10-19-11: Except for that...

David: A Man After God's Own Heart
Except this...

Now, we'll be finishing up our series on David next week with something a little different: I want everyone to bring their favorite psalm, or their favorite portion of a psalm.

1 Kings 15:5
For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

Oh how I've dreaded this day.

We have been examining David for the last two months, give or take, and I hope that you've gotten as much out of the study as I have. I've grown to admire David in new ways, as well as remembering the old ones, and so coming to this, preparing to teach upon this, has been incredibly painful and difficult.

insert story of bathsheba here:

2 Samuel 11
1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David.
7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.
8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.
17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

This is a horror story, a brutal tragedy that will forever stain David's family.
Everything that follows this, from here to David's death, is rebellion and bloodshed.
I perhaps am exaggerating but I'd say besides Lucifer's rebellion against God, it doesn't get much worse than this.

This should sober us to the very bone. This should be something that we wish to avoid.
So, to avoid something we must know its beginning.
Where does this begin?

Examine verses 1 and 2: "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful."

Now I can understand why David was walking around on his rooftop. He was bored, all his friends were off fighting a war. I can't even begin to count the amount of stupid things I've done because I was bored. The movies I'm never going to get out of my head, the stupid things I said to people that I would have never said if it was daylight and I was surrounded with people.This is something that I, and probably the rest of you, can easily sympathize with.

So, is the solution work work work, she'll never get her dress done?
I suppose I could go all southern baptist preacher on you and tell you all that if you're being tempted its because your not doing: you should read your bible all the time, you should be praying for your eternal soul every moment of the day, you should attend every church service, but while all of those are good and excellent and worthy things that I would encourage you, I know that's really not all there is to it. And we'll see why in a moment.

The story doesn't begin with David walking on the rooftop: It begins with a surrendering of responsibility. It begins with David remaining in Jerusalem.
He was supposed to be doing something, he was supposed to be leading the armies of Israel, but for reasons unknown he stays in Jerusalem instead.

What I can't really wrap my head around, nor do I think there is enough there in the scriptures to point to something and say "this, this here is why David was on that rooftop checking out the scenery instead of where he should have been, leading the armies of Israel." But I think I'll make a stab at something that has been weighing on my heart recently and I believe will really be useful for you guys.

So, here is David the youth leader's theory on why King David stayed home from the war: Maybe he was tired; wait no, that don't really capture it in its fullness. He was weary, he was worn down, he was exhausted, he was, to use the christianesse: burnt out.

The long dark teatime of the soul.

And so he decides to stay home, and thus unfolds probably one of the greatest tragedies of the bible.
Now, to launch us into our discussion of "God's Rest" I would like to ask you: What is "God's rest?" Nothing complicated, just a description of what God's rest might look like.

To simplify it, most of the scriptural references to God's Rest, say things like:
1. Untouched by trouble.
2. Strengthen us and helps us.
3. I will bring you to a land of milk and honey...

All really awesome things. Things I definitely want God to do for me, but does it say that this legendary peace will really protect us from sin? Why yes, it will. It says so in Philipians...

Philipians 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


So, this is wonderful: We have been promised peace from God, and it will guard our hearts and minds, so we will neither be deceived nor sin. Sounds great, sign me up.
But I wonder, just how important is this? I mean, God's rest. I'm a big strong smart guy, how important could it be that I have that. Lets turn to Hebrews where we will find some excellent teaching on this very question...

Hebrews 4:1
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

Luke 12:4
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

Hows that for a paradigm shift? Don't fear death, but do fear not entering God's rest?
How important could that be anyway? As a real life example I give you Eli Schilling, a fellow student of mine at Eternal Vision, the bible school I attended. For some reason lost in the ravages of time, we lost most of our cooking staff, so Eli volunteered to handled breakfast. For some 120 odd students and staff. By himself. This meant that he was getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning, every morning and working until breakfast time. After a week or so I discovered that he was talking to his hand. To keep himself sane.

I'm sorry Eli, I don't think its working.

So that's spiritual rest, how much more important then is spiritual rest? What could be the spiritual equivalent of talking to your own hand?

So, lets take a look at three things you can do to seek God's rest:


1. Meditate on God's Promises

Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

1. To reflect on; contemplate. 2. To plan in the mind; intend:
The bible is full, absolutely full, of God's promises. How many do you know? How many do you trust, believe in, have faith in?
Find some that mean something to you, either it encourages you or you want it more in your life and start thinking about what it means, what else is true, write it on a post-it note and stick it to the bathroom mirror. Read it on the way to school each day, talk about it with friends. Explore the wonderful promises of God.

Heres a bunch on God's rest:

Dueteronomy 33:12
12 About Benjamin he said:
“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”

Proverbs 19:23
23 The fear of the LORD leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Luke 2:14
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Matthew 11:28-29
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Isaiah 41:10
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.


2. Encourage each other.

Hebrews 3:12
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

This little thing, you'd think it would be really obvisious but I'd hate to ask anyone in this room, or any room, when the last time someone encouraged them.
So do so, and you'll discover that not only will you find yourself resting in God but you'll have the joy of watching people be encouraged, as well as being encouraged yourself.
Even more so, like Jonathan does to David, encourage one another in the Lord. How does one do something like that?

Start with a simple question, then to follow Hitch's advice "Listen, and respond." This is the hardest part.

3. Confidently approach God's throne.

Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[f] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Confidently approach God's throne. How ostentatious is that declaration? Yeah, you just go and approach the throne of grace, God's throne of grace. But we totally can, and we do. When we worship, when we pray, when we get totally lost in bible study, when we throw on our ipods and dance around like we just don't care, when we sit on a log and watch the sun set. I'm waxing poetic, I'd better stop that. Its different for every person, but the key here is we can approach, we just need to try.

A couple of weeks ago at First Friday Zack gave a short but oh so awesome word about the presence of God. Its here, right now, and so often we feel like we need to conjure it, summon it down from heaven, but its right here among us. God is everywhere,

Song Fragment

Here's a little bonus for what few people read the youth blog.
Last night ukulele practice became spontanious worship which became this little fragment of song, which I hope you enjoy but considering that its been years since I did anything related to songwriting (many, many years) I'm willing to concede that this won't end up being sung in church.



Sorry about the sound quality, I'll have to figure that out. Since this video is mainly just a reference so I don't forget what little of the song I have penned down when I go to sleep tonight I don't think it will be that big of a deal. Enjoy

Unfailing Love - Message by Jessica Whitcomb

Psalm 31:7 “I am overcome with joy because of your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and
you care about the anguish of my soul.”

From Dictionary.com “excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain”

Synonyms: agony, torment, torture!

Okay, so obviously, ANGUISH; not such a good thing! So Jesus cared to the highest possible degree; he
cared and shared in our suffering when He took our sins upon himself and bore our shame as His own.
You might think, well, if He could do that, if He could really take all our sins and wash us clean, then why
put us through all this suffering on earth? One answer can be found in John 16:33…

“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Okay, so it’s like God (through Jesus) is saying, “I guarantee you will fall, you will be in trouble (probably
most of the time), and you will face things you don’t necessarily want to. But be assured, take comfort,
because I know what I’m doing. I am your master guide to getting through life.” Let’s say for example,
that you are a video game newbie (like me) and you don’t wanna die in the first three seconds of the
game; are you gonna enlist a mediocre player to help you? Or are you going to get the guy who has the
top score and knows the game inside out? It’s the same way with God! SIDENOTE: Ben Franklin left one
thing out when he said there were two things certain in life; he left out “screwing up”. There’s death,
taxes, and screwing up!”

So why the suffering??? There’s no joy in love if there’s no trials. When you ladies (and men) watch
romance movies, you can pretty much count on the fact that there’s going to be some sort of trial, that
the two characters are required to overcome sort of circumstance in order to get to their happy ending!
(Princess Bride anyone?)It wouldn’t be a good movie without that! Who wants to witness a love story
that’s perfect from the get-go, their lives are fine and dandy, and then they die without any problems
whatsoever?! They have accomplished nothing. My theory is that their love dies with them because
there’s no joy in love if there are no trials! The same could be said for just life in general. When the
world, when people, when circumstances FAIL you, His love will not. Kinda the whole point of “unfailing
love”, you know? The world, our lives, WE are imperfect so that HE can be the perfect “thing” for
us. “Love is made perfect in your weakness.” I mean, He’s perfect all on his own, but he purposely
called us to be His children because He wants to see us grow, fail, trip up, and turn to Him as our Father
at all times. In John 17:11 when He’s in the garden on the eve of his crusifiction and He’s praying Jesus is
saying, “Holy Father, keep them and care for them.” He didn’t say, “God show ‘em who’s boss!” or “Go
get ‘em dad!” Keep and care! That’s love people just in case you didn’t know…

Song..”You stay the same through the ages, Your love never changes. There may be pain in the night,
but joy comes in the morning. And when the oceans rage, I don’t have to be afraid, cuz I know that You
love me and Your love never fails” That’s it in a nutshell. That’s the point!

So WE FAIL BUT GOD’S LOVE DOESN’T!

How can we be certain God won’t just take it back and decide there’s too many reasons for Him not
love us and then changes His mind?

We certainly see a lot of that kind of love in our lives today, so why not? Well, God isn’t human for one
thing…

Romans 8:38 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and
life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow,
and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the
deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is
revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

ONCE HE’S IN OUR HEARTS, HE’S THERE FOREVER! Unfailing love= never-ending, never regretting, ever-
present, conquers all things, IT’S THE STRONGEST THING OUT THERE IN HEAVEN AND EARTH!

So I encourage you guys to simply talk to God, show Him how grateful you are for His love every day,
and when you screw up or something bad happens think about these words from C.S. Lewis:

“To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?”-C.S. Lewis J