By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit 1 Our Need
for Authentic Heroes
Unit 2 David's Predecessor -
King Saul
Unit 3 King Saul Rejected by God
Unit 4 The True Nature of "Giants"
Unit 5 The Hammer of God
DAVID: AN IMPERFECT HERO
By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
A Bible Study on the Life of David, Israel's Greatest King
Unit # 1
I. OUR CONTINUING NEED FOR AUTHENTIC HEROES.
A. In our lives and especially in Western Culture, there is an enormous need for heroes.
1. We desperately need men and women who will be willing to conduct their lives according to a higher standard of integrity so that they hold up for us all a better way to live.
a. A bonified hero, needn't be a perfect man, but he needs to handle his imperfections with both honesty and a readiness to be held accountable for his/her own actions.
b. I believe that we are growing weary of today's "anti-heroes"; people of renown who hold up not an exemplary life, but a rebellious life and who, either by design or inadvertently, offer themselves as an option for our own conduct or worse, that of our children.
2. Consider today's "anti-heroes" and our willingness to accept them:
a. Dennis Rodman c. President Clinton
b. Marilyn Manson d. Madonna, etc., etc.,
B. Why do you believe we are so willing to accept such "anti-heroes"?
II. IN SEARCH OF: AN IMPERFECT, BUT AUTHENTIC HERO:
A. Consider the great ones of the Scriptures, warts and all!
1. Noah - Standing up to the ridicule of all who saw him building his improbable ark, and then, after a year-long "pleasure cruise", facing life as the only family left in the world.
2. Joseph - Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, unjustly accused and imprisoned, yet demonstrating grace and forgiveness to those who wronged him.
3. Moses - A reluctant prophet, deliverer, who - through God's power - conquered the world's greatest nation of his time, and then lead the complaining, disobedient Jewish masses for a 40 year desert hike, finally leading God's chosen people to the very edge of the land promised to Abraham so long before.
4. There are many others: The apostle Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, Stephen the Martyr, Peter the out-spoken leader of the unlikely band of apostles who turned the world up-side-down.
5. Heroes are given honorable mention by the writer to the Hebrews. (Hebrews 11:1-40)
6. None of the biblical heroes were "airbrushed" perfect people, but all of them were people like us who struggled with sin, failed, were forgiven, and then excelled in life.
7. Perhaps the commonality which they all share is one that carefully deserves our most attentive observation: They acted in faith to place themselves at the disposal of God...It is He who made them great!
B. One of the greatest of the true heroes of the Scriptures is King David.
1. What set David apart?
a. His physical appearance was pleasant (I Samuel 16:12), but that wasn't important. (I Samuel 16:7) -- Nothing special here.
b. His occupation was ordinary: He was a shepherd boy living in a small, seemingly insignificant village called Bethlehem.—Nothing special here either.
c. He wasn't the only young man in his family either, in fact, it seems that his own father didn't even consider him when the prophet Samuel showed up to anoint a new king over Israel. (I Samuel 16:6-11)
2. So there we are: David is a nice looking boy, from a common family, living in a unremarkable small town, the youngest of his brothers...so why David?
3. Some clues:
a. I Samuel 13:14 b. I Samuel 16:7
C. What makes a man (or woman),"...a man after God's own heart"?
1. First: When God chooses to use people, He can be depended upon to do the unexpected. (I Corinthians 1:26-29)
a. So what was so special about Abraham? Jonah? Paul? Peter?
b. When God's Son was born, He chose a family of limited means, from a backwater town like Nazareth...a common family.
c. When God selected His apostles, what was noteworthy about that collection of unremarkable men?
2. Second: God does not choose great men, he empower the men He chooses to be great. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
a. When God chooses people they are people to whom He has already given the gift of faith.
b. Even Paul was the recipient of the gift of faith, before it became apparent to him that he was to become the apostle to the Gentiles
3. Third: God chooses men/women to serve Him in remarkable ways, who have demonstrated that, by His grace, they have shown good judgment in the use of the precious gifts He has given them.
a. The first quality God saw in David was a willingness to receive God's grace so fully, that they become truly spiritual people.
1.) Such people are people who love what God loves and hate what God despises.
2.) These are folks who know what God says about what He loves and what He hates...they hunger after His Word.
3.) (II Chronicles 16:9a)
4.) These are people who lock no doors of their life before the Lord...their lives, (for better or worse), are open books and they wouldn't have it any other way!
b. The second characteristic that God had given David was humility.
1.) David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons.
2.) Remember that it was Able, not Cain who was righteous.
3.) Remember that it was Jacob, not Esau whom God chose to carry the promise.
4.) God's chosen men and women have a servant's heart instead of seeking to be served.
5.) A servant seeks glory for God, not for himself...That is the very essence of a servant -- to desire that the one he serves looks good.
c. Another quality/characteristic that marked David was integrity.
1.) There is a word in the Hebrew language (thamam), it means: complete, whole, innocent, having simplicity of life, wholesome, sound, unimpaired. Wow!
2.) Someone has written a book entitled, Who Are You When Nobody's Looking? If we are the same people when no one's looking, there's a good chance we are people who have integrity.
3.) To have fully integrated faith into life is to be a person of integrity.
a.) Their "yes" means yes and their "no" means no.
b.) The thought of writing a bad check never enters their minds.
c.) Anything less that being fully trustworthy in a business deal, with an employee or an employer is unthinkable.
D. How does God train a man after His own heart?
1. God trains people in any number of ways, but one common thread seems to be His use of solitude.
a. There are few occupations more isolated than that of shepherd.
b. Here, with no interruptions from the distractions of life, there is time to think, ponder, and savor one's thoughts and the thoughts of God.
c. David is not the first nor the last in this regard:
1.) Moses had his shepherd days in Midian.
2.) Abraham had his long journey from Ur.
3.) Elijah spent a thought provoking time by the brook Kidron
4.) Paul had three years in Arabia
5.) Luther had his time of confinement in the Wartburg castle.
2. Another tool in God's handbag for molding His servants is obscurity.
a. Chuck Swindoll has remarked: "Strange as it may seem, those who first accept the silence of obscurity are best qualified to handle the applause of popularity."
b. In the room of obscurity, one learns to be satisfied with who he is apart from the accolades of others.
3. God also seems to use the grindstone of monotony to shape His heroes of faith.
a. All of us learn to live life in "plain vanilla"!
b. Life is a lot like watching baseball on TV....hours of boredom and a few moments of excitement.
c. Slowly, as we mature, we learn well to make the moments that others see as dull into the special moments of opportunity and challenge that each day brings.
d. ILLUS: Three bricklayers working on a building..."I'm earning my wage." "I'm building a wall." and "I'm part of the construction of a great cathedral!"
4. Reality is a wonderful, but painful part of God's "tool kit" in the lives of those who will be His greatest servants.
a. Consider the scenario that plays out in I Samuel 17:34-35, (We'll look at this encounter in greater detail later.)
1.) Where does David get such great courage? Out in the fields (where there's obscurity, solitude and monotony), when no one was watching (integrity), the lion (reality) and David takes action (accountability) and handles the problem.
2.) Starkly contrasted in the physically large and powerful King Saul who is cowering in his tent scared to death by the over-zealous weight lifter called Goliath.
b. Reality is having the courage to deal with life's difficulties and not hide from them.
E. Important lessons we can learn:
1. It's in the little things and in the lonely times and places of life that we are equipped by God to become capable of handling the big events of life.
a. If God is to be allowed to create of us people who will be men and women of vision and achievement, we must cultivate the habit of doing the little things well.
1.) Get your homework done and done right.
2.) Fill out those detailed reports and complete those assignments.
3.) Don't relegate being a person of integrity only for "important" events, but in the details of daily life.
b. Here, in the monotony, God puts iron in our bones for the future.
2. When God develops our inner qualities, He rarely rushes to get the job done quickly.
a. Our conversion was but an instant at the fount of Baptism or in the hearing of God's Word, but the steady, relentless production of a living faith is the product of a lifetime of God's attention.
b. His is the potter and we are the clay. By God's grace, let us be moldable!
DAVID: AN IMPERFECT HERO
By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
A Bible Study on the Life of David, Israel's Greatest King
Unit # 2
I. DAVID'S PREDECESSOR: KING SAUL, FROM NOBODY, TO SOMEBODY, TO NOBODY.
A. God is "fired" as ruler of Israel when the people demand a king.
1. Samuel, the last of the judges of Israel who was also a prophet, has a "normal" family with sons who lives selfish lives and used their position for personal gain.
a. I Samuel 8:1-3
b. It seems that being raised in the house of a godly man is no guarantee that his children will always do what is right.
c. Today there is a growing movement to punish parents for the wrongs of their children. In what ways does this seem right? Wrong?
2. Instead of immediately striking them down, God, issues a warning through His prophet:
a. I Samuel 8:4-18
1.) Everything Samuel predicted came true...and repeatedly!
2.) Yet, the people demand a king! Why?
b. In what similar ways do we know in advance that some actions are destructive to us and yet, we insist on doing them?
3. The people insist on a king.
a. I Samuel 8:19-20
b. Have any of you parents had children like this?
4. God gives the people what they ask for:
a. I Samuel 8:21-22
b. Remember when you were caught smoking as a child....what did your parents do?
c. This action on God's part, however, lasted past the time of Christ.
d. While God always spoke to His people through the prophets, there was never again a period like that of the judges when God ruled His people directly.
B. Saul is chosen by God to be Israel's first king.
1. I Samuel 9:15-17
a. Why would God choose a man like Saul whom God knew would really fail as a king?
b. Was Saul's failure a certainty at the time of his choosing, or was Saul free to act wisely or foolishly?
c. What does this say about the opportunities and judgment we are going to make on a daily basis?
2. Saul is appointed as Israel's first king. (I Samuel 10:9-11, 20-27)
a. Did Saul have the wisdom and skills to serve as King prior to I Sam. 10:10?
b. Samuel points out the people's rejections of God as their ruler. (I Sam. 10:17-19
c. But the people cheered their new king. (I Sam. 10:20-27)
d. After a great military victory, Saul is publicly confirmed as king. (I Sam. 11:14-15)
C. Saul proves to be unworthy of his appointment with three huge mistakes:
1. Not long after Saul's appointment, he makes a terrible decision:
a. I Samuel 13
b. Saul was to have waited for Samuel to come and make burnt offerings, but the delay of seven days and the sight of the huge army of the Philistines, (whom Saul and picked a fight with), filled his army with terror and moved Saul to disregard Samuel's instructions.
c. To disregard Samuel's instructions was a rejection of God's authority over Saul.
d. Saul destroyed his own future. (I Samuel 13:13)
e. Sin always has consequences and for national leaders the consequences also fall on the nation.
f. Samuel pronounces God's judgment on Saul, (I Samuel 13:14), and alludes to David as the next king.
2. Saul makes a rash vow against his own son. (I Samuel 14:24, 27-30)
a. Saul made a decision that hurt his own forces.
b. Jonathan was the one who had truly delivered Israel, with God's help, but was now being blamed for the results of the poor decision of his father.
c. Fortunately, everyone else saw the foolishness of executing Jonathan and prevented the king from doing so, and in the process, Saul vowed to God that he should be dealt with severely if Jonathan were not executed. (I Samuel 14:43-44)
d. Saul's reign did not end immediately, but he was rejected and the remaining years of his kingdom were a sad story. (I Samuel 14:52)
3. Finally, Saul openly rebelled in his disobedience to God. (I Samuel 15)
a. Samuel issues a decree from the Lord that Saul is to, "...totally destroy the Amalekites and everything that belongs to them..." (I Samuel 15:3)
1.). Why would God order such an act of total obliteration of men, women, children, infants and animals?
2.) Remember that from time-to-time, the exercise of God's righteous wrath against unbelief occurs and will occur with finality on Christ's return. These are nations and people who would not believe.
3.) God is a righteous judge whose actions may seem "unfair" to us, but are absolutely right and just and holy.
b. Saul, in his victory over the Amalekites, complete disregards Samuel's instructions from the Lord. (I Samuel 15:7-9)
c. Finally, God had had enough of Saul and rejected him completely. (I Samuel 15:10-34
d. This then began the removal from Saul of the Spirit he had been given. Slowly, all the gifts God had given him were removed and he no longer had the abilities and skills needed to be king.
1.) Does this sound a bit like the, "use it or loose it" saying we often use?
2.) When God gives His gifts, are we not to make use of them and if we do not, they might be removed as well?
4. Now the stage is set for the choosing of David as king!
DAVID: AN IMPERFECT HERO
By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
A Bible Study on the Life of David, Israel's Greatest King
Unit # 3
I. KING SAUL IS TOTALLY REJECTED BY GOD.
A. The Spirit of the Lord departed Saul. (I Samuel 16:14-15)
1. Please notice that the Spirit of the Lord departed before an evil spirit came.
a. The presence of the Holy Spirit, faith, and belief go hand-in-hand.
b. There can be no belief unless the Holy Spirit is present and active to change the heart of the unbeliever into that of a believer:
1.) Before faith, there is no Holy Spirit present in a person:
a.) Unbelievers are spiritually DEAD: Ephesians 2:1-5
b.) Unbelievers are spiritually BLIND: II Corinthians 4:1-4
c.) Unbelievers are spiritually ENEMIES OF GOD: Romans 5:6-10
2.) As such, they are not a fit place for the presence of the Holy Spirit.
2. The school of theology that says, "Once Saved, Always Saved." is false teaching!
a. Saul was a true believer, who (by his own rebellion), turned away from God.
b. The fact that the Holy Spirit has been with demonstrates that true, saving faith was his possession.
c. The fact that the Holy Spirit departed him, demonstrates that, through rebellion, people can fall from faith.
d. This departing of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated to be tantamount with the removal of grace from Saul by his continued rebellion up to and including his final demise by his own hand.
B. At certain times, in the Scriptures, a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given to God's people, but this does not mean they did not have the Holy Spirit before such events:
1. On the Day of Pentecost, the believers, (that means they had the Holy Spirit in them), were anointed by the Holy Spirit in a special way.
2. Pentecost was the anointing of the Church for the New Testament era of the Holy Spirit's activity. (The Age of the Church).
3. The difference in the way in which the Spirit is withdrawn is seen in the continued faithful obedience of the New Testament Christians and the stubborn descent into deeper and deeper rebellion with respect to Saul.
C. When the Holy Spirits departs, this creates a spiritual vacuum which cannot remain neutral in this life.
1. Immediately an evil spirit takes up residence in Saul. (Further evidence of the lack of saving faith.)
a. Matthew 12:43-45
b. To those who believe that we are raising our children in a morally neutral world, please take note of this principal:
2. Principal: That which is not in God's domain in Christ, is controlled by Satan.
D. "Once Saved, Always Saved" is unbiblical, false doctrine!
1. Matthew 13:20-21 4. Galatians 1:609
2. Matthew 24:9-10 5. I Timothy 4:1
3. John 15:6 6. Hebrews 10:26-29
E. Keil and Delitzsch, a very reputable Old Testament commentary says this about Saul's spiritual condition:
"The 'evil spirit from Jehovah' which came into Saul in the place of the Spirit of Jehovah, was not merely an inward feeling of depression at the rejection announced to him, which grew into melancholy, and occasionally broke out in passing fits of insanity, but a higher evil power, which took possession of him, and not only deprived him of his peace of mind, but stirred up the feelings, ideas, imagination, and thoughts of his soul to such an extent that at times it drove him even into madness. the demon is called 'an evil spirit (coming) from Jehovah' because Jehovah had sent it as a punishment..."
II. DAVID IS ANOINTED, BUT HAS A "TRAINING PERIOD" BEFORE ASSUMING THE THRONE.
A. After David is anointed as king by Samuel, (I Samuel 16:13), he is called into the service of King Saul. (I Samuel 16:16-17)
1. This is a direct result of Saul's own attendants seeing the result of his demon possession.
a. What is it about music that soothes us?
b. Is this phenomenon a common one with all of us?
2. Notice how creatively God gets David connected with Saul and with the throne!
a. Saul's servant says something like, "Yeah, I once saw this guy who herds sheep outside of Bethlehem who plays the harp pretty well, is a brave man and a good fighter, who speaks well, is good looking and the Lord is with him." -- Not a bad resume.
b. I Samuel 16:19-20
B. Jesse sends David packing off to Saul.
1. This almost looks like what we do when we send our kids off to college:
a. Here goes David, trudging off down the dusty trail with a donkey, a jug of wine and his harp slung across his back.
b. NOTE: After David was anointed king, his dad sent him back to herd the sheep....good training for a future king!
2. David is now ready to enter his "Basic Training" with the improbable title of: "King-in-Training."
a. Unknowingly, Saul has invited the very person God has chosen to be his replacement into his very court! Yes, God does have a sense of humor!
b. It seems that not only was there the normal soothing of music upon Saul but there seems also to have been something supernaturally spiritual occurring when David played his harp thus temporarily soothing the spiritual torment that Saul was experiencing.
III. DAVID, THE GIANT-KILLER!
A. It is perhaps the first battle in the Bible we ever learned about.
1. It is not between two great armies aligned on a field of battle, but two individuals.
a. From a worldly standpoint, this looks to be a "no-contest" contest.
b. Here is Goliath: Big, burly, impressive, intimidating.
c. Here is David who sees as God sees and not as man sees: He is not impressed, he is not intimidated.
2. What is it that David knows that Goliath doesn't?
a. No matter how big the giant, God is greater still.
b. No matter how powerful the adversary, God is all-powerful.
c. Therefore, David sees this as a mismatch too...in his favor!
d. This is what God was seeing in David all along, (I Samuel 16:7b)
DAVID: AN IMPERFECT HERO
By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit # 4: The "Dwarf" Goes Down
I. DAVID TEACHES US A LESSON ABOUT THE TRUE NATURE OF "GIANTS" IN OUR LIVES:
A. When we encounter "giants" in our lives, we forget what we ought to remember, and remember what we ought to forget!
1. We tend to remember our defeats and forget our victories.
a. Most us can recite the failures of our lives without difficulty.
b. It is a sad commentary on us all that we are often hard-pressed to name the specific, remarkable victories that God has given us in the past.
2. Saul now responds to David's courage by (heaving a sigh of relief for himself), and by offering his own armor, helmet and sword for his use. (I Sam. 17:38-40)
a. Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor...Here is Saul, a 52 long and David, a 36 regular....what a scream!
b. David can't walk around in that stuff, let alone fight in it, so offering a socially acceptable excuse, ("I'm not use to it."), David sheds Saul's stuff and picks up a few stones.
B. In dressing in his "street" clothes, David shows that his faith is in his God, not in the latest technology!
1. David is completely ready for battle, NOT because he has the best armor and the best sword, and the best helmet, but because he has God and His power!
2. How often have we sought to put our faith in all the stuff that everyone tells us is absolutely essential for the conduct of life?
a. Trust in your stuff, the world says.
b. David says, "No, trust in your God!"
3. Now fully equipped with everything he needed, David goes off to face Goliath.
II. THE BATTLE BEGINS: (I Sam. 17:41-51)
A. The great thing about this account is the way it exemplifies the way that God works.
1. God works through human weakness and the glory goes to Him!
2. God doesn't make our enemies smaller, He just enables us to rise to the occasion through His strength and courage.
a. Through the world's eyes, David was a good as dead.
b. The giant was still frightening, imposing and lethal.
c. No one in either camp would have put any money on the kid.
d. In order for David to pull this off...he had to have God with him!
B. The champion of Israel makes his move:
1. Goliath takes the initiative and approaches David...sizing him up.
a. Goliath thinks this is a joke and an insult.
b. Clearly, Goliath is not impressed!
2. An interesting dialog occurs between David and Goliath: (vv. 42-44)
a. After 40 days of posturing and threatening Goliath threatens to destroy this young lad in front of him.
b. David, however, redefines the battle by pointing out the obvious:
1.) The giant is trusting in his size, his strength, his weapons, his armor.
2.) David trusts in his God. (vv. 45-47)
3. Please note: God does not seem to mind resorting to violence to prove His point. If people insist on battle, then battle it will be and the Lord will prevail.
4. Intimidation is our major problem when we face our "giants":
a. ILLUS: Skiing is very much a battle against intimidation...
b. He we find the quality of a real man...one with complete confidence in God to face the obstacles of life!
c. David didn't try to impress anybody: not the army of Israel, not his brother, not the army of the Philistines, he didn't even try to impress God...David just ran to meet Goliath!
C. David claims the victory: (I Sam. 17:48-51)
1. There really wasn't much of a battle...a few whooshes of the sling and that was that!
2. The invincible giant that no one would dare to fight and against whom no one could possibly prevail, was dead as a doornail!
3. The Philistines didn't wait around to see what the grown-up Israelites could do and left virtually everything in their camp and exited as fast as possible.
4. The army of Israel, (suddenly rejuvenated with courage), now chased them and killing many as the Philistines retreated. (vv. 51b-52)
5. The head of Goliath and the weapons of the giant were now David's possession and Israel had a new hero...who was NOT Saul.
III. LESSON FROM GIANTS AND DWARVES.
A. Facing giants is an intimidating experience:
1. With the safe distance of 3000 years between David's battle and ours, let us remember that giants can indeed be scary!
2. Perhaps we need to remember what David remembered...a true picture of the battle...its really a mismatch in YOUR favor because of God's strength.
B. Doing battle is a lonely experience:
1. No one is going to fight your battles but you...your giants are your giants.
2. The crowds of your "friends" may not even be encouraging to you.
3. But while they are your "giants", you do not fight them alone but with God.
C. Trusting in God is a stabilizing experience.
1. If we attempt to do battle in our own strength, we will most certainly fail.
2. If we trust in God all things will be OK, even if the giant beats us up a bit!
D. Winning is a memorable experience.
1. It is a good and salutary thing to call to mind the victories of life we have received through the power of the Lord.
2. We need to pass such victories on to our children and grandchildren so they too may draw confidence for their "giants".
IV. THE AFTERMATH OF GIANT-KILLING.
A. God does us a real favor by not revealing the future to us!
1. If David had known what his future would be after killing the giant, he might well have taken the grain to his brothers, taken one look at Goliath and went home.
2. Consider all the terrible stuff in your life you never had to worry about in advance simply because you had no idea what you were headed for. Yes, in one sense, ignorance is bliss!
B. The victory over Goliath led David into the deepest, darkest valleys of his life.
1. David's life now unfolds into four critical relationships:
a. First, his relationship of submission to Saul.
b. Second, his relationship of affection for Jonathan, Saul's son.
c. Third, his relationship of elevation and exaltation with the people of Israel.
d. Fourth, his relationship of opposition with Saul that went on for years, and years and years.
2. What is about to happen to David falls into the category of God using the hardships of life for our good to mold us into more useful instruments of His peace.
a. The first thing that happened, is that David was not permitted to return home to his life as a shepherd. (I Sam. 18:1-2)
b. At the same time, David and Jonathan became the best of friends. (v. 1, 3)
c. David does everything Saul directs him to do and does it so successfully that Saul must be rewarded...even with a high rank in the army.
3. Everyone in Israel is so taken with David's success, that Saul become jealous of this young shepherd boy:
a. The crowds sing Saul's praises, but sing David's even more! (vv. 6-9)
b. The army, (especially the officers surrounding Saul), is overjoyed by the success of David.
c. Saul twice attempts to kill David in his own house. (I Sam. 18:10-11)
C. Let us learn the nature of true friends...from David and Jonathan:
1. Intimate friends are willing to sacrifice for one another.
a. I Sam. 18:3-4
b. This exchange of goods is an expression of the giving of one's self to another.
2. Intimate friends are a loyal defense before others.
a. Jonathan is no fair-weather friend...no matter what, he gives David his loyalty.
b. Jonathan even stands up to his father on David's behalf. (I Sam. 19:4-5)
c. Keep in mind that Jonathan is the probable heir apparent to Saul and yet he does nothing to get in David's way as he works his way onto the throne.
3. Intimate friends give each other complete freedom to be themselves.
a. When Saul has threatened to kill David yet again, Jonathan gives David a prearranged signal of the danger and after that, they weep together at the evil that has befallen David and complicated their friendship.
b. While weeping together may seem strange, here friendship simply permits the sharing of such feelings without lecturing David to "shape up".
4. Finally, an intimate friendship is a constant source of encouragement.
a. Once again Saul is seeking to murder David, and it is Jonathan who seeks out David to encourage him in the Lord. (I Sam. 23:15-16)
b. It is shameful that some have used this account of honorable, true and God-pleasing friendship as a pretext to justifying homosexuality. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
c. A true friendship like this is a picture of how faithful God is toward us and should not be cheapened by casting aspersions about it being a homosexual relationship.
DAVID: AN IMPERFECT HERO
By Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit # 5: The Hammer of God
I. SAUL DESCENDS INTO MADNESS: (I Sam. 18:12-30)
A. After David's great victory, both over Goliath and then other military foes, the jealousy of Saul exceeded all rational bounds:
1. He behavior became unpredictable.
a. He failed to hear the praise given him by the crowds, and he only heard the praise given to David. (I Sam. 18:6-7)
b. On the one hand, Saul honors David with high army rank, but on the other hand he twice tries to kill David in his own house with a spear (I Sam. 18:10-12), and does so again in I Sam. 19:9-10.
c. On one hand Saul sends David into battle and offers his two daughter's hands in marriage to David. (I Sam. 18:13-14, 17)
d. On the other hand he hopes that David's involvement in the military will bring his death and uses his daughter's marriages for his own evil purposes. (I Sam. 18:17b, 18:20-21)
e. It becomes absolutely clear that Saul is now dedicated to the proposition of ending David's life and is willing to use his family and anyone and anything to achieve his purpose.
2. In the meantime, David is doing everything Saul commands him to do and is doing it exceedingly well.
a. If David is sent into battle, he wins and his fame grows.
b. If Saul sent him into battle to be killed, the result was simply that in David's victories, his praise among the people only increased.
B. Saul's mad obsession with killing David only results in making David stronger in the Lord and in the eyes of Israel.
1. One at a time, the props that the world values are lost:
a. The prop of a good position is taken away. After having been a commander in Saul's army, he is now hunted by the very army he commanded. Never again will David serve in Saul's army.
b. The prop of his wife is lost. She essentially walks away from David after lying about him in order to protect herself from her own father. (I Sam. 19:7)
c. The prop of the prophet Samuel. (I Sam. 25:1) Samuel had served as trusted advisor to David, and by the power of the Lord, had brought to nothing the plots of Saul. (I Sam. 19:18-24)
d. The prop of his closest friend Jonathan. After saving David from his father again with a pre-arranged signal, Jonathan and David must part ways until they see one another again in heaven.
e. The prop of his self-respect. He must come begging for food and weapons from the priests at Nob and finally flees to Gath, where he must pretend to be a madman in order to survive. (I Sam. 21:10-15)
2. What kind of props do we have in our lives?
a. In our youth we lean on our parents, in school on our teachers or on our education itself. We lean on our plans and dreams for the future
b. As adults we lean on the props of our job or profession, our mate or our financial resources.
c. All these things can be and often are real blessings, but they also come with a word of warning:
1.) Props can become substitutes for God.
2.) Props can keep our focus horizontal on the things we have or the people we trust, rather than on God.
3.) Props can only offer temporary relief. In the final analysis our last defense in times of trial must be the Lord, not things or people.
3. Some of us are undergoing a "Propectomy" right now.
a. At times like that, either we will be driven to despair or we will run to the Word of God and the Sacraments...to the Lord.
b. There is only One whose steadfast presence and compassionate motivation can be trusted to always be faithful. That's what David knew!
II. DAVID HAS HIT A TRUE LOW POINT IN HIS LIFE.
A. He has lost his job, his wife, his best friend, his counselor and now his self-respect.
1. We find him frothing at the mouth in the headquarters of the Philistines before King Achish of Gath.
a. They certainly knew who David was...they saw him kill their champion Goliath.
b. As it is today, the mentally ill bring a strong degree of discomfort to those around them and especially from one who was an enemy.
c. The obvious course of action for Achish, was to get him out of there!
2. This, of course, was what David wanted and the reason for his Oscar winning performance.
a. What happens to one's self-esteem when one is reduced to feigning madness?
b. What happens to one when even his enemies reject him? (Ps. 142)
B. David is reunited with his family and becomes a cave dweller. (I Sam. 22:1 ff)
1. Not only does the family of Jesse gather around him, but also those who are the discontents and outlaws of Israel...David and his merry men? (I Sam. 22:2)
2. This is a beginning of the establishment of a power base that will sustain David throughout his later years as king.
C. Saul descends further into madness and paranoia. (I Sam. 22:6-10)
1. It seems characteristic that madness brings about a feeling of total isolation and complete distrust of all those about them.
a. Remember the end of Howard Hughes? Adolph Hitler? Pol Pot?
b. Here Saul is finding that no one has a clue why he wants to kill David or even consider him an enemy...It does not make sense and everyone, except Saul, knows it!
2. It is not always wise to speak the truth to the king!
a. Ahimelech the priest at Nob, dares to offer his insight into the lunacy of Saul. (I Sam. 22:11-16)
b. As a result of Ahimelech's assistance to David and his challenge to Saul, not only is Ahimelech killed, but eighty-five priests and the entire population of the town, men, women and children. (I Sam. 22:17-19)
3. One man escapes the carnage, (Ahimelech's son Abiathar), and carries the news of the destruction to David in his stronghold of caves and forest.
a. David takes the blame for the carnage on himself. (I Sam. 22:21-22)
b. But David's attention is about to be diverted to the attacking Philistines.
4. Once again, with David's love of country and God's people as foremost, (he knows he has been anointed as king), David turns to defend his nation against those Philistine Scalawags! (I Sam. 23:1-6)
a. Notice, unlike Saul, it is David who consults with the Lord before taking action even against the obvious enemy of Israel, the Philistines.
b. How often do we ignore the opportunity to take serious decisions to the Lord?
c. One can only wonder how much better things might have turned out if we had!
d. So with his limited army of 400 discontents, David is victorious!...What effect on the people of Israel would news of such a victory bring? What would Saul's response be?
III. SAUL BEGINS AND OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE PURSUIT OF DAVID.
A. With every success of David, with every illusive maneuvers David makes; the burning desire of Saul for David's death is intensified and his passion for killing increases.
1. From Keilah, to the Desert of Ziph, to the Desert of Maon, to the strongholds of EnGedi; Saul hunts David down, determined that he shall not permit him to escape gain.
2. In this dire predicament, David has now been molded into more of the man that God needed to be the king of Israel:
a. David hurt enough to admit his need: Pride finally must give way to surrender of a situation into the hands of God if God is to be permitted to do His best work!
b. David was honest enough to cry for help: When we admit our vulnerability, God honors us with His healing.
c. David was humble enough to learn from God: Even living in a cave is acceptable if that's what the Lord has given us to work with.
d. David had found a refuge:
1.) We too need a refuge because we are in distress and are experiencing the sorrow that always accompanies distress.
2.) We need a refuge because we are sinful and our guilt accuses us.
3.) We need a refuge because we too are surrounded by adversaries and misunderstandings assault us.
e. What is the refuge in your life?
1.) Is your refuge in a bottle?
2.) Do you find refuge by burying yourself in your work?
3.) Is your refuge yet another prescription from the doctor?
4.) David's refuge was a stinky, damp cave that he finally recognized as a gift from God.
3. However, at the strongholds of En Gedi, a trip to the "out-house" turns out to be quite a surprise for Saul. (I Sam. 24:1-22)
a. The Word of God talks about real life: Here is Saul in the midst of a mad rush to execution of an innocent man and he must stop in a local cave to relieve himself.
b. This is not just any cave, however, this is the very hideout of David and his merry men.
c. It there a time in our human experience when we are more vulnerable than when we are relieving ourselves? Hardly, more than our anatomy is exposed!
4. Now David faces a most subtle temptation...King Saul is completely in his hand!
a. It would be so easy to kill him...and to justify the action!