Good evening everyone, really good to see everyone here tonight.
As we come towards the end of our studies in 1 Samuel,
we've been going quite a long time in the book,
and I think gained an awful lot from it.
Three more to go, and tonight it's chapter 29.
I want to start with some history.
History can be quite educational for us,
and I want to start with a war that I think has been largely forgotten,
the Spanish Civil War.
I was trying to think what I could remember offhand about the Spanish Civil War.
And I came up with just three facts.
One was it was in the 1930s.
The second was that it brought General Franco into power.
And the third was that George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway were both involved in it
and wrote about it.
Now maybe you can do better than that,
but that was the sum total of my knowledge of the Spanish Civil War
before I researched it.
Actually, it was a long and very difficult conflict
between the Republicans, who were the government of Spain,
and the nationalists, who ultimately were led by General Franco,
who were the revolutionaries.
The nationalists were supported by the Soviet Union,
sorry, the Republicans were supported by the Soviet Union,
and the nationalists, the insurgents, were supported by Italy and Germany,
and probably some tacit support from other Western countries.
Over 200,000 people were killed and fighting,
and another 200,000 were slaughtered.
That wasn't why I was talking about the war.
There's one reason I was talking about the Spanish Civil War,
and there's a term that's come into English from that war,
and the term is fifth columnist, fifth columnist.
During the war, the nationalists were marching on Madrid,
and their soldiers were divided into four,
I suppose four battalions.
They called them four columns.
And General Moyer, who at that time was leading the nationalist troops,
said, when we get to Madrid,
there's a fifth column of our supporters who are in the city,
and they will rise up with us,
and we'll defeat the enemy.
And, of course, that is effectively what happened.
Fifth columnist, people who are loyal to one side,
who are embedded in the other side.
The term became particularly prevalent in the United States
during the Second World War.
Well, in 1 Samuel chapter 29,
the big question that is being asked is,
is David a fifth columnist?
Is David among the Philistines
so that when they go to war against Israel,
he'll rise up against them,
and he'll help Israel defeat those who have given him refuge?
The generals of the Philistines
generally take the view that he is likely to be.
He is an Israelite among us.
He is bound to be on their side
when push comes to shove.
And Achish, the king,
takes the other view,
and he says,
no, he's been very loyal to me.
I have complete confidence in him.
I'm sure over the centuries,
there have been many similar conversations had
in similar kinds of situations.
In fact, neither of them was really right.
This was more muddle than method
in the way David was acting,
and it was probably as big,
certainly as big a problem for him
that he was among the Philistines
as it was for them.
And the story of 1 Samuel 29,
although it's not explicitly said,
is how God rescues David
from the problem that he's got himself into
with the Philistines.
He gives him a way out.
That means he doesn't have to fight
either for or against the Philistines
or the Israelites.
And we'll talk about that
and some thoughts on that for us.
Probably worth a little bit of background, though,
because our series in 1 Samuel
has been a little bit spread out recently.
So just looking through the kind of climax
of 1 Samuel, the last few chapters.
1 Samuel, of course, from about the middle
is largely the story of the interaction
between David and Saul.
Saul, who has been rejected by God
because he was so often disobedient to God's ways.
David is anointed the future king by Samuel.
And then it's largely the story of Saul's jealousy
and how David manages to escape him.
And if we jump forward,
and I think my numbering's wrong there,
so I apologise for that.
That's what PowerPoint does
when you try to do clever things.
In chapter 26, I think it was
that David spared Saul's life.
David was in a prison for the second time
at you kill Saul,
and he decides not to.
And that is the last interaction
that David and Saul have together.
And the rest of the book
kind of intersperses things about David
and things about Saul.
So in chapter 27,
David flees to be with the Philistines.
We'll talk a bit more about that
because it's quite significant
for what we're looking at this evening.
And then in chapter 28,
which we looked at last week with Peter,
we're back to Saul,
and Saul consulting the medium
and getting the news
that he's going to lose the battle,
he's going to be killed in battle.
Chapter 29, which we're looking at this evening,
David avoids fight against Israel.
And then the follow-on from that,
which I think New is taking us to next week,
is how David defeats the Amalekites.
And then the last chapter is back to Saul
and how Saul is defeated in battle and dies.
So our chapter tonight
sits between Saul consulting the medium
and ultimately Saul being defeated.
And actually, the chronology of 1 Samuel,
the timing of it,
what we're looking at this evening
probably took place before the events
that we looked at last Sunday.
The author of 1 Samuel is more concerned
with the narrative
and with the flow of his accounts
and in a sense with keeping the suspense going
as we move through the book
than he is with strict chronology.
But most likely,
the events we're reading at this evening
were before those that we looked at last week.
So what is the background from chapter 27?
It's quite a long time, I think,
since Neil took us through that.
So just a brief reminder of that.
David has taken fright.
He's really concerned that Saul ultimately
is going to be able to kill him.
There's been several attempts
that haven't succeeded.
And David takes fright
and he thinks,
I'm going to go into the Philistines.
I'll be safe there
because Saul won't come and get me.
So he goes with his men
and he makes peace with the king
of the Philistines
and he's given a place in Ziklag
to settle down there.
While he's there,
his army is busy.
They're going out to battle
and David tells Achish the king
they're going to battle
against the Israelites,
against his own people.
In fact, David's taking them out in battle
against the enemies of Israel.
He's deceiving the king.
But he's building up favour
among the Philistines.
He's allowing himself to be there
and to live in peace with them.
And he maybe thinks
he's doing quite well.
Now, Neil, when he was speaking
on chapter 27,
said quite memorably, I think,
that David's plans become
more and more cunning,
convoluted and compromised
as you go through the chapter.
And that's exactly right.
The receipt which he started
at the beginning grows and grows
and David's position goes
more and more from the truth
and the way that he should be.
And in chapter 29,
it looks as if his chickens
have come home to roost.
Because the thing which David
undoubtedly didn't want
was for it to be a battle
between the Philistines
and the Israelites.
He's presented to the Philistines
that he'd come over to their side,
but he is still an Israelite
and he is still ultimately
loyal to Israel.
Albeit that the king
of the Philistines is his friend
and the king of Israel
is his enemy,
nevertheless,
David is ultimately
on the side of God's people
and he has this tremendous problem
that he's expected
to go out with the Philistines
and to fight against the Israelites
and he really doesn't want to.
Now that is all reading
into the chapter,
it's not explicitly said there,
but I'm pretty sure
that's the case.
And David is in a pretty
desperate situation.
If he goes out and fights
with the Philistines
against the Israelites,
then he really destroys
any chance he has
of ultimately becoming
the king of Israel.
If he's fought against
his own people,
against God's people,
what right has he subsequently
to become their king?
On the other hand,
if he turns around
and fights against the Philistines,
he's fighting against the man
who's become his friend,
he's putting his men
and himself in great danger
and that's not a situation
he wants to get into either.
Really, David wants to be
as far away as he can from it.
And it looks as if David's
in an impossible situation.
Last week when Peter was speaking,
he talked about two kinds
of hopeless situations
that we could think about.
One is the hopeless situation
that really is hopeless
and there's a danger
where you're complacent
and don't realise it.
And the other is
the hopeless situation
which looks hopeless to us
but actually isn't hopeless
because God is in control.
Saul in chapter 28
is a good example
of the first kind of situation.
There is no hope for Saul.
He's rejected God.
He's been rejected by God
and he's going to his death.
David in chapter 29
is the hopeless situation
where actually, ultimately,
it's not as hopeless
as he might have thought
because our God is powerful.
Our God is able to work
in what seems like
a hopeless situation to us
and God rescues David from it.
So if we just walk quickly
through the chapter
and then we'll have a few points
that hopefully will have
some practical relevance for us.
So at the beginning of the chapter
and the Philistines
are gathering together,
they're going to war
against Israel.
And this looks as if
everyone thinks
this is the big one.
This is the one
which will decide
which of these nations
is going to prevail.
It's not just a little skirmish
between the two.
This is something
that is really serious
and where there are going
to be very significant outcomes
as indeed there were.
And all the commanders
and rulers of the Philistines,
they come together,
they march together
in front of their king, Achish.
And at the end,
maybe looking a bit sheepish,
are David and his men.
And the Philistine commanders say,
what are they doing here?
Here we've got some Israelites.
Why are we taking them out
and thinking they're going to fight
against their own people?
And Achish says,
no, this isn't just Israelites.
This is David.
David's my friend.
He came over to our side
more than a year ago
and he's been loyal to me
ever since.
And Achish had got some
of the plunder
that David had given,
so David had kind of
curried favour with him.
And Achish believed
that David was loyal.
The Philistine commander said,
no, come on,
be sensible about this.
This is the man
who killed Goliath.
This is the man
who's fought against us.
This is the man
who the Israelites
go around singing about.
They sing about
the number of Philistines
that he's killed,
that he's killed tens of thousands
where Saul has slain his thousands.
He cannot be loyal to you.
Achish doesn't believe them.
But he goes back to David again,
probably rather sheepishly,
and says,
well, my commanders
won't go out to fight with me.
If you're with me,
would you mind going back?
Go back to the city
where you are,
and we'll go out to battle.
Now, I imagine at that point,
David must have been delighted.
Here was his opportunity
to avoid going to battle.
But he plays the game.
He's keeping his deceit going,
and he avows his loyalty
to Achish.
Is there anything
that you can find against me
from when I came
until now?
Why can't I go
and fight?
Now, verse 8
is quite interesting
because he says,
Why can't I go and fight
against the enemies
of my lord,
the king?
Who is my lord,
the king?
Achish thought it was him.
Most commentators
seem to think
actually David
was meaning Saul.
But he obviously
didn't want Achish
to know that.
but that may well
have been what he meant.
If he had to go to battle
when Push came to Shav,
David may well have
turned on the Philistines
and supported the Israelites.
Achish then pleads with him,
and eventually David goes back,
and next week we'll find out
what happened in chapter 30.
It was just as well
they went back
because he came back
to a pretty dreadful situation,
but I won't go into that
this evening.
So that's the story.
What can we learn from it?
Three things
I'd like to take away
this evening.
The first is
God's unchanging purposes.
Way back in chapter 16,
God had led Samuel
to Jesse's family.
Samuel had anointed
David as king,
and from then on
David was going to be king.
Now David did some
pretty silly things,
none more silly
than what we're thinking
about this evening.
He did many,
many good things as well,
but he was God's chosen king,
and God's purpose
wasn't going to change.
And David was rescued
from the Philistines
in this chapter
so that God's purposes
could be fulfilled,
so that God's king
will be the one
who rules over Israel.
Despite all David's failures,
despite all the wrong
that he'd done,
and the silly things
he'd got involved in,
God's purpose
hadn't changed,
and he was leading David
to his ultimate destiny
to be the king
of Israel.
Isn't it good for us
to know
that God's purposes
for us
don't change?
We may be
unfaithful to him,
we may do things
that are very silly,
we may do things
that are very wrong,
but if we are in God's hands,
if our faith is in Christ,
if we are the children of God,
then God's purposes
will be carried out
in our lives.
And ultimately,
we will be made
more like Christ,
ultimately we will be like Christ
when we go
to be with him.
The whole of Scripture
is the story
of how God's purposes
have been worked out
in human history.
And right from the start
of Genesis
to the end of Revelation,
we see the unfolding
of God's plan
and of God's purpose
for our lives.
And at times,
people in Scripture
have been able
to look back
and they can say,
I didn't understand
at the time
what was going on,
but now I see
what God's purpose was.
Great example of that
is Joseph.
Joseph in the Old Testament,
he's sold into slavery
by his brothers
and he goes down further
as he's unjustly accused
and put into prison.
And then as he rises up
and has become
the second in command
to Pharaoh
and his brothers come
and they're seeking
his forgiveness,
Joseph can forgive them
because he said,
you meant it for evil,
but God meant it for good.
God was fulfilling
his good purpose
even at the time
when you were
going against his will
and when it seemed
there was no good
that could come of it.
Young people in
Kids Church at the moment
are looking at
the book of Job
and right at the end
of the book of Job
having really wrestled
with all the things
he'd been inflicted with,
the loss of his riches,
the loss of his family,
the loss of his health
and really struggled
to understand
God's purposes in it.
Job says in chapter 42,
I know that you can do
all things,
no purpose of yours
can be thwarted.
Let's take confidence
in that this evening,
that whatever happens
to us in life,
whatever difficulties
we go through,
if we're in God's hands,
we can have the confidence
that he will work things
for what is best for us,
that his purposes
ultimately will be fulfilled.
God's purposes don't change
and despite human frailty
and failure,
he will bring them about.
Second thing I think
we can learn from this chapter
is about God's unexpected servants.
One of the books I read
had as the heading
for his commentary
in this chapter,
accepting the Philistines
as your personal saviour.
Now obviously he's trying
to be a bit funny
in doing that,
I'm not sure it worked that well,
but it got the point across
that it was the Philistines
through whom God worked
to fulfil his purposes.
It was these leaders
who were so against Israel
and against David
and yet through them
God brought about
what he intended.
He saved his servant David
from having to get
into that situation
where he's fighting
against his own people
or turning against those
who had given him refuge.
And as we read
through the Old Testament,
particularly in the New Testament
as well,
particularly Old Testament,
we see time and again
how God uses those
who have no knowledge of him
and no desire to serve him,
but he uses them
to help fulfil his purposes.
Particularly as the Israelites
fail time and time again
and God wants to discipline them
for their sin.
It is the nations round about,
these heathen, pagan nations
who have no respect
for the God of Israel
and worship their own false gods.
They are the ones
whom God uses as his servants,
as those who will bring about
his purposes.
And when we come to
the New Testament
and we come to the death
of the Lord Jesus,
that was God's purpose
that Christ should die.
And those evil men,
Judas,
the leaders of the Jews,
the Romans and so on,
those who brought about
the death of the Lord Jesus,
they were also bringing about
God's purpose
and making sure
that his will was done.
God uses unexpected people,
often godless people,
to bring about his purposes.
And we need to be very careful
that we don't limit
what God can do
or who God can use.
We would generally think
the people that God uses
are those who are spiritual,
who are godly,
who follow the Lord Jesus closely
and are really committed to him.
And God does use such people
clearly in many, many ways.
But our God is so big
and so great
and so wise
that he can use
even the most unexpected people
for his glory.
It's a little story.
I don't know if it's true,
but it's quite amusing.
There was a woman
who was very poor
and also was very godly,
a Christian woman.
And at one stage,
she got to the point
where she had no food
in her house.
And so she prayed to God
that he would provide
for her needs.
Now as this happens,
this woman had a neighbour
who wasn't a Christian,
who was an atheist,
had no interesting
Christian things
and she heard the woman praying.
And she thought,
I can play a little trick
on her here.
So what she did
was she went out
and bought some bread
and she put it in the doorstep
and waited for the Christian woman
to come out and find it.
Of course, when she came out,
she was full of thanksgiving
to God that he had answered
her prayer
and that he had provided
for her needs.
Another woman came and said,
sorry, you've got it wrong.
It wasn't God who provided.
It was me.
And the Christian woman
immediately retorted,
no, it was God who provided.
He just used the devil
to do it.
I thought that was
quite an interesting story.
I don't know if it's true or not,
but it actually illustrates
the point
that very often people
do things
and they don't necessarily
do them for the right reasons.
And yet God
can use them.
And that must be
an encouragement to us as well.
An encouragement
that God can use
even people like you
and me.
We are all flawed.
We have all failed.
We have all done things
we shouldn't
and not done things
we should.
We've done some very silly things.
And we,
I'm sure most of us
and not all of us,
feel really unworthy
to be used
as God's servants.
And yet we are
the kind of people
whom God
chooses
to use.
Many of God's servants
in the scriptures
who are most fruitful
in their ministry
were people who say,
well,
how could they ever
be used by God?
Jonah.
Jonah who turned
into a great missionary
who turned a whole city
around
to worshipping God.
and yet only did that
after he'd run away
and been swallowed
by the fish
and been really chastened
by God.
Peter who failed
time and time again
so impetuous
so full of himself
and so in many ways
quite arrogant
and proud
of his own capabilities
until the Lord's crucifixion.
Peter then becomes humble
and becomes used by God
as the one who
the day of Pentecost
preached this sermon
where thousands of people
come to know Christ.
And we can think of
lots of other examples.
Never limit the ways
in which God
can use you
and don't feel
because you're inadequate
and we all are
that God can't use us.
And that's not an excuse
to keep on doing
what we feel like
and thinking God
will use us anyway.
We really want to be like Christ
and to grow more like him
in our lives.
But don't think
because you've failed
in your life
because you've not
followed God
or worked for him
as you should have
that he's not able
to use you.
God uses
the most unexpected people
as his servants.
And then finally,
I think this chapter
brings to us
God's unlimited grace.
Because it's all about
the grace of God
to David,
isn't it?
That David has messed up
and God
takes him out
of that situation
because of his grace.
David deserved
nothing
but what he would have got
had he had to go out
with the Philistines
and face that dilemma.
He got himself
into a mess
and he deserved
to bear the consequences
of that mess.
Instead,
God acts in the situation,
acts through
these Philistine commanders
and he lets David away
with no stainless character,
no dilemma at the end
to face
and able to go on then
and to serve God
and to be king.
And that's a reminder to us,
isn't it,
of the unlimited grace
that God has for us.
Yes, we fail time
and time again.
Yes, we're sinful
and will be sinful
for as long
as we live
on this earth.
But our God's grace
is greater
than our sin
and his forgiveness
is greater
than our failure.
Isn't it great
for what we're thinking
of this morning,
there's no condemnation
condemnation
for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
However bad we are,
however bad we've been,
because of the grace of God
and his love for us,
then we have forgiveness
if we know Jesus
as Saviour.
Jesus has taken
our punishment,
taken our place
on the cross
and because of that
we are forgiven
even as we continue
to sin.
Not that we should
deliberately sin,
that's our last part,
the argument of Paul
in Romans,
we don't sin
so that grace
may abound more.
We want to become
more like Jesus
and to live lives
of holiness.
And yet we know
that when we do fall,
when we confess
our sins,
he is faithful
and just
and he forgives
us our sins
and cleanses us
from all
unrighteousness.
Now in this situation,
David got away,
as I said earlier,
scot-free.
He didn't have to face
the consequences
of his failure.
Now that's not
always the case.
Even when we are
forgiven by God,
sometimes there are
still consequences
we need to face
and a great example
of that is David
in 2 Samuel.
David in 2 Samuel
where he goes wrong
and is adultery
with Bathsheba
and then the murder
of Uriah
and he's brought up
by Nathan
who points out
his sin
and David
is thinking
I'm going to be
punished by God
for this
I'm going to die
because of what
I've done
and Nathan says
no you won't die
God is gracious
God is forgiving
but there will be
consequences.
First consequence
was the death
of the baby
that came out
of the union
and then further
consequence
down the line
in terms of
David's family
ending up
tearing itself
apart.
And for us too
sometimes there will
be consequences
of our sin.
Even though
we've been forgiven
even though
we've experienced
the grace of God
to some extent
we may still
have to live
in this world
with the consequences
of what we've done.
And perhaps some of us
are in that situation
this evening
that there are things
in our past
that we look back on
and they're still
causing problems
in our lives
in our families
in our relationships
or whatever.
But even if we're
in that situation
it's good to know
as David did
that when the sin
was confessed
and when forgiveness
was sought
God's grace
was unlimited.
And even though
the consequences
would come
still the forgiveness
was there
the grace
had been
experienced.
I think that
should be one
of the great things
we take away
from both morning
and evening today.
The grace
of God
for us.
As we're thinking
this morning
the work
of the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit
in our lives
and the great
relationships
we have with them
and the way
that they can
help us
through day-to-day life.
And this evening
as we thought
of the grace
that David experienced
and the thing
that he got
from God
this freedom
that he didn't deserve
let's rejoice
that that is
our experience too
and let's
be aware
this week
of the grace
of God
in our lives
as we seek
to serve him
and follow him.
I want to end
by reading a verse
of one of my
favourite songs
about grace
it's one we have
sung in the church
in the past
though not for
quite a long time
but I think
it's really powerful
and let's just
soak in these words
as we meditate
on God's
goodness to us.
It says
grace unmeasured
vast and free
that knew me
from eternity
that called me
out before my birth
to bring you
glory on this earth
grace amazing
pure and deep
that saw me
in my misery
that took my curse
and owned my blame
so I could bear
your righteous name
grace paid for my sins
and brought me to life
grace clothes me
with power
to do what is right
grace will lead me
to heaven
where I'll see
your face
and I'll never
cease to thank you
for your grace.
Let's pray together.
Our Father
we thank you
for your word
to us this evening.
We thank you
that although
it is about
a different time
and a very
different situation
from what
most of us
are likely to face
yet it is so
relevant and
meaningful to us.
we thank you
that you are
the God
who fulfills
your purposes
and whose purpose
can never be thwarted
even as we may
do silly
and sinful things.
We thank you
that you are
the God
who can use
even us
flawed
and unspiritual
in many ways
as we are
yet you are
the God
who is willing
to use your servants
and even at times
to use those
who wouldn't
own your name
to fulfil
your purposes.
And we thank you
above all
that you are
a God of grace
that as we have
failed
so you sent
your son
to deal
with that failure
as we should
have been condemned
so your son
came and took
our place
and took
our punishment.
Help us
to marvel
in your grace
daily
as we come
to you
as we
confess our sins
and as we know
that our sins
are forgiven
through the death
of the Lord Jesus.
We thank you
for your word
to us this evening.
We pray that you
will help us
through this week
to live as those
who are followers
of the Lord Jesus
and to serve him well
and to witness
to others
about him.
We give you our thanks
in his name.
Amen.