1 Samuel 26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do you harm, because my soul was precious in your eyes this day… The greatest and most difficult problem which the Church of God has had to face in all ages, and has had to try and solve is this — how to prevent men and women playing the fool. Thank God all down history there have been those who were bold enough to put out a protest, who, in spite of tremendous difficulties, were bold enough to call upon the fools not to deal so foolishly, and to the wicked not to set up their horn. And, believe me, the protest is stiff required. In spite of all our advance, in spite of our free education, there is still a vast number of those who walk in the ways of folly. Education is not enough to prevent a man playing the fool. You find men gambling away fortunes honest men have made, and you find men who try to drown their sorrows in what is called the sparkling cup — forgetting all the time that they are drowning their souls in perdition. You have no right to charge at God's door the things that you ought to charge at the door of your own folly. It is always being done — the Lord this, and the Lord that; it is you. 1. The folly of banishing God from life. Well, now; I find in God's Word that, there are three very special forms of folly which He there points out. I don't know whether you have observed that Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are word for word the same; and in both there is this statement: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Literally in the Hebrew that is not just the idea of the writer. It is, "The fool hath said in his heart, No God" — that is, "No God for me." The folly here spoken of is a much more common folly — I mean the folly of the man that says, "I do not want God in my life, I do not want God in my home, I do not want God to rule and control in my heart." 2. The envious fool. Furthermore, you find another description of a foolish person in Psalm 73 — the foolishness that is envious at the prosperity of the wicked. It is an old problem. 3. The money-grubbing fool. Another definition of a fool that I must not omit tonight comes in connection with our Blessed Lord's ministry, and that is Luke 12 — "Thou fool!" What does it mean? Oh, it means that to put much emphasis on temporal things, and to neglect eternal things, and to set much value on things that pass away, and neglect the things that do not pass away, is the act of a fool. 4. The self-important fool. We dwell upon the special foolishness which attached to Saul, King of Israel. His foolishness lay in this, that he had an overweening estimate of his own importance. Saul was head and shoulders above his people, a pity for him, because it turned his head. Oh, it is a dreadful thing to be over-conscious of your own importance. God can do nothing with a man like that till He has brought him down. down, down, down. "He bringeth down the mighty from their seats, He exalteth the humble and meek." Then there was another great mistake Saul made, he fought against David. He knew that David was indeed the Lord's anointed; he knew that David ought to have the throne; he knew that David had been infinitely kind to him. But Saul determined, in the pride of his heart, to have David's life; there was a confederacy against him, the Lord's chosen. 5. God's remedy for folly. It would be sorry work to talk about the follies of men and women if one could not tell of a remedy. The fool requires two things. He requires a revelation of wisdom, to meet his folly; and he requires a revelation of power, to overcome his weakness. Is there such a revelation? Yes, here, and nowhere else than in that book. (Marcus Rainsford.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. |
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