WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.900 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Allow 2 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:09.800 the record to reflect that I give thanks to God for our sermon 3 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:12.700 series that we have had on first Samuel throughout the semester. 4 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:16.300 We have been blessed by Christ through his Word, as he always, so 5 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:17.100 blesses us. 6 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:20.800 But also it's given us a good chance to see how you can preach through 7 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.000 a given book of the Bible in a very salutary fashion. 8 00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:30.200 Even when a book is like first Samuel with a lot of very difficult 9 00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:36.100 text to grapple with. Speaking of which allow the record to reflect that a 10 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:41.100 certain new member of The Faculty was first assigned at the beginning 11 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:46.100 of the semester to preach on the death of Nadab, Abihu and Eli. 12 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:51.800 And today is assigned to preach on the death of Saul as he falls on 13 00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:53.200 his own sword. 14 00:00:53.400 --> 00:00:58.100 Now perhaps this is a bit of a rite of passage a little professorial 15 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:00.200 hazing that the new guy 16 00:01:00.300 --> 00:01:06.300 guy is given a pair of very difficult weighty texts to preach on. But 17 00:01:06.300 --> 00:01:10.400 then this whole series from First Samuel has persistently presented us 18 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.100 with difficult, weighty texts. 19 00:01:13.100 --> 00:01:16.200 And that is a reason to give 20 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:18.100 thanks to Christ. 21 00:01:18.100 --> 00:01:25.600 He blesses us with such difficult texts because they are so real. 22 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:30.200 Our text today is real because it delivers to us 23 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:37.400 real historical people. The three sons of Saul including Jonathan 24 00:01:37.600 --> 00:01:44.800 lived and then they died at the hands of the Philistines. Saul lived 25 00:01:44.800 --> 00:01:49.700 and then he breathed his last as he fell on his own sword. 26 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.700 Only then to have the Philistines cut off his head. 27 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:53.400 Now 28 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:59.300 this text is real both in its historical account, but it's also so 29 00:01:59.300 --> 00:02:00.000 real 30 00:02:00.300 --> 00:02:06.900 because these pages of Holy Scripture are wet with the tears of 31 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:08.000 disappointment. 32 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:14.800 The expectations for Saul had been so high when he was selected as 33 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:15.400 king. 34 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:19.100 He stood a head taller than everyone else. 35 00:02:19.100 --> 00:02:24.000 Just the kind of figure that inspires confidence amongst people. 36 00:02:24.300 --> 00:02:28.000 And then there were the words of Samuel when Saul was selected. 37 00:02:28.100 --> 00:02:31.500 Samuel said, do you see him whom 38 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:37.600 Yahweh has chosen, as king there is none like him among the people. 39 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:38.600 And so the 40 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.800 people replied, long live the king. 41 00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:45.800 And the first thing that were then told that he's able to do his King, 42 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:50.300 is that he's able to deliver Jabesh-Gilead from the hand of the 43 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:52.700 Ammonites things are starting off 44 00:02:52.700 --> 00:02:53.800 so incredibly 45 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:54.300 well. 46 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:57.500 And because he's able to deliver them. 47 00:02:57.500 --> 00:02:59.500 We are not be surprised that in today's 48 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.500 text, we are told that the valiant men of Jabesh-Gilead, then go and 49 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:10.900 get his body and the body of his sons and bring them back, less that 50 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:13.600 they be mistreated by the Philistines. 51 00:03:14.700 --> 00:03:21.100 But what started off with so much promise steadily, went down hill. 52 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:25.200 Saul would be too impatient to wait for Samuel. 53 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:29.900 So he would go off and offer his own sacrifice acting as if he himself 54 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:32.900 were a priest rather than a king. 55 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.500 Then Saul would take a rash vow. 56 00:03:37.100 --> 00:03:42.100 That should have ended with his own son, Jonathan dying as a result of 57 00:03:42.100 --> 00:03:44.300 that vow, but because he wanted to spare his son 58 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:45.100 life 59 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:50.500 he goes back on his own word. And then would come his resentment of 60 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:52.400 David as the people would sing. 61 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:55.500 Saul has killed his thousands. 62 00:03:55.500 --> 00:04:01.900 David his ten thousands and no King wants to be second in stature to a 63 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:02.700 little Shepherd boy. 64 00:04:02.700 --> 00:04:07.100 Envy then drives Saul so that he even tries to pin 65 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:09.800 David to the wall with his own spear. 66 00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:15.400 And then he will pursue David relentlessly rather than tending to his 67 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:16.000 own 68 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.200 Kingly duties. 69 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:23.000 Saul's onward descent would bring him all the way down to Endor where 70 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:29.400 he will employ a medium to try to communicate with Samuel who's now in 71 00:04:29.400 --> 00:04:30.300 the grave. 72 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:36.500 And the tragic downward spiral of Saul ends in today's text. Where he 73 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:38.600 falls on his own sword. 74 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.600 How could it end like this? 75 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:43.900 Now 76 00:04:43.900 --> 00:04:49.400 we all know the biding pain of disappointment. The jilted spouse. 77 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:56.800 The parent whose children despise him. The children, who are disowned 78 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.800 by parents. The pastor, 79 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.900 the Deaconess the congregation that anticipated tranquility, but 80 00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:04.900 instead have found strife. 81 00:05:05.200 --> 00:05:08.000 We all know the biding pain of disappointment. 82 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.100 But this well, this is different, disappointment isn't even the right 83 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:14.500 word. 84 00:05:15.400 --> 00:05:18.800 I don't even know what the right word is. 85 00:05:19.700 --> 00:05:22.700 How could it end like this? 86 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:27.600 How can someone with so much promise someone whom Yahweh himself had 87 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.400 chosen as king come to this. 88 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:37.300 It's testimony to the truth that none of us are immune to sins, inner 89 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:40.400 decay that eats away at us. 90 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:42.600 And that is a fit reminder 91 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:47.500 for each one of us about the great value that you have in your Winkle 92 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:51.400 Groups that have been part of your formation labs. The bonds of 93 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:53.100 fellowship that have been built up 94 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:58.100 there are invaluable not just for your Seminary days, but for all the 95 00:05:58.100 --> 00:05:59.600 days of your life. 96 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:05.900 Those bonds are Christ blessing to you for a lifetime as you turn to 97 00:06:05.900 --> 00:06:08.700 one another amid disappointment. 98 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:14.000 And especially on those days when disappointment is not strong enough 99 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:20.700 of a word for what you are facing turn to one another for support. And 100 00:06:20.700 --> 00:06:24.800 since you've been able to build up such bonds and get to know each 101 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:25.000 other 102 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:25.200 so 103 00:06:25.200 --> 00:06:29.900 well, take note of when a brother or a sister 104 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.300 doesn't seem to be himself or herself and deliver the needed 105 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:37.100 support. 106 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.400 Let none of you descend like 107 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:42.700 Saul descended. 108 00:06:44.200 --> 00:06:47.700 Now, I've always wanted to have a neat and tidy way to wrap up this 109 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:52.100 account of Saul to make everything seem like, it's okay. 110 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:58.500 I don't have a way to do that because his tragedy is too real to have 111 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:00.000 a neat and tidy answer. 112 00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:06.900 What I can say is this Saul was not only selected by Yahweh to be 113 00:07:06.900 --> 00:07:07.400 king. 114 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:11.000 He was loved by Yahweh. 115 00:07:12.400 --> 00:07:16.700 Christ died and rose for Saul. 116 00:07:17.700 --> 00:07:20.400 Now, I may not be able to say much more than that 117 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:24.400 but that is a lot to say. 118 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:28.900 I can also say this of Saul. In him 119 00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:32.600 we see what becomes of the kingdoms of man. 120 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:38.600 The narrative of 1st Samuel drives, this point home with today's text, 121 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:44.700 being the climax of it. The kingdoms of man fall apart. 122 00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:49.000 Now, the annals of history, of course testify it to it as well. 123 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:55.000 But in Saul, we witnessed the tragic fragility of the kingdoms of man in 124 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.100 such graphic detail. 125 00:07:58.200 --> 00:08:01.900 And in our own lives, we witness it as well. 126 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:08.500 Each of us lives in this despotic delusion that we can control 127 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:11.700 ourselves, that we can rule, and reign in our own lives. 128 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:16.500 And over anyone that just might be under our chance to control. 129 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:25.000 And then in his grace Yahweh reveals that my path is the same path as 130 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:25.600 Saul. 131 00:08:25.900 --> 00:08:31.500 Unless I am saved from myself. Unless he pries open 132 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:36.299 my white-knuckled hand, that has hold of myself. 133 00:08:36.400 --> 00:08:43.400 So that I might receive in an open hand, a different kind of rule that 134 00:08:43.400 --> 00:08:46.100 another rule might dawn upon me. 135 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:52.300 This narrative is not only given to reveal the tragic end of the 136 00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:57.900 kingdoms of man, but it's also given to us that we might have a holy 137 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.600 yearning for a 138 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.600 different kind of kingdom. 139 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:08.900 The reign of God is glimpsed in the reign of David. 140 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:16.500 Now, he is just as flawed a figure as Saul, his sins are legendary. Yet 141 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:17.300 in David 142 00:09:17.300 --> 00:09:19.700 we glimpse the heart of God. 143 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:22.000 Remember what happened earlier 144 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:27.900 in first Samuel, how when God had to reject Saul as king over Israel. 145 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:33.300 He then sends Samuel to anoint David as king over Israel and he 146 00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:37.700 chooses David because this is a man after his own heart. 147 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:45.100 So turn this page with that is wet with the tears of disappointment 148 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:48.200 and turn to 2nd Samuel 1. 149 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:54.800 The very next page and listen to David's reaction to the death of Saul. 150 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:02.400 Saul who tried to kill him Saul, who had hunted him endlessly. Saul, 151 00:10:02.400 --> 00:10:06.900 who's animosity had inspired today, David to write more than one. 152 00:10:06.900 --> 00:10:07.700 Psalm. 153 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:08.700 That was all about 154 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:11.800 God delivering him from the hands of his enemy. 155 00:10:12.100 --> 00:10:17.200 So, how does David respond to the death of Saul? With delight that 156 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:22.100 his oppressor is vanquished? Relief that he is no longer in the 157 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:23.100 crosshairs? 158 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:24.600 No. 159 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:28.400 David tears his garments. 160 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:33.700 He mourns he weeps, he fast. 161 00:10:34.900 --> 00:10:37.000 He even puts his lament. 162 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:38.400 He laments for Saul. 163 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:42.300 He even puts his lament to poetry. 164 00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:46.900 That includes this line. You daughters of Israel 165 00:10:47.400 --> 00:10:53.200 weep for Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in Scarlet. 166 00:10:53.300 --> 00:10:56.700 Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 167 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:00.600 Do you see what the reign of God is like? 168 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:02.800 It's beautiful. 169 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:08.600 There's no resentment against lowly Shepherds, who steal, so much 170 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:09.400 attention. 171 00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:11.400 There's no relief 172 00:11:11.400 --> 00:11:13.800 seeing the end of despots. 173 00:11:14.300 --> 00:11:19.100 But instead a heart that overflows in grace. 174 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.600 Now, this would not be the last time that David's Yahweh 175 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.800 like heart would be seen. The day would come when it would be David's, 176 00:11:29.800 --> 00:11:33.100 own son who had sent him to flight. 177 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:38.100 David's own son, who would lead an insurrection against his father and 178 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:39.700 it wouldn't take long before that 179 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:42.400 rebellious son would be dead. 180 00:11:43.800 --> 00:11:50.300 And, again, David does not rejoice but laments at the death of his 181 00:11:50.300 --> 00:11:51.300 rebellious 182 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:53.000 ungrateful, son. 183 00:11:53.800 --> 00:11:56.600 Oh, my son Absalom, my son. 184 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:57.800 My son Absalom, 185 00:11:57.800 --> 00:11:59.800 if only I had died in 186 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.100 instead of you. 187 00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:08.800 That is the way of the kingdom of God, the king chooses to die that 188 00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:11.700 his sons and daughters should live. 189 00:12:12.900 --> 00:12:17.800 You get a glimpse of that reign in David, just a glimpse. 190 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:24.800 The fullness is bound up in the kingdom of God, dawning upon us in 191 00:12:24.800 --> 00:12:25.600 Christ. 192 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:31.400 A reign that is ours even now just as we await the day of its 193 00:12:31.400 --> 00:12:34.700 consummation, when the king comes again. 194 00:12:35.800 --> 00:12:41.100 Until that day, we pray, thy kingdom come. 195 00:12:42.400 --> 00:12:45.700 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.