David Spares Saul

Introduction

Opening Story:

Love of Olympics; Interview with long distance runner; Often think of olympic athletes as bing young; Average age of long distance runner is 45.

Contributed to the prefrontal cortex; Front of brain that develops until 20s; In charge of delayed gratification; saying no to what’s good now for what’s better later.

Following God is about delayed gratification. Saying no to what may seem good now for God’s plan; Paul compares our faith to running- 2Tim; I have finished the race.

Today we’ll see David knew the importance of the long game; not being persuaded by instant gratification. That taking part in God’s longterm plan often means short term sacrifice.

Turn to 1 Samuel 24

Context

If you’re following along in our reading plan you will know that in the past two weeks we were introduced to two of the Bible’s most famous characters. — King Saul & David

Saul became King after as a result of Israels lack of contentment with God.

They weren’t able to accept God as their true king and wanted an earthly King like all the surrounding nations. God gave them what they wanted. And if you’ve been following along you’ve seen that’s not going to well.

It’s also during this time we’re meet a young Shepard named David. And although he is the smallest and youngest of his brothers we learn that God has chosen him to be the future King of Israel.

1 Samuel chronicles the relationship between these two men. And we see this parallel story lines of Davids rise and Sauls fall.

One of the most famous moments of this story being David and Goliath. When young David has the faith to defeat a literal giant while King Saul is hiding in fear with the armies of Israel.

As a result of this victory public favor quickly turns toward David and away from Saul. This results in Saul having great anger toward David.

After Saul tries to throw a spear at him twice, David realizes his life is in danger and goes on the run, hiding from Saul.

Transition — This brings up to our text for today. We will see what David does when we is presented with the opportunity to put an end to his suffering and hiding by killing king Saul.

Text: 1 Samuel 24:1-7/ 1 Samuel 26:1-11

BIG IDEA: Taking part in God’s longterm plan often requires short term sacrifice.

Social Sacrifice

1) Social Sacrifice : 1 Samuel 24:4-6 / 1 Samuel 26:8-9

Twice we see David is encouraged by his men to Kill Saul.

Yet both times David refuses to do so

How Did Davids men feel about this?

They left their lives to follow someone who was an enemy of the King?

By all accounts they were as much an enemy of Saul as David was.

And now that David had a chance to end their hiding and running by killing Saul he chooses not to.

I probably would have been pretty peeved if I was one of David’s men.

Verse 7 tells us David had to restrain his men.

The Hebrew word for restrain here implies a strong sense to hold back or too imprison.

The decision that David made what not popular.

Why didn’t David kill Saul?

Because Saul was the Anointed One.

David knew that even though Saul opposed him it was God who anointed him as King.

What Did David Risk Loosing?

Because of David’s trust in God’s plan he risked loosing his closest supporters.

Choosing to Trust God and be faithful to his plan will inevitably cost us the same thing. We don’t have an army of men we are at risk of loosing, but if we get serious about trusting God and his plan we do risk loosing relationships with friends, bf/gf, co-workers.

When we trust God’s plan it may lead to feelings of alienation.

When we get serious about God it’s going to rub some people the wrong way.

And we can’t let pressure to conform to those around us keep us form trusting God and his design.

We Feel this Pressure to Conform in every stage of Life.

Students: Fashion, Music, Behavior,

Adults: Fitting a work culture, partaking in Gossip just because it’s what your other couple friends are doing.

Parents: Pressure to keep up with the joneses, to work hard and save for that vacation, to make sure your student can be at every ballgame and practice.

It’s not a matter of if but when.

Just like David we have these moments, when we will have to decide, “Am I going to give in to the popular trends and behavior around me out of fear of isolation?” or, “Am I going to trust God’s word, God’s Promise, God’s plan, and risk looking different.”

Chick - Fil - A

A Great example of trusting God’s design as opposed to giving into the pressure of the world around us can be found in Chick-Fil-A

According to Business Insider Chick-Fil- A looses more than 1billion dollars a year by being closed on Sundays.

There is a reason all other major fast food chains are open on Sundays. Because weekends are some of the busiest times for Restaurants.

When I asked about this founder Truett Cathey said “ Closing our business on Sunday, The Lord’s Day, is our way of honoring God and showing our loyalty to Him… My Brother and I closed our first restaurant on the first Sunday after we opened in 1946, and my children have committed to closing our restaurants on Sundays long after I’m gone. I believe God honors our decision and sets before us unexpected opportunities to do greater work for Him because of our loyalty.”

I Love that when asked about closing on Sunday he isn’t afraid to point his decision back to God. Imagine the people who have go to to hear about God just because Truett Cathy decided to choose faith to God’s plan instead of conforming to social norms.

How could you impact God’s kingdom by doing the same?

Students: What if by choosing to act different around your friends you were given a chance to talk abut God?

Parents: What if instead of involving your child in every sport or extra curricular activity you just chose one. And when people asked why you had the chance to explain that God is our ultimate priority.

Just as David chose to go against the grain of his men by trusting God’s plan, we also have that same choice every day.

Sacrificing Comfort

2) Sacrifice Comfort: 1 Samuel 24:2-3 / 1 Samuel 26:2-3

But David wasn’t just enduring the social outcomes of following God here, he was also sacrificing his comfort.

Earlier in in 1 Samuel we learn that David has been selected to be the next King of Israel.

He knows that when Saul is no longer king he will be next inline for the throne .

With Sauls death would come the end of his running and hiding in caves and mountains.

David in these moments is inches away form grabbing his future for himself. Inches away form going from fugitive Shepard to anointed King of Israel.

Yet despite this, despite the very real temptation to to become the most powerful and wealthy person in the nation, he chooses to step back and say, “God this is not your way”.

David knew that achieving earthly success at the expense of Gods plan was failure. This World success at his fingertips would come at a great cost.

Verse 9, “who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?”

David knew the consequences of these actions.

So instead of being disobedient for the sake of his comfort, David was faithful to God’s plan.

Trusting God’s Leaders

I think it’s so fascinating the respect and reverence that David has for Saul in these moments. Someone who is literally trying to hunt him down and kill him. Saul has thrown a Spear at David.

Yet despite this, despite the fact he is being forced to live his life on the run in the wilderness he has the faith to say. “God I trust you. And if you have Made Saul our King, I won’t do anything to try and change that.”

Does that mean David didn’t see anything wrong in what Saul was doing?

Not at all. David Knew the Lord, and David knew Saul. I’m sure he knew that Saul was ruling in a way that wasn’t honoring God. Yet he still recognized, “God has made Saul king, so who am I to go against that?”

David’s Mentality is so against what our world teaches us.

David embraced and choose discomfort to show he trusted God’s plan.

I think this is a message American Christians need to hear in particle.

I think we can all agree that topics around government and politics in this country have gotten more and more uncomfortable.

Just look at the nature of the last two election cycles.

One side wins, and the other side immediately rallies around the idea that foreign governments influenced the election.

The Other side wins, and then their opponents immediately rally around the idea of voter fraud and a stolen election.

What if instead getting upset when our candidate doesn’t win and attacking that person we were to say. “You know, I don’t agree with that person on this or that, But I know it’s part of God’s plan for them to be the president.”

Talk about getting uncomfortable for the sake of trusting God’s plan. You may be thinking “If I say that people are gonna think I’m crazy.” You’re probably right. I’m sure some of David’s mean thought he was crazy for not killing Saul when he hand the chance.

We shouldn’t let fear of discomfort or going against the grain keep us from trusting God’s plan.

Sacrificing Control

3) Sacrificing Control: 1 Samuel 24:10

Not only does David risk keeping favor with his mean, or sacrifice his own comfort for the sake of God’s plan, but he also surrenders his control.

David was able to say I don’t know the outcome of this situation and that’s okay.

David could have easily said, I’m tired of living in fear and running I’m goin got take control of my life. Yet he doesn’t

Instead he chooses to trust Gods plan.

I think we all know how stressful and anxious we can get when we feel like we have no control of a situation.

Loosing control as a child

When I was growing up there were two specific moments that lead to a lot of anxiety for me. Both revolving around a lack of control.

Tell baseball and Tornado Story.

Because of both of those I had a good amount of anxiety surrounding those situations

It’s scary when we feel like we don’t have control

We see this looking at this past year.

According to Wold Health Organization due to new realities of Covid-19 such as working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends, and colleagues Fear, worry, and stress are on the rise.

Symptoms of Anxiety disorder and/or depressive disorder in January of 2019 were at 11% among adults.

These rose to 41.1% in January of this year.

Where do we run when we feel like we have no control?

There will be times in life when you don’t feel in control.

Loss of a Job, Diagnosis of Cancer, Death of a child.

One place people often turn is to Alcohol. Multiple surveys how that drinking during the pandemic including binge drinking has increased. With one study finding a rise of 39 percent.

The highest increase of alcohol consumption is among women ages 26-49. Makes sense considering the pressure put on many women to teach their kids on top of what else is already on their plate.

Turning to God

Ultimately David gives us the example of where to turn when we feel out of control.

Psalm 22:19-24

This Psalm of David shows his faith and trust in God and his plan even when his left felt totally out of control

Some Bible scholars even believe this Psalm was written by David while in hiding from Saul.

When we decide to trust God and live life with an open hand we find freedom.

No longer am I relying on my own strength and abilities. But I am clinging to the one who will never fail.

When I do that, I can sacrifice my need for control at God’s feet.

If we truly desire to trust God’s plan we have to realize it requires sacrifice. We have to learn to let go of our need for social acceptance, comfort, and control. And cling tight to the promise of God.

Gospel Connection

Jesus Connection

David serves as a great example here of being willing to sacrifice things for God’s plan.

But if you grew up in church, you know David doesn’t always do that.

But luckily David isn’t our example. I don’t want you the leave here thinking I need to be more like David.

David was a Godly man, but ultimately he serves as precursor for Christ.

Because David not too long after this fails himself to the same pride and elegance that Saul had succumbed to.

Our hope isn’t in David, it’s in Christ.

Christ as an Example of Sacrifice

Christ knew what it was like to loose his social status.

The crowed that Jesus drew left him.

Even his closest friends left him alone.

Christ Knew what It was like to face discomfort.

Whipped, Mocked, and nailed to a cross.

A Crown of thorns that would have pierced his flesh and likely reached his skull.

Nails driven the bones in his ankles and wrists.

While David didn’t know how God would deal with Saul. But Christ knew the outcome for His life. And that through his sacrifice God would deal with death and sin.

Hebrews 12:2

Jesus as our Example

Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything he hasn’t already done.

Just as Jesus’s sacrifice was motivated by love for us, I pray that the sacrifices we make are motivated by a love for Jesus.

Let our motivation to be a Love for God and not a sense of obligation.

Closing Prayer:

What area of your life is keeping you from fully trusting God’s plan?

What steps can you take to make God more of a priority in your life.