The Life of David - Part 1 God Chooses Who God Uses 4 September 2016 Ross Lester

Transcription

1 The Life of David - Part 1 God Chooses Who God Uses 4 September 2016 Ross Lester Intro: David is so central to Judeo-Christian identity. o A lot of the history of the people of Israel centers on his life and legacy. o He set Israel up for its greatest season of prosperity that it ever experienced. o He wrote half of the Poetry for worship that forms the basis off of what we have always sung. o He was one of the world s greatest military minds and warriors. o He is central in the prophecies about the coming Messiah, who came from his line. o He is given the title of a man after God s own heart. o And yet, Scripture records every detail of his fallenness and frailty. In essence, there is so much that we can learn from this man and his life and his mistakes. Before we jump into the earliest account of his life, let s just briefly bring you up to speed with what was going on before he stepped onto the scene. o The period of the judges came to an end, with the people of Israel in a pretty big mess. They had very little leadership and very little godliness. o Samuel was the one bright light of Godly leadership and he was feared and revered, but his sons weren t following in his footsteps and so the spiritual future of the people looked dire. o The people recognized the danger and so demanded a king to rule over them. Samuel felt like it was a terrible idea, and God agreed, but God told Samuel to grant their request, proving that sometimes the greatest act of judgment that God displays is by giving us what we want. o The choice was made and Saul came out tops. He looked to everyone like a brilliant selection. 1

2 o But Saul was proud and paranoid (they tend to go together) and he made some terrible errors, including bypassing Samuel s duties of sacrifice and disobeying God by allowing his troops to keep the plunders of war. o In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel was sent by God to go tell Saul that his reign was coming to an end and that God no longer backed him as king. Things, once again, look very bleak for Israel and its leadership, but there is something going on behind the scenes. Let s read a bit and make some observations as we go. Passage - 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (ESV) The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you. 1. God is Working Even When People Are Failing a. It looks to Samuel like there is no hope. The failings of the people and the failings of Saul have caused him to despair and it is not without warrant. Things were bad. b. But God lifts his head and opens his eyes and shows him that it isn t finished and that there is work to do, and even when God pointed that out, Samuel still had reasons why it wouldn t work. c. How many of us have given in to a sense of hopelessness or even panic without turning to God to see what he might be doing behind the scenes? d. This is true of many of us on a national scale and true for many of us on individual level. i. We see failure around us and assume it is over. ii. We see risk ahead of us and assume it can t be done. iii. We fail to see that God is working. We don t wait long enough to see his hand. 2

3 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, Do you come peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord s anointed is before him. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. 2. God Loves Working Through Unlikely People a. I love this famous text and I am so glad it is in the Scriptures. b. We would pick Eliab. Just like Israel looked to Saul. On the outside, they are the ones. This is how society prescribes value isn t it? c. But praise God, this isn t how God looks at us. He loves to use the outsider, the unlikely, the overlooked. d. Look at what Paul said to the Corinthians: 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God 1 e. This is why I am so passionate about the importance and power of the local church. Not because we look amazing or are influential in the eyes of the world, but because we are a group that doesn t impress the world at all, but who God uses to do impossible things. 1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Co 1:

4 f. How many of you have dialed out of the mission of God in the world because you think God can t use you in any meaningful way? You applaud the Eliab s and envy their lives, but sit on the sidelines. i. Too sinful? You could be a trophy of God s grace. ii. Too broken? You could be a trophy of God s healing. iii. Too old? A trophy of God s power. Same applies to too young. iv. Too poor? A trophy of God s generosity. Too rich? A trophy of his mercy. 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. 3. God is Still Working When No One is Watching a. Keeping the sheep was the hardest and least rewarding job, which is why the lightie was doing it. b. It was dangerous, but mainly it was boring and uncomfortable and lonely. Hot during the day, freezing at night, working with dumb and disobedient animals. There was no glamor in it and no accolades for it. But think about it, while David is out there in anonymity being ignored by everyone, God s eyes are on him. c. How many of us are willing to live faithfully for God in unglamorous seasons of hard slog? No rewards, no fame, no recognition, no accolades. Just faithfulness. d. Charles Swindoll reckons that God uses four things to mold David in his season as a shepherd: Solitude; Obscurity; Monotony and Reality. These things sound like the enemies of significance in today s world and yet they seem to be essential shapers of character. They were for David. e. We are told elsewhere (1 Samuel 13:14) that David was a man after God s own heart. What is it that God was growing in the heart of David while he served in anonymity that would give him such a title? What was God growing in David in that season? i. Devotion: 4

5 a) 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us, the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely his. b) Look how David describes his heart in Psalm 9, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 2 c) It is easy to look devoted in public. How are you doing in anonymity? When no one sees except God? ii. Humility: a) Nothing will test humility like invisibility. b) The fact that David is out there performing the lowest role tells us all we need to know about his humility. iii. Integrity: a) Integrity is doing the things that no one sees with the same intensity, attention to detail and purpose as the things that you do publicly. b) Look at the description of David as a shepherd from Psalm 78: He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. 72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. 3 iv. Trust: a) We tend to learn to trust God in the seasons that are the toughest in life. b) Look at David in Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; 2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 9: The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 78:

6 of whom shall I be afraid? 4 v. Love: a) David learns the character of God out on those lonely hills and his heart develops a deep love for his maker. b) Psalm 18: I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah God Needs to Work in Us Powerfully Before He Works Through Us Powerfully a. I love this text and it is often overlooked when this passage is taught, but there is still a long way to go from David s anointing to David s rise as king, but it is at this juncture that this young man experiences the miraculous outpouring of God s Spirit to start preparing him for that day. b. Don t you love this image though? The Spirit rushing upon this young man. Oh how I long for God to do that with me and with us. To rush upon us, and to begin to work in us in a mighty way. Conclusion: 1000 years after this story, another young nobody appears in Bethlehem. The new and better David. He too is from an unlikely family in an unlikely town. He too would 4 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 27:1. 5 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 18: The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Sa 16:

7 be a shoot from the stump of Jesse as Isaiah 11 predicts. We are told that there was nothing significant about his appearance. He too operates in obscurity and anonymity for 30 years. He too is anointed and filled with the Spirit. He too would rise to be king. But unlike David, he wouldn t fail or falter. He stayed true to the course. So the message of the life of David isn t look to David, but look to the one David points to. God looks at the heart. That is great and bad news. It s great when we feel like our outward appearance isn t impressive. It s bad when our outward appearance is actually better than the state of our hearts that only God sees. We have a Savior in Jesus who sees our hearts and loves us anyways. God may well call you to something incredibly significant. What I know he is calling you to is faithfulness in obscurity. To be one whose heart is devoted to him. In order to do that, you will need the Holy Spirit. To be anointed for the task by God s precious Spirit. Let s ask for that now. 7