Get Over It!

Get Over It!

7/3/22

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-4

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”

2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

4 So Samuel did what the Lordsaid and went to Bethlehem.[1]

“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go;

“Get Over It”

The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever (Isa. 40:8)

I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers, and we both agreed that life changes once you cross into your fifties. You now realize that you can’t eat everything you used to eat, (Matter of fact, I carry some baking soda in my lunch box and anywhere else)

· At fifty-nine, I don’t stay up all night; I like to sleep and don’t even want to work the night shift if a day position is open.

· At fifty-nine, I don’t even get out the house after 8 pm, and if you don’t watch it, I’ll be in bed by 9 pm

· At fifty-nine, I noticed that things take turns hurting in the morning, and you can’t even figure out what you did to make your back hurt

· At fifty-nine, I have to stretch before I workout

· At fifty-nine, I’ve been tested for things at the doctor that I was never tested for in my 30s

· At fifty-nine, some things that used to live upstairs now have moved downstairs and will not go back to where things used to be

· At fifty-nine, I realized sixty is knocking at my front door, and things are changing

· At fifty-nine, I could be careless, and if I got something to say, I am going to say it whether it hurts your feelings or not.

· At fifty-nine, I don’t hang out with everybody, and if I got two good friends, I’ll be alright

· At fifty-nine, I don’t let suntan folk raise my blood pressure and put me in an early grave. I’m trying to be like Dorothy ease on down, ease on down the road, ease on down the road.

· I’ve learned to just deal with people as they are.

· But there is one group of people who get on my nerves: people who can’t drive.

· I don’t like people who see me trying to merge on the highway, and they refuse to get over

· Or people who get in the left lane and refuse to move over

· I don’t like people who set at the right light, and it has turned from green to yellow and to red all the time while I am behind you blowing my horn, and you give me the wave-like okay, I am going

· I don’t like people who see the sign that this lane will end in two miles and wait till the last moment to try to move over and cut me off.

· There is nothing worse than being behind someone who doesn’t know when it’s time to move on

· It’s nothing more frustrating than being connected to someone who can’t discern when the light of life has changed and it’s time for you to move forward from where you are

· It’s frustrated to be connected to folk who doesn’t know that it’s time to move forward from where you are

· Some of y’all might think I am still talking about a red light, but I am talking about life; it’s nothing worse than being connected to someone who still is sitting at a green light.

Someone who cannot discern when God has changed the signal of life, and he is trying to move you into something greater, something better, and you are stuck right where you are.

· Life is littered with people stuck at green lights

· If you don’t know one, let me introduce you to one right here in 1 Samuel.

His name is Samuel, and to understand how Samuel got stuck, you have to rewind back to 1 Samuel 8

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel has demanded a king, they had been at war with the Philistines, and God was reluctant to give them a king because now they wanted a man to do what God had been doing for them all the time.

o Let me just say -- Can’t nobody take care of you like God!

The people of Israel press and press, and they want to be like the other nations

· So, God relents and gives them a king, and his name is Saul; and from the very beginning, Saul has been nothing but a problem!

· He is always doing what God told him not to do and not doing what God called him to do!

By the time you get to chapter 15, God is fed up with Saul. --- God gave pacific instruction that when you conquer the Amalekites to wipe out everything, but Saul spared King Agag and its riches at the end of chapter 15, God says I am done.

One of the saddest verses:

I Samuel 15:35: 35 And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lordregretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.[2]

· God regretted Saul --- can you hear the divine disappointment

The one thing I don’t want God to say about me --- that He regretted

· Blessing me

· He regretted waking me up

· Regretted favoring me

· Regretted giving me grace

· Regretted answering my prayers, Lord, let my life never be a regret in your eyes!

God regrets Saul, and as a result, the Bible says Samuel begins to mourn!

· He is grieved about Saul

In Chapter 16: God shows up, finds a grieving Samuel, taps him on the shoulder, and says Samuel, I got a question for you?

· How long are you going to sit here crying over Saul?

· How long are you going to be sad and sorrowful about a season that has come to an end?

· How long are you going to weep and wail over what was and not realize that better is waiting

· How long?

· How long are you going are you going to be pitiful and pathetic and not realize there is a promise

· How long are you going to be broke, busted, and discussed, tore up from the floor up about what you have been through?

· How Long are you going to sit here and mourn over Saul?

The reason God is so divinely disappointed in Samuel is because He has already prepared the next king --- his name is David; he is down in Bethlehem.

But David’s day cannot begin until Samuel stops mourning over Saul, gets up, and go down to Bethlehem to, where God has called him to be

God says:

· There’s something I got in-store for you

· I have something waiting for you

· I got something down there

· But you have got to stop crying over what was your yesterday; you got to get over it!

· Because what I have for you cannot begin until you stop crying about what ain’t no more!

I am pulling up on somebody bumper of life, slightly tapping my horn, and waving my hand to let you know that God has changed the light in your life!

· God has something. He is calling you into old things have passed away; behold, all things are about to become new!

· God has changed --- the light!

· How long are you going to sit here when God’s got David waiting on you?

Watch this, so the Lord says this is what I need you to do:

· Number one, I need you to get over it; I need you to get over Saul

When the Lord shows up, Samuel is grieving?

· What are you holding on to that God has said? Let it go

· What are you grieving over, and God has told you to “Get Over It”? I have something better.

Samuel is going through the grieving process of mourning Saul, but here is the problem.

· Saul is not dead; he is right here

· How can you mourn for someone who is not dead?

Here it is --- He’s not mourning Saul, but he is mourning the investment of himself that he made in Saul that will now bring no return on his investment!

· Have you ever poured so much time and energy into something or someone to watch it die?

Everything Saul was he owed to Samuel!

· Samuel knew God was calling him before he knew God was calling him

· Samuel was the one who revealed the things of God in Saul’s life

· Samuel laid hands on Saul

· Samuel prayed over Saul

· Samuel anointed him with oil

· Everything Saul was he owed to Samuel

Samuel had poured his all into Samuel, and now he realizes he will never be what he hoped he would be.

Can I share something with you that I have learned? No one has to die for you to mourn; just give your best or your all to something or someone that does not become what you hoped it to be, and you will find yourself stuck at a green light!

· The death of a dream can hurt you as much as a death of a loved one

· The death of expectation

· The death of hope which caused you to grieve what your heart has longed for, just give it everything you got and get nothing in return

· Work hard and find out that job will not take you to retirement

· Fall in love with your boo and find out it doesn’t lead to an I do

· Give your all in a marriage that doesn’t make it too happily ever after

· Invest in a child that never walks across the stage to get that diploma

· Give yourself to anything or anyone that does not turn out the way you thought it would, and you will find yourself --- Stuck at a green light!

Because when you have given your all to something or someone, and there is no return on it, pride kicks in, and pride says, I have given too much to walk away empty-handed.

· Pride says ain’t nobody going to disrespect me like that

· Pride says I didn’t pour all that into you for you not to give me something in return

· Pride says I am not going to let someone reap the benefits after I done put in all the hard work

· Pride says I am not walking away empty-handed

· Pride will make you stay in something that God is trying to get you out of

So when the Lord sees Samuel is not going to get over it, He asks a question and then makes a statement!

Vs1 of 1 Samuel 16: Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?[3]

· My hand isn’t on him anymore; that’s not my will for Israel!

· That thing is not what I ordained to be permanent in your life; my hand is off of it

See, the question is, Samuel is supposed to be the prophet, and he does not see that God’s hand is no longer on Saul

· How can he be the prophet and not see that God’s hand is not on it anymore?

· Here it is: You can want someone or somebody so bad that you say to yourself this is the will of God, when it isn’t

· You can want something or someone so badly that you convince yourself that it is the will of God when it is not

· When all the evidence in front of you says, it’s not!

· The greatest enemy to discernment is desire!

· You can want it so badly that you miss God’s hand, and God has to show up in your life and make a statement so that you can see what God is trying to show you!

Have you ever had God show up and slap you up beside your head to show you that --- that is not His will?

· That’s why it got crazy

· That’s why it fell apart

· Because God was trying to show you that’s not His will!

So, here comes the question: Now that you know that the hand of God isn’t on it, how long are you going to mourn for something you know that the hand of God is not on no more?

· How long

· How long do you need for closure?

· How long do you need to process?

· How long will you grieve and go through the process about something that God has made clear that it is over in your life?

Can I tell you a biblical answer of how long it was from chapter 15 to chapter 16? There is no chronological answer, but there is a scriptural answer: One verse

· You got one verse to mourn

· You got one verse to cry

· You got one verse to set still

· You got one verse to get this out of your system, and after that one verse, God says, “Get Over It.”

I know y’all came for church this morning, but we are about to have a funeral “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away.” The Lord says how long are you going to mourn over Saul? Get Over It!

But here comes the good news: Not only is the Lord saying, “Get Over It,” but get ready for something better!

Look at the text vs. 1: How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?

· (Then he says) Fill your horn with oil,[4]

· The horn was the vessel the prophet carried the oil in, and the oil was used to anoint the king and God comes to Samuel and says not only do I want you to get over Saul, but I want you to fill your horn with oil.

· So, the fact is, God tells him to fill his horn --- so the horn must be empty because you don’t have to fill what is already full.

The question is, why is Samuel walking around with an empty horn?

· I’ll give you the answer: messing around with Saul!

· Have you ever been connected to someone that all they did was drain your oil?

· Have you ever had someone in your life who took, took, took, and never knew how to give, give, give, give?

· Have you ever been with someone, and all they ever did was put an “E” on your gas tank?

· Mess up your credit

· Jack up your health

· Ruin your peace

· Have you ever known a Saul who drained your oil?

· You can do bad by yourself

So he is saying, in order for you to walk into this new thing, I need you to stop walking around with an empty horn. He tells him to fill it, but he never says who it is for

· He says fill it, and I will tell you where to go

· Fill it even though you don’t have all the details

· Fill it to show that you have the faith, that wherever God is sending you to, you’ll walk by faith

· You have to expect that God has something down the road for you!

I believe in God but:

· I expect God to answer my prayer

· I expect God to make a way out of no way

· I expect God to open a door

· I expect God to go exceedingly and abundantly; above all, I ask, is there anyone here this morning who expects God to do great things?

· Ain’t no need in praising if you don’t expect God

· Ain’t no need in praying if you don’t expect God to do great things

So, God sends him to Bethlehem to find David, and David is far better than Saul

· God’s next is better than his last

· He will upgrade you

· God’s not gone with you yet; there is something better waiting for you!

Can I tell you how you know that God has something better waiting for you?

· Because he woke you up this morning and started you on your way

· God’s not done with me yet

God says: I need you to get over it--- how long are you going to mourn for Saul

He says: I need for you to get ready for something better --- fill your horn with oil

Then God says: Go down to Bethlehem because what I have for you, you will not get staying in Bethlehem

· Watch this: You cannot hang around the same people and expect a new David

· You cannot do the same thing and expect a new David

· You cannot act in the same way and get a new David

· You can’t continue to act in the same way and get a new David

In order to get a new David, you got to move from where you are into a new circumstance in your life!

Watch Samuel’s response in verse 2: 2, And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”[5]

· He says my yesterday will try to stop me from moving forward into my future

· If you are going to move into what God is calling you to do

· If you are going to move into the next season of your life

· You cannot let the things of your past stop you from reaching your tomorrow!

· The devil will tell you ain’t ain’t worthy

· He’ll try to get you to look at your past mistakes

Samuel says I can’t go that way God, my yesterday will mess up my tomorrow

· Never allow your yesterday to mess up your tomorrow!

God tells him to go down to Bethlehem; Bethlehem is in a region where Saul doesn’t have any authority

The Lord says I am sending you somewhere where your past cannot threaten your future

· I am sending you somewhere where it will not matter what you used to be

· I’m sending you somewhere where my mercy will keep you

· My mercy will cover you

· And you don’t have to be afraid of what you used to be

Look at the rest of verse 2; God says: Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3[6]

God will make a way into your new season; You have to learn to “Get Over It.”

[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 16:1–4. [2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 15:35. [3] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 16:1. [4] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 16:1. [5] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 16:2. [6] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Sa 16:2–3.