Heavenly Father, we approach your throne acknowledging you as the one true God who spoke the heaven and earth into existence. I pray that you bless this message, bless this ministry. I pray that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. Turn with me to 1 Samuel, chapter 26 for the reading of the scripture and let's catch up on this king david saga that we've been studying see if we can gain some ground in it today first samuel chapter 26 for the reading of the scripture let's dig in and the zephyrites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hills of Hakala, which is before Jeshimon? Then Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Zeph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Zeph. And Saul pitched in the hill of Hekila, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. David therefore sent out spies and understood that Saul was come in very deed. And David arose and came to the place where Saul had pitched And David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host. And Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched around about him. Then answered David, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joahab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And I shall say, I shall go down with thee. All right, let's size some of this stuff up real quick. How many times have Samuel, or how many times has Saul made a promise to David that he wouldn't go after him? And how many times has Saul broke that promise? For some strange reason, Saul can't make up his mind what he wants to do. Does he want to spare David or does he want to kill David? Now, if you see the beginning of chapter 26, the Zephite came and instigated all this mess with Saul. He instigated the whole thing. For some strange reason, I don't know why he did, but he did. But instead of Saul saying, you know, I made a pact with David not to kill him, Saul jumped right back into it. Sometimes that's all it takes is one person to come along and instigate something that you shouldn't be involved in. But if he was focused on God, you would never got involved with the instigator had in mind. So we got an instigator right here causing some problems. So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and beheld Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck into the ground at his bolster. But Abner the people lay around about him. Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered thy enemy into thy hand, and this day now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, And I will not smite him the second time. So we got David's comrade Abishai, Abishai ready to do Samuel in. Cause it seems like a great opportunity to get rid of Saul. I mean, we have, let's see what we got going on here. We got Abishai, David's companion. ready to do Saul in. This seems like a perfect opportunity to get rid of Saul and to end this whole problem that Saul's causing David. Now let's see how David responds to Abishai's ideal. And David said to Abishai, destroy him not, for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? Now pay attention to what David says. This is going to be some very important information that we're going to fall back on later on in this series. David said, furthermore, as the Lord live, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed, but I pray thee take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the crews of water and let us go. So David took the spear and the crews of water from Saul's bolster and they get them away and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awoke for they were all asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord was falling upon them. Now this last verse is some crucial information. God caused Saul and his army to be in a deep sleep. So David and his men can come in and survey the situation. So was God testing David? I'm not sure, but David did not allow his comrade Abishai to take Saul's life. And this speaks well in the favor of David, even though the anointing had left Saul. Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top of the hill after a far off, a great space between them. And David cried to the people and to Abner, the son of Nero, saying, answer thou not Abner? Then Abner answered and said, who art thou, cries to the king. And David said to Abner, art not thou a violent, A valiant man, and who is like to thee in Israel? Therefore thou hast thou not kept the Lord the king, for thou came one of the people in to destroy the king thy Lord. This thing is not good that thou hast done, as the Lord lives, ye are worthy to die, because you have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the crews of water that was at his bolster. And Solomon's David voiced and said, Is this the voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said, Wherefore does not my lord thus pursue after his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? Now therefore I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the lord has stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering. but if they be the children of men cursed by they be for the Lord for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord saying go serve other gods wow that was a very deep and soul-touching statement that David made David is still trying to get a handle on what's going on here and why Saul wants to kill him. But David has been anointed the king of Israel. And at this particular time, Saul's just in the way. And it's a matter of time before Saul gets removed from the picture. So let's begin reading or let's continue reading at Saul at first Samuel chapter 26 verse 20 now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea as when one dove hunt a partridge in the mountains then said Saul let's hear what the what Saul has to say let's check out the words of Saul let's see what he adds to this conversation then said Saul I have sinned, return my son David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thy eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred proceedingly. And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear, and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. The Lord renders to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord delivers thee unto my hand today. But I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lord to anoint it. Now, Saul realized that David could have took his life. And because of that, I think Saul kind of regained respect for David because David didn't take his life. But the words that David said are very important words and these are words that we should remember. He basically said that if Saul gets struck down in battle, let that be the will of God. Or if that's the will of God that he gets struck down in battle, so be it. But David still refused to take Saul's life because as far as he's concerned, He's still the legitimate and authorized legal king of Israel. And this is one of the reasons why King David is considered the prototype king of Israel. There is no other king of Israel like King David, except for King Jesus. He's the only one that's elevated over David. Now let's finish this chapter up real quick. And behold, as thy life was much said by this day in my eyes. So let my life so much said be in the eyes of the Lord and let him deliver my soul out of tribulation. Then Saul said to David, blessed be thou my son, David, thou shall both do great things and also shall still prevail. So David went on his way and Saul returned to his place. Now, I wonder if this is going to finally end the desire that Saul has to kill David I wonder if they finally have squashed this conflict they have because if we go back to earlier readings in this series we know that that an evil spirit came upon Saul and Saul was aware of the anointing that was now on David Saul was or Saul has always been worried that David would take his kingdom from him and I do believe that Saul knew that this was going to be a future king of Israel in David So let's size this chapter up once again, we had an instigator here This guy Zephytes and the Zephytes It was more than one says and the Zephytes came unto Saul. So it was wasn't just one. It was a few of them So we had some instigators here They came to King Saul and Suggested to him that he needs to go after David as far as application is concerned for the 21st century and We have to watch those instigators that come into our lives for one purpose to stir up confusion. Always remember when somebody brings a message to you, you got to ask one question. Is it of God or is it not of God? Uh, we had a situation here where David's comrade saw the opportunity to kill King Saul and David would not allow it to happen considering the fact that David has always viewed King Saul as God's rightly and legally anointed king. So when King Saul realized that David could have took his life he gained respect for him once again And David showed that he had the opportunity to kill him by taking his spear and taking his bag of water. However, David never ever stepped to the level of King Saul. And he never did the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. routine that is given to us in Mosaic law. He stood above it for the simple reason that he acknowledged Saul as king of Israel. So in recap, we see that David is a just man and he's a righteous man and he's a man that loves the Lord and he is a man that respects the anointed That God put into position even though the anointing was no longer on us all but he still Respects it in his eyes. He's the rightful king and in it and in his eyes He demands respect With that being said Let's consider this When you do what to write according to God God does open doors for you and with that being said remember study to show yourself approved stay in God's Word maintain a healthy prayer life and trust and lean on the Lord. Amen, amen, amen.