King! (In Training)

**HONOR

We honor up, down, and around.

Honor the team

Students doing 252 program this summer… the obedience and commitment in that

Honor worship team for leading us...

SET UP TALK:

Today’s sermon is going to be entitled “King! (In Training)”

Emphasize the ! after King and parentheses around training

We will be examining and learning from The Story of the life and journey of King David.. from his anointing to becoming King.

**PRAY

Lord, you have your way...

Let me get out of the way...

Let your word speak to each and every person.

Lord, go before me and behind me as I deliver your word to these people...

Lord, I pray that Auburn Football will win the National Championship and that Alabama will lose every game

In Jesus name, Amen

STORY: I have a question… How many of you guys played sports in high school/currently play sports...

Connection to the story...

I didn’t play much of it… I did some of it

I went to a school where EVERYONE made the team because we didn't have that many people try out...

How about the people that didn't play sports… y’all remember those moments in PE when we played kickball, they assigned captains and they took turns picking people for their teams...

You're just praying like PLEASE don’t let me be last.. I was last everytime LOL

These are all SO REAL.

But when I think about sports and things in that nature, I obviously LOVE college football… I’m from the south. It’s in the blood.

But after college, few are chosen for this big thing… THE NFL. The pros.

I think of King David’s story a lot like Draft Night.

His name was called but he never stepped foot on the playing field just yet...

BACK TO DAVID’S STORY:

1 Sammy 16

Set up the reading:

David is in the fields… DOING HIS NORMAL ROUTINE! Tending the sheep...

What you need to know is Saul has just been fired by God… So Saul is still in this throne but God has rejected him as king. He started off strong but it just went downhill from there...

Saul is sitting on this throne and God is selecting his replacement .. quiet transition

Back at the house, Samuel, who is a prophet shows up… Word from God that one of the sons in Jesse’s house— they gonna be the king!!

All of David’s older bros line up… mind you David is still out in the field.

One by one down the line, impressive men. Every time though God says it aint the one

Samuel asks Jesse - got anymore sons? Jesse says yes - David in the field… Invites David from the field

No one even considered David, he was out in the field… BUT THIS IS THE ONE GOD CHOOSES!

1 Samuel 16:10–13 NIV

Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

So we see David anointed, and then he goes back to the field...

TENSION:

But wait? Wasn’t he just made King???

Didn’t God give him an assignment? Why isn’t he stepping into it?

This can be our lives in so many ways… We know God’s called us to do something “big” but it feels like we haven’t fully stepped into it.

David is entering a preparation/formation season going into the throne...

According to scholars, David was 17 at his anointment from Samuel… but it wasn't until age 30 before he was the actually on the throne.

Question to ask ourselves:

Am I willing to be shaped before I’m seen?

In 2026, it is easy to say yes but not really believe it.

There’s so much that goes into it...

The pain, the struggle, the endurance that has to be built.

We want the fruit from the crops without the process of the hard labor it takes to plant the crops.

Every stage between the anointing and the throne was forming David into the kind of king God could trust.

TRANSITION TO MAIN POINTS: David was one of those guys who was willing to be forged in the fire to get to the palace.

the Bible shows us HE WENT BACK TO THE FIELD.

He was just anointed.. and goes back to the field.

David endures so much on the journey to the palace and I think his story is one that can teach us and grow us as we’re in the formation process to what God has called us to.

The first test we see after this anointing is in Chapter 17… he’s about to go up against the Philistine Goliath… most of you know the story.

Goliath is this HUGE man… David’s like a stick LOL

So we see David about to up against the man… this is where we pick up in the story

1 Samuel 17:38–39 NIV

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.

1. You’ll never win the battle you’ve been assigned to using someone else’s mantle.

David said “I’m not used to this armor I cannot go in these” and we see him take this armor off and go into the battle… DON’T MISS THIS— dressed as a shepherd and not as a king.

David knew he couldn’t mix up the two.

The problem today is that we know God is calling us to these big things and we’ve been anointed to do these big things but in the process of getting there we put on the armor of the thing that we’ve not even been made to fit into yet.

You don’t put a newborn baby in a XL t shirt… FUNNY but true!

I have to know my identity and where I stand as of this present time and what God has for me NOW…

I can not be Wrangler Pollard as a speaker and Rich Wilkerson Jr as a speaker at the same time… We don’t wear the same size armor!

This is important for us as leaders.. you’ve signed up for this program. You’ve said yes… to not miss out on this and what God is forming in us. It’s so important to not miss the formation process and what it teaches us.

David goes on to win this battle because he had his eyes set on the here and now and what God was forming in him now instead of putting on the armor of something he wasn’t fully yet.

From this, you would think this would be the end.

Wrang, now we can go home… great message that’s it… David gets the throne...

But the journey to the throne would be far from over.

There is a big defining moment that happens after David defeats Goliath that is pretty huge...

1 Samuel 18:6–8 NIV

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”

After this, Saul becomes jealous and envies David...

He grows fearful of David the Bible says… And we see this evil spirit as the Bible calls it come on Saul and he tries to kill David… how many of y’all know he failed HAHA

But this story was far from over, Saul tries all of these different things. These chapters are MONEY for you to read on your own...

But the big picture I want you to see here in the midst of Saul’s jealousy and what he's trying to do in killing David is Jonothan arriving on the scene…

1 Samuel 19:1–3 NIV

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

Saul is trying to get Jonothan and all these people to gather together and kill David...

Rewind a few verses back...

1 Samuel 18:3 NIV

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

So Jonothan- the son of Saul (!!!) is like David is my dawg… I ain’t letting pops hurt the guy. the Bible says that they formed this covenantal relationship and it even describes that they were “one with each other”

This is important in your journey to the palace because on the journey...

2. You’ll never make it through Saul seasons without Jonothan relationships.

God provides this covenant relationship for David in Jonothan.

David would be dead without this relationship. Saul had the cat by the tail. Jonothan helped David hide.

Without this relationship God gave David through Jonothan there's no telling where David would have ended up..

PC Says it best...

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” - Chris Hodges

Do I have a friend like Jonothan that is walking with me in my formation season?

This is truth. David’s friend Jonathan helped shape his entire journey to the palace.

Point Number 3—

3. You’ll never be trusted with a throne until you’ve first been formed in the cave.

1 Samuel 24:3–12 NIV

He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 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. Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 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.

David could have immediately of had the throne… but his integrity spoke louder.

It was a private moment. In a cave.

He could have killed Saul, ran away and let other people find him and no one would’ve ever known it was David. David would’ve been elevated to the palace and would have to stop running from Saul. This would’ve been the perfect opportunity.

This is where David distinguishes himself.

David shows us that he wasn't the man after the crown but the man after God’s own heart.

Anyone can handle a crown for a moment. Few people can carry character for a lifetime.

The Message version says it this way...

Acts 13:22 MSG

‘I’ve searched the land and found this David, son of Jesse. He’s a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.’

But this process isn't over…

ONTO ZIKLAG

being a man after God’s own heart doesn't reduce pressure, but reveals who you are in the midst of it.

This is the position David finds himself in in this great place called Ziklag…

Well at least it was.

David finds himself in a Ziklag that is burned to pieces.

The city is burned.

His family is gone, they've been taken from him.

And this time we dont see just Saul chasing him, but his whole life collapsing around him.

Does this feel familiar to you? Where life has felt like its falling apart all around you?

**PAUSE

This is real.

Life falling all apart around us.

I get one foot up the ladder and the next thing you know I’m backsledding...

You went two weeks without vaping and then that one compromised happened and now you feel like you can’t run from it

You feel like everyone misunderstands you...

Scripture tells us like it really was...

1 Samuel 30:6 NIV

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.

Okay, so why turn on David?

In these mens minds they're like David is the one who brought us here... David is the sole reason we’re in this position right now. He’s the one they put their trust in and followed.

These men start blaming David. They want to stone him now.

David becomes the target... He didn't betray them.

It just landed on him...

So now David is fighting:

The struggles with Saul

Being accused of something he didn't do

His leadership is under fire.

Hes feeling rejected

And the picture here is so beautiful because in the midst of this...

1 Samuel 30:6 NIV

But David found strength in the Lord his God.

He found strength in the Lord his God.

Culture tells you today to find it in so many places… but to be the leader God is calling to you you have to find your strength in the Lord.

4. You’ll never survive leadership pressure if your strength is built on circumstances.

You can’t build your ministry on the Goliath moments.

If David would have, he would've never made it past this moment.

You can’t build your life on success and applause

David had no applause in this moment and what felt like zero success..

You’ll never make it living for the applause.

After this the next big thing in the formation process happens — this is the moment we’ve been waiting to see in the process for David.

Saul dies.

And David’s leadership speaks so loud here.

The seat that David was building up to be in position in was finally opened and he didn't celebrate… but he mourned.

2 Samuel 1:1-4,12

2 Samuel 1:1–4 NIV

After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor. “Where have you come from?” David asked him. He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

2 Samuel 1:12 NIV

They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

David honors the man that tried to kill Him. He fasted and mourned for the man that once tried to kill him...

5. You’ll never be able to step into what God promised at the end of the journey if you don’t let God form you in the middle.

David made it to this moment.

He’s about to become king.

But he would’ve never made it if he didn't first walk through the formation process.

David the one Samuel anointed in 1 Samuel 16 is not the same David in 2 Samuel 2

And finally.. after all the formation we see the big moment in 2 Samuel 5

2 Samuel 5:3–4 NIV

When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Some of you are frustrated because you feel stuck in the field, stuck in the cave, or stuck in the waiting. But maybe the season you’re trying to escape is the very season God is using to form you.

Don’t despise the field. Don’t waste the cave. Don’t quit in Ziklag.

God is forming you. God is building you.

God is shaping you.

.

RESPONSE:

David was anointed at 17 by Samuel But 30 before he got the throneThere were fields in between.

Battles in between. Caves in between. Pressure in between. Ziklag in between.

And maybe that’s where some of you are tonight.

You love God. You know He’s called you. You know there’s purpose on your life. But if you’re honest… you’re tired of the process.

You’re tired of the waiting. You’re weary. You’re burdened. Tired of feeling unseen. Tired of wondering when it’s finally your turn. Tired of fighting battles nobody knows about. Tired of being in a cave season. Tired of carrying pressure.

But what if the hidden season is not punishment? What if it’s preparation? What if its God building something on.the the inside of you???

God cares just as much about who you become in the process as where you eventually arrive.

WAITING IS NOT WASTING!

Because God was never just building a king… He was building a heart that could carry the weight of the crown.

I think for a lot of people in this room, this is your story.

You want God to use you, but its hard to buy into the process.

But maybe tonight we could change our posture

Maybe we change the prayer tonight and tonight instead of saying “God get me out of this season.” we say “God, do whatever You want to do IN me in this season.”

This is one of the most dangerous prayers we can pray. The enemy HATES it.

Here's what I know:

crowns can expose people who were never formed.

Platforms can destroy people who were never prepared.

Influence can crush people whose identity was never rooted in God.

David made it out of the formation because before he ever had a throne… he had the presence of God.

And tonight I wonder: Who in this room needs to stop running from the process and finally surrender to what God is trying to do in you?

If that’s you… Maybe you’ve been frustrated. Maybe you’ve been discouraged. Maybe you’ve wanted to quit. Maybe you feel stuck in the field, stuck in the cave, or stuck in Ziklag.

But tonight you’re saying: God, I don’t just want the crown, but I want you… If the process hurts… If the process stretches me… If the process costs me… it’s still worth it if it makes me look more like You.

Because at the end of the day… the goal was never just for David to GET the throne. The goal was for David to be READY for the throne.

And maybe God has you in process right now because He loves you too much to give you something your character can’t sustain yet.

If that’s you, all across this room, I just want you to RESPOND.

For some of you, you’ve been so focused on the crown you’ve neglected what God has been speaking to you

For others, you’re currently in the formation process. You’re in Ziklag and you want to quit… tonight we’re renewing the passion for God.

For others, you need to submit to the will of God. You have not realized up until now that he's calling you to something and tonight you get to declare that you're all in for what he has for your life.

PRAYER:

“Lord… We surrender the process to You. Even when it hurts. Even when it stretches us. Even when nobody sees it.

God, build integrity in us in the cave. Build faithfulness in us in the field. Build dependence in us in Ziklag.

Lord, don’t let us chase platforms more than presence. Don’t let us want crowns more than character. Shape us into people whose hearts beat after Yours.

And God, for every person that feels overlooked tonight… Remind them that David was overlooked too. For every person in a waiting season… Remind them that waiting is not wasting. For every person under pressure… Remind them that You are still with them in the middle of the process.

In Jesus name, Amen.

MY WAITING IS NOT WASTED!