David: A Man After God's Own Heart

THE STORY OF KINGS AND PROPHETS #1: DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART

INTRO TO THE STORY OF KINGS AND PROPHETS:

God brought His people into the Promised Land where He was their king. God raised up Judges to deliver them from their enemies. But the people complained and wanted a king just like the other nations. So God gave them King Saul, who rebelled against God and lost His throne.

• THE CHALLENGE: Let’s read through The Story together over the next five months!

THE BIG IDEA: Because David was a man after God’s own heart, his life is an example for us to follow.

1. DESTINY: DAVID IS CHOSEN AS KING:

“Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” (1 Samuel 16:1, NKJV).

• Then Samuel went to Jesse’s house and Jesse called in his seven oldest sons.

“6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 8 So 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 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these." 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here. 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!"” (1 Samuel 16:6-12).

• We too have a Destiny in the Lord! God created you and chooses and loves YOU!

• Note: There was a 14 year period from the time David was anointed as king until he actually stepped into that destiny. Sometimes we will go through a wilderness/valley!

A. GOD SAW DAVID WITH THE POTENTIAL OF A KING:

“And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:21-22).

• David was a man after God’s own heart, and God believed in David.

1. OTHERS DID NOT SEE DAVID WITH THE POTENTIAL OF A KING:

• His dad Jesse did not even summon David when Samuel came to anoint a new king.

• David’s older brother scolded him for coming to watch the battle.

• King Saul viewed David as a young boy and not king material.

• Goliath called David “just a boy” just before David killed him.

2. FRIENDSHIP: JONATHAN ENCOURAGED DAVID IN THE LORD:

“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” (1 Sam. 18:1-4).

“And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” (1 Samuel 23:14-17).