Captive or Conqueror
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week saw Samuel anoint David as the next king of Israel. Last week we closed with 1 Samuel 16:13.
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
What we I want us to see is the part of the verse that says, “. . .and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. . .”
Verse 14 begins the first comparison of Saul and David and their dynasty.
Captive or Conqueror
Captive or Conqueror
Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
In this passage, the Spirit of Yahweh leaves Saul and comes upon David with power.
Verse 14 gives some people problems, because it says, “an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” —God allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul.
Verses 13 and 14 are considered hinge verses—When David was anointed king Samuel (his anointer) left because David was in GREAT hands. When the Spirit of Yahweh left Saul, an evil spirit filled void and tormented him.
When the tormenting began, Saul’s attendants realized that they needed to do something!
We need Help!
We need Help!
Look at verse 15.
Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”
They recognize that it is an evil spirit and its tormenting king Saul.
They ask for permission to search for someone who could play the lyre to sooth him when the evil spirit tormented him. They want the king to feel better.
Saul tells them to find someone, look at verse 17.
So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
Once they receive the okay to find someone to help him, they begin to discuss who they might find to help! And someone suggests David. Look at verse 18
One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”
One of Saul’s servants mentions a son of Jesse of Bethlehem.
And this son knows how to play the lyre.
He is described as a brave man—a brave warrior—and a warrior—man of valor.
He speaks well—well spoken.
And he’s a fine-looking man—he’s handsome!
And the Lord is with him. While Saul’s attendants don’t realize the significance of this statement, it is actually what will help Saul more than anything.
Upon hearing about Jesse’s son, Saul decides to send for him.
Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
Saul sends messengers to Jesse.
The message is, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” I wonder how Saul knew that David was with the sheep.
Now when the king sends messengers to your house, and asks you to send someone or something to him, you send whatever the king asked for!
So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
So Jesse loads a donkey with bread, a skin of wind, and a young goat.
And he sends the loaded donkey and David to Saul!
David Finds Favor with Saul
David Finds Favor with Saul
David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.
David enters into the service of king Saul.
Saul like him very much.
David became one of his armor-bearers. This is NOT a body guard. Rather it is a person that helps the king manage his armor. So an armor bearer would keep the armor in good repair. Help the king put the armor on and take it off. And would carry the armor for him to and from the battle while keeping it ready for use. In return, the armor-bearer would learn the ways of war.
Verse 22 reiterates that importance of David to Saul.
Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
Saul sent another message to Jesse, asking for David to remain in his service, stating, “for I am pleased with him.”
When you come to verse 23, you learn why Saul was pleased with David’s service.
Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Every time the evil spirit came upon Saul, David would play his harp.
As he played, relief would come to Saul, and he would feel better.
He would feel better because the evil spirit would leave him.
Notice that the Spirit of Yahweh (God) calms the evil spirit. This is true today. Look at 1 John 4:4.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
SO WHAT?
SO WHAT?
The “SO WHAT” today comes in the form of a question:
Are you a Captive or a Conqueror?
King Saul was a Captive: he was a captive to his pride and arrogance. He was a captive to his disobedience. He was a captive to his men. And ultimately he ended up a captive of demonic tormenting.
David, on the other hand, was a Conqueror. He was a conqueror not because he was sinless, but because he was connected to God’s Spirit so that he empowered by God’s Spirit.
Today I find many Christians who struggle because the remain captives.
They remain captive to their sinful desires.
They remain captive to the influences of this world.
They remain captive to the lies of the enemy.
Saul was a captive because he refused to listen to the leading of God’s Spirit in his life.
Are you a captive today because you refuse to listen to the leading of God’s Spirit in your life?
Likewise, David was a conqueror because he followed the leading of God’s Spirit—not just listening to the leading of God’s Spirit, but also following the leading—Or to put it another way, doing what the Spirit of God said to do. In fact, David chased after God’s leading in his life.
What about you—are you a captive or a conqueror? You see, God has given you and me His Spirit. By that Spirit we are to live as conquerors—Romans 8:37 reminds us of this fact.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
And one way that you and I live as conquerors is when we keep in step with God’s Spirit. Our memory verse this week comes from the book of Galatians. In Galatians 5:25 we read:
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.