1 Sam 23:26, And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them.
	In this morning’s reading, we are shown the situation of the Lord’s overruling as the rock and the fortress of David’s salvation. The grace and the mercy and the love of God completely surrounded this young man as he was trying to stay ahead of the manhunt that Saul was conducting. David knew that there was something amiss with the heart and the mind of the king of Israel. Still, this young man, when given several opportunities, would not lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed, first king of Israel. 
David realized that the Lord had made both the choice of Saul to be the king, as well as the choice of David to eventually replace Saul. This led to a conflict of thought and purpose within this man whose heart was after the Lord. There was no doubt that the kingdom would be his. Even Jonathan, the king’s own son, the one who would have claim over the kingdom by birthright, acknowledged that Jehovah had chosen David to take over the throne of Israel at the demise of Saul.
Everything within the realm of logic was pointing to the fact that David was the rightful king. He would assume that place of honor as soon as Saul, who seemed to have lost his mind, even according to his own son, would either abdicate the throne or die.
It would not be a very long stretch to presume that the death of the king, especially by the hands of the next king, would soon settle the whole issue of this hiding and running and barely escaping the intrigues and plots of Saul. But David would have none of it! 
To David, the crown would not be his by any earthly manner of taking it from the head of Saul. He would not sully his hands by forcing the matter and making the old king give up that which The Lord had put on his head. This was despite the fact that Saul had sullied the entire point of the kingship. 
David was willing to wait for as long as it pleased the Lord. He would not to take the matters into his own hand. Therefore, we find him in the wilderness regions, staying one step ahead of Saul, only by the grace of God.
This morning details one of those times when David and his men were so so very close to being surrounded by the forces arrayed against them. They were on one side of the mountain with Saul and his army working to surround this anointed heir to the throne. It was looking dire for David, but for the grace of God! It was The Lord Who orchestrated the timely movement of the Philistines to draw away the forces of Saul, just at the imminent point of the capture of David. It came down to that which is the chorus of those who know somewhat of the measure of the grace and the mercy and the love of Our Lord. But God!
So many, many times, because of his faithfulness to the Lord and to the Lord’s anointed, David was protected by Jehovah from that capture and the death that would surely accompany it. There was the very evident hand of God which was holding this young man close and near and working the divine protection against any who were seeking his life. 
This was evident at the battle with Goliath, throughout the jealous rampages of Saul, the varied and numerous battles with the Philistines, and later the very revolt of his own son and those who were trying to take away the throne from David. His entire life was the evidential detailing of the Providence of Yahweh utterly surrounding him to the day of his death as an old man. 
Accordingly, it is appropriate to consider how this protection and work of God was received by the one upon whom all the power of heaven operated. This was to the praise and the worship and the glory of Adonai, the One Who saved David over and over again. 
Let us read, in the very Word of God, how the heart of David rejoiced, not in any lucky circumstance, not is any earthly cunning or skill, not in any wisdom of battle strategy or prowess. He rejoiced in the hand and the mercy and the loving-kindness of the Lord God Almighty, the Rock of his salvation and his Fortress against every attack!
Please turn to 2 Sam 22. We will read and exult in this entire chapter. It details the song that David sang to the glory and the praise and the adoration of the Lord. God worked so mightily on David’s behalf, for the witness of Jehovah to be seen and acknowledged. 
As we read together, let us ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts. How have we responded in those times of trial and tribulation and struggle, when everything that we have tried to do to save ourselves has so utterly and miserably failed? But God! By the grace of God, Alone, He has proven Himself as Our Savior and Our Rock and Our Fortress!
2 Sam 22, And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, Thou dost save me from violence. "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies. "For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. "In my distress I called upon the Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears. "Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. "Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. "He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. "And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind. "And He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky. "From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled. "The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. "And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and routed them. "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. "He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. "He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. "They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. "He also brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. "The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. "For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God. "For all His ordinances were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. "I was also blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. "Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes. "With the kind Thou dost show Thyself kind, With the blameless Thou dost show Thyself blameless; With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure, And with the perverted Thou dost show Thyself astute. "And Thou dost save an afflicted people; But Thine eyes are on the haughty whom Thou dost abase. "For Thou art my lamp, O Lord; And the Lord illumines my darkness. "For by Thee I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. "As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. "For who is God, besides the Lord? And who is a rock, besides our God? "God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless in His way. "He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me on my high places. "He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. "Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy help makes me great. "Thou dost enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped. "I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed. "And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise; And they fell under my feet. "For Thou hast girded me with strength for battle; Thou hast subdued under me those who rose up against me. "Thou hast also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me. "They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them. "Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth, I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets. "Thou hast also delivered me from the contentions of my people; Thou hast kept me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. "Foreigners pretend obedience to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. "Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses. "The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, The God who executes vengeance for me, And brings down peoples under me, Who also brings me out from my enemies; Thou dost even lift me above those who rise up against me; Thou dost rescue me from the violent man. "Therefore I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Thy name. "He is a tower of deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever." 
As is so often the case, when we are in those situations which bring us to our knees in utter and abject humility before the Lord in the absolute lack of ability to see beyond the next moment, we find ourselves blessed by The Holy Spirit with such as these passages! They express the very essence that our survival on this earth is out of our hands. We will not detail each aspect of this song of David, other than to rejoice in the fact that it highlights much of what we have gone through, and will go through on this earth. But God!
We can join ourselves to the heart of this song in the terms of the fact that God is Our Rock and Our Fortress! We may not have faced the physical assaults and abuse and treacherous and deliberate attempts to end our lives. However, we have all had those times of despair and loss of heart and emotional upheaval through the trials and tribulations and storms and circumstances. They have driven us to our knees in abject failure and futility and fear of what the next moment might entail.
We have done the best that we could with the limited ability and knowledge at our disposal. We come to the point that there is nothing else that could be done. But God! 
If we survive, it is only by the grace and the mercy of God! If we do not continue to exist, then blessed be the name of the Lord. No matter what happens, only Jehovah will be the One to Whom all praise and honor and adoration and thanksgiving is due! 
David would do his very best to stay ahead of Saul. David would do his very best to govern the people as unto the Lord. David would do his very best as a father and a counselor and a man who would honor Yahweh. But even David’s very best would never be enough!
He was a man with all the frailties of humanity. He made mistakes, awful mistakes with terrible consequences that he had to bear in this realm. He could plot and plan and make decisions about which side of a mountain to travel, but that would not deliver him from the dreadful hatred of Saul who was on the other side. It would only be by the Hand of God that David would escape the doom that Saul had devised in his hatred and animosity.
There was no way that David escaped time after time after time except for the power of God working on his behalf. It was Jehovah Who put into place every means and manner of safety and security, even in the midst of the most severe of manhunts and vitriol actions. Remember when Saul, in his self-pity and anger at David’s escape had the entire city of the priests of the Most High utterly destroyed, down to the children and the flocks and herds of the field. 
Only the Lord could deliver David, as only the Lord can deliver us as we call out to Him. That is the joy of reading the scriptures which detail the working might of God no matter what the plans and schemes of any person may be. 
All glory and praise and adoration and thankfulness and honor is to be freely and abundantly heaped upon the One by Whom we have our salvation on this earth and for all of eternity. It is all the work of God for His Glory and His Majesty which is in full display!
That was the heart of David as we have read this morning. He was putting all the credit and the praise and the worship into the song which fully and profusely expounded the work and the majesty and the glory of God as He proved Himself the Rock and the Fortress and the Salvation of all who will call upon His name!
David so loved The Lord God with all his heart. He recognized that Yahweh, Alone was worthy to be praised and adored! However, even as a man whose heart was after the Lord, there was much blood on his hands. This was in terms of those whom he killed outright as well as those who lost their lives defending him against the onslaught of the powers arrayed against him. The entire history of David is filled with bloodshed. That is why the Lord would not allow him to build the Temple, even though that was David’s deepest desire. David was a man of war and bloodshed.
But that did not dissuade David from making every preparation for the Temple to be built by his son, Solomon. He also detailed the full measure of his heart after the Lord in so many psalms contained in scripture. He knew unto Whom all praise and honor was to be given. 
This is what kept his hand from ending the life of Saul who was so set on David’s utter annihilation. It would not honor the Lord and therefore would not bring any more safety and well-being into David’s life than what was already manifestly lavished upon him. This was all by the grace and the mercy and the love of Jehovah in full evidence, day in and day out as it is in our lives. So be it and amen. 

		
	
This morning’s benediction is Zech 6:12. "Then say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts," Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. Amen.