1 Sam 19:1-24 When Storms Clouds Come
Intro:
When my wife & I were first married – we had such horrible experiences on
vacations – that I thought we were cursed
A)I’ve told you about the time – 2 months after we were married – camping at the beach when I lost my wedding ring
B) Another time we went
camping – Halama beach – beautiful place
1)
30 minutes after we
arrived – the place was hit by a wind storm that lasted 2 days 40 mph winds
– all we could do was sit in our little tent
C) We went to sleep at
like 4 in the afternoon – then left the next day
1)
And then there was the
time when Aaron was a Baby – we went to Palm springs – in August – not smart but it was free - Miserable
D) It was So hot the
pool was like an uncomfortable bath – I called
a friend of mine who managed a Hilton in HB – please help us
1) We drive to HB – nice room
on the 12th floor – great view – total Comp deal – we are
there maybe 2 hrs – Huge earthquake – building shaking
E) Then there was the
time we were going to leave Aaron for
the first time - 3 days – Mexico beach house – person in the church
1)
Drive from OC to
Mexico down past Ensenada – get there – 3hrs later Denise says – lets call
No phone – We left the next morning
Yes I
have to admit that those first few yrs – I thought we were doomed to never have a nice uneventful vacation
A)And I am sure that you have your stories too – Disaster trips – those things are a drag but we can deal w/ them
B) What is harder is
when OUR LIVES starts to resemble those trips – where it seems that no matter
where we turn – Problems – storm clouds
1)How do we get through
those type of situations – How do we manage the earthquakes
/ the windstorms / the heat waves that invade our lives?
That
is where we find David in 1 Sam.19 – The storm clouds have come blowing into
His life – The heat is on – Attack is underway
A)But what we see in this Chapter is how the Lord brings 4 different entities into David’s life to help him cope / help keep perspective
B) I suggest to you that these same 4 entities are important to have in our lives to help us cope when the storm clouds come rolling in / Read v.1-5
C) Now we saw in our
study last time in ch.18 that David’s Reputation was growing – 4 times we were
told – David Behaved wisely in all his ways
1)
As David grew in
Favor in the eyes of the People – In Saul’s eyes David’s Favor turned to
Disdain – Saul eyed David ….. Jealous of …
Then one day – that Jealousy & anger erupted – Saul
picked up a spear & tried to pin David to the wall. Tried to kill him / not
once but twice
A)Then FRONT LINES /
MERAB - Saul tried to lead David into the sin of rebellion or treason by
suddenly giving Merab to another man
B) Then there was Michal
– have her for 100 foreskins – David comes back w/ 200
1)The more that David
succeeded the more afraid & paranoid Saul became
C) Ch. 18:29 States that
Saul viewed David as his enemy Continually
!!!
D) Now, Saul persists in
his efforts to eliminate David. Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his
servants, that they should kill David.
1) David was a marked man, and Saul’s staff was instructed to kill him.
1st
Entity that we see a man needs when the
storms come rolling in is a Strong & Loyal friend. – David had JONATHAN
A)We already noted some things about Jonathan friendship to David in Ch.18/How he gave to David – His Robe / Sword / Armor
B)Here we see that Friendship Progressing – Jonathan Stands in the gap for David – Notice how Does this 4 things
#1 He warns
David of His Fathers intentions
A)Jonathan was a faithful friend
– Faithful to stick up for David – He wasn’t a fair weather friend
B) Jonathan goes to David & Warns him / tells
him to hide out until he can get to the bottom of this
C) Jonathan could have said, "Look, I want no part of this. I’m not going to help
my father do something I know is wrong. But I won’t try to stop it either. I’ll
just be neutral and let God work it out."
D) But Jonathan didn’t take that attitude.- He was a
faithful friend and he went to warn David of his father’s intentions
1) Jesus
John 15 13Greater love has no one
than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
E) Jonathan is seen clearly here of willing to risk
his own life for David
How could
Jonathan justify disobeying his father?
A)Because Saul, his
father and king, commanded him to do something that was clearly disobedient to
God.
B) Jonathan knew the
Bible said, You shall not murder
(Exodus 20:13).
1) He was submitted to a higher Authority
C) We are People
under authority, and commanded to submit to God’s order of authority in many
different arenas.
1)
There is the
submission of children to their parents,/ wives to their husbands /of citizens to their
government,/ employees to their employers
2) And of Christians to their church leadership,
D)Yet, even in all of
those relationships, we are never excused from sin because we obeyed an
authority that told us to sin.
1) In this instance, it would have been wrong for Jonathan to obey his father and kill David.
This was a case
where Jonathan could say as the apostles said when they were told to stop
preaching the gospel: Ought to Obey God
rather than men
A)Jesus John 15 13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s
life for his friends.
B) Jonathan is seen clearly here of willing to risk
his own life for David
The 2nd way we see that
Jonathan stood in the Gap for David is v.4
V.4
He spoke well of David to Saul his father
A)Jonathan did more than
secretly help David with information. He spoke well of David to Saul his
father. Went on record
B)Jonathan let Saul
know, "Father you have a certain opinion of David. But I don’t share
that opinion. I love & support David. You should also."
C)It was wonderful for
Jonathan to support David secretly, when it was just him and David. That itself
was a gift.
1)
It was another thing
for Jonathan to support David before others, and before those who were against
David.
D) That is what
supporting someone is really all about. You can’t measure a person’s support by
what they say about you to your face.
1)You measure their support by how they back
you when you aren’t around.
Jack w/
Brian – what should I have done !!!
E) That is one way to take yourself out of the Loop of Gossips & nay Sayers – Defend a friend !!!!
3rd way He challenged his Dad to not sin v.4 Let not the king sin against his servant
A)Jonathan was bold
enough to tell his father that his anger and jealousy against David was sin,
and to say, "he has not sinned against
you."
B)Saul felt that
David had sinned against him in some manner and he felt righteous in his
cause. But Jonathan delivers a needed word of correction.
4th v.5 Jonathan
Reminded Saul of God’s hand upon David –how He took his life in his hands &
killed the Philistine
A)Why did Jonathan
remind Saul of these events? It wasn’t because Saul had forgotten them.
B) It was because Saul
"spun" these events with a meaning that justified his jealous desire
to murder David.
1) Saul knew that David killed the Philistine. But Saul
could not believe that David did it for a righteous reason.
C) In his mind, he
thought "David did it just to become famous and to take his throne. That
was how Paranoid Saul was .
D) Jonathan is trying to
bring Saul back to reality. He reminds his father: "You
saw it………… and rejoiced just like
everyone
Result of
Jonathans intervention v.6,7
A)Saul heeded the voice – Saul has a change of mind but not a change of heart – Remorse – but not repentance – Re occurring thing w/ Saul
B) Side note Jonathan Stood in the gap for David because David was a great Guy & Jonathan delighted in him
1) He gave up everything in order to help his friend
C) Jesus stood in the
gap for us – We weren’t great guys / gals – full of sin / rebellion /
1)
He stands as our
Advocate to defend us / not based on what we have done – we have sinned / based
on what He did for us !!!!
Read v.8-10
3rd
time we have read of this Distressing spirit from the Lord :
A)Every spirit is in
submission to the Lord so when it says that an evil spirit from the Lord –
B)It simply means that
the Lord allowed an evil spirit to afflict Saul because Saul had grown
rebellious against the Lord
This
leads us to consider the 2nd Entity
in David’s life at this point – that Every man needs in the Storm &
under attack –
A)If He is married He needs a supportive wife – v. 11-12
B) Since Michal was
Saul’s daughter,/ this was a conflict of loyalties for Michal. Should she act
in her father’s interests or in her husband’s interests?
C)Here, she makes the
right choice and supports her husband David.
1) Michal is acting according to the principle of
Genesis 2:24: Therefore a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
D)Though the Genesis
passage speaks specifically of the husband, it expresses a principle that
applies to both partners in a marriage:
1) that the former family loyalties and
obligations take a back seat to the loyalty and obligation to the new family.
Michal helped by warning David & David did well to receive this warning from his wife
A). Sometimes men are so
Prideful, hard headed and even hard hearted that they never hear how God might
warn them through their wives.
B)If David would have
ignored this warning because he didn’t like the source, he might have ended up
dead.
1) Guys we need to realize that God has brought your
wife into your life for the reason of being your Partner & Helpmate –
Listen to her
C) She will share from a
perspective that you are not seeing /
D)
She will share things that you never thought
about – just because she is a woman!!!!
1)
Guys in leadership –
Love to talk w/ them – They expand my Vision
E) But the other day –
talking to Denise – about something going on – she had an opinion – I said The guys thought it was ok –
1)
They
are all men – She is right – Comes
to certain aspects of our New Facility – Look to the women for their input –
Women’s rest room
So David showed wisdom in heeding the warning of his wife
/but At the same time, Michal spoke to David wisely:
A)Now She might have
said, "David here’s the problem let me tell you what to do."
B)She might have said,
"David I am here to save your life.
Let me tell you what to do."
1) Instead, she simply told David, "This is what I
see. Now it is up to you.
I’m not
going to try to save your life, but the way I see it, if you do not save your
life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed."
C) And when David
decided on a course of action, she was there to support and help him put it
into practice.
1)
Michal helped by
letting David down through a window.
So
Michal is seen as a Supportive wife – warning & helping David – but her
help is flawed & it stems from her lack of trust in the Lord v.13-17
A)Michal took an image:
the image was a teraphim, a figurine used as a household idol, or as a
fertility and good luck charm.
B)In ancient Israel, teraphim were intended as helps in worshipping
the true God.
1)
They didn’t think of
the teraphim as
another god, but as representing the Lord God of Israel.
C)Rachel, the wife of Jacob, also had teraphim (called household idols in Genesis 31:19).
1)
The would-be priest
Micah used household idols in his
corrupt worship of God (Judges 17:5).
D)In 1 Samuel 15:23,
when Samuel said to Saul, "For rebellion is
as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry,"
1)
the word idolatry is the word teraphim.
E) In the godly reforms
of Josiah, he prohibited the use of household idols ii. Clearly, God’s people had no business
having or using an image like this.
1) But this is an indication of wear Michal’s
heart was at toward the Lord
So
instead of just telling the truth & say that David had escaped or going
even further & standing up for David like Jonathan
A)Michal resorts in the
flesh to Deception & ends up making matters worse having to cover one lie
w/ another – by saying David threatened to Kill her
B) Now this would only –
add fuel to the fire of Saul’s outrage against David – I will really go after him for now he is threatening my
Daughter!!
C)This also shows
something of the depth & the outwardness of the hatred Saul had for David,
1) because he wanted to deliver the
death-blow himself (bring him up to me . . . that
I may kill him).
The next support entity we see in David’s life is the
Church –A Church is not a Building but a gathering of believers
A)It is a place where the presence of God clearly dwells & that is where David flees next for help v.18-20a
B) There are two reactions that people have in Difficulties – some run to the Church – others run from it
1)
Abe is a good
example of this / after leaving UR – he
ends up in Bethel Gen 15- Bethel = House of God
C)But it was when Abe was in Bethel that difficulty strikes / there was a severe famine in the land – what does Abe do – he runs to Eqypt
1)
Egypt in Scripture is
always symbolic of the world- It is there in Egypt that Abe almost Loses his
life & his wife
D) Abe flees Egypt &
heads back to Bethel the house of God & there reaffirms his trust in the
Lord –
1)
Only then do things
begin to fall into place in his Life !!!!
GK
Chesterfield: The Christian ideal has not been
tried & found wanting but it has been found difficult & left untried
SO David
flees to Samuel & his school of prophets at Naioth
A)Naioth = “dwellings,or
“lodgings,” and is always translated in the Chaldee “house of study,”
B) Notice what are they
doing v.20 They were speaking words of prophecy –
1)
What is prophecy ? It
is simply declaring the word of God – It can be Predictive/
or also Instructive/
C) This gives us insight
into what the Church is to be about – a Place where the Word of God is Preached
& Proclaimed
Acts 2:42 42And they
continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking
of bread, and in prayers.
D)Not a place where
people come seeking –esoteric experiences / not
a place people are looking for the warm fuzzies / Emotional high
1)
Not a place where
people are to go in hopes to feel good about
themselves – Because the Word is like a Knife – it cuts / Convicts
E) But when surgery is
needed an Incision is Necessary – We come to gather w/ the People of God to
hear the word of God
1)Allowing God to take the Scalpel of his
word & do surgery on our hearts
F)
What David needed at this
point in his life was not the warm fuzzies but to be reminded of the truths of
God’s word
That
is the role of the Church – place of sanctuary – Declaring the words of God to
the heart of the weary : note the Result v.20b
A)Saul’s guys come to
Naioth & they here the Prophets prophesying – declaring the word of God –
B)And the HS gets a hold
of their hearts / HS comes upon them – they do it too / This happens 2 more
times & then to Saul Himself
C) This is the 4th Entity is David’s life – the HS – Divine intervention
When
Saul doesn’t heed the voice of his own Son / the efforts of his own Daughter –
the testimonies of his servants –
A)The Lord says I am going to deal w/ Saul Myself
B) This is the 2nd time that Saul has had the HS come upon him in this way where he prophesied –
1)
The first was in 1 Sam
Ch. 10 it was a sign of Confirmation that Saul had been chosen as the king
C) This time it is not
for Confirmation /but for Conviction – to show how far Saul had fallen from the
Lord
1)
Having Saul strip off
his clothes was to indicate how disgraceful Saul had become in his sin / And to
show that his sin was Exposed
D) Your sin will always
find you out !!!!! Result of Saul’s sin / Cost him
Cost him his
Relationships: His sin cost him his
relationship w/ his Son Jonathan – Daughter Michal - & his friend David
Cost him his Reputation – Crazy man / Disgraced – Even to this day when the name of King Saul
is mentioned it is w/ a Negative Connotation
Cost him his
reward: He isn’t going to be rewarded –
especially like he would have had he responded well
How do you want to be Remembered ?
Need a Friend
Back today to Bethel –
Reaffirm your faith