Abomination means you hate it. That action is hated, and we need to serve the world notice because they don't have a cause.
So they invest themselves in man-made causes, and in so doing, They pass by the causes of God and they become advocates for sin. Even if it's a good thing, they could wanna, you know, feed people and That are hurting, and that's a good thing. But when it comes at point of blocking the gospel also. It can be a very bad thing. 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. And now, here's Pastor Rick in 1 Samuel chapter 18 with this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. 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 they're those that will try to eat it away.
No, I added. No, that can't be right. Fortunately, you get old and you learn how to deal with them. You just say, shut up. And it's over.
Yeah.
Well Anyway, their friendship and 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. Uh 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 Uh you know, when 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 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 uh apprentice to come work with me or a a new journeyman and they'd have that know-it-all attitude. I'd go to the boss and get me another partner, 'cause I'm not getting anything done with this guy. He knows everything.
And he's just 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 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 from the battles? It was a gesture of gratitude and joy. But it's going to bring unintended sorrow to David.
A good thing that is 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. Genesis forty one verse forty You shall be over all my house, it was said by Pharaoh to Joseph, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word.
Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. See, that's what Joseph did with his hardship. And he steps into, you know, he was just a godly guy. He was a little naive. You know, hey, brothers, by the way, I had a dream, I'm better than you.
In God's eyes. And of course, that just wasn't the way to do it. He learned. But he suffered. And yet he is exalted.
It did come to pass. Verse seven So the women sang as they danced, and said Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. Miriam left the example. You know, when you want to have a victory, she gave the example. You don't sing.
I mean, Moses lifted his rod, the sea, parted, Aaron, did nothing. I mean, you don't You know Harry Gilmore, you know. Aaron carried Moses' baggage or something silly. You just don't do that. But that was there, it wasn't well thought out.
This is what happened on the day of the victory of the Jews, their first victory. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh. And spoke, saying, I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
So that's the example. That's what Bible examples are for. The lady should have looked at that and said, Praise the Lord. Everybody's back safe. Exodus 15:21, and Miriam answered.
In response to Moses, sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider. He is thrown into the sea. The lyrics came easy to her 'cause Moses already added them. She has repeated it. But it is beautiful.
She responds with this. She repeats it in the female tone. It's just well I would love to be there. It'd be one of the videos I'll be looking at in heaven. Yeah.
So They departed from Miriam and Moses' example that God has done this. The song, of course, that they're singing is hyperbole, it's exaggeration, poetic hyperbole. It's to share light on just how great a victory David has been bringing to the people. There's nothing they haven't experienced this in their lifetime, or maybe since Samuel, they're very excited. But David had not yet slain Thousands of people and never really did with his own hand.
Solomon Samson, of course, did on a day. He does that all the day's work for Samson. Imagine if Samson had took the head of Goliath and went into the tent with Saul and Jonathan. Jonathan would not have loved that guy.
Well Jonathan listen, we had to post him in Siberia. Uh just call them when we need them. Pay for a cell phone if that's what it takes. Anyway, They did not intend to offend the king. Uh but they did.
They were just rejoicing. The song became so popular on the charts, that the Philistines knew the song. And they throw it up, and David says, Isn't this David who the women were singing? Saul has killed his thousand, David has killed his ten thousand.
So, I mean, it's just a far-reaching song. I wonder what tune. You know, the Bible has preserved the words of many songs, but we don't have the beat.
So you have to make one up. And uh So it's okay. It's unbiblical to use A ukulele to do it. But ukulele is like an instrument that wants to be an instrument. Anyway.
Okay, I know. There might be some ukulele lovers here and Let's just move on. Yeah.
Some of us are old enough to remember what Tiny Tim did to the ukulele, and it will just never be accepted. Yeah.
Hello. Then Saul, verse eight, was very angry, and the saying displeased him. And he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands.
Now what more can he have but the kingdom? And now it's on. There the hatred fires have been lit. A better man than you That's it. He knows it.
He knows it's true that David is better than him because David's godlier, more godly than him. And this is more than a burst of anger. It was deep, it was demonic, and it is deadly in this man. The Hebrew word, look back at verse 8, where he says, Saul was very angry. The Hebrew word for very is vehement.
It's a vehement anger. This thing is off the rails. And you know, imagine a train coming your way off the rails. It's out of control. It's going to.
Wreck everything. The first time these two words appear together. is in Genesis four, and you might recognize that's Cain. Who was another?
Well, that's a whole nother whole nother life came. Anyway, Genesis 4 verses 5 and 8. But he did not respect Cain's offering. God says, No, I'm not taking this. This is not what I wanted, and you know it.
And I'm not going to appease you. And Cain was very angry. He was vehement. The kind of thing where you go and you throw things. And his countenance fell.
Bible's polite. with some of his descriptions.
Sometimes it's not.
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother. Here's the outcome. And it came to pass, as they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. And we're told in the New Testament, because Abel was righteous, and Cain hated him for that.
Well, this is the case with Saul, this vehement anger. It's not cute. It's not acceptable. How dare David be better than Saul? How dare he cast a shadow on my throne?
Proverbs twenty-seven, verse four: Wrath is cruel, and anger. A torrent. But who is able to stand before jealousy? I mean, it's one thing to have an anger issue. It's a whole nother thing to be angry with jealousy.
Possessiveness where it is in it is inappropriate. God's jealousy is not selfish. God's jealousy is on behalf of his people, he is protective of them. 'Cause when we think of jealousy, we always think of it in the negative, except when we become biblically literate. But a man who says, if I can't have you, no one can have you, that man is a monster, or a woman or anybody who thinks like that.
Imagine, you know, you get a A car or something, and you find out you can't keep it, and you burn it up. If I can't have it, nobody's gonna have it.
Well, if you're spiding the repo, man, that might be worth it. It would not, it would be a sin. Anyway.
Saul is failing, David is succeeding, and Saul can't handle it. And it says here in verse 8. And he said They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. That's all he heard. He blacked out after that.
After he heard that, it's all remembered, nothing more about whatever they were singing, wearing, or doing. All he could see was David, And this type of jealousy is born of being. Separated from God. The spirit of God departed from him, and an evil spirit began to dominate his life. The rhythm was ruined.
It was that wicked brand of pride. There is the pride that comes from the satisfaction of a job well done. That's not an arrogant pride. That is not a I'm better than you. That pride is the evil pride.
One that puts me over everyone else. And uh This this brand of pride it took a cherub and made him the devil. starts out early in life. We see it now, we see it in little children. We see anger and wrath in little kids, little toddlers with their tempers entering.
It's cute, but it has to be dealt with. It's uh The spur just said it's easier to step on a serpent's egg than the serpent. And it's true, nip it in the bud, we might say. He says, Now, what more can he have but the kingdom?
Well, because of his unchecked self-love. That harms again anything that dares to disagree with it. His soul pride, exalting itself above others.
Now, what more can he have with the kingdom?
Well, the kingdom is not yours. It was given to you, and you blew it. and you have served warnings about this repeatedly. But he felt entitled to the throne. And when you love yourself in excess, you feel entitled to everything.
You might say a person is a spoiled brat. You don't have to be a child to have that moniker tagged onto you. You can be 90 years old. I've never met a 90-year-old who's a spoiled brat. They just don't have the energy.
Yeah.
Takes a lot of energy to be a spoiled brat. You gotta fuss at everything, you gotta make a list of things you don't like. and make everybody know it.
Well Saul, of course, siding against God. did not realize he's siding against God's champion. But it wouldn't matter if he did. Verse 9.
So Saul eyed David from that day forward. And there the drama music kicks in. The beginning of woes for David. I got my eye on him. And it's an evil eye.
Song of Solomon. Chapter eight. Love is as strong as death. Jealousy as cruel as the grave. Its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.
You've ever been jealous of someone else, you know it's It's not something I hope. It's something like, you know what? This is hurting me. I don't like this. This is eating me up.
I gotta stop being this way. I've got to learn to let things go. I'll live without it. I'll suffer without it. It's better than being eaten from the inside by this gnawing rat.
of jealousy, And uh It's not a I you know, I don't think any Christian should try to make anybody feel jealous, provoke them to jealousy. It it's not a virtue. David's reward for gallantry in the field of battle, for taking out the giant that no one else would take out. Was that people applauded him and now he's hated? Proverbs 17, verse 15: he who justifies the wicked, listen to this.
This is for those advocates of fools. He who justifies the wicked. And he who condemns the just Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh. Abomination means you hate it. That action is hated, and we need to serve the world notice because they don't have a cause.
So they invest themselves in man-made causes, and in so doing, They pass by the causes of God and they become advocates for sin. Even if it's a good thing, they could want to, you know, feed people that are hurting, and that's a good thing. But when it comes to point of blocking the gospel also, it can be a very bad thing. Paul experienced this. Um he preached And Elimus resisted the gospel, and Paul healed people there on the island.
And uh Yeah, he had to strike Elimus blind for a while for interfering with the gospel, he called him out. Didn't let it go unnoticed. Verse 10, and it happened on the next day. That the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house.
So David played music with his hand, as at other times, but There was a spear in Saul's hand. Again, with the distressing spirit, from the man who once walked with God. and now turned his back. On guard. To the point of dark rebellion.
It wasn't just, you know, I'm struggling with God, I'm upset. This is, he was against God. And he's not You know, just well, he's just drunk and he'll sober up. No, he's Drunk or not, he's like this all the time. It says he prophesied in the house.
Now that means he did singing. It was prophecy used in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It was broad meanings. You have to use the context to understand. David is here playing the harp.
And he's either singing. The blues are country western. Because that's what you're saying when you're down. It's yeah. I don't know, is there a jolly country tune?
I'm sure there is. I'm working nine to five to figure out what it is, but So David played music with his hand.
Okay, we gotta stop there. They're harping on this hand thing, as at other times. Oh, it's so cute. The operative word for this evening, cute, right? He played.
Why doesn't it say, and he played music with his harp? That would have done it for everyone. I know. I am harping on this.
Sorry. But there was a spear in Saul's hand. What a contrast. One is singing songs of joy or ministering to the other one. The other one has got a weapon, and he's going to try to kill the music.
Yeah, David was really bad at playing the harp. And of course he was not. Four times, four times we read about a spear in Saul's hand. Each time it's in relationship to David. What does that mean?
Is it a symbol an emblem of his cowardice? of his hatred and paranoia. Yeah, I think it is. We'll come across it in chapter. I'll give you the verses if you want to look it up later.
Um First Samuel nineteen nine twenty two six and twenty six eleven And at 26, 11, David steals the spear. But he gives it back. The Abishai wanted to give it back. it's on my heart to give him the spear through his heart. Verse 11, and Saul casts Now let me pause here.
Now I know I'm extremely funny. Sympathy laughs are not encouraged. It's hard though. We feel so sorry for you. If you just stopped telling jokes, we wouldn't have to do this.
Verse 11, and Saul cast the spear, for he said, I will pin David to the wall. But David escaped his presence. Twice Twice We gotta talk about this, David. The spear in Saul's hand is not a coincidence. It's not a way you go.
I'm going to listen to some music. I'm bringing my spear with me. It's the wrong thing. You know, bring a tambourine. Or you know the Anything, the little hand clickers.
Castinets or anything, but don't take a spear. If the musician is bad, you're the king, just tell him to leave. But don't throw it at him.
Well Of course, it's not a coincidence. He's seething with hatred. He's taking the spear 'cause he's like he's just I'm gonna kill that guy.
Someone evidently overheard him say, right when he was about to throw the spear, I'm going to pin him to the wall. Amen. stick the spear through him till he sticks to the wall. Kill him.
Now, David slew the giant Saul was afraid of. You think Saul would have said, you know, this guy might kill me back. But he's irrational. He's delusional. He is out of his mind.
And he does it twice. And David could have killed him. And David goes back. Why does David give him another shot? No, David, I'm out of here.
I don't care, king or not. Nobody's throwing a spear at me. I think it is because Word got around. We know David was brought into the palace to play music because Saul had this issue of depression, and everybody's thinking they're going to help him.
Some of them are pretending it's not there. Come on. He wasn't really, you know. If he wanted to kill you, David, he would have killed you. Oh, he was he would have killed me if he could have killed me.
David, I think. believed he could help the madness of Saul, and he was wrong. What a lesson. There are just some jobs that are too big for us. And what the people, what are they thinking?
Are they thinking, you know, that's they're excusing Saul? How come somebody doesn't throw a net over this guy, drag him out, and lock him in a looney bin somewhere? Because he's getting away with it. Making people think that he's just, you know, I got this problem. I throw spears at people every now and then, but I come out of the blues.
Now look, I'm going to give him my daughter to marry. Oh, that proves your saying. Anyway.
Uh I have to say that there are some moody church growers. who do this, they take a spear with them. And they hurl their critical insults. at others without justification, May it not be us? Whatever happened to Saul delighting in the smooth music, verse Samuel 16.
So David came to Saul and stood before him. We're going back now. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armour bearer. Yeah, because Saul was just soaking in the attention. And he didn't even know who David really was.
He just, yeah, another servant. I love this guy. But it was all shallow. That's why when David goes out, he says to his general Abner, Who is this guy? Who's his father?
Well, we told you that. I mean, Abner couldn't say, We told you that. How did you forget? Because they knew how Saul was, and so they all just kicked into survival mode. We will go along with Saul.
Instead of dealing with him. Yeah.
Um 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 crossreferenceradio.com. Here, you can also listen to interviews with Pastor Rick to learn more about his life and ministry.
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