A different outlook

Division

When you consider the pandemic from a social perspective, it really becomes this great paradox. You just have to go back to the great toilet paper wars of the early pandemic, and for that matter, every time a new cluster of cases came out. The paradox was that while we were all singing - we’re on in this together, we were actually tearing each other apart.

Now as the pandemic has gone on, as a society we’ve gone through various phases. The first phases was - this will all blow over in a few months phase. No one really knew what was going on. Some were very afraid. Others thought it was nothing. But in the confusion we saw a society that was both simultaneously generous and selfish towards one another.

As we started to realise that this is going to last more than a few months, I think we just got more confused, not really sure where any of it was going to go.

But then towards the end of 2020, the vaccines came, and I think things just got weirder.

First, everyone was a little wary. It was all so quick. But then many started to accept them, some wholeheartedly, others more reluctantly.

As a society, I think we’ve struggled with such quickly changing ideas.

But we’re just now moving into a new phase which has the potential to be very divisive. The mandated vaccine.

And this is where things get messy. Because it’s not just whether an individual chooses to accept something or not, but making life very difficult if they don’t choose a certain way.

Now I’m not going to give my thoughts on the particulars of this issue, although I’ll happily share my thoughts in other forums if you’re interested.

But I raise it to explore how divisive things have become. Even for many who are happily accepting of the vaccine, the mandating of it is a step too far.

The question is: where to from here?

You see, we can argue till the cows come home about all the different aspects of this issue. But, regardless of whatever side of the argument you fall on, I dare say you’ve probably realised that these arguments don’t usually get very far.

If you’ve ever been in one of the these discussions, I suspect you’ve noticed how you get a bit tense (or possibly very tense), you get these strong emotions building up. And it can be very hard to stop those emotions boiling over. Before you know it, what started as you wanting to share what you know has ended in a big conflict and possibly even damaged relationships.

And so we can see, arguing our way out of here is not going to work. So do we just accept that we’re going to be divided?

Link with series

Well, we’re in the middle of our series now on David - the man that God has allowed to see things differently.

And the place we are up to in his story is a place where divisions is appearing all over the place.

It started when the people of Israel asked for a king just like the other nations.

They got Saul, a king just like the other nations.

We saw people become disgruntled and aligned themselves with David even though David himself wasn’t actually against Saul.

If you were listening last week, we saw that even though David was being chased by Saul, when he had the chance to put an end to Saul’s life (twice in fact), he made a deliberate choice to do what was right and faithful and spared his life.

But even in the group that aligns themselves with David, we’re about to see how divisions are about to happen in their.

So let’s trace what happens here, and then we’ll come back and we’ll see if we can discern anything about how David handles this situation that might be able to help our own situation.

David in Philistia

Well, last week, I finished my very quick survey of the David’s run from Saul in 1 Sam 26 which was this second time that David had spared Saul’s life.

It was becoming increasingly clear that David could not trust Saul under any circumstances, which of course leaves his options very limited.

And given that David has categorically ruled out dealing with this by taking out Saul, his only real option was to move away.

And so when we get to 1 Sam 27, that’s exactly what happens.

Now you might recall in my quick survey last week that David already had been forced into the territory of the Philistines. That was the occasion when he pretended to be insane and the king of Gath let him go as he already had enough madmen.

Well, on his second trip to this same region, he takes quite a different approach, and you could potentially argue that it was a dubious tactic.

This time it is very clear that he has his 600 men with him, and the questionable tactic is that he makes friends with the enemy.

The Philistines have long been there enemy, yet here he is, finding favour with him.

Now as it goes on, we’ll see that David actually tells lies to convince Achish, the king of Gath, that David and his men are allied with the Philistines.

You see, David would tell Achish that he had been raiding parts of Israel. If it were true, this would be a very serious betrayal of his own people.

The reality is that David was doing nothing of the sort. He was raiding the Amalekites.

Now was this an appropriate tactic for David to use? Well, to be honest, the Bible doesn’t make that very clear. It’s just reporting things as it happened. I would say however, that with the absence of any clear indication that David is seeking the Lord on this matter, you do have to wonder whether this is actually a case of David taking matters into his own hands. And soon, things are going to turn ugly for him.

Saul’s troubles

Now, what we find in these last five chapters of 1 Samuel, is that we get an interlacing of Saul’s story with David - and in some ways, it really provides a clear contrast.

By seeing the clear trouble that Saul is getting himself into, we can see how David does it better.

Now, admittedly, I have just mentioned that David has questionably made a dodgy decision, but this is really nothing compared with the countless bad calls Saul has made, where he is now constantly trying to get things back on track with his own ability - something which is always going to be doomed.

Well, when we get to chapter 28, we find that Israel is about to receive a fresh attack by the Philistines, the very people that David is getting cosy with.

So how does Saul respond to this new threat?

Well when you hear what he does, you’re probably going to respond - that’s terrible!

That’s because he is about to see a medium, or what is sometimes described as a witch.

Now you are right to be outraged, and the account is pushes us in this way, but before we get too outraged, let’s actually look what’s going on in Saul’s head.

You see, Saul’s actually terrified. He’s afraid, and rightly so.

And he actually want to inquire of the Lord. It tells us in 28:6 that he tries, but whatever he does, God is not answering.

Now that perhaps should be telling Saul something - that he should stop right now and humble himself before God. And so this is where he crosses a very bad line.

You see, Saul’s route to God had typically been through the prophet Samuel. But unfortunately Samuel was dead. So Saul decides to use a medium to call Samuel up from the dead.

Now we could have a big discussion about what this tells us about the spirits of dead people, but I’m going to leave this one alone for now. I just wanted to highlight this chapter to show how Saul’s predicament had led him to a dreadful decision.

But allow me to pause briefly, because I think this error that Saul is making, while we might not go to the extreme of a medium, but we do easily switch to sources other than God.

When God doesn’t answer, we want to do anything that will give us an answer.

If I relate this to our current situation, perhaps you’ve even been in that situation where you’re trying to listen to God’s voice, but it just doesn’t seem to come. Don’t be tempted to go down dubious means. Now as I mentioned, I don’t think too many of you will be tempted to go to a medium, however, we can start to listen to voices that agree with our own and then mistake it for God.

And don’t be fooled that this is just a lesson for those who disagree with your view point. Meaning, if you think vaccines are safe, don’t think it’s just the dissenting voices that are dubious, and vice versa, if you’re on the other side, don’t just think it’s the mainstream news that is dubious.

The reality is that neither the dissenting voices, nor the mainstream media are God’s voice. They are all just voices of others trying to find their way through this mess.

David’s troubles

Well, I’ll come back to what eventually comes of Saul, but we’re taken back to David’s story again.

I’ll effectively jump over chapter 29, other than to say that here we see some of the working out of David’s dodgy alliance with Achish. Basically, Achish was happy to trust David, but Achish’s army was not.

Anyway, it meant that David ended up far away from Saul.

The action Saul is facing which I’ll briefly touch on in chapter 31, is happening effectively simultaneously to David’s action in chapter 30.

Well, at the start of chapter 30, David returns back to Ziklag. Ziklag is where David’s men have been stationed for the period of this alliance.

But when David’s men get there, they realise tragedy has struck! The place has been raided by the Amalekites.

It’s almost like David has been so concerned about issues elsewhere that he missed another threat to him. And not only were their possessions raided, their wives and children had been taken as well.

Now, when things start going bad like this, people naturally start looking for someone to blame. And usually that will start with the leader - and that’s exactly what happens here.

Finding Strength

Just look at verse 6 - they start talking about stoning David.

But if you look at the end of verse 6, you’ll see the difference between David and Saul.

Saul lost all hope. David on the other hand, well, it says that he found strength in the Lord his God.

And I want to suggest that this is the start of the lesson for us.

This strength is not some inner resolve. This strength is based on the truths of God.

Now for us, we have so many great truths because we have the whole of Scripture available which reveals for us who God is and what he does for us.

Perhaps the greatest truth - God loves you!

I know sometimes we go through rough patches and it might not feel like it, but when things start to break apart, we can rest on that truth.

Or Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

There are actually lots of great truths. And they can help to strengthen you.

Whatever you believe about the vaccines, this is all in a different league.

Our arguments are all going to be based on fallible human’s best judgements - and while that doesn’t mean we should dismiss it, it won’t strengthen you like the truths of God.

Seeking God

In verse 7, we then see David seeking after God’s wisdom.

Now we’ve already talked a bit about this in looking at Saul’s example. The truth is that sometimes the answer is going to be clearer than other times.

But I just want to urge you, whether you get a clear answer or not, keep seeking him.

David does this through a priest. We however live in a time when we have the great high priest, Jesus. We just call on him and listen. If the answer isn’t forthcoming - keep calling!

God in action

In David’s case, he does get a clear answer. He’s told that the raiding party will be overtaken and the rescue mission a success.

Now we come to another interesting part of the story.

You see, David has got 600 men. These men are tired. They were probably tired before they discovered their town plundered, and then the shock of their wives and children taken, and the grief, would have taken what little strength they had left.

And so as they pursue the Amalekites, 200 of them become too exhausted to cross a particular valley, leaving only 400 on the pursuit. This is going to become relevant again soon, because we’ll see that it will cause further division.

Well, we see God’s hand in the victory that is about to happen, in that the Amalekites left for dead an Egyptian slave who is able to be useful to David and his remaining men.

The Egyptian confirms that he’s in the know regarding the men they are pursing and he is able to lead David to them.

The men are totally unprepared. They’re in celebration mode because of their great plunder, and so prove easy pickings for David’s men.

The result is total victory for David. They are able to fully recover their wives and children and livestock,

The day is saved.

New problem

But we have a new problem.

It’s a sad one, but a problem that can easily occur.

You see, the 400 men that did the work looked at the 200 men that were too exhausted, and thought - I don’t want these freeloaders to benefit off my hard work.

You see, we’ve got this great victory, but it’s being soured by people whose main concern is themselves.

And that’s exactly what it is. They’ve made a judgement on those too exhausted, and presumably concluded that they were lazy. Why should they work why others slack off?

But remember, David does not see like other people. David has this supernatural insight to be able to see things differently. It doesn’t mean he’s perfect. In fact, I’ve already alluded to one flaw today, and in a few weeks, we’re going to see a massive misstep.

All Share Alike

But on this occasion, he declares: “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All shall share alike”.

In fact verse 25 tells us that he made is a statue and ordinance for Israel from that day on.

But David’s generosity goes even further.

Now remember, the plunder he’s recovered is more than just what they had lost. Because the Amalekites had been plundering other towns as well.

So, David sends some of the plunder to the elders of Judah and to many other regions as well.

How we respond

Now, I just want to briefly think about this from the perspective of our situation.

The situation we’re in regarding vaccines might play out one of a few different ways (and I do recognise that I’m about to simplify something that is actually complicated).

On one hand, we might see that those who have the vaccine, for the vast majority of cases, suffer no lasting ill effect, and are able to get the virus under control to the point we no longer need to worry about restrictions.

Perhaps on the other hand, many of the concerns about the vaccines prove warranted and they offer little effect in the battle against the virus.

Now, whatever happens, it’s not hard to imagine that the people advocating the scenario that happened, will look at those who held opposing views and say - you held us back. You took us down a dangerous track and there needs to be consequences for that.

I believe that David here is giving us a lesson that we can’t do that, but more than just waiting till the end, we need to be making sure we’re not going down this path now.

I discussed at the start about the danger of poor arguments. Arguments that can break relationships down because we start saying hurtful things.

We have to be so careful with our language, because we need to be generous with one another.

We need to avoid the assumptions about the other.

Don’t assume the person rejecting the vaccine is a loopy conspiracy theorist.

Don’t assume the person taking the vaccine is a conforming mindless lemming.

We can discuss the issues, but we can do it with the generosity that David shows. A generosity that says, even if you stay behind, even if you go against me, I’ll still show you love.

This is how God operates.

Ultimately, this is the message of the cross. A cross that was for all people.

I don’t know how everything is going to play out, but I do know that if we move with a generous, loving spirit, in the end, we will have unity. And this is what we so desperately need at a time like this.

Saul’s end

Before I wrap up, let’s just quickly visit what happens to Saul.

Saul had been moving further and further away from God. His main problem was that he didn’t want to humble himself before God.

In the end, he literally falls on his own sword. He’s injured in battle. Knows that the Philistines won’t treat him well. He tries to get his armour bearer to finish him off, but he refuses, so his life ends in a very inglorious way.

Israel wanted a king like the other nations. They got one. A man whose concern was himself and he died by himself.

Conclusion

The contrast between Saul and David is striking and should be a focal point for us.

When we focus on ourselves, we will end with division and a long way from God.

When we see as God does - in a way that cares for all, even those who stand opposed to us, we find unity, we find the love of God. We start to find the shalom - that peace that only God provides.

Whether it’s vaccine or any other matter, be diligent in caring for all.

Let me pray...