The Point Of The Spear: Trusting God For Justice - 1 Samuel 26:1-25 Series

Introduction

Starting in chapter 24 (with Saul in the cave) God is teaching David about trusting Him completely for justice. Try to fight your own battles and gain justice for yourself, and you will do nothing but fall into sin. But leave justice entirely in God’s hands and you can count on Him to give you justice.

Relative Justice

And when you hear me talk about God giving you justice, you might have some hesitation at that point, because we mostly tend to think of justice in negative terms. We think justice is getting the punishment you deserve, so it is not something you want. In fact I have even heard preachers say, “Don’t ever ask God for justice. Justice is the last thing you want from God because you deserve eternal hell.”

The problem with that is the psalmists cry out to God for justice all the time. The reason we have a hard time with that is we tend to run all accounts together. So if you are guilty and deserving of punishment in one area, then the only thing justice means to you is punishment. We figure, if you are guilty of murder, and then you get an unfair parking ticket, you do not go to the judge and say, “This parking ticket is unfair – I want justice,” because the judge might say, “What do you mean you want justice? Justice means you go to prison for life.” In our simplistic minds we cannot separate one issue from the other.

But God can and does. God is the type of judge who says, “I’ll deal with the murder thing in another trial, but as far as this unfair ticket goes, you are right – it is unfair and so you do not have to pay it.” God does not mix all our accounts into one balance. He is both able and willing to separate the various issues in our lives.

So if you are a Christian, the capital crime of sin against God that deserves eternity in hell – that is taken care of. Jesus paid the penalty for that on your behalf, and has credited Jesus’ righteousness to your account so you can be declared not guilty. But what about temporal consequences? Suppose you have sinned this past week, and God is going to allow you to suffer some consequences for that this coming week. So you have some chastisement coming this week. But on the other hand, suppose yesterday someone treated you unfairly. Are you in a position to ask God for justice with the unfair treatment yesterday? Yes! God keeps the accounts separate, and so even while you suffer chastisement over one thing where you were in the wrong, at the same time you can seek justice from God in the other area where you were in the right. Praise God for His amazing mercy, and His willingness to give us positive justice even as He shelters us from negative justice!

So, David has been treated unfairly for many years now, and he is trusting God totally for justice. And last week we talked about one aspect of that justice – punishment on David’s enemies. God strikes Nabal dead, and that is just a small picture of what God is going to do to Saul. But there is more to justice than just seeing your enemies punished. There is also the matter of exoneration and vindication. Those two words mean pretty much the same thing. Exoneration and vindication are when it becomes clear that you were not in the wrong. You were the one who was in the right.

If you are treated unfairly and the other person is punished by God, but that is all that happens, and everyone still thinks you were in the wrong – that is not quite justice. Justice requires that the person be punished AND that you be vindicated.

And if God punishes your enemy and gives you vindication, that still might not be justice, because when you were mistreated you probably suffered some loss. And until that is restored, you are still on the losing end of the injustice. And as long as your enemy is on top and you are on the bottom, and they have the power and the advantage and you are in a position of disadvantage, the injustice is still in place. So last week we saw God provide one piece of justice – punishment of David’s enemies, but today we will see God beginning to work the other elements of justice.

Reversal

For a long time now David has been on the bottom and Saul has been on the top. Saul has every advantage and has power to make David’s life miserable. Saul has been in control. Saul has been chasing, David has been running.