Good morning, everyone. Open up your copy of God's Word to 1 Samuel, chapter 15.
! If you're visiting today or kind of new on the scene, we just started a series on the life of King David last Sunday.
So this is the second part of that series.
We started it last week, and David is one of my favorite Bible characters.
And without debate, he's one of the most enthralling, interesting, fascinating men in the whole of the Bible.
And very worth our attention because God Himself gives David a ton of attention in the Divine Word.
David is mentioned in 66 chapters of the Old Testament.
That's more than Abraham, Joseph, Moses, all together.
And also mentioned 59 times in the New Testament.
So when God does something like this, He's like, pay attention, learn.
God has much for us to learn about His interactions with David.
So just join me again in a quick word of prayer.
Lord, after much study the past week preparing for this, there's a great feeling of inadequacy.
And I just ask that you would use this time to bless your people, that your word would speak, that it would have its desired effect on the hearts of those who are here, and that you would be honored.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
So a really, really quick recap, since we have some new people with us today.
It's always good to kind of connect to the previous week.
But really quickly, just a little bit about David's background.
His name means Beloved One, which signifies strength and favor.
Born roughly around 1040 B.C.
He ruled and lived about 70 years before he died.
And he was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, which is significant because that's in the line of Ruth and Boaz, that righteous line that God had promised.
And we studied how David was a gifted man, developing his skills and capabilities just by being faithful in everyday life in the context in which God reared him.
And we said that he was, we observed these things last week.
If you want to hear more, go back.
He was a shepherd.
He was a brave, responsible young man in charge of taking care of his father's flock.
Took care of them, loved them in a fresh pasture, and protected them from predators.
He was a singer and poet.
He's referred to as the sweet psalmist of Israel in 2 Samuel 23.
And he had a great sensitivity for the heart and his emotion and his relationship with God.
And he wrote about 73 psalms.
And as I was saying last week, there's something in the life of David almost for everyone here.
He doesn't fit our modern day stereotypes of like, mamsy-pamsy boy or tough man.
He's kind of like in the middle.
He's a singer and a poet, but he also was a warrior and a soldier.
He's called a man of valor, a man of war, meaning someone who was brave and could fight courageously on the battlefield.
Man of war refers to that he was trained in the weapons of his day.
He could pick up anything and use it in hand-to-hand combat.
He was a force to be reckoned with.
He could take any man in this room.
He practiced Kav Magra before Kav Magra was actually a thing in Israel.
So he was a tough warrior.
But as we also looked at last week, David's distinguishing trait was not those capabilities.
As he read that God indicated that he judges not by outward appearance, but the Lord judges in ways the heart.
So not just what is on the outside, but what is here.
We read that David was a man after God's own heart.
That was his defining trait.
David's heart, the beautiful thing about it is that it was after God's heart.
And we defined it this way, that a man or woman after God's own heart just means one whose deepest heart desires and longings are for his God,
shown and revealed in how one lives.
And we also, lest we think that God's love for us depends on how much we love or don't love God,
a quick reminder that God loved David first.
The reason why he was that way was because God had shown him so much love and shown much grace.
David loved him because God first loved David.
And so we also touched on this.
We're going to see a lot more of it today.
But Saul was the current king of Israel.
And as a result of continual disobedience, as we'll see in detail today, he was finally rejected by God.
And God sent the prophet Samuel to go and find David and anoint him as the new king of Israel.
And as soon as the spirit came down and rushed upon David to empower him to do his will,
we also see that simultaneously a tormenting, distressing spirit came upon Saul.
A very scary thing.
So a little bit more of an intro to the message today.
This is really a tale of two kings.
Last week, the short title of the message was David and his God.
Today, it is David and Saul.
And you may wonder why we're looking at Saul today when it's supposed to be a study of David.
But many reasons.
But one is it's hard to understand the great significance of David without the black, dark backdrop of Saul's reign.
The Bible transitions to the story of David.
But when it does that, it happens in the context of the story of Saul.
So you can't really divorce the two.
You can't ever really learn to appreciate or understand David until you can contrast him with Saul.
Saul is one of the Bible's most tragic heroes.
After his abandonment by God, he is a doomed man losing his mind.
In fits of melancholy and erratic behavior.
A picture of what happens when God wants to, if he removes his grace, if he removes the influence of his spirit, what that can do.
One writer wrote about Saul.
Saul's terrible and inevitable degeneration will remind the modern reader that Shakespeare must have studied the account of Saul with considerable detail before writing Macbeth.
Some of you are like, who is Macbeth?
I cheated in high school.
I watched the movie.
I rented it at the movie store.
I didn't read it.
The teacher was like, you know this so well.
I'm like, well, I rented the movie.
But anyway, I tried to read it.
Just couldn't understand it.
Don't tell your kids to do that.
Let's pick back up from where we were last week.
I apologize.
Let's look at the end of chapter 16.
This is just an introduction.
This is when David actually meets Saul for the first time.
And Saul is unaware at the moment that Samuel has anointed David.
He doesn't know.
But we're just going to read this.
Guys, look, there's a lot of reading today.
So if you don't have a Bible, you're going to be lost.
If you actually don't have a physical Bible, come and tell me.
The church would love to buy you one.
We don't need to be tiresome over reading God's Word.
But before you're too hard on me, there's almost 16 chapters of this story of David and Saul.
We're not reading all 16, but it also is really hard to narrow down a few passages to look at.
But this is the introduction.
This is where David first meets him when he comes into Saul's court.
Look at 16, verse 14.
Very scary.
Let our Lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is a skillful in playing the liar.
And when the harmful spirit of God was upon him, he will play it and you will be well.
And so Saul said to his servants, provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.
One of the young men answered, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, a man of good presence.
And the Lord is with him.
There's a description of David for us right there.
Verse 19.
Therefore, Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me David, your son, who is with the sheep.
And Jesse took a donkey, laden it with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David, his son, to Saul.
And David came to Saul and entered into his service.
And Saul, listen to that, underline that, Saul loved him greatly.
And he became his armor bearer.
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.
And whenever the harmful spirit of God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand.
So Saul was refreshed and well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
So that is the introduction.
Okay?
So we see even there that, like, to some degree, there's something spiritual about music.
If you can pick that up.
Talented musicians know, which I'm not one of them, that you can play certain keys and you can invoke certain emotions in people when you do it.
This is why we don't try to manipulate the, we just kind of play music.
And so, today, we're going to look at some of the major contrasts between David and Saul.
And I think, I could be wrong, but I chose chapter 15 to show you these contrasts.
I think it's most clearly seen.
And I have three main points for you today.
One is religious versus regenerate.
Meaning that Saul was a religious man while David was indeed a regenerate man.
Saul outwardly behaved like he knew God, like he belonged to God.
He said all the right words.
He did all the right rituals.
He got involved in serving God.
He believed in God, but it wasn't like the true belief that leads to joy and repentance.
It was more like the belief that the demons have of God.
This is mentioned in James.
It says, like, oh, I believe in God, so what?
So do the demons.
The demons know exactly who God is.
It was that kind of belief that Saul had.
He got involved in serving God, but yet, at the end of his days, he continually rebelled against God.
And did not truly know him or belong to him.
He gives a face, if you would, to a certain theme that's in the Bible.
He is the man in Matthew 7 who comes forward and says,
Lord, Lord, I did all these great things in your name.
And Christ says, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.
I never knew you.
He also, in Matthew 25, is like the worthless servant.
He is the face of Hebrews 6.
A false convert.
Someone who has tasted the heavenly gift.
Come around the church.
Had an outward display of goodness.
Tasted the heavenly gift, but fallen away.
So that's Saul.
By contrast, David was a truly regenerate man.
He truly loved God from its inward parts and obeyed God with all his heart.
He truly knew him and walked with him.
And as we're going to see in a few weeks, David was not sinless.
But he understood, if we confess our sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, as it says in 1 John 1.9.
So we see this deep contrast here in chapter 15.
Let's just start in verse 10.
And this is after Saul has disobeyed for the final time.
Like, God has given him a chance and another chance and another chance.
And he just continues to rebel and not do what God said.
So this is the final straw.
Verse 10.
The word of the Lord came to Samuel.
I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.
And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning.
And it was told to Samuel,
Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument to himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him,
Blessed be you to the Lord.
I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
And Samuel said,
What then is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?
And Saul said,
They have brought them from the Amalekites,
for the people spared the best of the sheep,
and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God.
And the rest we have devoted to destruction.
So that's our first part.
But right here,
a quick observation.
Saul sought his own glory.
He disobeyed a very direct command from the Lord.
The Lord's command was,
Go and destroy the Amalekites, all of them.
Slaughter their livestock.
Don't leave anything alive.
So, you know, rough, but very clear.
Very simple command.
Right?
But when Samuel was on his way there,
he was grieving.
He was upset.
But to add insult to injury,
as he gets close to Carmel,
he hears that Saul has set up a monument to himself
to celebrate his great victory.
Contemptible pride.
An expression of his own self-love and self-worship.
Very scary.
Notice in verse 15,
he's talking to Samuel,
and he goes,
The Lord your God.
Underline that.
He doesn't say the Lord our God,
or the Lord my God.
It's the Lord your God,
which stands out.
But he set up this monument for his own self-love and his self-worship.
And Jesus reminded the religious leaders that were rejecting him.
He says,
I know that you do not have the love of God within you.
How can you believe when you receive glory from one another
and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
So how is it possible for you who claim to believe
when you seek praise and glory from other people
and you don't seek the praise and glory for God alone?
So any good we have is something we need to learn here.
Saul did not know this.
Any good thing we have,
any good thing we accomplish is all from the Lord
to keep us humble.
He deserves all the glory.
Any success you have,
any position you have,
any favor at all
is by his hand.
It is the Lord's doing.
And so sin has blinded Saul,
where he almost seems to be happy
to see Samuel.
If he truly knew,
he wouldn't be behaving this way.
But really, he's like,
what's up, Samuel?
My man, good to see you.
I did exactly,
look, I told you,
I did exactly what God told me to do.
What do you think of my work?
And Samuel's like,
what?
And he kind of asked him a sarcastic,
rhetorical question.
Oh, you've obeyed, have you?
Okay, then what's this noise that I hear
of sheep bleeding and oxen?
What do I hear?
You're telling me you did it all.
And tragically,
Saul
was to obey the voice of the Lord,
but now the air is filled with the noise
of his disobedience.
As we teach our children,
delayed obedience
or partial obedience
is all-out disobedience.
Go on to verse 16.
Then Samuel said to Saul,
stop.
He can't take it anymore.
Stop.
I will tell you what the Lord said to me
this night.
And Saul said to him,
speak.
And Samuel said,
though you are little in your own eyes,
are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?
The Lord anointed you king over Israel,
and the Lord sent you on a mission
and said,
go and devote
to destruction the sinners,
the Amicalites,
and fight against them
until they are consumed.
And why then did you not obey
the voice of the Lord?
Why did you pounce on the spoil
and do what was evil
in the sight of the Lord?
So really simple,
he stops them.
He's like,
I can't take anymore.
Like, stop.
Be quiet.
Listen to what God says to you.
And very like falsely,
he's like,
okay, speak.
And he astoundingly claimed
that he's carried out God's commands.
Like, I did what he asked me to do.
I destroyed the Amalekites.
But, you know,
I saved a few things for myself.
But he disobeyed.
And he basically was like,
Saul, if God made you king,
he anointed you king.
You're the leader.
Why then do you care so much
about the opinions of your soldiers?
Like, that should not matter.
You're making an excuse.
But Saul's sin has blinded him
so that he thinks he's above reproach,
that he thinks he's obeyed God's command.
Look at verse 20.
And Saul said to Samuel,
listen to this,
I have obeyed the voice of the Lord.
I have gone on the mission
on which the Lord sent me.
I have brought Agag,
the king of Amalek,
and I have devoted the Amalekites
to destruction.
But the people took of the spoil,
the sheep and the oxen,
and the best things devoted to destruction,
to sacrifice to the Lord your God
in Gilgal.
So, look, sin,
sin by nature,
blinds us.
It deceives us
into thinking that we're being obedient.
It blinds people to their disobedience.
It's all things he's done,
the right thing.
And basically, Samuel's,
no, you have not done the right thing.
Real simple principle.
We obey who we fear.
Saul feared the people.
He loved his own reputation.
And therefore, he despised God.
Being big in our own eyes is small.
Here, we witness firsthand
the excessive desire for praise.
The praise of man,
the approval of man,
can pull us away
from the presence of God.
And this is what we see,
this excessive desire for that.
And Saul, instead of taking ownership,
you know what?
You're right.
He doesn't.
He shifts blame.
You see that?
He's like, look, Samuel,
I did what I was supposed to do,
but the people didn't listen to me.
At some point,
in this act of false piety,
Saul determined
that his own way of honoring God
was better than the way
that God had actually told him
to honor him.
He's like,
I captured all these animals
to go and offer a sacrifice
to the Lord.
It's not what God told him to do.
And,
very scary,
instead of owning up
and owning his sin,
he justifies it.
He makes excuses
for his disobedience.
He takes no responsibility.
He doesn't repent.
He blames the people around him.
He takes the footsteps of Adam,
if you would,
in the fall.
Argues that his sin
was no big deal.
He points the finger
at everyone else
but himself.
And in our victimized society,
we do that a lot.
It's other people's fault
that I'm this way.
It's other people's fault
that I behave this way.
We all need to understand
that the judgment seat,
we all be held accountable
for our sin.
His anointing,
Saul's anointing,
as the first king of Israel,
was a cause for great celebration
but due to his sin
and his failure to repent,
he has been now rejected
by God as king.
And so no excuses
are going to fly.
It's embarrassing.
Being caught in sin
is embarrassing
and shameful.
So what pulls your heart
away from God?
Is it the praise of men?
Samuel goes on
to tell him in verse 20.
This is very scary.
Verse 20.
Samuel said,
Has the Lord
as great delight
in burnt offerings
and sacrifices
as in obeying
the voice of the Lord?
Behold,
to obey
is better than sacrifice
and to listen
than the fat of rams.
For rebellion
is the sin
of divination
and presumption
is as iniquity
and idolatry.
Because you have rejected
the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you
from being king.
So,
Samuel shoots out
an essential truth
that goes throughout
the whole of Scripture
that God delights
in inward obedience
from the heart,
not just mere
external conformity.
And some of us
may have that done well.
We look the part,
we act the part,
we say the right things,
but our hearts
are far away
from God.
Saul's sacrifice
did not please God
because it wasn't
flowing from a heart
of true faith
and obedience.
Heart obedience
is always preferred
by God
as to ritual.
And sadly,
he delivers that
final word of judgment,
like,
look,
you're gone,
you're done,
this is it.
There's no more,
well,
one more chance,
there's none of that.
It's very scary.
And he goes,
look,
the Lord has stripped
your kingdom from you.
Your line will not succeed.
Very scary and tragic.
But then it gets worse.
Like,
it can't get any worse,
it gets worse.
Verse 24,
Saul said to Samuel,
I have sinned,
for I have transgressed
the commandment of the Lord
and your words,
because I feared the people,
see that,
and obeyed their voice.
Now,
therefore,
please pardon my sin
and return with me
that I may bow
before the Lord.
And Samuel said to Saul,
I will not return with you,
for you have rejected
the word of the Lord,
and the Lord has rejected you
from being king over Israel.
And as Samuel turned around
to go away,
Saul seized the skirt
of his robe
and tore it.
And Samuel said to him,
the Lord has torn
the kingdom of Israel
from you this day.
And has given it
to a neighbor of yours
who is better than you.
And also,
the glory of Israel
will not lie
or have regret,
for he is not a man
that he should have regret.
Highlight that one.
God doesn't just make things up.
Then he said,
I have sinned.
Yet honor me now
before the elders
of my people
and before Israel
and return with me
that I may bow
before the Lord your God.
So Samuel turned back
after Saul
and Saul bowed
before the Lord.
So,
don't be fooled
in verse 24.
This outward remorse
of his sin
is not genuine.
There's not genuine repentance.
He clearly is more upset
over the consequences
of his sin
than the fact
that he actually
has sinned against the Lord
and hurt the Lord
and angered him.
Whenever we're sharing
the gospel with people,
don't mistake people's guilt
as repentance.
It's very different.
Even people who don't know Christ
can feel bad
about things that they've done.
And that's what's going on here.
He feels bad
about the consequences
but not that he had sinned
against God.
He wasn't mourning
over that fact.
But notice that
he basically says,
you're right,
I've sinned
but please just,
you know,
we've all been there.
I meant well.
I meant well
sorry.
So,
why don't you
just walk back with me
so that all the people
will see that
we're good.
Let's just keep this
between us.
No one has to know.
Just walk back with me
so that everyone
will see that me
and you are cool
and that I still have favor
with everyone else.
Very embarrassing.
So,
he cared more
about his personal
dignity
and vanity
which sometimes
can be the greatest
obstacle
to our obedience
to God.
Caring about how
others perceive us
can be sometimes
the greatest hindrance
to our obedience
to God.
And this is what
Saul is doing.
Instead of repenting,
he just wants to
save face with the people.
Like,
if you return to me,
everyone will see
that everything is fine.
But remember,
sin is never private
and affects all people
around us.
So,
this is Saul.
This is painting
a grim picture
of how he dealt
with sin.
Which we're going to see
a huge contrast
later
when we look at
how David sinned,
how different
they responded.
So,
Saul was a religious man.
This is the longest
point,
by the way.
David was a
regenerate man.
We will see David
in heaven one day.
We will not see Saul.
So,
by contrast,
David sought
God's glory.
He loved God,
feared God,
and sought to live
a life that was
pleasing to God.
So,
even when his life
was under constant
threat by Saul,
he was hiding
in the wilderness,
trusting in God's
providence,
praising God.
If you want an example
of that,
just to save some time,
I may not read this
whole thing to you,
but write down
Psalm 57.
I'll read just a piece
of it to you,
but he wrote this
when he was hiding
in the wilderness
while Saul was
pursuing him.
He said,
Be merciful to me,
O God,
be merciful to me,
for in you,
my soul takes refuge.
In the shadow
of your wings,
I will take refuge
till the storms
of destruction
pass by.
I cry out to God,
most high,
to God who fulfills
his purpose for me.
He will sin from heaven
and save me.
He will put to shame
him who tramples on me.
Thinking about Saul.
And he has great love
for God,
great glory for God.
Verse 7,
My heart is steadfast,
O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing
and make melody.
Awake,
my glory.
Awake,
O harp and lyre.
I will awake the dawn.
I will give thanks
to you among the peoples.
Be exalted,
O God,
above the heavens.
Let your glory
be over all the earth.
So even while he was
being under constant threat
of Saul,
his mind was on
how do I honor God
in this time?
So he puts his total trust
in God.
A very different contrast.
And we'll see later
how he actually responds
to his sin
and his failure.
David yearned for
not just the blessings
from God,
but the presence of God.
He feared God.
And then also,
as again,
we'll see later
in 2 Samuel,
David repented of his sin
and he feared God.
The very opposite.
Saul justified his sin,
made excuses.
David repented of his sin.
A very different response.
After,
much in the same way
that Samuel
went to Saul
and called him out
on his sin,
the prophet Nathan,
as we know,
goes to David
and he calls him out
for his adultery,
his conspiracy,
and his murder.
And out of his mouth
comes,
I have sinned
against the Lord.
He couldn't live
in sin.
He couldn't do it.
And in Psalm 51
is written,
which you'll look at later,
but he says,
I know my transgressions
and my sin
is ever before me.
And then he says
to God,
you and you alone
have I sinned against
and done what is evil
in your sight.
Very different.
David repented of his sin
and he feared God.
A huge contrast.
This is point number two.
Point number two.
The first one was
religious versus regenerate.
The other two
won't take as long.
Envy and treachery
versus faithful friend.
All right?
I'll try to summarize
this for you as well.
In 1 Samuel 18,
you can flip over there
if you want to.
But this is the first time
that Saul begins
hating David
and envying him.
1 Samuel 18, verse 6.
It says,
They were coming home
when David returned
from striking down
the Philistines.
So this is right after
David kills Goliath.
The women came out
from the cities of Israel
singing and dancing
to meet King Saul
with tambourines
and songs of joy
and musical instruments.
And the people sang
one to the other
as I celebrated.
Check this out.
Saul has struck down
his thousands
and David
his tens of thousands.
No, no.
And Saul
was very angry.
And this saying
displeased him.
And he said,
They have ascribed
to David
tens of thousands
and to me
they have ascribed
thousands.
And what more
can he have
but my kingdom?
And Saul
eyed David
from that day on.
All right,
so deep down
any man
wants women
singing about
his victories
on the battlefield.
but what's going on
is like Saul
is angry.
He's like,
They're giving praise
to David
and not me.
So from that day on
he became suspicious
of David.
Verse 10,
The next day
that harmful spirit
came upon Saul
from God
and he raved
within his house
while David
was playing the lyre
as he did
day by day.
Saul had a spear
in his hand
and Saul hurled
the spear
kind of like a javelin
for he thought
I will pin David
to the wall.
But David
evaded him twice.
Saul was afraid
of David
because the Lord
was with him
but he had
departed from Saul.
So Saul removed him
from his presence
and made him
a commander
of a thousand.
And he went out
and came back
and before the people.
And David
had success
in all his undertakings
for the Lord
was with him
and when Saul
saw that he had
great success
he stood
in fearful awe
of him.
So
at some point
after his suspicion
happened
Saul was determined
to kill him.
So he hurls
a javelin at him.
One of those
so like
David would have been
really good at dodgeball
but he hurled it
he moved it out of the way
cleared it
like okay man
like jeez
alright we're good
and I don't think
any of our friends
have ever done that before.
And so
Saul despised him
because he was
receiving all the attention
all the glory.
So we see
Saul's envy
and treachery
is the first time here
don't worry
we're not going to read
much more
but this erratic
behavior that came
upon him
he evaded him twice
and amazingly
he gets out of the way
so then Saul's like
alright I'm done with him
just send him
into the ranks
maybe he'll get killed
give him a command
but because the Lord
was with him
he excelled
even on the battlefield.
And that just made Saul
even more angry
more frustrated
at David's success.
A lesson here for us guys
like please
listen to this
we all have this problem
when we are jealous
of the gifts
and blessings
and positions
of other people
we are not just angry
with that person
we are angry
with God himself
because we're saying
God
and his wisdom
and his sovereignty
and his goodness
we're calling it
into question
and saying
we are smarter
than him
and falsely
charges God
with men
so Saul is filled
with envy
and jealousy
over David's gifts
his abilities
his success
and wishes
that he had
what David had
instead of being
thankful
that God
has taken care
of the nation
he's angry
so his sin
this jealous rage
he seeks to murder
his loyal servant
in the following chapters
David flees
he runs
from Saul's presence
Saul pursues him
the soldiers
it's a band of warriors
to stay loyal
to David
and all in the following chapters
is this back and forth
of David
trying to run
from Saul
but here's what's crazy
Saul is the
envious
jealous
treacherous friend
David is the faithful
friend
his faithful love
for Saul
despite that jealousy
David truly
loves Saul
and respects him
he's fiercely loyal
to Saul
the scripture says
in Proverbs 17
17
some of you
struggle making friends
because you don't
pick good ones
Proverbs 17
17
a friend
loves
at all
times
and a brother
is born
for adversity
a true friend
shows and displays
love towards
their others
at all times
in favorable times
troubling times
thick and thin
they're not fair
with their friends
and usually
all the time
most people
are people
who are fellow
believers
so
cultivate those
friends
with fellow
believers
who have the
same Lord
that you have
but
going on
Saul ruthlessly
pursues him
it's so great
though
is David's love
for Saul
that he had
two opportunities
not once
but twice
to actually
kill Saul
and he didn't
he forgave him
he was patient
with him
he felt
remorseful
for him
he felt so
sad
for Saul
so you can
imagine that
the person
that you love
and that you
admire
trying to
kill you
so
first
he spares
his life
in chapter
24
1 through
22
and then
another time
after the death
of Samuel
and his marriage
to Abigail
David spares
Saul's life
again
and
I want to
read this
to you
and we'll
be close
to being done
1 Samuel
24
now think
about this
you're getting
a chance
to kill
the guy
who's
pursuing
you
and just
look at
David's
love
and response
and respect
for Saul
let us learn
something
from God's
word
again
I know a lot
to read
today but
it's God's
word
1 Samuel
24
verse 8
afterwards
David also
arose and
went out of
the cave
and called
after Saul
my lord
king
and when
Saul looked
behind him
David bowed
his face
to the earth
and paid
homage
so he
caught Saul
unawares
and he
bowed down
before him
and David
said to Saul
why do you
listen to the
words of men
who say
behold
David seeks
you harm
behold
this day
your eyes
have seen
how the
lord
gave you
today
into my
hand
in the
cave
and some
told me
to kill
you
so David
had men
saying
hey here's
your chance
end this
right now
kill them
and David
said no
I will not
but he said
I spared you
I said I will
not put out
my hand
against my
lord
for he is
the lord's
anointed
see
my father
see the
corner
he loves
Saul so
much
he calls
him
my father
see the
corner of
your robe
what happened
was David
went in
there
and he
took a
piece of
Saul's
robe
off
cut it
off
while he
was
sleeping
he's
like look
at this
I could have
killed you
here's your
robe
so it stands
as proof
for by the
fact that I
cut off the
corner of your
robe and did
not kill you
you may know
and see that
there is no
wrong or
treason in
my hands
I have not
sinned against
you though
you hunt
me
hunt my life
and take it
here's
something
amazing
he says
this
may the
Lord
judge
between
me and
you
and may
the
Lord
avenge
me
against
you
but my
hand
shall not
be
against
you
as the
proverb
that the
ancient
says
look at
this
out of
the
wicked
comes
wickedness
so David
was like
I'm not
going to
do that
but my
hand
shall not
be
against
you
after
whom
has the
king
of
Israel
come
out
after
whom
do
you
pursue
!
flee
may the
Lord
therefore
be
judge
and give
sentence
between
me
and you
and see
to it
and plead
my cause
and deliver
me from
your hand
so an
amazing
thing
David's like
look I
respect you
I refuse
to kill
I'm going
to trust
God
to deal
with
you
he
says
that
vengeance
is
his
it
won't
be
on
me
your
blood
will
not
be
on
my
hands
you
are
the
Lord's
anointed
so
David
was
the
faithful
friend
even
until
the
end
Saul
was
treacherous
and sought
to kill
David
but you
see
his
trust
in
God
to
handle
the
situation
thirdly
lastly
!
Saul's
kingdom
was
stripped
we
just
read
it
from
a
human
perspective
Saul
had
every
chance
every
advantage
to be
a
good
king
over
the
people
but
he
squandered
it
he
failed
and
his
line
would
not
continue
he
chose
to
sin
and
rebel
against
God
he
chose
to
please
man
over
God
so
that
heartbreaking
exchange
so
we
also
know
the end
of the
story
which
we'll
get
to
eventually
in
another
Sunday
but
he
fought
against
the
Philistines
and
as
God
had
promised
to
judge
him
he
did
the
Philistines
killed
him
and
his
son
Jonathan
and
cut
off
Saul's
head
tragic
so
God
pronounced
judgment
on him
and he
says
the
Lord
your
kingdom
will
not
continue
the
Lord
has
sought
out
a
man
after
his
own
heart
killed
in
battle
so
his
kingdom
was
stripped
David's
kingdom
promised
forever
so
following
David's
final
victory
over the
Philistines
he brought
the ark
back to
Jerusalem
and God
makes a
covenant
with David
this is in
2 Samuel
7
13
and God
says to
David
makes a
great promise
to him
he shall
build a
house for
my name
and I
will
establish
the throne
of your
kingdom
forever
God
told him
I
will
be
to
him
a
father
and
he
shall
be
to
me
as
a
son
when
he
commits
iniquity
I
will
discipline
him
with
the
rod
of
men
with
the
stripes
of
the
sons
of
men
but
my
steadfast
love
will
not
depart
from
him
David
as
I
took
it
from
Saul
whom
I
put
away
before
you
and
your
house
and
your
kingdom
shall
be
made
sure
forever
before
me
your
throne
shall
be
established
forever
the
second
samuel
7
13
through
16
so
notice
that
God
says
your
house
your
kingdom
your
throne
will
be
established
forever
so
in
this
we
see
the
fulfillment
of
the
Abrahamic
promise
in
Genesis
12
a
gathering
up
and
refocusing
of that
promise
saying
that
the
future
Messiah
the
son
of
David
the
son
of
God
would
come
and
he
would rule
forever
we're
going to
give
a lot
more
attention
to
that
later
this
is
the
Davidic
covenant
but
drawing
something
else
we see
in this
story
that as
the king
goes
the people
goes
we see
that just
as David
loved and
showed
mercy to
Saul
despite
his sin
against
him
so
Jesus
showed
incredible
mercy
to those
who sought
to kill
him
and oppose
him
just
as David
recognized
that vengeance
was the
Lord's
that he
would not
kill
Saul
so our
Lord
also
trusted
his
father
to take
care of
those
who
persecuted
him
as it
says in
first
Peter
when he
suffered
he did
not
threaten
but he
continued
entrusting
himself
to him
who judges
justly
so we see
that he
trusted God
he didn't
take vengeance
he trusted
all that
in the
capable
hands
of his
father
and
lastly
we see
Saul's
failures
and then
later
David's
failures
he
reveals
this
tremendous
need
for a
perfect
sinless
righteous
king
to come
and all
foreshadows
and points
forward to
the coming
of our
Messiah
Jesus
Christ
who was
able to
actually change
the hearts
of his
people
so there
you go
rebellious
versus
regenerate
treachery
and envy
versus
faithful friend
in a kingdom
that is
torn away
and a
kingdom
that will
last
forever
hope we've
learned something
from God's
word today
let's pray
together