God and Country

Introduction

So, “What does being a Veteran mean”? It means extreme sacrifice by yourself and your family.  It also means all of the above to include the equally all important sacrifices that your wife and kids have endured along the way sharing in your pain and anguish. It means that families sacrifice as much if not more along this journey and many times are shunned in the communities for which we live and work. It means families never get the recognition for their support and many times don’t receive the same assistance that the veteran receives. It means that you still to this day get major goose bumps on opening day at football home openers when the military fly by takes place and the national anthem is sung. It means you take it seriously when you fly your American flag outside of your house on the 4th of July and Memorial Day. It means even though your body is riddled with multiple problems, aches, and pains, you would do it all over again a heartbeat. Why, because you deeply love this country of ours and you’re proud of it; our past, present, and future military members and all of the sacrifices that have been made by them and their families for us to live in this great country and share in the freedoms for which we’re privileged enough to have and for which Veteran’s make these ultimate sacrifices.

We all may have a different image of what a veteran is or what it looks like but I believe we could all ultimately agree that an American military veteran is someone who has selflessly sacrificed parts of their life for a cause greater than themselves so that others may live their lives enjoying the Freedoms that come from being an American.

I’m thankful for all veterans and I’m thankful for this country we live in. I’m also thankful for the God who allows us to live in this country.

Today we will look at David, a military veteran himself, and how at the end of his life he looked back on his time in service to the Lord for His country has paved the way for the future.

Open your Bibles to

1 Chronicles 29:10–18 KJV 1900

Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

PRAY

I. The Praise of a Veteran

David was a man that served his God and his Country. As many veterans do. The Marine Corps had a mantra at one time “God, Country, Corps.” It was to remind you of who you served and their order of importance.

David writes here and gives us insight into how a veteran, someone who has served, views life and their purpose in it. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the weeds of the things going on we forget that there is more to this thing that what we want out of it.

When David began this prayer of remembrance he did not start it off with acknowledging the great things he had done. He didn’t thank God for the people he had defeated or the victories he had won.

He didn’t point the finger back at himself in pride and all he had accomplished. He looked to the Lord and praised Him for His Worth.

A. The Worth of the Lord

Verse 11 is all about who God is and all that he posses.

For those that were here do you remember when we spoke about “Authentic Worship”?

Do you remember where the word worship came from?

It is a combination of the two words “worth” and “ship”. It means how we ascribe worth to another.

What is worth though? Some may worship a sports star because of His talents but what if I don’t like sports? Then I can’t ascribe worth to that person.

Also, what if I don’t know who the sports star is? Can I worship someone I don’t know?

I believe the reason many don’t praise the Lord is because they don’t know why they should praise Him.

David knew the Lord and knew that He is great, He is powerful, He is glorious, He is victorious, He is majestic, All that exists is His, He is to be exalted over all.

He is great, He is powerful, He is glorious, He is victorious, He is majestic, All that exists is His, He is to be exalted over all.

No matter who you are you can relate to and understand the worthiness of a God that possess those traits.

But if you don’t know who Him, then how could you.

I’m not just speaking to a person that hasn’t trusted in Jesus as their savior right now. Christians, we are guilty of having a relationship with God through a savior that we barely know.

We don’t know Him because we don’t make time for Him.

But when we know Him, when we know the depths of His love and the awesomeness of His power it’s hard not to worship Him any time we open our mouths to speak to Him in prayer.

David was a man of war that had served His country proudly but knew his victories and successes in life were not of his own doing. They were of the Lord. So David opens his prayer in praise to the worth of the Lord and then goes on to speak of the provision of the Lord.

B. The Provision of the Lord

1 Chronicles 29:12 KJV 1900

Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

This is the same principle Paul wrote about in

Romans 11:36 KJV 1900

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

What God provides for us comes directly from who He is. His character is defined for us throughout scripture.

He is love -

He is patient-

He is faithful-

He is a giver of good things-

I would be irresponsible to stop there because we also need to understand that God is Just

God is jealous

Deuteronomy 32:4 KJV 1900

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: For all his ways are judgment: A God of truth and without iniquity, Just and right is he.

God is jealous

Exodus 34:14 KJV 1900

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

He is also Just

Deuteronomy 32:4 KJV 1900

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: For all his ways are judgment: A God of truth and without iniquity, Just and right is he.

You see the character of God has many facets but he cannot act outside of that character. He has confined himself to this box and because He is also immutable, which means he doesn’t change, He wont’ go against it.

He is a God that wants to pour out blessings. He is a God that wants to give you good and amazing things. Before you can get those good and amazing things you must come to the place like David did and understand the position of the veteran.

II. The Position of the Veteran

David knew the worth of the Lord and praised Him for it. He also recognized his position in relation to the Lord. He knew that position because He had emptied himself. Notice the emptying of a veteran.

A. The Emptying of a Veteran

All military veterans had a time in their life where they had to learn their position…their place in life. That time of life is called boot camp. For me it was on Parris Island in 2006. Pardon the personal illustration for a moment but bare with me.

July 23 2006 I stepped out of a white van and ran inside. I didn’t get to stand on the yellow footprints like everyone else because it was raining that night. Either way, when we got in to the building I quickly learned my place was not what it had been.

I was no longer the class clown, the funny guy, the athletic one, or Joe cool for those that like older references. I was nothing.

I remember there were drill instructors all over the place…Yelling, screaming, knife handing, it was controlled chaos those first couple of days…days we didn’t get to sleep I might add.

Why did I have to go through that though? Why do we train our men and women in uniform this way? Why do we break them down from who they think they are to see themselves as useless and worthless?

It’s so they can be built back up and molded how the drill instructor wants us to look and view ourselves.

We had to be empty of ourselves to recognize the need of what they wanted to pour into us.

At this point in David’s life he had won victories and committed great sins. Sins of adultery and murder. He began to think himself great and God had to tear him down for him to become who is now praying this prayer.

You see for God to have an impact on our lives we must be like David, we must be like that recruit stepping on the yellow footprints, and empty ourselves so that the Lord may pour into us and mold us into what He would have us be. Why?

Because He is great, He is powerful, He is glorious, He is victorious, He is majestic, All that exists is His, He is to be exalted over all. And He wants to make us like Him through Christ.

That molding only comes through obedience. Notice the Obedience of the veteran.

B. The Obedience of a Veteran

Roger Staubach, graduated the Naval Academy in 1965 and served 4 years with one year in Vietnam. He than became the QB who led the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl victory in 1971, admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run, and only in emergency situations could he change the play. Even though Roger considered Coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team. Roger had a decision to make. Would he allow pride to rule his life and ignore his coach, making himself the star? Or would he listen to the coach and do what he wanted? Staubach later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.”

Roger Staubach learned the benefits of being obedient and as Christians when we are obedient to fulfilling the commandments of God we will find harmony, fulfilment, and ultimate victory through Christ.

What are those commandments though? Don’t get confused and think I’m telling you to live according to a check list.

Growth is a processes and we should each be trying to take the next step in that process but obedience to Christ is more than just doing things.

It’s obeying the 2 greatest commandments given that we saw last week.

Matthew 22:35–40 KJV 1900

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love God, Love your neighbor. Be obedient to those and God will pour out blessings.

David was a man that had recieved many blessings from God. Even though it was through unlikely circumstances. He had the love of his wife, the love of most of his children, the love of the kingdom, the blessing of God for the line of Christ to come through Him, and privelage to be the king all other kings would be compared to, the heart described as one after God’s.

Yet we know he endured trials. He lost a son shortly after birth. He had a son rebel against him and die because of that rebellion.

His life was not perfect but it was blessed.

He loved God and because of that Love, he serve God.

That was David’s purpose in life, with a few hiccups, his purpose was to serve God.

Notice the purpose of a Veteran

III. The Purpose of a Veteran

Look with me at verse 16

1 Chronicles 29:16–17 KJV 1900

O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

1 Chronicles 29:16 KJV 1900

O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.

David Praised God for all that He was. He recognized who he was in relation to the Lord. Now He is telling the Lord that His purpose in life is to give back to the Lord because of what the Lord has given to him.

Veterans are people that believe in the cause of their country. They are ones who, at some point in their life, were willing to give it all for what they believed in. They believed in the Freedoms they posessed and wanted to be a part of preserving that for the next generation.

When on active duty a person may not fully understand the significance of what they are doing. However with the hindsight of a veteran, like the hindsight of David, they see their actions and the effect they had.

They look at the next generation and want them to know and understand the same country and Freedoms they were willing to protect. They have a different purpose than the active one. But they have no lesser purpose.

Part of a Veteran’s purpose is to be the example.

A. A Veteran’s example

In verse 17 David is praying before the people and declaring to them what he has done and is doing with what has been given to Him. He is willingly offering those things to Him.

He is doing what He desires for others to do. He is being a leader to those that are coming after Him.

1 Chronicles 29:18-

He knows that he might not be there to see the fruit of it. He knows Israel and the temple will not look like the tabernacle of his day but he is turning things over to the next generation of God’s children to continue living for the Lord as He did.

He is humbly turning the kingdom over to his son Solomon and worshipping the Lord for what He has done and what He will do.

As Christians we should all, like David seek to set the example for those that will come before us. Focusing on what the important things of life are and reminding those that come after us not to get caught up in the things of this world but to keep their focus on God.

Before we can be the veteran David was we have begin our journey.

There’s one last thing I want you take note of before we leave today.

B. A Veteran’s Beginning

David wasn’t always a king. David wasn’t always a righteous man. David wasn’t always someone that could lead a nation. David wasn’t always who we saw in our passage today.

We first meet David in the book of 1 Samuel. This is where the prophet Samuel has come to the house of Jesse, David’s father, because the Lord lead him there.

He goes in and examines all the children of Jesse and then we meet David. Notice the circumstances of that meeting.

1 Samuel 16:11–12 KJV 1900

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Samuel had asked for all of the children and Jesse kept David with the sheep. David wasn’t a person his own father thought much of. He may not have thought much of himself. His peers looked down upon him.

They saw the exterior and thought him to be frail, weak, worthless, only good for watching sheep.

Being a Shepherd was not a glamorous position. It was not intended fo rthe best of the best. It was for outcasts.

Is that you this morning? Do you feel like an outcast at times? Do you feel worthless? Do you feel that you can’t make a difference? You are busy every day but not really accomplishing anything?

You have a desire to be more than you are but don’t know how to get there?

David became the man, the veteran, he was in our text today not of his own power but through the power of God.

We have access to the same power today. To that same love. To that same God.

We have it through faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Philippians 4:13 KJV 1900

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior? Have you looked to Him to change your life?

As we move to a time of response to the message this morning I want to ask you, Do you believe in Jesus?

Do you want to know God like David did? Do you want your life changed like David’s life was changed? If that’s you this morning I’m going to say a prayer in a moment and I want you to say it with me..only if you want to know Jesus as oyur savior.

Chrisitans, Veterans of the cross, how are you being like David? How are you setting the example? How are you leading those around you and those coming after you to be more like Christ and look to Him?

What has the Holy Spirit brought to your attention today that you need to adjust to be more like the veteran David? Make that decision to change it.

For those that want to know Jesus and have that life change that only comes from him I want you to pray with me.

You may think I don’t understand all this, that’s ok. All you have to understand is that Jesus died for you and rose again the third day. If that’s you and you want to know Jesus this morning pray with me

“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, I believe you sent Jesus to die ont he cross and rose him from the dead. I put my faith right now in Jesus and ask you to come into my life and change me from the inside out. Amen.”

look, If that’s you this morning your saved. You have the Holy Spirit of God inside of you and you can make that change like David did.

If you prayed that I want you tell us about it. Pull out the connection card in your bulletin and mark on the back “Put my faith in Christ” and let us know. Don’t be shy don’t be embarrased. We all started where you are today and anyone here that has been saved is praying you’ll grow into an evend eeper relationship with God than we have.

Thank you all for your attention this morning.

Announcements

Connection Card

Offering-Rob W.

Baptism

Dismissal