SECRETS AND APPEARANCES

For the Lord does not SEE as man SEES;
for man looks at the OUTWARD APPEARANCE,
but the Lord looks at the HEART.
-I Samuel 16: 7

As we've discussed, Israel wanted a king because she was driven by fear, not faith. Fear comes from what we see (Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, they saw they were naked, so they were afraid and that's why they hid from God). Faith comes from seeing God, ourselves, and the world through God's eyes.

So, Israel wanted to put her trust in the strength of men by fixating upon the idea that a strong king could protect them and lead them into victory and prosperity. Maybe this is what they wanted:

... I don't know, maybe not. But if you read I Sam 9:2 and I Sam 10:23, then you might deduce that this is what they wanted. Saul was handsome and he was a head taller than any other man. He was everything they could want in a leader: good looking and a warrior that nobody would want to mess with.

Nevertheless, at the outset God warned them that he would give them a king that would make them regret ever asking in the first place: I Sam 8:9-18. But they don't listen and demand that they want a king anyway. Obviously they didn't really believe God, so why would they believe him now? Therefore, God gives them EXACTLY WHAT THEY ASKED FOR: one who outwardly appears to be a king... a superficial king to protect a superficial people from only what their eyes can see!! It's a combination for sheer disaster.

In any event, when David comes on the scene, he's the last one that even the prophet Samuel would have guessed to be king. This is why God tells Samuel not to look at the outward appearance. Yet, inwardly David is fit to be the king of God's nation. As a matter of fact there is a lot that is hidden about David.

• The first time he is mentioned in the scriptures, God alludes to him but doesn't mention his name: I Sam 13:14 -- this is when God rejects Saul as king and tells him that he has already chosen a man whose heart seeks after the heart of God. Of course, this is David he is talking about, but how would David have ever guessed that God was talking about him? He was just a boy out in the fields shepherding his father's flocks. But something about this boy had caught God's attention.
• He was the youngest of eight brothers, and in that culture the oldest son is the heir to the father, so the oldest is the most important. David is not even esteemed enough by his own father to be called into the house when the prophet Samuel asks to speak with all of his sons. They have to send for him to relieve him of his duties. Yet, God chooses David to be king. David's life was hidden from the eyes of men, but out there in the fields this boy caught God's attention with his heart of worship and his faithfulness... he didn't whine and complain about his lowly job, he did it as an act of worhship to God. When lions and bears came to steal or kill the sheep, he would fend them off with courage because he had the heart of a shepherd who cares for his sheep. He didn't have to do this when no one was watching him, but then again as it turns somebody was watching.
• If you read I Samuel 16, when Samuel goes to anoint David as king, he does so in secret. David is not anointed in public before the people of Israel, he is anointed in secret. Consider the fact that Saul's anointing was only outward. Whether someone is good looking or talented these are gifts that they were given, but it says nothing about their character or their heart. Outward anointing corrupts weak hearts, but the anointing that comes from a heart that loves God can make even the least likely candidates to rise with a kingly spirit.
• David had a secret place that He reserved for God alone. It was a place where he met with God and spoke with him face to face. Yes, he was alone in the fields when he watched his father's flocks, but this is not the secret place. It was a place hidden in his heart... and this is what caught God's attention.

What TIME Might It Be?

It seems that God was quite upset that Israel asked for a king. But does this mean that God never intended for Israel to have one? I suppose we could draw that conclusion since God did say that they had rejected him as king, and because "they wanted a king like all the other nations." However, we have discussed some of these issues in prior posts. It is probably more complex than a surface level glimpse can tell us.

I think a case can be made that says that God did plan to give Israel a king. Asking for a king was not evil in and of itself.

• Remember Deuteronomy 17: 14-20? God specifically discusses the rules for when Israel will have a king.
• First of all, God speaks these words to Moses... way before the days of Saul and David.
• Secondly, God doesn't say anything about "if you have a king", it just says "when.."
• Plus, if we go further back to the days of Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, God actually alludes to the fact that he will be the father of kings. Now, remember, Abraham struggled to believe God's promise that an entire nation of people would come from him because his wife, Sarah, couldn't have children (which, of course, led to Ishmael). So, it was profound that God was promising that kings would come from him.
• Furthermore, we know that the Messiah is a king. By the time Christ came, Israel was already looking for a messiah/king. God uses patterns in the old covenant to prepare us for the coming realities. First the natural, then the spiritual... There needed to be an earthly kingdom, so the heavenly king could come and possess the throne thereby uniting heaven and earth under HIS rule!

Therefore, scripture does support the idea that Israel was indeed meant to have an earthly king. So, why did God get so upset? As I mentioned before, we've discussed some of the reasons in the "National Security" series, but now we have another dilemma: How can Israel get in trouble with God for making a legitimate request?

Well, on top of the fact that Israel was being driven by fear and ultimately lack of faith, there was an equally important variable: timing. God's timing often differs from our timing. We are so much like our father, Abraham. (Go back and read in Genesis). He was given a promise by God, but he had serious trouble with believing God. So, he finally decides to help God out, and he takes a servant, Hagar, to have a son. This was an absolute disaster. The entire planet is still paying for that mistake to this day. Thus, Abraham's struggle of faith was in direct correlation with an inability to trust the timing of God. And, in the same way, Israel was demanding a king prematurely. Obviously, God had David in the incubator of kingship, but no one knew that at the time. So, little did Israel know, God was already intending to give them a king... this accords with Deuteronomy 17 because it was supposed to be God's choice anyway.

The bottom line is that we usually don't have enough patience with God. We demand what want when want it; yet, he knows that if we get the right thing at the wrong time, it's the wrong thing altogether!

National Security Pt. 3

What Kind of SIGHT Do You Have?


If you'll recall, we concluded in Part I that Israel's desire for a king was ultimately based upon FEAR.

Fear is based upon what we SEE.

This trend goes way back to the garden:

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" (Genesis 2:7).
Okay, so their eyes are OPENED. And then they hear God coming, so they freak out and hide as though GOD wouldn't know where they are. And what does Adam give as his excuse for hiding? "I was afraid." Thus, Adam and Eve were AFRAID BECAUSE their EYES were OPENED.

Were they blind before this? No, they used to see the world through God's eyes. But they have lost this kind of sight.

2 Corinthians 5: 7 says, "We walk by faith and not by sight."

If we only look at the evidence that we can we can physically see, then we have cause to be afraid. Israel continually found themselves in circumstances where they were face to face with nations that were BIGGER and STRONGER than they were. If they were to only observe these physical facts, then, yes, they had reason to fear. But God wanted them to observe those visible facts, and then say, "It doesn't matter because God is with me!"

A good example is Joshua and Caleb's report on the promised land. God (sends them into Canaan) with ten other spies to check it out... When they come back the other 10 spies say "We can't do it. They're humongous GIANTS! We're like grasshoppers compared to them. Forget it, they'll crush us." ((Numbers 13: 26-31). But Joshua and Caleb say, "No don't listen to them. We can do this. God has given it to us; we can do it!

So, what's the difference between them and the other ten spies? They all SAW the same FACTS, but somehow Joshua and Caleb have faith. Because they can see it through God's eyes.

National Security Pt. 2

NATIONAL INSECURITY

Why would Israel want a king?

Remember Egypt? Count 'em: not 1, not 2, not 3,but 4, that's right 400 years of slavery! Indeed, Israel knew what hard times were. The nice thing about a strong nation, which requires strong leadership, is that hard times are less likely. As Americans we experience this reality and yet we hardly realize or even appreciate the security and peace we possess.

Just read the book of Judges. This gives a great sense of instability... Israel would stray from God, and so He would allow other nations to oppress them. Read the story of Gideon and you'll see Israel impoverished. The other nations steal the crops they work so hard to grow. They live in caves and fear.

Read the book of Esther. Do you know what Esther saved the nation of Israel from? Genocide. The Jews were supposed to be completely destroyed... It's the same thing Hitler tried to do in World War II. Have you ever heard of Rwanda? Genocide occurred there in 1994. Have you ever heard of Darfur? While the U.N. debates, genocide is occurring there right now. Have you ever heard of Uganda? The tragedy that has resulted from an unstable government is incomprehensible.

Government is a good thing. As soon as it breaks down, danger bashes in the front door of our little comfortable homes. Just scroll around the BBC website link to Africa
and you'll notice the trend... the weaker the government, the scarier it gets. I think this is a good modern representation of the tribal wars and power struggles Israel was in the midst of when they demanded a king.
Vulnerable nations want security!

National Security Pt. 1

Initially, the elders give Samuel three reasons why they want a king:

1. Samuel is old; therefore, they need a new leader.


2. Samuel’s sons are not good leaders like he was:  they're corrupt.


3. They want a king like all the other nations.

Reasons 1 & 2 seem like pretty good reasons.
Of course, that might be all that it is:  good sounding lip service.

We have a tendency to justify things we want with pious, religious justifications.  But God knows the heart, and he knows our true motives.  Honestly, I don’t know.  They might have really been concerned… actually, I do think that there were elders who were genuinely concerned about the dangerous prospect of corrupt leaders considering they knew that devastation always came to the nation when there was a corrupt leader (just read the book of Judges).

I think the real reason actually has a lot more to do with Reason # 3.  They actually confess to this in verse 19 & 20 (I Samuel 8).

However, this is where things become complex.  They say they want a king like all the other nations.  And it is easy for us to view this through our American mindset and conclude that they just want to be like everybody else… they want to be cool… they’re just a bunch of followers.  But is it really that simple?  Do they really want a king BECAUSE they want to look like everybody else?  You see, the reason WHY is the most important thing for us to understand.  We are gravely mistaken to assume they’re just a bunch of wanna-be posers.

Actually, they finally fess up and say that they want a king so that he can fight their battles.  Now, we’re finally getting somewhere.  They wanted security; they wanted to be a strong nation so that they would no longer have to fear invaders.  In that day and time it would take a strong king to build a strong nation, and a strong nation was a safe nation.  Is it really so different today?  We were born into a very secure nation.  We have no idea what it is to be afraid.  I mean to be at the mercy of violent and aggressive invaders.  We hear a lot about terrorism, but we really have no idea of true terror.  Terror is a vast army of wild eyed men wielding swords and torches heading straight for your village when you are defenseless.  It is the terror of death stampeding and slaughtering everyone you ever loved.

Now, why did they want a king?  Because they were AFRAID!!!  And with good reason.

Does anybody have this comic book? 

We Want A KING! Is that so WRONG?

I Samuel 8 (THIS IS A LINK)

Samuel is getting old, so he appoints his sons to be the judges (or rulers) over Israel (verse 1).  The only problem is that they were corrupt, and they didn’t follow the ways of the Lord like Samuel.  So, the elders of Israel met with Samuel and said they want a real king.

Now, if you think about it, they had a legitimate point.  Samuel had been a good leader, but now they could see that their new leaders were going to lead them astray.  It’s easy to look back and judge Israel in retrospect.  But do we really know why they asked for a king?  And do we really know why God became upset with Israel for asking this?  Sure, we can say it is because “they rejected the Lord” verse 7.  But do we really know how they rejected the Lord.

I dare you to write out an answer as though you were a lawyer preparing to make a case.

• Why does God feel rejected?


• How have they rejected him?


• Define… give evidence… find some verses to back it up (if you use verse 7 that’s called a circular argument.)  Sure you can say that they just wanted to be like all the other nations (verse 5), but is this really the reason?

Think about it:  2 corrupt men were just appointed to lead Israel, but Israel wanted to be righteous!  They wanted someone like Samuel… That’s what the opposing lawyer will say to you when you give your case.  Do you have some good answers?  

Here’s another piece of evidence that might make things more difficult (or it might be a key to the answer):

I Samuel 10:25; Samuel explains the regulations for kings.  Now, if you bust out the concordance and look this up, you will find that Samuel was reading the regulations that came from Deuteronomy 17: 14-20; If you read this, then everything becomes more complicated because this means that way back in the days of Moses, God already said that Israel would one day have a king, and he tells them the rules for this king… he doesn’t say that it would be a sin to have a king.  Go figure!  Then why is God upset?  Why does he say that they have rejected him “that I should not reign over them” (I Samuel 8:8)?

Ouch!  It’s not so simple after all.  Life never is.  We have to dig deep if we want to know the whys.  Sorry Stories always give a surface level answer to the question “why?”  Life is boring if we live only on the surface.  But if we start asking why? we might begin to reactivate the sense of fascination and wonder that will rescue us from the clutches of boredom.  We might not always figure out the whys in life, but along the way we begin to see that things are way more intricate and profound than we would have imagined back in the day when we chose to just stay on the suran wrap surface of existence.

Introducing, Saul the Villain

Great adventure stories usually have a villain.  Maybe we’ve never thought of Saul in these terms, but it’s probably because we’ve never taken a close enough look.  Boring stories usually have flat characters… flat like a cardboard cut-out.  If you were to seek to know more about the character you’d find that there is no depth, and this ultimately leads to a boring story.

However, Saul is not one such character.  If we dig beneath the surface, we’ll find that there is more than meets the eye.  As a matter of fact, if we really want to understand David (as we’re seeking to do in this study), then it is crucial that we understand Saul.  This will become evident as we progress… just remember Saul’s villainy far surpasses his own life.  Long after he is dead, David still has to deal with an arch-villain:  it is the Saul that lives within his own soul.  Hence, if we want to know David, we need to know his enemy.

11/9/05 discussion questions

I SAMUEL 8: 6-22

• Why do they want a king so badly?


• How does God feel about their request for a king?


• Why do you think God feels this way?


• What does God say about the king he will give them?


• Why do you think God is going to give them a king like this?

I SAMUEL 9: 1-2

• What is said about Saul in this passage?


• Why would the Bible record this?  What does it have to do with anything?


• I SAMUEL 10: 23-24 – cross reference and connect! That’s how it works!


• BONUS:  verse 25 God explains the “regulations of the kingship”  What are these regulations?  HiNt:  you can’t just make them up, they are actually in the Bible somewhere… MUCH wIsDom TO YOU will COMe IF find the VERSEs YoU DO.

I SAMUEL 13: 13-14

• Saul is rebuked for disobeying.  Why?

I SAMUEL 15: 1-9

• What is Saul commanded to do?


• What does he do?


• Why does he do or not do this?


• Hint:  the ReAson is in this chapter but you’ll have to read the whole thing to FiGuRe it out…


• When does he finally fess up?  Is there anything significant about this?

The Sure Mercies of David

Covenant = strong promise
God made a covenant with:
Adam
Noah
Abraham
Moses
Now, God makes a covenant with David!

2 Samuel 7: 12-16

12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love [mercy] will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' "

• What man lives forever?  v.13 and 14 God is talking about his son, Jesus.  He is the one who will succeed David as an heir and he will most definitely live forever.  Isaiah 9:6&7 describes the coming Christ:  Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given... Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father... he will reign forever on David's throne!  How could David ever have guessed what he was in for?

• Verse 13 God is saying that David's house and God's house will become one!  This sounds like the original purpose for which God created Adam... to rule and reign upon the earth as a perfect representation of the very image of God.  All along God has wanted to unite with man.  He wants to infuse himself into His creation.  Eph 5 talks about the union of man and wife in marriage, but then Paul reveals that he is really talking about Christ and the church.  What kind of mystery is this?  Incomprehensible.  God has made a covenant with a man named David, and he has promised that He will give him a son that will step off of his throne in heaven and enter into the loins of David's off-spring (both Mary and Joseph were direct descendants of King David).  The creator left behind heavenly glory where myriads upon myriads of angels were worshipping him and he stepped into the realm of dust that we call earth so that he could redeem the broken fellowship of Adam.  He wants to rule over creation not merely as God, but as a MAN!!  He is the man, Christ Jesus.

• Verse 15 God will never remove his mercy.  Does the law show mercy?  No.  Here, David is operating under the new covenant 1,000 years before Christ will walk the earth. Isaiah 55:3; alludes to this covenant by calling it "the sure mercies of David."  If you keep reading chapter 55, then you'll see that God is not like us at all for he shows mercy where we would crucify.  He says that even the wicked and unrighteous can be forgiven if they will just call upon His name. This is a radically different promise than the promise given to Moses.  James says if we break one part of the law, we break the whole law.  So, if we are jealous or covetous, we are also breaking the same law that says thou shall not murder.  It is just as bad.  It is all sin. And sin is imperfection, therefore, we have blown our chances of getting to heaven (if we operate under this covenant).  We must understand the people of Israel were founded upon the covenant of Moses.  But Jeremiah 31 states:

 31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD,        "when I will make a new covenant        with the house of Israel        and with the house of Judah.  32 It will not be like the covenant        I made with their forefathers        when I took them by the hand        to lead them out of Egypt,        because they broke my covenant,        though I was a husband to them, "        declares the LORD.  33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel        after that time," declares the LORD.        "I will put my law in their minds        and write it on their hearts.        I will be their God,        and they will be my people.

Hence, the law will no longer be written on tablets of stone, God will write it upon the hearts of his people through the Spirit of His Son, Christ Jesus, and He will empower us to do his will.  We will really love him, and we will no longer operate under the law that was never intended to bring life.    

First things First

The great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And the second one is just like it: love your neighbor as yourself.

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said that if we would only seek the Kingdom of God FIRST, then everything else would follow. Basically, put first things first. Don't major on the minors. This is a subtlty that makes no sense to the heart that does not genuinely love to worship God.

David reveals in Psalm 27:4 the ONE GREAT GOAL of his life. It is the ONE THING that he wants more than anything else to make sure he is doing: seeking to be as near to God as possible. This one focus will always keep him on the path. He knew that he must always seek to have the one preoccupation of his life and mind to be set upon God. David was a busy man being a king and all. His kingdom was large and his responsibilities were great. He was not saying that the way to holiness would be to lock himself away and do nothing but to pray and focus on God all day and night. No, he was instead saying that even though he has so many things to do and deal with, his one goal is to remain first and foremost preoccupied with God. He might get distracted, but as soon as he realized it, he would redirect his attention to God.

As Christians God wants us to live in this world and deal with the day to day responsibilities of life. He wants us to be fully alive, and he wants us to do this by living in constant connection with God. Certainly we need our times alone with God where we can bathe in the glory of his light, but life on this earth is something God wants us to embrace and not run away from. David knew well those moments of glory in worship when it seems that everything fades away and heaven becomes so real, but his goal was not to escape into that state of being. Instead, he wanted to be so close to God that in his busiest and most difficult days where he has no other choice but to grapple with the world, even then he is so connected with God in worship that heaven is right there with him. This is the purpose of God: bringing heaven onto the earth. "Your kingdom come and your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven." We are here for a reason! And that is to actually bring the kingdom of God into our world.

What is it that God Wants?!!

God is tough to figure out! For sure, He is not like us. We tend to be most concerned with appearances and what is most visible. But God tells Samuel, the prophet, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7).

Interestingly enough, God was talking about David when he said this. Yet, David has not even appeared on the scene. Back in chapter 13 verse 14 God says that he has rejected Saul and instead chosen another king who is a man after God's own heart. God was talking about David here, too. And as we can see, God places a high value on the heart. So, before David even walks onto the biblical scene we know one thing that Almight God has made sure to declare: David has the kind of heart that God esteems.

Thus, we know that God wants people's hearts. He esteems this more than anything else. It is not about our performance or our outward appearance... we can say all the right things and go through all the religious motions and yet our hearts can still be so very far from God.

13 The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men. (Isaiah 29)

Yet, God truly longs for our hearts and He wants us to genuinely desire him. Jesus said in John 4:24 that the father is seeking (looking for, searching for, earnestly desiring) those who will worship him in "spirit and truth." In short, God doesn't just want our minds, he doesn't want our lip service, rather he wants our affections and our desires... He WANTS our HEARTS!

Where did David get his IDEAS?

Before David, no one talked about God the way he did with such imagery and poetic language. Where did he get it from? First, I think he got it from scriptures and then as he worshipped and prayed in the fields, I believe God gave him revelation

His early influences. What did he meditate on scripturally? What captured his imagination and stirred his desires for God?

• The life of Moses. Especially Moses’ relationship with God. I believe David wanted a face to face relationship with God like Moses had. David was especially fascinated with Ex33, where Moses is allowed to behold God’s glory. I believe this was a major spiritual goal of David. He sang often of God as his Rock. I believe the primary source of this word came from his meditations of Moses being hidden in the cleft of the rock as the Lord passes by.

• I believe he meditated about the tabernacle and the arc of the covenant often, also. He truly desired to build a place for the Lord to dwell in. He knew in his heart that the Lord intended for Israel to not just wander around but to possess the promised land and dwell there. David felt that God’s intention was to build a temple for himself at the center of Israel and not just remain in a tent.

• Also the songs of Moses, I am sure David sang them often. He was a musician. It is only natural that these were probably of great significance to David. Plus, the book of Job has some amazing things to say about God and his creation, so I am sure he employed this language in his meditations, prayers, and songs of praise.

Psalms he wrote as a boy

Some other Psalms he wrote as a young boy in the fields while he watched his father's flocks: Psalm 23 (the most famous psalm)-- I'll bet he was only 12 or 13 years old when he "wrote" it, some of psalm 2, psalm 8, and some of psalm 139, psalm 19, psalm 29.

For each descriptive word about God that David grazed upon in his psalms, he probably had a wealth of knowledge to describe. For instance, when David spoke of God’s justice or faithfulness, he was only listing the table of contents of all the he could say about God. He probably had so many things to say about the different attributes of God. Ps 36 he only references them.

David, the Young Musician

David was in love with God as a boy. He would frequently sing and pray as he was out in the fields with his father’s flocks. He loved God and explored his beauty. He saw God in the sun, the fields, the hills, the skies, the stars, the sheep… He allowed his heart to be romanced by the Lord. He saw God’s creation as a love song. He perceived God as a lover. He became a student of God’s emotions truly desiring to know how God felt about the world of men. He wanted to know God, and be with God.

Psalm 19. Romance. It’s you again oh God. Do you never tire? The beauty of your creation and its ever continual cycle is like you and your never ending pursuit. Every day you paint the sky with color and fill the earth with warmth and light all in the attempt to woo my heart. It’s your love song to me (v.19:4 uses the word "line" in the original text, which is a lot like a guitar string - it's music)!

The POWER of David's Life

The power of David’s life was in that he was a lover of God. He was an intimate lover and worshipper. His desire was to know God and find out more of what he is like. He searched the knowledge of God. He wanted to be near him in house (Ps23, Ps27, Ps24). Even in the natural he did everything he could to build a home for God, but it started long before in the hills of Bethlehem where he made a home for God in his heart.

David had a secret place not only in the hills and the woods, but hidden in his heart. It was a secret place that he kept alive so that he could commune with the Lord there. His "one thing" was to be with God. He was like Mary. He preferred to sit at the Lord’s feet. He said “I will not offer that which cost me nothing.”

David's song about creation

Psalm 19
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard. [a]

4 Their voice [b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,



5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.