1 Samuel 18 Bible Study (David & Jonathan's Friendship/Saul's Jealousy) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

You don't have to answer this, but you should be able to testify to this that when a person is truly born again of the spirit of God, when you've truly received Christ Jesus as your lord and savior, one of the marks that you have been truly saved is that you have this desire for the written word. There's this craving and this longing to know the will of God, the person of Jesus Christ as it has been revealed through the scriptures. And I trust that that is why you're here tonight on a Friday evening is because your heart bears witness to that reality. I want to know my God. I want to know my king.

And so with that being said, meet me in the book of first Samuel chapter 18. Now if you recall in our time together a couple weeks ago when we were in the same book studying, chapter 17 ended in a very interesting way. So I think it's important for us to revisit those last verses because it's, it's important to how it transitions into this chapter of our of our focus tonight. And so you're there in chapter 18, but scroll back to verse 56 of chapter 17. And we are told here, and the king said, inquire whose son the boy is.

And as soon as David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And before we unpack, can we just pray one more time? Lord, we thank you.

This is your word. I thank you for this family in Christ. I thank you for people who love the written word. We ask, oh God, that you would expound the scriptures to us. And we beg of you, Lord, that our hearts would burn within us As we unfold the word, Lord, let our souls melt into your perfect will.

Mold us and shape us the way you desire, Lord. It is our chief supreme desire to please you with our lives. May the insights provided in these scriptures perform that to a greater degree. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

The main question is this, if you've been with us in first Samuel, how is it that Saul did not know David when David, not too long ago, was assigned as the court harpist, as a therapist, as even the armor bearer of Saul. And some of you answered it a couple weeks ago. Some of you gave your your thoughts, and I wanna rediscover those thoughts. So let's have a few hands lifted up. Why do you think it is that Saul who should have known who David was did not remember who David was?

Any ideas? Yes? Is it possible that the evil spirits that were tormenting Saul were influencing his ability to even remember things or make the right decisions? Quite possibly. Somebody else had their hand up.

Gibran. Was it pride? So was it a willful ignorance? Was it this idea of who is this kid? Very possible.

Any other ideas? Yeah. Squeeze. Okay. So maybe you both have the same idea there that that Saul, in essence, is belittling David.

Who's this young kid? Who's this little boy that did this? I mean, that's one way to to give off a hint that you're not very impressed with what he did with Goliath, though you should be. Anything else? Any other ideas?

Yes. Yes. So his mental state again is deteriorating because there is this tormenting spirit that has been unleashed upon him. Sure, TJ. Yeah.

Maybe he just just didn't know what to do and just was trying to figure out how to go about this. Yeah. Yes, Antoine. Very, very good. Did you hear it?

All of those answers were wonderful and people hold to different ideas concerning this. But what our brother just mentioned is probably the strongest hint to why Saul is acting in this manner. Go back to first Samuel 15, and I want you to look here in verse 28. When when Samuel the prophet confronts Saul after his disobedience with the Amalekites, what is the warning that was ushered? And Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

I have a hunch that Saul would never forget these words. God has torn the kingdom from you and has given it to a neighbor who is better than you. And a couple of chapters later, there's Goliath, David kills Goliath, David does something that outshines him even concerning Saul with bravery and courage, and I I have a hunch that as Saul was witnessing this, something was amplified in his in his thoughts and echoed down the corridor of his conscience and it was the words of Samuel. I'm giving the kingdom to a neighbor who is better than you. Better than you.

Better than you. Better than you. And he's trying to put the pieces together. Is this the guy? Is this the man that Samuel spoke of?

Is this the one? And so now he begins to investigate the boy from a place of suspicion and concern. And this is gonna flare up into uglier attitudes very, very soon. But keep this in mind as we move forward in this study because we learn that Saul's love for David was superficial. It was not true love.

It was a love that was motivated by what David could do for Saul, but once once David began to be elevated in the sight of others, this love would be quickly morphed into something much more horrendous. And in fact, as we come to chapter 18, Saul's attitude is contrasted. It's juxtaposed with somebody else who has an opposing opinion of this rising man of God, and it's found in Jonathan, Saul's own son. Let's read in verse one of chapter 18. 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.

And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servant.

So now David, after he finishes speaking with Jonathan, we are given strong language about Jonathan's relationship with David. Twice we're being told that Jonathan loved David as his own soul. And once we are told that Jonathan, listen to this, was knit to the soul of David, he was stitched. He was so connected to this young man. And my question to you tonight is how?

This didn't just happen without reason. This isn't wasn't just like an instantaneous thing necessarily. It wasn't without purpose. What was it that drew Jonathan's heart to be knit to David's soul? Any ideas?

What just happened in chapter 17? Somebody fell on their face and they were killed. Yeah. Jonathan was a witness among all the other armies of Israel of this wonderful victory, but it was not just a victory. It was a victory motivated by a man who stood for the glory of God.

A man who not only was concerned about the Lord's name, but a man who was willing to be a one man army. He was willing to stand when nobody else stood. And guess what? We learned that about Jonathan in chapter 14. Remember when Jonathan snuck away with his armor bearer without telling his dad And he and he seeks to destroy this garrison of the Philistines?

And so Jonathan looks at David and he finds a kindred spirit. You're you're one of those that are willing to stand alone for God? I'm one of those. And he begins to be attracted to David's stance for the glory of God even at the expense of other people supporting him. Jonathan knows what that's like and he finds somebody of the same spiritual DNA.

But secondly, look at the context. Look at verse one. As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. We have reason to believe that as David is standing before Saul and Saul is asking questions, who's your dad, where are you from, that the the the conversation was much more extensive than that. And I believe that Jonathan was there listening.

We we we see that. He was at least in close proximity. And so as David is speaking to Saul, who knows what else he said, but knowing what he said before, perhaps he's declaring the goodness of God, the power of God, the faithfulness of God. And what's happening to Jonathan as he's listening is he realizes very quickly, surely this is a man after God's own heart. This guy is the real deal.

This man truly loves the Lord his God and that attracted his heart. That drew him to David. Here's another person very close to my age and he is clearly on fire for his Lord. He's clearly set apart and consecrated to his purposes. And so his his soul was excited and he wanted to be in communion with this man.

He wanted to be a friend. He wanted to be a close friend. And Jonathan longed to be in deep fellowship with David, reveals something about Jonathan. You know what I love about this is that David was not even this close to his own blood brother. Remember Eliab?

When David came to show his faith in God, Eliab criticized him. He tried to diminish him. He tried to squash him. He tried to embarrass him. And I wanna tell you something, being a spiritual people, having the holy spirit in dwelling in us, this is one of the gifts of being in the faith.

You can know a relationship with someone who is not even your own blood in a deeper way than a person who shared the same womb with you. Because the Spirit is deeper than blood. It goes to the core of who we are. And if we are spiritual people made alive by the Spirit of God, I can tell you this and some of you can testify to this, that some of the closest people to you are not even of the same culture, are not even related to you, but because they share the same passion, the same conviction, the same love for God, it's as though they are your brother, your sister. And even for some of you maybe you're one with another person in that way.

And that's one of the gifts of being in Christ. And here's a challenge for all of us tonight. A great question to ask at this point is this. Ask yourself this right here as you're sitting in the sanctuary, I want you to ask yourself this question because it's very important. Because I've seen this destroy people's lives and I've seen this bless people's lives.

You ready? Here's your Bible study question to take with you. What kind of people is your soul attracted to? What kind of friendships are you drawn to? Who are your closest friends right now?

Identify them. Who are the people that are closest to you? Now once you've established that, once you've determined who you feel the most joy with, the most openness with, the most comfort with, the most pleasure with, once you've determined that, ask yourself this, what is it that draws you to them? What is it that draws you to them? Because I wanna tell you something.

You don't have to tell me much about you. All I have to see is who you hang out with, and I can know a lot. I look at Jonathan. I don't know much about Jonathan as much as I know about David, but I know enough about Jonathan because he really loved David. And so ask yourself that.

Are you comfortable around in fact, not comfortable even. Are you more excited about being with worldly people than spiritual people? Do you feel like you're more like yourself when you're around lukewarm Christians than you are spiritual people? In fact, are you uncomfortable around spiritual people? Are you bored with spiritual people?

I'm telling you, I love you. That reveals more about you than anything else. It really does. It's a humbling thing to ask, but it's worthy to be asked. Now Jonathan's character is further revealed as we move on here because in verse in verse three we are told, then Jonathan made a covenant with David.

That is profound. That is profound. He made a covenant with David. Why? Because he loved him as his own soul.

So because he loved David so much, he couldn't just keep it as a normal relationship. He says, I have to make a covenant with you bro. I have to make a covenant with you. Now it helps us to understand what does it mean to be in covenant? Does anybody have an idea what a covenant is in simple layman terms?

Generally speaking, what is a covenant? A contract. A contract. It's a contract that two parties make with one another, and in that contract, each party is choosing to agree upon promises that they will hold in relation to one another. So if I'm in covenant with Evan, it's because I am making this contract that I will hold to these promises and you will hold to those promises.

And this this relationship will flourish if we honor these things. Now that doesn't sound very heartfelt, does it? It sounds more like a business deal than anything else, but it's not. It's actually an expression of binding commitment. Let me give you an example.

If you've met somebody of the opposite sex that you are in love with, that you have, grown fond of, that you are attracted to, and that attraction grows as you discover that person, what is the ultimate manifestation of wanting to express your love with that individual? Tell me. You wanna marry them. You want to make a covenant with them that would bind you together. And that's exactly what David's doing here in a non romantic way.

That's what God has done with us. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ has done with us. Because here's what we're learning from Jonathan right here. You ready? One of the marks of true love is that it manifests in commitment.

True love is stronger than just powerful emotions that keep you up at night and give you butterflies when you get a text. It's more than just enjoying someone's presence when you hang out. They make you they make you feel lighter in life. It's more than that. True love manifests in an unbroken loyalty.

I will be committed to you whether these emotions are real or not, whether they're present or they're absent. And that's exactly what David and Jonathan are doing here. They're making a pledge, a covenant that we will discover later what it was all about. Perhaps Jonathan understood, and we will see that that he knew David was gonna become king, and he knew what was gonna happen with Saul and David, and so he wants to make a covenant that no matter what happens, we will be friends. We will be loyal to each other.

We will be committed to one another. And in fact, we read later on that that actually occurs. Jonathan dies, unfortunately, down the scene. And I just wanna read this, you don't have to turn there, but when David becomes king, we're told in second Samuel nine one, and David said, is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now, between this and second Samuel nine, a lot of hell breaks loose.

A lot of chaos is caused by Saul, and even later on from his own descendants. But this is how we know David truly loved Jonathan, that despite all of the havoc, all of the chasing, all of the slander, he made a he made a covenant. And so he's saying, I want to bless Saul's descendants for Jonathan's sake. That's true love. No matter what happens, no matter what transpires, no matter what occurs, no matter what you even might do to me to a certain degree, I, I'm bound to you.

And in verse four, if we have not impressed with Jonathan yet, we will surely be blessed by his sequential actions here. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor and his sword, his bow and his belt. This is no small evidence of David believing, rather Jonathan believing that David would be the next king. And he's acknowledging that. In fact, he's not only acknowledging that, he's approving of that.

He's showing his support of that. He is surrendering. He's surrendering what rightfully technically belonged to him as the son of Saul, and he's saying to David, I see God's plan. I see God's choice. I see God's desire, and I submit myself to that joyfully.

I surrender this to you, David. Now if we've learned that love looks like commitment, as Jonathan made a covenant with David, true love is also marked by this, self denial. Self denial. Because that's what Jonathan is doing here. He's denying whatever he might have been told was, was his right, and because of his great love for God and God's program and his desires, he strips himself of his own comforts, of his own privilege, of his own pleasure even, and he surrenders it unto God.

And because he surrenders it unto God, because of his love for God, he can now love David. He can love David. You wanna know how you love your wife better? Love God more. You wanna, you wanna be a better friend?

Love God more. You wanna be a better sibling, a better son, a better love God more. He loved God. He honored God. He recognized God.

And because of that, he was able to transfer that love very easily to David. And that's what it looks like. True love looks like I'm willing to deny myself. As long as it's in holiness, righteousness, and an honorable way to God, I will deny myself and give whatever I need to give in order to bless you. That's what it means to die to self.

And Jonathan illustrates that here by these actions. Take what I have and receive it for yourself because I love you, and I love God and I wanna do this for his honor and for your good because I recognize God's hand on your life. Look at verse five. David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him. Saul is an exhausting figure to study.

He really is. But if there's anything he did right up to this point, it was this. What did he do right? He promoted, he promoted David. Verse two tells us that he took David permanently.

Remember he was in a part time position? Now you're permanent. Now you're my full time employee, and I'm actually gonna set you over my men of war. Good job, Saul. You did something right, finally.

But I wonder if he's really doing it for the right reason. Right? I wonder if Saul is doing it so that people can see what a wise decision he made. I wonder if people would look at Saul and say, what a brilliant man. I wonder if that's what Saul was fishing for by getting David in this position.

But regardless of the motive of Saul, God's providence is at work. God's working in the background. And what's more important to study and realize is David's response to this promotion. What did David just finish doing? He just killed what seemed to be an unstoppable foe.

He did what no one else can do, including king Saul. And guess what? He was promoted for it. And guess what? He submitted to Saul still.

Right? He obeyed Saul. Whatever Saul said, he would do it. Whatever Saul instructed, he would do it. There was no attempt to overthrow him.

There was no attempt to challenge his authority. There was no arrogance in him to say, hey, Saul, look. This king thing, I think I'm better at it than you. You're gonna tell me what to do? Why don't we switch the roles here?

None of that. He didn't do it since he was anointed back when he was a shepherd in the midst of his brethren. He showed no sense of arrogance or pride, and now that he's promoted after a great victory, success did not corrupt his character. And that's a wonderful thing for us to consider. But secondly, there's another attribute of David.

What were we told here? He went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him. This man, no matter where you placed him, he did his job with excellence. Again, I I know I know this isn't I know this isn't deep. I know this isn't like, wow, I never saw it that way.

But I want to see what the Holy Spirit places in the word, and I wanna know why he put it there. He could have skipped over this. Again, we are told that David was successful wherever Saul sent him. In fact, he was so successful, he was so consistent, whether he was a shepherd or a therapist or a musician or a one man army or a general over God's armies. No matter where you placed them, he did it with conviction, with focus, devotion, unwavering commitment.

And it was so powerful that it was a testimony to everybody else watching. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the saw sight of Saul's servants. Brothers and sisters, please pay attention to this. I know I know this is a very specific detail, but the Holy Spirit put it here for a reason. God puts a premium on his people showing diligence in whatever they're doing.

And you and I, no matter where God has placed us, should strive by the power of the Holy Spirit to do our task, to do what we've been called to do with such, with such love and passion and devotion that we make it very difficult for people to criticize us. Never forget that, that no matter what you do in this life, people will connect it to your testimony in Jesus Christ. You can't separate it. You can't no matter what you do, everything, I know this will shock you, to the, to the things that you wear. I'm sorry.

To the way that you speak, to the way that you conduct yourself. Every single thing is connected to our testimony in Christ, and we should strive to be blameless as David was in this case. Now, up to this point in our study in first Samuel, there have been many pivotal moments that have turned the direction of this narrative, and we are about to approach one. Verse six now is going to change the whole experience of our reading, because it's going to change the relationship between Saul the king and David the up and coming king. David was hired and promoted.

News is breaking out what this young adult did on that valley, and verse six comes up. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the woman came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. The women sang to one another as they celebrated. Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his 10 thousands. This will now lead Saul into a frenzy.

This is the crossroads in Saul's life. If he was bad now, he just went over the cliff, as we're about to discover. And unfortunately in his case, there's no turning back. He went from zero to 60 in a matter of a night. But before we explore that, realize this celebration, and I want you to closely examine the song and and ask yourself, what's missing from this?

Thank you. Saul has struck down his thousands, and David has tens of thousands. I see Saul. I see David. Where's God?

Some worship song. Well, no. They're just honoring them. Well, I want you to compare this great victory that Israel experienced with another great victory that they knew back in their infancy in Exodus 15. When they were pulled out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground.

We are told of another group of women just like here, but they sang differently. Exodus 15 verse 20. What are we told? Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, just like what we read. And all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing, just like what we read.

But look at the difference. And Miriam sang to them, sing to the Lord. Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. What a difference. What a difference.

Another great act of God, but the focus was solely on the Lord himself. What's the lesson here? You have to remember that this is a reminder that we are so very subtly able to lose our focus and to lose our acknowledgment of God behind all our successes. It's very subtle, especially after much time goes by. And we are capable of attributing what solely belongs to God and we give it to man, and sometimes that man is me.

And so it is our responsibility and our discipline to see past the human vessels, to see past the human instruments, to see past the things in this life that God uses to move pieces, and to see God. This is God. This isn't man. This isn't a man's gift. It's not a man's leadership skills.

It's not a woman's abilities. It's not her charisma. It's not anything. It's God. It's God.

And we see the opposite here, which I believe reveals the spiritual condition of Israel at this point. It wasn't very good, but that will hopefully change. And although this song wasn't very sanctified, this song would have a sanctifying purpose because the Bible tells us, you don't have to turn there, in Proverbs 2seven 21, that a man is tested by the praise that he receives. One of the ways that God shows us what we really are made of is when praise comes our way. You and I cannot control what people say about us, whether it's good or bad, but we can determine what we will do with it.

And we are about to find out that this is gonna test Saul, but it's not just gonna test Saul. It's gonna test who? Who's it gonna test? David. David was this obscure farmer who probably hasn't seen this amount of people in one place in his whole life.

And he went from an unknown, so unknown and so ignored that his own dad didn't recognize him as a potential king when he was the candidate as being his son. He still didn't even bring him into the room to a place now where he turns on the radio and he hears this song because it's a top hit. Everybody's talking about David. Not only are they talking about David, they're elevating David's success greater than Saul's. David, what's gonna happen to you?

This is overwhelming. And let me tell you this, I believe with all my heart that David was in a safer place when he was experiencing the adversity from his own brother than in this moment when he was being faced with the praise of these women. Because pride can do way more at a quicker rate to destroy your soul than persecution ever will. Praise can poison your mind more than hardship ever will. And so David passed one test when his brother tried to discourage him and he moved forward trusting in God.

Here's his next test. What are you gonna do now when everybody loves you? What are you gonna do now when everybody talks about you and compares you? The greatest worship leader that I've ever heard, the greatest preacher that I've ever heard in my life. What is gonna happen to your heart?

The greatest businessman, the greatest artist, the greatest whatever, the most beautiful. What are you gonna do? I think David passed. You know why? No record of his reaction.

It's like water off a duck's back. It's as though nothing happened. He heard it, obviously, but it didn't do anything to him. He just continues to do what God's called him to do as about to find out. So David passed the test, but man praising us is much more profound as a test than we might imagine.

Because we're not only tested listen. Pay pay attention. We're not only tested when praise comes to us. We're also tested when praise goes to another in our presence. We don't think about it that way.

Praise is not just a means, it's not just a crucible for our own hearts when it's directed towards us. Praise is a test when in the presence of other people praising someone else, what happens to you? Because that happened to Saul. And guess what? He failed the test.

Verse eight. And Saul was very angry. And this saying displeased him. He said, they have ascribed to David 10 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. So I can just picture this as I wonder if they came in together. Here's Saul, the army's lined up behind and David is right behind Saul, and as they're walking in, these people are throwing confetti or whatever, rice, I don't know. And they're dancing and twirling and, and it's being echoed in the streets.

And there's David awkwardly as a farmer boy. K? This is wonderful. And here's Saul trying to put on a smile and inside he's being eaten up. Are they actually saying this about this kid?

I was reading the gospel of John this week. I'm currently reading it in my devotions and I brought this up on Wednesday prayer night. I was taken aback by John the Baptist's response to his own disciples when they heard that Jesus was baptizing more people than John. In fact, let me read it to you exactly what they said in John three twenty six. And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing and all are going to him.

All are going to him. So John had Friday night Bible study and he realized half of the people that usually attend are not there anymore. And somebody comes up and they say, hey, John, you gotta realize, people are going they're listening to another person because they're just being blessed by him, and and they're all going there, and they're bringing it up because they're concerned. And this is John the Baptist's first answer. This is how he responded to their to their anxiety.

Verse 27. John answered, a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. What a man of God. John, they're all going. They're leaving.

Your ministry is dwindling. You know, guys, a person can't receive even one thing, whether that's praise or whether that's people. He cannot receive one thing unless it has been authorized by God. What are you worried about? See, that is the essence of true humility.

You wanna know how you can arrive to true humility in a way that liberates you from these fleshly concerns? Be convinced that everything you own and everything that you are has been given by God. Be convinced of that, rehearse that, preach that to your soul until you really believe it until to the point where it's a reflex when there's something that might challenge what you think is your identity or your purpose in life. What kind of man would Saul had been if we read the same words that we read of John the Baptist's reaction? They both faced the same thing.

More people were being baptized with Jesus than with John. More people are praising David than Saul, two polarizing different reactions. One is saying, how can this be? The other one's saying, praise be. This is God.

This is about God. And that's why later on he says, now my joy is complete. As long as Christ is getting the glory, as long as Christ is getting praise, that's not a competition with me. And if Saul was really a humble man of God, he would have looked at this and said, God, if this is the next one in line, praise be to your name. May you give me the grace to disciple him and teach him what I know so that he can be a successful king for your kingdom.

If there was anybody that was supposed to be challenged, if there was anyone who should have had bitter protest or resistance, it was Jonathan. Jonathan was the next one in line. Saul, you're already there, and you you gotta leave anyway. Jonathan was the one who had this whole future ahead of him, but Jonathan had something different than his dad. He had a kingdom mind.

So he was not intimidated. In fact, he rejoiced. This man, the the complete opposite, and it's about to kill him, this man is gonna experience a very slow death starting here. Because this jealousy, listen, was not just a spurt of pain that he felt because he felt like something touched his nerve concerning who he thought he was supposed to be and, no, it became an obsession. He eyed David from that moment on.

He would supervise David in every move, in every action. He would look around and his whole existence now would become about David. And I wanna tell you this, that these sins of the spirit, the Bible talks about sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit. What's the difference? I believe the sins of the flesh are the things that we perform with the members of the body.

Sexual morality, murder, all these different things. The sins of the spirit speak of the attitudes and the thoughts, the hidden things. They can manifest, obviously, through the flesh, but they start here. They're not known to the sight of man. They're hidden.

But they are more lethal, I believe. All sin is lethal, obviously, but these sins of the spirit are cancerous to the soul. And this man is about to illustrate that because he's now going to become a wolf that's gonna hunt down this precious saint because he did not guard guard his heart according to the will of God. I see something else here with David. Some of us in here may secretly crave the praise of man.

To be honest, some of us might wanna feel validated or appreciated, and we think the more I get from people or if I can get it from all people, all the people in my world and my circle, if I can get them to all love me and proof that that is true in your life is that you can have 99 people praise you leaving this place and one person criticize you. And what are you gonna think about for the rest of the week? That one person, not the 99 that blessed you. Some of us in here might secretly want that, and we think the more that we have it or if we have a platform so more can be showered on us, the happier we will be, and David would testify otherwise. Because this this thing with jealousy, this envy that that Saul is experiencing in his heart, it's not gonna only gonna cause grief to him.

It's gonna cause grief to David. And the point I wanna make is this, that perhaps God is protecting you from not giving you what you want. Perhaps God is not allowing for you to hear what you think you might wanna hear because you do not realize the utter pain that recognition can give you in this life. Ask a famous person how their lives are, and I can tell you this, they wish they weren't famous. And so, don't think that the more you have, the more eyes on you, the more people who talk about you, the more people who like your posts, the more people who share your stuff.

Don't think that the more you have, the happier you'll be. In fact, if God doesn't give you the grace, as he does certain men and women, to be able to perform his will with all of that attention on you, you will be crushed. You will be crushed. And so do one thing. Live for God's praise and you'll be the happiest.

Live for God's recognition, you'll feel the safest. David didn't ask for this. He just wanted to be faithful with God. But if you're asking for it, consider that God is protecting you because now we're gonna see David experience a whole different life than he ever thought he would live. Verse 10.

The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar, 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. I wanna ask you a question. What's interesting about verse 10?

Read it slowly in light of what we just discovered about Saul, and I'm wondering if someone will make the connection. The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul. What's the connection here? Okay. So obviously he was still meditating on what was just happening, but what does that have to do with the evil spirit?

Jealousy. Listen to this. This connection is not by accident. Out of all the times where this evil spirit could have rushed upon Saul, it happened at a particular moment. And where it happened was when Saul had decided to harbor jealousy and hatred in his heart.

This is a serious warning, so pay attention. Saul did not deal with what we should deal with when we see sin budding in our hearts, when we feel those ugly feelings, when we feel those ugly emotions, when we are visited by envy or pride or jealousy, and we don't quickly come before the Lord, in fact, when we harbor it and nurture it, you know what happened? That excited the evil spirit to work in Saul. I'm gonna shock you with a statement. There are some people who are performing and being influenced by demonic activity and they don't even realize it.

And you know where it started? They gave Satan a foothold. You know where that came from? The sins of the spirit. You might not believe me.

You're like, brother, this is you're getting wild here. No. Scripture tells us not to go to bed, not to let the sun go down on what? On your anger, lest what? You give Satan a foothold.

We taught on that two, three weeks ago, and it's true here. Because Saul did not deal with this jealousy and this hatred. It invited satanic influence on his life. He gave Satan something to work with. And I'm not saying Christians become possessed, but I believe that Christians can be oppressed and Christians can be influenced by devils.

Even if they come with their pretty dresses and they sing hymns, that doesn't mean a thing. We're gonna find out later on that Saul was prophesying and he was still influenced by the devil. This man did not deal with his sin appropriately and because of that, he gave evil spirits something to work with. It's no joke. Sin is not a joke.

In fact, we see the progression of his sin. It started out with jealousy. It started out with, they're saying this about him and not saying about me. They're elevating him above me. Then it turns and it grows into hatred, and this hatred now becomes and morphs into murderous, murderous rage.

And you know where it all started? By some people saying nicer things about David than him. Now here's the thing. I read that and I thought, you know, I have a feeling if I say this, people are gonna say, yeah, but that's Saul. It's almost like we're watching a movie and it's like an exaggerated thing.

Can I ask you a question? Why did the Pharisees crucify Jesus? Their authority was threatened? Sure. Jealousy?

Anybody agree or disagree with that? You know, Pilate made a lot of wrong decisions, but if Pilate had anything right about him, he discerned the heart of the Pharisees. And And we're told in Matthew twenty seven eighteen, for he being Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. It was so obvious that Pilate's like, they're so jealous of Jesus. And Jesus even knew that.

Remember that whole thing about John and the baptisms, Jesus getting more people to come to him and his disciples to be baptized? You go to John four and it says that the Pharisees heard that Jesus was baptizing more, and so Jesus leaves that region. So why do I bring that up? Because from old to new, and there's examples in between, we have to be honest about ourselves and the capability of the wickedness that we can reach to if we are not restrained by the Holy Spirit. Oh, we're in the twenty first century and we have all these pretty things and Teslas and iPhones and we're not barbaric.

Watch what happens when the Holy Spirit restrains his presence on the earth. It will be the closest thing to hell. And this is a world with restraints, Governmental restraints, the salt of the earth, the church, and all these different factors that are restraining. Pull up these restraints. That's why this cry for defund the police is there.

You think that's just political? That's demonic. It's a restraint in society that God has ordained, Romans 13. And what the enemy wants to do is pull the restraints that God has ordained on the earth. Why?

Because we are animals apart from God's restraining grace. And we see that here. And listen, I wanna say something that will shock you. You can have professing Christians become animals. Let the flesh dominate and you'll see spears being thrown around in places.

And here's the proof of that. We, even as believers, can block ourselves from being blessed by genuine ministers and genuine ministries and brothers and sisters who are spirit filled because this is not the only time that David sang and played in the presence of Saul. Remember he did that back in chapter 16? What's the difference between chapter 16 and this chapter? When David played the first time, what happened?

It worked. What happens here? It doesn't work. Whose fault was it? Did David change?

Did David have less of the power of the Holy Spirit upon his life? Did David's skill diminish? Saul changed. And because Saul changed, he could not receive what God wanted to give him. And I wanna tell you that this thing of jealousy, this thing of envy, the sins of the spirit can so clog your soul that you would never know for years how God would wanna bless you because you've already filled your heart with so much junk and you have not dealt with it.

Can I prove that to you? Pastor Daniel read first Peter two:two. I'm gonna read first Peter two:one. Listen to what Peter says. He's say he's saying this to Christians.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. So let me repeat that. Put away. He doesn't say God is gonna do it for you. He says you, you have to put away malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

And then he goes into this instruction. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into some What's the connection? What's the connection between me putting away deceit and putting away slander and hypocrisy and malice? What's the connection between that and coming to the word of God to receive it as milk? Well, I'll tell you what, those things, if they remain in your heart, will kill any desire for the word.

When you remain in sin and you're unrepentant, you'll come to church and not a thing will touch you. You won't be moved. In fact, you'll be hanging around outside and you want nothing to do with spiritual things because you've not put away certain things, so you've not opened yourself up to receive from God the same way Saul could not receive from David. And so there's a responsibility here. See, we want, we want the preacher to convict us so that we can repent.

No. You need to repent before the preacher preaches to you. That's what you need to do. Yes. Can the Holy Spirit do, do that work and awaken somebody who is hardened?

Absolutely. But I see a very practical instruction here. You put it away, meaning I am able to identify slander. I'm able to identify deceit. I'm able to identify hypocrisy, and it's my responsibility to do something lest you kill any spiritual appetite and any receptivity in your soul.

I'm just trying to protect you. I'm just trying to make sure that you would never come to this place. And this kind of answers a mystery in my own mind over the years where you can look at people and throughout years, they don't seem to change or be moved, and I wonder it's because they have clogged their soul so much. They can't be moved. Saul cannot receive from David.

And many people, because they don't put away certain things, can't receive all that God wants to give them. But notice what David does. In verse 11, David evaded him twice. Twice, not once. Look, if that happens once, I'm putting in my resignation papers.

Here's my two weeks notice. It was great knowing you. I'm going back to the field. And it makes you wonder what David knew about this moment. David knew how to choose his battles.

See, when it came to Goliath, he didn't hesitate. He went for his head. When it came to Saul, he didn't pick up that spear and throw it back at him. He said, this is God's problem. If I'm supposed to occupy that throne, Lord, you've spoken that to me, then you will deal with Saul on the throne.

I don't have to deal with Saul on the throne. This is your battle. I'll be faithful where you've called me to be, and I'll let you fight what I am not called to fight. What a wonderful man filled with great discernment. But David here being evaded, evading him twice proves to us a wonderful lesson about serving God.

Serve God long enough, and you will be attacked. Now here's the thing. The enemy couldn't discourage David through his brother Eliab. The enemy couldn't puff up David with the praise of man. So you know what he, he's brought down to?

Let's just kill the guy. I wonder if the evil spirit upon Saul knew something about David. That's why he tried to get David. I wonder if the evil spirit knew that this was the next king of Israel. This was God's chosen one.

And more than just him occupying a throne for a lifetime, this is the Messiah who's going to come through this seed, and so I have to get rid of him while I have the chance, and I'll use Saul to do it. And so he evades them. I don't know how he did it. Dodged them, ran out of the room, came back another day. But it's the evidence that served God long enough.

And if he can't discourage you, if he can't puff you up, he just might want to kill you. There's no reason to be afraid because we learned something wonderful here in verse 12 that even though he was he was attempted to be a new furniture piece on Saul's wall, Verse 12. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. Oh, what an encouraging verse. You know, that's what it means to be a man after God's own heart.

You wanna know one of the benefits of it? When you're a woman who's after God's own heart. Not a church goer, listen to songs and, yeah, I read my bible once every three months. No, no, no, no. When you have a heart after God's own, when you live to walk with him and praise him and bless him and serve him, one of the one of the byproducts of that is that people know that God walks with you.

And what's amazing here is that Saul could even recognize that. Saul had enough knowledge of God to be able to look at David and not just know that David loved God, but he knew that God was with David. And he was afraid because though he was now beginning to be consumed with this possessive jealousy, he had enough sense to be cautious and to be hesitant because he realized that if I'm gonna touch David, I'm gonna touch God. What a wonderful promise. You know what's so amazing about God in this?

When you zoom out, you realize that before Saul begins his campaign of, of attacking David, he provided Jonathan. Right? He provides this friend that would be knitted to his soul in the perfect time because God knew that Saul was gonna chase David in the wilderness and God knew that David needed a Jonathan to comfort him and to console him and to strengthen his hand in God. And more than that, God made it evident that he was with David so that he could put a fear in Saul so that Saul could not do what he thought he can do. You know, I read that and I thought, if Saul, Saul recognized that God was with David, why did you keep trying to kill the guy?

I mean, if I realize that God is with David, I'm gonna throw in my resignation. I'm not gonna try anything with this guy because God has already removed his spirit from me. I'm already being tormented. I'm not I'm done. I'm done.

I realize that the fact that he evaded me twice, that had to have been supernatural, this is God. I'm out of here. No. He doesn't. He only intensifies.

This is just for a temporary moment, and then he intensifies. Why? Because that's what pride does. It deceives you. For the same reason why Satan, as a creature, still attempts to thwart the promises of God.

Satan is a greater theologian than all of us in here put together. Satan knows the end of the book. Satan knows what's gonna transpire. And guess what? He still attempts to derail God's prophecies.

Why? Because that's what pride does. Pride convinces you of things that are illogical and not reasonable. And that is where Saul is headed. Saul now, because of his pride, he wants to praise a man mixed with his jealousy and his envy.

He's gonna become a monster, and not just in a way in which he's gonna become erratic. He's not even gonna think straight. And so he says God is with him, but I'm still gonna kill him. But he does it differently. He doesn't try to kill div David right off the bat, and he doesn't even fire him completely.

You know what he does? He demotes him. He puts him outside of the courts, and he says, I'm gonna put you over a thousand men. Why do you think Saul did that? I mean, we heard one reason, but give me another reason.

Why do you think Saul removed David? Verse 13. 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. Any idea why Saul did this? Okay.

That is one of the answers, and we'll get to that. David got too popular. He He couldn't get rid of David altogether. There would be an uproar for the same reason why the Pharisees didn't try to arrest Jesus in public. And for the same reason why they didn't stone rather, they didn't condemn John the Baptist's ministry, lest they be stoned because they perceived him to be a prophet.

Good. Any other reason? Very good. The presence of David maybe convicted him, definitely put the fear of God in him. And so he's the guy that is walking in sin and he's out in public, maybe where he shouldn't be, but he's out on the streets and here comes some people from church and they realize it, so they put their jacket over their head and they walk into the other side.

Yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah. So he wants to keep a distance, but he also wants to watch him from a different place. Sure.

Ah, that's another point. That's gonna come next week. He has a different strategy. I'm not gonna kill him, but I'm gonna put him in a vulnerable place so that the enemy will kill him. So he's becoming very now conniving and sick.

Yes. One of the reads could be, like, in second scenario, we see, like, you know, they wouldn't send because his own way, so solving in simple state, saying I will not be able to be anymore because just more complacent and some of the same. Yeah. And it could be. It could be that he's getting complacent and he's not wanting to do what he's called to do as a leader.

Okay. So we're gonna see that conflict of wanting to kill him but considering him righteous later on. I think a lot of you touch on it. Could it be possible, though it's not explicitly clear, this is not dogmatic, that maybe he was afraid that David might kill him? Could be.

And if that is the case, then there's another lesson to to learn here. It's that he thought that David would do what he would do to David. And, here's the thing. If David wanted to kill Saul, he would have got he would have dealt with it already. He could have done it after the first time when that spear came into his direction.

But the point is this, Saul was tormented in another way. Because what he was willing to plot against someone he believed needlessly that they would do to him. That's one of the fruits of being a wicked person. That's one of the fruits of being a person in the flesh that you begin to now be haunted by the possibility that because you yourself are willing to go to certain extents, what would hold other people back from doing the same to me? Does that make sense?

Do you think thieves are comfortable with other people in their home or with their possessions? I'm sure thieves are very scared of other people stealing from them because they are willing to go to that extent. The Bible tells us in Isaiah that there is no peace for the wicked. There's no peace for the wicked. There's no rest.

There's no solemn calm. There's none of that. And and this man didn't have it. He knew that God was against them. He knew that David could could come against him in revenge.

He he didn't have a sense of security because when you live in sin, you open your heart up to great anxieties. There is no peace for the wicked. And so people who gossip, maybe they don't realize it, but they're afraid that people will gossip about them. And if you gossip with somebody, I promise you, that person who gossips with you most likely gossips about you. Just to give you a heads up.

Same with slander. Same with any sin. And this man, because he plotted to kill David, he believed that David was capable of the same, though it was not true. But it's very difficult for wicked men to think spiritually and to think that it's possible for somebody to extend mercy because they're not willing to extend mercy. But secondly, our brother mentioned it.

Saul didn't go all the way with getting rid of David because the guy is loved. Look at verse 16. We're told here, but all Israel and Judah loved David. So here's the thing. Saul is not being merciful here by saying, David, I'm gonna get you outside of the courts.

He is pushing him outside of his proximity. He doesn't want him near him. He wants him out of that court, but he didn't do it to the extent where the people would question Saul's decision. So I believe here that Saul is even trying to preserve. He's still try he's like, he's tormented in a different way.

He's like, I wanna get rid of that guy. I wanna kill him. I wanna make him another picture frame on my wall, but I can't. God is with him and the people love him. So what am I gonna do?

So he strategizes and he tries to say, okay, go over there. Let the enemy kill you. Then I can hold on to the praise of people. They can say Saul is great because he chose David. Here's the next point.

Not only does living in sin cause great anxiety, but living for your own glory is very exhausting. It's very exhausting. The facade that you have to put on that you're spiritual, the energy to conceal your hypocrisy. So nobody who knows who you really are, you gotta always examine your stories so that, you know, people don't see how you really talk and what you really enjoy. It's sin.

So you, you have to manage your social media and then you gotta manipulate people and you gotta strategize. Living for the praise of man is a very exhausting and wearisome task. I read this a song, like, look what he's trying to do instead of just being a king. Look at where all his energy is going. Look at where all his efforts are going.

It's all for his reputation and his comfort instead of managing the kingdom. It's a sad state indeed. And here's where we close. You ready? He tries to demote Saul.

Maybe he's trying to push him out of the spotlight so people don't see him and recognize him as much because remember, he was in, he was in the courts and he says, go, go over there, David. Yes. You're doing great. Go over there. And whatever he thought was gonna come out of that, whether people would forget David or not think about David as much or David would be discouraged, guess what?

The shock of his life, David becomes successful. Verse 14. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. Like, you can't you can't beat the guy, and it's not because of him. Here's the wonderful thing.

I'm closing with this thought. Every person in here, I pray you're a person, you're a young man, you're a young woman, you're a father, you're a husband, you're a mother, you're a wife. I pray that it is your ultimate desire with this breath of a life that you have that you would serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I really hope that's your desire. Now if it is, I want you to know that there will be attempts to discourage you in that pursuit or to, again, inflate you with pride.

There are many strategies the enemy has, and even to the extent, like Saul, trying to cut your life off. The only thing you need to be worried about, the only thing that you need to be occupied with, the only thing your energy and your time and your focus should be is maintaining one reality that God is with you. That's all you have to worry about. It doesn't matter what man schemes like Saul with his little tricks, I'm gonna put you over here, da, da, da. None of that matters because if God is with you, who can be against you?

That's all you have to worry about. It doesn't matter what titles are stripped from you. It doesn't matter where people try to move you. It doesn't matter what kind of plot is organized against you. If God is with you, it doesn't matter what man tries to do to you.

That's what we see here. Didn't we see with Joseph? His brothers sold him into slavery, Potiphar hires him, and what are we told as he manages Potiphar's house? The Lord was with him. Falsely accused of rape, thrown into prison for who knows how long, what are we told?

The Lord was with him. That's all that matters. If you can secure that right standing with God, let men do what they want. Come hell or high water when God is with you. It doesn't matter what man tries to do to you.

And that is what we learned here up to this point. We can finish chapter 17, but you have to go home, I'm sure. Why don't we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this bible study. We're amazed at your wisdom.

Our hearts are made alive in your presence tonight. Lord, we see that you have clearly given such things to us to encourage us in the new covenant as we walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you that your word surely is a light unto our feet. It's a guidance to our path. Surely it is supernatural.

Surely it is your voice. Surely you speak to us through your word. Lord, we feel and we sense and we're overwhelmed by your wisdom tonight. And we worship you in light of the revelation that we've received at this feast. And, Lord, we ask that it would be applied.

We ask that it would be one with us. We ask that it would be lived out for your glory, God. Help us, Lord, remember these truths, and help us, Lord, apply them to the certain things that we might have forgotten or neglected. Lord, examine our hearts. Lord, test our hearts, and Lord, be pleased with what you see in us.

See if there be any wicked ways in us, and be pleased, oh God, to deal with it if you discover anything that is contrary to your will. We ask that your hand would be upon every person who's watching, every person who's in this place. May we all succeed in our service to you, and we worship you in light of these truths. We thank you that you've spoken in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

Can we stand and worship the Lord together as we close?