Steven Furtick - Cutting Corners
One of my friends was saying to me, "I don't want this series to end"! I was like, "Man, it's fine. We don't even have David to the throne yet. We're just getting started. He's not even a king yet". We're looking at his life, and we're taking our time so we can understand where he came from, what he was called to, and how God brought him from where he was to where God ultimately wanted him to be. It's a model for our lives. We're looking at it from two perspectives. Hopefully the contrast over time will begin to show you some things about how God works in your own life because I don't read the Bible really like a history lesson. For me the Bible is at its best in my life when it's living and active. So it's more like heart surgery, not just to learn about a character that existed long ago, but so God can shape his character in my heart. I have a long way to go.
Touch somebody and say, "You have a long way to go. I can tell you really need this series". I want to look at something today concerning David. The way I want to set it up is I just want to look at one verse, Psalm 57:2…something David wrote, a declaration he made…then, as we've been doing each week, give you a little bit of the background behind what was going on in his life when he wrote it. We'll see what God will speak to us today. How many expect God to speak to you today?
That's so important. That is so important that you don't come to hear me preach. What am I going to tell you? What good can I do you? But if you come expecting God's Spirit to speak to you, you will not leave disappointed. I'm serious. Even if my sermon is boring, God can say something to you through a boring sermon that can change your life. So don't depend on me. I might not get much sleep one Saturday night, I show up, and I'm off, but God is never sleep-deprived. He knows just what you need for your situation. I'm excited about this today because David said in Psalm 57, verse 2, something that really ministers to me. It might one of my favorite things he ever said. He said, "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me".
If you really listened to what I just said and thought about the content of it, it will make your blood pressure go down. Let me read it again. "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me". If you listen to that and really get it… Let me try one more time. "I cry out to God Most High…" That means he has all authority in my life, and no matter what people do to me or no matter what life has handed me, God is above it working through it to accomplish…watch this…his purpose for me. That's one thing David shows us. He shows us again and again the importance of serving the purpose of God. He shows us how to serve the purpose.
Go over to 1 Samuel 24, verse 1, because this gives us the context in which David wrote those words: "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me". David wrote these words, not from a beach or from a hammock, because it's easy to write or to talk or to believe about God fulfilling his purpose for you when you are moving toward what you consider to be your purpose. It is one thing to pen those words when you are headed toward what you believe to be your destiny; it's another thing to say that when everything is headed in the wrong direction. When we catch up with David in 1 Samuel 24, verses 1-8, as you're about to see, everything is moving away from what David is ultimately headed toward. But he's able to see something in this, and I want to share it with you today.
First Samuel 24, verse 1: "After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, 'David is in the Desert of En Gedi.' So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats". By the way, when God has purposed for you to do something significant, expect the Enemy to send out his special forces. That might be why your life has been so hard. Not because God is not with you but maybe God is so distinctively with you, maybe his plan for your life is so intimidating and threatening to the Devil, that there is no way he is going to let you ascend to your purpose without an attack. That might be why you're fighting right now.
So David is on the road to royalty, but it will not be an easy road. David is on the road to influence, David is on the road to purpose. But it will not be easy for David, or for you. He's running as a refugee although he is anointed as a king. The circumstance he finds himself in completely contradicts the calling he believes he is walking in. Have you ever been there? Look at verse 3. "He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself…"
Now when the Bible says relieve himself, it means relieve himself. Can we leave it at that, people of God? You can do the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin, and the Spanish. I'm going to resist. There are some things I want to say right now. I'm going to save those things. This is the spiritual service. This is all the people who really love God, so if I say what I want to say about that verse… Anyway, don't do it. If you knew what I was fighting back… Watch. "David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said [holy crap!]…" I told you. "The men said, 'This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, "I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish".' Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe".
I want to talk to you today about cutting corners, because the Scripture promises that God will fulfill his purpose for you. David said that, and then he demonstrated that. I wonder if you really believe God will fulfill his purpose for you? Or are you stressed out because you are trying to fulfill God's purpose for someone else? You know, we live in a day and time where we're only one click away from seeing how someone else raises their kids. Before long you can start to compare your purpose to their purpose.
Touch somebody and say, "God didn't call me to fulfill your purpose, so please do not judge me according to the standards of what God gave you, because my stewardship is not of your purpose. I don't have to feel bad about the gifts God did not give me if I am fully maximizing the ones he did". All I have to do… This will set you so free. All I have to do is completely commit my heart to God's purpose for me. Now it's a funny thing because what my podium understands and my microphone understands I, as a preacher, have a hard time understanding. I've been preaching at this church for about 12 years, and never once have I seen my podium try to do my microphone's job and amplify my voice, nor have I seen my microphone try to hold my Bible. But we walk around all the time frustrated and fearful trying to do something… "Hello. Testing. Testing. Why isn't this working"? Because you have a purpose.
When you put the pressure on yourself to fulfill a purpose God did not intend for your life, of course you're stressed out. Of course you can't sleep. Of course you feel like a failure. But God said, "What I put in you is for you, and you are not responsible for anybody else's results". I feel chains falling off of somebody. Serve the purpose God has given you. That's what David did. Notice he never sought the position of king. Never once. We live in a world that talks a lot about finding your purpose, but I wonder if what we're really doing is seeking a position, and confusing position with purpose.
Can I preach a little bit? When Paul talked about the body of Christ, he said, "Sometimes the ushers in the church are more important than the preacher". He didn't say it just like that. He said, "We are many members, one body, and the parts you cannot see are the ones that sustain the life function of the body. The parts you can see…" You can do without your pinky. Sometimes the preacher is like the pinky. You see it, but if it wasn't there, it could still happen. Sometimes it is the stuff that is unseen… David understood how to serve the purpose of God. If we ever get to hang out, and you ask me, "How will I know what God's purpose for my life is"? I won't have an answer to give you because only you can discover that. But I can tell you how to discover it: serve. That's all David ever had to do was to serve the purpose of his current assignment.
When you serve the purpose, God will give the promotion. Let me tell you something. You don't want a promotion God doesn't give you. You really don't. You don't want a husband God doesn't give you, a wife God doesn't give you, a job God doesn't give you, a responsibility God doesn't give you. All I want to do is serve the purpose of God. That's what David did. There is one Psalm I really love. It kind of has a vibe. Do y'all remember that song from like a hundred years ago Drake did called, "Start It from the Bottom"? It has that kind of vibe from that song. It's talking about David. This is Psalm 78. I didn't get to it last night, but again, this is the advanced service, so I'm going to do it with y'all.
The Bible says God chose David, his servant. God chose David, his servant. This is how David came into the kingship. Not by standing in line for an opportunity, but God took David, his servant, chose him, and took him from the sheep pens. What was David doing in the sheep pen? Serving his purpose. In a minimum wage job, David served his purpose. When you serve purpose, you don't have to search for purpose; purpose will find you. You don't have to seek the position. When you are in the position where God has placed you, God knows where to look. God knows where to find you. God knows when to raise you. God knows when to promote you. You don't have to worry about the platform; serve your purpose.
God took David from the sheep pens and made him a king, not because David sought the position but because David served the purpose. Serve the purpose; then you can have confidence in the promise. God has given you a promise, but you have to guard the promise. I really want to minister this deeply. Holy Spirit, help me get this across. I think sometimes we assume that when God makes us a promise, that the promise is automatic because the Word of the Lord is sure. But I've learned the promises of God in our lives often get perverted.
I noticed another thing. Sometimes we'll take something and call it a promise, but it is only a partial promise. We take things we like the way they sound in the Bible sometimes… At least I do this; you probably don't. Every once in a while I will take something I like from the Bible, and I'll cut it up into slices. I'll take a certain slice I like, a certain verse I like, a certain concept I like, and I'll cling to that and call it a promise, but it's a partial promise.
A few examples of this: "My God shall supply all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ". I like that. It helps me know God is going to help me whatever situation I get in and give me what I need for wherever I am. So I like that part of the promise, but it's a partial promise. I don't mean the promise is partial; I mean to really understand that promise, you have to understand the context of the promise. Paul was writing to a church of people who had learned to be generous. In their learning to be generous, it released the abundance of God to their situation. Because when you learn to live with open hands, you live under an open heaven.
The context of the promise is that God will supply all of your needs if you are living in accordance with his priorities. In order for God to release his provision, you have to submit to his priorities. It is good. It's good because it works. This other stuff doesn't work, when you take a little piece of a promise. Have you wanted to take a little piece of a promise? A little piece of a promise, I like that. I want to pray that God will bless America, "…land that I love, stand beside her and guide her…" You know. That "Bible verse" that says God will bless America.
Well, the Bible does say, "If my people who are called by my name…" and it tells us a few things to do. It says we need to be humble and stop clinging to our own opinions of what is right and wrong. Be humble and stop going on Facebook and spewing our ignorance all over each other. It does say if we will turn from our wicked ways and our crazy ways of interacting with people, "…then will I hear from heaven, then will I heal their land," but we cannot claim a promise we don't even understand.
Watch this… "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you," but the promise is contingent upon the process that produces it. This is why I understand David had to be very careful. Let's go back to this thing. He said, "…he will fulfill his purpose for me". That's what David believed, and he believed that so much he served his purpose even when his purpose seemed small, even when his purpose seemed insignificant. Even if it was just leaving the sheep with the keeper of sheep and running to the battle lines with the supplies for his brothers, David was willing to serve purpose because he had a promise. Somebody shout, "I got a promise"! You need to shout that thing. "I got a promise"! But you have to guard the promise. You have to grasp it for what it is and not what you want it to be, and not let the Enemy come in and try to pervert the promise of God until you're expecting something from God that is separate from the process by which God can do it in your life.
So David is hiding in a cave from Saul because Saul is coming for his life. Saul represents the promise God made to David when David was just a kid, that he was going to be a king. Saul represents what David is called to. In a scene you wouldn't put in the Bible if you wanted to make the Bible an impressive book, the first king of Israel is squatting in a cave. Somehow he slipped his secret service and thought he was all by himself. Now you have to get this picture, because I know how it is. You came in kinda tired, and you missed it when I read it. The guy who has chased them into the cave is now vulnerable to them. David's boys, they're kind of rough, so they don't pray about it. They're like, "This is it. Do it now. If you kill him now, we can stop running. If you kill him now, we can leave this cave and establish the kingdom after all. Isn't that what God told you when you were a little boy"?
See, what they're saying is partially true! Kind of like the news you watch. There's some truth in it somewhere. Maybe. Let's look at the verse together, and you can decide if this is what God promised David. Verse 4: "This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands…'" So far so good. That's exactly what God wanted to do for David. But the next part is the part I have searched Old Testament; I searched books about the Old Testament; I searched history, commentary (all these boring books I was supposed to read in seminary, but I didn't read them and now I'm having to read them because I actually need to know that stuff). I couldn't find anywhere in any book where God ever said this to David: "…to deal with as you wish". You see what is happening? Here comes an opportunity for David to get what God has promised him, for God to make it happen. I'm going to squat down like Saul, just so you can get the picture. Just so you can get the picture of how vulnerable he was.
Now Saul was a sitting duck. Do you remember week one, I was talking about duck David, when Saul was throwing spears at David? Now Saul is the duck, and David can do whatever he wants to do. He does something strange. It's strange because first, he doesn't kill him. Secondly, we've never seen him do this before. David did something he's never done before. He cut a corner. Now see, to understand why this is so strange, you have to remember that whatever David did, he did it with his whole heart. David was not one to cut corners. David was not one to skip stages. David was not one…David was not the kind of person who would try to do God's thing his own way, but now the Bible says in the face of this opportunity, this unexpected opportunity… Because you don't know what is in your heart until you have an opportunity. You can theorize a lot about what you would do if, but now is the moment where David has to prove, "Do I really believe the promise of God, or am I going to take this into my own hands and do it my way"?
He sneaks up, and he has a sword with him. It's the same sword he killed Goliath with (probably) because he took it from the temple at Nob. He took it from the priest. He took it and killed some Philistines with it. Now he has that sword in the cave, and the same sword he cut off Goliath's head with, he now cuts off a corner of Saul's robe. He doesn't kill him, but he cuts a corner. He doesn't kill him, but the Bible says in verse 5 that when he did it, when he cut the corner, when he took matters into his own hands, the Bible says afterward David was conscience-stricken for cutting off a corner of his robe. What? Why would David feel bad about killing somebody who was trying to kill him? Why would David, in his conscience, feel bad about avenging himself from a king who was dangerous to the entire nation? You know what I believe? I believe what was happening inside the cave can only be understood by remembering what was outside the cave.
If you noticed when I was reading in verse 3, it described the exact physical location of this cave. It says the cave was situated just behind the sheep pens. That's where David came from. Follow me please. Now inside the cave, here is Saul with a robe that represents what David is called to. David is in between where he came from and what he is called to. How many know what you are called to is more important than where you came from? Do you believe God can raise you up, call your name, call you out, clean you up, turn you around, and use you for his glory? I need somebody at Rock Hill to shout if you believe it doesn't matter where you started from. When God calls you, he can pick you up from the sheep pens, still smelling like dung, and bring you into a destiny your eyes have not seen and your ears have not heard. What you are called to matters more than where you came from.
Turn to the person next to you and tell them where you came from. What did you tell them? You didn't tell them the whole thing. You told them the name of a town. I came from the corner, Moncks Corner, to be exact. You want to mess with me? Moncks Corner Mafia. But you don't know about that, and we don't have time to discuss it because I have to get the next service in here. David came from the sheep pen. Now the sheep pen is outside, and Saul is inside. Saul is what he is going to be, and the sheep pen is what he was. He cuts a corner of the robe, and his conscience is stricken because he realized, "I'm not that kind of king". What I'm called to is more important than where I came from. But you know what? There's something more important than where you started, and there's something more important than where you're going. It's how you get there. I found out that how you make money means more than how much you have and the priority it has in your life. If it becomes your god while you're getting it, it will not serve you; you will serve it. You will wonder, "Why am I rich and miserable"?
There are miserable rich people in the house. They feel bad about it too because they thought if they got it, there's a certain expectation attached. "If I get it, I'll be…" But when you get it in a way that is empty, when you cut corners to get it… If you miss your kids growing up to be successful at your job, you will have the success you sacrificed for, but what you will have sacrificed to get it will make you wonder if any of it was worth it. David had a moment. It says he was conscience-stricken, and he remembered who he was. He remembered, "This is not the way I do it". He picked up with a motivational speech to his men.
Now remember, these men are an army in formation, but he turns to his men and says in verse 6, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord, and I don't cut corners. That's not who I am". He said, "That's not how I do it. I will not become something I'm not in the pursuit of what I want. Yes, I'm called to be a king, but not like this. I didn't get here cutting corners. I started as a shepherd. I did start at the bottom, but I will not climb to the top on the back of my principles and my morals. If I do this myself, I'm going to be responsible for the outcome, but if I leave it up to God, if I don't cut corners…" David said, "I'm better than this. Not like this. Not like this".
Sometimes what you want isn't the problem; it's the way you go about getting it. There was nothing wrong with David's desire to be king. God gave him that promise, but David knew God can't honor the promise if he didn't honor the process. My applause is dying out. Boy when I was preaching about promises, we were about to take off. We were going somewhere. I just shut the whole thing down because we had to go back to the sheep pen and remind ourselves of who called us to begin with. And if he called me and if he made the promise, that means it's not just important where I end up but how I get there. It's not just important if I get it; it's how I get it because the way I get it will determine who I am when I get there. "I'm not this kind of king. I can't do it like this. I want it, but there are certain things I won't do to get what I want".
Those of you who are single need to make this a part of your pre-dating relationship speech, okay? Tell the next guy you enter into a relationship with right off the jump before anything gets too serious, before you get lost in love, before you start naming babies together at Ruby Tuesday, or any of that… Tell him: "I just need you to know because I think you're cute, I need you to know because you might be special, I need you to know I enjoy spending time with you, but I don't cut corners. We're going to do this God's way because I tried some other ways, and I watched what happens when I do God's will my way".
Oh, I'm preaching this thing. Touch somebody and say, "I don't cut corners. I don't cut corners. It's not just important to me that I get there. I want to get there the right way". I suck at this sometimes. I try to get the right thing the wrong way. I want to fight with people on Facebook, and I'm right! They're wrong! I have this thing in me to where there are times where I just want to say some things, some things you would say too, but I can say them real good because I do words professionally. That's my job. That's my job. So what I do is I go on and write comments back to people. I cut corners. Then while I'm writing it, I know I have to delete it, but I still complete it. Then I delete it. Then I realize, "You know, you can't respond to critics with the same hate you despise in them and expect to change anything. Not like this"! Not like this!
Tell somebody, "Not like this". Yeah, God wants you to have it, but not like this. That's why we need to be so careful, church. There's a lot of hatred in the world. There's a lot of bigotry in the world. There's a lot of ignorance in the world. But we can't fight ignorance with ignorance. We can't fight hate with hate. There has to be a higher law called love. I want justice, but if I have to sink to the same level of the people I'm trying to change… Not like this! Not like this! I feel God on that. Not like this! I honor process. I put my sword away because the kingdom will not be established by my cutting off Malchus's ear. It's established with a cross. When Jesus went to die, all his disciples could say is, "Not like this. We have to take over. We have to make it happen". Jesus said, "Not like that".
You have the right robe but the wrong way. You have the right desire; there is nothing wrong with your desire. There is nothing wrong with your desire. What you want is from God, but it is what you will do to get it that will determine whether or not you can keep it and walk in it when you do. "I cry out to God Most High; he fulfills his purpose for me". Do you know what that means? I don't. I'm not saying that I don't plan, that I don't strategize, but I recognize that every opportunity is not God. I want what God wants me to have, when God wants me to have it, how God wants me to get it. That's it. Not like this. I don't cut corners. I don't do it my way. I don't retaliate. Not like this.
Sometimes I find myself parenting my kids, and I'm trying to get the right behavior by demonstrating the exact behavior I'm trying to correct. (Shut up, Elijah. Don't say, "Amen" to that.) I'm screaming at my kids to get their emotions under control. Figure that one out. At the top of my voice, "Control yourself"! Not like this, because now the very behavior I'm trying to correct is the spirit I'm exemplifying. I found out something. I found out you can do it. You can actually control an environment with anger. You can actually shut an argument down just by being the loudest one. You can actually manipulate people into going where you want to go by pouting, but what will you have when you get your way? You'll be lonely, you'll feel guilty, and you'll have a corner of a robe when God wanted to give you the whole thing. Come on. Not like this. I honor the process.
Here's the promise…If I honor the process, God will honor me. If I honor the process, God will honor the promise. If I honor the process, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to perform it". I don't cut corners! I want God's will, God's way. I want God's will, God's way. If I try to make it happen, I'm responsible for it. But the Scripture didn't say I have to fulfill my purpose for God; it said he fulfills his purpose for me. Switch the position. Switch the position. You've been trying to do it for God. Let him do it for you. You've been trying to work it out in your own strength, in your own power, with your own mind, but he wants to fulfill his purpose for you.
I want you to stand because I believe many of us are at a point of decision like David was. The decision is…Am I going to trust God for the outcome with obedience? Am I going to let God do his job? Am I going to let God decide when the time is right? Or am I going to manipulate my situation to resemble something that looks like God's will, but it's really not? Oh, I prayed about this message. I pray about all my messages. One of my friends told me one time, "You do realize you don't have to work so hard on your sermons? Nobody would know the difference". But I would. That's not the kind of preacher I want to be. That's not the kind of person I want to be. I don't cut corners. I want to do it with all my heart. I mean, I have to.
When I remember where he brought me from, I didn't get here cutting corners. I didn't get here being fake. I didn't get here trying to control situations. He will fulfill his purpose for me. The only way he won't is if I don't let him, if I cut corners. God has you in the process right now of something he is bringing to pass in your life.
I want you to make a commitment right now. If you want to lift your hands, you can. You don't have to, but if you want to lift your hands, it's a sign of surrender. That's what David did. In a situation where he could have made something happen, in a situation where he could have rushed the process, in a situation where he could have claimed he was doing the right thing and done it the wrong way, he positioned himself with surrender. If I honor the process, God will honor the promise. Do you have a promise today? Do you have a promise today? Do you have a promise from him who said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you"? Do you have a promise today? Stay in the process. It took five more years before Saul died and David became king, but you know what? When Saul died, David was ready. When you honor the process, God will schedule the promise.
Father, we thank you today for your exceeding great and precious promises; that's what your Word calls them. We thank you for your incorruptible Word. We thank you for everything you have spoken over our lives. We confess before you today that there have been times where we have taken shortcuts and cut corners, but we have our hands lifted in your presence to surrender our lives and our will to you. We declare, "No more shortcuts". Whatever you want to do in our lives, whatever you need to do in our lives, whatever junk you need to move out, we're going to stop moving the pieces around and getting all up in your way. We're going to stop trying to do it in our own strength. We're going to stop responding in the flesh to spiritual principalities. We're here before you today, God. We don't even want the shortcut. Have your way in our lives. We want to get there in your timing. We want what you want us to have. Do your thing. Have your way. You are God, and we are not. As we look to the future, we look with great faith.