Title: Who Am I – 3
“Knowing Who You Are”
Text I Peter 2:9
It is essential for every believer to understand and know who they are in Christ. So far, in this series, we have determined that the only person who determines who we are is us. Your financial situation does not determine who you are. Your job does not determine who you are. Your biological parents don’t even determine who you are, the only ones that can determine who we are is us. My goal throughout this series is to challenge each and every one of us to look into God’s Word to find out who God says we are. It really doesn’t matter who society say we are and it really makes no difference who man says that I am; only God’s opinion of me matters. Only God’s opinion of you should matter. This series is about taking some time to refocus our thoughts and remembering not to look at circumstances to determine our outcome in life, but to look to God.
The majority of Christians feel unworthy to be used of the Lord for one reason or another. We don’t feel qualified, we don’t feel that we have what it takes, but I want to show you in the Bible that God thinks differently. For the past couple of weeks we have been exploring the lives of several men in the Bible that felt the same way that most of us feel. Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should deliver your people out of Egypt?” Jeremiah said to God, “I can’t do what you are asking me to do, I cannot speak for I am only a child.” Isaiah said, “I am a man undone, I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. I cannot do what you are asking me to do.” God’s response to every one of these men was the same. Don’t be concerned with who you are in the natural, only be concerned with who is with you. He promises them, “I will not leave you. I will go before you. I will be with you every step of the way.” We know that God never changes, so if He promises to be with these men, He promises to be with you in every area of your life. He is reminding you today, “Don’t be concerned with who you are outside of me, just be concerned who you are with Me on your side.” After all, He is in covenant with each and every one of us.
For the past couple of weeks we have been talking about the fact that you are not alone. Today, I want to go a little bit deeper. I want to start talking about some men in the Bible that knew exactly who they were and who they were in covenant with. Who knows, by the end of this series we may talk about every man in the Bible. The most obvious man in the Bible that knew who He was through God Jehovah was:
DAVID
Let’s start out with the most obvious courageous thing that David did and why he did it.
I Samuel 17:32; “And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
Before we go on any further let me give you a little background to this story. There is a giant called Goliath that is threatening the people of Israel. He is yelling at them and taunting them just begging for someone from their camp to come out and fight against him. David comes on the scene while this is going on and begins to question why in the world is no one fighting this giant. Everyone in the camp is scared of this giant. David comes to Saul, the King, and says why is everyone so worried about that giant? This giant is no big deal. Let me go out and fight him. Let’s keep reading and find out what Saul’s response to David is:
I Samuel 17:33; “And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
Saul says, “I can’t let you go out there and fight that man. You are just a kid, this giant is not only a giant, but he has been trained since he was just a child in warfare. You wouldn’t stand a chance against him.” David’s response:
I Samuel 17:34-35; “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.”
David still has more to say after this, but I want to stop right here for a second and draw your attention to something that maybe you have never seen before. In this Scripture we find that David truly knew who He was in covenant with. David says:
“There came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.”
I wasn’t afraid of that lion in the least. I took that lamb out of his mouth, the lion tried to get up and attack me, I grabbed him by the beard and killed him right there on the spot. I want you to notice, most people in their right mind would never grab a lion, but even if they did, don’t you think that they would try to grab him by the tail, not David. He grabbed him by the beard and killed him. Amazing! What kind of boy would do such a thing? Only a boy that knew who He was in God! Let’s read on:
I Samuel 17:36-37; “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.”
Do you see the confidence in David’s voice? This is a man that knows His God and also knows what His God will do with a person that is totally surrendered to Him. David says, “Saul, don’t worry about me. This uncircumcised (out of covenant) man has defied the armies of living God; he doesn’t stand a chance against me.” Some people would say, well that boy was awful cocky. No, that boy was not cocky, he was confident in his God. This is someone who knew his God and knew who he was in covenant with.
Instead of reading the rest of chapter 17, I will paraphrase it for you. David gets out on that field and Goliath says, “What are you going to do, throw stones at me? I am going to rip your head off and feed your flesh to the birds.” David answers Goliath and says, “You are a fool. You don’t even have a covenant with God. I want to remind you, I am a covenant man. You come against me in your strength and your might. I come against you in the name of Jehovah God.”
David threw that stone with that slingshot and caught Goliath right between the eyes. David still wasn’t finished. He took Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. Then David took that head with all the blood and brains flying everywhere and shook it at the Philistines. They took one look at that little boy and ran for their lives. David trusted in his God fully. No doubt that he was victorious because he understood who was behind him. He understood that he was not going out there in David’s name or Jesse’s name, He was going out there in the Name of Jehovah God.
We need to start holding our head high and remind those ugly giants in your life just who you are in covenant with. Remind that devil and every other struggle going on in your life that Jehovah God is backing you up.
This was just one instance in the life of David. If we had time we could do a study on his life alone and find instance after instance of knowing who he was. Yes, but David was such a good man, he was worthy of the Lord using him. I want to skip ahead a few years in David’s life. We will find out “worthy” he was.
II Samuel 11:1-5; ¶ “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.”
We don’t have time to read the rest of the chapter. If we did, we would find that David didn’t stop with adultery, he had a man killed to cover his little secret. This does not sound like a very worthy man. At the end of II Samuel 11 we find that this displeased the Lord.
The beginning of II Samuel 12 we find a really harsh rebuke from Nathan. There were tremendous consequences to David’s actions and sins. Sins will never go unpunished. But even after David’s failure, he did not give up. Read II Samuel 12 when you go home today and see all the things that took place. After David’s horrible act of disobedience against the Lord, we find his repentance over this sin:
Psalm 51:1-19; ¶ “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 ¶ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14 ¶ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”
I wanted to show you this whole instance of David’s failure, not to focus on his failure, but to focus on his repentance. How is it that God can use a man that would do such wicked things and still say that David had a heart after God? It is because of his repentant heart. God can do amazing and limitless things if we have a repentant heart before Him. David went on to do exploits for the Lord and it had everything to do with his heart.
You may be here today and say I have done to many things for the Lord to use me that way. I am sure that you have never done what David did and even if you did, with a repentant heart, the Lord forgives and justifies you, which means He makes you just as if you never sinned. It is not too late to start over.
