David (Part 5) LOYALTY
Introduction: I read a story this past week that somewhere in the middle of a Cemetery there is a rather unusual statue among the thousands of gravestones and other statues. It is not the statue of a man or woman or angel, Jesus, Mary or some saint… but rather, it is of a dog. It is reported that someone buried there had a dog which was very loyal to his master. When the master died, the dog followed the funeral procession to the grave site and stayed there. It refused to go home and stayed at his master’s grave site until he eventually died there. The family had a statue put up next to the master in memory of that dog that demonstrated extraordinary loyalty.
I personally thought that was a heartwarming story! I find it interesting that when we think of being loyal, we often think of a dog, but why not a human? Is it because more to many of us have become too sophisticated or self centered to be that loyal?
More and more people seem less incline to hang in there and stick with their spouse, or with a friends that may have messed up, or with a company that they have worked for, or even with the employees that have faithfully worked for them for years moving to another country hoping their profits will increase because of cheaper labor costs. Even churches suffer because members aren’t as loyal as they once were. Instead people choose to stay home to do their own thing, or even going to another church knowing that inaccurate, false doctrine is being taught and practiced.
I personally love stories in the Bible that speak of loyal individuals; Noah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb. I especially like the story Ruth. It is the story of a woman by the name of Naomi. Her husband and two sons sadly die. After she decides to return to her hometown of Bethlehem, she tells her bereaved daughter in laws, Orpah and Ruth, that they too should return to their father’s home. After Orpah departs Naomi told Ruth that she should do the same. But Ruth makes a decision not to leave her mother in law. Listen to what she tells her in chapter 1:16-17 “ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” This a beautiful example of loyalty and devotion to family.
Loyalty is another character trait of being a man or woman after God’s own heart. And as you study the life of David you quickly realize that he was a very loyal individual. He is not only loyal to God, but also to his king, and his troops, and also to his friends. And because he was Loyal to God, his friends, and his troops, we read that it inspired them to become very loyal to him. That is all except King Saul who became jealous of him.
Loyalty defined is being faithful, or true to an individual, authority, or principle. It’s an unswerving allegiance.
David’s example stands as the pattern of true loyalty–loyalty under the most extreme temptation. Knowing that he is to be king himself, he chose to remain loyal to king Saul even though he was trying kill him.
He was loyal to the end because his faith told him that if he was to become the king, he would become king, BUT on GOD’S terms and according to God’s own time table. He believed that if God made promised, God would eventually fulfill that promise.
And somehow David knew that he had no right to take matters into his own hands, no matter how bad Saul seem to be acting.
Because he was such a loyal man, David viewed Saul as his master, and felt a sense of allegiance to him. Even if Saul was a bad master, that did not give him leave to be a bad servant. The sacred bond still remained, and he chose not break it. And there lies the lesson for us.
David believed that Saul was the king–the Lord’s anointed, the general of the armies of the living God. He considered his office as sacred; and David felt that must not lift up his hand against him.
Twice David’s faith and loyalty were tested. Twice Saul was in his power. Twice the temptation to kill Saul was presented to him.
The first time David and his men are in one of the great branching caves of En Gedi, the desolate limestone cliffs, two thousand feet high, which overhang the Dead Sea–and Saul is hunting him, as he said, like a partridge on the mountains. “After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said,
“This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.” 1 Sam. 24:1-13.
Because David feared and honored God, he would not kill this man who wanted to kill him. Even though the story goes on to tell us that Saul repents and weep at the sight of David, it wasn’t too long before he was out trying to kill David again.
There is another similar story that can be found in 1 Samuel 26-1-12 “The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”
2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him. 6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” “I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7 So 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. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.”
Saul repents again and even wants David to come back into his service, but David knows better because of Saul’s unstable nature. David loves God enough to trust in his providence, so he remains loyal to Him and His word.
Even though the Psalms of David are filled with words of his faith and how loyal he felt, these are real life examples of his loyal nature.
As Christians I believe it is also very important to be a loyal individual; loyal to our spouse, our family, our friends, our employers, and especially to our Lord, His word, and to His body on earth today, His church.
Do you remember how I defined what it means to be a man or woman after God’s own heart? It’s when our life is in harmony with the Lord. What’s important to Him is important to us. What burdens Him, burdens us. When He says go, or stop that, or wait or change; we go, we stop what He wants us to stop doing, we trust Him and wait, or we make changes He wants us to make. Why? Because we trust Him, and what’s important to Him is important to us. And so we remain loyal to Him and His word.
I have admit, it saddens me when some make light of commitments they have made, or forsake their allegiances. There seems to epidemic of disloyalty in our land today. But what saddens me most is how our nation and how so many individuals have turned their back on God, His word, and His church.
But a question came to my mind as I thought about all off this, and that was; Are there ever circumstances when it’s ok to give up our allegiance to someone or something? And I realized that of course there is.
When you realize what you are doing is wrong, immoral, illegal or contrary to what God wants and expect of you. When you realize that you have been living a lie and want to get right. (Give egs. Job, evil friends)
I don’t think we should necessarily forsake our allegiance to someone or something just because we get upset, or our feeling get hurt, and maybe even if not all our personal wants are being met. I’ve seen some ministers leave the church and go to another whose doctrine are in many ways are contrary to what the Bible teaches because they wanted better job security. I’ve seen members leave the church of Christ for another denomination that promotes false and erroneous doctrine because those other churches were bigger and offered more programs and opportunities, both socially for their kids and for themselves.
I have to admit it bothers me when I see members of a church that does their best to teach and practice what the Bible teaches leave and go to a denomination that may claim to follow Jesus, yet teach and practice things that are contrary to what the Bible teaches and are in complete error like teaching the need for infant baptism, that baptism by sprinkling or pouring is ok, or even that baptism isn’t necessary. People are willing to compromise their allegiance to the truth of God’s word aligning themselves with a denomination that that teaches all you need is to have faith to be saved, or those who teach, once you are saved you cannot do anything to lose that salvation. There are those that have and insist on organized priesthood, a diesis, or some king of ruling counsel to oversee all of their churches. There are those that believe that you can pray to Mary and other saints, and those who follow erroneous unbiblical creeds and so many other false teachings
I know of at least three men I went to Bible School with, who diligently studied the Bible and became preachers or active in a church, but then left for one of these churches that teach false doctrine, and I wondered, ‘Where is your loyalty and allegiance to God’s word, the Bible, and His church.
I think one should leave a particular church if it is teaching unbiblical or things that are false. I left the Roman Catholic church because after I began to read and study God’s own word I realized there was something wrong and I couldn’t with a clear conscious attend a church that taught so much error.
I’ve heard people use the excuse and say, but that church loves and preaches Jesus why shouldn’t I go to it. Would you send your children to a school knowing that they false facts, that 2 + 2 = 7, or that learning yours A, B, C’s are not necessary?
In the book of Revelations in the 2nd and 3rd chapters Jesus sends a message to 7 churches. Out of those 7 churches that that claimed to love and preached Christ only 2 were actually faithful and true and He warns the other seven because of their of their disloyalty.
Let me read to you some of what Jesus said to these churches:
Revelation 2:1-5 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write….4 I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not
repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
12-15 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Some in that church were following false teachers)
18-23 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”
3:1-3 ““To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
14-19 ““To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Even though all these churches were Christian churches Jesus condemns them for putting up with false teachings and becoming disloyal to His will and His word. I think we also have to be careful not to do the same.
David allegiances and loyalties were rooted in, and stemmed from his faith and love of God and his word. It’s one of the very reasons why he was considered a man after God’s own heart. He was not willing to compromise, and neither should we. I pray that you may also honor God and His word enough to be as loyal as you can be to Him and what He wants and expects from you.
Don’t let others tempt or deceive you, Don’t simply go by what you want, what you think, and what you feel, rather trust God word. David did. And if you do you will be one step closer to being a man or woman after God’s own heart.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566