let us turn to the Word of God
and turning to that 20th chapter in the first book of Samuel the
point where we concluded our reading at the beginning of this
20th chapter in the first book of Samuel and the third verse
1 Samuel 20 verse 3 And David swam
all over and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have
found grace in thine eyes. And he saith, Let not Jonathan
know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and
death. These words then of David as
he speaks to his beloved friend Jonathan, the son of the King. And David swore moreover and
said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine
eyes. And he saith, Let not Jonathan
know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth
and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and
death. And to notice in particular those
final words of David, the end of this verse, Truly as the Lord liveth, and
as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. To say something this morning
then with regards to David's dangers and how dangerous his
situation was in the days when he was continually
having to flee from the wrath of King Saul. David swore, moreover, and said,
Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine
eyes. Thankfully, though Saul was his
sworn enemy, yet in the good providence of God, the son of
the king, Jonathan, was his great friend. And there was a wonderful
love between these two men, a pure and a spiritual love indeed. In verse 17 of the chapter we're
told how Jonathan caused David to swear a gain because he loved
him, and he loved him as he loved his own soul. There was nothing
impure in the relationship between these two men, but what a wonderful
example it is of true Christ-like love of one for another and here
is David's comfort then in the midst of all the dangers that
continually surrounded him at that time and not only at that
time but it seems continually throughout his life this man
David who is really The remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ
knew what it was to be in the midst of grievous trials and
troubles. Well, I want, as we think of
David's dangers this morning, to do with some four headings. First of all, we must observe
that he was in physical danger. His troubles were so many and
so varied, and they came from all sorts of different quarters. Principally, of course, they
come from this man who has been anointed as the King, Saul. As
we read at the end of the opening verse of the chapter, David says,
what have I done? What is mine iniquity? What is
my sin before thy father that he seeketh my life? And Saul
was so bent on his destruction, he would kill him in the portion
that we were reading. We read through the 19th chapter
here and remember the language that we have there. throughout
the chapter really but verse 10 how Saul sought to smite David
even to the wall with the javelin with Saul but he slipped away
out of Saul's presence and he smoked the javelin into the wall
and David fled and escaped that night but then in the next verse
Saul also sent messengers on to David's house to watch him
and to slay him in the morning And he'd given his own daughter,
Michael, to David's wife. He was the king's son-in-law. And Michael, David's wife, tells
David, saying, If thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou
shalt be slain. And if we read on even into this
20th chapter, we finished our reading, of course, there at
the 3rd verse, but we see how that the enmity of King Saul
is so constant all the time, he is so determined to be rid
of David, and he's so bitter towards his own son who is David's
dearest friend. And so, later here in this 20th
chapter, in verse 30, how Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan,
And he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman,
do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine
own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? For
as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not
be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch
him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered, Saul
his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain?
What hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him
to smite him, whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of
his father to slay David. Poor David's life then was in
great grievous danger. But it was no new experience
in a sense to this young man. As a youngster he had that great
responsibility of caring for the sheep of his father Jesse
and how he would even then be fighting against wild beasts
when he would come up against the great champion of the Philistines,
Goliath. And he's only a stripling of
a boy. how he presents himself and argues that he should be
permitted to go and challenge that champion of the Philistines,
the giant Goliath. And what does he say there to
King Saul in chapter 17 at verse 34? Thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out
of the flock, and I went out after him, and smote him, and
delivered it out of his mouth. And when he rose against me,
I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy
servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing as he defied the
armies of the living God. Oh, he would protect the sheep
of the flock, even at the cost of his own life really. He would
seek and slay those wild beasts who would come and steal upon
the flock. And then of course in that 17th
chapter we know how he was able also to slay the giant Goliath
even to the confusion of the Philistines. and in the portion
we were reading in chapter 19. Remember there, verse 5, Jonathan
reminding his father what David had done. He did put his life
in his hand, he says, and slew the Philistine. And the Lord
brought a great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it. and is to rejoice. Wherefore
then wilt thou sin against innocent blood to slay David without a
cause? Well this man knew what dangers
were even previous to the time when he's fleeing from Saul and
subsequently when in God's good providence David is established
as king there there are still those moments Whereas the king,
his life is in the greatest of danger. Just previous to him being established,
we see him amongst the syphims in chapter 23. He's fed again
and these people that he's gone amongst, they will betray him
to the king. If you turn to that 23rd chapter,
what do we read there at verses 19 and 20, how David is amongst the Ziphites, or the
Ziphids, and they come to Saul and say, does not David hide
himself with us in strongholds in the wood in the hill of Hackelah?
which is on the south of Jeshima. Now therefore, O King, come down
according to all the desire of thy soul to come down, and our
part shall be to deliver him into the King's hand. As I said, it's not only later
as Saul will still continue to seek to destroy his life, but
also when he's well established as the king there's rebellion
amongst his own children. There's the revolt of Absalom,
where Absalom steals the hearts of all the people. And David's
great friend and counsellor, Heretophel, is in that conspiracy
and we have the record in the second book of Samuel. And you
can read it there in the 15th chapter. And now David in that
chapter has to flee from Jerusalem for his very life. His beloved
son, he loved Absalom, he loved him so dearly. And yet Absalom
has stolen the heart of the people and David is afraid that his
son will take his own life. It's interesting how It would
appear that the language that we have in the 55th psalm certainly
belongs to that particular period of David's life. It's not just
Absalom, it's Ahithophel also. The man who was his counselor. What does David say in the psalm?
Psalm 55 verse 12, it was not an enemy that reproached me.
Then I could have bought it, neither was it he that hated
me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself
from him, but he was there. A man mine equal, my guide and
mine acquaintance, we took sweet counsel together and walked unto
the house of God in company. His own son, his own counselor,
turning against him. David knew what it was many times
then to be in the midst of the gravest of dangers. And we see it again in so many
of the Psalms. Psalm 119 and verse 95, the wicked
have waited for me to destroy me. Old David was in danger. The
wicked, he says in verse 110 of that long Psalm, the wicked
have laid a snare for me. He was in physical danger. But
when we think of the content of the Psalms, many of the Psalms
of course, Psalms of David, isn't David also conscious there of
something more than physical dangers? David knew what spiritual
dangers also were. John Calvin in his commentary
on the book of Psalms the great protestant reformer says the
Psalms are an anatomy of the soul not so much that David in
the Psalms is describing physical experiences but he is revealing
something of what transpires in his own soul the book of Psalms in that sense
of course is very much a spiritual book he says there in Psalm 57
my soul is among lions as a young shepherd boy caring for the flocks
of his father Jesse he had to deal with the lioness he had
to deal with the bear but it's his soul you see his soul he
says is among lions Oh, there is one, Satan himself. Peter
says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil,
walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. David,
a child of God, every child of God then needs to be conscious,
aware, that there is danger on every hand, danger to the soul. There might be those fightings
without, but there are those many fears within. That's spiritual
conflict. Again, in the language of Psalm
119, in that 109th verse, David says, My soul is continually
in my hand. Very similar, really, to the
words that we have here in the text, the end of this third verse. Truly as the Lord liveth and
as thy soul liveth there is but a step between me and death. How vulnerable is the spiritual
life that's there in the souls of the people of God. It's interesting
in commenting on that 109th verse in the 119th Psalm the Puritan
Joseph Carroll in his commentary says It is a Hebraism signifying
a state of extreme peril. My soul is continually in my
hand. It's a Hebraism. It's a Hebrew
expression. And it signifies that one is
in a state of great extreme danger. And wasn't that really David's
experience when he'd gone to the country of Ziph he was amongst
the Ziphites as we saw there in the 23rd chapter and it's
interesting because Psalm 54 it's interesting we were reading
that Psalm at home only this morning reading through the Psalms
we came to Psalm 54 it's a short Psalm But we're told it was when
the Scythians came and told Saul, does not David hide himself with
us? And David, in that psalm, isn't
just concerned about his physical well-being. The psalm is so spiritual
in its content. He speaks of salvation, save
me, O God, by thy name and judge me by thy strength hear my prayer
O God give ear to the words of my mouth and at the end of verse
6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee I will praise thy name O
Lord for it is good for he hath delivered me out of all trouble
and mine own hath seen his desire upon mine enemies O David could
rejoice in the God who is the God of salvation It wasn't just
those fightings with ants, it was those many fears that were
in the depths of his soul. And we know why these things
are written, because we're told in the New Testament, aren't
we? Why do we have so much history? Why do we have such a detailed
account of all that happened in the life of this man David?
Well, we're told in 1 Corinthians 10.11 how all these things happened
unto them for ensamples and how they're written for our learning
upon whom the ends of the world are come. The ends of the world,
that's this day in which we're living. The last day is the day
of grace. And all these things that we
read in the Old Testament scriptures, the word that we have there is
ensamples, the margin gives the word types, it's the word tupos,
and it means a type. Well there's some instruction
then for us in what David is saying, even as he speaks here
to his great friend Jonathan. As the Lord liveth, as thy soul
liveth, there is but a step between me and death, I'm in danger.
I'm in danger. And it's not just the experience
of a man like David. We have that little short chapter
in Jeremiah 45, just a few verses, and he speaks of the man who
was like secretary to the prophet, Jeremiah. He was his immanuensis. He would write down the preachings
and the teachings of the prophet, Baruch. And the Lord gives a word to
Jeremiah for Balaam. And what is that word? Thy life
will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest,
says the Lord God. The life of faith in that sense
given for a prey. It's a life to be preyed upon.
It's how the devil preys upon you. It's how the world preys
upon you. How the people of God feel themselves
at times to be in great dangers. And the more they discover something
of themselves and their own nature, the more they feel that. Those
temptations that come in the way of the Christian. We know
these things are unavoidable. When the Lord saves His people,
He doesn't take them immediately to Himself. He leaves them in
the midst of the world that lies in wickedness. And the devil,
ever active, walking about seeking whom he may devour. And all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
the pride of life, and all these things in our old nature, our
fallen nature. And there are temptations. And
there are tribulations. There's that word, isn't it,
that we have in 1 Peter 4 and verse 18? If the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? The righteous
are scarcely saved. What does that mean? Well, Richard
Sibbes, the Puritan, says it's not a word of doubt. It's a word
of difficulty. There is no doubt that the righteous
shall be saved. Salvation is secure in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's our comfort, isn't it?
None can pluck out of the hands of the Lord Jesus. I give unto
them eternal life, they shall never perish. The Father that
gave them is greater than all. None shall pluck them out of
my Father's hand, he says. and yet if the righteous scarcely
be saved surely the Puritan is right it's not something to be
doubted but it indicates there will be difficulties it will
appear at times in their experience or there'll be so much to trouble
them again the language of Peter in that same Epistle in chapter
4 and verse 12 he says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial that is to try you as though some strange thing
happened unto you. He uses that word strange as
the idea of a surprise. It shouldn't surprise us. This
is the way, this is the narrow way, the way that leads to life.
And it is a way of trial and trouble, of tribulation and temptation. And yet, what a comfort there
is, in the midst of all these things. Paul reminds us, doesn't
he, right into the Corinthians? There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted above
your able the Lord makes a way of escape that's the comfort
really of those who know what it is to be in danger, David
knew it not just physical dangers but those spiritual dangers and
we have to observe in the third place here there is something
certain Oh, there's something so definite about these dangers. Look at the language that he
is using in this verse. The verse opens, David sware
moreover, and said, and then again at the end of the verse,
he says, truly as the Lord liveth, And as thy soul liver, there
is but a step between me and death. This is a language of
oath. This isn't just David saying
the thing, he's swearing by the Lord God Himself. And this reminds us, you see,
how inevitable all of this is, the dangers of the Word. as we
seek to be those who would be the true disciples of the Lord
and followers of the Lord. It's no easy path. Many slips
and falls. Paul tells Timothy, doesn't he?
Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution. And that persecution, it's not
always so obvious to us maybe, but there will be persecution. There'll be a sort of spiritual
martyrdom in the life of those who are the Lord's people. This is what the Lord Himself
has ordained. We must, says the Apostle, we
must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. Even at the entrance into that
way. The gate is a straight gate that
we have to enter. but not only at the beginning
but continually there is an enduring and he that shall endure unto
the end the same shall be saved oh but the comfort you see the
comfort of the words of the Lord Jesus he says himself in the
world you shall have tribulation but he says be of good cheer
I have overcome the world read those seven letters in Revelation
2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches. And how continually
the Lord speaks of the need to be overcomers. He's the great
overcomer. And how can we overcome? It's
only in and through Him. And you know, doesn't the language
of oath here in the text, David swear, truly as the Lord liveth,
as thy soul liveth, or the language of oath, it reminds us, doesn't
it, of God's covenant and the deliverances and again we see
it when David comes to the end the end of his life and we have
the words of David, his dying testimony as it were, there in
2 Samuel 23 and the language that he uses, his comfort there
is always the covenant the sure mercies of David the Covenant
2 Samuel 23 and verse 5 he says although my house be not so with
God although my house he's thinking of his household, his family,
his children although my house be not so with God yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure
and this is all my salvation and all my desire although he
may keep not to grow again at the end he's speaking surely
of the situation at home in the family and all that comes after
the death of David you can read it can't we in the historic books although my house be not so with
God. And remember what had been happening,
I referred already to Absalom's rebellion. That was his own son. And when that rebellion was put
down and Absalom was killed by Joab, the great general in David's
army, we have David's awful lament for lament for his beloved son, O
Absalom, Absalom my son, he says, would to God. I had died for
thee. He loved him. He loved him. And yet he rebelled against him.
But he wasn't just Absalom. It was also the circumstances
that lay in a sense behind Absalom's rebellion. His sister Amnon, Now, she had literally been,
we might say, raped by, I should say, his sister Tamar. Tamar
was the sister of Absalom, and Amnon was the half-brother to
them. And he forced himself upon his
sister. He lost it after her. He said
he loved her. that once he had forced himself
upon her he despised her, he rejected her and Absalom was
full of rage and he killed his brother Amnon and then he has
to flee from King David and then we have the rebellion all these
things taking place in the life of this man and yet here is his
comfort a covenant that's ordered in all things and sure And even here, you see, as he's
speaking to his friend Jonathan, he must be mindful of the covenant. David sware, as the Lord liveth. Oh, he knows, you see, he knows
who the Lord is. Aren't we told concerning Abram,
that when God made promise to Abram, because he could sware
by no greater, he sware by himself. Blessing, I will bless them.
David was the anointed of the Lord. Saul was the anointed of
the Lord. But Jonathan was not going to be the king after King
Saul. It would be David. This was God's
purpose. God's gracious purpose. It was what God had decreed.
As dear old Sidney Norton used to say of everything that comes
to us, it's all in the covenant. It's all in the covenant. And
God's too wise to be mistaken, and God's too good to be unkind. All His promises, all His promises
are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not a God
of yea and nay, is He? It's yea and amen with regards
to His people. who delivered us from so great
a death and doth deliver and will yet deliver us. Oh, there's
a certainty in the dangers but there's also that that is sure
and certain with regards to the deliverances because Christ himself has purchased
that redemption of his people by the sacrifice that He made
when He gave Himself as the just for the unjust to bring the sinner
back to God. There were physical dangers.
More than that, there were spiritual dangers. And yet, though there's
something sure and certain, inevitable about the danger, there's also
God's great deliverances. And then finally this morning,
just to say something with regards to David as that one he was a
remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ his very name because
David means the Beloved doesn't he? David means the Beloved and
he's in Christ the Father's Beloved this is my Beloved Son he says
in whom I am well pleased hear ye him is a wonderful type of Christ
and Christ of course is the anointed and David, David was that one
who was to be anointed and we have the record of his anointing
here in chapter 16 where the prophet Samuel comes to the home
of Jesse and all his sons are presented to the prophet And
then Samuel inquires of Jesse, is there any other son? Well,
there's the youngest, there's David. And he is the one who
is keeping the sheep. But he must be brought, he must be presented also. In
chapter 16, verse 11, Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all
thy children? And he said, There remaineth
yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel
said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down
till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in.
Now he was ruddered, and with all of a beautiful countenance,
and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint
him, for this is he. And Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit
of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose
up and went to Ramah. He had done the business. He
had anointed the young man. He's a type of Christ. The Father giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto the Lord Jesus Christ. glorious unction of the
Spirit was upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you remember how we have
the record of his anointing at his baptizing as he submits to
John's baptism of repentance and goes through the waters of
baptism as he comes up out of the waters the heavens open and
the Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. That's
the anointing. The Spirit falls upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and the Father declares, this is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. And what next? Well how strange
it is because immediately, immediately after he is anointed with the
Spirit, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness where he
is to be tempted of Satan. what temptations they were, what
an assault it was. And he resisted all the temptations
of the great adversary. And then we're told the devil
leaves him, but he only leaves him for a season. He only leaves
him for a season. And when the Lord comes to the
end of his ministry, he says to his disciples, they are they
which have continued with me in my temptations. Oh, what temptations
the Lord must have known all these days. Continuous. And how He comes to His own,
His own receiving not. How He's so despised of men,
hated of men. How they would destroy Him time
and again, like in In John chapter 5, after he has
sealed the layman there at the pool of Bethesda and commanded
him to take up his bed and walk, and he walks. He'd been waiting
there all those years, crippled. It was the Sabbath day, and now
the Jews, despite him, had broken the Sabbath, but they said he'd
not only broken the Sabbath, he'd said that God was his Father,
making himself equal with God, and they would have stoned him,
they would have killed him. Many a time they would have killed
him. At the end of that great eighth chapter in John, where
time and again he declares himself to be Jehovah, the I Am, that
I Am. And at the end of the chapter,
verily, verily, before Abram was, I am. And we're told immediately,
then took they up stones to cast at him, and Jesus hid himself
and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and
so passed by. But they would have stoned him.
They would have killed him. Again in the 10th chapter of
John, where he says, I am my father, are one. And the Jews immediately take
up stones to stone him. Because he had declared he is
one with the Father. He is God of God. He is Light
of Light. He is very God of very God. He
is begotten. Not made, the only begotten of
the Father. Full of grace and truth, that
one who is in the bosom of the Father. Well they understood
it, this is the charge they laid against him. We have a law they
say to Pilate, we have a law by our Lord he ought to die because
he made himself the Son of God. He didn't make himself the Son
of God, he is the Son of God. But because of who he is, because
of who he is, there's continual danger for him. This is another lesson in this
friends, if we're those who are truly the Lord's disciples, If we're truly the Lord's disciples,
we will know what it is to live that life, that life that in
so many ways is typified in David's experience. When David says here
in the text, truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth,
there is but a step between me and death, that was Christ. As
he lived his life, many a time they would have killed him. What
does the Lord say? The disciple is not above his
master nor the servant above his Lord it is enough that the
disciple is as his master and the servant as his Lord all we
are to follow this one we are to take up our cross and we are
to take up our cross daily and we are to be those who would
indeed be followers of our Lord Jesus Christ O God grant then
that we might be those who know what it is to enter that straight
gate and to walk in that narrow way dangers besetting us on every
hand and yet the certainty of those deliverances the God who
delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust
that he will yet deliver us. Mother Lord grant His blessing
on His Word. Amen. Let us sing our concluding
praise this morning. The hymn is 645, the tune University
College 515. Dangerous is the path we go in
this wilderness below. Savage beasts of every kind aiming
to distress the mind. Hymn 645, tune 515.