Good morning family. Thank God we can meet again this week. Thank God that we have the freedom to share our faith here in person and through the internet. It blesses my heart that I can do this, but I keep in my mind always that God gets the glory and that I am responsible for everything I teach. We have been looking at this title Overcoming Situations That Might Come for a couple of weeks. The first week we looked at some of the things that Moses went through and compared it to what we might face in our life. Last week we looked at the passage found in Mark 4: 35-41 about Jesus rebuking the storm that He and his disciples were going through and again comparing those things with our lives and how Jesus spoke to the storms as we should. This week I want to look into some of the storms that King David went through and how he overcame some of those storms. You know... the man who God said was after His heart? Before we start, does anyone want to briefly share about some of the storms that you might have gone through and how God worked through them? I had a friend share something this week that took me by complete surprise. This person went on about how things were had gotten so bad that to ease the pain, cutting was the solution. I have gone through some horrible things in my life, but I never thought of cutting my arm, or any other part of my body to ease the pain. This isn’t to make fun of those who are reading this that have or still are doing this act. I hear about this often and I just want to hug them and let them know that there is a God that will break this bondage. Ease the pain they are going through. I can’t imagine the pain someone could have to cause more pain. Prayer. Please turn to 1st Samuel 16. What I want to point out in this chapter is this. While I say these things, I want you to be praying to have God do the same for you and be listening to God (and He will if you listen and stay in obedience). Whom God appoints, He anoints, and whom He anoints is truly qualified for service. Amen? From what you know of David, was he anointed? Was he qualified? I think he was, though, like we often do, he made mistakes. Great man of God, but made some choices that were not good. David means “beloved” for he was a type of the Beloved Son. As David was called from the place of obscurity and contempt, David was first anointed by God and later by the people. 1Sa 16:1-7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. (2) And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. (3) And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. (4) And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? (5) And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. (6) And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him. (7) But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. So let’s backtrack a bit. If we were to go back and look at Saul’s life, we would find that though he was a talented king, he stopped obeying God early on. He became selfish and evil. We just read that God told the prophet Samuel he would remove Saul from being the first king of Israel and replace him with a man after his own heart. And we all know because of what the Bible says, and a very common statement- that David was this man after God’s heart. Amen? When you get a chance on your own, read first Samuel chapters 13, 14 and 15, just so you know what was going on. Saul was King at this time but made many stupid mistakes. Saul’s first mistake was that he was very successful and the successes went to his head. As even with us today, humility gave place to pride. He offered sacrifices which was only for the priesthood at that time to do. Then he had a silly order for the Army to abstain from food, and you’ll find that in chapter 14. You will also see where he tried to have his son Jonathan and his armor bearer foolishly killed, and that is when Saul decided to be a fool to the people. When we turn to chapter 15, we find that Saul's final mistake is that he deliberately disobeyed God because of this final act. You can read that on your own. Saul was told, "Because you have rejected God, God has rejected you from being king." Let’s get back to chapter 16. We read that David was anointed. But that anointing could not have been done openly, because at that time Saul would definitely have killed David. And I think the whole purpose was to give David a chance to train himself for the office that he would take and we see in verse 13, that God took David into his care. I love how we can go to Scripture and find that when God had a plan, that plan was carried out. So many times when we look at the situations that are going on throughout the Bible we might think it is impossible. Yet we know that when God speaks He speaks in faith and with God all things are possible and what He says is done. Praise the Lord!!! We go back to verse two and we see where Samuel starts questioning God. Samuel says, "How can I go? Saul would hear then he would kill me." God tells Samuel to "Take a heifer with thee and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.'" 1Sa 16:4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 1Sa 16:5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. Notice in verse four it said that the elders trembled at his coming. I think what was happening is, when the elders saw Jesse...and Jesse being an older man, is.... I’m not sure what the dress was back then, but maybe he was wearing clothing that a prophet would have worn back then, but they were afraid. They probably thought he was bringing some kind of word from God of judgment for their sins. They asked Samuel, "Do you come in peace?" Now we get to where Samuel meets Jesse’s sons. Eliab, who was Jesse’s first son, was the one that Samuel thought that God would choose to be king. Then we find in verse seven, but the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature because I have refused him: for the Lord see if not as man see if; for man look at on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. I wonder how often we do that. How many times do we see somebody who might be applying for a job, or even somebody who signed up for a sport in school when we look at their outward appearance? I think this happens often. In fact too often. How many times in churches does a family come in and they might not be dressed with suits and ties all neatly pressed or a young lady wearing a nice pretty dress with a pretty bow in their hair and they are automatically shunned? I’ve seen it happen, so I know it does. How many times ones come into the church who might not have had a bath for weeks or maybe months and nobody wants anything to do with them? Too often. Yet here we are supposed to have the compassion of Christ. The mirrored image of Christ, who could reach out and put His hands on a leper whose skin was oozing, stinking and rotting and was highly contagious. Oh but Brother Jim, Jesus was God in flesh. Amen!! Yes He was, Praise the Lord. Halleluiah!! And your point? Keep your place in 1st Samuel, but turn to John 14 and 11. Jesus said in John 14:11-13 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. (12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. (13) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Mark 16:16-18 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. (17) And these signs shall accompany them that believe: body is, Who? In my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Yet we are afraid to get near them? Where is our faith? Church, am I painting a picture? Now, this might not be happening in the church you belong to within the congregation that you belong to, but I guarantee you it is in many. Let's look at David's appearance. David was a short man and he had a fair complexion. He was said to have been handsome. He had immense physical strength and a great personal attractiveness. He was a man of war. Prudent in speech, very brave, musical and said to be religious. That word religious really bothers me. We also find in chapter 16 that his fame as a musician was noticed by King Saul. We also find that King Saul at the time didn’t realize that David had been anointed as his successor even before David became Saul’s armor bearer. Can we see how God was working within David’s life? Keeping Him close to King Saul and all the higher-ups? This was all part of God’s way of training David will for his responsibilities when he would become King. Let’s turn to chapter 17 in first Samuel. Friends, what I want to show here is that David did put his trust in God. Many times throughout the Old Testament you’ll find there were many battles with the Philistines. And we will also find that after many years David was not just a child. His appearance changed and Saul didn’t even recognize him. And here we are at Socoh we had the Philistines gathered to battle. Saul and his men of Israel at Elah. Here comes Goliath. We all know the story, yes? Here comes this 6’9" giant with heavy armor protecting almost every part of him. And Goliath yells to (Brother Jim’s translation) God’s chosen people, "Send your best warrior to fight with me one on one. If he can kill big old me, haha. The Philistines will be your servants. Now we know that can’t happen because I am the biggest badest dude around. Now, if I kill your best warrior and you know I will, then you will serve us. So I guess, you can try to kill me, but for us bad guys, it’s a win, win situation." Church, catch this. I added my words there for a reason. Israel has and always will be God’s chosen people. Throughout the Bible that has been. Amen? But what do we see in verse 11? And Saul and all of Israel heard those words of Goliath, and they were afraid. My Bible tells me that fear does not come from God. What about yours? Fear is a spirit that comes from that crooked, legged, slimy, slithering Satan. Verse 17. Here we find Jesse, David’s dad sends David to this place where the Israelites and Philistines have been feuding for 40 days, to give his brothers a half-bushel of this roasted grain and ten loaves of bread. Verse 18 He also sent ten cheeses to the commanding officer and told David to find out how his brothers were doing an to bring back some kind of evidence that they were well. Skip down to verse 25. I love this and it shows where David’s heart really was. And here we find the Israelites scared because it is seen Goliath is listening to his threats and they’ve heard King Saul’s promises that the one who kills this giant would receive a giant reward, will be promised Saul’s daughter in marriage, and also that his father’s family would not have to pay taxes. But I love this next verse. David asked the men who were near, "What happens with a man who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace?" Then David gets even bolder and he says after all who is this heathen Philistine to defy the Army of the Living God. Church do we catch this? We have heard hardly nothing from David and right here he’s talking about the true living God. Then go a little further. Now we see his brother putting him down, then we have the soldiers telling king Saul what David had said, then David and Saul meet. Catch this verse 32 David says to the King no one should be afraid of this Philistine. I will go and fight him. And here we go with the stature again. Saul says you’re just a boy. This giant has been a soldier all his life. Then David tells Saul his testimonies about rescuing lambs that have been taken away by bears and lions and how he kills these animals and rescues the lamb. Here is where David’s faith is. David tells Saul, "I have killed lions and bears and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine who has defiled the Army of the living God." Catch this church. Tell me you can’t see were David’s heart is. Let’s see where his faith is. The Lord has saved me from lions and bears and he will save me from this Philistine. So when Saul agrees to this he gives David his own armor and bronze helmet to wear. David will soon, unknowingly to Saul, takeover his position as king. Look what happens. David is used to carrying all this weight. He’s a shepherd boy. This next part really shows what God does when you put your trust in Him. David strips off all this heavy metal and picks up what he is used to, his shepherd stick and five smooth stones and goes out to meet this giant. Now let’s look at Goliath’s response. When Goliath gets close enough to see David, the king James says that he disdained him for he was but a youth, and ruddy and of a fair countenance. The good news Bible says and when he got a good look at David he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good looking boy. We read earlier that when Samuel went to see Jesse to find the one that God would make king, we know that God had already anointed David. This reminds me of when I used to tease a pastor a few years back, I knew I would always hear, "Don’t mess with God’s anointed." Now I want you to think about these next verses. Some of you who are out there sharing God’s word, whether it be in school, work, home, or even out in your community, have any of you gotten a tongue lashing from those who don’t believe in Jesus? 1Samuel 17:43-46 The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to attack me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. (44) “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.” (45) David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. (46) Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God. Again my friends, where is David putting his faith? Friends, this is where you and I need to be. When these storms come, whatever they may be, we have God’s word that tells us what we need to believe. The Bible tells us what we need to put our faith in during the good times and during the bad. And what about praising God? What we read especially from the book of Psalms, David praised God all the time. A man after God’s own heart. And that is what is so great about reading about this great man. Trials? Did David have trials? You bet he did. And we will look into some of those trials next week. But we will also look at how God’s anointed king overcame those trials because of his trust in God. 1Samuel 17:47 Then everyone gathered here will know that the LORD can save without sword or spear, because the LORD determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us. What faith this David has. Here this young man, this young shepherd, up against this fierce giant. What faith. What trust in an all-knowing, all-powerful, invisible God. We all know that Goliath was hit in the head with one small stone and fell to the ground where David beheaded him. Brothers and sisters, the battle is God’s battle. Amen? If our confidence is purely in the power of God, rather than in any armor or sufficiency of our own, we may be certain the world’s utmost might cannot withstand. Friends, God resists the proud and pours contempt upon those who bid defiance to His people, humiliating them by a defeat with the meanest of instruments. David was annointed to be king and then this soon to be king defeats this boastful champion whom he overcomes in the name of God. When Jesus comes as Lord of Hosts, the anti-Christ will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Amen? The day of the Lord. So I ask you my friends, what will you do when you face that giant? Or like last week, when those storms come. Will you hide? We lay down and the swept away by the storm, or crushed by the giant? Or will you stand in faith in the all powerful God who loves you and cares for you and who will protect you? Storms are going to come. There will be Giants that we will face.
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