|
===============================
DAVID: A MIXED BLESSING
1 Sam. 16:1-13.
We are introduced to David, and led into his story--which is surely the
fullest picture of any one character in the all the Old Testament.
This was truly an extraordinary life...far from the
commonplace, definitely not uninteresting or unexciting (probably
more interesting than most of us would like). Over the course
of his life, he was a lowly shepherd, a military hero, a musician
in a royal court, a general, an outlaw, and a king. The most
powerful person in the country became his enemy and dedicated
himself to killing him. He once had his entire family kidnapped,
and he once faked insanity for a time. He captured an entire city
and made it his personal possession, and then founded it as the
capital of his nation...the city of Jerusalem. He experienced a
deep friendship with the son of his worst enemy. He had intense
and troubled relationships with his own children. He was
publically scandalized by the sins of adultery and murder. His
own children raped and murdered each other. One of his sons tried
to kill him and take his throne.
What could we learn from a life such as this? This life was
so unusual, we would think that it would be hard to identify with
it at all. And yet people through the years have seen much about
their own selves in David. Let us think today about what God
shows us about ourselves in this biblical story.
I. A LIFE CHOSEN AND GIVEN BY GOD TO BLESS OTHERS.
A. THIS STORY IS THAT OF ONE CHOSEN TO BLESS THE PEOPLE.
1. David's story is that of a person given to bless.
a. As in contrast to Saul.
b. How he did so.
1) As a warrior, solving the Philistine crisis.
2) As founder of Jerusalem.
3) As "the sweet Psalmist of Israel"
c. He was always remembered this way, above all.
2. We see this same story over and over in the Bible...
how God blesses through others. EX: Gen 12:1-3; Mt 5:1-
16 (the blessed are then said to be a blessing).
B. IS NOT OUR STORY THE SAME?
1. Think of yourself this way...as being placed in the
midst of a family or community to be a blessing in it.
a. We tend to think instead that we are placed
there to be a success, or to achieve, or be accepted
in it. Think of it this other way.
2. Think this way too....that those around you were
given to be a blessing to you.
a. EX: Spouse, children, church members.
b. A sad truth--people tend to look on these and
not appreciate them, seeing them as a curse, even
driving them out. (Like in the Absalom story)
EX: Our, often, cynical, low view of marriage, even though
in the biblical view it is a blessing.
II. A PERSON CHOSEN FOR HIS POTENTIAL AND RAISED UP.
A. See how lowly David was...shepherd boy; youngest son.
Unlike Saul, he was not the obvious choice.
B. But God saw something in him...inside him. The course
of the story shows what God saw in David.
1. A religious heart. (EX: bring ark; desire to build
God a house)
2. A trusting heart. (EX: Goliath story)
3. A courageous heart. (Throughout)
4. A tender heart. (EX: Saul's robe, Jonathan's death,
his infant's illness, Absalom's death)
5. A penitent heart.
C. This is God's way. He sees the potential in us. Is
there anyone, however looked down upon by others, who could
not be made a great blessing to others?
III. A BLESSING, BUT A MIXED BLESSING.
A. DAVID WAS NOT A PURE BLESSING TO THOSE AROUND HIM.
1. As we know, David's story is in two parts: His
public success; his private failure.
2. So then, he was not entirely a blessing...
1. Not to two households, particularly--Uriah's,
and his own. (The egregious disrespect for another
house led to this breaking up within his own).
2. Not even to Israel....for the ultimate result of
David's sin was her descent into civil war.
B. THE REALITY OF US ALL: WE ARE MIXED BLESSINGS.
1. We see this in David, and even in Abraham who was to
bless all the world. And we see it in ourselves.
ILLUS: The man who preached on adultery even as he was
committing it. We strive to put up a front of perfection.
2. If we see it in ourselves, we should accept it in
others. Why should we judge, complain about and reject
others simply because they are a mixed blessing? We
should instead encourage them and help them to be a pure
blessing to us.
IV. A SUCCESS IN FAILURE, BUT A FAILURE IN SUCCESS.
A. While we are thinking about David's failure, let's
consider how and when it came about.
1. As a young man, he went through a period of great trial
and struggle and affliction, never succeeding to fulfill
the potential of his anointing.
2. At last he "makes it"; at first he is grateful...but
then he forgets God and sins.
3. God then plunges his life back into one of continual
adversity, trial, struggle, failure.
B. There are two kinds of trials....those of adversity, and
those of prosperity. Here's a thought: Perhaps the Lord
keeps us in adversity, because he knows how poorly we would
handle "success." He's trying to help us to continue to be
a blessing.
C. We can see in David that it is through and in adversity,
struggle, weakness and failure that we realize our potential
and become a blessing to others.
D. We see that the Lord is in control, and he will limit
these things that might ruin us...both trials of adversity
(1 Cor. 10:12), and our trials of prosperity.
Perhaps by considering David, we can be more at peace with the
place of problems and trials and afflications in our lives.
CONCLUSION
Can you see yourself mirrored in David? Like David,
we are given to bless those around us. God sees potential in us
where others (and we ourselves) might not, and he raises us up from
lowly circumstances. But as it turns out, we tend to be a "mixed
blessing."
Also, in David we can see why it is that we continually go through
trials and adversity...God is helping us to stay humble, and
continue to be the greatest possible blessing to this earth while
we are in it.
Prayer: Lord, let us never forget that you have put us in this
world not to be a success in it, but to be a blessing to it.
========================
|
