What Motivates You?

Title: What Motivates You?

Text: I Sam 18:1-12; 19:9-11; 24:1-7; 26:5-12; 31:6; II Sam 1:11-12

Pray!!!

Read Text - (II Sam 1:11-12)

Introduction:

- A question that has been frequently asked by Christians is “If you knew the Lord was coming in 2 weeks what would you do?”

- Many have said, I would give more, I would witness to my family and friends, I would get me life ready to meet the Lord, or I wouldn’t do anything but continue to do what I am presently doing.

- As Christians we can look at this question as a motivating factor in our lives, but would it keep us going in life?

- In life something has to drive you to do what you do. For example, what makes you get out of bed in the morning? What is your motivating factor to face the day?

- Is it to make money, see the sunshine, go for coffee. What do you live for and what makes you do the things you do?

Transition:

- What kept David and Saul going, every day?

- What made David weep for a man that was pursuing to kill him?

- And what made Saul pursue David and want his head?

- This is what we are going to look at. Two different people, with different reasons for getting up in the morning. You and I are in one of these two categories this evening.

- So lets look in I Sam, starting at chapter 18 right through to II Sam 1 and see what motivated David and Saul in life.

David Was Motivated By Love And Saul By Selfishness

- Let me show you briefly how we see that David was a man after God’s own heart, and Saul was a man of selfishness.

Point 1: David was motivated by a Love for God and Saul was motivated by what he could get from God.

- Lets look at David first:

I Sam 18:10 says, “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, I’ll pin David to the wall. But David eluded him twice”

- Now if that would not have been an intense moment in life look what happens further as we read:

I Sam 19:9-11 says, “But an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.”

- It was David’s desire to do the Lord’s will, and not his own. It was God’s will that David be where he was, playing for the King and not tending sheep.

- My question is, why would David go back knowing that there is that much tension in Saul’s house?

- The love of God. Doing the will of God, loving your enemies and praying for those who spitefully use you.

- David showed the motivating factor in his life, that being love.

- What would drive someone to go back for more punishment? Love.

- When we look at Saul’s life, we see the reason why he was the opposite of David.

- Saul was not motivated by love, even though I am sure he loved God and people. But we see Saul’s first motivation in his life that overtook love and that being selfishness.

- When you see Saul’s track record, it isn’t that good.

- He disobey’s the Lord many times which leads to his rejection as King.

- Now we all disobey the Lord many times, but in Saul’s case there was no striving to do what was right.

- Saul was clearly motivated by an emotion of selfishness and not love.

- Now in our text, the relationship with David starts out great. David is in the center of God’s will and Saul is happy with David’s presence.

- And the reason Saul is happy with David because, David defeated Goliath and the problem Saul had with the Philistines.

- But the relationship changes as we saw for this reason: I Sam 18:8 says, “Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. They have credited David with tens of thousands, he thought, but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom? And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”

- Saul’s question in this portion of scripture really shows Saul’s attitude and what motivates him in life. “What more can he get but the kingdom?”