[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:15] Well, if you would, take your Bibles with me. Turn to 2 Samuel, chapter 5. 2 Samuel, chapter 5, and we're in the life of David. And, Andrew, did you get that picture?
[0:26] No? Okay, never mind then. Forget that. I was going to show you an update on what's happening in the church building. We've already poured our pad. I believe it was on Friday, right, Brother John? And so I was going to show all the people that were on Facebook, but I think everyone here is on Facebook.
[0:38] So if you haven't seen it, ask me at the end of the service, and I'll show you. I have it on my phone. All right, 2 Samuel, chapter 5. Up in this time, David has been, as you guys probably already know, he's been on the run, right?
[0:51] The Lord anointed him king back in 1 Samuel with Samuel. Actually, Samuel anointed David king back in 1 Samuel. He's fought a giant. He's defeated a giant. He was King Saul's right-hand man.
[1:05] He went out to battle. He was a warrior. He was a conqueror. He destroyed the Philistines several times. They were afraid of him. And during that time, Saul turned on him.
[1:17] You guys remember that, how Saul tried to kill him. And how for years, David spent on the run. He literally spent on the run, trying to avoid King Saul, trying to run for his life. He lost his family. I preached that a long time ago.
[1:28] He lost his family. He lost his job. He lost his house. He lost his best friends. He lost everything. He was living in a cave. I mean, the guy had like struggle after struggle after struggle after struggle after struggle.
[1:41] And finally, Saul dies. And you'd think the struggles would end, right? But somehow, something else happens, right? Something pops up. Abner, he rises up and he puts in that puppet king.
[1:53] Was it Ish-bosheth? I don't know how you say it. Ish-bosheth. We'll call him Ish, okay? He sets up Ish as the king, right? And then all of a sudden, he dies.
[2:05] Abner dies. And we get to 2 Samuel chapter 5. And David is going to be anointed the king. He's going to be, what is it called? Coronated. They're going to have the big coronation. And he's going to be announced as the king of Israel.
[2:18] He's been living in Hebron. He's been living in Hebron. And he's been the king reigning over Judah. But now he's going to be reigning over all of Israel.
[2:29] And you think. Was it called coronation? You think, right? As soon as I become king, all my problems will go away, right? Don't we get in that in our mind? I remember when I was 14, I would drive around in the back seat.
[2:40] And I'm like, man, if I could only get to 16. If I could only get to 16, where I could drive around by myself, then I would have life made, right? Then I got to 16, I realized you have to pay for these cars.
[2:52] You've got to pay for gas. And you have its own struggles, right? You had to, I mean, keep the car on the road. And you had to let your parents allow you the curfew. And then I thought, well, man, my next big step, as soon as I get married, right?
[3:04] As soon as I get married, then it's going to be made. And I got married. And I'm like, wow, there's a lot more struggles. And we won't talk about those struggles because my wife's here right now. But anyways, I'm just joking.
[3:14] It's wonderful. It's wonderful to be married to me. But anyways, there's all these different struggles that we face. We think that once we get to this certain point in life, it's just going to be smooth sailing, right?
[3:27] And that's not the truth. We've learned that from every stage in our life. As soon as we get to this, as soon as we do this, as soon as I retire, then I don't have to worry. Those are the golden ages, right? Well, that's the golden ages because it takes gold to keep you alive, right?
[3:39] That's what someone told me one time. There's just no time in your life where you're not going to have struggles. And in this story, I see this. The struggle continues for David. We see some lessons from a new king, but the struggle continues.
[3:53] If you guys got your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Samuel 5. In verse 1, the Bible says this. Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron and spake and saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
[4:06] Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou was he that led us and brought us into Israel. And the Lord said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be captain over Israel.
[4:22] So look what happens in verse 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king of Hebron and king David and made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord.
[4:35] And they anointed David king over Israel. And David was 30 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for 40 years. He reigned 40 years.
[4:46] In Hebron, he reigned over Judah 7 years and 6 months. 7 and a half years in Jerusalem, he reigned over 33 years over Israel and Judah.
[4:57] This first thing that we see here in this story is David finally begins his reign as king over Israel. After a long journey that was full of betrayal.
[5:09] That was full of personal attacks. Attempts on his life. Loss to his possession. Losing possessions. Family and many other people that wronged David.
[5:21] Finally, in this moment, David becomes the king of Israel. Can you imagine all the difficulties that David has faced up until this time? All the trials that he had to overcome. All the wrongs that he had to react correctly to.
[5:35] And he can now be put behind him. And he can now fulfill the purpose that God has given him. And it seems that through all it, through all these trials, all these problems, all this, there was no sign of this overwhelming bitterness that took hold in David's life.
[5:52] Think of what all he's overcome up until this time. A 30-year-old man. I mean, he lost his house. I mean, he was hunted down like a dog. He lived in a cave. People were trying to kill him.
[6:04] And yet, when the time came when he was supposed to, he had chances to kill the guy that was after him. He didn't do it. There was no bitterness in this guy, it seems like. There was no ill will that he harbored towards Saul.
[6:17] He actually reacted the right way when people killed Saul. Or they claimed they killed Saul. And he acted the right way. All this time, there was no hatred built up in his heart. There was no bitterness built up in his heart.
[6:28] He just reacted the right way. The way God intended it to. He was in the right. And it seems through all that there was no bitterness, no grudges that had overtaken David. And finally, David is now the king.
[6:42] He is now the king. The guy that God promised that he was going to make him. Israel has no other sovereign that is trying to reign over Israel. Saul was dead. Ish-bosheth was dead.
[6:53] Abner was dead. And that means David was the last man standing. Finally, God has proven who he anointed. Does that make sense? All these other guys said, hey, I'm now going to reign over Israel.
[7:06] But they came. They were king. Or quote-unquote king. They were king. They had their time. And it lasted a short period of time. And finally, David is now the last man standing. And in this story, in verse 1 through 5, we see all the rulers, all the elders of Israel, have now made a covenant with David.
[7:23] And it's before the Lord. And David is the king of Israel. All these elders have testified that God has made David the king.
[7:34] And that it was God that anointed and God had appointed David to reign over them. Look in 2 Samuel 5, verse 1. Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebrews and spake unto him, and saying, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
[7:49] We are family, David. David also in times past when Saul was king over us, thou was he that led us out and brought us in Israel. And the Lord said unto thee, David, he said unto thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
[8:07] They realized that David was the appointed one by God. It was just, it was open and apparent to him, which kind of makes me wonder, why didn't they come to this conclusion earlier? But David doesn't say anything about that.
[8:18] This is exactly the ways that God intended it from the beginning. In Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 14, this is what the Bible says. In Deuteronomy 7, verse 14, it says, When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and thou shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me.
[8:35] So when Israel goes to the land where God sets it up, and you say, I want a king over me, in Deuteronomy 17, verse 14, I'm so sorry, I said 7, verse 14, 17, verse 14, and you say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me, thou shalt in any wise set a king over him, whom the Lord thy God shall choose.
[8:57] So who's supposed to choose the king? Who's supposed to pick the king for Israel? It's God's decision. It's God's choice. And in 2 Samuel chapter 5, verse 1 through 2, what the elders were saying was this.
[9:09] This is what we're testifying. We realize, David, that God set you up. We realize that God chose you. We realize that God appointed you, that God chose you. Can you imagine that feeling that David must have felt when finally he was made the king of Israel?
[9:27] No longer having to worry about not being accepted. No longer having to worry about living in the land of Philistia with the Philistines.
[9:38] No longer having to worry about living in a cave. No longer having to worry about people not accepting him, people trying to take his life. Finally, it was accepted unanimously. I'm the one that God appointed as king.
[9:52] It just goes to prove what a famous preacher said about these verses. He said this. He said, It is through faith and patience that God's people inherit what he had promised.
[10:05] It's through faith and patience that God's people inherit what he has promised. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 12 says it this way. He says this. That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise.
[10:24] And David had trusted God in the most difficult of circumstances. And David inherited a divided people. But with God's help, with God's help, he united them and he built Israel into this strong and powerful kingdom.
[10:37] What a great lesson. What a great lesson. What a valuable lesson we learned from this new king. That God will fulfill on his promises. And we don't have to break down the doors. And we don't have to move the mountains.
[10:48] And we don't have to trick. And we don't have to connive. And we don't have to go after what's rightfully ours. But through faith and patience and work, after a while, God will make good on his promises.
[11:02] He will make good. But if we know that God's word, what God's word is and what he desires, and we follow today what he has for us. And we're not slothful, but we're consistent.
[11:15] And we're believing. And we're working. And we're expecting we will inherit what he desires for our lives. We've got to realize that in our life. It's not by what you can connive and what you can come up with and how hard you can push.
[11:28] And I know that's totally against the American culture. But that's what we see through scripture. We don't see people inheriting the promise right off. We see that they have to go through stuff. And you might be going through a whole bunch of problems right now.
[11:41] But just know, if God has a plan for you, he's going to give it to you. Does that make sense? He's going to take care of you. He's going to see you through. You just got to trust him and believe him and just keep on expecting. But we must know that it rarely happens how we believe it would happen.
[11:58] Could you imagine when David was anointed king? Do you imagine that he would think that he would have to go through all those different trials to get to that point? Like if I thought that God would come and say, hey, Robert, I'm going to make you the king of America.
[12:11] First I would say, okay, we're going to have a king. But anyways, but if God said I was going to make you a king, I would think, okay, this is going to be good. Okay, I'm going to wait for the parade. Right? I'm going to wait for someone to pull up and they're going to come out with a parade.
[12:23] And they're going to usher me up to Washington, D.C. And they're going to, you know, put the crown on top of me. I just have my own expectations, right? But it rarely happens. Life rarely happens with your expectations.
[12:34] You understand that? And that was true in David's life. We must watch our attitudes. Values, lessons that we need to learn from David. We must watch our attitudes and ourselves.
[12:45] Because when we don't get what we want and how we want it and in the time we want it, we have a tendency to get upset with God. And we have a tendency to get bitter.
[12:57] But in the life of David, I don't see that. I don't see a man that gets overcome with bitterness. I see a man that's patient. I see a man that's trusting.
[13:08] I see a man that's waiting on God. And so many times when we don't get the stuff that what we want and how we want it and when we want it and the way we want it, we get upset and we have our own tantrums. And I don't know about you, but when my kids do that, that kind of puts me on edge.
[13:23] And I feel like I need to correct that. And I don't like to live with that. But we're God's children. And sometimes we treat God worse than our children's treat us. We don't know how God's going to put us and bring us to the end where he's told us where he's going to bring us.
[13:38] We don't know how God's going to work in our life. We just got to patiently wait and be consistent and work and see him work in our life and not have a bad attitude. Watch your attitude. Watch yourself. God has a plan for your life as well.
[13:50] He's created you for a purpose. You are here in this generation for a reason. As Jesus, you will find out why you're here. And you'll probably go through a lot of trials and you'll feel like you aren't where you should be.
[14:04] But just keep on waiting. Keep on serving. And see what God can do. Here in this part of the story, we see David's life becoming what he was promised to be. He becomes the king.
[14:15] But the story doesn't stop there. I talked about the beginning. This is about struggles. And this is what I see. In verse 6, if you just jump down with me. Verse 6. And when the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither.
[14:38] That's kind of like taunting them. Unless you take away our blind people and our lame people, you're not going to come up this way. You're not going to be able to take this city. Thou shalt not come in hither. Thinking David could not come hither.
[14:49] Nevertheless, get this. David took the stronghold of Zion, the same city of David. And this passage, in verse 6 through 12, I see David setting his eyes, setting to conquer the unconquerable.
[15:07] You think that after David becomes a king, that he has the right to take a break right now, right? He's a king. Settle down, okay? Let's just take a cruise control. Let's relax and just have some fun, okay?
[15:19] Let's just entertain ourselves. Let's just lay low. He's hit the pinnacle, right? He's become a king. Nothing else needs to be accomplished. But that's not true in David's life.
[15:30] David sets out to conquer what at that time seems unconquerable. He said, in verse 6, they said, you can't come up unless you beat our lame.
[15:42] He says, you can't come up unless you beat the blind and the lame. They were mocking David. Saying, our weakest people of our city will be able to take you. And unless you can take our weakest, there's no way you're going to take it.
[15:53] And David's like, okay, I'm going to take this challenge, okay? I'm going to go after the strong part of this. He didn't go after the weak hold. He went after the strong hold. That's crazy. He went after a place that at that time hasn't been conquered.
[16:05] Notice what David took. He took the strong hold. That means he didn't take the weak hold. David, after David became the king, he didn't stay around in Hebron. But he went out to conquer and settle a new territory.
[16:16] A place where men before him were not able to conquer. The city of Jerusalem was always a thorn in the Israelite side. In spite of the fact that the whole land that had been given to him.
[16:28] You guys remember when the Israelites were to go into the promised land and God said, I'm going to give you everything. In spite of God's promise of giving them everything, Jerusalem has always been a thorn in the Israelite side.
[16:39] They had so far been able to possess it all. The city from which God's king was destined to reign. The most strategic city in all the land. Alas, the city in which the enemy was deeply entrenched.
[16:53] The Jebusites were far too strong for the children of Israel. That they could cast them out. In Joshua chapter 15 verse 63. In Joshua 15 verse 63, this is what the scripture says.
[17:04] As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out. But the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
[17:17] Later on in the Bible, you're going to discover that the Benjamites settled down in Jerusalem on the basis of a peaceful coexistence with the enemy. But for David, he could no longer allow this to continue.
[17:30] When David became the king of Israel, we are told that he immediately took the stronghold of Zion. David takes the city that was boasted about that even the blind and the lame could defend it.
[17:41] David set his eyes on the toughest, most unconquerable task. And he says, let's go get it, guys. And I'll show you how you can do it. David knew that God wanted all the nations living in Canaan to be conquered.
[17:55] And up until this time, no one was able to do the job. But there was a new king in town. And he set his eyes on the prize. And he got the job done. David was a different type of king.
[18:08] You think, after being a king, just a new king, that you could just, let's party, right? Let's eat grapes. What do kings do, right? They sit around and they have people fan them.
[18:19] And they have their jesters just, you know, making jokes. And I don't know what kings do. We don't have kings. But I can assume that it's like playing golf. You know what I mean? Like a president goes to Martha's Vineyard. And they go play golf all the time.
[18:31] They always got their vacations. I assume it's something like that. I have assumed that David would do something like that. But David doesn't do it. He says, where's the stronghold? Where's the place that we haven't been able to conquer?
[18:42] That's it. I want that. Let's go after it. Oh, you say you're blind and you're lame could defeat us? I'm going after it. I want the stronghold. I want the strong thing. For David, becoming royalty.
[18:53] Oh, David accomplished this task of taking Jerusalem and turning it into the capital of Israel. God was with David and he fulfilled this task. In verse 10, the Bible says this, And David went on and grew great.
[19:07] And the Lord God of hosts was with him. For David becoming royalty wasn't the end. Rather, it was the beginning. And the same is true in a Christian life.
[19:19] But salvation isn't the end. Rather, it's the beginning. Just once you get saved, it's no longer, Alright, I'm saved.
[19:29] I'm just going to go on coasting right now. I don't have to worry about anything. I can just, I've got my fire insurance. I'm good, right? No, that's not what God intended. That's not the way God said it.
[19:40] That's not biblical at all. Jesus, when Jesus conquered sin and death, It didn't stop there. You understand that? It didn't stop there. When Jesus conquered sin and death, it didn't stop there.
[19:51] No, when Jesus came back from the grave, He went to His followers, He went to His disciples, And He told them this. He says, I have all power. I have, in other words, I am king. I am sovereign over all.
[20:03] Now go out to the world, And I want you to conquer the places that's never been conquered before. I want you to think about this. Do you remember when Jesus was shown all the nations by Satan? And how Satan tempted Jesus, That he could have all the worship, If Jesus would just bow down to Satan, And worship Satan.
[20:24] Those places were yet to be conquered. And after Calvary, After King Jesus sets up His kingdom, He sets His eyes on conquering the unconquered.
[20:36] And He told His men to go, And He gave them the right way to do it. In this story, David looks at his guys, And he says, Whoever goes up there and conquers it, You've got to go up to the water, The gutter system.
[20:48] And you go up to the water thing, And you conquer it, I'll make you the captain over the host. And Joab goes and does it. The King David gave him the exact, He gave him the plan to take over the city.
[20:59] And after King Jesus raises from the dead, And after King Jesus comes to disciples, He says, I want you to go into all nations. And I want you to teach them. And I want you to baptize them.
[21:10] And I want you to teach them to deserve all things. He gave us the plan. Don't you understand that salvation doesn't stop with you getting saved? But there are places that have not been yet conquered with the gospel.
[21:22] There are dark places. Right now our pastor is in Cambodia and Vietnam. And if you were to hear stories about those places, How Satan has had a stronghold on those places, And how Satan, Those people worship the devil and other idols, And how the gospel is yet, I don't say the gospel is yet, I know the gospel has been there, But the gospel is yet to prevail in a sense that, Man, there's a lot more work to be done.
[21:43] There's a lot more villages, There's a lot more cities out there, That don't have a Bible preaching church, That need a Bible preaching church. And that's what our attitude should be like. We should never be complacent.
[21:54] You understand that? The struggle has just started. Once you become a Christian, It's not just so you can sit back and relax. King David, when he became the king, It wasn't just, Alright, I'm the king, Let's go have a good time.
[22:07] No, he says, I need to find something. Let's go out there and conquer them. And that's the way we should be too. That's the way our attitude should be too. After Calvary, Jesus sets his eyes on conquering the unconquered.
[22:19] He told his men to go on the world, To go into all the world, And preach the gospel to every creature. The church, Disciples of Jesus Christ, We have a job to do.
[22:30] We have a job to do. We have not arrived. It's not time to sit around and act like we can relax, And we don't have anything to do.
[22:41] We have a territory that God wants. And we need to be conquering to the new territory that God sets before us. You see, David didn't settle after he became king.
[22:55] We don't need to settle either. We as a church need to be finding new territories. And we need to be taking the gospel where the king, Where our king has told us to take it.
[23:06] People knew that the king wasn't a normal, He wasn't normal. He wasn't like a normal king. David grew great, And people saw that in verse 10. He wasn't like a normal king that just sat around and just ruled his people.
[23:19] Man, by the time of it, David has almost, He takes Israel and turns it almost into an empire. You understand that? Why has the church become so complacent?
[23:32] And why has its people become so stagnant? And feel like we can just sit here on the pews, And just let our life go as it goes, And never think about the next step.
[23:44] The next place that we need to go. The next country. The next place we need to send a missionary. The next area that needs the gospel. The next task that's set before us. We should always be planning and plotting and looking for a new struggle that we can get into.
[24:01] That's the way God would have it. That's the way I see in the Bible. David set to conquer the unconquerable.
[24:12] But not only do we see a struggle of setting to conquer an unconquerable, But I see in verse 13 through 16, I see David's failure shown. You know when God gives us these stories about these great men, In the Bible, He paints the picture through their, He just doesn't give you like a little snapshot.
[24:35] He gives you like the whole view. You know what I'm saying? He paints the ugliness in all in it. To show us that we aren't the ones to be glorified.
[24:46] To show us that we aren't the ones to be magnified. We aren't the ones to live after. Man, I'm so glad the Holy Spirit decided, Okay, I'm going to stop writing scripture, And he doesn't write it about me. Because, I mean, he's got tons of stuff that he can write bad about.
[24:59] And in David's life, I'm not saying, I'm not trying to set David up on a pedestal, But I'm just saying, In David's life, We see his failure. And it's shown in verse 13. Verse 13, And David took him more concubines and more wives out of Jerusalem.
[25:15] After he was come from Hebron. And there was yet sons and daughters born to David. David is a man like everyone else.
[25:26] And he fails like everyone else. And it was said that when the Holy Spirit tells the story of men, Before that he shows the picture, Before he shows the picture of the beauty and the ugliness in all people's lives.
[25:38] And it's a good thing, like I said, the scripture's been stopped. And in this life, we see David's failure. David takes more wives, And he takes more concubines in verse 13. I don't know the reason behind this.
[25:51] Maybe it was a pressure that he had during that time, in that era, That kings would take a lot of wives. I don't know. Or maybe it was a lack of self-control. I'm not sure. I don't know. The Bible doesn't really say.
[26:03] But one thing I am sure about, Is that David was not supposed to have multiple wives. And it was against scripture. In Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse 17.
[26:15] Look there. This is when God's talking to Israel, And He's talking about this king, And what it should be like. In Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse 17, He says, Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, That his heart turn not away.
[26:29] Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. We need, We have to be careful in regards of the opposite sex. It's too easy for us to fail.
[26:43] I know this is not like a fun topic to talk about, But I really think it's what the scripture is showing us. The struggle that David faced. You've got to be careful with the opposite sex.
[26:55] Can I remind you that David was a man after God's own heart? Can I remind you? He was the apple of his eye. When God writes about him in the New Testament, He has great things to say about David.
[27:12] He's a guy that was seeking to do his will. In this part of his life, he failed. He failed. We have to be careful in our lives.
[27:22] Men, be careful with your eyes. Men, be careful with your heart. Men, if you're married, you be careful, And make sure that you cultivate that relationship with your wife. Too many, too many, I hope you get this, Too many great men of God have fallen into this trap.
[27:40] Men that are greater than myself. Men that are greater than any man that's probably been living in this era. I don't know how many men that I know still write scripture. None.
[27:51] They're still living. I don't know how many men that God said, They're the apple of my eyes. You have all wisdom. They're the wisest guy ever. I don't know how many people I know that God's ever said that about around. Pretty much zero.
[28:03] These great men fell into a trap. You've got to be careful. We've got to be careful. Don't let this part of David's life play out in your life. Be aware. Be on guard. Make your marriage a priority.
[28:14] That same truth goes to women, goes to single people. Be careful. We live in a constant battle. And Satan has nothing better to do than go around to seek to destroy us.
[28:29] And most of the time he starts with the home. He starts with the marriage. So please be aware of that. Please be aware of this struggle. This is not to say that people that have failed before and failed in the past in this area, that you can't start again.
[28:47] What is in the past is just that. It's in the past. What I'm saying now is this. Protect this area of your life today. And that's all I have to say about that subject.
[29:01] This is no joke. He just became king and he takes more wives. You think it would be all smooth sailing, but it doesn't happen that way in life.
[29:11] As we move on down to verse 17, we see David still fighting old enemies.
[29:22] David, in this area of his life, still struggling and fighting against old enemies. As long as David was minding his own business in Hebron, the Philistines thought that he was still one of their vassals.
[29:35] But when he became the king of a whole nation of Israel, the Philistines knew that he was their enemy. And in this passage, we see the Philistines attacking Israel or attacking David.
[29:52] The Philistines realized that David was no longer their ally. And so what do they do? They set themselves to attack David. Verse 17 says, But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David.
[30:14] And David heard of it and he went down to the hold. See, the Philistines heard that David was a new king in town and so they sought out to take him. Once again, realize that all that David has accomplished finally, he was a new king, he has a new capital, people from the outside, they recognize who he is.
[30:35] Actually, I believe the king from Tyre, he actually builds David a house. He builds David a house. He gives him all the supplies and he builds. You think David could relax? You think David could enjoy his new crib?
[30:47] You think David could just, you know, have some rest? But the enemies of David send out an army to seek him out. So what does David do in this struggle?
[31:01] He goes to the Lord. It's interesting to me that David questions. He asks questions rather than making statements. In verse 19, David inquires of the Lord.
[31:14] Lord, shall I go up? Will you deliver them to me? Look at verse 19. And David inquired of the Lord saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines?
[31:26] Will you deliver them into my hand? And God answers him with an affirmative. Yes, go up for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
[31:37] Go up and I will deliver them. Too many times, get this, too many times we go to God with statements and not enough questions. Too many times we try to find our own battles and deliver ourselves rather than go to the one that's to deliver.
[31:53] This is not true for King David. He is a seasoned warrior. And he is too smart at this moment to think that he can do things on his own. So David goes to the one that has all answers and he asks questions.
[32:07] So many times when we go to God, we have statements, statements, statements, statements. God, I have this plan. Would you, would you, would you, God, I have this plan. I want to do this. Make it happen.
[32:18] Can you make this happen? God, I want this. I want this. I want this. And we never inquire of the Lord. We never ask. David went to the Philistines. And it was at Baal-Perezim that David smote the Philistines.
[32:31] And it was such a whooping, Lamar. It was such a whooping that the Philistines took off and they left their images and their idols behind. Verse 20 says, And David came to Baal-Perezim.
[32:44] And David smote them there and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon my enemies before me as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of the place Baal-Perezim.
[32:57] And there they left their images and David and his men burned them. Now, you think in David's life he could rest after that first attack from the Philistines.
[33:09] You think after one beating they wouldn't come back for more. But the Philistines, once again, they come back for a second time. And David, once again, inquires of the Lord.
[33:21] He asks the Lord what he should do. And you know something? The Lord told David something totally different to do than before. Instead of facing his attackers head on, David was to go behind them.
[33:35] The Lord was going to go out before him. And David would smite the host. And that's exactly what happened. Verse 25, And David did so. He did what the Lord said as the Lord commanded.
[33:46] And he smote the Philistines from Jibba until they come into Gezer. You realize that in your life, you will go from one battle to the next.
[33:59] We have been promised victory over all. But something I want you to realize is that becoming a Christian doesn't mean a bed of roses. No, actually it kind of means the contrary.
[34:11] We are promised trials and persecution. All those who live godly shall suffer persecution. It's not going to be easy. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood.
[34:24] But against principalities. Against powers. Against rulers of the darkness of this world. Against spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan is like a roaring lion about seeking who he may devour.
[34:39] That means we will have battles that we will have to overcome in our life. And it's not going to be easy all the time. Being the new king in Israel doesn't mean eating grapes, like I said before.
[34:54] Watching gestures. And having chariot races. And all the wonderful things you think kings do. No, being a new king meant a new set of struggles.
[35:05] New trials. New opportunities. It means constantly fighting and battling with enemies. And it's the same thing in our life.
[35:17] In the Christian life. Know that you can't come at this enemy in your own strength. Go to God. Ask him how to defeat these trials and struggles in your life.
[35:28] Jesus was, when he came down to this, he kind of like set up a model life for us to live after. Do you understand that? And you understand that when Jesus was down here, he struggled and he was tempted and he was tried.
[35:42] And all points like us. And when Jesus took on Satan, how did Jesus come at him? Oh, I'm God. I'm going to smash you.
[35:53] No, he took him to the word. He was setting up an example for us. The place that we can run to. The person that we can go to. Know this. Being a Christian doesn't mean everything's smooth sailing.
[36:05] What a childlike thinking. I was wrong to think at 14 that as soon as I got 16, life would be easy and it would be awesome. And you get your license and you can drive around and do whatever you want.
[36:17] What a stupid thought. You guys chuggle at that. You guys think, oh, you don't know life. And I'm like, yeah, I didn't know life back then. And then when I was 18, all I want to do is get married and have a family.
[36:28] And I thought after that, everything will be smooth sailing. Oh, you didn't know what you're thinking. I know. That was childlike thinking. But yet, when we come to this Christian life, we think everything's supposed to be smooth. Everything's supposed to be great.
[36:38] Everything's supposed to go the way we intend it, right? And it's never like that. There's always struggle after struggle. There's still things that we still have to conquer in our life. There's still things that God set before us that we've got to go after.
[36:49] There's still enemies that we have to battle. There's still temptation and trials and shortcomings that we have to overcome. There's struggles everywhere. And the way we overcome this is we go to the God of heaven that's delivered us from it.
[37:04] We find out how we're supposed to go at this. When Jesus was being tempted by Satan, he took Satan to the Word. It was an example for us that we can live in this Christian life.
[37:19] That we can't rely on ourselves, but we need to rely on God and His Word. So, in conclusion, David was anointed king. What an exciting time.
[37:32] But it wasn't all rest and relaxation. There were struggles in his life. Some were to build the kingdom and make it stronger by doing what God had said earlier before. David's time.
[37:43] Other struggles in David's life were self-inflicted. Do you realize at the end of David's life when he has all the problems with his sons? I hate to say this, this was all self-inflicted.
[37:55] From different wives. Him treating his kids differently. These were all self-inflicted. With David having multiple wives. And then there were other times that the enemy was just to go out.
[38:08] They were just out to get David. God would take His mistake of multiple women and family problems that came with that.
[38:21] And God would use that. I want you to get this. God would use that in His family. He would use that to bring forth a king that would reign over Israel forever.
[38:34] So, in essence, God would take what David messed up and He'd turn it out for good. What a great God. What a great and wonderful God. He would take His struggle that He failed at and He would turn it out to good.
[38:47] And you know what? If you love God and you're called, you're the called, that means you're the saved one. He's going to do the same thing in your life. He's going to turn it out all for good. Romans 8, 28 already tells us.
[38:57] He tells us that. God would work in David's life. And those pesky Philistines, God fought for David and He helped defeat these enemies.
[39:10] And the same is true in your life. If you are a child of God, you can be victorious over the struggles that life throws at us. You are more than a conqueror according to the Scriptures.
[39:22] Go out there and fulfill what our King has told us to do. Live out the way our King has told us, what He commanded us to do. Get the gospel to all nations. Set your eyes on conquering the unconquerable.
[39:36] Be involved in gospel proclamation work. Get involved with missions. Conquer the unconquerable. Be aware of self-inflicted sin.
[39:46] Be aware of your shortcomings. Lay aside those sins that easily beset you. Does that make sense? Be aware of it. Be on guard and protect your marriage.
[40:00] And know that you will have trials and tribulation in this world. It's not going to be a bed of roses. Know that there's always going to be a battle going on. And it's not flesh and blood.
[40:11] We don't fight against the flesh and blood. We don't fight against this. But with you going to the Lord of lords and to the King of kings, you can overcome life's struggles.
[40:23] We've already been promised victory. That's the great thing. And we've seen it come true in multiple people's lives. But I just want to let you guys know as we get ready to close.
[40:36] I'm going to say a prayer and then we'll have the announcements. I just want you to know this. Life is not a bed of roses. You think that you've arrived and you don't need any more struggles.
[40:48] There's always struggles. And the stuff that you're going through right now, you think that you can't overcome. Can I tell you you have somebody with you? And he's going to help you through it.
[41:00] And he's going to help you. Help others to get them through it. So don't think. Don't be surprised when you're faced with struggles. Be aware that you're not self-inflicting those struggles.
[41:14] Be on guard. Set your affections to obey and serve him. Be aware what he's doing in your life. Go to him.
[41:24] Speak to him. Ask him for help. He's there. He says, cast all your troubles and all your burdens on me. Cast your cares on me because I care for you. He wants to help us out.
[41:35] We just got to go to him. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the life of David. Lord, thank you how we see his failures, Lord. And how he overcome them.
[41:47] And how he overcome the struggles. Not just failures, but how he overcome the struggles with you working in his life. And you go into battle before him, Lord. Thank you for this story of David. Lord, help us to realize there are going to be struggles in our life.
[41:59] And you'll be there to battle them and overcome them for us. We'll give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[42:15] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[42:27] Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
[42:40] Thank you. Say hello. Thanks. Bye. Bye.
[42:52] Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.