Week 8 - Set Apart
This week in summary| Day 1 : David | 1 Samuel 15-17 |
| Day 2 : Set Apart | 1 Samuel 18-20 |
| Day 3 : Persecuted | 1 Samuel 21-23 |
| Day 4 : Blessing | 1 Samuel 24-27 |
| Day 5 : Faith with Feet | 1 Samuel 28-31 |
David
King of Israel, Weirdo Par Extraordinaire
David was a man after God's own heart. And that's God talking. The more cynical among us might, at best, feel like their character was being impugned. But for David, that was high compliments coming from the Almighty Himself!
What does that mean, though, to have a heart after God's?
In everything David did, his holiness was connected to his distinct sense that he should do things differently than the rest of the world would if they were in his sandals.
First, recall that God's choosing of David was dependent on one thing only: God's sovereign choice. Recall that God doesn't look at the outward things that we look at, but He looks at the heart. Isn't that so true? In Samuel's day there were, as there always are, standards of beauty, leadership, etc. that were based partly on appearance. Recall that Samuel thought the David's oldest brother Eliab was the one whom Samuel thought was God's choice—perhaps because of God's choice of Saul, who stood a head taller than anyone else, earlier. But, and let this one sink in carefully, for it's key to everything else, God does things differently than we do. And it's that which sets Him apart as being what we call, “holy.” The thing that God did differently from us is in choosing someone who didn't “fit the bill” in terms of being eligible for kingship. Now David was still “handsome and ruddy,” but note that fourteen generations later there would come the King of Kings who “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him,” and, “like one from whom men hid their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).
David was a man after God's own heart because he did things differently. This brought him into conflict with all of that which is considered “normal.”
Holiness Is Not Normal, Don't Be Normal
It would be normal, for example, to kill your enemy if you literally caught him with his pants down. That's what happened in a cave when Saul was pursuing David to kill him.
It would be normal, too, to take a drink of cool water that your troops risked life and limb to obtain for you because you're so special to them.
It would be normal to mourn, wail, and carry on at the death of your infant son—not that that's wrong—but, again, David acted differently.
It would be normal protocol, if you have no battle experience and aren't accustomed to whatever armor you've been outfitted, to simply hang back; you'd simply do more harm than good if you, an untrained upstart, go up against an expert. You're going to get your backside handed to you—especially if you expect to win by going out to the battlefield armed only with a sling, five stones, and a shepherd's staff. Again, not normal.
It would be normal to kill anyone who threatens to take your throne by force. Yet how did David prove in that?
It would be normal, too, to silence all criticism and negativity. Yet how did David initially treat Shimei?
Interestingly enough, there is a verse of scripture that tells us that David was faithful to God in everything except one thing: Bathsheba. In that instance, David did exactly as just about any other red blooded male in his position would have done. That deviation from the abnormal is exactly what became a mark against him when it came time for the authors of scripture to write out David's epitaph.
David did so many things opposite from what the norm should be. Yet many times the norm isn't really all that far off from what's right. So what's the secret here? How can we discern when we should go against the grain? Surely we shouldn't do so just for its own sake, for if we deviate from the norm and the norm happens to be right, then we're wrong. The secret was that David was a man who meditated on God's Law. He did so because he wasn't interested in normal vs. abnormal, but right vs. wrong. In all he did, he did so because of his intense and close relationship with God's Law—except, as mentioned, in the case of Bathsheba. (Numbering of the fighting men?)
That word “law” is one at which many Christians brisk because we're used to the message of “grace, not law,” and anything of obedience and keeping God's commandments, strangely enough, is seen as legalism. Yet Jesus said not only to “make disciples,” but to teach them to keep all He commanded. Jesus, in fact, was very much the ultimate man after God's own heart. Aside from the fact He was God incarnate (some say, “God in a bod”), He showed us how to live contrarily to the rest of the world, how to have a complete disregard for the expectations of humankind.
Set Apart, Holy
A child skins his knee on the playground. He can feel the wound begin to throb as the skin turns red and swells. The slightest touch provokes pain. The child pulls away as the school nurse cleans the wound. The nurse knows this treatment will disinfect the wound and help the body to heal. She knows about the pattern of medicine, infections, microorganisms, diseases and the body’s marvelous designed ability to heal its self. The child knows only the sting of rubbing alcohol so he resists the nurse’s wisdom.
Much like the nurse, God knows the deeper truths that fuel the universe he designed. We are like the child who only knows that disinfecting is painful. Naturally we have opposing objectives.
God is different from us. He does things in a way that doesn’t seem natural to us; and He asks us to trust Him and follow in his footsteps. God knows what He’s doing and He knows that what He asks us to do it better for us, but it also puts us in conflict with the rest of the world.
God is purely different from the patterns of humanity. The term for this is Holy. It’s not just about competing values and objectives. There is nothing like God in scope, scale and substance. He is completely unique. He is so foreign from human experience that the only way we can even know anything about Him is if God reveals himself to us.
God calls us to trust him and follow him in his different approach to life. We are compelled to switch sides in this cosmic conflict. As we defect to God’s way of doing things, we now find ourselves in conflict with the rest of humanity.
We are to approach the world much like David who loved and respected Saul even though Saul wanted him dead. “The LORD forbid that I should raise my hand against His anointed.”
God doesn’t call us to a life of clouds and ease, roses and rainbows. He calls us to be holy as He is holy.
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
Isaiah 6:3
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
Revelation 4:8-11
The great wisdom volumes of humanity are but a tea cup compared to the ocean of the Lord.
Persecuted
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, or me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are persecuted because of their uprightness, who stand with God and are willing to endure any difficult consequences.
Have you ever thought how the bad stuff in life that happens to other people could never happen to me? We hear about the very kinds of things every day. But the sad truth, or perhaps the not so sad truth, is that we cannot avoid these occurrences. Trouble in life is inevitable, and trials and troubles are in store especially for those who follow Jesus.
Everything that Jesus is, all He did and all He does is righteousness, Jesus is righteousness. Jesus next teaching like those before go against the grain of human thought, at least in our specific day and age in our comfortable western world. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, or me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Persecution is not something we sign up for so quickly. We have gotten used to our blessings and we are very slow to even think about losing anything that we have come to cherish and rely upon. But clearly we will suffer because we choose to follow Jesus. The apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12 that everyone that wants to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In Acts 5 the apostles were flogged, which was no little thing, and they went away from the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the Name.
We will be persecuted because Jesus was. In Matthew 10:22 Jesus told His followers that all men will hate us because of Him, but that anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. These are not words we want to hear, but we must here them. We have brothers and sister on the other side of the world that gladly say yes to Jesus offer of salvation knowing they could lose everything, family, friends, jobs, perhaps even their lives. We must ready ourselves for what is coming. I don’t this to scare but to warn. A storm is coming and we are not ready.
Blessing Your Neighbors
Pray with your Family - Remember your neighbors by name during mealtime and bedtime prayers.
Prayer Walk - Walk by yourself or with family, roommates, and other neighbors who are believers. Pray over each home by name as you pass and ask God for opportunities with your neighbors.
Ask Open-ended Questions - How long have you lived here? What line of work are you in? What do you do for fun?
Ask Follow-up Questions - How did that test go? Are you feeling better? How was your vacation?
Enjoy a Meal Together - Invite a neighbor (or two) for a BBQ, order in Pizza, or have everyone bring a dessert to share.
Celebrate Special Occasions and Holidays - Bake cupcakes for birthdays. Send a casserole to new parents. Deliver Christmas cookies.
Serve While You’re Outside - Turn lawn chores into opportunities to serve: Mow lawns, water yards, etc.
Serve In Times of Need - Visit when a neighbor passes away or has a baby. Deliver flowers or a gift. Coordinate meals with other neighbors.
Share Commonalities - Hobbies such as golf, book club, bunko night, or a running/fitness group can all bring people together.
Socialize and Make Holidays Special - Enjoy recreational areas. Participate in yard sales and BBQs. Attend holiday parties.
5 People I will bless this week
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Faith with Feet
Based on 1 Samuel 15-31 What do you believe God wants you to do?
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What have you learned about God’s heart & values?
How did people follow God’s instructions?
What changes took place to society?
What parts of this story might apply to you?
Why is this story important for someone like you?