The Cry That Changed History: Hannah’s Story - 1 Samuel 1-7 Series

For free audio or video download of this message, visit https://www.treasuringgod.com/sermons-by-scripture or my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@DarrellFerguson.

Introduction

David is emphasized in Scripture

Pop quiz: Besides Jesus, whose name do you think is mentioned most often in Scripture? If you had to guess which men were mentioned the most out of this list – who would come first - Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Elijah, and Paul. If we list them from the least often mentioned to the most, it would come out this way: Adam is mentioned 24 times in Scripture. Next come Isaiah and Noah – 53 times and 54 times. Then it doubles when you get to Elijah - 113 times, and doubles again with Paul at 210, and Abraham at 230. Then it really jumps up when you get to Moses – 847 times. But the most of all by far is David. His name appears 1089 times in Scripture. He’s mentioned twice in Scripture by name before he’s even born!

The story of David’s life begins about halfway through 1 Samuel (chapter 16) and dominates the next 49 chapters of God’s Word until he finally dies in 1 Kings 10. On top of that, 1 Chronicles 11-29 is all about the life of David. That is another 19 chapters. So that is a total of 68 chapters of God’s Word.

One thing is very, very clear – God wants us to know all about David. If God mentions someone over 1000 times – 400 more times than Adam, Isaiah, Noah, Elijah, Paul and Abraham all put together, it makes you think maybe God wants you to understand some things about David. And a big reason for that is that knowing about the life of David is important for understanding the Psalms. And understanding the Psalms is crucial for understanding what it means to know God, to love God, and to commune with God. God gave us a lot of details about the life of the man He chose to be our chief worship leader, because so much of what we learn about how to worship comes from the interactions between David and God that arose from the life situations of David. So it is essential that we know about his life. And beyond that, understanding David is crucial for understanding Jesus. Almost all messianic prophecy in is based on David and God’s promises to him.

And if all that is not enough, perhaps the biggest reason of all to study what the Bible says about David is in 1 Samuel 13:14 where God refers to David as a man after His own heart. Even after David committed adultery and murder, God selected Him as the main worship leader not only for Israel, but also for the Church - all of God’s people for the last 3000 years and from now until the Lord Jesus returns. David – even with all his sins and failure – is the one God chose to teach His people throughout the ages how to worship Him and how to walk with Him. Very few people, if any, (except for Jesus Himself), have ever loved God like David loved God.

During the years after David’s death – from the time of the divided kingdom until the exile - each king that came to the throne was assessed according to how well his character measured up to David’s. Following David’s example became the standard for whether or not God would bless a king and bless Israel during that king’s rule. Right at the very beginning God told Solomon:

1 Kings 9:4-5 if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did … 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever

But at the end of his life the sad assessment of Solomon was that he did not measure up to David:

1 Kings 11:6 Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not follow Yahweh completely, as David his father had done.

He followed the Lord, but not completely like David.

In ch.14 we get the final assessment of Jeroboam’s reign directly from the mouth of God.

1 Kings 14:8 …you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.

The assessment of king Abijah’s life is in 1 Ki.15:3.

1 Ki.15:3 his heart was not fully devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

1 Ki.15:11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, as his father David had done.

2 Ki.14:3 [Amaziah] did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, but not as his father David had done.

He came close, but not quite as good as David.