1 Samuel 26-27

Well, friends, tonight we're looking at 1 Samuel chapter 26.

1 Samuel 26 · chapter mention

That's in the Pew Bible, so long as that Pew Bible has an Old Testament.

If you find the page number, you can shout it out because I forgot to write it down.

1 Samuel 26.

We've been...

2, 4, 9.

Is that right, Beth?

Thanks, Beth.

2, 49.

Go ahead and turn there.

We're going to be spending some time in this chapter tonight.

We'll spend a little bit of time after the sermon just doing some Q&A and some conversation.

So if something comes up that piques your interest or that the Lord lays on your heart and you want to ask about that after the sermon,

go ahead and just make note of that in your mind, and we can come back to that at the end.

Well, as we're coming to 1 Samuel 26, I was thinking this week about a book that a guy named Malcolm Gladwell,

a popular writer published actually a number of years ago called Blink.

The subtitle of that book was The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

So this book was about sort of human intuition and decision-making.

He makes this sort of bold claim in this book that oftentimes our spontaneous decisions are actually better than the decisions that we actually carefully plan or consider.

He puts forward this idea that he calls thin slicing, which is sort of a lingo-y term that he makes up,

which is basically he says that our ability to gauge what's really important actually comes through just a very narrow period of experience,

that we're able to do that in a sort of intuitive level as human beings really quickly.

And if we're overloaded by too much information or too much deliberation, we often make worse decisions, he says,

than if we just trust our instincts and act.

John, is that a fair description of Blink?

You've read that book before, right?

Yeah, good, I got it.

It's a pretty interesting idea, right?

And it's a bit kind of counterintuitive if you think about it.

And not everyone has actually agreed with Gladwell.

In fact, a year after this book, Blink, was published, someone wrote a book in response called

Think!

Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye.

This guy sort of said that intuitions and quick decisions is actually no substitute for rationality and deep thinking.

So which one is it, actually, when it comes to our decision making?

Should we just blink or should we actually think?

Should we trust our gut or should we think long and hard?

Well, you know, it's interesting.

When we look at this sort of idea through the lens of the Bible,

we actually see that there's this unbreakable connection between these two ideas.

Because on the one hand, we know that in our lives,

there's going to be times when we have to make quick decisions

and we have to determine on the spot what to do, right?

But according to the Bible, the way that you make sure

that you're the sort of person who can do that well

is through deep thinking and immersion in what's good and true apart from those times.

In other words, in order to blink,

it's got to be preceded by a lot of rich and true thinking.

That is, you've got to saturate your mind and heart in what's good and true.

And that's the only way to make sure your intuitions are sharpened and prepared when you need to act.

And of course, that's really critical for the spiritual life, right?

That we spend time meditating on what's true so that then we can act rightly in the moment.

That's actually very critical for our life before God.

And we see that actually played out in our passage tonight in 1 Samuel.

At this point in the story of 1 Samuel, you'll remember David is on the run in the wilderness.

And at this point in the story, he's already been sort of anointed as Israel's future king,

but he's not yet on the throne.

And Saul, the current king, well, what's he up to?

Well, he is full of jealousy and rage and he's out to kill David,

which is why David's on the run.

So in 1 Samuel 26, this chapter we're looking at tonight,

this is the last time that David and Saul are going to meet ever in their lives.

And David is again in this final meeting, as we saw a couple weeks ago,

he's faced with a decision.

He's faced with a test, really.

And what we're going to see tonight, David has the opportunity, it seems,

to end his problems once and for all.

And in that moment of decision, how is he going to respond?

And for us tonight, how can we learn, what can we learn,

and how can we learn to face hard decisions when temptations and trials come at us?

So let's look at 1 Samuel 26.

We're going to look at the first half first and the second half second.

So let me read verses 1 through 12 for us of 1 Samuel chapter 26.

1 Samuel 26 · chapter mention

The writer says this,

Then the Ziphites, those are the people from Ziph,

came to Saul at Gibeah saying,

Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hakalah,

which is on the east side of Jeshamun?

They're basically ratting out David here.

So Saul rose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph

with 3,000 chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

And Saul encamped on the hill of Hakalah,

which is beside the road on the east of Jeshamun.

But David remained in the wilderness.

When he saw that Saul came out after him into the wilderness,

David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come.

Then David rose and came to the place where Saul encamped.

And David saw the place where Saul lay with Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of his army.

Saul was lying within the encampment while the army was encamped around him.

Then David said to Ahimelech, the Hittite, and to Joab's brother, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah,

who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?

And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

So David and Abishai went to the army by night.

And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head.

And Abner and the army lay around him.

Then Abishai said to David, God has given your enemy into your hand this day.

Now, please, let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear,

and I will not need to strike him twice.

But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him.

For who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?

And David said, as the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him,

or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.

The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed.

But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water and let us go.

So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away.

No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep,

because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

So here's the scene, right?

Saul gets word of where David's hiding,

and Saul comes out with a big army to kill David and his men.

Saul brings 3,000 to face David's group of 600.

You can tell at this point in the story that Saul is more than a bit paranoid and fueled by jealousy.

He's bringing 3,000 men into the army to off David once and for all.

And you'll remember, this sounds a lot like chapter 24 that we looked at a few weeks ago, doesn't it?

You know, Saul's coming out to get David in the wilderness.

But David catches word that he's being hunted again, and he goes and he spies out their camp,

and then looking down, probably from a cliff above Saul's camp, sees them there all laid out,

with Saul in the middle, and Abner, his right-hand man, sort of laying beside him, protecting him,

and the rest of the men encamped around.

And then David makes this split decision.

Who wants to come with me into the camp?

He says this to two guys, Ahimelech and Abishai, two of his young soldiers.

And Abishai, apparently ready for a crazy adrenaline-fueled adventure, says,

heck yeah, take me, I'll go.

Now look, there's 3,000 men down there, ready to just kill these guys.

And Abishai's like, yeah, sign me up for that job.

You know, we need to remember when we read the Bible that these are some pretty tough, audacious guys.

This wasn't like, you know, yeah, well, whatever.

Of course, Abishai thinks they're going on this seek-and-destroy mission, right?

He's thinking that we're going to go in, kill Saul, and get out.

In, out, done.

And once they get into the camp, Abishai sees his chance to make all their problems go away.

In verse 8, he says, David, I got this.

Here's our chance.

I'll pull out the spear, pin Saul to the earth with one stroke, and we're done.

And trust me, I'm not going to need to swing twice.

It's interesting.

It's possible that Abishai there, saying, I don't need to hit him twice,

is sort of remembering how Saul used to throw his spear at David and would always miss.

And Abishai's basically saying, trust me, David, I ain't going to miss.

Wouldn't it be poetic justice for me, David, to stick Saul with the very spear he used to throw at you?

And you've got to give it to a guy like Abishai.

He's brave.

He's loyal.

He might be a little bit cocky.

Okay.

But in fact, he's wrong.

David says, don't do it.

Saul is still the Lord's anointed and will be the guilty ones if we touch him.

Now, what I really want us to focus on tonight is what empowers that sort of obedience to God.

How is it that David, given the opportunity to make all his troubles to go away,

he's got to give one little word to his friend Abishai, and it's done.

No more people hunting them.

No more 3,000 men they need to hide from.

Nothing else blocking him from the throne, from the crown, from the glory.

How is it that with that chance right before David, he refrains?

How is he able to maintain his obedience to God in that kind of test?

I mean, don't you want to know, to be honest?

Don't you wish you knew what could actually help you and me to actually do what God says,

to obey and follow the Lord, even in the teeth of trial and temptation like that?

I mean, just think, how many times have we failed to do that this month?

How many times this week?

In what way this week have you and I seen the proverbial spear right in front of us

and reached out like Adam and Eve in the garden, grabbed it, and have tried to do things our own way?

Tried to solve our problems our own way, tried to get happiness our own way,

and to do it all apart from God?

Isn't it true that we need help?

And the question that we often have is, what help is there for us?

What help is there for us?

We know, of course, that in Jesus Christ, as we've been singing about and reading about tonight,

we know that in Christ, all of our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven.

But what help does Jesus give us to battle sin in the everyday?

How do we grow in holiness?

How do we become more like him?

And I want to focus on just two big ideas that we see in the chapter tonight

that help us along those lines.

And we read the first one already in chapters, in verses 11, 10, and 11, here in our chapter.

Verses 10 and 11, here are the sort of main speech of this first half of the chapter.

And what we see here, like two sides of a coin,

something that helps us in the face of trial and temptation is this.

It's confidence in God's sovereignty to deliver us from our troubles.

And the flip side of the coin is clarity about our responsibility in the meantime.

Let's look a little closer at that.

David knows that as long as Saul lives, his own life will be in danger, right?

And as many times as Saul says, I'm sorry, David knows he can't be trusted.

But in verse 10, what does David do?

David expresses this incredible confidence that God's will, in God's own timing, deliver him from Saul.

And David actually imagines any number of ways that Saul could come to an end,

that God could deliver him.

Maybe the Lord will strike Saul directly.

Maybe Saul will die naturally.

Maybe God will strike him down in battle.

If you were here a couple weeks ago, you'll remember in the last chapter of 1 Samuel,

that the Lord did just that to Nabal, struck him down.

It seems that David had learned an important lesson from that event about the Lord's sovereignty,

and he's applying it here.

Now, what's the point for us?

David knew that there were all sorts of ways that God could deliver him from Saul.

He even seems to have articulated them in his mind.

Now, okay, that concrete example seems a little bit morbid to us, right?

Like David's running over in his mind all the ways that Saul's going to meet his end.

But think about the principle underneath that.

What is David doing there?

You know, he's actually working out in his mind ways in which his sovereign and good God

could work in his freedom and in his power in all sorts of ways for his good.

Because God's powerful and good and keeps his promise,

David knows that there are all sorts of ways that God could deliver him.

And friends, when we're in the face of trial and in temptation,

do we have that kind of reflective confidence when we consider God's ways?

Do we exalt God in the midst of our trials and increase our trust in him by saying,

God, look, I know and trust that you can do this.

You can heal my marriage.

You can give saving faith to my kids.

You can deliver me from lust and addiction.

Because God, you're God and you can do it in all sorts of ways.

And of course, we need to let God be God, right?

God is not confined to the ways we might think he could or should act.

God's not in any way constrained by our desires.

But, you know, when we pray and when we concretely consider the ways God could work,

it's actually an act of worship of him when done rightly.

You're turning over in your mind and heart the greatness of God, the trustworthiness of God.

And in doing that, your faith in God begins to increase.

But let's notice the other side of the coin here, too.

David's confident in God's sovereignty in verse 10, but he's also crystal clear about his own responsibility in verse 11.

He is not to put out his hand against the Lord's anointed.

One writer put it this way.

Although David did not know how providence would work, he knew what obedience required.

Third, God's ways will frequently baffle us, but God's will is sufficiently clear to lead us in the meantime.

What would that look like today?

Let's say, for instance, that I'm battling loneliness.

That that's a trial.

That's a sort of issue going on in my life.

If I'm battling loneliness.

Well, if we're going to apply this, it would look like this.

It would look like praying and worshiping God for all the ways that God could meet my need for friendship and fellowship.

Praying and praising God that he's a good God, that he can bring people into my life from all sorts of avenues and venues.

It will look like praying for him to change my own heart and to be satisfied in him more.

It would look like praying that God would make me into a better friend to others.

All of these things would be a prayer about God's sovereignty and goodness.

But also, at the same time, I'll be crystal clear about what God says in his word.

That even as I pray for God to meet my relational need for friendship and fellowship, at the same time, I draw a line in the sand based on God's word that says,

You know what?

I'm not going to seek comfort in ungodly relationships.

Even though I'm incredibly lonely, I'm not going to go for the false comfort of pornography.

Or I'm not going to go out and I'm not going to date non-Christians, even though that might fill a need.

No, I'm actually going to be faithful to the Lord in this.

And I'm going to be faithful in investing in my spiritual family in the church and finding a smaller group that I can work with and fellowship with.

These are all the sorts of things that I want to have clear before me.

And you know, that clarity, whatever it is for you, whatever the sort of issue is for you, where God's word speaks, you know, that clarity is critical, isn't it?

And that clarity needs to be thought through and trusted deeply beforehand.

Because as you and I know, in the moment of trial and in the moment of temptation, that's not the time to start deliberating.

You know, think about it.

David sees Saul come out with his 3,000 men.

He's staring at them over the cliff.

You know, David at that point had already discerned with incredible clarity what God's revealed will was for him to not kill Saul.

You know, he didn't wait until Saul was at his doorstep to say, okay, guys, quick, let's do a Bible study.

Let's figure out what we should do right now.

Because I'm not so sure.

Saul's here.

Maybe we can kill him.

Maybe not.

Let's quick.

Let's do a Bible study.

I mean, don't you and I know that it's way too easy to justify our sinful desires in moments like that?

God's word's very clear, friends.

But our minds can often become unclear in the moment of temptation.

So we need to get this clarity beforehand.

And we need to meditate on it.

So that when the trials come, we're ready.

And as we meditate on what God's word says, we also need to meditate on how God's will and how God's revealed law are actually good for us.

Just think of how often the Psalms are filled with verses about the sweetness and goodness of God's revealed will, his commands for our lives.

Here's one example from David himself from Psalm 19, 7 through 11.

He says, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure.

It makes wise and simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

They're more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

There's Saul looking at God's commands and saying, they are good.

And you know, that's not legalism.

That's not David saying, oh man, I really have to earn God's favor by keeping his law.

No, that's David saying, God made us and God loves us and God knows how life works best.

And to follow his word is to live in tune with how he made us.

And to do so is to find great joy in him, even when it's hard.

So friends, I wonder, do you reflect on the goodness of God's commands in scripture for you?

God isn't out to try to destroy your joy.

In fact, just the opposite.

His word is there so that we know how to walk in the paths of life.

Okay, so there's the first big thing that we learn about how to obey and follow the Lord in the face of temptation and trial.

That we need to cultivate that two-sided truth of confidence in God's sovereignty and clarity about our God-given responsibility.

But as you and I all know, that's really only the first step, right?

It's necessary.

It's helpful.

But don't you and I know that there needs to be something more?

Because I'm sure that you, like me, have been in the place when you're doing both of those things.

You've got a really clear grip on God's power.

You've got a tight grasp on God's will for you.

But you still give in.

Is there anything else we can do?

Well, let's look at the rest of the chapter.

Let's pick up in verse 13.

Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill with a great space between them.

And David called to the army and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying,

Will you not answer, Abner?

Then Abner answered,

Who are you who calls to the king?

And David said to Abner,

Are you not a man?

Who's like you in Israel?

Why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king?

For one of the people came in to destroy the king, your lord.

This thing that you have done is not good.

As the lord lives, you deserve to die because you have not kept watch over your lord, the lord's anointed.

And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.

Saul recognized David's voice and said,

Is this your voice, my son, David?

And David said,

And David said,

Why does my lord pursue after his servant?

For what have I done?

What evil is on my hands?

Now, therefore, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant.

If it is the lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering.

But if it is men,

may they be cursed before the lord.

For they have driven me out this day,

that I should have no share in the inheritance of the lord, saying,

Go serve other gods.

Now, therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the lord.

For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea,

like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.

And Saul said,

I have sinned.

Return, my son, David,

for I will no more do you harm,

because my life was precious in your eyes this day.

Behold, I have acted foolishly and have made a great mistake.

And David answered and said,

Here's the spear, O king.

Let one of the young men come over and take it.

The lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness,

for the lord gave you into my hand today,

and I would not put out my hand against the lord's anointed.

Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight,

so may my life be precious in the sight of the lord,

and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.

And Saul said to David,

Blessed be you, my son, David.

You will do many things and will succeed in them.

So David went his way,

and Saul returned to his place.

So after David and Abishai get clear from the camp,

we see here that David wakes them up.

First, he starts taunting Abner.

And the taunt is really David making a point, right?

Abner fell asleep on the job,

put his king at risk,

but David stayed utterly faithful.

He's demonstrating,

David's demonstrating his innocence here.

Then Saul wakes up and says,

David, is that you?

And David says in verses 19 through 20,

Look, Saul, if the lord is driving you to hunt me down,

then we should offer the lord a sacrifice

and get things right with him.

But if it's men who are driving you to do it,

well then, Saul, they're cursed

because you're forcing me to leave the land,

and you're driving me away from the worshiping assembly.

And you know, all that,

that sort of speech of David right there

is sort of a not-so-subtle way for David to indict Saul.

Because after all, it's Saul himself who's driving David out.

He's the man coming after him like a madman.

And David's speech actually does what he intends it to do.

It gets Saul to publicly confess.

Right?

In verse 21, Saul admits that he's in the wrong

and David's in the right.

And that's probably why David stole the spear

in the first place.

That's probably why,

that's probably what David was trying to accomplish

in all of this.

You see, that spear was symbolic of Saul's kingly power.

And David grabs it as if to say,

look, Saul and everyone else,

I've taken Saul's life and his kingly power.

I could have taken it right out of his hand

and I could have had it in a second.

But I didn't.

In other words,

this whole adventure with the spear

is David's way to demonstrate his innocence

and to get Saul to publicly admit

before the whole army that Saul has gathered

and everyone who's listening,

he's getting Saul to admit that Saul's guilty

and he himself is righteous.

Because once Saul makes that confession,

David says,

okay, come get the spear.

Here it is.

I've made my point.

But you know,

it's what David says after that

that I think is really the highlight of the passage.

In this last speech,

that's where we see what's going on

down in David's heart.

Here's what's keeping him

from actually harming Saul.

Here's what David had been meditating on

to keep him from sinning against the Lord,

even in the face of trial.

Look again at verse 24.

David says to Saul,

behold,

as your life was precious this day in my sight,

so may my life be precious

in the sight of the Lord.

And may he deliver me out of all tribulation.

Do you notice what David doesn't say there?

He doesn't say,

as your life was precious in my sight,

now Saul,

may my life be precious in your sight.

It's not what he says.

He says,

may my life be precious

in the sight of the Lord.

That's what David really cares about.

What Saul thinks of him

is a secondary matter.

Saul, after all,

can't be trusted.

No matter how many times

Saul is going to admit

that he's going to have

a great change of heart

at this point in the story,

David knows that he can't trust him.

But what really matters

is the sight of the Lord.

You see,

David is living

in a dynamic relationship

with God

that is about

more than just God's power

and God's commands,

but it's about

an intimate,

vital walk

with the Lord God,

the creator of heaven

and earth.

And in that relationship

that David has,

David cares more

about God's pleasure

over his life

than any amount

of earthly comfort.

David is saying

that no other delight

possibly compares

to the delight

of my God

over me.

You know,

I actually see this

all the time

in my kids

as an illustration.

My son Jack

just had his fourth birthday.

He had a Spider-Man birthday.

So,

there you go.

We had never even watched

a Spider-Man cartoon

and somehow,

some way,

he wanted a Spider-Man birthday.

And the thing

that he was enamored with

the most this year

about his birthday

was the gifts,

the presents.

I'd ask him,

oh, Jack,

what are you looking forward to

about your birthday?

Or,

what'd you like best

about your birthday?

And it wasn't,

oh, Dad,

that you're so great.

Or, you know,

oh, that cake

that Mommy made me

was awesome.

The thing he would say is,

the presents,

that's what I like best

about my birthday.

But, you know,

here's the truth.

After a couple days

of my son

being surrounded

with those presents

and enamored with them

and focused on them,

you know,

after a couple days

of that,

what he really wanted,

what he really wanted

was for me

or for my wife,

Beth,

to sit down

and to actually

play with him.

That what he actually

wanted as our son

was for us

to delight in him

and delight with him

in relationship.

That's what his little heart

is hungry for,

that delightful gaze

of his mom and dad,

that fellowship with us.

And, friends,

isn't that true

of you and I too?

I mean,

at the end of the day,

wouldn't we rather

have the Lord say

to us,

the sovereign Lord,

wouldn't we rather

have him look over our life

and say,

you're precious in my sight

than to have all

the comforts

and pleasures

of this life?

Wouldn't we rather

have Jesus say to us

at the end of our lives,

well done,

good and faithful servant?

Isn't that

infinitely more important

and satisfying

and lasting

than anything else?

May my life

be precious

in the sight

of the Lord.

And again,

this isn't legalism,

this isn't

works righteousness,

this isn't David saying,

oh,

I hope I can earn

God's favor.

No,

it's not that.

How do we know

that actually?

How do we know

it's not that?

Well,

I think one little hint

there is that

David calls God

here,

the Lord.

And the Lord

is actually

God's covenant name.

It's actually

Yahweh.

That was the name

of God

that reminded

Israel

of his intimate

relationship with them.

That was the name

that reminded

his people

of when he had come

and rescued them

from Egypt.

That was the name

that reminded them

of the time

when God fulfilled

his promises

to them

out of his own

good pleasure.

That was the name

that reminded

his people

of his steadfast

love.

So David isn't

saying,

oh,

I want to obey God

so God might

maybe one day

love me.

No,

he's saying

that the Lord,

this covenant

God,

loves me.

And I want

his gaze

to fall over me.

And I want

to be found

precious in his sight.

That's what

matters most.

And friends,

if that was true

of David

then,

given what he knew

about God,

how much more

should that be true

of us today,

given what we know

about the same God?

Given what we know

about God's

gracious

and holy

character

and his steadfast,

satisfying love,

don't we see it

more clearly

than David

ever did?

Because we see

God's love

displayed

on a cross.

We see God

fulfilling all

of his fatherly

promises to us

through the death

and resurrection

of his own son.

And you know,

now we know God

not just as the Lord,

but as the Lord Jesus,

the one who came

and bled for us

and rose again

for us

so that all who repent

and believe

would know new life

and know the fatherly

favor forever.

And friends,

knowing God's

love in Christ,

how much more

should we delight

in the gaze

of God over us,

bought at such a cost,

freely given

through the Spirit,

and received

simply through faith?

If the burning

passion of God

is so rich

and so deep

that he would

pour it out

on a cross

for sinners

like you and me,

how could we not

want to get

as close

as we possibly

could

to delighting

in that?

If that's how

profound God's

mercy is,

how could it

not be more

worthwhile

and more

satisfying to us

than anything else?

To be found

precious

in the Lord's sight,

that would

thrill

our hearts

for eternity.

Listen to another

psalm by David,

Psalm 16.

He says,

Therefore my heart

is glad

and my whole

being rejoices.

My flesh

also dwells secure

for you will not

abandon my soul

to Sheol

or let your Holy

One see corruption.

You make known

to me the paths

of life.

In your presence

there's fullness

of joy

and at your right

hand are pleasures

forevermore.

Friends,

this is what

will give us

the power

to obey

in trial

and temptation,

to meditate

on that

deep

everlasting

truth.

In those moments

when we need

to blink,

as it were,

when we need

to make those

quick decisions,

when we're confronted

with challenges

to obey,

these are the things

we need to have been

thinking deeply upon.

Not just

confidence in God's

sovereignty to deliver,

not just the clarity

of His word,

but lastly,

the delight

of His gaze

upon us

to find that view

more precious

than anything else.

So as we wrap up then,

what trials

or temptations

are you going to face

this week?

What trials

or temptations

are you going to face

tonight?

Let's go to God

in prayer right now

and ask Him

to sink these truths

deep into our hearts

by His Spirit

so that we could

follow Him

and know the joy

that comes

from obeying

our Lord.

Let's pray.

God,

that's what we ask

right now tonight.

Lord,

so many of us

are facing

seemingly

difficult

temptations

and Lord,

we're facing

tests

where it seems

like we can

snatch pleasure

right at our fingertips

just like David

could have ended

all of his problems

seemingly

in this chapter.

Oh Lord,

I pray

for us tonight

that we would

count

Your

gracious

presence

and fellowship

and walking

with You,

God,

that we would

count that

more worth

than anything

else,

Jesus.

Lord,

grant that

to be the case

by Your Spirit.

Amen.

The music team

is going to come up

and we're going to

continue worshiping

together.

So,

let's do that.

We've got a couple

minutes left.

If anyone has

any questions

about our passage

tonight,

we can talk

about those.

if I don't

know the answer,

I will

happily

bunt

and confess

my ignorance

and

but

yeah,

good to see you

again.

Yeah.

Yeah,

good question.

So,

the question is,

here Saul says

he's sorry,

I'm not going

to hurt you

and then in

chapter 27,

David goes

the opposite

direction.

What's going

on?

Does he not

believe Saul?

I think that's

exactly right.

I think he

doesn't trust

Saul as far

as he can

kick him

at this

point in

the story

because this

actually isn't

the first

time in

1 Samuel

that Saul

has said,

I'm sorry,

I'm wrong,

come back,

David,

and then we

find a chapter

later that

Saul's out

to kill him

again.

So,

this has

happened

numerous times

at this

point.

So,

I think

at this

point,

David is

saying,

that's

great,

Saul,

that you're

saying you're

sorry and

wrong,

but I'm

not going

to trust

you right

now.

So,

yeah,

I think

he's just

being wise

and realizing

that Saul

can't be

trusted.

Yeah,

which plays

itself out

in the next

couple of

chapters.

So,

yeah,

good question.

Any others?

No?

No?

Stephen,

is that Jude?

Is that your

son?

He's giving

a good

hallelujah back

there to my

sermon.

I appreciate

that.

All right,

well,

friends,

let's close

then.

Hey,

did you get

a bulletin

on the way

in?

Did you see

him back

there?

Good.

Let me

point out

just one

thing in

the bulletin.

If you

are a

member

here at

Trinity,

in a couple

of weeks,

we're going

to have a

congregational

meeting.

And this

is probably

our most

important

congregational

meeting of

the year

because we're

going to

look at

our ministry

priorities for

the coming

year through

the lens

of our

budget.

So,

this is

when we're

going to

finalize

our annual

budget.

And also,

on top of

that,

we're also

going to be

voting on

officers,

on deacons,

and also

there's an

elder candidate.

So,

take a look

at that.

If you don't

know those

officer

candidates and

you're a

member,

try to get

to know

them in the

next couple

of weeks.

At least

talk to

them and

introduce

yourself to

them.

But come

out to the

congregational

meeting and

we'll have a

good fellowship

dinner together

and we'll

vote on our

budget and

on our

officers for

the coming

year.

On the

back of the

bulletin,

there's space

for small

groups.

A bunch of

small groups

are there

listed.

So,

if you're

looking for

ways to get

more connected

here at

Trinity,

these are

times that

meet throughout

the week for

Bible study and

prayer and

fellowship and

all that good

stuff.

So,

if you have

questions about

a group that

might be a

good fit or

you want to

just inquire,

you can ask

me,

you can ask

Neil,

he's a small

group leader,

Nord leads

one of the

studies,

so you can

ask a bunch

of us and

we'd be happy

to point you

in the right

direction.

Alright,

let's close

with a

benediction

from 2nd

Corinthians.

Paul says

it's the

grace of the

Lord Jesus

Christ and

the love of

God and

the fellowship

of the Holy

Spirit be with

you all.

Friends,

go in peace.