Sound Doctrine

Ran a full transcription using clean verbatim as requested and formatted into paragraphs of about 100 words based on the provided video of "1 Samuel 19 part 1" on Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson.

Guest (Male): Jealousy can ruin a relationship quickly. Here's a thought from Pastor Jeff.

If you're in a jealous relationship, don't hang onto it. Let it go. Actually, what the Lord would have us to do is just simply tell them you love them and tell them that you believe in them and then let them go. And then you're going to be free from it. Even with material possessions, Emerson says this about material possessions. He says, if you love something too much where you can't let it go, then it owns you. It runs you. Best to let it go, give it up, and you'll be free from it.

We all know someone who seems to get upset at the accomplishments of others. 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 it instead. It's about that time that envy so often invades our heart. Today on Sound Doctrine, we'll notice Saul's envy, and it's not a pretty sight. It actually provoked him to want to kill David. We continue to take you through 1 Samuel and in chapter 19, Pastor Jeff Johnson observes both love and hate.

Jeff Johnson: 1 Samuel chapter 19. This morning, we're going to talk about friends that can deliver us from our foes. These are good friends to have around. And we're going to look at some of David's friends as David found himself in an incredible warfare. As if you're a Christian today, you find yourself in an incredible warfare.

So far, we've seen that Saul's wicked rebellious heart is now, has been revealed. He's even turning against his godly friends. And you know when someone's truly backslidden and away from the Lord is when they begin to turn against their godly friends. He's a man that is driven by fear, by jealousy, by anger, and hatred. Terrible things to drive your life, to react to, to be a part of. Terrible things.

He's kind of a cloud that is heading David's way. David had really done nothing wrong. He was a very kind man. He was humble. He was compassionate. He was a very patient man. In fact, it says in the Bible that he behaved himself wisely. Saul's jealousy was growing over David, and he's a building storm coming over David.

In fact, when I was looking at this whole story, I thought of that what happened 2,000 years ago. That incredible gospel, that story about how Satan, who is a kind of, Saul's a type of Satan here, sought to destroy the Son of God. Sought to try to hold on to his kingdom by crucifying Jesus. And he continues today to hold on to that which is not his. And he knows it. But he steadies on. In fact, the very instrument that Satan used to try to kill God's Son would defeat him on the spot. And it will eventually totally defeat him.

In fact, it says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 14, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." And so when Christ went to the cross, Satan was destroyed. Satan held over man sin and death. No longer can he do that because of the cross of Jesus Christ. Man now can be delivered from the bondage of sin and from the threat of death. Totally.

Same with Goliath. Remember we looked back as David came at Goliath, that giant. And he used his sword, the very thing that Goliath came against David with, David used to chop off his head. And so we see that the battle goes on as Saul now is continuing to seek to hold on to that which is not his. And he seeks to destroy David, thinking that if he does, he can hold on to it.

So David finds himself going from one stressful situation to another. And you'll see that as we go along here. I mean, from a giant that he had to fight who was outside, who is really and truly an enemy of Israel, to now he's having to fight his own king who is within the kingdom. Remember when Paul was sharing with the elders of Ephesus, he said, "You know, I know when I go away, grievous wolves are going to come in even amongst yourselves and they're going to seek to rip off the flock." Sometimes our worst warfare is with those within. So David having to fight his own king.

But this king now, remember in chapter 16 verse 21, it says in Samuel that Saul really loved David. So look at how the relationship starts. Saul looks at David and loves him. And then we go on, chapter 18 verse 9, and then Saul began to eye him, saying, "I don't know about this guy." Going on in verse 12 of chapter 18, Saul was afraid of David. And then continuing on in verse 29, he said, "David's my enemy." And he was his enemy continually from that point on.

And then this morning, we're going to look at chapter 19 where jealousy now ends up in murder, murderous intent. This is the process of jealousy that was working in Saul's life. From love to suspicion to fear to murder. It's a degression in an individual's life. And I looked up the word jealousy in the Hebrew, and it's qana'. Qana' is a type of word that is like when your face turns red and you grit your teeth to hang on. And this is the type of jealousy that Saul was entering into. And really when you look at it, we're all susceptible to the jealous trap, to getting into this syndrome.

It ruins relationships. It ruins marriages. It ruins friendships. It's an ugly, ugly thing. And so from love to murder, or actually you could get to the place where you wish that they were dead. You just wish that they were dead. Envy is totally different than jealous in that envy, it starts out with an open hand and wants to seek to get. You envy of what somebody else has. See, that's envy. But jealousy has and seeks to hold on to what it has.

It's kind of a death grip or a kind of a smothering, clinging, strangling type of thing where it will even kill to hold on to what it's got. It gets desperate. "I won't let go," you know. It's a very destructive sin. And the solution to jealousy is very simple. Saul could have taken it, but he didn't. And that is simply let go of it. Just let it go. Seek the Lord and let it go. Don't stranglehold it.

If you're threatened by a position—and I know that sometimes in the workplace that we're threatened by positions and somebody's trying to get our position or whatever, and you're threatened, you're trying to hold on to something. You know the best way to let it go, the best way to solve that whole thing is to simply help the next guy that wants it. Help him to get into it. It'll release you from it. In fact, it is a principle of God. If you will just let it go and you will seek to help that individual, you will be elevated. You will be lifted up. And you will be set free from that thing of jealousy.

Jealousy in relationships are incredible. They can just ruin it quickly. In fact, if you're in a jealous relationship, don't hang on to it. Let it go. Actually, what the Lord would have us to do is just simply tell them you love them and tell them that you believe in them and then let them go. And then you're going to be free from it. Even with material possessions, Emerson says this about material possessions. He says, "If you love something too much where you can't let it go, then it owns you. Then it owns you. It runs you." Best to let it go, give it up, and you'll be free from it.

Here Saul won't let it go. And so because he won't let it go and he's got a stranglehold around it, it's going to destroy him. Let it be a lesson that jealousy is destructive, no matter how you look at it. Chapter 19 verse 1. Saul spoke now to Jonathan his son and to all the servants that they should kill David. So Saul turning to his son, knowing his son loves David, knowing that they're buddies—I mean, their friendship was out in the open—Saul's not even reasoning right.

He says, "Jonathan," and he probably tried to reason with Jonathan, saying, "David is dangerous to the kingdom. David is this, David is that, and we've got to get rid of this guy." But notice Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, "Saul my father seeks to kill thee. Now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place and hide thyself." And we know that Jonathan and David had hearts that were knit together. You can't break this up.

This is something that God has done in their hearts. When God has put a relationship together, you can't break it up. And Jonathan here proves his loyalty to David. He turns his back on his dad, who he thinks I know has lost it. And he tells David. In this chapter, we are going to see four friends that David has. Four different characters here. The first one, of course, is Jonathan. These four are going to help deliver David from his foe.

Jonathan, the prince who pleads David's cause. In verse 3, it goes on to say, "And I will go out," Jonathan says, "and stand beside my father in the field where you are. And I will commune with my father of thee. And what I see, I will tell thee." And Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against thee. And because his works have been toward you very good.

And he did put his life in his hand and he slew the Philistine. And the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest and you did rejoice. Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood to slay David without a cause?" And so we see Jonathan pleading for David's cause. I want you to notice something here. He says David hasn't sinned. Many believe that during this time, this very stressful situation that David was under—this is an ugly circumstance when you've got somebody that hates you and is jealous of you so much that he wants to kill you and you're hearing about it and you know it's coming down—during this time of this storm in David's life, he wrote Psalm 59.

And this Psalm is a beautiful Psalm of how he depended upon the Lord, how he sought the Lord, how he waited for the Lord's deliverance. And in verse 3, it says of Psalm 59, "For lo, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty are gathered against me. Not for my transgression," David says, "nor for my sin, oh Lord." I think the first thing we need to do when something's going wrong in our lives, circumstance, situation, is find out did I do something wrong here? Is there something wrong in my heart?

Did I sin to reap this whirlwind? Is this something that I have really created myself? And I think that's what David's doing. He's searching his heart, saying, "Is there any sin within me? Is this because I did something wrong?" And David says, "No, this is not. I've been seeking the Lord. I've sought Him. And this is because of Saul and the enemy coming at me. It's not because I've inflicted this on myself. This is the enemy. It's clear." Now we, as David had Jonathan interceding for him, we also have a prince that is interceding for us, don't we?

The Prince of Peace, the Son of David, who is always interceding and pleading for us on our behalf. Even now, the Bible says He is praying for us. That's awesome to me. Notice, though, that Jonathan's intercession was not as effective as Jesus and His intercession for us. In fact, as you look at this, you'll see that Jonathan's case was on David's works. Notice he says, "He's a good man. Let him in. Don't touch him. He's got good things." So it was on his good deeds.

Jesus, though, He pleads on for us on His work that He did on the cross. That's very important. He died for me. He is my defense. His blood washes all my sins away. It's not anything good that I have done. There dwells no good thing in me but Jesus Christ. So Jonathan's plea stopped Saul momentarily. We'll see it in a minute, verse 6. Notice it stopped him for a moment. And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan and Saul swore, "As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain." Okay, okay, okay, I won't kill him. I won't slay him.

His mind was changed, but not his heart. You see, you can change your mind for a moment, for a time. But if your heart's not changed, nothing is going to happen. You're going to revert right back to the same old, same old. And I think isn't this incredible? This is why we see people sometimes come forward, we see them receiving the gospel and Christ, but then we see them go off and then leave the fellowship, leave the family of God. And we scratch our head and say, "Oh, I thought they were saved."

Well, they had a mind change. They didn't have a heart change. You say they backslid? Well, then I think we need to ask, did they ever frontslide? Did it ever work? Were they really open to the Lord? Were they really broken before God? Were they really meaning it in their hearts? Did God change their heart? Then He changed their life. God help us to see that, because there's a lot of people just changing their minds for a moment. You see, Jesus's work is eternal. His cases are never lost. We have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the Lord, who intercedes for us.

So Saul is a little schizo here, and you see it. One moment he says, "I'm going to kill the guy," the next moment he says, "Okay, I won't kill him." Notice, it is Saul's resolve, and he says, "I resolve, I say I will not do that." You know, there's something about human resolutions that I think are meant to be broken. In fact, they're always broken when we resolve it. It's incredible. "I'll never do that again," we say. That's the first thing you do. After New Year's, the gyms are packed, right?

The guys are pumping, the diets are on. Go for it. Then time goes on. And so we try to resolve, but if we do it in our own strength, we fail every single time. But if we will do it in His strength, we will have victory. In fact, David, going on in Psalm 59—you might want to put a marker there because we're going to be bouncing back and forth—Psalm 59, notice in verse 9, David says, "Because of his strength will I wait upon thee, for God is my defense." And then notice verse 17 of Psalm 59, "Unto thee, oh my strength, will I sing, for God is my defense and the God of my mercy."

And so David knew where his strength was coming from. David would steady on, but Saul would just resolve in his own strength. Verse 7. And Jonathan called David and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past. So David was allowed to come back into the palace. And there was war again. And David went out, he fought with the Philistines, those constant guys that are fighting against them. Now there's constantly war, isn't there?

We're always in one skirmish after another. If it isn't one thing, it's another. But that's the way it is. In the world, ye shall have tribulations. Philistines are all over the place. And he slew them with a great slaughter and they fled from him. So this battle continues and David, through God, defeats the enemy over and over again. And here come the girls again. And they're singing, "And Saul's killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands." And Saul's just blowing it. It's going to him and he's infuriated and his jealousy is inflamed as he continues to see David have victory.

And he continues to hear these songs. And then notice in verse 9, and the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand, playing with that little sucker again. And David played with his hand. Remember that all spirits are subject to God, all spirits. So God allowed this to happen. But again, I want to emphasize this, that Saul could have stopped it. It was a prayer away. If we would just cry out to the Lord, He said, "I will save you, I will deliver you."

If you're consumed with jealousy, if you're consumed with anger and hatred, God is here to set you free. But you've got to give it to Him. You've got to cry out to Him. Saul didn't do that. And so the evil spirit came upon him. Saul's jealousy opened the door for the enemy to do a number on him. And many times we just open the door for the enemy to come in and just nail us. Not only us, but then we go nail somebody else because of the spirit we're in.

And it's a very devastating thing. Remember the Bible says that we are to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Draw near unto the Lord and He will draw near unto you. Oh, our salvation, our place of hiding, our defense, our strength is in the Lord. But Saul's harbored resentment gushes out now and he loses it again. His sense of judgment is really warped. If you give into jealousy, an evil spirit can come and destroy your life. And here with Saul as we see him give into it, he's playing with this javelin as David plays.

I wonder if David liked that song so much? You know how sometimes we just keep singing a song? And he just started playing, "Saul's killed his thousands." It was the tune. Not meaning to. I mean, it's just a regular tune throughout the city and it was one of the latest hits and so he just started to kind of play it on the harp and Saul just loses it. I don't know, but David had definitely déjà vu as here he is with the javelin again. Notice this, though. Saul's got a javelin in his hand and notice what David's got in his hand: a harp.

I thought that's interesting. One brings healing, the other brings hurt. What do you hold in your hand? Do you got a javelin in your hand trying to bring your point home? Is that what you're trying to do? You're going to nail that guy to the wall. Is that where you're at? Or you're seeking to bring healing to the situation? David was just simply seeking to bring healing. Verse 10. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence.

Reminds me of the Lord, how He just sort of slips away. His hour was not yet. And he smote the javelin into the wall and David fled and escaped that night. So Saul, in a fit of rage, seeks to kill David. "I'll never kill David," he says. Now here he is trying to kill him again. This is his third attempt. What do you mean you'll never kill David? And I love David's reaction to this. I mean, think about it. How are you going to get victory in a situation like this?

How are you going to really be able to have a handle on what's going on? I mean, you've got a guy that's actually throwing things at you trying to kill you and everything seems on the outside to be falling apart and you're running for your life. How do you keep your composure? How do you keep praising the Lord? How do you keep a good attitude? I love David's response. Over in Psalm 59 again, notice in verse 8, "But thou, oh Lord, shalt laugh at them. Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision."

See, David realized that Saul's not his enemy and he didn't take it personally. He realized that Saul is fighting with God. And God laughs at that. Because if you're fighting with God, guess who wins?

Guest (Male): Yes, indeed. Fighting with God doesn't sound like a winning proposition, does it? This is Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. Today, we've been studying 1 Samuel 19. I'd like to remind you that you can hear it again on several different venues. First, you can go online to sounddoctrineradio.org where you can hear today's study as well as make a donation to this radio outreach.

That's at sounddoctrineradio.org. You can also listen at oneplace.com and through the Sound Doctrine Radio app. I should also mention Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Be sure to join us again next time we meet for another encouraging and challenging study with Pastor Jeff in the book of 1 Samuel. That's here on Sound Doctrine, presented by Calvary Chapel Downey.