THE STORY OF KINGS AND PROPHETS #1: DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
INTRO TO THE STORY OF KINGS AND PROPHETS:
God brought His people into the Promised Land where He was their king. God raised up Judges to deliver them from their enemies. But the people complained and wanted a king just like the other nations. So God gave them King Saul, who rebelled against God and lost His throne.
• THE CHALLENGE: Let’s read through The Story together over the next five months!
THE BIG IDEA: Because David was a man after God’s own heart, his life is an example for us to follow.
1. DESTINY: DAVID IS CHOSEN AS KING:
“Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” (1 Samuel 16:1, NKJV).
• Then Samuel went to Jesse’s house and Jesse called in his seven oldest sons.
“6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these." 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here. 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!"” (1 Samuel 16:6-12).
• We too have a Destiny in the Lord! God created you and chooses and loves YOU!
• Note: There was a 14 year period from the time David was anointed as king until he actually stepped into that destiny. Sometimes we will go through a wilderness/valley!
A. GOD SAW DAVID WITH THE POTENTIAL OF A KING:
“And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:21-22).
• David was a man after God’s own heart, and God believed in David.
1. OTHERS DID NOT SEE DAVID WITH THE POTENTIAL OF A KING:
• His dad Jesse did not even summon David when Samuel came to anoint a new king.
• David’s older brother scolded him for coming to watch the battle.
• King Saul viewed David as a young boy and not king material.
• Goliath called David “just a boy” just before David killed him.
2. FRIENDSHIP: JONATHAN ENCOURAGED DAVID IN THE LORD:
“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” (1 Sam. 18:1-4).
“And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” (1 Samuel 23:14-17).
• Jonathan was a good friend who strengthened David’s hand in the Lord!
• This is one of my favourite stories about friendship in the Bible.
• As Christians, we need to encourage one another in the Lord. We can do this by praying with and for each other, and encouraging each other with God’s Word.
• Jonathan encouraged David with his destiny: “You shall be king!”
• “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11, NLT).
• And sure enough, in the Lord’s timing, David became the next king of Israel.
3. HEART: DAVID WAS A PASSIONATE WORSHIPPER OF THE LORD:
“1 A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.” (Psalm 63:1-4).
• This is one of my favourite Psalms written by David. David put God first in his life!
“12 Now it was told King David, saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” (2 Samuel 6:12-16).
• David danced before the Lord with all of his might – leaping and whirling around.
• What kind of a worshipper are we? Are we like David, or are we more like Michal?
“20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!" 21 So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor." 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” (2 Samuel 6:20-23).
• Michal criticized David for his undignified dance. What was his response?
• “It was before the Lord.” In other words, he was doing it for an audience of one.
• Sometimes we care more about what other people around us think than what God thinks.
APPLICATION:
1. DESTINY: Like David, we too have been chosen by God and have a destiny in Him!
• “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself… by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:4-6).
2. FRIENDSHIP: Like Jonathan, we should encourage others in the Lord.
• “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,12, NKJV).
3. HEART: Like David, we should be passionate worshippers of Jesus!
• “Jesus said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37, NKJV).
CLOSING CHALLENGE:
It’s a New Year – the old has gone, the new has come.
Let’s forget the past, and reach forward to all the good things the Lord has destined for us!
Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor’s Blog: http://pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com/
