Commitment — Chuck Smith

Study, chapter 12, we see God pronouncing the consequences to David for his sin. Though God forgave his sin, still there were consequences that David must face because of the sin. The whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

The Consequences of David’s Sin

And beginning with chapter 13, we see now David beginning to reap the consequences of his sins. And it's going to follow now David the rest of his life. And in our scriptures tonight, beginning with chapter 13 and on now through the rest of David's life, we're going to follow the consequences of his sin.

Absalom’s Betrayal of David

This morning we'd like to draw your attention especially to chapter 15 and verses 25 and 26 of chapter 15. David has been betrayed by his own son Absalom. Absalom, through clever guys, had gradually stolen the hearts of the people and the loyalty of the people from his father David to himself.

He would stand daily in the gate of the city of Jerusalem where people would come, because that is where court was held. And he would greet them as they would come into the gate from the various tribes.

And he'd say, hi there, where are you from? What tribe? And what's your situation? And as they would explain the problems, he'd say, oh, you know, it's a shame that my father hasn't made arrangements to have people to listen to cases like yours.

You really have a strong case. You know, it'd be wonderful if my father would let me judge, because I can see where you really should receive some justice in this issue. And the people would go to bow down and he'd grab their hand and kiss it.

He's a clever politician. He might just, you know, ingratiating, winning the hearts of the people away from his father David. And when he felt secure, that he had sufficient support, he said to his father David, grant me to go down to Hebron.

I have some vows I want to pay down there. David said, sure son, go. And when he got to Hebron, he called throughout the tribes of Israel for the people to come unto him there. And there he formed an army.

And they began to march towards Jerusalem to drive David from the throne. Actually, to kill David. And Absalom was going to take over as the ruler of the nation. David, when he heard that Absalom had gathered the people and was leading a rebellion against him, rather than staying in the city and making the city of Jerusalem a place of great bloodshed, David decided that he would just leave the city unto Absalom and the army that was marching upon it.

And David would flee to the wilderness. And so as David was fleeing from the city, and those that were loyal to David were coming with him. He saw Zadok the priest with his sons, and they were carrying the Ark of the Covenant.

David’s Complete Commitment to God’s Will

And it was here where David speaks in verse 25,. And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the Ark of God into the city. And if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation.

But if he thus say, I have no delight in David, behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. David at this point had come to a complete commitment of himself to the will and to the purposes of the Lord.

If God desires, He can bring me back, and I'll see the Ark of the Covenant again, and the tabernacle of God there in Jerusalem. But if God has no delight in me, then let him do whatever he wants. Here I am.

Let God do what He pleases. The person who has real peace and contentment is the person who has totally committed the issues of his life to the will of God. As long as I am struggling and striving with my circumstances, as long as I am insisting that God follow after my dictates and directions, I will be subject to strife, to worry, to fear, to discontentment.

God’s Sovereignty Over Human Wishes

There are those false teachers who tell you that you can write your own ticket with God. That you can have whatever you say, if you just say it in faith. You can create your own reality. And they talk about positive confessions.

Just say what you want, and God is forced then to give to you whatever you claim that you desire. They would put you on the throne. They would make God your servant. Sort of a private genie who is subject to your wishes.

But you know, this does create a lot of problems. For God is not subservient to us. God does not have to obey my commands or my wishes. He is Lord. He is sovereign. And He can do as He pleases. Have you ever thought of how foolish it is for me to try to instruct God how to run His world?

The Bible says, who has been His counselor at any time? Well, I have. I've counseled God on so many issues. But in reality, think of how foolish that is. For me to tell God what's best for me. How best to run my life.

That really doesn't make sense. How much better to take the whatever He wants. In my prayers, I've learned to just express my desires to the Lord. But then just realize that He is free to do as He pleases.

David’s Peace in the Midst of Calamity

Think about David for a moment. This surely was one of the darkest hours of his life. He was an older man now. He had grandchildren by now. And not the warrior that he once was. At the time of life where he should have been able now to just sit back and enjoy the children, the grandchildren, and all of the blessings that he had attained and achieved as the king.

He's fleeing from the city. He's barefoot as he goes down through the Brook Kidron and up the Mount of Olives and off to the Judean wilderness to escape from his son Absalom, who is in total rebellion.

At this point, David's future is very uncertain. People have turned against him. In fact, some of his closest friends and advisors have turned on him. He wrote about them in Psalm 55. He said, For it was not an enemy that reproached me.

I could have taken that. Neither was it one that hated me, that magnified himself against me. I would have hid myself from him. But it was you, a man my equal. You were my guide. We were good friends.

We had wonderful conversations together as we would walk together to the house of God. David was heartbroken to realize that those that he thought were his closest friends and associates had joined with his son Absalom in rebelling against him.

Not only is David losing his throne, but his own life is in danger at this point. But we do not see David challenging God. We do not hear him saying, Why did God allow this to happen to me? We do not hear him demanding that God deliver him from the hand of Absalom.

We don't see him wringing his hands and saying, Alas, poor me. He doesn't even seem to be alarmed or fearful. How can he possibly have such peace in these conditions, in the midst of this great calamity?

The secret is his full commitment of himself and of his situation to the will of God. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, he'll bring me back. I'll be okay. And if he isn't pleased with me, then here I am.

Let him do whatever he wants. It was a total commitment to God. If I come back, wonderful. If God has something else, fine. He turned it over fully and completely to God. He could do that because he knew God.

He knew that God was merciful. He knew that God was gracious. God had forgiven his horrible sin. And now he is willing to just commit himself unto the Lord. Nothing can happen but what God has allowed it to happen.

And if God has allowed it to happen, then he has a good purpose for it happening. So, he'll just commit his ways to the Lord and let God do what he seems best or deems best. Often in life, like David, we find ourselves in distressing situations.

Finding Peace by Surrendering Personal Trials

Anxious moments in which we often are filled with fear, anxiety, Kay and I had a frivolous lawsuit filed against us a few years ago. There were no just grounds for the suit. We were just named with a lot of other John Does and the person was just seeking to harass us by putting our name on the suit.

They were successful. We were harassed. And I would wake up at night and I would think about the injustice of this suit. I would think of all of the arguments that I could show and the proofs that I could give, showing that we were totally innocent of the things that were being alleged in the suit.

Of course, we had to get an attorney and we had to answer the interrogations. But knowing the fickleness of the court systems, we knew that you can never be certain of the outcome. Justice is not always served.

And after about five months of fretting over this suit, one day I just got tired of fretting over it. And I just turned it over to the Lord. I said, Lord, you know, I'm yours. My life belongs to you. Everything I have, Lord, is yours.

And so, Lord, I'm not going to worry about this anymore. I'm just going to let you take care of it. You do the worrying for me. Just sort of like David, if the Lord pleases, you know, I'll win the case.

If the Lord isn't pleased, then, you know, whatever the court determines, that'll be it. And it's all in God's hands. And when I turned it over to the Lord, I was able to sleep through the nights. Didn't worry about it again.

Didn't wake up, you know, thinking about the thing. It just passed. I just let it pass. No more worrying about it. The suit was ultimately dropped and it was over. But it was over for me before. I had already won the case.

Because I had committed it fully to the Lord and was ready to accept whatever the Lord saw fit in and through it. Realizing my life is in His hands. In Psalm 37 that we read this morning, it said, fret not thyself because of evildoers.

But, oh, so often we are prone to indeed fret over the evildoers. David surely could have fretted over what Absalom had done. Several years ago, our youngest child, our younger daughter, who was one of those latecomers.

Trusting God During a Child’s Illness

Her older brother was seven years older than she and the others were older than them, than him. So, she was one of those, you know, that come along late where you have so much experience now. That you can really enjoy them.

Every parent owes their first child an apology. We knew so little about raising kids. And we had such high expectations and demands upon them. But, you know, you get more casual and you're not so worried.

And you just can enjoy, as you get older, those little ones that come along. And this one was a total blessing to us. She was sparkly. She was alive. She just brought constant joy into the home. But she took very ill.

And those bright little eyes became dull. And that active little person became just sort of listless. She was running a very high fever. And I sat up all night with her, rocking her in a chair all night long, holding her.

Sort of wrestling with the Lord. As I was praying that God would touch her and heal her. And towards morning, as I was holding her, I said, Lord, I thank you for this gift. For all of the joy and blessing that she has been to us.

One of the greatest blessings, Lord, of life. But if you want her, and if you take her, then Lord, I will still love you and serve you. She is yours. She's yours to do as you please, Lord, as you see and know best.

I commit her, Lord, fully to you. And my mind no longer was in turmoil. I was now at rest. I could accept whatever the Lord deemed at that point. She went into a convulsion. I thought I was losing her.

We called the doctor. He told us to meet him at his office. So, Kay and I got in the car and we began to drive over to the doctor's office. And suddenly, our little daughter just sat up, bright eyes. Where are we going?

And just fever gone and this beautiful little active girl that we had enjoyed so much. When we got to the doctor's office, she was just perky and back to her normal self. And the doctor examined her and said, there's nothing wrong with her.

She's fine. How long, Kay, since you've had a tetanus shot? As long as you're here, you might as well get a tetanus shot, you know. So, Kay got the treatment. But again, the peace came in the commitment.

The turmoil left. The restlessness left. When I came to that place of complete commitment. And you will find that these things that are troubling you. These vexing situations. These things that you're fretting over.

Like David, you need to come to that place of just saying, Lord, I put it in your hands. You do what you deem best. As David said, if the Lord pleases, he can bring me back. If he is not desiring to do that for me, then here I am in the Lord's hands.

He can do with me whatever he wishes. And you know, I think that it takes much greater faith to just commit the situation totally to the Lord than it does to demand that God heal or that God work in these things according to our will.

Because that can leave you in a continued state of anxiety. As we're wrestling with the Lord over the issues. In that total commitment, there's contentment. There is peace. There is rest. But how do you come to that place of commitment?

Recognizing Human Inability and God’s Providence

First of all, you need to recognize that there's really nothing that you can do anyhow. Except the Lord watch the city, the watchman wakes in vain. Unless the Lord builds the house, they who build it labor in vain.

The least beneficial thing you can do is worry. Which of you, Jesus said, through worrying can add 18 inches to his height? Say you're a little shorty. You want to play basketball. But those big guys tower over you.

And so you sit there and worry about being so short. I hate being so short. Well, Jesus said, which of you by worrying about it can add 18 inches to your height? Not going to do it. Learn to accept. Learn to commit it.

Just turn the issue over to the Lord. The Bible tells us that all things are working together for good. To those who love God and are called according to His purpose. As we read in the psalm this morning, commit your way unto the Lord and just trust in Him.

And He will bring it to pass. Bring what to pass? His perfect will. But it's important that you know that His perfect will for your life is so much better than anything you could ever dream or devise for yourself.

You can't get any better than God's perfect will. I need to realize that God loves me. That God loves me supremely. That God so loves me that He gave His only begotten Son to take my sin, to die in my place, so that I could experience that love.

So that I could come into fellowship with God. So we could have this beautiful relationship with each other. And God loved me so much. He wanted to make possible that kind of intimate relationship with Him.

And so to do that, He sent His only begotten Son. And Jesus said, greater love has no man than this. Then a man will lay down his life for his friends and He laid down His life for me. I need to know how much God loves me.

God’s Love in Suffering and Hardship

And because God loves me so supremely, His desires and His will for me is the very best. God wants the very best for me. Because He loves me. He wants to do the best for me. And so whatever God does, whatever God allows, He does it and allows it because of His love for me.

Now, there are times as God in His love is working in my life. He allows hardships. He allows difficult situations, painful situations to arise. In these, He is seeking to just draw me closer to Himself so that I can experience more of His love and His grace towards me.

To cause me to appreciate Him that much more. And I have discovered that the truest praise is that which spontaneously rises from my heart when I recognize the goodness of God in the things that He has allowed in my life.

Though maybe I didn't understand them at the beginning, but as I see God work and I see God's grace at work in my life, my heart just sings for joy unto the Lord for His goodness, for His mercy, for His grace.

Paul tells us, if God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how much more then shall He not freely give us all things. So, we learn in the dark night, when we can't see our way out, to just commit our way to the Lord.

Victory Through Commitment to God

It was a dark night for David, driven from his palace, from his throne, by his son, deserted by his friends. Zadok the priest coming with the Ark of the Covenant. David said, take it back, carry it back.

If I will find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He'll bring me back. But, if God says I don't have any delight in Him, well here I am. Let God do with me what He desires. David knew God, and thus he could commit the situation to God.

He had experienced God's grace and God's love, and he was willing now to just commit himself to that love. God did bring David back. The rebellion was put down. David returned to the throne, but David won the victory long before Absalom was defeated in war.

He won the victory, when he committed the whole situation to the Lord. And that's where you can win the victory today. It may take a while to work out the details, but when you come to the place where you just place it in God's hands, there is where you have the victory.

Prayer for Trust and Commitment

There is where you now experience peace, contentment, and rest, because it's in God's hands. It can be in no better place than God's hands. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your love and for the loving purposes that you are working out in our lives.

And Lord, there are those things that are necessary to develop our character, those things that are necessary to teach us of your constant care and concern, those things that are necessary that draw us closer to you, that sort of force us, Lord, to rely upon you.

So Lord, rather than fretting, rather than worrying, rather than being filled with anxieties, help us, Lord, to just commit our ways unto you. Lord, if we find favor in your sight, you can bring us back again.

Whatever. Here we are. You do, Lord, what seems good to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we stand? The pastors are down here at the front today, and it could be that, like David, you're going through one of those hard experiences in life, one of those dark nights.

An Invitation to Rest in God’s Hands

Things are not going well. The future is sort of clouded and uncertain. You are fearful. You don't know what the outcome is going to be. But you can have peace today. You can have assurance. You can rest, if you'll just commit it to the Lord.

And these pastors are down here at the front today to pray with you and to pray for you. To pray for that situation. But more to just pray that you today can find the victory of commitment. And that you will go forth from this place today comforted, content, peaceful, resting in the fact that you've placed it in God's hands.

The God who loves you, the God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. The God who has promised to take care. And as you commit your ways to Him, He will bring to pass His perfect plan and will in your life.

And maybe He's allowed these things just to bring you to that place of commitment today. So I would encourage you as soon as we're dismissed, make your way forward. And these men will be happy to pray with you.

And the peace of Christ which passes human understanding will fill your heart, your mind. As you've placed it in God's hands and now are trusting in Him to bring to pass His perfect plan. The Lord bless thee.

And keep thee. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee. And be gracious unto thee. And be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee. And give thee peace.