Don't Touch the Lord's Anointed

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 95:1-7
• Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Athanasian Creed
• Scripture Reading — Acts 15:1-21
• Hymn — Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Great King of Nations, Hear Our Prayer
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn — I'd Rather Have Jesus
• Benediction — Psalm 20:1-2

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Sermon Title: Don't Touch the Lord's Anointed

Scripture: 2 Samuel 1:1-16

I. Exposition of 2 Samuel 1:1-16

A. David at Ziklag receives an Amalekite messenger bearing news of Israel's defeat and the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:1-4)

1. The Amalekite falls down and pays homage to David, signaling a shift of allegiance from Saul to David
2. David asks how the man knows Saul and Jonathan are dead

B. The Amalekite's account (2 Samuel 1:6-10)

1. He claims to have been at Mount Gilboa by chance and to have killed Saul at Saul's own request — a mercy killing
2. He takes Saul's crown and armlet (Royal regalia) and brings them to David, expecting reward
3. This account contradicts 1 Samuel 31:4-5, where Saul takes his own life — the Amalekite is lying

C. David's response: mourning, not celebration (2 Samuel 1:11-12)

1. David and his men tear their clothes, weep, and fast over the deaths of Saul, Jonathan, and the people of Israel
2. This reaction likely unsettles the Amalekite, who expected praise

D. David executes the Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:13-16)

1. David rebukes him: "How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"
2. "Your blood be on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you"
3. This constitutes a violation of the sixth commandment — even a so-called mercy killing is murder; a proof text against euthanasia and assisted suicide

E. Key ironies in the passage

1. The Amalekite's lie, intended to bring reward, brings his death instead
2. Saul's armor-bearer refused to strike Saul because he was the Lord's anointed (1 Samuel 31:4); the Amalekite had no such fear
3. David twice refused to kill Saul when he had opportunity — at En-gedi (1 Samuel 24) and in the wilderness of Ziph (1 Samuel 26)
4. The passage opens with David returning from striking down the Amalekites (2 Samuel 1:1); it was Saul's failure to destroy the Amalekites that cost him the crown (1 Samuel 15)
5. David is shown to be the true king — not by receiving stolen regalia, but by destroying the Amalekites and waiting on God

II. Application: You Cannot Deceive God

A. The wicked fall into their own traps — Proverbs' recurring theme of the schemer caught in his own pit

1. The Amalekite's deception, aimed at winning favor with God's king (God's vice-regent), brings swift destruction
2. This mirrors the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 — lying before God's appointed leaders brings death
3. Members of the Corinthian church eating and drinking unworthily at the Lord's Supper fell ill and died (1 Corinthians 11)

B. Those within the Covenant community are held to a higher standard — "the older child knows better"

C. God is omniscient and omnipresent; He looks upon the heart — deception within the body of Christ invites God's judgment

III. Application: We Are Called to Mourn Over the Failures of God's People

A. David's first response to Israel's defeat is lamentation, not satisfaction

1. Despite Saul's wickedness, David does not rejoice at his destruction
2. This is the pattern of faithful covenant love

B. Paul models the same posture toward Israel's unbelief in Romans 9:2-3

1. "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart... I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers"

C. The downfall of churches, pastors, and denominations should provoke grief, mourning, and fasting — not schadenfreude or tribalism

IV. Application: We Must Trust in God's Good Timing

A. David refused twice to seize the throne by killing Saul, trusting God's timing instead

1. He refuses again here to accept the armlet and crown through an ungodly act

B. Historical examples of waiting on God's timing rather than grabbing opportunity outside His standards

1. John Hooper (English Reformer, Bishop of Gloucester) refused an unbiblical oath and unscriptural vestments, accepting imprisonment rather than compromise, and waited for an honorable resolution
2. Eric Liddell refused to race the 100 meters at the 1924 Olympics because it fell on Sunday; he raced the 400 meters instead and won gold

C. The supreme example: Jesus Christ

1. He refused to be taken by force and made king (John 6:15)
2. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not as a conquering warrior
3. He declared to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36)
4. He submitted to the cross rather than grasp divine prerogative — "he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6)
5. The result: He now sits enthroned with all rule and authority over heaven and earth

D. The call to imitate Christ, the Lord's Anointed

1. When opportunities arise, ask: am I more like the Amalekite — dishonoring the Lord's anointed — or like David — honoring him?
2. Waiting on God's timing conforms us to Christ and leads to sharing in His glory through union with Him by faith