Battle Bitterness

Battle Bitterness

morning. Thank you for coming Church to church. It’s good to see you all. We have three values as a church. We talk about gospel culture, community culture and generosity, culture and the way we define generosity, cultures, your time, talent and treasure. And this? Last week I was, uh I was talking to a financial planner because I’m 36 I’m I’m getting older and there’s things I should be doing greater capacity so that I’m a cheap to free pastor as I get older. That’s my plan to decrease in expenses as an employee of the church. So I was thinking about treasure and money more than normal, talking to a financial planner, and he asked all these questions and did some diagnosis of how retirement will look for me as I get older. And so I was thinking about treasure, and I was thinking about Jesus’ words on treasure. Matthew 6 21. It says this where your treasure is there. Your heart will be also where your treasure is there your heart will be also. I was thinking of treasure from juices definition. It talks about things. You think about things you meditated about things you go to and the you wake up early in the morning, you go to your treasure on your phone, your browser, your app, your phone’s history shows what you treasure. Your your YouTube searches show you what you treasure and my YouTube searches right now. Show me a lot of things about sewage lines and cleaning them out with power jetting. And that’s what my treasure is showing. And also NFL quarterback swapping. If that’s what my YouTube treasure heart is showing me that I had treasure. And if you think to yourself, if you have time, you have half an hour this afternoon. You get a hop on your phone and go to something to entertain yourself to your free time, your mind, your thoughts, your affections, your your mind gravitates towards that. Would you treasure our passes today from over to looking at three chapters, three characters, three chapters, three men that treasure different things differently. Saul is the first one we’re talking about in the Book of Samuel. It’s hard to give a sermon about talking about Saul Saul’s browser. History would show what to do if God is taking your kingdom away from you. How to keep your kingdom when God is opposing you. You know, that would have been Saul’s treasures all really treasured the Kingdom of God. And so as we look through this, I think there’s a lot of 21st century applications that apply to us from the Middle East. Ancient text we’re looking at today that doesn’t impact our lives today. So let’s pray. Let’s invite God to be a part of this time in our service as we look at things we treasure as we try to grow up in the word of God here today. God, I thank you, Lord, that you’re in charge of our lives. Thank you that you have a plan for our lives. Thank you that there’s themes in the Bible that are there for a reason. There’s stories and narratives and plots and narrative preaching, Lord of historical passages of the Bible and how those do apply to our lives. Today I pray you just really convict us. Instruct us, Lord, if there’s lessons in the text that that are meant for us in this room, I ask that you just take those empresses down deep into the recesses of our souls that we as men and women would just be impacted by your word through your scripture. To your church. Lord, I pray you convict us and encourage us in the spirit today. Instruct us in the spirit today. Help us to be taught by our word to help us. To be exhorted To obey your word we commit this time to you in Jesus’ name. Amen. So your treasure is it Bitcoin? Is it retirement? Is it your Airbnb vacation spot? Is it your local sports teams? What do you treasure? Think about that in your mind as we talk. Salt treasure thinks it’s all treasure If you look at his heart what his heart treasured this is what Salt, treasure, salt, treasured success, victory and winning. Those were the big trifecta for Saul’s life and that I’m not gonna prove text of a verse. You can. You’ve You’ve caught that by now. You’re going to see that as we go to these three chapters today. But just to remind you what happened last week Last week David killed Goliath, an amazing feat which we covered at great detail. We looked at shock dunking on my cousin on the screen. We did a whole bunch of stuff. It was it was fun for me. And that concluded with a few verses about David holding the hair of Goliath, standing in front of Abner, the General of the Army and saw the King of Israel. And Jonathan was there. And they had a long conversation with David, their future son in law. This new champion warfare, this champion of the Israeli Army. We had a conversation. That conversation ended and they would pick up here in Chapter 18. At the very beginning, in verse to David tells Saul tells David, You’re done no more back and forth, going at your dad’s house than working here and working there. You’re here. You’re staying with me. An exclusive rights Saul franchise tags David in a way that David is no longer traveling back and forth. Every time David saw a young man who had talent and potential, he would he would grab him and subscribe them into his army. David was hitching his kingdom’s wagon to Saul was hitching his kingdom’s wagon to David. He was going to build a winning team around David because everything David touched, he want everywhere he does, he just just win, Baby David just one all the time and we’ll see that as we go through here. Saul treasured success and victory. Anything. I would help him get that anything would bring up security and success and victory in the eyes of his nation and keeping his position in the eyes of the other nations that wanted to destroy his nation. It makes sense. It’s what I would probably have done, too, if I was. So if I saw David, I would have been like, Let’s go join this. Let’s move this way But any edge, any advantage, anything that showed promise Saul grabbed onto Saul wanted. He treasured success, winning at all costs. He wanted to keep his kingdom. That’s that’s That’s this context, right? And we’re going to Verse three. So Jonathan, talking here Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself. So they just finished conversation. I just finished talking, and I’m picking up at Verse three. Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself when Jonathan removed the rope he was wearing and gave it to David along with his military tunic his sword, his bow, his belt. Jonathan met David, and he had a He had a brotherhood of loyalty, and he saw courage. In David’s life. He saw faith in David’s life. It sure seems like Jonathan was not surrounded by a bunch of winners. Jonathan was surrounded by a bunch of guys who are followers who seemed to be very fearful, very timid, very faithless. And Jonathan saw courage and faith in the life of David. He just saw him, killed the life. He heard him talk to Abner the general. He turned him talking to Saul, and Jonathan’s heart was warmed and encourage. He felt a brotherhood and camaraderie for David, and scholars say that giving of his his armor to David was not just the military would think. Jonathan, you know, David, that was a big honor, and they would think that’s Jonathan’s armor. That’s the prince’s armor, but also a symbolic that he is giving his his access to the throne. His call to the throne, as this succession planning was, Jonathan was in line to take over the King Saul’s kingdom. Scholars do expect they thought I was him symbolically saying, I’m behind you, God’s hand is with you. I am going to back you like the armor bearer back. Me? I’m gonna back you. Jonathan was bound to a close friendship with David and they had a close brotherhood. The reason they were so close is they have the same heart, the same values Jonathan did not treasure. Like his father, he treasured different things. He did not treasure position, prestige and popularity. Jonathan wants what’s best for the kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel, not what’s best for his kingdom. He does not care that his future crown is going to be on David’s head. He does not care about that. Culturally speaking, this is him renouncing his claim to the throne of declaring his loyalties to David as he gave him his armor, his heir to the throne. He’s submitting himself to the kingship of David and God’s hand on that man’s life. Both these young men were courageous men. Both were filled with faith. Both share the same mission. Both had a brotherhood. Both had a common camaraderie among them. I’m gonna do a little tangent here just to kind of talk about this situation. A few other situations in Scripture now in the 21st century. We’re gonna hyper sexualized culture, and we’re reading the Bible of 2021 glasses, and we kind of read into Scripture things that we think are there that aren’t actually there. And if you read this in the original language, if you look at the way that these words that are chosen about describing the brotherhood and love and affection they have for each other, you see that later. A few verses later, I think Verse 18 of this chapter, where the nation had the same love and affection and brotherhood for their champion, David, who led them in the military. You don’t see a sexual love between these two. You see a brotherly love Phileo love between these two. If you think about other parts of the Bible that can be abused with poor Bible understanding reading, uh, Joseph and the remote Joseph, a Technicolor dreamcoat. Remember that play? It’s not Technicolor, but it’s a mini colored coat away for his father shot his wealth and favoritism. But tradition says it’s a rainbow coat that Joseph war, but the rainbow for thousands of years has symbolized that God’s promise that he would not destroy mankind again with a flood. It’s in Genesis, and your Bible on your phones are at home. That’s what the rainbow means now. It’s been rebranded to mean something else lately, but that’s what it’s meant for thousands of years. Even Deborah, um, Debra and her role in the Bible as a prophetess helping lead the nation of Israel in the battle. Those three characters, their their gender and their sexual preference is not called into question our misuse being loose and fast. The Scripture in 21st century for Clickbait is called into question historical Christianity, and the way that the text has been described in the original language is not up for debate. Um, just a little tangent coming back onto the train here. We’re rolling through this passage, but I think in a small group near you, you could might hear things about that. I just want to be clear about that as we move forward. But let’s just think back to David. David, at this time in his life, did not have a lot of people that believed in him remember his life. He was the youngest of eight sons, his father and the previous couple chapters. He got annoyed his king. His father subscribed. The most Worthless servants job was to watch the sheep as a shepherd, and his father gave that job to David. David had not had a lot of friendship, not had a lot of people believing him. Not been very supportive. He’s been very outcast most of his experience as a young man at this time, And Jonathan is the first person to really come along and believe him. Apart from Samuel, he seemed to really have a brotherhood, a real love for each other. Let me see in Verse five. All David does is win military wise. He wins. He beats Goliath. Saul puts in charge of leading the Army in the battle. He starts to progress. Military wise. He’s a career soldier. His occupation is a soldier leading the Army. He goes to become a professional. He’s in charge of the professional standing army. He’s given success there. He’s like a secretary of war, the secretary of the Army. It’s an administrative position, but as he gets promoted to that, he has more victory. Uh, later on, we’ll see. In Verse 13, he’s given a field duty position he’s got like 1000 soldiers he’s leading, and again we see more winning more victory. And then we get to verse six and seven. And there’s a sound bite here that really makes Saul’s heart sour. Now I just understand what what’s going on in verses six and seven. Culturally, At that time there was like a call and response thing that women in the cities would have and the military would come back to tell what happened in the military feats and celebrate what God was doing among the people. And this, you know, one would yell out some phrase. Another woman would echo it. We kind of have that in our culture, too. Go, be grad. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s a thing. It is a thing. So we have that to that whole call and response thing, too. So the ladies shout out, Saul killed is thousands. The ladies repeat it. David’s killed is 10,000. Then they repeat it like that’s That’s different. Like I’m like, Yeah, I know it’s a different day we’re reading about, but then you see in verses eight and nine. Uh, there’s a shift that happened and saw from being sceptic to Very jealous of David depends on which translations you’re reading in. There’s some translations say David has a jealous Saul has a jealous eye on David going forward, but you you can pick up in verse eight and nine about they credited tens of thousands to David. This is all complaining, he said. But only credit me with thousands. How much more can he have? But the kingdom? And so not just the whole poetry call and response thing that the people did, but not just the fact that Saul had 1000 kills and David had 10,000 kills. You know, Master Slayer. You know, I’m just not just that whole the economy, but in their culture. Whoever is listed last was an honor in our culture, being listed first as an honor. But in that culture, you’d build tension and pageantry till the end, and the greater was listed at the end. And even in there, even in there, I, David, David and Saul were listed as equal with not giving David and edge on honor and importance. He’s it’s always the king, and he’s feeling very threatened by his young champion. It was not just a slight on solve. It was giving greater honor listening David as last. But the meaning is the mind of the nation. They’re on the same level of honor and rank and respect, because all David does is win. He just keeps crushing their enemies that have been imposing, taxing and stealing and impact impacting their will of these garrisons. Just they’ve been oppressed by this nation of the Philistines First centuries, and David is freeing them. The mind of the nation is being set. They’re falling in love with their champion, David. And so what we see here is starting to covet the kingdom that God has given him to lead. Saul is going to spiral from getting bitter to solve, gets controlling to solve, gets very possessive. And he just starts spiraling around and around the proverbial toilet as he gets worse and worse as it gets nearer and nearer the end of his reign Solve use. David has a perceived threat to him and his kingdom. Saul views the Kingdom of Israel is his personal possession. There’s no indignation on the text of Saul concerned about the will of God. There’s no indignation in the text about Saul concerned about pleasing God and doing what God is calling what’s best for the nation. Saw was concerned about his will for himself and his kingdom. Not God’s calling on him and his kingdom. So they’ll have a little fun If you figure out your iPhones. You get out your flashlight mode. You can you can you can follow along with me I’m gonna sing a 21st century song from Nick Jonas about what is probably on Saul’s beats as he’s listening to this. Um uh, we started off here. I don’t like the way he’s looking at you. I’m sorry to thank you want him to Am I crazy? Have I lost you? Even though I know I know you love me Can’t help it. I turn my cheek music up and I’m puffing my chest I’m getting red in the face. You call me obsessed anyway. Yeah, I mean, no disrespect. It’s my right to be hellish. I still get jealous. So he grabs his spear, he grabs his spear and he tries to kill David. This is the second time he grabs his spear in his jealous, angry rage. Tries to kill King David. You have a bad boss. Sometimes I don’t think any of your boss is attempted murder on you twice. It’s not just like grabbing a gun or poisoning a spear is a little more personal. There’s a little follow through a decision. It’s not like, uh, all right, let’s stay on focus here. But all seriousness. Saul goes from progressing from being possessive of David, possessive of the Kingdom of God to anger the Depression. We already covered to rage, and two times he attempts to kill David, the champion of the Nation of Israel. What a terrible bus. Verse 10. We see how the brief Saul’s branding every time, almost every time 16 of the 29 times Saul is portrayed in the Book of Samuel, 16 of the 29 times he’s holding a spear using a spear. Spears are propped spears, his weapon of choice for offense and defense and war throwing a spear. Hang his water jug on a spear, leaning on his spear. It’s just it’s his thing, but we see Saul continued progress and the next verse between possessive anger rage into fear. God not only chose David, but God chose David to lead the Kingdom of God be the new king, and that means God did not choose. Saul. I know we do this. We have our own kingdoms, things that were given to us for temporary ownership. Like my health. That’s my kingdom. I’m in charge of my health. I brush my teeth, I try to sleep. I try to eat food, try to drink coffee, and as time goes on, my new surgeries I’ve added up and my knees becoming worse and worse. And so I’m feeling like and you know, my kingdom of my knee and ownership and possession of my knees is deteriorating. I can respond to frustration, anger, jealous that you guys can run around and my right knee is starting to hurt all the time and get what I’m saying. Like we could be possession of different things. It could be your France’s. It could be a career. It could be your health. It could be your family. It could be your reputation online. There’s things you’re given that honestly there, temporarily given to you. You are finite creatures. You’re not forever. You’re not infinite. I’m not infinite. Were temporarily managers of things, goods and resources of our kingdoms that we have. Someday I will die and my family will move on. Someday I will die and my wife will move on. Someday I will die and my finances situation move on. My house will be owned by someone else. I mean, I’m a temporary resident in all of my kingdoms that I have in my life. Someday I will die and Facebook will delete my Facebook page. Someday my temporary kingdom that I’m managing will be given away to someone else or some larger entity and will be done. I’m a temporary managing of the kingdom to But when my kingdom’s get threatened like you, we, you, me, we can be respond with possessiveness controlling anger, fear, rage. How dare you come into my kingdom and post that on my wall? How dare you! You know, get what I’m saying As our kingdoms are threatened, we respond just like Saul as our little kingdoms that we think we can control become threatened. We respond in a very human like stance like solved it. It is not your kingdom. You can idolise things and you can feel threatened. Anger, fear, suspicion, rage, control. But think of the example of John the Baptist in the Bible. John the Baptist had a very successful ministry, Jesus cousin and then Jesus Ministry started. And when John the Baptist his ministry was decreasing and Jesus Kingdom was taking off of his ministry, they came to him and said, John, John, what’s going on? There’s a There’s a turf war here. Another young rabbi preacher, What are you going to say about him? Huh? Let’s tweet this out. The Jewish ecosystem Are you going to say? And John said we he must increase and I must decrease. He must become more famous. I must become less famous. John’s response is what Jesus and other things made John one of the greatest profits that’s ever lived. Jesus said he was a very loose grip on the things God gave him. Not a controlling temperament, but open handed temperate that God is in charge of what comes and goes in my life. Your identity you have believer, isn’t connected into the place. You work your job, you have or don’t have your identity. You have isn’t connected to the place you serve in this church. Your identity you have is given to you and you’re supposed to Stuart that and care for that as a temporary manager. God gave it, and God will take it away. God will take it away because life is fatal, you will die and everything in your life will move on. You and I are temporal beings, this fatal short life. We’re just a manager of things. Chapter 18, Verse 13 Anger We see Anger gives away to dread to fear saw banishes David and David moves to active duty status with 1000 soldiers, and he keeps winning and saw hoped that his enemies, the Philistines, would kill David for him. God’s hand was with David, and he kept winning. We see in Verse 15. The Bible repeats The situation saw situation that his dread for David kept growing and his fear kept growing. And I think that’s a lesson for us. Fear in your life is never stagnant. It’s never satisfied. If you say fear, you can come into this square of my life, stay in my finances, but don’t boil over to my marriage or my parenting or my career or my commute or my sleep or my weekends. Fear grows. It never stays in one spot it always keeps growing. Fear, bitterness, sin. It’s a cancer, and it never stays content. Just quarantined off on one side of your one part of your life. It will continue to grow into other areas of your life. And so we see, Saul becomes more fearful and saw digresses from just fear too deep fear to dread. And then verse 16. The nation loved David because he led their troops into battle and won. Everyone loves a winner. All David does is win. Uh, the same verb is used for Jonathan’s love for David as the nation’s love for their young champion. And then we see Verse 17. Saul’s, uh, scared that David is going to get closer and closer to his kingdom, and he knew. He promised that he would give his daughter in marriage to David because he killed Goliath. He would give them a tax free living for his family and give him a cash reward, and you give him his daughter’s hand in marriage. But he knew that means he was able to be two heartbeats away from being the king of the kingdom. And so he gave the daughter that was promised to David away in marriage to someone else. And you see David’s heart in this story. David isn’t raging against God. David isn’t raging against Saul. David has a very open handed view of his future relationship of his marriage. He does not get angry and bitter, and you do see David completely. Opposite is acting completely opposite, and Saul does throughout this chapter. So then verse 18. The daughter is given away in marriage, but we see a different daughter fell in love deeply. If David I’m different, daughter of Saul, and I mean like this is interesting, he thought to himself. David killed Goliath. David has won multiple wars and multiple. He’s a career soldier who said Multiple success on the battlefield. But I know it’s going to take him down. My daughter Macau. That’s just an interesting way to view your daughter like your daughter is going to do something that’s gonna bring David down. You know, the military can’t get him. Giants can’t get him. My daughter, she’ll get him. She’s gonna be the part of his downfall, which is just interesting. It’s wow, that’s an interesting way to be. He’s weaponizing his daughter anyways. He gives his daughter to David and marriage. And then we get to this thing called a bride price in verse 25. So that’s that concept is like It’s like money that the groom would pay to the bride’s family. So in case he died or he left or he, you know, left and abandoned her and the kids, someday there’ll be money to care for her and the kids. It’s like a life insurance policy, like Okay, So in the culture of that time, especially as a career soldier, you’re gonna maybe die David. And so it’s nice for the daughter to not be dissolute, but for her to have income and for any Children they could have as a couple. So it’s a life insurance policy. And so David is poor. He’s not from prestigious family, and so the bride price would have been brutal for any princesses hand in marriage. And so again, it’s a wild time in the Middle East a couple 1000 years ago, and so he said, You know what you can pay me because he knows David is for Saul says you can pay me in 100 philistine foreskins, let you ask your parents what that is for skins. But so David. He’s excited about this opportunity, and he goes out and he kills 200 Philistines 200 Philistines, and he brings their foreskins, 200 of them to his father in law. Just while it’s a wild time to be living and leading and loving the Lord back in the day. But it was a savage wild time. There was tribes and there’s nations, and it was The whole world was very different at that time, so I don’t want to think about this. The 21st Century Glasses as we think about it. First 26 David is pleased about this to become the king’s son in law. He’s very pleased about all this, and he goes off and he does it in Verse 27 Verse 29 Chapter 18, Verse 29. David seems to be good with God and good with Saul. David seems to have moved on, and he isn’t bitter. Saul is slowly becoming more and more better as this chapter continues. Throughout the rest of this book, David seems not beginning better. He seems to have peace of God and peace of Salt, and I think Romans 12 18, is what he was implementing before he’s written Romans 12 18. For As for As for as far as It depends upon you, as far as it depends upon, you live at peace with all men and I was 12 18. As far as it depends upon you. Believer live at peace with all men. Soldiers continue to spiral more and more out of control and is not a piece of people. David seems to be at peace with God, and that’s all he seemed to have made peace with. The whole spirit situation seemed to make peace about his father, and I’m marrying off the daughter. He promised for a different daughter. He seemed to just have peace with what is happening in his life. Because David knew God was in control of his life, God controlled his kingdom, and he was just a part of God’s kingdom. He’s just a servant in God’s kingdom. Chapter 19, verse four and five. There’s this reality of what we all think and then solves reality of what he thought. And those two realities are coming into clashing into each other. The son of Saul Jonathan approaches his father about his ploys and plots to kill David. And he says this in Verse four. Jonathan spoke well of David to his father. Saw he said to him, The king should not sin against you. In fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you. He took his life in his hands. When he struck down the Philistine. The Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, Saul, And rejoice. So why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason. And Saul doesn’t repent, and he seemed to just grow more and more better. We see Verse 13, Chapter 19, Verse 13. A tariff in You’re like a tariff in. It’s a cultural household idol that people had that day. It was very popular. The local religions it was not mandated by the Jewish faith was actually strictly prohibited. If you think back to Rachel. When she was going with Jacob in Genesis, she had a family idol tariff in that she hid under a donkey saddle when she was sitting on the saddle when her father was looking for it. It looks like Saul’s family lucky charm tariff in was larger. It could be a stunt double for a size of a man, so she uses that with, uh, a little get up, trying to make it look like it was her son in bed sick using the tariff m. I mean David and beds, using a terrifying when he went off and hit. Regardless, this is just It’s a story that we’re working through in the Scripture about what God is doing with the people and their unique culture in the context. Verses 18 through 24 the soldiers come. They take the bed of the tariff imbecile, which is just kind of comical. Saul send soldiers to go get David. David flees for his life two miles away to Samuel’s hometown. It’s a mobile shepherding community on the outskirts of the city. There’s this prophetic guild and the early Israelite history. There’s like a school of profit training that was happening at that time in Israel. Scholars and talk about what has been happening at that verse 21 through 23 Sol avoids Sala voice seeing Samuel because the last time they had that break up about God promising saw that through Samuel that he had ripped the Kingdom of God from him, and so saw sends three troops three different times, like a hit squad, over and over again to go and get David and kill him and or bring him back, dead or alive. And so God interrupts those soldiers plans and solves plans and solves will by making those soldiers prophecy and worship God after three times saw himself goes to get David dead or alive, bring him back and God interrupts Saul and his manic depressive, given the extreme mood swing situation and salt to gets caught up worshiping God and not in his plan of retrieving David. And this, this should remind you of salts. First encounter early on, when he was walking with God for those seasons that he had seasons where he was prophesying to back in Bethel in first Samuel 10. We covered a few weeks ago. Unlike the other, Saul became so carried away with his enthusiasm of worshiping and prophesied to God that he removed his outer clothing and saw stripped down to his undergarments. So he’s not totally naked. He’s down in his skivvies. So So what’s going on? Think about this with me here what’s going on. This man, Saul is radically opposed to the will of God. This man saw is radically opposed What God told him through the leader of God, Samuel, this man saw is incredibly proud, given to extreme mental duress. Mood swings. He’s not doing well mentally, if that makes sense. So what is going on? What do we What do we do with this? What just happens? Well, this whole scene here is like a god interrupting, hitting the pause. Play on Saul’s plans. God lightning bolting the situation. I mean, other parts of the Bible where God just interrupts evil people like the ground opens up and people fall in. There were enemies of God and the ground closes. We read about that earlier in Exodus or bears coming out and eating a profit or something. Remember, there’s some dramatic God interrupting the narrative of mankind that has occurred to other parts of the Bible. This is God flexing on Saul, a man an evil king. God is in control, not Saul. God has a plan that’s more important than solves plan. God uses Saul’s madness, and he flexes on him and just put them down on the ground in his underwear, blubbering away and worshipping slash prophecy, easing things. Why everyone else didn’t do that. This is key for us to just think about God stops all in his sin and uses the spirit of the Lord coming upon a sinful Saul and left him prophesied. I think it’s critical that we see the long suffering of God that is in this narrative after this happened. There’s 10 more years that occur between the day, this day and the day Saul dies, where he knows he’s living in open rebellion to God, God’s long suffering, his mercy. His grace he’s giving saw 10 more years that he might repent and yield to God’s will for his life. God’s will for the kingdom. God is allowing salt to stand the throne. 10 more years, and he interrupts his plans and save David’s life is God is being so merciful to solve that he could repent and turn and yield to God. God is also doing work in David’s life after this CNN’s. There’s a 10 year stretch where David is in the wilderness, running for his life and guerilla warfare running for his life, and it is a wild, crazy, fun story we’re gonna read about with David’s life. I love that part of my Old Testament. But there’s also something happening in David’s life that is key to catch that early on, when David, as a shepherd boy watching his father’s sheep, there’s lions and bears that he would kill and that was away at training ground. That gave him confidence for attacking and killing alive. But there’s future Goliath challenges coming at David’s life that are coming. It’s when he’s becoming the king of the nation of Israel. Our challenges in our life, apart from the Bible in Christianity, your life is just gonna get harder. Think of like back when you’re like entering fresh out of college, get the mail and make the coffee. Be quiet. The board meetings, You know, as time goes on, the culture expects us to do more, better, faster with last time. More, better, faster. That’s expected of you. This is not a Christian. That is our culture. What you were challenged by 10 years ago is child’s play compared to what you’re challenged with in your life. Now think about what you’re going to be challenged with. 10 years from now as a as a person. I mean, the average age of this room is like 20 something I think of when we’re all thirties. We’re going to laugh at what stress us out is 25 year olds. And like I use, can you believe I used to get to keep us up at night? The things that keep us up at night now is a joke compared to what’s going to keep us up at night. 10 years from now, 20 short life gets harder. It does ask anyone that looks older than you. They’ll confirm that it’s a lie to think your life’s gonna get easier. It’s not. David’s life is going to get incredibly harder, and God uses that wilderness. Those 10 years in the wilderness running for his life, leading soldiers who some heroic and depressing highs and lows and made him cope with the challenges of life drastically different. David Pin. Later in solemn, she said, his pressure and stress bear down on me. I find joy in the Lord’s commands. David wrote most much of the Book of Psalms and the pressures and stresses of leading a kingdom. He learned those skills in the wilderness. He learned those skills when no one was watching. He learned those skills in painful persecution times his 2020 year that we just experienced. David experienced 2010 of those years. 10 2020 years of running for his life from Saul’s military assault hunted him. David didn’t waste his wilderness experience. I fear a lot of us do waste our pain. We waste our wilderness experiences, a wise young men and women learned from our pain because there’s things God’s school of life teaches you in the pain that you don’t learn in the prosperous good times we want. We want to have the narrative where 18 year old 19 year old David gets anointed with oil, kills Goliath a couple of months. Years later, King of a year later. A quick turnaround is what we want, but David becomes a 20 year overnight success story from the day he got anointed of the day he became Crown King. Those two events had 20 years between them, life gets harder and the good godly people learn and their wilderness. They learned their pain. They learned their suffering. Be a wise Saint Christian and don’t waste your 2020. There’s less than 2020 that will propel you into the future. Don’t waste your world in this Christian all right. First Samuel, 20 verses five and six. There’s this new Moon festival. Sol played a role in that of his family. This is kind of similar to Hannah from the very beginning of Samuel and Hand and her family. It’s an annual family sacrifice. Um, the David is playing hookey. He isn’t there, they said. Well, maybe he’s ritualistically impure. That means his body has been exposed to a dead body. Or, you know, it’s a disease, body or blood semen, something something culturally made him wrist ritualistically. And pierce. We couldn’t come to the family gathering, so Sol thinks nothing of it. Verse 2017 30 Jonathan, his friend covers for David again and saw goes off on Jonathan. Verse 31 34. Salt orders David to be arrested and views him as a threat to the throne. We see Jonathan attempting to defend David again, Verse 35 to 40. Jonathan notifies David through archery and arranged signal. It’s hopeless. We’ve appealed. It’s all over and over again. He’s unapproachable. He’s under people. He’s just losing it. David, you are really in trouble. It’s not just a seasonal. Up and down. Manic, depressed, normal, manic, normal, manic normal. He just just sat on Crazy Town and he’s coming for you, David. You are not safe. And so then David then continues off and takes off David and Jonathan part ways. Jonathan goes back into the city to serve Saul, and David goes off to live as an outcast and a renegade alone, and I imagine this right here at that section. It was a very dark night of the soul for Jonathan. He experienced rejection from his family. His father, considered a worthless one, is what his father called him in the original language. A worthless one. I’ve called my kids many things I’ve never called them worthless one. To my knowledge, I have not called my kids that that just that is a painful part from his past and seems like he has his quasi dysfunctional relationship with saw this unhealthy father like figure who he seemed to really forgive and go back to over and over again. And even that guy turned on him, too. David experienced rejection all over again, being rejected an outcast. It’s got to be a low point in his life. The hurt David is feeling he felt deeply rejected from his youth. Unmerited hostile hostility from Saul disregarded, disrespected and dishonored has been his main theme of his life. Let’s look at these three characters. Here’s the three lessons of these three characters. Saul’s Heart Valued Success, Victory, Winning at all costs. Jonathan’s Hearts valued brotherhood, loyalty and courageous faith. And David’s Heart valued love for God. Humility, friendship. And he worshipped. He valued worship. Three characters, three chapters, three case studies on three people in your Bible. So that’s the teaching hat. I’m gonna take the teaching hat off. I’m gonna put on the preaching hat. Okay? We’re supposed to teach and preach encouraging exhort. I’m gonna close out this last little bit of time. We have a little exhortation. Is that all right? There’s an opportunity here. So why is all this matter? Why is this in your Bible while I was playing Thailand today? Mike, I know your history, teacher. Back in the past, that’s your degree in college. Okay, Mike. So what? What’s the big deal about all that? We’re seeing the ending of one of the most encouraging relationships that in your Bible Jonathan and David, we’re seeing the fallout of sin, specifically the sin of bitterness and how that impacted everyone’s life. Jonathan’s life was never the same because of bitterness. Saul’s life was forever changed because of his bitterness, and David’s life was forever changed because it solves bitterness. So why is this in your Bible? You like history? I like history. You don’t like history. You do. I like history. I mean, if history done well, it could be entertaining and fun. And there’s lessons you can learn. But this is more than just a history lesson that has zero impact on your life. 14 92. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I mean, so what? You know this this lesson. There’s a lesson here for us to really sink our teeth into. I think there’s a warning in here for you and I. You have You’ve all not just read about bitterness. You’ve lived bitterness. You felt bitterness. You’ve been better, and you’ve experienced bitterness from other people. You know how devastating bitterness can be. Jesus commanded us to love one another in the Bible We’re supposed to love one another in the Bible. We have been tested as a young church this last year and our ability to love one another. We’ve been tested this last year. Think of this last year covid that tested us. Like all churches in the city, all churches in the nation have been tested by Covid. All churches in the city have been tested by their election. That happened last year. All churches are under a recession that they’re experiencing. All churches have experienced racial unrest. All these four stressors have really tested your obedience to love one another, as you commanded us to do. You are called to love people of different covid strategies. You are called to love people with different political beliefs. You’re called to love people from different economic situations, and you’re called to love people from different ethnicities. When Jesus sees and judges the churches, I am praying that he will see injustice. The church that has found loving I mean, I think we’re turning in the right direction. As a young congregation, this is very important that we get this lesson that we’re talking about today. Jesus has some strong words for the seven churches in the Book of Revelations that are a case study of what the judgments like for him judging churches we’re commanded to love. First, you will be hurt. You’ll be offended. You’ll be disappointed your life will be frustrated and bitterness is a part of your life. It will be a part of your life. It is part of Satan’s strategy, the world, the devil in the flesh. Their job description is to bring heartache, destruction, pain, sorrow, bitterness, fear, anxiety. That’s their marching orders. That’s the playbook, the world, the devil flesh like. Let’s take out Johnny Christian, What do we do? MM frustration, Bitterness hurt. Disappointment. That’ll do it well. There’s another what you’re going to hear. Anger, rage, pride, disappointment, frustration. That’s just the marching orders of the world. The devil in the flesh. That’s how they take out Christians. That’s how they take out command groups. That’s how they take out churches, is through that through the Sol Road that just spiraled slowly and slowly into more humanistic, self centered, prideful life that ends of God’s judgment as a Christian. If you love the way Jesus command your love, it just does not only save yourself from loving the way you’re supposed to love people. It’s what Jesus did. He loved his enemies all up that road of loving people up the path of Golgotha, dying on the cross. We should be known like Jesus for loving our enemies. Loving people were supposed to pray for people that persecute you pray for people that hurt you. What is the pray for people that that stress you out and hurt you? Which was to pray for political leaders. So if you love playing praying for our last president, others of you really don’t like praying for our next president, and vice versa. I don’t care. I pray for the last president was commanded to whenever he did something. I was like, Why would you say that? I pray for him and the new president. I’m praying for him like God save both these individuals and save our nation. God save us all. They need you bad. All these presidents need You were supposed to pray for Those in authority were supposed to pray for people that persecute you and hurt you. We are prone. Were very prone to be like Saul and a human state. Apart from the word of God, the spirit of God, the people of God left alone, you will be like Sol, slowly spiraling, getting worse and worse and worse. It is uncanny for you to not be like that. But the spirit of God is in you, Christian. You have the word of God in front of you, on your phones or on your laps. Christian. There’s life in the word of God. There’s trust and protection and accountability and health in a church that’s loving God and because we love God, we can love other people that have different coded responses in us there from different ethnicities and us. They have different political beliefs than us. They’re in different economic statuses than us. Because we love God, we can love other people like Jesus commands us to loving each other. Loving is a healthy foundation for any individual Christian in any individual church. If we’re not a loving church, no one wants to be here. If you’re not a loving Christian, no one wants to have a cup of coffee. A few we are supposed to be known for our love for each other, Jesus said. When someone hurts you and they will hurt you when you’re disappointed, hurt, frustrated, trending towards bitterness. Are you going to choose the love you’re commanded to love? Jesus, the founder of Christianity, said Love. We should be known by our love for another Matthew 5 44 Love your Enemies and pray for those that persecute you. Love is the secret sauce to any Christian, healthy, healthy Christian. The measure you love is what you’re known for in heaven. Church. You can disagree with someone. This is obvious. You can just you can lovingly disagree with someone and still love them. I lovingly disagree with people, but they walk away feeling loved, not attacked. It’s a skill you can learn that skill. It’s interpersonal human skill. We can honor and be friends with someone and still be friends. Some of us can’t. We all need to learn that skill, though, of how to lovingly disagree with people we’re commanded to love one other. She just loved you. We’re commanded. Forgive one others use of forgiving you. It’s time Church were commanded to be known to love. It’s time to live at peace of all people like Romans. 12 cents as far as it depends upon you live at peace of all people. Take the high road. Take Jesus Calvary Road to take the loving road. She just did this, and this is how he ended His life was loving people and laying his life out to loving people that even consider his enemies command to pray for. People can pray for your enemies and that protects your heart from being better praying for people that are considered your enemies. People that you’re bitter towards is the chemotherapy for your cancerous soul, of sin, of bitterness in your life. Praying for people just releases their hold on you. There’s some shady, sad, terrible things that I’ve experienced, not more than worse than some of you. But there’s some dark things I’ve seen from some people, and the only way I can still smile in the morning and still love Jesus because I prayed for them and I’ve learned to love them because I pray for them. It’s sure hard to hate people you pray for. It is, if you don’t believe me, try it. Pray for people and it will change your heart how you love them. Command and pray for your leaders praised the authorities. Pray for your church. Pray for people in your church. What you So you will reap solar church. I believe we, as a young congregation, will reap forgiveness. Mercy, Grace. Long suffering. I think we will reap that if we sell that everything in this Bible depends on if you obey it. The parts you like, the parts you don’t like the popular parts, unpopular parts convenient and very inconvenient parts of your Bible or your pastors to preach the interesting parts of the Bible He never would’ve picked every part of this. Word of God is good for your instruction is what the Bible says. Good for your soul. This parts we need to hear. We need to fight. We need to learn from this battle of bitterness. Bitterness is a sin that’s a cancer of the soul, and it will only grow of time. I like to close the two verses here. Ephesians Forest. Does this get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander along with every form of malice? Get rid of all bitterness, church rage, anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice, were commanded to do that. Do we have the next passage there next next to versus there. Verse 14. I want to read verse 14. I meant to put that in here. Guys, that’s a good one. Hang on like my pastor takes a while to finance passage to, especially when your hands are shaking. Here we go. Verse 12 versus 14 says this. Pursue peace with everyone in holiness. Without it, no one will see the Lord in verse 15. Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and there are no root of bitterness brings up causing trouble and defiling many causing trouble and defying mini. This theme is part of the Christian life because this strategy is Satan strategy in the world. The devil of flesh so emotionally psychologically attack you so that you become angry, bitter people health. Be healthy. Be proactive at addressing your business, praying for people lean into conversations and lovingly talk to people in this church. I love you deeply. Hey, man, let’s pray Jesus, thinking that you’ve come and you’ve accomplished anything that is worth accomplishing Lord in this life is because of you. The only reason we can have access to your throne and have any form of health in our life is because what Jesus Christ has done. I think that you’re the example of being friends to your enemies are loving those who persecute you, lord, loving those who not just try to throw a spirit you, but who actually stick a spear in your side. Jesus, You’re an amazing example to us of how to deal with emotional pain that leads us to the path of bitterness. Got I want to follow your example. Help us to come to know you and become believers in you. Jesus Christ. Thank you for our time today. Encourage us in Jesus’ name.