A Fugitive Becomes King
Thesis: The only way a fugitive can become king is to have the qualities of patience and humility. These two character traits will always propel a fugitive into a leader for the Lord.
Texts: II Samuel 1-5:5
Key verses:
II Samuel 2:1 “ In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord . ‘shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?’ He asked. The Lord said, “Go up.”
II Samuel 2:4 “ Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and there anointed David king over the house of Judah.”
II Samuel 3:1 “ The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”
II Samuel 4:7-12 – scene where David orders the execution of Recab and his brother for murdering King Ish-Bosheth of Israel.
II Samuel 5:1-5
1. All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "We are your own flesh and blood.
2. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, `You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’"
3. When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Introduction: Why would a fugitive become a King? Because he had the character! David modeled in his life the character traits of the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-26:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
David’s life reveals that he had these attributes in motion.
i. He was faithful to God.
1. In the quiet fields
2. In the midst of battle
3. In the days of being a fugitive
4. In the days of being king
ii. He had peace in the midst of fighting Goliath he was not an emotional wreck. While being chased as a fugitive by King Saul he demonstrated a heart at peace.
1. Because of his faith and trust in God he had peace-a few times he panicked but when he refocused on God he calmed down.
iii. He had integrity. And it was demonstrated through his acts of gentleness, kindness, goodness and self-control.
1. The way he dealt with his men.
2. The way he kept his word
3. The way he dealt with Saul
4. The way he stayed true to his beliefs in God
iv. He had patience
1. David knew how to wait on the Lord!
2. We will talk about this more later.
v. He had humility
1. I believe David could see that pride destroyed King Saul and therefore he would never let pride take root in his life.
2. He constantly gave himself reality checks-We will explore this later.
vi. He had a love for God
1. Psalms is full of David’s love songs to the Lord.
2. His worship was driven out of his love for the Lord.
3. He genuinely loved everything about the Lord even his correction.
vii. He had the joy of the Lord and was not ashamed of it
1. He danced before the Lord –out of pure joy!
2. He was not ashamed of his joy for the Lord even though others where.
3. His love for God drove Him into the arms of Joy!
All these qualities set a fugitive on the path to becoming king but I would like us to look at the two very important character traits he had.
I. The main reason this fugitive became king was he had the patience to wait on the Lord’s timing.
a. Scripture tells us that patience is a virtue – and Galatians tells us it is one of the fruits of the Spirit.
i. Ephesians 4:1,2: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
1. Notice the challenge here by Paul-“Live a life worthy of the calling.” – David lived the life worthy of the calling-the anointing he received from the Lord- We should as Paul addressed be “completely humble-and-patient.”
2. Hebrews 6:12 states, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
a. David did not become lazy in the Lord –he patiently served the Lord through the years of waiting.
3. Lets look first at this word “patience”.
ii. Patience – you know that time when you sit and calmly wait-the time when the minutes seem like hours. You know the time when you become angry because it’s taking to long. You know the time when the disease of “Hurry up” takes over.
iii. I have to be honest with you “I sometimes suffer from this disease!” Just the other day I was sitting at a stop sign behind another car and she was not moving “I responded with a beep and muttered get out of the way lady your holding me up- I responded to myself” I have very important business I need to get done”-what that business was -I really don’t know?
1. But I have convinced myself that there was something!
2. Quote from Ortberg’s book, “Not long after moving to Chicago, I called a wise friend to ask for some spiritual direction. I described the pace at which things tend to move in my current setting. I told him about the rhythms of our family life and about the present condition of my heart, as best I could discern it. What did I need to do, I asked him to be spiritually healthy? Long pause. ‘You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.’ He said at last, Another long pause. ‘Okay I have written that down,’ I told him, a little impatiently. ’That’s a good one. Now what else is there?’ I had many things to do, and this was a long distance conversation, so I was anxious to cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible. Another long pause. ’There is nothing else,’ he said’ (81).
Orteberg quotes Thomas Kelly, “People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity” (81).
iv. There is a lot of people saying today,” Patience, I do not have time for it!”
1. “You see I’m very busy running the kids to sports stuff and school stuff.’
2. “I cannot wait patiently – I have to close the next deal!’
3. “I need to hurry because then I will have more time!’
4. “I have to get down this street in 6 minutes or my day is ruined!’
5. “Patience, Bu Hum Bug!
v. But have you ever noticed that God –requires us to have patience?
1. Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
2. I Thessalonians. 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
3. I Cor. 13:4 “Love is patient…”
4. God desires us to be patient- Carl Jung stated, “Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil’ (Ortberg, 82).
a. Does this give you a different view or “Hurry-Hurrry!’
b. Last week we discovered how David inquired of the Lord for direction. But what stands out more than this is David inquired of the Lord and listened and then responded appropriately-He waited!
i. David after being anointed king by Samuel waited-He did not run to take the throne.
1. He waited 15 years before he was anointed king of Judah.
a. The lesson here to learn is that just because you have been anointed to do something for the Lord does not mean it will happen tomorrow.
i. It could take a long time to come to fulfillment.
ii. But remember all along the way of getting there is growing and teaching time.
iii. How good of a student are you?
iv. Are you growing or are you just blowing around in the wind.
v. Learn this principle lack of patience comes from a disordered heart. A heart not aligned with the priorities God desires.
b. The other lesson to learn here is God’s not plagued with the “Hurry up disease”. God is not in a hurry!
i. In fact- God knows he has all the time in world at his disposal and if he feels he needs to use it he will.
ii. Others who waited patiently on the Lord
1. Abraham and Sarah
2. Moses
3. Joshua, Kaleb
4. d
5. Daniel- prayer a long time until something broke in the spiritual realm.
a. By the way we need to be praying patiently on the presidential race that God’s will would be done.
b. Keep praying
2. David then waited 7 more years before being anointed king of Israel total time of waiting- 22 years.
a. Another lesson to learn here on patience is some have blown it and failed with God because they could not wait for his timing.
i. They try to make it occur.
ii. Exodus 32 shows what happens when we do not learn the virtue of patience and waiting on God.
iii. When we are driven by the “Hurry up disease” we usually make mistakes by making ourselves golden cows.
1. This sin of lack of patience cost the Israelites 40 YEARS OF WONDERING IN THE WILDERNESS.
2. To truly learn what patience is all about.
3. A lesson on patience here says “Just hang on and wait on God because if you take matters into your own hands you may delay the up and coming blessing.” In reality you may even do something to lose the promise!
3. David’s life paints the picture of a patient man. Not a man in hurry-not a man on a mission to fulfill by his own mighty “Call of God”. No he sat back and let the Lord do the” timing principle”.
a. The “Timing-principle” is this “God has a plan and a purpose and all time is being directed by Him and when he decides that the times is perfect it will happen-it will not happen an sooner or later if he does not will it so-so learn to wait patiently.”
i. If you must memorize this thought-meditate on it and don’t blow it off because you are in a hurry!
ii. Some of you the disease is already kicking in-Your saying get on with the next point-I need to hear the next point-We are wasting time- move it! Faster-quicker-speed is what I need! I need speed!
1. Say it again “ I need speed-speed is what I need.’
2. No patience is what you need- times of slowing down and meditating on the Lord.
3. Speed has to do with greed- I believe.
ii. David did not kill Saul –at the two opportune times –to become king (I Samuel 24,26).
1. He waited on the Lord many years while running for his life.
2. He did not try to make it happen by his might-he allowed God to do it in his timing.
3. Just look at the Psalms repeatedly these works of art and encouragement were written in times of waiting on the Lord.
a. Psalm 40:1 “ I waited patiently for the Lord…”
iii. David did not take over the nation of Israel and become king when Saul died (II Samuel 1-3)
1. No he went to Judah after inquiring of the Lord –and they made him king! Then he waited seven YEARS.
a. Now I want you to know that David did not sit back and do nothing-he was busy doing the work of running Judah.
b. When he was on the run he was helping others out while he waited.
c. He was writing songs of worship while he waited..
d. He was doing the Lord’s work while he waited.
e. He did not sit back a passively do nothing – he was involved and that is crucial to understand.
f. He prayed and praised.
g. He trained others and served others.
iv. David’s heart and mindset of patience is revealed in Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
T.S.- David had patience to wait but the other quality that helped him to wait was his character trait of humility.
II. The second reason a fugitive became king was he had humility.
a. Humility looks like this: A person who is humble is one who is not arrogant or overly assertive. It’s one who is known for being workable –and teachable from and with others.
i. I believe that patience and humility are linked together and one helps to accomplish the other.
b. A person who is not humble is one who is prideful
c. David had humility
i. David had humility because he knew that God was the king maker-not man-not what he David would do but what God would do.
ii. David also had humility because he yielded to others-wisdom and direction.
iii. His humility is also evident in his dealing with a twisted disturbed king. He still was humble enough in their dealings that David always treated him with respect.
1. A humble person is a person who treats others with respect.
iv. David’s humility was present because of his faith and love for the Lord.
1. Andrew Murray said, “We can never have more faith than we have humility.” He continues, “As long as we take glory from another, we do not seek and cannot receive the glory that comes from God.”
a. Murray states, “We need only think for a moment what faith is. Is not the confession of nothingness and helplessness, the surrender and the waiting to let God work? Is it not in itself the most humbling thing there can be-the acceptance of our place as dependents, who can claim or get or do nothing but what grace bestows? Humility is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living on trust. And every, even the most secret, breathing of pride-in self seeking, self-will, self confidence, or self-exultation-is just the strengthening of that self which cannot enter the kingdom or possess the things of the kingdom, because it refuses to allow God to be what He is and must be-the all in all” (46).
2. Humility releases more of the Spirit of God because it gets the “self” out of the way..
3. Sittser notes, “If God is not in control, then we should abandon faith and find our own way through the hard times of life”(38).
4. Teach-ability is closely linked with humility and only through humility is more of the Spirit of God released in a persons life. David was very teachable and his humility helped him to be teachable and correctable.
d. Read the Psalms
i. All through Psalms David’s humility rises to the top
e. Look at his lifestyle
i. He was the ultimate servant–full of humility
f. Look at his leadership style
i. He was a servant leader
Conclusion:
The patience in the Lord and the humility of David paved the way for him to become king. So let me ask you – Is patience and humility paving the way for you to become a leader in the kingdom of God? If not then get a prescription from the Lord to heal you of the “Hurry up disease’ and “Pride disease.”
