First Samuel chapter 18, starting at verse one. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him and behaved himself wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war. And he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him. And he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands, and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house and David played with his hand as at other times. And there was a javelin in Saul's hand and Saul cast the javelin for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. Therefore, Saul removed him from him and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people and David behaved himself wisely in all his ways. And the Lord was with him. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, He was afraid of him, but all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. Thus far the reading of the word of almighty God. Let us join together in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your Holy Spirit who has indicted and given us these words that we might know the truth concerning the past, concerning the present, and concerning the future, concerning God our Lord and the duties that you require of us. Have mercy upon us and teach us these matters as we consider this passage of scripture, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Last week, we finished our consideration of David's faith in God, of the destruction and overthrow of Goliath, the giant, and of David's being propelled into, you might say, celebrity status among the people of God, one whom everyone knew, as we see here in this passage. This afternoon, we'll look at the steps David takes to the throne. One by one, building block by building block, David goes higher and higher up toward the throne. Arthur Pink, in commenting on this portion, said if he sought for a topical title for this chapter, it would be The Price of Popularity. He says he might've selected that. What is the price you must pay to be popular or to be a celebrity among people? We'll look at this portion of chapter 18 in three parts. Verses one through four, we'll see the love of Jonathan and David and their covenant. In verses five through 11, we will see David's further exaltation, Saul's envy and his attempted murder. And then finally in verses 12 through 16, we'll see Saul's removing David from him and the people's love of David for his wisdom and his behavior. First then we'll look at verses one through four, the love of Jonathan and David and their covenant together. Again, let's read verse one. Now, why do you think Jonathan loved him so much? Remember, Jonathan was a very heroic and godly man who trusted in the Lord, not in the case of Goliath, but previously with the Philistines. Jonathan saw then in David virtues that God had instilled in him. He had heard the voice of David before he went to fight the Philistine. He had heard the report of him. He had seen him slay the giant. He had seen his faith in God. his zeal for God, his service to God and his nation. And they were also similar in their ages and conditions, perhaps. Arthur Pink notes, there was therefore occasion for Jonathan to look upon David as his rival. Think about that. David is the same age, he's a warrior, and he's a greater warrior who's defeated Goliath. So he might look upon him as his rival, and we'll see the contrast between Jonathan and Saul here. Jonathan has everything to lose, he's the son of the king. He will inherit the kingdom unless someone else does, namely David. Jonathan could look upon David as his rival, Pink says, and be filled with jealousy and hatred against him. Instead, his heart is united unto him with a tender affection. That's the idea of knitting together. The two become one, like two pieces of cloth that you knit together and now it's one garment. His soul was knit together in tender affection for David. I observed then from Jonathan that genuine friendship is interested in the good of the other, the good of the other. Please turn over to the book of Philippians chapter two. We'll read verses three and four. This is very important to understand. Jonathan is certainly a noble example, but not a perfect example. The perfect example is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Let's look at Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4, page 1185 of your Pew Bibles. The apostle says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than himself. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. This is the mindset of Christ, as we'll see later. But here we see Jonathan, the example of a good friend. He has the interests of David in his heart. He seeks his good. And this is the first step that David takes up to the throne. He has a friend in Jonathan, the son of the king. Jonathan must decrease and David must increase. A couple uses from the genuine friendship that was formed between Jonathan and David. One is we should properly form our affections. properly form our feelings. We must love what God loves. As Jonathan loved David for his zeal for God, for his faithful execution of his duties, for his piety or fear of God, his charity and love for his nation and his neighbors. That's what drew his soul to David's. That's how we should love and that's how we should form our friendships as we considered in our series on friendship. A second use of this incident and the love of Jonathan for David. as we must cultivate Jonathan's spirit, a disinterested love for our friends. That is to be the top goal in friendship, not what can I get out of this friend, but what can I do to help them, to bless them, to encourage and lift them up? How can I consider their interests and not merely my own? Philippians 2 continues, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So we must meditate on Christ's humiliation, his giving himself with the interests of others in mind. That is the best example of all. We must pray that God would give us this mind. And we must, by God's grace, let this mind be in us. That is a command. Let this mind be in you. And so we must obey. Turn back to 1 Samuel 18, we'll read verse two. And Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father's house. This is the second step. First step, you have Jonathan's friendship. Second step, you have Saul saying, you stay here now. He's one step closer to the throne. He's now permanently severed from his family. Verse three. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he, that is Jonathan, loved him, that is David, as his own soul. Jonathan is the mover of this covenant. David is the beneficiary of this covenant. David the shepherd boy, Jonathan the king's son. This is the third step, this covenant of friendship. First, the love that Jonathan had and friendship toward him. Second, David being called to Saul's court and severed from his family. Third, now the king's son wants a covenant of friendship with him. Now this word covenant in the Old Testament is not necessarily as precise as the New Testament words. The New Testament has words to distinguish a testament from a mutual agreement, for example, whereas the Old Testament has one word for both. Sometimes it's an alliance, a pledge, a treaty. Sometimes it can be a league or a confederacy. Those are things where people come together, and sometimes it can be God saying, I adopt you, I give you my goods, I give you an inheritance, you are my heirs, like a testament. But in this case, we have the mutual joining together of promises. But in a sense, it's made from a superior Jonathan, the son of the king, to an inferior David, a shepherd boy. In any case, it is the third step by which David ascends up to the throne of Israel. Verse four, and Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. Here we see the fourth step up toward the kingdom. The king's son would have special clothing. The inheritor, the heir apparent of the throne, would wear special clothes. What did David have on? His shepherd's garb? His shepherd's staff? His little scrip? You remember that's what he had when he went to fight Goliath? Here, the clothes of his humiliation are exchanged for the clothing of his exaltation. The time of David's humiliation is coming to a close. Now he's going to be brought by steps, not all the way at once, but by steps he will ascend to the throne of Israel. The king's son clothes and arms him. God exalts David who is humble. First observation concerning this, covenant blessings flow from love and are confirmed with signs. Remember verse three. It builds on verse one, does it not? Verse one, he loves him. Jonathan loves David. Verse three, Jonathan makes a covenant with him out of that love. And then it says that he gave him the signs of that covenant as part of the sealing of the deal. Please turn over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter seven concerning God's covenant with his people. Deuteronomy chapter seven, page 208 of your pew Bibles. Deuteronomy chapter seven, starting at verse six. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the house of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. Here we see the nature of God's choosing and giving covenants. His love proceeds and therefore His choice and His redemption flow forth from His love. It wasn't because they were great. It wasn't because they were glorious. He says, you're fewer in number. You're a mere shepherd boy, David. But the love is sent forth and the covenant comes with it. But note also, Covenants are confirmed with signs. Abraham was given the covenant of circumcision as a sign of the promise. In our baptisms, we have the promise of the remission of our sins, of our enlightenment and anointing with the Holy Spirit. In the Lord's table, we have the sign of the body and blood of Christ. Peter Martyr notes, in making covenants, symbols are used as we say, you make a covenant, you have a symbol. How must we use this observation that covenant blessings flow from love and are confirmed with signs? First, be encouraged, rejoice in the love of God. That's where our blessings in his covenant come from. They come from his love. Rejoice then in God's love that he has shown you and making covenant with you. Another use of instruction. Use God's tokens and signs in the fear of God and with the comfort of his Holy Spirit. Peter Martyr again. Indeed, he has given to us not a military robe or a girdle, that is what Jonathan gave to David, but rather his body and blood and taking up bread and wine in the sacrament by faith and by the spirit, Christ ever communicates his own body and blood to us. We must then receive the signs of our faith with faith and with the power of God's Holy Spirit. Another observation from this clothing and arming of David, God exalts and equips those whom he loves. Remember the order. Jonathan loves him. Jonathan makes a covenant with him. Then Jonathan clothes and gives arms to David. And our God does the same thing. David is exalted from his humble garbs. He's exalted from his humble status just as we are taken from the dunghill of sin and death, exalted to sit at the throne of glory to inherit as we prayed earlier from the prayer of Hannah. David was equipped with weapons. He had a sword, a bow, and a girdle from the king's son, showing that he was part of this adoption. He was brought into this royal fellowship. And what of us? We too are equipped by God. He exalts us and lifts us from our sin and death. And then he equips us, he says, with his whole armor. Please open to Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six, page 1183 of your Pew Bibles. The apostle in this passage shows us how the Lord equips his people for battle. Verse 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Now whose armor is this? Of God. God gave you this armor, now take it up and put it on. Verse 14, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Do you have the truth from God? Yes, you do. Do you have a righteousness from God? Yes, you do. Verse 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Has he given you that? He has. He has shown you the good news that you may be reconciled with God. He's given it to you to prepare you to go out and fight with the spiritual hosts of wickedness. Verse 16, above all, taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. All these, God says, I equip you. You are prepared as Jonathan took his clothes and clothed David as with righteousness and gave him arms by which he could fight on behalf of the king. So God says, I clothe you in the righteousness of my son. I have loved you and therefore I will clothe you in his righteousness, equip you with his armor for the battle. God exalts and equips those whom he loves. What use then of this observation? I exhort you, put on the whole armor of God, as David took Jonathan's clothes and his armor, so we take to you the truth that God has revealed. Take up and read, tole lege, as Augustine heard the little girl chanting when he took up the epistle of Romans and was converted. Take it up and read. Know the truth. Attend on the means of grace with diligence. Take on the breastplate of righteousness. Meditate on the obedience of Jesus Christ, on his spotless righteousness, on his sinless death, on the imputation of that righteousness to you by faith. Receive it, rejoice in it. It is the righteousness of God by faith. Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Know what the gospel teaches. Know what it doesn't teach. Be ready to share it with those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Take up the shield of faith. Believe the promises as we considered last week. Cultivate your faith. Pray for God to increase your faith. Inform your faith through the word of God. You will quench then those attacks that Satan makes against your faith with the shield of faith. Take on the helmet of salvation. Your mind is protected. Your thinking and your vision and hearing are guarded by God in his salvation. Take up the sword of the spirit, take up his word and use it skillfully for his glory. Take up, use, practice by prayer, by meditation, by reading and hearing, by praising and godly discussion and encouragement. These are the means by which we sharpen our sword and make our armor ready for battle. We've seen verses 1 through 4, the love of Jonathan and David and their covenant. And now let's consider in the second place, verses 5 through 11, David's further exaltation, Saul's envy and attempted murder. Verse five, 1 Samuel 18, verse five. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him and behaved himself wisely. And Saul sent him over the men of war. And he was accepted in the sight of the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. Notice, David went out whithersoever Saul sent him. Remember how David was with his father? Whatever his father said, be it ne'er so humble, he was ready to do what his father said. After he went to the court of Saul, he went right back to the sheepfold. This is the same spirit that David has. Please open to Ecclesiastes chapter nine, page 700 of your Pew Bibles. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, page 700 of your Pew Bibles. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10. whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest." So you're going to die and you won't be able to do what you're commanded to in this life. So do it with all of your might. Don't leave anything, they say, for later, when they have a game, like a football game, they say they put it all out on the field. Well, this life is the game, put it all that you got, give all your strength, don't hold back, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all thy might. Turn over to Colossians chapter three. This is the New Testament counterpart to Ecclesiastes 9, Colossians 3, 22, and 23. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, not unto men. Here you have a very similar thought. This directed at slaves, but true of all men. Slaves have a hard lot in life. But here notice their master is Jesus Christ himself. They must fear God. They must not be eye servers. Well, if master's watching, I'll work, but I'm not gonna put it all out on the field. I'm not gonna give my all. I'm not gonna do with all I might. No, he says, whatsoever you do, do it heartily from inside out with all your desire and will. That's the idea. Engage your thoughts, your will, and your affections in the work that God has called you to. This is what David did for Saul. I observe then that our ultimate master is Christ himself, though he has appointed lesser masters who are imperfect. Christ, the ultimate master, lesser imperfect masters. Colossians says we serve the Lord Christ. This is why Solomon said, do it with all your might. This is why David went out wherever Saul sent him. This is why he used prudence and wisdom and had good success. What use then of encouragement? We may be encouraged, whatever position you occupy in life, both now and in the future, Lord willing, no matter how humble it is or distasteful it is to you, whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. Trash stinks, diapers stink, mucking stinks, but we are to do it with all of our heart as if Christ were there telling us to do it and we were doing it to serve his command. Arthur Pink again, beautiful it is to behold here the humility and fidelity of the one upon whom the anointing oil already rested. Diligently had he fulfilled his trust in the sheepfold at Bethlehem, dutifully did he now carry out the orders of the king. Let this be duly laid to heart by any who are tempted to chafe under the situation where they now occupy. Chafing is, ah, I don't want this, I don't wanna be doing this, I want to go and play something pleasurable. No, he says, David was diligent and faithful and conscientious. Again, from verse five, it says David behaved himself wisely. Back in 1 Samuel, he behaved himself wisely. It means to be prudent, to be circumspect, that is you look around and see what's going on so that you can act accordingly, appropriately. To be prudent, to prosper, or to have good success. This is his fifth step up to the throne. Jonathan's love for him, being severed from his family, the covenant Jonathan made in the third place, being clothed and armed by the king's son, and here, his prudence, his success in the fifth step. Also in verse five, it says that Saul set him over the men of war. Now, ordinarily, if you have someone they call a rookie, a brand new player in a game, and he goes to the top of the roster, what do all the players think? And it's the same in military. If you have a guy who just comes in, has no military experience, and he goes to the top of the list, he's telling you what to do, and you've been fighting for 30 years. Shut up. I don't wanna hear what you have to say. Don't tell me what to do. But notice, God in his providence caused the prudence of David to be acceptable to the servants of Saul. They willingly submitted themselves to him. No envy here except in whom? Saul, the one who should have rejoiced the most. But these men, by God's providence, by his almighty power, they're moved rather to love and to favor David, contrary to ordinary order and expectation. And the body of the whole nation loves David. This is the sixth step. The military and the people accept and love David. They admire him. They respect what he has done for them. Verse six, and it came to pass as they came when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy and with instruments of music. The slaughter here of the Philistine could be Goliath, but often in scripture, the singular is put for the plural, meaning the Philistines, or the Philistine nation as one men, smitten by David, in other words, as one man, I should say. Verse six also identifies what happened when he came back, whether from Goliath or some other notable victory, that the women came out of all the cities singing and dancing. Now we've seen this in Exodus, Miriam and the women singing. Judges 11, 34, when Jephthah comes back to Mizpah unto his house, we're told, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. That's what the ladies would do. They would celebrate the victories that were given. Note here, let's read verse seven. And the women answered, here's what they had to say. And the women answered one another as they played and said, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. Now it's of note that women did not go to war. In fact, they ought not in our day either. It's contrary to nature. But here these women celebrate the military victory of David and Saul. The Westminster Annotations note, for as that sex are deep sharers with men in the miseries of war when their enemies are victorious, so have they as great interest in joy and triumph. When their enemy is being vanquished, they are free from their fears. Women, if the other side wins, what happens to the women? Their hopes go down. They become slaves. They might be sexually abused. Their lives become more difficult. But if they win, they share in the success. They're released from the fear of what those other men might do to them. And so we see a general principle of rejoicing with those that rejoice. They did not do the action themselves, these women, but they rejoiced when the men had success. Verse seven, also the words that they say, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. This was such a famous song. It's like a pop hit. The Philistines in chapter 21 verse 11 say, And the servants of Achish, the king of Gath, they said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? The Philistines heard this song. It was popular. It was not just sung once and done. They sang it over and over and over again. But notice the emphasis of their song. Let's contrast it and turn back to Miriam's song in Exodus chapter 15, page 77 of your Pew Bibles. Exodus 15, you will note a significant discrepancy. The song of Miriam is short, it is to the point, just as the women in 1 Samuel, but notice the difference. Verse 20, and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand. And all the women went out with her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Notice the difference. What is Miriam singing about? Who or whom is Miriam singing about? The Lord hath triumphed gloriously. What are these women in 1 Samuel? David, Saul, they've killed this number of people. Do you think David would have sung such a song? Oh, look at me, guys. Saul, his thousands, me, ten thousands and more and more. I'm awesome. That's what they're saying. David and Saul. Saul's okay. David's really great. What does Miriam say? The Lord is great. The Lord is he through whom we have the victory. Arthur Pink contrasting these songs says, Jehovah was there given his true place. That is by Miriam in Exodus 15. Jehovah has his true place. The victory being ascribed to him and not to the human instruments. See to it, dear reader, that no matter what the common and evil custom be to the contrary, you give all the glory to him unto whom alone it rightfully belongs. That's who they should have sung about, was Jehovah, the savior that David believed in, who caused his stone to sink into the head of Goliath. who gave him the sword of the Philistines and routed their adversaries, contrary to all expectation. The Lord should have been glorified in their songs. And we will find in our culture, people want us to focus on men, to give the glory and the credit to you or some other person. No, all glory to God with Miriam, we must sing. Let's read verse eight for Samuel 18, eight. And Saul, when he hears this, and Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands, and what can he have more but the kingdom? Can you hear him whining? Poor me. Now hold on a second. Aren't you the king of Israel? Aren't you happy that David has been exalted? Aren't you happy that Goliath is dead and the Philistines routed? But no. The saying was evil in his eyes, is what the Hebrew says. It's not just that it displeased him. He heard the saying and he said it was wicked. That's sinful for you to sing about David's triumphs over me. His false judgment was derived from his wrath. He was wroth. And then he said it was evil. Was the song true? Yeah, pretty much. Was it for the good of Israel that David slew ten thousands? Yes. But he was arrogant and ambitious. And this is the seventh step to the throne. Saul's self-love, his infatuated pride, he loves himself. And he sits there in the throne in his pride, so God will throw him down from his throne. Now Saul knew from the prophecies that Samuel told him that someone else better than himself was going to take his place. When you have time, look up chapter 13, verse 14 of this book, and chapter 15, verse 28. You will see he knew that this was the man. What else can he have but the kingdom, he asks. He knows what's going on. Peter Martyr notes that tyrants never gladly exalt others of their own will. They want all praise to be their very own, and whatever honor is given to others, they consider as wringed from their hands. Give that back to me. I deserve the honor, Saul says. I want to be number one. We must not be like Saul. We must not wrench it and say, no, that's mine. I want to be honored. I want to be glorified. That's tyranny. Notice again, verse eight, it says, he said, and Saul was very wroth and the saying displeased him. And he said, did he tell this to someone? He didn't. God's giving us a peek behind the curtain. What's going on in Saul's head right now? What's the internal dialogue? What does he say to himself? We also find this in verse 11. Saul cast the javelin for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. His thoughts were born into words and deeds, murder, into envy and hatred against David, but it starts with him thinking. Evil thoughts give birth to evil actions. I observe then, as the scripture says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Our thoughts produce the evil deeds and words that displease God. Saul thinks evil, then he has an evil eye in verse nine. He watches him from that day forward. He hypocritically prophesies or pretends to be a prophet in verse 10. He attempts to murder David in verse 11. He has paranoia in verses 12 and 13 and verse 15. And these vices are his undoing, but they start with his saying in his head. What use then that a man is what he thinks? Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, Proverbs 4, 23. Guard your thoughts. Be careful and calculating in your thoughts. Notice Saul was in a fit of wrath when he said this to himself. His thoughts, in other words, were subject to his angry feelings about this song he just heard. His thoughts were passionate rather than cold and accurate. We must especially be dispassionate in our thinking when our own interest is at stake. My things, my kingdom, my glory. That's what Saul's thinking about. He's feeling about it rather. Think clearly and rationally, and above all, think in accordance with God's truth. Saul eyed David, it says in verse 9, with the intention of killing him, to have some pretense to put him to death. This evil eye seeks to destroy his neighbor. Notice verse 10. First Samuel 18.10, and it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house and David played with his hand as at other times and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. Notice here, the evil spirit is back, isn't it? What preceded this evil spirits return? Saul's envy of David, his flying into wrath, his fear of David, his false and malicious judgments against him, his self-interest, his intention to murder, what does that open him up to? The power of the devil, the curse of an evil spirit coming into him was preceded by a long train of wicked deeds and thoughts. I observe then that Satan's power over men is generally linked to their sins and attendant vices. We see this where the apostle says, don't give any place to the devil. What goes before and after is a list of sins that we are to put off and virtues we are to put on. You can read this at your leisure, Ephesians 4, 25 through 29. The devil takes his place when we are given over by wrath and passion, evil desires, and all these things. Therefore, we must put off those vices and put on the corresponding virtues. This will give no place to the devil. As they used to say, idle hands are the devil's workshop. If you engage in vice, you open yourself up to satanic power. We must be repentant, we must put off. Also see James four, four through 10 at your leisure along the same lines of resisting the devil. What use then of Satan's power being linked to sins and vices that attend it? I exhort you, put off vices and passions by which Satan will get a foothold. Put on the virtues by which he loses ground. Now let's contrast again, as I discussed earlier, Jonathan, he could lose everything. He's not become king yet, but he will one day in the ordinary course of providence. Yet he loves David, he sees the good for the kingdom, and Saul, who merely stands to lose the kingdom for his son, wants to kill David out of envy. Jonathan put on the virtue of loving his neighbor, of admiration of good things and praising God for them, and Saul put on the vices of malice, of envy, and of pride. Verse 11. He has the javelin in his hand, verse 10. And verse 11, Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David, even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. This was what we call a premeditated attempted murder. He said something in his head. He thought about it beforehand that I could murder him right now. I'm prophesying. He's here playing with the harp and now I can get him. He'll think I'm prophesying for the Lord and I can smite him to the wall. Now this happened twice. Think about that. If somebody tried to kill you, would you go back in their presence? Not unless you had a strong sense of your obligation to be there as David did. So he asked to escape from him twice, it says. We see this also in chapter 19, verse 10, where David escaped from the javelin of Saul on another occasion. Andrew Willett notes concerning verse 11. Herein David was a type of Christ, who as David here by sweet music would have allayed Saul's madness. So by the sweet voice of his preaching, Christ sought to cure the scribes and Pharisees of their spiritual madness, and oftentimes escaped their snares, which they laid for him. David is here helping, being a servant of Saul, doing good to him to cure him of his malady, and he wants to kill David. Jesus went and preached to the scribes and Pharisees to do them good, to cure them of their spiritual malady, and they seek to kill him. And just like David, our Lord escaped out of their hands. So I observe one method of dealing with tyrants is by avoidance. I'll give you a few passages to look up. Isaac with Abimelech, Genesis 26, 19 through 22. Paul at Damascus. We read Acts 9, 22 through 25 in our scripture reading. Also look up 2 Corinthians 11, 32 and 33. Also see our Lord Jesus Christ with the Pharisees and scribes, John 8, verses 58 through 59. and John 10 verses 39 and 40. Avoidance then is a lawful method to deal with tyrants who intend us harm. We may escape them in other words. What use then? Use prudence when confronted with tyranny, especially when your life or your goods are on the line. David, we are told, escaped or avoided. Isaac removed his people, his tents, his animals, his slaves, he removed, he moved away. Paul escaped and did so with stratagems by night in a basket from the wall. Christ would hide, he would flee, he would escape, or he would relocate. These are all things that these people did to preserve their own lives. So we've seen in the first place, verses one through four, the love of Jonathan and David and their covenant. The second place, we've seen verses five through 11, David's further exaltation, Saul's envy and attempted murder. And now in the third place, verses 12 through 16, Saul's removal of David from him and the people's love for David for his wisdom. Verse 12. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. How sad is that? He's afraid of David because David has God present with him. David then would be exalted to the throne. And this is the eighth step. God was present with David and that's another step toward the throne. This secured his exaltation while weakening Saul at the same time. Verse 13, therefore Saul removed him from him and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. Notice here the blindness of Saul. You want David not to be king, but you make him the commander over your mighty men. Why would you do that? Because his eyes were blinded by Satan. His mind was not thinking clearly. He removed him. Perhaps he thought David would violently seize the throne, but you're planting the seeds for David to have the kingdom. Verse 13 also says, he made him captain over a thousand and he went out and came in before the people. David now, this is the ninth step up to the throne. David is given independent access and governing authority over the military. Hello, is that what you wanna do for someone you don't want to make king? No, this is the opposite. He's seeking to prevent David from ascending the throne, but he's accomplishing that very thing. If we seek our own will with Saul, we will lose everything. Verse 14, and David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Now it's describing after he's become a military leader, that wisdom doesn't get shut off, that presence of God doesn't go away. No, it's another step toward the throne. God blesses his military government. There is continued military success and wisdom, even after Saul sent him away. Again, verse 15. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he celebrated at all the military successes. Right? Wrong. He was afraid of him. He is paranoid. He's not thinking straight. He has fear where no fear exists. He had an evil eye. He attempted to murder David previously and now he's paranoid. Oh, all the success David has, I'm so upset about it. That was for Saul's good, but it made him afraid. Verse 16, but all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. Saul made him do that. Saul made him go out and come in before them and they love David for it. This is the 11th step, a universal and national love for David. Saul's doing. He wants to get him away and he gives him access to the people and the military to be their leader, to be their shepherd. That's what a king is. He is a shepherd of his people. He goes out and comes in before them. He is their king effectively. David is the acting king because Saul is so blinded that he cannot see he's ruining himself. We've considered the beginning steps of David to the throne of the kingdom of Israel. We saw the first step in Jonathan's love and friendship for David. We saw our duty to seek the welfare of our friends. We saw the second step, David's full-time employment with Saul, being removed from his family and severed from them. We saw the third step in Jonathan's covenant that he made with David, formalizing their relationship. The fourth step, Jonathan clothes and arms David just as God has loved us, given us a covenant, has clothed us in the righteousness of his son, and therefore given us these tokens and this armor of God. We saw David obeying lawful though imperfect authority and our duty to do all that we do is unto the Lord with all of our might. We saw the fifth step up to the throne in David's prudence and success. We saw the sixth step in David's favor with the military men and the body of the people. We saw the seventh step in Saul's infatuated pride and self-love. We saw Saul's internal thoughts leading to his sinful actions, our need to keep our heart and to watch our thoughts. We saw Saul's vices and sins leading to satanic possession and control over him. And David putting on the new man and doing his duty toward God, cultivating the virtues that caused God's presence to be with him. We saw David prudently avoiding Saul twice, and the other step, God being present and securing success in the military for David, Saul giving David independent access and government of the army, David's continued military success and prudence and wisdom and the universal love the nation had for David. And what do we see? Remember what Arthur Pink said at the beginning, The price of popularity. David was popular. Did that make his life easier? Did his success make him have an easy going time? It did not. Rather, God has a way designed for us by which he blesses and raises us up to the throne to inherit the throne of the Lord, as we saw in 1 Samuel 2, when Hannah prayed, taking us from the dunghill to inherit the throne of glory. All the steps in between are not going to be easy. There will be trials, there will be pain and suffering, but God has a design to do us good through those very means. and thus far the consideration of 1 Samuel 18, verses 1 through 16.