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Return to Learning to Wait on God 1 Samuel 24
“When God is Real in our Lives”[1] Series:
“Learning to Wait on God: The Life of David Before
He Became King”
1 Samuel 16-31 Think
about it:
How can you tell if God is real in a person's life?
The Lord was real in David's life. David
was a man who truly practiced Psalm 89:15, "Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy
countenance." David
walked in the light of God's presence. He
made his decisions based on what would please God, not by his own feelings or
opinions. This is especially
apparent in 1 Samuel 24.
Review:
In 1 Samuel 23, what happened? David
must have felt the world was against him. He
protected the city of 1. David
was a man who looked at obstacles as opportunities to glorify God.
So must we. 2. David's
focus was not on getting rid of the trial, but on being God's kind of person in
the midst of the trial. That must be
our focus, too. Now let’s take a look at 1 Samuel
24… I.
Consider the Conflict between Saul and David.
We left off last week with Saul leaving David to defend
A. Saul hunted David (1-2).
1. Where?
En Gedi (1)--see map
2. Who helped him?
Some informers (1), and 3,000 men (2) Think of the odds.
How many men does David have? 600
(23:13). Saul had 3,000!
But David had God on his side, and that makes a majority no matter what
the odds!
B. David spared Saul (3-7).
1. Where?
In a cave near En Gedi (3) That must have been some, huge cave!
Were all 600 men hiding in the same cave?
The text doesn’t say. It
just says “David and his men were far back in the cave.”
As we’ve seen in the story thus far, the number of David’s men seems
to fluctuate (first it was 400 in 22:2, then 600 in 23:13; perhaps due to their
going and coming).
Listen to the following observation about caves in “…Caves in the rocks, in which it
is still common for shepherds and their flocks to lodge. Dr. Pococke observes,
‘Beyond the valley [of Tekoa,] there is a very large grotto, which the Arabs
call El-Maamah, a hiding place: the high rocks on each side of the valley are
almost perpendicular; and the way to the grotto is by a terrace formed in the
rock, which is very narrow. There are two entrances into it; we went by the
farthest, which leads by a narrow passage into a very large grotto, the rock
being supported by natural pillars; the top of it rises in several places like
domes; the grotto is perfectly dry. There is a tradition, that the people of the
country, to the number of 30,000, retired into this grotto, to avoid a bad air.
This place is so strong, that one would imagine it to be one of the strong holds
of En-gedi, to which David and his men fled from Saul: and possibly it may be
that very cave in which he cut off Saul’s skirt; for David and his men might,
with good ease, lie hid there and not be seen by him.’”[2]
Q: What happened?
V 3 Saul went in to lit. "cover his feet" (NIV "to relieve
himself") (see Judges 3:24--there were no "Road-side Reststops"
in
Q: How did David spare Saul's
life? V 4...
2. How?
Instead of cutting Saul's throat, he cut his robe (4)
Q: Why did David spare Saul,
according to his words in vv 5-7?
3. Why?
Because he feared God more than men (5-7)
Q: What were David's men
ready to do, according to v 7? Kill
Saul!
Afterwards, Saul left the cave and never even knew what had happened!
C. David confronted Saul
verbally (8-15).
This is quite a dramatic scene
Q: What posture did David
take before Saul? V 8
"bowed" Why?
Out of respect
Q: What did David say to
Saul?
1. "Why do you listen to
liars?" (9)
2. "Although I had the
chance, I did not harm you." (10)
3. "I am not
guilty." (11)
4. "May the Lord judge
between you and me." (12, 15)
Q: How did David address Saul
in v 11? "my father"
Q: What does David refer to
in v 13? An ancient proverb (not in
the Bible)
D. Saul wavered (16-22).
Q: How did Saul respond?
1. He wept aloud (16).
2. He recognized David's
innocence and integrity (17).
3. He acknowledged that God
was with David (18).
4. He asks the Lord to reward
David (19). Is he sincere?
5. He admits that David will
be king (20.
6. He asks David to promise
to protect his descendants (21-22).
Discuss: Did Saul really
repent? Did he really change?
Saul wavered. He seems to
change, but his change will be short-lived.
Saul lived by his whims and emotions.
He does not exhibit true repentance here.
Discuss: What is true
repentance? Is there an imitation
repentance? What's the difference?
The key is fruit. It's hard
to tell the difference when the person is weeping in front of a church by the
altar. Tears are not a true measure
of whether repentance is genuine. Saul
wept (16). It's sad, yet true.
There will be more than a few people in hell who wept at altars in front
of churches, who never truly repented.
Let's take another look at the story from a different vantage point. II.
Consider the Contrast between Saul and David.
A. Saul knew about God,
talked about God, even tried to pacify God. Saul talked about God.
He even called on the Lord to bless David.
But what was missing in Saul's life?
He did not allow the Lord to make a difference in his own life.
He played games with God. He
tried to use God. But when all was
said and done, who was #1 in Saul's life? God?
No. Saul was.
Warren Wiersbe offers this helpful insight:
“Saul’s persecution of David is an illustration of the conflict
between the flesh and the Spirit. It also pictures Satan’s persecution of the
church today: Saul was not the king, yet he was reigning; David was the king,
but he was not yet on the throne. Satan seems to be “reigning” today, but
Christ is King and one day He will take His rightful throne.”[3]
B. David truly lived the
light of God's presence.
Discuss: In what ways is it
apparent that God was REAL in David's life?
Q: What does v 4 indicate
David had been doing with his 600 men? He
had been teaching them about the Lord. He
had shared with them the truths God had shared with him.
They said, (1 Sam 24:4): “The
men said, ‘This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will
give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then
David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.”
This points out the first area...
1. Though he was on the run,
and though he could have become bitter and disheartened, David still taught
others about God (4).
2. Instead of taking matters
in his own hands, David trusted God to take care of things.
He could have killed Saul, but he didn't (4).
Q: Why didn't David kill Saul
when he had the chance?
3. Whereas Saul's conscience
was seared and hardened, David's conscience was sensitive to the presence and
will of God (5).
Q: How did David feel after
he cut Saul's robe? V 5 "His
heart smote him." Contrast that
with Saul, who could order 85 priests killed, not bat an eye, and convince
himself he was doing right!
Q: How can we keep our
conscience pure? Don't compromise in
the little things.
4. David truly believed that
God would take care of his problems. He
determined to let God be the Judge (12).
5. David did not develop a
bitter, "get-even" spirit towards Saul.
He was willing to forgive him for past hurts, and return good for evil
(21-22).
Note: David did not excuse
sin. He did not say to Saul,
"Oh, let's forget it. What you
did to me was no big deal." No,
he called what Saul did "wrong" and "evil" (12, 13).
6. The way David viewed God
affected the way he viewed himself (14).
Note: Modern psychology would
say David had a bad self-esteem, that he had a low view of himself (referred to
himself as a "dead dog" and a "flea").
Actually, what he had was not a low view of himself, but a great view of
God! Lessons:
What must we do in light of 1 Samuel 24? 1.
We must ask ourselves, "Is God real in my life, or am I going
through the motions?" 2.
We must look at trials from God's perspective, and submit to Him in them. 3.
When we are wronged by another person, we must commit the matter to God,
and resolve to do what's right. [1]
These are unedited
teaching notes used initially for a Wednesday evening Bible study at [2]The treasury
of scripture knowledge : Five hundred thousand scripture references and
parallel passages. 1995. Introduction by R.A. Torrey. (1 Sa 24:3). [3]Wiersbe, W. W.
(1993). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the Old Testament (1 Sa
22:1).
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