Let's open our Bibles this evening
to 1 Samuel chapter 18. Been studying on Wednesday evenings
in this Old Testament book for several weeks now, 1 Samuel chapter
18. I'm sure tonight that most of
us here have read Arthur Pink's book on the Attributes of God,
and most of us have been blessed in reading the truth about the
God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to read you, first of
all tonight, his comments on this passage of scripture that
we're looking at this evening. The Holy Scriptures not only
unveil to us the attributes of God, but they also reveal to
us the character of man. Fallen human nature is faithfully
depicted as it actually is. And of course, he was commenting
on these verses we're looking at tonight when we see the character
of Saul, a fallen individual. Well, let's read, first of all,
1 Samuel chapter 18, verses 8 and 9. And Saul was very wroth, and
the saying displeased him. And he said, they have ascribed
unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but
thousands. And what can he have more but
the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that
day and forward. Let me remind us that several
weeks ago, we saw in 1 Samuel chapter 15, that King Saul was told by Samuel,
because of his disobedience, God told him to destroy the Amalekites
and all of their animals, everything was to be destroyed. And of course
Saul disobeyed, and because of his disobedience, Samuel told
him this, the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee
this day. He told him that that very day,
that today, this day, the Lord hath rent from thee the kingdom
of Israel. Not only hath he rent the kingdom
of Israel from thee, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine. Now we see how David has appeared
on the scene, and he has killed the giant Goliath. The giant, we remember, had paralyzed
the army Israel because they were afraid of him and David
comes on the scene and he's a hero that in the power of God Almighty
he destroyed the giant and They defeated the Philistines that
day and the women began to praise David They began as we read here
saying David has laid his ten thousands but when they came
to praise Saul, they said, he has slayed thousands. Now, I don't believe that Saul
knew at this point that Samuel had already anointed David to
be the king. I don't believe he knew that,
but I do believe that he certainly was beginning to realize that
maybe David was the man. Maybe David was the man that
Samuel had spoken of, that God hath rent the kingdom from thee
and hath given it to a neighbor of thine. He no doubt began to
realize David was special. And maybe this is the one, this
is the one to whom God is going to give the kingship. Plus, We
are told that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul. So as we read there in verse
nine, Saul eyed David from that day and forward. He eyed him,
no doubt, with much suspicion and much hatred and much jealousy
and envy because of what he saw. I have three parts to the message
tonight. I want us to recognize that both
evil and good spirits are under God's control. That's important
to see. Both evil spirits and good spirits
are under God's control. And I say this is important to
see because sometimes you hear men talk about the devil and
it's almost as though he was all powerful. as if he had all
power and maybe even omniscient and also omnipresent. But we
know that's not true. Satan and all of the spirits
that fell with him, and we believe there were a great number of
them, maybe a third of them fell when Satan fell. But they are
all under God's control. When everything is said and done,
Satan is still God's devil. God created him holy. Yes, but
sin was found in him, and he was cast down and drew with him
many evil spirits. But it's important for us to
see that all evil spirits are under God's control. You know,
in the book of Job, we are taught this, aren't we, in the first
chapter. when Job is commended for being an upright man, a very
gracious man, and a very wealthy man also. And Satan, we're told,
came before God and he criticized Job. He said, does
Job serve thee for naught? What he was implying by that
is the only reason Job serves you is because of what you've
given him. Well, anyone would serve you
if you just overloaded them with all the riches and the animals
that you've given unto Job. And so God gave him permission,
didn't he? He gave him permission to touch,
first of all, his animals, all of his wealth, but not his health. And then, of course, he came
back, and Job had not blasphemed God. Job had praised God. And so he said, well, touch his
body. Take away his health, and then
he'll curse you. And God said, OK, you can touch
his body. And he was afflicted, wasn't
he? Balls all over his body. maintained his testimony. He did not curse God. But the thing I'm pointing out
here is Satan could not touch Job. He could not touch his family. He could not touch his wealth.
He could not touch anything concerning Job. Job was one of God's children,
one of God's elect. And Job, Satan could not touch
him. And the same is true of you and
I. Satan is under God's control. We know that. But it's important
to remember this. Look with me over in 1 Kings,
just a few pages more in the Bible. In 1 Kings chapter 22,
there's a wicked king of Israel by the name of Ahab. And God was gonna put him out of business.
And did. And did. But beginning in verse
22 here, there's a prophet by the name of Micaiah. Micaiah was the prophet's
name. And beginning in verse 19, And
he said, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. This is
a prophet speaking to the king, Ahab. I saw the Lord sitting
on his throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on
his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who shall
persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner,
another said on that manner, and there came forth a spirit
and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? And he said, I will go forth
and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, thou shalt persuade
him and prevail, go. Go forth and do so. The prophet
Micaiah told Ahab that God was going to take his life, that
he was not going to win the battle. He was going to be destroyed
in the battle. And then Micaiah told him what
he had seen, how that God had allowed this lying spirit to
be in the mouth of his false prophets. And they were all telling
Ahab, go up, go up. You're going to win. You're going
to defeat this army. You're going to be victorious.
And this one prophet of God said, you're not going to win this
battle. And of course, he suffered for
it, didn't he? He was buffeted. He was put in prison. But he
said this to Ahab, if you come home tonight, if you come home
tonight, God hasn't spoken by me. But you know the story. He didn't come home alive that
night. He was killed in the battle, just as the prophet had said,
and just as he was deceived by a lying spirit. Look here in
our text again in 1 Samuel chapter 18, verses 10 and 11. And it came to pass on the morrow
that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul. And he prophesied
in the midst of the house, and David played with his hand, as
at other times, that is, he was playing the harp, and there was
a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for
he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David
avoided out of his presence twice. David was playing his harp, and
Saul prophesied. Now that's interesting, isn't
it? This is not the first time that
we've read that Saul prophesied, that he was with the prophets,
prophesying. I don't know that anyone really
knows the answer to this, but I do know this, that in 1 Kings
chapter 22, I'm sorry, in 1 Chronicles, chapter 25,
verses 1 through 3, that prophesying there is spoken of as singing,
as singing, and also as playing musical instruments. I don't
think we can be sure what is meant by Saul prophesying, but
we should recognize this, that if you just picture in your mind
David is playing on the on his harp, Saul is prophesying maybe
he was singing. Maybe that's what it's meant,
what is meant by that. Maybe he was singing. Maybe there's
a tune there that he recognized and he was singing. But the point
I want to make is it took David off guard. Surely he was off
guard. He's not expecting While Saul
is prophesying, he's playing the music that a javelin's going
to come through the air with the intention by the man who
threw it to go through the body of David and nail him to the
wall. Now I said evil spirits are under
God's control, but I want to mention also good spirits. are under God's control. That
is, the angels of God. Remember that verse in Hebrews
chapter 1 and verse 14? They're called ministering spirits. Was this an angel who delivered
David? I mean, he was certainly vulnerable
to attack, and yet twice he The javelin was thrown, but he
wasn't injured in it. You know, the scripture says,
are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation? They're sent forth. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth? Who sends them forth? Who sends
the angels forth? God does, doesn't he? Your father,
your heavenly father, if you're one of his children tonight.
And no doubt all of us here this evening who know the Lord can
remember back, can look back at various times in our lives
when it surely was an angel that delivered us. I mean, we were
just a step from something awful taking place. Maybe it was in
a car. an accident or something like
that, and God sent forth his angel, a ministering spirit to
keep you from that tragedy, whatever it may have been. So the point
is, evil spirits are under God's control, so are good spirits,
the angels of God. Look with me in Acts chapter
12 just a moment. This is always interesting to
me when I read this about James and Peter in Acts chapter 12, beginning with verse one. The scripture says, now about
that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain
of the church. And he killed James. He killed
James, the brother of John, with the sword. Now God allowed him
to do that. God's providence is amazing,
isn't it? When you meditate on God's providence
and think about surely a demonstration of that verse in Isaiah that
tells us that His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are
not our thoughts. James, Herod was given the power
to take his life. But now notice what happens with
Peter. And Herod, because he saw it
pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then
were the days of unleavened bread, And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison and delivered him to four quarterians of soldiers
to keep him. Now notice this, intending after
Passover, after the Passover, to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
And when Herod would have brought him forth, The same night, Peter
was sleeping between two soldiers. Doesn't that show us something
about God's grace? Knowing he's going to be executed
the next day, he's not up wringing his hands, walking the floor. He's sound asleep. He knows who's
in control, and he knows that God's will is going to be accomplished. And surely he knew that God makes
all things work together for good, to those who are called,
to those who are called according to his, those who love God, called
according to his purpose. So Peter is asleep. He's asleep. Between two soldiers. And behold, notice verse seven,
and behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him. Who sent this angel? God did. God sent him. God had other plans
for Peter, didn't he? James executed Peter. His life in this world was not
over. Not time for it to be over. His
preaching was not finished yet. And I say unto all of us here
tonight, until Until God's time on His calendar comes, you and
I are going to continue in this world. I mean, He's got us in
His hand, and He gives His angels charge over us to keep us in
all our ways, as the scripture says. What comfort, right? What comfort. And we have no
cause to fear. You know, fear is paralyzing.
And God's people, we have no cause to fear as long as God
is on the throne. And that's where he is. And that's
where he's going to be when this world is finished, isn't it?
Still upon the throne. And so he sends his angel, came
to the cell where Peter was, had to wake Peter up. smote him on the side and raised
him up, saying, rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. The angel said unto him, gird
thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto
him, cast thy garment about thee and follow me. And he went out
and followed him and wished not that it was true. I think he
thought, I must be dreaming. This is a dream. He didn't know
until he got outside that gate, this was real. I'm free. God sent his angel and delivered
me. And he went out and followed
him and wished not that it was true, which was done by the angel,
but thought he saw a vision. But when they were past the first
and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth
unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord. And they
went out and passed on through one street and forthwith the
angel departed from him. So God is control of all spirits,
both good and evil spirits. The second thing I want us to
turn back here to 1 Samuel chapter 18. And let me just remind us,
as we look at these next few verses, how the wrath of man
praises God. How the wrath of man praises
God. Psalm 76 in verse 10 says, Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain. Saul's wrath? His desire to kill
David is all turned into praise to Almighty God, to show God's
mercy and God's power in delivering David. Three times as we look
through these verses, three times we see how Saul planned for David
to be killed. The wrath of man, as that scripture
says, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder,
the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. God restrains
wrath, yes. But what he allows serves to
praise him. The first thing we see is in
verse 13, Saul made him captain over a thousand soldiers. Therefore
Saul removed him from him." In other words, he made him leave
the palace or Saul's house, where I guess it was a palace, he was
a king. He'd been there to play his harp,
to soothe Saul. But now Saul was afraid of him. Three times in these verses we're
told that Saul was afraid of David. Look at that in verse
12. And Saul was afraid of David. Look in verse 15. Wherefore,
when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid
of him. And then in verse 29, and Saul
was yet the more afraid of David. He was afraid of him. He had
no cause to fear David. But he was afraid of him. Now,
three times in these verses, I see how he tried to ensnare
David, how he tried to lay a trap for David, expecting that David
would be killed, that David would be eliminated. The first time,
as we read there in verse 13, he makes him, therefore Saul
removed him from him and made him his captain over a thousand.
In other words, he gave him a command. He had 1,000 soldiers under him,
and he was to go out and fight battles and come back in. And Saul did that with expressed
desire and purpose that he'll be killed. No doubt he had 1,000
men. Maybe he was sending him out
to fight 10,000 men. Maybe a much larger army. But
in his mind, he thought, this is the way I'll take care of
him. He makes him a captain over 1,000
and sends him out. Notice the word all in verse
14. And David behaved himself wisely
in all his ways. All his ways. This at least reminds
us of what is written of the Lord Jesus Christ, David's greater
son. He hath done all things well. He hath done all things well. David behaved himself wisely
in all things. So that didn't work. God was
with David. And when he and his soldiers
went out to battle, they came back home victorious. So he's
got another plot. He would provoke David to anger. Notice in verse 17 through 19,
and Saul said to David, behold, my elder daughter, Mereb, her
will I give thee to wife. Only be thou valiant for me and
fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, let not mine hand
be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.
And David said unto Saul, who am I? What is my life? Are my father's family in Israel
that I should be son-in-law to the king? But now notice this. He told David, I'm going to give
you my oldest daughter to be your wife. you're going to be
my son-in-law." Now he had promised that, evidently, before. Whoever
would go out and engage the giant, Saul would make him, that man,
his son-in-law. But now he promises David his
eldest daughter to be his wife. But notice, but it came to pass
at the time when Mirab, Saul's daughter, should have been given
to David, that she was given unto Adriel, the Meholathite,
to wife. Now, why did he do this? He was
trying to provoke David. He promised him a wife, promised
him that particular daughter to be his wife, and when it's
time to give her, he gives her to someone else. She becomes
someone else's wife. Now, David could have easily
said something. He could have easily said something. He's a liar. He told me a lie. He promised he could have said
anything that would have brought him under disfavor. would have justified the king
in destroying him. If he had spoken against the
king, the king had done wrong. If he had spoken against the
king, then the king would have been treason. It's all a trap,
no doubt. But that didn't work. That didn't
work. And then thirdly, in this passage,
he used his servants, Saul did, he used his servants to deceive
David, or at least tried to. They told him, said, really,
David, Saul wants you to be his son-in-law. He really does. He
likes you a whole lot. He wants you to be his son-in-law.
Because Saul knew David was a humble man, and he didn't have anything. He knew that David would not
agree to be the king's son-in-law, to take his daughter to be his
wife, if he had no dowry. And he didn't. He didn't have
anything. And that's just the way it was
in that day, wasn't it? I mean, you had to, if you married
a man's daughter, you had to give him some money. some work
or something. Remember old Jacob, how many
years did he work for his two wives? 14 years, wasn't it? He served their father. Well, David didn't have anything.
Well, so let it be known. Well, here's the way I would
accept this as a diary. If you just kill 1,000 Philistines
and bring me proof, I'll serve. I'll do the job. What does David
do? Him and his soldiers go out and
they kill 2,000 and bring the proof and show it to Saul. The wrath of man shall praise
thee, the scripture says. Saul's wrath against David, but
everything he did, God overthrew, God overthrew. One other thing,
I want you to look in chapter 19, and I'll be very brief here,
but it's all spake to Jonathan, his
son, and all his servants that they should kill David. He finally
just said, well, you've got to kill him. That's all there is
to it. This trickery isn't working. My plots come to nothing. Jonathan, you need to kill David. That's all there is to it. But
Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David, and Jonathan told
David, saying, Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now therefore,
I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide
in a secret place, and hide thyself. And I will go out and stand beside
my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune
with my father of thee, and what I see, that I will tell thee. Now I want us to think here,
Jonathan begins to intercede with his father for David. And
Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said
unto him, let not the king sin against his servant, against
David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his
works have been to thee very good. He's served you, and what
he's done has been for your good. For he did put his life in his
hand and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great
salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest and didst rejoice. Wherefore then wilt thou sin
against innocent blood to slay David without a cause? And Saul
hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swear as the Lord liveth,
he shall not be slain. Jonathan, now listen, Jonathan
interceded for David. But did you notice all of his
intercession is based on David's goodness. He interceded for David, but
he just reminded his father, you know, he killed the giant,
he served you well, everything that he used as an argument for
Saul to change his mind about killing David was because of
the goodness of David. What a contrast. What a contrast,
right? Our great intercessor, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He intercedes for us. We have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who
is the propitiation for our sins. He intercedes for us. He ever
liveth to make intercession. for all them who come unto God
by him. But he does not intercede upon
our goodness because we don't have it. No. His intercession for you and
for me is based upon him and his work. I want to close tonight
with a story. For years I tried to read and
did read. one of Charles Spurgeon's sermons
every day for years and years. 50-some volumes of them. I never
finished them, I'll tell you that. I got about halfway through
and quit. But I read an illustration in
his sermon several times about a man who was charged with a
serious charge, something to do with his country, and he was
going to be executed going to be executed for, and he was guilty. But his brother interceded for
him. His brother came into court,
and what he did, he held up his arm, and on the end of that arm
was just a stub. Everyone knew he had lost his
hand in fighting and defending the country. He didn't say a
word. All he did was just hold up his
hand. And of course, his brother was not executed. That intercession
was sufficient. And the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes
for us and the marks of the nails are still in his hands. Just
his presence there cries out for forgiveness, for each and
every one of us when we sin. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us here this evening.