David, Low, Tough, And Tender Series

HEROES OF THE FAITH 7: ?DAVID---LOW, TOUGH AND TENDER! 1 SAMUEL 16:6-12

JOKE--- Deep within a forest a little turtle began to climb a tree.

After hours of effort he reached the top, jumped into the air waving his front legs and crashed to the ground.

After recovering, he slowly climbed the tree again, jumped, and fell to the ground.

The turtle tried again and again while a couple of birds sitting on a branch watched and laughed at his sad efforts.

Finally, the female bird turned to her mate. "That turtle is an idiot to think he can fly! she chirped, I think it?s time we tell him he?s adopted.

INTRO--- When I was a child, my mother always told me to aim high in life. So like that old turtle, I set my sights on the big blue sky above. There is nothing wrong with ambition, mind you, as long as it is directed and not blind!

My trouble was that I wanted to be a movie star or a high-powered salesman. And because I sought out to be something I am not, tragically, my aspirations never got off the ground.

My friends I have since learned that in life, everyone must start out at the bottom. I have learned that there is no substitute for hard work. And I now can say with some great confidence that unless you are content to be where you are, who you are, in what you are doing today, you will never be content with where you can go, who you can become, or what you will do tomorrow.

In case you didn?t know, the lesson I needed to learn was one of humility. Our Hero of the faith today, David, will teach us a lesson in humility, but also a lesson in strength and faith.

PRAYER

TRANS---Saul had been commanded of the Lord to punish the Amalekites for attacking them when they came up from Egypt. The punishment that the Lord ascribed was that Saul attack them and totally destroy everything that belongs to them and to destroy every one of them down to the last man, woman and child. Now Saul did attack the Amalekites but he took the King of the Amalekites alive, and then he spared an entire village in order to plunder its sheep, cattle and lambs.

This was the last straw! Because of his disobedience, God was finished dealing with Saul. And so our story opens with God calling Samuel to anoint another King to the throne of Israel. Now Samuel was about to learn a very valuable lesson: God?s judges people differently than man. Men look at the outside, but God sees our hearts.

When God looked upon David?s heart, He saw that it was LOW, TOUGH and TENDER, the three things a good servant and leader?s heart needs to be.

I. DAVID WAS THE LOWEST

A. Look at vs. 6---Eliab, Jesse?s oldest son, looked so much like a leader that Samuel said, ?Surely the Lord?s anointed is before Him.

1. But Look at God?s response in vs. 7!

a. God quickly and handly rejected Eliab and the

next 6 brothers all together outright!

2. Because David was the Last, the least, and the lowest of his brothers, he was left to do the smallest and the most humble job that no one else would do---tend to the sheep, a very humbling, and difficult task.

a. You see, like David?s brothers, too many times we mistake glamour for greatness. My friends...

ILLUSTRATION--- ?Let it never be forgotten that glamour is not greatness; applause is not fame; prominence is not eminence. The man of the hour is not apt to be the man of the ages. A stone may sparkle, but that does not make it a diamond; people may have money, but that does not make them a success.

It is what the unimportant people do that really counts and determines the course of history. The greatest forces in the universe are never spectacular. Summer showers are more effective than hurricanes, but they get no publicity. The world would soon die but for the fidelity, loyalty, and consecration of those whose names are unhonored and unsung.

- James R. Sizoo, Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, p. 11.

a. That is why In Luke Mark 9:35 Jesus ??called the twelve and said to them, ?If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."

3. You see, because David?s brothers all considered themselves far above such menial work, they all turned away from the very job that taught David to be king.

ILLUSTRATION---My friends, a sheep is one of the dumbest animals on the earth. It was David?s job to lead the sheep so that they wouldn?t arbitrarily walk off a cliff. It was David?s job to seek out and retrieve the lost sheep so that it would not perish. Many times a good shepherd would break the leg of the wandering sheep so that it would learn a lesson about straying. But the good shepherd would also then carry the maimed sheep on his shoulders so that it would learn his voice so that it would not stray again. And it was David?s job to fight against any beasts that would seek to devour the flock.