where it says, faced with trials in every side, we know the outcome is secure. I think that we'll find that to be a good summary of this afternoon's message from 1 Samuel. Also that last verse, as saints of old still lined the way, retelling the triumphs of his grace. That's what we're really gonna see today, a saint of old. whose story is a triumph of the grace of God. We are in 1 Samuel. You can turn to 1 Samuel 17. How many of you went outside on Monday afternoon to look up into the heavens to observe the eclipse? How many by raise of hands got to see that? Let me just take a quick poll of those who saw the eclipse. Did you find it either overwhelming, underwhelming, or about what you expected? How many found it about what you expected it to be? How many found it underwhelming? And overwhelming? Some overwhelming. So it's a good mix in there. I guess it depends on where you were and how many clouds there were in the sky and whatnot. The two things that struck me about it, the two things that stood out the most having this being, in my memory, the first eclipse that I have witnessed. One was the power of the sun. that even apparently in our area, 90% of the sun was blocked, there was still plenty of daylight. It still was day. It still felt like day, even though, yeah, it was darker, but it's still the power of the sun. And then secondly, how quickly it was over. The moon passed and full daylight returned really in minutes. And the spiritual lessons that the heavens declared to us on Monday, are twofold. One, whenever darkness seeks to eclipse the light, whatever little light there is, is powerful. And secondly, even if darkness prevails for a moment, light will return and will soon prevail. Last time we opened up 1 Samuel together, we saw the sunrise on Twilight Kingdom in chapter 17 as David arrives as the central character of the book. following his triumphant victory over the Philistine giant Goliath at the Valley of Elah. The first shadow of morning had risen in Twilight Kingdom, but as is the case, darkness, the darkness of the previous age, was not going to go away without a fight. So today's message is entitled, Night Fights Light. And no, I did not change the message or the title. This is a title that's been on the paper since the beginning, as we planned out the book of 1 Samuel. I didn't change it in light of the eclipse, so I don't want to be blamed for that. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we open up your Word, we rely on your Holy Spirit to instruct us, to convict us, to change us, to conform us to the image of your Son. We pray that your Word would accomplish these things, Lord. That even if there be any in our midst who do not know you today, that you would save some, Lord. That you would use this Word to convict and save. May you accomplish what you desire to accomplish as this word goes forth. I pray that it would go forth by the power of your Holy Spirit. Have your way in the midst of it, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Samuel 17, in case you were not with us last time, the text that we're gonna look at today takes place in the aftermath of the story which you are undoubtedly familiar with, the story of David, the young shepherd boy's defeat of Goliath, the nine foot Philistine giant, using only a sling and a stone. Now you need to know that to understand the events that follow in the chapters we'll look at today. At the end of the story of David and Goliath, David takes Goliath's sword and cuts off the giant's head. The victory over Goliath led the Philistines to flee. David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. Now David did this most likely, first of all, for evidence, to prove that he had indeed slayed Goliath, he had his head as proof, but also not to forget the great victory. He kept Goliath's armor in his tent so as to never forget what the Lord did for him in giving him this victory in the Valley of Elah. As we go to verses 55 to 58, we are once again introduced to David. Now you might say, wait, weren't we already introduced to David? Well, this is the third time in the text of 1 Samuel that this obscure young man, David, is introduced to us. It goes to show how obscure he is. We were introduced to him in chapter 16, when Samuel visited the home of Jesse, and God revealed his choice of the youngest son who was tending the sheep. At that time, no one else had seen David, no one else had known him. The only people who were witnessing that were his family. Then again in chapter 17, right before the great fight, we are again introduced to David as he's about to face Goliath. Saul still had not been formally introduced to David. David had already been ministering in music to him, to his tormented soul, but Saul might have not even known who David was. It's believed that Saul knew that there was a young man playing a harp, son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, but he might not have even seen David. could have been outside the view of Samuel. That seems to be consistent with what takes place in verses 55-58. 1 Samuel 17 Saul inquires who this young man was. Verse 55, as soon as Saul saw David, this is in the aftermath of the battle between David and Goliath, as soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, as long as your soul lives, O king, I do not know. And the king said, inquire whose son this boy is. And as soon as David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. So now, maybe in Saul's mind, he's starting to connect. He's starting to realize, okay, this is the same guy who's been playing the lyre, the music for me. With this now, David goes from unknown shepherd to national hero, literally overnight. And David remains a hero in Israel. The Israeli symbol, the Mogan Dawid, or the Star of David, is prominent on the flag. Though it cannot be historically traced to King David, the fact that it is called the Star of David shows the importance of this king to this nation, even to this day. Though David had become a hero at this time, very few people knew that David was anointed to be Israel's king instead of Saul. Very few knew that. David's identity now becomes the backdrop for the loyalty on one hand and the hostility of others. While David was an unknown shepherd boy, Outside of his family and maybe some sibling rivalry with his brothers, he probably had few friends and fewer enemies. I mean, the only enemies a shepherd really makes are the bears and the lions and the tigers, right? That threatened his flock. So he probably had very few enemies as an unknown shepherd, but now he's becoming the nation's hero by slaying Goliath and David suddenly becomes a divisive figure. Some are going to love him. Some are going to hate him. And as we will see, David will, in this story, divide father against son and son against father, the same way David's greater son Jesus said he would do in Luke chapter 12. David is going to be hated by the father, King Saul, and loved by Saul's son, Jonathan, and Saul's daughter, Michal. We go now into chapters 18 and 19. We're going to begin with this house divided, and it's quite stark. We have a side of light and side of darkness. On the side of light, along with David, we have two individuals who covenant with David, his friend Jonathan and his wife, or one who will become his wife, Michal, both of whom are ironically the children of King Saul. that's on the side of light. Seeking to eclipse the light is the dark soul of Saul. The Lord's anointing having left him now, Saul is turned over to bitterness and jealousy and he will express his depravity unhindered by attempting to murder David. Let's begin by looking at David's allies in the text. There's Saul's firstborn son, the heir apparent to his throne, Jonathan. Look at verses 1-4, chapter 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. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of his robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. Now, next time when we're in 1 Samuel, we're going to take a look at Psalm next time, but the next time we're in 1 Samuel in a few weeks, I'm going to talk more specifically about the friendship that exists between Jonathan and David, a model friendship. And I'm going to address at that time some of the efforts by some apostates to pervert this friendship into something that the Bible says is very clearly sinful. But today I just want to make two observations from the text. One is that Jonathan is a loyal friend who recognizes both his father's folly, but he also recognizes David's calling. And he covenants with David. who he loves as his own soul. Jonathan and David become a model for us of what a genuine friendship could look like. Something, again, that is ever more challenged in our culture that tends to cast a perverse meaning on the text. Jonathan and David are a model of what is possible for friendships, friends who are dedicated to being loyal to one another. Again, we'll look at that in a few weeks. And the second observation is, whether Jonathan knew of Samuel's anointing David or not, whether Jonathan knew that this was going to be the next king, he clearly recognizes that David and not himself is the next true king of Israel. And how do we know that? Well, he strips himself of his robe, armor, sword, and belt, and he gives it to David, which is a symbolic act of Jonathan surrendering his right to be king to the one he knows would be the true king. And in this way, Jonathan stands in place of every believer as we come to Christ. When we come to Christ, we recognize Him as the true King. Our whole lives, we live our lives as if we are the rulers of our lives, but then we recognize Christ as the true King and we strip ourselves of our right to rule our own lives and surrender ourselves to His majesty and rule over us. Jonathan does this in faith. Because think about it, it's only by faith that someone would willingly surrender and take a lower place. We see an example of this in the New Testament. Jonathan is kind of a shadow here of John the Baptist. John had a great and powerful preaching ministry. He had a huge following. But when he recognizes his unknown cousin, Jesus, to be the Messiah, it is the joy of John to say that, I must decrease, that he, Jesus, would increase. Jonathan could have been the king. But in the shadow of God's true King, he bows. And he does this without fear. He doesn't fear the wrath of his father. His love and his respect for David was so great that it overshadowed the mad threats of his father. If we were to look ahead in chapters 19 and 20, we're going to see how Jonathan navigated his life. Actually, let's look at that. Turn to chapter 19 for a moment. We'll come back to 18. Look how Jonathan navigates this position that he's in between his father, who's just acting insane, and then his loyalty to his friend. Let's look at the first seven verses of chapter 19. And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, Saul, my father seeks to kill you. Therefore, be on guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything, I will tell you. And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand, and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?" And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death. Jonathan called David and Jonathan reported to him all these things and Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as before. So at this point, at least, Jonathan is able to prevail, use his reason, very logical argument, David has done nothing but good for you. He's been nothing but good. He plays his liar. He soothes Saul's soul. He defeated the Philistines. He defeated Goliath. And Jonathan's reason prevails, but it will not last long, even though Saul swore that David would not be put to death. Turn over to chapter 20 Jonathan will again plead with the madness of his father's spirit but at this time he will not prevail. Look at verses 30-33, chapter 20. Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me that he shall surely die. Jonathan answered Saul, his father. Why should he be put to death? What has he done? And Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. Jonathan is a faithful friend, a faithful ally, a kindred spirit, a covenant friend of David who stands with him even to his own peril. More on Jonathan next time. Let's go back to chapter 18. It would not be long before all Israel would learn of David's success and grow to love him. So along with Jonathan, another ally are the people of Israel who celebrate David. Let's look at verses 5 through 7 now of chapter 18. 5 through 7. 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 the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. As they were coming home when David returned from striking down the Philistines, 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. Now skip down to verse 14. 14 to 16. So Jonathan loved David. All Israel and Judah loved David. And he went out and came in before them. His language is military language, actually. Last use of another great military leader in the Bible, a hero in Israel, Joshua. So David is, in a sense, being presented here as the new Joshua, the new military might. Four times in chapter 18 is mentioned David's success, and three times it says the Lord was with David. Six times in the text, David is the object of love. Jonathan in verses 1 and 3, the people of Israel in 16, and then if you look down to verse 20, a third ally of David. Look at verse 20. Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul thought, Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, You shall now be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, Speak to David in private and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then, become the king's son-in-law. So David is the object not only of God's favor and granting him success, but he's loved by the people. He's loved even by Saul's servants. Most of the people, that is. Most, with one exception. See, David's popularity was on the rise. With popularity comes a price. Popularity and success are a danger in one of three areas. Personally, number one, it could breed pride. It could breed pride in the heart of those who achieve the success. In our story, David, though, receives the challenge, and from this unknown shepherd, he rises to this national celebrity, but he receives it with exemplary humility. And you see that in the text, in a moment I'll show it to you. Let him be an example for us, brothers and sisters, not to seek great things for yourself. Rather, the scripture would tell us, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you in due season. And should he exalt you, be on guard, be wary of pride. It could creep in. David deals with it well. Secondly, popularity can lead to the cult of personality with the public, where the public give glory to man rather than God. And I believe that's what we're seeing here. I believe when the women singing, when they're singing of the victory, who are the heroes of their song? David and Saul. David has killed his 10,000, Saul his thousands. Right? They don't really give any glory to the one who is the true hero, Yahweh. So they have this kind of cult of popularity that's developing. And there's a danger in popularity that the people will love you too much to the point where the human instrument actually eclipses God. People tend to worship what they can see. I can tell you as one who have attended many large conferences with celebrity preachers, I have seen this attitude, this very same attitude, exaltation of men. And I find this danger today even in large ministries, with large churches, with popular leaders. God grants them success, but the people forget that it is God who is the giver, and they end up exalting the gift. rather than the giver. The third danger of popularity and human success is that it could awaken envy in those who are threatened by the achievement of others. And this is what's happening here. The people of Israel praised David. Again, listen to verses six and seven again. The women came out of their cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines and with songs of joy and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated. Saul is struck down as thousands and David is 10,000. This exaltation of David was all that Saul needed to provoke him to envy. Look at verses eight through 10. 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 what more can he have but the kingdom? I mean, look at how illogical that is, right? How petty. What's next on the kingdom? Well, he's actually prophesying that was true. What's next? Saul eyed David from that day on, verse 10, and the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand and Saul hurled the spear for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. Now he knows who this young man is who's playing. I'm gonna pin him to the wall. And David evaded him twice. See, popularity put David on the radar of his jealous enemies. Popularity puts a target on your back. For right or wrong, it's usually not until a ministry gets to a certain size that all of a sudden the critics come up out of the woodwork. In our story, as many times as David succeeded in his mission, Saul failed. He can't even chuck a spear with accuracy. He fails in his attempts to murder David, and David flees. The same thing happens to Saul again in chapter 19. Go to chapter 19. This is right after Jonathan convinces his father not to kill David. Look at verses 8 to 10 of chapter 19. They have this agreement, I'm not going to kill him, verse 8. And there was another war and David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow just as they fled. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the liar, and Saul sought to pin David to the wall with a spear, but he eluded Saul so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that night." Again, David succeeds, Saul fails. Now, on these occasions, it appears that a fit of rage instigates these activities. There's an evil spirit, it says, an evil spirit from the Lord that drives Saul to attempt to murder David. Saul was insane. He was a madman. However, his madness is no different than the madness that we exhibit when we sin. I want you to think about how irrational it is to sin as a Christian. How irrational it is for us to rebel against God and then think we're going to get away with it. Do we actually believe when we sin that we're going to hide our sin from an all-seeing God? You see how I say sin is madness? It's almost like sin is like chanting long live death, because the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is, was, and always will be death, and nothing can change that, and it's madness to think that we could cheat the system by getting away with sin and not reaping the wage of sin, which is death. The sad reality is that Saul knew the truth about David. Look at verse 12. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, but he had departed from Saul. See, Saul had some inkling of what God was doing here. He had fear of David, and instead of using that fear to repent and turn that fear into a godly reverence and submission to God's will, Saul ramped up his efforts to have David killed. Saul was living a lie. His repentance was a lie. His life was a mess. His inconsistencies in life demonstrate what we all are by nature, unless we're born again. You see, we see in this tragedy of King Saul, the final destination of all of those who do not repent of their sin. God turned Saul over to a reprobate mind. And this did not happen overnight to Saul. This is the result of regular, continual hardening of his heart over time. Saul set out on an impossible mission to fight against God, which only ended up as it did, in his destruction. The wages of sin is death. Do you think you're going to beat God? Do you think you're going to beat that law, the wages of sin is death? Brethren, nothing that you can do, nothing can change the fact that the soul that sins will die, and that after death comes the judgment, and that you will face the judgment of God as a sinner. This is why we need to be saved. This is why every one of us need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And friend, if you're here today and you're apart from Christ, as long as you have life, you have an open door to repent and trust Christ. You don't need to give yourself over to the enemy. God, in His goodness and in His grace and in His mercy, He gave us a way. He gave us His only begotten Son, that all who trust Him can be thoroughly washed of our sin. David wrote in Psalm 32, when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. David saw that his physical affliction was the hand of God that was heavy upon him because he was hiding his sin. But then he says in the same psalm, I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Brethren, what a joy it is to know the freedom of forgiveness. Our sister read earlier this morning, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. This is from the New Testament, book of 1 John 1. It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a joy it is to know that you can be forgiven. the freedom that you know that you are forgiven, that you know that Christ took your sin and your death upon himself on the cross so that you could live forever. Let me ask you, is there any reason that you could think of to not receive that free gift, to repent and believe? Can your sin be so enticing to you that it would keep you from receiving the free gift of eternal life? Can you really love the darkness that much? It's madness. It's madness to hold tight to your sin or anything that would keep you from Him. Like Jonathan, surrender your rights to live for yourself. Strip yourself of you and put on the Lord Jesus Christ today for he is Lord. Believe on him. Worship him today. Follow him today. While you have breath today, receive the free gift of eternal life. Don't let another day go by lest you be handed over or turned over further because Saul is not far from any of us. apart from the grace of God. Saul's attempted murder can be attributed to a rash, insane, demonic fits of rage, but he also has calculated plots. He plots to put David in harm's way on the battlefield so that he would fall in battle. Now, if you know the rest of the story, this is something that actually David will do later on in 2 Samuel with Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. He'll ask Uriah to go to the battlefield so that he would fall in battle. So we see here, even Israel's hero, David, is not immune to sinning so deeply as to plot murder. Let's look at some examples of Saul's calculated plot. Look at chapter 18, 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. Now, Saul is putting David out into the battlefield, and that plan actually backfires because David has success in the battlefield, and the people love him even more. Then in verse 17, Saul surmises that he's gonna give his oldest daughter, not Michal, but Merab, to David in order to buy his loyalty in battle. This was something, though, that David actually won by right, when he defeated Goliath, part of the package deal that Saul was offering to those who defeated Goliath was his oldest daughter, Merab. Look at verse 17. And the author gives insight into Saul's motives here. He goes on and says, for Saul thought Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him. See, he's plotting here, and his plot is thwarted by David's humility. Look at verse 18. As I said, David's popularity he dealt with in a humble way. Look at his attitude in verse 18. David said to Saul, who am I? And who are my relatives? And my father's clan in Israel that I should be son-in-law to the king. He's still humble even after he defeated Goliath. So it turns out Merab marries another man but Saul has another daughter by the name of Michal who falls in love with David. Saul is happy because he's going to try the same strategy again. And think about how wicked this is. Your own daughter loves this man and you're more interested in making her a widow before she even marries him. Look at verse 21. Saul fought. Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall be my son-in-law. Again, David doesn't seem to be interested or seems reluctant. Saul sends servants. He's still reluctant. Now let's go down to verse 25. Then Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires no bride price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines, and when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. What is going on? What on earth is convincing David in Saul's challenge, maybe? Maybe he's up for a good challenge. No one seems to know what's going on, why David all of a sudden now is pleased that he should be the king's son-in-law. Maybe, I have no clue. But anyway, he goes out and he doesn't return with 100 Foreskins, but 200 Philistine Foreskins. Why Foreskins? Besides being kind of gross to think about. Foreskins were the evidence that the men that were taken in battle were Philistines. The Jews had all been circumcised. Philistines not. So it reports in verse 27, David brought their foreskins, which he had given in full number, to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. Again, another plot thwarted. Another one of Saul's plots thwarted, and David is blessed instead. This made Saul angrier. Let's close the chapter, verses 28 to 30. And when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually. Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed. Now as we come to chapter 19, there's that brief ceasefire between David and Saul negotiated by Jonathan. Saul will continue to pursue David for the rest of this book over the next 10 chapters, 10 or 15 years by the best estimates. Saul, though, is going to change his strategy a little bit along the way. Here he adopts another strategy. Look at verse 11 of chapter 19. He's going to send messengers to David's house. Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. Now he's going after David where he's most vulnerable, at home, where he might sleep at night, for example. Not only would this be a way to murder David, but Saul could also get back at his daughter for loving David. He despised his daughter for loving David. So he'd go to his house, do this right in front of her. Now, it's at this point in time, right here, right now, remember this for a few weeks, it's right at this point in time that David writes Psalm 59. Now imagine that, think about that for a minute. And I think that's why that line in the song we sang ministered to me. Your father-in-law, who is the king, hates you. He has tried to kill you three times. And what do you do? He sends spies by night to spy on you. And you sit down and you write a song. And we're going to look at Psalm 59 next time. I think you'll be able to better appreciate the Psalm in the midst of the context of the narrative that we're in. But it's right at this point that David writes Psalm 59. David is not safe in his own home. But what happens is his wife, Michal, warns him. She lets him down outside the window and then she buys him some time with a deception. Look at verse 13. McCall took an image or an idol and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair at its head and covered it with clothes. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. Then Saul sent the messengers to see David saying, bring him up to me in the bed that I may kill him. And then the messengers came in and behold, there was an idol in the bed. and the pillow of goat's hair at his head. Saul said to Michal, why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go so that he has escaped? And Michal answered Saul, he said to me, let me go, why should I kill you? Okay, so what's going on here? Again, the narrative offers no moral commentary on what Michal did. Doesn't say whether she was right or wrong. On the one hand, we could say she's loving her husband by protecting him. But on the other hand, what are we to make of this household idol that just happens to be lying around the house, that she just puts in his bed? What about deceiving, lying to Saul's men? Or what about lying to her own father to protect her own life, while at the same time maligning her husband, saying he was going to kill me? It's certainly situational ethics here, but I'm not going to really comment much on this other than say, what would you do in this situation? Think about yourself in this situation. I think a lot of us would probably do the same thing. I think that's a pretty good strategy. It bears some similarity to the story of Rahab, where she's hiding the spies. But the scripture as a whole doesn't look as kindly on Michal as it does on Rahab. In a few years from this point, Michal is going to be the one who's going to be found mocking David's worship when David celebrated and danced at the return of the Ark in 2 Samuel 6. It'll take us some time to get there, but that's really how the Scripture paints Michal. But for now, just as the author of Scripture does, I'm just going to leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about what she did, her actions. Finally, verses 18 to 24. McCall's deceptions and lies did buy David enough time to flee, and he flees to Rama. Who's in Rama? Samuel, back on the scene. But something very, another very unusual thing happens here. It's probably one of those things, and you read it, and you scratch your head. I don't know how many of you did the reading, but you'll read it and say, what is going on here? You read it and you go on. And I know I read it before, but I came back and said, I don't remember reading this. It seems so bizarre. It almost seems like the events that are being described are like a Benny Hinn crusade. Three times, three times these messengers come to Rama from Saul, and they see Samuel, and they see the prophets, and three times they're reduced to utter helplessness through some kind of prophetic ecstasy. I could just see Samuel with his white jacket, waving it, saying, there it is, there it is, and the people just like falling down and speaking gibberish. Three times this happens. To three different sets of messengers, same thing happens. Finally, verse 22, Saul says, I'm going to do this myself. Let's look at verse 22. Then Saul, he, Saul himself, went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Seku. And he asked, where are Samuel and David? And one said, behold, they are in Naoth, in Ramah. And he went there to Naoth and Ramah, and the Spirit of God came upon him also. And as he went, he prophesied until he came to Naoth and Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel, and lay naked all that day and all that night. And thus it is said, Esau also among the prophets." What's happening here? What's clear is Saul has lost all dignity. It kind of reminds me a little bit of the way God struck Nebuchadnezzar with madness. That last line, is Saul also among the prophets? That ends chapter 19 with a word that we heard before. And when we see a statement, and we go back to the beginning where we see that statement prior, a lot of times in the scripture it tells us something is going on. It's reminding us of the beginning and the end of something. Is Saul also among the prophets? Harkens back to when the beginning of Saul's reign. It's a sad reminder, back in chapter 10, when Israel had so much hope. Saul is anointed the king by Samuel. The Spirit rushes upon Saul. Israel's hopes are high in this tall Benjaminite. Saul meets prophets, he prophesies, and the people exclaim at that point with joy, what has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul among the prophets? And what began with such hope and joyful wonder, is Saul among the prophets? Now becomes mockery. as this text between chapter 10 and chapter 19 are bracketed by these same words. Now, not with promise, not with joy, but with disgrace and embarrassment, the same words. It's all among the prophets. How the mighty have fallen. We have 10 more chapters. before finally Saul falls. But this really marks the end of Saul. What stands out in this unusual story is that God is taking care of business on his own. The story reminds us of a few chapters ago when the Philistines had the Ark, remember? And the Philistines, just by having the Ark in their presence, God destroyed the Philistines. Just by their Ark being in their land, he did it himself. If you're tracking this story, you're looking at it and say, okay, David is delivered time and again. He's protected, right? First errantly thrown spears. All right, that was human error. Maybe Saul was a poor marksman. Then you have human instruments. Jonathan and Michal helped to save David's life. And now we might expect, as he comes to Samuel, the hero of the story, the Lord bypasses Samuel and he takes matters into his own hands by his own spirit, throwing people into an erratic frenzy. Yahweh superintended it all. He was the one who directed the course of those spears. He is the one who moved through Jonathan and Michal. Every step of the way, the Lord is superintending this activity. But finally now He bypasses all human means and He powerfully and supernaturally and unusually intervenes in manifesting His power directly. And so Yahweh's protection of His people is as diverse as it is unfailing. Salvation is of the Lord. The psalm that David writes, Psalm 59, the last words of that psalm say this, it says, So in conclusion, When light comes, night is always going to try to fight light. Wherever there is light, you can be sure that darkness will seek to eclipse that light, but that light will always prevail. It was true for David and it's true in your life, brother and sister in Christ. This story in the aftermath of the great victory of David over Goliath is written for your sake. We look at David's example. And we see this story of multiple deliverances from the wrath of Saul. And as Christians, we can draw confidence from that. We live in a spiritual war. We live amidst spiritual enemies. And war is being waged all around us. The psalmist said, a thousand at your right hand, 10,000 at your side. But it will not come near unto you. This protection is not meant only for David, but God is protecting you every day by varied means, some of which you're not even aware of. He is altering the path of swerving vehicles. He's using other people to direct the course of your life. He's using allies, friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ to instruct you, to help you along the way. And yes, even at times, supernaturally intervening in the events of our lives to protect us. Like David, we have a devil that is hurling fiery darts at us. Like Saul, this devil is devising plots to destroy your life to destroy your faith, to cause you to despair, to keep you from running to Christ. Like David, we have a world that's seeking to draw our attention away from God. Like David, we have a flesh that is tempting us to self-glory. But also like David, we have allies. We have allies. We have Jonathans, saints of God, who've come alongside of us, our friends. We have Michals, our very family members, who come alongside. And most importantly, we have the great ally, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Sabaoth is His name. And He will win the battle. The great ally. What is the malice of Saul compared to the favor of Yahweh? Brothers and sisters, you can live confidently knowing that God will keep you until his purposes are accomplished. The evidence that God has not abandoned you is that you're seated here today. That here you are still standing amidst many trials. You're still standing. Here you are, you have endured many trials and toils and snares. You're battle-weary perhaps, but you're still standing in the faith. And if David's Lord is your God, you can rest in his diverse protection. And with the Apostle Paul exclaimed, if God is for us, who can be against us? Amen.