One of the things that occupied many of thoughts when I first began pastoring six years ago was the question, “What does success look like for a church, and how do we get there?” Just answering the first part of that question, “What does success look like for a church?” is hard enough of a question to answer, I thought, and I had not even begun to answer the question of how we get there. Well, I still find myself asking and attempting to answer that question in one form of another. And I’m not sure I’ve even come to a good answer for the first half of the question yet, let alone the second. What I have found, however, over the past six years of wrestling with the biblical text over and over is that I’ve discovered some crucial ingredients or aspects to the answer.

Yet again, this week, as I have looked at and spent time meditating on these five chapters of 1 Samuel, I believe I’ve been reminded of some things I have learned along the way and been instructed in others for the first time. Therefore, this morning what I want to do is to look at 1 Samuel 16-20 and point out some of these things that we need to remember as we think through laboring to honor God together as a church.

The first of these things we need to remember is that …

God’s Word and his Spirit are necessary and sufficient for the success of his people (16)

1 Samuel 16 is a chapter that teaches us about the necessity and sufficiency of God’s Word. The chapter begins with God asking Samuel how long he will mourn over Saul whom the Lord has rejected as king. The Lord, therefore, instructs him to go to Jesse, as God will show him which of Jesse’s sons will be king. Samuel goes, sees Jesse’s oldest son, and is impressed. However, God tells him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (16:7).

Then, after having seen all of Jesse’s sons except for the oldest, Samuel asks if Jesse has more sons. Jesse says he does, calls for his youngest, out tending to the sheep, David, and he comes. Then the Lord tells Samuel, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he” (16:12). Samuel does anoint him, and the Spirit rushes upon David from that day forward.

At the same time, however, Saul is back on his throne suffering. The text says that the Lord’s Spirit has left Saul and God had sent an evil spirit to torment him. This probably meant that God had completely removed hand from Saul. It’s as if God removes the Holy Spirit’s presence and gives Saul over to his ways and the presence of the enemy so that Saul is now taken with severe depression and fits of anger.

In fact, this anger and depression is so great that Saul’s advisers suggest getting someone who can play the lyre. They summon for Jesse’s youngest son, David, and the next king is providentially brought into the king’s palace.

But in this story we should notice the Word and the Spirit. First of all, Samuel, even as God’s prophet is completely dependent upon God’s Word. He would have chosen another Saul as king, Jesse’s oldest son, were it not for the Spirit directing him to choose David. This is a small reminder to us that no one ever becomes anything less than utterly dependent upon God’s Word if he is to walk in obedience to the Lord.

At the same time, it is a reminder of the need for God’s Spirit. We will see in the following chapters that David and Saul are on completely different tracks. David is honoring God in most everything, and Saul is dishonoring God in almost everything. But what is the difference between the two? I believe the author wants us to see it. It’s why he lists these things back-to-back. The author writes in 16:13-14, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”

It seems he wants us to see that the difference between these two men lay not in themselves but in the presence or absence of God’s Spirit in their lives. From this point on, the Spirit guides and equips David, even positioning him in the king’s house.

Thus, we are reminded that God’s Word and his Spirit are necessary and sufficient for the success of God’s people. This is such a basic truth, I know. Yet, I also know that this truth is easily ignored. How easy is it for us to get caught up in doing church, while ignoring God’s Word and not crying out for his Spirit to empower us and move us to obedience? It is very easy. All of us have struggled with at least one, if not both, of these things at one time or another. Either we have ignored God’s Word or his Spirit or both, and maybe we have done it while being busy with working for the church, to build up the church. I hope this morning we see that that’s as ridiculous as trying to play baseball without bats, balls, or gloves.

So, let me ask you this morning the same thing I’ve asked myself this week. Do you spend time meditating on, studying, and memorizing God’s Word, as well as crying out for his Spirit to equip, aid, and guide you? If not, it is probably because you don’t see the crucial importance of these things. We do what we see as important. If we don’t have food, we run for it. If we are physically hurt, we seek immediate help. However, these things are not more necessary for us than God’s Word and his Spirit. Therefore, my prayer is that we as a church would throw ourselves into learning and loving God’s Word and crying out for the aid and empowerment of his Spirit, knowing that we will not succeed as a church without each having each of these.

Yet, there is more we see in this text. The events of chapter 17 remind us that …

God is committed to upholding his honor through the defeat of his enemies and the deliverance of his people (17)

1 Samuel 17 is a story that most in the church and many in the world know. There are references all of the time to the story of David and Goliath. You can hear a reference to it even from the mouths of sports announcers who speak of an uneven match-up in the game before them. But there is more to this text than simply a story of someone weaker prevailing over someone stronger. In fact, this text really has nothing to do about David or Goliath’s ability at all. It is a text that teaches us about God.

And it appears that the story has been inserted in the midst of our narrative (since we are reintroduced to David) to show us even more of how God worked in David’s life, not only to get him into the king’s house but to grow his popularity.

The story goes as follows. Israel and the Philistines have gathered together, facing each other in battle, ready to square off. However, instead of each of the armies attacking the other the Philistines send out one man to represent the whole.

This seems right and good. It’s like saying, “We’ll send out our best and you send out your best, and we’ll see who wins.” The problem is that the Philistines send out this mammoth of a man. He is about 9 ½ feet tall and strong as an ox. Therefore, the text tells us, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (17:11).

Now David was not at war but was out tending to the sheep. Therefore, his dad, Jesse, sent David on errands to help his three oldest brothers who were at battle. And as David walks up to the battle scene with some bread and cheese for his brothers, he hears Goliath challenging Israel and says in the midst of his brothers, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (17:26-27).

When I was in eighth grade, all of my friends would gather at my friend’s house to play wiffleball. And inevitably we would have an odd number of guys so that we would end up discussing whether we should just play five on four, or have an all-time pitcher, or what. And just as that conversation would begin, my friend’s little brother would run out saying, “Which team needs an extra player?” And without exception, my friend would tell his little brother just to go back inside, for there was no place for him in our game. He would then often badger his little brother until he left saying, “C’mon I didn’t do anything wrong.”

That’s pretty much the scene we find in our text between David and his oldest brother. Just by asking the question, David arouses his oldest brother’s anger. We find the conversation in verses
28-30: “Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, \"Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.\" And David said, \"What have I done now? Was it not but a word?\" And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.”

But as Goliath speaks again, David says to Saul that he will fight Goliath. Saul then declares, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth\" (17:33). But David points out that he has slaughtered lions and bears and will kill this Philistine as well. And sure enough, after seeing that Saul’s armor will not fit, David goes out, slings a stone into Goliath’s forehead, and then takes Goliath’s sword and cuts off his head, winning the praise of Israel as they went and routed the Philistines.

But, as aforementioned, there are so many ways we could get this story wrong. First, we get it wrong if we see that this story is about not doubting the runt of the pack. David’s brother points out his inability, Saul does the same, and then Goliath does the same before David slaughters him. But that’s not how we’re supposed to see this text. Second, we get it wrong if we think this is a text about conquering “Goliaths” in our own lives. It’s not a story teaching us that if we will just be clever and courageous enough then we can overcome all the enormous obstacles that stand before us and some great business venture. In fact, we get this text wrong, I believe, if we try to put ourselves in David’s shoes. For this is not a text telling us what can do what David did at all. Again, this is a text about God. This text communicates a theological point. David knew it.

When David first speaks about Goliath, he is the first who sees what really is happening, God’s honor is being threatened. He says before his brothers in verse 26, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God.” Then, as David speaks to Goliath, telling him what he is going to do to him, David has courage because he knows what God can do. He says, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to 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 saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand\" (17:45-47).

Clearly, as he states, he understood that the battle is the Lord’s. He knew that God upholds his honor by defeating his enemies and delivering his people and that this incident was no different.
Again, why is David successful? It’s not because he’s clever and courageous. Those aren’t the chief lessons we’re to see in this text. Rather, it is a lesson that God is continually committed to upholding his honor and will do so. The actors may have changed in this drama from those in the Exodus or even with the Philistines or Amalekites in chapters 13-15. But the theme is the same? God is committed to upholding his honor through the defeat of his enemies and the deliverance of his people.

Therefore, by relying on God’s Word and crying out for his Spirit, abandoning the schemes and tactics the world tells us we need for success, doesn’t leave us helpless and hopeless. For we do not need the weapons of this world when we know that God is committed to upholding his honor among his people. This is our hope as we go forth, looking for God to use us for his glory. We meditate on his Word, cry out for his Spirit, and trust that God will work through us – not because of our greatness but because he is committed to upholding his honor and glorifying himself through his people.

Then, chapters 18-19 remind us that …

God is able to ensure that we accomplish the purposes he has for us (18-19)

If we think that this text shows us that to have God’s Spirit means all will be easy and void of challenges, chapters 18-19 correct our thinking. Chapter 18 provides us with a mixed response to David. First, Jonathan comes to love David as himself. After seeing David defeat Goliath, it’s as if Jonathan realizes not only that he wants to aid David but that David is to be the next king. Therefore, we read in 18:3-4, “Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.” And David continued to have success everywhere he went so that even Saul’s daughter loved him and the Israelite women sang songs of praises about him, singing, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his tend thousands.” And this angered Saul.

Therefore, even though Saul’s children loved David, Saul grew to fear him, hate him, and wanted to kill him. In chapter 18 we read that twice, in a fit of anger and depression, Saul threw his spear at him but David evaded it.

Saul then began to scheme as to how to kill David. He first told David that he would give him his daughter, Merab, if only David would fight the Philistines for him. His thought was that David would die in battle. But David kept succeeding, and so Saul gave his daughter to another man. Saul then tried a bit of a twist on his previous plan. He told David that he could have his daughter, Michal, if only he would bring him 100 foreskins of the Philistines. This would surely ensure David’s death. But not only did David succeed, he brought Saul 200 foreskins.

But David did not always escape Saul’s attacks on his own. Rather, God provided for David through different people. In chapter 19 we read of God using three different ways to provide for David. First, God used Jonathan. David tells Jonathan that he must hid from his father, for Saul wants to kill him. Therefore, Jonathan confronts Saul. We read of this conversation in 19:4-7, “And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, \"Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?\" And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, \"As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.\" And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.” God had spared David by using Jonathan. But this would be temporary.

As soon as David succeeded in the next battle, Saul’s anger was kindled once more and he plotted to kill David. But this time Saul’s daughter got news of Saul’s intent and convinced David to leave the house, made a dummy of David in the bed, and deceived her father so that David could escape. Again, God had spared David, this time using Saul’s daughter, Michal.

Finally, David fled to Samuel in another town. However, Saul got news of David’s whereabouts and sent some men to kill David. But as they came to where David was, the Spirit overpowered them so that they prophesied and were unable to attack David. This happened three times before Saul decided to go himself. But the same happened to Saul. We read, “Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, \"Where are Samuel and David?\" And one said, \"Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.\" And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, \"Is Saul also among the prophets?” (19:22-24)

Though David had escaped by evading a spear, defeating the Philistines in battle, having Jonathan speak on his behalf, Michal deceive her father, or the Spirit overpower Saul and his messengers, we are clearly to see that God is the one providing for his anointed king. And it is another lesson for us about God, namely, that God is able to ensure that we accomplish the purposes he has for us.

David was God’s next king, and nothing was going to stop that. So, for us we need to see that God is able to ensure that we will accomplish his purposes for us as well. Fretting while a child or God is foolish. God is sovereign, and he may use all kinds of means, but he will ensure that we accomplish his purposes for us. Therefore, let us turn our attention to seeking him, trusting in him, obeying him, and revolving all of our lives around him and his purposes. Make God your life.

Therefore, we’ve seen that we need to mediate on God’s Word and cry out for his Spirit, that God is committed to upholding his honor in defeating his enemies and delivering his people, and that God is able to ensure that we accomplish his purposes for us. Finally, in chapter 20 we see that …

We need to set our focus on honoring God and not building our own kingdoms (20)

On its surface, chapter 20 is simply about Jonathan figuring out that Saul indeed is committed to senselessly seeking David’s life, coming up with an interesting way to communicate that to David, and the two of them parting ways for David’s protection. But there is something else we must see there as well.

First, however, the story. David summons Jonathan to find out why it is that Saul wants to kill him. After all, if he could find out the reason for Saul’s rage, maybe he could do something about it. So, Jonathan agrees to find out one night at dinner while David stays away. Then, in case they can’t meet up with each other, they figure out a way to communicate the news. Jonathan will fire some arrows into the field. If David is safe to come back, Jonathan will tell his servant that the arrows are on a certain side from him, but if David must flee, Jonathan will tell his servant that the arrows are beyond him.

The first night at dinner, with David absent, Saul says nothing. He assumes David must be unclean. The next night, however, Saul sees David gone and asks Jonathan where he is. Jonathan answers that he had given David permission to go sacrifice in Bethlehem, and Saul blows up. He points out to Jonathan that if David becomes king, it ensures that Jonathan never will. They then argue, Jonathan pointing out that David has done nothing worthy of death, and Jonathan leaves. The next morning, he fires the arrows, shows David he must flee, and they hug, weep, and separate from one another.

But what is most interesting about this narrative is the covenant made between Jonathan and David. We read it in verses 12-17, “And Jonathan said to David, \"The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.\" And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, \"May the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.\" And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.”

In this covenant Jonathan asks God to be with David as king, ensuring he will never reign as king himself. To protect your right to the throne, you killed the enemies of the king, but Jonathan would not do that. And at the same time, once David became king, he should have wiped out all of his enemies (i.e. Saul’s descendants), but he promises Jonathan he will not do that. By worldly standards, both of these men refused to seek what the world would tell them they needed to do to build their kingdoms. And it seems it’s because both of these men had a higher priority. They wanted to live in faithfulness to God and watch him build his kingdom, using them if it pleased him.

Whatever success as a church looks like, I know this is a key lesson for us as well. We must simply seek to faithfully obey God and not seek to try to build our own kingdoms. May God forbid that we ever get caught up in wanting people to see how great we are and pointing others to our abilities. Rather, may we trust God, obey him, and watch him build his kingdom.

As I began, I don’t know that I can outline everything success as a church looks like. But I believe this text points us to some necessary ingredients. We need to meditate on God’s Word and cry out for his Spirit, trust God to uphold his honor, and, trusting that God will accomplish his purposes through us, not seek to build up our own kingdoms but seek to obey God so that he might build up his.

And in all of this, we know Christ’s church will succeed, for we have a king, the Son of David whose way God was preparing even in this text. David would become king because David’s greatest Son would reign on the throne as a victorious King. And because his victory is sure, so is the success of his people. Indeed, we can know whether by our lives or our deaths, God will be honored through his church. May glory be to him forever and ever. Amen.

CHOOSING OF ANOTHER KING AND ANOTHER REMINDER OF GRACE