David’s Rise

Well, the preaching this morning will be from 1 Samuel chapter 18. I'm going to read the whole chapter, so I'm going to ask you to stand, please stand for the reading of God's word.

But know that it's a long chapter, and if you need to sit down, you will not be smited from heaven for that. You can take a little break, because we will read the whole chapter, 1

Samuel 18. As soon as 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.

And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword, and his bow, and his belt.

And David went out, and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul sent him over the men of war.

And this was good in the sight of all the people, and in the sight of Saul's servants. As they were coming home, when

David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet

King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him.

He said, they have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they ascribe thousands. And what more can he have but the kingdom?

And Saul eyed David from that day on. The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar, as he did day by day.

Saul had his spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall.

But David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul.

So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people.

And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. Then Saul said to David, Here is my elder daughter

Merob. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul thought,

Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him. And David said to Saul, Who am

I, and who are my relatives, and my father's clan in Israel, that I should be the son -in -law to the king? But at the time when

Merob, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel, the halathite, for a wife.

Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

Saul thought, Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.

Therefore Saul said to David a second time, You shall now be my son -in -law. And Saul commanded his servants,

Speak to David in private, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you.

Now then, become the king's son -in -law. And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David.

And David said, Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son -in -law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?

And the servants of Saul told him. Thus and so did David speak. Then Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires no bride price except a hundred foreskins of the

Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make

David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told Saul these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son -in -law.

Before the time had expired, David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the

Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son -in -law.

And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. But when Saul saw and knew that the

Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David.

So Saul was David's enemy continually. Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle.

And as often as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

God bless the reading of his word. Now please be seated. Let me ask

God's help in proclaiming his word to you this morning, our Heavenly Father. We thank you that we can assemble before you in peace and security and comfort.

And now, Father, we pray that you would bless the preparations that I've made to declare your word to this people you have assembled here this day, that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be pleasing to you,

Father, for we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, so this history

I read to you, just on the face of it, is really not too difficult to get a grip on. I mean, after killing

Goliath, that was in chapter 17 of 1 Samuel. After killing the monster, David is brought into the upper reaches of the royal court.

His martial prowess and his courage in one -on -one combat translated nicely into military skill on the field of battle, and he was not only a warrior, but a leader.

Saul, who in his own right was an excellent general and a valiant warrior, he was admired by his people too.

But when he heard that David was also admired, he became murderously jealous.

We know from the end of chapter 16, when David was anointed, that the

Spirit of God had departed from Saul and fallen upon David, and that the

Lord sent an evil spirit, a troubling spirit upon Saul at that time. And we see here that the more

David served Saul and served the nation, the more obvious it was that the Lord was with him and not

Saul. And the more apparent this became to Saul, the more savage he became against his loyal subject who was fast becoming

Israel's greatest warrior. Now, it's really kind of a quick recap, but on the face of it, on the surface of it, that's what's happening here.

Saul took David into his household. David is rising in prominence and reputation, and Saul seems to regret that he's in his household.

And importantly, Saul fears David. He fears him because the Lord is with him.

David's rise is a challenge to Saul, is exciting his jealousy, is exciting his rage, is exciting his murderous intents against him.

And so we have here a simple history, one that we can easily get a grip on and just explain what has happened here.

And yet it's much deeper than that in many ways as we think of David as that prototype leading to Jesus Christ, the antitype.

David, the one who, as I often remind you, is the one who is Jesus' favorite title, or me,

Jesus Christ, son of David, have mercy on me. It's this David, this prototype of Jesus Christ that we encounter here in 1

Samuel. And God is with him. God is with him in the way that brings success to all that he does.

And brethren, it is, is it not, a wonderful thing for God to be near you?

Is it not a wonderful thing when you can feel the presence of God guiding your steps, empowering your words, and bringing success to himself through such as you or me?

It's a wonderful thing for God to be near you, as he was with David. Success.

Isn't that great, to have success, to accomplish that which you set your hand out to do? Wherever David went, he had success.

Did you hear how many times that word success came up? And of course, the reason for it is always attributed to God, success because the

Lord was with him. This reminds me of Joseph, in those later chapters of Genesis.

And whoever he served, be it Jacob, be it the Jeller, be it Potiphar, be it

Egypt, he had success. And wherever he had success, the reason is given there in Genesis for Joseph, the same as we have here in 1

Samuel for David, because the Lord was with him. The Lord is with him.

As the Lord is with you, if you are with Jesus Christ. If you, by faith, are in Jesus Christ, the

Lord is with you, and it is a wonderful thing for God to be near you. It is a wonderful thing for God to use you to bring success to his program, to his will.

David was successful over and over. He was successful in his relationships. Did you notice how everybody loved

David? Saul's son, Jonathan, loved David. He loved him so much that he stripped himself of all the accoutrements that named him as the heir apparent to the throne and gave them to David, knowing that he would be the heir to the throne.

That becomes more apparent in later chapters, we'll get to, but we'll just leave it there for now. Jonathan loved

David as his own soul and recognized him as the next heir, the next king of Israel, and gave him all those symbols of that title that he held.

Saul's son, Jonathan, loved him. Saul's daughter, Michal, loved

David. Chapter 18, verse 16 says that all Israel loved him. All Judah loved him.

They came out in praise of him for what he had done. And it also says in chapter 16, verse 21, that Saul loved him.

And interesting, and I want you to keep this in mind as we go through this message this morning. It says there that Saul loved him greatly or with much force.

He had this huge love for David. So he's successful wherever he goes, this

David, this killer of Goliath. Wherever Saul sent him,

David accomplished what Saul sent him to do. When Saul promoted him over the others, those whom he probably leapfrogged over weren't jealous of him, but Saul's decision was good in their sight.

So who's getting the credit here? Saul. It's as if those people under him, those executives, if you will, who are working under him and accomplishing his purposes come and say, you know,

Saul, you made a great decision there. What a fine leader you are to have raised up such a one as competent as David.

It was good in their sight. So wherever David goes, whatever he does, whatever odds are stacked up against him, and it's apparent just on the surface of the text that Saul was sending him out in more and more dangerous expeditions, hoping that the

Philistines would kill him, wherever he went, he succeeded to Saul's distress and continuing hatred of David.

Now, we can't take this to mean that anyone who has the Spirit of God with him, which you do if you're in Jesus Christ, if you by faith have come to the

Lord Jesus Christ, you have the Spirit of God, the same Spirit who's giving David success here.

But we cannot take this text or this history to mean that whoever has God's Spirit is going to have a life like David's, where everything you do just comes out wonderfully.

In fact, David's next chapter is going to be exile. He's going to be homeless, he's going to be pursued like a criminal, he's going to be followed by a band of ruffians, but that's for another day.

What we can say is that the success here is the Lord's.

God's normal way of working out his extraordinary purposes is through men. And I mean mankind,

I mean people generally. God works out his purposes through people, through human beings.

Now, he may use your native talents or your native attributes as here with David. David learned as a lad how to fight, how to stand the bitterness of being outdoors.

You remember how he took the lambs from the mouth of a lion and then killed the lion? He would do the same thing with bears.

That's why he was able to kill Goliath. That's what he told King Saul. I could take him on because I know what he is.

He's a beast and I know how to kill beasts. So God used his latent talents.

His musical abilities come later. Well, they were here in chapter 18, more in chapter 16, and they come out again and again.

He uses his latent talents or he may use the gift that he especially gives and equips you with.

First Corinthians 12, Romans 12 speak of believers, speak of you as having a gift given to you by God for the good of all, for the good of this body here, we might say.

The success is the Lord. God the Father gets all the glory, and yet the equipping is for you.

It is for you and me to enact God's purposes with what he equips us with.

And see, the question is not whether, but it's how you've been equipped. Not whether, but how.

David, it seems, is using those latent talents, those things that were part of his upbringing, part of his experiences, and God is sanctifying them, as it were, to accomplish his purposes in Israel.

But if you have the spirit of God, as did David, as do all who believe in Jesus Christ, as did

Jesus himself. Luke chapter 4 says that he went forth after his temptation, he went forth in the power of the

Spirit. And if that be the case with us, then you have a spiritual gift from God and a purpose behind it, where he will get the glory and we will have the success.

Not whether, but how. As we read this history of David in 1

Samuel 18, what do we get from that? Well, we can make a lot of lessons, and I would like to say, be brave like a

David. But then I'd also have to say, learn how to write poems that go into scripture like David did. Learn how to play instruments that could calm a troubling spirit in a king and that sort of thing.

I like to go in a more holistic sense and focus in on this idea that David's success over and over is because the

Lord was with him. To each, says the Apostle Paul, is given the manifestation of the

Spirit for the common good. No different for you, for the common good here, than it was for David.

David was working for the common good. How is that? He's saving Israel from their enemies. He's accomplishing

God's purposes by keeping the enemies away, even conquering or slaughtering them in some cases.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. This means that the believer, each and every one of us, has been given by God, the

Spirit, a spiritual gift. Meant for our good, not a whether, but a how you've been equipped.

Very often it's your latent talents, it's those things that we were raised with, natural endowments at birth, those sort of things.

I look out, I hear, and of course, in this congregation, many engineers. It means that your latent talent might be mathematics.

I don't know how that helps the church, but somehow it does. God uses what we have, what we bring to the table, to his good, for his success and for his glory.

Not a whether, but a how. The message is not to be like a David. He was a sinner, he needed

Jesus' blood like any of us. Rather, it is like David, you have the

Spirit of God in you. You have the Spirit of God who has equipped you to fulfill his purposes, just as he did

David. Now it's probably not on horseback with a sword attacking Philistines with shields and bows and such.

It's absolutely not, not probably not, it's not that. But it's the same

Spirit fulfilling his purposes so that we succeed to his glory.

As Jesus Christ is building his church, he's the one who builds it. And how does he build it? Through us.

And why can he work through us? Because he's given us the Spirit of God. So what we do is consistent with his will.

Now he's equipped us to fulfill his purposes. Ephesians 2 .10 says, So what's the key to David's success?

His anointing in chapter 16 verse 13 can give us some guidelines there. And the

Spirit rushed upon David from that day forth. That's after he was anointed, when God said to Samuel, This is he, anoint him.

And after he was anointed, the Spirit rushed upon him. So the key to David's success is not

David at all, it's God succeeding through David. And today, in just the same way, Christ succeeds through human means.

It is he who is building his church. Without him we can do nothing. But what did Jesus Christ go on to say when he said,

Without me you can do nothing? But then he also said, You will do greater things.

That doesn't mean greater qualitatively, perhaps it's greater quantitatively. It doesn't really matter. Jesus Christ says that by faith in him, and by obedience to him, and by the

Spirit working in you, we can accomplish much. In other words, you can have success.

No, no, no, not me. God gets all the glory. Yes, absolutely. He gets all the glory. But we are the ones who succeed in the name of God.

It is Jesus Christ who is building his church. It is the Spirit who empowers us to do the work of building the church in Jesus' name.

It is the Father who receives all the glory. Now, few of us have

David's latent, inborn talents. And while that is the case, your success in serving

Christ is no less than his. Because it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It's wonderful to have God near you. Have you known that feeling, just that, not even feeling,

I shouldn't use the word feeling. Have you known that confidence? That your steps are being moved along by God the

Spirit? That your words are empowered with a force that couldn't have come from you?

And that you're speaking truth, whether it's to a family member, or an unbeliever that you've run into on the streets, whatever the case is.

Making decisions about your life, that are major decisions. And looking to the Word and having that sure confidence.

And feeling and knowing God's presence. Giving you that sureness and that hope, that great hope for success.

It's a wonderful thing when you know that God is near you. David's success over and over, as you heard in the reading, was because the

Lord was with him. It's a wonderful thing, is it not? It just livens your step.

And it makes sure your plans. But as wonderful as it is for God to be near you, for many, for too many, the convicting power of the

Lord's proximity stirs up not love, but hatred. What Paul calls the fragrance of death.

If we're the fragrance of life in Christ Jesus to those who are being saved, the fragrance of death to those who won't believe.

So as wonderful as it is for me, for you, to have that nearness of God, for others it's a fearful, almost hateful thing.

It's a fearful thing to be near someone with whom God is near. This is true in this passage in 1

Samuel 18. It said over and over that Saul feared David. Why?

Because David was a better sword fighter? He was younger, he was stronger, he was quicker? No. Over and over it said, because the

Lord was with David. It's a fearful thing to be near someone with whom

God is near. Saul, when he saw

David's success, when his ego got in the way, he went from love for David to anger, that's verse 8.

Then in the second half of verse 8 it went to jealousy. And then verse 9 is to murder, to suspicion.

Verse 11 is murder. Verse 12 is fear, and fear over and over again throughout this chapter.

Now when did the anger start? The anger started when the army returned from pursuing the

Philistines after Goliath's defeat. So this is after David went out and he slung the stone that brought down Goliath and took off his head, and then the army pursued from Gath to Ekron the

Philistines. That's in chapter 17. So they're coming back from this successful venture.

Goliath is gone, the Philistines have been routed, Israel is safe, the king has done his

God -given duty of saving the people from their enemies, and they're coming back and parading back to the city.

And verse 6 says that the women came out from all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet

King Saul. Emphasis mine. Meet King Saul.

Saul, not David. They came out to meet King Saul. It was Saul who saw in David a champion who could kill

Goliath. Credit to Saul. It was Saul who promoted David to be over the men of war.

That's credit to Saul. It was Saul whose servants gave him approbation for his administrative skill in recognizing

David's skills. Credit to Saul. It was Saul who was loved and respected and admired by all even for his looks and for his stature.

That's way back in chapter 10, verse 23, 24. Do you remember when they said, who is like this guy? Look how tall he is.

He has a head taller than anyone else. He's strong. He's handsome. He's powerful.

He's brave. And it was Saul who was the subject of the chorus.

Saul has struck down his thousands. Israel is lauding their king. Israel is loving their king and they're calling him by name.

What more could you want? Answer? Sole possession.

No competitors. No one who could approach his repute in any of these things. In the

Gulag Archipelago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who lived in those

Gulags, in those re -education camps for a long time, he writes in this history of how

Joseph Stalin would remove rivals by sending them off to re -education camps where they would really die of disease or malnutrition, or even right off to the firing squad.

What was their offense? Very often their crime was competence. Many of these people were sent off to that sort of a misery.

Their crime, their offense against Joseph Stalin, was that they were competent. That they knew what they were doing.

That they worked hard and accomplished what Joseph Stalin sent them to do. The problem with that was it highlighted

Joseph Stalin's mistakes and incompetence. Do you know one of the worst things you could do in his

Russia or his Soviet Union was to have malnutrition in an area where his five -year plan said you were going to have plenty of food.

Therefore, you're disobeying the glorious leader and you could be in a lot of trouble. Anyone who stole a sliver of the spotlight from Stalin or was given any credit for any success was in grave danger.

Generals who failed on the battlefield were executed. Generals who won were eyed with suspicion.

All this to say, we have human experience that confirms what

David is going through with Saul. That the more successful David is, the more competent he is, the more he accomplishes

Saul's program, the more suspicious Saul becomes of him. This was

Saul. For all his prestige in Israel, he could not stand the next phrase in the women's song, and David his ten thousands.

His great love for David changed quickly like a house in the hands of a flipper. What was love became murderous hatred.

What was Saul's problem? He was afraid of David again, because the Lord was with him, but it departed from Saul.

You see, the presence of God in the believer is a fearful thing in unbelievers. Often it's just knowing that we believe the

Bible, that we trust in a risen Savior that can light the fuse of our enemies. And here,

Saul's love, and he loved David greatly, we see that love and hatred are really like two sides of a coin.

No emotions are more deep than these two. No emotions can overcome common sense or reason more quickly than absolute love or hatred.

They overcome reason. Common sense runs away in the power of these two. The depth of Saul's former love was matched only by the intensity and depth of hatred that came in his place.

Verse 30 tells us the result of all this. At the very end of it, then the commanders of the Philistines came out, but David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so his name was highly esteemed.

The more Saul, in his hatred, tried to have David killed in battle, the more successful David was.

The more Saul set him up for failure, the more the Lord brought success. This reminds me of what

Gamaliel cautioned the Sanhedrin regarding the apostles back in the book of Acts.

He said to them, when they were going to persecute Peter and John, he says, be cautious here, and I quote, so in the present case,

I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.

You might even be found opposing God. Saul the

Pharisee persecuted the early church, even to the death of some of the believers. But what happened when he did that?

As Saul the king persecuted David, David had more and more success.

As Saul the Pharisee persecuted the church, reading chapter 8 of Acts, what happened? The church grew.

The more he made the people disperse, the more they went out preaching the gospel, the more they preached the gospel, the more faith in Jesus Christ expanded and went to more and more people, which enraged

Saul the more, so he persecuted the church the more, and the more he persecuted the church, the more success people had preaching the gospel.

To God be the glory. But on this horizontal level, the people had success.

In accomplishing the will of Jesus Christ. And how was this? For the same reason, because the

Lord was with them as he was with David, as he is with you if you are with Jesus Christ, by faith in him.

Now it could be God's will that we suffer, excuse me, suffer much in this world for his sake.

We could lose our houses. I don't know how that would happen, but it could happen as we follow God's ways.

Our bank accounts could collapse. We could lose our life, as many missionaries have, in accomplishing

God's will. But not a hair on the head of a believer who is doing

God's will can be hurt unless God so wills it.

It's like Jesus said about the sparrows, not a single sparrow falls to the ground except by the will of your

Father. We have a good example of this in 1 Samuel 18.

Remember he threw the spear at him but David evaded him twice? Now think about this for a moment. I don't know where they were quite, but let's say it's in the throne room, which in that day maybe is the size of this sanctuary.

And here you have this mighty warrior, Saul, remember, a head taller than anyone else in Israel.

A valiant warrior, a successful warrior. He knew weapons is my point. He takes his spear and he hurls it a few feet.

It doesn't have far to go. This thing is flying. How did David evade it?

Well, he's young. He's got good reflexes. He's quick on his feet, of course. But how did he evade it really?

Because it was God's will that he had more to do. Incredible to dodge a spear at such range like that.

You know, we talk about David as the prototype. We really just call him a type of Jesus.

I say proto just so we're clear that he is the model that is ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

His antitype, the ultimate fulfillment of all that God intended in that Davidic line that led to Jesus Christ, if you read

Matthew 1, how it ends up in Christ Jesus, his antitype Jesus, in the same way.

You read in Luke 4, how he passed through these men who were going to throw him off a cliff. And for the same reason, his work was not yet done as David's was not yet done.

And the Lord had not willed for him or David to die yet. David would die naturally.

Jesus we'll talk about in a few moments. And you.

And me. Not a breath will be lost in accomplishing

God's will except that he would will that that's the end of our purposes. In the meantime, knowing that we're doing his purposes, knowing that we're following his ways, knowing that the success that we have, and we do have success, is all his, nothing outside of his will.

We might die for the gospel of Jesus Christ, but even that cannot happen except that God should will it.

So David, young, quick, yes. But he evaded that spear twice because that was

God's will. Saul knew his throne was in jeopardy. Samuel told him as much back in 1 Samuel 15 26.

And now his replacement is right in front of him, virtually in his custody. Yet he, the king, with all the power that he had, he feared

David because he knew the Lord was with him. You know, there's a real keen application here for us.

That's to never underestimate yourself. Never underestimate yourself.

And I mean, of course, by that, never underestimate yourself as God the Spirit is working in you, in the self of you, to accomplish his will.

Never underestimate that. You know, too often we have this humility that springs forth and says, well,

I'm of too little count. That's like what David said. How can I be the king's son -in -law? I can't do this. I can't marry into the royal family.

And we say, I don't have enough skill to bring. I don't have enough degrees. I don't have enough to bring to the table.

Too often this is really just false humility, not humility at all. It's a pious sounding excuse to keep us from full immersion in the service of Christ.

Now, if this is you, you may have underestimated not so much yourself. And Paul does tell us, let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think.

But God in you could be the one that's being underestimated. So I would tell you,

I would encourage you. I would exhort you. Think highly of God. Think highly of what

Christ can do through you. Think highly of the fear you carry with you when God's Spirit is working in you.

Think highly of what you can do. Paul wrote, and I want to hear this as a promise from God, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Does that mean we can dodge a spear? You know, I can barely walk. I couldn't dodge a spear for a second.

It doesn't have to be that. I can do all things. And the context of that is the same as with David in accomplishing

God's will. David was at that time serving the king of Israel. You, church, you're serving the king of the universe.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. It is amazing that that nearness of God in us can stir up such wrath in others.

It is a fearful thing to be near someone with whom God is near. It could generate much hatred.

It's an unreasonable response to be sure, but it's to be expected. Why is there so much hatred, for example, for those who stand week by week on the sidewalk protesting abortion?

Think about that for a moment. Why is there such vitriol against that? I mean, why can't a person who believes that that is their right, and they're going to go avail themselves of that, quote unquote, right, why can't they just say, well,

I'm going to go anyway. I don't really care what you believe. A shrug of the shoulders. It's because there's a convicting power that comes out of those who believe in God and are accomplishing his will and are standing for him.

It's a fearful thing to be near someone with whom God is near. This is what was happening with Saul as he got more and more enraged against David.

It's because David had God's spirit with him. Saul feared David because God was with him.

I think it's the same as we stand on the sidewalk and faithfully proclaim God's word.

You know, they don't yell at people. I've been there a few times. Don't yell. Don't use harsh language.

We don't block entrances. I've seen our brother. I've heard what he says. It's all very polite.

Good words. Why can't people just shrug it off? I think it has something to do with the presence of God coming through the words that are spoken.

It's a fearful thing to be near someone with whom God is near. Do not estimate what it means when you go into your life with God's spirit in you.

It could be fearful. It could stir up much hatred, violence, that sort of thing.

It makes no sense to me. This is what was happening with David and Saul. This is what happens on the sidewalk at the abortion clinic.

It forces open what conscience a society that's adrift in sin may have left. Do not underestimate what it means that God is with you and that Christ Jesus is working through you and the fear that it could generate in those who are around you.

There are many benefits that Christ has won for people. It's a wonderful thing to enjoy those benefits too.

You know, when they came back and they heard this song of victory from the people, the ladies that were singing so enthusiastically for them, they had done what they were supposed to do as an army.

And King Saul in leading them and in letting David in his competence lead and have success, they were doing what kings were supposed to do, what

God intended those kings to do. That's to save their people. It's a wonderful thing to know that kind of benefit.

They had accomplished God's will. They had gone and gotten a victory there and their adulation was well deserved for Saul and for David.

The king had saved the people. Philistines were competent.

They were implacable foes. Whenever they could, they took the wealth and the livelihoods and the sustenance of the people of Israel.

And so the people of Israel needed this salvation. It's a wonderful thing to enjoy these benefits, to know that Christ is in you and to have these benefits that Christ won for you.

If David saved the people from the Philistines under King Saul's authority, what about our

Lord Jesus Christ? You know, there's a consistency between the history of David, the prototype, and Jesus, the antitype.

I think of how David, over and over, because God was with him, Saul's attacks were kind of turned on their head.

And think of Jesus, how the same thing happened. When the Pharisees sent lawyers to trap him regarding taxes to Caesar, they ended up marveling at his wisdom.

When they sent Sadducees to trick him about the resurrection, they ended up exposed for not knowing the scriptures and the power of God.

And finally, they set up a cross in the ground to humiliate and destroy him.

And as it was with David, the prototype, the more Saul went after him, the more success he had, so would

Jesus. When they put that cross on the ground, they thought that was the end of it. They tried so many ways to entrap him, to ruin him, to kill him, destroy him, throw him off a cliff, whatever the case may be, all unsuccessful.

And Jesus went on and had more and more success in accomplishing God's will. And finally, the cross.

And what did they end up with? The greatest miracle of our faith. An empty tomb and a resurrected

Lord. They ended up humiliated, as all they could do was bribe the guards to tell lies about what happened.

It's a wonderful thing to enjoy these benefits that Christ has won for us. And because Christ has won these benefits for us, we have

Christ in us. And because we have Christ in us, we can succeed in accomplishing His will.

And because we can succeed in accomplishing His will here on earth, on this horizontal level, God gets all the more glory as men look upon the works that we do and give

Him the credit and know that we couldn't have done it except that something, someone, somehow, is

God the Spirit. We can tell them it's God's Holy Spirit in us because of faith in Jesus Christ is working in and through us.

Well, this is what I see in the history of David. This is what we continue to see as weeks coming up.

We'll go through it more and more. It has to do with God. It has to do with Jesus Christ being pointed to by this

David. And it has to do with God's Spirit and how He works in and through us and brings success to us.

Yes, you can succeed in Christ and God get all the glory because of the same reason that David did, the

Spirit of God working in you and God's nearness to you. Amen? Heavenly Father, I thank

You for this day. I thank You for the encouragement that we have in Your Scripture. We thank You, Father, that we can finally look to the greatest success of all, which is the empty tomb.

We ask, Father, that we go forth in that confidence and in that power. We ask in Jesus' name.