Click here for the audio message of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.
In our Scripture this morning Paul reminds the Corinthians and us about the difficult situations that the Israelites went through. These things happened to them to provide an example for us, so that we would not fall into those same evils.
But all of us go through periods of struggles. Maybe you are struggling now. You know the Scripture lays out clear principles, but all you can think is, It’s just too hard, I can’t do this. I just can’t handle this anymore. We grumble just like our ancient ancestors.
Or maybe you’re not struggling with sin at all but rather a very painful circumstance—an illness, death, financial crisis, or conflict—that feels like it’s too much for you to handle. Whatever situation you’re in, God has a message for you.
I want to focus on one particular verse this morning. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) ESV
This passage has five hope-giving truths you must embrace in the midst of your struggle.
1. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
You are not alone. You’re not the first person to go through whatever you are experiencing. Whether you’ve lost a loved one, your job, your marriage, or your battle against sin, there are millions of people around the world and throughout history who have experienced essentially the same thing. This should give you an incredible amount of hope.
You’re probably thinking, What hope is there in that? The answer is simply this: common problems have common solutions. Your situation has details that are unique to you, but at its core it is just like what many other people experience. Scripture was written to people who were in many ways like us.
They experienced pain and death; they had bad marriages and problems in church; they struggled with the same kinds of sin we do. Therefore, the solutions God gave them apply to us as well. Whatever your struggle is, the solution is in the Bible. You simply need to search for it and commune with God to provide the strength to find His solutions.
2. God is faithful.
No true Christian would deny God’s faithfulness. But maybe you’ve been tempted to wonder if He’ll be faithful to you. Make no mistake, “if we are faithless He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). God’s very character is at stake, and God will never be found lacking.
God’s faithfulness always overcomes sin and persecution. God promised His faithfulness to Israel, even after they’d committed unspeakable acts of idolatry (Ezekiel 16:59-63). God was faithful to David even after he sinned with Bathsheba. God was faithful to Peter even after he denied Jesus three times. Sin and impossible circumstances are no match for God’s faithfulness.
Maybe your are thinking God has abandoned you. Or maybe you feel guilty that you have abandoned Him. Well stop thinking that. God is there and has always been here. You may have ignored Him, but His arms are open and ready to welcome you once again.
3. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you’re able.
Whatever you’re facing right now, God’s grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:9). It may not feel like it’s possible, but on the basis of God’s character and by His strength you can overcome your trial.
Maybe you’ve observed others going through difficult times and thought to yourself, I could never go through that. The truth is if God placed it into your life, He would give you the grace to go through it. Whatever you’re experiencing now, God gives you the grace to endure it. Once again, ask Him for the strength, the grace, and the mercy to endure through your trial, struggle, or temptation.
4. With the temptation He will also provide a way of escape.
This makes me think of the paratroopers dropped into enemy territory during WWII who need to make their way back to safety. He has no trap door or tunnels to crawl through; he won’t be rescued by helicopter or beamed to safety. He has to find a way through enemy territory.
In the same way, God has provided, in every situation, a path for you to take. There is always a choice of roads to travel. When faced with the temptation to sin, you can choose to succumb to it or you can choose to resist and flee.
When you are confronted with a difficult ordeal, you can succumb to despair and anxiety or you can endure with the strength He provides. Whatever your situation, God’s Word will light the way of escape and show you the path to follow to get you through the situation and out of enemy territory. Trust Him.
5. You will be able to endure it.
After reminding you that your situation is common, God is faithful, and He will strengthen and guide you through difficult times, Paul assures you if you follow God’s path, you can and will endure. If you’re weighed down with the pressures of life, God may not remove the burden, but He will strengthen your mind, body and soul to endure.
Think about it. The Bible isn’t only for people with simple problems—getting cut off on the freeway or plumbing issues. The Bible addresses all people and all problems, whether trivial (bad traffic, clogged faucet) or severe (life dominating sins, terminal illness).
The apostles had personally evangelized and taught many of the people to whom they wrote. Reading their letters you quickly realize people and churches had very difficult problems and they needed apostolic instruction.
In fact, the Hebrew Scriptures were for New Testament believers what the entire Bible is to us—“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
So when you read 1 Corinthians 10:13, know for certain that no matter the depth of your temptation or trial, the Lord is faithful, He has provided your way of escape, and you can endure it.
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.
Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.
AMEN
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
God’s Severe Mercy
Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 12:13-23
Last week we examined the incident with Bathsheeba. It essentially goes like this: David saw and desired Bathsheeba. He got what he wanted and then tried to cover things up at first by making it look like the husband was the father, then by simply having the father/husband killed.
So we see a few “small” sins cause a lot of problems. And as we saw last week and will continue to see today these problems didn’t just affect David. Bathsheeba lost her husband and as we will look at today, her child. Uriah lost his life. Joab, the commander of David’s army lost some integrity with the troops, and probably some loyalty among them as well. For sure, his leadership ability was called into question by the soldiers. And finally, several of David’s soldiers lost their life as well.
All because David saw, wanted, got, and covered up. Sometimes this type of thing happens to us as well. Hopefully, our actions don’t escalate to the level of David’s, but they could.
The idea of last week’s lesson was that these little sins can wear down our consciences to allow in more and more sin eventually severing our relationship with God. And that is exactly what Satan wants.
Now when we do sin, and we all do, we know that we can go to God for forgiveness and He will forgive. However, that does not mean that we won’t suffer earthly consequences for our actions. And that is today’s lesson.
The story starts off at the beginning of Chapter 12 with Nathan coming to David to tell him a story. He says, there once was a rich man and a poor man. The rich man was having a dinner for a friend and took the poor man’s only lamb and slaughtered it for the meal.
As we have seen before David was the best King that Israel has ever had and he tried to be fair to all. So, David didn’t like this story about a rich man taking what little a poor man had. So he told Nathan that this rich man should be punished, in fact, he deserves to die, but the law required that the man repay 4 times the price.
Nathan replies, well David you are that man! David was the rich man, Uriah the poor man, and Bathsheeba was the lamb. Nathan used a story or parable to get his point across to David. Jesus also used many parables, the only difference is most people didn’t understand the meaning. David clearly got the message here.
It is difficult for any of us to be truly objective about our own sin. I think we all realize that we aren’t perfect, but on the other hand we also think we aren’t that bad either. We don’t want to see our sin for sin because of our ego, our pride, or maybe even out of embarrassment.
Here is David, a man after God’s own heart. God has given David everything and has promised to continue to be with him throughout his life. But David wanted something else. David wanted Bathsheeba, even though he already had his three wives and all of King Saul’s wives.
He wanted more. David thought his way was better than God’s. How many times has that happened to us? We look and saw and said we want that, rather than looking at all that we do have.
Right after this story from Nathan, David goes to God and confesses his sin. Of course God forgives him as He forgives all of us, but David still has to suffer the consequences of his actions.
David committed adultery and murder, both offenses were punishable by death. Now David was spared by God, but his ancestors were plagued with violence. As we read this morning, his son with Bathsheeba died. Later David’s son Amnon is killed, so is his son Absalom and Adonijah.
Now many people always have the question why did this child die? Why did God do this? Didn’t God say he would not punish the child for the father’s sin? I cannot answer any of these questions and I don’t believe anybody can. We do not know the mind of God.
We do know that David had to live with the death of this child on his mind for the rest of his life. Maybe some of you have experienced this. That is no doubt a very tough thing to deal with.
Anytime someone starts talking about a situation like this I jump to verse 23, But now he is dead. . . Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” That is such a powerful statement.
The death of a loved one is always difficult to deal with, but we know that if they received Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, then we too can say with David, they will not return to us, but we shall go to them!
For children there is no if statement. Children go to be with God in heaven immediately upon death. And I don’t say that just to make someone feel good. I believe it to be true based upon God’s word and obviously David does too.
We look at the death of David and Bathsheeba’s son as a very sad, upsetting, terrible thing. And it is, don’t get me wrong, but look at the lives of the rest of David’s family. This child was spared all of that.
Why does God do the things He does? I have no idea, but I know that He has a plan and it’s a good one. Sure some things may seem wrong or crazy to us, but I trust God knows what He is doing.
God is good to us, even though we sin against Him. God is indeed merciful to us even though we will suffer for our actions. God is gracious to us, even when we turn our backs to Him.
Let us truly put our trust in God’s hands. Let us submit our lives to Him knowing that He does what is best, right, and just.
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning and these past several years. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.
Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.
AMEN
Last week we examined the incident with Bathsheeba. It essentially goes like this: David saw and desired Bathsheeba. He got what he wanted and then tried to cover things up at first by making it look like the husband was the father, then by simply having the father/husband killed.
So we see a few “small” sins cause a lot of problems. And as we saw last week and will continue to see today these problems didn’t just affect David. Bathsheeba lost her husband and as we will look at today, her child. Uriah lost his life. Joab, the commander of David’s army lost some integrity with the troops, and probably some loyalty among them as well. For sure, his leadership ability was called into question by the soldiers. And finally, several of David’s soldiers lost their life as well.
All because David saw, wanted, got, and covered up. Sometimes this type of thing happens to us as well. Hopefully, our actions don’t escalate to the level of David’s, but they could.
The idea of last week’s lesson was that these little sins can wear down our consciences to allow in more and more sin eventually severing our relationship with God. And that is exactly what Satan wants.
Now when we do sin, and we all do, we know that we can go to God for forgiveness and He will forgive. However, that does not mean that we won’t suffer earthly consequences for our actions. And that is today’s lesson.
The story starts off at the beginning of Chapter 12 with Nathan coming to David to tell him a story. He says, there once was a rich man and a poor man. The rich man was having a dinner for a friend and took the poor man’s only lamb and slaughtered it for the meal.
As we have seen before David was the best King that Israel has ever had and he tried to be fair to all. So, David didn’t like this story about a rich man taking what little a poor man had. So he told Nathan that this rich man should be punished, in fact, he deserves to die, but the law required that the man repay 4 times the price.
Nathan replies, well David you are that man! David was the rich man, Uriah the poor man, and Bathsheeba was the lamb. Nathan used a story or parable to get his point across to David. Jesus also used many parables, the only difference is most people didn’t understand the meaning. David clearly got the message here.
It is difficult for any of us to be truly objective about our own sin. I think we all realize that we aren’t perfect, but on the other hand we also think we aren’t that bad either. We don’t want to see our sin for sin because of our ego, our pride, or maybe even out of embarrassment.
Here is David, a man after God’s own heart. God has given David everything and has promised to continue to be with him throughout his life. But David wanted something else. David wanted Bathsheeba, even though he already had his three wives and all of King Saul’s wives.
He wanted more. David thought his way was better than God’s. How many times has that happened to us? We look and saw and said we want that, rather than looking at all that we do have.
Right after this story from Nathan, David goes to God and confesses his sin. Of course God forgives him as He forgives all of us, but David still has to suffer the consequences of his actions.
David committed adultery and murder, both offenses were punishable by death. Now David was spared by God, but his ancestors were plagued with violence. As we read this morning, his son with Bathsheeba died. Later David’s son Amnon is killed, so is his son Absalom and Adonijah.
Now many people always have the question why did this child die? Why did God do this? Didn’t God say he would not punish the child for the father’s sin? I cannot answer any of these questions and I don’t believe anybody can. We do not know the mind of God.
We do know that David had to live with the death of this child on his mind for the rest of his life. Maybe some of you have experienced this. That is no doubt a very tough thing to deal with.
Anytime someone starts talking about a situation like this I jump to verse 23, But now he is dead. . . Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” That is such a powerful statement.
The death of a loved one is always difficult to deal with, but we know that if they received Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, then we too can say with David, they will not return to us, but we shall go to them!
For children there is no if statement. Children go to be with God in heaven immediately upon death. And I don’t say that just to make someone feel good. I believe it to be true based upon God’s word and obviously David does too.
We look at the death of David and Bathsheeba’s son as a very sad, upsetting, terrible thing. And it is, don’t get me wrong, but look at the lives of the rest of David’s family. This child was spared all of that.
Why does God do the things He does? I have no idea, but I know that He has a plan and it’s a good one. Sure some things may seem wrong or crazy to us, but I trust God knows what He is doing.
God is good to us, even though we sin against Him. God is indeed merciful to us even though we will suffer for our actions. God is gracious to us, even when we turn our backs to Him.
Let us truly put our trust in God’s hands. Let us submit our lives to Him knowing that He does what is best, right, and just.
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning and these past several years. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.
Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.
AMEN
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Facing Temptation
Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 11
Last time we left off with David bringing home the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He started off doing it his own way, but when God’s wrath was made known to them. David stopped and returned to God’s ways of doing things.
David gets the Ark to Jerusalem and decides he wants to build a temple for the Ark to stay in. God says no, but his son will do that. Instead God has much bigger plans for David.
God says to David that He will make his name great. He will give Israel a place to live. He will give David rest and make him victorious. Finally, God tells David that He will give him a son to succeed him, but also a Son that would rule forever. Of course, the immediate son was Solomon and Jesus Christ is the Son that rules forever.
After this David starts to see God’s Word come true. He is continuously victorious in battle and his name is made great. Then one day, David goes up on his roof and sees this beautiful woman and says, “I want that.” And as king, you pretty much get what you want.
We see then a bunch of what we would call small little sins continue to build up into a massive web of deceit and lies.
First our account of David and Bathsheeba starts off with David maybe being a little bit lazy or arrogant or egotistical. It is spring time and that is when the kings go off to war because during the winter it is cold and there is not as much food available. So kings go to war in the spring.
But not David. He stays back at his castle. Wakes up from a little nap and decides to go for a walk on his roof. So sin number one is David wasn’t doing what he should have been doing. He was idle and he got into trouble.
I’ve never been in the military, but I know some of you have been and I’ve talked with some of my friends who were. They would always tell me about how the Sergeant or whoever was in charge would always give them stupid ridicules things to do.
Why? Because if you have a bunch of soldiers sitting around doing nothing then they are going to get into trouble. This applies to any of us. This is what happened to David. But his sin doesn’t stop there.
David sees this beautiful women, now remember David is married already to a couple of other beautiful women, but he wants her. So David’s next little sin is desiring something that he doesn’t have.
Wow, how often has that gotten us into trouble as well. Even if we don’t act on that desire it still makes us feel bad that we can’t have whatever it is we want. David of course, being King can get what he wants, so little sin number three is David pursues Bathsheeba. Then comes sin number four, David sends for Bathsheeba, even after he finds out she was married.
Think about it. This entire situation could have been avoided if David had simply gone to war with his troops. Or didn’t look at Bathsheeba, or inquiry about her, or send for her.
Since David ignored his conscience through these little sins, he was good to go when Bathsheeba arrives at his bedroom. And that’s the point. Satan doesn’t attack us with this really massive temptation. He uses these small little sins as we call them to enable us to justify our actions.
Satan wears down our defenses and before you know it you are knee deep in some serious sin and separated from God. If you go home and read this entire chapter this afternoon or this evening you will see that God’s name is not mentioned until the very final sentence where it says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”
And that is what Satan wants. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to do things that displease the Lord.
So now we have David committing several little sins that lead to adultery. I would like to say that it is at this point that David gets on his knees in prayer and repentance to God, but that isn’t what happens.
Instead of confessing his sins, he tries to cover them up by sending for Bathsheeba’s husband and tries to get him to sleep with her so it will look like the child is the husband’s. But Uriah is an honorable man and will not sleep with his wife no matter how hard David tries.
So David comes up with another plan. He sends a letter to his commander to have this man Uriah killed during battle. Unbelievable isn’t it! Here we have a man after God’s own heart, lusting after a married woman, impregnating her, trying to cover it up, then killing her husband. Unreal.
As you look at this web of lies and deception that David had built you see how many people it involved. Obviously David and Bathsheeba, but also David’s servants had to know what was going on and were no doubt sworn to secrecy. The king’s commander also had to realize that something was fishy with the letter that he received to have Uriah killed.
Of course Uriah has to pay for David’s sin with his life and not just Uriah but other soldiers died during the battle as well. Finally, we see next time that David and Bathsheeba’s child dies as a result of all this as well.
This is what happens when we stray from God. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn this morning.
One author wrote, “The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy and we entertain it.
Fourth, and finally, we engage in the evil action [giving in] to its urges. This is how little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy [is] against us.”
There’s an old saying,
Sow a thought – reap an action.
Sow an action – reap a habit.
Sow a habit – reap a character.
Sow a character – reap a destiny.
How true that is. We need to remember that we are what we make ourselves to be. We can be children of God or we can be children of Satan. Who are we going to listen to and trust with the everyday matters of life.
Closing prayer
Lord, we come to you now seeking your guidance in our everyday matters of life. Help us to turn from our temptations that we face. And when we do happen to give in and mess up, strengthen us to not cover up our sins, but to come to you for forgiveness. Grant us the grace, mercy and peace that you desire for us. AMEN.
Last time we left off with David bringing home the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He started off doing it his own way, but when God’s wrath was made known to them. David stopped and returned to God’s ways of doing things.
David gets the Ark to Jerusalem and decides he wants to build a temple for the Ark to stay in. God says no, but his son will do that. Instead God has much bigger plans for David.
God says to David that He will make his name great. He will give Israel a place to live. He will give David rest and make him victorious. Finally, God tells David that He will give him a son to succeed him, but also a Son that would rule forever. Of course, the immediate son was Solomon and Jesus Christ is the Son that rules forever.
After this David starts to see God’s Word come true. He is continuously victorious in battle and his name is made great. Then one day, David goes up on his roof and sees this beautiful woman and says, “I want that.” And as king, you pretty much get what you want.
We see then a bunch of what we would call small little sins continue to build up into a massive web of deceit and lies.
First our account of David and Bathsheeba starts off with David maybe being a little bit lazy or arrogant or egotistical. It is spring time and that is when the kings go off to war because during the winter it is cold and there is not as much food available. So kings go to war in the spring.
But not David. He stays back at his castle. Wakes up from a little nap and decides to go for a walk on his roof. So sin number one is David wasn’t doing what he should have been doing. He was idle and he got into trouble.
I’ve never been in the military, but I know some of you have been and I’ve talked with some of my friends who were. They would always tell me about how the Sergeant or whoever was in charge would always give them stupid ridicules things to do.
Why? Because if you have a bunch of soldiers sitting around doing nothing then they are going to get into trouble. This applies to any of us. This is what happened to David. But his sin doesn’t stop there.
David sees this beautiful women, now remember David is married already to a couple of other beautiful women, but he wants her. So David’s next little sin is desiring something that he doesn’t have.
Wow, how often has that gotten us into trouble as well. Even if we don’t act on that desire it still makes us feel bad that we can’t have whatever it is we want. David of course, being King can get what he wants, so little sin number three is David pursues Bathsheeba. Then comes sin number four, David sends for Bathsheeba, even after he finds out she was married.
Think about it. This entire situation could have been avoided if David had simply gone to war with his troops. Or didn’t look at Bathsheeba, or inquiry about her, or send for her.
Since David ignored his conscience through these little sins, he was good to go when Bathsheeba arrives at his bedroom. And that’s the point. Satan doesn’t attack us with this really massive temptation. He uses these small little sins as we call them to enable us to justify our actions.
Satan wears down our defenses and before you know it you are knee deep in some serious sin and separated from God. If you go home and read this entire chapter this afternoon or this evening you will see that God’s name is not mentioned until the very final sentence where it says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”
And that is what Satan wants. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to do things that displease the Lord.
So now we have David committing several little sins that lead to adultery. I would like to say that it is at this point that David gets on his knees in prayer and repentance to God, but that isn’t what happens.
Instead of confessing his sins, he tries to cover them up by sending for Bathsheeba’s husband and tries to get him to sleep with her so it will look like the child is the husband’s. But Uriah is an honorable man and will not sleep with his wife no matter how hard David tries.
So David comes up with another plan. He sends a letter to his commander to have this man Uriah killed during battle. Unbelievable isn’t it! Here we have a man after God’s own heart, lusting after a married woman, impregnating her, trying to cover it up, then killing her husband. Unreal.
As you look at this web of lies and deception that David had built you see how many people it involved. Obviously David and Bathsheeba, but also David’s servants had to know what was going on and were no doubt sworn to secrecy. The king’s commander also had to realize that something was fishy with the letter that he received to have Uriah killed.
Of course Uriah has to pay for David’s sin with his life and not just Uriah but other soldiers died during the battle as well. Finally, we see next time that David and Bathsheeba’s child dies as a result of all this as well.
This is what happens when we stray from God. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn this morning.
One author wrote, “The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy and we entertain it.
Fourth, and finally, we engage in the evil action [giving in] to its urges. This is how little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy [is] against us.”
There’s an old saying,
Sow a thought – reap an action.
Sow an action – reap a habit.
Sow a habit – reap a character.
Sow a character – reap a destiny.
How true that is. We need to remember that we are what we make ourselves to be. We can be children of God or we can be children of Satan. Who are we going to listen to and trust with the everyday matters of life.
Closing prayer
Lord, we come to you now seeking your guidance in our everyday matters of life. Help us to turn from our temptations that we face. And when we do happen to give in and mess up, strengthen us to not cover up our sins, but to come to you for forgiveness. Grant us the grace, mercy and peace that you desire for us. AMEN.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
God’s Wrath and Blessing
Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 6 read 1-11
Last time we looked at the range of emotions that David’s men went through when they returned to their hometown only to find it burnt to the ground and all of their belongings including their families was gone.
We saw how they were at first distressed, saddened at the sight. Then they blamed David and wanted to kill him. However, they went to battle the enemy after checking in with God’s plan. They were victorious and happy and celebrating until they got back from battle and didn’t want to share the loot.
After this battle, Saul knows he is finished and David will be king. At the end of 1 Samuel, King Saul is killed in a battle against the Philistines. Not only is Saul killed so is his son Jonathan, David’s buddy.
Some guy gets this great idea to go and tell David that King Saul is dead and he is the one that did it. David listens to this man describe Saul’s death, then David has him executed for killing the King.
All of Israel mourned and fasted at the loss of their King, including David and his men. After this, David is anointed King over Judah and Israel. He also gets his first wife, Michael back and gets the city of Jerusalem. And as I have said before, they all lived happily ever after. Well not really as we see in our scripture this morning.
Everyone is once again happy and excited. God has been good to them. They are finally bringing the ark of God home to Jerusalem. They are singing, dancing, playing music. It is truly an awesome time.
But then suddenly the ox stumbled a little bit and a man by the name of Uzzah reached out and grabbed the ark of God to steady it. God struck him dead right there on the spot. The party was over. No more singing. No more dancing. In fact no more moving the ark of God.
What a shock. Here was a guy that was just trying to help out and God struck him dead. What kind of a God would do that? I’ll tell you. A holy one. A righteous one.
See way back in the book of Numbers God goes into great detail about how the ark was to be moved. The Levities were to use poles and carry the ark, not put it on a cart and have oxen pull it. So David and his men were directly disobeying God.
God also said that no one was to touch the ark. They were to use the poles to lift it. The penalty for touching the ark was death. So no matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was punishable by death.
This rule of God’s wasn’t just made up for God’s own fun and amusement. This was a means of preserving the sense of God’s holiness and the fear of drawing near to him without proper preparation.
Think about it. How many times do you come into worship and maybe aren’t prepared for it. Or maybe you just go through the motions of the service. This was always one of my disappointments with the Catholic church. While at Saint Francis I would see many people and students just go through the rituals and traditions without actually preparing their hearts for worship.
And you can bet once the mass was over, they went right back to their sinful ways. I’m not picking on the Catholics here, I’m just saying that is what I saw. And it can happen to any of us if we just go through the motions without preparing ourselves for worship of God the way He wants.
God wants us to have a relationship with Him and we need to have that relationship on His terms, not ours.
After Uzzah is struck dead by God, David becomes very angry. At first, probably a little angry at God for killing this man who was helping out. Then David probably realizes he was at fault for not obeying God and is angry with himself.
So David decides to leave the ark of God there for a little while to give God some time to cool off, so to speak. As if that will help. The ark is placed in the house of a Levite there. God blesses this house for the next three months.
David figures God’s wrath has subsided and decides to continue the journey to Jerusalem. This time, however, he follows God’s prescribed methods. In fact, after the first six steps, David sacrifices an ox and another animal to God.
When they finally get the ark to Jerusalem, David is so thrilled that he dances for joy in the street. He also makes an offering to God and gave everyone some food to eat.
So what’s in this story for us today. Well, I mentioned a few things all ready. One of course being the fact that we need to prepare ourselves when we come before the Lord to worship Him. In fact, we need to obey Him throughout our lives.
The main idea though is that our God is a God of wrath and a God of blessing. Most people and preachers talk about God’s love for us all the time, but rarely do they mention His wrath.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Sure the Old Testament saints were under God’s laws. Today we are under His love, His grace. But jump to the end of the book. In Revelation God’s wrath will be back.
God’s holiness and goodness are most clearly revealed in the cross of Christ. God’s holiness demanded the death of His Son for our sins. But His goodness and love flow out from the cross offering us acceptance, forgiveness and eternal life.
Let us truly worship and thank the God who saves us.
Closing prayer
Lord we thank you for being a God of wrath and of blessing. We sure do enjoy the many blessings that you have given to each and every one of us. However, we know that you would not and could not be a holy and righteous God without wrath upon those who reject you and disobey you.
We ask that you will continue to strengthen us through our journey in life. We ask for your forgiveness when we wrong you by disobeying you. We pray that your will shall be done in and through us.
AMEN.
Last time we looked at the range of emotions that David’s men went through when they returned to their hometown only to find it burnt to the ground and all of their belongings including their families was gone.
We saw how they were at first distressed, saddened at the sight. Then they blamed David and wanted to kill him. However, they went to battle the enemy after checking in with God’s plan. They were victorious and happy and celebrating until they got back from battle and didn’t want to share the loot.
After this battle, Saul knows he is finished and David will be king. At the end of 1 Samuel, King Saul is killed in a battle against the Philistines. Not only is Saul killed so is his son Jonathan, David’s buddy.
Some guy gets this great idea to go and tell David that King Saul is dead and he is the one that did it. David listens to this man describe Saul’s death, then David has him executed for killing the King.
All of Israel mourned and fasted at the loss of their King, including David and his men. After this, David is anointed King over Judah and Israel. He also gets his first wife, Michael back and gets the city of Jerusalem. And as I have said before, they all lived happily ever after. Well not really as we see in our scripture this morning.
Everyone is once again happy and excited. God has been good to them. They are finally bringing the ark of God home to Jerusalem. They are singing, dancing, playing music. It is truly an awesome time.
But then suddenly the ox stumbled a little bit and a man by the name of Uzzah reached out and grabbed the ark of God to steady it. God struck him dead right there on the spot. The party was over. No more singing. No more dancing. In fact no more moving the ark of God.
What a shock. Here was a guy that was just trying to help out and God struck him dead. What kind of a God would do that? I’ll tell you. A holy one. A righteous one.
See way back in the book of Numbers God goes into great detail about how the ark was to be moved. The Levities were to use poles and carry the ark, not put it on a cart and have oxen pull it. So David and his men were directly disobeying God.
God also said that no one was to touch the ark. They were to use the poles to lift it. The penalty for touching the ark was death. So no matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was punishable by death.
This rule of God’s wasn’t just made up for God’s own fun and amusement. This was a means of preserving the sense of God’s holiness and the fear of drawing near to him without proper preparation.
Think about it. How many times do you come into worship and maybe aren’t prepared for it. Or maybe you just go through the motions of the service. This was always one of my disappointments with the Catholic church. While at Saint Francis I would see many people and students just go through the rituals and traditions without actually preparing their hearts for worship.
And you can bet once the mass was over, they went right back to their sinful ways. I’m not picking on the Catholics here, I’m just saying that is what I saw. And it can happen to any of us if we just go through the motions without preparing ourselves for worship of God the way He wants.
God wants us to have a relationship with Him and we need to have that relationship on His terms, not ours.
After Uzzah is struck dead by God, David becomes very angry. At first, probably a little angry at God for killing this man who was helping out. Then David probably realizes he was at fault for not obeying God and is angry with himself.
So David decides to leave the ark of God there for a little while to give God some time to cool off, so to speak. As if that will help. The ark is placed in the house of a Levite there. God blesses this house for the next three months.
David figures God’s wrath has subsided and decides to continue the journey to Jerusalem. This time, however, he follows God’s prescribed methods. In fact, after the first six steps, David sacrifices an ox and another animal to God.
When they finally get the ark to Jerusalem, David is so thrilled that he dances for joy in the street. He also makes an offering to God and gave everyone some food to eat.
So what’s in this story for us today. Well, I mentioned a few things all ready. One of course being the fact that we need to prepare ourselves when we come before the Lord to worship Him. In fact, we need to obey Him throughout our lives.
The main idea though is that our God is a God of wrath and a God of blessing. Most people and preachers talk about God’s love for us all the time, but rarely do they mention His wrath.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Sure the Old Testament saints were under God’s laws. Today we are under His love, His grace. But jump to the end of the book. In Revelation God’s wrath will be back.
God’s holiness and goodness are most clearly revealed in the cross of Christ. God’s holiness demanded the death of His Son for our sins. But His goodness and love flow out from the cross offering us acceptance, forgiveness and eternal life.
Let us truly worship and thank the God who saves us.
Closing prayer
Lord we thank you for being a God of wrath and of blessing. We sure do enjoy the many blessings that you have given to each and every one of us. However, we know that you would not and could not be a holy and righteous God without wrath upon those who reject you and disobey you.
We ask that you will continue to strengthen us through our journey in life. We ask for your forgiveness when we wrong you by disobeying you. We pray that your will shall be done in and through us.
AMEN.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Finding Strength in the Lord
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 30:3-10
Last time we saw David ready to kill not only this guy Nabal who insulted him, but all of his male servants as well. This was over nothing more than some offensive behavior. Thankfully, Nabal’s wife intercedes and stops the killing spree.
If you remember before that David had the opportunity to kill Saul, the person who was after his life. But David could only cut off a piece of Saul’s robe before his conscience got to him.
Right after this episode with Nabal, David again has the opportunity to kill Saul. This time however, David doesn’t listen to his friends. He simply takes Saul’s spear and his water jug while he is asleep.
David leaves and is given a small town to live in. More troops join David and they raid and destroy many cities. Saul comes to the complete realization that he will die and David will be king of Israel.
Of course the battle is not over though. When David returns to his home, he finds that it has been raided and burned to the ground. All of David's and his men’s possessions, their wives, their children, their livestock is gone.
All is lost. It’s hopeless. These men that have trusted David now return home to nothing. Everything they had is gone. The mood is very sad and depressed. No doubt, much of us would feel the same way if it happened to us.
David’s men become very angry at David for allowing this to happen. In fact, they become so angry that they want to stone David to death. Somehow, David manages to calm them down and seek God’s will.
David asks God point blank, “Should I go after these people?” and “Will I catch them?” God answers David in the affirmative. “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you.”
What a wonderful feeling that would have been. David returns to his men and tells them the good news and they are ready to fight for what is theirs. They come to a river that is difficult to cross so 200 men stay behind with some of the heavier baggage.
The other 400 men cross the river and slaughter the Amalekites from evening to evening. The men return victorious. They are shouting for joy because they have defeated the enemy and got all of their stuff back unharmed, including their wives, children, and animals.
But when the 400 men meet up with the 200 men that stayed behind with the baggage, they didn’t want to share in the spoils of war. David immediately steps in and says everyone had a part to play in this battle and everyone will share the spoils of war.
The emotional state of these people is amazing to me through this situation. First, they are really sad and depressed about losing everything they own. Then they are furious at David for allowing this to happen. So mad, in fact, that they want to kill him.
Then they listen to David and trust him again to go to war against the enemy. When they are victorious they are so happy. But then when they return home, they don’t want to share the loot. They let their greed take over.
Think about some past situations that you have experienced. Maybe you have felt similar emotions. Maybe you got mad. Maybe you wanted revenge. Maybe you were greedy. It happens. It is human nature.
The key to the lesson is David’s response. Sure, no doubt he felt similar sadness and anger at his lose. But he turned to God and asked God to show him the way. He came home to nothing, but he knew that God is always there and that is what makes him a man after God’s heart.
He found his strength in God during this time of distress. He didn’t give up. He didn’t run from God. He went right to God and asked him what to do. What a wonderful lesson for all of us to learn.
David sought God’s guidance. He trusted God with his life. He had a relationship with God. That is what God wants from all of us.
In verse 23, David says God “has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.” I would bet that there were a few of David’s men that mumbled to themselves something like, “well yeah, that is true, but why did God allow the enemy to overtake our homes and families in the first place.”
You know, that is a question that many of us dwell on too often as well. We try to figure out why God would allow this type of thing to happen to me. Why was my child killed. Why did I get cancer. Why did I lose my job and have my house foreclosed on. Why did my spouse cheat on me. Why did God allow these things to happen to me.
The answer is simply we don’t know and we may never know during this lifetime why certain “bad” things happen to us. We simply need to trust in God’s love, His grace, and His mercy for us. God has a plan and He will use us to accomplish that plan.
More often than not, when bad things happen to us, there is a lesson for us to learn from the experience. It is a time to prove our faith to ourselves. Or to show where our faith is lacking.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean all of our earthly problems are going to go away. It simply means that when these problems arise we can take them to the One who will see us through them. Life isn’t always easy, but we must be faithful to God.
I would imagine each and every one of you out their today is facing some type of difficult or challenging situation right now. It may be health related. It may be family related. Or it may simply be dealing with the fact that you are aging and have trouble doing the things you used to do.
I am here to tell you though that whatever it is, there is hope. David knew that and he went to God to see him through the situation. We too should do the same.
Closing prayer
Lord of strength and hope, help us through whatever situations arise in our lives. Guide us with your grace and your mercy. Help us to always be faithful to you and bring you glory, honor, and praise from our actions.
AMEN.
Last time we saw David ready to kill not only this guy Nabal who insulted him, but all of his male servants as well. This was over nothing more than some offensive behavior. Thankfully, Nabal’s wife intercedes and stops the killing spree.
If you remember before that David had the opportunity to kill Saul, the person who was after his life. But David could only cut off a piece of Saul’s robe before his conscience got to him.
Right after this episode with Nabal, David again has the opportunity to kill Saul. This time however, David doesn’t listen to his friends. He simply takes Saul’s spear and his water jug while he is asleep.
David leaves and is given a small town to live in. More troops join David and they raid and destroy many cities. Saul comes to the complete realization that he will die and David will be king of Israel.
Of course the battle is not over though. When David returns to his home, he finds that it has been raided and burned to the ground. All of David's and his men’s possessions, their wives, their children, their livestock is gone.
All is lost. It’s hopeless. These men that have trusted David now return home to nothing. Everything they had is gone. The mood is very sad and depressed. No doubt, much of us would feel the same way if it happened to us.
David’s men become very angry at David for allowing this to happen. In fact, they become so angry that they want to stone David to death. Somehow, David manages to calm them down and seek God’s will.
David asks God point blank, “Should I go after these people?” and “Will I catch them?” God answers David in the affirmative. “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you.”
What a wonderful feeling that would have been. David returns to his men and tells them the good news and they are ready to fight for what is theirs. They come to a river that is difficult to cross so 200 men stay behind with some of the heavier baggage.
The other 400 men cross the river and slaughter the Amalekites from evening to evening. The men return victorious. They are shouting for joy because they have defeated the enemy and got all of their stuff back unharmed, including their wives, children, and animals.
But when the 400 men meet up with the 200 men that stayed behind with the baggage, they didn’t want to share in the spoils of war. David immediately steps in and says everyone had a part to play in this battle and everyone will share the spoils of war.
The emotional state of these people is amazing to me through this situation. First, they are really sad and depressed about losing everything they own. Then they are furious at David for allowing this to happen. So mad, in fact, that they want to kill him.
Then they listen to David and trust him again to go to war against the enemy. When they are victorious they are so happy. But then when they return home, they don’t want to share the loot. They let their greed take over.
Think about some past situations that you have experienced. Maybe you have felt similar emotions. Maybe you got mad. Maybe you wanted revenge. Maybe you were greedy. It happens. It is human nature.
The key to the lesson is David’s response. Sure, no doubt he felt similar sadness and anger at his lose. But he turned to God and asked God to show him the way. He came home to nothing, but he knew that God is always there and that is what makes him a man after God’s heart.
He found his strength in God during this time of distress. He didn’t give up. He didn’t run from God. He went right to God and asked him what to do. What a wonderful lesson for all of us to learn.
David sought God’s guidance. He trusted God with his life. He had a relationship with God. That is what God wants from all of us.
In verse 23, David says God “has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.” I would bet that there were a few of David’s men that mumbled to themselves something like, “well yeah, that is true, but why did God allow the enemy to overtake our homes and families in the first place.”
You know, that is a question that many of us dwell on too often as well. We try to figure out why God would allow this type of thing to happen to me. Why was my child killed. Why did I get cancer. Why did I lose my job and have my house foreclosed on. Why did my spouse cheat on me. Why did God allow these things to happen to me.
The answer is simply we don’t know and we may never know during this lifetime why certain “bad” things happen to us. We simply need to trust in God’s love, His grace, and His mercy for us. God has a plan and He will use us to accomplish that plan.
More often than not, when bad things happen to us, there is a lesson for us to learn from the experience. It is a time to prove our faith to ourselves. Or to show where our faith is lacking.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean all of our earthly problems are going to go away. It simply means that when these problems arise we can take them to the One who will see us through them. Life isn’t always easy, but we must be faithful to God.
I would imagine each and every one of you out their today is facing some type of difficult or challenging situation right now. It may be health related. It may be family related. Or it may simply be dealing with the fact that you are aging and have trouble doing the things you used to do.
I am here to tell you though that whatever it is, there is hope. David knew that and he went to God to see him through the situation. We too should do the same.
Closing prayer
Lord of strength and hope, help us through whatever situations arise in our lives. Guide us with your grace and your mercy. Help us to always be faithful to you and bring you glory, honor, and praise from our actions.
AMEN.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Secure in the Lord
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 25:10-19.
We see something interesting occurring here in chapter 25 this morning. If you recall from last week in chapter 24 we have David hiding out in a cave from Saul. Saul goes into the cave and David cuts off a piece of Saul’s robe.
David is filled with guilt because he attacked God’s anointed one that he exits the cave and confesses to Saul what he has done. David knew that God chose Saul and he knew that it would be clear when the time was right for David to assume the throne.
Again, David had lessons to learn and that is what we find again in our Scripture this morning. As I mentioned in chapter 24 David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but he didn’t. In Chapter 26 David again has the opportunity to kill Saul, but doesn’t. But here in chapter 25 we have David being the aggressive one, ready to kill another man over an insult.
At some point in our lives we have all said or at least thought something like this: “I’ll get you for that.” Or “You’ll regret the day you did that to me.” Or “I don’t get mad, I get even.” When people mistreat us our human sinful nature takes over and we seek revenge.
We want to give them a taste of their own medicine. Although usually we don’t just give them a taste, we give them a mouthful. We don’t just get even, we like to kick it up a notch and get even plus a little something extra. That’s our human sinful nature. And that’s exactly what we see David about to do this morning.
David is insulted by Nabal and is ready to seek vengeance. See David and his men looked after Nabal’s men while they were out watching the sheep. No harm came to them. When it was time to celebrate the sheering of the sheep, David asked Nabal if they could be part of the festival.
Nabal insulted David and would not give him any food or let them participate in the fun. David gets very mad at Nabal and tells his men, “Strap on your swords.” Here David is, a man of God, ready to go a kill another man and not just the man, but all the males of the household.
See what I mean. We don’t just get even. We kick it up a notch to show that we really mean business and you messed with the wrong guy. David did the same thing. Thankfully, there is a beautiful woman that steps up to the plate and averts disaster.
Nabal is a rough, tough looking man, and apparently he wasn’t too swift. His name actually means fool and judging from his actions he was. His wife, Abigail on the other hand was very beautiful and intelligent.
Some of Nabal’s servants saw how Nabal treated David and they came to Abigail and told her the story. She immediately raced into action, getting food and supplies ready to repay David for his kindness to the shepherds watching over the flock.
She meets David as he is in route to kill Nabal. See, she knew, as most people did, who David was. She knew he was God’s choice to be the next King of Israel. She obviously knew her husband as well and what a fool he was.
Abigail humbly comes before David and asks for mercy. David blesses her for her discretion and her wisdom and bravery. David lets her return in peace and does not attack Nabal.
When Abigail returned to her house, she found Nabal drunk out of his mind. So she decided to let him sleep this one off. The next morning when Nabal got up, Abigail told him what she did. He had a heart attack and stroke which left him paralyzed for a few days before he died.
When David finds out that Nabal died, he goes and marries Abigail. Again, I would like to end the story by saying and they all lived happily ever after, but that isn’t the case.
Well, this is quite a story, but there were lessons that David needed to learn. And there are lessons that we need to learn as well.
First of all lets look at verses 12 and 13. “So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, ‘Every man strap on his sword.’”
So David gets insulted and what does he do? He prepares to fight. He doesn’t think about the situation, he doesn’t ask his friends or his advisors for their thoughts or opinions. He doesn’t show mercy to this fool Nabal. Worst of all, he doesn’t go to God and ask Him what He wants done.
None of that, David simply says strap on your sword and lets go kill them all. How many times have we done that. We react to the situation without seeking the counsel of others and for sure not God.
That is a lesson we all need to learn. Think before you do something. Check in with God on the matter and see what it is that He wants done. There is a reason why you are in the situation you are in. See what God wants you to learn from the experience.
I think the main lesson of this episode in David’s life is to once again trust God. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan and He actively pursues that plan. His will shall be done.
Vengeance is mine says the Lord. We need to leave things up to God to take care of. Now that doesn’t mean we just sit at home in our recliner watching television. We need to take an active part in God’s plan. We just need to be sure that we are participating in God’s plan. God will take care of things on His timetable and in His way.
Many Christians today take a very active role in the protest of abortion clinics. Unfortunately, they are often times not carrying out God’s will with the things that they do and say. They are following their plan, not God’s plan. In fact, no doubt some of them are being used by Satan to continue his plan of making the name of God look bad.
Looking back at our story this morning, in the end how did things turn out? Nabal died. Nabal insulted God’s anointed one and he died. Now I don’t want to ruin the ending for you, but the same thing happens to Saul.
See Nabal and Saul did not respect David, God’s chosen one, and both men die.
The issue for us to think about this morning and this week is to look at the way we treat others when they mistreat us. Think about how trusting the situation to God can change your attitude and action involving that person.
If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy is thirsty, give him something drink. Love your enemies. That is what Jesus tells us. I know it is hard to do in this world today. But it is what God wants. It is what Christ did.
Closing prayer.
Lord, we ask for forgiveness this morning for those that we have wronged. We ask for the strength and courage and grace to show love and mercy to those that wrong us. Help us to better trust you with our lives.
Amen.
We see something interesting occurring here in chapter 25 this morning. If you recall from last week in chapter 24 we have David hiding out in a cave from Saul. Saul goes into the cave and David cuts off a piece of Saul’s robe.
David is filled with guilt because he attacked God’s anointed one that he exits the cave and confesses to Saul what he has done. David knew that God chose Saul and he knew that it would be clear when the time was right for David to assume the throne.
Again, David had lessons to learn and that is what we find again in our Scripture this morning. As I mentioned in chapter 24 David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but he didn’t. In Chapter 26 David again has the opportunity to kill Saul, but doesn’t. But here in chapter 25 we have David being the aggressive one, ready to kill another man over an insult.
At some point in our lives we have all said or at least thought something like this: “I’ll get you for that.” Or “You’ll regret the day you did that to me.” Or “I don’t get mad, I get even.” When people mistreat us our human sinful nature takes over and we seek revenge.
We want to give them a taste of their own medicine. Although usually we don’t just give them a taste, we give them a mouthful. We don’t just get even, we like to kick it up a notch and get even plus a little something extra. That’s our human sinful nature. And that’s exactly what we see David about to do this morning.
David is insulted by Nabal and is ready to seek vengeance. See David and his men looked after Nabal’s men while they were out watching the sheep. No harm came to them. When it was time to celebrate the sheering of the sheep, David asked Nabal if they could be part of the festival.
Nabal insulted David and would not give him any food or let them participate in the fun. David gets very mad at Nabal and tells his men, “Strap on your swords.” Here David is, a man of God, ready to go a kill another man and not just the man, but all the males of the household.
See what I mean. We don’t just get even. We kick it up a notch to show that we really mean business and you messed with the wrong guy. David did the same thing. Thankfully, there is a beautiful woman that steps up to the plate and averts disaster.
Nabal is a rough, tough looking man, and apparently he wasn’t too swift. His name actually means fool and judging from his actions he was. His wife, Abigail on the other hand was very beautiful and intelligent.
Some of Nabal’s servants saw how Nabal treated David and they came to Abigail and told her the story. She immediately raced into action, getting food and supplies ready to repay David for his kindness to the shepherds watching over the flock.
She meets David as he is in route to kill Nabal. See, she knew, as most people did, who David was. She knew he was God’s choice to be the next King of Israel. She obviously knew her husband as well and what a fool he was.
Abigail humbly comes before David and asks for mercy. David blesses her for her discretion and her wisdom and bravery. David lets her return in peace and does not attack Nabal.
When Abigail returned to her house, she found Nabal drunk out of his mind. So she decided to let him sleep this one off. The next morning when Nabal got up, Abigail told him what she did. He had a heart attack and stroke which left him paralyzed for a few days before he died.
When David finds out that Nabal died, he goes and marries Abigail. Again, I would like to end the story by saying and they all lived happily ever after, but that isn’t the case.
Well, this is quite a story, but there were lessons that David needed to learn. And there are lessons that we need to learn as well.
First of all lets look at verses 12 and 13. “So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, ‘Every man strap on his sword.’”
So David gets insulted and what does he do? He prepares to fight. He doesn’t think about the situation, he doesn’t ask his friends or his advisors for their thoughts or opinions. He doesn’t show mercy to this fool Nabal. Worst of all, he doesn’t go to God and ask Him what He wants done.
None of that, David simply says strap on your sword and lets go kill them all. How many times have we done that. We react to the situation without seeking the counsel of others and for sure not God.
That is a lesson we all need to learn. Think before you do something. Check in with God on the matter and see what it is that He wants done. There is a reason why you are in the situation you are in. See what God wants you to learn from the experience.
I think the main lesson of this episode in David’s life is to once again trust God. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan and He actively pursues that plan. His will shall be done.
Vengeance is mine says the Lord. We need to leave things up to God to take care of. Now that doesn’t mean we just sit at home in our recliner watching television. We need to take an active part in God’s plan. We just need to be sure that we are participating in God’s plan. God will take care of things on His timetable and in His way.
Many Christians today take a very active role in the protest of abortion clinics. Unfortunately, they are often times not carrying out God’s will with the things that they do and say. They are following their plan, not God’s plan. In fact, no doubt some of them are being used by Satan to continue his plan of making the name of God look bad.
Looking back at our story this morning, in the end how did things turn out? Nabal died. Nabal insulted God’s anointed one and he died. Now I don’t want to ruin the ending for you, but the same thing happens to Saul.
See Nabal and Saul did not respect David, God’s chosen one, and both men die.
The issue for us to think about this morning and this week is to look at the way we treat others when they mistreat us. Think about how trusting the situation to God can change your attitude and action involving that person.
If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy is thirsty, give him something drink. Love your enemies. That is what Jesus tells us. I know it is hard to do in this world today. But it is what God wants. It is what Christ did.
Closing prayer.
Lord, we ask for forgiveness this morning for those that we have wronged. We ask for the strength and courage and grace to show love and mercy to those that wrong us. Help us to better trust you with our lives.
Amen.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A Matter of Conscience
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 24:1-7
Last week we looked at the friendship of Jonathan and David. We said that was an example of true friendship. The characteristics they had are the same ones that we should implement into our friendships as well.
They looked out for each other and truly cared about each others well being. They even risked their own lives for each other. They loved each other as they loved themselves. That is indeed true friendship.
This morning our story jumps a few chapters to chapter 24. In chapters 21 through 23 we see David on the run from Saul. As he is fleeing he meets and helps people along the way. Many of these people join him on his journey. In fact, he has quite a following of family, friends, and soldiers where our scripture lesson picks up this morning.
Saul finds out where David is at, so David hides out in a cave. Saul goes into the cave to relieve himself and David has the opportunity to kill the King. However, his conscience says no after he cuts into the robe of the king.
Think about the feelings and struggles that David must have been going through at this time. David knew he was going to be King and here is his chance to take the throne. Even beyond that, David had been fleeing for his life and he had a chance to end that. He had the chance to eliminate the person who was after him. He had the chance to get even.
But he didn’t do it. His conscience stopped him. Sure, his friends were trying to persuade him, saying this is the day that God has spoken of. God has put Saul into your hands; make your move.
What a tough decision this would be. Here you are, in the heat of the moment. You don’t really have much time for an internal debate you just need to act or not. Your friends are saying do it, but what is your gut saying. What is your conscience saying to you.
It sure looked like David was supposed to kill the king. This was the perfect opportunity. The question is, did God ever tell David that he was to kill the king? The answer is no. Sure, God told David he would be king, but he never told David to kill the king.
So David’s conscience, which is in tune with God’s will, says no. He feels guilt after cutting a piece of the King’s robe. David knew that Saul was given his power to rule from God and it would be up to God to remove Saul from the throne.
As I said, David’s friends thought this was the time. You know, we often rely on the counsel of friends when making decisions about what we should do. If we are surrounded by godly people, living godly lives then it is probably good advice. However, we still need to check in with God.
We must not do anything that will violate our conscience. We must not give in to peer pressure, especially when we know what is right.
A friend of mine has a daughter who is about 5 years old. For her birthday in August I think, she got a pillow pet. It’s like a pillow in the shape of an animal. In December, the kids were writing letters to Santa Claus. All of her friends wrote they wanted a pillow pet, so she wrote that in her letter too.
When she got home that night, she was crying her head off because she wrote to Santa that she wanted a pillow pet for Christmas, when that’s not really what she wanted. She gave in to peer pressure and she violated her conscience. And it hurt her.
Of course, that weekend Santa was at the school for a breakfast so her loving mother took her to sit on Santa’s lap and she was able to tell Santa what she really wanted. Which was an alarm clock by the way.
I realize this is a trivial example, but it makes the point clear. When we violate our conscience, when we are doing something that we know isn’t right, it hurts. It makes us sad, depressed, miserable, and so on.
David loved, trusted, respected, and obeyed God. God never told him to kill Saul, so he knew it was not his place to kill God’s anointed king. The guilt of just cutting Saul’s robe was too much for David to bear.
David emerges from the cave and confesses to Saul what he did. He showed Saul that he could have killed him, but he didn’t. David is not out to get Saul even though Saul is out to get David. David simply tells the king to think for himself rationally. God will be the judge.
Saul’s reaction to this confession was a humble one. Although we know that Saul is tormented by evil spirits, Saul confessed that David is more righteous than him. He even acknowledged that David would indeed be king one day. Of course, Saul wasn’t ready to relinquish the throne, but he knew that God put David next in line for the throne.
Sometimes in our lives we wonder why things happen to us. “Why me?” we often say. No doubt David had every right to say this with all that he had been through. But when you look back at these events that happened in David’s life or even your own life for that matter, you can see God’s hand at work.
God was with David every step of the way. Throughout all of these events there was a lesson that David needed to learn. The same is true for us today as well. We go through many struggles in our life and there is a lesson to learn. Sometimes the lesson is discipline for wrongdoing. Other times the lesson helps us to mature into the people that God wants us to be.
The question that we need to think about it is what does God want me to do. How can we know when to take matters into our own hands and when to leave them in God’s hands?
It is tough today. God spoke to the prophets of the Old Testament in a personal way. He often times told them exactly what to do. Today He doesn’t do that. We have His Word to rely on, but He doesn’t provide us with any new revelation.
We need to read God’s word and place it into action each and every day of our life. We need to be in communion with God through prayer. Ask Him to lead and guide us through life as He wants us to live. We need to look at the example of Jesus’ earthly life and live as much like Him as we possible can.
Of course, we always need to listen to our conscience. When it says no, pay attention. Don’t turn it off. Don’t ignore it. Block out what the world tells you and listen to your heart. Listen to God.
Closing prayer:
Lord we thank you for our time together again this morning. We thank you for the wonderful lesson’s of David. We thank you for shaping our conscience. Help us to listen to what you tell us. Help us to trust and obey you with our lives.
In Jesus name, AMEN.
Last week we looked at the friendship of Jonathan and David. We said that was an example of true friendship. The characteristics they had are the same ones that we should implement into our friendships as well.
They looked out for each other and truly cared about each others well being. They even risked their own lives for each other. They loved each other as they loved themselves. That is indeed true friendship.
This morning our story jumps a few chapters to chapter 24. In chapters 21 through 23 we see David on the run from Saul. As he is fleeing he meets and helps people along the way. Many of these people join him on his journey. In fact, he has quite a following of family, friends, and soldiers where our scripture lesson picks up this morning.
Saul finds out where David is at, so David hides out in a cave. Saul goes into the cave to relieve himself and David has the opportunity to kill the King. However, his conscience says no after he cuts into the robe of the king.
Think about the feelings and struggles that David must have been going through at this time. David knew he was going to be King and here is his chance to take the throne. Even beyond that, David had been fleeing for his life and he had a chance to end that. He had the chance to eliminate the person who was after him. He had the chance to get even.
But he didn’t do it. His conscience stopped him. Sure, his friends were trying to persuade him, saying this is the day that God has spoken of. God has put Saul into your hands; make your move.
What a tough decision this would be. Here you are, in the heat of the moment. You don’t really have much time for an internal debate you just need to act or not. Your friends are saying do it, but what is your gut saying. What is your conscience saying to you.
It sure looked like David was supposed to kill the king. This was the perfect opportunity. The question is, did God ever tell David that he was to kill the king? The answer is no. Sure, God told David he would be king, but he never told David to kill the king.
So David’s conscience, which is in tune with God’s will, says no. He feels guilt after cutting a piece of the King’s robe. David knew that Saul was given his power to rule from God and it would be up to God to remove Saul from the throne.
As I said, David’s friends thought this was the time. You know, we often rely on the counsel of friends when making decisions about what we should do. If we are surrounded by godly people, living godly lives then it is probably good advice. However, we still need to check in with God.
We must not do anything that will violate our conscience. We must not give in to peer pressure, especially when we know what is right.
A friend of mine has a daughter who is about 5 years old. For her birthday in August I think, she got a pillow pet. It’s like a pillow in the shape of an animal. In December, the kids were writing letters to Santa Claus. All of her friends wrote they wanted a pillow pet, so she wrote that in her letter too.
When she got home that night, she was crying her head off because she wrote to Santa that she wanted a pillow pet for Christmas, when that’s not really what she wanted. She gave in to peer pressure and she violated her conscience. And it hurt her.
Of course, that weekend Santa was at the school for a breakfast so her loving mother took her to sit on Santa’s lap and she was able to tell Santa what she really wanted. Which was an alarm clock by the way.
I realize this is a trivial example, but it makes the point clear. When we violate our conscience, when we are doing something that we know isn’t right, it hurts. It makes us sad, depressed, miserable, and so on.
David loved, trusted, respected, and obeyed God. God never told him to kill Saul, so he knew it was not his place to kill God’s anointed king. The guilt of just cutting Saul’s robe was too much for David to bear.
David emerges from the cave and confesses to Saul what he did. He showed Saul that he could have killed him, but he didn’t. David is not out to get Saul even though Saul is out to get David. David simply tells the king to think for himself rationally. God will be the judge.
Saul’s reaction to this confession was a humble one. Although we know that Saul is tormented by evil spirits, Saul confessed that David is more righteous than him. He even acknowledged that David would indeed be king one day. Of course, Saul wasn’t ready to relinquish the throne, but he knew that God put David next in line for the throne.
Sometimes in our lives we wonder why things happen to us. “Why me?” we often say. No doubt David had every right to say this with all that he had been through. But when you look back at these events that happened in David’s life or even your own life for that matter, you can see God’s hand at work.
God was with David every step of the way. Throughout all of these events there was a lesson that David needed to learn. The same is true for us today as well. We go through many struggles in our life and there is a lesson to learn. Sometimes the lesson is discipline for wrongdoing. Other times the lesson helps us to mature into the people that God wants us to be.
The question that we need to think about it is what does God want me to do. How can we know when to take matters into our own hands and when to leave them in God’s hands?
It is tough today. God spoke to the prophets of the Old Testament in a personal way. He often times told them exactly what to do. Today He doesn’t do that. We have His Word to rely on, but He doesn’t provide us with any new revelation.
We need to read God’s word and place it into action each and every day of our life. We need to be in communion with God through prayer. Ask Him to lead and guide us through life as He wants us to live. We need to look at the example of Jesus’ earthly life and live as much like Him as we possible can.
Of course, we always need to listen to our conscience. When it says no, pay attention. Don’t turn it off. Don’t ignore it. Block out what the world tells you and listen to your heart. Listen to God.
Closing prayer:
Lord we thank you for our time together again this morning. We thank you for the wonderful lesson’s of David. We thank you for shaping our conscience. Help us to listen to what you tell us. Help us to trust and obey you with our lives.
In Jesus name, AMEN.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
True Friendship
Click here for the message of 1 Samuel 20:12-17.
We left off last time with the battle of David and Goliath. David knew that God was not only with him, but God was with all of his people. The Israelites would have been victorious without David had they realized that and trusted in God.
After David defeats Goliath he becomes something of a hero. This is how Jonathan and David become friends. In chapter 18 verse 1 we read, “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
We also then hear of the women singing their song to praise David, Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed ten thousands. Saul becomes jealous of David.
In fact, Saul devises a scheme to get rid of David. He tells David that he can marry his daughter if he will go and fight the enemies, hoping that the enemy will kill David. David agrees and comes back victorious once again.
However, while David is away fighting the king gives his daughter to another man to marry. King Saul is surprised and upset when David returns alive. The king then finds out his other daughter is in love with David, so the king challenges David once again to go a kill one hundred enemy soldiers then he can marry Michal his other daughter.
David agrees and does so. This time the king allows the marriage to take place, but the king still wants David dead. So he finally just sends his soldiers over to his house to kill David. His wife helps him escape and this is where our scripture picks up this morning with the friendship of Jonathan and David.
David and Jonathan are soul brothers. They loved each other loyally and were devoted to each other. They loved each other as they loved themselves. They were committed to each other.
This type of friendship is tough to find these days. Most people are in relationships to see what they can get from it, not what they can give to it. But not these two people, they were dedicated to each other as we shall see.
It is interesting to note the fact that Jonathan who is Saul’s son would normally be the next in line for the throne. By rights Jonathan should be the next king. But he realizes that God has chosen David to be king. He isn’t jealous or envious or upset or deceitful or anything.
Jonathan simply loves David and supports him, looks after him, is kind to him, and cares for him.
This kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
That really describes the relationship between Jonathan and David. Does that describe any of your relationships? Chances are this portion of scripture was read at your wedding, or you have received some type of wedding or anniversary gift with this scripture on it. Love is not just an idea or a thought or a feeling, it is an action.
We see that love in action with David and Jonathan. Relationships take work. Jonathan’s friendship and devotions to David put him at odds with his father. In fact, because of his dedication to David, Jonathan’s life was put at risk a few times.
In fact, Saul became very angry at Jonathan when David didn’t show up for the banquet. The King curses out Jonathan. Accuses him of shaming the family name for siding with David. Saul even acknowledges that David will be king and rubs it in Jonathan’s face. To top it all off, Saul throws his spear at Jonathan, his son!
But Jonathan remains dedicated and loyal to David. Friendship – relationships can be costly at times. They certainly aren’t free and they take work and dedication. It is about doing the right thing for the right reason.
Jonathan and David had this type of relationship. They had a deep connection to each other. Now we must not mistake this for any type of homosexual connection because there was none. This was a brotherhood type of soul connection.
Of course one of the big reasons they were drawn to each other is because they were both drawn to God. That is also another key to any relationship. There needs to be a common connection. In this case, it was serving God.
Today, I believe it is very difficult to find this type of true friendship. Most people are simply out for themselves. They give up when the going gets tough. They abandon their friendship when things don’t go their way.
That’s a real problem for us today. It is sad too. People are so focused on themselves that they miss out on a wonderful opportunity to have a deep and meaningful relationship with a friend.
Even in marriages people don’t find that friendship and I believe that is why so many marriages fail. The characteristics that David and Jonathan have for each other are what we need to cultivate in our friendships and our marriages.
I would also encourage you to find friendships and nurture them as well. Friendships are a necessity in life. We are so detached from each other these days. Sure, we stay in contact with facebook, twitter, and texting, but we don’t have that deep connection with others that we need.
One survey revealed that seven in ten do not know their neighbors. So I got to thinking about the main drag in Strongstown, 422 from the General Store to the Church. There are 19 occupied homes. Out of those 19 homes, I know who lives in 8 of them. I am not saying I am close with those 8 families, I am just saying I know who physically lives in them. And I have lived in Strongstown all of my life.
As a society we are indeed detached. As many as one third of the population has struggled with loneliness. It is an even bigger problem with the elderly and those that are not able to get out of their homes much.
This week, I would ask that you look again at the relationships that you have. Is there room for improvement? Can you be a better friend to someone? Can you start a new friendship with someone that needs a friend?
Do you need to rekindle your relationship with your spouse? How about with God?
Not all of your relationships will turn out to be close like Jonathan and David’s, but you’ll never know until you put forth the effort.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for providing this great example of friendship between David and Jonathan. Help us to be more like them in our relationships. Draw us close to you and place people into our lives that will encourage us along our journey through life.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
We left off last time with the battle of David and Goliath. David knew that God was not only with him, but God was with all of his people. The Israelites would have been victorious without David had they realized that and trusted in God.
After David defeats Goliath he becomes something of a hero. This is how Jonathan and David become friends. In chapter 18 verse 1 we read, “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
We also then hear of the women singing their song to praise David, Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed ten thousands. Saul becomes jealous of David.
In fact, Saul devises a scheme to get rid of David. He tells David that he can marry his daughter if he will go and fight the enemies, hoping that the enemy will kill David. David agrees and comes back victorious once again.
However, while David is away fighting the king gives his daughter to another man to marry. King Saul is surprised and upset when David returns alive. The king then finds out his other daughter is in love with David, so the king challenges David once again to go a kill one hundred enemy soldiers then he can marry Michal his other daughter.
David agrees and does so. This time the king allows the marriage to take place, but the king still wants David dead. So he finally just sends his soldiers over to his house to kill David. His wife helps him escape and this is where our scripture picks up this morning with the friendship of Jonathan and David.
David and Jonathan are soul brothers. They loved each other loyally and were devoted to each other. They loved each other as they loved themselves. They were committed to each other.
This type of friendship is tough to find these days. Most people are in relationships to see what they can get from it, not what they can give to it. But not these two people, they were dedicated to each other as we shall see.
It is interesting to note the fact that Jonathan who is Saul’s son would normally be the next in line for the throne. By rights Jonathan should be the next king. But he realizes that God has chosen David to be king. He isn’t jealous or envious or upset or deceitful or anything.
Jonathan simply loves David and supports him, looks after him, is kind to him, and cares for him.
This kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
That really describes the relationship between Jonathan and David. Does that describe any of your relationships? Chances are this portion of scripture was read at your wedding, or you have received some type of wedding or anniversary gift with this scripture on it. Love is not just an idea or a thought or a feeling, it is an action.
We see that love in action with David and Jonathan. Relationships take work. Jonathan’s friendship and devotions to David put him at odds with his father. In fact, because of his dedication to David, Jonathan’s life was put at risk a few times.
In fact, Saul became very angry at Jonathan when David didn’t show up for the banquet. The King curses out Jonathan. Accuses him of shaming the family name for siding with David. Saul even acknowledges that David will be king and rubs it in Jonathan’s face. To top it all off, Saul throws his spear at Jonathan, his son!
But Jonathan remains dedicated and loyal to David. Friendship – relationships can be costly at times. They certainly aren’t free and they take work and dedication. It is about doing the right thing for the right reason.
Jonathan and David had this type of relationship. They had a deep connection to each other. Now we must not mistake this for any type of homosexual connection because there was none. This was a brotherhood type of soul connection.
Of course one of the big reasons they were drawn to each other is because they were both drawn to God. That is also another key to any relationship. There needs to be a common connection. In this case, it was serving God.
Today, I believe it is very difficult to find this type of true friendship. Most people are simply out for themselves. They give up when the going gets tough. They abandon their friendship when things don’t go their way.
That’s a real problem for us today. It is sad too. People are so focused on themselves that they miss out on a wonderful opportunity to have a deep and meaningful relationship with a friend.
Even in marriages people don’t find that friendship and I believe that is why so many marriages fail. The characteristics that David and Jonathan have for each other are what we need to cultivate in our friendships and our marriages.
I would also encourage you to find friendships and nurture them as well. Friendships are a necessity in life. We are so detached from each other these days. Sure, we stay in contact with facebook, twitter, and texting, but we don’t have that deep connection with others that we need.
One survey revealed that seven in ten do not know their neighbors. So I got to thinking about the main drag in Strongstown, 422 from the General Store to the Church. There are 19 occupied homes. Out of those 19 homes, I know who lives in 8 of them. I am not saying I am close with those 8 families, I am just saying I know who physically lives in them. And I have lived in Strongstown all of my life.
As a society we are indeed detached. As many as one third of the population has struggled with loneliness. It is an even bigger problem with the elderly and those that are not able to get out of their homes much.
This week, I would ask that you look again at the relationships that you have. Is there room for improvement? Can you be a better friend to someone? Can you start a new friendship with someone that needs a friend?
Do you need to rekindle your relationship with your spouse? How about with God?
Not all of your relationships will turn out to be close like Jonathan and David’s, but you’ll never know until you put forth the effort.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for providing this great example of friendship between David and Jonathan. Help us to be more like them in our relationships. Draw us close to you and place people into our lives that will encourage us along our journey through life.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Battle is the Lord’s
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 17
1 Samuel 17:41-51
Last time in our study we saw God rejecting Saul as King. God instructs Samuel to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem and anoint one of his sons as the new king of Israel. Samuel sees Jesse’s first born son and wants to anoint him. However, God says no.
Samuel continues to look at all of Jesse’s sons until only the young shepherd David is left. God tells Samuel that David is the one. Samuel needed to learn a lesson about looking at people for who they really are on the inside, not just what they look like on the outside.
God knows our hearts. He uses us as we are and molds us into what he wants us to be if we allow him to. David was chosen to be king because God knew his heart. And we see David trusting in God in our Scripture lesson this morning.
At the end of chapter 16, we see the spirit of God leaving Saul and a tormenting spirit is upon him. This causes Saul great mood swings. It brings him depression and fear. In order to cheer himself up he requests some music. So the kings servants find David who plays the harp beautifully. David ends up serving in Saul’s court.
Today’s lesson of course is that familiar story of David taking on Goliath. No doubt, we are all familiar with the story. It is probably a story that we heard as kids. Goliath was a giant. Every day he would challenge the Israelites to a fight.
The Israelites were afraid of Goliath though. And from a human standpoint I can see why. Goliath was a warrior. This is Arnold Swartzenegger as the Terminator or Sylvester Stallone as Rambo. You just don’t mess with guys like that.
From a spiritual standpoint though, the Israelites had forgotten that God promised to be with them. They were simply lacking in their faith. God had promised them victory if only they believed and trusted him.
Enter David, a man after God’s own heart. He shows up at the battlefield to bring some food and supplies to the troops. He finds out that Goliath has been taunting the Israelites for 40 days.
David starts to question the troops about the fight. He questions why the soldiers allow this man to defy, intimidate, embarrass, and shame the armies of God. David’s brother hears about this and basically tells David to get lost. No doubt he is a little jealous. After all, this kid is a Shepard, not a soldier.
King Saul hears about David’s activity and sends for him. David convinces Saul to allow him to fight the giant. Again, from a human standpoint, this is a ridiculous idea. David was young and inexperienced. Goliath was a seasoned veteran, a warrior.
The fate of Israel rested in his battle. If David loses then Israel is enslaved to the Philistines. Saul was taking quite a risk here.
Think about it for a minute. Normally, we select people who are humanly qualified to do a job. Likewise, we normally take on responsibilities for which we feel qualified. Sure faith is important, but it doesn’t remove the need for qualified people to do certain jobs.
We must continue to rely on God for strength and guidance in our lives. David surely did. As part of his conversation with Saul, David tells about his experience protecting his sheep from bears and lions. But David knew he was only able to protect his sheep because of God.
Because of his experiences, David is confident that he can defeat Goliath. David knows that God has been with him, is currently with him, and will be with him in the future as well. The same applies to us today as well.
Think about some of the events that have happened in your life. Surely looking back on things you can see God’s hand at work. No doubt you can still see God at work in your lives today as well. So why would you even think that He won’t be there for you tomorrow.
It’s time for the battle. David grabs five rocks and heads out to face off against the giant. Goliath basically laughs in David’s face and continuously insults him. Goliath has quite the attitude. But David has something better. He comes in faith with God on his side.
Of course, we know how the story ends. David flings a rock at Goliath that knocks him to the ground. David grabs Goliath’s sword and chops off his head. And as any good story ends, they all lived happily ever after, right? Well not quite as we shall see in the coming weeks.
The key lesson for this morning is the fact that the battle is the Lord’s. We must trust in God’s Word. Of course, in order to trust in His Word, we must know His Word. We must read and study His Word and continually place it into action in our lives.
No doubt, the Israelites knew God’s Word. They knew they were the chosen people. They knew that God would protect them, but they failed to take what they knew and place it into action.
Each of us face struggles and troubles everyday. Maybe there is a Goliath of a problem that we are trying to deal with. But we must put our faith into action like David did and trust that God will see us through whatever situation we are facing.
One of the great myths of our society and this is something that we even teach our children, is “if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.” That is simply not true. The message of the world is this: victory goes to the strong and the spoils of victory to those who are powerful.
Well as we see in our lesson this morning that is not God’s way. As we learned a while ago in our studies of the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the poor in Spirit, blessed are the humble, blessed are the weak and so on.
God has some different ideas, and David represents those ideas to us this morning. David sums it up best in verse 47 right before he kills Goliath, “And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!”
We can do nothing on our own, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. All things truly do work for good for those who love God and are called according to His will and purposes.
Let these be our words to live by this week.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for these words of wisdom. Help us to truly trust in your word and act in ways that show our trust and confidence in your providence over our lives. Help us to realize that the battles of this world are not ours, but they are yours. We give you thanks for always being with us and ask for your continued patience with us as we journey through life.
AMEN.
1 Samuel 17:41-51
Last time in our study we saw God rejecting Saul as King. God instructs Samuel to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem and anoint one of his sons as the new king of Israel. Samuel sees Jesse’s first born son and wants to anoint him. However, God says no.
Samuel continues to look at all of Jesse’s sons until only the young shepherd David is left. God tells Samuel that David is the one. Samuel needed to learn a lesson about looking at people for who they really are on the inside, not just what they look like on the outside.
God knows our hearts. He uses us as we are and molds us into what he wants us to be if we allow him to. David was chosen to be king because God knew his heart. And we see David trusting in God in our Scripture lesson this morning.
At the end of chapter 16, we see the spirit of God leaving Saul and a tormenting spirit is upon him. This causes Saul great mood swings. It brings him depression and fear. In order to cheer himself up he requests some music. So the kings servants find David who plays the harp beautifully. David ends up serving in Saul’s court.
Today’s lesson of course is that familiar story of David taking on Goliath. No doubt, we are all familiar with the story. It is probably a story that we heard as kids. Goliath was a giant. Every day he would challenge the Israelites to a fight.
The Israelites were afraid of Goliath though. And from a human standpoint I can see why. Goliath was a warrior. This is Arnold Swartzenegger as the Terminator or Sylvester Stallone as Rambo. You just don’t mess with guys like that.
From a spiritual standpoint though, the Israelites had forgotten that God promised to be with them. They were simply lacking in their faith. God had promised them victory if only they believed and trusted him.
Enter David, a man after God’s own heart. He shows up at the battlefield to bring some food and supplies to the troops. He finds out that Goliath has been taunting the Israelites for 40 days.
David starts to question the troops about the fight. He questions why the soldiers allow this man to defy, intimidate, embarrass, and shame the armies of God. David’s brother hears about this and basically tells David to get lost. No doubt he is a little jealous. After all, this kid is a Shepard, not a soldier.
King Saul hears about David’s activity and sends for him. David convinces Saul to allow him to fight the giant. Again, from a human standpoint, this is a ridiculous idea. David was young and inexperienced. Goliath was a seasoned veteran, a warrior.
The fate of Israel rested in his battle. If David loses then Israel is enslaved to the Philistines. Saul was taking quite a risk here.
Think about it for a minute. Normally, we select people who are humanly qualified to do a job. Likewise, we normally take on responsibilities for which we feel qualified. Sure faith is important, but it doesn’t remove the need for qualified people to do certain jobs.
We must continue to rely on God for strength and guidance in our lives. David surely did. As part of his conversation with Saul, David tells about his experience protecting his sheep from bears and lions. But David knew he was only able to protect his sheep because of God.
Because of his experiences, David is confident that he can defeat Goliath. David knows that God has been with him, is currently with him, and will be with him in the future as well. The same applies to us today as well.
Think about some of the events that have happened in your life. Surely looking back on things you can see God’s hand at work. No doubt you can still see God at work in your lives today as well. So why would you even think that He won’t be there for you tomorrow.
It’s time for the battle. David grabs five rocks and heads out to face off against the giant. Goliath basically laughs in David’s face and continuously insults him. Goliath has quite the attitude. But David has something better. He comes in faith with God on his side.
Of course, we know how the story ends. David flings a rock at Goliath that knocks him to the ground. David grabs Goliath’s sword and chops off his head. And as any good story ends, they all lived happily ever after, right? Well not quite as we shall see in the coming weeks.
The key lesson for this morning is the fact that the battle is the Lord’s. We must trust in God’s Word. Of course, in order to trust in His Word, we must know His Word. We must read and study His Word and continually place it into action in our lives.
No doubt, the Israelites knew God’s Word. They knew they were the chosen people. They knew that God would protect them, but they failed to take what they knew and place it into action.
Each of us face struggles and troubles everyday. Maybe there is a Goliath of a problem that we are trying to deal with. But we must put our faith into action like David did and trust that God will see us through whatever situation we are facing.
One of the great myths of our society and this is something that we even teach our children, is “if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.” That is simply not true. The message of the world is this: victory goes to the strong and the spoils of victory to those who are powerful.
Well as we see in our lesson this morning that is not God’s way. As we learned a while ago in our studies of the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the poor in Spirit, blessed are the humble, blessed are the weak and so on.
God has some different ideas, and David represents those ideas to us this morning. David sums it up best in verse 47 right before he kills Goliath, “And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!”
We can do nothing on our own, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. All things truly do work for good for those who love God and are called according to His will and purposes.
Let these be our words to live by this week.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for these words of wisdom. Help us to truly trust in your word and act in ways that show our trust and confidence in your providence over our lives. Help us to realize that the battles of this world are not ours, but they are yours. We give you thanks for always being with us and ask for your continued patience with us as we journey through life.
AMEN.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
God Looks at Hearts
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 16:1-13
This morning we start our look at the life of King David. We won’t have enough time to cover every aspect on David’s life during this series, but we will hit the major events that give us guidance and encouragement in our own lives today.
The book of Samuel occurs right after the time of the judges. The Hebrew people no longer wanted to be ruled by judges they wanted a king. King never wanted a king for His people other than Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. But God gives His people what they want.
Now, we aren’t sure who the human author of the book of Samuel is. It starts with the birth of the prophet Samuel and ends with the last words of King David. The book covers most of the kingships or reign of Saul and David.
Our lesson picks up this morning with Saul being rejected by God as King. Before we get into the text any further I want you to think about something for a minute. Think about how a person’s appearance affects your initial opinion of them. Think it doesn’t? Take this little test.
You’re looking for a new leader in your organization and there are three candidates available.
Candidate #1 – hangs out with crooked politicians; consults with astrologists; has had a least two mistresses; is a chain smoker and drinks regularly
Candidate #2 – likes to sleep in late; used drugs during college; drinks heavily
Candidate #3 – a decorated war hero; vegetarian; doesn’t smoke; rarely drinks; faithful to one women
Based upon the appearance of these three candidates, which would you pick? Most people would probably choose candidate #3 because he sounds like an okay guy.
Candidate #1 describes Franklin Roosevelt. Candidate #2 describes Winston Churchill. Candidate #3 describes Adolph Hitler.
Appearances can be deceiving. That is why God looks at the heart of a person. Israel’s first King, Saul, was the ideal candidate. According to Scripture he was tall, handsome, and an impressive person. Unfortunately, he was also foolish and disobedient.
Our Scripture picks up with the prophet Samuel in a state of shock and grief over God’s rejection of King Saul. God tells Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem, offer a sacrifice, and anoint one of his sons as King.
Samuel arrives as Jesse’s house sees the eldest son and prepares to anoint him as king, but God says no. This goes on with all of Jesse’s sons but God says no. Finally, Samuel asks if there are any more sons left and there is one. A shepherd boy in the field with the flock.
When David arrives God tells Samuel that he is the one. This was a lesson that Samuel had to learn. Samuel saw the eldest of Jesse’s sons who was tall and handsome. Samuel was looking at the external, whereas, God was looking at the internal things.
God looks at what the person is truly like inside. He looks at their heart. He looks at their emotions, their will, their intellect, their desires. He looks at their entire life.
What do we look at? Maybe the way a person dresses, how nice their hair looks, maybe their height or weight, muscles, and so on. Don’t believe me? Turn on the television or open a magazine.
Look at our movies stars, our models, and even our public officials. Most of them have a nice external appearance, but their inward self may be totally different. People are who they are, not what they look like.
That was the lesson that Samuel needed to learn and that is a lesson that all of us need to learn today as well.
If we were given the task of picking a King, most of us probably would not have picked David. Actually, as I demonstrated earlier, most of us would probably have picked Hitler!
David was a young adolescent doing a dirty job. Not only would he be ceremonially unclean, but he would have been physically unclean living out in the fields with the sheep. We probably wouldn’t think much of him, just some dumb farm boy or something like that.
But as we shall see David was a man after God’s own heart. Sure he wasn’t perfect and he messed up at times, sometimes with grave consequences, but he was in love with God. David was faithful to God and ready to serve Him, ready to do his will.
You know if you really think about it, a good Shepard would make a good king. Why? Well think about what a Shepard does. He takes care of his flock. He leads them to food. He protects them from enemies. He disciplines the ones that get out of hand. He cares for them when they are sick. He treats them fairly. He loves them.
That sounds like a pretty good leader to me. In fact, doesn’t that sound like our Shepard, Jesus Christ? It sure does.
The point of our lesson this morning is the fact that God looks at the heart of a person. We should do the same as well. Not only that, we should examine our own hearts to see what it says about us.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us to me more like David, a man after your heart. Help us to be in love with you, to serve you faithfully all the days of our lives.
As we journey in life gives us the wisdom to see people for what they are, not for what they appear to be. We pray the same for our country as well. As we select new leaders, help us to choose people that will be good stewards of all that we have been blessed with.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
This morning we start our look at the life of King David. We won’t have enough time to cover every aspect on David’s life during this series, but we will hit the major events that give us guidance and encouragement in our own lives today.
The book of Samuel occurs right after the time of the judges. The Hebrew people no longer wanted to be ruled by judges they wanted a king. King never wanted a king for His people other than Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. But God gives His people what they want.
Now, we aren’t sure who the human author of the book of Samuel is. It starts with the birth of the prophet Samuel and ends with the last words of King David. The book covers most of the kingships or reign of Saul and David.
Our lesson picks up this morning with Saul being rejected by God as King. Before we get into the text any further I want you to think about something for a minute. Think about how a person’s appearance affects your initial opinion of them. Think it doesn’t? Take this little test.
You’re looking for a new leader in your organization and there are three candidates available.
Candidate #1 – hangs out with crooked politicians; consults with astrologists; has had a least two mistresses; is a chain smoker and drinks regularly
Candidate #2 – likes to sleep in late; used drugs during college; drinks heavily
Candidate #3 – a decorated war hero; vegetarian; doesn’t smoke; rarely drinks; faithful to one women
Based upon the appearance of these three candidates, which would you pick? Most people would probably choose candidate #3 because he sounds like an okay guy.
Candidate #1 describes Franklin Roosevelt. Candidate #2 describes Winston Churchill. Candidate #3 describes Adolph Hitler.
Appearances can be deceiving. That is why God looks at the heart of a person. Israel’s first King, Saul, was the ideal candidate. According to Scripture he was tall, handsome, and an impressive person. Unfortunately, he was also foolish and disobedient.
Our Scripture picks up with the prophet Samuel in a state of shock and grief over God’s rejection of King Saul. God tells Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem, offer a sacrifice, and anoint one of his sons as King.
Samuel arrives as Jesse’s house sees the eldest son and prepares to anoint him as king, but God says no. This goes on with all of Jesse’s sons but God says no. Finally, Samuel asks if there are any more sons left and there is one. A shepherd boy in the field with the flock.
When David arrives God tells Samuel that he is the one. This was a lesson that Samuel had to learn. Samuel saw the eldest of Jesse’s sons who was tall and handsome. Samuel was looking at the external, whereas, God was looking at the internal things.
God looks at what the person is truly like inside. He looks at their heart. He looks at their emotions, their will, their intellect, their desires. He looks at their entire life.
What do we look at? Maybe the way a person dresses, how nice their hair looks, maybe their height or weight, muscles, and so on. Don’t believe me? Turn on the television or open a magazine.
Look at our movies stars, our models, and even our public officials. Most of them have a nice external appearance, but their inward self may be totally different. People are who they are, not what they look like.
That was the lesson that Samuel needed to learn and that is a lesson that all of us need to learn today as well.
If we were given the task of picking a King, most of us probably would not have picked David. Actually, as I demonstrated earlier, most of us would probably have picked Hitler!
David was a young adolescent doing a dirty job. Not only would he be ceremonially unclean, but he would have been physically unclean living out in the fields with the sheep. We probably wouldn’t think much of him, just some dumb farm boy or something like that.
But as we shall see David was a man after God’s own heart. Sure he wasn’t perfect and he messed up at times, sometimes with grave consequences, but he was in love with God. David was faithful to God and ready to serve Him, ready to do his will.
You know if you really think about it, a good Shepard would make a good king. Why? Well think about what a Shepard does. He takes care of his flock. He leads them to food. He protects them from enemies. He disciplines the ones that get out of hand. He cares for them when they are sick. He treats them fairly. He loves them.
That sounds like a pretty good leader to me. In fact, doesn’t that sound like our Shepard, Jesus Christ? It sure does.
The point of our lesson this morning is the fact that God looks at the heart of a person. We should do the same as well. Not only that, we should examine our own hearts to see what it says about us.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us to me more like David, a man after your heart. Help us to be in love with you, to serve you faithfully all the days of our lives.
As we journey in life gives us the wisdom to see people for what they are, not for what they appear to be. We pray the same for our country as well. As we select new leaders, help us to choose people that will be good stewards of all that we have been blessed with.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
