1 and 2 Samuel: God is With You and Guides You

Well, good morning.

We are studying our way through 1 Samuel.

Last week we looked at the shepherd boy, David, as he defeated the giant Goliath.

And today we're going to look at David's rise to success.

What happens just after he defeats this Goliath?

And David's story tells us something about our story.

So we can look at David's story.

Let's look at it very quickly.

We see that David has a season of being ordinary and unknown when he's a shepherd boy.

He has this season that we're going to look at last week and this week: opportunity and success as he defeats Goliath.

He has military successes.

He becomes king.

But then we all know of his failure and his guilt and his moral failure with Bathsheba.

And then there's that last season that we see with David that is restoration and reflection as he seeks out grace and forgiveness.

And we have that beautiful Psalm 51 that he writes.

And I'm guessing, just a hunch, that I'm guessing you are somewhat like David, that you are like me, and that you know what it feels like to be ordinary, to be unknown.

Maybe you know what it feels like to have some opportunity and success.

I'm guessing that you know what it feels like to have failure and to feel guilty.

And that we all need restoration and reflection.

So, how do we navigate life as it's a mix of good and bad?

You get the job, but it's in Cleveland.

I don't want to live in Cleveland.

You get the girl, but she ends up not being perfect.

Can you imagine?

You get the kids, but then they're kind of morons.

You get the house, or you get the car, or you get the raise, and it just doesn't fulfill.

How do we navigate life as it's a mix of good and bad?

In chapter 18, David gets a new BFF with Saul's son Jonathan, and David rises in popularity after this Goliath, where he uses that slingshot to take Goliath down.

He starts to have some military victories, and we see King Saul move from celebration to suspicion to hostility.

Look what happens right after David slays Goliath.

1 Samuel 18, 6 through 9.

As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, with musical instruments.

And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very angry.

And this saying displeased him.

And he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they've ascribed thousands.

And what more can he have but the kingdom?

And Saul eyed David from that day on.

Point number one is this, and this is what we're going to see play out with David.

Our foundation is true favor.

True favor is God's presence with us.

That God is present with us.

This story is not framed by David's rising talent.

The story is framed by divine favor, by God's presence.

Now, of course, David slayed the giant with that slingshot.

He had skill that he had built over time, but the ability for the skill, the season for the skill to form, came from God.

To explain each victory, what's written is a simple phrase: the Lord was with David.

The Lord was with David.

The Lord was with David.

A few weeks ago we went and saw the movie Project Hail Mary.

Have you seen anybody else fall in love with Rocky?

Is anybody else in love with Rocky?

In love with Rocky the Alien?

If you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

So we began after that a journey of let's watch space movies.

So last week we watched The Martian.

And the Martian follows astronaut Mark Watney, who accidentally gets left behind on Mars.

Just a little mistake.

He gets left behind on Mars, and he has to figure out how to survive, how to live, how to farm, how to create water, how to create food, how to create communication back to Earth.

For 549 days, this guy waits to be rescued.

And then the ship returns to him, but they don't have enough fuel to land, of course, so they can only fly by and catch him.

Work with us here.

So Mark is blasted into space and then launches himself over to his friends who are going to catch him.

And this is the moment when, after 549 days of being alone with no one, this is the moment when he's finally safe.

He's finally with someone who loves him.

Let's watch two minutes of this.

So I'm still not sure why they didn't build a net, but yeah, that's a separate issue.

Just before this scene, Mark is weeping.

It was the first time we saw him cry the whole movie.

Because after 549 days of being alone, being brave, he realizes he's finally going to be safe.

He'll finally be with someone who loves him.

Someone who is with him.

It's powerful to know that you're not alone.

It's powerful to know that you are loved.

And this phrase over and over again is the defining explanation of these stories.

The Lord was with David.

Jesus actually promises to be with us.

See, David knows he was not alone and he was loved by God, and we can know the same thing.

And because of that, we, like David, don't have to be afraid.

Jesus actually says, do not be afraid seven times.

He says it to the disciples when they're afraid of a storm.

He says it to Peter when he's overwhelmed by a failure.

He says it to Jairus when Jairus' daughter dies.

He says it to the disciples when they need to learn trust.

Do not be afraid.

You don't have to be afraid.

I'm with you.

My mentor Scotty Smith says this it's stunning, liberating, and timely to know the most repeated command throughout the whole Bible is do not be afraid.

We know God will never leave or forsake us, and we know we are secure in the palm of his hand.

Free us more fully from our fears, that we might live more fully to the praise of his glorious grace.

Here's how John makes sense of this in the New Testament.

1 John 4, 7 and 8, also verse 19.

Beloved, that's us, you are loved.

Beloved, let us love one another.

For love is from God.

And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Anyone who does not love, does not know God.

Because God is love.

Verse 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We love because he first loved us.

So Jesus, God for us to know, is loving us before we ever loved him or thought about loving him.

And that's the very truth that we get to rest in as to help our fear.

Now, in 1 Samuel 19, Saul tries to murder David and Jonathan and Mikhail.

They save David, 1 Samuel 21.

David flees for his life.

He escapes by pretending he's a saint.

Chapter 22, David gathers together a crew of people, a band of outcasts, and Saul becomes even more unhinged in pursuing David.

And Saul even orders for priests to be massacred.

We jump back in, 1 Samuel 23, 1 through 5.

Now they told David, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and robbing the threshold floors.

Therefore David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go and attack these Philistines?

And the Lord said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.

But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah.

How much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

Then David inquired of the Lord again.

The Lord answered him, Arise, go to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.

And David and his men went to Kelah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow.

So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

Point number two is this we love a strategy, but we need the Lord's direction.

We need the Lord's direction in our strategies.

A few years ago, I began attending a leadership retreat every fall called Refuge Out West.

It's a fly fishing leadership retreat, right?

Like, oh, do I have to go?

The ministry actually provides fishing guides each day.

So the first day, the first time I went, the first day, I head out, I'm fishing with a pastor from Missouri.

And me and this other pastor, we've both fished before.

We have this guide, and very quickly on, we figure out this guide's a rookie.

He does not know this river well, he doesn't really know fishing all that well.

And I fish my tail off that day.

Laser focused all day.

Three fish.

That's not good, by the way.

Three fish.

Wasn't happy.

The next day, my guide's name was Beans.

Here's a picture of Beans with us on the river.

Beans was young, but it was the second year guiding.

He'd been on this river for an entire year, and Beans was fishy.

He knew fish, he knew this river, he was into it, he knew where to put the boat and where to have us cast.

And I caught 22 fish.

Three fish to 22 fish, the same exact river.

And the difference was the guide.

Beans knew how to direct us, where to put us in the best position to fish.

That's what a guide does, gives you direction for the next step.

Did you catch the phrase twice in that passage, verse 2 and verse 4?

Then David inquired of the Lord.

David's fleeing for his life.

I'm sure he has a strategy.

I'm sure he's using as much wisdom as he had, and he's saying, God, would you speak to my spirit in my strategy?

David asked God to help him discern the next best step.

We invite God into our decision making.

It's not super spiritual and apart from wisdom or apart from strategy.

It's inside of our wisdom and strategy, and we're praying, God, speak to my spirit through your spirit.

Give me discernment.

Guide my steps.

Maybe I don't know the whole path.

Most likely you won't, but help me with the next step.

In 1 Samuel 24, and in Geti, Saul takes 3,000 men to chase down David.

1 Samuel 24, verse 3.

1 Samuel 24:3

And he came to the sheepfolds by the way where there was a cave.

So David did, and Saul went in to relieve himself.

So that, anyways.

Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.

And the men of David said to him, Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.

Right?

I mean, just go kill him.

Like let's be done with this.

Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe, and afterwards David's heart struck him.

We say his conscious uh his spirit.

He wasn't comfortable with what he did.

Because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he's the Lord's anointed.

So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul.

And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

I'm kind of reading that.

I'm like, man, that feels pretty convenient to solve the problem.

A guy who's been pursuing you to kill you, you can solve a lot of problems right here.

And David said, no, that's that's it's not right.

Point number three is this faith does what's right and loving even when it is not convenient.

This cave was the perfect moment.

David can he can work his way to be king in this moment, but David doesn't want to become king like this.

David teaches us to be patient, to take an honorable road.

So we don't lie, steal, cheat, or backstab or turn on a friend to get a job or a better job or to get a romance.

If we have to wait, we wait.

We choose honor.

David teaches us to choose honor, do what's right and loving, not the shortcut.

Now, all of that's great.

David gives us incredible lessons, doesn't he?

Like seek God's guidance, you know, be honorable.

These are incredible lessons.

They're really good.

We need these lessons.

The problem is we and David are not always honorable.

We don't always seek God's guidance.

I mean, at times we can be controlling, be manipulative, we can be selfish.

So we need more than lessons.

See, we need to be loved.

That's why we need one more point.

Point number four.

David points us to our need of Jesus.

There are two main genealogies of Jesus in the Bible, Matthew 1 and Luke 3.

In Matthew 1, there's 28 generational references, which is the kingship line.

And Luke 3, there's 42 generational references, which is the biological line.

They don't cite every generation, but the point is made.

And the point is that through sinners and rascals, Jesus pursues us in love.

While we are not perfect, while we can't quite get our acts fully together.

This God, known as Jesus, is not the divine policeman waiting to catch you or zap you.

The New Testament says if you want to think about God, picture a loving, perfect Heavenly Father.

Picture an Abba.

That's the picture you should get in your mind.

Where Adam and David and us fail, we have a loving God.

We may not be righteous, but he is.

And he loves us.

That's what the cross is about, that our imperfections and mess-ups are imputed.

God takes them, says, I'll forgive you.

And he imputes to us, he gives over to us righteous standing.

Not because of our resume, but because of Jesus.

That's what the grace of God is.

I will love you while you do not have the resume.

I'll just give it to you.

That's the grace of God.

In the late 1800s, French artist Gustave Dore produced engravings, wood engravings of 1 Samuel.

Here's a picture of Dore.

He's a French artist looking incredibly artistic.

Scarf, perfect, couldn't make that up.

Dore created 241 wood engravings of the entire Bible.

It was incredibly popular.

He had a huge show in London.

Here is his engraving of one of David's many escapes.

This is from 1 Samuel 19.

If we just keep that up there while I talk about it.

Dorr used light versus shadow to symbolize divine providence over human chaos.

And David's need to escape becomes about the pressure of the world that we feel, where we constantly feel like we need to escape.

Have you ever felt like you need to find a window and escape?

If you have kids, it's mayhem.

Every kid has eight award banquets.

Do you know how many times my dad stepped foot into my elementary school?

Didn't happen.

Never saw a dad in my elementary school in six years at Bethesda Elementary.

Never saw a dad at all.

I don't think we had award banquets.

It was the 80s.

You all have eight award banquets for every child.

We all have extra events if we have kids, and maybe you feel like you just want a window.

Get out of there.

Or maybe you've wanted to escape yourself.

Maybe you've wanted to escape your guilt or your shame, your job or your lack of job.

Have you ever felt like you were barely hanging on?

And the art in the story tells us that we may feel small.

We may feel alone.

But we're not really small and we're not alone.

Do you remember when Christ comes to earth, the Christmas story?

Do you remember the name?

You will know him.

His name will be Emmanuel.

The Lord was with David.

The Lord was with David.

The Lord is with you.

God's very Spirit, his presence resides in us as the presence of God, but the Holy Spirit.

We have a God who's with us, loves us, and guides us.

If you have any questions about this sermon, I'll be down front afterward.

Love to talk to you, pray with you if you have any needs.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we're so thankful that you don't look at our resume to decide whether you love us or not.

Forgive us for all the ways we perform and pretend.

Help us to be even more honest about who we are, our need of love, our need of grace.

Lord, thank you for the gift of Jesus for us to know what you're like, who you are, to know the very forgiveness of God.

Thank you for all the mess-ups that you've taken from us and that you don't penalize us, you don't zap us, but you're a loving Abba who waits to love us.

Help us trust all the more in Jesus to know Him, to know you.

Help us to seek you for guidance that we might know our next step.

Would your very spirit speak to our spirit?

In Jesus' name.

Amen.