Alright beloved, I invite you at this time to open your Bibles to 1st Samuel chapter 26. 1st Samuel 26. As you're flipping there, I'll just remind you this section of David's life really seems to be a focused meditation on the character quality of meekness We're going to consider that in the concluding psalm this evening. Psalm 37 is really a meditation on meekness, counsel unto meekness. But here we have it in narratival form. The scriptures tell us that Moses was the meekest man to walk the earth. We know that meekness was superseded by the Lord Jesus Christ. But David here seems to experience a growth in meekness. over the course of these three episodes, chapter 24, chapter 24, 25, and chapter 26. And we come to that third movement, so to speak, where meekness really does take center stage. And let me just remind us what it is before we go to the reading. Meekness is a confidence in God's justice. that enables you to be still in the face of adversary and not take vengeance yourself. It's a trust that God will judge and you don't have to. And you can afford to continue doing good even to those who do ill to you because you are assured that God will judge. He will do it better than you can. Let us pray and then we'll hear God's word and turn to the preaching of it. We give you thanks and praise for the meekness that is yours, exemplified in a beautiful and profound way in the life of your son. We even considered some of that this morning. We thank you, Lord, for the testimony of our Apostle Peter, that our Savior did not return reviling for reviling, but blessed those who cursed him because he entrusted himself to you. to him who judges justly. And Lord, as we consider David's own personal growth and meekness revealed in chapter 26 of 1 Samuel, we ask that you would give us eyes to see that this is the character of our Savior, and that as we perceive our Savior in the words of this passage and its preaching, that we would become like him, that we would learn to love this feature of your holy character, and that our love for it would cause us, Lord, to mourn where we are not meek ourselves, and would motivate us by your spirit and word here, Lord, to become meek, that your own character in this way would be revealed in us on earth. So care for us now, we pray, and lead the preacher that the words spoken and the words heard would be from on high and not from earth. In Christ's name we pray, amen. 1 Samuel 26, this is the word of the Lord. Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hakala, which is on the east of Jeshimon? So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hakelah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay with Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment while the army was encamped around him. Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Joab's brother Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, who will go down with me into the camp to Saul? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai went to the army by night and there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head. And Abner and the army lay around him. Then Abishai said to David, God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now, please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear. I will not strike him twice. But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? And David said, as the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water and let us go. So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake for they were all asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill with a great space between them. And David called to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Will you not answer, Abner? Then Abner answered, Who are you who calls to the king? And David said to Abner, Are you not a man who was like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your Lord the King? For one of the people came in to destroy the King your Lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your Lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the King's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head." Saul recognized David's voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my Lord, O King. And he said, Why does my Lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? Now, therefore, let my Lord the King hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering. But if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go serve other gods. Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains." Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly and have made a great mistake.' And David answered and said, Here is the spear, O king. Let one of the young men come over and take it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. For the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord. And may he deliver me out of all tribulation. Then Saul said to David, blessed be you, my son, David, you will do many things and will succeed in them. So David went his way and Saul returned to his place. God's word. Well, beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, this evening, as I said, I want to focus our attention on meekness. I could give you an analysis of the whole passage this evening. There are a handful of things worth noting here, but I think the thing that is at the center is David's own progression deeper into the life of meekness. You may remember two passages previous in chapter 24, David was in a cave. And there, David was with his men, hundreds of men, and they were hiding out because they were being persecuted by Saul and his armies. And Saul came, and he went into the cave and took a rest, and he had opportunity to kill Saul. But he did not take it. And his concern was that he not put out his hand against the Lord's anointed. He did not want to violate God's law or principle, and he did not want to bring God's judgment upon himself for doing such a thing. And he spared Saul. That was an act of meekness, an act of mercy. And then in the next passage, he is affronted by the man Nabal, who was a fool, as his name so declared. And although he requested help from Nabal for having guarded all of Nabal's sheep for a long season, Nabal rebuffed him and basically said, no thanks, I'm not giving you any of my things. David came in vengeance. He had a sword strapped on his side with all of his men, ready to take Nabal's head and the heads of all of his household. But he was stopped by Abigail, Nabal's wise and righteous wife, who brought a message of grace and faith before David that cooled his heart, his head, and stayed his hand. And as he resisted, within days, Nabal had died at the Lord's hands. And the Lord brought David to see this, how he would be at work to bring about judgment. And he would not have to do it through David's own act of bloodshed, acting in personal vengeance. And now we come to this passage where we're returning again to an opportunity for David to take Saul's life, but he does not. And so there's a The technical term is an intercalation, but it's really a sandwiching. You can just call it a bookending or a sandwiching. You have two episodes with David being able to take Saul's life and not taking it with the episode of Mabel in the middle, and they all speak to one another, these passages, and mutually interpret each other. As I've said, I think David makes progress. And so what I want to highlight for you tonight is three features of David's deepening meekness that we see in this passage that we didn't see back in chapter 24. And it's going to give us a little bit better grasp on the very character of meekness. What is it like to be a godly, meek man or woman? And as we consider these things, which are really reflections of the character of our Savior, It is my hope that we learn to value these things more and grow in these graces. But the first thing that we see where David makes advancements in meekness is that he is moved to be meek. He's moved to spare Saul by his faith in God. That's his motivation, faith in God. Previously, as we mentioned in chapter 24, in fact in chapter 24 verse 6, David makes it clear that he showed mercy to Saul and did not kill him in the cave because he feared the consequences ultimately of putting his hand out against the Lord's anointed. That was a no-no. You don't do that. He did not want to break that law. He did not want to suffer the consequences of it. And that was, those were righteous desires. Those were good desires. There was a fear of the Lord at work. And so he did not take Saul's life. But as David was strengthened in meekness, likely the Lord used the providential interactions with Nabal and Abigail to firmly establish David in the way of meekness. He was able to return to his relationship with Saul with a renewed sense of what meekness is all about. Whether he would have used those words or not, the Lord was working these things into his heart. And as he returns, his posture towards Saul is solidified in a godly and meek direction. Here in chapter 26, the fear of the Lord certainly remained a vital feature of David's motive. In verse 9, what do we read? David said to Abishai, do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? He still has a concern of not bearing guilt for killing Saul, who is the Lord's anointed. But that motive of godly fear was strengthened by something that I would suggest is even more substantial, deeper, and abiding, and that is faith in the justice of God. Look what he says in verse 10. This is not something we hear him saying with respect to Nabal or with respect to his earlier encounter with Saul. He says, As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. What is this? David is testifying to the fact, I know God will judge him for his sins. It might happen in this life, it might happen in the life to come, it might happen in a tragic way, it might happen in a natural way, but God will see to justice. My suggestion is that David was able to grasp this reality. God will judge the wicked in the best way because he saw it happen with Nabal. And that put him at a place where he said, I guess I don't need to take vengeance because God will. So he's not only convinced, as we just said, he's not only convinced now that he does, he should not put out his hand against the Lord's anointed. Catch this. He's not just saying, I should not. He's saying, I need not. Justice doesn't depend upon me and my acting and pursuing vengeance. David figured that out. by the Lord's providence and the Lord's ministry to his own heart. So he's now not moved just by the fear of God, but by his faith in God. I shouldn't do that. That's a good motive. We don't do it because we shouldn't do it. But it's something even deeper, I would suggest, to recognize these things that we might be tempted to do in our sin, whether it's taking vengeance or pursuing some satisfaction of lust or of greed, covetousness. An even deeper motive is to say, I need not. It's one thing to say this lustful thing that I want to satisfy, this greedy thing that I want, the thing that promises to satisfy my greed. I shouldn't do that, but I kind of want to. I think this thing out here is really going to satisfy me, but I know it's wrong, so I don't do it. That's good. It's good that we refrain from sin. It's good that sin be restrained and not break out, but even better to say, I don't need that. I have everything I need in God. I don't need that thing to satisfy my lust, I'm satisfied with what Christ has given me. I don't need that thing to satisfy my greed, I'm content with what God has given me. I don't need to seek vengeance against you because I trust God will judge. So David's motive all of a sudden comes from a deeper place, a place of confidence in the reality of who God is and what he will do. And he is able now to be meek with more Shall we say stability? If you were to read the Hebrew, this might come to the surface a little more, and I'm not going to get into the details here, but in his encounter in the cave with Saul, he is like tempted. They say, go take Saul's life, and he goes, and he tears off the hem of his robe, and then he's conflicted about that, and then his men say, now take his life, and he has to yell at them in order to shut them up and to keep things stable. There's this conflict that's not just outside of David, it's, I'm suggesting, within David. He's refraining from doing the thing that he wants to do. But here, David seems to be much calmer. He seems to be less moved by the temptation to take Saul's life. He just says, Abishai, we're not going to do this. The Lord will take care of it. And he walks in meekness from a place of inner peace with the sovereignty and the justice of God. And that is an advancement upon his meekness. This is characteristic of our Savior. Like we cited from 1 Peter 2, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. That's why, as we consider this morning, he could take blows to the face in severe injustice, God himself, and then be able to pray from the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. This is the character of God being worked into the soil of David's heart, we see here, the character of Christ. And it's beautiful. I hope you see it's beautiful. We should all want to be this way, so confident in what we believe about God, that we not only resist sin in its various forms because it's wrong, but because it's not even necessary. We have what we need in our Savior. That's the first thing we see, beloved. That's the first thing we see. The second thing we see comes out in verses 17 to 20, where there's this interaction between Saul and David, Kind of imagine the camp is maybe in a valley of sorts and there's a hilltop on one side and David is standing with a span between him and the army and he's shouting from the hill across and his voice is being carried over soldiers who are waking up, getting their coffee, and then Saul in the middle of the camp with Abner there. We could make comments about how he addresses Abner, but we'll overlook that for now. But this next point is that in meekness, David sought God above self. Here, David's deeper motive comes to the surface and it has everything to do with his devotion to the Lord God. What drove David, what motivated David in these words that he speaks and in his movement? What was his deepest yearning? What does he say here in verses 19 and 20 of chapter 26? Now therefore, let my Lord the King hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering. What's he saying? He's saying if God has brought this about, then he's provided a means of appeasing him through the law. Let's go to the temple together. Let's make things right between ourselves. Let's offer the sacrifice. Let's be at peace. But if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day, notice what he says, that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, go serve other gods. We have to always keep this in mind, beloved, that in this day, in the old covenant economy, location was more important than it is today for real estate. Location related to worship, where you were is where you had access to your God. And if David could not get to the tabernacle, if David could not be in the kingdom of Israel within the borders of Israel, then he could not worship God as he was called to worship him. You and I worship by Spirit and truth, we worship by faith. We worship not by sight, not in a particular location, but with God's people wherever we gather. But that was not true then. So for David to be on the outs, kept away from the tabernacle, kept away from the land of Israel, he's being kept from worship. He's being kept from the proper devotion that he deserves, that he desires to give to God, that he should give to God. And this really becomes the greatest burden of his heart here. This is the thing that burdens him the most. So his motivation is not for personal vengeance, His motivation is not for self-preservation even. That's not his greatest concern. His greatest concern is that he's being inhibited in his pursuit of communion with God. Let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord. He doesn't want to die out there in the land of pagans. He wants to die in the land of promise as a member of the covenant community. It reminds me of what David says in Psalm 27. which would be a good companion passage to this text. If you want to read this over again and then read it in conjunction with Psalm 27, that'd be really useful. But there David says, one thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And the Lord certainly caused David to have an increased zeal for the Lord's worship by his being outside of the land of promise. But the meek heart, beloved, the meek heart is not caught up in the battle between man and man. It's not caught up between you did this wrong to me and I'm mad at you for that and I want to get back at you for that. The meek heart is concerned more with how this problem we're having in relationship is keeping me from communing with God. It sees the deep significance of these problems for our communion with the Lord and our being able to follow him faithfully. That was David's key concern here. Not personal vengeance, but for something quite godly. And he was able to appeal to the Lord then in his prayers, no doubt. Perhaps he penned Psalm 27 around this time. And the Lord heard his cry and delivered him, eventually. But a meek heart is one that seeks God above self and is willing to suffer things, but desires to know the Lord most of all. The third thing, beloved, we notice, and the last thing we notice, the last thing that I'll call you to notice this evening, is that in meekness David was able to overcome evil with good. This is the strategy of meekness. Meekness doesn't seem to be a real offensive strategy, it seems to be more of a defensive posture, but the wisdom in it is that it, I don't even like the way this sounds, but I struggle to find a different way. It leaves room for God to work. He doesn't need us to leave him room to work, you understand. He's sovereign. He is always acting, but there's a sense in which it is stepping back and letting God work, and that's actually a better offensive strategy than for us to get involved and to try to control and manage and govern a situation, right? And perhaps in one form, you know, to take vengeance ourselves. But here, let us just consider his strategy. because it is essentially the counsel we get from Paul in Romans 12 about overcoming evil with good. Well, this comes, I think, to the surface in verses 21 to 25. There in verse 23, David makes it clear. He says, the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. So truth be told, the Lord gave Saul into David's hand. Okay. And David had this opportunity that he did not necessarily manufacture, but came to him by the hand of the Lord. He had this opportunity to do evil to Saul, but he did not do it. In fact, he did him good. By refraining from taking his life, he blessed him. He gave him an opportunity for repentance. He gave him an opportunity to be refreshed in the truth. And he ministered that truth from the hilltop as he shouted over the people, over the soldiers, so that Saul's heart could be made right and so that Saul could be kept from sin. But he does this good to him. This is a true good David does to Saul. And it humbles Saul. Saul's overcome in this moment, not because David took a spear and put it through his chest, but because David showed mercy to Saul when he could have done otherwise. The Lord gave him an opportunity to do otherwise. And he chose to do good. And so David here is actually the victor over Saul. He is, first of all, not defeated by Saul because Saul doesn't get to kill David in this episode. And secondly, Saul does not get to make David into his own vengeful image. David does not perpetuate the pattern of Saul's vengeance. He escapes it and he becomes, he's delivered from it. In fact, Saul is, so to speak, silenced. Saul is put in his place and this is a better result than the corpse of Saul lying on the ground and David's hands covered with blood. A much better resolution. But it is essentially David overcoming evil. with good, which can only happen if we have faith in God's justice, which can only happen if our zeal is for the Lord above our own pursuit of self-preservation. Consider Romans 12, which says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Now, I suppose David could have cooked a meal and left it for him or something to really put the icing on the cake here. But I think what he did is more than adequate for doing a good deed towards Saul when he was seeking to do him evil. But this is, beloved, what we are called to do. This is how the Lord would have us engage with the world. We prayed about the lost and about reaching into the lives of the lost and seeking to bless those outside the church. This is one way we do it. Perhaps we need to think more about our enemies, particularly the ones we know personally, out in the world, who don't know Christ, who are dead set against the church and Christ and everything good within us. Perhaps these are the peculiar people we should be doing good to, that we might confound them. And to not just do it with some kind of tactical strategy in mind, but to do it from the heart, seeking to give them a taste of the mercy of God. Perhaps it could have a good effect upon their lives. Maybe it would be just the thing the Lord would use to begin to humble them, to bring them to their knees. But of course, this is something we need to look to the example of Christ and the very life of Christ for. He who did good to us when we were his enemies. Hasn't this broken our hearts? Hasn't this caused us to be humbled? Hasn't his act of undeserved love, unmerited, demerited love toward us caused us to want to serve Him all our days? Isn't that the story that we all tell about how God got a hold of our hearts and began to transform our lives? And wouldn't this be then the way that the Lord would have us minister the gospel to others, embody the gospel, speak the gospel, we must do that, but also embody the gospel with acts of goodness and mercy to overcome our enemies? Christ did this. Christ himself did this. I'll read the passage in full that we've cited a couple times. 1 Peter 2, Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. Beloved, because we who trust in Christ are healed, we now have the power by his spirit to follow in his steps and to expect good effect, even better perhaps than David experienced in his relation with Saul. Well, hopefully that's an encouragement to you. I just wanted to take time to consider meekness. Pray for meekness. May we be able to do so as we turn to our hymn in a moment. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the work you did in the life and in the heart of King David, our brother. We look forward to meeting him someday. But of course, Lord, our greater desire is to meet you face to face. and to be in your presence. You have given us, each of us, a taste of your meekness toward us, and your humility, and your grace, your generosity, and we benefit so richly from it, and we pray that you would cause us to be those who are meek like David, meek like Christ, and are able, Lord, to be quite effective in this world for the purposes of expanding your kingdom. and causing others perhaps to be humbled enough to consider the gospel we preach. Grant us these graces in the name of Christ. Amen.