SERMON SUMMARY
In this long section of Scripture (1 Samuel 18 - 2 Samuel 5), we see David, whom God had promised to be the next king of Israel, running for his life from King Saul, who wanted him dead. When God writes the stories of our lives, His plotlines are not always the plotlines we would choose if we were writing our own stories.
SERMON SCREENSHOTS & KEY POINTS
If we could write the stories of our lives, we would undoubtedly write them as going from good to better to best. As Christians, we even expect that God would write our stories like that, even though we know He seldom does. Still, we struggle with Him when we find ourselves stuck in what seems to be a descending plotline with no end in sight. The question is: How do you walk with God in the middle of the descending plotlines God has allowed into your life? — plotlines that you would never have chosen for yourself? Certainly, there’s more than one answer to that question, but nowhere in the Bible do we see an answer as clearly as we do in the story of David’s life. If I were writing David’s story, I would write it something like this—“From shepherd boy to future king to giant killer to great military leader to King of Israel”—an ascending plotline from “Good to Great!” But that’s not the way God wrote his story. Not at all.
In 1 Samuel 18-31, we see that Saul is still on the throne, insanely jealous of David and seeking to end his life. David spends 10 long years running for his life, hiding in the wilderness, living in caves, one downturn after another. During this time, we see that he’s not always a paragon of virtue. He lies and deceives and pretends to be insane, all to save his own skin. At times, he has the overwhelming feeling that he’s just a step away from death. Of course, we know that Saul could no more kill him than Goliath could kill him. And his lies and deceit cost a whole town of people their lives. David didn’t just wrestle with the horribly confusing and dangerous circumstances of his life. He also wrestled with all the different emotions those circumstances conjured up in his heart—"hurt, loneliness, sadness, anger, fear, shame, guilt— (see Chip Dodd’s excellent book, “The Voice of the Heart”). David has no idea why his life is turning out this way. He has no idea how what he’s going through fits with God’s plans and purposes for his life. Again, the question is: How do you live out your faith in the middle of plotlines God has allowed to come into your life that you would never have chosen for yourself? When you’re stuck in the middle of a descending plotline…
- Accept the fact that you won’t always make perfect choices. You won’t always get it right. David made mistakes. David sinned to save his own skin. David’s lies and deceit cost people their lives. That said, I’m not at all making excuses for sin. You can never mess up and just brush it all away with, “Well, nobody’s perfect!.” No. But in Scripture (as in life today), we see there are no “morally perfect examples to follow—no impeccable, virtuous models” for us to try to imitate. The Good News is that even when we are faithless or unfaithful, God is still faithful. And when we truly and deeply repent, His grace lifts us up and carries us forward. Second, when you are stuck in the middle of a descending plotline…
- Resist taking matters into your own hands. Yes, David messed up by trying to save his own skin, but by God’s grace, he had a strong conviction to not take matters into his own hands. He had several opportunities to kill King Saul, but he refused, saying, “I will not lift my hand against God’s anointed.” He maintained his integrity while waiting for God to do what He promised. Third, when you’re stuck in the middle of a descending plotline...
- Pay attention to what’s going on in your heart and pray your heart to God. The key verse in this whole section is 1 Samuel 30:6—“But David strengthened himself in the Lord.” How did he do that? He wrote Psalms. He wrote out his prayers to God. He paid attention to what was going on in his heart—he noticed and named the emotions swirling around in his heart, and he prayed them back to God. (Read Psalm 6 and Psalm 56, thinking through these eight emotions from “The Voice of the Heart”—hurt, sad, lonely, fear, shame, guilt, glad—and see how many you can identify right now.
And then, as you continue reading the Psalms with us in our Community Bible reading plan…
- Read the Psalms, paying attention to David’s heart (or the Psalmist’s heart). Notice these four different points in the Psalms—praise, complaint, petition, and confidence. And then…
- Write out your own Psalms, paying attention to your own heart.
God loves you. He understands every emotion that torments you. You can trust Him with how you feel. He’s completely safe. You can express your hurt, your sadness, your fears, your shame, your guilt, and yes, even your anger to Him. The fact that the Psalms are in the Bible is God’s way of saying, “Come to Me. Pour your heart out to Me. I won’t get angry with you if you tell me you’re angry with Me.”
And, knowing Jesus means that as you pray your heart to God, the strength you’ll find in Him is even more personal than David could ever know. He is where the joy is!
*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.