The fall of Saul (The life of David PT 6) #105

The final chapters of 1 Samuel, tracing David’s narrow escape from treason, the rescue at Ziklag, and the fall of Saul. Along the way we wrestle with leadership, suffering, suicide, assurance, and God’s providence, closing with a hymn, a verse, and a dad joke.

• clarifying the Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer from a Protestant view
• prayer for persecuted Christians across the globe
• David and Achish, providence preventing treason
• civic respect versus mockery of leaders
• Ziklag’s loss, seeking God, and full recovery
• sharing the spoils and setting a just statute
• Saul’s death, suicide, judgment, and hope in God’s character
• assurance of salvation and strengthening yourself in the Lord

Transcript

Welcome, Weather, Health, And Intent

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back to Overopinionated. I hope everyone had a good little week. We are actually getting some nice weather and I'm really, really enjoying it. Um after all the snow, it was so warm and um compared to what it was before, it was nice. Most of the nasty snow has melted. There's one pile up at town in town where the town pool is in Mary and it still looks awful where they piled so much snow and dirt, and hopefully it goes away. But hopefully everyone made it past the storm. I'm feeling fine. Um I'm not feeling sick right now, thankfully. Um so thank you for your prayers. Uh um please pray for me with my back, though. I have a bad back. I've had a bad back since birth, and it's flaring up. Um and I wanna I wanna say the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and uh mention a couple quick things, and we are getting into the life of David. I believe this is the seventh series. It's been a pretty long, drawn-out series. I haven't done it consecutively, and we are going to finish the book of 1 Samuel. So, um, we're gonna read the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried, and descended into hell. On the third day he arose, he ascendeth into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Once again, many people interpret hell as just the grave. It's a little debated, but some people interpret it the grave, some people believe it's shoal. And um from a Protestant perspective that I take, we believe that the Holy Catholic Church is the universal church, not the Roman Catholic Church, because Catholic um just meant universal at the time. I'll say the Lord's prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and thy kingdom come, the will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day or daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. Lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For divine is thy kingdom, the power and glory forever and ever. Amen. Such a beautiful prayer that Christ gave us. So last week we were talking about um Donald Trump's ill-advised social media post. Um this week we're gonna go back into the Bible, get back into the life of King David. I just want to say, um, I've had on my heart the persecuted Christians around the world um the last few days. Um so if you'll join me saying a quick prayer before we get into the meat of today's episode. Dear Jesus, thank you for everything you've gave us. We pray for all the Christians around the world that are persecuted. The people like us in the West and the United States, Europe, and the Americas. We don't understand how hard many people have it for their faith. Thank you for Christians in North Korea and Iran and Afghanistan and Nigeria and Western Africa that have been persecuted in India and all over the globe. And a lot a lot of it being in the global south. We pray that the martyrs of the church will grow the church, as Totalian once said this the blood of the the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And we realize that we don't know the majority of the martyrs, but you know all of them by name, and you love them and you have them, and they are safe. For did did you not say it's better to die and lose your body than to lose your soul. Fear not man that can only kill your body, but fear the devil that can take your soul. Fear sin. Thank you for dying on the cross for our sin. We know you love your church and all over the world and the persecuted world. Thank you. For those Christians that go through so much more than we do. And forgive us for having so much more resources and being so lazy with them. Please, please help your church, Lord. In your holy name, Jesus. Amen. Okay. I hope that's okay. I don't normally start off with a prayer, but I've I've really had that on my heart. Keep those in your prayers. So we are going to be starting off at 1 Samuel chapter 19. You can use whatever version you want. We will be I will be periodically pausing uh the King James Audio Bible because this Bible is a copyright-free version. It's not my preferred preferred version. My preferred version is either the New King James or New International. But this is copyright-free. It saves me from having to talk and having to pronounce some hard words while still trying to get good theology across. Um, so we end it with the Witch of Endor, and uh people debate if it was actually a demon or if it was actually a wit uh if it actually was um Samuel's spirit. I've I lean toward it with Samuel's spirit, but I um you know I think vo both uh interpretations are valid, but I lean toward it with Samuel's spirit. So now let's play uh first uh first Samuel chapter 29 and the New King James Bible. Please follow along in your preferred version. So let's get that. Chapter 29.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphak, and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed on in the rear ward with Akish. Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews hear? And Akish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him, and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return that he may go again to his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us. For wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? Should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David of whom they send one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands and David his ten thousands? Then Achish called David and said unto him, Surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day. Nevertheless, the Lord's favor thee not. Wherefore now return and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

Respecting Leaders While Critiquing

Diplomatic David And Trust

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Okay, so um so we're gonna pause it right there. So Akesh values David and would actually like him to go into battle with him against Saul and Israel. But um the Philistines said, No, he's a he's an Israeli. He's um uh a trem a tremendous warrior he could turn against us. And this is uh we see um God protecting David with God's uh sovereign providence that he would keep David from committing treason against Israel. Right now he has not committed any treason, he just ran away. And uh the two opportunities he had to take Saul's life, he didn't, he just cut him of his rope. So, um this is keeping David, this is God using his divine providence and sovereign will to keep David from committing the sin of treason, in my opinion. And I'm an Arminian, and I believe in God's sovereignty and um provision fully and completely. Um so sometimes Calvinists can get upset when uh when you say stuff like that. It's like you're using our language, hey, Arminians, classic Arminianism believes God is sovereign. And if you don't believe God is sovereign, I really think you're an heresy. And you need to repent. Um God's sovereignty is so important, but he's keeping David from sinning against Israel and committing treason. Uh David chose time and time again that although the ruler of uh Israel, the king of Israel, is wicked, he's not gonna turn his hand against him. Well, and that makes me think, what does that say about us in a way? Um because we have our king we have our president, which, you know, he's not a king, but he's the highest ruler. And um I've I've had to stop about this too. Uh I used to post memes of democratic presidents that were um mocking them and making fun of them. But there's a there's a fine line between criticizing them, which we're allowed to do in our democratic republic, and mocking them, and sometimes it gets blurry, sometimes it gets hard, or you just take it telling a joke, or you full out mocking them. And uh, you know, we gotta be careful about that. And uh, you know, as much as I didn't like Joe Biden, as much as I didn't like Barack Obama, he didn't try to kill me or, you know, uh run me off into the mountains. He didn't do that. And as much as I dislike Abigail Spanberger as our governor now, she's not trying to kill me. And you know, I know a lot of conservatives that uh can't stand her right now, but it's our it's our job to pray for her as Christians first, and disagree with her as conservatives and criticize her as a conservatives second. And that can be hard. You gotta humble yourself. So I'm gonna keep playing this. Um we'll continue and uh first Samuel 29, and I think we're at verse oh, we're at verse six or seven, insert joke here. But I can't remember exactly which one.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? And what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight as an angel of God. Notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have said he shall not go up with us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy monster's servants that are come with thee, and as soon as ye be up early in the morning and have light, depart. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning to return into the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Ziklag Burned And Grief

SPEAKER_00 12:08

So David kind of gives him a diplomatic response if you look at verse six. Then Asher called David and said unto him, Surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright and thou going and thou coming with me in the host of good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me. In this day, nevertheless, the Lord's favor ye not. Um then verse let's go down verse eight. Then David said to A Asher, But what have I done? And what hast thou found in thy servant as long as I have lived un thee unto this day, that I might not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king. So we see here that um we see here that uh David kind of gives a political answer in a little bit because he's not saying that he wouldn't fight. He's not saying that he wouldn't uh fight against Israel. He's not saying that he would deny Israel. Or he would go against Israel, but he's saying what has he done? And it speaks to David's character among the Philistines, which um were Israel's rival, their enemy that they went to war with several times. So let's go to chapter 30.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Chapter 30. And it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, and Henoun the Jezreelites, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Colombite. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

So we have here the Amalekites taking um had invaded um and uh took took capture women, uh children, uh the great and the small, and took capture of two of David's wives. And um this greatly uh burdened David. Sure he loved both of his wives, and it hurt him deeply, and hurt um hurt the people deeply. I will continue.

Inquiry Of God And Pursuit

SPEAKER_01 15:02

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besaw, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besaw. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat, and they made him drink water, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him, for he had eaten no bread nor drunk any water three days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? And whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me because three days are gone I fell sick.

The Egyptian Guide And Fast

SPEAKER_00 16:13

So we have King David preparing uh to go to battle, and he he uh it says his spirits restored, he he was fasting, maybe he was fasting because he was about to go into battle. Um if you ever come after even if it's a small fast, you go almost a whole day and then you eat something, or you go a whole day. The first time you eat something, that relief um just a it is a um it it's a feeling of restorance in a way. And um it it is a it is a relief to eat after you haven't ate anything for a day or two. That's just a day or two. A lot of times people uh would fast quite a bit. Um but people are regularly fasting at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, where they'd eat no food. And uh this happens up until the time of Jesus still.

Victory, Sharing Spoils, And Statute

SPEAKER_01 17:18

We made an invasion upon the south of the Kedaphites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burned Niclag with fire. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God that thou wilt neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men which rode upon camels and bled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives, and there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all. And David took all the flocks and the herds which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. And David came to the two hundred men which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor. And they went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted them. Then until all the wicked men and men of Belial of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man, his wife, and his children, that they may lead them away and depart. Then said David, You shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that carrieth by the stuff, make your part alike. And it was so from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. And when David came to Ziklach, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord, to them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in South Ramon, and to them which were in Gentlemen, and to them which were in Aurora, and to them which were in Sythmouth, and to them which were in Emdemoah, and to them which were in Rakel, and to them which were in the cities of the Jeromeites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, and to them which were in Horma, and to them which were in Korashan, and to them which were in Athak, and to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

So David restores all that um had been lost um from the Amalekites. Um he he takes back his two wives, and the men get back their family. This is what God had for David instead of going with the Philistines. So we'll go to chapter 31. Um we'll start there.

Saul’s Fall And The Question Of Suicide

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Chapter 31. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons, and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Melchisha, Saul's sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armor bearer, Draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it.

Assurance, Sovereignty, And Hope

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Let's stop there. So we see the the fall of King Saul as the Philistines fight against Israel and destroy uh Israel Israel's army. Saul lost three of his sons. He had to see um three of them die, notably Jonathan, David's uh David's friend and companion, and he turns to his armor bearer and says, Strike me down as armor bearer's too afraid to do it. So Saul pulls out his own sword and falls upon it. Um it it brings up the debate of suicide. Can people who have committed suicide go to heaven? And my answer to this is Um We we don't have any Passages that automatically say if you commit suicide you go to hell. We also don't have any passages that say those who commit suicide can still go to heaven. But we do see in the Bible that suicide is never a good thing, obviously. Uh Judas commits suicide and the Lord calls him a son of parishion and uh alluding that he will go to hell. I I really do think that that Judas is in hell um because he betrayed the Lord and refused to repent. And um Saul's in a little bit of a different category. He did depr uh he did uh deny God, God's will on many occasions, but um, you know, I don't know if Saul's in heaven or hell. I know God used Saul and then out of Saul's rebellion, um, out of Saul's rebellion that God uh um still used Saul in a way and then got him used uh got a transition from Saul to King David and put David in the right footsteps. I don't know if Saul's in heaven or hell, I don't. Um I can't answer if you've had a friend that's took his life if they're in heaven or hell. I I do think that there's a a big difference between someone in the right mind taking their life and someone that is not in their right mind. Um I do think there's a big difference there. Um, but it's always a sad thing, but we serve a sovereign, holy, just, loving, forgiving God. He is all of those things. And when we lose a loved one and we're not secure in their salvation, we can put our faith in Jesus that he is going to do the right thing, that he is just. He is loving, he's forgiving, he is just, he is judge. And that's the biggest comfort that I can have, because if you just keep if you ha have a loved one, you don't know where they're going, you just keep going over and over what is going on. Are are they burning in hell? Are they with him? It's a horrible place to be. Take a breath and pray that God will give you peace. And you know that he is good. You know he's good. And that can still be a hard thing to swallow, but we have to set back and trust God. We have to. And I put my full faith in a sovereign, just loving God. And it it makes you ponder upon yourself and your heart that you want to leave no possibility that you are not in the faith. The bond um, you know, I don't I don't know exactly where the verse is, but there's a work out your faith with fear and trembling as the Lord works within you. And I do believe you can be assured of your salvation. I believe in my heart, fully in my heart, if I died right now I'd go to heaven. Not because I'm good, I'm bad, I'm a sinner, but because Jesus died for me and I truly trust him. That doesn't mean I don't sin, I sin every day. And I ask God to forgive me, and I ask God to make me more holy. Doesn't mean I don't struggle with things. Doesn't mean I don't struggle, is this a sin or not? Is this okay or not? Is this going to disqualify me? Is this going to uh um if it doesn't disqualify me, does it does this hinder my relationship with God? Some things aren't always easy. You listen to the Spirit, ask God to forgive you when you make a mistake. And um and then some things are obvious sins, okay? I'm not talking about the obvious sins, but um some things aren't as obvious. So we're gonna keep we're gonna keep listening to First Samuel uh chapter 31.

Burial, Aftermath, And God’s Redemption

SPEAKER_01 26:27

And when his arm abandoned the door that his Lord was dead, he fell likewise upon his Lord and died with him. So the Lord died in his three sons, and his arm of the men that they died together. And when the men of his real that were on the other side of the body, that were on the other side, or that the men of his real people put in the number in the house of the plant into the wall of Benton. All the minerals and went all night, and took the body of his all of the bodies of his nose from the wall of Benjamin and came to Jabent and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabentan and planted seven days.

Hymn, Verse Of The Day, And Dad Joke

Closing And Next Steps In 2 Samuel

SPEAKER_00 27:48

And we see the sad end of Saul. Uh the armor bearer kills himself as well because he is afraid of certain death, just the same. Um, for the king dying, and someone being afraid that he might have struck the king down. The Philistines decapitate Saul, take his free sons, prayed him. They settle into some of the Isra Israelite cities. All seems lost. But as you can see, David God had King David there to restore Israel and make it greater than Saul ever could. And um that's a great thing. Uh that that God can redeem anything. That God can renew a nation. Um you know, John Calvin said when God wants to uh judge a nation that gives him wicked rulers, and that's so true. Sol Solomon uh you know begged the people, told them, he said, God doesn't want a king for you. We want a king, we want a king. God doesn't want a king for you yet. And then he he feels hurt, and then God tells Solomon, uh tells uh Solomon, they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as their king. Remember that. Um Jesus is your king. Jesus is your king, and do not reject him, do not reject him, because it can end in tragedy. Before we close the day, I want to read you guys a hymn. Uh I'm gonna read you a hymn, give you the verse of the day, and give you my closing thoughts. Um the hymn's name is Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of my Heart. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Necessary be all else to save me thou art. Thou my best through by day and night, walking and sleeping thy present light. Be thy wisdom and thy word. I ever with thee, with thy and me. Lord, thou my great father, I their children, dwell thou in the dwelling with free reconciled. Be my breastplate, my sword for the fight. Be thou my um dignity, thou art delight. Thou my soul's thou my soul shudder, thou my high tower, raise thy raise thou me inward, power of power. Riches I need not, nor vain empty praise. Thou my inheritance now and always. Thou and thou alone, first in the heart, high King of Heaven, my treasures thou art. High King of Heaven, my victories won. May I reach the heavens of joy, O bright heaven son. Heart of thy heart, whenever befall, still be my vision, ruler of all. The last two verses were amazing. Um read them. Rich as I do not need in vain, empty praise, thou mine inheritance now and always. Uh the passages we read. So I'm gonna make that the uh hymn of the day. And then our verse of the day, we're gonna go back to 1 Samuel chapter 30. But David strengthened himself in the Lord. Sometimes we just need to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. Um, very important. He didn't strengthen himself in strategy, he didn't strengthen himself in the opinions of man, he strengthened himself in the Lord. Alright, and I wanna I want to do something. Uh I might not do this every time, but I like corny jokes, dad jokes. Uh there's they're they're so bad that they're funny. And sometimes the joke itself is that other people don't like them and roll their eyes. That's the joke itself. And uh, I know with my dad, um my the biggest joy I get out of telling these dad jokes and these uh corny jokes isn't how funny the jokes are, it's his reaction to how bad he thinks they are. And that's what's so funny to me is how much he can't stand how much he can't stand it. Um so I want to end you guys with a corny joke that if you've been around me long, you'll realize I tell quite often. Um why was David calm when everyone talked about stoning him? Because he had been behind he had been around rocks before. Get it? That's the best thing is when a joke is not great and you say get it, and everyone thinks that you're trying to get them to laugh at the joke, but you're really just annoying them. God bless you guys. Um we'll be back with overopinionated, and hopefully we'll continue the Life of David series uh in the second book of Samuel. We're in second Samuel. I have been in 1 Samuel since oh man, last year. A good portion of last year. I've been studying 1 Samuel pretty heavily with my church. We've been reading that in Bible study, doing the chapter aid uh a week, and with the podcast. I put a lot of study into 1 Samuel. Doesn't make me an expert because I'm far from it, but I've enjoyed this book, I've enjoyed reading about King David, and uh we still have another book to go, so um, I still have a little bit more left to go as as we get into the reign of King David and the house of David. God bless you all and have a great day.