So we'll be in 1 Samuel 16. 1 Samuel 16. Let's pray. Lord, we just want to commit our time to you in your word. We just pray, Father, that we would be good listeners, Father, that you would instruct us from your word. You'd give us those areas of application that we personally need, that you would challenge us. And we thank you for the privilege that we have to look at your word together. May we use these things that we learn from your word to not only to encourage our hearts, Lord, but to encourage other believers as well. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Have you ever noticed how people see things differently? You could have an event take place and three people could watch it and their description would be a little bit different depending on the situation they're in. How many of you wear glasses or contacts or something like that? Do you remember the first time I wear hard contacts? Do you remember the first time you put glasses on and how you saw the world differently, and maybe it happened gradually, like Bonnie went for years and years with just great vision, and we're watching a basketball game, and she can't make out the numbers any longer, so hers was, but I've worn glasses since I was a kid, but I still remember that time, but as you get older, right, you're pretty confident that you can still, you know, read and things like that, so things change, and Once you put the lenses in or the glasses on, all of a sudden there's clarity that you weren't having before. The same thing could be true if you have loss of hearing and you're wearing hearing aids, things like that. How do you see things differently in your life today that you might have like 30 years ago? Things that have taken place in your life that make you appreciate things differently? And all of us have been in that position. It's safe to say we don't always see things clearly. We rarely see things completely. We think we do, you know, you'll see something and you're pretty sure that you can remember, you know, if you play with your grandkids, that game where you flip over the cards, you know, and there's a rabbit here and a rabbit there and you're supposed to line that up. But 1 Corinthians 5, 7 says we walk by faith. not by sight. And so it's pretty important for us in our lives as believers. And as we look at 1 Samuel, a few weeks ago when Lynton was sick, I preached on 1 Samuel 15. We saw the judgment of the Amalekites had come. The God had given them 300 years. For 300 years, they had refused to repent. And Saul is supposed to be used by God to bring that judgment upon them. It's something that was prophesied years earlier. I will say we've saw other times in scripture where judgment was supposed to happen and people repented, like Nineveh, for example, and God waited on those things. And so God asked Saul to carry out his justice on these unrepentant Amalekites, and it's not only judgment on them, but it's a test for Saul. And how did he do? He didn't do well, you know. Now he thought he did, you know. Did he obey the Lord? Eventually the answer is no, because the Lord's not wanting a little obedience from us. He wants complete obedience. And we saw that. Saul's obedience was one of pleasure and convenience. If obeying the Lord was convenient or it didn't interfere with Saul's personal pleasure, then he was great with obeying the Lord. And that can be pretty condemning for us because sometimes our obedience to the Lord is like that. It's kind of pragmatic. Now, it could be argued that Saul was very religious. He offered, and indeed it appears he makes a sacrifice, so he doesn't do what God asks, and he and the people keep the best, you know, they get rid of the rest, and of course they keep the king, and we saw that that's the problem with religion. And I want to be careful here, because Christians often speak badly of religion, and scripture really doesn't. Always speak badly of religion. And so I think it's we need to be careful. The Bible speaks against Faults or misguided religion it you know James says 126 27 tells if anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his son. He's deceiving his heart this man's religion is worthless and But it goes on to say, pure and undefiled religion, therefore, before God and Father, is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep one's house unstained by the world. So religion's not bad, okay? Impure religion is, misguided religion is. So false or misguided religion offers to let people sin as long as they make a sacrifice. And many of the religions of the world today make a lot of money on that basic philosophy. It's okay if you sin as long as you pay the big dollars. And while Saul appears to make a sacrifice, and we think he does, what does he do before he sacrifices? Do you remember what he does first? He sets up a monument to himself, right? So here's a guy, he didn't obey the Lord completely, and he sets up a monument for himself, and then he ends up meeting up with Samuel. So Samuel makes an incredible statement, a statement that is echoed through the halls of the church for centuries, and that is, he says, to obey is better than sacrifice. That's what I'm really wanting from you. Saul's practice of worship, the worship of sacrifice, he practiced the worship of sacrifice, but not the worship of obedience. And that's the first type of worship God wants from us, is obedience. It does, and it can involve sacrifice, but it starts with that area of obedience. So chapter 15, and you're there, ends with these sad words. Verse 35, and Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death. For Samuel grieved over Saul, and the Lord regretted that he made Saul king over Israel. Now I want to point out some statements made in chapter 16 that we can easily read between the lines, and we can understand some serious things happen between chapter 15 and chapter 16 of 1 Samuel. By the time chapter 16 begins, and we don't have a perfect timetable for this, but there's some time, the people are living in fear of King Saul. He just seems to be a bit crazy and edgy, and they're concerned about King Saul. And even though he's fought hard for them, and he's delivered them from many of their enemies, he's unfortunately become the enemy within. And so they're afraid of him. And not only that, it isn't like the news hasn't spread that Samuel says, the Lord has torn the kingdom away from you, and he's gonna give it to somebody that's qualified to run the kingdom. So enemies from within are almost always greater than enemies without, but we're looking at the book of Jude, right? They crept in unnoticed. I mean, when I read that in Jude, and we've been there for a while, it's like, how does that happen? How does it happen if you love the Word of God that these people can creep in unnoticed, but yet it's happened a bunch of times? Chapter 16 opens with Samuel being afraid to move. His life is threatened by Saul. Now, this is reading in between the lines, but you're going to see it's certainly clear as we get there. It's probably not a complete threat that Saul has said to Samuel, you're going to die or He would have been dead, or Saul would have been dead. But it's an action-based threat. There's a reason behind it. Saul knows that Samuel's supposed to find the new king for Israel. He was clearly told that. He knows that. So ringing in the ears of Saul, Samuel's statement, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. And also, verse 29 and 15, the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind, for he is not a man that he should change his mind. So it's likely that Saul is willing to kill or imprison Samuel before he would ever let him go and anoint the king. So that's background going into chapter 16. That appears to be Saul's position. Now, I want you to consider Samuel's position. His friend has become his enemy. He loved Saul. Remember before he confronted Saul when God says Saul hasn't obeyed? He wept and prayed all night for him while Saul's setting up a monument for himself. So this one powerful judge of Israel who could freely move as he will, this former top gun has now found himself seemingly powerless, almost under house arrest. And he's grieving the loss of a dear friend, a companion, and Israel's first king. So it's not a pleasant position to be in. Question, has the Lord ever said to you, knock it off? I mean, you get frozen in something that's either outwardly dishonoring the Lord, or you're just not doing what you should be doing in obedience to the Lord, and the Lord says, that's enough, that's enough. And God can do that. That's what happens in 1 Samuel 16, look at verse one. Now the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? This appears to come in the form of rebuke. After all, it was Samuel who had said to Saul, the glory of Israel will not change his mind. But it seems like Samuel right now is more focused on the fact that Saul's no longer king and that his life is in danger. And he seems to be held in check by grief. In fact, it says, how long will you grieve? How long are you gonna stay in this state of grief? I'm not a psychologist, nor do I want to be one. I'm not even seeing a psychologist. But I think there's three basic kinds of grief. But there's more, I'm sure, absolutely more. So you can tell me afterwards the ones I missed. But first, I think there's a grief that numbs us to the point that, though we keep moving on, we're kind of unaware of what's going on around us. We speak, we're still eating, we're still functioning. We're numb to the world around us. We really hardly know what's going on. It's a grief that where people have to not because of hearing loss, just because of people have to repeat themselves to you. And I heard a great illustration about this years ago. There was a dad on the train with three kids. And the kids are just unruly. The train is full. It's either a train or a bus. And there's all kinds of people on there. And the kids are up and down the aisles. They're making noise. And the dad is just like staring out the window. And the way the story is told is that you're the guy sitting near where the dad is at, and everybody else on the bus is staring at you. And they're saying, say something. You do something. You speak on behalf of the rest of us. And tell this guy to get his kids to knock it off. Don't let this keep going on. And so you finally speak. Sir. No response. Sir. Yeah, yeah? Your kids are running all over the place. Some of us are trying to rest right now, and your kids are making noise, and the guy goes, oh, I'm so sorry, sir. Folks, I'm really sorry. We just left the hospital, and their mother died. Now your perspective changes all of a sudden, right? That's that numbing type of grief where this guy doesn't know what's going on. Now all of a sudden everybody on the bus is loving on these kids. They don't care if they're making noise. They're helping out. So everything changes. So that's that numbing grief. Second, there's a paralyzing grief that appears to get such a strong hold on people's lives that they're frozen in time. And I think we've probably all known people like that. An event takes place in their life, and they never move on. And I will tell you, it is really hard. It is really hard to have people like that in your life. They can't move on. It's a grief that sees no hope for tomorrow. And again, most of us have met people. And finally, I think there's a grief that while it may be excruciating, painful, it's not immobilizing. It's a hopeful grief. It's a comforting grief. It's even a grace grief. It allows us that even though we've lost, the loss may be great, God's sufficient grace is greater. It's that type of grief. So it's really where my, since New Year's Eve, my dad had a massive stroke. That's been kind of off and on, that position that dad has found himself in, that we've been in as a family, as we've been, you know, now that he can converse, we call him every night. Called him before we came over here to Bible study. And he'll say, well, I kind of had a down day yesterday. But at the same time, He is sharing the gospel with everybody in the hospital. I mean, they have to listen. In fact, the one gal, the speech therapist told him right away, I'm not a believer and I'm not interested in those things. She walks into the room. He's reading the Bible. She says, what are you reading there? He's in 1 Peter or 2 Peter. And he says, well, I'm reading, you know, 1 Peter. She says, it's so great. She's a speech therapist. She needs to hear him talk. She says, well, read it to me. You know how many times he's read this lady's scripture now? And they're calling him Pastor Jack. And he's supposed to get out on Tuesday. There's grief that's there. But there's comfort. There's grace with this grief. Actually, it is a beautiful thing to watch. And our daughter-in-law is a nurse, and she said, he would be my favorite patient. And it's so funny because the hospital nurses have actually said, you're our favorite. We just love coming in here. He's always saying, thank you. God bless you. As he's learning how to walk and move around, which isn't great, he told me he took stairs. And I'm thinking a flight of stairs. This is just a little thing that he's going up three steps and down the other side. That was, like, huge for him, you know, after not being able to walk. And he said, I got to the bottom of it, and I held on. And he said, I put my hand up, and I yelled. Because he said, they need to know they're doing a good job, and they're working with me. So that's that thing. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Let's look there for a minute. You can keep your place there in 1 Samuel. The other night, so 2 Corinthians chapter 1, a young black guy came in. His name is Mark, came in to work with dad. And dad's very, he's a small man. He's just a little old man. He's been a little old man for a long time. So Mark comes in and dad's getting ready to get to bed. And he says, you're going to need to go get somebody to help you get me into bed. And first, the nurse had said earlier, he said, Can I call you Pastor Jack? Because I'd really feel good if I could call you Pastor Jack. He said, yeah, that'd be great, because everybody does. And he just picks my dad up and puts him in bed. My dad goes, wow, you're a strong dude. He said, you know what I think? I think you was a strong dude, too. You look like you was a strong dude. And then my dad told him some stories about his strength when he was younger. So 2 Corinthians chapter 1. This speaks to this aspect of chapter one, verses three through five. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance. Don't you hate that part? The sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance. We live in a sin-cursed world and we understand that, so also it says our comfort is abundant through Christ. So in suffering, which is abundant, so it's not like you're not going to get out of this life as a believer without a lot of suffering. It's just going to be a part of your life, but through Christ, you're also not going to get out of this life without a lot of comfort that you can share with others. the psalmist turned to Psalms 30 then. The psalmist made this statement, and we'll look at the context in a second. He says, weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Do you ever just long for the morning? I mean, no, it's not even nighttime, and you're weeping, and you're grieving, and things aren't going well, and you're just, you're thinking maybe, I just, I want this joy in the morning to come, you know. I want to wake up and have this all be over. In Psalms chapter 30 and verses 4 and 5, Psalms 34 says, sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. So back to 1 Samuel. Samuel appears to have gone from a numbing grief to a paralyzing grief in some ways. But now, the Lord wants Samuel to move into this hopeful, comforting grace grief. He wants him to press on. And I think the Lord does that with us, and especially does that with us in the Word, right? My dad has talked about, again, we're talking to him every night, and he's having a real hard time writing. He's left-handed, which has been a huge blessing, because he lost all ability on his right side, but he still can't, He can't write, and he journals. My dad has notebooks after notebooks. He has piles of notebooks of journaling through the year, and he goes, I'm not really able to journal. He said, but me and the Lord, we're talking all the time. It's a precious thing. Samuel again 16 now the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. This is not like optional. He's not saying if you want to. He's saying you know get out and I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons. You need to know the normal route from Ramah to Bethlehem would have taken Samuel right through Gibeah of Saul. So it's important to know that. He's got to go right through where Saul's reign is set up at this point, okay? Not every command of God is easily followed. There are some times when God asks us to do something and we're going, Are you sure? But every command obeyed leads us to security that obedience brings. Obedience to the Lord places us in a position of security, even if it's very, very dangerous. So you have to understand. So when we're talking about security, we're talking about security with the Lord, not necessarily. So Samuel verse two says, how should I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me. That's true. I mean, he has a pretty good understanding of what's going on. And the Lord said to him, take a heifer with you and say, I've come to sacrifice to the Lord and you shall invite Jesse to sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one whom I designate. So Samuel did what the Lord said and he came to Bethlehem. And I know I'm gonna run this, my dad stuff, you know, maybe bore you with it. Yesterday morning, they had to do a practice run of dad getting into a car. It's the first time he'd been outside since December 31st. It was like the greatest day of his life. He had a hard time getting in the car. They did it twice and he was able to get in the car. But he was just so glad to be outside. He tried to talk him into a run to Dairy Queen. You know, so it's like, you know, that type of thing. So Samuel gets out of this grief that's kind of paralyzed him, and he's moving out. And I think there's probably a little more bounce to a step. It doesn't mean he's not afraid. He probably is. But again, remember from Samuel's standpoint, for his entire life, since he was a little boy in the tabernacle, he has been the darling of Israel. They loved this guy. They loved him as a kid. They loved him as a judge. And he's been able to go wherever he wanted in Israel until now. Yet two things have happened since the last time he was out. The first thing is, Saul has evidently threatened to kill Samuel. And we're gonna see people have an understanding of this. And the second thing is, what did Samuel do the last time he was out? He hacked King Agad to pieces in front of the people. So it's kind of good to keep that in mind. So both these things will help you understand what happens next. The Bible tells us verse 4, so Samuel did what the Lord said, and he came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling and said to him, do you come in peace? Still that sword with you? So they're afraid. They're afraid of Saul for sure. But you know the last time they saw Samuel you know wasn't you know so and he said like he said in peace I came I come to sacrifice the Lord consecrate yourself and come with me to the sacrifice. He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. So Samuel obeys and things are about ready to change for the nation of Israel. But we must remember this change will take years to play out. All right. I know none of you suffer from impatience, but I do. It's like, really, can't we just get this show on the road? Let's get this done. David's going to be king. Let's get it done. It's going to take a long time. And it will be very costly during this long period of time. It's going to be very costly to Samuel. It's going to be very costly to David. And it's going to be very costly to Saul. Obedience doesn't always seem like the safe thing or the sane thing to do. Sometimes you'll know you're obeying the Lord and you're thinking, and other people are saying, that's just insane that you would do that. Grace is not a soft place, but grace is always a safe place. Now safety, again, I'm not talking about physical safety. Matthew 10, 28, do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. So soft, no. Safe, yes. Then it came about, when they entered, that he looked at Eliab, and he thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. The Lord said to Samuel, do not look, and that phrase, do not look, means to look with favor at like an outward glance, you know. Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees," that phrase means to look with discernment, it means an inward glance, okay? And it says it right in the passage, for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. These are passages you're probably familiar with. I mean, they're very worth quoting, and they're very much worth teaching your kids and your grandkids. God does not see like man sees. God does not spend time just at the outward look. He really looks inwardly. Man looks outward, God looks inward. We walk by faith, not by sight. So Samuel goes to a little town of Bethlehem for the purpose of anointing one of Jesse's sons as Israel's next king. Now Jesse has sons. And he invited seven of them to the sacrificial banquet, leaving the last one home to watch the sheep, which may have been the main assignment for David. Now, I don't want to make more into this, but it just seems like the normal thing. If you were the youngest kid, you know that, you know. Sometimes it's the oldest kid, but it's just going to happen. So Jesse's sons appear, They appear to be impressive. They're an impressive lot. And their names are great. We've not given all of them in this passage, but they look like potential leaders. And they come before Samuel, and he probably thinks, this isn't going to take very long. This is going to be short. And of course, Eliab, in the position of the oldest son, comes first. His name means God is my father. And he's got a good name. He's got good looks. He's got a good position. He's the oldest son. It just makes perfect sense. But again, God doesn't make sense like we make sense, right? He looks like a king. And Samuel's reaction? That's the one. I mean, I'm sure he's getting the anointing oil out. And God says, you're not seeing things the way I see them. I've rejected him. Now, when he rejects these guys, he's not saying they're no good. They're not worth anything, or they're worthless, or they're like Saul. He's certainly not saying that about any of David's brothers. I think these guys are champions. This is a really good family, and many of them could have been a great leader, but it's just not God's choice. Then verse eight, Jesse calls Abinadab, His name means my father is noble, and father is speaking of God. And he passes before Samuel, and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. And Jesse made Shammah, and that means Yahweh hears or has heard pass by. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. And one by one, Jesse's sons come before Samuel, each one full of outward potential, but each one rejected by God. To be honest, rejected by God, not because they were bad men, but God was only going to prepare the heart of one of Jesse's sons to be the next king. These guys will do other great things for the Lord. But David will be king. Verse 11, and Samuel says to Jesse, are these all the children? Is that it? And he said, well, there remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is tending the sheep. I mean, that's like, you know. Really? Then Samuel says to Jesse, send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. Now I just want you to kind of think through what's going on here, okay? It interests me that during all this time, God and Samuel were having this discussion, this inward discussion. Now, I told my dad the other day I want a double blessing of him because he talks to the Lord all the time. He has these inward discussions with the Lord all the time. And Samuel's having this. And God has clearly let Samuel know that he, God, was not overly interested in outward appearances. In my mind, you have God saying, now Samuel, what did I say? And Samuel says, I know, I know. It's the heart, it's the heart. That's what you're looking for. So when David walks in, Samuel's reaction is, Well, he's not a bad-looking kid, you know? That's his reaction, he's a good-looking guy, you know? Now, this is Canadiology, okay? But I'm sure it's based on how the Lord and I conversed together in 1976. I met this girl who felt called to serve the Lord just like I felt called to serve the Lord. And God said, I like her heart. And I said, I agree, I agree. But God, it doesn't hurt that the package is pretty nice, too. That's Canadiology. But you can use that, just not in one of these settings, okay? So back to David. The word ruddy means to be red or to have red hair. It doesn't mean to be small. It doesn't mean to be unattractive. When God tells Samuel not to focus on his stature or his height of his stature, it's likely God is not speaking just of physical stature, but also of position. He's the low man on the totem pole. He's the youngest son. This is not the guy you're going to pick. David was young. He may have been smaller than his brothers at that time, but he is not a punk. In fact, before this passage finishes, he is going to be called a mighty man of value, a warrior. So again, put scripture within context when you're reading. It's not like this homely little kid walked in, you know. So the fact is when Samuel asked Jesse to feast with him, someone had to stay home and do the chores. That makes perfect sense, you know. They weren't picking on David. It's just That's his job. We actually know, as we follow his life, he was the shepherd boy, right? He was. He talks about the lion and the bear, and see, he's dependable. He is one tough, ruddy guy. So this is David. So David comes in the room with a heart that God has prepared to become Israel's next king. But he comes packed in a man's man's package. This is David. He's not just a little punk. He is God's man, and he's a man's man. And we're going to see that all the way through his life. So he comes in the room, the last part of verse 12. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. The key. to the heart of David is the Spirit of the Lord. It's not David, it's the Spirit of the Lord. And what a huge passage, the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon them. That phrase is used other times in scripture, by the way, like of Samson, you know. So, verse 14. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him." This passage, if you read a bunch of commentaries, you would say this verse is I think it's greatly misunderstood, you know, but it's to misunderstand it because I think we fail to see that God is sovereignly in control of all things. Along with this, when we read a statement like this, we also fail to see that men are responsible for their actions. When we hear that God does something like this, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, for example, or this type of thing, We're really upset with God for, how could He do something like that? I mean, how hard for any of you, how hard would it be for God to harden your heart? It's a lot of work take place. I'm gonna have a lot of miserable things take place. All he needs to do is take his hand off of you, and you will be the most hard-hearted person you can possibly imagine. So we fail to see God holds man responsible. Saul's actions were a continual rejection of God's spirit, and this results in him removing his spirit from Saul. In the Old Testament, we see the Spirit of God coming and going on the hearts of people. I believe, and I could be wrong, when David sins with Bathsheba, remember what he says to God? Take not your Holy Spirit from me. I think David's thinking, don't let happen to me what happened to Saul. Please don't let that happen to me. Now that's my philosophy. But when the day of Pentecost came, the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, the cry of the believer is not, take thy Holy Spirit from me, but it is instead, grieve not the Holy Spirit from whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So our call is different, and the way the Spirit works is different in our lives. So God removes his spirit, and he permits an evil spirit sent by the sovereign by his sovereign God approving a torment of Saul. And I just have to say, Saul will never recover. Now he was already fastly in this position. We have already seen multiple times, and we're, I mean, I know we've been in 1 Samuel a long time, but really in the storyline, this isn't very far into his reign, it doesn't seem like. He's just made, he's chosen to disobey the Lord time after time after time. Let's flip over to James chapter one. Now you hear the phrase Scripture interprets Scripture. So I think it's important for us when we read statements to try to put things in light of Scripture. And I think James 1 is helpful. James 1, and we're gonna, we'll start with verse 12. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial for once he has been approved He will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised those who love him Let no one say when he is tempted. I am being tempted by God For God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. I but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren, for every good thing bestowed, every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting chattel." In other words, this is a God who does not change. He's always been the same. In exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among his creatures. So now back to 1 Samuel 16. Back to David and Saul. If you were writing King David's story, you would not write the next chapter the way God writes it. I promise you. You wouldn't, you know, you wouldn't do that. I guarantee you, you would not write what happens next. Verse 15, Saul's servant said to him, behold, now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Now, let our Lord command your servants who are before you. Let him seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp, and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp. with his hand, and you shall be well. So Saul said to his servants, Provide for me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me. Then one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is a skillful musician. So David and the band, all right? A mighty man of value, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man, and the Lord is with him. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me your son David. who is with the flock. So he even knows where he's taking care of sheep by now, right now. This is a mighty man of value. This is a warrior. Oh, and he's taking care of the sheep. So he knows where it's at now. Can you imagine the conversation that Jesse has when he gets this message from King Saul? You think it's like, oh, that's awesome. The king wants my son to come into service for him? Do you think that's what Jesse's thinking? I think he's thinking, this is like the worst possible news. This couldn't be worse, you know? That is a bad, so, but remember when Samuel said, you asked for a king and God was supposed to be a king, and the king is going to take your sons and your daughters, and you're gonna have no say over it? That's a position it's in. You don't tell the king no. You can tell the president no, but you don't tell the king no. So verse 20, Jesse took a donkey and loaded it with bread. I mean, if I'd have been Jesse, I'm just telling you I would have been bawling. I'd have been saying, David, you're gonna have to be really, really, we don't know the conversation they had. You're gonna have to really be careful around this man. Some will say, well, do they completely understand that David's gonna be the next king? I think they have a pretty good idea. Now, there's gonna be two other anointings of David, by the way, but this first one was with his family, and I think they're pretty aware of what God has in mind. Just tough. So Jesse took a donkey loaded it with bread and a jug of wine With the young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son Then David came to Saul and attended him and Saul loved him greatly and he became his armor barrier So it's a lot more than just a heart player Okay And Saul sent to Jesse saying let David now stand before me for he has found favor in my sight again This is not a request This sounds like a request, but it isn't. So it came about, verse 23, that whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand, and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him. Again, that's not how I would write the story. And I certainly, if it was my kid, I would never write the story like that, you know. What happened to Saul? I mean, if you think about from the standpoint of that you want to be a godly man or you want to be a godly woman, wouldn't you think, you know, whatever happened, I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to go that way. So what happened? Had God not one time empowered Saul, He had, right? And what happened? My theory is this. There came a point in Saul's life when he realized there could be only one king in his life, and he was going to be the king. David, on the other hand, is going to have some struggles, right? I mean, he's going to have a lot of struggles before he ever becomes king. I mean, what a horrible way. I mean, President Trump can't tell us anything, right? This is a horrible route for David. But David, though he struggles, ultimately realizes only one can rule. Only one can be king. and it's gotta be God. And he has to be the one that rules in my life. There is a difference between David and Saul, and the differences in the heart. Who rules the heart? When you read 1 Samuel 16, you can see God asking Samuel to anoint David as Israel's next king, and then God sovereignly places David in Saul's service and makes him his right-hand man. That is not the way I would plan it. I know I've said that already, but we also see the heart of two men. Have you ever seen a person make a change, harden their heart, regrettably for the worse, and never recover? I'm not even talking about, I'm talking about a believer. You ever seen a believer just walk away? It's, you know, of course, now they're talking about deconstructing of the faith or whatever it may be, and so it's really hard, difficult things. Well, just as David stands as an encouraging testimony to us of what God can do when he has a hold of a heart, Saul is a picture of what happens when a man decides he wants to reign and he wants to be independent of the Lord. And that is a battle that we have every single day. Every day, if you're honest as a believer, it is a battle. Every single day, who's gonna be in charge today? Will I be in charge or will the Lord? Beloved, who rules your life? And if you're ruling your life, you are headed for disaster. I mean, you might die rich, but you're headed for disaster. Earlier, we read, do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees, not as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Since this is true, and it's in scripture, right? So you're not gonna really wanna argue with it. It's not in Bible study anyway, right? What does your heart look like today? Well, if you watch commercials today, you hear a lot of times, follow your heart. Yet, I think scripture would advise otherwise. Now, I'm not saying God's not in the heart-changing business. He is. But Jeremiah 17, 9 and 10 says, the heart is more deceitful than all else. It's desperately sick. Who can understand it? And it'd be great if it stopped there, because it's like nobody understands it. But verse 10 says, I, the Lord, search the heart. I understand the heart. I know what the heart is like. I test the mind even to give each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. And we know, we do not want to be given according to our deeds. We want to be judged according to the deeds of Jesus Christ on the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection. Romans 3, we've been there. That's like the blame section of scripture, right? There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks God, all have turned aside. And that's a passage of scripture that destroys a lot of modern-day evangelism, right? You know? The poison of the acid is on their lips, their mouths are full of cursing, their feet are swept to shed blood, destruction and misery in their path, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. I'm reading a book right now that's talking about the trouble that we're having in the church in America today is that people, that scripture has no authority and there's no fear of God any longer. We just think we can do whatever we want to whenever we want to. There's no consequences at all. What is your heart like? And is there any hope for your heart and my heart? You know the answer to that already, right? But it's still pretty good for us to realize what our hearts are like. You just don't want to dwell on your heart. You want to have a new heart. This week at Ecola, one of the instructors was covering the life of Samson. He was going through judges, Joshua and Ruth, I think it was, and one of the students towards the end of class raised his hand and said, hey, how is it that Samson made it into the Hall of Faith? I mean, that just seems kind of weird, right? Just looked at this, you know, because he's one of the young guys on staff, and he's just saying, this is just a South-centered guy, Samson, you know? And then even when, right before he dies, he doesn't say, Lord, I want to avenge them for the way they treated you. He just goes, I want to avenge for my two eyes that have been taken out, you know? Doesn't really live a pretty picture. And so I thought it was a great question, because I've asked the same question. You read Hebrews 11, you know, the Hall of Faith, and you're going, How did they get in there? Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to ask probing questions of other people? I mean, really, it's like a bigger question should be. How did Mark Kennedy end up being redeemed and forgiven? And how did David end up in heaven one day? And I mean, you know, you could add your own name. I mean, the truth is, you know, it is all by the grace of God through the work of Christ on the cross. He's the one that is the heart changer. David through his life, you read the Psalms, at least the Psalms that he wrote by power of the Holy Spirit, is constantly talking about the heart that God has given him and his love for the Lord. So two different kings with two different endings and we're not even there yet. Next week, we'll look at David and Goliath. Now there's a great story. By the way, my dad always taught at a Bible camp. He taught on different of the judges and he taught on the life of Samuel. When Samuel had the lion come to him and it says he tore it apart like it was a little lamb, he said, what would you have done if a lion came running towards you? He said, you had to look for a tree, you had to run, you had to pray. He said, you know what Samson did? He went, here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. You'll have to read it for yourself. So much for us to take to heart as we examine our own lives. And really a good prayer for us is, Lord, you know, I don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. I want to walk in obedience to you. I want to give you that obedience, sacrifice of obedience. You know, that's how I want to serve you and live for you. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the privilege of being here to study your word together. Lord, we just commit the things that we've learned to you. We pray that you would help us to take extra applications to our lives that we might walk with you and bring glory to your name. Now, Lord, as we have a time of fellowship, we just pray that you'd help us enjoy our time together as brothers and sisters in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.