Old Testament in a Year: 1 Samuel 10-2 Samuel 1

we are continuing in our series of being intentional this year to read the Bible we're currently in the Old Testament and I'm not gonna lie to you guys if I'm just honest it is very challenging and difficult to be able to communicate God's heart and God's Word when you have so many chapters to pull from simply because it's just so good it's just so good the Word of God is so good and I'm not gonna lie to you guys like it's it is when they say that it's the only book that the author sits there with you it's so true and I don't know about you guys but I feel like since we've been intently reading the Bible you know it's three chapters a day and I want to encourage you if not doing that to hop on with us and start start immediately right where we are I don't know about you guys but I feel like it's increased my prayer life and you say well why Pastor Abe it's because I'm convicted it's because when I look at the Word of God I realize that God uses it to really refine some areas in my life and that conviction brings about just an intimacy and a closeness with God and come on aren't you grateful for that aren't you grateful that God uses his Word to refine us so that we can not only know him but look more like him and so this morning I will be intentionally speaking from the first Samuel chapters 10 to 31 and 2nd Samuel chapter 1 now I know we're out of order here and that's okay but it's because it's just a mix-up happened but Pastor Clay will be preaching next Sunday on the book of Judges and Ruth I'm telling you right now he he's whispered it in my ear and he has a powerful word so I'm telling you don't miss out how many guys are grateful for Pastor Clay he's an anointed man of God and we're so grateful for him I'm telling you you don't want to miss it so we're in the book of 1st Samuel and and I'm excited and I'm and I believe that this morning God has something specifically for us as we look at the lives of two different Kings King Saul and King David we're gonna look at the life of King Saul in a more detailed way and then we're gonna be able to also learn some lessons from King David because I really feel like here's the thing can we be honest I think sometimes when we read the Word of God specifically the Old Testament we can have this opinion maybe you've never

had this opinion but I've always had this opinion in my heart like when I read the Old Testament sometimes I'm like man these Israelites man what were they thinking about like you're kind of dumb you know what's wrong with them like I get really judgy but I realized that when I have that opinion God looks at me in my heart or speaks to my heart and goes don't think so highly of yourself because you're the same way you know what I mean so how many guys know that that God uses all things to instruct us to challenge us and so we're gonna look at the lives of these two Kings and we're gonna ask the Lord I'm asking the Holy Spirit to place a mirror in front of us so that we can address our own hearts now we're not addressing our own hearts so that we can walk out of here defeated or condemned we're addressing our hearts because he desires to free you up right now he desires that you would walk in the fullness of what he has for you right now because I'm telling you right now now was the time right now was the time to address these things and God gives us that space so if you have your Bibles our key foundational scripture is going to be found in James chapter 4 verses 6 and 7 we will you stand as we honor the Word of God we're gonna read this scripture it's gonna lay a foundation and I'm gonna come back to it and then we're gonna make some declarations church are you awake are you ready all right here we go James chapter 4 verses 6 through 7 says this and he gives grace generously as scriptures say God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble so humble yourself before God resist the devil and he will flee from you come close to God and God will come close to you wash your hands you sinners purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world let there be tears for what you have done that there be sorrow and grief that there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up in honor I know that's a heavy foundational scripture but I promise you there was life on it amen come on let's make some declarations nice and loud ready go I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God this word is alive to my body and held to my bones I will be a doer of the word and not a

hero only and I am confident of this that he who begun a good work of me will complete it in Jesus name go ahead and take your seats amen as we look at the book of first Samuel before we do that kind of want to give a quick little recap of where we are as you guys know the the Israelites the people of God were in the desert and I want to remind you again that the desert was not a punishment the desert was a tool that God to ensure that his people would fully rely on him 110%. How many guys know that rely on God is not a bad thing? So to catch us up in 1 Samuel, the Israelites are living in the promised land and slowly they become comfortable and less and less dependent on God. They turn their attention not to the Lord but on their own strength and a desire to be like the other nations. This leads them to ask for a human king to rule them. And here's the thing, right, is that this request that they have of asking for a human king reveals something in their hearts. What does it reveal? It reveals a deeper issue and the issue is that in reality they wanna reject God's leadership for a visible human leadership. How many guys know that when we start doing that there's already red flags in our lives? That God has not called us to be like other people but he's calling us to be set apart, fully dependent on him.

So we find here in 1 Samuel chapter 10, we're gonna just start talking about King Saul, where Saul is anointed as king and he is instructed by Samuel to wait because he's about to go to war with the Philistines but he says, wait for me seven days and in seven days I'm gonna come, offer the offerings and I'm gonna instruct you specifically what God has for you. Here's the thing that we notice about King Saul already is that he was chosen as God's first, Israel's first king, excuse me, and he begins with humility and early success but over time he struggles with fear, impatience and a concern more for his image than fully trusting in the Lord and I think there's valuable lessons in learning that. So let's pick up real quick in 1 Samuel 13, seven, as he's waiting on Samuel and this is what the Bible says. Meanwhile, 1 Samuel 13, 17 to 14, meanwhile Saul stayed at Gilgal and his men were trembling with fear. Saul waited there seven days for Samuel as Samuel has instructed him earlier but Samuel did not come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away so he demanded, bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings and Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering,

Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him but Samuel said, what is it that you have done? Saul replied, I saw my men scattering from me and you didn't arrive when you said you would and the Philistines are at Michmash ready for battle. So I said, the Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal and I haven't even asked for the Lord's help. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came. How foolish, Samuel exclaimed. You've not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom forever over Israel forever but now your kingdom must end for you. The Lord has sought a man after his own heart. The Lord already has appointed him to be the leader of his people because you have not kept the Lord's command. How many of you guys know first and foremost that Saul was given instruction to wait on the Lord? I just wanna just make a little side note here is that we're here to serve the Lord. The Lord is not here to serve us and that means that our dependency is solely on him and that if God instructs us to wait on him, we have to fully obey in that and wait on the Lord. And see, when we look at this story,

we see that Saul begins to exhibit what I would call a hardened heart. He begins to exhibit these symptoms and the first symptom that he exhibited in having a hard heart was fear. Fear of circumstances, fear of the men. I believe that fear of circumstances can lead to disobedience when we stop trusting God's timing. I believe that a hardened heart often begins not in rebellion but in pressure. Because in pressure, sometimes, if not checked, will cause you to do things that you said you would never do. Saul's fear led to his disobedience. Let's look at 1 Samuel 13, 12. Saul says, I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering. Can I just tell you something, people of God, church? We need to be careful when we feel compelled to move on behalf of God because sometimes it can feel like God but it really is the flesh. Being compelled by the Lord needs to be backed up with the fear and obedience towards the Lord. Samuel, Saul said, I felt compelled to offer the burnt offerings and he was under pressure. Why? His army was scattering, the Philistines were gathering, and Samuel had not yet arrived.

Instead of waiting for Samuel, as God commanded, he took matters into his own hands. And here's what it exposed. Outwardly, King Saul, he acted like a king, right? He made it happen, he took control. But inwardly, he lacked restraint to trust God and obey him. Look at me, on the outside, you can do whatever it looks. where you can take control of a situation, but look at me, but on the inside, you can be disobedient and not fully rely on the Lord. That's why Samuel called his actions foolish immediately afterward. Hey church, can I just challenge you this morning as it pertains to looking at a heart, a hardened heart and talking about fear? The reality is that the fear needs to be checked in our lives. Can I specifically say this? I think fear of man needs to be checked in our lives big time. Because I've heard it said that what we fear is what we worship. What we fear is what we worship. And sometimes I think, can we be honest? It's easy to come in the church, in the house of the Lord and be all about God and be concerned what he has to say about us, but then go to the workplace and be more concerned

about what our friends think of us than what we proclaim here in this house. Listen, we're not innocent. I think sometimes we're scared of what people will say or think of us. You wanna know how I know this is true in the church body? Fear is the number one reason why we don't share the gospel. We're too afraid of what our neighbors are gonna think of us than really be more concerned with the well done and good and faithful servant. The fear of man needs to be checked inside of us because again, what you fear is what you worship. How about this, church? People pleasing. People pleasing can become a form of compromise. Now listen, I wanna be very careful that I say this because I'm kind of in the South, but not really. I'm from the West Coast, okay? So look, I still have a little hood in me, all right? So I love the Lord, you know what I'm saying? But sometimes he has to remind me. I find it sometimes, you know, specifically in the South that we're so quick to sometimes be so, we kind of step on eggshells because we don't wanna offend nobody. And listen, I'm not giving us permission to just be loose with our mouth and do whatever we wanna do. We speak the truth, but we speak it in love.

But I think sometimes we're so concerned with stepping on eggshells that we don't, because we don't wanna offend nobody that then in reality, you're offending God. We gotta check compromise. Listen, people pleasing, it's a form of compromise. And Saul was full of it. Let's keep going. After this occasion, God gives Saul a clear command, destroy the Amalekites. Why is this so important? It's because in the book of Exodus, the Amalekites came against the children of Israel while they were in the desert. They were defenseless. And how many of you guys know that when you attack God's people, God doesn't forget? So God made a vow, I'm gonna destroy, completely wipe you out. And now he's using Saul as a vessel to do this. So he says, go and completely destroy them. So Saul gathers a large army and attacks them. He defeated the Amalekites to destroy most of them, but he disobeys God by sparing the king, King Agag, and the best livestock and valuables for himself and his men. And he destroys only what he deems as weak or worthless. Let's jump in, 1 Samuel 15, 10 through 11. Then the Lord said to Samuel, I am sorry that I ever made Saul king,

for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my commands. Samuel was deeply moved. And when he heard this, he cried out to the Lord all night. I wanna read that last part real quick. Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night. I don't know why when I read that last portion real quick of that verse, and I'm just sidestepping here. I'm just giving you a little note. Welcome to my TED Talk real quick. That verse convicted me, why? Because godly people should never rejoice in the failures of other people. Come on, church. As men and women of God, we should never rejoice when other people fall on their face. If anything, we should follow the example of Samuel that it brings us to tears where we weep and cry because of the brokenness of people. Because the reality of it is, I don't know about you guys, but I was once blind, but now I see. And if it wasn't for someone, right, praying that God would open my eyes, I wouldn't be here today. Can I just be honest with love, and love, I wanna just challenge you real quick. This is out of love. I think that sometimes there can be this mixture, even in our church community,

and I'm talking about Capital C Church, is that we, someone does us wrong, and we kinda adapt this karma, vindictive, oh, karma will get them. No, no, no, guys, that's not a church principle. That's not the body of Christ principle. The karma thing has such a, number one, that's not biblical. Two, it can have such a vindictive, like, revenge thing, and I'm telling you right now, revenge is the Lord's, not ours. And our hearts should be stirred to pray for those. that offend us, the temptation would be to rejoice in their failures, we need to pray for them and ask God to open their eyes. That's what Samuel exampled for this king. Let's keep going, 1 Samuel 15, 13 through 19. When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. May the Lord bless you, he said. I have carried out the Lord's command. Then what is all this beating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cows that I hear, Samuel demanded. It's true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats and cattle, Saul admitted, but we're going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else. Then Samuel said to Saul, stop, listen to what the Lord told me last night. What did he tell you, Saul asked, and Samuel told him. Although you may think little of yourself,

you are not the leader of the tribes of Israel. Are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead. Why haven't you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord's sight? Can I just tell you something? This scripture, again, it brings conviction because if you have any form of leadership, whether you're a pastor or a boss of a company, it's important that we are obedient and honor the Lord. Why, because what we do or don't do permits and makes an excuse for those behind us to do whatever God told us not to do. Our obedience as leaders is so important because it opens or closes the doors for those behind us. Come on, parents, come on, parents. God has entrusted some of you guys, your children, and look at me, what you do or don't do in obedience matters because it will either open the door for them to be disobedient or not. It matters. See, Saul begins, King Saul shows a second symptom to a hardened heart, and what is that? Spiritual numbness. Spiritual numbness. Spiritual numbness causes us to hear God's command,

but it allows us to adjust it instead of fully obeying it. Did you hear me? Spiritual numbness can cause us to hear the command of God, but it causes us to adjust it instead of fully obeying it. Church, partial obedience is still disobedience in God's eyes. When we just struggle with a hardened heart like Saul did, we begin to pick and choose what we will obey, and then all of a sudden when there comes partial obedience and compromise, we justify. We justify our actions instead of surrendering our whole heart to the Lord. Here's what Saul did, right? Verse 20 in chapter 15. But I did obey the Lord, Saul insisted. I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. Then my troops brought in the best sheeps, goats, cattles, and plundered to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. Hey, listen, that excuse sounds good, but that's not what God told you to do. Hey, I wanna real quickly speak to those that are really good at justifying. Number one, I don't come with condemnation, but I come to challenge you this morning that if you lean towards justifying your sin, you lean towards justifying your disobedience, I'm here to say to you that you will never know the complete freedom from sin and shame unless you humble yourself

and lay down your justifications. God desires for us to walk in freedom, but he cannot come and move in your life if you're still justifying the thing that's holding you captive. I think that sometimes it's easy to be right before men, but sometimes you can be right before men, but you're wrong before God. Come on, church. It's still possible to win an argument, right, but not be righteous in front of the Lord's eyes. Partial obedience is still disobedience in God's eyes. Look, God's not here to condemn you or point the finger at you, he's here saying, hey, do you wanna keep walking in your hardened heart or do you want a heart after me? I'm so moved by Samuel's response to all of this in 1 Samuel 15, 22, Samuel says this, but Samuel replied, what is more pleasing to God, your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen, obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than the offering the fat of the rams. Church, I will say this, the road to destruction is often paved with good intentions and religious deeds, but the road to life is paved with obedience. What does that mean? It means that you can come and do the religious thing here and then leave this place and really not know God.

It means that you can mix culture and say, I know that's what God said. But you know, everybody's doing this. No, no, no, no. Partial disobedience is, partial obedience is still disobedience in God's eyes. Listen, when Jesus laid his life down, right? He laid his life down so that we would walk in the fullness of what God has for us. He's returning for a beautiful bride. Not a bride that's tainted by our opinions or our conveniences or our justifications. He's challenging us today. Jesus didn't lay his life down so that we could redefine the standard. He died to pay the penalty because we failed to meet it. Like, I always tell people, I think sometimes, and I'm convicted of it, it's easy for Jesus to be my friend, but it's hard sometimes for him to be Lord of my life. Can I just say something? I wanna hear what, I want you to hear what I'm saying. Like, he's more concerned about, he's more concerned about you following him and being obedient than he is concerned about being your friend. Come on, parenting, right? Like, I want my kids to do what's right than be more concerned about me being their friend. No, that's, I think our heavenly father feels the same way.

Jesus doesn't want your good behavior, church. He wants your whole heart. You know where we've missed it? We've missed it, and I want to encourage you to check your heart this morning. We've missed a healthy fear of the Lord. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let me give you the AIV translation of that. That's the Abraham International Version. You ready? Like, my dad didn't play games with me, and I got my butt spanked plenty of times, and you know why I didn't go mess with the wrong crowds and do it? Because I knew my dad would not play, right? I think sometimes we've missed it. We're like, oh, Jesus loves me, and he's my friend. He is all those things, but I'm telling you, he will not stand for sin. Church, are you hearing me? And sometimes just having that, look, it saves our lives. It saves us spiritually from partnering and going places that we're not supposed to go, participating. Listen, I'm not talking about just big sin. How about participating in conversations in the workplace we're not supposed to participate in? Gossiping. How about sometimes when someone offends you, not letting your heart get bitter because you know

you can't forgive, he won't forgive you. Uh-uh, I need forgiveness. Everybody hear what I'm saying to you guys this morning? Jesus does not just want, he doesn't just want our good behavior for us to be religious. He wants our whole heart. He wants us to know him. Let's pick up with the story of 1 Samuel 15, 24 to 26. Then Samuel admitted to Saul, yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord's command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. Here we go, that fear of man again. Verse 25, now please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the Lord. But Samuel replied, I will not go back with you since you have rejected the Lord's command. He has rejected you as king of Israel. What was the third symptom of a hardened heart that showed up was his pride. Listen, I told you guys earlier that I'm from the West Coast, I'm a little hood, and there's a little hood saying that kind of we used to live by, and that's this, is that sometimes you're sorry because you get caught. You're sorry because you got caught, bro. I think sometimes we tend to kind of live our lives that way because here's the reality is that when we dwell with pride and we allow pride to have its way in our hearts, pride will bring about a lack of true repentance in our lives. Here's why, because forgiveness is about being pardoned,

but repentance is about being transformed. Do you hear me? Repent, forgiveness is about being pardoned, but repentance is about being transformed. We're good with God, I'm sorry, but we have a hard time with going, let me repent because I don't want to do that again. Because repenting and turning away from our stuff costs us something. It costs us our pride. It costs us what people will think of us. But I'm here to say to you, God is looking for repentance. Repentance, turning away from our sin is a fragrance to the Lord, he draws near. And it's in these moments, friends, that he, that where our hearts are really exposed. You ever been there before where like you got in trouble for doing something and you're like, oh, I gotta repent real quick because, and so forth? Let's continue real quick in this story. 1 Samuel 15, 27 to 30, as Samuel turned to go, Saul tried to hold him back and tore the hem of his robe. And Samuel said to him. The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else, one who is better than you. And he who is the glory of Israel will not die, nor will he change his mind, for he is not a human that he should change his mind. Then Saul pleaded, I know I sinned,

but please at least honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God. So Samuel finally agreed and went back and Saul worshiped the Lord. As I was reading this story, kind of thinking about this point, I was reminded of when I was 19 years old, which is so crazy to me that to now kind of say in the way of like, man, that was a long time ago. You know what I mean? Like this white beard is not for decoration. I've been around for a while. I was thinking about this story when I was 19, I was in ministry school. I'm originally from California. And when I was 18, I moved to Birmingham, Alabama to go to ministry school. And that was a whole adventure within itself. And God really used that season to refine me. But I remember my second year when I returned, it was leadership training and we were just going and going and doing a lot of ministry. I was kind of wore out. So I was looking forward to Christmas break. I was like, I'll go home to Christmas break. My mom will feed me really good food and I won't have to like be around my team. You know what I'm saying? I'll be by myself.

I'm like, I'm really gonna vacation. I'm already on vacation, but I'm really gonna just rest. So I get home, you know what I mean? And I'm like, ah, I don't really need to read the Bible. I've been reading the Bible, I'm good. Ah, I don't know if I should go to church. I mean, I basically serve at the church, so I'm good. And all of a sudden this little compromise starts in me that I'm like supposed to be resting and having a Christmas break, right? When in reality, I'm taking a break from God. You ever been there before? So I'm like living my best life. I'm hanging around friends I probably shouldn't hang around with. I'm like listening to stuff that I probably shouldn't listen to, watching things that I probably shouldn't be watching, saying things that are probably not Christ-like that I wouldn't say in Bible study. You know what I'm saying, that kind of flow. So it's like, I'm doing this all week, I'm living my best life, and then all of a sudden it begins to hit me, uh-oh, I gotta go home like in two days. I gotta go back to ministry school. Uh-oh, like I gotta lead a Bible study on Thursday. And all of a sudden I'm like, uh-oh, people are depending on me. And I'm like, so all of a sudden I'm like, okay, it's okay.

I'm gonna go to my prayer closet and make this right. So I go to my prayer closet and I'm like, oh Lord, please forgive me. Lord, I'm so sorry. I gotta teach Bible study on Thursday, Lord. And I don't, I haven't heard your voice. And God help me because these people are depending on me. And I don't know if your relationship with God is anything like mine, but I feel like I'm very visual. And I just felt like my heavenly father just did this to me. And I felt like the Lord in the gentle, but very serious way to me said this. Seems like you're repenting because you're a ministry student and you're not repenting because you're a son. My bad, Lord. I think sometimes it's so easy to repent because of the title we carry, than it is because we're son or daughter of the most high king. Are you there sometimes in your life? Are you there sometimes in your life? Where God's asking you to see the bigger picture in our lives? Can I be honest with you? There've been moments where I, and I think I wanna just say this. It's an invitation from the Lord that I think sometimes I'm caught in my own sin. And if I'm honest, I don't even know. I know that it's wrong, but I don't know it's wrong here.

You ever been there? And I think sometimes knowing that it's wrong here, knowing that you've sinned here can sometimes lead us to just not really just to be casual with that. But I wanna challenge you this morning that if you know you're doing something or partnering in sin here and you don't know it yet in your heart, go before him anyway. There've been plenty of times where I've gone to God and said, God, I know this is wrong, but my heart doesn't feel it. But Lord, will you just minister to me? Will you show me? Will you open up the eyes of my heart? Here's why that's important. Because I think sometimes when we're involved in sin, we can count ourselves out because of that. And I'm telling you this morning, don't count yourself out. Count yourself in. Go before the Lord. Ask him to change and address the areas of your heart in this area. It's really heartbreaking as we look at the story in 1 Samuel to see that King Saul was more upset about losing the kingdom and looking weak in front of the people than correcting the error of his ways. Here's what we can see, right? That Saul's choice is the progression of how his heart became hardened. This is important.

See, fear led to his disobedience. His disobedience led to spiritual numbness. His spiritual numbness led to pride. and his pride resisted true repentance. Church, I want you to really lean into this, what I'm about to say, because I want you to realize something, that a hardened heart doesn't happen overnight. A hardened heart is formed through repeated moments of compromise. And I believe this morning that we're called to examine our own hearts, because the enemy's out to kill, steal, and destroy, right? The Bible says in Genesis that sin comes crouching at a door and it knocks. A hardened heart doesn't happen overnight, it happens over repeated moments of compromise. And Saul shows us those repeated moments and gives us an explanation of how his heart was hardened. But David, King David, right? There's another character. King David shows us what it means to have a heart after God and what that looks like. Now, I want to define that real quick, because we can use that term, a person after God's own heart. What does that mean? I want to define it. It means having a deep inward alignment with God's desires, His priorities, and His character.

It doesn't mean that we're perfect, but it does imply that we have a posture of humility, obedience, and repentance, and a desire to do God's will. It's that very phrase, a heart after God, which was so greatly used in the Bible to describe King David. And here's what I've recognized over reading the Word and in my own experiences with God, that a heart after God is sometimes formed in seasons of pain. They're formed in seasons of loneliness, seasons of heartache, seasons of being misunderstood, seasons of grief. Now, here's a disclaimer. I want to say to those of you that find yourself in that season, a season of loss, a season of grief, a season of being misunderstood, I don't know why that season's happening to you. But if you will just hear me for a second, I want to encourage you, don't let that season redefine who God is. And I say that with mercy. I don't say that with judgment. I say that to say that sometimes you can allow that season, almost the waves of life to crash over you, or you can ask the Holy Spirit to help you. We must be mature believers. Can I just challenge you again, church? We must be mature believers that not just only pray, hey, God, remove this from me,

but God, help me to walk through it. Look at the life of Jesus, right? Jesus, in the garden, he prayed, Lord, if it's your will, take this cup, but God, not my will, your will be done. Can I just say that in the church of America, we've lost the heart of perseverance. We've lost the heart to endure. We want to know God in the fullness of a prophetic word, but we don't want to know his presence in the season of trial. What does that mean? Is that not a moment of goosebumps, but a moment where like nothing's working out, but you know his faith will be on a shadow of a doubt like never before? Because here's the beauty of those seasons. I'm not saying they're fun. I'm not here to justify that season. I'm just saying to you that God uses those seasons, because in those seasons, you have nothing else but him. I remember being in Tallahassee, Florida, having nothing, no job, no form of an idea what I was gonna do with my life, no family, and in the late, in the midnight hour, just crying out to God. God, you're my everything. God, you're my everything. God, you're my everything. Why?

Because that was the only words that I could muster out in my own grief, in my own pain, in my own whys. And it felt like in that season, it's almost like God, he takes his thumb, right, and he imprints on your heart, and he becomes your everything. We have to be people, look at me, that will endure the hard sometimes, because that's where he shows up. You know, it's like, for me, I remember those seasons of where it was hard, and I go, man, that's where I really knew God. That's where faithfulness comes, because I'm like, man, if the God, that's the God, he was the God with me in the pit, and if he's the God with me in the pit, man, he'll be the God with me everywhere I go. Amen. I love, I'm reminded of 2 Peter 1, 3 that says this, by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. Church, he has everything we need, and this applies to every season of our lives. See, I believe this, that through the help of the Holy Spirit, hard seasons become tools that help shape us and refine us rather than overcome us. The lonely places become opportunities for total reliance on the Lord.

A heart after God was formed in King David in the shepherd's field, but it was cultivated through the decisions he made long before there was a crown ever on his head. I believe that David learned how to kill Goliath in the shepherd field, not the battlefield. It's where God does something in you. So how did David cultivate a heart after God? He waited on God's timing, 1 Samuel 24 and 26. He waited on God's timing. David refused to seize the throne by harming Saul, even when he had every opportunity to do it. He trusted God to establish him in his time. What does that all mean? It means that he waited on God. Not only did he wait on God, he always inquired of the Lord in everything that he did. How else did he cultivate a heart after God? He trusted God over public opinion, 1 Samuel 17. When David faced Goliath with confidence, his confidence was in God rather than what the fear of man was saying. Everyone else was scared. Everyone else was talking to him, telling him not to do, but what did he do? No, he knew who God was and he trusted God rather than trust man and what man said. He cared more about God's opinion than what people thought. How about this?

How did he cultivate a heart after God? He honored God's authority, 1 Samuel 24, 6. David refused to kill Saul, recognizing Saul as God's anointed. Hey, listen, I'm not saying that, I'm not excusing bad behavior, but for some of us, we have a boss or an authority figure that drives you nuts, that maybe has caused some pain to you. Listen to me. Could it be that possibly God has established that authority over you and it's our job to pray for that person? It's our job to bless that person? You go, no, listen to me. It's a principle of the kingdom, it's counterintuitive. Look, the freedom that would come in your life, you would just simply understand that. David never used the anointing of being a king as an excuse for himself not to submit to authority. How else did he cultivate a heart after God? He acknowledged God as the source, 1 Samuel 17, 45-47. David humbled himself and recognized his need for God. And not only that, when he went to battle, he always went with the attitude, the battle belongs to the Lord. It's not what I do, it's what God does through me. Come on, church. How about this? This is not in 1 Samuel,

but it's a part of our reading in Psalm 51. How about David cultivated a heart after God by owning his mistakes? Oh man, Psalm 51, it'll mess you up in the best way possible. Even under pressure and betrayal, David turned to God instead of defending his image or position. He paid attention to how his sin affected God, not man. Church, did you hear that? How easy I think it would be us to cultivate repentance if we just realized, hey God, how does this make you feel? See, I believe that we can either have a heart that's hardened or cultivate a heart that's after God. I wanna go back to our foundational scripture and I'm closing. James chapter four, verse six through seven. And he says this, and he gives grace generously as scriptures say, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. I think that's a perfect line real quick that describes King Saul's relationship with God. His loyalty was divided between God and the world, the people. Verse nine, let there be tears for what you have done.

Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up in honor. Why is that so important? Like I said before, because as we examine the word of God, I recognize that those symptoms that we see in Saul's life, I have, you have. You don't believe me? Man, you talk about dealing with fear and the fear of man. We gotta address it before us. We gotta address that inside of us, why? Because that will breed compromise in us. How many of us in here, listen to me, we struggle with fear, people policing. How about number two? How about spiritual numbness? Can I just be vulnerable and honest with you? That man's, when I read that, I'm convicted, why? Because if I'm honest being a pastor, it's easy to make this my relationship with God. It's easy. So I have to stay humble before the Lord and go, God, no, soften my heart, Lord. Don't let me become numb to conviction. Let me not worry about what the people of the refuge think about me, God. If I gotta go to the altar, I'm gonna go to the altar. Come on, church.

Having that heart saying, I don't care what my wife will think or what my son will think, no, God, I wanna be. right before your eyes. How about pride? Sometimes we can be really good in our own strength, trying to fix things that sometimes will make it worse. We have to humble ourselves before the Lord. And when you humble yourself, church, He will honor you. I wanna encourage you and challenge you as we close to not let this word go in one ear and out the other. My encouragement is, would you just for a second, step in front of that spiritual mirror and ask yourself, in my heart, do I have these symptoms? I don't know about you guys, I wanna have a heart after God. I want God to say to me at the end of my life, well done, good and faithful servant. I want God to say, Abe, you loved me and you loved me well. Is that the cry of your heart?