1 SAMUEL 17-18 PURSUING GODS HEART WHILE PEOPLE ARE OUT TO GET YOU2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Samuel 17-18 Pursuing Gods Heart While People Are Out To Get You

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017.

Well, this evening we're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 17 to start and work our way into chapter 18, continuing to look at the life of David and continuing to consider the thought, the theme of pursuing God's heart. And as we head into the life of David, we really get to see a great example because God said of David that he is a man after God's own heart. He is a man who pursued God's

God's heart. And so there's lots of lessons that we get to learn from the life of David here in 1 Samuel. And we're going to pick it up this evening, kind of picking up where we left off last week. We almost covered all of chapter 17 as we looked at David and Goliath, but now we're going to finish up chapter 17 by starting in verse 54 and reading through 58 as we look at this passage. So 1 Samuel chapter 17 verses 54 through 58 says this,

And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. But he put his armor in his tent. When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, as your soul lives, O king, I do not know. So the king said, inquire whose son this young man is.

Then as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? So David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Here in 1 Samuel chapter 17, again, we're picking it up with David having just defeated Goliath.

And he went out in boldness. He went out in faith, trusting in the Lord. He went out in the name of the Lord and with very simple tools, a sling and a stone, he took down the giant, the champion of the Philistine army. And it sparked a victory as the rest of the Israelites came against the Philistines. And they had a great victory that day. And so now we're picking it up after that victory has taken place.

And as we look at this victory that happens and the things that happen afterwards, this really launches David into a season of affliction and difficulty.

It was a moment of victory, but now he's going to go through a long season of persecution and attack as Saul begins to realize that God has called David to be the next king. And Saul is determined to fight against God's plan and to prevent David from becoming king of Israel. And so there's going to be some serious attacks against David by Saul, uh,

as we will see working our way into chapter 18 this evening. And so I've titled the message this evening, Pursuing God's Heart...

while people are out to get you. Now, we've been looking at pursuing God's heart in a variety of different ways and different, you know, contexts throughout the chapters here in 1 Samuel. And here we get to learn a different aspect of it than what we've maybe considered before. And that is, how do you continue to pursue God's heart? How do you respond as someone who wants to be pleasing to God and wants to honor God? How do you respond to

Whenever there is that person who is just bound and determined to mess up your life, to mess up your path, to bring destruction, and to cause issues for you. And so as we look at this relationship between Saul and David and the attacks that take place, we get to see in David a great example for us to follow on how to handle these kinds of situations, how to pursue God's heart,

When people are out to get you. And so there's six points we'll work our way through. Beginning here in chapter 17, verses 54 through 58, we have point number one. And that is, we celebrate God's work. We need to celebrate when God works. Here in verse 54, notice what it says. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

So after David killed Goliath, first of all, he hit him with the stone from the sling. And then David took Goliath's own sword and chopped off his head. And then it's kind of interesting. There's a couple points here in this few verses that we just read that it tells us that David is carrying around the head of Goliath. And it specifically says that he took it to Jerusalem. Now they were not

Next to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was, I think, about 15 miles away from the valley where they were at. And so this was, you know, something very deliberate and intentional that David is kind of carrying around the head of Goliath as a trophy, as, you know, a sign of victory. And he's publicly celebrating what God has done.

Now he, very clear as you go through chapter 17, he is out for God's honor. He is out to honor the Lord. He is out to glorify God and he won this battle in the name of the Lord. And so as he holds on to the head of the Philistine as a trophy, it's not, you know, a proclamation of his own greatness, but you can see David proclaiming and celebrating God's work.

So he goes on tour. He does like a victory lap. He goes to Jerusalem. He's got the head of Goliath. He's, you know, there's a battle that's being fought and David is just, you know, rejoicing and celebrating this work that has been accomplished against Goliath. And then in verse 57, we see that when he comes before Saul, he still has the head of the Philistine in his hand.

There's this whole interaction that takes place between King Saul and his commander Abner. They wonder, who is this guy really?

Now, they had known who David was because David had been in the court of the king playing the harp and, you know, being able to soothe Saul whenever he had that distressing spirit from the Lord. And so they knew him, but, you know, it's like one of those occasions, I think, where, you know, you kind of know about somebody and then all of a sudden something significant happens and they are involved in something, you know, very serious. And all of a sudden you're like, wait, wait, I

I know them, but wait, who are you again? You know, and I see that as what's happening here, that he's like, whose son is this? I mean, we kind of, he's just the serving guy who plays the harp. You know, we didn't pay much attention to him before, but all of a sudden he's stepping out in faith and going against this giant. All of a sudden he's accomplishing this great victory again.

They need to find out really who this guy is. Who's your dad? Who do you belong to? Or where do you come from? And now there's all this curiosity where, you know, Saul couldn't care much about him before because he was just the servant who played the harp. It wasn't a big deal, but all of a sudden now he's interested. And so they usher David in, in verse 57. But again, it says he comes before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

He's still celebrating the work that God has done. And I just picture a little David. He's probably not like a 12-year-old like we might imagine in our minds. He's probably, you know, late teens, early 20s. But I just see David there holding up the head. Look what God has done. Look at the victory that God has accomplished. You know, I think this is a good encouragement for us. Not that we, you know, try to go around holding up the head of our enemies. That's not what I'm trying to express here. But

but to have some public celebration when God does victories in our lives, when God accomplishes things in our lives.

You know, I think sometimes we hold back and we're too quiet about the work that God is doing and that God has done. Because, well, especially as believers, you know, we kind of are aware of the issue of pride and we want to be careful not to be proud, you know. But at the same time, when God does a work, it is appropriate to

to show it off and to celebrate it and to carry around the head and say, hey, look what God did. Now, if you walk around and tell everybody, look what I did, well, there's a different issue there, right? But God works in our lives and he does amazing things. And sometimes we're so afraid of sounding proud that we don't give God the glory and the credit for the work that he does in our lives.

Now, I just want to encourage us. It's appropriate. It's biblical to publicly declare the work that God has done. Psalm 105 verse 1 says, Notice this.

God does great things. You know, we can begin with the testimony, right? The act of salvation and how God has brought that upon our lives and how God has worked in our lives of salvation. But then there's a multitude of other things. And

I want to encourage you. So we usually do on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we have our Thanksgiving service. And this is one of the verses I usually like to read on that service because it is an opportunity for us to give thanks. And we invite the body to just publicly thank God and celebrate what God has done. And so that'll be, you know, happening in a couple months. And so I look forward to that.

But also the first Wednesday of every month, we have a time for prayer requests and praise reports. And I just want to encourage you and remind you next week, that'll be the first Wednesday of the month. And so we'll have an opportunity to do that. And I would encourage you to come prepared to celebrate something that God has done and just

publicly acknowledge and give God glory and thank Him and give Him credit for the work that He has done in your life. And it's an important thing. It's an important part of our walk with God. Now,

There is a little bit of a warning that goes along with this because, well, with this victory, that's what sparks now Saul in going to be, you know, fighting against David. But I would ask you to consider, even if celebrating God's work stirs up enemies, what would you prefer? To pursue God's heart and have enemies or to run from God and

and have him as an enemy. I mean, that's really the choice that we have, right? So there's going to be enemies whether or not you pursue God's heart. But when you pursue God's heart, then you will have enemies. But you're pleasing him. You're honoring him. It's his responsibility to fight for you, to defend you, and to work in your life. And so we want to pursue God's heart and celebrate and honor and proclaim his name for the work that he does in our lives.

Now, I see that public celebration that David does here, but also there's like a private memorial, I think, that he sets up. Because in verse 54, it says he takes the head of the Philistine and brings it to Jerusalem. Then he comes back, he takes it in before Saul, so he's parading that around. But that he put the armor in his tent.

So Goliath's armor, he put in his own tent. He took to his own home and not to wear. Remember, Saul's armor was too big for David. So Goliath's armor was way too big for David.

But I would suggest he had a private memorial here, a little reminder, or a big reminder maybe, because it was Goliath's armor, but a reminder of the work that God had done, a reminder to encourage him to trust God. And you know, we need those kinds of reminders in our lives, and it's appropriate for us to set up those things in our homes today.

to help us and to remind us of some of the things that God has done in our lives that we would trust him with the things that we will be facing in the future. And so pursuing God's heart while people are out to get you begins with really celebrating God's work and rejoicing in the work that God has done.

Secondly, as we move on now into chapter 18, we're going to look at verses 1 through 5. And point number 2 is develop good friendships. This is something really important for when you have these situations where there is these attacks going on. You need to have some good friends that you can relate to and spend some time with and be encouraged by. Check out verses 1 through 5. It says...

Now, when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore.

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. Verse 5. So David went out wherever Saul sent him and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war. And he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants."

Here in chapter 18, we begin to see the beginning of a beautiful and incredible friendship that develops between David and the son of Saul, whose name is Jonathan. It tells us in verse 1 that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. That

Well, you remember back in chapter 14, we saw Jonathan take a great step of faith, right? When he said, you know, God could save with just a few people. He doesn't need a whole army. And Jonathan, much like David and Goliath, Jonathan went out and tested the waters and in the name of the Lord, had a great victory against the Philistines. Very similar to what happens with David here in chapter 17. And so you can see that the

The kinsmanship between Jonathan and David in that they had this heart for the Lord. They had this trust in the Lord and they were willing to take bold steps of faith and

for God. And so it tells us here that the soul of Jonathan is knit to the soul of David. And I kind of picture Jonathan, you know, watching David go out and just, you know, with just admiration, with just like, yeah, that's right. We got to trust in the Lord. We got to fight the battles in the name of the Lord and go forward in these things. And as David comes back victorious, there's this

Beautiful relationship that gets established here between Jonathan and David. And I like that word that their souls were knit together, you know, that intertwining and that tightness. That it's not just, you know, they were kind of like cool buddies and they hung out a little bit, but there was this tightness. There was this love for one another. It says that he loved him as his own soul. And so there was this true friendship there.

Now, this friendship between David and Jonathan, this is going to be a key source of strength for David over the next few years. David is going to experience these attacks from Saul, these attempts on his life and persecution from Saul. And many times throughout this experience, throughout these next couple of years, David

David and Jonathan are going to meet up and there's going to be a renewing of their friendship and encouragement that happens between them and a commitment to trust the Lord together and to go forward in what God wants for them. And this friendship is so crucial for David over these next few years. Jonathan, it seems, was just really an amazing man of God, even though his dad was not.

He really was. There was this selflessness that Jonathan expressed. In verse 3, it tells us Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And then it goes on to tell us that Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David. This was something that declared great honor to David. He said, I'm removing my honor and I'm clothing you in my honor.

He gave him his armor, even to the sword and the bow and the belt that Jonathan is just giving to David honor and glory and likely indicating, David, I recognize even here right now early on in this process, God's called you to be the next king of Israel. You might remember God has already announced to Saul several times that his legacy was not going to continue.

The normal tradition was for the son of the king to become king, right, when the king is dead. But Jonathan, even early on, he's recognizing, as he is a man who pursues God's heart, he's recognizing God's heart in this situation, that God has anointed David to be king. And yet, in recognizing that, he doesn't get jealous and compete or try to prevent. Instead,

He's participating in the work of God. And he says, wow, God's called David to this. I'm going to be a source of strength. I'm going to come alongside him. Our souls are going to be knit together. And we're going to have this strong friendship. You know, you and I, well, we have some tough days ahead. And that's not a doom and gloom prophecy. That's just a matter of fact. Life is real prophecy, right? We have some difficult days ahead.

And we are going to need these kinds of friendships for the days that we will face ahead.

As we desire to pursue God's heart, there's going to be challenges. There's going to be difficulties. And I'm not talking about, you know, that it's dependent upon, you know, who's in power politically or it's just, it's just a part of the process of life is we are going to face things and God's going to call us to take steps of faith. And we're going to have challenges. We're going to have attacks. We're

And I'd like to just remind us this evening that we need these kinds of friendships. We need to develop good friendships. And that word develop is, I chose that word on purpose because it's not something that just happens or it's not something that just, you know, takes place because once or twice a week we see each other at church, but it's

but good friendships are cultivated and developed i mean in the context of marriage we all recognize you know marriage takes work or we say relationships take work and friendships also take work

And it involves some investment on our part. And so even though David is not yet in the midst of the difficulties that he's going to face, him and Jonathan right now, they're developing this friendship that is going to be key and crucial for David and for Jonathan as they go forward into the rougher seas ahead.

I like the Proverb 1824, which tells us, a man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And there's a lot of discussion about what exactly this verse means. But just the general concept, a man who has friends must himself be friendly. That is, you want to have friends, well, you need to be friendly. Right?

You need to develop friendships. You need to cultivate friendships. They're not just going to happen out of the blue, but they're something that God has, you know, called us to participate in. I like what Pastor Chuck said about this. He said, a lot of people complain, oh, we don't have any friends. Pastor Chuck says, well, you're not showing yourself friendly. If you're going to have friends, you just got to be friendly.

And you have to be part of developing those relationships and building those relationships. And I would really encourage you to do that. It's a little bit difficult. There's a vulnerability. And, you know, sometimes, honestly, we do get burned. We try to develop friendships and it goes sideways. And then we don't ever want to develop friendships again because, well, last time it didn't work out so well. But when we see these kinds of relationships,

Men and women of God who are pursuing the heart of God, boy, there's a great need for us to be connected to others around us. And it doesn't mean you have to be everybody's friend in this way, but we need to have that connection

That couple people, that handful of people that we can have our souls be knit together, that we can really be real with, that we can really be whatever happens in life, we can work through it, pray through it, talk through it together, that we can be this kind of friend and have our souls knit together because these are friendships we're gonna need. Listen, I've seen so many times as a pastor, people go through the most difficult things that they've ever experienced in life together.

without friends. Now, we're going to go through difficult things in this life with friends, but I've seen it happen so many times where they reach out to me because they have nobody else to reach out to, because they have no friends, because they've never been open, they've never been vulnerable, they've never established those kinds of relationships, they've never... And that's great, but when you're in the midst of these kinds of difficulties, listen,

There are people who will be there for you, but there is nobody who can be there for you to the level and degree of someone who has been there with you up to that point. That there's a limitation, and it's not because of an unwillingness. It's just because of, well, the depth of our relationship hasn't been developed. And so there is limits to what can take place, and the comfort that can be given, and the strength that can be offered. And

And building that friendship in advance and ahead of time can be so beneficial. And so develop good friendships. I really want to encourage you to be connected with other men and women who love God, who are pursuing the heart of God. It's not like you're just, you know, using people as an insurance plan. So don't think you can kind of just like, you know,

Like Ronnie, okay, if I go something hard, you're gonna be there for me, all right? And I'll be there for you if you go something hard and then we never talk again. That doesn't work. But Ronnie, I really love you. I'm gonna care for you. And let's spend some time together and get to know each other and pray for one another and talk through things in our lives and develop a friendship. And then when difficulties happen, maybe it's your difficulties, maybe it's my difficulties.

But when they happen, we can be better equipped and prepared to minister to one another and help each other through them. And that's really the idea here. And so David and Jonathan have this great relationship. It's a great example for us. When people are out to get you, you're going to need to have these kinds of friendships to be able to rely upon and to be able to fall back on and receive and be strengthened and encouraged by these who have walked with you up to that point.

Well, moving on now, verses six through 11, we have point number three, and that is dodge attacks without attacking back. Here we see a great example in David in verse six. Now it happened as they were coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and they said, Saul has slain his thousands.

And David, his 10,000s. Uh-oh. Verse 8. Then Saul was very angry. And the saying displeased him. And he said, they have ascribed to David 10,000s. And to me, they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom? Verse 9. So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

Again, this victory that David experiences with Goliath is the spark that causes Saul to really begin to come against David in a serious way. And it's stirred up as they're coming back into town and the victory is just being celebrated greatly. And the cheerleaders come out and say, Saul has slain his thousands.

But David has slain tens of thousands. Now, David only slayed Goliath, but they counted it as ten thousands. This was a big victory. They're saying David really accomplished this victory. And man, much greater, ten times greater a victory David had today than Saul had today. And that really got to Saul. And he, it says he was very angry. He was displeased.

And he begins to realize in verse 8, it says, Now again, in 1 Samuel 15, 28, God has already announced to Saul several times, your kingdom is being taken away. And now Saul is beginning to recognize that

David's the guy. David's the guy that the Lord has chosen. And so he begins to eye David. He begins to watch David. He's suspicious of David. He's jealous of David. He is, well, he's out to get David. Check out verse 10. And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand as at other times, but there was a spear in Saul's hand.

And Saul cast the spear for he said, I will pin David to the wall. And then notice, but David escaped his presence twice. David had been ministering to Saul in this way for a long time when he received this distressing spirit. When David would play, there would be a soothing that took place for the heart and the mind of Saul. So as this distressing spirit comes upon Saul again, well, call in David. That's the normal routine. David comes in, he begins to play.

But now Saul is not soothed. Instead, as he's sitting there, he's looking at this spear, kind of maybe spinning it around in his hand, imagining, if David was out of the way, I could still be king. I could have my kingdom set up for a long time. I could pass on my kingdom to my son, Jonathan, if David was out of the way. And so he's pondering that, thinking through, distressed. He decides, all right, let's do this. And he throws the spear at David. Sorry, Janine, I wasn't targeting. Throws the spear at David.

Harvey. No, I'm just kidding. He throws the spear at David. And as he throws the spear, David dodges it. Quick reflexes. Or maybe Saul's just a bad throw, actually, because he throws the spear a couple times and misses. Here, we see it. We see it later on also as he even throws the spear at his own son later on.

Maybe he just was a bad throw. But either way, he wants David dead. He's intending to kill David with the spear. And David dodges. And I just kind of picture it, right? He just, and then it just like sticks to the wall. And so there's this spear, you know, just right next to David's head, sticking out of the wall. And it would be natural and easy for David to just pull it back out and throw it right back, right? Right?

And I think every one of us, if we knew how to handle a spear, would be tempted to do that. But what's significant and noteworthy about David in all of this, over these next few years, even when he has opportunity to attack Saul, he does not fight back. He does not come against Saul in the same way that Saul is coming against him. And it tells us here in verse 11, David escaped his presence twice. Twice. Twice.

So he's there. He dodges the spear. He leaves the room. He comes back another time. He's playing the harp another time. Saul is distressed another time with the spear in his hand and throws it again. And David escapes again. Now, after the first time, would you go back in the room? Would you go play the harp again? Would you try to minister to someone who was distressed after they had tried to hurt you before? David does.

Because he's a man who pursues the heart of God. He's a man who pursues the heart of God. And so even though Saul is coming against him, he will not fight against Saul in that same way. He will dodge the attack. So this doesn't mean we have to sit there and take a beating. He'll dodge the attack. He'll dodge the spear. But

He doesn't take the spear and fight back. He doesn't then try to destroy Saul because Saul is trying to destroy him. He handles this as a man who pursues the heart of God. It reminds us of what Paul says in Romans 12, 18, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Live peaceably, even when they throw spears at you. They can throw spears at you and you don't have to throw them back.

They can throw out the accusations and you don't have to throw them back. Now, when is it okay to fight back? And when is it okay to attack? Is it ever okay to attack? Well, there's another discussion that we could have along with that, but let me just summarize it all by saying, well, if God tells you to, well, then it's okay. But as a default, as a general rule, as you're pursuing the heart of God, evade the attack, dodge it, but you don't have to fight back.

And especially you don't have to fight back in the way that they are attacking you. Pursuing God's heart while people are out to get you means that you dodge the attacks, that you do defend yourself, you do protect yourself in that way. But you don't go out to destroy. You don't go out to hurt and to harm in the way that they desire to hurt and to harm you.

Now, there's a lot of context that I'm sure we could apply this to. You know, in the workplace, there are those sometimes who just decide, I want to destroy your career, or I want to destroy your reputation so I can get the promotion that you're up for, but I want it. And so, you know, I'm going to come against you in this way. And sometimes it's just,

personality thing and there's just, you know, for whatever reason, sometimes it's just someone stirred up by the enemy and distressed and they want to take it out on somebody and so they choose you and there can be that kind of thing. But also, I would encourage you to consider it this way. A lot of marriage advice is essentially pull that spear out of the wall and throw it right back at them. Listen, I've heard this marriage advice throughout the years many, many times. This is very common. There was this guy who worked at P-Checks with me

And he prided himself on having an answer for how to handle anything that a wife could nag a husband about. He had an answer. Oh, your wife's nagging you about that? Okay, here's what you do. And essentially what he said was, pull the spear out of the wall and throw it right back at her. You know, that was his advice. Here's how to, you know, defeat and attack and, you know, conquer in this scenario. Okay.

And so that's bad advice. That is not pursuing the heart of God. And so I would encourage you to consider these kinds of principles in more than just the obvious issues. But in your home, in your workplace, and wherever you might be, there's going to be attacks that you face. And as a man or a woman who pursues God's heart, it's appropriate to follow the example of David, to dodge the attacks without attacking God.

back. And it's, I mean, it would be very easy, right, to see this example, to see this scenario, put Jesus in this place and see, oh yeah, that's what Jesus would do in that scenario. He'd just dodge. He wouldn't then go on a rampage and like cut off Saul's head, right? It's a good example for us how we should respond to these kinds of attacks. Well, moving on to verses 12 through 16, now we have point number four, right?

And that is behave wisely in all your ways. Verse 12 says, now Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved wisely in all his ways and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he was, that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. And so as David evades this attack, Saul now becomes very afraid because it's apparent God is with him. And it's also apparent God has departed from Saul. And Saul is threatened by this. And so he's out to get David. He couldn't get him with the spear. And so now he's going to change his tactics. He's still out to get David, but

but he can't stand David being in his presence anymore. So he removes him from his presence and says, I'm going to make you a captain over a thousand. Now, this is maybe a promotion you might consider, right? Now he's a captain, not just a musician in the courtroom, but now he's a captain. He's got charge of men. He's in charge and responsible for battles and things that are set before him and things that he is called and commanded to do.

traps that will be set before him. But the Lord points out very clearly, David behaved wisely in verse 14 in all his ways and the Lord was with him. He was a man who pursued God's heart. And so he behaved wisely and he had the presence of God and he was walking with God. And so even though Saul's intentions are not good, and we'll see that even more as we get into the next passage, Saul's out to get him. But David is just going along

using, not using, but experiencing this new responsibility and going forward with what he's been charged with, trusting in the Lord and doing his best to walk with the Lord. And so he's behaving wisely in all his ways. In verse 15, it tells us that Saul saw that he behaved very wisely. And so he was afraid of him. Saul recognized, whoa, I thought maybe he would crumble having that kind of responsibility.

I thought he would crumble having that kind of charge, that, you know, being in charge of a thousand men. I didn't think he'd be able to handle that well, but he's handling it really well. Whoa. And he begins to be even more afraid of David. But the people around David loved David because he went out before them. He came back in before them. He was one of them. He was amongst them. And again, he was a man who pursued God's heart.

It also tells us back in verse five that David went out wherever Saul sent him and behaved wisely. So three times we're told here that David behaved wisely. How do you behave wisely? The Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. David behaved wisely because the primary thing upon his heart, the thing that he cared about most was pleasing God. Again, it's pursuing God's heart. And everything that he did, he did wisely.

With this in mind, with this consideration, does this please God? What does God want in this situation? How does God want me to handle this? And he did things purposefully to honor the Lord and to please the Lord. And when there are times in our lives where there are those who are out to get us, this is, it's always important, but it's especially important because, well, in behaving wisely, we

David gave Saul no excuse, no reason to bring judgments upon him. Instead, the Lord used what Saul meant for evil. God meant it for good because David was out to please the Lord. And this can be so hard because, listen, we don't always behave wisely, especially in these kinds of situations.

especially when we're in uncomfortable positions, when we're charged with new things and things are difficult and things are hard. And it's so easy to allow the situation to get to us in a way that we lose sight of what is it that God wants? What is it that's pleasing to God? And we begin to respond with our own thoughts, with what we want. And that is true of every one of us. Listen, this week, I didn't necessarily behave all that wisely.

I got hustled, like really hustled. I bought a used car and I seriously got hustled and I like hook, line, and sinker and I'm reliving it after the fact. I'm like, oh my goodness, there is that flag, that flag, that flag, that flag, that flag, that flag, that flag, you know what I mean? All these red flags, all these issues.

And, you know, the Lord is good. And so, you know, I was able to get it registered. It actually did pass smog. There was some questions. But I got hustled, man. And you know what it is? It's not even so much that I wanted that specific car. It's not even, it's just I hate the process of buying a car. I hate the whole interaction. I hate the exchange. I just want it to be over. And so I just made a decision. All right, let's do it.

It's kind of like, and maybe this doesn't sound the same to you, but it's the same to me. It's like clothes shopping. It's like, I don't care. Color, size, whatever. Just grab something and let's go. Like, I just want it to be over already. And I hate the whole process. And man, I just got caught up in that. And I just pulled the trigger. And, you know, the blessing from the Lord is I commute one mile from here to my house. It's one mile. So, you know, pray that it lasts for a while, just going one mile at a time.

We don't always behave wisely. And especially when we're in those situations that, you know, the emotions are intense and the things are, the pressure's on and it's like, oh, and we got to keep

The Lord before us. What's honoring to the Lord? What does the Lord want? And that needs to be more important than how I feel. That needs to be more important than what I think, than what my friends told me, than what my mom says. That needs to be the most important. And in that, we will behave wisely in all of our ways as we seek to honor the Lord in all that we do.

Well, moving on to point number five, a similar point. It is do all things heartily unto the Lord. And here we're going to look at verses 17 through 27. It's a bigger chunk of verses, but we'll start with just the first few. In verse 17, it says, Notice,

Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him. So David said to Saul, who am I and what is my life or my father's family in Israel that I should be a son-in-law to the king? But it happened at the time when Merib, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David that she was given to Adriel, the Mephilithite, as wife. Here Saul changes his strategy again. Throwing spears didn't work.

Putting him in charge of an army didn't work. All right, let's send him against the Philistines. Well, how am I going to send him against the Philistines? All right, I'll use my daughter as leverage. David, you're going to be given this great special honor and privilege. You're going to get to be my son-in-law and marry my daughter. You're just so blessed in this. But here's the condition. You have to fight valiantly against the Philistines.

And Saul's doing this with completely horrible motivations. He's thinking, let the Philistines kill him. I've tried my ways and my ways aren't working. Let the Philistines be against him. And this is something important to note as you look at this. As we talk about pursuing the heart of God and being wise in all of our ways and all of this, listen, you don't have to be so worried and caught up and consumed with the motivations of the people who are out to get you.

Let God take care of that. We know the motivations of Saul because God revealed the motivations of Saul. David didn't really know the motivation of Saul. He might've suspected, but it wasn't David's responsibility to correct or to change the motivations of Saul. It was David's responsibility to pursue the heart of God. And so that's what David did. And sometimes we

Because of what we suspect the motivations of other people are, we deviate from pleasing God to, I need to fix their motivations. I need to, this is what they want and why they're doing this. Now there is a place, if God has given you a place of authority and he's placed people in your authority and he's given you the call and commission to bring some correction, that is appropriate. But

generally speaking, it's not up to us to question and try to figure out everybody's motivations and make that a determination of whether or not we do whatever we do and whether we do a good job. As we talk about the point here is do all things heartily unto the Lord. That's regardless of whatever the motivations are of the person asking you to do it. It's unto the Lord. And so do it heartily. You don't have to worry about their motivations. Let God deal with that.

And so Saul makes this offer, you're going to marry my daughter. And David is, he's like, I'm nobody. And my father's family is nobody. And, you know, it's not a little thing for me to be the king's son-in-law. And by that, there is, of course, humility in David. But also, as we'll see in the coming verses, David is saying, I don't have anything to offer. I don't have anything to give. I'm poor. I'm poor.

And so, you know, it would be, there would be a dowry that the man would give in their culture that would be, you know, hefty and quite a large sum. And David is saying, I'm nobody, I have nothing. This doesn't make sense for me to enter into this marriage. But Saul says, I'm going to offer it to you. And here's what you need to do. Just be valiant and fight the Lord's battles.

using the name of the Lord, but with terrible motivations. But then what Saul does, completely underhanded, is on the day of the wedding, psych, she's going to be his wife instead. Now, it's interesting because then it just moves on into verse 20. Now, Michelle, Saul's daughter, loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Now, what happened between 19 and 20? We don't know.

Was David upset? Was he around furious? Was he throwing things? Was he, you know, just so hurt? And we don't know. We don't know. But as we look at what happens next, it doesn't seem that this, although Saul was really trying to mess with David, that it really didn't mess with David. David continued to pursue the heart of God. I'm sure he was disappointed. I'm sure he was hurt. I'm sure all of that. He was, you know, experiencing emotions that we would all experience.

but that he did not allow those emotions to push him away from pursuing the heart of God. And instead, he's going to go forward, continuing with this same heart and attitude. Now, Michelle enters the picture, and she loved David. And so Saul thought, okay, I have another opportunity.

This is a good idea. Verse 21, Saul said, So Saul decided, hey, I'm going to bring Michelle into the picture in order to set a snare for David.

And I don't know that it was necessarily that Michelle was, you know, a horrible person and that's why she was a snare for David. I think the way that Saul saw it is that she was just an opportunity to send David out against the Philistines again. And in that way, she was a snare for him. Like, I can dingle another carrot. All right, here's another daughter. Try to time, you know, and, you know, you try to marry her. And so in order to do this, you know,

you're going to have to go against the Philistines. And again, he's saying that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. And so he's trying to set up David, having the Philistines take him out by setting Michelle there as bait, really, for David to respond to. And again, I would say, don't worry about their motives and schemes, but you continue to pursue the heart of God. And that's what's important. Verse 22.

And Saul commanded his servants, communicate with David secretly and say, look, the king has delight in you and all his servants love you. Now, therefore, become the king's son-in-law. So Saul's servants spoke these words in the hearing of David. And David said, does it seem to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man? And the servants of Saul told him, saying in this manner, David spoke.

So again, God's clearly revealing Saul's intent here. His intention, this whole plan and plot, his poor daughters, right? I mean, they're just used as pawns in his manipulative scheme to try to get the Philistines to kill David. But Saul said,

Essentially, Saul says, kill 100 Philistines and you can marry my daughter. You don't have to give me money. You don't have to give me a dowry. Just go kill 100 Philistines. So what does David do? Verse 26. So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David to become the king's son-in-law.

Saul asked for 100. What did David do? He gave him 200.

Again, this is where I get the point. Do all things heartily unto the Lord. As David is pursuing the heart of God, even though Saul's motivations are completely twisted and he's out to get David, David is giving it his all as unto the Lord. And we read that verse this week, and that's part of the reason why I worded the point this way as well. In Colossians chapter 3.

It tells us, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Whatever you do, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing heartily as unto the Lord. We shouldn't really be doing anything half-heartedly.

But everything that we engage in and everything that we do, we should do it in the name of the Lord and as unto the Lord. And no matter what the motivations are of the people around us, our reward comes from him. He's the one we're seeking to please. He's the one we're seeking to honor. And that's where we need to be focused. And that's where our heart and our minds need to be fixed.

that we would do all things heartily unto the Lord. Again, David sets a great example for us. Now, in the midst of someone coming against us, we can get caught up in that scene, in that scenario, and allow the emotions and the tension of that situation to push us away from. And so, well, this boss is asking this of me, and they're just trying to set me up, and so I'm not going to do a good job. You know, I'm just, you know, and it's very easy for us to begin to

try to manipulate back. But the example set here and what Paul calls us to from Colossians chapter three is to do your best, do your best in honor of the Lord and in the name of the Lord and trust that God will take care of the reward in his time and when it's appropriate.

Well, finally, finishing it up with point number six and finishing out the chapter, verses 28 through 30. Point number six is love your enemies. Verse 28 says,

and that Michelle, Saul's daughter, loved him. And Saul was still more afraid of David, so Saul became David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war, and so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed. All of Saul's plotting and planning, it's failing. It's not working. Couldn't pin him to the wall. Couldn't destroy him with power.

Couldn't destroy him against the Philistines. And he's recognizing, even in this marriage, Michelle loves him and the people love him. Things are going well. But notice what it says in verse 29. Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David's enemy continually. Notice the way that that's worded. Saul became David's enemy continually. Throughout these next chapters, as we work our way through Samuel, we're going to see

As far as David was concerned, Saul was never an enemy. Even though he'd thrown spears, even though he'd manipulated and tried, even though he's gonna attempt to take David's life over and over and over again, Saul was never David's enemy. But as far as Saul was concerned, David was an enemy. And we see David here in this passage and in the chapters to come model what the Lord called us to do. Remember in Luke chapter six, Jesus says, "'But I say to you who hear,'

Now, a lot of us may want to stop our ears right now and not hear, but love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. Saul became David's enemy continually. And what did David do? He loved him. He did good to the one who hated him. He blessed the one who cursed him. He prayed for those who spitefully used him. David here is a great example for us.

what it looks like for a man or woman of God to pursue the heart of God when there is someone who is out to get you. He sets the model. He sets the example for us. Running down these things, first we celebrate God's work. It is important. God's at work. As you're pursuing the heart of God, he's going to be at work. He's going to be accomplishing victories. And it's appropriate. It's okay. It's right to celebrate that.

Sometimes we hold back because we're afraid of being judged, of being prideful, or we're afraid of becoming prideful, but it's okay to hold up the head of the Philistine and say, look what God did. And again, I would encourage you, next Wednesday we'll have the opportunity to share prayer requests and praise reports, and we need to share the prayer requests, and we have the needs, but we also need to celebrate and rejoice in the things that God does. Let's celebrate God's work and not be afraid of that.

We need to develop good friendships. We're going to need those people around us that love us, and we love them because we've invested in each other. We've cared for one another. And in the times of crisis, that's a hard time to make a friend, but it's a great time for friends that have been made to be there for one another and to help each other through the things that we face in this life.

As there are people out to get us, there's going to be attacks and we need to dodge those without attacking back, without seeking to destroy in the way that they seek to destroy. Instead, we need to behave wisely in all of our ways and do everything heartily as unto the Lord and love our enemies in the way that God has called us to. And this is the appropriate behavior for someone who is pursuing God's heart, even when someone's out to get you.

We're going to have the worship team come up and close this in a song. And we want to just give the opportunity, as we usually do, for a time of worship and prayer, but also time to minister to one another. And I just want to say, as we worship the Lord, as usual, feel free to minister to one another, to pray for one another, encourage each other. And maybe it's time for you to make a friend and to begin to establish those kinds of connections that you would be able to support one another and help each other through prayer.

times that are to come that you have no idea what's coming, but the Lord knows. And so he wants to establish those things and develop those things. And so I would encourage you to be seeking the Lord for your life and where you're at in pursuing God's heart, but also as he leads and prompts, minister to one another and reach out and develop those friendships that you can continue to pursue God the way he's called you to. Let's worship the Lord together.

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