A Saviour Who Needs Saving

Sermon Transcript:

(transcribed with AI)

Well, good morning, everyone. It is good to be here with you all. Those of you might not know me, my name is Jonathan, privilege of being the pastor here and if you have a Bible, let me invite you to open up to the book of First Samuel. So we are going to be continuing on this series looking into the life of David.

And as you find your way there, I want to start off with a question. How many of you have it all? Right? We hear slogans, we hear advertisements, songs are written that you can have it all. So how many of us have it all? Right, how many of us actually have a job that is both personally fulfilling, where it is our life's goal to do the work that we are doing and at the same time is paying us so well that we have no more debts and we'll never have to worry about money in our entire lives. Probably not. How many of us have a perfect work-life balance where we get enough time every single day to feel rested before the next day comes, where we have enough time to actually pursue the hobbies and interests and projects that we want to be doing and at the same time our house is immaculately kept together where we are eating perfectly fresh food, healthy all of the time, and our health has never once failed us, no joint is creaking or in pain. Where your family time is perfect, there's no drama whatsoever going on in your family, either immediate or extended. How many of us have it all?

I mean, the honest truth is we can say it over and over again, no one does. Nobody has it all together. We're all broken people, we all need help, we can't do this on our own. In fact, over the past few weeks we've been looking at the life of David, and up until now you could almost make the argument, David looks like he has it all. Right, a few weeks ago we looked, David defeats Goliath, right, it's this monumental occasion, no one thought it could happen, David defeats the giant, and then what happens is David just gets rocketed to stardom. He is suddenly the most popular person in the entire nation. Everyone loves David. Even Jonathan, the crown prince, pledges his loyalty to David. He gets to marry a princess. I mean, this guy has it all. He's made commander of the armies, everyone loves him.

Well, except for one person. Problem is that one person happens to be the king of Israel, right? Saul, we saw already last week, he's starting to bubble over with anger, and actually as we continue on this story, we're going to see that's no longer bubbling under the surface, that is outright hostility, Saul's going to try and kill him. And suddenly the savior of Israel is now the one in need of saving. Right, this grand reversal of everything that's been happening, David is now the one who needs other people to come and save him. Right, even David can't do it all. Even David can't do everything on his own, he still needs help, and as we walk through this story, what we're going to see is actually where our help truly comes from. Who can we rely on if we can't just do it all ourselves.

So if you have a Bible, let me invite you to follow along with me. 1 Samuel chapter 19 is where we're going to be this morning. It's our tradition here to stand as we read God's word. If you're able to, would you stand with me? During this series, our scripture passages are somewhat longer. If you do need to sit, please feel that freedom. Our goal is to focus ourselves on the text. This is God's word.

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, 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, 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'll tell you. 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. 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? And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death. 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. And there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them a great blow, so that they fled before him. And 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. 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. Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Mikal, David's wife, told him, if you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. So Mikal let David down through the window and fled away and escaped. Mikhal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair at its head and covered it with clothes. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he's sick. Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, Bring me, bring him up to me in the bed that I may kill him. And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed with a pillow of goat's hair at its head. Saul said to Mika, Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go so that he has escaped? Miko answered Saul, he said to me, let me go. Why should I kill you? 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 Neoth, and it was told Saul, behold, David is at Neioth and Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing at as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesized. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesized. And Saul sent messengers again the 3rd time, and they also prophesized. Then he himself went to Rama and came to the great well that is in Sekku. And he asked, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, behold, they're at Naioth and Ramah. And he went there to Naioth and Rama, and the spirit of God came upon him also. And as he went, he prophesized until he came to Naioth and Rama, and he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesized before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, is Saul also among the prophets?

As far the reading of God's word, you may be seated.

All right, well we have quite the story in front of us, don't we? Certainly a bizarre ending at the end here, but we see, here is Saul just relentlessly coming after David again and again and again, right? The savior of Israel needs saving. And what we see throughout here is that God is the one who is protecting him. Over and over again, God is going to use Jonathan and Miko, and even God's direct action to save David.

Unless we miss the point of a passage like this, let me start with my conclusion, OK? Here's the point that we need to see at the end of this. This is a story from the greater to the lesser. See, most of us are probably not going to be in the same situation as David, at least I hope not. Right? Being hunted down by assassins everywhere you go, I hope that's not your story. But the point that we're intended to see here is that if God can rescue David, out of the hands of the most powerful man in the country, how much more can God help us in our trials? Our trials that are not nearly so serious, can God not help us as well? And so we see God's protection all throughout this, and our call is rely on God's strength.

But as we walk through this story, we also see some bizarre actions on Saul's part. We see this irrational sin decision making that is going on, and even how futile our very best efforts can be. And so even more so, should we not rely on God's strength.

But let's just start off here at the beginning of our story, we get this highlighted for us, this irrationality of sin, sin's irrational decisions. All right, back in verse one, we're told Saul spoke to Jonathan and to all his servants, that they should kill David. Now you gotta imagine this would have been a shock for everyone. David has been the golden boy of Israel up until now. Everyone loves him, and suddenly the king comes and says, yeah, we need to put him to death. Everyone's kind of going, what, where did that come from?

Now we as the reader, we're aware Saul has been bubbling over with this anger for some time. In fact, if you just look back a few verses into chapter 18, verse 28 says, and when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Mikal, Saul's daughter, loved him. Saul was even more afraid of David. And so Saul was David's enemy continually.

Right? Now why is David Saul's enemy? Was it because David was threatening him, was going to usurp his role? No, actually, none of those things. David is committed to not attacking Saul over and over again. Why is David a threat to Saul? David is a threat to Saul's pride. It is his pride that says I should be the most important person in whatever room I am in, and David is a threat to that. David is threatening his pride and so Saul begins to grow angry and out of that anger and jealousy now comes this murderous rage that he passes on. In fact, it makes him so irrational, he's about to kill his best general. In fact, he's so irrational, he even speaks to Jonathan, his son, missing the point that actually Jonathan likes David even more than Saul.

Verse one ends with, but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. Jonathan is actually on David's side in all of this, and so they come up with this scheme. David goes into hiding. Jonathan says, Well, I'm going to go and talk to my dad, see if I can get him down off that ledge. And so we're told he comes and Jonathan actually has some really good arguments to make. He's got 3 really clear points.

Verse 4, 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, right? Point 1 David hasn't done anything against you, Saul. Why are you trying to kill him? Point 2 he keeps going, and because his deeds have brought good to you, for he took his life in his hand and struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Right? Second point, why shouldn't you kill David? He's done nothing but good for you, Saul, and for the entire nation. Last point, end of verse 5, he says, why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause? Third point, it would be sin against God to put him to death.

Actually these are pretty good reasons, aren't they? Right, Jonathan makes a pretty good rational point, number 1, he's done nothing wrong. Number 2, he's done everything good, and number 3, if you do this, it is sin against God. And Saul listens and he goes, oh, you're right. You're right, OK, OK, bring him back, I won't put him to death, right? God uses Jonathan's argument to actually protect David. And Saul listens to his son Jonathan, and if that's where the story ended, we would probably come to the conclusion, OK, so what we really need to do, if you want to fight against your sin is just make sure you've got some good arguments. Educate yourself, right? Make some rational decisions and then once we do that, well then you're good to go.

The problem is sin doesn't make rational decisions. Sin makes no calculation of what would be the best option in any given scenario. No, sin is a gut level reaction and rejection of what God wants. Right, let me just take an example here, OK, let's use gossip for an example. I'm going to guess the last time you felt at least tempted to gossip, it probably wasn't because you had thought to yourself, well, here would be the best way to solve this problem. If I talk to this person and I can communicate, they'll help me to make a good decision and we'll be able to effectively communicate what's going on to the appropriate parties. Yeah, that never crosses your mind, doesn't it?

No, you gossip because you say, oh I'd love to. It's so juicy, I just want to tell you about it. In fact, I want to celebrate all the bad things that have happened. I want to revel in someone else's misfortune or laugh at their mistakes. I would like to help other people also dislike this person because it makes me feel good. Has nothing to do with a conscious decision about what would be the best way to communicate with people. It has everything to do with what our heart really wants.

See, here's the problem sin is not about our rational choices it is very much a heart condition. Prophet Jeremiah writes, he says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? Sin is the problem of the heart and so what happens when you reason with sin? Well, it's very much like putting a band-aid over an infection. Covers it over real nice, looks good for a moment, but it doesn't deal with the problem.

And in fact, that's exactly what we see in this story. Jonathan lays out an amazing argument about why Saul shouldn't kill David, and yet what happens. Well, verse 8, we're told war breaks out again. Philistines are coming back, they're always attacking, and David goes out, leads the army, and he wins. And you can imagine. All of a sudden ringing in Saul's ears are, David is amazing. Isn't David awesome?

Now hear me. Did anything change about Jonathan's arguments? No. In fact, they're now more true than even before. David is more of an asset to the nation, and yet what does Saul do? He is seething in rage. Verse 9 says, then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David is playing the liar, right? We've seen this scene already a couple times in the story Saul being harassed, David bringing comfort, but now David is the focus of all of his anger and notice even before any of this, what is Saul doing? He's sitting in his house. With a spear in his hand. Why? Saul is already planning to kill him even before he gets harassed by the spirit, he is already planning what he is going to do. There's no reason to sit in your own house fully armed unless you're planning to do something foolish.

And now, it's as if God sort of says, all right, I'm going to let you go for it. And Saul tries to pin David to the wall, throws it so hard it sticks into the wall. We should note probably the last person to threaten David with a spear was Goliath. We know how that turned out. But also it's a little shocking to see the king of Israel starting to look more and more like the enemy of God's people. Here is Saul attacking God's anointed king. Trying to kill him, not because that was the rational choice at the moment, but it's because that's what his heart really wanted.

We need to realize when we sin, it is just as irrational as Saul. We say to ourselves, well, you know what, I deserve this. I've earned this little treat of sin. I'm justified in my anger, it's because of how other people have treated me, and so we mock Saul's foolishness for trying to kill his best man and at the same time commit the same problems. Is our sin any more rational? We ruin ourselves with sexual perversion, entertainment, empty vice that provide nothing like what they promise. And despite us saying again and again, I know I should stop, I know it's not good, we keep doing it, why? It's because it's what our heart loves. Sin is at its core an issue of our heart. It's an issue of what we love most, and actually what we find is even our very best efforts don't contain it.

Right, David escapes from Saul, he runs off and he runs home, right? He's trying to get somewhere safe, and by the time he gets home, however, she has found out, Mikal, David's new wife, already knows what's happening. Verse 11, she says, if you don't escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. Right, she's absolutely right, she knows her dad, he is going to try and kill David.

And so Miko's going to give her very best efforts to deal with it, right? She lets David out of the window and then comes up with this Ferris Bueller Home Alone style hijinks of hiding a fake body in a bed. Right, verse 13 says, Mikhal took an image, right? Now most Bibles, you'll actually have a little footnote there, this is a household idol. We're kind of left scratching our heads, why does she have an idol in the house? But regardless, she brings this, puts it into the bed, covers it with a wig, and then pretends David is there and he's just sick. The next morning the messengers come in and she says, well, he's too sick to go anywhere, and so they just go back to Saul, Saul's like, what are you talking about, drag him out, I'm trying to kill this man. Right, it doesn't matter if he's sick. And so they go back, yes, yes, I'm sorry, and they go back, they find this image.

And Saul is furious. This is his own daughter turning against him. How dare she? And you can imagine her just scared, and so she comes up with another lie. Well, he said he was going to kill me if I didn't do this. Right? Again, God uses her to help David escape, but the problem is, everything that she did was very much dependent on what she could accomplish. And actually, despite her best efforts, David is now actually in a worse position than before. Because her little lie there at the end, now gives Saul an actual reason to go after him. He threatened to kill a royal princess, how dare he? See, now Saul can vindictively justify his anger. In some ways it is far worse. Mikal does her best, but she's also not really relying on God.

Consider instead how David reacts to the same situation. See, one of the interesting things is David writes so much, so we actually get to see what he thinks about each of these, and so he actually writes Psalm 59 about this very story. Right, the heading of Psalm 59 tells us to the choir master, according to do not destroy, Miktem of David, those are musical instructions, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him, right, that's what we're reading. OK, this is David's thoughts. How is David trying to understand and trust what's going on? He writes:

deliver me from my enemies, oh my God, protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men, for behold, they lie in wait for my life, fierce men to stir up strife against me, for no transgression or sin of mine, oh Lord.

See, David's response is to put all of his hope in what God can accomplish. David recognizes it's not about him running, it's not even about Mikal's whole scheme that she's coming. He's trusting that God and God alone can keep him safe.

Again, we see a picture of our own problem with sin. When we try and fix the sin in our own heart by just trying harder, putting in more effort, making a good plan, giving it a real go. We so often find not only is it ineffective that we're often worse off than before. What happens when you fight sin in your own power? Well, you do have some success at the beginning. Which makes the failure when it comes so much worse. You fail and you stumble into it again. Now you are the failure. Guilt follows your failure, and so you try again, harder and harder, but again and again you stumble and fall, and that guilt drives you down deeper and deeper, so much so. That you stop talking to other people about it, in fact, you begin to lie and try and cover it up because if anyone could see how much you have failed and how much you can't do it, certainly they would judge you and so you cover over, you hide it, and that guilt and failure just simply drives deeper and deeper and deeper into our own soul. Trying to deal with sin on our own in the dark leaves us worse off than before.

Our best efforts are not what will save us. In fact, we're in the same situation as David. We need someone else. We need God to come and deal with our sin. And this is the whole reason why Jesus comes is because he comes to deal with our sin before God. Romans 3 says:

for by works of the law. No human being will be justified in his sight, God's sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

It's not our works, it's not our obedience to the perfect standard of God's law that's going to make it there. Now we need someone else to step in our place. Jesus comes exactly for that. Romans 8:

for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

To God has done what we could not accomplish by sending Jesus to deal with our sins fully and completely. When Jesus went to the cross, he dealt with what we could not do. He has set us free by his death and resurrection from the power of sin over us, from the guilt that follows. He sends us His Holy Spirit that we might have a new heart to follow after Him, the strength to actually obey. What we need is not work harder against our sin, not reason further. We need a new heart given by God that now loves what God loves. It's an issue of our heart rebellion against God, and what we need is a restored relationship and a new heart. That is the promise for everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ. We have that hope, we have that strength, we have that forgiveness for everyone who would trust in Jesus. We don't have to work because Jesus has already done it for us. What our best efforts could never do, Jesus has accomplished for us. The call is not work harder, but trust Jesus.

And actually, that's exactly what David is going to do. See, while God has used both Jonathan and Mika to save David in these small ways, ultimately it is God's protection over him if that makes the difference. We see at the end of this chapter, this is God's invincible strength. Right, Saul is raving. Throwing everything he can, and yet God is not challenged in the least, right? We're told verse 18, David escapes the middle of the night, right? Same night he runs from his house and he makes his way over to Ramah. It's only a few miles away, it wouldn't have actually taken him very long.

And so David comes and he finds Samuel the prophet, right, you can imagine just what a beautiful meeting this would have been, right? Here are two men who have both suffered under Saul's jealousy and anger, and both of them now can trust God together. David hides with Samuel for a little while, but it doesn't take long, and Saul hears about it. David's not that far away, right? OK, it's a few miles away. Saul hears about it and so he sends men, go get David.

Verse 20 we're told. Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing his head over them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesized. So Saul sends these messengers to go grab David, and as they get there, as they see Samuel, suddenly they start prophesying. Now we're not really told what they said or what exactly is going on. Seems to be by at least what happens to Saul, he's in some kind of trance. What it certainly does is stop them from even coming close to David.

And so they go back, they say, Saul, we couldn't do it. Saul sends another group, same thing happens. He sends a third group, same thing happens, right? A rational person might say, hmm, maybe I'm doing the wrong thing. But Saul says, no, it's because I need to go. And so Saul starts going, and he goes, he stops at the well, asks for directions, says where is David? And they're like, well he's there, he's at Rama. He's been there for a while actually, so, you've been sending messengers all the way through, you know exactly where he is.

David hasn't even moved, which is an interesting point, isn't it? David has already seen 3 groups of messengers come through trying to kill him. And what's his answer? God will protect me. I don't even have to go anywhere. God is absolutely able to protect me every single time.

And so Saul storms off to go personally kill David, but this time he doesn't even get to Rama, and the spirit of God comes upon him, he starts to prophesy some kind of trance, and he starts stripping off his clothes. Right, he lays in front of Samuel naked for a full day and a night. Right, God has utterly humiliated Saul. But even more than that, the clothes he took off were his royal robes. He's taking off, right, God is symbolically showing both to Saul and to the nation, I am stripping Saul of his kingdom. Because of his sin against me, I am taking the kingdom away from him, and here's the thing. It's not even a contest. It's not as if Saul was struggling, no, he just immediately was overcome and could do nothing to stop it. Right, this is God's quiet. Invincible strength, it is not challenged, it is not touched, God does not struggle in this contest one bit, but rather is powerful to save David every single time he is attacked.

In fact, this is exactly what David writes in Psalm 59. He writes, he says each evening they come back howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They wander about for food and growl if they don't get their fill. But I will sing of your strength. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning, for you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Oh my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, oh God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love, right? Why didn't David run? He didn't need to. God was his fortress, God was his refuge, God was the one who would give him safety and freedom out of the attacks of Saul. Right, God is his strength, and this whole chapter is written to help us realize that over and over again. That actually we can rely on God's strength no matter what we are going through.

Right, I said at the beginning. This is the conclusion. It's not because we face what David has faced. It's not because we have Saul chasing after us, but it is God giving us this demonstration of his power to show that we can rely on him no matter what. God can save David from the ravings of Saul. He can certainly save us. He can certainly help us through all of our trials. David needed a savior. He wasn't strong enough. We aren't either. We need God's strength just as much as David did. We need someone to deal with our sins, we need someone who can carry us each and every day, and in Jesus, that is the promise we have.

Hebrews 7 puts it this way, says:

consequently, he, Jesus, is able to save to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus is able to save to the uttermost, to the end, to the final, to the very end, the complete salvation is found in Jesus. Even death itself does not stand in the way of God's salvation. There is no end to the power and strength of God, so put all of your trust in him.

We are not given a promise that we will not face things more than we can handle. We face things more than we can handle all the time. We are given a promise that we will not face things that God cannot handle. He can handle all things. Paul writes in Corinthians. He says:

for we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the afflictions we experienced in Asia. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

He is not strong enough for this.

Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.

We will come to the end of our strength and abilities, far more than we are comfortable with, but we will never come to the end of God's strength. Rely on him. Place your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit. It's what he's promised to do. And then go forward in God's power. As you hit the walls you can't overcome, pray again and again, God give me strength, and then get up and follow God. Put 1 foot in front of the other, trusting God will be your strength every step. Wherever God has placed you, wherever it is beyond your strength, remind yourself, this is so that I can rely on God. Trust and find God will be with you.

If David needed God's strength, how much more do we? If God is able to save David, how much more can he save us? This whole story is a monument to the strength of God. We cannot deal with our sin on our own. We cannot reason our way out of it, and our best efforts fall far short. But where we have failed, Jesus has succeeded. Where our strength falls short, God does not. Where we are weak, God is strong, let us rely on God. As we battle our sin, cry out for that new heart that loves what God loves, that leans on his strength each and every day. He is our fortress and our refuge. Let us run to him in all things.

Let's pray together. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we are so grateful for the incredible strength that you show. Father, that you are more than capable of rescuing us from every one of the trials that we face, though we may be beyond what we can accomplish, we are never beyond what you can do. Father, I pray, would you remind us again and again, each and every day that it is in your strength that we can continue on. It is in your strength we can see freedom from our sin, it is in your strength that we can honor you. Father, I pray, would you work that deep into our hearts, that we might delight again and again, not in what we can accomplish, but in what you have done. Father, I pray all these things in your name. Amen.