Jealous?

6 · Identifies the theological diagnosis of Saul's jealousy: rage against God's sovereign rule, manifested in refusing to submit to what God is clearly doing through David and instead fighting against God's purposes

Now, what is the core of Saul's struggle? Because if we understand that, I think we'll begin to understand the core of our own struggle with jealousy. And the struggle is this. Saul is angry and raging at God's rule and his role. Those are the two ingredients of jealousy here. First, Saul is struggling with God's rule. Notice again and again it says the Lord was with David. It's obvious that the Lord is doing something. It's like the Lord is doing something. But notice how Saul responds to it. He doesn't go, well, you know, the Lord is doing something. And this man, this young man does seem to be faithful, and he does seem to be, you know, a skilled commander. And he has a heart for the Lord and he's best friends with my son. And if this is what the Lord's doing, you know what? Let's get behind this guy. Let's get behind this. The house of Saul is going to support the house of David. If this is what God's doing, we're going to join what the Lord's doing. Saul does the opposite. Saul's like, if this is what the Lord's doing, I'm going to fight tooth and nail. I see the Lord doing. I see the Lord's rule. I see God with him, and I hate it.

7 · Exposes the second ingredient of Saul's jealousy: refusal to accept his temporal role as king for a season, demanding permanence when God had granted him the highest position in the kingdom but with an expiration date, revealing the absurdity of the reigning king being jealous of a shepherd boy

Saul is also, amazingly seems struggling with his role. He doesn't want to be the king of Israel with an expiration date. You notice this? He doesn't. Now, this is extraordinary. There is an irony in First Samuel that the. The writer carefully brings out in moments like this. He's the king of Israel, okay? Everything says King Saul outside. King Saul, right? Who are those guys? Those are King Saul's guards. Who's the king? King Saul. Who wears the crown? King Saul. Who's got the chair? It says King Saul, right? He has all of that stuff. And he's the one that's jealous of a shepherd boy turned general. Do you see the irony here? The Lord has given Saul the top role in the whole kingdom for a season. And the Lord doesn't even just immediately rip the kingdom out. The Lord gives him this role for. For a season. And Saul is raging against it. I don't want to be the king of Israel, comma, for a while. I want to be the king of Israel, comma, forever. Do you see the. The lengths to which this. This sinful jealousy drives Saul?

8 · Applies Saul's struggle to the congregation by exposing common forms of jealousy in contemporary life—resentment over others' financial success, career advancement, and gifts—using the humorous "Bob from accounting" illustration to make the self-examination concrete and relatable

Now let's turn our attention to ourselves, because it's easy to look at Saul and be like, this guy, man. What's his deal? I never struggle with God's rule and my role. I'm content. You know, I'm just like, lord, you reign, and I'm just happy to be. Nope, look, we gotta look a little bit closer here. We gotta hear that. Jealous, you know, in the back of our mind. Because we, too, struggle with God's rule. Look, we. We struggle whenever God sees fit to give someone a possession or a thing that he didn't give us. We are jealous when those who seem like they're not working as hard as us or aren't as godly as us, they seem to have financial success that the Lord hasn't given us, or their career seems to be going well, or they stumble into a promotion. You know, we're like, how did they stumble? You know, like, I am over here working really hard, and the Lord hasn't given me that yet. We struggle, perhaps, when. When people are gifted in ways that we wish we were gifted. Do you ever have that moment where you see somebody gifted and at first you're like, oh, that's great. And then they're a little too gifted, and you're like, don't like that, Right? A new employee comes into the office. You're like, oh, this is Bob. He's great. He's great. And then Bob gets promoted once, and you're like, okay, that's fine. Bob gets promoted twice. And you're like, okay, slow down, Bob. Right? Do you ever have that in your heart? That's a struggle with God's rule and a struggle with our role.

9 · Applies the struggle with role to specific unfulfilled desires—marriage, parenthood, ministry leadership, career advancement—distinguishing faithful pursuit of roles from the jealous resentment that characterizes Saul's sin

Look, it is to God to give roles at times in life. Maybe you've never struggled with desiring the role of king of ancient Israel, but maybe you desire deeply the role of. Of husband or wife, and the Lord hasn't given that yet. Maybe you desire deeply the role of being a mom or a dad or a grandmother or grandfather. And maybe you struggle. Maybe you struggle with not having the role of leading the ministry you love or being the kind of Bible teacher that. That makes people download messages. Or maybe you don't have the role at work that you want yet. And look, some of these things are. It's not bad to advance your. You know, to seek to steward and advance your skills and ask for a promotion. It's not bad to date people to see if you are meant to be a husband or wife. It's not bad to do those kind of faithfulness things. But as soon as in our hearts, we begin to look at what others have and go, I don't like that, then we begin to have the attitude that we see here in King Saul.

10 · Establishes the relational consequence of jealousy—it begins vertically with God but inevitably poisons horizontal relationships—citing a commentator who traces Saul's progressive alienation from family, supporters, and even his own sanity

And the effect is that it poisons all of our relationships. That's the reality. Jealousy begins in a vertical plane in our relationship with God, but then poisons the horizontal plane of our relationships around us. One commentator says this. Saul refuses to give in to God and it costs him dearly. He is progressively alienated from his family. His daughter Michael in chapter 19, his son Jonathan in chapter 20, alienated from his supporters in chapter 22, and even from his own mental capacities. Do you see this? This dissatisfaction, this jealousy drives Saul down a tragic path.

11 · Traces Saul's progressive descent as jealousy drives him to use his daughter as bait for David's death, repeatedly break promises not to kill David, and ultimately become a spectacle as his murder attempts are thwarted by divine intervention that leaves him looking foolish

I'm just going to lay it out for you here in chapter 18, what we find is that that God. I mean, that Saul rather uses his own daughter as a lure to try to get David to get himself killed. He basically says, yeah, oh, you know what? We'd love to have you in the family, David. Love to love you. Love this guy. Love this guy. All you have to do is go on a suicide mission, and when you get back, you will have a happy marriage, right? He sends him off to get killed only for David to succeed and win valor and marry his daughter, who, by the way, his daughter loves David. So it's just. He's not winning here. And then in chapter 19, Saul repeatedly says that he will not kill David, only to then attempt to kill David multiple times. Right? It's not building credibility here. And in the end, Saul becomes a joke. He becomes a spectacle. There's this wild. You got to read it later in chapter 19. We don't have time to get all into this, but basically, Saul keeps sending people to try to find David, but they come out filled with the spirit and are in ecstatic, you know, revelations. And then they wander off. And so Saul just keeps sending people, and they just keep getting, you know, basically, like, sent back happy in the Lord, but totally clueless. And so he finally goes, I myself, I'm going to go find David. And then he gets filled with the spirit, and then he ends up happy and clueless. And everyone's like, well, that was weird. Like, that's. That's. He becomes almost a spectacle.

12 · Reaches the climax of Saul's relational destruction—screaming obscenities at his loyal son Jonathan for supporting David—then issues a pastoral warning that the same jealousy resides in every heart and can lead to the same insanity

And then in chapter 20, oh, this is so tragic. Jonathan through all of this pleads with his dad, stands by his father, and essentially only in chapter 20 to have his father scream at him. In verse 30, chapter 20, verse 30, he insults and swears at his son, yelling, you, son. This is salt to Jonathan, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman. I do not know. Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame? Basically, he's screaming obscenities at his son, saying, you have chosen a farmer's son over me. Jonathan, do you see how insane Saul gets? But, friends, we have to remember the thing that drove Saul. There is in each of our hearts, you might think, I would never get there. I would never get that crazy. Friends, the same path is laid out before us.

13 · Applies the question "are you jealous?" by diagnosing American culture as a jealousy-powered system—from toy catalogs to marketing ads designed to induce envy—and calls the congregation to intentionally swim upstream against this cultural current

So let me ask you, are you jealous? And I think we need to recognize here that. That we. If we are not actively fighting jealousy in our lives and our culture, we are getting swept along in the stream of jealousy that we swim in as Americans. Now, look, every. Every culture has positives and negatives to it, has areas in which they align more with the Bible's values and less align with the Bible's values. But we, friends, we in America, I don't think I need to tell you, if you're a parent, that toy catalogs arrived at your house in, I think, October, maybe September. Right? And we live in a culture, in a sense, powered by. I mean, every holiday marketing ad tells us your neighbors have this really cool new kitchen set. Look how happy they are. Look how together they are as a family because of this pan that they bought. They're so happy, jealous. And you're like, I am. I need the pan. You know, our family relationships are so broken. I've got to have that pan. Right? Or that. You know, the ad where the neighbors are like, Christmas morning, they wake up and there's like a BMW in their driveway with a bow. And it almost as is. As if at the end of the commercial, the dad, you know, who's given his wife his extravagant gift, turns to the camera and goes, jealous, right? And BMW is like, yep, yep, BMW.com, just come to us. We're right here. We're ready for you. Do you see? This is. This is what we live in, guys. And so, friends, we have to intentionally go, I'm gonna swim upstream from the stream of jealousy in our culture.

14 · Provides concrete diagnostic questions for self-examination—Are you feeding jealousy through Zillow browsing, social media consumption, or other specific behaviors? Where (not if) is jealousy at work in your heart?—using personal confession and humor to make the application searching

Look, and I think we're. Let me just ask you, are there any small but significant ways that you are feeding the jealousy in your own heart? Look, there are times where you're like, man, you know what? Getting on Zillow and looking at all the houses I could have may not serve me right. Now, getting on that manual for me. Let me just say this. Getting on the truck and seeing the new model of the truck I almost bought a few years ago and could have had and how great it is yet again, may not serve me. I don't think we should say may. It does not serve me. And I have been on it more than once. And is social media feeding a jealousy in you because of who you follow and what you long for? Right. That's the first area. Second, I think we need to recognize that jealousy is probably at work in our hearts. It's not an if it's at work. It's a where is it at work question. Like if, if Saul, this is the reality, if Saul, the King of Israel, who had everything that he could ever want, was jealous, we gotta assume we, we're jealous too, because in our hearts we might go, well, I've never tried to hurl a spear at anyone, so I think I'm doing okay. Like, well, good job. That's great. We want to appreciate that as cross of grace. But, friend, where might the same thing be going on in your life where you just wish you could hurl a spear through Bob from accounting, who stumbled his way into a third promotion? Right? That, that, that. That I think is where we got to go, Lord, where is it? What's the area in my life?

15 · Pivots from Saul's negative example to Jonathan's positive example as a path to freedom from jealousy

And then we turn to the second character, Jonathan. This is the. This is where I'm so grateful. The Lord not only in his kindness, highlights the danger of jealousy, but then he says, there is a better path. There is a path to freedom out of jealousy that we find in Jonathan.

16 · Defends the biblical view of male brotherhood against revisionist readings, then expounds Jonathan's response to God's rule and role—actively embracing what God is doing through David and choosing contentment as second rather than grasping for the kingship, despite his father's offer of a dynasty through David's death

Now, I love David and Jonathan's relationship. I wish we could get into all the aspects of it over chapters 18 through 20. And I just want to say this. I'm going to drop in one pastoral kind of heads up here because revisionist, anti Christian scholars will sometimes try to read some homosexual subtext into Jonathan and David's relationship. And let me just say that is ignorant and it is textually crazy. That is not what the text is doing. And our culture, this is what I would say our culture doesn't understand that the Bible holds out the value of male brotherhood in a beautiful and powerful way. Our culture just sexualizes everything, just layers lust on everything. But what we see in places like this is the goodness of a bond of brotherhood between two guys who are willing to die for each other. And the reality is this man. Our culture does not understand the power of men who have been under fire together and come out as brothers. Our culture does not understand men who have worn a badge together and come out as brothers. That does not understand men who have suffered together, who have stood by gravesides together and have come out as brothers. And let me just say, I wish we could spend a whole message here, but the example of David and Jonathan is the example of two. Two men who are willing to be absolute death dealers when the situation requires it. Each of them, respectively, Jonathan killing 20 dudes in a shot by himself. David killing an unkillable giant, much less their other warfare victories. Those guys hugging and crying, knowing that they. They may never see each other again. That's a bond of brotherhood that the scripture holds out as beautiful and, I think, worth emulating. All right, back to the jealousy thing. So Jonathan, we see in contrast with Saul where. Where his dad is raging against God's rule. Jonathan embraces God's rule. Jonathan says in verse 13 of chapter 20, May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. Basically, he's saying, the Lord is doing something here. I recognize it. I recognize that my father's reign is going to end and you're going to be the king, David. And I. I want to be part of what God is doing rather than raging against it. May the Lord be with you, because I'm with you, friend. That's what he's saying. And then Jonathan is extraordinarily counterculturally joyful in his role. Now, notice in this. In that scene where Saul basically screams obscenities at his son, one of Saul's charges to Jonathan is this. As long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, Jonathan, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Saul is telling Jonathan, son, this is not in your own interest to be friends with David. It's only if David dies that you get the kingdom. Jonathan, do you not realize we are one spear away from a dynasty here? Jonathan, you could be the king people are cheering about. Jonathan, you could have the role of king. Jonathan, I am trying to get this for you, my son. And do you see what Jonathan is doing? He's being offered the kingship of Israel if only he will kill his friend. And Jonathan over and over and over again says, I'm content to be second. I'm content to join what God's doing. And I'm content with the role of friend and fellow warrior and not king. You see that he embraces God's rule. He embraces his Role.

17 · Defines Christian contentment through Paul's example and Jeremiah Burroughs's definition—a sweet spiritual posture of submitting to and delighting in God's sovereignty—then shows how Jonathan's contentment produced generosity and flourishing relationships in contrast to Saul's jealous destruction

And I see in that the attitude of Paul, the attitude of Christian contentment. In Philippians 4:11, writing from, by the way, a jail cell, Paul says this. Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Jeremiah Burroughs, one of the Puritans, wrote this beautiful little book called the Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. It's dense, but beautiful. And his definition of contentment is this. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit. Notice why. Freely submitting to and taking delight in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. Meaning, he's saying, it's the sweetness in your soul that comes from submitting to and rejoicing in God's rule and where God has placed you in your role. And you see then the effect of generosity in the heart of Jonathan. His relationship with David becomes this awesome bond between brothers that really sustains and saves in many ways, the kingdom. And at a crucial moment where Saul destroys all of his relationships with jealousy, Jonathan, it seems, flourishes because of his contentment.

18 · Traces the redemptive-historical arc from Jonathan's covenant with David's house through God's eternal covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 to its fulfillment in Christ, demonstrating that Jonathan's contentment in being second resulted not in loss but in eternal glory through union with the true Son of David who establishes his house forever by paying for the jealous sins of his people

And you might say, but wait a minute, wait a minute, though. This Jonathan, what Saul warned him about, actually does come to pass, because the reality is, I'm going to spoil the ending of First Samuel, okay? We're going to get there in a few weeks. But the end of 1st Samuel, chapter 31, ends with the house of Saul falling in battle and Jonathan lying slain on a battlefield. Jonathan never even gets to see his friend David ascend to the throne. I mean, don't you think Jonathan would have been the first in line rejoicing? He would have. But instead he lies slain on a battlefield. And you think, man, is that. Is that where contentment gets you? Just dead On a battlefield? Forgotten? Well, friends don't forget. There is. Well, there is a powerful thing that happens between Jonathan and David. There is a particular verse in chapter 20 where it says this, that Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, may the Lord take vengeance on his. That's chapter 20, verse 16. Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. Do you understand what Jonathan's doing in this moment? He sees what God is doing through David. He sees that David's house will ascend. And so he says, I, the house of Saul, I am willing to be united to your house, David, as long as you are willing to be united to me. That is what Jonathan is doing. Now that becomes even more important, because in chapter second Samuel, chapter seven, listen to this. You don't need to turn There, second Samuel, chapter seven. God makes a covenant with the house of David. Second Samuel seven, ten says this to David, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And then verse 16, and your house and your kingdom your shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. So do you see what's happening? Jonathan makes a covenant with the house of David. And that covenant with the house of David, that house of David itself comes under the covenant of the Lord in 2nd Samuel 7, such that the Lord put promises all those in the house of David will continue forever, that the house of David will never be without a ruler. And then spoiler alert for two Samuel. I'm spoiling both books if you're keeping track. Both end of first Samuel, Both end of two Samuel, all done. One sermon. Sorry, but we got to do this because in second Samuel you find that the the snake wrapped around the heart of Saul wraps itself around David as well. And David himself sins through jealousy over another man's wife. And so you think, okay, well, Jonathan united to the house of David. The house of David itself looks like it is crumbling. But friends, here's what the Lord does. He preserves the house of David, the line of David, until at the beginning of the New Testament, we find that the promise of 2nd Samuel 7 is fulfilled not in the physical David that Jonathan made the covenant with, but in the true and greater David, Jesus Christ. And through the ministry of Jesus Christ, the house of David, as it were, is established forever. And Jesus, in a sense, sets up the house of David, calling rebels and prodigals and jealous people home. And then he goes to the cross to pay for the jealous sins of all of his people, so that the son of David, Jesus Christ, would establish his house by paying for the sins of his people, that they may be welcomed into the promises of forever, forever. Such that anyone like Jonathan who will unite themselves to the house of David and the son of David, Jesus Christ, will flourish forever. And so here then, is how the story of Jonathan gets rewritten. Jonathan may fall on a bloody battlefield in chapter 31, but the next instant he opens his eyes in the halls of the house of David forever. Jonathan's and Saul's end, it seems, is to be cast away from the Lord forever. But Jonathan, it seems, is welcomed into the courts of the Lord forever. And here's the good news. Jonathan and all the Jonathan's like him will not miss out on anything in this life that will not be paid them tenfold in the halls of eternity. Do you think Jonathan, upon opening his eyes in glory, is going, man, I really wish I'd gotten to be, you know, on the throne of Israel first for a couple minutes. No way, man. Content to be second to David. He's in the court of heaven forever. For that's the call of this passage. First and foremost. The call of the passage is to say, friend, jealousy will have you believe that you must grasp and scrape and strain and oppose the work of God and rage against your role to get what you want. But the example of Jonathan says, you can trust God, you can trust the role he's given you, and in the end, his rule and your role will be more glorious than you can ever imagine.

19 · Issues evangelistic appeal as the first application point, arguing that no earthly attainment will satisfy and that contentment is found only in Christ through repentance and faith

So let me just end with a few points of application as we move towards how do we cultivate contentment? Well, here are a couple ideas for cultivating contentment. The first and foremost is this. If you're not in Christ, you will never be content in this life until you are content in Jesus. Look, if you're here today and you're like, okay, I'm really hoping Christmas and Thanksgiving give me something that'll fulfill me. I'm hoping that thing, that relationship, that feeling, that vibe, that ring of engagement that will finally fulfill me. Friend, it won't. Look, if the king of Israel is not content, neither will you be. He's got way more than you'll ever have. But you can be content in Jesus Christ if you're willing to admit I am a jealous person and I need the Lord. You can be welcomed in the courts of heaven, so come, won't you? That's how we start our service. Come, and welcome to Jesus Christ. So come today.

20 · Applies Hebrews 13:5 to argue that contentment comes from looking to the Lord rather than possessions, diagnosing Saul as seeking in a position what he could only find in God

Second, look at the Lord and cultivate joy and contentment in him. I love Hebrews 13:5, which says, Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Why? Because he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Look, Paul, Saul was seeking in a position what he could only find in the Lord. He was looking for security. He was looking for legacy. He was looking for stability. All of that was waiting for him in the Lord. So we turn from that thing to the Lord.

21 · Uses Monday morning quarterback illustration to expose how we presume to judge God's decisions, calling instead for trust in God's rule based on past faithfulness—specifically that his plans resulted in Christ and our adoption

Second, I mean, sorry, third, rather, look at the Lord and cultivate trust in the Lord. Look, so much of our struggle with God's rule and our role is us Monday morning quarterbacking the Lord of the universe, right? I don't know. You do this? I do this every Monday. I see what Dak Prescott should have done. And I agree. I mean, like, he should have done this. He should. He should have done that, too. It's so obvious. So obvious as I sit on my computer with my little coffee in my jammies, right? This is what we're doing to the Lord. We're like, the Lord should have given me this. He should have done that. I should have had that role. And instead, we're meant to look at him and cultivate trust. Lord, I trust your rule. It resulted in Christ, and it resulted in me being called a son of God. Your plans are far beyond what I could ever imagine. I'm going to trust you for the rest.

22 · Calls for concrete Thanksgiving-week gratitude practice, critiquing American culture's directionless thankfulness and urging the congregation to trace gifts back to the Giver as evidence for trusting God's rule and role assignments

Next, we look at what he's given us and cultivate gratitude. This is a wonderful week to do this. Our culture is thankful, but has no direction to our thankfulness. Have you noticed that all the commercials, like, be thankful to who? Be thankful. It's a time for Thanksgiving. To who? Enough about that. Just be thankful, right? No. Thankful to him in every look, in every full table this week filled with food or friends or family and every grace gift that he has given. And let's be honest, God has given us, for many of us, more than just our needs. He's given us more than our needs. He's filled our tables with more than just enough to eat. He's given us more relationships than we need. Right? These are gifts from God. And what we want to do is look from the gift back to the giver and say, lord, in light of your generosity, help me to trust your rule and my role when I struggle. You gave me all this

23 · Applies eschatological perspective using Jeremiah Burroughs's "earnest penny" concept to argue that every earthly blessing is merely a down payment on eternal joy, urging the congregation to view present gifts as foretastes that enable movement from jealousy to contentment

last look at what he will give in eternity. Every blessing here is just a foretaste of what we will experience in the halls of David forever. Jeremiah Burrow says this. Every comfort that the saints have in this world is an earnest penny to them of those eternal mercies that the Lord has provided in them. Meaning every full Thanksgiving table is just an earnest penny, just a down payment for the feast that we'll enjoy one day in heaven. Every gift that. That we receive from a kid, like I do, like a weird drawing of a turkey that looks like an alien that you're delighted in because your son drew it. You know, that's just our life. And every moment where you're like, I can't believe you did this for me, buddy. That's so kind of you. That moment will be blown up into eternity where we go, man, I can't believe what the Lord has given to me forever. Right? This is what we will enjoy. So the goal is this. The goal is that we would move from jealousy to joy, friends, from discontent to content, because the Lord's rule is good and our role is glorious as his sons and daughters.

24 · Closes with a final Burroughs quotation calling the congregation to look from the conduit (earthly blessings) to the fountain (God himself), issuing a charge for the week ahead

Let me end with one more quote from Burroughs. He says this Christian, how did you enjoy comfort before? Was the creature anything to you? Or was the thing anything to you but a conduit or a pipe that conveyed God's goodness to you? The pipe is cut off, says God, come to me, the fountain, and drink immediately. Friends, this week let us look from the conduit, from the pipe to the ever flowing stream. Amen.

25 · Closes in pastoral prayer thanking God for inviting jealous sinners into the halls of heaven through Christ, praying for cultivation of contentment and turning to God when jealousy arises

Would you stand and let's pray. Oh, Lord, we thank you for your many mercies. We thank you for your kindness. We thank you for your grace. We thank you that jealous little Sauls like us are even invited into the halls of heaven through the work of Jesus Christ. Lord, may we have this moment of looking around, seeing that we deserve for our house's end to be the end of the house of Saul in disgrace and disaster. And yet, because of Jesus, you've invited us into the end of the house of David, which is eternal glory. And Lord, I pray that in light of that, Lord, may we cultivate contentment. I pray even this week, God help us to seize this week as we have those moments of jealousy. Lord, may we turn to you the fountain of living waters. And when we. When we see your good gifts, may we turn upward and see the giver rejoicing in you. Amen.