1 Samuel 16 (Part 3) Bible Study (David in Saul's Service) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in your bibles, please, in the book of first Samuel chapter 16. I'm sure you're getting the sensation that we are if we were slow before, we are really slowing down because we're a part three of the same chapter. I was having a conversation with a brother not too long ago, and when I told him how long we were in the book Genesis, which was a a couple of years to my to my remembrance, and he said, that's it? It took you that it was that fast for you to go through the book of Genesis? I said, well, I thought it was anyways, that was a sobering thing.

It challenged me. But the more I grow in the Bible, the more I realize how true it is. It's so dense, and I mean that in a good way. There's so much to discover that every time I finish on a Friday night, I feel like it wasn't done with justice. But the scriptures never are exhausted in terms of revelation, and I'm learning that today too.

Let's pray one more time. Lord, your word is true. You are true. You are not like us because we lie. We ask, Lord, that we would experience the power of your truth in this place, that there will be an unusual sense of your nearness.

We believe that you are alive and that if you choose, you can manifest yourself in such a way that you would bring us all to our faces. We ask, Lord, for a truth not to engage with our senses or emotions merely, but that would change us, that would confront us, that would comfort us. And so, Lord, we give you our weakness. The weakness on the pulpit, the weakness in the pew. And we ask that you would grant us your strength.

A strength to proclaim the word and a strength to receive it in humility and eagerness. And so we lean upon you tonight asking that you would arrest every distraction and anything that would confront an acceptance to the knowledge of Christ. We trust in you tonight. Be exalted as your word is declared. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. First Samuel 16 verse 14. Let's read a few verses, shall we? Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servant said to him, behold now a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.

Let our Lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre. And when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it and you will be well. 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, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him. After David's incredible experience of being anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the next king of Israel, we immediately transition into the exploration of his journey from an unknown shepherd to being a king and occupying the throne.

His story from this moment to the fulfillment of this prophecy, of this anointing is peppered with the fingerprints of God's providence. A series of challenging problems and wonderful promises that are given to him, to the nation of Israel as a whole and even the human race to this day and things still yet to be fulfilled. And as we anticipate David's elevation from an unknown employee on a farm to the most known position you can have at this time, we are immediately reintroduced to a character that was the focus of our study for many weeks and that was King Saul. And the reason being is as we read about the rise of David, we are also going to study the fall of King Saul. Why?

Well for many reasons. Because you can't have David rising without Saul falling. And as you and I observe his exaltation, we are going to simultaneously be observing the humiliation of Saul. One will be a story of great triumph. The next will be a story of great tragedy.

And you and I will witness the beauty of the drama of how these two men and their stories and their relationship with God intertwine with one another. And so we read in verse 14 a great contrast to what we heard in conclusion to last week. The promotion of David and the demotion of Saul had the same experience. It all began with a spiritual one. While Saul at the end of the last verses from last week experienced the spirit of the Lord rushing upon him, Saul received a different spirit.

The former experienced a spirit that would empower him for service. The latter experienced a spirit that would greatly torment him in his mind. And this verse in verse 14 might challenge someone who might not understand the full scope of how God works, because we are almost given the idea that God is the one, God is the one who sends this evil spirit and we think to ourselves, how can a good and holy king do such a thing? But we should never think for a moment that anything that God does is a failure on his part concerning character or nature. If we are studied enough, we know very well that God, our God, is not the author of evil, but that doesn't mean he is not sovereign over evil.

And there's a great difference. Being sovereign over evil is what God is. And so we cannot understand this text as though in an active way, he is sending a spirit from a place of darkness that is within himself. But it is perfectly consistent with our Bibles and with the Word of God that God does allow, that he does permit for even wicked rebellious spirits to have their way, ultimately for his glory and his purpose. Now this might sound strange but I'll say it even this way.

God even permits for there to be satanic harassment against his own people for sanctifying purposes. Now that might sound strange but it's not false. It's consistent throughout the scriptures. We recognize that God is willing to do this. And I'm not speaking about those who are outside of covenant with God.

Those who are outside of covenant with God have given their lives over to any influence that Satan chooses to have over them to some degree. I'm speaking about God's children. I'm speaking about those who are in covenant with God and are enjoying his protection and his security. And so we understand this from the Old Testament perspective that Job himself, his body, his property was assaulted on the premise of permission being granted to the evil one. And if we think that's Old Testament stuff, Jesus with his own disciples shared that Satan asked him permission to sift the disciples like wheat.

Here we see that Saul is being tormented by an evil spirit. We're gonna realize why in a moment. It's actually for the sake of discipline. And we know that in the New Testament, the furthest experience that a believer can go to, in terms of discipline, is when the church releases that person and to be what? What's the phrase?

Handed over to who? Satan. Handed over to Satan. An ugly term, an ugly phrase really, horrific, but for what? A sanctifying purpose.

That that unrepentant believer, that professing believer would confront and endure great suffering so that they can be led to restoration. And so we understand this. We have to be comfortable with this idea that God is willing to allow satanic harassment to occur always with righteousness in mind, always with reconciliation and restoration in mind. That is not a foreign concept. In fact, Paul himself admitted that a messenger of Satan has been given to me to protect me from being conceded.

Now, why is that important? It's important for many reasons but I believe that thought, that truth that you and I just heard, strengthens the understanding of the sovereignty of God. God's sovereignty, his control, his authority over all things is so wonderful, so great, that he can even orchestrate and direct rebellious spirit and angels to do certain things that might hurt and harm but ultimately for his glory and our good in mind. And just like we are told in Job that God tells the waves to come to a certain point, to a certain limit, so does he do the very same thing with the enemy of our souls. And so you heard it.

Saul here is experiencing this because he's being disciplined by God. Listen to this. I believe the reason why he's experiencing this is because at one point, Saul knew what David knew at his anointing. Saul himself had the Spirit of the Lord rush upon him. And he had a privilege of experiencing a certain power, empowerment and wisdom for greater service to God.

And listen, with all that grace that was bestowed upon Saul, he was still willingly to consistently rebel against God and refused to repent. And if Saul was unwilling to surrender and be humble before God after a series of mercies and graces granted to him. Perhaps now he will finally confess his sin to God as he is being given over to temporary insanity. And if you and I think that God doesn't do that, I'm gonna ask you this question. Is there another old testament character that experienced something very similar to Saul?

Who actually occupied the same position as Saul? Nebuchadnezzar. He wasn't even a Jew. King of Babylon. And I want you to see something in chapter four of the book of Daniel in our bible study.

Very interesting reality, principle, truth. It was true for Saul. It was true for King Nebuchadnezzar. And it is very true for every single one of us, especially for those who occupy high positions and have done great exploits in different fields of life. Daniel four describes a dream.

A dream that Nebuchadnezzar experienced that spoke about his humiliation, spoke about his rule, his reign, his kingdom, being in control of God's allowance, and Nebuchadnezzar refusing to acknowledge heaven, heaven's influence over his success. And so he we don't have time, but he describes this dream to Daniel and Daniel is so disturbed that it's visible. And Nebuchadnezzar looks at me and says, Oh, Daniel, don't worry. Don't let this disturb you to the point where you can't share this with me. And Daniel says to some degree, I wish this upon your enemies and not upon you, King Nebuchadnezzar.

Well, tell me what it is. And he tells him, and he gives the application. You need to repent. You need to humble yourself before God. And so God gives a warning through a dream and the interpretation of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had his nose up.

Nebuchadnezzar thought himself to be like a God and Nebuchadnezzar needed to change his ways and acknowledge that heaven rules. And then look at verse 28. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. I love this. I was sharing this with a few brothers the other day, because I was just reading the book of Daniel.

At the end of twelve months, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. And the king answered and said, is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? Did you catch that little phrase in the beginning? After what? How long?

One year. God gave Nebuchadnezzar one year to repent. Twelve months to acknowledge his pride and to humble himself before God. Twelve months. Don't tell me God isn't patient.

Don't tell me God isn't merciful. This is a pagan king that worshiped false gods and yet God gave him one year to come broken, to come in humility before the revelation of the power and sovereignty of the true and living God. He didn't. I wonder if he forgot the dream. I wonder if he forgot the warning.

He might have forgotten but God didn't. And while the words were still on his mouth, God answered and he says, what I warned you about a year ago is gonna come upon you. And he literally becomes like a beast. His fingernails grow like bird claws, he goes out and eats grass like an ox and then you come down to verse 32 and look what what it said here. This is the warning, and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox and seven periods of time shall pass over you, look at this, until you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

Until you know it, until you recognize it, until you confess it and believe it in your heart, it's a very dangerous thing to be in a place to have a frame of mind in which you do not acknowledge the sovereignty of God. But you are very safe when you when you understand that God is in control. Safe for many reasons. Safe from excessive sorrow. Safe from pride.

So you see, God reveals to us sometimes that he will permit mental and physical anguish upon a person. With the redemptive goal in mind that they would be broken enough to care about the most important part of who they are and that is the one that lasts for eternity. And so he's doing the same thing here with Saul. And I think there's another insight. Isn't Saul getting what he really wanted?

For so long we've read that Saul kept rejecting the nudges of the Holy Spirit. He kept refusing what he knew he was supposed to be doing as a righteous king. And so, for so long he says no to the spirit of God, that God says, you wanna you wanna taste what it's like to be in connection to a spirit that's in rebellion to me? Here you go and have it. And so he allows a wicked vile putrid spirit to have his way with Saul.

But we can always conclude this, God is not allowing this occur for any other reason other than this man to finally repent. Remember, first Samuel 15, did Saul repent or not? Was that true repentance? First Samuel 15, he has a form of repentance, but it is worldly. It is not true repentance.

So up to this point, we can know that Saul still hasn't confessed his sin about his failure to obey the command to eradicate the Amalekites. He's still in his sin. He's still in rebellion against God, and God is now disciplining him because of it. But listen to this, Saul's distress in this moment. God is so wonderful.

God is so wise. There is none like him. There's a multipurpose behind this man's dysfunction now. Because we think that God is disciplining him. We think that God is just chastising him, which he is doing.

But we're about to realize that God is also allowing this to pave the way for David to enter into his courts. So you think when you see God doing one thing that he's only doing one thing when he has a thousand other accomplishments, that he is performing at the same time. And so on the surface level, the obvious level, well he's disciplining Saul. Yeah, but he's also making the way for David to walk into the courts because God has a purpose for David in the kingdom. And so we read verse 16, rather 15.

Saul's servant said to him, behold now a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. The agitation that Saul was experiencing was so obvious, so obviously connected to evil spirits that even his own men diagnosed him correctly. But I think that's amazing because we see here that they were the ones who were able to give him the right assessment of his condition and he himself didn't even come to that knowledge. You see what I'm saying there? Saul couldn't come to the realization of what he was experiencing.

At least we don't see him confessing it. But his men were able to give the correct and precise analysis. And I think that says something that oftentimes we ourselves are blind to our spiritual condition. And it's those who are closest to us that have a more particular and precise analysis of where we actually are with the Lord. We have blind spots.

We don't really see the full picture. And I see these servants as an example that you and I are required. It's not optional. Unless of course you do not care about your personal sanctification. It is required to walk with those who walk with God.

Because in that, we open ourselves up for loving correction. For something to be pointed out if somebody loves you enough. And to show you where you and I are falling short so that we can correct those things and be realigned with where God wants us to be. And you and I must open our lives to people who are willing to say, look, something's not right. You're not talking right late.

You're losing your zeal. You haven't shown up to church for a while. You haven't talked about God and every time we've hung out these past few weeks, what's going on? Who loves you enough to do that? Who loves you enough to do that?

Do your friends do that? If they don't ask them to do that, if they love you. Man, show me. Show me if there's something off. Show me if there's if there's behavior, if there's a pattern of thinking that you're seeing that's not right.

Saul's friends, his servants were able to recognize something that was off and Saul himself couldn't see it. What a warning to us. But we see here that they offer a prescription to his issue. And it's outside of the scope of our solutions because what they recommend is that they bring in a worship leader to soothe his soul. Here's my question to you.

Is what they recommended the right, the right prescription for Saul's condition? I'm curious to know. Think about what we just said about Saul. Is asking for a skilled musician the appropriate response to this man's spiritual dilemma? Okay.

So there's a cover up here. Anybody agree with that? Does anybody think that no, this is the best thing that needs to be done? It's an option but it's not the best option. It's an approach but it's not the best approach.

Because Saul's issue here is an acknowledgment of sin and the need to repent. If the mess that Saul was in, in this moment, at this moment was because of his sin, so the way out of his mess is to turn from that sin. What this is going to do, though they they analyze it correctly, they didn't provide the right cure. Because what this music thing is going to do is bring temporary relief. Temporary relief.

And Saul needed something much deeper than that. He needed to cry out to God. If these servants really understood that this was from God, then they should have asked and called him to repent. You need to call upon God. We need to call the prophet so he can counsel you, pray over you or something.

This is much deeper than you hearing something beautiful. You need to get your heart right. You need to get your heart right. And as you and I read this, we can learn from these servants that oftentimes people suggest surface level solutions to deep spiritual problems. And the chaos of our generation can testify to that truth.

The statistics of our generation can testify to that truth. The suicide rate is skyrocketing. We have a drug epidemic. We have so much depression among millennials and Gen Z's, it's a problem. More than ever, I believe and I've been even told, there is such a high demand for counselors generation.

Even you call Christian institutions and there are things that are backed up for months because there are people who are being tormented by different things. But the issue is where's the real solution? Because what we're giving people, I believe generally, psychological tricks. Our politicians and our philosophers of the day are giving worldly wisdom. They're dealing with symptoms and not the root.

They're trying to cut branches when in reality they need to uproot the thing from beneath the ground. And so all we're doing really is medicating people temporarily to just endure for another segment of time, only for them to find themselves tormented once again. And listen, if the church is not careful, we can allow that kind of methodology seep in and now we begin to treat sin the way the world treats their problems. It happens all the time. And what we do, what many ministers do, is they sit before people and they're not getting to the heart of the matter.

Some people do this out of ignorance. I'm not talking about within the church, outside the church, maybe even within the church. But you know why? There are so many people that are willing to go to any extent, any offering, any solution, as long as they do not appeal to the lordship of Jesus Christ. As long as they do not appeal to the need to let go of sin, and to repent, and to come into the light.

As long as they do not include that the King of Glory must be the master of your soul if you want to know true freedom. And so the chaos in this world is because we've rejected the Prince of Peace. And this is the issue that I'm seeing today too. That if we're not careful, humanistic philosophies can override the simplicity of the Word of God and God's standards for solutions in terms of the sole condition of people who are tormented by sin. I've said it so many times, but I'll say it again because I know even there's a lot of people that are aspiring to be counselors.

Never forget what I'm gonna tell you right now. Don't lose sight of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you counsel anybody, you use the wisdom of God's word as much as you have to be practical to people's situations. Because the best thing that you will offer people outside of Christ is a numbing effect the same way music will have over Saul. Only letting them to go out and never dealing with a thing permanently.

And I see that this is done in so many ways and I believe that one of the ways in which this is being handled is with the issue of pornography. We're giving almost every solution possible that deals with the external. And you have men and the percentage is only growing and even ministers who preach and worship lead and all those things who are in total bondage. And what we are doing is no different than what those men try to do with that demon filled man in the gatherings just placing chains on the people hoping to arrest them, when in reality they need to encounter Christ to be totally set free. And so you can get all the website blockers you want.

You can get all the accountabilities in the world. You can have access to the most spiritual leaders of our nation and beyond. You can call them at any time, but listen. If your heart is not ultimately satisfied in God, you will willingly give yourself over to bondage over and over and over again. I can assure you that.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Your greatest accountability partner is the fear of the Lord. Your greatest accountability partner is the fear of the Lord. Because your accountability partner can't travel with you everywhere when you go on your business trips. And your accountability partner isn't over your shoulder reading your text but the Holy Spirit is.

And so why are we in the mess today? Why is the church generally powerless today? I'll tell you why, because we lack the fear of God. If the fear of God is the beginning of so many things including wisdom, then we aren't even in the preliminary stages of victorious Christian living in America. We're dealing with things that are that are standard and that are beginning steps and we can't even overcome that.

Oh, I read a quote the other day and it convicted me. Leonard Ravenhill said, how are we expecting to pull down the strongholds of Satan if we don't even have the strength to turn off our TV? And so this is a principle to understand from the scripture, but it does not negate the power of music. Because we're gonna learn at the end of this study, if time permits, that music for the believer can either help you or harm you. It can guide you in the right direction concerning your affections and your devotion to the Lord or it can dampen it.

And some people don't even realize it and that's why they have struggle even worshiping God on a Sunday morning. You'll see why in a moment. We come here to verse 17. Saul said to his servants, provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me. He quickly accepts the invitation, the application.

Because like Saul, many people are are ready to swallow any pill as long again isn't it doesn't deal with the heart issue. As long as it doesn't confront you in your sin, as long as you can hold on to the things that you know God tells you to let go of, as long as you can have that and you can somehow know peace and freedom outside of repentance, give it to me, man. I'll take it. It's amazing how many people run for the hills when you mention Jesus Christ. It's amazing how we're willing to quote that religious leader and this philosopher, but the moment you mentioned Christ, people run for the hills because they love darkness rather than the light.

So Saul gives them their request. He approves. He says, go for it. And one of the servants is ready to answer because he obviously has somebody in mind and would you know it, who he has in mind is an unnamed, unknown teenager that smelled like manure, that his own father didn't even receive. And without his knowledge, his resume is being submitted to the highest courts of his land.

Providence is at work now. Providence is at work now. And we hear six things about David. We are listed six different qualities, characteristics about the man that tell us about who David is, but listen, can even offer us some insight of what makes us greater fits for greater service. And so we are told firstly, verse 18.

Behold I've seen a son of Jesse who is skillful in playing. First thing is his skill. And this is a necessary requirement for the job at hand. He was able to play instruments extremely well. Now, that is less about his ability and if you really think about it, it says something about his outlook on life.

Because all you and I know about David is that he was a shepherd. That he spent most of his time, most of his week out in the field taking care of his father's flock. And he did it exceedingly well. He was extremely effective, very much devoted. So here's the natural question, if if your job, if your full time job requires so much of your energy and focus and sacrifice, where did you get time to be skillful in playing the liar?

Right? Very simple. His leisure time. Whatever openness he had in his schedule, whatever freedom that he had on the field, David did not waste those hours. David took advantage to invest in something worth the kingdom of God.

David played this instrument. He mastered it. He was a worshiper. He was a singer. Do you think David did this just for fun?

He did it to the glory of God. He is the sweet psalmist of Israel. That didn't just happen later on. That was something that he established as a foundation from his younger years. And I look at that, when I see that he was skillful in playing, I see a teenager.

How do we know that he was under the age of 20? Let's see who remembers. Good. Good. Good.

Good. Good. Because according to numbers you go to war when you're 20 years old. You guys are paying attention. So we can guess safely that he's 17, 16.

This is admirable for a teenager man. He wasn't wasting time. I'm sure he had leisure. I'm sure he relaxed, but oh, he he gave himself to a skill. He built his gift up for the glory of God.

I want to tell you something shattering to you. You only have twenty four hours in a day. On average, you sleep eight hours. Some of you less. Some of you more.

Eight hours a day, you sleep. Eight hours a day, you work. That's sixteen hours. Now count the things that we don't usually count. Nowadays you work from home most of us, but before travel time, time to prepare meals, to eat meals, let's throw in another three hours.

What's left of your day? In nineteen hours given to sleep, to work, chores in between and you got to eat. So on average every single one of us has four to five hours of free time. Now then count that in years and see what that comes up to. How many years do you really have outside of the necessities of life such as sleep and work, and it will really sober you?

Now you hear those things and you might feel like you're shrinking your soul. I hear that and I get motivated. I get motivated. I only really have so much time to invest in something worthwhile for eternity. And as one preacher said, I don't want to stand before God and have Instagram and Twitter and Facebook testify that I did have enough time to pray and do something for the kingdom of God.

We only have so much time and David proved that he used his time well. Secondly, he was a man of valor and thirdly, a man of war. A man of valor and a man of war. Now this is interesting, because although he was an artistic fellow, this guy was tough. He was tough.

And in our minds, we kind of put people in categories. Right? There's almost a divide between the first point that he was this artsy musician and this idea that he was a battle ready soldier, that he was courageous and he can face things. It's almost like thinking about the modern day athlete and the divide between that person and the and the person that loves to draw and paint. It's like that, you got two different personalities and strengths, but if you knew David at this time, you realize that he was very good at playing the harp, but he was very quick to take up a weapon if he needed to.

So here's my question. Why is it interesting that at this point in David's life, we are being informed, we're being told that he was a man of war? How does How do we reconcile that? Why is that interesting? Because he's 17.

He had He has no experience on the battlefield. That's gonna come in the next chapter. He wasn't enrolled in the army. So how can this man, how can the servant say of David, that young guy, he can really go toe to toe. That young guy is a man of war.

How? Well, when you go to first Samuel 23 and you don't have to turn there, we're being told that the Philistines would not just come against the armies of Israel, they would even from time to time come against the threshing floors of the people of Israel. So it could be, though I don't think this is the main point, it could be that David did have some confrontation with some Philistine soldiers. Hey, it touched my sheep and my dad's flock, get out of here. But let's go with what David said from his own lips.

What did David tell Saul when he wanted to convince him to go against Goliath? I beat up some lions and bears, man. With my bare hands, no pun intended. I grabbed one with a beer and I punched him in the face while he had one of my sheep in its mouth. Here's the principle.

You want God to promote you? You want God to move you forward in his service to advance his kingdom? You need to have a warrior mentality. People give up too easily these days. They do.

The moment somebody posts about them, you have a group of people in church speaking about you and they just wanna whimper and hide away. The moment they realize they're in a fight, the moment they realize that they're dealing with forces that want to make their work for the gospel that much more difficult than it needs to be, people just want to cower and throw in the towel. What? I didn't sign Look, I'm underpaid and this, you think I'm gonna deal with this? I'm just gonna forget this.

Uh-uh. That doesn't work if you want to move forward in the kingdom of God. This man was tough. He had guts. And on top of that, whatever his disposition was, you and I have the infilling of the Holy Spirit, more importantly than anything else.

And so this individual had devotion. In fact, go to chapter 17 real quickly. I'm just gonna read you what I just explained in thirty four and thirty five. He tells Saul, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth when he when he says that one of the lambs were taken by lion a lion. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

For one lamb? Hey, if a lion took one lamb, I would say, you want another one? Just get out of here. I don't want you to I don't want you to be I don't wanna be where their lamb is right now. No, one lamb, he realized that one was missing when he counted and he saw a lion climbing up a hill and he pulled up his robe and he sprinted towards that lion, grabbed him by the tail, he turned around, grabbed him by the beard and punched him in the face.

He says, you give me what belongs to me. Get out of here. Where's that tenacious faith in the spiritual realm? Where are those kind of men that can stare the devil in the eyes and say, I have the father, the son and the Holy Spirit on my side along with two thirds of the angels of heaven. I don't boast in my own strength and I do not, as scripture tells us, presume to be arrogant to those cosmic powers because scripture says be careful how you even address and speak about spiritual beings.

But I do have confidence that Christ is in me and he can help me and I can weather the storm. This is what this man is showing and you know what's amazing? I'm sure David had no idea that the news of how he handled those bears and those lines would one day travel to the king. Because that's how providence works. Fourth and fifth point.

A man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, a man of good presence. I love that. I love it because the emphasis is not necessarily on his ability, but on his attitude. Because there are many people within the kingdom of God that have great skill including worship leaders, ministers, speakers, orators, administrators, whatever it is. They have great skill, great ability, great discipline even, but they reek.

They reek with pride and arrogance and insensitivity and a lack of knowledge of how to be careful with other people. See this man thought it was necessary to bring up, hey this kid, he's not just good with playing the harp. He has the ability to control his tongue. I wonder if that fits in our resume for somebody to to serve in the ministry. It does in the New Testament.

In fact, I experienced something that I'll never forget and it gave me a fresh motivation. I had somebody call me a sergeant of a police officer for one of the people that were applying to their stations and he asked me different questions about this individual. And at one point he asked me something and it startled me. He said, pastor, is so and so in control of what they say? Are they a gossiper?

Are they trustworthy? When you tell them something, are they quick to tell somebody else? Or do they know how to hold their own? I'm sitting there thinking, this is for an application to be a police officer and this sergeant is concerned if this person knows how to control their tongue. And I said, sergeant, in our church, we have a low tolerance for gossip.

We have a low tolerance for slander. So let me say it from the pulpit. We have a low tolerance for people that can't control their tongues. United Evangelical Church, as long as we have the spiritual leadership that we have, will not tolerate people that will continually, unrepentantly start fires. Because for people that do not consider what I'm saying to be serious, lack the perception of understanding how destructive the tongue is.

Because life and power lies in the tongue. And we will not by the grace of God allow this church to be another statistic that has been divided because some people have nothing better in their lives than do and to speak about others. So here, I'm gonna give you guys all permission now. Right? Go tell those people, whoever they are, go tell them that if they want to continue gossiping and slandering, the leadership will sit them down and we will have a healthy holy conversation.

Go ahead. You have permission to go. Go. Go tell it on the mountains, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell on the mountains that UE church will not tolerate gossip.

I noticed you didn't say amen, but that's okay. This man was prudent in his speech. He was prudent in his speech. But the most important thing about David is what is told last. And the Lord is with him.

And the Lord is with him. Now, makes you wonder. It makes you wonder if he mentioned this last because he saved this point as the exclamation mark. Or it makes you wonder if he said it last because they knew Saul and Saul could care less about the spirituality of an individual that would serve in his courts. Nonetheless, according to us, we realize that a key ingredient to any success on any level, true success, lasting success, eternal rewards is connected to this to this truth, God is with you.

God is with him. Oh, I read that today and I thought to myself, it's very easy these days to say that person goes to church. It's very common to even say that person serves in a certain ministry extremely well. But what is very rare and you know it very well. Right?

What is very rare is to honestly say about someone, God is with him. The Lord is with her. That person walks with Jesus. Not just knows about Jesus, that person adores Jesus Christ. You know what's amazing about the fact that the Lord was with David was that David didn't have to parade that around.

This was observed by someone else from a distance. This servant knew this about David from a distance and he could say to someone else, God is with that person. Saul, if you hire David, you will know blessing because that young man knows the Lord. Another thing popped in my mind when I read this. I read this verse and this question zoomed through my mind.

Am I willing to remain as an unknown individual, but have the Lord with me? Or am I willing to be popular and prosperous like Saul, but be void of his presence? Am I willing to be like a David, where my father might not even acknowledge me? But I know that God's presence is with me. I enjoy his fellowship.

I sit there in the fields while the sheep are taking a nap and I play music and I know the presence of the Lord in that moment. Would I rather have that or exchange it to sit on some marble throne, but have an emptiness eat me up inside day in and day out. Even though I have the greatest crown that Israel can afford and servants that can come to my service at any moment. Lord, convince me that it is better to have your presence than to have my name known. Saul was convinced.

He was sold. Verse 19, therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me David your son who is with the sheep. Send me David your son with who is with the sheep. I love that phrase. Because it's the last part.

Where was David at this time? With his sheep. But what did David just experience a few verses ago? A mighty rushing experience with the spirit of the Lord. He was drenched with oil, figuratively and literally.

He was just chosen by seeing the greatest prophet came to him and said, this is what's coming up next. And you know where David is after that moment? Doing exactly what he did before he met Samuel. So so what David is doing is exactly what Samuel did after he anointed David. Samuel anoints David.

He says, you're gonna be the next king. He affirms it, he declares it, and then I mean, just talk about anticlimactic. No plan, just like, okay, I'm gonna go home now. And he turns back and he goes back to Ramah. And David, who took a shower with oil, who had this riveting experience, who had this mountaintop kind of moment, looks at his brothers, looks at his dad, probably stunned that the youngest was just chosen.

And I don't know how it happened, but maybe Jesse looked at him and says, okay, get back to work now. David's wiping off oil off his eyes, okay, I'm gonna go, and he goes right back to work. And look at the posture of these two men, especially for a young man like David, who was a teenager, but was so mature in his understanding. Samuel goes off and saying, I have no idea how this boy is gonna become king. And David walks away, he goes, I have no idea how I'm gonna become king.

So what does he do? What you should do when you don't know the next step. Occupy where God has you to be and do it very well. That's it. No need to pull strings, no need to push doors, no need to send out things, no need to manipulate, no need to stress about networking and who am I gonna know, maybe I should get my name out there, maybe I should start a vlog.

If God tells you to do a vlog, do a vlog. But no need to try to get yourself out there because if God's called you, he's gonna lead you. He will do it. And it's much more fun that way to see how God will make a way when it seems impossible. How am I gonna go from here to there?

And all the while, there was a servant in the king's courts that was watching David from a distance. And when the time was right, David, we get an email. And King Saul would request for his presence. I'm telling you, I want to tell you something that's wonderful about walking with Jesus. Everything can change in one night.

I've experienced it in my own life and I've seen it in other people's lives. Everything seems mundane, everything seems routine, everything And without notice, all for a sudden, a phone call comes in. All for a sudden, an email comes in. All for a sudden, you meet And it literally changes the trajectory of your life. And without notice, David is gonna experience that.

And so what happens? Verse 20, and Jesse took a donkey laden 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 his service and Saul loved him greatly and he became his armor bearer. So he received a promotion very quickly. Who here has read the book of first Samuel?

Okay. So if you haven't, you're in for a ride. If you have, do you did you enjoy the book of first Samuel? I always say to people, if I had the money, if I had the budget, I would make a television series of this story. It's incredible.

It's so gripping. It's it has all the elements that you would want in a story, but it's true. Anyways, if you have the money, do something about it. Saul loved him greatly. You don't have to read too far to realize that that's gonna change very quickly.

And it saddens you to realize that at one point, this man Saul, with all the failure you see like a glimmer of hope. Finally, Saul, you're doing something right. You're loving the right person. You're accepting the right person. You're nurturing the right person.

In just two chapters, all of that is going to change. That love is going to replace be replaced with envy and that hiring is going to be replaced with a chasing and a hunting down of this very man that he called for as a young teenager. What changed? It all changed when David began to outshine Saul in the the eyes of the people. That's where it all changed.

But I wanna make I wanna make an argument here. I believe that even though it says that Saul loved him greatly, I don't really believe Saul loved him. It says that you're saying you're disagreeing with the bible. No, I'm saying he he he could have admired him and loved him, but my Bible says love does not envy. Love does not envy.

So then how do you explain this? And it came to me. I thought to myself how Saul loved David in comparison to how Jonathan loved David. And you're gonna see a difference. Just go two chapters past this one, chapter 18 verse one.

First Samuel 18 verse one. As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. What a difference. Saul loved him greatly. Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Meaning what? That whatever happened to David, any promotion, any praise, it's as though it was happening to Jonathan. Whatever good that David experienced, Saul was so connected to him. Saul was so in love with him, so in tune with him, so connected that it's as though he was experiencing so he can rejoice even at his own expense. Even though he was the rightful heir to the throne, he was he was so in love with David that whatever good happened to David is as though he was being showered with the same goodness.

You're you're a member of the body of Jesus Christ. You're a part of the body. How can you be envious of the other hand? You're connected to the same head. How can you sneer the foot that leads you forward?

How? See Jonathan could love David because he felt one with David and you can really love someone else when you realize in the spirit that you are connected, that you can't do this without your fellow brother, That you can't know full potential of effectiveness without your sister? See this idea of being an individual and about my empire being built under the banner of Christianity, that's gonna create problems. But when you realize that you're the same body, you can love more freely. See the difference?

Saul loved him greatly. Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And so, good question to ask from this moment is, well why would God allow David to come under the rule of Saul at this time? He could have spared David from a lot of trouble and pain. He could have waited I mean David I'm sure had no problem being a shepherd for a while.

He could have waited till Saul got old, till he died in a war. But instead, in God's wisdom and providence, he he pulls David into the kingdom and he allows him to be this musician and this armor bearer, but with much pain linked to it. God, could you have not avoided all of that? Could you have not delayed all of that? No.

In fact, you're leading him into a near slaughter. An extension of great pain and frustration and confusion almost. So why? Any idea why? Any idea why?

Very well put. Was it his internship to the throne? And I would say, absolutely. Hey David, you're gonna be the next king of Israel. But you're not gonna be very good at how the kingdom works if you're not near the kingdom.

You can't know how to be a true king if you're gonna stay on that field too long. So let me bring you into close proximity, and I want to show you through your observation of Saul, what's going to work and what's not going to work. What matters, what doesn't matter. How to learn from somebody else's faults. How to strengthen things that are weaker.

And while David is there playing instruments and carrying his armor, he is studying and observing what it means to run a kingdom. There is not one season in your life if you're following Christ. I don't care what it is. There is not one season, one task, no matter how small or great. No promotion, no matter how small or great.

No pain, no trial, no tribulation, no hurt from another person. There is not one thing in your life that is wasted. Not one thing. You might think it's a waste. You might think, why am I I've been in this ministry for so years, I'm barely seeing anything.

Nobody knows me, I have so much that I want to share, I wish I just had a few minutes on a pulpit so that I can All those things, not one moment is wasted in God's kingdom. And what you can't tolerate is the very thing that God is using to train you. And so he draws David in and he's gonna allow him to see things and observe things and study things, but at the same time, at the right time, he's gonna bring him to another class that includes pain and frustration and betrayal, and God's gonna teach him something else through that. God doesn't waste when you're in the will of God, not one thing is wasted. Remember that.

It's all a contribution to the ultimate call that the Lord has over your life. That's why this is here. People get upset when you preach from the Old Testament this way. Why is it there? If this is just all prophetic shadows and all things and just general promises over the redemptive purpose of the Lord on the earth.

Why include all these details? Just tell us he went from there and he became king. Because God wants to teach his people something. Those who really want to serve him. We come full circle as we conclude in verse 23.

And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hands. So Saul was refreshed and was well and the harmful spirit departed from him. Come full circle. We're coming back to where we started, that this was mainly about David being recruited to play an instrument to be able to soothe the soul of Saul. We made the conclusion that this was not the best option because there was a deeper issue, but we come to the principle of the power of music, nonetheless.

Music, even Godly music is not the ultimate cure for people who are like Saul, who have a sin issue that they refuse to repent of. But let's reinforce a couple points because we have discussed the power of music in different bible studies. You guys remember. Right? It's back in Deuteronomy, different moments where there was there was great insights, but let's let's consider a few points here.

We cannot deny that music, the music David was playing had an effect on the mind of Saul, which then limited the ability of an oppressive spirit to work fully in the heart of Saul. Music, this music that was being played had an effect on the mind of Saul to the degree that it limited the influence of an oppressive spirit that was harassing Saul. And there is a refreshing and a sobering power that this mysterious thing called music has over people, whether you're saved or you're unsaved. And without being too exhaustive about it, it even benefited a prophet of God, never mind a tormented king. It even uplifted a very spiritual man at a low point of his ministry.

We'll go there. This is the last verse in second Kings chapter three verse 15. This is Elisha and he's being approached by the king of Israel and the king of Judah, divided kingdom. They want a prophetic word if if they should move forward on a certain task. And Elisha was so agitated.

The fact that the king of Israel, an apostate, an apostate people were approaching him. He was so agitated, so angry about it, that he made a request before he can move on in his service. And in second Kings three fifteen, we are told, but now This is what Elisha says, now bring me a musician. Now bring me a musician and when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. So notice the request.

K. You want a prophetic word? And he was upset and he says, had it not been for the king of Judah being here, I would not even give you my attention. But because he's here and I'm a prophet for him, I'll do you this favor. But he says, before I move on, bring me a musician.

The musician comes, he plays, And then the spirit of the Lord, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha and he was able to hear the Lord and then speak on behalf of the Lord. Meaning what? This music, even for a righteous man, had the ability to put him in the right frame of mind. It had the ability to alleviate the disturbances of his soul. The things that were whirling within that could not help him focus for the task ahead.

And what was the means that put him in the right place? Music. Music. This prophet depended upon this powerful thing so that he can perform better. That's an interesting thought.

And on a side note, I've heard pastor say this, that's why the music ministry is totally important because even before a message, the spirit behind the the instruments and the songs that are being played can determine really how the message is received. It can really kill a meeting. It can, or it can prepare the people's hearts rightly. That's why we're very serious about the songs we choose, about the spirit of the condition of people's hearts as they're playing, because this is not just to fill in the gap, the appetizer for the main meal. No.

No. No. No. I see a principle throughout the scriptures and I've even heard from pastors that what's happening here before the message can determine where they start from as they go up to proclaim the word of God. And it can start from the right place or it can start from a place where you have to do a lot of building up before you get to where you need to get to.

I hope that makes sense. And so we see here that there is a positive power behind this thing. And this is the point that I want to make. If the right music, if sanctified music, if godly music has the ability to sober us spiritually and to subdue the flares of the flesh, then we have to be consistent with our logic and say, then the wrong music has the equal potential to have an opposing influence. You can't have one without the other.

And it's no wonder, it's no wonder that people are under a spell because of the music that they're listening to. They don't even realize it. If people I'm talking about Christians now. If Christians only knew the strength that they would have spiritually by putting to death the things that they watch or listen to that are inviting more trouble and temptation than anything else, if only they knew. Really.

I know this is so simple and the reason why, you know, I could I could talk about stuff like this and people can conclude that it's legalistic. But if an entrepreneur on YouTube who cusses in his motivational speeches tells you to go to sleep early, wake up early, be focused, you only have so many hours in a day, we like it and we share it and we're pumped up by it, but when a preacher does it, it's legalism. Isn't that amazing? These guys that people listen to, these business entrepreneurs and the way they they they bark at you like drill sergeants and people share it and it's so motivating, take cold showers, eat a certain meal a day, you're so lazy wake up and they and then the preacher says, you know, you need a prayer life. This guy is legalistic.

If only you knew the strength that you would have spiritually, if you knew what you were digesting in your soul. And listen, there are some people, not all people, I'm not saying this about all people. There are some people that have so much trouble worshiping out loud on Sunday morning and Friday night. You know why? Because without you even realizing it throughout the week you've been glorifying sex, you've been glorifying violence, drugs, profanity, promiscuity, absolute garbage, all week and then you think that for twenty minutes you're gonna be able to sing to God.

You've given your adoration and you've given what in its DNA form belongs to God to something else. And you wonder why you're depressed. You wonder why you're you're you have a dark cloud over your mind. You know, I intentionally, many times on Sunday morning, I put on like praise music. Praise music because it up lifts my spirit.

You want a simple experiment if this really works? On your way home, put on sad music and see what will happen after two three of those songs. Just see what will happen. Very simple. This isn't profound.

This isn't profound. And see what will happen to you when you're on your way to church and you had a bad day, you fought with your mom, your siblings wore your outfit, what you wanted to wear, whatever the case is, and you're coming to church and you're in a bad mood, put on praise music and see the attitude that you will have before you even come to church. There's power. It influences. It does something to you.

So be selective. Be careful. Be disciplined. See what holiness to the spirit is what food is to the body. If you eat certain things, it's gonna make you feel a certain way.

Some of you know that very well. But if you're careful of your intake, it's no different. The law is no different for the soul. For the soul. So I watch myself.

I step back and I say, do I really want to expose myself? And David said it, let not my eyes behold worthless things. Let not my eyes behold worth this isn't legalism. I'm trying to get you to the greatest point of joy in your life. I want you to know maximum pleasure that is internal, that is so pure, that is not associated with guilt.

Maybe I need to be like those motivational speakers and yell more, maybe throw in a few cuss words and Christians will be like, okay, good job. Yeah, that's motivational. There's power. It's a principle. It's a principle.

When you realize in the book of Job that the sons of God sang together at the site of creation, it tells you, it tells you that they rejoiced. There was an element of rejoicing and worshiping in the form I believe of music, even before the world was created. Which tells you what? It's DNA. It's DNA.

What was it created for? What were angels doing as they were seeing the universe created? They were adoring him and cherishing him and praising him, which tells you the main purpose of music. It belongs to God. And that's why David said that in the tent of the righteous are songs of righteousness.

I'm not against again, I'm not I'm talking about the profane, ugly, worldly things and sometimes I take a peek to see what's trending and I can't even believe it. I remember when I first got saved, nobody had to tell me anything. I said, I don't want to put in garbage through these ears. I want my mind to be sanctified. And I went to the gym after two years and they have the music videos playing and I thought this is like pornography.

It's only been two years and this is where we come Now you come and you have people outright worshiping Satan on the thing. And you know what you have? You have half converted Christians on social media saying that this is art and entertainment. You're a fool. You're a fool if you don't think that Satan knows the power of music.

And again, I'm not saying that music has the same redemptive force as the gospel does, but it does have a sanctifying effect on the Christian. How do we land this thing? David's journey has taken a turn. We don't know how long he was doing this, but in the next chapter, in God's perfect timing, he's gonna bring him before an event. That all those years of solitude and silence and concealment have prepared him for.

I wanna let you know tonight, if you're serious about serving God, you might not have a position, you might not have anything, but I can tell you this, if you love the Lord Jesus and you wanna glorify him, where you are right now is not wasted. I wanna speak to those who are under the age of 20. I'm glad you're here. Look at David. And realize that God was forming a man at a point in your life where many people will write you off.

I'm glad I was saved at the age of 20, but there are times where sometimes I wish I was saved earlier. It brings me so much joy to know that there are people here, 15, 16, 17, that come consistently to a bible study every night. But don't just attend a bible study because your friends are here and it's Get a hold of God. Get a hold of God. I'm telling you, you'll know no greater joy than knowing that your short little life can be used in a generation that's only getting more and more dark and vile and confusing and despicable.

Open yourself up for the spirit of the Lord to really rush upon you. And don't worry about how God will use you. Let God take care of that. Just be the vessel ready for the master's use. Many things were said tonight, and time is always my enemy in these moments.

Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? This is not a bible study to offer you ethics or moral behavioral transformation. This is all from the place of a foundation that you already established that you have given your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, the gospel has to go forth every single week.

Give yourself to him. Stop resisting him. Stop thinking that the world has something to offer you. Stop it. I can show you the scars of how that is not true.

Throw yourself at Christ. Lord Jesus, I believe you're alive. I believe what I heard from this Bible study is not just some lesson from a history book. It speaks of your wisdom today. I want to live for you.

I want to honor you with the short life that I have. Do something with it. Don't let me waste it. And I believe God in this desperate age will answer that cry when it is sincere. Let your friends remain spiritual skeletons for the rest of their existence.

You make a choice to live for God. Those who are older in age, it's never too late. Never too late. And that's why I love the Bible. You have guys like David who are teenagers and you have guys like Moses who are 80, 80 and they're like, what are you gonna do for Israel?

Actually God's called me to deliver them. 80? 80. And we think that's just inspirational but it's not realistic. No, it's realistic.

The father Zechariah, how old was he when he started? Abuna Buttros, right? His name? Right? This man started his ministry that shook the nations in the Middle East by confronting the lies of Islam and his ministry began when?

70 something. That's when his ministry began. Began. It wasn't like he was ministering and then for No. No.

No. No. He was studying and he was very and all for a sudden through satellite television, he rocked the Middle East and people refer to him as the Martin Luther of The Middle East. '70. All God is looking for is a vessel that's saying, I am drained of myself.

I'm empty, not one ounce is reserved for me. Do what you want. Do what you want. And when God answers that, don't expect to explode to the next level. Expect him for you to be obscure, unknown, unseen, and at the right time he'll train you and take you to the next place, and train you, and take you to the next and train you, and at the right time he'll bring you where he needs to bring you.

Isn't that exciting? I love this story. I praise God for it. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this blessed bible study.

Thank you for warming our hearts. Thank you for the wisdom unto salvation. Thank you for the different points that never disappoint. Thank you, Lord, that what you have in mind ultimately is your glory. You've created us for your glory.

But Lord, you are so loved that you want us to know a joy. A true joy with this short existence that we have. A joy that is unmatched, unparalleled, incomparable to the trivial light, pathetic things that this world tries to convince us to sit down and enjoy. Lord, tonight, we feel rich. We feel rich because what you've done for David, though he had a different call at a different time in redemptive history, the principles are still true because your word says that these things have been given unto us to be encouraged and to learn from.

Your ways have not changed. You are patient with our development. You refine us. You build us. We learn from our failures and you don't give up from us.

Lord, build us up in the place of encouragement as we serve you. We want to honor you and worship you. And we want to do what your word tells us to do with music. Glorify your name. Bless your name.

Be blessed while the world has thousands of millions of songs that glorify the things that you died for. We wanna rejoice in your righteousness, in your salvation, in your beauty, in your holiness, and may it heal us. May it cleanse us. May it recalibrate us. May it realign us.

May it provide a shield to our souls so that the work of Satan and the lies of the enemy cannot have access to the inner faculties of who we are. Blessed be Your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we stand?

And let's do what we're gonna be doing for all of eternity. Worship him, and love him, and cherish him.