Haters Hate...but God - Part B

When you think of Paul the Apostle, you think of somebody bold, assertive, put me down, I'll get back up, but he writes to the Corinthians and he says, we were burdened beyond measure and above strength so that we despaired even of life. That's why at times like that, you need friends like this.

Every David needs his Jonathan. Every discouraged person needs his encourager. It's important to surround yourself with the right people who will push you closer to God instead of pulling you away from him.

Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares why it's vital for you to have the right friends in bad times. Right now, we want to tell you about a resource that will help you build your knowledge of who God is and inspire you to follow him more faithfully. Does God exist? And if he does, is it possible to know him? Your answer to those two questions shapes how you see the world.

Skip Heitzig once wrestled with those very questions himself. You know, I've been teaching the Bible for over three decades before I became a Christian. And when I was new to the faith, I studied science and philosophy alongside the Bible. As I studied, I grew confident that God does exist. And yes, we can know him. In Biography of God, the brand new book by Skip Heitzig, you'll learn to remove the limits you may have placed on your idea of who God is. Everything changes when you acknowledge and believe that God is who he says he is. Biography of God is our way to thank you when you give $35 or more today to help expand this Bible teaching outreach to more people.

Request your copy when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Now, as we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching, we're in 1 Samuel chapter 23. But I got to tell you something, I'm going to make a confession to you. It's going to sound a little cruel, but I am so glad that David suffered.

And I bet you are too. Because out of that suffering was produced all of those magnificent Psalms, many of them, that when we read bring encouragement to us and you read them and go, David went through that, right? That very deep stuff that still ministers to millions of hearts around the world. The music of the sanctuary is often forged in the trials of the saints.

We benefit from it. Spurgeon said God gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. Now I'm bringing this up as a first major point because sometimes if you listen to some believers, you get the idea that they're saying, well, once you come to Christ, all your problems go away. Now, is that true? Well, in one sense it's true, your biggest problem goes away.

You're not going to hell. That's a big problem. And that's your biggest problem. That goes away. But you get a whole bunch of new problems. You now have a target on your back and all the minions of hell and Satan himself will target you.

Oh yes, you still have victory. God gives you incredible promises to get through that and be overcomers. But that does not mean life is a downhill slide from that point on. Good things happen to bad people. I want to lead you to a second truth that is self-evident in our story. Not only bad things happen to good people, but bad people can't stop a good God. Bad people can't stop a good God. Now we come to the very crux of this past to the very crux of this passage in verse 14. Second sentence, second part of verse 14, Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands. Now those two words change the story. Those two words pull back the curtain of God's providential care. As James Montgomery Boyce said, if you understand those two words, but God, they will save your soul.

If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely. Verse 14, these two words introduce us to the truth that there is a divine sovereign hand ruling the universe. So that even though bad things happen to good people, even though bad things happen to God's good people, it's not the end of the story. The story continues, but God. When you have a supreme, all-powerful, universal ruler, malicious plans won't succeed.

Let me restate that. When you have a supreme, all-powerful, universal ruler, malicious plans won't always succeed. Sometimes they do succeed.

In fact, in this case, they did succeed for a while. How long did I say David was running from Saul? Ten years. Ten years of suffering. Ten years as a refugee. Ten years living away from his home.

Ten years in caves. All because of this madman, this crazy, jealous king. God allowed that to happen. But Saul was only allowed to go so far and no further.

He was allowed to display that maniacal, crazy behavior only up to a point. And then God stepped in. And when did God step in? When it served God's purpose. So all of this was allowed to happen, but when it didn't serve God's purpose, it stopped.

Now, maybe your wheels are spinning. You're going, what do you mean, served God's purpose? Are you telling me that it served God's purpose for David to suffer ten years? Uh-huh. Sad to say, but yes. It served God's purpose for David to suffer ten years. Ten years.

Why? Well, I think you know the answer to that question. I think you know that suffering can sometimes be beneficial, in fact, very beneficial to the life of a believer. If we were to have testimony time and you were going to tell me your story or stories, I bet several of you would say something like, it was a dark time, it was a very dismal time, I was so discouraged, I didn't see any way out, but then this is what happened. This is what I learned. This is why I'm better because of it.

Spurge, and once again, he said so many good things. He said, the hardest-hearted, most unlovely Christians in all the world are those who have never had much trouble. And those who are the most sympathizing, loving, and Christlike are those that have suffered the most affliction. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to have our path made too smooth.

That's amazing. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to have our path made too smooth. But, here's the good news, there is a limit. There is a limit.

And the limit is when it violates God's purpose. Now, what's God's purpose for David? He's going to be the next what? King. So for him to be the next king, he has to live, not die. That's why we read Saul saw him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands. So, up to a point, this guy is crazy and maniacal, but God wouldn't allow that to happen.

That's the difference. It's a profound truth. Remember the story of Job?

The book we sort of love, but not really. So Job, you know, he was godly. He was the godliest guy on the earth. God even bragged that to Satan. But there's this conversation between Satan and God in chapters 1 and 2. And God allows Satan to go against Job up to a point.

Remember, the thing is, don't touch his person. So things around him happen where his life caves in with his loved ones. Second chapter, God says, okay, you can go further, but don't take his life, spare his life. At each point, Satan was under the parameters of a sovereign God, under the permission of God, up to a point and no further. Satan is on a leash. Sometimes I think it's a little too long, but that's God's business. Then you go to the New Testament, Mark chapter 8, a demon-possessed man.

There's not just one, but several demons in this man. And the demons say to Jesus, permit us, listen to the language, permit us to go into that herd of swine. They had to get permission. They only acted and reacted upon permission of a sovereign God.

What does that mean? It all means this. All of humanity, all the angels in heaven, all the demons in the earth, all the angels in heaven, all the demons of hell and Satan himself operate under the strict parameters of a sovereign God. So only by permission and only for God's purposes. And these two words, but God, introduce us to that truth. Those two words introduce us to the truth that God's ways are behind the scenes, but He moves all the scenes that He is behind. This is what's happening in the natural world, but God is acting.

What this means to you personally is that if you are going through a fiery trial, that God has His eye on you and His hand on the thermostat. He's watching. He knows how long you've been in there. He knows how hot it's getting. He didn't walk away and forget.

He didn't have ADD. He never says, oops. Oh, that poor Christian, crispy critter. I've left him in an hour or two long. He's really burnt by now. I'd better get him out.

He's got His eye on you and His hand on the thermostat. Now what this means even further, if I boil it down, is a profound truth. You are invincible until God is done with you.

You are invincible until God is done with you. In Revelation 11, there's a story in the end times of two witnesses that come to the earth. They have miraculous powers and the world knows about them.

They see them. But there's a remarkable text that says, and when they had finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit came against them and killed them. They died. When did they die?

When did they die? When they had finished their testimony. So you are invincible until God's done with you. And once God's done with you, can I just say, who wants to be around here anyway? It's like, well, there's heaven waiting. I'll take that. When God's done with me, get me out of here.

I'm out of town. So bad things happen to good people, but bad people can't stop a good God. There's a third truth, a self-evident axiomatic truth from this passage.

A good God doesn't negate good sense. Now look at verse 15 for a moment. God has just not delivered him into the hand of Saul, verse 14, but look at verse 15. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a forest. That means he was looking for cover amongst foliage so that he wouldn't be spotted.

Now this is amazing. Why didn't David just throw caution to the wind? I mean, if God's sovereign and God's God, God can deliver anybody. Why didn't David just sort of walk out in the open and go, Saul, here I am.

You can't touch me. Answer, because David is not an idiot. He hid. He made all the right choices. The fact that God is running the universe doesn't turn David into a fatalist. He used every means at his disposal to protect himself.

He's still using his mind. He's still applying evasive strategies to get out of a predicament because David believes both in the sovereignty of God and in the responsibility of man. He believed that God did not deliver him into Saul's hand. Why should he deliver himself into Saul's hand? I bring this up because I find many people very passive in their view about God's sovereign nature.

When you talk to them, it's sort of like they feel they're just passengers along for God's wild ride and they have absolutely no responsibility, no duty. Whatever happens is what God wanted to happen, so why should I think or deliberate or plan or organize or strategize? David did not think this way. David thought this way.

God may deliver, but I have to duck. I still have to use my common sense and do everything I can because this is what God might use to deliver me from Saul's hand. So he believed that God's sovereignty is enmeshed in man's responsibility. Now, in the New Testament, Jesus gives a parable. I've always found it an interesting parable. It's sort of out of love field. It throws a lot of people when they read it.

It's in Luke 16, I believe. It's called the parable of the shrewd manager. It's a story of a manager who works for the owner of the business. The owner of the business is about to fire him. He knows it, so he goes to all of the clients of the owner and cuts a deal with them. How much do you owe my master?

Just cut the debt in half. It's very illegal. He'd land him in jail today. It was illegal, self-serving, but he was using his present clout to think of his future. And it says the owner of the company finds out about the manager and actually commends him, not because he stole from him, which he did, but he commends him for thinking far enough in advance to plan and hedge his bet for his own future. What's the point of the parable? Jesus says this and closing it off. He's making a point about using our heads. He said, for the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. That's an amazing statement. He's saying sometimes unbelievers are smarter than believers in thinking through and planning and strategizing their future.

He's using a negative example to give a good point. There was a man in New York City, walked into a bank and asked for a loan. A loan officer came out and introduced himself. He said, how much do you want? He goes, I want $5,000.

I'm going to Europe on business. I'll be back in two weeks. I'll pay it back in two weeks. You need $5,000?

Yes, sir. He goes, well, for us to loan you $5,000, we need some sort of collateral. We need some sort of security.

What have you got? The guy who wanted the loan pulled out the keys to his Rolls Royce and says, it's parked right on the front. Would that be enough security? And the guy said, it would be plenty.

So everything checked out. The man got the loan, walks out of the bank with a phone, the man got the loan, walks out of the bank with a $5,000. Meanwhile, an employee of the bank takes the keys, gets in the Rolls Royce, drives it under the bank in the parking garage underneath in secure parking. In two weeks, the businessman returns from Europe, pays back the $5,000 plus the interest, which was $15.41. The loan officer approached the man and said, listen, thank you for your business. But while you were gone, we did a little checking and we discovered you're like a multimillionaire. You don't need a $5,000 loan. So why would you come in here to get a loan for $5,000 when you're a multimillionaire?

The man smiled and he said, where else in New York City can you park a car in a secured area for two weeks for only $15.41? That's why he was a multimillionaire. That boy wasn't playing checkers, he's playing chess.

He's strategizing his move. Back to what Jesus said, the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. Listen, while God is being sovereign, make sure you're being sensible.

That's the truth of this. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things can't stop a good God and a good God doesn't negate good sense. That brings us to the fourth and final truth that emerges, self-authenticating truth from this passage, and that is bad times call for good friends. Verse 16 introduces such a friend. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, do not fear for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you.

You shall be king over Israel and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that. It's a pretty remarkable statement because Jonathan is the son of King Saul, which means in that day and age, the way kingdoms work, when the father dies, who's the next king?

Son. So the next king after Saul would have been Jonathan. Jonathan says, you're the man after God's own heart. You're the next king, not me.

I'll just be next to you. Even dad knows that. So verse 18, the two of them made a covenant before God, before the Lord.

And David stayed in the woods and Jonathan went to his own house. David's hiding, trusting in a sovereign God, but even though he's trusting in a sovereign God who did deliver him, he's discouraged. He's weak. He's fearful. That's why his buddy says, don't fear. You don't walk up to somebody with a big smile saying, don't fear. You didn't say to somebody who's very confident, don't fear. It's a nonstarter.

It makes no sense. You say that to somebody who's fearful. We know David was fearful and discouraged because many of the Psalms we have written during that period, express that fear, that discouragement, pouring out his heart, weeping before the Lord.

Enter Jonathan. It says he strengthened his hand in God. He encouraged him to be strong in the Lord. Listen, you might be a strong believer, but all believers experience discouragement. All believers experience setbacks. All believers experience low moments of wondering, of second guessing, and their faith goes back and forth. All of us, even the greatest. When you think of Elijah the prophet, you think of somebody who's bold, right?

Unafraid, right? Keeps going, right? That was chapter 18 of 1 Kings where the prophet stands with great power of God and calls fire down from heaven. Very next chapter, he's running from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, gets down to the Sinai desert, perks his head up toward heaven. He goes, God, it's enough.

Take my life. He goes from victory to suicidal in one chapter. That's Elijah. That's discouragement. When you think of Paul the apostle, you think of somebody bold, assertive, put me down, I'll get back up. But he writes to the Corinthians and he says, we were burdened beyond measure and above strength so that we despaired even of life.

That's why at times like that, you need friends like this. Every David needs his Jonathan. Every discouraged person needs his encourager. Don't you love it that Jonathan comes to encourage him? He didn't say, Hey, come on, man, you're David. You're the man for God's own heart. You're Mr. Psalm writer.

What's up with your discouragement? No, he meets them there. He knows David loves the Lord, but he turns his thought back to God. Best friend you can ever have is somebody who turns your thoughts back to the God you love.

Jonathan does that. By the way, their friendship was forged over their mutual love for God. When Jonathan saw David's zeal for the Lord, as he stood before King Saul and he said about Goliath, he's defied the armies of the living God as he stood before Goliath. And he said, you come to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin.

I come to you in the name of the God of Israel, whose armies you have defied. Jonathan, here's this little kid talking about his trust in God. And every time he heard it, he said, Amen, I like this guy. And from that moment on, they formed a covenant. It says their hearts were knit together.

And they became friends. So the long and short of it is this, David was being chased and attacked by Saul, but God kept him safe. David was feeling weak and discouraged, but God sent him Jonathan.

David was being hated by the king, but God would one day make him the king. So back to those two words, but God, if you can live your life with the truth of those two words, then you can live like my friend who went to the mission field in the Philippines and said, man, all this bad stuff is coming down, but I am living with the peace of God in anticipation and expectation of what God might want to do. I'm praying that all of us will learn to look for the but God in our lives. You may not see it right away.

It may take years. And then you'll look back on a situation and go, wow, God was in that. I hated that car accident I was in. I saw no point of that. But then I watched how the Lord used that. I'm praying that you'll learn to live in expectation and anticipation that but God, inserted into your life, can change it all. That wraps up Skip Heiseck's message from the series But God. Right now, here's Skip to tell you how your support helps keep these messages coming your way and connects more people to the good news of Jesus. As believers, we're called to be the hands and the feet of Jesus, to go into all the world and to touch those who need his healing. We can share his message of love and hope with those who desperately need it. So would you consider partnering with this ministry to do just that?

Your gift today will help others find a new life in Jesus. Here's how you can give right now. Visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give your gift today. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate or call 800-922-1888. Again, that's 800-922-1888. And real quick, catch Connect with Skip Heiseck on the Hillsong Channel on Saturdays at 4 30 p.m. Mountain, or watch it on TBN on Sundays at 5 30 a.m. Eastern.

Check your local listings. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heiseck shows you through the story of Joseph, how God's providence is at work in your life today. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heiseck is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.