In Due Season

It was interesting, again, coming down here today, just the timing, the way things worked out. As I said, we passed our home going in the opposite direction on the highway. It was heading to Spokane from Kennewick. We're heading out of Spokane to Kennewick. And over the months, we've had people say, hey, I think I saw your home. You know, I was out today, and here it went that way. I saw your home, here it went that way. And I said, no, not yet. Not yet. It's not the time. But eventually the time came. So that's not something written into my notes, but I would say it's a little bit of an introduction into what I would like to talk about today. The title of my sermon is Induce Season. Induce Season. And the point I want to point out to us today, brethren, is that everything that God does, He does in due season. And indeed, it's something that should give us comfort and hope in this life we've been called to. Have you ever struggled to understand God's timing in your life? You know, maybe you prayed about a certain matter. Maybe it was intervention for healing. Maybe it was, you know, your house to show up, whatever it might have been. But praying for God's intervention on a particular matter, and God didn't seem to respond according to the timetable that you expected. Or that you thought, you know, God should respond to. I mean, this is an urgent matter. You know, God, this needs your attention right away. And so we offer up the prayer, and we wait, and we think, when's God going to respond? Why hasn't He responded? You know, maybe sometimes we feel that He needed to respond, you know, now or yesterday, not later. Not tomorrow, but today. And again, we offer up our prayers in that sense with that urgency. And yet, maybe the response isn't according to the timing that you and I think it should be. What about the world scene? You know, we pray as we consider the world around us. There's natural disasters that come along. During the feast, there was the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, which claimed many lives. There was the hurricane that came in the Florida shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles. So there's natural disasters in the world. There's wars. There's turmoil. There's political confusion on almost every front. And we pray to God, thy kingdom come. After all, that's what Jesus Christ told us to do, isn't it? He said, in what's typically called the model prayer, you pray to your Father, thy kingdom come. And so the Church, for nearly 2,000 years, has been offering up that prayer. And yet, where's the kingdom of God on this earth? God's kingdom has not yet arrived.

And yet, we continue to pray day by day, thy kingdom come. But we ask, perhaps, why hasn't Jesus Christ come? Why hasn't he ushered in and established the kingdom of God? Because, you see, if it was up to our timing, I know if it was, I'll speak for myself, up to my timing, I would have brought the kingdom long ago. God's kingdom would have come yesterday, not as in Friday, but as in, it could not have come soon enough.

But, you see, that's my timing. It clearly is not God's timing. Do you ever wonder why God acts within the timetable that he acts? Why is timing as such as it is? Is your faith in God ever shaken? Because God hasn't responded according to the timing that you thought he should respond.

You offer a prayer for somebody who's ill when the person dies. Does that shake your faith in God? Does that cause you to doubt God's perfection, God's perfect will, and God's timing? I'd like to begin today in 2 Peter 3 and verse 1. I want to see how some have responded to an apparent, in their eyes, an apparent lack of timing on God's part.

2 Peter 3 and verse 1.

Peter says, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle, and both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may be mindful of the words which are spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior.

3. Knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.

So what Peter here is saying is that, you know what, there's going to be scoffers who come at the end of the age, people who are going to ridicule the Word of God, the promises, they're going to ridicule the people of God, and oftentimes they'll likely ridicule God himself. And they'll do so with the argument that God's not paying attention.

You know, God's not doing anything on this earth. He's made these prophecies, he's extended these promises, and yet, where is he?

You know, God's timing certainly isn't very good, and God hasn't fulfilled what it is he's promised to fulfill. That will be more and more, as we come to the end of the age, the mocking, the ridicule, the scoffing, that will come towards the truth of God. So these individuals take the timing of God, which isn't according to any man's schedule, by the way. Again, this is all according to God's perfect schedule, and they mock and ridicule these things.

Don't you know nothing's changed? Don't you know the world continues on as it's been from the beginning? God doesn't care. God's not involved. One would wonder if there's even a God anyway.

Again, timing, as it would appear to be by some people's perspective, dismisses God, or the relevance of God in their mind.

It says, these individuals, they use what they consider then the slackness of God to justify living unrighteously and according to their own lusts. So Peter here is telling us, make sure that as God's people, as we near the end of the age, and these questions arrive, don't fall into that mindset. Don't begin to doubt because of the timing of God.

Verse 5, it says, These individuals deliberately overlooked the fact that God has acted. He's acted all throughout history. He acted in the beginning, in the creation of this world. He acted at the time of the noation flood, and God will again act to intervene in the affairs of this world and establish His kingdom at the end of the age. But the point is here, Peter said that they willfully forget these things.

You and I must not.

You must remember what God has done, what He has promised to do. You must remember that God, in His timing, is perfect.

Verse 8, it says, It says, What this tells us is that God's sense of timing is different than ours.

This is the perspective of an internal being. Because in our own mind, we can, okay, consider yesterday. That's easy enough.

Yesterday was Friday. One day ago, we can wrap our mind around that pretty good. But who can wrap their mind around a thousand years?

We might say, well, I can come up with a thousand years in my mind if I stretch my imagination a little bit. But who can wrap their mind around a thousand years being as one day?

Again, that's beyond our perspective. That is the perspective of an eternal being. And in this case, God, whose timing is perfect.

But again, that timing is according to His purpose and His perspective, not ours.

So what we begin to see is that when God acts, He acts according to His perfect timing. And if there seems to be a problem with the timing, the problem isn't God.

The problem with the timing is not God. The problem is our perception of the timing, based on our limited physical experience, maybe based on our prejudice and bias of when and how God should respond.

But again, the point is, when God responds, it is perfectly in the right time and in the due season.

Verse 9, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness, but is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And this is a very important verse. I recommend it's a memory scripture for all of us. You know, drill it into your mind.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's patience is for a purpose.

It is a purpose that has eternal scope. It's the purpose of which it is that God is seeking to accomplish in your life, in my life, and indeed in the life of all of mankind.

God's purpose of His timing is for the purpose of His family, for humanity, who He has created. So He is long suffering towards us, giving us every opportunity within reason.

Not to be lost, but to be reconciled to Him.

Again, God's timing is perfect.

Now, our timing may at times be perfect, or it may at times not be perfect, in perspective of how God views timing. But what we come to understand is that when God does indeed act, it is within season at the due time, in the proper season. Verse 10 says, So this is about how we are living our life today as we wait on God.

James talks about the patient farmer, how he waits for the season for the crops, and it's likened to how we wait for the return of God. And it's not like the seed was planted by the farmer, and then he just sat around twiddling his thumbs all summer, waiting for the harvest. If any of you know farmers, you know that even in what would seem to be the down season, they are busy. They're repairing equipment, they're getting their fences put back up, they're putting everything in order. And even as you and I must wait in patience for God, it's not a time of slackness. It's a time of preparation.

Verse 14, Again, the point is salvation. That is the emphasis behind God's timing and God's nature of long suffering.

Speaking of them, of these things which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. But you therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. And so not only is God long suffering and steadfast, but there is a steadfastness that He has called us to as well. And I would say we could define that as waiting on God, waiting on His timing. But again, it's not an idle waiting. It is a productive, busy waiting by which, you know, if all these things are going to be dissolved, what man or a person ought you to be? That is what we work on in the meantime, drawing close to God, building His nature and character.

Verse 18, Paul says, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

Brethren, God's timing is perfect. And when He acts, those things that He does is according to His perfect timing. And it is in due season.

The Bible contains a phrase that oftentimes is used to describe the manner in which God operates in time. And that phrase is, again, I've used it in part, and that phrase is in due time or in due season. So I want to look at a few scriptures that give us example of God acting in history, in the history of man and the history of His church in due season, and it uses that terminology. It'll help us to see and understand that when God acts in the future, when He sends Jesus Christ and His kingdom is established on this earth, again, and indeed will be in due time in the appropriate season. Let's go to Galatians 6.

I think this will count up in verse 7. Galatians 6, verse 7.

Here's the Apostle Paul writing, He says, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, For whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. So the lesson here is that there is a reward coming, that what it is that we plant the seeds of today, we will receive the harvest of in the future. But the question becomes, will your reward be according to things that are corruptible and pass away? Or will it be a reward towards those things that are eternal of God and endure forever? Verse 9 says, Do not grow weary while doing good, For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Brethren, do you ever grow weary of doing good day in and day out, without reward?

Without the recognition, maybe you think you deserve because of the good that you've done? Well, Paul says here, Remain steadfast. Don't grow weary. Because in our mind we can tend to think, well, God's timing is off. This is time that I'm never going to get back for myself. And the point is, don't lose heart. The Scripture shows us that in due season, there will come a time when the harvest of our good and proper actions will take place.

That's not the only reason that we should do good. We love our fellow man. We seek to do good. But Paul said, Don't become discouraged if the reward for that doesn't seem immediate. He says, In due time, in the due time when God sends His kingdom, the time when the saints are rewarded for their works, he says, in that due time, the reward will come.

Our carnal nature doesn't particularly like that timing, does it? If we don't have God's perspective, we want instant gratification. You know, you put out effort, you want satisfaction today.

Otherwise, you know, is it really worth it? And the point is, though, that God does remember, and in due time, in in due season, God will reward for doing good. Just as you wouldn't plant a harvest of, again, crops, put the seed in the ground, you're not going to harvest it the next day. It takes time to grow unto the harvest. In the same way, today, we plant seeds, and we will reap the rewards of those things.

Yet, in the perfect time, in in due season. Another scripture regarding God's timing, Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, this time it pertains to Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, it says, For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. In due time, it says, Christ died for the ungodly. What does that mean? What does the phrase, in due time, mean within the context of which it's used here in the scripture?

Well, in due time means that there was a time in history when God said, Now is the right time. Now is the time to send my son as a sacrifice for all of mankind. Again, if it was up to us, if we were calling the shots, maybe we would think, I would have, there was the need for Jesus Christ's sacrifice right after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.

Why didn't God just bring it to pass then? Well, there's a particular time in season in which God has done these things. There was a time in a season that was determined to be right for Christ's life, for his ministry, and for his death on behalf of all mankind. And it was not a random occurrence. It wasn't like it was a coin toss to decide, all right, when do we send today, tomorrow, next week? God sent him in due time and according to the appropriate season.

The Greek word here that is translated into the phrase in due time is keros. And it's spelled K-A-I-R-O-S, keros. And again, it's a Greek word. If you research out time in the New Testament Greek, there's actually two Greek words that are translated time. The other word is kronos, and it's where we get the word chronology. And the word kronos means essentially the day in, the day out passage of time, the movement of time. But keros here is different even than that. Keros means an appropriate season. Keros means an opportune time, as in the right time, the right season that is specific, that you do this in this time because once the time is passed, it is now not the time that you could go back and do it again.

So keros, in due time, God sent his Son. And the illustration is very specific in that way. The Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world, which means the plan was in place from the beginning.

God and Christ understood what would take place, and they knew the need for a sacrifice would be in place from the beginning. But again, it did not come until a due time and in its appropriate season. You see the same principle reflected in another Scripture relating to Christ's first coming. Let's go back again to Galatians 4.

Back to Galatians 4. Again, God sent Christ when the time was prime for his purpose to be accomplished through him. Galatians 4, verse 4 and 5 says, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

So this passage states that God sent Christ forth when the fullness of the time had come. Fullness of the time. The timing of Christ's first coming, again, was not some random event. It actually fulfilled prophecies regarding the timing of the coming of the Messiah. You go back and research those things out. We won't cover them. There was a timing that was put in place that you could look up and would come up to an appropriate and approximate time, at least from our perspective, that the Messiah would come. But God sending him at an appointed time fulfilled various prophecies regarding his first coming. Christ also came at a time when the nation of Judah was anxiously looking for the prophesied Messiah.

I mean, think about their environment at the time. They were under the domination of the Roman Empire. Here, this nation that was supposed to be subject to no man but God was now brought into subjection to a much larger world-ruling empire. And so the people were intently looking anxiously for the Messiah. They were looking for that Savior, and more so as the conquering King, not the suffering Messiah. But they were looking for that one that would come, throw off the Roman oppression, restore God's people once again, Israel, as a dominant people, and as the prophecies foretold, a people that the whole world would look to as a model nation. So they were looking for Christ again at that time.

Additionally, the Roman Empire, because of their ability to conquer so much of the known world at that time and bring it together, they actually unified much of the world under their government militarily, but they brought into place, to some degree, a relative peace and a unity in the empire.

So roads were constructed. It allowed for the movement of troops. It allowed for the movement in and out of trade and commerce. And you know what else it allowed for? The spreading of the gospel message throughout the empire, throughout the known world. In a way, really, that was not available up to that point.

Again, in many ways, because of their ability to dominate the world, they were able to bring them under that umbrella of domination, but in a way that opened up the ability then, when God said the time was right, for the gospel to go out to the known world. In due time, an appropriate season, and in the fullness of time, God sent Christ, who died for the ungodly.

You can note that Roman domination was extant because of their military strength. You can also study and note that the Greek influence culturally is what dominated. So the Greek language in which most of the New Testament was written at that time was also a generally universal language. It was a language of trade and commerce. Again, it was a language that took place that allowed for the spreading of the gospel message as it went out from Jerusalem and across the known world. What we see is that God's timing is perfect. We can look at these things and say, well, here's why His timing was perfect at Christ's first coming. That is human reasoning. I would say the reasoning why it was exceptionally perfect to God goes even beyond that. But again, the point is God's timing is perfect. The lesson for us is that as His people, we need to be willing to submit ourselves to His timing. We need to be willing to come under the hand of God, understanding that our timing is not always perfect. In fact, it's often imperfect. Our timing is not often perfectly in alignment with God because, again, we offer up our prayer and say, God, you need to answer tomorrow. God hasn't forgotten us. God answers according to His perfect timing. Now, as I mentioned earlier, we do pray, thy kingdom come, and if it was up to us, we likely would have sent the kingdom back long before now. But God is waiting. God is waiting for the proper season to send His Son back again, hear Christ coming the second time. We need to put our trust in God's timing. That is perfect. And as we read in Peter, some will not. Some will begin to scoff. Others will lose hope and simply walk away. Where is the promise of His coming? Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they are and as they have been. Again, God's timing is perfect, and we need to learn to wait on God. In Acts 1, verse 7, Christ told His disciples that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons which the Father had put in His own authority. There are simply some things that God reserves for Himself. Things that will become understood and revealed in due time. When He will send Jesus Christ back is one of those things. But you know what, brethren? That is not for you and I to worry about. We pray, Thy kingdom come. But again, like that farmer waiting for the harvest, we continue to work. We continue to grow in our relationship with God. We continue to consider what manner of person ought we to be. Let's go to 1 Timothy 6. Again, the point here today is we simply need to trust that God's timing will be perfect in our life. If we're waiting for God to respond and we're thinking, God, where are you? Lest we begin to scoff, lest we begin to doubt, we need to remember that He responds according to His perfect purpose and in due season. 1 Timothy 6, verse 13, Paul says, Paul says, Verse 15, speaking of God the Father, Here's that title as well.

It is God's will to bring about the appearing of Jesus Christ and to establish His kingdom in His own time. That's what verse 15 said. It said, He will manifest in His own time. Not our timing, not what it is that we think is right and appropriate in His timing and in due season. Again, brethren, this should give us confidence, should give us comfort to know that when God acts, it is at the best and the most proper time for the fulfilling of His purpose. Not only that His kingdom would be established, but that you and I would have a part to play in. So we wait patiently for His timing.

Scripture tells us that we should not grow weary of laying our petition before God. We should come boldly before the throne of grace, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the way has been made clear.

We should come directly before God's throne. We should lay our petition before Him. Let's not grow weary of doing that, but in doing so, let us also learn to wait patiently on God and trusting His timing, trusting His ability to respond in the most perfect way and in the way that is right and proper for us. Let's notice Ecclesiastes chapter 3.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Solomon, a man with incredible wisdom by God, had a perception of time and seasons, and in terms of the ability to evaluate what God does, and here record it for us, Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 1, it says, "...to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." So it's the order of things which God has established from the beginning, again, according to its proper time and season. Verse 2 says, a time to be born, a time to die. There's a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. There's a time to mourn and a time to dance. And as you read on through the passage, it goes on the show, all those things that God has put in their proper time and in their proper season. Going down to verse 11, speaking of God, it says, "...he has made everything beautiful in its time.

Also he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Brethren, God has put eternity in our hearts. We grasp that eternity. We yearn for eternity. And God created that purposely in us. Why?

Well, that we would yearn after a relationship with Him. That we would be naturally and even by instinct motivated to yearn for the eternity that God has to offer. That we don't think that this physical life is all that there is. You know, eat and drink today because tomorrow you die. God has put eternity in our hearts that we might yearn after Him and seek the hope He offers us. At the beginning here, verse 11 says, "...he has made everything beautiful in its time." It's a recognition that God orders things appropriately. He orders these things according to their season and according to their right timing.

God's word translation puts verse 11 this way. It says, "...it is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time." He has put a sense of eternity into people's minds. And yet, mortals still can't grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end.

Again, all that God does is done according to the appropriate time and in the proper season. It is in the due season, never early and never late. God doesn't show up at the party and say, oh, that's tomorrow, not today. God doesn't burst into the room breathless just to intervene, hoping He's not too late. God's timing is perfect and according to His will.

God created mankind at the appropriate time.

God called a man, Abraham, into a covenant relationship with him at an appropriate time.

God allowed the descendants of Israel to be taken to travel up into Egypt, alright? Eventually become captive in Egypt. But then He took them out as well. All of that happened at the appropriate time.

God brought Israel and placed them in the Promised Land at the appropriate time.

He sent His Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for all of mankind at the appropriate time. He resurrected Him at the appropriate time after three days and three nights. And God again will send Jesus Christ to establish His Kingdom at the appropriate time and in the due season.

And so I hope we're getting the picture, which is that all God does is according to His perfect timing and in due season. Nothing out of place, nothing missed or overlooked, no mistakes, all in right and proper in its season as God intends.

That doesn't mean we don't have our part to play.

Something I've come back to, I think, in probably the last two or three sermons that I've given is we don't just sit back and wait for the grace of God to just fall upon us. God expects us to do our part as well.

And so God's timing, His Kingdom will come in its time, but we do our part in the meantime.

We pray to God on other aspects of our life, but we do our part.

God's answer will come in due time.

You know what the Bible calls that concept?

It calls it waiting on God.

Waiting on God.

We wait on God in God's timing, and yet God brings us along to live this life in the meantime.

I want to notice a few Psalms in regard to waiting on God, because, as we recognize in the first passage we went to in 2 Peter, not everybody's willing to do that.

People lose heart. People fall away. They're not steadfast.

People begin to mock and ridicule, and yet God has called us to wait on Him.

Psalm 25, verse 20. All the Psalms we'll look at here are Psalms of David.

We'll get the picture that David learned this lesson quite early in his life.

It doesn't mean he always practiced it perfectly, but he lived with the recognition of it nonetheless.

Psalm 25, verse 20. David says, David says, David clearly understood the value of waiting for God.

Waiting for His timing, waiting for His intervention, waiting for His deliverance in His life.

David says, Psalm 37, verse 5.

Psalm 37, verse 5.

It says, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of Him who prospers in His ways, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

It says, But those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth.

Is that a familiar passage?

Well, Christ said, The meek shall inherit the earth.

David here, by inspiration, says, It's not always easy to wait on God, is it?

Again, we get impatient.

There's times there are things that are very actually dramatic and important to us. And we pray to God and we cry out and we say, Oh, Lord, how long?

I think I prayed that prayer a time or two over this last year. Oh, Lord, how long? And we're seeking God's answer.

David says, They shall inherit the earth, because they will be there.

They will be the faithful and steadfast of God to the end.

So God says, don't fret over those things. They will be set right at the appropriate time and in the due season.

Psalm 27, verse 14.

Psalm 27, verse 14.

It was ironic I was putting this message together before I got the call for doing the funeral tomorrow. And simply the sadness and the tragedy of that accident. And so I'm kind of weighing these two things back and forth in my mind, comparing them. And the point is, God does act in due time.

Solomon writes about the fact that time and chance happen to all.

And we might think, well, time and chance don't happen to the people of God. Yes, it does.

But time and chance does not mean God is limited in responding should He choose to at that time.

Again, nothing catches God off guard. But in terms of God responding at the appropriate time, what we understand is, honestly, at times things do happen.

But there does come a time in the season when God makes all things right.

All things right and good for His purpose.

That's what David is acknowledging.

Psalm 27 verse 14.

It says, Again, David understood the value of waiting on God.

That God would act according to His perfect timing. That He would respond in the way that was most perfect.

Even if David was in a position of wanting Him to hurry up a bit.

Even if we're wanting to prod God along. You know, we pray earnestly, Each and every day Thy kingdom come. And it is our desire that that comes soon.

We should not stop praying that prayer. But we trust that God will do it perfectly.

So David had an experience, I would say, early in his life, we'll go and look at here in a moment, that wrapped his mind around the fact that we need to wait on God.

To allow God in His perfect timing to do His will.

It reminded him, and it should remind us of the fact that in God's perfect timing, it is better to wait on Him than to try to take matters into our own hands and resolve some things for ourselves that are best left to God.

He does give us dominion over our lives, and we order and we resolve things, okay? According to what he allows us to do. But there are some things that are best left in God's hands, according to God's timing. So David learned that lesson early in his life.

He recalled that Samuel anointed David to be the next king over God's people.

And well, Saul didn't take too kindly to that. Didn't take too kindly to David. So there came a point when Saul was on the hunt. He wanted David dead. He was seeking to take his life, and David and his men were on the run. Let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 24.

1 Samuel 24. Again, this is about what it is that we take into our own hands by our own timing, and what it is that we leave in God's hand. 1 Samuel chapter 24, beginning in verse 1. It says, You know, sometimes we can read through passages quickly and miss some of the detail.

I think it's safe to assume by the name, the rocks of the wild goats, that this was a pretty rough place David was hiding out in. If you ever watch National Geographic, you see the mountain goats. You see they're on the cliffs. They're in the crevices. They're in the caves, steep terrain. David and his men were hiding out, as it says, in the rocks of the wild goats. Also, Saul wanted him dead, and he was determined. 3,000 choice men of Israel to go after David. Verse 3.

And David arose and secretly cut off the corner of Saul's robe. So here we have Saul seeking to kill David. And now what appears to have been the perfect opportunity, Saul, indisposed at the moment, presented to David on a platter, his men saying, certainly this seems to be what God has given you. And the question for you, brethren, would be, what would you have done? What would you have done in this situation? Would you have taken matters into your own hands, or would you wait on God to resolve the issue? What would you have done? You know, I've thought about that, and I thought there's probably a high likelihood I would have taken a swing with the sword at head level. That's not what David did. It seemed right to his men, but that's not what David did. Instead, he cut off the corner of Saul's robe. Just sort of sent him a message of what he could have done had he desired to. Verse 5, it says, "...now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him, because he had cut Saul's robe." I mean, even that small action, which was insignificant, compared to cutting off Saul's head, cutting his robe troubled David. Verse 6, "...and he said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master. The Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing that he is the anointed of the Lord." Let's just think about this for a minute. Wasn't David the anointed of the Lord as well? Hadn't Samuel come and anointed David as future king of Israel? And so you have the anointed of the Lord here, unwilling to even raise up his hand against the anointed of the Lord. But, you know, he could have reasoned in his mind by coming after me, Saul is despising God. Saul is rejecting God. He's opposing God. By coming after me, I'm the next king. And David could have taken matters into his own hands to rid himself of the Saul problem. Again, it sounds logical. Seems like it would make sense. It's not what David did. But could this have been a test from God? Could God have simply provided Saul right there to see from David, are you going to be someone who takes matters into your own hands as king, or are you going to look to me to resolve the issue? Are you going to look to my timing and my purpose? Are you going to do these things for yourself? David waited on God. Verse 7. So David restrained the servants with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way. David also arose after and went out of the cave and called out to Saul, saying, My lord, the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped his face to the earth and he bowed down. And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of men who say, David seeks your harm? He says, Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Someone urged me to kill you, but my eye spared you. And I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see. You see the corner of your robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you. Know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand and that I have not sinned against you, yet you hunt my life to take it. Verse 12, Let the Lord judge between you and me. And let the Lord avenge me on you, but my hand shall not be against you. David's saying he would let God handle the issue.

This is God's King. This is God's future King. These are God's people. David said, God, I will do my part, but I will allow you to resolve this issue according to your perfect purpose in your timing. David purposed in his heart to wait on God. Brethren, I think it's an incredible example for us to consider.

Verse 13 says, As the proverb of the ancients says, wickedness proceeds from the wicked, but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out?

Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? What am I compared to you at this point? Therefore, let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand. Verse 16, So it was when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is that your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to David, You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

And you have shown this day, that you have dealt well with me. For when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore, may the Lord reward you with good, for what you have done to me this day. And now I know indeed, that you shall be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Therefore, swear to me now by the Lord, that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father's house.

And so David swore to Saul, and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. Brethren, again, the lesson is that here, David had prime opportunity to act against Saul, according to what maybe he thought was right, according to his own timing, but instead he decided to leave the matter in God's hands. Again, verse 12, he said, Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you, let God set this right, but my hand shall not be against you, not the Lord's anointed against the Lord's anointed.

Again, the lesson is, when we put things into God's hands, God resolves the issue according to his timing and his most perfect purpose. Again, we must be doing our part steadfast, dedicated to him. We know the story. Ultimately, God allowed Saul to die in battle with the Philistines. David never did have to take matters into his own hands, again, to act against Saul to take his life.

Ultimately, David became the next king over all of God's people. He put his trust in him. Psalm 31. Psalm 31, to wrap this up here today. Psalm 31, again, the lesson David learned early in his life is that God will fight our battles, and he does so in his perfect timing. Psalm 31 and verse 14. Psalm of David. But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord.

I say, you are my God. My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. He says, Make your face shine upon your servant and save me for your mercy's sake. What did David mean here when he said, in verse 15, he said, My times are in your hands. My times are in your hands.

Well, he meant that the course of his life was submitted to God's power, that his future and destiny were in God's hands because he put his trust in God. And God was first. And David said, I will wait on you. Brethren, are we confident enough in waiting on God to say to him, My times are in your hand? Indeed, we should be. That is what God has called us to.

We learn to trust God more fully by putting our times, by putting the course of our life in his hand on a regular basis. And in doing so, we see him respond to us again and again and again in his perfect timing according to deuce season. God does these things for us when we wait upon him. Brethren, you and I worship a God who acts and answers in deuce season. And in light of that truth, don't you think it's about time that we submit our life fully then?