And 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 En Gedi. Then Saul took three thousand
chosen men out 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." Now, I don't know what that means. I don't know if he went
in to take a nap or he went in to go to the bathroom, but there
he was in this cave. And Saul went in to cover his
feet. It's interesting, all the commentaries I read didn't tell
me what that meant. David and his men remained in
the sides of the cave. And the men of David said to
him, behold, the day which the Lord said unto thee, behold,
I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest
do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose and
cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass
afterwards that David's heart smote him because he'd 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 my hand against him, seeing he
is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his servants
with these words and suffered them not to rise against Saul.
But Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way." Now, David
had an opportunity to get vengeance against his enemy. Seemed real, didn't it? But he
didn't do it. Now, why? This man was trying
to kill him. He was against him. And the Lord
had promised David, your enemies are going to be destroyed. Yet
David would not do this. Why? Well, because it was wrong. It was wrong. David acted in
a way that glorified God's grace at this time. Now, two chapters
later, he's going to act horribly. But right now, he's doing the
right thing. This was the Lord's anointed,
and it would be wrong for him to go after him. I don't know
what else to say about it other than it was wrong. And David
demonstrated grace at this time. It was the grace of God. Now,
anytime we do what's right, Why do we do what's right? Because
of his grace to us. He prevents us from acting the
way we would normally act. I mean, he's going to be acting
horribly in the next chapter even. But here he does what's
right, and it's because of the grace of God toward him and in
him. And he refuses to do to Saul
what we would have thought he would have done. He acted very
honorably. Verse 8, David also arose afterwards
and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, My
lord, the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed himself.
Now consider him doing this. After all Saul had done for him,
look at the humility he conducts himself with. Verse nine, and
David said to Saul, wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying,
behold, David seeks thy hurt? I'm not seeking your hurt. Behold,
this day thine eyes have seen how the Lord hath delivered thee
today into my hand in the cave, and some bade me kill thee. But
mine eyes spared thee, and I said, I'll not put forth mine hand
against my Lord, for he's the Lord's anointed. He would not
do it. Moreover, my father, see, yea,
see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off
the skirt of thy robe, and kill thee not. Know thou, and see
that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and
I have not sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take
it. The Lord judged between me and thee, and the Lord avenged
me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. Now what does
that tell us about getting revenge? Getting vengeance. Should never
be done, should it? David would not do it. He said,
the Lord judged between, may the Lord give me and you the
grace to just rest in what he does, to just wait on him. Don't try to protect yourself.
Don't try to avenge yourself. Just wait on the Lord. That's
what David did at this time. The Lord judged between me and
thee, and the Lord avenged me of thee, but mine hand shall
not be upon thee, as saith the proverb of the ancients. This
is not in the Bible. I don't know where David got
this, but here's what it says. Wickedness proceeded from the
wicked, but my name shall not be upon thee. After whom is the
king of Israel come out? After whom does thou pursue?
After a dead dog? After a flea? Now this is how
David saw himself. He saw himself as a dead dog
and as a flea. Dead has to do with, if you and
I ever understand anything about our sin, We're going to see something
about our deadness, our inability. We're fleas. That's talking about
our smallness and our insignificance. That's what I am in light of
my sin. That's what I am right now. And this is how David saw
himself. He said, who are you pursuing?
Why are you pursuing? I'm nothing more than a dead
dog and a flea. I can't do any harm to you. Now let's go on
reading verse 15. The Lord therefore be judge and
judge between me and thee and see and plead my cause and deliver
me out of thy hand. Now, this is a beautiful illustration
of faith. David doesn't try to do anything,
does he? He just says, the Lord deliver you out of my hand and
the Lord plead my cause. And this is precisely what I
need. I need the Lord to plead my cause. I need him to represent
me. I need him to speak to the father
in my behalf. I'm not going to say anything.
I'm looking for the Lord Himself to plead my cause." Now, here
we have this false repentance of Saul. And it came to pass,
when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul,
that Saul said, Is this the voice of my son David? And Saul lifted
up his voice and he wept. He was so sorry over the way
he had conducted himself. But it's false. It doesn't last. But yet look how real it looks. And he said to David, thou art
more righteous than I, for thou has rewarded me good, whereas
I have rewarded thee evil. And thou has showed this day
how that thou has dealt well with me, for as much as when
the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killest me not.
For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
Wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done
unto me this day. And now behold, I know well that
thou shalt surely be a king and that the kingdom of Israel shall
be established in thy hand. Swear now therefore unto me by
the Lord that thou will not cut off my seed after me and thou
will not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David
swear unto Saul and Saul went home, but David and his men get
them back up into the hole. Now here we see Saul's false
repentance. And it seems so genuine, doesn't
it? He seemed so sorry over what
he'd done. Now, where can we find a clue
as to why his repentance was false? Look in verse 17. And he said
to David, thou art more righteous than I. Thou art more righteous than
I." Now, what was Saul saying when he made that statement?
He's saying, I am righteous. I'm righteous. Now, you're more
righteous than I am. All of his views of righteousness
were seen in comparing himself with somebody else. He said,
David's a better man than I am, but thou art more righteous than
I. Now what this comes right down
to is self-righteousness. Anytime you or I have any righteousness
of our own, God didn't teach us that. It's called self-righteousness. That is what he was guilty of. Now In saying you're more righteous
than I am, he's saying I am righteous. I'm righteous. And if I have
any personal righteousness, I've not been taught by the Lord.
You see, when the Lord teaches you, When you're granted true
repentance, you see you have absolutely no righteousness at
all. And it's only when you have no
righteousness at all that you can trust Christ as your righteousness
before God. Isn't it a blessing to have no
righteousness? It's a blessing of God's grace.
And what is demonstrated by Saul at this time with this seemingly
genuine repentance, he seemed so sorry and he cried. And he
said, I'll never do this again and I'll make these promises
to you. But it doesn't last. It's not genuine. And the reason
we know it's not genuine is because of his own righteousness. If God grants me and you repentance,
we're going to see beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have
no personal righteousness at all. And the only righteousness
we have is that which comes from Christ. Now this is true repentance. When I see I don't have any righteousness,
that's what repentance is. It's a change of mind. It's a
change of mind about myself. I have no righteousness at all,
and the only righteousness I have is the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Ignorance and self-righteousness
go together, don't they? Ignorance of the character of
God, ignorance of my own character, ignorance and self-righteousness
go together. But a true knowledge, a true
understanding of God makes me see that I truly have no righteousness. And that is what is wrong with
Saul. That's why he didn't have this
genuine repentance. He said, you're more righteous
than me. He still had a personal righteousness. Oh, may the Lord
deliver me from that because I'm fighting with it constantly. How I do it, it's amazing that
I could ever be self-righteous. That's amazing. But yet it's
so. But I want to stay with David
here in verse 15. The Lord therefore be judge and
judge between me and thee and see and plead my cause and deliver
me out of thine hand. That's the only hope I have.
That the Lord will plead my cause as my great intercessor and that
he'll see He'll see me in His Son, and that He'll judge me
and justify me through the Lord Jesus Christ, and deliver me
out of thy hand. Now, that is faith. May the Lord
deliver us from... I suppose self-righteousness is
the biggest oxymoron there ever was, isn't it? It's just so contrary to truth,
but may the Lord deliver us from that. Well, I'm going to quit
early this morning.