9/22/2019
A Heart After The Heart of God
…the LORD has sought out a man after His own heart…
A Fearful, Impatient Heart Will Not Wait For The Lord
1 Samuel 13:7-11 Saul remained at Gilgal and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering and that you did not come at the set time and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash…
A Leader For God Acts For God
1 Samuel 13:12-14 I thought the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal and I have not sought the LORD’s favor. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
Leadership Is Not For Personal Glorification
1 Samuel 15:10-12 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from Me and has not carried out My instructions.” Samuel was troubled and he cried out to the LORD all that night. Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
True Leadership Is Revealed By Jesus
Luke 22:24-27 A dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as One Who serves!
Failure To Seek God’s Will Will Result In Failure
1 Samuel 15:22-23, 28 Samuel replied: Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying His voice? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king… The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today & has given it to one of your neighbors–to one better than you.
God Is Omniscient
1 Samuel 16:1-3 The LORD spoke to Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil and go, I send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided Me a king among his sons. Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me. The LORD said, Take a heifer with thee and say, I come to sacrifice to the LORD. Call Jesse to the sacrifice and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.
Consecration Is Required Before Approaching The Lord
1 Samuel 16:4-5 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves & come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons & invited them to the sacrifice.
God Looks Beyond Appearances…
1 Samuel 16:6-8 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”
The Least Amongst Us Could Be The Greatest
1 Samuel 16:10-11 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
God Chooses Leadership
1 Samuel 16:12-13 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”