Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.12UNLIKELY
Fear
0.59LIKELY
Joy
0.58LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.63LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.27UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.86LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.58LIKELY
Extraversion
0.3UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.8LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.64LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
1 Samuel 22:1, 2
A Kingdom in a Cave
David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.
And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.
And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him.
And he became captain over them.
And there were with him about four hundred men.[1]
| W |
ho dares make light of small beginnings [*Zechariah **4:10*, *NET Bible*]?
Great churches usually have humble beginnings.
When considering what makes for spiritual greatness, we are easily distracted by grandeur and wealth.
We tend to forget that days of purity and power are frequently associated with penury and poverty.
The days of purity and power for David were those days in which he was utterly dependent upon the Lord.
During those days in which he was forced to rely on the Lord, he wrote some of the sweetest Psalms.
Among those Psalms that the Psalmist wrote are the *18th Psalm*, the *34th Psalm*, the *57th Psalm*, and the *142nd Psalm*.
Though a congregation may never grow to be great in the eyes of man, each church can nevertheless be great in the heart of God.
Each Christian can aspire to be great in the sight of the Lord; and when we are great in His sight, we will accomplish great things in His Name.
Perhaps we need to adjust our estimate of what greatness is.
Perhaps we will benefit from an assessment of the second King of Israel, a man who was great in the sight of God long before he became great in the eyes of people.
To do this, I invite you to review the beginning of the Kingdom of David, by looking at a Kingdom in a Cave.
The Humble Surroundings — Kings must rule from a palace.
Right?
Wrong!
David was anointed as king [*1 Samuel 16:13*].
However, due to Saul’s madness and consuming jealousy, David was forced to seek refuge in a cave.
Had you met David at this time, inquiring as to what he was doing, you might have received an answer to the effect that he was fleeing for his life even though he was the king.
David’s claim to royalty would have been cause for laughter, were it not so serious.
Kings rule from palaces, exercising immense power; kingdoms are administered from halls hoary with grandeur and revealing unimaginable wealth.
Each of us almost intuitively reject, even despise, people that appear to be pretentious and that which is humble.
However, it is from situations that are lowly, situations that are bereft of human power and people lacking in worldly wisdom that God raises up leaders and movements designed to change the course of human history.
God acts in this fashion so that He alone may be glorified and have the honour.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other.
[*Isaiah 42:8*]
I was privileged to serve in the First Baptist Church of Dallas before coming to Canada.
At any given service, thousands worshipped in the stately buildings.
At the time I left, more than twenty thousand people were members.
People focus on the size of the congregation and the multiple ministries provided through the church.
However, in their awe at the immensity of the congregation, people forget that the congregation began with but eleven people gathered in the Masonic Lodge on July 30, 1868.
The church consisted of a few people with a vision, though they had no building and had no pastor when they first met for worship.
That church became great with the blessing of God who was pleased to honour the faith of those few people with His presence.
The Humble Sovereign — Review the history of the Kingdom Israel.
Saul was appointed as king [*1 Samuel 10:1*]], and then, because of his self-willed way, he was rejected as king [*1 Samuel 15:22, 23*].
Following his rejection, David was anointed as king [*1 Samuel 16:6-13*].
David became a mighty warrior [*1 Samuel 18:6-9*].
Saul, increasingly jealous of David, attempted to kill him repeatedly [*1 Samuel 19:1, 2, 9-16*].
Ultimately, his recurring efforts to kill David drove the young warrior to flee in terror.
What happened as he fled in terror of losing his life is that David was crushed.
Every crutch was removed, and he was utterly cast down, save for his faith.
David lost everything that we would imagine to be necessary for self-esteem.
He lost his position.
David had been a leader in the army and a counsellor to the king.
He lost a good job; he had been well provided for.
He lost his wife; Michal appears to have placed her own interests ahead of those of her husband [*1 Samuel 19:11-17*].
David also lost his mentor [*1 Samuel 19:18-24*].
Like David, Samuel also fled because his life was in jeopardy.
David no longer had anyone to whom he could turn for counsel and advice; he was on his own.
In fact, his presence with anyone endangered that person.
Friendships at first strained were destroyed, and friends became increasingly rare as David was progressively isolated.
At last, harried and hunted to the point of exhaustion, David lost his best friend [*1 Samuel 20:41, 42*].
It is not so much that Jonathan terminated the friendship he and David had shared, but it was no longer possible to maintain that friendship.
Fleeing for his life, David would never again see Jonathan.
A man can stand against a great host of enemies, if only a friend stands with him; but alone, any of us are susceptible to crumpling and to crumbling in the face of such fierce opposition.
At last, the harried king lost his self-respect [*1 Samuel 21:10-22:11*].
David was forced to feign insanity in order to escape danger.
At the lowest point of his life, the beleaguered king took up residence in a cave.
He had attempted to live with the ungodly.
He had been caught in a lie that resulted in death of good people.
Every crutch was removed, and the wearied man was left stand naked and lonely.
Circumstances had reduced David to utter destitution and desolation.
It is a dangerous thing for the ungodly to attempt to destroy the godly.
When every crutch is removed, the godly are left leaning on God alone.
Assaulting the godly man is a very dangerous thing for the ungodly to do.
When the godly are left leaning on God alone, they will be compelled to rely on Him, and God will shortly defend them against the ungodly.
During this dark hour, David was learning to pray.
Listen to a Psalm penned during that dark period of the Psalmist’s life.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me.
/Selah/
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves.
[*Psalm 57:1-6*]
When Saul could not physically destroy David, he resorted to character assassination.
He slandered David and spoke abusively of him.
David detailed some of the harsh words in one of his Psalms.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9