LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2023
1 CHRONICLES 14 VERSES 8 –
17
David
was anointed king over the land of Israel.
As a result, the Philistines, his arch enemy were out to kill him. They were a strong rival against the people
of Israel. The Lord will establish you,
but the devil will fight against you. He
doesn’t want to see God’s people grow in grace.
He is fighting against you today.
We need to be alerted to stand against the plans and purposes of the
enemy, the devil himself. We need to be
like the workers in Nehemiah’s day – in one hand they had a tool and in the
other a weapon – Nehemiah 4 verse 17 “They which builded on the wall and they
that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands
wrought in the work and with the other hand held a weapon.” The greatest enemy we have to stand against is
the devil himself. “Praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Ephesians 6 verse 18 The one we pray to, the Lord is greater than
our enemy. The Lord is all powerful and he
proved that when he was here on earth.
David was not facing the Philistine alone. God was with him in every step he took.
Verses
8 and 9 “And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all
Israel all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard of it and went out against
them. And the Philistines came and
spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” The crisis
David was faced with. He was not taking
on a one man battle. The whole army of
Philistines came against David. When
David heard that the enemy was coming to seek his life he didn’t sit back and
take it easy, he didn’t do nothing about it – “he went out against them.” He went out and faced the enemy. He had to fight the enemy in the valley –
verse 9. Quite often when we as God’s
children are going through some difficulty the enemy will up his tactics. When we are at our weakest. What did David do? Verse 1 “and David enquired of God.” When faced with the enemy. What a great lesson there is for each of us
to take on board. David enquired of
God. When we are going through the
valley, facing some crisis in life we should take it to the Lord, enquire of
God. Prayer and the word of God are the
only weapons we have. We are not facing
a physical battle like David but a spiritual one every day. Ephesians 6 verse 12 “For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.” We are engaged in a spiritual
battle. It is important that we do not
neglect the things that take us before the enemy. Do not neglect the place of prayer or reading
God’s word daily. It is only at the
place of prayer and reading scripture that we will find strength against the
enemy. 3 times Jesus overcame the devil
by quoting the word of God – Matthew 4 – verse 4 “It is written”, verse 7 “it is
written” and verse 10 “it is written”.
He overcame by the word of God.
If God’s own son used the word of God to stand against the devil how
much more should we. We need to read and
memorise it every day. It is very
important to memorise the scripture. We
must have the word of God in our hearts and minds so then we can stand against
him. We will not only find help and
strength through the reading of God’s word, but we will find perfect guidance,
perfect in every single way. 2 Samuel 22
verse 31 “As for God his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; he is a
buckler to all them that trust in him.”
It is only the Lord that leads us in the right way and brings us out of
our problems. Perhaps this attack for
David was so unexpected. He never
thought it would happen. It was just
after he had ascended to the throne. The
attack could come when we least expect it.
Even though a soldier is off duty he needs to be prepared to be on duty
at any time. He needs to be prepared for
the unexpected attack of the enemy. If
there ever was a day when we need to be prepared for the unexpected attack of
the enemy it is today. He will attack us
when we least expect it. He is going
around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That is why we need to say, “watch and pray that
ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak.” (Matthew 26 verse 41) The crisis
that David faced.
The command given –
verse 10 “And David enquired of God saying, Shall I go up against the
Philistines? And wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto
him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand.” And verse 14 “Therefore
David enquired again of God and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn
away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.” When David prayed unto the Lord in the midst
of the crisis God answered his prayer.
David saw the mind of the Lord in planning his attack – “shall I go up
against the Philistines?” One would
think David may have been casting doubt on what the Lord wanted him to do. That is why he was anointed king – to fight
battles for the Lord and for the people of Israel. He was not casting doubt on what he should
do. Rather he was acknowledging the Lord
in everything. He was seeking to do everything
according to the Lord’s will, even the battle.
He was a man after God’s own heart.
He will consult the Lord in all he seeks to do in life. When we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways,
he will direct out paths – Proverbs 3 verse 6.
I wonder do we acknowledge the Lord in all we are seeking to do? In every area of our life? How does God feature in the plans of your
life? How does God feature in my
life? Even though David had been
anointed king and knew what he had to do he still acknowledged the Lord. If he hadn’t acknowledged the Lord before he
went into this battle it could have ended in disaster. If we as God’s people never acknowledge God
in what he is seeking to do in our lives it will end in disaster. The only reason why someone would not
acknowledge the Lord in every area is because they are doing things that are
not pleasing to the Lord. The Lord commanded
David to go up against the enemy and he would deliver them into his hand. The assurance of the Lord. He would be with him and would deliver him
from the battle – “I will deliver them into thine hand.” He was facing the army in the strength of the
great defender. Psalm 5 verse 11 “But
let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice; let them ever shout for
joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy name be joyful in
thee.” What battles are you facing
today? Praise the Lord that our Saviour
is mightier than all our enemies and David was realising that fact because God
came him the victory – verse 11 “So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote
them there. Then David said, God hath
broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters;
therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim.” David did not say “I have broken in upon my
enemies”, no “God hath broken in upon mine enemies.” He is being very careful in what he is
saying. He gives all the glory to the
Lord. Even though he fought the physical
battle, he gave all the glory to his creator.
He was only being used as a tool in the master’s hand to defeat the
Philistines. He didn’t want the focus to
be on him but on the Lord. Where do we
want the focus to be today? On ourselves
or the Lord? May we as the children of
God give him all the honour and all the glory.
We are not worthy of any honour or glory. We were born as children of the devil, and it
is only by Christ we are made children of God.
Matthew 5 verse 16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” David not only gave God all the glory, but he
shows it publicly by commanding all the idols of the false gods to be burned –
verse 12 “And when they had left their gods there David gave a commandment, and
they were burned with fire.” When the
Philistines came to fight, they brought their idols and false gods with them
thinking they would win the battle and defeat the Israelites. Although they
lost the battle, they left their gods behind them. David could not stand the idols; they were
taking the place of almighty God. He
commanded that they be burned. Of
course, the question has to be asked – what is an idol? Something that takes God’s place and robs him
of the glory he is due. Could it be that
there is something in our lives that is taking God’s place and robbing him of
the glory that is due to him? It would
not be wrong but whatever it might be it could be hindering out work with
God. God could no long have first place
in our life. I would encourage you to show the heaven and the earth that you
love the Lord with all your soul, heart and mind today. Show that your relationship is with the Lord. Remember the commandment given by God to
Moses “thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Just when they thought the battle was over
the enemy attacked again – verse 13 “And the Philistines yet again spread
themselves abroad in the valley.” They
had recovered and were ready to face another battle. What did David do? “Therefore, David enquired again of God.” He brought the situation before God in
prayer. He did not assume that God’s
plan would be the same the second time around.
God would give David the victory but through a different battle
plan. Perhaps the reason why he wanted
to change his tactic was because the enemy had changed their tactic too. When the enemy hasn’t won victory in our
lives you can be sure he will attack in a different way the next time around. We need to put on the full armour of God as
Ephesians tells us so that we will be able to stand against the evil one.
The conquest. The only reason David defeated the Philistines
was because he obeyed the Lord’s instructions.
He acted on everything the Lord told him to do. Perhaps he was thinking ‘what will be the
outcome, will I come out alive?’ “David
therefore did as God commanded him.” God
gave David the victory. That is the only
way we can win the victory in our lives as Christians – by obeying God’s
word. If he had not obeyed the Lord,
would he have won the battle? David had
to do everything the Lord was asking him to do.
He did not let anyone else persuade him otherwise. Listen to the voice of God. David was going to obey regardless of the outcome. That is the same for us. We must obey the voice of God through his word
in spite of what the outcome is going to be.
I wonder – are we a people who honours the Lord and obeys his word? I trust we are. We will only be prosperous in our Christian
life if we obey God’s word. “Them that
honour me I will honour.” (1 Samuel 2 verse 30)
Joshua 1 verse 8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe
to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.” What a battle but what a victory.
What we have considered is
David going to battle against the Philistines.
He knew he was not facing it alone.
God would go with him every step of the way. We may be facing battles in our lives. We come up against many enemies, but we are
not alone. The Lord is going with
us. The Lord has gone before us. We also discovered that David acknowledged the
Lord in everything he sought to do. May
we never stop acknowledging the Lord in all we are seeking to do. Finally, we noticed that David defeated the Philistines
because he obeyed God’s instructions.
May our testimony be that we are a people who obey the word of God. James 1 verse 22 “be ye doers of the word and
not hearers only.” The great reformer
Martin Luther said, “my conscience is captive to the word of God.”
No comments:
Post a Comment