Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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If you are able, please remain
standing and let's hear God's word now,
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from first chronicles, chapter fourteen.
First chronicles fourteen, verses eight through seventeen.
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This is God's word. Let's give
our attention to it. When the
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Philistines heard that David had been anointed
king over all Israel, all the Philistines
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went up to search for David,
but David heard of it and went out
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against them. Now the Philistines had
come and made a raid in the Valley
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of Rephaim, and David inquired of
God. Shall I go up against the
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Philistines? Will you give them into
my hand? And Jehovah said to him
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go up and I will give them
into your hand. And he went up
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to Bayll Pezzarim and David struck them
down there, and David said God has
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broken through my enemies by my hand
like a bursting flood. Therefore, the
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name of that place is called Bay
all perizeem. And they left their gods
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there and David Command, gave command, and they were burned and the Philistines
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yet again made a raid in the
valley. And when David inquired of God,
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God said to him you shall not
go up after them, go around
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and come against them opposite the Balsam
trees, and when you hear the sound
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of marching in the tops of the
Balsam trees, then go out to battle,
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for God has gone out before you
to strike down the army of the
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Philistines. And David did as God
commanded him, and they struck down the
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Philistine army from Gibbeon togetherer, and
the fame of David went out into all
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lands and Jehovah brought the fear of
him upon all nations. You may be
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seated. Ever since God began to
form a people for himself, is people
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have faced enemies. Sometimes they were
very close, like the serpent and the
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garden, or like Abel's brother came. Other Times the enemies of God's people
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were miles and miles away, like
the Assyrians or the Babylonians, encroaching,
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getting closer and closer, and yet
also distant in some ways. One of
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the most common enemies that God's people
faced in the early days of the monarchy
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were the Philistines. We hear of
them often in these this portion of scripture,
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particularly under Saul and under David.
The Philistine people live along the coastal
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and southern border of Israel. They
were made up of small communities and larger
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city states. You may have heard
of some of them, like Gaff Ekron,
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Gaza Ashkelon. And one of the
first encounters of the Philistines that we
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read in the Bible is when Samson
was lured by Philistine women and his own
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lusts to go and unite with them. Eventually they get the better of him,
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but things will turn around and after
much embarrassment and the even the cost
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of his own life, they are, I'm brought to some measure of destruction.
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God's people are saved. Other notable
encounters at the Philistines include the capture
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of the ARC and, perhaps most
famously of all, a boy's defeat of
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one of their mighty warriors, a
great man named Goliath. Now, one
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day this boy named David would become
king, the king that we read about
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here in first chronicles fourteen. But
at that time, when he was a
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boy that is, he was not
the one God's people were looking to for
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victory over God's enemies, over the
Philistines in particular. They were hoping in
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a man named Saul saw, whom
we've heard about already in first chronicles,
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back in First Chron mircles ten.
When we revisit that chapter in light of
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what we have here, we find
that the chronicler is setting up this great
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contrast before us, a story of
two kings, a good one and a
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bad one. Saul was the bad
one, the first King of Israel.
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Things seemed to start out somewhat well, at least in terms of how he
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looked. Things were well. He
was regal, he was handsome. The
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Bible describes him as a head taller
than all those around him. But when
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it came time for him to rule
and defend God's people, he forgot the
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most important thing, God. God
is the most important thing among God's people
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and indeed everywhere. To rule as
king under God was to rule on God's
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behalf. which men Saul and all
other kings like him were to follow his
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law, follow God's words, follow
God's directions, and this makes sense.
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Of course. God loves us,
He loves his people and he would never
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let someone rule over them in his
place without having without being in control.
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We have absent fathers and absent rulers
in our families and societies, but God
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has never an abso in God he
never disappears for a while or checks out
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for a while or takes a vacation. He's always in charge, he's always
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ruling over his people because he loves
them, and so the Kings who were
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under him were had this most important
task. Those who ruled in his name
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were to seek him, to obey
him. Well, this is the exact
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point at which Saul failed. Listen
to the end of first chronicles ten,
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where this is summarized in verses thirteen
and fourteen. So Saul died for his
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breach of faith. He broke faith
with Jehovah in that he did not keep
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the command of Jehovah and also consulted
a medium seeking guidance. He did not
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seek guidance from Jehovah. Therefore,
Jehovah put him to death and turned the
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kingdom over to David, the son
of Jesse. This is the reason behind
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the story that I'm going to remind
you of in just a moment. In
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first chronicles ten, the chronicler puts
this as an end, as it's an
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explanation of why things happened, of
why Saul died of the way he did.
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I won't read all the verses which
is versus one through ten, but
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just summarize it for you, in
a very similar way, the Philistines come
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out against Israel, they fight against
Israel and there is on this battle.
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But because, as we read in
verses thirteen and fourteen, Saul did not
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seek the Lord, did not obey, the Lord did not find guidance from
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the Lord, he was overcome.
The philistines overtook Saul and his sons.
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They eventually kill him and his sons. They even be head Saul and we
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read that his head and his armor
are taken and presented to their idols,
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into their gods, in their temples. We have this great tragedy. Really,
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this king is supposed to rule,
he is supposed to seek God,
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seek his wisdom, follow his commands
and in that God rides out through his
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king victoriously. But because, because
Sault doesn't do these things, he's defeated,
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the people are defeated and these idols
receive a certain measure of penultimate glory.
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God was not satisfied with this result, as we read. Therefore,
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he was put to death and turned
the kingdom over. God turned the kingdom
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over to David. He would not
let God would not let human failing and
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false idols and out over his people. God had another king in mind,
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and he had for some time,
and it was then that he brought the
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boy that had killed Goliath, the
Philistine giant, to the throne. Now
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this is where the contrast comes in. Is, I hope you've already noticed,
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David is very, very different from
Saul. He was one who,
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since he was a boy, had
sought after God, had obeyed God.
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The heart of Dave Fid can be
heard throughout many of the songs that appear
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in the psalms. When we read
those psalms, we find very quickly that
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David is not putting on a show. His obedience to the Lord is not
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a some kind of political maneuver to
gain people through some kind of game,
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the commitment of people through some kind
of religious fervor. Now, David really
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believes, he really seeks, he
really trusts. When he's alone and on
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the run and in the desert,
he cries out to his God. He
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seeks God as his shield, as
his armor, as his hiding place,
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as his food. One example of
this psalm sixty three. Oh God,
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you are my God. Earnestly I
seek you. My Soul thirsts for you,
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my flesh faints for you, as
in a dry and weary land where
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there is no water. David describes
his desire for the Lord, his God,
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as one who is dying of thirst
and really hungry. He wants God
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that bad he seeks after that,
after God that earnestly. This is his
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heart. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want or Psalm Twenty
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one. Oh Jehovah, in your
strength, the king rejoices, and in
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your salvation, how greatly he exults. This is David's heart. It's what
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gave him confidence when he went before
Goliath. You remember how it goes.
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He goes into the army, among
the armies of the Lord, and he
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says, who is this dog who
is calling out against the Lord? And
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his armies and his brothers are saying, go, Oh, what are you
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doing here? You come to see
a fight, and David persists. He
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Says No, the Lord can defeat
him, and he does through David.
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So when it came time for David
to be king, he acted in accord
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with what was in his heart.
He sought God and he obeyed him,
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and that is what we have happening
here on the ground on the battle ground
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of first chronicles fourteen. The PHILISTINES
here about the new king and they want
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to establish themselves over Jehovah and his
king. They want to make it known
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that they are in control of this
region, perhaps a press their boundaries a
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little further. And you know what
David Does? Instead of running away from
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the Lord, instead of ignoring God, not seeking his guidance, the first
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thing that happens is he inquires of
God. That's not a complicated question.
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Shall I go up against the Philistines, yes or no? Will you give
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them into my hand? What does
God say to him? He says go
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up and I will give them into
your hand. And What is David Do?
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He goes up, and what happens? God gives them into his hand.
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It's so simple, isn't it?
It's so beautifully simple. It's so
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often that sin is what makes things
complicated, messy and Yucky and ethically difficult.
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Of course that's not true all the
time. The world is a complicated
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place, but so often, so
often, the Lord is simply asking for
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obedience, and that's what David gives
here. He seeks God, he obeys
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God, he trusts God, and
God is king over the people and God
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has promised to David to be a
to be his warrior, to be a
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defender of his people. David is
not asking presumptuously, he's not seeking to
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know something that is beyond what God
has promised. God has called his king
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to seek him and to gain instruction
for him and from him, and that
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is what David does. He does
it again, well again, and it's
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important too. Not only does the
repetition help a affirm David's confidence in his
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actions. That's not a one time
kind of thing, but in the differences
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as well. We see that God
trusts or, sorry, David Trusts God.
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He doesn't simply assume that things because
they were once one way, that
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they will be another. He inquires
again of God. God says this is
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the way you shall do it.
It'll shall be different, and it all
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works out again, and the result
is amazing. The PHILISTINE army is routed
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and the fame of David goes out
into all the lands. The fear of
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David is brought upon all the nations. So it's the story, as I
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say, is a complete reversal of
what had happened earlier. Obedience instead of
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disobedience the victory instead of defeat,
the glory of God instead of the glory
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of idols. But though David was
very much not like Saul, in other
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ways he was also very much like
him. Indeed, David was a good
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king, but he was not a
perfect king. That way, David is
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like you and like me. Saul
is like you and like me. David,
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like Saul, would fail at some
very important and critical moments in his
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life. His life, like Saul's
and like ours, shows that he ultimately
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was not sufficient in himself. Now
this is plain enough from first chronicles.
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Four team, the Lord being the
one victorious, the want the Lord knowing
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what shall and shall not be.
But nevertheless, David sin gets the better
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of him at times and we find
that he needed God's victory, not over
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Israel's external enemies, but her internal
ones as well. Heart Enemies, Life
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Enemies, mortal enemies, sin and
death. It's not a jump at all
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to think about things like sin and
death as enemies of the people of God.
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Not only are they called as much
in scripture, but there are many,
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but there are, in many ways, the things that make God's enemies
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God's enemies. In other words,
God is a good God. He is
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not an arbitrarily in choosing who is
against him and who is afore him.
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Who is against him and who is
for him is based on his goodness,
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and therefore it is sin. It
is sin that is against God, and
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the man who sins, who is
against God. Man is an enemy of
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God because he sins against the good
of God. Where man is a friend
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of God, it is because he
has been forgiven by the mercy of God
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so as to be made good.
And so sin, the darkness of evil,
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the absence of good, transgression,
all of these things must be to
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be defeated if God's people are to
be good, if the relationship between him
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and his children is to be holy, and not approximately holy or kind of
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holy or mostly holy, but holy, holy, perfectly holy and clean.
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Sin Cuts against this, though.
Sin Cripples us from the inside in the
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way that external army is can cripple
us from the outside. It makes fear,
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it makes guilt, it makes shame, it takes our wills and perverts
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them and twists them and bends them
to do all other kinds of sinful things.
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It brings about God's curse on us. It makes us his enemies,
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it brings about our death. And
David had sin in him, just as
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his people did, just as salt
did, and because of that it meant
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that someone greater than David would need
to come, someone greater than David would
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need to come and defeat these enemies, the greater enemies, not just the
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sinful Philistines, but sin itself.
But what King could defeat that enemy?
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Who among US would go up against
death or sin or the wrath of God?
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What King could rule not only a
people but also the hearts of the
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people? Well, no human king, that is, of course, unless
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he's divine. And so that's what
God did. The end of days.
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David's greater son would not only be
his son, but he would be the
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very son of God, Jesus,
of course, our Lord and our King,
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and this king, human and divine, who was not crippled by sin,
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would be sent to rule over his
people. He was like David and
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that he sought after God and obeyed
him, but he was unlike David and
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that he did this perfectly and completely
and finally for God's people and against their
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enemies. When you consider David's obedience
as being great in many ways, but
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still so far and incomplete from God's
perfect, holy will. And then you
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consider Jesus. Is Obedience perfect in
every way, at every moment, in
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his heart and his mind and his
actions in every difficult situation, every word
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that he spoke, every thing that
he did, was always executing perfectly,
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but God had sent him to do. When we consider the example of Jesus's
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obedience, it puts even the most
godly among us to shame. He sought
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and obeyed God like no one who
had ever come before him. He's entire
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life was completely devoted to this one
thing. Sometimes, when we hear the
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command of you know that we are
to obey God, love him with all
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of our heart, all of our
soul, all of our mind, all
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of our strength, we kind of, I think always sort of lower the
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bar a little bit because we know
how impossible that is. We kind of
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say in our hearts and in ourselves, well, I'll try really hard anyway.
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But imagine someone, remember someone who
actually did that, who is entirely
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devoted, loving to God in every
aspect of who he was and everything that
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he encountered. And this is the
obedience that brought about victory. God would
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be victorious through his obedience much like
he was with David, only here,
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instead of routing a few armies and
making this king's name famous throughout the land,
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God would make Jesus's name famous throughout
the whole world. You remember what
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Philippians says, that upon Jesus is
obedience, even obedience unto death and death
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on a cross, that God would
glorify him, and did glorify him,
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so that, at the name of
Jesus us, every knee would bow,
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the whole world would submit to this
great king. And he does this by
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casting off the curses that were on
his people, by overcoming death in the
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Resurrection, by forgiving sin. We
see little foretastes of this throughout King Jesus's
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life, as demons are cast out
of people and the evil one is overcome
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and routed, as he forgives the
sins of people who are sinful, as
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he lifts curses off of people who
have been cursed for years, as he
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makes unclean people holy. But ultimately, all this obedience would indeed be a
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come to, a kind of consummation
on the cross. And as we consider
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that, let us remember that it
was not easy. Sometimes you no doubt
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face moments of temptation where you are
at least aware of it enough in your
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heart that you confess to yourself and
hopefully to God. This is really hard.
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I don't know if I can do
this. I don't know if I
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can withstand the desire to do the
evil thing. Jesus faced that as well.
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He faced it so strongly, in
fact, that we read that in
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the garden before he was in the
garden of Cassemite, before he was crucified,
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he even prayed to God that he
that God might take the cup of
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Wrath that was coming against him from
him, if it were possible, didn't
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want to face it. Heave and
bled great drops of blood as he prayed
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and fought against temptation. He would
have to suffer and he would die because
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this great sin that was in the
hearts of his people had to be paid
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for, it had to be atoned
for. Victory would come, but it
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would come only through sacrifice, and
that's what Jesus did. When Jesus faced
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the great enemy of sin and death
and curse and wrath, he didn't do
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it from a distance. In fact, he was the onely one fighting,
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and so we have a story here
in first chronicles fourteen, not only of
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two kings, but of three.
I tell you this story so that you
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know who it is we follow when
we sit alone in our thoughts, when
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we, like David and Saul and
Jesus, face moments of temptation, when
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we decide, are making decisions about
who we ought to seek, let us
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remember the king who is greater than
Saul and greater than David, because we
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have a king over us who has
already given us a victory over these things.
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We have one who has not only
given us an example of what it
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means to seek and follow after God, who has done that so that we
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can be free from our sin,
so that we don't longer have to fear
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God's wrath and belong on the side
of enemies, but instead be counted as
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his friends. We are those who
have been known by Jesus, who have
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been saved by him. We have, in other words, a king who
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has given US victory through his own
life so that we might live. At
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one time, we were Philistines on
the wrong side of the border, fighting
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against God, but now, because
of Jesus, we belong to Israel and
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we have his protection and his guidance. Let us learn to seek it in
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obedience and by faith. Let us
pray
