May 2, 2026 ”The Missing Son of Jesse” Pastor Jamey Houghton

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>> [music]

[music]

>> family

It's good to be with you on this crisp

kind of cool Sabbath morning. A little

bit of a surprise.

I'm excited about our sermon series

we're starting today on the story of

David. David is a fascinating one. A

story with lots of ups and downs and the

grace of God sprinkled all through it.

A story that sometimes is like our story

as well.

In the year 2000,

many football players

were focused on the NFL draft to see

which player their team was going to

get.

And in the third round pick 65, the

49ers picked Giovanni Carmazzi. Anybody

ever heard of Giovanni Carmazzi?

Probably not.

Because he never played a regular season

snap.

And he spent two seasons as a backup.

In the third round pick 75, the Ravens

picked Chris Redman.

He started 12 games in his career

primarily serving as a backup behind

Matt Ryan later in his tenure.

Tee Martin was picked in the fifth round

pick number 163 by the Steelers.

He had a minimal NFL impact starting

zero games and eventually transitioning

to coaching.

Anybody ever heard of Spurgeon Wynn

before?

Probably not.

He was picked 183rd in the sixth round

by the Browns and he started three games

over three seasons throwing seven

interceptions and one touchdown.

Tough stats.

All of these players

and 194 others were drafted before Tom

Brady was drafted.

At some point in the draft, all of the

coaches, all of the scouts, everybody on

the teams looked at Tom Brady and

We don't see much potential. We're going

to take a pass

on this young man Tom Brady.

And the 199th pick

Tom Brady was finally drafted.

And several years later, I bet there

were a whole lot of coaches that wished

they had drafted Tom Brady.

He holds the record for most Super Bowl

wins by a player with seven.

Holds the most Super Bowl MVP awards

with five.

Lots of regular season records. Arguably

the best football player that has ever

played the sport.

And he was passed up 198 times.

There's another list of men we're going

to look at this morning.

And one of them was overlooked over and

over again. In fact, he wasn't even

invited to the draft.

We're looking at the youngest son of

Jesse.

And when the boys were all called

together for the consideration of

Samuel, they didn't even invite the

youngest one.

They left him out

of the draft completely.

He wasn't even considered. The youngest

of the sons of Jesse

a shepherd

named David.

Most people know him as King David. He's

not King David yet.

He watches the sheep for the family.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 16:1

16 verse 1.

1 Samuel chapter 16

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

and we see a selection process that

happens in this chapter.

And in verse 1, it says 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."

Why is it that God says to Saul, "How

long will you mourn or to Samuel, "How

long will you mourn for Saul?" Why is

Samuel mourning for Saul? Let's look a

little bit at the backstory that leads

us to this place. Saul has been chosen

as a king. Now, did God want Israel to

have a king? Yes or no? No. Did Samuel

want Israel to have a king? Yes or no?

No.

Israel wanted to be like all of the

surrounding kingdoms and they wanted a

king and so God said, "Okay.

I'll let you have a king."

And Saul became their king and Saul

started off well.

But after his first victory, he started

to get a little bit a little bit full of

himself thinking that it was him that

was doing this instead of God.

And slowly Saul started to deviate from

God's instructions through Samuel on how

he was supposed to do things.

And he would start to just tweak things.

He would do it partially, but then he

would do part of his own idea. And this

this became a habit for him.

And Samuel labored with Saul over and

over again. In Patriarchs and Prophets,

the author says that Saul came to look

at Excuse me, Samuel came to look at

Saul as if he was his own son.

That's how much he cared for him.

He had invested time and energy

mentoring with Saul.

And when Samuel finds out what Saul has

done with the Amalekites and King Agag

in disobeying God's clear directions. It

says in chapter 15 verse 11, it says,

"And it grieved Samuel and he cried out

to the Lord all night long."

When he heard that Saul had disobeyed

God and gone his own way

it tore Samuel up.

All night long he grieved. He knew he

was going to have to meet Saul the next

day.

Saul was not supposed to have the king

with him, King Agag. He was not supposed

to have any of the animals with him.

These were direct guidelines from God.

And as Saul comes in victorious, here

come all the herds of animals.

Samuel says, "What is this that I hear,

Saul?"

Saul tries to explain himself.

In verse 16, Samuel says to Saul, he

says, "Be quiet." And here starts the

beginning of tensions in this moment

between Saul and Samuel.

He starts to rationalize his choices

that went outside of God's guidance.

Now, we as humans

and don't raise your hand

but how often have we tried to

rationalize something that we want that

we know goes outside of God's will for

us?

We're very good at rationalizing things.

Like, "Well, God probably wouldn't mind

or God I know God said this, but but he

doesn't understand my situation right

now."

And that's exactly what Saul does.

Samuel says to Saul, "Be quiet and I

will tell you what the Lord said to me

last night."

A little bit further down verse 19, "Why

then did you not obey the voice of the

Lord?"

Saul says, "But the people took the

plunder and the sheep." He starts

blaming the people for this stuff. And

he says, "They were going to use it as

an as an offering to God anyways."

See how the rationalization comes in?

"We were we were just taking them to

honor God."

If you read in Patriarchs and Prophets,

they were also she she says, "This way

they wouldn't have to offer their own

sacrifices. It would save them a little

bit of money."

Over and over again, he tries to

rationalize why he disobeyed God.

In verse 23, Samuel says, "Because you

have rejected the word of the Lord, he

also has rejected you from being king."

Can you imagine hearing those words,

especially with his counselors and

generals right around there, coming from

the prophet Samuel?

He says, "God has rejected you from

being king."

Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned

for I have transgressed the commandment

of the Lord your God and your words

because I feared for the people and

obeyed their voice." See?

He confesses, but he has a caveat.

I I I messed up, but it was really their

fault. Have you ever heard somebody say

they were sorry and you know they didn't

mean it?

It's a false sorry.

Only sorry cuz they got caught or sorry

cuz they had to say it.

You look and you're like, "I know that

one's not a real sorry."

That's kind of what it was with Saul.

He's like, "Okay, okay, okay. I made a

mistake."

But still them. He still won't take

responsibility for it.

He asks Samuel to go back with him.

Samuel says to Saul verse 26, "I will

not return with you. For you have

rejected the word of the Lord and the

Lord has rejected you from being king

over Israel."

This has already gotten tense the moment

that he brought the animals in and

Samuel told him to be quiet.

Most people don't talk to kings like

that.

And it gets even more intense

as twice now Samuel has told Saul God

has rejected you from being king."

In verse 27, as Samuel turned around to

go away,

Saul seized the edge of his robe and it

tore.

So, Samuel said to him, "The Lord has

torn the kingdom of Israel from you

today and has given it to a neighbor of

yours who is better than you."

This is intense. Now, picture in your

mind this whole situation because what

happens here is quite drastic.

Samuel is turning around to leave. Saul

is a big guy, remember? Head and

shoulders taller than most of Israel.

And as Samuel the prophet turns around

to walk away,

Saul grabs him by the cloak and as

Samuel's going, it must have pulled him

back a little bit, but the force is so

strong that it tears his clothes.

Imagine for a second if you and I had a

bone to pick with each other after

church.

And I walk out after we sing the closing

song,

and as I'm walking that way, you grab me

by the suit coat. How hard do you have

to pull me in order to tear my suit

coat?

You have to pull me pretty hard.

And what do you think my response is

going to be when you tear my suit coat?

Probably not going to be too pleased

about it.

And Samuel not pleased, he turns around.

And he says again,

"God has taken the kingdom from you."

And he says, "And given it to somebody

better than you."

And then,

maybe one of the more intense parts of

this whole book here is when Samuel

does what Saul should have done to King

Agag.

And if there was a movie made about the

Bible, we probably wouldn't be able to

put this scene in the bi- in the movie

because it's so intense.

And so, that is what Samuel has just

come from in his interactions before he

goes to see David and to choose him.

But, he doesn't know it's David yet.

God says, "I want you to go see to

Bethlehem and see Jesse,

for I've provided myself a king among

his sons." And Samuel says, "How can I

go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me."

But, the Lord said, "Take a heifer with

you and I say and say I have come to

sacrifice to the Lord. Then, invite

Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show

you what you shall do. You shall anoint

for me the one that I name for you."

Now, I like this part of the story

because

it involves Samuel getting advice from

God when he's not sure what to do.

And there are situations in our life as

well where we're not sure what the

direction is that we should take in

life. We have choices all the time in

life and we're never quite sure

sometimes when when which one it is,

which way she should we should take,

which path, which choice. Sometimes

there's two or three choices, which

makes it even harder to choose.

Here,

for Samuel, he says, "Lord,

I can do this, but Saul's going to kill

me.

What should I do?"

God comes in with advice.

If God calls you to do something, he'll

help you figure out how to do it.

If you trust in him and you listen to

him, he will be with you every step of

the way. Just like Pastor Fred said in

his children's story, the Bible promises

in Isaiah we will hear a voice behind

you say behind us saying, "This is the

way, walk in it." I love that verse.

Because when we're faced with different

choices or dilemmas, if we're listening

and praying to God, he will point us in

the right direction.

Bible says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my

feet and a light unto my path." If

you're listening to the word of God, he

will show you the way. And that's what

he does with Samuel here.

So, Samuel goes. It says, verse four,

"And Samuel did what the Lord said." I

want to encourage you, friends,

when God tells you to do something,

follow that. When he puts it on your

heart, when you feel conviction that God

wants you to go this way, don't go any

other way.

When God has a plan for you, it's a plan

for good.

When we choose our own way and

rationalize going outside of God's

plans, that's when we experience pain

and hurt and suffering in our lives.

Here, Samuel says, "Whatever you say,

God, that's what I'm going to do."

Samuel's obedience is a lesson, I think,

for all of us.

So, he did what the Lord said, verse

four, and went to Bethlehem, and the

elders of the town trembled at his

coming saying, "Do you come peaceably?"

Why would they tremble at his coming?

Well, what did he just do to King Agag?

There's a little bit of reason for them

to be like, "Hey, you're coming in

peace, right?

Everything's good, right?"

They thought maybe there was some

judgment or somebody in their village

had done something. No, he says, "No, I

come in peace.

I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Sanctify yourselves and come with me to

the sacrifice." Then, he consecrated

Jesse and his sons and invited them to

the sacrifice.

Now, it's time

to see who the next king is going to be.

You see, Samuel doesn't know yet. God

said, "I will show you the one." All he

knows is that it's one

of Jesse's sons.

So, the first one, verse six. First one

comes up, Eliab.

And Eliab looks like a king.

His stature, he just he's the way he

carries himself. He looks like a king.

Samuel, if it were up to Samuel, he

would have picked Eliab.

He looked at him and thought, "This guy

looks like a perfect fit for the king of

Israel. Surely, this is the one that God

will choose."

God says, "It's not Eliab."

Samuel must have thought, "It's It's

It's not?

I mean, this is if I were picking,

it'd be Eliab."

Surely, the Lord the Lord's anointed is

before him right here. But, the Lord

said in verse seven, he said to Samuel,

"Do not look at his appearance or at his

physical stature,

because I have refused him.

For the Lord does not see as man sees,

for man looks at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart."

>> [clears throat]

>> You know,

often times we're

quite preoccupied with our impression

that we give to other people and how

good we look. Now, it's good to look

good. You want to be well presented and

not dressed like a slob, right?

You want to present well, but if you

focus more on how you look than your

time with God, that's an imbalance in

life.

Because God cares way more about your

heart than what you look like on the

outside.

And if there's anything we can learn

from this is that we need to work on our

character

and spend more time on our character

than we do what we look like on the

outside.

God says, "This isn't the one."

So, he starts calling all the rest of

the brothers and God says, "Not this

one, not this one." And they get down to

the last one.

"Not this one."

Samuel must have looked around and said,

"Well, there's no more, God."

"What now?" And he looks at Jesse and

says, "Are you all out of sons?

Do you have any more sons?" And Jesse

says, "Well,

>> [snorts]

>> we do have one more son.

He's out watching the sheep."

Poor David doesn't even get to meet the

VIP that comes to town.

To meet Samuel would have been a huge

privilege. The Samuel. He comes into

town. All the brothers are there and and

hey, you stay with the sheep. You're not

this time, David.

David stays out there with the sheep.

All the other brothers get to meet

Samuel.

It's none of them.

Samuel says, "Send for him,

for we're not going to sit down until he

comes here."

So, he sent and brought him in. Now, he

was ruddy with bright eyes and

good-looking. Ruddy. When was the last

time you used the word ruddy?

Ruddy means to have a a healthy glow

about you, a a like pink skin where you

look healthy.

And uh it says also

he had bright eyes.

And And it goes so far to say he was

good-looking.

We see this repeatedly in the

descriptions of David,

that he was a handsome guy. That means,

ladies, if [snorts] you were in your

probably early 20s and you saw David

walk by, you would have probably been

like, "Wow,

that's a good-looking guy right there."

Over and over it mentions that he was

handsome.

And the Lord whispers in Samuel's ear

and says, "Arise. Anoint him.

For this is the one." He got passed up

by all of his brothers in the original

lineup.

And finally, all the way down at the end

of the line, that's the one that gets

chosen.

And it says he was anointed in the midst

of all of his brothers and the spirit of

the Lord came upon David from that day

forward. So, Samuel arose and went to

Ramah.

Now what?

What does David do now?

He's just been anointed as the new king

of Israel.

But, he's still a shepherd out in the

fields, the youngest brother who doesn't

get invited to the lunch parties.

What does David do now?

Bible says Samuel left and went back to

Ramah.

Okay, what now?

When does this all happen? How does this

all happen? Does David know?

No, he doesn't.

David finds himself in a bit of a

waiting room. Waiting for God's plans to

come to fruition.

So what does he do here? It says in

Patriarchs and Prophets page 642,

"Notwithstanding the high position which

he was to occupy, he quietly continued

his employment, content to await the

development of the Lord's plans in his

own time and way."

"As humble and modest before his

anointing, the shepherd boy returned to

the hills and watched and guarded his

flocks as tenderly as ever."

"But with new inspiration, he composed

his melodies and played upon the harp."

David knew something was coming, but it

wasn't there yet. So what he did, he did

what he was called to do now to the very

best of his ability. Like the Bible

says, "Whatever your hand finds to do,

do it with all of your might." It's just

like with Joseph. Joseph found himself

as a slave in a house. He did his best.

He found himself in a prison, did his

best.

Wherever we are in our lives, whatever

waiting room we might be in, do your

best wherever you find yourself and wait

on God's timing for the next chapter.

This is what David does. Now there's a

there's a word that the author uses in

here

and she says, "As humble and modest as

before his anointing." The word humble

is used here, but it's also used in

regards to Saul

in Patriarchs and Prophets page 633.

The author says this, "Had he, Saul,

remained humble,

seeking constantly to be guided by

divine wisdom, he would have been

enabled to discharge the duties of his

high position with success and honor."

The difference between Saul

and David

was their humility.

Saul lost his humility.

David kept his humility.

And in losing the humility, Saul lost

his connection with God. He relied on

himself more. David, in his humility, we

see we see David make mistake after

mistake after mistake in the Bible, but

his heart is broken later by those

mistakes. And it's a sincere repentance

that comes from David. A humble

repentance. And that is what the author

says is the difference.

Humility.

I think that is a huge lesson for all of

us.

One of the best attributes in the Bible

that I see is humility.

I don't know of anybody that ever got in

trouble by being humble

and putting other people first.

But sometimes it's hard to wait.

David's out there in the fields. Now

what?

Nobody likes to wait. You ever gone to

the doctor's office and they have a room

just for waiting?

Nobody likes that room. That's the name

of it, the waiting room. You have to

wait there.

And sometimes you go to the next room

and you wait more.

>> [snorts]

>> Nobody likes to wait.

Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for

things. Maybe waiting for a job

promotion that we thought we should have

had a long time ago. Maybe that somebody

else got that promotion.

Maybe we find ourselves waiting for a

family member to turn their lives around

that we've been praying for for a long

time and they still haven't done it.

They still haven't made that choice to

turn their life around and follow Jesus.

Maybe we find ourselves waiting for a

spouse.

God, why haven't you brought somebody by

me that I can spend the rest of my life

with?

Maybe you find yourself waiting for a

pregnancy that hasn't happened yet.

Maybe you find yourself waiting for a

business deal or waiting for an

acceptance letter that hasn't come yet.

Or maybe you find yourself waiting on

the resurrection to be reunited with

someone that you love dearly.

It's hard to wait sometimes.

When David is waiting,

he trusts God's timing.

And while he's waiting,

he remains faithful to God.

And he waits for God to open doors and

opportunities.

Now I don't know that David could have

predicted what the next door that God

would open would be for him because it's

kind of a wild turn in the story.

We continue on in this last section of

the chapter in chapter 16. It says, "But

the spirit of the Lord departed from

Saul and a distressing spirit from the

Lord troubled him." Let's pause here for

just a minute.

Does God distress people?

Does the God that you and I know

torment people?

What does this mean?

When we see sections like like when

Pharaoh heart or God hardened Pharaoh's

heart, what does this all mean? The

Bible commentary

beautifully states what this situation

means. And it says, "Scriptures

sometimes represent God as doing that

which he does not specifically prevent."

Let me read that one more time. "The

scriptures sometimes represent God as

doing that which he does not

specifically

prevent."

You see with Saul,

King Saul had slowly but surely backed

away from God.

And God, who respects our choice, backs

away from us sometimes.

And respects us. Now when when we turn

away from God, who steps in?

The enemy. The roaring lion doesn't

stop.

And so here, what makes the most sense

when I read this is that as Saul was

rejecting God and God is respecting his

choices and stepping back, there is

someone else who is moving in.

Saul's servant said to him, "Surely a

distressing spirit is troubling you.

Let our master now command your servants

who go before you to seek out a man who

is a skillful player of the harp."

Who plays the harp?

David plays the harp.

And maybe David might be the best harp

player in the whole area.

Which makes me wonder, did he do

concerts? How do people know that he

plays the harp so well?

Saul says, "Find me a a harp player."

Verse 18 says, "One of the servants

answered and said, 'Look, I have seen a

son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is

skillful in playing.'" Listen to how he

goes on to describe David.

He's skillful at playing the harp.

He's a mighty man of valor.

A man of war.

Prudent in speech.

And a handsome person again.

And by the way, your majesty, he's

awfully good-looking.

Isn't that funny that pops up again?

You're not going to have anybody ugly in

your court, your majesty. He's a

good-looking guy.

What a bizarre thing to add in there.

I've I've filled out a ton of

recommendation forms for people over the

years for jobs and school and

scholarships. Never once have I ever

been like, you know what this By the

way, footnotes, added things if you want

to say, "They're extremely handsome and

good-looking." Never once have I ever

done that or or even thought to do that.

But here we see twice, "By the way,

David was very handsome."

But the last thing is the most important

thing that this guy describes David as.

The last thing, most important.

He says, "And the Lord is with him."

David's life had been an example of of a

a kind person, a musician, a a brave

person, but also as a man of God.

Friends, I want to challenge you to live

your life so that when people talk about

you, they describe you as a man or a

woman of God. Isn't that the best

compliment anybody could give you?

When someone describes you, "Oh, what's

your friend like?" Oh,

deeply spiritual, honors God.

Wouldn't that be awesome if that's how

they described it? I think that's life

goals right there.

To live a life where people describe you

like that.

Now can you imagine

David out watching the sheep,

pondering what has happened,

wondering

how God's going to do this. Maybe one of

his brothers comes up, "Hey David, Dad

wants you back at the house."

"Oh yeah, what for?"

"We got a letter from King Saul. Wants

you to come up to the palace." "You

what?"

"From King Saul."

That's the one I'm supposed to replace.

What is God doing here?

It says, "Saul sent a messenger, 'Send

me your son David

who is with the sheep.' And Jesse took a

donkey loaded with bread, skin of wine,

and young goat and and sent them by

David his son to Saul as a gift."

So Saul So David came to Saul and stood

before him and he loved him greatly and

he became his armor bearer.

Imagine

what a wild experience that was for

David

as he sits and plays harp

for the one he's going to replace

someday.

Wondering, "God,

what are you doing here?

Why am I here?

What is the purpose of me being here?"

It says that Saul loved him greatly.

David was a likable guy.

And when David played the harp,

everything got better.

Now that that distressing spirit

that Saul dealt with,

you know,

there's

there's been some speculation on what

that all means.

Um

but

it seems as if there was a little bit of

demon harassment or demon possession

even

with Saul.

And

>> [clears throat]

>> there's a an author, Josephus,

around this time. He He specifically

writes about King Saul. He writes about

several different biblical things, but

he writes this about King Saul.

He says, "As for Saul, some strange and

demoniacal disorders came upon him and

brought upon him such suffocations as

were ready to choke him."

Then we see down at the end of the

story, the result of David's playing. It

says in verse 23, "And so it was

whenever the spirit of God was upon Saul

or

the lack of the spirit, which we can

remember from the beginning. Whenever

this troubling spirit came upon Saul,

David would take a harp and play it with

his hand, and Saul would become

refreshed as well, and the distressing

spirit would depart from him." The word

refreshed that we see in the Bible, it

would literally read that Saul could

breathe again.

Isn't that interesting? The comparison

between Josephus's word and the Hebrew

there. That it it seems that he was

being choked or or couldn't breathe, but

then as David sang praises to God, he

was able to breathe again.

The distressing spirit would go away.

The power of praise to God, I think, is

pretty strong.

David.

Mighty man of valor, a man of God.

Waiting on God's timing

to fulfill what he had promised in his

life.

It's tough to wait sometimes. And

sometimes the doors that God opens,

you're like, "Is this Is this where I'm

supposed to go?

I hadn't planned it like this, God."

But if you find yourself waiting like

David did in stages of his life,

I want to encourage you to patiently

wait on God's timing and his guidance in

your life.

Because his timing

is the best timing. You never know how

long you have to wait.

Noah

was 600 years old when God brought him a

new career.

He waited 600 years as God was like,

"Now is the time I'm going to start

something new in your life."

God's timing is the best.

The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5 and 6,

Proverbs 3:5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own

understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him, and

he will make your paths straight." And

the psalmist, who was also good on the

harp, wrote this, "I will instruct you

and teach you in the way you should go.

I will counsel you with my eye on you."

He later on writes this, "Your word is a

lamp unto my feet and a light unto my

path."

I love this one in Isaiah 58:11. It

Isaiah 58:11

says, "The Lord will guide you

continually and satisfy your desire in

scorched places and make your bones

strong.

And you will be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water whose waters do

not fail."

Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans

Proverbs 16:9

his way, but the Lord establishes his

steps."

And the last one, Psalm 25:4-5, the

Psalms 25:4–5

harpist writes this,

"Make me to know your ways, O Lord.

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for

you are the God of my salvation.

For you I wait all the day long."

David learned to wait and to trust

in the moments in his life when he found

himself in the waiting room.

When we find ourselves in the waiting

room of life, waiting on something, not

sure of when it'll happen or what will

happen even,

let us remember to trust our future like

David did in the hands of almighty God.

And to trust and have faith

that his plans for you and me

will bring joy in our lives,

will bring purpose in our lives,

and maybe even bring purpose in somebody

else's life through us.

In 1521,

it was a little dangerous to have the

name Martin Luther.

Martin Luther had been preaching

from the Bible and discovering new

things in scripture,

and it wasn't very popular with his

superiors

because it went against the things that

they taught. He was called in before

courts to testify and to explain

himself,

and it was further

brought to his attention that if he kept

on teaching these things,

there were going to be consequences.

And he was excommunicated and there was

a price put on his head.

Not long after that,

he was kidnapped by his friends

to save his life.

He was kidnapped and taken secretly to

the Wartburg Castle in Germany.

A really neat castle. I've been to this

castle.

Been up to the room where he stayed and

and uh spent a whole year there avoiding

trouble.

During this time of seclusion for a

year,

it might have been easy for Martin

Luther to think,

"Now what's my purpose? Hidden away in

this castle up in this room.

I can't preach. I can't teach. I was in

the middle of doing good work.

We were having good results. People were

digging into God's word. Now what am I

doing in this waiting room of a castle

away from what I'm called to do?

And how long will I be here?"

But while he was there waiting,

he didn't let the grass grow under his

feet. He got to work.

And while he was there in that room, in

that castle way up high,

he started translating the New Testament

from Greek into German.

So that the German folks in the

countryside could read God's word in

their own language

and find out the truth in the Bible for

themselves.

While he was in this waiting room, he

did what God called him to do there. It

was a different work than what he had

been doing and what he would do later

on. But while he was there, he said,

"God, how can I be used now?"

And he listened to the voice of God and

started getting to work and translating

and doing what he could where he was.

And while he was in that waiting room,

he didn't complain.

He just trusted in God and listened for

God's inspiration on what he should do

in his life.

And the work that he did made a huge

influence in Germany.

Many people were blessed with gospel

truth because they could read it now.

Because way up in that castle during

that year,

Martin Luther was able to do all the

translation

and turn something that couldn't be

accessible to your average person,

put it in the hands of each person who

could read German.

If you find yourself waiting in life,

pause,

pray,

and trust.

And God will point you in the right

direction

at the right time.

God's timing is the best timing.

Sometimes

we think our timing is the best timing.

And we rush things.

Let's have the patience of David.

The trust of David.

And God will move mountains and do big

things through you just like he did

through David. I want to invite our

worship team to come up as we close with

a song.

We're going to sing Great Is Thy

Faithfulness.

And the last verse of this song says,

"Pardon for sin and a peace that

endureth."

Sometimes it's hard to have peace when

you're waiting.

But when you put your plans in God's

hands, he can give you that peace. It

says, "Thine own dear presence to cheer

and to guide." That's biblical. God will

guide us when we ask him to. "Strength

for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside."

Let's stand and sing our closing song,

Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

>> [music]

>> Father in heaven,

as we wait patiently for you to come to

take us home,

Lord, keep us faithful to you in our

waiting rooms, wherever they are in

life, whatever we're waiting on outside

of that.

Lord, help us to trust you and wait on

your timing

and surrender our plans to you so that

they are your plans and not ours.

Lord, thank you for taking an interest

in our lives even and offering to guide

us and to give us advice like you did

with Samuel and with David.

Lord, help us to rely on that instead of

ourselves.

And help us to have our our attention in

your word so it can be a lamp unto our

feet and a light unto our path as we

head towards the second coming.

Lord, we can't wait to be with you in

heaven.

And we're so glad that today we're one

Sabbath closer to being with you. Keep

us faithful until that day is my prayer

in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thanks so much for joining us here at

the McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist

Church for worship. [music]

Each month we reach between 25 and

30,000 people with gospel content

online.

We're looking to expand our audio-visual

department this year and looking to

raise $30,000 in this project.

We would love for you to partner with us

on this and consider making a donation

to our audio-visual department as we

look at expansion and reaching more

people with the gospel across the

internet this [music] next year.

You can go to mrcsda.org

to make a donation directly to our

audio-visual department.

Thank you so much for considering making

this donation and the privilege is ours

to partner with you in making this a

bigger [music] and more effective

ministry here at the McDonald Road 7th

Day Adventist Church.

God bless each one of you and thanks

again for joining us here at the

McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist [music]

Church.

>> [music]