From Shepherd to King - Week 11
November 21, 2010
Last week, I spoke about distortions, then on Tuesday I received this from my mother in law. I thought it was pretty funny, but just amazing how easily we can be fooled; and how people distort what is really the truth. Okay, let’s move on, but keep it in your mind just how easy it is to distort the truth and seeing isn’t believing. That will come in handy today.
There were 3 men who loved to golf. They would golf several times per week. One day they were golfing and a terrible thunderstorm came and the lightening struck all 3 of them and they died. They were all Christ followers so they all went to heaven and met St. Peter at the pearly gates, and St. Peter asked if they had any questions. They all wanted to know if there was golf in heaven. St. Peter smiled and said, “There are the most beautiful courses you’ve ever seen. And it doesn’t cost anything to play and you can play anytime you like. There’s only one thing you need to know, don’t hit any of the ducks with your golf ball. If you do, you’ll regret it.
They weren’t real sure what he meant, but they weren’t overly concerned. They played everyday at the greatest courses created. Then one day, one of the men hit a duck with his ball. And off in the distance comes St. Peter and with St. Peter is a woman who is not the prettiest woman. St. Peter said, I warned you not to hit a duck, so your punishment is you will be handcuffed to her for all eternity. And away he went. And there were 2 left.
The other two weren’t sure what to do. But they couldn’t stop playing golf. So, they agreed they would be extra careful and not hit any ducks. Well, a whole month goes by and sure enough, one of them hits a duck. Sure enough, here comes St. Peter with another not so attractive woman. He told the man, I told you not to hit any of the ducks. So, he handcuffed him to her and took him away for all eternity. Now, it’s one man by himself.
He doesn’t know what to do. He decides he’s going to keep playing golf, but he’ll be extra, extra careful. He’s playing great golf and he hasn’t hit a duck for one month, then for 2 months, and 3 and for 6 whole months he has not hit a duck. Then he sees St. Peter coming toward him with a beautiful woman, and St. Peter handcuffs him to this beautiful girl and he cries out, “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.” And she says, “I don’t know what you did, but I hit a duck.”
Wouldn’t it be terrible to enter heaven and discover the same emphasis on our outward appearance that we experienced on earth which intimidates us, is the same way the game is played in heaven. Wouldn’t that be horrible? Well, I have good news for you, as we look at Chapter 11 of The Story. We’re going to learn that not only does God not keep score in heaven, on the basis of our outward appearance, but the great news is that this is not how God keeps score on earth. AMEN?!
As you turn to chapter 11 (1 Samuel 16) in The Story, let me remind you of where we left off. The people requested that they have a king, and God allowed this, even though it wasn’t part of His perfect plan. Why doesn’t God want Israel to have a human king? It’s pretty simple. God does not want to put a layer between the people and Himself.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen sin come into the picture way back in chapter 1 as Adam and Eve sin, and this sin causes us to be separated from God. God’s perfect plan was to walk with us and dwell with us in the cool of the day, as He did with Adam and Eve. The rest of the story tells of God’s desire to get us back. So He creates this nation of Israel and it’s through Israel that God will reveal Himself, His character and nature. Ultimately He reveals His plan to get us back. God wanted the people to see Him purely for who He is, but He allows a human king.
The first king was Saul. On the outside he was magnificent, he was tall and strong and handsome. Kind of like me . . . at least 2 out of 3 isn’t bad. Saul was the peoples choice. We also see Saul doesn’t work out. Along with the priests, Saul distorted God’s plan. They don’t see a holy, loving and just God, they’re getting an image of God as cruel and greedy. Ultimately, God rejected Saul as king. And God looks for a new king and finds one. A king who was a man after God’s own heart. That would enable people to see God for who is and His plan to get us back. This man was God’s first pick, but he would have been our last pick.
God chose an obscure shepherd boy tending his dad’s smelly flock of sheep in the lonely hills of Bethlehem. So, what does God see in this obscure shepherd boy named David, that God wants to make him the next king of Israel?
Write down Psalm 78:70-72. Now this isn’t in the story, but this gives us insight into what God saw in David. In verse 72, it says, And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Nobody was there to see David do it, he was away in the pasture, but God saw. God saw David caring and leading the sheep, a boy filled with integrity which flowed from his heart. He loved and cared for the smelly and not too smart sheep which his father owned. It’s a great reminder that the good and the not so good we do, which is in private, does not go unnoticed.
On 2 occasions, we’re told the sheep were in danger. Once it was a bear, another time it was a lion who attacked the sheep. As a shepherd what would you do? If you get too close to the bear or lion, they may attack and kill you. We might say, “Oh well, even lions and bears need to eat.” But not David. He grabbed them and beat and killed the lion and the bear. Not one sheep was lost under David’s care.
The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart. And this is the criteria God uses to select the next king. What does it mean that David was a man after God’s own heart? It means David had the same kind of priorities as God, he loved and cared for the sheep, as well as people. God believed David would risk his life even more for His people. And this is the type of person God wanted leading the people. God trusted that David would do everything to get God’s lost people back. This is the kind of king, God says that Israel needs.
But here’s the thing. God saw David, but nobody else did. People saw the shepherd boy, but not the king. There were 4 people who underestimated David. The first one was his own father. In 1 Samuel 16, God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, because the next king would come from that household. So, Samuel went to Bethlehem, knocked on Jesse’s door and said, ‘the next king is coming from your family.’
Jesse is really excited and he lines up his 7 sons in order from oldest to youngest. And Samuel begins to look each one over and asked God, ‘is this the one who will be king?’ God tells Samuel no to each one. All are rejected. So, Samuel asked, do you have anymore sons? Jesse said, ‘well, yes, I have a younger son who’s in the fields tending the sheep. His dad didn’t even consider him for the lineup. It’s not that Jesse didn’t love David, it’s just that Jesse couldn’t see a king coming out of his little son.
In fact the Hebrew word that Jesse used for David is the word we would use in English to call someone a runt or unimportant. In essence, Jesse said, ‘yes, I have a runt of a son out in the fields, I’m not sure why you would want to see him, but I’ll get him for you anyways.’ David comes in from the fields, has no idea what’s going on; and before he knows what’s happening, oil is being poured over his head and he’s being anointed the next king of Israel, as a 16 year old boy.
If you were anointed the next king, what would be your next move? Maybe you’d start barking out orders to your brothers, maybe you’d make a shopping excursion to try on crowns. But not David. After he was anointed king, he went back to the hills and shepherded the sheep. That’s the kind of heart God saw in him.
Not only did his father not see it in him, but his brothers didn’t see it either. Israel was at war with the Philistines and the Philistine’s send their big dude, Goliath to fight. He looked like he was at least 9 feet tall. They challenged the Israelites to a duel, Goliath against any Israelite, winner take all. How many people accepted the challenge? None. David’s older brothers were also there. David was home with his father, and his father asked him to take food to his brothers and the commanders.
So, David takes off to the battle and he meets his older brother (119), in 1 Samuel 17:28, When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here?
And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.
His brother is probably carrying some animosity that he wasn’t chosen the next king. He underestimated David, belittled him and put him down. He added that he knows how conceited David’s heart was. Talk about passing judgement on someone without knowing what you’re talking about. Do we ever do that? And boy, was he wrong about David. Because David didn’t come to watch, he’s going to win the battle single handedly.
The next person who couldn’t see it was King Saul. When David was going to face Goliath, on page 120, or 1 Samuel 17:33, Saul said, you are not able to go against the Philistine to fight him, you are nothing more than a little boy. That’s what Saul saw in David. But, of course, Saul let David go and fight Goliath, because after all, Saul wasn’t going.
And the last person who could not see it was Goliath. When David came up against him, he saw that David was nothing more than a little boy. There’s that phrase again. So Goliath moved closer to David and on page 120, 1 Samuel 17:43 said, Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick. He calls David a stick. And this would be the last time he would call David a stick. Because in 5 minutes David would be standing on top of Goliath, victorious. You know what else I love about this story, walking in front of Goliath is his shield bearer. Does a guy this big really need a shield bearer?
Verse 48 tells us Goliath moved closer to David, to the battle line, to attack. Everybody could hear the pounding of his gigantic feet as they pounded the earth. You’re David, would you turn and run? Would you ask for some back up? Would you stand there, strong in faith, strong in the message God has given you, that you would be victorious . . . if only you would trust Him?
David didn’t just stand there, he ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead and he fell facedown on the ground.
So David takes him out. Four people couldn’t see it, only one person could. That was Jonathon, who was King Saul’s son. He was next in line to be king of Israel.
After David’s victory, he met with King Saul, who wanted David to come with him, to further his agenda, but we read in 1 Samuel 18:3-4, 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Now Jonathon isn’t just giving any robe to David, he’s giving the royal robe, the robe of a prince, and he’s signifying to David that he understands David will be the next king of Israel, and he wouldn’t. It’s a great reminder that we all need someone like a Jonathon in our lives, someone to help us believe in ourselves. Someone who can see and believes God has a plan for us.
We learn that David is a good king in the day to day responsibilities of a king. He represents God well, people see David as a good king, and see God through David. They have a positive view of God, as one who holy and just, loving and gracious, not cruel and greedy. We will also see the other side of David when we resume the story on January 2, 2011.
For now, other nations would see their growth and how everything they do turns out for the good.
It would cause other nations to wonder why does everything good happen to Israel, and if they were to dig deep enough they would discover it was because of God. And this is precisely what God wanted to see happen.
But there’s even more going on in the upper story. We’ve been uncovering clues from God, in His grand plan to get us back into relationship with Him, and today we see another one. David was from the tribe of Judah, from the city of Bethlehem. It’s a big deal, because the One who was coming would be born from the tribe of Judah and the city of Bethlehem. It’s what we will be talking about for the next several weeks as we look forward to Christmas.
David’s reign pointed us toward the Messiah in the upper story, the one who was to come as God incarnate, God in the flesh. You see, the story in the OT points us to Jesus. Virtually every story points us to Jesus.
In the exodus and 10 plagues, we saw Jesus as the Passover lamb. When we looked at Joshua and his conquering of Canaan, we saw Jesus the Savior. We saw Jesus as the deliverer through the judges, who delivered the Israelites from oppression and sin. We saw Jesus as the redeemer under the leadership of Boaz when he married Ruth.
Just as David was underestimated, so was Jesus. He was born of poor parents in Galilee, born in a smelly barn, born to a simple carpenter. We’ve learned it wasn’t a good idea to underestimate David, it’s also a bad idea to underestimate Jesus.
Today God is calling us to be like David, to point people toward God. Remember David was only 16 years old. So many movements have begun with younger people who have sought a deeper and more powerful relationship with God. So, don’t ever underestimate the children and youth or even the younger adults at FBC or in our community. Instead of thinking we don’t see God in them, let it be one of our values that we do see God in them, and we release them to turn this city upside down for God.
Remember God does not choose us based on our outward appearance. He chooses us based on our heart. He peers into our heart, He looks at the integrity of our heart. We don’t have to be somebody on the outside, we just need to have somebody living vibrantly, living on the inside, whose name is God. And that will make a difference.
As we bring this to a close, let me tell you something . . .
You know the person who almost always will underestimate you the most? Yourself! I hope that you walk out of here today, knowing that this is not how God sees you. You get intimidated and you get overwhelmed with other people and when you look in the mirror and it keeps you from going up to the battle line that God has called you to.
You make excuses, some that are self imposed, some are the lies we’ve believed. You’ve heard it or you’ve thought it . . .
You’re too young . . . you’re too old.
You’re too short . . . you’re too tall.
You’re too fat . . . you’re too skinny.
You’re too smart . . . you’re too dumb.
You’re too cute . . . you’re too ugly.
You don’t live in the right neighborhood.
You’re not from around here.
You don’t have enough money.
You’re clothes aren’t in style.
So you back down, because you’re looking at the outward appearance. Well, today God is asking you to give up, as Zig Zigler would say, ‘that stinkin’ thinkin,’ because that’s not how God keeps score. He wants you to look at your heart and see what’s there. And if you have a pure heart like David did, then you can run to the battle line with confidence knowing that victory is yours.
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