David anointed - review

[0:00] Okay, well, Phil, as I said in the introduction, has been, well, Phil and other, and Daniel, and those on the preaching team, have been going through a series in the book of 1 Samuel for some weeks now, and we finally reached that place in the series where David steps onto the stage.

[0:18] This is obviously a very well-known text in many ways, so those of you who are joining us, I'm sure we'll find it relatively straightforward to kind of pick up the thrust of what we'll be looking at.

[0:30] Phil introduced the sermon this morning, just giving us a big picture of God's plan of redemption, starting from the very beginning. It was a sermon that was geared towards both adults and children, so it was quite interactive, but Phil started by reminding us of that wonderful text in the beginning in Genesis 3, 15, where the head of the serpent is crushed by the promised Messiah.

[1:01] You have a little picture there of the gospel, which just grows and grows organically throughout the scriptures, and we were brought up to the times of Samuel where Israel wanted a king, wanted to be like the nations surrounding them, and many of you, if not all of you, know the story, and Saul has been raised up, but Saul doesn't turn out to be the king hoped for, and certainly not the king of the messianic promise.

[1:36] And we see, don't we, that Saul is under the kind of fearful judgment of God, but then David is raised up. And I wanted tonight, rather than kind of going through every aspect of Phil's sermon, there were three points that really struck me.

[1:55] We like threes, don't we? So I thought I'd take Phil's sermon and kind of mould it into a kind of three-point meditation. But I thought it would be helpful for us to think about, and firstly, we have the heart God sees.

[2:13] The heart God sees. And I want to just draw some threads. I haven't got anything kind of nicely organised. These are just meditations I had this afternoon before dinner. So bear with me.

[2:24] It's not all kind of nicely tied up. But firstly, the heart God sees. Secondly, the king God chooses. The king God chooses.

[2:35] And to end with, just to think about the goodness of that king that God chooses. And these are things that Phil really, really kind of drew out from the text in some detail and depth.

[2:49] Well, to start off, the heart God sees. I'll say a little bit, then we'll discuss it and ask questions and so forth of Phil or the text. We live in a superficial age, don't we? Largely.

[3:02] Much is judged on externals, isn't it? And I guess it always has been since the fall. But I was thinking about how, particularly for our children and young people, even more so when you consider all the allurements and pulls of social media.

[3:19] And I'm one of the few people I know that doesn't have any social media. But what I've seen is the way people present themselves. You meet them in the flesh, then you see their Facebook account.

[3:30] And they're not always kind of... We live in an age of superficiality in many ways and externals. And I guess as religious people, as Christians, we can too fall into that, can't we?

[3:44] We can play at church. We can attend church and give off a kind of veneer, an external shell of who we are. So this is a deeply profound and applicable and helpful text.

[3:58] And there's so many threads that are woven throughout the scriptures that consider God looking, not merely on the externals, but looks upon the heart.

[4:09] And I just wanted to look at a few scriptures so we can have a bit more of an overall picture of how God sees things. Can you turn in your Bibles, please, to Deuteronomy 10, 12 to 17?

[4:21] Deuteronomy 10, 12 to 17. Deuteronomy 10, 13 to 17. Just to root us in Samuel, we're just really focusing on verse 6.

[4:46] When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.

[5:03] Phil emphasized how much the word to look and to see is a kind of recurring theme in this chapter. And also this whole sense of rejecting, that Saul has been rejected, but David has been accepted.

[5:20] For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. So Deuteronomy 10, 12 to 17.

[5:31] I'll read this through for time's sake. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statues of the Lord, which I'm commanding you today for your good.

[5:52] Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them.

[6:05] You above all peoples, as you are this day, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts and be no longer stubborn. Circumcision was an outward ordinance, wasn't it?

[6:20] In the Old Testament, an ordinance that in that time in redemptive history had great significance and importance in terms of it pointing to the gospel and the cutting off of sin.

[6:36] But it's easy, isn't it, to think in the Old Testament they were only interested in the outward formality. But yet we see in a book as early as Deuteronomy that actually what God's really interested in is them circumsguising the foreskin of the heart.

[6:53] Yeah? Psalm 51, 6 and 17. Turn to Psalm 51. Please.

[7:06] Just verse 6 and I'll read verse 17. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being. The inward being.

[7:19] And teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

[7:31] O God, you will not despise. So here we're moving from circumcision and David is kind of reflecting here upon the sacrificial system.

[7:42] Again, an outward ordinance. Not a bad thing at that time. A necessary thing in that time in redemptive history. But what God really cares about is the inward heart.

[7:55] What's going on inside. Let's flip over to the New Testament. Matthew 23. 27 to 28.

[8:09] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

[8:34] So you also outwardly appear righteous to others but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. We see this sense of the outward and the inward being totally incongruous, being at odds with one another.

[8:52] And the last one. And this just came to mind because it made me think of actually Deuteronomy and in a way Paul is saying pretty much what was said in the times of Israel sojourning in the wilderness.

[9:06] In Romans 2.28 2.28, book of Romans.

[9:19] For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision outwardly and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter.

[9:40] His praise is not from man but from God. So here Paul is saying it's possible to be part of the covenant people. It's possible to be a Jew outwardly but the true Jew, the true Israel of God is the one who is a Jew inwardly whose heart is circumcised.

[10:02] So you see again and you know we could go on and on. So that gives us a little flavour doesn't it of how important it is for us not to be merely outwardly religious and how God sees things.

[10:21] I thought as well thinking about the heart. Jeremiah 17 9-10 well-known text The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.

[10:41] Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind. This really makes us think doesn't it that God is the one who sees our hearts.

[10:55] He's the one who sees inwardly what is going on and this should serve as a way for us to stop when we're tempted by sin to think we have an omniscient meaning God sees all things and an omnipresent God that there is nowhere we can hide.

[11:16] But just going back to the Samuel text the other thing that struck me it's a text we should approach with some care and I say that because I've heard Christians talk about it in a way which suggests that God is interested only in the heart therefore the outward form doesn't matter.

[11:36] we mustn't fall into that trap. I've heard people say well as an excuse for behaviour or attitudes or outward comportment or just portraying something that's sloppy that's unbecoming of Christians and say well God knows my heart.

[11:58] so I think it's you know if I came here tonight and had gravy all down my jumper and just my pyjama bottoms on and you know I had bits of food falling but I said don't worry God knows my heart my heart's right you would think oh no that's not so it's important that we don't do what's so easy to do sometimes with texts like this and run too far with them.

[12:23] Yes God is primarily concerned what's going on with our hearts but the form does matter as well because it shows that we take care it shows that we're taking things seriously so there are just some thoughts anyone else has got any kind of observations or meditations on that whole theme?

[12:45] Phil I don't know if you've got anything you'd like to add? I was just thinking whether the Bible says search my heart or creating me a clean heart something like that I guess there's a difference between the heart of the believer and the heart of somebody who is not a believer because God gives a new heart but I don't think that the so the Christian's new heart is not the same as the the unbeliever's hard heart but our hearts still there's a lot of stuff going on in there isn't there?

[13:30] It isn't that everything is pure inside there's a lot of thoughts and planning and actions reactions emotions and so on that need to be purified it seems to me I mean getting onto the subject of sanctification that actually growing in Christ means learning a bit about what's going on inside us and offering it to the Lord and mortifying sin at that level yeah asking the Lord to search us and deal with our hearts that's what it seems to me I don't know what other people think yeah so that's a very helpful point Phil and I think we need to be careful when we read texts like in Samuel that God wasn't looking at David's heart and thinking this is just such a really good guy and he's doing all these great works therefore I'm going to choose him on the basis of what he's done it's God who creates the new heart in us it might be helpful to say as well and Phil this is something that you kind of helped me to understand that when the

[14:39] Bible speaks of the heart please chip in anyone if I've got this a little bit wrong but it's we often talk about the heart as the kind of seat of the emotions and you know you hear it a lot don't you he's led by his heart but not his head but the Bible it's a different thing we haven't got that kind of splitting or kind of the heart is it the entire inner being which would include the mind and the thoughts and the will as well as the emotions that's the way I would understand it as a text somewhere I don't know that God is lies in the heart speaking about his wisdom as being in the heart the Bible doesn't make this dichotomy between head and heart the heart is just the emotions and the head is a different as you just said the heart is the place where deep thinking planning as well as feeling and inclining all those things from the core of the being should I have said that this morning because I didn't say that you've said it before but I don't think you said it this morning my wife told me all the things I should have said this morning and that was one of them does anyone else have any insights or comments on that text that would help us

[15:57] I mean I think for application and takeaways like I said it's it's a searching text isn't it because it's easy for us to present or project a certain image and and may we as a church as believers be the same as we are when we're alone at home in our room as we are here may we be people who really guard our hearts and look after our hearts and our inner being and and be very people of integrity and recognize that God doesn't see things the way we may see things I'm I mean an application could be you know I'm coming to church twice on a Sunday isn't that great I'm such a great Christian I come to the prayer meetings I you know

[16:57] I know this theology or and yeah I was just going to say it's interesting that when David eventually arrives the comment is about his outward appearance yeah it is Jack I thought that and I was going to come to that in a little while I wonder if that maybe has another meaning and I was going to ask for a bit of help from people like Phil and because I've got maybe a thought on that but yeah it is interesting it almost at a cursory glance looks a bit contradictory you've said God looks at the heart but then much is made of him being a really you think he's being he's a good-looking guy I think it's the word handsome is that so but yeah yes yes yeah okay anything else on the eye the whole matter of kind of God looking upon the heart yes so he knew that and acknowledge that he was viable and he needed God to to achieve that and we all the same we are of our own will we can't do that only by letting

[18:29] God through us live through us we can reach that state yeah yeah that's a really good point yeah thank you and it's not just upon the point of conversion is it I think we should always be asking God to be giving us that clean heart shall we move on and just think about the king God chooses so Phil went on to speak about what Jack's just mentioned really that this is the choosing of David the last brother that's kind of bought in sent for and bought in from the field yeah verse 11 then Samuel said to Jesse are all your sons here and he said there remains yet the youngest but behold he's keeping the sheep and Samuel said to Jesse send and get him for we will not sit down till he comes here and he sent and brought him in now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome and the Lord said arise anoint him for this is he ruddy

[19:45] I was just struck by that word ruddy I thought I've heard that somewhere before I don't know if it's different in different versions but in the Song of Song I mean it depends what your view is of the Song of Song I take the view that primarily it's about Christ and his church says in 510 my beloved is radiant and ruddy same language distinguished among 10,000 and it goes on to say his body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires his legs are alabaster columns set on bases of gold but this idea of ruddiness I don't know Phil whether did you talk about that being something to do with there's something more going on I thought as well in Exodus where the baby Moses something said about God looked upon Moses and saw something about him something beautiful is this just merely about outward beauty or is this something pointing to him being a kind of messianic king this is a question is there something about David's family and perhaps

[21:11] Abraham's descendants that they do happen to be good looking because Joseph was good looking wasn't he and Absalom was good looking I'm just I'm straining my memory now I think I think when do you remember when John Woods came and preached on this sermon he said it it doesn't the Messiah doesn't have to be good looking but in the end he is something like that and I think he likened it to choosing leaders didn't he they don't have to be impressive on the outside but sometimes they might be redness yeah yeah yeah you have the picture of a kind of healthy fit outdoorsy type of youth kind of bouncing in with you know flushed with yeah but I thought

[22:16] Phil it was ever so helpful you know thinking about Isaiah 53 to the suffering servant and if anyone's got their Bibles open at Isaiah 53 to if anyone would like to read that out he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him nothing in his appearance that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not thank you so am I right in saying that your emphasis by by getting us to think about that Phil was actually Christ in many ways was very ordinary he was not much in his humanity to be looking at

[23:23] I think I talked about his incarnation tonight yeah the manner of it not in a palace but in a stable or whatever it actually was yeah but I want us to think a little bit about this whole matter of David being the king God chooses and I just think there's so much rich stuff there there's obviously the whole thing of David being anointing and and we learnt this morning that this word anoint what's the Greek for anoint people David Christos thank you yeah and it's almost to be Christed to be anointed the oil that David was anointed with is symbolic it's a beautiful symbol isn't it what what the people think that's a symbol of or know that's a symbol of the Holy Spirit yeah this this symbol of the Holy Spirit which David was anointed with for empowerment for service

[24:50] I came across one writer was speaking about this and it's a rather long longish quote but just such a great great quote the Davidic kingship revealed that the king was God's chosen anointed beloved and covenantal servant he did not attain kingship by his own initiative or effort but was chosen by God he was anointed with oil ceremonially and with the spirit effectually the Lord was with him to give him power and victory David and his seed reigned as the Lord's servant likewise Christ is God's chosen anointed beloved and covenantal servant king so it's a type of Christ here that we see and Phil really reminded us of that so we're getting a glimpse aren't we here at the kind of kingship of David which points to the kingship of Christ but there was a sense in which

[26:01] Phil reminded us that David was anointed in his humiliation in a sense he was a shepherd boy he was chosen not on the basis of anything he did and Phil reminded us of how God can just use ordinary people and I thought that was a very helpful point of application it's very easy to kind of I'm not good enough I haven't got this gifting or I'm not this charismatic or skillful or what have you but Phil quoted from 1 Corinthians 1 26 to 29 this is a bit like sword drill isn't it in Sunday club who can get there the quickest 1 Corinthians 1 26 to 29 who wants to go with this one brothers not any of these freedoms not any of these freedoms

[27:04] Thank you.

[27:34] Thank you, Mark. I'm ever so glad that the Bible includes texts like that. I find that immensely encouraging.

[27:58] I want to go on to think about this whole idea of David. David's kingship. This is a crucial development in the whole flow of redemptive history, God's unfolding plan.

[28:14] You think of the Davidic covenant. You think in terms of the Bible and how you have these really epochal, important covenantal times in history.

[28:26] You have Adam in the garden. There's a covenant of works. Then you have the Noahic covenant. Then you have the Abrahamic covenant, which is so crucial.

[28:37] Then the Mosaic covenant, where Israel is kind of constituted a nation, a theocracy. Then you have all the sacrificial system and so forth. Then you have the covenant of kingship with David.

[28:49] David. Then in Jeremiah, you have the new covenant, the dawn of the new covenant, pointing forward to Christ. So David is absolutely crucial as a type of Christ.

[29:02] There are elements of David's kingship that we see echoed in Christ in quite a profound way. He subdues enemies, doesn't he?

[29:14] He accumulates treasures through his conquest. We read about it in Chronicles and then those treasures are dedicated to the temple, the later building of the temple.

[29:25] And he reigned over all Israel and exercised justice as the anointed king. And this is foreshadowed. This foreshadows the kingly work of Christ in that Christ rules over us, doesn't he?

[29:41] He has dominion over us and he subdued us, doesn't he? I mean, that's part of becoming a Christian, isn't it? It's just that there's an element of surrender, isn't there, to his kingly.

[29:55] And that's an ongoing work. He rules over his people. He leads them. He leads us into spiritual warfare, doesn't he? There's a sense in which, yes, David, the warfare was very much militarily and physically realized.

[30:08] But for us, there is a war. We're putting to death sin, aren't we? And there is a... David reigned over all of Israel, but Christ reigns over his church.

[30:22] And in a sense, we as his vice regents, if you like, are to reign and rule over the church. So there's this kind of parallel that's going on there.

[30:33] Yeah. And Phil, helpfully, talked about kind of the empowerment for battle, how this anointing was empowering.

[30:46] And does anyone remember the kind of, looking forward, the kind of next big conflict that David would need to face? Yeah. Yeah.

[30:56] Yeah. And am I right in saying, Phil, you drew the parallel of when Saul was anointed? He was anointed for kind of military incursions and battles. So there's a similarity there.

[31:07] One thing with Saul's anointing is that the spirit doesn't... One thing with Saul's anointing, it doesn't mention the spirit of God coming upon him.

[31:18] The film went with David. It was the sort of like a rushing came upon him strongly. Yes. And we see also that the spirit departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord.

[31:32] And I think probably that doesn't mean God sent an evil spirit in a sense, but more like the situation with Job that God permitted, as it were, that he gave him up to his own desires, which the New Testament talks about.

[31:47] Yes. So there's that aspect as well. So it's all very interestingly intertwined. Yeah. Steve. It does say that the spirit rushed upon Saul, of course.

[32:04] Does it? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think the point here, and that's why the story is here, is because the spirit has sort of moved house, as it were, from Saul to David.

[32:18] Yeah. It's always the same phrase, I think, as Phil said. The phrase means the spirit rushed upon Saul. And then it almost sort of took over as, you know, they couldn't do much about it, in a sense. It's similar to the Judges and Samson, a similar thing in power and equipping for military conquest.

[32:32] And I think it's a good thing, just in passing, to recognize that the spirit, he's the same spirit in the Old Testament as he is in the New. There's a place in John's Gospel where, again, a cursory glance.

[32:47] I think it says somewhere in some of the latter chapters where it says something along the lines that the spirit was not. And you can read that and think, oh, is that saying that the spirit, well, the spirit was clearly active and working.

[32:59] But in shadow form, in types and anointing kings, prophets, priests, but in terms of the fullness and the kind of expansiveness of the outpouring of the spirit.

[33:12] In that time of redemptive history, it hadn't come as it does in Acts 2. I don't know, Phil, or anyone else you would like to add to that. Thank you.

[33:22] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[33:59] Maybe the way the spirit can use hindsight to point us to Christ's cross and all the fullness of that to encourage us and inspire us in a way the spirit in the Old Testament could only look forward to something that hasn't yet happened.

[34:16] So I think perhaps there's a difference in the content of what the spirit ministers in us and to us. Isabel did you want to say something?

[34:28] What I wanted to say is the big difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that God could remove the spirit whereas in the New Testament from the death of from Acts basically until now we've got the indwelling which they didn't have so God could remove his spirit whereas for us he stays there he stays with us so that's a huge difference correct me if I've got something wrong but I think I tend to be of the view where particularly in places like in Psalm 51 where where it's spoken of the spirit do not flee from me, the idea of the spirit being removed, I think a true believer in the old and in the new has the Holy Spirit I think the language of the spirit fleeing from you or being taken from you is kind of more experiencing it's a dynamic thing I think I think there's such a thing as obviously we know in the scriptures one can grieve the Holy Spirit and one can quench the Holy Spirit for the 1 Thessalonians and the felt

[35:36] I always liken it to like in a marriage you're married but there can sometimes be a great wedge between you and your wife and there's not much in the way of communication but you are still there you know so I don't know if anyone's got anything you feel that the spirit is not there thank you Marie that's rather than your felt communion with the spirit can be greatly impacted yeah sorry can I just say something as well I think there's one contrast here that's worth noting when the spirit comes he he stirs people to action yes yeah absolutely that's the point whereas the evil spirit that came on Saul I don't think it means a demon I think it means he got depressed when that evil spirit came it stirred him to inaction in a sense he couldn't do anything because when the spirit comes it empowers people to action thank you thank you Steve just moving forward a little bit so

[36:36] Phil helpfully quoted question 26 of the shorter catechism I thought it was Heidelberg but it is Westminster Confession how does Christ execute the office of a king just thinking about his kingly office in subduing us to himself ruling and defending us and restraining and conquering all his and our enemies I thought that was a great quote because it's quite succinct isn't it quite memorable and so true and I was again just to quote someone I was reading earlier on because of Christ's kingship and victory we have liberty and I was just struck at how does this what does this look like on you know day to day what does it mean for us on a Monday morning when we go to work how does this apply to our lives as Christians well there are a few things here that really struck me Christ's kingship means we have liberty from the condemning tyranny of the rigor of the law isn't that wonderful we're no longer condemned by the shoulds and shouldn'ts and the law and you know we no longer have to live lives that are just merely moralism we have that freedom

[37:48] Christ's kingship and victory gives us liberty from the legalistic tyranny of man's judgment when we go to work tomorrow or do what we have to do tomorrow if someone's not happy with you unless it's for a specific reason where you've sinned or not done what you should do but you don't have to be enslaved to that we're not men pleasers the kingship of Christ gives us liberty from the enslavement to sin of course we still sin there's still indwelling sin and until we're in glory there will be yet we're not under the dominion and enslavement of sin we have liberty from the persecuting tyranny of the world and we ultimately have freedom and liberty from the tyranny of death this is what Christ's kingship means for us isn't that wonderful and just to take it a little bit further in a sense we as believers are kings we as believers reflect something in a faint way of the kingship of Christ we should have rule over sin in our lives we should have a kind of godly dominion in the spheres that we are in particularly if you are a father or a parent or even if not if you're a grandparent or whatever sphere you are in whether it's just yourself you should have rule and dominion and kingship we should be equipped and empowered for ministry or for service of some degree doesn't mean everyone's doing the same thing but and we all have as has been mentioned the anointing spirit don't we we have the spirit dwelling within us so

[39:34] Christ's kingship is something that has a real application so just going forward then the goodness the last kind of points that Phil made I'm aware of the time the goodness of David does anyone know what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the goodness of David Phil said earlier on I'm emphasizing the word good talking about when David played the harp or lyre for King Saul and I was really struck Phil when you talked about that just being a good thing there was a goodness in that yes yes yes yes because

[40:35] I found that helpful because again when I've read this before I wondered if music's an incredibly powerful thing isn't it I think there's something of that here music does have an incredible kind of effect but there's more going on here that he was just striking some nice notes and the hairs on Saul's back of his neck were just standing up and there was a nice emotional feeling there's something deeper isn't there there's a goodness here that's being spoken of and I really appreciated the way that you tied that in with how the rest of David's ministry does anyone remember what Phil was talking about in terms of other areas where David was showing goodness and Saul was responding in a very different way David was given

[41:47] David died died suffered for his goodness yeah it's one of my son's favourite texts that I think he finds the whole fact that was Saul relieving himself in a cave or something and I think Isaac finds that really yeah but yeah one of the American translations or paraphrases or something says Saul went into the cave to go to the bathroom yes yes but Phil mentioned a passage I don't know if I wrote this down correctly was it in 1 Samuel 19 9 or 24 16 to 17 where even Saul acknowledges he says you have treated me well and I treated you badly 24 17 yeah and again this is a this is just something of

[42:50] David's Christ likeness isn't there there I think your words Phil were there was a pattern of David doing good and Saul doing evil and the real king is a servant for good but suffers and you see that in David's life he's does it say he's kind of running around hiding out in the mountains like a partridge or something you know and he's he's persecuted he's on the run that's really nice I mean because he was doing good all the time and yet the the Pharisees especially they they didn't see that did they it was really quite quite a similar thing can I just mention also one other thing it'll probably come up next week anyway but when David went to bring the sort of food to his brothers the eldest brother said you should be looking after the sheep why have you come down here

[44:03] I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is he had completely the wrong view of him didn't he even though he'd been there presumably at the anointment anointing but people said the same of Christ yeah that's a really helpful observation Jack yeah Phil mentioned where it says somewhere I think it's in the book of Mark the gospel of Mark somewhere where Jesus went around doing good which Jack you've just mentioned and even on the cross he was doing good they hated me without a cause now I thought this was a very profound thing that I'd never thought of it struck me how Saul's spear you were talking about how Saul went to kind of pin David to the wall didn't he when he was kind of having a rather reads like a mental health episode doesn't it Saul that he's Saul's spear missed David but the centurion spear did not miss Jesus

[45:09] I thought that was really something something so yeah that's really the end of my notes if anyone's got anything else they want to add or any other observations but yeah thanks Phil for that really helpful for us to remember that just for me those three things really stirred me that God sees the heart and just and God's chosen king and all that that means you could do a whole series couldn't you on that and then the goodness of David pointing to the goodness of Christ anyone else got any questions or things they want to add or bring well it just occurred to me that David was anointed and the Holy Spirit came upon him and that is how he was able to do Saul good who the Holy Spirit had left you know it was sort of well what you've said really but it just you know underlines the the presence of the Lord does people good yeah it's kind of loving your enemies isn't it because Saul was certainly David's enemy and I thought you know again what does that mean for us how would we apply that as Christians well as Christians we're becoming more and more marginalized people are not going to be so welcome to some of your views you might find there are some times where there may be a little bit of animosity conflict difficulty and it would be tempting to look at people in the world that ostracise us and seek to not do us good to treat them with contempt or to see it in a very combative way but I think what I got from this is actually we need to be more like David don't we you know so I thought if there was someone at work that hates Christians and feels ill towards me because of my views on certain things what am I called to do

[47:18] I'm I'm to treat them with goodness I'm to love my enemy and that doesn't mean there's not forums or arenas where you can challenge things or you know for us to be walked all over but I think that's a challenge isn't it I wonder what would I have been like if I was David and had Saul in the position that he did what would I have done I mean Peter was cut off the servant's ear didn't he and Jesus said put your sword away yeah that's a good point yeah I see I mean is there anything particularly distinctive about Jesus his teaching is that he teaches us not to hate yes it's not that we don't have to disagree with people sometimes we do but but we should do it without hating and that's something the world finds well now impossible yeah when you've got to look at what happens on the streets in the last few days to know that whatever side of the political divide you are that people will hate yeah yeah it's interesting when I in my office

[48:28] I hear people speaking about people that have a different political view or even read a different newspaper i.e. the Daily Mail and not the Guardian they'll speak with absolute hatred about them absolute disdain and bitterness but we as Christians should be different to that shouldn't we Jesus Christ is it to murder yes yeah okay well it's nearly quarter to is there anyone anything else anyone wants to add or bring before we kind of segue into some prayer before we close it would be good to pray before we close are there any kind of matters within the church or anything ending ending ending