David: Shaping a Godly Heart

A Shepherd Gets His Sheepskin

1 Samuel 1-15

I love to study Bible characters

In their victories, I get a better understanding of God.

In their failures, I get a better understanding of myself.

No character fascinates me more than David.

There is more in the Bible about David than about anyone except Jesus

If you exclude the material repeated among the gospels, there is more about David than Jesus.

OT devotes 66 chapters to the life of David.

NT has 59 references to David.

We remember two things about David:

Goliath - his best moment. Bathsheba – his worst moment. We overlook the most important aspects of David’s life. Today begins a year on David: Shaping a Godly Heart.

David was born in a land where people were drifting away from God Moses died east of Jordan

and was replaced by Joshua

Joshua 24:31 NIV Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.

After Joshua, the people began to drift into ungodly alliances and idolatry

300 year downward spiral away from God.

Oppressed by enemies. Rescued by 13 judges. Reason for misfortune: Judges 21:25 NIV In

those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

Two events take place about this time

One seems unimportant, yet the Bible tells about it

One seems important, yet the Bible doesn’t tell about it.

Ruth, a Moabite widow, gleans in a field of Boaz.

They marry and have a son, Obed, who fathers a grandson, Jesse.

During this time, Philistines invaded and settled the Mediterranean shore Monopolized metalworking. 1 Samuel 13:19 NIV Not a

blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!"

That’s why Shamgar killed 600 with an ox goad and Samson killed 1,000 with a donkey jawbone.

God used two men to keep the Philistines from destroying Israel:

Samuel – the first prophet and the last judge, and, David – the grandson of Boaz. Now we see why the story of Ruth is in the Bible.

Samuel

1Sa 1-2 – Hannah’s prayer answered. Promised to God.

1Sa 3 – The Lord revealed to Samuel as a boy that Eli’s house would be destroyed.

1Samuel 4 – Hophni and Phinehas took the ark of the covenant into battle with the Philistines God didn’t intervene.

30,000 died. The ark was captured. Hophni and Phinehas

were killed. Eli died. Ichabod was written on

Israel.

1Samuel 7 – Samuel began leading

After 20 years, he brought Israel to Ebenezer and victory over the Philistines.

Success as a judge was marred by failure as a father. His sons turned out like Eli’s.

20 years after Ebenezer: 1 Samuel 8:1-3 NIV When

Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. … (3) But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Israel’s request for a king

1 Samuel 8:4-9 NIV So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. (5) They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." (6) But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. (7) 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. (8) As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. (9) Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

Why do believers always want to be like everyone else? The saddest verse: 1 Samuel 8:7 NIV 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.

God’s people are ruled by God, not by man.

Saul anointed as king

He looked like a king – tall and distinguished.

He led Israel to a couple of minor victories and the people were impressed.

Saul’s failures began almost immediately:

First, at Gilgal. Then the Amalekites.

He failed to wait for Samuel at Gilgal

1 Samuel 10:8 NIV "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."

He failed to wait for Samuel at Gilgal

Philistines were gathering for an assault.

People wanted action; God wanted him to wait.

Soldiers began deserting, leading to Saul’s presumption and Samuel’s rebuke, when he had been king one week.

He failed to wait for Samuel at Gilgal

1 Samuel 13:13-14 NIV "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. (14) But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

He disobeyed God by not destroying Amalek

Spared king and livestock. 1 Samuel 15:10-11 NIV

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: (11) "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

Saul was more interested in his own glory than in obeying God His monument 1 Samuel 15:12 NIV Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to

meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."

His claim 1 Samuel 15:13 NIV When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The

LORD bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions." The reality 1 Samuel 15:14 NIV But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of

sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

Why did Saul fail?

He was too concerned about his own image – and too little concerned about honoring God. 1 Samuel 15:12 NIV Early in the morning Samuel got up

and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."

1 Samuel 15:24-25 NIV Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. (25) Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."

God had already found a replacement

1 Samuel 15:27-28 NIV … Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. (28) Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to one better than you.

1 Samuel 15:35 NIV Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

What do you do when the king doesn’t walk with God?

We just buried a President who was never elected to the office. He was a statesman who put the good of the nation ahead of his

own political future when he pardoned his predecessor. Where were you when you learned that a President resigned

because he lied to the people he was supposed to lead?

Saul’s replacement is not yet named, but God has already found him 1 Samuel 13:14 NIV … the

LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

1 Samuel 15:28 NIV … "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to one better than you.

God didn’t find David in the army, nor in a prophet training school, but in a pasture

He wasn’t even a man, yet. What impressed God about that

boy? He was living in obscurity.

From a poor family with no servants and a few sheep.

1 Samuel 17:28 NIV Eliab … asked, “…with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert?"

He liked solitude more than applause

He wrote songs to God

Psalms 23:1-6 NIV A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. (2) He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, (3) he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (6) Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

He is not remembered for his sword, but for his songs.

He lived with monotony

His older brothers were the favorites of Jesse.

When the preacher came to town, they got to go, while David stayed behind to do the chores.

Sheep don’t treat anyone like a king.

A good shepherd learns to do little things well.

George Washington Carver said:

“I asked God, ‘Teach me about the universe.’

God said, ‘George, that’s too big for you. Why don’t I teach you about a peanut?’”

By life’s end, he had found over 300 uses for a peanut.

How would you like to study a peanut all your life?

Devote yourself to doing small things well.

He lived with integrity

Psalms 57:7 NIV My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

David made bigger mistakes than Saul, but God always knew where his heart was.

As a boy, David devoted his heart to God.

Pablo de Sarasati – Spanish virtuoso violinist of the late 19th Century

George Bernard Shaw called him a genius who “left criticism gasping miles behind him.”

His response: “For 34 years, I’ve practiced 14 hours a day, and NOW I’m a genius!”

We call others “gifted” when we’re trying to excuse our own mediocrity Scott Wells is “gifted”. Lettered four years each in

football, track and wrestling. Held three wrestling titles. No. 1 heavyweight wrestler in

the nation in high school. Consecutive start streak of 49

games was the third longest in college football history among offensive linemen.

He’s gifted – because he works at it!

Everyone has the potential to be a David or a Saul. Which will it be?

“To everyone there openeth a way, and ways, and a way. And the high soul climbs the high way, and the low soul gropes the low. And in between, on the mighty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to every man there openeth a high way and a low. And every man decideth the way his soul should go.”

David became a great king because he was a great kid

The time for preparation is now.

If God is ever going to use you in the future, he has to train you now.

You sow a thought, you reap an attitude.

You sow an attitude, you reap a character.

You sow a character, you reap a destiny.