Well, it looks like it's 1030, so we get to start on time again today. That's good. So let's open in prayer. Father, we thank you for this church, and we thank you for the way that Pastor Randy faithfully preaches your word. each week. Lord, we pray that you would open our eyes, that we can see the things that you have for us in our ears so that we can hear them. And Lord, I pray that you would turn those into living, into actions on our part. Lord, you are good. And as we come before you today, we thank you for your goodness to us. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, we are still in. First Samuel, the last part of the book, 16 through 31. We're going to be in chapter 19 today. Again, this is the big thing that happens in the second part of First Samuel is that David has been anointed king and Saul, although he still has the position of king, is having that kingdom torn away from him. And so that's where we are, and the reason that he is having the kingdom torn away from him is because this. Because he rejected the word of the Lord And then the Lord rejected him from being king, which led just a few verses later to this statement. Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and given it to a neighbor of yours. who is better than you, and so this is that story. God has a great purpose here that goes beyond just this story. Last week we had this part of it, and we were in chapter 18. For review, we had a story of Jonathan's love for David, but mostly this chapter was about Saul's envy and his fear of David, and by the end of the chapter he has made David his enemy. So I'll just read the last couple of verses from that chapter, and then we'll see where this one begins. But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David, so Saul was David's enemy. And here is how chapter 19 begins then. 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. So Saul's fear and his envy of David leads to a plot to kill him, an open plot to kill him. So that's where we're going to start today in chapter 19. And if you have an ESV Bible, it has this heading on it. Saul tries to kill David. David, and that is what this chapter is about. It really breaks into four paragraphs. ESV doesn't have a separate heading for each of these paragraphs, but the ESV paragraph breaks are good because what happens is each of these paragraphs has some kind of a threat to David's life. There are actually four different threats here to David's life. And each one of them providing, the Lord provides a way for David to escape. So here are the breaks. Jonathan saves David from Saul. David escapes from Saul. And then Michal, that's David's wife, Saul's daughter, helps David escape from Saul. And then the last one, the Lord saves David from Saul. So no matter what Saul does, no matter what he plans, no matter how he plots, he is not going to be able to kill David. There is no way that Saul can thwart God's will. from happening. God's purpose to turn the kingdom over to David because Saul had rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has now torn that kingdom away and the Lord has made David his chosen king and there's nothing that Saul can do to stop that. So, David is going to escape from Saul when Saul plans to kill him, and in four very different ways in this chapter. One of those, maybe two of those, would seem just kind of ordinary ways that we would expect things like this to happen. But don't mistake it, that in each of these cases, no matter how they're done, it's the Lord who is saving David from Saul. Really kind of a follow-up, almost. Randy and I don't talk about these things ahead of time, but what it is for God's providence to rule over the world, involved in every detail, things that people mean for evil, God means for good. And this is another story, this is another series of stories, really, about that. So, let's move on to the first one, Jonathan saves David from Saul. And then we'll just read through these seven verses and then we'll look at them in a little bit more detail. So, 1 Samuel 19.1. And David spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. But Jonathan saw his 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 will tell you.' 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. 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 one thing you'll notice in this little section is that the way the author of 1 Samuel emphasizes Jonathan's family relationship. to Saul. And not only that, but the difference then between Saul and his son Jonathan. So though Jonathan is Saul's son, and Saul is the king, Jonathan has a completely different attitude toward David. So go back to verse 1 now. And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son. and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted in David, and Jonathan told David, Saul, my father, seeks to kill you. So notice what he does when Saul tells him what he should do. He goes right to David and warns him. He warns David right away, Saul, my father, seeks to kill you. And he doesn't just warn him. He's got a plan for David. And Jonathan has a plan for himself. And here's what he says. Therefore, be on your guard in the morning. So Jonathan knows this is coming up pretty quickly. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. So Jonathan is choosing loyalty to David over loyalty to his father. Father, because he knows, David is to be the next king. 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." So Jonathan isn't just a spy for David or an informant. for David, Jonathan wants to act. Jonathan's going to take action to save David from this plot that his father has to kill him. And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, so Jonathan's plan is this, I'm going to get Saul to change his mind. I am going to get the king, my dad, to change his mind. And it should be easy to do. Because if he just thinks about this objectively, he will know that this doesn't make any sense for him to try to kill David. So he does that. And this just seems like something that ordinarily we would try to do, doesn't it? God puts it in us to build relationships and Jonathan has this relationship with his father and so he thinks he can influence him and so it seems like something we might try. It's just an ordinary means where Jonathan is trying to save David. Let not the king sin against his servant David. because he has not sinned against you." In other words, don't return evil for good. He hasn't been evil to you, don't be evil to him, and because his deeds have been good for you. They've actually made things a lot better for you, what David has done. For he took his life in his hand, that means he risked his life, and he struck down the Philistine, that's Goliath, And the Lord worked a great salvation for Israel. You saw it, and you rejoiced. So don't forget that, Dad. Don't forget that, King. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause? So that seems, it might seem almost like a kind of a throwaway question here that Jonathan says after making his point. And actually, by him saying the phrase innocent blood, Jonathan is referring to something that his dad should know. And that is the great tragedy for Israel if they shed innocent blood. So this is talking about several different places. I'm going to turn to one of them. If you want to, you can. I'm not planning to put it up on the screen. So this is in Deuteronomy, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Chapter 21, and I'm going to start reading in about verse 6, but this is the case where, this is how serious innocent blood is in Israel. If somebody finds a person lying in a field that's been killed, Israel, and they really don't know who it is, They don't know who killed him. So what are they supposed to do about that? Well, it's actually a pretty big deal. You don't just bury the guy and say, well, nobody knows what happens. This is a case of what happens when someone has been killed, and we want to make sure that the land isn't polluted from innocent blood, which is what God tells people, tells Israel that happens. to their land. Their land is polluted when someone innocent is killed. And so here's, we'll just pick it up, so the first thing they're supposed to do is figure out which city is the closest to this body that's laying in the open field and then have the elders deal with it. And part of that is they have to do, they're supposed to do this ceremony It's not a sacrifice that they do, but it's a ceremony. So here's what it says, starting in verse 6 of Deuteronomy 21. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man. shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. They were supposed to take this heifer down to a place with flowing water and kill it, not a sacrifice. This is a symbolic act. And they shall testify. And here's what they're going to testify to. Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Accept atonement or Lord for your people Israel whom you have redeemed and do not set guilt of Innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel so that their blood guilt will be atoned for so that So Jonathan is referring to that don't do this to Israel and by shedding innocent blood. Innocent blood brings a curse on all the people, and it can't be atoned for in normal ways. You can't just kill somebody innocently and expect it to have no effect on the country, not just on you and not just on David. The whole land will suffer. All the people will suffer if you let this go on. So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. So Jonathan is telling his dad that. Don't be the cause of this. And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. And Saul swore as the Lord lives, He shall not be put to death. So Jonathan, that is a convincing argument that Jonathan makes to Saul. So convincing that he swears by the Lord that he will 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. So Jonathan does, David, what he said he would do. He promised David that he would do this. He would be completely faithful to him. They have a covenant. And David then returns to his duties for Saul, which would have been? When this evil spirit from the Lord comes upon Saul, David plays the harp, or the lyre. And importantly, David leads military raids for Saul also. David's a great commander of the military. And so God saves David. through what Jonathan does, just an ordinary thing that Jonathan does, appealing to his father. He's got a gift of persuasion, at least in this instance. He has a gift of persuasion that God gave him. And by what Jonathan does, I mean to think of Proverbs 21, the Lord turns the king's heart like channels of water wherever he wants it to go. wherever he wants it to go. And where he wanted it to go was right back to here. David is going to escape from Saul. We'll read through these three verses quickly and then talk about them. 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. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul and he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. That's a bad sign. And David was playing the liar 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." So back to verse 8. Now this verse might look a little bit unrelated to what happens after it, to verses 9 and 10. And there was war again. And David went out, as he should have, he's a military commander, and fought against the Philistines and struck them with a great blow so that they fled before them. The next thing we see is this evil spirit from the Lord comes upon Saul. But don't forget about what led Saul to envy David and be afraid of David and want to kill David in the first place. The first inkling we have of that is right after David kills Goliath. And they come back victoriously into the city. And you remember what happened. The women came out to sing to them, like they normally would do after a battle. And they sang to him, and they say, Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And it's underway. starts Saul down this road. David was successful in military battles and here he is again back in the same place. He's successful because the Lord is with him. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul. So if this sounds like something that's happened before, it has. First of all, remember that after David was anointed king, this would go back to chapter 16 if you weren't here for that part, the spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And so we talked about about quite a bit when we were going over through chapter 16, what that was about, but we won't repeat it here. But last time we met, just a couple of weeks ago, we read this from 1 Samuel 18. The next day a harmful spirit from the Lord, or from God, rushed upon Saul, and he raved, or prophesied to himself, within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him twice." So back to this chapter. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, same situation, 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. So David just does what you would try to do if somebody was trying to hit you with a spear from close range. It's kind of shocking that he missed him from close range. Why would that be? How was he able to get away from that? Of course he's going to try to get away. How was he able to? Saul is probably not bad with a spear. The Spirit of the Lord is with David continually. And David fled and escaped that night. Third time that Saul tries to kill David in this chapter. Michal. helps David to escape from Saul. So we'll read through these seven verses, just like we've been doing, and then we'll come back. So here's the story. 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. So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. Michal 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 is sick. Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, 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 the pillow of Goth's hair at its head. And Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me? thus, and let my enemy go, so that he escaped. And Michal answered to Saul, he said to me, let me go, why should I kill you? So there's a lot to talk about in these verses. It's about how Michal, Saul's daughter, helps David escape Not only does she help him escape, she appears to have the major role in the escape, a bigger role in the escape than David himself has. She lowers him through the window. It's only then that David escapes. So this is a plan. This is a scheme of Mikhal. Saul had given Michal to David as a wife, hoping that, thinking that, she's gonna be a snare to him. And when you see how she works, you might see why he would think that. Even though, or even through her deception, and scheming, things like that, the Lord is working. The Lord is working through the things that she does, that you would think, does the Lord really work through those things? They are all. The Lord works through all things. Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. So Saul's purpose is clear. This is what he wants to do. I don't know why he's decided to wait till morning, but he has decided to wait till morning. Probably anybody's guess on why that is, but the attack was to take place at David's house. He probably has this house because he's a son-in-law of the king. It was probably a gift. We don't know for sure, but Michal and David would be living close to Saul. He's part of Saul's servants, David is. And so here's the house. They're in this house, likely because of Saul. But Michal, David's wife, told him, If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. So somehow, Michal knows this plot. We don't know how. It doesn't say how she knows what Saul plans to do. We're just not sure about that. But she has enough connections to know. She overhears. She's got somebody that lets her know these things. We don't know. But she appears to have pretty good intelligence on what Saul is planning to do. And not only that, because of the way she thinks, she figures out a way how I'm going to try to get around this. And so she does this. She lets down David through the window, and he fled to escape. So he gets out of there right away. Right? Michal lets him down through the window. So there are people outside watching. Why didn't they see this? Well, it's probably because many of the houses in a small city, a small walled city, would be on the outside wall. And so you would lock the city up at night to protect it. And so you have people watching on the inside. And on the backside, David is able to slip out the window. This is much like the escape that Rahab has in Joshua from Jericho, or that she lets down the spies through the window on her wall in Joshua. But that's just a little part of this scheme that Michal has. She also plans not only to just get David to escape, but to make sure that they don't pursue him as he leaves town. And so she plans to deceive these watchmen and her father. And Michal 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. Okay, so that's the ESV. Does anybody else, does everybody else have a different translation for the word image? Pardon? NIV says what? An idol. NIV says an idol. Any others? Household gods. That's what it says in the footnote of the ESV. That's the way I think New American Standard either says household idols or household idol or household god. It's the word, it's the word teraphim, and it's used in Genesis 31. So you will know this, you will recognize this reference. I'm just going to quote the last part of it so that I don't have to look it up. Genesis 31, you know what's happening. Jacob's escaping from his father-in-law Laban. And he's going to leave town in a hurry. And his wife, Rachel, his favorite wife, this is what it says. Rachel stole her father's household gods. Same thing. In Genesis 31, they're obviously small, because she's able to sit on them. in her saddle. So I'm just going to replace image here for a good reason. Replace the ESV translation with this. Michal took a household god and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair at its head and covered it with So this household god appears to be larger than something that you could sit on. Something that you would maybe be able to mistake for a person lying in bed if it was all covered up. So does that bring up any questions? Why would David have in his house something like that. In his house. Don't forget, the house is probably, he has this house probably because of Saul. And he's living in this house with Michal, Saul's daughter. It doesn't say who owns this idol. And then there is this. So you remember that we started with this verse. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king. So you remember this verse I refer to it often referred to it as we started this morning The lord is telling Through samuel the lord is telling Saul why he's tearing the kingdom away from from him Because you have rejected the word of the lord and he has rejected you from being king But here's the first part of the verse Samuel is telling us all this, too. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. So the main point of that is this, of course. If you're rebellious, if you're rebellious against God, that's just as bad as you seeking out diviners to tell you the future. Just as bad as that. which, by the way, well, we'll talk about that when we get to it. It'll be next year. Presumption, presumption, arrogance, you look up the word in a lexicon called BDB, it's the best Hebrew lexicon out there. comes to mean presumption and arrogance being based on the word being pushy. Presumption, arrogance, being pushy is as bad as idolatry. So why bring this up? Well, Saul, presumption, arrogant, rebellious, It's as bad as what his daughter is doing to him. And ESV, probably most places, don't translate this the literal way. But it makes the connection. This word translated, idolatry, is this, for rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as iniquity and household gods. So your presumption, your arrogance, your being pushy is as bad as your daughter having a household god in her house and using it to deceive you. It's hard to imagine that Saul wouldn't have known that she had that. And besides, it's the responsibility of the king to make sure that foreign worship doesn't happen inside his borders. Might even be in his own household, for some reason. She has a household idol there, and he's responsible for that. Rebellion is like using divination, and this is like this arrogance of yours, Saul, is like having a household idol. And his arrogance is displayed in this. God gave me a command to do something in chapter 15. I'm going to do most of it, but I think I know better to do on a little bit of it. I'm going to do most of what God says, but I'm going to hold back this part because I think I know better. I think I know the best way to handle this. I know what God said, but I think I know the best way to handle this. That attitude is as bad as having household gods. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. So this is part of the scheme. Then Saul sent messengers to see David saying, bring him, if he's so sick, bring him up in the bed. This should get a lot easier now. Bring him up here in the bed that I may kill him. And when the messengers came in, behold, The image, the household god, was in the bed with a pillow of goat's hair at its head. And Saul said to Michal, why have you deceived me thus? How ironic, right? Saul had been trying to kill David by deception in chapter 18. Now he's trying to kill him more openly. He thought Michal would be a snare to David, but she actually instead deceives Saul and helps David escape from Saul's snare. Michal does that. 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? So don't miss this part of the deception. She's covering herself here, right? She's enabling her to stay, to keep getting good information. Well, David said, this was David's plan to escape. It wasn't my plan to escape. He was so set on escaping from you that he said, well, you just let me go. Why should I kill you, Michal? She's selling to Saul. that David actually would have killed her. And so it's a good thing that she helped let him go away without trying to hang on to him. And this was all David's plan. David planned. David wanted to kill me. But he said, let me go. That way I won't have to kill you. Again, reference to this morning that we didn't coordinate on. It says right here, Saul meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for good. Same thing. God causes all things, even things like this deception, this plotting, this scheming that Michal has, to work out for good. God causes all things to work out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. God uses all of this for good. Fourth one, the Lord saves David from Saul. I hope we have enough time to cover this. So in this section, no person really tries to come to David's aid. This is all the Lord's doing, and you can see that it's all the Lord's doing. So we'll read through the verses, seven verses, and then we'll talk about them. Now David fled and escaped. And he came to Samuel at Ramah, not very far from Gibeah where he would have been. We're talking two miles, three miles, probably not more than that. 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 Niot, which is at least, it's probably one of the pasture areas outside of Ramah. And it was told Saul, behold, David is at Niot. in Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing his head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again a third time, And they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Siku. And he asked, where are Samuel and David? And one said, behold, they are at Niot in Ramah. And he went there to Niot in Ramah. In the spirit of God, came upon him also as he went. He prophesied until he came to Niot in Ramah. And he, too, stripped off his clothes. And he, too, prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and night. Thus it is said, is Saul also among the prophets." Well, that's pretty interesting. So let's start in verse 18. Now David had fled and escaped. Again, not very far, probably. He came to Samuel, Samuel the prophet, the one who had anointed him king, and had anointed Saul king, and had told Saul that the Lord was stripping away his king, tearing away the kingdom from him. So the way, or torn away the kingdom from him. So why did he use that language back when in chapter 15? The Lord has torn the kingdom away from you and given it to your neighbor who is better than you. Well, it was because Saul had tried to say to Samuel he was sorry and tried to say, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I should have listened to what the Lord said. And then he grabbed Samuel by the robe, and it tears. symbolizing the robe, the robe symbolizing the kingdom that had been torn away from Saul. And I mentioned this before, that every time a robe is mentioned in 1 Samuel, it has to do with the kingdom or kingship or being a prophet in every case. He came to Samuel at Ramah, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived in Naoth. So they got out of town, a little bit probably, and it was told Saul, behold, David is at Naoth in Ramah. And Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the company of prophets prophesying. So a company of prophets, a group of prophets, they had things that they're sometimes called schools of prophets, small groups of prophets. Elijah has a small group of prophets and these prophets are prophesying and there's no no reason to think from the text itself that this isn't something completely legitimate. You can't really tell Some people from this passage get the idea that there's something different in prophecy than what we think of as prophecy happening here, that it describes some kind of a strange state of mind that people get into. And people do get in strange states of mind, but something that can be described in other ways like a state of ecstasy. But these prophets are prophesying. That's what it says. And Samuel's standing head over them. So Samuel's like the chief prophet. He's the prophet. He's known to be speaking for God. by everybody. Everybody understands and everybody respects Samuel and everybody's scared of Samuel. So Samuel standing as head over them. And the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied. So Saul sends messengers, and they come across this group of prophets. And the Spirit of God comes upon them, and they start to prophesy too. So what is this about, right? It doesn't necessarily mean that they have the gift, a longstanding gift of prophesying. God can do whatever he wants, right? God can do whatever fits in his purpose. And sometimes he has people prophesy who would not be considered faithful believers. Probably the best example from the New Testament is from John 11. We weren't in John 11 today, but Randy did refer to John when talking about the getting ready for the betrayal of Jesus, right? By Judas. Well, later, actually earlier in the story, the guy that's referred to as the High Priest, where Jesus speaks to, or speaks to Jesus during that trial, has spoken to the council earlier about Jesus. And here's what it says. But one of them, one of the people of the council who were plotting to kill Jesus, but one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people Not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord. But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad so from that day on they made plans to put him to death. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Saul's Spirit of God comes upon Saul's messengers and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul He sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again a third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Sekou. And he asked, where are Samuel and David? Saul's still planning to go there, right, to kill him. And one said, behold, they are in Neot of Ramah. And so he leaves there. And he went there to Neot in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him. And as he went, he prophesied. In other words, as he's going along, as he's walking along, he's prophesying. The Spirit of God comes upon this. So does this mean now then, has the Spirit from God replaced the harmful spirit that is upon Saul never to bother him again? Doesn't mean that. Does it mean that Saul now, the Spirit of God comes upon him, that he's now a believer and he's going to change his, he's going to have a change of heart? Doesn't mean that. doesn't tell us what he prophesied, doesn't tell us what any of the people in this story prophesied, so that's not the point. The point isn't what did they say, how did they prophesy, what did they tell people. Spirit of God comes upon people whenever he wants. And here he causes people to prophesy. And this particular thing drives Saul to some pretty unusual actions. And he too stripped off his clothes. And he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. So it doesn't really explain much more than that in this text. That's what happened. Somehow, as a result of the Spirit of God coming upon Saul and him prophesying and being in that state, he's incapacitated. He's not able to carry out or doesn't want to carry out his murderous intent. So by that, David is saved from Saul's plan. There's a lot more going on here, of course. Saul is also shamed publicly, right? Because like it would be in our society, I want to think all across our society, but maybe not quite all of our society, public nudity was a shameful thing. should be a shameful thing. So how are we supposed to understand this then? Well, first of all, don't forget where this started. That the Lord says through Samuel, the Lord has torn away your kingdom from you, the robe, right? So Saul takes off his robe. No doubt symbolic of the fact that he has lost the kingdom. He's losing the kingdom. No doubt that that's part of the symbolism that is going on here. And then he lays there naked before Samuel. And before God. That picture is also a picture of judgment. As we stand before God, as Saul lays before God now, stripped naked, none of what he thinks he is, he is. It's really a picture of judgment for everybody. We're all gonna stand that way. Nothing to justify us but one thing, Christ alone. That's the only thing. It's a picture of judgment. None of our pretenses, all of those pretenses, all of those things we want to be viewed as are stripped away and you get what you actually get. You get what we actually are before God. That's how he knows us. And that's how he sees us. And so Saul, kingdom being stripped away from him, lying on the ground naked all that day, and all that night. And thus, it is said, is Saul also among the prophets." So, we have just two or three minutes left. Earlier, shortly after Saul had been anointed king, I think we have time to read it. Shortly after Saul had been anointed king, this is in 1 Samuel chapter Chapter 10, starting in verse 9. So Samuel has just anointed Saul to be king, and Samuel tells him that there are some things that are going to happen. One of those things is, by the way, you're going to come across some prophets, a company of prophets, basically. But here's what it says in 1 Samuel 10, starting in verse 9. When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs came to pass that day. And when he came to Gibeah, that's where Saul lived, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, what has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And a man of the place answered, and who is his father? So who is his leader? Therefore, it became a proverb, is Saul also among the prophets? And when he finished prophesying, he went to the high place. So he went to a place of worship. Two cases here where it says, this is why it said, is Saul also among the prophets? And I don't think we're supposed to see that and say, well, which is it? Which one is it? Which one is the reason they say that? It's both of them. Saul, at the beginning of his reign, prophesying in one way. And what happens to him when he prophesies towards the end of his reign, it's not completely over the way it is. Both things. Saul is among the prophets because of both of those things. The way that he prophesied. So, both of those things are So we're supposed to understand both of those things. So no matter what Paul, no matter what Saul is doing here, he is not able to take out David. He's not able to thwart God's purpose for making David king. The Lord protects his people no matter what people try to do to them or do to them. The Lord protects his people. Let's close in prayer.