David-Week 2

David trusted God’s timing as much as he trusted his trajectory

FIT IN SOMEWHERE - jesus saying ‘just worry about today’, aka, take it easy and trust God

STORY - Called into ministry. Graduated college. Felt led into the workplace instead, volunteered my time.

After Goliath, David rose in fame because of everything the Lord was doing through him.

‘Saul - thousands. David - tens of thousands.

David’s not doing any of this for his own recognition - it’s all to benefit Israel and saul.

David starts to encounter a big problem, and it starts here:

1 Samuel 18:12 NIV

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul.

So in response to saul,

David goes on the run

The man who would be and should be king is fleeing for his life in the wilds. Place to place.

If this were any of us - we’d be upset. We’d be skeptical. At the very least, we’d get impatient.

David gets presented with this unique opportunity to make his dreams come true.

1 Samuel 24:4–7 NIV

The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

David had trusted God’s TRAJECTORY.

But this situation seemed like an easy way to realize God’s plan. And David knew it.

We learn somsething else from David here.

David trusted Gods timing

He trusted the Lord enough to fight Goliath because of God’s trajectory.

This is different. ‘The Lord wants you king. And here’s a chance to do it - you just need to get blood on your hands to do it’

David knows there’s a problem. He knows saul is wrong. But listen to why he wouldn’t do it himself.

1 Samuel 24:12–13 NIV

May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

David says, you have done wrong - and the lord will avenge. But I need to make sure I don’t do wrong.

David knows how God’s timing works.

How can we know that we’re following God’s timing?

This is such an individual question.

Pray and operate out of peace, and the word of the Lord

These two things together - peace, and the word of the Lord, help to keep us on the right track.

Peace is important because fear is our nature showing through.

The word of the Lord is important because it’s easier than you think to feel good about really awful stuff. We need to have peace - ABOUT God’s word.

But here’s a good rule of thumb about timing:

If you can’t do it right - it’s either the wrong way, or the wrong time

We’re talking about those, verifiably right callings.

Example - Israel in desert. God promised them the Holy Land. Brought them out of egypt with signs and wonders.

Exodus 13:17 NIV

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

God won’t take them the straight way through phillistine territory, or they would change their minds.

They wandered in the desert. Probably felt boring. Like a waste.

Lord sustained them the whole time (mana, water, quail, even their clothes didn’t wear)

He knew that the philistine route would create fear, panic, failure. What seemed like waste to israel was a plan from God. Because Israel had something to learn first.

David knew God’s will. But he wasn’t willing to shortcut the process, because he knew the shortcut wasn’t good for him. And he probably knew that he wasn’t who he needed to be when he got there just yet.

We face this kind of experience in our lives ALL THE TIME. Times where we have the right goal in mind, but try to pick the route based on our own preference and our impatience.

I think every person that’s been in church long enough has a story about something like this.

You make a mistake - and someone comes down on you in anger and vengeance

Someone has an idea that we need to be holy - but to them that means, kick out the people that don’t look like me

Someone disagrees with a decision by a leader - so they start a division

This is why the Bible has so much to say about how we treat each other.

Matthew 5:22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

1 John 4:20 “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

Titus 3:10 “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.”

But so much of the NT boils down to - if you can’t do it right, it’s the wrong time or the wrong way.

David is presented with this shortcut. But he recognizes - he can’t do it the right way, so it’s the wrong time. Then - God takes David on this ‘desert experience’.

He’s still doing a lot of good for israel in this time.

But during all the waiting - david says - i’m good. I trust you’ll get me there when I need to be there.

Maybe you feel like you’re in one of those desert times right now. Let me encourage you.

The Lord has a reason for the deserts

And it’s our hearts.

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The Lord doesn’t just look at the heart - he works on it.

Lamentations 3:25–26 NIV

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

We will face your own deserts. Because our hearts aren’t perfect.

This doesn’t automatically mean times of suffering. But the desert is any place that’s between you and the promise. Could be a time difference. Could be distance difference.

Sometimes feels like ‘this could hurry up a bit’.

Sometimes feels like ‘we’re just lost and wasting time’.

Sometimes feels like suffering, plain and simple

We see the deserts as painful times until we get to what God actually wants to do. God sees the deserts as times that he moulds us into the kind of person that we need to be when we get there.

But there’s a little bit more going on than just our hearts here.

God’s plan is about more than just you

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Crazy idea - maybe the path God is charting with our lives isn’t JUST about us.

With David, God was thinking about David. And Israel. (Deposed king - just a regular nation. Look at how badly things went with 1st/2nd kings).

And he’s thinkinging about his messianic plans. He has the whole of the earth, and all of time, wrapped up in his plans.

And here we are tapping our watches, saying, ‘hurry it up God. I don’t have all day.’

Fast forward to the lives of the disciples.

Going around, witnessing, thousands saved

Acts 5:41 NIV

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

The apostles say - we are suffering so that the gospel spreads. And they rejoice.

Last week, two question - what is your call, and are you willing to do it God’s way or your way?

The two questions this week are:

Are you willing to live for something more than yourself?

David KNEW that God had plans - for him, for the nation, for the world. He refused to let his life be about what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.

God has amazing plans for you. But he also has amazing plans THROUGH you.

There may be people who find the light of the world through your deserts.

Will you live for something more than yourself?

What kind of person will you be when you get there?

The world is still a big and shiny and evil place.

Mark 8:36 NIV

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

It’s not enough to prosper in the Lord. We have to do it right.

God cares SO MUCH about you, that he wants to make sure you make it to the end of the race. And that’s not always a pleasant experience for us. But it’s necessary.

Will you trust God to do his work?

What happens when we trust God’s timing as well as his trajectory?

We will see the goodness of the Lord

This sounds counter-intuitive. But you see just how awesome the Lord is when you’re willing to wait, and let him take the wheel.

If the israelites had stopped complaining in the desert, they would have noticed their shoes.

Sometimes we get too busy checking our watch to notice what the Lord is doing RIGHT NOW on the way to THERE.

Learn to trust God with THERE. Trust the Lord’s goals, and His strength to achieve them.

But also learn to trust God between here and there. Trust the Lord’s timing and his plans. And in those travels in between - you will see the hand of the Lord moving in even the every day things.