The Reluctant King: Saul and the Clutter of Life

Turn your Bibles to 1st Samuel chapter 10. 1st Samuel chapter 10. We're going to look at verses 17- 24. As we continue our series on the title is King Me. And we're going to look at all the kings of the Old Testament, what we can learn from their lives. These people were given us as examples to help us to do to know what's right and what's wrong to to learn from their lessons in life. And so, we're going to look at the the very first king of of Israel. And and that is the King Saul. And I I call him the reluctant king. The reluctant king. In 1st Samuel chapter 10 and beginning with verse number 17, it says, "And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mispa and said unto the children of Israel, thus shall the Lord God of is thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt and delivered you all out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all the kingdoms and of them that oppressed you.

and ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you from out of all of your adversaries and your tribulations, and you have said unto him, "Nay, beset a king over us. Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands." And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come next, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come nearby their families, the family of Matri was taken. And Saul, the son of Kish, was taken. And when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, if a man if the man should yet come thither.

And the Lord answered, "Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff." And they ran and fetched him thence. And when they stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, "See you him whom the Lord had chosen, that there is none like unto him among all the people." And all the people shouted and said, "God saved the queen." King and and so we need to look at that. Got a queen in is in England. That's why I was thinking that way. But God saved the king. But uh you know, he was a reluctant king. He was one that was hiding among the stuff.

It says in in verse number 22. And and you know many times that's what happens in our lives as well. Uh we get we get lost in the stuff that we have. The Bible says in Luke 12 and verse number 15, "And he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetous, for a man's life consisted not in the abundance of things which he possesses." And I know I don't know about you, but the stuff I have is good. I I like having stuff, but also all of that stuff, it it keeps me from enjoying the true blessings of God. Now, the word stuff here, it it can be many refer to many things. And the place in the Bible would refer to jewels.

It would refer to armor. It would refer to we weapons or furniture or carriage or a bag or a vessel. But it's all that stuff that we have, you know, all that stuff that's collected in your garage and all the stuff that's collected in your closets around the room and everything. And and and stuff many times stuff is what keeps us from being content. You see, we have this idea, if I could just get the latest and the greatest, if I get the newest technology and the newest toy that's out there, and if I could just get the latest and greatest thing, I will be happy. And we look for our contentment in the things that we have.

And the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:es 6-8, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and certain we carry nothing out. And having food and raignment, let us be there with content. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number five, the Bible says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For you said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." You see, the problem is we have all of this stuff and and I have so much stuff I can't get to the stuff that I have because all the stuff that I have is in the way of the stuff that I want.

Have you ever found that to be true? You know, I I I hate uh looking for things in the kitchen. First of all, I just don't know my wife's system. I don't figure I haven't figured that all out yet. And number two is I don't remember. My wife will get mad at me when I ask her where something is. She says, "Well, it's the same place it was last time you asked me." And I said, "Well, I forgotten where you told me." And uh and but I go into the cabinet and I've got to take out a bunch of things to get to that one item. And uh all that stuff is in the way of the stuff that I want. And and that's the problem that we have.

Same thing is true in my closet. You know, I've got uh in my one-third of the closet, it it's never one half, guys. It's always one/3. In my one-third of the closet, I've got all these shirts. And uh the reason I've got so many shirts is because for my birthday and for Christmas, everybody in the church gives me Aloha shirts. And uh I really appreciate this is one of the gifts I received. I really appreciate that. But and by the way, I really do appreciate those of you that give me the medium. Thank you very much for thinking of me that way. Although I'm not a medium a long time ago. But anyway, uh you know what I found is I get so many shirts in there, I can't find my shirts.

And and so I realized, you know, if I get a new shirt, I've got to get rid of an old shirt. And and you know, in life, that's the way you have to realize as well. We get so much stuff, we have no room for the stuff that we want. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse number 6, it says a time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. See, there's sometime we we it's good to get things, but it's also time good time to get rid of things as well. In Hebrews 12 and verse number one, the Bible says, "Wherefore, seeing we're compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the races set before us."

You know, sometimes in life you got to get rid of the sin in life. But there's sometimes in life you got to get rid of stuff that's not bad, but it's stuff. And what happens is we end up with all that stuff. We can't really enjoy the stuff that God wants us to enjoy. And and it's times we need to get rid of that stuff in our lives. Not just physically in the things that we have, but also spiritually and emotionally as well. You see, what happens so often is stuff keeps you from having relationship with God. I want you to put a marker in 1 Samuel and go over to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 and I want you to look at verses 17- 21.

Mark chapter 10 and beginning with verse number 17. Mark 10:17 says, "And when he was gone forth of the way, there came one running and kneel to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said unto him, why callst thou me good? There's none good but one, that is God. In other words, Jesus was saying here, if I'm not if I'm not God, I'm not good. Because if Jesus is not God, he's a liar. And he has to be good. But he said, "Good master." And he says, "There's none good but one that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill.

Do not steal. And do do not bear false witnesses. Defra not. Honor thy father and thy mother." And he answer said unto him, "Master, all these things have I observed from my youth." Then Jesus behold him loved him and said unto him, "One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up thy cross, and follow me." He was sad at the saying. He went away grieve, for he had great possessions. Here was a young man that all the stuff that he had kept him from having a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, we need to understand now.

I want you to understand that Jesus was not telling this young man that you are saved by selling all your stuff and doing good things. Uh we're not saved by our good works. In Ephesians 2:es 8 and 9, it says, "For by grace are you saved through faith." Then not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. And we're not saved by the good works that we do. You're not saved by going to church. You're not saved by uh reading your Bible and giving money to the poor. You're not saved by being a good person. We're not saved by our religion. We're not saved by our rituals like baptism or church membership.

We're not saved by our own righteousness because it's not by works of righteousness which we had done but according to his mercy he has saved us. And so we need to understand he was not telling this young man you can be saved by doing good works. But what he saw that this young man that his riches and his religion were stuff keeping him from relationship with God. See he thought he was a good person. He said, "I've kept all those commandments." The truth is, none of us keep all the commandments. All of us fall far short of that in many ways. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

And this young man's religion and his rituals and his righteousness were keeping him from that relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And you need to understand today, you're not saved by your good works, but his religion and his riches were keeping him from a relationship with God. that stuff was keeping him from that relationship. You see, there's only the one thing that you need to be saved. Uh 1 John chapter 5, turn over there if you would. 1 John chapter 5 and look at verses 12 and 13. Uh you probably know these verses. 1 John 5 12 and 13. He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son of God hath not life.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. You see, you can know that you're going to heaven. You can know that your sins are forgiven. You can know that you have eternal life. But there's only one way to know that he that hath the son hath life. It's not he that hath religion. It's not he that has been baptized or catechized or joined the church. It It's a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so often our religion and our rituals and our own righteousness and our riches keep us from that relationship with God. You see, only God can save you.

Back in Mark chapter 10 and verse number 27. Mark chap 10 and verse number 27. Get back to my place there. Mark chapter 10 and verse number 27. The Bible says that Jesus looking on him saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. You see, God can save your soul. God can give you eternal life. In Acts 4:12, it says, "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none of the name under heaven given among men, whereby you must be saved." You see, folks, you got to get rid of all that stuff that's coming between you and God. You got to get rid of all the things that are keeping you from your relationship with God because he is the only way of salvation.

It is by trusting him as your savior and calling upon him to come into your heart, your life that you can be saved today. In Romans 10:es 9 and 10 it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God is raised from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth on righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. In Romans 10:13 it says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." One of the hardest things when you're dealing with somebody about their relationship with God is to get them lost before they can get saved.

to help realize that all that stuff is not going to get me to heaven, but only a relationship with Jesus Christ as my savior. And you need to have a relationship with him today. So, if there's a lot of stuff in your life, you need to get back to the basics. Go over to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, and look at verses 19 through 21. Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 19. Matthew 6:19, the Bible says, "Lay not for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break steel, break through and steal."

In vers in verse number 33, it says uh verse 21, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And then verse 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. And you and I as Christians need to understand that sometimes our stuff keeps us from having the kingdom of God. And it's not the stuff that we collect in this life. Again, I'm not saying it's wrong to have stuff, but if you're looking for contentment in your stuff, you're not going to find joy. Some of you maybe have seen that uh I guess it's called the Kari method. You've seen that before where you're supposed to get rid of all the things that don't bring you joy in life.

And and you know as Christians that's a good principle to have is that we need to get rid of those things that don't bring us joy in life. In Philippians chapter 4 and verse number four the Bible says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. And God wants us to learn to find joy in him not in the things that we have in this life. In chapter 4 and:es 10 through13 the Bible says but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last your careth me have flourished again wherein you also careful but you lacked opportunity not that I speak in respect to want for I've learned in what sort of state I am there with to be content I know both how to be based and how to abound everywhere in all things I am instructed both to be full and to hunger both to bound and to suffer needs.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me. You see, we get so caught up with all the stuff that we have that we we that stuff keeps us from that stuff that's really important. And we get so caught up in having the newest, the greatest, the latest, the best that we look for our contentment, our joy in things rather than looking for our contentment and joy in Christ. And I would challenge you maybe to go through your life and look, is there stuff that I've been hiding behind and stuff that's keeping me from having that relationship with God? You see, sometimes in life is not only we got too much stuff, but we've got too much stuff to do.

In Luke chapter 9, turn over there if you would. Luke chapter 9 and look at beginning with verse number 57. Luke chapter 9 and beginning with verse number 57. The Bible says, "It came to pass as they went away, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee withever thou goest. And Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man had not where to lay his head." And he said unto another, "Follow me." And he said, "So, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." In verse 16, Jesus said unto him, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God."

And another also said, "Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house." And Jesus said to him, "No man having put his hand to the plow and look at back is fit for the kingdom of God." And so often what it is is the things of this life, the the the busyiness, the stuff to do. Now, these things weren't again bad things to do, but yet Jesus is saying you need to have your focus on what's most important in life and and keep your focus on those things. Don't get cumbered and drawn away. You remember the story Martha how was c she was cumbered about with many things.

Now, she was making dinner for Jesus. She was doing something that was good and and yet she was so caught up in doing that stuff that she forgot to sit at the feet of Jesus. She forgot to spend time with the Lord. And in our lives, we get so caught up because we we got all this stuff we need to do, we don't have time for what's most important. And and we need to sometimes look and say, is this really necessary? Go to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 and look at verses number 15-1 17. Ephesians chapter 5 and beginning with verse number 15. It says, "See then you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Wherefore be you not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." You see, God wants us to redeem the time to use that time wisely. in verse number 10 is just proving what is acceptable in the Lord. And I think it's good as a Christian to step back and look at our lives and say, you know what, uh these things are are keeping me from that what's best in my life. Now again, you got to get rid of those things that are bad. You got to get rid of those things that are sinful and wrong. But it's not just the sinful wrong things. This can sometimes be things that are not. They're not bad. They're good things.

There was nothing wrong with going to see his father before he died. There's nothing wrong while going saying goodbye to your family. But sometimes we allow the busyiness of life to take over that we don't have time for what is most important. We don't have time for reading our Bible. We don't have time to go to church. We don't have time to pray. We don't have time for relationships that are most important in our lives. And and we need to redeem that time and not hide behind all the stuff we have to do. And and don't leave out the most important things. It was Martin Luther that said this. I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.

The busier you get, the more you need to spend time with the Lord. Don't let all the time, all the stuff you have to do in life keep you from time with God. What you need to is get rid of the baggage. Go over to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 and look at verses number 30 through32. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning verse number 30. says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed under the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away for you with all malice. And be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven you."

You know, folks, what we do is we go through life and we carry all this baggage with us. You know, a number of years ago, the the airlines started charging you for extra baggage. remember when that happened and when that first happened I was like man I don't like this but you know now I like it because I have less baggage when we traveled in Europe we realized we don't want to carry all this luggage with us everywhere we go on the train and all the rest of it and so we had to cut down the baggage that we were carrying and in life you are carrying baggage you are carrying things that have happened to you in the past and bitterness and anger and hurts and all of these things and there's a point where you need to say, you know what, I don't want to carry that stuff around anymore.

You know, I I want to get rid of that. And we need to empty that baggage out. We need to get rid of those things that are holding us back. Uh get rid of the bitterness. Get rid of the shame and the anger or whatever else it is, and let that go. Don't have that stuff hold you back. Now, going back to 1st Samuel chapter 10, but I want to start I want to go to 1st Samuel 13 right now. 1st Samuel chapter 13 in verses 7-14 Samuel it says that uh and some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the the land of Gad and Gilead as for Saul he was yet in Gilead Gall and the people followed him trembling they were going into battle and uh before they went to battle they wanted to ask God's blessings upon them and and and the preacher Samuel was late uh you ever known a Baptist be late uh that was Samuel he was late showing up.

And so Saul, what he did is instead of waiting for Samuel, he went ahead and had uh uh the the sacrifice at that time. He went ahead and did the sacrifice. Now, the thing was the sacrifice was supposed to be done by the prophet, by the priests, and not by the king. And he overstepped his boundaries and and that was wrong. And when Samuel showed up, he said, "What have you done?" He says, "I did this to because I was afraid of the people leaving. I was afraid of what they would do." And and and what I want to stress to you is this is we need to learn patience. We need to learn patience. Uh now go back to Sam 1st Samuel chap 11 if you would.

1st Samuel 11 and verse look at verse number 6. 1st Samuel 11:6. It says the spirit of God came onto upon Saul when he heard these tidings and his anger was kindled greatly. uh the Philistines had some other countries that attacked some of the cities of Jerusalem and were uh telling them that they were going to have to submit to them and and Samuel Saul said, "No, uh God's leading me to go into battle." And he went into battle to to save the nation of Israel. And and that's a good thing. I want you to go over to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. You see in 1st Samuel 11, the spirit of God led Samuel to go into battle.

In Galatians 5 and look at verses 16 and 8-18, the Bible says this, "I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would." But if you be led of the spirit, you are not under the law. And it goes on down and I want you to skip down there if you would to verse number 25. It says, "If you live in the spirit, let's also walk in the spirit." And and the thing is is that in in 1st Samuel 11, the spirit of God led Saul to go into battle.

But in 1st Samuel chapter 13, Sam Saul never sought the Lord on that. It says nothing about the spirit of the Lord leading them into that battle. You see now Saul was angry in 1st Samuel 11 when he heard about what was going on. He was angry and he called on God and said, "God, we can't let this go and he wanted to go into battle." The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 4, "Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go to bound down upon your wrath and you give place to the devil." And so often folks is what we do is we go into battle in our flesh, in our own anger rather than in the being led by the spirit of the Lord.

And and this is what happened to Saul. And and and it's not my anger that's going to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. In James chapter 1 19 and 20, it says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man workketh not the righteousness of God." And you and I need to realize that we cannot do it in the flesh. We've got to do it led by the spirit of God. And so, so, so for Saul in chapter 11, he was led by the spirit of God, but in chapter 13, he was not. And and that's what got him in trouble. And in chapter 13, he wasn't willing to wait.

Samuel was late and he wanted to get it done now. He wanted to take care of it now. And and and he went ahead of the Lord. I want you to turn over to Psalms chapter 27. Psalms chapter 27 and look at verses 11-4. Psalms chapter 27 beginning with verse number 11. witnesses, teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in the plain path because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies. For false witnesses are risen up against me and are and and such is breathed not cruy. I had fainted unless I had believed in the to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. Wait on the Lord.

Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say in the Lord. And so often in our lives, what we do is we rush ahead of God. Instead of waiting on God and waiting on his leading and waiting on God to do what needs to be done, we rush ahead of him and and in our own strength and our own power. See folks, we got to ask before you act. In 1 Samuel 13, Saul already acted and then he said, "Now God, bless me." And that's where the problem comes in. We ask God to bless what we already did. Instead of waiting on the Lord, we make the decision, we're going to do this, and then we say, "Now, God, bless me in what I'm doing."

And and that's not the right way to do it. Samuel would rush ahead of the Lord. The other thing about Samuel that's important to understand this reluctant king is that he struggled with depression. In 1st Samuel chapter 16, turn over there if you would. 1st Samuel chapter 16 and look at verses number 14- 16. 1st Samuel Samuel chapter 16 and verses 14- 16. But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. An evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servant said unto him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants which are before thee, seek out a man who is a cunning player on a harp, and it will come to pass when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

And so Saul struggled with depression, and the only thing that helped him with his depression was music. And by the way, music is very important in our lives. The music you listen to will affect you emotionally and spiritually. If you're listening to good godly music, it's going to help you to do what's right. But if you're listening to music world, it's going to have the opposite effect. And understand that that good music would help Saul in his depression. But he struggled with depression. And depression in life has many causes. In Saul's case, it it was because the spirit of the Lord had departed from him because of his spiritual problems that he was going through, the sin that he was dealing with.

In Ephesians 5 and:e 18 the Bible says be not drunk with wine whereas in Exodus but be filled with the spirit and at this time Paul Saul was not filled with the spirit of God and when you're away from the Lord and you're not right with God it can lead to depression but depression can also have physical mental and emotional basis. Sometimes we're depressed because we're physically struggling because we're tired or not in good shape or health is not right. Sometimes we can be depressed because of mental issues or emotional issues. Depression can be caused or exasperated by physical or chemical conditions.

Food, supplements, diet, exercise, and medication can all help you deal with depression. But ultimately, we must overcome depression through spiritual leading of God's grace. I want you to go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I'm going to put you to work with your Bible today. 2 Corinthians 12 and look at verses number 7-10. Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And he said to him, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Most rather gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities than the that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and in necessary necessities and persecutions in distress for Christ's sake. For when I am weak then am I strong. You see Paul understood that his depression it it it could pro physical problems could only dealt with through the grace of God. Now, when somebody comes to me and say, "Pastor, I'm struggling with depression." One of the first things I recommend is go get a make a doctor's appointment, get a good physical checkup.

Because many times depression can be caused because of some physical problem in our life or because some of need that our body is is seeking out and and sometimes they need counseling. It's good to get counseling, get mental and emotional counseling to deal with depression, but ultimately it's finding your strength in the grace of God. You see the problem is I can't always take away the reason that the depression has happened but you can always have the grace of God. You can always have his grace in your life. In Luke chapter 2 and verse 52 it says in Jesus increase in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

We need to understand we're a four-part tree being that we have the physical, the mental, the emotional and spiritual side to our lives and anything that's out of balance is going to wear out quicker. And we need to understand that we've got to deal with every area of our life. Just listen. Don't complain to me that you're depressed after you spent four hours looking at reals yesterday. That will cause depression. That will feed your depression. Don't complain to me about being depressed when you stayed only got four hours of sleep because you were up half the night playing video games. Don't complain to me about being depressed when you eat junk food and sit on the couch all day long.

Don't complain about being depressed when you don't come to church, you don't read your Bible, you don't pray. How do you think anything's going to change? And Saul struggled with depression and and music was helpful to him. It was a good thing to have, but but you got to realize that if you really want to deal with that depression or or whatever other problem you're dealing with, you got to realize that it's ultimately a spiritual God. It's ultimately seeking out the grace of God because your situation may not change, but God never changes. And he's the one that can be the steady in your life and help you through that depression.

Many people in the Bible struggle with depression. You have Hannah was depressed because she couldn't have a child. You have Elijah was depressed because he felt like he was the only one living for God. David, a man after God's own heart, struggled with depression. And he he was wondering why does everybody else seem to prosper except for me? John the Baptist got to a point he said is Messiah really going to come? Paul the Apostle he got depressed. He got to a point where he's tired of being persecuted and tired of everybody being against him. And everyone in this room is going to deal with those kind of things in your life at some point.

In Proverbs 12 and verse 25, it says, "Heaviness is in the heart of man maketh the stoop, but a good word maketh it glad." And when you're heavy and your heart is heavy, you need to have the word of God. You know what's amazing to me is when people get depressed, what's the first thing they drop? Going to church. They drop reading the Bible. They drop prayer. That's exactly what you need. You need that spiritual component to help you through that struggle in your life. You see, depression can take over your life and ruin your relationship with God and others. Going to look at just a couple more passages before we close.

Turn to 1st Samuel chapter 18. 1st Samuel chapter 18 and look at verses 9-16. 1st Samuel 18 verse number 9. Sorry, I'm in Psalms here. 1st Samuel 18. Get the right place. And verse number nine, 1st Samuel 18:9, the Bible says, "And Saul eyed David from the day and forward." Now, David was the one who was playing the music. He was the one who's helping him with depression. But Saul got jealous of David. And it came to pass in verse 10 on the mar that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand as at other times. And there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. And and it goes on there, verse 13, therefore Saul removed him uh from him and made his captain him captain over a thousand. He went out and came before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all the ways of the Lord that was with him. Wherefore, when Saul saw that, he behaved himself very wisely. He was afraid of him. And all of Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them.

You see, when you're struggling with bitterness and anger, when you're struggling with depression and hurts, what do you do? You take it out on those around you. You take it out on others. And Saul, his depression affect his relationship with God. The spirit of God departed from him. It affected his relationship with the people around him, the people that loved him the most. And Saul focused his depression on David. It was all David's fault. Hannah, when she got depressed, she focused on Paniah, the other wife. Is all her fault. I can't have a child. And what do we do? We take that anger and that hurt and that depression out on the people that are supposed to love us the most and we're supposed to love.

And Saul struggled with that all of his life. And that's what led to his downfall. And there's so much we can learn from him. How how to not deal with depression, how to not deal with anger or jealousy. We need to trust in God and let his spirit lead us and guide us through life. In Isaiah 26 and verse number three, it says, "I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because you trusteth me." When your life is all cluttered with stuff, then you can't get to enjoy the stuff that's most important because you just can't get to it. And when you got all the stuff you have to do that you don't have time to do the stuff that's most important, you're missing out.

And that's why you need to put God first. That's why in our lives sometimes we just need to get rid of the clutter, the weights that so easily beset us and hold us back because we're missing out on what's the best and most important. Don't let your life be cluttered with stuff. Don't hide behind the stuff. Don't let that stuff keep you from God. Keep you from enjoying your marriage, enjoying your family, keep you from being in church and enjoying fellowship with other Christians. Don't carry that baggage around with you of bitterness and anger and hurt and depression because when you do, it's going to affect your relationship with everybody around you.

And it's going to affect your marriage. It's going to affect your family. It's going to affect your spiritual walk with the Lord. And so, you need to find God's grace. I'd love to tell you that your situation could change, but it doesn't always change. But God never changes. He's the same today, yesterday, and forever. And that's why his grace is sufficient because he's the one constant in your life. So don't let all this stuff get in the way of that constant.