The Sorrowful Prophet Series

1 Samuel 16:1-13 The Life of David

Part One: The Broken Prophet

Thesis: Samuels obedience

Introduction: David, King of all Israel. What most people know about David is that he was a young boy who killed a giant, became a king and committed adultery. His life seems to be one of ascending heights of success and spiraling moments of catastrophic failure. There is indeed a lot that we can learn from the life of this man who rose from obscurity to the top of world power in his day. More importantly than David’s rise to power in a distant land is the part he would play in the plans and purposes of almighty God.

Over the next weeks we are going to take a peek into the life of this interesting man. How important is David in the Bible? Did you know that David is mentioned or spoken of more in the Bible than any other person including the Lord Jesus Christ. David is central in the lineage of the promised Messiah of God. All we knew before David is that the Messiah would be one of Abraham’s descendants, that He would be Jewish, but with the rise of David on the historical stage of the Bible, we discover from what family the Messiah will be born.

David is also one of the main types or prefigures of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words there is a lot in David’s life that will point to Jesus Christ being the messiah. As we begin our study of David’s life we will discover some of these things. For example David became king and sat upon the throne of Israel, and God promised him that his descendants would reign on that throne forever. David’s reign as king foreshadows the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose rule will never end. The study of David’s opens our lives to truths about the Savior.

The first thing I want us to see today is...

I. The Broken Heart of the Old Prophet

The story of David begins with the demise of another king. It was not David’s rise to rule Israel that brought about the other kings fall, it was his own choices. King Saul had begun well but ended his life and reign as king in bitter fashion. Saul had begun to be filled with pride and as the Scriptures warn us, a haughty spirit goes before destruction. Had Saul repented of his disobedience to God, surely he could have been restored and lived out his life as a servant of God, but he chose to pursue his own glory and his own self satisfaction rather than the glory of God. One of the differences between King Saul and King David is that Saul pursued his own glory right until the bitter end but David sought the glory of God, and when he did fail, he genuinely repented of his sin before God.

In the time between the rejection of Saul by God and the anointing of David is the scene of a grieving old preacher of God. Samuel was Gods spokesman to Israel. He was God spokesman to Saul, but Saul turned a deaf ear to the old preacher. Now he would end his ministry by being Gods spokesman to the new king.

A. Why is he grieving?

He is mourning over Saul. Have you ever had high hopes only to see them crushed by failure, either your own failure or the failure of someone else?

I think Samuel was broken over Saul’s failures and because he was Saul’s pastor, he felt it personally. I believe Samuel loved Saul but as a man of God he could not condone Saul’s actions or attitudes. In the midst of his sorrow the Lord comes to Samuel and says, ‘Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?’. Saul had made his own choices, and had chosen to go his own way. Because of that prideful heart God rejected him. There was nothing Samuel could do about the past, the past is Gods business. Saul was Gods business.

Very often we worry more over someone else’s life and whether they are serving God or not and don’t give enough attention to our own. Have you ever heard the lyrics to the song, ’Sweep around your own front door’. The first line says, ’You know there are too many people trying to take care of others peoples business and they can’t even take care of their own. What you need to do is take six months to mind your own business and six months to leave other folks business alone. All I’m trying to say is: [Chorus] Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine.’