1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 So, "Lessons from the Kings- Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times", that's what this 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000 class is entitled. This particular lesson, "Saul- "On the Edge of Greatness" and 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:17,000 this is part three of our study of the life 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:22,000 King Saul, the last actually, the last lesson on King Saul before we move on 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,000 to another character. So we're studying his life 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,000 as a way to learn actually what not to do with our own lives 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,000 and how to avoid wasting our potential for spiritual greatness as he did. The point, 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,000 "On the Edge of Greatness", Saul was on the edge of greatness, he had all the elements 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:51,300 were there for him to do great things in the kingdom of God. And of course, he failed in that. 10 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:57,000 We've seen how God chose him to be king and how, at the very beginning, 11 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:02,000 he showed tremendous promise as King and leader of God's people. If all you 12 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,000 read was just what we read last week you had high hopes for this for 13 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,000 this individual. But then we began to see and review his 14 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 unfortunate decline in favor with God and in favor with the 15 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,000 people and I pointed out patterns of 16 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,000 behavior last last time, patterns of behavior that led to his downfall, 17 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,000 And I pointed out that the pattern of behavior that he had 18 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,000 is not something that only existed in his time. 19 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,000 We see the same patterns of behavior that probably will lead us to 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:46,000 problems and trouble even in our own day. So we saw a pattern of 21 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,000 disobedience. He just wouldn't do things exactly as God wanted him to 22 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:56,000 do it. It's not that the commands or the 23 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,000 things that God wanted him to do were complicated or hard to understand. 24 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,000 He just couldn't obey a simple command. 25 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,000 He was told to wait till 26 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,000 Samuel got there to do the sacrifice, he didn't wait. He offered the sacrifice himself. He was told 27 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:20,000 wipe out all the Amalekites, wipe them all out, everyone, 28 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,000 animals, everything. Well, he won the victory but he kept some animals, he kept the king, you see 29 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,000 he didn't obey right down to the last point. 30 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,000 And we all make that type of mistake. Right? I mean, everyone 31 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:40,000 disobeys and we fall short. But with Saul It was a pattern. 32 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 It wasn't just a one time thing. It was just a pattern in his life. 33 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,040 We saw a pattern of instability. He became flighty and foolish in his decision making 34 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,000 because he didn't seek God out so he figured he'd do things on his own. 35 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,340 He'd run ahead. While they're in the middle of battle he issues an order 36 00:02:59,340 --> 00:03:04,000 that the entire army go on a fast. 37 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Thinking that, that will carry favor with God. 38 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:13,000 And that backfired on him. The army became so weak that when it had a chance to have a complete victory 39 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,540 it just couldn't take advantage of its military position because everyone was just so hungry, 40 00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:23,000 they were famished and they fell into sin and so on and so forth. 41 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Then there was a pattern of open rebellion. I mean, eventually he just refused 42 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000 to take responsibility for his actions and he began blaming other people, 43 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,000 refusing to repent for his sins. And notice, all these things, 44 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,000 they're kind of connected aren't they? They're connected. Disobedience does lead 45 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000 to a life of instability, does lead to rebellion, open rebellion and then 46 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,000 of course, a pattern of fear. That's what we began to see as we 47 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:59,380 finished off our lesson last week. We begin to see the early stages of insanity 48 00:03:59,380 --> 00:04:03,000 that set in as Saul becomes paranoid about his position 49 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,000 he sees everything as a threat to his role. 50 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,000 He sees everyone as a threat to him personally. And of course, this fear so 51 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:17,000 immobilizes him that he's no longer able to lead effectively. 52 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,960 And it is at this moment in his life that David steps into the picture. 53 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:28,240 Now you know the story of Saul and David, 54 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,000 has so many chapters we don't have time to read that 55 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,000 in the 30 or so minutes that we have here. So I'm going to have to compress and 56 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:41,000 paraphrase the story. But I think most of us are familiar with the story itself and I don't think we have any 57 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:46,960 problems following along. So let's talk about Saul and David. 58 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,000 In the midst of Saul's paranoia, God tells Samuel, the prophet, 59 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,000 to go and anoint a new king. So in First Samuel 16, we see 60 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,000 Samuel led by God, to a man called Jesse and his 61 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,000 family of eight sons. Ultimately Samuel anoints 62 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,000 the youngest son, David, to become the next king of Israel. And an interesting story, he goes through each 63 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,000 son, the eldest, the next one, the father thinking, "Well, surely he's going to take my 64 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,000 eldest son." No, not that one. And then finally says, "Do you have any more?" 65 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:25,000 "Well, we got one out there tending sheep. Bring him in." 66 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:30,560 And that's the one that God chooses, through Samuel, to become the next king. 67 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:35,500 The Bible says, "that from this day forward the Spirit of God was with David 68 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:40,000 and he grew in strength and wisdom." So it wasn't just 69 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:45,000 that David already was King material. He was an ordinary 70 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,000 young man selected by God and God is the one that 71 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:55,000 began to equip him with wisdom and strength to ultimately 72 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,000 be his leader. So at this point the story abruptly switches 73 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,000 back to King Saul. Pretend it's a movie or a play. So one scene there's 74 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,000 Samuel with David and then boom, the scene switches and it goes back to 75 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:16,720 Saul, and we see his mental state beginning to deteriorate very quickly, very quickly. 76 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,000 Desperate to soothe his nerves, Saul asks 77 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:25,000 his men to find a good musician to play for him and without realizing it they 78 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:31,000 find David and they bring him to Saul as the court musician. 79 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Even though he's been anointed by Samuel, 80 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:40,520 David is dividing his time between tending sheep for his father and from time to time 81 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,000 being brought in to the Royal Court in order to comfort the troubled King by playing 82 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,340 music for him, perhaps even singing. 83 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:55,000 So, as far as the story goes, there is calm for a period of time, but a very real 84 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,000 threat from the Philistines is brewing that would thrust David into the spotlight. 85 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:06,700 And ultimately make him Saul's enemy and target for many years. 86 00:07:06,700 --> 00:07:14,320 So let's move on to the alliance and the annihilation, chapter 17 to 20. 87 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:19,000 So Saul and David begin as allies when the nation is threatened by Goliath 88 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,000 and the Philistines. Of course this is a well-known story where 89 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,000 David single handedly kills the giant and saves the Israelite army from 90 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,000 not just lost but from shame. The giant, if you remember 91 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,120 the story, the giant would come out, 92 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:44,000 Goliath would come out every morning. And he challenged the 93 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:49,000 the Israelite army, "Come on, send somebody on down, we'll have a fight whoever wins, 94 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:55,020 if I win you become our slaves, if he wins we become your slaves." 95 00:07:55,020 --> 00:07:58,000 And every morning he issues this challenge to the army 96 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:04,000 and nothing is said. No response. 97 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,000 And every day he's winning the psychological battle, every day he's breaking them down, 98 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:15,320 breaking them down, psychologically, without even striking a blow. 99 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,480 Now, what we realize, because of our study of Saul, 100 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,400 is that the reason the Jews were in such trouble was the pathetic state 101 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:29,000 of fear and conflict that their king was in. Because, think about it for a second, 102 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:36,720 who should have been the one to step up to go fight the guy? The king. Or appoint somebody. 103 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:41,000 So Saul still believed in the presence of God. 104 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:46,000 But he no longer relied on God's saving power. People who say 105 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:51,000 the man upstairs, yeah I believe in the man upstairs, the big boss upstairs, is like 106 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:56,000 different euphemisms that people use for almighty God. The guy 107 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:02,240 upstairs, my buddy in heaven. He had this kind of this belief. 108 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,800 He's up there, the big man in the sky, the big powwow in the sky, 109 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:11,000 that kind of belief. But not the kind of belief that would drive him 110 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,700 to get on his knees before God Almighty and say, "Please help me, 111 00:09:15,700 --> 00:09:18,800 help us. We're losing. We need your help." 112 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:25,000 Not that kind of faith. He didn't have that kind of faith anymore. 113 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,000 Instead he trusted in military might. And because of this he was paralyzed by 114 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,000 fear and he had poor judgment. Now we know that 115 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:40,040 David won the battle and because of this he also won the hearts of the people. Right? People were singing 116 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:45,000 praises to Saul and then when they sang praises to David they 117 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,000 would say that he killed 10,000, way more, had 118 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,240 bigger military victories. And Saul didn't like that. 119 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,680 And so Saul takes David into his family and his court. 120 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,000 But eventually would grow jealous of David's success and potential threat to the throne. 121 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,000 See, all this time, Saul didn't realize that God had already chosen 122 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,000 David to succeed him. He didn't know this. Now later on we see 123 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:18,200 Saul personally try to kill David or send him on suicide missions to get rid of him. 124 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:23,000 But David survives and he grows stronger. He says, you want my daughter? Great. 125 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:28,000 You have to go to the Philistines and kill so many Philistines and so on and so forth. 126 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:33,000 I mean suicide missions. And yet David survives. As a matter of fact one of David's 127 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,000 strongest allies, one of his strongest supporters and friends 128 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:42,000 is Saul's son, Jonathan. And despite his father's murderous 129 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:47,000 plots against David a beautiful friendship develops between the young prince 130 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:52,000 and the heir to the throne. So united are they that Jonathan 131 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:57,000 actually defends David to Saul. Jonathan is saying to his dad, "Why are you 132 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:03,620 trying to kill him? Why are you against him? He has no harm for us. He's only done good for us. 133 00:11:03,620 --> 00:11:07,000 And so demented is Saul that he even attacks 134 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,000 his own son because of his defense of David. The idea, 135 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,060 "Are you against me too?" Are you on his side too?" 136 00:11:16,060 --> 00:11:21,000 In the end Jonathan protects David. But even this is not enough to 137 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,000 keep David safe from Saul's out-of-control rage. 138 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:30,800 I mean, he's totally, totally losing all sense of reality here. 139 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,820 Alright? Take a look at Saul's madness, chapters 21 to 24. 140 00:11:35,820 --> 00:11:41,440 Like I said, we don't have time to read all these chapters here in our class. 141 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,060 So by the time we get to Chapter 21 142 00:11:45,060 --> 00:11:47,000 Saul is totally out of control. 143 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:52,000 He is continually focused on finding David and destroying David, never 144 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,000 mind fighting against his enemies. He is wasting a lot of 145 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,080 resources and time and energy and emotion trying to find 146 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:06,000 David who isn't his enemy at all. Now his reasoning is 147 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,000 that if David becomes king by popular acclaim, remember, he doesn't realize that 148 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Samuel's already anointed him, he's thinking David is just going to become king because 149 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:21,000 he's so popular with the people. So his reasoning 150 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,000 is that if David becomes king by popular acclaim his own son, 151 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:32,500 Jonathan, will lose the throne and of course the succession to the throne. 152 00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:37,000 Of course he doesn't realize, as I said, that it's not David's popularity 153 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:42,620 with the people that will gain him the throne. It's God's anointing 154 00:12:42,620 --> 00:12:47,000 that will put him on the throne and he already has it. 155 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:52,000 So Saul's fighting a losing battle and he doesn't even know this. 156 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:58,000 And this is what makes the story so poignant, so sad. 157 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,000 Saul's constant campaign is forcing David to continually be on the 158 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:07,000 move, to collect an army loyal to him, to learn about military 159 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,000 strategy and diplomacy and management, all the while on the run. 160 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:17,000 You think God had a hand in this? I mean, it's not like that David 161 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:22,400 was actually, he had all the qualities of a king when he was anointed. 162 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,000 David was like Abraham. God found Abraham said, 163 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:32,000 I'm going to make a nation out of you. 164 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:37,000 Your descendants will be like the stars in the sky. Was there something about Abraham? Was he 165 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:42,500 especially righteous, brave? No. 166 00:13:42,580 --> 00:13:47,000 Certainly not brave. Right? He lied. And he kind of used his wife, sending his wife ahead. And said 167 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,000 just tell them you're my sister. There's a brave guy. 168 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,000 No, no it's what God was going to do with him if he 169 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,720 allowed God to do it to him. 170 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:06,400 But David is the same thing. What is he? Yeah, he was a good looking guy, says that, ruddy complexion, fair. 171 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:10,040 He was tending sheep? What was his future you think, 172 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:17,360 being the eighth son, you think he had some big future in mind? No, he'd be tending sheep all his life. 173 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,000 If God chose this shepherd and said I'm 174 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:26,000 going to make something out of you. I'm going to send you to school. 175 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 And the school he went to was Saul's persecution. Because of Saul's 176 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,000 persecution he learned how to fight. Because of Saul's persecution 177 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,560 he learned how to make arrangements with different groups of people, 178 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:45,000 even some enemies to stay alive. 179 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:50,000 Because of Saul's persecution he collected many of the people 180 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:55,000 in the land who were disenfranchised because they were under a king 181 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000 who was going mad. 182 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:03,000 So God was putting David through school here preparing him to 183 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,960 eventually become the king. So same thing with us. We become Christians. 184 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:09,360 Right? 185 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:14,000 And I tell you you're not any more a Christian 50 186 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:20,040 years after you're baptized then on the day you're baptized, you're not anymore saved. 187 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,000 But you're a whole lot more sanctified. Right? You grow, you learn, 188 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:30,560 to become more fruitful. God put you through school. 189 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:35,000 Same thing is happening here. So in Chapter 190 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,000 21, we read of an episode where David entered a town and he sought out some 191 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,000 food, he was hungry and the only food available 192 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,200 was the bread the priests ate after the sacrifice was made, the showbread. 193 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:54,480 Since there was nothing else to eat, he took this and he ate it. And he continued on his journey. 194 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,620 Saul hears of David's appearance. 195 00:15:58,620 --> 00:16:04,020 And he comes down upon the city and he massacres all the priests 196 00:16:04,020 --> 00:16:07,180 that are serving there. 197 00:16:07,180 --> 00:16:14,220 In Saul's reign, this is probably his worst and most despicable act. 198 00:16:14,220 --> 00:16:19,000 So bad that even some of Saul's men refused to carry out the order 199 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:26,380 to execute these innocent people, not only people, but priests of God. 200 00:16:26,380 --> 00:16:29,000 So Saul by this time has truly become 201 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,620 mad, killing not only his so-called enemies but also murdering the servants of the Lord. 202 00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:38,000 I mean, you know he's totally lost. After this 203 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,000 we see Saul continuing his relentless pursuit of David and seeking the aid of his countrymen 204 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:48,000 in tracking him down. In other words, he creates a situation with his countrymen 205 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:55,000 that says you're with me or you're against me. He's forcing them to choose. 206 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,000 He's totally out of control, totally fixated on only one 207 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,680 thing and that is David's demise. Thankfully, 208 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:09,620 God thwarts Saul's campaign by sending the Philistines once again to attack the nation. 209 00:17:09,620 --> 00:17:14,000 And this diverts Saul's attention from David, for a while, as he leads 210 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,680 the troops against the old enemy. He's still got to do is king work. 211 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:24,000 And part of the king work was to protect the nation and the main enemy were the 212 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,040 Philistines. So in chapter 24, 213 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,000 There is a poignant moment where David comes into contact with Saul 214 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,000 without Saul's awareness. 215 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,000 So, Saul is out in the field with the military and he goes into one of the caves in order 216 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,000 to relieve himself. But what he doesn't know is that David and some of his men 217 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,000 are actually hiding in the cave at the back of the cave. 218 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:54,000 Now David here could easily kill him but he spares the king's life. 219 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:59,000 After their encounter, David, from a distance, shows Saul a piece of 220 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:06,340 cloak that he had cut. In other words, he got close to Saul and snipped off a piece of his robe. 221 00:18:06,340 --> 00:18:09,000 And after everything is over, after they leave the 222 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:14,000 cave, he comes out and calls to Saul and he shows him the piece of 223 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,000 clothing that he cut away from him to show how close he had been to him and how 224 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,580 easily he could have killed him. 225 00:18:21,580 --> 00:18:27,000 And to me, in all the story of Saul, this moment here, it just tugs at your heart. 226 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,000 Saul has a moment of clarity. 227 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,000 And he recognizes that David is truly innocent 228 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:40,000 and without evil intentions towards him. And he tells him so. I mean you can almost, 229 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:45,000 when you read this section, you can almost hear the waver in Saul's 230 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,000 voice, ready to weep. 231 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,000 But his old self takes over. As he takes advantage of David's goodness by 232 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,000 extracting a promise from David not to harm his family. He says, I know you're 233 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,000 innocent. You're right, I'm wrong. Please forgive me. And by the way 234 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,000 will you make me a promise that you won't harm any of my descendants? 235 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:14,040 So the evidence of David's true intentions and character is before him, 236 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,000 but Saul reverts to his old fears renewing his vow to 237 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:23,000 kill David in a foolish attempt to hold on to a crown that he had already lost. 238 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,000 He had gained it simply because God had given it to him. He lost it 239 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:36,020 simply because God took it away from him. And so we get to the final stages. 240 00:19:36,020 --> 00:19:37,000 In First Samuel 25, 241 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:43,000 this section here goes from First Samuel 25 all the all the way to Chapter 31. 242 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:48,000 So in Chapter 26 we again read of an opportunity that David had to kill 243 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:53,000 Saul and end his problems. But he doesn't. Out of respect for the role of the king 244 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,000 anointed by God. I mean, man, we could talk about that for a long time. 245 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:05,360 He's oppressed by the king but the king is anointed by God. 246 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:10,760 He won't raise a hand to the king even if the king is wrong and disobedient to God. 247 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,000 It's not David's place to remove him. You need to 248 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,180 think about that sometimes when you're, when you're in a situation where you feel oppressed 249 00:20:19,180 --> 00:20:25,000 by someone who has authority. So in this episode, Saul again acknowledges that 250 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,060 he's wrong, he blesses David and actually prophesies concerning his future success 251 00:20:30,060 --> 00:20:35,000 and in this we see God continually working in not just David's life but in Saul's 252 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,000 life as well. David, through God's help, has an opportunity to 253 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:44,000 take matters into his own hands. But he doesn't. And this is a great 254 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:49,000 example of God allowing someone to choose a lesser opportunity, a plan 255 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:54,000 B solution for their lives, but refusing it in order 256 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,000 to wait on God's blessing and full will to be done. 257 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:03,000 Oh man, oh man, oh man, how many times? I don't know 258 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:08,700 about you guys. I don't know how many times in my own life I've run ahead of God. 259 00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:13,740 I've just run ahead. I was saying, Lord, this problem is just taking 260 00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:18,000 too long. And I have the solution. I'm just going to go ahead and fix this. 261 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,700 I don't know what your plan is. Because his plan is always plan A but I got plan B, 262 00:21:23,700 --> 00:21:28,000 and I'm going to put Plan B into operation. And you know what? He lets me do it. 263 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:33,000 And there is some sort of solution but it's never the solution, 264 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:38,000 it's never the good solution that I'm looking for. It's my solution. 265 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:43,000 I think, personal opinion here, I think the 266 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,000 single most difficult lesson in Christianity is 267 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,000 to learn to wait on God. That is so hard. 268 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,000 Especially if you're kind of A type, task oriented, object motivated. 269 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:02,000 I know I'm like that. Man, got the list. Give me a list. They tell me there are no 270 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:12,000 lists in heaven. Oh my, what am I going to do? No list of things to do, my to do list. 271 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:17,000 So David says, I could solve the problem of the king attacking me and me on 272 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:23,420 the run. I can solve the problem here. That's Plan B. I just take him out. 273 00:22:23,420 --> 00:22:27,000 And if I take him out, who's going to be 274 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:32,000 against me? They're going to say, whoa, way to go David. This guy was nuts. You did the right thing. 275 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,280 You took him out. That was plan B. 276 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:41,000 Plan A was God's plan. And David showed that he was learning 277 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:47,000 to be a servant of God. Why do you think God said he was a man after my own heart? 278 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,000 Do you think he said he's a man after my own heart because 279 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:56,000 David was sinless? Because he managed to 280 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,000 always not sin? Are you kidding me? The guy who 281 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:06,000 conspired to murder, took another man's wife, got her pregnant. 282 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:11,000 This guy? No, he was a man after God's own 283 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:15,000 heart because he was willing to wait for God. 284 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:20,000 That's why God loved him. 285 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Saul on the other hand is granted a reprieve, a chance to repent, 286 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:30,000 a chance to change, and he does for a moment but soon he falls back. 287 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,000 He would have to hand the kingdom over to David, but he would gain peace of mind and entry 288 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,320 into the true kingdom in the process, that was his reward. 289 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:44,000 Unfortunately, he exchanged his soul for a kingdom that 290 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:49,780 really wasn't his to hold onto anymore. That was the sad part. 291 00:23:49,780 --> 00:23:54,000 So as we move into chapter 28. The Philistines are attacking once again. 292 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:59,000 And now Saul has no one to help him. He doesn't have David, 293 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:04,000 who at least helped him fight this common enemy. He doesn't have Samuel, 294 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:10,980 the prophet, who guided him and provided wisdom, because Samuel has died by now. 295 00:24:10,980 --> 00:24:14,000 Saul was totally afraid without a plan. 296 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:20,000 So what does he do? He turns to a medium or a witch for advice. 297 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,000 And this was against the law and he knew it. So now 298 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,000 he's as low as you can go morally. You can't get much lower than this. 299 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:34,000 Even though she's a medium, God uses her anyways to speak to him through the voice of Samuel. 300 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:39,520 I always say, if God can talk to you through the voice of an animal, you know Balaam, 301 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:44,000 the donkey talked. God can use an animal to talk to you. He can use a person, even a 302 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:49,000 person who claims to be a witch. 303 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:57,000 And through her, God tells Saul why he has failed. And what will happen to him the next day, even tells him, 304 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:02,000 even here, God reaches out to Saul, but Saul refuses to repent 305 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:09,000 and cast himself on God's mercy. Boy, if God told me I was going to die tomorrow, 306 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:14,000 my last chance, hopefully I jumped for it. 307 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:19,000 Then in chapters 30 and 31, we see the contrast between Saul and David 308 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,000 as David goes forward and he defeats the Amalekites, 309 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:28,000 while Saul and Jonathan are both killed in their battle against Israel's 310 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,000 other enemy, the Philistines. 311 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:39,440 So Saul, wounded in the battle, commits suicide rather than be taken prisoner. 312 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:43,000 But right until the end there's no call out to God for help. 313 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:48,000 No call to God for forgiveness. His death is not a noble death in that he falls 314 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:53,000 on his own sword in defeat and then his body is desecrated by the enemy. They take his 315 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,000 headless body and they hang it on a wall. 316 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,180 Finally, some Israelites go and they go get the body. And what do they do with it? 317 00:26:02,180 --> 00:26:09,000 Something you rarely see. They cremate the body and they bury the ashes under a tree. 318 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000 I mean, that's not a dignified way for a Jewish king to be buried. 319 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,660 The Jewish king buried in Jerusalem. Imagine, cremation, buried 320 00:26:18,660 --> 00:26:24,000 under a tree. No marker, nothing. So even though his life was a failure, 321 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:32,000 and his death was dishonorable. David eulogizes Saul and his son after. 322 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,000 And that's what begins Second Samuel chapter one. 323 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:41,000 And what's interesting in his eulogy is not what is said. It's what is unsaid. 324 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:50,000 Very interesting. In the eulogy, David says of Saul, 325 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:56,000 that he was a handsome man and he was a good soldier and he was a king who brought 326 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,940 prosperity and he'll be missed. 327 00:27:01,940 --> 00:27:04,960 I've had to do funerals like that. 328 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,600 I've had the funeral parlor call me up, the local funeral parlor called me up and say, look we have a 329 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:14,000 Mr. Smith over here and he has no church affiliation, 330 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:19,000 never went to church, not a believer or anything but his family would like at least a minister to 331 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:24,000 conduct a funeral service. So what do you do? You get this 332 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,000 rascal right in front of you, never darken the door of a church building. 333 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:34,000 He had two wives and six girlfriends. 334 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:40,000 Used his money in gambling and, I'm not making this up, so I'm talking about a real person here. 335 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:46,420 What do you say? Well, he was a human being 336 00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:51,000 and his mother loved him. You search around for something to say. Well, that's 337 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:56,000 exactly what David was saying about Saul. He was a good soldier. Well, yeah. True. 338 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,000 He was the king, yeah that's true. He was loved by 339 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:07,300 the people for a time. He's careful, he's diplomatic 340 00:28:07,300 --> 00:28:13,000 in saying what he's saying. But he didn't say that Saul was a man of God. 341 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:23,000 He didn't say that he was a man of faith. He didn't say that he was a man of honor. 342 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:28,280 Now the great joy for a minister, in a sense, 343 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:33,000 if you have to do funerals, is to do a funeral for a faithful Christian brother or sister. 344 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,560 And those are easy, those funerals, because there's just too much to say. 345 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:44,000 You have to pick. You have to pick out of so many good things, you just have to pick. 346 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,000 That makes it a whole lot easier to eulogize, a person that has a good and faithful, 347 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,000 not perfect life, but a good and faithful life. Now when you compare what was said about 348 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,000 Saul to what later was said about David, that David was 349 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,000 a son of God, that he was God's servant, that he was God's friend. 350 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,000 You realize that he had a chance at greatness. Saul that is. 351 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:15,880 But he never truly arrived at the level that his successor David finally achieved. 352 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:22,500 So even in his eulogy nothing great can be said about Saul, 353 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:27,000 except, that from his sad life, 354 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:32,000 there are tremendous lessons that we can draw for ourselves or anyone in 355 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:37,000 any generation. So as we complete our brief study of Saul's life 356 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:42,000 I do want to draw out a couple of general lessons we can use from his failed life 357 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,000 and remember the name of the series is "Lessons from the Kings." 358 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:52,000 So let's draw some lessons from Saul's life. 359 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,000 Lesson number one. Greatness can only 360 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,000 be achieved on God's terms not our terms. 361 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:06,000 In order to be great in God's eyes, 362 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 in order to succeed in the spiritual world you've got to do it 363 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:15,000 according to God's commands. You've got to do it with a 364 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:20,000 view of God's purpose. Part of my prayer is 365 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:25,000 not only, God, please help me do this and please help me do that. But part of it also is 366 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,000 please help me do what I want to do or what I need to do so that it 367 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:34,760 achieves your purpose. Because I can be doing a lot of stuff. 368 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,000 You know what I mean? And I can be doing a lot of things that are not necessarily 369 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,840 bad but I want to be, I want to make sure that 370 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:51,000 what I'm doing is also fulfilling what God's purpose is for my life. 371 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:56,000 In the world, who do we celebrate? Who gets the ink? 372 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,000 Who gets the publicity? Well, the rebels get the publicity. What is it, 373 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:05,000 that basketball player, just recently? What does he do? He goes to a brothel, 374 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:11,060 spends seventy five thousand dollars on prostitutes and drugs, 375 00:31:11,060 --> 00:31:16,000 nearly dies and has a stroke because of a drug overdose. And what happens? 376 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:22,000 The newspapers are filled with stories about this individual. 377 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:27,000 And yet the stories about individuals who are saving lives, helping people, supporting 378 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:33,800 people, sacrificing themselves for others, we don't hear about those guys. 379 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,000 So in the world we celebrate rebels, 380 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:43,000 those who break all the rules, we make heroes of those who defy authority. 381 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:48,000 But I'll tell you something, you cannot impress God with this type of behavior. 382 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:52,700 You might be able to impress the world with this behavior. 383 00:31:52,700 --> 00:31:57,000 God wants the complete opposite. He wants a person who is 384 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,000 hungry to do what is right. A person who yearns to know and do God's will 385 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:07,000 not our will, not my will. Even Jesus said not my will, 386 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:12,000 listen now, even the person who was perfect, 387 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:20,000 the person who committed no sin, even that person, Jesus, said, "Not my will. 388 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,000 Let your will be done." 389 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:27,000 So how can we who are imperfect, sinful, failing, how can we ever 390 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,780 choose our own will over God's will? See what I'm saying? 391 00:32:31,780 --> 00:32:38,560 Saul tried to reign and be a great king according to his own terms. He failed miserably. 392 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,920 So a person's stature with God is directly proportionate to 393 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,720 his or her obedience to His will. 394 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,000 Am I doing OK God? How am I in your 395 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,560 estimation? Well, take a look at how I'm obeying you. 396 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:59,140 Don't misunderstand me. We are saved by faith, absolutely. 397 00:32:59,140 --> 00:33:03,000 And faith is what God wants from us. But faith 398 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:08,560 is expressed through our attempt to do God's will. 399 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,000 Faith is not expressed through perfection. Faith is expressed through the 400 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:18,000 attempt at perfection. The attempt at doing what 401 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,440 God wants us to do. So to be a great person of faith, 402 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:27,000 one must be a great person of obedience. One of the things in seminars 403 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:32,000 about family and raising children, that's why it's so important to teach 404 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:40,000 our children to get the obedience muscle exercised in children. 405 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:45,000 You have little children, you have to say no, what a hundred and fifty times a day? 406 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:50,000 No, I said no. No we don't climb up on the chair. No get down from the chair. No. 407 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,840 OK time out. No, no, no, no, no. Do this. 408 00:33:53,840 --> 00:34:00,000 You have to listen to mommy. Why? Because you have to listen to mommy or dad. Why? 409 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:05,880 Well if you could break it down to them, because I'm trying to teach you how to obey me, because if you don't 410 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:10,000 know how to obey me, your father or your mother or your grandfather, 411 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:15,000 your grandmother, you will never be able to obey God. That's why. 412 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,000 These rebels, these unbelievers. Why can't they get it? Well, because they don't know how to obey. 413 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,000 It frightens them. 414 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:27,000 They've been raised in an environment where they get to do whatever they want. So you can 415 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:32,000 imagine when they come to salvation, when they come to believe in God, when they come to 416 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,020 the point of having a relationship with God, and they recognize, wait a minute you mean my relationship with 417 00:34:37,020 --> 00:34:43,000 the God, the true God is based on my obedience to Him? 418 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,280 Whoa, that's a tall order 419 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:52,500 if you've never learned how to obey your earthly parents. 420 00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,060 Very important. 421 00:34:55,060 --> 00:35:01,120 To be a great person of faith one must be a great person of obedience. Number two lesson. 422 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,000 The wage of sin is death. That's something we all know. 423 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:10,000 Paul explains in Romans 6:23 that the end result of sin in our lives is death. 424 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,000 Now we need to understand that death isn't simply the final separation of the soul from the body. 425 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:20,000 It is that. But death has a lot of forms. All of which eventually 426 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:25,000 culminate in the separation of the body from the Spirit. We see the face of death 427 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:30,000 where? Well, we see it in war and hatred and violence. We see it in laziness and despair. 428 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,000 We see it in dishonesty and immorality. We see the face of death 429 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:40,000 in pride and foolishness and disbelief and sorrow, pain, loss, all of these things. 430 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,540 Those are the faces of death 431 00:35:42,540 --> 00:35:48,000 before it actually comes, and the faces of death are all caused by sin. 432 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:53,120 Again, I mentioned that basketball player, what's the root cause of all of his trouble? 433 00:35:53,120 --> 00:36:03,000 Here's a young guy, he's a millionaire, he's famous, successful, 35 years old. 434 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:08,000 And he was in the hospital fighting for his life, disgraced himself publicly. 435 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:16,520 And what is the root problem there? Sin. That's the root problem. 436 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:26,000 There are so many other things that have this effect on our lives. 437 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:32,000 Saul never weighed the consequences of his sins. He was arrogant. He was foolish. 438 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:37,000 And these brought failure and fear and ultimately led to his death. So if we learn anything 439 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,000 from Saul we should learn that there are always consequences for our sins, always, 440 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:47,000 always consequences. This should make us think twice before we knowingly disobey or 441 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:52,000 ignore the Lord's command. And then one more lesson before we wrap it up here. 442 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:57,000 God wants to save us. I mean look at all the times 443 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:02,000 God reached out to Saul in order to save him. He gave him chances to do better, to 444 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:07,000 reconcile with David, chances to repent and start over again. And every 445 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,480 time Saul would ignore or reject the opportunity set before him by God. 446 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,000 He would pass on it. So, God treats us in the same way. We also have 447 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:22,000 many chances to do better, to start over, to make things right. 448 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,000 So every time our conscience twinges, you get a 449 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:34,700 twinge of your conscience, that's God calling you. That's the spirit poking you in the head. 450 00:37:34,700 --> 00:37:41,220 Every time you're convicted by something you read in the Bible, God is calling you. 451 00:37:41,220 --> 00:37:45,000 They don't call it the living word for nothing. Every time you 452 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:54,000 attend services, for example, God is calling somebody to come forward. 453 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:59,000 Every week we have ample opportunity from God to be saved, to be 454 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,040 restored, to deepen our commitment. All the time. He's always calling us. 455 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:09,140 So the same God who reached out to Saul reaches out to us today. 456 00:38:09,140 --> 00:38:13,000 Why? Because he loves us and because 457 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:18,000 he wants to save us. This lesson, God wants to save us, God isn't 458 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,000 your enemy. God isn't the one trying to make you feel bad. He's the one 459 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,000 trying to make you feel good. He's the one trying to save you, to help you deal with the 460 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:29,000 difficulties in life. OK. 461 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:34,000 So plenty of good lessons. Surely there others from the life of Saul, but we're going to wrap it up 462 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:39,640 right there and continue next week with, I think, we're going to go to David 463 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:46,000 next week or we might go to some obscure King to see a lesson about, 464 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:51,000 a lesson about suspicion. I think we call it "suspicious minds." That's it for now. 465 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Thank you very much.