1 Samuel chapter 14, with God's holy word in our hands, let us ask for a breath from on high. O God, our Father, we cry to Thee in these times. We are no more able than those servants of God who went with great limitation in days of old. We couldn't really compare ourselves to Jonathan. We believe we would fall short of the mark. But we think of a great class that Jonathan represented, and somehow, Lord, we can get in among them. We find that we are no match for the enemy. But we cry to Thee, O God, send deliverance. In Jesus' name, amen. But before I left for Australia, I was moved to preach about either man or woman who met God or feel God while under the tree. I have talked already about Nathaniel, that man who in a most startling fashion was saved because of an experience he had before God under the fig tree. I have led you to think about Abraham, who had a most notable, even unforgettable experience of meeting God, meeting the Lord, with two celestial companions. They sat down under the tree, and Abraham joined them there in what was to prove a time of blessed fellowship Abraham under the tree. The last occasion that I had with you, I talked about Deborah, the woman who sat under the palm tree and judged the people who came to her in those very hard and evil days. I would direct your attention to 1 Samuel 14, verse 2, when we have another instance in the Bible of one sitting under the tree. I have said in some of these instances that there are men who have met with God. In some cases, there are those who have failed God while under the tree. In verse 2, 1 Samuel 14, I read, And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree. The word tarried has to be emphasized as a point of character. He tarried under the pomegranate tree. There are times when God calls us to be up and doing. Certainly, there are times when the Lord requires a response in the right direction from us. The Lord requires you to make a heart commitment The Lord requires you to rise up from your place and with earnest strides and zealous strides, make your presence to be felt in the cause of God. In a calamitous time, in an evil day, when issues have to be decided, the people of God are called on to stand and not to be found wanting at such a time. How sad to read of such a notable man as Saul that he died under the pomegranate tree. I bring your attention to this incident in the life of Saul, seemingly unimportant, seemingly inconsequential, the kind of verse that if you read it, you would not think the second time of it. There are people here who have read through the books of Samuel many a time. You are familiar with the life of Saul, and some of you are Sunday school teachers or children's workers, and you have had occasion to talk about this man who had the honor of being the first king of Israel. But I dare say that in all your reading and contemplation of the life of Saul, you may not have tarried with him. as he sat there in Gibeah under the pomegranate tree. There is a contrast to be noted. I want you to observe it. It is a contrast between verse 1 and verse 2. On the one hand, there is something about Jonathan, and we read that in verse 1. On the other hand, there is something about Saul, and we have read that already in verse 2. What is this contrast? It came to pass upon a day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and he's speaking with feeling, with very great feeling in his soul. It's as if there's a fire that has been kindled there by God in his soul, and he's letting out the fire. He's saying, Come, he's speaking with feeling. And we have drawn your attention to the fact that the opening line of the chapter refers to a very definite a momentous day, a day to be set down in the calendar, a day never to be forgotten. These are prominent facts already in verse 1. But there is Jonathan, and we see the readiness which he has, the goal. Come and let us go. You might take that word, go, and highlight it, contrasting it with the word which is quite the opposite in verse 2, tatare. There's all the difference in the world between a man who's ready to go, who wants to go, who has the spirit of goal in him, and on the other hand, a man who, by character at this stage, seems to be set on parrying with unwillingness and weakness in a day when he should have been strong. Oh, this is sad. if we have to speak of a Christian who should be on his toes and in the place where he can contribute to the work of Christ if he tarries and lingers and hesitates and vacillates and is uncommitted, if he just goes when it suits him. I'll go when I like. I'll go when I think I ought to, considering myself. Then if that's the case, you'd better not go at all. We don't want you to be considering yourself. You should be considering the Lord. There's all the difference in the world there. The readiness of Jonathan. A man with gold in his words. And on the other hand, Saul, who's characterized sadly at this time by unwillingness, by weakness. And this is why he's found tarrying under the pomegranate tree. This is an attitude which didn't appear always in Saul's life, I think, but certainly is to be noted now in these particular days described in this chapter and the chapter before. Look at verse 7, chapter 13. Some of the Hebrews, running for their lives, went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. They emigrated. They got out of the country. They couldn't stand the situation. As for Saul, he was yet, and I want you to colour in the word yet, because it signifies, oh, he was still there, as if he was stuck at that point. He was still there. That's the sense of it. He was yet in Gilead, in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. He was still there. That's the thought of it. And verse 8, and he died. He was still lingering. He tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed. But Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him, that is, from Saul. He was losing men every day. Things were going from bad to worse. And consequently, Saul, by the time they get to chapter 14, verse 2, the word tarried appears once more. in our chapter, Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah. And do you see the word uttermost? Because that, too, has a significance. It is as if Saul has sat down in the uttermost part of the camp, as if to suggest that he wanted to distance himself from the battle, to stand as far off as he possibly could from the place where the conflict must occur. Saul then is not like Jonathan. Jonathan in verse 1 wants to be as near to the enemy as he can. Come and let us go over to them. We'll make a fight of it. We will make a stand of it. On the other hand, Saul, for his part, wants to be as far away from them as he possibly can. And this is why, even though he's tarrying, It is in the uttermost part of Gibeah, as far away from the battle scene, as far away from the men of war that he possibly can get. And it is in this place that he is tarrying, just letting the time go by, wasting time, not using time profitably. There are those in this congregation, I must draw attention to the fact, and really they are doing nothing but tarrying. They may sometimes speak about the Lord tarrying, but really the expression may be used to cover up their own tarrying. Be that as it may, there are certainly Christian people in this country who are only putting their time in. And some of them have to spend time with all sorts of activities because they're not in the place where they should be. There's no goal by them. They're tarrying. And when it comes to tarrying, they're not only sitting down, but they're as far off among the people of God that put themselves at a distance from the battle. They're not in the fight. They're like people ashamed of Jesus. They're not employed in the conflict. They're not standing. They're not helping by prayer. They're not shedding tears. They're not working for God. They're not shouldering the load. They're towering high and in a place afar off. They're on the uttermost of the camp. Don't you know that the Word of God fits like a glove? For we have numerous people, people of God, who are not to the forefront in the work at all. They're content to be in the sidelines. We can't explain it. It is so hard to take in the words of the hymn we were singing there. How could it be that one is ashamed of Jesus? How could it be that one is not prepared to stand up now and be active for the Lord, the King of Glory? We cannot explain it. Yet it is a fact that in this congregation also there are those who are on the outskirts of the camp. They're in the uttermost of the camp of the Lord. They're at a distance from the battle. They would say, no doubt, we believe in this gospel. Oh, yes, we believe in the Lord. We believe in the Bible. But when the day of battle comes, they're at a distance from us. We never see them at a prayer meeting, or as very rarely, they're found at the hour of prayer. Maybe some of us have already been slipping back in the few weeks that I have been away. Even in such a short space of time, you have not been so attentive to the hour of prayer. You yourself have been losing out in this matter. I think I noticed a decline in the numbers this morning at the pre-service time of prayer. Oh, we need to get back. Don't be on the uttermost of the camp. Don't be on the outskirts. of the family of God. Don't be content just to have a seat in the house of God. All the while, you're not involved. You're not committed. You're not burdened. You're not standing. You're not putting your shoulder to the wheel. You're tarrying. And I think, I think you may well be wasting your time instead of saying, Lord, what would you have me to do? Can't you be like Jonathan and pray God for a spirit of gold? Let us go! Jonathan is saying. I thank God for Jonathan. I thank God for a man who is saying, Let us go! And he means it to the last ounce of strength that he has. I thank God for him and for the leg of him. You see, look at verse 23 of chapter 13. There is a statement there Somewhat innocuous, but certainly unimportant looking. It's almost a trivial piece of information. The last verse of chapter 13. And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. As I say, it looks for all the world like an unimportant statement. It's almost a piece of trivial information. Thus, if that's the way you would read the verse, you could just get through your chapter and finish there with not another thought about it. There is nothing inconsequential in the Word of God and nothing trivial in Scripture. Everything is where it is for a purpose. Let me put it this way. With Saul, things had gone from bad to worse. The men, this is the first thing, that he had specially chosen for war had failed him. They vanished one by one until the 3,000 mentioned in verse 2 of chapter 13. Saul chose him 3,000 men of Israel. These were hand-picked soldiers for the fight. Men of proven worth. Men of valor, men who could use the weapons that sometimes they would have had. But certainly they were valiant men. Their weapons wouldn't have been the customary weapons of warfare. If they had a weapon at all, it would have been a bow cut from a tree. It might have been a spade or a fork or a sickle. They had no weapons of war. But such as they had, they were courageous men, 3,000 of them, all of them chosen in a particular way by the king. And these men, as you see the number there, 3,000 men, are whittled down until in chapter 14, verse 2, so all carrying under the pomegranate tree as about 600 men. You don't need me to comment any further. These valiant soldiers vanished one by one, to the right and to the left of them, and some of them even ran in the direction of the Jordan, crossed the river, and escaped to the relative safety of the territory on the far side of that river. So things are going from bad to worse. He doesn't have the soldiery now that he had just a little while back. And we like the encouragement of having workers to stand with us. Secondly, Saul had disobeyed the Lord. This is a foolish thing. Chapter 13, verse 13, Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly. Oh, if you do the wrong thing, if you run to the world, You have done foolishly if you have thrown away your Bible. And I know you haven't done it literally. I'm talking about the fact that you're not reading your Bible. You're not counting your Bible to be of first importance. You have dismissed your Bible as if it were a mere nothing. You have gone through a whole week without praying over the Bible, reading through the Bible, You have left God's Word aside. That's just to name one sin. Just one type of sin. You have done foolishly. Are there people in the congregation now who this past week have done foolishly in the sight of God? Yes, I believe there are. But Samuel is more explicit. Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which He commanded thee You have ignored God's Word. You have disobeyed Him in what you have done. Thus Saul lost God's favor. He had committed folly. Thirdly, notice, the Lord now looked for a man to replace the king. He would look for a man, verse 14 says, after his own heart. thus cutting off Saul's family in relation to the kingdom. Jonathan now cannot be king. Jonathan now will not come on in the place of his father, worthy as he is to wear the crown, for the whole family, in terms of a dynasty, have been cut off from being king. The Lord will seek him a man after his own heart. We have no monopoly on God. You cannot imagine for an instant, I have got some superior claimant, God, oh, the Lord will not give me up. You cannot say that if you have regard to your own importance. Listen, God said to Saul, the days of your usefulness are ended. I'll be looking for a man somewhere else. The Lord doesn't need me. He doesn't need you. Don't make that mistake. Don't ever think to yourself, whatever little niche you're filling in God's work, don't ever run away with a foolish notion. Ah, he can't do without me. That's a big mistake. The Lord doesn't need anybody. He can just move over to the next man as quick as anything. Don't forget that. He doesn't need you. If he has called your name, given you the opportunity, that's a privilege. That's a privilege for you. Don't despise it. Don't be missing now, tomorrow night. Don't be missing tonight. When Judy calls, you're either a member or an adherent of the church here, and you ought to be a member if you're a believer. If God has you here, then you should be here, spirit, soul, and body. really committed 100% and nothing less. God requires commitment. But I say this to you, But don't feel the Lord, and don't ever imagine, oh, there's some kind of monopoly one can have with God. For God says to this unhappy, wretched man, king of Israel as he is, I'll get me another. I'll look for a man after mine own heart. And sadly, this meant too that nobody would come on in the family of Saul to take the crown after he was gone. Fourthly, the Philistines took Michmash, verse 23, and they established a garrison there. We've come to that verse we mentioned, the verse that maybe you had consigned to the unimportant. Well, Michmash had been before this Saul's camp. This was the military camp of Israel. This is where Saul really had the 3,000 men of his command. This was the fortress occupied by the men of Israel. Look at chapter 13, verse 2. Saul chose him 3,000 men of Israel, for of 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash, and in Mount Bethel. And a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul allocated numbers of the men who were with him to Jonathan, and he kept the larger amount with himself. And these stayed in Michmash. This was the headquarters of the army of Israel. And do you see? The Philistines have taken it. The Philistines have established a garrison in it. That's a bit like saying, to use an Ulster situation, it's a bit like saying the IRA have taken over the whole shank of the road. The Philistines have moved into Mishmash. They have put a garrison there. And they have also done it with great force, with a huge multitude of men, with a spectacular display of their armed forces. They have come into Michmash. Look at verse 5 of chapter 13. And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel Oh, now the day has come on, you see, to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots. 30,000! 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. Oh, what a spectacular display! It is now put on by the enemy. And they came up and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-Avon. They established themselves there in the very place where Saul before had his army, his little fragmented army. Even when he had the 3,000, it was nothing in comparison to the 30,000 chariots and to the 6,000 horsemen, as well as the people who were like the sand of the seashore for multitude. This is a different thing. The Philistines intended that the men of Israel would see them. So, verse 6 says, when the men of Israel saw, oh, they saw the power of the devil. They saw the evidence of his strength. They saw what the devil could do. When they saw that, they were in a strife, for the people were distressed. Then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. They ran for their lives. When they saw that, when they saw the tremendous display of Palestine armory, when they noticed the multitude of men ready for the battle, they ran to the hills. They scattered in every direction. And no wonder the spirit of Saul was overwhelmed with dismay. Then you notice verse 17. The Philistines start to move into the offensive. And they send out their bands of marauders in three companies, one going in one direction and another in another, right, left and center. These men have come to drive the people of Israel out of their homes, out of their cities, out of their farms, to dispossess them in the country. And the bands of the marauders, the spoilers, the special detachments of the Philistine force have got to work. Then worst of all, verse 19 and verse 22, there wasn't one among the Hebrews that had a sword or a spear. They had to use their instruments of the farm. One had a fork, another had a hammer. Somebody else had a bit of a branch cut out of a tree. Didn't have a sword or a spear. They whittled down to 600. They were no match for the enemy. Then chapter 14 opens with words like these, This is the day. What an impossibility. This is the day. when everything is at a loss, when the men of God cannot turn in any direction to do that which is good or right, it would seem, but rather in fear the tendency would be to run and hide themselves in caves and dens and pits to run for their very lives. The day is over, some are saying. The day is over, but God the Holy Ghost in chapter 14 is saying, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. My time has gone. I think we should stay a little longer and notice what the day really meant and what the day really brought. A day of victory. In closing then, I want to say, where are you? Are you like Saul or are you like Jonathan? Are you tarrying, losing time, unable to get up and go? Or are you like Jonathan? possessed of gold, with a readiness, a warmth in your soul. Let us go. Let us be valiant for God. Let us now stand and lift a banner for righteousness. Thank God for a man like Jonathan. I don't want to sit on the outskirts of the camp of the people of God. I don't want to be there on the very outskirts of the crowd as one who is not doing anything. Oh, God, save me from such a thing. And if this has been like you, you haven't really got into the work. You haven't really put your heart and soul into the work. But all the while, you've been like a spectator. May God touch your soul. May the Lord warm your heart right now, that you may make your life count before it's too late. Let's bow in prayer. Our loving Father and our God, We pray that Thou will take us out from under the pomegranate tree. Save us, Lord, from tarrying, from finding a place on the outskirts of the camp on that terrible and evil day when we should get right back in and cry to God with all our heart and with all our soul. Oh, Lord, hear prayer now before it's too late. The enemy has come in like a flood. We're not able, Lord. We're just like that farmer in Israel who had a branch cut out of a tree. Lord, how useless the branch was in comparison to a shining, sharp sword or a fearsome spear. Lord, have mercy on Thy people. We thank Thee that although we have neither sword nor spear, we have the great God of heaven. Oh, we bless Thee that we have something that Philistine does not have. We have the Word of God. And we have the encouragement of the Lord's presence. We pray that we will rise up today and be strong. May our eyes be glued to Christ, even the Savior, and our God and our Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.