Well, I invite you to turn tonight in your Bibles in front of you to 1 Samuel chapter 24 as we return to our study in the book of 1 Samuel, and tonight we come to 1 Samuel 24, we'll consider the chapter, found on page 291 if you're looking for that, 291. This is the word of the Lord. When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all of Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the wild goat's rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way where there was a cave. And Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, here is the day of which the Lord said to you, behold, I will give your enemy into your hand and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you? Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward, David's heart struck him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And he said to his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed. So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. Afterward, David also rose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, My Lord, the King! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of men who say, Behold, David seeks your harm? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And someone told me to kill you, but 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 of your robe in my hand. 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 my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you. May the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients say, out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog? After a flea? 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. As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is that your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, and that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now behold, I know that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David swore this to Saul, and Saul went home. But David and his men went up to the stronghold. There ends the reading of God's Word. Well, we ended last week in Psalm 84 describing one of the great blessings of the Lord where it said, blessed are all those who trust him. Blessed are those who put their trust in the Lord. That's easy to talk about. That's easy to give in principle, but quite a different thing and a different challenge to live in reality, isn't it? What happens when we're faced with circumstances that are so difficult that we're looking for a way out of the hardship, out of the conflict, if you could have it right now would you take it that's my question if there is any sort of conflict that comes upon you something so difficult and hard in life if you could get out of it in the middle in a moment in a second by one choice would you take it of course you would that's what we live for. We live for release. We live for escape. When we find ourselves in hardship and in messes, that's what we want. We want out. We want free. We want ease again. Well, I do. So imagine your worst hardship in life. Maybe some of you are in one. Imagine just one choice and you could get out. That's exactly what is in front of you right now in 1 Samuel 24 with David. Tonight is going to show us something really important about thinking through what God is teaching us in times of adversity. What we don't realize about life, what we don't think about about life, is that everything is appointed the seasons that we're in. We have seasons of prosperity and we have seasons of adversity. And that's what we confess about providence, that there are those seasons that come upon us. And the question is, is what happens in that season of adversity that never seems to go away? Or that God is never answering? Or that God is never delivering? Or that God is never helping? And I want to say tonight that right there is your greatest test in life. Right there is the greatest test in life you're facing. For there are a thousand ways out of things, but that doesn't mean it's the Lord's way. There are a thousand ways out of things, but it does not mean it's the Lord's way. In seasons of adversity, the Lord has a great purpose, and it is that we would live by faith in His promises and not take matters into our own hands. Now, if you get that, that's the basic point tonight. That's the basic thing that's being driven home tonight. It seems simple enough, but notice how that unfolds for you and should be a great help to you in life. With that thought in front of you, I have a few things to show you tonight and to help you with in 1 Samuel chapter 24. You'll remember that David has been on the run. Saul has been trying to kill him for some time. It has been the worst trial this man has ever faced, and it doesn't seem to be ending. One week after another, month after another, here comes Saul with all of his best men to kill him. He's using all of his might, all of his skill, all of his wisdom to take out David and his best, best people, his special ops team in Israel to kill and put out this threat. We saw some of the most beautiful Psalms were written at this time. Dr. Godfrey preached one a few weeks ago in Psalm 57. In the last scene, the Lord had encouraged David with Jonathan's friendship. That had been a great help to him. And the Lord had rerouted Saul to deal with the Philistine problem, but now Saul's back. And it's even worse. 3,000 chosen warriors out of all of Israel are seeking David. This just gets worse, doesn't it? 3,000 people. He chose the best. You can't help but feel a little bit like the narrator here is mocking when you read that they come to the wild goat's rock and these men enter the sheepfold. Here come these goats entering the sheepfold. Here come these wolves coming after David where this was a place of refreshment, where the shepherds would go for there were many springs there. But what we read in verse 3 is fascinating. Saul enters a cave and has to relieve himself now Josh Fanny talked to me before the sermon tonight and told me exactly the language here and you can talk to him afterward and see exactly what this is saying you know what he's doing here it's not unclear he is number two it's a despicable scene if you're thinking about it a king has unrobed himself and this is all his people outside waiting and there are David and his men right behind him. Deep in the cave. You have to stop and say, as you're looking at this and thinking about this, what a scenario. What a scenario. How could you have ever put something like that together? You'd have never dreamed to get this opportunity. Their knives are out and there's Saul bare with the flesh ready. You could get them. You couldn't dream up a scenario like this. Openly naked, humiliated, powerless to do a thing. And please keep in mind, this man, absolutely ruthless. Saul was no good man. He had already slaughtered the priests of Nob. he had brutalized israel he was an oppressive king he did not follow the law of god he was a wicked tyrant in israel murdering god's servants have you known anyone in history that you've ever read about like this read the history books of tyrants like this that's all he's out of control he should be shepherding israel but instead he's vain he's obsessed with himself he's jealous he's power hungry and on the threat of david is too much it is number one priority for him to take david out what would you do now we're not we're not we're in america and we're we're civilized i guess but but this is this is old testament israel this is warfare now samuel told david you are god's anointed not saul anymore in fact it was so evident to to that david should have his moment all of his warriors in the cave start saying to him here's the day of which the lord said to you, behold, I will give your enemy into your hand and you shall do to him as it seems good to you. Your sword is in your hand. Go get him. One commentator said that they were probably singing. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Go get him. Now, I don't know when the Lord said that. In other words, his servants just said, the Lord said this. Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand. I don't find it anywhere. But you kind of understand why they would say it. Here he is sitting right in front of them, relieving himself. The true conclusion had to be, this is it. This is the moment. David, this is unbelievable. You got to take it. You understand why I asked a moment ago that maybe some of you are in the worst possible place, and what is the way that we handle it? We do everything we can to get out of it, and if the problem could be solved in one moment, in one thing that you do, would you take it? Of course, you would. I probably would, too. We're always trying to find solutions to things, but it's this question that probably went through David's mind. Didn't God set this up? You believe in providence? Didn't God say, the kingdom is yours, David? Didn't God in his providence put Saul right in front of him for the taking? And the answer is, yes. God put him right in front of him for the taking. The soldiers say to David, go get him. A.W. Pink said. One stroke of the sword and he steps into the throne. Farewell to poverty. Farewell to the life of a hunted goat. Reproaches, sneers, defeat would all cease. Triumph would be his. Right now, one sword slash. All your conflict ended. All your pain over, everything's solved. Take it, David. Take it. The door of providence is open. God opened the door. We always say that. Got to look for open doors. Door's open. Go get it. You see why I have to stop and say here, life's a test? Everything's a test. In fact, this is the great moment of David's testing in the wilderness. David's warriors have tempted him. And this leads us to the choice he makes. In verse 4 he says, Now, the meaning here is important. To cut off a corner of the robe, The robe was the symbol of Saul's kingship. Understand that. The kingdom. And I think what David is going through his mind at this point is what Samuel said that the Lord told David prior to this, remember, the Lord has tore the kingdom away from Saul. And he's given it to you. David was rising up to claim it. But what we read is as he's pulling out the sword he strikes off the corner and immediately his heart struck him. Why? He then says to his men he holds a corner of the robe. Think about this. He says to his men the Lord forbid that I should do this to my Lord. The Lord's anointed. To put my hand out against Him seeing He is the Lord's anointed. David knew he would sit as king in Israel. But the remarkable passing of this test by David is this. He also knew that such a reign would begin in God's timing. the determining of when that rain would begin is not his. And when that rain would be handed to him was not his to decide. Now that's a remarkable thing to think about here for a moment. What a king is doing here, what's happening here, is the king is being prepared in the most remarkable of ways, For the king is really learning in every circumstance of life to trust the Lord. We learn so much from this, don't we, tonight? What a tyrant Saul was. Yet he was still God's anointed. God was the one that owned the timing of the king and the kingdom. God was the one that owned it. And that's the principle, really, that's all threaded throughout Scripture about the way that we look at governing authorities, if you think about it for a moment. The whole way that we look at governing authorities all throughout the Scripture comes right out of Romans chapter 13, that there is no governing authority. There's nobody that's put in place that is not put there by God Himself. That demands something from us, doesn't it? Respect and honor. That's hard for us. especially in front of a pig like Saul. One of the saddest things ever has happened in our time. We are so used to trashing authority structures. Everyone is an expert now because of social media, of course. It doesn't even faze us. It doesn't even faze us. The leader that we hate, the side that we have chosen, We use the mouth, and we're all on them. Imagine, even in our day, no matter what president we have, imagine this position, how many people would pull out the sword? You hear it all the time. And here's the truth. God put that person in authority for his purposes and his reasoning. Saul was as bad as any of them throughout history. But David felt horrible that he cut off a little piece of his robe. Imagine the judgment coming on those who despise all authority to structures and attack it all the time and live to do this all day long in the news with no remorse. Imagine that. where their whole life is gossip and slander against God's authority structures. David felt terrible. But the bigger message here tonight is this, that in the midst of this test for David, David, it had everything to do, the test had everything to do with whether the kingdom should come now in glory and whether that kingdom should be established right now his way. or whether David had to go the way of the cross. You see, there's always easy ways out of life in everything. There's always an easy way out. You guys have a million of these scenarios you're presented with every week. You can run from all your conflicts. You can take a whole different persona. You can check out in life. You can have endless searches for something easier. When you face extreme hardship, you have a dozen things you can run to. And you can fix a lot right now. Imagine if we looked at all of life as a test of God preparing us for the glory to come. But that that glory comes in His timing. We make life so hard on ourselves when we take matters into our own hands. But not only that, we're essentially saying to the Lord, I want the glory now without the cross. That's what we're saying. I will not wait for your slow deliverance. This is what produced the golden calf in the wilderness. Where is this God who brought us out of the land of Egypt? We want a new God. The real issue here is that vengeance was the Lord's, not David's. And David knew that. the Lord would take out Saul when he wants. You're going to see that soon. But for now, David could see that God had a purpose in it and that this was still his anointed until God acted. And that way for him through it was a way of the cross. For it trained him to trust the Lord, to pray to the Lord, to grow in the Lord, to see his deliverance in surprising ways through all of this. And the Lord loves to do that for you. That such seasons of adversity that come upon us, this is what is intended by the Lord. and that is true for us, you know, things will change in life in due time. Nothing remains forever in the season of adversity. And that's what happens here. David walks out of the cave, Saul walks out, David walks out with him, he bows his head to the ground, and what does he say? Why are you listening to those who say, I want you dead? Look, look, I had a chance. Here's a corner of your robe. If I wanted to kill you, I could have. Imagine if we had this kind of humility before all leaders, realizing God holds all authority structures in His hands. You are the Lord's anointed. I have not sinned against you, and I did not hunt you to take your life. May the Lord judge, verse 12, between me and you. May the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients say, out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? I'm just a flea. I'm just a little dog. Why are you pursuing me? Proof, I don't want to kill you. And the surprising outcome is what? The Lord holds the king's heart in his hand, doesn't he? it's really remarkable all the craziness and madness of Saul it's for a moment here comes sanity you can almost hear the inflection in the voice change can't you it's like the cloud goes away is that you my son is that you and he says you're the right Think of what's prophetically being said out of his mouth. You're the righteous one, not me. You will be king, not me. Israel will be established in your hand. From the mouth of his greatest enemy came the truth. And ultimately, it's a reminder that even the wicked know that their time is short. They know. But I was thinking of one more very important truth as we think about tonight, this passage. The temptation to have glory faces all of us right now. The temptation to have it all right now. But you know that's exactly what Satan tried to tempt Jesus with in the wilderness. Remember the devil took him to a holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said, If you're the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it's written, he will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, again it's written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory and said to him, all these I will give you right now if you bow down and worship me. David here shows us a lot of our true Savior, doesn't he? The resoluteness to stay the course. to go in the way of the cross was not for Him. It was for you. Imagine Jesus could have avoided the terrible death and crucifixion that was coming that He knew He had to bear. He could have called down for the angels of heaven to come down and minister to Him and put an end to this. He could have avoided hunger. He could have avoided and taken another way than the providence where in God's providence he had been led by the Spirit. And had he done it, you wouldn't be saved. Had he done it, you wouldn't be saved. When we study David, we see God training him in righteousness for the kingdom to come. When we see the bigger picture, we see our Savior in our place. bearing the cross in shame and at the appointed hour rising from the dead and taking the throne and who now lives and reigns forever so that we would enjoy that victory. The kingdom that he has brought in first came through a cross. And you shouldn't expect it to be any different in your life. Now, I know you don't pay for sins. Praise the Lord, you can't. but you're his. And he said, if you're going to be like me, you're going to have a cross. And there are going to be seasons of adversity that you're going to be tested. Who are you behaving like? Well, Peter said, if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you've been called, because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps who committed no sin neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled did not revile in return when he suffered he did not threaten think about what he could have done but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you've been healed for you were straying like sheep but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Therefore, that is why we live waiting upon him for the glory that shall soon be revealed, he says. That's coming. But for a little while, if needs be, you're going to be faced with various testings of your faith. And count it all joy when you get them. For the Lord is preparing you for something so much more better. He will bring you through. You will reign forever. You already do in principle with Him in glory. But right now, whatever we face is not forever. So, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He'll strengthen your heart. And He'll give you what you need until that appointed day. Let's thank Him tonight in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word tonight. And thank You for the encouragement that it brings to us, realizing, Lord, the great truth that before glory comes across and that through much tribulation we enter the kingdom, but it's all laid out by you in your timing in the seasons of providence that you bring on us. So let us, Lord, push that and let us show ourselves like our Savior who in the midst of adversity and in the midst of the cross he bore to actually pay for our sins did not waver, but went all the way to death for us so that we might live. Thank you that he passed the test for us, and now that we can showcase him in our lives in thanksgiving. Help us this week in whatever you bring, that Christ might be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or by death. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.