Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20260503 - Keeping Focus - Genesis & 1 Samuel

Transcript

#20260503 - Keeping Focus - Genesis & 1 Samuel · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
0:09
Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
0:12
resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
0:15
into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
0:20
dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
0:25
Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
0:31
Excited to be with you this morning.
0:32
We're going to be in a few. Places in Scripture.
0:35
So if you want to get ahead, we'll be in Genesis chapter
0:38
1215161718 and chapter 21. So just kidding, we'll start in
0:43
chapter 12 and I'll lead you slowly through a story of Abram
0:47
and Sarah today. And then we're also going to be
0:49
in First Samuel chapter 16. We'll be in First Samuel 16 and
0:52
we're going to be going to 16, seven or 1619 and 24 as just a
0:58
heads up as you want to get to head.
1:01
Before we jump in the word though, let's pray and ask the
1:04
the Lord we go before us as we study his word.
1:08
Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you.
1:09
We thank you for this weekend. We thank you for this place
1:12
truly is a sanctuary for us, God, we just ask that you'd
1:15
speak to our hearts, Lord, that you'd fill us up afresh and a
1:18
new with your Holy Spirit so that we can receive your word
1:21
today. We thank you, Lord, for the
1:23
opportunity that we have to be able to fellowship and worship
1:26
you in song, but also worship you through the study of your
1:29
word. And we just want to receive from
1:31
you today, Lord, we want to be moulded and matured by you.
1:35
We want to grow in our relationship with you and we
1:37
want to be equipped for what you have for us this week.
1:40
And so, Lord, I pray as I pray every time that I know I have my
1:43
notes and I know that I have the direction I would like to go
1:47
with this message. But we just pray for a, a fresh
1:49
filling of your spirit so that might be poured out for your
1:52
people. You know, the hearts and the
1:53
minds in this room. Lord, you know how you want to
1:55
adjust the message and the notes and just pray, Lord, that I'd be
1:58
open to that as well, just to, to go off and allow your spirit
2:02
to lead. So pray that you bless this time
2:03
as we jump in your word in Jesus name we all say Amen.
2:11
Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I've been getting, I
2:15
think most of us have experienced this.
2:17
Maybe I experience it more than others, but I've been getting
2:19
these spam texts and they're not political spam texts like we
2:22
usually get. I've been getting these texts
2:24
from my eye doctor telling me that I need to schedule my next
2:27
eye appointment. And for some people, you know,
2:30
the eye doctor is no big deal. You know, you have a bigger fear
2:33
of the dentist maybe. But for me, I'm the last
2:36
standing member of my family with 2020 vision.
2:39
And so the eye doctor represents that I may need glasses or
2:42
contacts in the future. My father has it, my older
2:45
brother had it, my sister has it, my mom has it, and my wife
2:49
actually has it too. So I am the final one in my
2:53
family that does not have glasses.
2:55
And I don't like going to the eye doctor because they make you
2:58
take that test, the visual acuity test where you sit in the
3:01
chair, they put that contraption in front of your face and they
3:03
make you look at a chart on the wall.
3:05
Do you guys know what that chart is?
3:06
You guys recognize the E at the top, and then you kind of have
3:10
the next line of letters. And then the next line of
3:12
letters gets a little smaller. And then the final line of the
3:14
letters is just dots really. You can't really tell.
3:16
It's pretty blurry. You can't really tell if it's AC
3:19
or AD or an L or an E. Well, as I was praying and
3:22
preparing this message, it really just put that in
3:25
perspective or the Lord gave me this picture of that test
3:28
because it feels like, and it seems like we tend to have the
3:32
same experience when it comes to the word of God or a promise of
3:35
the Lord. Like we hear it, we receive it,
3:38
we're encouraged by it, we're excited by it.
3:40
It's almost as crystal clear as that first letter.
3:43
You know, you in confidence, you proudly say that's an E and the
3:46
doctor's like, good job. Now let's move to the next line.
3:49
You're like, all right, I got it.
3:50
And you know, that's AD and you're like, yeah, good, what's
3:52
the next one? And O and an L.
3:54
Then you move on to the next line.
3:55
You're like, I think that's an L I think it's an I, It could be
3:59
AG, I'm not really sure. Then you get to the last line,
4:01
you're like, yeah, I just need glasses.
4:02
Like you just give me glasses. Like I'm OK with that.
4:05
Often times when it comes to the.
4:07
Word of the Lord like. We can confidently say, man,
4:09
that was so encouraging, like I needed that.
4:11
That was so good for me. I've been praying.
4:13
About this, I've been wrestling with this and the Lord just gave
4:15
it to me that thank you, Lord, it's so good.
4:18
And then kind of the days go by as you're like, man, that word
4:21
of the Lord is for me, but I'm not, you know, this is kind of
4:24
hard. You know, this isn't really
4:26
turning out like the Lord said, I was going to have peace this
4:28
week, and this week has not been peaceful.
4:30
And it's like you're gone down to the next line of that chart
4:33
and things are starting to look a little bit blurry.
4:35
Still good. You can kind of read like, no,
4:36
no, I got it. Well, then something else
4:38
happens. You know, maybe it's a, a doubt
4:41
or maybe it's a, a broken expectation and you're now at
4:44
the next line or maybe something super surprising you weren't
4:47
expecting and you're just like, OK, like I'm, I'm, I'm tracking
4:49
with the what the Lord said. I know it's there.
4:51
I know that looks kind of like a kind of like AG, kind of like
4:56
ACI don't know, I didn't get to the last line.
4:59
And typically that's time because time is something that
5:02
we can't get more of. We have a certain amount of
5:05
allotted time, like we can't change how much time we have on
5:09
earth, But as we're waiting and waiting and waiting, we have
5:12
farther and farther away from what seems so clear at one point
5:15
in our lives. So we're just wondering, like,
5:17
Lord, what's going on? Why does it seem so blurry?
5:20
Why does it seem so distorted? And today's titled message is
5:24
keeping focus. We're going to be looking at 2
5:27
characters today, two people in the Bible, Abram and David, and
5:31
both were given a promise. Both were given a word from the
5:35
Lord that was very clear. Both had to experience this
5:39
hesitation. Both were put in places of
5:42
doubt. Both were challenged with
5:44
potential compromise in the things that they were facing.
5:47
And yet they both give us examples of how we might be able
5:51
to endure as we wait for the promise of God, how we might be
5:54
able to keep our focus on the word that the Lord gave us.
5:57
Because it's so important to remember a few things.
5:59
And I did this a few weeks ago when I got to teach, and I want
6:02
to do it again. I'm going to give you the answer
6:03
right at the beginning, things that you may need to hide in
6:06
your heart, some verses that you may need to memorize and just to
6:09
remember the character and the person of who God is when he
6:12
gives you a promise. The promise keeper is truly a
6:15
great promise. Excuse me, the promise giver is
6:18
a great promise keeper and in. Hebrews chapter 12 verses one
6:22
and two. It speaks.
6:23
About how God is the author and the finisher of our faith.
6:27
How we need to be able to look unto Him or fix our eyes on
6:31
Jesus, as one of the translations speaks about.
6:33
And that looking unto Jesus helps us establish our focus,
6:37
helps us establish our ability to wait on the Lord patiently.
6:42
It helps us reject compromise as we're going to see David does.
6:45
It helps us stay in line with what God desires for our lives,
6:50
where we can experience the blessing to its fullest.
6:52
And some of you just need to know Hebrews chapter 12 verses
6:54
one and two. You just need to remember, or
6:56
maybe the first time you've ever heard it, that Jesus is the
6:59
author and finisher of your faith.
7:01
He's the one that as long as you keep your eyes fixed on Him,
7:03
you're going to make it through. Then there's Philippians one
7:06
verse 6. Philippians one verse 6 speaks
7:08
about how God is faithful to complete the work He's begun in
7:11
you. You need to hear that today
7:13
because you need to know that the things that the Lord has
7:15
started in your life, He's going to be faithful to complete it.
7:18
He's going to be. Faithful to give you what you
7:20
need to endure it. The marriage he's blessed you
7:23
with. He's going to give you what you
7:24
need to be blessed in your marriage.
7:26
The kids, he's blessed you. With He's going to give you what
7:28
you need to be the great parent He's called you to be, the
7:31
workplace environment He's placed you in that He's blessed
7:34
you with. He's going to give you
7:35
everything you need to be able to not only honor Him and
7:39
glorify him, but be blessed in that workplace.
7:42
He is the one who started a good work in you.
7:44
He will be the one who finishes it.
7:47
And right away, if you don't have those verses memorized,
7:49
it's important to hide. Those in your heart so that when
7:52
you get to situations that we're going to look at here in
7:54
Scripture and you're tested with doubt, you're tested with maybe
7:58
the hesitation, you're tested with things that are
8:00
overwhelming or situations or people in your ear that are
8:03
really lying to you saying they speak for the Lord, but they're
8:07
not speaking for the Lord. You'll be able to remember who
8:09
your God is. You'll be remember who he
8:11
desires to be in your life, even if you don't fully understand
8:15
what that looks like practically.
8:17
He's the author and the finisher, and he's the one who's
8:19
going to complete the work you began in your life.
8:22
That's the God. We get to hope in.
8:23
So if you would turn with me to Genesis chapter 12, we're going
8:26
to look at a promise that was given to Abraham at the ripe old
8:28
age of 75. Genesis chapter 12.
8:35
It says this in verse one. Now the Lord had said to Abram,
8:39
get out of your country, from your family and from your
8:42
father's house to a land that I will show you.
8:46
I will make you a great nation. I will bless.
8:48
You in verse 2 and make your name great, and you shall be a
8:51
blessing. I will bless those who bless
8:54
you, and I will curse him who curses you and in you all the
8:56
families either shall be blessed.
8:58
So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went
9:02
with him, and Abraham was 75 years.
9:04
Old when he departed from Haran, Abraham is well matured in age
9:10
at this point in his life. And the Lord comes to him and
9:12
says, hey, I'm going to bless you.
9:14
I'm going to give you a big blessing.
9:15
I'm going to make you great. I'm going to make your
9:17
descendants great. I'm going to bless your father's
9:19
house. You're going to be a great
9:20
nation, and I'm calling you to a new land.
9:24
So at 75 years old, Abraham or Abram, excuse me, takes this
9:28
word and moves. He leaves.
9:31
He goes and starts walking in the promise that the Lord gave
9:34
him. If you would turn with me to
9:36
chapter 15, chapter 15, starting in verse one.
9:41
There's been some time and Abraham has gained some wealth,
9:44
he's gained some possessions. He's gone through some things as
9:47
he's taken the step of faith, following after God's word,
9:50
after God's promise in his life. And it hasn't necessarily come
9:54
about the way that he was expecting.
9:56
And so we are introduced in this moment in chapter 15, just this
10:00
brief picture of a hesitation, of a wonder, of a doubt that
10:04
Abram is going through. And so he brings it before the
10:06
Lord. Very practical, very easy to
10:09
relate to Abraham or Abram at this point.
10:12
He hasn't been called Abraham yet.
10:13
We're going to read that passage when he actually is renamed by
10:16
the Lord. But pick up with me in verse 1
10:18
of chapter 15. It says this.
10:19
After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a
10:23
vision saying, do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your
10:26
exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what
10:30
will you give me, seeing I go childless and the heir of my
10:33
house is Eleazar Damascus? Then Abram said, look, you have
10:38
given me no offspring, indeed one born in my house is my heir.
10:42
And behold, the word of Lord came to him saying this one
10:45
should not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body
10:48
shall be your heir. Naturally, after he's gained
10:52
some wealth, he's gained some possessions, he now has an
10:54
inheritance to give to his heir. He practically just asked, Lord,
10:58
how is this going to work? I don't have a son.
11:02
I don't have a practical heir. Actually, my right hand guy,
11:05
Eleazar Damascus, he's in line to receive everything, all of
11:09
these blessings. When are you going to give me
11:11
the promise that you said? Because it right now it just
11:15
doesn't look like it's going to happen.
11:17
In fact, it looks like I'm going to be giving it all to Eleazar.
11:21
And the Lord just reaffirms he calms that hesitation.
11:24
If we use that analogy of that eye chart at the doctor's
11:27
office, you could say he's kind of on that first line.
11:29
Like he hears it, he believes it, he's processing it
11:32
practically, and he's just like, it doesn't seem like it's going
11:34
to fit, like he's trying to figure it out.
11:36
And he's like, Lord, this is what I'm thinking.
11:38
What do you think? He's having some doubts.
11:40
Well, the Lord just simply tells him, hey, don't worry, I hear
11:43
you. I understand that you think that
11:45
this is the next air, but I want to give you a promise.
11:48
Your air is going to come from your body.
11:51
You will have a son. That will be your error.
11:53
And I love that because it's a picture of the Lord and how we
11:57
get hit with some doubt sometimes.
11:59
Like I heard that word, I heard that message, you know, I was
12:02
praying, I was reading my word. Someone came into my life and
12:04
spoke in my life in a situation and I believed it.
12:07
It was for me when I saw it, when I heard it, it was clear,
12:10
like man, I didn't. How did the Lord know?
12:12
How does he know what I'm going through?
12:13
How did he, how did you know what I'm going through?
12:14
Well, the Lord told me to tell you this, man, it's so cool and
12:17
you receive it and then you kind of move on a little bit and it's
12:20
not necessary. Really going the way you
12:22
expected and you just like Lord like, what's going on?
12:24
It doesn't seem like it's going to work in the Lord's like, hey,
12:27
don't worry. I want to reaffirm this to you.
12:29
I'm going to give you a little bit more.
12:30
Clarity. Here you go.
12:31
And that's what he's doing with. Abram now pick up with me in in
12:35
chapter 16 as again Abram is faced with a decision.
12:40
Unfortunately, we'll find him stepping into a a decision of
12:44
compromise. But it says this in verse one.
12:48
Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children, and she
12:52
had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
12:55
So Sarah said to Abram, See now the Lord has restrained me from
12:59
bearing children, please go in my maid, and perhaps I shall
13:03
obtain children by her. And Abram heeded the voice of
13:06
Sarai. Then Sarai, Abraham's wife, took
13:09
Hagar, her maid the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband
13:11
Abram to be his wife. And after Abram had dwelt 10
13:15
years in the land of Canaan, so he went into Hagar and she
13:18
conceived. And when she saw that she had
13:19
conceived, her mistress, Speaking of Sarai became
13:23
despised in her eyes. Sarai gets very upset with Hagar
13:29
and we're given this picture into the life of Abram and Sarai
13:34
because now time has passed, some real time has passed.
13:37
We're we're talking 10 years. Abram is no longer 75, most
13:41
scholars believe. He was about 85 and by the end
13:44
of this, when Ishmael is born, he is 86.
13:48
So there's been some real time since the promise has been made
13:50
to him, and they start trying to figure out how they may have
13:55
heard God wrong. Maybe.
13:57
Or how they can help God along in his promise keeping because
14:01
obviously it's not working the way they thought it's supposed
14:03
to work. Sarah, I cannot have a child.
14:06
She's not able to bear children to Abram.
14:10
And so they come up with this idea where when we read this,
14:12
we're like, obviously this is wrong, they shouldn't do this.
14:15
But in this moment, you can tell that they're thinking hard.
14:18
They're trying to figure out how they might have descendants and
14:22
they don't want to do it in a way that is necessarily
14:25
dishonouring. Which is why they make the maid
14:28
become Abram's wife. And by making her a wife and
14:32
having a kid with Abram, the heir becomes legitimate because
14:35
it's the wife of Abram. So the son is in a legitimate
14:38
heir or a legitimate heir in their mind.
14:42
What they miss though, and this is what we typically miss as we
14:44
apply our own wisdom to a situation apart from God.
14:48
Instead of godly wisdom, which is the only true wisdom, we use
14:51
worldly wisdom or we use man made logic to try to figure this
14:54
out. What they don't realize is that
14:56
God never condones having two wives.
14:59
That's not from the Lord. It's never in Scripture.
15:01
Culturally, it might have been a thing in their time, but God
15:03
never in Scripture condones the allowance of more than one wife.
15:08
It was Adam Eve, not Adam, Eve and Kathleen.
15:12
Like it wasn't three. There was only two in the
15:14
garden. It was one man, one woman.
15:17
And that's what marriage was supposed to be.
15:19
And put in their twisted thinking in their distance from
15:22
the Lord, in their desire to manufacture this promise in
15:25
their own strength. Because I don't want to dismiss.
15:29
There was some emotion, there was some sadness, there was some
15:33
brokenness, there was some confusion, there was some doubt.
15:37
There's a lot going on here in this struggle.
15:40
God gives you such a great promise.
15:42
It's it's something that you dream about.
15:43
It's something that you're hoping for.
15:44
It's something that you're wanting and desiring.
15:46
And yet nothing is working. It's not happening.
15:49
And maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I'm the problem.
15:52
So let me fix the problem. I've come up with this idea on
15:55
how to fix it so she might be able to enjoy Abram, the promise
15:59
of God. And when you put it in that
16:03
picture, when you put it from that perspective, I can relate
16:06
to that. Maybe not the situation.
16:08
I pray that no one can relate to that situation, but I can relate
16:12
to the emotions of it. I can relate to the
16:14
disheartening feelings of sadness and doubt, insecurities,
16:23
discouragement. Like I can relate to that.
16:25
I can relate to, you know, like maybe, maybe I'm the reason
16:29
God's promise isn't able to come forth so.
16:34
I start scrambling or we start scrambling to figure it out.
16:38
You know, we start becoming a people pleaser.
16:40
You know, my my family's not saved yet, so maybe I just need
16:43
to. Change how I'm doing it.
16:43
Maybe I need to kind of compromise the way that I'm
16:46
living for the Lord in order to reach my family because I love
16:50
my family and they're they're still not saved.
16:52
Like maybe I need to change how I approach?
16:55
The, the work Hangouts, everyone sees me as an outsider.
16:58
I don't hang out with them after work because I don't want to get
17:02
drunk at the happy hour. I don't want to get caught up in
17:05
those. But maybe like maybe I can go
17:06
and maybe not like maybe I can, you know, maybe there's some
17:09
room here that I can can mess with the testimony a little bit
17:12
to, to reach them. And we find ourselves in these
17:16
practical but maybe not necessarily bad ideas when you
17:21
come at it from a. Worldly perspective or a man
17:26
made wisdom, or like we talked about a few weeks ago in
17:28
Proverbs chapter 3, lean not on your own understanding, but in
17:32
all your ways acknowledge Him. So he shall direct your paths
17:35
and we just start seeing our guard kind of go down a little
17:37
bit. You know, I've been single for
17:40
so long and I just want to get married maybe.
17:42
Maybe my standards are a little too high when it comes to to
17:44
purity. Maybe I need to change things up
17:47
to become closer to people so that it leads to marriage
17:50
faster. You know, we start dealing with
17:52
these things that are not necessarily, and I don't want to
17:56
say not necessarily they're not from the.
17:58
Lord, you know, yeah. The idea is the Lord did promise
18:02
that you would get this promotion, and the Lord did
18:04
promise that you would enjoy marriage at one day in your
18:07
life. The Lord did promise, you know
18:09
these different things, but He promised.
18:11
It in a certain way to be done in a certain way as you wait
18:13
patiently for him to bring it forth, not for you to
18:15
manufacture and try to make it happen in your own strength, in
18:19
your own wisdom, apart from God, just because it seemed like it
18:23
was a logical choice for Abraham and Sarai.
18:26
It was logical, except that it removed the Lord it.
18:30
Made sense in their own vision, but it removed God.
18:34
It wasn't godly wisdom, wasn't true wisdom.
18:36
It was their ability to try to manufacture something that this
18:39
isn't what was. From the Lord cause immense
18:42
pain, cause immense turmoil in their life and generation after
18:46
generation it would actually cause more and more pain.
18:50
As the same descendants from Ishmael, which would be the son
18:52
of Hagar and the descendant of Sarah, which spoiler, it's going
18:57
to be Isaac. Israel has been the descendant
19:01
of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael have been going at it
19:03
for generation after generation, even up to this point this last
19:06
year. And they will continue to do it
19:09
because of this compromise, because of this sin.
19:14
And for them, in their brokenness, they tried to make
19:17
it happen. And what they did was they
19:19
created something much. Worse, and they robbed
19:23
themselves from the perfect blessings that God had intended
19:26
for them. And we also get put in these
19:29
situations often. Where we have a choice to
19:34
compromise the things that the Lord has made very clear to us.
19:38
But because maybe time has passed, because the voices are
19:41
getting louder, those in your circle, the those in your
19:44
trusted circle are no longer speaking on behalf of the Lord
19:47
And you haven't recognized it. You haven't seen it.
19:51
You haven't been able to spot hold on, That's not from God.
19:54
Abram could have easily said no, Sarai, that's not from the Lord
19:57
and his weakness, trying to appease his wife, unable to
20:02
maybe know how to lead her in this troubling and hard time.
20:06
He made a decision that broke them.
20:08
That causes great strife. The Lord is merciful and
20:12
gracious though, and I love this.
20:14
He not only blesses Hagar and Ishmael, he not only says,
20:17
Ishmael, hey, you're going to have great descendants as well.
20:20
You're going to have you'll be blessed.
20:22
This isn't your. Fault.
20:23
This is something caused by my servant.
20:25
Abram later in chapter 16, but in chapter 17, he's so merciful
20:30
and gracious, he actually comes back and he reaffirms again to
20:33
Abraham and Sarai. So if you would pick up me in
20:36
chapter 17, the Lord's not done with them, he's not done with
20:40
you. In verse one it says when Abram
20:43
was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to
20:47
him, I am Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless, and
20:51
I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply
20:54
you exceedingly. Then Abram fell on his face and
20:56
God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is
20:59
with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.
21:02
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name
21:04
shall be Abraham. For I've made you a father of
21:07
many nations. I will make you exceedingly
21:10
fruitful, and I will make nations of you.
21:12
And king shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant
21:14
between me and you and your descendants after you in their
21:19
generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and
21:22
your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your
21:25
descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all
21:27
the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession.
21:30
I will be their God even after the compromise.
21:36
The Lord comes in and. Speaks to Abram.
21:38
Hey, that wasn't the answer. And I still love you, I still
21:43
care for you, I still am going to make my name great for you.
21:47
And through you, I'm going to be your God.
21:48
I'm going to be the God of the people that come from your
21:50
descendants. Because this promise wasn't
21:52
dependent necessarily on Abram and his obedience.
21:55
It was dependent on the one who gave it.
21:58
And thankfully, the promise giver is also the promise
22:01
keeper. We can trust in the promises
22:02
that are given to the Lord are given to us by the Lord.
22:06
And for Abraham, he goes through this passage and he starts
22:08
reaffirming again, no, this is what I'm going to do for you,
22:11
Abram. And in verse 15, pick up with
22:14
me, he says, then God said, Abraham, As for Sarah your wife,
22:17
he gets specific. Now he wants to make sure that
22:19
they know that this descendant is coming from Sarah.
22:21
You shall not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall be her
22:24
name, and I will bless her and also give you a son by her.
22:29
Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations,
22:32
kings of people shall be from her.
22:34
And then Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed and said in
22:38
his heart, you know those quiet thoughts that we have.
22:41
He said in his heart, shall a child be born to a man who is
22:44
100 years old? And shall Sarah, who is 90 years
22:50
old bear a child? And Abraham said to God, oh,
22:52
that Ishmael might live before you.
22:56
Even after the reaffirmation, even after the comforting word
23:00
of the Lord, even after how specific he gets, Abraham still
23:03
can't comprehend Lord, what do you mean?
23:06
How are you going to do this? I'm 100 years old.
23:09
And it's funny that he would say that because it's very clear
23:12
he's 99, but he's feeling 100. Yeah.
23:15
Can't imagine that one year is a big difference.
23:17
But 100 years old and my wife's 90 and don't we have that in our
23:22
own hearts? Sometimes we're just quietly
23:24
like, again, the Lord is trying to tell you, this is what I can
23:27
do for you. This is what I desire to do in
23:30
you. This is what's available to you.
23:33
And yet in our hearts are like, I just, Lord, it's been, it's
23:37
been so long. You told me this when I was 75.
23:42
I'm 90. I'm feeling 100 years old today.
23:44
And the Lord's like, no, my, my promises haven't changed.
23:48
In fact, I'm going to make it even more specific for you.
23:51
So you can. Stop trying to manipulate your
23:53
way into this or your way out of this.
23:56
And in his cry of desperation, he still reaches out for that
24:00
compromise. He said, what about Ishmael?
24:02
Can't you just make this true with Ishmael?
24:05
And God doesn't want his manufactured work.
24:09
God doesn't need Abraham's help to prove that he's a great God,
24:14
that he's a mighty God and he doesn't need ours.
24:17
But we do have a choice on whether or not we want to be
24:20
obedient to the Lord, on whether we want to allow the Lord to do
24:24
this work and get the glory from our decision making, because it
24:28
is. It's crazy.
24:30
Something interesting in chapter 17, it's been 13 years since
24:34
Abram has heard from the Lord, 13 years of silence since he had
24:39
that compromising situation with his wife and Hagar.
24:44
That's hard. And some of you may be walking
24:47
through even as you're looking at going back in your mind and
24:50
Lord's bringing up things, you're like, man, you know, I, I
24:52
didn't mess that up. The Lord did give me that
24:54
promise and I messed it up. And I don't, I don't think that
24:57
there's, I don't think I can come back from this.
25:00
I think I've ruined it. You know, Lord, just just do
25:03
what you can with what I've done.
25:05
And God says, no, you still have hope.
25:09
There's still grace. There's still things I want to
25:11
do in your life. There's still a finished work
25:13
that I'm going to finish in your life.
25:16
I don't need what you've done. And what you've done does not
25:19
restrict me from following through with my promise to you.
25:22
And I'm here to reaffirm to you 13 years later that I'm still
25:28
working even despite your decision making.
25:33
That's grace. That's mercy.
25:36
Many people say the God of the Old Testament was just, He's so
25:39
different from the God of the New Testament.
25:40
There's no grace, There's no mercy.
25:41
He's so judge. No, that's grace, that's mercy.
25:45
He comes into comfort. He comes in to redeem, He comes
25:47
in to restore. He comes in to remind that he's
25:51
not done with Abram and Sarah. In fact, he's so not done with
25:56
them that he changes their name so that every time they think of
25:58
their name, they'll remember why it was changed because of the
26:01
promise that God's going to fulfill in their life.
26:05
We'll find out. Pick up with me in chapter 21,
26:09
we'll find out that the Lord is not only the promise giver, but
26:12
he is truly a promise keeper. And Isaac would be born.
26:15
But before we get into chapter 21, there's a there's a time
26:18
where the Lord comes and we're not going to be able to go into
26:20
it in depth, but I'll summarize it for you.
26:21
But the Lord comes to Abraham's house, goes to the tent and he
26:26
shares again. He reaffirms to Abraham, hey, by
26:29
this time next year, you're going to have a kid, Sarah, your
26:31
wife's going to be pregnant. And Sarah's in the back of the
26:36
tent, you know, behind the door listening in and she's just
26:38
laughing, kind of like Abraham had.
26:40
It seems like Abraham had a discipleship problem in his
26:43
home. He wasn't able to take the same
26:45
reaction he had in chapter 17 and redistribute it to his wife
26:51
and say, hey, I laughed at God and he corrected me because
26:53
here's his wife being told as the Lord knew she was listening,
26:58
but being told. That she was.
27:00
Going to be pregnant a year and she starts.
27:01
Laughing like that's. Not going to happen.
27:03
I know my body and that's not happening.
27:05
Too old. And yet here we are in chapter
27:09
21, a year later, it says the Lord visited Sarah as he had
27:13
said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken.
27:18
For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at
27:22
the set time of which God had spoken to him.
27:25
And Aram called the name of his son who was born to him, whom
27:27
Sarah bore him, Isaac. Sarah did have a child, despite
27:35
all odds. Despite the circumstance,
27:38
despite how it looked, despite what she was feeling, despite
27:40
what she was thinking, despite what Abraham was thinking,
27:43
despite their sin, despite their compromise, God fulfilled His.
27:47
Word, you may be in this room today and you're just like, I
27:51
did this wrong. Therefore God could never bless
27:53
it. God could never redeem it.
27:55
I messed up his plan for my life.
27:58
I'm here to tell you that you have not.
28:00
The Lord still has a plan for your life.
28:02
He still desires to be the father in your life.
28:05
He still desires to be the Lord of your life.
28:07
He still desires to be the one who sustains you and and brings
28:10
you endurance and brings you strength and brings you
28:12
everything you could need to face what he's brought you into.
28:15
And even the things that you brought yourself into, the
28:17
decisions you've made, they're like, man, they really messed
28:21
up. They went around and they forced
28:23
God's hand. God doesn't is not forced by us.
28:28
Abraham and Sarah, they tried, but they didn't complete what
28:32
God was doing. God was going to complete it at
28:35
that point of time. 25 years later after the promise was
28:38
given, 25 years later after God said Abraham, this is how I'm
28:43
going to do it. He reaffirmed them and
28:46
reaffirmed them and he walked them to this chapter, chapter
28:50
21, and he gave Sarah a baby named Isaac.
28:54
Some of you just need to hear the Lord is still not done with
28:57
you. You need to hear that because
29:00
the Lord desires obedience from you.
29:02
He desires you to refocus on that top letter, to walk
29:06
confidently in the things that he has taught you through his
29:08
word, that truth that you heard, that word that you heard, that
29:12
encouraging exhortation or encouragement that you heard
29:15
from that friend who loves the Lord and just they spoke in your
29:18
life. You're like, yeah, yes, and
29:20
Amen. And then and then time goes on.
29:22
You're like, I don't know, maybe they're just too much caffeine
29:24
in the morning. You know, they they didn't know
29:26
what? They were talking about.
29:28
Lord, I know you blessed me with this job I've been applying for,
29:30
but this is the worst job I've ever had in my life.
29:33
Are you sure You really blessed me?
29:35
Maybe it was my mistake. Maybe I did this.
29:37
I shouldn't have applied for that.
29:38
You were going to give me a better job.
29:40
And so you go in every day disgruntled into your workplace.
29:43
You're like, this is not for me. I messed it up.
29:45
And I'm like, no, the Lord wants to do a work.
29:47
He's placed you there. He desires to do a work in that
29:50
relationship. Maybe it's not work at all and
29:53
it's the person you chose. It's like, man, I wasn't
29:56
supposed to get married to so and so.
29:58
That's a lie from the devil. Stop, just stop.
30:03
The Lord can redeem the work he's doing in your life.
30:06
The marriage is undefiled by God.
30:08
He desires that marriage to be reconciled.
30:10
He desires that marriage to represent him.
30:12
Well, you're like, well, maybe I did something wrong.
30:17
Maybe you did, but the Lord still desires to bring the
30:20
promise forward in your life. He still desires to reset the
30:24
things that were done wrong in your life for His glory, not
30:29
because of you. Abraham and Sarah, they didn't
30:32
get any glory for what they did with Hagar.
30:35
They didn't get any glory for what happened with Ishmael.
30:39
In fact, I was just a stain. It was pain, it was hurt, it was
30:43
hardship, and the Lord stepped in and would bless Hagar and
30:46
Ishmael despite their actions. But the Lord wasn't done with
30:51
His people. He wasn't done with Abraham and
30:52
Sarah. And we see that in chapter 21.
30:54
The Lord came through because the Lord said He would, and we
30:58
need to hold on to that. The Lord is ready to redeem and
31:00
restore and to come through on our behalf as we wait patiently
31:04
for Him. He can fix the mistake, He can
31:08
help redeem the mistake, but it's not an excuse to no longer
31:13
hope in the Lord and what His Word says.
31:17
In fact, it should encourage you through this story that you need
31:20
to keep pressing forward, waiting on that promise from the
31:22
Lord because He will complete the work that he's begun.
31:25
Amen. Pick up with me in First Samuel
31:28
chapter 16. Now we go into like an
31:31
encouraging story because David does some amazing things.
31:34
He's faced with some amazing problems, and we see him unfazed
31:38
in First Samuel 16. To give you some context, Saul
31:42
was the king of Israel at the time.
31:44
He was anointed by Samuel, who was the prophet, the Oracle of
31:48
God at the time, the the one who spoke for the Lord to the people
31:50
of Israel. The Lord is done with Saul as
31:54
king. He disobeyed.
31:56
He removed Saul from his authority.
31:59
He was no longer going to be king.
32:00
So God didn't even want his heir to take over.
32:03
So the Lord sent Samuel on a trip to go and anoint this new
32:07
king of Israel, the new one that he's chosen shepherd boy, a no
32:12
name guy doing chores in the field.
32:15
It says this in chapter 16. First Samuel.
32:19
Now the Lord said to Samuel, how long were you mourn for Saul,
32:22
seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
32:25
Fill your horn with oil and go. I'm sending you to Jesse the
32:28
Bethlehem might, for I provided myself a king among his sons.
32:32
And Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears it, he'll kill me.
32:35
But the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I've come to
32:37
sacrifice to the Lord. Then invite Jesse to the
32:39
sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do.
32:42
You shall anoint for me the one I named to you.
32:45
So same. I did what the Lord said, and he
32:47
went to Bethlehem, and the elders of the town trembled at
32:49
his coming and said, Do you come peaceably?
32:51
And he said, I excuse me peaceably.
32:54
I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.
32:56
Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.
32:59
Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the
33:01
sacrifice. So it was when they came that he
33:04
looked at Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before
33:07
him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do
33:09
not look at his appearance or his physical stature, because I
33:12
have refused him. For the Lord does not see his
33:14
man sees. For man looks at the outward
33:16
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
33:19
So Jesse called a Benedab and made him pass before Samuel.
33:22
And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one.
33:25
Then Jesse made Shama pass by, and he said, neither has the
33:28
Lord chosen this one. Thus Jesse made seven of his
33:32
sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The
33:34
Lord has not chosen these. Samuel said to Jesse, are all
33:37
the young men here? They said, there remains yet the
33:40
youngest, and there he is actually keeping the sheep.
33:44
Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him, for we will not sit
33:47
down till he comes here. So he sent and brought him in.
33:50
Now he was ready, and with bright eyes and good looking.
33:52
And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one.
33:55
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the midst
33:58
of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from
34:01
that day forward. So Samuel rose and went to Rama.
34:05
Crazy fun story here. The Lord is moving in the people
34:10
of Israel who happened to be descendants of Isaac, Abraham's
34:13
son. And as he's looking for the new
34:16
king, he sends Samuel out to Bethlehem.
34:19
David would later become the king and from his descendants
34:22
Jesus would come from King David.
34:26
But he at this point in his life, he's a shepherd boy doing
34:30
farm chores out in the land as there's this big feast, this big
34:33
party that's taking place with Jesse and his sons.
34:36
All of his brothers come before Samuel.
34:38
Samuel thinks the first one is it.
34:39
He's like, oh, I nailed it. Boom.
34:41
This guy, he's the guy. Lord's like, no, OK, well, maybe
34:44
this guy. No, he's not that.
34:45
Well, maybe this one, no. And he does that seven times.
34:47
And finally he's like, OK, is there anyone else?
34:50
And sure enough, there is. There's this ready, good looking
34:52
bright eyed boy out in the field shepherding.
34:55
And he says, OK, bring him. And the Lord's like, that's the
34:58
one it's anointed that day to be king in the spirit of God was
35:02
with him. Pretty amazing.
35:05
First of all, if you were to put yourself in that point of view
35:08
or that perspective, especially culturally at that time, that
35:10
would be a big deal. You were not only chosen to be
35:14
king and you're a nobody, but you were chosen over all of your
35:18
other brothers, which great bragging rights, you know, being
35:21
the youngest of all of seven of them.
35:23
And you were the one. We don't say it doesn't say that
35:26
he was strong and tall. He was good looking, but he
35:30
doesn't say that he was really built for this role.
35:34
He has no training. He has no reason to be picked
35:37
except that the Lord picked him. And how true is that?
35:41
For many of us, there's no reason we should have a
35:44
relationship with the Lord. There's really no reason that we
35:47
should be at this place in our life except the Lord found favor
35:51
with us and desired to die on the cross for our sins.
35:57
We don't deserve that. And yet we're children of the
36:00
Most High King, the God who created everything.
36:03
And here's David in this situation where like, OK, like,
36:06
annoy me. Cool.
36:07
What's next? Like, is there training?
36:09
Is there preparation? No, he would still be the errand
36:11
boy. I'm going to summarize it, but
36:14
he's known for the famous story of David and Goliath.
36:16
Well, he wasn't even supposed to be at the battlefield except
36:19
that he was asked to take snacks to his brothers who were at the
36:22
battle. And his dad said, hey, can you
36:24
take these cheeses to not even your brothers, but to the ones
36:28
who are overseeing your brothers, maybe to give them
36:30
some favor in the eyes of the captains and those overseeing
36:33
him. So David does, and he ends up
36:34
getting there and out of the blue, but we knew this was what
36:38
the war was doing, he allows David to kill the giant Goliath,
36:42
the greatest warrior the Philistines had, with a rock, a
36:46
shepherd boy, no real training, told he's going to be king.
36:51
And yet he's having these amazing situations take place.
36:54
It's from there that his fame would start to rise.
36:57
There would be songs sung about him, and these songs would start
37:00
to cause jealousy in Saul's heart, jealousy that would cause
37:04
him to want to kill David, to be upset with David.
37:07
But if we have these temperamental fits, So what they
37:10
were trying to do, the people surrounding Saul were looking
37:13
for ways to comfort him and to calm him down.
37:15
So they found that David was a harp player.
37:18
And he had, he was good with a stringed instrument.
37:20
And Saul really liked when David played the harp, even though he
37:23
didn't like David. And so they brought him into the
37:25
palace and you're like, oh man, he's getting closer to this
37:28
promise that the Lord gave him. He's no, now he's in the he's in
37:31
the palace like this is this is getting serious.
37:34
Pick up with me in chapter 19, the first Samuel, David gets
37:39
there and it says in verse, excuse me, in verse 9 of chapter
37:46
19 says now a distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as
37:52
he sat in his house with a spear in his hand and David was
37:56
playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin, pin
38:00
David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from
38:03
Saul's presence and he drove the spear into the wall.
38:07
So David fled and escaped. That night David finally makes
38:11
it in the palace and Saul tries to kill him.
38:16
The king of Israel tries to kill him, the next king of Israel.
38:21
But again, put yourself in David's position.
38:23
Like what in the world is going on?
38:25
I think there's room for David to have doubt.
38:28
I think there's room for David to have hesitation.
38:30
I think there's room for David to wonder.
38:32
I don't know if Samuel was was truly speaking on behalf of the
38:36
Lord. I think you just poured oil on
38:38
my head because this isn't the way that it's supposed to go.
38:41
I'm being run out of the palace. I'm being run out of Saul's
38:45
house. I'm being chased by the king of
38:47
this doesn't make sense. And we read it so quickly and we
38:53
might forget that there's some real emotion here.
38:57
He didn't just walk out. The spear didn't just pin the
39:01
wall. Oh, he was trying to pin David
39:03
to the wall. You might think, oh, that was
39:04
just, he was just trying to hit his shirt in his robe and get
39:07
him stuck to the wall so he could laugh at him.
39:09
No, it went and it hit the wall. It went into the wall.
39:12
So I was trying to kill him. He was so upset with him.
39:16
He was enraged at him, David and his emotion.
39:20
He wasn't just walking out of there.
39:22
He fled and he escaped by night. He was afraid for his life.
39:26
He was overwhelmed with doubt. He was overwhelmed with this
39:29
feeling of this isn't how it's supposed to go.
39:32
What am I supposed to do? He had a friend, Saul's son, who
39:35
was his best friend, Jonathan, the Prince who already accepted
39:39
the fact that he wasn't going to be the next king and he just
39:42
wanted to follow up. Jonathan, is this real?
39:44
Like, is your dad really trying to kill me?
39:45
Is this or is he just having one of those anger moments?
39:49
Just want to make sure John's now he's trying to kill you.
39:52
All right, I'm out of here. He runs in the wilderness.
39:56
He's out there in the wilderness, in the desert and
39:59
the high. He, I've been out there.
40:00
If you go with us on our Israel tour, we take you to that
40:03
wilderness. It's very hot.
40:05
It is a desert. And tucked away is a little
40:07
place called Angetti where there's some trees and there's a
40:11
waterfall. And it's just like, out of all
40:13
this desert, there's this little Oasis.
40:16
And David, as he's running away, as he's fleeing for his life,
40:19
and as I'm sure he's wondering, when am I going to be king?
40:22
Was that even real? Lord brings men around him, guys
40:27
who weren't necessarily great in their cities or in their social
40:32
circles as well. They're on the run.
40:34
It's kind of like a band of merry men that were running with
40:36
David. But they're not very nice.
40:38
They're not very merry. They're pretty messed up
40:40
actually, and they're running with David and not only does he
40:44
have this group with him that isn't very encouraging, it's
40:46
quite discouraging. But he finds himself stuck in a
40:48
cave in this cave in Ingetti pick up with me in chapter 24
40:59
says now it happened in verse one when Saul had returned from
41:03
following the Philistines. It was told him saying take
41:09
note, David is in in the wilderness of Anghetti.
41:13
Then Saul took 3000 chosen men, he means business from all
41:16
Israel and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the
41:19
wild goats. So he came to the sheepfolds by
41:22
the road where the there was a cave and Saul went in to attend
41:25
to his needs. A translation.
41:28
He went to the restroom, very vulnerable spot for Saul, but it
41:32
just so happened he picked The Cave that David and his men were
41:35
staying in the recesses of The Cave man of all the ones he
41:39
could have picked. Verse 4.
41:42
Then the men of David said to him, This is the day of which
41:44
the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into
41:47
your hand. They may do to him, as it seems
41:50
good to you. So David arose and secretly cut
41:52
off a corner of Saul's rope. But it happened afterward that
41:56
David, David's heart troubled him because he had cut Saul's
41:59
rope. He said to his men, The Lord
42:01
forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's
42:04
anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the
42:07
anointed of the Lord. So David restrained his servants
42:11
with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul.
42:14
And Saul got up from The Cave and went on his way.
42:18
David rose afterward, went out of The Cave, and called out to
42:20
Saul, saying, My Lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
42:24
David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed down.
42:26
And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of men
42:29
who say, indeed, David seeks your harm?
42:32
Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered
42:34
you, and today delivered you today into my hand in The Cave.
42:38
And someone urged me to kill you, but my eyes spared you.
42:41
And I said I will not stretch out my hand against my Lord, for
42:45
he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover my father's see, yes,
42:49
see the corner of your robe in my hand, For in that I cut off
42:52
the corner of your robe and did not kill, you know, and see that
42:55
there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have
42:58
not sinned against you. Yeah, you haunt my life to take
43:01
it. Let the Lord judge between you
43:04
and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you, but my hand shall not
43:08
be against you. As a proverb of the ancients
43:11
says, wickedness proceeds from the wicked, but my hand shall
43:14
not be against you. After whom has the king of
43:18
Israel come out? Whom do you pursue?
43:21
A dead dog? A flea?
43:22
There is. Therefore let the Lord be judged
43:24
and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and
43:28
deliver me out of your hand. This is an amazing moment in
43:34
David's life, similar to what Abraham and Sarah were faced
43:41
with in chapter 16 of Genesis. Here in chapter 24, David is
43:45
given a perfect opportunity, a perfect layup.
43:49
Slam dunk you could say, because culturally this is how kingdoms
43:54
would shift. The one that was coming in would
43:57
typically kill the one that was being taken out, and you would
44:01
inherit the Kingdom of the king that you destroyed.
44:05
And it just so happened that of all the caves that Saul could
44:08
have picked, he picked the one where David and his men are
44:11
hiding out in, in his most vulnerable moment.
44:14
It wasn't a pretty sight. It was something that was set up
44:18
before him. And the men around him, the
44:21
people in his circle were saying, this is it.
44:24
God is finally giving you what you wanted, a perfect
44:27
opportunity to kill him. And so he gets up and something
44:32
changes in his mind. We are not told if he gets up to
44:34
kill Saul or if he gets up purely because he wanted to cut
44:38
the robe and make a point. But he did get up after the
44:42
urging of the people around him and he ends up just cutting the
44:45
robe of Saul. He goes outside and he says,
44:49
Saul, look what I could have done.
44:50
I could have killed you. I could have ended your life.
44:54
But I realized something. I realized that your God's
44:58
anointed David had complete focus.
45:03
Despite his emotions, despite the situation, despite the
45:06
people and the voices in his life, those that we could hold
45:09
close to him, he was able to keep his focus on the Lord and
45:13
the promise of the Lord. You know why?
45:15
Because this is what he understood.
45:16
He understood that the same prophet and the same God that
45:21
anointed him was the same God and the same prophet that
45:24
anointed Saul. And so if he was to take Saul's
45:27
life, he would be delegitimizing his own anointing by the same
45:33
God and the same prophet. He would be robbing God of his
45:37
authority and power. He'd be robbing God of his
45:40
opportunity to show him and fulfill the promise in his life.
45:44
Because by taking Saul's life, it means he had no respect for
45:47
the Lord, what the Lord had previously done in Saul's life
45:52
through the same prophet Samuel. But because he was able to keep
45:56
his eyes fixed unto God and unto the word of God, and he had such
46:00
a desire to follow and seek after the Lord, not taking this
46:05
into his own hands, not trying to manufacture his own Kingdom.
46:09
He was able to look at the situation and say no.
46:12
And not only that, he felt bad for how far he even took it,
46:15
cutting off a robe from his king because that's how much he
46:18
respected his king. Not because Saul deserved based
46:23
on his actions, the respect or the honor that day was willing
46:26
to give him, but because of the one who placed him in that
46:28
position. And how hard is that for us at
46:32
times? The Lord has placed authority in
46:35
our lives. And although they don't deserve
46:37
our respect based on their actions, they deserve the honor
46:42
that they're due because of who God or because of who has placed
46:45
them over us. The same God who's given us
46:48
life, who's redeemed our hearts and we take note.
46:53
We would take comfort in knowing that God desires to do this work
46:58
in our own life. He desires to help us face these
47:03
situations line by line as it gets distorted, keeping our eyes
47:08
focused. You could say that David had
47:10
2020 vision in this situation. Even the lowest line look clear
47:14
to him. I don't doubt that he struggled
47:18
with wanting to take Saul's life.
47:21
I don't doubt that he struggled with the moments before cutting
47:24
his robe as he got up. I don't doubt that he was having
47:28
an internal struggle until the Lord brought clarity into his
47:33
mind and reminded him of the importance of the anointing.
47:37
Because the anointing was proof and confirmation that he would
47:39
one day be king. Therefore, it means it's the
47:41
same proof and confirmation that the Lord did for Saul.
47:44
And the Lord would have to take care of Saul, not David.
47:47
The Lord would have to do the work, not David.
47:50
The Lord would have to step in and complete the promise that He
47:53
gave David, not David. And in this moment he was able
47:57
to realize that. He was able to comprehend that.
47:59
He was able to make a split second decision when everything
48:03
seemed right again. Everything seemed logical.
48:07
Everything seemed like it would work.
48:09
Everything seemed like this was the moment from man's wisdom and
48:13
perspective, apart from what God was already doing.
48:18
And He relents, and we know how his story ends.
48:21
And if you don't know, he does become king, but not because
48:25
David takes Saul's life, but because Saul goes into battle
48:28
and the Lord allows him to die. The Lord took care of King Saul,
48:35
and the Lord took care of David. I'm so thankful for these
48:39
passages, even the ones of compromise, that give us hope
48:41
that God's not done working in our lives.
48:44
Even if we make mistakes, waiting on that promise, even if
48:47
we try to manufacture something else.
48:48
Yeah, there will be consequences.
48:50
There are. But there is forgiveness, grace
48:52
and mercy. But then he also gives us
48:55
stories like David, where it's possible when all odds are
48:58
against you, when emotions are at the highest, when everyone
49:00
around you is surrounding you and telling you this is it, that
49:05
you can stand strong waiting on the Word, waiting on God to
49:09
fulfill his work. Why?
49:10
Because the promise giver is the one who's going to keep his
49:13
promise. I thank the Lord for his
49:16
faithfulness. I thank the Lord for His ability
49:19
to hold us through anything that we're experiencing because His
49:25
promises are so good and they're worth the wait.
49:28
Now, don't misunderstand me. David's not a perfect man.
49:32
We know he's described as a man after God's own heart later, but
49:35
he does make his own decisions. He does make his own mistakes
49:38
apart from the Lord. He does lean on his own
49:41
understanding. He does lean on his own wisdom,
49:44
and he makes some terrible sins against God later in his life,
49:48
but at this moment and at this point, he's a great example for
49:51
us to hold on to, to pray that the Lord would give us the
49:55
strength like David had, the perspective like David had, the
49:58
focus like David had. So we might too enjoy the
50:02
blessings of the promises that God has before us.
50:05
Turn to one more place before we close.
50:07
First Corinthians chapter 15, I want to leave you with one more
50:10
verse. Maybe this is a verse that you
50:12
need to memorize as you're waiting on that word, as you're
50:15
processing your own life through the lens of Scripture.
50:18
Chapter 15, verse 58 says this Paul is writing to the
50:24
Corinthian church with one last encouragement, one last
50:28
exhortation, and it's one that we would do well to apply to our
50:32
own lives and pray that the Lord would help us with.
50:34
It says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
50:39
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
50:44
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord and church, how to
50:48
encourage you in the same way you're waiting patiently for the
50:53
Lord to do a work in your life is worth the wait.
50:57
When you wait in the Lord, not separate from him, when you
51:00
allow him to do his work in your life, it is worth it 100%.
51:07
In fact, there's a promise in Scripture that says you can know
51:10
that your labor, your effort, the time and the things you're
51:15
going through and wrestling with is non vain when you're doing it
51:19
in the Lord. Amen.
51:21
Let's pray, Lord, we just thank you for your word.
51:23
I thank you God, for being real and raw with the stories of
51:27
Abraham and Sarah, the story of David.
51:31
Lord, I just pray for us in this room.
51:32
I pray, Lord, that you would help us have our eyes fixed on
51:36
you, Lord, that we would look unto you as we wait, Lord, that
51:40
we remember that you're the author and the finisher of our
51:42
faith, that You complete the things which you begin in our
51:45
lives. I pray, Lord, for those that are
51:48
struggling with compromise, Lord, as they wait for the
51:51
promise. I pray, Lord, for those who are
51:55
challenged with the consequences of previous compromise and
51:59
they're wrestling with the doubts that come from that, the
52:01
anguish that comes from that. I pray, Lord, you'd reaffirm
52:04
your love to them. You'd reaffirm your promises to
52:07
them. Lord, I pray for those who are
52:10
in the midst of it and they're in The Cave.
52:12
They're in a cave moment where they have to make a decision.
52:15
I pray, Lord, you give them wisdom and clarity.
52:17
You would calm the emotions. You would calm the thoughts,
52:21
Lord, that You would help them not manufacture a work, Lord,
52:25
that they would wait on you to complete the work.
52:28
They would make decisions that honour and glorify you.
52:31
So I know, Lord, that as we live for you, as we surrender
52:34
ourselves to you in these situations, You're faithful to
52:37
lead and guide. You get the, you get the glory,
52:40
you get the honor, and people get saved from seeing you work
52:45
in our lives and through our lives.
52:47
So I pray that over our church today, Lord, I pray that you
52:49
bless them as we head out into the week.
52:50
I also want to give an opportunity for anyone in this
52:53
room that maybe you just don't have a relationship with the
52:55
Lord yet. Like you are hearing what I'm
52:58
talking about and you don't even have a relationship with God.
53:00
You just need to start there. You know that you've been
53:03
separate from the Lord because of your sin.
53:05
You've made mistakes and you just want to be right with God.
53:08
You want to be forgiven of your sins.
53:10
You want to repent, you want to turn away and you want to enjoy
53:13
that relationship. And that's with you whether
53:15
you're here in the sanctuary or watching online or listening on
53:20
the radio. Like I want to give you a chance
53:22
for those of you in the room to stand so I can pray with you.
53:25
I'll lead you through a prayer no matter what, but I want to
53:30
give you an opportunity to to make a statement for the Lord.
53:33
It says in the word, if you confess me before men, I'll
53:35
confess you before the Father is what Jesus says.
53:38
And so standing is not what saves you, but it allows you to
53:41
make a public statement for the Lord.
53:44
And the prayer is simple. It's an admission of your sins,
53:49
knowing that you've made mistakes that have separated you
53:51
from a perfect God. It's a realization that there
53:53
was a God who lived and died and rose again for you to forgive
53:58
you of your sins. And there's just a repentance of
54:01
turning away from those sins. They go something like this.
54:04
Dear Lord, I know I'm a Sinner. I've made mistakes that have
54:10
separated me from you. And I asked the way that you
54:14
would forgive me of my sins. I confess with my mouth that I
54:18
believe that you died. You rose again.
54:24
You conquered death for me. I repent of my sins, Lord, I
54:31
turn away from them, but I also need your help.
54:38
I ask God that you would help me with your Holy Spirit to live my
54:42
life for you, Holy fully and completely.
54:48
I give you my life. Thank you in Jesus name, Amen.
54:54
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
54:57
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
55:00
prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
55:05
877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
55:11
integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
55:15
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
55:21
Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
55:23
this week.