Diary Of A Sinner

Psalm 51:1-19   To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.   Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.   Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

1 Kings 15:1-5  Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.  Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.  And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.  Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:  Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

·        STORY OF DAVID’S SIN IN 2 SAMUEL 11 & 12

·        David is well known in the Bible as the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), and yet he committed terrible sins here, breaking several of God’s “ten commandments” in the process!

·        His secret to success is not spiritual perfection, but sincere repentance immediately after failure.

·        David was favored by God because he always sought to keep God’s commandments.

·        He learned these secrets by observing his predecessor, a man who went his own way, refused to repent, and finally had the Spirit of God lifted from his life.

·        WE LEARN MUCH ABOUT DAVID BY LEARNING ABOUT SAUL!

·        When Israel asked for a king, it was for the wrong reason – to make them like other nations.

·        Their request in 1 Samuel 8 is a pivotal point in their history.  It is 380 years since the exodus from Egypt, and 370 years later they will be in Babylonian bondage.  When they refused a THEOCRACY and chose a MONARCHY, this one stubborn decision plunged them into ruin.

·        Samuel warned them about the perils of having a king, for receiving a king is different than receiving a gift – you must SUBMIT to a monarch you receive or you make them less than a king!

·        Saul, much like his nation, immediately set out trying to PLEASE GOD IN HIS OWN WAY.

·        When facing a great Philistine army of 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen in 1 Samuel 13, Saul got impatient when Samuel didn’t show up to make the sacrifice.  His men were deserting him, so to impress them HE MADE HIS OWN SACRIFICE.

 

1 Samuel 13:13-14  And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.  But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

·        Saul consistently tried to handle things in his own way (“doing my will in God’s name”).

·        Saul’s constant depression was simply unrepented sin in his life.

·        But to understand Saul’s greatest failing we must look all the way back to the book of Genesis.

·        In Genesis 25, we are introduced to ESAU, a man who sold his birthright for a pot of stew!  (He thought he could get by with just a blessing, but he later lost that also!)

·        In Genesis 36:12, a grandson named Amalek was born to Esau.  There was constant fighting between the descendants of Jacob (Israel) and the descendents of Esau (Amalek, among others).

·        In Exodus 17, a battle ensues between the Amalekites and Israelites.  The battle is only won when Moses is able to “conquer the flesh” and hold up his arms before the Lord.

·        Moses builds an altar called “Jehovah my Miracle” because it will take supernatural power to win this war with Amalek that God declares will rage throughout the generations.

Exodus 17:14-16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.  And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:  For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

·        In Deuteronomy 25, God gives Israel specific instructions regarding the Amalekites as they are about to enter the Promised Land.  These instructions are never carried out by Israel!

Deuteronomy 25:17-19  Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;  How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.  Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

Finally, the same commission is given to Israel’s first king in 1 Samuel 15:1-3.  Saul again does what he thinks best, sparing King Agag and the best of the Amalekites’ possessions (v. 9).

1 Samuel 15:1-3, 9  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass…. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

It is here that Saul’s sin of rebellion is rebuked directly by Samuel.  Saul never sees him again!

1 Samuel 15:22-23  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

The end of this sad story is found in 2 Samuel 1, where we discover the fate of King Saul:

2 Samuel 1:5-10  And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?  And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.  And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.  And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.  He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.  So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

·        THE ENEMY SAUL WOULD NOT KILL EVENTUALLY KILLED HIM!

·        Because Saul lived in a state of rebellion, doing what he thought best, the spirit of God left him.  David had seen this, so he immediately killed the Amalekite who came with this news.

1 Samuel 16:14, 23  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.   And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Saul’s obituary is found in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 …

1 Chronicles 10:13-14  So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;  And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

The Saul’s are still among us today, insisting they are serving God while pleasing themselves!  But God has declared that our flesh must die through repentance or it will eventually kill us spiritually.

Galatians 5:16-17, 24  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would….  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

 

Galatians 6:7-9  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

In Matthew 9, when the self-righteous Pharisees criticize Jesus for eating with sinners, he echoes the words spoken to Saul by Samuel.

 

Matthew 9:13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

A “man after God’s own heart” isn’t perfect, just repentant!