9 1 Samuel 16 Preaching/Teaching

First Impressions

Title: Be Careful of First Impressions

The Father's Greatest Desire!

Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-23

CIT: God chose David as a leader on the basis of his heart turned toward Him.

Proposition: God chooses a leader on the basis of a heart turned toward Him

Interrogative: What? ["is a heart turned toward God"]

Unifying word: Characteristics

Major Objective: Consecration

Specific Objective: I want my hearer to develop a heart for God.

Introduction:

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover

I wanted to play at the highest level in college, and like I shared many times before, there was a movie written about me called white man can't Jump. I could play ball but I could not jump which is a problem in basketball. So my senior year was going just as planned, team winning, scoring points and surely Coach K was going to come knocking on my door. And in the middle of the year I get a call from Donnie Bostwick. Who? This wasn't coach K. HI Nate it's Donnie Bostwick here, Donnie who? This man would not only recruit me he would also have one of the most profound impacts on me than any other person. But if you had told me some random coach from Oklahoma would have had this impact, I would not have believed it. Why has coach been such a great leader, [Personal]We are in a leadership crisis in this country. There is a leadership crisis in our churches. Since covid, we have seen so many scandals inside the church. Drew was just texting me yesterday about a famous pastor who was in a terrible scandal. We see it at the top of our country. There is a leadership crisis in our homes. As we celebrate Father's Day, isn't it sad that many kids in this country grow up with no father who loves them? We are raising a fatherless society. While we were in Paris, Texas, there was a young man named Bullet who was rowdy. But as I got to know Bullet, I found out his mom worked at night, and he was raising his two-year-old sister and taking care of her every night; he had never met his father. If we don't raise leaders in our church, the next generation will suffer greatly.

If God calls us to be leaders for him, people of influence, what is he looking for? What is he looking for in you?

He is looking for men and women whose hearts are completely his.

2 Chronicles 16:9 ““For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.””

Today, we will see that God chose David as a leader based on his heart turning toward Him, not his outward appearance. 1 Samuel 16:1-23.

Remember, we are in Samuel, and by the way, if anyone wants to do a deeper dive into the book of Samuel, we have this guide in the back. A fellow pastor of mine makes these. He breaks up entire books of the Bible and then charts them. They are accommodating in studying the Bible.

Have a copy of this

1 Samuel 16:1 NASB95

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.”

Next week you will learn why Saul was rejected, but he was and Samuel was throwing what we would call a pity party-He was down in the dumps. He picked the first king and did not become the real king. I always tell my kids that no one showed up the last time I threw a pity party, and God was telling Samuel it was time to move on.

1 Samuel 16:2–3 (NASB95)

But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

“You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you.”

Samuel is fearful because if Saul were to hear that he was leaving to anoint a new king, he would most likely be killed.

Isn't it just like God making us walk by faith and trust him?

God is going to send me to a place where I could get killed, and I don't know what to do, and I don't know who to anoint.

Doesn't God do this often? He makes us walk by faith and rely on him. Who is Jessie? I am going to a dangerous place to meet a man I don't even know.

1 Samuel 16:4–5 (NASB95)

So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”

He said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

What I love about Samuel is that even if he has reservations, when God asks him to do something, what does it say?

He obeys.

Why were the people trembling-

in the chapter before Samuel killed a king that Saul was supposed to take out. They are probably saying they don't want this guy here.

What the Israelites were looking for in a king!

GQ Picture! THE ROCK

What are some of the external things that we choose our leaders by:

GQ magazine-Have this on the ppt.

Resume-What we have achieved-Appearance How we lookIntellect-

Who we know

There could be so many more.

What did the people of Israel want? They wanted a king that they could put on all the magazines. Remember that they wanted a king like all the other nations.

Remember the first impressions of Saul

They got a guy who looked the part they got the Rock.

1 Samuel 9:2 NASB95

He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

What is the most important thing to man? External appearance

1 Samuel 16:6 (NASB95)

When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”

Here is the scenario: Samuel is with Jessie, and he has a lot of kids; he had the first model of our van.

Samuel, a Godly man, falls into the trap and says the most important thing to God is outward appearance. Eliab was impressive. Remember, the people of God picked the wrong guy in Saul. Saul was man's choice, but it was not God's choice. Here, Samuel is making the same mistake the people of Israel made earlier; he was about to pick Eliab because of his outward appearance.

The hard part about first impressions is we don’t even know ourselves.

We have a hard enough time knowing our own heart

Jeremiah 17:9 ““The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

GOSPEL-

Today we are talking about having a heart for God. We can’t have a heart for God if we don’t have a relationship with God. What does that mean, it means that Jesus died for us while we were sinners, it means that God loved us even when we were dirty, and he took our sins to the cross of calvary and died in our place. If we will receive this great sacrifice he will take our sins and give ur His righteounseess.

Everyday example:

Picture vs Ted Bundy and a homeless man-

If you see a man who has a bunch of tattoos, what do you think?

If you see a clean-cut businessman, what are you thinking?

The reality is we know nothing about either of their hearts.

How does God choose?

What is essential to God? The heart!

1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB95)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This is the key verse-

Examples

One of the things I love about Samuel is that even if he were off, he would do what the Lord asked him to do.

1 Samuel 16:8–9 NASB95

Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

God chooses leaders on the basis of a heart turned toward him. [proposition]

Do you have a heart towards God?

What is a heart turned towards God. [Structural]

T.S. There are two characteristics [unifying word] of David found in 1 Samuel 16 that reflect a heart turned toward God [Structural]

Body:

1. A heart turned toward God demonstrates dependability (10-11a)

Are you dependable?

1 Samuel 16:10–11 (NASB95)

Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

The real Cinderella story

I want to see Jesse, who is Jesse, the grandson of Ruth and Boaz from the Bible. But for whatever reason, he did not even consider David for being a possibility to be God's man. This would be the very line that our savior would come from.

Fathers, I want to challenge us to see our kids for what they can be and what God can do with them. Be a dream maker and not a dream breaker.

Isn't it great that no matter what everyone has said about you, it does not matter? Here, we have a dad who does not even think his son is a candidate for the royal anointing of Samuel. That does not matter; he was God's man, and besides God himself, he is the main character of 1 and 2 Samuel. David had a heart after God.

Exposition-Contrast between David and Saul

We see David being dependable, protecting the sheep, doing the things no one wants to do.

Saul was never the man God had intended to lead Israel, because he did not have a heart that pursued God.

1 Samuel 13:14 ““But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.””

Contrast that from earlier to Saul, the first thing that comes to mind with him is his physical appearance

1 Samuel 9:2 “He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.”

One of the most incredible things about God is that he sees us where we are right now and where he can take us. Jesse had no vision of what God could do in his son's life. He was just a young shepherd boy runt.

But God saw something different; he saw his heart, and he saw him being the man who could lead his people to heights they had never even envisioned.

Illustration- about dbostwick was faithful just like David before he ever had a title, he was an assistant coach at a small college that paid nothing, but he was faithful. to what God had called him to do. Leadership is so much greater than a position. Coach eventually got a head coaching job and in his first two years he took a school that had never made the National Tournament, they won the championship.

Application: are you dependable? What about in your devotions? What about at home? What about in the church?

Not only is dependability an essential characteristic for a leader, but there is another characteristic

2. A heart toward God demonstrate Availability (11b-12).

1 Samuel 16:11–12 (NASB95)

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”

Exp: Establishing priorities and Expectations as the prophet

Illustration: Before Covid hit Coach Bostwick was playing in Houston and he went to go see him. Coach was literally preaching with a Bible in his hand. Coach wins 80-90% of the games that he plays. Incredibly successful. But what is the most important thing about coach, is he is available to God. Wherever God wants him he is there available, to his wife and family. His wife Sherri leads the childrens minsitry at the church, he is there available serving with her, each week he is leding FCA with the team, he is available to do whatever God asks of him.

Application: Here I am send me. Samuel did this. What I want to see in Samuel is he did not want to go but he did. He was wrong, but he let God redirect him. Now David is here and he is in the sense saying the same thing. Here I am send me. I don't even know if David at this point really got the reality that he was going to be king. He was just ready to serve the Lord.

TS: God is concerned with personal Character more than he is about outward appearance.

Conclusion:

What can we give God for this fathers day. What can you give your family for Fathers day? What can you give your co-workers for fathers day?

Our hearts.

Be careful of first impressions

How are you developing a heart for God?

D.L Moody-“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

No matter who you are today: We can all develop a heart for God. What step do you need to take this week.

Story of the boy who sat in the offering plate-

How are you developing your heart for God?