It's not that I did choose thee,
Lord. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nivert. In verse Samuel, chapter 30,
verse 20, we read, And David took all the flocks in the herds
which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This
is David's spoil. I've entitled this message, David's
Spoil. Now it is very important for
us to remember in reading the Old Testament that everything
in the Old Testament, and I say everything, is given to illustrate
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the stories are given
to illustrate some aspect of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Every word in the Old Testament
is given to teach us the gospel. Noah's Ark. Watch that. Well, that ark represents Christ.
Those in the ark are saved. Those that are not in the ark
are destroyed. Christ is that ark, the smitten
rock. Christ was that rock that was
smitten, that water came out. When the rock was smitten, when
Christ was smitten by the wrath of God, we're fed and nourished
and saved through that. All these things are given to
typify the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in 1 Samuel
chapter 30, beginning in verse 1, remembering that, it came
to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third
day. They had traveled three days
to get to Ziklag. The Amalekites had invaded the
south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire
and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew
not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went
on their way." Now, who were these Amalekites that did this
to Ziklag, the city that David was going to? were the ones who attacked Israel
first when they left Egypt. The Lord had already delivered
them from Egyptian bondage and we read in Exodus chapter 17
where the Amalekites attacked them. You might remember the
story where Moses stood on the hill with the rod of God in his
hand and when he held his hands up Israel prevailed when he put
his hands back down, the Amalekites prevailed, and Aaron and Hur
kept and raised his hands up, and they defeated the Amalekites.
The Amalekites represent the flesh. Their first battle began
not before they were delivered, but after they were delivered.
When God saves a man, really in some respects, that's when
his troubles begin. He battles this thing called the flesh.
And God said that He was against the Amalekites forever. As a
matter of fact, 40 years later, when you read of Israel getting
ready to enter into the promised land, He reminds them, destroy
the Amalekites. Don't have any peace with the
Amalekites. So they represent the flesh. And the Amalekites came in and
invaded Ziklag and took all the wives and the livestock away. Now in 1 Samuel chapter 27, we
need to get some more background as to what had been taking place.
We read of David. And David said in his heart,
I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There's nothing
better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines. And Saul shall despair of me.
He'll forget me. He'd been fleeing from Saul.
And he thought if I could just go to the land of the Philistines,
Saul will forget about me, not seek me anymore. And so shall
I escape out of his hand. Now David, the man after God's
own heart, is now in a compromised position. He leaves Israel and
goes to the land of the Philistines. So we read in verse 2 of 1 Samuel
27, And David arose and passed over with six hundred men that
were with him unto Achish the son of Malak king of Gath. And
David dwelt with Achish at Gath. He and his men, remember these
were Philistines, enemies of Israel, He dwelt with them, he
and his men, every man with his household, even David with his
two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess,
Nabal's wife. And it was told Saul that David
was fled to Gath, into the land of the Philistines, and he sought
no more again for him. Saul said, well, just leave him
alone. So here David is in the land of the Philistines, and
he was there for some 16 months. Let's go on reading. And David
said unto Achish, this king, If I have now found grace in
thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country,
that I may dwell there. For why should thy servant dwell
in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that
day. That's the place that the Amalekites
raided. He gave him Ziklag that day, whereof Ziklag pertaineth
unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David
dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. Sixteen months he was out of
Israel living with Israel's enemies. And look what he did. Let me
read a few more verses. and invaded the Gesherites and
the Gerrites and the Amalekites. For those nations were of old
the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even in
the land of Egypt. And David smote the land, and left neither
man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen,
and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned
and came to Achish, this king he had been with. And Achish
said, Whither have you made a road today? And David said, Against
the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jeremelites,
and against the south of the Kenites. David lied. He lied about where he got this
spoil from. He said, We have got it from
Judah. He said he'd invaded his own
country. He lied in order to make this
man think he was for it. Verse 11, And David saved neither
man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest
they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be
his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
David killed everybody, so no one would be alive to tell what
he'd actually done. And Achish believed David, saying,
he hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore,
he'll be my servant forever. So King Achish thought, I've
got David now, because David told him this lie. And he thought,
well, Israel will hate him now. Now, during this time, you can
go ahead and read in chapters 28 and 29, the rest of the Philistines
became suspicious of David. And they said, we don't want
him going into battle with us. He might turn on us and go back
and fight for the children of Israel. And so they watered him
out. So King Akish came to him and
said, well, I'm sorry, you've been faithful to me, but all
the lords of the Philistines want you out. They don't want
you following us. So David is returning to Ziklag, not knowing
what was going to happen. He'd been in a compromised position
for 16 months. He'd been living a lie. And now
he's returning to Ziklag, Sodom. And when he gets there, he finds
out the town has been raided by the Amalekites, that they
stole his wife, his children, all their goods, everybody lost
everything. So he was at the bottom. So we
read in verse 3, So David and his men came to the city, and,
behold, it was burned with fire. And their wives and their sons
and their daughters were taken captives. And David and the people
that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they
had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken
captive, Ahinahem, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal
the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed. For the people
spake of stoning him. You see, David knew deep down
that this was all of his fault. Because he was in this compromised
position, this had happened to everybody. And evidently everybody
else knew it was all his fault because they were all wanting
to stone him over what took place. David hit the bottom. David was greatly distressed,
for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all
the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his
daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord. There was absolutely nothing
to be encouraged about in the circumstances. But David is given
grace at this time to do what only a believer can do. He encouraged
himself in the Lord. Now as long as salvation is in
Christ, as long as God is on the throne ruling in absolute
sovereignty, as long as God is good, as long as God is just,
as long as God is gracious and merciful, as long as the precious
blood of Christ has power to put away sin, as long as salvation
is by grace, every believer has reason to be encouraged. He didn't
have anything to be encouraged in his circumstances, but he
encouraged himself in the Lord his God. Verse 7, And David said
to Abathur the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither
the ephod. And Abathur brought unto the
ephod to David, and David inquired at the Lord. And this is what
he should have done in the first place before he went up to the
land of the Philistines. He should have inquired of the
Lord, but now he does what he should have done in the first
place. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue
after this troop? Shall I overtake them? These
people that had invaded Ziklag and the Amalekites, should I
carry them all away? He doesn't even know what to
do at this time. He's simply asking the Lord, What do I do? Shall
I overtake them? And he answered, the Lord answered
him, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail
recover all." Now here we see that this David is a glorious
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He recovered all. All we lost,
he recovered on the cross, and he did so without fail. Verse
9, So David went after the Lord told him, Go, pursue, you'll
get everybody back. So David went, he and the 600
men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those
that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and 400
men, for 200 abode behind, which were so faint, they couldn't
ford over the brook. It was a raging river or creek,
and it was and they'd been walking for three days. They were tired.
They didn't have the strength to get over 200. So they stayed
back. More on this in a moment. They
stayed back and David and 400 men went to pursue the Amalekites
who'd invaded their city after the Lord gave them this confidence
and assurance that they would win. So we read in verse 11 after
they'd forded the brook, the 400 men, and they found an Egyptian
in the field and brought him to David. and gave him bread,
and he did eat. And they made him drink water,
and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters
of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him.
For he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water three days and
three nights." This Egyptian, they found him laying there in
a field. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou,
and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man
of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, the ones who had invaded Ziklag.
And my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. And
we made an evasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon
the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of
Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him,
Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swearing
to me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver
me in the hands of my master, and I'll bring thee down to this
company. Now here we see the adorable providence of God. The
Amalekites had burned Ziklag with fire, and they carried the
women away. Now one of the Amalekites had a servant, an Egyptian, who
fell sick, and he just left him there to die. He just left him,
and there he is laying there dying. But God in his providence
brought all this to pass so this man could tell exactly where
the Amalekites were. And this man who was left behind
to die tells these people, this is God's providence, he's behind
everything, all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. God worked this
out so David and his men would know where the Amalekites were,
verse 16. And when he had brought him down,
behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and
drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had
taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land
of Judah. Now these Amalekites were having
a party. They were so overjoyed at all the spoil they had taken,
they had no idea what lay ahead. So we read in verse 17, And David
smoked them from the twilight. Nighttime, even unto the evening
of the next day, there was some smiting going on in the dark. And there escaped not a man of
them, save four hundred young men which rode upon camels, and
fled." Now, this is given to typify the gospel. This smiting. David and these four hundred
men supernaturally smote the Amalekites, a great vast army,
and destroyed them. And they did this in the dark.
On the cross, there was some smiting taking place, and that
smiting was in the dark. Remember how God turned the lights
out when His Son hung on the cross? The sun refused to shine,
and there was some smiting going on. Awake, O sword, smite the
shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. You see, on the
cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was being smitten by His Father.
The sins of his people became his sins. He's our substitute. He took the place of all who
believe. Their sins became his sins, and
God the Father smote him, and he put away those sins. But that's
not the only smiting that was going on. You see, 4,000 years
before this, there was a prophecy given regarding the serpent,
the one who deceived Adam and Eve, Satan. He says to the serpent,
you'll bruise his heel. And on the cross, the heel of
the Lord Jesus Christ was bruised, but the seed of woman, the Lord
Jesus Christ, will crush your head. And that's what was going
on when Christ was on the cross. Satan was being smitten. I love
to think about this. The devil thought that he'd gained
the victory in the death of Christ, and he didn't know that all he
was doing was being smashed and defeated. Oh, the victory that
the Lord Jesus won on the cross, the full salvation of all His
people. And the scripture says, And David
recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued
his two wives, and there was nothing lacking to them, neither
small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil
nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all.
And David took all the flocks and the herds which they dragged
before those other cattle and said, This is David's spoil. Now, I think it's interesting
how the scripture points out that 400 people got away of the
Amalekites. Notice in verse 17, David smote
them from twilight even to the evening of the next day, and
there escaped not a man of them, say 400 young men which rode
upon camels and fled. Now why this interesting detail?
Remember the Amalekites represent the flesh. And as long as I'm
alive, I'm gonna have to deal with my flesh. The spirit lusts
against the flesh, the flesh lusts against the spirit. These
are contrary one to another so that you can't do the things
that you would. I'm reminded that I'm gonna deal with the
flesh until the day I die, but still David recovered all. Verse 19, there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither
spoiled nor anything that they'd taken to them. David recovered
all. Now what this shows is the completeness
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in behalf of His people.
He recovered all and I am complete. I am nothing lacking in Him. All that God requires of me,
I have. And I don't have the minimum,
I have the maximum. I have all that God requires
because when Christ said it is finished, It was said regarding
everybody He died for, there's nothing lacking. In Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body and you are complete. Nothing lacking in Him. If you're in Him, you have completeness
of righteousness, you have completeness of holiness, you have completeness
of redemption. There's nothing lacking. You
can't get any more saved than you are. You can't get any more
holy than you are. You can't get any more righteous
than you are. If you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing
lacking. David recovered all. All that he died for, he saved. When he said it is finished,
there was nothing lacking. And when I stand before God on
Judgment Day, it will be said of me, there's nothing lacking.
He's perfect in Christ Jesus. And between now and then, it's
always gonna be, there's nothing lacking. And David recovered
all. Verse 20, and David took all
the flocks in the herds which they draved before other cattle
and said, this is David's spoil. David brought back more Then
he was taken away. Not only did he bring back everything
the Amalekites took, he took all of the Amalekites' spoil
that they've got everywhere else, and he said, this is David's
spoil. David not only recovered the
losses, but he came back with much more. Now, I have more than
I lost in Adam. Adam had an innocent nature. He had human righteousness, but
the believer has Christ's righteousness. That's a whole lot better than
Adam's righteousness. I made the very righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. Adam was subject to fall. He
did fall. But do you know that a believer
cannot fall away? They have a nature in them that's
holy that will not let them fall away. Oh, can they fall? Sure
they do as far as the flesh, but they cannot fall away. They've got an impeccable nature
in that sense, a nature that cannot fall. Adam knew nothing
of the joy of forgiveness. Adam knew nothing of the joy
of salvation by grace. Adam knew nothing of acceptance
in the Beloved. He stood on His own, but the
believer is actually accepted in the Beloved. Oh, we have infinitely
more if we're in Christ than we did before the fall. So in
that sense, it was a blessing. People say, why does God permit
evil? Well, for His own glory. for His own glory. He allowed
the fall. He allowed the fall of Adam. But I'm thankful He
did. What would we know of salvation? What would we know of the greatness
of God? What would we ever know of the mercy and the grace of
God if there were no fall? How would we know the wisdom
of God and how He's made a way to be just and justify the ungodly
if there were no fall? We recover more. Now, the story's
not over. Verse 21. And David came to the
two hundred men, remember them? They were so faint and weak they
couldn't get across the creek or the river. The water was raging
and they left him behind. They didn't go and recover the
spoil, they stayed behind. And David came to the two hundred
men which were so faint that they couldn't follow David. whom
they had made also to abide at the brook Besor. And they went
forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him.
They came back to meet the four hundred men. And when David came
near to the people, he saluted them. He treated them with much
respect. Then answered all the wicked
men. and men of Belial." That's another
word for Satan. These were wicked men. These
were unbelievers. These were part of the 400 that
went with David to rescue everybody, but they were not believers.
They were all the wicked, all children of the devil, actually.
Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial of those
that went with David and said regarding these 200 that stayed
back, Because they went not with us, we will not give them out
of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and
his children, that they may lay them away and depart." Now, what
they're saying is, we did a lot more work than these guys did.
We put our lives on the line, we rescued everybody, so we're
going to give these fellas back their wives and children, but
we're not going to give them any of the riches of the spoil because
we did all the work and they did nothing, therefore we should
get more than them. What's that remind you of? You
remember the parable of the workers in the vineyard? Remember there
were some that worked 12 hours a day, or 12 hours, there were
some that worked nine, there were some that worked six, there
were some that worked three, and there were some that worked
one hour. And the ones who worked 12 hours at the end of the day
supposed that they would get more than the ones who merely
worked one hour. They thought, I've done more.
Surely I should get more. I have more coming to me. I worked
harder. But they all got the same thing. The ones who worked
one hour and the ones who worked 12 hours. They all got the same
thing. And the ones who worked 12 hours
were angry. They said, we should have got
more. That's the same spirit that's
going on here. These 400 men said, we worked hard. We're the
ones who put our lives on the line in order to save these people.
We should get more. That's human reasoning. Now,
David's answer. Then said David, You shall not
do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us,
who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against
us into the hand. The Lord did this. We didn't
do it. The Lord did this. Three words
I want you to notice. The Lord gave. The Lord preserved
and the Lord delivered. The idea of some people having
a higher reward in heaven because they have done more work is utterly
wrong. And it's obnoxious. It's obnoxious
to God. It was obnoxious to David. Everybody
gets the same thing. Saved the same way by the grace
of God. We have the same righteousness,
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet so many people
believe, well, true salvation is by grace, but we'll get a
higher reward based upon our obedience and works here on earth.
Well, does the scripture teach that? No. Scripture doesn't teach that
anywhere, and the parable of the workers in the vineyard answers
that question. The scriptures do not teach that.
Number two, do you have such a high opinion of your works
that you think you can add that to the righteousness for Christ
and somehow that's going to make it better? Well, that's why that's
so obnoxious to God. And something else, if you want,
if you're seeking something in heaven, what we ought to seek
is the lowest place. Not the highest place. Do you
want exalted above your brethren? Would you like to be up above
them and you can look down upon them and say, I'm in a mansion,
you're in a shack? Is that what you want? Why, that's contrary
to grace, that's contrary to love. Every believer ought to
believe themselves to be the very chief of sinners and they
ought to believe they are to take the lowest place. David
said, no, everybody's going to get the same thing. You see,
we're saved the same way. If I'm saved and you're saved,
there's one reason why both of us are saved. By the free grace
of God. If I stand righteous before God
and you stand righteous before God, there's only one reason.
We have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
thought of One man having a higher position or getting more because
of the things that he did is contrary to salvation by grace. And it's proud? Do you really
think you deserve a higher place? And it's contrary to love, wanting
to exalt yourself above your brethren. So David said no. He says in verse 24, For who
will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that teareth
by the stuff. They shall part alike. And it
was from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance
of Israel unto this day." This ordinance is still in effect. Every believer gets the same
thing. And you know, I'm thankful for
this because I know that My works don't deserve anything. And I
hope you know that too. And the only way somebody can
be saved is because of the grace of God and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is David's spoil. This is Christ's spoil is what
that means. He saved us by his grace. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church, if you
write or email, we'll send you a copy. And we'd like to invite
you to services at Todd's Road Grace Church. Our morning Bible
study begins at 9.45, the morning worship at 10.30, and we meet
again this evening at 6.00. You'll hear the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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