God's Great Grace

Good evening everyone, really good to see everyone here tonight.

As we come towards the end of our studies in 1 Samuel,

we've been going quite a long time in the book,

and I think gained an awful lot from it.

Three more to go, and tonight it's chapter 29.

I want to start with some history.

History can be quite educational for us,

and I want to start with a war that I think has been largely forgotten,

the Spanish Civil War.

I was trying to think what I could remember offhand about the Spanish Civil War.

And I came up with just three facts.

One was it was in the 1930s.

The second was that it brought General Franco into power.

And the third was that George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway were both involved in it

and wrote about it.

Now maybe you can do better than that,

but that was the sum total of my knowledge of the Spanish Civil War

before I researched it.

Actually, it was a long and very difficult conflict

between the Republicans, who were the government of Spain,

and the nationalists, who ultimately were led by General Franco,

who were the revolutionaries.

The nationalists were supported by the Soviet Union,

sorry, the Republicans were supported by the Soviet Union,

and the nationalists, the insurgents, were supported by Italy and Germany,

and probably some tacit support from other Western countries.

Over 200,000 people were killed and fighting,

and another 200,000 were slaughtered.

That wasn't why I was talking about the war.

There's one reason I was talking about the Spanish Civil War,

and there's a term that's come into English from that war,

and the term is fifth columnist, fifth columnist.

During the war, the nationalists were marching on Madrid,

and their soldiers were divided into four,

I suppose four battalions.

They called them four columns.

And General Moyer, who at that time was leading the nationalist troops,

said, when we get to Madrid,

there's a fifth column of our supporters who are in the city,

and they will rise up with us,

and we'll defeat the enemy.

And, of course, that is effectively what happened.

Fifth columnist, people who are loyal to one side,

who are embedded in the other side.

The term became particularly prevalent in the United States

during the Second World War.

Well, in 1 Samuel chapter 29,

1 Samuel 29 · chapter mention

the big question that is being asked is,

is David a fifth columnist?

Is David among the Philistines

so that when they go to war against Israel,

he'll rise up against them,

and he'll help Israel defeat those who have given him refuge?

The generals of the Philistines

generally take the view that he is likely to be.

He is an Israelite among us.

He is bound to be on their side

when push comes to shove.

And Achish, the king,

takes the other view,

and he says,

no, he's been very loyal to me.

I have complete confidence in him.

I'm sure over the centuries,

there have been many similar conversations had

in similar kinds of situations.

In fact, neither of them was really right.

This was more muddle than method

in the way David was acting,

and it was probably as big,

certainly as big a problem for him

that he was among the Philistines

as it was for them.

And the story of 1 Samuel 29,

although it's not explicitly said,

is how God rescues David

from the problem that he's got himself into

with the Philistines.

He gives him a way out.

That means he doesn't have to fight

either for or against the Philistines

or the Israelites.

And we'll talk about that

and some thoughts on that for us.

Probably worth a little bit of background, though,

because our series in 1 Samuel

has been a little bit spread out recently.

So just looking through the kind of climax

of 1 Samuel, the last few chapters.

1 Samuel, of course, from about the middle

is largely the story of the interaction

between David and Saul.

Saul, who has been rejected by God

because he was so often disobedient to God's ways.

David is anointed the future king by Samuel.

And then it's largely the story of Saul's jealousy

and how David manages to escape him.

And if we jump forward,

and I think my numbering's wrong there,

so I apologise for that.

That's what PowerPoint does

when you try to do clever things.

In chapter 26, I think it was

that David spared Saul's life.

David was in a prison for the second time

at you kill Saul,

and he decides not to.

And that is the last interaction

that David and Saul have together.

And the rest of the book

kind of intersperses things about David

and things about Saul.

So in chapter 27,

David flees to be with the Philistines.

We'll talk a bit more about that

because it's quite significant

for what we're looking at this evening.

And then in chapter 28,

which we looked at last week with Peter,

we're back to Saul,

and Saul consulting the medium

and getting the news

that he's going to lose the battle,

he's going to be killed in battle.

Chapter 29, which we're looking at this evening,

David avoids fight against Israel.

And then the follow-on from that,

which I think New is taking us to next week,

is how David defeats the Amalekites.

And then the last chapter is back to Saul

and how Saul is defeated in battle and dies.

So our chapter tonight

sits between Saul consulting the medium

and ultimately Saul being defeated.

And actually, the chronology of 1 Samuel,

the timing of it,

what we're looking at this evening

probably took place before the events

that we looked at last Sunday.

The author of 1 Samuel is more concerned

with the narrative

and with the flow of his accounts

and in a sense with keeping the suspense going

as we move through the book

than he is with strict chronology.

But most likely,

the events we're reading at this evening

were before those that we looked at last week.

So what is the background from chapter 27?

It's quite a long time, I think,

since Neil took us through that.

So just a brief reminder of that.

David has taken fright.

He's really concerned that Saul ultimately

is going to be able to kill him.

There's been several attempts

that haven't succeeded.

And David takes fright

and he thinks,

I'm going to go into the Philistines.

I'll be safe there

because Saul won't come and get me.

So he goes with his men

and he makes peace with the king

of the Philistines

and he's given a place in Ziklag

to settle down there.

While he's there,

his army is busy.

They're going out to battle

and David tells Achish the king

they're going to battle

against the Israelites,

against his own people.

In fact, David's taking them out in battle

against the enemies of Israel.

He's deceiving the king.

But he's building up favour

among the Philistines.

He's allowing himself to be there

and to live in peace with them.

And he maybe thinks

he's doing quite well.

Now, Neil, when he was speaking

on chapter 27,

said quite memorably, I think,

that David's plans become

more and more cunning,

convoluted and compromised

as you go through the chapter.

And that's exactly right.

The receipt which he started

at the beginning grows and grows

and David's position goes

more and more from the truth

and the way that he should be.

And in chapter 29,

it looks as if his chickens

have come home to roost.

Because the thing which David

undoubtedly didn't want

was for it to be a battle

between the Philistines

and the Israelites.

He's presented to the Philistines

that he'd come over to their side,

but he is still an Israelite

and he is still ultimately

loyal to Israel.

Albeit that the king

of the Philistines is his friend

and the king of Israel

is his enemy,

nevertheless,

David is ultimately

on the side of God's people

and he has this tremendous problem

that he's expected

to go out with the Philistines

and to fight against the Israelites

and he really doesn't want to.

Now that is all reading

into the chapter,

it's not explicitly said there,

but I'm pretty sure

that's the case.

And David is in a pretty

desperate situation.

If he goes out and fights

with the Philistines

against the Israelites,

then he really destroys

any chance he has

of ultimately becoming

the king of Israel.

If he's fought against

his own people,

against God's people,

what right has he subsequently

to become their king?

On the other hand,

if he turns around

and fights against the Philistines,

he's fighting against the man

who's become his friend,

he's putting his men

and himself in great danger

and that's not a situation

he wants to get into either.

Really, David wants to be

as far away as he can from it.

And it looks as if David's

in an impossible situation.

Last week when Peter was speaking,

he talked about two kinds

of hopeless situations

that we could think about.

One is the hopeless situation

that really is hopeless

and there's a danger

where you're complacent

and don't realise it.

And the other is

the hopeless situation

which looks hopeless to us

but actually isn't hopeless

because God is in control.

Saul in chapter 28

is a good example

of the first kind of situation.

There is no hope for Saul.

He's rejected God.

He's been rejected by God

and he's going to his death.

David in chapter 29

is the hopeless situation

where actually, ultimately,

it's not as hopeless

as he might have thought

because our God is powerful.

Our God is able to work

in what seems like

a hopeless situation to us

and God rescues David from it.

So if we just walk quickly

through the chapter

and then we'll have a few points

that hopefully will have

some practical relevance for us.

So at the beginning of the chapter

and the Philistines

are gathering together,

they're going to war

against Israel.

And this looks as if

everyone thinks

this is the big one.

This is the one

which will decide

which of these nations

is going to prevail.

It's not just a little skirmish

between the two.

This is something

that is really serious

and where there are going

to be very significant outcomes

as indeed there were.

And all the commanders

and rulers of the Philistines,

they come together,

they march together

in front of their king, Achish.

And at the end,

maybe looking a bit sheepish,

are David and his men.

And the Philistine commanders say,

what are they doing here?

Here we've got some Israelites.

Why are we taking them out

and thinking they're going to fight

against their own people?

And Achish says,

no, this isn't just Israelites.

This is David.

David's my friend.

He came over to our side

more than a year ago

and he's been loyal to me

ever since.

And Achish had got some

of the plunder

that David had given,

so David had kind of

curried favour with him.

And Achish believed

that David was loyal.

The Philistine commander said,

no, come on,

be sensible about this.

This is the man

who killed Goliath.

This is the man

who's fought against us.

This is the man

who the Israelites

go around singing about.

They sing about

the number of Philistines

that he's killed,

that he's killed tens of thousands

where Saul has slain his thousands.

He cannot be loyal to you.

Achish doesn't believe them.

But he goes back to David again,

probably rather sheepishly,

and says,

well, my commanders

won't go out to fight with me.

If you're with me,

would you mind going back?

Go back to the city

where you are,

and we'll go out to battle.

Now, I imagine at that point,

David must have been delighted.

Here was his opportunity

to avoid going to battle.

But he plays the game.

He's keeping his deceit going,

and he avows his loyalty

to Achish.

Is there anything

that you can find against me

from when I came

until now?

Why can't I go

and fight?

Now, verse 8

is quite interesting

because he says,

Why can't I go and fight

against the enemies

of my lord,

the king?

Who is my lord,

the king?

Achish thought it was him.

Most commentators

seem to think

actually David

was meaning Saul.

But he obviously

didn't want Achish

to know that.

but that may well

have been what he meant.

If he had to go to battle

when Push came to Shav,

David may well have

turned on the Philistines

and supported the Israelites.

Achish then pleads with him,

and eventually David goes back,

and next week we'll find out

what happened in chapter 30.

It was just as well

they went back

because he came back

to a pretty dreadful situation,

but I won't go into that

this evening.

So that's the story.

What can we learn from it?

Three things

I'd like to take away

this evening.

The first is

God's unchanging purposes.

Way back in chapter 16,

God had led Samuel

to Jesse's family.

Samuel had anointed

David as king,

and from then on

David was going to be king.

Now David did some

pretty silly things,

none more silly

than what we're thinking

about this evening.

He did many,

many good things as well,

but he was God's chosen king,

and God's purpose

wasn't going to change.

And David was rescued

from the Philistines

in this chapter

so that God's purposes

could be fulfilled,

so that God's king

will be the one

who rules over Israel.

Despite all David's failures,

despite all the wrong

that he'd done,

and the silly things

he'd got involved in,

God's purpose

hadn't changed,

and he was leading David

to his ultimate destiny

to be the king

of Israel.

Isn't it good for us

to know

that God's purposes

for us

don't change?

We may be

unfaithful to him,

we may do things

that are very silly,

we may do things

that are very wrong,

but if we are in God's hands,

if our faith is in Christ,

if we are the children of God,

then God's purposes

will be carried out

in our lives.

And ultimately,

we will be made

more like Christ,

ultimately we will be like Christ

when we go

to be with him.

The whole of Scripture

is the story

of how God's purposes

have been worked out

in human history.

And right from the start

of Genesis

to the end of Revelation,

we see the unfolding

of God's plan

and of God's purpose

for our lives.

And at times,

people in Scripture

have been able

to look back

and they can say,

I didn't understand

at the time

what was going on,

but now I see

what God's purpose was.

Great example of that

is Joseph.

Joseph in the Old Testament,

he's sold into slavery

by his brothers

and he goes down further

as he's unjustly accused

and put into prison.

And then as he rises up

and has become

the second in command

to Pharaoh

and his brothers come

and they're seeking

his forgiveness,

Joseph can forgive them

because he said,

you meant it for evil,

but God meant it for good.

God was fulfilling

his good purpose

even at the time

when you were

going against his will

and when it seemed

there was no good

that could come of it.

Young people in

Kids Church at the moment

are looking at

the book of Job

and right at the end

of the book of Job

having really wrestled

with all the things

he'd been inflicted with,

the loss of his riches,

the loss of his family,

the loss of his health

and really struggled

to understand

God's purposes in it.

Job says in chapter 42,

I know that you can do

all things,

no purpose of yours

can be thwarted.

Let's take confidence

in that this evening,

that whatever happens

to us in life,

whatever difficulties

we go through,

if we're in God's hands,

we can have the confidence

that he will work things

for what is best for us,

that his purposes

ultimately will be fulfilled.

God's purposes don't change

and despite human frailty

and failure,

he will bring them about.

Second thing I think

we can learn from this chapter

is about God's unexpected servants.

One of the books I read

had as the heading

for his commentary

in this chapter,

accepting the Philistines

as your personal saviour.

Now obviously he's trying

to be a bit funny

in doing that,

I'm not sure it worked that well,

but it got the point across

that it was the Philistines

through whom God worked

to fulfil his purposes.

It was these leaders

who were so against Israel

and against David

and yet through them

God brought about

what he intended.

He saved his servant David

from having to get

into that situation

where he's fighting

against his own people

or turning against those

who had given him refuge.

And as we read

through the Old Testament,

particularly in the New Testament

as well,

particularly Old Testament,

we see time and again

how God uses those

who have no knowledge of him

and no desire to serve him,

but he uses them

to help fulfil his purposes.

Particularly as the Israelites

fail time and time again

and God wants to discipline them

for their sin.

It is the nations round about,

these heathen, pagan nations

who have no respect

for the God of Israel

and worship their own false gods.

They are the ones

whom God uses as his servants,

as those who will bring about

his purposes.

And when we come to

the New Testament

and we come to the death

of the Lord Jesus,

that was God's purpose

that Christ should die.

And those evil men,

Judas,

the leaders of the Jews,

the Romans and so on,

those who brought about

the death of the Lord Jesus,

they were also bringing about

God's purpose

and making sure

that his will was done.

God uses unexpected people,

often godless people,

to bring about his purposes.

And we need to be very careful

that we don't limit

what God can do

or who God can use.

We would generally think

the people that God uses

are those who are spiritual,

who are godly,

who follow the Lord Jesus closely

and are really committed to him.

And God does use such people

clearly in many, many ways.

But our God is so big

and so great

and so wise

that he can use

even the most unexpected people

for his glory.

It's a little story.

I don't know if it's true,

but it's quite amusing.

There was a woman

who was very poor

and also was very godly,

a Christian woman.

And at one stage,

she got to the point

where she had no food

in her house.

And so she prayed to God

that he would provide

for her needs.

Now as this happens,

this woman had a neighbour

who wasn't a Christian,

who was an atheist,

had no interesting

Christian things

and she heard the woman praying.

And she thought,

I can play a little trick

on her here.

So what she did

was she went out

and bought some bread

and she put it in the doorstep

and waited for the Christian woman

to come out and find it.

Of course, when she came out,

she was full of thanksgiving

to God that he had answered

her prayer

and that he had provided

for her needs.

Another woman came and said,

sorry, you've got it wrong.

It wasn't God who provided.

It was me.

And the Christian woman

immediately retorted,

no, it was God who provided.

He just used the devil

to do it.

I thought that was

quite an interesting story.

I don't know if it's true or not,

but it actually illustrates

the point

that very often people

do things

and they don't necessarily

do them for the right reasons.

And yet God

can use them.

And that must be

an encouragement to us as well.

An encouragement

that God can use

even people like you

and me.

We are all flawed.

We have all failed.

We have all done things

we shouldn't

and not done things

we should.

We've done some very silly things.

And we,

I'm sure most of us

and not all of us,

feel really unworthy

to be used

as God's servants.

And yet we are

the kind of people

whom God

chooses

to use.

Many of God's servants

in the scriptures

who are most fruitful

in their ministry

were people who say,

well,

how could they ever

be used by God?

Jonah.

Jonah who turned

into a great missionary

who turned a whole city

around

to worshipping God.

and yet only did that

after he'd run away

and been swallowed

by the fish

and been really chastened

by God.

Peter who failed

time and time again

so impetuous

so full of himself

and so in many ways

quite arrogant

and proud

of his own capabilities

until the Lord's crucifixion.

Peter then becomes humble

and becomes used by God

as the one who

the day of Pentecost

preached this sermon

where thousands of people

come to know Christ.

And we can think of

lots of other examples.

Never limit the ways

in which God

can use you

and don't feel

because you're inadequate

and we all are

that God can't use us.

And that's not an excuse

to keep on doing

what we feel like

and thinking God

will use us anyway.

We really want to be like Christ

and to grow more like him

in our lives.

But don't think

because you've failed

in your life

because you've not

followed God

or worked for him

as you should have

that he's not able

to use you.

God uses

the most unexpected people

as his servants.

And then finally,

I think this chapter

brings to us

God's unlimited grace.

Because it's all about

the grace of God

to David,

isn't it?

That David has messed up

and God

takes him out

of that situation

because of his grace.

David deserved

nothing

but what he would have got

had he had to go out

with the Philistines

and face that dilemma.

He got himself

into a mess

and he deserved

to bear the consequences

of that mess.

Instead,

God acts in the situation,

acts through

these Philistine commanders

and he lets David away

with no stainless character,

no dilemma at the end

to face

and able to go on then

and to serve God

and to be king.

And that's a reminder to us,

isn't it,

of the unlimited grace

that God has for us.

Yes, we fail time

and time again.

Yes, we're sinful

and will be sinful

for as long

as we live

on this earth.

But our God's grace

is greater

than our sin

and his forgiveness

is greater

than our failure.

Isn't it great

for what we're thinking

of this morning,

there's no condemnation

condemnation

for those who are

in Christ Jesus.

However bad we are,

however bad we've been,

because of the grace of God

and his love for us,

then we have forgiveness

if we know Jesus

as Saviour.

Jesus has taken

our punishment,

taken our place

on the cross

and because of that

we are forgiven

even as we continue

to sin.

Not that we should

deliberately sin,

that's our last part,

the argument of Paul

in Romans,

we don't sin

so that grace

may abound more.

We want to become

more like Jesus

and to live lives

of holiness.

And yet we know

that when we do fall,

when we confess

our sins,

he is faithful

and just

and he forgives

us our sins

and cleanses us

from all

unrighteousness.

Now in this situation,

David got away,

as I said earlier,

scot-free.

He didn't have to face

the consequences

of his failure.

Now that's not

always the case.

Even when we are

forgiven by God,

sometimes there are

still consequences

we need to face

and a great example

of that is David

in 2 Samuel.

David in 2 Samuel

where he goes wrong

and is adultery

with Bathsheba

and then the murder

of Uriah

and he's brought up

by Nathan

who points out

his sin

and David

is thinking

I'm going to be

punished by God

for this

I'm going to die

because of what

I've done

and Nathan says

no you won't die

God is gracious

God is forgiving

but there will be

consequences.

First consequence

was the death

of the baby

that came out

of the union

and then further

consequence

down the line

in terms of

David's family

ending up

tearing itself

apart.

And for us too

sometimes there will

be consequences

of our sin.

Even though

we've been forgiven

even though

we've experienced

the grace of God

to some extent

we may still

have to live

in this world

with the consequences

of what we've done.

And perhaps some of us

are in that situation

this evening

that there are things

in our past

that we look back on

and they're still

causing problems

in our lives

in our families

in our relationships

or whatever.

But even if we're

in that situation

it's good to know

as David did

that when the sin

was confessed

and when forgiveness

was sought

God's grace

was unlimited.

And even though

the consequences

would come

still the forgiveness

was there

the grace

had been

experienced.

I think that

should be one

of the great things

we take away

from both morning

and evening today.

The grace

of God

for us.

As we're thinking

this morning

the work

of the Father

the Son

and the Holy Spirit

in our lives

and the great

relationships

we have with them

and the way

that they can

help us

through day-to-day life.

And this evening

as we thought

of the grace

that David experienced

and the thing

that he got

from God

this freedom

that he didn't deserve

let's rejoice

that that is

our experience too

and let's

be aware

this week

of the grace

of God

in our lives

as we seek

to serve him

and follow him.

I want to end

by reading a verse

of one of my

favourite songs

about grace

it's one we have

sung in the church

in the past

though not for

quite a long time

but I think

it's really powerful

and let's just

soak in these words

as we meditate

on God's

goodness to us.

It says

grace unmeasured

vast and free

that knew me

from eternity

that called me

out before my birth

to bring you

glory on this earth

grace amazing

pure and deep

that saw me

in my misery

that took my curse

and owned my blame

so I could bear

your righteous name

grace paid for my sins

and brought me to life

grace clothes me

with power

to do what is right

grace will lead me

to heaven

where I'll see

your face

and I'll never

cease to thank you

for your grace.

Let's pray together.

Our Father

we thank you

for your word

to us this evening.

We thank you

that although

it is about

a different time

and a very

different situation

from what

most of us

are likely to face

yet it is so

relevant and

meaningful to us.

we thank you

that you are

the God

who fulfills

your purposes

and whose purpose

can never be thwarted

even as we may

do silly

and sinful things.

We thank you

that you are

the God

who can use

even us

flawed

and unspiritual

in many ways

as we are

yet you are

the God

who is willing

to use your servants

and even at times

to use those

who wouldn't

own your name

to fulfil

your purposes.

And we thank you

above all

that you are

a God of grace

that as we have

failed

so you sent

your son

to deal

with that failure

as we should

have been condemned

so your son

came and took

our place

and took

our punishment.

Help us

to marvel

in your grace

daily

as we come

to you

as we

confess our sins

and as we know

that our sins

are forgiven

through the death

of the Lord Jesus.

We thank you

for your word

to us this evening.

We pray that you

will help us

through this week

to live as those

who are followers

of the Lord Jesus

and to serve him well

and to witness

to others

about him.

We give you our thanks

in his name.

Amen.