Dover Assembly of God
1 Samuel 18:16 NIV
As David gains favor, Saul continues his downward spiral.
1 Samuel 18:17 NIV
In Old Testament history, the daughter of a weaker king would be given to a more powerful successor in order that the weaker king would be spared as he knew he would one day be deposed.
Beware when your enemy promises you something.
As believers, we have a common enemy and he is not beneath promising you things that would appear on the outset to be a win-win.
We have all been tempted by things that appear to be great. That there is no down side to them.
Things that could only help us in the long-run, and not be a stumbling block.
Maybe a new job offer appears to be exactly what you need, but if we don’t take time to pray about it and be discerning, it could be something designed to hurt us in the long run.
Not everything that appears nice on the outside actually is.
Be aware and have a good memory of your past
As the saying goes, if we don't remember the past, we're doomed to repeat it.
1 Samuel 17:25 NIV
The enemy promises a great many things, but he never follows thru on them.
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. –”
- Ravi Zaccarias
The devil will never give you what he promises.
Adam & Eve were promised that they would be like God.
If we think that we will benefit from disobeying God and that we will get something great, it is a lie and trust me you will never get it.
David didn’t get what Saul promised for killing the giant. All he got for his trouble was a constant fear of losing his life.
1 Samuel 18:17 NIV
Isn’t this just how the devil works?
He tempts us into doing something we KNOW we shouldn’t do and he steps back and lets the consequences of those decisions destroy us.
1 Samuel 18:18-19 NIV
Every one of us will be tempted to do things that promise a nice outcome but we know are not biblical.
And we all have the ability to say no.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
Do not think that once we resist the enemy, that he will automatically run away. He is persistent and will up the ante.
1 Samuel 18:20-21 NIV
Let's look at Saul's family...
We already have his oldest son, signing on with David, giving him his robe and basically tells him, I know you’ll be king, I’m with you and against my own father.
Now we have a daughter who also loves David more than her own dad.
But we also have a dad who was more concerned about what David would do than what that meant for his daughter.
He was using her as a pawn in his fear of David. Kind of putting her on the front lines to do his dirty work.
1 Samuel 18:22 NIV
1 Samuel 18:23 NIV
So Saul recruits others to talk to David as if it was their idea.
But David tells them thanks but no thanks.
He tells them the truth.
If we have others come to us with what is basically gossip, our response to them should be the same.
1 Samuel 18:24-25 NIV
When David said he was poor, part of that was to tell the king, he couldn’t afford the dowry that was customary.
So Saul tells him, no problem, I’ll make this easy for you. It won’t cost you hardly anything.
The price will be easy for you to handle.
How often when we are tempted, does the enemy tell us, “it won’t be that bad”.
Sure there will be consequences, but you can handle those, no problem.
When his plan is to have us destroyed by those consequences.
Remember our quote...
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. –”
But as with any of the devil’s plans, God can turn them around.
1 Samuel 18:26-27 NIV
This is a perfect example of what Joseph told his brothers back in Genesis...
Genesis 50:19-20 NIV
Saul intended to destroy David, but as David was faithful to do right, all Saul’s attempts failed.
The enemy wants to destroy each of us, but if we are faithful to do the right thing, every attempt will fail.
God has the pattern all paid out for us in one simple statement.
James 4:7 NIV
Notice the order.
We first submit ourselves and our desires to God.
It doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted, David sure was, but as we submit ourselves to what we know God tells us, we will have the ability to do the second part.
Resist the devil.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
Matthew 4:10-11 NIV
David never considered Saul his enemy, but Saul for the rest of his life considered David his.
And as we discussed last week, jealousy consumes those who are jealous. And jealousy always leads to fear.
1 Samuel 18:28-29 NIV
We will always have an enemy until we leave this earth. We are not be fearful of him. But we need to be mindful of him.
As we continue to win battles in our own lives (and we will face them constantly), we will grow in our faith because we will see God winning them for us. And others will see what God is doing in and through us.
1 Samuel 18:30 NIV