First Baptist Church in Amboy,IL Podcast
David's Life Psalm
So I think I'm going right here. So I've been struggling all week. What to bring is we've been studying the life of David the books of first and second Samuel. I Thoroughly have been enjoying Studying the scripture together with you and those that have been involved and studying not just reading but studying digging in and It's amazing what God's doing in your life, and I'm grateful for that. It's not what this preacher has to say But it's what God has to say and I learned a long time ago that you can listen to the best preaching You can be in the best church. You can be in the best home You can read your Bible you can pray all you want, but until you start Memorizing Meditating digging in studying to show yourself approved unto God a workman that need is not to be ashamed You'll never get where God wants you to be and I'm just doing all I can to encourage you to dig into the Word of God Let's go to the book of second Samuel chapter 23. I want to start there this morning and I really don't have any notes this morning. I want to come to Psalm here in a little bit, but I want to start with the end of David's life and of course if you've been reading and Looking at the life of David with us and the books of first and second especially second Samuel of course David Is not spoken at the beginning of first Samuel But then we entitled these last two chapters as we started this study is the death of David or David's death but he really doesn't die until first King's chapter number two and Some of us have a hard time stopping in the middle of the story So we read ahead so I kind of get mixed up there a little bit, but but these are the last Days as recorded in the book of Samuel of David in verse number one of chapter 23 well look at these verses and then we'll Talk about a few things and then go to a Psalm and I will say this in my study of Samuel I Came across the book this week. Well, I saw it. I've been around for a long time Boy he's having a rough time isn't he I give him a ride in my truck that ice cheers him up Only when he drives though he wanted to drive the bus from the activity last night He was disappointed that he had to sit in the back when they were driving the bus home from the activity so he wanted to help grandpa drive but I Came across the book that I well, I've looked at before never read it by Alexander McLaren Love you may not recognize that name the Baptist preacher for many years ago and I started to read the book and I just couldn't put it down. It's called the life of David as reflected in his Psalms and Wow that book just made everything come alive and I would highly recommend After going through the books of first and second Samuel to go through and read that book you'll be amazed what you see and what you gleam after the time that we spent in Studying David's life and learning from him If you're able to stand with me, let's stand as we read the word of God in chapter 23 in the first Five verses we'll just read them and pray and we talked about these a little bit on Wednesday night in our discussion time It's a few very interesting things were pointed out. We won't go back to look at all of those I might briefly mention them now these be the last words of David and of course He's going to say some things later even in the book of first Kings before his death and But these are not necessarily the last chronologically or the the words that we remember of David. This is Someone said, what would you want on your tombstone? And maybe this would be the words that he would say put this on my tombstone I said, what would you want in my tombstone? Someone said I told you I was sick Don't put that on your tombstone. Okay But these maybe were the the things that we remember about they these were the last words of David David the son of Jesse Said but the man who was raised up on high the anointed of the god of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said the spirit of Lord spake By me and his word was in my tongue And the god of Israel said the rock of Israel spake to me He that rule us you notice in verse number three God speaking now Two and through David. He that rule of over men must be just ruling in the fear of God Wouldn't that be good if our presidential election would keep that in mind? Hmm And he shall be as the light of the morning and when the sun rises even a Morning without clouds as the tender grass bring it out of the earth by clear shining after rain I notice what David says in verse number five although my house be not so with God Yet he have made with me an everlasting covenant Ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire Although he made it not to grow father. We pray your blessing upon your word today Lord, we thank you for the sweet psalmist of Israel and Lord. There's so much that we've learned and just looking at his life Not only his great triumphs, but his great failures And Lord, so it is with each one of us And Lord we see ourself in the life of David And yet we also see Jesus in the life of David And God I pray that you would help us to keep those things in mind everywhere we look in the Bible or That when we see the faults of others they're put in there to read to show us our faults and our sins And our shortcomings our failures But when we see the triumphs they're put there to show us Jesus our triumph and Savior our Redeemer The one who we sing of the one we lift up the one we worship and praise today We pray that you are blessed now in Jesus name amen. You have a seat if you will What have we learned from David's life when we start out studying him? We first see him as a shepherd boy. I Think of him as a young man a very young man too young to be out on his own by today's standards especially without a cell phone and Somebody to watch out for him check in with him every five minutes or whatever He's out all night long watching those sheep And I noticed that they weren't his sheep We're going to the book of first Peter next and I think a first Peter as the The model pastor the under shepherd. He says I'm just a shepherd and by the way That's the exact opposite of the worldly religion Lifts him up as the papa He doesn't fit that category at all by his own testimony by his own words But he does say that a pastor is an under shepherd and we're watching the sheep that belong to the chief Shepherd David didn't have any of his own sheep. He was watching the sheep that belonged to his father and as a pastor I don't have any sheep. I don't have any Belongings it's not my church or might be though that you're God's people and I'm grateful that I can be an unworthy leader and not much of one, but that's just the place that God called me and God's put me and and But David is a little shepherd boy Significant the least of his father's family and Samuel of course came to his house looking for the next king of Israel Israel already had a king, but it was man's choice instead of God's choice and God says okay, it's time to get God's choice as a king and God went to a little city Bethlehem the city of David and found the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth and Oh Jesse's children marched in front of Samuel. He said surely that's the one. No, that's not him that ain't it That ain't it and the next one. Oh, this has got to be the one look at him. He's such a strong Healthy good specimen of a man and naturally no, that's not him and finally after all the sons have passed through and Samuel said Isn't there another? Oh, yeah, we forgot about David. I'm actually glad God doesn't forget the most insignificant one of Jesse's children finally was brought in and there David Was brought before Samuel and anointed to be the next king God's choice of a king And and again our text said how God anointed him God chose him and David that spent those long Hours out singing those praises to God playing on his harp whatever that instrument was We think of the great big harp surely it wasn't that and he was singing those Psalms and in the quiet of the night I couldn't help but to think this morning I got up and talked to Lord early this morning and and I sat out and watched the the moon long before the sun came up and saw the the Crescent moon just right up there and sitting in the in the The stars of of Leo the consolation of Leo You can still see some of the stars around the moon and looked up straight up above and saw the red planet What's that red planet or the green guy lives, right? And I saw Mars up there and eventually the Sun came up and and just thinking about David sitting out in those long nights Singing unto the Lord couldn't help but to sing unto the Lord and lift him up and and what a wonderful picture We're giving of David out watching those sheep and of course he wasn't doing nothing all night He was praising them worshiping the Lord, but also caring for his father's sheep and then of course David is brought before Saul to cast out the demons through playing his music with so many things we learned of David and then Some time went by when he's in the house of Saul praying and playing his music and praying and playing his music both and seeing the demons cast out a crazy King Saul and and then there's a battle going on and and David's father sends him to see how his brothers are doing in the army of Saul and they find the light He finds Goliath out there blaspheming God blaspheming Israel blaspheming Saul and his army and and David of course is there not a cause Dave's I'll go whoop that guy and I've got you come to me with swords and spears I come in the name of the and the power of God in the name of the Lord of hosts whom you blaspheme whom you mock and of course David slaves Goliath Maybe one of the most familiar stories and all the Bible and and then of course Dave Saul's envy is David killed his Saul killed his thousands David killed his tens of thousands David was a bloody Man of war And again you read about warfare and just with the Bible said what a gruesome thing We can't even imagine that in our world today what they saw in warfare. You talk about PTSD They had multiple times of that and dealing with the reality of The blood and the gore and all the things that they saw in warfare in his day And yet he kept his heart on the Lord and God of course Had him go in hiding for years from King Saul and I'm going to take him longer and I want to in this But I think King Saul and it's crazy I wanted to kill David even though he knew that was God's choice and God's in order yet God Miraculously for years as David wasn't hiding spared at David's life and eventually he comes to the throne of God at the end of First Samuel beginning a second Samuel And now we live happily ever after David's on the throne and everything's wonderful from here on out No, David is a mess with a capital M that capital litters all the way through He's a mess just like you and I are a mess and David of course messed up big time on the throne Became an adult or became a murderer And even to this day has given reason for the enemies of the Lord the blaspheme God because of his sin and yet he was a man after God's own heart I know some people have a heart Well, we can see that in David's life, but we can't balance that out in our own life in our own day Well, so and so they this I'll never forgive them. I'll not aren't you glad God's not like that I'm so glad that God's mercies are new every morning and God's faithful is and God forgive and God loves It's David of course a great psalm of repentance that every Christian if they're right with God is is very familiar with Psalm 51 especially that psalm of repentance and and Then David repented of a sin, but still he was a mess Just like the rest of us and we see his failures and we see ourselves in his failures And we see his triumphs and we see Jesus in his triumphs and never think that we are above Any sin let him that think if he stand take heed Let's see fall because every one of us and sometimes the sins of others look so much bigger than our own sin Don't they and Jesus even dealt with that in the New Testament, but here's David this great man now That's come to the end of his life And well of course the sins of his family the sins of his children his own son rising up against him and Leaving Jerusalem and shame and yet God spared him and brought him back on the throne again And all the things that we saw of David and his sin and his failures You know what I can't help but to remind myself and to see things that The problems that David suffered in his life and it's very clear to see in the Bible We're self-inflicted problems Some of them were testings from God and he did good or especially early in his life when he trusted God But then when he thought he had it together Let him that think of these stand to take heed lest he fall That's when we fall when we think we've got victory. Well back when I figured this out. Hey, I'm figured out yet Do you ever get life figured out? Let me know and I ain't gonna figure it out till I get to heaven I'm sure of that and Somebody oh, yeah. Oh, I figured this out a long time ago. I learned to forgive back then. I don't know about you But I can't even learn to forgive every day Well, I learned that lesson back then are you with me this morning? David learned the same lessons over and over again, but I noticed just like all of us most of his problems are self-inflicted And not everything but and that's true at every one of us if we're honest Well, if I would have that reacted right back if I would have just trusted God and David had great faith in God But he had great failures didn't he I would make you see it all through his life and we see it in our lives today and again, I mentioned a book that I read that the life of David has seen through his Psalms and Put the name of that courage to read that it'll be a blessing to be a help to you in many ways You take time to read that book But I think of maybe one song The song that the lady sang Had a lot of references to this song though. It wasn't directly from the song There's a lot of phrases in there that came from this song. I mean you have a favorite song. Let me have a favorite song What's your favorite? I've got I don't have time to list all my favorite songs, but I've got a lot of them But the all-time favorite song anybody want to guess what it is? But 18 or 51 oh, man, I thought that's usually the first one people guess the first 18 those are great songs by the way Those are some might they're on my list of favorites. There are my Hundred Psalms of my top ten list. All right And that what's another one? What's it? What do you think is the one that most people's favorite song? Psalm 23. I think somebody said it now that I heard it again. Oh, I did hear it once, too So you got to say it loud and four or five times before I hear it's kind of like the man that thought his wife was Going deaf, so she was on the other side of the room and said can you hear me? She had no response, so she got a little he got a little closer and said can you hear me? No response at all finally got right up next to her and said can you hear me now and she said yes I've told you three times. I heard you That's kind of what it is in our house, but that's where I am what I didn't hear that But Psalm 23 turn there if you will Psalm 23. Oh, what a wonderful psalm it is What a great psalm it is the Lord in fact, let's quote it together read it together this morning all right I'll probably mess it up if I try to quote it in front of you I've been quoting it myself all week But if I say it in front of you and you're saying it with me, I know I'm gonna mess you up So I may have to peek down a cheat every once in a while The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he make of me to lie down in green pastures He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restored my soul He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil so thou art with me thy rod and thy staff They comfort me thou prepare us to table before me in the presence of my enemies Now anoint us my head with oil my cup run us over Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever I would call this David's life Psalm Just probably wondering if I got a title of the message. There's a good title right there We'll pick that one out. All right, David's life Psalm. I think you can see in this Psalm David's life Story David of course the first we see him. He's a shepherd boy The Lord is my shepherd I've been around sheep enough to know that They're a dumb animal and we're little kids. Yeah, we we we were country boys But we weren't farm boys my oldest sister lived on a farm and we would go up and visit them most of kids I knew in school were farm boys and I was just a country boy But not a farm boy and I'd come into school Monday. What'd you do this? Oh, man? We went and bailed. Hey all weekend. It was great We absolutely loved that churro was a hundred degrees out and you're dripping sweat and climbing up with a hangout And we just thought it was great. They said you did what and you we thought it was fun And remember their sheep that they had we'd be boy. We'd buck and Broncos on those sheep We're just little kids and you jump on yeah Probably one the best thing for the sheep, but that's why they had curly wolf But as they had us kids riding them around and and we go up and play around the farm and and we just have a great old time and But I've been around sheep enough to know you know I don't mind animals when they're smaller me animals that are big in me. I get a little nervous around now, huh? Horse yes, sir. I'm out of here. I forget it, but I'm not much of a cowboy but But I think of a sheep and they're not a real smart animal folks have told me that And I find it a little bit offensive that God calls us sheep We are the sheep of his pasture in other words. You're a dumbest animal there is You don't even know how to come in out of the rain. You need somebody to take care of you You'll never survive without a shepherd caring for you and thank the Lord that Jesus is the good shepherd He is the good shepherd and he loves his sheep And he give his life for his sheep and when he is my shepherd, I Shall not want for that's easy to say isn't it as long as we have a refrigerator full of food As long as we have money in the bank account as long as we have clothes to wear as long as we have a house to sleep in As long as we have a comfortable bed to sleep in and we have heat in the winter time and even air conditioning in the summer time Well, it's easy to say. Oh, I shall not want But what if everything was gone? What if you're living like David in a cave hiding for your life not knowing if this will be the last night she close your eyes and sleep Not knowing if you survived tomorrow, then can we say the Lord is my shepherd? I shall not want boy. That's easy You know, it's easy to quote these great verses of the Bible as long as they don't really apply to us. Isn't that true? But can we really trust and God when we find everything else is gone That's when we begin to know his grace. That's when we find he's all I need He's all that I want and notice he makes us me in verse number two He makes us mean lie down and green pastures He leadeth me beside the still water that makes it sound like to me. I don't want to go there. I Don't want to go to those green pastures. I want to go this way. God said no I'm gonna grab you by the nap of your neck and I'm gonna make you lay down God ever make you lay down God makes us lay down. He'd make us mean to lie down He leadeth me beside this still water You know you think of the still water the little babbling brook and and I picture this week those little babbling brooks in Tennessee and North Carolina and some of those states were affected by the hurricane those little babbling brooks I saw a picture of one little town, you know a little nice little country highway a little houses along the side a Picture of all these nice little houses and then the next day that little babbling brook came and wipe Everything out the roads gone. Everything's gone. All those how all those buildings gone Oh that little thing became a monster didn't it and I think of this The presence of God he leads me beside the still water. Jesus is the water of life Oh picturing this morning one of the festivals of the Jewish days when Jesus was on this earth It was an eight-day festival and for seven days the priest would carry a large basin of water up the steps of the temple And this happened in Jesus day in the certain temple the certain ceremony And he walked up the steps of that temple and for seven days He would say his prayers and he'd pour out that water and they run down the steps of the temple and then the eighth day One of the visits that Jesus made to Jerusalem Jesus comes into the city on the eighth day the great feast day that day The priest didn't bring a vessel of water up to the temple instead Jesus came and stood on those very steps And said I am the water of life He that believeth in me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water Jesus is the living water He leads me beside the still waters when I think about the still waters I picture in my mind the throne of God that Isaiah described in Isaiah 6 and John Described the same scene in Revelation chapter 4 and 5 where they see God the Father sitting on the throne and the four Or the three angels around the throne crying out day and night holy holy holy Lord God Almighty and the earth shook underneath them and around about the throne was a rainbow of every color picturing the Holy Spirit of God and Before the throne the Lamb of God John described would eventually come trotting out before the throne But right in front of that throne as the ground was shaking and all heaven was shaking There was a sea of glass as calm as could be a picture Jesus coming to his disciples in the storm and Speaking the words and the water was calm just like that and there in the presence of God There's perfect calmness and stillness even though the heaven itself is shaking God brings a perfect calmness. He leads me beside the still waters and he restore it My soul. He leads me in the past. Oh, I love this and David We talked about this last week when David talked about his righteousness He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name sake not my righteousness You know you look at David and some of his psalms and what we read last week and in the second Samuel 22 Or the 21 one of those chapters we read last week Where David some afraid you said he talked about my righteous. How I've been upright I've been and God even said that God wants a ruler That's just and holy and walking in the fear of Lord David wouldn't always that was he but David said what I've been righteous No, he wasn't But it wasn't his righteousness. He was looking at it was God's righteousness When we get looking at our righteousness We're filled with a whole lot of self aren't we we call it self-righteousness and we get very judgmental and very critical of everyone else And it's not my righteousness. It's his righteousness. I have nothing to offer to him I am nobody. I know in my flesh. Well, there's no good thing. There's nothing worthy of him He leads me in the past of righteousness for his names sake in Him in Christ. It's not my righteousness. It's his righteousness Then I'll love this verse number four ye though. I walk through the valley I was trying to remember what's what verse I put on the screen. I guess it was verse 3. I put up there I was thinking of verse 4 though. Yeah, do I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Alfer no evil. You know what I love about that verse The valley is it called the valley of death The valley of the shadow of death Let me ask you something On a bright sunny day looks like the sun shining out there I was standing up of course with the sun straight up You're not going to see much of a shadow. But you see a shadow on I can see my shadow right here Wow, I guess you put personalities. I can see all kinds of shadows with me right here And you see my shadow you say well, that's me. No, that's not me That's my shadow Shadow is not the real thing is it? The valley of the shadow of death. He that believe in me shall never die Well, I'm going through death and we say well so-and-so died. No, he just stepped in the presence of Jesus Going through that valley of the shadow that shadow may get dark sometimes That valley may get cold and damp sometimes I think of early mornings I love this time of year in the early morning you see in the valleys not many valleys around here But the lower spots you see the fog down there and you drive down in there like whoa, it gets dark real fast Doesn't it and that valley and there's death with but over on the other side the sun shining brightly and There's safety on that other side and he leads us through that valley of the shadow of death death is not something that a Christian ought to fear It's just a passing it's a shedding of this old sinful flesh Well, we put on his Role of righteousness to sin no more and we awaken in his righteousness Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because I'm a good person No, because thou art with me that he is with me. I have no righteousness to claim It's just because he's gone that way before he knows what it is to come out on the other side I can come out a victor through him. Oh, I walk through the valley of the shadow death I'll fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and I staff They comfort me. I've heard a lot of discussion on what exactly that is referring to the rod and God staff We think of a rod that's used for Correction and a staff that is used for correction and also for protection And I've heard people say well that rod of that staff is God disciplining his children God taking that child that's out of step and walking them with that with the rod or pulling them by the neck of nap of the neck with His staff and they get over here getting back in line and that's God's discipline other folks say no That's God's protection. He's there to protect from the wild animals that come along as David did Even as a child fought off the wild beasts to protect his his father's sheep And he say well, which one is it? Yes It's both of them God's rod of protection and his rod of correction They're both important and they both bring great comfort that God loves us enough To discipline us when they're wrong. Just like a loving father. Oh It's some of some of you grew up with a dad that oh if I didn't love you. I didn't whoop you I wouldn't whoop you if I didn't love you. Oh, I know and that's that's debatable dad But someone grew up with a dad like that, didn't we? Yeah, Garrison poor child There'll be a line waiting to whoop you but Your dad's not here this morning. So we'll take his place for him. All right, and well, we heard that growing up And I'm glad that God and God talks about that in the book of Hebrews That he that That loves his child Will discipline him or chasing him and that rod of correction but that rod of correction also is a rod of comfort and Thank the Lord that he's there to protect us and to discipline us and then thou prepare us a table Before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anoint us My head with oil David talked about how he was anointed of God by the way when you've been saved You don't realize this what you were anointed with that same oil The Holy Spirit is pictured by the anointing oil of the Old Testament when you get saved The Holy Spirit comes to live inside you that oil was a picture of the Holy Spirit God anointing on David Was the pouring out of oil that was a very common practice and people were anointed for special purposes in the Old Testament And God's gift to you is the Holy Spirit and God measures out That's the song got me thinking about how God measures out his grace to us how he measures out the Holy Spirit and there's only one person that had a Limitless power of God's anointing and that was the Lord Jesus Christ The Holy Spirit was poured out upon him without measure But God chooses who gets this anointing for what? What responsibility what gift what what blessing that would annoy to my head with oil and my cup runneth over Oh, isn't it good to know that when we come to Jesus as an empty cup. He fills that cup Sometimes we can't get that feeling of God because we're so full of ourself. I notice as in David We've got to empty ourselves of ourselves first And we hold an empty vessel up to him. He begins to pour and as long as we keep holding it up to him He just keeps pouring and you talk about the fruit of the spirit It just gives you the ooze out of us. It begins to pour out all of my cup runneth over when I think about the goodness of God and His mercies and his long suffering to us surely my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I would well in the house of the Lord Forever, you know, you look at the end of David's life and I'm sure he's looking back and thinking of all the things That would have could have should have been done All the things that oh, I really messed up there Things would have been so much easier if I would have just trusted God all the way And the truth is every one of us we're honest. We look back and we see the same thing We say, well, I've never made any mistake. Maybe you need to get saved. I don't know But what we're mess But I do know that where sin did abound grace Does much more abound in that wonderful. That's one of the greatest promises I find in the book of Romans where sin Abounds is grace doesn't matter how bad I've sin doesn't matter how bad I messed up Now sure there's going to be consequences some things I'm going to have to live through some things that my family's going to have to go through Because of my shortcomings because of my sin but God's grace is always sufficient We're sinned at abound grace did much more around surely goodness and mercy And you look back and the terrible things that happened to David and even the last chapter It talks about the plague that came because of his sin and the people that died I'm amazed at how many people died in that plague that came in the last chapter All the guilt and the shame that he must have felt Because he knew it was his doing but still he's able to say Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me in all of that God is still Good God's given me more than I deserve because My name's written in the lambs book of life Doesn't matter what happens in this life doesn't matter everything's gone tomorrow I've got eternal life waiting for me in heaven What a hope that is not sure that's easy to say again When we've got clothes on our back And a belly full of food And a comfortable house to live in Well, it's easy to say it that but what if that's all gone? Can we still say surely goodness and mercy shall follow me God is good Somebody quoted from the book of jobe this morning the lord give I think of listening to the lord give us The lord take it away blessed be the name of the lord doesn't matter what happens Thank god I wish I could say I always had that attitude I wish I could say what I always approached heartache disappointment failure shortcomings with that spirit But the truth is I'm no different than david And I think if we look at ourselves and saw ourselves and david, we'd say the same thing I'm no different than him But thank god We've got a good shepherd that still loves us that still cares for us despite our stupidity Despite our foolishness God still loves us and he's not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance. He's not willing that we walk through this life Alone he's there for us. He's there with us And he wants to be Our good shepherd. I'm gonna ask you to