Same Song, Second Verse

Same Song, Second Verse - 1 Sam. 26-27

Singing: Oh the horse put his foot, put his foot on the ground. (3x) Ain’t this a terrible song. Same song, second verse, could get better but it’s gonna get worse. Oh, the horse… (can go on forever as long as you can count)

I’m afraid that we can sometimes think of our lives and our struggles this way. - I would rather that you perceive the opportunity that each day brings to grow in the Lord and be used by Him… to see your life like some of the great hymns we sing, in which each verse climbs on the foundational truth of the previous until reaching it’s peak at one day finding rest and joy in the presence of God!

While the wicked seem to go on repeating the same folly, the one who fears God, even in his weakness, learns from past experiences and is further trained in righteousness by trusting God and doing good.

Proverbs 26:11 ESV

Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

Galatians 6:9 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

As we return to 1 Samuel today, I pray that you will openly receive and apply the timeless and relevant truth that God has for us there. After all, God himself is timeless and present.

PRAY

In our text today, we have the same song, second verse… from the Hills of Hachilah, to the Frontier of Philistia.

From the Hills of Hachilah (ch. 26)

1 Samuel 26 ESV

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him. Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.” Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

The Fool Repeats His Folly - Saul:

The Ziphites still want to get rid of David (as in 23:19), still want to ingratiate themselves to King Saul.

And I know, you’re all shocked that Saul is still seeking David’s life.

Saul’s Men Sleep on the Job

Abishai and Joab are David’s nephews.

David still won’t let Abishai, who offered to do it himself, take Saul’s life.

God does what God does, which is to put all Saul’s men in a deep sleep. (like the sleep of Adam when God took a rib to make Eve)

One who has faith in God is given…

Continual Opportunities for Training in Righteousness:

(Learning lessons from past experiences under God’s providential control…)

Notice what David says to Saul this time: David feels like he’s being pushed from the heritage of the Lord.

God is still doing what God does. ...Which is proving his glory by keeping his promises and providentially controlling in ways that he knows is best.

[Consider the example David sets for his men!]

David’s Endurance Wanes

He appears to lose heart in his retreat to Philistia. (27:1)

To the Frontier of Philistia (ch. 27)

1 Samuel 27 ESV

Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’ ” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

The Fool Repeats His Folly - Achish:

Right Under Achish’s Nose...

Continual Opportunities for Doing Good:

David’s Raids...

Against Israel’s enemies, but making sure Achish will never hear of it.

From David’s Day to Today… and Tomorrow:

Don’t Be a Fool!

(- In CONTEXT of ch. 2 of 2 Peter, false teachers and those they’ve deceived…)

2 Peter 2:21–22 ESV

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

In other words, you prove who you are. Don’t be a fool thinking that you can “play church” and “play religion,” thinking you’re safe and can just live however you like. You are either his by grace through faith, bought with a price (the price of Christ’s atoning death on a cross), or you remain a fool pretending not to be God’s enemy when you really have not been changed.

Galatians 6:7–8 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Again, the one who has the Spirit of God belongs to God, and the one who has the Spirit of God demonstrates a process of growing more in Christlikeness to the glory of God.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief (context of 2 Peter 3)

2 Peter 3:11–12 ESV

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

Now, being certain of who you are in Christ also doesn’t make everything EASY. We face trial and we face temptation. (aka. we face suffering, we face worldly influence and appeal, and we face the battle with our old nature)

Don’t Grow Weary; Grow in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Grow in keeping an eternal perspective.

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Grow in fixing your eyes on and pursuing the perfect model.

2 Peter 3:18 ESV

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Grow in dependence on his sufficiency.

Grow in understanding God’s character and in submission to His will.

2 Timothy 2:1–3 ESV

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Grow in diligence to Christ’s mission and in disciplined focus for ministry.

v. 2, diligence to the mission

vv. 3ff, disciplined ministry focus: Soldiers don’t get entangled in civilian affairs, athletes compete according to the rules and to get the prize, the hardworking farmer reaps the later reward from God.

Tomorrow may seem like the same song, another verse. But bear in mind that tomorrow is a unique and precious opportunity to be trained in godliness, to elevate Jesus in your own heart and before others.