A Heart for God - David

Introduction: Today is mother’s day. There is something about a mother’s love. And you might ask, where did a mother’s love come from? Is it instinct? Or something more?

Well it’s pretty simply. A mother’s love comes from God. While God has revealed himself as a father, both men and women are created in the image of God all of the qualities of men and women find their source and their perfection in the almighty creator. Therefore, God perfectly embodies that same love that we see everyday with our mothers as well. But we all know that children don’t always honor their parents the way they should.

And that same relationship is mirrored in our relationship with God.

God’s love for his children is strong. And the truth is, our challenge is to reciprocate that love back to God.

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The greatest commandment is the love God. But you might be asking, what does that even look like. And too be honest, if we struggle sometimes to show the love for our parents that we ought to, imagine how difficult it is to show that love for God.

The Bible reveals how God interacts with His people, but it also reveals how others relate to God. Isn’t it great that God had all of these characters in the Bible to show us what it means be be a genuine follower of Jesus.

Now while no one is perfect least of all the person we’ll be talking about today, he demonstrates that it’s possible to love God.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 27.

David demonstrated his love for God so often in song. He wrote many of the Psalms that served as the song book of the Jewish people. He wrote and spoke with such raw emotion that we can see in David a model of a heart for God. Like I said we don’t have to model our whole lives after David but we also don’t need to cancel him for his shortcomings either. And you can love God like David and not have to be perfect.

Introduce:

Authentic Principle: Love God like David.

Read:

Psalm 27 (ESV)

Of David. 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. 4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” 9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. 13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Authentic Principle: Love God like David.

1. To love God is to trust God. (Psalm 27:1-3)

Explanation: David expressed his love for God in such strong terms that for many that might seem a little extreme. But David lived his life in such a way that if God wasn’t leading the way, life just wasn’t worth living. David’s love for God looked a whole lot like trust. So much of love is based on trust. And who is the first person we have to trust? Our mothers. And in this way they are also the first people we love.

David trusted God with his life so much that he no longer feared anyone else. David speaks of evildoers, adversaries, invading armies, and even war itself. David is convinced that His God will always come through for him. Twice he asks, whom shall I fear? And then he confidently says, my heart shall not fear. Why because his love for God has become trust.

But too often we come think that God has to earn our trust. He has to come through for us before we’ll trust him. But that’s not the way love and trust work.

When we’re born our mothers don’t have to earn our trust. We trust them because we have to.

And God doesn’t need to earn our trust either. He will come through for us because that’s His nature. But we have to truth him. And to be honest, sometimes His coming through for us looks different than we might expect.

What does God coming through for us look like?

Does it look like a happy healthy and prosperous life?

That’s certainly not what David experienced.

When David was a young man, God had Samuel anoint him to be the next King over Israel. You might think for a young man that would have been a dream come true.

Instead, he would spend the next 25 years of his life on the run from King Saul who wanted to kill him.

At times David was hungry, homeless, and surrounded by his enemies. He was always looking over his shoulder. Sometimes God coming through for you is him walking with you through those times as you learn to trust him even when life doesn’t make sense.

Psalm 23:4 ESV

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

God coming through for us isn’t saving us from the valley of the shadow of death, it’s making sure we aren’t alone when we experience it.

Illustration: There are people who will tell you that if you have enough faith and if God truly loves you, he will always come through for you by blessing you and making sure you never suffer.

But love tells the truth. This life will be filled with both highs and lows. There will be mountain tops and valleys. And through it all, we will never be alone.

As Jesus comforted his disciples who he repeated warned would face many difficult trials:

Matthew 28:20 (ESV)

20 ...And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Application: Many people have a wrong view of God’s love. They feel like love and trust come with a price tag. So long as God comes through, then I’ll trust him. And maybe overtime, I’ll come to love Him.

But we don’t love God because of what he’s done for us.

1 John 4:19 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us.

And we trust God because he’s trustworthy.

But as love leads to truth, trust naturally leads to seeking God more.

2. To trust God is to seek God. (Psalm 27:4-10)

Explanation: David goes on to say that he wants to be in God’s presence always. He says “one thing I have asked, but mentions 3 parts of that one thing.

He wants to dwell in the house of the Lord.

He wants to gaze up the beauty of the Lord.

He wants to inquire in His temple.

David has the world. He was king. He had wealth and an army of people following him. He was beloved by His people. But what did he want above all other things? He wanted God. He wanted to be in God’s presence. He wanted to experience more and more of His goodness, and he wanted to be able to worship Him.

Whenever David experienced trouble in his life, he ran to God.

David trusted that God will protect him and pick him up when other put him down.

But I think the most important thing for David is the trust that God can be found when we seek him.

Illustration: People travel all over the world seeking for a spiritual experience. They’ll climb the Himalayas. they’ll journey to Rome. Jerusalem. To Mecca. They’ll even take hallucinogenic drugs in search for God. Believing the effort will earn them favor.

Pilgrimages have been a part of so many religions. But we don’t have to travel the world to find God.

Look what Jesus said in John 4:20-24

John 4:20–24 ESV

20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Application: Where should we seek God? Right here right now in Spirit and in Truth. For God is near to those who seek him, wherever they seek him. God is just as much here as he is in Jerusalem or Rome.

So how do we seek him? We seek him the same way that David did. We seek God in prayer. We seek God in His Word. And we seek God in Worship and in Song. And perhaps most importantly we must trust him.

And as the author of Hebrews says, Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Something you may not know is that in the Bible, faith and trust are the same ideas. For someone to believe in God meant that they trusted Him. Belief without trust just doesn’t make sense. And what is our reward for trust God and seeking Him? We get to know God.

3. To seek God is to know God. (Psalm 27:11-14)

Explanation: David does want something from God. And notice that it’s not blessing. He wants God to teach him His ways and lead him on a level path. In other words, he wants his a life that honors God which ironically can only comes by being rooted in God.

To know God’s ways is to know God. And to walk in God’s ways is to demonstrate that you love and trust that God’s ways are better.

And one of the things that we need to know about God is that even when people come against us and lie about us and breathe out violence against us does not mean that God has abandoned us. In fact he’s there with us going through everything with us.

So when we face tough times, we should ask “do I trust that God is with me?”

And if I trust God, “what is God doing through my circumstances? How might he use them to bring glory to His name?”

The end of this Psalm is a summary of what David has learned in his life as he has loved, trusted, and sought God.

He believes that he will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

So he commends those who would sing the Psalm to wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.

To know God is to know that he is trustworthy.

Illustration: Have you ever noticed that when things go wrong in our lives, we call people that we already trust? In desperation we might call someone we don’t know if we can depend on…and quickly find out if we can.

For me, I think about how often that person is my mom. 3,000 miles away, she’s always there to listen. We trust the people who have come through for us in the past.

Application: As we get to know God more and more we come to trust him so much that even when we face tough times in our lives we know that we can wait for Him to come through for us.

And all this works together and always comes back to love. To love God is to trust God. To trust God is to seek God. To seek God is to know God. And....

4. To know God is to love God. (Psalm 27)

Explanation: David’s relationship with God started off the way that so many people’s do. He loved God from the time of his youth. He trusted God to protect him when he went up against lions and bears who threatened his sheep.

When David was faced with Goliath, there was no doubt in his mind that God was going to come through for him because God had never failed him yet.

And God came through for him with Goliath which just led to David believing more and more that no matter what happened, everything was going to work out. By the end of David’s life, other than His failing body, he was practically invincible because he trusted so much in his God.

Can you imagine having that much faith? Trusting God that much. Loving God that much and knowing that he loves you that much.

It doesn’t start over night. It takes a lifetime of each and every day loving God a little more. Trusting Him a little more. Knowing Him a little more. All of this leads to confidence that God will come through again and again. So many people wonder, will God come through? Will he answer my prayer? Those who love God like David don’t have to worry or wonder. They know that no matter what happens, God is in control and working things out. It may not able be what you hope for, but it’s always for your good and His glory.

And each time God comes through for us in His way, we get to see his goodness. But sometimes you have to wait for it.

Illustration: Before a soldier goes to war, they train with the same equipment and the same people they will depend on during war. Because they need to know that they can depend on those things in the heat of the battle.

In our daily lives we need to know that we can depend on God and it only comes by walking with God when we aren’t in the middle of a raging battle. We have to learn to trust God in times of peace.

We will face tough times in this life. We will face our own Goliaths. We will face our own lions and tigers and bears. And how will we know that we can depend on God, if in the heat of battle is the first time we’ve ever depended on God?

Application: Our relationship with God begins with simple faith, but it doesn’t stay that way. It’s supposed to grow. And it grows naturally as we remain in relationship with God. And you might think, what has God ever done for me?

I’m glad you asked.

In a time when you were completely helpless, God came through for us. So much so that if he never came through for us again, He would already have done more than we deserve.

Because of our sin, we were separated from God. Hopelessly lost and destined for an eternity apart from His presence. And while we could never do anything to make up for our sin and earn our way back into relationship with him, God determined to deal with our sin himself.

God sent His son Jesus into the world, born of a virgin, to live a perfect life and grow up to die on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin so that we could have a restored relationship with God.

God came through for us when it was impossible for us to achieve it on our own.

So our relationship with God begins not with us but with God.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The question is, will we respond with love for the God who saved us? Let me put it this way.

Response: Do you love God with your whole heart, mind, and strength?

Summation:

Authentic Principle: Love GOD like DAVID.

1. To LOVE God is to TRUST God. (Psalm 27:1-3)

2. To TRUST God is to SEEK God. (Psalm 27:4-10)

3. To SEEK God is to KNOW God.Psalm 27:11-14)

4. To KNOW God is to LOVE God. (Psalm 27)

Closing Illustration:

You might say, well David didn’t always do things right. Didn’t he commit adultery? Get her pregnant? And kill her husband to cover up his sin? That certainly doesn’t sound like a guy that loved God. To many of us, that sounds like a guy who deserves judgement.

And we should never overlook the bad things people did in the Bible. They are there for our instruction.

I love what Paul writes regarding the OT.

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And what can we learn from David’s sin? We can learn how a person with a heart for God responds to their sin.

David repented and turned back to God. And we can know that there is never a distance too far away from God that we can’t turn back. Because loving God means trusting that He’ll always take you back. Knowing that when you seek Him, He may be found by you. And that our God is knowable.

And more than that, our relationship with God does not depend on what we are able to earn but what Jesus earned at the cross.

After the life that David lived how would he be remembered? As the man who slew Goliath? As a great king? as a adulterer and murderer?

Acts 13:36 (ESV)

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation,

May it be said of us that we served the purpose of God in our generation. And that can only happen if we love God, trust him, seek him and know him.

And if you have never began that relationship with God, may today be that day.

Let’s pray.

Week 37 of 2021-2022 Sermon Series: Inauthentic: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Authentic Principle: Love GOD like DAVID.

1. To LOVE God is to TRUST God. (Psalm 27:1-3)

2. To TRUST God is to SEEK God. (Psalm 27:4-10)

3. To SEEK God is to KNOW God.Psalm 27:11-14)

4. To KNOW God is to LOVE God. (Psalm 27)

Response: Do you LOVE God with your whole HEART, MIND, and STRENGTH?

Opening Discussion: Why do you think that it was so important for God’s people to love God with all of their heart soul, mind, and strength?

Sermon:

How does David describe his relationship with God?

How does David’s love for God affect the way he sees the world around him; especially his perceived enemies?

Why is David able to live with the expectation that God will always come through for him?

How can we tell that David is not going through the motions in his relationship with God?

Application:

How would you describe your relationship with God?

How does your love for God affect the way you approach each day with the people who cross your path?

Do you believe that God will always come through for you? Is a happy, healthy and prosperous life God coming through? How does this compare with the life that many of the people in the Bible led?

What can you do to cultivate a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God beginning this week?