The Man After God's Own Heart
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Where it Started
Where it Started
As I mentioned a while back we are going to do something a little different we are going to look at the various Scriptures that paint a picture of David’s life. This is what you would call a biographical sermon series. We will be introduced to hopefully familiar characters, and My hope is that we gain a deeper understanding of God’s word, and how we see Him working in and through David. We will also see that even though David is called a man after God’s own heart he still stumbles, and needs God’s grace and forgiveness. The main sources we have about David start in 1 Samuel 16 and go through 1 Kings chapter 2, and then 1 Chronicles. Today we will just be laying the foundation for our study, getting our feet wet so to speak. We are going to start with King Saul for our foundation, the accounts of Saul and David are knitted together and we must look at both to understand one.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
Before Israel had kings they had judges the book of Judges covers this time, the time between Joshua and Samuel. The judges of Israel delivered the people from oppression, and they had several different responsibilities. They were military leaders, the were responsible for delivering justice, and they were to be a model covenant keeper. Samuel was one of the final judges of Israel, he had appointed he two sons in his place since he was old, but Israel was not happy with them. I want us to key in on the end of verse 5, Israel wanted to be like everyone else. Lets pause here for a second. Who were the nation of Israel, they were God’s chosen people set apart, but we see here they want to be like everyone else. Sound familiar. Sounds like the church today doesn’t it. They want to be like the rest of the world.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Samuel does something very important, he doesn’t let the people persuade him, he seeks God’s guidance. This is something we should be doing in our lives. Are we seeking God’s guidance in every area of our lives. This is something we should be doing as a church as well, are we seeking God’s guidance in how we should be working in this lost and broken world, how we should be acting as Christ’s ambassadors here on earth. God gives Samuel the guidance he seeks, and He also gives Samuel warning for Israel. Sounds like something we would do with our own children doesn’t it, we give them advice, and the consequences of not following that advice.
1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
Because God was going to allow the people to have a king, there had to be someone chosen, and that someone was Saul. There is something interesting to point out here. Notice the description of Saul’s physical appearance. This something that does not happen that often in Scripture, it is here to paint us a picture for something that will happen in the future, like the description of Joseph, he was described as handsome, and it made him desirable in the eyes of Potifers wife. The description of Saul also comes into mind at the anointing of David, which we will look at later. His size is also something to think about when we look at the account of David and Goliath.
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
Here we see the anointing of King Saul. When we look at the language used in these verses we still see a remnant of the judges responsibility, saving the people from the hand of their enemies. He is their kinsmen redeemer in a sense, which we will discuss in more detail in a few minutes. Now we have a basic foundation, and are going to move onto David. We find ourselves starting the the book of Ruth, this is the first time David is mentioned in Scripture. Saul did what God required of him for a time, he saved the people from their enemies, but he then disobeyed the Lord. God gave the command to utterly destroy everyone and everything of the Amalekites, but Saul disobeyed. Because of Saul’s disobedience God rejected him as king. His disobedience came from a place of fear for making the people unhappy, he would have rather the people be happy with his decision than to follow God’s commands.
10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul’s excuse was that they took the things that they had taken from the Amalekites and offered them in sacrifice to God. This is the response from Samuel to Saul’s excuse. He says is it not better to be obedient, than to disobey and then offer sacrifices. God desires a heart of obedience over ritual sacrifice, the sacrificial system was never intended to function in the place of an obedient life, but was to be an expression of it. I think we do the same thing today, we abuse God’s grace. God’s desire is still the same today, He desires us to have obedient hearts, serving out of love and devotion not duty. this is where things end for King Saul, not immediately, but the downward spiral starts here. Now lets start with David, if you were to read from 1 Samuel 15 where we are now to 1 Samuel 16 we see David being anointed to be the next king. But we are going to start with the first mention of David, and for that we turn to Ruth.
The Line of the Redeemer
The Line of the Redeemer
17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
We see that David was Ruth’s great grandson. This is how the book of Ruth ends. We see the story of Ruth shows us about a kinsmen redeemer Boaz. What is a kinsmen redeemer? The kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need. The Hebrew term (go el) for kinsman-redeemer designates one who delivers or rescues (Genesis 48:16; Exodus 6:6) or redeems property or person (Leviticus 27:9–25, 25:47–55). The kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative is illustrated most clearly in the book of Ruth, where the kinsman-redeemer is Boaz. And isn’t it interesting to see how the book of Ruth ends with David the line of the True Kinsmen Redeemer (Jesus).
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
We see from Matthews genealogy of Jesus some of the same from the book of Ruth. The line of our Redeemer. The son of David. One thing I would like to point out when we are learning about David, there are many who imply that he is a mythical person, made up to tell stories. It was not until July of 1993 that a stele (a stone monument) written in Aramaic was found in the area of Tel Dan in the northern part of Israel that was inscribed “House of David”, this gave proof outside of God’s word for the skeptics. An artifact that once again proves the validity and historicity of God’s word. Okay now we know a little about the family line of David, lets dive back into his story.
The New King
The New King
1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
Because of Saul’s disobedience God had rejected him, and was now moving Samuel in the direction of His new king. We must never forget God’s plan of redemption is working its way through time. He has a plan and that plan will be accomplished. This is where David comes onto the scene in more than just a family tree.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
For time sake we are not looking at all the verses, God had sent Samuel to anoint the new king. He went to the family of Jesse, David father, David was the youngest of 8 brothers, and it would have been the custom to start with the oldest, that is why Jesse had not even brought David. Remember we talked earlier about how Scripture gave a description of Saul, and we see here what God thinks of the outside.
11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
We are going to finish up here today, at the anointing of David. He has been chosen by God to be the next king, I want to point out that God’s Spirit had left Saul, and at David’s anointing God’s Spirit came to David. Remember Saul is still king and Samuel has anointed David without Saul knowing what was going on. God is moving things in the right direction, setting up the lineage of the true Kinsmen Redeemer.
The Man After God’s Own Heart
The Man After God’s Own Heart
I know we said we are just building a foundation for our understanding of the story of King David, but what can we learn from the various texts we have looked at today, what can we apply to our lives.
God will sometimes allow things (Israel choice to have a king, even though God was their true king)
Obedience over sacrifice (Just going through the motions doesn’t cut it, we must be obedient)
God looks at our hearts (It’s not about the external it’s about the internal)