All right, let's look back at
1 Samuel chapter 16. Excuse me. And let's read verse
14. Now, I believe there are probably
a few years that have passed between the events that took
place at the end of verse 13 and then start here at verse
14. I can't prove that, but I believe there is. But it says here in
verse 14 of 1 Samuel 16, but the Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul, Saul who at that time was king of Israel, and an evil
spirit from the Lord troubled him. Now, I have two messages
that I'm going to preach from this passage beginning at verse
14 and going through verse 23. Both messages are entitled, God's
Providence and Salvation. Now, don't get scared. You'll
be glad to know I'm not going to preach both of them tonight.
I'm going to preach one tonight and one Sunday night. But I got
to thinking about this. You know, we've studied quite
a bit of the Old Testament in the time that I've been here
and been your pastor. We've got a lot more to go. Usually when
we finish up a passage or a book of the Bible, we find we can
go back through it and just learn so much more, don't we? It's
like that ocean that we only see the top of. It has a depth
to it that we'll never reach in this life. But as I read through
the Old Testament, study the Old Testament, especially the
history books, and 1 Samuel is one of the history books, I'm
continually amazed at the sovereign providence of God in working
all things after the counsel of His own will. And I'm convinced
that that's the way it is in our lives today. That didn't
stop when John put down the quill or the pen or whatever he used
when he wrote the final book of Revelation. God's providence
didn't stop. It continues. It's been in operation
from eternity past and will be to eternity future. When we study
the life of David, we need to understand, and this is something
I believe that we all have to get in our mind and pray that
the Lord will seal it in our minds or we won't be able to
understand the ultimate purpose of God's Word. But when we study
the life of David, for example, or any other historical character
of the Scriptures, We need to realize we're studying biblical
history. Now, that's significant. Biblical
history. Bible history. And Bible history
is not like man's recorded history. You see, man's recorded history
is really nothing more than a series of random events. This is the
way man sees it, and sometimes how he portrays it. A series
of random events guided by fate, chance, coincidence, and luck. all which do not exist, they
don't do that. But you see, biblical history
is history from God's viewpoint. It's God working out His own
will by His wisdom, by His power and His providence, and it's
aimed towards a particular goal. Now, what is that goal? Well,
let me state that goal for you, because this is the theme of
all the Scripture right here. Genesis to Revelation. It's the
theme of our lives if we're sinners saved by the grace of God in
Christ. If you're a believer, here's the theme of your life.
It is God's glory in the salvation of His people, His chosen people,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we're seeing
working out here, back here in this day and age where we're
studying about David's life. Here he is, the lowly, youthful
shepherd who wasn't even invited to the feast, wasn't even invited
by his daddy Jesse to the feast when Samuel came to anoint the
king. Jesse had eight sons. David was
the eighth, and he wasn't even invited to come there. Jesse
said, well, he's the youngest. I know it's not him. Put him
out there keeping the sheep. He's a shepherd. Little did Jesse
know that our great King and Savior is also a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And
then, here he comes off a few years later and ends up in the
court of King Saul. Saul's courtier. And what is
he doing? One old preacher, he said, I
guess he's just picking the guitar. No, he's playing the harp. Same
thing. Music soothes a savage beast,
they say. And, of course, that was a temporary
fix to Saul's problem. But here is David standing before
Saul. Now, how much of that would you
attribute to coincidence and chance and fate and luck? Zero. Zero. This fellow here, look back down
there in verse 1 Samuel 16. where Saul said in verse 17,
Provide me now a man that can play well and bring him to me.
And verse 18, Then answered one of the servants. Now we don't
know this servant's name. We don't know anything about
him other than he's a servant of Saul. In the court of King
Saul, we don't know where he's been, where he's going, how old
he is. We don't know anything about his family. But he said,
Behold. Now that word, Behold, suggests
in the original language that this was just a sudden knowledge
that came on the man. In other words, this is not something
that he had before. We don't know that for sure,
but that's what it suggests. Well, who do you suppose put
it in this fellow's mind? He said, I've seen a son of Jesse,
the Bethlehemite. That's cunning and plain. Well,
God did. And through this, what man would
call random acts of events, a random act of events, David, God's anointed
king, the man after God's own heart, ends up here before Saul. Now, why did all that happen?
Why did all that happen? It happened because of the particular
goal that God has in mind for all redemptive history and all
His providence. His glory in the salvation of
His chosen people through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with
that in mind, turn over to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1.
And this is important, too, because I want you to see something here.
In Ephesians, chapter 1, and you're very familiar with that
passage, most of you are, Paul, the apostle, as he was inspired
by the Holy Spirit to write to believers at Ephesus, he's recording
here what you might say the whole history of salvation, the whole
plan of salvation. And he's showing the work of
the triune Godhead in salvation, the work of the Father, the work
of the Son, and the work of the Spirit. All three persons of
the Godhead engaged in their particular offices and duties
working all this out as one God in three persons. He starts off,
look at verse 3, "...blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ." That's the purpose right there.
His glory, the glory of the Godhead, in the salvation of His chosen
people in Christ. For it's in the face of Jesus
Christ that the glory of the Godhead shines forth. This is
covenant language. This is the covenant of redemption.
When did it take place? Verse 4, "...according as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world."
Before this world was ever created, before Adam was ever planted
upon this earth, before the fall, and certainly before David, before
you and before me, before the foundation of the world, That's
just human language because there is no time when this covenant
was not enforced in the mind and purpose of God. He is eternal.
God didn't just stop at some point in time and say, I think
I'll make a covenant. He didn't do that. Do it that
way. He is an eternal God. But for our purposes, he puts
it in language, it comes down to our finite minds, and he says
he's blessed us with all spiritual blessings according, verse 4,
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Now
how are we sinners going to be holy and without blame before
God? He says in love. Well, where is that love? Well,
herein is love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, the sin-bearing
offering that brought satisfaction through death. That's what propitiation
is. Reconciliation with God through
Christ. The only way that I'm going to
stand before God holy and without blame is I'm washed in the blood
of Christ and clothed in His righteousness. That's it. So
he says in verse 5, having predestinated, now that's a word that most religions
don't want to hear today. Predestination. Oh, you believe
that predestination. Most people who make that accusation
have absolutely no idea what they're even saying or talking
about. Actually, everybody believes
predestination as long as you allow them to be the one doing
the predestinating. Everybody loves the election
as long as you allow them to be the one doing the electing.
It's just when God does it. Now, that's when man doesn't
like it, and that's when he shows his kinship with Adam in the
fall. Right there. Well, who would you rather predestinate
things? The all-wise, all-knowing, omniscient,
all-powerful, merciful, just God? Or me? Or you? We can't listen. We can't even
control our own lives, let alone somebody else's. I believe in predestination.
You want to know why? Because it's in the Bible. You
say, well, I can't understand all that. Well, welcome to the
club. We'll all get badges and wear
them. But I know this, I'm not going to deny it or deny God
because I can't understand it. Let me tell you something, if
you've got a God that you can figure out and understand, you
know what that means? That means you're His equal. And I've got news for you. We're
not God's equal. He doeth as He will. That's right,
none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Having,
verse 5, having predestinated us. Now, some people say, well,
I believe in predestination, but only predestination of events.
Well, now, let me read it again now. Having predestinated what? What's the word that follows?
Us. That's not an event, is it? That's
people. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children. You don't adopt events. Christ
didn't come here and redeem events. He didn't shed His blood to save
events. He shed His blood to save His
sheep. And you know what? That's exactly
why David was standing before King Saul in that court. Because
of this right here. That's what I want us to see
in these messages. That's the providence of God. It's amazing. And he said, by
Jesus Christ to Himself, we're going to be brought to God as
sons. It's got to be through Jesus
Christ and Him crucified and risen again. And it says, according
to the good pleasure of His will. Why is it? Because God willed
it. Somebody said, well, don't we
have to will it? Well, we will if He willed it.
That's right. And it says in verse 6, now this
is to the praise of the glory of His grace. Now it doesn't
give us any room to boast or exalt the flesh. It's to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, accepted before God in Christ. You see, Christ had to come.
And He had to be born of a virgin. He had to walk this earth in
perfect obedience to the law. He had to go to the cross of
Calvary and shed His blood. He had to die and be buried and
raised again the third day. He had to ascend unto the Father.
Why? Because God had a purpose. And
that was to the praise of the glory of His grace, the salvation
of His chosen people through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then
he says in verse 7, "...in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins." This is the work of the Son.
According to the riches of His grace, His shed blood, the cross,
all redemptive history is centered around the cross and what Christ
accomplished there for His people. "...wherein He hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of His will." Now there's a lot of things that God hasn't
revealed to us. In fact, the book of Deuteronomy,
I think it's chapter 29, verse 29, I think. But it says the
secret things belong to God, but the revealed things belong
to us. There are secret things. There are things God hasn't revealed,
but there are things He has. And that's the mystery of His
will. What is that talking about? His purpose to glorify Himself
in the salvation of His people, sinners, in Christ. And you know
what that means to me and you? Now somebody says, well, if I
believe this or I believe that, I wouldn't do this, I wouldn't...
Let me tell you something. What that does, that's enough
for God to hold me and you accountable to come to Him and beg for mercy. Plead, plead for salvation at
the foot of the cross, at the foot of Christ. God save me for
Christ's sake. I've got no other hope. And that's
the mystery of His revealed will. You see, it's the gospel that
commands sinners to come to Him. And if sinners won't, they have
nobody to blame but themselves. He says it's according to His
good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself. He didn't purpose
it in me or in you. He purposed it in Himself. The
single, solitary, indivisible God. And He says in verse 10
that in the dispensation of the fullness of time. Now that's
what we're studying. as we go through the history.
So we went through Isaiah and the prophecy and the history
there. We went through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, you see. And
as we're going through the life of David, that's the dispensation. Dispensation means segments of
time. Now, there's a group called dispensationalists. They say God saved people in
different ways in different segments of time. That's not so. It's
always been by grace. And it is by grace today, and
it always will be by grace through Christ. But there are segments
of time. We're studying a segment of time.
We're studying the life of David as a type of Christ. And he says,
in the fullness of the times he might gather together in one
all things in Christ. What he's saying here is there
are different segments of time, but now the fullness of time
is when all things are completed and fulfilled at a particular
point in time. For example, in the fullness
of the time, God sent forth his Son to be born of woman, made
under the law, and that he might redeem them that were under the
law. And there is a time coming when he is coming again to judge
the world. And so there are segments of
time, but that time is going to come to a halt. There's going
to be a time when time is no more. Figure that one out. Try to explain that one to the
humanists of these days and the evolutionists. There's going
to be a time when time is no more. And then, you see, time
is with us every day, and there's going to be a time when it won't
affect us, because we'll live eternally in glory with Christ.
That's his purpose. And so he says, both which are
in heaven, which are on earth, even in him, all in Christ. Verse
11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. You know what
that is? That's something we don't earn and don't deserve.
That's salvation and glory in Christ. Being predestined. Oh,
there's that word again. You know, some people wish that word
wasn't even in the Bible. But it's there. And you know
what? I thank God it is there. He says, according to the purpose,
there's that purpose again, to glorify himself and the salvation
of his chosen people through Jesus Christ our Lord. And look
at this, look at what's coming up here. Who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. Now that's why David is
standing before Saul in 1 Samuel 16. That's why he's done it. Because it's God working all
things after the counsel of His own will that we should be to
the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. In whom you
also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." And there's the work
of the Spirit. And he goes on to describe, I'm not going to
read the rest of that, but he goes on to describe the work
of the Spirit in giving life from the dead, the new birth.
So we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune
Godhead, all engaged together, working all things according
to the counsel of His own will. God the Father covenanted with
the Son and the Holy Spirit to save a people of His choice. That's unconditional election. Through the man of His choice,
that's Christ Jesus, just like He chose David. His choice of
David to be king of Israel back here in 1 Samuel is a picture
and a type of His choice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
second person of the Trinity, to be our Savior, the Savior
of spiritual Israel. And so God revealed the terms
of that covenant immediately after the fall. You remember
He said that the seed of woman would would bruise the head of
the serpent, and the serpent would bruise his heel. That's
Christ, the seed of woman, without the aid of man. And he would
put the death blow to Satan and his work of condemnation and
bringing the whole world in Adam under condemnation. And that
was made, and of course, God pictured that in Genesis 3.21
by slaying an animal. And making coats of skin without the shedding
of blood, no remission of sin, that's why Christ had to come.
There's God in His providence working it all out. Picturing
the righteousness of Christ imputed, the only ground of a sinner's
justification before God, now, today, forever. Even back when
Adam fell, that's the way it was. That's the way it was set
up before the foundation of the world. God made a covenant with
Abraham that a great nation would come from him physically and
pertain to national Israel, but spiritually and eternally it
would pertain to spiritual Israel, God's people out of every tribe
and nation who would come to believe in him, believe in Christ.
God confirmed that covenant with Isaac and with Jacob. Through
Jacob he revealed that the Savior King would come from the tribe
of Judah. Remember Genesis 49 and what
is it, verse 10, I believe? The scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh come. Israel already had a king. Look
back here at 1 Samuel 16, 14. The Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul. Saul wasn't from the tribe of Judah. You see, Israel's
king, who would typify and foreshadow the eternal king of kings, the
Lord Jesus Christ, had to come from Judah, for our Savior in
His humanity was from the tribe of Judah, made of the seed of
David according to the flesh. David was the first king of Israel
from Judah. God would renew His covenant
through David. Let me show you this. Look at
2 Samuel chapter 7. I'll give you a little preview. This is the royal covenant. And it's not made with David
until he is actually established as king. 2 Samuel 7, verse 12. This is the
royal covenant, the Davidic line. He says, And when thy days shall
be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. Now,
what does that mean? That means, David, when you're dead, when
you're dead, when you're not on this earth any longer. He
said, I will set up thy seat after thee, which shall proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. Who's
he talking about? Who is that seat? That's Christ,
the Son of David, the greater Son of David. He shall build
a house for my name. What is that? That's his church.
And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. That's
the eternal glory of God through his people who will be saved
forever and forever and forever and forever. And he said, I will
be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity,
I will chasten him. Somebody asked the question,
well, Christ won't commit iniquity. That's exactly right. He will
not commit iniquity, but iniquity will be laid on him. Iniquity
will be laid on him. He's not talking about Solomon
here. He said, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with
the stripes of the children of men. By his stripes, we are healed. But my mercy shall not depart
away from him, and that's because in him mercy and truth will be
met together. As I took it from Saul, whom
I put away before thee, and thine house and thy kingdom shall be
established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
forever." See there, he's not talking about Solomon. Solomon
was going to go to sleep and lay with his fathers just like
David. But this is going to be forever, and he says, according
to all these words and according to all this vision, so did Nathan
the prophet speak unto David. That's the royal covenant. That's
the Davidic covenant. Now, the ultimate and eternal
fulfillment of this would not be through David himself, nor
through Solomon, but through the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. What did Jeremiah say in Jeremiah
23.5? Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. David was already dead when Jeremiah
spoke those words, talking about a future king. Now, back here,
everything in David's life was a picture, a prophecy, and a
working out of his purpose to be fulfilled in and by the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Great Shepherd, our Great High Priest, our Sovereign
King of Kings forever and ever. Not an earthly kingdom, but a
heavenly, spiritual, and an eternal kingdom. And it's amazing. to
watch God's providence unfold in the accomplishment of His
sovereign will and purpose. Now, in working out His sovereign
will and providence, God uses the means of the obedience of
men, the obedience of men, and you'll see that working out in
this historical setting, and it's obedient not because of
their goodness now, but because of God's power. And then he overrules
the ignorance and disobedience of men to accomplish his will
and purpose. Now, somebody might say, well,
I didn't know that. Well, if you didn't know that,
then every time you quoted Romans 8.28, you didn't know what you
were quoting. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Now what does that say? Does
it say some things work together for good? Does it say all good
things work together for good? No. It says what? It says all
things. Now that's a lot of things. How many things is that? That's
all things. You mean even Saul and his disobedience? That's going to work together
for good? To them that are called according to God's purpose? I
mean exactly that. And you know why they're going
to work together for good? Because God is the one who's
working. That's right. He's the one who's doing it.
Somebody said, well, if that's so, I'll just go sin that good
may come. Oh no, you're not God. You cannot
work all things for that purpose. to good. You're not wise enough,
and you're not powerful enough. That's God's business, you see.
Don't presume upon God. He uses these things. We have
examples of God using the obedience of men in David, David himself. He was a man after God's own
heart, that is, according to God's will. And we have examples
of this in disobedience with men like Saul, and listen to
me, even Samuel. Turn back to 1 Samuel 13. Chuck
asked me about this the other day, after I finished the sermon
Sunday night, and I got to studying on this. And what you're going
to find here is something that may just shock you to the very
tips of your toes and fingers. And that's this. God's prophets
and God's preachers are not sinlessly infallible men. We're just not infallible. Not
even Samuel. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God. Isn't that right? We're not like
the Pope. We don't speak ex cathedra. You
know, when the Pope speaks ex cathedra, that means that nobody
can argue with him. I know this. I know the gospel.
I know the Lord Jesus Christ. I know who He is. I know what
He accomplished. I know why He did it, and I know
where He is now. And that's set down. And we all
who know Christ, we all who are saved, we agree with that. Now,
there may be some things that I'm wrong on. There may be some
things you're wrong on. We may find out we're both wrong.
when it comes to interpretation of particular verses or whatever.
But we know the gospel, and he's the foundation and rock of our
salvation and our fellowship and our worship. But here's Samuel. Now listen to Samuel. Look at
1 Samuel 13. Look at verse 13. And Samuel
said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly. Thou hast not kept
the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee.
For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever."
Well, now, wait a minute. How could Samuel tell Saul that
God, it sounds like that Samuel is telling Saul that if you'd
have been obedient, you'd stay on the throne and God would establish
your throne forever. Wrong. Oh, no. What was wrong with Samuel? I'll
tell you what was wrong with him. He's just like us. There's
certain areas in which he's just flat ignorant and maybe even
disobedient. Somebody asked, well, did Samuel
remember Genesis 49, 10? Which says what? I've quoted
enough. You ought to be able to quote
that one. The scepter shall not depart from who? Judah until
Shiloh comes. What tribe was Saul from? Benjamin. Saul's throne could not be established
forever. His family was not the chosen
family from which the king would come. Now, either Samuel was
just ignorant of that truth, maybe he'd read it as a child
as he was taught the law, and just forgot it, maybe he chose
to ignore it. I know he loved Saul. He loved
Saul. But you see, Saul could not remain
on the throne of Israel. That was for another. Saul was
the people's choice. David was God's choice. God's working all things after
the counsel of His own will. This is God's providence. Look
over at 1 Samuel 15. Look at verse 28. Verse 28 of
1 Samuel 15. And Samuel said unto him, The
Lord hath rent, or torn, the kingdom of Israel from thee,
speaking to Saul this day, and hath given it to a neighbour
of thine that is better than thou." Now, sometimes you're
going to read phrases in Scripture. Sometimes the translation may
be a little off. Sometimes you may read something
that might cause you to wonder. Does that mean that God was giving
the throne to David because David was a better man than Saul? Well,
yes and no. David was a better man than Saul,
but not in himself or because of his goodness. David was a
sinner saved by grace. We don't have to read a whole
lot further in David's life to find out that he was just like
us, a sinner saved by the grace of God. Better because he was
God's choice. Better because he was redeemed
by the blood of Christ yet to come. Better because he was justified
by the grace of God. Christ better because he was
a child of God and it says here in verse 29 and also the strength
of Israel That's God will not lie nor repent for he's not a
man that he should repent you see that Look at verse 35 It
says the same you'll contain no more to see Saul until the
day of his death Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul and the
Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. Did you
read that? Said the Lord repented And yet we read there in verse
29, the strength of Israel, which is the Lord, will not lie nor
repent. He's not a man that he should repent. How do you figure
that? Is that a contradiction? Absolutely not. You see, we think
of repentance in ourselves. It's a change of mind. It's a
regret. It's a sorrow over something
we've done wrong, sin. But that's not the same kind
of repentance that God has. God doesn't change His mind.
God never does anything wrong that He has to regret. This is
all well within God's plan, who worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. But He uses that kind of language
for us to show how much He hates sin and disobedience. God never changes His mind. In
fact, the Bible says that in the book of Numbers, chapter
23 and verse 19. God is not a man that He should
lie, neither the Son of Man that He should repent. Hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? God's way is always the right
way. But he hates sin. And even Samuel
did not see God's purpose. He was content to leave Saul
to be king until the Lord revealed otherwise. Saul was, or Samuel
was. And he told him. He said, he
told him that. that even though God has removed
you from the throne, yet Samuel mourned. He mourned for him. And when we come to chapter 16
there, we see God working His providence in salvation against
the disobedience, the ignorance, and desires of men. Obviously,
Saul's disobedience and refusal to give up the throne. The rest
of this book, he spends his time going after David to kill him.
Samuel's reluctance in mourning and his own ignorance, still
looking wrongly, look down at verse 7 of chapter 16 again.
You remember he said, he went to Jesse and he said, bring out
your sons. Now think about it. Now here's
God overruling the ignorance and disobedience of men to work
his own counsel and his own will and his own purpose. Now he said,
Jesse, bring your sons. Now did Jesse bring his sons?
All but one. All but the one. Really, he could have just brought
the one he left. Left out. He brought them all. He brought
them all except that one. Well, God overruled that. And
when he paraded his sons in front of Samuel, what did Samuel do? Well, look at verse 6. And it
came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Elias,
and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. Now what? What
standard of judgment was Samuel using to say that about Eliab? Well, look at verse 7. But the
Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature, because I refused him. For the Lord seeth
not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but
the Lord looketh on the heart. Samuel was using the same criteria
to choose Eliab that the people used to choose Saul. So God has to overrule? in spite
of Samuel's ignorance and unbelief and disobedience, and even Jesse. And so when David is introduced,
we see so many parallels. Now, here's God's providence.
Here comes David. He said, do you have any more
sons? He said, well, I've got one out there who's keeping the
sheep. What a great parallel with our Savior. That's what
He does. He keeps the sheep. He loves
the sheep. He died for the sheep, laid down
His life for the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He restore, He leadeth me beside
the still waters. He restoreth my soul. Behold,
verse 11, He keepeth the sheep. That's the kind of Savior King
we need. One who'll keep the dumb lost
sheep. Save the dumb lost sheep. You
know, if a sheep ever gets out of the fold, he doesn't sniff
around to track his way back. He just gets farther and farther
away. And that's the way we are. All
we like sheep have gone astray. Now, God's providence put David
out there in the pasture with the sheep. God's providence prepared
David for what he was about to have done to him. And God's providence
brought David there before Samuel, where he was anointed. And he
said in verse 12, he sent and brought him in, now he was ruddy.
That ruddy, I think about the Song of Solomon, where the church
is figured in the bride, the bride of Christ, the wife, and
she says of her husband Christ, my beloved is white and ruddy,
the chiefest among ten thousand. And this beauty here of David
prefigures the glory of Christ, only which his people see. And
it says here, he was goodly to look at, and the Lord said, Arise,
anoint him, for this is he. This is he. Here he is. That's
God's providence. That's God working. All things
after the counsel of his own will. Now look at the providence
of God in salvation as he brings David from the work of a shepherd
into the court of a king. He says, but the Spirit of the
Lord, verse 14, departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from
the Lord troubled him. Saul had been rejected by God.
David had been anointed to be king, and he will be. The Spirit
of the Lord departed from Saul. God the Holy Spirit, that's who
he's talking about. And what we see here that the
Holy Spirit is just as active in providence as the Father and
the Son. He's the third person of the
Holy Trinity, co-equal with the Father and the Son. He's a person.
He's not a fluid. He's not a phantom. He's not
a mist. He's not a vapor. He's a person. He's Spirit. God is Spirit. We
tend to think of Him only in the work of the new birth. And
that is His great work in the plan of redemption. But He's
also working out of the will and purpose of the Godhead. The
Holy Spirit has done and still does much in providence other
than His great work in the new birth. In creation, what does
it say? Genesis chapter 1. It says, "...in
beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth
was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of
the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
There's the Holy Spirit active in creation. In prophecy, Peter
wrote that holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit. Also, unholy men were moved to
speak by the Spirit. I think of Balaam. Balaam spoke
inspired words of truth. He was a false prophet. But God
turned him. Nebuchadnezzar and even Balaam's
ass spoke. One preacher said, how many of
you would show up to hear a sermon from Balaam's ass? And yet he
spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit. Spoke truth. Saul prophesied by the Spirit,
yet he was an unregenerate man who never came to repentance.
I want you to think about this. Our Lord's perfect human nature
and body was conceived in the womb of Mary by a powerful work
of the Holy Spirit. And what the Scripture says,
he was born of the Spirit, conceived of the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit
was given to our Lord without measure, bore him up in the sufferings
that he would endure. He is sometimes said to be sent
to give men slumber so that they cannot and will not believe the
Gospel because of the judgment of God upon them for their refusal.
And here it said he departed from Saul. Now if this were the
work of regeneration, he'd never have departed from Saul. Christ
told His disciples, He said, I'll send you the Spirit and
He'll never leave you. It means that Saul, what it means
here when it says the Spirit departed from Saul, it means
this, it means that Saul was now totally without the help
of God in his duties as king. Saul was totally on his own.
And my friend, that's the worst place that we can ever be. Totally
on our own. God, don't leave me alone. But you know, the Bible says
the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of
water. He turneth it withersoever he will. And then it says an
evil spirit from the Lord troubled him or terrified him. Now, that's
a scripture that gives a lot of people trouble, but it should. This does not mean that God is
the author or source or originator of sin. Evil here is the trouble
and affliction that terrifies a man's soul, his mind, his conscience. And Saul's conscience had become
a severe accuser of his mind. The Lord, Jehovah God, sent this
as a judgment for Saul's disobedience. It was a spirit of depression,
bitterness, Later on, he becomes suspicious and envious and jealous
of David, even to the point of wanting to kill him. Now, that
doesn't fit modern man's conceptions of God, because he has false
views of God's nature. He thinks of God only as a God
of love and mercy, and he stumbles over verses like this, tends
to pass by them, tends to think they don't really have the same
force as other verses of Scripture that speak of God's love and
mercy and goodness. But you look carefully at what's
stated here. an evil spirit from Jehovah terrorized Saul. That's what it says. My friend,
God's in control. I'm going to pick up there next
week, or this Sunday evening, but learn this. God's working
all things after the counsel of His own will to accomplish
His purpose to glorify Himself in the salvation of His people
through Jesus Christ our Lord. And all the people of God say
what? Amen.