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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-lavery/david-and-the-lord-jesus/
1 Samuel 16 and verse 11. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ready, and with all of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, and anoint him, for this is he. Now chapter 17, I'm going to read a few verses here, verse 17.
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren a nipah of this part's corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand.
Verse 28. And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why comest thou down hither, and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?
I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art come down, that thou mightest see the battle. Verse 45. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord, and He will give you into our hands. Now verse 51. Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took a sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith.
And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. Now chapter 18, please, and verse number 20. And Michael, Saul's daughter, loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Now turn please to chapter 22, verse number 1.
David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Dallum. And when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them.
And there were with him about four hundred men. Now I'd like to read a couple of verses in 2 Samuel, please. Chapter 5, verse number 3. 2 Samuel 5 and 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league or a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord.
And they anointed David king over Israel. Now chapter 23, you hardly need to turn to it, but we're just going to read in verse number 8. Part of the verse. It says, These be the names of the mighty men whom David had.
Now we know that God always blesses the reading of His precious word. I think David's one of the characters that most of us were drawn to, even as young boys in Sunday school, and maybe young girls as well.
He's a beautiful character. We always liked it when the Sunday school teacher, our teacher, would go through a book like Samuel, and she would tell us some of these wonderful things about David. Of course, his life wasn't perfect.
There were things that our Sunday school teacher didn't touch with small children. But yet, he's a beautiful character, and I think we can learn so much from him. And I want to speak a little bit, first of all, about David, and then I want to speak about David's greater son.
I'd like to speak about the Lord Jesus, but there are practical lessons as well that we can learn. The first thing I want to speak about David is when he was there keeping the sheep. It wasn't a very big job, but it was a responsible job because he was keeping his father's sheep.
And while he was keeping his father's sheep, while we're not told here in this narrative what was taking place, I believe that David was learning more and more about his God. They're out all alone with a few sheep.
Didn't seem a very important job, and he likely was quite a young man, but here he is. And for instance, I think he would learn a lot during the day. He would look into the heavens. I don't know when he wrote Psalm number 19, but maybe he didn't write it then, but maybe that's what he was thinking about when he spoke about the heavens, and the sun as a bridegroom going through the heavens, and so on.
It must have thrilled his soul to think of the greatness of God. And then not only in Psalm 19, but in Psalm number 8, he talked about the moon and the stars that thy hand hath made. Who was man that thou wert mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?
So he'd be learning God even in the night season. Whatever, I think he was musing upon the things of God and about God's creation. And God was teaching him many things as a young man. And then we have not only his responsibility with the sheep, but there was a day of his recognition.
And I remember how Samuel went to anoint a king, and all of Jesse's sons were brought before him, and he said, no, it's not this one. Samuel's heart seemed to be leaning back towards Saul, and God didn't even tell him the name of the person he was going to anoint.
But he said, you go. And he went, and he said, is there not another son? Well, there's one. He's not really up to much. He's just a young fella, and he's out there keeping the sheep. Well, he said, you bring him.
And of course, you know what happened? He said, you're the one. And Samuel was anointed. He was anointed more than once, but that was the first time that he was anointed. But then, you know, he was also rejected.
Rejected by his own brethren. I hardly need to make these parallels. It's very obvious. But his brethren seemed to be very jealous of him. And even when he took them provisions down to the battle, they said, what are you doing here?
You're just coming to see the battle. He was coming with provisions for them. He was coming to bring something to them that would be of great benefit to them, especially as they were going to face the enemy.
And then, what about the day when he heard Goliath thundering out that message? And David, he said, who is this? Goliath said, when he saw David, he said, who is this? It's just a little boy coming out to fight me.
Well, who does he think he is? But you know, the little able I put here is he had a resolve to stand for God. He not only knew that Goliath was against God's people, but he was against God, the God that David had learned there out keeping the sheep and the God that seemed to be endeared to his heart.
And maybe he didn't understand all about this anointing and so on. And at times he went back to feed the sheep. But here he is. And he has a resolve to stand for God. Doesn't matter how big the opposition is.
I'm going to take a stand for God and the things of God. And of course, he routed the enemy, had to get these all ours. I hope, you know, it's not always easy. But he routed the enemy and then he had a reward.
Now, I know this reward. It was a bride. And maybe it wasn't the best bride he could get. It's good to get a good bride, isn't it? Some of us have been fortunate enough to get a couple of them, but not all at once, though.
You know, no man can serve two masters. So one at a time is really enough. But he had a bride and that was his reward. And she loved him. She may not have loved him so much later on in her life, but at least she loved him at this time.
And then we have his retinue. That's a good word for an Irishman, isn't it? His retinue, those that followed him, those that had a love for him. They were sort of a motley crew, we would say, but, you know, they had a heart for David and they went out to the cave, the King David.
There was nothing really to attract them there as far as the cave was concerned. I don't think it was a cave like Carlsbad Caverns with all the electric lights to make it such a beautiful place. If you ever get a chance to go there, it's worth seeing.
But it wasn't a cave like that. Just an old cave. And what was it that attracted them to him in the cave? What attracted them was it wasn't the amenities in the cave, wasn't any stained glass windows or anything like that.
It was the person. The person attracted them. There was an attraction about David that drew them to be with him. They wanted to be with him. There was a cost that was involved, but it didn't seem to bother them.
Here's one that has won my heart. David has won my heart and I want to be with him and I want to be one of the 400 that grew a little bit later on. And then, you know, the day came when he was going to reign.
We read about how they anointed him in Hebron and he was going to reign. And I was going to say, guess who's going to reign with him? You don't need to guess. Who would it be? It would be those that stood by him in the days of his rejection.
So we have a list of mighty men. I didn't read the list. Sometimes I like to read the list and say a few things about some of the names there. There's a lot of them I can't really say much about. I don't know much about them, but I know this.
They were loyal to the king. And maybe we can't do much, some of us, as far as the things of God are concerned. But I'll tell you, we can be loyal to the king. And they're the ones that are going to reign with him.
They're the ones that he's going to repay for their loyalty to him in that coming day. Now, as far as the practical application is concerned, I thought, you know, we could be like David, especially when we're first saved.
I was likely, I was a lot older than David when God saved me. That wasn't God's fault. That was my fault. I went in for other things. You know, whether you're saved young or older, young Christians, let's put it that way, you know, it's a time for quietness, isn't there?
There's a text that I have in what they call my den. I don't spend maybe as much time in it as I should. It's where I have the books. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And I've thought there's many times when we're far too busy, we're far too active.
When we just be far better letting God do his work and spending time in his presence. And that's what I would exhort as other brethren have at the conference. You young brethren get into the word of God.
I don't know how God is going to use you. And it doesn't really matter as far as what I'm going to say is concerned. You'll need to know the word of God and get to know God. It's not just a matter of having a knowledge.
I remember when I first went back to Ireland after I had been saved. And the first time I ever returned after I came to America, I was already, as they say, in the Lord's work, working full time. And, you know, the first thing I wondered, I wondered what my father's going to think of me.
And my father was a man that was very well taught in the scriptures, a very humble man. And he asked me, what's the greatest thing he said for a Christian? Can't remember exactly how he framed it. But, well, I didn't answer.
Because I answered, I give the wrong answer so many times. But my father was very gracious. If it was about a scripture, he would say, well, I used to believe that but I've changed my mind and I'll tell you why.
He didn't just shoot me right down. But he said, what's greater? What's better than having a great knowledge of the scriptures? What would you say to that? I said, I'm not sure, because that's what I was trying to get.
He said, having a good spirit. It's great to have a good spirit. Brethren and sisters, we're going to have a good time together if we have a good spirit. We may not know very much about the word of God, but if we have a good spirit, we're all going to learn something and we're all going to enjoy something.
So we need to spend time with God. And that's what David did. And that's what you and I should be doing. And especially the younger brethren and sisters as well. If God's going to use you in a Sunday school class or whatever, or as a personal worker, could be in the mission field, it could be here, could be just right in your own home with your children as far as the sisters are concerned.
We still need to know the word of God and we need to know God. And I have said this often, I shouldn't keep repeating, but I'm getting older now. You know, I had a class of little children, young boys to teach when I wasn't very long saved.
And I wondered, what would I teach them? And I had a letter from my father and he said, when he was first saved, he had a class of young boys. And I wondered what I'll teach them. And he said, I'm going to go through the miracles of the Lord.
And I'm going to tell them what a wonderful person the Lord is. Because he said, if they're ever going to know him as their Savior, they're going to know what a wonderful person he is. And I thought that was good advice.
And not only for children's meetings or teaching in Sunday school, but even preaching the gospel and ministering the word of God. We need to bring the Lord in, don't we? That's what touches our hearts.
It's not just to gain a knowledge of the scripture, just to learn something. So David, he all alone would be meditating upon the things of God and likely singing some of the Psalms. Good to sing, isn't it?
We're all going to be singing in tune someday, but anyhow. And then, you know, the day coming when David was recognized. And what I was thinking about as far as we are concerned, you know, God saved us.
And what did he do? He anointed us. He gave us his spirit. That was a wonderful thing, isn't it? Did you know you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God? Sure, we do. Do we always think about it? Do we remember it?
That would guide us in what we've been occupied with, would guard us from a lot of difficulties and from going to places where we shouldn't go. Can I take the Lord with me? That's very important. Would the Lord be happy when the Lord comes?
Would he want me to be sitting, watching a professional baseball game or sitting in the arena somewhere or on some movie place? Seems like a lot of people don't have any compunctions about that. I remember one time a man in Ireland years ago, he had some meetings in a, we called it a picture house, a cinema, a movie house.
And it was a gospel meeting on a Sunday night. There were no movies on Sunday night. Christians wouldn't go. They didn't want to be associated with that place. You think maybe that's going too far. Maybe it was.
But I'll tell you, they had some convictions in those days. And thank God, there's many that still have them. And that's why you read the Bible to get these convictions, you see. We want to please him.
And we're indwelt by the Holy Spirit. I hardly need to go on along this. There may be rejection. For some, that took place maybe especially after they were baptized. Well, you know, it was the same with the Lord.
After the Lord was baptized, you know what happened? He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. That's when the trial commenced. And trials commence often for God's people. Not maybe so much when they're saved, although that could be possible.
But when they're baptized, when they want to take a stand for the things of God. And that's what God's looking for today. Just like David. Here's somebody going to defy God's people. Don't ever talk wrongly about God's people, especially in front of others.
Defend God's people. Sure, we're weak and we have a lot of difficulties. And if we're occupied with them, we're not going to have much joy in our soul. But I'll tell you, we need to be occupied with the Lord and stand up for the Lord's people.
No people will hear that already like the Lord's people. Now, maybe without going any further in that, in the practical aspect of things. What about the Lord? Man, it's wonderful to think of the Lord for 30 years in obscurity.
I'm not saying we don't know anything about him. We know as a young man, a young lad of 12, what did he say? I must be about my father's business. I must be occupied in the things of my father. That'd be a wonderful thing for believers, especially young believers.
What are you occupied in? Well, what is it that brings pleasure to you? Well, I hope it's being occupied in the things of the father. There's nothing more important than that. And for us to be occupied with the Lord Jesus, to learn about him, I'm not saying you don't have to speak to anybody about their soul until you're 30 years of age.
But you know, there is a time and maybe we need to spend more time. And we're not looking for place or trying to be seen or trying to get a prominent place among God's people or get the platform or anything like that.
That'll come later. If there's any gift, there's those that are spiritual that would encourage you in those things. And don't just listen to anybody because, you know, people, they encourage you. Are we going to hear you this afternoon?
I said, I don't know. And you feel that's pretty good. And then you find that they're asking every preacher that, you know, it's no big thing, nothing to boast about. And we just need to take the place that God has given us.
Isn't that what humility really is? Not my will, but thine be done. We just want to fit right in where God has put us. We have a responsibility. And the number one responsibility is to be occupied in the things of God.
That's what's going to help us. We're not going to learn God on the golf course, I don't think. We're not going to learn and maybe out fishing. I'm not saying you can't fish, but I'll tell you, habits can ruin a Christian life.
I have no time for those things, really. I'm not condoning golf or anything like that. I suppose you could say I've finished the course. That's about the only thing you could say about it. But actually, to make progress, really, that's not what we're occupied with.
Occupied with the Lord. And here's the Lord, and he's occupied with the things of God. And then the day came when he was recognized. When the heavens were opened. After those years. Now, I know you go into the Psalms and what we've been considering and Isaiah.
He grew up before him as a tender plant. So those years aren't maybe so silent as we would think. We'll speak more to it as we get into the word of God and into the Old Testament. But still, here he is.
And after those years of contemplation, the heavens were opened. And the voice said, this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased. You know what I've often thought? If the heavens were open to me, I wonder what God would say about me.
Would he say I'm well pleased with him? I'm well pleased with her. Does that really matter? The Apostle Paul, many times he said before God and before the Lord Jesus. And men like Elijah did things before.
They talked about the Lord God before whom I stand. They realized they were living their lives that there's someone that was looking. And there's someone that could approve. And while I'm not saying, of course, that we ever could be like the Lord himself yet.
I wonder how much delight I have brought to the Lord. Ask yourself the question. God really delighted with you? The things you're occupied with? The things you're doing? And then we think of his rejection.
He came on to his own and his own received him not. Imagine such a wonderful person being rejected. You can't hardly understand that. And yet, I know I rejected him for many years. How could someone reject this wonderful person?
The other was they saw him. They saw the miracles and the compassion that he had. And he could touch the leper and cleanse them. And they wouldn't go anywhere near the leper. And I heard about the Levite that went by on the other side.
And the priest that was supposed to have compassion. He had no compassion on the man. Maybe he thought he was dead. I don't want to contaminate myself with him. But the Lord was rejected. And he's still rejected in the world.
But think of Calvary. David going into the valley is a lovely picture of Calvary, isn't it? There was a big man there in the valley. And he had the power of death. I would take it that that was a big sword that he carried.
This is what he was depending upon. That was the power of death. But you know what happened? David defeated him. And he used that same sword. And he cut off his head and brought it to Saul. And later on, when he took up that sword, he said, There's none like it.
There's none like it. And there's none like the Lord Jesus. He entered into death and rose triumphantly from amongst the dead. And all alone, think what it was like for David, a young man going into a valley with all these people looking on.
And here he is with a stone, five stones and a sling. And here's this man with all his armor. Lord, what a defeat it was. He routed the army. He routed the army that was against. And the Lord on the cross at Calvary, he defeated every foe that was ever against you.
He defeated what I am. Condemned sin in the flesh. Suffered so that my sins could be forgiven. And he defeated this great enemy of death. What a position. It is a noted rendered it powerless. What a tremendous thing that is.
But I want to get to this. He has a reward. That's the bride. And while we know the bride of Christ and the body of Christ, it's a body that no can't be disfigured or can't lose members and so on like that.
But I wonder, even if I'm looking at it, maybe not just right. Do we bring pleasure to him as part of his bride? Michael loved him. Do we love him? Do we still have that love that we had when he saved us by his grace?
When we saw that he was the one that there was no one like him. The one that took the lowly place. Bore the wrath and the judgment of God that was due to me. Does that not touch my heart? Well, how about the cave?
You know, of course, what I'm going to do. Going to liken that to the local assembly. I'm not saying the local assembly is like a cave. But I'll tell you, there's only one attraction really in the local assembly.
Maybe more than one, but the main attraction is the Lord himself. How could you not be drawn to him? The one that paid the great price of redemption. So that you could be saved, you'll never be in the depths of a burning hell.
How could you not be drawn to him? How could you not want to spend time with him? Why would we not want to be with him more than we do? It's always beneficial to spend time in the Lord's presence. And then we wonder, and I wonder as well, about myself.
Why don't I spend more time with him? We're never disappointed. Not always going to learn great things, but it doesn't matter. We're going to learn more about him. More about the Lord. More about his will and more about his ways.
Isn't that really what matters? Just to be with him. And that's what the local assembly is. It's a place where he is. The place of the name. Why are you part of a local assembly? Do we really love him?
Well, David, I love you on a Sunday morning. But during the week, I'm a little busy. So if you'll let me leave the cave for a while, and then I'll be back next Sunday morning. Is that really love? No, maybe there's someone that can't attend meetings.
You know, I'm not getting at you for that. If you can't make it, there's some real reason. But are there times that we could be there when we're not? This is what, you know what Paul said? He said he was a prisoner of Rome.
But I don't think he ever said that. He said, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus. There's one who has captivated my heart. And my whole life is going to be about him. And he could write about the crucifixion.
We preach Christ and Christ crucified. That's something he always seemed to have in his mind. Christ crucified. The one who suffered so that I would be ended. So that I'd be part of a new creation. And then he would speak about Christ glorified in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3.
And about how he has changed from glory to glory. How? By being in his presence. Not just learning more. We want to learn more, but we want to learn him. And we want our hearts to be affected by the things of God.
And after he would say Christ crucified and Christ glorified. What comes next? Christ magnified. That Christ might be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. He didn't know if the end was coming very, very soon or not.
But he said, I want to live like Christ. If he'll give me a little while longer. And the older we get, maybe that's what enters more into our lives. We know we're coming closer to the end. We want to have a good finish.
And we want to grow a little bit more like him day by day. Bring pleasure to him and enjoy him more. We're going to enjoy him fully in the future. But I'd like to learn what the little hymn says. The streams on earth I've tasted.
More deep I'll drink above. Are you tasting of the things of God? If you are, I'll tell you that will give us an appetite, won't it? And here are these men and they're following David. Their hearts were captivated.
And if you read down that list of the mighty men, why they'd do anything for him. They were close enough to him to hear his heart beat. Oh, he sighed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. Many a times he had been drinking from it as a boy.
Said, I just like that. And you know, there was three men that were close enough to hear the sigh of his heart. And hazard their lives even. None of us have done that likely. Hope we'll be willing if the time comes.
And you know what happened in the day came. When the enemy, when Saul and Jonathan and the family were gone. And now David is anointed king. Anointed king. Not just over, not by Samuel, not just by Samuel or by or over Judah.
But now over the all of Israel, anointed king. The Lord is reigning. We're not reigning yet. That's our problem, I think. And Paul touches that in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. He said, you reign with Christ without us.
And I would to God that you did reign. They thought they were in the millennium, as it were. They thought they're reigning with Christ. They're enjoying it all, you know. And there's no price that they're paying.
They're not entering into it at all. But Paul said, no, we're living in the day of rejection. And hopefully we'll want to please him because the day of reigning is coming. And who's going to reign with him?
Those that suffered with him in his rejection. And David has that list of mighty men. There's some mighty men, you know, like Joab that aren't in the list. I wonder why that is. Because they were living their lives for self.
It was all self. Is that why I'm living my life? Is it all to put for my own benefits and forget everything else? Just me, number one. Well, that's not what these men were. No. And David recognized them, everyone.
Even though some of them, as I say, no big acts recorded. Yet they were his mighty men because they were with him. And they were loyal to him. May God help us to be loyal to the Lord. And loyal to the local assembly.
There's no place like it. I'm glad I'm part of a local assembly. I'm not in the local assembly because my father and mother are in it. Would have been easier to slip in, you know. But my wife and I, we considered these things when God saved us way back in 1966.
And friends of mine, Irish friends that lived in Detroit area, took me to a big fundamental church congregation. And the minister, the pastor was a converted Jew. And he could really preach the gospel, I'll tell you that.
But they also had a beautiful choir. And I liked to sing. And they had trumpets and timpani drums, I'll tell you. And after they made such a racket, they said, welcome to the quiet hour. Well, it wasn't too quiet.
But anyhow, that appealed to me. But you know the only thing wrong with it? I couldn't find it in the Bible. And you know, it wasn't there. I knew there was no one man ministry. That cut out about everything.
And I'm glad that I was baptized and received into assembly fellowship. And I'm glad I've been there ever since. And by the grace of God, I hope I'll never want to go any other place. There's no place like it.
Going to reign with him. Those that took a stand. Uriah. What about Uriah? What a stand he took. Why, Paul tells Timothy, you know, that we're soldiers in God's army. And he says, a man that's in combat, he doesn't get into the affairs of this life.
Wasn't that Uriah? He wouldn't go down to his wife. He said, no, I'm in the army, you know. But you know, I also think of Uriah when I read in the book of James that lust, when it's conceived, bringeth forth sin.
Even a man like David had sinned. And sin that it has finished bringeth forth death. And the very man that he had put to death in the battle was one of the mighty men. I wonder what he thought when he put him among the mighty men.
It must have touched his heart. He, a man that was so loyal to him. Well, may the Lord help us to be loyal as well. To take a stand for the things of God and do it not just in an outward way. I hope you get what I'm saying.
It's something that should touch the heart. When I was first saved, there was a man that was a big help to me. And he said a couple of times or more than that. He said, you can't fix a clock by twiddling around with the hands.
You've got to get into the works. It's not running. And that's what we need to let the word of God get into the works to touch our heart. So that we will have a greater appreciation for David's greater son.
The one that loved us unto death. And the one that loves to see us gathered around with him in the midst of his gathered people. May the Lord help us to appreciate him more, to be more like him. And to have a greater appreciation for the place where he is.
And if I have that, I'll have a greater appreciation for God's people. And you'll have a greater appreciation for me with all my faults. And we'll all have a greater love for the souls of dying men and women.
But it all starts with a love for the man of Calvary.