Lessons from David

Intro:

In our journey through Jesus’ family tree, we are taking a large jump. We no longer are looking at a family, but now we see a nation! Last week, we saw the great grandparents of this week’s stop, King David. It is through David’s line that Jesus is heir to the throne of Israel.

The period of the judges had continued a downward spiral and conditions in Israel grew worse. Key verse:

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

God was supposed to be acknowledged as their sovereign ruler. Yet they repeatedly denied him.

The last judge/first prophet was Samuel. God led him to anoint the first king of Israel, Saul. King Saul was taller and more handsome than most. He was regal by appearance, but his heart was not.

God rejected Saul and led Samuel to anoint a new king who would follow Saul on the throne. That is were we begin today.

A Noble Heart

1 Samuel 16:1–10 ESV

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 provided for myself a king among his sons.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

In this scene, we learn an important lesson. God sees the heart

We can look good on the outside, but if our heart is corrupt, we are corrupt!

Samuel at first was ready to anoint the firstborn who also a good looking man. He was impressive!

God instructed Samuel to move on since He looked at the heart not the outward appearance.

Finally, the youngest who hadn’t even been called in from tending the sheep was brought in and God revealed His choice.

It is what we are in our heart that matters!

You can be impressing others with an appearance of righteousness, but the real you is seen by God.

Why? Several other verses clarify this way:

Our heart can be deceitful

Jeremiah 17:9–10 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Who we are in our heart will show up!

Luke 6:45 ESV

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Our life is shaped by our hearth

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Since the heart is so important, how do we build it up and learn to be who we should be?

Psalm 119:11 ESV

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Our heart should be filled with GOD’s word!

David had a noble heart, we also learn from him:

Have a heart of Faith

In Ch 17, we find Israel at war with the Philistines. Their armies are camped opposite each other yet the battle hasn’t occured. Instead, the Philistines had a champion who came out and mocked Israel and God.

Along comes David and he ends up revealing he had a giant faith. Specifically, a giant Killing faith!

1 Samuel 17:4–7 ESV

And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.

1 Samuel 17:32–37 ESV

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

David trusted GOD to strike down Goliath!

He had experienced God’s protection while a shepherd and killed wild animals.

He knew God would continue to be faithful.

1 Samuel 17:40 ESV

Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:43–50 ESV

And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

We need a giant faith

We must trust God in all things!

Hymn: Have faith in God

Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely. He sees and knows all the way you have trod; Never alone are the least of His children; Have faith in God, have faith in God. Have faith in God when your prayers are unanswered, Your earnest plea He will never forget; Wait on the lord, trust His word and be patient, Have faith in God. He'll answer yet. Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow, His heart is touched with your grief and despair; Cast all your cares and your burdens upon Him, And leave them there, oh, leave them there. Have faith in God though all else fall about you; Have faith in God, He provides for His own: He cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish. He rules. He reigns upon His throne. Refrain: Have faith in God, He's on His throne, Have faith in God, He watches over His own; He cannot fail, He must prevail, Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

Regardless of our circumstances

Regardless of our struggles

He’s on His throne

He watches over His own

He cannot fail, He MUST prevail

It is GOD who does the heavy lifting, not the strength of our faith.

He is almighty and can do ANYTHING

Trust Him

When all else fails

Trust Him

When others desert you

Trust Him

When enemies come at you

Trust Him

The next lesson we can learn from David comes from dark days in his life.

Have a contrite heart

David went on after a few years and became King in Israel.. He was blessed by GOD and her borders were extended to their largest of all time

He Gathered supplies in Jerusalem to build God's temple (though that honor was reserved for his son, Solomon).

David was a man

Humanity has evil constantly with us

We are born with a sin nature and we ALL commit sin

King David was no exception.

He grew comfortable and eventually, we see him remaining at home and sending out captains to fight his battles.

One of those occasions he ended up committing adultery with a married woman and when she conceived, he ultimately ended up murdering her husband through his orders to put him in harms way at the wall.

God sent Nathan the prophet to confront him and after being convicted of His sin, David teaches us repentance.

Psalm 51 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

WOW!

David didn’t turn to working hard in some vain attempt to regain God’s favor.

David didn’t try to explain away or even justify his sin.

He cried out in repentance and begged God to change him.

That is how to handle sin.

Yes, we should hide God’s word in our heart to guard against sin

We should fight sin with all we have

BUT WHEN WE SIN:

David’s prayer should be a model for ours

Confess aggree with GOD, “I have sinned”

Cleanse: ask GOd to remove sin, restore joy, renew spirit.

HE wanted to get back on the right path and knew that deliverance would come from God

Commit: David renewed his commitment to follow God

teach His ways to sinners

Worship :

Sing of forgiveness Ps 51:14

Psalm 51:14 ESV

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

Praise God

Ps 51:15

Psalm 51:15 ESV

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Conclusion:

Was David perfect? No… like all of us, he was human and sinned.

What is God’s assessment of King David?

Acts 13:22 ESV

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

That is why He promised David:

2 Samuel 7:16 ESV

And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”

Jesus is a direct descendant of King David and a fulfillment of that promise

Let take the lessons of King David to heart:

Have a noble heart, a faith-filled heart, and a contrite heart.