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Announcer: Coming up next on Abounding Grace.

Pastor Ed Taylor: In spite of David's failures and in spite of his lapses of faith, it's comforting to know that God's testimony of him is that he is a man after God's own heart. And that encourages me. I'm glad the Bible is honest enough to tell us the whole story about its heroes. They're not without flaw. They're not without stumbles. They're, well, the heroes of God are very much like you and I, normal human beings dealing with the issues of life.

Guest (Male): This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You laid down your life. That I would be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

How do you respond when you see something great happen to someone you know? Let's say you're passed over for a promotion at work and your coworker receives that instead. It's about that time that jealousy so often invades our heart. Well, today on Abounding Grace, we'll notice Saul's jealousy and anger, and it's not a pretty sight. It actually provoked him to want to kill David. We continue to take you through 1 Samuel one verse at a time, and in chapter 19, Pastor Ed Taylor encourages us not to give sin a chance.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Take your Bibles, open them to 1 Samuel chapter 19. 1 Samuel chapter 19 as we continue our study through the book of 1 Samuel. I have to ask you a question. When do you think it will end? No, I don't mean studying through the book of 1 Samuel. I mean that little bit of anger that you're holding on to. Where do you think it's going to end? That small piece of envy that you're nurturing. Where do you think it's going to end?

The compromised life that you're in the midst of. The small little sinful decision. Where do you think it will end? You know, it doesn't end or get smaller, but it tends to grow and grow and grow. This is what the Bible says in James chapter 1, verse 13. Remember that no one who wants to do right should ever say, "God is tempting me." This is from the New Living Translation. God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either.

Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and the evil actions lead to death. So don't be misled, my brothers and sisters. You see, when you give sin, you give Satan, when you give into sin, you give Satan a little handle to grab. You could say that it's like giving Satan a little toehold in your life. One that you don't think is too significant because you could just shake it off. You know, a little toehold, what kind of damage can come with a little toehold, with a little sin, with a little compromise?

But you know, the devil and your flesh is never satisfied. And so that desire grows and grows. It's not so easy to shake it off and go on to the next thing. From a toehold though, the devil and your flesh not being satisfied, they begin then to grab the ankle. And before you know it, there's an ankle hold. And then they begin to grab your waist and kind of hold you back. And from the waist, it goes up to a stranglehold really, and there your spiritual life is literally choked out of you.

Now, the good news in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that his blood that was shed for you and I cleanses us from all sin. And since the devil has no more dominion over you, no more toehold in your life, no more grip on your heart, the Bible says that he's been cast out. So to turn back in that direction is really a bad decision. And yet if you give room to the devil, watch out. You give room and you open the door, watch out, because it doesn't grow smaller, it grows bigger.

You see, when a man turns his back upon God, there's always a loss of judgment. There's always a loss of reason and common sense. You watch a man or a woman that's turned his or her back upon God, so many times they do dumb and foolish things as a result. Now, if you asked them in the very beginning, "You know, you're heading down, don't you know you're heading down a foolish way? Don't you know it's going to end?" Their responses vary like, "It's not that big a deal. I've got a handle on it. Don't judge me, brother," and all sorts of defensive mechanisms.

But I want you to know, not only from the pastoral teaching here today, but from the life of King Saul, the moment you turn your back on God, you're down a path toward foolish and dumb things. Because King Saul turned his back upon the Lord. He had everything going for him. And as he turns his back upon the Lord, along the way came this little jealousy that grew and he nurtured it. Then he begins to live his life very suspiciously of David, recognizing David as God's choice to succeed him on the throne.

When in reality, it's true. And yet day by day, God was extending grace to King Saul. He didn't immediately move him, remove him, or move him on. There was a patience and a timing of God. And so we find now in chapter 19, King Saul doing his best by force, using all of his resources to destroy David, to ultimately kill him in order that he might hold on to that which, according to God's plan, is no longer rightfully his. And he turns. He turns into a different person than when we first met him.

Even though there were weaknesses just like all of us, we start out with weaknesses, he's a very different person. And it came with jealousy and suspicion and trying to take things into his own hands as we've seen before. You see, when you turn against your godly friends, it's always a sign of spiritual backsliding and a deterioration of your faith walk with the Lord. When you don't want to be around your godly friends anymore, when you feel convicted when you're around them and you try to avoid them, watch out.

It's a danger sign. It's a danger sign when fellowship and being around other believers isn't something that you desire anymore or that you want. Or you find yourself moving from one church to another church to another church, trying to find whatever is so elusive to you that's found only in a true relationship with the Lord. Walking in the light according to 1 John brings fellowship. It brings a desire. That word "fellowship" literally means to share in common.

Where you're sharing in common spiritual things, but when you turn your back on the people that love you and you turn your back on the people that love God, watch out, watch out. You're on a slippery path that's away from the Lord. Now, one more thing before we jump into the text itself. Looking at King Saul at this point in his life, some have pointed out that Saul becomes now an interesting type of Satan while David becomes an interesting type or picture of Jesus.

You see, Satan has been ruling over this world. The Bible calls him the god of this age. Jesus calls him the prince of this world. And he's been ruling over the earth as Adam and Eve, through their sinful action, gave that authority up that God had invested in them. And yet God has anointed Jesus as the king, the King of kings. And the devil, knowing that Jesus was God's anointed, has been doing everything that he can to disrupt the coming kingdom.

I believe the devil understands this. The Bible says this, the demons responded to Jesus and they said this, and I quote, "We know who you are, the Holy One of God." The Bible in another place speaks to the demonic world recognizing the reality of truth because even the Bible says even the demons tremble. They move upon what they know. And Jesus, he's redeemed the world from the power of the devil and darkness. And yet he is not yet ascended to his throne.

He's not even yet begun to rule and reign over the earth. He reigns only in the hearts and the lives of those that are loyal to him. If you want to look for the kingdom of God, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is in you." The ruling of Jesus in your life as you and I are citizens of the kingdom. But one day, the Bible says that Jesus is going to rule and reign over the earth. But in the meantime, as with King Saul, the devil is doing his best by force to keep the rightful king from sitting upon the throne.

And maybe even in a smaller way, from dislodging your loyalty and commitment to the Lord in your own life, trying to remove the headship of Jesus Christ in your life in a variety of different ways. But even as Saul was destroyed and David ultimately sits upon the throne, so is the throne of David to be filled by that descendant of David, Jesus Christ, whom God has appointed the rightful king over the earth. So with that in mind, chapter 19 is a section where David, well, he's now going to be chased by King Saul.

King Saul has vowed to kill him. And we will watch David in this time of great stress, as we see him under tremendous pressure, the sentence of death hanging over him, being pursued, and even according to David's own words, like a wild partridge over the mountains by Saul. We see David with lapses of faith. Have you had lapses of faith because of great stress and pressure? I'm sure you have. Stress and pressure will do weird things to you.

Not only, you know, the doctors and such will study those things, talk about the damaging effect that stress has on the body, but the Bible says that stress and pressure has a damaging effect upon your spiritual life as well. How careful we need to be. We're going to watch David be a real man here. You always have to keep in mind that David is still a man after God's own heart, and yet with failure. You'll see a lot of yourself, I'm sure, in David's life.

We don't see David as a picture of constant faith and trust in God. We see him rather vacillating up and down, back and forth. Sometimes the Bible's going to speak of his great trust in the Lord, and other times the Bible's going to speak of his great distrust, making really bad decisions. And as we read of David, the condition of his heart, his deceptions, his lies in order to escape the hand of Saul, it's easy to throw our spears at David, isn't it?

We're looking at King David picking up the spear and throwing it, but it would be easy for us to sit in some kind of self-righteous judgment upon him. "I mean, David, how could you do this? David, what are you doing? You're supposed to be this great king. You're supposed to be a man after God's own heart." No, you want to be careful there, because the Bible's like a mirror to us. The Bible itself speaks of being a mirror.

And as we see the lapses of faith, as I have been studying these sections, I pray for my own lapses of faith. I pray for the presence of the Lord during times of stress and pressure in my life. Both the stress and pressure I know about and the some that I have no idea when it's coming, where it's coming, or how it's coming, but I know it's coming. I know it's coming. I know that weird email's going to come. I know that phone call's going to come.

I know it, I know it. Why do I know it? Because I know that anytime that I press in, the Bible says this, and I don't just speak of Ed. When I say "I," I should say "we." How about that? How about you join me on my little journey here of the stress and pressures of life? We know that the email's coming, we know the phone, we know the situation's happening. We know it's coming because the Bible says that even for those that desire to live godly will suffer.

Just the desire, let alone those of you that have said, "No, it's not just a desire, pastor. It's a life. This is my life. I have set my life on the course to please God. I am making my decisions now, that which please God and not my emotion, those that please God and not my pocketbook, those that please God and not my family." Whatever it might be, how careful we need to be not to pick up spears ourselves at the text and say, "David, how could you? Why would you?"

"You're supposed to be this great king. You're supposed to be a man after God's own heart," and indeed he is. It's mindful, are we not? It reminds us of Jesus in John chapter 8, facing that woman that was caught in the very act. And what were his words to her? What was his words to her? To those that came accusing her, actually he says, "Whoever is without sin, you throw the first stone." So keep in mind, the section of Samuel that we're going to be in moving forward will be quite discouraging.

And yet, in spite of David's failures and in spite of his lapses of faith, it's comforting to know that God's testimony of him is that he is a man after God's own heart. And that encourages me. I'm glad the Bible is honest enough to tell us the whole story about its heroes. They're not without flaw. They're not without stumbles. They're, well, the heroes of God are very much like you and I, normal human beings dealing with the issues of life.

It doesn't seek to paint the heroes of God as perfect men or women. Not so, it shows that they're human. And so now, pick up in verse 1 with me in chapter 19. It says, "Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David." But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. Why? Because they had one of those serious, wonderful friendships. And as we learned in previous studies, it was a good friendship.

It was a friendship of fidelity and loyalty. Wasn't anything weird about it. And so, verse 2, Jonathan told David, saying, "My father seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe I will tell you." And now Jonathan, verse 4, spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him...

"Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great salvation for all of Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood to kill David without a cause?" So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed."

Then Jonathan called David and Jonathan told him all these things. And so Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past. King Saul's jealous and threatened by David. So he's determined to kill him. This isn't a fleeting statement. This is from his heart. As Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." It wasn't an accident. It wasn't just something, "Oops, I said something wrong."

We have an indication of the heart of King Saul here. We have an indication of really what his motives are, what he's thinking, what he's desiring. He's gone over the edge now in envy and rage. Saul's previous attempts to get rid of David have either been private, as we saw in the previous chapter, or under the radar, not so open. Now he's gone a little out of his mind, ordering to kill David and then backing down at the words of his son.

He's up and down. Talk about David going up and down, Saul has got these really huge mood swings in his life. Some today might even look at him as not being in his right mind perhaps. But it's interesting in verse 1, he says that Saul speaks to his son. He tells Jonathan, knowing full well the kind of friendship that Jonathan has with David, and tells him anyway. He's not even caring about his close, those that are close in family.

And he speaks of the friendship now that Jonathan has because in verse 2 he goes and tells David right away. Now remember back a few chapters ago, we saw the relationship between Jonathan and his armor bearer. And remember how they went together and they had great exploits and great victory, tremendous step of faith. Now during our time in that Bible study, most of the emphasis was upon the armor bearer. We don't know him, we don't know his name.

But man, we were emphasizing, weren't we? That's the kind of support we need to be to the leaders in our church, to the pastors in our church, to have that armor bearer-likemindedness. We emphasized that to its highest degree, I believe. However, in order for the armor bearer to have such great trust in Jonathan, Jonathan had to be an incredible man. A man of fidelity, a man of truth, a man of loyalty to God. There were characteristics in him that inspired others to follow him.

And oh that we would have people like armor bearers in our lives, but also that we would have people like Jonathan in our lives, and of course that we would be those. You take into account that this conversation must have been a hard one. One of those that if you could, you would want to avoid it. The one that you get the phone call and says, "You know, we need to talk," and you kind of know what it's going to be about and you're like, "Well, what time? Four o'clock? Oh, I can't be there at four o'clock. How about five? Nope, can't be there at five. What about six? Can't make it at six. How about seven? Never at seven."

You know, and you're just going on. And really what you should say is, "I really don't want to have this conversation." But you have to. And Jonathan, again, he could have avoided this. He could have just, "Dad, I'm not going to get involved in it. I don't want anything to do with it." But he didn't. He didn't avoid it. Even as painful and as hurtful as it must have been. He comes to his father in humility and yet in boldness. He called his dad.

He said what his dad was doing. Notice verse 4. He said his dad, he called, in a loving way, but he looks his dad in the eye and goes, "You're sinning." You think about one of those hard decisions. But you know, God has put believers on the earth today to say the hard things. Not to back down, not to shy away, but to say the hard things. Of course, saying those things in love, as Paul would say. Saying those things in humility. Saying those things that need to be said.

Because I ask you, if we as believers in tune with the Holy Spirit aren't willing to say the hard things, then who's left on the earth to say hard things with any type of spiritual, godly, biblical authority? I suggest to you, no one. We shouldn't have to hear the hard things on the newscast from unbelievers. We shouldn't have to hear the hard things in someone writing a lay. The believers of Jesus Christ are here to declare the good news.

And sometimes in declaring good news, well, it's going to require us to say hard things to people that we love. To tell your own dad that he's in sin must have been very hard for Jonathan, but he's not thinking in terms of fearing man. He's thinking in terms of fearing God. Not only that in verse 4, in the beginning, he's speaking well of David. Why? Because David had a life to speak well of. How do you speak well of people? Because you have a life that speaks well.

How can people speak well of you? Because your life reflects the goodness of God. David is described as the one that hasn't sinned and Saul is the one that's sinned. He reminds him in verse 5 how he took his own life in his hands and by great faith inspired of God took on the giant Goliath. And "Why are you going again, sinning against innocent blood?" in verse 5. And so Saul heeded the voice. But not for long. Verse 8.

And there was war again and David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a mighty blow and they fled from him. Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he slipped away from Saul's presence and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

David being used greatly and mightily of God, keeping his eyes focused no matter all the weirdness that's happening around him. He is a single-minded man at this point, faithfully doing what God has called him to do. And Saul again is upset. And we've learned in previous studies that this distressing spirit in the demonic realm under the authority of God, you know, when King Saul turns his back, when he turns his back from God and turns his back upon God and he starts to go in the opposite direction, he's going into the realm of the devil. And so he's distressed. He is under attack. And that's when he picks up the spear once again. And David once again flees and escapes. This time he gets far away.

Guest (Male): Well, today on Abounding Grace, we brought you a portion of our study in 1 and 2 Samuel. Pastor Ed Taylor is our Bible teacher. Would you like to hear this again? If so, just visit us online at aboundinggraceradio.com or oneplace.com. You can also download the Calvary Church app as well. And today, we'd like to tell you about a book from Ron Rhodes titled *The End Times in Chronological Order*.

Think of it as a complete overview to understanding Bible prophecy. You've probably heard about the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, Second Coming, Mark of the Beast, but how do they all fit together? This chronological tour through the Bible's most important predictions will help you connect the dots. We'll gladly send you a copy for a gift of $25 or more to Abounding Grace. Call toll-free at 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE, or order it online at calvaryco.store.

Please remember this ministry is made possible through the support of our listeners and we are grateful for whatever the Lord leads you to do. It would be great to hear from you. Call toll-free at 877-30-GRACE. Donations can also be made online at aboundinggraceradio.com. We'll hear the dramatic conclusion to the story in 1 Samuel chapter 19 on the next Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed.

This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You laid down your life. That I would be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church Colorado here in Aurora.