Sunday, January 2, 2011

NEW YEAR’S EVE
December 31, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 1 Samuel 13:13-14

“LORD, MAKE ME A (WO)MAN AFTER YOUR HEART!”

1 Samuel 13:13-14 (NIV) “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. 14 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.”

Now there’s a man after my own heart! It’s a phrase we have. It shows our approval when someone likes what we like. So if someone likes the same food as I do, pizza, loaded with all the toppings, I would say, “Now there’s a man after my own heart.” The phrase expresses endearment and approval. David is called a man after the Lord’s own heart. You heard it in the Scripture reading. When Saul disobeyed God by offering the sacrifices Samuel was supposed to make, he showed his lack of trust in God’s promises. God had Samuel announce, “But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart.” That man was David. A man after the Lord’s heart. “How can it be?” we ask. And then as the children of God who desire His endearment and approval we further ask, “How can that be me?” As we stand at the transition point from one year to another and do that New Year’s thing we do of looking back and looking ahead, I offer this to you as a New Year’s prayer, “Lord make me, a man—or woman—after your own heart.
Let’s go back now through our readings and see what it means to be after the Lord’s heart. What is it that has God’s approval? What is that endears His people to Him? First we see that a man after the Lord’s own heart is zealous for God’s honor and trusts Him to act. That’s what we saw in the young David, right? It started when he was a boy, tending his father’s sheep. He trusted the Lord to help him against bears and lions. Then came the showdown with Goliath. Look again at David’s words. “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” Then he goes up against a 9 foot tall armored giant with only a sling and some stream bed stones. He trusted the Lord to save and he was zealous that God get the honor.
There’s more we can learn from David. Did you notice how he handled a problem with his authority? That event occurred when Saul was unjustly pursuing David to try to kill him even though David had been a faithful servant to Saul. An opportunity arose to take Saul out when Abishai and David sneaked into Saul’s camp when all were asleep. What would David do? The world’s way would be to take Saul out. Notice again David’s response. But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed.” Once again David showed trust in the Lord to take care of things and obedience to God’s commands.
As you look back to 2010 I’m sure you can identify battles you had to fight. Perhaps there were problems at work or in a relationship. Maybe it was with health. How did you handle them? Did you rely on your own wise ways? Did you fight fire with fire? And why did you want those battles won? For your peace and honor or so that the Lord would get the glory? How are you dealing with authorities God has placed over you in government, work, home? Have you been giving less than faithful service, maybe trying to take someone out? Or like David, do you see that you can never obey the 4th Commandment too well or trust God too much to take care of things at the right time and in His way? If you see too much me when you look back, rejoice that we have a repentance service tonight and pray, “Lord make me a man after your own heart in 2011.”
Understand then that being a man or woman after the Lord’s own heart does not mean that you are going to be perfect but it does mean that you will be repentant. That’s what the next period of David’s life shows us. We can struggle a bit with thinking of David as a man after the Lord’s own heart because we know what happened after Goliath. Adultery, deceit, murder. What happened? Did David get complacent in his mid life? Did he forget how God dependent he was? We don’t know. We do know he was where he wasn’t supposed to be. In spring when kings go to war David sent out his army and stayed behind. He peeked at a woman and instead of turning away he lusted after her. Then more. Adultery. Then more. He tried to cover up his sin. Murder. Doesn’t seem like much of a man after the Lord’s heart. He was not perfect. He sinned against God.
But the story of David’s life doesn’t end with the cover up. God loved David and sent Nathan the prophet to him. He exposed David’s sin and rebuked him. Now let’s look at David’s response. Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” David repented. He received God’s forgiveness. He humbly accepted the consequence that the son born to him and Bathsheba would not live. David could do that because of great David’s greater Son. You know who that is, don’t you? It’s Jesus. David only knew him as the Messiah who would come. Faith in that Messiah, Jesus, which is part of repentance, enabled David to believe that God had forgiven him and the effects of the earthly consequence for his sin would not last into eternity. David would get to see his son again because of Jesus.
As you look back at 2010 you see that you were not perfect. You fell into sins that you knew were wrong. Perhaps like David you tried to cover them up. Hopefully you are not still playing that game. There’s only one thing that really covers over sin and that’s the blood of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness He has won. God loves you. Did He send you a Nathan to rebuke you, some knock aside the head with a 2 X 4 to lead you to repentance? If so, thank the Lord for that. For a man or a woman after the Lord’s own heart is not someone who is perfect by themselves. They are perfect in Christ and they are repentant. Taking ownership for our sin, in sorrow turning to Jesus for forgiveness and then in gratefulness, turning away from sin and trying to make things right.
As we look again at the life of David, the man after the Lord’s own heart, we see that a man or woman after the Lord’s own heart strives to do better. David’s great fall seemed to come at a time when he became complacent with his role as leader of God’s people, perhaps thinking he was too strong to fall. He learned and as we follow the rest of David’s life which had many hardships we don’t see a perfect man but one who stays God dependent and tried to make things better, not for himself but for others. Listen again to his charge to his son Solomon. “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, 3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” Walk in the ways of the Lord. Keep His decrees and commands. That’s good advice isn’t it? What an awesome country we would have if this kingly advice was followed. Is it good enough to be followed by you? Remember how David fell? Spiritual complacency and self dependence. As you look back at 2010 did you put your faith life on auto pilot? Did you go places you shouldn’t have trusting in your own strength? Are there some decrees or commands of God you feel free to ignore? Lord, make me a man after your own heart. Help me strive to do better.
And as people who know that it is God who must work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure we are making a good start. We are gathered in His house to express our repentance and get His strength. Let’s follow through when we leave. And may that great God who gave us His Son Jesus make you and me a man or woman after His heart. Amen.

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