Groundhog Day

Last night, I was victorious. I caught the skunk that's been troubling my chicken yard.

So if you've been here, you know that that is significant and that means something. If you're new here, just ask around.

We have a history of skunks in this place. And anytime you catch one is a good day.

This morning, the sermon that I'm preaching from 1 Samuel 26 is entitled

Groundhog Day. And if you are, I guess, a movie buff or maybe old like me, you'll remember that in 1993, that was so long ago, 1993,

Bill Murray came out with a movie called Groundhog Day in which he relived the same day over and over and over until he could get it right.

And this week, David seems to be having his own Groundhog Day as he has another opportunity to take the life of Saul.

Now, two weeks ago, David had that opportunity. He did not miss the opportunity.

He was not passive. He did not hide in the back of the cave, but instead he took that opportunity.

He didn't use it for evil, but he used it to call out to Saul, to try and help

Saul see his sin and call him to repentance. And then last week, we had this story about how

David learns the lesson of the Lord's vengeance as he encounters a fool named

Nabal and wants to kill him, but he leaves that in the Lord's hand because of a wise woman named

Abigail. So as we prepare to look into God's Word this morning, let me just open, let me just pray real quick as I think it's good for me,

I think it's good for us before we jump into this. Lord, Father, we pray this morning that You would open our eyes to see the beautiful things that are in Your Word.

Lord, maybe these are things that are common to our ears. Maybe these are things that we are familiar with already,

Lord, and yet the power of them is still something that we have yet to grasp.

And so, Lord, I pray that this morning that You would help us to humble our hearts. I pray that this morning that You would bring conviction,

Father, to our sin and to places that we maybe are blind.

Maybe we see them, but we don't think that they're that big of a deal.

And God, we pray that You would move our hearts one step closer to You in holiness, that we might be a people that belong to You and that You might be our

God exclusively. And that is our prayer this morning. Amen. Now, David is a type of Christ, and we've seen that throughout the book of 1

Samuel. He prefigures Christ. He points forward to Jesus Christ.

And both of these figures, David and Jesus, face great opposition as they make their way to a promised throne.

The author of Hebrews wishes to encourage his audience to endure their present sufferings in light of the way that David has suffered.

And he says this in Hebrews 11. If you look at Hebrews 11, 32, it says,

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, they enforced justice, they obtained promises, they stopped the mouth of lions, they quenched the power of fire, they escaped the edge of the sword.

They were made strong out of weakness. They became mighty in war. They put foreign armies to flight.

They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, stoned.

Oh, I said stoned. Of whom the world is not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.

Now, you think about David and how many of these descriptors apply to him. I mean, if you go back and look through that, it's like he conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, he obtained promises, yes, but he escaped the edge of the sword.

He was made strong in weakness. He became mighty in war. Think about him against Goliath. He put foreign armies to flight, the

Philistines, but also he was destitute, afflicted, mistreated. He wandered in deserts and in mountains and dens and caves of the earth.

When we get to Hebrews 12, 2, the writer reminds us that David and the faithful of Israel are like this great cloud of witnesses that are cheering us on.

They're cheering us on in the race and encouraging us to keep our eyes on Jesus who also suffered for the joy that lay before him, enduring the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne.

Now, we begin our story today with David still enduring, still facing opposition from Saul, still in a desert, waiting to be the next king.

And we can already relate to this great man, knowing that we will face great opposition as we wait our own glorification at the return of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8, 22, for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we eagerly wait adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

And my question to you at the beginning as we think about David wandering through the desert is, do you also feel that longing?

Do you know that desire to be with Christ?

And there are some days that I would say, absolutely, absolutely. Come Lord Jesus. But this is a theme that has been heavy in these chapters where David is on the run in the wilderness.

He's uncomfortable. He's hungry. He's waiting. He's suffering. He's asking God, when? When? How long,

O Lord? How long, O Lord, until your promise of a throne is fulfilled? We add a little bit of repentance from last week to that mix, and voila, we have our application today, all from asking a simple question, and here's the question.

Why is this story happening all over again? So let's look at the story this morning in 1

Samuel 26. Now the first portion here that I'm gonna read is the narration of the event.

This is what happens. So here we begin in verse 1. Then the

Ziphites came to Saul, saying, is not David hiding himself among the hills of Hakkila, which is on the east of Jessamon?

So Saul arose and he went down to the wilderness of Ziph with 3 ,000 chosen men of Israel.

That seems very similar to the last story. Maybe it's the same 3 ,000 chosen men. And they're seeking

David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hakkila, which is beside the road on the east of Jessamon, but David remained in the wilderness.

And when he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come.

Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul lay with Abner, the son of Ner, and the commander of his army.

Saul was lying within the encampment while the army was encamped around him. Then David said to Ahimelech the

Hittite and to Joab's brother Abishai, the son of Zeruiah.

These are tough names here. He said, who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?

And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there lay

Saul sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him.

Then Abishai said to David, God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please, please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.

But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the

Lord's anointed and be guiltless? And David said, as the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.

The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed, but take now the spear at his head and the jar of water and let us go.

So then David took the spear and the jug of water from Saul's head, and they went away.

No man saw it or knew it, nor did they any awake, for they were all asleep because a deep sleep from the

Lord had fallen upon them." So that's the action of the story.

This is what happened, and doesn't it seem really similar to what happened to David and Saul in their recent past?

Some commentators even believe that this is a retelling of the story that happened at En Gedi in chapter 24.

However, if you're just taking a brief glance at both stories, you'll see that the details are different enough that this has to be a completely different event.

Here's what's the same though. David, once again, for the second time, gets so close to Saul that a successful assassination would have been guaranteed, despite Saul, again, being surrounded by 3 ,000 men.

So the question, I'm going to keep putting this question out there, why does God give

David another chance to kill Saul? Did David make a mistake the first time?

Is God giving him another chance to get it right? Those are some of the questions that went through my mind as I read this.

It's like, why is this happening again? God is definitely orchestrating this event, and we know that because the

Scripture said that a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. This is not just a chance encounter.

This is not just good fortune. God is allowing David safe passage through the enemy lines so that he's untouched and unnoticed.

God is demonstrating to Saul that his attempts to pursue David are fruitless, and it's only putting him in harm's way again and again.

He is also, God is also demonstrating to David that he is to be trusted, for he can eliminate

Saul anytime he chooses. Now David gets the message here, and he says to Abishai, he says, as the

Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down to perish in battle.

The Lord forbid that I should put my hand against the Lord's anointed. Now who is this

Abishai? If you continue reading the story into 2 Samuel, you'll find out that Abishai not only is

David's nephew, but he is a dangerous man. Abishai is highly skilled and a deadly warrior.

He's the perfect assassin. And in this story, I at least want to give him credit here because when

David says, who is going to go with me? The other guy, I don't even remember his name, doesn't say a thing.

But Abishai says, I'm with you, I'm going. And I just love that.

That's my picture of aggressively waiting, which is a phrase that we use around here a lot.

He was ready. He was ready. All the preparation was done so that when the question came, he was able to step forward and go.

Now John Gill, who's a commentator, one of my favorites, says the title of the

Lord's that this person was sacred, that this person that David is referring to should not be touched.

It means that the life of this person could not be taken away without being guilty of a very great crime, which would surely be justly punished by the

Lord. Another similarity to the story in the cave two weeks ago,

David keeps repeating this phrase like a guiding rule over and over.

The Lord forbid that I should put my hand out against the Lord's anointed. David here is not respecting

Saul, but he's respecting God's authority who anointed Saul. He is trusting in God, not

Saul's character. God has anointed Saul, so God will bring justice because God's plan is perfect and God has not specifically commanded

David to kill him. Let's continue reading in the story. Verse 13, then

David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill with a great space in between them.

And David called to the army and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying, will you not answer,

Abner? Then Abner answered, who are you who calls to the king?

And David said to Abner, are you not a man?

It's just funny. Ouch. Who is like you in all of Israel?

Why then have you not kept watch over your Lord, the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king, your

Lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die because you have not kept watch over your

Lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is than the jar of water that was at his head.

And Saul recognized David's voice and said, I listened to William still, who's this, he's very old preacher and he kind of has this kind of sound when

I listened to his podcast on this chapter. And he gives

Saul such a bad time of this. He just plaits him in such a whiny voice. Is this your voice, my son

David? And David said, it is my voice, my Lord, O king. And he said, why does my

Lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? Now therefore, let my

Lord, the king, hear the words of his servant. If it's the Lord who stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering.

But if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord. For they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the

Lord, saying, go serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the

Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.

Then Saul said, I've sinned. Return my son David, for I no more will do you harm.

Because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and I have made a great mistake.

And David answered and said, here's the spear, O king. Let one of the young men come over and take it.

The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. For the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the

Lord's anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the

Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation. Then Saul said to David, blessed be you, my son

David. You will do many things and will succeed in them. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

What we have next after the narration is a series of conversations, mostly spoken by David.

His speech is bigger. In 24, they seem to share kind of an equal time on the stage, and yet here,

Saul only gets three sentences in response. But first, David cries out, and he calls out not to Saul but to Abner.

Abner is the general of Saul's army. He's the commander. Abner is

Saul's cousin. It says he is the son of Ner, that's Saul's uncle.

And if you follow the story of Abner, Abner will lead a rebellion against David later, but then he'll defect to his side.

And then after Saul's death, he will ultimately be murdered by Abishai's older brother,

Joab. But Abner is a great man with great responsibility.

That's what David begins his speech with. He reminds Abner, you're responsible for the king's safety, and you're responsible even for your men's performance.

All that responsibility runs downhill to you. If they fail, it's your responsibility.

The penalty for falling asleep on watch is death. David might be implying here that what is the reward for someone who does your job, who saves the king from an enemy who's snuck into the camp?

David has a whole conversation, and then he produces the receipts. I love how he waits to the end, he says, see, here's his spear, and here's the jug of water maybe that you put at his head.

The evidence is undeniable. And notice also,

I think it's just curious, Saul and his spear have been a symbol of Saul's violent rage to this point.

This is a symbol of his unchecked power, and now David has stolen it away.

Notice that. Okay? At the very least, David is pointing out to Abner that he is no threat to Saul.

This is my second time being close to him, and I haven't harmed a hair on his head.

One commentator asks, which is a curious question, he asked if this conversation with Abner is actually a call for Abner to choose a side, because under Abner's oversight, it seems that the security around Saul is less than adequate.

And perhaps it is because he knows that David is not a threat. He knows that what

David says about Saul summoning his forces to pursue a flee is dead on.

He is nothing more than a partridge in the mountain that can't attack you back, all it can do is run away.

However, Abner is not saying anything. He is not bringing, if that's what he knows, he's not bringing it to Saul.

His silence is supporting and validating Saul's pursuit of David. Maybe he doesn't want to rock the boat, even though he knows the boat is headed in the wrong direction.

Now what David is doing here is he's appealing to the lesser magistrate, right? He is going to someone who has the power to speak to the person who is in power and say you have a responsibility to hold this person accountable.

Abner, you're not just responsible for the king's physical safety, you also bear the responsibility to protect

Saul's interests as he is ruling, which may mean that you have to advise him against his misguided ideas about David being an actual threat.

But then Saul enters into the conversation. He interrupts David's plea to Abner and he gives

Saul a decision tree, a series of questions. The first one, are you pursuing me?

Answer, yes, that's an easy one. Second question, what have I done to deserve death?

Why are you seeking my life? Pause. I almost think that David's here going, okay, let me help you out by asking you some yes or no questions.

Has God stirred you up to seek my life for some offense that I've done? If so, let me know so I can offer a sacrifice to God or maybe a prayer.

Maybe I need to offer a sin offering according to the law to make atonement for my offense.

Maybe I'm hoping that God would accept that. Maybe let me make a supplication to God, beg him to forgive my iniquity and put an end to all of this trouble between us.

Is it that? Or Saul, is this the result of men, someone getting in your ear?

Is it Abner? Is it Doeg stirring you up to seek my life?

If so, let them be cursed before the Lord. Why? Because if it is a man who's doing this, they're the cause of me being driven out of my own homeland to dwell among those who do not worship

Yahweh. The Jews have this saying that he who dwells outside the land of Israel, it is if he has no

God. It is as if he has served an idol.

So David said, now therefore, let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the

Lord here in the promised land. Saul, don't take my life because God sees.

David compares himself again to a flea having no power, to a partridge who is fleeing, who can't fight back when he's pursued by a predator.

He's painting the picture of himself as being a victim, not an opponent of Saul.

And Saul's response is, I've sinned, I've been foolish, I misspoke,

I'm kind of a knucklehead. David must be thinking, man,

I can't trust anything you say, can I? I've just dealt with somebody just like you.

His name was Nabal, and I'm not gonna be a fool like him in dealing with you.

I can also imagine David asking the question, why am I surrounded by foolish men? Now this is gonna be the last encounter that David has with Saul before Saul is killed.

David does not know how Saul's life will end, but he has seen the end of a fool in Nabal.

And so he says he's gonna die, whether in battle or by some other means.

Saul's life is going to come to an end. David proves his character and returns

Saul's spear rather than keeping it as a trophy like Goliath's sword. I thought that was pretty good of him.

But notice that he tells Saul, so go ahead and send somebody over here to get this thing.

I'm not bringing it to you. David is super cautious, even when

Saul says he's no longer gonna seek to do him harm. Why? Because Saul keeps coming after him, even though he says he won't.

Proverbs 14, seven and eight says, leave the presence of a fool. That means don't hang out with a fool.

Don't be around him. There you will not meet words of knowledge, okay?

Nothing coming out of his mouth is gonna be for real. The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his own way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.

I think David is operating that way. David is driving this in the conversation, his complete lack of trust in Saul.

When he says this, the Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. For the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the

Lord's anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the

Lord. May he deliver me out of all tribulation. David is saying,

Saul, I'm not even gonna ask you to recognize...I'm not even asking you to recognize that I spared your life.

Instead, I'm invoking the Lord. Let my life be precious in his sight, and let the

Lord reward me for my righteousness and my faithfulness. I'm curious if these two words are the words that he uses.

And they brought into mind another passage in Scripture at the very end of the book, Revelation 19, 11, where it says about Jesus, I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and the one sitting on it is called

Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and he makes war.

His eyes are like flames of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

He's clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the

Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which he will strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written,

King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I just love that description, it's powerful.

And this figure is Jesus who is returning, and David is banking on the

Lord to reward those who reflect the righteousness and faithfulness of their coming king.

And just as David's actions point to the Lord, you know, we also can provide glimpses of Christ the

King to a dying world when we live according to who he is.

Saul responds by giving his amen to David's statements. David acknowledges,

Saul acknowledges, he blesses David, acknowledges that David has been righteous in his dealings and that God will continue to give him victory.

And again, they go their separate ways. Saul back to his palace in Gibeah, David back to the wilderness.

Now the question, why is this happening all again, right?

Why is David given the same opportunity to kill Saul a second time? I think there are two obvious reasons, okay?

And then I'm going to give you something that is a little bit puzzling to close up.

The first thing that's obvious is that testing will come again and again in areas where God's children are weak.

We are often blind to those areas of weakness, but God is not.

In his mercy, God will not overlook our flaws.

He won't. In fact, he paid for them with blood. And because he did that, he is relentless in our sanctification.

This word that he uses over and over and we find in the Scripture is the word refining, and refining is the retesting of our weakness and the building of strength through a consistent testing.

God wants to strengthen his children. He wants us to grow. Now, a lesson that I learned, a spiritual lesson that I learned as a parent,

I had no idea before I became a parent and had little children and had the glorious opportunity to teach someone to be potty trained, okay?

Now no one learns to be potty trained. You don't learn that on your own.

Someone has to teach you. I have yet to meet someone who said, I taught myself. But it's a process.

You parents who are in it right now, it's a process and it takes time. And it requires such great patience.

And I wish I had more patience for my children along the way, because I wasn't patient at times.

But we need to be taught. And the goal of this training, of this teaching is no more diapers, right?

No more diapers. Kids, aren't you glad that your parents taught you how to be potty trained?

Yes. I see one yes. Okay. Adults, aren't you glad that your parents taught you how to be potty trained?

Yes, you are. We all are. But it is a process that takes patience.

And in the same way, God desires to sanctify us. He desires to teach us a new way of living, a holy way, because we are

His children. Listen to the Scriptures that use this word, refining. Isaiah 48, 10, behold,

I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tried you in the furnace of affliction, suffering, tough times.

This is where David is. He's being refined. Or in 1 Peter, we'll go to the New Testament, chapter one, verses six and seven, in this you rejoice.

In what? In your suffering. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so that the testing of the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Isn't that a great, great promise, right? That when we see Him coming, as I just described to you just a few moments ago, coming in wrath and fury and mighty and powerful, we will be presented to Him spotless.

Takes a process. We need to be refined. Malachi 3, 3, He will sit as a refiner, a purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the

Lord. Well, those are the sons of Levi, yeah, Old Testament. New Testament calls us a kingdom of priests to bring, as it says here, offerings in righteousness to the

Lord. Paul tells us, one more, Philippians 1, 6, this is so great, and I'm sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

It's always pointing, it's always pointing to the end there. God's refining work is guaranteed to be completed, so take heart.

Wherever you are in the journey, take heart, but know this, know this, the place where you struggle against sin is the place where God means to strengthen you.

He means to refine you. He means to sanctify you. You know what I'm talking about?

Do you know the place where you are weak, and are you preparing, are you getting ready for the coming conflict?

We are absolute fools if we are unaware. We are absolute fools if we are unprepared.

You and me have weaknesses, and those weaknesses will be exploited and exposed.

That is exactly where our enemy will attack, but let me turn this around a little bit.

It is also the area where God expects us to stand and to grow.

We should rejoice that opportunities to do great evil are also opportunities to glorify our

God. So how do we prepare? How do we get ready? We cry out to God for help.

Yes, man is responsible for his actions. We are responsible for our sin, but we're also taught to pray.

We're also taught that we're not alone. We're also taught that we should cry out, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.

And my question is, how often do we pray that prayer? It's like going to the doctor and hearing him say once again, you need to exercise, right?

Yeah, yeah. I know that. I know. I've heard that before. And yet it's the hardest thing for us to do.

Here again, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.

We are neglecting the help that is ours through our lack of asking because we do not cry out.

And man, this week I'm realizing that my answer to that question is lacking.

And praise God that it's becoming more and more a common prayer in my life.

Deliver me from evil. Lead me not into temptation. So what is actually being refined in David in this process?

In this redoubling of the events that are happening? Well, the temptation that is being repeated is the temptation to be a king like all the other nations.

This is straight from chapter 24 and straight from chapter 25. The question is, will

David be a king like Saul or will

David continue to respond to God's anointing to be king, an anointing that calls him to be holy, to be set apart, to be separate?

Remember the last chapter, David on his way to kill Nabal and his rage. He looks just like Saul.

And if it weren't for Abigail stepping forward and saying some amazing things to change his heart, he would have done great evil.

David cannot justify his actions against Nabal. Even though Nabal or killing

Nabal is justifiable. Nabal was a jerk. Nabal deserved to die.

But we can't throw spiritual arguments or worldly justifications at actions that God does not condone.

If God says don't do it, it doesn't matter how well you can go to your Bible and find a verse that gives you the okay to do it.

I'll point to the Crusades. I'll point to the Pharisees killing

Jesus. Didn't they say it's better for one man to die than the nation? This is okay.

This is good. And yet it is great evil. Even if God has allowed it in the past, then the

Gide of the Lord, which is that Hebrew word that means prince, the prince of the Lord must follow God's command in each circumstance.

God wants David to be different. He wants him to operate by a different standard, a different way of living.

And I'll go back to my potty training illustration just to stretch it, just to walk on the edge.

And this, the goal, no more diapers, we're teaching our children a better way to live, right?

To have freedom from those diapers. A way to remove their own stench, their own rot, right?

And live as clean people. Why? So that people will want to be around them.

So that they'll have friends someday. And life is so much better, right?

And yet we live in a world where there are people who don't know that way of living, okay?

Go back into our world, right? And imagine that in a spiritual sense.

They live with their sin. They cling to their sin. There was a time when

I remember Isaac. I would come to Isaac and I'd go, hey, Isaac, I smell something pretty ripe.

And he would run away. He would run away into a corner and I'd have to chase him down and hold him down.

And I'd say, this is for your good, right? But he didn't want me to do that.

And I see people in the world that that's how we lived before Christ came into our lives.

And we struggle with the same temptation as David to look like the world. And you only have to look at those statistics, those

Barna statistics, and see that the evangelical community has very similar sins to those who say they don't believe.

Our leaders fall by the same sins. And somehow we are shocked. How could that happen?

We operate like pagans, especially with sins that we deem as acceptable, right?

Like gluttony, like no -fault divorce. No, nobody's at fault. Or abortion.

We don't even call that a sin. We call it healthcare, right? Or anger, or gossip, or slander, or hatred, or lying.

And the more and more we justify these things, the more we can just justify it all. We may say that we love

God. We may say that we are good churchmen, or maybe we just want to be good people.

But our works demonstrate that our hearts are bent. Even though we're redeemed, our hearts are bent.

Our flesh still desires and loves sin. But God wants

His children to look like Him by learning how to live in a different way. This chapter further demonstrates how tricky this can be and how easy it is to justify sin.

Abishai comes to David and he says, let me do it. Let me kill him.

So the temptation changes a bit here. The temptation to be like a king, like all the nations, by acting through another's hands and somehow therefore being guiltless of that action, it doesn't work.

It's not true. David would not be guiltless. Just like Saul was not guiltless of killing the priest, even though Doeg was the one who raised his hand against them.

Do we have...we do have a responsibility for our brother not to tempt him.

We can be enablers of wickedness. Paul encourages us, let not our actions cause our brother to stumble, but it's easy.

It's so natural for us to operate by the standard of this world, and that's the real problem for all of us.

That is the place that we need help. The second thing that is obvious here is that God will come again and again to the heart that is in sin.

Saul is given another opportunity to repent. I began to think about this, because this isn't just a do -over for David.

This is a do -over for Saul. Saul has another opportunity to walk away from sin.

He responds, I have sinned, I've been foolish. But when the Ziphites came with the news of David's location, he didn't change his way.

We, in the same way, can be blind to God's mercy, and we can, just like I believe

Saul is doing here, can go through the motions, even confessing our sin and beginning...but

at the same time, beginning to resent God's gracious gift of repentance. So let's talk about going through the motions, but not actually turning from our sin.

Righteousness, true righteousness, comes from knowing God. It's not just about the rules.

You do need to know what God asks of you, but knowing His heart and knowing who He is is the point, which, reading the

Scriptures, is the way that we can understand who God is, and that our knowledge of Him helps us to discern between what is right and wrong.

The Pharisees are a perfect example of this. They knew the Scriptures well, but they didn't know God's heart.

In fact, Jesus condemns them in John 5. He says, you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.

So it's easy to learn the rules of religion. It is easy to become

Pharisaical. It's easier than doing the hard work of actually seeking

God. Jeremiah 29, 13 says, if you seek

Me, you will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. But often we hide our stagnant and sometimes empty souls behind a religious facade, religious masks, the reality being that we have heard the voice of God, but it's been so long we just never responded to His call for repentance.

So that voice has become distant, and our hearts have become hardened. When we talk about repentance, when we use that big word, we're talking about not just saying sorry, but actually turning around and going the opposite direction.

Repentance is this heart that says, I don't want to be that man anymore. I want to change.

David in Hebrews 4, 7 says, today, or it actually says, again, he appoints a certain day, today, saying through David so long afterwards, and the words already quoted, today, if you hear

His voice, don't harden your hearts. The best place for us to keep our hearts soft is a place where we're hearing

God's Word, where we are being taught, where we're hearing the Word proclaimed and preached regularly, where we're reading

God's Word, where we're discussing that Word with our brothers and sisters, all in an effort not to know knowledge, but to know

God and to pursue Him. But that does take a steady stream of God's Word to fight the lies of the enemy, to fight the propaganda from this world, and we must be constant in our turning our hearts in repentance and turning our minds to think differently.

Romans 12, 2, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing, you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

So if repentance is a gift that we receive from God, and we heard that last week, and I want to bring it into this week, if that is actually what repentance is, it's a gift that God gives us,

He intervenes and brings conviction, then God's repentance, His repeated patience is filling up judgment for Saul.

Saul is responsible for his actions, and God in His passive judgment is leaving

Saul to act according to his nature. He's letting Saul do things his own way.

He's saying, Saul, you be you, which Saul wants to do, and God's righteous judgment will be satisfied, it will be justified, and it will be all

Saul's own doing. The last thing that I want us to see in this passage before I wrap up is the first verse of the next chapter.

The story should include this next verse, because it would provide an amazing cliffhanger right here.

It says this, it says, Then David said in his heart, Now I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul.

There is nothing better for me that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.

What just happened? Do you feel that? Now, if I waited next week to read that verse or let

Josh read that verse, I don't think you'd feel the full impact of what just happened.

It's like, are you kidding me? These words are words of despair.

These words are fueled by a lie, and it drives David out of his homeland to dwell among those who do not worship

Yahweh. He just cursed the one who would do this when he was talking to Saul. These are

David's words which cause him to get ahead of God's providence and try and save his own life.

It's a confusing end to chapter 26. And as an audience, we should be saying, man, what happened,

Saul? What happened? I mean, what happened, David? You just walked into Saul's camp.

You just... Abishai was right with you. You walked through 3 ,000 men, and you stole

Saul's spear. What do you mean he's gonna kill you? That's insane.

Saul can't touch you if God does not allow it. How quickly we forget the providence and the presence and the power of God.

How soon after he flexes his mighty arm for us are we cowering in fear, fear of men, fear of circumstance.

And this is why we gather together, right? This is why we need encouragement. As I read the story,

I'm like, where is Jonathan? Where is Jonathan? And I remember a good point that Josh made last week.

As he said, David is surrounded by deplorables, and his companions stoke his anger and his rage against Nabal.

They surround him with complaining and discouragement when they were gonna go and defend

Keilah. They wanted... They were with him, and they wanted him to kill Saul.

I remember my childhood pastor at UBC, Dr.

H .D. McCarty, saying this. He would say, you'll never get any closer to God by choosing as your very best friends those people who are running away from him.

And I remember writing that on the front page of my Bible and writing his name there, and I still have it, and I've never forgotten it.

You'll never get any closer to God by choosing as your very best friends those who are running away from him.

Who is surrounding you? Who is surrounding you? What accountability do you have in your life?

What discipleship are you pursuing? I would say this, choose someone who's running after God.

Choose someone whose life and whose words bring conviction in your life.

You could apply that phrase and it would do you no good unless you choose someone who tells you what you don't wanna hear, who tells you the truth about you, who challenges you.

Because if you choose that person, you choose a Jonathan, not an Abner. So David's heart is strengthened, is also weakened by his pursuits and by his companions.

He was told in Deuteronomy 17 that he was not to acquire horses, military power, not to acquire many wives, gaining him political alliances, not to pursue gaining wealth, but instead he was commanded that he would write for himself a copy of the law of God and that he would read it every day.

The instruction that was given to David was given so that he would learn to love truth and despise evil.

He was to learn to love God's commands because they are his very life. He was to desire

God and trust Him more than horses, more than his wives, more than his wealth.

And for us, we are to love God more than our stuff, more than our entertainment, more than our home improvement projects, more than our vacations, more than our family, more than our sin.

We are to be like David in turning constantly at times from sin. And David is not without sin.

He will fail. You know the story. And his sin will destroy his family and it will bring destruction to the whole kingdom.

But he will return to God each time. I want you to hear

David's heart. I want you to hear the heart of a man who pursued God imperfectly because he sinned, imperfectly because he got discouraged, imperfectly because he got ahead of God's providence, but one who was able to find his footing again and again in God's perfect law word.

Listen to Psalm 119, 92. If your law had not been my delight,

I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.

I am yours, save me, for I have sought your precepts. The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.

I have seen the limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

In fact, it is limitless. This is a man who loves God's word.