1 Samuel 24 Gritty Integrity

Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. This week, Pastor Don Filsek preaches from his series in 1 Samuel, Timely Prophet, Tragic King. Let's listen in.

Gathering in Worship and the Call to Hear God’s Word

Well, good morning, Recast Church. I'm Don Filsek, I'm the lead pastor here. And as Dave said, we're gonna get started. And so if you can find your seats, that would be great. I count it a great privilege to gather together as God's people, and I hope that you do as well.

I'm also grateful for the electricity being on in here. Anybody else? Hopefully it stays that way and continues to be that way. But I do want to say thank you to those of you who were here last week when the power went off mid-song, and we all flexed with that, and I just really appreciated the flexible spirit with which the church handled that.

I actually kind of, anybody else with me, I kind of thought it was a little bit fun. Like it was just kind of like having a little church in the dark in here. So I couldn't see whether you were asleep or not.

That worked out great for both of us. So, but I hope this past week, though, really seriously, coming from the word that was preached last week and thinking about that text, I hope you were able to contemplate and consider God's grace to you this past week.

Last week we spoke about the way that God's grace, one of God's graces is that he communicates, and I hope that you listened to him this week. Listened to him primarily through his word, that you took some of that in and were able to contemplate and consider what he desires of you, that you were encouraged or an encourager at some point this week.

God is faithful to use us as well as to use others to encourage us. And then also that you were able to look at, maybe even from this day on Sunday, you should make a habit of on Sunday looking back at your week and contemplating God's timing and his work in your life to provide for you.

And so hopefully you were able to do that as well. But this week we're gonna pick right up where we left off last week in 1 Samuel. We're gonna be in 1 Samuel 24 this week. And Saul is still dead set on killing David, who is going to take the throne eventually.

And David was delivered by the sovereign timing of God at the very end of our text last week, only to have, now this week, Saul back on the trail as soon as he finished up with the Philistines. But the main theme of this text shows us the great trial, possibly the greatest trial that David will face in his entire life.

Now you go, well, bigger than Goliath? Well, Goliath was a bit of a public thing, a test of his faith for sure. But what we're gonna see here is what amounts to really a private test of his integrity.

He will be given a golden opportunity to kill Saul and be done with the whole running thing. He's going to be given an opportunity to take matters into his own hands, control his own destiny, and make it happen, Captain.

David will be tried, be tested. And he has an opportunity to do whatever he desires in this, to obtain the throne for himself. Remember the very throne that God has promised to him, God had said to him through the prophet Samuel, you indeed will be king, and then he was anointed.

And that very throne that God has promised to him can be his in our text and shortcut all the rest of 1 Samuel. It could have been stopped right here, no more running, no more trials, no more difficulty.

All he needs to do is plunge his sword into the very vulnerable King Saul and take the throne for himself. But David understood that there's a difference between taking the kingdom for himself and being given a kingdom by God.

Think about, just think about that from, we're talking about David, but think about that from your own perspective. Think about that from your way of life, from what you've been taught from childhood, from what you've been taught by all of the culture around you.

There is a difference between passively receiving that which God gives and actively trying to take something from God. Do you hear the difference? Receiving that which he freely gives versus taking that which he has.

And I think we might be able to reflect on some notions and thoughts about the way that people view salvation and grace and God's good gifts and what is it that you have achieved spiritually. Have you received spiritually or have you achieved spiritually?

Think that through. In our text, we're gonna see the integrity of this man after God's own heart. He's declared in scripture as a man after God's own heart and we're gonna see his integrity reach a blinding intensity in this text.

I hope that by the end of this message, the image of David, the hunted, hunted out in the wilderness, in a cave, steps out of the cave holding a cutoff corner of Saul's robe, I hope that that serves for all of us as a reminder that the ends never justify the means.

And God calls his servants to a radical integrity. The title of the message, a gritty integrity that would withstand peer pressure, an integrity that would withstand the internal drives that we have for success or for pleasure or for our own self-service, an integrity that would see God's commands as higher than any circumstantial guidance.

So let's open our Bibles, if you're not already there, to 1 Samuel 24. We're gonna read this in its entirety. 1 Samuel 24, you can navigate over there in a device if you have a means to get there. I like the ESV Bible app.

If you have an iPhone, I'd encourage you to go to the app store, check that out and download that one, primarily because that's the version of the Bible that I read from and study from in preparing these messages, not because it's the only one, but it just happens to be my favorite and one that's easy to study and I think is, you know, maybe closest to the original languages while being readable.

And so that's why I read out of this. But 1 Samuel 24. Church, we're gonna read this in its entirety. This is God speaking to us. Please give it your attention, give him your attention as we read this together this morning.

Saul’s Pursuit and David’s Chance in the Cave

When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3 ,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the wild goats' rocks.

And he came to the sheepfold by the way where there was a cave and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, here is the day of which the Lord said to you, behold, I will give your enemy into your hand.

And you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.

And David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterwards David's heart struck him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed, to put up my hand against him seeing he is the Lord's anointed.

So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. Afterward, David also arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, my Lord, the king.

And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men who say, behold, David seeks your harm, behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave.

And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, I will not put out my hand against my Lord for he is the Lord's anointed. See my father, the corner of your robe in my hand, for by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands.

I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you and may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancient say, says out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue?

After a dead dog?

After a flea? May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand. As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, is this your voice, my son David?

And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, you are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt with me and that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now behold, I know that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.

Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David swore this to Saul, and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for the privilege that it is to gather together in your name here in this place. Father, I thank you that you have moved us all through one more week on the calendar of our lives. And Father, I know that that has proven to be good for some of us, kind of neutral and ho-hum for many, and it's been down for some.

And Father, I study the word, and I work on this each week with this church in mind, with a heart's desire to see your word come alive in our hearts and really be applied and lived out. And Father, I pray that that would be a reality as a result of our gathering today, that we would come in contact with you, who are indeed the author of this word that we're gonna study today.

And Father, I pray that you would be working in our hearts' integrity, an integrity that comes from being saved and bought and recognizing the cross of Christ that has given us hope, and that our integrity would flow from the integrity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Father, that we, as we look at this model of David and we see that even in the dark places, he did what was right and he did what was good. Father, I pray that that would impact us in the way that we live our lives day in and day out.

And most importantly, that we live lives of gratitude and thankfulness and discernment, looking at the world around us and knowing the right and knowing what is wrong based on your word, and that we would be students of your word, coming to it regularly.

Father, I pray that we would worship you in spirit and in truth, a truth that's informed from your word, but then a truth that leads to an emotional response to you. Even now in singing, Father, I pray that we would not be a church that dismisses the emotional side of things, but is actually eager to be engaged in our spirit with you.

And Father, I thank you for Dave and the band being willing to lead us. And Father, I ask that you would allow them, as their wish is, to fade into the background and allow us to come before you with praise and worship.

You are great and you are worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks again to David and the band for leading us in worship. I appreciate the time and energy that they put in each week too. So if you get a chance and anything that Dave says or any of the songs bless you, be sure to encourage him personally too.

He needs that as well. But yeah, please keep your Bibles open to 1 Samuel 24 if you've lost your place there or in your device to be able to navigate over there. We're gonna be referencing that multiple times during the message.

And then if at any time during the message, you can get comfortable and get up and get more coffee or juice or donuts. Restrooms are out the barn doors down the hall on the left if you need those at any time too.

Just get yourself comfortable so that you can hear from God's word. That's really the main point. Our text this morning is really clearly one unit. Like it tells a story and a solitary story. And so it doesn't really need an outline per se.

I say that because occasion of the outline can get in the way of the flow of a narrative. The reality is that 1 Samuel 24 has one main purpose. There's one big point to this text. And then there's a couple of smaller themes that are woven throughout it.

And so the big point of chapter 24 is the radical God-centered integrity of King David. The radical God-centered integrity of the man that God has selected to be his chosen king. That's what we're looking at in our text.

And everything is gonna revolve around that integrity of David. The reason that this account is told to us in scripture is to convey something of integrity. David will indeed shine brightly in our text.

And I think it's glorious that he shows us that God gives us a revelation of David's integrity here in this text because we know he's gonna mess up later in life. Did you already know that? You know where this is going?

We're not gonna get over into 2 Samuel right away. But as you get into his kingship, there's issues, right? And so you know that a person, I mean, you know your own heart. You know that you have areas of strength and areas of weakness in.

And you have moments where,.

How many of you would say.

You've had some moments where you shined?

Now, I'm not asking for you for a big head.

I'm just saying, be honest.

Have you ever shined before?

Really? Come on, is this false humility? Is this church humility?

Raise your hand if you've ever shined.

If you've ever been like, I was in my element and it was really good. And then raise your other hand if you've ever just like bailed. Like you just like nosedived, okay? Both hands went up for some people on that one.

It's like doubled that up.

So I think, you know, when we look at David, it's okay for us to look at the good also acknowledging that we're not looking at a perfect example.

There's only one who is truly good. Only one who is truly perfect. And his name was Jesus Christ. So it's okay for us to take models and examples always, but it's never okay for the message to your heart from a sermon to be, be like David or be like Noah or be like anyone aside from Jesus Christ.

The only one I would ever encourage you to be like is like Jesus. David does serve, however, as a model for us. Remember that last week, Saul was closing in on David, was just about to capture him when suddenly a messenger came to Saul and let him know that the Philistines were attacking Saul's kingdom.

So the noose was tightening around David. He was about to be captured. He was on one side of a hill, David and 3 ,000 troops who were on the other. And they were probably about to surround him when Saul gets called off.

You need to come protect your kingdom. You're not gonna have a kingdom left if you don't get back here. So Saul gave up that pursuit of David and defended his kingdom from foreign invaders. But the reprieve for David was short-lived.

We see right away in verse one of our next text, that was chapter 23, now verse one of 24, Saul mopped up with the Philistines and then went right back to pursuing David where we left off last week in Gedi.

In Gedi, a high, rough, rocky terrain,.

Kind of deserted area,.

Not a lot of plant life there. And on the western side of the sea, the Dead Sea, all salty, if any of you have ever been to Israel, you know that it's extremely high content of salt,.

Not drinkable,.

But there were springs in Gedi and the high places to the west, an oasis of sorts where there was a stronghold built and that's where David is holed up.

And this time,.

Instead of mustering the entire army of Israel, we see that Saul takes 3 ,000 elite special forces, hand-selected, chosen men, and he brings them out into the wilderness to try to track down and hunt the cunning and wily David.

He wants him dead. Well, verse three, we jump right into it. Verse three is a middle school boy's dream joke come true. The king goes in a cave to relieve himself. King Saul and the troops came to the sheep's fold and Saul found a cave to enter alone and, yeah, relieve himself as the text says and it's using a euphemism from the Hebrew language.

Probably not quite a cave like that because there's gonna be some other men in there.

But that's creepy.

Saul's been on the road a lot lately. I wonder if there might have been some fast food and buffets that caught up with him. I don't know. I'm gonna try my best to behave this morning on this one, okay?

Maybe a little too much Taco Bell, I don't know. But for Saul, nature called and he responded with his cave. But the end of verse three is all the more humorous, of course, we know, because David and his men are hiding.

In the back of the port-a-potty.

They're in the back of the innermost parts of the same exact cave.

Now, once again, I just wanna point out.

The sovereign plan of God in the lives of these two men. Their paths keep crossing in the strangest of places. What are the chances that Saul needs to relieve himself. And the only cave available is the same cave.

That David's hiding in?

Do you think, what a coincidence, man?

Like, how in the world does this happen?

Or are you like David's men and you see what most of us are tempted to see in the text, what do you see when circumstances come together? Do you sometimes connect the dots and go, I think God's got a hand in this?

I think God is, wow, I think it's not by chance that David is in the back of this cave. And David's men see that in the text and so they have this monologue. Dale Davis in his commentary on this pictures David's men bursting into a chorus of this is the day that the Lord has made.

Quietly, subdued, but singing in the back of the cave, this is the day, you know? How many of you know that? You don't now that I tried to sing it, but. So they appeal in the text to some kind of general prophecy that we're not told in scripture.

The prophecy that they talk about here.

At the start of chapter 24 is not a prophecy that we've actually seen given of David. It's only given here. But David's men repeat this prophecy that they had that David's enemy, this is a prophecy that they're aware of that was given to David, David's enemy will be delivered over to him at some future point and that he will be granted an opportunity to do whatever he wishes with them.

Okay, so that was a prophecy that his men were aware of. There's coming a day where David's enemy is going to be given over to his hands and he's gonna have a choice to make. And they're saying, this is that day.

It's fulfilled today. This is when it's all going down and they're kind of slobbering for the kingdom. They're like, oh, our leader is going to be the king and this is the day appointed. This is gonna be a coronation day for King David and boy, am I glad I'm on his side.

Am I glad I'm one of David's 600 men. I'm glad that I'm with him. But the prophecy that they utter by David's men,.

It's credited to the Lord,.

But it did not include the outcome of that scenario. It merely states that some future date, David will have a chance to determine the fate of his enemy. A future date, he will have a chance. It doesn't say on that day, you will smite him and take the kingdom.

That's not what the text says. And in this sense, I believe that David's men are rightly applying this prophecy to this situation. This is indeed the fulfillment of a prophecy whereby God said to David, you will indeed have this chance.

They're not off base to see the Lord's hand in this situation. They just misunderstand God's intended outcome to it. Do you see what I'm saying? They think that they know what David ought to do because God issued this prophecy that this was going to happen, but they don't understand David and his integrity.

They don't understand that really, in a sense, the men of David betray a misunderstanding fundamentally about God himself. And so they're eager to see David crowned in this situation.

They are eager to stop the running.

How many of you could relate to that? If you were in a season of life like one of David's men, running from place to place, fleeing from Saul,.

How many of you would like to see an end to that?

And that's a reasonable thought that they have. They're eager to see the Lord's hand in this, and they believe that God has delivered Saul into David's hand this day so that David can indeed take the crown, finally, that he deserves.

But I want you to think carefully, church. I want you to think about the subtle nuances of the way that his men are thinking,.

The way that we often think the same way. You see, Recast Church, we are called as Christians.

To be discerning people. We are called to have our thinking caps on at all times, to think carefully and cautiously about things,.

Not to be scared, but to be thoughtful.

We are indeed called to judge between good and bad behavior, a word that our culture can barely stand anymore. But we are indeed called to judge good and bad behavior. That's a part of what it means to be students of his word.

And peer pressure in this situation is surrounding David at this point. He's surrounded by men who are telling him to do that, which is not good. The peer pressure surrounding David is focused on nothing less than murdering God's anointed king and taking the throne by force.

That's what his men are asking him to do.

And how many of you would admit.

That things get confusing in the circumstances? You ever find yourself in a complex situation where it's really hard to discern what God desires of you? Where it's really hard to discern,.

Even sometimes what we know.

Is black and white in terms of scripture becomes pretty muddied and gray out in the real world, doesn't it?

How many of you know that like,.

You know God's will pretty clearly when you read this, and then you get confused sometimes out there?

Do you know what I'm talking about?

And that's I think what's going on here with David's men. Things get confusing until we boil them down to the most basic elements of what we're saying, what we're being called to do, what we're being asked to do.

David's men see God leading Saul into their cave. He is in the very vulnerable process of dropping a deuce here in the text, words you never thought you'd hear in a sermon. And to his men, it seems like circumstances have made it clear that David should kill King Saul.

Like that's what the men think.

They're like, this is abundantly clear.

What you're supposed to do here, David. This is the part where you take out your sword, stick it in Saul, and it's done. Do you see the logic of his men? Do you see the clear,.

Like how does it get more clear than this, David?

Did he not say that you would be the next king?

Do it, get it done.

This is your duty, this is your job.

But when you boil away all of the external circumstances, all the fog of circumstances,.

And get down to the mere actions,.

What must David do if he's to obey his men in this situation?

See, to put it in stark terms,.

David's men think that God wants David to murder Saul. Do you hear that? Remove all of the confusing circumstances,.

Remove the prophecies,.

Remove all of the nuances of doesn't he want you to be king and all of that. And I'm confident that if you know the same God that I know, that you are as confident as I am that God doesn't want King David or David to murder anyone.

He doesn't want him to murder. How many of you could have stated that at the start of this text? God doesn't want you to murder someone, whoever it is. Never, let alone his anointed king. You see, it's not only about it being the anointed king, there's a murderer that's being called upon here.

And David's saying no.

And so at the recommendation of his men,.

There is drama in the text. We know how it's going to end, I've already read it. But if you're reading this for the first time, the way that it's written in Hebrew is dramatic. So they say, go kill him, this is the day.

And then he creeps forward,.

And we don't know what he's going to do.

And he creeps forward towards the crouching King Saul, and the drama and the potty humor would come at us in equal portions here. But David's men equally await their leader's ultimate victory. And he reaches his hand out and grasps his sword.

And instead of reaching for Saul, he reaches for the likely cast-off robe. Don't picture him getting close to Saul while he's doing his business. He would have bound up and folded up his robe and set it off to the side.

And David goes to the robe and cuts off a corner of it. And then he makes a stealthy retreat with the corner of Saul's robe in his hand. And this act was not a completely innocent act. And you're going, his men wanted him to kill him, and then we're going to see David.

Cut off the corner of his robe.

And then in verse, I think it's verse five, where he says, he shows some guilt about that, doesn't he? Is it verse five? Yeah, and afterwards, David's heart struck him because he had cut off the corner of Saul's robe.

Like, why in the world is he weak? See, David's guilt over this in verse five is not a sign of David's weakness. A man's robe, and particularly a royal robe, was a symbol of his authority and his reign and his rule.

As David took this from Saul, he is symbolically declaring to Saul that he will indeed take his kingdom. That's what anybody in that era, in that time, would have grasped from this. You're saying you're going to take my kingdom by cutting off a part of my royal robe.

You see, Jonathan had already given David his royal robe as a sign of this crown prince abdicating the throne to David. That had already happened a few chapters ago. But now David has symbolically shown Saul what he believes indeed to be true.

What David, when we get a sight into David's heart, even in this, that David knows that he is indeed going to be the king. And David, knowing what motivated his own heart, he actually feels bad for even this brash and forthright symbolic declaration that I do believe that your kingdom is going to be mine one day, Saul.

And David didn't only have to stay his own hand and stop himself from slaying Saul, but he had to keep his men from attacking Saul as well. They were ready to be done with him. They were like, okay, well, if you're not gonna do it.

And contemplate and consider the difference between Saul who would ask Doeg the Edomite to slay all of the priests and wouldn't do it himself. But now David, the exact opposite, is not even willing to allow his men to touch King Saul.

And in verse six, he declares his very clear reasons for not striking down Saul. Lest there be any confusion, some commentators and some people and scholars who read this are saying, well, yeah, a king never wants to take the throne by force because what happens when he's king?

Then he's endorsing everybody else taking it by force and he's putting his own position in jeopardy, right? Are you getting what I'm saying in that? And so some people see David as being self-serving in this.

By no means, that's not it at all. Verse six, he says, David makes it clear that his respect for Saul comes from the Lord's anointing, not out of some desire for the kingship to be held high or something like that, but it comes from the Lord and his choice, not from his own desire to be honored.

You see, David refused to take the throne by force. He refused to murder and break God's commandment in order to get ahead personally. For David, the ends did not justify the means. Well, Saul finished his business and went out and told his men, do not go in there.

No, I don't know if he said that or not, but I'm roughly translating a couple of thoughts here. But they distance themselves from the cave and out comes David. Is this too much, you guys?

Just a little bit?

My wife said, no, don't say those things. It's in here anyways. Yeah, I won on that one. But they distance themselves from the cave and out comes David and his men, much to their surprise and embarrassment of King Saul.

And the remainder of the chapter is a dialogue between David and Saul that demonstrates the power of integrity and obedience to the Lord. There's gonna be some things that we find out from this dialogue that are beneficial to informing us about integrity and what ought to be in place in our lives of being authentic and honest and true.

David loudly shouted, my Lord, the King, to get Saul's attention. And then he bowed with his face to the sand, showing deference to the anointed King Saul. And he went on with a defense, a defense of himself,.

Challenging Saul's wrong thoughts about him.

He says, you've got it wrong about me, David. I mean, David's saying to Saul, you've got it wrong about me. Why do you listen to people who say that I want to harm you?

You've got the wrong thoughts.

I'm not lying in wait for you, says David. I was in the cave and some told me, some of my men told me to kill you. And I believe that the Lord brought you into that cave and gave me a chance to take you out.

But I, in my integrity, will not kill the Lord's anointed, says David. And then David holds up his proof, the corner of Saul's robe. And he says, in essence, I was this close to you. If I wanted to kill you, I could have.

This close to you, Saul, do you think I want to kill you?

Do you think I want you out of the picture?

Clearly not.

And here is visible proof that David wasn't seeking the life of King Saul at all. He was not lying in wait to take out the current king and steal his throne, even though he had a chance to take out King Saul while he was on the throne.

But five of you got that.

Sorry, the rest of you are just not wanting to get it. David was granted by God, another one that my wife didn't want in there. Am I doing all right? She's apologizing.

David was granted,.

Maybe not middle school boys,.

Maybe just me. I don't know. This is a funny text to me. David was granted by God visible proof of his integrity that none could deny. He was granted an opportunity to visibly show his integrity to everybody by holding up the corner of that robe.

He was able to say, I was this close to Saul and I didn't kill him. And consider the higher ground and what that often proves in our lives when we choose the pathway of doing what is right, even in the dark places of life.

Even when everybody around us would say, you're justified in doing it. Just do this bad thing this one time. It's fine. Everybody would do it. It's understandable. Everybody cheats on their taxes. Everybody does this.

Everybody does that. And when you stand up for integrity, consider what that proves in your life and what opportunities that grants you down the road. People who follow a pathway of authenticity and integrity often find themselves in better positions to actually demonstrate that integrity and pass it along.