1 Samuel 16

morning and Happy Valentine’s Day. So we get some of these sound issues worked out. You know, it is so cold. I’m glad that we have the opportunity to offer this live stream to you all. So that way you can stay warm and cozy and safe and not have to venture out in the snow and cold and that kind of thing. It’s so great that you know the past, we probably would have just canceled. But now we have the opportunity to still continue on in God’s word together here today in First Samuel, Chapter 16. So what I want you to do because I want you to grab your Bible. If you’re at home there and you’re watching, grab your Bible because we need Thio. Be going through first name of Chapter 16 this morning, and so make sure to turn to that as I do the introduction here. So it is Valentine’s Day, and with Valentine’s Day comes all kinds of imagery, right? You have lots of imagery about flowers and hearts. I’m wearing a red shirt today because it’s Valentine’s Day, right, and you have a lot of things centered on the heart, you know, hearts, air everywhere there’s there’s pink and there’s red and and, uh, and hearts are everywhere. And there’s this concept that people talk about giving their hearts away, uh, giving their hearts to the the loved one. Be my valentine. I give you my heart. All those kinds of things were all centered around Valentine’s Day. You have interlocked heart necklaces. You know that companies advertised by this on Valentine’s Day. You have all kinds of things like that, right? You have this concept of loving someone with all of your heart and those air words in the English language that we use to describe loving someone with everything that we have to the very core of our being. So the heart. We often use the heart as a way to describe all of our emotions, all of our desires, all of our focus, all of our being, everything. Every part of us it rise wrapped up in saying, I give my heart to you or to this other person, and that’s, you know, all of their emotions, all of all of everything. Your heart is what really things you really value. It’s what you truly believe, and it guides your actions, okay. And what’s wild is this morning. First Samuel, Chapter 16 and the chapters before is really, um, it’s It’s like talking about the heart, and that’s kind of the central theme. And so we see through this life of Saul in the life of David, what God really is looking for and what he is looking for is men and women whose hearts are completely yielded to God. You have Saul, who outwardly looks like a king who’s tall and strong and handsome. You have David, who is this young man, but the key difference between the two men and we see it very clearly as you read through the story. It resides in their heart, and that’s what God chooses to highlight and identify Through these passages is the heart, and we will see that. So let’s pray, and we will begin to read. Will read this chapter together. Well, I do pray that you would help us this morning to understand your word. Help us Thio. Focus on this topic of the heart and that we would be men and women who are completely and totally surrendered to you to be your servants, to be fierce servants. Lord, who do your bidding in your will whose hearts are completely yours in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, so turn with me to first statement, Chapter 16. We don’t know how much time had passed from when Samuel had informed saw that God had rejected him and had thorn the kingdom from him right before this, at the end of chapter 15, there’s this scene that happens, and Saul disobeys God, God lets him know. Hey, we are I’m taking this kingdom away from you. And he grabs onto sandals, robe and his robe tears. And Samuel says, just as this Rob is torn. So God is tearing away this kingdom from you. So Saul knows it. He knows that God’s chosen somebody else, somebody who has a heart that’s after him, and we don’t know how much time passes. But some time passes. And then God is ready to then anoint a new king, someone who has a heart after his own heart. So saw was obviously watching very closely Samuels actions. And it appears that Samuel was afraid, afraid of what Saul would do to him if he starts to act and to anoint another king Saul is going to try to do whatever he can to stop what he perceives as a coup attempt. Right? A forcible removing of him from the king to somebody else. Okay, so let’s Zalkind of the background in this chapter. Let’s read Chapter 16, Verse one with me. I’m going to read the whole chapter here. The Lord said to Samuel, How long are you going to mourn for Saul? Since I have rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and dio I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have a selected a king from his sons. Samuel asked, How can I go? Saul will hear about it and will kill me. The Lord answered. Take a young cow with you and say I have come to sacrifice the Lord. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will let you know what you’re to do. You are to anoint the one that I indicate to you. So Samuel did what the Lord had directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, Do you come in peace in pizza, you replied, have come to sacrifice to the Lord, consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. And when they arrived, Samuel saw Ally Bob and said, Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees for humans. See what is visible. But the Lord sees the heart. Jesse called a minute dab and presented him two. Samuel Lord hasn’t chosen this one either, Samuel said. Then Jesse presented Shama. But the Samuel said the Lord hasn’t chosen this one either. After Jesse represented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse. The Lord hasn’t chosen any of these. Samuel asked him. Are these all the sons you have? There’s still the youngest, he answered. But right now he’s tending the sheep. Samuel told Jesse, send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here. So Jesse sent for him and he had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance, Lord said. Anoint him for he is the one So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Raymond. Now the spirit the Lord had left Saul and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him. So solid servants said to him, Do you see that an evil spirit from God is tormenting you? Let our Lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre and you will feel better. Then Saul commanded his servants. Find somebody who plays well and bring him to me. One of the young men answered, I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, who knows how to play the lyre. He’s also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the Lord is with him. Then Saul dispatched the messengers to Jesse and said, Send me your son David, who is with the sheep. So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a wine skin and one young goat and sent them by his son, David de Sol. When David came to solid entered in his service, so loved him very much, and David became his armor bear. Then Saul sent word to Jesse. Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me. Whenever the spirit of God came on, Saul David would pick up his liar and play and saw would be relieved. Feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. So this is the story, okay? And, uh, and the and what’s happening here is God is setting up his plan. He’s setting up this transferred to this new king. And if you go back to verse seven is one of the key verses in this passage. Samuel, he’s getting, you know, ready to annoy. He knows it’s gonna be one of Jessie’s sons, and so he has them all kind of go before him. And the first one he sees is the oldest, and he’s, you know, tall, dark and handsome. He’s strong. He’s like, Oh, this has got to be the guy. This guy looks like a king, right? But the Lord reveals to us what he’s really looking for in a king, but it also has implications for you and me. This is the people that God is looking for. So the Lord said the same over seven. Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees for humans. See what’s visible. They see the outward appearance. But the Lord sees the heart, and that’s a very key verse critical verse in understanding the chapters before this and what’s happens after this. Okay, so Salas, the tallest and strongest do you remember that he was the one that he was a head taller than everybody else and all of Israel? He was the natural kind of appearance for the King. A lot of times that countries around them during this time you pick your tallest and strongest and biggest warrior. You’re a warrior king. You go out and you conquer. And that’s who your king waas And so the Israel lights. Their whole premise for wanting a king was they wanted to be like the other nations. They want to look like the other nations. They don’t wanna be this weird a nation that had God as their king. And they had these various judges that would rise up and then die and others would rise up and dying. They wanted to have a king of monarchy, just like the others. And so Saul was the natural part. He was outwardly looking like a king. But he inwardly as we saw through those stories what Mike talked about last week inwardly his heart. He it was It was not. He didn’t obey God. He didn’t have a heart for God. He didn’t have a heart of a servant of God. And we see that. So turn back just a couple of chapters to chapter 13 and Verse 13 through 15. We read. Samuel said to Saul, You have been foolish. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel. But now your reign will not endure. And here’s a key. The Lord has found a man after his own heart. And the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people. Because you have not done with the Lord has commanded. So again we see first that the Lord looks at the our appearances, but our man looks at the our appearances. But God looks at the heart, God told Saul. I’m looking for someone, a man who is after my own heart. I would have established you permanently. But your heart is not, Ah, heart. That is a servant of me. So the Lord found a man. God is looking for someone whose heart is after his own heart. What that means. You know, what does it look like to have a heart after God’s own heart? Its’s talking about the desires are the things that God desires, the things that we desire, the things that God desires, talking about the things that you’re passionate about. Are they passionate about the things for God’s glory and the things that he is passionate about? That all of your emotions, your desires are towards God about doing what God wants you to do. When people get married, they give their heart to somebody. And ideally, when you get married, the way that marriage works best is when you really have your heart after that other person and they have their heart after your own. You are putting each other’s desires above your own. You’re putting each other’s wishes above your own. You’re serving and sacrificing for each other and considering the other more important than yourself. You’re having a heart after what they care about what they desire and you’re serving them. That’s how marriage works best. The Lord here said. I want a king. I want somebody who has a heart after my own heart and I found him and David. I love this verse. Second Chronicle, 16 9 On the same theme, it says for the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the Earth to show himself strong to those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him. That’s such an important. This is fits right in with this. This concept of the heart for the Lord. He’s looking throughout the whole earth. He’s searching for men and women. What does he want to do? Once he finds those whose heart is fully and completely devoted to him who are wholeheartedly devoted to him, then he wants to show himself strong to strongly support them. He’s actively searching for men and women to strongly support. That’s another way of saying to impart supernatural strength to give strength to who? To those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him. To those who have given themselves fully, completely and totally to him, that’s what they do. And that’s how they live. So the main point of the sermon today as we go through this is that God’s looking for men and women who will be servants of God will be fierce servants of God whose hearts are completely his, and he will use them. He will use us if we’re that way to change the world. Samuel was looking at the outward appearance. Humans. We tend to look at the hour appearance, but God looks at the heart. Same. I thought, Hey, Jessie’s son, he’s man. He looks like a king. He must be the king. God says I look at the heart. That’s what I really look for. And these chapters really detail. Okay, What does it look like here in first Samuel 16. It also gives us a picture. Okay. What does it look like to be the servant to ground? What does it look like to have ah, heart? That is, um, fully yielded to God. What does it look like to be hiss and to be strongly supported by him. And so I have a few points four points here from this chapter that we see the first one we’ve been talking about. A fierce servant, a servant of God, has a heart after God’s heart. Okay, as we’re talking about the hearts, the key and it doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter the what your gender is, it doesn’t matter what color of skin you have. God sees the heart. And as he’s looking throughout the whole earth, he wants to strongly support the one whose heart is completely his. It doesn’t matter what kind of, um, you know, income level. You have what kind of background you have, what kind of personality you have. Whether introverted, extroverted, he is looking to strongly support those whose heart is hiss. That’s who he wants to bless and strengthen, and, in part, supernatural strength and use to change the world. February is Black History Month, and I’m so thankful for the diversity in this church that God has brought together, and he has brought together men and women from a variety of races, cultures, backgrounds in this church. And it’s so good, and I wanted today to share an example of a servant of God who his heart was completely after. God, um, as part of this, you know, blast Black History Month celebration. George Washington Carver. He was born during the Civil War, 18. 64 in Missouri. And this man came to know the Lord at a young age, and he passionately, wholeheartedly sought God. He would spend his early mornings every day praying, crying out to God. His heart was to be completely devoted to the Lord, and God strongly supported him. He would devote himself to studying God’s creation. And he sought to learn about God through the creation through the physical crops and plants and soils. And he said this. I love this quote. He said, I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour if we will Onley tune in. And so he was a man who would pray and see God and then apply himself to try toe learn about God by studying the physical sciences by studying agriculture and one of the things that he noticed was he noticed that soils were being depleted by all the cotton crops grown in the deep South. And, you know, as you read the Bible when some of the things that you see is, you know, the concept of giving land a Sabbath rest and the concept of rotating crops and things like that. And so he began to research and discover that peanuts and sweet potatoes and some other crops would be really beneficial as a rotator crop to cotton because the soil was being depleted. It was being worn out. There’s less and less yield every year because they were just focusing on the crop that provided the greatest amount of income. And it was going to really destroy the South and the agriculture in the South if they didn’t do something about it. But peanuts were not profitable. Nobody wanted to plant peanuts because they weren’t worth anything. Everybody wanted plant cotton because that was how you made lots of money. And with the slave labor, it was this huge source of income, okay? And so what he did was he decided to apply himself to try to discover as many ways as possible that you could use peanuts eso That way these crops would be planted and sweet potatoes. And he came up with all kinds of recipes and all kind of over 300 uses for the peanut because he knew the soil become useless if something was done. So he so he did that. And this is what he said. Quote as I worked on projects which fulfilled a hue riel, human need forces were working through me, which amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparent insoluble problem. But when I awoke, the answer was there. When then should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with the willing man in a laboratory? I love that that picture the way that he lived, he sought God. He applied himself. He tried to be beneficial. He just he would bring these problems to God, and God would strongly support him. Strengthen him, give him supernatural strength. Give him supernatural answers about the creation. And many people think that George Washington Carver helped long term save the South from much destruction. And so the first aspect of a fierce servant of God is somebody whose heart is completely after God’s a servant who obeys him is the second thing. Second aspect of being a servant of God is somebody who obeys his word. If you go back a chapter and Samuel there to first Samuel 15, Verse 23 22. This is This is the story that leads to solve being removed from being king. Got it told. Saul. Hey, when you go take out this, uh, this foreign nation wants you to destroy everything, put everything destruction, including all the lute’s, all of the animals and all the goods and all the all the loot. And he didn’t do it. And then he blamed his soldiers for not carrying out the command. Okay, so verse 20. But I did obey the Lord, Saul answered. I went on the mission the Lord gave me. I brought back King a gag of AM Malek and I completely destroyed the Malik. It’s thier. Troops took sheep and goats and cattle from the plunder from the best of what was set apart for destruction to sacrifice to the Lord your God, it Gil gal. Then Samuel said, does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord look to obey is better than sacrifice for those who are going to be servants of God. He is looking for those who will obey his word. And Saul. He gave lip service. He said, Okay, I’ll do this But then he didn’t do it and and it’s kind of funny. Same, Samuel says. What’s the What’s the bleeding of sheep? What’s this? This buying that I hear in my ear? You know, uh, it’s He said he would do it, but he didn’t do it. He didn’t obey. And Samuel said, to Obey is better than sacrifice. That’s what God is looking for. Saul had many chances to do what God asked of him, but he didn’t do it. God’s looking for servants who will do whatever the master asks. He has a will. He has a desire. He has plans and he will do them. And he’s looking for people who will do what he asks. Whatever the master asks to obey his word, he’s looking for people, men and women, not only whose hearts are completely his, but they’re reading this book and looking and searching God, what do you want me to do today? I will do whatever you want me to do, Lord, whether that’s uncomfortable for me, whether that’s something that I I don’t like to do, whether that comes at a cost for me to serve somebody else or to serve you, Lord, I’m willing to do it. I will do it and that they do, as opposed to just sacrificing for the Lord. He’s looking for men and women who will obey him. So first, he’s looking for men and women whose hearts are completely his, like David was had a heart after God’s own heart. Second, he’s looking for men and women who will obey him. Third, he’s looking for people who are driven by a desire for God’s glory and not just appearances, not just outward actions. What we see throughout the life of Saul is we see him doing things based on how it will make him appear. When Jonathan went and took out the garrison, it’s interesting, Saul says. I’ve done it and maybe he did. We don’t know exactly how it all went down. Johnson just did it on his own, and then his father took credit forward or feet. It was involved, but he clearly took credit for what happened there and you see him, you know, bowing to the people’s will or you’re doing this, that or the other thing just because it would make him look good or look bad to do or to not to do those things. You see that he wouldn’t own up to his mistakes when it came to not allowing the people they eat. That’s the soldiers they were going out in battling like nobody can eat until we destroy the Philistine. And Jonathan didn’t know that, and he had eaten some honey and the troops really suffered and they weren’t strong and they weren’t able to do everything that they wanted to do because they didn’t need It was a foolish command, But Saul stuck with it, and he was about to kill his own son to try to save face because he was worried about the outward appearances. In Verse 24 Saul answered, Samuel, I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command in your words, because I was afraid of the people. I obeyed them just talking about the not putting all of the lute’s to destruction because I was afraid of the people. I obeyed them. His actions were driven by people pleasing. His actions were driven by fear of man instead of the heart after God’s glory. Instead of obeying as a servant of the Lord and fearing God more than anything else, he feared people. But God is looking for people who will obey regardless of what the appearances, who are all about his glory, not their own. And then number four. We also see in this chapter in Chapter 16, God is servants are spirit filled Go to Verse 13 in chapter 16 here. So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. This is David, and the spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward. That’s an interesting phrase. The spirit. The Lord came powerful Ian David from that day forward. You know, back in the Old Testament here, God would have times where he would place his spirit on somebody, and then he would withdraw his spirit from them. On Saul. He placed his spirit on Sol and Sol prophecy side, and people were like, Whoa! His solid profit now is because God’s spirit was in him and filling him and he was able to prophesy. But he pulled his spirit from Saul, and the spirit of Lord came powerfully on David. From that day forward, Verse 18, 1 of the young men answered, I’ve seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, who knows how to play the liar. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and the Lord is with him. It’s another phrase where God’s spirit was empowering him. It was obvious to the people around him that God was with him, that God was empowering him. And it is obvious when God’s people are spirit filled and when they’re not. David took on a bear with his own hands. He was an incredible musician. He was incredible warrior. When God’s spirit was on Saul, he did some cool things, some great things, and the prophecies is astounded people. But when God removed his spirit from him, Saul suffered tremendously. As we see towards the end of that chapter, God’s spirit is the means by which he empower imparts his power in and through our lives. God’s spirit has raised people from the dead, including his son. God’s spirit is how Jesus was able to heal the sick and to create the world’s. Solomon had his supernatural wisdom by God’s spirit and power. God gave profits. The ability to predict the future gave Paul the ability to plant churches, gave Stephen the ability to die well for his savior. And God’s spirit gives you and me the means by which to live the Christian life and to obey his commands. The list goes on and on about God’s spirit empowering us, helping us him, self living and residing in us. By his spirit, fierce servants of God are filled, our spirit filled men and women. So God is looking for a heart of obedience heart that’s completely his. He’s looking for, uh, fierce servants, men and women who will do his will. That’s who he’s looking for. And that’s what we see in the differentiation between Saul and David is somebody who is kind of doing it for his own self, for his own appearance, as opposed to somebody who had a heart after God’s heart, who is a servant of God. And what that brings us, then to is the application from this story from comparing and contrasting Saul and David’s life, and on this Valentine’s Day. Looking at this theme of the heart, Christ’s death and resurrection allows us to be a servant of the Lord. And so the application is I want to challenge you and encourage you. Will you today decide to be a servant of the Lord? Will you surrender yourself completely? Will you give your heart completely to him? Will you decide today to be a servant of God, A servant who will allow themselves to be used by God to change the world you get to choose? It really is our choice. God has given us a free will and we can choose. And there’s a lot of people who are watching this morning that come from a variety of places. And you come from all different kinds of places. And wherever you’re at on this scale, you may be somebody who is just watching checking out this church, checking out Christianity. You’re just looking to see what we’re talking about. Oh, you’re kind of observing the church and the people of this church. Will you make a commitment today to surrender yourself completely to Christ and to be his servant? Maybe you are a part of this church But recently you’ve been distracted by things, not of God. Maybe you’ve made other things more important than being a servant of God. And today I challenge you. Surrender yourself once again to God be all in to serve him and to do his will. Surrender your heart completely and totally to him. Give yourself to him instead of living for your own desires instead of living for these other things that you put more important than God. He wants to strongly support his servants. We have the spirit and power of the living God the Living Almighty God in us Don’t not quench the spirits By living in the power of the spirit of God, you can impact the people around you. We can do that, Church. As we are spirit filled servants of God, We can impact this city. And so I challenge you For those of us who are servants of God who are yielded Thio, God completely work in the power of the Lord. Work in the power of the spirit. Serve in the power of the Lord. Love in the power of the Lord, live in the power of the Lord. Talk in the power of Lord Act in the power of the Lord. Let’s be a church that changes our neighborhoods through the power of the Lord, through the spirit of God, our workplaces, our city and our worlds. And I just I’m excited. We have been as pastors and his leadership team. We’ve been praying and seeking God for direction on the next three years. What does he want for us? What do we believe in God for? We want to serve you, Lord, guide us and lead us is to what you want us to do as a church in the next three years. What, you want us to shoot for the direction you want us to go, How you want us to impact the city? What does it look like for sore church? And the Lord has put on our heart a number of things that are beyond us, which is fantastic. We’re following God. We’re depending upon him as his servants and depending upon his spirit. And we will not accomplish anything unless we do them in the power of the Lord with his leading with his guidance. Unless we are his servants. And I don’t want Thio do an early reveal. We’ll be talking about this more in the future. But I But I am excited. And I do just want to say that we are trusting God to impact other areas of this city. We’re trusting the Lord to raise up servants whose hearts are completely his. Who will bring the gospel to other parts of the city, Other parts of this country and other parts of this world. Will you be one of those people? Yeah. Will you surrender yourself completely to him and his will and to be a fierce servant of the Lord? Men and women join us in this venture. Join us as the gospel changes lives. Join us as we make an impact in the city. Join us as we change the world. God’s eyes air looking to and throw throughout the earth that he may strongly support. That he may in part, supernatural strength to those whose hearts are completely his. Will you be surrendering yourself to him right now? As I pray, I want to again ask you and plead with you to surrender yourself completely to him. It is obvious those whose the Lord is empowering. It’s obvious those whose God is spirit has filled and he is looking. He wants. He desires to strengthen those whose hearts are completely his. He wants to use us. He’s looking for throughout the whole earth to support those who have that heart, that hard, that it is completely hiss. So let’s let’s pray. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how dumb you are. It doesn’t matter whether you’re red, yellow, black, white. Seek God with all of your heart. Make yourself available to him is his servant who knows? We may have the next George Washington Carver in our midst. We may have the next men or woman who will change the world because they humbly sought God because they humbly yield themselves to him and were completely and totally hiss. Let’s pray, Lord, I once again just surrender myself completely to you, Lord, we are nobody and yet and yet Lord, you want to use us. I pray that you would use us as a church. I pray that as men and women that we would yield ourselves to you, make ourselves available to you, care about and live for the things that you care about to have a heart after your own heart, we offer ourselves to you as our servants uses Lord to change the world in whatever way you want to the little and the big God in Jesus name. Amen. No.