Will you please turn to the book of Acts? Acts chapter 13. Just one verse: Acts 13:22.
And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king;
to whom also He bare witness, and said,
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart,
who shall do all My will.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we do want to open our hearts to Thee and say, “Lord, whatever Thou wantest to say to us, will You please speak by Thy Spirit?”
We pray that Thy word will really penetrate into our hearts and transform us, conforming us to Thine own image. We are all here, Lord, waiting for Thy Spirit to work in each and every one of us, that none will be excepted, but that Thou art able to get what Thou desirest in every one of us.
We want to give ourselves to Thee, Lord, and want Thy will to be done. It is all for Your glory and praise. In Thy precious name, amen.
Brothers and sisters, for the past two weeks, we have been talking about Hannah and Samuel. But what actually we want to emphasize are some spiritual principles behind the workings of God.
Aside from creation, where God worked all by Himself, after He had created man, you find in the Scripture that He no longer works by Himself, but He always works with men.
Whenever He wants to make a change, He will share His thought with those who are close to Him, so that they will take up the burden and pray.
Travailing prayer is the secret of God’s work. God raises sons who are burdened with God’s burden instead of their own burden, and they will pray—travailing prayer—and God begins to work.
So Hannah actually is a good example of travailing prayer. She prayed for herself in the beginning, but it was after God seemed not to listen to her prayer that she began to realize God had something better, higher, more, for her.
So she began to change her prayer. She prayed no longer just for herself; she prayed for God’s need. She prayed that if God should give her a son, she would give him to God for God to change that time from judgeship to kingship.
And that travailing prayer started, as it were, the work of God.
Then we moved to Samuel: how God raised this man from his youth, how he served God faithfully, in spite of the fact that at that time he was just a boy.
His work was very simple: opening the door and closing the door of the house of God. But he did it faithfully, and he was obedient to Eli.
Because of his faithfulness and his obedience, God was able to use him. God appeared to him and spoke to him, and he became a prophet, as well as a judge, among the children of Israel.
But he was there not for himself. As a matter of fact, he was used of God to change the time of judgeship into kingship, and by doing so, actually, he worked himself out of his own job, for he was the last judge. But he faithfully served God.
This morning we would like to come to David the king. We know it was God’s will to change from judgeship to kingship, but the children of Israel could not wait for God’s time.
They wanted a king after the nations—not after God’s will, but after the nations. They wanted to be like the nations, having a king over them. And God granted their wish and gave them Saul.
Saul was not a bad man. Naturally, he was a good man. And yet a natural man can never understand the mind of God and can never obey God’s will.
So we find Saul repeatedly disobeyed God until finally God let him go, and God raised up David.
So this morning we would like to share together concerning David. Now, the important thing here is not David as a person only, but David as a principle of kingship.
As you read the life of David, he was far from perfect. I think we all remember what things he had committed. As a matter of fact, those are the things that we usually remember.
But in spite of his imperfections, he had a heart for God, and he wanted to do God’s will.
But as you look into the life of David, brothers and sisters, his father Jesse had eight boys, and David was the last one.
Now, usually in a family, the father or the mother will love the last one more than anybody else. That is human nature. But strangely, you find David, being the last son, was not loved by his father, nor recognized by his brothers.
Now why? We do not know. But from what we find David spoke of himself, perhaps we may understand something.
Now, if you turn to Psalm 51, Psalm 51 is a repentant psalm of David. Verse 5:
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;
And in sin did my mother conceive me.
He said he was brought forth in iniquity, and it was in sin that his mother conceived him. Now, we do not really know exactly what it means, but probably there was some thought that David was not born by his father’s wife. Actually, he was born out of wedlock.
And that is the reason why he mentioned here, “In iniquity was I brought forth.” Now, regularly speaking, if we are brought forth from our father and mother, that is not a matter of iniquity. It is a natural thing. But here David said, “In iniquity was I brought forth.” Something must be wrong: “In sin did my mother conceive me.”
And if you turn to Psalm 27, Psalm 27, verse 10:
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.
And in Darby’s footnote, it says, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord hath gathered me.” So somehow you find that his father and mother forsook him. But thank God, the Lord took him up.
And if you turn to Psalm 69, verse 8:
I am become a stranger unto my brethren,
And an alien unto my mother’s children.
You find how his brothers looked down upon him. He was not in a good relationship with them, and sometimes you wonder why. Now, if he was born out of wedlock to his father, that probably would be the reason.
So you can see, you find David, when he was young, was despised by his father, and his brothers also were not in a good relationship with him. You can say he was a deserted person.
Now, oftentimes we feel that if we have a good environment, that will make us good; if we have a bad environment, we become bad. But this is not true.
We find David here had a very adverse environment. But in spite of that, you find God used this bad environment to make him David.
So, in other words, even though he was rejected, in a sense despised and rejected by his father and brothers, he was sent to watch a few sheep. And yet, in his solitude, he drew near to God—nearer to God.
Men may forsake him, but God will receive him. So here you find David as a boy: he turned to God with his whole heart, and because of that, God chose him to be the king after God’s mind.
So, brothers and sisters, do not look at your environment and try to blame your environment. God knows exactly what kind of environment you need. Whether He gives you a good environment or a bad environment, He wants to make you what He wants you to be.
Only that you will turn that environment to good use. And here you find David, as a young man, turned the worst environment into the best use.
He was driven, as it were, to seek God, and in God he found his all. So that was how David grew before the Lord.
Then you remember, after God rejected Saul, He sent Samuel to the house of David’s father to anoint one of the sons to be king.
And here you find the father called the seven sons home and let them go before Samuel one by one, but not David, because to him David was nothing.
And yet Samuel could not find among the seven sons God’s choice. So he asked, “Is that all?” And the father said, “No, there is a little one, but he is with the sheep.”
And Samuel said, “Call him. We will wait.” And when David came, God said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
So, brothers and sisters, we know that God looks upon the heart and not upon outward appearance. As long as we have a heart for God, we are chosen by God.
So David was anointed to be king, but at that time Saul was on the throne. You find David, after he was anointed, strangely, his father sent him back to keep the sheep.
In other words, God had chosen him, but his father still neglected him. His father could not understand why God chose David to be king. But David patiently accepted it. He continued to keep the sheep.
But thank God, it was during that period, most likely because he had the anointing of the Lord, that you find things happening. The lion would come and try to take a sheep, and David would go after that lion—or the bear—with bare hands.
He would rescue the sheep and beat the lion or the bear to death. In other words, all by the power of God, he received extraordinary power. But all this was in secret.
You know, if we do anything extraordinary before the public, the whole world would know about it. But here you find David, in spite of doing such feats, never mentioned it—not until he was forced to mention it before Saul.
Saul felt that such a young man—what could he do to fight against Goliath? And David was forced to say, “Yes, with my bare hands, I have killed the lion and the bear.”
So David, instead of trying to put forth himself, waited for God’s time—for God to send him out.
Brothers and sisters, here you find a young man who could wait for God’s timing instead of trying to do something to attract attention.
And in a marvelous way, God prepared his way. First of all, he was sent to Saul as a musician, because Saul was troubled by an evil spirit.
But David played the harp, and that evil spirit would go away, and he comforted the heart of Saul.
After that, you find his father sent him to his brothers to look after his brothers’ affairs, because they were in a war with the Philistines. It was during that period that nobody could fight against Goliath, and David volunteered himself.
He could not fight against Goliath with the armor of Saul. He was not used to it; he could not even walk with it.
But what he had experienced and used as a shepherd—a sling—was how he killed Goliath. So, brothers and sisters, we cannot serve God with other people’s armor.
We have to use our own armor—that is, what the Lord has taught us and used in us in the past.
But anyway, you find David immediately became famous. Then it was as if God had made the arrangement. When they returned to Jerusalem after the victory, the women came out and began to sing and say, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
Saul could not take it. He was jealous, and from that hour he looked differently at David. He tried to kill David, and David became a fugitive.
But brothers and sisters, you find David did not try to do anything himself to get the kingdom. He was willing to wait for God’s timing. He was willing to wait until God changed the situation.
During his time as a fugitive, we find he learned very precious lessons. He learned not to revenge himself. He learned not to touch God’s anointed.
Twice God seemed to put Saul into his hand. He could easily have gotten rid of Saul and gained the kingdom, but he refused to do that.
And brothers and sisters, because he waited for God’s timing, when the Lord’s time came, all Israel turned to him.
But unfortunately, we find David was not perfect at all. When he was king, he committed two serious crimes.
One, he tried to get another man’s wife and killed her husband. Two, he counted the number of the children of Israel. In other words, he did not believe God.
God had blessed him with many people, but he wanted to know how many he had. There was pride within him. So he committed two very serious crimes.
But thank God, how he bowed before God’s discipline. You know, brothers and sisters, discipline is necessary.
God disciplines us as a father. He knows exactly what we need. We do not like discipline, especially in this country today. Parents cannot discipline their children; teachers cannot discipline their students. So see what kind of country we have: no discipline.
But discipline is God’s way, and God disciplines us as a father. As you find in the book of Hebrews, it is because God is our Father and we are His sons that He disciplines us. He will not just let us do whatever we want to do.
And you find, when David was under discipline, how he repented before God. Out of his repentance, two wonderful things happened.
One was the birth of Solomon. The other was that God gave him the plan—not only the plan, but also the place where the temple should be.
And how David, even though he was not allowed to build the temple, because of his love for God, in his affection, prepared all the materials for the building of the house of God.
As you study the Bible, you find God used David as the standard of kingship. As you read 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles, you find that when God mentioned kings, He always used David as a standard.
This is a king that is after David’s heart, who did all that David did; and this is a king that only did a little bit of it, and not all of it. In other words, David became the example of kingship.
It is all because the Lord said, “I have found a man after My own heart.” There was a man who knew My heart and wanted what I wanted, and he would do all My will.
Brothers and sisters, this is the kingship that God is looking for.
Now, why is it so important to us? Brothers and sisters, do we know that we are called to be kings?
You find that in the book of Revelation. For instance, Revelation 1:6 says He has not only forgiven our sins, but He has made us a kingdom, priests unto God.
And then in Revelation 5 again, in the praise of the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, God has redeemed us and made us kings and priests unto God, that we may reign with Him.
So, in other words, no matter what we are in this world, in the spiritual world, brothers and sisters, we are all called to be kings.
Not just ordinary citizens, but we are called to be kings. In the kingdom of God, we are all kings. We ought to rule and reign with Christ, not only for a thousand years, but even for eternity. That is God’s purpose for us.
But brothers and sisters, what kind of kings is God looking for? So apply it to us today. We have the calling. We are called to be kings in the kingdom of God, even in eternity. But do we have the king’s qualities?
That is the reason why, when you read the Bible, you find during the millennial kingdom, when the kingdom of the heavens shall appear upon this earth, those who overcome will reign and rule with Christ for a thousand years.
But not all believers will share this glory, because those who are not being trained, or who refuse to be trained, to be kings in the kingdom of God during the millennium time, will not share it.
The Bible says they will be cast into outer darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What does that mean? It means that they will repent. They will not only regret, but repent.
And they will be disciplined, in a sense, during the millennium time. Until eternity, all who are the Lord’s will eventually be conformed to the image of Christ and all be kings in eternity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, how important it is for us today. This is a day of our training.
No matter what our natural background may be, as believers do not look down upon yourselves. As believers, you are called to be kings—not of this world, not according to the fashion of this world, but you are called to be kings in the kingdom of the heavens.
It is after the fashion of Christ. That is what we learn. If we learn today—no, we are not perfect—but if we have a repentant heart, and if we really humble ourselves before God, confess our sins, and accept the discipline of the Lord, then one day, when Christ returns, we shall reign and rule with Him.
So when we are studying David, it is not only because we find in God’s will how He changed the judgeship into kingship, but it is because one day we shall all be kings. This is the will of God.
And should we take David as our example? If today we reject God’s discipline and want our own will to be done, then, brothers and sisters, in the millennial kingdom we will have no part in it.
But God is faithful. Whom He called, He also justified; and whom He justified, He also sanctified. So eventually, brothers and sisters, we who are called shall all reign with Christ for eternity.
So may the Lord use these simple words to encourage you. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we do praise and thank Thee because of the greatness of Thy calling. Thou hast not only saved us from sin and death, but Thou hast called us to be kings and priests unto God. Oh, dear Lord, what a calling that is.
Do not allow us to miss our calling. Do not allow us to try to get anything in this world. But Lord, we pray that we may be a people disciplined by the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
Allow Him to train us, that we may have the king’s character built up within us, that one day we will glorify Thee by being kings, reigning and ruling together for Your glory.
So we just commit ourselves to Thee this morning and pray, Lord, that Thou wilt not allow any one of us here to miss the opportunity.
But teach us; enable us to build up Your character in us, until one day You can use us as kings to rule and reign with Thee. We ask in Thy precious name, amen.