← Back to sermon library

Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to 1 Samuel 22. God willing, we'll return to 
our exposition of Matthew's Gospel next Sunday morning, but this 
morning we're looking at 1 Samuel chapter 22, verses 6 to 23. For the last several sections, 
I've tried to summarize with one word the chapters that we've 
looked at. Chapter 19, we saw deliverance. The Lord God delivers David from 
Saul. Chapter 20 is covenant. David's 
covenant with Jonathan was that which God used to encourage his 
servant. In chapter 21, we saw provision. The mention of many places, many 
geographical locations where David went. He found refreshment 
in various forms and so God gave provision to his servant. Well, 
here in chapter 22 verses 6 to 23, that one word would be massacre. Saul and his wickedness become 
more apparent as we move through the narrative. If David is a 
man after God's own heart and on a rise to power ultimately 
over the nation of Israel, and a place close to the heart of 
the God of Israel, Saul is coming unraveled, violently and wickedly 
so. So I want to read the section 
and then we'll look at several things in the text. Beginning 
in 22.6, when Saul heard that David and the men who were with 
him had been discovered. Now Saul was staying in Gibeah 
under a tamarisk tree in Ramah with his spear in his hand and 
all his servants standing about him. And Saul said to his servants 
who stood about him, here now you Benjamites, will the son 
of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make 
you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? All 
of you have conspired against me. And there is no one who reveals 
to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse. And there 
is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that 
my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie and wait as 
it is this day.' Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set 
over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse 
going to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitab. And he inquired 
of the Lord for him, He gave him provisions and gave him the 
sword of Goliath, the Philistine. So the king sent to call Ahimelech, 
the priest, the son of Ahithah, and all his father's house, the 
priests who were in Nab. And they all came to the king. 
And Saul said, Here now, son of Ahithah. He answered, Here 
I am, my lord. And Saul said to him, why have 
you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that 
you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of 
God for him, that he should rise against me to lie in wait as 
it is this day? So Ahimelech answered the king 
and said, and who among all your servants is as faithful as David? Who is the king's son-in-law 
who goes at your bidding and is honorable in your house? Did 
I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me. Let not the king impute anything 
to his servant or to any in the house of my father. For your 
servant knew nothing of all this, little or much. And the king 
said, you shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house. 
And the king said to the guards who stood about him, turn and 
kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with 
David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell 
it to me. But the servants of the king would not lift their 
hands or strike the priests of the Lord. And the king said to 
Doeg, you turn and kill the priests. So Doeg, the Edomite, turned 
and struck the priests and killed, on that day, 85 men who wore 
a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests, 
he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children 
and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep with the edge 
of the sword. Now one of the sons of Ahimelech, 
the son of Ahitab, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 
And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord's priests. 
So David said to Abiathar, I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite 
was there, that he would surely tell Saul, I have caused the 
death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me. Do not fear. For he who seeks 
my life seeks your life. But with me, you shall be safe. 
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our blessed 
God and our Holy Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank 
you that you've not left us alone in this world. You've given us 
the Spirit, the other Comforter, the one just like your Son. We 
thank you that you've given us both the Old and the New Testament. 
We pray that you would give us wisdom now, that the Spirit would 
guide us and lead us and illumine our minds and hearts that we 
may receive what you would have for us from this passage of Holy 
Scripture. We confess our sins to you and 
our transgressions. We know, Lord God, that we don't 
live in light of the Word of God as we ought, and as believers 
we struggle with remaining corruption, and we confess that corruption 
to you and pray for cleansing in the blood of the Lamb. And 
Father, for any and all here outside of Christ, we pray that 
today they would meet the Priest of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that one to whom Abiathar points. And we pray that by your grace 
they would come to you through Christ and know the joy of everlasting 
life. We thank you for your word. We 
thank you for your goodness and for your graciousness. We thank 
you for not dealing with us according to our transgression. We thank 
you for bringing us to this place. And we pray that you would be 
glorified and honored. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, it is 
the case that we are seeing Saul come unraveled. He is a man from 
whom the Spirit of God has departed. And in several instances, a distressing 
spirit from the Lord has come upon Saul and he's engaged in 
wickedness. He has no reason whatsoever to 
seek to destroy David. David is a national hero. David 
is a man whom the Lord God had gifted Israel with, a man who 
had beaten Goliath on the field of battle in the Valley of Elah. 
And ever since that instance, Saul has been overruled by envy, 
by rage, by malice, by distrust. He is truly a man that is coming 
unglued. As we come to this passage, we'll 
look at three particulars. In the first place, we'll notice 
Saul's pity party at Gibeah. That is precisely what happens 
in verses 6 to 10. It's a pity party. Perhaps you've 
undergone something like this in your own life. Perhaps you've 
seen it in your own children. Perhaps you've seen it in others. 
That idea where everything is all about them and they're moaning 
and they're whining and they're groaning and they're complaining. 
That is what's overtaken the king of Israel. A man who's supposed 
to be mature, a man who's supposed to be level-headed, a man who's 
supposed to have government over his own soul and life has a pity 
party in Gibeah in verses 6 to 10. In the second place, we see 
the massacre at Gibeah and Nob in verses 11 to 19. And then 
in the third place, the escape of Abiathar in verses 20 to 23. So that'll be the course of exposition 
and then we'll try and make some practical observations on the 
passage when we conclude. But notice in the first place 
this pity party in Gibeah. It gives us the location. When 
Saul, verse 6, heard that David and the men who were with him 
had been discovered. Now Saul was staying in Gibeah. 
This is where he lived. This is where his palace was. 
under a tamarisk tree in Ramah with his spear in his hand and 
all his servants standing about him." Someone still hasn't talked 
him out of holding on to that spear. Now certainly it's an 
indication or symbol or an emblem of his royal authority, but certainly 
after his proven record up to this point of being unbalanced 
or imbalanced, somebody should have tried to take that spear 
away from him. Now notice the accusatory question 
that he poses to his servants. He is there with his men. He 
is there with those who are supposedly those who support him and all 
he has is condemnation. Notice in verse 7, Saul said 
to his servants who stood about him, here now you Benjamites, 
will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards 
and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? 
I think it's important for us to appreciate something. This 
is probably how Saul had kept the servants under his employ. This is probably how Saul kept 
his servants loyal. Remember when Israel demands 
a king. Samuel then tells the people 
under God, through the prophetic word, what manner of a king they 
would receive. And essentially the king would 
exploit the people over whom he ruled. The king would give 
their lands and give their resources to his officers. It seems to 
me that Saul is doing the very thing that he is accusing these 
men of being loyal to David for. Look at the text in verse 7. 
He says, Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields 
and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains 
of hundreds? Sort of like we might say, like 
I do. Saul is trying to bribe them. 
Saul is trying to keep them under his grasp. Saul does not want 
them to depart and go and serve David. It truly is an abuse of 
power. We see him coming unraveled in 
the spiritual realm. We see him coming unraveled when 
it comes to rationality. But we see him doubling down 
when it comes to political tyranny. He will protect his position 
at all costs. And what he does in terms of 
indicting these servants is to suggest to them that if David 
won't deliver the goods, then you ought to remain loyal to 
me because I will. I will grace your palms. I will 
make you happy. I will deliver. He has to pay, 
ultimately, for their allegiance. Robert Vannoy says, so in Saul's 
questions to the members of his court, we get an indirect commentary 
on how far Saul had strayed from an awareness of his office as 
a covenantal king. He had used the land in Israel, 
fields and vineyards, that really belonged to the Lord, to bind 
his court officials to himself. He had personalized his office 
and then concluded that David was doing the same. That's what's 
happening here. Now notice what he goes on to 
do in terms of his accusation in verse 8. All of you have conspired 
against me. There's no evidence to suggest 
that is the case whatsoever. This man is paranoid. He's falling 
apart. He sees problems where they don't 
exist. David was victorious in the field 
of battle. Everybody said this is a good 
thing. Saul rejected it because it did not give glory to Saul. Notice, he says, the servants 
knew but did not tell Saul concerning the covenant between Jonathan 
and David. And then, what he says in the 
last place is truly incredible. What it says in verse 8, and 
there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me 
that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in 
wait as it is this day. Could there be anything more 
pitiful or pathetic than a sinner who plays the victim. This is 
typical sinner conduct, by the way. He doesn't say, I've made 
a mess of everything. My heart and my rage against 
David has brought me to this place. No, you won't feel sorry 
for me. You have to defend me. You have 
to protect me. You have to fawn all over me. 
You have to cater to me. You have to agree with me. This 
is the picture of political tyranny. This is something that I think 
our author also wants us to appreciate. That when men are devoid of the 
Spirit of God, you cannot trust for a moment that things will 
go well for the persons for whom they govern. This man is in a 
wretched, sorry condition. He's engaging in a pity party 
in Gibeah. And now notice what he says, 
or what happens in verse 9. Verse 9, then answer, Doeg the 
Edomite. Remember there was a snapshot 
of Doeg the Edomite in the past chapter. Chapter 21, verse 7. David goes to the city of Nob. 
He needs bread. He needs provision. He's on, 
according to him, a secret mission from Saul. So Ahimelech the priest 
gives him this bread. But there's this brief snapshot 
that Doeg the Edomite happened to be there that day. Happened 
to be there. There's no happen to be there 
in the book of 1 Samuel. It is the providence of Almighty 
God who governs all his creatures and all their actions according 
to his most holy, wise, and powerful preservation. But Doeg was there. It was foreshadowing. Now Doeg 
the Edomite comes back. He's probably a foreign mercenary 
that is subject to Saul's government. And notice what he says. He was 
sent over the servants of Saul, and he said, I saw the son of 
Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahithah. And he inquired 
of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the 
sword of Goliath, the Philistine. Doeg, in many ways, does report 
what actually occurred, though I'm not convinced that David 
inquired of the Lord then. Everybody says that. Ahimelech 
says, no, I did not do that. But look at what Doeg does. Doeg's 
a bit, in a bit, in a sense, sort of feeding Saul's suspicions. 
He's sort of fanning the flames. He's not trying to minimize the 
situation. He's not trying to put off the 
situation, but rather he is instigating. David Samora says, not only does 
Doeg claim that Ahimelech inquired of God's will for David, but 
he calls the holy bread provisions and refers next to the sword 
of Goliath. Each statement more military 
than the next, increasing the listener's tension, provoking 
the suspicion that the priest was aiding David in military 
preparations against who else, But Saul. So you see what happens 
here. Saul is whining to his servants. Doeg says, I saw David in Nob 
with Ahimelech. And Ahimelech gave him provisions. And Ahimelech gave him a sword. And Ahimelech aided him in inquiring 
of Yahweh. Doeg, as Samorah points out, 
is charging Saul. or encouraging Saul to believe 
that David is going to mount opposition against Saul's reign. But what does a tyrant do? Does 
he sit down and discuss the matter? Does he say, you know, we need 
to have a summit? We need to exchange some watches 
and some hot chocolate? We need to speak kindly to one 
another? No, not this tyrant. Note the second place. how Saul 
deals with a perceived threat to his kingdom. Notice, the massacre 
at Nibia and Gaul, verses 11 to 13. He accuses Ahimelech. Now, brethren, I'm pointing this 
out a little bit because we are in an election cycle. I don't 
believe this text has direct application to who we choose 
as a prime minister or who the Americans choose as a president. 
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know there are election 
cycles in both countries. But I certainly believe that 
the Church of Jesus Christ ought to have the wherewithal to know 
something about politics, to know something about tyranny, 
to know something about God-hating rebels who occupy a place of 
authority over others. Saul throws off the rule of God 
absolutely. What does Deuteronomy 17 specify? The very moment that a king occupies 
the throne in Israel. You know what his first job is? 
Has nothing to do with foreign policy. Has nothing to do with 
economic growth. Has nothing to do with jobs creation. Has nothing to do with all those 
particulars. What is the primary and first 
procedure of the reigning king in Israel is to take out his 
own pen, his own piece of paper, and write for himself the law 
of God. Saul couldn't care less! Had 
Saul written out the law of God, that self-same chapter 17 in 
Deuteronomy and chapter 19 would have told Saul, you need witnesses. 
There's this thing called due process. There is this issue 
wherein the government shouldn't just be able to take you out 
of your home and throw you into prison or murder you without 
somebody hearing your side of it. Due process is from God and 
Saul rejects it. Notice, he addresses Ahimelech 
and the way that Saul addresses David is similar. He's always 
the son of Jesse, isn't he? Well, here Ahimelech is the son 
of Ahithah. He's not Ahimelech. Again, Saul, 
it seems, keeps men at distance as he's got them under his crosshairs. He assumes the guilt of Ahimelech. He shows no regard whatsoever 
for the law of God and its demand that on the basis of two or three 
witnesses every fact is established. Why is that that we don't pay 
attention to it? Why is it that we are so quick 
to throw in our two cents without hearing the matter? Without hearing 
from witnesses? Without seeing evidence? You 
see it all over the place. We hear a tidbit of information 
and we're castigating some and exonerating others. You know, 
we're not in a position to make those calls at times. And in 
the church, this person looked this way or said this, so as 
far as I'm concerned, they're guilty. The first to plead his 
cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. Are we 
going to be like Saul, rebels, and reject the word of the living 
God? Or are we going to calm down? 
Are we going to chill out? Are we going to weigh the evidence 
and the data and the facts and judge accordingly? Saul has no 
regard for the rule of law. It will never go well. When a 
man occupies a place of government power who has no regard for the 
rule of God's law, it's typically not going to go well for the 
people under his government. It's just the way it is. When 
a man sets himself up in the position of being God, when he 
has become a rival lawmaker and he excludes the living and the 
true God, That's not going to be a good situation for the people 
under his government. Now notice the defense by Ahimelech. He defends David in the first 
place. David is a faithful man. David is your son-in-law. David 
holds a high position in the military. David is honored in 
the royal court. It's as if Ahimelech is saying, 
why in the world would I conspire with David? Why in the world 
would I aid and abet this man in his rebellion against you? 
A Himelech essentially is saying, I'm not convinced he's in rebellion 
against you. All these things are true of 
him. He's a faithful man. He is the king's son-in-law. 
He holds a high position. He is honored in the royal court. 
Why in the world, Saul? Ahimelech at this point is a 
bit of the voice of reason to this tyrant, similar to Jonathan 
in chapter 19. Remember when Jonathan comes 
to Saul in chapter 19, Saul tells his servants and Jonathan, we 
need to kill David. And Jonathan says, wait a minute, 
and he offers up all these pieces of rational evidence as to why 
Saul shouldn't kill David. And Saul for a moment said, okay, 
you're right, I won't kill David. And later on he tries to kill 
David. What should we glean from that? 
Tyrants cannot be reasoned with. They're not rational men. They 
are madmen. They are out of their minds. 
When a man sees himself as if he is God, for anybody to try 
and reason with him, for anybody to try and offer up any counter 
evidence, is to suggest that his voice as God isn't good enough. Saul's in a bad state, brethren. Saul is in a horrible place at 
this time. Now notice, he then affirms his 
innocence. This is the Himalaya in verse 
15. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from 
me. Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to any in the 
house of my father. For your servant knew nothing 
of all this, little or much. It's a good case, isn't it? Essentially, 
David's a great guy. He's probably not even in opposition 
against you. And if he was, I'm certainly 
not conspiring with him. I'm just a priest functioning 
in the city of Nob seeking to glorify Yahweh. And yet, what 
does Saul do? Notice, he calls for a massacre. I wonder if we feel the weight 
of this particular passage. It's easy to read through 85 
people lost their lives or a city got slaughtered and say, well, 
you know, I wasn't there. Didn't happen to me, didn't affect my 
family, didn't involve me. Do you see the depths to which 
Saul has fallen? It is almost as if the author, 
I think he has multi-reasons for the book of 1 Samuel. It's 
always about the glory of God. If you ever wonder what a Bible 
book is about, you'll never go wrong saying the glory of God. 
If you ever ask the question, what is the scope of Scripture? 
It is Jesus Christ. You'll never go wrong there. 
He asked, why did Samuel write Samuel? Yes, it's to teach us 
concerning the glory of God. It's to teach us something concerning 
his kingdom here on earth. But it's also teaching us something 
theological in nature in terms of the man who's after God's 
own heart. How do we dare to be a David? 
How do we follow in the footsteps of a man of God like David? But 
as well, how do we avoid? How do we resist? How do we guard 
against and stay far from Saul? Saul's a wretched picture of 
human depravity in all of its filth and blackness and wretchedness. Look at what Saul says in verse 
16, the king said, you shall surely die Ahimelech, you and 
all your father's house. The utter absence of due process, 
Doeg's report and the defendant's response no witnesses, no cross-examination, 
no ability to argue this out in a rational and logical and 
legal context. No, as far as Saul is concerned, 
the testimony of the Edomite trumps everything because it 
fits the narrative that Saul wants people to believe. That 
David is a usurper, that David is a rebel, that David is a man 
not after God's own heart, but a man who is after his own lusts 
and his own desires. In other words, Saul is casting 
upon David the very things that are true of him. Now notice, 
he tells his servants, verse 17, when the king said to the 
guards who stood about him, turn and kill the priests of the Lord. 
You ever read scripture and think for just a moment, what if I 
would have been there? And it's one thing to sit on 
a Sunday morning and hear preaching or on a Monday afternoon and 
read scripture and sip chamomile and put your pinky finger out 
and read passages like these and say, wow, what a terrible 
thing. Saul says, turn and kill these 
priests. Remember, according to verse 11, when Saul summons 
Ahimelech, all the priests of Nob come to Gibeah. All the priests 
of Nob are all the priests of Israel. Nob was the city of priests. So presently they're in Gibeah. 
The priests have left Nob, they're in Gibeah. Saul has heard all 
he needs to hear, and now he tells his servants, turn and 
kill the priests. Two problems here. If you were 
one of the servants, you'd say, wait a minute, what are you talking 
about? Which is, in essence, what they 
do. And if you were one of the priests, imagine the response 
there. What are you talking about? Kill 
me? What did I do? We like to defend 
our own lives, don't we? We like to get out of the way 
when that car comes careening down the street. We try to move. 
When a madman orders our destruction at the hands of men with swords, 
we would probably say, wait a minute! Hold your horses, Saul. Steady 
this out. Can we talk about this? Note 
what the servants do. The servants will not take up 
their sword against the priests. In this, they show virtue. But they didn't stop Doeg. In this, they demonstrate heartlessness. John Gill nailed it when he said 
their conscience would not suffer them to do it. These men could 
not take their swords and murder the priests of Nah, which it 
would have been. It would have been murder. Lawlessness, 
malice, those things are components that are necessary to define 
the crime of murder. He says, their consciences would 
not suffer them to do it. They refused to obey the king's 
orders and chose rather to expose themselves to his resentment 
than to be guilty of such a crime. Saul's footmen had more sense 
of honor, justice, and truth than he himself had and were 
worthy of praise. It's legit, isn't it? Gil is 
right. They had more of a sense of justice 
or honor justice and truth than the king himself had. And as 
a result, they are worthy of praise. But hear what Gil goes 
on to say. But they would have been deserving 
of more, more praise, if they could not have prevailed upon 
him by entreaties and remonstrances to have foreborn such a bloody 
execution. Instead of being the tame spectators 
of it, they had taken him and bound him as a madman and so 
facilitated the escape of the priests and prevented this shocking 
scene of wickedness." I'm sure you've seen the quotes before. 
They fly around Facebook or social media all the time. It's not 
only the man who takes the sword against the innocent. It's the 
man who stands by and does or says nothing that's guilty too. You see what Gil says? They are 
worthy of praise insofar as they would not take their sword and 
kill the priests of Nob. But you remember Doeg the Edomite, 
given the command, says, yeah, I'll take that. That's in my 
wheelhouse. I'm not even an Israelite. I'm 
not beholden to any priest in any place, especially not in 
Israel. Now these servants, or these 
soldiers, stood by and watched a mass execution. Brethren, we 
may not be the person that is actually cutting off another 
person's head, but we may be the bystander watching and saying 
nothing. We may be a party to it by our 
complicity, by the fact that we are too weak-kneed and too 
Nancy-boyish to stand up and intervene. What is more of a 
threat to a king than a challenge to his tyranny? You know, it's interesting. King 
James, the famous King James of the King James Bible, had 
a problem with the Geneva Study Bible. He had a problem with 
the Geneva Bible. It wasn't called the Study Bible. 
Everybody studied then. You didn't have to tell them, 
this is a study Bible. Really? I didn't know what that meant. 
Everything is a study Bible. Study the Bible. That should 
be just basic information. Well, I can't just study this 
Bible because it's not a study Bible. The Geneva Bible had notes 
that were a bit offensive to King James, especially in Exodus 
chapter 1. Because in Exodus chapter 1, 
it commends the Hebrew midwives in their resistance to the tyrant, 
Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, butcher baby boys 
that have Israelite names. And those Hebrew midwives didn't. As well, in Exodus 1, verse 22, 
it tells us how the king's rage was to be poured out upon Israel. And the Geneva Study Bible said 
this is the way, I'm just paraphrasing here, this is the way of tyrants 
when their authority is challenged. You see, the point though, brethren, 
is that at some point, and I'm not here preaching social revolution, 
that might be something that's coming to your head. There's 
political cycles. Butler's preaching 1 Samuel 22. 
Is he going to tell us we need to go get guns and march against 
Ottawa? No. But I'm telling us we need to 
be more biblically minded when it comes to the world around 
us. Why do we oppose tyranny? Why should we oppose tyranny? 
Why should we reject rule by wicked men? Why is it the case? Have you wrestled with any of 
these things? You ask the question of the Bible, 
what sort of political theory do you commend to us? Yeah, we're 
not going to answer all of that right here and right now, but 
brethren, these are things that Christians need to get in their 
heads. We can appear so ignorant. We're going to appear so foolish. 
We're going to appear the way that people perceive we actually 
are. That we stick our heads in the 
sand and we pretend that the world's not out there. You know, 
in my mind, in my understanding, with reference to the scripture 
and a biblical worldview, it isn't the Christian who stuck 
his head in the sand. It is the God-hating rebel. By putting his head in the sand, 
he is seeking to exclude the God of heaven and earth. What 
happens to Paul when he stands before Festus, or Felix, and 
Festus says, Paul, much learning is driving you mad. You say, 
well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I apologize. He said, I am not mad, most noble 
Festus, but I speak the words of truth and reason. What's the 
implication of Paul's statement? Festus, you're mad. You're nuts. You're out of your mind. Christians, 
we have answers in the Bible. We know what God's Word is concerning 
several issues. So again, this is not a sermon 
on social revolution. Show up to my house in the morning 
and I'll arm you with the bandoleros and the sombreros and we'll go 
out and we'll make our money. No. But think. There's a scary passage in Ezekiel 
9, probably one of the scariest, in my estimation, in the entirety 
of the Bible. Ezekiel gets a vision, and in 
that vision he sees six men. And these six men have slaughtering 
weapons, battle weapons, killing weapons. There's another man, 
he's clothed in linen, he's got a writer's ink horn. And in the 
vision, that man with the linen is told, I want you to go and 
I want you to mark the heads of those who sigh and cry over 
the abominations in Israel. I want you to go and mark the 
heads of those who sigh and cry over the abominations, I think 
it's Jerusalem. And then he goes on to say to 
the six with the slaughtering weapons, I want you to follow 
the one in the linen, and whoever doesn't bear the mark on his 
forehead, I want you to kill them. What's the point? Israel has become a bastion of 
idolatry. Israel has become a place where 
babies are murdered. Israel has become a place where 
human sacrifices has been engaged in. Israel has become a place 
that looks pagan. Spare the ones who at least sigh 
and cry over it. Spare the ones who at least care. 
Spare the ones who at least shed tears. But to those who don't 
sigh and cry, those who don't care one whit, those who just 
care about themselves, take them out. And in the vision, guess 
where these men are told to start? Begin at my sanctuary. I see sometimes, and I read sometimes, 
and I hear sometimes that pastors don't always preach on, you know, 
basic ethics. Why is abortion wrong? Why is euthanasia wrong? Why 
is the death penalty right? You need to know these things, 
brethren. You need to sigh and cry over the abominations in 
the land. Perhaps you are one of these 
servants that won't take up sword to dash these priests down to 
the earth. Perhaps you're not crying out 
to the Lord. You're not intervening as you're 
able. You're not saying. You're not 
writing. You're not praying. You're not 
doing anything. I'm not saying we all have to 
be political activists. This is not a call to go stand 
up and hold signs in five corners. Pray, brethren. Pray. All of us can pray. I'm not into 
that either. Pastors guilt manipulating people. 
You've got to write 10 letters to your members of parliament. 
I don't care if you write 10 letters. You should be on your 
knees at the throne of grace in a time of crisis. The time 
where baby murder and old people murder and all sorts of wickedness 
are just upon us. Do we cry to God? Do we say, 
Oh Lord, how long? We try to pray for the persecuted 
church. We try to read the letters and 
the updates. We try to keep that before us. 
Because out of sight, out of mind, It's one of the best things 
about those 10 videos thus far that have come out from CMP. Nobody knows what goes on behind 
the doors of a Planned Parenthood clinic. Now they do. And it underscores 
this wickedness as well. Now they do and they still don't 
care. They still don't care. that babies 
are being butchered and their parts are being sold so that 
women can joke about purchasing Lamborghinis, and there's still 
a debate about defund Planned Parenthood? It just shows you 
that men are committed to wickedness. It just shows you that Proverbs 
8 is absolutely correct. Those who reject Me, that's Christ 
speaking His wisdom, love death. They love it. They traffic in 
it. They dance in it. They celebrate 
it. And it's all over. That's US. Happens in Canada 
too. I'm going to preach on the sixth commandment tonight. Euthanasia. It's the new law in 2016 in Canada. Does that concern us? Does that 
bother us? Does it affect us? Yeah, I'm 
not trying to manipulate you. Write ten whatever's to whoever. 
You know, email with this petition. But brethren, at some basic level 
in our human psyche, it ought to affect us enough to pray, 
to cry out to the Lord God. So notice, Goeg steps up to the 
task. And what does he do? He murders 
the priests there in Gibeah. Remember, they'd all left Nob 
and they came with Ahimelech to Gibeah. So Doeg, probably 
not single-handedly, probably some Doegites, some of his supporters, 
assisted him in the task, the bloody and the cruel task, of 
ridding Saul of his problem, which had never been affirmed 
to even be a problem. These 85 priests certainly didn't 
do anything. A Himelech didn't do anything. 
There was no witness evidence to corroborate this whole spiel. But Doeg is right there to execute 
the wrath of Saul upon the priests of Nod. Talk about religious 
persecution, huh? You see, that wasn't enough. 
That's never enough. The tyrant's sword is never satisfied 
with the blood it gets. Look at what happens. They're 
in Gibeah. Doeg the Edomite, middle of verse 
18, turned and struck the priests and killed on that day 85 men 
who wore a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests, 
he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children 
and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep, with the edge 
of the sword. Wasn't enough to slay those men. 
Let's go kill their families. And not just their families, 
their livestock and everything. Those of you who have been there 
on Wednesday night, you'll know the principle. It's called the 
harem. Harem principle. It's a thick H sound, kind of 
a CH in Hebrew. Harem. What's the harem principle? It's what God commands in holy 
war. When Israel goes to dispossess the land, they're not to do it 
with a social media campaign, they're to do it in a bloody 
manner. They are to kill all the men, all the women, all the 
children, all the livestock, and dispossess them from the 
land. Isn't it intriguing? This was 
Saul's command in chapter 15. In chapter 15, Saul was told 
by God to go and to kill Agag and the Amalekites. When Saul 
goes to deal with the Amalekites, he doesn't kill Agag. He doesn't 
kill the livestock. He spares them, probably for 
his own greedy, ill-gotten gain. But he makes up this story that 
I thought we could sacrifice to the Lord. It rings hollow, 
buddy, because you're a wretch. Note what's happened. Chapter 
15, Saul is supposed to do this to the Amalekites and he doesn't. 
This is the self-same chapter that we often refer to to teach 
that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. That's what Samuel 
says to Saul because God commanded Saul to go and institute this 
harem principle upon the Amalekites and take care of business. He 
doesn't do it to the Amalekites, but he does it in Israel. You ever get that glimpse at 
the end of Judges? There's a similarity to what 
happens in Sodom. At the end of Judges, there is 
a similar situation to what takes place in Sodom and Gomorrah. It's a vile rape scene. You know what the author at the 
end of Judges is telling us? Israel has become the new Sodom. The author here is telling us 
that Saul, the tyrant, will reject and rebel against the word of 
the living God when it comes to the legitimate enemies of 
Israel. But when it comes to Saul's enemies, 
his perceived enemies, his enemies who haven't been convicted or 
convicted according to due process, for Saul now he'll implement 
this harem principle. For Saul now he will exterminate 
not only the priests, but their families. Robert Alter says, 
now he is carrying out the ban he executed only imperfectly 
against Amalek. The terms used are virtually 
identical. But the massacre is directed 
at his own innocent people. Saul's madness has become sinister 
and lethal. Now before we move on, we need 
to understand how sovereign God really is. Saying that seems 
odd, right? How sovereign God really is. 
Sovereign means what it means. But He's so sovereign. No, He's 
sovereign. But we need superlatives and 
we need adverbs or adjectives. We need to make it more so. He is the most sovereign-ist. You see, this brutal, wretched, 
ghastly, ghoulish scene fulfills the Word of God. There's high 
mystery here. Our confession says the doctrine 
of predestination needs to be handled with prudence. Back in 
chapter 2, there was a priest named Eli. Guess who Abiathar 
is directly related to? Eli did not function as a godly 
man. Eli did not restrain his sons. 
As a result, his sons plunged the sacrificial system into great, 
great troubles. God told Eli, through the prophet 
Samuel, that his house would be destroyed. Don't forget that. In case you 
forgot that, This incident at Nob, this incident at Gibeah, 
ought to rehearse the reality that God doesn't forget His word, 
God doesn't forget His promise, God does not neglect His own 
prophecy. He brings it to pass. I'm going 
to lean on Davis here because I think he says it well. Ghastly, 
brutal, and unjust, yet one cannot read of Doeg's slaughter without 
recalling the prophecy of chapter 2. Doeg's butchery fulfills the 
word of God against the house of Eli. That word had been spoken 
perhaps 40, maybe 50 years before. No, now in the carnage at Gibeah 
and Nob it had come to pass. He says, don't berate the word 
of God. God is not the author of this evil. Place the blame 
where it belongs, on this renegade Edomite and on the Antichrist 
who commands him. They dared to destroy the priests 
of Yahweh. It is a horrid wickedness for 
which Saul and Doeg are fully responsible. It is a clear fulfillment 
of the word Yahweh had spoken. Put it together and one truth 
becomes clear. Please listen. I personally don't 
care if the food is hot, cold, or whatever. I think people should 
stay till the sermon is over. We can eat cold food, brethren, 
or not have coffee in the first minute. This stuff is absolutely 
crucial. Listen to what David goes on 
to say. Put it together and one truth becomes clear. Even in 
opposing God's kingdom, God's enemies only bring to pass God's 
Don't you find comfort there? That's another thing that really 
ought to get our goat, is those who have a problem with the sovereignty 
of God. Oh, we don't like this doctrine 
of predestination or election or sovereignty. What are you 
talking about? We want to say with Paul, blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 
us with every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just 
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 
In love He's predestined us. There is nothing more comforting 
to the saint of Christ than the sovereignty of God. Why is it 
the case that that's offensive to some who name and profess 
Christ? If you haven't tasted and seen 
the sovereignty of God, you're short. You're gypped. You are 
not where you ought to be. Davis is absolutely correct. 
Even in opposing God's kingdom, God's enemies only bring to pass 
God's word. You see a similar instance. We're 
running out of time. But in Acts chapter 4, how do 
they pray? How do the saints pray? How do 
the apostles pray? to do whatever your hand predetermined 
to do. Oh, they acknowledge the wickedness 
of Herod and Pilate and their complicity in putting the death 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they say, doing what your hand 
determined to do. Sovereignty wasn't an offense 
to them. Sovereignty wasn't an affront 
to them. Sovereignty was the very foundation upon which they 
brought their prayers and petitions to the Lord God Most High. That's 
a great doctrine, a great truth, a beloved thing that the church 
ought to hold to, and care for, and defend. Now notice finally, 
quickly, the escape of Abiathar, verses 20 to 23. Now one of the 
sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitab, named Abiathar, escaped 
and fled after David. So basically he escapes, he tells 
David what occurs, and then David confesses, or David owns, or 
David feels remorse and feels regret. Notice what David says 
in verse 22. So David said to Abiathar, I 
knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely 
tell Saul, I have caused the death of all the persons of your 
father's house. I don't know how David got up 
the next day, to be honest with you. I really don't know how 
David got up the next day. Have you ever done something 
really bad and it just wants you, you just want to stop? I 
don't mean kill yourself or go do that, but how did David move 
on? Look what David ascribes to himself. I have caused this. I should 
have known when I saw Doeg, the Edomite, standing in the house 
of the Lord. I should have deflected. I should have stopped. I should 
have taken him out, whatever the case may be, to neutralize 
the threat of Doeg reporting back to Saul. David owns this. And yet David lived to fight 
another day. You know how he does it? Because he understands there 
is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. He understands it's 
the blood and the righteousness of Jesus upon which we stand. Brethren, learn something from 
David. He continued to soldier on, even 
when he had done grievous things. How, we might ask? Grace. Mercy. It wasn't his virtue that 
he looked to. It wasn't his ability that he 
looked to. It wasn't his power or strength that he looked to. 
It was to the Lord God most high. When David is given the opportunity 
later to be judged or punished, what does he do? He says, I'd 
rather be in the hands of my God. Don't throw me into the 
hands of men. I don't trust myself in their 
clutches, but I'm good when it comes to God. Indulging out punishment. That's what David says. Now notice, as we end or conclude 
the exposition. Verse 23, stay with me, do not 
fear, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me 
you shall be safe. The contrast couldn't be sharper, 
could it? Saul murders priests, David saves 
them. Saul guts them in Gibeah and 
their families in Nob through the agency of Doeg. But David says, stay with me, 
I'll protect you. You see, David is the man after 
God's own heart. David is the man who walks by 
faith. David is the man who knows the 
presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. Saul is a reprobate. Saul is the one that has rejected 
the living and true God. David walks in his Lord. And we need to understand the 
significance of this, because remember, at the end of chapter 
19, The end of chapter 19, when Saul takes off his clothes and 
he prophesies, when the Spirit comes upon him and he prophesies. 
Remember when he took off his clothes there, he wasn't absolutely 
naked. It was a divestment of his royal 
robes. The author's telling us that 
he's no longer God's king. What's the author telling us 
here? Saul doesn't have access to the priesthood. Without access 
to the priesthood, you don't have access to Yahweh. David 
now has a priest. David now has Abiathar. David now has the prophet and 
the priest, and he is the king. Abiathar then stands, this is 
Davis, as a witness to the way God insistently preserves a remnant 
of his people. The priests of God may be destroyed, 
but not completely destroyed. The people of God may often be 
put down, but never put out. Abiathar's escape does not mean 
that all God's servants are immune from the world's butchery, but 
that the world's butchery can never wipe out all of God's servants. The Lord does not promise that 
we will never die for the kingdom of God, but the Lord promises 
that the kingdom of God will never die. That's what Abiathar 
shows us. Let Saul take his rage against 
the priests of Nob, and the kingdom marches on. God will have a priest 
over his household. Make no mistake about it. In 
conclusion, my dear brothers and sisters, in the first place, 
we learned that there will be enemies for God's covenant people. That was true in Saul's day. 
It is true in our day. This is why we hear about, and 
this is why we pray for the persecuted church. This is why we ought 
to be concerned. We ought to show that solidarity 
with brethren by going to the throne of grace on their behalf. 
There will always be enemies to the Church of Christ. It is 
a certainty. It'll never be the case. It's 
the New Jerusalem wherein righteousness dwells. In this place, there's 
a lot of unrighteousness, and a lot of that unrighteousness 
is targeted against the people of Jesus. In the second place, 
and I think we've shown this, we ought to appreciate the misery 
of political tyranny. The misery of political tyranny. Now, it seems to me that in an 
election cycle, there's two basic responses from the people of 
God. On the one hand, you get that group that says, if we can 
only elect the right guy, then everything's going to be great. 
We can only elect the right guy, then everything's going to be 
great. You've heard that, haven't you? 
You don't look at me like, what are you talking about? Those 
people are out there. Their websites are out there. You can click 
on them and see. If we only elect the right people, everything 
will be great. Make America great again. Restore chickens in every 
pot, and cars in every driveway, and jobs. It's all this idea 
that if we just elect the right guy, then everything's going 
to be great. But then you get the other websites, 
you get the other Christians who say, we shouldn't think one 
whit about politics at all. We should just concentrate on 
the church and do what the church is supposed to do. What are we 
supposed to believe? How are we supposed to navigate? 
Which websites do we visit? Well, the idea that salvation 
and redemption can come from any man or political party is 
patently false. The psalmist puts it this way, 
some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember 
the name of the Lord our God. On the other hand, brethren, 
political tyranny makes difficult the functioning of the Church 
of Jesus Christ. It seems to me that Paul the 
Apostle, as well he should, gives us the perfect response, the 
biblical response. We don't put our trust in those 
men, but we pray for those men. I know it seems so odd, doesn't 
it? We need to recognize the dangers 
of a political tyranny. Salvation cannot be gotten from 
a man or political party. but a great deal of bloodshed 
can be gotten by a man or a political party. So be savvy and recognize 
these things and don't cast your ballot for Saul. That would be 
foolish. That would genuinely make difficult 
Paul's injunction in 1 Timothy 2. Why are we supposed to pray 
for kings and all those who are in authority? So we'll have jobs. So we'll have whatever it is 
that they're telling us we're going to have. That we may lead 
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 
So on the one hand, don't trust in a man or a political party. 
But on the other hand, don't disregard the ramifications of 
a man or a political party. You vote in a Saul and life is 
going to be very difficult. You vote in a Saul and things 
are going to be very bloody. You vote in a Saul and things 
are going to be very harsh and it's going to be very difficult. 
Now, that's not to say we ought not to slug it through the difficulty, 
but Paul's prayer seems to envision this sort of an environment so 
that we can be unharassed and free to worship our God the way 
we are supposed to. Doesn't that seem like The response. We need to understand as well 
the preservation of the covenant people. It's been an encouragement 
going through 1 Samuel because it underscores the power and 
the ability and the super competence of Almighty God to preserve His 
kingdom. Doesn't it? There's a lot of 
threats coming against the kingdom. From without, that champion from 
Gath named Goliath, and from within, that tyrant that was 
a Benjamite son of Kish named Saul. It should promote confidence 
for us and to us in the one who declared, and on this rock I 
will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail 
against it. If God is able to preserve his 
kingdom in such tumultuous seasons as we see here in 1 Samuel and 
through 2 Samuel and through the kings and all of those things, 
if he is able to preserve it, then certainly when his son promises 
in Matthew 16 that he will build his church and the gates of Hades 
shall not prevail against it, we ought to say yea and amen 
and we trust you Lord Jesus that even if we are under assault, 
that even if the gutters run with blood, we nevertheless will 
believe that Christ will maintain that for which he died. There's 
a certain bit of comfort in that, isn't there? And then I think, 
and I've alluded to this, that Abiathar points to us about God's 
mind for keeping a priest over his house. If you want to write 
this down later, this was another point of application. Study Psalm 
52. Pastor Cam read it at the outset of worship. When did David 
write Psalm 52? He wrote Psalm 52 when Doeg, 
the Edomite, told Saul that David had been with the Himalek in 
Nob. And that psalm breaks down into 
three sections. The description of God's enemies, 
the judgment against God's enemies, and the preservation of God's 
people. It's good to reflect on David. Psalms, at the time, 
are the ones that jive with these historical narratives. There's 
a great world of comfort. David describes the enemies, 
he tells of God's judgment against them, and then he rejoices in 
the reality that God preserves his people. That final lesson 
You may be a non-Christian here this morning. You may be an unbeliever. 
You may be somebody who hasn't come to Christ. And I know if 
you attend this church, you hear this every week. We pick on you. 
We're really not. We're not trying to pick on you. 
We don't know who you are. There's no sign. There's no bulb. There's no halo. 
There's no black presence thereof. There's nothing that would indicate 
one way or the other. But probably in your own heart 
of hearts, you know if you've made peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. In your heart of hearts, you 
know that the life that you now live in the flesh is either that 
ordained by God for his glory and your well-being, or that 
which is a rejection of his will, which is a rebellion against 
his mind as revealed in scripture, which is ultimately degradation 
to yourself. You see, men think that liberty 
comes in a bottle, or in a pill, or in a cigarette, or in a joint, 
or whatever it may be, or in a political party, or in self-righteousness. That brings degradation, brings 
emptiness, it brings confusion and chaos. Sin never produces 
good things. But learn from this passage that 
God has purpose to station a priest over his house. In 1 Samuel chapter 
21 or 22, when the Antichrist Saul is trying to destroy the 
very covenant people of God, God puts his hand upon Abiathar 
and brings him to David. Now consider the fact that David 
will later compose a psalm, and in that psalm he will write concerning 
his greater son. The Lord, Yahweh, has sworn and 
will not relent. You, Christ Jesus, are a priest 
forever according to the order of Melchizedek. There is a priest 
over the house of God today. There is one to whom you can 
come in your guilt, in your sin, in your shame. There is one who 
takes sinners like you, and who cleanses them, and who washes 
them, and who purifies them, and who gives them a righteousness. 
I mean, this is why it's called good news. You can't speak of 
it without a smile, because you know this is what's happened. 
We were degraded by sin. We were in our filth. We were 
in that wickedness, and that mire, and that wretchedness. 
And God came, and God cleansed, and God washed, and God gave 
us the righteousness that is not our own, that is imputed 
and received by faith alone. Believe on Him. Believe on this 
priest, not Abiathar, the priest over the house of Nob in the 
days of David and Saul. But believe on Jesus, of whom 
Yahweh has sworn and will not relent, that He is a priest forever. He's not going away. This is 
one of the apostles' arguments in Hebrews 7. You know what limited 
the Levitical priesthood? They dropped dead. They died. They couldn't maintain it. Not 
Jesus. The Apostle says he ever lives 
to make intercession. He's always stationed at the 
right hand of the Father. 1 John 2 tells us at the right 
hand of God we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ 
the righteous. Sinner today ought to be the 
day of salvation. Believe on Jesus. Receive the 
forgiveness of sins. Receive that righteousness that 
avails with God wherein one day you will enter in. to that place 
where there's no more political tyranny, where there's no more 
bloodshed, where there is no more effects of the ravages of 
sin. Doesn't it encourage you to read 
chapters 21 and 22 of the book of Revelation and say with John 
at the end, even so, come Lord Jesus. deliver us from this evil. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for the word of truth. We thank you for your graciousness 
and your mercy to us. We ask God in heaven that you'd 
open ears and hearts to the truth of the gospel here and other 
churches in Chilliwack and throughout Canada and all over the world. 
We pray that your word would run swiftly and be glorified. We pray that multitudes would 
come to the Father through the priest, Jesus Christ, by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, that they might know the joys of being 
found in him. We thank you for this time to 
meet together, and we pray that you would go with us now. And 
we ask through Christ the Lord, amen.