Rebecca Maillot | What Will You Be Known For? | August 10th, 2025

Good morning.

How are we today?

Good.

Well, I'm so excited to get to share with you this morning.

Give it up for our team here.

I should release you actually.

That was a powerful time of worship, amen.

You know, there's something powerful about coming into the presence of God.

Alone, yes, individually, when we do that and we have discipleship and in our devotion time, but there's something even more powerful when you come together in a room of believing Christians.

And I think this morning I felt so encouraged by the songs that we sang and the time that we had, and so much so that it does actually relate a lot to who I want to be speaking with you this morning.

And so I think that can only be the power of the Holy Spirit, how he marries the two together.

And so it is my privilege this morning to share with you and bear with me here.

I do have a tendency of speaking fast, so I'm gonna slow my cadence down.

And if I tend to go up faster, I know I'm gonna probably bring myself down again.

And so, but and I also have a tendency of needing a breath or two.

And so this is a great opportunity for me to just take that breath.

But for those of you that don't know me, my name is Rebecca.

I have been a part of KCC for the last seven years now.

I'm married to Pastor Malachi, and so we just celebrated seven years of marriage in July.

It's crazy.

Time goes by so fast.

We just, and also we are parents to our sweet little girl, Vienna, who is now seven and a half months.

I'm just not ready to say eight months yet.

And so it is wild how fast time goes, especially as a new mom.

And so this morning we got to trade roles a little bit here, but I just actually want to give honor where honor is due, and I want to thank our pastors here this morning.

Pastor Vrody, who is taking a much-needed break and rest this morning, Pastor Brian and Pastor Malachi.

I just want to honor you today and thank you for the service that you have just led us this season.

Yeah, let's give them.

I think it's I think it's important to acknowledge our pastors and acknowledge that it's it's a heavy mantle that they carry.

And so it's our job as faith-believing Christians to make sure that we pray for them and make sure that the that they are led with encouragement as well.

Amen.

And so thank you for allowing me the opportunity to also share this morning.

I'm gonna talk about someone today that is a well-known character in the Bible who was an ordinary individual that God got to use to do mighty things, continuing on in our series, Everyday Saints.

And I when I was looking back and thinking about okay, who is it that God wants me to speak about?

Who is it that God wants me to use?

Who is an ordinary person in the Bible that I can share?

And I was, you know, let me just be honest here.

Everyone in the Bible was an ordinary person aside from Jesus Christ.

Everybody had just an ordinary, nothing special beginning, but yet God uses, and I think he's famous for this, he uses the unlikely person to do mighty things.

And that is the same for us today, amen.

We are just ordinary people.

I was talking with a friend this week, and um she have she's a counselor, and she says one of the things she tells her clients is that you know what, you're not you're not special.

And so, but it's true, and it's not to be like, you know, pressing down, but it's it's the reality of no, we aren't special.

He is, and he gets to use us to do mighty things, and when we just realign ourselves and remind ourselves that God, I'm just an ordinary person, and I want to be just a vessel, just like I am today.

I'm just a vessel for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so I'm gonna share about someone here, and I hope it encourages you.

And one thing I want to preface before I even get to listening to something, there's a ver there's a quote that often comes to mind, and it's just a reminder for me, and it's from one of my favorite books, Mirror Christianity, by C.

S.

Lewis.

And if you haven't read it, if you're new to the faith, if you need a book to read, this is a great book to just even get introduced with.

And so he's actually citing another author, and this is what we do as as you know, as individuals.

We're just authors authoring other citing other authors as well as the Bible, right?

And so this quote is people need to be reminded more often than they need to be taught.

So people need to be reminded more often than they need to be taught, meaning that there's not a lot of new information out there.

You know, the Bible has been here for thousands of years, and I think sometimes we hear about someone that we've read about maybe a thousand times before, but it's not a matter of it, this doesn't relate to me.

It's we we're individuals, as we're human beings, that I believe like we just need to be reminded daily.

I mean, if you got kids, you know how often you're reminding them daily.

And if we're children of God, you know how often He's probably reminding us daily of the goodness of Him and what He wants to speak to us.

So I hope to encourage you this morning that if it is something that you've heard maybe years uh many, many times, I pray today that your hearts are open to receive what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and to your hearts this morning.

May you only be open to receive it.

Amen.

Amen.

So let's dive in.

I'm gonna I'm gonna go through a couple of scripture readings this morning, then we're gonna pray and we're gonna go right into it.

And so we're gonna do a little bit of scripture reading this morning.

So if you haven't read your Bible yet this morning, I'm helping you out.

So, 1 Samuel 8, 6 to 22, I'm gonna paraphrase this context here in the beginning.

This is a time where Israel had been, they had been governed by judges over themselves.

After Moses and Joshua, they had judges set before Israel to be able to help kind of guide them, keep them in alignment.

And so, classic Israelites, they get tired of it, they're okay.

We've but you know, we've we've had judges over us for so many years, centuries even, but we're ready for something new.

In fact, we want to look like our neighbors next door, we want to be like all the other nations, give us a king.

And so, verse six, they start, they said, Give us a king to lead us.

This displeased Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him, Listen to all that the people are saying to you.

It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Samuel then goes on to warn the people, okay, you want a king, I've prayed to God.

This is what a king will do.

He's gonna claim your rights, he's gonna claim your possessions, he's gonna claim your sons and daughters, he's gonna want to go to war.

That means you're gonna have to go to war, he's gonna have every right over you.

Samuel's giving them a warning, and yet they say in verse 18, and and he goes, When the day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.

But the people refuse to listen to Samuel.

No, they said, We want a king over us, then we will be like all the other nations of the world, with the king to lead us, go out before us and fight our battles.

And think about that for just a moment.

What was God doing for them?

Wasn't He leading them, going out before them, fighting all their battles, and yet they grew complacent, and yet they still didn't they wanted something new.

And I and it was challenging for me just to even think about man, how often do we do that to God?

Trying to replace them for something he may have been all along in our lives doing.

And so in verse 22, verse 21, when Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord.

The Lord answered them, the infinite wisdom of God and his compassion as well as his understanding.

Listen to them and give him a king.

And God knows better.

We always know that, but this is God's merciful hand.

Sometimes he gives us what we want, but then in turn uses that as a lesson, right?

And so later in the book of 1 Samuel, Saul is anointed.

So Saul becomes the first king of Israel.

And I kind of want to preface, I'm gonna speak about Saul a little bit today, because I think it's interesting to note that this individual, this character, is actually he had a pretty strong start.

But if you think about Saul, if I just referenced Saul and just kind of said that if you know the story, you know that Saul was the corrupt king who had hunted David and was very jealous.

And so, but God essentially, through Saul's reign, rejects him and tells Samuel to go find a new king that he has chosen.

And so I'm gonna read through another.

I told you we're gonna do some scripture reading today.

1 Samuel 16, verse 1 to 13.

1 Samuel 16:1–13

I'm gonna kind of go through this quickly here this morning, and then we're gonna dive in.

The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul?

Since I have rejected him as king over Israel.

Fill your horn with oil and be on your way.

I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.

I have chosen one of his sons to be king.

Samuel said, How can I go?

Samuel he Saul will hear about it and he'll kill me.

The Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I'll show you what to do, and you are to anoint for me the one I indicate.

So he essentially he goes and he meets with Jesse and he comes in peace, because they're always concerned when a prophet comes to town.

And so he comes in peace and he's he essentially goes through the line of Jesse and he has eight sons, but he only introduces seven to them.

And the sons had a you know, the first son comes along, he's got a pretty impressive stature, and Samuel goes, surely this is the one that God has chosen.

And God ultimately says to Saul when they're going through it, he said, The Lord do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at, but people look at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

And so he goes on, he he still, you know, all the sons go through and still not what God had intended.

And Samuel's probably itching, scratching his head, going, What?

What's going on?

And so he asked Jesse, Do you have any more sons?

And Jesse goes, They're still the youngest.

He is tending the sheep, tending the sheep.

Saul said, Send for him, Samuel said, Send for him.

We will not sit down until he arrives.

So he sent for him and had him brought in.

He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

The Bible has a way of telling us that someone's handsome or beautiful.

And so, and then the Lord said, Rise and anoint him.

This is the one.

So Samuel took a horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

And thus David is introduced.

Let's pray.

God, I thank you so much for this time, Lord, that we have this morning to just engage with you, Lord.

Father, I thank you that you are the author of life.

Father, I thank you that you are the beginning and the end.

Lord, I thank you for this time that we have today.

God, I pray that our hearts would be open to receive what you are speaking to us individually, Lord.

And may it be a blessing that goes out beyond these doors as well.

Lord, we receive it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So I want to start out by asking you this.

Have you ever been known for something?

Think about it.

What are you known for?

Now, this can be surface level, this can be deep.

What are you known for?

Are you known for something?

You may know someone who's known for something.

I, for one, we're gonna get to know each other here this morning.

So for me, I'm someone who loves a good smell.

I love a good cologne, I love a good perfume, and I know that's not really something you kind of introduce yourself saying, hey, I'm Rebecca, I love a good smell.

I know borderline, why do we need to know it?

But it's important here, it is.

And so, and you know what I mean.

Um, and so, and I kind of want to give credit where credit is due.

I bought Malachi cologne a couple years ago.

I'm a loving wife.

Um, and so I and this cologne is something that he actually has become known for, and so um, so much so that if he decides to go to when he goes to work in the morning, he decides not to use the stairs, but goes up the elevator one floor.

Um, he spends some time in the elevator, and then you know he exits, and the same person who also decides to do the same thing will spend some time there, obviously, because you're waiting to go up, and they'll know Malk has been here.

So much so because they know his cologne.

He's just so known for his cologne, and it's a good thing, praise the Lord.

And so um, but it's interesting, and in that in fact, actually, he's been asked several times to other people, what cologne do you wear?

Actually, I want to buy it from my spouse.

And so I kind of was thinking if you're kind of familiar with the social um social media, I I realize that as a missed opportunity for an affiliate link, but it's okay.

I just blessed you.

And so another example of smells and kind of correlation with that is when I say, because I didn't grow up in Kelowna, I'm actually from Chilliwac.

And so when I say I'm from Chilliwac, often, often nine times out of ten, someone is saying, Oh, Chilliwac, the place that smells like?

Yeah, so you know what I'm saying.

And so it's a it's a connected to a place, it's connected to a memory.

So smells like they're they're important, and so just like they attach to memories, how many of you know that your character is also attached to your name?

Right?

Your character is attached to your name.

You say someone's name and you think of their character, you think of maybe something they're known for.

We talk about people in the past and we know their character because there's a bit more information about that.

So, how many of you know it's important?

And so that's why I want to talk about two kings today, because what's what's really interesting is these two kings they actually happen to reign for about 40 years.

So they both reign for almost the same amount of time, yet they're known for very different things.

And so I want to introduce Saul before we get into David.

And Saul himself, as I mentioned earlier, he was the first king of Israel.

So after centuries of being judged, the Israelites were tired of it and they wanted a king.

They wanted a king, and they wanted a king that they would approve of, essentially.

So 1 Samuel 9, chapters 9 to 11, we'll kind of give you a bit of context around Saul.

His actual character before he became king is actually built around in scripture, and so we get to know Saul a little bit, and um I'll just kind of go through who he was.

In the beginning, um, he came from a tribe of Benjamin, and the beginning of the story of his introduction is he was sent by his father to go find some lost donkeys.

And so he listens to his father and he takes a servant with him, and he's going out to find these donkeys because they were very important, and so um they find out on their journey, too, that there was a prophet that could potentially go and help them.

So they figured, hey, let's go, let's go together, let's go find this prophet.

He's gonna help us find our donkeys.

And so later on it says in verse 15, in 1 Samuel 9, verse 15 now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel.

1 Samuel 9:15

So even while Saul was out, God was already speaking to Samuel about Saul.

And so he said, About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin.

Anoint him ruler over my people Israel, he will deliver him from the hand, he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines.

I have looked on my people, for the cry has reached me.

When Samuel caught of sight of Saul, the Lord said to him, This is a man I spoke to you about.

He will govern my people.

And so Saul, again, who he was known by scripture, also tells us that he was handsome, tall, and impressive.

He was actually a foot taller than most people.

So in that case, he looked very impressive.

He was impressive.

He had the physical stature to uh to for the Israelites to look at and be like, Yeah, I can follow someone like that.

I don't know him, but I can follow someone like that.

He had the outward appearance.

He started humble, he was obedient when he was kind of when Samuel was starting to tell him about what the Lord's plan over his life, he actually questioned Samuel, Saul and Samuel, why they gotta be so similar.

But he questioned Samuel and he said, Why me?

Why are you talking to me?

I'm from the lowest tribe of Benjamin, why would you even be like discussing things like this with me?

And so it kind of shows that he did have a bit of a humility, essentially.

He he may have known that he was a great, like he was impressive and all, but he didn't necessarily go out and say, Yeah, that's right, I'm the man, I'm the man you're looking for.

And so, in the midst of that, too, um within the anointing of Saul, he actually goes out to battle and he takes the Israelites with him and he impressively wins battle early on, which is again, it sort of validated the kingship to the Israelites, where they looked at him and said, Yeah, I can follow a guy like that.

And so, again, they didn't know anything truly aside from his external, you know, appearances and maybe his initial humility.

So, again, you know, he started off impressive, he was humble, he was obedient, he had great military leadership, he was a guy who's fit to be king.

It's not as if the Lord just chose someone and said, Okay, this is how I'm gonna really teach them.

The Lord will put people in place to really show us what's really important, and that's gonna be the heart, right?

And so a few years into Saul's reign, he actually, you know, his character started to crack and he started to disobey, and compromises were let in, and insecurities decided to speak over, you know, the calling of his life.

He allowed the voices of the people to be louder than the voice of the Lord over his life.

In 1 Samuel 13, it goes over they were preparing to go into battle with the Philistines, who they had a long rivalry with.

And so when Samuel was instructing Saul essentially to say, Hey, you're to wait seven days.

I'm gonna come, we're gonna give a sacrifice before you go into battle.

This is something only a prophet or um a priest can do.

But Saul was growing impatient, and the people were probably nagging him and telling him, you know, Saul, what's going on?

You know, we really thought you were you were it.

And so he probably, you know, had that kind of insecurity and the pressures, the external pressures were coming into place, and so he decided that he was going to offer the sacrifice.

And so um in verse thir uh 11 to 14 of 1 Samuel 13, it goes, Samuel said, What have you done?

And Saul said, When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Mi'kmash, I said, Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I've not sought the favor of the Lord, so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly.

You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you, for then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

But now your kingdom shall not continue.

The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

And I kinda wanted to highlight there the Lord uh had said through Samuel that Saul's kingdom will not continue forever.

But get this, even though Saul he didn't die in that moment that he got rebuked, God still let him reign, and he reigned for 40 years.

But the what's important is his history, the lineage did not continue much longer after Saul left.

And so in this, God is saying, I've sought out a man after my own heart.

And this is God kind of coming in and taking ownership.

And what's interesting is with Saul is he he sort of instead of kind of taking the inward responsibility, he looks outwardly and he points it back to the people, saying, Well, it's the people's fault.

They they you know they were scattering, they were they were nagging, they were worrying.

So what else was I supposed to do?

And it kind of made me wonder where his confidence was placed in the beginning.

Was it over the people's voice of validation over his life, or was it God's calling on his life that he was confident in?

And I wonder the same for us today.

Sometimes we kind of find ourselves in a position where you're like, okay, I'm validated, people are saying I'm I can do this, people are saying, or you know, I've been given this position, I've been given this opportunity, but is it that that's gonna be your confidence or what you're gonna place your confidence in, or is it is is this what the Lord is telling me to do?

Is this what I'm meant to do?

Is this what God has said for me to do?

Whose voice are you essentially allowing to speak loudest in your life?

Because we see that, right?

We see that with Saul.

And so essentially, kind of moving forward, God gives him another opportunity to sort of prove himself by saying to him, Go and defeat the Amalekites.

So there's another word for him to go into.

And he was instructed to go defeat them and destroy them, leave nothing and no one behind.

And Saul goes and he obeys essentially, takes the instructions.

But what he did do is he also listened to the voice of the people again, and he kept the king and the best of the cattle, auction, oxen, and sheep alive.

And he figured, he figured this: I'll keep the best and I'll make a sacrifice to the Lord.

He figured rather than listening to the instructions of the Lord, that he can take something better and give God a sacrifice to kind of say, you know, no, no, no, this is what you want me to do.

Samuel comes up to him and he gives him a rebuke and he said, It is better to obey than to sacrifice.

And so within that church, what really happened was Saul tried to take out again matters into his own hands.

And sometimes, you know, we're given an instruction, we think, okay, I'll add a couple things to it, and I'll make it better, and I'll and I'll, you know, uh do something that is within our you know traditions to do, but God isn't asking for that, he just asks him to obey.

And so within that, this is where the Lord ultimately rejects Saul.

And Saul says, because you've rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.

And the other thing too about this, which is interesting to me again, is with that, imagine hearing that, and again, Saul has this opportunity to maybe make you know atonement for his sins or to repent and to fall before his knees and to have a heartfelt, you know, connection with the Lord.

But this is he actually what he does is he says to Saul Sa Samuel, okay, let's go come return with me.

Let's go pray, let's go pray and bow before God.

Let's go pray, let's go pray, come with me so I can bow before your God.

So it it's it's not even a I made a mistake here.

It's like, hey, I'm gonna use okay, so now the confidence of the people's voice over my calling is sort of what I've fallen into a trap for.

So now I'm gonna depend on someone else's faith in the Lord to try and make atonement for my own sin.

So you see, his in his dependence was rather on the people and also on someone else's faith.

And you see, it kind of leads me to my first point here is you may have the ability or the capability or the charisma to get you into the room or get you into the position that you're in.

But church, let me tell you this: it's your character that's gonna keep you there.

It's your character that's gonna keep you there.

And it's important to know where are we being rooted and what are we rooting ourselves into?

Who are we getting power to have the loudest voice over our life?

And and it could be even an innocent thing, like in a sense, like Saul thought he was doing right by asking Samuel, let me go and bow before your God.

So I'm gonna again, I need you to come with me to make it right with God.

Right?

And so, and in this, you know, the Lord obviously knows what he's doing and where he in where he's sort of leading the Israelites.

And so I think in in that aspect, when it comes to his king and his kingdom, right?

Like I said, he still reigned for 40 years, but imagine having 40 years to make right or wrong and still missing it.

And still missing it.

You see, his lineage did not continue after he died.

Shortly afterwards, yes, his son sort of took, became king, but that didn't last very long because God's word is final, God's word is true.

So even though man tried to make his lineage continue, it didn't, it didn't ultimately end up that way.

And so I want to introduce David and I kind of want to ask the question why do you think David's history was different?

And what made his history different?

Because if you know David, you know him in the Bible, we know him really well to know that he, yeah, he was a great man of God, but he also made many, many, many, many, many mistakes.

And so some some mistakes that were, you know, we we think, you know, are pretty detrimental here.

And so I want to kind of unpack David a little bit here at church, and I want to give us an opportunity today to sort of have a bit of a self-reflection time where we really engage with our hearts and we ask the Lord, you know, what is it that you're speaking to me today so that I can take and I can move forward so that what I'm gonna be known for, you know, will leave an impact, essentially, but not just an impact here, an impact in the kingdom of heaven.

Amen.

And so I let's go forward into 1 Samuel 16, the anointing of David.

Verse 1, it says, The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul since I've rejected him?

So now we know the story of Saul.

We know now, okay, Samuel is upset because he obviously was a part of the anointing of Saul, and the Lord is saying, Okay, no more, let's move forward.

Fill your horn with oil and be on your way.

I'm sending you to Jesse.

I have chosen.

And this is something, again, I want to highlight is I have chosen.

See, the thing with the Israelites is they wanted a king, so they chose essentially, you know, God allowed Saul to be anointed, so it was Saul had all the outward appearance and was validated in the eyes of the king, so God gave him a king for them, but this is now God saying, I'm giving a king for myself.

I'm coming in and I'm gonna take over, and I have chosen a king.

And so, like I said, Samuel's going through each of Jesse's son, and in this moment, Samuel is basically, he's assuming God is using the same kind of recommend, like requirements Israelites did when finding a king.

And so, but the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his height or his appearance, for I've rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at.

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

And so when David was introduced, he was immediately, immediately it says in scripture, right, like the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that moment on.

And what's interesting is we don't really know much about David prior to him being anointed just then and there.

But what we can look at is, you know, what was he doing prior to?

Um, it's believed that he was about 15 years old when he was anointed king, but he was 30 when he was actually crowned the king of Judah, and 37 and a half when he was actually the king of all Israel.

So from the time of his anointing to the time where he actually became king, there's quite a long, a long time in between that.

Uh and I would wager a lot of time for the Lord to also work and test you and give you opportunities to continue to trust in him and give you opportunities, I'm sure, to try and find a way out.

And so, but unlike Saul, there was a difference in David that helped him essentially get to where God had called him to go to.

And so I want to kind of highlight what it is to be a shepherd back in the day.

So, what we can know about David was because he was tending the sheep, he was likely a shepherd.

And as a shepherd, your job was to guide the flock to good pasture.

You were your job was to protect the flock, to fight off any enemies.

So he he scripture tells us he had to fight off bears, wolves, lions, and likely thieves as well.

Your job was to be alert, and you were spending a lot of time alone, and so and you needed to be responsible for keeping the flock together.

So talk about the perfect training ground for David.

And in this moment, I I, you know, reading through that, I was thinking about David and just thinking about, well, you know, when David being a shepherd and going through all this training ground, it's not like he knew he was going to be king.

It's not like he knew someone was gonna knock on his father's door and say, you know, the next king of Israel is here.

And I just want to kind of, and I want to say this morning, church, you might be in the perfect training ground, but you but you have no idea what you're training for.

And I don't think it's your job to know what you're training for.

Your job is just to be obedient and to trust what God is going to lead you into, is from him.

Amen.

And so I think take, you know, in this season of that you might find yourself in this morning, you might be in the perfect training ground for what is gonna come, maybe even 15 years from now, five years from now.

But don't just sit back and sit idle and think, hmm, I'm just gonna wait until someone taps me on the shoulder.

You gotta get ready for it now.

That opportunity may never present itself if you're not doing your part in getting ready.

And I want to say this with all loving, with lovingness, church.

It's not our job to just sit idle and just sway, okay, Lord, when are you gonna pick me?

But I'm doing absolutely nothing to train for it.

Someone's gonna pass you by and you're gonna get jealous.

But I'm sorry to say, but were you also doing your part?

Right?

Hello.

And so I don't, and maybe I'm stepping on some toes this morning, but church, I hope with all with um with all my heart that you're receiving this in love because God wants to use you.

If God can use an unlikely person like David, he can use you.

And like I said, David was not perfect.

We know that by his personal feelings, we know that by what we can read in the Bible, but what made him so different, and it's because his life was anchored in God.

And so, in that, even when he was being presented to Saul, because what happened was David was anointed and he kind of went on his way, and then Saul, the spirit of the Lord, left Saul, and you know, he became he became tormented essentially.

He basically said to God, I don't need you, you're bugging me, leave me alone.

And so there was a spirit of torment that came upon Saul, and he can only be calmed down by someone playing the harp or the lyre.

And so he used day God uses David for this because when he was actually recommended for the job, someone said, Oh, there's there's a man out there that could help you, his son of Jesse.

He's a man of valor, he's a man of war, he's prudent in speech, a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.

So he David already had also had the workings of being a man of recommendation.

And so it wasn't just because he was anointed, it's because he was also God, God was preparing him and he was being obedient to whatever it is that God was going to use him for and used him in a high place of influence.

And so, what's interesting to note for a moment, just again, between the two kings, is one was known to walk with God and that the Lord's presence was with him, and the other was known as someone who's dependent on someone's else, on someone else.

Either your dependence is in God or it's on people.

We have a natural inclination to go to one or the other.

And so, with that, God chooses for himself the next king, for himself, not for the people, a man who is known after the Lord's heart, who'd be mentioned more than a thousand times in the Bible.

David was mentioned more than Moses and Abraham.

He was mentioned, and God used his lineage to bring the Son of God into the world.

You see, Saul was supposed to be the original lineage essentially of King of Israel, and it stopped with him, and David comes into the picture, and David's lineage is what continues on, and it we know about.

And so, but and this is kind of what I want to hone in on David.

I'm not gonna speak necessarily about what happens to him after King, after he became king.

I want to talk about his beginning, and I want to give us the opportunity today, again, like I said, to go back into some self-reflection here this morning.

Because, church, I don't believe this is just a message for young, young ears, or so, or or maybe you've you know been a Christian for only a couple months, but I think this is a uh a message for even you who's been a Christian for decades.

Because just like Saul, if he had 40 years to make it right and God gave him opportunity, I'm sure.

Where might you find yourself here today in a place saying God's probably tapping on your shoulder for something?

Something.

He's probably grabbing at your attention.

And what are you going to be left known as, known for?

What's your character going to be known for?

And so David, David kind of unpacking him a little bit, he was an author of many, many songs uh in in the Psalms.

He wrote a lot of these Psalms, and a lot of them are attributed to times when he before he wasn't even a king, when he was after he was anointed, and when he was a king, and we kind of read on how he laments to the Lord, how he gives praises to God.

And so how and I was thinking about that, like how did he do all that?

Well, he simply is it.

I don't think it has to be complicated, it's because he spent time with God.

That's it.

He spent time with God, he devoted time with the Lord.

And I think so often sometimes, you know, I think we expect, I need I need something, you know.

Tell me a formula.

How can I make it better?

How can I make my life better?

How can I get to know God more?

How can I you spend time with him?

That's it.

You spend time with the Lord and you allow the Lord to minister you to you.

You open up your ears and your hearts to hear what the Lord is saying from heaven.

And I know sometimes maybe, and I believe the Lord is speaking through people as well, amen.

And so I think if you keep your hearts open and your ears open to hear what the Lord has to say, I think it's what's gonna change you from the inside out.

I think it's what it's gonna develop your character even more.

I think it's what's gonna help get you to where you need to go, where God wants to call you to.

And so David essentially he spent time with God.

He knew how to spend time with God.

He allowed the quiet, the awkward, quiet, the mundane to minister to him, and he used it as an opportunity.

And again, church, we know that David wasn't perfect, but this is such a powerful example of using a man who still was he was known to be a man after God's heart, after all of his personal failings and the betrayal and the battles and everything that he faced.

Yeah, if God can say, yet this man was a man after my own heart, what does that say to us today when we walk through our ordinary lives?

And so, with that, I want to encourage us this morning that as we as we move forward, as we as so as we go on with our lives, as we go on from here today, I I'm not here today to give you a complicated, this is how you you're supposed to change your life.

I really want to give us a moment to just say, God, my life, I want to be known for, I want to be known by you and known that I loved you more than I care about what the world knows about me and the impact I leave on the world.

I want God's opinion and God's voice on my life to be the loudest and most important more than what I did and who I touched and where I went, whatever it was.

I don't want, I don't want that to be what leads me.

I want to stand before God when I when my life when I die, basically, and I want him to say, Well down, my good and faithful servant, because I knew you.

And church, how do you, how will he know you if you don't spend time with him?

He knows us, yes, but how will he know you, right?

How will he know your heart if you don't spend time with him?

And I think in that, that's what's gonna make a difference for for your life, for your character.

It's what's gonna help you stay in the position that God is gonna give you because we're gonna go through a lot of difficult seasons of our life.

We already know that.

But it's it's where you're rooted and where your character is rooted and who your character is rooted in that will help you stay steady in that season, in those times.

I believe God wants to give you influence.

He certainly did when he used David, but I think it's a matter of making sure we realign ourselves with the fact that I serve the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

I don't serve the voice of man, I don't serve the fears of the world, I don't serve the insecurities of the world.

I am open to hear the word of God through whoever's mouth is coming from.

I'm open to hear what God has to say to me from a little person to a person who's lived a long life.

In fact, church, if I can just say to you, if you are retired, if you've lived long, I want to clean off of your wisdom, you're still important today.

What you have been through, what you have gone through, you are leaving a legacy of faith.

You are leaving a legacy of what it is to trust in God through all the seasons of our life.

And we need more of that.

We're living in a world where things become so instant, and if we're not instantly gratified, we're gonna leave it to the next thing, leave it to the next thing.

We need, we need you.

We need the prayers of those of old, we need the prayers of those of young.

We need each other to continue on walking this good faith in God, right?

And so I think if anything, you know, we're here and reminded here today that it's just about spending time with God.

He's gonna prepare you, he's gonna use you.

But are you doing your part in spending time with him?

Are you doing your part in allowing him to minister over you?

Are you doing your part to allow him to prune the things in your life that maybe he doesn't want to use or isn't isn't interested in?

Are you being obedient to the voice of God or are you leaning on someone else's faith?

Are you being obedient to the voice of God, or are you are you moving forward, but you still have your ears open to make sure that so-and-so liked what you had to say, or so-and-so likes what you are doing?

What matters to you?

What what is gonna make you last?

Right?

And so I think in this moment, I think even with David, you know, we see we see his life kind of unfold when he is anointed and he's sort of walking through a lot of different seasons afterwards where Saul basically, you know, he is used by Saul, you know, essentially, but and he braves bravely, take bravely takes on the Goliath and and takes him down with what he knew, what he practiced with, and what he was comfortable with from his time of tending the sheep.

He used a weapon he knew full well that God used him in that moment to become an influence with.

And I think in that, you know, again, David walks through a lot of different seasons and betrayal, and he's he's also given two opportunities, it says, to kill Saul.

But one thing that kind of struck me as important was he doesn't because he still knows that Saul is the Lord's anointed, and he wouldn't go against God.

Even though people probably wanted Saul to be done with, he doesn't go against God because he still knows Saul.

If Saul's still king, it means he's still anointed by God.

Who am I to go against God?

The Lord.

He knew it.

He knew his relationship with the Lord.

He knew that God is gonna, if God is calling him there, he's gonna see him through it.

And so, again, church, I think I'm gonna call up the worship team here.

And I just want to end with this what will you be known for?

I want to give us an opportunity here this morning morning just to think about that for a moment.

Have some self-reflection time here this moment and ask yourselves, what am I gonna be known for?

But most importantly, what is God gonna say about me?

What is He gonna say about me?

What is the King of Kings and the author of my life gonna say about me?

What walk of life am I gonna go through that God is gonna use me for?

What will the author of the life say about you?

Because that is more important than what anybody else will ever say about you after you're gone.

And so this morning, I also wanted to say this in Romans 3.23 it says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So it's good news for us this morning.

We're all in the same boat.

We've all fallen short of the glory of God, we all have sinned, but God gave us Jesus to bring the redemption into back into our stories, back into our lives.

Amen.

And that's who we live for, and that's who we should be known for.

We need to walk out boldly, not being afraid of confessing the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's who we want to be known for.

Not someone who shies away from an opportunity because they're afraid of what so-and-so is gonna say about them.

They're afraid about the position that they might lose because of their love for Jesus Christ.

But who is it known for?

Who are we living for, anyways?

Right?

And so, church, in this moment, in this time, I want to encourage us.

We're gonna go into a song here this morning, and I want this is just for you, just between you and the Lord.

For you and the Lord just to take a moment and ask God to search you and know you, to search you and know you and to know your innermost heart.

If this is an opportunity where you know you feel like you might need a cleansing, allow his Holy Spirit to wash over you, to cleanse you.

It's a beautiful thing when you can just let go, let go of feeling like you need a control, let go of the feelings of giving something else more power than it needs to have.

When you just let go and you allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you, because today I believe the call God is simply saying to us is He wants to spend time with you.

He wants to spend time with you, He wants to use the training ground that you are in today to help your future, to lead you to your future.

You're not done if you're still living and breathing, you are not done.

You are not done until he takes the final breath out of your body.

You are not done.

God wants to use you.

And I believe today it's just the call of the Lord where he's just wanting to spend time with you.

And so I want to give this opportunity today, church, where we can just close your eyes, open up your hearts to God, spend time with him, and ultimately give your heart because David was known to be a man after God's heart simply because he spends time with him.

It doesn't have to be complicated, church.

Where are you rooted?

What will you be known for?

What is your character gonna say about you?

So the band is gonna lead us this morning.

And if you feel bold and you and you want to stand and worship and give this moment to God, I just want to encourage us this morning.

It's not about your neighbor.

It's not about what you might look or you know what you, you know, what they're gonna, if they're uncomfortable, that's okay.

It's about your moment with you and the Lord.

It's you and God, just you and God.

That's what he wants to do this morning is spend time with you.

And God himself will be glorified.

Amen.

So let's take this opportunity, church.

Let's not let this moment pass us by.