If you would, please turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 26. 1 Samuel 26. Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hakalah, which is on the east of Jeshimon? So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, where three thousand chosen men of Israel, or with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. and Saul encamped on the hill of Hakala, 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 Zariah, Who will go down with me into the camp of 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 a 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 have put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head in the jar of water and let us go. So David took the spear in 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 said to Abner, the son of Nursing, 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 is 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 your 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. This is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. You may be seated. Saints, please pray with me. Gracious Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you how it addresses us and renews our minds. Father, would you work by your spirit here this morning to do that very thing, that our faith in your son might be increased and our love for you and for one another might abound. We ask in Jesus' precious name, amen. All right, just by way of reminder, before today, we're in chapter 26 today, we were in chapter 25. That's the way it works here. We just move verse by verse, chapter by chapter through a book. We are in 1 Samuel. I didn't reprint out the insert, but you will remember, I hope, that we have here a chiasm that runs from chapter 22 all the way through chapter 30. And we have passed through the middle of that chiasm and come out the other side. I bring it up here because what we will see, what we have been waiting to see, is that on the other side of the Nabal, Abigail event, we find that similar events taking place, but the differences are important. We find that David has grown or even you might say is growing in important ways. And Saul is going. He is going. I am going to focus this morning on how David is growing and try to, at a couple of points, point out how Saul is going. All right, let's dive in. We have here four sections, really, in chapter 26. We have an introduction that sets it up, and then we have three exchanges, one between David and Abishai, one between David and Abner, and one between David and Saul. What we will see from the first is that David's faith is growing stronger and that the fruit of this faith then bears three things or is born out in three ways. And we will see those in order as we look at those three conversations. Let's start with the introduction though, verses one through six. David's faith is stronger here than it was on the other side of the chiasm, on the other side of chapter 25. For one thing, David isn't running. David doesn't run away. Remember, the whole scene on the other side started exactly the same way. So if you turn back to chapter 23, verse 19, you would find that the Ziphites, in verse 19, went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakalah, which is south of Jeshimon? All right, the same way it starts here, with the Ziphites, that's David's own kin, that's people in the land of Judah, of the tribe from which David is from, betraying him into the hands of Saul. In the last scene, though, David is on the run. So if you stayed back there in chapter 23 and looked at verses 25 and following, you would see that David is fleeing. He's on one side of the mountain and Saul's on the other, and Saul is chasing him around the mountain, and Saul is about to catch David. He's reaching out his hand, and David is running, but Saul almost has him, and then he gets the call on the Saul bat phone. The Philistines are in Israel and he must retreat and take care of that issue. The Lord intervenes. The Lord rescues David. But here, David isn't running. He knows that Saul has come, and he sees Saul. He not only doesn't run, he actually moves towards David. First, he apparently has a high position where he can see where Saul and Abner and his 3,000 men are, but then he sends out spies to get a better idea of exactly how the camp is laid out. And what he finds is that that Saul is smack dab in the middle of the camp. The army of 3,000 chosen men, these are the elite special forces of Israel, are gathered around Saul. So, what do you do in that situation? I was in the military for six years and I never heard of this strategy, but most of you have seen enough movies and read enough books to know that, in general, you have two choices, right? You could launch a surprise attack that night they're sleeping, you could take advantage of that, and you could you know, do some type of attack. Or you could take advantage of their sleep at night to withdraw, to create more space so when they awake in the morning, you have more distance. Or you could do David's approach and just like stroll right into camp, you and one other guy to draw a mustache on Saul. David chooses that option. I wouldn't have thought of that. What we need to focus on is the contrast between chapters 24 and 26. In chapter 24, David is assuming a defensive posture. He is on the run. In chapter 26, David is on the offense. Think about chapter 24. David is hiding in a cave, which picks up language that you find in the curses in the covenant. That's what God's people do when they are under the curse. They hide in holes and in caves and they flee, are fleeing their enemy. That is how David is portrayed in chapter 24. Here, he goes into the heart of the camp with one other man. Chapter 24, David is looking for an escape. In chapter 26, David is looking for Saul. He's looking for Saul. So what is the narrative communicating? David seems to have grown in his faith. Now, I realize for most of us, we struggle with this because we have David as a static character in our minds. He is David of David and Goliath. That's who David is. So how can David of David and Goliath have faith that grows, right? I mean, he is depicted, of course, in that scene as a giant of the faith. This is a man after God's own heart who, not looking forward despite his failure in the future, is the epitome of bravery and courage, who by and large is just the steady, constant, static figure. David becomes fixed in her mind with his sling and his stone, standing against Goliath with his ginormous spear and sword and armor-bearer and shield. He's the David who yells out to this giant man, this military figure of might, if you will, the battle belongs to the Lord. And that is how he remains fixed in our minds. But the narrator paints a more nuanced portrait of David that is easier to see when we think about the development, when we see David introduced in chapter 7, but then move quickly to chapter 18. You remember after David's great victory over Goliath, that David experiences a ton of success everywhere. Every time he goes out against the Philippines. Indeed, he is successful. In fact, when Saul requests 104 skins, David will bring back 200. But by and large, Chapter 18 doesn't focus on David, though we see his success. It focuses on Saul. And who is Saul? Saul is a man growing in envy and anger. He is growing in fear and he desires to have David killed. Chapter 19. In chapter 19, David is virtually, if you go there and you read through it, David's virtually a passive object. Saul's enmity and animosity increased towards David so that he is no longer just trying to have him killed by the hands of the Philistines. He is actively trying to kill him. He's told his men to kill him. He seeks his men to kill him, and then he grabs troops and he rides after David in three consecutive episodes, all of which David does nothing to rescue himself, but God provides Jonathan, Mikkel, and then Samuel and the prophets. Chapter 20 the David is stood fearlessly on his own with the Lord, of course But against Goliath is on the run from song looking for help from Jonathan which he receives in the form of loyal steadfast covenant love When we enter this large section, chapters 21 through 30, this chiasm that I pointed out several times, what we are seeing as we move from one side of the chiasm to the other is this growth in David and this diminishment or decline in Saul from one side to the other. David's growth, of course, is in faith and righteousness. Saul's growth in unbelief and foolishness. All that to say that David has come out of the other side of the Abigail Nabal event, a changed man, a better man, a ready man, ready for what we find him doing here. He's not running and hiding in chapter 26. He is strolling into the heart of the camp to check, to make sure Saul is sleeping okay. We do well to note before we move on to the next section that David's faith is not misplaced, is it? David's faith is not misplaced. The Lord is with David. That point has been made several times. He has withdrawn his favor from Saul and he has placed his favor upon David. Here, once again, we see that this is what makes the difference. Not David's strategy or how stealthy he moves into the camp. In fact, did you notice it says nothing about how he enters the camp? It says nothing about, does he creep? Does he belly crawl? Does he actually hop from man to man, just like bouncing on them as he enters the camp? We don't know. But what we do know is that no one wakes up because they have entered this deep sleep. And this is, that is their comatose, they're knocked out. It's like the Lord just boom, punched them and they're down. It's the same, actually the same word that's used of Adam in Genesis when he is put into a deep sleep when the Lord makes the woman from his side. Or Abram, when the Lord makes covenant with Abram in chapter 15, same word. These people are knocked out. The contrast between David and Saul is important. Once again, it is worth noting also the irony. Saul has received military intelligence. He has spies in the areas, received military intelligence about David's whereabouts. He has 3,000 chosen men, elite forces, the best of the best. Saul has numbers, he has provisions, he has the advantage, only he doesn't. Saul is falling asleep. quite literally, but also, I think, metaphorically. Saul's chosen to trust in the wrong things, and we're gonna see that drawn out more specifically here in a moment. Saul, for all his effort, for all his military might, for all his supposed advantages, no matter how far he reaches out his hand, he just can't grab hold of David. What is important is not the spear, but the Savior. and David has a ladder while Saul is still clinging to the former. So David is wide awake and Saul is fast asleep and even this tells the story. Let's think about the lesson here, apply it, and then move on. David has learned, and you can't touch this, right? I know, MC Hammer, like every time, I know. Sorry, I almost want to like break out in song and dance. But really, that's how David got into the camp. You can't touch it all the way in there. This is David reaching, though. This is David returning to David-like faith. This is David returning to chapter 17, really for the first time in the flow of the narrative since chapter 17. This is the David who has remembered that the Lord does not save with sword and spear. He can save with many or with few. This is the David who knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that the battle belongs to the Lord. This is not David hiding in a cave while the Lord drops Saul into David's hands. This is David waltzing into the camp, standing over Saul while he lies unconscious before David's Lord. Let's apply it. And I think there's two ways we need to apply it. The first way we're gonna apply it really applies to everything else I say the rest of the day. We, as God's people, should expect to grow, just as David does. Growth is the natural process, if you will, not only humanly speaking, and that is naturally, but also supernaturally. We are to grow. As God's people, we learn, we make progress, our minds are renewed more and more, our faith is increased, our love abounds. And as often through, I might point out as well, as we see here in the life of David, is often through the very trials and tribulations that we often pray that the Lord would remove, that the Lord grows us. The second way that we need to apply this is to appreciate that David isn't static, not even now that he's reached this point, as most of us are well aware. But neither are you, neither am I. Can you remember a time that you saw a kid that you had not seen in a while, only the kid's not a kid, it's an adult, and you're like, what, how did that happen? Because I know that that's not how big you're supposed to be, because you did not grow in my mind, and you shouldn't have done it without me present. And it's disorientating, even though it makes complete sense when you think about it chronologically. I mean, you hadn't seen the person in five years, and you do the math, you're like, yeah, that's what you should look like, but that's not what you looked like three seconds ago before you walked up. Listen, we are not static. Unlike a child, though, growing up our spiritual growth is more like David's than a kid's. We know or a kid we knew or know now. We just, like David, have moments when we are standing before the enemy of God shouting, the battle belongs to the Lord. We have those moments, and then a moment later, we're fleeing to Goth and we're trying to deceive the king with spittle running down our beard and scratching on the wall because we're full of fear. Like, how is that possible in the same person? And yet there isn't a person in this room who can't relate to that. We have those moments where we know it and we cling to it and it's beautiful. It's so clear. Our hope is set before us and our faith is strong. And then we have these moments where it's just darkness. And that faith feels so weak and you wonder like, do I even know the Lord? This morning, I want to remind you that we are not static any more than David was. Like David, we show moments of great faithfulness, and like David, we show moments of great unfaithfulness. Like David, we are no less a child of our father when we are making a mess of it. than when we are being used to work a great salvation. Do you know that? Like David and unlike those kids we know who grow up without our permission and oversight, we don't always simply grow up. I mean, I know this would be weird and there's not an illustration for it because I don't think, Benjamin Button. There is. But it would be a little weird if you walked up to a kid you haven't seen in like five years and they're a baby, right? But sometimes that's what our walk is like. But, and there's always a but, that's not what our God is like. Our God is steadfast. Our God does not change. There is no shadow of turning in thee, right? And praise be to God for that. Some days I am like David standing before Goliath, crying out in the face of my temptations. Please don't hear me moralizing here, but just roll with it for a second. The battle belongs to the Lord, right? I mean, sometimes I feel like I have that type of faith, and sometimes I have spittle running down my beard. I am not just pretending to be insane, I think I actually am. And yet, This or that, my Lord is the same. My relationship with him doesn't change. He doesn't love me more when I am standing tall, and he doesn't love me less when I have the spittle running down my beard. Do you know that? Do you know that? Brothers and sisters, don't be surprised when you stumble. Don't be surprised that your affections are far too fickle. Think about the greatest men, if you will, or it doesn't have to be men, men or women in the scriptures, and each of them had their false. They all stumble. Don't be disheartened by your lack of consistency, your lack of faithfulness. Know your God and remember that if we are faithless, he is still faithful for he cannot deny himself. Just tattoo that right here. I know that won't help you, but it'll help your brother and sister. He can't be anything other than what he is. Perfection does not change and he perfectly loves us. So look to him this morning. If you are having a season of David and Goliath-like faith, you know, David's faith torched in the face of Goliath, then praise him. Thank him. Strengthen a brother or sister who isn't having one of those moments. If you are sitting at the gate, scratching at it with spittle running down your beard, it's okay. You came to the right place. Remember who your God is. Maybe even raise your hand. Not now, but after service. and speak with a brother or sister to encourage you. As we consider the next three aspects of David's growth, keep in mind that they all really flow from this first one. That is his increased faith, his greater faith. David's faith is swelling. Everything that follows is simply the fruit of that faith, if you will. Let's look at the first in verses six through 12. David has learned to obediently wait. Remember, in the first scene, that is back in chapter 24, David's men encouraged David to do what seems good. They encouraged him and said, the Lord is just like he said he would. He's given your enemy into your hands. Now do what seems good to you. And so what seems good to David? David sneaks up and he takes his knife or sword and cuts a little piece, a little corner off of his robe, moves stealthily, cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward, David's heart struck him. Why? Because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. David listens to the voice of his men in that moment, and he reaches out his hand against the Lord's anointed. Now the Lord did restrain him from slaying or destroying Saul, but David is still convicted nonetheless. David understands the significance of his actions. David had symbolically, symbolically, Torn the kingdom away from Saul or or better He had used his weapon his sword his knife to cut away the kingdom the very thing that he is not to do Praise the Lord that he only did it symbolically, but David's heart struck him He was convicted and the seeds planted in chapter 24 grow into a plant in chapter 25 and here we find the fruit in chapter 26 So after taking up the sword in chapter 25 against Nabal's house that is setting out if you remember to to work salvation by his own hand against Nabal's house for Nabal's insult against David and his men after being restrained by the Lord from accruing blood guilt here David in chapter 26 demonstrates that he has learned the lesson just as men did in chapter 24 Abishai also whispers to David Here he is. The Lord has delivered your enemy into your hand. Seize the moment. Do it, David. In fact, Abishai actually offers to do the dirty work. So the temptation exists. You know, you don't even have to accrue the blood guilt. Just say yes, and he will be dead. Just deliver the order. You know, I will be your doeg. David. Doeg, if you don't know, is the Edomite who slaughtered all the priests at the command of Saul back in chapter 22. All David has to do is say the word, but unlike chapter 24, David doesn't think twice. He doesn't even contemplate at this time. His response is immediate. Unlike chapter 24, he doesn't take action. He just speaks, and what does he say? Do not destroy him. For who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him. I wonder where he would learn that lesson. Or his day will come. By the way, that's the same word there, strike him, is used of what the Lord did to Nabal when the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 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. David has learned to obediently wait upon the Lord. David has just seen in chapter 25 the Lord avenge him. David has just been restrained from blood guilt and has been reminded that the battle belongs to the Lord, something he almost forgot. David was just reminded that saving with his own hand was the way of sinners, that returning evil for evil belongs to the counsel of the wicked. David had just been reminded that to trust in sword and spear would be to sit with the scoffers who deny God. And so David applies here what he just learned from the Nabal event. Vengeance is not my prerogative. Not by might shall man prevail is another way we might put it. And this is the point that David makes in verse 10. You see, David knows that Saul is not his to destroy. The Lord will strike him. He belongs to the Lord. He's the Lord's anointed. He's been set apart for the Lord. He doesn't, it's not up to David. David, it's not David's prerogative to take in his own hand that which does not belong to him. David's faith is waxing here. It's growing. Coming off the events of chapter 25, David is confident that his Lord sees him and is for him. David is confident that the Lord will deal with Saul just as he dealt with Nabal. Now, it might be just like Nabal, and the Lord might just strike him down. It might happen by natural means, or he might be swept away in battle. Notice that David doesn't really know the how, he just knows the what. He knows that Saul's life will end, and he will stand before David's Lord. David doesn't know how Saul will be removed by the Lord, and he doesn't need to. David knows that the Lord will act in his perfect timing to accomplish all that he has promised David. By the way, this is a critical point. David doesn't know how the Lord will deal with Saul, but David knows how he should live before the Lord. There's an important distinction, I think, in the life of following our God, in the life of following Christ, we often miss. We're often, we want to know the how. We want to know, okay, when or how and when and where is the Lord gonna do this thing that he said he's going to do? And the Lord doesn't tell us and it frustrates us. You know what we don't wanna know? Most of the stuff that the Lord has revealed to us, like how we are to walk while we wait. We need to learn the same lesson. Let me take up a couple or one, maybe two, we'll see, specific examples of this. We could take up the issue of abortion, for instance. We know that the Lord will strike or save, that he will bring an end to abortion. We know he will, he will. He will eventually bring an end to the murder of babies in the womb. We know that he will deal with that. But we don't know where, and we don't know when, and we don't know how. But we do know how he won't. That is, he's not going to do it by us taking up swords or guns and putting it into it ourselves. We're clear on that, right? Like it's, this is like that. It's like that. We know that the Lord will strike it down, that the Lord will bring it to an end, that the Lord will save the doctors and the mothers, or he will put an end to it in some way, shape, or form. We don't know how. We don't know how, except that we know that it's not by us taking up the weapons of the world in order to put an end to it now. But we do know, we do know what the Lord has called us to do, and we can do that. Faithfully proclaim the gospel, pray, actively build up healthy families, right? Focus on offense as much as defense, as my sister Kelly put it. One more, what about an unjust employer, an unloving spouse, or a tyrannical parent, maybe? We know that they have a master in heaven and that he will deal with them with perfect justice. We may not know how or when or where, but the Lord will not let any iniquity go undealt with. We know that. We may not know how the Lord will deal with it, but we know how he won't. He won't have his children avenging themselves against their enemies. He won't have his children employing the weapons of the world to win a heavenly war. He will have his children obediently wait for the day when he will judge the world in righteousness. You can just keep applying this. Just keep working it out in the details of our lives. The take home, though, is you don't need to know his how to know your how, right? Or as Deuteronomy chapter 30 puts it, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, it says that the secret things belong to the Lord, but that which is revealed belong to us as children, right? He has revealed all that we need to know. We don't need to know those secret things about his decreative will that will be worked out in history. All right, next one. David has learned the uselessness of horses and chariots. Look at verses 13 through 16. Unlike in chapter 24, David's first address is directed towards Abner, and chapter 24 is directed towards Saul. Abner's failure is worthy of death, according to David. Saul was as good as dead, and Abner was fast asleep. Now, if your job is security, that's not cool. David's charge draws attention to the fact that there are not only 3,000 men but Abner who was like Abner and all of Israel Abner's is almost like almost like the Philistines Goliath. I mean, he's the man He's right there sleeping right next to Saul. And what does he do to protect the Lord's anointed? Nothing zero zilch David says he's worthy of death. In fact, it's ironic right that David actually does more to protect Saul than Abner does and And David even says, Abner, do you realize there's a man who came into the camp who wanted to destroy Saul? I don't think he's referring to himself. Abishai, he was ready. And he comes from that bloodline, by the way, we'll see that later on, but he comes from a violent lot. Abner is sleeping, but David serves as Saul's bodyguard. That's kind of crazy. Abishai was not going to miss, by the way, with the spear that was by Saul's head. All he needed was David's consent. A nod would have been enough. And David quite literally held Saul's life in his hand. All that was standing between Saul and Sheol was David. He refused to allow Saul to be killed though. I don't think it's too far, I don't think it's going too far to say that David saved Saul. So it would seem David, Saul's supposed enemy, does more to protect Saul than Saul's general, his right-hand man. And remember, not just once, that's twice now, two times, two times. And back in chapter 24, we read the same thing, that David had to restrain his men, because after David said, no, we're not gonna kill him, apparently they weren't convinced. They were still ready to draw blood. It's crazy. Think about it. Think about it. Just reframe it just a little bit. Saul is hunting his savior. That's what Saul's doing. He's hunting down the one man who has saved his life now twice. So ironically, David will go serve Akish, the king of Gath in the next chapter, who will in chapter 28, verse 2, actually make an offer to David. You'll be my bodyguard for life. I see what Saul doesn't. Please, don't go anywhere. You're good at this. Ah, the irony. But I want us to see how David's rebuke draws attention to Saul's susceptibility, his vulnerability, his inability to protect himself. We've seen this all over the place, but we see it here again, we need to draw attention to it. 3,000 men cannot protect Saul from the Lord's anointed. I mean by that, David. Abner, a mighty man, a great warrior, cannot protect Saul. Saul's spear cannot protect Saul. And if you're not following it like this is a major theme in this chapter, you need to notice how often spear actually comes up. Six times spear is specifically mentioned. And it appears in each of those episodes, those three episodes, the conversation with Abishai, conversation with Abner, and the conversation with Saul. It shows up again and again and again. It's like, and the spear, and the spear. And did we mention the spear? And there was a spear, by the way. Of course, the spear has already been employed as a symbol of dependence on human might. That's what it symbolizes. The huge spear of Goliath stood in stark contrast, of course, to the simple stone and sling of David. And in that picture that spoke a thousand words in chapter 22, when Saul's sitting under the Tamarisk tree, and he's seated underneath the tree, and his servants are standing around him, what does he have in his hand? The spear. Of course, when he's buried under the tamarisk tree at the end of 1 Samuel, you know what he won't have in his hand? He won't need it. His spear. The author draws attention to the spear because it represents Saul's trust, not in the Lord of Israel, but as we saw from the very beginning of Saul's reign, he is a man who prefers numbers, military advantage. His trust is in the sword and the spear. This is why my favorite part in this entire narrative occurs in verse 22. You gotta love this, okay? Listen, verse 22, moving towards the end of this pericope, and David says what in his closing statement? Saul, come over here and you can have your spear. Just send a young man over and it's yours. You can have it back. Here is David. Okay, just bring this in here. Some man is chasing you down with a gun. You hide around the corner. He outruns you. He doesn't notice you behind him. You whack him in the head with a board. He falls to the ground. His gun, you know, it tumbles away. You run over. You grab it first. And you're like, ah, I got it. Here you go. and you hand it back to him. That's what David just did. Saul has been pursuing him with this military might, with the spear, symbolizing all this military might for some time now. And David walks into the camp, he takes it, and then he's saying, all right, I'm done now, you can have it back. Go ahead, here's the gun. There's this scene in, it strikes me as this type of posture, this scene in a movie called Night and Day. with Tom Cruise and someone else, Cameron Diaz. And anyway, so he has had to kind of kidnap Cameron Diaz to save her because, well, just because they got into some trouble together, and no fault of his own really, partly fault of his own, but anyway, he... He's really trying to help her, but she's not really sure. She ends up on this island, awoken from being drugged by him, in order to get him safely to where he needs to go, and she's angry. you know, understandably so. And so, she's so angry, she wants to hit him. But, you know, like he's a trained assassin, you know. And so, she walks up to him, and she's like, you know, she goes to hit him with her best shot, and she's just like, bam! And he's like, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, here, here. And you know, like, tries really hard not to defend, but it's just, it's so easy, it's so natural just to defend against this attack. And I mean, that scene, I mean, it just, it kind of paints the picture here. I mean, it doesn't matter what Saul does, it doesn't matter how hard Saul tries to strike David, it is not going to happen. David, David could have walked back over and handed him the spear. And you get the impression that Saul could have been like, ugh, ugh, and David would have just been like. Saul, Saul, seriously, seriously, it's not gonna work, man. It's not, it's the Lord. I'm sorry, I love that David gives a spear back. It's crazy. And taking one step further, what weapon does David have? Read the chapter. What weapon does he carry into the camp? There's no weapon ever mentioned. He says the name of the Lord a lot. Interestingly, Saul never says the name of the Lord, not once. It's not once on his lips. David is continually speaking of the Lord, but not once is his weapon mentioned. David's trust is in Yahweh, not horses and chariots. David has learned and relearned that not by might shall man prevail. Like, do we believe that? Okay, so let's just take it, I know there's problems with that, right? I don't want anyone to leave here, and you pull over for some gas, and you go in the gas station, there's a robbery, and you're like, I remember what Pastor Jeff said, that's right, I'm like David, and the Lord loves me, so he's gonna protect me, and you walk up, and you smack the guy, and you're like, give me that! You're gonna get shot, don't do that. don't. Right? But here's the point. Here's the point. Even if he had walked over and handed him the spear and Saul had run him through, all he would have done is sent him directly to the Lord. The Lord's The Lord is watching over his people. It's not by might that man will prevail. We should have a trust that permeates our life, that helps us live in a way that shows that we're not trusting in our finances. We're not trusting in our education. We're not trusting in other people. We are trusting ultimately in the Lord. It doesn't mean that we don't act wisely and prudently in this life. We don't foolishly run out into traffic and say, the Lord's gonna protect me. but nor do we trust in horses and chariots. The Lord has his people. Not by might shall man prevail. Saints, how we need to meditate on this. It's really germane to the entire redemptive story. If you don't remember, in chapter 25, that was part of the theme of chapter 25 too, right? Nabal was trusting in his stuff. and stuff, but stuff don't save. Wealth, wisdom, weapons, none of it. None of it. The spear will not save. All right. Might not be a bad idea to seriously meditate about or on what in your life might be a spear-like thing for you. And I'm telling you, just give it back. Give it back. It's not gonna help you. We don't need it. Let the world have their might, let us empty our hands so that we might have Jesus, right? All right, one more, one more. David has learned to look beyond Saul to a greater salvation, and we find this here at the end, verses 18, I'm sorry, verses 17 through to the end. One more quick example of how David has grown from chapter 24 to 26 is seen in David's concluding words. In chapter 24, David repeatedly asks the Lord to judge. You really have to read this to appreciate it. I know some of it's going to fall short because I don't have time to do that. But if you go back and you read chapter 24, David's concern is, please, Lord, judge between me and Saul. Avenge me against Saul. deliver a sentence in between me and Saul. David is hyper-focused on the Lord vindicating him before Saul. In this episode, that's over. It's like old news. And David is looking forward, and his plea is, would my life be precious in your eyes the same way that Saul's life was precious in my eyes? Will you, he says, deliver me Or may he deliver me, referring to the Lord, out of all tribulation. Would you do what you have done between me and Saul? Would you do that in the rest of my life? Trusting in something greater than just deliverance from the physical harm or physical threat of Saul. It's like David looks down the corridor and realizes that his end will come too. He isn't going to live forever. So whether the Lord strikes him down or whether he dies by natural means or whether David is swept away in battle, his end will be the same. With the Lord, deliver him from all tribulation, all of it, all of it. Chapter 26, David isn't pleading to be avenged against Saul, or for judgment in this case, or even for deliverance from Saul. David is asking for something more. He's asking for something more. And notice that this really concludes the struggle between David and Saul. This is where it ends, church. This is the last time David and Saul will go head to head. These are the last words that they will exchange. From here, David is on a different course, and Saul will continue to decline. His death is imminent. It is right around the corner. This is it. These are the final words, and it's like David knows it. He knows Saul's end is near, and looks right past him. He asks for the same deliverance he's experienced in the Saul situation to be applied to the rest of his life, and I will say death. So David's faith takes him beyond the immediate threat of Saul, further down the path to a deliverance that is greater than simply evading the spear of Saul. David has learned to trust the Lord for his full salvation. Now, I'm well aware, if you just read just a little bit ahead, you're gonna be like, then what happens in chapter 27, verse one? We're gonna cover that next week. Again, David's not static. David's not static, just like you and me, not static. But even in chapter 27, you're gonna see there's growth from what we found on the other side of the chiasm. And for now, we leave David standing on the mountaintop with a fuller, though still imperfect view of God's steadfast love. David looks, or knows his Lord and is confident that he is able to deliver David from all tribulation. David knows firsthand now that the Lord is not simply able to deliver from the hand of Saul, the Lord is even able to deliver David from his own sin, restraining him from sin at times, as in the case of Nabal, and forgiving him from sin, as we will see down the road. So praise the Lord that he provided a faithful king for Israel. This is David's, I'm sorry, Israel's finest king. That is Old Testament Israel. Praise the Lord that he has provided a true and better faithful king for his people, us, and Jesus is that king. I have so many verses I want to take us through that we can't go to, but Jesus also grew. Sometimes we have a view of Jesus that so emphasizes his deity that it eclipses his humanity. But Jesus was one person with two natures, fully divine, a fully divine nature and a fully human nature. And Jesus, when he clothed himself in our full humanity, he grew. He grew in his understanding even of who he is. In fact, Hebrews talks about it was right for him to learn obedience through his suffering. Jesus though, unlike David and unlike you and I, Jesus never stumbled. He never fled, he never sinned. David, here in chapter 26, provides one of the clearest pictures of his Lord. the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus went straight into the heart of the enemy camp, not simply to steal the spear, but to be run through with it, to be hung upon it. Think about the cross as one of the clearest pictures of the might of man, that Roman symbol of power and justice and tyranny. His faith in His Father, that is Jesus' faith in His Father, never faltered. His obedient waiting was perfect. His refusal to trust in chariots and horses was absolute. Jesus' trust that His Father would deliver Him from all tribulation was unwavering, and indeed His Father did, and us with Him. Praise be to God. And so we endured the cross so that even though we may alternate between mountaintops and valleys, between standing against Goliath and serving the King of Goth, even so we remain unmoved, anchored to our Savior by His Spirit, ensuring us that He will also deliver us from every tribulation. In conclusion, David grew in trust which bore the fruit of obedient waiting, the reaction of chariots, or I'm sorry, the rejection of chariots and horses or the spear, and a faith that the Lord would deliver him and us from all tribulation. Please pray with me. Gracious Father, Lord, you know better than we how How fickle we actually are, how fickle our affections, how often we fail to trust in your goodness and your kindness and your steadfast love towards us the way that we should. How much our seeking you waxes and wanes. Father, would you remind us again this morning that nothing about who we are in Christ depends on us. Would you help us to look fully and wholly outside of ourselves to Him who is the author and perfecter of our faith and all, from start to finish, all of our salvation. Father, would you help us to live in light of that, with an obedient waiting, rejecting horses and chariots. Father, entrusting always in you. We ask this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.