Everything we pursue in life will fail us, except for God.   ~~~ What would you say is one of your life’s greatest pursuits? If we don’t take time to think about this, to plan our lives around pursuits, then what usually happens is that life just kind of drifts. We drift in our jobs, with no real aim or purpose. We drift in our relationships. We drift from one week to the next, one season to the next, with no real advancement, growth, or change in our lives. So I think it is important to have goals, bucket lists, and pursuits. They give us something for which to wake up. They keep us going. Do you have a pursuit? And if you do, what are you doing to reach it? Are you planning, studying, saving, sacrificing,? What are you doing to actually pursue? “Pursue” is an action word, it’s movement, it’s energy being exerted. And does God give us any direction in His word as to what are worthy pursuits, what are primary and essential pursuits? Part of the Christmas story, one little scene in it, shows us what is worthy of pursuing, or rather, who is worthy of pursuing. Matthew 2:1-3 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew is the only one to record for us this story of the magi. Matthew spends very little ink on the actual birth narrative of Jesus Christ, but he spends considerable amount of ink and paper on the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, one event being the wise men coming to the home of the Christ child. When we read this section of scripture we notice that geography comes up quite a bit, in particular, the city of Bethlehem. We see that this city is mentioned in verse 1,2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 16. So the place is an important element of the message that Matthew is trying to communicate. The primary reason Matthew keeps bringing up the place of Jesus’ birth is to show his readers, mainly Jewish readers who were familiar with the Hebrew scriptures and prophecies, that the place of His birth fulfilled scripture. In fact, the whole of Matthew’s gospel aims to show how Jesus fulfills ancient Hebrew prophecy. Matthew quotes from the OT more than any other NT author. In this gospel he says 13 time “this took place to fulfill the scripture,” all of them but one refer directly to Jesus. What is the likelihood that all of these prophecies would be fulfilled by one man? It is not a big deal that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But to be born in Bethlehem at a time when there was no rightful Jewish king, to be taken to Egypt, to be raised in Nazareth, to heal diseases, to enter Jerusalem on a donkey proclaiming his Kingship, to be betrayed, to be crucified, and many others, now that is amazing. The chances, the probability of those things being fulfilled in one man, are astronomical. So was it just chance, coincidence that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Absolutely not. God stacked the odds so much against himself so that when He did make everything happen according to scripture, we couldn’t help but see that God is a faithful God who always keeps His promises, no matter what the circumstances may look like, and that knowing His Son is worth the pursuit. Everything you pursue in this life will, at some point in time, fail you. Whether it is a spouse, a bank account, a child, a position. It will not be able to fulfill all of its promises. Only God can do that. So why wouldn’t you pursue Him?

Although the circumstances of our life may not change, our perspective and worship can.   ~~~   Luke 2:8-11 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behodl, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord.” One of the main factors in Luke’s report about the angels showing up to the shepherds is fear. The shepherds were very, very scared. But fear is not new to the Christmas story. Do you remember when the angel Gabriel showed up in Zechariah’s life? Zechariah was scared and the angel said, “Fear not.” When Gabriel showed up to Mary, she was greatly troubled and Gabriel told her, “Do not be afraid.” So why are all these people afraid? You may think that is a silly question to ask. “Clif, an angel just showed up in front of them. Of course they were afraid.” This is true, but I think the answer lies deeper than that. Now let’s get our understanding of shepherds straight so that we can better understand how odd it was that they were fearful. I believe our perception of the shepherds is somewhat unbalanced. What do you picture when you think of a shepherd? Is it a young boy in a bathrobe with a belt around his waist and head? Is it some guy that sits out in lush green fields strumming his harp, contemplating scripture? Well, some of that may be true, but we have to remember that these guys also fought off wolves and bears and anything else that came out to attack the defenseless sheep. These guys were tough. Some resources even indicate that shepherds were a rowdy and wild group of guys. These guys were hard working, blue-collar men. So I don’t think a person just appearing would be enough reason to make them “sore afraid.” I am sure many of them had had wild animals sneak up on them. So someone appearing out of nowhere, although it may startle them, I don’t think it would have paralyzed them with a great fear. But notice what surrounded them. It was the very glory of God. It wasn’t the moonlight or the sunlight. What enveloped them was the very radiance and brilliance of God—the light of heaven. And that is why they had a great fear. They were in the presence of God Why does being in the presence of God’s glory make us fearful? The reason it makes them fearful is because Romans 3:23 is true Romans 3:23—“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The manifest presence of God creates fear in us because at that moment we are aware of our utter depravity and God’s absolute holiness. And that night, the shepherds were frozen in fear because they came to edge of the gulf that separates them from God, and they realized it was far too deep and far too wide for them to ever cross. The angel didn’t say, “You guys have nothing to worry about. You’ve done more good than bad. You’ve had good intentions.” The angel didn’t say, “If you guys would shape up and just try a little harder…” The angel told them that the prophesied Messiah was born and that He is a Savior. The shepherds! A Savior was born for the shepherds! The forgotten, the outcasts, the despised, the sinners, the dirty, the lonely, the fearful—a Savior was born for them! The reason that the shepherds did not have to live in fear anymore was because a Savior had been born who would conquer and overcome their sin! What was their response? It was worship! Look at what happens in verse 20—“And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told to them.” But I want you to notice the context of which the shepherds’ worship is given. They receive the news; they go see the promised Savior, and as they are returning to the same dirty sheep, to the same low-paying job, to the same cultural labels, they are praising God. They truly understood that God had provided for their deepest need, being saved from their sin, and they worshiped, right back in their same context. Theirs wasn’t a health and wealth gospel that they believed in. It was a good news of great joy, that was for all people.

Reading the Bible provides instruction and wisdom about our own lives in a way fiction does not.

Our significance is found in God’s salvation.   ~~~   Zechariah is an old man without a son; without a boy to pass down the family name and legacy, to teach how to hunt or throw a spiral, or change a flat. But one day Gabriel, an angel, shows up and announces to him that his elderly wife will become pregnant. Two shocking things: an angel speaks to him, and the promise the angel makes. Zechariah finds that hard to believe, and as a result of his unbelief, Gabriel makes him mute. So for the pass nine months Zechariah has not been able to speak. He is trapped basically in his own mind with his thoughts. And as soon as he is liberated to talk, he begins to speak. But what is of special interest is about whom Zechariah speaks. We would expect him to go on and one about His new baby boy! That’s what I did when my kids were born, But who does Zechariah begin singing about? Is it his newborn son? NO! It is Jesus! Why? Because his son, John the Baptist, has no real significance outside of Jesus and His work. And I love this lyric Zechariah speaks: “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David…that we should be saved from our enemies!” Doesn’t that just fill your heart with Christmas cheer?! Well, what is he talking about when he speaks of raising up a horn? Is Jesus like a trumpet that blasts forth His message. Well, Jesus is like that, but that is not what Zechariah has in mind. The answer lies in the fact that just like the Israelites, the chosen people of God, had enemies, we too have enemies. And because we are sinners with a rebellious heart, we have been separated from God, we are really enemies to ourselves, and we choose the advice and company of our enemies. And those enemies want to maintain the separation that exists between man and God. God created the world and everything in it, including you and me. And all of creation finds its meaning and purpose in life in Him—who we are, what we are supposed to be doing on earth, how we are supposed to relate to one another—all of those life-questions find their answer and content in God. But Satan, an enemy of God who wanted to destroy all that God had created, convinced the first people, Adam and Eve, to turn their back on God and to find their significance in themselves. God had told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the garden, but they rebelled against God’s love and rule, and chose to eat the fruit, thereby breaking their communion with God and exalting themselves in their minds to a god-like position. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your sins have made a separation between you and your God.” They essentially said, “God, we don’t want to find our significance in you. We want to find it in ourselves. We will determine what makes us significant.” And so they ate the fruit of the tree. And ever since that day, people have been attempting to find their significance in themselves or in created things, and they have been coming up empty, frustrated, depressed, lonely, angry, jaded, and on a constant search for significance. You might try to find your ultimate significance in your husband. His love for you, his concern for you, his attention brings you ultimate significance. But your husband was not created for you to find ultimate significance in. Rather, marriage is a picture and the husband is to picture for us how Christ loves the church. But your husband is not Jesus. He is going to mess up. Or we gain our significance in our jobs. Our lives become defined by our job titles and our significance and security is wrapped in our careers. But our careers are not meant to serve in that capacity. Work is a picture. It is to remind us that we are producers and servers in God’s kingdom. For some you find your significance in what label you wear. And so your clothes are what make you feel special and significant, and if you can’t have a certain brand of clothes, a certain style of shoe or name brand handbag, then you feel less than and would rather just stay home. But clothes are not meant to bring us significance, but even they are a picture. They are a picture, reminding us of the fact that our shame and guilt needs to be covered, and God is the one who sacrificed in order to do just that. But instead of finding significance in a redeeming God, we find it in designer jeans. If your ultimate significance is found in the picture and not the reality, then you are reflecting the world’s worldview. And this is why marketers advertise in the way they do. They want you to believe that a pack of Marlboro cigarettes makes you a real, rugged man. They want you to believe that real motherhood is that you can successfully juggle career, home, family, and appearance, so long as you use their special product. They are selling significance, and we are buying it, and ending up frustrated, depressed, insecure because none of those things were designed to bring ultimate significance. Those are things the enemy uses against you to keep you separated from God. You have enemies. You are one to yourself because you want to be your own king. And you are searching for that which makes you significant, and other enemies are feeding you lies. And since we have real enemies who want to keep us in our sin and separated from God, we need a real Savior who has the power to overcome our sin, deliver us from sin, and reconcile us to God. And that is exactly what Jesus did. Just like John the Baptist’s significance was directly tied to what God was doing in order to bring about redemption for mankind, so too is our significance found in God’s salvation. And when we find our significance in God’s salvation, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the door opens for us to see and get involved in God’s story.

God’s gift is personal to all those who recognize their sinfulness and turn to Him in faith.   ~~~   In order to live a life that magnifies the Lord, our worship must be God-centered. We see this in Mary’s song. Worship is a response to the truth of who God is. It is a response to His attributes. Luke 1:46b-50 “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” Did you notice what prompted Mary’s song? Mary is singing because, she says, the Lord has “looked upon her humble estate.” The word for “look” means to look attentively with the implication of personal care. She is responding to the fact that God has seen her humble estate and saved her from it. Now when she says, “humble estate,” she is not referring to her disposition of humility, or her kindness. She is talking about her nothingness and unworthiness, her insignificance. He has saved me from the nothingness that I am. He has saved me from my ruin. Clif, how do you know this is what she is talking about? Well, look at how she contrasts herself with God. She is humble, poor, weak, unworthy, but God is mighty and strong and “holy is His name.” Do you see this? Here is a God who is all powerful yet He is still merciful. His power highlights his mercy. And Mary understands this. She knows the gulf that exists between her and God. She knows Job 26 that says we have only seen the outskirts of His power and have only heard Him whisper, and yet in all that power and strength and authority and sovereignty He stills does great things “for me.” But she goes on from there. It is not only personal to Mary, it is available to all those who fear Him. In other words, all those who recognize who God is and who they are in light of who God is, who turn to God in repentance and faith. And he does this through His Son, Jesus. God’s mercy is available through Jesus. And He will save all who fear Him rightly. We have reason to echo Mary—My soul magnifies the Lord. Magnify the Lord! The sky is not telling the story of the hottest sports team. Magnify the Lord! The sun is not radiating the glory of the latest blockbuster movie! Magnify the Lord! The earth is not shouting about your fame. Magnify the Lord!

To have greater worship, we must renew our minds and remind ourselves of who God is.   ~~~   In Luke’s gospel, an angel has announced to Elizabeth and Zechariah that they would have a son who would prepare the way for this King. His name would be John the Baptist. The same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary and told her that she would have a son and his name would be Jesus. When Mary learns about her supernatural pregnancy, and also the pregnancy of her relative Elizabeth, she loads up and makes the 100+ mile journey to see Elizabeth. When Mary walks through the door Elizabeth erupts into a song celebrating the fact that God was fulfilling His promise. After Elizabeth gets through singing, Mary takes a turn and she sings a song, found in Luke 1:46-55. And through her song I think we can learn what it means to worship and magnify the Lord. One of the things we notice, we see that her mind and heart were filled with God’s word. Within Mary’s song, we see the fingerprints of several passages of OT scripture. Luke 1:50 Psalm 103:17 “The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him…” Luke 1:51 Psalm 89:10 “you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.” Luke 1:52 2 Samuel 22:28 “You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.” Luke 1:53 Psalm 107:9 “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” We see that young Mary’s life was filled with scripture. You get this sense that once Elizabeth expressed praise for what God was doing and accomplishing, Mary caught on and this song of praise just flew out of her mouth. But here is the thing I want us to take away. Mary didn’t sit down with a Bible concordance and compose this song. She didn’t spend hours crafting the lyrics of her praise song. This was an overflow of truth from her heart. Mary didn’t just have scripture memorized. What God said in His word was the hope of her life. She lived and trusted the scripture. She knew what the OT taught about God and His promises, faithfulness and power, and she believed them. Do you wonder why our worship of God is often times half-hearted? Why it’s not intense and full and vibrant? I sometimes think it’s because we only know a little bit of what God says about Himself. We only believe a little bit because we only know a little bit. And it’s not because we are unable to comprehend the greatness of who He is, but rather, we are unwilling. We are undisciplined. But when we are renewing our minds with God’s word, He will receive the worship due Him from us. I’m praying that this Christmas you can say with Mary, “My soul magnifies the LORD.”

Our celebration of Christmas should be focused on God and others, not ourselves.   ~~~   Christmas time is here! Happiness and Cheer! How many of you have been playing Christmas music since before October? We know who you are! You love Christmas music! And why not!? Christmas songs are some of the best out there. But do you know there are some Christmas songs in our Bible, embedded within the Christmas story? Yep. People have been singing Christmas songs even before Jesus was born. The first song that is belted out comes from the lips of Elizabeth. She is the relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And Elizabeth’s husband was visited by an angel and was told that he and his wife, who had never been able to get pregnant, would have a son. This son would be great before the Lord, in the spirit of Elijah, he would prepare God’s people for the promised one. Now all of this takes place after about 400 years of silence. God had spoken through the prophets in the OT, but then he stopped. Silence. And then God subtly steps on the scene again, fulfilling His promise in the way He said He would. So can you imagine the astonishment, the hysteria, the wonder that takes place in Elizabeth’s and Mary’s mind and heart? And what we are about to read is most likely a report from Mary’s lips. Luke visits Mary and says, “Mary, we haven’t heard from you. Can you walk me through that amazing time?” Mary says, “Pull up a seat, Luke.” Luke 1:39-45 “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there wold be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Our text tells us that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb and she was filled with the Spirit, then began exclaiming. And when we look at the lyrics of her expression, we are going to see that it centers on Jesus. Notice these things: “Blessed are you among women” because of the baby in your womb—Jesus “When the sound of your greeting came, the baby in my womb leaped for joy”—because the Christ-child, in utero had come into the room “Mother of my LORD…” not Mary my niece. Elizabeth’s role in the plan of redemption, bearing the last OT prophet, the forerunner of Christ, did not overshadow the most important part of the promise and plan. How often do we let our own little kingdoms and ministries become more important in our own minds than the kingdom of God itself? When our focus is on ourselves, our skills, our desires, our gifting then we don’t offer Spirit-filled rejoicings; we give self-filled whimperings. But when we focus on Jesus, on the gospel, then the Holy Spirit produces His characteristics within us, and it produces worship! This time of year provides a lot of opportunity to get distracted, to focus on yourself, or even to focus on others without focusing on Christ. I pray that this season you will be filled with the Spirit who will focus you on the Savior.

Teenagers can have quiet time as well as adults can, and parents should model it for them.

The primary task of Jesus coming to the earth was to deliver his people from their sin.   ~~~   Matthew 1:20-21 “As he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, don to fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus…” Wouldn’t you have loved to been a fly on the wall when Joseph and Mary sat down for the first time after Joseph’s dream? “Mary, you’re not going to believe what happened to me last night!” And as they listen to each other’s story, because Mary had received an angelic visitor as well, their eyes grow big and fill with tears as they realize what is unfolding in their very lives. “Mary, we have to name him Jesus, because he is going to be a savior.” Would he command thousands of soldiers in order to rescue the Jews from the Romans? Would he be a political revolutionary? Just how would he be a savior? Now don’t miss the significance of the words that come next. He will save his people from their sins. Those last three words “from their sins,” would send shockwaves through that original audience. They had longed for hundreds of years for a Savior. They were anxiously awaiting someone to rise up and deliver them from the clutches and oppression of the Romans. You see, in their minds, what they needed to be saved from was something always outside of themselves. Other people’s evil; other people’s oppression upon them. But this Jesus would save them from themselves. He would save them from their sins. And knowing that purpose of Jesus gave them pause, and should give us pause as well. It should give us pause because we are much like the Jews in thinking that the problem with our lives exists outside of us. If this house was better, if they would stop that, or fix that, if I had these friends, if she would just do this, if I could just purchase that, then I would be happy and rescued and all of life would be great. But you know that’s not true because you have been chasing those things all of your life. You have tried the change of the exterior, but it does not quiet the soul. The primary task of Jesus coming to the earth was to deliver his people from the bondage of their sin. He will save his people from their sin. We need a Savior who can cure us from the curse of sin, who can deliver us from the wages of sin, who can deliver us from the power of sin, who can save us from sin, and that someone is not you. Jesus saves His people from their sins because Jesus takes the consequences of His people’s sins upon Himself. He is sacrificed on their behalf; He receives the punishment that they deserve. And it is an acceptable sacrifice because Jesus was pure and perfect, and had no sin of his own. And this is the transaction that takes place—when a person confesses their sinfulness, admits their guilt, and receives by faith the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection, then they are saved from their sins. Jesus’ death for sin becomes effectual for them. They will not face the eternal consequences of their sins. Those sins were judged and punished in Jesus Christ. They are saved, pulled from the prison of sin, and released to walk and live with God in the new life granted to them by God.

God works out His will even in the midst of our pain.   ~~~   Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Matthew starts the genealogy by calling Jesus the son of David, which spoke of the divine promise of a royal lineage, a kingdom that would be established forever and ever, but also as the son of Abraham, which identified Jesus as the chosen one through whom all the nations would be blessed. And then we have the actual lineage, which is mixed with all sorts of characters, and of particular interest are five women that are listed: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, “the wife of Uriah” (Bathsheba), and Mary. The women who are listed show us that God kept his redemptive purposes alive, even through incredible hardship, impossible circumstances, and sinful scenarios. Tamar was taken advantage of; Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was a widow, the wife of Uriah was an adulterer; and then there is sweet, unsuspecting Mary. This is not fate or chance that this line of families produced Jesus Christ, but rather the providence of God. God was at work each step of the way making sure the lineage continued to the next generation, in the face of poverty, barrenness, loneliness, sinfulness, and even in the case of virginity. But then we immediately come to the story of the birth of Christ, and in particular, Joseph’s part of the saga. Here is Joseph, this man who has come across the love of his life, the one whom he will marry. They have already had a betrothal celebration, declaring to the community their intentions of marriage. But then something happens. Perhaps a friend knocks on Joseph’s door late one night, and, not wanting to but knowing he had to, tells Joseph what he has heard about Mary. She is pregnant. You can imagine the flood of emotions that overwhelmed Joseph, because he knew the reality and purity of their relationship. This was not his baby. How could she do this to me? How could she value me so little and embarrass me in the community so greatly? There was no option for Joseph. Justice must be served, and it must be served swiftly. But it didn’t have to be loudly. So he decided to divorce his wife, but without fanfare. He would spare Mary that. But on the eve before this were to happen, Joseph gets a visit from an angel, and the angel reveals two immensely important pieces of information. One, Mary’s pregnancy is a divine pregnancy. Two, this baby would called Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. He must not divorce. He must take her, keep her as his wife. What is it that changes Joseph’s mind? What is it that dispels the fears, the concerns? What is it that makes it worth enduring the scandal of it all? An angel comes and tells all that is going on and how God is in the middle of it all. Now Joseph has hope and a purpose even in the midst of criticism, name-calling, dirty looks, that he would surely receive. God was providentially working something out that was greater than Joseph. Joseph was just one piece in the tapestry of redemption that God was weaving together. All of us know hard times. Some of you know hard times and heart break better than others. We know pain, sadness, loneliness, and the salty taste of tears that come streaming down our cheeks. But there is good news right here in this part of the Christmas story. Matthew wants his readers to know that God has been working out His plan of redemption since the beginning of time, even in the midst of hard, insurmountable odds. He is a providential God who can be trusted to work out His plan for His glory and our joy. Listen, if you are in pain or heartache right now, or are confused about your situation in life, I can almost guarantee that you will not get a visit from an angel tonight explaining all the providential things God is doing in your life right now, like Joseph did. The point of the text is not to make us hope for some angelic encounter, but rather to help us see that God is working out His will, for His glory and your joy, even in the midst of your pain. He can be trusted. And when you see Him as a providential God, then Hope is on the rise in your heart.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we should also anticipate His second coming.   ~~~   The nation of Israel lived in pretty dire circumstances and darkness in the 8th century during the time of a prophet named Isaiah. Their security was taken away; they had a sense of confusion. People were turning away from God. In their minds they weren’t altogether rejecting Him, just simply not following him. Kings of the land were oppressive. The rich were cruel and heartless. Widows and orphans and the poor had no where to turn for relief. The nation of Assyria, the dominant world power of the time, was marching into the northern kingdom of Israel and carrying fathers and mothers and children by the droves into slavery. The southern kingdom had a ruler who was being advised by God himself to take certain actions, yet that king, Ahaz, refused to do so because of his pride. So the Israelite nation experienced spiritual decay, family stress, national compromise, political corruption. It was a time of darkness—deep darkness. The Jewish people had sown unbelief, and they were reaping the whirlwind of it. This is what Isaiah saw when he looked over the landscape of his day. Yet, on this dark and gloomy canvas, God paints for His people a radiant picture of the coming salvation in His Son. He gives them a Hope. He gives them a place to put their faith. He gives them a person of security. Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The mercy of God, under no obligation, was extended to them in not giving them what they deserved; and the grace of God, under no obligation, flooded forth like a beaming light in the night sky with the gift of salvation found in the promise of His Son. Do you think the people were eager for the Son to come? Not all of them were, but all of us should be eager for the Son to return, and we should be making preparations for the Son’s return. How many of you, right now, are making preparations for a son or daughter coming home from college; how many of you are making preparations for a big family get together for Christmas? Even more so should we be making preparations for God’s Son to return and take us home! As you celebrate Christmas, and tell your children and grandchildren the story of God’s Son coming to the earth to be born in manger, don’t forget to tell them that He died on a cross to redeem people. And then, don’t forget to tell them that He is returning to gather up all of His brothers and sisters to take them to the home He has prepared.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus should be real and exciting for believers.   ~~~   This time of year is marked with anticipation and waiting. Everywhere we turn, we can’t wait for something to happen. Kids can’t wait to get out of school for the holidays, adults can’t wait to get off of work. Parents can’t wait to give their presents to their children to see their eyes light up and children can’t wait to open them. We anticipate the weather turning colder so we can throw some logs on the fire and enjoy some hot chocolate. We anticipate the arrival of hunting season. We anticipate the arrival of reduced prices for the shopping season. And of course, at some point during this season, we will all probably wait in a long check out line. And all of this chaos and busyness can so cloud our Christmas season that we forget or neglect to anticipate and long for Christ. To make sure that does not happen in our live, we have advent. The word “advent” simply means the coming, the arrival, or the dawning. So Christmas Advent is the celebration of the first arrival of the Christ child. This is when we celebrate and rejoice that God sent His son to the earth to redeem us from the curse of sin. And one way that we celebrate Advent is by looking back into the OT to see how the people of God in the OT were to anticipate the promised Savior. We have one of those promises in Micah 5 Micah 5:2-5 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin os from of old, from ancient days…And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.” The text tells us that the city of Bethlehem would be the hometown of this ruler of Israel. Bethlehem was not going to show up on many maps. It was small; it was insignificant; it was overwhelmingly normal. And yet Micah declares that it will be this tiny city that will be the starting point for this anticipated Savior. Why would God do this? One reason God does this is because Bethlehem is the place where David was born, and it was prophesied that the Messiah would be from the lineage of David. But that is not entirely what Micah is going after in this verse. Micah is trying to paint a picture for us to see that something extravagant will come from something insignificant. God chooses to use something unsuspecting and small, obscure and out of the way, to be the commencement of the biggest revolution in history ever. But Why? Why does God choose something small? He chooses something as unexpected as Bethlehem so that no one can boast. He doesn’t choose Jerusalem or Athens or Greece or Paris or New York. No one can say, “Well of course it was Bethlehem. That place is replete with great leaders. Of course Bethlehem, it has the best of teachers and schools to raise up a great young man. Of course Bethlehem, look at all that has been accomplished there!” God goes out of the way to help us see that he does not need our efforts, accomplishments or help in order to bring himself glory. He plans a census and orchestrates a virgin birth and books up a hotel so that no one can say, “Look at what I helped bring about!” He said that the Messiah would come in the line of David, but he waits until that lineage has lost influence and uses a lowly peasant girl, from the line of David, so that no family member can say, “Look at what we accomplished!” Instead, we are left to say, “How great is our God.” So he promises to bring forth a Messiah, the Shepherd King, in an unexpected, unsuspected way to bring glory to himself. And Shouldn’t the New Testament Christian’s anticipation be even brighter and greater and filled with more joy because we know what Christ is like and we have experienced His presence in a very real way. The Old Testament saints had clues to the mystery and they rejoiced over that, but the mystery has been unveiled to us! So I am praying that this Christmas builds your anticipation for the return of this Shepherd King, who will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Advent is a celebration of the coming of Christ and looking forward to His second coming.

All tests and trials are important and should lead us closer to God.   ~~~   1 Samuel 17:32 informs us that the shepherd boy David is standing before King Saul, volunteering himself to go and fight the Goliath. And notice the reasoning that David gives for his willingness and even eagerness to face off with the behemoth. The text says that David, in his days of keeping sheep, has encountered lions and bears, striking them and grabbing them by the beard and killing them, rescuing sheep from their very jaws. And those animals were only acting in line with their nature an according to the food chain. But Goliath is defying the armies of the living God. And at this point in the story, we often times think that this information about the bears and the lions is given to us to let us know that God gives us different tests in order to prepare us for bigger trials in our lives. Sometimes we have to face lions and bears before we are ready for a Goliath. But that is simply not how David views this. David says nothing about his own preparedness. But listen to what he does say: vs. 37 “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” What David is appealing to is not his preparedness but to God’s faithfulness. God delivered me from the bear; he delivered me from the lion; he WILL deliver me from the Philistine. This is not about David’s ability but rather God’s allegiance. God was preparing David’s heart, not his hands, to trust Him time and time again. Do you get that? All tests and trials that we face are important ones, and all tests and trials that we face should lead us to lean in to the faithfulness of God, not our own ability. Trusting in our own ability is what gets us into trouble, or what causes us great fear when we run into something that is greater than our own ability. David is not boasting because he knows how to snap necks with the best of them. David is so ever confident not in the strength of his hands to wrestle Goliath, or in his ability to be a sharp-shooter. He is confident in God. David is simply willing to be the courageous vessel that steps in front of Goliath. Are you willing to trust the faithfulness of God?

Rather than be motivated by earthly gain, we should remember who we are to God.   ~~~   1 Samuel 17:24-27 How will the men react to Goliath’s request for a man to fight with him? Well, they react like they have the previous 40 days. They run and hide, just like their chosen one, Saul. They are broken to pieces once again, emotionally, mentally, spiritually… 40 days of being shattered and fearful! I don’t want to read too much into this, but the fact that Goliath has done this for 40 days, I think may be significant. 40 is a number of testing and trial, and at this point, Israel’s army, King Saul, has failed the test. And this is just another reason why Saul has been rejected by God as a suitable King. And the Israelite soldiers are talking among themselves about the incentive that is offered to the man, to the champion who would dare set foot against Goliath. It’s as if David is so consumed with Goliath’s blasphemy that he doesn’t hear what the men are saying, and he asked them what they have just been talking about, but he adds a caveat. He says, “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 army of the living God? Finally, a God-centered, theological hope is expressed, a God-centered worldview is finally articulated, and this is what sets David apart. David sees reality and life and the battle before him in terms of who God is, and not in terms of who Goliath is. These are the first words that are put on David’s lips by the narrator. So far to this point, he has not spoken in the narrative, but his first words are big ones, they are the first God-words brought into the text. God’s honor and strength and purposes and covenant have not been a factor up until this point. They haven’t concerned Saul or anyone else as far as we know, so no one else has spoken of God, until now. David is the one who sets the scene of the battle correctly. “Men, this Goliath is not coming against just us. He is not just defying us as men. This man who stands outside the covenant is mocking and ridiculing and belittling the Living God and the chosen people of God. How can you just sit there? Isn’t the honor of God incentive enough to go and fight?” You see, David is not really interested in the earthly incentives at this point. He is simply confused how no one from the LORD of Hosts’ army has not gone out to fight yet. But they hadn’t because they had forgotten who they were, until now. And church, don’t forget who you are! We are the bride of Christ!

We should pay attention when we hear someone speaking against God and His people.   ~~~   This is, perhaps, my favorite section of the story of David and Goliath because of four little words we come across. So let’s get the picture. David has risen early and hurried to the army camp. He quickly throws down on the ground what he brought on near the man who is watching over the baggage, and he sprints to the ranks where his brothers were. He wanted to get an update, perhaps a story or two of some epic battle or valiant sword-fighting. And in mid conversation with them, the echo of Goliath’s vile voice is heard booming up the mountain, “I DEFY ISRAEL AND ISRAEL’S GOD! IF YOUR GOD IS REAL AND POWERFUL, LET HIM PROVE IT BY SENDING OUT ONE OF YOU!” And this is my favorite part…this is where the needle scratches off the record… where the director calls for a zoomed in shot on David’s face, because the text says, “AND DAVID HEARD HIM.” This is the turning point in the whole story! Goliath has stomped out and bellowed across the valley, up the mountain, blaspheming Israel and Israel’s God, mocking God, taunting the men. “Is there not a man in all of Israel? Is there not a champion in all of Israel? What kind of God do you serve if there is no champion?” And this went on and on and on, but this time his message landed on new ears— David heard him. Without looking ahead, what do you think happens next? Tune in tomorrow and find out!

God provides hope and deliverance from unlikely places.   ~~~   In 1 Samuel 17:12-18 we are taken to a new scene, a dramatically different one, and we are introduced to David, an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah. And you have to wonder, why this re-introduction of David’s family lineage? The last time we read of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem was back in Ruth 1, when we read of Elimelech, who led his family away from Bethlehem, away from God’s presence, away from faith in God. Are we going to see the same thing happen? Is this another person who is going to run away when the times are hard and the situation is bleak? The story doesn’t it appear to be very promising. Jesse is an old man, three of his sons already in Saul’s army, and David is youngest and he is just a shepherd and errand boy. In other words, he doesn’t inspire much hope at this point. All he can do is watch sheep, carry cheese, and bring back some keepsake from his brothers to assure their father that they were still alive. But we can be very quick to forget can’t we? You see, we have been let in on a little secret that no one else really knows about except Jesse and his other sons, and that is that David has been anointed King by the prophet Samuel. And we actually know even a little more than Jesse and his sons, because we know that God has said, “The LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” And so far, what we have been presented in Goliath is all physical; all outward appearance. And all we know of David is that he is the youngest, the smallest, the insignificant keeper of the sheep, while his brothers are off at war. Isn’t funny and sad all at the same time how quickly we forget God’s word? His ways? Or how little we trust them? But we are about to discover why David is a man after God’s own will, choosing.

We can find time to fit Bible study in even during busy seasons like the holidays.

Those who seem strongest are not always the best choice.   ~~~   King Saul stood head and shoulders above every man in Israel. He was the standout! But now another has stepped on the scene, and all the Israelites were “dismayed.” That word, “dismayed” means, broken, shattered. And the Israelites were “terrified,” which means “exceedingly afraid.” Why? Why were they shattered and abundantly terrified? Because everyone in the Israelite army, including Saul, knew deep down that their champion was no champion at all, and now they were all in a serious predicament. In the words of Doc Holliday, Saul was no daisy. At this point in the story, the air is thick with tension. Our eyes are to be wide with hushed anticipation as we await Saul’s next move. But that is not what we get. The story is interrupted to tell us about this son of Jesse who beebops on to the scene. So the story of Saul versus Goliath will have to wait until we can get through this distraction with David. And so will you!

We should not tell God what we need before asking what He thinks.   ~~~   1 Samuel 17 opens up in such a way as to send shockwaves of awe and terror upon us. The belabored physical description of this man and his armor and his weapons is meant to accomplish one goal, and that is to put us into fearful awe of this man named Goliath. He is called in the text, the champion of Gath. The term “champion” literally means “the man between.” The champion would be the man who would go and stand between the armies, the representative, and this representative of the Philistines was more than impressive, as we learn from his description. He stood over 9’ tall, which is simply difficult for us to even imagine. He wore an armored suit that weighed around 120 pounds. Add to that weighted shin guards, a javelin on your back, and a spear in your hand. The size of the spear is described for us. The shaft of it being bigger than a tire axel; no normal sized man would be able to get his hand around it, and the tip of the spear weighing in at around 15 pounds. And this man thundered out from the army of the Philistine, fearlessly making himself a bullseye for anyone, and he would shout to the Israelite army. And all of his words are meant to incite humiliation and shame upon the Israelite King, and army. “Did you not come out for a fight? Well here I am! Let’s get with it! Are we not enemies and rivals? Am I not a pagan Philistine? Are you not servants of the great and mighty Saul and the God of Israel? What are we waiting on then? Choose a man for yourselves! Let’s get it on!” Goliath is saying, “We have chosen our champion, our man to stand in between. Where is your man that you have chosen?” And all of these words should send us back somewhere in our minds and in the text. Hasn’t the nation of Israel already chosen a man? 1 Samuel 8:19 “There shall be a king over us, that we may also be like the other nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles!” Isn’t this exactly what they have asked for? A Champion? A man to stand between? And in 1 Samuel 12, Samuel reminds them in verse 13, “And now, behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you asked; behold the LORD has set a king over you…” We are being reminded on the front end of this episode of the foolishness of the people in selecting for God a king for themselves. May we not be so quick to tell God what it is we need, before we ask Him what He thinks.

Christ had to pay our debt because we could never pay it ourselves.   ~~~   As we finish up 1 Samuel 16, we are beginning to learn that, once again, God provides what we need and what we need is a king on whom the Spirit rests, a king that is radically and faithfully and completely obedient to the Holy Spirit. And that King is Jesus! He is our Great Leader! We are not waiting for another. He is the fulfillment of the promise of an eternal King. And we are those who follow. But there is a way to follow Him. The game changer for first century church was the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell believers and live through them this life of discipleship. The same Spirit that came and resided in them resides in every believer today. Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” The sports commentator said that the right quarterback is worth whatever price you have to pay to get him. The price is too high for us. We cannot purchase our way to having Christ as our king. We do not have enough moral or spiritual currency. You can’t pay with debt. But what makes Jesus a great King is that He was willing to pay the price on your behalf.

A good leader recognizes that they still need God to guide them.   ~~~   Last week ended with Saul having a tormenting spirit upon him. Unfortunately, this will not be the last time we read of Saul and a harmful spirit. It will be a recurring theme throughout the remainder of his kingship. But instead of humility and repentance, Saul grows more paranoid and spiteful. But here is the wild thing. David himself will face his fair share of hardships. He will face plenty of nights of depression and torment himself. But he does something Saul never did. He examines his heart. God is the one, the only one who can provide what we need. The world cannot. And what we need is a King obedient to, captured by, the Spirit of God. And that is what the LORD provided to Israel in David. And we will see in the coming weeks that David really is a man of war, a man of valor, and that the LORD really was with Him in a mighty way. But David himself knew that he was not Israel’s ultimate answer. He knew a greater king was to come. This is why he said in Psalm 110:1 “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” David recognized that he himself needed a king, a Lord to reign over him, one mightier, more powerful, a greater warrior, of greater valor. And oh how that original audience must have longed for another King like David, a leader, a champion of whom it could be said, “The Lord is with him!”

You don’t have to have a perfect setting and environment to study the Bible.

We shouldn’t go to God to feel better while still doing whatever we want.   ~~~   The world uses God as a means to an end, instead of God being the end. We see next that Saul listens to this advice and says, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the servants speaks up and makes a suggestion: “King Saul, I know a guy. Really good musician, man of war, man of valor, well-spoken. And the Lord is with him.” Saul knows exactly who the servant is speaking of and sends a messenger to Jesse and says, “I would like to have David for a bit in my service.” So David comes. And when Saul is being tormented, David plays, and Saul is refreshed, the harmful spirit leaves. All is well, right? What could be so wrong with this? Music therapy really does seem to be the answer. Wrong. What is happening here is Saul is using the anointed one of God as a means to an end. Once again, mercy is brought into his palace, and he rejects it. How so, Clif? Think about this for just a minute. David, the writer of many of the psalms, the sweet psalmist of Israel. David is playing these songs, these praises to Yahweh, but Saul is simply using David to get to a better mental state. Saul is having some of the greatest theology being sung over him, and he uses it to soothe his soul for a minute, but not surrender the totality of his life to the LORD. If you want to be religious, the world allows that, so long as God is used as a means to a different end other than God himself. What does this look like in our day? It looks like your faithfulness to prayer, the Bible, the church when there is a crisis in your life, but when everything simmers down, you go back to your normal routine of ignoring the LORD. You have in front of you and all around you the songs of God, the word of God, the people of God, yet you use God like a vitamin shot to make you feel better, and you will come again when you start to feel bad. You use the means of God to fulfill your great end, and that is to get you to a place where you can function again according to your will and ways. Saul’s life will play out in disaster. He will still function like a king, but it spirals and spirals out of control. And you can function in this life because you will look just like the world. You won’t think anything is wrong, but it will end in everlasting disaster. So don’t play here. Recognize that this is a dangerous game you are playing. No Saul, you are not supposed to use God as a means to feeling better so you can run His kingdom how you want to.

The world offers wellness by deniability, rather than repentance.   ~~~   Saul has rejected God’s word and will over and over. He has tried to use God’s ceremonies and ways as manipulative tactics. And now, God has rejected him from being king, and sent a harmful spirit upon him and Saul is being tormented by this spirit. The word tormented means “to be overtaken by sudden terror.” This is not the first time something like this happens. Psalm 78:49 “HE let loose on then his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.” And the solution that is offered to Saul by his court is to find a really good guitar player so that he may be well. Does that sound just a little silly? Saul, you have been a constant rejector of God. You have led His people selfishly. And now, His convicting spirit is harming you, keeping you up at night, not giving you any relief. How about we see if Glen Cambell is available? That should do the trick.” And yet, that is exactly what the world wants to prescribe for you in terms of bringing you relief—let’s make you feel better. Let’s not bother with truth. Let’s not bother with your actions, your attitude, your rejection of your maker. Let’s not bother with reality. Let’s just sooth your precious little soul with some music that will make you feel better about yourself. How about this instead—REPENT SAUL! Do you not realize that you have abandoned God? Have you not realized that you are eaten up with yourself, and your image, and your own self-glory? You must repent! You are being tormented because of your willful pride and refusal to fall on your face before God and seek mercy. But this is what the world offers—wellness by means of deniability. It’s not my fault. This is what happens when you look to the world.

Jesus’ kind of leadership takes the burden of legalism and self-righteousness from us.   ~~~   Jesus is the king who went into the cities and had compassion on the people because he saw that they were harassed and helpless with burdensome, legalistic commands; they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, therefore pray to the LORD of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Doesn’t this sound like our world right now, our own family, our own friends? They are seeking a king, a leader, to calm the panic, alleviate the fear and give them courage, conviction, rest, and peace and purpose, many Christians are in this camp. Jesus is the king who says to us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If Jesus is a King who takes from us the weariness and burdens of the oppressive yokes of legalism, then shouldn’t we, Christians be the rested warrior ready to go out in the fields for battle? If the yoke is easy and the burden is light, then what is hindering us from the fight? Why are slow and sluggish and faint? Shouldn’t we be the Jonathan’s who have been refreshed by the honey of God and have bright eyes ready to go to battle? If our leader, our King has told us as parents to raise our children in such a way that they are to be sharp arrows that will strike a mighty blow against the enemy, don’t be surprised nor afraid when might enemies rise up in the world. We have the weapons in our hands! If we are those things, perhaps we have been following the wrong king, seeking the wrong king, and it’s time to recalibrate our lives. Do what Saul refused to do and that is repent. Recognize your hard-heartedness, confess, and turn in humility and repentance to the Almighty. There is also a word to those who serve in leadership, kingly roles, like fathers. How do you lead? Do you lead with godless demands and rules and rash vows? Do you lead in order to protect your own reputation, to gain your own glory? Does your leadership cause so much desperation that it brings others to sin? Then we know you are not following Jesus, but living in your own kingdom of self-exaltation and self-righteousness. So you too, turn, repent, and run to Christ in faith, and walk with him Day by Day.

Our goal is not to be less self-exalting, self-righteous, or self-preserving, but to follow more closely to Jesus.   ~~~   So what are we to do with all of this that we have seen in 1 Samuel 14—fear, self exaltation, self-righteousness, self-preservation? Is the lesson, the truth here that if we want to be good leaders then we should not be self-exalting, self-promoting, and self-preserving? No. Believe it or not that is not the lesson at all. The question is, “Who can secure and lead the people of God and bring the kingdom of God to flourish?” And the answer that we are going to be given is, King David! But even that is a short-lived, unsatisfying answer, because even in David we see self-preservation, and his great need for repentance. And so as we read this unfolding saga, our hearts are taken on this journey longing for a king. We are looking and seeking a king. And if you have read through the Old Testament, you definitely know that that list of names of kings is lacking severely in presenting us with a suitable King. But then we come to Jesus. Jesus was motivated by the glory of God, not the glory of self-exaltation. Jesus was motivated by love for God, not love for appearing a certain way to a certain crowd. Jesus was motivated by his desire to rejoin God and be in His presence, not run from mission, and in order to do that, Jesus did not avoid blame, but took on blame that was not His own. Jesus didn’t desire to be ransomed by the people of God, but rather was the ransom price for the people of God. The lesson of the text is not that we need to be less like Saul, but rather, that if we are honest, we are just like Saul and we are bad kings. Our churches are weakened when led by self-exalting men like Saul. Our families are weakened when led by self-righteous pricks; We are not good kings; we need a different type King to reign over us. And this King is Jesus. So the goal is not to be less self-exalting, less self-righteous, less self-preserving, but rather, to follow and cling more closely to Jesus, who will bring humility and sacrifice into and through your life day by day.

Self preservation will lead us to accuse and harm others to ensure we get what we want.   ~~~   In this last scene of 1 Samuel 14, we see self-exaltation in Saul wanting to pursue and plunder the Philistines by night, and we see self-righteousness in Saul when the priest comes to him and say, “You think we should ask God about this?” And Saul says, “Course, I was just about to do that. Give me some time.” (He really didn’t say that but I’m just adding some flare.) But we are also going to see self-righteousness. So Saul inquires of God. He asked God, “If we do this, will we be victorious?” And there is no answer. Only silence. So Saul assumes, rightly, that there must be some breach in the relationship between Israel and Israel’s God. So he calls all the people together, and he is going to use the high priests special stones to show them who has sinned. All of you stand on that side, and me and my son will stand on this side, and whoever is chosen, even if it be my son, they shall die.” This is more self-righteousness by the way. So they go through this process, and the lot falls to Jonathan. Jonathan is identified as the guilty party, the one who sinned. So did God speak through those High Priest’s stones? Well, think about this for a moment. In this particular scene, God’s presence is no where mentioned. Just prior to this, at the corrupt high priest’s request, God is silent towards Saul. Earlier in chapter 14, Saul cuts short a religious ceremony asking for God’s blessing, all of this going on while the High Priest is of a cursed line. Could it be, not that God identified Jonathan as the guilty party, because God was not manifesting his presence to Saul, but that Saul was simply trying to avoid the blame, even if the blame had to fall on his own son? He was trying to save his own skin, his own reputation. He cared not that he was out of fellowship with God, and refused to offer any kind of repentance to get back into the presence of God. Saul was the bus driver, willing to throw run over his own son to preserve himself. This is what we call self-preservation. So we have seen self-exaltation, self-righteousness, and self-preservation. Let us be reminded that this King, King Saul, is exactly the type of king Israel asked for…a king like the other nations. May we learn the lesson that what God desires for us, and provides to us in King Jesus, is far greater than we could ever ask or imagine.

Those who are self righteous will point fingers to highlight the faults of others.   ~~~   1 Samuel 14 presents us with King Saul pursuing self-exaltation, and also self righteousness. In the words of the famous detective Monk, “Here is what happened.” Saul called for a fast upon his soldiers so they would focus on dominating the enemy, no matter how wearisome they were. Once the time finally arrived where it was allowed for the soldiers to eat, they “pounced” on the spoils. The image being presented to us is one of a bird of prey descending on its findings. The men dropped whatever they had in their hands, fell to their knees and instantly began slaughtering whatever animals were close by, and eating them. They did this out of desperation and starvation. It is simply what the body does in this moment. You lose all sense of decorum and turn into animals. You also lose all sense of holiness. The soldiers knew that they were not supposed to eat meat that still had blood. Blood was the life source and was the symbolic means of atonement for the people. The blood was to be poured out, not consumed. But this was perhaps the furthest thing from the men’s minds. When someone finally realized what was going on, they told King Saul. And in his arrogance he says to the men, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.” And so they did and the people brought their animals to the stone, slaughtered them on the stone, thus gravity providing a sufficient way to drain the animal of its blood. Now at this point we might think, “Why would we call Saul self-righteous at this point? Isn’t this the very thing that needed to be done. Were not the people sinning against the LORD?” Yes they were. But we must remember the body of work in the text. What have we read that would lead us to believe that Saul cared anything about sincerely following God’s word? We have read nothing. Nothing in Saul’s life would lead us to believe that Saul cared anything about truly following the LORD. We have seen disobedience, fear, laziness, spiritual ignorance, opportunistic endeavors. And for him to say, “You have dealt treacherously,” is the height of arrogance.” He has zero concern about God’s holiness, but he does have concern about appearing holy. “There is no pride so dangerous, none so subtle and insidious, as the pride of holiness.” Andrew Murray Self-righteousness is the pointing out of other people’s sin while all the while having the great ability to ignore or suppress your own. That is self-righteousness. When Jesus says, “Judge not lest you be judged,” He is not forbidding that believers should judge other believers. He is forbidding self-righteousness. He is saying that you should not be self-righteous, calling out other people’s sin without navigating the sinful trenches of your own heart and life. Saul called the people’s sin “treacherous” without the slightest indication of acknowledging his own selfishness, without ever realizing that it was his selfishness and sin that led to the people’s desperation at this point. How about you? How about me? Are we better at pointing out the faults of others and conveniently ignoring our own. You cannot do this and walk joyfully, day by day with the LORD.

When we look to someone other than God, we should not be surprised when they fail us.   ~~~   1 Samuel 14:23-24 “So the LORD saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven. And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day…” The “that day” of verse 24, is the same “that day” of verse 23. So what we have in verses 24-46 is a re-telling of the days events, a replay, if you will that gives us more insight, a close-up of what took place. Yes, the LORD gave victory, thanks to Jonathan, but it didn’t come easily, thanks to Saul. And finally, the feature of this text is the recurring description of the army of God We read that they were “hard pressed,” in verse 23, and that the people “were faint,” in verse 28, and then they were “very faint,” in verse 31. So there is a progression of being distressed, to be exhausted, and then into a state of being in a state of extreme exhaustion and tiredness, and completely frustrated with King Saul. How did the warriors get to this point? What brought on this detrimental, desperate situation for them? It was King Saul and his leadership of them. And that is what the author wants us to see and know, and he also wants us to remember, “This is the type of king you asked for…a king like the world who chases his own personal glory.” Well, this is what you get. And the motivations and intentions of a king like the world bring trouble to the land. The people of God are weakened/troubled when led by worldly men. The kingdom is not safe in the hands of a worldly man. Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.” So who is leading you? Your family? Where is your hope? In the president? In the potential of a next president? Let’s learn the lesson of 1 Samuel 14, and put our hope in the King who has been revealed to us, and resurrected for us—King Jesus.