Father God, we thank you for your goodness.
Father, we thank you for your faithfulness.
Father, we slowly do learn to trust you, Father.
Father, we thank you for all that you do for us and all that you are.
Father, we thank you that we can learn who you are.
Father, we're thankful. Amen.
Amen.
When I was young, I was a pastor's kid.
It didn't mean much to me at the time.
I mean, nothing when you're a kid really means that much to you.
What it meant for me was that I got shepherded all over the place all the time.
You know, my parents had places to go, things to do.
Because my dad was a pastor, he was at every event possible.
I mean, from the beginning to the end, every event.
And so we were shepherded, event to event to event.
And sometimes that was a great thing.
Like when we got to go to baptisms.
We didn't have a fancy baptismal tank or a font or anything like that.
It was a bit like this.
We had to make do.
But since we were in a tropical country, we could improvise.
We could go to beaches.
We didn't know anybody with pools, so we had to really improvise.
We could go to beaches, but more often than not, we would go scouting for rivers,
which were usually closer to where we were.
One of my favorite places to go ever was this river.
It was running down a mountainside.
And every few feet of drop, there would be another big pool.
Just a big rocky pool, sort of 30 feet across.
And it would just be pool after pool after pool after pool.
And so you would just, if you weren't going there to baptize somebody,
you would just go and you would look around and you'd find the best pool
and the best place to have your picnic, because of course there's always a picnic.
And you would set up.
And we would always have a great time, because as soon as the baptizing was done,
as soon as the picnic was done, then my mom and dad would say,
all right, see you later.
And we would go and explore whatever pools there were.
We would make dams.
We would go running up and down the hill.
And it was always a really great thing.
But more often than baptisms,
my dad being a pastor meant that we were at every single weekly service.
For better or worse, we were almost there from the beginning into the end every time.
The first people to arrive, the last people to leave.
Our church started sort of just after lunch, early afternoon.
So when everything had ended,
my brothers and I were always just clamoring to get home
so we could snatch that last bit of sunshine before we had to go in for dinner.
But no, we were always there early for Sunday school,
just waiting for kids to show up,
trying not to look bored,
because, I mean, mom always gives you chores when you look bored, right?
And then we were always there late as well.
Again, trying not to look bored, because there's always chores.
And if there were no chores,
we would throw paper airplanes into the ceiling fans,
which, if you're a kid, no, they're all gone now.
I can say it.
It's a great way to get your parents so annoyed they'll take you home,
throw a ceiling fan, throw paper airplanes in the ceiling fan.
But more often than not, there were always chores,
so we would have to go hide in the building somewhere
and pretend to be whatever characters we were reading about
or seeing on the flannel graph that day in Sunday school.
For me, David was always one of those characters that stood out.
For a kid, he was maybe about as close to a pirate as he got in the Bible.
You know, he killed giants, he won wars,
all his friends were mighty men of valor.
I mean, he was a king.
It was pretty awesome.
So you had all those elements covered if you were going to play King David,
which was awesome.
And yet, somehow he was still a man after God's heart,
which, as a little Christian boy in church, was also awesome.
So when we were old enough to actually read the Bible for ourselves,
my brothers and I started noticing something about David.
And that is that he was not just a man after God's own heart,
but he was also bloody, adulterous,
and just a broken, hard man.
But, I mean, God tells David he can't build the temple
because he's shed so much blood.
I mean, it's a big thing.
You know, he killed 200 men for his first wife,
and for his last wife he had his best friend killed,
or one of his best friends killed.
So how is it that we reconcile these two characteristics,
man after God's own heart,
and bloody man too bloody to build the temple?
David's Psalms, I think, like Psalm 22,
which was read just a couple of minutes ago,
gives us a good idea of how it might be.
Like Brian mentioned last week,
it's all about the character of God.
David clung to God through a very long period of time
and learned who he is.
He learned what God is like,
how he responds to his people.
David spent years watching God work through his life
for his own purposes,
and a psalm like Psalm 22 comes out of that process.
So, what in David's life would allow him to be both
a man after God's own heart
and too bloody to build the temple?
Like I said, I'm sure there isn't just one answer,
but we can find at least one answer here.
So, let's take the psalm apart a little bit,
shake it around, see what pops out.
In the first reading, you may have felt a shift
halfway through the psalm.
That second part of the psalm is one long hymn of praise
for who God is and what he will do.
But that first part of the psalm
is all observations that David's making.
And he alternates between observations of his own situation
and observations of what God is doing
and who God is.
So, if you have your Bible,
open it up to Psalm 22.
If you're missing your Bible,
there's a couple up here that you can use for today,
and if you don't have one at home,
just take it home with you.
So, Psalm 22, verse 1.
So, this is David looking at his own situation.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me
from the words of my groanings?
Oh, my God, I cry by day,
but you do not answer.
And by night, but I find no rest.
Now switching to God.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted.
They trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued.
In you they trusted,
and were not put to shame.
Back to observation of David.
But I am a worm, and not a man,
scorned by mankind,
and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me.
They make mouths at me.
They wag their heads.
We trust in the Lord.
Let him deliver him.
Let him rescue him,
for he delights in him.
Yet you, God,
are he who took me from the womb.
You made me trust in you
at my mother's breast.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother's womb
you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help me.
Many bulls encompass me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
They open wide their mouths at me,
like ravening and roaring lions.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It is melted within my breast.
My strength is dried up like pot shards,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of the earth.
For dogs encompass me.
A company of evildoers circles me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them,
and from my clothing they cast lots.
Now observation of God again.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off.
O you, my help, come quickly to my aid.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the mouth of the lion.
You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.
And on David goes into a song of praise.
So, he starts off saying,
I'm forsaken,
but my father's trusted.
But I'm not like them.
I'm like a worm.
I'm not even worth anything.
But then again,
God was with him from the very start.
But today he's surrounded.
They're even stripping him of his clothes
before he's dead.
And then God arrives and victorious.
So, David is clearly wrestling with himself
and with God throughout this entire passage.
David feels small in the face of his,
in his troubles,
the people tormenting him.
He feels like he's surrounded by enemies
and abandoned by God.
David is so overwhelmed
by the people he's referring to,
they're already counting him dead.
Now, I've been lucky enough
to avoid situations like this in my life.
like the one that David is describing.
I've never been counted dead.
I don't think I've ever been so hated
that I would say that mankind hates me.
But it's hard not to relate on some level
to what David is saying.
You know, I think I've definitely felt
at various times in my life
that at least all the people around me
seem to dislike me,
even if the entire mankind doesn't hate me.
And certainly I've had sleepless nights.
I mean, this is a fairly common thing.
Like David is talking about,
sleepless nights.
I mean, I'm a night person.
My body will stay up as long as I'll push it.
I mean, it's the opposite.
I can't get up in the morning in the same way,
but I can stay up as long as I want.
I can always fall asleep in the morning,
but I'll always stay up at night.
I'm also a worrier.
So it almost doesn't matter what it is,
whether it's a conversation I'm supposed to have
the next day,
or an exam,
or a presentation to do,
or some other public speaking event.
I don't know.
It makes me nervous.
But it almost doesn't matter.
For me,
I'll just toss it back and forth in my head
for a couple hours at a time.
Now, at my best times,
I will specifically bring whatever it is
that's bothering me to God.
I'll say,
God, there's this big thing in my life,
whatever it is.
What are you going to do about it?
Please talk to me.
Now, I'm not one of these people.
I know plenty of them,
but I'm not one of these people
who hears really specifically
in my times of need, usually.
I'm not a great listener yet.
And it sounds as though David,
in whatever he's going through,
is in that same position.
He's not hearing God.
And here's where David shows
that he knows something
of the character of God.
As David recites all the articles
of his desperation,
I'm poured out like water.
The dogs encompass me.
I'm despised by people.
He starts to recite evidence
that God is also faithful.
It's like he's saying,
well, I don't see God in this situation.
But then again,
God was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
when they needed him.
He's saying something like,
well, I'm completely despised
by the people around me.
But on the other hand,
I've seen God in my life
from the very, very start.
David's faith in God
is based on his knowledge of God.
And in turn,
his knowledge of God
is based on his experience with God.
Which is, of course,
built on the faith
that he's placed in God
in the first place,
like one big cycle.
When Christians describe themselves,
they often use these same words.
They say,
maybe you say this all the time too,
I have a personal relationship
in Jesus.
Or,
I put my faith in God.
And these two ideas
are deeply entwined.
We learn about God,
we learn who God is
through life with him.
And in turn,
we trust him more.
And we learn that God is faithful
by trusting him
in hard situations.
We learn that God is good
by trusting him
to be good to us.
We learn that God is merciful
by repenting
and being forgiven.
Now, in David's case,
his faith is based on knowing
that God is faithful.
If you read the books
of 1 and 2 Samuel,
you'll see plenty of situations
where David has a hard situation,
he trusts in God,
and when he trusts in God,
God comes through for him.
David learns this very
hands-on way
that God is faithful.
Late in David's life,
David decides to take a census.
And he decides to take a census
specifically to find out
how many fighting men
there are in Israel.
And I'm not really sure
what laws he was breaking,
but absolutely everybody
around him,
including his very hard
commander of his army,
said,
look, David,
this is a bad idea.
This is not going to go well
for you.
And he does it anyway.
So David knew on some level
that he was sinning.
And yet somehow,
he decides to do it.
So he takes the census,
and God sends him
his prophet.
And I'll read very briefly
from 2 Samuel 24.
You don't need to turn there.
I've got it open already.
But David's heart struck him
after he had numbered the people.
And David said to the Lord,
I have sinned greatly
in what I have done.
But now, O Lord,
please take away
the iniquity of your servant,
for I have done very foolishly.
And when David arose
in the morning,
the word of the Lord
came to the prophet Gad,
David's seer, saying,
Go and say to David,
Thus says the Lord,
Three things I offer you.
Choose one of them,
that I may do it to you.
So Gad came to David
and told him and said to him,
Shall three years of famine
come to you and your land?
Or will you flee three months
before the foes
while they pursue you?
Or shall there be three days
of pestilence in your land?
Not a good scenario.
Now consider and decide
what answer I shall give
to him who sent me.
And David said to Gad,
and here it is,
I am in great distress.
Let us fall into the hand
of the Lord.
For his mercy is great,
but let me not fall
into the hand of man.
David knew that even
when he sinned,
he could trust the Lord,
who had always been good
and merciful and faithful,
to continue being good
and merciful and faithful.
Even when God was angry,
even when God was punishing sin,
David trusted that God
would be who he is.
God would continue
to show mercy.
God would continue
to show mercy
to the repentant.
In the case of David
taking the census,
God cuts short
the punishment.
And as far as we can tell
from the text,
it's exactly because
David was repentant.
All through his life,
David came to God
immediately and repented.
And this forms rather
a vivid example
of why David might be
a man after God's heart.
Because it wasn't
because he didn't sin,
because clearly he did.
David was a man
after God's heart
because he knew
who God is.
and because he learned
who God is.
Not to trust in God,
just in the knowledge
of God, excuse me.
Not just to trust
in the knowledge of God,
but trust in knowledge
of who he is
gained through experience.
Now I'll admit
something to you.
Up until now,
what I've told you
is very simple.
It's very ideal, maybe.
And maybe at its worst,
what I've said
is a little bit glib.
Because when you start
your Christian journey,
you say you have
just a little bit of faith
and you put it in Jesus
and he rewards that faith.
He forgives you.
Fantastic gift of God.
And as life goes on,
you learn to trust him more.
And as you trust him more
and put your trust in him,
he continues to be there for you.
And you continue
to gain more trust
and the cycle goes on
until presumably
you're a super Christian
and everything is good.
Same thing with mercy.
You learn to repent
and as you repent,
you learn that God forgives
and eventually repentance
will become second nature to you.
Now the problem
that I kept coming back to
as I read this chapter
over and over again this week
was that,
and maybe I'm a little bit jaded,
I don't know,
but as I read this chapter
over and over again,
I keep thinking to myself
that I have learned
over life,
that even a short life,
that the more you trust someone,
the more likely you are
to get seriously hurt.
And sometimes,
I'll face it,
I'll tell you right now,
I feel that way with God too,
that as if I trust God more,
there's more room
for disappointment.
When I was young,
I deeply trusted my parents
to shepherd me from event to event.
And I trusted them
to do it safely.
But eventually,
people always learn
that their parents
can't be completely trusted
with everything.
Some people learn it
long before they even
have solid memories
of their parents.
One of the times
that we were at this
tropical paradise river
with all the,
you know,
all the terraced pools,
we had finished
whatever we were doing
that day,
and my brother
and his friend
decided to run up
the path a little ways
to one of the higher pools,
the pools that were
further up.
And as they were coming back,
they were relayed
by a couple of guys
at knife point.
And for five or ten minutes,
they held my brother
and his friend there
and discussed
what to do with them.
And just before
they decided to rape
and probably worse,
my brother and his friend,
they said,
we should probably get going.
So they took their watches
and whatever else
they had and ran.
My parents
were not there.
Numerous times
I've learned
that I can't trust
my parents for everything.
Now you probably noticed too
that this psalm
is familiar somehow.
You may have heard
some of these words before
if you didn't know
exactly where
you've heard them
at another time.
As well as being
a psalm of David,
Psalm 22
is also
an uncanny prophecy
of Jesus' death
on the cross.
And frankly,
if we're talking
about what trust
in God looks like,
Jesus is not
the first example
I want to jump to.
Psalm 22
is not the first place
that I want to look.
And the reason
that I don't want
to jump straight to Jesus
is because
Jesus trusted in God
and he died.
So David trusted in God
and lived a long life.
He trusted over and over again
and was rewarded
over and over again.
Jesus was the very heart
of God
in human flesh,
not just after the heart
of God.
And he died
an early
and violent death.
So how do we reconcile
this?
A man after God's own heart
lives a long life
and the very
son of God
lives a short
violent life,
dies a short
violent death.
And what it looks like
to me is
two men trusting God.
One lives,
one dies.
Two men trusting God,
one is saved
and one is lost.
And if maybe that sounds
a little bit fishy to you,
it's because it is.
Because there's more
to it than that,
isn't there?
Jesus' death
meant something.
Jesus' death
had a deeper purpose.
So let's take a quick look
at what the two of them
said during their lifetimes,
Jesus and David.
So here's what David said.
This is what we just read.
Psalm 22,
verse 3.
Yet you,
God,
are holy
and throned
on the praises
of Israel.
Right?
And here is what Jesus said.
This is Matthew 26.
Again,
I have it open already.
I'll read it for you.
Matthew 26,
verse 39.
And going a little further
into the garden
of Gethsemane,
he fell on his face
and prayed,
saying,
My father,
if it is possible,
let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless,
not as I will,
but as you will.
And again,
a second time,
he went away
and prayed,
My father,
if this cannot pass from me
unless I drink it,
your will be done.
Both Jesus and David
knew God's character.
They both
recognized
who God is.
They both
knew what he was like.
They recognized
that God is not only faithful,
that God is not only
merciful,
but God is also
sovereign.
Part of what that means
is that God
is for his own glory.
He's not for
our comfort.
He's not for
our safety.
He is for his own glory.
He forgives
and he saves us
for his own glory.
We live
for his glory.
We live
so that
he will be praised,
not so that
we will be praised.
The entire
second half
of the Psalm 22
that we read earlier
is all about
praising God
for his glory.
Now,
God's sovereignty
puts an entirely
different spin,
a different light
on the question
that we had earlier.
What it means
to be a man
after God's own heart
is no longer
just about
putting faith
in a faithful God
in hard situations,
although,
of course,
we need to
bring our trouble
to God
in very specific
prayers sometimes.
Do you need
a car
to get to work?
We should pray
for that
and expect
God to do something.
Are you being
pestered at work,
mocked for your faith,
perhaps worse
than pestered?
We need to pray
about that.
God responds.
But
it's no longer
just about
trusting in the
mercy of God
and the goodness
of God.
It's also about
recognizing the
kingship of God,
which both
David and
Jesus did.
It's about
recognizing the
kingship of God
to the point
that his glory
becomes as important
to us
as it is to him.
It's about
trusting God's
faithfulness
to the point
that we can
not only say,
God, I need
your help
and expect him
to be there,
but getting to
the point
that our
faithfulness
also says,
not my will,
but your will
be done.
Now,
these words
are hard to say
and I recognize
that,
your will
be done,
not mine,
but whatever
faith you came
in with this
morning,
that's where
we start.
Probably most
of us aren't
at the place
where we can
say,
not my will,
but your will
be done
in every
situation.
But here's
a question,
can you trust
him for food
this week?
Can you trust
him for a job
for the rest
of the month?
Can you trust
him to forgive
you for being
snappy with
your neighbor
or your
roommate or
your wife or
husband this
morning?
That's where
we begin.
That's how we
get to know
God,
by trusting
him in his
faithfulness for
the things in
daily life,
for trusting
him for
forgiveness for
small things.
Eventually,
the larger
things come,
and ultimately
trusting him
in his
sovereignty,
that his
faithfulness will
be ultimately
for his
glory.
Now, if you
came this
morning and
you're thinking,
well, I don't
think I have
enough faith to
say, not
your will be
done, but
my, not my
will, but your
will be done,
you can start.
You can start
with what you
came.
If that means
that you have
enough to say,
okay, Jesus, I
have enough
faith in God
to start a
relationship, to
start putting my
trust in you,
that's enough.
So let's pray.
Father God, we
thank you that you
are faithful.
We thank you that
you are merciful.
And Father, we
thank you that in
whatever capacity
we have faith at
this moment, we
can trust you.
And Father, we
can trust that we
are not the
center of the
universe and
that you are.
We can trust
that you are
sovereign and
that we don't
have to worry
about it.
Father God, we
would like to
start today
putting our
trust in you.
Father, with
whatever we
have, we
have to start
putting our
trust in you.
And Father, we
thank you that
you sent Jesus
to make a way
to do that.
That we can
trust you for
forgiveness.
Father, we
thank you.
And we thank you
for Jesus.
And in his name,
amen.