August 18, 2013
Chasing Fleas
1Samuel 24:1-22 NOTES NOT EDITED
SIS—We often miss God’s best for our lives
because we concentrate on issue that are quite small in the grand scheme of
things.
VIDEO
When you hear the
word, “flea,” what comes to mind?
Probably not, “entertainment.”
For me the word that comes to mind in regard to “flea,” is
“irritation.” There are several species
of flea but they all have one thing in common:
they bite! And, there bite causes
itching that leads to much scratching. A
flea cannot eat a dog, but it can sure make the mutt miserable. Fleas have been around for a very, very long
time. In fact, scientists in China have
discovered an ancient ancestor of the flea, dubbing it pseudopulex magnus, or roughly, “the great flea.” It seems even dinosaurs had to wear flea
collars.
Another word that
comes to mind in regard to fleas—and the issue we will deal with in our text
this morning—is, “small.” Fleas are
small, and at least according to size, “insignificant.” Fleas are mentioned twice in the Bible, and
both times in reference to the relationship between David and Saul. David belittles Saul by calling him someone
who “chases fleas.” Fleas in our text
today stands for the foolishness of focusing on insignificant or worldly
matters and missing the most important, eternal matters. Fleas represent worldly distractions in our
text or “foolish pursuits.”
I love the way the
beloved pastor, R.G. Lee, describes “chasing fleas”: People who chase fleas allow themselves to become “slaves to small anxieties,
small ideas, [or] small ideas . . . who change heavenly principle for loose expediencies
[and] high ideals for cheap compromises.
SIS—We often miss God’s best for our lives
because we concentrate on issues that are quite small in the grand scheme of
things.
The number of “fleas” that people pursue
foolishly are many and varied, but several come to mind as we read this text:
READ TEXT: 1Samuel 24:1-22
1. Worry is a flea.
Everything about
Saul was “kingly.” Physically he stood
head and shoulders above his peers (1Sam. 10:23). He had the favor of the great prophet,
Samuel—at least in the beginning of his reign. He even prophesied, himself
(1Sam. 10:**). Saul wore the garments of royalty. In his hand was the royal scepter and upon
his head rested the royal crown. When he
sat, he sat upon the royal throne. With
royal authority, he commanded the armies of the kingdom to do his bidding. Saul was by every human measure, kingly. The word says, “there is no one like him among
the entire population” (1Sam. 10:24).
But, here in our
text, we see the mighty king playing the role of a court jester, as someone
expending the great resources of the kingdom to “pursue a flea.” In this passage one preacher describes Saul
as a “ludicrously grotesque comedy”
(R.G. Lee).
For all his
“kingliness” Saul was a worrier. He had
all the power of the position of Supreme Monarch, but lack confidence in regard
to the future. Saul was a worrier. We meet him in an earlier text:
1Sam
16 23 Whenever the spirit from God
troubled Saul, David would pick up his
lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil
spirit would leave him
We find Saul, the worrying king, comforted by David the winsome shepherd. The powerful monarch soothed by the humble
musician. Yet, Saul’s love of David’s
music would not keep him from seeking to destroy David. Saul worried that David would take over his
kingdom [ironically this would indeed be the case]. Saul
was a worldly king and worldliness always leads to worry.
Worry drove the
powerful king to put on the act of a court jester—a fierce fighter becomes a
bumbling fool because of “worry.” He uses all the resources at his disposal to
chase someone who was no threat to him at all.
Worry and paranoia are siblings.
The Bible says so
much about worry. Worry about the future
is a huge distraction that keeps people from fully enjoying the present. It is tragically foolish for one to miss
fulfillment and joy today because of worrying about what might not even be
tomorrow.
Jesus warns
us: Mat. 6
34 Therefore don’t worry about
tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.
Paul tells us the
same thing: Phil 4 6 Don’t
worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the
peace of God, which surpasses every
thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Worrying is a lot
like a dog scratching at fleas. All the
scratching in the world will not rid the dog of fleas. So it is with worry. All the worrying in the world will not rid
you of your perceived difficulties.
Worry is about
misplaced focus. Imagine that I put a four-inch
wide plank across this stage and asked you to walk across. Most of you would have no problem and would
suffer no anxiety in completing the task.
Now, let me put that four-inch wide plank up three stories between two
buildings. Now, few of us would be able
to cross that plank successfully, and none of us without much anxiety. Why did thirty feet make such a
difference? It was the same plank, your
same feet, your same mind, and your same muscles. The difference is “focus.” Your worry comes when you focus on what
“could happen.” When the plank is on the
floor, your focus is on the task of walking across. Raise it three stories and your focus changes
to falling off, instead of walking across.
A dog with fleas
can think of nothing but scratching. So
with a man chasing the flea of worry.
The mind becomes bogged down with little fears and consumed with
anxiety. There is too little mind left
to concentrate on what really matters.
We all find that
living without worry is much easier said than done. Insecurity about the future is an “itch that
begs to be scratched” and worry is how we scratch it. Worry is a “flea.”
2. Pleasure is a flea.
The whole, sad
story of Saul’s rise and fall stems from the “pursuit of pleasure.” Pleasure
can be defined as worldly or frivolous
enjoyment: the pursuit of recreation, amusement, or diversion. The key word
is “worldly.” Pleasure pulls us down
hard into the here and now and makes the more weighty matters of eternity a bit
blurry.
Like a flea, the
pursuit of pleasure gets under our skin and distracts us from the pursuit of
God—which has disastrous, eternal consequences.
I’ve already said, a flea by itself cannot kill a dog, but the dog may
get hit by a car if it stops to scratch in the middle of the street! Pleasures, in and of themselves, are not
killers; but the pursuit of pleasure as a distraction from the pursuit of
holiness most certainly leads to disappointment and disaster.
No man every
enjoyed worldly pleasures more that King Solomon. He had whatever he wanted whenever he wanted
it. Yet, he comes to this conclusion at
the end of his life:
Eccl 2
1I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with
pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it
turned out to be futile. 2 I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What
does this accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind how to let my
body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly.
The problem with
pursuing pleasure is that it always takes more and more of it to give one
pleasure. Chasing the flea of pleasure
becomes like scratching an itch—it feels so good at first, but soon becomes a
great distraction, and a maddening irritation.
Our text does not
say specifically that Saul, as was Solomon after him, overly concerned with
pleasure. But, we do know that Saul had
all the amenities that come with being King.
He also did not have many, besides the prophets, who were going to say
anything about his indulgences. Though
we do not have in our text a direct connection to Saul chasing the flea of
pleasure, his whole life as king was the satisfaction of the worldly desires
and pleasures of the people of Israel.
The coronation of
Saul as king came as an appeasement of the pleasure of the people of Israel—it
was what they “wanted.” 1Sam. 10:17-19 describes Israel pursuing
the flea of pleasure:
17 Samuel summoned the people to the
Lord at Mizpah 18 and
said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued
you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing
you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions.
You said to Him, ‘You must set a king
over us.
The people of God
wanted what the world had—and they wanted it now. They got what they wanted in Saul, and it was
a disaster, not only for the people of Israel, but also ultimately for Saul.
For as long as
there have been philosophers—from Solomon to Socrates, until our own day—they
have consistently warned of making pleasure the chief aim of life.
We have already
seen what Solomon had to say about worldly pleasure. Other philosophers, from Socrates and
Aristotle to Shenstone, wrote of the dangers of pursuing pleasure as an end in
itself. To be sure, there were, and are,
those philosophers who see the pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake to be a
great virtue.
I think we would be wise to follow Solomon’s advice and see the pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake as “chasing after a flea.” Chasing after pleasure will be like scratching an itch—the more you scratch it, the more it itches.
Now, don’t get me wrong,
pleasure in and of itself is not evil, or even bad. The Bible says very clearly,
Psalm 37: 4 Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give
you your heart’s desires.
And also in Psalm
34:8-10:
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who
takes refuge in Him! 9 You who are His holy ones, fear Yahweh,
for those who fear Him lack nothing. 10 Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek
the Lord will not lack any good
thing.
So, it is not
“pleasure in itself” that becomes a problem, but the pursuit of pleasure above
all else, or the chasing after pleasure that distracts you from delighting in
the things of God.
Pleasure can become
a “flea” leading to an itch that just isn’t satisfied by even endless scratching.
3. Fame and Fortune is a Flea.
You may have
noticed I say a lot about the folly of pursuing fame and fortune. It is a major topic throughout the Bible, and
especially in the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the Lord, Himself, who warned (Mat. 19:24-25):
24 Again I tell you, it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter
the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this,
they were utterly astonished
Now, as with the
pursuit of the flea of pleasure, the pursuit of the flea of fame and fortune do
not come directly out of our text in regard to Saul. Certainly, Saul commanded a vast mountain of
wealth as the monarch of the kingdom. As
I said above, he did not want for anything.
Yet, we know that
all his wealth did not keep him from “chasing after a flea.” David describes the great king, not as a
fierce monarch, but as a foolish court jester.
Saul’s vision in life was completely out of focus—so much so that David
said he looked like a fool.
Do we not see
people who have great riches acting just as much a fool as Saul? Do we not see everyday men and women so
feverishly chasing after fame and fortune as to look as foolish as a dog
chasing its tail? The pursuit of fame
and fortune is like “chasing a flea.”
Every possession you have in life—down to the very penny—you will leave
behind in this world.
Over sixty years
ago a preacher described chasing the flea of fame and fortune in bitingly
poetic language: Many today are sickly victims of advertisement, diseased with the
notion that only the rich and famous folks are interesting. These folks are
running around looking for fool’s gold (R.G. Lee).
The Italian poet,
Dante, described fame and fortune as only a great poet could: “Worldly
fame is but a wind that blows now this way and now that, and changes name as it
changes direction.”
I’m afraid that too
many of us spend too much time trying to acquire either more fame or more
fortune, or both. Neither has eternal
consequence. Fame, like fortune, is
always left on this side of the grave.
There are many
fleas on a dog and there are many “flea-like pursuits” by mankind. But, I don’t think there is any “flea” that
so distracts man from true devotion to God than the flea of
4. Religion.
You hear me say—and
with some bit of frequency—that “religion” is a bad thing. I believe religion damns more souls to hell
than any other vice such as murder, adultery, or stealing. In fact, the religions of man break the very
first commandment: “Thou shall have no
other gods besides Me.” Religion makes
God in man’s image—a comfortable, manageable God. A god, though, that is
without any power at all to save. The
greatest error of religion is that it errs in regard to sin.
You can tell when
you slipped into the error of “Chasing the flea of religion” by how you look at
“sin.” There is a concept of sin in
religion wholly at odds with what the Bible teaches. As one preacher has pointed out, we fall into
great error in the pursuit of religion when we view sin as “mere disagreeable hindrance to the smooth on-going of the social
machinery.” That is when sin is
viewed as a mere “stumbling in man’s
upward progress.” It is from the abysmal blackness of religion we here
recounted the saying, “to err is human.” No,
sin is no mere error to be corrected or managed. Religion seeks to “manage” sin as a businessman seeks to manage
market fluctuations, or a doctor seeks to manage the symptoms of an illness. Sin is
not a glitch, or an error, but an abomination! Society no longer tolerates
a preacher well that speaks so bluntly about sin, but that’s how the Bible
speaks.
We see very few
religious groups today calling sin what it is:
“an unholy affront and offense to
an absolutely Holy God.” David,
after being confronted with his sin in regard to Bathsheba declared from the
agony of his soul:
Ps.
51:4 “Against thee, O Lord, and thee
only have I sinned.”
Sin is death, not a
disorder. Sin is an abomination, not an
alternative lifestyle. Sin sours the
soul like old milk sours in the stomach.
Sin carries a stench like a rotting carcass in the hot sun. Sin is so black it blots out any ray of God’s
light into the soul of a man or woman who stands in rebellion against God. Sin
is a gangrenous wound with no cure but amputation. Sin is death—eternal separation from God.
Religion is the
nastiest flea of all because it masks a deep, eternal death percolating in a
human soul. Chasing the flea of religion
is like putting a band-aid on a gangrenous wound. Sin cannot be talked away by ritual or
covered up by much preaching. Sin is
like a killing frost that falls upon tender shoots and drains them of life.
We must get away
from religion as far as we can. The
diabolical falsehood of religion makes sin less than it is: an unholy affront to a Holy God.
I fear that for
many of you, it was “religion” that brought you here this morning. I fear far too many see Sunday worship as
checking off the religious box on one’s “Things To Do List.” Oh, please, discard such a notion as the
foolish “chasing after a flea.”
We must not chase
the flea of religion thinking we are adding anything of use to our soul.
These are not all
the “fleas” that mankind chases. It is
doubtful that any dog would have but four fleas and no more. The number of “fleas” mankind chases is
myriad. The pursuit of anything, and
everything, that will not be of great value one hundred years from now rides
upon one’s back like a fleas upon a dog.
A flea, as we have used the metaphor, today, is anything that distracts
from the wholehearted, hotly passionate pursuit of holiness. The list is nearly endless.
God wrote with His
own finger the description of a flea:
Thou
shall have no other gods—make that fleas—beside me.
Every stray thought
is a flea. Any attitude or action that
pulls us away from our duty and devotion
to Almighty God is a flea, and as such
will cause us to miss God’s best for our lives.
I believe we must
look at David’s accusation against Saul and ask ourselves if we have not made,
or are making, the grievous error of “chasing fleas,” whether it be the flea of
worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, religion or a hundred other such worldly
issues.
It’s not enough
just to scratch at fleas. You must do
all in your power to eradicate them from your lives. Stop scratching, and wrap the collar of God’s
righteousness around your neck.
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