Have your Bibles open, please, and stand with me for the reading of God's Word. Tonight we're going to look at the entire chapter of 1 Samuel 26. And even though it's a decent chapter, 25 verses, we're going to try to look at the whole thing because you'll see that it's a very familiar theme that we've already studied in chapter 24. So this is 1 Samuel 26. Entitled this chapter deja vu deja vu because we've seen this before in chapter 24. It's almost identical except that it has an extra layer of depth in it that we must not miss. This is the reading of God's Word. 1 Samuel chapter 26, Then the Ziphites came to Shaul at Gibeah, saying, Is not Dawid hiding in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Yeshimon? So Shaul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him 3,000 chosen men of Israel to search for Dawid in the wilderness of Ziph. Sha'ul camped in the hill of Hakhila, which is before Yeshimon, beside the road, and Dawid was staying in the wilderness. When he saw that Sha'ul came after him into the wilderness, Dawid sent out spies, and he knew that Sha'ul was definitely coming. Dawid then arose and came to the place where Sha'ul had camped, and Dawid saw the place where Sha'ul lay, and Avner, the son of Avner, the commander of the army, and Sha'ul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him. Then Dawid said to Ahimelech, the Hittite, and to Avishai, the son of Zeruiah, Yoav's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Sha'ul in the camp? And Avishai said, I will go down with you. So Dawid and Avishai came to the people by night, and behold, Shaul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with the spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Avner and the people were lying around him. Then Avishai said to Dawid, Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time. But David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt? Dawid also said, as the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed, but now please take the spear that is in his head and the jug of water and let us go. So Dawid took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul's head and they went away, but no one saw, knew it, Nor did they awake, for they were all asleep, because the sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them. Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. David called to the people and to Avner, the son of Avner, saying, Will you not answer, Avner? Then Avner replied, Who are you who calls to the king? So David said to Avner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king, your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the lord lives, all of you must surely die, because you did not guard your lord, the lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jug of water that was at his head. Then Shaul recognized Dawid's voice and said, is this your voice, my son, Dawid? And Dawid said, it is my voice, my lord, the king. He also said, Why then is my Lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? Now therefore, please let my Lord the King listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is men, cursed are they before the Lord, for they have driven me out today, so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods. Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains. Then Sheol said, I have sinned. Return my son, Dawid, for I will not harm you again, because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error. Dawid replied, behold, the spear of the king. Now let one of the young men come over and take it. The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. For the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refuse to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me from all distress." Then Shaul said to Dawid, "'Blessed are you, my son Dawid, You will both accomplish much and surely prevail. So Dawid went on his way and Shaul returned to his place. Amen. Please be seated. It almost sounds like we're studying chapter 24 again, right? The cave at Ein Gedi. We have the same situation. The Lord delivers Saul into David's hand. There is an instigator that says, this is the Lord's will. There's a theological interpretation of the whole situation. The Lord wants you to take vengeance. The Lord wants you to finish the job, and it will be done, and your troubles will be over. You can be king. David refuses. and then spare Saul, confronts him. Saul admits his own folly, praises David, and the chapter closes. It almost seems like chapter 24 is repeated except, except we've studied chapter 25. And in chapter 25, David was going to take vengeance upon Nabal. He had a Nabal and Abigail revelation from the Lord. So what David did in chapter 24 is without the knowledge and understanding that God brought to him through the wisdom of Abigail. And so what he does in chapter 25 or 26 is with that information, which is a deeper level of spiritual understanding and commitment. The wisdom of David and the two words that he mentions here, righteousness and faithfulness of David. At the same time, this was a test for Saul. Saul already was shown mercy by David that he didn't deserve. There's no way Saul would have shown David the same mercy had he had the opportunity to strike down David. And so we see that Saul is not changed, even after receiving mercy. He's hardened his heart and is again pursuing David. The only common denominator here that appears twice are the Ziphites. There's always treacherous people who are opportunistic, who get on the wrong side simply because they want to be in the favor of the people in charge, or whatever. They have their own selfish reasons why they side with Saul. They're neither interested in righteousness nor faithfulness. They're just opportunistic. There are people like that in the world. So from this passage, the Lord is teaching his people about the character of the Lord's anointed and the purposes of God that David learned. And he's growing in his faith in this area of vengeance and trusting in the Lord. He's also growing in his wisdom not to trust in Saul. This would be his last encounter with Saul. But even after this incident, David had to continue to flee, and he throws himself into the hands of the Philistines, hoping to be protected by them, and he takes his chances with the enemies. What he feared, he actually does, because he's driven away from Israel by Saul and his men, and people like the Ziphites who support Saul, that he finds himself safer in the hands of pagan non-Israelites who worship foreign gods. And this is what he feared, that he would be driven away. And so the Lord encourages David, even through the enemy's lips, that God would ultimately bless him. Now, the background we have seen, chapter 24, Zephites informs Saul. Saul chooses 3,000 choice crack troops. He pursues David and Gedi. As a matter of fact, he goes, now finds him there, and then he wants to destroy David. But God hands him over. David resists the temptation and prevails. And then Saul and David part. Chapter 26, Zipfites re-enter with valuable intelligence. Surprisingly, Zipfites tell Saul that David has been here before, and he's returned to his favorite hiding place in the wilderness of Ziph. And so he comes to the same place. That's the background information we need to understand what's going on in this chapter. The stakes in this chapter are higher. The spiritual test is harder, but each party is more informed than ever before. Saul is much better informed because David already spared his life. David is more better informed, and he's not going to repeat the same mistake. Nabal behaved foolishly. Saul's alter ego. And Saul continues to act in folly, in moral corruption. David is also better informed, and he learns that vengeance belongs to the Lord, and now is tested for the second time. Will he learn that lesson and trust the Lord this time, and not take matters into his own hands, which was a very delicate issue in chapter 25, that God choose the woman to stop David. Could David trust in the Lord to handle another fool, the one who is seeking to destroy him? Would David give in to the passionate pleading of his men to hand Saul over? This chapter answers these major theological questions and the issue of righteousness and faithfulness, the two qualities which are the hallmarks of all of God's people in the Bible, which happens to be the two characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ and of our God. He is both righteous and he is both faithful. David exemplifies both characteristics here. Saul is the opposite of that. He is unrighteous and he lacks complete faith. And he does what he does for his own evil ends. And so the Lord wants us to see as we understand that this is the messianic characteristics that he wants us to emulate. First, let's take a look at the Zephyrites, the continual treachery of the Zephyrites in verse 1. We're reintroduced to these people. They're a sub-clan of the family of Kalev, Caleb, the tribe of Yehudah, the fourth tribe, Judah. And so the Ziphites and David are same tribesmen. And yet these Judahites turn their backs against David, the righteous one, and side with Saul. So, if you've ever encountered people like this in your life, where they should naturally be supportive of you, but they support someone else. I know people like that, who professes to be Christian, and yet they mock Christians, other Christians, and they side with unbelievers. And it's just an egregious act of treachery. How can people go around saying, I'm a Christian, and then they talk behind other Christians at work, they gather together and gossip and slander about their fellow Christians, and then they said that, oh, they had a great service on Sunday. It's just completely incompatible. The Zip Fights were covenant people under Yahweh. How can they, therefore, aid somebody who's trying to murder someone in cold blood when David had done no violence? He deserves no death. These are pure opportunistic people who do whatever they do for their own personal ends. Of course, the lesson here is they're always gonna be there. So, as faithful men and women of God, we have to deal with them. Remember what they did in 1 Samuel 23, 19? They came and they told Saul at Gibeah. That's a 25-mile journey. They went out of their way to go over to Saul. Saul's not even in Judah. They go all the way over there, and they say, is not David hiding with us in the strongholds of Horesh, in the hill of Hachilah, which is in the south of Yeshimon? That's exactly where Saul takes his 3,000 cracked troops. He goes to that very same hill. and then he waits there. Because last time, in chapter 23, it was dicey. It was near miss. Saul was closing in on David, and if it weren't for God sending a messenger with a message that Israel is being greatly threatened by the Philistines, and Saul had to go and take care of a bigger issue, and abandon his pursuit with David. It was so close. It was razor sharp close. It was moments from David being captured, and yet the Lord protected him. Where was that? It was here, the hill of Hachilah, which is in south of Yeshimon. The term Yeshimon means wilderness here. And so these Ziphites travel significant distance, they come to Gibeah, give the report to Saul about David's whereabouts, and it's a test for Saul. Verse one, if you just leave verse one by itself, and you take a step back and say, what will Saul do? Well, I mean, obviously verse two answers that question. But it's a test for Saul. He had already received mercy from David. He said, you're righteous. You're a better man than I. The Lord's gonna bless you. He's gonna establish your kingdom. When you become king, please be merciful to me, et cetera, et cetera. My son, David, and all that good stuff. He seemed genuine. He seemed sincere. He was emotionally moved. But what happened? Verse two tells us nothing has changed. Don't take emotional tears and sincerity for righteousness and faithfulness. And that's a lesson for God's people. Our hearts are that fickle. It's that wicked. And we can be sincere and very emotionally moved for a moment, but righteousness and faithfulness, it's a lifelong development. It is a commitment to God and His ways. Saul is not a committed Yahweh worshipper. That's why he kind of does what he does when he feels like it. And he has the authority. It's a test for Saul. But unlike Abigail, who saw the issues of righteousness and faithfulness so clearly, she acted righteously and faithfully towards innocent David. The Ziph fight, they don't care. In life, we will always be surrounded by people who don't care about righteousness and faithfulness. They're often driven by jealousy, selfish benefit, and they choose the path of treachery. Well, think about it. Ziphites, sub-clan of Kalev, a Judahite family, just lost massive wealth of Naval, because Naval was a Calebite. It was a Ziphite in the tribe of Judah. David had just married the richest widow in the land, taking away the opportunity for one of them to grab Nabal's great fortune. So that could have been a motivation for them to really not like David, out of jealousy. Saul's mad folly will not be opposed by some. Rather, it will be aided. There are plenty of Ziphites out there who will do what they will do because they're just people with treachery. Don't be surprised that therefore that there are treacherous people that don't care for righteousness and faithfulness. Why should they support you as a Christian? A fellow Christian? There are people like that. And so the Lord's teaching us The Lord's anointed constantly was persecuted by his own countrymen. Well, that's not a new story for the Messiah, right? The Lord Jesus was rejected by his own countrymen and was persecuted by his own people. We've seen continual treachery of the Ziphites. Now take a look at verses 2-3, the renewed hostility of Saul. Saul quickly forgot David's mercy shown to him, the cave of En-Gedi. All of his genuine emotions of sorrow and apparent repentance was non-existent at this point. His mad paranoia and bloodthirsty assaults and hostility toward David started soon as he got a favorable intelligence report. Clearly Saul had learned nothing. And nothing has changed for him. He's back to his old foolish self, like Nabal, his altered ego. He needs to learn nothing. We're told that Saul went to the region of the wilderness of Ziph to search for David, a task that will prove to be very difficult for him because he doesn't have specific intel like he did before. Or he has old intel. By the time he got there, David is in the wilderness, some undisclosed area. He's not at the very hill that last time that Saul was so close of closing in on. And yet, that's exactly where he goes. The narrator tells us that Saul did not have pinpoint accuracy, but he did have his full strength, 3,000 cracked troops, the best soldiers of Israel. He's taking the best of Israel's resources on a wild goose chase, leaving the nation vulnerable to the Philistine assaults. Verse 3, Saul camped in the hill of Hathilah, which is before Yerushalayim, beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. Now that tells us that David, had to constantly move around. He couldn't just stay in one location because a large group of people were following Davis. He is now leading 600 ragtag bunch of men, their families, and their children, and a lot of property. That's not very easy to hide. So he has to move around. He has to be in remote places. Our Lord Jesus also said that son of man has nowhere to lay his head, even animals that God created. Like foxes have holes, a home that they can call their own, go back to. Birds of the air have their nests that they can go back to. But Jesus said, I have no property, no place that I can call my own. And that's the life of David. So study of David's life as the Lord's anointed, the Messiah, if you will, the anointed one, that's what Messiah means, Meshiach. In the New Testament is a wonderful parallel study of the Lord Jesus. And you'll see incredible symmetry that obviously David is a type of Christ. And here, Matthew 8.20, Jesus himself says it. I have nowhere to lay my head. And most of David's life was really on the run. He had no place, no single place that he could call home. Until he ascended to his kingdom, he was constantly moving around. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies. Verse 4, not only to ascertain Saul's movements and troop strength, but also to get more specific intel about a nature of the sudden arrival. David always gives room for self-doubt. Perhaps Saul's here with his troops trying to protect this region against coming Philistine aggression. Perhaps that's why he's here. So he sent out spies to make absolutely sure why is he here. Well, he knew that Saul was definitely coming, it says. The test for Saul was whether or not his perceived sincerity of change of heart was true. The mad folly of hatred and hostility does not change for those who don't genuinely repent. Time will tell whether their seeming sincere acts of contrition was real or not. In Saul's case, it turned out to be all fake. And that's how life circumstances often come. Sincere apologies look genuine, but when actions don't change, there's no assurance of heart transformation. Often the righteous must bear the suffering of multitude of attacks from those who seem to be sincere on the surface, but don't genuinely turn from their ways. That was David's lesson. Could he bear more suffering and trust God for the results? Could David obey now? and wait upon the Lord for the Lord to deal with things later? Years later? That was a test for David. Could David trust in the Lord and His goodness in the future? Could he trust in His word that David would ultimately ascend to the throne? But could he obey today? Because that's when obedience is necessary. We don't obey in the future. We don't plan to obey God in the future. We obey Him now, and we trust the results That's our homework as well. And if you want to grow in righteousness and faithfulness, then you need to choose to obey God today. In the areas where God brings to you. This was David's homework. Saul is here. He has 3,000 men. He has come to pursue David. Now David has the upper hand. Will David obey? That's his lesson. So we've seen the continual treachery of the Ziphites, the opportunists, and the renewed hostility of Saul, the fool, the mad fool, and the offensive strategy of David, verses five to seven. And David arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. Instead of Saul finding out where David is, David finds out where Saul is and approaches Saul's camp at night. David knows that Saul's words are no longer trustworthy. Reconciliation seems impossible. Saul wants to still kill David, even after multiple opportunities. Remember how many times Saul threw the spear and David dodged? And even after David spared Saul in the cave of Ein Gedi, he's still coming back. You know people like that? You know the enemy, the arch enemy like that? Satan, he will not relent. He's like a roaring lion ready to devour. anyone. And so the righteous will often have to be on guard and sometimes take offensive strategy not to get involved as a victim. And so what would David do? All right, let's take a look. And David saw the place where Saul lay He is approaching. The spies gave him specific intel. He comes and he sees a large body of soldiers all camped around, and he took on a strategic view so he can kind of observe from a distance the location. He saw where Saul lay and Avner, the son of Ner, the commander of the army. The chief bodyguard was Abner. Abner was cousin to Saul. He happened to be the commander of the army. He is a Valiant warrior, by the way. If David had a good general like this, he's a trustworthy man. There's nothing bad about Abner. It's just that he's just on the wrong side. But what do you do when you are the king's cousin, you've been entrusted with the commander's position, and you're serving the king? Well, that's where he is. And Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him. That position around the troops indicate that Saul was well protected. In human terms, he was well protected. Verse six, then David said to Ahimelech, the Hittite, we're introduced to this singularly mentioned character here, and he doesn't appear again. But what is important, that is he has a Hebrew name, Ahi Melech. Achi is brother, Ahi is my brother. Melech, you know that term very well, it means king. My brother is king. All right, that's a Hebrew name, but he's called a Hittite. He is not a Jew, he's a Gentile. So here's a powerful and noteworthy theological fact. David allowed foreigners to be his close associates. This is a very dangerous mission. And Ahimelech the Hittite must have been a courageous and proven warrior who attached himself to David. Now, he has 600 ragtag bunch of guys, riffraff, right? They are not proven soldiers. Ahimelech could have been a very valiant warrior. And so David takes him and asks him. And then he asks his nephew, Abishai, a son of Teruah, Uav's brother. But Abishai and Uav are brothers, but their mother is Teruah. She's a son of Teruah. The problem is Teruah is a woman's name. It's a woman. And she happens to be David's sister. So that would make Abishai David's nephew. All right, 1st Chronicles 2.16 says, And their sisters were Teruyah and Abigael, and the three sons of Teruyah were Abishai, Yoav, and Asahel. So here, the three sons of Teruyah are mentioned. Teruyah's husband is never mentioned in the Bible. So this is David's sister. Abishai is David's Now, here's what David says to Abishai, saying, who will go down with me to Sheol in the camp? Now, that's, you know, this is a life and death kind of a dangerous mission. There's 3,000 men out there. He's looking for one volunteer. And Abishai quickly jumps and says, I will go with you. Abishai is an eager fellow. He doesn't shy away from an opportunity to prove himself. I guess that's why his name is Abishai. He's not shy. All right, verse 7. So David and Abishai came to the people by night in a covert nocturnal operation. The two men quietly approached the camp. No one's awake. No guards are on duty. It seems that all 3,000 men are near the commander and saw none of them feel any kind of threat or danger. How can they? They're in the wilderness. They're by the hill. They got all the weapons. It's in a concentric circle. Saul, the king, is sleeping right in the middle. I mean, even the guards don't feel like they need to guard this. But something else is happening here. And we shall find out in a moment. And here's the attention-grabbing, and behold, the hinei. Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head. The term spear here will appear six times in this entire chapter. It is a symbol of Saul's power, and it is a symbol of constant threat to David. This is that same spear that he hurled at David multiple times. There it is, right there. Saul may have brought that over so he can spear David one last time. That would be his intention. And Avner and the people were lying around him. So we've seen the continual treachery of the Ziphites, the renewed hostility of Saul, and the offensive strategy of David. Getting the intel, taking the first move, covert nocturnal operation into the very heart of the camp. All right, the action and the suspense is building. It's good stuff. Now, here are now, as they're nearing, two opposing viewpoints. Here's the highlight, the crux of the entire issue. Here's the proposal to kill the enemy. Redux, but we've heard this one before inside the cave in Gedi and even then it was a whisper here another whisper this time from one source Then I'll be shy I said to David today. God has delivered your enemy into your hand right I'll be shy is not very creative He merely states the obvious just like the people says I This man's coming into the very cave that we are. God has handed him over to your hands. No duh. Absolutely. Of course. What else could it be? But just because those are the facts doesn't mean that the godly men and women of faith are given permission to take matters into their own hands, especially the issues regarding the kingdom. Because let's review our theology. Who is the king? It's God. There's only one king. All of these human kings are merely viceroy. They are vassal kings. They are basically delegated powers. And then whom did the Lord anoint first? Saul. While Saul is still in his kingship, God rejects him and sends Samuel to anoint David. Now let's ask this question, what is the kingdom? Here, we talk about the kingdom all the time. Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. So we talk about it in those theological spiritual terms. Let's talk about it. What is the kingdom at the time of David? Is it not Israel? Just like God is working through His people, the people of God, a church of Jesus Christ in this church age. Isn't the kingdom Israel? And who is the leader of that kingdom? The monarchy. God has anointed Saul, rejected him, and then anointed David. He is the king of the kingdom. But the previous anointed one is still alive. He's still in control. So what does David do? David realizes, okay, God has anointed me. He has appointed me to be the king, but I have not ascended to my kingship. I'm not in control. This man is. And my homework, David decides, is not to usurp this, not to expedite it, not to take shortcuts, but allow the Lord to deal with it because I didn't anoint myself to be king. The Lord did. This is his business. This is not my nation, it's the Lord's people. So David understood who he was in his relationship to the kingdom. So did our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why he would never succumb to the temptation of Satan. Satan said, you know, you bow down to me just once and I'll give you all the glories of the kingdoms that your father promised you, but you don't have to go through the cross. You can just take shortcut and you have it all. What did Jesus do? Did he accept that offer? And certainly not. He would have been disqualified as the righteous king. but he obeyed ultimately to the death of the cross. He submitted to the Father's will to the very end. And this is the picture of David. He understands who the true king is. It's the Lord. He understands the kingdom is Israel, that he is under God's program. He is not in charge, the Lord is. That's why David fears the Lord and he submits to the Lord's word. Saul is the complete opposite. He thinks he's the king. He thinks that this is his possession, the kingdom of Israel. He thinks that he must do whatever it takes for him to preserve his name, his dynasty, and pass it on so that his legacy will move on. He is basically a self-centered, self-serving man, a prideful man. That's the difference. Now, having kind of reviewed all of that theology, now let's take a look. Abishai is basically saying, repeating the same facts, look, you're the king elect, here's your enemy, you get rid of him, and it's a shortcut to the kingdom. That's Abishai. But Abishai doesn't simply describe the facts, because David can agree with that. Yeah, God has delivered my enemy into my hand. That's true. But Abishai goes one step further. By the way, Abishai is the kind of people too, just like the Ziphites are. Just like Nabal is. just like Abigail is. These are not just singular characters for us to behold, and one unique person in history, and then to be forgotten. No, no, no, no. They're the kinds of people that either honor God or dishonor God. They're all players in this great play that God wants us to learn from, because they're people like you and me. And so Abishai goes one step further. All Abishais do this, by the way. Now therefore, please let me strike him with a spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time. Now notice what Abishai does. He asks David permission to kill Saul. He says, David, you don't have to do this. I'll take care of this. And he boasts that he will finish the job in one stroke, indicating his expertise in handling the weapon. He doesn't have to poke him twice. Once will do, he says. This suggestion is basically the same as suggested by earlier at the cave of Ein Gedi and David's men who said, let's go get him. By this time, something has changed, right? Saul's belligerence makes Abishai's suggestion more appealing. He didn't get his lesson the first time. He deserves death now. He's coming at you. He's not going to relent. Better get rid of him. The logic and the appeal is very compelling. David's prolonged suffering in the wilderness makes the quick end of Saul's life so rational, so desirable. But on the other hand, David has already learned the important lesson from the Nabal and Abigail incident. David believes that God will take vengeance. That's what David learned. That's what Abigail implored David to recognize. That God does not want David to shed innocent blood, take matters into his own hands, and that God would ultimately make him king. Think of the issues. Had David killed Saul with his own hands, or even allowed Abishai or others to do that, people will still ultimately tag that blame on David and say, this is what they will say, and this is David's legacy until his grave. They'll say, he was an ambitious man. He got rid of Saul, had him killed, so he could take over the kingdom. That is the issue here. Abishai's proposal to kill the enemy is held in tension as David gives his reasoned response. Notice Abishai's analysis is theological. The Lord has handed him over to your hands. Interestingly, Abishai uses the generic term God. I don't know if that's purposeful. Most likely it is by the author putting those words, very religious sounding, right? Theological. And so Abishais of this world will use theological justification to take kingdom matters into their own hands. Some people in the church believe that they're God's gift to police the church. They go around acting like that God has given them some sort of prophetic office or something to scrutinize and nitpick everybody's life and to bring forth and surface all those spiritually deficient areas so they can deal with the issue. Some people actually believe this. It's a puffery of pride. Here, Abishai just say, you don't have to do it, let me do it. I'll take care of this. I'm good at it, he says. Abishais of this world, they don't fear the Lord. They don't care about the Lord's agenda. But Davids of the world fear the Lord. Abishais of this world have no reason for godly restraint. All they see is a straight line of expediency. results. That's what they want. Shortcut. But Davids of this world must refuse. and practice godly restraint, refuse the shortcut, and continue to trust in God's way, not the ways of abishais of this world. And that's an important lesson for all who desire to grow in righteousness and faithfulness. You cannot circumvent God's standard of righteousness and faithfulness and still please the Lord. Even if results come, you can't please the Lord. And so, We saw the proposal to kill the enemy, redux, well we've seen that before. In verse 9-11 we see the persuasion to spare the enemy. This is David's speech again. Again, redux. David had given this speech before. He had to actually win his followers over. He had to win Abishai over. Verse 9 says, but David said to Abishai. David repeats the lesson he had learned. And now he is instructing Abishai. Do not destroy him. For who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt? Abishai says, God had delivered him over to your hand. Kind of generic, theological, religious. David makes it very personal. This is the Lord's anointed. This is God's business. You and I can't tamper with this. And if we do, we'll be guilty. That's the lesson. Verse 10, David also said, as the Lord lives, surely as the Lord will strike him, notice he continues to invoke the name of the covenant God of Israel, Yahweh. He will strike him. Notice what David says. Surely the Lord will strike him. The main verb, strike, nagaf, in Hebrew verb, was used to describe Nabal's death. In 1 Samuel 25, 38, it says, about 10 days later, the Lord struck, or nagaf, Nabal, and he died. So David is committed to handing this off to the Lord and not taking it into his own hands. He's committed not to take these matters, personally and privately, whatever means the Lord employs in Saul's demise, he says, as the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him. Or his day will come as he dies. It will happen naturally, the Lord will judge him, or he will go down in battle and perish. He will meet an unfortunate fate. Whatever the means or methods that the Lord employs in Saul's demise, David is assured that he could trust God And God will deal with it, and then he will ascend to the throne as God promised him. Verse 11, the Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. That's a personal commitment. Personal commitment. David says, I will not be accused as a premeditated murderer. And his bold and confident faith in the Lord's ways, David had won another major battle for the kingdom. He has rebuked Abishai. He has given a better theological argument. He's declared his own personal commitment. He's an excellent student of the word. He had learned his lesson from Nabil and Abigail incident. He is recommitted. See, even though the events almost seem like they're a repeat of the same, this is different now, because it's deeper now. The issues are much deeper, much more serious, and yet David continues to do what is right. He proves himself to be the righteous and faithful anointed man of God. So now David says he has a plan, Please take the spear that is at his hand. Now notice David appeals to Abishai. And the jug of water and lets go. David simply takes the evidence he needs to demonstrate that he was there. He didn't seize the opportunity to kill Saul. but he practiced another round of mercy. Verse 12, so David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul's head and went away. Now the emphasis here in verse 12 is basically a repeat of what is said at the end of verse 11. Notice David's plea to Abishai, let's take the spear and the jug and let us go. Verse 12, so David took the spear the jug of water besides Saul's head, and went on his way." Notice what happened. David appealed to Abishai, but verse 12 says, he took it. It is David's intent, David's leadership, David's action all the way. But verse 12 has a significant, you see, when the same passage is repeated twice, back to back like this, it grabs your attention. It seems redundant. Why is it described like that? to see the repetition. It's to highlight something important. What's important? What's that spear? Remember, the term spear appears six times in this entire chapter. It is that instrument of hostility of Saul. It is also a symbol of his power. So here, David takes the symbol of his power into his own hands. And he takes off. But here's another detail, the jug of water. What's that? That's a life source. They're in the wilderness. They get thirsty. This is a special jug for the king. So by taking these two items, as the narrator subtly conveys to the reader, David is taking the source of power and symbol of power from Saul into his own hands, the power of death, refusing to use it on Saul, but he removes it, and he also takes that article that represents life. in the barren wilderness, the jug of water. Both death and life is in David's control and possession, not in Saul's. So it's a powerful symbolism there. And that's the message. But no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake. And how can David be so stealthy? Forget David, what about Abishai? Two guys? Here's the explanation, for they were all asleep because a sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them. The narrator explains the real reason for why David and Abishai were able to sneak up and do this and not get detected, everybody's asleep, is because the Lord had sovereignly intervened and caused a deep sleep to fall upon them. The Lord is the one who's ultimately protecting the righteous. David had to take the courage to do what he needed to do. Because it was so important for him to send the message to Saul, the Lord had delivered you into my hand, but I refuse to take your life. But Saul is a fool. And he is not going to give up pursuing David. So why is David doing this? Because God wants to demonstrate through David. Why is this repeated chapter here, chapter 26? Hasn't this already been shown and demonstrated in chapter 24? Yes it has, but this time it's deeper, it's more. It takes more faith, greater act of mercy, greater trust in God to do this again. To your enemy who is so determined to kill you. Second time. It's even deeper. So what is God doing? He is demonstrating the righteousness and the faithfulness of His servant. That's the obviousness here. That's why things happen multiple times to the same person. And that's another lesson that you and I need to understand is that just because we learned this lesson doesn't mean that it won't happen again. So, there's always room for us to grow in righteousness and faithfulness. It's what the Lord is doing to his anointed. So we've seen the continual treachery of the Ziphites, the renewed hostility of Saul, the offensive strategy of David, and the two opposing viewpoints. One of David, the Lord's anointed, and one of Abishai. The religious man, who wants to take expedience into his hands. Fifthly, confrontation. Confrontation of the fool. Here verse 13, And David crossed over to the other side and stood on the top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. Obviously, David intends to communicate, but he wants there to be a large distance so that Saul's men cannot shoot an arrow or pursue him. It has to be enough distance for him to speak and they can hear him, but it has to be far enough for David to be safe. And so he takes this wise, safe distance. And verse 14, he wakes them up. David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner. Now notice what it says, David called to the people and to Abner son of Ner. David purposely avoids addressing Saul. Before chapter 24 he did. He personally addressed him, my Lord the King and he bowed down. Here he doesn't do that because it's, Saul refused to listen. He is a fool. So David's not going to address him. But indirectly, he's going to talk to the men and Avner. And indirectly, through them, he's going to bring tremendous weight of guilt upon Saul. And he wisely does this. And in the darkness of night and distance, allow the voice to carry. He wakes them all up. And then he calls for Abner specifically. Will you not answer? And Abner replied, who are you who calls to the king? Obviously Abner is speaking for the king. Saul is silent at this point. Abner is the commander of the army. He takes charge and says, who are you? They're all awake. Tonight they can't see. The darkness of the night and the distance is there. Verse 15, so David said to Abner, are you not a man? And who's like you in Israel? These two questions point to the fact that Abner is indeed a man. He's a valiant man. Who is like you in Israel? He has proven himself in many battles. He's quite fit to be the commander-in-chief. He's a four-star general, if you will. Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king, your lord. Now notice what he's saying. One of the people came to destroy. David indirectly points to the fact that Saul's life was in danger. And notice what David's saying. One of the people came to destroy your king. Is David implicating himself? No, he's setting Abner up to show that it was not Abner who protected the king, someone else protected the king. That's the point that David wants to drive home. Verse 16, this thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all of you must surely die. You're all sons of death. Literally, it says, all of you. Before, Saul called David, he says, son of death. Now, he says, you're all sons of death. Because you did not guard your Lord, the Lord's anointed. And notice the pressure and the guilt trip upon Abner and all the men. Now, all this is to get to Saul. So he's indirectly addressing them. You know, they got nothing to say. What can they say? because they're all guilty. He's right. If they were hired to be the security guard for the king, and king came near death, somebody else spared the king, but they were all asleep, yeah, they should all be fired. And here, David says, they should all be dead. But one was successful in protecting the king. Who could that be? And he says, now see where the king's spear is and the jug of water that was at his head. That fact clearly indicates that Saul's life was indeed most certainly in peril. He was sleeping in the middle of the entire camp of 3,000 men. That spear was right above his head. Somebody could have just removed that and moved a few inches right into the temple neck. He would be dead. To see, understandably, Abner was stunned. He looked. The spear is gone, there's a little hole there, and the jug is gone. What could he say? Nothing. He says nothing. And this is how David shuts up Abner and all the men, stuns them, because notice what he's trying to do, right? He's trying to show them that while they failed, he succeeded. And what did he do? Not killing Saul, but in protecting him from certain death. They still can't see David. They don't know who's talking. Someone's talking, and someone's giving all this data, and the evidence is clear. The spear's gone, the jug is gone. This is all true. And they feel ashamed as soldiers, the mightiest men of Israel, a commander-in-chief. Are they able to protect the king? David says, no, no, they're not. But one person did protect. Verse 17, then Saul recognized David's voice. You see what happened? By addressing Abner and the men, it put such a weight of guilt upon Saul, and he's pondering, and he's saying, who could this be? And then it sounds like David's voice. This sounds like a speech that he gave before. Is this your voice, my son David? He said this before in 1 Samuel 24, 16, right outside the cave of Ein Gedi. When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, is this your voice, my son David? Exact identical phrasing, same words. There, it says, and Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Here, David responds, it is my voice, my Lord the King. He also said, Verse 18, Why then is my Lord pursuing a servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? Notice the triplet, the threefold complaint drives home the innocence of David and Saul's guilt. Furthermore, David uses the language of religion to talk about the greatness of the sin and offenses of Saul's pressures. Because Saul is pursuing David to kill him, David has no other option except to flee. Because Saul is pursuing David, even to the very extent into the wilderness, David has no other option than to flee. And the only place that is outside the extent of the boundary of Israel is in foreign territory, in Gentile lands. Using this imagery and this plainness, David now speaks. And he says, the sacrificial language is used here. He says, now therefore please let my Lord the King listen to the words of his servant, verse 19, if the Lord has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. David accepts the responsibility and the possibility that he's at fault, and the Lord is causing this difficulty upon him. If so, and that's the reason why David and Saul's relationship is so bad, David says, I'm willing to offer sacrifices, free will offering, to restore the relationship between them. If it is indeed David's fault and his own sin, he's willing to offer up sacrifices and reconcile. But, If it is men, the origin of David's difficulty and restrained relationship is not from David, but it's because of people. Then he says, cursed are they before the Lord. Why? Why such severity? Because in David's plea, he assumes the source of trouble is not God, but men. In such a case, the men are causing David so much pressure that he has to flee and flee and flee to the point where he's only left to flee to foreign lands. If any Israelite forces another Israelite to flee to foreign lands, to separate himself from the covenant blessings of corporate worship and fellowship, is in effect indirectly pressuring him to be surrounded by pagan gods. And why? He gives that reason, for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the Lord, saying, go serve other gods. That's the message that they're sending me. Pressure, pressure, push, push, push, chase, chase, chase. You're forcing me to go to pagan lands where these uncircumcised Gentiles are worshipping man-made, hand-made things and bow down to it. And I have to bear through that. And I can't even corporately worship with the people of Israel gathered together in a corporate assembly. Because if I gather there, I'm dead. Because the pressure is upon me. If it is men who's causing me to undergo this kind of suffering, then let them be a curse. Because how can an Israelite do this to another Israelite? That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Verse 20, now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord. Verse 20 is a humble way of David saying, please my king, do not push me to foreign asylum. I want to live in my own country where God is worshipped, where God's special covenant blessing is here. I want to be here in Israel. Don't push me away from the presence of the Lord. That's what he's saying. For the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea just as one hunts partridge in the mountains." David again reminds Saul of his own personal insignificance. You're wasting your time chasing somebody insignificant like me. I'm not worth your time. It is beneath your dignity to do this, O King, is what he's saying. He's appealing to Saul's heart and emotions. We've seen the continual treachery of the Ziphites, the renewed hostility of Saul, the offensive strategy of David, the two opposing viewpoints, David and Abishai, and here confronting folly of Saul, and sixthly and finally, the fool's regret over his own sin. Notice no genuine repentance. Just regret, remorse. And that's the problem with Saul. His actions don't change. He shows genuine sincerity at the moment, but David's wise not to believe him because he quickly changes. That's the thing. Their hearts are fickle. They don't show righteousness and faithfulness. They only show emotional expressions. Verse 21, and Saul said, I have sinned. He said this before, but now he's saying much more. Before he didn't ask David to return. Now he says, return my son, David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Now notice what Saul is saying. Saul is saying, you spared me. You consider my life precious. I accept you back. Since you asked me not to push you away from the Lord's presence, I won't. Come back, come back, let's reconcile. Now, he seems very genuine. His arms are open. Should David trust Saul? What do you think? Here's where wise, seasoned, all right, people who have experienced people and those who are naive and unsuspecting will separate. Because they'll say, look, that's the king. He's genuine, he's in tears, he's now asking you back. Yeah, but remember what Saul did? He gave Michal, David's wife, to another man, treating David as though he were dead. He had come back again to try to kill David even after David spared his own life. What guarantee does David have that he's genuine now? He showed the same kind of emotions and sincerity in the past. It didn't change Saul's heart. See, past track record is important to see if there's righteousness and faithfulness in the present. Now David is wise not to trust in the words of this wicked man filled with sinful folly. He says, but he says more, behold I have played the fool and have committed a serious error. Now the first part, That takes a lot of humility to admit, I have played the fool. He's right, Saul has played the fool. But he's been the fool, he's just not played a role. That's who he is. But notice what he says, he downplays it. I have committed a serious error. That is massive low-balling, isn't it? That is total understatement. You try to kill an innocent man and you say that's a serious error? I don't think so. No, no, no, no, no. No, you don't plot and carry out a assassination attempt and say, oops, my bad. No, it doesn't work that way. It takes tremendous evil, tremendous calculative evil to do anything like that. Brothers and sisters, believers who are righteous and faithful never even think about destroying a fellow believer. See, that's not from the Lord, that's from the devil. Cain had a heart of the devil. You don't plot and plan to take down somebody, to destroy him. Just don't do that. Christians don't do that. Because we know that we've been forgiven. We deserve death, yes, we deserve punishment from the Lord. But we can never participate in the deeds of darkness because that's... That's evil. And what a total downplaying of sinful, egregious, wicked folly. Serious error? Nah, he's a sorry character. You don't believe in somebody like this. If you do, you're the fool. Verse 22, David replied, behold the spear of the king. Notice this response. The object that David has in his hand says it all. Says it all. You play the fool. You made a bad mistake. Why did you bring the spear all the way into the wilderness? I have it in my hand. I refuse to use it upon you. But you've thrown this multiple times. Multiple times. Even when David was unsuspecting. Now, David is supposed to believe in Saul? Come back? This is amazing. There are people like this, you know, they commit egregious sin and they say, oh, I was, I sinned. Please forgive me. You and I need to know that it takes great pain to forgive somebody. Forgiveness is much more painful for the person who actually renders it. It's easier to commit offenses and sin against someone. It's easier to ask for forgiveness, much easier. It is much more difficult to grant forgiveness because it will hurt you greatly to forgive. Notice what David does. By the way, Saul never repents. This is not repentance. I played the fool. I made a mistake, serious error. David says, behold the spear of the king. Now let one of the young men come over and take it. This passage says it all. Verse 22. Now the Bible doesn't say, but I have a good feeling that one of the young men actually did come. and take it. Saul was genuinely repenting, saying, cut that thing, burn it. I will never ever pick that up again. I will never ever do this ever again, David. You know, it takes one genuine repentance to change and commitment never to do this again. That's it. That's how you know that a man like Saul would truly repent. But Saul doesn't repent. He doesn't change. Because if he did, David doesn't have to flee. Certainly doesn't have to flee to the Philistines. The spear which David dodged multiple times stands between David and Saul. Past facts prove that Saul is not to be trusted. There can be no goodwill to a spear thrower who feels temporarily guilty for his murderous intentions, but whose heart is never changed. Another opportunity comes, a better opportunity, he will throw it. Who can know the heart of man? And this is his father-in-law. You know, human interactions are very difficult, painful. And no one experienced human interaction more painfully than the Lord Jesus, who was betrayed by his own disciple, own friend, who kissed him and betrayed him with a kiss. And so our Lord understands. He knows. Here is David. Notice what David says in verse 23, the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. Those two words are the theme, the dominant theme of this chapter. It's what God's demonstrating for David. David is prophetically speaking because David understands how the Lord deals with people because these are the two dominant characteristics of God, righteousness and faithfulness. He uses the law of farming, what you sow is what you get. What matters to God is not power, not position, not authority, but righteousness and faithfulness, which Saul totally lacked. Can David be friends with such a godless man? Will he return to such a godless man? Will he trust in such man? And the answer is no, he is wiser. But he does trust the Lord. For the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refuse to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. That is the way of saying, I practice righteousness and faithfulness that the Lord demands. David was both righteous and faithful, while Saul continues to be unrighteous and unfaithful. The two can never mix. So, learn this lesson very well. Two kinds of people cannot have things in common. They both claim the name of the Lord, but they're completely, they operate in two different wavelengths. Verse 24, now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day. This is so important. Notice what David says, I saw your life as very important, highly valued. See, I would never do this to you because I know the value of life. I can never instigate an offensive plan and strategy to destroy you. Still, coup d'etat, get rid of you, so I can get ahead, because I see myself as more important than you. See, David had the mind of Christ. Your life is value, you're my enemy. You hate me, but I don't hate you. I value your life. It's David's kind of man who prayed for Saul. But Saul's the kind of man who plots destroying David. Aye. But notice what David, he doesn't appeal to Saul. He doesn't say, now, since I consider your life important, would you consider my life important? He doesn't do that. He knows what kind of man Saul is. So he says, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord. He casts himself completely to the Lord. And may he deliver me from all distress. The Lord is our shepherd. He is our protector. He is our comfort. Man cannot provide this. God can. David refused to trust in Saul's words, but rather he would throw himself to God's protection because he trusts in God and His words. That must be the course of action for all of God's elect, all of God's people, not to trust in the flimsy words of men, no matter how sincere they may appear, but throw oneself before the mercies of God and trust in Him for protection. Verse 25, then Saul said to David, blessed are you, my son David, you will both accomplish much and surely prevail. He's moved by David's speech. Again, David's enemy blesses him. He did this before in chapter 24, blessed David, even pleaded with David. Here he says it, blessed are you, David, my son. Can somebody say this? You've been a blessing in my life. I love you dearly. I wish you were dead and you were gone, but you've been a blessing and I love you. It's double talk. You know, we've seen this. This is nonsense. God encourages anointed with praise, even from the mouth of the enemy. And this is another way God encourages David. You will both accomplish much and surely prevail. Yeah, of course. Not because you said it. David's not blessed because Saul blesses him. David's blessed because God blesses him. And that's the bottom line. So David went on his way and Saul returned to his place. Well, Saul's, please return my son. He sure didn't make that attempt very strong, did he? No, he didn't. David and Saul would never again meet. This would be their last encounter, and it was in the dark. Only the voice was heard. The visage was never seen. Well, why do similar things happen multiple times for the righteous? Well, to teach the depth of the lesson already learned. Not enough for us to learn layer one, phase one. It's important that God has multiple phases, deeper layers that he wants us to learn, obviously. But the Lord does that. He did it in David's life. He did it in other people's life in the past. Similar things are repeated for the wicked to show their utter wickedness. Since David is a type of Christ, we see in the life of Christ is exemplified. Again and again, the Lord Jesus is attacked, assaulted, tempted. Multiple times. Why? To show how pristine, faithful, righteous He is. Worthy to be the Messiah of our Savior. Perfect, blameless Lamb of God, inspected multiple times without fault. And yet same thing happens. Why would the wicked, you know, the Pharisees and the religious authorities and Judas and all these people come again and again, Satan again and again, to show their utter wickedness? And so we've learned from David's life that the path of righteousness and faithfulness require absolute surrender to God's will and discipline of obedience, which our Lord Jesus is the obedient son par excellence. We need to learn from him. A servant of the Lord will also face temptation of shortcuts in life. There will be many Abishai's in saying, this is God's will, go for it. Yeah, but take another step back. This is the kingdom of God. You're tampering with it. Can you expedite it? Can you manipulate it? Be very careful. The servants of the Lord's anointed will also face real temptation, temptation for shortcuts, and to avoid the path of righteousness and faithfulness. So while less than what the Lord Jesus faced, or what David faced in life as the servants of the Lord, we'll also face real temptation. Peter indicts the wicked Jews while calling Jesus the Holy and Righteous One in Acts chapter three, verse 14. It says, but you disown the Holy and Righteous One and ask for a murderer to be granted to you. He indicts them. It's quite fascinating that people choose to be friends and friends that they reject. You could tell a lot about the friends that you choose. And Peter indicts the Jews. You said, give us Barabbas, and you rejected the righteous one and asked for a murderer. Wow. You blame the innocent and you befriend the guilty. That was Peter's indictment. Boy, that cut through. John describes Jesus in Revelation 19, 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. Jesus is both called righteous one and he's called the faithful one. Jesus is righteous and faithful. David talked about righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord will deal according to these principles because it flows from Him. And so the lesson for the people of God is that we are Christ-like. We're like our Master who is both righteous and faithful. We must never do what is expedient. We must do everything that is right and pleasing in the sight of the Lord. Period. Period. We must be willing to do the tough thing and let go of our biases and prejudices and seek what is right before the Lord, period. And then we must be faithful, full of faith. We must exercise trust and not do what Saul did and not do what the Jewish leadership did and not do what people do when they set aside these things for what they want. And those are important lessons for us. as it was an important lesson for David. David had learned this. He thrusted himself into the hands of the Lord, and he refused to take shortcuts. He learned a discipline of rejection of all tempting suggestions. And he learned to trust in the Lord. And that's such an important lesson for Christians, growing Christians, being sanctified. You must say no to unrighteousness and say yes to the Lord. And you must continue to be faithful. If the Lord taught you these lessons, then why set it aside? Because circumstances seem to change a little bit. Don't set it aside. Continue to be full of faith. Continue to trust the Lord. Do what is right in his sight. And that's how God is glorified. And that's how we're blessed. The Lord grants to his people, as they sow these things, they shall also reap a bountiful harvest. We'll always get later of what we sow today. And what we sow is a little bit, but what we reap will be much. It's always the law of the harvest. And this is what David recognized. And so, Let the people of God hear and what the Spirit says to the churches. Let's pray. Father, thank you for giving us an understanding of your purposes, your character, and even in the contrast between a wise David and foolish Saul, even a merciful David and a treacherous and hostile Saul. Help us to not to become weary when we're surrounded by Zephyrites who are opportunistic and treacherous and who do not care for righteousness and faithfulness. Help us not to be duped by men who speak with emotion and sincerity, yet their heart and actions don't change, and they don't practice righteousness and faithfulness. Help us also to reject all temptation of the Abishai's of the world and that interpret situation in religious terms, but yet is not according to your purposes. And Lord, you call us to be humble servants in the kingdom. This is your ministry. This is your church. This is your affair. And we want to humbly obey and walk by faith and submit to your will. Teach us to do that and not for a moment do everything that you have entrusted these things to our control. And so, Lord, we pray that you would allow us to practice what David had learned and then continue to follow the greater David who is David's seed, but yet who is David's Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. May we continue to practice his righteousness and his faithfulness in our lives for your great name's sake. In Jesus' precious name we pray, amen. Lord bless you and keep you. Have a wonderful week in the Lord and we'll see you guys on Sunday for another time of worship and fellowship.