Jasper's First Baptist Church

Last week, we saw Saul go down for the first time. It was frightening to see this man with so much going for him under God's grace disobey the Lord and lose it all! God already had a "better" man who would replace Saul as king (1 Sam. 15:26-28), and though David is far from perfect, we see repeated contrasts between Saul and David in 1 Samuel 16-22.

We're going on a jet tour of these chapters, touching down now and then to hear God speak to us. All through this trip, we should be asking ourselves, "Am I Saul or am I David? Do I deal with my sin and my circumstances like Saul, or am I more like David?"

Saul has lost his kingship, but he still had the chance to get right with the Lord. He faced heavy consequences for his actions, but he could still be forgiven. But Saul refuses to humble himself before the Lord, even when key people in his life intervene and try to urge him away from his sin.

What people? The same kind of people we know who will intervene if we lapse into sin. They care enough to lovingly confront us and speak into our lives when we need it most. That happened for Saul. It was his chance to return to the Lord. But he would not listen.

Let's drop in at five different points in Saul's life and learn from his bad choices.
Our first stop is in 1 Samuel 16. We'll call this CHOOSING A NEW ______________. God sends Samuel to Bethlehem where he meets Jesse and his family. God had revealed to Samuel that one of Jesse's sons was the next king.

When Eliab walked in, Samuel thought this was God's man. He had many of the distinguishing traits of Saul--handsome, a good conversationalist, impressive. But God reminds Samuel that the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (v. 7). So the line of sons moves on, with God eliminating each as they pass.

Once the seventh son passes, Samuel asks Jesse if he has any more sons. Jesse sort of digs his toe in the dirt and indicates that the smallest of his sons remains, but he's out tending sheep. When David walked in smelling of sheep and sweat, God immediately moved Samuel to anoint him as king.

Notice v. 13: Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now, pay attention to the next verse: Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

So the Spirit of God departed from Saul and rushed on David. In place of God's Spirit, the Lord (who is sovereign over even the demonic realm) allowed Saul to get what he really wanted--power without God. God backs away from Saul, leaving demonic influences the foothold they sought.

Time for our first lesson: If you want to forfeit God's work in your life and hurt others, BE _____________________. Resist the Spirit's control. Follow your own instincts, not His leading. Saul did, and it took him down.

Time for the second story: WHEN HURT TURNS _______________ (1 Samuel 18).
In Chapter 17, David's popularity as a national hero catapults when he kills Goliath and leads in the routing of the Philistines. In Chapter 18, we're told that everything David touched succeeded. His popularity soared as he continued racking up military victories.

And Saul couldn't stand it. To make matters worse, David's best friend was Saul's son, Jonathan, and Saul's daughter, Michal, was head over heels for David. So Saul decided to create some distance from David. He did so in several ways.

First, he kept David on foreign battlefields. At least that would keep him out of Saul's hair. But David continued winning because the Lord was with him (v. 14). So Saul tries another, more dangerous tactic. He offers David Michal's hand in marriage if he can kill 100 Philistines and bring back proof. (Of course, Saul is banking on David biting the dust (v. 25). Only, Saul's plan backfired--David killed 200 Philistines and returned with evidence of their deaths. So now, the king has to publicly bless the marriage of his daughter to this man, and welcome David into his family!

It had become clear by now to Saul that David had the hand of God upon him, but still Saul would not turn back. Instead, v. 28-29 tell us that when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So, Saul became David’s enemy continually. Saul was completely fixated on David. He was all Saul could think about.

That brings us to the second weight that will take you down: BE INSECURE. Resent the success of others. Never admit your own faults. When someone else does well, let it bug you. This is how insecurity works, and it will destroy your life. Be independent--ignore the Spirit's presence and leading and go it alone. Be insecure--resent other's prosperity or blessing or success. Saul did, and it took him down.

Story #3: __________________________ loves company (1 Samuel 19).
Saul is no longer trying to conceal his jealousy and fear of David. He orders his men to kill David, but Saul's son, Jonathan, talks his dad into lifting the death wish. But it was only a matter of time before it returned.

Verse 8 tells us that after David won yet another battle with Philistia, Saul was so messed up that while David was playing calming music on the lyre for the king, Saul hurled a spear at him. David's quick reflexes got him out of the way, and the spear embedded into the wall while David ran.

Figuring David would go to home, Saul sends spies with orders to watch David’s house and raid it the next morning. David's wife, Michal, smartly helps her husband escape without notice, and then convince the guards that David is too sick to even stand and go to meet the king. When Saul's soldiers report this situation to Saul, Saul barks (v. 15), Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.

Saul is unraveling fast now. And we have one more lesson from his example. If you want to ruin your life, BE ___________________________. Recruit people into your anger. Poison others with your desire to see someone pay. Saul did. He stirred dissension and exported hate. But what does Jesus say we should do if we have something against another brother or sister? Go to them in humility, seek reconciliation, clear the air. Jesus will never join the camp of those on a revenge crusade. We shouldn't either!

Here's our fourth stop, which we're calling "NO WAY! NOT MY DAD!" (1 Samuel 20).
David is on the run now, but manages a secret meeting with Jonathan and bears his soul: What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life? (v. 1).

But Jonathan waves it off. He thinks his father's threats are empty, that he's just overreacting to David's popularity (see v. 2). So here's the situation: Saul is demented. Jonathan is in denial. And David is in danger. So David proposes a test to show Saul's true intentions. It involves being absent from a royal meal. Jonathan is to note his father's reaction to David's empty chair, and send a signal to let David know whether Saul is safe or not.

Saul cracks on Day 2 of the David's absence. He explodes in fury at his own son, using vulgarity to shame his son for his loyalty to David. Then, in v. 33, he actually throws a spear at Jonathan is hit anger.

Here's a good time for the fourth weight that can take you down: BE _____________.
Demean, belittle, and attack anyone who doesn't support you. Saul is spiraling out of control. But there is one last straw we need to see.

Story #5: THE FRIEND OF MY ENEMY IS MY ENEMY (1 Samuel 22).
As David flees for his life, he is met and helped by a priest named Ahimilech. When Saul gets wind of this, he questions the priests, and learns of Ahimilech's actions. Saul's paranoia moves him to imagine Ahimilech a David-sympathizer, and orders that he and his family be killed. When Saul's guards refuse to kill a priest, Saul turns to the original snitch who tattled on Ahimilech--a priest named Doeg, and orders him to kill all the priests! And Doeg obeys this crazed king, slaughtering 85 people.

This shows us the final deadly weight in Saul's life: BE DESTRUCTIVE. Turn your bitterness into vengeance and tear down any barrier that stands in your way. Beware the person who cannot be reasoned with, who cannot be contradicted, who must
have their own way, all the time. Beware of the person who, if you get in their way, will
always make you pay. That person, like Saul, is going down for the second time. Don’t be dragged down with them.

Saul's independent, insecure, inflaming, insulting, and destructive bent was the result of turning from God and turning from others. He refused to listen. At the bottom of it all for Saul was a desire for what God could do for him, but not a desire to God Himself.

Are you like that? "“Do I love God only for what He gives? Do I trust God only when the sun is shining? Do I hold on to Him only when the highway is clear? Can I say with Job, “The Lord gives; the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Can I say with Habakkuk, T"hough the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Are you Saul--mad at God, jealous of others, stirring dissension, and running over those who stand in your way? Or are you David--a man who suffered great injustice and constant death threats, but trusted fully in the Lord through it all?