Let us continue to worship God by listening to His very words to us. God has given and preserved for us the Bible through which He speaks to us directly or gives us examples of how to live. Everybody has a Bible? Also have your Bulletin handy which has the outline of the Message. Anyone needs a Bulletin?
Let’s all hold up our Bibles and let us all pray our commitment to God’s Word……
Open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 18… look at v1…..
God tells us that Jonathan loved David with a godly type of love.
Now look at v20…. God tells us that King Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David.
And to prepare us for Chapter 19, also take a look again at v29 of 1 Samuel 18…..
God tells us that Saul hated David for the rest of his life!
Let us now listen to God telling us a story to learn from in 1 Samuel 19, read along with me v1-17…..
We noted that Jonathan loved David; and so when Jonathan found out that his father King Saul wanted to kill David, we can note love in action through Jonathan:
v2: warned David of the danger!
v3-5: took time and reasoned with the opposition to save David!
And what do we note in v6? How do we know that Saul’s oath was meaningless??
God told us that Saul hated David for the rest of his life and that included that moment Saul said an oath! And so instead of love in action, we see in v6: evil in action through Saul!
Evil will lie with their minds and speech!
And what can we note from v9-10? First of all, what does it mean that an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul?
We can answer this by answering this question: how did Saul become evil? We already noted in earlier chapters of 1 Samuel that Saul continually rejected God and so God allowed evil spirits to be upon him; in other words, instead of yielding to God the Holy Spirit, Saul yielded to an evil spirit! We can understand this more as we listen to the Son of God Jesus Christ; Jesus states in Luke 11, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If Saul humbly asked God for the right things, God would never give an evil spirit! And so, Saul allowed evil within him to try and kill David again with a spear. Evil will lead to hate and taking another person’s life!
Now, what do we note in v11-17? We now see love in action through Michal!
v11: like Jonathan, Michal with love warned David of danger!
v12: Michal not only warned David but assisted in escaping from danger!
And yes
Now, what Michal did was interesting! Was Michal’s actions for love in v13-17 commendable or not commendable??
Michal’s actions were commendable because she was creative, resourceful, and a doer to help David!
Not commendable because she basically lied!
And yes, what in the world she was doing with an idol?
Aaaah love!
Let us apply to our lives the Biblical Principles from this passage.
1. Let’s not follow the example of Saul who allowed evil to take action in his life. Can this happen to a Christian? Let us note that Saul was a Believer of God but slowly turned away from God. A Christian can slowly turn away from God by neglecting the full armor of God! If not protected, evil can impact the Christian in every part of mind and body!
The full Armor of God, available to every Christian, will protect the christian from allowing evil to impact them!
Know the Full Armor of God and always put it on!
2. Put to action God’s love within you! How can we do this?
a. First of all, real love comes from God and is a major fruit of the Holy Spirit within Christians! If we grieve the Holy Spirit within us, the fruit of love from the Holy Spirit will not manifest. How do we solve this problem?
First of all, ask yourself, “Am I truly loving God first in everything?” Then……
Always pray starting with confession of sins, then yield to the power of the Holy Spirit!
b. With God’s love, look for opportunities to save someone from danger and do something about it without sinning (Pray, hear God’s Word, ask for God’s leading!)
Let us note that there are many dangers in this world and the most dangerous of all is what unbelievers of Christ will face in eternity!
As we take a moment to quiet our hearts before God, think about the dangers you and you loved ones may be getting into then quietly pray for God’s leading.
