Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 29, 1995
1 Samuel 18:6-12
EVERY CRUTCH KICKED
I. Do you ever have a day when everything goes wrong?
A. Everything blows up in your face.
B. Boss is mad at you, wife is grumpy, car acting funny...
C. David had some days like that, even months, even a period of
years where nothing went right.
1) Not just everyday nuisances, but his very life threatened.
2) Everything he depended on was kicked out from under him.
3) God was trying to teach him about the only reliable crutch.
II. Can people stand alone?
A. Society says we shouldn't need crutches.
1) We value strength and independence.
On November 20, 1988, the Los Angeles Times reported:
A screaming women trapped in a car dangling from a freeway
overpass in East Los Angeles was rescued Saturday morning.
The 19-year-old woman apparently fell asleep behind the wheel
about 12:15 am.
The car, which plunged through a guardrail, was left dangling
by its left rear wheel.
A half dozen passing motorists stopped, grabbed some ropes from
one of their vehicles, tied the ropes to the back of the
woman's car, and hung on until the fire units arrived.
A ladder was extended from below to help stabilize the car
while firefighters tied the vehicle to tow trucks with
cables and chains.
"Every time we would move the car," said one of the rescuers,
"she'd yell and scream. She was in pain."
It took almost 2 1/2 hours for the passersby, CHP officers,
tow truck drivers, and firefighters --about 25 people in
all-- to secure the car and pull the woman to safety.
"It was kinda funny," L.A. County Fire Capt. Ross Marshall
recalled later.
"She kept saying, "I'll do it myself."
#1718
a) We hate to need other people.
b) A beloved symbol of Americans is the Lone Ranger, a
powerful [man] who singlehandedly rights all wrongs.
He then rides into the sunset.
c) It is not always a myth.
[Macho hero: Basillone??, New Jersey hero at Iwo Jima.]
Won Congressional Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal.
A survivor of Iwo Jima remembers him charging up a ridge
under heavy fire and challenging others to follow.
B. Most of us are not made this way.
1) We all need someone to lean on.
Steve McQueen used to be epitome of the Action Guy.
At end of his life he had cancer and was being treated
with Laetrile at a special clinic in Mexico.
He knew he was a dying man.
Steve McQueen, the ultimate non-leaner, called for
evangelist Billy Graham, who came to his bedside.
McQueen realized he had to lean on something.
Graham shared gospel with McQueen and he opened his heart
to accept Jesus.
#3373
2) God made us this way.
a) He has placed a God-shaped vacuum in us that nothing
else can adequately fill.
b) In Eccles., Solomon seeks to fill it with worldly things
but does not get satisfaction.
c) St. Augustine said our hearts are restless until they
find peace in Him.
3) We can seek our security from many areas.
a) Finances, but they can change overnight.
b) Job, but they don't always last.
c) Health, look fine one day, hear shattering news the
next.
d) Popularity and reputation.
e) Relationships: girlfriend, spouse...
III. Removal of David's crutches.
A. Crisis reviewed.
1) Popularity is widespread, on top of the world. 18:5
a) A few days later, women have song. 18:7
b) Poetic form, but Saul paranoid.
2) Saul turns against David.
a) David's situation changes overnight.
b) Saul's daughter dumped on David, Saul still comes
after him and he has to flee.
B. Crutches removed.
1) David's position. 19:8-10a
a) Saul tries to pin him to wall.
b) If boss tries this with you, your job security is
not too good.
2) David's wife. 19:10b-17
a) Saul still tries to kill him.
3) David's mentor, Samuel. 19:18-19; 20:12
a) Couldn't protect David from Saul's troops.
4) David's friend, Jonathan. 20:1-42
a) Saul's son and right-hand man.
b) David wept the most. 20:41
1> A cry that comes from way down deep.
2> He had nowhere to turn.
c) Being stripped of all substitutes - crutches - is the
most painful of life's experiences.
1> God kicks them out to train us.
2> God applies heat and pressure, just like he uses to
form a diamond.
3> Examples of pressured people.
A> Joseph.
B> Moses.
C> Job, wealthy but lost it all in 24 hours.
D> Esther, one of most influential women in the
world, but had to lay it all on the line.
5) David's self-respect. 21:10-22:12
a) Goes to Gath, hometown of Goliath. 21:10
b) David feigns insanity. 21:13
c) He escapes to cave of Adullam. 22:1-2
d) Who comes to him? 400 Discontents.
IV. Truth about crutches that are outside God.
A. All human crutches are unreliable.
1) They may help for awhile, but will ultimately fail.
2) Only God is a reliable crutch.
B. They become substitutes for the Lord.
1) Ronald and Nancy Reagan have been good Presbyterians for
many years.
Yet right after the assassination attempt on him, Nancy
turned to astrology.
In her memoirs she wrote:
"When you're as frightened as I was, you reach out for help
and comfort in any direction you can.
I prayed what seemed like all the time, more than I ever had
before.
I talked with religious leaders such as Billy Graham and
Don Moomaw.
She received no lasting comfort from her religion.
Merv Griffin referred her to Joan Quigley, a San Francisco
astrologer.
"Oh my God," she remembers telling Merv, "I could have
stopped it!"
Quigley told her of good and bad days.
Nancy continues:
"My relationship with Joan Quigley began as a crutch, one of
several ways I tried to alleviate my anxiety about Ronnie.
Within a year or two, it had become a habit, something I
relied on a little less but didn't see the need to change.
Because while I was never certain that Joan's astrological
advice was helping to protect Ronnie, the fact is that
nothing like March 30 ever happened again."
#1064
C. They offer only temporary relief.
1) All human crutches can change overnight.
Crystal MacAuliffe was the school teacher who went on the
doomed Challenger Space Shuttle.
She was repeatedly asked if she was afraid to go into space.
In one of her last interviews she said,
"It doesn't frighten me.
They have a lot of backup systems, and they don't fly the
shuttle when they have something go wrong.
And if something does go wrong, they have the capacity to
land it."
The captain of the Titanic was even more confident.
His ship was made with 13 water-tight compartments and had
every safety feature that existed at that time.
The best room cost the modern equivalent of $50,000.
On the ship's very first voyage, they came upon an area
littered with icebergs.
A crewman asked the Captain if he was nervous.
He replied, "God himself couldn't sink this ship."
#2218
2) It only takes a doctor's visit, or a pink slip. Ps 30:6-7
V. Our disappointments are God's appointments.
A. Have you ever been disappointed?
B. God uses those to make you seek a divine appointment with him,
till you see there is only one reliable crutch.
C. Sometimes pastors feel guilty when people's prayers
are not answered quickly. But pastors are in "sales,
not management."
D. Unemployed man's testimony - "God has never been early
for me, but he's never been late, either."
Some have gotten their last unemployment check on
Monday, then a great job on Tuesday.
VI. "Leaning" lessons for life's cripples to learn.
A. Three types of people here today.
1) Crutchless. Sitting in the cave of Adullam.
a) Cancer.
b) Broken relationship, abandoned.
c) When it turns out good, remember the lesson learned.
1> Honor God when good times come.
2) Been crutchless at some point, but didn't learn the lesson.
a) (Shipwrecked sailors who make huge promises to God,
till they are out of the jam.)
3) You have your crutches, always have.
a) You don't have to go through David's experience to
learn from them.
b) The stories of the Bible are there to instruct us.
B. There is nothing wrong with leaning ... IF you are leaning on
the Lord.
1) David was hurt enough to admit his need. Ps 142.
2) He was honest enough to cry out for help. Ps 57.
3) He became humble enough to learn from God. Ps 34.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Study notes: >>>>
=======================================================================
Charles Swindoll, "David - A Man After God's Heart" Bible study.
=======================================================================
I. Truth about our crutches.
A. They become substitutes for the Lord.
B. They keep our focus horizontal.
C. They offer only temporary relief.
II. Removal of David's crutches.
A. Crisis reviewed.
1) Saul turns against David. His popularity galls him.
2) Saul's daughter dumped on David.
3) David fled.
B. Crutches removed.
1) David's position. 19:8-10a
2) David's wife. 19:10b-17
3) David's mentor, Samuel. 19:18-19; 20:12
4) David's friend, Jonathan. 20:1-42
5) David's self-respect. 21:10-22:12
III. "Leaning" lessons for life's cripples to learn.
A. There is nothing wrong with leaning ... IF you are leaning on
the Lord.
B. Being stripped of all substitutes - crutches - is the most
painful of life's experiences.
Sermon by Rev. Glenn Gunderson, First Baptist Church, Pomona, Calif.
(Based on series by Charles Swindoll.)
===================================================================
I. Do you ever have a day when everything goes wrong?
A. Everything blew up in your face.
B. Say something negative about someone else, they find out.
C. David had some days like that, even months, even a period of
years where nothing went right.
D. God was trying to teach him about the only reliable crutch.
II. Can we stand alone?
A. We all need a crutch, something to lean on.
B. Society says we don't need crutches.
1) We don't need other people (lone ranger, rambo).
2) If we are strong, we can stand on our own.
a) (Chick movies and guy movies. Guy movies focus on
strong heroes who stand on their own, solve everyone
else's problems, then ride into sunset.)
C. We are not made that way. We all need someone to
lean on.
1) (Steve McQueen used to be epitome of action guy.
At end of his life he had cancer and was being treated
with Laetrile at a special clinic in Mexico. He knew
he was a dying man. Steve McQueen, the ultimate
non-leaner, called for evangelist Billy Graham, who
came to his bedside. McQueen realized he had to lean
on something. Graham shared gospel with McQueen and
he opened his heart to accept Jesus.
2) We were created to be leaners.
3) Deut 33:27 study theme: The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
D. Every person has a God-shaped hole, which we seek to fill.
1) In Ecclesiastes, Solomon seeks to fill it with worldly things.
2) St. Augustine said our hearts are restless until they find
peace in Him.
3) We can seek our security from many areas.
a) Finances, but they can change overnight.
b) Job, but they don't always last.
c) Health, look fine one day, hear shattering news the next.
d) Popularity.
e) Reputation.
f) Girlfriend, spouse.
4) All human crutches are unreliable.
a) They may help for awhile, but will ultimately fail.
b) Only God is a reliable crutch.
III. Truth about our crutches (that are based outside a relationship
with God).
A. They become substitutes for the Lord.
1) Jer 9:23[-26] (replace "boast of" with "lean on")
a) Nothing wrong with wealth or wisdom, except when they
replace God.
B. They offer only temporary relief.
1) All human crutches can change overnight.
C. They will always disappoint you.
1) Israel often relied on treaties with Egypt.
2) Prophets rebuked them, told them to rely on God. 2 Kg 18:21/
Isa 36:6
3) Our disappointments are His appointments.
a) Ever been disappointed?
b) God uses those to make you seek a divine appointment
with him, till you see there is only one reliable
crutch.
c) Sometimes pastors feel guilty when people's prayers
are not answered quickly. But pastors are in "sales,
not management."
d) Unemployed man's testimony - "God has never been early
for me, but he's never been late, either."
Some have gotten their last unemployment check on
Monday, then a great job on Tuesday.
IV. Removal of David's crutches.
A. Crisis reviewed.
1) Popularity is widespread, on top of the world. 18:5
a) A few days later, women have song. 18:7
b) Poetic form, but Saul paranoid.
2) Saul turns against David.
a) David's situation changes overnight.
3) (Saul's daughter dumped on David.)
4) (David fled.)
B. Crutches removed.
1) David's position. 19:8-10a
a) Saul tries to pin him to wall.
b) If boss tries this with you, your job security is
not too good.
2) David's wife. 19:10b-17
a) Saul still tries to kill him.
3) David's mentor, Samuel. 19:18-19; 20:12
a) Couldn't protect David from Saul's troops.
4) David's friend, Jonathan. 20:1-42
a) Saul's son and right-hand man.
b) David wept the most. 20:41
1> A cry that comes from way down deep.
2> He has nowhere to turn.
c) Being stripped of all substitutes - crutches - is the most
painful of life's experiences.
1> God kicks them out to train us.
A> God applies heat and pressure, just like he uses to form
a diamond.
2> Examples of pressured people.
A> Joseph.
B> Moses.
C> Job, wealthy but lost it all in 24 hours.
D> Esther, one of most influential women in the world,
but had to lay it all on the line.
5) David's self-respect. 21:10-22:12
a) Goes to Gath, hometown of Goliath.
b) David feigns insanity.
c) He escapes to cave of Adullam. 22:1-2
d) Who comes to him? 400 Discontents.
V. "Leaning" lessons for life's cripples to learn.
A. Three types of people here today.
1) Crutchless. Sitting in the cave of Adullam.
a) Cancer.
b) Broken relationship, abandoned.
c) When it turns out good, remember the lesson learned.
1> Honor God when good times come.
2) Been crutchless at some point, but didn't learn the lesson.
a) (Shipwrecked sailors who make huge promises to God,
till they are out of the jam.)
3) You have your crutches, always have.
a) You don't have to go through David's experience to
learn from them.
b) The stories of the Bible are there to instruct us.
B. There is nothing wrong with leaning ... IF you are leaning on
the Lord.
1) (song - Learning to Lean)
