1 Samuel again. We're in chapter 22. We're in 1st Samuel chapter 22. We have seen David had to flee from King Saul. And you remember he went to the tabernacle and to the priest, to Himalek, and there sought bread and a sword. And then he fled to Gath, to the Philistines. And then he fled again to the cave of Dulem. And now we pick it up at 1st Samuel 22, verse six, reading to the end of the chapter. for Samuel 22.6. Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree, on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, hear now, people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait as at this day. Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitab. And he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitab, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob. And all of them came to the king. And Saul said, Here now, son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, and that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me to lie in wait, as at this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king, And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No, let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little. And the king said, you shall surely die, Himalek, you and all your father's house. And the king said to the guard who stood about him, turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David. And they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me. The servants of the king would not put their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doag, you turn and strike the priests. And Doag the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. And he killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword, both man and woman, child and an infant, ox, donkey, and sheep he put to the sword. But one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitab, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me. Do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me, you shall be in safekeeping. God's holy word. Well, brothers and sisters, it's been a little while since we've been in 1 Samuel, and the only way to understand the chapter we've just read is to remember the context here, that 1 Samuel is a book about a king and a kingdom. Gordon Kenney, in fact, entitles his commentary, Dawn of a Kingdom. And if you can remember that phrase, dawn of a kingdom, the beginning of a kingdom, then you know what 1 Samuel is about. Remember, before 1 Samuel, there were no kings. In that sense, there wasn't a kingdom in that sense. There were leaders and there were judges, but it's in 1 Samuel that God's people cry out for a king. They want a king like the nations. And God actually stoops to give them what they sinfully desire. And why would God do that? Because God is going to use their sin and turn it for their good, because God always intended to give to his people a king. But the first king he gave was a king after the patent of the nations. King Saul, who you remember rejected God and therefore was rejected by God. The boys and girls, you remember Saul, he didn't wait for Samuel, the prophet priest to come, but he offered the sacrifice himself and then when God sent him to destroy the Amalekites and to wipe them out and all their livestock. He didn't do that completely. He was disobedient and he rejected God and so God rejected Saul and then God took his spirit from Saul. And yet the book is still about the dawn of a kingdom because God wasn't finished yet. He would give another king and another king and ultimately God would give the great king, his son, our Lord Jesus who would come and slay the great serpent of old. He would destroy the devil by overcoming temptation, by obeying God's law, by dying on the cross for our sins, by rising from the dead. But long before the great king would come, God was giving miniature pictures of the king through others, especially through David. And now as we come to 1 Samuel 22, Saul knows two things. He knows, number one, that God has rejected his reign. He knows, number two, that David has been chosen to reign. And because Saul will not bow to the Lord and to the Lord's King, there's only one thing he can do, isn't there? When anybody in the world says, I won't bow to God and I won't bow to God's anointed king, Jesus Christ, then there's only one alternative, which is rejection and rebellion and trying to overthrow the king and destroy his kingdom. If you understand that, then you're on your way to understanding 1 Samuel 22. It's about the dawn of a kingdom, yes, but it's also about the rejection of that kingdom, the hostility of that kingdom that comes in the hearts and lives of all those who will not bow to the king. It's about the rage of an evil king who wants to cling to his own kingdom. That's what it's about. And therefore, this chapter has tremendous significance for us this morning because things haven't changed so much, have they? Those who will not bow to the anointed will instead seek to destroy him and his kingdom, his people. Today we are called to find comfort in knowing that the violent rage of the rebellious king is firmly in the hand of the victorious Lord. We find comfort as we look first of all at at Saul's hostile mind, and then when we consider his cruel persecution, and finally as we see his sure, his certain defeat. Those three points. As we consider the violent rage of the rebellious king as firmly in the hand of the Lord, we consider his hostile mind, his cruel persecution, and his certain defeat. Well, boys and girls, our passage here, it's verse Samuel 22.6, begins, with an open air meeting, kind of staff meeting or council meeting. Here is King Saul under a tree and he's got his spear in his hand. Really he's the deluded persecutor of David and he's yelling at all his administration and staff about how they don't seem to care that he's the one being persecuted. Saul goes on quite a rant here, doesn't he? Earlier in the book, remember, he yelled at his daughter because she helped David to get away, and then he was angry at Jonathan because he covenanted with David, and now he's grilling all of his servants, even though they're all his brothers, so to speak. They're of the tribe of Benjamin. And Saul is full of conspiracy theories here. Everyone's against him. Everyone's out to destroy him. David and Jonathan have plotted together, and now all my servants are against me. And then Saul does this whole pity party. No one seems to care. No one knows that I'm gonna be hurt, that you're keeping secrets from me. You didn't tell me where David was hiding. And on and on it goes. But as you look at it a little more closely, you realize that what's involved here is really not simply deluded, feel sorry for himself kind of fellow. But it's really the spirit of the Antichrist that is present in King Saul. Now 1 John 2 tells us that there's coming the Antichrist, one person who embodies wickedness, an individual it seems, the man of lawlessness, as 2 Thessalonians calls him. But John says that many Antichrists have already come. So we know it is the last days. But already in the Old Testament, the spirit of the Antichrist was present. You know, boys and girls, what an Antichrist is. Anti means to be against, and Christ means anointed, so you're against the anointed one. And that's what Saul clearly is. David has been anointed, and Saul is opposed to him. The Antichrist is known by his false teaching, he's known by his persecution of the church, but he can also be known, can't he, by his mindset. And there are three characteristics of Saul's mindset that demand our attention. Number one, notice that Saul's reign depends upon human strength, not divine strength. Saul is found at the beginning of the episode with a spear in hand. At the close of the scene, his servant, Doag, has a sword in hand. Saul does not reign by God's grace and power. He does not depend upon God's weapons, but he depends upon merely human strength. This is characteristic of those who reign in Satan's kingdom. They don't rule in dependence upon the Lord Jesus, but they resort to creation. weapons, to human weapons, to money, to seductive powers, to whatever they be. And they're willing to cling to their power, making use of whatever they can find, whether it be a sword or a spear, a manipulative speech to his men here, weapons of the flesh. And so we can look around the world today and we can see unbelievers who have no interest in Christ's kingdom in places of often political power, And sometimes they reign through manipulation, through their charisma, through making backroom deals in other countries. They might reign through the power of physical violence and threats, maybe even assassinations. But as we look at the spirit of the Antichrist here, we're reminded, aren't we, that this satanic mindset is actually not so far from us, but it dwells in our old nature. The ways of Satan's kingdom are not unfamiliar to us, but they are lodged deep within our souls. When we as dads, as fathers, use the raw power of yelling at our children, When we as mothers use emotional manipulation, when as employees we barter and deception to make ourselves look good, when we as employers take advantage of an employee because we know they can't afford to lose their job, they'll do whatever we say. These are all methods that belong to the kingdom of Satan. when in times of trial we depend upon our own strength instead of pleading with the Lord and crying out to him. We look to other things for comfort, food or recreation or whatever it be instead of to the gospel promises. These are patterns that belong to a different kingdom you see. And yet God, through all of this, is preparing to send a different kind of king, the one foreshadowed by David. And remember how David went to fight Goliath? He told Saul, he told King Saul, the Lord who delivered me from the bear and from the lion's paw, he will deliver me from this Philistine. He goes out to meet Goliath and he says, you come to me with a sword and a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. Yes, Christ would come. the true king and he would say to us in Ephesians 6, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the armor of God. See, that's a different kind of kingdom, isn't it? Are you depending upon the Lord Jesus Christ this morning? Do you call out to him in prayer? Do you use the weapons he supplies? Are you strong in the Lord? Do you come here believing today that what the world despises as so weak and foolish, the preaching of the gospel, that this is the power of life for your soul? But the second characteristic of the mindset of the Antichrist is that he exalts self over against God. And so we saw here, he's consumed with himself. He's making up facts to suit himself, accusing people of conspiracies. He's all about himself. The whole world centers on Saul, Saul thinks. And he makes up his own judgments and penalties, doesn't he? That he will kill a Himalaya, and not just a Himalaya, but all the priests, and then he'll kill their whole city. You know, interestingly, in the Old Testament, God actually said you could place a whole city under the ban, devote them to destruction, if they worship false gods. You could do that to a city of Israel. But when Saul does this to Nob, He's essentially accusing these people of being unfaithful to God, but who are they really, in his mind, unfaithful to? They're unfaithful to Saul. Saul has put himself in the place of God. He thinks he has the divine right now to punish a whole city because they don't embrace me. Saul has set himself up as God. Boys and girls, have you ever said to yourself, I am God? Ever said that to yourself, I am God? Maybe you say, I've never said that. I would never even think of saying that I am God. But when mom and dad call you to come into the house, and you don't want to come inside, so you run the opposite way, do you know what you're saying? You're saying, I'm God, I will decide. or when your brother or sister have done something that makes you upset and you yell at them or you hit them, and you say, I'm gonna decide how to punish them, then you're really doing what King Saul does here, and you're saying, I am God. Maybe we think it's not such a big deal, but the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, 2 Thessalonians speaks of him, It says of him there that he opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. That is the Antichrist. He takes God's place or tries to. Those who belong to Satan's kingdom are all so many people who have crowned themselves king. But the Christian is one who humbles himself under the mighty hand of God that he might be exalted in due time by God's hand. But thirdly, in terms of characteristics of the mind of the Antichrist, notice that he values earthly riches above the riches of God's kingdom. Isn't it striking that as Saul here tries to move his men to embrace him instead of David, the son of Jesse, who has been anointed to be king, as Saul tries to manipulate his men, what does he say to them? He says, will this son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards? Will he make you commanders over thousands? Will he give you and your families government jobs and royal perks? And Saul expects this to be a tremendously motivating thing. Actually, he's become the very Saul that, very king that Samuel had warned about, right? First Samuel 8, 14, he's gonna take your fields and vineyards and give them to his servants. And so Saul has apparently been doing that. He's been taking fields and vineyards and giving them out to fellow Benjaminites who are serving Saul. This is the way the kingdom of the Antichrist works, isn't it? It's an appeal to human riches, to earthly pleasures. Look around the world today, there's people who have traded their souls for money, for wealth, for power, for fame, for sexual pleasure, for possessions, for earthly security. The apostle says in 2 Thessalonians 2, that such people are actually deluded by this power of Satan involved with the Antichrist. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 9 it says, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception. for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion. Strong delusion. Does it make any sense? Do you have to take a logic course before you can understand that it makes no sense to sell your soul for a few years of pleasure on earth? Of course not. And so we say, how come my neighbors don't get this? Why would they suffer eternally in hell to have a few riches here on earth? It's because they're deluded, they're deceived, they're blind. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved. through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what salvation is, that God calls us. He frees us from the delusion so that we will obtain the glory. Remember in the first letter Paul written to Thessalonians, he said how they turned from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for Jesus to come from heaven. It's only the power of the gospel that sets us free from the minds of the antichrist. It is only the power of the gospel that frees from the satanic delusions that encompass our world. But oh, what a gospel it is that here we are today. And rather than saying, I must have riches, I must have fame, I must have wealth, we say, Lord, I would die for you. I would suffer for you. I would be in prison for you. I'd give my life to you. My hope is set on the inheritance of glory to come at the appearing of my great king. willing to endure the rage of Satan and his kingdom, that we might live forever in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mindset of Saul is a hostile mind, a hostile mind opposed to God and to God's anointed and to God's kingdom. But how wonderful that in the midst of this, God is bringing about a king who will save us to bring us to the glory of his kingdom. We notice then, secondly, not only does Saul have a hostile mind to the kingdom, but he doles out a cruel persecution. When David had gone earlier to, in the previous chapter, to the tabernacle to speak to a Himalak, try to get some food and a sword, Doeg, the Edomite, was there. Remember the Edomites? They were long-standing enemies of the people of God. All throughout the Bible, the Edomites are enemies of the Lord's people. They like to rejoice when God's people get smashed. And now Doeg has done what David had feared he would do. He has told King Saul all about this and he's tried to incriminate the high priest Ahimelech. And Saul views Ahimelech here as a traitor, doesn't he? He says, you inquired of the Lord for David. He probably means you tried to ask the Lord how to help David overthrow my kingdom and then you gave him food and then you gave him a sword. You've been aiding and abetting the enemy. And Hamelach defends himself, doesn't he? He says, no, who's more honorable in your kingdom? Who's a better servant of Saul than David? I didn't know anything about this. And Saul, delusional Saul, cannot listen to reason, but with growing paranoia, which often accompanies the life of dictators, Saul commands that he be killed, him and all the priests with him. Saul's servants are unwilling to lift the sword against God's priests. But Doag, the Edomite, has no scruples about taking off the heads of priests. He is the kind of soldier that Satan's kingdom creates, isn't he? The hardened, cruel, self-seeking, what am I going to get from Saul if I do this? kind of soldier that belongs to the kingdom of Satan, and Doag will carry out the murders. Not satisfied with killing all the priests, then he sends them on to the whole city of Nob to take care of their wives, and their children, and their infants, and their donkeys, and their sheep. Isn't this remarkable? The very thing God had told Saul to do with regard to the Amalekites, to put them under the ban and devote them to destruction, Saul had refused to do that in the name of the Lord. But now when it comes to the name of Saul and the glory of Saul's kingdom, he'll wipe out an innocent city. How ugly and how terrible. This is what Satan does throughout the ages. seeks to destroy God's people, seeks to destroy the church, always loves to go after the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. You know, it's a remarkable thing that Satan is so angry at the people of the Lord Jesus. And he's working through the false church. The Belts Confession, Article 29, when it speaks about the false church in distinction from the true, it says that the false church ascribes more power and authority to itself and its ordinances than to the word of God, and will not submit itself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does it administer the sacraments as appointed by Christ in his word, but adds to and takes away from them as it thinks proper. It relies more upon men than upon Christ, and persecutes those who live holy lives according to the word of God. That's the nature of the false church. Persecutes the true church. That's the nature of the false king. He persecutes the true king and the true kingdom. And so we, as the Church of Jesus Christ, are involved in the conflict. You can't read a story like this, 1 Samuel 22, as just a relic of history that happened back there. It doesn't involve me. God is telling to his people, this is the way it is upon earth, as you are involved in this kingdom conflict. And by rescuing you from Satan's side, as I did in the garden, and bringing you back to my side, I have involved you in a conflict, a perpetual conflict. you may expect the rage of the evil one against you. He who hates Christ will hate you. You will face opposition. You'll be mocked, you may be beaten or imprisoned, but you'll be opposed by Satan, and it should not surprise you. But the glory and the wonder, of course, is that in the midst of it all, all of this fighting of Satan is really just the signal that his kingdom is coming to an end. Notice finally this morning, Saul's sure defeat. But the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. The kingdom of Saul will not prevail against the kingdom of Christ. But God reigns supreme. The good news this morning is that we talk about kingdom conflict here. We're not talking about equally ultimate forces. That there's good and there's evil. They're about the same strength and we don't know who's going to win. It's not the case. There's one eternal God and everything else is what he made. And the one eternal God is good. He's righteous. He's just. And so in our passage here, the Lord is reminding us that he is the sovereign kingmaker, and all evil is beneath his rule and his reign. And there's at least three evidences in our passage of this. Number one, notice, first of all, that the slaughter of the priests, though it's evil and wicked, so far as Saul and Doeg have done it, nevertheless, the slaughter of the priests is the fulfillment of God's word. It was earlier for Samuel that God had told Eli that God was going to destroy the house of Eli and wipe out his family. And now some 40 or 50 years later, God's word is fulfilled. Even in opposing God's kingdom, the sword of Saul and Doeg is actually in service to God's kingdom. You read the book of Acts and there are those tremendous statements in the early chapters about how wicked and lawless hands crucified the Lord of glory, but in doing that they were doing what God had predestined beforehand. Boys and girls, I don't know if your dad has ever done this with you, but when I was a boy, sometimes my dad, when I was trying to wrestle him, would take my hands and hold my wrists, and he, this sounds bad, I guess, but he would use my hands to hit me, not too hard, just lightly, and then he would say, why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? In a far, far greater sense, of course, this is the story of the kingdom conflict. Everywhere Satan is punching, everywhere Saul is swinging his sword, everywhere they're doing this, they're actually destroying themselves and their own kingdom. And when Satan thought he had struck the greatest blow, he has crucified the anointed one, murdered him. That was actually the event that destroyed Satan's whole kingdom. It was actually the event of Jesus Christ overcoming our sin and guilt and removing any basis by which Satan can accuse us. How glorious is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus that the most horrific crimes in all of the world are subject to being turned to the prophet of the kingdom of Jesus and to the good of his people. Everything on earth fulfills God's will. That doesn't mean it takes away the pain, takes away the sorrow. You can't just tell the Christians imprisoned in North Korea, you know, it's okay, Christ reigns, and suddenly they don't have any hunger pangs, and suddenly they don't miss their families at all, no. But it does lift up the hearts of God's people to the ultimate victory. The hands of lawless men are in the hand of the sovereign one. But secondly, we see good news in God's protection. That in the midst of the slaughter of the priest, there's one who escapes. Abiathar escapes. How often isn't this the case? Satan goes out to slaughter and one escapes. Satan tries to slaughter the the Egyptian baby boys, and Moses escapes. Satan goes to slaughter the babes of Bethlehem, and Jesus escapes. Well, these aren't just little coincidences in history. This is the sovereign protecting hand of God, that he continues his purposes on earth. Satan never triumphs. The Belgian Confession says something rather wonderful. In Article 27, that this church of Christ has been from the beginning of the world and will be to the end thereof, which is evident from this that Christ is an eternal king, which without subjects he cannot be. And this holy church is preserved or supported by God against the rage of the whole world, though it sometimes for a while appears very small and in the eyes of men to be reduced to nothing, as during the perilous reign of Ahab, The Lord reserved unto him 7,000 men who had not bowed their knees to Baal. The church may shrink down at times, at times she appears to disappear, and yet there is always a remnant preserved. God's cause upon the earth always goes on. Satan never triumphs. How wonderful it is that in this cave, that in these times of hiding, the Lord is preserving David. And now in this distress, the Lord has preserved Abiathar. But the third sign of the Lord's victory and the defeat of Saul and Satan and the Antichrist is this, that at this very moment that all this persecution is going on, God is shaping for himself a submissive king. Because you have to ask yourself, why? Why such a strange rise to power for David? He gets anointed, unexpectedly, a shepherd boy gets anointed to be king, and then all these strange things happen, right? In Saul's palace, and now he's persecuted by Saul, and he has to go through all of these days of distress. What is going on? And the answer is, the Lord is making David ready to be king. He's shaping David. How beautifully he's shaping a submissive heart. He's shaping a man to love God and to love God's kingdom. And here we see the love of God in David, that David loves the priests. David repents to us and he is sorry for having endangered Himilac and his whole family. He takes the blame upon himself and he gives here a safe refuge to Abiathar. David here prefigures the Lord Jesus. who loves the kingdom of priests that he has made, his holy church, and though he leads us into death not in perhaps the foolish way David did, but who calls us to take up our cross and follow him. Yet he, at the same time, is our protector and reserves us for the glories of heaven. And he says, as David said to Obiathar, stay with me, do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks yours. With me you shall be in safekeeping. And Christ, in a far greater way, says that to all of his priests, to his servants. He says, stay with me. The one who hates me hates you. And if you're with me, you will be hated. The spirit of the Antichrist is real. Satan is against my kingdom. The world hates me and you will be hated, but stay with me and you will be safe. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8. And then the lawless one, the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. Christ Jesus wins. No spoiler alert needed, I trust. Christ Jesus wins. That's the story. That's the story of this book. That's the story of history. And that's our great hope. In this world, we'll be hated. The church will be persecuted. But if we stick with Christ, we will be safe. Amen. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your holy word, which sheds light upon this delusional world. how difficult it is for us to see with human eyes the great invisible realities taking place that Jesus Christ has conquered and he is coming again. And meanwhile, he holds us in his hands and he guards our lives. We pray, oh God, that you would open our eyes through your word to see clearly and in seeing to believe and believing to live by the principles of the kingdom of Jesus and to refuse any entrance to the methods and mindset of Satan. In Jesus' name we pray these things for the glory of our great King. Amen.