08-21-22 “Jesus wants to see what’s ALL IN”

Scripture                                          1 Samuel 16:7

          God told Samuel to stop mourning the fact that Saul is King of Israel. “Go to Bethlehem and I will show you one of Jesse’s sons to anoint as king.” “No way, Saul will hear about it and kill me” So God came up with a clever rouse – “go there to offer sacrifice and invite Jesses to the sacrifice with you.” When Samuel saw Eliab, tall and handsome (Jesse’s oldest of 8 sons) he was ready to anoint him, but God said no, as he did with the next 6 sons. Samuel asked if he had any more sons – just the youngest – David who is in the field with his sheep. Samuel anointed David in front of his brothers and the spirit of God came upon him while it departed from Saul.
          King Saul became depressed and his attendants suggested some harp music to soothe his soul – they sent for a boy in Bethlehem who came and stayed and played whenever Saul grew depressed – that boy was David. The secretly anointed new king was assisting the current sad king. David would go home to tend his sheep and then go back. Jesse gave some food for David to take back with him to give to his brothers and the commander of their unit. While David had been gone, A 9’ tall giant came out every day to call for Israel to send their greatest fighter, and whichever fighter won, the other army would serve the people of the one who was victorious. Neither Saul nor a single soldier was willing to stand against Goliath.

          When David arrived and witnessed what was going on he couldn’t believe it and said “Who is the uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God.” David’s oldest brother was jealous that his brother was there and told him to go away because he had a wicked heart. The opposite was the truth. David was the only one there with a true heart after God and he trusted God so much that he volunteered to face off against the giant. Israel and Goliath thought he didn’t stand a chance and with no armor and almost no weapons but David’s heart response was, 1 Sam 17:45-47 "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
          Later when Samuel was telling Saul that he was not following the Lord he spoke of David coming to the throne when he said, 1 Sam 13:14 “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people.”
          Did David ever sin? Yes! Did he mess up? Yes! But God used David, because God could see his heart and that he sought after God’s heart! 1 Sam 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
          As I was considering what this meant and what an example David set for how we are to be in relationship to God – I immediately turned to Psalm 51 and as I read it – the power of the words were not only greater than I had imagined but they say everything this message is meant to tell us. Psalm 51:1-8

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

          David in the OT and Jesus in the NT shows us what it means to be a person after God’s own heart.     Matthew 15:1-20
          Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
          3 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
          (The only OT word on washing hands - Deut 8:10-11 - When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. When Jesus mentions their traditions – he is referring to their oral tradition which changed over time, unlike the firm law of the written Torah)
          10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'" (Jesus never said it was bad to wash your hands before, or after a meal, he was making a point relating to what they could understand in that moment)
          12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
          13 He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
          15 Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
          16 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"
 

          How can we become a person after God’s own heart? Decide! Pray & read His word often! Then live by that word.
Hebrews 4:12
          For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Jesus wants to see what’s ALL IN  -  Jesus wants to be what’s ALL IN

 Acts 13:16-22
Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, 18 he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, 19 he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance.   20 All this took about 450 years. "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
Acts 13:22-24
He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' "From this man's descendants, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.
 Acts 13:36-39
 "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.