Do you know the difference between a glue and an adhesive? Basically glue is from organic compounds, while adhesives are chemicals. What’s interesting about glue is that humans have been using it since our earliest days. References and still stuck together materials can be found all around the world. The first materials that we made glue out of came from plants, then humans started to make glue out of animal parts, by separating out the collagen. In medieval times, Monks used egg whites to bind books together.
It is interesting that we as a species understand the need to bind things together, and it’s the idea of being bound together which brings us back to our study in the books of Samuel, where we’ll be picking it back up in First Samuel chapter 19, verse 1, and we'll be going through chapter 20. As we open up to First Samuel 19:1, let’s refresh our memories of the past four weeks.
Four weeks ago we saw the calling and anointing of David. There we saw how God seeks people who eagerly desire to follow him. Because its the inner desire to follow God, and not the outward appearance that is important. David had this desire, and we should as well.
Three weeks ago we saw as God’s Spirit left Saul and fell on David, there was judgment upon Saul and mercy as David’s playing calmed him. There we saw how God calls us to be his carriers of peace as we go into the world. David carried God’s peace to Saul, and we should carry God’s peace to the world around us.
Two weeks ago, we saw how David stood before the giant Goliath with a sling, some stones, and a staff, but the most important thing he had was his confident trust in the Lord. In this we saw how God calls all of his people to exercise confident faith in what he has done, so that we can trust in him in what he is doing. David had this type of faith, and we should as well.
Finally last week, we saw how the harmful spirit returned to Saul, and though tried to kill David a couple of times, but David continued in his duties for the king, because David cared for him. In this we saw how God calls us to love the unlovable around us, even those who have been the worst to us. The reason for this is because the deeper we understand what God has done for us, the more we can empathize with the plight of others.
With the last four weeks refreshed in our minds, we can now cover the next two chapters of First Samuel, starting in chapter 19, verse 1. Let’s read.
1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
11 Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”
v.19:1-17
We left off last week, reading that David was winning great victories over the Philistines any time he would go out to battle them. This leads into Saul’s desire to kill him. Before it was just something Saul was acting out of an inward hatred towards David, but now he is bringing in others to help him carry out his murderous intent. Yet, Jonathan reasons with his father and convinces him not to indulge those ideas. And for a time, Saul agrees.
However, another battle happens and David overcomes the enemies yet again. Here, for the third time, the harmful spirit returns. And again, Saul tires to kill David. This seems to be the last straw for David, because he has woken up to the fact that there is more behind the attacks than just the harmful spirit. Saul is actively trying to kill David, and now, David realizes it.
It’s here that David escapes to his home, where his wife Michal devises a plan to protect here husband. But it doesn’t go the way she intended. Though she informs the messengers that David is sick in bed, Saul wants David no matter how sick he is. When they find out that she was lying, she turns on David and accuses him of saying he would kill her. Next, we see that David flees and goes to Samuel, as we drop down to verse 18.
18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
v.18-24
David has fled to get counsel from Samuel. His fleeing leads Saul to begin to track him down. Samuel takes David to the city of the prophets and hides him there. Saul eventually finds out and sends three sets of messengers to bring David back. But each time the sets of messengers go out, the Spirit of the Lord descends on them and they begin to prophesied. Finally Saul comes to retrieve David himself and see what is going on.
The chapter ends with the Spirit of the Lord falling on Saul for the last time. This leads him to prophesied as well, but he also strips himself down to nothing. Here we see a bookend to God’s work in Saul. Saul started his kingly duties by prophesying and he ends his kingly duties with prophesying. The stripping of the clothes shows that God has stripped him of his kingdom and will officially leave him to his own destruction. This will be the last time that God allows his Spirit on to Saul, but it won’t be the last time God extends mercy to him through his servant David. However this time in which Saul is in the middle of prophesying gives David a chance to escape, which we pick back up in Chapter 20 verse 1.
1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
v.20:1-25
With all pretenses gone, David fully understands that Saul is out to kill him, so David shares this with Jonathan. But Jonathan doesn’t believe it, even though Jonathan had to literally talk his father down from making plans to kill David. But this is usually the case, we try to make excuses for people because we do not want to see the reality that is staring us in the face. Yet, Jonathan agrees to see into the matter. The two agree on how they will meet next so Jonathan can relay his findings about his father. And it is here that we see the treasonous pact that is mentioned in chapter 18, when David and Jonathan make a covenant with each other against Saul. We pick up Jonathan returning to his father in verse 20.
24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty.
26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.”
30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
v.26-34
Jonathan goes and has his official meal with his father on the new moon, but David doesn’t show, and nothing is said. Then on the second day, David’s absence is questioned, and Jonathan takes responsibility for sending David away. Notice how Jonathan is taking responsibly but his sister Michal didn’t. This shows the honor of Jonathan compared to others in his family.
At hearing the reason for why David isn’t there, Saul flies into a rage. It’s in that rage that Saul calls Jonathan “… son of a perverse, rebellious woman …” Now, Saul isn’t calling his wife, Jonathan’s mother a bad word here, but rather because Jonathan has chosen David over his own family, Saul sees that he is rebelling against his father. Jonathan has chosen his friend over Saul. Jonathan has chosen to be a servant instead of a king. And this is the heart of the matter: Saul is trying all he can to keep his kingdom, but the tighter he tries to grip it, the more it slips through his fingers.
It’s here that Jonathan finally realizes that David is right and that his father is actually trying to kill his friend. A harmful spirit isn’t just plaguing Saul, Saul has embraced it. This then leads into the two friends meeting and parting ways. This will be the second to the last time the two meet, and it’s a sorrowful goodbye.
As we walk away from David and Jonathan’s realization of Saul’s murderous intent, what is God calling us to? There are two things: First, we need to recognize decent into sin. That could be our own sin, or the sin of a loved one. See God is not one to force us to follow him. God will pursue us, as we saw he did with Saul. God will even send us grace though we don’t deserve, but there will come a time, when our pursuit of our own way in sin will separate us from him. Paul said it like this in Romans 1:28, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” That debased mind is the word worthless and is the same type of word that we have seen throughout the book of Judges and First Samuel. It means a desire for the things of Satan rather than the things of God.
Jesus gave a parable of how God gives us over to this type of debased mind. In what we call the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father gives the youngest son over to the world and the son purses his sin coming to a point where his life becomes worthless. Yet there is still hope, there is still grace, and if we would repent and turn back to God, he would embrace us and forgive us.
But wouldn’t it be better not to get into that situation in the first place? This is why we must be on guard that we do not fall into the trappings of sin. Its removing that app from our phones, or limiting the time we spend on our devices. It’s not going to that place, or letting our mind wander to those thoughts. It’s pursuing the things of God, and not of the world.
This leads us into the second thing that God is calling us to: Having people around us that will push us into God and not away. We need those who will help us realize that we’re falling into sin. They’ll be the ones calling us to what God says. They’ll be the ones that it hurts to listen to because they keep encouraging us to go back to what God wants. The hard part is to actually taking their advice into account. Not to say people who tell us we’re doing wrong are always right, but we should surround ourselves with people who want more of God in our lives, because even if they are wrong from time to time, they will be the ones who help us from stumbling into sin and going through seasons of wandering from God.
Just like the hymn “Come Though Fount of Every Blessing says:
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let They goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Daily we need to glue ourselves to Jesus, this is done by seeking the work of the Holy Spirit when we wake up, when we go about our activities, and when we lay down to sleep. So my challenge for you this week is to make this hymn your prayer, that you would be connected to God, fettered, which means tied, to him. That there would be no wondering from him into worthless things. And that you would be a person who both listens to and encourages others in their walks to get back to God.
Let us be a people who glue themselves to the Lord Jesus, that we may be found in him always. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment