Victory Over Self

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. As a shepherd boy, he killed the lion and the bear. When he was a teenager, he went up against the great giant of Gath, Goliath, and he destroyed that giant as a warrior. He fought Philistine armies and the enemies of God, and he defeated them. But I believe in this chapter, we see perhaps his greatest victory. Now that's the big statement, but it is probably an unknown incident in the life of David, and yet it reveals his heart, the heart of a champion, perhaps like few others in his life, because it describes his victory over self. If you want to be a champion for Christ, you must win this victory over self. And David, in refusing revenge and in seeking restoration with Saul, demonstrates his victory over self. So let's look at the passage in 1 Samuel, chapter 24.

And let me just set this up for a moment. David has been anointed as king by Samuel the prophet. Saul has been set aside. David has won the great victory over giant.

He is killing Philistines left and right now, and he has become the champion of Israel. And the people love David, and Saul didn't like that. This man who had a huge ego is incensed, and he makes David, rather than his ally, he chooses to go after David as an adversary, to take him out. Saul knows that David will one day be king unless he can take him out, unless he can kill him. So Saul, the king, turned David into a fugitive.

That sort of brings us to chapter 24. When Saul returned, verse 1, when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, David is in the wilderness near Engedi. So Saul took 3,000 of Israel's choice men, he took the best of the best, and went to look for David and his men in front of the rocks of the wild goats.

What a place. The rocks of the wild goats. I mean, this was a place better fit for animals than men. So verse 3, when Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there. The old King James says, he went in and covered his feet.

The actual translation is, he went in to relieve himself. So David and his men were staying in the back of this cave. So they said to him, they meaning the men of David, look, this is the day the Lord told you about. This is what we've been waiting for, David. I will hand your enemy over to you so that you can do whatever you desire. They said, David, we got this sorry king now.

So here's what happened. David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul's robe. So look at verse 5. And afterwards, this is the heart of David.

David's conscience bothered him because he'd cut off the corner of Saul's robe. David's men are saying, go get him. This is God's time. This is God's will.

Take this guy out. David simply goes over, cuts off a piece of the robe of Saul, and his conscience is bothering him. I mean, he could have killed him. And yet he has such a tender heart, such a sensitive spirit towards God that he's upset with himself that he cut off just a corner of the king's robe. He said to his men in verse 6, I swear before the Lord, I would never do such a thing to my Lord. The Lord's anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed. With these words, David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.

I'm sure this was no small argument. And then Saul left the cave and went on his way, verse 8. And after that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, my Lord, the king. And when Saul looked at him, David bowed to the ground in homage.

All right, now let's just stop right there. And I want you to notice several things. First of all, I want you to see a great spiritual principle in this lesson. What motivated David? What could possibly motivate a man to do what he did? And rather than kill the king, he honored the king. It was because a great spiritual principle dominated David's life. And if you want to be a champion for God, if you want to do great things in your life for God, if you want God to exalt you and to use you, then this principle must, absolutely must, be active in your life. You say, okay, what is this great spiritual principle?

It is the principle of authority. In verses 5 and 6, as we read them, David expressed this principle when he said, I will not touch the Lord's anointed. David knew that even though Saul was unworthy, even though Saul had dishonored the kingdom, even though Saul had been set aside as the king, David knew that it wasn't his responsibility to react to Saul, but rather to respond in his heart with humility and devotion. And David, now listen to this, David refused to have a rebellious spirit against authority. Now, you're in 1 Samuel 24, just hold your place there, and let's see the New Testament side of this and go over to Romans chapter 13, verse 1. Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God.

You know what that means? That means that anyone who has an authority to the police officer, to the city official, all the way to the President of the United States, and everyone in between, if they are in a place of authority, that they have been placed in that position of authority by God. So then, verse 2, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. You cannot have the heart of a rebel and be a leader. You cannot dishonor those in authority and disrespect those who are over you and expect to rise and to succeed in life.

I'm not talking about civil disobedience that is correct and right when you stand for truth and righteousness. And there are times when, as Peter said in the book of Acts, we must obey God and not men. And if you're ever put in a position where you must obey God, choose to obey God, and suffer the consequences, then you must be willing to do that. But this goes to the heart of a man, doesn't it?

And it goes to this issue of self. Why did Saul lose the blessing of God on his life? Well, 1 Samuel 15 tells us why Saul lost everything. Samuel said, the Lord has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as obeying the voice of the Lord.

Behold, it is better to obey than sacrifice and to heed the fat of rams. And then he says, for rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. And then he said to Saul, this is the great prophet. He said, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you from being king. What was Saul's great sin that set him aside? He disobeyed God. He dishonored spiritual authority.

Though he was the king, he was the big man over everybody. He was still subject to the authority of God. And Saul, as a pattern in his life, and one last time, he finally rejected the authority of God and disobeyed God. Samuel said, that is as witchcraft and stubbornness, you might as well have committed idolatry and evil iniquity because, buddy, you are through. Here's the difference between Saul and David and why David was a champion and Saul was a chump. David was a man after God's own heart, and Saul became a man after Satan's own heart.

Because Saul refused to be under, he could no longer be over. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, Victory Over Self. Pastor, this month we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint. It's your book, Man of God.

What can you tell us about this powerful resource? You know, I have a real passion to see men know and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and as their Savior. And if I were just speaking to men right now, I would say the greatest thing you could do with your life is to fully follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it's said that it doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian, but I tell you this, it takes all the man that there is of you.

In other words, you are to give yourself completely and totally to Christ. Some of you guys, you're moral, you're good, you're a good husband, you're a good family guy, you're a good worker, but goodness doesn't get us to heaven. That doesn't make us a man of God, God's man.

Jesus does that. I want to encourage you to walk with God like never before, and that's the reason I've written this book, Man of God. I really want you to have this book because it talks about how we as men can truly be men of God.

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Or text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message, victory over self. So there was not only a great principle, but we see here a gentle plea. And here you see really the gentleness of his heart. You see the humbleness of his heart.

You see the gentleness of his heart. When verse eight, after that, David got up, went out of the cave and called to Saul, my Lord, the king. When Saul looked behind him, David bowed to the ground in homage. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of people who say, look, David intends to harm you. First of all, reminds Saul of the facts. He said, you're listening to people who are telling you that David wants to kill you, that David is out to get you, that David wants to destroy you.

Why do you listen to these people, O king? So much of conflict between people and relationship is brought about by third parties. He said, she said, somebody said, am I, is that right? I mean, so often the problem we get, maybe you've got a broken relationship with somebody. Maybe you've got a problem going on. I guarantee you in most instances, it's because you heard something that was said, or somebody gave a report to you. You didn't check out the facts.

You just got all bit out of shape. And here's this battle going on. And it's because somebody said something that wasn't even true. And so that's what David is saying. David is saying, look, you know, you've been listening to these people, the words of the people who say David intends to harm you. Verse 10, you can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave. And someone, several someones, advised me to kill you, but I took pity on you and said, I will not lift my hand against my Lord since he is the Lord's anointed.

See my father, look at his humility. He calls him my father. Remember his relationship with Jonathan, the son of the king. Jonathan was Saul's son. And David's feeling a part of the family here. Said, father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand.

He holds it up. I cut it off, but I didn't kill you. Look and recognize that there is no evil or rebellion in me. I haven't sinned against you, even when you are hunting me down to take my life. And that's when he said in verse 12, this great statement.

This is when he shows us his heart. May the Lord judge between you and me and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. What a man. Say, well, if he'd have been a man, he'd have taken Saul out. No, he was a man because he was a man of God and he did it God's way rather than his own way.

That's what takes real courage is to obey God and not man. He bowed before him. He respected him. He confronted him with the facts. He confirmed his friendship, his love for him, father. And he promised him safety. He said, I'm never gonna raise my hand against you.

I'm never gonna strike you. And then he says something in verse 14 that I don't know if it was funny when David said it, but it's a little bit funny to me when I read it. He says to Saul, he said, who is the king of Israel come after?

What are you chasing after, a dead dog, a flea? He's saying, Saul, you're trying to kill a mosquito with a hammer here. I mean, Saul's out there with his best of his best. He's got, instead of being out there and killing the really bad people, the Philistines, they're out there, 3,000 of the best men with Saul, the king of the nation. He's out there chasing David, a little shepherd boy who's living like a wild goat in the desert.

You come after a dead dog, a flea? The sincerity and the simplicity of David's heart. He has such a sweet, gentle spirit. And when Saul heard this, he was stricken. He confesses his sin and he starts crying. Look at verse 16. When David finished these things, saying these things to him, Saul replied, is that your voice, David, my son? Then Saul wept aloud and said to David, you are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me even though I have done what is evil to you. You yourself have told me today what good you did for me when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn't kill me.

When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May the Lord repay you with good for what you've done for me today. What does Romans 12 say? Overcome evil with what?

There it is. Overcome evil with good. Verse 20, now I know for certain you will be king. Saul knows he's finished. He's been beaten by a better man.

Not beaten physically, but spiritually. Verse 21, therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father's family. So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back to his home and David and his men went up to the stronghold. Now you'll see later on that Saul never really repented. He continues to go after David and ultimately his life ends in defeat and disaster.

He takes his own life, falls on his own sword. He's a man who might have been, but at least in this moment, he recognizes greatness when he sees it. He cries, these are somewhat crocodile tears. They're not tears of repentance.

But he's crying and he's confessing. Still interested in himself, said, David, whatever you do when you become king, keep my name alive. David said, okay, I'll do that. Remember when David later, when he became king, would say, is there anybody in Saul's house that I can show mercy upon for the sake of Jonathan? And they said, yes, Mephibosheth, the crippled boy of Jonathan. They brought him in and this was Saul's grandson and he put him at the king's table and fed him a beautiful meal and he kept his promise. This wasn't just David saying that he would do something and not doing it, he kept his promise. Well, David would become king and he was king because he had a kingly heart.

He was a man because he was God's man. Now, let me just close this by applying it. You probably have some conflicts going on in your life. You've probably had some people do some things to you that in business and in life, maybe in relationships, in marriage, you've had some bad things happen. And some of you, if you're not careful, you're going to allow the bad things to become a bitter thing in your heart. I think one of the real problems that men deal with in particular is dealing with bitterness. And you know what bitterness is? Bitterness is anger turned inward. And there are a lot of bitter men today. And there's nothing more unattractive and disappointing than a bitter man and in particular, a bitter old man. Sometimes men get beaten up their entire life and they end up bitter old men because they've never learned to let God be God, to turn those insults and those injuries over to him, to let God be God, let God judge between you and me. David sought reconciliation, sought to restore the relationship.

He did everything he could. You say, what do you do when you try to reconcile with someone or some situation and they won't let you? It doesn't happen. That's not your issue. How somebody else reacts to your doing the right thing is not your issue.

You do the right thing, whether the other party does the right thing or not. Don't allow bitterness over something that happens, something you disagree with, something you don't like to destroy your life. You like David, read Psalm number seven. Most people think Psalm number seven was written at this period of David's life. You read Psalm number seven when you get a chance and ask God, breathe it in as a prayer and let it be your prayer. And especially if you're facing conflict and you're dealing with injury or you're dealing with problems in your life, if you want the heart of a champion, if you want the heart of David, then you pray and ask God to help you overcome evil with good.

And rather than cursing the darkness that you will turn on the light of Jesus Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Victory Over Self. Today's culture has so distorted the concept of masculinity that some even reject it as toxic. But our world doesn't need less manly men. We need more men of God, men who love Jesus, make loving husbands and fathers and lead as servants. We'd like to help you uncover what God says about true masculinity by sending you Dr. Graham's book, Man of God.

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Our website again is jackgramm.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? David was a contrite servant leader and incredibly powerful warrior. And yet he was gentle in spirit. Saul on the other hand was a jealous, bitter king, a man who might've been, but never achieved greatness in his life. And he of course was enraged over David's popularity.

And you know, there's so many lessons for us here. Saul never had victory over himself. He couldn't see beyond his own agenda. He was so absorbed in his own petty little dilemmas or his own petty little kingdom. And like some politicians you may know, he was very insecure, working overtime to jockey himself for the goodwill of the people.

If he lived today, he'd be the kind of leader who'd take a poll to find out what direction to go. Tragically, Saul took on every single battle as his own rather than turning those burdens over to God. Right around this time when David was being hotly pursued by Saul, he wrote Psalm chapter seven. Let me read you just a few lines from his journal of prayer and praise.

There's great wisdom here. He was obviously talking about Saul when he wrote this. He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself. His violence comes down on his own head.

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. So let me ask you something. Are you more like David or Saul? Have you learned to have victory over yourself? Can you put your own agenda, your own ego aside and relinquish all your battles to the real king, King Jesus? Those of us who want to have the heart of a champion can't afford to nurture bitterness. You can't have the heart of a rebel and truly be great. If you're working overtime today, fighting all your own battles, remember what David has said, it's futile.

You're just digging a hole for yourself. And my hope today is that you'll choose to have the heart of a champion by giving up your self-focused agenda and trusting Christ fully and completely. And then just stand back and watch what God can do with your life when you are totally yielded to him. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Man of God as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how men of God can leave a legacy of faith in their families. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.