1 SAMUEL 16

GOOD BEGINNINGS

 

What are some of the things that gave you a good start in life?

 

For me:

·        Attending church

·        My parents expecting me to behave

·        Learning to respect my elders

·        Working for my Dad

·        Working after school and in college

·        Taking speech classes

 

Why do you think it's important to get off to a good start in life?

 

What Bible characters got off to a good start in life?

 

Tonight I want to begin a series on a Bible character that, in spite of tough circumstances had some good beginnings.

 

When I say the word, "David" what comes to mind?

 

If anyone could have felt inadequate at the beginning, it was David.

 

He came from a little insignificant town six miles outside of Jerusalem called Bethlehem.

He was the youngest of 8 boys.

His father was not well to do, hence the youngest son took care of the sheep instead of a servant.

His brothers seemed to show him little respect.

 

And yet, David got off to a good start.

 

There were at least five things mentioned in 1 Samuel 16 that helped David have good beginnings.

 

TOUCH - Vss. 1, 13

TRUST - Vs. 7

TIMING - Vss. 11, 14-18

TRAINING - Vss. 11, 19-23

TESTIMONY - Vss. 14-18

 

Let's set the stage.

Israel had its first king, whose name was Saul.

Although Saul started out by showing promise as king, it wasn't long before it was evident that Saul was not pleasing God.

 

1 Samuel 13:1-13 - Tell story.

 

1 Samuel 15:1-23 - Tell story.

 

Vs. 1 - Samuel was a great man of God. He grieved for Saul

           God told him to stop grieving and to get busy.

 

Sometimes we are like Samuel. We sulk around. We are depressed. We don't like the way things are going, so we do nothing.

 

And like Samuel we need to learn that there's a time to stop sulking. There's a time to stop wishing for things to be different. There's a time to accept things as God has allowed them to be and to act accordingly.

 

There's an important phrase in this verse. Samuel was to go and anoint a new king. God tells Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:1 for I have provided me a king among his sons.

 

Saul had been rejected, but God had already chosen another king.  God was not frustrated by the turn of events. God already knew what he would do next.

Sometimes things will seem to be at their worst. However we must need to remember that God is in control. He knows what he will do next.  He has solutions figured out for our problems and is working on them before we know we even have the problem.

 

World War II comes to my mind.  Hitler had conquered much of Europe and was trying to conquer Great Britain.  Night after night bombers would come across London.  And yet God worked out the solution so that Hitler, and not Britain, was defeated.

 

We are concerned about the situation in the Middle East.  Be assured that God knows what He is doing and the solution to the problem will be His.

 

God had already chosen a king for Israel out of the family of Jesse.  In other words the TOUCH of God was already on David. God already had a plan for his life.

 

Christian, the TOUCH of God is already upon your life.

When did this touch first start? The touch of God was upon you before you were born.

 

Ephesians 1:4 - According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

 

Because of our faith in Christ, God has touched us so that we are holy and without blame before him in love.  We can't beat that.  When God's looks down on us, He sees that we belong to His Son. That makes us holy and without blame in our position.

 

Because the touch of God is on us, we should practice being holy and without blame in our daily living.

 

1 Peter 1:15-16 - But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

 

And another thing, because the touch of God is upon us God has planned for a life of good works.  

 

Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 

As you know, good works do not save you.

However good works do show that you are saved.

With God's touch on your life, your life should be a pattern of good works.

 

What are some of the good works that you have seen other Christians perform?

 

How do we know which good works we should be performing?

1.     Ask God

2.     Access your abilities and talents

3.     Apply your abilities and talents towards good works.

4.     Be available to do what you can to help.

 

Vs. 2-3 - Samuel was hesitant about going. Saul had become a tyrant. Samuel was no doubt being watched.  God told Samuel to take a sacrifice and say that he was sacrificing to the Lord.

This was the absolute truth.  Of course it was not all the truth.

We should never lie, but not everybody needs to know all our business. Samuel was to go and anoint the one that God had chosen.

 

Vs. 4 - There is something I want you to see here about good beginnings that is not in the outline.  Samuel did as he was told.

My friend, you will never be a failure in God's eyes if you simply do as you're told.

You may not become rich and famous, but there will be plenty of reward in Heaven if you have been obedient.

 

One of the great lessons we need to teach our children is that of obedience.  We will not be able to teach obedience until we've learned in ourselves.

 

Vss. 4-5 - It's amazing that this little old man demanded such respect.  Such is the impact of a true man of God.  They were afraid that Samuel had come for judgment. Perhaps someone had sinned.  Instead he came to sacrifice.

 

Jesse and his sons were called to the sacrifice.

David was either passed over or forgotten.

He was out taking care of the sheep.

This was an important event, but surely David wasn't needed.

David was insignificant in the eyes of his family, but he was not insignificant in the eyes of God.

 

You may feel insignificant in the eyes of family and friends, but you are not insignificant in the eyes of God.  You are important to Him. That's why his Son died for you.

 

Vs. 6 - The parade of Jesse's sons began beginning with the oldest.  Eliab was evidently a hunk. He was tall and good-looking.  But then again, so was Saul.  You would think that Samuel would have already learned the lesson that looks aren't everything.

 

Vs. 7 - God gives Samuel a lesson here. He tells Samuel that outward appearance means nothing to God. God does not evaluate people the way we evaluate people.  While men are impressed by outward appearance, God is impressed with the heart.

 

How many times have we allowed a person's looks, manners and words impress us, without considering what might be in the person's heart?

 

What made David different from all his brothers was his heart!

 

1 Samuel 13:14 - But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

 

Acts 13:22 - And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

 

What made David's heart different?

David knew how to TRUST God.

David's heart was a heart of TRUST.

 

When the rest of Israel was trembling in its collective boots, David was trusting God for victory over Goliath.

When Saul was persecuting David, David was trusting God to give him the kingdom.

When David committed terrible sins, he trusted God for forgiveness and cleansing.

 

My friend, unless your heart is a trusting heart, you will be miserable!

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. [6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

 

Psalm 112:7 - He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

 

Psalm 56:3 - What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

 

Psalm 56:11 - In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

 

Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.

 

A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below.

 

The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.”

Our Daily Bread, April 8, 1996 - http://www.bible.org/illus/t/t-83.htm#TopOfPage

  

You know, when our "Heavenly Dad" is the one holding the rope, we have nothing to fear.

 

Vss. 8-12 - Not one of Jesse's sons was suitable.  So Samuel asked if there were any more.  David was mentioned, and Samuel proceeded to go any further without seeing this Son too.

When David arrived, God told Samuel that this was the one to anoint.

 

Another part of good beginnings is God's TIMING.

David needed to be in a certain place at a certain time.

God saw to it that God was where he needed to be.

When we follow God's leading, he will put us in the right place at the right time.

 

How can we make sure that God's timing is always upon our lives?

 

Psalm 90:12 - So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

 

Ephesians 5:15-17 - See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, [16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. [17] Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

 

Vs. 11 - Now think with me. Where was David when he was needed?  Yes, he was out with the sheep!  But more importantly, David was in TRAINING!

 

David was learning to take care of sheep, so that one day he could be the "shepherd of Israel". He was learning lessons on how to deal with people by learning how to deal with sheep.

 

A lot of what we do is God training us so that we can used what we learned in his service in another area.

 

I reaped many benefits from being in the army.

·        I got to witness and even preach a couple of times.

·        I saw part of the world that I would have never seen.

·        I met my good friend John Rice, who we went to visit in Suriname.

·        The government paid for my Bible School education.

·        The government now helps with my medical needs.

·        But one of the greatest benefits is that the army retaught me how to type on a keyboard, and then gave me training typing.  As a pastor, I have typed most of my sermons and have done countless other things like bulletins, hand outs, calendars and prayer sheets. I was in training and didn't know it!

 

Vs. 13 - David was anointed king, although he would not be king until God's timing was right.  May I remind you that it's all too easy to become impatient?  We want things in our time, which is now!  God's timing make take years to develop.   

 

The Holy Spirit of God came upon David, and again we see God's TOUCH.

 

Part of a good beginning is learning to feel the TOUCH of God's Spirit in your life.

 

Romans 5:3-5 - And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; [4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope: [5] And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

Romans 15:13 - Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

Galatians 5:16 - This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

 

Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

Allow God's Holy Spirit to control you! His is the TOUCH that you need.  

 

Vss. 14-18 - We're back to TIMING again.

Saul was miserable.

The touch of God was missing from his life.

He needed help.

 

It was suggested that Saul needed some soothing music to calm him. And it just so "happened" that the right man was in the right place at the right time to suggest David.

 

When we strive to please God, God will put people in the right place at the right time to help us.

 

There's more in these verses.

Notice that David had a good TESTIMONY.

David had shown himself to be a man of God in many ways.

Therefore, the man who knew him spoke up.

 

You never know when a good testimony will pay off.

 

Our Daily Bread - "As a schoolboy, I worked with my father during the summer months. Each morning we stopped to pick up the early edition of the newspaper at a small grocery store.

One morning when we got to work, my father found that by mistake he had taken two newspapers instead of one. He first thought of paying the man the extra price the next morning, but then after a moment’s consideration he said, “I had better go back with this paper. I don’t want the man at the store to think I’m dishonest.” He got in his car, drove back to the store, and returned the paper.

 

About a week later, someone stole money from the grocery store. When police pinpointed the time it occurred, the grocer remembered only two people being in the store at the time—and one was my father. The grocer immediately dismissed my father as a suspect, saying, “That man is really honest. He came all the way back here just to return a newspaper he took by mistake.” The police then focused their investigation on the other man, who soon made a full confession. My father’s honesty made a big impression on that non-Christian storeowner, and on me.

Does your Christian walk square with your Christian talk? Is your honesty above question?

Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1998, p. for April 15

 

Vss. 19-23 - David ended up in Saul's court. And as we conclude we see two things happening.

 

Once again David was in training. Saul was training his successor and didn't know it.

 

And once again David had a good testimony.

   

TOUCH - Vss. 1, 13

TRUST - Vs. 7

TIMING - Vss. 11, 14-18

TRAINING - Vss. 11, 19-23

TESTIMONY - Vss. 14-18