Priorities Of Life Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• One of the big pressure points in our life can be the issue of priorities.

• First, what does the word “Priority” mean? According to the dictionary, the word is defined as follows: the state of having most important or urgency. Somebody or something that is ranked highly in terms of importance or urgency.

• From the very definition of the word, we can see why this issue is so important because from our priorities, flows the way we live our lives.

• What is important to us determines what we do and even how we do it, it defines who is important in our lives which will determine the time and effort we put into people.

• Even as we are celebrating Mother’s Day today, I hope one of the things we see that makes one a good mother is having a mother who has her priorities in the correct order.

• As we look at the life of David, we can observe how David’s life went when he seemed to have his priorities in order and how things went when his priorities went awry.

• One of the pressure points of life we need to master is making sure our priorities are in the correct order and that we also make sure we strive to maintain those priorities in the order in which they belong.

• It is so easy to lose sight of what is really important in our lives. Once that happens, then things WILL start to fall apart.

• How should we prioritize things in our life in order to have the best possible life?

• As we examine part of David’s life we see…

• SLIDE #2

SERMON

I. Our first priority is our relationship with God!

• This should be a no-brainer for those who belong to Jesus, we should know this and we should make sure it stays this way.

• We all know this and I know we never struggle with this.

• As we have been looking at David’s life it seems a though he started out with this as his number one priority.

• God chose him to be the next King of Israel David had told Saul when it was time to face Goliath that God had delivered the lion and bear into his hands.

• We find in 1 Samuel 16:13 that the Spirit of the Lord RUSHED into David.

• SLIDE #3

• 1 Samuel 16:13(ESV) 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

• David was successful in all that he did; he knew God was with him.

• David at a young age had enough confidence in the Lord that he took on Goliath with NO fear!

• David boldly proclaimed that what he was doing was done in the name of the Lord.

• SLIDE #4

• 1 Samuel 17:45(ESV) 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

• David understood that if he put God first in his priority list, and would see that his relationship with God should be the most important relationship in his life, and then everything else would fall into place.

• SLIDE #5

• In Exodus 20:3 God makes no doubt as to where He belongs in our lives.

• Exodus 20:3(ESV) 3“You shall have no other gods before me.

• During the whole ordeal with Saul trying to kill him, David inquired of the Lord on multiple occasions. God WAS first in David’s life it would seem until the time of his sin with Bathsheba.

• At this point we have no record of David asking the Lord what he should do about Bathsheba.

• Here is what 2 Samuel 11:2-4 tells us.

• SLIDE #6

• 2 Samuel 11:2-4(ESV) 2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.

• From this point on, David’s life seemed to spin a bit out of control.