The Man After God’s Heart | Sunday Message

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Alright, let's grab our Bibles and turn to 1 Samuel chapter 16. 1 Samuel chapter 16. If you don't know where that is, it's right after 1 Samuel 15. Hope that helps.

The title of my message is The Men After God's Own Heart. Years ago, when my son Christopher was a little boy, we had this tugboat. It was sort of a bath toy, and then we used it in the pool as well. It was this big tugboat that was basically unsinkable.

I would take it to the bottom of the pool and try to hold it down, and it would always pop to the top. So this thing was around for a number of years. Then Christopher got older, and one day I said to him, Christopher, would you like to blow up the tugboat now?

He's a boy, so of course his answer was, yes. So we decided how are we going to sink this tugboat. So I cut a little hole in the top, and I dropped a cherry bomb in it. You know what a cherry bomb is?

Okay, I don't know where I got it. I don't know if they're completely legal, but I somehow obtained a cherry bomb. We put it in the middle of the pool.

We're very excited. I lit it. I dropped it. It went boom, and this plastic was so thick it hardly made any sound, and then the boat just slowly sunk to the bottom. I was kind of hoping for more of an explosion, something a little more exciting, but we effectively blew a hole in the hole. So basically, here's the takeaway truth of that. Number one, it's fun to blow stuff up, right?

Okay. Number two, if you want to sink something, especially a boat, blow a hole in the hole, right? Okay, so that can happen in our lives spiritually as well.

It's often gradual, not necessarily overnight. A little compromise here, a little lowering of the guard there, an allowance for sin somewhere else, and you effectively are blowing a hole in your hole. That's kind of a tongue twister, that one, and we're starting this brand new series called The House of David, and when you think of David, obviously, two other names come to mind, David and Goliath, and David and Bathsheba, and that sort of sums up his life. David was either sailing or sinking. He was either having one of his great moments or one of his low moments. Goliath was his greatest victory. Bathsheba, his greatest defeat. But to the credit of David, he was a true believer, and even after he sinned, he always turned back to the Lord again, and that's what we should do as well. And you wanna talk about ups and downs.

This guy experienced it all. He rose from complete obscurity to having hit songs on the radio written about him. He was an outcast, a warrior. He became the king of Israel, the shepherd boy, the musician, the poet, the warrior, so many different aspects of his life. In fact, they still sing about David in Israel today.

There's a little folk song that you'll still hear people sing. David David Melech Israel, which means David is the king of Israel. He was the greatest king that Israel ever had, and in fact, David is a member of the very messianic tree.

You know, a lot of people are studying their background and their genealogies today because they wanna know who they're related to. David was a part of the most exclusive genealogy in all of the world, the genealogy of Jesus. When Jesus walked this earth, he identified himself as the son of David. He could have said he was the son of Abraham or the son of Adam even, but he said he's the son of David.

When blind Bartimaeus saw Jesus walking by, he cried out, Son of David, have mercy upon me. More verses in the Bible are written about David than any other character apart from Christ. There's 14 chapters dedicated to the life of Abraham and Joseph. Jacob has 11 chapters written about him.

Elijah has 10. In contrast, there are 66 chapters of the Old Testament dedicated to the life of David. Then there are 59 references to him in the New Testament. But having said all that, David was far from perfect. Not only was he a shepherd and a warrior and a great king, but tragically, he was also an adulterer, a murderer, and a liar.

And as we look at his story, we see the real message. It's not the greatness of David. It's the greatness of God who called a man like David and gave him a second chance.

David is a study in contrast. In battle, he was fearless. In wisdom and ruling in his kingdom, he was without peer. But he wasn't some macho dude. He had a tender heart toward God and was both a poet and a musician. In fact, he's the only man described in the Bible as the man after God's own heart.

So how did this all happen? Well, David was not the first king of Israel. He was the second. The first was a guy named Saul. So Israel wanted a king. Prior to this, the Lord had spoken to them and led them through judges and prophets. And they said, well, we don't want to be this way anymore.

We want to be like the other nations. They have a king, and we want a king as well. The Lord says, really?

All right. I'm going to give you a king after your own heart. And on paper, Saul looked pretty good. He was handsome. He appeared to be humble. He was tall.

He stood out from other men, and he started out quite well. But it was only a matter of time before you saw how thin-skinned he was, how paranoid and jealous he could be, and how he self-destructed. God gave them a man after their own heart. But then the Lord said, well, it's not working out so well because Saul turned out to be a horrible king. In fact, in 1 Samuel 13, the prophet Samuel said to Saul, you've acted like a fool. You've not kept God's commandments, and your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for himself a man after his own heart.

So the Lord was effectively saying, okay, you had your turn. Now it's my turn. You picked your guy. Now let me pick my guy. And I love that expression, a man after my own heart.

You know, we use it a lot. If I see some guy chowing down on a big burger, I'll say, now that's a man after my own heart. What does that mean? It means, well, that guy reminds me of me a little bit, right? So the Lord said, I love David.

He reminds me of my own nature and character. And we'll find out why the Lord said that. But what a compliment that is for God himself to say he was a man after his own heart. He was just a boy when the Lord called him. But the Lord saw the potential when he told Samuel now to go find the next king of Israel in a little town known as Bethlehem. And that is where Samuel went. And it's interesting, the Lord didn't even tell Samuel who the king was gonna be. He just said, he's one of the sons of Jesse.

So we pick up the story now. 1 Samuel 16, verse 1. The Lord said to Samuel, you've mourned long enough for Saul.

I've rejected him as the king of Israel. Now fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.

Samuel asked, how can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he'll kill me. Now this just shows how wicked Saul was at this moment. He would kill a prophet of the Lord if he heard about this. The Lord replied, take a heifer with you and say that you've come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you which one of his sons to anoint for me.

Now, we'll stop there. So now when a man like Samuel shows up, it's a big deal. I mean, if Samuel's in Jerusalem, that's one thing. But he's in Bethlehem. At this moment in time, Bethlehem is like Podunk, USA. It's like Pedley or, I don't know what city, I don't want to insult anybody if you're from Pedley.

But you know, Barstow, I don't know what. But you know, nothing happens in Bethlehem. The only reason we know of Bethlehem is that's where Christ was born. And why was Christ born in Bethlehem? Because he was the root and offspring of David. In fact, Micah said, Bethlehem, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting. So when a guy like Samuel shows up in Bethlehem, people freaked out a little bit. They see Samuel coming in there, they're like, hey, is everything cool?

Are you coming to call judgment on us? He's like, it's all good. I want to offer a sacrifice, so let's all show up and especially Jesse get him out here. You know, one of Jesse's boys, I wonder if Samuel ever thought, I wish he was Jesse's girl. No, one of Jesse's boys. How many of you got that reference, old Rick Springfield song? I still have his poster on my wall. Never took it down. I don't even know why I put it up. One of Jesse's boys.

Here's what I find interesting. God doesn't show the prophet who the next king will be. He says, just go to Bethlehem, and he's from the house of Jesse. Take away point, God leads us one step at a time. You know, as I look back on my own life, I wish I could tell you that, oh, I had it all planned. Everything that happened was just as I planned it.

No, not at all. I just took one step, then I took the next step, then I took the next step. I didn't have a blueprint to follow necessarily, but I found that I needed to be obedient. It's like when the Lord told Philip, go to the desert. He didn't tell him why he should go to the desert. He didn't tell him who he should speak to. When he got to the desert, he just said, go to the desert, and to his credit, Philip obeyed.

And when Philip arrived in the desert, there he saw the man he was to speak to, a visiting dignitary from Ethiopia, and he took it from there. It comes down to this. God's way becomes plain when we start walking in it. Obedience to reveal truth guarantees guidance and matters unrevealed. So I recommend this. Just start where you are. Be obedient to the last thing God told you to do. Start this way. Read your Bible every day.

There's a no-brainer. Just start with the Word of God. Here's another one. Have a prayer life. Call out to the Lord. Listen to the Lord.

These are disciplines we all should maintain, so start with the obvious, and the Lord will show you what to do next. So here comes Samuel, and he wants to see the sons of Jesse. Jesse proudly parades his seven sons before the visiting prophet.

These were healthy, strong, strappy boys, especially Eliab, who stood out among the others. They were the magnificent seven, but none of them were the ones that the Lord had chosen. First Samuel 16, verse seven.

Read with me. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, surely this is the Lord's anointed. But the Lord said to Samuel, don't judge by his appearance or height.

I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't make decisions the way that you do. And now this very important statement. First Samuel 16, seven. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks on a person's thoughts and intentions.

Isn't that a great verse? And isn't it true? We do judge by outward appearance. We size a person up. Okay, who is this person?

What do I think of this person? And we're so concerned with the way that we look. I mean, think about a picture is taken. Take a picture. Let's take a photo. Let's do a selfie. And just say, don't post that one.

Why? I don't like the way I look. We want to look good. That's why we use filters and special effects and other things. We focus so much on the outside, but God looks on the inside. Can you imagine if you could actually see a person's heart and really knew what they were thinking?

I'm not sure that I would want that ability. I think I would be very disappointed. You know, someone comes up to you after church, pastor, great sermon, loved it. And inside they're thinking, you suck. What?

Really? You know, the person who seemed so affirming, so caring, you know, you would see their real hearts. That's what Jesus could do. And he always knew what people were thinking. He'd call out the Pharisees. Why are you thinking this in your heart? They'd think, like, how did he know that?

Because he was God. God looks on the heart, what's going on on the inside. But we place so much emphasis in our culture today and the way that we look. We spent $16 billion a year on cosmetic surgery.

But all that money is spent trying to appear to be something you're not. You know, there was a debate years ago, some of you will remember, if you're quite old. John F. Kennedy debated Richard Nixon. And it was on television and it was on radio. So those that heard it on radio felt Nixon won the debate.

But those that watched on television thought Kennedy won the debate. Why do you think that is? Well, look at the two of them. I'm not saying one is more attractive than the other. But I think we all know that one is more attractive than the other. We make decisions based on the attractiveness of our person.

We're hardwired that way. You know, studies have shown that babies as young as one day are drawn to a more attractive face. A little baby is drawn to the more attractive face. So you're going to find out how attractive you are by looking at a baby. I love babies.

You know, babies, there's no subtlety. Baby likes you, the look, they might smile. And they'll be talking to the baby and have a little voice. Hello, new baby. Hi, baby. Baby is like, ah. And the baby will look at you and just go, ah, come, turn away. It's like, I'm done with you.

I can't get out of this high chair. So I have to look that way. But please go away now. I don't like your face anymore. That baby is judging me.

Yes, he is. It's not fair. It doesn't matter. They like more attractive faces. So if the babies never look at you, you're unattractive. Just accept it.

It's OK, though. Because God doesn't look on the outward. God looks on the inward, doesn't he? And so here is all the sons of Jesse.

None of them are there. Samuel sees Eliab. He even stood out among his brothers. He was a little taller. He said, surely this is the Lord's anointed.

And it wasn't. Maybe some of you guys have seen a girl that said, surely she is the Lord's anointed. Or the girl that's not the same. This is the one.

You know, before I was married, I always thought I was finding that right girl. This is the girl. That's the girl. Maybe this is the girl.

And here's the thing. When you are single, and you're looking for that person, look for a godly person. Oh yeah, you want them to be attractive. I married a very attractive girl. I'm not going to lie about that.

But I'm looking for someone that's not just attractive on the inside, but is attractive on the outside, but also attractive on the inside. Just contradicting what I'm saying. Anyway, let's move on. I just, I messed that whole point up. It's not even worth going over again.

Wasn't that good? So seven sons are paraded before Samuel. The Lord says no, no, no, no, no, no, seven times no.

What happened next? First Samuel 16, verse 11. Then Samuel asks, are these all the sons you have? Jesse replies, well, they're still the youngest, but he's out in the field watching the sheep. Samuel said, send for him at once.

We're not going to sit down to eat until he arrives. So he sent for him and brought him in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. The Lord said, rise and anoint him. This is the one. So David stood there among his brothers.

Samuel took the olive oil he had bought and poured it on David and said, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him from that day on, and Samuel returned to Ramah. I'll stop there. Don't you love that? Do you have any other sons? Yeah, there's one other. He's out in the field. He's kind of weird. He's a musician.

He plays his guitar, writes these songs to God, watches a bunch of smelly sheep. I don't even want to acknowledge him. Seems like there was a little embarrassment there. In fact, this phrase in verse 11, there remains the youngest, does not mean that David was younger than the others. It means he was the least in the estimation of his father. It means his father thought less of David than he did of the other sons. You know, it's a sad thing when a parent favors one child over another, isn't it?

And it happens all the time. We call it favoritism. Probably in any family you could say, who was mom's favorite? Who was dad's favorite? They'll probably know. Even grandchildren know. My grandchildren have asked me out front, Papa, who's your favorite grandchild?

How do you answer that? And in fact, two of them have hijacked my phone and removed their name and replaced it with favorite grandchild. The problem, two of them have done it, so now I get a text from favorite grandchild and I don't know what favorite grandchild it is. But we always want to be seen as the favorite and maybe you were the one that was not the favored child. Maybe you have always been the last one picked for the team.

I remember this very clearly from my childhood when they would be putting baseball teams together. I was always the last one picked. Everyone would be picked and I'd be standing there going, hey. They'd say, do you want Lori? I don't want Lori. We had Lori last time. I'll take the three-legged dog.

Come on, let it know. Okay, Lori, you can play first base. I can play first base? No, you will be first base.

They're going to slide into you and hit you with their cleats as we come in, right? So maybe you're one of those, maybe you were the first one picked. Maybe you were the good-looking one.

Maybe you were the one that was favored, but maybe you weren't. Maybe your parents disappointed you. Maybe your parents walked out on you. They divorced when you were very young and it affected you throughout your life. Of course, I grew up without a mom or a dad. I mean, my mother was there, but she was so distant.

In many ways, I was the parent in the relationship because of how irresponsible she was because of her drinking and I never had a father. So when I read the story of David, I think, wow, that kind of reminds me a little bit of my own story. And I love the statement of David when he writes, when my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Know this, those who are often rejected by parents become beloved of the Lord.

Even if you didn't have a hands-on earthly father, I want you to know you have a very hands-on heavenly father who loves you and favors you. So put yourself in David's shoes for a moment. It's a day like any other day, he's tending the sheep. And he did a good job. He was a great shepherd. Any predator comes in, he took care of them in short order. And when nothing was going on, he'd start singing to the Lord, write a song or two.

We also called them psalms. And all of a sudden, someone comes running to him. David, they want you back in the house. David comes running in, bounding into that room, smelling like the sheep he had been keeping company with. God says to the prophet, that's my boy.

Anoint him. And they pour the oil on David. The brothers are probably watching, thinking, Samuel's going senile. What are they, this is David. Why would they do this to David?

Why wouldn't he pick one of us? In fact, they were jealous, but especially Eliab. We'll find later in the story when, in the great part about David meeting Goliath.

We'll look at that next time. When David goes to the valley of Helah on an errand for his father. His father says, take some bread and cheese to your brothers. So David was basically a pizza guy, delivering bread and cheese. I don't know if he had marinara.

Okay, we'll call him a quesadilla guy, whatever. Bread and cheese to his brothers. Eliab sees them, and he actually says to David, as he burned with anger, why did you leave your few sheep in the wilderness? How conceited and wicked you are, he said to David. You know, sometimes people project on you the very problem they are dealing with. Oh, you're wicked, you're conceited.

Maybe they're the wicked and conceited one, not you at all. So that was Eliab saying to David, oh, you just care about yourself. Would you leave your little flock of sheep to come watch the big boys fight the big battle? Well, that story would take an amazing turn as David faced off with Goliath. Well, David was God's choice, because God sees things differently than we do. Let's close with a few principles about the person that God uses. If you would like to be used by God, raise your hand. Don't do it if you don't mean it.

All right, that's pretty much everybody except you, sir. Why, what? All right, if you want to be used by, I know you raised your hand, I'm just kidding, but it wasn't very high.

It was like this. No, I'm kidding. You didn't even raise it. No, you did. Okay, what kind of person does God use?

If you're taking notes, here's point number one. God uses ordinary people. God uses ordinary people. David was really the polar opposite of King Saul. You know, King Saul came from a loving family.

David was effectively disliked by his family and even his father. Saul was one of the most handsome men of all of Israel. David was just an ordinary shepherd boy, though a good-looking one. He was active on the outside, but inside he was vain and shallow and devoid of true integrity. In contrast, David had a deep spiritual life and intense devotion to God, despite the fact that he was just a boy, just a boy still, but he had this love for the Lord. But God loves to choose ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. Why?

Very simple answer. So he gets the glory. If he picks the most talented, if he picks the most handsome or beautiful, we say, well, of course, look at them.

But when he picks that other person, that person you would have never chosen, you say, well, that has to be the Lord. I remember in school, I goofed off so much in class, and I actually had a teacher write this on my report card. And it's funny, I remember it to this day. Quote, Greg Laurie spends too much time looking out the window, daydreaming, and drawing cartoons.

He will never amount to anything. Thank you for those affirming words. You know, you remember something like that, but God had a different plan for my life, as he does for every life.

Again, God looks on the outward, or excuse me, on the inward, we look on the outward. One of the greatest evangelists in all of American history was Dwight Lyman Moody, best known as D.L. Moody. Now, D.L. Moody was the Billy Graham of his day.

D.L. Moody was not an attractive man. He was not an especially intelligent man. He mangled the English language, but God handpicked him. He was working in a shoe store, and one of his coworkers decided to share the gospel with Dwight. Dwight responded and gave his life to Jesus Christ.

So Dwight went from selling souls to saving souls, and he really changed his world, and he was a very unexpected choice. God uses ordinary people. Number two, God is looking for truly spiritual people. God is looking for truly spiritual people, not a holier than thou, fake spirituality. I can't stand fake spirituality, people that are so quick to criticize others, people that make themselves look better at the expense of others, people that brag about their spiritual accomplishments. You know, I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of godly people in my day, and I found that the most godly people were also the most down-to-earth people with a self-deprecating sense of humor.

They were easy to approach, those people that act aloof and better than you, and they do it in the name of spirituality. That isn't spirituality at all. David had real spirituality. It's reflected in his psalms. By the way, he wrote probably around 75 psalms, maybe more. In Psalm 57, seven, he wrote, my heart is fixed, oh God, my heart is fixed.

I love that. He said, I know what I believe. I know what matters, and I'm fixed on this Lord. In Psalm 27, he really lays out the very purpose of his life when he wrote in verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord, and thou will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple. Notice that phrase, one thing. One thing have I desired of the Lord. Paul had the same idea when he wrote over in Philippians three, this one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forward to the things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The one thing, do you have that one thing in your life?

A lot of us are like dogs going around in circles chasing our tails. I've told you before, the most godly man I ever met was Billy Graham, and I love to visit him in this mountain home in North Carolina in the little town of Montreat. It was always a great treat, and I've had the privilege to visit a lot of beautiful homes and meet important people, but none impressed me like Billy Graham. I'd rather go hang out in his front room than in the oval office, and he was such a down to earth godly guy, and he had dogs, German shepherds.

He loved German shepherds, and I would go to his house, and he had this one German shepherd. I don't know what was wrong with this dog if it found some loco weed or something. This dog literally was perpetually running in a circle, running in a circle the whole time. You would get there.

You'd leave a couple hours later. Dog's still running in a circle. I said to someone, what is wrong with that dog?

They said he's chasing his tail. I said, I've heard this expression. I didn't know dogs were actually this stupid. I mean, just a shout out to the cat community. I've never seen a cat do that.

That's a level of idiocy. This dumb dog was chasing its tail, and so I came back a few months later, and I said, hey, where's the dog that chases its tail? They said he got it. What? He bit it off. He died. Oh, man.

Sad, but we can be the same way, chasing our tail, going around in circles and getting nowhere. Speaking of the one thing, one day Jesus went to the town of Bethany where Mary and Martha lived. They were good friends of his along with their brother, Lazarus, and Jesus was hungry, brought a few friends along, 12 in total. Hey, Martha, good to see you. Would you mind making some lunch for us? And so she goes into the kitchen.

She's trying to whip up a feast fit for a king. Can you imagine if Jesus showed up at your house and wanted a meal? What would you feed him? Would you give him leftovers? Should we give him these deviled eggs or is that inappropriate?

I don't know. I mean, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, sitting in your house. Well, of course, Martha wants to make a fantastic meal for Jesus, wouldn't you? But Mary wasn't helping. She's like, where's Mary? She looks out in the front room. Mary's just sitting at his feet looking up at him. Give me a break.

I need some help here in the kitchen. So she became so frustrated, she bursts out of the kitchen, probably has her apron on, food splattered everywhere, puts her hands on her hips, and she says to Jesus, Lord, tell my sister to come lend me a hand. I love what Jesus said. He said in Luke 10, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much.

You're getting worked up over nothing. One thing is essential and Mary has chosen it. It's the main course and it will not be taken from her. You know, Martha, look, I'm thankful you're making me a meal but this is the main course.

Mary got it right. It's the one thing. One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek out for. This one thing I do, says Paul, forgetting the things that are behind. Jesus says to Martha, one thing is important. It's the one thing that singular, clear aim in life.

It's been said, quote, our greatest danger in life is permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important. What is the one thing in your life right now? What fires you up? Look at your blood pumping. What are you really passionate about?

We all would say, well, Jesus, Jesus. Yeah, good, I'm sure that's true for many of us. But is it really? Is that really the thing you're the most fired up about or is it something else? It could be your career. It could be money. It could be possessions. It could be the pursuit of success. It could be relationships. And by the way, there's nothing wrong with any of those things I just mentioned but they should not be the one thing. The one thing should be the pursuit of God.

When you get that right, you get everything right. The pursuit of God. Yes, you can have a career. Yes, you can have possessions.

Yes, you can have relationships. These are things God will give you. But the most important thing is the pursuit of God. Jesus put it this way. Seek first, it's the one thing again, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. What things? In context, he said, don't be like non-believers that worry about what they're gonna eat, what they're gonna drink, what they're gonna wear.

We could add what they're gonna drive, what they're gonna do. But hey, put God first and all these things shall be added to you. This is why David was a man after God's own heart. His heart was fixed on the Lord and he had that one thing before him.

Number two, or excuse me, number three. David was a faithful man. He was a faithful man. Now at this particular point in his life, his job was to watch his sheep.

dimensions later, he faced off with lions to protect them and won. And he would spend hours worshiping the Lord, intending his sheep. Listen, just because God has called you to be a leader, it doesn't mean you're ready. God may show you that he's called you into leadership of some kind, but there will be a series of tests you will need to go through first. Sometimes God will give you a little glimpse of your future, a sense of where you're going to go.

That's a good thing. God gave to Joseph a very profound vision of what he was going to do and that his brothers would be bowing before him one day. But honestly, sometimes it's best to keep your visions and dreams to yourself because he told that to his brothers, hey guys, guess what, I had a vision and you're all like bowing before me and they're like, we're gonna kill you.

Well, they didn't kill him, but they sold him into slavery, didn't they? So you need to wait on these things. The Lord will show you. Don't go boasting of what you think God has called you to do.

Just be faithful in the little things and if it's meant to happen, it will happen, not through your manipulation or conniving. God will bring it about. Now keep in mind, David has been anointed to be king. He's the king, but he's not walking around saying, hey, I'm the king now. He just went back to tending the sheep. Chuck Swindoll, I think one of the greatest preachers in America today, wrote an excellent book on David and in his book, he says this and I quote, David didn't go down to the nearest apartment store and try on crowns. He didn't order a new set of business cards telling the printer, change it from shepherd to king elect. He didn't have a badge saying, I'm the new man. He didn't shine up a chariot and race to the streets of Bethlehem yelling, I'm God's choice, you're looking at Saul's replacement.

That's true. He just went back to doing what he was doing before watching the sheep. He wrote a lot of beautiful psalms, as I mentioned, but one psalm that probably stands out above all the others is Psalm 23. I think Psalm 23, next to the Lord's Prayer, is probably the best known chapter from the Bible, even by many non-believers. It's recited at funerals and hospital beds when we're afraid.

It shows up in movies like Titanic and songs like Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio. You never know where you're gonna hear Psalm 23. And you think, how did that come about? And here's the way I see it. David's just sitting around one day looking at his stupid sheep and he's thinking, the Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in cream pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. I mean, really, when you break that down, I know it's poetic and beautiful, but think about what he's actually saying. The Lord is my shepherd. He's thinking, sheep are stupid.

I'm stupid. Sheep are dependent upon me, the shepherd, to protect them. I'm dependent on the Lord to protect me as my shepherd. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

You ever notice that? Makes me. Why would you have to be made to lie down in a green pasture? Because if you're a sheep, you're dumb. Sheep, it's time to eat. Come on, time to eat. Eat the grass. Now lie down beside the still waters, drink. You gotta drink, sheep. They need the help of the shepherd.

But then he writes later, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. He would be very familiar with the primary tools of his shepherd, a rod and a staff. The staff, we know what that is, a long, crooked instrument.

The rod, basically a club. You need both to direct sheep. You'll use that staff to pull them back into line when they do go astray, and they often do.

But then, periodically, if they continue to disobey, you give them a whack with the rod. Because better to be a whack sheep than a dead one. I read a news article about a bunch of sheep. This happened in Turkey. One sheep walked off the edge of a cliff, and 15 others followed.

What is wrong with these animals? The first sheep get up on the cliff and say, okay, I'm gonna walk off the cliff now. Everybody follow in single file. Let's go, it's not that bad, let's go.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You think after the 500 sheep, one of the sheep would have said, I'm not doing this. No, we gotta go, let's go, we're sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way, the Bible says. The Lord is my shepherd.

But yea, though I walk through that valley, you're with me. And how true that is, how much comfort that has brought to people facing death. How many times has that first been read to someone on their deathbed?

And how many times has that first brought comfort to someone going through a time of trial? Maybe I'm talking to someone that's in a valley of sorts, of the shadow of death. You need to be reminded that you're not alone in this valley and the Lord is walking with you. Yea, though I walk through. He didn't say yea, though I die in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why? Because you are with me. God is with you too.

Isn't that great to know? Maybe he thought of it when he was facing Goliath. Oh wow, he's big.

Over nine feet tall. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. Bottom line, David longed for closeness with God. You would do well to have the same priorities, have that one thing in your life. Again, David said one thing of I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after. Don't be like the proverbial dog chasing its tail.

Get your focus. David was not perfect. He was flawed. He failed on more than one occasion and blew a hole in his hole, if you will. But God gave him a second chance and a third chance and a fourth one.

And again, I want to refocus on this. Jesus identified with David. Jesus, the son of David, was born in Bethlehem because David was born in Bethlehem.

So when the rule went out, when Quirinius was governor that everyone should be taxed from Caesar Augustus, you went to the home of your ancestors. So Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And then Jesus lived a perfect life and then he went and died on the cross and he rose again from the dead three days later. And he's alive and he's here. And he's ready to forgive any one of us who have failed because we've sinned, we've fallen short, we've messed up.

Other things have crowded him out of our lives. But here is Jesus, the son of David, ready to forgive us and give to us a second chance as he did to David so many years ago. If you don't have this relationship with God right now, if you don't know that your sin is forgiven or maybe you've forgotten about the one thing and you've been distracted by the many things or even worse, you've gone after a sinful thing, this would be a good time to commit or recommit your life to the Lord. Let's all pray. Father, thank you for your word to us now. Thank you for what Jesus did on the cross. Thank you for the price that he paid and now I pray for any that have joined us who may not yet know you.

Help them to come to you right now. Listen, if you've never asked Christ to come into your life or if you wanna make a recommitment to him today, you could just pray this simple prayer. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner but you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I choose to follow you, Lord. I wanna have that one thing in my life. I wanna put you first in my life. I wanna be a man after your heart, a woman after your heart. I commit myself to you now.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to Harvest.