David: a man after God’s own heart; Reigning in life series
The setting: Once again let me emphasize the setting. The story of David” reign takes on much more significance when we understand the arena in which it was carve out;
1. When Saul was chosen;
2. People doing what was right in their own eyes;
3. only time there was inclination toward God, when they were in trouble;
4. They had effectively squandered their inheritance; (reference Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. ) THERE ARE 49 VERSES IN JOSHUA ALONE THAT TALK IN SOME FORM OF THIS INHERITANCE;
5. Apathy in a single word, describes the spiritual condition of the nation as a whole; the book of Judges effectively describes them;
6. Idolatry had become the issue of the day because of the outside influence of the pagan culture around them;
7. The priesthood was corrupt, the singular most influential entity in their culture;
8. Joshua had been buried for over 400 years; MAKE AN APPLICATION HERE;
9. Saul failed to reign in this circumstance, he did very little to affect change; 40 years later David ascends the throne and little has changed, in fact opposition from the Philistines had increased if anything; THE OUTCOME OF THE TWO REIGNS WERE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT; WHAT WE ARE GOING TO STUDY, IS WHY DAVID WAS ABLE TO REIGN, NOT ONLY IN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SAUL FACED, BUT HE REIGNED THROUGH THE REJECTION OF HIS FAMILY, AFTER HAVING SPEARS THROWN AT HIM, RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE, MORAL FAILURE, REBELLION OF HIS CHILDREN, ABSOLOM EVEN TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE THRONE, AND YET DAVID REIGNED. He was human to the core but yet known as Israel greatest king. THERE IS ONE THING THAT I BELIVE WAS THE ANCHOR THAT HELD HIM IN ALL THAT HE FACED. "HE WAS A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART"! NO OTHER MAN IN SCRIPTURE WAS THIS SAID ABOUT; I OFTEN WONDERED WHAT THIS MEANT AND THIS WEEK I HAVE DISCOVERED A FEW THINGS THAT I BELIVE RELATE TO THIS STATEMENT AND MABYE DEFINES IT.
10. A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART;
1. A MAN THAT HAS A POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP 16:1-3 A KING FOR MYSELF. David had the relationship of a servant, a bondservant; this is a powerful relationship; Ps. 78:70-72; an interesting verse on this relationship of a bondservant; Duet. 15:16-17
"And it shall come about if he says to you, ’I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; [17] then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
As I did research: Ps 16:1-11 David gave up ownership of his life; Ps. 25:1-5 David became occupied with his master, his will his heart; Ps. 18:37-42 David was open for every venture he was sent upon; It was out of this kind of powerful relationship that David was able to reign; He knew when he fell and the consequences were bearing down upon him that the relationship with God was not broken. In repentance he again knew the presence and power of the Lord, the strength of the Lord, the mercy of the Lord, and in the pain of even his consequences he was able to reign. When he was younger he held an infant son in his arms and took him to the grave and kept on being what he had become, later in life when his grown son had rebelled and later died in his effort, David was heart broken but he still kept on being what he had become. ONLY OUT OF THIS POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP AS HIS BONDSERVANT DID HE SURVIVE. Why do you think God went to such great extent to empty heaven for you? To have a powerful relationship with you, so that when life starts to reign on you, then you would have him to reign through you and get back on top of the circumstance; HOW WOULD WE EVER KNOW HIS HEART UNLESS WE HAVE A POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM? BELOVED IT IS MORE THAN SUNDAY MORNING. IT IS WHEN WE HAVE COME INTO DEPENDENCE ON HIM THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BECOMES POWERFUL;
2. HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY A POWERFUL GODLY PRINCIPLE; 16:2-6 now would you have operated this way? You have this tremendous nation who has lost its way, people doing what is right in their own eyes, Philistines breathing down their necks and God chooses a shepherd boy? Give me a break! What about the others, they were proven in battle, they were older, they were mighty, they were experienced, ad infitum: and yet God did not chose them. Why? God does not operate according to the way we operate. Note the person he chooses; v11a; the youngest; and note the place where this person comes form; v 11b; the sheepfold; so what is the powerful Godly principle? 1 Cor. 1:26-29; not according to the flesh, not many mighty; (is this not who God needs?) not many noble? (Wait a minute they won’t get any respect) but who does He chose? Foolish things, weak things, bare things, things that are not, (ARE NOT WHAT); are not so wise, are not so noble, are not able to function without Him? And He does this to NULIFY the things that are. My calling is a good example; SOME OF YOU FIT THE MOLD; NOTE V30 A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART; HAS A POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AS A BONDSERVANT, HAS BEEN CHOSEN VIA A POWERFUL GODLY PRINCIPLE, AND:
3. A PERSON FILLED WITH THE POWERFUL PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; V13; there is a difference between Him coming upon someone and being indwelth; the main thing David does not reign with out the Holy Spirit; He is always resident within us, but He wants to reign through us. Some of us try to reign via our human spirit; He is the KEY TO REIGNING! We can quench Him, grieve Him, resist Him, and we also can let Him reign through us. When He indwells us and fills us we are in total submission to Him, this is a big step to let Him reign; we step down and He steps up; In this state we are on the same page with God. We will begin to view our trial and our situations from his point of view, and there will be a totally different attitude. It is commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit;
4. A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART IS PLACED IN A POWERFUL PLACE WHERE THE ABOVE CAN BE MANIFESTED; IN THE PALACE OF A MAD MAN; the place where spears were thrown, where he will be rejected and ridiculed and even one day have a cave for a home;
Have you noticed something, this man after God’s own heart is not designated such because of his behavior, but because of his RELATIONSHIP;
his IDENITY, a man after God’s heart, comes not out of behavior but out of the relationship; BELOVED THE RELATIONSHIP IS WHAT WILL BRING YOU TO REIGN IN LIFE; Those who receive the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life;
