INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever had a person in your life that was difficult to impossible to deal with?
• WE have heard of the diva athletes and entertainers who are almost impossible to deal with. WE have seen some athletes who have figuratively blown up locker rooms.
• In your life, I bet there are or have been people who are difficult to deal with. Maybe in your life it was or IS a boss, co-worker, or someone in your family.
• How frustrating does it feel to deal with that person? Not everyone is easy to deal with or get along with.
• I want you to just take a moment to think of someone in your life that is a “difficult” person. Now imagine that the person has total power over you to the point that they even have the power of life and death over you.
• How scary would that be! What would you do, how would you deal with that person?
• Today as we continue to examine the pressure points in the life of David, we are going to examine a person in David’s life who was very difficult to deal with.
• This person happened to be the King of the nation of Israel, King Saul.
• This was not the ideal person to have problems with.
• As we look at David’s problems with Saul, we will make some observations about King Saul that will help us to better understand some things concerning dealing with difficult people.
• Our observations this morning will come from 1 Samuel 18,19 and 24. We will not be reading the whole text so when you have the opportunity; take the time to read the chapters.
SERMON
• The first observation we will make concerning difficult people is…
• SLIDE #2
I. Difficult people are not your fault.
• This is important for us to understand because if we fail to understand this concept, we will spend time trying to fix a person who is difficult instead of trying to learn how to deal with them.
• As we look at the issue between David and Saul, it become very evident this was all on Saul.
• Saul was the King, God had anointed Saul as such, but over time Saul became disobedient to the Lord and God removed His Spirit from Saul and in 1 Samuel 16, David is anointed as the next king of Israel by God through the prophet Samuel.
• David had done nothing wrong, earlier in his life he took out Goliath. He fought battles for Saul in the name of Go. He did all that was asked of him, so why then was Saul such a difficult person when it came to David?
• As a matter of fact, why are some people difficult people?
• There are a variety of reasons for this happening.
• Specific to Saul, is that Saul first of all was JEALOUS!
• We will not dig in deep on this one since we will cover jealousy in our Prodigal Perspectives series in a few weeks.
• SLIDE #3
• 1 Samuel 18:6-9(ESV) 6As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.£ 7And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9And Saul eyed David from that day on.
• Notice that Saul is jealous of David, he was alright with David as David is out winning battles for Saul, but once David got some good press, Saul was very jealous.
• This was the root from which this started, but the deeper root of the problems of Saul came from his continual disobedience to the Lord and the subsequent removal of God’s Spirit from Saul. (1 Samuel 16:14)
• Now Saul’s jealousy led to Saul questioning EVERYTHING David would do from this point on.
• In verse 9 we are told that Saul EYED David from that day on.
• Difficult people will do that to people; they will be suspicious of anything another person does. They will question even the best of things you do.
• Saul also knew that his son Jonathan was very close to David further adding to the paranoia and jealousy.
• This led ultimately to fear. Saul was afraid of losing it all to David.
• Notice in verse 8 that Saul asks rhetorically, WHAT MORE CAN HE HAVE BUT THE KINGDOM?
• SLIDE #4
• 1 Samuel 18:12-16(ESV) 12Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. 15And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
• Fear and insecurity will lead people to become difficult. Saul most definitely fit this bill.
• We need to understand that a person who is difficult is not our making, it is all on them. They decide to be difficult. Saul should have rejoiced with David and what God was doing through him, but instead, Saul tried to kill David and ultimately pursue him.
• The next observation we can make about difficult people from the life of David is…
• SLIDE #5
II. Difficult people can make your life difficult.
• Wow, this can almost go without says.
• Saul on a few occasions tried to pin David to the wall with a spear in order to kill him.
• David was forced to leave the city and eventually flee to the enemies he once fought.
• Jonathan, Saul’s son tried to convince Saul to leave David alone and in 1 Samuel 19:6, Saul agrees, but that did not last long.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 Samuel 19:15(ESV) 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”
• In verse 17, Saul calls David his enemy.
• SLIDE #7
• 1 Samuel 19:17(ESV) 17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”
• Saul made David’s life VERY difficult.
• Have you found that to be the case as you have dealt with difficult people? David basically livid his life on the run because of Saul.
• When you think about it, David up to this point had done NOTHING to provoke the King. Saul could have lived out his life as king, he KNEW the Spirit of the Lord was on David, Saul could have used David to help Saul to be a better king, he could have even tried to help mentor David to be better prepared for the time he would be king, but Saul had a deep desire to kill David.
• Saul made life for David miserable.
• O.K. so now what? What does David do, how does he handle this difficult person who has put him in difficult situations?
• Before we hit that ultimate conclusion, let us first make another observation when it comes to dealing with difficult people.
• SLIDE #8
III. Difficult people can tempt us to make bad decisions.
• Can you imagine how it is when someone makes your life miserable, can you remember all the thoughts that run through your head? Do you remember the frustration that you felt over having your life shook up by someone who was difficult to deal with?
• In chapter 23 of 1 Samuel, David is on the run from Saul who is in hot pursuit.
• This leads us to chapter 24, it looks like something is about to change the game in favor of David.
• SLIDE #9
• 1 Samuel 24:1-7(ESV) 1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
• Saul goes into the cave to use the bathroom, and low and behold, it is the cave David is hiding in. This looks like a chance to put an end to this misery!
• David’s friends are telling him, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
• They even quoted a bible passage to David to convince him to kill Saul!
• How tempting would it have been to kill the King? I think it would have been easy to justify it, David knew he was to be the next king and what luck, Saul in the cave you are hiding in.
• I think David had to be tempted to make a bad decision, but deep down, David knew better.
• Notice he cuts off a piece of Saul’s robe and then he is riddled with guilt. David convinced his men to not kill Saul.
• WE have to make sure we do not allow circumstances to cause us to make a bad decision. David KNEW that his job was not to take out Saul which leads to our final observation.
• SLIDE #10
IV. Difficult people will be dealt with by God.
• David trusted God to deal with the situation, and eventually God did, Saul died in battle.
• David comes out of the cave after Saul leaves and tells Saul that he could have killed him, but that David would not raise his hand up against God’s anointed one.
• SLIDE #11
• Look at 1 Samuel 24:12-13
• 1 Samuel 24:12-13(ESV) 12May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.
• David said that it was the Lord’s job to take care of this, he also said that no matter what evil Saul performed on David, that he would NOT take matters into his own hands.
• David trusted God to avenge him!
• Many times we take matters into our own hands because we forget this!
CONCLUSION
• Dealing with difficult people is for lack of better terms, DIFFICULT.
• As Christians we must ALWAYS remember who we serve and who we represent. WE need to make sure we understand that ultimately God will take care of the difficult person.
• It takes a real depth of faith to do that. David who had another opportunity to take the life of the King in chapter 26. Saul after saying he would leave David alone, is at it again.
• David could think, well, I gave him a break before, but no, David chose to trust God!
• Where are you today?
