Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 8 Lesson 76
This week in Sunday school we look at how God marks out young David to replace Saul as king of Israel. What is so significant about the way God makes his choice of David known? Why did God choose David out of the thousands of men in Israel? And what can we learn for our own lives about how God assesses individuals, even each of us? Join us as we consider these questions and more!
Our main text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 16:1-23.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
well it’s time to get started so good morning and welcome to the Kaveri Community Church Sunday School class I am David Koepp OSHA we’re continuing on today in our chronological study of the Bible and we are finding ourselves in the midst of First Samuel this history book this divine record of the early history of the kingship in Israel and the last time we saw Israel obtain its first King in Saul and he was a man who started off well it was humble but he began to trust in himself and in the support of men rather than the support of God Saul therefore did not fully obey God he trusted in his own wisdom and the wisdom of the world and God therefore told Saul that God was going to remove the kingdom from Saul and give it to another man a better man a man whose heart was like Yahweh’s who is that well that is David biblical David today’s lesson is on God’s choosing of David as king and we want to ask as we go along to our lesson today how does God choose David how does he mark him out why even more importantly does God choose David what can we learn from this account about how God looks at individuals how God assesses a person and contrast to how we normally do that and finally what can we learn about God when it comes to how he is pleased to glorify himself in the world through people because we’re involved in that aren’t we be looking at these questions in a number of others but let’s pray before we go on just ask the Lord to bless this time Heavenly Father we love your truth we love your scriptures it is sure when so many other things the world are not sure even Lord when it comes to guidelines about coronavirus Lord there’s lots of conflicting information and it’s hard to navigate but Lord we thank you that your word is totally reliable and that you even make it clear to the simple it makes wise this simple we’re so glad for that but we need you Lord to make us wise by your word why is according to your wisdom help me Lord to be able to explain this word now in a clear and helpful way and an accurate way and I pray Lord that you would help the people to be attentive and he who are listening today that they would be sensitive to what your Spirit is saying to them through your word Lord because we are meant to be transformed by it and I pray that you would accomplish that in this time amen all right well please take your Bibles and open to the book of 1st Samuel if you haven’t done so yet first samuel chapter 16 it’s kind of strange but we’ve been kind of marching through a number of chapters in 1st samuel five or six chapters at a time four or five chapters at a time but today we’re just doing one chapter it’s got a nice a little bit different i’m just focusing on 1st samuel 16 today and recall that in the previous chapter which is one we looked at together last time saul has just failed in his mission to totally destroy the Amalekites remember he didn’t destroy all the animals and he didn’t destroy the king God rebukes all through Samuel he announced again God’s rejection of Saul and Samuel then went home never to see Saul again in person for the rest of sandals life but let’s now read what happens next in 1st Samuel 16 and we’ll starting just the first half the chapter verses 1 to 13 so please follow along with me as I read here’s what it says first name is 16 verse 1 now the Lord that’s the term Yahweh there now Yahweh said to Samuel how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel fill your horn with oil and go I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehem I’d drive selected a king for myself among his sons a Samuel said how can I go when Saul hears a bit he will kill me and you always said take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh and you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one whom I designate to you so Samuel did what Yahweh said and came to Bethlehem and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said do you come in peace he said in peace I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice he also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice when they entered he looked at Elia and thought surely you always anointed is before him but he always said to Samuel do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature because I have rejected him for God sees not as a man sees for man looks at the outward appearance but Yahweh looks at the heart then Jesse called a bhinna dad and made him pass before Samuel and he said the ahwe is not chosen this one either next Jesse made Shama pass by and he said Yahweh is not chosen this one either thus Jesse made seven of his sons passed before Samuel but Samuel said to Jesse Yahweh has not chosen these and Samuel said to Jesse are these all the children and he said there remains yet the youngest and behold he’s tending the Sheep then Samuel said to Jesse send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here so he sent and brought him in now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance and he always said arise anoint him for this is he and samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of yahweh came mightily upon david from that day forward and samuel arose and went to rama all right well as always we’re gonna be following our inductive Bible study method which is observe interpret apply we start looking at this section of text with just simple observations on what appears in the text so let’s take a look in verse 1 notice God calls Samuel to stop grieving over Saul but instead to set about commissioning God’s replacement King and to do this notice that God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to a man named Jesse of Bethlehem now it’s just the first time we’ve seen Bethlehem in the scriptures not at all city was previously called F wrath and there first appeared in Genesis 31 5:19 it was the vicinity in which Jacob buried his wife Rachel but more directly Bethlehem is the name of the town that we saw together as the home of Naomi Ruth and Boaz in fact we learned from Ruth chapter 4 verses 17 to 22 that Jesse is the descendant of Ruth and Boaz by Obed so Bethlehem we’ve seen before God sends Samuel to Bethlehem notice in verse 2 though Samuel expresses some concern about this trip this says Samuel our Sam who claims that Saul will kill Samuel if Saul here is that Samuel is going down to Bethlehem to anoint a new king now while Samuel is fearful notice it in verses 3 to 4 what God tells Samuel to say to Saul or to anybody asking what Samuel is doing samuel is to say that he’s going to Bethlehem to offer sacrifice and used to take a heifer with him as proof actually offer up that that heifer now is this true is Samuel going to Bethlehem specifically to sacrifice yes that’s true where we see that he he does the sacrifice but is that the only reason he’s going is that the primary reason he’s going to Bethlehem well no but how the same are going to meet Jesse under this cover of offering a sacrifice well notice verse 4 tells us that God tell Sam to invite Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice and remember for Israel’s sacrifices for some of them specifically the peace offerings the worshipper and any clean persons with him they could eat of the sacrifice which normally either no one ate from or only the priest and his family ate from but for certain sacrifices those offering the animal could participate and enjoy some of the meat was kind of like a banquet or a feast so Sam was gonna invite the elders of the city and Jesse and his sons to enjoy the sacrificial meal with him now how did the elders of Bethlehem react when they see Samuel arrived oh they come trembling it says they’re afraid they ask if Samuels coming in peace Sam who says he is it’s coming a piece is coming offer sacrifice and he invites the necessary persons to the sacrificial meal before eating the sacrifice however Samuel has the sons of Jesse present themselves before him and notice in verses 6 to 7 the first son this would be the oldest son Ely AB Samuel looks at him and he comes to an instant conclusion he thinks Ely AB is surely Yahweh’s chosen King and why well it’s not stated directly in Samuels words but in God’s response surely this has to do with Ely ABB’s appearance he has the stately form and he has the height that just looks like kingly material but God redirects Samuels thinking note carefully what God says to Samuel in verse 7 God says I have rejected Aliyah don’t look at his appearance I’ve rejected him for I Yahweh do not see as a man sees man looks on the outward appearance but Yahweh Yahweh I look at the heart by the way does Ely AB remind you of anyone that we’ve seen recently kingly tall yet rejected by God isn’t this the exact description of Saul I mean we heard it more specifically we saw in terms of he’s like a whole head taller from the shoulders upper he was taller than anybody in Israel but it’s just like so and just like saw her just like Liam saw was specifically rejected by God despite his appearance so helium is not God’s new King but what about the other sons we hear the other seven sons passed before Samuel in verses 8 to 10 but each time Samuel says Yahweh has not chosen this one now David the youngest son of Jesse was not there with the rest of the family at the sacrifice or the sacrificial meal what you feel like it’s kind of rough right why isn’t David there Oh in verse 11 we hear that David is tending the Sheep he got shepherd duty sorry you’re the youngest you gotta go take care of the sheep the rest of us are gonna go head to that that’s sacrifice you know this is it’s like a really great honor to be there we’re going sorry you’re not well said no hears about this remaining son though he says this whole group elders Jesse’s family we’re not gonna sit down and eat until David arrives David does arrive in verse 12 and notice the description of him he’s described as ruddy and handsome with beautiful eyes now ruddy is not a word we use very often in English literally the word in Hebrew means reddish and the only other person described with this term is actually Esau this term is used at Esau at his birth remember it says he came out red and hairy well that’s this term reddish ruddy that’s Genesis 25 25 by the way so ruddy must mean that David like Esau had a reddish nough stew him either in his skin or in his hair interestingly the NIV translation of this verse it interprets the ruddiness as a sign of physical fitness if you look at the way they translate the phrase in that passage it is he was glowing with health okay maybe as for David’s eyes remember that eyes were particularly important in the Hebrew concept of beauty somebody’s mentioned as beautiful no Bible usually their eyes are also mentioned if you remember Leah also you see this with her Jacobs wife what was her one drawback according to the scriptures what’s her eyes but david has beautiful eyes but despite these unique aspects of David what is missing from the description of David that we see you with Saul and ELab David’s not tall doesn’t have that stately form he does stand out in his own way but he doesn’t look like King but God tells Samuel at the end of verse 12 this is my chosen one Samuel anoint him would the oil and Samuel does a verse 13 says that Samuel anoints David in the midst of his brothers that must have been a shocking development for the family and all those at the sacrificial feast I mean the youngest of Jesse the the shepherd is anointed by Samuel the judge of Israel God’s prophet in the sight of them all could you imagine being at an occasion like this imagine you got together with your relatives and the youngest sibling or the youngest child in your family is suddenly marked out and honored above the rest by God’s representative that must have been a very surprised by the way where else in the Bible do we see younger sons or younger children honored over the other sons actually we see this a lot haven’t we I mean you go back Isaac over Ishmael Isaac was younger Jacob over Esau he was younger Joseph above his brothers he was the youngest apart from Benjamin and then ephraim above Manasseh who was the younger of Joseph’s two sons God does this a lot David the youngest is anointed before his whole family and then what happens to David afterwards noticed in a verse 13 says that the Spirit of God comes upon David powerfully from that day forward alright we’ve observed the details of the text now we want to go to step 2 which is interpretation but take the details of the text and try and answer questions that are not explicitly answered by the passage but that we can use the details that come up with competent answers let’s take a look at a few questions first why is Samuel concerned that anointing a new king would result in Saul killing Samuel it’s not stated in our passage but I think we can we can understand this can’t we the reigning kings don’t usually like to hear of challengers to their rule or to their kingly title I mean just think of Herod the Great in the New Testament right when he hears that Jesus the Messiah has been born he ultimately determines to kill him so despite the word of divine rejection given to Saul he apparently is determined to hold on to the kingship and he’s acting in such a way or he’s made that true he’s made that manifest in such a way that Samuel now fears for his life he sees me going to a place and he figures I’m going to anoint a new king he’s probably gonna try and kill me poor Scot provides for Samuel but the way God provides is maybe a little bit puzzling was Samuel explanation as to why he was going to Bethlehem truthful or was it in fact deceptive what kind of depends on what you mean by deceptive Samuel does tell the truth he is truly going to Bethlehem to sacrifice at Yahweh’s direction however Samuel does leave out the more important part of his purpose of going to Bethlehem which is to anoint a new king how was this deception I don’t think that’s a great word to describe what Samuel is doing but even if you maintain that it is deceit it is not unrighteous and we know that because who tells Samuel to do this God God is a God of truth God cannot lie yet God permits and even commands Samuel to share some true information while withholding other true information now this is totally in line with the biblical principle that we’ve seen in previous Sunday School lessons do you remember back when we looked at Rahab and how she hid the spies or the Hebrew midwives and how they did not kill the children we talked about lying and telling the truth if you want to learn more definitely go back and listen to those lessons the principle that we saw and that we see even here is that Christians may never lie because that is to be unlike God yet they can withhold part of the truth in certain situations for the sake of good now you don’t withhold information when telling that information would do good but in certain situations it is it is a fine thing to do and we see it even happening here another question with what kind of oil this Samuel anoint David this is not simply olive oil which many people would use back in those days to freshen their appearance to anoint themselves this was actually the holy oil this must be the holy oil that’s mentioned in association with the Hanako back in Exodus 30 the holy oil also called the anointing oil it was originally part of cleansing and setting apart as Holy the various implements of the tabernacle like the lamps tan or the altar or the various implements are the the bowls and such but here we see the oil being point are poured on a person actually this first happened would saw but now David are set apart by God by the spoil designated as Kings set apart from the people and before dedicated to Yahweh now the fact that the holy objects were anointed with the same oil is very instructive and it explains a little bit of what we see happening with David later on in reference to Saul there are opportunities where because Saul is trying to kill David David has a chance to harm Saul but he will not do it and why he keeps saying the same thing I will not stretch out my hand against God’s anointed somebody’s been set apart by God even with a special anointing oil you don’t mess with them you Revere those who have been set apart by God according to this holy oil they are the anointed ones and remember that’s connected with the term Messiah they were to revere those who are God’s Messiah that would be the kings of Judah and ultimately the Great King to come Jesus so this is the holy oil with which Samuel anoints David but now the big question why did God choose David to replace Saul as king now there are a number of ways we can accurately answer this question but it is a very important one one way first answer to this question is that God selects David because David has a righteous heart after all isn’t this what we’ve seen so far in 1st Samuel 1st Samuel 13 14 when God is rejecting Saul he says Yahweh has sought out himself a man after his own heart / first am L 15 28 it says Yahweh has toned the Kingdom of Israel from you saw today and as it to your neighbor who is better than you additionally we see in our passage it’s implied when God says I look at the heart not the outward appearance that David has a heart that is special David’s heart was different from others David had a good heart David was not simply a religious poseur like many in Israel even like Saul David wasn’t one who merely honored God with his lips while his heart was far from God to use the words of Isaiah 29:13 David was not one who who only participated in various religious and worship rituals while he covered over a continuously ungodly and disobedient life David was the real deal David loved God David had a heart mmm that was like God’s own now of course by heart I’m I’m not referring to the blood pumping mechanism or even just one’s emotions heart mind soul they’re all used interchangeably in the scriptures to describe the inner person the inner man David was different on the inside he had a good heart he was righteous and to explain that a little bit further it means he had genuine faith in God in your way and he was genuinely obedient so in a sense the exultation to kingship of God of David by God it was it was a reward to David for his righteousness it was consistent with God raising up those who truly honor him but as we bring the rest of the scriptures to also answer this question of why God chooses David as king one might ask well why was David righteous why did David have such faith that manifested in a righteous life what’s the answer it’s God’s grace it’s only the undeserved unmerited favor of God God mercifully gave David the gift of faith and he caused David to walk in obedience this was not something in a we produced in David Owen or was he even prone to this more than others it was all a work of God David himself confesses in psalm 51:5 psalm 51:5 behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me now David is not saying in that Psalm that he was born from immorality he was saying that he was born a sinner David acknowledges I am an inheritor of the spiritual death of my forefather just like everyone else even us today David was born a rebel a sinner committed to his own way he was unrepentant and unable to repent or to use a theological term he was totally depraved a radically corrupt but God had mercy on David he opened David’s eyes to God’s truth it gave David the gift of faith it covered David with his own righteousness which ultimately would come through the Messiah the greater Messiah Christ God gave life to David’s spirit and David therefore believed God and followed after him in obedience David did nothing to deserve this wonderful act of God just as none of us do it was undeserved favor which is what graces grace is just undeserved unmerited favor so yes it is true that God bestowed the kingship on David because David was righteous but it’s also true that David was righteous only because God gave the gift of faith to David so a second way to accurately answer the question of why did God choose David to be king is that it was simply God’s good pleasure noting that David earned her deserve it was just God’s good pleasure for his own glory God did not have to choose David God did not have to give David faith or cause him to walk in the way of righteousness David still would have been responsible for his own path of sin just as we all are whether we choose to follow God or not without God’s saving intervention David would never have chosen to follow after God and without a heart of faith God would have no reason to give David the kingship so the choice for King ultimately was not based on David’s righteousness but God’s good pleasure and of course this is a theme that we see throughout the box why did God choose Abraham why did God choose Jacob why did God choose to exalt Joseph among his brothers nothing because of what they deserved in fact sometimes they seem like they’re pretty undeserving like you look at Jacob but it was just God’s good pleasure he had mercy on whom he chose to have mercy and he showed grace to those and he determined to and it was all for his glory we see this by the way expressed well in Philippians this concept Philippians 2 verses 12 to 13 this is talking about believers and it says Paul speaking to them he says so then my beloved just as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling 4 and here’s the key part I’m gonna highlight verse 13 it is God who has at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure it’s all about God in the end nothing about our own glory and certainly nothing that we earn or deserve if we experience any good from God in our lives especially in salvation it is undeserved it is God acting for his own glory and according to his own goodness and that’s what God is doing with David here it is God’s good pleasure to exalt David now these are two important and accurate answers the question of why God chose David but there are two other answers that I think are worth highlighting now a third answer is that well this is part of God being faithful to his promises we saw last time when it came to analyzing the kingship and the expectation of it in the Old Testament that God did promised to bless Israel with a righteous human King and it would be from the line of Judah so we needed a special descendent from the line of Judah to be king and fulfill God’s promise well David he isn’t in the line of Judah and so he is part of God fulfilling his word but there’s one other answer I want to highlight a fourth reason why God chooses David is because this is part of God’s glory in the foolish gospel God was going to use the weak and the seemingly foolish to shame the strong and we see this concept very well expressed in the New Testament in the book of first Corinthians if you take your Bibles a moment and turn over to first Corinthians first Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26 to 31 Paul is writing to the Corinthian church believers there and he says this them 1st Corinthians 1 verses 26 to 31 for consider your calling brethren that there were not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen the things that are not so that he may notify the things that are so that no man may boast before God but by his doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that just as it is written let him who boasts boast in the Lord this is a wonderful expression and revelation of God’s heart here in 1st Corinthians God is a God who loves to confound the wisdom of the so-called wise men of the world and to show the so called strong their utter powerlessness and how does he do that he does that in a number of ways but one of his chief ways is by exalting the lowly by taking the week the ignorant the despised and turning them into powerful and glorious instruments of God when the weak and foolish triumph when they clearly do not have the strength or wisdom on their own who gets the glory God does and God is the worthy being that he is he deserves all the glory and he gives it to himself he displays it by using the weak and exalting the foolish of the world according to the world thus this is exactly what God is doing with David God is delighted to choose and raise up David to be king because David is the youngest David is the one given shepherd duty he’s not even invited to the sacrifice celebration and his appearance did not look kingly now these didn’t earn God’s favor but they became as God determining according to his good will an excellent opportunity to put God’s glory on display God chose to make this lowly one this one of no account king of his chosen people God would also grant David success at every turn and even established David and his physical line as the permanent line of Israel’s kingship even in the Messiah the ultimate Messiah Jesus and what is David’s response to all this exultation does David say wow I guess I really am great after all I didn’t even know it no that’s not David’s response we actually hear it from his own lips and 2nd Samuel 7 verse 18 2nd Samuel 7 18 this is that passage famous for the expression of the Davidic covenant God expresses to David what God is going to do for David in his house and this is what David says to God I’m paraphrasing here pardon me God Who am I that I should receive such blessings you deserve all the honor and praise God why have you shown me such kindness and this is the proper response of God’s people wasn’t it the same thing we heard from Jacob back in Genesis when God was doing so much for Jacob Speight if Jacobs sin and lack of faith Jacob eventually says to God God I’m not worthy of all the loving kindness and mercy that you have shown me same thing for us same thing for us who are in Christ God loves to do this kind of thing to shame the strong and the wise by exalting those of no account he did it with David and he’s still doing it today and each one of us the Saints brothers and sisters remember always who we are we are 1st Corinthians 1:26 231 we a week the foolish the ignorant according to the world and we carry what is considered by them a foolish gospel but in God we are more than conquerors the gospel is absolute wisdom from God and glory to God and one day astoundingly we will be exalted to rule and reign with Christ we who are nothing who were the foolish and the weak God’s so determined and his kindness to show us that favor who are we that we should receive it yet God has done it certainly then these four reasons are at the heart of why God chooses David to be king but when would David become king would it be immediately actually not at all it would be many years before David is king though he’s anointed now it will be a long road before David actually becomes king over Israel God ordained actually that for many years David would enter into the previous king service into Saul service and he would become a greater that is David he would become a greater and greater blessing to Saul and to the people of Israel at the same time that Saul was becoming a greater and greater curse to himself and to the people of Israel and actually we begin to see that as we look at the rest of our passage look now at the rest of 1st Samuel 16 verses 14 to 23 following me as I start reading in verse 14 now the spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh terrorized him Saul servants then said to him behold now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you let our Lord now command your servants who are before you let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp and he shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you that he shall play the harp with his hand and you will be well so Saul said to his servants provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me and one of the young men said Behold I’ve seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehem I who is a skillful musician a mighty man of Valor a warrior one prudent in speech and a handsome man and Yahweh is with him so Solomon sent messengers to Jessie and said send me your son David who is with the flock Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son then David came to Saul and attended him and saw loved him greatly and he became his armor-bearer Saul sent to Jesse’s saying let David now stand before me for he has found favor in my sight so it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul David would take the harp and play it with his hand and Saul would be refreshed and be well and the evil spirit would depart from him let’s make some observations on this latter section that the Spirit of God comes upon David in verse 13 notice what happens to Saul in verse 14 we hear that the spirit of Yahweh departs from Saul it has departed from Saul and instead an evil spirit or could be translated a harmful or troubling spirit takes its place to afflict Saul and notice from where this evil spirit is said to come from the ahwe himself this distressing spirit or evil spirit it actually is the cause of David entering into Saul’s Court because according to verses 17 and 18 as we see here David could play the harp skillfully and that would ease saws anguish Jeff so happens that one of Saul’s attendants knew about David and David’s skill not only is David a skillful musician but we also hear in verse 18 that he’s a mighty man of Valor a warrior he’s a man prudence speech he speaks wisely he’s a handsome man and he’s one with whom Yahweh is this is someone who you can just see the blessing of God follows him turns out according to verse 23 that David’s music playing is indeed able to give Saul relief from this evil spirit whenever it comes upon Saul in fact notice what becomes Saul’s attitude to David in verse 21 love Saul loves David he begins to love David he’s so pleased with David in general that he chooses to make David an armor bearer now what’s an armor bearer you ask well this is a special servants position in Israel’s early monarchy the armor bearer or the shield bearer he was a trusted marshal companion and he accompanied his master into battle the armor bearer would as you could guess from the title carry extra weapons or equipment for his master and the two also formed a kind of battle team if the master for example struck an enemy soldier would arranged weapon during a fight and this that this enemy was wounded the armor bearer would go and finish off the enemy soldier at close range armor bearers were also sometimes entrusted with the duty of when asked killing their masters so that the enemies could not torture or kill them themselves so Saul’s making David an armor bearer was a mark of great trust and affection it certainly was an honoured position however Kings appear to have had multiple armor bearers so David was not totally unique in this role there probably were others all right with those observations let’s ask a few more interpretation questions did Saul lose his salvation when the spirit left him well the short answer is no but there’s a little bit more complication to it because whether Saul is ever or becomes truly saved is difficult to answer I mean sawdust start well and he is used by God to perform certain mighty acts but when we look at the tree of Saul’s life most of the fruit is pretty rotten in Jesus as you know them by the fruits now we remember people like Samson Samson he had a lot of rotten fruit in his life and yet he’s commended as a man of faith in the New Testament so it’s possible that Saul was deep down someone who was saved a regardless of whether Saul was among the redeemed or is among the Redeem or not we should not understand the coming or leaving of the Holy Spirit upon Saul or any other individuals in the Old Testament as referring to the gain or loss of salvation while it’s certainly true that God’s Spirit was active in the same or similar way in producing salvation and sanctification in the Old Testament as the Spirit does in the New Testament it’s similar not totally the same the Old Testament doesn’t specifically doesn’t really focus on that part of the spirits ministry instead what we see the Old Testament doing when it refers to God’s Spirit coming upon someone it’s actually talking about supernatural empowerment for service leadership or prophecy and haven’t we seen this already you look at the craftsmen who make the tabernacle under Moses they are empowered by the Spirit of God the spirit of God is working in them Jacob he prophesized about Israel’s future by the Spirit of God Israel’s judges they often had the spirit come upon them as they led armies into battle and we remember Samson he performed supernatural feats of strength by the spirit so when the Spirit of God came upon Saul Saul was supernaturally empowered in his role as Kings didn’t have to do with salvation this is about empowerment God granted Saul wisdom strength fortitude of mind to do what Saul needed to do has God’s King but the spirit empowerment it does not make one invincible against sin nor is it necessarily permanent sin could cause the loss of God’s equipping an empowering spirit and again we’ve seen this already go back to Samson Samson chooses Delilah over God he gives up the secret of his strength his hair is cut and then judges 6:20 set the judges says that Yahweh departed from Samson and Samson no longer had his great strength though God did empower Samson later one more time when Samson turned to God in faith and repentance in a similar way part of God’s judgment and rejection of Saul as king the removal of God’s empowering spirit the spirit instead comes upon David the fight to praise and ultimately to rule on behalf of Yahweh the true king and true God so that’s what’s going on with the spirit departing from Saul but what about this evil spirit what is this evil spirit from Yahweh this is you can guess as a debated subject but really there’s nothing wrong with us taking the description at face value as it’s given in the new American Standard this is most likely an evil spirit that is a demon sent by God to a harassed and afflict Saul now you could perhaps argue that this is not a demon but a righteous spirit an angel but his role is to harm or distress or trouble saw as an agent of judgment I mean we do see angels destroying armies in the Bible so it’s not like they can’t hurt anybody so maybe this is an angel well the role of afflicting and tormenting people in the Bible is usually described as the work of demons Devils non angels and we just look at kind of parallel and the afflicting spirit that Paul endured in 2nd Corinthians 12:7 Paul says this was a messenger of Satan he didn’t say God sent an angel to keep humbling me righteous angel no it was a messenger of Satan so most likely I would say this is a demon and not a righteous angel sent by God to afflict Saul now some object no wait this cannot be an actual demon because this is sent by God how can a righteous God control demons or send them to afflict people well if God is completely sovereign which he is he must have control of demons and indeed of all evil in the world after all we see in the Bible God often sends the armies of wicked nations as judgments on other nations and these armies they commit all sort simple atrocities in their judgments on specific persons and nations yet God was in control of all of that how does this make God evil does he become a chargeable cause of sin oh absolutely not James tells us emphatically that God is not the tempter of evil cause God is not tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone Paul says further in Romans 3 6 that God is the righteous judge of the universe by definition cannot be evil and no man may use God’s sovereignty as an excuse for sin people and demons were all completely responsible for their own evil acts and God has and will judge both people and demons for what they choose to do yet God is absolutely and ultimately in control of them all and all their evil acts no evil can be done unless it is ordained by God for his own good and glorious purposes after all Satan had to ask God permission before Satan afflicted Jove or even sifted Peter like wheat remember Satan had to ask Christ the Legion of the demoniac they had to ask Christ for permission to enter into the pigs this is why the great reformer Martin Luther well whether he actually said this or not as maybe a little debated but he’s famously reported to have said once remarked the devil is God’s devil meaning Satan cannot act at all without the express decree of God he’s on a leash so then what we’re seeing here in the scripture and really throughout the scripture are two biblical truths that appeared to contradict each other but are actually both true at the same time God exercises ultimate control over all things including evil forces yet God is neither evil nor the chargeable cause of evil it doesn’t coerce anyone to do we are all responsible for any evil that we choose to do and yet God is ultimately in control of it all now we cannot completely unravel how these truths fit together in our finite minds but the Bible unapologetically presents both of them both of these concepts to us as truths so back to Psalm we need not search for some symbolic interpretation here for this evil spirit this is a real likely wicked spirit ordained aloud ultimately sent by God to Saul this apparently the spirit apparently caused some kind of mental agony for Saul perhaps related to fear anxiety or depression and we see this character I saw to the rest of his life God was the ultimate cause of this but not the chargeable cause yet God also ordained that the playing of the sweet psalmist of Israel that’s a term later used of David would dispel Saul’s affliction God ordained the affliction and the one who would remove it from Saul consider then what the author is showing us pretty emphatically in this chapter about these two men David and Saul we see that Saul is definitely cursed by God he is being judged by the Lord for rejecting God cos said you reject me I reject you by contrast we see David is blessed by God and he will be a blessing to others even those who have come under God’s curse these realizations they make Saul’s later actions seem even more heinous and unjustified Saul will actually turn against David when David has done nothing but good to Saul and also we see that God is already bringing about David’s rise as the king of Israel it’ll take a while but God is fulfilling the word that he spoke both to Saul and to David because God is faithful it’s really as we’ve seen at the beginning of 1st Samuel maybe remember me mentioning this in the last two lessons God says those who honor me I will honor and those despise me will be lightly esteemed just brought down Eli and raised up Samuel now God is bringing down Saul and raising up David interestingly both divine replacements actually serve the previous ones who are being brought down Samuel serves Eli David serves saw and David would prove to be the best servant of Saul and we’ll see more of that in coming lessons so we see from first table 16 today fundamental truths emphasized to us about God’s sovereignty God’s cursing and blessing and also God’s heart to glorify himself and what the world would call a foolish way but what are we to do with these truths how should they instruct us transform us and how we live our lives now let’s go to the third step of our Bible study method which is application considering all we’ve seen from first samuel 16 how can we apply it I’m going to give you three applications the suggestions of course you can I advise you counsel you to continue to meditate on this passage and see what other proper applications you can draw but here are three I think big ones from our passage first we need to prepare for God’s true assessment prepare for God’s true assessment just as God discerned the true nature of David’s heart and eally ABS heart so God also discerns the hearts of each one of us there’s no point in putting up a spiritual facade to the house of your life when it is filled with darkness and uncleanness God sees God sees through that God knows because he looks at the heart God actually hates hypocrisy he hates rote worship they provoke him to anger so will we really continue to do those things what should you do if you have been living a hypocritical life secretly though you say all the right things you go to church you maintain a a righteous appearance deep down you’re like the pharisees full of dead men’s bones what should you do well listen to what the scripture says humble yourself before the Lord and He will exalt you what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to confess your sin before the Lord repent of it and trust in Christ don’t try to hide your sin don’t try to hide your hypocrisy don’t try and do a whole bunch of good work to try and spread a covering over it God sees through all of that all those things are actually offensive to him own your sin confess it to be before God exactly what he says it is which is the ugliest rebellion the universe has seen which is what all sin is own it and then turn away from it say god I don’t want to live this way anymore you have provided a wonderful salvation in Christ I’m what Christ instead I don’t want my sin I don’t want my own way anymore I want your way I want the righteousness that comes through that comes only through Christ his righteousness on my behalf is like death and resurrection that cleanses all my sin and that makes me acceptable to God if you have lived as a hypocrite it doesn’t matter God is still willing to show mercy to you if you will repent and believe so do that because otherwise a judgement is coming God will lay bare what has been going on in your heart the whole time and you’re not clothed with Christ at that moment you will receive the penalty but scripture says an unending torment in fire and darkness that is the penalty of sin which Christ absorbed on the cross all those who belong to him but for those outside of him there is no mercy there is no grace of God there is certainly a sobering aspect to the assessment of God of our hearts but there’s also there’s an encouraging side to it too and that is there are many who maybe are slandered as evil indeed that actually is the true state of all Christ’s followers to some extent or another that will be judged by the world as evildoers as the ones who are not worth favor not worth kindness that’s all of us who are the Saints but you know just as God vindicated David and showed he has a heart that’s truly like mine so he will do that for his people when we go to be with God but especially when the final judgments come upon the earth God will show who his righteous ones really are those who are not made righteous by their own doing but by the mercy of God and you will say look these are mine they have hearts like mine and I am pleased to reward them so brothers and sisters we need to prepare for God’s true assessment don’t hide a wicked heart but if you have a heart that’s been cleansed by Christ take courage God will vindicate you one day ask yourselves if God were to assess your heart right now what would be his verdict would it be as with Saul and ELab rejected or would it be as with David accepted on the basis of God’s mercy and the provision of Jesus Christ that’s one application a main application yeah I appreciate that that scripture there Juan and Amy you quote psalm 19:4 Lord made the meditations of our hearts and the words our mouths be pleasing in your sight you know some people it actually reminds me some people I don’t know if you’ve encountered this an evangelistic conversation but they sometimes fall back on their hearts as the way that they’re gonna get into heaven they’ll say oh you know I don’t I’m not perfect but God knows my heart and I think he’ll accept me that’s a wrong way of thinking that’s it that’s a wrong kind of application in this this is not I’m righteous according to myself I have a certain righteousness in my heart and on that basis I’m going to be made acceptable to God no the only kind of justification that you will have before comes from a foreigner righteousness and that kind of righteousness it manifests in a different life so if you’re living a plainly sinful life a life of continual habits of sin and yet you say to yourself well God knows my heart well you got to listen to the other scriptures would say out of the heart the mouth speaks the good or the evil that one performs in one’s life it comes from the heart this is why the scripture warns the heart is deceitful above all things who can know it only God can and you know how he reveals it to us through his word Hebrews chapter 4 talks about the Word of God being living and active it is sharper than a two-edged sword and what does it do it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart you think your heart is fine before God well subject it to the scriptures because it’s possible that you’re blind to what’s really going on in your heart you need the scriptures and God’s Spirit speaking through the Scriptures to show you where you really are you won’t have a heart that is righteous apart from God’s merciful intervention the only righteousness that we have comes from Christ on our behalf not an infused righteousness as the Catholics would hold but an imputed righteousness one that is counted to us not generated by ourselves alright let me talk about a second application we should prepare for God’s true assessment but we should also be sure not to judge according to mere appearances I mean if God is shoes man’s propensity to judge according to appearances and shouldn’t we all so now it’s true sometimes appearance corresponds to what’s really going on in the heart some sometimes people may act or dress a certain way or appear a certain way because it reflects what they what they really love and what they really value but you know what not all the time in fact we’re warned in the book of James that if we judge merely according to appearances and we’re prejudiced against others on that basis that we become wicked we become judges with evil motives he says and you know what we subject ourselves to the judgment of God so I do not want to take that perspective we want to learn from how God assesses people and we want to do the same we should be concerned about what’s going on in someone’s heart rather than the external appearance don’t become fixated don’t become prejudiced against somebody by the way they dress by jewelry that they wear by tattoos that they have by whether they look poor or rich they dress properly for church or they just came in like they were going to some casual get-together none of those things matter ultimately it’s the heart that matters to God and that’s what should matter to us so if you find yourself not serving not loving not evangelizing people because of their appearance well then you need to repent because as James says that is becoming a judge of evil notice God doesn’t look at appearances and neither should we we should not become fixated or focused on that but focus on the heart one other application glory in the foolish gospel and we’ve already kind of looked at this application a little bit earlier but assess first Corinthians 1 says we are in Christ but it is according to a method and the the people that God has chosen it’s all foolish at least according to the world but God makes foolish the wisdom of the world and he shows his foolishness to be wiser than anything man could ever have determined now for us this means first of all that we should praise God God I am nothing I am worse than the weak I am one of the greatest sinners I’ve been a rebel against you there is nothing special about me yet God you’ve given me a seat at your table thought you’ve invited me into your kingdom I’m gonna rule and reign with you forever why have you shown me such kindness we should be praising the Lord grateful to the Lord living in a worthy way because of that but secondly we should not be ashamed of the gospel or of living a life that pleases Christ you know now we have such pressure from the world today to just be like them pursue what they pursue value what they value act according to their wisdom believe what they believe oh I don’t know if I could believe what the scripture says here because the world says no that’s not scientifically acceptable we feel pressure to not be seen as foolish but brothers and sisters ultimately that’s what we’re going to be to the world if you want to be like the world then you’re not gonna be like what Christ called you to be we are fools for Christ’s sake Paul says don’t be ashamed of the gospel Jesus says if you’re ashamed of me and of my words on the day that I come back to reign I will be ashamed of you you won’t have a place in my kingdom let’s not be afraid to do what’s right before others even if no one else is doing it let’s not be afraid to affirm that the word is authoritative and that it is the foundation for how we examine anything in the word world start with the Bible don’t start with man’s opinion and then assess the Bible start with the Bible and then you’ll see clearly how to assess things in the world don’t be ashamed to parent God’s Way don’t be ashamed that you can’t pursue the leisure pursuits that other people do oh you don’t watch this movie oh like are you some kind of like weird person don’t be ashamed of that you are going to be different brethren we are going to be different from the world so let’s embrace that in fact that’s how we’re the greatest witness to the world you know it’s a totally wrong line of thinking to say oh we need to show the people in the world that we’re not that different from them they won’t think we’re so weird and that way don’t believe in Jesus Christ that is the total wrong way of thinking that is the wisdom according to the world yes don’t make yourself obnoxious with it and think you’re serving the gospel but you’re going to be different you’re going to be considered foolish remember the other word of Scripture woe to you when all men think well of you because that’s what people said of false prophets even as pastor Bobby has been talking about right but blessed are you when people speak evil of you because that’s what they did to the true prophets and that’s what they did to Christ we’re to walk in our Lord’s footsteps they considered him foolish and they rejected him but he was accepted by God so they will do with us if we allow ourselves to be rejected by the people of the world for the sake of Christ and will be accepted by God and isn’t that the most important thing all that matter if people approve of you and God doesn’t so these are three main applications and I hope that you’ll continue to think of deep think on these and think of more from our passage but that’s all for this week if you have other questions or comments please post them in the chat I’ll interact with you a little bit afterwards next week or go to one of the most famous battles of history as recorded in the scripture David versus Goliath I look forward to talking about that with you let me close our time in prayer and like I said I’ll hang on a little bit afterwards right Heavenly Father you are the great God and thank you that you have chosen the weak and the foolish to shame the strong and the wise that’s how Scott what helped us not to be ashamed of you and Lord neither let us live hypocritically before you let our hearts be wholly yours not competing with another Idol but all yours God and have it reflected in a life devoted to you order thank you for your kindness undeserved kindness to us I pray Lord that we would walk worthy of it not to earn salvation but to make your glory known in Jesus name Amen thank you all for being here like I said I’ll staying on for a little bit afterwards but otherwise we’ll see you next week