HE OBEYED MY STATUTES AND COMMANDS

Dr. Jesse Walker

Midland SDA Church

August 20, 2011

Children’s story David and Goliath

· My favorite story as a child.

· Now Aaron’s favorite story as well

· Vol. 4 Bible Stories by Arthur S. Maxwell

· Sabbath School Lessons, little known characters of the Bible, i.e. Jonathan, Abiathar

· The Bible spends little time in praise of men…

· The Bible tells not only the good things about men, but also the failures of men…

Let’s Explore David’s life Turn to 1 Sam 16  The Anointing of David

· David comes onto the biblical scene, a mere shepherd, youngest of 8 sons

· “Man looks on the outward appearance…”v. 7

· Anointing of David as next king over Israel

· Entering Saul’s service as an armor bearer and musician

Turn to 1 Sam 17   David and Goliath

· Where David learned his courage v.34

· Why 5 stones?  v. 40

· Vs. 45-47  Words of faith

· Vs. 55-58  So begins David’s service in the house of Saul

· Also begins David’s friendship with Jonathan Ch. 18:1-4

· Turn to 1 Sam 23:15-18.  Realize what Jonathan was giving up

Turn to 1 Sam 18  David and Saul

· If we talk about David we must talk about Saul

· V.5 David rose to a high rank in the army

· V.6-7 “Saul has slain his thousands…”

· We will hear the echo of that song in the story to come…

o PP p. 650 the demon of jealousy entered Saul

o His standard of right and wrong was the low standard of popular applause

o Saul became convinced that David would win the hearts and the kingdom

o He allowed his impulses to control his judgment until he was plunged into a fury of passion

o He had fits of rage when he was ready to take the life of anyone who dared oppose him

o Then he would pass into despondency and self-contempt, then remorse

· v. 10-11 Saul threw a spear at David

· Saul promised his oldest daughter in marriage to David and then gave her to another

· Saul then put David in harm’s way in order to earn his younger daughter Michal

Turn to 1 Sam 19

· v. 1-7 Jonathan convinces his father of David’s loyalty and Saul swears to not kill David

· v.10 Saul again throws a spear at David

· v. 11-17 David escapes with the help of Saul’s daughter Michal

· v 18 David takes refuge with Samuel at Ramah

· v.19-21 Saul sent groups of men three times to capture David, and they all prophesied

· v.22-24 Saul finally goes personally and he also prophesied

· For a similar story look at Balaam in Numbers 22-24 when he went to curse God’s people

Turn to 1 Sam 20

· Jonathan still can’t believe that his father intends to kill David, so they hatch a plan to test the motives of Saul

· David didn’t show up at the Mew Moon festival at Saul’s table, and they waited to see the king’s reaction

· On first day Saul held his temper, but on the second day he asked where David was

· V.28 Jonathan gives an excuse for David and Saul’s anger flared

· V. 30-33 Saul showed his true colors, and the spear intended for David, Saul threw at his own son…

· V. 41-42 Jonathan and David meet in sorrow, and wept, and made a beautiful promise of friendship that was kept until the end of their days.

Turn to 1 Sam 21

· David is now stressed, in haste, and alone.  He is in constant fear of discovery, hunted, persecuted.  He did not know where to turn, except to the servant of God.  This is not the man who was mighty in battle, but a man running for his life.  In his distress he resorts to deception.

· V.2 He tells a lie to Ahimelech, the high priest.

· V.3-9 the high priest supplies David with food and a weapon (the sword of Goliath)

· v. 7 who was there to see the transaction?  Doeg

· v10 David now flees to a place Saul wouldn’t expect…Achish, king of Gath, a philistine and an enemy of God’s people

· v. 11 Now we hear the echo of  “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands”

· v 12-15 David resorts to acting as a madman, with saliva running down his face and scratching at the gate

· Did David exhibit faith in God when he lied to the high priest?  Did it show his faith when he ran to the enemies of God’s people, then resorted to acting the madman to escape from them?

Turn to 1 Sam 22

· David escapes Gath, and goes to the cave of Adullam

· David’s parents are sent to Moab.  What is David’s connection with Moab? (Ruth was a Moabite and with Boaz had Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David)

· V. 5 The prophet Gad warns David to leave the cave

· V. 6 Saul comes to the area, discovers David is gone, and is sure a traitor must be present.  Saul sits down to have a discussion with the people.  Remember that Saul is a Benjaminite; David is of the tribe of Judah.

· V. 9 Doeg now comes forward and informs Saul about David’s meeting with Ahimelech.

· V. 13-17 Saul questions Ahimelech, and then orders his guards to kill the priests.  When they refuse, the king turns to Doeg, who killed everyone and everything in town.

· PP 659 “When God had said that the iniquity of the Amalekites was full, and had commanded him to destroy them utterly, he (Saul) thought himself too compassionate to execute the divine sentence and he spared that which was devoted to destruction; but now, without a command from God, under the guidance of Satan, he could slay the priests of the Lord and bring ruin upon the inhabitants of Nob.  Such is the perversity of the human heart that has refused the guidance of God.  This deed filled all Israel with horror.”

· V. 22 David takes responsibility for the deaths. 

· PP 656 Ellen White says re David’s lie “had the facts been plainly stated, Ahimelech would have known what course to pursue to preserve his life.”

Turn to 1 Sam 23

· Just a summary of this chapter, suffice to say that Saul was pursuing David relentlessly.  Also note that David had a visit from Jonathan.

· V. 17 See what a true friend and Godly man Jonathan was, knowing that he was not to be the next king.

· This is the last time that David and Jonathan see each other.

· Jonathan, by birth heir to the throne, yet knowing himself set aside by the divine decree; to his rival the most tender and faithful of friends, shielding David’s life at the peril of his own; steadfast at his father’s side through the dark days of his declining power, and at his side falling at the last—the name of Jonathan is treasured in heaven, and it stands on earth a witness to the existence and the power of unselfish love. {Ed 157.1}

· V. 26 Saul was on one side of a mountain, David was on the other, and God intervened.

Turn to 1 Sam 24

· This entire chapter is the first of two episodes where David has Saul in his power, yet spares his life.  Remember that David’s men urged him to kill Saul while in the same cave, and David cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.

· V. 10 note David’s reason for sparing Saul.

· V. 20 note that Saul knows who is to be the next king.

· Elaborate on lessons taught by David sparing Saul.

Turn to 1 Sam 25

· This chapter is devoted to the story of David, Nabal, and Abigail.

· Summarize the story

· V. 13 David was determined to punish Nabal for his disrespect

· V. 24-31 the words of Abigail shed a heavenly influence, and David was spared a burden on his conscience.

· V. 33 David’s words.  He was learning the lessons of patience in the school of affliction

· David wrote in Psalm 147 “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil.”

Turn to 1 Sam 26

· David again spares Saul’s life, and insults Abner in the process.

· This is the end of Saul’s pursuit of David.

Turn to 1 Sam 27-31

· David is now despairing that he would ever come to the throne.  Long trials had wearied his faith and exhausted his patience.

· Without consulting God he again turns to the enemies of God’s people for protection, and again turns to Achish, king of Gath.

· Achish is flattered and gives David a city of his own

· David is now expected to war against his own people, and in Chapter 29 is forced to be evasive, and again the echo is heard of the women’s song in chapter 29:5.

· Thus David is graciously delivered from warring against his own people

· However, in Ch. 30, David’s own city has been raided by the Amalekites, and all their women and children were gone and in verse 4 “they wept until they had no more strength left to weep.”

· Look where David is now.  Saul has driven him from his country, the Philistines had driven him from their camp, the Amalekites had plundered his city, his wives and children are prisoners, and his own men had threatened to stone him.

· In his distress David turns to God through Abiathar, a priest who had escaped from Nob and joined up with David.  Abiathar also had the ephod with him.

· David was instructed to pursue the Amalekites, and he was successful in recovering everything that had been taken.

Turn to 2 Sam 1

· David now receives word that Saul is dead.  The messenger expects praise and reward but instead is killed for his own testimony that he had killed the Lord’s anointed.

· The obstacle that had barred his access to the throne was now removed but David did not rejoice, he instead mourned the deaths of both Saul and Jonathan by writing a lament that subsequently became a treasure to his nation. Vs. 19-27.  Read vs. 24-27.

Turn to 2 Sam 2

· By the Lord’s instruction David returns to Judah, and the men there anointed David king over Judah.

· David’s first act as king was to honor the people of Jabesh Gilead for burying the bodies of Saul and his sons.

· Meanwhile, Abner had Ish-Bosheth proclaimed king over Israel

Turn to 2 Sam 3

· Read vs. 1.  War between the two houses of Israel lasted a long time.

· Finally Abner decides to switch sides, and comes to David and offers to bring over the remaining tribes of Israel.

· David accepts this offer, but Joab takes advantage of the situation to waylay and kill Abner, since Abner was a potential rival and had killed Asahel the brother of Joab.

· David honored his former enemy and lamented Abner, and this pleased the people of Israel, and they knew he had no part in the murder of Abner.

Turn to 2 Sam 4

· Ish-Bosheth is now foully murdered and his head brought to David, but yet again David refuses to honor those who murder, and has the responsible parties killed.

Turn to 2 Sam 5

· The elders of Israel now come to David and ask him to be their king as well.

· David then captures the city of Jerusalem and makes it his new capital.

Turn to 2 Sam 6

· David now has his heart set on bringing the ark to Jerusalem.

· He brought together 30,000 men, and set the ark on a new cart

· PP 704 David was aglow with holy zeal, and vs.5 “the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord”

· Sudden tragedy struck with the death of Uzzah for touching the ark of God, and sudden terror took hold of the people.

· Vs. 8 “David was angry” after all wasn’t he doing a great thing for the Lord?

· David had violated specific instructions in handling the ark.  None but the descendants of Aaron were to touch the ark, or even to see it uncovered.  The sons of Kohath were to bear the ark on their shoulders, and were not given carts for their part in moving the sanctuary.  Uzzah had presumed to reach out and touch that sacred object, and paid with his life.

· PP 706 “By the death of Uzzah God designed to impress upon all Israel the importance of giving strict heed to His requirements.  Thus the death of that one man, by leading the people to repentance, might prevent the necessity of inflicting judgments upon thousands.”

Turn to 2 Sam 7

· David decides to build a temple

· Vs. 2 “Here I am living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

· David is initially told by Nathan the prophet to do it, but that night God sends a different message.

· PP 712 “How often do those who have passed the strength of manhood cling to the hope of accomplishing some great work upon which their hearts are set, but which they are unfitted to perform!  It is theirs to prepare the way for another to accomplish it.  But instead of gratefully submitting to the divine direction, many fall back as if slighted and rejected, feeling that if they cannot do the one thing which they desire to do, they will do nothing.”

· David accepted the message from God with gratitude in his wonderful prayer vs. 18-29.

Turn to 2 Sam 11

· Now we come to David’s great sin

· He had an affair with Bathsheba

· Then he tried to cover it up by having Uriah come home

· When that failed he had Uriah bear his own death warrant to Joab

· Uriah is subsequently killed in battle

· David takes Bathsheba as his wife, and she bears a son

· These sins carry a death penalty in the law of Moses

· Uriah had a right to kill David

· The people had a right to stone David

Turn to 2 Sam 12

· The prophet Nathan is sent to David, and tells him a parable about a rich and poor man.

· The rich man takes the poor man’s sheep and prepared it for his guests

· David burns with anger, and pronounces a sentence, unwittingly, upon himself

· The Lord pronounces punishments upon David

· He is assured that he won’t die

· “The sword will never depart from your house”

· “In broad daylight your wives will be taken from you”

· “The son born to you will die”

· PP 723 “Though David repented of his sin and was forgiven and accepted by the Lord, he reaped the baleful harvest of the seed he himself had sown.” Read paragraph 2-3

· His conscience was not at rest Psalm 32 “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, for day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer”

Turn to 2 Sam 13

· PP 727 “The shameful crime Amnon, the firstborn, was permitted by David to pass unpunished and unrebuked.   The law pronounced death upon the adulterer, and the unnatural crime of Amnon made him doubly guilty.  But David, self-condemned for his own sin, failed to bring the offender to justice.”

· For two years Absalom bides his time as Tamar’s protector, and then gets revenge by killing Amnon at a drunken party.

· Absalom flees into Geshur for several years

Turn to 2 Sam 14

· Absalom is restored to Jerusalem after the efforts of Joab to reconcile him with David

Turn to 2 Sam 15

· David is morally paralyzed, and has lost influence with the people.

·  Absalom steps in and gradually foments a conspiracy against his father

· David flees from Jerusalem, but his loyal followers help to gain the advantage

· Absalom commits incest with his father’s concubines

· After a battle between the two sides, Absalom is left hanging in a tree, where Joab kills him

· This is the third of David’s sons to die

Turn to 2 Sam 24

· David decides to number Israel, against the advice of even Joab, his hardened general

· It was pride that led David to do this, and the sin of David was also shared by the people.

· Seventy thousand people died due to this

Adonijah attempts to take the throne from Solomon, and Joab joins in this rebellion, as does Abiathar the priest.  David then abdicates the throne and proclaims Solomon king.  After David’s death Solomon ends up killing Joab while he was holding the horns of the altar, Abiathar was removed from the priesthood, and Adonijah was also killed.  This completed the fourfold punishment that David had pronounced upon himself-Bathsheba’s son, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah.

Why take this rapid ride through the life of David?  Why look at all his faults and foibles?

Because we can relate…

How can we relate?

· If you’ve ever been attacked by someone you thought was a friend, you can relate to David

· If you’ve ever been under pressure, and resorted to falsehood as a way of escape, you can relate

· If you’ve resorted to falsehood, and harm has come to God’s cause, you can relate

· If your pride has been assaulted, and you reacted in a spirit of anger and revenge, you can relate

· If you’ve lost your faith in God, and consorted with those who don’t love Him, you can relate

· If by your relationships with those who don’t profess to be God’s people, you have been placed in compromising situations, you can relate

· If you’ve ever lost your best friend, you can relate

· If your relationships with others seems to involve a web of intrigue and falsehoods, you can relate

· If you’ve had a holy zeal to do the will and work of God, but then found out you were doing it all wrong, you can relate

· If you have desired to do some great work for God, but found out you are not the right man for the job, can you accept God’s wishes with the graciousness that David did, and work to pave the way for others to accomplish it?

· If you’ve been too lenient with your kids, and they have rebelled and opposed your authority, you can relate

· If there has been a Bathsheba in your life, and your sin has found you out (or even if it hasn’t), you can relate to David

· If you have resorted to lies, and even murder in an attempt to cover your sins, you can relate

· If you have condemned the sins of others while harboring sin in your own life, you are really only pronouncing condemnation on yourself, and you can relate

· If you are suffering the consequences of your sins, and you have forfeited God’s protection by your actions, you are just like David

· If you have lost the respect of, and are unable to correct sins of your family members because of your own sin,  you are in the same position as David

· If your sons or daughters have lost their lives while pursuing a course of sin, you can relate

I’m sure we could go on, but the point is made, we are all a lot like David. 

How then can it be said in our scripture reading 1 Kings 3:14 “if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as your father David did”?

Again in 1 Kings 9:4 “if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did…”

Turn with me to Psalm 51 and Read with Me

Revelation 22:16  I am the Root and Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star