David’s Character Developed by Trials

Transcript

GRS 2-74
6/27/2007
David’s Character Developed by Trials
1 Samuel 29-31
Gil Rugh

We are studying First Samuel and we are at Chapter 29, we come to the closing Chapters of First Samuel and that brings us to the closing period of the first king of Israel’s life. King Saul will die in the last Chapter of First Samuel, the end of a rather tragic life.

Chapter 28 prepared the way for the death of Saul because it was in Chapter 28 that Saul made that disastrous visit to the witch of En-dor, the medium in the town of En-dor and there he had Samuel called back from the dead, and Samuel told Saul that within 24 hours he would die on the battlefield, his three sons would die with him and the nation Israel would suffer a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Philistines.

We come to Chapter 29 which really precedes Chapter 28 chronologically, but we needed Chapter 28 to set the setting before we move any further along with the history. We now have the background necessary for understanding the events that will culminate in Saul’s death.

What is going to happen in Chapters 29 and 30 is we will have some background regarding David because as we noted David has been the key figure in the history of Israel now for some time, he is the one that god has anointed to be the king that will succeed Saul. So the focus has really been on David and Saul has been in the picture only as it relates to David because is preparing David to assume the throne.

We pick Chapter 29, now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel.

Now if you turn back to Chapter 28 verse 2 and the first two verses it came about in the days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, the fight against Israel and Achish, the king of Gath, the philistine city where David had fled to escape Saul is taking David with him thinking that David now is the enemy of Saul and the enemy of Israel, so he will be able to support the Philistines in their battle.

So you from Chapter 28 verse 2 to Chapter 29 verse 1 in the flow of history and the events of Chapter 28 fill in the gap, but we are really picking up with verse 1 where we left off. We remember when we studied Chapter 28 we noted we are taking a break here now to fill in the necessary material regarding Saul’s situation. The Philistines are marshalling their army, the lords of the Philistines bringing various armies together from their major cities and it is an overwhelming force.

The lords of the Philistine verse 2 we are proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands. And David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish, again king of one of the major philistine cities. Then the commanders of the Philistines said what are these Hebrew doing here? Referring to David and his 600 armed men. Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel who has been with me these days or rather these years. And I found and followed him from the day he deserted to me to this day.

So you can imagine when the Philistines recognized David with his armed soldiers present, so what in the world is David doing here with an army of Hebrew soldiers and the Achish defends himself saying David has become an ally of mine and I think he is trustworthy, so he will join us in the battle, but the other Philistines commanders will have none of it.

Verse 4 the commanders of Philistines of were angry with him, the commanders of the Philistines said to him make the man go back that he may return to his place for you have assigned him. You let him go down to battle with us or in the battle he may become and adversary to us. For what could this man make himself more – do to make himself more acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men? In other words what will happen is we will go into battle and David and his men will turn against us and thus he will be brought back into the good graces of – the graces of Saul and the Israelites. Is this not David of whom they sing and the dancers say Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands?

First said following David’s victory over Goliath of Gath in Chapter 18 verse 7, the ladies of Israel sang this song as they came back from the battle. Repeated in Chapter 21 verse 12. Over the years, this has been remembered. The Philistines are unwilling to go into war with David, so Achish calls David and said I am sorry the other philistine leaders are not willing to have you join us in battle. David acts like he is filled with indignation in verse 8. David said to Achish what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I came before you to this day that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord, the king?

And David is just putting on affront here before the enemies of the lord because David has been going out remember on private raids against the allies of the Philistines with his men, killing men and women alike. So there would no survivors to bring word back to the Philistines what David has been doing, but he acts like he is filled with indignation and feels he has been wronged here, and perhaps in his intentions were to go into battle and then turn, and be an ally of the Israelites we don’t know, but Achish told him you have to go back, you can displease the lords of the Philistines. And there’s no alternative, so he does and Achish says I haven’t found any problem with you but you have to go back. So you arise early in the morning and take your soldiers with you and you go back home. And that’s what David is going to do. Verse 11 David arose early he and his men do depart in the morning to return to the land of Philistines and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Now Chapter 30 records some events that have happened in David’s life. A tragedy has come upon David and his men. While they were gone, the Amalekites came up and attacked the city of Ziklag where David had his headquarters. But David and his armed men aren’t there. So the Amalekites sweep through the city, take men women and children captive, take spoil from the city and then burnt the city. So it’s a great loss for everyone. It would have been a three day journey back from where David was with the Philistines back to the city of Ziklag.

So Chapter 30 opens up, it happened when David and his men went to Ziklag and the third day that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, they carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. So there is great wailing and weeping on David’s part, the part of his men. We are told in verse 5 that David's two wives had been taken captive, but that’s not the only problem he has. Verse 6, moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. The city has been burnt. Their families have been taken captive.

Now his own men are ready to turn against him because who do you blame? The frustration above all David has to be blamed. I mean he is the leader, he is the commander, he should have taken such a possibility into account and planned for it. And so they are ready to take their anger and wrath out on David. Now you remember, many of those who have come out from the various cities of Israel to join themselves to David aren’t the people of highest character, just jump down to verse 22. We have David who have further problems with some of these men, all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, so you know when David fled to the land of Philistines a lot of those who decided to go over to David weren’t godly men who decided he is the anointed one and want to support him. They were men who had their own troubles and their own problems in Israel. So this is a good chance for them to get out of their troubles and go and align themselves with David. So some of these men that he has as part of his band are men of worthless character. Perhaps good soldiers, but men of worthless character.

So David’s problems have multiplied. Now his city has been burnt, his two wives have been taken captive and his own men are talking about killing him. And it’s in this kind of context that David’s real character gets revealed. You note the last statement of verse 6. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Who else is David going to turn to? Where else can he go? I mean his family has been taken captive; his men are talking about killing him. I mean he has got his own grief and sorrow and the responsibility and accountability here and so he strengthens himself in the Lord his God.

I think the way that he stated it is important, it doesn’t say David pulled himself together and drew on his inner reserves and say I am a greater man than this. I will take hold of the situation. Now David’s strengthen himself in his God. And it’s that relationship with his God that enables him to stand and do what is necessary in this situation. It looks like the world has collapsed around him. Lord, what else? Here I am in a foreign land hiding among the enemies of my God and my people and now you have allowed my wives to be captured, the families of my soldiers to be captured, my city to be burnt, my own men now are talking about killing me. This is more than I can bear. David strengthens himself in his God. So he calls for Abiathar the priest, says we have to discern the will of God in this.

It seems that we are going to have to go and get our families back. But I have to be sure that’s what the Lord wants us to do. So bring the ephod they use to discern the will of God here. David inquired of the Lord. Verse 8, saying "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” God respond "Pursue, them you will overtake them, you will surely rescue all.” So David now strengthens himself in the Lord. You know what's going on here? God is further molding and shaping David and developing his character so that he will establish a throne and a dynasty from which will come the messiah of Israel.

Turn over to the New Testament. Take a moment, come to Roman five, you know we look at a man like David and we admire his character. We look at a man like Saul and none of us want to be like Saul and we have the little song, dare to be a Daniel, well dare to be a David, but you know we have to remind ourselves. It took years of adversity. The kinds of difficult and tragic situations that David had to go through to develop his character and build him into the man of God, that indeed he was, in Romans Chapter 5 verse 3. Not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. It’s always been God’s plan to develop his people through trials. And so here Paul writes that we exalt in our tribulations, it’s not because we like to suffer, but because we want to develop perseverance, that will enable us to have proven character which will sharpen our hope. And there is no other way to get there and I think it’s remarkable to see David in the midst of such overwhelming calamity to say he has strengthened himself in his God. Not just pull himself together, he has strengthened himself in his God. Turn over to James one. James one, James says basically the same thing, verse 2, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That’s what God uses to develop maturity in us.

God could have removed Saul from the scene years earlier and spared David years of suffering and hardship and difficulty. But David wouldn’t have been ready, let’s say well yes, but my situations are different than David’s indeed. Because God brought the trials into David’s life that were necessary to develop David. God brings the trials into your life and into my life that are necessary to develop us. And I say well, you have it. I don’t think David is aware of this level. Well I think David’s trials get to be very serious. I mean his life is on the line here. And he has to face this from his own soldiers at a time when his wives have been carried away captive. Where can I go, but to the Lord? It’s where David goes.

So let’s come back to First Samuel Chapter 30, you know we have to take a moment. You know what's going on through this whole wilderness experience of David when he is fleeing from Saul, he is writing great psalms, we took some time and looked through some of the psalms. During his time, he wrote at least eight psalms, remember we looked at some of these stop it psalm. I will just remind you of them and have you see them. Start with Psalm 34 and sometimes when you sit down and read each of these Psalms now that we have gone through this section of David’s life and then remind yourself of what David is going through when you writes these Psalms. They take place in this period of time when he has to be hiding from Saul running for his life and so on. You note the titles in the Psalms tell us, this Psalm 34 was written when David feigned madness before Abimelech, it was when David was hiding in the Philistine city and he started out, I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be continually be in my mouth. David is hiding acting like a mad man to try to escape the death at the hands of Saul and also at the hands of the Philistines. O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together. Verse 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. David could write about this from his personal experience.

Over to Psalm 52, again this period of time when David is fleeing for his life, we have Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, David has come to the house of Ahimelech, why you boast in evil, O mighty man? The loving kindness of God endures all day long. Your tongue devises destruction. And in verse 5, God will break you down forever. Verse 8, but as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the loving kindness of God forever and ever. I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it, and I will wait on your name, for it is good, in the presence of your godly one. I mean is David write in this kind of setting, you see he learning to trust the Lord when everything is going wrong rather than right humanly speaking.

Psalm 54, when the Ziphites betrayed David and say David is hiding among us, remember they flees on Saul Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your power. Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. And verse 4, Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul. His confidence is in his God. Psalm 56, when he is in the hands of the Philistines in Gath, what does he say, verse 3, when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? Verse 10, in God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise. In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? He can kill you, torture you before he kills you. No, I have put my trust in God, nothing happens to me, but what God determines. Well it doesn’t seem like you have got a very great God, here you are running and hiding like some kind of rat escaping an enemy. You know hiding in caves, going to the city of enemy, some God you have David’s confidence in his God is not shaken at all.

Chapter 57 when David fled from Saul he is hiding in the cave, Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by. I thought he was hiding in the cave. Oh no, I am hiding under the shadow of my God’s care for me. Verse 7, my heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! In this kind of situation? Verse 11, be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. You can see David’s focus is on God, it’s not all about me, it’s about you, you are God, you deserve glory and honor. Verse 59, when Saul sent men, they watched the house in order to kill David. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who do iniquity, save me from men of bloodshed and so on. Verse 8, You, O Lord, laugh at them; you scoff at all the nations. Verse 10, my God in His loving kindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes and so on. O Lord our shield. Verse 16, but as for me, I shall sing of your strength, yes I shall joyfully sing of your loving kindness in the morning, you had been my stronghold, a refugee in the day of distress.

Psalm 63, O God, you are my God; I shall seek you earnestly; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. What an analogy, you know where David is? He was in the wilderness of Judah and yet what is the longing of his soul, it’s for God and the analogy of the dry and weary land where there is no water, but my soul thirsts for God. Verse 3, your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise you. I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in your name. Verse 5, my soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. He is in the wilderness of Judah, you know what they called a wilderness, a desert kind of region, but I am satisfied in the Lord. I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, you had been my help, in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. I mean what a testimony from a man who is hiding for his life in a barren wilderness region and what he has got to talk about as all his longing for God, meditating upon God, dwelling under the shadow of the wings of God and his care. God developing the character of David, be thankful for the trials of David that enabled God to use him to write such portions of scripture, you can jot down Psalm 142, we won't turn there because time is moving along. Come back to First Samuel Chapter 30.

You have got a difficult time, David and his men, 600 men takeoff now, we have got to go rescue our families, verse 9, David and 600 men who were with him came to the brook Besor, they left some behind. 200 men stayed behind, they are too exhausted to go on. Even though their families need rescue, they just can't drive their bodies any further. You will get an idea of what David and his men have been through. I mean one third of his army has to stay behind, they just can't go. So they leave some of their supplies that they had with them with these 200 men and that enables the 400 men to go on with less baggage to carry. Verse 11 to 15 tells of an Egyptian. Now what has happened is the Amalekites, one of the Amalekites had a slave who had been captured, an Egyptian whom he used to just slave and that slave got sick, so what did he do? Just abandon the slave to die in the wilderness. And there is again they have just captured many people, so you just get a new slave, you don’t have time to be mired down with the sick slave. The Amalekites are off with all their spoil. So when the Israelites find this Egyptian, they feed him and give him drink and ask him if he will take them to the Amalekites because the Egyptian knows the way the Amalekites come in, the way they would be returning home and he say yes, if you won't kill me, I will take you there. So he does and again God has graciously made provision for David and his men to find the Amalekites.

Verses 16 and following, David and his men come down from the Amalekites and the Amalekites are totally unsuspecting. I mean this is party time. Believe God, all these spoil, all these captives and so verse 16, they are spread all over the land, they are not an armed camp now, they are a partying camp, they are eating, drinking, dancing because of all the great spoil they have taken from the cities of the Philistines and cities of Judah and David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day, not a man of them escaped except 400 young men who rode on camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and rescued his two wives, nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything, they had taken for themselves. David brought it all back, David captured all the sheep, the cattle, the livestock, and they said this is David’s spoil. You know the emphasis on David through this section, verse 17, David slaughtered them, verse 18, David recovered all the Amalekites had taken and it’s also repeated, we don’t have it in our English bibles, David rescued his two wives, verse 20, David captured all the sheep, it’s David’s spoil and we see here the victory became unto David, the one that were - these men thought maybe they want to kill, but through David God brings great victory and David will give all the glory to God before this is done, so David and his 400 men returned with all the families that they have rescued and all the spoil they have taken and they come back to the 200 men who had been left behind at the brook Besor and these 200 men come out to meet them and of course there is great celebration. Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who were with David said because these 200 men didn’t go with us to the battle, they don’t get any of the spoil, they can have their wives and children back, but they don’t get any of the booty and verse 23, David said, you must not do so my brothers. With what the Lord has given us and you see what David does, he don’t take the credit, I gained the victory and I make the decision who gets the spoil.

No, the Lord gave us the victory and so these 200 that remained behind with the bag each for good reason deserve the share in what the Lord has given just like we who went to the battle. Do not, so my brothers with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came to us, it’s all of the Lord. So these wicked and worthless men, they are taking the credit, we went out and we did it and they didn’t. So they shouldn’t get any, wait a minute, David said, the Lord gave it to us and so they deserve a portion and he establishes the pattern for as a share is who downs to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage, they shall share alike. So it has been from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day and that continued down, that’s recorded in Second Maccabees in the inter-testament period between the Old and New Testament, that continued all the way down to that day, 1000 years later, the pattern was the same.

Verses 26 to 31. David not only distributes spoil among his men, but he sends a portion because remember the Amalekites had ravaged some of the cities of Judah along with cities of the Philistines, so David takes a portion of the spoil and sends it, verses 26 to 31, to the various cities in Judah. That solidifies their support of David and he is showing his generosity, his fitness to be their king if you will. The last that he mention in verse 31, he sends some to those who were in Hebron and Hebron will be the place that David will be anointed as king when he assumes the kingship formally and he will rule from Hebron as the capital of Israel for seven and a half years until he moves to Jerusalem and establishes that as the center of Israel.

Well that brings us to Chapter 31. Short Chapter, records the death of Saul, it takes us back to Chapter 28, what was prophesied by Samuel who came back from the dead to tell Saul that he will be dead within 24 hours. Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. So you here you have a summary, David refuse to lift his hand against Saul, but back in Chapter 26 verse 10, David said in the Lord’s time perhaps he will die in battle and that’s the way the Lord chose to remove Saul from the scene. Devastating defeat here, Jonathan, the one with whom David had such a close relationship dies in the battle along with his brothers and his father. One son, Ish-bosheth does survive; we come to him when we come to Second Samuel Chapter 2, for a time he will be established on the throne of Israel. If you will as a viable king to David on an attempt to maintain control, but that will be a short-lived reign.

Verse 3 and following tells you some of the details of the battle, the battle went heavily against Saul, you get the summary in the first two verses. We are told Saul is killed; his sons are killed; now you have some of the details. The battle went heavily against Saul, the archers hit him, he was badly wounded by the archers, Saul said to his armor bearer, draw your sword and pierce me through, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through, make spot of me.

Now Saul has been wounded, wounded so severely, he knows he can't escape, but his fear is to be captured alive by the Philistines. Remember what the Philistines did to Samson, put out his eyes and made spot of him, used him like an animal, made a mockery of him. Saul was aware the Philistines could mistreat him in a variety of ways. So he asks his armor bearer to kill him with his sword, then he will be dead. The armor bearer is unwilling to kill Saul, so Saul fells on his own sword and when his armor bearer sees that his king has died, the armor bearer does the honorable thing, he falls on his sword and dies as well.

The end of verse 4, Saul took his sword and fell on it, verse 5, when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. You know suicide is rare in the Old Testament. Two other individuals, Ahithophel in Second Samuel 17:23 and Zimri in First Kings 16:18 are two other suicides in the Old Testament. Saul’s action here maybe considered an act of war, I mean this is in the context of a battle going on and this is an act of taking his own life, but some would see it as an act of bravery rather than die at the hands of the enemy, he will deprive them of that privilege and the honor so to speak in the battle and they do mistreat his dead body and humiliate it. We will find out more about events related to Saul’s death in Second Samuel Chapter 1, some of what's related there, so we will leave that till then.

Verse 8, after talking about the scattering of the Israelite armies, It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, now they are coming through, the battle has been won, and the remnants of the armies of Israel have scattered, so now they come back through to collect spoil, to take anything above you off of the dead bodies. It becomes spoil to the victor. The Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

We are told in First Chronicles Chapter 10 which also gives an account of these events that they took the head of Saul and put it in the temple of Dagon their God. So you see that weapons go in the temple of Ashtaroth, his head went into the temple of Dagon, the gods of the Philistines have overcome the God of the Israelites, it’s what we have, and so they celebrate their victory and honor their gods, they nail the body of Saul to the wall of the city at Beth-shan. Now you see they do, well they can do dishonor Saul, you can see why Saul didn’t want to be captured alive by the Philistines, if they do this with a dead body, what would they have done to him while he was alive to make him as miserable as possible before they put him to death?

Verses 11 to 13, when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. Took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. At the beginning of Saul’s reign in First Samuel 11 Saul went and delivered, remember the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites who had besieged the city and said you have to come out, we are going to put out your right eye and so on. Well Saul responded to their cry for help and came and delivered them, so the people of Jabesh-gilead, the men of Jabesh-gilead, the soldiers from that city returned the favor to honor Saul, they go at night, secured his body, and then burn it so that it cannot be retaken and buried the bones. And so ends the miserable life if you will of the first king of Israel.

Few lessons from these Chapters and we can go through them quickly. Back in Chapter 29 verse 5, reminder, our actions have long term impact. The Philistines are very aware of the testimony of David, this goes back years to him defeat of Goliath and they don’t look at David as a man hiding all the time fleeing from his enemies. They remember Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands, so actions have long-term impact.

Number two, God works in marvelous ways, causes all things to work together for good. What is going to happen with David when he goes to war with the Philistines? On the side of the Philistines and now the armies of the Philistines are going to be engaged with the armies of Israel under Saul. What is David going to do? But God intervenes on David’s behalf so that the Philistines are unwilling to have David be part of that army, so David is sent home. God causes all things to work together for good. I wonder what's going through David’s mind. You don’t know, maybe he is thinking, when we get to the battle, I will turn and God will use me and my men to help deliver Israel, it’s not going to happen, God has already determined the destruction of Saul and the armies of Israel in this battle. David cannot be a deliverer, but God delivers David and his men and removes them from the battlefield.

Number three, and we talked a little bit about this, the opening verses of Chapter 30. The center of God’s will is sometimes a place of trial and difficulty. The center of God’s will is sometimes a place of trial and difficulty. Why would God do this? I mean he could have spared Ziklag from the Amalekites, why would he allow this to happen? Well, David is in the center of God’s will and he is in a miserable situation with his wives captured, the families of his men captured, his city burnt, his men turning against him, but he is right where God where God wants him to be, for God to do his work. So the thing to do going forward is what David did in verse 6 of Chapter 30, strengthen ourselves in our God. I don’t know what to do. Let’s turn to the Lord and see what God says. I don’t have to sort this out on my own. So he turns to the Lord to seek wisdom on the course of action. Verse 8, of Chapter 30, David inquired of the Lord a follow-up, we strengthen ourselves in the Lord and we seek his wisdom, that’s it, sometimes all I can do in that time is go before the Lord, we would go before the Lord in prayer. Lord I don’t know what to do, what the right course of action is, I have to act here, but I need your direction, but I just don’t fly off in the emotion of the moment, but it’s a time for careful consideration before the Lord.

You know, down in verse 23, David shows remarkable stability, steadfastness, true godly character in this. You know sometimes in our trials, we turn to the Lord and in our victories, we forget that it’s the Lord who has brought the blessing, we should never forget that it’s the Lord who brings victory, it’s the Lord who brings blessing. It’s been the hand of the Lord in it all. In all of this is the hand of the Lord. David still is not King, Saul is still not dead, but David is giving all the honor and glory to what God is doing, we saw that repeated in psalm after psalm as we just touched on a few verses in those psalms that come out of David’s wilderness times fleeing from Saul, hiding from Saul, trying to do whatever he can in human responsibility to keep his own life.

Chapter, 31 you can say the wages of sin is death, miserable end for Saul. Opportunities thrown away, discarded. I thought of Proverbs 29:1, he who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy and the man who started out with such promise and some humility ends up dead on the battle field, body beheaded and dishonored by the enemies of Israel because he was a man of disobedience, Let’s pray together.

Thank you Lord for your grace, thank you for the testimony of these lives, their witness, you are a God of your word, a God of discipline, a God of blessing. Lord, we thank you for the life of David and we are caused to fear as we examine the life of Saul. What a tragedy, what a waste, what stupidity to think there was any future in disobeying the living God. Thank you for the faithfulness of David, thank you that your hand was upon him, you never forsook him, you never left his alone. In the most lonely places he was safe, the shelter of your care, your wings were over him, your hand was upon him, he was as safe and secure as he could be. Thank you that he could testify that he found his satisfaction in you, even in the most barren places his real thirst was for his God. Lord, may we be encouraged in this as in your grace you bring trails into our lives and difficulties, some which seem overwhelming. Lord, may we find that as an opportunity to find you sufficient in every situation. A God who has all things under control, the God is working perfectly your purposes for us in developing our character, preparing us for glory beyond compare. Thank you for the richness of your truth, in Christ’s name, amen.