I invite you to turn tonight in your Bibles as we continue our study in 1 Samuel chapter 18. 1 Samuel chapter 18. And that is found on page 308. 308 in your Bibles. We'll pick up at verse 6 and read to the end of the chapter. Let's give our attention to the reading of God's holy word. beginning at verse 6 as they were coming home when david returned from striking down the philistine the women came out of all the cities of israel singing and dancing to meet king saul with tambourines with songs of joy with musical instruments and the women sang to one another as they celebrated saul has struck down his thousands and david is ten thousands Saul was very angry and this saying displeased him he said they have ascribed to David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed thousands and what more can he have but the kingdom and Saul eyed David from that day on the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre as he did day by day Saul had his spear in his hand and Saul hurled the spear 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 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 in 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. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. Then Saul said to David, here is my elder daughter Merib. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles, for Saul thought. Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him. And David said to Saul, who am I and who are my relatives? My father's clan in Israel that I should be son-in-law to the king. But at the time when Merib, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel, the Maholethite, for a wife. Now Saul's daughter, Michal, 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 Saul said to David a second time, And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David says, And the servants of Saul told him, Thus and so did David speak. Then Saul said, Thus you shall say to David, The king desires no bride price except a 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 servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired, David arose and went along with his men and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter, Michal, for a wife. But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually. And the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle. And as often as they came out to David, they had more success than all the servants of Saul so that his name was highly esteemed. And there ends the reading tonight of God's Word. Well, there's obviously a lot in this particular passage to consider tonight and many directions one could go with it. I think it's helpful to keep the central message of the book in front of us and that'll help us to understand exactly what is being said to us tonight. You'll remember that the heart of the problem in this book has been Israel's rejection and really difficulty to receive her true king. They have over and over and over rejected the Lord's rule over them, his care over them. And they wanted a king just like all the other nations to rule them. So we've been studying in their selection of King Saul who, as the Lord said, was really supposed to be, in their eyes, a replacement in some ways to the Lord. At least that's how the Lord viewed it, for he said that clearly on 1 Samuel 8 and 11. The Lord gave instructions, though, and would work with this. He gave instructions to the king back in chapter 8 that if the king feared the Lord, if the king sought the Lord, if the king followed his laws, it would go well in the land for them. But if not, the whole project would be an absolute disaster. Well, we've been studying this. We've been studying the disaster unfold. And because of it, there was really, the answer was there was no faith in this king, in the God of Israel. This king did not look to the God of Israel for deliverance. This king was going to do things his way. And this king was not going to listen. And this king, Saul, was going to be belligerent. And we saw over and over again his failure to lead Israel. It's been a long study of that. And it culminated in the Lord rejecting Saul as king. The Lord had rejected him. Well, now we're seeing the sad consequences of this play out. And it's in the midst of this rejection of Saul that the Lord has done something marvelous in raising up a king of his choosing. And what we're seeing in this is a clash of all clashes. We're seeing really the consequences play out, but now there's sort of character studies as the two kings are set side by side so that we can study the two kings. We can study the character of the two kings. We can look at what God chose and then we can look at what the people chose and the disaster with what the people chose and the blessing with what God chose. And that's really laid out for us here, isn't it, tonight? What is the Lord saying to us in this? That's my question. What message does the Lord have for us in this? Well, it leads to the greater question, I think, of what the Lord is teaching us as we look at David and Saul. On one level, it's about faith and unbelief. Contrast it. The consequences of that playing out in the life of both. On another level, which I think we'll see, it is clearly about the way that we are to receive God's king and how we respond to God's king of his choosing. In that sense, we really see a lot of similarities when we look at the whole story between us and Saul. Well, there's much to think about here, and tonight I really want to look at this with a briefly with this thought in mind the failure of Israel's king the success of God's king and then the future king of God's favor that all of this points to so we'll look at it that way the failure the success and then the future here as God has is showing us something much greater in all of this though so remember that the book of Samuel is providing a strong contrast it's providing us contrast so that we can work with the truths that are being conveyed to us. That's why I love the book. Contrasts are the best teaching tool to have us understand the truth that God is conveying. And Samuel is full of contrasts. Last time we looked at the contrast between love and envy, it was beautiful in Jonathan's response, which I'll end with tonight. Jonathan's response to David as opposed to Saul's response to David. Jonathan's response to David was one of love. Saul's has been one of envy. But now we notice here the text zeroes in and compares the two kings, setting them side by side and looking now at how they relate to one another. So we're going to begin with Saul again as we left off last time. David, of course, has defeated the Philistine giant and has had great success with all of the people, and this has begun to unravel Saul. You'll notice that we read right at the beginning there in verse 6, as they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourings, with songs of joy, with musical instruments, saying as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. It's a terrible worship song. It really is. Israel still is not getting it. They're still not praising the Lord, are they? But it's not the thing to sing before the king of Israel. It really isn't. The women are all saying, Wow, David has killed 10,000. And Saul, thousands. Saul hears this, and this has set him off. Do you hear what they're saying? They're running around saying that David's killed 10,000. And they're only attributing to me thousands. Well, this is a clear assault, he's thinking, on his own strength as a king. This is an insult to me as a king. And if I let that go, the kingdom is David's. The kingdom is David's. Well, we left off then in verse 9. So Saul eyed David from that day forward. And this has to be kept in mind now in light of what follows. We have this perplexing section now for us that's troubling, isn't it? The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul. And he raved within his house as David was playing the liar. And Saul tries to pin him with a spear twice. David seems completely, he understands the kind of madness of Saul, but he seems completely oblivious in some sense in this whole scene. He seems kind of like a naive kid in the whole scene. He doesn't even seem to realize that Saul wants his life. It's really a troubling section for us. It's troubling because we stop and we pause. Why in the world would God send a troubling spirit on somebody? It doesn't fit our definition of a God of love, does it? We have to see it in connection, don't we? Saul has rejected the Lord. Saul has demonstrated no faith. If I went through, and I won't do this tonight because I don't have time, and showed you how bad Saul has been through the whole thing. He is an unbelieving king in Israel, and he is wrecking the religion of Israel. wrecking it what is happening here well it's clear that what is happening here that in in how we should read it the effect of it is it's as if god steps it up on saul in other words he magnifies for us what really is happening in that heart he's like it's as if the lord has put saul's heart under a microscope for us and we are studying the rage of the man the hatred of the man this is the end where it's going to take him he's going to be trying to pin david with a spear later and the spirit of god doesn't have to rush upon him to do that this is just what dr godfrey made the point uh when speaking of election and speaking of pharaoh hardening his heart we see that in conjunction a pharaoh hardening his heart and the lord coming along and hardening pharaoh's heart these were these were responses to a heart that was already hard at times and hating the Lord. And this is the same thing. But I think you can't miss that when we see this spirit of rushing upon Saul, this oppressive spirit, this was always an act of judgment in Scripture. Remember Micaiah? One of the most interesting passages is 1 Kings 22. And in 1 Kings 22, we have a remarkable section there where Ahab is troubled. He can't stand Micaiah because Micaiah always prophesies and the prophets are telling him good and sweet things and Micaiah often prophesies bad things against Ahab. And remember what happened? The king said to Jehoshaphat, did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil? And Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who will entice Ahab that he may go out and fall at Ramath Gilead? And one said one thing and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord saying, I will entice him. And the Lord said to him, by what means? He said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, you are to entice him and you shall succeed, go out and do so. Now therefore, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster for you. It's the same thing. This was a righteous judgment from the throne on Israel's king. And it's Romans 1. Saul is going mad. Saul is going mad. He's being turned over in his sin. Think about the sins that dominate people's lives. Think about the sins that you've struggled with. If God had ever said to you, go, do what you want, you get it all in full, you know where you'd be? Not here. I think that's a scary thought, isn't it? If God had said you want it, you got it, go. Terrifying thought. the pathology here of a heart full of hate and where this is ending is the greatest tragedy. And the text captures this path for you. He is in his head thinking now, everyone's against me. Everyone hates me. He's the ultimate conspiracy theorist now. He is sitting around and he's a great conspiracy theorist. Saul, you notice how many times it says Saul was afraid of David, why? Because the Lord was with him. But had departed from Saul. And David had success in all his undertakings for the Lord was with him. Verse 15, and when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. It just keeps growing. Fear, fear, fear. See the fruits here? Evil suspicions. Fear. He's afraid. And now he's sitting back on his throne. He's like one of the emperors in Rome ready to take out anyone who's a threat to him. You could see him scared to death sitting in his throne room. Well, this section shows and reveals numerous plots in Saul's mind. He starts to think, well, I'm going to take David down myself, but I can't do it because the Lord's with him, so I'm going to use my daughters to do it. Unbelievable, isn't it? I'm going to use my daughters to take him down. So he has his eldest daughter, Merib. I'll give you for wife, only be valiant for me. For he thinks, let not my hand, but the hand of the Philistines be against him. but Saul reneges and refuses. And then he gives his daughter, Michael, to David. And he says the same thing, essentially. And finally, he says, here's what I'll do. I'm going to tell him to get her to go out and get a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. From mad to panicked, to fearful to angry, he is desperately trying to control anything, everything. I said last time, the works of the flesh. Galatians 5, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy. It's all right here in Saul. It's all playing out in his life. God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetous, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. The folly of unbelief. This is a path of unbelief. It's sad, isn't it? And I think we're meant to feel that. I think we're meant to feel that. It's easy to do, to sit back and think everyone's against you and to pick apart everyone else. If you find yourself in that kind of sin, those sins grow and resentment fills the heart and you're constantly judging everyone, you know what it ultimately is? It's fear that often drives that, that motivates us to take things into our own hands and threats to our lives of people who are successful that the Lord has blessed. It's a bad path and very common. Now, that was a response. God's spirit was a response to that hatred of God. But now the great contrast. The great contrast is the success of David. We see a certain thing emphasized about David we can't miss, isn't it? Isn't it beautiful? Humility. David is completely hated without a cause. But what we see in him is no aspiration for any greatness. I mean, the text keeps emphasizing it. Twice, Saul comes to him with his daughters who he's trying to use to get him killed, and he says, who am I? No, no, no, no, no. No, I'm not worthy to take the king's daughters. I can't. Why would you ever do that? My relatives, my father's clan, were nothing. Don't give me that kind of position. I should never be a son-in-law of the king. This is not just pious talk on David's lips as if it's just some kind of false piety. This is, he really believes this. Or David said, does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law? Since I'm a poor man and I have no reputation. I'm from Bethlehem. I'm poor. I have no reputation. Why would you ever give such an honor to a peasant like me? It's freeing, isn't it? Freeing to not be great. It's freeing to not have a name. It's freeing to everyone who despires for it or everyone who has it. Everyone who wants fame and a name and greatness and money and success and all these things today. Listen to me, boys and girls. Listen to you. You are free in the Lord's kingdom to not be great in this way. You don't have to pursue it. You don't have to worry about being liked. Did you know that? You don't have to aspire to make a lot of money in life. You don't have to make that your goals in life. You're free from being the best and beat everyone else. You know what? You can live in simple trust in your Lord. The real message here, the real point of the passage is God's blessing is on David. Did you notice how many times the text says it? Four times, you can't miss it. David was successful. Three times it says, Yahweh was with him. Verse 12, Saul was afraid of David because Yahweh was with him. And David had success in all of his undertakings because the Lord was with him. 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. All of this, everyone recognized that the Lord was with David. And his fame spread everywhere. And the Lord was with him. Here's something to consider. Humanly speaking, everything was against David. The king wants his head. Spears are flying at him. And nothing can touch him. And I think there's a wonderful encouragement in this to us that when you have the Lord and when the Lord is on your side and when you have come to Him in true faith, you are blessed. He's always with you. You are a successful people in Him. I see it. This is the great blessing and His care and protection is always around you no matter what you face. His blessing and help is always with you no matter what you face. I think Ralph Davis at this point hits it on the nail on the head when he says, might this imply that the Lord's protection is completely unknown to you? Might it mean and imply that much of all this protection that we enjoy and that you never see, the Lord is constantly giving you throughout life. And it's evident the Lord is with you. When we come to the Lord in faith and childlike confidence that we see in David, trusting it is this kind of humility that comes out and this kind of recognition that the Lord is the strength of our life. Why would anyone go the path of unbelieving Saul? That's the question here. Look at the misery of it. Look at the unhappiness in it. Worried and fearful and judging and angry. And then you have this. I said there's another level to this story, a greater story really that is being shown to us here, isn't there? There's faith and unbelief and the consequences and that being contrasted. But there's something else that the whole Bible is showing us. It's the arrival and the reception of God's King. A King that was given to us and who came in complete humility. Don't you see him here? I have no reputation. I come from Bethlehem. I have no great name. Who are we looking at? Well, I hope I've done my job in preaching long enough to know that I'll just show you that we're looking at the true Messiah. That we're looking at the character of God's deliverer. The character of God's true king. You know, when Jesus arrived and He came here, there was a king from the beginning trying to kill Him. Trying to pin Him. He was hated without a cause His whole life. Jesus didn't die until the appointed time, but it was clear the Scriptures pronounced they hated me without a cause. it was his righteousness it was his confidence it was who he was and it was evident they said it they said it when they looked at him no one could do these works unless god is with him it's evident in the beginning he found favor with god and man and you know what we did we didn't just take a spear we took giant nails and nailed them to the cross. We did far more than Saul. The man who was blessed by the Lord the beloved son in whom the father was well pleased. After pinning him and hating him and demonstrating nothing but madness in what we did to God's son. He got up from the dead and he didn't destroy us. but He forgave us. All the unforgiveness that we've ever done, all the envy, all the malice, all the hatred of neighbor, all the hatred of God, full of murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boasters. He said, come to me. I'm lowly in heart, and I'll give you rest for your weary soul. that's what the king did for you. That's what God's king did. The madness after that shown to you would be to reject such a gracious, humble, merciful king like that. Wouldn't it? The blessing and evidence of God's blessing upon you and grace in your life is that you love him. Hear me again. The blessing of God's grace in your life, the evidence that he has chosen you, the evidence that you're a child of God is that tonight you've received your king and you love him. Who was that pictured in? Jonathan. Jonathan. Who, when he saw David, was never threatened. he saw old Jonathan who had the most to lose, older Jonathan, Saul's son. He saw something. You know what he saw? That's God's anointed. And it's said three times, Jonathan loved David. And a covenant of love was made. And Jonathan laid all of the symbols of his power at the feet of David and welcomed that rule. That's what begins to happen. That's what we begin to look like. Our envy, our madness, our anger is all replaced with that when we are known and loved and find the favor of the Lord this way. That's the beauty of this tonight is that when you have Jesus, the same favor that rests upon him that did in his days rests upon you. And I hope you see how great that favor is. One of the greatest encouraging things that was said to me this morning, and I close the sermon with this. One of you walked up to me and said, you know, in all of this world, of all the things we're going through, it's hard to see that the light is shining. And then he said to me, when you see all these people who love the Lord, and when you see that it's us that is demonstrating that the darkness cannot overcome the light, we're here. it's evidence of his favor it's evidence that this is the year of the lord's blessing enjoy it and go out into another week not defeated your king is the king of kings and the lord of lords to whom every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that he is lord let's pray to him tonight heavenly father thank you for an encouraging word to us and thank you for showing us these great truths all throughout scripture may we come to the true king and may we receive the king with joy delighting in the lord's anointed and realizing the favor that has come upon us in him remove all anger and bitterness and gossip and slander and hatred for neighbor and for you far from our lives keep us from those things oh lord and may we enjoy the freedom that's won for us that in love and in service and in kindness and in humility, we're not threatened, but free to be the people you have made us to be a new creation by the work of your beloved Son, in whose name we pray tonight. Amen.