1st Samuel 18. Well, before we go right into the text, two questions for you right before you on the screen there. Do you ever struggle with jealousy and does it make you happy? Now, let me answer for you. If the first one you answered, no, you're lying. So now you're also a liar. Of course, the answer to those questions is yes and no. Everyone struggles with jealousy at certain times. And no, it never makes us happy. Even pastors, we fight ministry envy. Ministry of Envy. We see someone and I'm like, hey, I was talking to my brother yesterday. He was attending a Baptist church. Now he's attending a Presbyterian church. I'm praying for him. I am. I am. But this Presbyterian church is really good. It's at Oak Cutler Prez. And Oak Cutler Prez enjoys a great, great tradition there. And so I was saying, hey, Rick, you know how many? About 1,000? He goes, no, no, about 500, 600. I'm like, My ego goes like, wow, five, six hundred, yeah. But then realization hits that before the Lord, I'm responsible for you. And that's more than enough. Okay, that's more than enough. But ministry envy is there. It can happen to anyone and everyone. We struggle with jealousy at times and it never makes us happy, but yet we do it anyways. We get jealous. We see someone, and we see an area, we need to move in there. And those who live, and that's why we move from this area to that area, and we have to keep up with the, we use it in English, the Joneses, but it's just, we have to keep up with the next person, and the next person. And if this guy buys a golf cart, everybody has to buy a golf cart. Because that's what people of certain status have, a golf cart. And that's why I go to Publix in my golf cart. You know what I mean? It's not always because it's convenient, it's just, I'm jealous. I need to have it because so and so has it. That's the catch. And then we'll never have, because as soon as we get it, it didn't really add value to you or me. It just added headaches. But we feel a little better about it. So we're going to revisit the first Samuel 18, and we're going to talk about some topics that emerged from the study, namely love, jealousy, and fear. So as we read these 16 verses, I want you to see if you can just make Just mark it in your mind or in your Bible when you see the topics of love, jealousy, and fear. So let's read and you follow along. 1 Samuel 18, As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword, and his bow, and his belt. And David went out, and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of the war. And this was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and want more. Can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar. And as he did day by day, Saul had a spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. Stop there. Let me give you my sermon summary right off the bat. Sometimes my sermon summary is very long. Today is nice and brief. On the screen there, okay? Love will bring you closer to people. Jealousy and fear will drive you apart. Bottom line, bottom line. Love is going to do something that's going to try to bring people together. Jealousy and fear never brings people together. And when it does, the outcome has to be disastrous. Can you imagine? That's what's keeping you together, jealousy and anger. There's no good outcome out of that, right? Well, how does this affect you and me? On the screen there, love, jealousy and fear all have to do with how you will relate to others. They also have to do with how you will relate to God and how God will use you in this life. If you're jealous and angry and fearful, do you actually think that the God of heaven is going to deem to use you? Or to use me? Of course not. Unless it's in a very negative way. As an example of what happens when one of his children operates in rebellion and all that they do is express jealousy, anger and fear. But to be used as a blessing, you cannot, you cannot. So these topics are important to you and me as they emerge from the study of our text this morning. So let's dig in. And the first four verses, we saw them last week. Jonathan's love for David. We studied these verses in detail under spiritual friendship and what it meant to have a friend. A real friend. And we looked at the key words, knit, loved, covenant, and robe. And those described Jonathan's relationship with the David. And we noted then and we note again this morning, it should not have been this way. I mean, if you've watched anything on Netflix or your favorite streaming platform or on regular TV, if that ever does exist anymore, right? You know that when there's kingdoms and there's an heir to the throne, anybody that's a threat to that heir is a threat to the heir of the throne. So David, who's enjoying this great fame, should have been deemed by Jonathan as a threat to the throne, yet he is not. We see it there. There's a remarkable friendship that happens and there's a blessing where Jonathan recognizes it and is not filled with jealousy or fear, but he reaches out in love. And this reminds us of two things. Number one, love seeks unity with others. Love seeks unity with others. It says, as soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Listen, we have to agree that Jonathan saw in David an amazing faith, a faith in Yahweh, a faith in God, the God of Israel, that enabled him to do what his own father was unwilling to do. what the scores of thousands of soldiers were unwilling to do. He saw David act in faith and conquer Goliath, the enemy of Israel, the blasphemer of God. And listen, Jonathan has shown similar faith back in chapters 13 and 14. We met him there. And at that point, in a different moment, also with the Philistines, Saul and company are paralyzed by fear. Jonathan and his armor-bearer, they do something and they conquer by faith. So we see them there. But what he saw in David eclipses even his own success. And this verse marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship, one of the most celebrated friendships in all of scripture. You and I know about this. You know that Jonathan and David were kindred spirits. They were soulmates. They were brothers. They were best of friends. You and I have a fair... You may, you may, you may. I've heard in my circles. You know, these are... This person is Frameli. You ever heard of that one? Frameli? Let me spell it to you from those of you who are like me. F-R-A-M-I-L-Y. You never heard of Frameli? You never heard of it? They don't say that in Puerto Rico? No? Frameli? Tampico? All right. Framily. I mean, I've heard it. I'm that old. It's friends that you consider family. So it's family. Now you're enlightened, okay? So next time when they hashtag family, you'll go like, hey, I heard a guy say about this. And that's what happens. You treat, this is a friend that you treat as family. The Bible tells us that you and I should be seeking unity together. On the screen there's Psalm 133, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. In the New Testament we find Philippians chapter 2 verse 2. Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and in purpose. Let me stop here because it's bothering me. I don't know if it's bothering you, but Eddie, if you can just take a look. I'm having some feedback and it's getting to my ears. So if you can work on that, I would really appreciate it. You and I can get greater unity today because of the Holy Spirit in each one of God's kids. You and I should be doing that. We should be seeking unity. And when love prevails, when the love of God has a grip on our hearts, in our lives, you and I are going to try to seek unity. Even with someone that should be deemed something other, we still want to reach out in love to them. That's what Jonathan does. And because of that, Love puts others before yourself. Look at verse 2 through 4. And again, we saw that last week, but let's remind ourselves. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. It's family. Listen, you're like here. You're not going back to your family. We are your family now. Verse 3, Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword, and his bow, I don't know why I always get confused with bow, his bow, and his belt. You see it there. And what's happening there is Jonathan is recognizing the reality that, listen, David has a calling. We don't know how he figures it out. I mean, Jose asked me last week, how did Jonathan figure it out? Listen, there has to be an act of God. It is the work of God because He's realizing something. How do we know that? He gives up His royal vestments. And by giving Him the robe, by giving Him the bow, by giving Him the sword, what He is saying is, I'm transferring my right to the throne to you. This is a big deal right here. You and I read it as black ink on a white piece of paper. But what's going on there is Jonathan abdicating his claim to the throne. And he's saying, David, you are the next king. And because of that, and because I love you, I'm gonna prefer you over me. In other words, I'm gonna pass up this promotion, so you get promoted. I don't know about you, but that doesn't happen in corporate America too often. When was the last time it happened in your office? Yeah, I think the word never should be the answer, right? But yet, here's Jonathan, heir to the throne, saying, no, no, no, no, no, no. I need you to take my promotion. I will say, gladly, I will play second fiddle. That's the hardest, if you're in a band, the hardest position, the hardest placement in a band is second chair. Because let me tell you, I've been second chair and worse, OK? I've been like fifth chair, and I've been out of the band, too. But second fiddle or second chair, you're playing next to the best, the first chair. And everybody wants to gun for the first chair, yet. Jonathan says I will put you before me and we have the Bible to remind us about this Romans 12 10 on the screen there be devoted to one another in brotherly love Honor one another above yourselves again. We read this and you're right Rachel. We can't a minute, but when it's time to live it That's when it's hard This is not a suggestion. This is not God who just ran out of things to say through His servant to the church at Rome in the first century and He said, you know, be devoted to one another and honor one another. No, no, no. This is God's Word for you and for me like it was to them. Okay? Philippians 2.3, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. You and I are to seek the honor of other people before ourselves. See, this is what it means on the screen there. It is not enough that you just don't mind the other person getting the honor, but you should actually prefer to honor others above yourself. So here, if you're a leader in this church, if you're a manager in your job, if you're a leader of person, a manager of people, what are you known for? Climbing the corporate ladder on the backs of others? Or when it comes time to do a team meeting, who gets the glory? Your team or you? Whose trumpet blows the hardest? See, that's what I'm talking about. That's what Philippians 2-3 means in the workplace tomorrow. When you, maybe you're an employee, and you've been doing great, but you're going to defer. You're going to defer, and let someone else get the limelight, even though you've done the hard work. Not that you want to reward laziness, but you want to acknowledge people who are not getting noticed. That's a gift from God. When you're that kind and you're that in tune with the Lord, that the Spirit says, you know what? You don't need another accolade, you don't need another attaboy. This person who's been continuously just not known, not given proper due, who works their backside off, yeah, yeah, that's the person. So you even as an employee, forget the manner, you as an employee say, hey, did you see so-and-so? Did you see so-and-so? See, that's what it means, child of God. It's not enough just to wish it. It's to actively promote it. That's what He's saying here. Love makes you and me put to others before ourselves. It seeks unity. And the opening four verses, you're like, man, this is fantastic. How can this go from good to bad? Well, it goes from good to bad. Because not only the contrast is Jonathan's love for David, now in the verses 5 through 11, you have Saul's jealousy of David. See, you and I, we fail to understand the dangerous nature of jealousy. Listen, it is dangerous. Jealousy, envy, it is dangerous. One preacher, Alistair Begg, says the following. It's on the screen there. Jealousy will destroy a marriage. You don't think so? Find me a jealous spouse. Disrupt a family, bust a business, neutralize a sports team, create absolute chaos in a church leadership, and reduce a church family to bare bones. If we are suspicious of one another, How can we grow? How can we love one another if all we're doing is taking each other at our worst? And yet 1 Corinthians 13 says love is supposed to take everyone at their best. Not blindly, but when I meet, I mean, they tell me, Pastor, listen, listen, I have to be the eternal optimist. And sometimes that blinds me. Sometimes, and I need people around me, my fellow leaders, and specifically my wife, that will say, hey, dum-dum, do you want gum-gum? Don't you, aren't you seeing this? Aren't you seeing that? No, because I'm the eternal optimist. Because if I start taking everyone at their worst, I will be of no benefit to you. So by God's grace, I have to nourish my heart, nourish my soul, so I don't become a cynic, and I don't, and I don't blurt out, I am tired of doing the impossible for the ungrateful. See, when that happens in my life, I am of no benefit to you. But when that happens in your life, no matter what your calling is, when you get tired of trying to do the impossible for the ungrateful, you are needing a spiritual revitalization. You need to spend time with the Lord. When you see everyone and all you see is like, oh, yeah, and you're waiting to shoot the other shooter drop. No, no, no, no. My brothers and sisters, we need to raise the standard. We need to raise the standard. Jealousy can create a problem. In fact, the Bible says this on the screen, wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? Who can stand? It only takes... You know when I'm not jealous? When I see the cyber trucks, the Tesla stuff, I'm not jealous of that. Those things are like... With so much money, you think they could have thought of something different. So in my family now, you know back in the day we used to call punch buggy? Every time you saw a VW buggy, we punch. Right, you hit somebody. I mean, not violently. So that's what we do in my family. Ah, Cybertruck punch, Cybertruck punch. Because there's only so many that were put out or something like that. So they're ugly. For me, if you own one, please give me a ride. Maybe that'll change my perspective. Okay, but for right now, I'm not envious of those. But when I pull into the parking lot over there at the gym, and I park, and there's a McLaren, and then there's an Audi, and then I'm like... And I see that, and the people are getting out are the coaches. The physical training, I'm like, what are you guys into, man? I'm over here in my 2000 Camry, paint's peeling off, it looks like it has cancer. I'd love to park it right next to Tesla." So like, don't touch that guy. It's contagious. Whatever that car has, it's contagious. See, who can stand before jealousy? It happens. It happens. How do we see it here in the text? Number one, jealousy prevents you and me from taking pleasure in other people's successes. It does. Look at verse 5. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul sent him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and in the sight of Saul's servants. Who wasn't it good in front of? Saul. Who had a problem with it? Saul. David was so successful, Saul gives him a high rank in the army. Everyone's happy. Who's not pleased? Saul is not pleased. Why? Because he's jealous. He's jealous of other people's success. And again, brother and sister in the Lord, you don't think that can happen to you? Wake up! Of course it happens. If it doesn't happen to you, something's wrong. You should be wrestling with this and dealing with it before the Lord. It doesn't mean that that's what your life is all about. All I'm trying to say is that it can happen and it just happens before you know it. It just creeps up on you. Okay? He's so successful. He's so successful that they forget this. And you see, he can't take pleasure. So David is being successful. He's doing... at Saul's bidding. But his success I can't enjoy. Why? Because I'm envious. I'm jealous. I'm jealous. See, the Bible, James chapter 3, on the screen there. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but it's earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. And he's right. Jealousy it does no one any good number two is jealousy robs you and me of the joy of our own successes listen listen Verse 6 through 9, as they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul, not King David, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, they have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands. What more can they have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed... Talk about the evil eye. saw I, David, from that day on. Country music changes things. I knew I would get Christina's attention. Country music changes things. I'm not talking about the CMA, the Custom Music Awards, but folk music. It changed something in Saul, and therefore it affected David. The country music we're talking about is David's coming home after the war season. The season of war is over and he's dealt with this campaign with the Philistine. It's not just a Goliath in verse 6. When it says dealing with the Philistine, the reality is he's coming back from a campaign against them. So he comes in and he hears and Israelite women come out and they start singing and we catch a little snippet of what they sang in verse 7. Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. Listen, the women were not claiming that Saul had literally killed thousands and David literally had killed thousands. What is the impact of the verse? Talk to me a little bit. By singing what they sung, what are they meaning? True, and that is true, but again, they come out and they go, Saul has sung, killed his thousands, David has killed 10,000. Not that they did it that way, okay? They probably had some tambourines and they had a little bit of Pentecostals around, okay? They were doing some things, they were doing some things, all right? But, so what's the message? Why did Saul take offense? Say it again? David is a better warrior. That's exactly. Did they mean to say it that way? Probably not. They're just singing. They're just saying, David, Saul killed his thousands, David has killed his ten thousands. In other words, the might of David is greater than the might of Saul. Now, when your heart is poisoned by jealousy, you will just not allow that to happen. In fact, The women's song reveals more than just political clumsiness. You know, like, hey, you should have known that if you sing this, maybe Saul wouldn't have taken it well. But it reveals Israel's low spiritual state. You know why? Because in the praise, who gets praised? Men. Not God. You know when you're in a low? When all your praise is about yourself and not God. Who gets the glory? Who gets to go? At least what we have here recorded. Unlike, for example, Exodus 15-21, the song of Miriam and the women of Israel, then, after the destruction of Pharaoh, and they cross the Red Sea. What did they say there? Sing to the Lord, for He... Sing to the Lord, not sing to Moses, not sing about Moses, not sing for Moses. Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and His rider He has thrown into the sea. There's no mention of Moses, though they knew that Moses was an instrument. Child of God, the greatest thing you can be is an instrument in the hands of God. Bottom line. You don't need the glory. You get the joy of knowing that God has used you. There is in Exodus, there's nothing... Moses is the one who stretched his hand, but everyone knew that the glory belonged to God and God alone. One Bible commentator picks up on this and he writes the following on the screen, "...It generally reveals a low spiritual level when Christians take after the world in praising men instead of God. Yet this is the very tendency and evidence today in the marketing of celebrity ministers and their empires. We should, of course, give thanks for able and faithful Christians, but glory should be reserved for God alone." And he's right. See, but Saul's envious heart, Saul's jealous heart would not tolerate this. And your heart and my heart would have done the same. And please watch carefully that the appearance of an envying spirit within our own hearts. You see, as sinners, you and I are prone to do the same thing as Saul. Saul runs to the end. He goes, what else does he want? The kingdom? Well, hey Saul, number one, it's not your kingdom. Last time I checked, it's God's kingdom. You're God's people. You've been called to serve God's people. It's not your kingdom. That's like me saying, oh, what does Isaac want next time he preaches? He wants the kingdom? It's not my kingdom. And if God wants to give it to Isaac or to Alberta or to DJ, hey, it's his kingdom. We are just merely instruments. That's what we're after here. What more? It's not your kingdom. You see, where Jonathan rejoiced in playing second, Saul said, there's no way I will play second. See, jealousy. Jealousy prevents us from seeing everyone else's success, even your own. They did ascribe to Saul, you kill thousands. You're successful, Saul. He read it as, but not as successful as David. See, Theodore Roosevelt said, comparison is the thief of joy. Well, you know what that means to you and me on the screen there? It's hard to count your own blessings when you're busy counting someone else's. You'll never. That's what it means to you and me. We say now in November, you know, the month of Thanksgiving, count your blessings, name them one by one. No, no, no, no, I'm going to count her blessings and I'm going to name them one by one because they're better than mine. That's what jealousy does. I can't. I can't. There's no way I can count my own blessings because I'm busy comparing my blessings to someone else's. And when you do that and you're unhappy, ultimately you're pointing your finger at the God of heaven who sends blessings to you and to me. It says something about our relationship with God. We're so busy counting someone else's blessings instead of our own. Romans 12.3 says, "...do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, and according with the measure of faith God has given you." Jealousy is a thief. Jealousy is a thief. Anytime you and I spend time comparing, it's not. It's not. And here's the kicker. Thirdly, left unchecked, jealousy will make you lash out at others. And that's exactly what happens in verses 10 and 11. Let me read you something from one of the commentaries I consulted this week. The guy writes, History reveals that it's not always safe to live in the company of kings. Consider the case of Clytus. Clytus was one of Alexander the Great's leading generals and a commander in his famed companion cavalry. At the Battle of the Granicus River, Clytus saved Alexander's life when the king was disarmed by his enemies. A few years later, after Alexander had conquered the Persian Empire, Clytus was one of many Macedonians who were disgruntled by Alexander's embrace of Eastern court practices and his never-ending lust for conquest. During one drunken party in Alexander's tent, the two men clashed, with Clytus hurling several insults at the king. Friends separated the two men, but when Clytus returned to give Alexander one last piece of his mind, the young conqueror grasped his spear, hurled it into the general's chest, and killed him. When the drunken fit was over, Alexander was filled with remorse, and the army was filled with horror. Little did Alexander realize that he was taking a page right out of Saul of Israel's book. That king's jealous hatred for David was even worse than Alexander's violent fit, since at no time did David display anything but respect and loyalty to his king. But unlike Alexander, Saul did not succeed in slaying David, for God was with him. Even Saul's persecution led to David's advancement. And he's right. And why I read this is for this reason here on the screen. Sin cherished in the heart will invariably express itself through the mouth and the hands. You harbor jealousy, you harbor envy, you harbor misery sooner than later. It will come out in what you say and in what you do. And if you don't think so, re-evaluate. It's happened to me, and I'm sure it'll happen to you. Sin cherished. And in this case, in Saul's case, it only took one day. One day. Look at verse 10. The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, the harp, as he did day by day. Saul had a spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him, how many times? Twice. Missed one? I'll do it again. You see, we should note from Saul's reaction to David how little we should rely on the world's approval. Child of God, stop courting the world's approval. Stop courting as if this is the best, that this world, you just want to be friends with this world. You see, it is the same David when Psalm 146.3 writes, put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. So the very next day, look at the verse there, the next day, a harmful spirit from God. Let's stop that. This is not the first time we see this. We were introduced to this harmful or evil spirit from God in chapter 16. And let me just tell you now what I said then. The preposition makes a difference. It's a harmful or evil spirit from the Lord, not of the Lord. It's from, it is sent. from the Lord. Old Testament scholar writes the following on the screen just to help us understand this. The Hebrew word translated evil has a wide range of meanings from misery to moral perverseness. Thus it is possible and perhaps preferable To interpret the text, not to mean that the Lord sent a morally corrupt demon, but rather another sort of supernatural being, an angel of judgment, like in 2 Kings 19.35, against Saul that caused him to experience constant misery. Saul's tortured state was not an accident of nature, nor was it essentially a medical condition. This is what you and I need to understand. It was a supernatural assault by a being sent at the Lord's command and it was brought on by Saul's disobedience. This is God coming against a person. If you don't think so, if your theology doesn't make room for this, it needs to. It needs to. There's no question this was judgment from God. For some reason, you and I get it in our head that we should be able to do as we please. We can sin however we want against God with no consequence. That might work for you and me at the house, but it doesn't work for you and me before Him. We may be able to get away from some things before our parents. I am sure if I had my three kids here, they can tell you some stories of things that they got away with and I thought that they didn't. And if you think your kids haven't gotten away with stuff, I'd laugh in your face. I'd laugh in your face. Of course they have. I got away with stuff. I'm not going to ask Ronnie because his parents are here, OK? But the grin says it all. We're pastor's kids. We're far from perfect kids. So the reality is, this is what's going on. We think we can live this way, we can sin against God, and there's no consequence until God says, enough! Enough. You name my name, you say you represent me, you're my ambassador, and this is how you're going to act? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to have a say in this. And that's what exactly happens. Back to the text. An evil spirit from God comes forcefully against Saul, and he's raving. So it's like a lunatic. It's just madness in the castle. And he looks at David and that judgment from God, that torment from God, and the jealous heart. He says, oh, that's it. You'll always lash out. Jealousy sooner or later, sin cherished in your heart, sooner or later lashes out, grabs a spear and goes. Twice. See, you and I may not have a spear in our hand, but we can have daggers in our eyes. We can have a tongue that cuts deeper than any spear. Be careful, child of God. Learn from Saul. See, in the Bible, there's sin lists or vice lists that tell us, in this example, how the sins are listed. For example, Romans 1, 29, after outlining how a culture has just turned its way, you know, suppresses the knowledge of God, and God hands him over to perversity, to the depravity. In verse 29 of Romans 1, it says, they are full of envy. Murder, strife, deceit, and malice. There are gossips and slanderers. What comes first? Jealousy or envy. Because that fuels. That fuels. Last time you were jealous, you may have just fueled a rumor. Because it's inside, and it has to work its way out. In sarcasm, in lies, it's going to work its way out. Galatians 5.20, the deeds of the flesh, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, jealousy, then the fits of rage. See, jealousy is a terrible, terrible sin. And I hope we learned this morning that this shouldn't be allowed in our hearts to fester and bear fruit. To have Jonathan's love for David, you have Saul's jealousy of David. In the last four verses, Saul's fear of David. Saul's fear. This is how jealousy, what it does, all of a sudden there's a fear. And fear, number one, will keep you from seeing God at work in the life of others. It'll do that to you, it'll do that to me. Verses 12 through 14. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him. How did he figure that out? He probably did. Somewhere down the line he's saying, my life is misery. It's terrible. He does remember, I mean, if I'm Saul, I have not forgotten what the prophet of old told me a few chapters before. God has removed the kingdom from you and He has taken away from you and He's going to give it to someone else. Sooner or later, what God says, He does. So this is what he's figuring out. He's figuring out, listen, no matter what I try, this guy succeeds. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. Verse 13. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. Isn't it interesting? Saul is the one throwing spears, and he's the one who's afraid. The child of God? No. Well, I'm sure He did. But who's being terrorized? Who's the one that's under terror's grasp? It's Saul. He's the one throwing the spears, and yet he's the one who is afraid. He's afraid because he's figured out that no matter what I do, the Lord's against me. The Lord is against me, and the Lord is with him. I mean, in your Bible you should highlight that phrase, the Lord was with him. That's why David succeeded. Not because David was better, smarter, faster, younger. No, no, no. David succeeded where he should have failed because the Lord was with him. Who gets the glory? God does. God does. God is doing a great work in David's life and Saul doesn't get to enjoy it because he's caught up in jealousy and now it's fear. Now it's paranoia. Have you been there? Now all of a sudden everything is, you second-guess everything. You second-guess everything. No matter what they do, no matter what the other person does. It's fear. There was a church in Corinth that had gifted leaders, and they were also full of divisions and factions. And Paul had to remind them in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, there on the screen, I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. See, that's the deal. Can you imagine, in one church, so many gifted leaders, and the church, their response to God's giftedness and God's graciousness is, I'm team Isaac. No, no, no, I'm team Lewis. No, no, I'm team Alberto. No, no, no, I'm team DJ. Because if they're not preaching, I'm not coming. Because I don't come when you don't preach. Because I'm team. Maya's quiet. See, that's the deal. That's the deal there. He said, in front of all, who are these guys? They're just instruments. They plant. They water. I give the growth. It's about me. It's about me. Fear. Fear will keep you from seeing God at work in the life of others. Number two, and lastly, fear keeps you from loving others as you should. Verses 15 and 16. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. But Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them." See, this is the reality. There's a fear. There's a fear. And the fear wasn't so much like the fear of God as the fear of not getting the credit. I can't love you because I'm afraid that you're after my job. So I can't love you. It's not that there's a fear of, oh, no, it's just, no, I can't. Here's David leading men in all their campaigns and bringing, you know, who gets the glory when David gets victory? Saul does. You don't read in the text that David's going around going, hey, yeah, me. No. Saul gets it. But Saul is still afraid. See, fear will keep you from loving others as you should. The Bible reminds us in Romans 13, verse 8. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. For he who loves his fellowmen has fulfilled the law. Let no debt. You want to owe? In the day and age when we're all indebted to something, be indebted to loving one another. Be indebted. Have a large debt there. This means to you and me, on the screen, that love is a debt we continually owe each other. Because we are loved by God, and we have an obligation to pass that love on to one another. The Bible says this, 1 John chapter 3, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 1 John 3, 16-18, By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has this world's goods, and see his brothers in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children. Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth." Go out of your way. Go out of your way. But you know what? In order to know what other people's needs, I have to be involved in their lives. I have to love them enough. If you're a parent, I see a whole family parked right here. You know how I know Ricky knows what the needs are of his family? Because he loves them. And love makes a priority to know what's needed. So he does whatever he needs. And I can say about Ricky, about any family here, because you love your family, you invest in that family, even to your own detriment. I want my kids to have what I never had. I don't want to create such a disparity that they become ingrates. But you know what I'm talking about. Those we love, we make sure what's going on, what's going on. That's what it means here. Why? Because John 13, 34, 35 says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples because you can decide what predestination and election have to do with one another. No. It's not your theology. or your vast understanding of it that defines you. What defines us as a community of faith is that we love for one another. And you and I need to make sure that that happens in our midst. So what can we take with us? I'm going to end with how I started. When we look at it, we're reminded, when we look at 1 Samuel 18, 1-16, we're reminded of the truth that we began with. On the screen there, love brings you closer to people, while jealousy and fear will drive you apart. So child of God, where are you this morning? See, the Lord will bless you with many close relationships. The Lord will want to use you in those special and close relationships. But if you're not loving, if the love of God is not controlling you, but jealousy is, because of this or because of that, or because of fear that they're going to get the glory and I'm not, then you're of no earthly use for the Lord. How can He use you? How can He use me, if I'm always looking over my back to see what somebody's going to do? Tell the God, where are you this morning? Jesus died not only to deliver us from our sins, but He also dies to bring us together. We say this when we observe the Lord's Supper, which we'll do in a couple of Sundays. We're saying in the Lord's Supper that we have found life in the death of Christ. We! How easy as Americans to say, I have found. It's not I, it's we. Jesus dies for His people to bring them together. from all nations and tribes and tongues. Just look around. We don't look like each other. But for those of us in Christ, the blood of Christ unites us. Amen? Let's pray. Close your eyes and just bow your heads for a moment. In a few moments we will sing, Be Thou My Vision. What a song, asking the Lord to grant you a Godward view of things. Where are you, child of God? Have you been looking to the left and to the right instead of up and just cherishing, enjoying your walk with the Lord? My friend, if you're here this morning and you have not trusted in Christ, do it today. Do it now. Today is the day of salvation. Do not postpone. The deadliest word can be in the English language at this very moment. For you, if you're under conviction of sin, it's tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll do it. Later. No, today is the day of salvation. Now is the moment to trust in Christ. Now is the moment to cry out for a Savior because you know you're a sinner. Lord God, do your work as only you can. Help us as we sing this ancient hymn, that we would mean it, that we would understand what we're singing, that you would give us clarity of understanding, that you would move our hearts to cry out to you that you would be our vision. We love you, we trust you. In Jesus' name and God's people said,