1 Samuel 10 Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

[Music] i'm sure you caught on to the theme of the songs tonight trusting in jesus and there is a good portion in our study tonight that will focus on that turn your attention with me to the book of first samuel chapter 10 please as we continue in this riveting book first samuel chapter 10 this chapter break presented here is not in no way indicating a time lapse or an introduction to a new scene from our previous study in fact it is a uninterrupted continuation from the very last thing that we explored together concerning saul this young man from the tribe of benjamin and his encounter with the prophet samuel in a significant and god-ordained way as we continue here in this chapter we are going to see what this unforeseen meeting on saul's part at least he didn't know it was going to happen what it's going to reach and it's going to reach its climactic point now because samuel the prophet is ready to now anoint the first king of israel and so this is a huge transition for the nation and for the program that god has for his people here but you know when you study the bible and especially when we go through this book book chapter by chapter rather sometimes one of the ways in which i personally look at things to see is there a theme here is there something that's being repeated here is there is there a main point that can be divided into sub points and and maybe that's the way you read maybe you see it differently and sometimes there are chapters where there are just random points and it's still beneficial but i believe here we're going to focus on a component that is granted to us and it deals with the nature of god's calling into a man's life for the ministry not just for full-time ministry for any service and there are some key insights here there are some key insights that deals with not so much how god calls somebody or how he makes his will known to somebody but what god does with a person who does submit to his will and how he carries them along throughout the calling that he has granted them if that makes sense remember when we studied about samuel in chapter 3 when he was a young boy and god called them there were several points there and here we're just going to see a completion of those thoughts of how god calls a man and what he does with that man what are his promises what are his dealings like and so before we read let's just pray one more time and ask the lord to help us father we thank you so much for this word thank you for what you have in store for us tonight we pray for the assistance of your holy spirit we pray that you would divert every intrusive thought every distraction lord we ask that you would reign in our minds that you would dominate our hearts that you would have full control of everything within us lord we ask you to have your way bless your people build our faith sanctify our affections in jesus name amen amen so remember now saul and samuel they woke up the next day after they met and now saul is told tell your servant to move on and we have to have a conversation privately so here is the verse following that verse one then samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said has not the lord anointed you to be prince over his people israel and you shall reign over the people of the lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies and this shall be the sign to you that the lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage when you depart from me today you will meet two men by rachel's tomb in the territory benjamin at zelda and they will say to you the donkeys that you went to seek are found and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you saying what shall i do about my son then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of tabor three men going up to god at bethel will meet you there one carrying three goats another carrying three loaves of bread and another carrying a skin of wine and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you shall accept from their hand after that you shall come to gibeth elohim where there is a garrison of the philistines and there as soon as you come to the city you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp tambourine flute and liar before them prophesying and the spirit of the lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man samuel grabs this young man by the shoulders he looks him in the eyes and without saying anything further he pulls out a flask of oil and he doesn't just dab it on his forehead he pours it on him and that is a familiar practice in the old testament i'm sure you're aware of it that when there is this ceremonial act of anointing somebody drenching somebody with oil it is representative of a spiritual transmission something is happening in the spiritual realm though it is done in a physical way and what's happening here when god anoints someone or something it's a declaration that he has called them out set them apart and will enable them for a divine purpose and so in the tabernacle god anointed furniture meaning that they were sanctified set apart for a specific purpose in the old testament god anointed priests god anointed prophets and for the first time god is now anointing a king he's anointing a king and we're going to see that the holy spirit which is symbolized by the oil is the most important part about this because he's the one who does the real anointing it's to say god chose you and now god is going to empower you and enable you to do what he's called you to do but notice samuel does something else what does he do he pours oil and then he goes on to do what he kisses him that's not part of the anointing process by the way that is a separate thing that is something that he's choosing to do personally and what samuel is doing here is not only is he saying god has anointed you he's saying i'm personally supporting you i'm showing to you on a personal level that i am behind you i'm showing my allegiance to you as the first king i'm here behind you and that's significant because that is a phrase that is used for i'm declaring my allegiance to someone what does psalm 2 say about jesus in verse 12 kiss who the son kiss the son lest you make him angry in other words pledge your allegiance to him demonstrate your affection and your partnership to his will and take refuge in him that's what samuel is doing he kisses the same and kiss the song this is what's the amazing thing about all of this remember when they asked for a king what did samuel feel in that moment do you believe he felt personally rejected you better believe he felt personally rejected he was still the standing judge he was the leader of the nation and while he still has breath and energy and vigor because they said to him what you're old man you're an old man it's time to move on listen we're about to find out in a few chapters that this old man hacks another man to pieces doesn't seem like he's too frail to me and so they look at him they say you're old and so there was a personal there was a sting there by that request for a king and then god remind him hey listen it's not about you they're actually rejecting me but despite the personal pain here samuel sets that aside and he says i still am behind you i see a secure man of god here do you see that i see a man who has a identity and who he is with his god and not what he does for his god and so he's not intimidated nor is he crushed when men desire something else and when there's somebody else that's going to push him in the background and take center stage he's not shaken by that he's not moved by that he's not disturbed by that in fact he says if this is what god wants then i say yes to it and i support you saul and i will be there as a guide to you saul let me ask you this question in bible study tonight did saul pay that forward did he when the second king of israel was anointed and raised up how did saul react to that did he kiss david no he wanted to kill david instead and that's one of the signs of spirituality in somebody that you are finding joy in the program of god even if you are not taking the front seat in that program that you can actually look at somebody's gift and look at somebody's influence and look at somebody's whatever it may be fill in the blank and you can still rejoice and not be eaten up by the cancer of envy and destroy your life in the lives of others this man samuel this prophet is inspirational because he's showing here i support you but there's another thing here he shows his allegiance to this man but it proves something on saul's part and what does it prove think about this he had the greatest prophet of his day declaring to him i am with you think about the spiritual influence think about the support think about the words that would come from god think about all those things and here is the question to ask just because he had a spiritual influence in his life did he himself become spiritual isn't that significant look i want to say this straight it doesn't matter how sound your local church is it doesn't matter how many men and women of god you surround yourself with the pursuit of holiness comes down to your decision it's a choice you and i have to make do those things help absolutely but unfortunately you have a man here who has one of the greatest men of god of all history according to the bible by his side and still nothing of samuel's influence rubbed off on him and it's not samuel's fault it's saul's decision and he proves that and we see here that the prophet chooses his words very carefully right what did he say here in verse 1 has not the lord anointed you to be prince over whose people his people and you shall reign over the people of the lord they're not your people you might be king but there's a king over you and what is he saying here is that you have a marvelous opportunity and it is a great privilege but it comes with awesome responsibility your example saul and your piety and your decisions to direct a nation will ultimately be held accountable before god himself this is not you and the people this is god and his people and you managing what he's asked you to manage and so he is reminding him right from the beginning don't get it twisted this is not about your empire this is not about your name this is not about your descendants this is about god's people being led to god by you and that's what god really calls us all to if you're called by god and we are called by god in different ways how we are called is in this way you and i are called to influence people for god to be turned to god to love god more through your life and my life and our gifts and our temperaments all those things should point people to jesus christ with a greater zeal and desire and so this man is anointed he's set but he wants to provide three signs i mean the idea of a king was so new it was so audacious it was so fresh that despite all the authority that samuel had saul would still need some signs for things to be confirmed is this really actually happening this is a new concept and i'm gonna be the one i'm gonna be the the first one into this whole thing and samuel in his wisdom says yes so i'm gonna give you three encounters that will give you the assurance that this is true and here's what's important these are these are miraculous things and though they are signs there are also messages what do i mean by that i think from what we just read you can pull out three messages that god not only gave to saul to confirm his calling but to comfort him as he pursues the calling of god on his life and these three principles these convictions these insights are for every single one of us and you're going to find out how and so we look at the first sign and the sign though it's unique to saul the principle the conviction behind it the truth behind it is for you and for me actually let me let me backtrack for those who say i want to serve jesus with everything within me a lot of people want the the promises but they don't want the surrender you can't have these blessings unless you first surrender so if you're surrendered these are yours if you're saying lord you can anoint me with whatever you want to anoint me for i'm yours then these are for you and the first thing that we read here is in verse two when you depart from me today you will meet two men by rachel's tomb in the territory benjamin at zelda and they will say to you the donkeys that you went to seek are found and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you saying what shall i do about my son that's the first sign question didn't saul already know this he did samuel told him upon his arrival on the scene samuel said by the way so we can focus with what i want to tell you the thing that you're worried about it's dealt with god took care of it so he's being told again but what makes this different from samuel's news it makes sense for samuel to know about the donkeys the guy is a prophet he knows everything but these people how do these men know about the donkeys they're just random men and that's the point he would come to this place and these random men would come and announce and he'd be like how do you know about my donkey situation and as he would come and meet these two fellows he would realize something it would be reconfirmed to him after samuel confirmed it there's something about these donkeys that god is behind this is not just mere coincidence this is not just something that just happened and out of luck i get to meet this man no he's beginning to realize that there is a divine hand behind this donkey thing and that was the point samuel wanted to reassure him the donkeys that led you to me were for that reason they led you to me and isn't the timing amazing that the moment you met me and were anointed oh your donkeys were found isn't that wonderful and i'd like to think that when saul heard this news from these two people hey by the way your donkeys they're they're found your father's not he's worried about you now get home that this man thought to himself wow that whole ordeal that whole dilemma that whole situation god was really behind it and that's what you and i have to understand if you want to serve god it's a wonderful truth that we've been singing in multiple songs today that when you serve god you can trust that god is able to solve our dilemmas the situation that caused him delay and frustration and irritation was actually god's invitation for the advancement of saul's call and saul knew that at this moment i believe at least he was being told that when you serve me when you say yes to me when you pursue my kingdom i'll take care of your business when you say yes to what i've called you to you invite my hand to influence every area of your life i will manage your life well you continue to pursue what i've asked you to do and i'll take care of everything that is obvious to you and that is not so obvious to you and that is exactly the lesson that is being learned here and here's the thing that's so important he wants this man to know it from the beginning before he even steps on the throne he wants him to know right from the get-go i will take care of everything why is that important because us with our human nature especially those who are in leadership positions we find great comfort and control we want everything every affair of our life to have a timetable on it to have a possible solution to have a plan b behind it we want everything covered what disturbs us and when there's even one area of our life where we feel like we can't dictate where this goes and as a king he would need to learn there is not one thing that i am not in control of even your lost donkeys are behind my sovereign plan joseph learned that at the end of his life at the end of the book we are told that famous verse in genesis 50 20 that what you meant for evil god meant for good right for the salvation of many people he learned that at the end after all that he experienced he was able to look back and say that was god and here in in saul's life he doesn't want him to wait till the end he wants him to know from the beginning i'm in control as you move forward there's something about providence that is realized when we look back but we don't have to wait till we look back to trust in providence we're supposed to trust it from the beginning whether we realize it or not that's the whole point here solve right from now you got to believe everything that you experience from this moment on i'm in control i'm in control dedicated to me and you have my power behind it my wisdom my grace my provision and he was exposed to that and i want to tell you this this is so important because if you don't really grasp and there are some days where it's easier to believe it than others it will cause great suffering in your life i'm personally reading the book of job in my private readings and i came upon a verse today that blessed me so much and it's amazing it was already highlighted i tend to highlight some things that stick out and i realized that i highlighted it but it's like i've never read it before and i was almost hitting myself in the head like how did i miss that even though i highlighted i still forgot it and it's in job 17 11 and in job 17 11 you get a peep out of job that describes where his pain is at least in part the man suffered terribly in ways that you and i cannot even imagine and there's one expression here that reveals something that i'm sure you can relate to look what he says my days are past like so much of my life has already passed up to this point my plans are broken off the desires of my heart the man had expectations for his life i'm sure as a father he had prayers for his children's future he had ideas for his business to flourish he had he had concepts of how he would he would show people that he was a god-fearing man and point people to his god through his acts and through his charitable deeds and you know what he's saying in this moment he's saying all that i expected of my life has been shattered smashed you know it's amazing how people in life have a list of expectations they have a list where they're going to live who they're going to marry or what kind of type of person they're going to marry where they're going to serve how many kids they're going to have how long they're going to live like it's like well are you samuel the prophet you know exactly how everything's going to come down to and sometimes it's on a physical piece of paper but oftentimes it's in our minds and it's in our hearts and it's sometimes even expressed in our prayers do you realize that joe prayed for his kids every single day it's a guy to come before god lest they've cursed god in their hearts and he would intercede for them and here in job 17 11 he's like all my plans are gone the timing of things the dreams that i've come up with and prayed about all these things are now everything is obliterated and what job needed to know he would realize at the end because what does god give the answer to his dilemma what's the solution god doesn't explain the philosophy of suffering god doesn't explain how you know i let this happen to some people and this is why he doesn't explain how he had a deal with satan he didn't say that i'm going to glorify you before before men on earth and this is going to be in a book and it's going to be able to minister to people thousands of years from this time he didn't say any of that all he did was declare his sovereignty hey job were you there when i did this are you there when i do that are you aware when that animal gives birth on that hill and or do you feed the beast in the ocean and he just goes on to declare his sovereignty and you need to know that or else you will have great pains in life when you feel like things that you've hoped for did not come out as you've prayed for even my plans are broken off my desires the desires of my heart they're taken from me saul need to learn the first sign was i'm in control i'm in control of the littlest things of the biggest things if i'm going to take care of your donkeys saul i will take care of the kingdom you have to believe that right from the beginning but we come to the second point and it's in connection to that in verse 3 what's the next sign then the word then you shall go on from there father and come to the oak of tabor three men going up to god at bethel will meet you there one carrying three young goats another carrying three loaves of bread another carrying a skin of wine and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread so after the first meeting he's going to encounter two men they're going to bring an announcement your donkeys those donkeys it's solved it's okay everything has been solved the second sign three men he would approach them they would encounter him and now i mean he's declaring his precision here he's saying there's gonna be three of them and one's gonna have this one's gonna have that one's gonna have the other and one is gonna have three loaves of bread and he's actually gonna give you two loaves of those three do you remember the condition of saul's personal goods before this point if you don't remember go to chapter 9 verse 7 this is before he met samuel then saul said to a servant but if we go what can we bring the man for the bread in our sacks is gone and there is no present to bring to the man of god what do we have he has no bread he has nothing for the journey and you know what samuel could have done after he anointed him you have a long journey home here's some food he could have provided that he provided him dinner the night before but he doesn't do that he lets him walk out by faith he lets him walk on the journey and trust that god will provide his exact needs for the journey and so he says you're going to see two men and they're going to give you two pieces of bread and that's the point yes number one god is able to solve our problems as we pursue his will but god is also able to supply our needs and what i love about this is that when he comes to these men they have an abundance of things they have wine they have goats they have more than two loaves of bread but how many did he get at all that he didn't get any wine like we're keeping the wine and the goats here's two pieces of bread why i believe it's because god gives us what we need not all the time what you want okay i know you're very luxurious it doesn't mean god is going to give you everything that you have on your pinterest board okay he gives you what you need and it will satisfy you and it will bless you and it will cause you to rejoice in him and to sing to him for his faithfulness over your life and he experienced that he had crumbs in his lunch bag and samuel said you're going to come upon men random men and they're going to give you what you need god works this way with all of his servants especially those who take care of his kingdom and move it forward with their lives can you think of another man in the old testament where god does this in a very specific way yes beautiful elijah do you know how god provided for elijah the same way he provided for saul exactly what he needed first kings 17 i would encourage you to turn there it's not too far from this book there's second samuel then there's first kings look at chapter 17 and i want you to see what god tells this man he tells him to go to a specific book and to hide himself then he gives him instructions in verse 4 of how he's going to take care of them because he's going to be there for a very long time in verse 4 of chapter 17 you shall drink from the brook and i have commanded the ravens to feed you there so he went and did according to the word of the lord he went and lived by the brook that is east of the jordan and the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook imagine that every single moment when he wakes up in the morning he would have to wake up and guess what he didn't go to a fridge he didn't have a number to call he would wait for birds to bring his portion i'm sure you have never been tested to the point where you waited for ravens to bring your breakfast and not just your breakfast once you ate breakfast you would have to wait a few hours and trust that the birds will come in the evening to bring your dinner right on time now think about that twice a day in god's mind for elijah that was what he needed two meals a day enough bread enough meat to sustain you for a long long time you know what's incredible about this is that elijah did not have the freedom to hoard up the food he didn't just like the israelites with the manna you couldn't hoard up the man it would turn and rot and become worms food you have to trust god every single day elijah needed to trust god every single day okay lord new morning where are the birds evening your stomach is grumbling okay lord where are the birds and here's the crows and he sees the birds from a distance and there they are with food in their mouths bringing it before him god loves faith he's pleased by faith he orchestrated this for elijah so that every single day elijah would worship him by trusting god for the birds to come he couldn't hoard it up israel couldn't hoard it up and you and i doesn't call for us not to be to be wise in our dealings or to have savings that's not at all it's the heart posture it's the heart posture see this is a specific case there's a famine in the land there is a famine in the land think about the temptation there's no food hasn't rained in years i have to collect i have to do this i have no just trust me every single day now here's what else is amazing why ravens let me ask you this way what does the bible say about ravens well more importantly there's something about their condition they're unclean they're unclean animals according to leviticus 11. so through the jewish mindset the raven bird itself should have no association with the jew the jew should not even there is no raven on the menu for the jew it's an unclean animal and god is using an unclean animal to provide his daily bread why it's a principle of how god uses unusual and unexpected ways to provide for us things that we wouldn't imagine it must have been a shock for elijah to hear ravens you're going to bring ravens to bring me food and if you serve god long enough and if you exercise your faith by his grace you'll be shocked to see how he comes through in your life you'll be amazed to know how he comes and provides and how he makes away and how he opens a door what's amazing about this is that god is sovereign i command the ravens you know what jesus said about the ravens in luke 12. he said in luke 12 verse 24 consider the ravens he was very specific with the type of bird and luke he says consider the ravens and what about the ravens they neither sow nor reap they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet god feeds him how much more value are they than the birds god feeds the ravens and then god uses the ravens to feed elijah he takes care of the birds he takes care of his servants he takes care of everything and elijah here is experiencing that which is amazing spurgeon spurgeon made an observation about the story of elijah in this scene have you ever heard a powerful message from someone i'm talking about a heart shaking message or you've read something a book or you you read blogs or you saw somebody's vlogs online and they seem to have a depth of knowledge and even a power behind their delivery and you've really been blessed by the ministry could be a worship leader even it could be a worship ban whatever the case may be have you ever experienced that have are there names that come to your mind now if they if they do come to your mind god forbid this is the case but it's unfortunately true is it possible that you've also been disappointed and you're even conflicted because you've been blessed by them but when you see or realize something about their character it's in such a great contradiction to the very thing that they preach right or there's some scandal that's revealed about them and you can't understand because for years you've been blessed by them you understand what i'm saying spurgeon used this text to explain that that elijah received bread from an unclean animal and it's possible for you and i to receive meat from even unclean vessels and likewise you can be an unclean vessel yourself and god still use you to feed others the effectiveness of your ministry does not determine your standing with god these birds in the eyes of god were unclean but they were still serving him and spurgeon made an awesome observation about how it's possible to be defiled and still bless people and so this man saw he saw something wow i've been anointed i'm going to be the king and god is taking care of my needs he's giving me exactly what i need then we come to the last sign here in verse 5 and 6 and spurgeon's point will help us understand this one saul was about to experience not from two men not from three men but from a band of men called prophets and these prophets are coming down from a hill they're worshiping god they have instruments and they're prophesying and now he's going to meet them and upon contact with them something extraordinary is going to happen he's not going to receive news that doesn't make sense for random people to know concerning his personal life he's not going to receive just an act of generosity he's going to explain he's going to experience a rushing of the power of the holy spirit on his life and so once he meets these prophets that exactly happens the holy spirit clothes him in such a way where he becomes a worship leader for a moment and he joins and he begins to prophesy himself and here's the point when you serve god he'll solve your problems in his sovereign way he's providential in his dealings with you and me he provides all our needs but he also enables us to serve him in the power of the spirit he not only takes care of our physical needs but he takes care of our spiritual needs so that we can solve and give grace to the needs of others what's amazing is the holy spirit comes upon him but he's not a prophet nor is he a priest he's a king but because he's a king in god's kingdom because he's occupying a position for this god every position requires the holy spirit's help just like the deacons in the book of acts these guys that would serve tables what was the requirement at least one of them they must be filled with the holy spirit to serve tables can you imagine that requirement for volunteering in the church if you want to volunteer with the homeless ministry if you won't volunteer with the hospitality you have to be filled with the holy spirit i'm sure that will really change the qualifications for our ministries if you need to be filled with the holy spirit to take care of tables how much more do you need to be filled with the holy spirit to be a pastor we just now accept degrees these days another message for another time but this man here experienced something i'm going to do god's work god's going to help me do his work because god's work is a spiritual work no matter what it is prophet priest or king politics restaurant owner stay-at-home mom you need the holy spirit's help and god assures him and assures you he will give it he will grant that help and that's an incredible thing but this is where people are disturbed by this incident with psalm verse 6 and the spirit of the lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with him and be turned into another man come down to verse 9. when he turned his back to leave samuel god gave him another heart and all these signs came to pass that day why is that conflicting for people because all you got to do is read the next few chapters and come to the end of the book to feel the tension of this how in the world can this man have a new heart and live the way he lived from this moment on right the man dies of suicide the man almost burns down his whole kingdom because of his jealousy is that what happens when god gives you a new heart and so people have trouble with this how can you have a new heart how can the holy spirit rush upon you and all these vile things pump out of your life and not just for a moment but for years well here's the thing i want to say number one is it not possible that even after god changes your heart that you can commit grievous acts of sin the answer is yes absolutely now there should be some great questions if you live in perpetual sin and have no sign of conviction or no desire of repentance if that's you you should ask if you're even saved but here's where people go wrong i believe they take the concept of a regenerated heart and they apply it to this verse so they see a new heart and immediately they think the holy spirit came in changed their heart and they became born again i don't think that's necessarily the case here notice the sequence all these signs that you and i just read they didn't happen samuel said they will happen the new heart didn't come when the holy spirit rushed upon him the new heart came the moment he finished with samuel and turned around and walked the other direction in that moment it says here in verse 9 god gave him a new heart and then you read that the signs came to pass that day our doctrine is what when you put your faith in christ the holy spirit regenerates you and makes you born again it's a work of the spirit it's not explicitly clear that the new heart here is necessarily a regenerating work of the third person of the trinity so then what does it mean that god gave him a new heart i believe what's being said here is that god did a work in him to fulfill the task of a king specifically we're talking about a guy that was managing donkeys for his father now becoming the national leader and what i see here precisely is that this new heart speaks of a new attitude a new frame of mind a new way of looking an outlook that has been altered by god as he's about to take this role now he's about to stand in a position that no one has ever been able to stand or at least entertain to stand and he's going to do that he went from taking care of animals and now he needs a new heart to take care of the people of god the nation of israel to shepherd souls and he would need a new heart for that so i believe what's happening here is that the responsibility that he's about to embark on requires a new motivation a new outlook that would fit the mission and on top of that he's enabled by the holy spirit enabled by the holy spirit to be that king that would deliver the people out of the enemy's hands you may disagree but that's what i believe comes to the conclusion regarding this or else we have many other problems concerning saul's life as a person with a new heart so what happens all these signs pass that day and then we come down here to verse 13 or verse 14 rather the first two signs are not explicitly given to us in detail but the third sign is the holy spirit does rush upon him and we are told what happens to him he prophesies but then now he finally makes it home he finally arrives back home and who do we encounter not saul's father but his uncle and we're told here saul's uncle said to him and to his servant where did you go and he said to seek the donkeys and when we saw that they were not to be found we went to samuel and saul's uncle said please tell me what samuel said to you you know what that's like it's like talking about the most famous person you encountered in this generation or you know a relative that met a famous actor or a musician or whatever it may be and you're just curious to know what that famous person said to your relative that's what's happening here he met samuel and the uncle's like whoa tell me what samuel said now the guy was told you're going to be king how many of us would glory in that well since you asked i wasn't planning to tell you but samuel said that i was going to be the king of israel uncle nothing of the sort does he lie no he just doesn't tell him the whole story and saul said in verse 16 to his uncle he told us plainly that the donkeys had been found but about the matter of the kingdom of which samuel had spoken he did not tell him anything how many of you think this is a humble thing how do you think this is a deceiving thing why is it deceiving let me ask you a question in the gospels there are some cases where for example the the scene of the tomb of the resurrection where you're told that there are multiple women in some scenes you're told that there was just one mary magdalene so some details are left out right it's not that there is two different stories is that some details were included and some details were not included and i believe what samuel is doing here is a noble thing a rather song and i'll tell you why i believe he got the idea of how samuel the prophet handled the situation look at the last verse of chapter 9 verse 27 as they were going down to the outskirts of the city samuel said to saul tell the servant to pass on before us when he has passed on stop hear yourself for a while that i may make known to you the word of god why did he do that he tells the servant just just go on i'll catch up with you in a moment and that was samuel's idea it's because it was supposed to be a private matter at this point this was supposed to be a private ordination a private anointing something that was supposed to be at this time concealed and then in due time it would be revealed i believe the man here saul is honoring that is honoring that and here's here's what i believe is going on a very practical point this was god's dealing with his future and even the future of the nation and i believe this man here at this moment has this very wise understanding if god said it would happen then it's going to happen and if i'm supposed to be the king of israel guess what everybody's going to find out that i'm the king of israel eventually seems like samuel didn't want to make it known at the time so i'm not going to make it known at the time and i'm going to trust in god's timing for it to be exposed when it needs to be exposed and so i see a man here that's not ready to toot his own horn he's not ready to boast in what god has called them to do he's honoring the the sacredness of it up to this point and i believe in his mind he's thinking well if i'm going to be king uncle you're going to know it eventually and there is great wisdom in times not to be deceitful but to know what to reveal especially when it's something that you believe god's calling you to do if god's calling you to do it he's going to do it he will make it known you need to go around and tell everybody god told me god told me god told me let god do it and people will know that makes sense the man wants to know saul says yeah he just told us about the longest that wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole story and sure enough the time of the public inauguration has arrived and that's what we see in the second section samuel here now calls for the nation he's calling for all the tribes and what they have craved for has now come they are going to receive their king and we read here in verse 20. then samuel brought all the tribes of israel near and the tribe of benjamin was taken by lot so now he performs a public thing where he already knows god revealed to him the man is saul the king is saul it's a done deal but he wants to show the eyes of the tribes how god chose this man so he does this ritual then the tribe of benjamin is selected all the other tribes are pushed back and then we're told here he brought the tribe of benjamin near by its clans and the clan of the matrix was taken by lot and saul the son of kish was taken by lot but when they sought him he could not be found so they inquired again of the lord is there a man still to come and the lord said behold he has hidden himself among the baggage you can't play hide and seek with god you can't if you can find the donkey saul he's going to be able to find you come on what are you doing you're hiding behind the baggage i think almighty omniscient god doesn't know where you're at so here he is he's hiding and he doesn't want to be seen he doesn't want the spotlight he doesn't want to be on that stage so let me ask this again is this a man who is fearful of his calling or is this a man who is humble and is resisting to be acknowledged by people fearful humble people are really reluctant to call this man humble i think it's okay it's difficult this is this is why narratives in the old testament demand much more study and careful interpretation because it's hard it's not explicitly clear so then what do we do with something like this well if he's hiding because he doesn't want to be in the spotlight there's a dread there and it's not a fear because of his lack of trust in god we could praise him for his humility we really can but even if this is because of his humility listen very carefully humility is not proven by a reluctance of you obeying god's call you see what i'm saying god has gifted this man god has ordained this man to be the face of the nation of israel it's not a humble thing to resist that when god has called you to that there are many people who in the name of humility are actually sabotaging their calling really it is a fear it's a fear of well what are people going to think about me i mean like if i get up there and i speak so confidently they're going to think who is this guy why is he so arrogant why is he so bold see so there's reasons behind that and we mask it with well i'm just i just i want to be humble i want to be behind the scenes not everybody in the body of christ is behind the scenes if everybody's behind the scenes and how are people going to see how are people going to be reached it just doesn't make sense in this case you're not supposed to be you're not the the manager of your donkeys anymore god has promoted you to this place and even if you are in this position shy and quiet and humble you don't like it that can lead to disobedience if you're not careful so god says he's right there go get him and they come and they grab him and they bring him and when they bring him samuel says in verse 24 do you see him whom the lord has chosen there is none like him among all the people and all the people shouted long live the king wow it's never been said before long live the king i wonder how that sounded in the ears of god then samuel verse 25 told the people the rites and duties of the kingship and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the lord i believe that he took deuteronomy 17 and he began to explain that and bring and remind them this these are the instructions for your king now look what happens here this is interesting the way the chapter ends is really really interesting so i mean it could have ended there samuel wrote down he repeated the words of deuteronomy concerning the duties of a king and righteous standing before god and before men done but that's not how it finishes verse 26 saul also went to his home at gibya and with them went men of valor whose hearts god had touched beautiful that's wonderful so now god didn't just touch saul's heart god touched these men's hearts to come and support him and that's a wonderful thing when there is a ministry or when there is a minister that the holy spirit is truly anointed and set apart and is using god will often by his grace bring people who have the same heart for god to come alongside that minister of ministry in other words he's bringing like-minded people together for this program for this advancement of god's purpose in this day and this is this is the prayer that we should have as a local church lord as we long to advance your kingdom bring people that you've touched bring people who want what you want who have been inspired by your holy spirit to say we want to get behind what god is doing and as you serve god by his grace make it a prayer of yours that in your life you would be surrounded by people as such whose hearts are only inspired by one thing what god wants his word his purpose and if saul is the leader they're like okay let's do it we'll support this it says god's heart god touched their hearts they didn't say that they were inspired god was moving them god was moving them but that's not the only thing you can expect when you serve god i wish it was just that because there's another verse but and in this case it's not a good but but some worthless fellows said how can this man save us and they despised him and brought him no present but he held his peace this man was ordained by samuel the prophet this man as you read earlier had the holy spirit rush upon him where people began to say is saul among the prophets word began to spread this guy is now endued with power from god he's like these men of god what is happening to the son of kish this man has been now ordained to be the king and you have some people that are called worthless that say who's this joke who's this joke and they begin to publicly despise him and show disdain and show displeasure even though god was behind all of it and what i love here is that the man it says held his peace he was quiet with his uncle which we can praise and here again we see that he is quiet before his slanders how did he know peace i'll tell you what will make you miserable as you serve god if you don't get this right by the power of the holy spirit you will know misery as you serve god you will know misery as you serve god if you have an ambition to be loved by everybody you're in for some great disappointment brother and sister see saul was empowered by the spirit called by samuel he had people supporting him but this right here this final verse can knock down somebody despite all those good things in their lives it's possible i'll tell you how that's true you could be complimented all day by 99 people and one person say something bad about you and what are you thinking about on your way home not the 99 people that were praising you the one person that criticized you and this man here held his peace because at this point in his life he wasn't shaken by it he was confident that he had god behind him he was confident that he had a man of god with him he was confident in those whose hearts have been touched by god and if there's going to be abandoned people that are going to say things okay let him say things the idea here is that he it's as though he didn't even hear them he just moved on because when god really does call you and you have that confirmation and you have his blessing and you have genuine spiritual people in your life who cares what people say huh here's the problem like many things that we see here that we love about the man does this endure no it doesn't endure because it's something that needs to be rehearsed and practiced every single day in the presence of god it came down to a point where this man was king he did have victories over the philistines and then one day this young good-looking teenager takes down a giant named goliath and everybody's talking about it not just talking about it they're singing about it saul has slain his thousands but david tens of thousands and guess what the reaction was you would hope that it would be this but saul held his peace first samuel 18 verse 8 tells us his reaction and you're going to see a different man here is the reaction saul was very angry and this saying displeased him where was the saw that held his peace i mean this isn't even that bad in comparison to this the issue here is that they just elevated david a bit more than him it's not like they said david is king and saul isn't anymore no david he killed more saul accomplished lest but he still accomplished some things here in this chapter what are they saying how can this man save us like the guy hasn't even stepped into the office yet to start his job and you're already discounting him and just saying disqualifying he's not he's not even worthy to be king that's offensive and yet still angry the spirit of jealousy comes over him and what does it say here they have ascribed to david 10 000 to me they have ascribed thousands and what more can he have but the kingdom and what happens the next verse and saul i david from that moment on that is the opposite of having your peace and the knowledge of who you really are in christ that is the opposite what is going on there saul i david from that day on david became an obsession to him a gross unhealthy obsession he was living rent free in his head every single day david david david everything everything everything you read even later on that there's a feast going on and david doesn't show up to the feast and while they're having the feast the scripture tells us that he was thinking where could david be david david david see because as one person said if you live for the praise of men you will die by their criticism you will you will die you will suffer you will know agony and that has no place in a in a service to god's kingdom and so we learn here some things about what god does when he calls us and i want to assure you as we come to those three points as a reminder he will solve our problems providentially that doesn't mean he does it the way we want or at the time that he that we want him to do it but he does it nonetheless for his glory secondly he will provide your needs and he'll do it in ways that will surprise you sometimes like elijah was surprised by ravens coming to my help and lastly because it is a spiritual work and you don't need to preach or be a king you can be doing anything as long as it's for its glory he will empower you by the spirit and here's what's amazing i said we're done but we're not hang tight here's what's so glorious when you come back here to verse 10 when they came at gibya behold a group of prophets met him and the spirit of god rushed upon him and he prophesied among them and when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets the people said to one another what has come over the son of kish is also among the prophets here's what's so amazing about that when the holy spirit really does the work in you and through you you don't have to tell people the holy spirit's working in and through you people can tell you don't have to advertise it you don't have to tell people about it people will know it just like they did with samuel they realized that samuel was called to be a prophet every word that he spoke was coming to pass like this kid is a prophet he didn't go around saying i had a vision from god i'm a prophet no the holy spirit is doing the advertising for him and that's the encouraging thing that when the holy spirit comes upon a life it's recognizable to the discerning it's tangible it's obvious and people are blessed by it and they could see it and that's what i want to encourage you with the holy spirit can do such a work in our lives today that people like with saul will say is this the same guy that i knew from high school is this the same girl that i knew in college is that the same person that i knew growing up in sunday school because there's something else influencing his life there's something else controlling her life and if they know god they'll say it's god it's god i hope you would aspire to that in your life lord breathe on me in such a way that when i look at people when i talk with people when i serve people they will say there's something that has happened to this man there's something that has happened to this woman something has overcome them and taken over their minds and their hearts that's what the holy spirit does the holy spirit cannot touch you without you touching other people as a result that's how powerful he is rivers of living water not a lake trickling not a pond that sits still rivers of living water flows in and from and through you where other people begin to experience it through your life let's pray father we thank you for your reminders and your word of how you deal with those who say yes to your call and god we ask that you would help us believe in you especially in times where there is great need help us trust in your providence lord perhaps there are some in here like job who feel that my plans my plans have been destroyed the desires of my heart have not been considered what i have hoped for at this point in my life is not coming to pass in fact my days are past i never thought i would be here at this point after all the prayers i've prayed after all the things that i've done to serve him how is it that i am here i thought it would be different god would you comfort that heart in this place to trust that you are in control and that you are never late and lord you're never too early god you are perfect in your timing we pray for those who feel disappointed because they have labored in the place of prayer they have sought you they have counseled you they have acknowledged you in all their ways but they don't see the fruit of what they thought would come lord let them trust that even in disappointments and frustrating experiences and delays and closed doors and confusing times god you're in control you really are help us really believe that you will take care of your children you will take care of your servants and lord you'll take care of our needs perhaps that truth doesn't mean much to us today because so much is accessible and we have much in the bank and we have much with our parents we have much with our jobs but lord help us even believe that you give us exactly what we need help us recognize that and to praise you for it and lord help us long for the empowerment of the holy spirit clothe each of us lord in such a way that people who have known us would see a change in us lord have more control over ours our lives our minds our decisions our meditations take complete dominion rule and reign over us and lord as we seek to obey you there will be times of persecution outside and within help us know how to hold on to peace as we hold on to the revelation that you are for us and that you know our hearts and that if you've called us we have nothing to worry about how other people praise or approve that calling you have called us that's the most important thing lord in this place we worship you for these truths and we glorify you god minister to us as we are in desperate need of reminders lord embedded in our hearts so that we can walk out of here as changed people we ask these things tonight in jesus name amen and amen amen

Channel: UE Church - Chicago

Views: 425

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: daniel batarseh, ue church, bible study, sermon, church, new testament, old testament, teaching, preaching, building, encouraging, christ, jesus, christian, how to, god, lord, where, when, how, bible, christain, christianity, encouragement, what, Samuel, Saul, king, Anointed, flask, oil, Proclaim, Kish, Gibeath-elohim, prophet

Id: 0ns814LgTs8

Length: 62min 15sec (3735 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 09 2021