The King We Needed - Chronicles of the Kings (Week 2)

Will you stand with me for the reading of God's word?

We're gonna read 1 Samuel 16, 1 through 13.

The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul since I've rejected him from being king over Israel?

Fill your horn with oil and go.

I will send you to Jesse the Bethemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.

And Samuel said, How can I go?

If Saul hears it, he will kill me.

And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, and invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do, and you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.

Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem.

The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, Do you come peaceably?

And he said, Peaceably I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.

And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked at Eliad and thought, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.

But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance, on the height of his stature, because I've rejected him.

For the Lord sees not as man sees.

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Then Jesse called Abinadh, and made him pass before Samuel.

And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.

Then Jesse made Shemiah pass by.

And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.

And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.

And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these.

Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your sons here?

And he said, There remains yet the youngest.

But behold, he is keeping the Anduel said to Jesse, Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.

And he sent and brought him in.

Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.

And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.

Then Samuel took the horn of wool and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.

And Samuel rose up and went to Rama.

And this is the word of the Lord.

Amen.

Thank you, Miss Lisa.

That was awesome.

I'm glad you said oil like a good West Texan.

Anoint them with oil.

Amen.

We've had a great day so far.

We're diving into this series a little further.

The Chronicles of the Kings.

What an awesome opportunity to be able to dive into kings and see ourselves and see Jesus inside of that.

If you haven't got one of our devotionals, we have a few more of those left.

Those are actually to help you follow along this summer.

They actually are intended on preceding the message.

So, like hopefully you've been looking at David a little bit this week as we dive into King David.

Last week we watched the tragic story of Saul.

Rick Warnick did an excellent job helping us learn about Saul.

And Saul was everything Israel thought they wanted in a king.

When we look at Saul, he was tall, he was strong, he was impressive, just like Rick Warnick, as he said last week.

He was the kind of man that looked like a king.

That was Saul.

And in many ways, he was exactly what the people asked God for.

The problem was that what looked good on the outside was quietly falling apart on the inside.

And that creates a question.

If Saul isn't the king God's people need, then what kind of king are they looking for?

Enter today's topic, King David.

Enter David.

Few people in all scripture capture our imagination like David.

Shepherd, musician, warrior, giant slayer, poet, king.

I mean, David is all of these things.

David's life is filled, when we examine his life, it is filled with breathtaking victories and heartbreaking failures.

He becomes Israel's greatest king, and he also commits some of Israel's greatest sins.

And that means David's story for us, for me, for us today, is really bigger than David because when we look at David, we see something of ourselves.

We see greatness and brokenness living side by side.

We see courage and compromise.

We see faith and failure running on the same tracks.

I know that is a picture of my life.

Maybe I'm in the wrong place this morning.

But for me, greatness and brokenness, courage and compromise, faith and failure, all just running together.

And that's why David's story matters, because David forces us really to ask some deeper questions.

David asks us, what kind of king then can actually save us?

What kind of king can lead us without failing us?

What kind of king can deal with the real problem, which is the human condition, the problem of our hearts?

In this passage, Lisa just read, Samuel thinks he knows the answer.

Jesse, the son of David, or the father of David, thinks he knows the answer.

David's brothers, they think they know the answer, but God sees something they don't see.

And we kind of get the heart of this in 1 Samuel 16, 7, which says, for the Lord sees not as man sees.

That's an important reality for us today.

That's an important truth today.

We need to take that one with us to work tomorrow morning.

The Lord sees not as man sees.

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

And if I'm being truthful, he sees, this is all in 1 Samuel 16, where Lisa started.

We'll jump through different pieces of David's story, but God sees differently.

I mean, Samuel arrives in Bethlehem to anoint Israel's next king.

Jesse brings out his sons.

His first son is Eliab.

That's a strange name, but come on, Eliab.

I mean, he's strong, he's impressive, he's the leader type.

And Samuel immediately thinks, surely, the Lord has anointed him.

Samuel's not a fool.

Samuel is actually God's prophet.

And yet he assumes the most impressive son must be God's choice.

Why?

Because Samuel sees like we see.

But he tells us in the passage, the Lord sees not as man sees.

The Lord looks at the heart while we look at the outward appearance.

God isn't impressed.

He's not impressed by what impresses us.

If we look at it, we are impressed by appearance and strength and charisma and influence and success.

That's what we impresses us.

God looks deeper, not because appearance doesn't matter, but because appearance doesn't obviously tell the whole story.

Right?

Sort of like Facebook or social media doesn't really tell the whole story.

It just tells the part of the story you want to see.

Right?

But God sees the condition of the heart.

And if there's one truth that I sort of want to anchor you in today is that God is not looking for impressive appearances.

God is looking for surrendered hearts.

And I believe we'll see that today.

We still think like Samuel.

We look at the outside and assume we know the whole story.

We look at success and we call success health.

We look at confidence and call it maturity.

We look at influence and call it faithfulness.

And then we make we double down on that mistake and we spend the rest of our lives trying to look like we have it all together.

Like this is what success is, so I better build that, even if it's a facade, so that people think I have it all together.

But God isn't fooled by appearances.

And thankfully, he really isn't impressed by them either.

God sees deeper, God sees the heart.

Think about this moment.

David is not even in the lineup.

Like, they're looking for the next king.

He's not even like around.

The father doesn't call him, the brothers don't mention him.

He's out, the Bible says, with the sheep, forgotten and overlooked.

Yet when God sees David, when they eventually go get him and bring him in, immediately God says, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.

God saw something they could not.

Some of you in here may know what it feels like to be overlooked.

You may feel forgotten.

You may feel unnoticed.

You feel may feel not chosen.

The text reminds us that God sees what others miss.

Let me say that again.

For those two amens.

God sees what others miss.

Now, this text doesn't just comfort us.

I'm glad for that.

It actually confronts us because many of us are still placing our trust in the things that look strong.

Right?

We are putting our trust in success, in our reputation, in our achievement, in our ability to hold it all together.

But God is not looking for impressive appearances.

What is God looking for?

Surrendered hearts.

And what God saw in David changed the way David saw everything else.

It's like when everyone else, as we fast forward and we look into David's life, when everyone else saw a giant, David saw a God that was greater.

Sometimes the way God sees us changes the way we see everything else.

The truth is, fear changes what you see.

Can I preach on that for a minute?

Will you give me permission to preach on that for a minute?

So if you fast forward to 1 Samuel 17, we're kind of getting a whole snapshot of David's life.

The Philistines are gathered on one hill and the armies of Israel on the other hill.

And in between the hill is this great valley, and in that great valley stands a giant named Goliath.

For forty days, morning and evening, Goliath mocks Israel.

He mocks their army.

And ultimately he stands for forty days and forty nights mocking their God.

Then notice something in this story with me for a minute.

Everyone saw the same intimidating giant.

Saul saw him, the soldiers saw him, David saw him.

The difference wasn't what they saw.

The difference was how they interpreted, interpreted what they saw.

That was the difference.

See, the thing you fear most will shape the way you see everything else.

Last week, when we watched Saul's kind of demise, King Saul's demise or decline, now we see the fruit of it.

The king is supposed to be leading his army in battle.

And yet he's paralyzed in fear.

Saul was supposed to be the king.

He was supposed to lead.

He was supposed to fight.

Yet Saul, the supposed leader, is frozen by fear.

Why?

Because fear changes what you see.

Are you with me on that?

When fear takes over, everything gets distorted.

It's interesting, J Tom was talking about our attention in worship.

One reason that is important is because fear tries us to get to look at something else.

And when we, you know, the big idea is, then fear magnifies whatever it worships.

So when fear is present in the valley, all they can think about is how big Goliath is.

Or how big Goliath seemed to them.

So when we worship and we put our attention, as J-Tom said, and again, we didn't even compare notes, then God becomes bigger than the thing we fear.

And we look back at this moment and we see when fear takes over, everything gets distorted.

The giant gets bigger, the obstacles get bigger, the criticism gets bigger, the uncertainty gets bigger.

One of my favorite definitions of fear is that fear gets out in front of you and pretends like God will not be there.

And then we're haunted by all the what-ifs because the what-if scenarios discount the presence of God.

And that's why fear is so dangerous.

Fear is faith in reverse.

Faith is putting our trust in God.

Right?

Not in our trust in our trust, but our trust in God.

But in this moment, we see fear magnifies whatever it worships.

So let me break it down to you this way.

Whatever we fear, whether it's a looming, let me just pick out a few examples.

A looming threat, a financial crisis, a diagnosis, a loss of control, it demands, that fear demands our complete attention.

And then in doing so, it inflates the perceived power of that object.

It makes all of that stuff bigger.

And at the same time, it diminishes our perspective of God's power in our lives.

And so, therefore, we go around, spend most of our prayer time talking to God about how big our mountains are.

Because we're motivated by fear.

Instead of walking by faith, the object of our faith being Jesus and telling our mountains how big our God is.

And we see that in the life of David, while Saul is trapped, paralyzed in fear, here comes David carrying a lunch.

I love that detail.

Because it's in the ordinary moments of our lives when we're just being faithful to do what God called us to do that He will kind of catalyze your faith and call you into action.

So literally, David's dad just said, Hey, take your brother some lunch.

He isn't arriving as a warrior, he isn't arriving as a king, he is Uber Eats, like just showing up with the food.

Before Uber Eats was a thing.

And then he hears Goliath, and for whatever reason, David's response is totally different.

David proclaims, who is this uncircumcised Philistine?

That should defy the armies of the living God.

David is offended.

He's not offended because David, Goliath is insulting Israel.

He's offended because Goliath is insulting his God.

Everyone else sees a giant.

David sees a God who is greater.

The battlefield hasn't changed.

The giant, Goliath hasn't changed.

What changed was what David saw.

And so the question comes for us.

May just get like up in your face without a breath mint.

What has become biggest in your vision?

The diagnosis, the uncertainty, the financial pressure, the prodigal child, the broken marriage, or God.

Fear changes what you see.

And I love it because David's courage didn't come from believing in himself.

That sounds like modern culture, doesn't it you just gotta, champ, you just gotta believe in yourself.

But that's not biblical faith.

David's courage came from believing in God.

He declares, you come at me with a sword and a shield and a javelin.

But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.

David's confidence in that I can do this, his confidence is my God is greater.

Remember, God is not looking for impressive appearances.

What is God looking for?

Surrendered hearts.

Why?

Because surrendered hearts always see differently.

David defeats Goliath.

He trusts God when everyone else is afraid.

He becomes the champion of Israel, the champion Israel desperately needed.

Saul was a mistake, but now we have David.

And at this point in the story, I can hear kind of the rumblings even here this morning.

We're all rooting for David.

Praise God for David.

We think finally, here's the king.

Here's the one who will make everything right.

But the Bible refuses to give us a hero that can carry the weight of our hope.

Because in this case, as in every case, the giant killer is a sinner.

He fits under the category that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So even if we're tempted this morning to make David our hero, we have to understand if we continue to read into his life, this hero is going to fall.

And you say, even David?

Yes.

What a point.

Even David.

Even David.

Yes, even David.

David defeats Goliath, the shepherd, becomes a warrior.

God gives him the victory.

God gives him influence.

God gives him the kingdom.

And in many ways, David becomes really the greatest king that Israel ever had.

That's the truth of the matter.

But success, but success, but success doesn't remove the need for surrender.

Success really oftentimes reveals what's really in the heart.

So if you fast forward over to 2 Samuel 11, no longer is David standing in the valley facing Goliath.

He's standing on a rooftop with power in his hands.

And this time, the enemy is not out in front of him, the enemy is within him.

David sees Bathsheba.

I'm going to keep this PG.

David sees Bathsheba.

He takes what is not his.

He abuses his power.

He hides sin.

He arranges the death of Uriah.

Uriah is the husband of Bathsheba.

And David falls.

The man who stood against a giant cannot stand against his own sin.

And we're actually meant to feel the shock of it.

This isn't Saul, this is David.

This isn't the rejected king.

This is the man after God's own heart.

And maybe that's why David still resonates with us.

Maybe that's why he still resonates with me.

Because we know what it is to look faithful while battling compromise, hiding compromise.

We know what it is to manage appearance, appearances instead of walking in the light.

When God eventually sends the prophet Nathan to confront David, this is a beautiful part in the story because David doesn't blame.

He doesn't excuse.

He doesn't even defend himself.

David, over in 2 Samuel chapter 12, just comes clean and says, I have sinned against the Lord.

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

That is repentance.

David's greatness is not in his sinlessness, it's in his honesty and repentance.

One thing we're learning and teaching here at Neely, oftentimes we think repentance is a bad word.

Repentance is the best thing we can find for the human heart.

It is the best medicine we can find for the human heart that tends to drift.

It's come back to God with the honesty and vulnerability that we see in David and repent and repent and repent.

Even here, David cannot be the Savior.

This repentance is beautiful, but it cannot undo the damage.

It cannot, David's repentance, his moment with God cannot cleanse Israel.

It cannot defeat sin and death.

David, on one hand, can show us what repentance looks like, but on the other, he can't offer us the righteousness that we need.

And that's where David leaves us with a holy ache of I need a king who can save me.

I need to be saved.

My heart needs to be transformed.

Even David, yes, even David needs mercy.

Even David needs grace.

So then what kind of king do we really need?

We do not need a better version of David.

Like, man, I hope my phone upgraded last night when I had it plugged in.

We need a king whose heart never wanders.

We need a king whose righteousness never fails.

Family, we need Jesus.

Jesus is the king that we need.

And this is why David's story points beyond David.

God promised, man, this is so good.

God promises that from David's line there would come a king, and his kingdom would never end.

And one day, in David's hometown, Bethlehem, a king arrived.

A king arrived.

Not in a palace, not surrounded by power, overlooked by many, yet chosen by God.

David was a shepherd.

Jesus is the good shepherd.

David stood as Israel's champion for a moment.

Jesus became our champion forever.

David defeated a giant.

Our king defeated sin, death, and the grave.

How many of you know that's pretty powerful?

David eventually fell.

Jesus never did.

David needed mercy.

Jesus came to give mercy.

Where David sinned, Jesus obeyed.

And then this king.

He did what no other king would do.

He put on a crown of thorns.

And he laid down his life.

This true king was rejected.

The true king was crucified.

Not because he deserved judgment, but because we deserve judgment.

That's our king.

The sin that ruined David is the same cancer virus that's in our hearts.

Our pride, our fear, our self-reliance, our rebellion, our hidden compromises.

Jesus carried it to the cross.

And three days later he rose again, proving that he's the Son of God.

Defeating, as I said, sin.

That's a hat trick right there.

Sin, death, and the grave.

Friends, we don't have to be afraid.

We just have to run to Jesus.

He offers forgiveness and freedom and new life to everyone who trusts in him.

This story confronts us because we still do what Israel did.

If I'm being honest, right?

Like we are Israel.

We still do these things.

We keep looking for salvation and strength in our success, in our reputation, in our ability to hold everything together.

But none of these can save us.

Only Jesus can save us.

And so that brings us today to the Lord's Supper, to the table for communion.

Because in this moment, communion, it doesn't celebrate our faithfulness.

It doesn't celebrate Tory Bryan's faithfulness.

Communion reminds us of Jesus' faithfulness.

So if you were given an element when you came in, let's go ahead and get that prepared.

And Ushers, I'm going to need one.

If you don't have one, Ushers should have some in the back.

They're coming to you.

Try not to be distracted in this moment.

Can I grab one of those, sir?

Thank you.

Down on the bottom, and you can just unleash the bread.

And then on the top we have this little bit of juice.

Like David, we know what it is to fail.

Amen.

We know what it is to struggle.

We know what it is to need mercy.

There's not one person here that's not like that.

And we remember that our hope, this is the beautiful thing, is not in our performance.

It's not moralism.

It's not religion.

It's not doing more things.

But it's in trusting in God, in Christ, who is our hope.

Remember, God is not looking for outward appearances.

What's he looking for?

Surrendered hearts.

So in this moment of communion, it's a beautiful moment to surrender our hearts.

Some of us today, that point on fear, it hits you.

Surrender it.

Hand it over to God.

Change your perspective.

Stop looking as the thing out there, as the big thing in your life, and look at how big our God is.

Some of you, it may be hidden things, like we talked about with David, hidden compromise, hidden sin.

Things in the darkness.

Just bring them in the light and give them to Jesus in this moment.

Some of it could be self-reliance.

I've just been trusting in myself.

I've been trying to save myself by the things I do.

I've been trying to fix myself.

I've been trying to prove myself.

Bring those things to Jesus right now.

You know what?

I just want us to enter into just another moment of silence, just like J Tom taught us.

Whatever you need to bring to Jesus, make this a holy moment.

Transfer the trust.

Today, if you haven't put your trust in Jesus, the biggest invitation isn't to take these elements.

Just let that moment pass you by.

But if you've not put your trust in Jesus, take Jesus.

Call on his name.

Turn from your sin.

Trust in him.

Believe that he died and rose again.

Call on him.

As we take communion, church, let's pray together.

Father, thank you for sending us the king we needed.

Thank you that when we failed, Jesus remained faithful.

Thank you that when we sinned, Jesus became our sacrifice.

Thank you that when we could not save ourselves, Jesus came to save us.

God, we pray like David.