Sermon Central
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Sermon 1 - God Knows What He Is Looking For Series
Contributed by David Owens on Jan 26, 2026 (message contributor)
Summary: People need good role models to emulate. Although King David was far from perfect, he had many character qualities and strengths that are worth emulating. God knew what He was looking for when He chose David.
Introduction
A. Let’s start with a Peanuts cartoon about role models.
1. Rerun, Linus’ younger brother says to Snoopy: “Theoretically, my older brother should be my role model, but that blanket business takes care of that, which forces me to look elsewhere, and maybe ask the question…”
2. Turning to Snoopy, Rerun asks: “Can the neighbor’s dog be a role model?”
3. I like Snoopy, but he probably isn’t the best of role models – He’s not Lassie or Rex (on the TV show Hudson and Rex).
B. Would you agree with me that everyone needs a good role model to look up to?
1. No one is perfect, except Jesus, the Son of God, but it is still helpful to look to people of integrity, whose lives inspire us to do better, to climb higher and to stand taller.
2. Even though King David, the second king of Israel, was not perfect, there are still many things about him that are worth emulating.
3. David is the only person in Scripture to be called “a man after God’s own heart.”
4. Would it surprise you to learn that more has been written about David than about any other biblical character? (Except Jesus, of course)
a. Abraham has some 14 chapters dedicated to his life, and so does Joseph, and Elijah has 10.
b. Guess how many chapters are dedicated to David? Sixty-six if we are counting correctly.
c. And that doesn’t include the 59 references to his life in the NT.
7. David is the person mentioned more than any other Old Testament character in the pages of the New Testament.
C. Today’s sermon is the first in a sermon series on the life of King David, the second king of Israel that I am calling: “Cultivating A Heart For God.”
1. As we study the life of David, we will come to realize that many of us know quite a bit about King David, but others know very little – and that’s okay.
2. King David was a poet, a musician, a courageous warrior, and a political leader.
a. In battle, he acted with invincible confidence.
b. In decisions, he judged with wisdom and equity.
c. In writing, he wrote with transparent vulnerability and with quiet trust in God.
d. In friendship, he was loyal to the end.
3. Even in his promotion to the highest position in the land, David modeled integrity and humility.
D. But having said all that, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about why God chose David – or why God chooses anyone, for that matter.
1. As we will see, David, like us, was anything but perfect.
2. Having earned the public’s trust and respect, he forfeited it all for a brief moment of pleasure.
3. Then, as the consequences kicked in, one sin led to another as he attempted to cover up his sin.
E. It’s all there in the Bible, written for all to learn, preserved for all to remember.
1. The Bible never flatters its heroes.
2. The Bible tells us the truth about each biblical character in order that against the background of human brokenness and failure we may appreciate the grace of God and recognize that God delights in working through the platform of human weakness.
3. And so David, and all the great men and women of Scripture, though far from perfect, leave us with a lives lived with strengths worth emulating, and failures to be avoided.
I. Israel Needed A Hero
A. Before we delve into the life of David, we need to go back about 40 years and get a sense of what was happening in Israel, the nation in which he was born and lived.
1. G. Frederick Owen, in his book Abraham to the Middle-East Crisis, describes those ancient times perfectly in one sentence: “The people were on a long drift from God.”
2. That was the world into which David was born.
B. Eli, the high priest, and his wicked sons were gone.
1. His God-chosen successor, Samuel, the last of the judges, was an old man.
2. Samuel appointed his sons to judge Israel, but that was a mistake.
3. The Bible says, “When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel…But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Sam. 8:1,3)
4. So, the people were disillusioned, and they wanted something done about it.
5. What they really wanted was a king.
6. The elders of Israel met with Samuel and gave him three reasons why they wanted a king.
a. First, you are old. Second, your sons don’t walk in your ways. And third, we want to be like the other nations. (1 Sam. 8:5)
