Michael Youssef - A Matter of the Heart
Wendell Willkie was a friend of President Roosevelt, that is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And he came to him one day in the Oval Office, and he said, "Mr. President, can I ask you a question"? He said, "Sure". He said, "Why do you have this frail, sickly man, Harry Hopkins, constantly at your elbow in the Oval Office, everywhere you go"? Without a moment's hesitation, President Roosevelt answered. He said, "Mr. Willkie, through the door into this Oval Office, there are incessant stream of people coming in and out of my office. Almost all of them want something from me. Harry Hopkins, on the other hand, desires nothing but serve me. He desires nothing but help me. And that is why I keep him close to me".
And I remember that story, as I thought of the life of David, because David was a man at the elbow of the King of kings. Always close to the Lord. A man whose heart was after God. David was a nondescript and he was no match for his bigger, successful brothers. David could not have been more unlikely choice to be the king of Israel but because he stayed close to the King of kings, because he had a heart that was willing, not only to serve, but to obey the King of kings. Because he had one longing and one desire to be close to the King of kings and to be the servant of the King of kings, the King of kings kept him at his elbow all the time and made him the king of Israel. Most unlikely person.
So don't tell me that you think you are unlikely because God specializes in using the unlikely people, amen. But that's not all, because of his ready and willing heart, David did not only become a great king for Israel, but he became one of the most important figures in all of history. You say, "Why"? You see because God always is looking for a ready and willing heart. That's what he's looking for. Because God is always looking for more availability than ability. Because God is always looking for a generous and giving hearts, not hoarders and takers, because God's always looking for servants, not for those who are self- serving.
Of course, one of the dangerous things about preaching from the life of David is that such a well-known character, even non-believers know about David. And so he's so well known, in fact, most people really know those only two events in David's life: the great victories over Goliath and his great failure in adultery with Bathsheba. That's the only two things they know about David, but the truth is, there is a whole lot more that some of you even did not know is in the Bible that I'll be going through in the next several messages. Let me give you just a perspective, just a small perspective from the scripture about David, so you understand, framing it from a scriptural and biblical point of view.
Abraham, the father of faith. Abraham, the great man occupies 14 chapters in the Bible. Israel, or Jacob, occupies seven chapters in the Bible. Joseph whom God used to save Israel from starvation occupies 14 chapters in the Bible. David occupies 66 chapters. You get the point? And he has been mentioned in the New Testament 59 times at least. But the one thing that you will see again and again and again, about David's life, that his life was not a Teflon, where everything and all the problems of life just slid by. No, he did not live, quote, unquote, "charmed life". He did not. The truth is, any heart that is after God's own heart, listen to me, any heart that's after God's own heart does not necessarily experience charmed life.
In many ways, I want to show you that David lived a difficult life, David lived a tragic life, David lived a lonely life. He lived a life of brokenness before God. Now beloved, after all these years of walking with the Lord, I can tell you that there are only two ways by which we can react to brokenness in our life. Only two ways. After all these years, you either become better because of it or you become bitter in it. Either you face it with humility, repentance, and restoration, or allow bitterness and resentment to consume you and render you ineffective.
I am so thankful to God that he did not take these characters in the Bible, wash them, sanitize them, and then he placed them on a pedestal and he said, "Now guys, you need to imitate them". How can I identify with them, if they all done, all that was done in the back, in the back room, and I have not seen it. And that is why I am so grateful for the truthfulness of the scripture. Instead, the Bible shows us the sinfulness of sin. It shows us the blinding power of sin and the consequences of sin, for which I'm very grateful. And after I see all of that, I want to stand on a mountain top and shout, "Thanks be to God that I'm living in the New Testament, where Jesus has washed all my sins away on the cross of Calvary". Amen, amen, give God praise.
So, as I begin this new series of messages, I'm entitling it: a Heart for God. But before I really even begin to come to 1 Samuel 16, I wanna give you historical background. After Joseph and his family went to Egypt, they grew in number, there were 400 years down there. God delivered them from the slavery of Egypt through the leadership of Moses. There in the wilderness, they sat for 40 years. Joshua comes in and he leads them into the Promised Land. When Joshua died, the following generation after Joshua, they basically forgot all about what God did for them. They forgot about the God of their fathers, and the Bible said that each of them began to do what is right in their own eyes.
This, my beloved friends, is the beginning of what we see today as no absolutes, no absolute truth. This is the beginning movement. The truth is relative. Your truth, my truth, everybody's truth. That's the beginning of it. It began right there. Beginning at that period, which you call it the period of the judges, when the Israelites get into trouble, and they get indulgent into their pagans lifestyle. They will cry out to God when they suffer and God would send them a deliverer. We call them judges, but they really are deliverers.
Again and again and again, you read it, at least 11, 12 times in the book of Judges you see it, they rationalize their sin, they indulge in their sin, and they would wink at their rebellion against God. They abandon all responsibility to God who blessed them so. They basically got into this falsehood that if it feels good, do it. No consequences. But we, you and I know differently. So in the midst of this dreadful period, this difficult period, this hard time we call the period of the judges, we read a beautiful story. It's an amazing story of God's grace. Ruth: loyal, dedicated, loving, but gentile woman.
Did you know the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ was not Jewish? She was a gentile, Ruth. She marries a Jewish man by the name of Boaz. And then they have a son, they named him Obed. Obed had a son, they named him Jesse. Jesse had eight boys. David was the youngest. I'm getting ready to shout because I know what I'm gonna say. Twenty eight generations from David. Go home and count them, 28 generations from David, in the same city of Bethlehem, where David was born, the descendant of David was born of a virgin, who is God's Messiah, and no other than our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. You, my beloved, beloved, beloved friends, don't underestimate or take lightly the sovereignty of God.
Don't ever underestimate or take lightly how much God can accomplish when you cooperate with him. Don't ever underestimate or take lightly the untold blessings that can only come from obedience. Now, a desperate woman. She was persecuted by the other wife of Elkanah. Suffered, pain, anguish, mocked, and she came to the Lord, crying out for a baby. And she made God a promise. She said, "If you give me a baby, I will dedicate him to you". And sure enough, she kept her word. Hannah kept her word. She kept her word and she gave him to the service of the Lord, but here's the good news, you read further, it says God blessed her with a whole lot of other kids. Isn't it amazing, that's our God. That's our God, he blessed her in abundance.
That boy grew to be the last of the Judges, and the first of the prophets. His name was Samuel. Samuel. During Samuel's time, the spiritual condition of Israel was at a low ebb, just like our day. During that time, rebellion against God and his moral absolutes took a defiant tone. They rejected God's plan for them, they rejected God's headship and leadership, they rejected God's kingship over them, and they wanted an earthly king. So, God gave them one... was more of a judgment over the rejection of him than anything else. Saul, the first king. God gave him to Israel.
Now, Saul was gifted on paper. Saul had all of the human credentials. Saul had all of the human qualifications to be a king. Saul had all the good looks. Saul had all of the deceptive appearances. Are you with me? Ah, but his heart was not right. His heart was rotten. His heart was self-seeking and self-serving. His heart was self-centered, it was not after God's own heart. But even then, the God of all grace, the God of grace overruled. He overruled and had mercy on Israel, and he gave them David. The first half of chapter 16 of 1 Samuel, and the second half, you're gonna find they are absolutely in contrast with each other.
In the first half of chapter 16, David is anointed king by the prophet Samuel. In the second half, he enters into the service of Saul. In the first half, you see the spirit of the Lord come upon David. In the second half, you see the spirit of the Lord has come out from Saul. The first half of the chapter, David gets anointed by the Holy Spirit. In the second half, you see Saul being tormented by an evil spirit. In the first half, you see Samuel mourns and he grieves over Saul. In the second half of the chapter, Saul is oblivious to his abysmal condition, spiritual condition that he's in. And God tells Samuel, "Stop grieving over Saul".
Beloved, let me ask you this: is it possible for you to mourn and grieve for too long over someone or something? Is it possible? Yes. The Bible says that there is a time to mourn and there is a time to rejoice. Mourning for too long over past sins that God has forgiven you long ago, mourning for too long over past bitterness that you have given to the Lord again and again, but you keep on nursing. Mourning too long over past hurt, mourning too long over past injustices, mourning too long over past betrayals, mourning too long over past losses. Listen to me, may may have every right to mourn for a period of time, but not forever, okay? It is time to move on. Can you say that with me? It is... time to move on. Because mourning for too long creates a fog over your future.
Mourning for too long over past, can rob you of great future joy and service. And that is why God said to the prophet Samuel, "You have mourned long enough over Saul. Get up, get your flask of oil, and go to Jesse's house". Here, God is about to teach Samuel a lesson. In fact, he teach him a lesson that many of us refuse to learn, because he wants to teach you, every one of you, he wants to teach us that same lesson. First of all, notice Samuel's reaction. Verse 2, 1 Samuel chapter 16, look at his reaction. He didn't say, "Yes, Lord, whatever you say, Lord, I will do whatever you ask me to do, I'm ready to do it". He did not, hello? And can you identify with that? You know what he said? "Lord, if Saul finds out about this, he'll kill me".
Listen to me. Sometimes God asks us to do things that are scary. Sometimes God asks us to do things that requires risk taking. Sometimes God asks us to do things that demands sacrifice. Why does God ask us to do that? He's testing to see our willingness to trust him. We can sing and tell, we trust you Lord and do all that stuff, uh-uh, listen, can you really, do you really? He is testing us to see how willing we are to take him at his word. So God places an opportunity in front of us and he poses the question, and then he waits and he waits and he waits to see what our response is going to be. Look at verses 6 all the way to 13. Samuel takes the plunge and goes to Bethlehem, to Jesse's house.
Now, from this point on, I'm gonna give you, not a Youssef translation, but a Youssef interpretation. Samuel comes in and he said, "Jessie, my friend, give me your best and your brightest and the most handsome of all your boys. Give me the most impressive of all eight boys". "Well," Jesse said, "Here is Eliab. He's the oldest, they have a strong heart, they're overachievers, and they are very successful. At least that's what they tell me. And I'm inclined to believe them".
Samuel looks at Eliab, probably looks up to him, Samuel, probably short guy, looks up and says, "Whoa, what an impressive man. Sorry, Jesse, not this one". So Jesse brings Shammah. Not this one either. By that time, I'm convinced in my own heart, it's not in the Bible, that Samuel just gave up guessing, he stopped assuming and presuming on God. I know and you know, many times we run this way and run this way, and every time we convince ourselves, God wants this. Surely this must be the one. Surely this must be the way. Surely this must be the deal. Surely it must be what God wants me to do. Only to discover that we're really actually answering our own prayers. Have you ever done that?
All the seven boys paraded in front of Samuel, and the Lord said, "No, no, no, no, no". Why is that? I think you and I, and all of us, and everybody around at the sound of my voice, listen to me. We need to frame verse 7. You can hang it on the wall, but more importantly, you can have it in your heart. Verse 7, 1 Samuel 16, verse 7, "Finally, out of desperation, Samuel asks, 'Are these all of your boys? That's it?' 'Well, yes, basically. These are the ones that really matter. These are the ones that are significant. These are the ones who are qualified for the job.'"
And Jesse probably stammered and stuttered and stumbled and he said, "Well, well, not quite, there's the runt, but he's not here. The runt of the family. Oh, the runt, he's doing the menial task that the others wouldn't do. He's taking care of the sheep out in the desert, in the wilderness". In a culture that only the first born mattered. In a culture where only success mattered. In a culture where the runt is the runt, no matter what. God says, none of these boys are really my choice. And so Samuel sits down until they send for David, and bring him home.
I want you to imagine, just put yourself in the place, I always like to imagine things, Samuel's sitting down and finally, after a while, he's sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting, this young teenager walks in. I want every teenager who is listening to me to listen very carefully. God is looking at your heart. Don't worry about what people say. Be concerned about what God says. You might be down on yourself and you think, "I'm not important, I don't matter".
Listen to me. God says you do and that's who'll count. So he comes in, dirty face, dirty clothes, most likely smelled, because he was with his sheep all the time. And Samuel must have looked at him and thought, "Is this really the one"? And God answered his question, "Samuel, this is the one. You got yourself a winner here". I want you to begin to say, "God, let me see myself the way you see me". It is my daily prayer, it is constantly in my heart, is, "Lord, I plead with you, blind me to my own opinion. Give me only the mind of the Holy Spirit, then empower me to obey him".