1 Samuel #19: an exposition of 1 Samuel 19:1-24. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 6, 2012.
Intro:
Do you ever have a bad day? “Duh, am I breathing?” We all have bad days. I had a bad day one time that lasted a month! Life in this fallen, sin-filled world, is often hard. There are those times when we want to say, “Lord are you paying attention? I’m hurting here. Things are pretty rotten. It would be nice if you did something about it.” Yeah, you have your bad days but what about king David? He was doing everything right and yet Saul was determined to kill him. He stood up to Goliath and won a great victory. Every time he went to war God brought fame and notoriety to Israel. Israel was becoming a major player. The world was taking note and yet, through no fault of his own, David was marked for execution by king Saul. That’s a bad day! That bad day lasted for years. From the time David took center stage in chapter 16 through the end of 1 Samuel David lived with tension. The tension created by the fact the king rejected by God was still in power while the king chosen by God lived in exile. It’s not fair. It’s not right. Yet for purposes known only to God, it was the will of God. So much for the whole, “trust Jesus and all will be well” school of theology.
We want things neat and clean. We like things cut and dried. Everything in its place and everything clearly marked but that is not life in this world. This world is filled with heartache and sorrow, struggle and stress. Sometimes the greatest evidence of God’s presence is not that we have lived through the trail but that we are still on our feet in the midst of the trial. 1 Samuel 19 is about deliverance. In chapter 18 we saw jealousy lift its ugly head. Saul was furious over the song of the women, “Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands.” Saul tried to kill David with a spear but David eluded him. He sought to give his oldest daughter to David in marriage and to place David in a more vulnerable position is hopes of the Philistines finishing him off. That didn’t work. He got another chance by offering his youngest daughter in marriage and demanding David kill 100 Philistines as a dowry. David thought it a bargain at twice the price and was successful. This only served to enrage Saul all the more. As chapter 19 opens Saul is finished with subtleties, now it is all out war.
Text: 1 Samuel 19:1-24
Chapter 19 gives us four accounts of God’s delivering David.
Each deliverance comes by a different means but it is all God’s doing.
We must not allow the means of deliverance to eclipse the source of deliverance.
1 Samuel 19 is a vivid reminder that…
Thesis: Our gracious God repeatedly, mercifully guards and protects His servants.
Though circumstances may seem to say otherwise, God is in control and He is present.
Chapter 19 underscores the message of the prophet Jonah, “Salvation is of the Lord.”
There are four (4) examples in our text.
- deliverance through reason and logic. (19:1-7)
- deliverance through fear and instinct. (19:8-10)
- deliverance through diversion and cunning. (19:11-17)
- deliverance through divine intervention. (19:18-24)
Conclusion:
David had not be deserted. God had not abandoned him. God was at work and He was present in all of what transpired.
That is our comfort and peace as the people of God. Our deliverer has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you. I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
Our gracious God repeatedly, mercifully guards and protects His servants.