Sermon Tone Analysis

When we experience relational hurts (whether through actions, words, or lack of encouragement), we often use phrases like "She broke my heart," or "He hurt my feelings," or it was like getting "punched in the gut."

Researcher and neuroscientist Matthew D. Lieberman thought this was just too coincidental, so he set out to study the pain of social rejection.

One of his studies involved putting people in a brain scanner while they played an Internet video game called Cyberball where three "people" (a subject and two computerized "players") toss a ball around to each other.

The point of Cyberball is to make the research subject feel rejected.

At first, all three players toss the ball to each other in turn.

But at a certain point, the other two players cut the poor research participant out of the game.

They toss the ball just to each other.

Even though this is a silly game in a research study and has no bearing on real life, the research subjects were really hurt.

They started feeling distress.

They felt rejected.

When they came out of the scanner, they kept talking to the researchers about how upset they were.

The most interesting part of the study is how their brains processed the social rejection.

To the brain, social pain feels a lot like physical pain—a broken heart can feel like a broken leg, as Lieberman puts it.

In his book Social, Lieberman writes, "Looking at the [brain scans], side by side, without knowing which was an analysis of physical pain and which was an analysis of social pain, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference."

In other words, "When human beings experience threats or damage to their social bonds, the brain responds in much the same way it responds to physical pain."

Either way… we all know one thing, rejection does not feel too good.

Not only can the effects of rejection be difficult for us, but even the fear of rejection can make life decisions, emotions, and clarity difficult.

Many times we do all that we can to prevent rejection, but it continues to be something that just cannot be controlled.

Sometimes just cannot be avoided, but we still try to avoid it.

But as Christians, many times we try to avoid rejection by the world and in doing so, we end up compromising the truths of scripture.

Truths about the Bible’s integrity and sufficiency, truths of sexual orientation, definition of marriage, and authority are continuously compromised because of fear of rejection by the world.

I wonder if we are more afraid to be rejected by the world than we are of being rejected by God.

Offend God before we offend the world.

Family… do we not know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God.

James writes, Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

And yet the beat goes on.

But not all rejection is bad.

There are many situations were it was the best thing that could have happened to us.

Chicago writes a song that illustrates my point… If she would've been faithful, if she could have been true.

Then I would've been cheated, I would never know real love.

I would've missed out on you.

You ever been rejected?

You ever had a time where you were rejected and it worked out for the better?

Many of us could have been rejected and fear rejection right now…but we need to know that many times rejection eventually becomes rejoicing.

We will check this out today.

Last week we saw the unfortunate event of Saul going to the medium of Endor to conger up the spirit of Samuel to find out what he was going to do about the Philistine army mounting against Israel.

The next day Saul and his son’s were going to fight and they were all going to be killed.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming already in progress.

The battle is about to begin.

The lords of the Philistines were passing by hundreds and saw David and his men.

They said the the king, “what are these men doing here?”

This is David, he has been with me for a while and there has done nothing wrong since he has been here.

The lords said, are you crazy, send him back to where he is staying, he cannot come out with us, what if he turns on us.

Is there not a better way for him to reconcile with his master Saul by killing us and giving him our heads?

Is this not the guy who the people of Israel declared his killing 10,000’s.

Achish have you lost your mind?

Achish called for David and told him that he knows that he has done nothing wrong, but the other Philistine rulers wont listen to him so lets not offend them he said and please go back quietly.

David replied, what did I do?

I didn’t do anything to deserve this.

Achish replied, “As far as I am concerned, you are as perfect as an Angel, but the other guys are too afraid.

Tomorrow morning you and your men go home.”

The grass withers the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

1.

The good news…rejection

2. The good news…relief

3. The good news… the Gospel

The first thing we will look at today is the good news of rejection and how eventually it could lead to rejoicing.

The second this we will explore is the relief that it brings the king, but maybe not.

Finally, we will focus in on is how the rejection of Christ ultimately brings us all salvation.

Thesis: Although many times in our lives we seek to find comfort and protection in the arms of the world and find that it becomes a prison, we rejoice that our Lord in His divine wisdom and grace brings us His salvation in a way that may not make sense, yet it does not matter, for Salvation belongs to the Lord when rejection becomes redemption.

I.

The good news… rejection

- Sometimes we just do not know what the Lord is doing for His people

A. We saw two chapters ago that David got himself into a precarious situation.

In his trying to find salvation from Saul with the Philistines, he unfortunately, found favor with the Philistine King Achish.

David was not truthful about where he had been and what he was doing while in his land, yet this deception brought him even more favor with the king.

We ever find that at times many who live on deception often do find favor?

B. But the deception found him so much favor that the king made David and his men his own personal body guard and they were to join him in fighting against Israel.

Because he found favor and salvation from the Philistines, he was now going to fight a war against his own kingdom and killed those he is meant to rule… his own people.

C. Could you imagine finding so much favor with an enemy of America so much so that now you would be forced to kill other Americans in a war?

Now David could have denied the request, causing suspicion with the King and causing him to hunt him down just like Saul.

He was in a no win situation.

It was an impossible situation.

Maybe some of us can relate to this.

Doing something so wrong and foolish that we become stuck and there is just no way out.

You are in a no win situation.

Impossible situation.

D. When it comes to salvation from of our sinful foolishness, we can rejoice, for nothing will be impossible for our God.

E. What we see here in this passage is a … “Surprise!”

Good news came!

F. There was no fooling around with the other Philistine rulers, they assert who in the world are these Hebrews and why are they even here?

After Achish answered, the rulers were angry.

Sure they were, what in the world is Achish thinking?

And then David hears the Gospel?

V.4 “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him.

He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us.

For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord?

Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

This is his salvation from the Lord!

G. Achish then repeats the good news to David.

He tells of his salvation.

He was free.

The king was rejected.

H.

But many times it is not in the way that we would expect… The salvation of the Lord here is rejection.

He was rejected by the other rulers and their rejection was the good news that he needed to hear.

It was his salvation.

His enemies brought him salvation.

I.

This was not the first time the Lord used David’s enemy to save him.

When Saul was in pursuit of David and almost caught up to him, the Philistines attacked Israel to turn Saul away.