A Heart for God, Part 1

The greatest threat to America is the wrath of God on a wayward nation. Is there still hope for America?

Change can happen, but only when our nation repents and turns back to the God of our founding fathers. In The Price of Liberty, Dr. Michael Yusef sounds the warning bell to call God's people to wake up, repent, and return to reliance on Him. Contact us today to get your own copy of The Price of Liberty at ltw.org. That's ltw.org. Get more details about this timely digital resource at ltw.org. You can also call and talk with a ministry representative.

Get the details at 866-626-4356. Listen now as Dr. Michael Yusef introduces his new series called A Heart for God on Leading the Way. In all truthfulness, the 66 chapters of Life of David would make a far better soap opera than Hollywood can ever produce. Why do I say this? Well, because the difference between this true life drama in the life of David and all of the drama that Hollywood produces.

The difference is very clear. The Bible in this drama shows us the wages of sin, the result of sin, the consequences of sin. Hollywood washes and sanitizes and sugarcoats the pain and the poison of sin. In his series A Heart for God, Dr. Yusef takes you to pivotal moments in David's life when God showed up, lifting him for his faithfulness, moments when fear overtook David, and when God brought discipline and consequences for David's sin. I hope that you'll make it a point to listen to each episode in this series. And if you do miss one, you can always catch up online or through the Leading the Way podcast.

Join me now in listening as Dr. Michael Yusef begins. David was young and he was despised by his older, more successful brothers. David was obscure in the household of Jesse.

David was a nondescript and he was no match for his bigger, successful brothers. David could not have been more unlikely choice to be the king of Israel. But because he stayed close to the king of kings, because he had a heart that was willing not only to serve, but to obey the king of kings, because he had one longing and one desire to be close to the king of kings and to be the servant of the king of kings. The king of kings kept him at his elbow all the time and made him the king of Israel. But that's not all.

Because of his ready and willing heart, David did not only become a great king for Israel, but he became one of the most important figures in all of history. You say, why? You see, because God always is looking for a ready and willing heart.

That's what he's looking for. Because God is always looking for more availability than ability. Because God is always looking for a generous and giving hearts, not hoarders and takers.

Because God is always looking for servants, not for those who are self-serving. Now, I want to give you a historical background. After Joseph and his family went to Egypt, they grew in number. They were 400 years down there. God delivered them from the slavery of Egypt through the leadership of Moses.

There in the wilderness, they sat for 40 years. Joshua comes in and he leads them into the promised land. When Joshua died, the following generation after Joshua, they basically forgot all about what God did for them.

They forgot about the God of their fathers. And the Bible said that each of them began to do what is right in their own eyes. This, my beloved friends, is the beginning of what we see today as no absolute truth. This is the beginning movement. The truth is relative.

Your truth, my truth, everybody's truth. That's the beginning of it. It began right there.

Beginning of that period, which we call it the period of the judges, when the Israelites get into trouble. And they get indulgent into their pagan's lifestyle. They will cry out to God when they suffer. And God would send them a deliverer. We call them judges, but they really are deliverers.

Again and again and again. You read at least 11, 12 times in the book of Judges, you see it. They rationalize their sin. They indulge in their sin. And they would wink at their rebellion against God. They abandon all responsibility to God, who blessed them so. They basically got into this falsehood that if it feels good, do it.

No consequences. But we, you and I know differently. So in the midst of this dreadful period, this difficult period, this hard time, we call the period of the judges. We read a beautiful story.

It's an amazing story of God's grace. Ruth, loyal, dedicated, loving, but Gentile woman. Did you know the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ was not Jewish? She was Gentile.

Ruth. She marries a Jewish man by the name of Bauaz. And then they have a son. They named him Abed. Abed had a son. They named him Jesse. Jesse had eight boys. David was the youngest. I'm getting ready to shout because I know what I'm going to say. Twenty-eight generations from David in the same city of Bethlehem where David was born.

The descendant of David was born of a virgin who is God's Messiah and no other than our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. What a great God we have.

Listen to me. My beloved friends, don't underestimate or take lightly the sovereignty of God. Don't ever underestimate or take lightly how much God can accomplish when you cooperate with him. Don't ever underestimate or take lightly the untold blessings that can only come from obedience. Now, if you read life changing prayers, you will read about a desperate woman.

She was persecuted by the other wife of Kanna. Suffered. Pain. Anguish.

Marked. And she kept the Lord crying out for a baby. And she made God a promise. She said, if you give me a baby, I will dedicate him to you.

He will serve you. And sure enough, she kept her word. Hannah kept her word. She kept her word. And she gave him to the service of the Lord.

But here's the good news. You read further, it says God blessed her with a whole lot of other kids. Isn't that amazing? That's our God. That's our God.

He blessed her in abundance. That boy grew to be the last of the judges and the first of the prophets. His name was Samuel.

Samuel. During Samuel's time, the spiritual condition of Israel was at the low ebb, just like our day. During that time, rebellion against God and his moral absolutes took a defiant tone. They rejected God's plan for them. They rejected God's headship and leadership. They rejected God's kingship over them. And they wanted an earthly king. So God gave them one.

It was more of a judgment over the rejection of him than anything else. Saul, the first king. God gave him to Israel. Now Saul was gifted on paper. Saul had all of the human credentials. Saul had all of the human qualifications to be a king. Saul had all the good looks.

Saul had all of the deceptive appearances. Ah, but his heart was not right. His heart was rotten. His heart was self-seeking and self-serving.

His heart was self-centered. It was not after God's own heart. But even then, the God of all grace, the God of grace overruled. He overruled and had mercy on Israel and he gave them David. The first half of chapter 16 of 1 Samuel and the second half, you're going to find, they are absolutely in contrast with each other. In the first half of chapter 16, David is anointed king by the prophet Samuel. In the second half, he enters into the service of Saul. In the first half, you see the spirit of the Lord come upon David. In the second half, you see the spirit of the Lord has come out from Saul and an evil spirit replacement. As some of you probably were saying, what was this evil spirit from the Lord?

Well, because when the Lord basically take his spirit out, what comes in is an evil spirit. The first half of the chapter, David gets anointed by the Holy Spirit. In the second half, you see Saul being tormented by an evil spirit. In the first half, you see Samuel mourns and he grieves over Saul. In the second half of the chapter, Saul is oblivious to his abysmal condition, spiritual condition that he's in. And God tells Samuel, stop grieving over Saul.

Some of you here, now I'm talking about those especially who are watching around the world, you support and you go to a churches from which the spirit of God has departed. You need to move on, get out, stop grieving over Saul. Beloved, let me ask you this. Is it possible for you to mourn and grieve for too long over someone or something? Is it possible? Yes. Is it possible?

Yes. The Bible says that there is a time to mourn and there is a time to rejoice. Mourning for too long over past sins that God has forgiven you long ago. Mourning for too long over past bitterness that you have given to the Lord again and again but you keep on nursing. Mourning too long over past hurt, mourning too long over past injustices, mourning too long over past betrayals, mourning too long over past losses. Listen to me. You may have every right to mourn for a period of time but not forever.

Okay? It is time to move on. Can you say that with me? It is time to move on because mourning for too long creates a fog over your future. Mourning for too long over past can rob you of great future joy and service. And that is why God said to the prophet Samuel, You have mourned long enough over soul. Get up, get your flax of oil and go to Jesse's house. At this point of history, this part when God said to Samuel, Take a flax of oil and go to Jesse's house. Now this is my testimony.

I'm confessing to you. For years, probably decades, troubled me. Lord, why didn't you say to Samuel, Samuel, take your flax of oil, go to Jesse's house and anoint his younger son David to be king. Here is what the Lord taught me and I share it with you.

I pray God will use it in your life. God does not always give us all the information ahead of time, even to his prophet. He doesn't give us that information ahead of time. I tell you why he doesn't do that. That's how I understood this from the word of God. If he did, we would not learn to lean on him.

Are you with me? If he did, we would not grow in our faith and in our trust, in our confidence in him. If he did, we would not mature in Christ and become babies and live as spiritual babies for all of our Christian life. Here God is about to teach Samuel a lesson. In fact, he teaches him a lesson that many of us refuse to learn.

Because he wants to teach you, every one of you, he wants to teach us that same lesson. First of all, notice Samuel's reaction. Verse 2, 1 Samuel chapter 16, look at his reaction. He didn't say, yes Lord, whatever you say Lord, I will do whatever you ask me to do, I'm ready to do it.

He did not. Can you identify with that? You know what he said? Lord, if Saul finds out about this, he'll kill me. You notice, he was very concerned about the safety of his wife's husband.

You notice that? He was concerned about the safety of his wife's husband. Beloved, don't be quick to judge Samuel. I sometimes say things, but I go back and say, no, no, I can't judge him because this is a legitimate fear. Now there is a type of fear that's illegitimate, of which I'll be talking about next message. There is an illegitimate fear, but this is very legitimate.

Very legitimate. Listen to me. Sometimes, God asks us to do things that are scary. Sometimes God asks us to do things that requires risk taking. Sometimes God asks us to do things that demands sacrifice. Sometimes God asks us to do things that require what I call, not the Bible, I call it spiritual bungee jumping.

Have you ever seen one of those things? You're hanging by your ankles, you jump over that bridge. I bungee jumped spiritually a couple of times.

Why? Why does God ask us to do that? He's testing to see our willingness to trust him. We can sing and tell, we trust you, Lord, and do all that stuff. Uh-uh. Can you really?

Do you really? He is testing us to see how willing we are to take him at his word. So God places an opportunity in front of us and he pauses the question. And then he waits. And he waits.

And he waits to see what our response is going to be. Look at verses 6 all the way to 13. Samuel takes the plunge and goes to Bethlehem, to Jesse's house.

Now, from this point on, I'm going to give you not a use of translation, but a use of interpretation. Samuel comes in and he said, Jesse, my friend, give me your best and your brightest and most handsome of all your boys. Give me the most impressive of all eight boys. Well, Jesse said, here's Eliab, he's the oldest. Samuel looks at Eliab, probably looks up to him.

Samuel, probably a short guy, looks up and says, whoa, what an impressive man. Sorry, Jesse, not this one. What do you mean?

What do you mean not this one? This guy played for the Bethlehem Steelers. He was the MVP of the year for three years in the running. Sorry, Jesse, prophet of God. This boy was the top of his class in Bethlehem University. Sorry, Jesse, but prophet of God. OK, he's Abinadab. Abinadab, you got to know he has a PhD and his research papers are published in Jerusalem Harvard Review. He actually has made the name Jesse very famous throughout the land. And Samuel thought to himself probably for a moment and said, oh, OK, God must really want a scholarly type. Samuel gets to the altar and started anointing him and God said, no, sit down, Samuel.

Sit down. Not this one. So Jesse brings Shammah, number three. Now, this guy, you got to understand, this guy runs three corporations. I mean, his record at Harvard Business Review, man, where he earned his PhD, his records have never been matched.

It's never been matched. Shammah actually put together some of the biggest merger and acquisition deals known on Wall Street. Oh, he understand leverage buyout. Samuel probably thought, oh, God is looking for a shrewd negotiator.

Want someone who knows the art of the deal. I mean, he's got to deal with all his tricky business people in Jerusalem and Israel. So you got to, this guy is a negotiator. He must be the one.

He's got to deal with these tricky merchants. God said, no, sit down, Samuel. Sit down, sit down.

Not this one either. By that time, I'm convinced in my own heart, it's not in the Bible, that Samuel just gave up guessing. He stopped assuming and presuming on God. I know and you know. And you may have not been there yet, but I have.

I have. Many times we run this way and run this way and every time we convince ourselves, God wants this. Surely this must be the one. Surely this must be the way. Surely this must be the deal. Surely it must be what God wants me to do. Only to discover that we're really actually answering our own prayers.

Have you ever done that? Okay. Don't raise your hand, but I am. Now all the seven boys paraded in front of Samuel and the Lord said, no, no, no, no, no.

Why is that? I think you and I and all of us and everybody around at the sound of my voice, listen to me. We need to frame verse seven. You can hang it on a wall, but more importantly, you can have it in your heart. Verse seven, first Samuel 16, verse seven. It needs to be printed on the cortex of our minds and hearts.

Why? Because we judge by appearance, but God sees the heart. We get taken by the ability, but God is looking for availability.

We can be duped by one's resume, but God sees the heart. Finally, out of desperation, Samuel asks, are these all of your boys? That's it? Well, yes. Basically, these are the ones that really matter. These are the ones that are significant.

These are the ones who are qualified for the job. Jesse probably stammered and started and stumbled and said, well, not quite. There's the runt, but he's not here. The runt of the family. But the runt, he's doing the menial task that the others wouldn't do. He's taking care of the sheep out in the desert and the wilderness. Beloved, listen to me.

I'm about to finish. In a culture that only the firstborn mattered. In a culture where only success mattered. In a culture where the runt is the runt no matter what.

God says, none of these boys are really my choice. And so Samuel sits down until they're sent for David and bring him home. I want you to imagine, just put yourself in the place.

I always like to imagine things. Samuel's sitting down and finally after a while he's sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting. This young teenager walks in, dirty face, dirty clothes. Most likely smell because he was with his sheep all the time. And Samuel must have looked at him and thought, is this really the wine? And God answered his question. Samuel, this is the wine.

You got yourself a winner here. I want you to not only examine yourself, but I want you to begin to say, God, let me see myself the way you see me. It is my daily prayer that's constantly in my heart. Is Lord, I plead with you, blind me to my own opinion.

Give me only the mind of the Holy Spirit, then empower me to obey Him. You're listening to Leading the Way Audio with Dr. Michael Youssef and his series, A Heart for God. Now in the last few moments of today's episode, we are excited to announce that the content for this series is also what you'll read about in Dr. Youssef's book, A Heart for God. In a world where power and influence are often overvalued, God honors the humble and those who have a heart for Him. There is no greater example in the Bible than the life of King David.

God used David to shape a generation and be an example to all of history. In his new book, A Heart for God, Dr. Michael Youssef offers you powerful reminders of God's faithfulness to bring glory and victory out of brokenness and failure. The website where you can learn more about the content and order your copy is ltw.org. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.