Lose Your Worst Enemy • 1 Samuel 18

39:57 Teaching begins

Notes

How would you feel if you were to wake up one morning and realise, “I have been working against myself my whole life.”? All your problems were not someone else’s fault, all this time they were your fault.

And then everything you’re afraid to lose, everything valuable to you, was suddenly lost forever? You’re wiped out, and you did it to yourself?

What would be worse is if you never figured out the real problem.

That’s going to happen to many, many people. Today we look at one guy who never realised that he was his own worst enemy and lost everything.

We’re looking at this because God doesn’t want you to lose everything. He wants you to lose your worst enemy: yourself.

I’m reading in 1 Samuel 18 (1-4).

1. Jonathan makes a covenant with David, vv. 1-4.

A. What does Jonathan see in David? A man of God who is his superior in knowing, loving, following God.

1. Jonathan is a man who himself loves God and has a relationship with Him. We’ve seen his trust in God as he and his armour bearer start a war against the Philistines. He’s a man who lives conscious of the presence of God with him. He knows that God loves him.

2. David is a God-fearing, God-trusting, God-loving man even more than Jonathan. Remember Jonathan was with Saul the whole time. Even he didn’t dare go up against Goliath. And David did. Here is a leader of men, empowered by the Holy Spirit, dedicated to the glory of God completely. Nothing low or greedy or dirty about David. He is a man of God.

3. When you meet a man who gives you that impression that his life is utterly connected to God that is practically miraculous. You don’t see that every day. That is a work of God. It’s glorious if you ever get to meet someone like that.

B. Jonathan makes David commit to a covenant relationship in the love of God.

1. He is allying himself with David. He is uniting himself with David. A covenant is a bond. Why would Jonathan do that? Because he doesn’t trust David? Legal protection?

2. The love of God naturally brings unity, brings connections, a bond. That’s what relationship is about: that invisible connection that says, I am committed to you. Love loves to be committed. That’s why our relationship with God is called the New Covenant. God has given us salvation and eternal life through this promise, this bond, this uniting us with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. It’s a bond that lasts forever, therefore Jesus saves us to the uttermost. Jonathan is making with David a covenant relationship in the love of God.

3. Not only that, Jonathan gives practically everything of value he has to David. Jonathan is not thinking, hey, if I give it all away what will I have? No! God does not think of Himself; God’s love gives freely to His beloved.: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Paul says, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Jonathan gives freely, lavishly by the love of God.

4. The one who loves God loves the one who is born of God. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him, 1 John 5:1. God’s people love one another with pure, holy, committed love of God.

C. You will read occasionally that some people see same- sex attraction here, that supposedly Jonathan has a homosexual relationship with David.

1. You can read into the text anything you want, but you’re not being honest with the text. You are twisting the text, and that’s what sin does. Sin twists everything good that God made, like male relationships.

2. God says for a man to lie with a man like a female is an abomination. That destroys what God has created through twisting and corrupting what He has made to be good, which is sex and relationships. For men committed to God like David and Jonathan to practice what God calls an abomination would be an impossible contradiction.

D. It’s healthy for men to know one another, admire one another, commit to one another, and love one another in the love of God. That’s pure, holy, sacred. God’s will is that men have healthy relationships with one another, like Jonathan and David.

E. The reason that men and women don’t experience this close relationship is lack of commitment. If you aren’t completely committed then at some point the commitment breaks down right when you need it. It’s not when things are good that you need relationship, it’s when it’s difficult. If the commitment breaks at some point, there’s no more relationship.

F. Therefore, if you want that kind of close, committed relationship, be a person who is first committed to Jesus Christ. Receive the love of God. Then you be a person who commits to others no matter what.

2. Saul takes David permanently on staff.

Saul is happy with David and sees him as a valuable man to have around. He doesn’t let him go home anymore from now on. He wants that relationship with David. Who wouldn’t? David is a great guy.

3. But Saul begins to suspect David and breaks relationship with him, vv. 5-9.

A. The rest of this chapter shows us Saul’s thoughts, where no one can see but God.

1. Verse 5 shows us a summary of things as they are outwardly. David is going where Saul sends him, he behaves wisely, the people and Saul’s servants all think he’s a great guy. The chapter shows us the process how David gets to this position. This is what things look like on the outside.

2. But we will see that Saul’s thoughts are very different on the inside. It looks like he is doing good things, but he’s intending bad things to happen to David.

B. It starts when these women come out to sing their praises and Saul thinks, they’re praising David more than me. He sees that as a direct insult to his dignity as being the first in the kingdom.

C. He thinks, what more can he have but what is mine, the kingdom. He sees David as someone who will take away what is his.

D. Because he suspects David of unworthy motives he cannot have a relationship of trust with him. You can’t suspect someone and trust them at the same time. Therefore Saul has no relationship with David from here on in.

4. First Saul gives way to an impulse as he is being troubled by an evil spirit, vv. 10-12.

A. He gives in to this impulse: I’ll pin David to the wall, I’ll get rid of him. He does this twice.

B. He covers it up by saying, wow, I was really under the influence of that thing, sorry.

5. Then Saul makes David a commander, vv. 13-16.

A. He can’t handle David’s presence so he makes David a captain over a thousand.

B. This is a promotion with evil intent. Saul hopes that the promotion goes to David’s head and he gets self- confident and careless so that he does something arrogant and stupid in front of the soldiers, the officers, and all Israel. Chalk it up to foolish youth, get rid of David in public disgrace.

C. But David is a serious, disciplined man of God. He meditates on the word of God day and night, and all the more when he takes on so much public responsibility. He is faithful to God, therefore he is faithful in his trusted position.

D. Saul’s scheme backfires, and David is more known and trusted and loved than ever.

6. Saul tries to kill David through marriage, twice, vv. 17-30.

A. Saul owes David his daughter for killing Goliath. That was his very public offer.

B. Notice that Saul encourages David to be very valiant and win battles for the sake of love and me. He hopes that trying to be valiant the Philistines kill him.

C. David has problems because he really can’t afford a proper dowry to marry a king’s daughter. And Saul snubs David, giving Merab to another guy.

D. But then Saul’s younger daughter Michal falls in love with David, and Saul has a solution for a poor guy to marry his daughter: go get me 100 Philistine foreskins. He doesn’t think that David will be able to do that, so he’s not risking his daughter that much. But then David says, “Yeah!”, and goes and kills 200 Philistines. Saul’s plan backfires and he gives Michal to David.

7. So we arrive at verse 30 and it’s essentially the same as verse 5.

A. Now we know how David got to this place. Saul is trying to kill David with responsibility, with battle, with marriage, and David is being blessed by God.

B. Three times in this chapter we see Saul’s fear, verse 12, 15, and 29. He is scared to death that David is going to take his kingdom.

8. So what?

A. Saul is personally responsible for his own problems, not David.

B. What if he would talk to God and say, “What’s the deal? Why is David out to get my kingdom?” God would say, “I gave you that job. I took your job away for disobeying Me. David will take over because I have chosen him. Nothing you do can stop him because I’m with him. You’re scheming and fighting and sinning against Me. You will not succeed.“

C. But he doesn’t ever talk with God! This is the main issue: he has no relationship with God at all. Therefore he is fighting and sinning against his own soul. He is his own worst enemy.

D. But don’t think, “Poor Saul.” Think, “Poor me.” Where is your relationship with God? Your sin and your rebellion put you in the same boat as Saul.

E. Don’t think, “If I submit to Jesus I’m going to lose everything.” You already have lost everything. Death will tear all you have out of your hands, even your own soul. And Jesus will dethrone every king and rule over this earth. God has chosen Him and nothing can stop Him.

F. The only solution is to listen to God and get off your throne while you still can.

1. Saul never did that. But each of us can. Surrender to God’s king, Jesus, just like Jonathan did. Jonathan didn’t lose a thing by submitting to David and neither will you, because David is a great guy but Jesus is better than David. David saved Israel by conquering Goliath. Jesus saves you by conquering sin, death, and the devil.

2. Enter into the New Covenant by trusting that Jesus died for your sins. Be united with Jesus.

3. And then give everything you have to Jesus. Give Him your weapons, your clothes, your money, your past, and your future. Submit to Him because He is superior to you; He is your Lord.

And you will lose your worst enemy: yourself.

Let’s pray.