Thanks.
You've just won the Super Bowl.
What are you going to do next?
Well, if you're a sports fan, perhaps you've heard this question before.
The reporter asks a player after they've won some large sporting event, this very question.
You've just won X large sporting event.
What are you going to do next?
And the expected answer is always the same.
I'm going to Disney World.
You see, Disney World is not a place for training to smash your enemies on football fields or basketball courts.
No, Disneyland is a place of frivolity to celebrate a job well done.
But I remember once watching an interview with a basketball player who had just led his team to the NBA championship.
And the reporter asked him, you just won the NBA championship.
What are you going to do next?
Expecting a typical Disneyland answer, Disney World answer.
And he said, I'm going to the gym.
Because this player knew that though he had won this great victory just now, there were yet future games ahead.
And he wanted to win those as well.
We find David in our passage this evening in a similar situation.
He has just slain Goliath, the story that we are brought up with from our youth.
It has a happy ending, unless you're Goliath.
But it's not the ending of the story.
There's no Disney World for David just yet.
Rather, he faces still more challenges.
Harder ones, even than Goliath.
Royal ones that seek his life no less vehemently than Goliath did.
We pick it up in 1 Samuel 18 and 19.
Now, our passage tonight is too long for us to read in full, unfortunately.
So, I'm going to summarize a bit here at the beginning.
And then go back and in the course of the sermon this evening, focus on some particular points.
So, 1 Samuel 18 and 19.
As I mentioned, the story begins after David has defeated Goliath.
He's talking to Saul on a nearby hillside, who asks some personal questions about him.
And Saul's son, David, is there.
And the text says that David loved Saul.
Jonathan loved David at his own soul.
And Jonathan does a strange thing.
He takes off his royal garments and he gives them to David.
That will be important as we go on, so mark that.
And through the course of the rest of the passage,
David, who is now attracted the attention of Saul,
gets closer into Saul's inner court.
Saul learns he's a great warrior, sends him out to battle against the Philistines.
But this sad thing happens.
He kills so many Philistines that when he comes back into the city,
these women say that Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his ten thousands.
And this is the beginning of a fateful relationship between Saul and David.
This will be the beginning of the rise of David
and accruing love to himself
and the decline of Saul as he's consumed with hatred for David.
That hatred overflows in him trying to spear David against a wall a few times,
trying to trip him up by marrying him off to his daughters,
trying to kill him by sending him out in front of all these Philistines,
greatly outnumbered, to get their foreskins.
Weird stuff.
And then he takes the gloves off toward the end
and he goes to kill David himself.
He's ultimately unsuccessful.
And at the end, he goes to this place where David is hiding.
He sent messengers over and over and over to find him.
They go there and are overwhelmed by the power of the Holy Spirit
and they can't bring David in.
Saul says, let me take care of this myself,
goes in and the same effect happens to him.
And at the very, very end of the story today,
Saul strips naked and prophesies.
Lots of weird stuff.
There's a question and answer period coming after the talk.
So get yourself ready.
In the midst of all of this,
these two chapters, long and strange as they are,
I want to pull out three themes.
First, the schemes of Saul.
Second, the devotion of David.
And third, the laughter of the Lord.
The schemes of Saul, the devotion of David,
the laughter of the Lord.
So first, the schemes of Saul.
Saul, though he is the king of Israel,
is a man under a curse.
A few chapters earlier,
he disobeyed God's spokesman, Samuel,
by offering a sacrifice that was not permitted to him.
Thereby, trying to grasp for himself authority
not only over the temporal affairs of Israel,
but also over its religious practices.
At that, God told Saul,
now your kingdom shall not continue.
The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart,
and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people,
because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.
But in that story,
Saul is not given the name of the man who will replace him.
He just knows that the throne no longer functionally belongs to him.
Another is going to rise and take it from him,
but he doesn't know the name.
So think of how great must have been his suspicion,
knowing that someone, perhaps even someone he met,
would be the one chosen by God to replace him.
Think of his worry, his paranoia,
when anyone around him had success.
And indeed, we see this in the song the women sing,
Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.
And this induces paranoia in Saul.
Think of the precautions that he,
knowing his days were numbered, must have taken.
Did he set an extra guard at night,
and then set another guard over that guard,
all to protect him in his sleep,
the sleep that escaped him all night long,
because though his body was well-protected,
he left his soul open to attack?
And all because he disobeyed the word of the Lord.
Look here, then, how sin gives birth to worry and jealousy.
When sin infects the soul,
it kills the ability to rejoice in the successes of others.
So Saul is terrified when he hears the Israelite women rejoicing
in the defeat of the Philistines with their song,
Saul has slain his thousands,
David his ten thousands.
Verse 7.
What a sorry situation Saul finds himself in,
to be struck with fear and anxiety
while the people of God rejoice around him.
In response, our text says, in verse 8,
in response to this song,
Saul was very angry,
and this saying displeased him.
He said,
They have ascribed to David ten thousands,
and to me they have ascribed only thousands,
and what more can he have but the kingdom?
The scene here is like in a movie
when a character suddenly realizes
what he himself is saying.
The music goes somber,
the camera pulls in close to his face,
and the face flashes with horror
as he realizes,
what more can David have but the kingdom?
The kingdom.
David will have the kingdom.
David is the man chosen
after the Lord's own heart,
chosen to care for Israel.
David is the favored one of God.
David is the one who will keep
the Lord's commandments.
David!
And now Saul is faced with a choice, it seems.
What will he do with this new information
that his jealousy and his paranoia
have warranted for him,
have gained for him?
What will he do with this?
He has insight into the plan of God.
Will he surrender it?
Repent of his own disobedience,
and praise the Lord as the one
who lifts up kings and deposes kings?
No.
While the people of God rejoice,
Saul will rage.
So in verse 9, the text says,
And Saul eyed David from that day on.
Saul, through the hyper-vigilant eyes of fear,
has seen the plan of God
and chosen to set his face against it.
Around five times our text says
some variation of Saul hated David,
he was afraid of David,
that he schemes against David.
Saul will now take up arms against him.
Saul says in his heart,
This man is the Lord's anointed,
and I will pin him to a wall
and watch him bleed out before my eyes.
Or I will send David out
against a superior Philistine force
that he cannot conquer.
Or I will send assassins into his bedroom
while he sleeps.
And if all this fails,
then I will kill himself,
kill him myself,
with my own royal hands.
He is the one the Lord has chosen,
and I will stop him.
And he tries to do all those things.
Does Saul's behavior here
sound strange to us?
It is possible, you know.
It is possible to set your face
and your intention against the plan of God
when you know it.
It is possible to look at the Lord's chosen man
and seek to destroy him.
Did you not do something like that this week?
Did we not do something like that this week
when the good plan of God for us
was not good enough for us?
When God's trustworthiness
was not a good enough reason
for us to trust him,
and so we worried
and we were anxious about the future?
When God's holiness
was not something to be followed after,
and so we allowed ourselves
to feast our eyes
on the evil of our computer screens?
When we took advantage
of God's patience toward us
by being impatient
with those around us,
did we not see the plan of God for us
and set our faces against it?
It is possible, you know,
to strap on our armor
and take the field of battle
against the living God.
It's called sin.
Saul chose this for himself,
and in the end,
all of his schemes
fell back upon his own head.
Will that be our fate as well
when we choose sin?
Or is there still some hope for us?
Well, we will come to that question shortly.
But we see throughout this text
that even when faced
by the good plan of God,
Saul sustains his schemes.
So the schemes of Saul.
Now we turn our attention
to the devotion of David.
After we've looked
at the schemes of Saul,
we see the devotion of David
in almost perfect contrast.
While Saul is anxious
and scheming throughout,
David seems not to take initiative
almost ever in this story.
He's frequently responding
to what Saul does.
He seems to have
a tremendous amount
of peace about him.
While Saul is treacherous
against David,
his best warrior,
David remains devoted
to the king
against whom
he never retaliates.
Shockingly,
the story seems to imply
that even when Saul
keeps hurling spears to him,
David keeps obediently
and humbly
coming into his presence
to play the lyre for him
and attempt to soothe him.
Look at verse 11 here.
Chapter 18.
And Saul hurled the spear
for he thought,
I will pin David to the wall.
But David evaded him twice.
And then the next chapter over,
it's going to do it again.
This seems to be
a sort of pattern.
And I'm not quite sure
what in the world
David's doing
by continuing to go back.
But it seems to have
something of loyalty about it.
David is devoted
even to the king
who tries to kill him.
David's posture throughout
is not one of scheming,
but of trusting.
He does not grasp
at events around him,
but he allows them
to be guided
by forces beyond himself.
Never, it seems,
for a second,
thinking those forces
are blindly random
or that they unfold
by chance.
So,
when David decides
to marry
one of the daughters
of Saul,
it was Saul's idea
from the beginning.
When David goes out
against the Philistines,
it was Saul's idea
to put him there.
And so on and so on.
David responds
obediently
to the commands
of the rightful king.
This responsiveness
doesn't mean
that David is simply
lazy or inactive.
Simply put,
since he doesn't see
any good reason
to do so,
David doesn't allow
himself to be struck
by the spears
that Saul hurls at him.
He's not being lazy.
He's not being passive.
He's not allowing himself
to be stuck to a wall.
The principle
seems to be this.
When a good plan
of God opens up
for David in this passage,
he acts upon that plan
and does so with wisdom.
But never in this story
do we see him
fretting and doubting.
Consider perhaps
the weirdest story
in this whole,
the weirdest bit
of this story,
the episode
of the foreskins.
Let's read it together
because it's weird.
1820.
Now Saul's daughter
Michael loved David.
And they told Saul
and the thing pleased him.
Saul thought,
let me give her to him
that she may be
a snare for him
and that the hand
of the Philistines
may be against him.
Therefore,
for Saul said to David
a second time,
you shall now
be my son-in-law.
And Saul commanded
his servants,
speak to David
in private
and say,
behold,
the king has delight
in you
and all his servants
love you.
Now then,
become the king's
son-in-law.
And Saul's servants
spoke these words
in the ears of David.
And David said,
does it seem to you
a little thing
to become the king's
son-in-law
since I am a poor man
and have no reputation?
And the servants
of Saul said to him,
thus and so
did David speak.
Then Saul said,
thus you shall say
to David,
the king desires
no bride price
except the hundred
foreskins of the Philistines
that he may be avenged
of the king's enemies.
Now Saul fought
to make David
fall by the hand
of the Philistines.
And when his servant
told David
these words,
it pleased David
well to be
the king's son-in-law.
Before that time
he had expired,
David arose
and went along
with his men
and killed
two hundred
of the Philistines.
And David brought
their foreskins
that were given
in full number
to the king
that he might
become the king's
son-in-law.
And Saul gave him
his daughter Michael
for a wife.
But when Saul
knew that the Lord
was with David
and that Michael,
Saul's daughter,
loved him,
Saul was even more
afraid of David.
So Saul was David's
enemy continually.
What's happening here?
David, a poor shepherd,
responds,
he has no money
to pay a bride price
even though he seems
to like this woman.
No worries,
said Saul.
The king desires
no bride price
except a couple
foreskins.
Now, Saul is not
asking David
to go down
to the local
Philistine children's
hospital and see
what they have
lying around
in the garbage bins.
No.
He's saying
that David is to go
and take these foreskins
from grown men.
And though the culture
in times then
are different
from the culture today,
I think one thing
is in common.
Grown men
don't like having
their foreskins
taken from them.
They will fight
you for them.
And this is the point.
He wants David
to go against
a hundred men.
This is a snare
for David.
And perhaps even
the weirdness of it
is an attempt
to malign David
in the eyes
of the people
around him.
He's going to do
this sort of weird
and barbaric thing.
Perhaps this will
lower his popularity
ranking a bit.
David goes and does it
over and above
200 of them.
He's strategic.
He brings men
with him
and he takes advantage
of the opportunities
that are there
to become
Saul's son-in-law.
David's settled
confidence in the plan
of God
is not an excuse
for foolishness
or laziness
but an occasion
to plan and act wisely
yet without anxiety
or despair
and leave the result
in the hands
of the Lord.
But nevertheless
this is a trial
that Saul sends
to destroy David.
So note this.
Sometimes
God saves David
from the trials
of Saul
for example
when he tries
to kill him
with the spear.
And sometimes
God saves David
through the trials
of Saul.
This is such
an example.
When Saul
sends David
out against Philistines
he routinely
destroys them
and in the process
he wins the favor
of the people.
When Saul
puts a stumbling block
in David's way
God does not simply
whisk him away
he lets him walk
over the stumbling block
or through it.
He redeems
these trials
by allowing David
to go through them.
The result
is consistent.
David's fame
increases
and Saul's rage
burns yet fiercer.
Yet through it all
David maintains
a consistent
peace
and rest.
Perhaps
you have wondered
why God
would do this
for David
or perhaps
for you.
Perhaps
we pray
only
to be saved
from our trials
rather than
be saved
through our trials.
But if
at all of these
moments
God has simply
whisked David
away from the
trials of Saul
from the schemes
of Saul
David would not
have been able
to attain
the heights
of power
that he did.
in all
of these
evil schemes
of the enemy
God was working
for David
a great salvation.
And may it not
be the case
for you
as well.
Perhaps the Lord
will save you
through your trials.
Lord
is
Vault
out
in the
to you to be a sort of weird Christian cliche, trust the Lord and all shall be well. You hear
it often enough and it may sound to you to be trite, like a sort of bland pseudo-wisdom that
you read on the inside wrapper of those dove chocolates or in a fortune cookie. But you know
your experience is more complicated than can be represented in a fortune cookie. Trust God and
it'll all be okay just doesn't seem to work. The world of the Bible, after all, is so very different
than our own world and God is far too absent to be easily trusted, so it seems. But let me ask you
this, if you were a historian transported back into the middle of these very events, how would you know
from within these events that God was working in them? The narrator provides this information for us.
The Lord was with David. The Lord had favor on David. But it's not clear how visible that was.
God never gives a word of encouragement to David while Saul is hurling his spears at him.
Even Samuel doesn't appear as God's mouthpiece to strengthen and bolster David along the way.
The narrator is good to tell us that the Lord was with David, but if you were a reporter investigating
these things while they happened, it seems to me that all you would see is a story of political intrigue,
of secret dealings, of shrewd political calculations wherein it is not easy to trace the hand of God.
The very next toss of the spear could find its mark in David's throat, and then where would God be?
So perhaps this idea of trusting the Lord even when we don't see him is not so unique to our experience.
Perhaps it's not so foreign from the experience of these biblical characters.
Perhaps the world around them was just as confusing and opaque as it is to us sometimes.
But David does not need to hear the audible voice of God or see the visible hand of God in his circumstances
because, it seems, he trusts what the Lord had spoken to him earlier.
Back in chapter 16, David has received a secret anointing from the prophet Samuel, the spokesman of God.
This is the last word up till this point that David has heard from God.
It's not as though they have conversations together every day.
The last word is one of anointing and then silence.
Or rather, violence.
Saul piles scheme on top of intrigue, on top of assassination attempt,
and yet David maintains a restful trust.
Not because he can make sense of all the events around him
and because he sees the hand of God working in each one of them,
but because he has decided to heed and believe the word the Lord had spoken to him back at his anointing.
And perhaps such a thing is true for us as well.
Never, never are we told that we will see the hand of God in the situation of our lives as they unfold around us.
Rather, we are told that God is good and that he loves us.
And when we do not see his hand, we can trust his character.
Is your confidence in the word of the Lord this strong?
The rage of God's enemies against you will reveal what is the bedrock of your confidence.
When the opposition of men and demons and the cares of this life come upon you,
and they will come,
when all of the edifice of your great plans collapses before your eyes,
right before those eyes, once so keen in planning and preparing,
are blinded by ignorance of what will happen in the future,
what then will you do?
If you have built a life and have cultivated the habit of trusting in the sight of your eyes,
the strategy of your schemes,
the strength of your arm,
what will become of you when all these are taken from you,
as they seem to be taken from David?
The rain fell,
the floods came,
the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it fell,
and great was the fall of it.
But when those trials come,
and the deepest foundation of our trust
is not in our strength,
or in our sight,
or our schemes,
but in the love of God
that he has spoken to us,
then we shall not fail.
Everyone, Jesus says,
who hears these words of mine and does them
will be like a man wise,
who built his house on a rock,
and the rain fell,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on the house,
but it did not fall,
because it had been founded upon the rock.
What is the word of the Lord
that the Lord has spoken to you?
What proof do you have of the Lord's love for you?
David had an anointing,
and a hope to look forward to,
of some future Messiah
who would really come
and make all things right.
But we're not there yet in the sermon.
If you are a child of the Lord,
God promises that he is working for you
a great salvation
in the midst of all of your trials,
every single one of which
will end up with your good.
of course you can't see that salvation
while it unfolds.
Of course you can't.
It was never promised to you
that you would.
So do not set your gaze fervently
to spy out
all of the intrigue of the plan
as it unfolds around you.
Rather,
direct your ears
to the word the Lord
has spoken to you,
that word that was
in the beginning with God,
that smiling face of Jesus.
Jesus.
That word that says
that God is
willing to be reconciled to us.
That God is willing
not to count our trespasses against us.
That God is willing
to give us a hope and a future.
That word,
Jesus.
Trust in that.
after the angel Gabriel
comes to Mary
to announce to her
the birth of Jesus,
she goes to visit Elizabeth
and after recounting to her
the story,
Elizabeth says,
blessed is she
who believed
that there would be
a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her
by the Lord.
Let that be true for us.
It was true for David
and as we have seen
in the face of great opposition
and touch to his life,
David defends his devotion.
So we've seen then
the schemes of Saul
and the devotion of David
and we end now
with the laughter of the Lord.
So,
if it's true
that this last chapter,
18 and 19,
have little to say
about the actions of God
in the midst of all this
and you couldn't see him
if you were a reporter there
at the time,
and if it's true
that David trusts in the Lord
despite clearly seeing his face,
where is the Lord
in all of this?
Especially if he does not
speak for himself.
I submit that though
he cannot be seen
except through the eyes
of faith,
God is right in the middle
of these events,
laughing.
So the third
and final part of the evening,
observe the laughter
of the Lord.
David is the Lord's
anointed one.
Saul is the king of Israel
and is throwing spears
and sending assassins
out against him.
How are we to think
about this theologically?
What happens
when a king
goes against
the Lord's
anointed one?
To understand that
we have to look
at another passage.
So turn with me
to Psalm 2.
Psalm 2.
We don't know
if the psalm
is Davidic,
but we know
that the characters
involved in David's
life here
are in a similar situation.
So listen to this Psalm.
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples
plot in vain?
The kings of the earth
set themselves
and the rulers
take counsel
against the Lord
and against his anointed
saying,
let us burst
their bonds apart
and cast away
their cords from us.
The kings of the world
rage against
the anointed one
of the Lord.
Rage.
They will destroy him.
And what is the response
of the Lord
to all of this?
He who sits
in the heavens
laughs.
The Lord holds him
in derision.
He will speak to them
in his wrath
and terrify them
in his fury
saying,
as for me,
I have set my king
on Zion,
my holy hill.
I will tell the decree.
The Lord said to me,
you are my son.
Today I have begotten you.
Ask of me
and I will make
the nations your heritage,
the ends of the earth
your possession.
You shall break them
with a rod of iron
and dash them
in pieces
like a potter's vessel.
Saul
thinks he poses
a threat to David.
The Lord doesn't think so.
The Lord's plan
will not be stopped.
And if Saul
chooses to take
the feel of battle
against the Lord,
only Saul
will be the loser
for it.
But it's not only
Saul here
that the Lord
laughs at
when he opposes him.
It's all of the kings
of the world.
It's all of the nations.
All the combined
military power
of NATO,
all the diplomatic
skill of the UN,
all of it poses
no threat to him.
The Lord laughs
and yet they rage.
And perhaps there are
no two more
fundamental principles
of political theory
in the Bible
than this.
The nations
will rage
against the Lord
and his anointed
and the Lord
will laugh.
From the opening
pages of Genesis
when the people
of the world
threatened to take
heaven by storm
until the last
chapters of Revelation
when the whore
of Babylon
makes war
against the people
of the Bible
with stubborn
and dogged
consistency
the kings
of the world
make war
against the Lord
and his chosen ones
and the Lord
just as constantly
frustrates
and dashes
their attempts.
The gates of hell
will not stand
against the church
of the Lord.
To be a Christian
is to recognize
that we will
sometimes be the
object of rage
in high places.
but it is also
to recognize
that the Lord
is stronger
than any power
in those high places.
From kings
to demons
our God
has fearsome
enemies
like Saul
and when we
choose to enlist
in his service
we enlist
to be their targets.
This is what
we sign up for.
It's what we see
here with David.
Does Saul
scheme for David's
downfall?
God will laugh
at him.
Even while he
works for David
a great salvation.
And here
icing on the cake.
When God
vindicates his king
he makes even
his enemies
submit to him.
Look back
at the end
of 1 Samuel 19.
The story goes
like this.
Saul has sent
his messengers
to fetch David.
They've all failed.
Now he himself
goes and on his
own personal
royal assassination
attempt.
The spirit of the
Lord overwhelms him.
He strips off
all of his clothes
and worships.
Look there
at verse 24.
He too
stripped off
his clothes
and he too
prophesied
before Samuel
and lay naked
all that day
and all that night.
Thus it is said
is Saul
also among
the prophets.
Again,
weird stuff.
Ask about it
in questions
and answers.
But do you
remember how
the story began?
Do you remember
what Jonathan
did when he
loved David?
He took off
his royal garb
and he gave it
to David
as if to say
that you David
and not I
are the rightful
king of Israel
the rightful
heir to the throne.
This Jonathan
did willingly
but not Saul.
Saul will never
give David
that sort of
legitimacy
willingly.
But at the end
under the
influence of
the spirit
of God
he will
take off
all of his
clothes
symbolically
representing
that he himself
has lost
legitimacy
in the throne
of Israel.
Saul's
attempts
to frustrate
the plans
of the Lord
will never
succeed
and the Lord
will laugh
over him.
So how
will you
grant your
submission
and obedience
to God?
As Jonathan
did
willingly
or as Saul
did
by compulsion?
And have
the kings
of this world
ceased to
rage against
the chosen
ones of God?
Any even
cursory glance
at the news
will tell you
that they
have not.
From China
to Pakistan
to Nigeria
the kings
of the world
rage
and rage
against the
Lord's
beloved ones
against his
chosen ones.
A recent
example
on February
15th
the Islamic
state
released a
video showing
the execution
of 21
Egyptian
Christians
who were
targeted
precisely
because
they were
Christians.
In the
video
the
Christians
clothed
in their
orange
jumpsuits
are marched
out by
individual
men
clad in
full black
with daggers
tucked into
their belts
they're pushed
to their
knees in
the sand
and each
of the
Islamic
state
fighters
saws
off
their
heads.
King
Saul
could not
have thought
of anything
as heinous
as this.
The kings
of the
world
rage
to this
day
against
the Lord
and his
anointed.
And yet
mere seconds
before he
is killed
one of the
Christians
in that
video can
be seen
muttering
to himself
a prayer
over and
over.
Save me
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Help me
Lord Jesus
Christ.
These are the
last words
from his throat
before it
slit in his
head severed
from his
body and
thrown across
the sand.
What can
explain that
sort of
confidence?
I think
it's this.
That there
was yet
another
anointed
one
after David.
There was
another one
against whom
the kings
of this
world
spent all
of their
rage.
this one
did not
flee the
spears of
the kings
of the
world as
David did
but allowed
them to
pierce his
side.
This one
did not
run when
kings and
demons conspired
against him.
Saul could
not nail
David to a
wall but
David's
offspring,
Saul's
offspring,
got their
vengeance on
David's
offspring when
they nailed
our Jesus
to a cross
and watched
him bleed
out and
die.
And where
is the
laughter of
the Lord
now?
Perhaps
it was
silent.
Then for
a few
days,
low in
the grave
he lay,
Jesus my
Savior,
waiting the
coming day,
Jesus my
Lord.
Do dead
lords laugh
as this
psalm suggests
they do?
Perhaps
not.
But our
Jesus has
risen from
the dead.
And there
is no
laughter like
resurrection
laughter.
Up from
the grave
he arose
with a
mighty triumph
over his
foes.
He arose
a victor
from the
dark domain
and he
lives forever
with his
saints to
reign.
He arose
he arose.
Hallelujah.
Christ
arose.
Back in
Psalm 2,
if you have
the ESV,
you'll see
that Psalm
2 too has
anointed
capitalized.
Why?
Because later
on in the
book of Acts,
the apostles,
when trying to
explain what
happened to
Jesus,
will use
this very
psalm.
The kings
of this
world conspired
against him
to put him
to death,
but God
vindicated
him,
preserved
him.
this
anointed
one humbled
himself by
becoming
obedient at
the point
of death,
even death
on a cross,
and in
response,
God
highly
exalted
him.
And he
gave him
a name
above all
the name,
so that at
the name
of Jesus
every knee
should bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under
the earth,
and every
tongue confess
that Jesus
Christ is
Lord,
to the glory
of God
the Father.
this,
I think,
is the
good word
the Lord
has spoken
to us.
This is
the word
of love
that must
be the
foundation
of our
lives,
lest when
the storms
come,
they ruin
us.
This,
I think,
this word
of love
in the
person
of Jesus
is the
motivation,
is the
passion
of those
martyrs
on the
beach
in Libya,
of King
David
himself.
If you
look at
your bulletins,
I've
inserted
two
pictures
into the
handout
in the
middle,
and both
have to
do with
this event
in the
beach
last month
in Libya.
The top
one you
see is
essentially
a reenactment
of the
video itself,
but in the
front,
in the
orange
jumpsuit,
is the
Lord
himself
carrying
a cross.
The Lord
never asks
us to
suffer
something
that he
did not
suffer
first,
and does
not suffer
with us.
And below
that you
see the
men once
again,
now with
halos around
their heads,
signifying that
they have
attained their
goal in
heaven,
and they are
receiving the
crowns that
the Lord has
given to
them.
I give this
to you so
that you can
both pray for
our brothers and
sisters throughout
the world,
against whom the
kings of this
world are
continually raging
even these
days.
And I
give them to
you so that
you can
remember that
there is for
us laid up
a crown of
righteousness.
David trusted
the Lord and
received a
crown.
There is hope
that we shall
do the same.
Because when
the Lord works
his salvation
over his
people,
the Lord
makes
worshipers of
his enemies.
enemies.
He will
receive the
worship of
both his
loyal followers
and also of
his enemies.
One willingly,
another one
forced.
But this is
the conviction
that this
passage in
1 Samuel
gives us.
That there is
no tyrant
that has ever
put a knife
to the neck
of a Christian
who will not
one day,
either in the
fires of hell
or beyond the
gates of splendor,
bow the knee
to the rightful
king of heaven
and earth.
There is not
one who will
not do that.
There is not
one assassin
who has ever
held the gun
to the head
of one of
God's beloved
who will not
either willingly
or unwillingly
confess that
Jesus is
king of kings
and lord of lords.
David did not
see this in
his lifetime.
David did not
see this sort
of lord of lords
and king of kings
held out before
him, but we do.
We have the
good word of
love that God
has spoken to us
in Jesus.
Do you remember
earlier I asked
what would become
of us if we
like Saul
set our minds
and our wills
against the plan
of God?
Is there hope
for us?
The word of the
cross is that there
is yet hope
for us.
That though we
are dead in our
trespasses and
sins and though
we bear the
rightful curse,
that curse and
the guilt of sin
can be taken
away by one
look at the
cross of repentance
and believing
that Jesus,
his sacrifice
is enough for
us.
If you have not
done that tonight,
I encourage you
to do so.
Do not be like
Saul and rage
against the plan
of the Lord.
Why would you
die?
Why would you
die like Saul
died?
And if it is
your confidence,
hold fast to
that confidence
as David held
fast to that
confidence.
In the middle
of the raging
of your enemies
and the
uncertainties of
your life,
hold fast.
Know, as
David knew,
that the glory
held out for us
is greater than
the trials we
face now.
And though we
will not see
the plan of God
unfolding around us,
one day we
have the hope
of seeing God's
face.
So sing the
wondrous love of
Jesus.
Sing his mercy
and his grace
in the mansions
bright and
blessed.
He'll prepare
for us a place.
When we all
get to heaven,
what a day of
rejoicing that
will be.
When we all
see Jesus,
we'll sing and
shout the victory.
So let us then
be true and
faithful,
trusting,
serving every
day,
just one
glimpse of
him in
glory.
Will the
toils of
life repay?
When we all
get to heaven,
what a day of
rejoicing that
will be.
When we all
see Jesus,
as King David
and those
martyrs on the
beach in
Libya now
see him.
When we all
see Jesus,
the name at
which every
knee will
bow and
tongue confess
to be King
of Kings
and Lord
of Lords.
When we all
see Jesus,
we'll sing
and shout
the victory.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Lord,
thank you that
though you
have appointed
us to bear
the rage and
the schemes of
evil men,
we can bear
those with
confidence,
knowing that
you are stronger
than them.
Your appointed
plan will not
fail.
You have it in
your heart to do
good for us.
You've proven it
in Jesus.
I pray now you've
given us the
faith and the
trust to believe
that you love
us and you
are glad
with us.
You have a
plan for us.
You will
protect us.
Be with us
this week as
we go about
our business.
Help us to
preach this
gospel to
others and
to believe it
ourselves.
In the name
of Jesus,
I pray.
Amen.
Questions?
Yeah, let's do it.
Five minutes.
Five minutes of questions.
Ask them quick,
I'll answer them quick.
There are too many
good things in this
passage,
Justin,
didn't I?
There are weird
things in there
too.
Questions?
Works for me.
Why did Saul get
naked to prophesy?
Sorry?
Why did Saul get
naked and prophesy?
Why did Saul get
naked and prophesy?
It's not clear.
The immediate answer
is that the spirit
of the Lord overtook
him and it seems
like it was an
attempt to foil the
assassination attempt
against David.
The other, I think,
sort of bigger sign
was it was a mark
of humiliation.
That Saul is on
his way toward being
basically very deranged
in this passage.
And here's a sort of
public weird example
of that.
He's stripped naked
and that's not the
sort of thing that a
nice civilized king
should do.
Therefore, perhaps,
Saul's not a nice
civilized king.
I'm just sure.
In the back, yeah.
Yeah.
What I want to know is,
well,
Saul's saying, like,
he,
well,
you know,
the evil spirit
started,
but he had
control of it
after that.
Like David,
the Lord would have
done it,
and he would have
made it right.
So why did
God do it?
Good question.
Yeah.
So the question,
it seems like,
is about the evil
spirit from the Lord
thing that goes on.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Good.
So, yeah.
Thank you.
It seems like,
so the question,
I think,
has to do with
chapter 18,
verse 10.
The next day,
a harmful spirit
from God
rushed upon Saul,
and he raved
within his house
while David was playing,
and then he threw
the spear.
Why the harmful
spirit from the Lord?
It happened already
to him,
to Saul,
in chapter 16,
when the spirit
of the Lord
was upon him
that signaled
his anointing
as king,
and he rebelled
against it,
and the spirit
withdrew,
and that seemed
to open up
some sort of space
for this other
spirit to come in.
Now,
it doesn't seem
like it's sort of
God's evil spirit
in the sense of
it's like a part
of God,
that sort of thing.
I think the analogy
could be that
in the book of Job,
you see that
God sort of
has a roll call
with his cabinet,
and among them
are Satan,
or is Satan,
and Satan wants
to go and do
all these nasty
things to Job,
but the Lord,
he can't do it
without the Lord's
permission.
So what seems
to be happening
here is the Lord
gives permission
to this evil spirit.
Interestingly,
in the earlier
parts of the book,
the music that
David plays
seems to work
against the evil
spirit,
and then Saul
increases in his
anger toward David,
and then it seems
like this spirit
increasingly has
control over him,
following his own
anger.
Meanwhile,
Saul never repents
of all of it,
all the way along.
So it doesn't seem
like this spirit
is leading him
without his own
will.
It seems like
Saul is going
right along with it,
willingly scheming
against the Lord.
Does that answer
your question?
Yeah,
thank you for that.
Yes, sir.
Do you hear
if Saul
had a choice
about the
need to be
given that
the Lord
would be
going to?
Yeah,
weird question.
I think he did.
I think that
he had,
more than anything
else,
a chance to obey.
And then,
even if this
major event,
I think it's
fairly significant
of trying to
arrogate to
himself power
over Israel's
religious practices,
even if that
sort of terrible
thing happens
to him,
I think he has
the opportunity
to repent there,
but he doesn't.
So even when he
responds to Samuel
as a condemnation,
he says,
will you come back
with me because
I don't want to
lose the esteem
of the people.
He doesn't say,
woe is me,
against you alone
have I sinned,
the way David does.
So I think he does
have the choice
to repent,
and he continually
habituates himself
toward not repenting.
Yeah,
good question.
Way in the back.
Good question.
Was he justified
including 200 people?
I think it's
probably safe to
assume that these
are men of war,
and the Philistines
in Israel have
these constant
battles going on
back and forth.
So it would not
be sort of like,
he just sort of
moseys into this
nice village and
just start attacking
people to the part.
They have a constant
state of war together,
and you see frequently
Philistine incursions
up into Israel,
Israeli incursions
down into the
Philistine area.
So I think this is
an act of war.
It's weird.
I think that God
doesn't approve of
mutilating the bodies
of your enemies,
but it was a fairly
typical practice
in the ancient areas
to do this sort of thing.
I think here the Bible
isn't commending this,
you know,
you go and do likewise.
I think it's more
of like,
it was really messed up
back then,
and God is
accommodating himself
to these sort of
situations.
He's going to save
David through this
trial that Saul
puts out for him.
Good question as well.
Yes, sir.
Ma'am.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Oh, good question.
So Michael,
his wife,
deceives Saul
in order to help
David escape.
I'm not sure.
Again, I think
it's one of those
things where the Bible
just doesn't comment
on the legitimacy
of it.
Although, interestingly,
the thing that they
put into the bed
has to do with
the household gods.
So it could also
be symbolic of
this deeper thing.
Sort of like Michael
would be like,
oh, you like those gods,
huh?
Well, you just cut
their heads off in bed.
So it might be
sort of like tricking
Saul and his assassins
into doing damage
against this thing
that he loves.
So in general,
I don't think the Bible
comments on it.
It's sort of legitimacy.
I think the Bible
just says that's
the way it worked.
Yeah.
If there were a better
way to do it,
I think that that
could have been done.
But I also don't think,
so this is,
okay, I'll say this.
I also don't think
it's always wrong
to lie against
illegitimate rulers
who are doing
unjust things.
So I have this belief
that like all of these
medievals and
classical Christians do
that when a law
ceases to be just,
it ceases to be
a legitimate law
and therefore
you can't participate
in it.
So essentially,
if what Saul doing
is going to Michael
and say,
help me be an accessory
in this guy's murder,
she has no obligation
to obey him
if he's innocent
in that way.
So there's a contentious one.
I'll throw that out there.
You can fight with me
afterwards on that one.
Thank you.