It came to pass, when Saul was
returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying,
Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engadi. Then Saul took three
thousand chosen men out of all of Israel, and went to seek David
and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to
the sheep coats by the way where was a cave. And Saul went in
to cover his feet. or to sleep, and David and his
men remained in the sides of the cave. And the men of David
said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee,
Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou
mayest do to him as shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose
and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privately, and it came to
pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut
off Saul's skirt. And he said unto his men, The
Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the
Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand, Against him seeing
he is the anointed of the Lord Verse 7 but David stayed his
servants with these words and suffered them not to rise up
against Saul But Saul rose up out of the cave and went his
way and I'm My subject this evening is giving good for evil Giving
good for evil I read these first seven verses and you see what
happened, but we'll go through them again. Our Lord Jesus, the
Savior of God's people of all ages, was to be made of the seed
of David according to the flesh. And that's why He asked them
one time, will the Christ be?" And they
said, the Son of David. He said, well, why then or how
then doeth David call him by the Spirit, Lord, if he is his
son? And this is the reason why in
all his afflictions the Lord delivered him. His life, David's
life had been in jeopardy countless times. And our Lord Jesus Christ
how many times says, my hour has not yet come, my hour has
not yet come. And he had fought many battles
and few men experienced the delivering saving hand of God as he did.
You remember last week when Saul's army was fixing to surround him
there on the side of the mountain and there was a messenger come.
And Saul said to Philistines, invade the land. And he stopped
right there. That was a miraculous deliverance
of David. God did that. Who sent that message?
God did. And I tell you some people that
God saved and delivered him at the hand of God as he did David.
But there's lots of people he didn't do. He didn't deliver
Abel out of Cain's hands. Abel died. Killed by his own
brother. Stephen didn't but delivered
by the Lord's hand. He was stoned to death while
Saul of Tarsus was holding the men's clothes who did it. And
they were allowed to suffer and die for the glory of God himself. But God in His sovereign mercy
and His sovereignty preserved in a miraculous way the line
of which the Son of God should come. He preserved it. The only
reason, two reasons we have the lineage in the Bible. One, to
keep track of the Lord Jesus Christ and His lineage from the
beginning all the way to the end. That's what genealogy is
about. The second place the genealogy
is for is to show the lineage of the Levites that would be
the minister in the tabernacle. And that's the only two reasons.
They wouldn't have the genealogy in the Bible had it not been
for the Lord Jesus Christ. They wouldn't have needed it.
And had it not been for the tribe of Aaron. or the tribe of Levi
the only two reasons and that's why when you go to Matthew and
that's why when you go to Luke and you see the genealogy of
our Lord Jesus Christ you follow him all the way down through
there and there's a lot of people that God saved by his wondrous
grace that's in his genealogy his line but God preserved his
line of which his son should come Abraham God told Abraham
said Abraham You're going to be the father of many nations.
Your seed's going to be like the stars in the heaven, going
to be like the sand by the sea. He hadn't had a child. He got
tired of waiting on God and he had a child of flesh and they
had to throw him out. But he did have a son and that's
what could preserve that lineage. Isaac, his son, supernatural
born, miraculously born. And then Jacob. And that's why
we're called sons of Jacob. You know why we're called sons
of Jacob? Because Jacob was a supplanter. Jacob was a... Deceiver he is
a fellow that buddy. I mean if you swap nickels with
him you'd lose That's the kind of guy was and that's why God
called him Israel one time and called him Jacob the next and
that's the way he views our sons of Jacob and he got a hope God
got a hold of Jacob and changed him and it became Israel and
and so God kept these men all the way down to Noah and then
Noah has Shem and Shem all the way down through you can trace
our Lord Jesus Christ till he come to the seat of David and
these men were strangers and pilgrims held in bondage and
yet out of all these God preserved that lineage to fulfill his promise
that David would have an heir who would sit on the throne forever
and ever and ever and ever. And his miraculously preserving
David and David's reaction to God's providence reveals God's
power in saving and revealing David as a type of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And I'll tell you something,
Satan continually, continually tried to destroy the seed of
David, the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ. God told him in the beginning,
I'm going to put enmity between thy seed and the seed of the
woman. And it was that way and it will be that way until Christ
comes and puts him down in hell. But here's another wonderful
chapter in David's life. David had been seeking Saul's
life. You remember that? Back over here in verse 23. I
want you to see this again. Verse 14, chapter 23. Saul had
been seeking David's life. And he saw him, you know, he
threw a spear at him twice. Killed all the priests because
of him. And David abode in the wilderness of strongholds and
remained in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul
sought him every day. But listen, but God. But God
delivered him out of his hand. But God. And I tell you, Saul,
y'all are cold. Everybody's putting blankets
on. Y'all are cold. But Saul had been seeking David's
life. And here we see David had an
opportunity to kill Saul. To kill him. And to his honor,
he didn't take it. He didn't take it. In sparing
Saul's life, we see God's grace in David. God's grace in him. And saving his own life, it was
God's providence that protected him and kept him. And when David
spared Saul's life, it was a glorious victory of the Spirit over the
flesh and of grace over sin. Now let's look at this together.
Starting there in verse 1. And it came to pass, and I'll
tell you something it always does. Whenever you read that
it came to pass, it always comes to pass. Like an old black woman
one time she said, I sure am thankful that the Bible said
it came to pass and it didn't come to stay. And it came to pass and it will. It always comes to pass. And
it came to pass. And Saul had returned from following
the Philistines. He had evidently successfully
defeated the Philistines. And I tell you what, this tells
us that human success is no proof of God's presence. Men think
that success in this world and having, there's multitudes of
billionaires and millionaires, great success in this world.
And God's not with them, God's not for them, and God don't even
enter their thoughts. But human success is no proof
of God's presence. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. That's what the scripture says.
And I'll tell you something, God often fattens those He intends
to slaughter. And that's what He is doing to
Saul. He's fattening him for the slaughter. And it was told
him, saying, Behold, David's in the wilderness of Engadi.
And oh my, here he's got David again, got him where he can get
to him. And Saul's put to the test once again. Everything,
everything that happens in our life tests us at some point. And I know this, that there's
nothing, nothing in God's outward dealings with man will ever change
the heart. A tornado won't change a man's
heart. House burning down won't change a man's heart. God reaching
in his house and taking out a child won't change a man's heart. Nothing, it won't break a man's
will. There's no mercies that man can show a person. But the
only thing that'll change a man's heart is the regenerating power
of God Almighty. I want you to keep this and look
with me in Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. And I'll tell you, here's
the thing about it, God put Saul to the test time and time again,
you know, and he couldn't never get to David. And people seem to think that,
you know, God, look what He, well, here's what He says about
it. Look in Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. Or despises thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering? Do you despise
it? Not knowing, listen to this,
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. It's the
goodness of God that leads a man to repent. It's the grace of
God that leads a man to repent. God, I'll tell you, beloved,
People say all the time that God, you know what I do, at times
I say God, the only thing that will ever, ever, ever do anything
for a man is for God to create in him a need. And the only way
God can create a need in a man is to him to break in on that
man. He got to break in on him. He got to break in on him wherever
he's at. And he may not know what's happening
to him, but God's got to break in on him. God's got to come
and bust in. And he's got to get his attention. And he may be poor, he may be
a billionaire, but until God breaks in, and creates a need
in that man's heart. He'll go on just like a beast
to the slaughter. But I tell you that's what's
got to happen and it's the goodness of God that causes that to happen.
It's the goodness of God. And I tell you, and I pray that
way for my children, your children, your grandchildren, Lord, go
and do whatever it takes to turn them upside down, turn them inside
out, do whatever you have to do to them, strip them down,
bring them down, strip them, break their hearts, break their
minds, have a nervous breakdown, do whatever you have to do to
them to bring them to nothing until they find no rest until
they come to you. And when God creates a need in
a man, you know what the first thing he'll do? He'll start coming
here to the gospel. He said, I've got to go here.
Somebody needs to tell me how I can get out of the mess I'm
in. But God's got to get you in a
mess. You'll get yourself in a mess and you'll figure out
how to get out of it. But if God puts you in a mess, He's
the only one that can get you out of it. And I tell you, may God put my
children in a mess. They're messes but they don't
know it. They're lost but they don't know it. People will tell
you, I know I'm a sinner, but if a man knows he's a sinner,
he's going to spike pitch his calf somewhere where the gospel's
at. And I tell you, a man can say
he's a sinner all he wants to, but until he comes to hear the
gospel, he's not a sinner yet. And that's what happens. I'll
tell you something, man. God don't use... God's not mean. He don't use mean. If it's a
good thing, then God would do that to a person. But here's
what old Saul did. Look what he did here in verse
two. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of Israel. 3,000 men
to go get one. That's what 500 come out to get
the Lord Jesus Christ. They had sticks and staves and
spears and swords. Come out and get a man, one man.
And he come to get David and his men. And oh my. And he went out to seek out David. I'm gonna tell you what, God
gave Saul up. God gave Saul up. And you know
how we know he gave him up? Because he was allowed to continue
in his wicked, wicked, hateful, murderous ways. That's why God
gave him up. And you know, Ecclesiastes is
that little bitty book, 12 chapters right before Proverbs. Look at
Ecclesiastes chapter 8 with me. You know, we see evidence of God giving
lots of people up in our own country and in the world. God
just gives them up. He leaves them alone. Just gives
them up. And look what he says here in
verse 11. God gave Saul up. You want to
be a wicked man? You want to be a murderous man?
You want to be a man who's not interested in God, just interested
in vengeance? He said, Ecclesiastes 8.11, Because
sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Because, oh, God don't come down
and cause a bolt of lightning to scare them. That they just said, well listen,
I got by with it this time, nothing happened. I'll do it again. I
got by with it that time, I'll do it again. And they just keep
on doing it, keep on doing it. And just because men are restrained,
but yet if they're given a chance, they'll return to their sin.
You take Pharaoh, how many times, how many times did God speak
to Pharaoh in signs? Ten different signs, all kinds
of signs. And what did Pharaoh say? Who is the Lord that I should
obey him? God had blocked Saul from getting
to David time and time and time and time again, yet he went on
in his wickedness. And here David, like our masters,
pursued, proving that our spiritual enemies won't let us have peace
very long. The first scripture I quoted
in a long time, but everybody here knows it's true. It's through
much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of God. much
tribulation either coming in going out or in one or the other and that's
just the way it is and that's the way it's going to be until
the Lord takes us home and then look where David was verse 3,
and his men, Saul took three thousand men and went to seek
David, and his men were upon the rocks, and his men were upon
the rocks of the wild goats. He was in the rocks of the wild
goats, and then in verse 3, and he came to the sheep coats by
the way, where was a cave. And he was in this rock of the
wild goats, a sheep coat. And it's a, you know, a cave.
And this sheep coat is where the shepherds would take their
sheep in that cave when it's real hot in the heat of the day.
And they'd go in that cave and take them sheep in there and
they'd get out of the sun. And David and his men was in
this cave. David and his men was in this
cave. And they came by the way where this cave was and Saul
went in to cover his feet. He went in to go to sleep. Went
in to take a nap. And it says there, and David
and his men remained in the sides of the cave. They were in there. Saul comes in there and lays
down. Goes to sleep. He got fellows with him. Oh my. Saul went in. Here is Saul at
David's mercy and didn't know it. And didn't know it. You know that's the way it is
with men. They do not know that they're at the mercy of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He can do with them as he pleases.
He can do with them as he pleases. He can do with me or you as he
pleases. But in verse 4, And he is laying
there, and the men of David said unto him, Behold the day, this
is the day. God's opened this door for you.
God and his providence made a way for you. Where I'll deliver your
enemy into your hand and you can do as him as seemeth good
unto you. Oh, this is the day. Not enemy. Do you do what you feels right
and you do what you feels good. And God's in this. In fact, Romans
11, 36 says, of him, through him, and to him are all things
to whom be glory, both now and forever. And I tell you, David
and his men, they saw faith in everything. They saw the faith
of God and the hand of God in everything. And that's what true
faith does. And people who know God, faith
sees God's hands everywhere. When we, you know, we believe
God and we believe that God's in everything, in everything
that happens. And they saw God in this, great
or small, great or small. And for the only way for us to
honor God and our hearts to be kept in peace is to believe God
in every situation and circumstance. You know, when something great
happens, something big happens, we can deal with that pretty
good. We can deal with that pretty good. But you sit and let some
little bitty something happen to us, and we lose it. Of course, you're not that way.
It's not the little things that aggravate you. The big things
don't bother you. But you let them little things. Them little
things will just... And that's why Zechariah said,
despise not the day of small things. Don't despise them. Don't despise them. And they
said to David, well David, here's your opportunity. It's too good
to be missed. Don't miss this. All you've got
to do is take your sword and you've got to strike him just
one time. And you know what you'll do?
You'll get to go to the throne. You'll get to be king. That's
all you got to do. Just take your sword one time
and it's over for him and you get to be king. Boy, what a momentous
time in David's life. And how many times did they come
to seek our Lord Jesus Christ? How many times? You go through
the Gospels and see how many times. The first time is when
he was preaching, and the first time he preached, he went to
talking about God's sovereignty in election, God's sovereignty
in the widow and Naaman, and they from going with him, from
delighting in his word and how wonderful it was, until they
went out to kill him, and he had to slip out of their hands.
And then they sent men to tell, how many times did they go after
the master? And here he comes after David.
And our Lord Jesus, when he stood before Pilate, you know what
he said? He said, I can call 12 legions of angels, Pilate.
You don't worry me. You don't disturb me. You don't
shake me up. I'm not afraid of you. I don't
care about you. I've got power to crucify God.
You don't have any power at all. The only power you've got my
father gave you. And I'll tell you that's what
David here, he says he's got this opportunity. This man pursued
him and pursued him and pursued him and pursued him and tried
to kill him time and time and time again. And what a momentous time in
David's life. If he listened to them and done
what Providence had seemingly put in his way. Put in his way. His life of being a fugitive
would end. One stroke of his sword and he
ascends the throne. No more poverty. No more being
hunted as a goat, as a dog, as a flea. No more reproaches. No more defeats. Instead, He'll
have praises, and triumph, and riches. And all of them would
be His. And here's David. God's Providence
has put Saul right there. David's standing right by him.
David's looking down at him. And his men say, there he is. Let's end this thing right now.
Let's get out of this cave. We'll all be free men. Let's
end it right now. How do we interpret God's providence? God put Saul right there. Now, we need to be very careful.
I love what Brother Greg said here that Sunday morning. He said, if you want to know
what God's will is for you, he said, prayer, providence, and
peace. If you can't find peace, then
you know God's not in it. And that's what David was going
through right here. God's providence had put Saul
right there. God had promised David the throne.
And he's going to get the throne. Is it time for him to get it?
It looked like it. Saul has showed David no mercy. So is it God's will that David
should be his instrument in taking vengeance upon him? And here's God trying David.
Trying his faith. Trying his patience. Should he
do what's natural to do? It would be a natural thing for
him to kill this man. That would have been a natural
thing to do. Should he do what would be natural
to do? Kill him? Or wait on God to avenge his
enemy? It wasn't David's place to seek
revenge. It wasn't even in his heart to
get even. Ain't that what it says? Then
it says there in the last part of verse 4, then David arose
and he took his knife, and you know they have these long robes
of them. David rested down there and took his knife and cut off
all the way around and walked out of there with a piece of
cloth, you know, round. He walked out of there. He had
it with him. Had it with him. Now I tell you what, he could
have just as easily killed him. But it wasn't in David's heart.
Wasn't in David's heart. And look what it says there.
And it came to pass afterwards, and God willing, I'm going to
preach on this next week. That David's heart smote him.
Because he had cut off Saul's skirt. David's heart smote him. Because he just cut off Saul's
cord. And he said unto his men, the Lord forbid that I should
do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch
forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed. So David stopped his servants,
stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not
to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave
and went on his way, never knowing what happened. Never know what
happened. When God tries our heart, like
he did David's, how do we know, how can we know to react? If
we're put in a situation, like David was, or in some other kind
of a situation, and when God tries our hearts, and his providence
seems to put us in a situation, it seems like it makes it plain.
But I can tell you how we know how we're to react when God tries
us. First of all, we gotta know what
His Word says. If you know what His Word says,
not just the part that suits us, not just the part that we
can use to justify ourselves, but having the knowledge of His
Word. That Word, the Word of God, tells us plainly, tells
us very plainly what we're to do and how we're to act and how
we're to treat. It doesn't tell you how you're
to treat me. It tells me how I'm supposed
to treat you. That's what it tells me. By the Word of God
our hearts are judged. By the Word of God our wills
are broken. Now let me show you. Look over here in Romans chapter
12 or chapter 11 and verse 12. You know We know from God's Word, we're
never ever to seek revenge. We're not to be covetous. We're
not to have worldly ambition. We're not to be impatient. But
look what he says here in Romans 12 verse 17. Recompense to no
man evil for evil. If a man treats you evil, don't
turn around and treat him evil. Provide all things honest in
the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as
life in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves. David had a chance to avenge
himself, an opportunity. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine
enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink. For in
so doing thou shalt he cause a fire on his head. Be not overcome
of evil, but overcome evil with good. Saul intended evil for
David, and David rendered him good for his evil. And let me
show you this in Psalm 37. Let's look in Psalm 37 and I'll
quit. You know a spiritually healthy
heart will interpret God's providence as trials of faith and patience. And you know we've all been through
them and we'll go through them again. And we see brothers and
sisters going through them now. And we know that they'll get
through. We know that God will see them safely through. We know
that God Himself will carry them through. God will do it. We pray
for them. We love them. But God will have
to do the work. And a spiritual healthy heart
will interpret God's providence in trials and faith and patience.
It's a time to deny self. Not a time for self-indulgence.
Look what he said here in Psalm 37 verse 5. Commit thy way unto
the Lord. That's what David did. His heart
smote him for just cutting his throat. Trust also in him and
he shall bring it to pass. But he's going through that now.
He'll bring it to an end. And look what he says down in
verse 7. Rest in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently
for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him
who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass. Cease from anger and forsake
wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise. to do evil, for evildoers
shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall
inherit the earth." Wait, rest, and commit. God help us always. I know what the Bible says about
it. I sure would like to walk in
the light that I know as well as I, as best I can, you know. God help us to always render
good for evil. God helpin' us. Our Father, O our blessed Savior,
our Master, our Lord, our God, thank you for Your wonderful
grace for your strength, for your encouragement, for your
word. For your word, your word. Oh, what a word. Powerful word. Searching word. A word that we
want written in our hearts and hid in our hearts that we might
not sin against you. God bless these dear saints of
God as they go home, go to their jobs, Give them a night's rest. Touch their bodies, make them
strong. Protect and preserve us all to Your glory. Help us
to always wait upon You and to rest in You. And Lord, You'll
always bring to pass whatever's going on in our lives or our
brethren's lives. And we bless You for that promise
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.