Pursuit of a New Kingdom
Download MP3Alright. If you would, open your bibles to first Samuel 24. And of all the dancing videos, it had to be me for the longest amount of time. I mentioned before, if God can make trees sing and dance, he can make me. We're going to read the entire chapter from first Samuel 24.
Joel Brooks:Listen carefully. This is god's word. When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the wild goats' rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds, by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself.
Joel Brooks:Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost part of the cave, and the men of David said to him, here is the day of which the Lord said to you, behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems fit good to you. Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward, David's heart struck him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed. So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul.
Joel Brooks:And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. Afterward, David also arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, my lord, the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'Behold, David seeks you harm'? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave.
Joel Brooks:And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, I will not put out my hand against the lord against my lord, for he is the lord's anointed. See, my father. See the corner of your robe in my hand? For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands.
Joel Brooks:I have not sinned against you, though you hunt though you though you hunt my life to take it. May the lord judge between me and you. May the lord avenge me against you but my hand shall not be against you. As a proverb of the ancients say, out of the wicked comes wickedness. But my hand shall not be against you.
Joel Brooks:And whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. May the lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand. As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, is this your voice, my son, David?
Joel Brooks:And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, You are more righteous than I. For you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me. And that and that you did not kill me when the lord put me into your hands.
Joel Brooks:For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me, therefore, by the Lord, that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David swore this to Saul.
Joel Brooks:Then Saul went home. But David and his men went up to the stronghold. Pray with me. Lord, we ask that you would honor the reading of your word. But we're gathered here together to listen to you because we believe your words are life, and we want you to speak life to us.
Joel Brooks:Lord, in this moment, I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. As one studies the life of David, there's a a question that begins to come to mind.
Joel Brooks:Perhaps you have had it or felt it. And that's if David is god's anointed one. If God has promised to give David the kingdom, then why do we have all of this drama? I mean, why don't not right after David is anointed as king by Samuel. Why not then just establish him as king?
Joel Brooks:Why do we go through page after page, a page of of all this drama? If God's in control of the very hairs on the head of King Saul, certainly he can remove him and establish David in power. That shouldn't be a hard thing for the creator of the universe, but he doesn't do it. And it's not just true of this story, you could go throughout the bible. Why why did God go through all the drama of having 10 plagues in the Exodus?
Joel Brooks:The last plague certainly would have done it, but he goes to the drama of 10. Or, or why call Abraham and say, You're going to have a son, but then go through years years years of just waiting. Or tell Joseph, you're to be raised up and you're gonna be a ruler over all the land. But then send Joseph off to be a servant. Then send Joseph off to prison, and where he has to wait 20 years for the fulfillment of that.
Joel Brooks:Why doesn't God ever just promise something and then give it? And that's one of the questions that that I want hovering over us, as we read through the life of David. God has promised us a lot of things. He's he's promised one day that, you know, every every tear is going to be wiped away that an endless joy we're going to praise him. But he doesn't give that to us now.
Joel Brooks:Why? Why why the wait? So why doesn't a sovereign king, sovereign God just make David king? Let's look at the story and maybe we'll get an answer. David, at this point in his life, is still on the run.
Joel Brooks:Get used to it. He's gonna be on the run a lot. Now he's grown from 400 men to about 600 men. And 600 men are hard to hide and so you've only got so many places and so he goes into the wilderness of En Gedi where there's lots of caves and he goes in particular to this cave called Wild Goat's Rock. Good name for a band.
Joel Brooks:It hasn't been picked. I Googled it. And then you you know, as as coincidence would have it, Saul is looking for him and just happens to go in that very cave to use the restroom. And you you kind of feel that perhaps perhaps there's a sovereign plan working behind all of this. And, you just picture the scene because the odds are incredible.
Joel Brooks:And there's 600 men in there and in walks Saul and he's literally caught with his pants down. And and you have got 1200 eyes looking at him. And so you you can't have a man any more vulnerable than this. And so David's men, they they whisper to him and they say, David, this is the time. Remember, the Lord said he was gonna give you his enemy, your enemy into his hand, your hand, and now it is.
Joel Brooks:It's right here. Kill him. But has God done this? Is this what God wants David to do? Has he really given Saul into his hand to be killed?
Joel Brooks:Often we assume that what we want to do is the Lord's will. It's the reason I have so many power tools from Home Depot. You know, Lauren can send me to go and pick up some mushroom compost, And, I come back with a a power tool. And and she's like, well, why in the world do you have this? You have already 10 electric saws and you buy this one.
Joel Brooks:And and so I have to paint the picture so she doesn't think I'm a fool. I'm like, you know what? I was going to get the mushroom compost and they just put this out. It's a reconditioned sawzall, tons of power. It was 40% off, and she's looking at me completely unconvinced.
Joel Brooks:I'm like, it would have been sin for me not to buy this. Alright? The Lord wanted me to have this. And she just asked for the keys and she goes and she gets mushroom compost. That's how a lot of us live our life though.
Joel Brooks:We do what we want to do. And then we say, it was the Lord's will that we do it. We don't know if it's the Lord's will or not. We just wanted to do it. Don't ascribe to him that unless unless you know.
Joel Brooks:So there's a danger in interpreting the Lord's will on your life based on just the circumstances around you. What if Abraham had done that? Did his circumstances say he was to have a son? What if Joseph had done that? Did his circumstances say that I was going to raise you up to be a ruler?
Joel Brooks:Circumstances don't tell you what the Lord's will is. So when we read this story about David, we need to ask the question, who or or by what are we being guided by? What how are we making our choices here? If no one is around and you're at a store and you see something you, you want, do you just take it and walk out the store? Is that right?
Joel Brooks:I think everybody here would say, no, it's wrong. And I would ask you, why is that wrong? And you would say, the word of God says it's wrong. I couldn't tell you, no, no, it's right because the circumstances were right. It was there.
Joel Brooks:You needed it. You could just take and walk away. You'd say, no. The Word of God prohibits that. Because the Word of God is what dictates His will for our life, not circumstances.
Joel Brooks:So what was the word of the Lord telling David to do here? Well, in verse 4, his men say, here is the day of which the lord said to you. Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand. There's one problem with that though. The lord never said that to David.
Joel Brooks:He never did. He didn't say that to David concerning Saul. Now concerning the Philistines back 1 chapter, God had said, hey, I will deliver your enemies into your hand to kill. Alright? And so maybe their men are just saying, well, that applies to all enemies at all times here, and and certainly that's that's continuing to be the case here.
Joel Brooks:But the Lord had not said that to David. David's men just wanted him to do this. They didn't like Saul. Their lives were miserable miserable because of Saul, and they wanted him dead. David, it's the Lord's will that you do this.
Joel Brooks:But is this what the Lord wants them to do? If you go back actually a chapter, king Saul does the same thing. Look at chapter 23 verses 6 and 7. When Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had fled to date to David to Kalaiah Keilah, he had come down with ephod in his hand. Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, And Saul said, God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.
Joel Brooks:Later in verse 21, somebody is a traitor to David. And Saul says, may you be blessed by the Lord for you have had compassion on me. And so you have Saul thinking, what I do is the Lord's will. You have David's man going, No. What you're gonna do is kill him.
Joel Brooks:That's the Lord's will. Everybody's claiming the Lord to be on their side to kill. It reminds me of Blaise Pascal's words in which he famously said, men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction. And both David and Saul could certainly convince themselves that this is what the lord wants me to do. But was it?
Joel Brooks:What what is the lord's will here? Let's look at what David does. David stealthily sneaks up in the dark, likely with an intent to kill. And just just think, I mean, the amazing skill that's required in a cave that echoes noise to move up so quietly up there. But apparently, as he's moving up there, he realizes I I I can't kill him.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he's got he's got his sword out and and Saul is there, and he can't even hear the breathing, and he decides instead just to cut a corner of the robe. And he's able to retreat without Saul even knowing, and he goes to his men and he says, I I couldn't do it. I could not kill the Lord's anointed. Matter of fact, I feel I feel bad for even taking this. Don't tear him apart.
Joel Brooks:He pleads with his men not to take on Saul. Because in that moment, when David is sneaking up on Saul, he realizes what the Lord's will is. And the Lord's will is always going to be fueled by love. It's always going to be fueled by reconciliation. It's not going to be fueled by revenge or murder.
Joel Brooks:It's not gonna be fueled by a power grab, but through humility. Look at verse 5. Says, and afterwards, David's heart struck him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. That is strong language there. David will use it later when he's been confronted with sin.
Joel Brooks:But basically, he has been cut to the heart. His heart pierced him for just cutting off a corner of the robe because it's not just a robe. That robe is a is a symbol of the kingdom, and he should never have touched it. Now what David does next is quite remarkable. He could have just let things go.
Joel Brooks:Everybody be quiet. Let's let Saul leave, and we'll just escape. That would have been the safe thing to do. That would have been the prudent thing to do. Saul's got an army of 3,000 men, they're pinned in a cave, but then look what David does.
Joel Brooks:He calls out to Saul in this desperate attempt to restore a relationship. I mean, this is utterly insane. Saul has tried to spear him against the wall. Saul has sent assassins at him. Saul has sent armies after him.
Joel Brooks:Saul wants him dead and all of a sudden, he calls out to him. If Saul doesn't respond, if a relationship is not restored, David is a dead man. It took as much courage to do this as fighting Goliath. The odds were the same. And I'm sure David's men, as David stands up and calls out, are like, what the heck are you doing?
Joel Brooks:You idiot. Because he's not just risking his life, he's risking all 600 of his men's lives. But he's saying, this is worth it. This is worth it. And so when I read this, I've just got to ask, what's his reasoning?
Joel Brooks:What's fueling his decisions? What what impulse is is driving him to to act this way? Hear me. This is important. God has established, has promised that David would be king, but it is not his pursuit of being king that's driving him.
Joel Brooks:That's not it. It's his pursuit to be part of a new kingdom. Not his pursuit to be king, but his pursuit to be part of a new kingdom. A kingdom that embraces love and not power. It's a kingdom that, that exalts mercy and not vengeance.
Joel Brooks:That honors weakness over strength. It's a kingdom that doesn't hold grudges, but instead forgives. And David feels called to be part of that kingdom and he embraces that. This is the kingdom of which Jesus spoke when he said, you are to love your enemies. You're to bless those who persecute you.
Joel Brooks:You see that beautifully displayed. It's the kingdom in which we are a part of. Not one fueled by hate or a power trip. Not one who says, hey, this is the Lord's will for this, but really you're just trying to climb up the ladder. You're just doing what you want.
Joel Brooks:David is fueled by weakness, humility, and love and reconciliation. Hear me. I know that there's a number of you here that feel that God has called you to do something. I mean, I know maybe perhaps it's, you know, to adopt. Perhaps it's to be married.
Joel Brooks:Perhaps it's to be a parent or or to have a career change. That and you feel strongly god has called you to do that. I want you to know that god is far more concerned about the process than he is about that result. Alright? Don't fix your eyes on that result.
Joel Brooks:If God has promises, you know, that you're going to be that, he's going to bring that to completion. He promised David's gonna be king. He's gonna be king. Alright? But David shouldn't focus on trying to grab that.
Joel Brooks:What he needs to is focus on this process. God, what do you want me to do now? How do you want me to live my life now? How do you want me to show grace to others now? Don't let me be so focused on that end goal.
Joel Brooks:It's the process in which God's gonna change your hearts and those around you. How can you demonstrate that you are supposed to love your enemies unless you have enemies? How how are you supposed to demonstrate that you're supposed to forgive others unless you have been wronged and need to forgive others? God's gonna bring those things in your life as part of the process to get you where He wants you. And you embrace those times, not try to run from them.
Joel Brooks:And David gets this. He understands God's called him to be king, and he is gonna be king in God's timing. But until then, he's gonna live by the rules of the kingdom regardless. And he's gonna show love and grace and seek reconciliation. And I just gotta confess, when I when I read this story, I thought a lot about my my own life.
Joel Brooks:For instance, I feel called to be not just a pastor, but a church planter and starting Redeemer. And I think, okay. So that was a goal. That was a passion of mine, to start a church. But God has reminded me, okay.
Joel Brooks:That that could be a passion, but it better not be the passion. You better not get fixed on the goal because it will lead you astray. For instance, you you know, I might get called by people who are really needy people might come to me. You're going to take up a whole lot of time, a whole lot of energy. And if just establishing a church is my goal, the best thing to do would be to ignore them and use my time elsewhere.
Joel Brooks:But is that what God is is really excited about? Is that what he's longing for my life? No. Or about how how about how we use money? You know, for 5 years now, we've been taking money.
Joel Brooks:Should we be saving it for a building? That if if if our goal is just to establish a good church. Yes. We're 5 years in. We don't have a dime for a new building.
Joel Brooks:Okay? Or or or or is the loving thing to do to be to give that money out. I've got to remind myself of that. Even this the past couple of weeks have been you know, it always happens. It happens to everybody.
Joel Brooks:The one of those crazy, stupid, busy seasons in which it hasn't just been time that's been demanded. It's been, emotional and mental energy that's been demanded, and I've been out of town, and I'm coming to write a message. And I'm like, God, I don't have the normal sermon prep time I have, and I need it. And God's like, Well, what's what's the process? What do you think exactly I'm calling you to be?
Joel Brooks:He had to remind me, love your husband. I mean, love your wife. Be a good husband. Love your children. Let go of some of that.
Joel Brooks:Your goal is not to plant you know what? I've called you to pastor and to plant a church that's going to happen, but in the process, make sure your relationship is right with your wife. Make sure that you're loving your children well. Make sure you're doing those things. And so I've had to let some things go.
Joel Brooks:And so the Lord has just been working this message in me. David's goal was to be king. Make no mistake. God had called him that to do that, but it wasn't his passion. His passion was to live like God wanted to in the kingdom.
Joel Brooks:To show love and compassion and seek reconciliation. And I think this is where David so clearly points us to the true anointed one in Jesus. At great risk to David's life here, He went to his enemy, and he said, can we be reconciled? Can we be reconciled? And he pleased for his relationship to be restored.
Joel Brooks:He doesn't seek vengeance. He doesn't seek wrath. Instead, he risked for a relationship to be restored. To remind you of anybody, I'm reminded of Romans 5, which we read to start the service. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Joel Brooks:For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows His love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
Joel Brooks:More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Hear me. We were Saul. Alright? We were Saul.
Joel Brooks:We were enemies to God's anointed one. But then Jesus, not at risk of his life, at the very giving of his life, brought us to himself. He's the one to whom David points. And now he has given us this ministry of reconciliation. That's what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5.
Joel Brooks:That all of this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Now we spend our lives, now we risk our lives trying to reconcile others to God. As I was going through this message, and and also with it being the 50 year anniversary of Martin Luther King's letters from a Birmingham jail, I was looking through some of his writings, and I came across actually, it was not from the Birmingham jails from a letter from his time in Montgomery. He wrote a sermon about what he believed the calling in his life. And let me just just read this.
Joel Brooks:Of course, this isn't practical. Life is a matter of getting even, of hitting back, of dog eating dog. Am I saying that Jesus commands us to love those who hurt and oppress us? Do do I sound like most preachers, idealistic and impractical? Maybe in some distant utopia, you say, that idea will work, but not in the hard cold world in which we live.
Joel Brooks:My friends, we have followed the so called practical way for too long a time now, and it has led inexorably to deeper confusion and chaos. Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrender to hatred and violence. For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. To our most bitter opponents, we say, We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force.
Joel Brooks:Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. Throw us in jail, and we shall continue to love you. Send your herded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour, and beat us, and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day, we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves.
Joel Brooks:We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory. He understood reconciliation. That that's our task to so demonstrate the gospel To so love people in the name of Jesus that they can't help but see him. We need to take risk, great risk to proclaim the good news of the grace of Jesus Christ. No matter what the cost, we need to live a life of love to our enemies, no matter how hard we are hit.
Joel Brooks:And for those of you who know what God's will is for your life or that goal is for your life, or for those of you who don't have any clue what His goal or his will is for your life, know this, that in the process, wherever he is taking you, you are to love and you're to seek reconciliation for people to God. Meaning you're to live out the gospel every day. God is far more concerned about that process than the end goal. Pray with me. Holy Spirit.
Joel Brooks:I pray that you would take, take my muddled words and make sense. Write your truth on our hearts. We believe right now, we proclaim that Jesus Christ through the gospel, you change lives. So may we live that out. May we preach it and may we live it.
Joel Brooks:Regardless of where you're taking us, regardless of the specifics that you've called us to do in that process, May we truly love our enemies. May we bless those who persecute us. May we forgive those who have hurt us and may we seek reconciliation for others to you, God. And we pray this in the name of the great reconciler, Jesus Christ. Amen.
