No longer in possession of his own armor, no longer captain of his own life. But submitted, which is the Christian life. And so you start out the Christian life in love with the Lord. You begin to learn. And then you start using what you've learned.
And then the opposition intensifies, and it does it in different ways.
Sometimes it's just a heavy attack, a series of attacks, or sometimes it's just a slow, steady. Pressure. Put on the life. And every Christian is expected to come through these things. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 18 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. 1 Samuel chapter 18.
David's Nightmare Begins. And with this chapter Uh he will find that he has an enemy that won't let up. while Jonathan, King Saul's son, the crown prince, Jonathan, that loyal and heroic figure, He fell in love with David. When he heard him speak, he admired him as as Saul is debriefing David about the killing of the giant. And Samuel Jonathan is there.
He admires him. He befriends him. He falls in love with With David almost instantly. Saul On the other hand, because of his excessive self-love, we all have self-love, we have to have self-love, you wouldn't eat it if you didn't have it. But in excess It can Really be a big problem.
And we see this in characters, there are many, but such as Absalom, Nebuchadnezzar, and And King Saul, Saul was of course he led the opposition. Against David Everything he had. He came to hate him. And this is the chapter we're going to find. Find Saul beginning to hate David for daring, for daring to cast a shadow on Saul's greatness.
It is important, of course, to get Bible knowledge. It is useful. But It has to be built on the ruins of the self. The old nature. And if that does not begin to take place, if the old man, the old nature, the old lifestyle does not Come under the sword, it's going to put the spirit under the sword.
And this is what we get from a life such as Saul. He never put to death his flesh, he fed it. He refused the fundamentals of his own faith. And so now in this 18th chapter. The friends in Jonathan, we have an enemy in Saul.
David marries, so we have a lover. These relationships that the Bible gives to us are for us to do something with, to learn and to avoid the pitfalls. David and Jonathan's friendship, Saul's Jealousy and hatred of David, and then. Uh Michelle. whom he marries.
a new friend, a new enemy, and a new wife in one chapter, and all new problems And, you know, the short fight with the giant seemed to be such a wonderful victory. But now, this long, drawn-out, dreadful thing which Saul is. going to brew and Overflow. uh part of life in a fallen world to have to deal with Uh The such Uninvited. Problems.
David did nothing to cause this. It's so important to remember that. He did not provoke this situation. In fact, he was punished for loving God and looking to obey the Lord. That's not the whole story, but that's a big part of it.
And when Paul was traveling through the area of. Lystra, Derby, Iconium, He was stoned in Alystra, And of course he gets up and Goes back into the city, he leaves, he continues evangelism, and he comes back again to go over the churches that he started. And he tells them this. He tells this evidently to all of the churches in that region. Strengthening the souls of the disciples, it says in Acts 14, exhorting them to continue in the faith.
and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. What David is You know, the one that wrote, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Well, not without tribulations of in the kingdom for God. But by the end of his life, after many tribulations, David would be the giant among men. And among kings. He's the one that is left standing. He is the one we remember.
As the hero from Bethlehem, he put Bethlehem on the map. Of course, all God's work, but this is the man God did choose and God did use in spite of his problems. And had his father Jesse not sent him. as an errand boy He never would have become the king, the hero. Such a wonderful lesson for Those of us who have to start at the bottom.
And let God do what He's going to do. VERSE one Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
So there's the debriefing, and there it is. Jonathan falls in love with this man. He's hearing David speak. He sees the humility. He sees the righteousness.
He's watching his mannerism. He's saying, I just love this guy. Jonathan's likely a bit older than David. But go back for a moment to when David faced the giant there in the valley of Elah. Imagine when the giant fell flat on his face.
The Bible tells us Goliath fell on his face. Imagine the simultaneous gasp. From the two camps, from the Philistines and the Israelite camp. Everybody at the same time must have been a raw. I don't think they even heard it, but ev they they heard it.
Jonathan was part of that audience. And then they watched David take the sword and finalize the victory. But still, he didn't know who David was. He didn't know he was going to like him. David could have come in and been the most arrogant, you know, puffed up.
Stupid person he ever met. He was not. He was everything that Jonathan Hell to be Uh noble. And The friendship is one of the greatest friendships in Scripture, in history. If I were going to do a sermon on friendship, this would probably be the first stop amongst men.
Amongst people, Jonathan, again, further amazed and endeared by the man when he heard him speak. He watched, he listened, he was impressed. As David told Saul, how he just knew God was going to give him this victory. He knew that without God, there's no way he could take out the giant, but with God, there was no way he could fail. And Jonathan would have heard such things.
Just being a man of God himself. We know the same feeling when we come and we meet someone who loves the Lord genuinely, doesn't have a lot of baggage, theological baggage. You know, weird beliefs. When they just love the Lord, love the word, we're attracted to that person. and they to us.
And so, in genuine humility, the friendship is built. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. The writer is saying, This is the strongest language I can use to tell you How much this man loved David, and he won't be the last one to love David. In a moment we'll come to a few of them. Jonathan had an eye for greatness, and here it was.
And we'll discuss in chapter 19 why it was that Jonathan. with this eye for greatness, remain loyal to Saul, his father.
Well, he almost had to do it. He really had no alter alternatives were not. They were not good, they were worse. because of what it would do to the people. What he would do before God he was sort of trapped in this family.
And Jonathan identified And David This Like-mindedness that he had never come in contact with before. That's usually how it is. When you fall in love, you're not ready for it, you're not looking for it, it finds you, it pulls you in. This companionship built on the deepest like-mindedness that we can have among men. Accord, compatibility.
You can find all sorts of words to express it in 1 Samuel. In chapter twenty-three we read, Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods, and strengthened his hand in God. That was never outside of Jonathan's makeup. He was totally a man of God, and he sees that in David. And after he died, David wrote, I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan.
You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful, surpassing. The love of women. He's saying it's just we had this again, this accord. We could finish each other's sentences.
And it's a once in a lifetime for some, arrangement.
Some things about friendship. Friends are to bring out the best in us. That's what makes the friendship work. They don't bring out the worst in us. That won't kill the friendship.
Also, and you younger ones could learn from this, a real stupid friend with a sword is worse than an enemy with a carrot. You just have a problem. You have to learn how to, you know, what, you can't force it. Being friends with a place like or in a place like Sodom costs lot everything. Such an avoidable mistake.
Why wouldn't he just listen to Abraham, his cousin? Who just was so successful and got it all right. A lot of success was based because of Abraham. And when he left Abraham, he eventually lost it all. Also, the writer brings this love between the two men.
A high and noble love, Uh to the front because we're going to Meet later in the chapter, next session. Michelle's love for David, which was a shallow love, It's not to be compared, really. It's a tragedy that. That entire Relationship was never what it could have been, though there were good things about it, and we'll get to that when we move on. Verse Verse two Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house any more.
Well, he was so impressed with David, he says, You're conscripted you are now drafted. You're you belong to the This is what Samuel warned: if you get a king, he's going to take your sons from you, he's going to take the best of everything. But typical of Saul, so self absorbed, a man that was just Always ready to drain his surroundings. Just suck it dry. And go on to the next Water hold and ruin that one too.
That was, I don't want to be that kind of man in life. That just takes Nothing comes. The Dead Sea is like that. The Dead Sea takes in the fresh water and kills it. This Shepherd Boy will never be the same.
It says again, Saul took him that day. But never did Saul take his heart, and never did Saul take his life. Because of God, This rotten king devoted himself to a ghoulish cause. To just persecute the man. That's all.
Saul lived to do that. He was supposed to protect them, fight the Philistines. You know what? Never mind the Philistines, our enemies, today. Let them burn loot and pillage.
Let's go kill David. And he was so messed up that nobody in the camp would say, Saul, what are you doing? Because Saul couldn't have a relationship like that. You could not question the man. He's so self-impressed.
I mean, he gets me in the flesh. Like, what would I do if I met Saul? I'd try to beat him up. How much I don't like the guy, at least flatten his tires. That's the flesh talking.
The spiritual man would say Saul You're going to hell. You better fix this. And we you meet people like this in real life, but fortunately not maybe one, two in a lifetime. You don't meet many unless you're in a job where, you know, like a detective or something. You gotta come across scoundrels like this.
Criminal attorney or something. Verse 3. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.
So the writer is emphasizing this this bond between the two men. Jonathan is leading it because he's the crown prince. David's just a ser a shepherd. Who is catapulted into fame for killing the Philistine hero?
Now, David is the Israelite hero. And so he initiates it. Being a member of the royal household, David really was. If David tried to initiate the friendship, so what are you doing, you know, mooching up to the prince? There would have been Wrong.
And yeah, the The hero and the prince have become close friends. You know, in life sometimes you get those close friends. It takes a hero to know a hero. And remember, Jonathan has proven himself on the battlefield, and he recognizes these things about these qualities in David. And immediate camaraderie is born.
This friendship will overcome oppositions, competing passions that otherwise, you know, blood's thicker than water. Dad's famous all his family, David, sorry, he ate your guts. I can't be your friend. But no, Jonathan found a way around that. Jonathan said, There's enough of me.
To be loyal to my dad, and to love you even though he hates you. And he pulled it off. Saul would of course rather Jonathan hate David and join him in the execution of David, the public execution of David at that. And so this character, Jonathan, just a great figure, verse 4. And Jonathan took off the robe, that was on him, and gave it to David.
With his armour. Even to his sword. And his bow and his belt. David, you know, he didn't see this coming, but John, you know, when you love somebody, a spirit that does not drain its environment but looks to generate blessings, that's Jonathan. He looks to give something.
Saul is taking David from his family. Jonathan is arming David. Quite symbolic. You're going to need this against my dad. He doesn't know that.
That's not what he is saying, but that's what we see in the story. The robe of Jonathan, Israel's crown prince. When David's older brothers see him with this, there's nothing they can say. David has got connections they will not have. His armor.
the armour of the king's eldest son, the sword, the bow, Among the best, swords were rare. David went out and faced a giant, he didn't have a sword. They were so scarce. These are emblems of royalty and war, unfortunately. An honor.
There's nothing romantic about war whatsoever, and when you watch a war movie, Uh, you know, it's just a movie. But it's a horrible affair. But yet uh that's That's Paul's quote that I started in chapter 14: we have to enter the kingdom through these struggles. Saul did not deserve such a fine son. He did not deserve it.
Why why could he have been like David's? Older brother.
Now he was Saul's son, Absalom did not deserve David for a father. Even though David, you know, just the whole palace life messed up a lot of things with him, still, Absalom is not an excuse.
Someone could have said, Hey, Absalom, you should hear some of your dad's songs. I don't want to hear that stuff. And you're just not attracted to these spiritual things.
So This all-out friend, Jonathan, you can see types in this. We can run some parallels. By this story. Jonathan, the saved soul that recognizes the king. Who is coming?
who will one day sit on the throne, and he gives him everything. Paul said it this way: What things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. We can see that's not thinking that way, Jonathan. He's just, you know, taken by the friendship to finally a kindred spirit. Them Parallels are there, the turning over of the controls, the weapons, you know, just here: everything I have, I want to give to you.
And No longer in possession of his own armor, no longer captain of his own life. But submitted, which is the Christian life. And so you start out the Christian life in love with the Lord. You begin to learn. And then you start using what you've learned.
And then the opposition intensifies, and it does it in different ways.
Sometimes it's just a heavy attack, a series of attacks, or sometimes it's just a slow, steady. Pressure. Put on the life and And every Christian is expected to come through these things. By enduring And this is what, of course, the apostles in the New Testament wrote so much about. And he said, discipleship is so important that you get around people who've been through these troubles in Christ and have come out shining, and you be around those kind of people.
We'll get this next session, but I'll just say it now. In the Old Testament, Families were the central figure of relationships. But by the time we come to the New Testament, that's no longer the case. In the New Testament, there's two other ships. Discipleship and friendship Paul and Philemon, Paul and Timothy, for example, Peter and Mark.
Just the discipleship and the friendships, Paul and Silas going from city to city, preaching the gospel, Tychicus and Gaius with John, just this becomes the dominant Path for the believer to take. To this day, What is supposed to make a church effective and Christians more effective? It's just that. Discipleship and friendship. It can include the home for sure.
But it is not limited to the home.
Now, it's everywhere. And this is what the Jews could not understand this with Paul. He's reaching out to Gentiles. He said, listen, I don't care what you eat. I care about what you think of Jesus Christ dying for you on a cross and rising again and coming again.
That's what I care about. And so many people got in the way of that. Same in Christianity. You stand up, you say, What's dominant? For a Christian is discipleship and friendship, and there are those that will try to eat it away.
No added. No, that can't be right. Fortunately, you get old, you learn how to deal with them. You just say, shut up. And it's over.
Yeah.
Well Anyway, their friendship, an example of this loyalty and And uh this mutual like for each other. Jonathan so unlike his father in almost every way, A giver, not a taker. That's what comes out of verse 4.
Now, verse 5: So David went out wherever Saul sent him and behaved wisely. And Saul. set him over the men of war, And he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
So he says, Here's your new captain. And nobody's, he said, listen, before you say you don't like this guy, just remember what he did to that giant. That went a long way. But smooth sneeze. en route to the storm.
How does a ship get to the storm? Through smooth seas. And this is what's happening. The clouds are on the horizon. But here he is excelling.
He behaved wisely. Parallel again? With the Lord Jesus? who increased in wisdom and stature. and in favour with God and men.
Wouldn't we love to know how he did that? The details are just passed over until Christ enters his public ministry. We don't know how he did this. I want to know. I'm going to be in the video library in heaven almost every day.
Watching reruns of this.
So here's David gaining the experience. and climbing the ranks. Is not a youth out to prove himself smarter than his leaders, He's one that is learning and applying. You know, when I went into the steelworking business, They were It is dominated by Irish Catholics. And the ones that got immediate access were the Mohawk Indians from.
Canada and upstate New York. But everybody else you had to prove yourself. Many of those guys did it in the bar. They buy drinks, they'd become drinking buddies.
Well, of course, I did not drink alcohol. And God told me at the earliest point as an apprentice. Be like Joseph. Just do everything you're told. And do it with joy.
Don't push back. And I did that. And I won so many mentors. They taught me things that they otherwise would not have taught because those guys would hide moves from guys they didn't like. They didn't want them to learn.
They wanted them to go be dumb. But this was until I was in demand. Companies would call my house, hey, I got a job, I'm sorry, I'm working.
So this is a tactic of the righteous. To learn to submit until you God moves you up. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you in due time. He'll put you in the right hand. This is true for man and woman alike, girl and boy alike.
Become a sponge where you soak up the knowledge. Nobody wants to work with a know-it-all. And sometimes I'd get an apprentice to come work with me, or a new journeyman, and they'd have that know-it-all attitude. I'd go to the boss and get me another partner, because I'm not getting anything done with this guy. He knows everything.
And he's an idiot. Who can I say that? Yeah, it was too late.
So, you know, you go and you win people, and this is David. David is going out and he's just endearing himself. As I mentioned, we'll get to some verses, but. He's greeted as the man who slayed Goliath and he didn't mess it up. No evidence that David ruined this opportunity.
There's all the evidence is that. He capitalized on it. Verse six.
Now it had happened as they were coming home. When David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines with joy and with musical instruments. Were they greeted as heroes coming back from the battle?
So it's a gesture of gratitude and joy. And uh but it's going to bring unintended sorrow to David. A good thing that's going to be ruined, not because of them. It was not well thought out. We'll get to that next verse.
But because of one person, one person ruined the whole thing. Uh Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Rick is in the book of 1 Samuel. If you'd like to listen again to this or other messages or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreference radio.com.
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Okay.
