1 Samuel - Chapter 26 with Psalm 70

David is still on the run from King Saul, and it has been about 15 years since he started running. David and his men go to the camp where Saul is sleeping, and David takes Saul's spear and water jug. They leave without harming Saul. David asks Saul why he is pursuing him and asks for restitution. Saul admits his wrongdoing and asks David to come back. David refuses and says that he trusts in the Lord to deliver him from trouble. They part ways. Psalm 70 is a plea to God for help and protection from enemies. David expresses his tiredness and urgency for God's intervention. It is almost the end of David's running, and he looks to God for help. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at bab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapter 26 of 1 Samuel with Psalm 70. David is still on the run from King Saul and I searched on the internet approximately how many years was David on the run from Saul and it said about 15 years. I knew there were 40 years from when Saul became king and then David became king, but part of that time David was a shepherd boy, then he fought Goliath, then he stayed with the king as an armor bearer and a young musician to calm his nerves, and then he became a mighty warrior, then he married the king's daughter, and then Saul's jealousy got the better of him and he made a few attempts on David's life while he was with the king's family in Gibeah, and then David told Jonathan his dad wanted to kill him, and when it was proven to be true, David was on the run ever since. Today's lesson was the last time these men met, though they didn't know it yet. Verse 1 of chapter 26 starts, The Zephites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, Is not David hiding on the hill of Hekila, which faces Deshemun? Now one thing Robert D. Bergen pointed out in his commentary was the Zephites were a Calebite sub-clan. If you remember from yesterday's lesson, Nabal was a Calebite, so they may not have been too happy with David marrying Nabal's wife Abigail after he died because his land probably became David's land. So I mentioned that Caleb, who was one of the two spies that said they could take the promised land the first time after the Exodus, was given the town of Hebron. Ben F. Philbrook Jr. in his commentary made comment that the exact sites are unknown, but the area involved in today's story lay in the triangle between Hebron, Zeph, which is where the Zephites are from, and then En-Gedi. So this is the area Saul and his 6,000 men came to search for David. David learned Saul had come to the area looking for him, so he sent out scouts to see where they were. Verse 5 tells us, Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had laid down. Saul was lying inside the camp with the army encamped around him. That night David and Joab's brother Abishai went down to the camp. They creeped into the center of the 6,000 men till King Saul himself and Abner. Abishai said, Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear. I won't strike it twice. David said, No, because we are not going to strike the Lord's anointed. Then he said in verse 10, The Lord himself will strike him. Either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. What David did allow was to take Saul's spear and water bottle, which were by his head, and then they left. Bergen pointed out that the spear was a symbol of his power in society and the water jug was a symbol of his life-sustaining resources. Then he said, Having thus symbolically stripped Saul of both his social standing and life, they left. Then verse 12b says, They were all sleeping because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep. Silbeck pointed out, Abner had failed, not because he was a poor guard, but because the Lord was working against him. Once David was far enough away, he cried out, Aren't you going to answer me, Abner? Abner asked, Who is this? David responded with a few more questions, which told him that they did such a poor job at protecting the king, because look around and see the Lord's water jug and spear, which were by his head. By that time Saul was awake, recognized David's voice, and called out, Is that your voice, David, my son? David knew, Saul knew, and everyone around them knew that David is not Saul's son. Technically he's not even his son-in-law anymore. This is David, Saul's enemy, but he is his enemy because Saul went after him, not the other way around. This is why David asked, What have I done to wrong you? What am I guilty of? David in a roundabout way is asking Saul to stop. He's asking for restitution. He's tired of running. He said in verse 20, Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains. He's saying you're using up all your resources to come out and look for me, and I'm not even your enemy. Saul responded by saying he had sinned. He asked David to come back, and then I like how the NIV Bible puts it in verse 21. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Did you go back to that? David didn't. He held up the spear and told Saul to send a young man to come and fetch it. Then David said in verse 23, The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble. David and Saul went their separate ways, and it won't be long before this conflict will be resolved by the Lord. Now I'd like to read Psalm 70. It's entitled For the Director of Music of David, a Petition. This is an imprecatory psalm or a cry to the Lord to deal with his enemies. This psalm is found in book 2 and it is almost identical to Psalm 40 verses 13-17 which is found in book 1. This reaffirms the thought that the psalms were placed in books in a specific order even though we don't fully understand how. What I find interesting is that I have been re-reading the Psalms of David trying to figure out which psalm would go best with each history passage and I did not select Psalm 40 because the first half of the psalm did not match up well to today's lesson. One other note, the Zephites were also mentioned in 1 Samuel chapter 23 verses 19 and 20 and during that lesson we covered Psalm 54 which has the Zephites mentioned in that title. Now Psalm 70, Hasten O God to save me, O Lord come quickly to help me. May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion. May all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me Aha, Aha, turn back because of their shame. But, may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation always say, Let God be exalted. Yet I am poor and needy. Come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer. O Lord, do not delay. Do you hear the urgency or the tiredness in David's voice? I know after 15 years I'd be tired of running. It is not much longer now for David. I also wonder how the men of Saul felt when they headed home. Was Abner beating himself up that he slept so hard? Did they go home in disgrace since they didn't kill David now a second time? Remember David could have killed Saul in chapter 24 but he didn't. Were the men questioning why Saul kept going after this guy? Was there confusion in their midst? That's what happens when one fights against God's ways. There is power in submitting to the Lord in His ways. That is why David wrote, Those who seek the Lord rejoice and are glad. Even in the difficult times we can say, Let God be exalted. David was in difficult times. That is why he cried out to the Lord. Even when we submit to the Lord in His ways, there are difficult times, but we are never ever ever ever ever alone. It is the Lord who is our help and our deliverer. Ladies, if you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart like King Saul. Instead let's be like David and pray and obey. Until next time and thanks so very much for listening.