WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.240 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:05.200 First Samuel 18. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:22.640 As they were coming home when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.679 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.120 Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.079 And Saul was very angry. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.280 And this saying displeased him. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.960 He said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.280 And what more can he have but the kingdom? 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.960 And Saul eyed David from that day on. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:01:02.159 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:10.239 Saul had his spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:12.640 But David evaded him twice. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:17.200 Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.079 But he had departed from Saul. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:28.799 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:34.400 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:42.560 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:49.040 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:51.439 Please be seated. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:53.680 Good morning. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:56.239 Welcome to church this morning. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:57.280 Thanks for joining us. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.280 You are at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:00.480 My name is James Rathman. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:01.519 I'm the pastor here. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.480 At Redemption Church Denver, there are two ways to get connected. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.120 We gather large and we gather small. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.199 Our large group gatherings are on Sunday mornings where we gather together as a whole church. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.039 Then throughout the week, we gather in small groups in each other's homes. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:21.919 If you would like to be a part of one of those small group gatherings, the best way is to download our app. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:31.680 So if you go to your app store of choice and then type in Redemption Church Denver, then you can and then click download and then type in your password and then let it download. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.520 I just want to be very specific. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.199 Then you can figure it out from there yourself once you've downloaded it. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.159 That's the hard part. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.479 And join a small group. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:03:03.439 We hope, for the next two months, likely, is and then continuing on thereafter, but especially these next two months, uh, is you you give through the app. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:16.240 Uh and you can also give online, or if you uh want to give through a check, then that is in a very indiscreet black box down in the uh uh foyer. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:20.800 Uh I didn't know what that room was called until just now. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:32.319 Uh in a very discrete black box down in the foyer uh where you can give, and in case this ship ever crashes, they'll also recover that black box and then they'll have the recording of what happened. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:40.080 Um so uh we are it so look, I'm just gonna be straight with you. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.800 Uh this month was tight. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:44.719 It was particularly tight. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.680 And we're coming up on the building sale. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:55.039 And what that means is once the building sells, our our budget will be in a much more sustainable place. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:59.439 But there's no sense in us not knowing together. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:12.560 And so if you would join us in giving, in committing to give, especially over these next two months, this is a unique investment in the sustainability and future of our church. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:14.639 We're in one of those moments. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:23.439 So consider this a time where we can rally together in this really tangible way in order to get us closer towards that future. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.040 This is runway time. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:30.079 And we need two months of runway until we can take off and fly. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:32.399 And then we'll take the black box with us. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.000 Wow. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:35.279 Airlines. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:36.879 Out of business. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.600 Only gonna make airline jokes today. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:41.439 Because they're going so well. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:47.920 Yeah, airlines. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.920 How about their food? 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:52.560 All right, let's start over. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:58.480 Critical moment for our church in our church's history. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:06.240 Uh so can consider that your giving is disproportionately valuable right now. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.199 Uh so join us in that. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:10.160 Act as such. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:11.759 We invite you into that. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.800 Um yeah, so that's my uh that's my that's my giving pitch. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:21.199 I had giving typed and then I I wrote shoot straight next to it. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:23.600 Pew-pew. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.480 That was my Sarah Palin impression. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:29.439 All right. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.360 Today we are talking about a jealous king. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:45.199 We're continuing to move through our series on 1 Samuel, and we will be moving through 2 Samuel as well a bit, and we've looked at three different leaders of the people of Israel. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.959 We've looked at Samuel, we've looked at Saul, and now we're looking at the story of David. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:58.720 Last week, David had one of his great victories, probably his most famous, where he defeats Goliath. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:05.839 And then he sort of has this incredible rise, the stratospheric rise, to like 36,000 feet. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:07.519 Somebody keep count. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:14.319 And they uh uh uh went to uh distracting myself, let's get back in it. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:23.279 So he has this straight this incredible stratospheric rise, and he becomes the target of the jealousy of King Saul. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:39.680 And so what we're going to look at today is how this jealousy takes root in Saul's heart, leads to a suspicion about David, and then cultivates into this incredible fear that clouds Saul's vision for just about everything. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:45.600 Jealousy is almost like a fuel in our culture. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:56.000 Jealousy is something that I think we experience so frequently that we almost aren't even able to tell when it is happening anymore. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.160 There's little things that we notice. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:08.240 You know, jealousy is like it's Adam Smith's invisible hand, it's it's you know, the ligaments and tendons that make it move oftentimes. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.879 And you can tell in the strange things that we notice. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:20.560 Like, I notice now when I I see a pair of headphones and they have a cord. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.680 And when I see a pair of headphones that doesn't, I I I get a little jealous. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.759 I notice the the trim level badges on the side of a core on the side of a car. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.879 And and so I make these distinctions. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:44.160 And I forget that, like, look, I'm in my car and I'm on the same road next to them. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:48.319 We're going to the same place, limited by the same speed limit. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:49.680 I seem to be doing fine. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:52.879 Oh, but what a cocoon of luxury they must be in. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.600 Jealousy is such a fuel. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:07.279 We we make all of these assessments all over the place, and it can become completely invisible to us just how governed by jealousy we are. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:13.120 And what that wages a sort of war against in our souls is contentment. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:19.439 We actually think of contentment as oftentimes a negative thing. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:25.680 It's positive to cultivate discontent, to never be satisfied with where you are. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:27.680 We see that as a value. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.959 That's because our culture worships productivity. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.679 And productivity is one of our unquestioned goods. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.759 So we're gonna get beneath this. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.559 We're gonna try and see in Saul what it is that's driving our jealousy. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:53.440 If it's possible to have something like Christian contentment in the environment that we live in. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:59.759 We'll see the dangers that not cultivating that contentment can lead us to. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:01.919 R.J. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.360 Rushduni is a uh theologian. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:18.720 He uh I was reading up on his commentary on the Ten Commandments, because in Saul's Jealousy we see such a clear breaking of the tenth commandment, which is thou shalt not covet. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:29.360 So in Rushduni's commentary on that final commandment, he he says that this covetousness has informed our whole world. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:34.559 And he says, that fallen world is called by Augustine the kingdom of man. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:36.080 Kingdom of man, you're in it. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:37.200 Welcome. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.879 It may well be called the kingdom of envy. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:50.399 Otto Scott has called attention to the fact that men also envy the virtues of others and seek to tarnish or destroy them. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.039 Those who excel must be toppled. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:01.120 He even says much of what passes as critical analysis is a form of envious hostility. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:05.919 That's him an academic turning on his own field. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.320 Could you do the same with yours? 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:13.840 What poses as productivity, but is actually envy. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.720 It's actually just jealousy. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.759 Where do you see that come up in your life, in your field? 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:31.600 In a world so deeply ingrained, with envy as a fuel, it can be difficult to imagine a life that operates otherwise. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:39.840 But today in the text, we're going to see a warning against envy and imagine that world that could be governed otherwise. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.320 So before we get into the text, uh, would you pray with me? 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:56.799 Holy Father, I ask that you would give us clear vision. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:06.639 That we would be able to take a step back and look at our lives as we live them and what we're functionally governed by. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.840 And that you would grant us the freedom of your vision. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:23.120 The type of freedom that shows us another way to live and operate in this fallen world, and one that points towards your glory, not ours. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.799 Father, we trust that our deepest satisfaction will be found in that. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.840 So Lord, equip us for that this morning. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:35.440 Show it to us in your word, that it might be imprinted on our hearts. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.120 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:38.000 Amen. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.240 So here's where the story starts. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.320 1 Samuel 18, 6 through 7. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:54.159 It says, And as they were coming home, this is coming home from that battle with the Philistines where David slayed Goliath, as they're coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistines, looked like that was already in the text. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:55.679 I didn't need to reiterate it. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:02.399 The women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:03.840 Who were they going to meet? 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:05.919 King Saul. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:12.240 With tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:16.159 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.360 Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.799 It's not a good song, they rhyme thousands with thousands. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.960 But it's a song and it communicates this point. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.679 So a lot happens, you know, even just before this transition. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.600 David has experienced a real social change. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:46.799 Right after he slays Goliath, he is brought into the royal family. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:59.919 He becomes extremely close friends as they sort of recognize a kindred spirit in each other with the son of Saul, so the prince of Israel, whose name is Jonathan. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:22.159 And their friendship sort of brings him into the royal family, and Saul spots what is in David, this unique quality that he has, which was demonstrated in him slaying giants, and he brings him into the royal family, so that David would never return to the sheep again. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:28.240 Instead, he would dwell in the royal court with the king and his family. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.919 And so David is a part of this procession. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:40.879 And his fame has now spread through the world, which is that he is the one who killed Goliath. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.120 And so that brings us to our song. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:53.200 Although the people go out to meet Saul, part of Saul's glory now is this great warrior that he has in Israel, who is David. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:14:00.240 And so they sing, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:07.120 So look, both are being praised hyperbolically. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:12.720 Their praise is being exaggerated for both of them. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.480 Because do you remember how many David killed? 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:19.120 It was one. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:20.960 It was one. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:22.159 It was Goliath. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.279 And remember how many Saul killed? 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:30.399 Yeah, we didn't he didn't kill anybody, but he would, you know, he got the troops together, which was nice. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.679 It's very tall. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:43.120 And David, uh, so the song this isn't like a song where, look, we're writing this thing to encapsulate the memory of this historical event. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.960 That's not the purpose of writing the song. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.240 This is not a way of transmitting accurate news. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:49.840 It's a celebration. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.519 It's a way of communicating the feeling of the people. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:58.559 It feels as though we have a warrior who could slay 10,000 because who could slay Goliath? 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.399 And he serves a king who on his own could slay a thousand. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:07.600 This is great glory being given to each of them. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:17.600 And yet, to Saul, this becomes a great evil. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:26.799 1 Samuel 18, 8, Saul says, Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:34.960 He said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.519 And what more can he have but the kingdom? 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:50.080 This shows us that Saul considers that the kingdom exists and is sustained as his because of the people's decision, not because of God's decision. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:51.759 That's something right off the bat. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.080 But in this we start to see the shape of jealousy. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.600 Jealousy is not concerned with receiving praise. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:06.320 Jealousy is concerned with receiving more praise. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.679 Jealousy is not concerned with greatness. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.919 Jealousy is concerned with greaterness. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.679 It just needs to be better. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:29.279 It's not concerned with what is actually there, what has manifested, what is adhered in reality, what your experience of the situation actually was. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:39.120 It is only concerned with the comparison and the lack that you see in yourself because of a greatness in another. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.240 That is the concern of jealousy. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:47.120 Is it wrong to praise your king for slaying a thousand? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.039 Couldn't possibly be. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:54.240 That's what Saul had received in the parade that marched out to meet him. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:05.519 And yet, because he heard someone else receive a quantitatively greater praise, it is as though he had never received any praise at all. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:16.559 Jealousy is this type of blindness to the reality of our experience and a robbery from the goodness that we've actually received. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.759 Now, another translation of that displeased him. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:37.680 In fact, a more literal translation would say, uh he was very angry, and the saying was evil in his eyes. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:44.160 You see, the evil does not exist out in the world. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.640 The evil that Saul is seeing does not exist in the discrepancy of the praise. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:55.680 The evil only exists in Saul's eyes. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.759 His eyes have started to blind him. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:06.720 The comparison that he is making has robbed him of the good that he could otherwise have experienced. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.880 So what do we see Saul doing there? 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:23.200 What Saul does is he makes the measure of goodness only relative to himself. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.200 It is good if more good happens to me. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.960 It is bad if more good happens to someone else. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.519 That is the measure of evil. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.160 What is the measure of good and evil in the world? 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:45.200 It is not a God-given law, it is not an ultimate justice that we can look to that stands outside of all of us. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:49.680 The measure of evil exists just in me. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:56.559 And so the saying was evil in Saul's eyes. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:08.000 I've been uh reading a book, a fiction book, which my wife is very happy about, because I typically only read nonfiction, like Jack Donnegy. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.880 And there's a uh I've been reading this book, it's by C.S. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.400 Lewis, so it's look, I'm not really branching out too far from where I normally read. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.920 Yeah, and my family is looking at me and they're shouting, it doesn't count. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.920 Totally counts to me. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:25.119 Totally counts. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:30.559 So I'm uh halfway, he wrote this book, these set of books called The Space Trilogy. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:32.160 It's about space. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:39.599 It it's basically like Dante's Inferno and the Divine Comedy, but with a different outer space metaphysics. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.839 And now I'm talking to two of you. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:45.599 Uh but it's really cool. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:20:00.559 So, CS, so in in the story, what happens is these these characters, uh well, the main character is named Ransom, wink wink, and he uh goes to another planet in our solar system, Venus, might have heard of it. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:09.839 And what he discovers there is that on these other planets there are other creatures like people, but they're uncorrupted by the fall. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:15.279 They have no sin in them, and they have no experience of sin in them. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:25.359 And so Lewis imagines these incredible conversations between a fallen human like us and then an unfallen character, uncorrupted by sin. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:32.640 And he imagines this purity that exposes the depth of our sin in ways that are haunting. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:43.440 So he has this one conversation with a lady who's referred to as the lady, and she is basically the type of Eve on her planet. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:47.680 So imagine a long conversation with Eve before the fall. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:59.119 And he's describing to her what it means to be jealous, or what it means to covet something, what the mechanics of that are. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:05.759 And her description of it, once she gets it, I think you'll find incredibly helpful. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:11.200 It's like looking into a mirror of your soul and saying, that's what I'm doing. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.759 That's what's happening in my soul when I'm coveting. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.920 So I'll go ahead and read you the intro and then it'll pick up on here. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:29.039 So the lady says, What you have made me see, answered the lady, is as plain as the sky, but I never saw it before. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.519 Yet it has happened every day. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:37.359 By the way, if we go to planets with Elon Musk and we find unfallen creatures, we should leave. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.680 That's the moral of the story. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:44.559 So we continue on. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:46.000 This is what happens. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.720 This is the mechanics of jealousy in our hearts, covetousness. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:59.599 She says, one goes into the forest to pick food, and already the thought of one fruit rather than another. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.240 Has grown up in one's mind. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:09.759 Then it may be one finds a different fruit and not the fruit one thought of. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.759 One joy was expected, and another is given. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:24.400 But this I had never noticed before, that at the very moment of the finding, there is in the mind a kind of thrusting back, a setting aside. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:32.400 The picture of the fruit you have not found is still for a moment before you. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:38.480 And if you wished, if it were possible to wish, you could keep it there. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:48.880 You could send your soul after the good you had expected instead of turning it to the good you had got. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.079 You could refuse the real good. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:58.880 You could make the real fruit taste insipid by thinking of the other. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.319 Saul received a real praise. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.680 He received a real good. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:12.640 And yet, what does he choose to hold in his mind? 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:18.400 But this picture of a praise that only belonged to him. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:40.480 And rather than seeing, oh, there's a praise for our kingdom that is actually greater than a praise that just belongs to me, he holds in his mind this picture of a praise that only belonged to him, and he compares it to the real praise that he received, and all of a sudden the real praise is insipid. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:50.079 It tastes bad, it's wicked until the point where it's actually evil in his eyes. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:54.160 We practice this. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:59.440 We practice it and we call it things like high standards. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:10.799 But what we're doing is we're denying the good that God has actually, manifestly, in reality, given us, and then we compare it to a picture. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:20.880 And all of a sudden, this real thing that we actually have is tastes bad. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.200 We can't even see the good in it. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.000 We have tools that we carry around to do this. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.000 One of them is called Instagram. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.599 And you think you're having a great day. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.160 And look, you might be. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:37.200 But you're not having this good of a day. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:51.440 Because they rode their bikes to the base of a mountain, then they cross-country skied up, and then and then they skied down. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:57.519 And this is the micro brew that they're drinking to celebrate afterwards. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:11.839 So all of a sudden, this time with your family, you're now it was something to be enjoyed, and now it tastes insipid. 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:21.680 What does it mean to our hearts to be cultivating that type of discontentment intentionally all the time? 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.359 What does that mean for our souls? 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:24.559 How is that forming us? 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:26.480 What type of people are we going to be? 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.400 Will we ever be able to sit with our kids and enjoy them? 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:38.720 Will you ever love your wife when you're comparing her to the pornography that you're holding up against her? 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.799 What does this do to our souls? 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:54.400 The picture of jealousy that Lewis describes, we see manifested in Saul. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:03.920 But it's worth recognizing that the mechanics of it are a practice that we have built into our daily routines. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:15.279 Many times those things that we call inspiration are ways of making the reality that God has given us taste insipid. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:31.279 So we see that in the mechanics of it, there's this distancing of yourself from reality, the very thing given, what the lady calls it the real fruit. 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:41.279 And in distancing ourselves from that reality, what happens is what typically happens, which is we lose our vision for what's real. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:50.079 We lose our vision and our ability to rightly judge what is good and what is evil, and we can't tell anymore. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:57.599 And when that takes lodge on a person, when that takes lodge on a thing or a person's thing, we call it covetousness. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:26:59.680 You know? 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:05.680 Some of you can't have rich friends, and some of you can't have poor friends. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:09.839 This is where those roots are. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:24.640 And so when we see that covetousness take its object as an object, then we call it covetousness. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.039 But when that same mechanics, when that same force takes place on a person, then we call it jealousy. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:37.599 And that jealousy discolors our whole ability to see that person accurately. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.720 That's what we see happen between Saul and David. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.440 Whereas Saul's jealousy turns into this deep suspicion. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:49.839 Here's where it is. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:28:00.160 In 1 Samuel 18, 9 says, after hearing the singing and Saul meditating on what he would have actually desired to have rather than what he really got. 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:06.720 1 Samuel 18.9 says, and Saul eyed David from that day on. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:16.400 That word eyed is 230 times in Scripture, and only in this instance is it translated as eyed. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:20.000 Mostly it's translated as iniquity. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:24.400 Another definition would be that it's twisted. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:44.880 And so what happens, but here it's translated to eyed, because we see the connotation is that the way that Saul sees David through the grid of his jealousy has twisted the very thing that he sees in David. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.160 He can no longer look at David, he can no longer see and assess him accurately. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.319 It's all twisted. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.759 That's what that word eyed conveys. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:03.839 And so from that moment on, Saul would never be able to look at David and see David. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.519 Just the object of his jealousy. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:12.240 And that becomes to Saul this deep, deep suspicion. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:16.240 So let's see the story unfold. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:23.440 In 1 Samuel 18, 10 through 11, the next day, so this is after, the day after the parade. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:26.720 David's probably thinking, things are going great. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.359 What a day! Remember how awesome yesterday was? 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:39.920 And uh so the next day, a harmful spirit from God, which we'll get to that. 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.680 Some day we hear God sent a harmful spirit. 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:45.519 I've got a couple of questions about that. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:48.720 Uh, but hang with me, put that on the side, we'll get back to it. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:30:00.960 The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:11.599 Saul had his spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall, but David evaded him twice. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:16.160 Here's what I want us to see. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:18.960 It's that phrase, day by day. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:21.599 This is part of a text that we didn't cover earlier. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:31.759 But uh, when right after David is anointed king, Saul loses the spirit and he begins to be tormented by this terrible anxiety from the Lord. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:41.039 And in that torment, uh some of the people around him in his court are saying, you know what we should do is we should get a like a court musician. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:47.359 And this musician will be able to come in and relieve you of this torment, because you'll hear their pretty music, and it'll be really nice. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:55.920 And uh by the way, I've heard of this kid, he's normally with sheep, and he's a really great guy, and whew, man, he shreds. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:10.000 So they go and that that's David, and so they get David and they bring him into Saul's court, and Saul, and so David had, even before Goliath, been uh a sort of a court musician to the king. 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:17.279 And when Saul would get these uh fits, then David would be able to soothe him by his playing. 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:27.519 And so when they come to the court, David just resumes that position as musician. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:42.640 And this is something that when it first started, and when Saul heard David playing, it says that Saul heard it and he was relieved. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:48.720 This is before the Goliath incident, and Saul loved him deeply. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:58.240 And so this is kind of the environment, the context that David thinks he's playing in, and it is one that had been happening day by day. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:22.720 But this time, although nothing had changed, this time, when Saul looks at the music that once comforted him through the lens that has been so twisted by the jealousy, he only sees something evil. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:30.160 Even this good thing that David is offering to Saul is just evil in his eyes. 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:35.119 And so he throws a spear to try and kill him. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:37.839 And David evades him twice. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:47.680 Proverbs 27:4 says, Wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy? 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:55.839 Now, I think I was considering that verse. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:01.599 Like wrath, anger, envy, why is this emphasis here on envy? 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:06.880 What is it about envy that who could possibly stand before it if you become the object of it? 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:17.839 And then considering the way that it's described and the vision twist that happens with envy in a way that's different from wrath and anger. 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:23.440 Who can stand before it? 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:26.000 Why can it not be stood before? 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:31.440 Well, that's because there's nothing David could do to overcome it. 00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.680 Because the evil doesn't adhere in David. 00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:38.079 Not in this moment. 00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:39.759 It will soon. 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:45.599 The evil adheres just in Saul's eyes. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:49.920 So that even when David is offering something good, what could there be? 00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:53.839 How could David possibly stand before that type of envy? 00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:57.839 The proverb is true. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:06.720 So, as the story continues, this fear develops in Saul. 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:21.039 Because the suspicion turns into a fear when Saul realizes the position of what's actually happening, and that the spear that he threw that he thought would end his problems was not able to pin David to the wall. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:31.199 And so in 1 Samuel 18, 12, it continues on and says, Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him. 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.639 The sentence doesn't end there, but had departed from Saul. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:41.440 We know the decision that God had already made. 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:46.960 The world is a chessboard to him, and he moves his kings as he would like. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:53.519 And he had already rejected Saul as king, and he had chosen David as king. 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:56.719 And Saul knew that he had been rejected. 00:34:56.960 --> 00:34:59.440 He was told explicitly by Samuel. 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:07.760 And Saul knew that he was going to be replaced, as Samuel said, with someone better than you. 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:12.960 Perhaps it was someone who slayed ten thousands, Saul might have considered. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:32.000 And in that remembrance, this great fear cultivates in Saul as he realizes that he is warring against God. 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:40.800 This is where it's important for us to reflect on our vision. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:54.480 Reflect on the things that have been done to us or that we think have been done to us, and consider why is it that we consider that evil? 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:58.239 Is that a real evil? 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:06.559 Does it exist in the world objectively, or is that evil in my eyes? 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:19.039 Because when it becomes evil in your eyes, what that means is you have made yourself the measure of what is good and evil. 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:29.679 So consider it you see you see and you think that you have witnessed an evil and it's demonstrated because someone ends up in a better place than you? 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:34.400 You know, you missed the promotion and it's because of an evil that that person did. 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:40.159 Well, would it have been less evil if now they actually made less money than you? 00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:46.400 Is the tripwire how it is compared to you? 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:51.280 Is that where the good and evil manifests? 00:36:53.280 --> 00:37:01.360 It's at that point in our hearts where we realize that those things that we are jealous of, those things that we covet, and the things that we therefore call suspicious and then evil. 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.920 The very process of moving through that might be our way of saying, God is not the judge. 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:14.719 God does not determine what is right and wrong. 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:16.000 I do. 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:26.239 And what is ultimately right and wrong in the universe hinges on how it measures up to me. 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:35.679 In Colossians 3, verse 5, Paul states that covetousness is idolatry. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.880 He has this list of sins, and he ends with, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:44.400 So he's like, don't be confused about what covetousness is. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:49.519 Because when you break it down and you see its component parts, you see, oh, well, this is a simple thing. 00:37:49.760 --> 00:38:08.719 Covetousness is idolatry, because what covetousness causes you to do is to ignore the good that you've actually received, hold up this other good that you wish you had received, and say, you know what, I'm gonna live as though this other good is the reality. 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:11.519 And what is idolatry? 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:17.519 But it's saying, you know, I there perhaps there is a God and he's up there and he does things. 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:23.199 But I'm going to treat this other object as though it is my real God. 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:37.679 I'm going to uh I'm going to believe the promises of my career that it could offer me the satisfaction that it that would justify the effort that it demands from me. 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.719 And I'm going to treat that as though it actually is God. 00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:58.880 I'm going to look at the praise and acclaim of the people around me and think so long as I don't offend any of them and they all think highly of me, then I will be satisfied and I will feel secure finally. 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:02.320 And we worship that with our actions. 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:04.559 We treat that as God. 00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:10.880 It's the same exchange that we make with covetousness. 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:20.559 So what happens in our hearts, what needs to happen in our hearts is an actual bringing in line with reality. 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:27.440 Otherwise, we will act in foolish ways. 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:36.719 Act out of step with the world as it really is, and out of fear begin to thrash around in ways that only cause us harm. 00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:41.679 1 Samuel 18, 13 through 16, Saul does this, does just that. 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:48.800 In his fear, it says, So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. 00:39:48.960 --> 00:39:51.840 And he went out and came in before the people. 00:39:53.280 --> 00:40:02.960 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. 00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:09.440 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:16.400 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. 00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:21.519 So Saul says, I gotta get this guy away from me. 00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:27.519 I know that I'm against him, but I'm I'm not gonna change sides. 00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:31.920 So I just gotta get him away from me. 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:38.800 And Saul's plan to do that is to put him in harm's way in front of the Philistines. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:48.320 Which, look, that's a wicked thing to do, to take your own soldier and put him in front of the enemy, not for the sake of the kingdom, but to kill him. 00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:55.280 Before we get on Saul too much for that, David will remember and do the same thing later. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:00.559