WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.359 Okay, if you do have your Bible on the phone or if you have your Bible in hard copy, please 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:15.720 look up 1 Samuel 24, and we're going to look at this story and try and bring God's Word 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:19.240 into our lives through that study. 00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:23.400 And I have to say I wrestled with this passage, and quite often we'd wrestle with passages 00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:24.920 similar to this. 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:29.960 It's difficult sometimes to look at a situation like this, so different from our own situation, 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:39.359 in many ways, and to recognize its relevance and significance and not just the context, 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:44.439 but to take it from its context also and apply it into our own lives, because we believe 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:49.799 that Bible is God's living Word, and every part of it is important for us. 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:52.240 So it's really important that we do that tonight. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.520 But it's also really important that you do that and that I do that all the time with 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:02.560 the Bible, that we meditate on it, that we listen to it, that we pray about it, and when 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:09.280 we don't understand it, we don't just kind of write it off, but that we find ourselves 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.719 challenged to ask the question, well, what is God saying through this? 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:19.879 And that will happen hopefully in sermons, but sermons can only really be kind of a 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:20.879 taster. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:21.879 They can only... 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:26.839 They're never a substitute for you opening God's Word, for me opening God's Word and 00:01:26.839 --> 00:01:29.199 meditating and praying over it. 00:01:29.199 --> 00:01:36.519 And we always are taking God's Word, and I hope, asking Him to reveal Himself to us 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:41.319 in it, even though the situations that we find ourselves in and that they were in and 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:44.679 David was in, it is very different from us. 00:01:44.679 --> 00:01:51.359 But I think in a passage like this, in a chapter like this, there's the outworking of at least 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.239 three very important Bible truths. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:58.000 The first one being that God's mind doesn't work like ours. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.920 Isaiah 55 says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:03.920 declares the Lord. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:04.920 As high as... 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.120 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:09.120 than your thoughts. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:12.319 That's always really important when we're coming to the Bible. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.879 Otherwise, just God is just like us. 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:17.120 He's just one of us, or just maybe a wee bit better than us. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:23.800 But He is God, and He is different from us, and it's important for us to remember that. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:26.840 Especially maybe when it comes to understanding a little bit more about the nature and the 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:33.439 existence of evil in the world, and God's purposes through that. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.280 Because very often, it doesn't conform to our norm. 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:40.400 If we were God, we would do things very differently. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.980 We would act in a different way, surely. 00:02:42.979 --> 00:02:47.679 We often maybe have the argument put to us, well, if God is all powerful, why doesn't 00:02:47.679 --> 00:02:50.719 He do something about evil? 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:55.560 Or if He's all powerful, He can't be all loving, and if He's all loving, He can't be all powerful. 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:57.879 Why does He allow evil to flourish? 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:05.120 What is a Ukrainian Christian family thinking today, as opposed to two weeks ago, 14 days 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.239 ago, and what's happening in their lives? 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:13.600 What are they doing with the reality of evil that they are facing absolutely, brutally 00:03:13.600 --> 00:03:14.600 in their lives? 00:03:14.600 --> 00:03:21.439 So, we always come to a passage like this, which does deal with evil, and a terrible 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.320 way that Saul is acting. 00:03:25.320 --> 00:03:28.640 And David was given the opportunity to deal with that evil. 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:31.439 Why didn't David do something? 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:38.840 Why didn't David deal with Saul at this opportunity that he had, when his men even said, look, 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:41.439 this is God's promised outworking. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.599 You're the next king. 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:43.719 You've been the anointed one. 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:45.199 God has rejected Saul. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:48.759 This is your opportunity to get rid of him, surely. 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:50.319 He's determined to kill you. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.079 If you don't kill him, he will kill you. 00:03:54.079 --> 00:03:58.199 The relentless pursuit will never stop. 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:00.759 Why didn't David do something about it here? 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:05.719 What is behind this story? 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:12.079 And if we read on in the next chapter, and then in the chapter after that, we find out 00:04:12.079 --> 00:04:20.199 that Saul went after David again, and Saul, and David spared Saul again. 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:24.879 And it brings me to the second big truth from Scripture that may be applied into the story 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:26.879 as we look at it. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:32.000 Where Jesus says, you have heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.240 But I tell you, love your enemies. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.439 Pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.800 He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:44.920 the unrighteous. 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:50.480 So Jesus tells his centuries later to love our enemies. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.939 And we know that David is a man after God's heart, God's own heart. 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:59.199 We know that David is chosen to be the next king, imperfect though he is. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:03.160 But his heart motive was to love the Lord and to serve the Lord. 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:09.079 And even when he failed in that, what he did was he confessed his failure, repented and 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.639 turned from it and was changed. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:21.800 But here we have surely circumstances for this man of God, this follower of the Lord. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:26.560 Surely the circumstances he found himself in brought him, brought conflict into his own 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:33.319 experience and great pain because he loved Saul. 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.639 Saul was kind of like a dad to him. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.040 Jonathan was like a brother to him. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.160 There was a deep bond of love between that family. 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:45.639 David wasn't a member of that family. 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:48.560 He made a covenant we saw last time with Jonathan. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.199 He was loyal to the king. 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.000 He loved Saul. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.479 He knew that Saul was anointed by God. 00:05:55.479 --> 00:05:59.199 And yet the circumstances were dreadful that he found himself in. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.519 Where was the blessing for David in this situation? 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:05.480 Because we see two things happening in the story. 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:13.519 One is that David is opposed and then we also see that David had an opportunity to do something 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.680 about it. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.560 So we see from the story that he's being opposed by Saul and it seems strange, doesn't it? 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.160 Because David is God's anointed. 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:29.000 David in the previous chapter is fighting for God's people against the Philistines with 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:36.360 God's blessing and he's fighting under King Saul. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.160 And yet Saul hates him. 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.160 Saul is jealous of him. 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.000 Saul wants rid of him. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.319 Saul is pursuing him. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.879 And it seemed that all the circumstances, and if you go back sometime and read the previous 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:55.959 chapter, chapter 23, it does seem that all the circumstances seemed against David. 00:06:55.959 --> 00:07:00.040 And Saul was closing in on him. 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.240 A bit like what's happening in Ukraine just now. 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:07.480 All the forces of Saul, Saul took thousands and thousands of men and they were just coming 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:08.839 closer and closer to David. 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.920 And David was going to have no chance of escape. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:17.680 And then just at the end of that chapter, the last minute, the Philistines were attacking 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:23.879 another place and Saul had to take all his armies and David was provided with a way out 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:28.800 by God in that circumstance. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.960 But here it happens again. 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:32.960 Saul comes back to pursue David again. 00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:36.520 Now, there's lots of things going on here, but one of the things that's definitely going 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:42.319 on with this opposition is an unseen battle. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:48.519 There's an unseen battle happening between good and evil, between God's chosen seed and 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:51.240 between Satan who wants to destroy God's seed. 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:55.000 Because we know, don't we, from the beginning of Genesis, that God promised a seed of the 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:00.919 woman would come and would crush the serpent's head pointing forward to the victory of Jesus 00:08:00.919 --> 00:08:01.919 Christ. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:09.600 And under the Old Testament, we have this invisible battle going on where Satan is seeking 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:16.080 to destroy the line of Jesus, the genealogy of Jesus, the people of God, so that this 00:08:16.080 --> 00:08:21.200 Messiah will not come and he brings chaos as a result. 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:26.080 And that's part of the opposition that David is facing. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:32.600 And Saul is maybe an unwitting instrument of the evil one in seeking to destroy David. 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:40.279 But then in this story that we have, an interesting story, David has an opportunity, you think, 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:44.159 to take the kingship from Saul in this cave. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:46.000 Surely that was God's will. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:53.799 Surely all the circumstances pointed towards this being what God wanted to happen. 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:58.559 And that was the powerful argument that his men were saying, look, God has promised you 00:08:58.559 --> 00:08:59.559 the kingdom. 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.039 God, He's brought your enemy into your hand. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:09.000 This is your opportunity now to take over the kingdom. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:14.199 And I guess, so I think probably David was tempted because we're told in verse, in some 00:09:14.199 --> 00:09:18.799 of the early verses, one of the early verses that he, so what happens, what happens because 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:23.779 it's very down to earth, it's very, Saul goes into the cave because he needs the toilet. 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:26.079 Probably goes in to rest as well. 00:09:26.079 --> 00:09:29.319 It doesn't say that, but it does say he goes in to relieve himself. 00:09:29.319 --> 00:09:34.480 And so he went into the toilet and in all probability he was there for quite a while, 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:42.759 maybe resting in the cool of the cave while his men, his great fighting men were outside. 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:48.240 And it was told that David, the men said, there's Saul, get him now. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.439 Probably because he was resting by this point and sleeping. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:55.520 And David possibly was tempted, he went up with his sword. 00:09:55.520 --> 00:10:00.760 But when he went there, what he did was he simply cut off a corner of Saul's robe, his 00:10:00.760 --> 00:10:01.760 kingly robe. 00:10:01.760 --> 00:10:07.200 Now you might, you might say, the only reason he did that was to later on go, now, see what 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.600 I did, see, I could have killed you, but I didn't. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:10.600 And that's true. 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:16.040 But there was also a symbolic act in that because there was, it was symbolic of seizing 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:22.879 the power and seizing the rights of kingship by cutting off the robe, by destroying that 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:23.879 corner of the robe. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:28.039 It was a, it would have been seen as a symbolic act by David in so doing. 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:32.480 It was almost saying, I'm not going to kill you here, Saul, but I'm telling you that I'm 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.079 going to take over the kingship. 00:10:34.079 --> 00:10:40.199 And that's, I think, why a few verses later that he's convicted in verse five, he says, 00:10:40.199 --> 00:10:43.559 you know, then David arose and cut off the corner. 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.359 But afterwards David's heart struck him. 00:10:46.359 --> 00:10:48.759 Just, he was, well, why was he convicted? 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.119 Why did his conscience trouble him about that? 00:10:52.119 --> 00:10:55.399 Because he thought even that was a step too far. 00:10:55.399 --> 00:11:02.519 It was a step too far to stand against the Lord's anointing, because he recognized Saul 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:07.559 was still the Lord's anointed, even though the Lord was going to turn his back on him. 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:14.959 It wasn't up to David to grab the kingdom, he had to wait until God's time. 00:11:14.959 --> 00:11:16.079 God would remove him. 00:11:16.079 --> 00:11:18.919 He had been given no command by God to destroy Saul. 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.639 He had to wait for and had to wait on Lord's timing. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:23.639 He had no evil. 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:28.399 We're told that in the chapter, no verse 13, no evil in his heart towards Saul at all. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:29.399 He loved Saul. 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:33.159 He was loyal and obedient. 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:37.039 And so he felt even convicted that he cut off the corner of the robe, which was a kind 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:43.559 of, in a sense, an act of treachery against the king. 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:45.959 He loved Saul despite Saul's behavior. 00:11:45.959 --> 00:11:47.719 He was a servant to Saul. 00:11:47.719 --> 00:11:53.480 And he protected Saul's men, his own men from Saul in verse 17. 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:58.719 He said, the Lord, so David persuaded his men with his word did not permit them to attack 00:11:58.719 --> 00:11:59.719 Saul. 00:11:59.719 --> 00:12:01.039 It's a really strong word that's used there. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.360 So they held them back, saying, no way, you're not going to do anything. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:10.000 And they almost he had to physically stop them from taking this opportunity of getting 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:15.639 rid of the evil king, Saul. 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:21.519 And through this, he was revealing that he trusted God and trusted God's timing. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.080 And he trusted God to be the one who would judge evil. 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:30.080 In verse 12, he speaks about being the one who trusts in God. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:33.840 You know, may the Lord judge between me and between you. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:38.280 And then in verse 15, may the Lord therefore be judged and give sentence between me and 00:12:38.280 --> 00:12:39.280 you. 00:12:39.280 --> 00:12:40.960 He knew that God would deliver him. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.320 He trusted in God. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:48.519 And he trusted that God would deal with evil in God's time. 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:57.200 And more than that, he even promised to protect Saul's family line at the end of that chapter 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:03.160 when Saul pleads that he would protect his family line. 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:05.279 He loved Saul. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:12.199 He loved his enemy in the way that Jesus called his followers to. 00:13:12.199 --> 00:13:14.639 But he certainly wasn't naive either. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.519 David swore this to Saul last verse. 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:17.519 Then Saul went home. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:19.319 Did David go home with him? 00:13:19.319 --> 00:13:20.319 Not a chance. 00:13:20.319 --> 00:13:23.240 David and his men went up to the stronghold. 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:29.759 So while they recognized what was happening and recognize God's hand, he wasn't naive 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.759 and he didn't go and pretend everything was rosy in the garden. 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:41.159 So that's the second biblical principle that we take from this story about loving our enemies. 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:46.879 The third, I think comes from 2 Corinthians 7.10, Godly sorrow brings repentance that 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:51.399 leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:55.080 And we see that, I think, in Saul himself. 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:58.080 Because Saul was regretful. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.320 You read that in the last few verses, Romans verses 16 to 20. 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:03.879 You know, he wept and he was sad. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.400 You're so much more righteous than me, David. 00:14:07.400 --> 00:14:12.520 You've done the right thing and please forgive me. 00:14:12.520 --> 00:14:17.120 He's the very opposite of David in many ways because they're tears of exposure. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:22.560 He's been exposed before all his men and there's a degree of humiliation as David comes out 00:14:22.560 --> 00:14:26.520 and confronts him in front of all his men. 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:34.840 And that kind of exposure from of his behavior happened several times in Saul's life, which 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:36.120 you've read before. 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:43.720 He was remorseful, especially about being found out and the darkness of his motive being 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:45.919 exposed. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:51.960 And the torn robe that David, you know, the little bit of robe that David showed him saying, 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:53.799 look, I could have killed you today and I didn't. 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:55.720 I just cut off this bit of the robe. 00:14:55.720 --> 00:15:07.519 Just have reminded him of a previous intervention between himself and Samuel when he was told 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.800 that he wasn't going to be God's anointing. 00:15:09.800 --> 00:15:15.360 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe and it tore because 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.759 Samuel had told him that he was no longer to be the king. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.720 Samuel the prophet said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:27.960 and has given it into one of your neighbors to one better than you. 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:32.120 He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind for he's not a human being 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:34.639 that he should change his mind. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:44.519 And just as Saul grabbed the hem of his robe and tore it, so David tore the hem of Saul's 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:49.720 robe and tore it and it must have reminded him of this prophecy that the kingdom was 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:55.680 being taken from him and given to one who was better than he was. 00:15:55.680 --> 00:16:01.240 He recognized David's righteousness but he cared more about his name than anything. 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:06.279 Just, he said, just don't let my name be forgotten, Saul says. 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:08.680 But he doesn't change. 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:13.279 Two chapters later, he's got another 3,000 men. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.040 He's sworn to kill David. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:20.599 He's breathing out evil against David and wants him destroyed his life. 00:16:20.599 --> 00:16:22.360 He's like a bit like a spoiled child. 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:29.120 His life was all about himself and his popularity, his position, but his motives were wrong in 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.879 his life and heart. 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:39.959 So we have that threefold truths, I guess, from Scripture about true repentance and also 00:16:39.959 --> 00:16:44.039 about forgiving our enemies and about God's ways not being our ways. 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.519 How can we see God as He is? 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.039 How can we love our enemies in the way that God commands us to? 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:57.159 How can we repent and change as He wants us to do in that passage from Corinthians? 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:05.000 Because of the greater Son of David, because of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:15.160 The one who is in the... David was in the genealogy of this great King and whose footsteps 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:20.160 he followed Jesus being the greater Son of David. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:28.000 Because remember, Jesus, just like David here, Jesus was also given the opportunity to take 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:29.960 the kingdom a different way. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:35.279 He rejected the temptation to a shortcut to the throne. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:39.440 Remember when he was in the desert? 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:43.640 His temptation and the devil said to him, took him to a very high mountain and showed 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:45.400 him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:48.400 All this I will give to you, said if you'll bow down and worship me. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.680 You don't need to go the cross. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.200 Jesus said to him, away from me Satan. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:57.759 So it's written, worship the Lord and serve Him only. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:01.200 Jesus had already been in obscurity for 30 years. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:03.200 He was hungry. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:09.599 He was facing the future and the cross and facing all that he had to face. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.879 And he knew they'd be suffering. 00:18:12.879 --> 00:18:19.640 Knew they'd be a battle, but he knew that there was no crown without a cross. 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:21.519 And he invoked God's word. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:22.960 He rejected a shortcut. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.400 Just as David had rejected a shortcut to the throne here. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:34.160 So Jesus did because he recognized that if he had given in to Satan then, and death would 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:38.400 have won. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:45.000 But David, Jesus also rejected demanding justice at the expense of love. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.080 Because David could have in a sense claimed justice here. 00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:53.519 He could have claimed that it was his right to take Saul who was seeking to destroy his 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.380 life and it would have been a just act. 00:18:56.380 --> 00:18:58.360 But he loved Saul. 00:18:58.360 --> 00:19:03.440 And in loving Saul, he was loving his enemies because his heart was right with God. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:08.960 And so Jesus is also the same. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:15.360 Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before the crucifixion, put your sword back 00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:18.640 in its place, he said to Peter. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:20.880 For those who draw the sword will die by the sword. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.720 Do you think I cannot call on my father and he will at once put at my disposal 12 legions 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:26.720 of angels? 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:34.480 How then would the Scripture be fulfilled that we say it must happen this way? 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:42.680 Jesus couldn't fight evil and be just at the expense of his mission which was to love 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:45.039 and to rescue his people. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:52.000 He could have called on 12 legions of angels at that point and been utterly and entirely 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.480 just in so doing. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:01.920 It couldn't dovetail with his love and his desire that his love and his justice would 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:06.480 meet on the cross, the only place where it can meet. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:14.599 And that reveals to us at least partly the answer to the problem of evil which is always 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:16.000 difficult, isn't it? 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:22.599 But the cross is God's only and ultimate answer to evil's reign. 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:27.119 You know, when we have all these questions about darkness and evil which will remain 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:32.240 for us, whether we see it in the universe or whether it's in our own hearts and when 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:37.039 people talk about specific evil, why doesn't God stop it? 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.559 Why doesn't God stop putting in what He's doing at the moment? 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.119 There's no easy answers to that. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:50.000 But what we do believe is that what Jesus did on the cross is the only possible place 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:55.839 for God's justice and God's love to be satisfied. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:01.079 It's the only place, it's the only place that He could redeem us and buy us back. 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:08.759 It's the only place that His justice is satisfied and that evil is ultimately defeated and will 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:13.920 therefore be destroyed. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:18.519 The resurrection is that great hope for us. 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:23.519 And so we see in the cross, we go back to that first verse we looked at, that His ways 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:28.839 are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:32.839 Nobody would make up the cross as the answer. 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:39.519 Nobody would do that because it's unique that we have a God who comes to us in the person 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:47.359 of Jesus and who faces all the darkness of evil and is patiently teaching through His 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:55.599 life and then witnessing through His death that He loves us more than we can ever begin 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.720 to imagine. 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:08.640 So a response then to this greater King, King Jesus, as Christians is to live as children 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:13.600 of the King and become like our King. 00:22:13.600 --> 00:22:21.519 And that means if we shadow into this passage here, it means that we must let Him into our 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:26.440 heart in the way that Saul didn't. 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:32.960 Saul is a warning to us, he was remorseful, he was religious, he was privileged, he talked 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:39.400 a good game but he didn't let God into his heart to change it. 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:43.600 And you have to ask the question and I have to ask the question, are we letting God into 00:22:43.600 --> 00:22:48.680 our heart to the darkest place, the place that needs His light? 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:53.640 Do we entrust ourselves to Him even when we don't understand the evil that we might be 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:58.680 experiencing, the circumstances that might militate against us believing in a loving 00:22:58.680 --> 00:22:59.680 God? 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:05.080 You know, David could have thought, well, where in earth is God now? 00:23:05.080 --> 00:23:06.240 Where's all the promises? 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.400 Come on, God. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:15.560 But he trusted because God had transformed his heart and he believed in the God of love 00:23:15.560 --> 00:23:16.560 and grace. 00:23:16.560 --> 00:23:20.000 It's the only hope that we have in suffering. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:28.680 And I mean, encouraging and challenging us all to move beyond the shallows. 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:33.160 And the challenge is also to obey, isn't it, even when we're tempted not to? 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:38.799 When all the circumstances around us and maybe all the people around us say, don't do that, 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:41.599 don't obey, don't be ridiculous. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:46.759 Surely God doesn't want you to do this, that or the other. 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:54.000 The only way we can obey Him when we're tempted not to is to know His mind, to know His word, 00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:01.079 to recognize there's no shortcuts in God's timing and to look for His hand through the 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:03.519 suffering and trust Him. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:08.079 There's no shortcut to knowing God's promises through His word. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:11.559 You know, I said that at the beginning about wrestling with Scripture. 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:12.559 We need to do that. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.559 It's not just ABC and everything simple. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:21.839 We need to wrestle with God's word and God's truth and know His promises lean on Him and 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:27.039 go to Him, wait for Him and wait on Him. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:29.440 And these are tough days to do that. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:36.879 I don't suggest for a moment it's not, it's easy to believe and it's easy to understand 00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:38.960 or understand or accept what's happening in the world. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.440 We cry out for the oppressor to be dealt with. 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:48.920 We cry out for justice, but we still live to forgive our enemies. 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:49.920 We must love our enemies. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.360 That is the third thing we learn. 00:24:52.360 --> 00:24:53.759 It's so easy, isn't it? 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.240 In our own little lives, to pay back evil for evil, to be revengeful. 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:04.680 I sat slobbed out last night before going to bed and watched a film that I'd watched 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:11.799 several times before because it appeals to me and it's called Shooter. 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:20.720 And it's just a silly film, but it's a film that's just full of good old fashioned revenge. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.240 And you know, that appeals to us, doesn't it? 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:29.359 That the bad guy gets done in at the end and the good guy does all these ridiculous things 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:33.599 and manages to, you know, wipe the whole slate clean. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:38.599 Ludacris shouldn't really watch these films. 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.639 But that isn't that, that's within us, isn't it? 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.560 That desire for revenge. 00:25:42.560 --> 00:25:44.360 But sometimes it's more than that. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:46.840 It's also a desire for justice. 00:25:46.840 --> 00:25:50.520 We want to see good prevailing over evil. 00:25:50.520 --> 00:25:58.120 But as Christians, we are called to walk a different road, a road that is not about revenge, 00:25:58.120 --> 00:26:07.160 but is a road about trusting God and His justice and that He will be the one who will deal. 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:11.160 This is God's, He will repay. 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:16.200 And it means that together, even with our brothers and sisters who sometimes we think 00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:21.720 are our enemies, maybe because of what they say or what they do, we're to be honest with 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:22.720 them. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:23.720 David was honest with Saul. 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:27.440 You know, David didn't sugar-soap what was happening. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:29.320 He told Saul, look, Saul, you're doing crazy. 00:26:29.320 --> 00:26:30.320 What are you doing this for? 00:26:30.320 --> 00:26:31.320 You're doing this. 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:33.120 This is wrong. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:38.639 And he brought conviction into Saul's life and sometimes we need to be like that as we 00:26:38.639 --> 00:26:42.479 love one another and even love those that maybe we think are our enemies. 00:26:42.479 --> 00:26:43.919 Doesn't mean that we're naive. 00:26:43.919 --> 00:26:44.919 David wasn't naive. 00:26:44.919 --> 00:26:47.799 He wasn't a doormat. 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:53.679 He spoke the truth into Saul's life and we need to speak the truth and live the truth 00:26:53.679 --> 00:26:57.239 into our own lives and into the lives of one another. 00:26:57.239 --> 00:26:59.759 But we must love our enemies. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:00.959 We love our enemies. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:03.279 We love those who persecute us. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:05.240 We show them a different path. 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.340 We don't want revenge. 00:27:06.340 --> 00:27:08.600 We don't want God to bring down justice. 00:27:08.600 --> 00:27:11.000 Bring down fire on them for our sakes. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:18.279 We want them to turn to know and love Jesus also because that is how God has treated us. 00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:27.079 And lastly, we do what we do do is we call out to God for justice. 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:32.039 If God isn't just in the whole thing's a bogey, isn't it? 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:37.639 God is just and we stand up and recognize that God stands up for the truth. 00:27:37.639 --> 00:27:38.639 We cry. 00:27:38.639 --> 00:27:40.399 You know, I read that Psalm at the beginning. 00:27:40.399 --> 00:27:41.399 These difficult Psalms. 00:27:41.399 --> 00:27:50.559 We read them and we understand them because we see that it's right to cry out against 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:52.559 what's happening. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:57.919 Psalm 57, for example, speaks about this David is crying out for justice and it says that 00:27:57.919 --> 00:28:01.759 he did that during the time that Saul was pursuing him. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.559 It's not that he found this easy. 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:06.799 It's not that he didn't question what was going on. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:07.799 He cried out to God. 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:09.799 He said, what's going on, God? 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:11.319 Deal with it, please. 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:12.720 Bring justice. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:16.079 And that we cry out to God in justice. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:21.960 And we do so with the confidence of crying out to our risen Savior who's defeated death 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:29.400 and who has acted utterly and completely injustice and in love on the cross, but will one day 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:32.480 return to destroy evil. 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:40.799 It will be utterly annihilated from this universe that Corey mentioned this morning. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:46.880 And the new heavens and the new earth will be ours, injustice and love. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:48.360 And that's what we hope for. 00:28:48.360 --> 00:28:51.640 And that's what we believe in. 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:58.759 So you're broken maybe tonight by the ongoing reality of evil around us and maybe sometimes 00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:06.640 inside us, the only place we can go is to Jesus and to cry out for His help, His forgiveness, 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:09.080 His justice and His love. 00:29:09.080 --> 00:29:13.600 That's why we celebrate the Lord's Supper because it's just that great reminder to us 00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:19.920 of who Jesus Christ, the greater David is, the great shepherd of the sheep, the King 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:23.759 of kings who we love and serve. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:30.880 So please consider these kind of chapters which sometimes seem a little bit distant from our 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:37.200 culture and our understanding and remind ourselves that God was dealing with real people in 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.480 the Old Testament a long time ago, just like us, and that He was revealing Himself through 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:48.880 them and pointing forward to the great Redeemer, Jesus Christ, that we look back and that we 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.600 invite into our hearts and lives. 00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:52.600 Amen. 00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:55.160 I'll pray briefly. 00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:58.920 Lord God, help us to know You and love You better. 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:00.040 We pray. 00:30:00.040 --> 00:30:07.560 And understand the complexity of Your justice and Your love, but know that there is no other 00:30:07.560 --> 00:30:15.440 way that You could have redeemed Your people and showed Your love and mercy and been utterly 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:19.640 and completely just, except by the cross. 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:46.480 Amen.