April 25, 2021 NOTES NOT EDITED
Chasing Fleas
1Samuel 24:1-22
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.
Let me read a verse I shared two Sundays ago: Rom 8:18(CSB)
►For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. Keep this in the back of your
mind as we study together today.
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. Saul had a “flea problem.” 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 exchange heavenly principle for loose expediencies [and] high ideals for cheap compromises.
The number of “fleas” that people pursue foolishly are many and varied, but our text shows us clearly “fleas” are everywhere.
READ TEXT: 1Samuel 24:1-4, 11-14
We will look at several different passages, but our jumping off point is an examination of Saul’s obsession with David. It gives us an “historical show and tell” of how “majoring on minors diminishes our quality of life.” From chapter 18 to Saul’s death in 1Samuel 31, Saul descends into a deep neurosis by obsessing over David, who wanted nothing more than to serve Saul as long as God allowed Saul to remain on the throne. In fact, 2Samuel begins with David mourning over the death of Saul in battle. Saul destroyed his life by “chasing fleas.” I want to example a few of the “fleas” that we often chase in life, and offer a warning about “missing God’s best by majoring on minor things.” Here are a few “fleas” that distract us from God’s mission in life.
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. 10:6). 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,
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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.”
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: 1 Samuel 16:23 (CSB)
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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 act
like the 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: Matthew 6:34 (CSB)
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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 and oft-misplaced fears. Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but won’t take you anywhere.
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. It 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: Ecclesiastes 2:1–3 (CSB)
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The problem with pursuing pleasure is that it always takes more and more of it to give one the same level of 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, and everybody getting what they wanted.
The coronation of Saul as king came
as an appeasement of the pleasure of the people of Israel—it was what they
“wanted.” 1Sam.
10:17-19CSB describes Israel pursuing the flea of pleasure:
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The people of God wanted what the world had—a
king—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 to our day—they have consistently warned of making pleasure the chief aim of life.
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 34:8-10CSB
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8 Taste and
see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him! 9 You who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, 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.
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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. 19:24-25CSB):
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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. Fame and fortune were never an issue with Saul. He was both rich and famous. He was the king!
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. Favor in eternity is not measured by how high we can stack our cash!
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.
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This caused God to evaluate Israel’s religion very harshly, Isa 1:14
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You can tell when you slipped into
the error of “Chasing the flea of religion” by how you look at “sin.” Religion can become a substitute for
repentance. Let me say that again,
religion can, and often does, become a substitute for repentance.
William Booth
described the “flea of religion” in this way:
“The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion
without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without
repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven
without hell.”
There is a concept of
sin in religion wholly at odds with what the Bible teaches. That is when sin is viewed as a mere “stumbling in man’s upward progress.” Sin, if mentioned at all in most religions,
is nothing more than a mere, misstep along life’s way. It
is from the abysmal blackness of religion we here recounted the oft-repeated
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. There’s no kind way to tell someone they have cancer, but it would be much more cruel to let them go on thinking all is well until it is too late.
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: Psalm 51:4(CSB)
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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 from entering 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. David lament was not that he made a mistake, but he said “I have sinned against the Holy, Almighty God!”
Religion is a nasty flea because it masks a deep, eternal death percolating in a human soul. 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.”
There are many “fleas” that can consume our lives if we chase them: worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, and religion. There is yet another that I must warn us about today.
5. The Flea of Politics.
We ignore the matter of politics at our own peril if we shun from engaging in the marketplace of ideas. In order to be the preserving salt of the earth, Christians must participate in politics. But—and this is very important—we cannot let the political debates of our day distract us from our obligation to see “God’s will be done, His Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10).
The Bible calls us to be “good
citizens” and that means we must do our part in regard to the politics of our
day. Psa.
12:1 & 8 says,
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Without Christians participating in the political process, it is an absolute guarantee that “the wicked will prowl all around.”
God has ordained human
government. Paul tells us, Rom13:1 (CSB)
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The key to engaging politics from a Christian perspective is “balance.” We are to bring God’s point of view to bear on the key moral issues of our day, such as abortion, justice, and other ethical issues. But, we must remain “balanced.” We can’t let politics consume us and distract us causing us to be like a constantly scratching dog infested with fleas.
Political involvement must never distract us from the bigger issue of our duty to see souls saved and those saved serving through the church. Democracy must always take a backseat to disciple-making.
Worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, religion, and politics can all become “fleas” that distract us from the bigger issue of our service and devotion to God.
Saul became obsessed with killing David and it literally consumed his life and drove him mad.
These are not all the “fleas” that mankind chases. It is doubtful that any dog would have but five 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 a warning about fleas:
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 flea collar of God’s righteousness around your neck.
Kid’s Time VIDEO Watch | David Attenborough’s
Natural Curiosities: The Flea Circus - YouTube
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