Let's open our Bibles to 1 Samuel
chapter 19. We'll mainly be looking at verses 11
through 17, but I want to go back and begin reading in verse
10. It says, And Saul sought to smite
David, even to the wall with the javelin. But he slipped away
out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall.
And David fled and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers
unto David's house to watch him, and to slay him in the morning.
And Michael, David's wife, told him, saying, If thou save not
thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain. So Michael
let David down through a window, and he went, and fled, and escaped.
And Michael took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a
pillow of goat's hair for his bolster, and covered it with
a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers
to take David, she said, He is sick. And Saul sent the messengers
again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that
I may slay him. And when the messengers were
coming, and behold, there was an image in the bed with a pillow
of goat's hair for its bolster. And Saul said unto Michael, Why
hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he
is escaped? Michael answered Saul, He said
unto me, let me go, why shall I kill thee? Let us pray. Our Father, we ask for your wisdom
and your guidance and your power as we try to look into your word.
Lord, how we need your help. Please don't leave us to ourself
as we try to speak and be with those who come to listen. for
you had opened their ears that they may hear, and their eyes
that they may see, and illuminate their understanding. Lord, that
we may behold you in all your glory as you were set forth in
all these pictures and times in the Old Testament. Bless this
scripture to our heart. Lord, we ask this in Christ's
name. Amen. We saw last week how that Jonathan
was Saul's son, and he was the next heir to the throne. And
we saw how God has already rejected Saul, and I believe Saul knows
it, how the Spirit of God had departed from him, and the Spirit
of God then was upon David, God's anointed. But God even used Jonathan,
who was Saul's own son, to try to help David. And we see here
today that he is going to use his own daughter. We saw back
in the chapter before how Saul gave Michael to David. Remember, he had to win her by
going and getting the 204 skins, and he purchased her. But the
reason that Saul gave Michael to David was so she'd be a snare
to him. That's the reason. It wasn't
that he wanted just her to be his wife. He thought, well, if
he's the king's son-in-law, the next time he goes into battle,
they're going to put a bullseye, a target on his back. And Saul
hated David, hated him, hated him. We saw three times that
he threw the javelin at him. He, Jonathan, tried to convince
his daddy, maybe tried to persuade him, well, just let David come
back into the palace. Well, he did, he convinced him,
and it seemed like, well, everything's at peace now. No, it wasn't.
Just so happened a war breaks out, so David has to go back,
and because he's the servant of Saul, he goes out and defeats
the battle. And here, David's just displayed
in all of his glory all over again. And Saul can't stand it.
And the evil spirit from God come upon Saul, and David played
as he did before on his harp. And Saul throws that javelin,
and he intends to kill him. He meant to kill him. And God
delivered David out of his hands. And David, notice it was said
that he escaped that night. It was at night, and that can
be applied to a lot of things. It can be darkness in our souls.
God never intended for David to be there in the palace at
this time. He's got other plans for him. It's going to be several
years before he ever sits on the throne, and there's a whole
lot of things he's going to go through between now and then.
And God will use Saul as an instrument. of making his servant and his
king through all the afflictions and trials that he goes through.
Because from what I can understand, it's the last time he went back
into the palace. And now he goes home to his wife, to Michael.
And Saul sends these messengers. Now, in the other chapter, it
said he sent servants. Remember how they inquired, and
the servants said they were acting like mediators, said, well, Saul
wants you to be his daughter, his son-in-law. And David sent
them an answer back, so they came back. But I noticed it was
kind of ironic that he sent messengers when he sent them to Jesse's
house, and he said, you tell Jesse, I want him here in the
palace. And here these messengers come.
Saul's messengers are going to watch Michael's and David's house. Really, they want to assassinate
him. They want to kill him. That's
why they're here. That's why they were sent. And they come. Listen to this. I thought this was ironic. You
remember the apostle Paul, where God said that he gave him a thorn
in the flesh? Remember what he called it in
2 Corinthians 12, verse 7? Lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations. I know David,
and we're going to see that he's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but he's still a man. He was still a man. flesh and
blood just like us. And it would have been easy.
I'm now the king's son-in-law. I'm married to the king's daughter. I rule part of his army. And
God stirs up Saul against David, the heart of a king. And the
heart of every man is in the hands of the Lord. He turns it
whichever way that he wants it to go. And this man that sits
on the throne now, this puppet king, decides, I'm going to kill
him. And he sends these messengers.
And here's what Saul - I mean, Paul said, Lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was
given to me. a thorn in the flesh. And a lot
of people try to, if you read commentaries, you can read ten
and they all got different opinions of what the thorn in the flesh
was. He tells us right here, it was the messenger of Satan
to buffet him, lest I should be exalted above measure. He sends these messengers to
buffet, to strike his servant, David. They're gathered around
his house. They're encircled around his
house. And if they could have done what
they wanted to have done, they would have killed him. It's kind
of like Job. God allowed Satan to afflict
his servant Job, and he did. And God allows Saul to afflict
his servant David and send those messengers to surround his house. But God exposes it. It says in
verse 11, Saul also sent messengers unto David's house to watch him,
to slay him in the morning. And Michael, his wife, she told
him. Now, how did she know? I don't
know. Jonathan could have told her, said, here's what Daddy's
going to do. Daddy's going to kill David. They're going to
watch him all night long, and in the morning, he's a dead man.
He's a dead man. They're not playing games. They
intend to kill him. That's what they intend to do.
And she tells him. She says, if you don't save your life tonight,
tomorrow, you'll be killed. Listen, God stirs up people against
his people. He allows them to do it. And
they serve God's purpose. But God warned him. God warned
him. And I don't know whether it was
Michael or David that came up with the plan. Now, they've got
the house circled, so what did they decide to do? What's the
way of escape? She's going to let him down this
window, out this window, and down he's going to escape. This
is not the first time this is mentioned in the Scriptures.
You remember when the spies came to Rahab the harlot's house?
You remember how she allowed them or helped them to escape?
She let them out through a window. You remember somebody else who
went through the same thing. Go back and read Acts chapter
9. Paul was going to Damascus to kill the Christians, and God
smites him down, God converts him, and now what's he doing
in Damascus? He's preaching the gospel. And
these people decide in Damascus they're going to kill Saul. Kill
him. It says, "...there was forty
Jews made avowed." that we're going to kill him. We're going
to kill him. So you know what they did? They
let him down in a basket and he escaped. God delivered those
spies. God delivered Paul. And he now
delivers David through this window. And I think this is ironic and
we'll deal with it hopefully when we get to it. She delivers
David, and he escapes through this window. And Michael, it's
hard. She's a hard person to figure
out. She eventually, you know, Saul gives her to another man,
and eventually, later on in 2 Samuel, David has her brought back to
the palace. And you remember when he's sent
for the ark? And he's dancing before the ark. He's rejoicing
in what God has done. And she looks through a window,
and she despises him. through a window. A window can
be a way that light can come into a room and it can be a way
of escape. I don't know if you've ever heard
this term. I know probably some have. It's
called egress. A window has to meet certain
sizes in a house. It's called egress. What does
that mean? So if the house catches on fire,
there is a way It has to be big enough for you to escape out
that window. You know what God did with this
window? He made a way of escape. And to what he said, he said
that he would make, there's no temptation in you, but such is
common to man. But God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able,
but he will make what? What did he say he would do?
Make a way of escape. that you may be able to bear
it. Without a window, David would
have perished. But God even supplied - you say,
well, that's just something so simple, so insignificant. It
wasn't insignificant for the spies, it wasn't insignificant
for Saul, and it wasn't insignificant for David. And they never even
knew what was going on. They were the ones in the dark.
They were the ones that God had blinded their eyes. Can you imagine
what those people thought that morning when they found out they're
going to kill Saul? I mean, Saul, whose name was
changed to Paul, and it's kind of ironic, he was of the same
tribe, the tribe of Benjamin, and they probably named him after
King Saul. But God changed his name to Paul.
He said, we're going to kill him. Why did they intend to kill
the spies? Why did they intend to kill Paul?
Why? Why would people be so enraged
to want blood that way? Because of the gospel and the
God and the Christ that they preached. It stirs up the hatred,
the enmity of men. Now turn with me, if you would,
to Psalms chapter 59. And we'll come back here just
in a few minutes. Psalms chapter 59. Moose, if you would help me,
I was going to ask you this name before we got here this morning and
I forgot it, but if you'll notice the heading of this psalm, it
says, To the Chief Musician, and what is that, how is that
next word pronounced, Moose? Somebody, anybody else tell me?
Al-Tash-i-Tin-i. Al-Tash-i-Tin-i. Al-Tash-i-Tin-i. To the Chief Musician, Al-Tash-i-Tin-i,
a mik-tam of David. Now watch this, when was this
psalm wrote? when Saul sent and they watched
the house to kill him. He wrote this when it was going
on in 1 Samuel 19. He wrote this psalm. This psalm
is written to who? The chief musician. Now, who's
the chief musician? There's only one this can have
reference to, and that's Christ. Who is the chief musician? And
then that word I had such a problem with means, that word means,
you must not destroy. And the word Mictown, and it's
also three other psalms are listed, called by that same name, Psalms
57, 58, and 59. It means a golden, a precious
psalm. So what do we have here? It's
to the chief musician. Do not destroy. Preserve. And it is a very precious psalm. How is it precious? How did we
get this psalm? Because of what David went through.
Most believers love to read the psalms. Because most of our life is spent
like David. Being chased. Being afflicted. by the messengers of Satan. Saul can be a picture of a lot
of things. I think he pictures anti-Christ religion, against
Christ, against God. He says, I'm king. I'm ruling. I will not allow this man to
reign upon this room. Here's what Spurgeon said. Had
David never been cruelly hunted by Saul, Israel and the Church
of God in after ages would have missed this song. The music of
the sanctuary is in no small degree indebted to the trials
of the saints. Affliction, he said, is the tuner
of the hearts of the sanctified songster. He said it was through
this affliction that we have this song. And it says, destroy
it not. and whom God preserves, Satan
cannot destroy. If Satan had his way with David,
he would have destroyed him. If he had had his way with our
Lord Jesus Christ, he would have destroyed him. Remember when
he was born. Herod, when he was mocked, he
sent, and he said, you kill all the babies, all the children.
I want him dead. You bring me back where he's
born, and I can go find him. Now, Psalms 59, beginning in
verse 1. Deliver me from mine enemies,
O my God. Deliver me from them that rise
up against me. Deliver me from the workers of
iniquity, and save me from bloody men, for they lie in wait for
my soul. The mighty are gathered against
me, not for my transgressions, nor for my sin." So we know this
cannot just have - this can't have reference just to David,
because David had sin. But he said, they're gathered
against me, not for my transgressions, nor for my sin, and there's only
one that I can have reference to. There is only one without
sin, and that was Christ. You notice it says, they lie
in wait. for my soul. In Micah 7, 2, it
says they lie in wait for blood. In that scripture I was trying
to make reference to in Acts chapter 23, verse 21, it says, But do not thou yield unto them
for they are lying wait unto him. For him are them more than
forty men who have bound themselves with an oath that they shall
neither eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now we are
ready looking for a promise from thee. They were lying in wait.
And in Ephesians it says, talks about false prophets. You know
how it describes them? It says they lie in wait to deceive. You ever seen a cat watching
a bird? as she crunches down. You know
what she's doing? She's lying and she's waiting. She's looking just for the right
opportunity. We're hiding ourselves, we're
disguising ourselves, and we're just lying here and waiting.
And he says, they lie and wait for my soul. He said, they are swift. They
run and prepare themselves without my fault. They're swift to shed
blood. They run and prepare themselves
without my fault. Now, notice in verse 4 and 5
both, he uses the word awake. Awake to help me. And behold,
God never slumbers nor sleeps. So why does he say awake? Many
times to us, it seems like God's asleep. It seems like God doesn't
unsee. It seems like God doesn't care.
You remember another time when the disciples were on the ship
and it was in a storm? You remember Jesus was in the
hinder part of the ship, asleep, and they went and awoke him and
they said, Do you not care that we perish? Do you think the ship's
going to go down with Christ in the ship? But they said, he said, awake
to help me and behold, thou therefore, O Lord God of host. Of what host? His angels are ministering spirits
sent forth to minister unto them who are the heirs of salvation. They're his host. And he's the
God of hosts, and he's the God of Israel. Notice these names,
how he makes reference to his God as he calls upon his God. Now, this is David. This is just
like God allows us to see as he opens up his heart. What did
he feel? What did he experience when he
went through this? This is it right here. He looked
to his God. The first thing he said was,
Deliver me. The God of Israel is who? He's
the covenant God to the spiritual Israel of God. Awake. to visit all the heathen. You
say, well, Saul wasn't a heathen. Well, he sure acted like one.
Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Now, doesn't that
seem odd that he would pray that way? He didn't pray that God
would be merciful. He said, pray that not, be not
merciful to any wicked transgressors. He is saying that it's a prayer
that God would not suffer them being wicked people to go at
large and accomplish what they had purposed in their own heart.
And then he says, Selah. Notice that means just pause.
Now, you think about that. Think about what was going on,
how he felt. And then verse 6, they return
at evening, and they make a noise like a dog. And they go round
about the city. Behold, they belch out with their
mouth, swords are in their lips, for who say they doth hear? But
thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them, thou shalt have them in
derision." He said they go round the city just like a dog. This is not dogs like we have.
This is not the domestic dog. Spurgeon said these are those
Eastern dogs. They are despised, unowned, loathsome,
degraded, lean, hungry dogs. Isaiah 56.10 described them this
way. His watchmen are blind. They
are all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They
cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. He said
they go about the cities. barking, making a noise like
a dog, like a ravenous dog. That's what it is. That's how
he describes these people. That's how he looks at them.
Those messengers that saw his scent, they're just like a pack
of dogs. Vicious. Hungry for blood. That's how
he describes them. Howling. You know why they're
howling? They're disappointed. Up there
where me and Sandy live, sometimes at night, and it will really
just about scare you when you hear those coyotes. I mean, if
you've ever heard them, you know what I'm talking about. All they
are is a wild dog. If you see one out, it looks
just like a German Shepherd dog, but they're not a German Shepherd
dog. My daughter had a huge Chocolate lab one time and that and that
scared that dog to death because a bunch of them came around and
that to me that Describes this kind of dog. It says It's hungry
for blood. You know how you draw them in
a Rabbit makes a sound when it's in distress and they'll play
that sound or that or it sounds like a pig in distress It's like
an animal in distress and that's what draws them. You know what
they're after after blood. That's this kind of dog and You know what they wanted? They
wanted David's blood. And those scribes and Pharisees
and those religious people in our Lord's day, they were just
like these dogs, hungry for blood. They returned. They may leave,
but they returned. They returned at evening. They
make a noise like a dog and go round about the city. They belch
out with their mouths. Swords are in their lips. For
who say they hear? Nobody. They say, well, nobody
doesn't hear what we're doing. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh. He shall have them in derision. Remember that, what it says,
and go back and read Psalms 2. It says, the kings of the earth
gathered themselves together. They said, we're going to cast
off his swords. He's not reigning over us. And
it said, God shall laugh. God will have them in derision.
They think they're going to accomplish their purpose. God will laugh.
Verse 9, because of his strengths will I wait upon thee. They waited. for blood, and David says, I
will wait upon him, for God is my defense. The God of my mercy
shall prevent me. That word prevent is, a lot of
old writers used to talk about prevenient grace. Grace that
goes before grace. And the God of my mercy shall
prevent me or go before me. It is grace preceding grace. Do you know before God showed
you grace and quickened you and brought you unto life and faith
in Christ, His grace prevented you. His grace went before. His grace watched over you. What
did Paul say? who separated me from my mother's
wound. Separated me. Grace. Why didn't
you die before you met Christ? Grace wouldn't allow it. And
I think David sees even in King Saul, this is God's prevenient
grace. This is even grace. Preceding
grace. You say, preacher, how do you
see any grace here? Who's going to defend him? Who's
going to deliver him? How was he delivered? How were
you delivered? You're no match. You're no match
for your flesh. You're no match for the world.
And you're surely not any match for Satan and his messengers. So how were you delivered? I'll
tell you how. Grace. Grace. The God of my mercy shall prevent
me. God shall let me see. my desires upon mine enemies. Slay them not, lest my people
forget. Scatter them by thy power, and
bring them down, O Lord, thy shield. For the sin of their
mouth, and the words of their lips, let them even be taken
in their pride, in percursion and lying which they speak. Consume them in wrath. Consume
them that they may not be. And let, watch this, and let
them know, and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto
the ends of the earth. That they may know that God rules
in Jacob. He's God. You say, well, it looks like
the enemy has the upper hand. It seems like David's surrounded. God's in control. And they will
find out, and God will reveal to them through his strength
and power that he's God. God does what? He rules in Jacob. And to the ends of the earth,
Selah. Verse 14, at the last stanza. At evening, let them return. He said in verse 6, they return
at evening. And watch this, I want you to
see this. In verse 14, it says at evening, what's the next word?
Let. The only way they return is God
lets them return. He must let them. And even let them return and
let them make a noise like a dog. You say, well, why does God let
all these false preachers in this world? Why does he let them? He either lets them or he doesn't.
Isn't that right? And they even serve his purpose. And let them make a noise like
a dog and go around the city. Now watch this. Let them wander
up and down for meat and grudge if they be not satisfied. They cannot do what they'd like. And you know what that does?
That makes them that much madder. Everything King Saul plans, it
just blows up in his face. He thought, well, I'll trick
him and David into being my son-in-law, and he'll go out and fight the
Philistines, and he's got to bring back a hundred foreskins
of the Philistines, that bunch of uncircumcised. Sure, he'll
never survive that. Well, he did. And it says his
name was set aside. His name now is precious. He
tries to kill him with a javelin three times. God spares him. And God let all this happen to
let everybody know that God delivered David. He let them. Read on. Let them wander up and down from
Eden grudge if they be not satisfied. But watch this right here. But
I will sing of thy power. God's power. God rules and overrules
everything that happens. Everything. His power. God is able. He is able. How does He display His power?
Through the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. I will sing of thy power, yea,
I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, for thou hast
been my defense and refuge in the day and the time of my trouble."
Who saved him? God did. Who did he praise? He praised God. He'd give him
all the credit. He didn't say, well, look what
me and Michael figured out. Look at the plan we come up with. The only reason, the only reason
that David made it to the throne is God protected him. The only
reason that Christ was not killed before he made an atonement for
our sins was God exalted him. And the only reason you are preserved
and destroyed them not, why? He preserves you. He keeps you
every day. Every day. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Your steps are ordered by the
Lord. See that you walk circumspectly, not as a fool, but as a wise
man, redeeming the time because the days are evil. We're going
to see the next chapter. You know what David tells Jonathan?
He said, I'm only one step between me and death. And that's what
he thought. Have you ever felt that way?
And in those times, God will make
known unto you that it's His power. Have you ever felt like your
house was surrounded? Surrounded. I don't know if I can get out
of this. God will make a way of escape. And he does. And that's why David, he sits
down and he writes this psalm. It's not just the psalm. This
is an inspired word. This is their song. He's going
to praise his God. God delivered me. He's my refuge. And to thee,
O my strength, while I sing, for God is my strength, for God
is my defense, and the God of my mercy." When you see what
David was going through, to me that psalm just takes on a whole
new light. Now let's go back to 1 Samuel 19. Okay, Michael lets David out
this window. David's gone. And she decides to come up with
this plan. She's going to take this image,
and Gil calls it a terrafilm. And she puts this image or this
idol in this bed and covers it up to make it look like there's
a man in the bed. That's what this is saying. He
said, this is the same word that's used. Remember when Rachel stole
her daddy's gods from Laban and Laban comes after Jacob and he
says, you've stole my gods. And Rachel had them. She had
stole them. Same word. It was an image. It was an idol. You say, well,
did David know it was in the house? I don't think he knew
it was in the house, but she did. This was her plan to deceive
her daddy. And it worked for a while. Does this not sound familiar?
What does religion do? They take an idol, and they say,
that's David in the bed. No, it's not. David's gone. David's
nowhere to be found. And they said, well, that's him.
They said, well, it looks like him. He's just sick. And they go back and they tell
Saul, they said, well, we went to get him, but Michael said
he was sick in the bed. They said, well, did you see
him? No, but it looked like him. That wasn't him. He's gone. And
you know what Saul says? Saul said, bring me the bed and
him in it. I don't care if he is sick. He's
going to die at my hands. But what I want you to see is
she did this through deception, and this is what religion does.
It's just an idol. It's just an image. It's just
a figment of their imagination. You know what God said he would
do? Now, listen to me. God said, I will send them strong
delusions, and they will believe what? A lie. Are they not believing
a lie? They said, well, he's there.
And they believed it. And let me tell you this, that's
what the world is being told today. And they're going to find
out one day that in that bed is nothing but a dead, lifeless
idol. David's not there. And when Saul finally asked Michael,
said, why did you do this? And I want you to see this. Don't
you see what she does? She sets David in a bad light.
You know what she said? She said he said he'd kill me
if I didn't. That ain't what David said. You know what religion does?
They try to set the Lord Jesus Christ in a bad light. He's God. He rules over all things. does all things for his glory
and for his honor and for the salvation of his people, and
he'll deliver them. He done escaped. Why don't you
feel like she had to come up with this plan? That's what it
is. This plan that men have is hatched out of their imaginations,
and they say, I think this will work. And it deceives people. They're
deceived. God said that they would believe
a lie. And what it also says, that if
it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. Now, that's a deception. That's
a deception. God will not let his people be
deceived. Why? He said, my sheep, you're
my boys, and they follow me. Amen.