And Then There Was One
Psalm 73:25-26
How many of you have prayed something similar to this: “Lord, I am a sinner. I confess my life is a mess and I ask You, by the blood of Jesus, to wash away my sins. I desire to have you be the Lord and Savior of my life. I no longer want to run my life because I’ve done such a poor job. I now turn over the rule and reign of my heart to You.” Raise your hand if you have prayed to ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your eternal life.
Now keep your hands up if you were surprised that God took your prayer seriously and saved you? No hands? You prayed a prayer of faith to be saved from the penalty of your sin and God said, “Okay.” You asked God to be your Lord and Savior and God said, “Okay.” Then why is life harder in so many ways after you prayed that prayer than before? Why do you seem to be facing so many difficulties – difficulties you don’t remember facing before you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? I’ll tell you. It is because you asked Him to be your Lord and Savior that life got difficult, for even though you asked God to be your Lord and the Master of our life, God still needs to educate you on how many other things in your life you are putting in the place of God. Your old gods don’t die so easily.
God never intended there to be anything in our life that takes His place in our hearts. God also loves us enough to bring us to the point where we can sing this morning’s passage, “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26). He does this by removing the idols and crutches in our life that show we do not rely solely on Him. He does this because He did not create us to function as a fully developed human being by putting anything in His place. He loves us enough to take away those things that would distract us from making God the true Lord and Savior of our life and living below our created potential. For when all the idols are put away, we finally realize that there is One in Heaven that we desire more than anything on earth. Bit by bit God wants to remove all our crutches and alliances that we think give us comfort and answers so we will learn to seek Him first. He wants us to learn to put away everything that would hinder putting Him first and when we do we can finally say, “And then there was One, and He is God.”
What I want to do is take us through the five things that David had to let go in order to know that God was the only One he could truly rely on. God loved David enough, and He loves us enough, to remove our crutches so we can truly sing Psalm 73 and say we desire God more than anything on earth. For only when we put God and His kingdom first in our life will we finally be living that prayer when we asked God to be not just the Savior but the Lord of our life. So, the first thing David had to lose so God could truly be God in his live was—
1. His good position (1 Sam. 18:10-18; 19:9-10). Last week we saw how Saul first became suspicious of David, then he became jealous, and then he became violent, hurling a spear at the harp-playing David with the intent of pinning him against the wall. But David escaped to live another day. And another day arrives to find David once again playing the harp for Saul, which is not a move I would be comfortable making myself, nor would I ever let my kid head back into that situation. But David must still be hopeful that Saul will amend his ways or he wouldn’t have returned. David is one of those eternal optimists, which I like. He is also a bit naïve, which I understand, for I can be both overly optimistic and at times a bit naïve. So after the first time David dodges a spear, Saul sends David out to battle the Philistines and David is again victorious. So in chapter 19 Saul urges his servants and his son to assassinate David, but Jonathan sends David into hiding and then defends him by reminding Saul of everything David has done for Israel, and Saul vows not to kill David. Jonathan then brings David back to the Saul and once again David is serving in the court, killing Philistines and playing the harp. A weird kind of bi-vocational life, I know, but that was David.
But later Saul is sitting at home with a spear in his hand when the tormenting spirit comes upon him and he tries to kill David, who once again flees into the night, never to play the harp for Saul again. So the first crutch that David had to lean upon is now taken away from him – the crutch of a good position. Actually, two good positions. First he played the harp for Saul and that was gone. Then David became the head of Saul’s army, but after this last incident with the spear David will never again serve in Saul’s army.
I’ve lost a couple of positions in my life. I’ve been fired from jobs on more than one occasion, and I lost two ministry positions within six months before I moved to Independence. Many of us find our identity in what we do, and we judge others based on what they do, which is why when we initially meet people it is not long before we ask them, “So, what do you do for a living?”
It was a wonderful thing to finally be able to tell people that I was the pastor of the church and not the janitor. I didn’t spend four years at Bible College so I could clean toilets and preach from the pulpit once a year, which was what I was doing. So when I finally became the senior Pastor in Tahlequah I was more than happy to tell people of my new position. But that position, and the position I had after I merged my church with another church were both gone within six months, and I was now back in the toilet business, only this time I wasn’t cleaning them, I was selling them. I was proud of my pastoral position and was thinking I finally made it, but now I look back and see that perhaps I’d put God second to my title. This is why when I introduce myself to people I say, “Hi. My name is Jim.” Not only do I prefer to be called Jim, it reminds me that my position as pastor is just my position; it does not describe who I am. Even when I introduce myself to first-time guests in the church I don’t always tell them I’m the pastor. I figure if they hang out until the sermon starts they’ll figure it out themselves.
Question: Has God ever removed you from a position to show you He was to be your first priority?
The next thing David lost was his relationship with—
2. His wife (1 Sam. 19:11-17). After David fled from Saul’s spear for the second time, David headed home to his wife Michal. She was the one Saul wanted 100 Philistine foreskins for as a dowry, hoping the Philistines would do the job his spear couldn’t. Now Saul has sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him and gave them orders to kill him in the morning. Michal tells David to flee the house or he’d be dead by morning, and she lets him down through a window and he escapes into the night.
Michal then put a dumb idol in his bed and covered it with goat’s hair for a head. When the troops came to arrest David she told him he was sick and couldn’t come out to greet them. And like a bunch of dummies, they went back to Saul and reported that David was too sick to get out of bed and get murdered! Now Saul was really enraged, and Saul orders them to bring back David, bed and all so he could murder him personally. But when they went to his bed, all they found was the idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair.
Now David is a fugitive, running to get away from Saul and Michal deceives her father so David can escape. What comes around goes around. Not only was Saul a liar and deceiver, so was his daughter. When questioned, Michal complicates her lie with another lie, telling her father she had to lie because David threatened to kill her if she didn’t help him. Never again will David and Michal live in harmony. And her lie doesn’t help David; it only deepens Saul’s anger towards him. Later we learn that Michal loved David for what David could do for her, not for the Kingdom. When David danced before the Lord in 2 Sam. 6:15-16, we read that Michael hated him for how he looked. In her eyes it wasn’t the proper way for a king to distinguish himself. David tells her that he doesn’t care how other people react to his worship and praise of God, for in his own eyes—and in the eyes of the faithful—he has done what is right.
The third thing David lost was his relationship with—
3. His prophet (1 Sam. 19:18-19; 20:1). After fleeing from his wife, David did the natural thing and ran to Samuel, his prophet and, if I can call him this, his spiritual advisor, telling him everything that happened. And Samuel offers David some solemn and earthly advice: Don’t go home; come with me to Naioth (nay-I-oath), to the place where a group of the prophets lived. So David and Samuel went together, but they weren’t there very long before someone informed Saul that “David was at Naioth in Ramah” (1 Sam. 19:19), so David once again has to flee.
This is the third crutch in David’s life that he now lost as he ran from Saul. At this point one has to wonder if there is any length God will not go to break us from everything we hold onto that takes His Holy place, and the answer is no. Even our closest spiritual friends are subject to removal if we are seeking them in the place of the Lord.
When I was in college I met a guy who was a couple of years older than me and had much more experience in life – both worldly and spiritually. He became one of my closest friends and confidants. He was my spiritual advisor before, during and after I went to the monastery, and was even the one who calmed my fears about my readiness to get married and helped me to confront some other spiritual leaders when they made untrue allegations regarding my behavior and attitude. When I had questions, this was the man I went to.
But about seven years ago that all changed. He stopped calling and wouldn’t return my calls. His wife told me he was hurt and angry at me but he wouldn’t talk with me about it, and we haven’t talked since 2006. And I have to admit, in the place of my advisor I have truly had to rely upon God in ways that I never did before.
As a result, I know that God has drawn me closer to Him in ways I may have missed had I continued to use this man as a spiritual crutch. I hope one day the two of us can sit down and talk about what God has done in our lives over the years, but I know even if that never happens, God’s love for him is the same as His love for me, and one day we will meet again and have a face to face conversation in the presence of our Lord.
4. His closest friend (1 Sam. 20). Now David is feeling the squeeze. He’s lost his position, his wife and his spiritual advisor, and now he goes to the one person he knows will always love and support him: Jonathan. David cries out to Jonathan, “What have I done? Of what am I guilty? What crime have I committed against your father to make him want to kill me?” (1 Sam. 20:1). And Jonathan, quite incredulously, says, “Impossible! Don’t worry about it. You’re not going to die” (1 Sam. 20:2). But the truth was Saul did want David dead.
After working out a way that Jonathan could signal David if Saul really did want him dead, Jonathan went to have dinner with his dad. After a heated exchange where Jonathan asked permission to go to Bethlehem and Saul called Jonathan, “a son of a degenerate and rebellious woman” (1 Sam. 20:30) that ends with Saul hurling a spear at Jonathan (I think some people should really think about not carrying spears!), Jonathan returns to where David is hiding. David bows to Jonathan three times and then kisses Jonathan as they both weep.
Finally Jonathan sends David away with these words: “Go in peace, for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the LORD’s name. The LORD is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever” (1 Sam. 20:42). Then David left and Jonathan returned to the city. Fortunately, that wasn’t the last time they saw one another. I believe God was removing Jonathan from David’s life as David moved into a realm of spiritual worship Jonathan may not have been capable of.
If you are truly dedicated to making God your complete Lord and Savior beyond what is typically seen on a Sunday morning in America, it will mean that you will grow in God in such a way that you will begin to separate yourself from certain relationships. Furthermore, others will begin to separate from you. Jesus wasn’t shy about telling us we would need to leave father and mother and family to follow Him (Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30). He didn’t mince words when He told us we needed to take up our Cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23). The fact is many of us, in our daily worship Christ, will make the decision to leave others behind.
In Genesis 22 we read about God’s instructions to Abraham to go up on a mountain and offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Now THAT is a dedication to God. So Abraham lumbers off with Isaac, some wood and a few of his servants to the place God shows him (Gen. 22:2) on Mount Moriah. 2 Chron. 3:1 tells us this is the place that Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem.
After traveling for three days Abraham comes to the place God has been leading him. Then in verse 5 Abraham says to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here” (The Voice). These servants have been with Abraham a long time, and they just traveled with him, in faith, to find the place God would show to Abraham after they left home. But when they get to Mount Moriah, Abraham leaves the servants behind and goes up to worship God by showing he is willing to put God above everything else, including the son he waited 25 years to have.
There are times in your life when, if you get sold-out serious with God, you will leave people behind. You will no longer be able to rely upon them to serve you and meet your needs. When you desire to climb higher in the things of God and are willing to sacrifice to know and obey Him, you will find people who once enjoyed your presence and your friendship no longer want to travel with you along your road. But that is okay, because it is then, when you’ve lost the crutch of such friendships, that God reveals Himself to you in miraculous and life-altering ways.
Question: Can you name some friends who are no longer as close to you since you committed your life to God?
The fifth thing David loses is—
5. His self respect (1 Sam. 21). But this wasn’t really something God took away; it was something David forfeits. First David visits Nob, where the Tabernacle is and priest Ahimelech greets David with fears and questions. Ahimelech says, “Why are you here alone, without anyone else?” And David answers with this two lies: “The king has give me a mission that is not to be revealed to anyone else, (1st lie), and my servants are waiting for me at a place where I have sent them” (2nd lie, 1 Sam. 21:1-2). Next David, still on the run, left Ahimelech and went to Saul’s enemy, King Achish of Gath. Gath? Do you recall who else was from Gath? Somebody quickly turn to 1 Sam. 17:4. Goliath!
Since the king’s servants reminded him just who David was, David had to change tactics. Fearing what Achish might do, David began to put on an award-winning show, pretending to be insane, scratching at the doors of the city gates and drooling on his beard. And, in a moment of biblical mirth, Achish says, “Don’t I have enough crazy people around here already, or did you think I might need yet another?” (1 Sam. 21:15). This was a man who had people singing that he was a giant-slayer and has killed his tens of thousands, who now has with dirt under his fingernails and drool running down his beard. You can’t fall any farther than that. But even our own great thoughts about ourselves must come to an end if we are going to serve God and God alone. At this point in David’s life we come to understand the title of this message, for now there was only One person left in David’s life, and that was God. All the other crutches were gone.
In this regard, Charles Swindoll writes about three problems with crutches.
A. They become a substitute for God. Let’s read Psalm 73:25-26 again. “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” God wants to sustain us in our life, but He cannot do it if we are leaning on anything else. What are we substituting for God?
B. They keep our focus horizontal. We can never look up to God when we are looking for people or things to sustain us. We know we’re leaning on other things when we’re in trouble and our first thought is a person or a thing and God becomes our second thought. Is our focus horizontal or vertical?
C. They offer temporary relief. All earthly help without God’s involvement will be temporary. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t use people. He does it all the time. The fact is too many times we’re looking to people and things to help us when we should look to Him, for He is the only One who is eternal. Everyone we know will one day move on in our life, but God remains. If you lose everything that David did, can you still sing to God, “You are the strength of my heart and mind forever?”
Question: Has God shown you any of your crutches this morning?
