Fall and Rise

So for Christmas Liam got this toy called the nugget and it is a really neat to because they are basically these cushions that you can build into a fort or a slide or whatever you want.

And I think I got a little more excited then Liam, because I was building all these things and was really proud

but the issue was Liam was not interested in building things, but he loved knocking down all of the things I worked hard on.

And every time he knocked down we would rebuild it and create somthing new.

And I was thinking about that, and really where we are today in our series we see God doing this.

Because if you watched the service last week online we were talking about this king named Saul, and as Saul’s reign goes on, we see Saul make some really poor choices that we see continue today.

But really what we see is Saul’s reign comes toppling down, but as the current kings reign comes to an end, God is already working on preparing the next King named David who God has called to do some big things.

And so we will be jumping around 1 Samuel 16-31 and 2 Samuel 6-22

And really we will be spending a lot of time looking at David and then spend a little time at the end talking about the end of Saul’s

And we will just be starting in 1 Samuel 16:6-13, because Saul is still king but the prophet at the time named Samuel is on his way to anoint the future king and he arrives and it says:

1 Samuel 16:6–13 NIV

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 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.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 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.” 12 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.” 13 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. Samuel then went to Ramah.

So Samuel arrives to this town called Bethlehem and there is a family their and it seems Samuel believes this one family has the next king in it.

So they all go up to make a sacrifice and when they arrive Samuel see’s the first brother of the family and he immediately thinks this guy is the next king!

We do not know the reason, but Samuel says this guy is king material, but whats interesting is God says “no, this is not the king”

And Samuel goes down the line and for every single sibling God says “no”

And they go through the entire family and God has said no

And so you can picture Samuel stressed and He asked the father do you have any other kids?

And we discover there is the youngest that was left caring for the sheep.

And the youngest brother was considered the least important in the family at this time, and not only that but David was left behind while the rest of his family went with Samuel.

But whats amazing is what we see is God chooses David to be king.

And its really because of the verse located in verse 7 that says:

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

… “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

You know when God chooses people to accomplish His will, He does not look at what we look at.

You know a lot of times we look at someones status, or skills, or other things but whats amazing is this passage says God doesn’t look at the things we will look at a lot of times, but He looks at the heart.

It almost like how a few years ago before Arika and I got married we bought a 2013 Ford Focus,

And on the surface this car looks nice (show picture)

I mean it looks like a pretty car it was really well priced, I mean Arika looks happy about buying it.

But below the surface this car was awful, I mean this car was uncomfortable to sit in

It had crank windows (I didn’t know 2013 cars had those)

And to top it off it had an experimental transmission, that would go out multiple times before the car reached 100,000 miles

But you know we were looking at the wrong things instead of a car that could function.

But you know I am so thankful that we serve a God that looks at the right things in us to accomplish what He has called us too.

Because that means if God has called you to do something, you might think “God what are you doing?” But God knows your heart and there is a reason He has called you to where to are.

And I want to look at what happens next in this story because David is annointed as the future king, but he is still a boy and so if we fast forward a little bit, the Israelites are in a constant war with another nation called the Philistines,

And there was one warrior named Goliath and he was a giant (I mean you remember talking about him in children's church right)

I mean you did not want to mess with Goliath

And something terrible about this story is Goliath would trash talk the Israelites every day

And not one person was would face him.

But during this time David was still to young for war but one day he came to deliver food to his brothers (he was the biblical version of uber eats)

But he came to the battle ground and heard this giant, Goliath trash talking God and this army and he said “something needs to be done”

Someone needs to stand up to this giant

And whats amazing is God calls David too and David goes to the current king and says this in 1 Samuel 17:332-37.

1 Samuel 17:32–37 NIV

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

So you can picture Saul thinking you can’t go against Goliath you are just a child that has never fought anyone.

But what I love and want us to understand is that God used David’s past to prepare him for his future.

Because David tells Saul look when I take care of my sheep I have fought off bears and lions, (oh my)

and if you ever find someone who has fought off a bear or lion I would not mess with them.

Leave that person alone right?

but in a sense Davids saying God has prepared me for this.

and not only that but I want you to notice how David says it because he says: “If God delivered me from the hand of them, then He will deliver me now”

You know not only does God prepare David skill wise, but He prepares him faith wise.

You know when God delivers you through something a lot of times He will use what you went through to prepare you for the future,

but even more important than that God will a lot of times use the challenges or obstacles we face in life to increase our faith in Him.

Because when we look back at all the times He has been faithful in our lives, we get to this point where when we face a challenge in our life we know He will be faithful again.

Its almost like when you sit in a chair.

I mean I am assuming when you sit in a chair you probably don’t question the chair to often right?

I mean I doubt anyone sat down this morning at tested it by hitting the chair around right?

Why? Because there probably arn’t many times you have sat down and had the chair collapse (or at least I hope not)

So you trust it.

And in our lives the same thing happens, God is faithful here so we know He will be faithful now.

And look what happens in the next few verses: (1 Samuel 38-40)

1 Samuel 17:38–40 NIV

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 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. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

So David goes and gets ready to fight Goliath and Saul dresses him in his own tunic and war gear

And keep in mind this is the kings armer. It is the best of the best.

But whats crazy is David realizes this is uncomfortable! its awkward, because David isn’t use to the armer.

He isn’t use to this Armer that a king would wear.

And whats interesting is David recognizes that for this challenge He does not need to be someone else.

He does not need to be someone who is this trained warrior or has an elevated status

But David needed to be the person that God has divinely shaped and appointed for this exact moment in time.

You know there are challenges or something big that God has called some of us in this room to this morning

But can I just say you do not need to be someone else, but you need to be the person that God has shaped and appointed for this exact moment in time.

And that doesn’t mean do not try to improve yourself and grow, but it means do not try to be someone else.

Because if God wanted someone else to do it, He would have called someone else.

But He called you!

You know its almost like this: Has anyone here ever watched or heard of a show called Bluey?

Its an animated kid show about a dog family

But the Dad in that show is an amazing Dad.

I mean I am part of Dad groups on Facebook and at least once a week I will see Dads post about how this Dad is making them look bad and how they wish they were like this Dad.

But you know while thats a little bit of a silly example, a lot of times we do get those feelings of doubt where we say you know maybe someone else is better suited for this position…

Maybe someone else would have been a better parent for my kid, because I feel like I have not done great

Maybe someone else would do a better job with this ministry I lead or am helping with

Maybe someone else would be a better fit here,

But can I encourage you God has brought you where you are for a reason.

We do not need to call it quits or try to become someone else entirely,

God did not make a mistake when He called you

Have confidence that He is using you where you are.

So look at what happens because David walks out on the battle field and you can picture Goliath towering over him and then Goliath begins to trash talk him.

And you can picture just the sight of this:

but out of this in 1 Samuel 17:45 David says this:

1 Samuel 17:45 NIV

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

You know David recognizes He is up against something scary (in fact the odds are beyond scary)

But then he says I am coming with God guiding me

You know there can be things we go through that can be a really scary situation, and its okay to acknowledge that, but what I love about David is He says I see this but my God is bigger then the situation.

You know this past summer my Dad took me on a side by side, (show picture) which if you do not know what that is, it is basically a more stable ATV that can climb some really steep hills

And my Dad actually asked me if I wanted to drive it and to be honest I was a little nervous, because the area we were at had huge hills and mountains to climb.

And for those of you wondering, I didn’t tip us over,

But you know as I was driving I was going so slow and my Dad had to keep reassuring me that this thing was meant to go off road and climb hills.

But you know in our walk with God we can recognize the hills and rocky areas, (that look scary), but also recognize that if God is with us and if He is the one calling you to an area then because of who is with you, you can tackle those hills.

And I want us to see the end result here, because look at 1 Samuel 17:48-50. It says:

1 Samuel 17:48–50 NIV

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

God is faithful.

And this morning I do not know the giants that some of us face.

but I know in the middle of us facing these giants we serve a God is faithful to deliver despite the challenges.

And to be honest I would love to end here, but there is one more thing I want to mention because David has these victories, but I also mentioned while this is happening Saul (the current king) is falling.

And there is a lot left of where we are, but there is one area that really sumerizes Saul’s major downfall and that is in 1 Samuel 18:7-9

Because Saul and David are coming into the city after a major win and people are celebrating and this happens:

1 Samuel 18:7–9 (NIV)

7 As they danced, they sang:

“Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tens of thousands.”

8 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?” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.

You know Saul was originally called to do some really amazing things, but probably his biggest downfall other than just disobeying God is He was jealous.

And because of him allowing jealousy to slip in we see Saul’s reign fall apart.

And this is a little bit of a weird point to to end on but I look around and see people who God has gifted to do some amazing things.

But I also get a little nervous of that because with that there is nothing more that satan would love to do then tear that down.

And what will happen often is God calls us to amazing things, but sin will slip in and ruin it.

For some it might be a jealousy issue

for others it could be a lust issue or a substance problem or something else

But regardless please do not allow sin to creep into your life and impact the things God has called you too.

And let me just close on this, because whether your giant is from an obstacle or a sin that you are struggling with, I believe that if God is calling you, He will make a way.

And some of us are saying the odds are stacked against me

We might even feel a little like the army of Israel shaking at the thought this thing.

But how amazing would it be to instead of our focus being on the scary hills and mountains for tour eyes to be on our God, the voice of truth.