I Have Found David
Theme: Health and temperance are part of a truly balanced life. The basis for balance is found only by recognizing that God loves us just as we are, and that He loves us too much to leave us that way.
Scripture: Acts 13:22-23
Hymn: Blessed Assurance
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God’s Startling Statement |
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A. |
David, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, had been in comparative obscurity. |
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He cared for his father’s sheep. — 1 Sam. 16:11 |
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2. |
He had no prominent place either in his father’s house or in the community. |
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3. |
When Samuel was looking for a king, Jesse brought all the other sons before Samuel, but not David. |
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B. |
God knows us and our whereabouts. |
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1. |
Jesus saw Nathaniel without his knowing anything about the Messiah. — John 1:48 |
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2. |
God saw Hagar fleeing from her mistress. — Gen. 16:6-8 |
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3. |
There is nothing hid from the eyes of the Lord. — Ps. 139:1-9 |
| II. |
“I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart.” |
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A. |
These words have been the target of the infidels and skeptics for years. |
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They judge David by the mistakes he made, but they overlook God’s forgiveness. |
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They ignore God’s method of recording the life story of persons; for God does not give a one-sided report of my life, He records the dark and the light side of my life alike. |
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1. |
God hates sin in the life of man. |
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(a) |
He hated sin in the life of his servant Moses. — Ex. 4:24 |
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(b) |
David learned from experience that God did not approve of his sins. David’s remorse over his sins is recorded in Psalms 51. |
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C. |
God loved David, not because of his sins, but because of David’s penitent and trusting attitude to God’s mercy. — Ps. 32:19 |
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David’s sorrow because of his sins are a constant reminder to all of us of what sin will do to the sinner. |
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Thus we see that God loves sinners but not sin. |
| III. |
Why did the Lord love David so much? |
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A. |
He was a man of strong faith in God and His providence. |
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1. |
He demonstrated his faith on many occasions. |
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(a) |
In his combat with Goliath — 1 Sam. 17:45, 46 |
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(b) |
In his encounters with Saul. |
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(c) |
He was a man of prayer. |
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B. |
He was a man of the hour, a great leader and a great king. |
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God and Israel could count on him in the hour of crisis and need. |
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When the hearts of the soldiers in Israel were faint, David saved the day for the honor of God. |
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C. |
Most importantly, he was wholeheartedly for God. |
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The Lord knew this attachment and that is why He expressed confidence in David. — “He will do all my will” (Acts 13:22). |
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2. |
Such a compliment was rare in the experience of God’s people. Abraham received a similar testimony. — Gen. 18:17, 18 |
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3. |
Enoch, too, received a testimony that he pleased God. — Heb. 11:5 |
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D. |
But our text reveals another gospel act, overlooked by the critics, namely, that God looks at us, not what we are, but what God can make out of us. |
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There is a vast difference between David the sinner and David the transformed child of God. |
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Here, dear friends, is our hope: God does not look at us as we are, but what He can make out of us. |
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3. |
We become men and women after God’s own heart when we allow the gospel of Christ to transform us into the image and likeness of His dear Son. — Rom. 8:29; 2 Tim.1:12 |
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4. |
This is the very heart of our opening text. |
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