"The Heart of David" Pastor Benjamin Foster 6/16/24

okay well we are grateful for being here on today here at Divine Encounter Church and uh we are just blessed every time we come together and we meet in the house of the Lord we're blessed AR we not yes it's it's the blessing of the Lord there's so much evil that is going around uh happening in our world so much trouble okay there's so many things that can happen to you from week to week but we're blessed because God has brought us to this place once again and so we're just glad to be here and for the privilege to meet in Jesus name and at this time we're going to have our opening scripture have an opening scripture my son Benjamin he's going to read for us John 3:11 and it reads verily verily I say unto thee we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and ye receive not our witness if I have told you Earthly things and ye believe not how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things and no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life for so for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life praise God for the reading of his word amen thank you Benjamin my son Benjamin thank you so at this time we're gonna have a word of prayer and Sister Mary my wife evangelist Mary Foster she's going to lead us in prayer and then we're going to move forward into God's word amen let us stand as we go before the throne of grace oh kind and gracious father we are ever thankful to you father we're thankful father for you giving us the opportunity to come together thank you oh God for every good and perfect gift because we know that you're the source you are the source of every good and perfect gift and we thank you oh God oh Father we just thank you for being so kind to us for being so loving to us for being so gracious to us Lord you are a loving gracious caring and compassionate God and we thank you oh God thank you Father God for all things Lord God that you've worked for good in our lives we thank you oh god oh Father we thank you for you being Sovereign Lord God for you being Great and Mighty oh god oh we thank you oh God every good attribute Lord God that describes you that characterizes you Lord we just say thank you oh Lord we honor you this day oh God we give you the praise for this day oh God because you are an awesome God you are such an awesome kind and wonderful God and for this we just say thank you we glorify you oh God and we lift you up in this place Lord God today Lord God we declare Lord God that we lord God have walked into your divine presence where we can experience you Lord God oh we decree in the name of Jesus that no weapon formed against us shall prosper we decree today in the name of Jesus that we are Mighty that we are powerful that we are strong through the power of God oh God we thank you we honor you oh God we thank you oh God for this church Lord God thank you for bringing about Divine Encounter Church Lord God we pray father God that individuals will have an encounter with you that they will meet you Lord God the god of Heaven the one who created them the one who fashioned them the one who made them oh Father we pray that they will have an Lord God that they will have contact with you Lord God that they will experience your power Lord God your awesomeness lord God that they will acknowledge that you are the god of Heaven and Earth H oh Father God we just pray that you will bless us Lord God today Father God as your word is ministered Lord we pray for open and receptive hearts that we might receive your word that your word will take root in our hearts father God that we will produce fruit Lord God fruit that demonstrate and show that the Holy Spirit lives in us oh Lord Oh Lord we're ready oh God our hearts are open we're just ready to receive from Heaven the the bread from Heaven that you give to us Lord God oh Feed Us Lord God In The Name of Jesus oh we just pray your blessing in Jesus name amen Pastor Ben all right we may be seated in the house of the Lord praise God so we want to continue in our series dealing with the life of David on today and we want to look at 1 Samuel chapter 28 1 Samuel chapter 28 and we're going to start at verse number five 1 Samuel chapter 28 and we're going to start at verse number five and what I want to deal with today the topic today is the heart of David the heart of David and uh starting at verse five it reads and when Saul uh saw the host of the Philistines he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled and when Saul inquired of the Lord the Lord answered him not neither by dreams nor by urm nor by prophets then said Saul unto his servants seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit that I may go to her and inquire of her and his servant said to him behold there is a woman that hath a familiar Spirit at indoor and Saul disguised himself and put on other reignment and he went and two men with him and they came to the woman by night and he said I pray thee Divine unto me by The Familiar spirit and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee amen may the Lord had a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word and so we're dealing with the the heart of David today the heart of David we know that uh Saul preceded David Saul preceded David as King Saul of course was the first king in the history of Israel that's the legacy of Saul he was the very first king in the history of Israel and David was the second king in the history of Israel uh Saul In this passage of scripture uh we see is having an issue Saul is having a real problem and the problem that Saul is having is that there's a battle ahead for him there's a war his his nation is besieged by their Chief enemies the Philistines the Philistines are come and they want to fight against Israel and so it's great it's a great great time of Anguish fear uh and a great great time of uh of of great uncertainty okay this is what Saul was experiencing we know that Saul of course uh had done had gone very far from the plan of God and the vision of God for his life we know that Saul uh had made the error of uh honoring and having respect uh for the opinions of people more so than the opinions of God Saul honored uh his kingship and he was all into keeping his kingship and making sure that no matter what came his way he could somehow manage to keep his position and so Saul had problem after problem after problem because of the impurity of his heart and we know that In this passage of scripture what ends up happening is that Saul couldn't get a word from God he couldn't hear from God at all okay he's the king over Israel and this we know Israel of course was God's holy nation okay a nation that God called called out and set apart for his purposes uh and Saul is the king over them but even though he's the king over this nation that is set apart for God's purposes he cannot get a word from God in other words he's praying he's crying out to God he's asking God for help and he's asking God to speak to him concerning the fact that the Philistines were gathered for war against Israel but even though he's in a great time of difficulty and hardship Saul could not get a word from God he had lost his sensitivity to the voice of God you see if you don't pray if you don't spend time with God if you don't cultivate and develop a relationship with God your sensitivity your sensitivity to discern his voice will go lower and lower and lower and after these years of Saul being King these years of Saul not seeking after God's heart these years of Saul doing things his own way he couldn't hear from God so that's what happened to s Saul okay and we know that Saul was a king who had a legacy uh that was negative the legacy of Saul was not positive but Saul went down in history as a king who went forth in Pride and self preservation that's what Saul's Legacy was Pride and self-preservation okay and so what happened with Saul is that Saul became so concerned H with preserving his kingdom and making sure that David could not become king in his stead that he just absolutely lost touch with reality okay he got to a place where that all he was concerned about was me that was the the the heart of Saul me and how can people serve me and how how can people uh uh follow me and how can I keep the people uh honoring me and respecting me that was what Saul was like he was focused on making sure the people kept following him Saul got a taste of the power of being a king he he got a taste of being of the wealth of being a king he got a taste of the fame and the popularity of being a king and he just couldn't let it go he just couldn't let it go he loved it he loved the fame and the popularity he loved the honor of men and so he fell into Pride now when Saul first became king what is interesting is that he was a humble man he thought you know what how how is it that God could ever take me as lowly as I am how could God ever take me and make me King he couldn't see how God could do that he didn't see uh that he was worthy of that he was humble in his beginning but with time with time Pride set in in the heart of Saul okay Pride got the best of him and pride is what ultimately ruined him but David on the other hand the heart of David was humble David was a king who was known for humility David was a king who went in and out amongst the people in other words uh although other kings might have separated themselves from the common people David would go right in and out amongst the people he would walk among them talk among them and connect with them he didn't see himself as high and lofty he didn't see himself as Untouchable he didn't see himself as above the crowd but David was humble okay and that's part of the heart of David and that's part of the difference between David and Saul David was a man of humility David was a man that remained humble I believe because he prayed and he sought God he spent time in God's presence in prayer he spent time in God's presence in worship okay when you worship God like David did and you become a worshipper of God God's presence will come upon you God's presence will come upon you and when his presence comes on you his presence begins to change you his presence begins to mold you his presence begins to shape you and that's what was happening with David David was being shaped by God because he worshiped God the presence of God was strong upon David avid's life David unlike Saul he knew when God was talking he could get a word from God David was known of course as a king of Israel but David also was a prophet he had a prophetic Grace and anointing upon his life so it wasn't just that he was a king no David also was noted as a prophet and David wrote many things that made made it into the Bible he made it he wrote many things that are in the Bible the book of Psalms many of the Psalms were written by David okay and so uh he was a man that knew how to get in touch with God he knew how to get into God's presence he was a worshipper we need more worshippers today we need more people today in the church that know how to get into God's presence that know how to spend time with God in their personal prayer life people that Delight in spending time with God and David's relationship with God was profound he had a deep relationship with God he really knew God he really walked with God he really talked with God God would speak to David and God would give David Insight concerning what he was to do but this is because of the humility of David okay if you want to hear from God you should be a person of prayer but you should also be a person of humility you got to be humble yes he was a man of prayer and worship but he was also humble and that humility is something that God really likes in people God is not pleased with people getting arrogant and prideful God is not pleased when people get lifted up and themselves above everyone else nope God is not pleased with it he likes humble people himself said this he Saidi am meek and lowly in heart he said that if you want to know what I'm like he Saidi Meek and and I'm lowly in heart and if you come to me and I and I to and you become my disciple what Jesus was letting them know is that you'll find unto your soul there something about Jesus his nature the sweetness of who he is you will find rest to your soul he gives us rest he gives us peace he gives genuine Joy deep down in our spirit and so this is what uh uh the characteristic that David had in him was a humble Man David was not just a man of humility but David was also a man of love for others okay King David was a man that really loved people he had the love of God in his heart for people so the Bible lets know that David was a man after all after God's Own Heart well what is God's heart the Bible makes it very clear that God is love Hallelujah that's God's nature God is love he's a loving God that's his Essence if you were to stand before God today being in his presence that's one thing that you would feel is love you would feel the fact that God loves and cares for you more than anyone else and he's more concerned about you than you could ever imagine he more concerned about your well-being than perhaps you are concerned about your own wellbeing he loves you with an everlasting love Hallelujah so God uh is love that's God's nature and David having the heart of God in other word what that means when it says he was a man after God's Own Heart Is that he had a heart that was according to the nature and the desires of God that's what it means when it says that it was he had a a heart that was according to the nature and the desires of God that was the heart of David and so uh he had a heart that just you know that that just really resembled to to some degree God's heart okay so he had love for other people and we're going to talk about that uh as we go on about the love that David had in his heart as we go on in this message today but what happened with David is that as he saw God he grew more pure and righteous on the inside with time okay there was greater Purity more of God's character more of God's nature that was developing in David with time and David was coming closer and closer to God as he continued to do God's will as David continued uh in the Journey of Faith and continued uh walking by faith God strengthened him and the trials and the tests that came David's way caused David to grow we we've been learning about all these trials and all these tests that David had to endure during this series we've been learning about that and the trials in the test test are not for no reason but the trials and the tests that we go through are to build us up and to bring us to a place where that we can be a blessing a greater blessing to others the trials and the tests that we go through in life uh are for our spiritual character is for our spiritual nature so that our spirit man would become more and more Godly so that's what God is looking for from his people he's looking for his people to walk in godliness godliness that means you walk in his nature that means you seek to emulate uh God's nature okay and God is a god of love okay and so uh that's what was happening in David with time he was being changed by the very power and the spirit of God he was getting changed and he was beginning uh to really grow in the things of God as he went through the persecution as he went through the difficult times as he went through the times of being pursued and not knowing where he was going to be able to lay his head down to sleep at night he was being pursued by Saul and SA Saul uh just was having no mercy on him but David uh was God was using that God was using this uh episode this time period in David's life to cause him to grow but it's very interesting that Saul with time grew more corrupt you you'll notice this when you study the life of Saul okay Israel's first king Paul was growing more and more corrupt as the days went by corrupt in heart corrupt in his Spirit he wasn't getting better with time Saul was becoming more corrupt with time now in in the early days of of Saul's kingship if you had told Saul that one day Saul you're going to kill uh an entire Village of priests the priest said knob you're gonna put him to death Saul would have said no I would never do that he would have told you I would never do that but with time as he continued uh to rebel and be a disobedient King and as he continued to not seek after God and not humble himself and repent he grew worse and worse and this is what happens through Sin Sin with time progresses it brings you down with time it doesn't build you up no sin is destructive sin tears you down isn't it's something that God really didn't intend to be a part of the human experience when God made man in the beginning did you know that he did not want sin to ever enter into the very bloodstream of humanity he didn't even want that to be a part of our existence and in the beginning it was not a part of our existence in the beginning it was not even a part of the thought process of human beings it just wasn't in US sin was not in us we were pure we were holy we were made in the image of God that's how it was in the beginning we were made in God's image and our desire was towards righteousness we just naturally gravitated towards righteousness and doing what was good in the sight of the Lord that's how we were initially but with time when we chose sin Adam chose sin it corrupted us it defiled us and it changed us on the inside and when that change took place on the inside of us it caused all kinds of changes in the world around us and so uh sin is what has made our world uh this place of so many troubles it's sin that has brought that about Sin has caused our world world to no war when War should have never been a part of the human existence sin has caused our world to know sicknesses and diseases because the doorway opened through sin for sickness and disease sin has caused our world to know lying and deceit and swindling okay you this is sad but when you go and you buy something you have to always be on the lookout are people going to try to Swindle me are they going to try to uh run a con on me a con game on me you know you're just buying a a new car A new television whatever it is getting some repair work in your home uh whatever it is you always have to keep your eyes open and wonder are they going to try to con me in some way you got to watch every detail look at the contract make sure that everything lines up okay examine the product that you're about to purchase walk around it look at it okay take the car out for a test drive you got to do all these things because of sin and because of the fact that people might Swindle you and so the sin nature is something uh that corrupted our world but it was something that God never intended us to ever deal with he didn't want us to have to deal with sin and people say well how would a loving God allow such evils to happen in our world this is the question that many people ask but the truth of the matter is that God didn't design the world as it is today he makes it very clear in his word that the world is in a fallen State it's Fallen it's not the Glorious World perfect peaceful world that God made it in the beginning is not that glorious place it's Fallen okay sin has entered into the bloodstream of humanity God made this world with such Perfection that we as humans without sin we would we would be Eternal beings okay we wouldn't even have to experience physical death but we experience physical death because of sin the sin that opened the doorway to death and all of us must die as the scripture says as it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the Judgment so all of us as human beings we all have an appointment with death it's inevitable okay it is an inevitability but it's sin that did this to the world sin is the real issue sin is what corrupted Saul sin is what caused Saul to go from a humble man to an arrogant man okay he was humble but with time because he wasn't seeking God that sin nature began to take control the sin nature began to dominate King Saul and he became more and more corrupt and the Bible says that righteousness on the other hand exalts a nation righteousness will cause a nation a city a region or an individual to go up that's what righteousness will cause righteousness exalts a nation you want your life to go uh up you want your life to go better and you want your life to go in the direction that God envisions for it to go is going to take you living a life of righteousness Hallelujah righteousness exalts a nation but righteousness can only be achieved through Jesus Christ Hallelujah Jesus makes us righteous Jesus causes us to be made brand new Jesus causes us to be born again he gives us a new spirit a new heart so that we like the things that God likes and we begin to despise the things that God despises we love what God loves and we shun what God shuns okay why God changes your heart he makes you a new creation in Jesus Christ I can remember before I came to faith in Christ how different I was my perspective on life was basically I wanted to have money get money and things like that and success that was kind of how I viewed the world get money and success and that was how I viewed things before being saved before Jesus Christ okay my perspective was just different and if you told me in those days you know what you're going to be a preacher you're gonna be a a humble preacher you're GNA you're going to be self-sacrificial and you're going to preach the gospel you're going to talk to people on the streets and share the gospel on the streets and things like that if you told me that you wouldn't have been able to convince me you you would not have been able to convince me before I knew Jesus Christ because I thought so differently I couldn't see how I would ever be a preacher okay but God changed me Hallelujah God changed me the Bible says that therefore If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away and behold all things are become new and so that's what happened in Me God changed me on the inside I saw the world differently I could see the beauty of the sunshine and I could see the beauty of God's creation when I looked up I could see and perceive that God was real whereas when I was unsaved it's I just couldn't see it was like I was blind all the good was all around me but I was unable to really perceive it okay and so God has a way of opening your eyes that's what happened in my case uh God opened my eyes God caused me to become a new creation he changed me on the inside and I'm convinced today that if God can do it for me Hallelujah he can do it for anybody he can do it for anybody he can transform you he can make you a new creation he can make you new through Jesus Christ but you got to humble yourself and you got to acknowledge your need for God you got to acknowledge that I'm a sinner I'm not better than other people because all have sinned and com short of the glory of God you got to humble yourself acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you need Jesus Christ and that's the first step then you got to put your faith in what Jesus did for you how is a person saved well a person is saved when they acknowledge that they need God they acknowledge that they are a sinner and then they make a decision to put firm Faith okay firm faith in what Jesus Christ Alone accomplished on the cross of calvary you see Jesus atoned for our sins at the cross of Calvary he paid the price for the sins of the world he suffered though he was without sin he was without sin he was a he was perfectly holy and righteous the very Son of God and without sin he went to the cross and made the decision I'm I'm G to suffer I'll pay the price so that people might be saved saved and when Jesus went to the cross and suffered uh horribly on that cross he didn't do it for nothing it wasn't just in vain but he suffered to pay our price we all done wrong we've all done wrong we've all uh violated God's word because we've all sin and come short of God's glory none of us can boast as human beings that have grown up above an age of accountability not talking about little innocent babies but I'm talking about people that have grown up to an age of accountability none of us can say that we are without sin is woven into the fabric of who we are a sin nature and sin is such a big issue that it took Jesus to deal with it Jesus had to deal with the issue of sin is not something we can deal with we've been trying to deal with the issue of of sin War disease crime we've been trying to deal with that as human beings from the beginning of time but the sad thing about it is that is not getting really any better it's not really improving with time we be we're just becoming more sophisticated in how we kill more sophisticated uh in how we commit crime more sophisticated in how we do and perpetrate deeds of evil but yet and still we as human beings were still sinful okay and Jesus the very Son of God had to deal with this issue and the way that he dealt with it was through his death on that cross suffering that was God's wisdom because the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins there had to be the shedding of blood in order for our sins to be remitted in order for our sins to be forgiven and so that's what happened at the cross he died for our sins he was buried but the third day God raised him from the dead and he did this as a sign that would always be established for ages to come that Jesus Christ truly was the son of God because no one else in human history by their own power defeated death no one else it was Jesus and Jesus alone he defeated death and so we must put our faith in what he accomplished for us trust in him firm faith in Jesus Christ trust what he did don't trust in your own goodness to save you it'll never work trust in what he did and then make a decision that I'm turning from what is sinful that's called repentance I'm turning from what is sinful and I'm going to follow Christ that's how we're saved so uh in this story we see the corruption of Saul sin corrupted him sin brought him down with time sin caused him to become more and more evil with time it brought him down to the point where that Saul had an entire Village wiped out he had a man by the name of doe the Edomite and he told doe the Edomite wipe out these priests and doe the Edomite went and killed all the priests of Na at the direction of King Saul the corruption of sin that's what that was it was the corruption of sin and what ends up happening with Saul is that his last recorded meal the last meal that Saul ate was from the table of a witch it was from the table of a woman who was given to uh necromancy she would conjure uh the dead attempt to conjure the dead and this was something that was against the law of Moses it was not something that they should have done in Israel and Saul knew this but his last recorded meal was from the table of this witch who he went to to get uh help because he was so fearful about the battle that was ahead for him he was so afraid uh concerning that battle and he was so fearful concerning that battle that he took he couldn't get a word from God he said well I'mma go to somebody that has a familiar Spirit In other words an unclean Spirit okay I'm going to them I can't get a word from the holy spirit so I'm going to turn to a woman that has a familiar your spirit I'm going to turn to a woman who is ungodly unrighteous uh who is a witch I'm going to turn to her and get a word this is what happened with Saul he went to this witch at indor and he inquired can you bring up for me Samuel bring Samuel up the prophet Samuel because Samuel was dead and Saul knew that Samuel could always get a word from the Lord he knew that Samuel was close with God and Samuel could always get a word from God and so Saul said bring up Samuel for me and I want to talk to him this is what happened in this passage of scripture that we read Saul disguised himself and when he went to this woman okay hid that he was the king of Israel okay because he he knew that what he was doing was wrong and he knew uh that if he went to this woman as the king of Israel maybe she would run and flee but he disguised himself went to this woman at indor and uh she give she conjures up somehow God permitted it she conjured up somehow the spirit of Samuel the prophet Samuel the prophet came up okay this is what happened in this passage of scripture and she talked uh Saul talked briefly with him and Saul asked what's going to happen to me in this battle that's coming and Samuel because he's a true a true prophet of God he had to tell them the truth he said you're gonna die in this battle that's ahead for you you and your sons are going to be with me you're going to die and so Saul was uh dealing with uh this situation and he was terrified by what was coming and he ended up after hearing this word having a great sense of distress and grief and this woman said you know what Saul King Saul you and your man since you got you all are here let me prepare a meal for you I'm a prepare a meal for you and so she when she prepared a meal she got a fatted calf and killed it and cooked it and she made unleavened bread to feed Saul and his men and it's interesting to me that the very last recorded meal that Saul had was given to him by the witch at indor his last recorded meal we know that witchcraft is demonic okay if you conjure the dead and things like that you are dealing with demons and so this woman was communing with demons uh and this last recorded meal in a symbolic sense represents that Saul was partaking of the doctrines of demons he was partaking of the teaching of devils okay and so uh this is what was uh shown to us through what happened in this scripture the very last meal that Saul had came from the table of this witch and so uh you know we we must realize this that according to 1 Timothy 4:1 now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils this is what 1 Timothy 4 and one warns us about the spirit speaks expressly the SP the spirit speaks clearly about this happening in the latter times that people are going to follow false doctrines they're going to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils and so this is what it represents in the life of Saul that Saul got into error and he went in the wrong direction and Saul just couldn't handle the wealth and the fame and the power that was associated with kingship all the wealth and the fame that came his way and the power once he tasted of it he couldn't give it up he just said you know what I'll never give this up Saul had the attitude that even if God himself tells me to give this up he just had an attitude I'm not giving it up and he fought for years for a good period of time to kill David because he feared that David was going to be king in his place he just couldn't handle uh the wealth and the fame and the power you got to have character you got to develop character as a Believer your character has to grow you got to be strong in character if you're GNA be able to uh deal with uh wealth and deal with Fame and things like that often times money will cause people to change you know they're one way they're nice and humble and innocent and kind but with money then they get a lot of money all of a sudden they change okay they they become a different person and they behave differently because of the money their love for money that is money itself is not bad okay the Bible says money anth all things money is a blessing from God if you use it the right way but it's the love of money it's the love of Fame it's the love of power that's what caused his issues and this is what happened with Saul he just loved these things and it caused him to become more and more corrupt and so let's go to 1st Samuel chapter 31 1st Samuel chapter 31 and let's read about how Saul died in the Battle King Saul had fought for a number of years he had fought for a number of years to preserve his kingship and he was wearing himself out wearing himself out trying to find David and trying to make sure that David could not be king over him over Israel he was just trying doing all he could to make sure he put David to death and chasing David relentlessly relentlessly pursuing him in order to make sure that he could not become king but look at what happens with Saul after these years of persecuting and troubling David it says verse one now the Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount gilboa and the philis followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons and the Philistine Philistines slew Jonathan and abinadab and Melua Saul's sons and the battle went sore against Saul and The Archers hid him and he was sore wounded of The Archers so Saul was hit by the arrows of the Philistines okay and he was in a bad shape when he got hit by those arrows he was in such a bad condition that he wanted to die okay he knew that his day his time was limited when those arrows hit him and he wanted to die and uh his sons had been killed in this battle his three sons they were killed by the Philistines and now Saul is hit too okay he got hit too and so it says then said Saul unto his armor Bearer draw your sword and thrust me through therewith lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me so Saul was concerned that they were going to get his body and they were gonna make a mockery of him they were going to get him uh and uh take his body and abuse it and parade it around town that was what he was concerned about and his armor Bearer wouldn't do it his armor bear said no I'm not gonna kill you he was afraid to do it okay he just he had he was fearful to kill the king even though the king asked him to do it you still he said no I just I can't do it it and so then it says therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it so Saul died by Suicide that's what happened with Saul you see Saul just could he couldn't handle uh the situation that he inherited was given by God he just didn't have the character to handle it and his lack of character uh is what caused his demise the arrows of the Philistines was one thing that Saul uh that caused Saul's death there was two things that caused his death the first thing the arrows of the Philistines you see our enemy The Wicked one he can shoot you with his arrows when you don't follow God closely the wicked one can shoot you with his arrows when you allow unforgiveness to get down in your heart and bitterness to get down into your heart he can hit you with arrows that cause your demise okay if you get over into uh vanity and self-pleasure okay if you get over into Pride it opens the door for the evil one if you get over into uh mistreating people it opens the door for the evil one if you get over into swindling and hustling people and not being honest and forthright with people it can open a door for the enemy and so the corruption of Saul was so bad that God basically gave up on him God was done waiting for Saul God had decided that it's it's time for a new king and so this time period of Saul pursuing David and troubling David finally finally comes to an end and Saul fell on his own sword what does that represent what it represents is that his own actions killed him you see what you got to realiz is this people that are given to evil uh evil is its own demise okay what destroys evil people is their own evil that's what ends up happening with people that are given to evil their own evil destroys them I find it interesting that Adolf Hitler a very Wicked Man in in human history Adolf Hitler killed himself according to history it's believed that Adolf Hitler he killed himself he committed suicide many people who go out and do these mass shootings you'll notice a lot of them turn the gun on themselves and kill themselves you see evil is it's its own demise when people get involved in evil they think that they're uh going to be able to just enjoy doing evil and cause trouble for others without a price but when you get involved in evil and you get involved with unrighteous Deeds it doesn't just destroy others it will ultimately destroy you and so that's what happened with Saul he was destroyed by his own actions he was destroyed by his own evil heart his own pride is what destroyed King Saul so David's Chief enemy had died his chief enemy was gone and now it paved the way for David to finally become king and the Destin that was prophesied over David is beginning to come to pass because Saul is gone and so David perhaps if he's a normal man that's not righteous and full of the holy spirit of God uh he would be rejoicing when Saul died he would be celebrating yeah my enemy's been killed we're gonna have a big feast he would be celebrating if he was just a normal ordinary person but what do we see David doing David was mourning the death of his enemy who had put him through so much who had unfairly wanted to kill him David was mourning he mourned for his enemy that sought to kill him numerous times the man that almost put him to death who took his Javelin and hurled it at him and tried to pin him to the wall on various occasions he had done that to David and David had narrowly escaped narrowly just barely barely escaped but David didn't rejoice when Saul died he mourned you see we've got to get to the place in our walk with God where that we mourn for our enemies we we're so concerned about them we're so full of God's loving nature that we pray for them okay we bless them that curse us as Jesus said we should do okay we bless and we don't curse we got to grow to that level of maturity we see the very heart of David revealed in this passage of scripture I've often wondered what was it about David's heart that God really loved that really touched God's heart such that God said uh you're a man after my own heart and God wanted every other king that followed David to follow and his footsteps and what I can conclude is this David learned to love his enemies that was one thing that David learned he loved Saul and tried to be a genuine friend to Saul to the end to the very end he tried to be a genuine friend to him tried to really really show him love and compassion every time David had a chance to kill Saul he would not do it every time he had a chance to do harm to Saul he wouldn't do it David left Saul in the hands of God and so David just loved he learned to love Saul and I believe that that is one aspect of what made his heart such a unique heart such a pure heart that he's spoken of throughout the Bible he learned to love we've got to learn this secret that David learned and David wrote a song of mourning for his chief enemy Saul and he taught this song to the people of Israel he didn't speak any evil of Saul though Saul had done so much evil against him he forgave you see that's another aspect of what I believe God really loved in David is that he forgave he forgave Saul Saul never did him right never did him good but he forgave him he moved on and he wrote a song of mourning for Saul and didn't speak evil of Saul okay and so this is God's heart David revealed the very Heart Of God for Saul I believe that this was God's heart for Saul forgiveness God wanted to offer him forgiveness God wanted to offer him uh a relationship a friendship with him God was not into condemning Saul but God wanted to show him kindness and show him love so let's grow by the grace of God let our hearts become more like God's heart that's what God is looking for we got to Humble ourselves today and we've got to grow in these things amen at this time as we focus our hearts upon the Lord hallelujah hallelujah dear heavenly father in Jesus name we just look to you oh God we humble ourselves before you We're Here For Your Glory we're here for your honor dear God we we're here to give you praise hallelujah hallelujah glory to God glory to God glory to God oh blessed is your name thank you for uh this message that