The Work of God
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION: Welcome/Prayer
How we come to understand the text of the Old Testament is important...
It is easy to look at chapter written about David, Saul, Jonathan and others and think how we might be like them and how we shouldn’t be like them...
And of course it is wise to do character studies on the men and women of history… but Sunday mornings are not for that… Sunday mornings are for Christ.
When we come to the text of the OT we must ask ourselves, like we did last week, where is Christ in this passage or how does this lead us to Christ and His Crucifixion?
How would Jesus explain our text before us this morning to the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24?
This morning we’ll cover 1 Samuel 18-20 and as we look at these three chapters we’ll ask ourselves how does this point to Christ and we’ll also consider Paul’s instruction from Romans 15:4
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
A verse written in the context of how we are to look to Christ as our example and how we might glorify God as one body.
In doing so we must first identify our three main characters properly...
Saul… is representative of the world…
He has rejected God and God has rejected him…
Jonathan… is representative primarily of believers…
He has a desire to serve God’s Anointed - David, who is a type of Christ
In fact, Jonathan bookends our section today...
We start with him making a covenant with David and then we end with Jonathan in tears as he suffers the consequences of that covenant...
A covenant of joy and goodness that was right, yet one marked with suffering… similar to the New Covenant of which you and I, we who are believers are partakers of...
David… while he continues to be a type of Christ, I think we can still identify with him as well. After all, David is not the Son of God… he is a mere shadow of Jesus… but David, is anointed… and you and I as 1 John 2.20 tells us… we are anointed as part of the New Covenant...
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
With this framework laid… I pray you will learn from these chapters… three things...
In chapter 18 we’ll learn that the Work of God Divides
In 19, the Work of God Prevails
In 20, the Work of God Suffers, meaning that it comes at a personal cost
We’ll read each chapter in its entirety followed up with some teaching then we will close with communion.
Let’s begin with chapter 18.
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,
“Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”
And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on.
The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.
Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.
Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’ ” And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.
Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.
Work of God Divides
Work of God Divides
In our text we see it uniting first before division comes… though it doesn’t always work that way.
But here, we see Jonathan loving David’s soul as his own...
Both seek the heart of Yahweh
Both share the battlefield
Likewise Jonathan makes a covenant with David...
Gives him his garments and weapons… those of an heir, of a prince
Which is similar to what Christ does for us when we enter into the New Covenant with Him… except the roles are reversed.... Christ, the Son of David, clothes us with His righteousness, thus when His Father looks upon us, it is not our sin, He sees but the righteousness of Christ...
Now, as intimate of a friendship that Jonathan and David had it was not homosexual as many critics today try to pass off...
The author of Samuel, who knew the inside scoop of Bathsheba, Uriah, and David, and did not hesitate to speak of that would not hide an act or a relationship of this type to go unspoken of… to treat adultery as a grave sin, but to look the other way on sodomy and homosexuality when the Torah is clear on its sinfulness is preposterous.
Work of God Divides (David bonds with Jonathan, not his father)
This shouldn’t be surprising for anyone who is a believer...
Simple experience teaches us this...
But if you have been wondering if that experience is normal or not… or if you’re doing it wrong....
Anyone who has read the Gospels should know this to be true as well… Luke 12:51-53
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Saul recognizes the Work of God in David
David is successful at war
David is delivered from Saul’s spear, twice in one night
So, Saul attempts to destroy David out of fear
Either in battle by encouraging him to fight the Philistines for the right to marry his oldest daughter, Merab...
Which fails… David humbly refuses and he doesn’t die in battle
So, as Saul learns that Michal is in love with David, and by the wording of it, David is probably in love with her as well... love becomes the next weapon of Saul...
Seduction into idolatry by Michal is Saul’s hope...
A sin the church is very much guilty of today… for the sake of keeping the peace
The church does much in the name of “love” that is sinful
The church will never have true peace with the world, seasons yes, but never permanently… there is no “Only if the church acted more like Jesus we would get along with the world”… no, that leads to crucifixion.
TRANSITION Though there will be hostility and enmity between the world and the work of God, the work of God will always ultimately prevail… let us read chapter 19
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’ ”
Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Work of God Prevails
Work of God Prevails
Saul steps up his efforts to squash David… overtly seeks to kill him
Yet, God’s work will not be stopped… by any king…
Consider Psalm 2… specifically verses 1-2, and the final one 12,
Psalm 2:1-2, 12
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Saul is acting like any other king… any other person who desires to remain autonomous from God… but we see three ways in which God prevails in His plan for His people...
God uses His own people… the church… to prevail
We have seen this throughout history, Justin Martyr, wrote his famous Apologies in this vein to the Roman emperor, in the 2nd century, to try to prevent Christians from being misunderstood and persecuted...
So, here Jonathan warns David
Jonathan persuades Saul to relent...
Jonathan is a peacemaker here…
As such, since Saul relents, he is blessed by it… the world is blessed when it is at peace with God’s people....
Yet, peace between God and rebellious hearts last only so long...
Saul once again strikes out against David
God uses the world to prevail
Michal warns David
Michal deceives her father with an idol that she keeps in the house
God Himself intervenes to accomplish His work
God’s spirit causes Saul’s men, three different groups to prophesy
God’s Spirit causes Saul himself, the king who plots in vain and rages against Yahweh, is humiliated in the process as he winds up naked
Though the work of God divides, we must trust His sovereignty and recognize that God will use any means He deems to to ensure His work prevails...
But, the prevailing reality of God’s will does not mean there will be no suffering… quite the opposite… Christ, showed and taught us that, as He willingly obeyed God’s will all the way to the cross… let us read now chapter 20 and see the suffering that awaits Jonathan and David
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord take vengeance on David’s enemies.” And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.
Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
Work of God Suffers
Work of God Suffers
This last chapter is one of heartbreak
Jonathan and David have a tough decision in front of them… one that could be very costly...
We must not be surprised by this… the road to glory, to life everlasting is a life marked with suffering, marked with sacrifice… think of the words of Jesus in Luke 14:27-28
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
As such, Jonathan and David do not throw wisdom to the wind… they devise a plan
In the process, they remind themselves of the covenant for each other… and as Jonathan points out in verse 22...
If the unwanted outcome results… then so be it, for it is the Lord’s will… for it will be Yahweh who sends David away.
They execute the plan as discussed...
Jonathan experiences rejection from his father b/c of his association and love for David… and his faithfulness to the work of God in David’s life...
When we act for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the Son of David, as Jonathan acts for David, people will hate us… possibly even our own parents, spouses, or children. Again, this is what Jesus tells us in Luke 12:51-53 as we read earlier
The division caused by the work of God in Saul’s house leads to two close intimate friends separating...
Notice the pain, the tears… not hidden by the author, not brush to the side, not muddled...
God’s work as joyful as it is… is not all rainbows and sunshine… in fact it often is not...
Jesus Himself, is recorded weeping twice… once over Jerusalem, and again at the tomb of Lazarus...
But notice how Jonathan and David leave each other despite the tears...
They remind one another of the vow between them…
They also remind one another of the God who oversees both of them and if they do not see each other again in the flesh the Lord will preserve their relationship into eternity....
We, likewise, despite the pain this past week has brought, and what this coming week will bring…
We remind ourselves of the covenant and the promises that the Son of David, Jesus Christ as made with us...
And in doing so, we remind ourselves that we have entered into this covenant not as individuals on a solitary journey… but as individuals adopted into a family, grafted into a body… where each member is encouraged and held accountable in their faithfulness in accordance to the Scriptures.... (Romans 15:1-6)
This is why we do communion weekly… we must be reminded… often of this truth...
As we take of communion… we are reminded of the cost it took for the New Covenant era to be ushered in...
The blood of the Son of David which was shed for our sins upon the cross… thus as we, ourselves experience hardship, b/c of God’s Work in our lives, we look to Him and acknowledge He leads the way… God Himself has suffered for us to spare us from an eternity of suffering…
And that one day… the suffering we experience here… no matter how horrible... will pale in comparison to the glory that the Son of David will usher us into with Him... when He returns at the second coming at which time we will partake with Him in the flesh, the eating of bread and the drinking of wine in celebration and worship.
For though the Work of God Divides, and it’s marked with suffering, it prevails… always has, always will… and in doing so, the Bride of Christ, His Church, will be sanctified and made pure for that great wedding day and wedding feast we all long to partake in...