The Monotonous Training

1 Samuel 16:14-23

The Story
Day after day, David went about the monotony of keeping his father's sheep.

• Countless days, endless routines, the same things day in and day out.
• But it was in the monotonous routine of life that David learned to be a man of God.
• It was there, alone on those mountains, doing the same things day after day that David learned the lessons of faithfulness and responsibility.

When God promoted David as king, he did not have to learn the lessons to be faithful and responsible; he already knew them.

Lessons
The LORD God always trains His people in the same daily routines before He use them in public.

Remember David on the lonely hills of Judea – God used the tool of monotonous routines to shape a king.

The Secret Training

1 Samuel 16:14-23

The Story
Before David would ever sit on the throne and rule the nation of Israel, he would first spend countless hours alone, unacknowledged and unappreciated, with his father's sheep on the lonely hills of Judea:

• It is here that David learned to be faithful to his responsibilities, even though no one else was watching.
• It was here that David learned obedience, humility, and watchfulness.
• In fact, David learned many lessons in the secret place that he could never have learned in the place of prominence.
• David was trained in secret so that when he finally received the attention and applause of others, it did not go to his head.
• David was trained in secret so that he knew that he was to please no one but the LORD God alone.

Lessons
The LORD God always trains His people in private before He use them in public.

Remember David on the lonely hills of Judea – God used the tool of secrecy to build a king.

The Importance Of Quiet Time

1 Samuel 16:14-23

The Story
David leaned some of the most valuable and basic lessons of life

• On the lonely hills of Judea
• With a flock of sheep for his companions
• With the starry sky
• With the vast expanse of nature

David learned how to be alone with God and with himself.

David learned how to hear the voice of God.

David learned how to commune with God.

David learned how to worship the LORD God.

David learned how to be at peace with himself.

Lessons
Our quiet time in our quiet room is our source for rich spiritual life.

Remember David on the lonely hills of Judea – God used the tool of solitude to build a king.

God's Choice Is Specific

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Story
God had a specific plan in mind. He sent Samuel to a specific town, to a specific family, and to a specific person He had chosen to be the next king.

And the LORD God had specifically chosen David as the next king because

1. David was ready.
2. David was reliable.
   
3. David was redeemed.
   

Lessons

• Christian must always keep his heart in a state of readiness.
• Christian must always be faithful doing what he is told to do.
• Christian must always walk with the Lord God.

Remember David, he was specifically chosen by the LORD God.

God's Choice Is Surprising

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Story
Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint the new king, When Samuel arrived there, he commanded Jesse to gather together his sons. They came before Samuel and passed before him one by one. It was in this process that God made known His choice of a king.

But God's choice was surprising.

The seven sons of Jesse were all fine physical specimens; their physiques having been refined and toned by hours of hard, physical labor. They all possessed the physical requirements to rule as a king. But none of them possessed the right kind of character traits. God sees what man cannot see!

God told Samuel that He did not look at the physical attributes of a man. God looks at the character of a man's heart. God looks for people of integrity and character. He wants people who are faithful and holy.

After the seven sons of Jesse had passed before Samuel, and all of them had been rejected, Samuel found out that there was another son. He was the youngest and he was with the sheep. David was so insignificant within the family that he was not even summoned with the rest of his brothers to enjoy the feast and the sacrifice.

When David walked in, Samuel saw a handsome young man, bright-eyed, with the blush of youth in his cheeks. God told Samuel to anoint David. Here come the king, rejected by men but was the very one picked by the LORD God!

Lessons

• God's choice is surprising in its rejection of physical requirements.
• God's choice is surprising in its requirement of the right kind of character traits.
• God's choice is surprising in its reception of those rejected by men.

Remember David, He was a nobody among his family but was God's choice for a new king.

David The New King

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Story
It was during the time of rebellion and rejection that God began the process of choosing the new king for Israel. The people had been made ready to accept the new king.

God had arranged everything to bring His chosen king into the world at precisely the right moment in history.

One of David's ancestors was Rahab (Judges 2) who had been saved out of pagan idolatry and brought into the nation of Israel. She married Salmon (Matt 1:5) and became the mother of Boaz (Ruth 4:20).

Boaz married a Gentile girl brought out of paganism by the sovereign grace of the LORD, named Ruth (Ruth 4). Ruth and Boaz were the great grandparents of David.

All these events were not accidental! They were part of a perfect plan formulated in eternity and worked out in time.

The Lessons

• God works behind the scene to help His people.
• Nothing happens by chance. God's choice of the new king involves sovereign planning.
• What God proposes, He is well able to dispose.

Remember David the king, he was chosen by God to be the new king.

God Chose A New King

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Story
God reminded Samuel that He had rejected Saul as king of Israel.

Saul was chosen as king because the people wanted to be like the other nations (1 Sam 8:1-5). Up to that point, God had ruled the nation, raising leaders as the need arose. The people were warned that elevating a man to the throne would bring political corruption and trouble (1 Sam 8:7-21).

When Saul was chosen to be their king, the people were elated. He was fine physically, standing head and shoulder taller than anyone else in Israel (1 Sam 9:2). But Saul was a jealous man who lived for the praises of the people. He was guilty of gross disobedience to the commands of the LORD.

As a result of Saul's rebellion, God chose David as a new king to rule over Israel

Lessons

• Christians are to obey all the commandments of God.
• Christians can be removed from their high positions when they go against the LORD

Remember king Saul – He was removed from the throne because of his disobedience to God.

A Man After God's Own Heart

Acts 13:22

The Story
Three thousand years ago, God chose David to be the king of Israel.

• Out of all the sons of Jesse, the favor of God landed on David.
• David was the youngest son of a poor farmer from the tiny village of Bethlehem.
• David was not even respected by his own family.
• Davis was a nobody living in a family of nobodies.
  

But by the grace of God

• David became the greatest king in the history of the nation of Israel.
• David became an ancestor of the LORD Jesus Christ.
• David was listed among the great heroes of the faith in Hebrew 11.
• David received great promises and remarkable blessings from the hand of God.
• But... greatest of all – David became a man after God's own heart.
  

Lessons

• David was not perfect. He failed and he failed big.
  
• But David was quick to confess and he manifested genuine heart repentance.
• Through David we learn about obedience, faith and worship.
• Through David, we learn how to be a man after God's own heart.