The Heart That Responds to God’s Call
The Original Game of Thrones

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Alright, good morning! We’re in part two of our series entitled, “The Original Game of Thrones.” Today will be in the part of 1 Samuel, beginning with chapter 16. Last Spring, we went through an eight-week series, going through the first 15 chapters. It’s like you’ve been binging on a netflix series; you’ve been waiting all year for part two and here it is.

Last year, it was largely about a prophet, named Samuel and a man named Saul, who became the first king of Israel. This year, it will also be about two people except the two people change. It will be more about Saul, whom God rejected as king, and David, who was a man after His own heart.

Beginning with today’s message, we’ll be hearing more and more about David. The theme of this series is taken from 1 Samuel 8:7. It reads like this,1 Samuel 8:7 (ESV) “And the Lord said to Samuel, ”Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

The theme of this story is that Israel rejected God as their king. This has been the problem, all along, with humanity; we have rejected God as the Lord, as the King of our lives. The title of this series, obviously, is a nod towards the fantasy novels and tv series by the same name. However, the “original game of thrones” really began with Adam and Eve because they rejected God as being on the throne of their hearts and put themselves on the throne. They decided to be the Lord of their own lives. Since then, humanity has continually struggled in what might be called a “game of thrones” with God saying, You know, I think I can do it better my way than God’s way.

As we begin this series, I think it might be a good thing to consider where we are in chronological history. Let me pop up a little chart for you. You know, I can’t resist a chart. Here it comes:

1350 BC 1294 BC 1090 BC 1050 BC 1041 BC 1026 BC Age of Judges begins with Othniel Ruth marries into Naomi’s family Birth of Samuel Age of Kings begins with Saul Birth of David Samuel anoints David

The Book of Judges probably took place around 1350 BC, so that’s 1350 years before Christ, followed by the Book of Ruth, which took place during the time of the Judges. Ruth precedes the book of First Samuel. The birth of Samuel was around 1090 BC. The age of Kings begins with Saul around 1050 BC. Now, we’re getting up to this time of the 1040’s; about 1041 BC is when David is born. About 1026 BC would be, perhaps, the time of chapter 16 that we’re going to be in this morning. This chart gives you an idea of, when you’re reading the book of Ruth, you can understand that it’s kind of taking place during the time of the judges. And then as you get into 1 Samuel, you’re transitioning from the time of the judges to the time of the kings. If you’re looking at the timeline there, then we recognize this is like 3000 years ago.

We are here in 1 Samuel, chapter 16; as we look at the timeline, you might also notice that David’s probably around 14 or 15 years old, during the events that we will be describing in 1 Samuel, l chapter 16.

I am going back in chapters 13, 14 and 15 and doing a “recap” of events. I’m doing the “recap” now, then we’ll get into the sermon. Here’s what’s been going on in the previous chapters 13, 14 and 15; in each chapter, Saul fails God miserably three times in a row. One time, in each chapter, to the point that the last verse that we read in chapter 15 leads us into chapter 16. Here is what we read in 1 Samuel 15:35 ESV, “And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”

Here is Saul; he’s the first king of Israel, but God regrets that he made him king because Saul has not obeyed God. This sets us up for Chapter 16; there is a new beginning. A new thing is about to happen. We see what God is looking for here because God had told Samuel, several chapters ago, to say to Saul, in 1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV), “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.” God has already told Saul this. God has rejected him because he doesn’t have a heart for Him. Saul had a heart for himself; he didn’t have a heart for God. God is looking for a man that has a heart for Him. He’s already warned us all about that and Saul didn’t listen.

This sets us up for where we’re starting today. I want to ask you a question before we get started. Do you have a heart for God? Do you have a heart that yearns to know Him and to please Him in all areas of your life? Do you have a heart for God or do you have a heart for something or someone else? Do you have a heart that’s “watered down and lukewarm?” Yeah, I want God, but I really want to hang on to this part of my life or that part of my life.

Here’s what I want to say to you: God still looks for men and women who have a heart for Him. Those are the people that He calls, people that would have a heart for Him.

Our topic today is, “How to respond to God’s call.” Because we have a rather long reading in Chapter 16, we’ll take it in three portions. Let’s take the first five verses and then we’ll talk about it.

1 Samuel 16:1-5 (ESV) 1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.”This is God’s word. Amen.

Today, we’re looking at how Samuel anointed a man after God’s own heart and how we can be called in the same way. God is still looking for men and women like that. As we look today, we’re looking for three ways that we can respond to God’s call.

How to respond to God’s call: 1. Go where He sends.

Here’s the first way that we can respond to God’s calling. The first way that we can respond is to go where He sends. It makes me want to sing a VBS song right now, Children, go where I send you… Go where He sends.

In the first five verses, the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king. Notice how the passage begins with this, ”The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him…”

I want to ask you a question. Are you still living in the past? Are you still shamed and grieving over some mistake or some place of failing in your life? Perhaps God wants to say to you today, It’s time to get going again. Stop lingering back there. Dial that in as God would speak to you. God says to Samuel, You need to stop grieving now, I’ve rejected Saul. You see, Samuel really loved Saul. He knew Saul back when he was still hunting for his father’s donkeys. He knew Saul back whenever he had first been anointed king; when he tried to announce him to the people he hid among the baggage. Samuel knew Saul when he was a nobody. Now, Saul thinks he’s somebody and he thinks he’s somebody that doesn’t need God. He can do it his own way; it still breaks Samuels heart.

Is there something like that in your story? Is there someone or somebody that you’re still grieving over?

Here’s what God is saying to Samuel, It’s time to move on. You see, Saul had struck out three times in three chapters. In chapter 13, he gave an unlawful sacrifice. He wasn’t a priest. He was supposed to wait for Samuel, but he got in a hurry, with that “A type” personality, and he brought a sacrifice he shouldn’t have brought. In chapter 14, he made a stupid vow and told all of his men they couldn’t eat until they won the battle. As a result, he almost lost the battle and almost lost his son, Jonathan. In chapter 15, he was disobedient and and spared those that were devoted to destruction after God had told him to deal with the Amalekites by devoting all to destruction. Three times in a row, Saul disobeyed God and God finally said, I need a new king, I need somebody with a heart for me. So, He says to Samuel, “… fill your horn with oil.” What kind of horn are we talking about here? Well, it’s probably a goat horn or something like that. Maybe, it’s a cow’s horn; it’s made for carrying liquid. It’s already hollow. You close both ends, put a leather strap on each end, put a leather cover on the top, fill it with olive oil and hang it around your neck.You’re ready to go. He says, Do this, take your horn and take a heifer and go up to Bethlehem. Samuel obeys; Samuel gets there and he takes his horn of anointing oil.

The Lord said to Samuel, I want you to go to Bethlehem. This is the first time we’ve heard about Bethlehem since the book of Ruth. That little town outside the city of Jerusalem. A little “podunk” town, kind of like Wilson, North Carolina, close to Raleigh, but not Raleigh. Every time somebody, from where I grew up in Virginia, asks where I live, I tell them Wilson. Then, they ask, Where is that? I reply that It’s about an hour east of Raleigh. That’s how people grew up in Bethlehem. Where is that? It’s just a little bit north of Jerusalem.

That’s where the Lord sent Samuel. He went up from the place he lived, in Ramah, and he headed up to Bethlehem. He went to see a man named Jesse. We haven’t heard this name since the book of Ruth,either. Right there at the end of Ruth, we do hear about this fellow named Jesse. It says in Ruth 4:21-22 (ESV) “Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.” Now, why is this important? It means that Ruth, who married Boaz, is the great grandmother of David. This is why the book of Ruth is in the Bible, so we can see where David came from and see his great spiritual lineage from the tribe of Judah. He grew up and was born in Bethlehem to this clan, this line.

Here is Samuel, going up to Bethlehem; as soon as he leaves, King Saul’s spies are going to see Him leaving. They are waiting to see who he is going to anoint as Saul’s replacement. If goes up there and anoints somebody, he’s going to be killed; Samuel has a realistic problem. How can I go? The king will kill me. And so, the Lord gives him advice. The Lord tells him to take a horn and take a heifer, a young cow, up there with you and lead her up there to the place of Bethlehem . When Samuel gets there, he is to tell them that he has come to sacrifice to the Lord; just leave out the part about how you’re going to be anointing a king while you’re there.

Samuel does what God tells him to do. When he gets up to Bethlehem, the fact that Samuel is even there scares the elders of Bethlehem because important people don’t just, on purpose, come to Bethlehem. They might pass through Bethlehem, but they don’t come there as their destination. And so, they say to Samuel, in verse 4, “Do you come peaceably?” They come up trembling. This is the Samuel who calls fire down from Heaven and who calls storms. He’s never come here before. “Do you come peaceably?” He says, in verse 5, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Consecrate yourselves, get yourselves cleaned up and ready to come before the Lord.

Samuel calls for Jesse and he consecrates him and his sons. This is where we are in the story. Now, let’s apply it; let’s think about this part of the story and how we can apply it to ourselves.

I have a couple of thoughts. (1) When God sends Samuel, he doesn’t tell him exactly who he’s going to anoint. In fact, he says in verse three, “I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s the thing about God that makes me a nervous wreck. He will say, Gary, go over here, and I’ll say, Why do you want to go over there? Then, He says, I’ll tell you when you get there. I don’t particularly like that part. I want to know, before I get there, what I’m going to be doing when I get there. I know some of you have more faith than I do, but I still struggle with that. God is still working on me.

Samuel had gotten to the place where he knew God would tell him what to do when he got there. He was ready; God send me, I’m going. In verse four, Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. He didn’t know exactly who he was going to be anointing, but he took his horn of oil and his heifer and he was ready to go. He figured God would tell him what to do when he got there. I’m growing at that too and I hope you are.

Here’s what the prophet Isaiah said when he heard the Lord calling for someone to go, it says in Isaiah 6:8 (ESV), 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Have you done that yet? Well, I don’t know where He’s going to send me. He might send me somewhere that makes me uncomfortable. Well, I guarantee you He is going to send you somewhere where you’re going to be uncomfortable. He’s gonna send you somewhere that will require faith to go. Samuel had to risk his life to go to Bethlehem. The king will kill me if I leave. Ramah is waiting for me to do this. But Samuel went anyway, because God commanded it.

Have you put your “yes” on the table yet? Have you said, I will go where He sends, even though I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to do when I get there? That’s what Isaiah said “yes” to. That’s what Samuel said “yes” to. See, Jesus has said it to all of us in The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 (ESV) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s to every one of us who have said “yes” to Jesus. He said, Go. I want you to go and tell others about Me.

Back in 1987, I was living in Roanoke , Virginia and I got sent to Wilson, North Carolina. I was sent, I thought at the time, by Eckerd Drugs, the Eckerd Drug Corporation, I felt like they sent me here; they transferred me down here. I was a district manager with them and they wanted me to run Eastern North Carolina. Now, I did not want to come here, I did not have plans to come here. I was, actually, meeting with two pastors at the church we attended in Roanoke, Virginia. I was hoping that by meeting with them, they would pray with me and recognize how God needed to keep me in Roanoke, Virginia. I thought a lot of these two pastors, but the more they prayed, the more they told me they felt like I was supposed to go. I said to them, I thought you liked me. They said, No, we need to listen to the Lord. Every time we prayed about it, we just feel like God has something for you there. You’re supposed to go. And so, over a period of years, in fact , four years, I got a clear sense that it was actually God that had sent me here. I quit my job, went to seminary and planted this church. That’s how this church got here. God sent me here. I thought I was here to run drugstores and instead I was here to run a church. How about that? You never know what God’s going to do. If He had told me the whole story at the “get go,” I would probably have run somewhere and hid. But I’m glad that I went with counsel and prayer.

Will you go where God sins? Do you have a heart for God? Let’s keep reading: 1 Samuel 16:6-13 (ESV) 6 “When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, , because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”

How to respond to God’s call: 2. Depend on His presence.

Here’s the second way that we can have a heart for God that responds to His call: Depend on His presence. Go where He sends; depend on His presence. Samuel knew he was there to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king. He gets there and he finds out there are seven sons. They are lined up in front of him; the first one, Eliab, is the oldest. He must have been impressive to look at; he must have looked somewhat like King Saul. If you’ll recall, King Saul was a head taller than anyone else in Israel. Eliab must have been tall and good looking. Maybe, he had a full beard and was very muscular; maybe, he looked very “kingly.” Samuel thought to himself, Surely this is he. The presence of the Lord spoke to Samuel in verse 7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. “ That’s not him. God has rejected him. In fact, let Me teach you a very important principle, Samuel. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

Samuel began to go through each of Jesse’s sons and not one of them sized up in the way that Samuel was looking at it, through the lens of the presence of the Lord, that spoke to him continually as he was going through. These seven sons are passing by him. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? He comes up there at risk of life and limb. He gets to the right house, Jessie’s house and he goes through all of the sons, and God says, Nope, not that one. Not that one. Nope, not that one. Not that one…

Verse 11, “Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” Am I at the right place? Is this all of your sons? Jesse, in kind of an afterthought, says, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” I have one more, but he’s young and he’s out watching the sheep. He’s the runt of the litter. I didn’t even think to bring him in. Samuel says to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”

Can you imagine this? His older brothers had never stood up for him their entire lives and now they’re all standing there waiting because they’re all scared to death of this man named Samuel. Whatever he says, they will do. They send for young David. “There remains yet, the youngest,” is what Jesse said. The Hebrew word could be translated, “the least,” or “the smallest.” He was “the runt of the litter,” if you will. He was an “afterthought,” that his dad didn’t even think to invite to the party. He was out there watching over his father’s sheep. Just think about it, Eliab was going to inherit most of his father’s property and then lesser amounts would go to each of the other sons. By the time it would get to David, David would be serving one of his brothers , no doubt.

That’s not the way God saw things. God saw them differently. David was the smallest of eight sons; he was probably around twelve to fifteen years old and was from the smallest town in all of Israel. Yet, God raised him up to be the greatest king in Israel’s history. Old Samuel showed up with a heifer and a horn of oil and raised up the smallest son in the house of Jesse in the smallest town to be the greatest. That’s what God often does.

Listen to what the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (ESV) “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” Oh, God loves doing that, you know.

Why does God do this? So that He gets the credit. So that He gets the glory and we can’t glory in ourselves. God often takes those who think much of themselves and helps them think less of themselves. And then, He takes those who think less of themselves and He raises them up to glory. That’s what God wants to do here.

When we encounter David here, we get a description of what he looked like to Samuel. I wouldn’t take it as a compliment if somebody said it about me, but let’s think about it for a second. It’s not that bad if you really unpack it. First of all, Samuel says David was “ruddy.” I don’t know if we use that word a lot. I’m a little bit “ruddy” today. I was at a soccer game for two grandsons yesterday, so I woke up a little “ruddy” today. In other words, I got a little bit of sun; I’m a little bit red. That’s what it means. David has been working outside; he’s got a good sun tan. He is well tanned from outdoor work. Also, he had beautiful eyes and he was handsome. So he’s a young, good looking dude. He doesn’t look like a king yet, but he’s got potential. He looks cool, he looks good. His suntan has been working hard; he’s a boy and he’s young. He’s not ready to be king yet, but God sees something in his heart that is kingly material.

When Samuel sees the boy walk in, David walks in smelling of sheep. All of his brothers are sort of whispering among themselves, What is going on here? Samuel sees him and God taps Samuel on the shoulder and says, in verse 12, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”

Sounds a lot like the way God, the Father, spoke to Peter, James and John up there on the Mount of Transfiguration whenever they started mumbling among themselves. Usually, Peter was the one shooting his mouth off. God says,”This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased . Listen to him. This is he.”

So, Samuel rose up in an obedience. He anointed a teenager to become king of Israel. God had broken Samuel in. He’s an old man now; he doesn’t question God anymore. He does wonder though, That’s Him? Okay, I don’t see it. He looks like a kid to me. He doesn’t smell very good. He’s good looking; I’ll tell you that. I’ll say that about him. But he anoints him because God sees something.

Now listen, young person, there’s some young people in the room, God often raises up the least of these to become the greatest. They have a pliable heart, a heart that will follow and obey. Don’t waste your life, young person. Get your heart right with God while you’re young.

Now, if you’ve gotten older , it’s not too late. It’s not too late. Your heart might have gotten a little hardened over time, but let God soften it. It’s not too late for you. Come on, get a heart for God and recognize that you need His presence in your life.

Verse 13 says, “And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I like the way that sounds. The spirit rushed on him. “The spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.” The word, “rushed,” implies the idea that the Holy Spirit came “crashing down” on David like a wave crashing ashore. Literally. It means “to come upon mightily.” It’s this idea of “to fall upon.” David had the Holy Spirit from that moment on, for the rest of his days. The Holy Spirit rushed upon David in a mighty way.

The Spirit came on Samson three times. In the story of Samson, it came upon him to do a mighty work three times. It came on King Saul to do a mighty work. It was always according to a work or a calling, but it came on David continually for the rest of his life. There’s never been one like David up until this time, God saw him as a man after His own heart and the spirit rushed upon him.

Do you depend on God’s presence for the way you make decisions? Single person, when you’re thinking about who to date or who to marry, do you think, Well, she’s good looking. So that’s a start. He’s good looking; I like the way he looks. God would say to you the same thing he said to Samuel. Don’t just look at the outer appearance. Ask God to look at their heart and clue you in on it. Character matters more; it matters more.

Some of our older people here today would say, Amen to that, because I messed that up. He looked good. But he turned out rotten. She looked good but it didn’t turn out good. I ask God to help you make important decisions like that. Say, God, look at the heart of this and You tell me what to do. Sometimes you might have to go through seven or eight of them before you know who it is. Just learn to do that; learn to listen to God and His presence. Depend on his wisdom.

It says in Joshua 1:9 (ESV) “… Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” . You don’t have to be afraid of the future. You can depend on the presence of the Lord. He rushed upon David before Christ even came. Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God, has come and those that believe in Him and put Him on the throne of their hearts as king, the spirit rushes on us now and rushes on us in a way even greater than the time that David had the spirit rushing upon him.

In fact, Christ says this in , John 15:4-5 (ESV) “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” The spirit will live in you and you will live in the spirit. He will rush upon you so that you can do all things through Christ Jesus.

You don’t have to be afraid. Fear is the name of the culture; anxiety, fear and worry is evident. Every pastor in America and every counselor’s office has people waiting in line to talk about fear, anxiety and worry. God says the Spirit of God will rush upon you if you’ll make Jesus Lord of your heart. If you give Him the throne of your life, there will be no fear, no anxiety and no worry because He is with you.

Will you let God use you? God loves to use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. He really doesn’t care about your ability. He only cares about your availability. He can do something about your ability, but He won’t run over you and force you. Availability is up to you. Is your “yes” on the table? Will you say “yes” to making Christ Lord of your life? Let’s keep reading. 1 Samuel 16:6-13 (ESV) “14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.”

How to respond to God’s call: 3. Serve by His grace.

Go where He sends. Depend on His presence. Serve by His grace. After David’s anointing, we are transported to the home of Saul and we see that Saul’s situation has gone down. He’s still king, but the spirit of the Lord has departed from him now. These opening sentences are troubling to us, aren’t they? First of all, this one, that the spirit departed from him. May I say to you, what I believe we’re seeing here is that the Spirit of God had come on Saul in order to anoint him as king. But when he rejects Saul as king, that empowering to be king has now been removed. I do not think we’re talking about salvation here. I think we’re talking about credibility and power from God, in order to be the king. That has been removed from him. He’s no longer under the Lord’s anointing as the king. The spirit is removed. That’s troubling.

You can go back into the book of Judges and look at Samson, when he disobeyed God and he allowed Delilah to cut his hair. He lost his strength. When his hair grew back out, he called to God and asked for his strength back and God did it because he repented and turned back to God. But, for a season, Samson lost the power of the Lord’s anointing on him. So, we’re speaking here, not of salvation, but of empowerment to do the thing you were called to do. I think that’s what we’re talking about first of all, and that helps me understand it.

The second part is even more troubling though. Here’s the thing: As pastors that are preaching through books of the Bible, (which I am one), it would be great if we could skip over verses like these. Just skip over them and go to the ones we understand. But, that’s not our commitment, our commitment is to go through every verse with you and to do our best. You, also, have the Holy Spirit and you will do your best to try to understand it too. So, here’s my best at understanding this second part. He removed the spirit of the Lord. He sent a harmful spirit from the Lord to torment him. Now that’s more troubling. Who is this harmful spirit? Harmful could be translated, “evil,” As King James translates it, it can be translated, “affliction” or “misery.” It’s bad. Let’s just say that. It’s a bad spirit. Whatever it was, it wasn’t merely physical, it was spiritual.

Dr. Robert D. Bergen says this, “It was a supernatural assault by a being sent by the Lord’s command.” What was this? Who was this? Some say that God sent an angel to afflict Saul for his disobedience and maybe even as an act of grace to get him to turn back to God. I tend to prefer that one, but I’m not certain that it would make sense to me that God would afflict him into repentance.

He told Paul to write to the Church at Corinth when someone was in sin and they wouldn’t get out of sin, even though they had been warned three times, to turn him over to Satan so that they could be disciplined. That’s scary stuff too, isn’t it? But, God cares more about your character than He does your comfort. He wants you to have a heart for God.

Some suggest that He did what He did with Job; that He gave Satan permission to afflict King Saul. Many commentators and pastors lean in that direction. This one may be true as well. Whatever it is, I must agree with what the scripture says, as I always attempt to do. I am not certain exactly how God did this, but Saul is in a miserable condition and God has allowed it. In fact, God has put him there, I think, to bring him back to his senses. But, Saul is rebellious and never does come to his senses. In a way, it was God’s grace.

Friends, I don’t know if God’s ever let you hit bottom. I don’t know if He’s ever let you have what you thought you wanted, but if you’ve ever been there, I’m talking to somebody here. Somebody’s hit bottom and you keep going back there. Listen, you need to stop going back there. God is trying to get your attention. He’s allowed this affliction to come on you so that you would repent and His grace could pour back on you again.

So, back to the story, David’s been anointed as the coming king. Ironically, he enters into the very palace of the king he’s supposed to replace. This is a great story. This is better than any story you could watch on prime, netflix or the Disney channel . This is great. I hope all of you, over the next 10 weeks, will want to hear every episode. Here is David. He slips in; in fact, he’s invited into Saul’s camp because somebody has heard about his ability to play the lyre. In other words, I think when I get to heaven, I’m a guitar player. I can’t wait to sit down with David and place some strings, man. He knows he was good at it, man. In fact, he wrote a whole bunch of those 150 psalms that we read. David wrote a lot of those, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit , which rushed upon him. He shows up, He’s the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. He’s skillful in playing. He’s a man of valor, a man of war, prudent speech, a man of good presence and the Lord is with him. That’s the most important part; God is with him . They bring David in and Jesse agrees. Jesse sends a gift to King Saul. He sends him a donkey laden with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat, so David doesn’t go there empty handed. He brings a gift, he brings his own sustenance to King Saul. It says that King Saul loved David, but it doesn’t stay this way. I hope you enjoy this chapter; it starts off like this.

Why does King Saul ask for him? It’s because, whenever David comes in the room and he picks up that instrument and starts tickling those strings with his fingers, that spirit, that affliction lifts off. A smile comes to King Saul’s face and he’s refreshed. You know, they say that, “Music soothes the savage beast.” Well, this was more than just music. The Holy Spirit rushed upon David and, when he played, the Spirit played through his fingers. Saul, even though he was wicked and rebellious towards God, God had allowed this affliction to come upon him, but God had, also, sent him David to give him soothing and to give him grace. If only he would have listened, I think God would have helped him. He would be soothed as long as David played. He loved David for this.

King Saul asked Jesse if David could let him stay there. He made David his shield bearer. This sets us all up for what’s going to happen next. At this time, all we know is David is good at music and he’s got the Spirit on him. We have a preview here in the description that says “he’s a man of valor and a man of war.” That’s not happened yet; he is still young. It seems to me that we might be looking at a preview for next week.The author here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave us a little preview. We’ll keep reading to find out what it looks like for this “runt” of the litter, from the smallest town in Bethlehem to encounter the most scary giant in all the land. That’s next time, tune in next week for Chapter 17.

Here’s what we know about God’s grace; David found favor with Saul. Have you ever gone into a situation with uncertainty? I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m going to a new school. I’m going to a new job. I’m moving to a new city. Maybe it’s not that big. It’s just something new. Have you ever prayed like this? Lord, give me favor with my boss. Give me favor with my teacher. Give me favor with… Or, maybe, you’ve got to go to somebody and talk to them about a disagreement. Lord give me favor with… He’ll do it. You know what favor is? It’s unmerited favor. That’s grace . Grace is like unmerited favor. That’s the grace that God gives us to serve.

David had been anointed king. Teenagers, you know how this is. You remember being a teenager and some of you are still teenagers. If somebody came up to you, the most important prophet came up to you and said, You are king, and here’s your first job. Your first job is to go back and take care of the sheep. I’m the king, come on big brothers. No, go back to the sheep. David had to go back to the sheep; he’s out there and somebody hears about his playing and says, Come serve the king. What? I’m supposed to be the king. That’s how most people would be thinking, but not David. He never peeps a word about it; he keeps it to himself. He goes and serves Saul. This is a man after God’s own heart. He’s not looking to arrive before his time. He’s waiting for God’s timing.

Young people, today ,often want what their parents have spent their whole life to earn. Learn to serve where God put you now. “Bloom where you’re planted.” Stop worrying about what is next. If your job is to serve, serve. “Bloom where you’re planted.” That’s what I see David doing here.

The bible says, Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” You see, it’s grace that saves us and He wants to make us His workmanship. The greek word is poiēma, like a poem, a masterpiece. It is by God’s grace, serve where He’s put you and let Him elevate you, like He’s about to do with David.

Here’s what Paul says, as he contemplates this story in the Book of Acts, Acts 13:21-23 (ESV) “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.” That’s why this story is so big in the bible. It’s not even really about David. David’s just getting us ready to meet King Jesus. He’s a foreshadowing of Jesus.

Have you made room in your heart today for King Jesus, so that He has your whole heart? So that if He says Go, you say, Where? So that, when you get there, you say, Show me what to do now , Lord and listen to His presence and depend and serve according to His grace. Will you do it? Let’s pray.

Lord, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for this story. It’s not just a story about David, it’s a story about us so, Lord speak to the hearts. There are people present in this room that their heart’s doors are being knocked upon right now by your Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying, Come open the door that I might come in and be Lord of your life and save you. There are people watching online right now, Lord, You’re stirring their hearts. I’m praying right now Lord, that hearts would open, that you would have a heart open to God’s call and you can say “yes” to Him right now, from your heart, believing in your heart, you can say “yes” to Jesus. Pray like this. Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I’ve been living my life my own way, but today, I turn to You. I believe You died on the cross and rose from the grave and live today. Come and live in me. I want You to be my Lord and Savior. I give You the throne of my heart. Make me the kind of personYou want me to be. If you’re praying that prayer right now, believing, the Lord will save you and make you a child of God. Others are here and you know the Lord as your Savior. But, in many areas of your life today, you’ve yet to yield to Him as Lord and King. Give Him that area. Hold nothing back. Put your “yes” on the table. We pray it now in Jesus’ name. Amen.