Sermon

1 Samuel 24 (Part 2) Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  1. I'm eager to open up the word of God with you.

  2. And so, please meet me in the book of 1st Samuel, chapter 24,

  3. As I was studying today, I was thinking to myself.

  4. I can't believe we're almost finished this book.

  5. Just a few more chapters before we enter into the second part of

  6. this Grand Story in second Samuel, but we are taking our

  7. time, and that's why we're still in the same chapter as we were

  8. last week. So meet me down in verse 8.

  9. If you've come to Bible study tonight, you've come to an

  10. exciting portion of the book of 1st Samuel.

  11. And the reason is because For the First Time, in about five

  12. chapters, Saul and David are going to meet face-to-face,

  13. they're going to have a conversation.

  14. For the longest time it seems like it's been so normal to see

  15. David just running from this predator and he has been for

  16. good reason but at this moment The Fugitive is going to change

  17. directions and he's actually going to approach the very man

  18. that is trying to kill him. And for good reason, this daring

  19. move might seem to be unwise for some, but there seems to be this

  20. confidence that David Acquired and I think it has to do with

  21. what he experienced in the cave that you.

  22. And I read about last week. I think David realized something

  23. that God at any moment can disarm and subdue his enemies.

  24. And a moment, he just saw how weak saw could become in a

  25. moment. How vulnerable?

  26. How susceptible, God brought salt to David, on a silver

  27. platter. And I think there is something

  28. energizing about that, where he felt, he felt the need and the

  29. grace, to be able to, now peek out of that cave, and to

  30. confront Saul, And as we read these verses, as we finish this

  31. chapter today, there is so much in here, but I think there's a

  32. theme and that is just insights of how to confront someone when

  33. they are in wrong. How to approach someone when

  34. they are in sin, how to deal with someone who has wronged,

  35. you And that is very important to our god.

  36. That is important to the head of the church Jesus has given

  37. instructions of how you and I ought to deal with others who

  38. have sinned against us. That that tells us that you.

  39. And I as Christians you're most likely going to be wronged and I

  40. want to I want to just tell you how to time, it's going to

  41. happen more than once. This might even further

  42. disappoint you. It might happen more than once

  43. from the same person and that could happen with multiple

  44. people. So multiply that with every

  45. person that you know, even if they're Christian.

  46. So it begs us to know. Lord, how do I deal with this?

  47. How do I go about this? If I'm asking you to actually

  48. make me like like your son then surely, I need to know how to be

  49. like your son when I've been treated with with so much evil

  50. and wickedness. And it's not as black and white

  51. as you and I might think. And so I know we prayed but I

  52. think it's good to pray again. Let's ask the Lord to help us.

  53. Lord, we need you in this Bible study.

  54. We are grateful that we have the word of God in our hands but we

  55. need the spirit that helped us understand it.

  56. Thank you for this family. Laura, thank you for bringing us

  57. in the same place to expound the scriptures.

  58. Lord. We know that this can easily

  59. become a sermon but we wanted to be a study and so energized, our

  60. minds and create Opportunity by your perfect wisdom for

  61. conversation and for shared insights Lord.

  62. We just pray that you would lead us and conduct this meeting to

  63. your pleasure. I'll or we need you to help us

  64. because this can easily become a dead teaching session, but we

  65. know that your word is life. We also know that your word must

  66. be assisted by the power of the Holy Spirit.

  67. And so we back in you, we ask that this would be true on this

  68. Friday evening. At this Bible study, we trust

  69. that you will do it because you're faithful and you're eager

  70. to speak to us in your name. We pray these things.

  71. Amen. Let's read verse 8.

  72. After word. After word, after that whole

  73. incident in the cave where David sauce on those men, convinced

  74. him to kill him once. And for all after all of that,

  75. David didn't do it. But he does something here,

  76. afterward, David also arose and went out of the cave and called

  77. after saw my Lord the king, and when Saul look behind him, David

  78. bowed with his face to the Earth and paid homage And we can just

  79. stop there for a moment. Consider this at David in that

  80. cave, did not exercise his sword with vengeance but David still

  81. is going to do something about Saul and what David is going to

  82. do in this moment is utilize a different instrument, a

  83. different weapon, a weapon that God encourages you and I to use

  84. when we are being treated with such contempt and wrong and that

  85. is the weapon of returning good for evil.

  86. That is the response of doing. What doesn't make sense to the

  87. Natural mind to the most undeserving?

  88. And so he approaches him at a safe distance.

  89. We have reason to believe because even saw later on the

  90. chapter, he can't really recognize David's voice and

  91. either. That's because of the distance

  92. or his mind has been. So damaged that he can't even

  93. understand who's speaking to him, but it seems like David is

  94. acting and wisdom and there's a distance, and he comes up and he

  95. calls he calls for Saul now, here's my question in these two

  96. verses. What what kind of phrase that's

  97. all repeatedly used? when it came to identifying

  98. David, That son of Jesse. With humiliation and mind with

  99. an attempt to bring such contempt of his lowly because of

  100. his lowly upbringing and his background that son of Jesse

  101. that nobody up to this point we've seen that being used

  102. repeatedly, son of Jesse, son of Jesse, son of Jesse but then

  103. when it comes to David addressing Saul, what does he

  104. say? My Lord, the king.

  105. My Lord, the king. He didn't say you rascal.

  106. He didn't say you evil Wicked King.

  107. He didn't say you lunatic, he didn't say, you maniac.

  108. He said, my Lord, the king. Is he showing face here?

  109. Is he just pretending? Is he just trying to seem Pious?

  110. Absolutely not. Because, before this we know

  111. that in private, he addresses salt to those men that really

  112. didn't feel. The best way about Saul, he's

  113. still the Lord's anointed And so even behind his back he was it

  114. was respecting this man and Shirley before his face he was

  115. honoring. This man, how do we make sense

  116. of this? What do we make of this?

  117. Is he condoning? Saul sin?

  118. Is he ignoring his pure wickedness?

  119. No, he's actually, he's respecting the office.

  120. And the position that he has though, he might be unfaithful

  121. in it, there is a loss of the sense of respect for authority

  122. in our culture, even for those who are doing, right?

  123. Even for those that are doing what they should be doing there,

  124. still this growing loss for respect and honor and that is a

  125. dangerous sign. Of where we stand and in our

  126. morality. But here we see that there is

  127. still sense of respect and honor that is demanded.

  128. And what's important about that is you and I and life might be

  129. failed by those who are in positions of authority.

  130. You might be let down by a father but you have to

  131. understand He's still your father.

  132. You might be disappointed by spiritual leader by a pastor by

  133. someone, who teaches a Bible class, whatever it may be.

  134. But regardless that person is still holding a position of

  135. authority. You might be caught up in the

  136. frenzy of people who are doing much to, to the names of

  137. politicians, including the president.

  138. But regardless, he's still the president.

  139. He's still a president even though he's not serving as some.

  140. What many would say as a faithful politician consider

  141. that consider that, as you prepare to confront someone in

  142. their wrong, that there is still has to be a level of respect and

  143. dignity and the way you approach that individual That is

  144. important because no matter how true something is no matter how

  145. sobering the confrontation might be, it should never cross the

  146. line into ridicule and into mockery.

  147. And David proves that with such balance and I'm fully aware that

  148. there's a temptation to maybe not kill someone with an actual

  149. sore. But with the sword of your

  150. tongue and yet this man, still restrains that weapon because he

  151. is still walking in the fear of the Lord.

  152. And so he calls out my Lord, the king and saw hears this voice

  153. and this must have been confusing because he thought he

  154. was alone in that cave. So very quickly, I'm sure he

  155. turns around only to see the very that you've been looking

  156. for for who knows how long And the moment that David realizes

  157. that he has Saul's attention, not only did he address him with

  158. respect, but with with a posture of humility, he takes his his

  159. face and he bounced before boughs before him as a way of

  160. saluting, somebody who is Superior in rank.

  161. And it reinforces again, the absolute necessity that you and

  162. I in our confrontation and even in our communication of

  163. conviction it has to come from a posture of great great.

  164. Respect and humility. And this man is displaying that

  165. ever. So clearly, It may be so with us

  166. because we can lose the the power of what we want to say,

  167. when the package, when the package is Given In the Flesh,

  168. even if the message is spiritual, even if it lines up

  169. with God's word and what we see here is after he gained Saul's

  170. attention and after he already is showing himself to be a man

  171. who really reflects the character of God.

  172. He asks his first question And it is, it is insightful when you

  173. meditate upon the question that he brings its found in verse 9.

  174. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men

  175. who say behold David seeks your harm?

  176. Why do you listen to the words of men, who say, behold David

  177. seeks your harm? It seems like David is fully

  178. aware that the fuel to Saul's crazed Pursuit after him was the

  179. words of others who were instigating and who were

  180. encouraging him to continue to pursue David and Amanda to kill

  181. him. And we studied that with a man

  182. named who do a grammar, do idea to might David was Aware that

  183. the main cause for these priests to be slaughtered and for salt

  184. to be ever. So motivated to pursue the

  185. innocence of this man is because of what another person said now

  186. you and I know the deep-rooted reason why Saul is doing this,

  187. this wasn't just suggested, this was only fueling.

  188. The slander was only fueling, but this was something birth

  189. within his own bosom. This was something that went all

  190. the way back to 1st Samuel 18, when a bunch of women of Israel

  191. began to saying that David was more Victorious than Saul and so

  192. you know this we've been studying it that the reason why

  193. Saul is doing this is because he has a jealousy.

  194. There's Pride. There there's there's a hidden

  195. Evil Within his heart that was not tamed by the power of the

  196. Holy Spirit. And because of that, it, let

  197. loose into all this carnality But what's so amazing here is

  198. that, I think that David is not addressing that with great

  199. wisdom. One would say he's not aware of

  200. the reason. Okay.

  201. But could it be that David is not going to spend his time.

  202. Pull pointing at the motives of Saul and is instead going to

  203. just deal with the clear evidence for the wrong that he

  204. is performing? Instead of trying to investigate

  205. things that are hidden. He instead goes to the things

  206. that cannot be denied. And I think this is very

  207. important. There's great wisdom here

  208. because you and I, as Christians, we are not called to

  209. make judgments on people's hidden motives. as tempting, as

  210. it may be to try to figure out why it is, people do what they

  211. do, unless it is clear, unless there is evidence, unless it is

  212. obvious you and I actually commanded not to judge the

  213. things that only God can determine And and looking at

  214. what David is doing here though, we can debate, why he's asking

  215. this question primarily there is still a practical wisdom in this

  216. theme tonight of how you and I should deal with other people's

  217. wrongs against us and if you want proof of what I'm saying,

  218. it's in it's in the New Testament, which Comforts a lot

  219. more people because when it's old it's like, yeah.

  220. New Testament. 1st Corinthians chapter 4.

  221. Look, what. Paul says to Christians and I

  222. want you to see this for yourself and I mean, talk about

  223. the pursuit of Holiness, how these things are so specific.

  224. To our lives. We read here.

  225. Paul says therefore do not and First Corinthians 4:5 do not

    1 Corinthians 4:5

  226. pronounce judgment before the time.

  227. He's talking to Believers and he's actually talking to

  228. Believers that are judging Paul's Ministry and questioning

  229. his motives. Do not pronounce judgement

  230. before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light

  231. the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the

  232. purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his

  233. Commendation from God. There is a Time coming my

  234. brother. There's a Time coming.

  235. My sister were the Lord himself will investigate with perfect

  236. Justice and perfect evaluation. The reason why some people do

  237. that, which is wrong. And more than that, the Lord

  238. will also reveal. Why the people standing before

  239. him did good. And what Paul is saying here is

  240. leave that kind of judgment. To the Lord, don't get yourself

  241. occupied with something that solely belongs to God himself.

  242. Because that is a great Temptation, not just to look at

  243. people who are doing evil and saying, why are they doing that?

  244. But even looking at people who are doing good and be like, you

  245. know, I think, I think he's a pastor, because he does this, or

  246. he wants this, Paul says, don't do that.

  247. That solely Belongs to the Lord because how embarrassing it will

  248. it be for you on Judgment day when you were wrong.

  249. And you actually told other people, the reason why you think

  250. they're doing it and it all comes to light and you, you're

  251. the one. Who will find rebuke from the

  252. Lord? It's pastas resist that

  253. Temptation, resist it with everything within you, by the

  254. power of the Holy Spirit, leave that to the Lord.

  255. Now, when you come back to this text others, believe that the

  256. reason why David is speaking about the slander of men rather

  257. than addressing Saul since straight up is because in love,

  258. he wants to cover sauce in and he's willing to shift the blame

  259. on others so that there can be clear communication between two.

  260. I think that's reading way too much in the And it's clear from

  261. the text itself. That's that David is not trying

  262. to dismiss all is wrong. He's actually questioning his

  263. wrong when he brings up the lies of others.

  264. Read the verse slowly and realized that Saul is guilty.

  265. Saul is guilty and how he responded to what other people

  266. were saying. Falsely about David, go back to

  267. the verse, what does it say? David said to Saul, why do you

  268. listen? Why do you listen?

  269. For salt to entertain, for salt, to believe, and to act upon the

  270. false statements made by others about David.

  271. Listen is no less of a crime than the slander itself.

  272. For salt to entertain, for salt, to believe and enforce.

  273. All to act upon what other people were saying, is no less

  274. of a crime than those who instigated the lives to begin

  275. with. you and I are stewards of many things in this life and one

  276. of the things that you and I are responsible for is what we do

  277. based on what we hear, what you and I do based on what we hear,

  278. the Lord will hold us accountable for And there are

  279. many people who do certain things that are wrong and then

  280. when they realize they're wrong, they will point to the

  281. misinformation. That was given to them thinking

  282. that that somehow justifies it and it doesn't a failure to

  283. investigate a failure to be Discerning, never excuses, doing

  284. something wrong or treating somebody differently based on

  285. something that you're not sure about the understand.

  286. This is an extremely important. I'm trying to Save You Tonight

  287. from destroying things that can be A bird and could be a

  288. blessing. We see here that saw was held

  289. responsible because of why he listened and he believed, and he

  290. moved based on that and you and I have to understand very very

  291. carefully. That there is just as much

  292. trouble for the person who acts upon false information in the

  293. person who sharing that false information to begin with

  294. example potiphar. Not notice, I didn't say,

  295. Potiphar's wife. I said potiphar part of his

  296. wife, framed, an innocent man and part 2.

  297. Fur threw him into prison. And we always focus on

  298. Potiphar's wife. What about the man who believed

  299. something that he should have investigated be very careful in

  300. your Christian walk? You and I will be held

  301. responsible for what we do based on what we hear.

  302. And I think a lot of people don't believe that, but we see

  303. that here by Holy Spirit and so David.

  304. David confronts him about this but we see what he does.

  305. In the next verse behold verse 10, this day your eyes have seen

  306. how the lord gave you today into my hand and the cave and some

  307. told me to kill you but I spared you.

  308. I said, I will not put out my hand against my Lord for he is

  309. the Lord's anointed. and so David now goes from questioning

  310. him, To now, actually bringing something to his attention that

  311. he did not know. David, I was going to prove his

  312. innocence. He's going to show how all those

  313. lies were wrong and what saw was doing was not just wrong.

  314. It was sin and it was wickedness.

  315. And so he says behold do you not realize I'm translating here?

  316. Do you not realize what God just did right here right now.

  317. And saw was completely unaware of the fact that his casual

  318. visitation to the facilities was actually the Lord setting them

  319. up in a way for him to learn that he had escaped yet another

  320. intervention of possible judgment.

  321. I mean, so many episodes where God had spared saw one after the

  322. other. And here is another one that

  323. David is highlighting to Saul. You missed it.

  324. If it wasn't for me approaching you right now, you would have

  325. not understood this. The Lord set you up. the Lord

  326. made this show possible for me to actually deal with you once

  327. and for all and Saul was blinded by this saw was unaware of this

  328. and this isn't, this isn't deal with the theme that we're

  329. speaking about in this chapter, but it's a wonderful point that

  330. consider nonetheless. It is a wonderful illustration

  331. of how those who are in sin are blinded by the the mercies that

  332. follow them though. They are undeserving of those

  333. Mercies Speaks of those who do not acknowledge the lordship of

  334. Jesus Christ. And he speaks of those who fail,

  335. to a tribute to him all the wonderful things that they

  336. enjoy. Like Saul, who didn't know what

  337. just happened moments ago. There are sinners tonight who

  338. have healthy bodies and full bank accounts and great

  339. families. And successful businesses that

  340. do not realize that, though, they deserve to be judged

  341. eternally at this very moment. They are instead.

  342. Swimming in the grace of God. And I see something here about

  343. David that speaks to the responsibility of the Christian

  344. like David here, who is making known to solve the goodness of

  345. God. So you and I are called to

  346. highlight what God has done to those who are unaware of his

  347. goodness. You realize that you deserve

  348. judgment and yet God is giving you Mercy.

  349. Do you realize that yet while you're an enemy Christ?

  350. Came and died for you? David is highlighting the mercy

  351. of God, to an undeserving Sinner and you and I have the same

  352. responsibilities as we communicate this gospel to

  353. souls. There are walking around going

  354. in and out. Not realizing that.

  355. There is a God and his providential love, who is even

  356. providing for them, protecting them to a certain extent and

  357. David makes that known. But let's come back to this this

  358. theme. Now we came here, it's come back

  359. here. The theme of how we should deal

  360. with people that wrong us or who are in sin.

  361. David says, something in here that a lot of people Miss

  362. Supply. And the in the Christian world

  363. look here at the second part of verse 10, the last part.

  364. But I spared you. I said, I will not put out my

  365. hand against the Lord for. He is the Lord's anointed.

  366. Have you ever heard the phrase? Touch?

  367. Not. My anointed.

  368. Have you ever heard the statement, have you ever even

  369. been warned? Do not touch the Lord's,

  370. anointed anybody here heard that?

  371. Wow, I was expecting way more to hear it, you've never heard it.

  372. Okay, it's a common phrase, It's a common phrase, among many who

  373. misinterpret not just in this text but in different parts

  374. where it's kind of its kind of a code touch not The Lord's

  375. anointed. And how people have

  376. misinterpreted that is that leaders, spiritual leaders

  377. should never be confronted. Should never be corrected,

  378. should never be rebuked, should never be approached, should

  379. never be criticized. In fact, they are above all that

  380. because if you say something against somebody who's in

  381. spiritual leadership, God will judge you for that.

  382. And they use David exam as an example here to how David would

  383. not touch the Lord's. Anointed, even though saw was in

  384. so much wrong, David dare not do anything to say something.

  385. This is how they interpret it to criticize or to speak about a

  386. man of God. Even though he's in wrong,

  387. Here's the problem. None of those things and we can

  388. go to different portions of scripture.

  389. That Echo what David is saying. None of those things, entertain

  390. for a split second that you and I cannot confront approach or

  391. deal with someone who is in a leadership position.

  392. When they are in sin, when David says, I will not touch the

  393. Lord's. Anointed.

  394. He's speaking about physical harm.

  395. I got killing him. In fact, the very context just

  396. destroys that argument, he is confronting him, he's dealing

  397. with his sin head on. And so many of you haven't heard

  398. it, I can tell you of some places where they use it all the

  399. time and even leaders teach about it.

  400. This is not the same thing. People mistakenly warn others

  401. with a text like this. That leaders are excluded from

  402. accountability or examination wrong.

  403. Is there a way to do it? Absolutely.

  404. And there is specific. There's a specific protocol of

  405. how to do it, but it doesn't say that they're exempt from it,

  406. completely that may not be beneficial to you.

  407. Now, it may come At a future time.

  408. And if somebody warns you about it, just just remember, it's not

  409. talking about you stabbing somebody with an actual sword.

  410. And so we come back to this verse, behold this day, your

  411. eyes have seen how the lord gave you today into my hand in the

  412. cave. And then we come here and we see

  413. something else. And verse 11.

  414. See my father, notice how he calls him my father.

  415. See my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand for by the

  416. fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill

  417. you. You may know and see that there

  418. is no wrong or treason. In my hands, I have not sinned

  419. against you though. You hunt my life to take it.

  420. So now David is not trying to give an appeal with words now.

  421. He pulls out evidence, he pulls out the briefcase and he takes

  422. his ziplock bag with the strongest piece of evidence that

  423. would just make this irrefutable he takes a piece of the robe,

  424. the robe that he cut, and he says here, What you going to do

  425. with this? Is this not clear enough for

  426. you? Do you not see the evidence?

  427. And I look at that, and I see a practical application here.

  428. And here's the practical, application believer.

  429. The Believers duty is to ensure that by the wisdom of God, by

  430. walking with the Lord, by living in the fear of the Lord, that

  431. there is no evidence that we can give Satan to muddy our

  432. testimony When is Satan's tactics and he's done it to so

  433. many men of God in the scriptures and Men of God.

  434. And women of God today is to make the testimony of a

  435. Believer, especially those who are affected for the kingdom of

  436. murky and questionable. So that their message and that

  437. their Ministry would be hindered from being fully effective.

  438. It's a very despicable practice but it's one of his tactics,

  439. nonetheless. And David, he remember going

  440. back to verse 9, he's dealing with people that are saying

  441. things about him and yet in this moment, he has evidence that

  442. will shut all of their mouths. And the application here is you

  443. and I should not be overwhelmed or concerned or busy ourselves

  444. with hunting. Every lie that somebody says or

  445. every exaggeration or the spread of misinformation don't occupy

  446. yourself with these things. If you're going to busy yourself

  447. with anything, it is to live with a clear conscience.

  448. I'm telling you this not for you to be fearful, but I'm telling

  449. you to be prepared. For those who serve the Lord,

  450. one of the enemy's strategies is to make sure that he can.

  451. As we heard Sunday, poison, the minds of others.

  452. Don't busy yourself trying to unpause in them.

  453. Busy yourself with making sure that you are walking in the

  454. light. That's all you have to do.

  455. That's all you need to do. And what I think is so

  456. incredible is people just don't realize the seriousness of what

  457. I'm presenting that this is. This is a tactic.

  458. It happened with Joseph at happened with Daniel at happen

  459. with our Lord. And it happened to Paul that man

  460. experienced that throughout his ministry.

  461. And I want to show you just how important it is to ensure that

  462. you and I have a clear conscience so that when these

  463. tactics of Satan surface you'll be ready.

  464. You'll be ready. So come with me to the book of

  465. Acts and look with me here. Paul found himself in court, I

  466. believe in America, we're going to see many more Christians in

  467. court in the next few years. And here in chapter 24, listen

  468. to this, he's standing for governor Felix, and there's a

  469. whole court case. And this man took two lists is

  470. sophisticated. And he begins to accuse him in

  471. front of the governor and other people look here with me and

  472. verse 2. And when he had been summoned to

  473. to this began to accuse him saying and let's just scroll

  474. down here. And verse 4.

  475. But to detain you, no further. I beg you in your kindness to

  476. hear us briefly for we have found this man.

  477. Paul a plague one who stirs up riots among all the Jews

  478. throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the

  479. nazarenes. He even tried to profane the

  480. temple, but we seized them by examining him yourself.

  481. You will be able to find out from him about everything of

  482. which we accuse him. Wow, pretty confident guy.

  483. Accuse everything that you're going to find out, you

  484. investigate it. You're going to see that.

  485. What we're saying is true. You're so bald, man.

  486. So here's here's Paul standing before Governor.

  487. Here's Paul at the brink of his ministry, potentially being

  488. hindered and this is what I love and the same chapter.

  489. You come down to verse 13. And look at the answer that Paul

  490. gives Neither. Can they prove to you what?

  491. They now bring up against me. Yeah, that's right.

  492. They can't prove it. They can't.

  493. What a wonderful Shield Integrity is.

  494. What a wonderful protection living in the fear of the Lord?

  495. Is it provides a boldness and a courage.

  496. It does not make one frantic. When there are things being said

  497. no no they are steadfast because that is the power of a

  498. conscience that is in the clear. Would you like to know how Paul

  499. can say such a statement like this?

  500. Without being shaken without without stuttering, in his

  501. words, while the inside is in the same chapter, look at verse

  502. 16. So I always take pains to have a

  503. clear conscience toward both God and man, that's how I take great

  504. pains. I make sure that I am in right

  505. standing in the presence of God. Yes, Jesus position, he makes us

  506. right, but practically, I make sure that there is no offense.

  507. There's no disobedience in my walk with the Lord first.

  508. Notice the order, a clear conscience before God first, and

  509. then, man, not the other way around.

  510. And then to my fellow man. And if there's any wrong that

  511. I've done before the Lord, any wrong that I've done to my

  512. fellow man I take great pains to ensure that I clear my record

  513. that I make right what I have done wrong.

  514. And that is what you and I inherit when it comes to these

  515. satanic accusations in our lives, this conviction for a

  516. clear conscience will protect you, it will guard you.

  517. And it will keep us from doing what. bringing blasphemy to the

  518. name of God before the Gentiles, like Paul said to the Romans, In

  519. this world where the media and the culture is just drooling for

  520. another scandal in the Evangelical world.

  521. It's just waiting for another failure.

  522. Just waiting for another moral hypocrisy.

  523. You and I can can do what David did back in this verse and verse

  524. 11, 3 times, he repeats the same word you know what it is.

  525. Si si si si. In other words, just look at my

  526. life. I have nothing to hide from you.

  527. I have nothing to be embarrassed about, have nothing to be shy

  528. about have nothing. I had nothing si si, oh, what a

  529. wonderful testimony that is for those who would want to defame

  530. our faith, for those who would want to through the enemy's

  531. conviction. Bring about a hindrance to our

  532. Ministries and unfortunate. I want to bring you a heads up

  533. to this. It might be true.

  534. It might be true. That there is great power that

  535. when you and I have through a holy life, a blameless life, a

  536. life that reflects the character of God though, not perfect

  537. blameless. Still, the enemy is a clever

  538. fellow and he can still he can still gather evidence against

  539. you and I Saying, what are you talking about?

  540. So here's David holding a piece of Saul's rope to prove his

  541. innocence and I'm asking you to reflect on a story where

  542. somebody else was holding another piece of garment that

  543. condemned an innocent man. Who is that very good?

  544. Joseph. And so there you see a different

  545. Paradigm to this? Joseph was innocent, Joseph was

  546. right, and yet it looked like it looked like there was evidence

  547. against him. These see how tricky this is,

  548. the see how it's not black, and white and Christianity.

  549. So then what are you doing? It just everything you just said

  550. about walking route. So you're saying that no matter

  551. what you do like Joseph, even though you stand for God and you

  552. choose to obey him when nobody's looking, you can still be

  553. falsely accused. What am I supposed to do with

  554. that? Then this is intimidating.

  555. No, don't be intimidated. Even though that garment and

  556. that woman's hand, symbolize a man, it was a trophy of a Man

  557. Who Loved and honored God she Twisted it sure.

  558. So then what's our duty then if we can't predict these things

  559. very simple do what David does back in verse 12 of 1st Samuel,

  560. 24, May the lord judge between me and you.

  561. May the lord judge between me and you may the Lord avenge me

  562. against you but my hand shall not be against you.

  563. I've talked to different people who have been Disturbed in their

  564. Christian experience because of things that have been said about

  565. them, but it is a verse like this, that should encourage you

  566. to know how to rest. In God's sovereignty.

  567. And to be completely committed to the judge will bring all

  568. things to the light. Trust yourself in, trust

  569. yourself into his hands at all times.

  570. As tempting as it is, sometimes to to defend yourself into

  571. unconvinced people and to convince people, don't worry

  572. about that. Don't get so caught up in that.

  573. Learn to just leave it to the Lord. that is important, because

  574. There is a day as you heard earlier when we're God is going

  575. to gather all the evidence and this is so comforting and he

  576. will show, who is right? And who is wrong.

  577. And that's why Paul in that same scripture where he says don't

  578. judge before the time earlier. He says it is a little thing to

  579. be judged by you, or by any human court.

  580. It's a small thing to me. It's a, it doesn't affect me

  581. very much. Why?

  582. Because he says, that in verse 3, of First Corinthians for Nana

  583. verse 5, he goes the Lord's going to bring out the light,

  584. like, you got to believe that. You got to really believe that

  585. and there's a lightness to that. There's a confidence to that

  586. even if you're thrown in jail for 15 years, Just trust the

  587. Lord really trust, like, come on, like, trust the Lord.

  588. Amen. I trust the Lord, I trust you

  589. with my okay, trust them. Then really trust them like when

  590. it gets ugly, trust them. Like you let your soul actually

  591. commit. These things to him.

  592. I give it to you. Lord deal with it.

  593. Do that. Don't just think about it, do it

  594. and experience The Liberation from it, where you can say,

  595. like, Paul, it's a little thing. He looks at Saul from a

  596. distance. He goes, look, I have evidence.

  597. Even if you have evidence that God is going to, God is the one

  598. who will bring all things. So, I'm leaving this into God's

  599. hand. What a wonderful thing it is to

  600. know to lead people into God's hands.

  601. We can continue with the verses following to this.

  602. He kind of repeats himself in different ways to emphasize his

  603. point, but I think it's good to get to Saul's reaction now.

  604. Aren't you? Eager to know what's always

  605. going to do? How is Saul going to respond to

  606. this, to this presentation? That is immaculate?

  607. That, I mean, how do you argue against this?

  608. I don't know if this is saying the text, if you looked at the

  609. corner of his robe and he looked, and he says it's real,

  610. it's legit, he actually did this, we don't know, but we see

  611. his response and it is quite telling.

  612. It's Very, very, very shocking. Join with me, come to verse 16

  613. as soon as David had finished speaking, these words to Saul

  614. Saul said, is this your voice? My son, David.

  615. And so lifted up his voice and wept.

  616. We have to read slowly. How did how did he address

  617. David? my son, David, not the son of

  618. Jesse, My son David, wow. Seems like somebody's heart is

  619. softening. And I think the iciness of this

  620. man's heart is melting here because now it's translating it

  621. to actual tears. There's an outburst, he's

  622. weeping. He's weeping out loud audibly.

  623. I don't know if it echoed Into the Wilderness into that cave.

  624. I don't know, but he's broken. I mean this is not what we saw

  625. earlier when Jonathan confronts his dad and he says what are you

  626. doing with David? And and you can tell that he's a

  627. little convicted and he goes you know as the Lord lives I will

  628. not put him to death and he comes back and then he ends up

  629. doing what he did before this time.

  630. There's actual tears. There's like visible remorse.

  631. This is exciting. In fact, it gets even more

  632. exciting, because look what he says in verse 17.

  633. He said to David, you are more righteous than I for you, have

  634. repaid me. Good.

  635. Whereas I've repaid you evil. This is like Revival happening

  636. right now. you are more righteous than I Is this

  637. confession? This is, this is admitting that

  638. he's in the wrong. This is admitting this, the

  639. righteousness of this man, eclipsing, his Darkness.

  640. You've repaid me with good while I'm treating you with evil and

  641. it breaks him. and when I read this today, I looked at that

  642. phrase, you are more righteous than I And this is why reading

  643. the Old Testament or reading the scriptures with rearview

  644. mirrors. Brings about Revelation, I've

  645. seen that phrase before. I've seen this phrase before.

  646. If you know where this phrase is found it, I'll give you a

  647. high-five after the service. who else said you are more righteous

  648. than I Before we're talking before this moment, we're

  649. talking about, we're talking about early in the book. let me

  650. let me make it more specific, she is more righteous than I

  651. Very good but you're a pastor. So now joking has nothing to do

  652. with you being a pastor. You read the word of God.

  653. Did you hear his answer? Come with me to Genesis chapter

    Genesis 39 chapter mention

  654. 39. I'll still give you a high five

  655. after the service. Genesis 39.

  656. Excuse me, 38 Do you remember the story between Judah and

  657. Tamar who here knows of the story?

  658. Lift your hand just so I can know how much to go in depth

  659. with this. Remember Judah, one of the sons

  660. of Jacob? He goes into He goes into an

  661. area that he shouldn't be going into and he marries somebody.

  662. You shouldn't be marrying, he has.

  663. He has three sons with a Canaanite woman, the first to

  664. die and Judah kind of interprets this and he goes, there must be

  665. something wrong with her because whenever she marries one of my

  666. son's they die. So I'm going to keep the

  667. youngest one and he promises her when he's old enough.

  668. I'll give him to you. Why is that happening?

  669. Because, you know, that in the Old Testament, there is a law

  670. that when a man dies The brother should fulfill a certain

  671. responsibility and providing Offspring to that Widow.

  672. And so, when Judah reserves the youngest for Tamar that was that

  673. was sin. And so tame, our takes things

  674. into her own hands, she kind of knew her father-in-law enough

  675. and and that's unfortunate because she dresses herself up

  676. as a prostitute. She hides her identity and this

  677. man goes into a certain place and he requests for her and she

  678. says, yes, but upon a condition, she asked for a certain things

  679. from him because he didn't have payments.

  680. So she would hold on to those things until he provided

  681. something for in a future time. And the things that he gave

  682. Cigna and Accord. It's almost like a modern

  683. driver's license. It's a piece of identification.

  684. It was undeniable. Some say there is there is

  685. inscriptions on these things. Initials something that made it

  686. so obvious that this belonged to so and so and so she not because

  687. she was in lust but because she wanted to fulfill The Vow, she

  688. wanted to fulfill what belonged to her and he was not making it

  689. happen. So she does this.

  690. He goes, he tries to gets payment, he bring he comes back

  691. to the area, she's not to be founding asked around to like

  692. there was no prostitute here, we don't know who you're talking

  693. about now, come here to verse 24 in Genesis 38, about three

  694. months later. Judah was told Tamar, your

  695. daughter-in-law has been immoral.

  696. Moreover, she is pregnant my immorality.

  697. And Judah said, bring her out and let her be burned, not

  698. knowing that he was the one who impregnated her.

  699. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her

  700. father-in-law. Now look at this, by the man to

  701. whom these belong. I am pregnant.

  702. Wow. So here she is with a little

  703. bump that preparing the very steak where she's going to be

  704. burned. And she brings out the elements

  705. of his identification. And she goes, you want to know

  706. who did this? Whoever this belongs to Just

  707. like David, there is evidence. There is evidence.

  708. Now, you know what Judah could have done to save face?

  709. I don't know who that belongs to your dying today.

  710. Men no room for excuses. The bump is enough.

  711. Let her be burned. But as he's confronted with

  712. evidence, something happens to him and look what he says.

  713. She says please identify whose these are the Signet and the

  714. court and the staff verse 26. Then Judah identify them and

  715. said she is more righteous than I Since I did not give her to my

  716. son. Sheila.

  717. And he did not know her again. The paralleling situations,

  718. right? Evil done evidence.

  719. Given both response with conviction.

  720. I mean you can even say that Saul was much more emotional

  721. weeping and all these things and see this is this is what it

  722. means there is, there's a confession of wrong.

  723. But there's a difference. There's a difference.

  724. What's the difference between judah's repentance and Sol's?

  725. Did you say we're going to say the same thing?

  726. Did you see the last part of the verse here in verse 26?

  727. And he did not know her again. In fact, I challenge you to read

  728. you the story from Genesis 38 to the end of book of Ghent, the

  729. end of the book of Genesis. You will see a different Judah,

  730. not just in the fact that he didn't sleep with her again but

  731. in the fact that he treats the whole situation with Joseph and

  732. Benjamin, he's willing to make himself a slave instead of

  733. Benjamin. There's a different person after

  734. this moment. when you compare Judah with the same words, with

  735. with the appearance conviction there, there's a difference with

  736. the sincerity of the remorse because he actually changed Saul

  737. won't Saul said the right things, he had that he had the

  738. right emotions, you can even say, but when you follow Saul,

  739. after that moment, you will not see a difference, all you will,

  740. in fact see the same Saul. Go back to 1st Samuel, I'll

  741. prove it in just two chapters. First, Samuel 26:2.

  742. And first name, a 26 to look what happens two chapters later.

  743. So Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of his, if, with

  744. 3,000 chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of

  745. Zin, if he's literally doing the same thing that he has done,

  746. before the moment of his confrontation, the exact same

  747. thing, the same amount of men, the same area, everything the

  748. man didn't change. What happened to him them with

  749. David? What many people do and

  750. services, they were challenged. He got emotional.

  751. He felt genuine conviction. But what he did here is, what

  752. James warns, Believers not to do and that is to look intently

  753. into a mirror. and then to turn around only forgetting what you

  754. saw in that mirror, that's what it says.

  755. And James says that after saying, do not be hearers only,

  756. but doers of the word. And if you don't, it's like you

  757. looking into the mirror, seeing who you are with, with the

  758. mirrors, not lying to you. You're seeing what you get, is

  759. what you see and then you go away and you forget what you

  760. saw. And that's exactly what happened

  761. with Saul. When that environment was left,

  762. when the evidence was in there, when the emotion waned away, as

  763. he moved on, as you went back home, that conviction died, more

  764. and more and more. It was never responded to.

  765. And so was a useless thing. It was impressive at first, but

  766. it didn't really actually bring about change.

  767. And so we have to beware of that of ourselves.

  768. The measure of true repentance is not the tears that I cry or

  769. the feelings that I have in the moment.

  770. It's what happens to you after what happens to you after Judah.

  771. He said the same thing as Saul but Judah we are told by Holy

  772. Spirit commentary. He did not know her again.

  773. Why would he say that? Why would the Lord put that in

  774. there? Why is that important for us to

  775. know to show us? He changed though, he admitted

  776. that he was not as righteous. He strive by God's grace.

  777. To pursue righteousness. So we come back to this text or

  778. more closing in a moment here. So this man weeps and he cries

  779. and he screams and he confesses and he says beautiful things and

  780. we're going to find out in just after the next chapter that he's

  781. going to do the same thing that he was doing before.

  782. This is a sad sight indeed but what happens is as we come to

  783. this point, he makes another confession and this confession

  784. is quite impressive as well and verse 20 and now behold I know

  785. that you shall surely be king and that the Kingdom of Israel

  786. shall be established. In your hand.

  787. Now, I know, but didn't know before.

  788. Didn't-didn't, Jonathan say my, my father saw knows, you will be

  789. king. He did know the whole time, but

  790. now it's just, it just reinforced even more.

  791. I know. Not like now it's like, I know,

  792. I know, We would applaud him, but this reveal something

  793. disturbing about saw, what does it reveal about salts in?

  794. He was willingly sinning, he was in Sydney ignorance.

  795. He knew what God's word said about David and he still tried

  796. to go against it and you and I have to understand that the

  797. Bible provides a principle in life, that men will be judged

  798. based on the degree of Revelation that they've been

  799. given. They will be the more light you

  800. receive. The more judgment will be in

  801. accordance to that light. And so the more an unbeliever

  802. receives understand the amount of gospel, that they have known,

  803. that will be Take it into consideration on the final day

  804. saw, here is knowing what he's doing is wrong and he's still

  805. attacking, he's still resisting, he is still fighting against

  806. God, and that's a scary thing, but it makes me wonder.

  807. Ooh, it makes me wonder if the visual visualization of the

  808. whole thing. Brought back a memory?

  809. Do you remember what solid the Samuel a few chapters ago when

  810. Samuel confronted him in his sin?

  811. What does he do? He grabs Samuel.

  812. The Prophet by the robe and what does he do?

  813. After that? He rips it.

  814. He rips it off of the profit and Samuel says, something quite

  815. haunting. It was a prophetic word.

  816. The Lord has torn the Kingdom of Israel from you.

  817. This day. And has given it to a neighbor

  818. of yours who's better than you. So imagine that.

  819. Just imagine that with me and first time in 15, he grabs His

  820. Garment, he rips the prophets garment and he has a piece of

  821. his clothing and his hand and Samuel looks at him as this

  822. shirt is all messed up and he goes God has torn the Kingdom

  823. from you. And he's going to place it into

  824. the hand of a neighbor of yours. Who's better than you fast

  825. forward, David is standing before Saul, and he has a piece

  826. of the Kings robe in his hand. Symbolizing his authority.

  827. And Saul looks. And perhaps I'm not saying this

  828. is like dogmatically true but perhaps that's the guy he knew

  829. it before but now he's like that's the guy.

  830. It's amazing. How artistic the Bible is. and

  831. this man here says to David, I know that you're going to be

  832. king. What's so encouraging about

  833. this? Is that has a prophetic ring to

  834. it? No matter how much salt fought

  835. against David, no matter how much salt try to keep David from

  836. the throne, no matter how much he tried to set up conspiracies

  837. his efforts were all in vain and there came a time where he

  838. acknowledged that David was the king.

  839. From his own lips. And all the Sol's in history.

  840. Who've attacked this gospel who try to contradict this gospel

  841. who try to malign who've tried to bury who try to dismiss the

  842. lordship of Jesus Christ. There is a day coming where with

  843. their own mouths, they will confess that, he is the king of

  844. kings and that he is the Lord of lords, that's what we're seeing.

  845. There was a time that even the greatest enemy to David had to

  846. confess, you are the rightful King, and I can't wait for that

  847. day. We're all the princes and

  848. presidents prime ministers. Will helplessly confess.

  849. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the universe.

  850. That's going to happen. Let me end with this.

  851. No. Psalm verse 21, says, swear to

  852. me therefore that you will not cut off my Offspring.

  853. He was so convinced that he's like just please make a promise

  854. a similar promise that you made to my son just be be ever.

  855. So merciful to my offspring. David agrees.

  856. But look what David does in verse 22 David's wore this the

  857. saw then Saul went home but David and his men went up to the

  858. stronghold. you know, David confronted Saul and his sin

  859. David was respectful saw apparently confessed.

  860. He was remorseful, he was broken.

  861. But they don't go back home together.

  862. In fact, we're going to see in chapter 26, saw is going to

  863. invite David to come back. Hey, return.

  864. With me. I'm not going to do you harm

  865. anymore. Was David wrong and not going

  866. back. Or you can have to come to the

  867. next Bible. Studies, to find out.

  868. Let's pray. Louis, thank you for the word of

  869. God. Oh, how rich it is?

  870. We are amazed Lord how you can speak into our lives from a text

  871. that seems so irrelevant. Lord Jesus.

  872. As challenging as these truths. Are, they are extremely

  873. difficult to perform a part from your power?

  874. We are all susceptible of doing the exact opposite of what David

  875. has presented us. And so, Lord, we just pray.

  876. Help us be like Jesus. Help us be like Jesus.

  877. Help us to know, to return good to those who do evil.

  878. We don't know what that looks like.

  879. We don't know what that. Manifest itself to be every

  880. situation is unique. Or help us to be.

  881. Among those by the grace of God, to live with a clear conscience

  882. before you and before, man. so that even when there are

  883. accusations, There would be a life filled with evidence of the

  884. contrary. Again, Lord, we know that this

  885. is not possible without your help below with our short lives.

  886. We long to make it extremely difficult for the enemy.

  887. To hinder our testimony For Your Glory.

  888. Louis, thank you for Jesus Christ.

  889. We thank you that he is the true king that no matter who is

  890. Accused them accused his people. No matter who's try to argue

  891. against them, try to prove other things to be true.

  892. They will confess. They will confess the Lord.

  893. Tonight, we confess, gladly, you're the true Risen.

  894. Lord, you love us. We love you.

  895. We worship you because of these truths tonight.

  896. We worship you for the people that you've allowed us to walk

  897. this journey with Blessed. Be Your Name.

  898. We ask these things in the name of the one who can only save

  899. that name. That saves any man who is

  900. willing to be saved in Jesus name, we pray.

  901. Amen, let's stand and worship. if the Lord together,