You Steer With Your Eyes

6 · The pastor signals the structural shift into the first major section, focusing on Saul's failure in chapter 13

Now 13 to 14 is the contrast. So first chapter 13, steering into tragedy.

7 · The pastor unpacks the military crisis Saul faces: the Philistines have overwhelming numbers, superior equipment, and economic dominance, while Israel's army is terrified, scattering, and woefully under-equipped with only two swords among them—establishing the dire circumstances that will test Saul's trust in God

Now we're going to pick up in chapter 13. Shortly after Saul's appointment as king, he is facing a defining national test, a military test for himself and the nation. Look at verse 5. And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude, they came up and encamped in Mikmash to the east of Bethein. And when the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble, for the people were hard pressed, the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. And some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal and all the people followed him, trembling. Now, this is not a good situation. Multiple reasons for concern. Okay, so on the one hand you have the Philistines. They are well organized. It seems like they are well equipped. They have, you'll see later in the chapter, they have waged economic war affairs successfully against the surrounding area to where they are the guys that make metal weaponry. Nobody makes metal weaponry apart from these guys. In fact, they're charging the Hebrews to even sharpen their sickles and stuff. They've got a corner on the market. So they're better trained, better equipped, more united. And they have Calvary, which lets you flank people quickly. And they've got chariots. Not just a few chariots, thousands of chariots which were the tanks of the ancient world. So that's that side over here you've got the Israelites, brand new king. Their initial response is not unity. Let's come together. Their initial response is terror. Their initial response is running screaming into holes in the ground. Not an auspicious start. People are following Saul, comma, trembling, right? Not great. Nobody's like, yeah, let's get up. They're like, oh man, that's not what you want. And not only that, they have two swords. A grand total of two reliable swords in Israel. Okay, not great. Everybody else is fighting with sickles and pitchforks, and they have no or no chariots at all, barely any calvary. Not great.

8 · The pastor explains the context of Saul's disobedience: God had previously given Saul miraculous signs and a clear command to wait at Gilgal for Samuel, but when Samuel delayed and the army scattered, Saul took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself—a direct violation of God's explicit instruction

So Saul is in this moment now, verse eight is so important. Listen to this. He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. Now, in a previous chapter in 10, remember how Saul is brought into the kingship. He is given several miraculous signs. And. And at that moment, as. As he's being brought into the kingship, God reinforces to Saul, I am with you. I am powerful. I will give you what you need. Your part is to trust me. Your part is to obey, and your part is to listen. And what does he tell him to do? He says, when this moment happens, I want you to go to Gilgal and I want you to wait for Samuel. And what Samuel's going to do is he's going to come bring the word of the Lord and probably bring priests who will offer the appropriate sacrifices to honor God. And then the Lord will. Will have him go. Now that is, it seems a very clear, not easy, but clear instruction, isn't it? But look at verse 8. Samuel did not come to Gilgal and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.

9 · The pastor exposes Saul's blasphemous usurpation of the priestly role, his excuse-making when confronted, and Samuel's devastating rebuke calling him a fool—then unpacks the biblical category of the fool as one who says in his heart 'there is no God' and therefore acts as if God were absent, which is precisely what Saul has done by taking control into his own hands instead of trusting God's provision

Now, if you know your Old Testament, you know that is a priestly duty. That is a. There are pages and pages and pages in the Old Testament about how offerings are to be offered and they are to be offered by priests, specifically, not the king. That's not what the Lord gave Saul to do. And yet he goes, this is a blasphemous act, even though it might appear from the outward looks of it, like, oh, well, he's just offering. No, no, no, he's not just offering. He's taken on the role of a priest, disregarding the whole law. And notice verse 10. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold Samuel came. Oh, boy. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done? And Saul said, when I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come within the days appointed and that the Philistines had mustered at Mikmash, I said that now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord, so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. Now, this begins a pattern with Saul where he is the king of a whole lot of stuff, but he is mostly the king of excuses. Do you see what he's doing here? He Sam is going, what are you doing? And Saul is immediately like, well, well, it's because you were. Were, you know, you were late. And then also these guys and the army and this thing. And then I forced myself, I had to do it. And he. So you're. Remember, this is a guy going, I just. So. Because of all. For all those reasons, I just had to commit blasphemy. There was just no other real choice here. And Sam was looking at him going, what are you doing? It was real explicit. Remember the signs, the miraculous signs. Remember the one instruction I gave you at that moment? You did the opposite of that. And look at verse 13. Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you, for then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. Right? His basically what Samuel pronounces is that the dynasty of Saul is over before it begins. His family is not the one that will continue in rulership. And notice his opening rebuke. You have done foolishly. Now, in the old context of the Old Testament, he's not just saying that was stupid. He. No, no, it's. It's much more powerful. It's much more intense than that. Because in Hebrew literature, the category of the the fool will become an entire category in wisdom literature. So I want to challenge you to do something this week. If you open your Bible to the Book of Proverbs or your Bible software to Proverbs and look up the phrase fool or the fool, all throughout the Book of Proverbs, there are. Are kind of profile pictures of the fool. The fool does this, the fool doesn't do that. And here's the kind of things you will learn. And that the fool, well, they're always in trouble. The fool says foolish things and receives rebuke. The fool will not control their emotions or their life. The fool and his money are soon parted from one another. The fool, it says in Proverbs 10:21, the fool dies for lack of judgment. Now, the reason that picture is so clear in wisdom literature is it's meant to teach Israel and us, don't do that. See that guy? Don't do that. And what Samuel is doing is saying, you saw you are a fool, which is. You can't imagine the king of a nation being rebuked as a fool. So what is Samuel seeing in Saul that leads him to call him a fool? It's his heart. It's his heart. The. The fool in wisdom literature is not foolish just because they do foolish Things. They do foolish things because of what is going on in their heart. And notice what the Psalms say about the fool diagnoses it twice so clearly. Psalm 14, verse 1. The fool says, in his heart there is no God. Psalm 53, verse 1. The fool says, in his heart there is no God. What Samuel sees in Saul's actions is a man who, in the middle of a moment of anxiety and fear and worry, has decided to act like there is no God to help him. And he must take actions into his own hands. He must take control in his own hands. And that's where foolishness comes from. The fool goes, there is no God. God's not in the picture here. And therefore they make foolish decisions as a result, they act like there is no God in. In the picture.

10 · The pastor cites Woodhouse to make the theological point that obedience and disobedience cannot be evaluated by circumstances alone—only when God's presence and promises are factored in do we see clearly that what looks prudent in human terms (Saul's self-reliance) is actually foolish, while what looks risky (trusting God) is actually wise

Woodhouse, a commentator on this, says this. The foolishness of disobeying God cannot be seen by weighing your circumstances. In most circumstances it looks foolish to trust and obey God. The foolishness of disobedience and the wisdom of obedience can only be seen when we take into account something of other than circumstances. Meaning if you just look at the circumstances, what looks foolish and wise are all topsy turvy until you look at the Lord. Woodhouse continues, in light of his circumstances, Saul's actions might seem wise and prudent, but in the light of God's promise, it was the most foolish thing he could have done.

11 · The pastor narrates his own struggle with medical anxiety years ago, describing how he catastrophized the future in vivid detail—until his pastor asked the piercing question: 'Where is the Lord in that picture?' He realized God was completely absent from his anxious mental picture, just as God was absent from Saul's reasoning, and he needed to be reminded that he is a Christian who thinks differently because the Lord is present

Do you see what he's doing here? Well, friends, I would like to say, okay, yeah, that's Saul's terrible. I would never do anything like that until I think for just five minutes. Because as I was thinking about this passage, I remember a particular moment a number of years ago where one of. Where my pastor, Tom Wilkins at the time was counseling me and giving me help and I was pouring my heart out. And I had had a serious medical anxiety that was persistent. I was having some health issues and I began to, as my kids were having some health issues. And so I began to have a. Almost like grappling. It was like grab me kind of medical anxiety about these issues. And I was describing some of my fears to, to Tom. And I was going, well, well, listen, Tom, if you don't understand, this is why I'm so anxious. Because if this happens, if this test result comes back like this, then next month and next week, and then in a year it could be at this place. And then. And then a decade from then, it would be this. And then how could I live life like that? How could my kids live life like that? And I was just freaking out, you know, And I'm just. And Tom, like a patient pastor, was just kind of less listening to me, going. And at the end of it, I was like, so what do you think? When I ran out of words finally, and Tom essentially said this, Ricky, that's a. That's a really vivid picture you have in your mind of what will happen a year from now or ten years from now. But where is the Lord in that picture? And what I realized is this vivid picture that I have in my mind, there's no God in it at all, right? A year from now, if this result comes back, then this and this and this and then this. But what about the Lord? Is the Lord there? Is the Lord in the picture? Is the Lord sovereign? Is the Lord with me? Is the Lord merciful? Right? None of that was in my. My view. I mean, I was going, okay, well, what if. What if. What if I even pass away? Where's the Lord in that picture? Would not the Lord carry you to glory? Would not the Lord care for your family? And it's like, oh, that's right, that's. And it's almost like somebody throwing a bucket of water in my face. Like, oh, that's right, the Lord. I forgot. Like, that's my road to pastoral ministry. The pastor is reminding me that the Lord exists. Right? That's. That's where I started, friends. That's where we all start it going. That's right. The Lord. That's right. We're Christians. You ever do have that moment, oh, I forgot. I'm a Christian. I think about this differently. The Lord is at hand. Hand. This is what Saul is not doing. He does not see the Lord, despite remember what the Lord does. The Lord has told Saul and has demonstrated to Saul, I am near to you. I'll be with you. I am powerful. I'll provide for you. And it's like, that's not in Saul's mind at all. And therefore he acts.

12 · The pastor calls the congregation to examine their own lives for areas where they are acting like Saul—reacting to anxiety-producing circumstances as if there were no God—and to diagnose whether their fear stems from painting mental pictures of the future in which the Lord is absent

Friends, what might this look like in our own lives? Where might we look a little more like Saul all than we want to admit? Where might we be thinking or reacting as if there were no God. Right? Take whatever situation in your life that's causing you the most anxiety or to freak out the most, right? That if you just. Somebody asks you about that area, it's that area, like my medical anxiety years ago, where somebody asks you, and all of a sudden it just starts pouring out of you and look at the picture you've painted and ask, could it be that one of the Reasons I'm so fearful is that the Lord isn't in this picture at all, right? We need to go, like, as we think about these snapshots of our lives, we need to see the Lord in the picture or see the absence of the Lord. And see, I need to add him back into the picture.

13 · The pastor applies the diagnostic framework to patterns of sin, arguing that beneath struggles with pornography, sexual sin, and cohabitation often lies the deeper issue of not seeing God as present and trustworthy—people steer into sin not merely from lust but from loneliness or desperation, acting as if God will not provide what they need

And the other thing I think this is helpful for is to look at areas where we are struggling with sin, right? Areas where we've. We've gotten off into sin and gotten trapped somewhere. And sometimes our response is just, okay, stop doing that bad thing. Stop it. You know, which, okay, yes, we need to be rebuked. We need to stop doing those things. But this passage would cause us to back up and go, where am I looking? That has steered me into that trouble. For example, there's always, every few years, a group of statistics that come out that measure Christian evangelicals against non Christian, you know, non Christians in their relationships, in their sexuality, in their divorce rates, you know, all that stuff. And every few years, some pastor freaks out and goes, I can't believe that Christians aren't any different from the world, right? That they've given themselves to pornography or they're sleeping with one another. The cohabitation rates are almost the same. Or what about the divorce rates? And the response sometimes rightly, is to go, okay, well, man, Lord help us. You know, we. We don't want to give ourselves to things of the world like that. But I think this passage in those kinds of moments would cause us to back up and go, what has steered us into those things, though? For example, could it be that the. The. The person struggling with pornography isn't just struggling with lust, that they're struggling with a moment of desperate loneliness, desp. And are turning. Steering themselves into that because they're not seeing the Lord as the solution for their comfort and loneliness or somebody who goes, man, my 30s, my 20s are evaporating. My 30s are evaporating. It's like everybody's pairing off, but I've been left alone. What am I gonna do in this moment? And then you end up in a sexual relationship or cohabitating, and you're thinking, man, how did I get here? And. And. And it's not just, okay, well, they were lustful. No, no, no. I think here's the question. Was the Lord in the picture of your relational life, or did you go, there is no God. I've just got to do this. I've got to grab this for myself, because I can't trust God's going to provide me a Spouse, Right. I think more often than not we need to trace back. Where did we begin steering ourselves wrong there like saul.

14 · The pastor signals the structural shift from Saul's failure to Jonathan's triumph, preparing the congregation for the contrast

That's chapter 13. Now chapter 14, steering into triumph. Thankfully, the passage does not leave God's people there. It gives us a contrasting model in chapter 14, verse 1.

15 · The pastor reads Jonathan's proposal to attack the Philistine garrison and highlights the stark contrast: while Saul is paralyzed by anxiety and fear, Jonathan sees the same overwhelming enemy and perceives an opportunity for God to work

One day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. But he did not tell his father. Look down at verse six. Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Now notice Jonathan's actions in complete contrast to his father's. Saul is anxious, Saul is fearful. Saul is freaking out. Jonathan is looking over at this massive army and says, maybe there's an opportunity here. Maybe we can go test the lines a little bit. Maybe we can find a crack. Maybe we. Maybe the Lord is going to make something happen.

16 · The pastor explains Jonathan's strategy: he will test the Philistines' response as a sign from God—if they invite Jonathan to come up, he will take it as divine confirmation that the Lord has given the enemy into his hand, demonstrating Jonathan's active faith seeking God's direction

In verse 7, his armor bearer said to him, do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I'm with you heart and soul. And then Jonathan said, behold, we will cross over to the men. We will show ourselves to them. And if they say to us, wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and we will not go up to them. But if they say, come up to us, then we will go up. For the Lord has given them into our hand, and this shall be the sign to us. Now, what is going on here? Well, for context, geographically, there is a steep ravine in between the two battle lines in this city section of, of. Of the sort of the field of war. And so you've got literally in the Hebrew, the names of the two areas are like rocky and slippery or something like that, right? So it is a, you know, a tough area, an area where it's probably not going to be a lot of people trying to cross there. And so Jonathan sees an opportunity and he goes, okay, so they're going to see us climbing down and they're going to see us climbing up, but let's just go down, show ourselves to them. And if they come and fight us down there, great, well, well, we'll mix it up a little bit. But if they say, why don't you guys come up? We'll see it as an opportunity that the Lord's given us, given them into our hand.

17 · The pastor narrates the Philistines' mocking invitation for Jonathan to come up, which Jonathan immediately interprets as the sign from God—despite being outnumbered at the bottom of a ravine, Jonathan declares with absolute confidence that the Lord has given the enemy into Israel's hand

And so verse 11, both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they've hidden themselves, right? This is a mocking response. This is like they. They've arrayed their army and all of a sudden they. The Israelites are scattering and they're like, hey, look, they're popping out of little holes, the little Israelites. Hey, little guys. You guys scared? And so they're saying. That's the kind of thing they're saying. And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, come up to us. Will show you a thing. Now, it's. It's not like a movie there. He's like, we're going to show you a movie up here. No, they're thinking, great, we're going to have some fun with these guys, do a little light torture, fight them one on one. This will be great. This will be some sport while we wait for the big battle, why don't you come up here? And they probably will enjoy watching them try to climb, slippering and sliding down this rocky ravine. And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. Now that is a wild response. Again, remember what's happening. They are two guys at the bottom of a ravine facing a garrison up at the top of the ravine of Philistines. The Philistines are like, why don't you come up here? And Jonathan looks to his buddy and goes, we've got them right where we want them, right? You went, okay, I'm again, I'm not. I don't know warfare real well here, Jonathan, but doesn't seem great. Doesn't seem like a great moment for us or for anyone. And Jonathan's like, let's go.

18 · The pastor vividly narrates Jonathan's climb up the steep ravine and his devastating initial assault—20 Philistines killed in the opening moments, catching the garrison completely off guard and demonstrating the Lord's power working through Jonathan's faith-filled action

And verse 13. Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet. That's how steep it is, right? He's climbing up. This is almost like. Have you ever seen the Princess Bride? That moment where the guy has to climb up the hill for the cliffs of insanity forever. And the guy's just waiting, waiting to duel him. But it's kind of like, can you hurry up? Like, that's what's happening right here. So Jonathan climbs up on his hands and his feet, his armor bearer after him. And look at this phrase. And they fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer killed them after him. And that first strike which Jonathan and his armor bearer made killed about 20 men within, as it were half a furrow's length in an Acre of land. So, okay, Jonathan just. I mean, I don't know what this would look like, but I would. I love imagining Jonathan, they're like laughing and like, oh, look, they're almost up. Almost. Just a little further, guys. And Jonathan, like, 1, 2, 3. He's up. You know, swords through the first guy, swords through the second guy. And it's almost like these guys are like. That is the last thing I imagine happening in this moment. And these guys are on the ground, their bodies are hitting the floor before the rest of them can even react. People then are scrambling for their weapons. They're turned around and 20 people in a single shot have fallen in front of Jonathan. Insane.

19 · The pastor describes how Jonathan's assault triggers supernatural panic that ripples through the entire Philistine army—the text says even the earth quaked—demonstrating that this is not merely human victory but divine intervention causing mass terror

And then verse 15. And there was a panic in the camp, in the field and among all the people. Okay, so imagine what happens. They probably have not even bothered to report this. What are they going to report? Two Israelites are climbing up. It's like, thank you. Get out of here, right? Just go away. I don't need to be bothered with that. If the army comes, let me know. So there's no warning. All they see, the camp feels. You know how the. On the. If you've ever been in a high intensity moment, the mood changes immediately. All sudden panic begins to ripple through the camp. And you've got guys screaming, you've got guys yelling, you've got guys running through the camp trying to warn others. And the word on the street is the Israelites are behind the lines. The Israelites are in the camp. They. They've killed people. They killed this guy. That squad's already gone. Everybody, you know, and. And there is massive panic. And it says this. The garrison and even the raiders tremble. The earthquaked. And it became a very great panic, meaning this thing just snowballs from one area to the next, to the next, to the next. The whole army begins to panic.

20 · The pastor narrates how the panic Jonathan triggered emboldens Saul to finally engage, and even the Israelites who had fled in terror now rejoin the pursuit—the text explicitly attributes the victory to the Lord, not to any human strategy or strength

And what happens? Saul sees this and goes, okay, okay, this looks. This looks good. We can. Okay, here we go, guys, here we go. And they're. They're not looking at us. Let's all run. And so Saul finally calls the army to war. He hits their lines, everybody scatters. And look at verse 22. Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle, meaning all the guys that had run away, the word on the street comes, hey, they're running away. And they're like, yeah, let's get them. You know, where were you guys? Like, two days ago, that's what happened. And then verse 23 is the summary. Look at this. This is beautiful. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed beyond Beth Haven.

21 · The pastor makes explicit the controlling claim of the sermon: Saul and Jonathan face identical circumstances, but Saul sees only the obstacles while Jonathan sees only the Lord—and this difference in focus determines their completely opposite trajectories toward disaster or victory

Now, remember this. Remember the contrast. Remember, you steer with your eyes. And we want to see what. What is Jonathan looking at? What does he see differently than Saul does? And how does it steer him into faith and victory, where it steered Saul into disaster? Look at the phrase of what he says to his armor bearer. Come, let us go over why? Because it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. You see, Jonathan and Saul are looking at the exact same situation. Have you. Do you see that? Saul is looking at the situation? He sees everything but the Lord. Army, weak, enemy army strong, difficulty, economics, all that stuff. That's all he sees. He does not see the Lord. But Jonathan is looking at the exact same thing. And it's like all he sees is the Lord. He doesn't see their economic disadvantage. He doesn't see the numbers as a problem. He doesn't see anything as an issue, for nothing can stop the Lord. He sees only the Lord. And that's how he steers in to victory.

22 · The pastor cites Woodhouse's canonical survey of God's unlimited power, showing that Jonathan's confidence ('nothing can hinder the Lord') is not isolated optimism but stands in a long biblical tradition of declaring God's absolute sovereignty and capability

Woodhouse says this beautiful. Again and again through the pages of the Bible, we hear this truth. He gives a list. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14. I know you can do all things. Job 422. Nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah 32:17. Nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1:37. With God, all things are possible. Matthew 19:26. This is what makes faith in God possible, important and wise.

23 · The pastor argues that Jonathan appears insane by human standards but is actually the only sane person in Israel because he alone sees reality clearly—he sees God, and this makes him wise while everyone else, including Saul, functions as fools who deny God's presence and power

Here is the, the, the, the irony of this passage. Jonathan looks like the crazy one, doesn't he? Like anybody looking at what Jonathan is doing would go, that guy is nuts. But from a biblical perspective, Jonathan is the only sane one in Israel because he's the only one that sees the reality of God in the situation. He's the only one who sees clearly. He's the only actually wise one in the moment. Because the contrast between the fool and the wise. Remember, the fool says, in his heart there is no God. What is the difference with the wise? The wise in Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, meaning the wise life starts with, where is God? Who is he? What has he called me to do? And then lives accordingly. Very different starting points. They end up in very different places.

24 · The pastor emphasizes that Jonathan had spiritual vision to see what was invisible to everyone else—the present, powerful, saving God who was right there all along

The irony is that Jonathan, Jonathan saw what no one in Israel could see, which is the reality of. Of a present, powerful, saving God when no one else could. And he was right there.

25 · The pastor uses the humorous analogy of searching for AirPods with the 'Find My' feature only to discover they are in his own pocket—illustrating the absurdity of searching desperately for something that is already within reach

Now, look, I have a problem that I have in my life that I want to bring you in on, which is this, that I can never find my AirPods, you know, the little, like, earbuds, right? I can never find them. And so way more often than I want to admit, I will use The Find My AirPods feature in my iPhone, right? If you've had this, you basically can go. It's really for, like, if you've lost them way far away. But I use it in my own home. And because I know they're in the house somewhere, I just don't know where. And so I'll. It has this thing you can hit, find my AirPods. And it'll. It'll basically start going like, you're close, you're far, you're hot, you're cold, right? It just goes near, near, far, far, far, near, near. And so you just kind of process of elimination. Near, near, far, far, near, near, near. You know, there they are. And then the best part is this. This has happened more than I. More than once. This is bad. More than once. I will get the message. I'll turn on, find my AirPods, and say, where are they? And it'll say, not near, not far. It'll say, the most humiliating message that Apple could possibly give me, your AirPods. Essentially, the AirPods are like, we can't help you anymore. This is as close as we can get you. They are somewhat. Look around you, Ricky. And more. So here's I've done it, and my AirPods have been in my jacket pocket, and I'm looking, I'm like, where are my AirPods? Within reach. Within reach. Ricky, what are you. You know, and then I'll go, oh, look, here they are, right? I've never felt more foolish than in that moment. Right? One time, they were in my backpack, too, which is really fun because I'm walking around the house, and they're always staying within reach. And then I'm like, I don't know what to do now.

26 · The pastor extends the AirPods analogy to Saul and Jonathan: Saul is frantically searching for refuge, help, and salvation in all the wrong places while Jonathan keeps pointing to what is right there—the Lord himself, with all his power and past faithfulness—and this is exactly what we need to see as well

But do you see. Do you see. Do you see this passage that what Jonathan is doing is he sees Saul is wandering around, going essentially using the. Find my refuge, find my help. Find. Find my, get my army back. Find my, you know, rescue. Find my salvation. And Saul is looking everywhere, and Jonathan is the guy going, it's right here. He's right here. The Lord's right here. Salvation is right here. Refuge is right here. Power is right here. You need power, dad, you've got more than enough power right here in the Lord. You need a refuge. Dad, you've got more than enough refuge here in the Lord. Oh, are you concerned you've lost a hundred guys or. We have the God who spoke the universe into being, who brought our forefathers out of the Exodus, who created a path of water, who brought the plagues, who spoke the stars, Father, do you not see that you've got all you need right here? And friends, that. That's what we need too, isn't it?

27 · The pastor states the core application principle: we need to identify where we are missing the Lord in our mental pictures of our circumstances, because failing to see God steers us into disaster while seeing him steers us into his purposes, and the good news is that God is nearer than we realize

Look, the way that this passage should. Should land on us is we go, where? Where do I need to paint the Lord? Not paint. That's the wrong word. Where do I need to see the Lord in the picture of my life that I might steer in a different direction? Where? Look, if you don't see the Lord in your circumstances, you're going to steer into disaster. But if you see the Lord in your circumstances, you will steer into the purposes of the Lord. And the good news that Jonathan illustrates is that the. The Lord is nearer than you think.

28 · The pastor diagnoses the congregation's entry state—focused on circumstances and what would need to change to bring relief—and redirects them: the change they need is not in their circumstances but in seeing the Lord who is already within reach

All of us probably came in today going, okay, here's the big circumstance of my life that I'm worried about, and here's the thing that would change that circumstance, and then I'd feel better if. If this happened, then I would feel better. Here's the good news, guys, that change in your circumstances is not what you walked in thinking about. It is found in this passage. That change in your circumstances that you need is found in the law. Lord, the Lord is the one that you need. The Lord is the one within reach. Right? Our Bibles are going. It's. It's. Yeah, it's within reach. Grab him. Grab hold of him today.

29 · The pastor applies the sermon to the church's core spiritual practices, arguing that daily time with God functions like a 'Find My God app' to reorient our vision, and he illustrates with his own recent experience of starting an impossible day in despair until prayer reoriented him to see the Lord's presence and power

And let me encourage you. We. We often encourage the church in these three core practices of spending time with the Lord every day, spending time with God's people every week, and then spending time praying for your life and mission every week. One of the reasons we encourage people toward these three core practices is that I need the Find My God app every day, okay? I need the Find my Help app every day because I don't know what happens. It's like I wake up and I don't have the Lord in view. And I look at the circumstances of my life. Look, I did this just this week. I had a really packed meeting day, and I looked at it and I went, there's no way, man. There's just no way. Can't do it. Not gonna happen. I'm gonna. There's no way that meeting's gonna be effective. I'm not gonna be able to help that person. Here's what's good. Fortunately, the first thing I had to do that day was go to a prayer time. Okay? That's like the Lord going, I'm gonna just really help you here. So I go. And all of a sudden, I'm spending time thinking about and looking at the Psalms. The Lord is faithful. The Lord is big. The Lord. The Lord is powerful. The Lord gives power to the powerless. The verse I landed on was Psalm 47, Psalm 40, verse 17. As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me, right? I need the Lord. I'm needy, but the Lord is thinking about me and is ready to help. And all of a sudden, my impossible day of meetings was like, I think we got this. I mean, not me, but the Lord does. And so let's just see what the Lord's gonna do today, right? Do you see how it changes your view?

30 · The pastor issues a concrete challenge to establish daily time with God through scripture memory and placement—putting verses on mirrors, dashboards, in wallets—as a practical means of keeping the Lord in view throughout the day

Where do you need to see that and might you need to start with spending time with the Lord every day? Take a verse. I want to challenge you. Take a verse. Get it on your bathroom mirror. Get it in your car, dashboard. Get it in your purse or your wallet. Get some truth that reminds you to put the Lord back into your view in that particular moment.

31 · The pastor applies the need for Christian community, pointing out that others often see the Lord at work in our circumstances when we cannot, and we need brothers and sisters to help restore our vision of God's presence

Second thing is, we need. We need others. Isn't it good? Don't you find it often that the people around you are able to see the Lord at work in your circumstances better than you can? Sometimes where you're like, this looks hopeless, and you've got a friend that's like, well, I see the Lord at work, and you're like, I don't see it. Where they're like, right there. Oh, yeah, maybe right there's. That's me. That's every conversation I have at home, group. And we need to spend time with brothers and sisters who can help us see the Lord, that we might view the rest of life differently.

32 · The pastor briefly applies the third core practice—praying over the week—showing that when prayer is grounded in seeing the Lord, it transforms how we view the coming week

And then that third, you know, practice of praying over your week from that perspective of seeing the Lord, then you see your week differently, don't you?

33 · The pastor constructs a hypothetical workplace scenario involving economic anxiety and a panicked coworker named Jerry, contrasting two responses: the Saul-like response of panic and irritability versus the Jonathan-like response of seeing God's provision and becoming a witness of trust in the Lord

Because, look, here's the deal. You walk in, everybody's freaked out about economics. Maybe. Maybe you work for the federal government. Maybe people are wondering, people, there's all this scuttle. But what's going to happen? When are we going to get paid? Are we not going to get paid? All that's happening. And if you do not have the Lord in the picture, all you're going to do is panic. All you're going to do is freak out. All you're going to do is be angry or frustrated. You're going to be irritable at your co workers. You're going to be like, jerry stuff. It's the last thing I need today. You know, last time I've told you this, Jerry, I don't know. Sorry. If your name is Jerry, I apologize, but just had to. I had to pick a name. This is what I picked. And. And notice, though, if the Lord's in that picture, how different that day goes. The Lord's got this. The lord in Matthew 6 says, don't worry about what you're gonna eat or what you're gonna wear. The Lord knows what you need. The Lord takes thought of me, and all of a sudden in Jerry, you see a guy freaking out because he doesn't know where his next paycheck is gonna come from. And instead of getting ticked off at him, you're like, jerry, I believe the Lord's gonna provide. I would love to pray for you, man. If you're. If you're disturbed or if you're scared, like, you just become known as a Christian. You just become known as somebody who trusts the Lord. And all of a sudden, that relationship with Jerry's totally different, isn't it? Right. What I'm trying to illustrate is the circumstances in your life. You can look like as a Saul, or you can look at as a Jonathan. You can look like as a Saul, where it's all panic and doom and fear, or you can look at as a Jonathan, where you go, where might God be at work this week? Right here. Totally different.

34 · The pastor steps outside the argument to pastorally address the gap between the sermon's call (be like Jonathan) and the congregation's likely self-assessment (I look more like Saul), expressing the wish for a Jonathan figure to follow—setting up the redemptive-historical climax

That's where the Lord leaves us. Now, here's the reality, though. This is what I want to end with. This passage says, don't be a Saul. Be a Jonathan. And I'm like, yes, let's do it. Except. Except when I look in the mirror, I'm like, ooh, that guy looks a little more like Saul that I was hoping for, right? Let's do not Saul. Let's do Jonathan. And you look at your own life and go, there's a little bit too much Saul here, isn't there? So what do we do with that? Right? We don't always do what we should. We don't look like Jonathan. And. And honestly, I wish. Many times I wish I had a Jonathan in my life that would kind of just lead me forward. I wish I could be like the armor bearer that just like, okay, man, like, I love the armor. Bearer who goes, okay, like, you seem real confident. I have a lot of questions also about the armor bearer. Like, you seem confident, let's do it. You know, and Jonathan is so confident, he's like, we're doing it, the Lord's with us. And the armor bearer just goes, okay, you go, I'll, I'll follow right up along, let's go. Don't you wish you had a Jonathan in your life?

35 · The pastor unveils the redemptive-historical reading of the passage: Jonathan's descent into the ravine and emergence in victory, calling Israel out of their tombs, is a typological preview of Jesus who descends into death, defeats the enemy, and calls his people out of death into life—Jonathan is a signpost pointing forward to the true and greater Son who trusts God perfectly

Here's the good news, brothers and sisters, you do. And I didn't see it until I was looking at the work of Doc Dr. Chester, one of the commentators on this passage. He points something out about the language of this passage that I think is profoundly powerful. The, the language of Jonathan's triumph is very intentional because, because here's the situation. The, the armies are on opposite sides of, of a ravine. So Jonathan must go down into, must descend into the ravine and come up out of the ravine. And the Philistines, the language here is the Philistines are basically saying, look, the Israelites are crawling out of holes. And literally the language is tombs. The Israelites are coming out of the dead up to us. And so notice then the picture Jonathan, you tracking this Jonathan is the son of a king who goes down into the darkest valley and emerges out of it in victory. And he does what no one else will do or can do because he so wholeheartedly trusts God that he walks into the valley of the shadow of death and comes out destroying the enemy. And as he is victorious, it calls the Israelites out of their hiding places and their graves. Does that sound like anyone you know? Right? It does. It does. This is Jesus, right? Jesus is, is the faithful son who so trusts God that he pursues God's purposes even down into the grave. This Jesus is a man of war who even though he sees evil and sin and death arrayed against him, he goes and triumphs single handedly and he breaks the army before him. And this Jesus is the man who calls people out of their feet, fear out of their holes and graves back into life. This passage is a pointer centuries later to the man Jesus Christ. Because in Saul we see a king doing who. Doing what should not be done. And we long for a better king. And in Jonathan we see someone for once in the Saul dynasty doing what should be done. And we go, more of that. I want more of that. We long for such a king and we find him in Jesus.

36 · The pastor applies the typology evangelistically: non-Christians need not be their own hero or find a hero elsewhere—Jesus is the hero who covers all their Saul-like failures through his death and resurrection, and he calls them to trust him as Lord and Savior

So friends, here's the good news. You don't have to be Jonathan, because your Jonathan is Jesus Christ. All you've got to do is be the armor bearer. All you've got to do is follow Jesus into victory. Now, look, maybe you are not a Christian. Maybe you're thinking. You're walked in thinking, okay, well, I guess I need to be the hero of my own story. I guess I need to find a hero. And I, you know, and you're looking here, you're looking there, you're looking to this relationship. You're looking at that thing. Maybe if I had that, maybe that'd be the hero of my story. Friends, none of those are the hero of your story. You're not the hero of your story, but we have a hero for your story. And in him, all of the Saul parts of your life, all the sin and failures can be covered by the victory of Jesus Christ, who goes to the cross and dies the death that you deserved, that you might rise in victory out of death. Would you come to him as Lord and Savior today?

37 · The pastor applies the typology to Christians: our task is not to be Jonathan but to follow Jesus, the true and greater Jonathan who has already won the victory and now calls us to join him in pursuing the enemy—and this transforms how we view the coming week from survival mode to expectant participation in God's work

And for those of us who are Christians, here is the good news. Our task this week, friends, is not to be Jonathan. It's to follow the true and greater Jonathan. The Lord is at work in your life. The Lord is doing something in this world. He's gone into death. He's risen up in victory. He is. He is laying waste to enemies of sin and evil and death. And he calls us as the church to join him, to rally to him, to pursue the enemy. And so here is. Doesn't that mean your week looks different? Rather than approaching our weeks as like, oh, I hope I survive this week, rather we're like, all right, let's see what the Lord's got this week. That looks big. That looks scary. We got a bigger God. We've got a scarier warrior with us. That means everything else looks differently. Look, here's. Here's where I want to leave us. Psalm 20, verse 7. This is what the Lord would speak over us today. Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Amen.

38 · The pastor leads the congregation in a closing prayer confessing the tendency to look away from God toward fear-inducing circumstances, asking for forgiveness and for grace to fix their eyes on Jesus and follow him in strength and courage

Would you stand, Heavenly Father? Lord, we. We. We are so grateful for your word, Lord. First of all, I pray that in this moment we would be able to see where maybe our eyes have drifted to something or someone other than you. Lord, forgive us for looking out at our lives and not seeing you at work, but seeing only cause for fear, Lord. It has steered us and does steer us so often into disaster. But, Lord, through your word, you're inviting us to something better. You're inviting us to follow you. And so, Lord, I pray that you would allow us to fix our eyes on the person and work of Jesus Christ that we might in strength and courage, follow behind you. In Jesus name, amen.