David Series - 8
DAVID & HIS GOD
… based on 1 Samuel 13:14
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity, the privilege, of introducing keynote speakers at various events. I recognize that it’s important what I say. So, I tell of their accomplishments. I speak of the reason they deserve to be here, & why it’s worth our time to listen to what they have to say. I select some key things about them that will peak the audience’s interest & make them want to hear more.
Introductions give us bits of information about people which will arouse our curiosity. And in Scripture we’re provided with one of the greatest introductions ever given of any single individual.
Samuel, the Priest of Israel, is talking with Saul, the King of Israel.
Saul has continually been disobedient. He’s done things that God didn’t want him to do, & because of that Saul’s time as King is coming to an end.
And as Samuel is talking with Saul,
he gives a brief picture of who is going to replace him.
“Because you have disobeyed him,
the LORD will find the kind of man
he wants & make him ruler of his people.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
At this point, we don’t even know this person’s name.
We don’t know anything about him
except for one important fact …
“he’s the kind of man God wants.”
Now I use the “Good News Bible”
but listen to how some other translations put it.
The LORD has searched for a man after his own heart.
The LORD has appointed him as ruler of his people. (God’s Word Translation)
The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart,
& the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people. (New American Standard Bible)
The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart
& appointed him leader of his people. (New International Version)
The Lord has discovered the man he wants
& has already appointed him as king over his people. (The Living Bible)
The Lord has found a man who is pleasing to him in every way.
He has chosen him to rule over his people. (The New Life Version)
The LORD has already chosen the one he wants
to be the next leader of his people. (The Contemporary English Version)
Now you & I already know who Samuel is referring to.
He’s talking about David. We know it because we’ve been talking about David for the past 7 weeks. But imagine not knowing those things & hearing this for the 1st time … this is the 1st glimpse of David that we have in Scripture. We don’t know his name, we don’t know anything about him, we don’t know what he’s done … all we know is that “he’s the kind of man God wants”;
“a man after God’s own heart.” (The Acts 13:22)
That’s the type of thing, if we were reading this for the 1st time;
we’d want to keep going.
Who are we talking about?
And then the more pressing question …what was it
that caused this person to be described in that incredible way?
The reason that David’s referred to like that is that what God valued,
what was most important to God, what God holds as His highest & chief concern is also what David valued, what David was most concerned about, & what he prized higher than anything else. The things that are most important to the heart of God are also the things that are most important to the heart of David. That’s why God can look at him & say,
“He’s the kind of man I like, the man after my own heart.”
So, what are those things? What is the most important thing to God? Above everything else? …
Let me give you a moment to ponder that. …
What’s most important to God? …
The thing that’s most important to God is His own glory.
That’s the highest of all of His concerns. What is most important to God is that He receives the praise & worship & the honor & the glory that’s due to Him; that the worship that He deserves because He’s God comes His way.
That is most important to Him.
David understood that. David recognized that.
Most important in David’s mind & heart was the glory & praise of God. And if we’re going to be the kind of people God likes, people after His own heart, then God’s glory & praise must be our highest concern too.
In the book of Exodus, we read of God talking with Moses.
He’s setting up His covenant with the people of Israel,
who He’s chosen to be His nation. And He’s telling Moses what that means.
“I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earthamong any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the LORD, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. … Do not worship any other god, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals.” (Exodus 34:10,14)
The reason that God entered into a covenant relationship with Israel was to display His deeds, so that all the people of other nations would see the great & awesome things He did, & He would receive praise. …
And don’t even think about worshiping another god!
David writes …
“How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory!
How plainly it shows what he has done.” (The Psalm 19:1)
You & I were created to worship God. We weren’t created to receive God’s love; we were created to worship Him & praise Him. We weren’t created because God was lonely & needed fellowship. We were created to give Him praise. In fact, even the skies & heavens themselves proclaim God’s glory. And not just to us, they proclaim it to God Himself! The skies & heavens themselves declare to God how awesome & wonderful He is.
They’re worshiping God. All creation worships God. (The Psalms 66:4)
In Heaven God is constantly being praised.
“Day & night they never stop singing: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord,
God Almighty, who was, who is, & who is to come.’” (The Revelation 4:8)
And while that’s being sung, which is over & over & over & over & over & over,
never stopping; Scripture records that others are bowing down & saying:
“Our Lord & God! You are worthy to receive glory, honor, & power.
For you created all things, &
by your will they were given existence & life.” (The Revelation 4:11)
Every now & then someone will compliment me about something I’ve done.
They’ll say something nice to me. Now if you’re like me, sometimes that’s a little embarrassing … but God has no problem with praise at all. God is just fine with people constantly telling Him how great He is. Because what He is most interested in is … His own glory. David understood that …which is why he’s known as the kind of man God likes; a man after God’s own heart.
Now some people hear that & think,
“Well, that’s kind of selfish of God.
Isn’t He being conceited, a little self-centered?”
Well, it’s easy to think that way if we project on God things that are issues for us. And since most of our motives are self-centered …
then God’s motives also must be sinful.
Well, that’s just not the case at all.
You see … He is God, & I’m not, & you’re not.
And so, for God to be concerned about His own glory is right & true & the way it should be.
But for you & me to be concerned about our glory is warped & wrong. We can’t project our own wrongful motives onto God.
And we will always get in trouble when we do that.
John the baptizer recognized that.
“He must become more important while I become less important." (John 3:30)
If our main concern is about getting praise for ourselves … yes, that’s sin. If God is concerned about receiving praise …
it’s deserving, because He’s God.
Now there are a couple different kinds of worship that we can think about.
There’s the kind of worship in which our whole lives are to be lived out as acts of honor & praise to God.
When I work, & work hard, & do the best I can … that is worship.
When I take care of my home,
& I interact with my family in a God-honoring way … that’s an act of worship.
“Everything we do or say, then,
should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17)
But that’s not the kind of worship I want to focus on this morning.
The kind of worship that I want us to look at is when we set aside, when we consciously choose to take time & reflect back to God, to respond to God … who He is, & His character, & His nature, & His person, & the work He has done, & we tell Him how great He is. It’s when we consciously choose to praise Him because He alone is worthy of it.
Worship is expressing reverence & adoration for God. And that’s the kind of worship I want us to think about this morning. And we’re going to look at some examples from the life of David, & see how he worshipped, & how that made him the kind of man God likes, a man after God’s own heart.
Let me be honest,
most of the time David is kind of hard for me to relate to.
He’s a warrior king. He’s an incredible man of God. He’s an accomplished musician. (He was chosen to be the personal musician to the King, so he must have been pretty talented.) (1 Samuel 16:23)
David was a poet. He wrote many of The Psalms. And when we look at him in the area of worship we realize that he has a lot going for him. But my point is, we’re not here to relate to David.
We’re trying to emulate the heart of David.
We’re trying to copy the attitude of David.
When David is referred to in Scripture as the kind of man God likes,
a man after God’s own heart, it was still a long time before he would become King. In fact, it would be a long time before he became accomplished at doing anything. His own father didn’t even choose him to be in the “future king” lineup. (1 Samuel 16:11) So nobody was looking at David thinking about what an incredible person he was.
(By the way, this should be a lesson for all of us.)
But God saw into his heart & into his mind & said, “There is the kind of man I like.” So, we want to emulate his heart & his attitude.
We want to mirror what was going on inside of him.
So, like David, we want to worship in humility.
Now I’ve discovered that some people can’t give God the worship & the praise that He’s deserving of because they have a hard time looking past themselves. But that wasn’t a problem for David.
I think of the time when King David reunited Israel.
He set up a camp in Jerusalem, & brought the Covenant Box,
(the Ark of the Covenant), back to the city.
“After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone 6 steps, David had them stop while he offered the LORD a sacrifice of a bull & a fattened calf.
David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the LORD.
And so he & all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy & the sound of trumpets.
“As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked out of the window & saw King David dancing & jumping around in the sacred dance, & she was disgusted with him.” (2 Samuel 6:13-16)
Michal was David’s wife, & she’s watching him give jubilant,
expressive worship to God. Scripture reports that he’s wearing a linen ephod, & that’s going to be important in understanding this story. Michal watches & she was utterly disgusted with him.
Or as the NIV puts it, “she despised him in her heart.”
Every now & then I do something or say something where Kathy gives me “a look.” (You men know the kind of look I’m talking about.) And I’ve done a few things over the years that I’m sure have embarrassed my wife … hopefully, most of the time unknowingly.
But I think it's safe to say that she has never “despised me in her heart,” or been “utterly disgusted” with me. That’s pretty harsh language.
David is worshipping. He’s dancing before the Lord.
He is celebrating & praising God, & this totally upsets his wife, Michal.
“When David went home to greet his family,
Michal came out to meet him. ‘The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!’ she said.
‘He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!’
“David answered, ‘I was dancing to honor the LORD, who chose me instead of your father … to be the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honor the LORD, & will disgrace myself even more.’” (2 Samuel 6:20-22)
What’s going on here? Is Michal accusing David of disrobing
before some servant girls? Is David dancing publicly in his underwear?
Well, if that was the case, we should all be on Michal’s side,
but that’s not what’s going on. This same incident is reported in 1 Chronicles, which provides some additional information.
“David was wearing a robe made of the finest linen …
David also wore a linen ephod.” (1 Chronicles 15:27)
The ephod was a garment worn around the waist by the High Priest,
which David is now wearing, probably because what they’re doing is centered around the Covenant Box, where the priests led worship.
So apparently, David has taken off what he normally wore as a King, his royal vestments, & he’s now wearing what a priest would wear to worship God. And Michal, who’s in a unique position because she was the daughter of the King & now is the wife of the King … her status is bothered by that. She thinks David has lowered himself. She’s not upset about what David is wearing … she disgusted about what he’s not wearing.
But this isn’t about what Michal’s thinking;
it's about what David is doing.
He’s saying, “I will celebrate before the Lord. And you know what, if that means that I’ll be humiliated … then that’s what’s going to happen. Because it’s not about me, it's about God.” And when we gather together for worship on Sunday mornings that should be the prevailing thought for each of us …
“it’s not about me … it's about God.”
We’re here on Sunday mornings to worship Him.
This is the time, this is the place, & our primary focus should be on Almighty God. We can’t worry about what the people around us might think or say. So, I wonder, are there times, are there ways that we’ve felt like giving God praise, but we held back because we were concerned about what the people around us might think? What would they do if I clapped?
If I raised my hands? If I said, “Amen!”?
A # of years ago now, at another Church I served,
we were having Communion, & just before we celebrated the Sacrament,
we sang the spiritual, “Let Us Break Bread Together.” You know the words:
“Let us break bread together on our knees.
Let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.”
Well, the reality of what I was singing hit me, & I thought I need to be on my knees. But then I thought, here I am, up on a platform, in front of everyone, what will the congregation think? But then I thought, who cares what they think, this is between me & God. But then I thought, this will be a distraction & cause them to focus on me rather than the song. And this went back & forth,
& by the time I determined to “fall on my knees” the spiritual was over.
Here’s the reality.
You & I are here, 1st & foremost, to worship God.
He is our primary audience.
Actually, He should be our only audience.
I’ve used this illustration before. Our sanctuaries present a false image of what is supposed to take place here. It reminds us of the Music Center. The Pastor, (or musicians/performers), seem to be on stage.
The congregation appears to be the audience.
And I guess God is off in the wings prompting the Pastor, on what to say.
The reality is … God is the audience, & you are the performers/worshippers, & it is my job & Debbie’s job to assist you in your worship.
That’s why you’re here. And God is watching you as you worship Him. David understood that completely.
And then we want to … worship in repentance. We know that David was a King, & David killed the giant, & we’ve learned that David was the kind of man that God liked. And all those things are true. But this series has also shown us that there was some other stuff in David’s life.
David made some grave mistakes.
But he repented. He asked for forgiveness.
And in doing that … he worshipped God.
A few weeks ago, we talked about David’s affair with Bathsheba.
She became pregnant, & David had her husband killed. Bad stuff. But then God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, “you’ve sinned in a big way.”
And David comes to his senses & replies, “you’re right, I’ve sinned.”
(The 51st Psalm is written by David in response to that.
Listen to a repentant heart.)
“Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins!
Wash away all my evil & make me clean from my sin!
I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins.
I have sinned against you – only against you – & done what you consider evil. …
Close your eyes to my sins & wipe out all my evil.
Create a pure heart in me, O God, & put a new & loyal spirit in me.
Do not banish me from your presence;
do not take your holy spirit away from me.
Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation,
& make me willing to obey you. …
Spare my life, O God, & save me, & I will gladly proclaim your righteousness.
Help me to speak, Lord, & I will praise you.” (The Psalms 511-4,9-12, 14-15)
It’s been my experience over the years, as I’ve talked to people, there are those who feel unworthy to come to God because of some bad stuff that they once did. So, repentance must be a part of our worship. Don’t allow some unrepented sin to linger in the back of your mind that’s preventing you from worshipping.
Be like David …
“My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God;
you will not reject a humble & repentant heart.” (The Psalms 51:17)
Our repentance can’t be just a casual …
“ops, I sinned, sorry ‘bout that.”
And honestly, this is something I struggle with.
Much of the time I take God’s grace & forgiveness for granted.
My sins don’t bother me the way they should. But forgiveness is a process. In fact, I believe that even our very forgiveness is not about us. Our very forgiveness is about God & His glory.
He proclaims …
“I am the God who forgives your sins, & I do this because of who I am.
I will not hold your sins against you.” (Isaiah 43:25)
It’s awesome that God forgives us.
It’s awesome that God will not hold our sins against us. And it’s because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we don’t get what we deserve. I deserve judgment … but because of the work of Christ I’m not going to get what I deserve. (Romans 6:23)
If we’re going to be the kind of people that God likes,
if we’re going to be a people after God’s own heart, we must prize as our highest value the worship & praise of God. Worship in repentance.
Finally, we need to … worship in tragedy.
Now I had a hard time putting down the word “tragedy” for this point. I thought about saying, “worship in difficulties. Worship in hard times.”
But it’s far deeper than that. The reality is that all of us will go through times where we will need to worship God in the midst of utter despair … & that will define the depth of our faith.
David was able to do that. Again, we’re back to the whole situation with Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant. And as Nathan comes & confronts David, he gives him a glimpse of what’s going to happen.
“‘I have sinned against the LORD,’ David said.
“Nathan replied, ‘The LORD forgives you; you will not die. But because you have shown such contempt for the LORD in doing this, your child will die.’
Then Nathan went home.
“The LORD caused the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David
to become very sick.
David prayed to God that the child would get well.
He refused to eat anything, & every night he went into his room
& spent the night lying on the floor.” (2 Samuel 12:13-16)
David really loved this child. And he was heartfelt in his prayers.
He’s fasting. He’s not sleeping.
“A week later the child died, & David’s officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, ‘While the child was living, David wouldn’t answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!’
“When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized
that the child had died. So he asked them, ‘Is the child dead?’
“‘Yes, he is,’ they answered.
“David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair,
& changed his clothes. Then he went & worshiped in the house of the LORD.” (2 Samuel 12:18-20)
I confess, I don’t remember doing that when any of my loved ones passed. But here’s David, in the midst of this tragic situation, worshipping God!
For some people this morning,
the sun is shining & things are terrific … it’s time to worship God.
But for others, they’re in the middle of a road marked with pain & suffering … but it’s still time to worship God.
I think that’s a good place for us to stop & ponder.
Are we able to worship God in the midst of tragedy?
That may be an indication of the depth of our faith.
MARANA THA
