God My Strength
Psalms 59
January 12, 2020
Tonight we come to the 59th Psalm and the conclusion of
This trilogy of Psalms we’ve been looking at recently.
It is the Psalms which share the distinction: “set to Al-tashheth”
Which of course means “Destroy Not”
Psalms 57, 58, and 59 are the “Destroy Not” Psalms.
But we have also said that can at first be a little misleading since in these Psalms it is clear that David also anticipated the coming judgment of God.
In Psalms 57 we read:
Psalms 57:2-3 “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”
In Psalms 58 we read:
Psalms 58:6 “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.”
And even in this Psalm we read:
(13) “Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah”
Clearly a “Destroy Not” distinction
Can be a somewhat confusing distinction
Based on the fact that David so clearly asks God to do just that.
Rather, we have recognized that the “Destroy Not” distinction
IS NOT FOR GOD, BUT FOR US.
Again I remind you of the New Testament equivalent that we have so quickly related to these Psalms:
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”
So we are studying this trilogy of Psalms which remind us that
We are those who do not take our own revenge.
It is not our objective to destroy the wicked.
We turn the other cheek, we go the extra mile,
We graciously endure a wrong suffered.
In all things we look to our chief example who is Christ.
1 Peter 2:19-23 “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
That is clearly our calling.
And that is the message David is relating in these Psalms.
And we also find that David is NOT some inexperienced or untested theologian in these Psalms either.
For the backdrop to 2 of these 3 Psalms is given.
THE FIRST was when David was hiding in the cave and had the opportunity to kill Saul but refused.
AND this Psalm also comes with a setting.
We read in the subheading, “A Mikhtam of David,
When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.”
Once again we find David in a position of great danger among lethal men
And yet, even in that situation he knows that the call is to “Destroy Not”
Let’s look at the setting first this evening.
TURN TO: 1 Samuel 19
1 Samuel 19 is earlier on in the Saul/David saga.
It was in chapter 17 that David approached Saul in order to fight the giant, and David on that day won a great victory for the children of Israel.
And in chapter 18 David became a great warrior for Saul.
1 Samuel 18:5 “So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.”
But it wasn’t long before jealousy set in on Saul’s part.
1 Samuel 18:6-9 “It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.”
And by the time we get to chapter 19 we read: (READ 1-11)
So you see the setting to the Psalm.
It precedes the incidents that we have read about previously.
Indeed, this may have been the incident in which David first learned to “Destroy Not”
We have hear a young David (filled with innocence,)
But caught up in what God is doing in the life of Saul.
• Saul had sinned against the LORD back in chapter 15 when he failed to destroy Agag of the Amalekites and even spared some of the livestock for sacrifice.
• Then Samuel asked Saul, “Has the LORD as much delight in burn offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (15:22)
• And finally Samuel revealed to Saul that the Lord “has rejected you from being king.”
• That is why Saul is at times tormented by the LORD.
• That is why David, who’s already been anointed by Samuel has God’s favor.
• That is why Saul is so jealous of David.
So as you can see, none of that is David’s fault.
He’s really just sort of a naïve innocent figure
In the midst of a greater narrative.
And all of a sudden, despite always doing his best for the King,
He finds himself trapped in his own house with the King out to kill him.
It’s an unfair and difficult situation to say the least.
And it is here that David pens yet another Psalm
And one that he would add to the “Destroy Not” trilogy.
And here is the distinction of this one.
• In the 57th Psalm we learned that no matter the opportunity afforded you, you still should not take your own revenge.
• In the 58th Psalm we learned that no matter how wicked and deserving of judgment your enemy may be, you still should not take your own revenge.
• And here in the 59th we learn that no matter the danger you are in, you still should not take your own revenge.
Even in dangerous and undeserving situations
God’s children should not take matters into their own hands
And take their own revenge.
We are still called to walk in faith and trust God,
Even in that unfair and dangerous situation.
And in this Psalm, not only do we see the faith of David modeled for us,
But we also see the theology that drove David’s faith,
And that is what we focus on tonight.
We see what David believed
• And it is that belief that allowed him to so greatly trust and obey in the midst of these unfair and dangerous situations.
So let’s look at the Psalm together tonight.
4 points.
#1 FIERCE MEN ATTACK, BUT GOD SEES
Psalms 59:1-5
The Psalm begins with the OBVIOUS FEAR AND ANXIETY of David,
For he is in a very difficult situation.
The King of the land is conspiring to kill him.
(1-2) “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who do iniquity And save me from men of bloodshed.”
Nothing there surprises us.
• If we were to find ourselves in David’s shoes we would have qualms about praying that prayer either.
David’s simple prayer is basically, “Get me out of here!”
And then David begins to express to God more accurately
THE STATE OF THE DANGER.
(3-4) “For behold, they have set an ambush for my life; Fierce men launch an attack against me, Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O LORD, For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me. Arouse Yourself to help me, and see!”
If you need a better feel for exactly the danger that David is in,
Just listen to his description of it here.
1) THESE MEN ARE SEVERE
“they have set an ambush for my life”
• They don’t want to just teach David a lesson.
• They don’t want to just run David off.
• They don’t want to just ruin David’s reputation.
• THEY WANT HIM DEAD
This is severe.
They want to kill him.
2) THESE MEN ARE SKILLFUL
“Fierce men launch an attack against me.”
• We aren’t just dealing with angry but impotent men.
• This isn’t a Chihuahua running down the street barking at David.
These men want to kill him, AND they certainly have the skill and ability.
They are “fierce men” and they have a skillful and well planned “attack”
Which has been launched.
3) THESE MEN ARE SINISTER
“Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O LORD”
In short, they want to kill me even though I don’t deserve it.
• I have not wronged them.
• I have not wronged the king.
• I have done nothing but what I ought to have done.
All David had ever done was everything the king had commanded
And yet they seek to kill him.
The point?
• These men can’t be reasoned with.
• They aren’t killing him because he deserves it.
• They aren’t killing him because he is evil.
• They are killing him because they have been told to by their king and there is no appealing his way out of it.
These are sinister and evil men.
4) THESE MEN ARE SWIFT
“For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.”
To make matters worse, they seem eager to do it.
• “they run” to their task.
• “they run” to their attack.
• “they run” to hatch their plan against me.
So do you have some sense of the danger David is in?
There is no escaping, there is no reasoning, there is no delay,
There is no hoping they won’t do it.
David is trapped in his house by those who are evil and seek to kill him.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN FACING SUCH EVIL MEN?
Well, if you’ll notice, the man who had already killed a lion,
A bear, and a giant, and several Philistines in battle
DID NOT HATCH A PLAN OF REVENGE.
• He did not call together those loyal to him that he might fight his way out.
• He did not gather his sling and his sword and prepare to one by one eliminate
those who might attack.
Instead David trusted in God and appealed to him.
WHY?
Because David believed that God sees.
(4b-5) “Arouse Yourself to help me, and see! You, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.”
The cry is for God to see.
The belief is that God does see.
David is well aware of who God is.
• He is the “LORD God of hosts” (God of angel armies)
• He is the “God of Israel” (as in the One who delivered them from Egypt)
• He is the punisher of nations.
• He is the one who judges those “who are treacherous in iniquity”
David knows God is just and David knows God is powerful,
David’s one desire here is that this just and powerful God
SEE what is occurring.
And the joy to David, and the joy to us is that GOD DOES SEE.
All of our affliction, and all of our danger is not lost to the Judge.
He is not unaware of our infirmity, or unaware of our danger.
When He calls you to not take your own revenge and to wait for Him,
It is not because He does not see.
In the book of Genesis,
• Perhaps you will remember the story of how Abraham walked in the flesh and instead of trusting God that Sarai would conceive, he instead went in to Hagar.
• Of course after Hagar conceived Sarai hated her and persecuted her.
• This caused Hagar to flee from Sarai.
But if you remember the story:
Genesis 16:7-13 “Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.” Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
God was indeed asking a difficult thing of Hagar,
To go and submit herself back to Saria.
• Hagar now was willing because she knows “You are a God who sees”
• The angel had told her “the LORD has given heed to your affliction.”
Later when Jacob was being oppressed and cheated by his uncle Laban.
Genesis 31:12 “He said, ‘Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.”
And of course God protected Jacob and delivered him.
Even later when Laban pursued Jacob, Jacob said to him.
Genesis 31:42 “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.”
Later, when the children of Israel were in Egypt and were cruelly afflicted by Pharaoh, God appeared to Moses in order to send him back to Egypt.
Exodus 3:7-9 “The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.”
David knows this, and so he appeals to the God who sees.
We have the same promise.
• We know that the hairs of our head are numbered.
• We know that He sees every time a sparrow falls, and He promises that we are more valuable than the birds.
To the persecuted church of Smyrna Jesus said:
Revelation 2:9 “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
Their tribulation wasn’t lost on Christ.
And if you can grasp that, and believe that, and lean on that,
Then you do not have to take your own revenge.
Rather, like Christ, you can entrust yourself to Him who judges justly.
That is what David is doing here.
Fierce men attack, but God sees.
#2 FOOLISH MEN BOAST, BUT GOD SCOFFS
Psalms 59:6-8
David is aware that God sees, judges,
And will judge these wicked men who attack him.
And David ALSO KNOWS that these men are absolutely no match for God.
In fact, THERE IS A CONFIDENCE creeping in here for David
As he notes that for these men to continue in their wickedness
Is quite the foolish thing.
David further describes his attackers.
“They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go around the city. Behold, they belch forth with their mouth; Swords are in their lips, For, they say, “Who hears?”
You pick up there on their arrogance and confidence.
• Compared to a howling dog that is claiming victory over it’s prey.
• Their talk is unending and boisterous and lacking any sense compared to a belch.
And all the while, they attack the innocent, and they mock and they scorn
And they boast, and they say, “Who hears?”
It is akin to that great 73rd Psalm again.
Psalms 73:8-11 “They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
Or
Psalms 10:9-11 “He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
It is the foolishness of the wicked.
So on one hand we have an afflicted man
Quite certain that God sees everything,
And on the other hand a band of thugs who think He doesn’t.
They run off at the mouth, they make bold claims;
Even blasphemous ones.
BUT THEY DO NOT INTIMIDATE GOD IN THE LEAST.
(8) “But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations.”
In Psalms 2 we saw the wicked of the earth take their stand against Christ in order to cast His cords off of them.
In response to their conspiracy we read:
Psalms 2:4-6 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
Later in Psalms 37 we read about the wicked attacking the righteous.
And we read:
Psalms 37:12-13 “The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”
God laughs, not because He finds their rebellion humorous,
But because He finds it pathetic.
We are reminded that God is not the least bit challenged, threatened, or concerned about the rebellion of the wicked.
They can boast with their mouth, but they are no threat.
Probably the greatest example of this is the man we know as anti-Christ.
Paul spoke of his boisterous speech.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
John speaks of it in the Revelation.
Revelation 13:5-6 “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”
But this braggart is no threat to God.
In fact Paul went on to say:
2 Thessalonians 2:8 “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;”
Did you catch that? “slay with the breath of His mouth”
• Not with a sword
• Not with a bomb
• Not with a club.
• Christ will need nothing more than His breath, His word to slay him.
And in the Revelation we read:
Revelation 19:19-21 “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
It wasn’t even a good fight. It was never close.
There was no threat.
AND DAVID KNOWS THIS.
In fact, this is his confidence.
That in all his affliction, he need not act on his own behalf,
For God sees and is more than capable of stopping his foe.
What a great confidence for the believer.
Fierce men attack, but God sees Foolish men boast, but God scoffs
#3 FAITHLESS MEN CURSE, BUT GOD SAVES
Psalms 59:9-13
In verse 9 we read:
“Because of his strength I will watch for You, For God is my stronghold.”
My Bible shows an alternate translation to that verse as,
“My strength I will watch for You, For God is my stronghold.”
I show it to you to see more clearly that
David is not so much enamored with the strength of the enemy
As he is enamored with the strength of God.
HE KNOWS HOW STRONG GOD IS.
Not only to destroy the wicked, but also to save His own.
And this is David’s confidence.
(10) “My God in His lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.”
• Why should I have to fight?
• Why should I have to attack?
God will do it for me.
WHY?
Because of His “lovingkindness”
This is that wonderful word CHECED again.
It gets translated “love” or “lovingkindness” or even “mercy”
But really none of those do it justice.
What it really is, is LOYALTY.
TURN TO: PSALMS 136
• I actually chuckled at this a little at the Thanksgiving service this year.
• For the Scripture reading they selected Psalms 136, but if you were there then you noticed that they read the first 9 verses and then skipped to the last 4.
• They didn’t read verses 10-22
• The reason is because most people don’t know what to do with those verses.
They translate the word “lovingkindness” or in the NIV simply “love”
And over and over boast about how “His love endures forever”
And it seems to make such a beautiful statement in those first 9 verses
• Where we read about God doing great wonders
• Or making the heavens or giving the sun or giving the moon,
• And each time we sing, “His love endures forever”
But people get to verse 10 and don’t have a clue what to do with it.
“To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
WHAT?
Or verse 15, “He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Or verse 18, “He slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
And people omit those verses because they have a tough time seeing God smiting the firstborn of Egypt as an act of love or God drowning Pharaoh as an act of love or God slaying kings as an act of love.
That’s because it’s not about love as you want to think of it.
It’s about God’s loyalty to Israel.
It’s about His loyal love to His own.
And He is so loyal to His own that He slew Egyptians
In order to save His people because His loyalty never fails.
You get the idea?
• Well that’s the loyalty David is clinging to here.
• God will save, because God is a loyal Savior.
In fact, David is SO convinced of God’s loyal intervention on his behalf
That he actually prays for God to restrain His anger
And not be as harsh as He could be.
(11) “Do not slay them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, Let them even be caught in their pride, And on account of curses and lies which they utter.”
• These are faithless men whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, but God don’t kill them.
• Instead, scatter them and make a perpetual reminder of them.
• Let people see that they are not pleasing to You and are under Your wrath.
Make an example of them.
Verse 13 seems to contradict that a little:
“Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more.”
• But that word “destroy” can also be translated “bring to an end”
• David can just be saying, stop their rule, stop their reign, strip their authority.
• And in light of verses 11&12, I’d say that is preferred.
And the reason David wants an example made of them
IS SO THAT GOD WILL ONCE AGAIN BE HONORED.
(13b) “That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah”
And here we see again the reasoning why we don’t take our own revenge.
• Not only do we trust that God sees…
• Not only do we trust that God scoffs or is able…
• But we also trust that God saves, and because He saves we do not wish to rob Him of His glory as the Savior.
We wait and we trust for God to step in and save the day
So that the world may see that He is a loyal Savior to His own.
THAT IS DAVID’S BELIEF.
And this isn’t the only time you ever saw that in David.
1 Samuel 17:44-48 “The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.” Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.”
So we don’t take our own revenge,
Even when trapped in dangerous situations
Because we believe that God sees, God scoffs, and God saves.
Fierce men attack, but God sees Foolish men boast, but God scoffs
Faithless men curse, but God saves
#4 FETTERED MEN RETURN, BUT GOD SHIELDS
Psalms 59:14-17
Here we are once again confronted with the frustrating reality that
We do not war against flesh and blood,
But against the forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
In short,
• A man may appear to be your enemy,
• And you may rise up and take your own revenge and even kill that man,
• But it will not be over, for the enemy has many servants at his disposal.
That’s why I call them fettered men, they are enslaved to the enemy.
They are held captive by him to do his work.
Someone else will arise. Someone else will come.
There will always be those who threaten us.
That will not go away.
The believer must learn to trust God in those situations.
And David does.
Even when this battle is over there will be another.
First there was a bear then there was a lion then there was a giant, then there was a king, soon it will be an entire nation of Philistines, and then his own son.
It never ends.
(14) “They return…
“They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go around the city. They wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied.”
The sinful desires of the wicked will always be there.
But it is still wrong take your own revenge.
Instead trust that God will always be there to shield and to protect
And praise Him in the midst of your affliction.
(16-17) “But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”
David’s confidence shines through doesn’t it.
Two words really seem to pop
• Strength or Stronghold
• Lovingkindness
David is convinced that God will
Always SEE, always SCOFF, always SAVE, and always SHIELD.
• He refuses to give in to the fear of man…
• He refuses to trust his own arm for deliverance…
• His theology is that God is real and God will take care of it.
For us in the New Testament, as evil men continue to come,
We rest upon the promise of our Lord.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
And that’s really the heart of this matter
As we said at the very beginning of it all, back in Psalms 57.
When we are tempted to rise up and take our own revenge;
At that moment do we really believe that God sees
And will vindicate and save His people?
Do you really believe that?
David did.
(We see in the N.T. that Jesus did)
And so to close the Psalm
We might also point out how David’s faith was rewarded
1 Samuel 19:12-24 “So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may put him to death.” When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?'” Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. It was told Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
God didn’t just deliver,
He showed His tremendous power over Saul in a humiliating fashion.
And at the end of that story, NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
How strong David was to outwit Saul and fight his way through.
Instead we talk about how faithful and powerful God was
To subdue David’s enemy.
David trusted God and God received the glory.
This is the calling for us.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”
