Heart Series: The Battle After the Battle | 1 Samuel 18

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. All right, if you have your

Bible handy, turn to First Samuel chapter 18.

1 Samuel 18 · chapter mention

If you're not there yet, this is a very put on your seat belt

message if you can, if you if, if as you've come, this is a

Sunday that as people are ending their school year, they're going

into summer and you guys are planning and you have planned

all your vacations already. Probably you've planned all your

trips already. So I'm glad that you've taken

this Sunday to invest in you seeking God first as you begin

your week and all that God has for you.

So we're in first Daniel chapter 18.

We've entitled this series heart, and that is because we

believe that what Samuel was called to do as he was looking

for a king was the Lord told him that he was looking at the

outward appearance, but God looks at the.

Heart. We know as we enter into first

Samuel just a little recap rewind in our study, we remember

that the context of first Samuel was This is the time right after

the judges where every man was doing that which was right in

his own eyes. You remember some of the main

characters of First Samuel as you take note.

You remember the high priest named Eli.

Good. Eli is the high priest at the

time. There's a woman by the name of

Hannah. She had a husband name Elkanah,

and they were praying. She was praying for a son.

And you remember the story, the high priest saw her and he said,

why are why are you drunk and coming to the altar?

And she said, I'm not drunk. I'm just pouring my heart out

before the Lord. I want to see God give me a son.

Eli blessed her. She conceived a son.

What she wanted was a child for her family.

What God wanted was a prophet for the nation of Israel.

At that time, people were crying out for a king like all the

other nations. So First Samuel will focus on

three kings. If you're taking note, the first

king is unmanned by the name of Saul.

He is the first king. He was rejected by the Lord.

In first Samuel chapter 15, Saul leads into a pivotal young man

1 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

by the name of David, and David points us to the son of David

who is Jesus Christ. As we go through the book of

first Samuel, it is going to be vital that we learn from David.

We learn from David is that we learn some principles from

David's life, like for Samuel 17 going into the valley fighting

Goliath, that we learn from David.

But if we only focus on learning from David, that's just simply

moralism. And what we need to happen is

not just learning from David. We're going to have to actually

look through David to the son of David, Jesus Christ, who is the

perfect example that was set for us in this moment.

The title of the message today is the battle after the battle.

So if you have a neighbor sitting around you, if you would

just look at them and say, neighbor, my neighbor, there is

a battle after the battle. And it was so the Bible says in

First Samuel 18, when he had finished speaking to Saul, that

the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.

And Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Saul took him that day and could and would not let him go

home to his father's house anymore.

Mind you, scholars believe that David at this time is only 17

years old. I wonder if he was a little bit

homesick. Then Jonathan and Dave had made

a covenant because he loved him as his own soul, and Jonathan

took off the robe. That was on him, and he gave it

to David in his armor, and even to his sword and his bow and his

belt. And so David went out wherever

Saul sent him, and behaved wisely.

And Saul sent him over, met the men of war, and he was accepted

in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's

servants. And now it that happened, as

they were coming home, when David was returning from the

slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of

all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King

Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments.

And so the woman saying as a danced and said the hit song on

K love Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10

thousands. And Saul was very angry and the

saying in the song displeased him.

And he said they have described to David 10 thousands and to me

they have ascribed but thousands.

Now what more can he have but the Kingdom?

So Saul I. David, from that day forward, I

want you to know, as we've gathered into this place this

morning, that there is a battle after the battle.

Let's try that again. There is a battle after the

battle. There is a battle after the

battle I had. Gone to Newport Beach as a young

17 year old. Young man, I had driven my 1965

VW bus through in my body board and my fins because I was a what

they called a weekend warrior. I could only make it from San

Bernardino down to Newport Beach only on the weekends because I

was afraid that my VW bus would not make it that.

Far. And it was always breaking down.

So I headed to Newport Beach. And as I headed into Newport

Beach, I had found myself there looking for the ride.

Of. My life, I mean the waves and

the water, the sun in the sand. I love the ocean.

I had prepared for this day because I thought that on this

day, because the waves were so big and so fast that I would

catch the best wave of my life. I had exercised, I had done some

cardio and I just thought I am ready for this.

And so I hopped on my body board and threw on my fans and paddled

out into the salt water. And I paddled and I paddled and

I slowly began to be out of breath and the waves were so big

and so fast. That I saw the first wave coming

and I hesitated and I thought to myself, I can make it.

And so I paddled harder and faster and I barely made it over

the top of the wave and I felt the spray, the back spray of the

wave hitting me. But what I didn't see was that

the second wave was even bigger and faster than the first wave.

And so out of breath and panic in my heart and fear in my eyes,

I thought to myself, I am not going to make it.

And I would paddle. And then I would hesitate and I

would paddle and then I would hesitate.

And then I thought, I just have to go for it.

And so I went for it, and it was as if the weight of the wave

landed right on top of me. It pushed me to the bottom.

I felt like I was in a washing machine.

It had been so powerful that it ripped the leash off of my arm.

It ripped the fins off of my feet.

And I didn't know at that time which way was up.

I don't know if you've ever felt like that when you're going

through something, you're just wondering what way is to the

top. And so I was out of breath and

just panicking trying to make it to the top.

And then the third wave and I went under.

And again I went to the top, the 4th wave and then the 5th wave.

I was caught in what they. Call the soup.

The soup is where the waves are so foamy and it's white and it's

just crashing all around you. Those five waves are what they

call a set. And So what I realized is I swam

to shore with no board and no more fins.

I laid on the sand of the shore, thanking God for firm

foundation, looking up at the sky.

I was pounding, my heart was pounding, and I told myself I

will never go out there again. And I didn't that day.

And as I was thinking to myself, I was pondering the thought that

one man told me before I entered into the waters.

He told me this. He said, listen, waves come in

sets, not in singles. Waves come in sets, not in

singles. I'm sure you find yourself, some

of you in that place today that the waves that you've been

experiencing have come in sets, not in singles.

It would be one thing if you got hit once, but it's a whole

nother thing when you've been hit by 5 different directions at

5 different times and they're simultaneously coming at you.

It is hard to catch your breath in that moment and not panic

with what is going on around you.

Some of you have walked into a valley, some of you are dead

middle in the valley, some of you are walking in and out of

that valley, but you find yourself hitting it the battle

after the battle. I mean, the weight of the wave

is one thing as one wave, but you really didn't see the second

wave coming and you were thoroughly exhausted for the

third wave. And when you hit the 4th wave of

your life, you thought that it was finally over, but God

allowed a #5 it is in these moments, men and women, that you

might find yourself at this place with a lot like David with

the battle after the battle. I mean, it's, it's another

battle. It's an emotional battle that

you've been going through. It has been a marital battle

that you've been going through. It has been for you a, a

physical battle that you've been going through.

And add to that the financial battle.

It has been a battle of your mind.

It's been a battle of your heart, and this is a battle of

and for your life. And it comes to us today in this

place where you might be thinking, will I ever come out

of that? And I'm here to tell you today

as your pastor, you will come out victorious.

You will come out with vision. You will come out ready for the

next valley that God is preparing you for.

You will because a lot like David, you were a man or a woman

after God's own hearts, you will come out of this.

The waves will not last forever. The ocean will still go up and

down, but you will know and choose what waves you're going

to ride on when they come to your shore.

You are going to be the person that finds yourself where you

might be out of breath, but you're actually ready to build.

I love what Alan Redpath wrote. He wrote it in his in his book.

He said there's nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no

testing that can ever touch me until first of all, it is gone

past God and past Christ right through to me.

If it is come that far, it is come with a great purpose, which

I may not understand at the moment, but as I refuse to

become panicky, as I lift my eyes to Him and accept it as

coming from from the throne of God for some great purpose, a

blessing to my own heart. No sorrow will ever disturb me,

No trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to

fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is.

That is the rest of victory. And that is exactly where David

finds himself at today. This is not the last battle that

David would ever fight. We look at the giant and hope

and pray that this is the only giant that we would ever fight

in our lives. But there's many more giants

that we're going to be coming in David's life.

And the Bible says right after he beats Goliath, it says, and

it was so. And it was so in verse 1 of

chapter 18. Those four small words carry so

much in to them. I want you to remember David is

delivering lunch to his brothers.

That was his objective. But he was called when he heard

and approached the battle line in the valley of Elah.

He was called to face a giant that he was only going to bring

lunch to his brothers. The small often leads you to the

medium, and the medium often will lead you to what we

consider big, but God considers it all the same.

David's obedience would determine who he would face and

what He would deliver. And so in this moment, David

hears Goliath and he says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine

who is taunting the name of the living God and the people of

God? Goliath was terrorizing and

taunting all of the children of Israel and Saul.

King Saul was hiding in his tent.

David says this is not going to be anymore.

This is not going to be, he says I will fight.

And you remember Saul said, well you're only a boy.

He says, listen, I've wrestled tigers, lions and bears.

Oh my. I don't need your armor.

I don't need your weapons. I will go gather for myself 5

smooth stones. So David gathers 5 smooth

stones. We don't know if Goliath had

four other brothers. We don't know if the Philistines

were going to be coming when he hit Goliath from the north,

north-south, east or West. We didn't know why he gathered 5

stones, but with the Lord he only needed one.

He slings his slingshot towards Goliath.

With the stone. It embeds in Goliath.

It hits him in his head and beds into his head and then Goliath

falls to the ground. It was like the dust of the

valley of Elah rising up into the atmosphere.

All you hear was this big holy thud.

David runs towards Goliath. Goliath face down grabs Goliath

sword and he chops his head off and then he takes his head with

him. And then the children of Israel

gather together and they run towards the Philistine.

This was a victory. David, at this point, if he

lived in 2025, went viral. He was instant popularity and it

was so. Isn't it interesting when we go

through something meaningful that God will often still keep

us? In the end?

It was so mundane to keep us at a place where we're still

prepared to fight even extraordinary things.

In our lives here David finds himself This is the where the

battle ends. But this is where David's

popularity begins. This was a bold battle.

This was a bloody battle. This was a battle with the with

it lead to a battle cry. And this is so important as it

was, so is what happened in the valley.

Does not stay in the valley with David.

How David did One thing is how David does everything.

Did you catch that? How you do one thing is how you

will do everything in your life. And this was the scene of

David's heart and life, that he would come now into a different

battle. This battle would no longer be

in a valley. The context would say this would

now be in a palace. David would no longer face a

battle with an enemy in front of his face, but the king who's

behind his back. This is David facing another

battle, where David's last battle would be with the giant,

but David's next battle would be with the struggling king of

Israel. Do you see?

Your battle is always coming from different areas.

Your battle could be at home. Your battle could be in your

school. Your battle could be with your

teacher. Your battle could be with your

siblings, your student at a hospital, in a neighborhood,

good with a coworker. You can find yourself in this

type of valley and God is bringing you into a place where

there is a battle after the battle and David left the last

battle the same way that he would enter into the next

battle. I want you to get this before we

move forward. No notice the Bible says in

verse 45 of chapter 17. Then David said to the

Philistines, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and

with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of

the. Lord of Hosts the.

God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Now notice how David enters into this next battle in First Samuel

1 Samuel 18:12

chapter 18, verse 12. The Bible says now Saul was

afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed

from Saul. Look at this again in verse 14.

And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with

him. David would leave the valley of

Elah for the glory of God, with the presence of God.

He would enter into the tent or the palace of Saul in the glory

of God and with the presence of God.

And so at this point in time in our story, David finds himself

in great victory. But now he's about to battle

Saul, who had great jealousy. I don't know if you've ever been

jealous over someone, over someone's success, over

someone's life, over someone's home, over someone's car, over

someone's children. There always seems to be people

who are smarter, funnier, skinnier, prettier, godlier,

wealth, wealthier and more successful with higher capacity.

They're more strategic, they're better parents, they go on

perfect vacations, they never have any problems, they're

always doing good. And that is the moment where

envy arises in our hearts. Notice it happened to Saul in

verse 9 of this chapter. And so Saul eyed David from that

day forward. What does that mean?

He he eyed David? Does that that mean he's just

like looking at him in a strange tone?

Look, no, the word eyed or the term means he looked at David

with suspicion. From this day forward.

And here in this spot, I want to ask you a question as you've

come. How do you handle other people's

success? How do you handle when other

people do well and you're not doing well?

How do we handle in our lives, like Saul and David, David's

great victory over Goliath? How do we find ourselves in this

place where we're not going to live in suspicion towards people

in our lives? Let me, let me get.

Closer to home, how do you view? People who get the.

Promotion and you don't get the preference.

Let me get a little bit. Closer to home.

How do you deal with people that life is good, it's great and

it's growing, but yours is slowing down?

How do you view people when they're following God and

flourishing? They're accomplishing, they're

prevailing, they're thriving. Listen, listen, I know today I

want to give you vision for the valley, but I also want you to

live, live out some principles from this palace because these

are going to hit in battles in different areas Because what

permeated the palace and perfumed it at this time was

jealousy. Jealousy always makes a good

situation stink. So how can I win in the battle

after the battle and have a good vision when others have victory?

I was going to try to give you 3 things, but next week I really

want to focus on one thing that is good that we should do with

people. And I want to focus on the two

things I'm going to ask you to stop doing.

Is that OK? Today I want to ask you to stop

doing two things. Number one, you ready?

Stop comparing. Stop comparing.

I'm going to just say that again with all grace.

Stop comparing. Where's that at in the Bible?

Look at verse 5. So David went out wherever Saul

sent him, and he behaved wisely. The words behaved wisely in the

new King James Version. In some of your versions, it

might mean that he was successful.

He was successful, but David acted out of wisdom.

Wisdom is the application of knowledge, and thus because he

acted out of that wisdom, the knowledge that he had, he was

successful wherever he went. The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is the application of

what you already know about the Lord.

Wherever Saul sent him, David was successful, and Saul sent

him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all

the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

Now notice this. Now it happened as they were

coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of

the Philistine. Let's just stop there.

Notice what David had in this moment.

David was obedient. If you're taking note, David was

obedient. Wherever Saul sent him, he went.

Notice this. Not only was David obedient, he

went wherever Saul would send him, but David was also wise.

The Bible says that he behaved wisely.

And then notice the text says that David was set over a

multitude of the army. David had authority.

Saul sent him over the men of war.

But notice this also. David was accepted.

And then as David was obedient and David was wise and David had

authority and David was accepted, the ladies run out

into the city and they have a song to sing.

They get in there, and I'm not just talking about a small song.

I want you to get how these women approach, but I want you

also to get who they're approaching.

The women had come out of all the cities of Israel.

Notice this singing and dancing. I mean, this isn't just standing

in front of a mic, just singing. I mean, they were getting down.

This was earth, wind and fire. You know what I'm talking about.

This was they were just, they were singing and dancing.

But notice they didn't come out to meet David.

They came out to meet King Saul. When was the last time men, you

had women running into the city singing your name?

Never right because we're not that important, but King Saul

was. But jealousy robbed him from

seeing how important he was. Oh, that was a good one.

With they came with tambourines. So they're singing, they're

dancing, they're shaking tambourines.

And notice this, They're coming with joy and with musical

instruments. The whole worship team showed up

from every city and this is what they sing.

Saul has slain his thousands. I'm sure Saul's like.

He's into it, you know, he's dancing.

And then all of a sudden, David, his 10 thousands, you could hear

the baby cry off in the distance of the city and it was as if the

women singing the song stopped, saw dead in his tracks.

And this is what happened. Then Saul in verse 8 was very

excited. He was also filled with joy.

He also began to sing. He began to break dance.

He began to lift up his voice to the Lord and thank God that they

won the battle. Nope.

Saul was very angry. You ever meet someone who's very

angry? They might live in your house.

They might drive in your car. They might be in your

neighborhood. They might be on the 210 when

you drive home. They have you ever met someone

that's very angry? And and now here here's what I

want you to get the word very means exceedingly.

This is not like I'm a little upset.

The word angry means that he started to glow.

It means to be warm. It means to light someone on

fire. This is what we would call in

2025, a hot head. He's very angry.

But notice he's not just very angry.

The Bible says, and the saying displeased him.

It displeased him. What does the word displeased

mean in Hebrew? It's a Hebrew word.

RA. Can can we just try that

together? RA.

It means evil, the word means annoyed, the word means

something bad is happening, and the last meaning of raw is dis

satisfied. Isn't it interesting how

dissatisfaction leads to evil and evil leads to you being

angry and sinning? Isn't it interesting that Saul

found himself in this place, seeing David win a battle and

all of these women running up to him with tambourines and dancing

and singing? They came to meet you, Saul, and

the Bible says that he became angry and it displeased him and

then he says these words. Look at the comparison they've

ascribed to David 10 thousands. David, you have 10,000 followers

on Instagram and to me they've ascribed but.

Thousands. This is a word of ascribing

meant that they put or they set and then he says now what more

can he have but the Kingdom Saul was so focused on his own

Kingdom. He would not live out the story

of the Kingdom of God. He was so concerned about his

own position, his own throne, his own popularity that he would

not fulfill what God had had God had a greater plan, a bigger

plan, but because of his own comparison and his own fear, he

finds himself in this place, comparing himself to David.

And the Bible says in verse 9 that saw I David from this day

forward, meaning this look at this.

This song led to simmering. The simmering led to him

steaming. The steaming led to him being

unsatisfied. Thus his satisfaction was based

upon what they said rather than what God had set in motion.

Do you see in this spot? Notice, I want to define

comparison as this. If you're taking note, this is

important that you write this down.

Comparison is this. It's ranking God's will for your

life against others and what others have.

It is again ranking your life, excuse me, God's will for your

life against others. And it is ranking your life with

others and determining who gets the best deal from God.

Notice Saul's question is this. What else can he have?

No, no, no. Notice the the the comparison,

the the the the song remind Saul of God's will for his life and

God's will for David's life. You remember in First Samuel 15

that Saul was rejected as being king.

So Saul would fade out in God's will and David would fade in

according to God's will. And here's we learned two things

in this section about comparison.

We we learned 2 important principles about comparison and

I want you to write this down. Comparison will always feed on

ER and. As.

Comparison will always feed on ER, ER and AS.

Notice the thing that gives comparison life and nourishment

is the need for the ER factor or the AS factor in your life.

We have to know that we are smarter than somebody else.

We need to know that we're funny, uh, than somebody else.

We need to know that we're prettier than somebody else or

we're skinnier than somebody else or we're wealthier than

somebody else or we're godly, uh, than somebody else or we're

more successful than some. That's probably not a word, but,

but, but listen, you, you get it, you get it.

People all around us, We constantly compare ourselves to

them. And saw finds himself in this

spot with all of these women coming out to sing this song.

He misses the main message because Saul just didn't want to

be great as a king. He wanted to be greater than

David. You might go, well, that's not

my, that's not my factor. My factor is not the her that's

feeding my comparison. Maybe today the factor for you

is the as factor. You look around and you find an

individual person and you begin to tell yourself that is the

ideal person that I have to be like.

And this is what happens. If I could just be as

successful, If I could just be as pretty.

If I could just be as high capacity.

If I could just be as strategic, as strong, as able, as creative,

as the best at making sourdough in the kitchen.

If I could just be as disciplined as them in their

life. If my kids would just be just

act like them, we would be OK in our lives.

The problem is this men and women with the ER or the AS

factor is that perfection is an illusion.

Perfection is an illusion. I don't remember our last

Christmas card photo as a family because it's been that long.

I mean, you would look at a Christmas card, our Christmas

card, and see our whole Kendall family, all of us, and we're all

smiling. We're all positioned in the

right places. But do you know what's going on

behind the scenes at that photo? Sit down, stand up, arch your

back right? Don't show your teeth.

Smile. It's behind the scenes.

You would think that, oh, wow, When you look at the car you're

in. Oh, that's a fantastic family,

Casey. You're it just must be perfect

at your house. No, no, no.

There's times where Rudy's had to come over and fill up some

holes in my wall from a fight. Not me, but one of my siblings,

my own, my children fighting their other siblings.

You might say, well, why haven't you done another Christmas card?

Because it's just too painful. I think we would fare a little

bit better now, but you know when you're trying to gather a 2

year old and a four year old and an 8 year old and you're trying

to put them all into place and this is what happens is this is

that perfection becomes an illusion and perception is not

always your reality. And that is the determining

factor of ER and AS. And if you would just write this

down. Comparison has terrible side

effects. Comparison has terrible side

effects. You ever watch TV?

All right, let's try that again. Do you ever watch TV and you're

watching your favorite show? And it might not be on Netflix,

but it might be on Hulu. And you didn't pay to get the

ads removed. And so this ad pops up on your

screen and it's actually a medicine ad.

And you see this perfect family in the backyard and the the

dad's barbecuing and all the neighbors are over.

And as they're the dog runs by. It's like this perfect Irish

setter, like grabs the ball and drops it at his feet.

And, and it's like, what does this have to do with a medicine?

And then the soft, soothing voice ends the commercial.

Talk to your doctor before taking.

May lead to nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of hearing,

bleeding in your stomach, hormones going up.

It might lead to death, it might lead to demon possession.

They they, they, they, they give all of these like different side

effects to, you know what I'm talking about.

It gives all of these different side effects to the, to the

medicine. Well, let me let me just say

this comparison is not medicine. Comparison is actually poison,

and notice this if you would in the text.

Notice what comparison led to. It LED in verse 8 to anger

comparison, then led to an annoyance comparison.

Side effect was evil, dissatisfied.

And then Saul is paranoid and he's suspicious, and verse 12

tells us that he was afraid of David.

It led to great fear over David's life.

Day after day, Saul would see all of these people rooting on

David, and he feels like he's being diminished.

And notice Saul. From this point forward, tries

to ruin David's life, and this is what he does.

He ruins his own life in the process.

He ends his life not killing David, but killing himself.

And this is the side effect of all of this this.

Terrible side effect of anger when people are comparing rage,

anxiety, competition, exhaustion.

But here's the truth of the cross and what the cross

declares to us in comparison. Jesus does what comparison

cannot do, and that is this. Why do we often compare

ourselves? I just want to get to the heart

of the matter. We compare because we question

our value. We often compare because we

question our own value. And this is something that the

cross of Christ does for us. We look around at all of others

to figure out if we are just as valuable as they are.

But this is what Jesus does. The real King does for all of

us, and that is this. The cross declares the infinite

value first of Jesus Christ. It tells me that there was only

one who was worthy to take the scroll, the Lamb who was slain

from the foundations of the world.

It is the cross of Jesus Christ that declares the ultimate value

of Jesus Christ that that that that his blood is enough, that

his sacrifice was enough, that he covered and removed my sin.

It it declares the infinite value of Jesus, that He is

sufficient that he could go to the cross, He could take the

weight of our sin and our iniquity and our transgressions.

He beats Satan, he beats sin, he beats death, and no one can stop

him, and he rises again from the dead.

There is only one who says that I am the resurrection in the

life, and he who believes in me, although he may die, yet shall

he live. There is only one who is of that

value where we would look upon the Lamb, and we would say, What

can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Jesus as King declares something to me, that he is of infinite

worth and value. But it does something else.

The cross does. The cross declares that Jesus

gives us value. Please receive this today.

If you would just put your hand on your heart and just say I'm

valuable today and that you would believe that about

yourself because some of you have heard some things about

your life for years about your life that you're you're the

idiot. You're the mistake.

You're the one who constantly makes bad decisions.

You are the one that constantly hears from your life from other

people's mouths about your life. That you are the one who's

constantly in the shadows. You're the one who's constantly

in the dark. You are the one who does doesn't

get it. And you walk around believing

that you're dumb, you're stupid, and you're not valuable at all.

Let me tell you, the cross of Jesus Christ gives us value.

He declares to us the value that Jesus placed upon us because he

gave us grace. You were valued at the body and

the blood of Jesus when I received this.

It gives to me a power that cancels.

Out. The world where I don't have to

run into the world to look for my value anymore.

Because Jesus found me and because he found me, he declared

over me value. You are valuable.

That doesn't mean you have the same gifts as everybody else.

It doesn't mean you'll have the same mission as everybody else,

but you are valuable. I want you to hear that today.

And instead of chasing value, I want you to remember that value

is chasing you. God, in his kindness, has given

you value. David is fulfilling the mission

of God and he is not going to be able to please everybody every

time. He is able to accomplish what

God has set before his life and he in this place comes at this

time and I pray that we could rid this from our lives.

And that is the crime of comparing.

Some of us it would do us well to get off of Instagram.

Some of us it would do us well to stop looking at Facebook for

a little bit. Some of us it would do us well

to stop going on Twitter and entering in possibly into wars

that will not be won by you arguing on social media about

it. Some of us use in our lives this

aspect of looking at other people's stories, and we miss

our own. And we live in this spot where

we're constantly comparing because we're constantly seeing

people at Disneyland on vacation, in London, in Italy,

speaking somewhere else, doing something big.

What does all of that mean? I'm not saying that we cannot

use this for the glory of God. What I am saying is be careful

that the story of God will not be lived out because you're so

concerned with the lives of other people.

So let me move on because I'm going too long.

This is comparing. And then the second thing I want

to encourage you to do is stop rejecting.

Stop rejecting. Look at verse 10.

And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from

God came upon Saul and he prophesied inside the house.

That not every prophecy is maybe a good prophecy.

I don't know if Saul was prophesying truth or lies, but

listen if you can. This distressing spirit was from

God as a consequence over Saul's life and his disobedience.

So David, as Saul was prophesying, played music with

his hand and at other times. But there was a spear in Saul's

hand. Now notice what happens.

Saul, David's slinging stones. Saul is throwing Spears.

He now throws A spear. Cast it and he says I'll pin

David. To the wall with it.

But David escaped from his presence twice.

That means Saul tried twice to kill pin David to the wall.

Now Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him

but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from

his presence and made him captain over 1000.

And he went out and came in before the people.

Listen, this is not a promotion. This is strategic of Saul.

He's trying to get rid of David. Therefore Saul removed him from

his presence and made him captain over 1000.

And he went out and came in before the people.

And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with

him. And therefore Saul, when Saul

saw that he behaved wisely, he was afraid of him again.

Notice that twice when there's mentioned twice, notice what

jealousy leads to fear. But all Israel and Judah love

David because he went out and came in before them.

Notice Saul begins to reject God's will in his life and in

David's life. So much so, he tries to thwart

God's will for his life by casting Spears at David to get

rid of him. I don't think his goal was just

to pin him to the wall. I think his goal was to get to

the heart. Because jealousy might look like

it's only an outward attack, but it's always reaching for

somebody else's heart and taking that out so there's no more life

in the person. You cast Spears at them to say

things that you shouldn't say at all.

He's rejecting God's will. In rejecting God's will, notice

he outwardly says I will not accept the will of God in this

place because Saul as king would want to stay on the throne.

And who would this go to next? It would stay in the family to

his oldest son Jonathan. So Saul is trying to keep it all

in with the attitude of You will not replace me.

And here is the Lord moving in this place.

And maybe right now you don't reject God's will for your life

and others. Outwardly you're not shouting,

telling God I reject that in this moment, verbally saying

this. But inwardly you're holding it.

Inwardly you're holding it so much.

So this is what happens. This is how we hold it.

This is how we reject it. Inwardly, through resentment, we

resent what is happening around us.

We inwardly resent other people's growth, success,

because what we read that as is that we are a failure.

And what happens in this moment is when somebody else is

promoted, we can't celebrate it because we think that we failed.

And this is just getting to the heart of my own heart and my own

life on this long road is we resent others lives.

We resent their good, we resent their house, we resent their

children. We resent the work they do, the

places they go. We resent their kids seeming to

be flourishing. We look at their life and their

life ours mixed together. And what we often read it as is

their success means my failure. So you resent them and then this

is what happens. You resent that God has not done

something good in your life like he has in theirs.

This is what often will happen. And this resentment is rejection

because God gave you a bad deal. The second thing we often do, or

letter B, is we reject things through a tight grip.

We micromanage everything that we can't control, and this is

seen through a tight grip that will often hold on to things.

This is also seen in rejection through a fearful heart.

Like Saul. We fear the person because we're

disgusted at their promotion. And then we become people who

act rashly about the future. We make anxious decisions, we

react but do not thoughtfully respond in.

The moment I love what Warren Weirsby said.

He said that Saul was great at scheming but not great at

trusting God. HG Wells in one of his books

described a character in one of his books.

He said he was not so much a human being as a civil war.

And this perfectly describes King Saul.

He is a civil war inside of his own life.

And that's why it's important for us to see Jesus in the

moment, King Jesus, because he did not reject God's will in the

garden. He accepted God's will in the

garden. He said not my will be done, but

your will be done. And what it shows us is this is

that God's not just necessarily here for me.

We are here for God. We are here for his glory.

God doesn't always fulfill dreams.

But He does place an amazing call on our lives.

So what I want us to do today is just identify our idols.

Is there any area of your life where this might be hitting?

If so, if we come to the foundational level of this, this

is an issue with the goodness of God.

That we know that God's holy and God's loving, and God is a God

of majesty and wisdom and mercy, but God is not good.

Here's what I like to say. If you are worth the blood,

you're worth the blessing. And there's always going to be a

battle after the battle. And listen, Saul kept fighting

where he should have been surrendering.

Saul kept fighting where he should have been surrendering.

Are you comparing? Are you rejecting God's will?

Are you still fighting where you should be surrendering?

I was reading about a man named Hiru Onoda.

His orders were clear to protect the Philippine Islands island of

Lubang from enemy attack and not to surrender under any

circumstance. And he followed those orders

diligently and still doing so 29 years after World War Two had

ended. Anota and three other soldiers

survived and refused to surrender to an Allied

occupation of the island beginning in 1945.

They hid in the mountains for the next 3 decades, engaging in

guerrilla activities with local officials.

Immediately after the war's conclusion and again in 1952,

leaflets were dropped over the mountains so that Onotis men

would know that the war was over, but they concluded that

the news was an Allied trick and refused to capitulate.

In 1974, after a notice 3 comrades had either surrendered

or been killed and Inota himself presumed dead, a Japanese

college student backpacked through the area and discovered

this man. Still skeptical and loyal to his

orders, Anoda refused to surrender until his former

commanding officer issued the command.

Major Yoshimi, who was currently working as a bookseller, flew to

the Philippines and formally relieved Anoda of duty 29 years

after the war had ended. Though perhaps the most famous

Japanese holdout, Onodo was not the only one, or even the last

to be found. Two other people were found in

1972, still fighting when the war was over.

Maybe the issue is not how well we fight.

Maybe it's how well will you surrender, and maybe you're at

that point in time in your life where this is for you, that God

has called you, possibly to surrender something, someone,

some situation to him. We hope you enjoyed this message

and we'd love for you to join us in person every Sunday at 10:30

AM. For more information and

updates, visit wearebridgetown.com.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.