Lord congregation and as always a warm welcome to those who are visiting with us this morning. It's a joy and pleasure to welcome out of town friends and family as they gather together with us here at Cornerstone for the public worship of God. And as we are once more in God's house and among his people to begin our week Once more, we hear that God himself calls us to worship. And that call to worship is here in Psalm 116. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem, praise the Lord. So let's come now as we pay our vows to the Lord and offer him praise and begin with a word of silent prayer together. Beloved congregation, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Receive God's greeting. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Well, we heard that call to worship, and God has announced grace and peace to us. So let's open our blue books, let's open our mouths, and let's open our hearts and turn to number 259. Unto the hills I lift mine eyes. All four stanzas, number 259. His aid is freely given. God, Lord, shall be God's right foot to bear when danger doth assail. O ye that keepeth Israel, while ye were slain for some praise, God shall thy soul encompass. The shade of thy right hand, Thy safety to command. The room by night, the sun by day, Shall not uplift or smite thee, But with their radiance thy gleam. Jehovah will preserve thee when the waves of trouble roll, He will preserve thy soul. When going out or coming in, the Lord will be delivered. So we hear the Ten Commandments today. And we'll turn to Exodus 20, giving attention, congregation, to God's law in its reading. The scripture says to us, and God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet. So we hear those 10 words and surely if we hear them, not only with understanding, but if we hear them in humility and in repentance, we hear the accusation against us having broken God's law. So let's turn together that we might be reminded that through faith in Christ, there is not only forgiving grace, but there is an eternal inheritance that is undefiled and that does not fade away Where sin abounded, congregation grace has much more abounded. So we'll sing from Psalm 16 here. To thee, O Lord, I fly, and on thy help depend. All three stanzas, number 23. And on thy hounding head, Thou art my Lord and King most high, Till thou my soul defend. A heritage for me, My home of every name, My fortune rich and free, I praise the Lord above, whose counsel guides our path. I need thee for me still, the Lord whom I have proved. And my right hand keep I to wield, and I shall not be moved. But every vow will show. To thy right hand we'll climb, Where streams of pleasure ever flow, And boundless joys abide. Well, for the assurance of pardon this morning, let's hear from Psalm 145. It says to us here, congregation, it calls us to hear what God says in true faith. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. The Lord preserves those who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Congregation hear that word that God preserves those who love him and in Christ believe that word and remember that you love him Because he first loved you Well, you can see in the order of worship we have the privilege this morning of Witnessing the sign and seal of God's covenant applied unto one of our little ones So let's turn to number Form number three, page 129 in the back. So we see there, Baptism of Children, form number three. It says to us, top of the left-hand column, Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us hear our Lord's command concerning the sacrament of holy baptism. After he had risen victorious from the grave, Jesus said to his disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always to the close of the age. In obedience to this command, the church baptizes believers and their children. Let us hear the promises of God which are confirmed in baptism. The Lord made this great promise to Abraham, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. In later years, though Israel was unfaithful, God renewed His promise through the prophet. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. In the fullness of time, God came in Jesus Christ to give pardon and peace through the blood of the cross, the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. After Jesus had risen from the dead, the apostles proclaimed, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him. Anticipating the fulfillment of God's promises, Paul assures us, if we have died with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. These are the unfailing promises of our Lord to those who are baptized. Let us also recall the teaching of scripture concerning the sacrament of baptism. The water of baptism signifies the washing away of our sin by the blood of Christ and the renewal of our lives by the Holy Spirit. It also signifies that we are buried with Christ. From this we learn that our sin has been condemned by God. We are to hate it and consider ourselves as having died to it. Moreover the water of baptism signifies that we are raised with Christ from this we learn that we are to walk with Christ in newness of life all this tells us that God has adopted us as his children and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ thus in baptism God sealed the promises He gave when He made His covenant with us, calling us and our children to put our trust for life and death in Christ our Savior, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him in obedience and love. God graciously includes our children in his covenant, and all his promises are for them as well as us. Jesus himself embraced little children and blessed them, and the apostle Paul said that children of believers are holy. So, just as the children of the old covenant received the sign of circumcision, our children are given the sign of baptism. We are therefore always to teach our little ones that they have been set apart by baptism as God's own children. Well, let's pray, shall we? Heavenly Father, we pray that you will never destroy us in our sins as with the flood, but save us as believing Noah and his family, and spare us as the Israelites who walked safely through the sea. We pray that Christ, who went down into the Jordan and came up to receive the Spirit who sank deep into death and was raised up, Lord of life, will always keep us and our little ones in the grip of his hand. We pray, O Holy Father, that your spirit will separate us from sin and openly mark us with a faith that can stand the light of day and endure the dark of night. Prepare us now, O Lord, to respond with glad hope to your promises so that we and all entrusted to our care may drink deeply from the well of living water. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, Sam and Lori, since you have presented this child for holy baptism, you are asked to answer the following questions before God and his people. Would you please come forward? So I'll ask the three questions and then call for your answer at the end. First, do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, accept the promises of God, and affirm the truth of the Christian faith which is proclaimed in the Bible and confessed in this Church of Christ? Second, do you believe that your child, though sinful by nature, is received by God in Christ as a member of His covenant and therefore ought to be baptized? And third, do you promise, in reliance on the Holy Spirit and with the help of the Christian community, to do all in your power to instruct this child in the Christian faith and to lead him, by your example, into the life of Christian discipleship? Sam and Lori, what is your answer? Form 3 also has that question that's posed to the congregation. And so I ask you, members here at Cornerstone URC with Sam and Laurie, do you, the people of the Lord, promise to receive this child in love, pray for him, help care for his instruction in the faith, and encourage and sustain him in the fellowship of believers? Congregation, what is your answer? Our Lord said, let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Ivan James DeGroat, I baptize you into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, if you see in the order of worship, you can see that Sam and Lori have selected a song from our Songs of Praise supplement. Parents, tell your children. So we'll sing together the stanzas in the Songs of Praise that has been selected. and mystery. Generations all adore him, promising new history. Parents, tell your children, age to age ascend. When we find His holy name. When we find His holy name. He is here and full of kindness, saving those who fall in pain. Hear and tell your children, H-U-H-A-C-H. Magnify His holy name! Magnify His holy name! All-inspiring kings of splendor, Please proclaim His mighty pow'r! Enter home and live compassion, is his strength for every hour. Parents, tell your children, age to age the same, Lord of life, the living, Lord of love, magnified his holy name. Magnified his holy name. Well, let's join together in prayer. Lord our God, forever faithful to your promise, we thank you for assuring us again that you will forgive us and receive us as children in Christ. Grant wisdom and love to Sam and Lori and to us all as we carry out the vows just made. We pray that you will guide our little ones throughout their lives and pray especially for Ivan this morning. Enable them to respond in faith to the gospel. Fill them with your spirit and make their lives fruitful. Uphold them in the hour of trial. And when Christ returns, let them celebrate with all the people of God, your greatness and goodness forever in the joy of your new creation. For we ask it only in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's call upon God in our congregational prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for another opportunity to pray. Father, we remember in these instances, how whether a blessing upon a child that is being raised in the nurture and animation of the Lord, or how any other matter we bring before you is concerned. We need, oh God, your answer to be given. We need Father in prayer to commit these things into your hands. We need, oh God, to ask you to answer as you know is best and to fill us with wisdom and contentment as we receive answers and in some cases as we wait for them. Father, we pray that you would be exalted We pray, O God, that you would be magnified. We ask, O Father, that through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit's working and might, that your name would be regarded as holy. Holy in our midst and holy throughout the vast reaches of this world. not as though, oh God, any creaturely recognition or announcement of your holiness adds to your splendor, but simply because it is fitting and proper and right for us as creatures to acknowledge you as our creator, and especially for your church who is redeemed and being redeemed by the blood of Christ, there is indeed something especially appropriate as we confess and acknowledge your holiness. So Father, we ask that these things would not only be with us in the hour of prayer this morning, but throughout the week. May we remember the hallowing of your name and thereby walk soberly, walk wisely, walk, oh God, as stewards of all of what you have entrusted into our care. Father, we pray for our congregation and for the health and life of our members. All of us need to remember the care you alone can provide is what we sang about from Psalm 121 at the beginning of our service. So Father, help us to remember to look to you for keeping and preservation and assure us that we will find you faithful in good times and in bad. Father, may the young among us, the children and the boys and girls, remember in these things that they are not invincible, but likewise need to depend upon you. And may the aged in our midst remember that they have not been forgotten and are not without hope. For you teach us to confess that the Lord preserves our going out and our coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. Father, we pray for a world that is in the midst of upheaval and unrest in so many ways. We ask, O God, that as we notice the calamitous nature of life, that you would keep us humble, that you would help us to be in awe of your majesty and the way you govern creation, and that we might, O God, remember our own needs to be repentant before you. lest we too be caught off guard and be overtaken by judgment. Father, in the midst of these upheavals and unrest, we pray that you would open opportunities for Christ to be announced in those communities and that with your blessing working in hearts and lives, he would be received as the Prince of Peace and as the one who alone can calm and steady the human heart. Father, we pray for our community, not just locally, but we remember broadly regionally in our state and even our nation. Father, we pray as always for economic and social prosperity as we know those things are important to the lives you have given to us. But we long especially to see spiritual vitality given. So to that end, bless your word as it goes forth and bless your people who receive that word and who take it with them Monday through Saturday in the week that lies ahead. Father, in our community here in Sanborn, as we continue our weekly prayers, we ask that you would comfort those who are in need of comfort. Show mercy, O God, to those who need a tender hand. Provide for those who have need and use us, we pray, as individuals or as a church to do so as means and tools of your hand. Raise up, O God, any who are bowed down and afflicted And we pray, Father, that you would transform hearts and lives according to your will and by the working of your spirit. In the week that lies ahead, we ask, O God, that at home, we would all have joy in Christ. At work, we might do our duty unto Christ. And at school, we might undertake our studies and learn in light of Christ and his lordship over that area of our lives as well. Bless, we pray, Father, the leaders of our nation as well as those who serve in the military and law enforcement. We give you thanks for the freedoms and privileges we enjoy by their hand as they come to us in your providence. And we ask, oh God, that you would direct those who make policy in the way of wisdom and that you would bless those who are in harm's way with a hand of safety and protection. Father, as we give to the offering later in the service, may that giving be thank filled. May it be, oh God, abundant according to how you have first blessed us. And may you give the deacons all that they stand in need of to receive humbly and to distribute faithfully all of what is provided for them. So Father, as we commit these things into your hands, we do so in the name of Christ and look only for the blessing and answer you know is best in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's turn together to number 129. Thy loving kindness, Lord, is good and free. We'll sing all four stanzas of 129, and we'll have stanza three a cappella. My longing, kindness, for His good and free, In tender mercy, turn thou unto me. I'm not my days, drop me in my distress, I cry. Let thy salvation set my soul on high. Then I will sing and praise thy holy name. ♪ With joy the meek shall see my soul restored ♪ ♪ Your heart shall live, ye saints that seek the Lord ♪ ♪ He helps the needy and regards their pride ♪ Those in distress the Lord will not despise. Red and yellow, with grace and glory tell, that in them dwell. Salvation to this people God will give, when they that love his name will hear. Well, let's turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 16 once more. We'll look at the second half of the chapter, verses 14 to 23. And we'll touch on a number of things through the course of those verses. And may have one more sermon here in this part of the passage to look at other matters pertaining to David as he's introduced to us here for the very first time in 1 Samuel 16. Mentioned by name anyways, we've seen in our series there's been mentions of David in different ways leading up to the chapter where he comes on the scene personally. So here we are, 1 Samuel 16, beginning in verse 14 and reading down through the end of the chapter. It says to us in God's Word, Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, Behold, now a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our Lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the liar. And when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it and you will be well. So Saul said to his servants, Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me. One of the young men answered, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence. And the Lord is with him. Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me David, your son, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David, his son, to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight. And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. So there it is, the last part of 1 Samuel 16. Well, let's pray and ask for God's blessing on his word. Father in heaven, again, we are dependent upon you and we express that dependence in prayer. And again, as we hear your word read, we ask that already you would make it minister to us and that as we consider the same in its preaching, that that which has specifically been ordained as a means of grace would come to us in unction, would come to us in power, and would come to us in conviction, as it truly is the Word of God, and not simply the Word of man. So, Father, hear us, we pray, in these things, and make it so, according to Your will, full of loving kindness and tender mercies, we pray, even if words of correction come to us. Comfort us, we ask, with the comfort of Christ, for we ask it all in His name. Amen. Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we We saw last time how David came on the scene quite literally out of nowhere, right? With a literary snap of the fingers and that word, behold. There in verse 11, David goes from being a keeper of the sheep to now king over God's people. In terms of the broad scope of the narrative, think with me here for a minute. What we have is this. Saul falling and David rising. That's pretty well where verse 14 picks up in terms of what we have in this chapter. And verses 14 to 23 unfold that combination of the rise and fall between David and Saul respectively. And so, if you look at the chapter, even our pew bible sort of outlines things. David anointed king, David in Saul's service. You have those two panels of the chapter, as it were. They're related to each other and yet they really are distinct. Distinct in what they set forth to us and distinct even in how things are portrayed as God's word comes to us. One pastor noted this division and said when we move from verse 13 to verse 14 we cross a literary divide. And so that's a good way, I think, to conceptualize the structure of the chapter here. And before we get moving, let's pause to note something more broadly looking at where we've been leading up to this point in chapter 16. Previously, boys and girls, it really has been Samuel. that's been the one set forth as the leader of God's people, right? And then Saul came on the scene, and there was always something about Saul that seemed kind of provisional. We talked last week how the contrast, David was anointed with a horn full of oil, signifying fullness and longevity, not just for himself, but his kingdom and ultimately in Christ. Well, Saul was anointed, if you remember, with a flask of oil, a considerably smaller vessel, sort of pointing at his temporary role. But now with David, there's that issue of permanence, again, that we saw throughout the course of the earlier chapters in connection with Samuel. And more so, it will be with David, that notion of permanence. It's been said that Samuel demonstrated simple obedience and courageous faith. Maybe as the young people might say, true that. That was defining characteristic of Samuel. Simple obedience and courageous faith. Well that same characteristic is going to be demonstrated by David. Not just here in the rest of 1 Samuel, but throughout the course of 2 Samuel as well. And remember, David's not perfect, we all know that. David's got his own fair share of flaws. But David will demonstrate that simple obedience and courageous faith. He'll demonstrate it sincerely. He'll demonstrate it genuinely. And on the whole, he'll demonstrate it consistently over the course of his life. And here's the key. With God's blessing, that simple obedience and courageous faith, that will enable David, starting already in chapter 17, to overcome the enemy, to escape peril, and to withstand persecution, and to come through all of those things, with God caring for him along the way, and find that he has in fact entrusted himself into the hands of the only one who is able to care for him and preserve him. And in Christ's congregation, with God's blessing upon courageous, simple obedience and courageous faith with God's blessing in our lives, those same things belong to us in the Lord Jesus. Overcoming the enemy, escaping peril, and withstanding persecution. So all the way at the beginning here, as we see David in a small-scale way embodying these things, that the fullness of them is held out to you and me and all who hear the gospel promise that through faith in Jesus Christ, there is a rich reward of grace. So commit your life into His hands. Do so with your whole heart. Do so in humble repentance. Do so in true faith. And do so in sure confidence. Do so that what it says in Psalm 34, verse 6 might be true for you as well. This poor man cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles. So let's keep some of that in mind as we come to our passage this morning. The insert, David is chosen by God to be his anointed king. We looked already at God's sovereign choice. Now here in the last part of the chapter we have David's special service. And as we note this part of the chapter in David's special service, I think one thing that needs to be mentioned is that in terms of the narrative, the way that the story, and I don't use it story like fiction, story in terms of narrative, the way that the narrative unfolds for us. David's special service, it's cast in a context that is Saul-centered. David's special service is cast in a context here that's Saul-centered. It's all about the need that Saul has, that God himself has initiated, that then enables that door to open for David to be brought onto the scene and come into the king's court. And everything flows from what is established in that connection. So what we have here, in terms of the last part of the passage, is Saul reappears on the scene. He's afflicted by an evil spirit. Through the means and questions and answers David is Brought in so let's focus on that last item for just a minute David being brought to Saul and if you have your Bible open look at the structure of the passage with me This really is pretty neat to see it might take some detail and we'll just cruise through it here Because I don't know if a pulpit is the right place for this kind of detail But open your Bible once and look at the passage with me and we'll see something together that does highlight David being taken close to Saul And here it is, verse 14. And the second part of verse 23 are parallel to each other. They're like bookends, where the spirit of the Lord departed, the harmful spirit is sent, and then at the end of the passage, the harmful spirit departs again. Verses 15 and 16 are parallel to the very beginning of verse 23, as the one is sought to help soothe Saul. And we see in verse 23, the parallel is that it's David who does that and plays with his hand whenever Saul is afflicted. Verse 17 is parallel with the last part of verse 21 and all of verse 22 Verse 18 is parallel with verse 20 and verse the first part of verse 21 and all of that to say Here's the key if I've lost you by now verse 19 is the very center of the passage, where it tells to us, Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep. That's the very center of the passage. Not just numerically, but structurally. It's as though the passage from the top and the bottom, at pressure, comes from both ends, and it all brings us to verse 19. That's what the whole narrative is designed to tell us. Saul sends for David and he comes into the Kings court because that's going to set the stage for everything that goes forward from here in Connection with David and his rise as Israel's king. So in any case, let's look at the passage as it opens up in verse 14 It's somewhat abrupt there at the beginning of the passage, but that little word now, and that's just a single letter in the Hebrew, that little word now is transitional, and it sort of turns the context from this to what we read now. And as a follow-up to what we've heard already, we're told again about the Lord's dealing with Saul. Look at what it says. The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him." So on the one hand, the Lord has turned away from Saul, and we know that already from chapter 15, and that's signified by the spirit of the Lord being taken away. And on the other hand, Saul is terrified and startled as this evil spirit arrives to torment and harass him. So let's pause for a minute to explore and to explain. I would venture to guess there might be some of you who are sitting here this morning proverbially scratching your head and sort of wondering, what do we make of verse 14? What's that all about? Okay, I get it. The Lord, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. I get it. We heard that a little bit already back in chapter 15, verse 11. But what is this all about when it says that a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented Saul? Well, for starters, here's how we answer those kind of questions. What we have here at the beginning of this verse, it's punitive judgment that's coming upon Saul by God. It's punishment. That's what chapter 15, verse 11 told us when God said He regrets having made Saul king over Israel because now Saul has departed from keeping God's commandments. This is the result. of what Saul himself put in motion by walking away from the Lord in the previous chapter. And so, here's the key, in terms of this kind of a thing coming up in discussion with an unbeliever, if they might mock why God would send an evil spirit to afflict Saul, or upon someone who might try to make light of what the Bible says about God being good on the one hand, and yet, using here an evil spirit to torment Saul. Here's the issue. This isn't random, it's not without context, and it's not out of the blue. Think about it like this. If Saul walks away from the light of God's favor, the only place left for him to be is in the darkness of God's judgment. This is a divinely sent scourge. that God sends upon Saul. It's what happens when he walks away from the Lord. The evil spirit, an earlier translation of the ESV, and I'm not sure why they changed their translation, but the earlier versions of the ESV call this an evil spirit. Here there's a softer translation where it says a harmful spirit. But this evil spirit that comes upon Saul, A, it's under God's control. And B, it's sent to harass him, to harass Saul. And the evil spirit is the guilty culprit in all of this. God remains free from any blame or from any sin or from any accusation. And maybe I can illustrate it like this. I tried to think of a way to illustrate this connection. Let's say you set a pile of garbage outside in the heat of the summer. And the sun shines on that garbage all day. No one's going to blame the sun because the garbage begins to stink, are they? No, it's the garbage that is corrupt, and the garbage stinks because of what it is. Well, maybe in a similar way, it's not God who is to be blamed for the affliction that Saul comes under, but in God's providence and according to His sovereign will, this evil spirit is given free reign in that connection to touch and harass Saul. So the evil spirit is the one who is the guilty party, bringing what it brings upon Saul, even though that is in light of God's judgment. If you want to go home this afternoon, read Belgic Confession, Article 13. It doesn't reference this specific instance, but it gives boundaries and parameters into how we recognize these things. We don't pry into the deep mystery of God, and yet we affirm that in all things, He remains holy and without accusation. So God sends the evil spirit as an arm of his judgment against Saul. And since the spirit of the Lord departs, all blessing is gone. Three things for us to acknowledge, congregation, in terms of really learning from this episode in the passage. One, above all others, we acknowledge God's good sovereignty. Two, in light of that, We adore God's judgments with humility. And in the third place, we always remember that we need to ask for mercy. That God would give us grace and not give us what we deserve. Let's pause to go further, because aside from some kind of an academic question or just an interpretive question, what do we understand verse 14 to be saying? It's good that we have that understanding, but let's go further than that. And I understand this is punitive and this is punishment, but God also afflicts us with his hand, not with evil spirits, but God afflicts us with his hand as his children when he brings chastening, and when he brings discipline upon us. So what's the proper response? Whether someone is punished by God, or whether someone is chastened and disciplined by God. What's the proper response to being under the heavy hand of God? Is that proper response to look for horizontal solutions? That's what Saul does here. Oh, a harpist who can alleviate the symptoms? Find that man and bring him here. Or is the proper response really to humble yourself in God's sight? To respond to his chastening and discipline especially with genuine repentance and true faith. That is the way to respond if you feel God's hand is heavy upon you. Now maybe you're not in Saul's situation. But maybe you sense that God's hand is heavy on you for one reason or another. Maybe you've not departed from keeping God's commandments like Saul did back in chapter 15 verse 11. But maybe you look at your life and you see that you have indeed compromised. Compromised your faith, Compromise the way you live. Compromise promises that you make and then break. Is there something in your life that you know God is chastening you because of? And that as a father disciplines his child that there might be growth and recognition and progress. God is dealing with you in that same way. Well, if there is, then respond well to that chastening and discipline. And what I mean by well is I mean respond by God's grace. Respond in humility, respond in repentance, respond in faith, respond in trust to Him as your Father, and respond by resting in Christ and in the sure foundation that God has laid for you in Him. As things open up further and the narrative gets going in verse 15, What we have here is essentially the telling of, like I've said, of how David came to be with Saul, and it carries all the way through to the end of the book of 2 Samuel, into the early chapters of 1 Kings, where David passes away. And that is so important as anything else when it comes to the connection of the why and what of verse 14, and the evil spirit being sent to torment Saul from the Lord. After all, think about it like this. Since David now has the Spirit upon him, that's what we were told in verse 13 at the last part of the last passage. The Spirit as that which anoints and empowers an individual for service as God's King. That Spirit in that theocratic way, it must depart from Saul. Because no longer is there use for the Spirit to work in Saul's life as the King and leader of God's people, since now the Spirit has been given to David. And since Saul has departed, the evil spirit is sent as punishment. And what we have in that, there's balance, there's narrative, there's symmetry. It's the way God reveals the wisdom of His judgments and justice, and the marvel and wonder of His goodness and grace. Look further at verse 15. Things unfold and it tells us that Saul's servants are concerned about things and that's understandable, right? They care about Saul. They want to see what they regard as the best for Saul, and their job as Saul's servants is to come to his aid when he's in trouble. That's why they suggest what they do in verse 16, as they plead for him to allow them to look for a music man ministry. And it's interesting, this music man ministry, that's something that was very common in the ancient world. Early on, it was recognized that music in the proper genre, soothing music was good and useful for people who were suffering or were under trials. And we see that here in our own day and age. If you go to Prairie View, they have the Sunset Room, where a person is nearing the end of their life and they'll have a CD on that plays hymns and that plays psalms and that plays Christian music that comes to one who is dying. In fact, there's a whole wing of the ministry that Prairie View and other nursing homes provide where a person comes in, in their own person. They come with an acoustic guitar and they play psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They sing and make melody with those who are suffering and who are in trouble. And maybe this morning some of you had music playing on Pandora or whatever it might be as you're readying yourself for church. That music ministry helps get you in a frame of mind and heart that you might be ready for a God-centered worship. But let's think about this kind of a connection with what is proposed and what Saul asks for here. And let me start by saying I believe a music ministry is valuable. That's a wonderful thing. I've seen it be an encouragement to many people. But by itself? A music ministry is purely horizontal. And that's the downside of what is proposed and of what Saul requests in our passage. But in the Lord congregation, in the Lord, a music ministry is vertical. By faith, a music ministry is encouraging. By faith, a music ministry in this context or in your own life is an opportunity for meditation. By faith, a music ministry is a reminder of God's promises. And by faith, a music ministry is that which gives you opportunity to remember the gospel and the sure hope that you have in Christ. That's part, for example, of what we keep in mind when we sing together, whether it's from the Psalms or a hymn. During the context of the worship, we are singing and making melody in the presence one of the other to the Lord. And all of those things of encouragement and meditation and reminder and the gospel promise are present with us. But by itself, the music ministry only goes so far. In connection with what we have here and what is offered and what Saul requests, I would say this. Never settle for and never suggest half a remedy. That's what we have. Half a remedy. The symptoms are treated. When the spiritual apostasy and waywardness of Saul, that is left unchecked. If you're in a position where you counsel others, whether that's formal counseling and you've got some training, or whether that's informal counseling and you're coming alongside one for encouragement or something like that, if you're in that kind of a position, and someone comes to you and they're afflicted in their conscience and they feel either that God's hand is against them for punishment or God's hand is against them for chastening and discipline. You wouldn't just give the person something for a headache or some medicine for their anxiety. You might want to treat those things, but you wouldn't leave it there. You would also want to treat their emotional and spiritual concerns. Because that is as closely connected to the whole man problem as anything else. If the Psalms minister to a person, which is essentially what David would be doing to Saul here, well that ministry of the Psalms should be accompanied by repentance. If the Psalms minister to someone in trouble, well those Psalms in their ministry should be received in true faith. Here's the key, and here's where Saul and his servants go wrong in this suggestion and in this request. When you are afflicted, don't look simply for relief from the affliction. That's short-sighted. That's gonna come up empty. When you are afflicted, Look for relief, but look to grow in that affliction. Look to be strengthened by that affliction. To be clear, as I mentioned, Saul was punished, not disciplined, so there's not an exact equality between him and us. But just imagine, imagine if Saul had humbled himself, if Saul had repented, if Saul had acknowledged his sins and his waywardness in true faith, Like David did in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 when he had his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. Things would look different here in terms of the outcome of the passage and going forward with Saul. I'm not saying Saul would be the new king and David would be put back on the back burner or anything like that. But if Saul responded truly and genuinely and humbly, then he wouldn't be peevish and paranoid in the rest of the life that God has for him. He wouldn't constantly be in a state of anxiety and fretfulness. But it's Saul's unrepentance that not only removes him from kingship, but which keeps him in a constant state of consternation as he goes forward from here. If there is repentance and faith from those who are troubled congregation, you and me included, Then God will show mercy. David's life is proof of that, as is the life of any true believer. So remember, humble yourself in the Lord's sight and ask for grace. Don't look for a halfway remedy. Provide for me a man who can play. but rather humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up, just like 1 Peter 5, verse 6 promises. That's held out to you as a sure hope and blessing in Christ. Look at verse 18. The conversation continues here with Saul and his servants, and one of the young men in particular, He pipes up and there's that word behold again, right? Behold just like we had in verse 11 with Jesse. Now it's this unnamed young man in Saul's court. David receives in terms of the narrative a double duty introduction that grabs our attention and points to him as a person of significance. So the young man, he knows this son of Jesse, who's the right man for the task at hand and David's the right man for so much more than this simple ministry that God has for him. And just to pause for a minute, there's narrative irony in all of this. Unbeknownst to Saul and to all of his servants, this son of Jesse, who has already been anointed to be the next king, is going to be brought into the very presence of the king in order to have this music ministry. They don't know any of that yet. But as the reader, we're sort of all-knowing. God gives us the revelation and how he presents things to us and tells us what's going on behind the scenes. And we can see the irony and we have the awareness. But look how David is introduced in verse 18. He's named five times in this last part of the passage. And in verse 18, he's described as one who is skillful in playing. He's described as a man of valor, a man of war. He's prudent in speech, a man of good presence. And most of all, at the end, the Lord is with him. So there's six things said about David as we really get our first full description of who he is and what he's like. And you know what, boys and girls? If all we were told about David is what we read in verse 18, well then we'd have a pretty good idea that he's here to stay. We'd have a pretty good idea that he's going to be the next great king. Or I should say the next king. Saul wasn't a great king. Because from here on out, with the life of David, we have what's been called an enormous portrait of a great man. David is a hero of the faith congregation. In terms of an Old Testament perspective, I understand Christ is all throughout the Old Testament and ultimately what's in the Old Testament points us to Jesus. David in his person is used to do that. But in terms of Old Testament figures, David is on par with Moses and Abraham. He's as big as they are when it comes to the story that God reveals to us in the Old Testament. Think about David. It all begins here, in terms of his introduction to us. He's a giant slayer. He's a shepherd. He's a musician. He's a leader of men. He's regarded by the Philistines and Saul as an outlaw. He disguises himself as a madman in order to find favor in the sight of a pagan king. He's a loyal friend and a citizen, refusing to touch the Lord's anointed, even though Saul hunts him down time and again. David loves. David fights. David dances before the Lord on a rooftop. David's a father, he's a brother, he's a son. David's a master and he's a servant. David is zealous for God. David's a king chosen by God. David's a sinner and David's an imperfect man. And maybe most of all for us to identify with David, a sinner and an imperfect man, that means David, like us, is one whose only hope is in God's grace. David is a giant. David was used in a mighty way that few others in the history of the whole world were used by God. But David's on the same footing that you and I are on, because David stands on that foundation alone of God's mercy. Let's close out by picking up on that description of David in verse 8 and saying these things. David's a young man at this point. We don't know how old he is. Between 15 and 20, I would say. 1 Kings 2 verse 11 records his death. And in some regards, as a young man who's still in the context of his father's household, it's hard to understand exactly how what we have here in verse 18 fits with David. And undoubtedly, the servant in Saul's court who describes David like this, he speaks bigger and higher and better than he realizes. But David is these things already, at least in some measure. But here's the thing, David will grow and show more of these things during the course of his life as king. What we have here in verse 18 is said right up front, to show us what David is in measure and what he will go on to be. And we see the first glimpse of that in chapter 17, where he kills the giant Goliath. But you know what? The high point of what it says to us in verse 18 about David, the fulfillment of what it says to us about David in verse 18, that's found for us in Jesus Christ alone. Christ is, verse 18, in its perfection congregation. And in that connection, David points us forward to our Lord. Think about it like this. Christ is skillful, He's knowledgeable and all-knowing. Christ is a man of valor. He is the one who has strength and wealth, treasure and inheritance to give that is without peer or accompaniment. Christ is a man of war. He fights against the devil himself, against sin, and against all the host of hell. Christ is prudent in speech. He is the wisdom of God, and in Him that wisdom is given to us. Christ is a man of good presence, for there is no better company for a sinner than Him. And Christ is the one who alone, it can be said, is truly, perfectly, and wonderfully the one that has the Lord with Him. Because Christ is God's eternal, natural Son. And the one in whom God the Father is well-pleased. And you know what? Christ is all of those things in His role as mediator, not for Himself. But Christ is all of those things in His role as Savior for you and for me. That's why the Gospel says, come to Him, believe in Him, commit your way into His hands, receive in Him all of what God is pleased to provide, and rest assured without any doubt that the Lord is with you because you belong to Christ. Amen. Let's pray, shall we? Father in heaven, we ask for your blessing upon your word. Bring it to us, we pray in spirit and in truth. And Father, may these things be and stay with us, not only in the day, but in the week that lies ahead. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's turn to number 325. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing. Lord, distinguish us with Thy blessing, Fill our hearts with joy and peace. Let us each time of protest sing, Triumph in redeeming grace. Oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us, Traveling through this wilderness. Grace we give in adoration For thy cosmos' joyful sound. May the fruits of thy salvation in our hearts and minds abound. Ever faithful, ever faithful to thou truth may we be. gracious token, grant us more before we go. Bless thy word which has been spoken, thy bent peace on all bestow. As the deacons come forward to receive the offering, remember that our closing doxology is number 487. And may God bless you as you give. Okay. So, us now. Let the Holy Spirit's favor rest upon us now. Beloved, The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.