Only a Man Named David

 

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life

to something bigger than oneself.” Joseph Campbell

 

Fame, power, and wealth can carry a steep price. Celebrities place great value on how they look and what they wear and how much they make. But they get bored with it all and forget about the important things of life like health, marriage, family and doing things for others. Even Bible characters, even those described as having a heart for God like David was (Acts 13:32), can easily forget God. That was King David. Even the greatest hero or heroine has a sin nature and feet of clay. 

  Oliver Cromwell was a political and military leader in 17^th century England who held the official title “Lord Protector of England.” He once commissioned an artist to paint an official portrait that would enshrine his appearance so that future generations would know what he looked like. It was typical in such portraits for the artist to paint the person’s appearance in a way that made the person more attractive. (It was an early version of photoshop.) According to one famous anecdote, Cromwell told the artist who was painting him to paint him “warts and all.” God’s Word certainly paints its characters warts and all. That’s one way that we know that God is the author. Human authors would have edited out those parts that reveal their evil, failures and foibles.
  That’s certainly the case with David. 2 Samuel continues the account of David, one of the Bible’s greatest heroes – but paints him “warts and all.” While 1 Samuel shares the account of a godly David struggling and on the run for his life because of the sins of others yet still trusting God with a deep faith, 2 Samuel tells the story of that same faith but now it’s needed because David suffers from the consequences of his own sins. The responding mercy and grace of God for a faltering David amplifies the truth of Romans 5:20: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” David desperately needed God’s grace and so do we.
  We need to hear that message again. Ours is the day of Celebrity Christianity. The Church can’t seem to divorce herself from this People magazine approach to spiritual leaders of today or heroes in the biblical narrative. We hang our hopes on some seemingly great man or woman of God, perhaps a leader of a ministry or church. And when there is a  surrender to the same sin nature that each of us has, other Christians are disillusioned and even abandon Christianity. They had their eyes on a man or woman of faith when Christianity is about Christ.
  The message of 2 Samuel is about walking through with life as a fallen sinner. It means dealing with danger, enemies, jealous friends, marriage, broken relationships, bitter adult children, pride, politics, betrayal, humiliation, rejection, siblings, sickness, sexuality, justice, fear, peace and death. Yet always at the forefront and in the background of circumstances, events and people is God. It’s always God who is there and with whom we deal. God can never be dealt with in some antiseptic, sterile theological laboratory as a specialty of heaven, but in the muck and mud of this earth.
  2 Samuel is simultaneously heavenly and earthly. David’s life doesn’t present us with some sanitized ideal but with a roughed up, scarred life in which we see humanity at its best and its worst. We see God’s hand in the mess of the human situation. Perhaps no other biblical account has the extreme ups and downs than the life of David. It’s a life that hides from God, yet turns to God, comes alive before God, more aware of God and continually responsive to God with a tender, trusting heart.
  David never forgot who really placed him on the throne. Even after experiencing remarkable success in battle, David remained humble. Later in his life, in 2 Samuel, after David was crowned king and had conquered his enemies, the prophet Nathan told him of God’s promise to extend his dynasty forever. David responded in humble prayer: “Who am I, Lord God, and who are the members of my household, that You have brought me this far?” (2 Samuel 7:18). While David knew immense success at everything he went after, he never took the credit or considered himself worthy of greatness. He continually gave all the glory to God. He’s an example to us.
  One of the greatest examples that David gives us is his integrity. He doesn’t blame Saul or that he was the youngest or was mistreated as a young man. Instead, he takes personal responsibility for his sin and failures. He openly admitted when he was wrong and took the blame for his choices. That’s a sign of deep integrity. Even in the church when we’ve been infected with the Adamic blame game, David models for us how to be cured and healed and freed.
  We can never be fully human without God. Contemporary humanity has attempted to jettison God as our Designer and His manual, The Bible, of what it means to have a fulfilled humanity. The results are monstrous. Each human life is a great gift with every part designed by God. It means that every person, every part has a purpose and is blessed by God and life God’s way is meant to be enjoyed and fulfilling.
  We can run from God, but we can’t hide, as David learned. We can’t ever escape God. He’s always there, whether we like it or not. We can act like He doesn’t exist just as one can say that the sun doesn’t exist, but the sun keeps on shining, and God is always there. But what we lose is our humanity and we suffer. Our lives are diminished and impoverished.
  Ultimately, 2 Samuel points us to the future coming “Son of David,” the one true King. Jesus is the pivotal point in all of God’s revelation. He gathers 2 Samuel and all of Scripture into His orbit. He’s the center and provides coherence. Between the lines of 2 Samuel and David is the coming King, King Jesus. 2 Samuel is just another page in His great story!
  As we work through 2 Samuel, we’ll see David with his successes and failures. We’ll see hope and grace. Yet, best of all, we’ll see King Jesus Who is our one true King! Is He your King? 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

1 Samuel: More than just a great story!

 

“Every story deserves a great ending.”  Christopher Nolan

Do you love a good story? A good storyteller can have you on the edge of your seat. There are no better stories than the stories found in the Bible, but they’re not just stories – they’re history. They’re not make-believe or “once upon a time.” They all happened. They’re as much history as anything written by popular American historian, David McCullough. 

  There’s an account about the great Reformer, Martin Luther, related to the stories in the Bible. The great turning point in Luther’s life came when he was assigned to teach the book of Romans at Wittenberg University. When he came to Romans 1:17, “The just shall live by faith,” God used it to transform his life. The Reformation was conceived from that encounter with Scripture. Yet, that wasn’t Luther’s first contact with Scripture. 

  When he attended seminary he studied books of canon law and church tradition but amazingly for someone studying for the ministry, he was never actually encouraged to read the Bible. In that dark period of Church History, the Bible wasn’t considered worthy of any real investigation. Church leaders were concerned with other things. Nevertheless, one day Luther found in the university library an old copy of the Latin Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible done 1100 years before by Jerome in the town of Bethlehem.

  Luther blew the dust off of it and began reading in one of the early books. That book turned out to be 1 Samuel and what he found amazed him. He was reading a story, not heavy theology, as he expected Scripture to be, but the story of a boy named David, and he was fascinated. It didn’t change his life at that point, but it intrigued him. That experience became part of what God used to make him into the world-transforming figure that he became.

  Today we’re returning to our study of 1 Samuel: God of Reversals. We’re in the latter half of this great book. And we’re jumping in this morning with the most famous story in 1 Samuel – David & Goliath.

  David is the hero and a dominant character of both 1 and 2 Samuel. We first met this young man in our study before Christmas in chapter 16 when he was anointed king by the prophet Samuel. Yet, 1 Samuel is much more than a sling, a rock, and taking out a giant story. In it, we will often find a reflection of our own lives.

  1 Samuel has highs and lows. It has motives that are maligned and unjustly questioned. Doing the right thing and what pleases the Lord often isn’t rewarded. Instead, it carries a high price.

  It has one of the most wonderful friendship stories in Scripture. It’s unusual in that it touches an area that’s often overlooked yet desperately needed – healthy friendships between men. Jonathan and David are comrades in arms. They have a friendship stronger than many brothers. In today’s world, most men have difficulty even knowing how to have a friendship. A good friend is often considered someone who likes the same sports we do or that we play golf or go fishing with. Yet, God intended friendship to be so much more.

  1 Samuel has messy families. A younger child is disdained by his older sibling. There is an angry, ongoing conflict between a father and son, or a daughter who is caught between loyalty to her spouse and her father. It bubbles over with plots, divisions, and conspiracies.

  It’s a horrible version of the original “Bad Boss” story. Not only is there abuse of an employee, but he’s not just terminated, there’s an attempt to exterminate him.

  1 Samuel is filled with political intrigue. Power plays and plots are normal. Jealousy and envy grow like dandelions in the Spring. Perceived usurpers and threats to current leadership are hunted down. The innocent or anyone who stands in the way of the political machine pays a high price.

  The obnoxious, rude, and even foolish are here. Doing the right thing or living the right way doesn’t seem to add up. A love story peeks out from its covers. There is temptation in the midst of the terrible trials to stop trusting God and go spiritually AWOL. Even witches and the occult are dabbled in.

  During the coming weeks, we’ll discover 1 Samuel is a page out of today’s world, our world, my world, and your world. The problems, struggles, and issues are ours, too. It’s not just theoretical stuff. It will resonate within our own lives and hearts. We’ll see our own lives reflected in these pages.

  But most of all, it’s God’s story. When it seems that evil will win and wrong prevail, we see that all along God has been working. He’s using even trials, difficulties, and suffering to accomplish His will and purpose.

  Christian counselor and author, Paul Tripp writes: What is the biblical story? It’s the story of a God of love invading the world in the person of His Son of love to establish His kingdom of love by a radical sacrifice of love, to forgive us in love and draw us into His family of love, and to send us out as ambassadors of the very same love.”

  1 Samuel is first and foremost God’s story. As God works throughout this book, He is also working in our lives, even when it doesn’t look like it.  He’s not surprised by anything that we face or struggle with. God takes what from our side of eternity is a hot mess and transforms it into a masterpiece of His grace. It’s not just back then, it’s today. It’s not just for great heroes of the faith, like David. It’s for you and me.

  1 Samuel isn’t just some well-written story. It’s a picture of our own lives and our own relationship with a loving God. It reminds us anew that even when all seems dark, He’s still there and we can trust Him. 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

A few good (but not perfect) men...

"A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be." Frank A. Clark 

  More times than I like to think about, I’ve felt that my “Daddy Permit” ought to be revoked. Any Dad who’s honest, I believe, probably feels the same way. What an encouragement the Bible is when it comes to fathers. God’s Word challenges us with Dads in real time, yet paints them as they truly were. It doesn’t sanitize them, creating some unrealistic, idealistic Super Dad, but as real Dads who loved their children, loved God yet still struggled with their own sin nature and shortcomings. It drives me back to the Cross and the Gospel, and the only Father who is perfect.

  One of my favorite quotes that gives me so much hope for my children is from Thomas Fuller, an English churchman and historian. Thomas Fuller was a prolific author, as well as the chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. His powerful insight encourages my heart, that my children will walk closer to the Lord and be more faithful to Him than I have been. He wrote: “Lord, I find the genealogy of my Savior strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations. (1) Rehoboam begat Abijah; that is, a bad father begat a bad son. (2) Abijah begat Asa; that is, a bad father begat a good son. (3) Asa begat Jehoshaphat; that is, a good father a good son. (4) Jehoshaphat begat Joram; that is, a good father a bad son. I see, Lord, from hence that my father's piety cannot be entailed; that is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary; that is good news for my son.”

  Perusing the pages of Scripture, I find some wonderful models of godly fatherhood. Caleb, was a Dad with a vision for the next generation. When nearly everyone else doubted God and were shaking in their sandals, Caleb joined Joshua, in that wonderful do it – “we can do it, we can do it!” Many men are great, yet fail in encouraging greatness in the next generation. Toward the end of his life, Caleb is still claiming new territory and challenging others to do the same, to take great risks and step out on faith. His daughter follows in his steps, claiming unconquered ground in the Promised Land for the glory of God. Too often, we seek to protect our children, essentially handing them their future on a silver platter rather than challenging them to trust God and step out on faith on their own.

  While David was such a disappointment in so many ways, yet when God turned down his holy desire to build a great house for God, David did the next best thing. Though he wasn’t going to be allowed to build a house for the Lord, he prepared the way for his son, Solomon, to honor God. Later when, with all the political intrigue and coups of a Games of Thrones court, a plan was hatched to circumvent Solomon from assuming Israel’s throne after David’s death, David immediately vacated the throne, having Solomon anointed king. He also cleaned up his own messes so that a young Solomon wouldn’t have to deal with the debris from his failures. While we must not fight our children’s battles, we should seek to remove needless impediments out of their way that might dissuade them from following God’s will, and guide them in ways that encourage them to trust Him. 

  Sacrifice, particularly for one’s children seemingly grows rarer among today’s Dads. Weekends are theirs for their hobbies. After work is for “me time.” Though it might put at risk their children’s future, rarely will they slow down their career climb, even if longer hours or a relocation will potentially be a detriment to their child’s spiritual health. Often pastors are the worst violators of this, snatching children out of schools and away from friends who encourage them spiritually, just so that they can take a bigger ministry. Scripture only gives us the briefest glances of Joseph, Jesus’ adopted father. The little that we know of him causes me to admire him. As soon as he knew Jesus was in danger, he doesn’t just get out of town, he leaves the country. He left a new business and friends in the middle of the night for what must have been an unpleasant trek down into Egypt. Even when he returns, rather than going back where it might be easier to start over, he chooses the less ideal town of Nazareth to re-establish himself. A Dad who sacrifices, particularly economically, because it’s in the best interest of his children, is far too rare even in the Church.

  Probably, this one is closer to my heart than others, the Apostle Paul was a man who looked outside of his own blood descendants to make a difference in someone else’s life. Though busy with ministry, Paul invested in the young man, Timothy, adopting him as his own son in the faith. Think how much richer the Church is because of Paul’s love for the Lord that he poured out into Timothy. Many godly men, particularly after their own children are grown, shut their eyes in our fatherless and poor fathering world to have a godly influence on a young man. Yet, such an investment can pay off in huge spiritual dividends. We know too that Paul was single and may have never been married. Yet, this single, very busy man poured his life into a young life for the glory of God. May there be many more in our churches who will follow his example!

  Abraham struggled with fear most of his life, yet was called the “friend of God.” His spiritual priorities challenge me. He wouldn’t even let his long awaited and promised son, Isaac, to come between him and the Lord. He obeyed God, even if meant the sacrifice of his own son. That staggers me. I have to wonder, “Would I do that?” I hope so. I hope that I wouldn’t even let those that I love the most in this world, that I would gladly give my life for, that I wouldn’t even let them come between me and my God. Yet, many a man has become bitter and turned his back on God because he felt God had asked too much when God asked him to “have no other idols before God,” particularly when that idol was his own family. What we think is too great of a sacrifice costs too much when we choose to not trust and obey God. Too often what we think we can’t afford to lose, we lose in a greater way – we lose spiritually, losing that intimate relationship with the Father and our faith, just because we don’t understand God’s plan. 

  No, the Dads in Scripture aren’t perfect and neither are we. Many of them have left a righteous path for us to follow as they followed their Heavenly Father and sought to please Him. They were fathers who were examples for us and we would do well to follow their steps. 

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