David Vs Saul

David’s ascent and Saul’s fall. An example of Godly leadership.

Intro

We are almost to the end of 1 Samule and then we are going to get into the rise of David as King and the fall of Saul. What I want to do today is contrast the two leaders to see what we can learn from them. Some of the themes that we have seen seem to be repeating themselves, hopefully you do not get tired of hearing them. In this passage we read what a Giodly leader is to be like, but more then that how we are to act as followers of Jesus.

Last week BJ asked us a question, who are we looking to. In times of trouble, when going through life, when seeking Guidance, in all things who are you looking to?

Imagine a young father named Alex. He had built a good life—steady job, loving family, nice home in a quiet neighborhood. But over time, fear crept in. Bills piled up, job stress mounted, and he started making compromises. He cut corners at work to get ahead, drifted from church, leaned on "quick fixes" like credit cards and late-night scrolling instead of prayer. He told himself, "I'll handle this my way—just this once."

Then, one terrible night, everything burned. A fire started in the garage (from something careless he'd overlooked), and by morning, the house was ashes. His wife and kids were safe—thank God—but photos, memories, heirlooms, everything gone. His friends and coworkers, who he'd dragged into his shortcuts, turned bitter. Some blamed him outright. In the smoke-filled driveway, staring at the ruins, Alex felt the weight: his family grieving, his marriage strained, his future uncertain. He was at rock bottom, and the voices around him whispered despair.

In that moment, Alex could have run—blamed God, numbed out, or doubled down on his own plans. But something shifted. He remembered the stories he'd heard as a kid: David at Ziklag, everything stolen, men ready to stone him, yet "David strengthened himself in the Lord his God" (1 Samuel 30:6). No one else to turn to. No quick alliance. Just God.

So Alex did the same. He stepped away from the chaos, sat on the curb, and prayed—raw, honest prayer. "Lord, I've messed up. I've trusted everything but You. But You're still my God. Strengthen me. Guide me. Protect us." He opened his phone Bible (the only thing left unscorched), read Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." He clung to God's truth alone.

What happened next wasn't instant magic. But God gave clarity: pursue restoration. Alex sought wise counsel from his pastor, made amends, rebuilt slowly—first spiritually, then practically. Insurance came through unexpectedly. Friends rallied. Most importantly, his family saw a changed man who now turned to God first, not last.

Friends, who do we turn to when our "Ziklag" burns—when mistakes catch up and everything feels lost? Like David—and like Alex—we don't have to stay in despair. Even after wandering, we can turn back. Strengthen yourself in the Lord your God. Inquire of Him. Rely exclusively on His truth. He delivers, restores, and protects—not because we deserve it, but because He's faithful.

And when we do? We often recover more than we lost—deeper faith, stronger relationships, and a testimony that points others to the One who never fails. Turn to Him today. He's waiting.

HBI - in our lives who do we turn to in times of need. The Godly leader we look to shows us that even when we make mistakes we can turn back to the Lord for Guidance and protection. We must rely exclusivley on God’s truth.

In times of deepest need and even after our mistakes, the godly leader turns first to the Lord for strength, guidance, and protection—relying exclusively on God's truth rather than human plans or alliances.

Who do we turn to in crisis? Like David—pulled back from compromise by God's mercy, strengthened in despair, and restored through obedience—we must turn fully to the Lord for guidance and protection, trusting His truth alone.

What we are going to see here is a comparison between Saul and the way he ran things and David and How he sought the Lord.

chapter 29 starts with the Philistines gathering for war by the thousands to advance against the Isrelite army that was encamped not to far away. They where gathered in a strategic place.

1 Samuel 29:1–2 CSB

The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel. As the Philistine leaders were passing in review with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review behind them with Achish.

The crazy thing is that David and His men where at the rear of the army.

If you remember back in Chapter 28 we read that David was attacking garrisons of the philistines while reporting to the king that he was attacking Israelites. Likely the king thought His men where being lost to saul and the israelites. David had lied to the king, though what he did in fleeing to enemy territory and lying to the king may have been wrong, God used it anyways. I wont dwell on this to long, but was Saul wrong in what He did?

God always brought David through being in His own territory, and in being hwere he was he had to lie to be safe. It is tricky, but God did still use Him.

But now Here he is in the rear of enemy forces, likely going to attack them the moment they enter into Israelite territory. at least that is what I would do if it where me. But then they start to object to the Isaraelite in their midst and rightfully so.

1 Samuel 29:4 CSB

The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men?

This is all kind of funny when you think about it, here the Philistines are ready to kill as many Israelites as they can and they look around and see hundreds standing around them. Think of it like playing the riders playing against the bombers, and the bombers are all huddled making a plan for a play and there are a bunch of riders hiding in their huddle.

They ask, is this not the same David who has killed thousands of our people (verse 5).

David is not so easily deterred though. The king tries to icely tell him he has to go in peace because the lords do not trust him and for some reason David continues to try and lie his way into the Philistine army.

1 Samuel 29:8 CSB

“But what have I done?” David replied to Achish. “From the first day I entered your service until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

David was not seeking the counsel of the Lord.

It would appear here that David was not seeking the counsel of the Lord. If he had, then based on the past experiences he could have moved forward with His plans in confidence. But what we must remember is that we must always seek God’s counsel through prayer and his word before we move. \

I love seeing the Lord working this way with David because it gives all of us hope that even in our worst moments, the Lord doesn’t stop blessing us He acts like a good and perfect Father would. The Lord knows David is trying to use his situation to Saul’s benefit, but he’s going about it the wrong way

Chapter 29 shows us David in the midst of enemy camp, lying ot the leader of the philistine’s, making the king think that he was being true to His word. Then we move on to The Godly leader side of David

As David goes back to His family he realizes the ancient enemies of the Israelites had come and stolen His family and killed a bunch of people.

1 Samuel 30:1–2 CSB

David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag. They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

They wept, the people where mad. His own people had lost families and now quite the predicement He was in.

the consequences of David’s sin of entering the Philistines territories it leads David’s men to consider stoning him for his poor leadership

Obviously, if he hadn’t made the decision to enter the Philistine territory or attack the Amalekites, this wouldn’t have happened Ironically, David made this move as a means of seeking safety But in the process, he put his men at greater risk

We may walk closely with Him for a time finding strength and joy and a measure of spiritual fruit

But for whatever reason, we may begin to feel confidence in ourselves thinking we know what we’re doing 

Then we step outside His will in some area of our life

Just as David had experienced victory after victory over Saul in the wilderness, but then ran for protection among the Philistines

When we step outside the Lord’s will, He doesn’t forget us or leave us

Instead, He works patiently in the background

First, He may give us time to experience the foolishness of our decision

He may let our situation play out for a time, letting us collect a few scars along the way

This moment marks David's absolute low point: rejected by the Philistines, betrayed by his own men, everything lost. Yet the turning point is immediate— what happens when we start going against the will of the Lord, or at least seeking our own will.

I have titled this sermon essentially the aspects of a Godly leader, but the reality is that Godly leaders do not always do the right thing, sometimes they amke mistakes and then the Lord will sometimes use our circumstances to draw us back to himself. another low point David was at, who are you following we need to ask ourselves.

In times of deepest need and even after our mistakes, the godly leader turns first to the Lord for strength, guidance, and protection—relying exclusively on God's truth rather than human plans or alliances.

Who do we turn to in crisis? Like David—pulled back from compromise by God's mercy, strengthened in despair, and restored through obedience—we must turn fully to the Lord for guidance and protection, trusting His truth alone.

1 Samuel 30:6 CSB

David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

It was when all seemed lost unfortunatley that David turned to the Lord for strength.

The Godly leader finds strength in God even after our mistakes.

this does not mean that the rest of you get out of this, this is something that we are all called to do. This si the moment David decided to turn His life back to the will of the Lord. Davids Next few steps where to seek the Lord for all things. When Saul was in a similar prediciment, at the end of Himself and no where to turn he turned to spiritists and mediums. when David was brought to the same thing he listened to the Lord’s leading and turned His life back to God.

David asks for the ephod to be brought, the right way to seek God, through the role of the priest.

Should I pursue them he asks the Lord, will I overtake them? The Lord god answered Him and said he would be with David. The second thing we can all learn is

Seek the Lord in all things big or small

Are we seeking the Lord before all things.

He wants us to seek His will and following His plan

We can know His goals and purposes by reading scripture But we can only know His specific will for how we must achieve those outcomes through prayer and taking note of His responses He will close some doors while opening other doors in our life He will convict us of one thing while encouraging us in another David was being pushed away from this battle because he was working the wrong plan even though he had the right goal

David and his men won the battle and brought back all of their stuff from their ancient enemies. He brought them back and something interesting happened. there where some that where left behindbecause they had been to tired to go on.

1 Samuel 30:10 CSB

David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

David goes on with the rest of his men, finds an abandoned AMelekite who was willing to snitch on his people and then proceeded to destroy them and take all the families that where taken hostage back. but along with the men he had also taken some spoils of war.

David was going to share the plunder with all the people there, but the worthless men who where with Him didnt think that the people who stayed behind to rest didnt deserve anything. This is where the third principle comes into play .

This principle recognizes that

We can’t take credit for God’s work through us 

And therefore we can’t use our successes in ministry as cause for individual distinction at the expense of others

This principle impacts how we talk about our success, how we fund our work and how we qualify those who serve in the church

this is a principle that Jesus taught in a parable as well. That when we work for the glory of the Lord we all work for the same reward. That is etrnity with Jesus, Some people will get there just in the nick of time, some will have spent their whole lives following Jesus.

Do the lifers get a better heaven then the newbies? maybe a few more rewards, but the goal is the same. We are all working towards the same goal for the glory of the Lord. That means any good that happens on this earth for is is God;s work through us for His glory.

So What?

Saul, by contrast, is portrayed as a self-absorbed, inconsistent, and unpredictable despot, more concerned with his public image than with heeding the advice of his prophetic mentor, Samuel. The contrast between Saul and David comes to a climax in these closing chapters of 1 Samuel

the text draws our attention to the all-important question: Where do we turn for help in our time of need? As modern believers, we seek the face of God through the portals of his written Word. Being convinced by the truth in his Word, we must seek to act boldly on it, with confidence and hope.

As a Godly leader we must turn to the Lord in all things, we must see when the Lord is working in our lives to draw us back to Himself.

This text illustrates especially well David’s pursuit of God’s will in a time of extreme need. He serves as a model for relying exclusively on God’s truth just as Saul is an illustration of what happens when we reject God’s truth (ch. 28). These are the choices in life: Endor or Abiathar, the witch or the godly priest. Each of us must choose.

repeat previous main points.

The Godly leader finds strength in God even after our mistakes.

Seek the Lord in all things big or small

We can’t take credit for God’s work through us 

In times of deepest need and even after our mistakes, the godly leader turns first to the Lord for strength, guidance, and protection—relying exclusively on God's truth rather than human plans or alliances.

Who do we turn to in crisis? Like David—pulled back from compromise by God's mercy, strengthened in despair, and restored through obedience—we must turn fully to the Lord for guidance and protection, trusting His truth alone.