# Keep God’s Favor in the Midst of Drama

Key Passage: 1 Samuel 18:9
Date: June 7, 2024

We’re going to begin in verse number nine, verse number nine, First Samuel 18, verse number nine. The title tonight will be “Keep God’s Favor in the Midst of Drama.” Or you could say, “Keeping God’s Hand on You in the Midst of Drama.” Would you pray that God would do a work in your heart, my heart, and prepare us for life’s trials tonight—how to handle them and keep God’s hand on our lives? That’s so key, so key.

First Samuel chapter 18, we’ll go to verse number nine. Would you stand, please, if you’re able to, wherever you’re at, as we read God’s Word together? You remember last we discussed about how Jonathan, God had given him a love for David, and David was just behaving himself so wisely, and God had used him. Then the ladies had said, “Saul killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands,” and Saul got so jealous. Envy is so focused on what people were saying or all that. We’re kind of picking it up there. We’re in verse number nine here, chapter number 18, and Saul eyed David from that day forward.

“And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house.” Now that’s an interesting state. We won’t take just a comment only here; that’s it for tonight. But he prophesied. He did this other times also. Two schools of thought on that. One would be: He prophesied. In other words, he maybe mimicked a preacher, not on purpose, but just the loudness and the telling the truth of it, you know, that type of thing. Or maybe he was actually saying the right words, or maybe more fully prophesying, if you will, telling the truth. But it doesn’t mean he was right with God.

There’s a young lady that was following Paul and his missionary team, and she was saying the right things, but she was a demon-possessed girl. I kind of just put a thought in there: just because a song has the right words doesn’t mean it’s Holy Spirit filled, see?

And this evil spirit that God allowed would come, and it prophesied. But it doesn’t mean he was right with God, not at all. Now, let’s keep going here in this saying. We’re in verse number 10: “And he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand as at other times. There was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, ‘I will smite David even to the wall with it.’” And David avoided out of his presence twice. “And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and had departed from Saul.” Therefore, Saul removed him from him and made him his captain over a thousand. He went out and came in before the people. David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.

We won’t read the next several verses, but Saul basically is seeking to get David killed in battle by encouraging David to try to earn his daughter’s hand in marriage. In fact, he does end up marrying Saul’s younger daughter. Saul’s intention was for David to be killed in the earning of her hand in marriage. But let’s pick it up in verse number 28 of the same chapter. Verse number 28: “And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David. And Saul became David’s enemy continually.”

What a sad statement: “And Saul became David’s enemy continually.” Would you go to the Lord and ask the Lord to work in your hearts? I believe the Lord could really just help us and maybe bring some things to mind when we need them, or maybe you’re in need of it right now, regarding keeping God’s hand on your life in the midst of drama. Would you go to the Lord and pray as I do the same?

Father, Lord, I yield to you. Lord, I realize that if any good thing happens tonight, it won’t be Pastor Paul; it’ll be you. Lord, I do pray that you’d use me. I do yield to you. Lord, I wish you had a better mouthpiece than I, and I know that, Lord. But, Lord, you take just a simple preacher and your wonderful Word, and Father, would you send your Spirit? And would you do a work in our hearts in our midst tonight, Father, please? Everywhere other people are at, meet with them, Lord, please. And we’ll thank you, Lord. We’ll brag on you for it. Lord, all the glory belongs to you. We want to give it to you, and we’ll thank you for it. And Father, in Jesus’ name, we pray these things, claiming the grace he earned for us. Amen.

A Union soldier lay wounded at Gettysburg. The Union forces had won a great victory there, but he lay wounded at the close of the battle. General Lee, head of the Confederates, was riding by. The wounded man, bloody and wounded, lay there, but he raised his hands. He looked right in the face and said, “Hooray, Union!”

Kind of taunting. Lee stopped his horse, and he dismounted. They began to walk over to the young man, and the young man said this—this is the young man’s account: “I thought he was going to kill me. But as he came up, he looked at me with such a sad expression on his face. He was so sad. All the fear left me. I knew he didn’t mean any harm; I knew that just by the look on his face.” And he said, “The general looked right in my eyes and said, ‘Son, I hope you’ll be well real soon.’” He said it with such sincerity. The young man said, “If I live a thousand years, I shall never forget the expression on General Lee’s face.” There he was, defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him and his cause almost their last hope. Yet he stopped to say words like those to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by. As soon as the general left, he said, “I cried myself to sleep there on that bloody battlefield.”

A friend, can I just share this point here? Don’t fight back. Now, I understand there are times—very few and far between—but there are times a man has to fight. I understand that; I’m not saying that. But I’m talking about so often between two Christians, a husband and a wife that stood before a preacher and God and friends and family and said, “I’ll love you till we die.” And it’s such a sad thing. We wound and cut and fight and scratch. Can I just say: Don’t fight back?

Such a sad thing. So many churches are so hurt and wounded, and so many lost will never get saved because they see two Christians fighting. And so many kids say, “Well, this is what Christianity is all about. Mom and Dad are always fussing and fighting.” They have the attitude, “I don’t want anything to do with it.”

Saul tried to kill David multiple times. I mean, we just read there in verse number 11. Look back at it real quickly, if you would please. Verse number 11: “And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, ‘I will smite David even to the wall with it.’” And David said, “I’m going to get you back.” Well, the Bible says, “And David avoided out of his presence twice.”

Friend, if you read Saul and David’s relationship, it went on for years, with Saul often trying to kill David. David did not fight back. He didn’t. At one point, you know the story, David went down there twice he could have killed him very easily. But one time he went down there and couldn’t kill him. His buddy with him said, “Kill him! I’ll kill him. Won’t have to do it. You don’t have to hit him twice; he’ll be dead in one shot.” And David said, “No, no.” David took just a little piece of his clothes and cut it off so he could prove he was there. And David went back with that little cloth. Now, he was the man of God, God’s anointing that God had over Israel there. But here’s the thing: David had just cut a little piece of his clothes, and David’s heart smote him. He said, “Oh my goodness, I can’t lift my hand against God’s anointed!” I’m saying that the thing I feel like the Holy Spirit wants to point out tonight is David did not fight back. Oh, Christian, can I convince you?

Yes, in your marriage, there’s going to be times you need to talk about some things. And yes, there’s going to be times—I’ll often say in our Sunday school class and other places—look, if it just won’t leave you, if it’s something you can’t get past, then you probably need to go talk to your spouse about it at the right time and with the right attitude, after prayer and so on. But look, if they’re not wanting to listen, you can’t make them. And if your spouse attacks you, and it hurts when those that are close to you attack you, and if your boss or your co-worker or a fellow church member or whoever it is says something about you, friend, that hurts—and if you can go and deal with it properly, then praise the Lord for that—but more often than not, you cannot. And don’t fight back.

Can you imagine how David must have felt? That guy was trying to kill me! I mean, somebody will say or do something to us, and we just think, “Oh, I can’t believe they did so much wrong to us.” Saul’s trying to kill him, and David never fought back. David avoided out of his presence. There’s so much to learn from that.

Brother Howes, a pastor for years, he’d say if he hears of someone talking about him, the first thing he tries to do is send him a gift. There’s a lot of wisdom there. Was he perfect at it? No, no one is. Satan loves to get God’s people fighting.

I’ve said this so often down through the years. I never have been a good basketball player, but I love it, love to try. Well, I don’t know if I love to try anymore; it hurts too much to try anymore. Amen, you know. But I love to watch it. Let’s say it that way. It’s interesting how we can talk better than we can actually do it, you know, and talk about how we used to do it. But anyway, where was I at now? Oh, here it is: Basketball. It’s so true. More often than not, the guy that gets called for the foul got elbowed earlier. The last time they were down, he got pushed out, he got needled, and he’s responding back. More often than not, you watch it—more often than not, the guy that gets called is the guy that’s fighting back.

And Satan will get someone that’s backslid or they’re not walking with God. He’ll get someone that’s having a bad day. Friends, so often they’re already distant from God, but Satan already has them. His intention is not to mess them up—they’re already messed up—but to get them to attack you because he’s after you. If he can just get you to fight back, he’s accomplished what he’s after.

Oh, friend, David was such a wise man. David didn’t go and raise a rebellion: “Well, everybody see what Saul did to me?” David didn’t do that. David didn’t start a GoFundMe: “Saul’s after me; everybody have pity.” He didn’t do that. You won’t find that. David didn’t fight back.

There’s so much wisdom there, friend. By the way, David was a warrior. He had just killed—well, if I remember right, I can’t remember if it’s a thousand or a hundred—but Saul said, “Hey, you kill a hundred, then I’ll give you my youngest daughter.” And David went out and killed 200, 200, 200,000! I mean, he was a warrior. 200,000—that’s pretty good for a fellow to do. I’ll take it either way. But yes, he’s a warrior. He could have fought back, but he didn’t. By the way, it takes a mighty strong man or lady not to fight back. Children in the nursery, they fight back. The guards, they fight back. It takes some strength.

Now, there are times—more often than not, though—God said, “No, no. Let’s do something else.” Let’s look at something else about this thing here. Look at that last verse we read there, chapter 18, looking at verse number 29: “And Saul was yet the more afraid of David. And Saul became David’s enemy continually.”

Can I say this? I don’t think David became Saul’s enemy. You just won’t find that.

In fact, when Saul was killed in battle, David mourned over that. The one who finally—Saul kept begging people to finish him off—the guy that did it, and David found out about it, he confessed, and David said, “Man, I’m taking your life! You don’t mess with Saul.” Now, I’m simply saying, just because someone is your enemy doesn’t mean you have to be their enemy back. Oh, friend, it’s a good day when you say, “They might be my enemy, but I’m not going to be their enemy.” It’s a good day. It’s a good day.

General Lee was speaking highly of a certain officer to his president, David Davis. Another officer heard it and was greatly astonished. He asked, “General, do you know that the man you’re talking about is one of your bitterest enemies? Any chance he gets, he speaks horribly about you repeatedly.” They say General Lee said, “Yes, I knew that. But he did not ask about that officer’s opinion of me; he was asking about my opinion of that officer.” Now, friend, just because they are your enemy doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

I’m so glad when I went against God and His laws, and I rebelled against Him and went into sin, He didn’t become my enemy. He still, in tender love, reached out to me, wooed me, and brought me to Him, providing a way back to Him. I’m so thankful for that.

Look, if you will, over in Proverbs 25 quickly tonight. Proverbs 25:21. You know these verses. We’ll read them, I believe. Proverbs 25:21, quickly tonight: “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.” And the Lord, that is Jehovah, shall reward thee. That’s very interesting. It talks about how thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. I’ve often wondered why the Bible uses that phrase. This is what I think it has to do with: So often somebody comes at you, and you say, “Well, bless God, I can fight back! I can fight fire with fire,” you know. And you’re going to have a battle for a long time, often with a whole lot of bloodshed, a whole lot of tears, a whole lot of wounds, and a whole lot of other people hurt in the process of it. But if you love your enemy—if you give food to the hungry, give drink to the thirsty—you heap coals of fire on their head. If someone just keeps receiving good from you, you’re not apt to keep rising up against them. Their anger just stays down for a while.

Friend, none of us are perfect at it, but can I just encourage you: just because they become your enemy—you say, “I’m not doing anything wrong. I don’t know why in the world…” Sometimes you’re not going to understand it. And sometimes we just want to go tell our side, “Well, what in the world’s wrong with you?” And maybe sometime in love you do need to sit down with someone. But friend, sometimes you cannot do that. And sometimes they just became your enemy continually, but that doesn’t mean you have to be their enemy.

You see, you live your life on purpose. You let the Holy Spirit of God guide you, not you reacting to other people. It’s part of being Spirit-led and Spirit-filled. By the way, if you do this, you’re going to have to control your thoughts. Because surely, when someone does you wrong, and they do something against you—and by the way, it’s going to hurt, it’s going to bother you—if you just let your mind go wherever it wants to go, it is going to dwell on that, it is going to think on that, it’s going to wallow in that, it’s going to be there continually. You’re going to have to work at Philippians 4:8; you’re going to have to work at getting your mind on the right things, and you’re going to have to say, “Hey, I need to get busy doing something good for someone else.” I can’t get rid of the negative thoughts, but I can put some positive thoughts in there, and the more you get the positive thoughts in there, the more those negative ones go home. But you’ve got to work at it. Because they’re going to come at you, and they’re going to just sow—Saul was trying to kill David. It’s going to happen.

Two farmers lived across from each other; a river right in the middle of them. They had farms on each side of the river right there in the middle. One year the corn was just golden ripe. I mean, beautiful corn, and the ears were all ready, you know, and just go out there and eat it all right out of the field. It looked like gold.

The farmer over here, his cows got out, and they got across the river. They saw that corn. They had binoculars looking over there. It looked to those cows like that corn looked like a quarter pounded with cheese. It looked like meat lover’s pizza to them. Sometimes they had that bicolor corn or that sweet corn, you know, or that golden corn they got. And they said, “Man, that looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream!” So they got across the river, and sure enough, they started tearing that corn up.

That farmer over here called him. They had eaten and destroyed about a half acre of corn. He got those cows, put those cows in his pens, and he went over to that farmer over there and made him pay for every ear of corn. Every year, they say he had to pay for it all, and plus, for that farmer to get his cows back, he made him pay to get his cows back.

Well, the fall of that year, the farmer over on this side of the river had some beautiful potatoes. I’m not a huge potato fan, but I know some people like them. How many of you like mashed taters out there? Anybody like that? Oh, yeah. How about a loaded baked potato? Anybody out there like that? You know, get some butter on there, sour cream on there, bacon on there. Bacon makes anything good. And put some salt and pepper on there, some cheese on there, you know. Are we hungry yet? Don’t go to the kitchen. I know you’re right there by it. Hang on. We’ll be done there. I’ve got to be careful talking about food.

Sure enough, all time came, and this fellow over here, his pigs—I mean, they weren’t called pigs for no reason—they saw those potatoes over there, and they liked to root, you know. Sure enough, those pigs got out. And they said, “I don’t know about pigs flying, but pigs can swim.” When it comes to food, you know, those pigs said, “We’re going to swim.” They got over there. True story, by the way. And they tore up his potatoes, just rooted about, just tore them up.

That farmer caught the pigs. He was able to gather up those pigs and get them across the river. He took them over here and put them in that fellow’s pigpen. Well, this fellow, he saw what had happened, and he thought, “Oh, no, he got us good.” He was hiding. He said, “That fellow’s bringing my pigs over here to kill my own pigs in my own pigpen.”

And the guy put the pigs in there, closed it all off, and he didn’t hurt them. The fellow with a gun hiding realized that guy, after I did all that to his cows… He came out from around. He said, “You got something different about you than I do.” He said, “When your cows… I locked your cows up, made you pay for the food and the cows, and you’re being so good to my pigs, putting them in my pen, taking care of them.” He said, “There’s something different about you.” He said, “Yeah. You see, I’ve wronged the Lord. And He loved me so much, He shed His blood, gave His Son’s life for me, and He saved me. I’m going to heaven.” He said, “I’ve been loved by God. I can love other people.” And he told that man about Jesus Christ. That man and his wife both got saved. And they said the next Sunday, both farmers and their wives, both of them went to church together.

A friend, if that man would have fought back and said, “Well, I’m going to get him back for what he did to my cows,” my chance—probably wasn’t—he might not have gotten saved. Just because someone’s your enemy doesn’t mean you have to be their enemy.

Here’s the key. Let’s look at the key. We’re almost done here. Here’s the key. Look in verse number 12. We already read it once; we want to read it again. This is the last point here, verse number 12: “And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him.” Verse number 14: “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.” Look at verse number 28: “And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David.”

I beg to just point out here for a second: I believe if David would have fought back—“That guy’s trying to kill me! He’s going to raise up a bunch of insurrection, and we’re going to overthrow! We’re going to tell everybody what he did to me”—I believe if he did that, you wouldn’t find it three times in one chapter that the Lord was with David.

Friend, the satisfaction you’ll get from fighting back won’t come close to the sweetness and the blessing of God having His hand on you. It would be a whole lot better if you stay right with the Lord and just stay sensitive to the Lord. Nothing is worth losing God’s hand on your life. Nothing.

When someone does you wrong and you’re so tempted to go after them and get back, get focused. At that moment, I need to focus. I want to stay. I’m going to keep God’s favor in the midst of this drama going on—so-and-so in the teen group, so-and-so at school, so-and-so in the family, they’re talking about me. Stop and say, “Wait a second. This is the key time. I don’t want to lose God’s blessing on my life.” That’s what Satan’s after.

Now, if the Lord sees you pass a test, He can even put His hand on you more. Oh, by the way, when the Lord is with you, even your enemies—Saul even noticed, “That fellow’s got God with him.” Just do right. Don’t defend yourself. Let God defend. God can do a whole lot better job defending us than we can defending ourselves.

There’s going to be times that people shoot at you, and it’s going to hurt. It’s going to bother you. Satan is walking about seeking whom he may devour. He knows our weaknesses, and he’s going to get you right where it hurts. And just say, “Man, I want to go through this thing with the Lord being with me.” Yes, He’ll never leave you nor forsake you, but He can feel mighty distant. You won’t feel His sweetness, you won’t feel His warmth in your heart if you’re not right with Him. You just say, “Well, I’m going to make them pay for this.”

Oh, friend, you need to be Spirit-controlled—not your spirit, but Holy Spirit controlled. There may be times… There were times David fought the enemies of Israel. Oh, my goodness, he was a warrior! But when it came to his authority, when it came to his fellow Israelite, when it came to Saul—by the way, we’ve already seen it in David one time with his oldest brother—he said, “No, I’m not going to fight back.” You see, if you let other people dictate when and who and what you fight, they’re in control, not you, and the Holy Spirit’s not in control. You let God make those decisions, and you say, “I’m going to stay sensitive to the Lord.”

Now, let me ask you, would you let the Holy Spirit speak to you a little bit? Is there something, maybe somewhere, that you’ve lost the hand of God on your life? Is there a situation you just need to let go of? Is there maybe someone in the past that just hurt you, and you say, “I need to let go over there”? Maybe throughout the message, something has come up in your mind over and over again—maybe a certain person, maybe a certain thing they say to this day—and that thing’s just there. And maybe that’s the thing that’s caused you to lose God having His hand on your life. Friend, it’s not worth fighting back.

It’s a good day for me; I was over at Cracker Barrel. It’s always a good day if you’re at Cracker Barrel. Amen. And I was sitting there with one of my heroes of the faith, Bobby Robertson, and he told me about Exodus 14:14. I think I could quote it, but I have a good chance I’ll mess it up, so we’re just going to look it up. But he told me about this verse, and it stuck with me. It’s such a good verse. This is what it is: “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” By the way, so often when I don’t hold my peace, the Lord doesn’t fight my battles. The Lord says, “All right, you can fight them in.” But if you hold your peace, the Lord says, “I got this one, Paul.”

Oh, friend, maybe there’s someone. You say, “They’re my enemy. They’re my enemy. They’re always after me. They’re always trying to cut me down. They’re always trying to make me look bad.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe the Holy Spirit tonight is saying, that doesn’t mean you have to be their enemy. That doesn’t mean you have to be after them all the time. Yes, as David did, maybe you avoid. Notice the word the Bible used: “avoid.” You avoid it out of the Spirit. Yes, maybe you do need to distance yourself, but it doesn’t mean you have to be their enemy.

Friend, you want to keep God’s blessing. You want to have God’s hand on your life. Three different times, three different times the Bible here says, “Hey, the Lord was with David.”

I’m so glad. God made us. He loved us. He formed us. He created this. And He said, “Look, you’re living in my world. I made you, and I’ve given you life. I’ve been giving the air to breathe, giving the lungs to breathe it with. It’s my world. I have some laws.” And we went against God. We shot at Him, if you will. We hurt Him. We disobeyed Him. And I’m so thankful after all that, He said, “I’m not going to be your enemy.” In fact, “I love you. I so love you. I’ll give you my Son. Through my Son, you can get a way back to me and fellowship with me and joy with me and heaven with me for all eternity.”

Pretty good God.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for this example that you’ve showed us in your Word, how David handled problems. Lord, help us to follow suit. Lord, help us to be sensitive to you during the drama, during the battles. Lord, help us to respond to you. Lord, help us keep your hand on us, and help us realize that just because they’re our enemy, Father, help us not to make ourselves their enemy. Bless our people, Jesus, and we pray. Amen.

Original File: Keep Gods Favor in the Midst of Drama - Pastor Chisgar