Let God Do It His Way
8/1/99 1 Samuel 24:1-22 1 Peter 4:12-19 1 Samuel 26:1-25
When a woman is pregnant, she is going to have a baby. A normal baby takes about nine months to get here. Now what would you think if the woman became so excited about the baby coming into the word that she demanded the doctors give her a C section early in the seventh month? We all know that it would be foolish to do when neither the mother or child’s health is at stake.
There are going to be times in our lives, when God is going to want to do something great in and through us. Even though we may know its going to happen, we have to be careful not to force some things to happen to soon. Sometimes we have to wait for God’s timing to make it happen. One of the great lessons every believer is going to have to learn is to "let God do it His way." It’s not that God is against you and your desires, it’s that God has a plan and a purpose for your in mind, but we all need more equipping than we think to handle the situations which God knows are coming our way.
In our Old Testament reading, we read about David. Do you remember who David was. He was the youngest of eight sons of a man named Jesse. His father did not think much of him, and had pretty much written him off. But God saw something special in the heart of David. God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David to one day be the future king of the nation of Israel.
The only problem was there was already a king over the nation of Israel. But God started preparing David to be a great leader and a person and faith and courage. In the beginning the lessons were great. David killed the giant Goliath and everyone rejoiced. He was made the general of King Saul’s army, and God led him from one victory to another. You talk about timing. David was in the right place at the right time, and the enemy was defeated time and time again. The way God was preparing him for his future job was amazing.
But then David had learn not only how to handle success as God prepared him to become king, he also had to learn how to handle defeat as God continued to prepare him for being king. Do you realize , where ever God is leading in your life, you have to know how to handle success and disappointments. Nobody wins all of the time in life.
David’s quick rise to the top, made King Saul a little nervous. But when the King heard the women singing, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.” The king became very upset and jealous. He made up his mind that he would have to get rid of David. At first he tried killing him by sending him into battles he did not think David could possibly win. Then he tried killing him, through throwing a spear at him. Then he tried by sending others after him to hunt him down. Finally he tried to kill him by going after him with 3,000 men.
When David heard the good news of one day becoming king, he did not know that part of the lesson would include personal and live training sessions on how to avoid assassination attempts on your life. Many of the lessons we learn in preparing to become the person God wants us to be come in real life situations. We do not become stronger in the faith, simply by reading a book on “10 ways to become stronger in the faith.” No God would rather provide us with 10 situations in which we will emerge as stronger believers if we remain true to His word.
In our Old Testament reading, we saw where Saul had put a reward on David’s life and he was determined to hunt David down and kill him. The Ziphites told Saul where David was. Saul came with his troops to kill him. David’s men were hiding in a cave. Unknown to Saul, he went in the cave to get some sleep. David could have killed Saul right then and there and became king, but he didn’t.
He let the King live and told the king after he left the cave, “look just as easily as I cut this piece off of your robe, I could have cut off your head.” Why are you chasing after me. I’m not your enemy.” King Saul was so glad to be alive, he told David, “David you’re a much better man than I am. I know one day you’re going to be king. May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me. “Saul gave the order for his 3000 men to leave and head for home.
Now if you had been David that day, you may have shouted “Hallelujah. Finally this thing is over. The king understands now that I’m not his enemy. I can get on with my life and just wait for God to make things happen.” Let me warn you about something. When someone has a great hatred or jealousy of you, rarely does one situation really change the predicament unless that person was motivated to repent by God. Saul had not changed his attitude. He was just thankful to still be alive.
David, the one day king, is still living out in the hills and the desert with anything but an attractive life. He’s living in caves and tents. He cannot build a permanent house because he never knows when Saul might come after him again. He has to do something to come up with a way to pay the men who hang around him as his little army. Then Samuel, the man who anointed him and told him he would be the next king dies. David is about as far from living in a palace as you can get. As far as David was concerned, “Letting God Do It God’s Way was nothing but a bummer of bummers.”
Surely God could come up with a better plan than this for His life. One of the reasons God has David out there in the wilderness is to learn how to survive when a more powerful enemy is pursuing you to take your life. God has not forgotten David in the dessert. God is preparing David for what is to come.
In about twenty five years after David has become king, somebody is going to be chasing him to kill him in the desert, and what David is learning now is going to help him to survive. Don’t you waste going through hard times just suffering and complaining. Know that God is equipping you for something that you do not know about.
David decided to forget about Saul and go on with his life. He found this beautiful woman by the name of Abigail and took her as his wife. No sooner than the two of them got together and before they could celebrate with a honeymoon, the Ziphites again went and he told Saul. King Saul, if you still want to get David, we know where he is. So in chapter 24 Saul was all forgiving. But by chapter 26 things had changed.
King Saul’s hatred had the time to be stirred up again, so once again with his special private army of 3,000 choice soldiers he went after David. At first David could not believe that the king was coming after him again. “God we already been through this, what is the problem. Didn’t you see what I did the last time he came after me. God you have got to cut me some slack somewhere.” So David sent some spies to make sure Saul was definitely coming after him. When they got back, they said, “Oh yes brother, he is definitely coming after you.” David said, “Man I have to go see this thing for myself. There has to be a mistake.”
Sometimes there is a mistake, but the mistake is on us. David felt, he had already demonstrated his willingness to not take matters in his own hand to become king. But do you know your victory over an area last week or last month does not mean you are going to easily conquer than area the next time it comes up.
Most of us know what its like to have been tempted and came so close to falling, but we said no to it. We thanked God for saving us from it and promised not to get in that situation again. But then Satan came back in a slightly different way at a time when we were not quite as strong, and this time we took his bait and failed God and ourselves, simply because we thought since I won over it before, I’ll win over it again.
What keeps us from sinning is not our trust in our ability to handle it, but rather the grace of God which always manages a door of escape for us if we would have taken it sooner. What area are you facing today in which deep inside, you know you are not letting God do it His way? Keep in mind, to stay in God’s will, timing is everything.
When David saw King Saul’s army that night surrounding the king, I don’t know what he was thinking. I don’t know if he was so tired of being chased that he was going to go in and surrender to the king. I don’t know if he was thinking, this is it we’re going to fight and settle this thing once and for all. I don’t know if he knew what he was going to do. But he asked Ahimelech and Abishai, “who will go down into the camp with me to Saul.”
Abishai, quickly said, “ I’ll go with you.” I think if I had been there I would have been with Ahimelech and agreed to pray for them while they were gone. Two men against 3,000 trained warriors. What could they possibly hope to accomplish? Well they headed into the camp. They had to get all the way to the center of the camp to reach Saul, because the army was surrounding him. To their amazement, most of the soldiers are asleep along the path they have chosen to take. They finally get all the way to the center of the camp.
There is King Saul, lying their snoring up a storm. David looks at him. Here is the person whose dedicated his life to trying to kill David. Here’s the man that has him living out in the desert instead of enjoying life. With this man off the scene he could become the next King of Israel. He could move into the palace.
He could give his wife the kind of life he felt she deserved to have. He could become what God had told him he would become. He could have so many of the things his heart longed to have. Just one stroke of the spear. As he faces this temptation, a voice whispers to him from the lips of Abishai.
“ Can’t you see that today, God has delivered your enemy into your hands. The time is ripe. You don’t have to do anything. Just let me pin him to the ground with my spear. I will not have to strike him twice and there won’t be a sound from him.” Abishai was ready to get rid of King Saul with a moment’s notice, and notice too that He said God was on his side. God has opened this door of opportunity for you.”
Saints, there are plenty of opportunities which are going to come your way, but it’s not God’s will for you to take them. Some come as a test, others as a temptation.
You may think, I can’t pass up this opportunity. Let me ask you this, if you take the opportunity will you be drawn closer to God? Will you be sacrificing your family because of no time or energy to give them? Will you be selling a little piece of your soul because of some compromise you have to make. If something is of God, God does not require you to sacrifice part of your relationship to him. Part of our problem is we think of what is convenient rather than what is best. Christians will often pledge their allegiance to Christ, but the first chance they get to obtain something they want, they will sacrifice in the name of “I might not get this opportunity again.”
So often when we have a goal, we want to reach it as soon as possible. We often think that pain means we need to change our goal but sometimes a willingness to accept pain demonstrates our commitment to the goal. Most of the mornings I get up to go jogging, I don’t feel like jogging. But my goal is to have a healthy body and to look as good as I can for my wife.
Almost every time I start jogging, My feet, knees or legs start to hurt. But after about five minutes my body adjusts and the pain is no longer there. Although I run 3 miles, I never try to run 3 miles. I run to that tree and just before I reach it, I aim at another tree, and then another and another until I get finished. I don’t jog 3 miles, I jog about 3 feet at a time.
We look at our lives and deceive ourselves into thinking, I must have all this and have it now. But that’s not usually God’s way. Do you recall in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus said for us to pray, “Lord give us this day, our daily bread.” We would rather God give us today’s bread, tomorrow’s bread, and all the bread we need for the next 30 years right now.” No God has some bread in his timing for us today and some different bread for us tomorrow. Our problem is that we cannot see where the bread for tomorrow is coming from.
David had to have been tempted to just go and take matters into his own hands. After all, there was this opportunity and it probably would not come again. Saints don’t listen to others tell you what a great opportunity you’re about to miss. I’ve seen many a great opportunity lead people right out of their relationship to God. The pursuit of material wealth, the pursuit of name recognition, and the desire to be loved all can be deadly opportunities for our spiritual lives. God has a timing for all of these things for our lives. If we are faithful to Him, he says He will give us the desires of hearts.
David chose to believe, that if God had anointed him king, then God was able to make him king without him compromising his faith. So what if he would have to wait a little longer in that miserable desert. Yes it would mean a smaller paycheck. Yes it would mean a smaller house. Yes it would mean giving up the right to get back at someone who had hurt him very badly. But his integrity in his relationship to God would still be there. How much is your relationship to God really worth today? Just a little bit. Just a little bit more. A lot more. A whole lot more. Our integrity to our God is demonstrated in the way we deal with the church, with our family and with world. Are we making the sacrifices God requires of us in each of those areas.
David told Abishai, “Look, don’t put your hand on him because God chose him to be king and God will remove him when the time is right. God forbid that I will lay my hand upon him. Just take his spear and his jug of water and let’s go.” They did and they made it out of the camp.
Now the only reason they made it in the camp and out of the camp is that the Lord had brought about this situation as a test for David. For verse 12 tells us, it was the Lord who had caused all of the soldiers to fall into a deep sleep. The only reason David took the spear and jug of water was to try to convince Saul once again, that even though the opportunity had presented itself, he still would not lay his hand against the King.
This was the last time King Saul pursued David, but it was not because of a change on Saul’s part. David went to the land of the Philistines and Saul was afraid to pursue him in Philistine. Not long afterwards King Saul lost his life in the battle with the Philistines. God being faithful and true to His word, He made David King over Israel without David having to murder anyone to obtain the position.
God has anointed each believer here today to be a child of God. All of us are facing different circumstances and trials. Your trial is not my trial and mine is not yours, but rest assured and know, there is some Christian somewhere who is going through the same dilemma you are. As Peter wrote in our New Testament reading, Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4:12 [NIV] God knows what you’re going through.
God has already seen you coming out victorious on the other side. Before you try to use the opportunity before you, remember to ask, 1) will doing this draw me closer to God. 2) will doing this make my family a better family in terms of its relationships, 3) will choosing this path bring me more into the life of the church, and 4) will making this choice make me more in the image of Jesus Christ. If you’re getting No’s to your questions, then perhaps this opportunity is a test and not a door for you to enter.
There is a time for God to provide us with what we need and what He has promised to give us. Satan always tries to make us have it all right now. He tempted Jesus with the offer of giving him all the wealth and name recognition he could possibly want with no suffering and no pain, if he would just bow down to him one time. Jesus told him, “My mind is made up to worship God and God alone. Get out of here Satan.” Jesus received all that Satan promised him, but He received it in God’s timing along with the suffering he endured. God’s way is always going to be the best way in the end. So whatever our problems may be today, let’s make up our minds to let the Lord bring about a solution and do it His way.
A. What’s Your Relationship To God Worth
B. Little, Little More, Lot, Lot More
C. Church, Family World—The Cost
D. Abishai Makes On Offer
XVI. God Allowed It To Happen
A. The Lord Sent The sleep
B. The Final Attempt To Convince Spear & Jug
C. Heading For The Philistine Territory
D. God Delivers On His promise
XVII. God’s Anointing On His Children
A. Trials, Trials ,Trials Yours—Mine
B. It’s Not Strange
C. Draw Me Closer To God
D. Lead To A Better Family
E. More In The Life Of The Church
F. More In The Image Of Jesus Christ
G. Satan-- Promises Without Pain
H. Jesus-- Worship God Alone
I. Let God Do It His Way
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Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 8/1/99
Let God Do It His Way
1 Sam. 24:1-22, 1 Peter 4:12-19 1 Samuel 26
I. God Has A Timing In Mind
A. Pregnant Woman Excited About The Future
B. Seven Months Foolish Request
C. God Has Great Things In Store For Us
D. Lesson—Let God Do It His Way
E. God Not Against Your Desires
F. We Need More Equipping Than We Think
II. The Man By The Name Of David
A. Youngest Of Eight
B. Father Did Not Expect Much
C. God Sent Samuel To Anoint Him
D. Already A King On The Throne
III. Learning What It Takes To Become
A. Faith, Courage And Victory
B. Right Place, Right Time, Victory
C. Learning Defeat & Disappointment
D. Quick Rise To Top
E. Attempts To Kill The Student
IV. More Courses Involved Than We Think
A. Avoiding Assassinations 101
B. Lessons Come In Real Life Forms
C. No Book On 10 Ways To Become Stronger
D. 10 Real Life Situations Instead
V. The Hunt To Kill David
A. The Ziphites Tell On David
B. Saul Comes With Troops
C. The Experience In The Cave
D. David Says No To Temptation
E. Saul Praises David For The Time Being
VI. Wait Before You Start To Shout
A. The Battle May Steal Be Ahead
B. Hatred & Jealousy Slow To Leave
C. David’s Difficulties In The Desert
D. Home, Bills, Death
E. Bummer of Bummers
VII. God Is Doing More Than David Realizes
A. The Desert Is A Training Ground
B. 25 Years Later & He’ll Be Back
C. God’s Equipping You In The Midst Of It
D. David Marries & Gets On With Life Almost
VIII. The Hunt Resumes For David
A. A Change From Chapter 24 to Chapter 26
B. 1 King, 3000 choice Soldiers
C. Does Not Believe It’s Happening Again.
D. But God I Already Past This Test
IX. There Must Be A Mistake
A. Last Week’s Victory Is Last Week’s
B. Tempted & Delivered Only To Blow It
C. Not Our Strength Bu God’s Grace
D. Stay In God’s Will By Timing
X. A Daring Event
A. What’s David Thinking
B. Depressed, Surrender, Fight,
C. Abishai & Ahimelech
D. Going Into The Camp
E. Snoring Everywhere Around
F. Saul Lying Helpless On The Ground
G. The Opportunity To Change Everything
H. When Temptation Comes
I. When Temptation Whispers
J. Abishai Can Get The Job Done
XI. Has God Sent And Opportunity Or A Test
A. Closer To God ?????
B. Better Family Relationships ??????
C. Selling A Piece Of Your Soul ?????
D. Relationship To God??????
E. Is It Convenient
XII. What About Enduring Some Pain
A. My Goals, My needs, Right Now
B. Jogging When You Don’t Feel Like It
C. Never Run 3 Miles – 3 Feet will Do
D. Jesus—Give Us Our Daily Bread
E. Today’s, Tomorrow’s, 30 Years worth
F. Different Bread, Different Days
XIII. Before You Take Matters In Your Own hands
A. This Opportunity Won’t Come Back
B. Some Opportunities Should Be Missed
C. Dangers Of Opportunities
D. Wealth, Recognition, Love
E. God’s Timing
XIV. Choosing To Pay A Price
A. David—God Said It So…
B. Waiting In The Miserable Desert
C. Smaller Check, House,
D. Letting Go Of Getting Back
XV. The Value Of Spiritual Integrity
