THE LIFE OF DAVID – A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART (3)

DAVID ANOINTED KING-TO-BE (TEN YEARS LATER )

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (Heb. 13:7) Through this series on David, as this Scripture exhorts us to do, we will look at David’s life of faith and the qualities that pleased God, those qualities we are called to imitate.

1 Samuel 15- The first two weeks we looked at Saul who is a “good bad example”. 1) He became proud (1 Sam. 15:12, 17), 2) he feared men rather than God (15:24), 3) he blamed others for his own sins, (15:21) 4) he wanted man’s approval more than God’s approval (15:30; also see Gal. 1:10), and 5) he tried to substitute rituals (offered sacrifice) for obedience. (15:22-23) 6) In summary, Saul was insubordinate to God’s authority and the authority that God placed over him – Samuel. (Prov. 1:7; Heb. 13:17)

1 Samuel 16 – David anointed king – Notice in verses 16:19 and 17:14 that after David was anointed king and the Holy Spirit came upon him in power, he went back to his lowly job as a shepherd. As Chuck Swindoll says, David didn’t change his business cards from “Shepherd-Boy” to “King-elect of Israel.” He demonstrated 1) humility (submission to God’s authority and the men God placed over him), 2) faithfulness to the work at hand, 3) servanthood and 4) patience in God’s timing (for ten years).

David submitted to his father (16:19, 17:17), Saul (16:21-23) and served his father, King Saul and even his brothers who disliked him. (17:17, 28) He used the gifts the Lord had given him as a worshiper/musician and later as a courageous warrior, confident in God’s power, to unite, expand and establish God’s kingdom.

David “was a man after God’s own heart” – and we see these qualities in Jesus the God-Man, “like us in every way yet without sin”: humility (Phil 2:5-11; John 5:19), faithfulness to accomplish what God called Him to do (“It is accomplished!” John 19:30), servanthood (John 13:13-17), and always waited on God’s timing and remained in obscurity for the first thirty years of His life as a carpenter.

David practiced Luke 16:10- “He who is faithful in a very little and therefore can be relied upon, is also faithful in much and can be relied upon there. And he who violates law and justice in a very little thing does the same also in regard to much.” (Luke 16:10 – Wuest Translation)

The Lord has given us all spheres of influence for Him: 1) biological/family, 2) geographical/neighbors,3) vocational/business, 4) social/recreational and 5) the utter ends of the earth – i.e., wherever we are we are on call. We are called to a stewardship of our time, talents, treasures, relationships and the God-given opportunities we have to use our “little” or “much” to serve God by serving people in these arenas of influence. God determines whether we are a one-talent person or a five-talent person and we will be rewarded accordingly. (Matt. 25:14-30) But whether we have much or little it all belongs to Him and is to be managed for Him.

Faithfulness to God-given opportunities (obedience in the little, ordinary things of life and to whatever God calls us to) is the Lord’s measure of our character. From faithful service in the little things comes greater responsibility and privilege to serve our King. As Mother Teresa said: “There are no great things in the kingdom of God but only little things done with great love.” This is the essence of what 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

David was a humble, faithful servant patiently trusting God to use him as a shepherd boy, a giant killer or as the greatest king of Israel, and the Lord did the rest. May we like David surrender our little or our much in humility and faithfulness to the King of kings.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1 Samuel 15 – The first two weeks we looked at Saul who is a “good bad example”. 1) He became proud (1 Sam. 15:12, 17), 2) he feared men rather than God (15:24), 3) he blamed others for his own sins, (15:21) 4) he wanted man’s approval more than God’s approval (15:30; also see Gal. 1:10), and 5) he tried to substitute rituals (offered sacrifice) for obedience. (15:22-23) 6) In summary, Saul was insubordinate to God’s authority and the authority that God placed over him – Samuel. (Prov. 1:7; Heb. 13:17) Which of these qualities concern you the most in your walk with the Lord?

1 Samuel 16 – David anointed king – Notice in verses 16:19 and 17:14 that after David was anointed king and the Holy Spirit came upon him in power, he went back to his lowly job as a shepherd. As Chuck Swindoll says, David didn’t change his business cards from “Shepherd-Boy” to “King-elect of Israel.” He demonstrated 1) humility (submission to God’s authority and the men God placed over him), 2) faithfulness to the work at hand, 3) servanthood and 4) patience in God’s timing (for ten years). Which of these qualities do you aspire to the most and why?

In which of the five arenas of influence do you feel you have the greatest influence as a steward of God’s resources?

“There are no great things in the kingdom of God but only little things done with great love.” This is the essence of what 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Please comment on Mother Teresa’s statement.

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Luke 16:10 NASB

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