Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): Gossip in the church. No big deal? Wrong. Here's Pastor Jeff Johnson.

Jeff Johnson: And that's what gossip does. It destroys men's characters and people's lives. People look at that person who they heard talk about them, and they just turn away from them, believing what they heard instead of going to the horse's mouth, instead of talking with the individual and finding out if it's fact or not.

And there's the division, and there's the hurt because they believed a lie. Don't listen to it.

Guest (Male): Welcome once again to Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Downey. We're studying the book of 1 Samuel at the present time, and in case you've missed our recent broadcasts, David is currently on the run from Saul.

Imagine having 3,000 hunters determined to find and kill you. David and his 600 men are facing that terror, but all of a sudden, the tables turn. An opportunity presents itself for David to kill Saul. Let's see how this all plays out and what we can take away from it. Here's Pastor Jeff in 1 Samuel 24.

Jeff Johnson: 1 Samuel, chapter 24. Now, God's Spirit has come upon David, and after some really great victories, David finds himself forsaken by many who he thought were his friends. He finds himself pursued by his enemy, and he also finds himself very much alone.

I was thinking about this, and I thought, boy, this is like the situation that many find themselves in right after they come to the Lord. Things really change in your life. I mean, it's a whole another ball game, a whole another philosophy, a whole another way of life than you were living before.

And man, all of a sudden, you just reach out to your friends, they go, "Well, no, we'll see you later. You got religion, huh? Well, you needed it." And they don't want to have anything to do with you. You kind of feel alone a little bit.

But I love this because in David's life, as he was out there in that wilderness, it says later on that David's family came to him. And you know what? God's promise is that you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved and your household.

And we're seeing that happen in our midst as many are getting saved, and then it's handing down to their parents and to their children. I mean, people are coming in, families, whole families coming to know the Lord. It's exciting as the families are coming together.

One family came up to me and said, "We're all here together. We cover three pews, we're all worshipping the Lord together. Look what God has done!" and it is exciting. Not only does David's family come to him, but 400 others rally around him there in that cave.

What an exciting thing to see the family grow and to see many added to the church daily, such as should be saved. And as our ranks grow, it's exciting to see how many are coming to know the Lord and serve the Lord with us.

And yet, also, David's best friend came. And he came to do what? To encourage David, also to warn him of what was coming. But he was there to prepare David as God was doing in his life for the place that He had prepared for him to be the king of Israel.

So, through these various trials we're watching David go through, God is preparing this man. And it's an awesome work that He is doing also in our lives. He's preparing us for the place He has prepared for each of us.

I was thinking of a scripture in Romans 5 where Paul said this, talking about tribulations, he says, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

And so, God gives us His love by the Holy Spirit. He transforms us. He prepares us for the place He has prepared for us. Now, I've said this before, but if anyone should have been bitter, if anybody should have been angry and full of hatred, it would have been David after all that he's gone through so far.

Especially towards Saul as we see that he is his real enemy, kicking him out of his home and of his place of friends and driving him into the wilderness. If David should have had any hate, it should have been towards this man called Saul.

And I wonder how many of you this morning have found that you've got a Saul in your life that you're saying, "Lord, can you just beam this guy up? I mean, ah, you know, just, can you somehow work in just to remove him out of my life?"

It's true that Sauls can and are definitely a test in our lives. And this was definitely a test for David. So, David and his ministry being proved of God through this man Saul. But would David yield to bitterness? Would he yield to hatred? Would he seek vengeance against Saul, or would David be wise?

How do you deal with the Sauls in your life? How do you deal with it? I think David is a beautiful example to all of us how God would have us deal with our Sauls. Notice verse one of chapter 24 of 1 Samuel.

Now, remember, David was surrounded by Saul, and Saul all of a sudden, just so happened, got a word that the Philistines were attacking their main camp. And they immediately turned from pursuing David and went after the Philistines.

And then we have chapter 24, verse one: "And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following or pursuing the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi."

You see, what was driving Saul was his jealousy towards David. He wanted him dead. He wanted to wipe him out. So David's hiding in a place called En Gedi, the northwest side of the Dead Sea. There is in that wilderness out there a beautiful, beautiful paradise called En Gedi.

We always like to hike up into the falls of En Gedi because it is so beautiful. There's plenty of water, underground oasis of springs coming up, waterfalls, there's fruit all around, there's animals all around because there's water there.

And there's a lot of caves to hide in. So David knew what he was doing when he chose En Gedi to run from his enemy. Verse two: "Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of wild goats."

En Gedi really simply means "the haunt of wild goats," and it's where the goats hung out. And so, David, now we see his enemy moving in upon him again. Verse three: "And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave."

Sheepcotes were the caves that they would put the sheep in during the night to protect them. They would pile up rocks to be kind of a gate for the cave, and they would then be safe from any kind of thieves or the wild animals around.

And these were the sheepcotes of the various caves in the area. Much like Jesus was born in, there in Bethlehem. And you know, the mangers we have in our houses today, they just quite don't smell right. They're just not exact replicas of what was going on there.

Because you're talking about a cave in the midst of a mountain that was dug out that they would light fires in, they'd have the sheep in there, and the manger there was simply a stone trough that was slimy and green, and the place stunk. And that's where Jesus was born.

And so, the sheepcote is where Saul, now we see, is going into this large cave. But we also see that David and his men are hiding in the darkness of this cave. Because in the day, when you walk into these caves, it is pitch black. You can't see anything until you turn around and look out.

And so, it says that Saul is coming in there, and some believe that he was going in there to cover his feet, means to relieve himself. He was going to the bathroom. And they get that from Judges 3:24. But others would say that Saul was in there just to take a nap and to get out of the heat of the day and to sleep.

Okay, it doesn't matter, he was there. And as he was there, you can imagine David and his men hiding there in the shadows say, "David, here's your opportunity. Look who just so happened to walk into our cave! Oh, David, what an opportunity. You can really make a killing here, literally. You can grab the throne in one whack and rid yourself and rid ourselves of our enemy. What a situation."

Verse four: "And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee." I mean, this, David, is answered prayer. Look what God has done! All of our trials and suffering, it's over. Go, David, wipe him out.

You know, it would be great if you could just wipe out your Sauls, wouldn't it? You know, like in the Western days, draw... another one of my Sauls, you know, and just walk off. It would be nice, wouldn't it? You can't do it that way, though. It just isn't that easy.

And yet, they're telling David, "Come on, it's easy. Rid yourself of Saul once and for all. Just wipe him out." You can imagine the tension building as David grabs the knife and he begins to move slowly over to Saul where Saul was at.

His men internally saying, "Go ahead, stick him, David. Stick him real good. Cut his throat, David. Come on, this guy's as good as dead. Go, David, go, David," and David's sneaking up on him. But notice the last part of verse four: "Then David arose, and he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privately."

And I read that, and I thought, the men must have gone, "David, what are you doing? You don't just cut a piece of his robe off! What have you, have you lost it? I mean, you are completely blowing it. Your opportunity!" He's losing nerve. Look at David. He's coming back with a piece of his skirt.

You know, the natural man doesn't understand the things of God, neither can he know them. And these men were looking at David, and they didn't, they were in confusion, man. David, how in the world could you pass up this opportunity?

Verse five: "And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him," he was convicted in his heart. Why? Because he had cut off Saul's skirt. "And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord."

David was such a sensitive guy. You can see it here. Sensitive in the sense that when he did that, the little that he did do to Saul, he felt convicted immediately of what he had done. He felt so bad that he went to his men and he confessed it.

He said, "Guys, I have totally blown it. I touched God's anointed. I should have never done that." And he had respect unto Saul, the Lord's anointed. And I'm sure the men looked at David and said, "He's lost it completely. I mean, he is gone. All the pressure and all the trials have caused him to just go tilt, and he's lost it."

You say, "Well, wait a minute, though. Wasn't it true that Saul's anointing had already gone and that David was now anointed to be the king?" And that is true, isn't it? That Saul's anointing was taken off of him.

But David realized that in the situation he was in, that God was in control, that God was allowing this to take place. He really saw that God's involved in this Saul and him being still the king and me being in a cave, that this is God's plan somehow. Saul was being God's instrument to work on and prepare David.

Look at verse seven: "So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way." This David "stayed his servants" is he restrained them in the Hebrew. It's a very strong word.

See, David was a great leader. And what he did, he mustered up all of his persuasive power that he had and he talked his men out of killing Saul in that cave. And he rallied his men together not to touch Saul.

The lesson here, I think, is we who, as David, understand our Sauls need to help those that are held captive by their Sauls not do what David's men were about to do. And in not doing that, they would truly be delivered.

Now, you'll understand this more as we go along here. What do I mean by delivered by not doing? Verse eight: "David also arose afterward," notice, and went out of the cave right after Saul, "and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself."

I was home just hitting the remote. My wife hates it when I do that. And I was just ready to go to bed anyhow, and all of a sudden, here comes a movie and it was King David. And they were right at the very place that we're studying, you know, and Richard Gere is David.

It's kind of a Hollywood type of thing, you know. They kind of mess it up somewhat. But there are some real neat truths in there, if you ever want to look at a movie that they tried to make dealing with what we've been going through these last number of weeks. It's called King David.

But in that, here he was in this cave and here he runs out after Saul. Look at how David now, in humility and respect unto Saul, he gets aggressive with his enemy. In a good way. And I'm going to give you some practical examples how you can do that with your enemy, exactly like David did.

Look at verse nine now: "And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me to kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I have said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed."

"Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee."

First of all, David says, "Beware of men's words." In fact, he was kind of shocked that Saul would even listen to men's words which are, most of the time, perverted and, most of the time, twisted. How dare you listen to gossip? For the grapevine is always rotten.

And when you listen to gossip being handed down, you are actually picking up on man's words, which are not true. So, David simply said to Saul, "I can't believe... here you're king and you listen to what everybody was saying about me hating you, wanting to take your life? That's ridiculous. You can tell right now I didn't want to do that. You listened to the malicious gossip, and look what it was doing to David."

Destroying his life. And that's what gossip does. It destroys men's characters and people's lives. People look at that person who they heard talk about them and they just turn away from them, believing what they heard instead of going to the horse's mouth, instead of talking with the individual and finding out if it's fact or not.

And there's the division, and there's the hurt because they believed a lie. Don't listen to it. David, though, with God's anointed common sense, said, "Saul, want you to see something here. I could have killed you. But you're God's anointed and I am not bitter in my heart, I want you to know that. I am not out here to kill you. And may God's will be done in both our lives."

Do you see what David was saying? He was simply saying, "I am willing to wait for God's program and His perfect plan to work itself out between me and you and what God's going to do here. I'm willing just to give it to the Lord."

And what a freedom that gives you when you learn to wait upon the Lord. It's hard to do sometimes, isn't it? And the temptation is there for us to just jump in there and help God out a little bit. I mean, do you need a hand? I'm right here. Always willing, ready to go. What do you want me to do? I'll just do it. And we jump in there.

Boy, what a mistake we make. I think one of the greatest examples of helping God out has got to be Abraham when he jumped in the sack with Hagar. Of course, his wife put him up to it. Said, "You ought to just do it," you know. So he did it.

And even today, we've got the problem now, Ishmael and the whole Arab race against their cousins, the Israelis, and what a mess. What a mistake. What have you done, Abraham? God help us learn this lesson and remember Jacob trying to finagle his dad because his dad was blind, and he kind of fooled him putting goat skin on his arm and brought in some venison.

And he didn't know the difference between goat and venison, and he was old, and he just tricked him to get his birthright from him. Again, trying to help God out. Like God can't give you the birthright if He wants you to have it. "Well, I just want to help Him out."

What a mistake when we get in the way. You say, "You mean God can't do it?" Oh, you say, "Yes, He can do it, but I'd just like to help Him out a little bit doing it." And that's the temptation, and that's where we run into problems, and that's where we get uptight and frustrated and confused. Because it doesn't work that way. It gets messed up.

David said, "There's no way. I'm not even going to try to get involved in this thing. I'm not even going to touch this guy." And David learned to wait upon the Lord. You see, those that learn to wait upon the Lord for His timing and His dealing with the situation are those that are renewing their strength.

That's what the Bible says. If you learn to wait upon the Lord, you will renew your strength in the Lord. And you will be able to stand back as David and watch God set it up. Notice verse 13. As saith, and David quotes a proverb, "As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee."

In other words, I'm not going to touch you because I'm not a wicked man. If I was a wicked man, I'd wipe you out. But I'm not a wicked man, and I'm going to leave you alone. In fact, over in Psalm 54, where he wrote this psalm during this time, he says, "God is my helper. I will praise the name of the Lord. He has delivered me."

Notice, David is just looking to the Lord to take care of everything. What an example David is to us, how to deal with the Sauls in your life. Philippians 4, one of my favorite scriptures, is "Don't be anxious about anything. Don't be worried about anything. But with everything, with prayer and supplication, let your... you know, thanksgiving in your heart, make your requests made known unto the Lord.

And then the peace of God will rule in your hearts and in your minds through Christ Jesus." So, just pray to the Lord, receive the Lord's word for your life, and just be at peace with yourself. Don't let this thing get to you.

You know, I found a good example of this in Acts, chapter 12. It was Peter, who right at the time where Herod killed James, just ran him through with a sword. And there was great persecution coming down on the church. Peter then was taken and thrown in jail, thrown in the prison.

Everybody started to pray, "Oh God, be with Peter because the persecution is sweeping. Peter's next on the chopping block to get his head chopped off." And Peter knew what was going on. And it says there in Acts 12:6 that Peter was in the prison and he just snuggled up and he fell asleep.

I mean, what kind of a guy is this guy? Is he nuts? Knowing that you're next on the chopping block, knowing your life's on the line, you're just going to go to sleep? Well, let me tell you why he went to sleep. It's awesome. In John's Gospel, chapter 21, verse 18, Jesus told Peter how he was going to die, remember?

He said, "You're going to die, they're going to take your hands and spread them out and your legs," he was going to be crucified. "When you are old," Jesus said. So Peter's just leaning on that word from the Lord. "I'm not old, I just got this word two weeks ago. I'm still young, man. I'm not going to die. I think I'll go to sleep."

Would to God that we would also hang on to the word of the Lord that way. And let's get some sleep, okay?

Guest (Male): As we've seen today, it's easy to say you put your trust completely in the Lord, but are you living a life that reflects that trust? Or is it just words? You've been listening to a study in the book of 1 Samuel here on Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson.

We pray you've been blessed by what you've heard today. 1 Samuel is filled with practical insights for Christian living, and if you'd like to hear this study again, go to sounddoctrineradio.org or listen through the Sound Doctrine podcast app.

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And thank you very much for your support. It's greatly appreciated and will be put to good use helping others build their lives on the sound doctrine found in God's Word. We hope you'll join us for our next study in 1 Samuel. It's going to be a good one.

That's right here on Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff, a presentation of Calvary Chapel Downey. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Jeff Johnson: So Father, won't you speak to me? Oh Lord, you know I'm listening. You know exactly what I need. So Father, won't you speak to me?