1 Samuel 24, and we're going to read the whole chapter here, so if you follow along as I read 1 Samuel 24, verse 1, and the Word of God says, And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheep goats by the way, where was a cave, and Saul went in to cover his feet, and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.' Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his servant with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way. David also arose afterward and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stood with his face to the earth and bowed himself. And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave, and some bade me kill thee, but mine eye spared thee, and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and kill thee not. Know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it. The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. As saith the proverb of the ancients, wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog? After a flea? The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I, for Thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And Thou hast showed this day how that Thou hast dealt well with me, for as much as when the Lord had delivered me into Thine hand, Thou killest me not. For if a man find his enemy, will He let him go well away? Wherefore, the Lord reward thee good, for that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king. and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my seat after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David swear unto Saul, and Saul went home, but David and his men got them up unto the hole. Now as we think about this text here, this is a really familiar passage of Scripture, but I want us to think here of what took place here in the life of David and really the temptation that he faced. This to me was, you know, some people could say would be an answer to prayer. There he is. There is Saul. But we're going to see here Who was David's greatest enemy? And really in our lives, you know, David is about to have an opportunity here to change the course of his life for what we would say, good. He could do away with his enemy. He had an opportunity. You know, when we have opportunities to change things dramatically in our lives, what is it that guides our decision making? What is it? We're going to see here what happened here in this account here, and we're going to see here really three things, and let me kind of sum up these things, and then I'll give them to you in order. But first of all, we're going to see the struggle that came from without. Then, number two, we're going to see the struggle from within. And then lastly, we're going to see the success was worthwhile. And I want us to think about the enemies that we have or that we consider in this world, and the Bible is clear that the devil is our enemy. But I want us to be aware that I think that there's an enemy that we deal with on more of a consistent basis than the devil himself, and that is ourselves. That's a real enemy. And the thing about that enemy is that he never goes away. He's always there. You know, when you wake up in the morning, you're looking at Him right in the mirror every morning. So let's think about, first of all, the struggle that came from without. Now, in chapter 24, verse 1, the Bible says, And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Ein Gedi. Now, we know last week we saw, we talked about in the midst of trial how David trusted the Lord and God delivered him right in the nick of time. Right at the last moment when David was surrounded, a messenger comes to Saul and David is delivered. And it was the perfect timing, and so Saul had pursued, he had left. Why? Because the Philistines had invaded the land. And so Saul now comes back, and I want us to think about this struggle that came from without. Think about, first of all, the deeds of this wicked servant Saul. The Bible says, think about here, he was detracted from going after David, but as soon as his task is done, he goes right back to chasing David. You know, we can often question God by asking ourselves, why do the wicked seem to prosper? You know, we could think here, after Saul goes and chases the Philistines and drives them out, apparently he won the victory there. I think we could think as Christians sometimes, well, why didn't God just kind of kill him? in the battle. Why didn't God use that opportunity to do away with Saul? It is interesting that there was a little reprieve here for the deliverance of David, but it wasn't a complete deliverance. You know, we could ask ourselves, why would God allow Saul to prosper against the Philistines? Why would God not judge Saul then to deliver David from his hand? Psalm 37, 1 and 2 says this, Now I want us to think, sometimes we think, by the way, that's a theme throughout the Word of God. The children of Israel accused God of that. They look at the wickedness of people around them and the nations that worship false gods and they say, well, they're not receiving the judgment of God, but we are and we are your righteous people. Sometimes it is very easy to look at the wickedness of the world and say, wow, why do they prosper while they do the wrong thing and we do the right things and we don't seem to prosper? And that's a valid question, but the Bible makes it clear over and over again throughout the Psalms and the Proverbs that we ought not to envy them, because the judgment of God may not come now, but it is going to come one day. And every man is going to give an account, and so think about the struggle here as Saul went away, he goes right back as a victor over the Philistines. Not only do we see the deeds of the wicked, but we see the determination of the wicked. Think about right after the Bible tells us that it was told him saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. You know, we could safely say based on that, and we already know that, that Saul was obsessed with killing David. I mean, it's hard to me, I don't find another example in all the Word of God where a man was so obsessed and so determined to kill another man. I mean, think about it, as the king of Israel, we already established that he had a lot of responsibilities. And we know that he neglected many of those responsibilities just to chase one man. Now, I want us to think about several points here that we could draw out of this text here because of Saul and his determination. We see here that he misused God's goodness. You know God was good to Saul. It was several years ago that God told Saul that he was rejected from being king through the prophet Samuel. But needless to say, God allows Saul to live on and to still rule as king. And Saul continues in his wickedness. Think, just a few chapters ago he killed 85 priests. But yet God allows him to live. And you know what we could draw from that is that we see that Saul misused God's goodness. You know, Ecclesiastes 8 verse 11 tells us, Romans 2 verse 4 says, And really here, as Saul really continues to see the blessing of God on his life to a certain extent, I know God is removed from him, but he's still gaining victory over the Philistines. He still is the king, while the servant of God is in the cave. You know, I think that is a testimony that God was good and merciful towards Saul. You know, to me, the years from the time that Saul was rejected from being king to the years where he died finally at the hand of the Philistine, all of these years are the mercy of God towards Saul. Where God is allowing over and over again for Saul to see the hand of God through delivering David over and over again to try to get his attention. but it didn't happen. So we see here he misused God's goodness, but also we see that he menaced God's servant. The Bible says he went back to seek David and his men. You know, David had been already misrepresented. He had been misunderstood. The people had been misinformed about David, and it seemed that God was standing idly by doing nothing about it. Although he had just delivered, now he comes right back, so what's the point? Saul here is coming back after a temporary leave to seek for David's life. Now think about, this is a real struggle that comes from without. We could say as Christians, well, why doesn't God just get rid of him? This problem or this person seems to be coming back over and over and over again. Yes, I'm seeing deliverance, but this is getting a little bit of a nuisance here. This is getting annoying. So not only do we see here the deeds of the wicked, the determination of the wicked, but we see the dominance of the wicked. The Bible tells us here that Saul took 3,000 chosen men. How many did David have? At this point, he had 600. He started off with 400 that met him in the cave, but now he has got 600 men. But the Bible tells us that Saul had 3,000 chosen men with him. In other words, Saul had five times as many men as David had, and all of Saul's soldiers were the best in the army. They were the chosen men, specifically for this task to capture David, because David was a smart man. He knew war. He knew tactics. He had many victories over the Philistines. And so here Saul is not wasting time. He's got 3,000 chosen men. Now the enemy of the godly, let's say this here, is powerful. He does not send in the varsity team. He gives it all he got. The enemy cannot be defeated without God's help. And it is true today for the Christian. You know, yes, God is the all-powerful God, and He's more powerful than Satan, but Satan is more powerful than us. So it takes God to defeat the enemy. So think about the struggle here that came from without, and this was a real struggle, and we can say this is valid. But although the struggle from without was real and great, it does not compare to the struggle that He faced from within. As much as we want to speak of the struggles from without in our lives, we must realize that the great threat that we face comes from within. And that's where the issue is most of the time. So we see here the struggle from without, but number two, we see the struggle from with it. I want us to think here, first of all, of the temptation that David faced was strong. The temptation was strong. I want you to notice verse three. The Bible says, And he came to the sheep goats by the way. There was a cave, and Saul went in to cover his feet, and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. In verse 4, And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. Now I want us to think here just a little moment of the struggle that must have took place from within. And we understand human nature, so I think we can derive all these points from this. First of all, we see the possibility in the temptation. You know, Saul was in the dark. He was in the cave. Now this particular area in Gedi, we find that there are many caves. And now these, Gedi was a place where it's very mountainous, and if you look at the rocks, they're very white. They're not dark rocks, they're very white. So could you imagine, I know that anybody ever been in a cave or an area where it's completely dark? And you just come out of a sun, and you come out of a really bright place, and you go into a really dark place? And you can't see anything. Occasionally I've been in a few caves and there are spots that you go in where you can't see your hand in front of your face. That's how dark it can get. Now here Saul is coming in, in a cave, completely dark, and David and his men have been in the cave and they see Saul, but Saul doesn't see them. His eyes are still adjusting. So think about here, this is the possibility in temptation. Many times we justify things because we look at the possibility in what can be done because of what's presented itself. So Saul here was in the dark, but also Saul was defenseless. You know, temptation will always see the possibilities presented as opportunities to take actions, but therein lies the danger. That's where the danger is. Well, look, I could do this. This could be of benefit. So not only see the possibility of temptation, but we see also the positivity of temptation. Think about there's really two benefits here in this temptation. There was a personal benefit and there was a national benefit. Think about the personal benefit for just a moment. If David took this opportunity to kill Saul, a lot of things would change. Think about, first of all, there would be a change in his position. Think about the man standing between him and the throne would be out of the way if David just killed him. David could become the king. If Saul was removed, Not only would there be a change in position, there would also be a change in his dwelling place. Now up to this point, David has been dwelling in caves, in the forest. He's been kind of hiding. He's not dwelling in a house as he did previously when he was one of the leaders in the army of Israel. Now he's kind of running away, dwelling in caves, dwelling in trees. Think about it. If he just killed Saul, he could finally be in a house now. He could finally live in luxury and perhaps in a palace as the king. So there would be a change in his position. There would be a change in his dwelling place. There would also be a change in personal peace. Think about what a weariness it was for David to live on the run all the time. I don't think any of us have experienced that. Anybody running from the police tonight? I don't think anybody's on the run. But think about it, he's on the run for something that he's done nothing wrong. Can you think about the turmoil and the weariness it is to be on the run all the time? To be living like a hunted beast would be over Saul? If Saul would just be assassinated, if Saul would just be killed, he could finally be at peace. That would be a benefit to him. So there would be a change in position, in his dwelling place, in his personal peace, but also there would be a change in possessions. You know, assassinating Saul would bring David wealth. As the next king, there is no doubt about it. Instead of his present poverty, which came as a result of being a fugitive, running away from the king, he would have great riches, which would come about from being the king. So there would be a change in position, a change in a dwelling place, a change in personal peace, a change in possessions, but also there would be a change in prestige. Instead of being a humble, live a humble lifestyle, David could be the king. He could be respected. He could be in a place of leadership. He could be looked up to, instead of looked down to. Now can you see here, in this temptation, all the personal benefits that David could get if he just killed Saul. You know, that's what temptation does in our lives. It looks at all the positive things that we can think in our mind that we could get as a result of doing what is wrong in the sight of God. So not only see the possibility of temptation and the positivity of temptation, we saw the personal benefits, but let's look at the national benefits because there's no doubt here. Think about here, David probably would have thought here, and these men probably would have thought, Now, if Saul's killed, we would have a right ruler. Saul, there's no doubt about it, was a bad king. Bad king. His government was inept. It was unjust. It was wasteful. It was misguided. Saul neglected his responsibilities while he pursued his own selfish interests. Saul treated good people bad and bad people good. He did not care for the welfare of the nation. However, with David as king, the nation would be ruled with wisdom, energy, and justice. So it would not only be a personal benefit, it would be a national benefit with a right ruler. Not only would it be a national benefit with a right ruler, but it would also be a national benefit with a religious revival. You know, Saul rejected God's word and encouraged disobedience to the word of God. He had slain, think about it, 85 priests and had little true spiritual interest in worshiping God. You know, David, on the other hand, would bring, I believe, Israel back to a much better relationship with God. And as a matter of fact, when he became king, he got Israel to a better place with God. David had great respect for God's Word and God's prophets and the men of God. True religion would thrive under David's rule. A national benefit. Not only would the nation benefit with a right ruler, with a religious revival, but also with required rest. You know, while Saul fought and won some battles over the enemies of Israel, he was weak in protecting the country. We just saw that a few chapters ago with Keilah. There was nobody there to defend the town of Keilah. The nation was constantly being harassed by the Philistines and other enemies. David would end all of that. David would provide great protections from Israel's enemies. And so we could say here in this temptation, think about perhaps all the things running through his mind, all the things running through the minds of his men as they think, wow, if we could just do away with Saul, look at it, he's right here. This is the hand of God. And think about all the benefit, all the things that can be good for us personally, good for the nation as a whole if we just took his life. You know, in temptation, that's how we reason with ourselves many times. Well, how could this benefit me? It's not only going to benefit me, it's going to benefit everybody else around me. So, we see here the possibility of temptation, the positivity of temptation, but also the, thirdly, we see the persuasion of temptation. In verse 4, the Bible says, And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemies into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose and cut off the skirt off Saul's robe privily." Now think about here the persuasion in the temptation. Many times, when we are tempted, there will be voices around us, whether it be friends or family, or even our own voices in our own heads, that will try to persuade us, and say, hey look, this is a great opportunity for you. You need to take it. Think about the people. It was the men of David. These were the men that came and supported David in time of weakness. These were the men that had now followed David for quite a while now. They had defeated the Philistines in Keilah. They were attached to David. They were following his rule. Not only do we see here that the people were his friends, but we also see the perversion. Think about here how they distorted or how they perverted two things. First of all, they perverted God's promise. And number two, they perverted God's providence. Notice they mention, first of all, God's promise. Behold, the day in which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemies into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. They perverted God's promise and they used the providence of God to do it. They saw, look, God has brought you, Saul, right in the cave. You remember the promise that God gave you? You remember the psalm that you wrote that God would deliver your enemies into your hand? Here it is. You can kill him. This is the day. This God, God has brought you, has brought him to you so you could kill him. You know, they insisted that God had brought Saul into the cave so that Saul could be assassinated by him. But no providence justifies evil. You know, a lot of times in our lives as Christians with things that happen in our lives sometimes will justify making the wrong decisions based upon its timing in our lives. Well, it must be the Lord. I should make this decision based upon, look at my circumstances. God did this for me. But again, providence never, never justifies evil. So think about this temptation here. We have, look, the struggle from without was great. It was real. But the struggle from within at this particular time was even stronger because of what he could get out of this for personal gain, for national gain. And all the voices around him are saying, look, this is the hand of God. We must be very careful when we use the Word of God to justify our actions. We better make sure that it is the Word of God rightly interpreted. Because many times we'll just kind of throw a verse out there to kind of justify, to ease our conscience. And look, I know that because I've done that. You know, it's like, well, the Word of God says that, so I guess I don't have to do this. Or I can, you know, change my decision here. So not only we see here the temptation was strong, but we also see the temptation was stopped. And I want to ask, what is it that stopped this temptation? Notice verse 5, this is amazing. And it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. So what did David do? The men are like, David, go kill him. Now think about it. They say, God has delivered him. So David goes up to Saul, and it's completely dark. He's unaware. He doesn't even know that David is creeping up on him. And David goes over here. Perhaps Saul had taken off his robe, put it to the side. And so David just kind of cuts off a corner off of the robe, and he kind of goes back. And think about here. What is it that stopped the temptation? It is, first of all, the conviction that David had. He went over, he didn't touch Saul, he didn't scare him, he cut off a little piece off his robe. He went back and the Bible tells us that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. A tender conscience gets upset about small sins as well as big sins. Matthew Henry said this, it is a good thing to have a heart within us convicting us of sins that seem little. It is a sign that conscience is awake and tender and will be the means of preventing greater sin. Think about David here. He knows he's not supposed to take Saul's life, and so he kind of thinks in his head, well, I'm going to go over and I'm just going to kind of cut off the robe so that he kind of knows. And think about just doing this little action, just tussing the robe, cutting off the robe, just the edge, just a fragment of his robe. He gets convicted by it. Why? Because he's sensitive to the Lord. His heart's desire is to do things that absolutely please the Lord. He doesn't want to do anything that brings a reproach to his God. That's what stopped the temptation. And may I say we must be careful in our lives that when we allow things in our lives to where we do small things, perhaps it's kind of a, maybe a habitual sin that we kind of think, well, it's no big deal. And may I say that we have to stop there and examine ourselves and make sure if we are not being convicted by the small sins in our lives anymore, it will yield to greater sin eventually in our lives. And here the conviction, the tenderness of David and his tender conscience prevented him from going into greater sin. Not only was the conviction that stopped him, but number two is the command stopped him. The Bible tells us in verse six, and he said unto his men, as he comes back with this piece of skirt and his conscience, he's being convicted, he says, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master. The Lord's anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing his the anointed of the Lord. So notice here what happens. Do you see the scene? The men tell David, look, there he is. God's brought him to you. You should kill him. And David makes his way to Saul. And the men don't know what he's about to do. But as he's making his way to Saul, he's thinking, I have an opportunity right now to kill him. But he doesn't do that. He kind of says, no, I can't do that. He says, you know what, I'll just kind of cut off his skirt. And he goes back and he tells his men, he says, I cannot touch the Lord's anointed. Because you know that that is not the right thing to do in the sight of God. David wrote about it in Psalm 105 verse 15. He says, touch not mine anointed. That's what David wrote. That principle came from Genesis chapter 20 verse 7, where the Bible says, Now therefore restore the man his wife, talking to Abraham, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. If and if thou restore her not, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all thine house. There was a principle here that you don't touch the man of God. The man that has been appointed by God, you do not touch him. David lived by that principle and he gives his men, he gives his men what? A command from God, a biblical principle. So, what is it that stopped David? His conviction, the command of God, but also the containing. Think about here, verse 7, the Bible says, So David stayed his servants with these words. and suffer them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way." You see here, he comes back and says, we're not supposed to touch the Lord's anointed. And with those words, he stayed his men. His men thought, well, you're not going to do it, David. I'll do it. And David said, no. You can't touch the Lord's anointed. He contained them. You know, God needs to use us when we are tempted. And when we overcome temptation, I believe that God can use us to help other people when they are tempted to do the same thing. That's exactly what Saul did. I'm not going to make that mistake, gentlemen, and neither are you. And his men stayed. By the way, The one that was the most justified to do that, if there was any, would have been David. Saul was not chasing any of these other men to kill them. He was chasing David. But these men thought, well, I'm going to do a service to David. So here we see here. The struggle from without, we also see the struggle from within. But lastly, we see the success was worthwhile. You know, David did not end up becoming the king of Israel by the end of this chapter. That didn't happen. But what he did accomplish was success, not in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of God. David kept his testimony before Saul, before Saul's men, and before those who were following him. And most importantly, he kept his testimony before God. And we see that really how this happened. The Bible tells us, notice verse 24, verse 8, David also arose after and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, My Lord the King. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped, with his face to the earth and bowed himself. What is it here? Think about the success. Now, in man's economy, we wouldn't call that success. But in God's eyes, what happens right now, that's success in the eyes of God. The first thing we see is he was submitted. He was submitted. David was giving respect to the office Saul held. He was the king of Israel. David, by bowing to the ground with his face on the ground, was not justifying the offenses, but was humble and submitted to the office. And it is the same in our lives. You know, we are not here to condone the sins of others, but whatever office somebody holds, we ought to respect that office, and we ought to be humble and submitted to that office. So he was submitted. That was success in the eyes of God. Doesn't God say that He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble? You see, in God's economy, the way up is down. In man's economy, the way up is up. But in God's economy, the way up is down. He was submitted. That was success in the eyes of God. And by the way, as Christians, we have to be determined to be successful in the eyes of God. Not in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of God. So he was submitted, not only was he submitted, but he was number two, sincere. Verse 9, the Bible tells us, And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold this day, thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave, and some bade me kill thee. But mine eyes spared thee, and I said, I will not put mine hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and kill thee not. Know thou, and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it. Here, David was sincere. Think about it. He did not use the providence of God for evil, but rather for good. Now Saul would clearly see that David meant Saul no harm. To take Saul's life at that point would have justified all the lies that everybody said about David. Can you imagine all the false accusation here? All of these things about David that people were saying that he was trying to take Saul's life would have all been justified if David had taken the providence of God to do evil, but he took the providence of God and said, no, I'm not going to take this for evil. I'm going to take this for good. And in sincerity here, he uses here what could have been a personal gain, something that is gain in the eyes of God. You see, now everybody knows, Saul's men, Saul, David, and his men, that David is a sincere man. There's no doubt about it. He could have taken his life and people were, look, people were telling me, Saul, to take your life. But may this be the proof, Saul, that I'm not here to kill you, that I will not touch the Lord's anointed. Saul, he was submitted, he was sincere, but also he was surrendered. Verse 12, the Bible says, The Lord judged between me and thee, and the Lord avenged me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. He goes on, notice in verse 15, The Lord therefore be judged, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. Notice David says here, he says, look, I am completely surrendered to God. I'm not going to take things in my own hands. I'm going to let God take care of this whole thing. And I want you to know, Saul, that I had an opportunity to kill you, but I'm going to allow God to be the judge. I'm going to allow God to be the one that condemns a man because of his transgression, and I'm not going to be the one that's going to condemn because of the transgressions. You see, that's a man that's completely surrendered to God. You know, that's what God wants in our lives. He wants us to be completely surrendered to Him, to put things into His hands and say, you know what? It is God that's going to be the judge. It is God that avengeth. It is God that will take revenge, saith the Lord. He will repay, not man. So He was submitted, He was sincere, He was surrendered, but notice He was saluted. In verse 17, the Bible says, And He said to David, Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast rewarded Me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. You see now, the man that has no regard for the things of God, the man that just killed 85 priests, he didn't do it himself, but he gave the command, he killed them, now recognizes and basically salutes David for what he did. Notice he says, thou art more righteous than I, for thou has rewarded me good. Whereas I have rewarded thee evil." Isn't that what Jesus said? Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, that persecute you, despitefully use you, pray for them. You see here, Saul says, I did evil against you and you, David, rewarded me for good. So although Saul hated him, he has to admit at this point that David is a much better man than he is. He has to admit here that David is on a whole other level than he personally is. And you know the Christian life is not just supposed to be a little better than the world. The Christian life is supposed to be a whole lot better than the world. We're on another level. We're supposed to be on a whole nother level. We're not supposed to just be a little bit ahead of the world. We're supposed to be on the level that God wants us to be. And that is to do exactly what Jesus tells us and what David did in this passage. Someone treats you in a way that's evil. You reward them with good. Someone mistreats you. You pray for them. Someone uses you, then you treat them well. So notice here, He was clearly submitted, He was sincere, He was surrendered, He was saluted, but lastly we see He was supported. Saul says an amazing thing in verse 20, the Bible says, Now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Saul recognizes, you see that, that David is going to be the next king. You're going to be the next king, David. And as a matter of fact, the kingdom is going to be established in your hand. You're going to set everything in order. Because he recognized at that point what David had, he was incapable of having, or at least he didn't want. He knew that David had what God wanted. And that's what was missing in his life, and that's why he was rejected from being king. So, let me ask you this question again. Who was David's greatest enemy? Saul or David? You know, David recognized it's David. David recognized that in a moment, one moment, he could lose his testimony and lose in the end. but he made the right decision to leave things in the hands of God and came succeeding as the man, again, after God's own heart. You know, the goal for our lives here, David, in this story, is a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is, what He was like, what He accomplished while He was here on earth. And may this be a lesson for us in the midst of temptation. May we ask ourselves this question. Maybe it's a good thing to ask ourselves this question when we're tempted, when we're going through a difficult time, and we could ask ourselves this question. Who is my greatest enemy? Is it, and you can fill the blank, this person, or this circumstance, or what this is happening in my life, or is it me? And the answer is always me. Because that's where the battle rages in our lives. You know, we are not accountable for our enemies and what they do. We are not accountable for how they treat us. But we are accountable for how we respond, for how we treat them. You see, God will take care of them, but remember, we're accountable to God. And may this be a warning for us as we follow David's example and we can say, wow, I mean, this perfect opportunity, perfect opportunity, yes, for David to establish himself again as a man after God's own heart who truly would be the greatest king that Israel would ever have, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that he was. You know, every king, was measured by David. After his reign, every king, God said, He did as David his father, or He did not do as David the king his father. He was the standard for what the character and the integrity and the testimony that he had. Why? Because in this moment, he saw himself as the enemy and not Saul. And when we come at crossroads in our lives, we always have to see ourselves as the enemy. You know, that's what Paul said. He says, the things that I want to do, I don't do, are the things that I don't want to do, I do. And to be honest with you, there's a struggle in my life. But who is it that gives the victory? It is through Jesus Christ. So let's heed this warning here as we think. As David said, the Lord forbid that I should do this. Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us as we come with real struggles in our lives, that we would make sure that we deal with the struggle that's within in a biblical way. Remember how David dealt with that? The conviction, the command, and the containing. There has to be restraint. We have to remember the word of God, the principles of God's word, and we have to make sure that our conscience is sensitive to the things of God, that we keep a short account of sin. Because if we think, well, I'll live without sin and it's no big deal, it's just kind of a bad habit. No, God intends you to get victory over that bad habit and stay sensitive to the things of the Lord.