INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• One of the big pressure points in our life can be the issue of priorities.
• First, what does the word “Priority” mean? According to the dictionary, the word is defined as follows: the state of having most important or urgency. Somebody or something that is ranked highly in terms of importance or urgency.
• From the very definition of the word, we can see why this issue is so important because from our priorities, flows the way we live our lives.
• What is important to us determines what we do and even how we do it, it defines who is important in our lives which will determine the time and effort we put into people.
• Even as we are celebrating Mother’s Day today, I hope one of the things we see that makes one a good mother is having a mother who has her priorities in the correct order.
• As we look at the life of David, we can observe how David’s life went when he seemed to have his priorities in order and how things went when his priorities went awry.
• One of the pressure points of life we need to master is making sure our priorities are in the correct order and that we also make sure we strive to maintain those priorities in the order in which they belong.
• It is so easy to lose sight of what is really important in our lives. Once that happens, then things WILL start to fall apart.
• How should we prioritize things in our life in order to have the best possible life?
• As we examine part of David’s life we see…
• SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. Our first priority is our relationship with God!
• This should be a no-brainer for those who belong to Jesus, we should know this and we should make sure it stays this way.
• We all know this and I know we never struggle with this.
• As we have been looking at David’s life it seems a though he started out with this as his number one priority.
• God chose him to be the next King of Israel David had told Saul when it was time to face Goliath that God had delivered the lion and bear into his hands.
• We find in 1 Samuel 16:13 that the Spirit of the Lord RUSHED into David.
• SLIDE #3
• 1 Samuel 16:13(ESV) 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
• David was successful in all that he did; he knew God was with him.
• David at a young age had enough confidence in the Lord that he took on Goliath with NO fear!
• David boldly proclaimed that what he was doing was done in the name of the Lord.
• SLIDE #4
• 1 Samuel 17:45(ESV) 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
• David understood that if he put God first in his priority list, and would see that his relationship with God should be the most important relationship in his life, and then everything else would fall into place.
• SLIDE #5
• In Exodus 20:3 God makes no doubt as to where He belongs in our lives.
• Exodus 20:3(ESV) 3“You shall have no other gods before me.
• During the whole ordeal with Saul trying to kill him, David inquired of the Lord on multiple occasions. God WAS first in David’s life it would seem until the time of his sin with Bathsheba.
• At this point we have no record of David asking the Lord what he should do about Bathsheba.
• Here is what 2 Samuel 11:2-4 tells us.
• SLIDE #6
• 2 Samuel 11:2-4(ESV) 2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
• From this point on, David’s life seemed to spin a bit out of control.
• Look at what David did, how can a man after God’s own heart do this? He did it because his relationship was not where it had been.
• Here we have a man who loved the Lord, who walked closely with the Lord who is now starting to slip away from the Lord.
• David it would seem fell into the trap of worshipping the unholy trinity of ME, MYSELF, and I.
• Somewhere along the line, David quit working on his relationship with God, he got distracted and it hurt him.
• Once we get to the point of putting God first in our lives, we cannot stop.
• WE MUST work on our relationship EVERYDAY. WE cannot build up points like S&H Green Stamps which we can redeem later.
• Putting our relationship with God on the top of our priority list is an everyday decision and something we have to work on every day.
• When we move God out of the top spot it will negatively impact all areas of our lives.
• After our relationship with God, our next priority needs to be…
• SLIDE #7
II. Our second priority needs to be our family.
• Next in our order of priorities should be family. If we put family ahead of God, we will have problems with the family. If we put a career ahead of family, we will have problems with family.
• I wonder how many people have put their family low on the priority list only to lose them.
• I also wonder how many have put their family ahead of God and had issues?
• It amazes me that parents will go to all lengths to get their kids to sporting stuff, camps, etc.. but will make no effort to get them to youth group, or to other spiritual activities. Then when the child falls prey to bad influences, they will wonder why the church did not do more.
• David had so neglected his family he did not know that one of his kids, Amnon had the hot’s for his sister from another mother, Tamar to the point that Amnon rapes Tamar.
• Before the rape, Tamar is pleading with Amnon.
• SLIDE #8
• 2 Samuel 13:13(ESV) 13As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”
• David would have given Tamar to her half-brother Amnon. It would seem that David would not give them time.
• Newsweek magazine for April 3, 1989, reported the response of baseball’s great Pete Rose to an article in Gentleman’s Quarterly in which two of his children said Rose was not a good father. "I’m a great father," Rose said. "I bought my daughter a new Mercedes-Benz last week." If that’s the measure of fatherhood, most of us have failed miserably. Maybe the worst thing a father could do would be to buy a luxury automobile for his offspring. Maybe the best thing a father could do would be to teach them how to work for the good things in life.
• After the crime, another of David’s sons Absalom saw Tamar crying and with her dress torn. Listen to his response.
• SLIDE #9
• 2 Samuel 13:20(ESV) 20And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom’s house.
• How did Absalom know WHO violated his sister? I think Absalom knew that Amnon had an eye for his sister.
• Where was dad? I guess he was busy with other things.
• Two years later, Absalom kills Amnon when Absalom asked his dad to go sheep-shearing along with all the king’s sons.
• When David would not go, Absalom asked if Amnon could go. David questions why he would want Amnon to go.
• SLIDE #10
• 2 Samuel 13:26-27(ESV) 26Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
• Why in the world would he let Amnon go, David suspected something was up, but he did not want to hear Absalom anymore.
• We could talk all day and write books about how dysfunctional David’s family was.
• It would have helped if David had ONE wife also, but he neglected his family, they were not a priority.
• SLIDE #11
III. Our other priorities should be everything else.
• Our priorities should be God, then family, then you have to decide what comes next. If you get the first two correct, then you will be able to make good choices over the rest.
• David’s life was messed up when God was not the top priority in his life, this then affected his family and things in his life were quite messy.
• WE have to guard against thinking we need to forsake God and or family for a job or career. We need to trust God.
• Had David kept his eye on God, his life would have stayed a glorious as it started.
• His messed up priorities ended up spilling over to his family, they learned what they saw.
• Jesus encourages us…
• SLIDE #12
• Matthew 6:33(ESV) 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
CONCLUSION
• God gives us the choice of how we want to orient our lives, what order will you out your priorities?
