Question of the Day: Grace. What does that word mean to you? Have you ever received grace or given grace? You can answer all of the questions or choose one.
Thank you so much to Robert for teaching today! What a blessing to have a class that is so willing to participate in all ways, including leading out. It is a wonderful community that I am so thankful for!
This morning we move on to 1 Samuel chapter 24. This story is one of those familiar stories. It is a story you have probably heard since you were in elementary school. I want to challenge each of you to not just look at this as you did when you were in grade school, but to take a deeper look, or perhaps a challenging look at this story.
READ: 1 Samuel 24: 1-22
New International Version (NIV)
David Spares Saul’s Life
24 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Let's start back at the beginning.
How many men did Saul bring?
What kind of men?
How many men were with David?
What kind of men? (1 Samuel 22:2)
Doesn't sound like much of a contest for Saul's men.
There are too many times in my life when I am facing something difficult when it feels like the other side is just far stronger, far better and I'm way inferior.
The good news here is that God doesn't need us to be stronger and better, He just needs us to be surrendered to Him. With that, we always have the advantage!
These caves must have been something to behold. These must have been huge underground areas to hold so many and not even been known to Saul.
What did David's men say to him? Verse 4.
David's men clearly believed that Saul had been "delivered into their hands." They believed this was providential. The logical conclusion was to kill Saul and be free. Then David could be King as God desired. Obviously this was a God thing. Right?
In my study bible it says, "Scripture does not record that God made any such statement to David or his men." Obviously we don't know for sure, however I want us to look at a couple things.
1. God always give us choice but God does not tempt us to sin. God wouldn't say you can do whatever you want if some of those were wrong. Speaking in parent terms, He wouldn't tell you it was OK to do something if it wasn't.
2. Circumstances and open doors do NOT always speak to the will of God! It can be one of the ways God demonstrates his will, but not always. We need to be careful not to use our logic, our desires to read, the will of God, into our circumstances.
3. After having cut off the corner of Saul's robe David says, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” God made it clear to David and it was very different from what His men said.
So David's men had it wrong? They assumed because of where Saul was, and because he was so unprotected that this was obviously a God thing. Otherwise how would he have ended up in the very same cave, so it must have been God delivering him to them so that they could kill him, right?
How many times do we do the same thing. We jump to the conclusion that because a door opened that it is the will of God. I have known people that believe it is always the will of God if a door opens. Is that a safe way to determine the will of God?
So how do we determine the will of God? Are you wishing you had that Ephod again? There isn't a quick simple checklist for understanding God's will. I would argue we ultimately want it that way! Here is why.
We don't want to have stones that glow in the affirmative or the negative because if that is all we needed then we don't need to have a relationship with God. If God gave us a checklist of things to do that would be a foolproof, never fail way of knowing His will, then we just check the list and done. Though that might sound nice at first think about this... a computer or robot can go through a checklist. God didn't create us to be robots or computers, but human beings that are in relationship with Him. What he desires is to be in relationship with you. The only way to know the will of God is to be in that relationship and to participate in that relationship. It is to pray, to read His love letters to you, to read about Him, to read His instructions to you, to better understand His character. You must remember how He has led you in the past and to walk with Him in trials. To look for His blessings, and experience Him moment by moment.
Last week I had a terrible dream. It woke me up several times. It was a dream or nightmare where my husband Chris was leaving me. It was so devastating that I woke myself to get out of the dream. As I lay there beside my husband, the realness of the dream haunted me. My heart still ached. I then stopped and recounted His character. Remember the twinkle in his eyes just the evening before as he looked at me. I spent sometime in the night and the next day KNOWING the love of my husband.
The closer we become to God in our daily walk with Him, the more we know His character the easier and easier it will be to discern what He wants for us.
If he just gave us checklists then there is no need for relationship. His greatest desire is to be in relationship with us!
Do you believe that?
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Ephesians 3:17-21 "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
As a parent I often found it interesting, puzzling and often frustrating that disciplining one way would work like a charm for one child, and then for the next, it was a disaster. I had to make sure I got to know each of my children individually, I had to build a relationship and I had to get to know them, really know them, to best know how to navigate being their parent. If God had set up parenting in such a way that a manual would work on all children, then I wouldn't have to work on the relationship. Relationships are extremely important to God. Being created in His image, relationships are important to us too.
God created us to be in relationship with him. If everything was an easy yes or no, there would be no need to better understand our creator. There would be no need to be in relationship and to daily desire to be with him. It is in the relationship, reading His word, worshiping Him, talking with Him and listening to Him on a daily basis that we learn to know His will.
What can we do to continue developing and strengthening our personal relationship with God?
Make a list of 5 ways to develop and strengthen your relationship with God.
Reread 1 Samuel 24:5-7
Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
What did "The Lord forbid?"
I know that if this had been me, I probably would have argued with God or assumed I had heard wrong. After all this wasn't exactly an upstanding "anointed" leader. He had fallen so far out of favor with God and he was trying to kill me.... yea not sure I would have the strength of character to even hear what God was saying.
Let's think about this in present day times. What if the GC President had been trying to "kill" you or smear your name and had also been found in a compromising position and because of that lost his position and his credentials. Would you still see him as God's anointed? Or would you be willing to "kill" him or smear his name. Or simply join in conversations about his fall? Would we?
Do we honor those appointed by God?
Do we even see those in leadership as appointed by God?
Most of us don't find ourselves wanting to murder leaders, but...
How many of us trash talk about leaders when with our friends?
How many of us trash post on facebook about politicians, or church leaders that we don't agree with?
I realize it may not be exactly the same thing, and it is easy to say, "yea but..."... but... couldn't David have say, "yea but..." and we would all... ALL agree with everything that came after?
The point is, our logic, our reasoning doesn't always match with what God wants us to do. His ways are not our ways and his thoughts our thoughts. That is why we need to be in relationship with Him. That is why we need to better understand His ways and His thoughts.
There is one more point I want us to look at. After David calls out to Saul and let's him see how easily he could have killed Saul, Saul does what?
His repentance sounds sincere. He even wept.
And what then did David do?
1.
2.
So if Saul had been sincere in his confession why didn't David leave the cave and go back to civilization?
Ellen White makes an interesting statement.
"The enmity that is cherished toward the servants of God by those who have yielded to the power of Satan changes at times to a feeling of reconciliation and favor, but the change does not always prove to be lasting. After evil-minded men have engaged in doing and saying wicked things against the Lord's servants, the conviction that they have been in the wrong sometimes takes deep hold upon their minds. The Spirit of the Lord strives with them, and they humble their hearts before God, and before those whose influence they have sought to destroy, and they may change their course toward them. But as they again open the door to the suggestions of the evil one, the old doubts are revived, the old enmity is awakened, and they return to engage in the same work which they repented of, and for a time abandoned. Again they speak evil, accusing and condemning in the bitterest manner the very ones to whom they made most humble confession. Satan can use such souls with far greater power after such a course has been pursued than he could before, because they have sinned against greater light." PP p 663-664
Just because someone says they are sorry, just because someone seems to have great remorse, it doesn't meant that they won't do it again and hurt you again. We see this all the time in abusive relationships, or relationships where addictions are involved. Just as important as it is to pray, study, and seek the will of God when wanting to know if you should act, it is equally important to ask for help to discern whether or not it is a safe relationship to return to.
Obviously David knew he couldn't return. Saul had often had a change of heart just to loose it again and try to kill David. He knew he needed to stay in the strong hold.
This passage is complicated at best, (just like life...) So if there is one takeaway from the lesson I think it is....
The only way to navigate this life, the only way to have discernment is to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. To learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. To daily be in His word and to continually strive to better know our God.
Relationships are so important but none more so than the one between you and your Savior.
I would like to challenge all of us this next week to read at least 30 minutes a day in bible study and prayer. Can you find just 30 minutes? I know not only will your decisions be easier, but your life will be richer. A relationship with Jesus is always the way. A relationship with Jesus is everything!
Will you join me this next week and commit to at least 30 minutes a day?
I am so thankful that we serve a relational God. A God who loves you, a God who desires you, a God who gave everything so He could live forever with you, a God who in the meantime gave us His spirit so that right now, we can be with Him, a God who is planning a preparing for you, a God who smiles at you, a God who forgives you, a God who loves you, who loves you, who loves YOU!
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