group; while it may be a while since we have experienced it, we have all experienced the pressure to conform. The influence of society, media, friends, colleagues all play a part so that we feel pressured to go a certain way. It may be the case that in times that we have experienced pressure to conform, we have just conformed, but other times we haven’t and we have experienced the disapproval, pressure, stress of that from those around us. Today, we pick up, and David is still being hunted by Saul.


The last time David escaped the clutches of Saul was because he had bigger, more important, pressing concerns than his own paranoia concerning David. Then, with the Philistines dealt with, the hunt for David is back on, as reports come to him that David was hiding at En-gedi. And Saul narrowed his search to an area near the Crags of the Wild Goats. A place known for its inaccessibility. Now, I want you to see the odds against David; things from a human perspective weren’t good. We are told Saul had three thousand men. I have chosen men before me, and it refers to the standing army that Saul had at his disposal. They were three thousand skilled and courageous warriors, the best of the best, you could say, and they were on the hunt for David and his band of not-so-merry men. For David has around himself a band of men like Robin Hood, but they were not fighters, not really. They were, as we were told earlier in the narrative, those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him (1 Sam 22:2). 


Saul and his men made their way through the Crags, with David hiding along with his men in one of the caves that could hold well in excess of 1,000 people. Needing to receive himself, Saul was put in the hands of David. His men saw this as God giving Saul into his hands. There is no doubt that the LORD was on David’s side; his men now believed that this was the moment, they saw the opportunity, and believed that it was divine permission; it was an opportunity for David to end Saul, but it was not permission. Just because David could kill Saul didn't mean that he should. David ignored his men; he didn’t give into peer pressure. The expectation was that he would kill Saul, but instead, he simply cut off a corner of his robe. What is more striking is that he was conscience-stricken for doing this. 


He knew that the LORD’s anointed were not to be harmed in spite of their sin (See Genesis 20:6–7, 66:11, 1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15). David understood this; while he had the opportunity to cut Saul’s head off, it was a test, and he had figuratively taken the kingdom from Saul, the LORD’s anointed. What David faced was a test of his faith in the LORD, and his way that develops perseverance. In James 1, we are told: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. David was going through many trials; the LORD was testing him to develop perseverance within him. While conscience-stricken, he had not followed his own desires or the voices of his men; he could have let himself be influenced by others, but he didn’t. 


There are times that the LORD allows us to face trials of many kinds; they are the testing of our faith that develops perseverance. In what lies before us, we shouldn’t be looking to the world or the voices that shout loudest; we should be looking to the LORD. For there are lots of times that we are told that this is okay, that this is good, but it doesn’t mean that the voices are telling us what is right. We need first and foremost to look to God and his word as our rule and guide; it is our supreme authority. David’s decisions were led by what he knew from the truth of God’s word; ours should be too.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q46 What is required in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
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