THE MAIN IDEA
Christ is our Refuge through obedience and faith in Christ. 

CHRIST IS OUR REFUGE IN OUR CRISIS
Saul made David a leader in the army, and  David was successful in every campaign he went on. David started to grow in influence and  popularity with everyone. Even Jonathan, Saul’s son, made a covenant of lifelong friendship with David and acknowledged that David would be the next king. And because the Spirit of God  had left Saul and an evil spirit was tormenting him instead, Saul became extremely jealous and  paranoid, and so he vowed to kill David. We can live our lives as best as we can, and then for no  fault of our own, we can come face to face with a serious crisis that threatens our livelihood. Sometimes, those crises come because of our own sin, sometimes because of someone else’s sin,  and sometimes because of the hand of God! And most of the time, our crises come from a  combination of all three. As believers, we know that we live in a broken world because of sin.  And in this broken mess of a world, we will have to face many crises in our lives. And in our  times of crisis, Christ is our Refuge when we take refuge in Christ. But what does that look like? 

CHRIST IS OUR REFUGE IN OUR OBEDIENCE
When Saul entered the cave they were  hiding in, some of David’s men urged him to kill Saul, but instead David cut off a piece of Saul’s  royal robe. Saul’s royal robe was a symbol of his kingship, and by cutting off a corner of it,  David was symbolically invalidating Saul’s kingship and claiming it as his own. That’s why verse 5 says that he was “conscience-stricken.” And so David refused to lay a hand on Saul, because Saul was the LORD’s anointed. In David’s mind, his act was a gesture of rebellion  against God Himself. The goal of our walk of faith is not spirituality (spiritual growth, spiritual  fervor, or however else we want to define that). The goal of our walk of faith is obedience. It our  obedience that makes us like Christ. Many passages affirm that truth (Exodus 22:28; Romans  13:1-2; Ephesians 6:1, 5; Hebrews 13:17, etc.). It would be foolish to ignore the biblical  teachings about obedience. And so if we read something in the Bible we disagree with, we  should assume that we are in the wrong (Francis Chan). When we make every effort to live our lives in obedience to Christ, Christ is our Refuge. But how is that possible? 

CHRIST IS OUR REFUGE IN OUR FAITH
David’s extraordinary respect for the authority  of King Saul was grounded in his faith in God. David did not look to his feelings or his thinking  or to any human authority, but to God and to God alone, and that takes faith. A step of faith is a  step of obedience, and a step of obedience is a step of faith. The truth of that statement is  undeniable. And also, when we conscientiously and consistently exercise faith and obedience in  Christ, we will experience the best life that we could possibly live because Christ is our Refuge. And that truth becomes especially important and significant when we encounter conflicts and  crises in our lives. God referred to David as a man after His own heart because of David’s faith  in God and obedience to God, which in the end is really the same thing. And so how do we apply  that principle? God gave us His word to teach us how to love one another. That is the equipping  that the ministry of God’s word gives to us, because love is what builds up the church. Our goal  is love. Love is our witness. Love is what glorifies God. But love is difficult. And so love, real,  biblical love, takes faith in Christ. Christ is our Refuge when we exercise faith in Christ. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION
Can you think of a crisis in your life where Christ has been your refuge (help or  deliverer)? If so, please share your experience. If not, what did you learn from the crisis?