Sunday School | David - 1 Samuel 26

We are in this month-long study of David's life, and we're not even halfway through. If you want to read about David's life, what are the primary books you would go to? First Samuel—it's all about David. Second Samuel, excellent. And then what's probably the third? Psalms—that's where you're going to get so much material. We have more information about King David than any other character in the Bible besides Jesus, who is the clear winner of all categories.

But David's life, as we watch through it here, is what we're doing. We're studying the book of Samuel and the person of David because we're interested in Jesus. David is the prototype of the Messiah in lots and lots and lots of ways. The things that we see David do, the way he lives his life, the patterns, the impulses that he has are all meant to prepare us as readers for the Messiah who will come.

And David is that in two very important ways. He is both the positive example of the Messiah—he is the King of Israel, the long-suffering patient one who God exalts from nothingness to total authority. The way that he lives his life is a positive picture of the Messiah. But he is also the negative picture. He is also the opposite, because David himself cannot fulfill his own promise.

So as we watch through the beginning of this story, we're still where David is almost perfectly all good at this point in the narrative. That's going to change, okay? So brace yourself for that. But right now, we're at the point where David just keeps getting it right over and over and over again. We're going to see where David gets it wrong, and as we're crushed and disappointed by his astonishing level of failure, it points us to the one who will never disappoint us, who will fulfill those things and overfill all the pictures that David gives.

1 Samuel 26: A Difficult Passage

The passage that we're going to look at this morning is 1 Samuel chapter 26. The simple pattern, if you're dropping in, is we just do a chapter a week. We're just kind of letting those chapter breaks guide our time. And so we're in chapter 26.

To a certain extent, 1 Samuel 26 is really hard to teach. Do you know why? If you're me and you love novelty and insight and freshness and differentness—what's hard about 1 Samuel 26? It is so much like chapter 24. Everything I had to say that was interesting two weeks ago, well, we already covered that, okay?

But here's the thing about 1 Samuel 26: the reason that, even though I'm a sucker for the new and the novel and the interesting and the other, what I think the author is doing—what Samuel is doing with giving us this incredible redundancy—if you read through 1 Samuel 24 and then you read through 1 Samuel 26, they're entirely different events. There's no mistake that these are the same event being recorded twice. They're totally different in the details, but the pattern is dot for dot. It is the exact same storyline.

Comparing Chapter 24 and Chapter 26

If you remember 24, what was chapter 24 about? If you flip back, what was going on in chapter 24? They were hiding in the cave. David was hiding in the cave, Saul was in the cave—he wasn't exactly hiding, but he was in the cave, right? Saul was in pursuit, chasing David who was mortified in retreat. That's right. Saul was vulnerable and sleeping, and David could have killed him, but he didn't.

So in chapter 24, David has a layup opportunity to kill Saul. Saul is chasing him with 3,000 men and finds him, and Saul ends up in a very vulnerable position. David could kill him, but he doesn't. He comes up right to him, like right up on him, and he cuts off the corner of his garment, but doesn't kill him, and goes back.

In chapter 26, we're going to see a very, very similar thing, where David is being hunted like a dog. Saul has 3,000 troops coming after him. David could kill him easily. I mean, he could jam his own spear right into him and it would be over and he'd be safe, but he doesn't.

Now, Saul was alone in the cave all by himself because he had to use the bathroom. So the cave, we don't know how big the cave was, but he was alone in there. David was in the cave with his—I don't even know how many people. So the 3,000 were someplace else. It wasn't that big of a cave.

So now, why would the author of Samuel show us back to back these two pictures of David being hunted, being pursued by a crowd of 3,000 armed soldiers, having the opportunity to not only defend himself but to kill his enemy, and both times pass on the opportunity? It's very redundant, but why? What is the author saying to give us these two things that are so conspicuously similar? What might be going on here? And then we'll jump into the particulars of it.

Demonstrate God's protection and guidance. Okay, demonstrate God's protection and guidance. That's a good answer. That God is in a couple of providential ways protecting David. Yes. What else?

When you give the story twice, you will remember it. But when you do the story once, you may use it again. You do it twice. Okay, this is excellent. Repetition is always used as a teaching method to land this into your mind. I had a professor once who said, "Put it simply, illustrate it, repeat it endlessly. This is the key to teaching." And so there is that sense of making this stick, but what is the thing that is sticking? What is the primary image, primary picture about David that is going to have something very significant to say about the Messiah when he comes?

I want you to see that David was not taking things in his own hands. Yes. That's right. At a ridiculous level, what we're seeing here is that David is absolutely submitted to the Father. That whatever the Father puts in my path, I will drink it all day, every day. He will never retaliate. He is not going to raise his hand against the Lord. It doesn't matter how tempting it is, how dangerous the situation, or how easy his retribution would be. David's never going to take the bait, which suggests to us that when the Messiah comes, he is going to be unimaginably long suffering. He is going to be not only infinitely worthy of receiving good, but infinitely patient in suffering evil. That when he is spat upon and mocked and ridiculed, he's not even going to wipe it off. He's just going to take it. That when he could call down from heaven a legion of angels to slaughter the Roman army, he's going to stay his hand.

This pattern that we're going to see with a fair bit of redundancy is to impress upon us that the godly one, the anointed one—David to a point, but Jesus limitlessly—will drink suffering, take pain, and never retaliate. Okay, this is what Peter said. Let me flip to 1 Peter, and then we will finally begin our study in Samuel.

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. If you rob me of my rights, we're going to go to war. Right? We really hate that. We've noticed this the last couple of years in our culture. We're really struggling with what if you infringe upon my rights? It is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he's conscious of God. How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you are called. Why? Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. — 1 Peter 2:19-24

This preeminent grace of Jesus—he's supreme in every category, and the gap between himself and us is just ridiculously vast—but maybe in no way more than this: his patience to suffer evil, to be attacked, to be vilified, to be spat upon, crucified, and to just take it, to be silent like a sheep before her shearers. Whatever that is, that thing about him is so extraordinary, so rare, so beautiful, and upon that, everything good in your life hangs. That attribute of him is, I think, what the camera is drawing our eye to in the life of David. That to a lesser extent than Jesus, but candidly to a pretty greater extent than probably anyone in this room, David possessed that attribute.

And so we're going to watch the same show twice. We're going to see how it all happened again. Make sense?

So for all of that, for those of you that hate redundancy as much as I do, suck it up. There's a reason we're here. Okay, Catherine. Yeah, absolutely. David is fully into this idea of, "It's mine to avenge, I will repay." He surrenders it to the Lord. See it over and over. Chapters twenty-four and twenty-six are very much like that. You even see it in twenty-five. He almost fails at it, but Abigail is like, "Come on, David, don't blow it." We saw that last week.

Let's take a look at 1 Samuel 26:1, and I will say we're going to move through it relatively quickly because there's a double click toward the end of the chapter that we're going to take a little bit of an excursus into one of David's Psalms that unpacks something that he says that might be a little surprising. If I rush you along, it's okay because it's somewhere I want to go with this.

The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is this not David hiding on the Hill of Hakalah, which faces Jeshimon?" — 1 Samuel 26:1

Saul's got spies everywhere. We've seen this. They keep getting people that report back to Saul, "Hey, I saw David. Here's where he is." And here we go. So Saul, how many times do you think—I didn't count him up but how many times does Saul promise David, "You're good. I'm bad. We're done here. I'll never chase you again. You're going to be king. Everything's great"? Mean, at least three. It's like over and over and over again, he's like, "Know what? I don't know what I was thinking. You're the best. So sorry." And now some guy shows up and says, "Hey, we saw David." He's like, "Get the troops." It's so absolutely infuriating. Okay, verse two.

So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph with his 3,000 chosen men of Israel to search there for David. — 1 Samuel 26:2

I mean, it's laughable at this point, right? It's nuts.

So Saul made his camp beside the road on the Hill of Hakalah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. And when David saw that Saul had followed him there, do you think he was surprised at this point? No. He's really not. David knows, because the last time he was like, "My son, you'll be king, everything's great," David's like, "Yep, adios." Right? He knows. So David sees that Saul had followed him there. He sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived. — 1 Samuel 26:3-4

Okay. So 3,000 troops, exact same number as in chapter 24, so it's a huge crowd.

Faith and Practicality

Tell me this, how do you guys assess David's practicality versus faith? We'll oftentimes put these things in opposite categories. You can either take a census to make sure you've enough people in your army, or you can just trust the Lord that he's going to provide regardless of the numbers. How do you guys evaluate David's practicality versus trust? What do you see here? First of all, what is his response when he hears about Saul?

Suzanne? He's sending out scouts, which is what a good commander would do, right? Learn—not just, "Yeah, Saul's here with 3,000 troops," but "All right, how are they encamped? What kind of defensive capabilities have they set up? Know, how will I need to respond to this if it does escalate?" Absolutely. So David—there's a high degree, and you see this over and over again, a high degree of strategy to David. There's a practicality to David. It seems to me I would not characterize him as if he's being naive. He's not putting his head in the sand. He's following good military strategy. Sending up scouts is like 101. We've got to go gather intel. And so David's gonna do these things, right? He's not just like in some weird faith camp that doesn't accept responsibility. He's doing the stuff, right?

Lily?

I think of it kind of as liturgy where you have form, but the form and the wisdom and the practicality and what you have learned from man is only there so that you can pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is doing within that. So that you can practice faith within the tools that you have been given.

Okay, I like the way you're thinking. He doesn't put that above his faith. Yes, okay. So what Lily's doing here, I think it's great. You're trying to kind of say it's not that these two things exist in opposition to each other. It's not that faith and what do you want to call the opposite side of that—strategy or function or practicality or whatever you want to call it. These things are not in opposition. These things are working together. We're going to see it over and over, and we've already seen it over and over through David's life. Quigg's fond of saying in liturgy there's form and freedom, right? There's this basic set. David is absolutely committed to trusting the Lord, and I'm not gonna lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. That's his refrain. But there's no problem sending out scouts to gather information to know what we're dealing with. Okay?

Zach and then Tommy.

I mean, you could plant corn and pray that the process of growth will happen, but practically you have to still water it.

Amen. That's exactly right.

That's a perfect illustration, Zach. You plant the seed, we're going to trust the Lord is going to cause the growth. You know, what's in a seed? How does that even work? I don't know. But we're going to water it and we're going to see what happens. There are things in our lives where we're just obedient. We just do what we're supposed to do, but we don't know how it works. I've been pretty candid with you guys that I have a son who doesn't know Jesus, and it just drives me completely out of my mind. And I've made a decision that I'm going to fast for Ben every week until I'm dead. Fasting is the most ludicrous, nonsensical thing—I have no idea why it matters. It just completely makes no sense to me whatsoever.

And so what about that? I do not need to understand how the thing works to say, "Lord, I'm going to trust you, I'm gonna ask you, and if this pleases you or if this does something in the universe that makes no sense to me, fine." My understanding is not contingent upon my obedience. My obedience is not contingent upon my understanding. These things can coexist. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to do the thing that seems like I'm supposed to do, but at the end of the day, it's going to be a work of God. And David's living in that space. We water the seed, and I don't know how it works either.

The Scout's Report and David's Strategy

Tommy wondered if David had sent out spies to keep his hand from Saul, because he sees that there are soldiers that have come out. He said David sent spies to an army that Saul hadn't even—not that an army had come or not that a group of men had come, but that the Lord's anointing was actually with them. It's just startling. Is David making the decision here? Should he just go ahead and attack them? Or in doing so, why not incur guilt? So you think David wanted to make sure that Saul was there so that he wouldn't do it otherwise. He'd attack an army, and it's true that David doesn't—David's not a pacifist by any means. He could attack the army, but he's not gonna attack Saul. That could be it. That's a good insight, Tommy. He's being very intentional to be honorable himself.

Here's what happens. They send out scouts. They come back, and in verse five, David gets the intel. Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. And he saw where Saul and Abner, son of Ner, the commander of the army, had laid down. Saul was lying inside the camp with the army encamped around him. Then David asks:

"Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?" And Abishai says, "I'll go with you." — 1 Samuel 26:6

So David and Abishai go down. Abishai is his nephew, and off they go. And it says:

"David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head, and Abner and the soldiers were lying around him." — 1 Samuel 26:7

Now, without looking at the next verse, can you predict what Abishai thinks this clearly means? What does it mean? "Let's kill him!" Right? Everybody in the whole world is like, "The Lord has delivered him into your hands. He's even provided a spear. You don't even have to get your own sword dirty. Just move it three feet and jam it into him." It's obvious. It's obvious to everybody. Sometimes the circumstances are so easy, so obvious to interpret, but you might be wrong. And at this moment, I would think that if I were David, I'd be like, "Yeah, you're right this time. God is rewarding me for not doing it last time so that I could do it this time."

David Refuses to Kill Saul

But instead, in verse nine, David said:

"Don't destroy him." — 1 Samuel 26:9

And Abishai's strategy is beautiful. Saul's dead and David doesn't get his hands dirty. But David can see through that. You ever do that? You feel like, "Maybe if we just had one step of separation, you disobey and I won't have to." He tries that later. Abishai says, "It won't take me twice. I'll jam it through him." And David says in verse nine:

"Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?" — 1 Samuel 26:9

Think about that. It's still the Lord's anointed. And it's not just that David can't kill him—nobody can kill him. And so he's not willing to ask Abishai to incur guilt on his behalf.

"Let it be. As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him. Either his time will come and he will die, like in thirty years of cancer, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed." — 1 Samuel 26:10-11

And then he tells him to do something else.

The Significance of the Spear and Water Jug

What is David's alternative strategy? Take proof. So on the one hand, just take something, anything that's nearby so we can prove to him that we were here and didn't kill him. But I think there's actually another layer of meaning here. So what's the specific proof? The spear and water jug. Let's think about this. Let's just assume for a second that it's meaningful. He could have taken anything, but he takes the spear and the water jug. What might these things represent that he is taking from him?

Power, very good. So there's this—he's not going to kill him, but when he takes his spear, he's taking the king's weapon. This is like your sword. This is the scepter of the king in battle, and he's taking it away. This is more of this theme we've seen over and over again. He's gonna take the garment—you're not really fit to wear the clothing of the king. The clothing of the king has been taken from him. Now he's taking his spear. These are all emblems, symbols of his kingship, of his power, of his reign. David's not gonna kill him—he's like, you know what? Your kingship's not gonna last.

And then what's the water jug? Water is spirit. And so David is kind of communicating: the spirit of God isn't with you anymore, Saul. You're doing the wrong thing.

Water as a Symbol of God's Spirit

So when someone says so confidently, "water is spirit," have you ever noticed this in the Bible, how the sheer volume of times that the spirit of God is associated with water?

That's the spirit of the Lord hovering over the water.

The first time we see the spirit, it's hovering over the water. And it's true. John 4, right? When Jesus meets the woman at the well and he says:

Ask of me and I'll give you living water.

It's John 7. You guys know John 7? On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up in a loud voice and said:

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Out of him will flow streams of living water.

Which John then says, "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who later believed in him would receive." The river in Revelation 22 that flows from the throne of the Lamb and the throne of the Father, that river of water is the Holy Spirit. Psalm 36: "The river of God is the light, is the Spirit."

So David's right.

David and Saul's Anointing

How could David be trying to symbolize taking away the Spirit of God from Saul while at the same time acknowledging that he is the Lord's anointed? This is a great question. So he is—this is such an insightful question. Saul has been anointed for the office of king. He really has. But in fact, already at this moment, since Jesus came, when anybody becomes a follower of Christ, at that moment, at the moment of rebirth and regeneration, the Spirit of God moves in and lives in us and never, ever, ever leaves. It's a permanent condition that if you are in Christ, the Spirit of God is in you.

But that is new. That is new as of the death of Christ. Under this new covenant, this new era, that is a permanent fixture for Christians—that the Spirit of God lives in us. But in the era that David lived, it was not the case. The Spirit was given more selectively and more limitedly. The new covenant, one of the—it's not just that we live after the cross, but it's that we live after the giving of the Spirit, which is an absolute game changer.

Saul had been given in a peculiar way the Spirit of God, and Saul had lost the Spirit of God. God had withdrawn himself from him even prior to this. So it's not so much that David is predicting that he will lose the Spirit as much as he is affirming that he has lost the spirit. He's gone into a path of disobedience, and God has withdrawn from him. But he's still king, and so hands off.

Samuel anointed him king? Yes. Well, yes. So Samuel has anointed him, but he has not—it's kind of like he's been elected but not yet inaugurated? David is in that long, anointed but not yet inaugurated season. For what did we say? Thirteen years? And Saul is in the opposite—essentially, he still holds the office, but he's lost the spirit of God.

Was David Being Tested?

Because God put a deep sleep on everybody—because I've been wondering, you know, how they go walking in there and nobody wakes. But they were put into a deep sleep. That's right.

Was David being tested at all? You know, here is a golden, perfect opportunity. I put everybody to sleep. I got a spear right by his hand. Was David being tested in it?

Oh, think so, for sure. So David is functioning with a lot more safety than it seems. The spirit of God is putting Saul to sleep. I mean, it's a pretty bold move to wander into this surrounded by 3,000 armies and grab the spear. But they were already down, right? The anesthesiologist had taken him out already. So David is probably tiptoeing into this, not perhaps being really cognizant that he could probably roll in banging cymbals and God has just put Saul to sleep. They're having a conversation.

So maybe he knew, maybe he understood that he's functioning in that kind of safety. Who knows? Okay, so let's keep going because there's still something I want to show you. So David gets the jug, the water, he gets the spear, and he goes back across the valley, and then he yells out at him.

David crossed to the other side, stood at the top of the hill, calls out to the army, "Hey, Abner!" who was like the commander of the army, "Hey, what's up Abner?" And Abner's like, "Who are you?" who calls to the king. And David says, "You're a man, aren't you? Who is like you in Israel? Why didn't you guard your Lord the king? Someone came to destroy your Lord the king, and what you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men deserve to die because you do not guard your master, the Lord's anointed." — 1 Samuel 26:13

Isn't that incredible? He's taunting him for not protecting the king. I'm the one he's hunting, and I'm the one protecting Saul. You are the commander of his army and you're not protecting him. Look around you. Where the king's spear and the water jug that were near his head. What is he insulting about Abner? What is he calling into question about Abner?

Loyalty to the king. Like, are you really interested in this guy's survival or not? What are you doing? What else?

Capability. Totally incompetent.

Yeah. Anything else?

Self failure. Manhood?

Yeah, maybe that's the most painful of them all, right? He impugns his motives, manhood, all these things. And then Saul hears David's voice, and Saul, just being Saul, what's he going to say?

Yes. Oh, my son, David. It's been so long. I love you. I miss you, my son. It's just so ridiculous.

Saul recognized David's voice and he said, "Is that your voice, David, my son?" And David's like, "Yeah, it is. My Lord, the King." And then we had the same conversation we've been having forever. "Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of? Now, let my lord the king listen to his servant's words." — 1 Samuel 26:13

He's gonna give him a couple options. Notice the two he's gonna say—there might be one of two different things could be going on here. Number one, maybe the Lord has incited you against me. That's interesting. We'll talk about that.

"If, however, men have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have now driven me from my share in the Lord's inheritance and have said, 'Go serve other gods.' And don't let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea as one hunts a partridge in the mountains." — 1 Samuel 26:19

David is creating plausibility for two different instigators. Who's the first instigator? Yahweh. He's like, alright, listen. Maybe God has led you against me, and if so, what should we do about that? Maybe God is mad at me. David's like, maybe I need to own this. Maybe you're chasing me because I've done something wrong, and if so, God is merciful. Perhaps he would accept a substitute in my place. That is the Gospel. Sin equals death, sin equals death, sin equals death, but it doesn't need to be your death. And David says, perhaps the Lord will be pleased to accept the sacrifice, and then you could back off me.

What's the other alternative? Have incited against me. What's the third and most obvious option that he doesn't mention? It's you, Saul. Maybe this was your idea, right? He's like, you know, maybe it's the Lord. If so, we'll work through that. Maybe it's other evil men. He doesn't mention, "Hey, you know, actually, maybe the common ingredient in all of this is you, Saul." He doesn't do that. He's incredibly gracious. And he tells Saul, listen, whatever it takes, how about if we bring this thing to a close in a way that's going to honor the Lord and that you'll stop listening to foolish voices. It might be your own.

And David, of course, tolerates one more time the fickleness of Saul. And then he says this, and this is really what I want to unpack with you.

Look at what he says in verse 23. — 1 Samuel 26:23

Hear this from David, and we're gonna wrestle with this. David says this:

The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord's anointed.

So if you are a good Protestant evangelical, what is the rallying cry of the Reformation? What are the only's of the Reformation? Scripture alone, by faith alone, Christ alone, grace alone. Nowhere in that thing is my righteousness alone. Good Protestants, good evangelicals, we don't like to say God rewards me according to my righteousness. He doesn't reward me according to my righteousness. He rewards me according to the righteousness of Christ imputed to me, received as a gift by faith. Amen? You down with this?

So what do we do when David says Yahweh will reward me for my righteousness? Do you have a cubbyhole in your brain to fit that? Is it true? And if it is true, then what is all this grace alone stuff? How do we understand this?

It's only what he has received from the Lord. And you have another verse like, the prayer of a righteous person has power as it is working. And it's only because God's power is more fully working in that person as to their submission.

So when we invoke Abraham, the father of faith, we see that, and it's interesting because we can see how Paul uses Abraham in Romans, how James quotes Abraham the same event, and they take kind of different angles on this. Abraham is the father of those who believe. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. We are saved full on by grace through faith alone. Not just by faith, but by faith alone. The only reason that we will stand before the Father, cleansed in his eyes, raised to the resurrection to live forever in a kingdom of endless joy is because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, received as a gift through faith. I'm super hardcore by grace alone, through faith alone. Yes and Amen.

However, Calvin said, "It is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is never alone." And our faith will matter. It'll play out in our lives.

Understanding God's Grace

Now, what I want you guys to do is turn in your Bibles to Psalm 25. I want you to see something, and then we're gonna pass out these notes here. Psalm 25. I want you guys to think about the concept of grace. This is just a category. I want to kind of create a category in your brain. I think God is always gracious to us, constantly just showers us with grace. We live in a sea of grace. And sometimes I'm gonna give you a couple of terms. I'm gonna try to use my words very carefully.

Sometimes the grace of God is both unmerited and unconditional. Unmerited—what does that word mean? Unmerited? Didn't earn it, don't deserve it. It is unmerited and it is unconditional. I believe God's choosing you in eternity past to be saved—His choice. He looked down the corridor of time and saw that Mark would never, under any circumstances, bend the knee. And he said, you know what? I'm gonna fix that thing in him so that he can. And then he did. He picked you, he chose you. Not because you're smarter or funnier or prettier, but because he determined that he would love you. That was unmerited—you didn't deserve it—and it was unconditional. There was nothing about you that made him choose you. He loves you because he loves you.

Sometimes God's grace is both unmerited and unconditional. So far so good?

But sometimes God's grace is unmerited and conditional. It's unmerited. You don't deserve it, but there is nevertheless a condition to receive it. Then that category of conditional undeserved, conditional unmerited is a category that I want to make sure exists in your mind in case it does not. And Psalm 25 is one of countless places we can look at that. I chose this frankly because Piper does, and Piper has taught me some stuff about this. It's unmerited, right? You don't deserve it, but it is absolutely conditional.

So look at Psalm 25, and you can look at it in your own Bible. I've marked out in bold all the places where God's grace is. What I want you to see is that it's unmerited, right? We don't deserve the instruction that He gives to sinners because we're sinners. We don't deserve his steadfast love and his faithfulness. We don't deserve to have our guilt pardoned. The whole nature of a pardon is that it's undeserved. What you deserve is to be punished. We don't deserve that he would turn to us and be gracious to us. The very nature of grace is that we don't deserve it.

We don't deserve, in verse 17, that he would bring us out of our distress. That is a gift. We don't deserve, in verse 18, that He would forgive our sins. We don't deserve His deliverance or rescue from shame. We don't deserve to be preserved. His grace is through all of these things unmerited. We don't deserve it. We haven't earned it. It's a gift. So far so good?

But now look at all the bold stuff. He leads the humble in what is right. That's a condition. If you are humble—ifs are conditions—if you're humble, then you'll get this good thing. He teaches the humble His way. That steadfast love and faithfulness, for whom is that reserved? According to verse 10. Those that keep His covenant and His testimonies. Verse 12, what's the condition? Him. Verse 21, what are the conditions? Integrity and uprightness, waiting on Him. I missed one. Verse 20, what's the condition? Going to Him for refuge.

Okay. So Psalm 25 is one of many, many places we can see that God's grace is unmerited. You don't deserve these things. He's gracious. He pardons. He forgives and he loves. But there are sometimes, not all times, but there are sometimes that his grace is nevertheless conditional upon something that we do. That when we draw near to him, he draws near to us. There's a manner that's something that we can do.

Now, there could exist in your brain a confusion about how could anything be conditioned and yet undeserved? So here's my illustration. If I offer to give you my Miata in exchange for a nickel, okay, would you deserve it? No deal. This is a hypothetical. Right? Is 5¢ an appropriate payment for that sweet car? It is not. You would not deserve it. Of course, neither did I in the first place. But nevertheless, you don't deserve it. But I could still put a condition upon it which you could meet. You could give me the nickel and per the terms of the agreement I would then give you the car. Right? So you're meeting a condition, but having met a nickel's worth of condition, you get something far more glorious in exchange. Make sense?

This is how it is with our Lord. Sometimes, his grace, his saving grace, his choosing you from eternity past to enter into his love and to have your eyes open to see the depth of your need, his beauty to meet the need—that was unconditional, unmerited. He loves you because he loves you. You contribute nothing to that. But there are also times where he says, If you will, then I will. And in those instances there is a condition, but we still get far more than we deserve because he overpays us for the slightest provocation. Does that make sense?

I think this is what David means when he says, Surely you reward. You're not getting paid, you're getting rewarded. You're getting an ample, an over, an abundance for a very small offering on our behalf. So we live in a sea. Sometimes grace is unconditional and unmerited. Sometimes it is conditional, but nevertheless still unmerited.

Grace and Obedience

Okay, let's go from this. Jump onto it. Hi, seriously. Okay, tell me why. Because of the "not by works, but by faith alone"—and I mean, understand that all through the Old Testament that if you will bow, if you will keep my laws, abide by my laws, then I will be your God and you will be my people. So I just feel like after the death of Christ, there is no condition on you other than accepting that. So is that the condition?

Okay, good. This is good. I was hoping that somebody would be unhappy, so thank you for stepping up. Okay, so this is good. Okay, so let me ask you this. Is salvation unmerited and unconditional, or is it unmerited and conditional? Say it loud. How do you answer that?

I feel like it's unconditional based on Christ's definition.

Yes. Okay, very good. Now, okay, good, good, good. So your answer is that salvation is both unmerited and unconditional. That's your claim. Okay, do you think that I'm disagreeing with that?

Okay. I am not. Okay. So as abundantly clear as I can be: salvation is unmerited and unconditional. Salvation is unmerited and unconditional. The fact that we are drawn to Christ, that our sins are forgiven, we're seated in him, we are given the spirit—unmerited and unconditional. Full stop. Have you heard that?

Okay. And in addition to that, there is more to my life than merely having my sins forgiven. Right? And it's a little bit strange to talk about that as a mere thing because it is the foundation of all things. But I don't only want to be forgiven and hidden in Christ, I also want a happy marriage. I also want my job to go well. I also want to live at peace with my neighbors. I also want—I don't know, I mean, I'm an endless bucket of desire. Okay? This could go on forever and ever and ever. Right?

And some of those things that the Lord would graciously choose to give me are conditional on some act of obedience, something he wants me to do.

So some of his grace is unconditional and unmerited. It is a gift given as the righteousness of Christ, given as a gift, received by faith, meets that standard. Other things are both merited and conditional, which is to say the way that we live matters. And actually, the things that we do, the choices we make, can open up possibilities that we would not otherwise have if we were living in disobedience to him.

So the question is, is accepting the gift of salvation by Christ a condition? And I would say that is going to turn us into a great big study on election. The reason that I'm picking on Mark is elect, right? Because there's reason to believe that you're actually hidden in Christ. So that election in eternity past, unmerited, unconditional, yes. But what did Mark do? He received it. And what in particular, what is the act that he had to believe? He had to believe. Have you abandoned all hope in your self righteousness, turned from your unrighteousness to trust that Jesus can do all that you need?

That act of believing, of saying I trust you, I believe you, that is a condition. And I think that's what you're saying, is belief is like if you believe, then you get this. But that is a condition, even that is a gift. Faith is a gift. Even faith is a gift. Even repentance is a gift. So sometimes he gives us conditions, and then he enables us to meet the condition. Second Timothy two says that God grants repentance. What is that? How humiliating is that, that even that is a gift?

Grace Working in Our Lives

Joel is saying he's not even sure he's got a nickel's worth of humility. And so if all that it takes if I can get a Miata for a nickel, I may not be able to afford that. Now here's what Paul says. I think this comes from First Corinthians 15 because I think Paul kind of speaks to the way that grace works in our lives. Let's look at verses nine and ten.

For I am the least of all the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle. — 1 Corinthians 15:9

He doesn't deserve it. It's unmerited. He doesn't deserve this. Who am I to be like the one person in all of human history who has, more than anybody else, has spread the gospel throughout the world. What an unspeakable honor. And he's like, who am I? I persecuted the Church of God. He could have flung me from the universe, and I would have no standing to complain. But instead, he's taken me from this lowly place and invited me to this position of infinite infinite influence. For all of eternity, Paul will have the pleasure to see surrounding the world those that he loved and called in. I mean, I can't imagine what it was like the reward that is Paul's. I didn't deserve any of it. It all unmerited.

But then he says this:

Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am. — 1 Corinthians 15:10

He did call me. He did choose me. He did give me gifts of knowledge, understanding. He gave me some capacity to keep getting hit in the head with rocks and then keep doing it. That was a grace. But then look at this line, and this is where I think your nickel comes in, Joel.

By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without an effect. — 1 Corinthians 15:10

What that means is that God having been gracious, I actually became. I really do love Him. Like, actually. He really has changed me. I really am willing to suffer. I really am willing to be patient.

But then as soon as he says, "His grace was not without effect, I worked harder than all of them." And he did. That's condition. He did the work that produced the fruit. As soon as he says it, he's like, "Ah, but hang on, let's not overstate this. For not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

And this is how it works. God is gracious to us in that grace that produces an effect. We meet the condition, we do the thing, but let's not get arrogant here because even that is a gift. We live in a sea of grace. But we live in a sea of grace, nevertheless, where our actual behavior, our real things that we do makes a difference. It actually matters.

The Reality of Conditions in the Christian Life

Jesus said:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. — John (paraphrased)

So there is that out of the love that we have, the salvation that we receive and the faith on our belief, we out of that love that the Spirit works in us, we keep His commandments. There are things that you have to do. In the Christian life, there are genuine causes and effects. You can be a real cause to a real effect. There are conditions which, when we meet them, by His grace, He produces a disproportionate effect.

I can't tell you how happy I am that so many of you are unhappy right now. Wrestle with this. Here's what the Bereans do: they diligently studied the scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. So go look me up. Study it. Be bothered by this. Go have the next week's worth of quiet times chasing down all the conditional language. Am I making this up? Or has God's word perhaps in some situations been oversimplified such that you don't really see the reality that your life matters more than you think it does?

The Essence of Relationship with God

I was thinking of a contrast to Psalm 25 with Psalm 107, where you have the fool and the rebellious person, pirates essentially. But when they cry out to the Lord, in each section of Psalm 107, He answers in the same way and says, "Give thanks to the Lord for His steadfast love." But the mechanism, and I think this dovetails with what Ellen was saying, is relationship with God himself. These people cried out to Him, and He was still merciful and gracious and the antithesis of His steadfast love. But with David, he's the man after God's own heart. And that is the difference.

So we're going to end on that because it's a brilliant insight. The essence of the conditions is: turn to me. Turn to me. Turn to me. Turn to me. If you will come to me, then I will give you everything. That's the chief condition of the Christian life—that we would seek Him, that we would seek His face. As we do that, that's what unlocks all the blessings.

We gotta stop there. If you're completely harassed, email me. See you.