1 Samuel 26 Discipline, David, And The Peaceable Fruit Of Righteousness

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:12

Um 1 Samuel 26, as well as Hebrews chapter 12. All right. Well, we've been at it for a little while here looking at the life of David. David is anointed king all the way back in chapter 16, and currently he's running from Saul. Where is he? Let's look at chapter 26, verse 1. Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding in the hills of Hakaliah opposite Jeshem? And Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Zip, having 3,000 chosen men of Israel with him to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hakaliah, which is opposite Jeshem by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. Therefore David sent out spies and understood that Saul had indeed come. So four times in four verses, we read that David was in the wilderness. So David's in the wilderness. You can picture it. It's a desolate place. Maybe not quite what we would vision a desert. There's a little more than that, but but it's pretty desolate. And for David, it really speaks of the trial that he's been in for the last about nine years now. Nine out of 12 to 13 years that he runs from Saul, uh, that's where we're at. So nine years in the wilderness, if you can feel that and picture that, I'm imagining David is sick of it, right? The wilderness of life, the trials of life. Um, sometimes they are like that. They're locational, right? Trials of life. They have to do with the location of where we're at in life, but not generally. Uh, sometimes it's situational, the wilderness trials of our life, right? Situational, it's health, it's finances, but most of the time it's personal, I think. This is pretty common. It's tied to a person, a relationship. There's difficulties in our life because situations, places, and people. Well, I want to leave Samuel here for a minute, first Samuel. And I want to go to Hebrews chapter 12 and just kind of talk about something that really we're seeing here in David's life uh over and over again. Uh, the idea of the chastening of the Lord, these wilderness trials. Now we'll go back to 26 and we'll hit all of 26, but Hebrews chapter 12, it's a Christian concept of God's discipline in our life. Uh, we can start in verse 3. For consider, if you're there, Hebrews chapter 12, about verse 3. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son he receives. So here we're introduced this idea of chastening, the chastening of the Lord. Um, the picture that Solomon here from Proverbs um paints for us is of a parent chastening their child. Um, and the author of the Hebrews will compare it a little bit more later, but it's parental chastening, parental discipline, perhaps, is what we have in mind here. Most other translations say discipline. Now, being a child is difficult. Growing up, it's difficult in our world. But I'm gonna put this out there being a parent, and I probably have more support on this anyways, being a parent is more difficult, right? And you think it's easy until you are one, right? Um, disciplining children, parenting is not easy. Um, some success in our lives as parents, but a lot of regrets. I don't know, that's what I found. A lot of regrets in parenting. And when we think of God's discipline as it is put here, we think about the consequences in our life. God brings out the paddle of discipline, right? And and that's part of it for sure. The consequences of our disobedience in life. God lets them give us a little bit of a whooping and and we learn. But there's way more than that. And I think we ought to understand this in this idea of discipline. It's training. Maybe that's a better word. The Greek word could point to instruction or training, training, like sports training, something I have very little experience myself in, uh, but some of you do. Sports training, military training, discipline. And so we read here whom the Lord loves, He trains. That feels a little more productive, doesn't it? Um run the play again. It hurts, but it's maybe more productive. When you get into the game, you know how to run that play. You know, do that thing a little bit more in the military. Well, when you've done it 5,000 times, you do it instinctively after a while. You've learned something through the discipline and the instructions. Now, God, it says here, chastens, disciplines, instructs us. And what does it show? Uh, that's what David's experiencing in his life, but what does it show? Notice this, it shows who we are. Look at verse six in Hebrews chapter 12. Um, whom the Lord loves, he chastens. Um, it shows that we're loved by God. Hard to see when it's going on, but that's the truth here in verse six. It shows that we're loved by God. Verse 7 through 9, notice, it shows that we're actual legitimate children of God. Notice this, verse 7. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, of which you have all become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have human fathers who have corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily and readily in subjection to the father of spirits and live? Um, okay, so here we see that it shows that we're sons and loved, but we're legitimate sons, right? He says, he says, it proves that. Because here's the thing one thing you ought to know, you can discipline your own children, but if you really want to become unpopular, discipline somebody else's children, right? That's a good way to get a sock in the nose, I think, is if you start disciplining other people's children, because that's not what we do as parents. So God's discipline in in our lives shows us a couple things. We're loved, we're actually his children when he disciplines and trains us. It also shows who he is, and and follow, it shows who he is. He's a father who verse six again loves us, he cares about our well-being. That should be the motivation for discipline as parents, right? Is love. We want to see our kids better, right? And God uh cares about our lives. That's huge, right? Because in in some lines of thought, the deist thought, God is this watchmaker who winds up creation and then lets it go and says, all right, have at it, do whatever you want, you're on your own. And God's not involved, but God is involved. God's involved in our life, and He cares about our well-being, actively pursuing our benefit. Notice verse 10. For they indeed, uh, for a few days, our human fathers, uh, chastened us as it seemed best to them, which is parenting, I think, right? You do your best, you do as you seem best, and try to live without regrets, is that. Um, but but but notice they did as it seemed best, but he, God, to our prophet, that we may but be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful in the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So, God's intent in this, this is what it shows us about God, is that He wants to benefit us, He wants to profit there in verse 10 to our benefit uh through this discipline. Um, that's good. That's good to know. The results of discipline, though, we also see in verse uh 10. Good to highlight. Um, we become partakers of his holiness. Notice it says in verse 10, partakers of his holiness. This is character, the character that God wants to build, the character that's different than the world around us. It's God's holy character. That word holy means set apart and different. So everybody else in the world can do whatever they want, but God wants to build this other kind of character in us that we look a little bit more like Him. Makes us partakers of His holiness. But also notice in verse 11, it produces the peaceable fruits of righteousness, the fruits of righteousness, the evidence of right living in our lives, fruits of righteousness. Galatians 5, 22 says it's the fruits of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, love, the big one, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. So check it out. God produces all these good things in our character and in our lives, things that couldn't be produced without difficulty and trials in our life. And I think it's good to realize this: that God lets us in the wilderness. Let's go back to 1 Samuel 26. God lets us go through trials and difficulties to produce good things, mainly a changed character. And that's what we're starting to see with David here, because God has been more interested in working in David than working through him at this point in the story. And that's true for all of us. He wants to change the way we we live. Now look at how it all goes down in verse five. All right, now we'll stick to the account here for verse five, and we'll see the fruits of righteousness, the holy character in David's life. Verse five. So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner, the son of Nur, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp with the people and camped all around him. And David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zariah, brother of Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. So picture it. And Abner and the people lay all around him. Then Abishai said to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please let me strike him at once with a spear right to the earth, and I will not have to strike him a second time. But David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him. For who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? David said, Furthermore, as the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his days shall come to die, or he shall go out into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that is by his head, and let us go. So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul's head, and they got away. No man saw nor knew it or awoke, for they were all asleep because a very deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them. So picture it here. In the wilderness, David is running from Saul, but he hears where Saul is at. Now, Saul's got 3,000 men, so it's kind of hard to hide at this point. But but the first thing we notice about this is it seems a little bit like deja vu, doesn't it? You kind of say to yourself, wait a second, oh boy, I think we hit this one before. You you did this one already. David had an opportunity to kill Saul and he didn't do it. Uh we did hit it, but it was earlier. It was in uh chapter 24. You'll remember David's hiding in the cave. Saul comes into the cave for a pit stop, and David has the opportunity, told by his men at that point as well, this is it, David. Kill him. Let's get this over with. And David doesn't do it. He doesn't kill Saul. That happened in chapter 24. So it has happened before. And in some ways, we sort of saw a similar situation last week as David faces off with this foolish man named Nabal. Remember Nabal? He he insults David and his men. He won't provide for them. He says, Get lost, I'm not doing anything for you. And David's about ready to kill Nabal. Then Abigail, Nabal's wife, comes out and gives him godly counsel, gives David godly counsel, says, Don't do it. Don't let this blood be on your head. He's a foolish man, but don't take it into your own hands. And so it's the same circumstance and a different face. It's not Saul, it's Nabal. And David learns a pretty healthy lesson there. But this is new. This is one more time. And that is often the way God's training happens in our life, isn't it? God shows us the same thing over and over and over again. And we hope we learn it sooner than later. But here, David's in the same place. Now notice what's going on. There's a supernatural sleep we read about there in verse 12. A deep sleep from the Lord had overcome them. That's crazy. That's Twilight Zone crazy. You know what I mean? Like, how did they figure this out? As 3,000 men are in camp, Saul's in the middle with Abner, spears by his head, and David and Abishai walk in. I just picture, you know, I don't know, I don't know what happened, but I picture one of them tripped, you know, fell on one of these sleeping guys, and the guy didn't move, right? You know, they made some noise. They're like, hey, hey, hey, you know, and and nobody moves. You know, there's a supernatural sleep here. 3,000 men, and not a single one of them moves. This is crazy. This is from the Lord, they realize. We see Saul in the middle of the camp, verse 7 and 8, with a famous prop, his spear, right? We've seen it before. Saul likes the spear. He throws it at people as they play harps in front of him, right? Did it to David twice in chapter 22? Saul's got the spear with him, standing in the shade under the tree, giving a speech, right? So this is a famous spear of Saul's, probably in regards to his kingship. And there he is, knocked out supernaturally with a spear stuck in the ground by his head. Now, notice here in chapter 26, the council of Abishai. Abishai, the son of Zariah, that's David's sister, uh and brother to Joab. So these are David's nephews, and they're hotheads. We could definitely say that. Joab comes into the story in 2 Samuel a little more. But Abishai's got this idea. Saul's asleep. The spear is right next to his head. And Abishai is so excited here. He says, David, this is it. God has given him into your hand. I'll take this spear, I'll drive it through it just into the ground. I'll only have to do it once, David. That only takes me one shot, and he'll be gone. You'll be done with this wilderness trial. Nine years. Now check it out. That's a temptation. When you've been experiencing a trial for nine years, and you can end it, so you think, end it in like two seconds. That's tempting, right? And his counsel is pretty harsh. Let me do it, I'll do it. And it seems as if God has delivered Saul into David's hands. This is a spiritual thing, David. God did it. Now, check it out. Just for reference, not every open door is a door from God, right? Just because the possibility was there to end Saul's life doesn't mean that God wanted David to do it. And David's already experienced conviction back in chapter 24 in the cave. We read there in verse 5 that David's heart troubled him when he cut that robe off of Saul. His heart troubled him. We talked about the conviction of the Lord. God at already told David, No, this is not how I want you to deal with your enemies. This is not it. I want you to trust me. And David's heart was convicted at that point, and it was still convicted. Now, chapter 25 is a little different because David experiences Nabal, a guy that deserved to die. David could have done it, could have done it in an instant. And Abigail comes out and encourages him look, you don't let this be who you are. Don't let this be that you're just a man who kills his enemies off like this. Trust God. And David does trust God, and God takes care of the evolved. Go ahead and read the end of chapter 25. God takes care of him for David. He learned a lesson. Let God fight your battles, and God gave him vengeance over his enemies. So notice what David understands here in verse 10. Um, he tells Abishai, in the middle of 3,000 men that are sleeping supernaturally, as the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come, or he shall go out to battle and perish. Look, God has to take care of Saul. That's where we're at. I'm gonna let God do it. One day, Saul is gonna die, whether in battle or sickness or whatever. Saul's gonna die. God's gotta be the one to do it. And the fruit of these trials. Are we see here that David puts his trust in God? Now, notice verse 11, a little bit of a side note. This is therefore, uh, let's see, the Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But please, Abishai, take now the spear in the jug of water that is by your head, and let's go. Abishai, you grab that spear, grab the jug. Now, he has a change of mind and change of heart in verse 12. So David took the spear in the jug. As Abishai's going to pull out the spear, his eyes are all crazed, I'm imagining. And David's like, well, wait a second, let me take the spear, okay? Because you're just not safe. And David does it, and they walk away. Now we see the results of this in verse 13. And let's just read it and see how the story ends. Now David went over to the other side, the top of the hill, afar off, a great distance, being between them. And David called out to the people of Abner, uh, to Abner, the son of Nur, saying, Do you not answer, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are you calling to the king? So David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in all of Israel? Why then have you not guarded your Lord the King? For one of the people came in to destroy your Lord the King. This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head. And Saul knew David's voice and said, Is that your voice, my son David? David said, It is my voice, O Lord, uh, my Lord, O King. And he said, Why does my Lord thus pursue his servant? And what have I done? What evil is in my hand? Now, therefore, please let my Lord the King hear the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, uh may they be cursed before the Lord. For they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go serve other gods. Now therefore, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains. And Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly. And David answered and said, Here is the king's spear. Let uh one of the king's men come over and get it. May the Lord repay every hu every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. For the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. And Saul said to David, May ye be blessed, my son David. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. So we see the result here as David lets Saul know, I could have killed you, I could have killed you again, but I didn't. Why are you chasing me? Stop believing the lies. And and David there lets him know I valued your life, Saul. Um Saul is saved, right? In this sense, his life is saved, right? That's pretty good for Saul, right? But here's the thing I want to point out. David is saved. He's he's saved in his character as not being someone who just took the matter into his own hands, killed Saul, got it done. A man of blood, right? He he preserves character, he uh shows fruits of righteousness and holy character, godly character in his life. That's amazing. That's really amazing given the situation that David would trust God in that. Now the story kind of changes after this, and we follow Saul downhill. We see Saul's extreme downhill slope, and God's eventually here, very quickly, going to bring David to that place that he promised him, but he's working godly character into his life because that's what God does as a good father who loves us. Understand that he allows us into situations where our character is tried. He's disciplining us and training us to trust him in the little things and the big things, and it all comes around that God wants to make us the person that he wants us to be. And so it'll it'll be this week. God, um, it's easy to despise the training that you offer us in life. It's hard to see that it shows that you love us and care about us, that you work um the flaws out of our heart. But God help us to be um like agreeable clay in your hands. God help us to do the things you want us to do and not do the things that you don't want us to do. Help us not just to get by, but God produce uh your character in our lives, mainly this thing of supernatural love for even people that hurt us. God, help us. We need your spirit for this. Um, we need your grace for sure. So I pray that you would use these things in our life and work in Jesus' name we pray.