If you’d like to take up a copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Samuel 24. As you know, in the summer in our evening services we are taking some time to study the life of David, Israel’s second king, the one that Scripture fondly refers to as “a man after God’s own heart.” And as we consider this next stage of life’s pilgrimage for David, he is not yet on the throne but God is still preparing him and shaping him towards that end as we look at these verses before us. So 1 Samuel chapter 24, and we’ll read the first twenty-two verses. If you’re using the pew Bible, it will be found on page 246.
Now as you’re turning there, I want you to listen to the words of an Old Testament commentator, Dale Ralph Davis, who writes this. He says, and I quote, “Like the mozzarella cheese on your pizza” – that’s not what you were expecting from an Old Testament commentator, was it? – but he writes this. He says, “Like the mozzarella cheese on your pizza, chapters 24, 25 and 26 hang together. They recount different situations but share a common theme.” I’d encourage you to go and read those three chapters when you go home and see the different situations, the different contexts. But of course the common theme is that David, this man after God’s own heart, he does not seize the kingship that has been promised to him, but he patiently trusts the Lord to give it to him in the appointed time. And that’s what we are going to see as we work through this text this evening.
Now you need to remember that David is still on the run from Saul; he has been since chapter 19. Saul is the current but already rejected king of Israel whilst David is God’s anointed king that is not yet installed. And immediately as the reader you ought to be able to see and you ought to know that there is a problem here. This is a perfect recipe for a conflict in a political overthrow. Well, as God’s anointed, David’s life is increasingly so, it’s reflecting the hand of God; the blessings are in his life and everyone sees it, including Saul himself. And for the most part, most people are actually greatly encouraged by what they see God preparing and doing in the life of David, but Saul is not. Saul, as we’ll see, he’s threatened, he’s overcome by envy and jealousy. In fact, the driving emotion seems to be that of fear, which has caused Matthew Henry to say that “He is overrun by evil intentions.” He is overrun by evil intentions. And all of this is really the perfect brew that fuels Saul’s deep seated murderous desire to destroy David. He is out for blood. And so he is both hated and he is being hunted and in the midst of that David trusts God. And as he trusts God, God is using these circumstances as a means to shape his heart and to cause him to love and look to the Lord his God with every and each new day. And so before we read God’s Word, let’s bow our heads and let’s ask God to help us as we read this together. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we do rejoice and we give You thanks for calling us together as Your people this evening to worship You. Father, now we come to sit under the reading and the preaching of the Word. Father, we pray that You would pour out Your Spirit and Lord, that You would take the Word and apply it to our hearts. You know our need. You know whether there needs to be conviction, correction, encouragement, comfort. Father, minister to us as Your people, and we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is the Word of God:
“When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, ‘Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.’ Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’’ Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.’ So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, ‘My lord the king!’ And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.’
As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is this your voice, my son David?’ And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.’ And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.”
We praise God for His holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. Amen.
In the closing verses of the previous chapter, chapter 23, Saul and his men are closing in. They are hot on the tail of David, having received some new intel from some opportunistic citizens – maybe they were trying to get some financial gain providing intel to the king. But as we know throughout Scripture, man makes his plans and the King of heaven smiles because just as Saul is about to pounce on David, knowing his exact whereabouts, a messenger arrives saying this. Look at chapter 23 verse 27 – “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” You have to smile. You’ve got to marvel at God’s perfect timing and his hand of providence. God allows a distraction. The land is under threat. Saul has a decision to make – is he going to continue to pursue his own personal vendetta against David, or is he going to resume his position as king and defend the land? And so he takes his men and he leaves and he goes to push back the Philistines. And David is very aware that he has been granted a temporary respite, and so he takes the opportunity to head out towards the wilderness of Engedi, which is about fifteen miles northeast of the wilderness of Maon, which is where he currently is at the end of 23.
Now just as a quick aside, this place Engedi that is spoken of in chapter 24, it’s the most important and it’s known as the most permanent of the springfed oases on the western shore of the Dead Sea towards the middle and lower end of the Dead Sea on the western shore. And the word “Engedi” is made up of two words. And it means “spring of the young goat,” largely because of the young ibex goats that are on the rock faces. They graze on the oasis below in the grasses, they drink from the fresh water, and then of course they find refuge on the rock faces, the limestone rock faces that oversee this oasis. And really, you’ll know for yourself if you’ve ever watched them on National Geographic or seen them in real life, you’ll know that these ibex goats, their life is precariously in the balance at any appointed time. It takes one wrong move with regards to their hoof on the rock face and they can fall to their death. And in some sense, that describes where David finds himself. He finds his life precariously in the balance. He is being hunted by the most powerful individual in the region. And at every turn, the Lord has his back and is allowing him to escape.
Another part of the meaning of this word “Engedi” – so that’s the young goat aspect – but you’ll know it is the “spring of the young goat,” that’s the meaning. And the Engedi is also known by those who live in Israel as the place of living water. It’s the place of living water. It’s a place where people can find refuge. They can be refreshed and they can enjoy the abundance of that which grows – the vineyards and so much more in the oasis below. And that’s what David is doing; he is taking advantage of that. He is enjoying and being refreshed by the living water.
Just as a small note, periodically in the course of the Old Testament we have places or we have events and we have names that are rich and beautiful in their meaning with regards to a reminder to us as Christians. Here you have Engedi. It’s a place of refuge. It’s a place that overflows with abundance, with lots of vineyards, and it’s a place of living water that flows. Jesus Himself is the one who said, “Come to Me. I have living water. I am the water of life.” And every now and again in the Old Testament narratives we have this typological pointing us forward to that that ultimately finds fulfillment in Christ. It’s a beautiful reminder that in an Old Testament narrative, someone being hunted in the middle of the wilderness – that’s where we are, by the way; in some sense we are in the middle of the wilderness – we are to keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ at every turn. Keep looking to Him and find refreshment from Him and refuge as the Rock of salvation.
Well as we read, it’s not long before Saul resumes his pursuit of David, having received new intel that he is now in the wilderness of Engedi. And I want you to see in verse 2 what he says. Do you see that? He says, “Saul gathers three thousand chosen men from across Israel.” These are not volunteers or new recruits. These are sort of like the special forces of the Israeli military team. And he takes these men who are well versed in military attire and well equipped and they start to head out. And what I want us to see from the text this evening is I want us to see how God’s grace, amid life’s complexities, amidst the struggles, amidst the difficulties, that God’s grace as we look to Him, as we trust in Him and as we trust in His provision of a Savior, God’s grace is the thing that shapes our hearts and He is shaping us for His own glory. And He does it through three means. He restrains us, He strengthens us, and He assures us. He restrains us, He strengthens us, and He assures us or affirms us.
So first, let’s look at verses 1 through 7. God’s grace restrains us as part of His shaping of us. By this point, David and his men have taken refuge in one of the numerous caves in the limestone rock formations at Engedi. They are in one of the recessed enclaves, off in the shadows somewhere, obviously very mindful that Saul and his merry men have just arrived in the oasis below. And as his men are there, they are refreshing themselves and there comes a point where we are told in the text where Saul, he needs to relieve himself. And again, you need to marvel at how God providentially guides him – and you can imagine if this was a movie, there would be a movement towards the rock face where all these caves are, there would be silence, there would be a drumroll, there would be more silence, and then God providentially guides him into the exact same cave where David is located, but without his knowing of it. As the reader, you are expected to sense the tension. You’re expected to be thinking, “What are the chances of this happening?” But you see, it’s a stark reminder to us as Christians that in God’s economy things can change very, very quickly, both for good and for bad. If God withdraws His grace, there can be problems that descend on a nation and we actually turn to that which is the inclinations of our heart. And yet if God pours out His grace, there is a receptiveness to the Gospel that is proclaimed and there is much fruit that comes forth from it. Things can change very quickly, because here we see the hunter actually being in grave danger. And again, it is unbeknown to him as well.
Now this is a slight aside, but it needs to be mentioned that commentators have spilt a tremendous amount ink trying to explain what it means that Saul “relieved himself,” especially in light of David, his subsequent actions. How did he managed to do that? Some have actually said, “Well, it’s actually just a euphemism for Saul going into the cave to go and take a nap. Some have actually said that he took a bathroom break and then he fell asleep. But friends, I think that we need to be mindful that Scripture can really be taken as is. We don’t need to try and read into the context, especially the Hebrew is very clear. He went into the cave, he took off his robe and clothes, which would have been standard practice when you go to relieve yourself in those days, and he threw it over the rock that was nearby and he took care of business. So keep that in mind as the scene unfolds.
And so the scene immediately shifts, doesn’t it, and it shifts to David’s men. They’re off in the shadows of the cave and they’re looking as Saul enters and they’re wondering to themselves, “How on earth is this possible? This is God’s kind providence. He is giving the enemy into our hands!” And so they tap David and they nudge him and they say, “David, here you go! The Lord has given your enemy into your hands!” And look what is written – “Do to him as seems good.” There’s no mistaking with regards to what they want the intent to be. They want David to deal with Saul. And so if we didn’t know the rest of the story, David listens to his friends, he arises, he stealthily moves toward Saul, he takes out his knife, and he cuts off a corner of the robe. Now just in case you’re missing the story, that is not what his men’s intention was. The intention was that David would have the opportunity to stop running for his life and that he would be able to sit on the throne that had already been promised to him. But God restrains David, doesn’t he? He restrains David from following through, listening to his friends or his men.
Let me bring this a little bit closer to home. Brothers and sisters, just because life is uncomfortable and just because life does not go the way that we plan, it does not mean that we cut short or circumvent the hardship for ease and comfort. It also doesn’t mean that we force a solution through our own willful conniving because we’ve got the end in sight and that’s what we’re going to get, whatever it may cost. And if that were the case, where would we be if Christ had not resisted the intense temptation in the wilderness as Satan offered Him power and food and everything else?
Just as a quick thing – 1 Samuel 24, 25 and 26, many commentators actually see the parallel with the temptation of David’s greater Son in the wilderness as well, which is another message in and of itself. Where would we also be if Jesus willfully circumvented the cross? He could have called down the angels of heaven at any appointed time, but how many times are we told in the Gospel writings that the time had not yet come. You see, for Jesus to be our Prophet and to be our Priest and to be our King, He had to endure the horror of the cross, not just at the hands of men but He had to endure the horror of the cross as the wrath of God was poured out upon Him to deal with the sin of all those who would be given to Him by His Father. And how did He do it? Well, He kept looking to and trusting in and throwing Himself upon His Father as He sought to be obedient to His Father. Even in the garden of Gethsemane He cries out, “Father, if there be any other way, but not My will but Yours be done,” as He submits Himself once again to what must take place.
Friends, part of being shaped for eternity, part of being shaped for life and service in the kingdom, part of what it means to be shaped to faithfully witness to Christ is to trust God amidst opposition and adversity and the struggles and the difficulties that you will face in this life. It’s not to look for the easy route, but it’s to look to the One who has your life safe and secure in His almighty hands. And that opposition and adversity and those struggles and difficulties may be in the relationships that you are in every single day. It may be in your place of employment that God has you where He has you for this season because He is shaping your heart for His own glory. You know, the opposition and adversity and struggles may be in your marriage or with your children or with your parents. Maybe it’s with your health.
Most importantly, I would suggest that the most difficult and the greatest opposition is going to be in the slaying of your sin as you desire to grow in holiness as you put those things to death. And so we cry out to God for His grace. That’s what David was saying this morning. We don’t just have a list of things to pray about. No, we cry out to God, we plead with Him; we plead for Him to restrain us from evil that there would be much fruit that would come forth from our lives. And so we ask Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to use His Word and to use it to cut and to heal and to restore and to correct and to do what else needs to be done that we can reflect more and more of Him. We know what Paul writes in Romans 5, don’t we? And that’s what we ought to be praying – that we can “rejoice in our sufferings” because we know that “suffering produces endurance, endurance character, character hope, and hope never fails.” Always remember, whatever is going on in your lives at this point in time, that God is shaping us for Himself. He is a good Father, but He is shaping you and He is shaping me.
And so as we return to the text, friends, it would have been so easy, wouldn’t it, to have listened to the misreading of providence that his men had interpreted. But God restrains David and He restrains David because of David’s robust grasp that God had sovereignly anointed Saul to be king. Whether David agreed with that or whether he liked it or not, God had not yet removed Saul from his position which he had been appointed to. And therefore, David had no right to enact vengeance on an image bearer, let alone the appointed and anointed king. That was sacrosanct. God’s will will take place at God’s appointed time. We need to remember that Saul is the one that hated David. David had no personal issue with Saul, and we see that in the way that he speaks to Saul in verses 8, 9, 10 and 11. David was called to live differently, to not hate, to not seek vengeance, to not murder. I think that’s part of the reason that he was able to turn around and say, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing,” and then he actually uses that as the very means to restrain his people. And he says, “No, you will not sin in this manner,” and he restrains them from carrying on with what they wanted to do as well.
Jesus would teach much about interpersonal dynamics in the gospels, wouldn’t He? Just think of one instance when He says, “You have heard it said of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ but I say to you that everyone who is angry, whoever insults, whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will face judgment.” Brothers and sisters, we are called to live differently, to be governed by love, and to live at peace to the best of our abilities. But that is not going to happen in and of our own strength; that is only going to happen by the grace of God. And so as God restrains and shapes David to be king, we can know that as we look to Him, He also restrains us from evil and He is shaping us for His own glory and to be faithful witnesses to the kingdom.
And that brings me to the second thing that I want us to have a look at, and this is in verses 8 through 15. Part of God’s shaping of us is that God’s grace strengthens us. God’s grace strengthens us. As we come to verse 8, Saul has left the cave and it would have made perfect sense for David to kind of take a breather to gather his thoughts and to not give away his position, since especially there’s three thousand men, troops on the plain below with the king. But the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and the Lord gives courage and boldness to David. He strengthens David to use the cave events as an opportunity to set truth, to set the record straight with Saul. Doesn’t he? And so he gets up and he respectfully shows his loyalty to Saul by crying out to him and saying, “My lord, the king!” And when Saul looks around and looks at him, he bows down and pays homage. Later on in verse 11 he’ll address Saul as, “my father.” There’s a tenderness, there’s compassion. You don’t say those kind of words and use that kind of language if you hate the individual.
That’s why he holds up this piece of robe in verse 9. Look at the text. And he says, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘David seeks your harm’?” It’s almost as if he’s saying, “Saul, don’t you realize if I had malevolent intentions we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now? I would have done what many people told me to do, but God restrained me and I spared you. And so this robe, you being alive, shows” – look at verse 11 – “that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you hunt me.” And in verse 13, “Because out of the wicked comes wickedness.” And then he infers in verse 14, “Saul, you’re the king, but you are hunting and treating me like a dead dog and a flea.” By the way, that’s derogatory terminology in the way that Saul is treating David. And then he says this on a couple of occasions in his speech, “The Lord will judge and He will give sentence.” And the reader is supposed to, at that point, be saying, “Ouch. What a punch to the gut!” It’s a wakeup call to the truth and the reality of the dynamic and the situation which Saul is not considering. He has allowed sin to take over and it’s deceived him.
But that’s what truth does, isn’t it? It hits us hard. It’s designed to hit us hard. It must hit us hard. You know, truth hits hard when you realize that there is no life in you and you cannot save yourself, but it really is a gift of God’s grace. It hits hard when you realize and you grow in your understanding and you come to the realization that you contribute nothing to your eternal salvation, that it’s all of Christ. It hits hard when you realize that the very fact that you are sitting here this evening and you are breathing and your heart is pumping and your brain is functioning, that it’s actually all of God’s gracious strengthening of this frail frame. It hits hard when we are reading Scripture in our devotional time or it’s been read in the community of faith and as the Scripture is being read you are being convicted of sin. The Holy Spirit is taking the truth of the Word and is applying it to your heart and pointing out and putting the finger on that porn addiction or on your gossip or on your lying or on your stealing or whatever else and you can fill in the gap. It hits hard.
But you see, truth does and it must hit hard because it’s designed to arrest our hearts and our minds and our consciences out of a state of slumber and into the reality that our lives are being lived before the face of God. Friends, when David said these things to Saul, as he humbly holds up this piece of robe, we also need to remember that this was symbolic to Saul because it would serve to remind him of what Samuel had already said to him in 1 Samuel 15. Samuel had said to him in 1 Samuel 15 that, “The Lord has torn the kingdom from you.” Saul would immediately have recognized the symbolic reference of the robe being held up, having been cut off. And this is all a consequence of Saul’s vain and his hate-filled, arrogant life. A man that was so busy clinging to his own position and to his kingdom that he had forgotten that he lives before God. But what a contrast David is. You know, David, here he is, he is humbly relying upon the Lord, running for his life but trusting it, placing it in the hands of God. And God is graciously strengthening David in every turn, both in his actions and in his speech, even in the face of an avowed enemy.
Friends, just think with me of David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are reminded in Philippians that Jesus made Himself nothing by being born in human likeness, being found in human form, He humbled Himself and He became obedient even to death on a cross. Jesus Christ is the one who was raised on a tree, isn’t it? It was His body that was ultimately torn. And as His blood was poured out, it was being poured out to cover the sins of those who would be redeemed. And even as the powers and the authorities at that time were looking at Him as He was dying, He says from the cross, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” He didn’t call down the angels. He displays a different set and a different way of living. And it’s in His death and it’s in His subsequent resurrection that all the powers and principalities and authority were finally put to bay. They were destroyed. Satan, death and the power of sin is no longer relevant to those who belong to Jesus Christ and who belong to His kingdom. Friends, He is the one that we cling to. We cling to Him. We trust in Him. It’s His grace which restrains us from evil, but it’s also His grace which strengthens us in our weakness to proclaim truth, even to those who hate us.
And that brings me to the third point that I want us to consider. And I want you to see this in verses 16 through 22 of the text where God’s grace affirms us. God’s grace affirms us or assures us. And I’m going to be brief on this, but as you look at the text do you see how David’s act of mercy and his love, his speech, how it actually touches the king’s cold heart? Do you see that? We see it in verse 16 where Saul, he is clearly convicted, isn’t he? What does the text say? “He lifted his voice and he wept.” He wept. That is a response to something that is going on internally. And then he says in verse 17, the text says, “You are more righteous than I. You repaid me good where I repaid you evil.” His conscience is stinging with a sense of remorse. As he is brought face to face with the truth and the reality of the situation, he realizes that everything he has been doing has actually been foolishness. That’s the outworking of sin, isn’t it?
But notice that Saul is not just convicted but he is also convinced. He is convinced. He is convinced that he didn’t deserve to be treated the way David has actually treated him. We see this in verse 19. He says, “For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? David, you have treated me in a manner that I would not have treated you and many others would not have treated me if they were in your shoes.” That’s a powerful Gospel witness when others can say that of us, for instance. Where they recognize that we’re not just people who live for Christ and call ourselves believers on a Sunday, but we take that into every sphere of our lives and they recognize that our actions, our thought processes, our speech is designed to give glory and honor and praise to the one that we belong to, whether it be in the legal profession, whether it be in the health professions, teaching, wherever it may be. There is a profound Gospel witness when people can say this of us. By the way, isn’t that what we have received from our Master? We’re told in the Scriptures He didn’t treat us as our sins deserve but “as far as the east is from the west, He removed our transgressions from us.” For those who have received much, we are to pass that along as part of our Gospel witness in the spheres of life.
But I want you to see this, because even in the midst of being convicted and being convinced that what David was saying was correct, Saul is not converted. Saul is not converted. Verses 20 and 21, there is remorse. He acknowledges that what David is saying is true and right and it is good, but do you notice there is no repentance? There is no crying out to God for mercy. Because we know that in a couple of chapters he is a dog that returns to his own vomit as he starts to chase down David once again. Instead, do you see in verse 21, the focus shifts where? Let’s read it together. “Swear to me, therefore by the Lord, that you will not cut off my offspring after me and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” You see, the focus is actually upon himself. It’s about himself and it’s about the things of this world. Doesn’t it strike you that even having been confronted with his wicked ways, having acknowledged his wicked ways, he disregards the state of his soul before the King – not the future king of Israel but the King of heaven, the King of kings.
Friends, there’s a warning here for us. We can hear the Gospel message week in and week out and we can feel remorse and we can feel tender to what we are hearing as truth, but if it doesn’t bring us to our knees as we repent of our sin and as we lay our lives in trust and reliance upon what Christ has done, we’ve fallen short. And this is so very different. You see this with regards to the sensitivity of conscience. It’s very different to David. You see David, he even cuts the corner of the king’s robe and what are we told? His conscience, the old language was, his conscience was smote. His heart was cut. He realized that even reaching out to cut the robe of the king was not pleasing in the sight of God. O that we would have consciences that are that sensitive to sin in our lives. Even the small sins, the things that we’ve become accustomed to, that we’ve become used to, we don’t even think of anymore. That God would actually make us sensitive by His Word in the power of the Spirit that we would die to those, that our witness would be elevated and that Christ would be the one that is glorified.
Now the third point that I mentioned is that God’s grace assures us. Did you hear how God assures David in Saul’s speech? Did you hear how it comes from the lips of his enemy? He’s saying what Samuel had already said, it’s what Jonathan has already confirmed, where he says, “I know that you shall surely be king.” That’s what God’s Word does to us, doesn’t it? The more we read it, the more it actually confirms things, the more it assures us. It reminds us of the covenantal promises of God. It reminds us of our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. It reminds us of how everything has been lavishly poured out on those who belong to the great Savior. And that’s because of the gift of love from the Father.
Let me close with this. We must be mindful, we must be mindful that Saul’s state is due to an incremental hardening of the heart. It’s the dulling of the affections; it’s the dulling of the conscience. It’s failing to understand and to remember that we are all, every single one of us is living our lives in light of eternity, in light of the face of God. It’s the slow turning away of Saul and that he is not seeking the Lord today while the Lord may be found. There is a warning in that for us. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Seek the Lord today. Come to the throne of grace today. Seek the Lord while He may be found. And so we pray, don’t we, in fact we are pleading with God. Jonathan Edwards, he writes this, he says that “The essential trait of a true Christian is namely the lamblike, dovelike spirit and temper of Jesus Christ that is being formed in us.” That’s something that we can be praying towards. And so God, as He is shaping us, be mindful that He restrains us from evil, He strengthens us as witnesses to proclaim truth, but at the same time, He also assures us of His covenant promises and His covenant love to us in Christ Jesus. And all of this is laid out in His Word, which means that you need to go back to the Word and study the Word and memorize the Word and take that to heart and ask the Lord to do the work of imprinting that upon our souls as He prepares us to do that which is in the next season of our lives.
May the Lord bless us and may the Lord encourage us with His Word this evening. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your beloved Son. We thank You that it is in Him that we find life. Father, we pray that You would draw those who are not yet found to be in Christ and Lord that You would continue to shape and form every single one of us for Your own glory, for our good, that we may be faithful and worthy ambassadors for our beloved Savior. And we pray that You would do this that the name of Jesus may be lifted on high. And we ask this in His name, amen.