1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:05,760 Good morning, everyone. It is a beautiful, contemplative 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,640 days, isn't it? There's something about rain and 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:13,840 an overcast sky that just makes me want to rest in the Lord. 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,680 Yeah. Anyway, if you are new, my name 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,600 is Somane Megadi. I'm one of the pastors here at 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,600 Church of the Resurrection and I am happy, glad to be looking at 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,120 the Word of God with you today. We're going to be looking at 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:34,760 First Samuel chapter 19. It's found on page 227 in the 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,040 Pew Bibles in front of you if you want to follow along. 1st 10 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:44,520 Psalm 19. There is a slow deforming that 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:50,640 can happen when we consciously or subconsciously decide that we 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,200 are the main character of our reality. 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,480 We start filtering every conversation, every 14 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,600 relationship, every circumstance through the question. 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,200 What about me? How many of you are familiar 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:05,680 with this movie? What about Bob? 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,080 Oh, good. Cuts across all ages. 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,080 That's awesome. There's a particular line that's 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,040 become very famous from that movie. 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,200 It's Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. I need, I need, I need. 21 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,200 And I'm using it out of context, but it does fit into what I want 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,520 to talk about. Because when you're thinking 23 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,360 about just yourself, you can become unsustainably fragile. 24 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,880 And the reason for that is because you think that anyone 25 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:39,920 who disagrees with you is a potential threat, threat both to 26 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,680 you and to whatever it is that you are accomplishing. 27 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,440 And so far in the sermon series, we've seen King Saul violate the 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:51,520 command of God during the Amalekite war and set up this 29 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,680 self glorifying monument of himself. 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,080 We see that God rejects Saul's kingship because of this, and he 31 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,560 secretly sends Prophet Samuel to anoint David, a faithful 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,240 shepherd, to be the next ruler. And then David Gaines national 33 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:14,040 acclaim when he defeats Goliath in chapter 17. 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,080 Then some kind of all consuming jealousy all of a sudden drives 35 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:24,720 us all to try and kill David twice with a spear. 36 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,480 And then he uses marriage and he's trying to manipulate David 37 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,600 and send him into battle to be killed by Israel's enemy. 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,800 And his schemes constantly backfire. 39 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,120 And if you look at verse 30 of chapter 18, it says that David 40 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:44,040 had become had more success than all the servants of Saul, so 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,160 that his name was highly esteemed. 42 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,680 In the chapter we're going to look at this morning, we're 43 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,600 going to see Saul's continuing downward spiral. 44 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:02,120 He persists in thinking only about his self glorifying 45 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,520 legacy. Pride and selfishness have taken 46 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,360 hold of him so much that he has rejected God and so therefore he 47 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:13,320 has rejected David. Everything he touches is 48 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,880 despoiled because he is at the center of his story. 49 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,240 So as we walk through this passage this morning, I want you 50 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,080 to ask yourself, think about this question and we come back 51 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,280 to it at the end. Who is genuinely at the center 52 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:34,320 of your story? Is it you or is it the Lord? 53 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:42,960 Let me pray for us. It is a gift, Father, that you 54 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,640 have given us in your word. As we open it this morning, 55 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,080 please speak to all of us. May the words of my mouth and 56 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,840 the meditations of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable unto 57 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,720 you, Heavenly Father. It is in your son's name, I 58 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,040 pray. Amen. 59 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,520 Amen. All right, So the chapter opens 60 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,280 with a terrifying command from Saul. 61 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,640 He tells his son and his servants, basically his whole 62 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:20,399 household to kill David. But The thing is, Jonathan, 63 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,800 Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. 64 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,360 He delighted greatly in David. Keep in mind, Jonathan is 65 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,880 supposed to be the Crown Prince. He's supposed to take over after 66 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,360 Saul. But he's not just tolerating 67 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,360 David. It's like, OK, fine, God has 68 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,320 chosen him to be the king. That's OK. 69 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,480 He's rejoicing. He's delighting in David. 70 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,280 He loves him. And because he loves him, he can 71 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:49,840 genuinely celebrate all of Davis's success. 72 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,320 Back in First Samuel 18, after the great victory against the 73 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,200 Philistines, The women of Israel, they celebrate and they 74 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:00,760 sing and they dance and they say this. 75 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,720 Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten 76 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,680 thousands. And when Saul hears this, he 77 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,440 loses his ever loving mind. He takes it as a personal 78 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,440 insult, even though this is just a poetic way of multiplying 79 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,520 praise to God for a great victory. 80 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,520 But notice who is completely left out of that song? 81 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,680 Jonathan. Jonathan isn't mentioned. 82 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,520 And he was a phenomenal warrior. He had a great achievement under 83 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,920 his belt. If anybody had the right to say, 84 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,400 hey, what about what about me? Where am I in that song? 85 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,240 It's Jonathan. Yet Jonathan doesn't complain. 86 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,880 He doesn't look at his father or David with an evil cynical eye. 87 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:51,200 Instead, his actions prove a deep abiding love for both of 88 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:52,200 them. Why? 89 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,720 Because Jonathan is operating from a wonderful freedom, the 90 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:02,680 freedom of a God centered heart. The focuses on God's glory. 91 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:08,240 If the Lord chooses to deliver Israel through David, Jonathan 92 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,760 rejoices. If the spotlight happens to be 93 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:16,120 on Saul, Jonathan rejoices. He understands that God's work 94 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,400 does not become less good just because his name is not attached 95 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,560 to it. That's that kind of freedom that 96 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,880 he has. So when we pivot our focus away 97 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:32,440 from our own ego, away from looking inward, away from our 98 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:37,000 own advancement, and we look to the glory of God the way David 99 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,280 did, the way Jonathan did, we don't have to win every 100 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:42,440 argument. We don't have to control the 101 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,440 room. We don't have to secure every 102 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,000 piece of praise. We don't have to have every 103 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,400 single promotion it can pass us by. 104 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,200 That kind of freedom sets us free. 105 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,680 And it's the kind of God oriented focus that empowers us 106 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,040 to do what Jonathan does in this passage here, he becomes a 107 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,400 peacemaker. He goes to David and he tells 108 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:08,920 David, look, my dad wants to kill you. 109 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:10,440 But here's what we're going to do. 110 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:12,720 I'm going to have a talk with him in in the place where you 111 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,840 can hear. And he gets his father and he 112 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,280 says to his father, he reminds his father first of all of God's 113 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,520 word. In verses 4 and 5, Jonathan 114 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,600 tells Saul that David has not sinned against him. 115 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,680 In fact, everything that David has done has benefited Saul. 116 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:35,640 Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David 117 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,600 without cause? What Jonathan is doing here is 118 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:45,000 alluding to Deuteronomy chapter 19, which strictly warns Israel 119 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:51,480 against shedding innocent blood. He's forcing Saul to realize, 120 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,600 look, you might be king, but you are still subject to the Word of 121 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,640 God. If you move forward with this 122 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,280 murderous intent, you're putting yourself squarely under God's 123 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,640 judgement. Now Jonathan can see this 124 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:10,560 clearly, but Saul can't because a constant inward focus, what 125 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,400 about me attitude always creates blind spots where the Word of 126 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,520 God should be. And then Jonathan then speaks 127 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,360 with relational wisdom. He reminds Saul of the day David 128 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,160 risked his life against Goliath, how the Lord brought a 129 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,280 staggering deliverance for all Israel. 130 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:36,159 So the in verse 5, he says, you saw it, Father, you rejoiced. 131 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,919 And that appeal echoes something in Saul's own story. 132 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:48,440 In First Samuel Chapter 11, he's given a great victory, and the 133 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:54,120 people want to execute Saul's critics, and Saul emphatically 134 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,120 refuses. He says, not a man shall be put 135 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,960 to death this day for today the Lord has worked great salvation 136 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,240 in Israel. Jonathan is effectively asking, 137 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,560 Father, do you remember how you used to be? 138 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,760 Do you remember when you actually cared about God's glory 139 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,040 and you could rejoice in what the Lord was doing? 140 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,920 Why would you now murder the very man through whom God is 141 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,000 glorifying himself and saving his people? 142 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:28,760 And the combination of God's Word and God's wisdom through 143 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,480 Jonathan breaks through Saul's hard shell. 144 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,880 Saul listens to the voice of voice of his son Jonathan, and 145 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,560 he swears in verse 6. As the Lord lives, he shall not 146 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:47,720 be put to death. The freedom of a God oriented 147 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,440 life rejoices at other people's successes, remembers the words 148 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:55,680 of God, and can speak with wisdom. 149 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,440 As long as God is glorified. That freedom says all is well 150 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:06,280 and so here in our story there is peace for a while. 151 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:14,000 The tragedy of a self focused life is that peace never lasts. 152 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,160 It can't. The Word of God and the wisdom 153 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:25,080 of God can broker peace, but if we aren't God oriented, if we do 154 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,880 not remain focused on the glory of God, we will inevitably slide 155 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,440 back into old patterns of sin. And that's exactly what happens 156 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:35,440 to King Saul in our passage here. 157 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,560 War breaks out again with the Philistines. 158 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,360 David goes out and he fights valiantly and he has a great 159 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,360 victory. And how does Saul respond to 160 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,800 this blessing? Verse 9, A very chilling verse. 161 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:55,000 A harmful an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul. 162 00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,440 There is a terrifying biblical truth here. 163 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,360 Paul warns us in Second Thessalonians that when someone 164 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:08,480 stubbornly refuses to love the truth, God eventually hands them 165 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:14,040 over to their delusions. He steps back, he withdraws his 166 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,240 protective grace, and he hands the unrepentant heart over to 167 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,840 the enemy. It is a severe judgement. 168 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:27,480 But Paul also tells us elsewhere that it is a severe mercy, a 169 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:32,520 rock bottom kind of wake up call designed to break pride so that 170 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,320 there might be repentance. And even in our story, God is 171 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,600 very gracious in His judgement. He brought David into Saul's 172 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,680 household to bring relief to Saul in his torment. 173 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,880 But the king has become so warped in his selfishness he can 174 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,120 only see a dangerous rival where God has given a gift and a 175 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:58,840 blessing, so it's impossible for him to keep his vow. 176 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,520 His eyes are seeing wrongly and is unable to maintain truth 177 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,400 through his speech. And so, for the third time, he 178 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,560 hurls a spare at David to kill him. 179 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:19,360 You remember Eustace Scrubs from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? 180 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:22,080 If you have not read that story, that's on you. 181 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,840 It's been out for a long time. Chronicles of Narnia. 182 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,360 Eustace is a boy who is entirely turned inward. 183 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,560 He's greedy, he's arrogant, he's constantly viewing other people 184 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,840 as miserable inconvenience of his own comfort. 185 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:42,640 And so one afternoon on a on a strange island, he wanders into 186 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:47,320 a dead Dragon's lair full of treasure, and he falls asleep on 187 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,920 this pile of treasure. He's thinking greedy, 188 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,040 self-centered thoughts about how he can use the well to advance 189 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,560 himself to protect his own interests. 190 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,200 And then he wakes up, and according to CS Lewis, he finds 191 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,440 he had turned into a dragon while he was asleep, Sleeping on 192 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,800 a Dragon's horde with greedy dragonish thoughts in his heart. 193 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:18,120 He had become a dragon himself. And this is what happened to 194 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,760 Saul. He he didn't wake up 1 morning 195 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:22,960 and decide to become a murderous tyrant. 196 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:28,040 No, he had spent years sleeping on a horde of defensive, jealous 197 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,000 dragonish thoughts. And so slowly, God gave him over 198 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,800 to the desires of his of his heart, and he became a dragon. 199 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,360 And once he became a dragon, the people who love him were forced 200 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,520 to treat him like a dragon. Jonathan had to carefully 201 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,720 maneuver his father's ego. And now, because of what Saul 202 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,240 does, Mikhail has to do the same thing. 203 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,320 Youngest daughter Saul sends soldiers to watch David's 204 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:57,800 household so that he can kill him. 205 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,040 Mikhail learns of it and says to David, you have to get out 206 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:02,720 tonight, otherwise you're going to die. 207 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,560 She lowers him out the window. Then she gets a household image, 208 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,680 some non religious statue, puts it in the bed, covers him with a 209 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,520 blanket, puts go tear at the top of it to mimic David sleeping. 210 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:18,080 And when the messengers come she said oh he's asleep, he's sick, 211 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,400 sorry he can't, he can't come up Now. 212 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:27,640 I want you to remember that Jonathan openly defended David 213 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,640 using God's word and wisdom with his father. 214 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:37,280 Michael doesn't try that. She uses deception and trickery 215 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,640 to navigate her father's dragonish behaviour. 216 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,440 Now, why is that? Part of the reason is is is 217 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,000 because things had escalated. There's just no room for 218 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,040 conversation right now. But part of the reason is that 219 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,440 she is not the Crown Prince. She's not Jonathan, the eldest 220 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,960 son. She's not indispensable. 221 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,680 She doesn't have the same kind of autonomy or standing. 222 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:05,000 In fact, some commentators even say that Saul actually punishes 223 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,800 her for this by giving her in marriage to somebody else. 224 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:14,040 Even though her heart loved David, she has more to lose than 225 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,040 Jonathan, so it takes immense courage for her to even do 226 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:25,480 anything at all. But more importantly, Saul had 227 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:31,480 rejected God's word and wisdom, and in so doing he aligned 228 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,200 himself with the oppressive villains of the Bible. 229 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,320 Saul is here depicted like Pharaoh. 230 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,640 He wants to eliminate God's chosen leader. 231 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:49,000 And just like Pharaoh, Saul's plot is thwarted when God 232 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,520 delivers David. He's like lava. 233 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:59,520 Remember Lava story of Jacob? He manipulates his daughters. 234 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:04,160 He uses them as a pawn to exploit Jacob, just like Saul 235 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,680 did with his daughters. Both Laban and Saul are thwarted 236 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,840 by their own daughters and Saul has become the king of Jericho. 237 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,760 2 spies were sent into the land by Joshua and they hide in 238 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,280 Rehab's Tavern, Rehab's home. The king of Jericho sends 239 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,640 messengers to Rehab, and she protects these spies. 240 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:32,960 And just like Rahab, Mikhail acts to protect David from the 241 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,680 messengers, misdirecting the guards and lowering God's 242 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,040 servant safely through a window. You see, by making himself the 243 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:46,400 center of his story, King Saul aligns himself with the great 244 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,680 serpent, the evil serpent. In Genesis chapter 3. 245 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,840 He's trying to stomp out David, the anointed ancestor of the 246 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,360 promised Messiah. He's striking at the heel of 247 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,560 God's chosen ruler. He has sided with the enemy. 248 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,960 A gentle, rational conversation will be hard pressed to work 249 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:11,400 upon his heart at this point. He has turned his own family 250 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:16,160 into a battlefield and has left his daughter to protect David 251 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,640 and survive in the process as much as she can. 252 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:21,839 And this is what happens when we are self focused. 253 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:26,920 When we are turned inward, even our family members can be forced 254 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:31,240 into awful situations just to navigate our dragonish 255 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:36,840 behaviors. So David runs for his life. 256 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,160 He goes to the prophet Samuel at Rama. 257 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,560 Some people tell Saul, hey, this is where David is hiding. 258 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:48,480 And so he sends three waves of messengers to seize David. 259 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:53,040 But all three waves of messengers are taken captive by 260 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,560 the Holy Spirit, incapacitated by God's presence. 261 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:02,360 And so Saul goes himself. But before he even gets there, 262 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:06,400 the Spirit of God ambushes him on the road. 263 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,800 He begins to prophecy. And when he finally reaches 264 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:15,080 Rama, he strips off his royal clothes, the garments that 265 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:21,480 symbolize his rule, and he lies exposed, naked, face down on the 266 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:27,320 ground all that day and all night, humiliated. 267 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,600 And the onlookers ask, is Saul also among the prophets? 268 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,960 It's a very weird question, but it's supposed to recall a 269 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,000 previous incident back in First Samuel chapter 10. 270 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:46,000 This particular setting actually mimics the first time that 271 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,440 Samuel met Saul. In that encounter, Saul is a 272 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,400 humble young man. He's looking for his father's 273 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,640 donkeys, and he meets Samuel. God anoints, he's anointed as 274 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,920 God's king, and the Spirit comes upon him so powerfully then that 275 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,720 he prophesied. And then back then, when they 276 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,240 say is Saul among the prophets, it was a sign of his royal 277 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:09,640 calling. It was a good thing. 278 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:15,560 But now this exact same sign has become an act of humiliation and 279 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,640 judgement because Saul refuses to yield to the purposes of God 280 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:24,400 the way that Jonathan did. God strips him of his clothes 281 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:31,440 and brings him low anyway. But there's grace here as well. 282 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,640 There is a basement. But notice that God does not 283 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,280 kill Saul. Rather, God gives Saul an 284 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,880 undeniable physical experience of his power and stops him from 285 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:47,360 murdering David. It's a gift. 286 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:51,880 When God stops us from doing something evil, it is a gift. 287 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,880 When God shows us that we actually don't have any control 288 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,640 at all, and he does that while there's still time to repent, 289 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,400 it's a gift. And so here again, Saul is 290 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:08,040 giving an another opportunity to look up from the dirt, look at 291 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,040 God and say I'm not you and repent. 292 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,360 But unfortunately that's not what he does. 293 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,640 We learn another lesson from him that experiencing the power of 294 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:25,000 God is not the same thing as submitting to the will of God. 295 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,280 Because in the very next chapter, Saul's anger, his 296 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:37,960 hostility grows, and he even turns on his own son because of 297 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,800 his jealousy, because of his inward focus. 298 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,840 You can you and I can shed tears at the altar. 299 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,720 We can be deeply moved by a sermon. 300 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,640 We can witness a supernatural breakthrough. 301 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,520 We can experience God's power. But that doesn't mean that our 302 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:02,160 hearts have actually changed. We can be like the Israelites 303 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,040 who see the glory of God on Mount Sinai and then turn around 304 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:12,960 and build an idol to worship. Now I want you to think a little 305 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,520 bit about David for a second. If anyone in this story had a 306 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,720 very good reason, reason to become a dragon, and it's David, 307 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,440 he has been haunted, he's been betrayed. 308 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,320 He's forced to run for his life. He has every reason to be 309 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,200 bitter, to be resentful and angry and jealous. 310 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,440 Yet David refuses to take matters into his own hands or 311 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,120 make himself the main character of his story because his eyes 312 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,440 are focused on God and God's glory. 313 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,200 I mean, he said as much when he stood before Goliath. 314 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:48,720 He said that his intention was that was that all the earth may 315 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,800 know that there is a God in Israel, and that all his 316 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:56,840 assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. 317 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,800 David's desire was that he would dwell in the House of the Lord 318 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,320 and behold the beauty of his beautiful Savior. 319 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,920 He was God centered. How do we get to that point? 320 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,080 How do we get to the point like David? 321 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,360 In trusting God completely, though, we don't put ourselves 322 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,520 in the center. We put God on the throne. 323 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,320 Or, in the words of CS Lewis, how do we get undragoned? 324 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,520 And The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 325 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:30,080 Eustis, after a while, desperately tries to scratch off 326 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,960 his own scales. And he can't. 327 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,960 He scrapes and he scrapes and he sheds and he sheds, but there's 328 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,640 always another layer. Always another layer. 329 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:48,360 He's stuck. But then Aslan shows up and as 330 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:53,960 then looks at him and says you will have to let me undress you. 331 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,280 And here's what used to says to his friends afterwards. 332 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,480 I was afraid of his claws. Who wouldn't be, I can tell you, 333 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:09,240 But I was pretty nearly desperate now, so I just lay 334 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,280 flat down on my back to let him do it. 335 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:17,720 The very first tear tear he made was so deep that I thought it 336 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:25,240 had gone right into my heart. Aslan continues to work on him 337 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:29,320 and eventually Eustace is now a soft, clean human boy again. 338 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:34,120 We cannot claw away our own pride and self centeredness 339 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,440 through share willpower. In fact, it's sometimes even 340 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,880 hard for us to see it without the work of God in our lives. 341 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,720 In desperation, because desperation is important here, 342 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,960 we must lie down at the feet of the Lion of Judah and say, Lord, 343 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:57,120 cut deep, peel away my fragile Kingdom, undragon my heart. 344 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,320 Now, in just a moment, I'm actually going to invite you to 345 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,960 do exactly that. And I want you to think of two 346 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:12,240 things as you pray to Jesus. First, is there a dragon, a 347 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,000 dragon heart mutating inside of you? 348 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,520 Have you been sleeping on a horde of defensive, jealous or 349 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,440 self-centered thoughts? Treating people in your home, in 350 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,360 your workplace, in your church as threats? 351 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,400 If so, I'd love for you to pray that God will grant you a 352 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:39,040 desperation to be set free. Confess it, ask him to do the 353 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,240 painful work of peeling those scales away. 354 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,440 And it's possible that you don't know that there is a prideful 355 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:51,240 problem in this time of prayer. Ask the Spirit to tell you if 356 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,920 there is. And then secondly, are you 357 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,600 currently living in the radius of a dragon? 358 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,680 Are you in a situation, a dynamic, a relationship, where a 359 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:12,040 saw is tearing things apart? You're feeling exhausted, hyper 360 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,920 vigilant? Feel like you're walking on 361 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:20,360 broken egg shells? Know that God actually sees you 362 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:22,640 and that He promises to be with you. 363 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:28,360 And in this time of prayer, seek the protection of the Spirit of 364 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:31,960 God. Ask Jesus for the wisdom of 365 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:36,760 Jonathan, the courage of Macau, and the steadfastness of David 366 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,760 so that you can address the dragon in your radius. 367 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,240 Those are the two things I want you to think about and pray 368 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:45,640 about. I'm going to give us about two 369 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,920 minutes to do that. Bow your heads and speak to your 370 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,320 King. Heavenly Father, please pour out 371 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,800 Your Holy Spirit upon us so that we can see clearly the way you 372 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:04,320 see us, that we might walk in humility and surrender before 373 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:09,120 You and make you the centre of our lives. 374 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,800 It is in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. 375 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:14,000 Amen.