1 Samuel 19:8-10 - The sixth attempt to kill David

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Introduction

When a man turns his back upon God, there is always a loss of judgment.  And a person, who has turned his back upon God, oftentimes does foolish things.  Saul has turned his back upon the LORD, and he has developed a great jealousy of David.  He does suspect, and correctly so, that David is God’s choice to succeed him on the throne.  And so he is doing his best, by force, to destroy David-to kill him, in order that he might hold on to that which, according to God’s plan, is no longer rightfully his.  Turning against your godly friends is always a sign of spiritual backsliding and deterioration.  You don’t want to be around your godly friends, you feel convicted when you’re around them.  You begin to avoid them.  Watch out!  That’s a danger sign.  You’re on a slippery path, you’re going down. 

It is interesting that Saul, in this way, becomes an interesting type of Satan, and David a type of Jesus. 

a)                   You see, Satan has been ruling over this world.  The Bible calls him, “the god of this age.”  Jesus calls him, “the prince of this world.”  And he has been ruling over the earth, but God has anointed Jesus Christ to be the King. 

b)                  Satan, knowing that Jesus Christ was God’s anointed-for the demon said, “We know who you are; the Holy One of God.”  Satan did his best to destroy him and continues to do his utmost to hold, by force, that which is no longer rightfully his. 

c)                   Jesus redeemed the world from the power of Satan and darkness.  And yet, he is not ascended to the throne, he is not yet begun his reign over the earth: he reigns only in the hearts and lives of those that have submitted to him.  But one day he is going to reign over the earth. 

d)                  But in the meantime, as Saul, Satan is doing his best, by force, to keep the rightful King from sitting upon the throne. 

e)                   But even as Saul was destroyed, and David ultimately sat upon the throne, so is the throne of David to be filled by that descendant of David, Jesus Christ, whom God has appointed the rightful King over the earth. 

Now here we are in that portion where Saul has vowed to kill David.  And we observe David in this time of great stress, and as we see David under this tremendous pressure, the sentence of death hanging over him (20:3).  We see David with lapses of faith, we see David an imperfect man, we see him resorting to the flesh and to fleshly means.  We do not see him as a constant picture of trust and faith in God, we see him in a very vacillating state: sometimes speaking of great trust in God, and yet devising his own schemes for escape.  And as we read of David’s conditions, his deceptions, his lies in order to escape the hand of Saul, it is easy to throw darts at David and say, “Oh ho, you know: he’s supposed to be this great king, and trust in God, and all.  But look at that.”  But if you were in David’s shoes, under the same circumstances, you would have had your problems too.  And as Jesus said, “Let him that is without sin, cast the first stone.”  

            Now, in spite of David’s failures, lapses of faith, it is comforting to know that God’s testimony of David was that he was “a man after God’s own heart.”  That encourages me.  I’m glad that the Scriptures are honest enough to tell us the faults of the heroes.  It doesn’t seek to paint them as perfect men; it shows that they are human just like us. 

            As James said, concerning the prophet Elijah, that “he was a man of like passions just like we are.”  I don’t think of Elijah that way.  Man, I think of him as a “super-saint.”  I mean, this guy was something special.  You know, he prayed, and it didn’t rain for three and a half years.  Wow!  But he was a man of like passions just like you and me.  He wasn’t a super-saint.  David was not a super-saint, David sinned.  David failed in faith and of his trust of God, and yet, God used him.  Yet, God anointed him.  And yet, God testified, “he’s a man after my own heart.”  And that encourages me. 

If God only used perfect men, then I would go hide in a corner someplace.  And I would disqualify myself, and I’d say, “Well, God can never use me because I’m imperfect.  I know I am imperfect.”  And I would disqualify myself.  But all the way through, I find that God has used imperfect men.  Seeking to deal with their imperfections, seeking to mold them, and shape them into His image, and using the testings and the trials for that very purpose: of revealing our places of human failure and weakness so that we would not trust in our flesh, but we would trust more in God. 

A.                 An evil and murderous assault aroused by jealousy (v.8-10)

1.                  David fought the Philistines and was victorious (v.8).

2.                  Saul was again overcome by an evil spirit (v.9-10a)

a)                  David was playing the harp for Saul (v.9)

(1)                 Note that David was playing the harp for Saul just as he had earlier done (1 Samuel 18:10-11; 16:14-23).
(2)                 Our hands (members) can be used for good or evil (Romans 6:13). 
(a)                 In David hand was an instrument of worship (harp, v.10)
(b)                Saul’s hand was an instrument of war (v.10)
(c)                 David’s hand was an instrument of healing (to sooth Saul’s troubled soul)
(d)                Saul’s hand was an instrument of hurting (to hurt David).  What’s in your hand?
(3)                 Our members are to be yielded to the Spirit of God (Romans 12:1-2).
(a)                 Romans 6:16, 19 who are you a slave to?
(b)                Romans 7:5 our old life bore fruit unto death
(c)                 1Cor.6:15, 20 whatever you do with your members, Christ is with you.
(d)                Colossian 3:5 consider our earthly members to be dead!
(e)                 James 3:5-6; 4:1 our tongue is one of the worst members of our body! 

b)                  Saul tried to kill David with his spear (v.10a)

(1)                 David eluded Saul and escaped (v.10b).  It was not his time to die, God still had plans for David, just like our Lord Jesus Christ:
(a)                 Luke 4:30; John 10:39; John 7:1-8
(2)                 God will allow a spear to be thrown at us sort of speak.
(a)                 God will allow people to pin us to the wall with their words.  Why? 
(b)                Maybe pride.  This reminds me of Paul in (2Cor.12:7-10). 
(c)                 God used King Saul to get rid of the Saul in David.  God will allow you to be put under someone who just might be a King Saul.
(d)                David would have grown up to become King Saul II, except that God cut away the Saul inside David’s heart.  That operation took years and was a brutalizing experience that almost killed the patient.
(e)                 And what were the scalpel and tongs God used to remove this inner Saul?  God used the outer Saul
(f)                  King Saul sought to destroy David, but his only success was that he became the instrument of God to put to death the Saul who roamed about in the caverns of David’s own soul.  This had to happen or the Saul in David would have survived.    

3.                  The Sin of murder.

a)                  Where does murder arise from?

(1)                 Murder arises from anger (Matthew 5:21-22)
(2)                 Murder arises from the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21)
(3)                 Murder arises from the heart (Matthew 15:19)
(4)                 The crowd wanted Jesus crucified even though He was innocent (Matt.27:23).

b)                  No murderer will inherit eternal life (1John 3:14-15). 

(1)                 Only one hope remains for the murderer: a genuine repentance, a complete turning away from the life of sin to the life of righteousness found only in the Lord Jesus Christ:

Paul said that "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...” "being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." (Romans 1:18, 29-32, NASB95)

In Revelation 21 we read that "The cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8, NASB95)

(2)                 Passing from death to life (v.14).
(a)                 We Know… there is something John says that we can know, & that is that we can know we have passed from spiritual death unto eternal life.  Jesus said a similar phrase. 

In John 5:24 He said “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (John 5:24 NKJV)

(3)                 Love Is The Proof That One Has Passed From Death to Life.
(a)                 A love for the people of God is a basic sign of being born again. If this love is not evident in our lives, our salvation can be questioned. If it is present, it gives us assurance! 
(b)                The Bible describes lost persons in (Titus 3:3) by saying that they are hateful & hating one another. The place of hatred, of jealousy, of bitterness you find yourself in is a place of death. You need to pass from death to life!
(c)                 Other Tests John Gives As An Assurance of Our Salvation.  True believers will—

(i)                   walk in the light (1:5-7),

(ii)                 keep God’s commandments (2:3-5),

(iii)                walk as Christ walked (2:6),

(iv)               show that they are abiding in the light by loving one another (2:10-11),

(v)                 no longer love the world and the things in the world (2:15),

(vi)               abiding in the will of God (2:17)

(vii)              practice righteousness (2:29),

(viii)            not go on living in sin (3:9),

(ix)               exercise love (3:14).

(4)                 Hatred is murder (v.15).
(a)                 To Hate Our Brother Is To Murder Him In Our Hearts.  Though we may not carry out the action (through cowardice or fear of punishment), we wish that person dead. Or, by ignoring another person, we may treat them as if they were dead! Hatred can be shown passively or actively.
(b)                John seems to have in mind the teaching of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount regarding the true fulfillment of the law. (Matthew 5:21-22)

(i)                   “In the heart there is no difference; to hate is to despise, to cut off from relationship, and murder is simply the fulfillment of that attitude.” (Barker)

(ii)                 To live in the practice of murder - or to have a life style of the habitual hatred of our brethren - is a demonstration that we do not have eternal life abiding in us, that we are not born again.

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