Saving Betrayers

Sermon Transcript:

(transcribed with AI)

Promontory Community Church exists to make disciples of Jesus who know, live, and share the gospel for the glory of God. Amen. Well, if you have a Bible with you, let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of First Samuel. We are gonna be continuing on our series here walking through the life of David. And as we've been going through David's life, we've seen a lot of different episodes of things that have gone on, but today is all about betrayal, all right? David is going to be betrayed now.

When I was younger, my friends and I, we used to play a party game that's called Mafia. I don't know if any of you have ever played this game before, there's lots of different names and variations. Werewolf is another one, but essentially, the game goes like this. Everybody gets a card and you're either told you are part of the mafia or you are a townsperson. And so each round, everyone has to close their eyes and then the mafia gets to wake up. And they're gonna select someone and they're gonna kill them. Then they all go to sleep, everyone wakes up and you find out who's dead, and then what happens is, it's a big discussion about who everyone thinks is part of the mafia, right? But you don't actually know, and so it's a lot of people accusing one another, and eventually you try and vote somebody out. The goal is the townspeople trying to get rid of the mafia, the mafia trying to be the only ones left.

Now essentially, it's a game about lying and betrayal, right? Cause you're trying to get away with it if you're the mafia, you're trying to betray everyone. And so our friend group, we had played this for quite some time, in fact it was a number of months we would play this almost every time we'd get together, and it started to get really competitive. Like, so much so that eventually people were having real life fights about what was happening in the game, right, we were getting angry at one another and so finally we said, all right, that's it, no more, we're not allowed to play this game any longer.

Because the truth is, as much as everyone knew it was just part of the game, betrayal still hurts, doesn't it? Even though it's just a silly little game and everyone knows that it doesn't mean anything, it still kind of stung. How much more so when it's real. Right, the response that we have, even to the silly betrayal of a party game, still makes us want to lash out. How much more when it's real. Do we want to lash out? Do we want to get revenge, get even with someone?

This morning as we walk through our text, we're seeing David and he is going to be betrayed by those around him. And more than that, I want us to see what he does. What does David do about this and why? What is David's motivation? Because he's not going to lash out, in fact, he's going to have a very different response.

So we're picking up our story as David is on the run from King Saul. You remember Saul is trying to hunt down and kill David, David has escaped, and last week we saw David started kind of getting a following. People were coming together, he had 400 people beside him. I mean he's no longer a fugitive on the run, he's almost a militia captain, right, actually able to rove around with this group. And so here we pick up our story now in 1 Samuel chapter 23.

It's our tradition here, we stand as we read God's word. If you're able to, would you stand with me? This is God's word.

Now they told David, behold, the Philistines are fighting against Kayla, and they're robbing the threshing floors. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, shall I go and attack these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, go and attack the Philistines and save Kayla. But David's men said to him, behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more than if we go to Kayla against the armies of the Philistines? And David inquired of the Lord again, and the Lord answered him, Arise, go down to Kayla, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. And David and his men went to Kayla and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them a great blow, so David saved the inhabitants of Kayla.

When Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had fled to David to Kayla, he came down with an ephad in his hand. Now it was told Saul that David had come to Kayla, and Saul said, God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. And Saul summoned all the people to war to go down to Kayla to besiege David and his men.

David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him, and he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring the Ehad here. Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Kayla to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Kayla surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Oh Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant. And the Lord said he will come down. And David said, well the men of Kayla surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul, and the Lord said, they will surrender you.

Then David and his men, who were about 600, arose and departed from Kayla, and they went wherever they could go. And Saul was told that David had escaped from Kayla, and he gave up the expedition. David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh, and Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. And he said, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul, my father also knows this. And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh and Jonathan went home.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibea, saying, Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakaliah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand. And Saul said, May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. Go make yet more sure, know and see the place where his foot is and who has seen him there, for it told me that he is very cunning. See, therefore, and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you, and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.

And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon at the Arabah in the south of Jeshimon, and Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told. So he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard that, and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul as Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

A messenger came to Saul, saying, Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore, that place was called the Rock of Escape, and David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engeti.

As for the reading of God's word, you may be seated. Well done.

Well this is one of the closest accounts that David has ever actually come to being captured by Saul. I mean, it is a razor thin margin that David happens to get away from him at this point. But it's really because David is betrayed, not just once, but actually twice in the same chapter, he is betrayed over and over again, so Saul is able to come down and find him.

But see what we're going to see, not only in this chapter, but actually next week as well, is how David responds. Because he does not respond to all these betrayals with attacking back, but rather he responds again and again in mercy, right? Next week we're gonna see this, right, the personal account of David finally coming to confront Saul, and how do we actually deal with someone who's trying to harm us.

This week, we're looking at the question of why? Why is David choosing to respond in the way that he is. Right, why is he showing mercy to those who do not deserve it? And the answer we find is that we can actually respond in mercy because God is merciful to us. Because of his justice, because of his sovereignty, we can respond in mercy as well.

So let's start here at the beginning of the chapter in this call to trust God's mercy. Right, you remember last week we looked at the story, Saul had gone and actually destroyed an entire town. Right, he had actually destroyed and killed an entire town of priests in order to try and find David. David has fled, and 400 men, we see it grow during this chapter. Right? And so David is no longer just a man on the run, he's part of this army, right, this small army.

And he hears, David hears about, hey, there's a town down in the south, and they're being attacked, what should I do? He goes to God, God, should I go down there? Is that my job? And God says, I want you to go, go and save this city, Kayla, right? Kayla is down in the south of Israel, and it's right next to the Philistine border. So it's an easy town for them to just hop across and attack. Apparently they're well defended, they knew this was going to happen. But here they are, they're in trouble, and so God says, David, go down.

But what we find is actually David's men are a little worried about doing that, right? Verse 3, it says.

David's men said to him, behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more than if we go to Kayla against the armies of the Philistines?

Right, they're a little afraid. We go and attack them, and then guess what, Saul comes and attacks us. That seems like a bad move. I don't really wanna go down there. And so what does David do? Well, he goes, all right, I need to pray some more. He goes back to God. God says, actually, no, David, I will give the Philistines into your hand, you are to go. And so David obediently, he goes, he goes down, he saves the city, right? God is faithful to his word.

But also the exact thing his men were worried about ends up happening. Saul hears, hey, David's down there. Great. I'm gonna go find, right? David's now in a city that has locking walls. Great. Verse 8,

Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Kayla to besiege David and his men.

Right, the incredible irony of Saul raising an army, not to save Kayla from the Philistines, but to now besiege it in order to kill David. Is just thick. Saul, what are you doing? You're getting the army to attack your own people, not the enemy, you're attacking yourselves.

And so, again, David is struck. What do I do? And what do we find? David's first response is, pray. Go to God. What is God going to do? Right? We're told he takes this ephad, right? Abiathar, the priest, when he comes, he brings an ephad. Now, an ephad is just basically a garment of clothing, right? It was for the priests to wear while they served in the tabernacle, later the temple, right? There was one that the high priest would wear. You can look at Exodus 28, you can read all about it.

Now, let's be clear, this is not some sort of talisman that David is using to increase his prayer, right? As if it's going to be more effective. Well, no, actually David before this had already been talking to God and God had already been answering him very clearly. Rather, this is the reminder for David, actually, no, God is with you. And so he takes that and he goes, right, I need to be reminded that God is with me as I'm facing this.

So God, what do I do? Verse 10, we're given his prayer.

Oh Lord, God of Israel, your servant has surely heard Saul comes to Kayla to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Kayla surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Oh Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.

Right, David is desperate, he goes, God, I need you to tell me what to do, right? And here's one of these amazing moments where God does. In fact, very often, does God give a clear answer to what would happen, but this is actually one of them. Right, David asks two very clear questions. Number 1, is Saul going to actually come down? Is it true? God's answer? Yeah. Saul is really coming, he really will come to try and kill you. Number 2, will the people of Kayla give me up? Are they on my side, or are they going to flip? And God's answer is, they'll give you up.

Right? And you have to imagine David hearing that going, wait, I just saved them. I just saved them, they were under siege already, and I came, I helped them. Shouldn't they be loyal to me? And God goes, here's the answer. They're gonna flip. They are not loyal to you, in fact, the moment Saul gets here, they're handing you out the gate.

And now here's an interesting thing, if you enjoy philosophical discussions, right, because here is this example of God's knowledge of what's called counterfactuals. Meaning God not only knows the future, he knows all possible futures. God actually knows what would happen, right? The if then, right? If this happens, then this might, God actually knows those answers.

But actually that's not what I want us to focus on. Rather, I want to ask the question, if God knew all that. Why did he send David in the first place? Why did God send David? Clearly God is the one who told David twice, in fact, go down, I will help you, I will help save this city. Why did God do that? If he knew what was going to happen, Saul was gonna come, they would turn him over. Why would God send his Messiah to save people who don't deserve it?

And the answer is, because God is giving us a picture of what the Messiah is going to do. This is a picture of God's character, of his mercy to save people who have not earned it. In fact, not only had they not earned it, but they wouldn't earn it, not even in their future actions, would be deserving of the mercy that God is giving to them.

And hear me, we are meant to see the picture of Jesus on display for us, because we are the ones who were hopelessly lost, the enemy of our sin surrounding us, we couldn't help ourselves. And so God sent a Messiah to come to actually deal with our sin before God. Though we had not deserved God's mercy, he sent Jesus to this earth, like the people of Kayla, who would betray their savior, so Jesus was betrayed by those he came to save.

But just like David, the cry of Jesus was not one of revenge nor judgment, but a cry of mercy. As Jesus went to the cross for a crime he had not committed, to die for sins he had not done, when God laid on him all of our failures and our sins. Jesus cries out, Luke 23,

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

It was mercy and grace that God was extending to even those in front of Jesus who did not deserve it. The picture that God is showing us in the life of David is a picture of God's mercy and grace, grace for those who have not earned it.

In fact, Ephesians 2 tells us,

but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.

It was the mercy of God that sent a Messiah to people who did not deserve it, and the good news is that is what God does for us, for everyone who places their trust in Jesus Christ, this is the picture of God's mercy to us. That though we have not deserved God's grace, his forgiveness for everyone who would trust in him, who would turn away from their sin and trust in what Jesus Christ has done, we are saved. It is a picture of God's mercy that is greater than we can ever know.

Because here's even the part that we sometimes forget. Is that God actually shows mercy to these people in Kayla by sending David out, right? He sends David out, David leaves the city, saving them effectively now twice, first by showing up, second by leaving that Saul wouldn't attack them. And what we need to realize is God actually has mercy even for keeping us from sin.

How often has God actually interrupted us when we were intent on doing something wrong or sinful? How often has God shown us grace and mercy, more than we even are aware of, that probably we will not know until we stand in heaven and we see all of the things that God has held us back from pursuing. In fact, God's grace is far greater, far deeper than we have ever known. Do we not have so much reason to praise him?

And if this is the grace, if this is the mercy that God has shown to us, is this not what we are called to respond with. In fact, Jesus tells his disciples. He says,

but love your enemies and do good, lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your father is merciful.

And Jesus calls his disciples to love their enemies, give without expecting in return, be merciful as God Himself is merciful. Hear me, that is a high calling that goes directly against what we naturally want to do. But it is the call not to work it up in our own lives, but to respond to what God has done for us. The grace and mercy of Christ for all who have trusted in him, we are to be the conduits of God's grace and mercy now to others, that we might actually reflect what God is like. Even to our enemies, to those who do not deserve it.

And that is exactly why God is sending David, go save this city. That's exactly why God sent Jesus to this earth to save people who did not deserve it. And that is what God has called us to do as well. Trust in God's mercy as a response to what he has done.

But here's the challenge for us. See, if we're going to do that, if we're going to respond in mercy, we actually need to trust that God will be just. In fact, we're called to trust in God's judgment. See, the incredible part of this story is that David is not only betrayed once but twice. Right, in one sense, you could almost want to let the people of Kayla off the hook, cause they never actually did it, right? They never actually did betray David, but as we keep going in the story, well, he does really get betrayed.

In verse 14, we're told David flees the city. He runs down into what's called the wilderness of Zi. Essentially, he goes further south, right? He's traveling down, it's very desert sort of wilderness, right, he's hiding in mountains, caves, cliffs, wherever he can find to hide out.

And what we're told is that actually verse 16, his friend Jonathan comes to find him. Right? Jonathan, Saul's son rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. Right, there is some irony here as Saul is searching furiously, trying to find David, and it seems as though Jonathan just kind of walks down, he's like, hey, I'm here. It's good to see you, right? And what does he do? He strengthens his hand in God. Right, Jonathan is a good friend, because every time he meets David, this is what he does. He turns his attention, trust God again and again.

Verse 17 says,

do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even Saul my father knows this.

Right, Jonathan reminds David, first of all, God is with you. So do not be afraid. He reminds him, secondly, of the promises that God has made. You are going to be king, so trust that God's promises will come true, and thirdly, he says, and trust me, I'm on your side. I will be side by side with you. Right, David needed that encouragement. And actually this will be the last time these two men will meet.

In verse 19 we're told.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibea saying, Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakalai, which is south of Jeshemon?

So the Ziphites, that is the people who live in the area of Zi, they realize, hey, this is David, he's hanging out here, and Saul really doesn't like him. So what they do is they say, well, you know what, we can definitely get on Saul's good side. All we have to do is go to him and tell him exactly where David is hiding. And so they do, they go, they find Saul, and they say, here is the coordinates of where David is hiding. Go get him, we will turn him over to you.

Right, Saul, overjoyed at hearing this, goes, great, go down, he's very cunning, careful, watch him, all right? I'll come after you. And you gotta ask, why? Why did they turn him over? Was David doing anything? No, he was just hiding in the wilderness. There was no reason for them to betray David other than the fact that it seemed like a good idea to them.

And once again, you kind of have to ask the question, David, you now have 600 men with you. Your army has grown. Are you gonna do something about that? Are you gonna take that from them? Couldn't David have gone down and said, well I'm gonna rule with an iron fist. I'm allowed to do this, how dare you turn against me, in fact, I'm gonna kill all of you if you do it. No, he doesn't. In fact, he just leaves. He doesn't touch them, he doesn't harm them, he doesn't attack them. He simply leaves.

And one of the amazing things about reading through David's life is that David actually tells us what he's thinking, right? Sometimes we have to wonder what exactly is he thinking? David writes it down. Psalm 54 is written about exactly this, right? It's not a long psalm, so let me just read it for us.

Say to the choir master with stringed instruments, mascu of David, when. The Ziphites went and told Saul, is not David hiding among us? Oh God, save me by your name, vindicate me by your might, oh God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers have risen against me, ruthless men seek my life, they do not set God before themselves.

David is saying, look, I don't even know these people, and yet they're coming after me. God, save me. Sometimes we think David is just stoically going through all this. Nothing affects him. He's a man's man. No, David is genuinely worried, crying out, God, please save me. But he keeps going. He says,

behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies. In your faithfulness, put an end to them. With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, oh God, for it's good, for he has delivered me from every trouble and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

That may not have ended the way you expected it to, right? David essentially is praying, God save me and judge them. Bring judgment down on my enemies, and you might look at that and think, wait, hold on, haven't we just been talking about how merciful God is? Why is David suddenly praying God bring down judgment? Yet this is also part of our Bibles.

But notice here, David didn't say. Wipe them out as an act of pure vengeance. No, actually, what does he pray? That in God's faithfulness to his promise, that he will bring justice to those who do evil. In fact, God has promised to deal with sin and evil, and what David is doing is trusting that God in his right timing, in a righteous way, will bring about true justice.

And let me suggest this is the only way we can respond in mercy. The only way that we can ever respond with love and mercy is if we trust that God is going to deal with things rightly. See, if we don't, eventually we're going to feel that need, well, I have to do it myself. Someone's got to bring justice here, so either we trust that God will do it or we will trust that we are going to do it. We will exact some kind of vengeance or retaliation for those who have wronged us, or are we gonna trust that God can?

In fact, the only way that we can respond mercifully to others is if we trust, actually, you know what, God has these things in hand. Romans 12 tells us,

beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it's written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing, you'll heap burning coals on his head.

God is going to deal with evil and sin. He will bring true genuine justice. Every time we try and take vengeance or even the score, all we are doing is creating a cycle of retaliation over and over and over again. We actually need God to come and bring real, genuine justice. In fact, as Christians we're called to leave it into the hands of God.

Now hear me, I don't think this means we are never to pursue justice in this life, that we are never to try and seek what is right, but our hope is never found in the systems of this world. We live in a sinful, broken world, and we will always be let down when politicians and bills are our hope. No, our hope is found that God Himself will bring true justice.

Do we trust that God will work? Do we trust that God will actually deal with every single thing that has been done, every single word that has been spoken, every single evil desire or deed of the heart. God will hold everything to account. Do we trust God will do that? Because here's the thing, God is going to do that. And that is both the best news for us and the worst. God will deal with our sins either. Either according or God will judge us either according to our sins or according to the forgiveness that was accomplished in Jesus.

Every time we see the justice of God, we should be drawn back to our need of his mercy, and there we find is our ability now to respond rightly to others, even those who do not deserve it with mercy, grace and love. Because we trust the mercy that God has given to us, and we trust that God will do what is right. We are freed to show others the mercy we ourselves have received.

Let us trust God's mercy, trust his judgment, and trust his sovereignty. We can actually trust God is the one in control of all things. In fact, we've seen that all throughout this entire story. God has been directing David to go, and who will give the Philistines into David's hand? It's God. In fact, God is the one who would protect him in the wilderness. Verse 14 tells us,

and Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Who was evading Saul? Was it David's cunning? No, it was the hand of God. In fact, even when Saul begins to now close in on David, chasing him down further and further into the wilderness, we find it is God who is protecting David.

Verse 26, it says,

Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David is hurrying to get away from Saul, as Saul and his men are closing in on David and his men to capture them. A messenger came to Saul saying, hurry, come, the Philistines have made a raid against the land.

Right, it is the perfect timing in order to save David from being captured. A beautiful picture of God's ability to put together both the grand and the small details of life in order to rescue David from Saul. Right, just consider for a moment how many details God had to work out. Not only did the Philistines need to hear, hey, guess what, Saul's off in some chase down there. They had to realize, oh, this is a great time for us to now attack. They had to muster their army, equip them, march to the city, begin to besiege it, attack it in some way, enough time for a messenger to leave that city, go down and find Saul, who happened to be on the wrong side of the mountain just in time.

The amount of things that God orchestra, I mean, it would have been weeks earlier that God already began to plan this salvation. We only see as it were in the nick of time. God's hand is over all of these things. Proverbs 16 says

the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

In this case, quite literally. Saul had planned to kill David, but God said, take a left. Go a little bit over that way.

In fact, here's the point. Why can we show mercy to others? We can show mercy because God has shown us mercy. We can show mercy because we trust God will bring justice, but finally we can show mercy because we can trust God is in control of all things. When I trust that he is the one in control, I'm free to respond, not to try and say, well, I have to work everything out myself, no, I can trust that God is the one in control. I can trust God will take care of me, and I am freed simply to be faithful to him. Trust God's sovereignty.

See this is what our whole story has been showing us over and over, we can trust in God. We can show mercy to those who do not deserve it, because his mercy is real, his judgment is real, and he is really in control of all things. We are free to respond as our savior did.

Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.

May we have the heart of Jesus for others as we trust his mercy, judgment, and sovereignty in our lives. Let's pray together.

Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the incredible example that you have given to us in David, not simply of what David himself was able to accomplish, but what you have done through him. Father, thank you for the mercy of Jesus Christ, Lord, that we can come to you, though we do not deserve it, though we have never earned your grace, yet you have shown us love. You have extended forgiveness for all who trust in you. Father, I pray that we would place our trust in you and we would respond as you yourself have responded to us. May we trust you in each and every step of our lives. We ask all these things in your name. Amen.