WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:06.000 All right this morning, we'll be reading from 1 Samuel, Chapter 26, verses 2-12. 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:08.100 So if you'd like to join me, please open your Bibles. 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:13.740 Again, it's 1 Samuel 26, 2-12. 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:21.000 "So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with 3000 men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph and Saul encamped 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:26.820 on the Hill of Hakilah, which is beside the road East of Jeshimon, but David remained in the wilderness. 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:32.659 When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:41.120 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped and David saw the place where Saul lay with Abner the son of Ner, the commander 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:41.640 of his army. 00:00:42.580 --> 00:00:45.680 Saul was lying within the encampment while the army was encamped around him. 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:53.560 Then David said to Ahimelek the Hittite and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, 'Who will go down 00:00:53.560 --> 00:01:01.000 with me into the camp to Saul?' And Abishai said, 'I will go down with you.' So David and Abishai went to the army by night and 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:07.020 there lay Saul, sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head and Abner and the army lay around him. 00:01:08.080 --> 00:01:11.980 Then Abishai said to David, 'God has given your enemy into your hand this day. 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:19.600 Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of this spear and I will not strike him twice.' But David said to Abishai, 'Do not 00:01:19.600 --> 00:01:26.620 destroy him for who can put on his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless.' And David said, 'As the Lord 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:32.080 lives, the Lord will strike him or his day will come to die or he will come down into battle and perish. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:40.100 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed, but take now the spirit that is at his head and the jar of water and let us go.'. 00:01:41.080 --> 00:01:44.380 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head and they went away. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:54.480 No man saw it or knew it nor did any awake for they were all asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them." Let's 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.340 take a minute and pray together, church family. 00:01:58.410 --> 00:01:59.770 Lord, we thank you for this passage. 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:08.229 The beauty of what we see in David's life, the model that he gives for us in this narrative of God, 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:13.840 really just grace and forgiveness and mercy to his enemy. 00:02:15.100 --> 00:02:22.240 And Lord, we just want to pray for us as a church this morning, as we look at this passage together that we can draw from it, some things for 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.060 our lives that we can live as a light in a world of darkness. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:34.540 A place of hope, be beacons of your grace, Lord, that we can through that, Jesus, just see people's 00:02:34.540 --> 00:02:35.720 lives transformed in you. 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:44.120 And so God, I pray that you blessed our morning together and this afternoon, as we just have some time of fellowship afterwards, Lord, 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:48.120 and may you be gracious to us as we seek to honor you in all that we do. 00:02:48.140 --> 00:02:49.180 And it's in Christ's name. 00:02:49.700 --> 00:02:50.860 Amen. 00:02:51.100 --> 00:02:58.100 Hey, I just want to remind you as we get ready to dive into this text, if you do want sermon notes or communion, we're going to have communion at the very end of service, it's at the resource tent if you 00:02:58.100 --> 00:03:00.160 haven't been able to receive any of that. 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:01.960 So you can walk over there and grab that. 00:03:03.660 --> 00:03:10.720 As we get ready to look in 1 Samuel, Chapter 26, one of the things I'm just considering as we jump into this, we always want to 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:18.220 end with some application to what this passage has to do with us, but I really just want to start there and just considering maybe just a question 00:03:18.220 --> 00:03:23.040 or a thought and that's just to ask, what kind of church do we want to be? 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:32.360 And I think we certainly have a vision and trajectory, a purpose for our existence, but it's significant for us to remain 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:37.000 steadfast in why church exists. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.880 Why we gather as a body of believers. 00:03:39.160 --> 00:03:43.520 To keep that in front of us, and Sunday for us is not just the day we get together because it's Sunday. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.200 It's not something we do just because Jesus said we should do it. 00:03:47.480 --> 00:03:50.220 There is life giving power in what Christ says to us. 00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:57.540 We want that truth that he proclaims to be real in our lives and not just real in us, but real through us in demonstrating 00:03:57.540 --> 00:03:59.780 our desire to pursue Jesus. 00:04:00.220 --> 00:04:07.280 And when I think about what God calls us to, and I consider a text like today, 1 Samuel 26, this is a very 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:14.340 powerful text for me that when I read from 1 Samuel, 26, in scripture, all the way to the beginning of 2 Samuel, Chapter 21, 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:22.040 if I'm just being honest, this is a section of scripture my mind goes to often and when I think about how David demonstrates his life. 00:04:22.820 --> 00:04:30.040 When I consider our church, one of my hopes is that we are a church of incredible grace, mercy 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:30.560 and forgiveness. 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:38.900 In fact, we're titling today, "Life-changing Mercy and Forgiveness." When we come to know Jesus, the way that we come to know Jesus, 00:04:38.960 --> 00:04:41.860 is to first recognize how much we need the grace of God in our own lives. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:44.500 How much we need his forgiveness because of our sins. 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:50.860 That he in fact is a holy God and one day we're going to meet him face to face and what do you stand on? 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:55.350 We have nothing in ourselves to impress God with, after all he created us. 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:00.800 I mean, what am I going to offer to God that's going to impress him that he can't do for himself. 00:05:01.450 --> 00:05:06.240 We need God's mercy and grace and he has provided it to us through the cross. 00:05:06.460 --> 00:05:11.320 And not just that, an intimate relationship with him that lasts for eternity. 00:05:11.320 --> 00:05:18.650 So our church should be a place that, as we find Jesus's mercy and grace in our own lives and his forgiveness, 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:23.260 that other people could find it too and what we discover in that is that it is life-changing. 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:31.740 And when we look in this passage of scripture, we see that with David, and that is a theme of Christianity, right? 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:36.220 I mean, when you think about mercy and forgiveness, the Bible is filled with passages on it. 00:05:36.460 --> 00:05:43.520 I'm going to end in Titus 3, that talks about that but even Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, old man," or whatever translation you 00:05:43.520 --> 00:05:51.280 read from, "old mortal" it says in some, "He has shown you, old man, what is good, what the Lord requires of you to do justice, to love mercy, and 00:05:51.280 --> 00:05:58.300 to walk humbly with God." So you see, he talks about being a people that love mercy, or even when you think about Peter, Peter 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:00.940 comes to Jesus in terms of forgiveness in Matthew 18. 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:08.400 He gets this idea that Jesus is a very forgiving person and so he poses this question to Jesus, and I think it was to impress Jesus in a way, 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.740 and to show how much he's learned from his rabbi. 00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:16.350 And he says, "Jesus, if someone forgives me" in Matthew 18:21, "how many times should we... 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:23.640 or if someone offends me, how many times should I forgive them?" And then Peter throws out this idea, "Should it be seven times?" And I just imagine that moment 00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:24.220 in Peter's heart. 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:29.500 He's thinking, "How great am I?" Because rabbinical law at that time recommended that you should forgive someone up to three times. 00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:36.900 And Peter is like, "I'm going to double it and add one, right?" So seven times, and in verse 22, Jesus says, "Not only should you forgive him seven, 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:45.820 but actually 70 times seven." And the point Jesus is saying is no one can keep track of how many times you forgive once you get to, what 00:06:45.820 --> 00:06:45.880 is that? 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:46.000 490 times? 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.260 When we talk about forgiveness, Jesus is saying, "Look, just keep forgiving. 00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:56.380 Be a people of forgiveness." Jesus's first message to us in the sermon on the mount in the book of Matthew, Chapter 6, 00:06:56.440 --> 00:07:03.940 in verses 14 and 15, he says this, "If you forgive one another or forgive someone who offends you, then your father in heaven forgives." Verse 14. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:11.220 Verse 15, he then goes, "But if you don't forgive people who offend you, then your father in heaven will not forgive you." Now that's a pretty powerful statement 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:12.610 as it relates to forgiveness. 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:19.780 I mean, Jesus is really wanting us to understand the significance of what it means to forgive and be a people that forgives and when we talk about 00:07:19.780 --> 00:07:24.800 forgiveness in that way, no doubt, when you hear a verse like that, your mind starts to wrestle with it. 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:26.760 How can I justify not forgiving? 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:27.620 Do you know why they did? 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:29.040 What can I say about this, Jesus? 00:07:29.340 --> 00:07:32.940 So when you look at a passage like Matthew 6, I mean, we can probably agree on this. 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:41.860 To say that the Bible says to forgive is one thing, but to flesh it out, to 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:46.360 live it, that's something different in itself, right? 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:55.360 And we see that type of forgiveness that I think Jesus describes a Matthew 6, in the book of Samuel through 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.060 the life of David. 00:07:57.300 --> 00:08:00.020 This isn't something he just talks about or knows that God teaches. 00:08:00.580 --> 00:08:03.560 This is something that he's demonstrating in his own life. 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:06.460 I remember how the story's unfolded for us. 00:08:06.460 --> 00:08:12.480 1 Samuel, 13, Chapter 13, 1 Samuel, Chapter 15, Saul has offended God. 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:19.610 God said, "Don't do this, Saul." A couple of things he's told Saul directly not to do, and Saul just disobeys. 00:08:19.900 --> 00:08:27.200 And finally, Chapter 16, God says, "Fine, I'm anointing David as future King." And so when Saul finds out that David's 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:34.380 been anointed or when Saul sees God's favor on David, Saul becomes jealous and he pursues David, Chapter 20, 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:41.760 "David runs to the wilderness." We talked about this last week and he starts to hide from Saul because Saul is pursuing him and wanting to take 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:42.320 his life. 00:08:43.880 --> 00:08:48.840 And David has had a couple of opportunities to respond and we know how dangerous David is. 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:50.470 David is a professional warrior. 00:08:50.900 --> 00:08:58.980 Remember the song in 1 Samuel, 18, where it says, "Saul has killed his 1,000s, but David his 10,000s." He's the one that slayed Goliath and 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:05.160 Saul pursues David and David has a few opportunities to kill Saul, and it would have been completely justified. 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:06.990 I mean, he's the anointed of the Lord. 00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:10.590 If someone's trying to kill him, I can explain it all away. 00:09:11.160 --> 00:09:12.300 Makes total sense. 00:09:12.300 --> 00:09:17.060 If you just eliminate this one person, David, you can go home. 00:09:20.140 --> 00:09:21.620 It's certainly the easier road. 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:31.820 People would understand but David, in obedience to the Lord, he takes the harder road. 00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:38.270 And in 1 Samuel 26, you see this. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:44.530 David goes to his men and he says, "Okay, who's going to go with me in the camp of Saul? 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:46.120 He's here pursuing us. 00:09:46.140 --> 00:09:47.140 He wants to kill me. 00:09:47.400 --> 00:09:53.560 Who wants to sneak in with me to pay Saul a visit?" And Abishai is like, "I will." Right? 00:09:53.560 --> 00:10:00.760 And in this camp, the way that it's centered, the way the passage describes for us, is they're all camped around Saul and Saul is in the middle 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:03.380 of the camp, sort of protecting the King here. 00:10:04.280 --> 00:10:09.280 And David and Abishai in the middle of the night, they sneak in to the tent where Saul is located. 00:10:10.680 --> 00:10:17.960 And in Verse 8, this is what it says, "Then Abishai said to David, 'Today, God has delivered your enemy into your hands.' 00:10:18.060 --> 00:10:20.160 See even Abishai, completely justified here. 00:10:20.400 --> 00:10:21.720 We finally made it, right? 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.540 We can get rid of this and we can all go home, trouble over. 00:10:25.060 --> 00:10:33.480 "Now, therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke and I will not strike him the second time." Here's 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:34.800 what Abishai is saying. 00:10:35.140 --> 00:10:42.160 It's like, when you're in battle like this, you would sleep with your weapon next to you in case anything happens in the middle of night, you're ready to go as a 00:10:42.160 --> 00:10:42.460 warrior. 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:44.480 And this is where Saul finds himself. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.600 Next to him, he's got a spear at night. 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:47.520 He's asleep. 00:10:47.520 --> 00:10:50.240 These two sneak in and they see the spear sitting right next to Saul. 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:52.340 And Abishai is saying, "Look, I am so good at this. 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:54.280 I only need one strike. 00:10:55.020 --> 00:10:55.540 No peep. 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:57.840 We can get in stealthy, get out. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:03.720 No one will even know till the morning and we will win." And what does David do? 00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:07.720 David exercises incredible restraint. 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:18.180 And rather than say, "Okay Abishai, you're right." David in Verse 9 says this, "But David said to Abishai, 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:29.800 'Do not destroy him for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt?' Now 00:11:29.800 --> 00:11:37.260 I know this text just gives us the basics of this narrative that takes place and we see this idea of forgiveness modeled 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:39.420 in David's life here and this idea of mercy. 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:42.830 But I can imagine even the conversation with Abishai. 00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:48.340 In Verse 10, it goes on further to give a little bit more of his explanation. 00:11:48.660 --> 00:11:54.440 I'll look at it in just a minute, but he could've said to Abishai, "You know, I remember the glory of this King. 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:03.560 Who he was before he's fallen and what right do I have 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:13.040 to remove him of that position that God has given him?" And David, even though the easier path would 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:20.680 be just to give Abishai the command, he chooses to prolong his struggle in 00:12:20.680 --> 00:12:22.100 order to honor the Lord. 00:12:23.060 --> 00:12:25.350 So here's the question for us, we can pose here in the beginning. 00:12:25.380 --> 00:12:26.780 I'm going to answer three questions. 00:12:27.900 --> 00:12:28.720 Why forgive? 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:30.320 What is forgiveness? 00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:33.140 And how do we find the strength? 00:12:35.180 --> 00:12:35.880 Why forgive? 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:37.280 What is forgiveness? 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:38.160 And how to find the strength? 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:44.140 You can imagine David in this moment, he needs a lot of God's strength to not just give into his flesh in these moments. 00:12:45.640 --> 00:12:46.880 So why forgive? 00:12:48.180 --> 00:12:51.600 Well, David's already given us a picture of the answer in Verse 9. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:13:00.760 He acknowledges in Verse 9, "Do not destroy him for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed?" He's 00:13:00.760 --> 00:13:07.920 referring to Saul as the Lord's anointed, and in Israel's day, God would have particular people 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:12.960 anointed in Israel to accomplish particular purposes that he called them to. 00:13:13.260 --> 00:13:19.300 Prophet, priests and kings were anointed by God directly in the days of King David. 00:13:20.760 --> 00:13:25.480 And so what David is acknowledging here is not the behavior, but the person in this position. 00:13:28.040 --> 00:13:35.200 If we looked to people in regards to their behavior, in order to determine whether or not we forgive, 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.480 there's not a person in this world that deserves forgiveness, right? 00:13:39.400 --> 00:13:46.580 I mean if forgiveness is based on what you do and only based on what you do, nobody in 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:49.340 here is worthy of free, except for Jesus, right? 00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:57.380 Because all of us at some point have fallen short and so what David is helping us understand here that when it comes in terms to forgiveness, 00:13:58.180 --> 00:14:03.900 forgiveness is not based on simply behavior of someone, but rather in their identity. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:12.960 And so he acknowledges here for Abishai, "Look, this is the Lord's anointed." So 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:14.060 what does this have to do with us? 00:14:16.260 --> 00:14:23.280 Well, scripture says to us, "Every human being is made in the image of God." All 00:14:23.280 --> 00:14:27.600 of us have an intrinsic worth, not based on what we do, but who we are. 00:14:29.300 --> 00:14:36.580 And so God, regardless of our behavior, has designed us with this particular dignity and so rather than honor the King 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:43.700 based on what he's done, King Saul, he's honoring the King based on who he is, image bearer of God, anointed 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:44.300 of the Lord. 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:52.460 And David, in honor more to God than to Saul, is choosing to worship the Lord by how he 00:14:52.460 --> 00:14:53.940 chooses to treat Saul. 00:14:55.820 --> 00:14:57.620 And so we think about why should we forgive? 00:14:57.820 --> 00:15:03.080 Well, we consider the image or the person and the way we treat that person as worship before our King. 00:15:04.760 --> 00:15:10.180 If you skip down this passage to 1 Samuel, Chapter 26 and Verse 24, he says this. 00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:19.560 David says this, "Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so 00:15:19.560 --> 00:15:26.560 may my life be valued in the sight of the Lord and may he deliver me from all distress." 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:34.440 So what David is saying here is, "Look, I came into this moment, not about you, but it's been about my Lord. 00:15:35.540 --> 00:15:42.860 And I'm choosing to honor you because I desired to honor God in my life and because I'm choosing to walk that road, 00:15:42.900 --> 00:15:50.100 may God honor me." Can we just say in the most difficult circumstances, when it might be 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:57.360 hard to forgive, that is a great opportunity in those moments to truly 00:15:57.680 --> 00:15:58.900 honor your King. 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:07.380 Anyone can forgive when it's easy to forgive, but it's God's people that go through the struggle of 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:12.300 learning and desiring to forgive, even when it's adverse. 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:20.860 I'm going to talk about a few things about what forgiveness is and isn't in just a moment, but forgiveness is about who 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:22.290 we are in the Lord. 00:16:24.180 --> 00:16:30.100 Not only that, but it becomes hypocritical not to be a forgiving believer. 00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:38.200 When you think about where you are in Jesus, the only reason that you are where you are in Jesus is because of his mercy and grace. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:46.300 Even if you don't belong to Jesus, the fact that God hasn't come and brought judgment to this earth, Holy God, and this earth that lives 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:47.340 sinfully against him. 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:53.240 The only reason he has not brought his judgment is because he's delaying his wrath in order to provide mercy and grace. 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:56.980 And this is where we find ourselves. 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:04.160 The reason that we're able to even stand and praise his name and seek his face and know him and have opportunity to turn to Christ and give glory to God is 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.240 because of his mercy and grace. 00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:10.680 And so to then turn around and not offer it to anyone else, it is hypocritical to who we are. 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:13.880 And sometimes we find ourselves that way in a struggle as people, right? 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:16.220 We cry for grace in our own lives. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:17.460 "Lord, I just messed up. 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:21.460 I need your grace." But when someone offends us, that's justice, right? 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:23.680 Justice Jesus, bring justice. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.589 Let's read the wrath passages together. 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:27.339 God, we need this, right? 00:17:27.619 --> 00:17:32.520 We want it in one terms, the grace of God and then deliver his wrath in others. 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:39.980 But to be God's people, it's about understanding, look, justice is up to him and God calls me 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:41.200 to be a light in this world. 00:17:43.320 --> 00:17:48.770 The way that I present his light is to extend his grace the way that he extended his grace to me. 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:54.020 And number three, I think this is very important for David and his future. 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:58.980 By forgiving, he ends the destructive cycle. 00:18:00.540 --> 00:18:07.940 I think when you read this story, it's very easy to see how David could just snuck into that tent and ended all of his struggles that day, or 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:09.090 at least the most recent struggle. 00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:15.140 Gone home and just sat in this castle, taking it easy. 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:24.620 But if David had done that, all David would have been doing is replacing Saul with another Saul. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:33.660 The same attitude and heart that made Saul destructive, David would have had to become, and 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:35.980 that's what a lack of forgiveness produces within us. 00:18:37.780 --> 00:18:43.740 We end up perpetuating the same hatred that got us there and it starts to control us. 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:53.040 And David in these moments, rather than to respond in this way, he chooses to walk in the path 00:18:53.040 --> 00:18:53.700 of forgiveness. 00:18:54.020 --> 00:19:01.140 In Verse 10, it says this to us, "And David also said to Abishai, 'As the Lord lives, surely 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:08.300 the Lord will strike him or his day will come that he dies or he'll go down into battle and perish.'" If you 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:16.050 think about that, he's in this heavy conversation with Abishai, at risk to himself here, trying to explain his plan as they snuck all the way in. 00:19:16.300 --> 00:19:23.360 And David's like, "Well, he could die tomorrow or he could die in battle or he could 00:19:23.360 --> 00:19:25.520 die a long, long time from now. 00:19:26.600 --> 00:19:33.640 The point is, he's going to die and that death is up to God." David's like, "Tomorrow or sometime who 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:40.740 knows when but it'll happen eventually and all things will work out." But if it's showing us where David is putting 00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:42.520 his reliance in this moment, isn't it? 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:44.360 In self or in God. 00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:52.660 And David is demonstrating the type of character that has trusted in God to get where he is and is going to continue to trust in God in those 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:59.720 moments, rather than take things into his own hands and so he's forgiving so he doesn't become like the person in this moment who 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:00.440 was King Saul. 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:04.920 He doesn't want to perpetuate it, but he's turning it over to the Lord. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.320 So that's why we forgive. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:16.660 So the question then is, "What is forgiveness?" What exactly is it? 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:22.540 When you think in terms of forgiveness, forgiveness is an act of obedience before it is felt. 00:20:24.080 --> 00:20:30.300 If you just put yourself in the shoes of these two characters for a moment who snuck into Saul's tent, Abishai and David. 00:20:31.560 --> 00:20:39.480 The way David probably feels in this tent, isn't necessarily the way he is choosing to act, and 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:44.350 so in many ways, forgiveness becomes an act of obedience before it's something that you feel. 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:50.410 David looks at the moment, he's thinking the spears fall, go home, rest, get out of the cave. 00:20:53.620 --> 00:20:55.820 And then Abishai, could you imagine being Abishai? 00:20:57.260 --> 00:21:04.600 David comes to his men and he's like, "Who wants to sneak all the way in with me and see Saul for a moment?" 00:21:04.780 --> 00:21:11.840 And all these guys are thinking, "I don't want to risk my life." And one of them stands up and he's thinking, "I'll 00:21:11.840 --> 00:21:13.020 be the hero at the end of the day. 00:21:13.320 --> 00:21:13.440 Sure. 00:21:13.500 --> 00:21:14.130 I'll go in with David. 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:16.460 They'll write a song about me, just like they did with David. 00:21:16.520 --> 00:21:18.540 Let's go in and do this." And you get in and David's like, "Wait, wait. 00:21:19.580 --> 00:21:22.840 That's not why we're here." And you're thinking, "What? 00:21:25.340 --> 00:21:32.390 David, right now we could all just go home and you want me to just turn around in this moment?" 00:21:34.280 --> 00:21:35.980 Could you imagine being Abishai? 00:21:38.060 --> 00:21:44.300 Forgiveness is a commitment to obey before it is felt. 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:48.160 You make a commitment to honor God despite adversity. 00:21:50.020 --> 00:21:54.780 I love the way, in a similar story, the way it says it about David, or not David, Daniel. 00:21:54.800 --> 00:22:01.920 In Daniel, Chapter 1, I think it's Verse 8, that when Daniel was tempted to disobey his God and he's 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:09.170 offered the King's choice food, and it says, "before David's offered the food, he makes a decision not to defile himself with the King's food." 00:22:10.820 --> 00:22:14.850 He's predetermined that he's going to be obedient to the Lord, despite the circumstances. 00:22:16.840 --> 00:22:21.160 And I think this is what David knows that he's about before he goes even into Saul's tent. 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:29.860 And here's how we know David's heart is just humbled before the Lord, is because as 00:22:29.860 --> 00:22:37.020 the story transpires and David finally engages Saul, David doesn't come to Saul and say, "You dirty, 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:42.640 wicked, nasty, evil, old man." He doesn't approach Saul that way. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.170 In fact, when you look in Verse 17, listen to what he says. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:53.900 It says, "Then Saul recognized David's voice and said, 'Is this your voice, my son David?' And David said, 'It 00:22:53.900 --> 00:23:01.140 is my voice, my Lord, the King." David continued to acknowledge 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:04.360 Saul as his Lord and King. 00:23:05.860 --> 00:23:08.800 A very humble interaction that David has. 00:23:08.800 --> 00:23:11.840 So forgiveness is an act of obedience before it's felt. 00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:17.480 But let me tell you a couple of things that forgiveness isn't, because I think this is just as important in our lives when we consider this. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.300 Forgiveness doesn't mean you can't approach an offender. 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:26.580 Forgiveness doesn't mean that you sweep things under the rug. 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:35.700 In fact, when you read the story, you find, as it transpires down in Verse 21, that David, in fact, he 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:37.120 is approaching Saul. 00:23:37.120 --> 00:23:44.360 After he gets the spear, he leaves with the spear and then he shouts at a safe distance to Saul and all of his men. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.260 Yo Abner, who is the leader in the army. 00:23:46.280 --> 00:23:53.300 He shouts down to them and he shows them that at any moment, he could have taken Saul's life as he was in his tent as he's holding the 00:23:53.300 --> 00:24:00.580 spear in his hand, and he's approaching this conflict, this struggle, this need to forgive his 00:24:00.580 --> 00:24:01.430 enemy. 00:24:02.120 --> 00:24:09.400 And David in this is showing and demonstrating his love towards Saul even though Saul is living in this insanity towards David 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:14.860 and David is able to forgive because he cares about the Lord and he still cares about Saul. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:18.720 In fact, this was the most astounding thing to me. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:25.740 When you get to the end of Samuel, the Book of Samuel, and you start Chapter 2 and verse, or excuse me, 2 Samuel, Chapter 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:31.170 1, that when David finds out about the death of Saul, do you know what David does? 00:24:32.060 --> 00:24:33.080 He throws a party and celebrates. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:34.960 No, that's not what he does. 00:24:36.020 --> 00:24:43.260 He weeps and he sings a song of tribute to 00:24:43.260 --> 00:24:43.970 King Saul. 00:24:47.080 --> 00:24:50.480 Even in all of this struggle, David still loves Saul. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.820 So forgiveness doesn't mean you can't approach the offender. 00:24:58.040 --> 00:25:03.800 David points out Saul's foolishness and David points out how he could have taken Saul's life. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:06.740 And then look what Saul says in Verse 21. 00:25:08.120 --> 00:25:12.700 Then Saul said, "I have sinned." He confesses. 00:25:14.290 --> 00:25:21.130 "Return, my son, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:29.000 Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error." Saul says. 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:33.500 And the humility of that moment, "I have sinned. 00:25:35.140 --> 00:25:39.650 I am a fool." And how Saul got there where his heart was transformed. 00:25:41.620 --> 00:25:41.800 Grace. 00:25:44.040 --> 00:25:44.360 Love. 00:25:46.600 --> 00:25:48.580 Love had that kind of impact in his heart. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.700 If David had approached this vindictively, I mean, you know how it goes. 00:25:54.700 --> 00:25:58.130 When someone's offended you and you come to them, confront them vindictively. 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:00.440 No one's changing. 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:01.840 No heart's changing in that. 00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:11.380 But it's in the humility, the grace, that Saul finally acknowledges 00:26:12.300 --> 00:26:12.820 what happened. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.880 And I love the end of this story because at the very end, this is what it tells us. 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:17.480 Saul goes home. 00:26:20.620 --> 00:26:21.960 Saul quits pursuing David. 00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:29.080 David doesn't return to his home yet, but he experiences that peace in not being hunted anymore. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:39.620 Saul acknowledges this, but I think this is also important, David isn't a fool about his forgiveness. 00:26:41.340 --> 00:26:47.020 Look, I think it's important to forgive, but here's what I want to encourage us to think about. 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:49.880 Don't confuse trust with forgiveness. 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:56.880 Sometimes I've seen this in life, where people know scripture says, "You need to forgive," and you go to forgive someone, or at least you struggle through it. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:58.010 None of us are perfect at forgiveness. 00:26:58.690 --> 00:27:00.980 There's always a price to pay in forgiveness, right? 00:27:01.540 --> 00:27:06.940 This isn't, I'm going to give you a magic word or magic thought and the rest of your life, you're going to be the most perfect forgiving person in the world. 00:27:07.300 --> 00:27:13.400 This a struggle for every person on planet earth because there's always a cost to forgiveness. 00:27:14.060 --> 00:27:17.180 But what is important is not to confuse trust and forgiveness and I see people do this. 00:27:18.020 --> 00:27:22.130 They think sometimes, when we forgive, that means you need to be best friends. 00:27:23.280 --> 00:27:27.660 I'll just show that I really have taken the [inaudible 00:27:25] to forgive, now we'll be best friends. 00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:34.360 And you try to force this relationship that just doesn't feel natural, and David has enough wisdom to not do this in this moment. 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:37.460 And you see what King Saul says? 00:27:37.840 --> 00:27:45.100 "Return my son," in Verse 21, "for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day." But 00:27:45.100 --> 00:27:46.460 in Verse 22, look what David said. 00:27:46.540 --> 00:27:49.060 Then David replied, "Behold, the spear of the King. 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:57.020 Now let one of the young men come over and take it." So what David's saying is like, "I'm glad, Saul, that you think that I can 00:27:57.020 --> 00:28:03.140 come down and just be with your people again and hang out with you, but I'm not getting anywhere near you because I don't trust you. 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:10.540 Here's your spear, someone can hike up the side of the hill and get it." So David is not even interested in keeping it as a trophy to brag to 00:28:10.560 --> 00:28:17.940 his friends, "Look what we did." He's really interested in the relationship between he and Saul but what David doesn't 00:28:17.940 --> 00:28:19.440 do is simply trust Saul. 00:28:21.060 --> 00:28:24.800 It takes a lifetime to build trust and a moment to destroy it. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:26.640 Trust is valuable. 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:28.640 Forgiveness and trust aren't the same thing. 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:34.380 You can certainly forgive, but it doesn't mean you just swing the doors wide open with all the trust in the world. 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.540 It's important to put barriers of protection. 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.700 You can forgive, but you got to build trust. 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:45.720 And that's where David is in this story. 00:28:45.760 --> 00:28:49.000 So here's the, I think, the big application question for us then. 00:28:50.730 --> 00:28:51.280 How. 00:28:55.220 --> 00:28:57.590 How can we find the power to forgive like that? 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:07.780 How does David find the ability to weep over Saul's death and to sing a song in honor of 00:29:07.780 --> 00:29:10.130 the King of Israel, first King of Israel? 00:29:11.580 --> 00:29:12.280 How does he do that? 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:15.880 How do we do it? 00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:24.700 It's easy to just say nothing rather than forgive and just boil over. 00:29:27.340 --> 00:29:29.170 What David did was hard. 00:29:31.020 --> 00:29:37.080 What the Bible calls us to in pursuing him and pursuing the Lord, it's hard. 00:29:37.180 --> 00:29:40.280 So how do you get the power to forgive an offender? 00:29:41.840 --> 00:29:48.860 I think for us, there are two platforms that God moves through our lives in order to help us find 00:29:48.860 --> 00:29:50.800 the strength to forgive and it's not always easy. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:54.500 Forgiveness is an act of worship before the Lord, I hope that you can see that. 00:29:55.620 --> 00:29:59.460 And forgiveness, there is a cost and it's an act of worship before the Lord. 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:01.140 Same thing with Jesus, right? 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:02.880 He forgave us. 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:03.430 How did he forgive? 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:05.620 He paid a cost. 00:30:08.030 --> 00:30:15.140 So maybe we could say forgiveness is one of those steps that we take as believers that looks more like Jesus than anything 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:15.520 else. 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:20.420 Jesus paid a tremendous cost to forgive me. 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:22.740 So how do we forgive others? 00:30:22.780 --> 00:30:24.140 How do we find that power and that strength? 00:30:25.020 --> 00:30:26.300 And I would say these two platforms. 00:30:26.600 --> 00:30:33.760 One is humility and the other, I could couple it together with two words, 00:30:33.760 --> 00:30:34.770 you can pick your favorite here. 00:30:34.780 --> 00:30:42.080 It's either, "promise" or "position." I think you get a position in Christ because the promises that you have in Christ, but either one of those, whatever's most memorable, your 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:43.060 promise or position. 00:30:43.360 --> 00:30:47.260 I'll explain both of those, but let me talk about humility for just a moment. 00:30:49.520 --> 00:30:56.720 I believe what we learn as Christians, when we pursue Jesus in relationship, the closer you are to the mercy of God 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:03.860 in your own life and the closer you are to the grace of God being made known in your own life, the 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:05.620 easier it becomes to forgive. 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:10.640 I'm not saying it's going to one day just be easy to forgive in every way. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:14.500 I always think that there's a little bit of struggle in this, right? 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:16.460 I'm not trying to pretend like I'm perfect at it. 00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:19.100 I'm not trying to say when you leave here today, you're going to be perfect at it. 00:31:19.340 --> 00:31:22.480 What I'm saying is there's a way to get stronger in it, right? 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:24.220 And I think it works like this in our life. 00:31:24.620 --> 00:31:30.500 The closer you get to the mercy and grace of God in your own life, the easier you find it is to forgive others. 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:35.320 In fact, I think that's the basis of Paul's argument in Titus, Chapter 3. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.910 If I just read this to you, I know I didn't put this in the notes, but if I just read this to you for just a moment, just listen to these words. 00:31:44.660 --> 00:31:51.880 It says, "Remind everyone to be subject to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed." And Paul is saying this, 00:31:52.060 --> 00:31:55.000 knowing that not all leaders and authorities are easy to follow. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:03.580 Verse 2, "To malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men." And that's tough, right? 00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:04.300 How do you do that? 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.470 You're talking about people that have wronged me, people that have upset me, how do we do that? 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:12.280 And then he says this in Verse 3, "For we also were once foolish ourselves. 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:17.000 Disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:22.260 Spending our life in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." But then what changed us? 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:29.840 Verse 4, "But when the kindness of God our savior and his love for mankind appeared, he 00:32:29.840 --> 00:32:39.700 saved us not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy." Why 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:47.020 in the World would I care about people in this world that are difficult and maligning and hateful and evil. 00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:51.050 Paul says because we ourselves walk the same road as people. 00:32:52.840 --> 00:32:56.840 But when the grace of God comes into your life, he saves us by his mercy. 00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:06.280 The more we become familiar with the need of God's grace in our own lives, the more we're able to extend it to 00:33:06.280 --> 00:33:09.320 others because we all need it. 00:33:11.300 --> 00:33:18.440 Humility becomes that platform that God uses for us to find the power to forgive and the other one is the promise and position that 00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:18.990 you have. 00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:27.180 I'm just going to be honest and say, when people offend me, sometimes the thing that will get my goat and get me riled up and get me angry is 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:27.660 what I lost. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.980 Whether it be something against me personally or something that's taken from me. 00:33:35.140 --> 00:33:36.140 Get angry about that. 00:33:36.340 --> 00:33:37.800 Do they not know who I am? 00:33:37.800 --> 00:33:40.260 Or do they not know what that meant, right? 00:33:43.620 --> 00:33:45.220 But here's the joy of what happens in Jesus. 00:33:47.760 --> 00:33:49.620 He gives you promise and position. 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:51.910 I don't want to downplay that loss. 00:33:52.320 --> 00:33:56.160 I think that whatever you lose in life, it can be painful. 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:56.600 It can be hurtful. 00:33:58.100 --> 00:33:59.350 But here's what I also think is important. 00:34:00.860 --> 00:34:08.320 It's important to remind ourselves that it's also just temporal because in Jesus, you have promises and 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:09.020 position. 00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:12.480 And what I mean by that is this. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:21.000 In Christ, the Bible tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:21.820 to his purpose. 00:34:24.580 --> 00:34:33.020 So that in this world, you may temporarily lose, but in light of eternity in 00:34:33.020 --> 00:34:36.760 Jesus, you never lose anything. 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:40.040 God will reconcile all wrong. 00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:48.500 God will make all things new and God will turn all things, right? 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:55.100 Whatever we suffer, whatever we lose, and I don't want to make light of our struggles as people. 00:34:55.340 --> 00:35:02.340 I know sometimes we go through difficult things, but Jesus will win because Jesus 00:35:02.340 --> 00:35:03.080 has won. 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:12.600 And before him, because of that, those promises, that position that you have, you 00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:16.920 have a greater hope beyond it all and you don't have to get lost in the anger of that moment. 00:35:18.200 --> 00:35:25.380 Just like David said in Verse 10, "Whether Saul dies today or Saul dies 00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:33.760 in battle or Saul dies as in old age, I'm trusting it to my King because 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:41.600 my great King reconciles it all and all of it is in his hands." And 00:35:41.600 --> 00:35:48.640 here's what we know by the grace of God, that because of his grace, as you rest in him, that this 00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:50.040 King is for you. 00:35:51.740 --> 00:35:58.860 This King is for you and you don't have to struggle and you don't have to fight and you don't have to hold onto the vengeance to make sure they get 00:35:58.860 --> 00:36:03.020 what they deserve because Jesus does. 00:36:06.100 --> 00:36:06.300 Jesus does. 00:36:09.620 --> 00:36:09.940 That's his place. 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:14.880 It doesn't mean you can't confront, David confronts. 00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:23.000 It doesn't mean you can't turn to the laws of the land and pursue legal action because you have laws of the land and so they're there for 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:23.560 a reason. 00:36:25.200 --> 00:36:33.440 But it does mean you get to let go of the vindictiveness and the vengeance and 00:36:33.520 --> 00:36:35.320 turn it over to a God who is far greater. 00:36:37.160 --> 00:36:41.360 God can do more for you in those things then you can do in your own strength. 00:36:43.340 --> 00:36:44.260 And so what do we walk by? 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:52.740 Humility, promise and position, because of his grace. 00:36:55.220 --> 00:36:56.960 And can I just remind us this morning? 00:36:58.300 --> 00:37:05.380 That's the only reason we can even discuss things like this is because of the grace of God that's already 00:37:05.380 --> 00:37:06.750 been delivered to us. 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:11.140 His mercy makes us new every morning. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:13.010 Great is his faithfulness. 00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:19.280 No matter how much in your life you have screwed up, no matter how many times you fall on your face. 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:26.520 I know our human tendency is to run away from God and try to fix ourselves but that's the opposite of what Jesus calls us to do. 00:37:26.600 --> 00:37:33.640 He calls us to come to him, to be renewed in him, to find mercy in him and his grace in him and forgiveness in him and to 00:37:33.740 --> 00:37:36.720 walk with him and let him strengthen us in our lives. 00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:42.120 And so, no matter where we are today, no matter what you've gone through, no matter what your struggle is, that's the Bible. 00:37:42.180 --> 00:37:43.100 That's the gospel. 00:37:43.100 --> 00:37:43.880 That's the good news. 00:37:44.020 --> 00:37:45.860 Freedom in Jesus, let go of it all. 00:37:45.940 --> 00:37:50.880 Let your King handle it as he's taken it to the cross on your behalf so that you can find freedom in him forever. 00:37:51.860 --> 00:37:54.700 And so if you've never done that in your life, can I just tell you it's this simple. 00:37:56.420 --> 00:38:00.400 To recognize that for us, it's easy, but for him, it's cost him everything. 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:02.620 We bow our hearts before this King and say, "You're right. 00:38:02.720 --> 00:38:03.180 You're Lord. 00:38:03.500 --> 00:38:03.940 You've come. 00:38:03.980 --> 00:38:04.860 You've given your life. 00:38:04.940 --> 00:38:06.180 You've forgiven me of my sins. 00:38:06.180 --> 00:38:07.240 God, thank you for that grace. 00:38:07.740 --> 00:38:08.240 Free me. 00:38:08.240 --> 00:38:08.800 Make me new. 00:38:08.820 --> 00:38:12.720 Give me the promise of eternity and God may I delight in that relationship with you forever. 00:38:14.760 --> 00:38:22.240 All Forms As today can be a day you do it now for the first time in your life, but can I encourage you, walk 00:38:22.240 --> 00:38:23.300 in it every day? 00:38:24.140 --> 00:38:31.240 Because that is the only path by which we find ourselves able to live in the freedom of Christ for which he calls us 00:38:31.240 --> 00:38:31.740 to.