1 Samuel 16:1-13 The Life of David
Part One: The Broken Prophet
Thesis: Samuels obedience
Introduction: David, King of all Israel. What most people know about David is that he was a young boy who killed a giant, became a king and committed adultery. His life seems to be one of ascending heights of success and spiraling moments of catastrophic failure. There is indeed a lot that we can learn from the life of this man who rose from obscurity to the top of world power in his day. More importantly than David’s rise to power in a distant land is the part he would play in the plans and purposes of almighty God.
Over the next weeks we are going to take a peek into the life of this interesting man. How important is David in the Bible? Did you know that David is mentioned or spoken of more in the Bible than any other person including the Lord Jesus Christ. David is central in the lineage of the promised Messiah of God. All we knew before David is that the Messiah would be one of Abraham’s descendants, that He would be Jewish, but with the rise of David on the historical stage of the Bible, we discover from what family the Messiah will be born.
David is also one of the main types or prefigures of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words there is a lot in David’s life that will point to Jesus Christ being the messiah. As we begin our study of David’s life we will discover some of these things. For example David became king and sat upon the throne of Israel, and God promised him that his descendants would reign on that throne forever. David’s reign as king foreshadows the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose rule will never end. The study of David’s opens our lives to truths about the Savior.
The first thing I want us to see today is...
I. The Broken Heart of the Old Prophet
The story of David begins with the demise of another king. It was not David’s rise to rule Israel that brought about the other kings fall, it was his own choices. King Saul had begun well but ended his life and reign as king in bitter fashion. Saul had begun to be filled with pride and as the Scriptures warn us, a haughty spirit goes before destruction. Had Saul repented of his disobedience to God, surely he could have been restored and lived out his life as a servant of God, but he chose to pursue his own glory and his own self satisfaction rather than the glory of God. One of the differences between King Saul and King David is that Saul pursued his own glory right until the bitter end but David sought the glory of God, and when he did fail, he genuinely repented of his sin before God.
In the time between the rejection of Saul by God and the anointing of David is the scene of a grieving old preacher of God. Samuel was Gods spokesman to Israel. He was God spokesman to Saul, but Saul turned a deaf ear to the old preacher. Now he would end his ministry by being Gods spokesman to the new king.
A. Why is he grieving?
He is mourning over Saul. Have you ever had high hopes only to see them crushed by failure, either your own failure or the failure of someone else?
I think Samuel was broken over Saul’s failures and because he was Saul’s pastor, he felt it personally. I believe Samuel loved Saul but as a man of God he could not condone Saul’s actions or attitudes. In the midst of his sorrow the Lord comes to Samuel and says, ‘Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?’. Saul had made his own choices, and had chosen to go his own way. Because of that prideful heart God rejected him. There was nothing Samuel could do about the past, the past is Gods business. Saul was Gods business.
Very often we worry more over someone else’s life and whether they are serving God or not and don’t give enough attention to our own. Have you ever heard the lyrics to the song, ’Sweep around your own front door’. The first line says, ’You know there are too many people trying to take care of others peoples business and they can’t even take care of their own. What you need to do is take six months to mind your own business and six months to leave other folks business alone. All I’m trying to say is: [Chorus] Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine.’
What I mean by this is that we should not worry about someone else if we are not serving God ourselves. Samuel had spent years mourning for Saul. Its not that we shouldn’t be grieved if someone we love fails or if we ourselves fail, but there comes a time when we must get up and get on with Gods business. The Lord tells Samuel, ‘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." God moves on and God calls His servant to move on.
We cant live in the past. We can regret it and repent of it, but we cant remove it. The only one who deal with the past is the One who isn’t bound by time. Leave the past to God, and press on to do what He has called us to do.
B. What is Samuels response to the word of God?
We discover Samuel is not only bound by sorrow, but he is hindered by fear. He is afraid of what Saul will do to him. He is afraid Saul will kill him. See how far Saul had deteriorated in his relationship with God and His prophet. Saul hated to be confronted by his own failure. It is likely he blamed Samuel for his problems.
Fear is one of those weapons that Satan uses to keep us from serving the Lord. Luke 12:4 and 5 says, ‘And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.’ The only who to whom we should fear is God. The Bible says ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’
It is a fearful thing for a lost man to fall into the hands of God, but believer don’t forget that you and I will stand before Him one day to give an accounting for our works since Christ saved us. It was time for Samuel to get up and go on mission for God. If Samuel had remained where he was, paralyzed by remorse and fear, he would have hindered the plan of God and faced certain judgment for his own disobedience. Perhaps Samuel thought because Saul had failed, he had failed and therefore God couldn’t use him anymore. The Lord tells Samuel, get up, fill up your horn with oil and go, for I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided myself a king among his sons.’ I think what God is telling Samuel is to get right and get ready to go. Listen the plan of God doesn’t stop because of the failure or mistakes of a man. If a man or a woman or a nation or even a church will not repent, God will move on. In the book of Revelation chapter 2 we find the Lords message to the church at Ephesus. In verse 5 the Lord Jesus says to the Ephesian church, ‘Remember therefore the first works, or else I will come quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place-unless you repent’. I never want it said of you or of me or about this nation or of this church that God has moved on. The thing we must do is be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and be ready to move when God says move.
The arrival of David on the scene is in stark contrast to the end of Saul. David was filled with hope and promise, Saul was filled with resentment and turmoil. The hope and promise was a result of ones faith in God. The resentment and turmoil was the result of ones fight with God.
II. The Obedience of the Old Prophet
Our Lord is so wise. He gives Samuel a reason for going down to Bethlehem. He was to go down and offer sacrifices to the Lord and while he was there, he would anoint David to be king. Did you know there are missionaries all over the world today who are in a foreign country as teachers and doctors and construction workers, but while they are there they witness about Jesus to the people of that country. Its true. There are thousands of them all over the place.
Why was it so important that Samuel go anoint David? It was important that Samuel anoint David because it played a key role in the redemptive plan of God. Hear me today, you may not realize just how important what God has for you to do really is. You may think you are just teaching a class or sweeping the floor, but if you are being obedient to God, you are having a part in the redemptive purposes of God. Remember it was through David that God would bring the Messiah, the Savior of all who believe into this world that He might die for our sins. It is no small thing whatever you do for God. You might serve cookies to group of children, but the love and kindness you display while doing it may impact a child for life. It may be a cherished memory of someone’s love at church. I remember a family some years ago who came to this church and joined. They had a little boy who was about 2 or 3 years old. That little fellow told my wife, ‘ya’ll sure do feed me good at this church.’ That young boy still remembers that love because of someone’s obedience to the call of Christ upon their life.
What ever you do in the name of the Lord could change somebody’s eternity. Samuels obedience changed the destiny of a nation. Another somebody’s obedience changed the course of history. As a matter of fact one persons obedience to the will of God changed many of us in this room. The ultimate and perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus changed our eternity from one of horror in hell to one of happiness in heaven. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus, ‘And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.’
Are you being obedient to the Lord or are you still lingering in the past, mourning over broken dreams due to someone else’s failure or failures of your own. I don’t believe God puts people on a shelf unless they will not repent. You may have blown it big time, but we have a big God who is able to heal all the hurt places and mend all broken hearts. Your obedience may be the reason someone else gets in Gods will. Get up, let God fill you with the Holy Spirit and you get on mission for God.
