January 2, 2022
Scripture: 1 Samuel 18:6-30
Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
I. If you have a heart for God, you are blessed with God’s presence.
A. David was a man with a heart for God. King Saul did not have a heart for God. The women of Israel create and sing a victory song over Goliath and the Philistines to express their joy (vs. 7). “Saul was very angry” when he heard this song (vs. 8). Saul always kept a jealous eye on David from that day forward (vs. 9). Verse 10 says that the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul. This harmful spirit from God made Saul insane and made him want to kill David.
B. God blessed David in contrast to King Saul. Three times in chapter 18 we see that God was with David (vs. 12, 14, 28-29). Saul saw that God was with David like God used to be with him in the early days of Saul’s kingdom. And that scared Saul. He knew that David was blessed by God while he was not. The greatest blessing we could ever have is to live in the presence of God. To be with God is to be in heaven. And God gives that blessing to those with a heart for Him.
II. If you have a heart for God, you are blessed with success.
A. We read three times in this chapter that the LORD gave David success. David had success in all his undertakings because God was with him (vs. 14). “And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him” (vs. 15). And “David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed” (vs. 30). David was successful because the LORD was with him. God blessed David with success because David had a heart for him.
B. David was faithful to God in all that He did. That was success. We usually define success in this way: bigger, better, faster, more. The Bible says success is faithfulness to God. David lived for an audience of one. He lived to be faithful to God. That faithfulness made him a success. If you are faithful to God, you are a success in the eyes of the only One who really matters.
III. If you have a heart for God, you are blessed with love.
A. Six times in this chapter we read about how David is loved by different people (vs. 1, 3, 16,20, 22, 28). The only person in the chapter who does not love David is Saul. David’s descendant Jesus was also not loved by everyone. But God and Jesus still love you. Romans 5:8: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Application:
Pray for a heart for God. Look at the cross when you need a reminder of Christ’s love.
Sources:
The book of 1 Samuel
Commentaries on 1 Samuel by Robert Bergen, Dale Ralph Davis and Tim Chester
Sermon Discussion Questions
1) Do you recognize anything of Saul from this chapter in yourself? How does the blessing of the presence of God in your life motivate you to want to have a heart for God as David did?
2) How does God define success? What leads to success in life? See Joshua 1:8. Like David you have often been protected from dangers of which you are unaware. Thank Him for His protection in your life.
3) What can you do to make yourself more aware of the blessing of God’s love in your life? How can God’s people in the church show you God’s love?