MAR 3 2019 | The Crown: David as King S1E7 | Rest On All Sides

Sea Change Church · The Crown: David as King · "Rest On All Sides" Pastor Adam Stadtmiller · March 3, 2019
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Good morning, church. Please join me in a scripture reading. 2 Samuel 7, verse 8 through 11. Now then, tell my servant David, this is what the Lord Almighty says. I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointing you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth, and I will provide a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed.

Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning, and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. This is the word of the Lord. Hey, good job. You're not afraid of the mic. I love that. That was awesome. You owned it right there. Hopefully, you take one of these Accelerate cards and invite somebody next week to Invitation Sunday.

We are starting a brand new sermon series called Accelerate, and it's a great series. If you have been stuck in your faith for a long time, or if you know people that want to know about what Christianity is all about. It is going to be a series for the mature, but also the newcomer. It's going to talk about some of the basic ways in which we follow Christ and what it means. I've got five of these that I'm going to be giving to five people I know.

Travis, my buddy at basketball. A gal I play with at basketball named Ebi. A guy at Trader Joe's named AGO. Edward at Trader Joe's. And who's my other one? Oh, Maurice. So I've got five of these that I'm going to be giving out. Hopefully, you know who you're going to be inviting, because this is an awesome community, and God's doing rad stuff. So I've got five of these already. I think there's 60 left in the pulpit, in the pews.

Please use them to invite people to be a part of what we're doing here, and yeah, be a part of it. Excited. So we are finishing the final week of a seven-week series on the book of 2 Samuel and the third installation of the life of David called The Crown. And looking at the years when The Crown came and went from just an idea that God had put on his head, on his mind, and on his head, through anointing him with oil, to actually bringing him to the place of being the king of Israel and what it took to get there.

Now, David had been a fugitive on the run, as we saw. He had been a giant killer, as we saw in the first series. And now David is king. And we're going to have a fourth series where it goes into his years as king, which weren't quite as good, although he had much success, that weren't quite as good or successful as the years leading up to it. I've always said David was a better servant or shepherd or fugitive than he was a king.

The major issues and problems that happened in David's life happened that once he got the crown. And so I would say heavy is the head that wears the crown. And perhaps the crown that you want doesn't offer everything that you think it offers. With that, the key point, there's been two keys through this entire series. One, David never reached to take the crown. He never went on his own. He had multiple opportunities where he could have been the person to reach out, to kill Saul, to take people, to get an army, to go take that thing that he wanted.

He always stayed his hand. And we're going to see once again where it was God that took him where he was supposed to be and put him where he was supposed to be. And he completely had faith in that. David was comfortable in his own skin. He didn't have to prove anything to anybody. And that is one of the best places that you can live if you want to have a life of peace and a life of rest. The second thing, which we're going to end this series with, is the thought that was probably the first or second sentence.

And I did it intentionally seven weeks ago. I said David was a deeply flawed man, person, who was desperately in love with God. And I think a lot of us understand that. Deeply flawed, but desperately in love with God. And you can be both. In a world that wants to polarize people, that wants to put people into a binary that says you're either a good person or you're a bad person. You've done one thing, now you're a bad person.

Or you did one good thing and now you're a good person. We no longer allow complexity in people anymore. We have to label them either good or bad. And God has the ability to take us in the desperate state that we are in, in the complex state we are in, in the broken state that we are in, and to welcome us. And he did that with David. So that was the final thing. The first is he never reached the crown. And the question to you is, do you find yourself constantly reaching for a crown, wanting something more than you have?

The second is it's okay to be deeply flawed. If you're broke, you belong here. I love what Jason and Michelle and Sarah and the others were talking about. And or if you're broke, what Matt was talking about, like financially. That was a pun. The thing is that you can come here broke. If you're broke, you're the right person. Before the last service, I was talking to somebody. And I said, how are you doing, man? They've been coming to church for like, I don't know, six weeks.

And when they got here, they were just a mess and didn't want to go to church and grew up in a cult and didn't want anything to do with church. But they showed up totally following, got so excited about God, have experienced healing in their life. And I said, dude, how are you doing? He goes, I am, adjective, amazing. And I was like, you are just the guy I want coming to the church, man. Like, that would have made six other like uptight Christians run for the doors, what you just said.

And I'm glad you didn't say it too loud. But, man, that is just an adjective I don't want to always hear. But every once in a while, it means we're on the right track as a church. There's these people, they feel comfortable to come say that. And he goes, I might even take communion today. And I haven't taken communion yet. And I'm like, yeah, boy, you go. So, that was amazing and what God is doing. So, you can be deeply flawed here.

You can be broke, but we just hope you don't keep breaking things. That's the deal. That you get healed. I want to mention something that happened ten years ago. We just passed a ten-year anniversary, which I think was one of the most important moments in human history. And no one talks about the anniversary of it. And it was February 9th, 2009. So, we just passed the ten-year anniversary of it. And I believe that it deeply impacted the sociology of the world in many ways.

And I think it is key to the rise of, the continued rise of depression, anxiety. I'm also a person who's no longer on my meds. I was on meds for a while when I was struggling with anxiety. And it was about a two-year season I did that. God freed me of that as well. And perhaps God can free you from that as well. We're seeing a lot of that. That doesn't mean go off your meds, okay? It means you work with, you do you, and you work with people who you need to talk to and whatever.

So, I'm not telling you that. But we are seeing some freedom in things that are, you know, they say once you start doing those things, you never get off them. And some people will be on those for life. And that makes sense. But we are seeing healing here. But this thing that happened that I think talks about the rise of depression, anxiety, and loneliness happened. This one moment. And then it was the day that Facebook decided to add something to the algorithm.

And it was called a like. It was a like button. Now, before that, you had friends. Now, in 2005, 6, remember it was, I was riding on a bus in Australia. We were living in Australia, so it must have been 2005. And I heard these two kids talking, and they had their phones. And the one kid to the other kid, he made fun of him. He, like, totally cut him down. Like, with this piercing cut down, you know, about the way he looked.

I remember it was something piercing, you know. And the other kid looked back and he goes, you only have 36 friends. Yeah, right? And I was like, oh, 36 friends. You must be a horrible person. No one likes you. Before the like, there was this friend thing. But this like thing immediately, immediately gave you the ability to actually spreadsheet out your worth. It wasn't just based on, I wonder what people think anymore.

What do they think? No, they probably don't. You could talk yourself out of a bad opinion. But now, what you put on was being socially judged in an algorithm that you could actually see and build your worth upon. Not only that, Facebook, and you've probably heard the articles, understood how this worked. The whole deal was to keep people on the platform as long as possible and to keep coming to the platform. So they actually hired sociologists, brain chemistry people, you know this.

This is not new news. To figure out how can this become more addicting. And what they realize is the desperate need for people to be liked. The desperate need to have not only connection, because they're offering connection, but they're offering more than connection. They're offering worth. And so the continued striving to build something, to know what post works, what post doesn't work. Okay? For some reason, the mirror selfie for girls with the half-made bed in the background.

I don't know why, there's always a half-made bed. Half-made bed. And I just got up in the morning. Your makeup's totally on, but I just, I get out of bed this way, you know. This is how I woke up, you know. And there's that, that's right. I always look like this. Yes. And that, I mean, someone found that that works really well. And so other people see it, and they think, I want that. And all of a sudden, things started trending.

I want to say there's probably nothing. I won't say nothing. I don't want to be that definitive. I would say there are a few things. It would probably be in the top 100 events, in my opinion, my personal opinion, in regard to sociology of human beings. Maybe even top 20 that changed the world more than that like button. And immediately gave the ability to say, do you matter? I got to say that one of the things we learn from this lesson of David is that David knew that he mattered.

And because he knew that he mattered, he didn't have to reach for another thing that would give him another like. There's a band called the Chainsmokers. And they have a lyric. Because on Spotify, they'll offer me new music. And my daughter's always like, how'd you know that song? How have you heard about that band? Like, she's always amazed that I'm, you know, like in touch. Like, I've heard of something. You know what I'm saying?

Or I'll say, don't you love when you can show your kids something on the computer and they don't know how to actually do that? They're like, oh, I didn't know I could paste the whole screen like that. Well, how'd you do that? Because I'm not an idiot. That's how I know. I grew up with Pac-Man. And television. With a runner. Football. They have a line, the Chainsmokers. And I was in, we were in England and we were on vacation.

I was listening to the Chainsmokers. And I don't condone smoking. And as I was listening to them, he has this line and it says, How many likes are my life worth? Now, they're younger than me, but they get it. How many likes are my life worth? And I was like, like, that is a great question. Because we continue to sell ourselves and to reach out and abandon peace. And we start striving. We abandon rest. We abandon so many things to be seen.

Perhaps we abandon financial peace because we want to have that Maserati that we can't afford. We can afford a $4.50 payment, but we'll go $9.50. But whatever it is, just so people can look. See, back in the day, it used to just be people could see what you had. But now they can actually go and figure it out and algorithm you and see how popular you are. Remember when 2 million followers? I remember when Ash... Who's the guy that married Demi Moore?

Ashton Kutcher. 9 million followers. What a 9 million followers. That ain't nothing but a thing no more. 9 million followers. Please. Child, please. You need like... You need like 58 million followers. Now that's nothing. Ashton Kutcher. When was the last time you seen him on Twitter? He ain't on their Twitter no more. He's just a whisper anymore. How many likes is your life worth? And my question is, what are you aiming at?

On the notes, it asks the question, what are you aiming at? I want to say, what you're aiming at will greatly determine the amount of peace, joy, and... I don't want to use it. That's not the right word. Peace, joy, and rest that you have in your life. What are you aiming at? And I will... I do believe that very few people are aiming at the things that Christ actually wants to offer you. Especially Christians. I don't know many Christians where if you ask them, what are you aiming for?

If you... Like, you caught them off guard. Like, they don't know that you're doing like... You're trying to figure out a good... You know, an answer for this sermon. But if you just caught them off guard over a cup of coffee and you said, hey, what are you trying to do with your life? What are you aiming at? You know, if you caught them off guard, they're not going to give you a Christian answer. Well, I really want to know the spirit of God, you know?

But you really ask them. And you got into, like, their regular thinking. They would probably say things like, I really, you know, we want to move to a bigger house. Or I want my career to go better. Or I want to write this book. Or I want to be on, you know, this radio. I want this thing. There's this thing that they really want. And Christ does say in the scriptures... And the scriptures are, you know, full of sayings that say, you know, if you give your heart to me, I will give you your desires of your heart and all these different things.

But we tend to oftentimes want things that Christ is oftentimes willing to give us that are far less than the things he really wants to give you. And very few people, I mean, you can even ask, if you look in your friend group, if you were to ask your friends, what do you really want? How many would say, I want peace. I want rest. I want a lack of chaos. I want the ability to enjoy my life. I just want to enjoy my life.

To put down the cease striving. To get away from all the things that people either give likes on Facebook, or you can turn a head on the street. You turn all those things over and say, I really want the things that Christ offers most. Talking to somebody at the break, and I guess they're here for the second time in this sermon. So I love it when you see people here twice, you think you know you hit it with them, you know.

Or they're getting paid like you. Not enough, she said. Talk to them. They pay you, not me. Somebody said, I'm quitting my job. They said, I am quitting my job. And their family member next to them said, not until we figure out a financial plan. You're not quitting your job. And I thought, it's awesome. But, you know, to find this thing is, what are you striving for? And what do you, do you really want peace? And not the peace that the world offers.

Jesus says, I give you peace unlike the peace the world gives you. The world gives you distraction. Distraction is not peace. Distraction is, let's go to Fiji because I am burned out and I need to go to Fiji. So we're going to plan that trip to Fiji because we need some rest. And we're going to go to Fiji. We're going to put on a credit card. And if you look at the amortization schedule on that, it's going to be 37 years until we pay it off.

And we're not going to have peace because we're going to have $800 payment on that. The $999 payment from the Maserati dealership. We can't afford it all. We're living paycheck to paycheck. We are one of those families that doesn't have $400 in the bank that they keep talking about if an emergency comes. But you've got a sweet whip. That means a car. You know, you've got, you know, everyone's looking at you. You've got a great picture of yourself.

How many things on Facebook, if you could see how much people went in debt for that picture, like that would just change the whole, like what it cost. If there was an actual cost of the picture that they took, okay, to get that picture. Like here's my family. We're overdoing this thing, but we can't afford it. And this is what it is. This is the cost we paid. Or whatever the thing is. If you could actually see the cost of what things are.

How many likes is your life worth? What are you aiming for? And are you aiming for peace? A couple of things I wrote separate from the notes is Jesus wants to give you peace and rest on all sides. He gave David, in this passage as we'll see, he gave David rest on all sides. Not just one form of peace. Peace on all sides. He gave him financial peace. He gave him relational peace. Peace. He gave him peace from his enemies.

So he went on, he gave him emotional peace, physical peace, spiritual peace for a season. Because David ended up giving up this peace to reach for things that were not his. Something he had never done before. He reaches out and he takes Bathsheba. He reaches out and he takes a census. He wanted to see how many likes, how many people in his military, just to give him a sense of how powerful he was. If he could overtake the enemy, rather than trusting in God.

Even though that the scripture said to him, the law said, do not take that census. You see, David struggled with peace. And I don't know, the majority of people I know don't live well in peace. Because peace can be very boring. Peace does not come with a monster energy drink. It just doesn't. And when you get peace, you, when God gives you peace on all sides, it is so easy to get restless. Because one of the things that peace must have in order to continue to be peace is a deep sense of self-worth.

That you are loved by God and you don't have to prove yourself or do anything to go find peace. Because you will never find peace until you have peace. Let me say that again. You will never find peace until you already have peace. You see, peace ensues. You can't pursue peace. You can do the things that free your life up to make better financial decisions. You can use wisdom to find peace. You can fix your relationships.

You can fix your own, your thinking, the way your mind works. You can do all these different things to help to open yourself up to peace. But you can never go make some, go reach for something and it will give you peace. It's oftentimes distraction. See, the peace the world gives us distraction. We want to give you more distraction. Want to give you, you know, the next, you know, next night out at the margarita bar, the next relationship.

And then you're going to feel that sense, that rush of like, oh, someone likes me. Someone loves me. Someone said yes when I asked, or they asked me out on a date. Or whatever this thing is, you have this sense of peace. But then you end up paying for it. You know, I said multiple times in this sermon series, and this came while I was preaching. And really felt from the Holy Spirit, because scripture does back it up.

That Satan doesn't always rob from you. You know, Satan gives to you. All of his temptations with Jesus, he was offering to give him something. He wants to, if he can't rob from you, he's going to give to you. And not every offer is from the Lord. Jesus, they tried to make him king by force. And Jesus says, I want to be your king. I'm a different kind of, I want to be your king, but just not the one you want to make me.

David was not willing to be the king. He had all this peace on all sides. And then he wasn't comfortable with the peace for some reason. And he lost the peace of his kingdom for pretty much the rest of his life. He had struggles. All these things. He had peace on all sides. God had given it to him. And then he gives it away. Because he wanted something more. We're going to get into that in the fourth and final conclusion of our series on David.

Coming sometime this summer. I know the notes. I haven't started them yet. But I'm going to get you through. Trust me. What are you aiming at? Peace and rest. David was never trying to make a name for himself. Verse 9. As you look at this. This whole scripture talks about what God will do for you if you let him. You don't make the victory with God. You take the victory with God. Let me say that again. You don't need to make the victory with God.

You take the victory. Over and over again. God clears people out. You go in and you take plunder. You go plunder by waiting in peace. I told the story last at the 9 o'clock service. I went to a youth conference. And this guy was speaking. And they had him speak. And they were asking him questions. And they had an interview up front. They do that thing they do at Christian conferences now. Where they have a coffee table.

And they have cool coffees. And then you have like the 30-something questioner guy. Who's like, you're the sage. And I'm the 30-year-old millennial. That wants to learn from you. And I'm going to ask good questions. And then you have the sage over here. Who's like in his 50s or older. You guys haven't been to those conferences? And then this guy asks really dumb questions sometimes. And so he says to him. He says to the dude.

What was your plan for success? And I'm like, dude, have you read the Bible? Like there's no plan for success. The plan for success is know Jesus. Know the cross. Like love God. Follow Jesus. That's the plan. We don't make plans for success. We live according to the values of scripture. And let God lead us into success. But it's okay. He's the 30-year-old guy. So then this guy here who's just a wise sage. And the wise sage says to him.

He goes, you know, man. I never had a plan for success. I was like, yeah. Yeah. In the back. I'm like, yeah. He said, I kind of just wanted to sit in the back row and wait. And if God ever wanted to call me from the back row to the stage, then I'd be willing to go. And one day he just called me up. And I thought, boom. That is it. The willingness to live in obscurity. That's a word. Write that down. You're not going to hear it at the Super Bowl commercial.

Obscurity. Willingness to be unknown. And to make the name of Christ known. I have another friend. He's started a church. And he was, we published books with the same publisher at the exact same time. It was my first book. And it was like 2010. And by 2012, this guy was blowing up. I was like at like 6,000 sales on a book. You know what I mean? First book. It was not going well. He's on the stage at Catalyst. That is the stage you want to be at.

I coveted that stage. I wanted that stage. I'm better than him at speaking. No, I'm actually not better than him at speaking. But I thought I was. And I have things to say. And he's actually two inches taller than me. And he's better looking. And he's more famous. And all this. And I was watching him. And he was just blowing up. He was writing books. He was on all the podcasts that I wanted to be on. And this is all the stuff that led to my anxiety, by the way, that I got on meds for.

Because I was wanting the wrong things. And when I saw that they weren't happening, I started freaking out. And then trying to hold on to all the grains of sand in a windstorm, you know? When you get to the place where you just don't have to do that anymore, you're like, I'm just happy to stand on the beach. I don't got to hold all that. You're good. You're more comfortable in your skin. And so, and then all of a sudden, his daughter got cancer.

And they went through a five-year deal with his daughter. And it was tragic. And more and more, he kept just backing up. Because he had to be there with his family. And my wife, his daughter passed away. And then they ended up, God is awesome. They had another child. My wife knitted a blanket. Because we're friends. And knitted a blanket. And I drove it up to their church. And I ran into him in the parking lot. I was going to deliver this blanket.

My wife made a beautiful blanket. She crocheted it. And I ran into him. He was getting out of his truck in the parking lot. And I was like, man, how are you doing? I haven't seen you. And came and gave him a hug. And I'm like, what's going on? You know, what's going on with your career or whatever? He goes, man, I'm just, after the ride, I did his check. He goes, I'm done. He says, you know, no more books. No more podcasts.

He goes, I just want to be a local church pastor and live in obscurity. And I was like, that is so good. Obscurity. That is just something. And I've got to say, I think we should just really work to live really valuable, obscure lives. Don't know, let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. All this stuff. Just work. Go to the orphanage. You don't have to post it on Facebook when you do it, you know. Most of my posts are about my dog.

You know what I mean? Because I just don't trust myself anymore. I was really good. I've got to say, I bought like 10,000 followers on Twitter one day. Oh, everybody's face went, what? Yeah, I bought them. I just bought fake followers. You look at me like I just killed somebody. Look how quiet you are. I'm serious. I bought 10,000. I still got 7,500 of them left, I think. I don't know. I was so desperate. Seriously, it was like 2011.

And I bought all these. You've bought followers. Trust me, you're 27. You know what I'm talking about. Shut up. I wasn't comfortable. How much I care about followers now. I mean, I care about you. That's about it. I'm not trying to build the platform anymore to try to be something because I got some wound that I got to fill, you know. I play basketball on Saturdays three times a week. And I just see guys out there sometimes going nuts.

And I'm like, dude, you're working out your father issues on the court here, dude. You need to go to a counselor and come back so you can not be such a jerk on the court. That was me. Me. I'm just, you guys, it's so funny how quiet they looked. You just looked at me when I said I bought followers. They just went, really? You can do that, okay? It's harder now, but you can still do it. It makes you look really famous.

David never pursued greatness. Greatness pursued David. Greatness, David never pursued greatness. Greatness pursued David. If God wants to make you great, he will. And David's life, greatness ensued a life well lived. And it was God who made a name for him rather than one that he conjured on his own. Conjure up a name for yourself. You can do it. You can buy a bestseller, you know that? New York Times, you can buy a bestseller.

I think it's like 100 grand, top 10. I think it's like 100 grand. You got 100 grand, you can get a top. My buddy, Ghost, wrote a book for a woman in Asia who wrote a bestseller and paid 100 grand to have it become a bestseller. You can buy it. How many likes has your life? I know, right? You shake your head. That's how it works, people. Every so often, someone wins and writes a great book that we all love, but so much of it is just being bought behind the scenes.

So we do the same thing in our own life. One of the curses of our age in the notes you'll see is convincing everyone that they must be great to have value and meaning. Many are willing to pursue greatness at the cost of their own physical, emotional, and spiritual peace. Verse 11b, God said to David, I will also give you rest from all your enemies. And are we comfortable with rest? Do you really, I mean, do you really want rest?

Have you ever pictured rest? Have you had it? I've actually, we've spent, my wife and I, we've spent five years since we got here doing everything we can to build peace and rest. And remove chaos from our life. David was one of those people that, that had chaos in his life. And when rest finally came, it was difficult. I say, I was one of those people who could not have peace unless I had chaos. You know those people?

Look in the mirror. You know, maybe it's you. You know, you got to have something going on or you just get edgy. It's, it's Saturday. You don't know what to do. You got to find something to do with yourself because if you don't get something done, you're not going to feel like you're worth anything. Right? Over and over again, there's not this sense of knowing who you are and being comfortable in your own skin. And David has this because David was a man who knew that God made him.

He was made by God, as we'll see in a moment. John 3.3 says, he must become greater. And this is John the Baptist saying it, talking about Jesus. He must become greater. I must become less. I just don't hear that at the conferences I go to. I don't see any Christian books flying off the shelves that are about that. It's all about finding out who you are, becoming who you are, getting to sing your song, dance your dance, have your play, you know, put on stage, be everything that God has made so everyone can recognize you can have fulfillment.

When Christ, I've said this over and over again, when Christ says, I will give you that for free. You don't have to be married. You don't have to have kids. You don't have to have a financial portfolio that is blowing people away. You have to have none of it. He says, I will give it to you for free. It is enough. David has allowed his life then to be crafted by God. And when you get to that place, you become clay where God just says, okay, now I can get to work.

When you get to that place where you stop buying Twitter followers like me, which I'm, I'm actually not embarrassed. I don't care. I'm not embarrassed. I'm broke. I just needed that. I thought if no one buys my book, I won't get another book. You know, it's 2014 since I last wrote my book windows closing. So what? I don't care. If someone calls me, they call me. They can call me. Fine. But you get to that place where you're just so desperate to be something.

And when you get comfortable in your own skin, that God loves you, that you are a thought in the eternal mind of God, and that that thought is based on love for you, it is enough. If your kids don't do great, it's okay. Some parents are so tied to their kid's success because it's tied to their personal success. Jesus' first two kids were failures. Their names were Adam and Eve. And he didn't walk around going, I've got to fix all their problems.

I've got to fix. He did fix their problems, but it didn't break his self-worth. He was comfortable with who he was. David allowed his life to be classified by God. And when you were trying to make a name for yourself, you're negotiating with life from a position of poverty. When you feel like you have to do something to be something, you are saying, I am in deficit. I am in poverty. And I need to do something. And David never lived in that poverty.

He never did. Jesus didn't either. Paul, the apostle, didn't either. Moses, after he got right with God, after he stopped trying to be this Egyptian leader and he got right with God, never lived with that anymore. It was enough to know that you are a thought in the mind of God. And if God thinks about you with love emblazoned and tattooed on that name, it is enough. Is that enough for you? Because that will bring the peace you're looking for.

And then God can get to work with you. Then he can start working with that clay. Coming in for a landing now. So, God says this, and this is all in the, you could study this this week, this 2 Samuel chapter 7. God says this, all these words in this passage to David. And put yourself in the story, because once again, you could be in the Bible. You could have been David. He could have chosen you. And he is choosing you for something today.

He says to David, I took you. Remember, David was in the pasture. You don't have to book your flight. God will take you there. He says, I took you. I have been with you. And that's the best promise of all of it. That God has been there through the ups and the downs. And, you know, when it's, you know, for me, I remember when I was still drinking, I remember I had a bottle of Captain Morgan. That's what it was called.

Captain Morgan's spiced rum. I never know what they spiced it with, but nonetheless. And I was drinking. I was halfway done with the bottle, because I was, to the point I was just drinking a fifth, a few times a week. And I was sitting there on a Tuesday morning, and there was a song by Counting Crows. And it says, it's something like 3 a.m. on a Tuesday. It doesn't get much worse than this. And it was on the radio. And I was sitting alone in my apartment in PB with nowhere to go.

That's the problem. If you're a partier, 3 a.m. on a Tuesday stinks. There's nothing going. I mean, even Monday, the late partiers are like, well, I have a dance club thing on a Monday. You know what I mean? Because, you know, you're waiting until Thursday. But Tuesday, Wednesday is horrible. And I don't know if it's still that way. And I thought to myself, my life stinks. I was sitting there, I thought, 3 a.m. on a Tuesday, it doesn't get much worse than this.

And I got to say, you know, when I was there, God was with me. He was with me all the time. He never left me. And some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you have been there at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday or woke up in a bed and you didn't know who you were with. You've been there and you think, you know what, in the midst of that, God was with me. Or you've been at the clinic, you know, with a kid you didn't want and you went through that scenario.

Or you were getting tested for AIDS because you thought you had AIDS, which I did that too. I don't know, don't raise your hand, but in the 80s, you show up and you got to go to the clinic and don't let anybody know because we were scared to death we were going to get AIDS. You know, so you go and you wait three weeks to get your results back, you know. That is not a life you want. But some of you have lived it. And in the midst of it, now you're here.

And now I'm here. And God is there with us in the midst of it. He said he took him. I've been with you. I have cut off for you. He cut off the enemies. And God wants to cut off the enemies. If you will quit making them. Because so many of our enemies are enemies we choose to get in bed with ourselves. We choose those enemies. David's problems in life came because he chose to create enemies again. By not living any longer in the obedience of God.

I will make for you. I love that. I will make for you. I will provide for you. And I will give you rest. All of this. In this. A paragraph out of the Bible is richer than a four hour, you know, podcast. Or something you're going to find on, you know, the stages of the world. Or the. You go listen to the gurus of leadership. Just a few sentences from God are eternal. I will make you. I will take you. I will cut off for you.

I will give you rest. I will provide for you. That is our God. And that has been the God for me. Because I look back and I tell you some of my stories. And, you know, I didn't tell my testimony for 20 years probably. Because I felt like the first five years I was sober. Like my whole. I was trying to create a. I was trying to be that Christian that had a rad testimony. So I was always telling my testimony. And I just quit telling it.

Like for 20. I just. I so didn't relate to that place anymore. God had moved so much in my life. I don't even know who that dude is. 3M on a Tuesday makes no sense to me anymore. Being at a clinic. Or whatever. Or, you know. Whatever those things are that are in your life. They make no sense to me anymore. To the point. I didn't want to tell the story anymore. Because it's a great story. But I didn't tell it. Only now.

Because I feel like God said. I want you to start telling those stories again. Do I start telling them. Because God has taken me from that place to this place. I got to say. I don't want to go back. I don't. It's got nothing to offer me. David's there. And the final thing. You'll see. In verse 8. Now then. Tell my servant David. This is what the Lord Almighty says. I took you from the pastor. From tending the flock. And appointed you ruler over my people Israel.

David did not begin as a shepherd boy in the field. With aspirations for the crown. He wasn't looking for likes. He never left. And took someone with him. Every time David ran. He did. I mean they followed him. But he never got a crew of people. The first time with Saul. He just left on his own. He said. God and me. And the desert. Is enough. God and nothing is enough. And he never had aspirations to reach. And as a shepherd boy in the field.

He was happy being a shepherd in obscurity. Are you just happy? If your life. You don't get the shiny thing you want. Can you still have joy and peace. Knowing that you are emblazoned upon the mind of God. And in his heart. That he loves you. Is it enough? You never want to ascend to any place. No matter how great. Where God has not first made a place for you. You never want to go anywhere that God has not made a place.

You don't want to be a king one day before you're supposed to. When you get to a place. And you're not supposed to be there. No matter how good it is. The fall. Is a long way down. What are you striving for? And do you really want peace? And how many likes is your life worth? Final thing. I want to end where we began. David was a deeply. Deeply. Deeply flawed man. Desperately in love with God. And you can be too. A deeply flawed person.

Desperately in love with God. And can we agree. That we want to be desperately in love with God. Here at this church. Until. The fourth part. When we look at the life of David. This series concludes. And I pray that you will. Find peace and sanctuary in it. Amen. Amen. We're going to. Yeah. Right on. Thanks man. Yeah. No. You don't have to do that. Struck a chord.