Wednesday Night Service 7PM-I Samuel 25-26 "On the Run pt 2"

Good evening. It's good to see everybody. I'm glad you're here. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Excuse me. I want to invite you to stand with me. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, we thank you. God, we give you praise. God, just because of who you are and for how much you love us and for all that you've done for us, Lord God, for all the ways you take care of us and provide for us, Lord, for the new life that you give us through your son, Jesus. Father, we give you praise. This evening, as we meet, help us to lift a joyful noise to you

and just to prepare our hearts to receive the word that you've prepared for us. In Jesus' name, amen.

And you guys can go ahead and have a seat if you like.

Yes, Lord God. Lord God, you are a mighty God. Lord God, if I've seen anything this last week, Lord God, this is that. You are mighty. Lord, there is nothing that you can't handle, Lord. The battle truly does belong to you. Lord God, we just thank you for who you are, for how mighty and awesome you are, Lord God. Lord God, you're the same God that brought an entire nation out of slavery, Lord God.

You're the same God that parted an entire ocean. You're the God that wins battles.

You're the God that saves people. Lord God, we just thank you that you are the same God yesterday, today, and forever, Lord God. Oh, Jesus, you're the same. Answer now, leper. Touch right, God, my God.

I need you. Lord, I need you so much. God, I need your power. I need your Holy Spirit to come and fill, fill us again. Fill us afresh, Lord. Fill us with your fire, with your holy fire, Lord. Lord, I don't want to leave here the same person I was when I walked in. Lord, I want to leave here different, changed, and on fire for you, Lord. Lord, as Pastor Ryan comes

this evening, I just pray that you would speak mightily through him, Lord God. Overflow him with your Holy Spirit. And give us ears to hear and hearts to receive that which you've prepared for us. We love you, Father God, and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Good evening. If you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 25. 1 Samuel 25. Well, I tried to come up with a creative title, but I couldn't, so we're just calling this On the Run Part 2. Because David is continuing to run from Saul as he is running from Saul. And he's running from Saul. And he's running from Saul. And he's running as he is running from Saul. And he's running from Saul. And he's running from Saul. And he's running

out in the wilderness. And really, this is going to be one of the last encounters that David will have with Saul until Saul's death. And so, we pick up in chapter 25, verse 1, actually with a little bit of an addition here, parenthetical statement, if you will. It says, Then Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together, and they mourned for him, and they buried him, at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Now, when we think

about the death of one of the men that God has used so greatly, we are always reminded of the legacy that a godly man leaves behind. And Samuel was a humble man who was called in a pretty humble way. His birth was miraculous, and God called him into ministry in that miraculous sort of way. And one of the hardest things he had to do was, you know, he had to go to the church, and he had to confront the man who was like a father figure to him as he confronted Eli with the sin that had been taking place in Eli's household, and had to deliver a very difficult message from the word go. And he

was always a faithful man of God. And it's interesting, if you look at all the places where Samuel is mentioned in Scripture, besides just in 1 Samuel, you find that there's two things that really stick out about Samuel. The first thing that you find is that Samuel was a man of prayer. He was a man of prayer. As a matter of fact, when the children of Israel said that they did not want any of his sons to be who would continue

to carry on his legacy, that they wanted a king, he said, far be it from me that I would ever sin against God by forgetting to pray for you. He said he would continue to pray for him because he knew that for him to not do that would be an offense to God. He was a man of prayer. As a matter of fact, I believe it's in the book of Jeremiah when God is confronting the nation of Israel and telling them of the great sin that they had. He said,

Because Samuel was such an amazing intercessor before the people. And what a beautiful legacy to leave behind that you were a man of prayer. But the second thing that we see that Samuel left behind was a legacy of faith. He's actually mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, which is the hall of faith. And he is mentioned as one who did great things because of the great faith that he

had in the Lord. And in order for him to be the leader that he was, in order for him to be the leader that he was, in order for him to lead the nation of Israel in the way that he did in what was a very transitional time for the nation of Israel, it required great faith in God. And so as we look at the legacy that this man left behind, he left behind a legacy of faith and he left behind a legacy of prayer. But we are reminded of something in verse 1 of chapter 25. And that's that apart

from a miraculous work of God through the rapture, each of us faces the same end. It doesn't matter how ungodly you are. It doesn't matter how ungodly you are. Everyone faces the same end because we all have this sin nature. And the sin nature that we have inside of us leads to death because that was the ultimate consequence of sin. And so we are reminded when we know that death is the ultimate

end for all of us, we are reminded to maintain the right kind of focus in our lives. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite verses in scripture comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, where it says, it is better to attend a funeral than to attend a party because those who are present, those who remain, are purified because they know the end of all man. And there's an aspect of purity inside of us when we realize that each of us is going to face death at some point in time. And so when we do so, we want our hearts to be prepared and we want there to be a true focus that we have in our lives. The last

thing I'll point out to us about this very first verse in the death of Samuel before we get back to his story is that I would like for you to take note of two phrases in here. The first is in the very beginning of the verse. It says, then Samuel died. And then take note of the very end of the verse. It says, and David arose. It's interesting, isn't it, that the writer of 1 Samuel at this

point saw fit to write it in that way. Samuel may have passed on, but David arose to carry on the mantle of God's work, to carry on the mantle of what needed to be done. And we are reminded that God's work is not only the work of God, but it is the work of God. And we are reminded that God's work is bigger than any one man. God's work is bigger than any one generation. God is always preparing

the next person. God is always preparing the next generation to carry on the work. Sometimes we think God's work is encapsulated in this one person. What happens if this one person goes away? Or what happens if this person dies or they can't do this work anymore? Well, God will raise up somebody else. Because God's work is greater than any one individual. The gospel is bigger

than any one person. And God will always be there for you. And God will always be there for you. And God will always raise up the next person. Because God is always faithful to his word. And as he is faithful to his word, he will continue to raise up those who will continue to give out his word and carry out his word. And so we see this wonderful man of God go home to be with the Lord. And all

of Israel, it says, gathered themselves and they mourned for him there. But while there may have been a brief reprieve for David, he's now on the run again. It says in verse 2,

And the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the man's name was Nabal. His wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance. But the man was harsh and evil in his dealings. And he was a Calebite. While he was there, David heard in the wilderness

that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel and visit Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall say, Have a long life. Peace be to you and peace be to your house and peace be to all that you have. Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days that they were

in Carmel. Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore, let my young men find favor in your eyes. We have come out on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son, David. And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name, and they waited. But Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is David?

And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who break away from their masters. Shall I then take my bread and water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to the men of whose origins I do not know? Now, we're going to find some interesting things take place in this story. Of course, the scene is set for us by the writer of 1 Samuel. The scene is set that David has found

himself in this place of Maon, a similar area to where he's been dwelling there to the west of the Dead Sea. And there was this area of Carmel, and there was a fellow there whose name was Nabal. Now, Nabal means fool. Can you imagine that being your name? Like, hey, well, my name is fool. Well, that's unfortunate. Either you're a real moron or your parents didn't

like you very much, or maybe both, right? Because usually at this point in time, you gained your name by your characteristics. So maybe that wasn't his name given by birth, but that's certainly what everybody knew him as, because he truly was a fool. And we're told that this man was very rich. He had a great amount of livestock. I don't know how to put into true characterization how rich

you are to have a thousand goats and three thousand sheep. But I only have two dogs, so I can imagine that that's a good number of livestock, right? That seems like a pretty big herd. He was a pretty wealthy man at this point in time. And we're given a little bit of a parenthetical statement. Actually, it is in parentheses there. We're told a little bit about Nabal and his wife, Abigail. We're told that he was an evil man, and he was

very harsh, which would go along with the name Nabal. Can we all agree with that? But then we're told about his wife, Abigail, that she was beautiful and intelligent. As a sidebar, can I just go ahead and say, why is it that oftentimes beautiful, intelligent women end up with the biggest morons known to man, right? Why is that? Why is it that they, is it, or were they just like, I feel bad for him because he doesn't know his name all the time, and so I

just call him a fool, and he answers to it? Like, I don't know what that's about, but you should be really careful when choosing those kinds of things, because that situation seems to happen a lot. But here this guy is, and David, in his, his men had been living kind of around where Nabal and his shepherds were. Now, Nabal's shepherds were taking care of sheep, and that's a pretty dangerous thing to do in the wilderness. First of all, you

have the wild beasts that may come and try to take some of the, some of the sheep. David himself experienced that when he had to kill both the lion and the bear, even before he ever faced Goliath. But not only that, Philistines were always nearby, and they were always trying to take both the livestock and the harvest of the sheep. And so, David and his shepherds were taking care of the sheep. And so, David and his men treated these guys very well, because they sort of saw themselves as

the defenders of Israel, and of the different Israelites. And so, they sort of, if you will, became a human shield to these shepherds and their sheep, because David always had that heart of a shepherd. Well, it came time for the shearing to take place, which is sort of when all of the big money was made, right? Because you shear the sheep, and you sell the wool, and it's a big time of celebration. It's a huge celebration that would take place, and David said, now seems like a

time that maybe he would share a little bit of the spoils with us. Maybe he would share a little bit of his plenty with us, because we're sort of making ends meet, if you will, out here in the wilderness. But it should be nice to have a little bit of extra food. Hey, fellas, why don't you go to Nabal, see if you can't ask him for a little bit of extra of the wealth that he has, just enough to kind of help us out a little bit. Remind him of how well we took care of his shepherds in the

wilderness, and see if he will take care of us. And so, these young men sort of bebop along, thinking it was a pretty easy thing to do. You would think, with the kindness that David and his men had shown, Nabal would immediately say, oh that's great, let me throw you some loaves of bread, maybe a little bit of water, maybe just a little bit of the wool, maybe some extra food, right? And they show up, and Nabal acts true to his name. He's a fool, who is evil and harsh. And they come to him, and they're

like, hey, remember David? And everybody knew who David was, right? He was the guy that killed Goliath. He was the guy who David has, or Saul has slain his thousand, and David has killed the firstborn. So, David has been killed by David. who David has, or Saul has slain his thousand, and David his ten thousands, right? It was the number one hit for a long time in Israel, and everybody kind of knew who David was.

And if you will, when he shows up, when these guys show up and say, hey, David sent us, he's kind of like, I don't know who David is. I don't care who David is. I'm not giving you any of my food. For all I know, you guys could be just nothing but a band of raiders. After all, a lot of servants have abandoned their masters. That David guy is nothing but a rebel. Now, why did he react this way?

Because he's an idiot, right? He's a fool who only cares about himself, and only cares about his own wealth, and takes no care or concern for anyone else. Well, David's anger is going to get the better of him. You see, David is wonderful of a man of God as he is. He's still a human. He's had to learn to trust God, and he's learned some hard lessons about trusting God.

And it seems like he's on the right path, but just like you and I, just because we're doing really well now, doesn't mean that we can't end up falling into sin. Just because we're walking strong right now, doesn't mean we don't still have this flesh that we carry. I was just reading in 1 Corinthians this morning, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. And sometimes when we're in the place where it feels like we're trusting God the most, oftentimes that's when the enemy wants to come in, because we kind of start going, hey, I am doing pretty good. I've got this whole thing figured out. And when we experience victory, we

should then begin to get on our knees and pray, Lord, protect me from the temptation that's coming that usually comes about because of my pride. Because that's exactly what happens with David. Notice what he says in verse 12. So David's men retraced their way and went back, and they came and told David according to all these words. And David said to his men, each of you gird on his

sword. So each man girded on his sword, and each of you girded on his sword. And David said to his men, each of you girded on his sword, and David girded on his sword. And about 400 men went up with David, while 200 stayed behind with the baggage. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them. Yet the

men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them while we were in the fields. They were like a wall to us both day and night. We were like a wall to us both day and night. All the time that we were with them tending the sheep. Now therefore, no one consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master

and against all his household. And notice what the servant says, and he's a worthless man that no one can speak to. And so David responds in anger. David was one of those guys, he was a very passionate human being, and I can appreciate that, right? He felt all of the feels, right? If you read the Psalms, you know David felt all the feels. And so he could, he could get emotional,

emotional about thinking about his relationship with the Lord. But man, when you turned on him, game over. And I'm here to tell you right now, when David showed up to his men and said, gird on your swords, they knew business was about to go down, right? Like that's sort of one of those drop the mic kind of moments where everybody went, oh, right in the background. It was boom,

boom, boom, because everybody knew what that meant. And they were going to battle. 400 of the finest warriors in Israel were about to go against the fool and some of his shepherds. Well, while that's taking place, this servant is going, oh, this is going to end really bad because we just insulted some amazing warriors who not only are great warriors, but truly did show us more kindness, probably than we even deserved. And so he goes to Abigail and he

says, we got a problem. They really did take care of us and they really are going to kill us. Like this is going to end really bad for us. And so he says, make sure you handle this wisely. I think it's interesting that that's what the servant tells Abigail that she should do is to handle this wisely. Take care how you handle this because certainly disaster is planned for us.

And we're reminded of something. We're reminded that one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us is to give in to our anger. As a matter of fact, I want you to go over to the Proverbs. Proverbs has so much to say. The Bible has a lot to say about anger, but Proverbs has a lot to say about it. So go over to two places. Hold your finger here. Go to Proverbs. Start in chapter 14.

Go past the Psalms. If you hit Song of Solomon, you went way too far. Proverbs 14. I want you to look at verse 29. I want you to notice what Solomon, the son of David, says. He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly. In other words, when you allow anger to come to you, you're not going to get what you want. You're not going to get

anger. You're not going to get what you want. You're not going to get what you want. You're not going to get what you want. You're not going to get what you want. You're not going to get what you want. If you allow anger to be what rules you, ultimately what results? Folly. What would be another word for folly? Foolishness. You see, Nabal may have been the fool, but David's about to act like a

fool because his anger is about to get the better of him. And we all know that when anger takes over, everybody around us says the same thing. That guy's acting like a fool. Because every fight I've ever seen start, I've never thought, there's a lot of wisdom in what's about to go down right here. No, every fight I've ever seen start, all I can think of is, I'm going to get

angry. All I can think of is, that's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. They're angry about things they should not be angry about. Look over at one more place. Go to chapter 16, which should just be your next page over, and look at verse 32. Chapter 16 of Proverbs, verse 32, notice what it says. He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who

captures a city. You see, we like to think that anger brings about a great deal of might in us, right? We all grew up watching The Incredible Hulk. Right? I did. We know what happens. He would get really angry, and then he would turn into the Hulk, and he had all the might in the world. The only problem is, that's not true. When we get angry, it strips us of all of our power, because the greatest power that we have comes from the

Holy Spirit, which is always giving us self-control and restraint. And David is allowing anger to rule right now. Nabal has allowed his anger to rule right now, and we're about to see that foolishness come out of this whole situation, unless someone steps in. So go back to 1 Samuel. Notice what happens. It says, Then Abigail hurried, and she took 200 loaves of bread, and two jugs of wine, and five sheep

already prepared, and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and loaded them on the donkeys. And she said to her young men, Go on. Behold, I am coming after you. But she did not tell her husband, Nabal. Quick sidebar. If you took 200 loaves of bread from my house, first of all, you would have to go to the store first and

put 199 loaves of bread in my house, and then you could take 200 loaves of bread from my house. Like, I would notice if that much was missing from my pantry. That would be my entire pantry, right? I would go, Hey, the fridge is gone. What's the problem here? Then he said, And I thought to myself, So I took 200 loaves of bread from my house, and I took 200 loaves of bread from my house, and I took 200 loaves of bread from my house, and I took 200 loaves of

bread from my house, and I took 200 loaves of bread from my house. The thing is, it wasn't like David was asking for some extra from somebody who couldn't afford it, right? This guy's got, he can have all that stuff taken from him and never even notice, and she never tells him. That's how stingy this guy's being right now. And so verse 20, it says, Now David had said, surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness,

so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him. Now, essentially what happens is that the writer of 1 Samuel records for us David's venting while he's on the way to kill Nabal and his entire household. Now, I would like for you to take note of a theme in David's venting. Did you notice the theme?

The theme was David. Did you notice that? I want to take vengeance on my enemies. I did this, and he didn't honor me. I will take revenge upon him. These are the enemies of David. Who's getting left out of this whole thing other than him swearing by God that he's going to do this? God's left out of the whole problem. Are these the enemies of God? No. Is he on a righteous quest right now? No. He's not focused anywhere that he should be.

Why? Because anger robs us of our ability to think clearly, and that's what happens to David. Because usually when we get angry, what is the root of our anger? Pride. Pride's usually why we get angry. Somebody did something that hurt my pride, and I'm not about to let them get away with that. I will destroy them because of it. I don't think I've ever gotten really angry with someone. There's some rare times where it's

righteous, but I'm talking really, really rare, where my pride's not involved. It's because you did something that offended my pride. That's what being offended is. We know that, right? Like being offended means it hurt your pride. And anger came about because of it, and that's exactly what we're seeing right now. But Abigail has made a wise choice. She put together a beautiful

little package to give to them, and now she's going to come back and she's going to come back in absolute humility to talk to David. Notice what it says in verse 23. When Abigail saw David, she hurried and she dismounted from her donkey. She fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground. And she fell at his feet and said, on me alone, my Lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you and listen to

the words of your maidservant. Please don't let my Lord pay attention to this worthless man. Even she knows. Nabal, as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is his game. I added that last part. Folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent. Now, therefore, my Lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has

restrained you from shedding blood and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my Lord be as Nabal. And let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my Lord be given to the young men who accompany my Lord. Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant, for the Lord will certainly make for my Lord an enduring house, because my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in your days. Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies

he will sling out as far as the hollow of a sling. When the Lord does, for my Lord, according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my Lord, both by having shed blood without cause, and by my Lord having avenged himself when the Lord deals well with my Lord. Then remember your maidservant." You notice what she did there? She did a couple pretty interesting things. First

of all, she came in humility. And one of the greatest ways to diffuse anger is humility. You see, if anger comes about because of the Lord, then it's not because of the Lord. It's because of pride. Then the thing that diffuses pride is humility. And that's what she does. But as she comes to him in humility and diffuses the situation, she presents him with the reality.

Notice what she said. She said, don't do this thing and cause yourself a great deal of grief, because when you become king, this will be a stain on your record. Because what happens when we get angry? We lose all sense of reality. And all we can think about is satisfying the anger. That's on the inside of us, no matter who it hurts. And so she brings him to the point of

understanding the reality of what's really going on. And notice how David responds. And so David said to Abigail, verse 32, "'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, because you have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless, as the Lord of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to me, I would not have done it. I would not have done it. I would not have

come quickly to meet me. Surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light, as much as one male.' So David received from her hand what she had brought to him and said to her, "'Go up to your house in peace. I have listened to you and granted your request.'" Now, two quick things I want to point out about Abigail. Two New Testament—well, one's a proverb. The other one's a New Testament principle that we see Abigail express in the way

that she handles herself. The first one is this, "'A soft answer turns away.'" Wrath. A soft answer turns away wrath. I have seen it work almost every single time in my life, that if when somebody comes in hot and they are really ticked about something, if you can maintain your composure and answer in a gentle way to what's being said, it immediately throws water on that fire, and it immediately diffuses the situation.

It won't always necessarily 100% resolve the situation, but it does diffuse the situation to where it's not. So, I want to point out that it's a very important principle. It's where you can at least talk calmly. The second thing we are reminded of by Abigail, and this is what Jesus told us as one of the Beatitudes, is he said, "'Blessed are the peacemakers.'" "'Blessed are the peacemakers.'" Clearly, Abigail did not have a high view of her husband. Can we all agree with that?

Clearly, it might not have bothered her that something would happen to her husband, and yet she chose the path of peace because Jesus says, "'Blessed are the peacemakers.'" And brothers and sisters, we have to understand something in the world that we live in right now. Again, I hate to keep bringing it up, but it's just so everywhere. As we come into this political climate that we're about to come into, we are called to be peacemakers. No, you don't understand. Run. I've got to stand my ground.

Well, but Jesus said, "'Blessed are the peacemakers.'" I mean, he said it, not me. You've got to take it up with him. Because that's what we're supposed to be. Do we stand for truth? Absolutely. But we should always look for the way that peace can be made. And so, we see that happen here, and David goes, "'Thank God you did that. I don't know what I was thinking.

Clearly, massacre was on my mind, and that was a bad thing.'" Well, now we kind of come to the conclusion here. So, Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. She did not tell him anything at all until the morning light. But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal,

his wife told him these things, and notice what happened. "'His heart died within him, so that he became as a stone.' And about ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.'" Again, there's a principle in Scripture here. God says, "'Vengeance is mine. I will repay,' says the Lord.'" You see, if we let God fight our battles for us, then it's on God, not us.

I've kept my hands clean before the Lord. I'm going to let God fight that battle. When I go fight battles, I do it in a very unrighteous way, and there's all kinds of collateral damage that goes along with it. When I let God fight my battles, He handles it in the way that He sees fit, and I can know that it was done righteously and justly because it was handled by the Lord.

After all, we're told in Psalm 37 that He is able to bring forth our righteousness like the noonday sun. And so that's what happens with Nabal. Well, verse 39, it says, "'When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "'Blessed be the Lord.'" I mean, he did write the imprecatory psalm, if that makes sense. "'Who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back his servant from evil.

The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head. And David sent a proposal to Abigail to take her as his wife. And when the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "'David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.' And she arose and bowed her face to the ground and said, "'Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my Lord's servant.'" Then Abigail quickly arose and rode on a donkey with her five maidens who attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they became his wives. And Saul had given Michael, his daughter, David's wife, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Galilee." Now, I'm going to point out one thing about this, because everybody always has an issue with what takes place in the Old Testament with men amassing wives to themselves, myself included. It's an absolute wrong thing to do. And what we see here is we see the beginning of an issue that will pop its head up again later, because David has a struggle in his life.

The struggle that David has in his life is lust. And no matter how powerful of a king he's going to become, no matter how great of a warrior that he is, no matter how wonderful of a man of God he is, he still had an area of unbridled lust in his life. And it will eventually spill out. And it will spill over into not only adultery, but also murder, which, had he kept himself pure, I wonder how differently we would view the story of David.

And so we see this begin to arise. And the good thing about God is he puts even the bad things about the men that he uses in the Bible so that we know that these are just men that were used by God in spite of their weaknesses, meaning that God can still use me in spite of my weaknesses. God can still use me. In spite of my failures in life. And God can still use you in spite of your failures in life.

We just have to know that when we give in to those, while God forgives, there are still earthly consequences that we have to deal with. And so we see the beginnings of some issues here. And so we move on now to chapter 26. It says, Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding on the hill of Hekila, which is before Jeshamon? So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph,

having with him 3,000 chosen men of Israel to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. So Saul camped in the hill, which is before Jeshamon, beside the road. And David was staying in the wilderness when he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness. Now, we've sort of seen this tree before. Well, it's the wilderness. We've seen this rock before, right?

Because this is very similar to the story that took place a couple of chapters ago in the exact same area. These crazy Ziphites are just like, Hey, by the way, David's here again. Just so you know, right? Tattletales. And so they call Saul and they're like, Hey, just in case you were wondering, David's here. Maybe if you're into this sort of thing, you could come take out David if you wanted to.

Maybe remember us afterwards. And so Saul shows up. Exact same wilderness. Very similar situation. So David hears about it. And what she knows is what happens. So David, verse 4, sent out spies and he knew that Saul was definitely coming. So David then arose and he came to the place where Saul had camped. David saw the place where Saul lay and Abner, the son of Ner,

which is an amazing name, by the way, the commander of his army. And Saul was lying in the circle of the camp and the people were camped around him. And then David said to Ahimelech, the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul? And Abishai said, I will go with you. So David and Abishai came to the people by night.

And behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head. And Abner and the people were laying around him. Now, again, this is sort of a clandestine operation, right, by David. David's with a couple of his mighty men, guys that we'll read about later in 2 Chronicles when it goes through all of the acts of the mighty men and all the crazy things that he did.

Abishai is actually, Abishai is actually, Abishai is actually, one of the top five of his guys. And he says, Hey, who wants to go with me to see what's going on with Saul down in the camp? And Abishai's like, Dude, I'm in. Let's go. And Abishai was Joab's brother. Joab was David's most trusted general at this point in time. And Abishai was a warrior right there alongside him.

And so they sneak down into the camp. Now, I was just talking to somebody about this today. How more movies have not been made about the life of David, I will never know. Because the stories are so fascinating in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel with everything that David did. And this is absolutely one of them, right? Like you can paint the picture in your mind of them in the wilderness,

kind of in the desert, right? And Saul is sort of camped in the middle. It says in the circle, literally means within the trough of the camp. So all of the wagons, if you will, basically, all the chariots or whatever would be surrounding him. And Abner, who is his most trusted general, sort of his right-hand man, is camped right next to him. And so you can imagine like the moonlight shining

to where it's pretty dark and they can kind of crawl down there with just enough light to see where they were going and kind of whispering as they go and they kind of crawl in there, right? And they get right up to where Saul is, which means they would have had to sneak what? Past all of the men and past Abner and they see Saul there. And what is in the ground right next to Saul?

Did you take note of that? His spear. Dude never went anywhere without his spear right next to him. And David was just like, I've seen that before, right? I've seen that spear before, only it was coming at me and it was much more difficult to get away from. So they're there and now there's going to be a decision. It has to be made. Because if you will, David could end all of his wilderness wanderings right now.

David could completely deal with the problem of Saul and be completely justified in it. As a matter of fact, notice what happens next. It says, verse eight, Abishai said to David, today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke and I will not have to strike him a second time.

But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt? David said, as the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him or his day will come that he dies or he will go into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should strike out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But now please take the spear, that is at his head and the jug of water and let's go.

You know what the really difficult thing about what David faced right here was? He was given absolute freedom from any of the guilt. Abishai said, I'll do it for you. Your hands can remain clean. All you gotta do is look over there and I will pin this dude to the ground and I won't have to do it a second time. And then we're done. Now, David had justification.

He could keep his hands clean. Somebody else could do it. And he had somebody right next to him, a trusted man who thinks he understands God's will, but really doesn't because he only views it from the flesh, giving him every reason why he should do this right there. Talk about temptation, right? I don't think we always realize how hard that is. But you see in the last chapter,

David learned a really important lesson. What important lesson did David learn in the last chapter? Better to let God fight your battles. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies.

Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Better to let God be the one who takes out your enemies. Then you know it was God that did it, and not you. Because do you notice how he responds? As the Lord lives, verse 10, surely the Lord will strike him. God's gonna take care of this. I don't have to be the one that does it.

I don't have to try to make this happen. I can trust that God can do it. And listen, brothers and sisters, we need to understand something. There will always be someone around who wants to justify you getting outside of God's will, doing it your own way, coming up with your own plan. There will be always someone around always someone that was willing to justify that for you. But you have to hold on to what you've

been told by God. That's why it's so important that we're in God's word for ourselves. And don't go off what somebody else tells us, but go off what God's word has to say. Because there will always be somebody who will justify what you want to do and use God's name to do it. That's why you have to know exactly what God has to say. And so David says, I can't do that. I'm not about to do

that. But let's have a little fun. And I appreciate this. He goes, let's take the spear and his water jug. And then we'll see what happens next. And so that's what they do. So they grab these two things. So David took the spear, verse 12, and the jug of water from beside Saul's head, from beside his head. And they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did anyone awake. And if it weren't for the last

line in here, you're like, how is this real? But we're given the reason why. For they were all asleep because a sound sound. From the Lord had fallen on all of them, right? Like God sang the lullaby that night, a little godly melatonin on everybody so that they could all sleep really good. It says, then David crossed over to the other side and stood on the top of a mountain at a distance with a large area between

them. David called to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying, will you not answer, Abner? Then Abner replied, who are you who calls to the king? David said, are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your Lord, the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king, your Lord. And this thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all

of you must surely die because you did not guard your Lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jug of water that was at his head. I love it. He goes, Abner, aren't you a man? Like, shouldn't you have been here? Shouldn't you have been paying attention to what was going on? Don't you understand what's taking place? I could have killed him. I could have killed all of you and you weren't paying attention. And then

Saul starts to pay attention. Remember, it's nighttime right now. Perhaps only the moonlight that they can see as David is hollering these things across. And Saul starts to listen. So Saul recognized David's voice and said, is this your voice, my son, David? David said, it is my voice, my Lord, the king. He said, why are you pursuing your servant? What have I done? What evil is in my

heart? Now, therefore, please let my Lord, the king, listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let him accept it. Let him accept an offering. But if it's men, then cursed are they before the Lord, for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the Lord, saying, go serve other gods. Now, then do not let

my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea. Just as one hunts a partridge in the ground, he will not find a single flea. Now, therefore, please let my Lord, the king, listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord And Saul said,

But I refuse to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord. And may he deliver me from all my distress. And then Saul said to David, And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place. And so much like the last, the last encounter, it kind of ended the same way.

With Saul saying, David, I've sinned against you. This one's on me. I've sinned against you in the things that I've done. You go your way. Now here's the problem again with Saul. Saul has the opportunity to repent. But you see, Saul doesn't have godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Saul has worldly sorrow that leads to death. He feels bad about what he's done.

He doesn't have enough of that. He doesn't have enough that will get him through it. And he has God's mercy in his heart. He has God's mercy in his heart. And he does that because of the Judgment that will take place. And this is eventually the last encounter that David and Saul will have before Saul's death. Because in the next chapter, Saul will go to see the witch at Endor.

And then there will be the last battle. Won't give away what happens. There will be that one last battle. But this will be the last time that they see each other. And isn't it interesting that the last time that they saw each other ended with Saul saying, You're going to succeed, David. going to succeed. God is with you. And I've sinned in the things that I've done. What an unfortunate

thing to come to the place of realizing that you've sinned, but never coming to the place of being fully repentant. Realizing that you've done something wrong, but never coming to the Lord to truly be made right. And so many people in the world today act just like Saul. They can feel bad about what they've done, but they're never willing to come to the Lord to be right. I lived

that way for a long time. I lived that way for a couple years in high school, where I knew the things that I was doing were wrong, but I wasn't truly willing to come to the Lord to be right. Till that one fateful night when I realized I just can't keep doing this anymore. And it's unfortunate that Saul never comes to that place. And it would be even more sad if we,

knowing the example, of Saul also never came to that place. Brothers and sisters, he just wants our heart. He just wants true repentance from us, because that's the ultimate thing that God desires. Amen. And so next week, we'll pick up in chapter 27, as we see David fleeing to the Philistines. And so if we could pray together. Father, we come to you, and we thank you that you have blessed us with

your word. And I just ask that you would continue to draw us near to you. Father, I want to lift up anyone in here tonight who's battling with anger. Lord, who has a tendency to fly off the handle at the little things, and they're just kind of always right there, ready to blast off on somebody. Lord, may they learn the beauty of a soft answer. Lord, may they turn that over to you, and know that you are the one that can truly change their heart.

So Lord, move in us, I pray. Move throughout this room. Move in each person. And each person that's watching online, we praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.