What's Our Schedule For Humbling Before God? Series

We are almost finished with the book of 1 Samuel. God has been teaching us through the life of David. David was a godly son and shepherd, a godly worker. God anointed David as future King of Israel. David was courageous and honored God when he killed the giant Philistine Goliath. David depended on God’s power as he led the people of Israel. David served the King of Israel Saul and his household with godly diligence!

David was growing in his faith in God but then he was tested by allowing King Saul (David’s king, employer, father in law) to hate him.

But sadly, as David ran away from Saul and Israel, his own fears and selfish pride led him to sin and actually forgot about God and his identity as God’s Chosen!

Life can be hard sometimes; Jesus said this to His followers, “In this world, you will have trouble!” How will we respond?

Our focus this morning is on 1 Samuel 30:1-20. Open your Bibles there……

Let us be reminded of what happened to David as he tries to fight for the Philistines against his own people, Israel; Read along with me starting with 1 Samuel 29:9….

1 Samuel 29:11 – David and his men left the Philistine Army to go back to their families.

1 Samuel 30:1-20……..

v1-3: David and his men’s families were taken captive by the Amalekites

v4: David and his men were deeply hurt!

v5-6a: Along with weeping for the loss of his family, David was greatly distressed! Why?

David’s men were ready to kill him! Why?

Disaster happened and David’s men wanted to kill him, because David led them to sin which led to disaster! But as we noted last week, we cannot put all the blame on David because his men were fools to follow him.

But when all else fails, what do we note at the end of v6? David came to his senses and went back to God!

v7-8: David went to the Lord in the godly way (at that time) through a priest and the ephod (a sacred garment) and God answered positively!

And so, v9-10: David obeyed God and pursued the Amalekites.

And what in general can we note from v11-17??

God provided a very clear way for David to accomplish God’s promise of victory!

v18-19: David was able to recover everything back to his people!

And finally, what would you say is significant about v20??

David’s men honored him again!

Let us summarize the story:

David sinned against God by joining the Philistines (Israel’s enemy)!

David and his men were rejected by the Philistine army!

The families of David and his men were taken captive by the Amalekites!

Bitterness and hatred resulted amongst David and his men.

David came to his senses and sought God’s help.

God provided the help needed and all was brought back to David and his men!

David’s men honored him again!

And so the reason for our Scripture of the Week: James 4:10. Please turn your Bibles to the Letter from James in the New Testament, chapter 4:1-10….

According to James 4, when should we be humbling ourselves before God??

God is good…. All the time! And so, because God is good all the time, shouldn’t we humble ourselves before Him all the time?

When did David humble himself before the Lord?

David did not humble himself before the Lord during his time of running away from God until he was deeply hurt and needed help! How true is this for us?

What’s our personal schedule in humbling ourselves before God?