Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Nobody, Nobody Noticed Msg 224 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

A Nobody, Nobody Noticed Msg 224 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:01
Speaker 1: David enters the biblical story in 1 Samuel chapter 16
0:05
Speaker 1: as a complete unknown. He's merely a ruddy shepherd boy
0:10
Speaker 1: from Bethlehem. Though he was of little consequence physically speaking,
0:16
Speaker 1: his heart testified to a deep faithfulness to the Lord.
0:21
Speaker 1: During those long and lonely years he spent watching the sheep,
0:25
Speaker 1: David remained faithful in the little things of life. Little then,
0:30
Speaker 1: but big for the building of his character. Today we
0:34
Speaker 1: will see that God was ready to give him tremendous responsibilities,
0:39
Speaker 1: beyond anything he could have ever imagined. Turn with me
0:44
Speaker 1: to the first thirteen verses of 1 Samuel 16, which
0:49
Speaker 1: provide the backdrop for David's introduction into the text of Scripture.
0:53
Speaker 1: 1 Samuel 16, we'll begin reading at verse 1. Now
1:00
Speaker 1: the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve
1:03
Speaker 1: over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king
1:07
Speaker 1: over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I
1:12
Speaker 1: will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
1:15
Speaker 1: selected a king for myself among his sons. But Samuel said,
1:20
Speaker 1: How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he
1:24
Speaker 1: will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer
1:28
Speaker 1: with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to
1:31
Speaker 1: the LORD. You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and
1:36
Speaker 1: I will show you what you shall do, and you
1:38
Speaker 1: shall anoint for me the one I designate to you.
1:42
Speaker 1: So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem.
1:47
Speaker 1: And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him,
1:50
Speaker 1: and said, Do you come in peace? He said, In peace.
1:56
Speaker 1: I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves,
2:00
Speaker 1: and come with me to the sacrifice. He also consecrated
2:04
Speaker 1: Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
2:09
Speaker 1: When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, Surely
2:13
Speaker 1: the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said
2:16
Speaker 1: to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance, or at
2:21
Speaker 1: the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.
2:26
Speaker 1: For God sees not as man sees, For man looks
2:29
Speaker 1: at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
2:33
Speaker 1: Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel.
2:37
Speaker 1: And he said, The Lord has not chosen this one either. Next,
2:43
Speaker 1: Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, The Lord
2:47
Speaker 1: has not chosen this one either. Thus Jesse made seven
2:52
Speaker 1: of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse,
2:57
Speaker 1: The Lord has not chosen these. And Samuel said to Jesse,
3:02
Speaker 1: Are these all the children? And he said, There remains
3:06
Speaker 1: yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.
3:10
Speaker 1: Then Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him, for
3:15
Speaker 1: we will not sit down until he comes here. So
3:19
Speaker 1: he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy,
3:23
Speaker 1: with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, Arise,
3:30
Speaker 1: anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the
3:33
Speaker 1: horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of
3:36
Speaker 1: his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily
3:41
Speaker 1: upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and
3:45
Speaker 1: went to Ramah. The year 1809 was a very good year.
3:52
Speaker 1: Of course, those that lived that year would not have
3:55
Speaker 1: known it History has told the story since that time
3:59
Speaker 1: because all of those that lived in 1809 focused their
4:02
Speaker 1: attention in full force on Napoleon as he was marching
4:07
Speaker 1: across Austria. And he took Austria like a fire would
4:12
Speaker 1: take a Kansas wheat field. Those little hamlets and villages
4:17
Speaker 1: and cities fell into his grip. And all the world
4:21
Speaker 1: began to wonder if all the world would someday fall
4:24
Speaker 1: in his hands. People followed him from Trafalgar to Waterloo
4:29
Speaker 1: as Napoleon left his mark on this world. Now, during
4:33
Speaker 1: that same period of time, little babies were born in
4:39
Speaker 1: Britain and in America. But who cared about babies and
4:45
Speaker 1: bottles and cribs and cradles while Napoleon was doing his
4:49
Speaker 1: thing in Austria? Well, frankly, someone should have cared. Listen
4:56
Speaker 1: to the list of names of those born in 1809.
5:00
Speaker 1: William Gladstone was born in Liverpool. Alfred Tennyson began his
5:06
Speaker 1: life in Lincolnshire. Oliver Wendell Holmes cried out for the
5:11
Speaker 1: first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A few miles away in Boston,
5:17
Speaker 1: Edgar Allan Poe began his brief and tragic sojourn on earth.
5:23
Speaker 1: A physician named Dr. Darwin along with his wife, named
5:27
Speaker 1: their son Charles Robert Darwin. Robert Charles Winthrop wore his
5:33
Speaker 1: first diapers in 1809. And in a little country log
5:39
Speaker 1: cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, a little cabin owned by
5:45
Speaker 1: an illiterate laborer, he and his wife named their little
5:51
Speaker 1: boy Abraham Lincoln. But who cared? While Napoleon was moving
6:00
Speaker 1: through Austria, who cared about babies? Well, when you stop
6:04
Speaker 1: and think of the writings and the lives of those
6:08
Speaker 1: statesmen and poets and thinkers, I think you'd agree that
6:15
Speaker 1: their little lives marked the genesis of an era. But
6:20
Speaker 1: nobody cared about those nobodies. And the strange thing about
6:25
Speaker 1: it all is that only a few strange history buffs
6:29
Speaker 1: could even name one battle that Napoleon fought in Austria today.
6:36
Speaker 1: But there is not a life represented here who has
6:38
Speaker 1: not been touched in some way by the lives of
6:42
Speaker 1: those men that I've just named. Nobody's. Nobody noticed. If
6:50
Speaker 1: you and I had been Jews living in the year
6:54
Speaker 1: 1020 B.C., the same kind of experience would have been ours.
7:01
Speaker 1: All of our attention would have focused upon a man
7:03
Speaker 1: named Saul, who was the Napoleon of his day. King
7:09
Speaker 1: Saul was the focal point of the Jewish world. He
7:16
Speaker 1: was the king. He was taking the country by storm. However,
7:22
Speaker 1: if you know your Bible history, you know that about
7:24
Speaker 1: that time, a nobody was keeping the sheep of his
7:29
Speaker 1: father along the Judean hillside near the hamlet of Bethlehem.
7:35
Speaker 1: A little boy that nobody noticed by the name of David. Now,
7:41
Speaker 1: if you can appreciate what we're reading this evening in
7:44
Speaker 1: the 15th chapter of 1 Samuel, then you will come
7:47
Speaker 1: to appreciate how David came to the throne in light
7:53
Speaker 1: of those terrible times that Saul created. You see, Saul
7:57
Speaker 1: had been a king for a number of years, in fact,
8:00
Speaker 1: several decades, until finally he tipped his hand and he
8:05
Speaker 1: revealed to the Lord as well as to the people
8:07
Speaker 1: that he wasn't qualified. He was a willful, selfish, angry, hateful,
8:14
Speaker 1: in fact, murderous king. Something snapped in his mind. And
8:22
Speaker 1: as he ended the years of his kingship, he proved
8:26
Speaker 1: himself unqualified for the job. I want to read verse
8:30
Speaker 1: 24 down almost to the end of the 15th chapter
8:34
Speaker 1: of 1 Samuel. And I want you to sort of
8:36
Speaker 1: get into the swing of this context in which David
8:40
Speaker 1: is chosen. Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. Now,
8:46
Speaker 1: You must understand that Samuel has caught Saul in three
8:51
Speaker 1: awful acts of disobedience. He made a terrible decision in
8:56
Speaker 1: chapter 13. He made a rash vow against his own
9:00
Speaker 1: son in chapter 14. In chapter 15, he did not
9:04
Speaker 1: obey God and he preserved some of the enemies as
9:08
Speaker 1: well as some of the sheep. And when Samuel pointed
9:11
Speaker 1: his finger at Saul... Saul finally, after he tried to
9:15
Speaker 1: rationalize around it, Saul finally admitted, I am guilty. But
9:20
Speaker 1: you'll notice how he qualified it. I have sinned. I
9:25
Speaker 1: have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your
9:29
Speaker 1: words because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now, therefore,
9:36
Speaker 1: please pardon my sin and return with me that I
9:39
Speaker 1: may worship the Lord. Now, you If you're not into this,
9:44
Speaker 1: you can't appreciate what he just asked. Saul was greatly
9:47
Speaker 1: concerned about his image. You see, he had been alone
9:51
Speaker 1: where this act of disobedience had taken place, but he
9:55
Speaker 1: was going to go back before the people and he
9:57
Speaker 1: didn't want the people to know that he had sinned.
9:58
Speaker 1: So he said, Samuel, why don't you come on with
10:01
Speaker 1: me and nobody will know that I've disobeyed. You just
10:04
Speaker 1: return and let's worship together like we've always done. His
10:07
Speaker 1: greatest concern was his image. There are a lot of
10:10
Speaker 1: people like that today. I'll say more about that in
10:13
Speaker 1: a moment. Just look at Samuel's words. Samuel said to
10:15
Speaker 1: Saul 26, I will not return with you. For you've
10:20
Speaker 1: rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has
10:22
Speaker 1: rejected you from being king over Israel. And as Samuel
10:26
Speaker 1: turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe
10:29
Speaker 1: and it tore. And Samuel said to him, the Lord
10:33
Speaker 1: has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and
10:37
Speaker 1: has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
10:41
Speaker 1: And also the glory of Israel will not lie or
10:43
Speaker 1: change his mind for he is not a man that
10:46
Speaker 1: he should change his mind. Then he said, Now note Saul,
10:50
Speaker 1: note his rationalization. He said, I have sinned, but please
10:55
Speaker 1: honor me now before the elders of my people and
10:58
Speaker 1: before Israel and go back with me that I may
11:00
Speaker 1: worship the Lord your God. Look, Samuel, you've caught me
11:04
Speaker 1: in the act. I've confessed it privately. Now, why don't
11:07
Speaker 1: you come on back with me that I might worship
11:09
Speaker 1: and we'll go right on as if nothing happened. Now
11:12
Speaker 1: the grace of Samuel is seen in the next verse.
11:16
Speaker 1: Samuel went back following Saul and And Saul worshiped the Lord.
11:20
Speaker 1: Drop down to verse 34. Then Samuel went to Ramah,
11:26
Speaker 1: but Saul went up to his home at Gibeah of Saul.
11:30
Speaker 1: And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day
11:36
Speaker 1: of his death. Samuel was a man of integrity. He
11:43
Speaker 1: saw that Saul had failed God. And he said to Saul,
11:47
Speaker 1: I won't humiliate you before the people. I'll go back
11:51
Speaker 1: and I'll go through the ritual of this sacrificial act
11:54
Speaker 1: of worship. But Saul, that's the last day I want
11:57
Speaker 1: to see you. And he went home in one direction.
12:01
Speaker 1: If you check your geography and Saul went home in
12:03
Speaker 1: another direction and they never met again until the day
12:06
Speaker 1: of his death. And the tragic story of Saul, as
12:11
Speaker 1: it's going to be woven into the life of David,
12:14
Speaker 1: is that Saul said, never, ever fully repented of his sin.
12:21
Speaker 1: His greatest concern was his image, how he looked before
12:26
Speaker 1: the people. And when Samuel gave him a break, Saul
12:29
Speaker 1: took advantage of it and continued in that same vein
12:32
Speaker 1: until the day he took his life in a suicide. Now,
12:37
Speaker 1: the Samuel panics about this point. And I've given you
12:43
Speaker 1: a chart to follow this evening, which you may want
12:45
Speaker 1: to look on to as we go through it. And
12:47
Speaker 1: we've called this section of the passage, Man Panics, God Provides.
12:53
Speaker 1: Samuel is at the end of his rope. The people
12:56
Speaker 1: have elected Saul and he's no longer qualified. What are
12:59
Speaker 1: the people going to do? They need a king to
13:02
Speaker 1: lead them. There are enemies all around Israel. They need
13:05
Speaker 1: someone to carry the scepter. And Samuel didn't know what
13:08
Speaker 1: God was doing. By the way, that's often the way
13:11
Speaker 1: it is, isn't it? Tonight some of you do not
13:14
Speaker 1: know what the future holds. You do not know what
13:17
Speaker 1: this next week holds for you. And you're really living
13:20
Speaker 1: on the cutting edge of panic. You're not sure if
13:23
Speaker 1: it's going to go in this direction or that direction.
13:25
Speaker 1: And you're wondering what God is saying. Now what you
13:28
Speaker 1: don't realize is that behind the scenes, in fact, before
13:31
Speaker 1: he ever flung the stars into space, he had today
13:34
Speaker 1: in mind. And he had this week in mind. And
13:38
Speaker 1: he knew what he was going to do. God is
13:42
Speaker 1: never at a loss to know what he's going to
13:44
Speaker 1: do in our situations. He knows perfectly well what is
13:48
Speaker 1: best for us. Our problem is we don't know. And
13:52
Speaker 1: we say to him, Lord, if you just tell me
13:54
Speaker 1: like you told Samuel, then I'll be in great shape.
13:57
Speaker 1: Just reveal it to me. Just talk to me and
13:59
Speaker 1: I'll count on you. But that's not faith. Faith is
14:03
Speaker 1: counting on him when you do not know what tomorrow holds.
14:07
Speaker 1: Faith is doing just what Samuel had to do. It
14:10
Speaker 1: says in verse 35, he was panicked. In our words,
14:14
Speaker 1: he grieved over Saul and the Lord regretted that he
14:18
Speaker 1: had made Saul king over Israel. Now the Lord said
14:23
Speaker 1: to Samuel, now before we go to verse 1, I
14:25
Speaker 1: think there's a span of time that takes place between
14:27
Speaker 1: the last of verse of chapter 15 and the first
14:30
Speaker 1: of chapter 16. We don't know how long. Maybe a week,
14:35
Speaker 1: maybe three weeks, maybe a month and a half. However long,
14:39
Speaker 1: Samuel is in a period of grief and he can't
14:43
Speaker 1: seem to get over it. Maybe he got alone in
14:45
Speaker 1: his home at Ramah and he just never got out
14:48
Speaker 1: and mingled with the people. He just sort of held
14:51
Speaker 1: up there and got on his knees and wept and
14:54
Speaker 1: waited and nothing opened up. Samuel felt that God somehow
15:00
Speaker 1: was not involved. By the way, when a man of
15:03
Speaker 1: God fails, nothing of God fails. When a man of
15:08
Speaker 1: God changes, such as Saul, nothing of God changes. When
15:16
Speaker 1: our lives are marked by a change, an alteration that
15:20
Speaker 1: was not expected, nothing of God is altered or unexpected.
15:25
Speaker 1: He knows exactly what he's going to do. That's the
15:27
Speaker 1: beautiful part of this passage. Look at how the Lord
15:30
Speaker 1: reveals himself to Samuel. He says to Samuel, how long
15:33
Speaker 1: will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him
15:36
Speaker 1: from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil
15:41
Speaker 1: and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite,
15:44
Speaker 1: for I have selected a king for myself among his sons.
15:48
Speaker 1: Isn't it true? Isaiah says, before they call, I will answer.
15:52
Speaker 1: And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65, 24.
15:57
Speaker 1: Before they even utter a word, God says, I'm involved
16:00
Speaker 1: in answering. In fact, while they are speaking, I'm involved
16:04
Speaker 1: in bringing to pass the very thing I want. Tonight,
16:08
Speaker 1: some of you doubt that. I can tell by that
16:12
Speaker 1: who me look on some of your faces this evening.
16:15
Speaker 1: You have sensed before this kind of message, but you're
16:18
Speaker 1: really beginning to wonder if it's going to happen. Tonight,
16:22
Speaker 1: will you see that God said to Samuel, I've already
16:25
Speaker 1: got my man. When he mentioned Jesse the Bethlehemite, that's
16:29
Speaker 1: the first notice Samuel had that God had zeroed in
16:33
Speaker 1: on one person. J. Oswald Sanders in his book, Spiritual Leadership,
16:38
Speaker 1: writes it this way. When God wants to drill a
16:41
Speaker 1: man and thrill a man and skill a man, when
16:44
Speaker 1: God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part,
16:47
Speaker 1: when he yearns with all his heart to create so
16:50
Speaker 1: great and bold a man that all the world shall
16:53
Speaker 1: be amazed, watch God's methods, watch his ways. how he
16:57
Speaker 1: ruthlessly perfects whom he royally elects, how he hammers him
17:01
Speaker 1: and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him into
17:05
Speaker 1: trial shapes of clay, which only God understands, while his
17:09
Speaker 1: tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands, how
17:13
Speaker 1: God bends but never breaks when his good he undertakes,
17:19
Speaker 1: how he uses whom he chooses, and with every purpose
17:22
Speaker 1: fuses him, by every act induces him to try his
17:26
Speaker 1: splendor out. God knows what he's about. Now, it's a
17:31
Speaker 1: great message in that poem if it were only somebody else.
17:36
Speaker 1: That's wonderful, Chuck, because it applies to somebody but me. No,
17:41
Speaker 1: it applies to you. God knows what he's about. Samuel's
17:46
Speaker 1: here this evening. who wonder what that Bethlehemite might be
17:50
Speaker 1: in your life. He said to Samuel, you go to
17:53
Speaker 1: that home in Bethlehem. I've got my man already chosen.
17:57
Speaker 1: I think it's so exciting how it unfolds. He said,
17:59
Speaker 1: I've selected a king for myself. The people haven't chosen
18:03
Speaker 1: this man. He's my man. Verse 2. But Samuel said,
18:07
Speaker 1: how can I go? Does this sound familiar? God says, go.
18:12
Speaker 1: And we say, right. And then before we're off our knees,
18:15
Speaker 1: we're saying, now wait, Lord. How can we pull that off?
18:20
Speaker 1: What was his problem? Well, he was panicked. He said,
18:24
Speaker 1: when Saul hears of it, he will kill me. Where
18:30
Speaker 1: were Samuel's eyes? They were not on the Lord. Question.
18:38
Speaker 1: Who is bigger? Saul or God? It's a dumb question,
18:45
Speaker 1: isn't it? In fact, that's a dumb question. How can
18:48
Speaker 1: I go? Saul's alive. God knew that Saul was alive.
18:54
Speaker 1: That wasn't any great revelation. You know, we occasionally feel
18:59
Speaker 1: we must inform the Lord of what he might not realize.
19:02
Speaker 1: And our prayer lives are often given to explaining to
19:06
Speaker 1: the Lord something that he doesn't get together. And we
19:09
Speaker 1: have no right to do that. He knows where he's
19:13
Speaker 1: directing us and it's not going to be easy. He
19:17
Speaker 1: knew that Saul was alive. How can I go? When
19:20
Speaker 1: Saul hears of it, he will kill me. By the way,
19:23
Speaker 1: from the human viewpoint, he was right. Saul was murderous.
19:28
Speaker 1: He was the one that God used to shape David's
19:30
Speaker 1: life in the in-between years, between the sheep and the throne.
19:36
Speaker 1: He knew Saul. You got a Saul in your life?
19:44
Speaker 1: Good question, huh? You got somebody that God uses just
19:47
Speaker 1: to irritate and rub and file. and scrape and sting you.
19:56
Speaker 1: That's all part of the drilling and the thrilling and
19:58
Speaker 1: the skilling of the man we just read. God knows
20:02
Speaker 1: you have a Saul in your life. It's all part
20:05
Speaker 1: of the plan.
20:06
Speaker 2: Amen.
20:09
Speaker 1: The Lord said to him, look, he doesn't even answer
20:11
Speaker 1: about Saul. That's beautiful. Such a petty thing. He doesn't
20:15
Speaker 1: even bother to give an answer. He says, just take
20:17
Speaker 1: a heifer with you and say, I've come to sacrifice
20:20
Speaker 1: to the Lord. You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice.
20:23
Speaker 1: I will show you what you shall do. You shall
20:25
Speaker 1: anoint for me the one whom I designate to you.
20:29
Speaker 1: Follow the leader. That's what he's saying. You don't even
20:33
Speaker 1: have to be smart to be obedient. You don't. You
20:37
Speaker 1: don't have to be clever. All you got to do
20:39
Speaker 1: is what God says. We think we have to be smart.
20:43
Speaker 1: And we sort of got to outwit God in the horizontal.
20:46
Speaker 1: But God says, I know your situation. I'm telling you
20:50
Speaker 1: exactly what you ought to do and do it. Take
20:54
Speaker 1: a heifer, go to Jesse, offer the sacrifice and look around.
20:58
Speaker 1: I'll tell you the man I've got. Isn't that simple?
21:01
Speaker 1: By the way, behind the scenes, there's David. And I
21:03
Speaker 1: think this is the neatest part of the story. David
21:06
Speaker 1: doesn't know anything about what Saul and Samuel and God
21:10
Speaker 1: are talking about over here on the other side of
21:12
Speaker 1: the country. What's David doing? He's keeping the sheep. That's
21:15
Speaker 1: his job. In fact, F.B. Meyer says it this way.
21:20
Speaker 1: No angel trumpet heralded it. No faces looked out of heaven.
21:25
Speaker 1: The sun arose that morning like any other morning over
21:28
Speaker 1: the purple walls of the hills of Moab, making the
21:32
Speaker 1: cloud curtains saffron and gold. With the first glimmer of light,
21:36
Speaker 1: the boy was on his way to lead his flock
21:38
Speaker 1: to pasture lands heavy with dew. As the morning hour
21:43
Speaker 1: sped onwards, many duties would engross his watchful soul, strengthening
21:47
Speaker 1: the weak, healing that which was sick, binding up that
21:50
Speaker 1: which was broken, and seeking that which was lost. Or
21:55
Speaker 1: the music of his song may have filled the listening air.
21:59
Speaker 1: That was David. Just like any other morning, just like
22:04
Speaker 1: tomorrow morning will be. He just began his day just
22:09
Speaker 1: like any other time, but little did he know he
22:12
Speaker 1: was destined for the throne. God has some extremely exciting
22:20
Speaker 1: things in mind for his children. For some, it'll happen tomorrow.
22:26
Speaker 1: For some, it'll happen perhaps the beginning of next month.
22:29
Speaker 1: We don't know. But the beautiful thing about this adventure
22:33
Speaker 1: called faith and living in fellowship with God, walking with Christ,
22:39
Speaker 1: is that we can count on Him never to lead
22:41
Speaker 1: us astray. He knows exactly where He's taking us. Our
22:45
Speaker 1: job is to obey. Now, in verse 4, we sort
22:52
Speaker 1: of have a change of pace. Man chooses and God corrects.
22:56
Speaker 1: This is a great section. I'm sorry that it is
22:58
Speaker 1: so familiar because... In the familiarity, we lose some of
23:01
Speaker 1: the freshness. But let's act like we're reading it for
23:04
Speaker 1: the very first time. So Samuel did what the Lord said.
23:08
Speaker 1: Now you're talking, Samuel. That's what we have to do.
23:12
Speaker 1: He did just what God said. He got a heifer
23:14
Speaker 1: and he went to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem.
23:17
Speaker 1: He came to Bethlehem and the elders of the city
23:20
Speaker 1: came trembling to meet him and said, do you come
23:22
Speaker 1: in peace? By the way, there was a real fear
23:24
Speaker 1: stretching across the land at that time. You see, there
23:28
Speaker 1: were problems in the Oval Office. And knowing there were
23:31
Speaker 1: problems up there, the people in the countryside were uneasy,
23:35
Speaker 1: even when a prophet came to visit. What's Samuel doing here?
23:39
Speaker 1: Why is Samuel coming to Bethlehem? You come in peace?
23:42
Speaker 1: What's wrong? What's happening? It's kind of like a CIA
23:46
Speaker 1: agent knocking on your front door, that type of thing.
23:49
Speaker 1: Or the director of the FBI saying, could we talk
23:52
Speaker 1: this afternoon, you know, at your convenience? What's wrong? What's happened?
23:57
Speaker 1: Here's Samuel coming. They don't know it. but to anoint
24:00
Speaker 1: a king, and they're fearful. Verse 5, he said, I
24:05
Speaker 1: come in peace. I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.
24:09
Speaker 1: Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. He
24:12
Speaker 1: consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
24:16
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what the consecration involved. Perhaps it
24:20
Speaker 1: involved the sacrifice of a lamb or of some animal.
24:25
Speaker 1: Perhaps it involved some kind of liturgical washing to cleanse themselves.
24:29
Speaker 1: Maybe a period of time spent in prayer. But there
24:31
Speaker 1: was some sort of preparation before there was the anointing.
24:35
Speaker 1: And I take it that as Jesse and his son
24:37
Speaker 1: stood with Samuel, they went through this Judaistic ritual to
24:41
Speaker 1: prepare themselves for what God was going to say. So
24:45
Speaker 1: here they are in the room. Understand, they don't know
24:48
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. Not even Samuel knows which one
24:50
Speaker 1: it's going to be. And they're standing around sort of
24:54
Speaker 1: on one leg and then another, looking at Samuel. He's
24:56
Speaker 1: looking at them. And suddenly we get a little bit
24:58
Speaker 1: of insight into what Samuel is thinking. See verse 6?
25:03
Speaker 1: Came about as they entered that he looked at Eliab
25:07
Speaker 1: and thought. He didn't say this, he thought this. Surely
25:12
Speaker 1: the Lord's anointed is before him. And how practical that is.
25:22
Speaker 1: If you're single, you can appreciate that statement this evening.
25:29
Speaker 1: You've been looking and all of a sudden you're in
25:31
Speaker 1: a group and you look across the room and you say,
25:34
Speaker 1: surely the Lord's anointed is before me. Maybe you don't
25:39
Speaker 1: use those words, but you know what I'm saying. That's
25:42
Speaker 1: the one. Isn't it amazing how wrong you were as
25:45
Speaker 1: you think back over those days? Surely the Lord's anointed. Wait,
25:50
Speaker 1: Eliab looks like the guy you'd normally choose for a king.
25:55
Speaker 1: He was apparently tall and tall. and impressive. He had
25:58
Speaker 1: the marks of a king. He was certainly a man
26:03
Speaker 1: of battle. He's the one that's fighting in the next
26:05
Speaker 1: chapter with Saul and the troops against Goliath. But you see,
26:11
Speaker 1: what Samuel did not see was the character of Eliab.
26:16
Speaker 1: He didn't see, as we will see in that 17th chapter,
26:18
Speaker 1: that Eliab was given to a petty vision. He was critical.
26:23
Speaker 1: He was negative. He looked down on his brother. He
26:29
Speaker 1: didn't view God's hand in the situation. He saw everything
26:33
Speaker 1: from the flesh. By the way, you've got to be
26:39
Speaker 1: careful how you choose. And I would warn you this
26:43
Speaker 1: evening that if you choose according to the externals, you're
26:47
Speaker 1: in trouble. If that's the basis of your choice. I
26:51
Speaker 1: think it's interesting when you ask young men what they're
26:53
Speaker 1: really looking for. and a wife, the very first thing
26:56
Speaker 1: most of them will say is, I'm looking for her
26:58
Speaker 1: to be pretty. Right? Right. I mean, you don't want
27:04
Speaker 1: to marry a moose, let's face it. You want her
27:08
Speaker 1: to look good. That's all right, but what you really
27:11
Speaker 1: want is the character down inside. That's what you really
27:15
Speaker 1: ought to want, because that's what you live with. And
27:19
Speaker 1: every pastoral pulpit committee, that's represented here can tell you
27:25
Speaker 1: the same thing. When they look for a man, they
27:28
Speaker 1: don't look for a man that has, you know, all
27:32
Speaker 1: the marks from the externals. I mean, just look at
27:35
Speaker 1: the one this church chose. It's amazing. In fact, one
27:40
Speaker 1: of the men on the pulpit committee said he looked
27:42
Speaker 1: kind of squirrely when he first saw him. Hamp Riley
27:46
Speaker 1: said that. I'll never be able to get over that quite, Hamp.
27:51
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, he probably was right as
27:54
Speaker 1: I was out here looking this thing over. As a
27:57
Speaker 1: matter of fact, I came across this interesting comment that
28:02
Speaker 1: was said of Paul, the apostle. This little book is entitled,
28:08
Speaker 1: The Acts of Paul and Thecla, written by Onesiphorus of Iconium.
28:13
Speaker 1: And in this book, it describes Paul. Listen.
28:16
Speaker 2: Listen.
28:17
Speaker 1: A man of moderate stature, with curly hair, scanty crooked legs,
28:22
Speaker 1: large knit eyebrows, and a long ugly nose. Ham, that
28:29
Speaker 1: guy's squirrely, let's face it. That's the one you'd think
28:32
Speaker 1: is squirrely. You see, I'm convinced Paul did not have
28:35
Speaker 1: on the externals what you would think he would have.
28:39
Speaker 1: That's why when he came to the Corinthians, he said,
28:41
Speaker 1: I don't come with all the suave of the Grecians.
28:44
Speaker 1: I don't come with all that eloquent clout. I come
28:47
Speaker 1: with the wisdom of God. That your trust might not
28:51
Speaker 1: be in me, but in the living God. But Samuel
28:56
Speaker 1: was enamored of the externals, like most of us are.
28:59
Speaker 1: And he saw Eliab when he walked in the room
29:01
Speaker 1: and he said, there's God's man. Exhibit A was not
29:07
Speaker 1: God's man. Look at Exhibit B, verse 8. Jesse called Abinadab.
29:14
Speaker 1: and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, Neither
29:18
Speaker 1: has the Lord chosen this one. Now wait a minute.
29:20
Speaker 1: Here's Abinadab. He probably looked as good as Eliab. He
29:24
Speaker 1: was the second oldest. By the way, Jesse had eight
29:28
Speaker 1: sons and two daughters. The eight sons are never mentioned
29:33
Speaker 1: fully by name, only seven. In 1 Chronicles 2, there's
29:37
Speaker 1: a list of them, and there's only seven of them there.
29:39
Speaker 1: Apparently one died. in battle we're not told but there
29:42
Speaker 1: were eight altogether they're named seven of them are named
29:44
Speaker 1: there were two girls and it always lists second as
29:48
Speaker 1: abinadab and he said that's not the man we're not
29:52
Speaker 1: told why we're just told he's not the one maybe
29:56
Speaker 1: he looked like king material but he wasn't king material
29:59
Speaker 1: here's a third Here's exhibit C. He made Shammah to
30:04
Speaker 1: pass by. He said, neither has the Lord chose this one.
30:09
Speaker 1: Sounds more and more like looking for a mate, doesn't it?
30:12
Speaker 1: You just keep looking and he's not the one. You
30:13
Speaker 1: keep looking, he's not the one. You keep looking and
30:16
Speaker 1: suddenly you come back to the principle of choice. That's
30:19
Speaker 1: verse 7. I purposely overlooked it. The Lord said to Samuel,
30:24
Speaker 1: do not look at his appearance or at the height
30:26
Speaker 1: of his stature because I have rejected him. Why have
30:34
Speaker 1: you rejected him, Lord? Because God sees not as man sees.
30:43
Speaker 1: For man looks at the, literally the Hebrew says, man
30:47
Speaker 1: looks at the face. But the Lord looks at the heart.
30:55
Speaker 1: If there could be one thing I could change about
30:57
Speaker 1: my focus, that would be the thing I'd like to change.
31:00
Speaker 1: I would like to see people not by face. but
31:03
Speaker 1: by heart. That's why I'd like to see them. Wouldn't
31:07
Speaker 1: that be a marvelous ability? What discernment. You could hear
31:12
Speaker 1: a person say something as he sort of blows smoke
31:14
Speaker 1: on you to make you feel great and you see
31:16
Speaker 1: right down inside the heart and you see right away.
31:18
Speaker 1: That's funny. Or you see a person that's struggling to
31:21
Speaker 1: express himself and you see down in the heart. That's real.
31:26
Speaker 1: You see a person who says, I really have a need,
31:28
Speaker 1: but they don't. They're just trying to get you over
31:30
Speaker 1: to their side. And you see that. Now, you see,
31:33
Speaker 1: we're not able to do that. We have limited focus.
31:38
Speaker 1: Only God can do that. Meaning what? Meaning that when
31:44
Speaker 1: we are about to make a choice of someone to
31:47
Speaker 1: work with us or to be a marriage partner or
31:50
Speaker 1: in some way to be linked up in an intimate
31:53
Speaker 1: relationship or a permanent relationship, we have to look to
31:57
Speaker 1: God to give us that kind of discernment because we
32:01
Speaker 1: don't have it in ourselves. Some of you men are
32:06
Speaker 1: involved in work and you're looking right now for personnel.
32:10
Speaker 1: Some of you ladies are in that position. You're looking
32:13
Speaker 1: for personnel. You know better than I that in that
32:17
Speaker 1: process of looking, you can't go by the externals only.
32:25
Speaker 1: In fact, someone has put it rather well. A person
32:27
Speaker 1: that is extremely handsome is often cursed with good looks
32:32
Speaker 1: because his appearance or her appearance is would make you
32:35
Speaker 1: believe other than what they really are. This does not
32:39
Speaker 1: say that if a person is handsome, it's questionable. It
32:43
Speaker 1: says that if he's handsome, it means nothing about his heart.
32:48
Speaker 1: God says, Samuel, that's the principle of choice. And that's
32:51
Speaker 1: why I've said no. He saw Eliab as what he
32:54
Speaker 1: really was. Let's read further. Jesse, verse 10 says, Thus
33:04
Speaker 1: Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But
33:11
Speaker 1: Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. Now,
33:20
Speaker 1: they went through each son, one through seven, and none
33:24
Speaker 1: of the young men happened to be God's choice. Remember
33:29
Speaker 1: what we read earlier? I've already chosen my man. I
33:32
Speaker 1: will designate him. Way over in chapter 13, God said,
33:36
Speaker 1: I'm looking for a man after my heart. I'm searching
33:39
Speaker 1: for that person. He knew who he was. It's highly
33:43
Speaker 1: significant to me that Jesse didn't even have his youngest
33:45
Speaker 1: son in the room. Maybe if you're the baby in
33:52
Speaker 1: the family, you can understand. It's remarkable, isn't it? How
33:57
Speaker 1: Jesse reveals two very common mistakes made by parents. Number one,
34:07
Speaker 1: he didn't have an equal appreciation for all of his children.
34:12
Speaker 1: And number two, he failed to cultivate a mutual self-respect
34:16
Speaker 1: among them. That's easy to do. Some of you here
34:21
Speaker 1: this evening are parents. Some of you here this evening
34:25
Speaker 1: are still under the roof of your parents. And all
34:29
Speaker 1: of us could testify how easy it is to play favorites.
34:34
Speaker 1: Let's face it, some kids are easier to love than
34:36
Speaker 1: other kids. There are some that just sort of grow easily.
34:45
Speaker 1: They love the things you love. They look at the
34:47
Speaker 1: things like you look at them. They love the Lord
34:49
Speaker 1: and His ways. Some of them do not. And it
34:53
Speaker 1: is easy in the process of growing to cultivate one
35:00
Speaker 1: relationship and not another. Because you have favorites. Now let
35:09
Speaker 1: me say that if a kid knows he is a
35:11
Speaker 1: pet at school, he certainly is sharp enough to know
35:14
Speaker 1: he's a pet at home. Or not. Jesse didn't even
35:22
Speaker 1: bring into the house his youngest son. Well, let's face it,
35:29
Speaker 1: he had 10 kids. It's easy to forget one, isn't it?
35:35
Speaker 1: We only have four, and I'll never forget the time
35:37
Speaker 1: we left one at the church when we drove home.
35:41
Speaker 1: Our youngest daughter, Colleen. We got in the car, put
35:44
Speaker 1: all our things in, drove home, got out, took all
35:47
Speaker 1: our things out, went inside, closed the door, started the
35:49
Speaker 1: process of getting together lunch, and all of a sudden,
35:52
Speaker 1: where's Colleen? Oh, I guess we left her. So I
35:56
Speaker 1: got in the car, and I drove back down here,
35:58
Speaker 1: and there was one little girl standing at the front
35:59
Speaker 1: of the church going, She was so angry. You left me.
36:07
Speaker 1: I'm part of this family. I know it, honey. Just
36:09
Speaker 1: get on it. Why did you leave me? I don't know, honey.
36:12
Speaker 1: I just did. Buy an ice cream cone. Be quiet.
36:19
Speaker 1: It's easy to do that, but it's deeper. It's deeper
36:23
Speaker 1: than that. If you'll look, if you'll look at how
36:26
Speaker 1: man forgets and God remembers, verse 11, Samuel said to Jesse,
36:30
Speaker 1: are these all the children? I mean, God told me
36:34
Speaker 1: that one of them would be designated as his king
36:36
Speaker 1: and he's not here. And Jesse, I love this. He says, oh, yeah.
36:45
Speaker 1: There remains. Yeah, there remains yet the youngest. And behold,
36:50
Speaker 1: he's tending the sheep. The way it reads suggests kind
36:54
Speaker 1: of a slam. But he keeps a sheep. He empties
37:02
Speaker 1: the trash. He's a baby. You don't want him implied.
37:10
Speaker 1: One of the finest books on self-respect and self-esteem has
37:14
Speaker 1: been written by Dr. James Dobson entitled Hide or Seek.
37:20
Speaker 1: I really wish all of you had a copy of Dr.
37:22
Speaker 1: Dobson's book Hide or Seek. In the fourth chapter he says,
37:26
Speaker 1: It's high time we declare an all-out war on the
37:29
Speaker 1: destructive value systems of The destructive value systems of our
37:34
Speaker 1: society are you must be either beautiful or you must
37:38
Speaker 1: be extremely intelligent. If you're pretty or handsome or if
37:45
Speaker 1: you are highly intelligent, you got it made in our society.
37:49
Speaker 1: But God help you if you're dumb and ugly. That's
37:53
Speaker 1: the thought of the first three chapters of this book.
37:56
Speaker 1: He says, I think it's high time that we declare
37:58
Speaker 1: an all-out war on it. Hey, by the way, if
38:00
Speaker 1: you're not careful, you'll favor the one in your family
38:03
Speaker 1: that's best looking or most intelligent. Stop and think. Were
38:10
Speaker 1: you the most intelligent? Chances are you got the brakes
38:12
Speaker 1: in your family and in the classroom. We operate like that.
38:21
Speaker 1: He says, I reject the notion that inferiority is inevitable.
38:26
Speaker 1: Although our task is more difficult for some children than
38:29
Speaker 1: for others, there are ways to teach a child of
38:32
Speaker 1: his genuine significance, regardless of the shape of his nose
38:36
Speaker 1: or the size of his ears or the efficiency of
38:38
Speaker 1: his mind. I love this last statement. Every child is
38:42
Speaker 1: entitled to hold up his head, not in haughtiness and pride,
38:46
Speaker 1: but in confidence and security. If you were not smart,
38:53
Speaker 1: and if you were not attractive... And you today are
38:57
Speaker 1: filled with confidence. Your parents did a bang up job.
39:02
Speaker 1: They deserve some praise. Jesse said, well, he keeps the sheep.
39:12
Speaker 1: And look at Samuel's words. He said, send and bring
39:15
Speaker 1: him in. Bring him for we will not sit down
39:18
Speaker 1: until he comes. You see, Samuel is looking like God looks.
39:22
Speaker 1: What does it matter what he does? What does it
39:24
Speaker 1: matter how old he is? He's God's man, apparently. Go
39:29
Speaker 1: get him. Oh, for the ability to see beyond the obvious.
39:36
Speaker 1: To see beyond the bad track record. To see beyond
39:39
Speaker 1: the age or the looks or the lack of intelligence.
39:43
Speaker 1: To see worth and value down deep inside. That's what
39:48
Speaker 1: Samuel has, and Jesse doesn't. He says, go get it. Now,
39:53
Speaker 1: this beautiful moment. Remember Jesse? I mean, David, he's out
39:57
Speaker 1: with the sheep. He doesn't know what's going on down
39:59
Speaker 1: at the house. Probably noticed that there are a few
40:01
Speaker 1: people gathered around, but he's still keeping the sheep. All
40:03
Speaker 1: of a sudden, a runner comes and says to David, hey,
40:06
Speaker 1: they want you back at the house. Remember, he doesn't
40:08
Speaker 1: know anything of what's been going on. Verse 13 says,
40:17
Speaker 1: Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in
40:19
Speaker 1: the midst of his brothers. What? You know, we're so
40:25
Speaker 1: familiar with it, we don't realize just how it happened.
40:28
Speaker 1: Here's David, he walks in, and all of a sudden
40:30
Speaker 1: an older fellow walks over toward him and he's got
40:32
Speaker 1: a horn. And he's got oil in it. He pours
40:35
Speaker 1: it on his head and he feels it. It drips
40:37
Speaker 1: down his hair, drops on his neck. Josephus, the historian, says,
40:44
Speaker 1: that Samuel the aged whispered in his ear the meaning
40:47
Speaker 1: of the symbol, you will be the next king. Fresh
40:53
Speaker 1: off the field, he walks in still smelling like a sheep.
40:57
Speaker 1: And this guy pours oil on him and he says,
40:59
Speaker 1: you will be the next king. And except for a
41:05
Speaker 1: few brothers who say, they walk out, he's left all alone.
41:09
Speaker 1: Oil all over his head, he's going to be the king.
41:14
Speaker 1: What did he do? What do you do in a
41:17
Speaker 1: situation like that? I mean, it doesn't come along every
41:20
Speaker 1: other day, you know. God's ways are so marvelous. At
41:29
Speaker 1: the most surprising moment, the most magnificent things happen. You're
41:38
Speaker 1: going to be the next king. What did he do? Well,
41:45
Speaker 1: I'm happy to report he did not go down to
41:47
Speaker 1: May Company and try on crowns. He didn't have a
41:51
Speaker 1: whole new set of business cards made up saying, change
41:54
Speaker 1: it from shepherd to doctor or king elect. Didn't have
41:59
Speaker 1: a badge saying, I'm the new man. Didn't shine up
42:02
Speaker 1: his chariot and run down the streets of Bethlehem saying,
42:05
Speaker 1: I'm the guy. What did he do? Well, I'm glad
42:10
Speaker 1: you asked. Look down at verse 17. We'll look at
42:13
Speaker 1: this later on, but just to give you a note,
42:15
Speaker 1: let me show you what David did after he got
42:16
Speaker 1: elected king. This is why he got elected. Saul said
42:22
Speaker 1: to his servants, provide for me now a man who
42:24
Speaker 1: can play well and bring him to me. See, Saul
42:27
Speaker 1: is depressed. He needs a good musician. Hey, bring me
42:30
Speaker 1: somebody that can make me feel better. And one of
42:33
Speaker 1: the young men answered and said, Behold, I've seen the
42:35
Speaker 1: son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is a skillful musician,
42:39
Speaker 1: a mighty man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech,
42:43
Speaker 1: a handsome man, and the Lord is with him. And
42:45
Speaker 1: Saul naturally sent a messenger to Jesse and said, Send
42:49
Speaker 1: me your son who is with the flock. You say, well,
42:56
Speaker 1: now that's just an unusual case. Look at the next chapter. Goliath,
43:01
Speaker 1: the battle's going on in the valley of Elah. Drop
43:04
Speaker 1: down to verse 14. David was the youngest. Now the
43:08
Speaker 1: three oldest followed Saul. David went back and forth from
43:11
Speaker 1: Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem. Hey, he's
43:17
Speaker 1: the king's musician. I mean, what's he doing keeping a
43:23
Speaker 1: father's flock? Well, you do that when you've got a
43:26
Speaker 1: heart like David. That was his job. And it made
43:31
Speaker 1: no difference that Samuel came and anointed him with oil.
43:35
Speaker 1: He didn't bronze that horn and hang it up in
43:37
Speaker 1: his tent. He just went back with his sheep. And
43:40
Speaker 1: when Saul said, come on over here, fella, and play
43:43
Speaker 1: a little for me. He went over and played a
43:44
Speaker 1: little when he got through. He says, hey, I got
43:46
Speaker 1: to get back with the sheep. That's my job. Went
43:48
Speaker 1: right on back with the sheep. Because he was a
43:52
Speaker 1: faithful man. How do you handle a promotion? How do
43:59
Speaker 1: you handle an honor? Someone sees in you the qualities
44:04
Speaker 1: and capabilities worth honoring and they bestow on you the honor.
44:09
Speaker 1: Does it make any difference in your character? Are you
44:14
Speaker 1: gracious enough to live right on the same kind of
44:17
Speaker 1: life that you lived before then with hardly a mention
44:20
Speaker 1: of the honor? You're getting ready to king it if
44:26
Speaker 1: you can do that. That's the kind of man or
44:30
Speaker 1: woman God's wanting to use. Sensitive to hear the whisper
44:36
Speaker 1: of God's voice. You're going to be the next king.
44:40
Speaker 1: And as soon as the big thing is over, they
44:43
Speaker 1: turn out the lights. He's back with the sheep. They
44:46
Speaker 1: had to actually pull him from the sheep to get
44:50
Speaker 1: him to do anything that was related to the limelight. Hey,
44:54
Speaker 1: you know, the young need to hear that today, just
44:56
Speaker 1: like the old. Everybody's looking for a break. Their moment
45:01
Speaker 1: in glory. how great it is to see David humble
45:07
Speaker 1: enough to stay just like David. In fact, I think
45:13
Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons he was a man after
45:14
Speaker 1: God's heart. He was always approachable, believable, authentic. I see
45:24
Speaker 1: three timeless lessons that hang in my head as I
45:26
Speaker 1: go over these 13 verses with you this evening. Here
45:30
Speaker 1: they are. One, two, three. God's solutions are often strange
45:34
Speaker 1: and simple. Be open. We try to make God awfully
45:42
Speaker 1: complex and complicated. He isn't. His solutions are often strange
45:51
Speaker 1: and simple. As with the case of Saul and all
45:57
Speaker 1: the complications of the throne, God simply said to Samuel,
46:01
Speaker 1: go where I tell you to go. I got a
46:03
Speaker 1: simple answer. A new man. You just follow me. Don't
46:10
Speaker 1: make the carrying out of God's will complicated. It isn't. Second,
46:18
Speaker 1: God's promotions are usually sudden and surprising. Be ready. At
46:26
Speaker 1: the time you expect it the least, it'll come. Just
46:33
Speaker 1: like his son's coming from heaven. Sudden and surprising, he
46:38
Speaker 1: splits the clouds and he's with us. Just when we
46:43
Speaker 1: expect him the least, he's there like a thief in
46:46
Speaker 1: the night. So his promotions are. He watches you as
46:52
Speaker 1: you faithfully carry out your sheep-like tasks and he says
46:55
Speaker 1: to you, I know what I'm doing. In a sudden
46:58
Speaker 1: and surprising moment, you be ready. I know where I am.
47:01
Speaker 1: I know where you are. I know how to get
47:03
Speaker 1: to you. You just carry out your job. Here's the last.
47:09
Speaker 1: God's selections are always sovereign and sure. Be calm. That
47:15
Speaker 1: applies to a mate. It also applies to the loss
47:22
Speaker 1: of a mate. I took tally of the funerals I've had.
47:26
Speaker 1: The last 20 funerals I've had, half of them have
47:29
Speaker 1: been people 40 years old and younger. In the prime
47:37
Speaker 1: of life, the zenith of a career and of a family,
47:40
Speaker 1: many of these individuals left little children, several of them,
47:46
Speaker 1: planning on a full life, and God stepped in and
47:49
Speaker 1: stopped it. Sovereign and sure. In the process of searching
47:56
Speaker 1: out God's mind, don't make it complicated. Don't confuse it. Hey,
48:04
Speaker 1: if the year 1809 was a good year, I know
48:06
Speaker 1: a year better than that. It's when all the world
48:10
Speaker 1: is watching the Oval Office, all the world is watching
48:12
Speaker 1: the international affairs and the unbelievable events that are happening
48:16
Speaker 1: in the big, broad scale we call life. God is
48:20
Speaker 1: looking up in the hills. Isn't that a great thought?
48:24
Speaker 1: He's looking for his people to say, you are mine.
48:29
Speaker 1: I want to use you there. Because you proved yourself
48:34
Speaker 1: faithful there. That's our calling. To be faithful in the
48:43
Speaker 1: demanding tasks of whatever. Education. Marriage. Occupation. Just the daily
48:55
Speaker 1: grind of life. That's where it's at. Okay, let's bow.
49:11
Speaker 1: We do thank you, our Father, for that distinctive hand,
49:16
Speaker 1: your hand on our lives. And I sense this evening
49:21
Speaker 1: in this service some that are just right in the
49:23
Speaker 1: crucible under the smarting rod of God. Some hurting, some confused.
49:36
Speaker 1: Some delightfully thrilled with a message like this because it
49:39
Speaker 1: verifies their exact experience. Almost to the letter except for geography.
49:48
Speaker 1: And in the process of life, you are at work.
49:54
Speaker 1: I pray that you would build integrity and faithfulness, consistency
49:59
Speaker 1: in the lives of your people. Represented here and those
50:05
Speaker 1: who will hear it, on a recording in the months
50:09
Speaker 1: and the years to come. Those who are faithful in
50:13
Speaker 1: the obscure place, the place that's not applauded, not even seen,
50:21
Speaker 1: as character is built where nobody's looking. Thank you for
50:28
Speaker 1: your love, Lord. In Jesus' name.
50:38
Speaker 2: The preceding message, A Nobody Nobody Noticed, was copyrighted in 1977, 1988, 1997, 2009,
50:47
Speaker 2: and 2022, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022
50:53
Speaker 2: by Charles R.
50:54
Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
50:55
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
51:00
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.