Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Anger
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Analytical
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Anger
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After a few weeks, we’re still embroiled in the ongoing saga between Saul and David.
It’s a little bit funny, a bit pathetic, and it’s really sad.
It reveals the enemy to us and teaches us a good deal about God and His people.
It’s nice we have all the details that we do.
Just another day for Saul and his ever-present spear; thing’s like a security blanket for the guy.
The details paint us a picture.
Saul’s seated under a specific tree in a specific place.
And he’s throwing himself a royal pity party.
It’s all “me, me, me” and “all of you” and “why didn’t you” and “no one like me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna go eat worms.”
Hey, it’s his party, he can cry if he wants to.
But, you’re right; it’s pretty pathetic.
It’s all pride and jealousy expressing itself.
Notice, he can’t even name David.
He refers to him as “the son of Jesse.”
It reveals the hatred he has for David.
An expert in the law, knowing that “love your neighbor as yourself” was the second greatest commandment, asked Jesus, “Well, who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied with the story of The Good Samaritan.
The only one to help and stop the man was a Samaritan—a person despised by the Jews.
When Jesus asked the expert in the law, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man?”, the expert in the law didn’t say, “The Samaritan.”
He couldn’t bring himself to name the person he hated.
He replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
It’s a telling moment when we refer to someone as “them” or “that person”.
This is exactly what Saul and his ilk feel for David and how they refer to him.
They can’t name him.
Easier to call him the son of Jesse.
Saul can’t name David.
He groups all the men around him together—all of you—making it seem like everyone is against him.
“Nobody likes me anymore!”
He keeps comparing himself to David, I mean, “the son of Jesse.”
Will the son of Jesse give you what I can give you?
Will he make you all commanders in his army?
Choose me, be my friend, do what I say—I’m better than him!
Saul continues grouping people together—none of you is concerned about me, no one tells me anything.
Poor little fella is feeling all left out.
He doesn’t like what’s going on.
He’s angry, boiling over with hate.
Saul sets himself up as David’s enemy and wants everyone to feel about David what he does.
There was at least one guy who went along with Saul, hook, line, and sinker.
A fella we’ve met before, just last chapter when David was asking the priest for some bread:
Where the Benjamites are speechless, Doeg the Edomite (a non-Israelite lackey of Saul) is more than happy to speak.
He knows it’s time to speak after Saul’s pity party.
Now’s the time to earn some brownie points.
Doeg even sounds like Saul:
That’s all Saul needed.
Thanks to his buddy, Doeg, Saul will get to make things right for himself.
Saul blames Ahimelek for David’s rebellion.
It’s all “me, me, me” for Saul.
How dare this priest do his job?!?!
I mean, the audacity!
Ahimelek was merely doing his job, and honestly wasn’t keeping anything from Saul.
Ahimelek speaks the truth: “I know nothing at all about this whole affair.”
That’s what David’s flimsy story actually accomplished.
It kept Ahimelek from knowing any of the actual details of the story, of the whole Saul/David saga.
Ahimelek didn’t know anything about Saul’s issues with David or David running from Saul.
And, of course Ahimelek—the priest!—inquired of God for [David].
Ahimelek says it wasn’t the first time; he’s done so regularly.
It’s his job!
This infuriates Saul.
He’s a small man, even if he is a head-taller than anyone around him.
Small.
Petty.
Jealous.
Murderous.
As disturbing as this whole scene is—and it is disturbing (make no mistake)—this does teach a lesson.
No matter what the enemies of God’s people do, they unwittingly prove that
God’s Word is True
This horrible wickedness on Doeg and Saul’s part, killing not only Ahimelek and the priests but their families (the definition of overkill), is a fulfillment of a prophecy from 1 Samuel 2.
So the judgment the Lord had placed on Eli’s household is now coming to pass.
It’s not pretty, it’s not something we like to hear or read or think about, but there it is.
Doeg’s butchery fulfills the word of God against the house of Eli.
That word (1 Samuel 2) had been spoken 40-50 years earlier.
Ahimelek is the great-grandson of Eli.
God’s Word always come to pass.
Always.
“Even in opposing God’s kingdom God’s enemies only bring to pass God’s Word.” - Dale Ralph Davis
There are plenty of examples of this in the Bible.
Joseph’s brothers, jealous of him, decided to kill him by leaving him in cistern.
Instead of leaving him for dead, they sold him into slavery.
He ended up in Egypt as a slave in Pharaoh’s house, ended up in prison, was released and became second in command to Pharaoh.
Joseph oversaw the preparation of storing up food for a coming famine.
When Joseph’s brothers—the same ones who tried to kill him—showed up in Egypt asking for food, Joseph was there to help them.
Of this Joseph said:
Even in their wicked slaughter of the Lord’s priests, Saul and Doeg fulfill God’s Word.
God’s enemies prove the truthfulness of God’s Word.
In their hostility against God, they carry out His will.
This is what the early Christians both preached and prayed.
Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost packs this truth into one verse:
The early church prayed this truth:
We don’t have Saul as an enemy; we have a more powerful foe.
Satan and his forces are always against us.
We will encounter people and governments and systems who are actively opposing us.
But we can endure, because we know this is true: as men and women oppose God and His people, they will only be fulfilling God’s Word.
This knowledge doesn’t take away grief or sorrow or suffering, but it gives secret certainty of victory.
The Lord’s enemies can never gain the edge.
He’s a thousand steps ahead of them.
If they knew they were only fulfilling God’s Word, they’d kick themselves.
God’s Word is true, and His enemies prove it o’er and o’er.
If anything clear from 1 Samuel 22, it’s that:
God’s People are Hated
Saul’s fury is, it seems, going to be poured out on whomever is closest.
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