Michael Youssef - Trusting God
Today, I don't think you need to be a prophet to recognize that we live in hazardous times. We are watching with our own eyes how good is called evil and evil is called good, how the righteous is scorned and the wicked is praised. We're seeing how the godly and moral, and the upright leaders are mocked, but the immoral person is exalted and praised, how the familiar social orders are disintegrating before our eyes, how many preachers have surrendered to the prevailing culture, how many pastors have abandoned biblical truth for popularity. And in the middle of all this, I sense with every fiber of my being that the Lord is gathering his elect from every corner of the globe.
As this world system collapses, God is building his kingdom, as this world begins to collapse, the bride of Jesus Christ is being prepared, and ready to meet him in the air. But here is the temptation that I want to caution us not to fall into. For those of us who love righteousness, to get angry and lash out at the prevailing culture, I know how easy it is, because I speak from my heart, how those of us who love the truth can easily fall into reacting in bitterness toward evildoers. If David can teach us anything, today, from 1 Samuel 24, he is teaching us to trust in God, to trust in God's justice, to trust in God's timing, and to trust in God's mercy and long-suffering. For trusting in God's timing, justice and patience is far better than taking matters into our own hands.
I want you to turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 24. David was surrounded by his enemies, David was hunted down by those who hated him, David was maligned by his opponents, David was betrayed by the very people that he has saved and delivered, and yet David chose to trust in God's timing. Think about this with me, please. David receives a golden opportunity to fulfill his dreams and fulfill his aspiration, to fulfill what he believes that God has called him to do, but he would not touch it, he would not grab for it. David was handed this amazing opportunity of a lifetime on a silver platter, but he turned it down because it was not God's timing and it was not God's way. David found himself with a real chance to grab the throne of Israel and fulfill God's calling on his life, but he wouldn't do it, why? Because David knew that our times are in his hands.
Today, we see David again having the upper hand, he's got the upper hand now, and he could kill Saul, but he refused to do it. Again, you ask, "Why"? Because when your heart is after God's, I'm not saying you're perfect, neither David, but when your heart is turned and bent toward God, you will not take revenge. See, David knew that he was destined to the throne, can we all agree on that? He knew that, but he also knew it has to be in God's timing and God's way. Jesus, the Son of David, knew he was destined to the throne of the universe from which he came, he knew that it's his destination. And Satan, in the wilderness, gave him a shortcut that he can take that throne, but Jesus wouldn't touch it, because Jesus knew that reaching the throne of the universe is going to come by way of the cross, Jesus knew that his throne is going to come in God's perfect timing.
And that's why when people say, "You do this, why don't you do this, or why don't you go here"? And the Bible says he knew that that's not the hour yet. And when the hour came, he knew, he said, "The hour is now," he knew it. In fact, beloved, listen to me carefully, if you know Jesus, if you love Jesus, if you're walking with Jesus, you are destined to the throne. Now, as you look with me to chapter 24, 1 Samuel, the military intelligence of Israel has ascertained and reported to King Saul that their satellite has zoomed in with pinpoint accuracy as to where David was. He is hidden in the cave of Ein Gedi. In fact, many of you who have gone to Israel, you've been to Ein Gedi.
And so, King Saul takes 3,000 Green Berets, Special Ops, Navy Seals, these are the top of the top of the top people in the Israeli army who are trained to find enemies in rocky terrain. And so they began to pursue David. When they came to that place in Ein Gedi, David and his men were hiding deep into the cave because they needed the cool of the depth of the cave. In that area, it can actually reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, and so they had to, literally, in order to survive the heat, to go deep into the crags of that cave. Saul and his men come in, and they go inside the cave for the same reason, they wanted relief from the heat, so they go in the cooler temperature of the cave to trap David.
David motley crew saw that Saul and his men were snoring up a storm and sound asleep. I mean, they were snoring so loud the birds were flying away. Imagine with me, please, imagine, just use your imagination, the incredible, incredible things that were going on through in their mind. David and his men see Saul sleeping so deeply, and they thought, "Christmas came early," this is their time, this is their day. They were thinking, man, visions, not sugar plum, but visions of the White House and the seats of power, were dancing in their heads. Think about it again, all the political consultants and the pollsters, and the campaign managers, they huddled with David, and they said to him, "Now the royal palace is yours".
In effect, they were saying to, "David, David, David, David, please end all of the suffering now. David, it is in your hands to end all of the hardships that we are facing. David, it is in your hands, you can end our loneliness. David, you can end it so we can go home to our families. David, tonight, you can be sitting on the throne of Israel". They even quoted the scripture for him. "All you need to do is you take the sharp dagger and plunge it in Saul's heart, he won't know what happened, and before you know it, he'll be dead, and we can shout the shout of victory".
And then David does take the dagger and start walking toward Saul. And imagine them holding their breath, watching, Saul with that dagger, and they're ready. By holding their breath, they want to shout, "Victory". And David indeed takes that dagger and he walks to Saul where he was sound asleep, but instead of plunging the dagger into his heart, he cuts a small cloth of his garment and pockets it. As they watched with their bated breath, a sense of disappointment came all over them. Instead of David listening to their voices, he listened to God, instead of caving into the pressure of their friends, David chose to please God, instead of giving into peer pressure and experiencing instant gratification, David decided to trust in God's timing. No wonder God said of him, he examined David's heart and he found it after his own.
Oh, my beloved friends, listen to me, it is vitally important for us to interpret our circumstances in the light of the Word of God. Don't interpret your circumstances by the circumstances, interpret them in the light of the Word of God. It is vitally important to listen to God, not those who are self-serving, it is of uttermost importance not to act on impulse and think that you're helping God out. David could have taken vengeance, easily, but he chose to trust God and the promises of God, and the timing of God and the way of God. David could have chosen revenge, but he chose to trust God, David could have gone into the lower road of killing, but he chose the high road of life.
Talking about killing, I want you to listen to me very carefully, those of you who know me know that I absolutely, without hesitation or a shadow of doubt, believe the Word of God in its entirety. And I believe that the scripture is clear that when there is habitual adultery or when there is an abuse, a marriage dies, but I also have seen with those eyes people kill marriage just because they are impatient with each other. There are some who killed marriage just because they got bored with each other, they kill a marriage because they think they can be happier with someone else, they kill a marriage because they think that they are trapped in that marriage, and they want out.
Young people, listen to me, children sometimes feel trapped in their parents's loving rules and they cannot wait to fly the coop, I know children sometimes misunderstand the parents's discipline and they rebel against them. And I have been saying this for decades and I'll keep saying it, based on the Word of God, in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, listen to me, this is a word from the Lord, if you have an unsaved, unbelieving child, you must never, never, until you close your eyes in death, never, never, never stop praying for them.
There's something else I don't want you to miss here, verse 5, "David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner," of Saul's garment while he was asleep. But why? Oh, listen to me, David had a sensitive spirit, David had a tender heart, David had a razor-sharp conscience. And my beloved friends, this is the mark of any man, any woman, any boy, any girl who love Jesus. I always take comfort in the words of the Apostle John, he said, "Even when our conscience condemns us, He is greater than our conscience," amen. Contrast this spiritual sensitivity, the sensitive conscience, with that of others that you might know, those who are described by the Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 4:2, that they, "Have their conscience been seared with hot iron".
You know, when they do that to animals, that whole area where they put that hot iron, the skin is deadened, there's no feeling in it. When you develop a callous in your hand, there is no feeling where that callous is. You see, these people have become numb with sin, they've become callous with rebellion, they have become insensitive in disobedience. And from my personal experience, when that happens, when that happens, all of the sermons in the world, all of the Bible studies in the world, all of the books in the world, all of the retreats and all of the conferences will do them any good. The only thing that will work is the Holy Spirit of God quickens their dead spirit so they'll become alive again.
And that is why I tell you again and again, don't ever give up praying, don't ever give up praying. Will you say that with me? "Don't ever". Because only the Holy Spirit of God will make them repent, and that is why we always, always pray for unsaved members of the family, and friends, and neighbors. Whomever God lays on your heart, that means God has a purpose for them. Verse 6, David is saying to his men, and I quote, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift a hand against him; for he is anointed of the LORD".
What is David saying? Listen carefully. As far as David was concerned, God is the one who permitted Saul to be a king, even though God chose Saul as a judgment, as a punishment over his people for rejecting him and wanted an earthly king. But that did not make any difference to David. Nevertheless, only God could take Saul down. God is the one who anointed David to be the future king of Israel, and only God is the one who will seat him on that throne. But David did not only exercise blind trust in the living God and in the timing of God, he actually persuaded the men to do the same, and that is very difficult. It's one thing for you to be convinced and it's another thing to try to convince others.
Whatever crisis you have faced or you may be facing right now, just remember this, if you ever face a crisis, write it down so you remember it, whatever crisis you have faced or facing, it will go away. It will go away, but what will remain is your reaction to that crisis. The person who provoked you or is provoking you to anger eventually will go away, but what will not go away, what will remain is your reaction to that individual. The situation that caused you and causing you stress will not last, but what will last is your reaction to that situation.
The Old Testament said, "Love your friends and hate your enemies," but the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of David, David, a thousand years before Christ, understood what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44, "Love your enemies, bless them that use you, do good to them who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you". Please think with me as I'm coming to the end, had David listened to his men and killed Saul, most of the Psalms that were written, blessed millions of people, millions of people in 3,000 years, would not be here, David's song would have been silenced. There's no denying it was painful for David to wait on God's timing, no denying of that, but it would have been excruciating if he didn't. Oh, it was difficult for David to wait for the slow, unfolding purpose of God, but it would have been agonizing to have taken matters into his hands.
See, when David's choice came between revenge and trust in God's timing, he chose God's timing. When David choices came to love and hatred, he chose love, why? Because David understood that hatred enslaves you, but love will set you free, hatred will incarcerate you, but love will liberate you, that hatred will put you behind bars, but love and forgiveness makes you soar to greater heights than you even thought possible. Can I get an amen?
I want to conclude by a true story, a very short story, it's told by Dr. George Crane. A woman came to Dr. Crane with deep-seated hatred toward her husband and she wanted to file for divorce. After ascertained that there's no unfaithfulness and there's no abuse, Dr. Crane came up with a marvelous advice. He said to her, "Go back and start showering your husband with compliments, start showering him with kindness, and when you have become indispensable to him, as an act of revenge, file for divorce". Well, she was intrigued by this, got a very unusual approach, but she followed through. A few months later she came, told the good doctor, "Everything is going well". He said, "Good, now, now is the time to file for divorce". She said, "Divorce? I love my husband. Never".
David chose to show a soul with act of undeserved kindness, undeserved. Meanwhile, Saul's repentance was cheaper than a cheap suit. In fact, all of his tears were crocodile tears, because he would not change, but it doesn't matter, that doesn't matter. David, the man whose heart after God's, chose to trust in the timing of God, in the way of God. So, let me ask you this, do you have a smoldering anger? I'm talking about deep down, that sort of pops up occasionally, but it's so buried, deep down, smoldering anger. Hand it to God now. Do you have a deep-seated resentment towards someone that is absolutely so deep down that, every time you pray, you can't get rid of it? Well, you can hand it to God now. Do you have deep-seated anguish that somebody caused you, any kind of anguish? I want to invite you to give it to God now, at this very moment.