God's Timetable

Introduction

A. Do you think there was ever a time when David wondered if being anointed a king was all that great a thing to happen to him? After living in caves, having a large army chase you through Judean desert, acting like a madman to escape enemies, living on what you can plunder from the Philistines, and having no place to call home, one might begin to wonder if being a king is such a great idea. While David remained one step ahead of Saul and his army, when we read some of the Psalms, it is obvious that David was tired and frustrated.

B. When we read Psalm 59, David’s weariness is plainly seen. While proclaiming that God will protect him, he, nonetheless, is wearied from those who are after him. He is weary from being attacked. He is tired of dealing with those who speak against him. Or we read Psalm 57, written when David has to live in a cave to escape Saul. Again he praises God for his deliverance but he expresses feelings of being a piece of meat devoured by a pack of lions. Tired, weary, and frustrated would characterize David’s life for years as he escapes from Saul time and again. And if these two psalms are not convincing, then read Psalm 70 and 71 in which David pleads for deliverance and assurance that God has not forsaken him. These psalms allow us to see the desperation of a man who has been pushed to his limit.

C. What do you do when you have reached the end of your rope. Being told to tie a knot in the end and hang on is not very comforting. We are going to look at two very similar episodes in David’s life. Chapters 24 and 26 of 1 Samuel include two occasions when David had the opportunity to put an end to his suffering. All he had to do was kill Saul. In chapter 24, David and his men “just happen” to be in the same cave that Saul enters in order to use the bathroom. In the darkness of that place, Saul doesn’t see David and his men. David has been given the prime opportunity to kill Saul and be done with all this turmoil. And yet he doesn’t. Why not? His own men are encouraging him to kill Saul. But David resists the urge to take matters into his own hands. Why? Our intent this morning is to be strengthened in our faith. It takes a lot of faith to not take matters into your own hands. Let’s learn from David today.

David’s Opportunity

A. Just as in chapter 24, chapter 26 illustrates another opportunity for David to take matters into his own hands. The Ziphites have once again tracked David. Saul along with 3000 warriors are in the desert area closing in on David. Night arrives. Saul and his men go to sleep. David and his men have watched all this take place. Saul is asleep in the center of the camp. His spear is stuck in the ground above his head. David has an idea. He will go in and take the spear.

B. The point is not to kill Saul but to make him realize that the opportunity to kill him was available and that David resisted the urge to kill Saul. Abishai, one of David’s men, volunteers to go with David. Abishai believes they are on an assassination mission. He would be glad to kill Saul for David. But David refuses to allow anyone to harm Saul. David and Abishai sneak into camp. They walk through the circle of men surrounding Saul. No one even stirs. They take Saul’s spear and water jug. These will be used to prove that they were in the camp and that the opportunity to kill Saul was available.

C. After leaving the camp and putting ample distance between himself and Saul, David awakens the camp. He does so by calling to Abner, Saul’s main body guard. In 26:15, David questions Abner’s manhood and his competence as a guard. Both are stinging rebukes of Abner and of Saul’s competency in selecting Abner as his general. David and Saul have a brief conversation in which David reminds Saul of two things. First, he has done nothing to harm him although there were opportunities to do just that.

D. David has now had two opportunities to kill Saul. In chapter 24 he cut off a corner of Saul’s robe as proof that he was within striking distance. In chapter 26 it is the king’s spear and water jug used to show how close he was to bringing Saul’s life to an end. Both times David refused to harm Saul. Why? We’ll answer that in just a moment. How was David able to walk in Saul’s camp without being detected? Notice 26:12. God was at work. God had caused 3000 men to go into a deep sleep. This is the same wording as used in Genesis 2 to describe Adam’s sleep when God created Eve. Saul’s army didn’t know about David because God was protecting David.

E. Second, David further reminds Saul that he is forcing David to leave Judah which means he will not be able to participate in worship at the tabernacle. The phrase “go serve other gods” is a way of saying that David is being driven out of Judah and is being forced to go to the Philistines. I don’t want to make this a theological center for worship but I want us to notice something here. Turn to Psalm 63. David wrote this psalm while in the desert of Judah. He has been forced to stay away from the tabernacle and the group worship of Israel. What does David say about the sanctuary? It is in the sanctuary or tabernacle that David has seen the glory of God.

i. David understood that God was not relegated to a building. He understood that worship could take place at other places besides the tabernacle. But being driven out of the land and away from the place where all Israel gathered to worship was an unjust consequence of Saul’s sin.

ii. David was not content with a Bible, prayer, and a cave. He wanted to be at the tabernacle. God’s presence was at the sanctuary. David was being cut off from tabernacle, sacrifice, priest, and festival. He was being cut off from public worship.

iii. Would that bother you? While we as Christians have surpassed David in privileges few of us will ever surpass him in intensity. We are too casual about our public worship. We have taken it for granted. If we were driven into caves, I hope we would miss our assembly time. But too often we are driven by our preferences for how things should go than being together in the presence of God. We can’t build a theology of worship from this passage but we can learn how deep David’s passion was for being in God’s presence and perhaps be challenged to match his intensity.

Why Did David Refuse To Harm Saul?

A. In chapter 24, David and his men are in the cave. Saul is alone. David’s men think this is the right time for David to alter the course of history. In fact, the men insist that God has brought this opportunity to David. David refused to harm Saul because Saul was God’s anointed. In chapter 26, Saul is sound asleep. The opportunity is available to kill him. But David refuses to harm Saul because Saul is God’s anointed. But David continues to give us some insight into what he is thinking in 26:10-11.

B. David doesn’t kill because he trusts that God will deal with this situation in his own time. He believes that God may choose other ways to take care of Saul. He refuses to harm Saul because his faith is in God to deal with the situation. Sandwiched between these two chapters is the story of David’s confrontation with Nabal. Nabal as his name means is a foolish man. He refuses to pay David for work done. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, saves her husband from certain death by taking David and his men food and an apology. Notice in verses 32-34. David acknowledges that seeking revenge would not have been pleasing to God. These three episodes carry the same theme — God will deal with trials in his own time and in his own ways. The lesson is clear. We may not know how God will deal with situations nor when he will relieve us from those situations but we do know what is or what is not God’s will for us and we must stay within God’s will. A tough situation doesn’t release us to do the wrong thing.

a. For example, a Christian may not know how God will deal with a marital problem, but the Christian does know that the problem doesn’t release him to commit adultery. A problem at work cannot be used as an excuse to mistreat a co-worker.

b. While we may not know about God’s providence, we do know that obedience to God’s will is needed and that is sufficient while we wait for God to act on our behalf.

C. It takes great faith to wait on God to act. We can take matters into our own hands or we can by faith wait for God to act. David understood the importance of waiting on God. The consequences of that decision did not relieve the situation but it allowed God to demonstrate his power to bring about the fulfillment of his promises. And so we wait expecting God to fulfill his promises to us. We wait to see God act and when we see it, we see it by faith. We wait by faith. By faith we remained committed to following God’s will and we patiently wait for him to act.

D. But we can’t leave this section without looking at David’s final words. In 26:24. In 26:21, Saul apologizes but David is unmoved. We may be surprised by David’s response. Saul after all sounds very sincere. But sincerity has nothing to do with David’s response. Just because Saul has played the role of a fool doesn’t mean that David must also. Instead of returning to Saul, David will trust God. David let’s it be known that he will place his faith and future in God rather than Saul. As pitfalls arise in our lives, God is the only real deliverer. He alone is our help. David’s words can be our words. “May the Lord deliver me from all trouble.” David separates from Saul for his own protection and by faith trusts God to provide what he needs.

E. There is nothing more that we can do. Ultimately God must deliver. He is the one who is working in our lives in all situations. By faith we wait on him to reveal his work and to show us the path of deliverance. The path may not be easy, but it will bring great honor to God. Because our lives find meaning in bringing honor to God.

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