Currently I am preaching on the life of David from the book of 1 Samuel. Chapters eighteen and nineteen show us three sets of trials God allowed David to experience. In each set, David learned different lessons. First, he learned how to deliver himself. Then, he learned to allow other people to deliver him. And finally, at the end of chapter nineteen, God put him in a situation where David could only depend upon God.
David was feeling the squeeze and learning to trust God . . .
"Those
sustained periods of preparation fueled the future effectiveness of each choice
servant. They learned the value of
growing deep, of spurning life’s shallow life so they could minister out of the
overflow of the inner life. That is
precisely why superficiality is the curse of our age. Our shallow lives offer no promise for
lasting impact.
The
exceptional work for David was that he would lead the nation of Israel for
forty years – in fact, for forty of their greatest years. He received that remarkable appointment by
divine decree. However, we forget he
waited thirteen years before he actually became king, living as a fugitive,
hunted and haunted by Saul.
Why
didn’t David assume the throne of Israel at age seventeen? Wasn’t he more qualified than bumbling,
self-willed Saul? Actually, he
wasn’t. The Lord knew that only a man
seasoned by years of life’s lessons and protracted times of solitude and
obscurity was fit to be the next king."
-
Charles
Swindoll, Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit
It is what V. Raymond Edman called “the
discipline of delay.”
The
delay that instructs and prepares saves time, never loses it. From it one can walk with a step of assurance
and a heart of flame. - Edman
When it comes to walking with God, there
is no thing as instant maturity. God
doesn’t mass produce His saints. He hand
tools each one, and it always takes longer than we expected. - Swindoll
3
Different Responses to Trials and Wilderness Times
First, I
don’t need it! This is the response of pride.
Second, I’m tired of it! This
is the response of shortsightedness.
Third, I
accept it. This is the response of
maturity.
"Then something painful happened to Mr.
Murray. Miss Carmichael records that this is how he met it. He was
quite for a while with his Lord, then he wrote these words for himself:
'First, He brought me here, it is by His will I am in this strait place:
in that fact I will rest. Next He will keep me here in His love, and give
me grace to behave as His child. Then, He will make the trial a blessing,
teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He
means to bestow. Last, in His good time He can bring me out again - how
and when He knows. Let me say I am here, (1) By God's appointment, (2) In
His keeping, (3) Under His training, (4) For His time.'" -
V. Raymond Edman on the life of Andrew Murray
David is Delivered by God (19:18-24)
Saul and his men
go after David, but God delivers him (19:18-24).
Gradually, David was losing all his
support, everything he might have leaned on: his position in the king’s court
and in the army, his wife, and now Samuel.
David’s emotional stability is slowly eroding. The once calm, confident young warrior is
feeling the squeeze. – Charles Swindoll
3 lessons learned by depending on God alone
1. We
learn His sufficiency and grace (2 Cor. 9:8; 12:8-9).
2. We
learn His omnipresence and omniscience (Ro. 11:33-36; He. 13:5,8).
3. We
learn to depend on Him alone (Prov. 3:5-6; 2 Cor. 1:9).
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