June 18, 2023 - Gratefulness To God
Notes
Transcript
So today we will actually circle back - and dive back into our trek through the books of 1 & 2 Samuel.
Had you guys forgotten?
In case you DID forget… prior to Jon’s sermons the last 2 weeks - and the month of May series prior to that...
We were making our way through the Samuels...
And had made it to 2 Samuel...
Breaking into 2 Samuel...
we came across…
David’s LOYALTY to Saul...
AND - David’s SURRENDERED HEART - to God’s purposes and God’s timing!
If you remember - Saul died in battle - and DAVID - who had already been anointed King - was waiting in the WINGS!
But what happened?
David was only made King over the tribe of Judah…NOT ALL of Israel!
And what we saw in that was this...
SLIDE:
The ‘HOW’ of God’s ways don’t always make sense to us
But what we need to know is that - IN THE HOW of God’s ways...
AS GOD works in our lives...
We need to remember some things...
Remember that He is Working For Us in the Moment
Remember the Past Faithfulness of God
Think back to when Peter climbed out of that boat - and ONTO the water...
With each step = FAITH kept him up ON THAT water...
But then the WAVES got TOO HIGH for him...
It got TOO scary for him...
AND IN THE MOMENT that he sank into that water...
What happened?
He had forgotten EACH PRIOR step - where Christ sustained him on that water!
And so DAVID - when he wasn’t USHERED in as KING OVER ALL OF ISRAEL - right after Saul died...
David’s TRUST in God - REMAINED!
We were THEN reminded of David’s call - to BE KING - AS A SHEPHERD!!
David’s call to RULE - was a CALL to SHEPHERD!
He was called to:
Feed the Flock (Israel)
Care for the Flock (Israel)
Guard the Flock from False Teachers
Lead by Example
Be Accountable
Risk his very life (for Israel)
David - the Shepherd boy…a shepherd of sheep - called to be a Shepherd of people!
And because we know that David was a TYPE of Christ - the last time we spoke regarding this book - we looked at the Davidic Covenant...
The Covenant between God and David....His throne.
And in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel - as God SPOKE to David THRU Nathan...
Let’s revisit what God had said to David - regarding His covenant with him...
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,
15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
NOW - we walked through this Covenant - 7 weeks ago...
TODAY - I want to look at David’s response - to these words.
And HOPEFULLY in this - see an EXAMPLE for ourselves.
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.
25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
What I want us to do today - is to connect the COVENANT that we walked through last time...
AND - read earlier today...
I want to connect that Covenant - with David’s response today!
In a NUTSHELL - what is a covenant?
It’s a promise!
I want us to see how the PROMISES of GOD - should lead us to what we just read from David!
What we just read from David - was a prayer of - GRATEFULNESS!
And so - the PROMISES of God should LEAD US - to gratefulness!
Gratefulness under God...
AND WITHIN that gratefulness - are some key ingredients I want us to dissect today.
SLIDE: Gratefulness Under God: Humility of Heart
Gratefulness Under God
Gratefulness Under God
Let’s circle back to our first verse today...
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
David had just heard - the PROMISES of God regarding his own life...
And his response was...
Not to strut around
Not to think HIGHLY of himself...
But to ask the question - Who am I?
And so - KNOW THIS - within the question - is an UNDERSTANDING - BY DAVID - that David himself - was nothing.
In asking the question - was David LOOKING to be PRAISED??
Who am I?
Tell me how GREAT I AM GOD!
Go ahead!!
No - within the question - is an understanding that - David was - nothing!
Isn’t that what Humility = IS?
To recognize - that we are - HOPELESS...
Worthless!
Meaningless - without Christ?
BUT - BUT - that it doesn’t STOP there...
Humility UNDERSTANDS - that not only are we worthless without Christ..
BUT - ALSO - that UNDER GOD - we deserve NOTHING but death?
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
ALL have sinned....
Well that’s a problem...
BECAUSE...
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We ALL - deserve - NOTHING but God’s WRATH...
Death itself!
Godly HUMILITY - understands and embraces that.
David HERE - after hearing the PROMISES of God over his life...
in Gratefulness to God...
HUMBLY asks - Who am I??
Can we get there?
Let’s LISTEN to some PROMISES of God over your life...
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
PROMISE!!
Do you HEAR THAT?
ALL things.
The DEEPEST of valleys...
The MOST CONFUSING times of life...
The HARDEST of struggles...
ALL - things.
Even in ALL THESE things - God is working...
And BECAUSE that’s TRUE - listen - your FUTURE - is VERY bright!
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
PROMISE!!
There is - NOTHING I CAN DO - to separate myself from the LOVE of Jesus Christ!!
WOW...
Promise!
Am i GRATEFUL yet?
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Promise!!
So where are you now…?
Have we let the HEAVINESS of life - SWEEP over our souls?
We all do...
YET - THERE IS HOPE - for each of us...
WHERE?
In the PROMISES of God!
SLIDE:
Gratefulness to God is rooted in the promises of God
AND YET - even so - it’s still hard!
So what did David do to HELP himself?
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
What’s David doing here?
David is - REFLECTING!
And so we see this...
SLIDE: Gratefulness Under God: Reflecting on God’s Past Faithfulness
Gratefulness Under God
Gratefulness Under God
David here - He’s looking at his life… (reflecting on God’s past faithfulness)
And he KNOWS - that it’s GOD who is the SOURCE of the blessings in his life...
Aside from God - who knows David’s story better than anybody?
Answer? - David
David knows that AS HE PRAYS this prayer - he is - KING of Israel...
YET - NO DOUBT - he is reflecting back to ALL the time he spent -
…ALONE - in that field
tending the sheep.
Guarding the sheep
Guiding the sheep
Taking CARE of the sheep
CARING for the sheep
You think David contemplated that day when a LION came to DESTROY his sheep?
When that BEAR came to destroy the sheep in his care?
You think David LOVED his sheep?
He loved them enough to FIGHT that LION....to FIGHT that bear...
He LOVED enough - to fight!
a LOWLY shepherd boy… face-to-face - BY CHOICE - with a LION...
OH HE CONTEMPLATED it ALL -
Oh how the tables had turned - in David’s life...
AND YET - David KNOWS how it happened!
He KNOWS how he GOT here!!
What did v21 say?
21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
David says - From lowly shepherd boy - to KING of Israel...
WHY?
So that I WOULD KNOW… know what??
this GREATNESS?
The Greatness of DAVID?
No - the GREATNESS of God!
That DAVID would KNOW the Greatness of God -
AND - be grateful!
Grateful to HIM!
For David - HERE - at THIS time - He reflects on his own life...
And it causes him to - Sit in AWE of God
to be GRATEFUL to God for all that He had done...
NOW - we MUST take time to REFLECT on God’s FAITHFULNESS in our lives...
BUT...
There’s a DANGER in this for us!
You know what SIN will do in our lives?
It will take God’s GREATNESS in our lives...
The BLESSINGS that God bestows upon us...
AND SIN will MAKE those blessings - INTO IDOLS in our lives!
And so = here’s what happens...
SLIDE:
The blessing of God becomes our god.
SIN will want us to WORSHIP the blessing - OVER the One who blesses!
and THIS - has an effect on us too...
It will make the GREATNESS of God - in our lives - become DULL in our hearts!
**Nora - came to visit from Alaska (Kodiak Island)
SLIDE: Kodiak Island
What was your first thought when you saw this?
My first thought was - WOW...
…That’s amazing!
Well - in talking to Tia’s friend’s parents - The parents said - Yeah, the WOW factor has worn off.
The BEAUTY…and MAJESTY....and AWE....has become - - Dull
NOW - if those same kids went to the Grand Canyon for the first time - they’d say - WOW!!
So what does this reveal?
It reveals this...
SLIDE:
We were made to worship, but the world can’t hold our worship.
It’s because of THIS truth right here - that one day we’re IN AWE of Kodiak Island...
And the next day - we’re BORED with it!
NOW - how does this play into Gratefulness Under God??
Here’s how...
When was the last time - you expressed GRATEFULNESS to God - for
Specifically - your ability to walk?
Your ability to see?
Your ability to hear?
Your couch?
Your refrigerator?
Your pet?
Your car?
Things that we’re - at this point - we TAKE for GRANTED - we’re bored with and think NOTHING about!
SLIDE:
We will rarely, if ever, be grateful to God for things that we feel we deserve
How do we FIGHT this?
We must be INTENTIONAL - about being REFLECTIVE.
We look at the PAST Faithfulness of God in our lives...
And we SOAK it in!
IN HUMILITY - saying - WHO AM I...
We soak it in!!
SO Let’s do that now - Let’s take time to be REFLECTIVE...
Take some time and think of Specific blessings of God in your life...
And THEN - thank Him…Be GRATEFUL!
Let’s do that now...
------------
…Take a deep breath…thank Him for the air you breathe!
…Do you have a place to live - It’s DUE Him…thank Him!
… Do you have a job - It’s DUE Him.... thank Him!
… Do you have a spouse.... - thank Him!
Maybe your spouse doesn’t give you much to be thankful for...
Do you have a friend you can COUNT ON - no matter what? - Thank God!
… Kids? - They are DUE Him… thank Him!
… Are you able to WALK? Thank Him
… See? - be Grateful!
May we - BE GRATEFUL - and not take for GRANTED - His greatness!!
Cuz guess what?
Guess what happens when we’re FILLED with GRATITUDE to God for all that He is for us IN CHRIST?
SLIDE: Gratefulness Under God: Empowering Boldness of Faith
Gratefulness Under God
Gratefulness Under God
When we RIGHTLY reflect on God’s BLESSINGS toward us...
And that reflection TURNS into Gratefulness…to God...
What follows is - BOLD FAITH...
We see this in our text today…Let’s start with v21…and go to v24
21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.
David here - is ACKNOWLEDGING all that God had done!
David is REFLECTING on what God had done FOR HIM.... and his house - Israel...
What does this lead to?
next verse...
25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
David here - is COMMANDING the Lord to do something!
WOW - bold faith! no?
David says - AND NOW - Lord God - CONFIRM FOREVER the promise you have made to me (Your servant) and his house!
NOW - should we view David GIVING AN ORDER to God here - as - Irreverent? As Disrespectful?
NO - WHY?
Because this BOLDNESS by David shows us that David HEARD the word of God - THROUGH Nathan...
And he BELIEVED it as a SOLEMN PROMISE from GOD!
David NOW was simply CONFIDENTLY asking God to DO WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO!!
Let’s go to it in the text...
25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
The COURAGE to pray this to God CAME from the fact that this PROMISE came from GOD HIMSELF!!
Boldness of Faith comes from Holy Proclamation!
If God SAID IT - It is SO!
If God Said IT - It is SO!
He is FAITHFUL and can be TRUSTED!!
Listen for the BOLDNESS in these passages...
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
And this Boldness that we’re called to - is - - CONTAGIOUS!!
When we see OTHERS be BOLD for Jesus - it - IGNITES the flames of our own BOLDNESS!!
We KNOW IT did for Paul!
2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.
Here we see - that Paul had BOLDNESS to preach the gospel in the midst of SUFFERING!!
Well - with this being CONTAGIOUS....guess what happened with that BOLDNESS?
14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
You see how BOLDNESS of Faith - just keeps PAYING it forward?!!
*How many of you have been EMBOLDENED by someone else’s FAITH??
I know we could ALL tell stories!!
What have we seen today?
SUMMARY
Gratefulness Under God
Humility of Heart
Reflecting on God’s Past Faithfulness
Empowering Boldness of Faith
It begins with Humility of the Heart...
to say to God - WHO AM I?
That you would BLESS ME in this way??
From there - we REFLECT on ALL THAT GOD has done for us in Christ!!
And we get down to the DETAILS...
We start with the premise that ALL WE DESERVE from God - is death and His wrath…!
We start there!
NOW - FROM THERE - look at the blessings He’s given!
That doesn’t NEGATE the valley you may be in right now - But EVEN in the valleys - God often brings along BLESSINGS to sustain us!
We can be grateful for that!!
And when we DO THIS - in humility and honestly under God -
Our faith will be EMBOLDENED to draw closer to Christ!
To live MORE LIKE HIM!
To SPEAK more like Him…
AND ALL - for His glory....and our - JOY!
Let’s pray
The Lord’s Table
Which brings us now to the Lord's Table...
Lord's Table:
This brings us to the Lord’s Table…a time for each of us to reflect on our lives, to examine ourselves spiritually, and to remember the cost of our faith. We were bought with a price, and these elements remind us of this.
1. Our question today is - - Am I Grateful to God for what he has done for me?
Is He Worthy of my praise? - Can I PRAISE Him too much??
Humility of Heart
Reflecting on His work in my life
Emboldened Faith
When it comes to this time of examination - The Bible says not to take this lightly. Scripture says – “ whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
So Go before Him now -
Confess your sins to Him…
Ask Him to fan the flames of Gratefulness in your heart - that we might ALWAYS be a people of gratefulness!
Take time now and examine yourself before the Lord.
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
“do this…in remembrance of me.”
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen