Vale Community Church · Sunday 6 September 2026
The Making of a King
1 Samuel 23:1–14
David spent fifteen to twenty years between being anointed king and actually wearing the crown. Sunday's message asked the question most of us have asked at some point: Lord, why the wait?
In a nutshell
What we heard on Sunday
God forms kings in caves long before he puts crowns on their heads.
David didn't ask for any of this. He was a shepherd boy, perhaps ten to fifteen years old, when Samuel anointed him king. He was thirty before he sat on the throne. That gap is one of God's more uncomfortable ways: he often speaks now, knowing it's going to be a while, and he doesn't tell you how long. Like a yellow-belt in martial arts who believes his hands are lethal weapons, David and the men around him could look at his CV — anointed, Goliath, psalms, the king's court — and assume he was ready. But we humans consistently think we're more ready than we are. The only one who can tell you you're actually ready is God.
So 1 Samuel 23 finds David years from the throne, hunted by Saul and hiding in caves. Why does God slow us down? Three answers.
The wait is doing what nothing else can do
Don't curse the cave — class is in session, whether or not you knew you'd enrolled. Like Lightning McQueen flying off the dirt track into the cactus field, what's usually missing isn't skill; it's the character that can hold it. God isn't only growing your gift in the cave. He's dealing with your why. Waiting seasons, hidden seasons, seasons that look like delay: none of them are wasted.
The wait is teaching you to inquire of the Lord
Three times in this chapter David asks God before he moves (verses 2, 4 and 10–12). He's humble enough to listen to his men's counsel, and fears God enough to go back to God when the two disagree. Saul, by contrast, never asks. He presumes, and tries to use God to validate what he's already decided. So get a prayer life. Treat God better than you treat your phone — go to him before Google, before the spreadsheet, before the friend. And remember: God isn't hiding things from you. He's hiding them for you.
The wait is forming a heart that hosts God's presence
David went to God looking for direction and found something better: presence. The more he sought, the more he loved. That's the kind of heart God can trust with a kingdom. Saul kept his throne and lost the presence, and never even noticed. David's greatest legacy wouldn't be a palace but bringing the ark — God's presence — home. From Eden to the Exodus to Pentecost, God's plan has never changed: that I may dwell among them. He's always been after people who would carry his presence into every room they walk into.
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.Psalm 27:4
The rhythm
Gaze until your heart burns.
Then inquire until your path is clear.
Prayer that only ever asks for guidance treats God like a satnav: get me there, tell me where to turn, then be quiet. He's after presence. Jesus slept through a storm his disciples were sure would kill them — and you only have authority over the storms you can sleep through. David gets there in the end: even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. That's the kind of man, the kind of woman, God puts a crown on.
Three things to try this week
The challenges from Sunday
- 1Name your cave. Privately, just a word between you and God — and then ask him what he might be teaching you there.
- 2One decision, taken to God first. Before the phone, before the spreadsheet, before you ask a friend.
- 3Five minutes of gazing before any inquiring. Adoration first, no requests. Then the list.
For your own time with God, or your Life Group
Questions to reflect on
Don't try to answer all of these. Pick the ones that get under your skin. The ones marked Just you and God are meant to be private — a moment of quiet rather than a go-round-the-circle.
Getting started
- When have you thought you were more ready for something than you really were? What did that season teach you?
- How do you tend to handle waiting — patiently, restlessly, or by finding a way round it?
Read 1 Samuel 23:1–14
Read it together, slowly. Then, before any of the questions below: what do you notice about David? About Saul? About God?
1 Don't curse the cave
- David was anointed as a boy and crowned at thirty. Why do you think God so often speaks now and fulfils later — without telling us how long?
- "It wasn't the skills that were missing. It was the character that can hold them." Where have you seen gifting run ahead of character, in yourself or in the world around you? What did it cost?
- The missionary's wife said, "Then you're still not ready." God isn't only growing your gift; he's dealing with your why. If God asked you why you do what you do for him, what honest answer would you give?
- Just you and GodName your cave: the job that hasn't opened, the healing that hasn't come, the prayer that hasn't been answered, the season that won't end. If God is forming something in you there that couldn't be formed any other way, what might it be?
- As a church we're in a waiting season too. We long for more families to find their way to us, for more hands, for more time for relationships — and, yes, there's a literal hedge you can't see past from the road. What might God be forming in Vale Community Church through this that couldn't be formed any other way?
2 Learn to inquire of the Lord
- Look again at verses 2, 4 and 10–12. David asks, listens to his men's fears, then asks God again. What does this teach us about godly counsel — and about going back to God when counsel and God seem to disagree?
- Now look at Saul in verse 7: "God has delivered him into my hands." What's the difference between seeking God and using God? When are you most tempted to pray 'God, bless what I'm doing' rather than 'God, I'll do what you're blessing'?
- At Saturday's fun day the children painted their little doors and asked God something straight away. It was the grown-ups who stood back. When did asking stop coming naturally to you? What gets in the way?
- "Treat God better than you treat your phone." Be honest: when you're anxious, bored or facing a decision, where do you go first — your phone, Google, AI, the bank balance, a friend? What one change would make God your first call?
- Just you and GodIs there a decision you've already half-made — maybe even signed — without ever asking him? It's not too late. What would it look like to take it to God this week, before the phone, the spreadsheet or a friend?
- Psalm 18 opens with "I love you, Lord, my strength." Does your praying begin with love, or with the list? What would change if it began with love?
3 A heart that hosts God's presence
- David went looking for direction and found presence. When have you gone to God for one thing and received something better?
- Saul kept the throne but lost the presence — and didn't notice. Why is that possible? How do we guard against it when things are going well, at work, at home or in ministry?
- "There's nothing like being with someone who loves to be with you." Who is that person for you? And how does it land that the King of Kings wants to be with you? Do you believe it?
- David's greatest legacy wasn't a palace but bringing the ark home. Where could you 'bring the presence' this week — a meeting, a classroom, a hospital ward, an office, the school run? What would be different if you did?
- Jesus slept through the storm. "You only have authority over the storms you can sleep through." What storm might God be growing peace in you for right now?
The rhythm: gaze, then inquire
Read Psalm 27:1–4.
- After all those years of waiting, David's 'one thing' is God's presence. What does that tell you about what the cave did to his heart?
- "Guidance-only prayer treats God like a satnav." Which comes more naturally to you — gazing or inquiring? Which one do you tend to skip?
- Try it together. Five minutes of gazing before any inquiring: read Psalm 27:1–4 slowly, sit in silence, then share one thing you noticed about God — before anyone brings a request.
Five minutes of gazing
Adoration only — no requests until the time is up. Silence feels long in a group, so let the timer hold it for you.
Praying together
- Pray for one another's caves — not for a quick exit, but for what God is forming there.
- Ask for hearts that love to be with him.
- Close with the prayer from Sunday, said together: "Lord, I will do what you're blessing."
If you'd like to go deeper
A passage a day this week
A note for Life Group leaders
How to use this well
Fewer questions, deeper answers. One or two from each section is plenty for an evening. Let the conversation go where it wants to go.
Guard the private ones. The 'Just you and God' prompts aren't for going round the circle. Give people a quiet minute with them; anyone who wants to share can, and nobody has to.
Keep the church question hopeful. The hedge question is about us. It's an invitation to ask what God is forming, not an opening for a grumble about what's wrong.
Don't skip the five minutes. The gazing practice is where the whole message lands. Silence feels long in a room full of people, so use the timer and resist the urge to rescue it.
Some caves are painful. Someone in your group may be waiting for healing, for a job, for a prodigal, for a prayer that's gone unanswered for years. Don't fix it. Let them stay there, and pray for them by name.