David Making the Man 2

as you know I want to pick up with you
this morning where we left off last
Sunday morning we were looking last
sunday morning at two of three factors
that God used in David's life to make
him into the man after God's own heart
of which the Scriptures speak and the
first element that we talked about last
Sunday morning was the fact that David
in his youth was faithful in the little
and when we first meet up with David
we've talked about this before in 1
Samuel chapter 16 he is described as
tending the sheep and what a marvelous
picture that was for his a life's career
of shepherding God's people think with
me about some of the skills that he
learned on the backside of those
Bethlehem fields he learned
responsibility looking after his
father's flock he learned how to provide
for their needs he learned to defend
them against the enemy he acquired the
skills that he would need to fight
battles he he just was faithful in the
little and out of that we reached the
very practical conclusion that one of
the important things and our own lives
and certainly lives of her children is
that we need to be faithful in little
David had no idea how these things would
become the building block of his life
moving further on second thing that we
looked at together was that as life went
on for him then he built on those skills
that he developed in his youth and the
first place where you see that is
further on in 1 Samuel chapter 16 when
he gets called in to Saul's court
for service George can you turn those
lights down just that Ted for me please
so i can see you fine folks david was a
harpist and after the spirit of the lord
had left saul and had come upon David
David grew in stature and he grew in
favour and Saul began to experience as
you know these very demonic attacks when
an evil spirit from the Lord would come
upon him and so to provide relief for
him they said this man needs some good
music who will play the music for him
somebody had remembered David from
Bethlehem they called him Ian and David
for a while at least became the court
musician for Saul whatever he would have
these seizures and that's kind of an
interesting switch for David if you
think the transition from being behind
the sheep in the field to being part of
Saul's court that's a huge transition
but it gave him an opportunity to sit
back and watch royalty and the royal
court at work undoubtedly there were
many practical lessons for him to learn
in that whole process and then of course
it really came to expression as he built
upon his skills to fighting the bear and
the lion because his ability to take on
Goliath was directly proportional to
what he had learned in his youth and
that's why he says the King Saul in
chapter 17 solace trying to discourage
him from fighting Goliath of course
because Goliath has been a fighting man
from his youth and David is but a boy
and David said to Saul your servant has
been keeping his father's sheep when a
lion or bear came and carried off the
sheep from the flock I went after it
struck it and rescued the sheep from its
mouth when it turned on me I seized it
by its hair struck it in kill
did your servant has killed both a lion
and the bear this uncircumcised
Philistine will be like one of them
because he has defied the armies of the
Living God and the Lord who delivered me
from the paw of the lion and the paw of
the bear will deliver me from the hand
of this Philistine so David learned to
build on those skills and as we saw last
time have that enables him them to rise
in the army become a leading commander
and because God is with him it really
goes well for him all along and again
they're the practical less it is that as
we're faithful over little God puts us
over much the world will always have a
place for people who are fully alive and
who are prepared to step into situations
particularly as they walk in obedience
to the Lord and that brings us then to
the third point that I introduce briefly
last week before we quit and that is
this david had to trust the lord to
establish him in his kingdom or to
establish his throw we talked briefly
about the fact that David was 30 years
old when he become became king over
Judah 37 years old when he became king
over all Israel let's say that he was 15
years of age when he was first anointed
by Samuel to become king so you're
looking at 15 plus 7 22 years in total
between the promise made to David and
the fulfillment of that promise that's a
huge gap of time and at first it seemed
to be going David's way because as you
know he beat Goliath everybody thought
that was the cat's meow but then when he
came home
home from battle the women came out of
their towns and they began to sing this
song and you will have heard these words
before 1 samuel chapter 18 when the men
were returning home after david had
killed a Philistine the women came out
from all the towns of Israel to meet
King Saul with singing and dancing with
joyful songs of a tambourine and lutes
as they dance they saying Saul has slain
his thousands and David his tens of
thousands you know that's not going to
end well Saul was very angry the refrain
called him they have credited David with
tens of thousands he thought but me with
only thousands what more can he get but
the kingdom and from that time on Saul
kept a jealous eye on David as the story
continues to develop Saul's jealousy
becomes more and more tinged with evil
the very next story I believe in this
particular passage evil spirit from God
comes forcibly upon soul and he throws a
spear of David and he tries to pin Dave
it to the wall and he does that not only
once but he does that twice and then
further on in chapter 18 he sends him
into battle in the hopes that he would
get killed in the battle so that David
will be out of the way and then he makes
an arrangement for David to marry one of
his daughters and the bridal price that
he is looking for kind of an interesting
little story a hundred foreskins from
the Philistines and of course the whole
idea was you're going to be a dead duck
if you try to take on that many
Philistines unfortunately didn't work
for him then chapter 19 we now have him
trying to persuade Jonathan who was
David's booze
pal to kill him that didn't work because
Jonathan was loyal to David then once
again he throws his spear at David and
tries to kill him then he sends his men
to David's house to try to arrest him
but his daughter Michael who now is is
David's wife tricks them by having David
climb out the window and leaving a
tariff amor an idol in the bed and
Saul's anger continues to accelerate to
the point where time and time again he
sends three thousand of his men to try
to find David and to try to do them in
did a little math as to how long David
was chased around by saul and there are
differences of opinion depending on what
scholars you consult but the expectation
is that anywheres from seven to eleven
years he was running around in the
wilderness with his band of men trying
to stay out of Saul's clutches and you
know it's easy to read those stories
through the eyes of those who know how
the story ends but if you want to get a
good feel of David's heart in that
process read songs because many of his
most intensive Psalms were written when
his life hung in the balance so on and
on this land until you get to the end of
the book of 1st Samuel in chapter 31 the
Philistines again come into the land
Saul tries to engage them he and his
soldiers lose the battle his three sons
get killed he himself is mortally
wounded asks his armor bearer to kill
him he refuses to do that and so of
course the tragic ending of Saul is that
he falls in his own
board and that is the end of King Saul
David in the next book second Samuel
moves to Hebron after consulting the
Lord all of Judah comes to him crowns
him as king because he is of the tribe
of Judah of course but the other tribes
of Israel crown is king the descendants
of King Saul so you have seven years of
intensive battles that rage before
finally all Israel comes to sticking
David and they crown him as king 22
years at least between when he was
crowned or anointed by Samuel and when
he was crowned finally king over all
Israel 22 years of a lot of pain and
suffering so the question of course is
what do we learn from a story like this
well three things just real quick and
the first is this it is God's job to
establish us one verse that you'll often
hear me quote because it's so captures
this notion is from the book of psalms
psalm 75 out of the verses 6 and 7 for
not from the east or from the west and
not from the wilderness comes lifting up
but it is God who execute judgment
putting down one and lifting up and
other up from the east not from the West
not from the wilderness which happens to
be south but it is God who lifts up his
people and here's the thing about that
that's really important for us to try to
understand God does not operate a
democracy God operates a theocracy when
God builds his kingdom it is God
and God alone who has the authority and
then he rules the whole universe not
only directly through his own authority
but also as you know indirectly through
delegated authority and so he raises up
governments and he raises up teachers
and he raises up parents and he raises
up bosses and sooner or later everybody
in the world is under somebody even if
they are over somebody and ever since
the fall the human tendency is to strive
for position and to strive for
recognition and to to stay on top of the
game that's why nations go to war that's
why husbands and wives I get divorced
that is why children become rebellious
that's why a nation split up that's why
organizations fall apart because at the
end of the day the human tendency is to
think that I must establish myself the
biblical reality is that it's God's job
to establish us it's God's job to move
situations and circumstances around so
that based on our calling and based on
our gifting and based on his control of
circumstances and situations we can rise
to the level of our competence that God
has ordained for us and learning to
trust that and to believe that in a
world is full of competition in a world
where all the evidence sometimes appears
to be against that is a mark of true
faith and for David to continue to
believe that God would arrange the
circumstances of his life that he would
become king over all Israel even when
all the evidence was against it is a
demonstration of the level of faith that
go
odd instilled in King David when life
was so incredibly difficult the clearest
example of that of course is the person
of Jesus Christ because Jesus is Lord of
lords and king of kings and he rules
over all the universe and he did it not
by waging all the battles that the human
race always is waging but by walking in
covenant faithfulness and obedience
before God the Father and you've often
heard me quote Philippians 2 for the joy
that was set before him after having
humbled himself even unto death God
exalted him and gave him the name that
is above every day and so if you want to
get ahead in life and if you want to
acquire the kind of place the kind of
place of influence and position that the
human heart really craves and longs for
then the road to that is the road of
humility and obedience and walking with
our God because he's the one who lifts
up the one and who lowers the other
that's his character and that's his
nature and that is a principle that runs
throughout all of Scripture second
lesson that we learned in this is that
it is our job then to trust God to
accomplish precisely what he has
promised that he would do and the
temptation the temptation the nature of
temptation is always to believe as Chad
hovind was saying this morning that God
is not good and that he's not to be
trusted and that therefore we need to
take matters into our own hands and we
need to try to make it happen and when
you are spiritually inclined then it is
very easy to interpret the circumstances
of life in such a way as
to say well god is giving me this
opportunity and so I must step into it
and there's some good examples of that
in David's life one example that comes
to mind is David in 1 Samuel chapter 24
and you'll know this story David and his
men are being chased around the
wilderness by King Saul and they are
hiding way back in this cave you'll
remember the story and wouldn't you know
it you know King Saul has to go to the
bathroom funny story I think and he
comes into the cave with David and his
men hiding in the back now you got a
picture this because he's got what four
hundred men with him or more by now so I
don't know how deep this cave is but you
better believe they had to be really
quiet because this is not a time to
awaken the bear but what an opportunity
and I love what one of his men says to
him in 1 Samuel 24 4 or more than one
the men said listen to this this is the
day the Lord spoke of what he said to
you I will give your enemy into your
hands for you to deal with as you wish
talk about temptation and you know how
the story unfolds right David creeps up
to where Saul is going to the bathroom
and he cuts off a piece off his robe and
is immediately stricken with his
conscience because he goes on to say
then to his men the Lord forbid that I
should do such a thing to my master the
Lord's anointed or lift my hand against
them for he is the Anointed of the Lord
and so here you have David resisting the
temptation to take matters into his own
hand even though he could have easily
justified that this was the opportunity
that God was bringing to heel and how
many times in your life and in my life
do we find ourselves in situations where
you know like Abram of old where we're
tired of waiting on the Lord and we're
tired of trusting the Lord and so like
Abram of old weeba get ourselves in
Ishmael because that seems like it's the
appropriate thing to do that's always
the nature of temptation the nature of
temptation is to say I don't know that I
can trust God to do what he said he
would do besides that God has given me
common sense and he has given me
responsibility and so therefore I'm
going to step into this and trust of
this is God's opportunity and temptation
then is to bypass our relationship with
God and our trust in God in order to get
what we want when we need to get at and
the ultimate example of that again are
the temptations of Jesus when he first
began his ministry he'll recall he was
baptized by the Holy Spirit immediately
driven into the wilderness and their
Satan came to him and he tempted him
with three temptations which were
actually the parallel of the temptations
that Adam and he faced originally in the
garden and were Adam and Eve succumb to
the temptation Jesus as the second Adam
resisted the temptation the first
temptation was you're hungry make bread
out of stones you can't trust the father
to look after you take matters into your
own hands he's given you that kind of
power second temptation jump off the
temple appear in the temple court
because the prophecies are that that's
how the Messiah is going to appear and
the nation will recognize that you are
indeed the promise
sia and then of course the third
temptation the crassest one of all I
really like this one because the devil
shows him all the kingdoms of the world
and all their glory that's really
interesting because that means the devil
thinks that he has considerable power in
terms of the glory in the power of the
nation's it's an interesting principle
and of course the temptation is you bow
down to me and I will give you all of
that now think of how many young women
compromise their walk with god because
of a non-christian boyfriend who is more
important than God or what gone says
think of the many people who stoop to
thievery or to dishonesty or who take
matters into their own hands because
God's not coming across quickly enough
with what he has said that he would do
you begin to understand what the nature
of temptation is and David is the man
after God's own heart because in the
middle of the most intense temptation to
make it happen for himself he says god
forbid I'm not going to touch the Lord's
anointed king Saul may be rejected by
God King Saul may be headed for disaster
it's not my job to unseat him let God do
it or let the enemy do it I will not
shed blood needlessly just so that I can
be the king now if you think of you know
how much blood is shed around the world
by the nation's for people who want to
be top dog then you get a little bit of
a picture of how incredibly huge that
temptation
its third principle though or a third
lesson and one that I really think we
need to embrace with all our hearts and
that's the fact that it's all about can
God trust us with his kingdom ken God
trust us with his kingdom think that
through with me a little bit because
there's a lot more at stake here than we
tend to realize i think go back to the
story of creation God creates Adam and
Eve why Adam and Eve are given dominion
over all the earth out of their
relationship with God they are to
exercise the will of God over all
creation they are to subdue it and they
are to build the kingdom of God that is
to say they are to build a population
that will love honor and obey go on
there to build a civilization that lives
by his rules that experience his
blessings and that carries out his will
that's the Lord's Prayer year will be
done on earth as it is in heaven in the
fall Adam and Eve betrayed that
relationship with God took matters into
their own hands and from that day to
this of course as you know we live in a
world where people are trying to build
their own Kingdom as opposed to God's
kingdom now God's in the business of
bringing things back to himself and in
order to bring things back to himself he
is looking to build a people who know
their responsibilities before his face
he's looking for people who first of all
understand his character that is to say
who understand what God is at
after which is to say God is after a
people who will love him above all and
who will love their neighbor as they
love themselves God is looking for
people who not only know that that is
his heart but who are committed to doing
their part in carrying that a lot and
who are committed to carrying out his
wheel no matter what is the personal
cost they must face in order to advance
the purposes of God it's in biblical
language all about stewarding it's all
about having as our highest priority the
values of our master as opposed to
thinking of ourselves as owners and I've
talked about this before we're not
owners of creation we are managers of
creation we are called accountable
before God of how we spend our time
talent and treasure and God is looking
for people who in everything they are
and everything they do will always put
god first and that's where you see David
shining I've said this before but I'll
repeat it that's why in the Bible he's
known as a man after God's own heart and
that is and I'll say this again to this
is where the contrast between Saul and
King David is so huge I said you know
last Sunday morning when I was younger I
would read these stories and I've
preached on Saul and I've preached on
David over the years it and reading the
story of Saul used to sort of have
sympathy towards the dude because it
looks like he got away with nothing I
mean David can commit adultery David can
be guilty of murder
and God just keeps right on going with
David you know poor Solly offers a
sacrifice before he should out the door
you go dude and and it looks like he
never got a fair shake until you start
looking closely it Saul's life and you
discover that solves ultimate value is
not God in the kingdom of God it is his
own skin and his own ambition Saul is a
man who is so insecure that it's all
about him and you see that when you know
they're looking for him to crown him his
king and he's hiding in the baggage
because it doesn't want to be seen and
you see it when you know he gets called
in the carpet by Samuel and Samuel is
announcing to him the judgment of God
and and force all it's all about well
honor me before the people i know that I
messed up and I'm you know but honor me
for Saul it's all about Saul and he gets
rejected from being king over Israel
because God cannot use self centered
people to advance his purposes because
every time there is a price to be paid
the question that is asked is not is
this what God wants and am I prepared to
lay down my life in order to make that
happen now the question is well how does
this benefit me do I get an advantage
out of this and God says can't use you
and that's where David is so different
because though David was as human as you
and I he's known as the man after God's
own heart because at the end of the day
he wanted what God wants so he gets very
practical for you and me because the
world's full of Christians who love what
god has to offer in his
I mean who wouldn't forgiveness of sins
presence of God in your life you know
the promise of resurrection the promise
of heaven the promise of God's blessings
what is there not to like about what God
has to offer but at the end of the day
when God's looking for is not just
people who want to take from him and who
are Fairweather Christians he's looking
for people who have grown up and who
have become mature who understand his
plan and his purposes and who are sold
out to make his kingdom come and his
will done on earth as it is in heaven
remember that verse we caught so often
from revelation chapter 12 they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb the word of
their testimony and because they loved
not their lives even unto death how many
Christians don't you know that when the
road gets a little bit tough they Bay
all or when God is pushing home places
of sin the need to be repented of throw
in the towel because the pain is simply
too great or people when push comes to
shove are more interested in their own
happiness their own well-being than they
are about the sum total of the coming of
God's kingdom you see where I'm going
with that well thank you for your
enthusiastic respond that's a big issue
because whatever it is in your life or
in my life where self-love predominates
over love for God or love for the
kingdom I can guarantee you God will
find it and when he finds it he'll call
you to the cross and he'll say all right
you know will you die to self in this
place will you put me first or is it
going to contain
you to be about you and for some people
are just the tiniest little scene for
some people it's the tiniest little
relationship for some people it's that
deeply guarded place in their hearts
that God is not allowed access to
because that is my interior world and
David is the man after God's own heart
and he spends 22 years being chased
around the wilderness because if God is
going to give him the kingdom he wants
those values instilled so that he can be
entrusted with great responsibility and
I believe that agreed to which God can
trust you and me with authority and
power in the kingdom is the degree to
which we have learned to say no to self
the devil in the world in those places
have learned to say yes to Jesus so that
we can be vehicles of His grace
interestingly enough you know Jesus in
the temptation if you remember the story
what happened after he came through the
temptation he was empowered by the Holy
Spirit to start his work of ministry
because God knew that he could be
trusted with the power of the kingdom
and were you and I left to our own
resources this could get pretty
discouraging real fast because who knows
his own heart and who can change his own
horn but that's why we look to the
author and the finisher of our faith
even the Lord Jesus who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross in
all of its shame and today is seated at
the right hand of God he is a merciful
high priest ever lives to make
intercession for us at the Father's
right here
and he has a vested interest in helping
us grow up to become men in women after
God's own heart and it only takes a
handful of people you know that it only
takes a handful of people sold out to
Jesus to make a huge difference in the
world world changes don't happen because
there are great big multitudes who mount
great big wonderful campaigns they have
their place but i'll tell you Satan's
power gets broken by the dedicated
Christian on his or her knees who says I
will rather die than sell out Jesus
because that Satan has no defense
against they overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb the word of the testimony
and because they didn't love their lives
even unto death David was a man after
God's own heart because he was faithful
in his youth he built on that
faithfulness in his adult life and he
learned to put his trust in God as his
shield and his defender it'll be
different for each one of us and only
God by his Spirit can apply that in each
of our lives but my prayer for me and my
prayer for you is that God will say to
us one day well done good and faithful
servant you've been faithful over little
you