08.22.2010 1 Sam. 24 - Trusting God's Control

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Mike Marette:

24:1 Now it came about when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi." 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

This may be 10 years after the David and Goliath deal, and Saul understands that his days are numbered and Saul has become obsessed with David through anger and jealousy. David, for this period of time, is going from place to place to place and hiding in the wilderness with a bunch of men. David is hiding in a cave with his men...

3 And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there [was] a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, "Behold, [this is] the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly. 5 And it came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's [robe]. 6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed."

7 And David persuaded his men with [these] words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on [his] way. 8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 And David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, 'Behold, David seeks to harm you'? 10 "Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but [my eye] had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.' 11 "Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. 12 "May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 "As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 "After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? 15 "The Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause, and deliver me from your hand." 16 Now it came about when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 And he said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 "And you have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and [yet] you did not kill me. 19 "For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 "And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 "So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father's household." 22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Let's pray – Lord, as we look at Your word -

David has 3000 of Israel's best soldiers pursuing him. This is the guy who slayed Goliath – and this is the prayer he prays:

142:1 (Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.) I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.

Look at how David prays – he is such an example because we have so many different ways/times in his life – when he is happy, when he is sad, when he is discouraged.

I cry aloud! A hollering – a screaming! Did you ever SCREAM at God? David did all the time – I CRY aloud – it was a CRY ALOUD – there is only one way to do that, and it is loudly! And in a cave, it echoed.

I poured out my complaint – this person was 'losing it' before God. God loves this stuff from us! God loves it when we openly, honestly tell Him our heart.

I declared my trouble before Him.

3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou didst know my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see; For there is no one who regards me; There is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul.

You've been there, haven't you?!

5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need;

refuge = cave

Why is he in this cave? It is a refuge – when it is too hot to be in the sun.

He is hiding from Saul and impending death – but what does he say? You are my cave – you are my refuge -

rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my prison,

This cave is a prison – God is a refuge. David understood his security was in God's hands. In every way, David understood that his life was in God's hand in every circumstance.

Not a cave – but God.

This psalm calls us to believe the same thing – God is our refuge – protector, hiding place – Cave – from our enemy.

Not only did he understand that his life was in God's hand, but he left his position in God's hand. He could have taken it – couldn't he? God had told him he was the anointed one – and for like, 15 years, he ran from Saul. He had this opportunity to take it into his own hands and do away with Saul, but he understood that God was in control. Even revenge is in God's hand.

Mini sermon number 2: back to 1 Sam. 24-25

Saul was bothered. Here is the story – Saul has the call of nature – and David cuts the corner of his robe off – it probably had the king's seal on it. It wasn't really harmful – but David feels guilty -

1 Sam. 24: 6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD."

David understood and recognized that he was God's anointed – and he respected and honored that position. I'd like to look at honoring and respecting God's anointed. - in two ways – 1) in governing arenas – and 2) in the church.

Saul was a governing official.

Romans 13:1 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Government is set up by God – now, government has limited authority from God. They are there for the good of the people – and there may be disagreement on how that all works out – but it is important that we respect and honor that God has put people in those positions – whether we agree or disagree. We, as Christians, need to have a bigger view – none of the making fun of and all the yelling and screaming – that doesn't mean that we don't disagree – and vote people out – but we do it with civility and respect.

And in the Church – we have a responsibility to bring Christ to the world. How do we do that? And when Christians are involved in the political realm – does it bring people to Christ in a positive way? Take, for instance, the Mosque in New York City – what is the big picture? Bringing the gospel of Christ to them, isn't it? Yes, all the debates need to take place on sensitivity and rights – but our first focus needs to be on God's kingdom.

Heb. 13:17 Obey your leaders, and submit [to them]; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

This verse is usually handled in one of 2 ways -

1. it is abused

2. it is ignored

But it is there in the Bible -

In this verse – a lesson on Biblical interpretation – hermeneutics – there is some unique stuff here.

There are two flaws when we interpret the Bible.

Almost everyone takes an agenda with them when they go to interpret the Bible.

Calvinists go to the Bible with a Calvinistic agenda.

If you are into evangelism or missions, you will look at the Bible through that lens – we all have these agendas.

That is natural and fine – but when we look at a text, we need to set that aside – and ask, WHAT DOES IT SAY? Forget what I think it says! - that is hard! What does it say, what does it mean.

When it comes to authority – 2 agendas – those of us who came out of the 60's – question authority! Obey? Submit? We don't use those words! We are also control freaks – and a military and business model has come into the church.

When you come to tough verse – go to it humbly – maybe I am wrong...

Try to rid my head of everything and ask – what is it saying?

Second – it is not a good practice to create a doctrine on the interpretation of 1 verse without taking the broader context of scripture into understanding.

People do this all the time – quoting a verse and forgetting all the other verses that talk about the same subject!

Let's look at this -

17 Obey your leaders, and submit [to them]; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Obey your spiritual leaders – WHEN – those leaders are teaching scripture properly.

Almost every epistle talks about standing AGAINST those who teach doctrine improperly. - holding to sound doctrine.

A church leader's spiritual authority lies only within those matters that fall within the boundary of scripture.

Jesus – think of how He did things – the Pharisees and Scribes were the religious leaders of the day – when they gave instruction on how to do things that were scriptural, he encouraged obedience to that – at other times – when they went beyond the boundaries of Scripture, Jesus would oppose them to their face.

If you choose to be a part of a church – I think this verse is saying – there needs to be respect for the practices of that church – orthodoxy - those things that the church has held to for 2000 years – Our doctrinal statement talks about these things. If there are debatable things – where you can disagree – it is important to still be respectful.

Baptism – Christians disagree on it – some Christians believe in infant baptism – good, solid, Bible believing Christians believe in this.

We, here, believe in believer baptism – and to be in this church, you need to respect that. Biblical leadership – we have elders and deacons – and there are many issues like that – when spiritual leadership is instructing in the scriptures – it needs to be followed. When leadership steps out of those boundaries of scripture, this verse does not apply. In areas where it is debatable – it is important to respect those things. You don't have to agree! I welcome discussion and debate – Cindy and I and Ron and Linda and Sue Cooper have started a blog. We haven't opened it up yet. We will be reading theological books – we are still figuring it out.

To be able to understand – there are a lot of personal conviction things – and to have civil discussion is so important.