[0:00] Reading today starts with 1 Samuel chapter 27. Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul.
[0:12] There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer with the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.
[0:24] So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him. To Achish, the son of Maosh, king of Gath. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.
[0:49] And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. Then David said to Achish, If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there.
[1:06] For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag had belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
[1:18] And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Gerzites, and the Amalekites.
[1:33] For these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as shore to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath.
[1:46] But would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and would come back to Achish. When Achish asked, Where have you made a raid today?
[2:00] David would say, Against the Nakeb of Judah. Or against the Nakeb of the Geramilites. Or against the Nakeb of the Kenites. And David would leave neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, thinking, Lest they should tell about us and say, So David has done.
[2:22] Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. And Achish trusted David, thinking, He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel.
[2:35] Therefore he shall always be my servant. In those days, the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.
[2:51] David said to Achish, Very well, you shall know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life. Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and buried him in Ramah, his own city.
[3:08] And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shuman. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.
[3:21] When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.
[3:35] Then Saul said to his servants, Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I might go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a medium at Endor.
[3:46] So Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, Divine for me by a spirit, and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.
[4:03] The woman said to him, Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?
[4:14] But Saul swore to her by the Lord, As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you?
[4:27] He said, Bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, Why have you deceived me?
[4:38] You are Saul. The king said to her, Do not be afraid. What do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.
[4:49] He said to her, What is his appearance? And she said, An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage.
[5:03] Then Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Saul answered, I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams.
[5:20] Therefore, I have summoned you to tell me what to do. And Samuel said, Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me.
[5:33] For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek.
[5:45] Therefore, the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me.
[5:57] The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel.
[6:08] And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, Behold, your servant has obeyed you.
[6:21] I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way.
[6:35] He refused and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it.
[6:53] And she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night. Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek, and the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.
[7:08] As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish, the commanders of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here?
[7:21] And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years? And since he deserted to me, I have found no fault in him to this day.
[7:34] But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him.
[7:45] He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord?
[7:56] Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another and dances? Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
[8:08] Then Achish called David and said to him, As the Lord lives, you have been honest. And to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign.
[8:22] For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now, and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.
[8:38] And David said to Achish, But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
[8:52] And Achish answered David and said, I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
[9:04] Now then, rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light. So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines.
[9:17] But the Philistines went up to Jezreel. This is the word of God. Amen. Proverbs 21, verse 1 says, The king's heart is a stream of water in the hands of the Lord.
[9:45] He turns it wherever he will. The truth of that proverb is clear in today's passage.
[9:57] It is a lot of text. We won't undermine the elephant in the room with that. However, what we need to see here is that though this day is dark, though there are various acts of desperation, some on David's side, some on Saul's side, though there is faltering faith, faith seems to be holding on by a thread, God's hand is still at work.
[10:28] In fact, even in the passage, God's hand explicitly is never mentioned a single time, which makes known the nature of God's undetectable providence once in a while.
[10:48] God guides the desperate decisions of man like a stream of water to turn it wherever he wills.
[10:58] God is sovereign church. And so if you were to turn to the pastors today and imagine some sort of quick little moral lesson to be on your way throughout the week and give you a little jolt in your system.
[11:17] Yeah, I don't know if this would necessarily be the text to do that because there would be a certain issue that you would have when you look at David's actions because David in chapter 27 and 29 is lying.
[11:39] He's lying. King David. And so you would conclude, well, I guess it's okay to lie since David did it. But let's not forget, church, that the Bible is not simply just a moral handbook in every single page.
[11:56] No. We enter into an Old Testament narrative in the passage today and these narratives are telling their story.
[12:08] Their story. And so the moral logic is not there that if David lied, well, then we can lie. It's not applying to that any more than it's like, well, you know, Saul sought out wisdom and counsel through a witch, so let's go to the one little parlor down on the corner and get some wisdom into our situation.
[12:29] Should we buy the house? Should we not? Right? Rick, I'm not telling you what to do, but I don't think that's a good idea at this season in your life. It's not telling us to go to Barnes & Noble and pick up a Ouija board.
[12:42] Not every single page in the Bible is giving us a moral lesson. Here we have a story telling their story.
[12:53] And so what we do with that is essential. It is absolutely essential. And so my hope is that we will see something greater developing in the narrative today, not just a story of morals, but a story of God remaining unchanging, ever faithful, and always working for His people even on the inevitable bad days that they had and so too the bad days that we have.
[13:26] That's what we're going to see today. And so I'm going to help you do that in three different sections today. The sermon title is simply, I forget who wrote that song, So You Had a Bad Day.
[13:39] But that was going on in my head. And now it's in your head. You're welcome. So you had a bad day.
[13:50] And so while it's a lot of text today, I just want to prepare you. If you're new with us today in the church, it would be so, so, so helpful to have a physical copy of your Bible open.
[14:05] To have your finger on the text. To have your finger on the text where we're at as we are guided through Scripture, okay?
[14:15] Trust me, if you want to have the quickest case of daydreaming and thinking about what you're doing after church, just go ahead and leave your Bible closed during this time. Let's open up our Bible and follow through and I will guide us through this in three different sections.
[14:30] There's going to be a couple instances of bouncing around, but we're going to do this today. And I'd like to pray and recall the verses that we sang just a moment ago.
[14:41] So let's pray, church. Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds.
[14:53] Help us grasp the heights of your plans for us. Truth unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity.
[15:05] And by grace we'll stand on your promises and by faith we'll walk as you walk with us. Speak, O Lord, till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory.
[15:22] And this we pray. Amen. Amen. So like I said, three sections today. And the first section being David's heart desperate for protection.
[15:42] It's very interesting as we'll highlight a couple things. If you're down with writing in your Bible, it might be worthy of circling David's heart, the condition of David's heart.
[15:54] Because we're going to look similarly in the condition of Saul's heart. And in verse one, we discover what's going on in David's heart. He's fearing death.
[16:09] He has a fear of death that he's going to perish. This was a desperate situation for David. How desperate? Well, verse one, desperate enough to cross over to the enemy's camp and set up shop.
[16:26] How desperate was David to find protection? Well, verse two through verse four. Desperate enough to hold the door for all 600 men, not to mention women and children.
[16:40] There were probably a couple thousand that were going through this doorway to the enemy's camp. Can you imagine why is understanding Abigail as she's walking past David as he's holding the door for her?
[16:56] How desperate was David to find protection? Well, verse six and verse seven. Desperate enough to acquire a plot of land in the enemy's territory.
[17:10] How desperate was David to find protection? Well, desperate enough to kind of settle in there for a year and four months.
[17:22] How desperate was David to find protection? Desperate enough to gain favor with King Achish in verse eight through 12 by lying to him.
[17:36] How desperate was David to find protection? Desperate enough to find himself caught in a web of sin as the Philistines are gearing up to make war against the very nation David was supposed to lead and protect.
[17:56] You see, church, as we look at the text and the desperation of his heart, him fearing and needing protection, we see times of desperation will drive us to unfathomable things.
[18:14] Times of desperation. These days, church, were supremely dark. Reading this and studying throughout the week, I was getting those overtones of the book of Judges where not only did people do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, but then towards the end they were doing what was right in their own eyes.
[18:37] And this seems to have taken a turn for the worst. Chapter 27 is one of the least flattering accounts of David's life thus far.
[18:48] 2 Samuel's coming. So we can rest assured. But this chapter left me with more questions than it did answers. Didn't it?
[19:01] Searching for clarity. I searched this Scripture here saying, is David really lying here? Blatantly lying.
[19:13] There is no reason to ever question that. The narrator doesn't give any insight into that. And we see that David doesn't seem like he's the competent leader that we hoped he would be.
[19:31] He's crossed to the dark side. Right? And we see in verse 12, look in verse 12 with me. King Achish had one thing right about David.
[19:43] David has made himself an utter stench to his people. King Achish did have that right.
[19:56] And I believe it's natural for us to sort of import ourselves into stories in the Bible, sometimes rightly so, sometimes actually kind of off track here. but how many times we've looked at the disciples' disposition in the New Testament and even maybe hear of saying, well, I wouldn't have done that.
[20:20] I got faith in God. I wouldn't have done that. Well, you're actually true. It's actually true because you wouldn't have made it past chapter 12.
[20:35] You would have crowned Saul king. You would have been with the Israelites joining the party. You wouldn't have made it to chapter 12. And granted, if you made it to chapter 12, you wouldn't have made it out of the cave of En Gedi where David yielded to God's hands to give Saul over to destruction.
[21:03] Church, don't undermine the power that a desperate situation can have in tempting us to take things into our own hands. If we were honest with ourselves, we ought to be able to see that David is actually doing better than we would have ever done.
[21:21] He's doing pretty good. And so we must then remember that the Lord over our protection is Lord over our desperation.
[21:35] Or have we forgotten Psalm 91, verse 14? Because it says, He holds fast to me in love. This is the Lord talking.
[21:47] I will deliver Him. I will protect Him. Because He knows my name. When He calls to me, I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble.
[22:00] I will rescue Him and honor Him. With long life, I will satisfy Him and show my salvation. Psalm 91.
[22:14] The Lord Jesus in His most desperate night in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed it. Not my will, but Yours be done.
[22:25] And what happened to Him? Preceded His capture. Preceded His torture.
[22:38] Preceded His humiliation. And ultimately His death. It was through His sacrifice that paved the way for salvation.
[22:50] And maybe for us Christians, this might mean that our situation may in fact get worse before it gets better.
[23:01] But God is simply calling us to trust in Him. Psalm 91. To trust in Him. To rely on Him.
[23:13] That's what a prayer of desperation looks like today that Jesus modeled for us. You see, David was in utter stench. And church, can I be real for a moment?
[23:27] How often do we stink just as much? In financial tightness, we're talking about tithes and offerings and everything and affirming the very reality, the theological reality that you think you earned your paycheck?
[23:44] Got news to you. God has given you everything that you have. And in financial tightness, we resort to throwing God's money into a lottery ticket?
[24:01] Throwing God's money into a slot machine? And we wonder why we're broke. Hmm. Fancy. Never once trusting in the Lord, but desperation has distorted our thinking to actually think God will bless this slot machine and we'll actually lay hands on this slot machine before we pull that lever.
[24:23] How silly. How utter stenchful that is. In health crises, we watch a convincing ad on social media how to be instantly cured by this breakthrough discovery.
[24:40] It's a scientific breakthrough. Only to find ourselves not doing our diligent research. And then we steward God's money to some scam.
[24:52] Duped. just on behalf of fancy words in a white coat. And it's some guy in his mom's basement selling you with a green screen.
[25:07] What a stench we can be to the gospel. What a stench we can be to God's name. God's God's desperation reminds us of that.
[25:20] It was indeed a bad day. Arguably a bad year and four months if you want to get technical. But for the sake of metaphor, it was a bad day. Don't let desperation distract you from God's truth.
[25:36] With that, we get into Saul's heart as we go into the next chapter, chapter 28. Look in verse 3 all the way to 5.
[25:51] We get a situation of what Saul did. He seems like he's doing pretty good kicking out the witches and everything out of the land. But we get a condition of his heart here in verse 5.
[26:05] Saul's heart was trembling. greatly at the sight of the Philistines. And not only that, God's silence.
[26:18] There's no prophet. No dream. If you're coming out of Catholicism, no prayer beads. Oh, God forbid, you don't got the prayer beads. Nothing.
[26:31] Silence. How desperate was Saul to find guidance? Well, let's take a look. Verse 5 through 7.
[26:42] Desperate enough to seek out a witch. And you know the dark day that they're in. His men knew exactly where to find this witch.
[26:55] It's like she was on standby. Just in case things go south, we're just going to keep you in the phone book. Okay? We'll call you. How desperate was Saul to find guidance?
[27:07] Well, verse 8. Desperate enough to disguise himself. This is the king of Israel to disguise himself at night to try to get past the enemy camp of the Philistines.
[27:22] And yes, David to travel north risking capture. How desperate was Saul to find guidance? Well, verse 9 and 10. Desperate enough to defy his own law that look, the witch was going to honor.
[27:39] Well, Saul has written this law. You can't be here. Saul has enforced a law. Saul's defying his own law. How desperate was Saul to find guidance?
[27:51] Verse 13. Desperate enough to press this witch even harder when Samuel shows up.
[28:04] She was terrified as I believe any witch would be. And look at what she saw. Samuel, verse 13.
[28:15] Samuel wrapped in a garment. We remember that this garment was not a fully put together garment.
[28:26] There was a tear and it was marred. It was marred on behalf of Saul's disobedience, on behalf of Saul's sin, and on behalf of Saul's shame.
[28:40] You see, at this moment of darkness and desperation, one last time in Saul's life, the Lord has brought Saul to his knees.
[28:54] Face down and paying homage. This is a huge moment. It's like Saul was thinking that he had some offer of worship to Samuel after all that has happened in this chaotic up-and-down book.
[29:13] And let's just put it out there. If morals are to do with this, if your moral compass is coming from a witch, there's your sign. All right? Something's wrong.
[29:25] There's a disturbance in the force. You see, church, you don't have to be seeking out a witch, though. That's the thing about it. You don't have to be seeking out a witch to know that you're in trouble.
[29:39] How many of you have been to Barnes & Noble, hopefully not getting your Ouija board, but Barnes & Noble to just browse? When you're going through something in life, you're browsing the Christian book section.
[29:51] This isn't to bash any certain authors or anything like that. But how many times we are seeking some flashy book title that we think is going to answer and solve each one of our problems.
[30:07] Oh, it mentioned my anxiety. Thank you, Lord. All the while our Bibles are collecting dust. You don't have to be seeking out a witch to find yourself in trouble.
[30:24] How sad it is, though, that a witch had better chances of hearing God speak than Israel's own king.
[30:38] A witch had better chances of hearing God than Israel's king. These were dark days. And you see, desperation will test our obedience to God's guidance during the days that become dark when we cannot see.
[30:58] And in this very dark night, Saul hears from the prophet Samuel, and if from the prophet Samuel, from God.
[31:10] And here we realize that context truly is key. God's story doesn't change at all. The issue with Saul has not changed.
[31:26] Samuel, in disgust, says, why have you disturbed me? I mean, we can't blame him for saying that. I mean, he's in glory.
[31:37] Right? And Saul, frantic Saul, well, the Philistines are coming. They're assembling. And God's left me here to die. And it's almost like Saul is saying, well, yeah, you earned it.
[31:55] He says in verse 16, look with me, chapter 28, verse 16, it says, the Lord turned from you and became your enemy.
[32:07] Notice the past tense. The Lord turned from you. Nothing has changed. Remember, back in 1 Samuel 15, verse 1 through 3, and Samuel said to Saul, this was the hopeful moment, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel.
[32:26] Now, therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Remember that sermon that in actual Hebrew it's saying, listen to the sound of the words of the Lord. It's like very complicated, but there's something that he should be really paying attention to in hearing closely.
[32:44] Listen to the words of the Lord in verse 2 in chapter 15. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
[32:58] Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. And what did Saul do? Well, he saved a couple of sheep and a couple of goats, some useful things, and he made friends with Amalek.
[33:15] Buddy, old pal. Right? Disobedience. The Lord, in verse 16, the Lord has turned from you.
[33:26] The decision is made. And judgment, he's been judged. In verse 17, the Lord, look with me, the Lord has done to you as he spoke.
[33:37] Again, past tense. I'm talking about a torn kingdom which refers to chapter 15 at Gilgal. And Samuel said to him in verse 28 of chapter 15, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
[33:58] Church, what's going on here? Saul's essentially reaping what he sowed. In other words, Saul did not obey the Lord.
[34:14] Remember in chapter 15, obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience is better than sacrifice. And can you picture Saul on the floor, on his knees, bowing before Samuel and all he's trying to say is obedience would have been better than sacrifice.
[34:37] you're too light, Saul. The Philistines are coming and they're coming for you and they're coming for your kids. And Israel is being judged.
[34:56] God's silence ought to wake us up, church. You don't necessarily have to be in disobedience and God will take you through a season of silence.
[35:10] Either way, it should wake us up. Right? Not to inventory the books on Barnes and Noble bookshelf that have the sparkly guy with the stunning smile and white teeth and great hair that seems to know how I ought to solve all of our problems.
[35:31] No. This is not a time to inventory the bookshelves, but to inventory our hearts, to cling and to draw near to the Lord.
[35:44] Friends, until we get to a place where we genuinely turn from disobedience and seek after God, we are more likely to hear from God through a witch.
[35:57] That's the truth about it. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Right? Psalm 66 actually talks about iniquity that we cherish, having its relation to silence of God in our lives.
[36:16] It says in verse 18, if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would have not listened. And so this isn't just a warning for just the church.
[36:28] There's a great warning in there, and if I'm being extra tough today, it's the text. It was tough with me this week. I'm not being particularly tough today. But this is also a call for those who hear the gospel and habitually reject it, who hear what Jesus Christ has done on this earth, who has died a death that all of us deserve, and whose wrath was bore upon the cross to pay all the payments for our sin and our disobedience, for those who are not in Christ, who hear this constantly, hooting and hollering preachers, and saying, turn, trust in the Lord, and still remain in sin, captivated by sin more than Jesus Christ.
[37:26] Well, guess what? This is your chance. Jesus Christ is calling you to repent. If you're not a Christian today, turn to God from your idols and serve the living God.
[37:42] Don't just pick up your cross, too. If obedience is better than sacrifice, don't just pick up your cross, but follow Him. Don't forget your end of the bargain.
[37:54] And now we see in the last section in the final chapter of our time today is God's heart. We saw David's heart.
[38:07] It was desperate for protection, leading to a lot of lies. We saw Saul's heart desperate for guidance to seek out a witch.
[38:20] And now let's see God's hearts. It's the good news because he's committed to judgment. I don't know if you've realized, but all throughout the reading this morning, our study today, God has sort of been silent.
[38:44] There's been no mention of God at all. And there's been no blatant reference to the Lord in this passage unless God's name.
[38:54] Maybe you would qualify the witch and Samuel arising. And I believe that there's great power in a witch, but I believe that God truly did send Samuel to have this final word with Saul.
[39:13] I don't think it's a matter of if a witch is powerful, that they can draw the dead and inquire of the dead. we know that there's a big mystery in that, there's great power in that, but I do believe that God did desire to speak to Saul one last time before his judgment.
[39:31] But through this, outside of that situation, God's silent, he's absent, he seems completely removed. And here we have to look then upon the desperate acts and the faltering faith with great attention to detail to really see a glimmer of hope.
[39:46] David's lying, Saul is seeking a witch. Well, this is a great Sunday morning, isn't it? Good pick-me-up. Let's look for that glimmer of hope, church.
[39:59] Let's stand back. Let's go back to chapter 27. Because might we see a glimmer of hope? I don't know if you've heard the saying, but Martin Luther said it once.
[40:12] He said, God can draw a straight line, with a crooked stick. Do you hear me? God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.
[40:25] He can do that. Let's see that. Where is the glimmer of hope? Look in chapter 27, verse 4. We say a glimmer of hope that David was safe.
[40:41] That's a glimmer of hope, albeit deceitful, safety, we see in verse 6 of chapter 27. Where's the glimmer of hope?
[40:52] We see a glimmer of hope that David's acquired land in Ziklag was an inheritance to future kings in Judah. This is good news.
[41:03] It's almost a reminder like, oh, thank God they mentioned something about the future of the kings of Judah. Like, this isn't going to be broken. We're not completely doomed. Glimmer of hope, church.
[41:13] We see a glimmer of hope in chapter 27, verse 8. We see a glimmer of hope that David conquered Israel's enemies, right?
[41:25] Albeit by deceit, but Israel's enemies were being conquered, and Achish thought that David was serving him.
[41:36] We see in the beginning of chapter 28 in verse 2, where's the glimmer of hope? We see a glimmer of hope that David artfully dodged and did not agree to commit to fighting against Israel.
[41:51] He didn't blatantly say, okay. He did not agree to that. David said, very well, you shall know what your servant can do.
[42:03] Now, that's an artful dodge to agree to such an operation. And we see in chapter 29, go forward to chapter 29 now that we're just in.
[42:14] Where's a glimmer of hope? We see a glimmer of hope that the commanders of the Philistines, thank God, rejected David to enter battle against his own people.
[42:26] We see a glimmer of hope in verse 5 by the commanders reminding us of who David is. Look at their affirmation of David. Verse 3, he's not only the king of Israel, but man, what a melody to our ears.
[42:44] A melody we know of within the context of the book. Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands.
[42:55] This is a melody we needed reminded of in such a dark time. And looking upon the broken details of this narrative, we only get a glimmer of hope.
[43:11] We truly only get a glimmer of hope. However, there is something greater in the details. Once we connect the details to the overall scope of the book, if we laid this book out on sheets of paper upon this stage and noticed how the details fit in with each one of the pieces of the puzzle, we see a vivid display of hope.
[43:40] An unchanging God, an ever-present working God, a faithful God. You see, God is certainly making a straight line with crooked sticks.
[43:53] That is what he is doing. God is unchanging. When God called David, he wasn't saying, well, if you follow this and follow that. No. Chapter 16, remember, Jesse said to Samuel, he was on the Lord's mission to anoint a new king.
[44:11] Jesse said, there remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.
[44:23] And verse 12 of chapter 16, and he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he.
[44:40] Then Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the midst of the brothers, and the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David. When? From that day forward.
[44:52] words. Even in the darkest day or our greatest failings of our lives, God is still working.
[45:08] There's always a flame burning. You know, when we go on vacation, they tell you to, you know, just keep the pilot light going in that furnace and that water heater.
[45:25] This is good news. Because when God saves, he saves. Can't you see it? There's a pilot light.
[45:40] While it is flickering, it is burning. And we see that hope in the subtleties. But probably the greatest hope, I think, in this passage thus far, in all the chapters we've read, is in chapter 29, verse 8.
[45:58] I want you to understand why this is quite a glimmer of hope. Because while David was facing rejection, he's not being invited to the party to go out, we get a little insight of a plan, possibly, that David has under his sleeves through his words to Achish before his dismissal.
[46:20] Verse 8. It says, And David said to Achish, But what have I done? It's almost like, this is your chance, buddy. Shut your mouth and just go.
[46:31] So you don't have to be in this awkward situation. So we are asking that question. What's he talking about? He says, What have I done? What have you found in your servants from the day I entered your service until now?
[46:44] And look what he says here, cunning David, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my Lord the King.
[46:57] If you blink, you miss it. You really have to sit down with the text and connect all these dots. Because in David's consistency with grammar, he never once referred to Achish as my Lord, my King.
[47:17] So that's a clue. Achish was thinking that David was referring to himself and the enemies being the Israelites.
[47:28] But this, my Lord, my King, was actually a common reference that David himself attributed to Saul. We saw that reference in chapter 24, verse 8.
[47:43] We saw that reference in chapter 26, verse 17 through 19. We could only imagine what David would have had planned. I would imagine that he was probably intending on just being that enemy within.
[47:58] You know, you want to take down the enemy? Infiltrate the walls. And there he was, had favor among the king. He had the enemy's head guarded, essentially, close enough that he, with one swoop of his sword, he could take him out.
[48:15] But we got to ask, was this God's way? Was that God's way? And we're reminded of the words that the Lord, through the prophet Samuel, spoke to King Saul, just earlier in chapter 28, in verse 19.
[48:38] Who will give Israel into the hand of the Philistines? Verse 19. The Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines.
[48:53] And tomorrow, you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.
[49:05] It was simply not God's way. But who was in control? And that is the glimmer of hope. And so, Achish answered David and said, I know that you are blameless in my sight as an angel of God.
[49:26] Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, you shall not go up with us in battle. Now then, arise in the morning with the servants of your Lord who came with you and start early in the morning and depart as soon as you have light.
[49:41] And verse 11, as we'll conclude our time, David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
[49:55] David returned. How? Blameless. As Achish affirms.
[50:06] Let me remind you if you've forgotten Proverbs 21 verse 1. The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
[50:21] He turns it wherever he will. God's salvation in our lives is not contingent upon our performance.
[50:36] God's salvation in our lives is not contingent upon our performance. A statement like that can be dangerous outside of the context really informing it because then you get into antinomianism and then anything goes.
[50:53] But pay attention to what I'm saying. God's salvation, His saving efforts, His working is not contingent upon our performance but Christ's.
[51:07] And we might respond how in the world was David blameless? I mean I've been counting and I've been getting a nickel with my wife. We've been talking in the pew and the chair the whole sermon and we've been making bets of you know every time he makes a lie here.
[51:23] You give me a nickel. And we might be responding how is David considered blameless here? One who has surrendered himself to the enemy is caught lying, who is deceitful and honestly resembling Saul than God's king.
[51:44] Well, here's your answer. 1 Samuel chapter 16. God chose him and those who God chosen will be kept on good days and bad days.
[51:59] This is assurance. God never began a work in Saul, but he certainly did in David. God never began a work in Saul, but he certainly did with David.
[52:16] And believers, the work that God does in you, will be brought into completion. How? God's salvation in our lives is never contingent upon our worst days.
[52:32] It's not. It is often our worst days that actually qualify us for his grace. Qualifies us.
[52:44] And that's the glimmer of hope may just be a flickering light, a little pilot light, deep within among the darkest days around, but God desires our obedience to fan that flame, to burn brightly, to be a vivid illumination of his grace in our lives.
[53:07] Not to live as a hideous stench, but to live as a faithful steward. Church, don't be satisfied as a flickering flame.
[53:20] Don't be a pilot light. Maybe you're not in Christ. Well, allow God to light the fire within you and fan that fire through your obedience.
[53:35] How? Romans 10, verse 8. The word is near you, Paul says, in your mouth and in your hearts. That is the word of faith that we proclaim.
[53:47] Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Not, you might be saved.
[53:58] Not if you get a couple things in order, you'll be saved. No. In your bad day, you will be saved and he will keep you. Verse 10, for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
[54:17] For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. This is the glimmer of hope in our dark day of desperation and faltering faith in times of needing desperate protection and desperate guidance can we see God at work.
[54:47] That is our glimmer of hope. That is our