The New Armor of Saul: When Psychology Replaces Scripture

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We need you.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Place my identity Down at the feet of Jesus Christ Lay down who I want to be Here in my death I find new life This jar of alabaster My worship like perfume To show who I am after I'm out
[00:01:00] I don't wanna give less than my whole heart Take this borrowed breath on my life now I will pour out my praise till the end of my days I'm no longer the same, I'm all yours now
[00:01:34] I place all my victories Down at the feet of Jesus Christ Lay down all my defeats Oh, here in my death I find new life This jar of vile bastard My worst supply

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I will pour out my praise till the end of my life

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
You don't need my sacrifice You don't need my gifts And you don't need my offering But still I bring Another song of worship Your praises won't dry out Like rain is to the ocean I am pouring out

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Jesus is the sacrifice, what a precious gift He's the one and final offering And now I'm His, I will not give you less Let my whole heart take this borrowed breath
[00:04:05] Let's pray.
[00:05:27] God is faithful to His word Even when there seems no way Though time may pass His memory will not fade His promises will not fade
[00:05:56] The Word of God.
[00:06:30] God is gracious when I doubt He draws me though I retreat Though I may wander through the wilderness He goes with me
[00:06:54] Gracious He has been, gracious He will be What I don't deserve, the Father gives to me Where He leads my feet, I shall not want or need Gracious He has been, gracious He will be
[00:07:39] Let us pray.
[00:08:04] Holy is the Lord, who reigns in majesty, worthy He has been
[00:08:39] All my hope is in the Lord my God Oh, He is my sustainer, merciful redeemer All my hope is in the Lord my God Oh, He is my provider
[00:09:08] All my hope is in the Lord my God
[00:09:33] Holy is the Lord who reigns in majesty Worthy he has been

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
of the Holy Spirit.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Y'all should ring that.
[00:11:13] That would be fun.
[00:11:15] Good morning.
[00:11:18] Welcome to Center Church.
[00:11:21] I'd love to hear the voices.
[00:11:24] Can anyone else feel since Thanksgiving's coming?
[00:11:28] Christmas is coming.
[00:11:29] Holidays are coming.
[00:11:31] Y'all cannot, but you will soon.
[00:11:33] We're so glad you're here.
[00:11:37] Welcome.
[00:11:37] It's so good to be together.
[00:11:39] We can worship God.
[00:11:39] We worship him freely.
[00:11:41] And again, just so thankful you and your family are here.
[00:11:45] Bathrooms to my right, to your left.
[00:11:47] You go out the back door around the sidewalk.
[00:11:50] There's bathrooms, mom's cry room.
[00:11:52] is in this building next door if anytime you need to get up and get out please feel free to do so also in your bulletin there will be prayer cards we would invite you if someone could hold one of those up that has it I didn't bring one up there you go
[00:12:06] Prayer cards please put something on there if you have a need and we all do put something on there at least put your name so our group we the group prays on Tuesday can lift you up your needs up those are definitely prayed for but we'd love to know that you are here very important announcement Jim I want to invite you to stand or come up forward and tell us about the Thanksgiving meal that you're going to be having a group meet after church

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
This Christmas, my wife and I are part of NeighborHope.com.
[00:12:45] It's an organization that was started a long time ago by
[00:13:08] Thank you.
[00:13:19] Such a great concept and such a great idea for your five.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
You know, the five that we write and that Logan has right now, a perfect place, I think, to invite
[00:13:38] Some of those folks, I'm sure some are neighbors, but thank you, Jim.
[00:13:42] Also, last week will be next week.
[00:13:44] Christmas boxes are next week for Operation Christmas Child.
[00:13:50] Groups are working this week to help with the boxes, but if you still have one, it's not too late.
[00:13:55] Bring it next week.
[00:13:56] We would love to have that.
[00:13:59] As we come into this morning's service, we want to ask you to take a moment to consider
[00:14:04] How we come into this space, we all come in from different places and different things going on in our lives.
[00:14:10] What are we bringing into this moment?
[00:14:12] Our joys, our sorrows, our excitement, our anxieties.
[00:14:15] Let us take just a moment to consider as we begin worship.
[00:14:29] Know that the Lord sees you.
[00:14:32] He knows your heart.
[00:14:34] And however you have come into this space, He wants you to encounter Him today.
[00:14:39] He is calling us to worship Him.
[00:14:44] Let us stand together as we recite together the call to worship.
[00:14:48] It'll come from Psalm 33, and I will read where it says, Leader, and we'll read together, People.
[00:14:58] It reads, Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous.
[00:15:02] It is fitting for us to praise Him, for the word of the Lord is right and true.
[00:15:08] He is faithful in all He does.
[00:15:13] The Lord loves righteousness and justice.
[00:15:16] The earth is full of His unfailing love.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We wait in hope for the Lord.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
He is our help and our shield.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.
[00:15:37] Let us pray as we open this service.
[00:15:39] Father God, we commit this time to you.
[00:15:42] We thank you, Lord, that we can worship you and give you praise.
[00:15:46] For all, Lord, that goes on in our lives, we just lay down at the altar all that's on our hearts, our minds, our worries, our anxieties, our hopes, and our fears.
[00:15:56] For Lord, we can trust in you and we are here to worship you.
[00:15:59] May everything we do and say be to your glory and honor.
[00:16:02] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
No other God can be called a Father No other God can be called a Friend No other God can be called Redeemer No other God's coming again
[00:16:47] We love your name, Jesus, you're the beautiful one We love your name And how we love your name, Jesus, you're the beautiful one We love your name
[00:17:17] No other God can be called a Father No other God can be called a Friend
[00:17:38] No other God can be called redeemed No other God's coming back again And how we love your name Jesus, you're the beautiful one We love your name
[00:18:09] We love Your Name Jesus You're the Beautiful One We love Your Name And how we love You King of Peace How we love You Lord of Lords How we love You Jesus
[00:18:39] We love the fragrance of your holy name You came and brought us into the reign of grace We love the fragrance of your holy name
[00:19:10] You came and brought us into the rain of grace We love the fragrance of your holy name You came and brought us into the rain of grace
[00:19:30] We love the fragrance of your holy name You came and brought us into the reign of grace And we give glory to the righteous one And we give glory
[00:20:01] We give glory to the righteous one.
[00:20:30] We give glory to the righteous one.
[00:20:31] Righteous One How we love your name Jesus, you're the beautiful one We love your name How we love your name Jesus, you're the beautiful one
[00:21:00] We love your name How we love you King of kings How we love you You Lord of lords How we love you, Jesus You're the King of kings

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
How we love you, Lord of lords.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Your presence is all that I need.
[00:22:24] It's all I want and all I seek.
[00:22:27] And without it, without it there's no meaning.
[00:22:29] Your presence is the air I breathe As long as I see the love I need And without it, without it I'm not made I will exalt You, Lord I will exalt You
[00:22:58] I will exalt you Lord I will exalt you Lord I will exalt you Lord No other name can be
[00:23:24] Lifted high.
[00:23:52] Your presence is all I need.
[00:23:53] It's all I want and all I seek in the valley.
[00:23:55] Without it there's no meaning Your presence is the air I breathe The song I sing, the love I need And without it, without it I'm not living So I will exalt you
[00:24:25] I will exalt you Lord There is no one like you God I will exalt you Lord I will exalt you Lord
[00:24:52] No other name can lift it high What name can lift it high?
[00:25:21] There will be no one like you No one beside you You alone are worthy of all praise There will be no one like you
[00:25:50] No one beside you alone are worthy of all praise And there will be no one like you No one beside you alone
[00:26:26] There will be no one like you, no one beside you, alone are worthy of all praise.
[00:26:54] I will exalt you, and I will exalt you, Lord.
[00:26:55] I will exalt you, Lord.
[00:27:05] And I will exalt you, Lord I will exalt you, Lord Your earth may be lifted high There will be no one like you
[00:27:33] No one beside you alone worthy of all praise There will be no one like you No one beside you alone
[00:28:03] I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my prayers
[00:28:27] You will all I long to worship You will all offer me Oh I will give You all my worship I will give
[00:28:51] I will give you all my praise You alone, Jesus, I long to worship You alone, offer me up my praise I will give you all my worship
[00:29:18] I will give you all my praise You alone, Jesus, I long to worship You alone are worthy of my praise

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Let us go to God in prayer.
[00:29:52] Father God, you alone, God, are holy and perfect in all your ways.
[00:30:00] Lord, before you, all things are laid bare, our desires, our motives, our ways that are hidden.
[00:30:08] And yet, God, in your love and mercy, you draw near to us.
[00:30:12] Through the power of your Spirit, Lord, that has worked within us, awaken that which is dead.
[00:30:17] Stir that which is dormant and reveal that which is broken.
[00:30:22] Search us, O God, and know our hearts.
[00:30:24] Test us and know our anxious thoughts.
[00:30:27] Reveal the places where we have wandered from your ways and have spoken and acted in a manner not reflective of your love.
[00:30:35] See if there are any offensive ways in us and lead us in the way everlasting.
[00:30:40] We come to you now, Father, in confession.
[00:30:43] Trusting that the same Spirit that convicts us also will restore and renew us.
[00:30:48] Have mercy on us, we pray.
[00:30:50] Please take a moment now to confess to God.
[00:31:21] Let us confess together now on the screen.
[00:31:24] Let us read together.
[00:31:27] Merciful God, you made us in your image, with a mind to know you, a heart to love you, and a will to serve you.
[00:31:38] But our knowledge is imperfect, our love is not constant, our obedience incomplete.
[00:31:47] In your tender love, forgive us.
[00:31:52] In reading now from Micah chapter 7 verse 18 to 20, who is a God, the Lord, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of his people?
[00:32:13] He does not stay angry forever but delights to show mercy.
[00:32:18] He will again have compassion on us.
[00:32:20] He will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all iniquities into the depths of the sea.
[00:32:27] He will be faithful to us as He pledged on earth in days long ago.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Amen.
[00:32:39] Now we're going to respond in faith by collecting our offering.
[00:32:44] And I want to share a little bit about our vision as a church.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We say every week that we are making room for everyone to experience joyful, life-transforming connection to Jesus and his people.
[00:33:11] It's one thing to have a mission statement it's another thing to actually live out the mission of God in our daily lives and so the last few weeks I've had this card in our bulletin that says my list of five and the idea here is that we would begin thinking about where God has put us the people that God has placed around us who don't know him people who maybe don't have a community of faith a church that they belong to and realize that God hasn't done anything by accident
[00:33:43] And so I've been invited us to think of these five people and to write their names out on a list.
[00:33:48] You actually write the same thing twice on this card and turn one half of it in so I can pray with you for these people.
[00:33:56] I've been really excited to hear some of the stories already from the last few weeks.
[00:34:01] I encourage everyone to share with one of your five people this week how you're praying for yourself and invite if there's a way I could pray for you as well.
[00:34:11] I had a great conversation with a friend of mine about his family and his desire for prayer for one of his kids.
[00:34:19] I want us to keep praying for these people, and this week I've got another challenge to put out there, another way to think about this.
[00:34:26] We are having a Thanksgiving meal after church on Sunday.
[00:34:30] I always love having meals together, but the Thanksgiving one is always interesting to me because I know in a few days we're going to have Thanksgiving again.
[00:34:42] Well, this is going to be different than that meal.
[00:34:44] I want to encourage you to view this as an opportunity to bring a friend, bring a neighbor to experience community, not just the church service.
[00:34:54] Think if there's somebody on this list that you might want to bring with you to our Thanksgiving table here.
[00:35:01] And if that's a little too forward for you, maybe invite them to the one that you're going to on Thursday.
[00:35:08] Invite them to your house to come over and join you for your meal.
[00:35:12] Show them what it means to live a life of gratitude before the Lord.
[00:35:20] Well, I want to extend that challenge to you and I encourage you to turn in the bottom half of this list as you leave and I'll continue to pray with you.
[00:35:29] And I want to invite us all now to continue our worship as we stand and sing our next song.

[00:35:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
This is a new song, so don't feel insecure if you don't know all the lyrics.
[00:35:52] If you guys want to just listen to the first little bit of this.
[00:35:55] and just take it in.
[00:35:57] This song has really impacted me in just my desire for my heart to only have one focus and that's for Him and to worship Him for my whole life to just echo that.
[00:36:10] So this is really simple and repetitive but as you start to catch on and your heart starts to catch on to these words if you want to just sing it with me.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Oh, I want Jesus Oh, I want Him Oh, only Jesus Take this world and give me Him
[00:37:07] Oh, I want Jesus Oh, I want Him Oh, I want Jesus Take this world and give me Him
[00:37:35] No more mixture, give me the God of Scripture No more idols or lesser loves No substitute will ever do There's nothing more I'll ever pursue
[00:38:06] Holy Jesus Holy Jesus Take this world and give me faith
[00:38:42] Holy Jesus take this world and give me here And I surrender until my heart grows tender You will be my treasure and my greatest call
[00:39:15] We'll never do, there's nothing wrong with us
[00:39:40] Holy Jesus, take this world and fill me in.
[00:40:02] Isn't He enough?
[00:40:14] Isn't He enough?
[00:40:17] Jesus is everything All that I ever need Isn't He enough?
[00:40:23] Isn't He enough?
[00:40:23] Jesus my King of Kings You satisfy me Isn't He enough?
[00:40:51] Isn't He enough?
[00:40:51] Jesus is everything All that I ever need Isn't He enough?
[00:40:52] Isn't He enough?
[00:40:53] Jesus my King of Kings
[00:40:53] Kings, all that I'll ever need.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Oh, I want Jesus.
[00:41:20] Oh, I want Him.
[00:41:21] Oh, only Jesus.

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Take this world and give me heaven.
[00:41:41] Take this world and give me heaven.
[00:41:42] Take this world and give me heaven.

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Jesus has given us peace with God and he's also given us peace with one another and so we want to take this moment in our service to extend the peace of Christ to one another and at this time our kids are dismissed for children's church

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Pop pop pop, check check.

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
.
[00:43:02] .
[00:43:02] .

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
If you will join with me as we sing the doxology.
[00:43:33] Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Praise Him all creatures here below.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts.

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Our scripture passage this morning is from 1 Samuel chapter 17, selections from the first 40 verses.
[00:44:21] Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Succoth in Judah.
[00:44:29] A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp.
[00:44:34] His height was six cubits and a span.
[00:44:37] Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why do you come out and line up for battle?
[00:44:43] Am I not a Philistine?
[00:44:45] And are you not the servants of Saul?
[00:44:48] Choose a man and have him come down to me.
[00:44:50] If he's able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects.
[00:44:54] But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.
[00:45:00] On hearing the Philistines' words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
[00:45:07] For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
[00:45:13] Now Jesse said to his son David, Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
[00:45:21] Take along these 10 cheeses to the commander of their unit.
[00:45:24] See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.
[00:45:28] Early in the morning, David left the flock in his care of a shepherd and loaded up and set out.
[00:45:34] As Jesse had directed, he reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
[00:45:42] David asked the men standing near him, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?
[00:45:50] Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
[00:45:57] When Eliab, David's older brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, Why have you come down here?
[00:46:04] And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness?
[00:46:07] I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is.
[00:46:10] You came down only to watch the battle.
[00:46:13] Now, what have I done?
[00:46:15] said David.
[00:46:16] Can't I even speak?
[00:46:18] He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before,
[00:46:23] What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
[00:46:28] David said to Saul, Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine.
[00:46:32] Your servant will go and fight him.
[00:46:35] Saul replied, You're not able to go out against the Philistine and fight him.
[00:46:39] You're only a young man, and he's been a warrior from his youth.
[00:46:43] But David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep.
[00:46:48] When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it.
[00:46:52] Struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.
[00:46:56] When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
[00:47:00] Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear.
[00:47:03] This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God.
[00:47:09] The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.
[00:47:16] Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you.
[00:47:20] Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic
[00:47:23] He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
[00:47:28] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them.
[00:47:34] I cannot go in these, he said, because I'm not used to them.
[00:47:37] So he took them off.
[00:47:39] Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in his pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand approached the Philistine.
[00:47:52] All flesh is like grass, and its beauty is like the flowers of the field.
[00:47:59] The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.
[00:48:05] You can be seated.
[00:48:07] Let's pray.
[00:48:10] Lord, as we open your word this morning, God, I ask that you might speak to us.
[00:48:15] This passage is so familiar, known around the whole world, but Lord,
[00:48:21] Speak fresh and new every time we open your word.
[00:48:25] You promised that it is a double-edged sword, that it cuts to the heart.
[00:48:30] And so, God, we come to you now in a posture of receiving.
[00:48:34] We come, God, asking that you might enable us to lay aside the worries of our lives, trust you with them for the next few moments.
[00:48:45] We pray, God, that we could continue worshiping you and that you'd meet us here.
[00:48:50] In Christ's name, amen.
[00:48:54] Well, David is a unique figure in all of Scripture, really, and that's because not only do we have this book that tells us the actions and the stories of his life, but we also have more than 70 psalms that show us all about his heart.
[00:49:14] that reveal the depths of his interior life before the Lord that means there's really nobody else like him where scripture just gives us so much insight not only into what he did but also into who he was how he prayed how he related to God he was a person who had a healthy heart before the Lord
[00:49:40] And one of my favorite authors is Peter Scazzaro.
[00:49:45] He's written a bunch of books on Christian discipleship, about emotionally healthy Christianity.
[00:49:51] And the tagline for all those books is that it is impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.
[00:50:02] It's impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.
[00:50:09] Now, as David kind of enters the scene in 1 Samuel 16, we get to see a picture of that.
[00:50:17] We get to see this healthy discipleship on display.
[00:50:20] Now, David was a flawed person.
[00:50:22] He was a sinful human being just like everyone else, but he is also called a man after God's own heart.
[00:50:31] And here we're going to discover that David, that meant he was not simply some religious guy who did great things for God, but he was a man who allowed his relationship with God to permeate and transform his emotional life, his inner life as well.
[00:50:51] And so that's what we're going to do this morning.
[00:50:53] Before we get into the big battle with Goliath, we're saving that for next Sunday, we're first going to look at
[00:51:01] David's heart as he's heading into this battle we're gonna look at these couple of moments and hopefully find some space to examine our own lives and and hopefully discover exactly the kind of freedom that the gospel can bring to us not just in our outward behaviors but in our interior lives as well okay so so here's what we're gonna do we're gonna break this down under three headings we're gonna talk about first David's response to criticism
[00:51:30] Then I want to talk about David's response to expectations.
[00:51:34] And then thirdly, I want to talk about how we can become like him.
[00:51:39] Okay, so we'll start with David's response to criticism.
[00:51:43] Everybody knows the story of David and Goliath, right?
[00:51:46] It's all around the world.
[00:51:50] I almost think that for our modern audiences, it's really these moments heading into the battle that might be even more important for us to study than the things that come next.
[00:52:04] And especially, we start with this first instance.
[00:52:07] I want to kind of zoom in on this moment, David's interaction with his eldest brother Eliab.
[00:52:15] So we just read the setup, right?
[00:52:17] David's father has told him to go out and visit the battlefield, and he wants him to take with him some provisions, some food for his older brothers.
[00:52:28] He had seven older brothers, we learned last week.
[00:52:31] and as David is arriving he hears this battle cry he hears Goliath's challenge to the people and he turns and he starts to ask some of the other soldiers who are out there what's going on and what's what's going to happen with this guy and then in verse 28 it says when Eliab David's oldest brother heard him speaking with the men he burned with anger
[00:52:57] Why have you come down here?
[00:53:00] And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness?
[00:53:04] I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is.
[00:53:08] You came down here only to watch the battle.
[00:53:12] Okay, so we've read the chapter.
[00:53:13] We know why David's there.
[00:53:15] He was there because his father told him to go bring food for his brothers, including his tall and strong and handsome older brother Eliab.
[00:53:26] He came to bring them food so they wouldn't starve to death while they're, what does it say they're doing?
[00:53:32] Cowering with fear?
[00:53:35] Waiting outside?
[00:53:36] David was there to help.
[00:53:39] His father sent him.
[00:53:42] and then to top it all off we know right in this moment when Eliab is confronting him David is already considering going to save the whole nation single-handedly and yet Eliab says that he is wicked and conceited reading this you do think like wow I'm really glad Samuel did not anoint Eliab last week right like like we read about this first instinct seeing this guy he you know it seems like Eliab
[00:54:11] He's kind of a jerk, right?
[00:54:14] Not only does he falsely accuse David, like, you just came down here because you want to see the battle, right?
[00:54:20] You're just here for the blood and guts.
[00:54:22] But he also shames him in front of everybody, right?
[00:54:28] And when I say that Eliab shames him, what I mean is he doesn't simply accuse him of doing some bad stuff, but he actually accuses him of being a fundamentally bad person.
[00:54:43] He says it's not just you've done a bad thing, not you've done a wicked thing, but he says you are wicked.
[00:54:50] Your heart is conceited.
[00:54:54] I wonder if any of you have ever experienced something like that, that kind of shaming from another person, where you're told not just that your behavior is bad, but that you as a person are bad.
[00:55:09] If you know me, you know I have plenty of flaws and shortcomings.
[00:55:15] But for whatever reason, just I think mostly my temperament, I am not really like an explosive, aggressive kind of person.
[00:55:25] And I remember this one time when I was in high school.
[00:55:27] I think I was going to the office to like turn in a paper or something.
[00:55:31] And there was a girl in the office.
[00:55:33] When I walked in, she pointed me out and said, Hey, there's that guy I was telling you about.
[00:55:39] The guy that flipped me off in the parking lot yesterday.
[00:55:43] And I was, I did not, first of all.
[00:55:46] And I was shocked by it.
[00:55:47] I was like, no way, that did not happen.
[00:55:50] And so I see in the office,
[00:55:53] One of my teachers, a teacher that I knew really well.
[00:55:56] Another thing you might know about me is I'm not good at math.
[00:55:58] So I was in math tutoring like multiple hours a day every day when I was in my junior year.
[00:56:04] So I spent a lot of time with this teacher.
[00:56:06] I thought she knew me pretty well.
[00:56:07] And so I said, hey, Miss Davis, you know, tell her that I didn't do that.
[00:56:12] Tell her that's not who I am.
[00:56:14] And she looked at me and she was like, I don't know what you do when you're not in my class.
[00:56:22] Of course, that's like a really minor and small moment, right?
[00:56:26] But for whatever reason, that just like stuck with me forever.
[00:56:30] Like it weighed on me so heavily because not the other girl that accused me, I actually didn't really care all that much about that, but it was the teacher.
[00:56:40] This person who I looked up to, that I thought really knew me well, and I was just devastated that in front of all these other people, she would let me believe, let those people believe that I was the kind of guy who maybe was nice around the hallways of school, but was secretly like just a bully, you know, waiting for my chance.
[00:57:04] And that's kind of where shame begins, right?
[00:57:14] Shame, it comes when we internalize these negative messages about who we are.
[00:57:21] And typically, it often will come from maybe our parents.
[00:57:27] It might come from other people that we really look up to in some way.
[00:57:31] It really could be anyone.
[00:57:32] It could be the cool kids.
[00:57:34] It could be older people at church and what they might say to us.
[00:57:39] Coming from Eliab in David's life, I'm sure he was a source of authority, right?
[00:57:45] He was David's big brother.
[00:57:47] Not just his big brother, but he was this tall and handsome warrior.
[00:57:53] He was the firstborn of the family.
[00:57:55] He was the heir of everything.
[00:57:57] His words could have had extraordinary power.
[00:58:03] David's life but instead you see here that David hears that from him and he just moves on he kind of he stays focused on on what God has called him to do he stays focused on who he knows himself to be and he just goes back to the conversation he was having when Eliab interrupted him it says what am I done can't I even speak and then he turned
[00:58:33] I don't know if you think about shame very often, but shame is actually a huge issue in a lot of our lives.
[00:58:48] These negative messages that we've received and that we believe about ourselves, sometimes without even realizing it.
[00:58:55] It's one of those things that I think we rarely discuss in the church.
[00:59:02] and maybe more broadly I don't know that we really discuss our interior emotional lives all that much when we think about discipleship you know we'll talk about a lot when we try to help someone grow in their faith well when we when we think about discipleship we we just tend to focus primarily on facts though we tell people they need to read their bibles which of course we do right we teach people
[00:59:30] The basics of their belief and theology and doctrine.
[00:59:35] We might talk about how to develop a prayer life.
[00:59:37] We might even talk about fasting and practices like that.
[00:59:43] But I don't think we spend nearly as much time teaching people how to examine their interior life before the Lord.
[00:59:53] I mentioned, right, that just because of my temperament I don't really blow up and yell.
[01:00:00] But the flip side of that is also that for most of my life, I was incapable of even acknowledging when I was angry.
[01:00:10] I couldn't even tell.
[01:00:11] I had such detachment from my interior emotional life that at the age of 35, I would have never said the words, I'm angry.
[01:00:21] I'm frustrated.
[01:00:22] I'm a little upset about this thing.
[01:00:26] It wasn't until a pastor actually came alongside me and helped me to learn how to go before the Lord and just search, you know, hey, what's going on with me today?
[01:00:37] Why am I feeling anxious right now?
[01:00:41] Teaching me some tools like maybe the Prayer of Examen, if you've ever done that before.
[01:00:46] Learning how to go back through the events of your day and kind of think about how you're feeling and put that before the Lord or reviewing the week that just went by.
[01:00:56] But doing those kinds of activities, I started to realize like, oh my gosh, right now I'm not anxious, I'm resentful because somebody told me my sermon stunk last week and I've just been brooding over it.
[01:01:10] Or, oh no,
[01:01:11] I'm not stressed, I'm sad because Melissa and I, we had an argument and I've just been carrying the weight of it with me all day.
[01:01:21] Or hey, no, I'm angry because this bill came due and I realize I'm taking it out on everybody else around me.
[01:01:32] Now David in this story, he's only a young guy, but you already see just in this first moment when he shows up that there's something different about him.
[01:01:42] He isn't controlled by what other people think about him and he doesn't let his emotional life dictate his behavior.
[01:01:52] He's not pushed and pulled around by his emotions in that same way we saw that Saul was a couple of weeks ago.
[01:02:00] And we don't have to guess actually why that is.
[01:02:03] We know why that is because the Psalms show us.
[01:02:06] In the Psalms, we discover that the reason David is like this is because he knew who he really was.
[01:02:16] This moment with Eliab, it wasn't just him being a tough guy.
[01:02:20] It wasn't him just saying, I don't care what you say.
[01:02:23] Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.
[01:02:27] It wasn't him saying, I don't listen to the haters.
[01:02:31] But David was actually a person who knew what was in his heart.
[01:02:36] He positively knew what was in his heart, and he knew how to bring all of that before God.
[01:02:43] We see it in Psalm 139.
[01:02:47] He says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.
[01:02:51] Test me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
[01:03:03] David was in this practice of communion with God.
[01:03:07] He knew God in such a way that allowed God to work in his heart and heal those wounded places, right?
[01:03:16] To meet him in those places of shame.
[01:03:21] And so David was able to tell in that little scene, in that one moment, he could react and say, actually, you know what?
[01:03:27] Eliab's wrong about me.
[01:03:30] The Lord knows what's in my heart.
[01:03:31] I know what's in my heart.
[01:03:33] God knows everything about me.
[01:03:36] He knows the good stuff in there and the bad stuff in there.
[01:03:39] And so what Eliab is saying to me right now, it's not gonna distract me from what God has called me to do.
[01:03:49] But as soon as he has this little interaction with Eliab's criticism and Eliab's attempt to kind of shame him, there's almost immediately a second test.
[01:03:59] And so I want to look at that one, right?
[01:04:02] David's response to the expectations of others.
[01:04:06] Okay, we keep going.
[01:04:06] In verse 32, David goes on and he makes the declaration, hey, I'm willing to do this.
[01:04:12] I'm willing to go and take this guy down.
[01:04:15] And he's able to persuade Saul.
[01:04:18] Even though I'm just a shepherd, even though I'm young, I've got the skills, right?
[01:04:23] I fought the lion, I fought the bear, I can do it.
[01:04:27] And Saul agrees.
[01:04:29] So then we read in verse 38 that Saul dressed David in his own tunic.
[01:04:37] He put on a coat of armor and a bronze helmet on his head.
[01:04:41] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he wasn't used to them.
[01:04:48] I cannot go in these, he said to Saul, because I am not used to them.
[01:04:55] Now, why is that a big deal?
[01:04:58] Well, I want you just to imagine for a moment someone in your life that you really admire.
[01:05:07] Whatever your career might be, think of the person that is at the top of your field, someone that you really respect.
[01:05:14] Or maybe if you're a sports fan, think about your favorite athlete, okay?
[01:05:19] Actually, you know what?
[01:05:20] Imagine this.
[01:05:20] Imagine you get a chance at halftime of a basketball game to do one of those, you know, make a shot for a million dollars things, okay?
[01:05:29] And you come out there, you're nervous but you're excited, and then all of a sudden there's Michael Jordan, right?
[01:05:36] And he comes up to you and he's like, hey man, I believe in you.
[01:05:40] you know what as a matter of fact before you take this shot i'm going to give you a pair of my lucky sneakers right these are the ones i wore when i hit the game winning shot in the finals and you know what if you wear these you're going to make that shot too so he hands you the shoes and and you put them on and they're just way too big right they're huge
[01:06:04] And there's Michael Jordan standing looking at you, this hero from your life.
[01:06:10] What are you going to do?
[01:06:13] It's incredibly hard to say no to somebody that you want to impress, especially when that person has a lot more experience than you do, a lot more skill, a lot more prestige and standing.
[01:06:31] Saul was the king.
[01:06:34] Saul had fought a lot of battles.
[01:06:37] He had led men into victory.
[01:06:39] And David, well, he mostly just led sheep.
[01:06:46] So David, he's standing in this armor that doesn't fit, that he doesn't know how to move around in, but he knew who he was.
[01:06:55] And so that also meant he knew who he wasn't.
[01:06:58] And after just taking a few steps around,
[01:07:02] Even though he was young, even though he was inexperienced, he could look at that mighty King standing in front of him and say, this isn't me.
[01:07:15] A fancy term for what David displays here is differentiation.
[01:07:22] Somebody defines differentiation as a person's ability to define his or her own goals and values
[01:07:32] Apart from the pressures of those around them.
[01:07:36] It's the ability to define yourself apart from the pressures, apart from the expectations of others.
[01:07:44] And maybe perhaps for a Christian, a better way to put this is that for a Christian, differentiation, it's a Christian's ability to be the person God has created you to be regardless of who is around you or what pressures you face.
[01:08:03] It's the Christian's ability to be the person God has created you to be regardless of who is around you or whatever pressures you might face.
[01:08:14] And so we see that with David, right?
[01:08:15] David knows who he is.
[01:08:16] He's able to continue being David even in that moment.
[01:08:21] He's a great example.
[01:08:22] But of course, the best example of this is Jesus.
[01:08:28] If you go and you open the Gospels and you read the stories of Jesus' life, I am just always amazed to see how wherever Jesus went, no matter what group he was with, he was always himself.
[01:08:45] Whether he was talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees or the tax collectors and the prostitutes, he was never tempted to change his message or his personality.
[01:08:58] To try to give people what they wanted, to be what they expected him to be.
[01:09:04] One of my favorite passages about that is John chapter 2.
[01:09:10] It's this moment after Jesus has had a little bit of success, right?
[01:09:15] People are starting to flock to him and praise him.
[01:09:18] And it says, while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival,
[01:09:24] Many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.
[01:09:30] But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.
[01:09:37] He did not need any testimony about mankind because he knew what was in each person.
[01:09:46] See, Jesus, he did not let the praise or the criticism of other people
[01:09:54] shape him because he knew what was inside a human's heart he knew how fickle we could be he knew that no person can live for the expectations of others and still be true to the calling god's put on their life you just can't you can't live for the expectations of others and also be true to the calling that god's given you
[01:10:25] And that's a struggle, right?
[01:10:26] It's a struggle for all of us.
[01:10:27] It's definitely a struggle for me.
[01:10:28] Even in silly things, I see myself kind of folding myself in to meet other people's expectations.
[01:10:36] I don't know if you do this, but sometimes I even like put on a Southern accent when I'm talking to Southern people, right?
[01:10:43] I think I must not be the only one, right?
[01:10:45] Now, that's a silly thing to say, right?
[01:10:47] It seems relatively harmless.
[01:10:50] But living like that all the time,
[01:10:53] Doing that everywhere, that's dangerous.
[01:10:56] When we live our lives conforming to the expectations of others, we actually do harm to our souls.
[01:11:07] In that same Psalm I quoted just a second ago, where David said, I praise you because I'm
[01:11:13] When David said, search me and know my heart, see if there's anything wicked in me.
[01:11:19] Well, David also prays this.
[01:11:21] He says, I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
[01:11:29] Your works are wonderful.
[01:11:31] I know that full well.
[01:11:35] See, David knew that God created each person on earth in his image.
[01:11:42] and for his glory and that means that he created each one of us with intentionality what David says is true we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God in other words God he created you on purpose and he created only one of you
[01:12:08] And when he did that, he didn't mess up.
[01:12:10] He did what he meant to do.
[01:12:12] He didn't make you to be somebody else.
[01:12:19] That means he didn't create Dan to be Aaron, right?
[01:12:27] He didn't create Brian to be Don.
[01:12:33] There are plenty of voices in this world
[01:12:38] that will tell you something different, right?
[01:12:40] You'll find people that expect you to be somebody other than yourself, but God does not expect you to be anyone other than who he's created you to be.
[01:12:51] You're gonna find plenty of people that are gonna try to force you into a mold that you can't fit into, to put on armor that you can't walk around in.
[01:13:03] And so sometimes it'll be voices from the outside saying,
[01:13:07] Hey, you should be more like her.
[01:13:10] Look at what he's doing.
[01:13:12] You should just copy that.
[01:13:16] And then, of course, sometimes it's the voice from inside where we look around and we look out and we compare ourselves to other people and we say, well, I need to look that way.
[01:13:28] I need to act like that.
[01:13:30] I need to do that thing.
[01:13:31] I need to have that result, so I need to have that performance.
[01:13:37] And when we do that, as we listen to those voices, those expectations and those pressures, they shape our life instead of doing what we're meant to do, which is look to God and ask Him, who have you created me to be?
[01:13:54] To let Him refine us and shape us into those people He knew from before the foundation of the world.
[01:14:03] and so it's astonishing right as we look at David to see this young guy with so much maturity already standing in Saul's armor with all that pressure on him to impress the king all the reasons to just keep it on right and to go walk out and and trudge out there and and try to face Goliath that way but instead he's able to say I can't do it it's not me I'm not Saul I'm David
[01:14:33] I can't fight the way Saul fights.
[01:14:35] I've got to fight the way David fights.
[01:14:39] See, that's a picture of a healthy disciple.
[01:14:43] A healthy disciple is somebody who has gone before the Lord and because of that we know both our gifts and our limitations.
[01:14:52] We know who we are and so we are able to walk confidently in that even when it means
[01:15:02] We might disappoint somebody.
[01:15:04] We might make somebody we really want to impress unhappy with us.
[01:15:08] But we know that what we really want to do is live for the Lord.
[01:15:14] Okay, so David, here he is.
[01:15:16] He's this young man.
[01:15:17] He's able to pursue God's call in his life despite the shaming words of his brother.
[01:15:22] And then he knows himself so well that he can reject Saul's armor without fear.
[01:15:30] But then the question is, what about us?
[01:15:34] How do we become like that?
[01:15:37] How do we become the differentiated people who know their hearts before the Lord?
[01:15:45] Where do we even start with that?
[01:15:46] Well, actually, I just wanna get really practical here.
[01:15:52] I wanna give you three quick things that I think we all have to do
[01:15:57] And the first one is you've got to know what God says about you.
[01:16:02] See, we live in a world that is filled with self-help books, right?
[01:16:07] Telling us what you need to do is look within.
[01:16:09] You need to find your inner strength.
[01:16:12] We're constantly being told about the power of believing in ourselves, having self-confidence, self-esteem.
[01:16:20] But David's confidence did not come from himself.
[01:16:24] David's confidence
[01:16:27] Did it come from looking within and finding some inner strength and denying all of his weaknesses and all of his flaws?
[01:16:35] No, his confidence actually came the opposite way.
[01:16:38] It came from seeing God's love for him in the midst of the weakness.
[01:16:46] It came not only from declaring, hey, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, everything about me is great, but also humbly praying, Lord, show me my heart.
[01:16:57] Search me.
[01:16:58] See if there's any wicked way in me and show it to me, Lord.
[01:17:04] And that's how the gospel works.
[01:17:06] That's what it does in our lives.
[01:17:08] First, the gospel, it does show us the brutal truth of our hearts, right?
[01:17:14] It shows us our sin.
[01:17:17] It shows us all the mess that's in there.
[01:17:20] But then it also shows us the blessed hope of our Savior.
[01:17:24] It shows us the wonderful truth of our acceptance in Christ.
[01:17:29] In the Gospel, we learn that even though our sin and rebellion and all that stuff, we were enemies of God.
[01:17:37] In Colossians, it says, once you were alienated from God and you were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
[01:17:46] But now,
[01:17:48] He's reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation.
[01:18:01] See, God, through Jesus, we are presented to Him without blemish and free from accusation.
[01:18:08] That actually is the antidote to our shame.
[01:18:13] See, that voice is the only voice that is loud enough
[01:18:18] to drown out the voice of this world's expectations.
[01:18:22] The voice of Him saying, you are without blemish.
[01:18:28] I have nothing to bring against you.
[01:18:31] See, anyone who sees the mess in their hearts and comes to Christ in repentance and faith, Scripture tells us you get this new identity.
[01:18:42] It says if you're in Him,
[01:18:45] Then that means God alone gets to tell you who you are.
[01:18:48] Nobody else.
[01:18:49] If you are in Christ, God alone is the only one who can say what's in your heart.
[01:18:54] And he says, you are without blemish.
[01:18:56] You're free from accusation.
[01:18:57] You are my beloved child.
[01:18:59] I delight in you.
[01:19:02] And then Ephesians, it goes on.
[01:19:04] And Paul says, not only that, but if you're in Christ, he has made you for a good and a meaningful purpose.
[01:19:12] He says, we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
[01:19:20] You're God's handiwork.
[01:19:22] You're his finest craftsmanship.
[01:19:24] That means he's got a purpose for you.
[01:19:27] He intends for you to fulfill his purposes in the world.
[01:19:33] You, you specifically, not somebody else.
[01:19:37] There is a way that he intends for you to do this in his kingdom.
[01:19:42] And so that's the first thing.
[01:19:43] Only when you hear what God says about you are you going to be able to resist living for what the world is saying to you.
[01:19:53] But then secondly, we need to keep listening.
[01:20:00] See, I wish it were enough for me to simply just tell you the facts of the gospel and then you're good to go.
[01:20:07] You know, from here on out we leave and we can just go out and slay all those Goliaths with confidence, right?
[01:20:16] I wish we could go out of here and just follow God with perfect obedience, never turning aside to the right or to the left.
[01:20:23] But the truth is not even David could do that, right?
[01:20:26] And you see it in the Psalms.
[01:20:28] Go look at his prayers, these anguished prayers that David prays about the trials that he faced.
[01:20:35] about the enemies that surrounded him, about these lies that he was constantly hearing, about the voices of his critics and the false accusations that he really had to come and bring that to God and wrestle with it.
[01:20:50] It wasn't easy.
[01:20:52] See, unfortunately, those voices out there that are gonna tell you you need to meet our expectations, those voices, they don't stop.
[01:21:03] They just keep coming.
[01:21:06] and even those voices inside right they pop up too pretty frequently and so that means for us to to live in freedom we're gonna have to keep coming back we're gonna have to listen to God's voice not just once but we've got to hear it every day and folks this is like the most basic thing a preacher ever says but it's true we have to do this we've got to cultivate a personal relationship with the Lord
[01:21:32] It's not enough to come and just listen to some preacher tell you once a week what the gospel is.
[01:21:38] No, we've got to do this.
[01:21:40] We've got to slow down the pace of our busy lives so that each day we have time to sit with him.
[01:21:49] We can listen and hear from him.
[01:21:53] So we can open up his word and let his Holy Spirit speak directly to our hearts.
[01:22:03] We've got to commune with him in prayer so that he can remind us of what is true.
[01:22:09] Now, there's a lot of different ways that can look.
[01:22:11] I'm not going to tell you the exact right way for you, but I'll say it's essential if you really want to see the Spirit change you.
[01:22:22] And finally, there's one last thing.
[01:22:26] And that's why we need to live in Christian community.
[01:22:29] You know, David was a man after God's own heart.
[01:22:34] But he had plenty of sin, and he had some blind spots too.
[01:22:39] And even David needed Nathan to call him out, remind him of the truth.
[01:22:50] And look, Jesus was sinless, but even Jesus needed his friends with him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
[01:22:58] The life of faith, we just can't live it alone.
[01:23:02] We can't do all this work up here by ourselves or just in here out on a hillside.
[01:23:07] We need each other.
[01:23:09] If we're gonna become men and women after God's own heart, the people God's created us to be, then we need to live in a place, a community where people can challenge us and love us, who can call us out when we need it, but who can also encourage us.
[01:23:28] and remind us of the good news in those hard times when it's really tough to believe.
[01:23:33] If we're gonna grow, if we're gonna overcome shame, if we're gonna break free from these world's expectations, if we're gonna become not just like David, right?
[01:23:47] But if we're gonna become like him, if we're gonna become like Jesus, David's greater son, then that's what we need.
[01:23:54] We need to hear the gospel.
[01:23:56] We need to listen to God speak it to our hearts every day and we need to live it out with each other.
[01:24:02] Okay, so I know that's a lot.
[01:24:03] I want to invite Shannon to come up here as we just think about this for a moment.
[01:24:09] You know, we covered a lot of ground.
[01:24:13] Shame, our interior emotional life, the expectations, what it means to live as yourself and not as someone else.
[01:24:24] I want us to just take a moment and
[01:24:27] Process this before the Lord.
[01:24:31] What might the Spirit be speaking to you right now?
[01:25:10] When you hear those accusations of the world telling you what's in your heart and who you are, what's the truth that God says to you?
[01:25:25] How do you answer the question, who am I, Lord?
[01:25:36] Who does God say you are?
[01:25:39] Ask Him.
[01:25:50] What has he called you to do?
[01:25:59] Where is he inviting you to take off Saul's armor?
[01:26:12] Where is he wanting to free you from your shame?
[01:26:27] Lord, we offer these things from the deepest places in our heart.
[01:26:34] These wounds that we bear from life in a fallen world.
[01:26:41] And Lord, we hear you calling to each of us, promising to give us a new name, a new identity, a new purpose and meaning.
[01:26:58] Lord, I want to lift up anyone in this room who may not know you today.
[01:27:01] I want to pray, God, that they would hear this invitation of Jesus, come to me.
[01:27:16] I want to pray for those of us who are battered and broken.
[01:27:25] Could we hear your words of life and healing?
[01:27:28] Would you pour out your Spirit on us?
[01:27:30] Would you give us the strength to fight these battles that we cannot face on our own?
[01:27:39] Lord, we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus.
[01:27:44] Amen.
[01:27:44] I want to invite you to stand with us as we sing our closing hymn.

[01:28:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Take my life and let it be consecrated unto thee.

[01:28:32] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

[01:28:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Let them flow in ceaseless praise Take my things and let them move at the impulse of Thy love
[01:28:55] Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee Swift and beautiful for Thee
[01:29:19] Take my voice and let me sing
[01:29:26] Always only for my King Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee Filled with messages from Thee
[01:29:56] Take my will and make it mine.
[01:30:08] It shall be no longer mine.
[01:30:09] Take my heart, it is thine alone.

[01:30:30] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
It shall be thy royal throne.
[01:30:31] It shall be thy royal throne.

[01:30:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Take myself, my Lord, and me, ever only all for Thee.
[01:30:47] Take my treasure and we'll be ever only all for Thee.

[01:31:14] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Ever only all for Thee.
[01:31:15] Ever only all for Thee.

[01:31:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Amen.
[01:31:24] Well, I want to extend this blessing now to you.
[01:31:27] This is a moment where we get to experience this truth that God's face is looking on us and the expression is a smile.
[01:31:37] May the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:31:40] May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[01:31:44] May the Lord lift His face upon you and give you peace.
[01:31:47] In the name of Jesus, Amen.
[01:31:50] Please join us next door to hear more about Jim's Christmas party activity.
[01:31:55] It should be a lot of fun.

[01:32:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We've come to give you all the praise for you are worthy.
[01:32:17] We've come to give you all the praise.

[01:32:18] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
So let us pray.