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2001
25th February (am) - David And His Respect For The King
1 Sam.24 Matt.4:1-11

You could either make it into a tense, nail-biting thriller .... or you could turn it into a Mr. Bean / Basil Faulty type comedy - this part of the story of the life of David that we come to today.

David is on the run, being pushed further and further into the desert country near the Dead Sea, by the pursuing forces of Saul, who is determined, at all costs, to get rid of David once and for all. And the man-hunt is closing in - if it hadn't been for a Philistine attack that had to be dealt with, Saul would have had David cornered - as we're told at the conclusion of 1 Sam.23.

Having successfully dealt with the Philistine distraction, Saul returned to the hunt for David, and today we read about the episode in the cave at a place called En-Gedi - an oasis in the desert - where David had Saul completely at his mercy, but where he chose to spare his life out of respect for his position as King.

Charles Swindoll tells of his days in the American Marines where he says it was drilled into them: You don't salute the man, you salute the rank. If he's a major, even if he is a waster, salute him - he's a major!

David saluted Saul's rank - he was the King, even if a very poor one, who was now obsessed with getting rid of David - but David was not prepared to take Saul's life in that cave.

And it's the scene in that cave that makes me think that film makers could turn this story into a nail-biting thriller, as David creeps up on the unsuspecting Saul, with the knife in his hand - is he going to finish Saul off?

Or they could make it into a Mr. Bean type comedy as we imagine the ridiculous scene of David and his men hiding in the very cave which Saul enters to go to the toilet!

So nail-biting thriller or silly comedy - what sort of serious lessons should you and I learn from this episode in David's life?

Firstly, we need to consider an opportunity that seemed just too good to miss.

- an opportunity for David to put an end to this awful life he was having to live, of constantly being on the run in the wilderness.

- an opportunity to do what was perhaps unpleasant, but necessary, in order to deal with Saul who was such an obsessive threat to David's life - here David had him at his mercy.

- an opportunity to bring about his appointment as King, for David knew himself to have been chosen by God and anointed by Samuel many years earlier for that position of leadership.

Surely it was all happening now - rather suddenly and not in the way he expected, but surely this was an opportunity that was just too good to miss? Could this be the way in which God was causing things to fit into place - was this opportunity actually created by God?

David's men certainly thought so - look what they said to David: 'This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, I will give your enemy into your hand.....' (vs.4)

Maybe even David was near enough persuaded - maybe as he crept towards Saul, he was still struggling in his own mind to know what to do - part of him agreed with his men's point of view, but at the last moment, perhaps, he knew he would not/could not do it, and he simply snipped a piece from his cloak?

David decided that even though this opportunity seemed very persuasive - he could readily have talked himself into it - that rather than it being a good opportunity, it was actually a dangerous temptation - a temptation to take the law into his own hands, a temptation to take a short cut to becoming king, a temptation to see things only from his own point of view.

Maybe sometimes life can be like that - it can be very hard to know the difference between genuinely good opportunities and seriously dangerous temptations - short cuts that seem very attractive at the time, but which are actually full of the potential for danger and harm and Christian disobedience for us - because they are not God's way or God's opportunities.

- the opportunity to get our own back on someone who has hurt us or harmed us, and we see the perfect opportunity to stick the knife into their back in some way.

- the job choices that crop up where we have to weigh the issues between better salary and increased opportunities, but also the implications for family and home life.

- the business decisions or work situations where we have opportunities to benefit ourselves, and indirectly our family, but we are not sure about the rightness of it all - even though, like David's friends, others around us, are urging us to go ahead because that's what everybody does and we'd be a fool not to.

- the hobby or sport or work opportunity that might not come our way again, but will take us away from regular church worship and involvement.

- the relationship that seems so right in lots of ways, but which is not the kind of situation any Christian person should be involved in.

Life is full of situations when we have to think very carefully about whether this is a true opportunity or a dangerous temptation - an opportunity that is right for us, right in Christian terms ........ or a temptation that is really a short cut which will lead us into dangerous territory.

Sometimes the issue are very hard to sort out - the choices are anything but clear - it's important to acknowledge this - but it is also very vital that we see this lesson that what might appear to be a good opportunity could actually be a very disastrous temptation.

In another desert, many years later, Jesus, himself faced that dilemma, for it tells us that the devil offered him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour - hadn't Jesus come to establish his kingdom and to be Lord of all the world in splendour- was this the opportunity or was it a temptation? In one way it must have seemed attractive, but as he faced the choice, Jesus said 'Away from me Satan ...... Worship the Lord your God ....' If the opportunity isn't compatible with worshipping and serving our God, then maybe it is a temptation, rather than an opportunity that seems just too good to be missed.

Secondly we need to think about a principle that is far too important to forget. David resolved his dilemma and made his choice in a way that his men found difficult to understand - here they were, on the run with David, their lives were as much at risk from Saul as David's, and yet they had to stand and watch him, apparently stupidly, spare Saul's life.

It says in vs.7 that David rebuked his men - apparently that is quite a 'tame' translation for what was probably a very angry discussion.

What was it that lay at the heart of the choice David made - maybe still in two minds as he crept towards Saul with the knife in his hand?

Well, it was a deep conviction about what was right and wrong in the eyes of God - David felt a very deep and strong respect for the fact that Saul was still the king God had appointed - like him or not - The Lord forbid that ...... I should lift my hand against him for he is the anointed of the Lord.

If God was going to make David king, then it would happen by some other clearer, better means, and at some other time, than this. As David said to Saul, May the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. (vs.12)

For David it was a case of respecting the office of the monarchy and all it stood for - he would not devalue or damage it by a nasty, murderous, assassination attempt.

For David it was also a case of respecting what he knew to be God's way - a way which, while it included the need sometimes for law and order and even war, did not countenance personal revenge under any circumstances.

David's handling of his dilemma was determined by those basic principles of faith. Now, I suppose we can apply this point absolutely directly to ourselves and our own situations.

Even if there have been times when you have felt very angry with someone else, have you gone the next step, which is the sinful one, of giving into real bitterness and unpleasant determination to get you own back?

Or does this episode speak to us about how we are to evaluate some of the things that are said and done in our land - from many sides? Sometimes the things that happen seem to have more to do with feelings of bitterness and hatred and vengeance than anything else!

At the moment it is certainly true of the activities of so-called loyalist pipe bombers. Recently the Moderator, Dr. Trevor Morrow, issued a statement describing such attacks as 'a reign of terror' and he continued: I would like to say to members of my own church, who's first loyalty is to Jesus Christ and the values of the kingdom of God, to take any opportunity to show solidarity with their Catholic neighbours in standing against this campaign of evil.'

I think that reflects the same sort of principled choice that we see David making this morning - the sort of response we saw within our community last summer when attacks were made on the property of the Roman Catholic church along the road - the sort of attitudes we all need to be guided by.

And of course, David's response in the cave to Saul, also demonstrates very clearly the sort of respect that Christians should demonstrate as good citizens - respect for those in any position of authority - not least in government and in the police - a respect that is far too slow to come from some people.

All the issues with which David struggled, are the subject of Paul's explicit Christian instruction towards the end of his letter to the Romans. Remember?

ch.12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil .......Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge, I will repay .....Do not overcome evil by evil, but overcome evil with good.

ch.13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.

But you can broaden this thing out much more - that as we face all sorts of choices and options in life - it's not to be a case of deciding what simply suits us best - what seems most attractive at the time - what meets the immediate, material needs and personal preferences of our lives.

We must learn to think about the choices in terms of the Christian principles that we learn as we try to work our way through sections of God's word in sermon series, in home groups etc.

As it was for Jesus when he was faced with difficult choices and attractive temptations, so it must be for us: 'Man must not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

So like David, people who are in earnest about their Christian faith and living must hold fast to the principles that are far too important to forget.

Finally, this story of how David did not take out his revenge on Saul, even when he had him at his mercy, tells us something very practical. There was a reality that was much too significant to ignore.

That practical reality was that, despite a civilised conversation with Saul, where David explained what he had done, and how he had spared him, and where Saul acknowledged that

David was going to be the next King, David still knew that his life was at great risk - this particular episode might be over, but it would be only a matter of time until Saul's obsession with the threat of David gripped him again.

David knew this only too well and the last verse of the chapter tells us how he showed a very large measure of common sense.

Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. David wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks - he wasn't going to put himself into situations where he was asking for trouble. So instead of returning to the royal court with Saul, David and his men chose to stay in their desert stronghold. The reality of further danger was too significant to ignore.

I knew somebody who once referred to this as 'sanctified common sense' - Being practical about the decisions and issues of daily life - not in a way that goes against Christian principles, but neither in a way that just isn't in touch with reality at all.

Sometimes I have met very earnest Christian people who just aren't living in the real world at all - who have little sanctified common sense.

But there is another way in which we need to apply this point - other Christians are so gripped by the real world that they sometimes put themselves into situations where they shouldn't be for their own good - where they are almost certain to face pressures, difficulties and temptations that could have been avoided - by the people who influence them, by the places they go, by their careless neglect of resources of spiritual help and strength.

And then they wonder why faith does not seem to be working very well in their lives, or making much of a difference.

If we play with fire, we must understand that we may get our fingers burnt. David was not like that - he brought good common sense to bear on his situation - he kept out of Saul's way - and there are many times when we too need to know how to keep out of harm's reach.

Jesus, himself, knew that God's promises of love and protection did not mean that he could do anything he wanted or take any risks that presented themselves. Do you recall his temptation that we have not mentioned as yet - when the Devil suggested that he jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, because, after all, God had promised that he would not let his foot strike against a stone. Jesus reply was one about not taking foolish and unnecessary risks:

It is written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

I wonder have we ever done that - put ourselves in situations that we should never have been in because we didn't exercise practical Christian common sense?

Sometimes there are practical realities in life that are far too significant to ignore.

So nail-biting thriller in the cave?

Or Mr. Bean farce.

Or maybe, actually some very important Christian lessons from this story when David showed his respect for the King and spared his life in that cave overlooking the Dead Sea desert.

An opportunity that seemed just too good to miss - or was it?

- maybe it was one of those dangerous temptations that we too face.

A Principle that was far too important to forget

- Vengeance is mine says the Lord .......Man shall not live by bread alone ......

A reality that was much too significant to ignore

- a bit of sanctified common sense goes a long way!