DAVID & THE HOLY SPIRIT
1 Sam. 16:13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. There are a lot of weddings going on. A bride was very unset after her honeymoon so her mother asked her why.
2. "Oh, mother," she began, "The honeymoon was wonderful! But on our way back, Andy started using really horrible language I'd never heard before -- terrible four-letter words!"
3. "But, honey," the mother countered, "What four-letter words did he use?"
4. Still sobbing, the bride said, "Mother, words like dust, wash, iron, cook!"
B. TEXT
“Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David” 1 Sam. 16:13.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re going to look at the Holy Spirit as revealed during the life time of David.
2. The Holy Spirit has come to comfort us, correct us, empower us, guide us, teach us and give us wisdom. A key to everything is whether we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit.
3. The Holy Spirit wants to be active in our lives if we’ll let Him. He wants to make us Christ-like and help us do the work of the Kingdom right now.
4. A Spiritless Christian will produce a Spiritless Church!
5. The title of this message is “David & the Holy Spirit.”
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SAUL & DAVID
A. HOLY SPIRIT: SAUL VS. DAVID
1. There was a fundamental difference between the way the Spirit operated in David’s life and Saul’s life.
2. “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person” 1 Sam 10:6.
3. David’s experience was different than Saul’s. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” 1 Sam. 16:13.
4. The Spirit came “upon” Samson & Saul, but it was only temporary. The Spirit was not present with them in between their emergencies.
5. With David, the Spirit came “into” him; He abode on him continuously. The experience didn’t end after a few minutes.
6. One of the reasons for this was that David recognized his need for the Holy Spirit, and sought His presence, and Saul didn’t.
B. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TO YOU?
1. The story is told that Dr. Walter Wilson once visited a godly man in France. One day he said to Dr. Wilson, "What does the Holy Spirit mean to you?"
2. The doctor answered, "He is one of the Persons of the Godhead." "Yes," replied the man, "that is true, but I asked, what does the Holy Spirit mean to you?"' The doctor again replied, "He is my Teacher. He is the third Person of the Trinity."
3. The godly man looked at him kindly. "You have still not answered my question. What does the Holy Spirit mean to you?"
4. Dr. Wilson saw the truth and made this reply, "He is nothing to me. I have no personal relationship to the Holy Spirit and can live without Him."
5. This was a turning point in Dr. Wilson's spiritual experience. He came into a personal relationship with the Spirit of God and came to know His power in his soul-winning ministry.
II. SECRETS OF DAVID’S CLOSENESS TO THE H.S.
A. HE COMMUNED WITH GOD
David communed with God out on the hills of Bethlehem as a shepherd in the solitude & stillness. Moses found God in the wilderness; so did David.
B. HE BECAME A WORSHIPPER
1. David worshipped God with his harp. He became a Praiser. David wrote many songs of praise to God. 73 Psalms are directly ascribed to him; Psalms 3-9, 11-32, 34-41, 51-66, 68-70, 86, 101, 103, 108-110, 122, 124, 131, 138-145. Psalms 2 and 95 are mentioned in the New Testament as being composed by David.
2. David said, “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” Ps. 34:1. “My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long” Ps. 35:28. “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands” Ps. 63:4. “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle” Ps. 144:1.
3. Not only did David want to praise God himself, he wanted God to be praised by all Israel. When David came to the throne, he took definite steps to bring the Ark of the presence of the Lord to the capital city so Israel could experience God’s presence.
C. DAVID FELL IN LOVE WITH GOD
1. He discovered the presence of God in worship and God became a real Person to him, his best Friend, the Lover of his soul!
2. David then sought to please God in his behavior & conformity of spirit and behavior.
3. He yielded to the Spirit; inquired of the Spirit; sought the favor of the Holy Spirit, etc.
D. MEMORIZED THE WORD.
David made God’s Word part of His life. He mediated upon God’s Law day and night. He wrote songs that sang praises of God’s Word.
E. ILLUS.: STORAGE OR CONTACT?
1. Cars run on the storage principle - fuel is stored in the vehicle and then it runs out as the vehicle is driven.
2. Electric trains run on the contact principle - they maintain contact with the source of power.
3. David’s experience of the Spirit was based on the contact principle.
III. HOW THE H.S. HELPED DAVID
A. THE HOLY SPIRIT PROTECTED DAVID
1. “So he [Saul] sent men to capture him [David]. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied….Saul went to [arrest David]….But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 1 Sam. 19:20,23.
B. THE HOLY SPIRIT ENLISTED FOLLOWERS
“Then the Spirit came on Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, David! We are with you, son of Jesse! Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you.” 1 Chr. 12:18.
C. THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTED DAVID
1. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” Ps. 51:11.
2. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Ps. 139:7.
D. GAVE DAVID PLANS FOR TEMPLE
“He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things” 1 Chron. 28:12.
E. ILLUS. Holy Spirit our Personal Trainer
1. The Holy Spirit is our personal trainer. He encourages, disciplines, tells us to take a break, and keeps us on track.
2. Thank God the Holy Spirit is working with us to grow us up in Christ. We can’t see the end product yet, but He can.
IV. THE HOLY SPIRIT DAVID’S GUIDE
A. DAVID LED BY THE SPIRIT (Wisdom, Knowledge)
1. “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground” Ps. 143:10.
2. WHEN FLEEING FROM SAUL
a. “But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth” 1 Sam. 22:5.
b. David “inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 1 Sam. 23:2.
c. 12 Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will.” 1 Sam. 23:12.
3. INQUIRING OF GOD IN KINGSHIP
a. “In the course of time, David inquired of the LORD. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.” 2 Sam. 2:1.
b. “David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.” 2 Sam. 5:19.
c. “Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees…” 2 Sam. 5:22-23.
d. “Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer… (3 judgments for numbering the troops). 2 Sam. 24:11.
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. Having the Holy Spirit guide you can be compared to Paper Maps or Google Maps.
2. Having a paper map is good, until it gets dark, then it’s really hard to make out street names or landmarks. How much better to have a personal guide who unfailingly points you in the right direction.
3. The computer knows where you are and where you want to go, and all the traffic in between, and can lead you in the best route.
4. All you have to do is follow the little blue dot down the purple line. If you had. Once you’ve gotten used to Google Maps, it’s hard to go back to paper maps!
5. Similarly, how foolish, if you have the Holy Spirit to guide you, to go back to human wisdom and guesswork!
C. USED DAVID IN PROPHESY
1. “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue” 2 Sam. 23:2.
2. “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ Mk. 12:36 (Ps. 110:1; Mt. 22:43).
3. “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus” Acts 1:16.
4. “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?’” Acts 4:25 (Ps. 2:1).
5. “But he [David] was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne” Acts 2:30.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. When General Stonewall Jackson’s army once found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other side.
2. After telling his engineers to plan and build a bridge so the army could cross, he called his wagon master in to tell him that it was urgent the wagon train cross the river as soon as possible.
3. The wagon master started gathering all the logs, rocks and fence rails he could find and built a bridge. Long before day light General Jackson was told by his wagon master all the wagons and artillery had crossed the river.
4. General Jackson asked where are the engineers and what are they doing? The wagon master’s only reply was that they were in their tent drawing up plans for a bridge. (J.B. Gambrel, Pulpit Helps, May, 1991.)
5. This is true of the Holy Spirit: He can get more done overnight than you can do in 100 years! Depend on Him!
B. THE CALL
1. The Holy Spirit has come to comfort us, correct us, empower us, guide us, teach us and give us wisdom. A key to everything is whether we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit.
2. Will we depend on Him? Is He just a part of our theology or is He an integral part of our daily walk with God?
3. Let’s make plans now to draw near to God and yield to the Holy Spirit. Let’s ask Him to fill us and to do the greater things through us that we couldn’t accomplish in our own abilities.
