LETTING GOD ESTABLISH YOU
2 Samuel 2:1-4a; 2 Samuel 5:12
It’s no secret that we live in a very unstable world. Brenda asked me just the other day if I had a map of the world. I told her that I have a world atlas from when I was in college, but it, in just 12 years is already out of date. Countries have fallen and countries have arisen just within that period of time. I have a friend who closely follows the stock market. I believe he could also tell you that the world we live in is unstable, stocks go up and stocks go down. The market is either a bull market or a bear market, depending upon the economy, which also goes up and goes down. Fashions also show how our world changes. Just a couple of days ago, I went through my ties and sorted out some that I no longer wear. Twelve years ago, I had some ties that were about one inch in width, then four years ago, I had some that were probably 4-5 inches across. I had some that were knit, and some that were silk. I would not want to put my trust in any of these because they constantly change. Thank God that He doesn’t change. Psalm 102:25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Even though we live in an unstable, changing world, I believe that God wants you to be different, I believe He wants you to be established. I also believe that one thing every Christian should want, and desire is to be established. We should desire to be strong, stable and firm in our faith. However, for many, their Christian life seems to be filled with nothing but ups and down. Instead of being established, they feel like life is a roller coaster, filled with twists and turns and highs and lows. I remember the first time that I ever flew on an airplane. It was on a DC-9, flying from Huntsville, Al. to Memphis, TN. From there I boarded a 737 going to Minneapolis, MN. I remember staring out the window, once the plane was in the air, and I could see the wings of the plane bouncing up and down, yet overall the ride was smooth. Several years later, a friend in Montana had a small two-seater piper cub and he invited me for a ride. It was a windy day in March and we felt every air pocket, and every gust of wind. We were flying into a strong head wind and it seemed that we were making very little progress. I was never so glad to get my feet back on the ground as I was when I landed.
We would all desire to have faith like soared like the jumbo jet, but often, it would seem that we are more like the little piper cub, not making as much progress as we would like.
The scripture says in 1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. God desires that you be established. In the scriptural text I read today, we find that David, after the death of King Saul, was anointed as King over Judah. Many years before, Samuel the prophet came to Bethlehem and anointed David to be king. He was later brought into the throne room to play his harp for Saul, and we later find him fighting the giant Goliath, marrying Saul’s daughter, and then spending several years on the run, in fear of his life because of the threats of Saul against his life. Through all of this, the kingdom must have seemed far away from David. The promises seemed to be almost impossible. Yet it did not change the fact that David was God’s anointed man. God desired to establish David into his kingdom. God’s plan included placing David on the throne of Israel, and establishing him in three different areas of his life, the same three that God desires to establish you in, established in his authority, established in his blessing, and established in his calling. These are three areas that every believer needs to be established in. Just as David was established by God, even so God desires that we be established in our position in Christ. The Bible says, Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. We are, as God’s people, to be established in our authority as the children of God. We are, as God’s people, to be established in the blessings that God has for us, and we are, as God’s people, to be established in our calling to serve our Lord.
Here David has now received the news of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths and grieves over them. This text shows us three responses from David, after hearing of Saul’s death, that allowed God to establish him in the place that God wanted him to be, a place of great blessing as the king of Israel.
I. DAVID SOUGHT GOD’S PLAN.
1. Upon hearing the news of Saul’s death, David did not begin to scheme and plot on how to snatch the kingdom away from Saul’s decedents. He did not look to human methods or means to be established in the position that he had been chosen for.
2. I’m amazed today at the people who scheme and plot to get ahead in life, but always leave God out of the picture. In the corporate business world, it is a cut throat business. We see shoddy craftsmanship, contractors cutting costs by breaking regulations to try to get ahead. Lying is common place in many types of businesses to attempt to get established.
3. People fail to understand Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. You may try to establish your life based on worldly, sensual methods, but without God it all is vain.
4. David did none of these things. The scripture reveals to us in 1 Samuel 13:14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart,
This was God’s word to Saul concerning his successor of whom was David. David was identified as a man after God’s own heart. As a man after God’s heart, David did not want his kingdom built upon deceit and lies, but rather desired for God to establish him. This is what God promised him in 2 Samuel 7:16a, And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
5. Once David realized that Saul was dead, instead of taking things into his own hands, notice that he sought the Lord for guidance. It was have been easy for David to summon his men during this time of national confusion and attack the household of Saul, killed Saul’s remaining family members and then seize control of the Kingdom. No doubt many others may have tried such a way. However, David refused to take a step without seeking first the Lord. David had many choices laid out before him, but he wanted God’s choice. It is important to note that David did not go seeking a kingdom, but rather a home for his men and families, David was looking for guidance, or God’s will.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
6. To truly be established, to process all that God desires for you, you must prioritize. There is that which must come first, which is the kingdom of God, or as the Greek puts it, the rule of God. In other words, what the heavenly Ruler, God, desires and wants for your life. If you leave God out of the picture of your life, you will not stand. Whenever you prioritize and put God first, you must do several things.
1st, you must learn to await the plan of God.
7. One thing that most of us don’t like to do is wait. We don’t like to wait at red lights, we don’t like to wait in lines. We are so used to having everything done in just an instance, we expect God to treat us the same way as well. We have microwave ovens because we don’t like to wait on cooking, we have fast food because we don’t like to wait when we go out. We tend to carry this over when it comes to God implementing His plan for our lives, we get impatient and if not careful, try to take things into our own hands. God has His plan and His timetable.
2nd, you must acknowledge God is in control.
8. David knew that God is the King Maker, not man. Psalm 37:34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
9. By refusing to take matters into his own hands, David acknowledges his faith that God is the One who is in control of his life. David is no opportunist who will stoop to any measure to ascend to the throne God has promised him. He knows that God will prove faithful and do what He said He would do, even if David has had to wait 15 years for it to take place. Listen to me, the quick fix is not always the answer. God wants the glory, and often He doesn’t get it through the quick fix methods. David chose to seek the Lord and put God first. He allowed God to establish him.
II. DAVID SUBMITTED TO GOD’S PLAN.
1. The Lord spoke to him and told him to go to Hebron. You must remember that Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalakites. The Lord did not direct David to wage war with the house of Saul, even though that is probably what Joab wanted. The Lord did not tell David to plan a coronation party, the Lord did not tell David that he needed to build a palace. God did not tell David that he should appoint his heads of state. He just simply directed him to go to Hebron and David obeyed.
2. You must see, that God doesn’t reveal His total plan for us, if He did, we would not be able to walk by faith, we would instead be walking by what we could see and understand.
3. In 2 Kings chapter 5, we are told the story of Naaman. He came to Israel for he had heard of a prophet of God, Elisha that might be able to heal him. Naaman journeyed all the way from his home country to see Elisha and verse 10 of that chapter tells us that Elisha wouldn’t even see him but just sent a message to dip himself 7 times in the muddy Jordan River. A very simply plan, yet Naaman didn’t want to do it. It appeared too simply for his taste. Only at the urging of his servant did he finally consent to go and dip himself 7 times in the Jordan and he was healed, only after he had submitted to what God has said. David did not know what was going to happen but he was trusting God.
James 4:7a, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
4. Now its no accident that these two sentences are together. Most people want a life of being established with God, they want to live the overcoming life, but its seems that the devil is able to twist them and manipulate them. They are not able to resist the devil and the reason for this is simple, they haven’t yet submitted everything in their lives to God. You will never be established until you learn to submit to God. You see, God demands total obedience.
Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
5. If you don’t submit yourselves to God, if you won’t obey Him, then you will certainly obey the devil. Whoever you yield yourself to, whoever you submit yourself to, that is the one you will obey.
6. I recently came across a story that speaks about the type of obedience that God desires. It seems that there was a man, a firefighter, who had a dog that he had trained. A fire had broken out and he left his dog outside to go and fight the fire. He gave the dog the command “stay” as he left the yard. When he arrived to fight the fire, it had broken completely out of control and headed toward where his dog was. When they arrived, they found the remains of that dog. You see, the dog stayed, even to the point of burning up, because his master had told him to stay.
7. I can’t help but wonder why people refuse to submit to what God is saying to them. Maybe it’s because they think they know more than what God does. Another thing that bothers me are those who claim to be seeking God’s will, yet they will not do what He said in His word. I have heard of all kinds that preach about seeking divine revelation, yet they refuse to see what God has already revealed. Jesus Christ is our Lord, and to Him we owe our obedience. We must be serious about submitting ourselves to God.
III. DAVID WAS SATISIFIED WITH GOD’S PLAN.
1. Now remember, that David has been chosen by God, and anointed by Samuel to be king over all Israel. David hears from God, then David obeys God and goes to Hebron. While he is at Hebron, he is chosen as king over the house/tribe of Judah.
2. Now you know what a lot of people would have done. They would have moaned and groaned about how life wasn’t fair, that they were supposed to be king over all Israel, and not just Judah. They would not have been satisfied with what God was doing at the moment. I could just imagine some people would have even gotten mad and said “God, if this is the best that you can do, count me out.”
3. Don’t despise small things. Jesus used a few loaves of bread and two small fish to feed five thousand. David was satisfied with God’s plan for he knew that God would do what He said He would do.
4. If we trust God, it means that we must trust Him, even when we don’t understand what’s going on. Especially when we don’t understand what’s going on.
Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
5. What’s interesting about this verse is this. Job says of God that even if God slays him, if God is completely against him, he will still trust in God. The Hebrew word used for trust is a word that also means to wait. Job is saying, “I don’t understand why this is happening, it makes no sense to me, it seems that God is completely against me, but I am going to wait on the Lord for I am trusting in Him”. David knew that God would prove to be faithful in what He had promised. The scripture tells us in 2 Samuel 2:11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. For 7 and ½ years David reigned as King over Judah, not Israel, but God was still working in David’s life, to bless him and establish him. God had not forgotten about David and the promises He had made to him.
6. While I was in seminary, I worked as a school bus driver. This worked out great for me in that the pay was fairly reasonable and it gave me the mornings off for classes. The problem occurred in the summer months for then there was no work and no pay check. Summer was approaching and I did not know what I was going to do. I remember taking my lunch break from school one day, and going to the church to pray. I wanted the solitude of being alone, with no distractions, so I had a key to our church and I used it that day to go and pray. I spent the whole hour praying and seeking God’s help. When I went in to work one afternoon, someone told me that my supervisor hired work for the summer, so I went in and talked with him and he told me he could use me to move furniture and paint and I said yes. I knew it would be hot work but I was thankful to have a job. I worked one week moving furniture around in one school and then he placed me in the office. Before I left Cleveland, I had became one of the supervisors over the bus fleet. You can’t despise God’s plan.
7. God will not reveal His total plan to you, only one step at a time, be obedient and satisfied with God’s workings in your life. Don’t fight against what God may be doing in your life. The very method that God may be trying to use to bless you with is the very thing that you are fighting Him the most over. He desires to see you established, He desires to see you blessed. Jesus said in Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God desires to give, or commit (Greek) or establish you in the Kingdom, His Kingdom.
Closing:
If you desire to be established, God certainly will help you, just as He established David as king, He will establish you in your faith, your calling and your position in His plan. You will have to seek Him, trust Him, and be obedient to Him. How many here this morning want to find God’s will for your lives? How many here want to be established in His will? Lift up your hands, let me pray for you. Come let us pray together.
