[0:00] 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.
[0:20] 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.
[0:36] 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.
[0:49] 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.
[1:01] 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.
[1:18] 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.
[1:31] 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.
[1:42] 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.
[1:53] 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.
[2:09] 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.
[2:20] 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.
[2:32] 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.
[2:45] 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.
[3:00] 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.
[3:13] 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.
[3:25] 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.
[3:36] So he was a tough warrior. But as we also looked at last week, David's distinguishing trait was not those capabilities.
[3:50] 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.
[4:02] 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.
[4:15] 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.
[4:29] 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.
[4:44] 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.
[4:54] 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.
[5:13] 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.
[5:34] 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.
[5:49] 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.
[6:07] 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.
[6:27] Saul is one of the Bible's most tragic heroes. After his abandonment by God, he is a doomed man losing his mind.
[6:38] 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.
[6:50] 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.
[7:08] 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.
[7:19] 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.
[7:31] 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.
[7:45] 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.
[7:57] 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.
[8:09] 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.
[8:20] Look at 16, verse 14. Very scary.
[8:38] 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.
[8:53] 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.
[9:15] 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.
[9:28] 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.
[9:43] 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.
[9:56] 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.
[10:09] 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.
[10:22] 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.
[10:33] And so, today, we're going to look at some of the major contrasts between David and Saul.
[10:44] 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.
[10:57] One is religious versus regenerate. Meaning that Saul was a religious man while David was indeed a regenerate man.
[11:11] 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.
[11:28] 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.
[11:42] 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.
[11:53] 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.
[12:09] And Christ says, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness. I never knew you. He also, in Matthew 25, is like the worthless servant.
[12:20] He is the face of Hebrews 6.
[12:33] 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.
[12:45] 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.
[12:55] 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.
[13:14] 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.
[13:27] 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.
[13:37] 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.
[13:52] 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.
[14:12] And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
[14:23] 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.
[14:44] 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.
[14:57] 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.
[15:08] 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.
[15:21] 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.
[15:35] 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.
[15:50] 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.
[16:03] 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.
[16:15] 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?
[16:38] 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.
[16:49] 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.
[17:07] 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.
[17:17] 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?
[17:30] 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.
[17:46] As we teach our children, delayed obedience or partial obedience is all-out disobedience. Go on to verse 16.
[18:00] 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.
[18:14] 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.
[18:34] 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.
[18:47] 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.
[18:58] 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.
[19:11] 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?
[19:22] 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.
[19:35] 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.
[19:47] 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.
[20:07] So, look, sin, sin by nature, blinds us. It deceives us into thinking that we're being obedient.
[20:20] 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.
[20:31] We obey who we fear. We obey who we fear. Saul feared the people. He loved his own reputation. And therefore, he despised God.
[20:47] 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.
[21:05] And this is what we see, this excessive desire for that. And Saul, instead of taking ownership, you know what? You're right. You're right. He doesn't. He shifts blame. You see that?
[21:16] 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.
[21:34] 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.
[21:47] 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.
[21:59] 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.
[22:11] 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.
[22:37] 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?
[22:53] 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?
[23:10] 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.
[23:25] 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.
[23:51] 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.
[24:09] 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.
[24:22] 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.
[24:33] 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.
[24:52] 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.
[25:10] 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.
[25:21] 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.
[25:34] 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.
[25:47] So Samuel turned back after Saul and Saul bowed before the Lord. So, don't be fooled in verse 24.
[25:59] 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.
[26:15] 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.
[26:27] 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.
[26:41] 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.
[26:52] 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.
[27:04] Very embarrassing. So, he cared more about his personal dignity and vanity which sometimes can be the greatest obstacle to our obedience to God.
[27:17] 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.
[27:31] 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.
[27:42] 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.
[27:56] 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.
[28:08] So, by contrast, David sought God's glory. He loved God, feared God, and sought to live a life that was pleasing to God.
[28:19] 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.
[28:37] 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.
[28:52] 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.
[29:05] 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.
[29:17] 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.
[29:29] 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?
[29:46] 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.
[30:00] 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.
[30:13] 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.
[30:33] 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.
[30:46] 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.
[30:59] 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.
[31:13] 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.
[31:34] 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.
[31:47] 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.
[31:58] Check this out. Saul has struck down his thousands and David his tens of thousands. No, no. And Saul was very angry.
[32:09] 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?
[32:23] 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.
[32:35] 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.
[32:56] 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.
[33:14] 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.
[33:35] 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.
[33:58] 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.
[34:26] 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
[35:38] 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
[37:13] 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
[38:21] 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 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
[39:21] I'm not 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!
[39:34] 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!
[40:17] 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
[41:22] 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
[42:25] 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
[43:32] 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