WEBVTT 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:04.879 Dear Lord, thank you so much for the Sabbath 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.740 day. I ask that you open our hearts and our minds 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:12.980 and give us the Holy Spirit and gain some wisdom 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:17.699 and learn how to better experience renewal in 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:19.800 Christ. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:24.100 So today we're going to be focusing on King David. 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.679 For those who don't know, King David was about 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:29.859 30 years old whenever he was coronated as the 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.780 second king of Israel. And he reigned for about 00:00:32.780 --> 00:00:36.100 40 years. And people loved this guy. I mean, 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:40.119 he was a legend. He was known for being a great 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:43.679 shepherd that protected his flock from beasts. 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:47.340 And he was known as the kid that slayed the giant 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:51.259 with a slingshot. And he was an excellent military 00:00:51.259 --> 00:00:55.560 leader. And under his reign, Israel was really 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.759 experiencing their golden years, so to speak. 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:03.100 And it really begs the question, what made David 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:07.120 so successful? Well, if you look throughout the 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.379 book of Samuel, you'll see that this phrase, 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.700 David inquired of the Lord, pops up quite a lot. 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.200 Whether the matters were big or small, David 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.659 always seemed to inquire of the Lord and to see 00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:25.459 what the Lord would have to do for him. But at 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:29.390 some point, something went wrong. What went wrong 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:31.890 and when did it go wrong? And we're starting 00:01:31.890 --> 00:01:50.930 here in 2 Samuel 11, verse 1. So basically, all 00:01:50.930 --> 00:01:53.989 of David's men are out fighting this war, and 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:57.609 David decides to hang back. in Jerusalem, and 00:01:57.609 --> 00:01:59.909 maybe reflecting on his past victories, just 00:01:59.909 --> 00:02:02.069 kind of soaking it up. And it's interesting to 00:02:02.069 --> 00:02:05.590 see that problems arise not whenever David is 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:08.169 working really hard or is super invested. This 00:02:08.169 --> 00:02:10.610 is in a time of leisure, and I think a lot of 00:02:10.610 --> 00:02:13.090 us can sort of fall into this trap too, and things 00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:14.969 are going easy, and we're becoming a little bit 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:16.729 more self -sufficient, that sometimes that's 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:21.150 when Satan wants to come and mess with us. So 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:23.490 it goes on. One evening, David got up from his 00:02:23.490 --> 00:02:25.849 bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:29.289 From the roof, he saw a woman bathing. The woman 00:02:29.289 --> 00:02:34.550 was very beautiful. So apparently, David sees 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:37.729 a woman, and she catches his eye, and he's a 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:41.009 fair bit interested in her, so he decides to 00:02:41.009 --> 00:02:44.629 figure out who this woman is. And David sent 00:02:44.629 --> 00:02:46.930 someone to find out about her. The man said, 00:02:46.990 --> 00:02:49.889 she is Bathsheba, the daughter of Ilium and the 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:52.969 wife of Uriah the Hittite. All right, so at this 00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:55.710 point, you know, I'm not so sure if David has 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:58.169 done anything wrong yet, but this is the stopping 00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:00.169 point because now David knows that this woman 00:03:00.169 --> 00:03:02.930 is married and that this is a no -go. So this 00:03:02.930 --> 00:03:05.270 is a man that has been inquiring of the Lord, 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:08.849 a man that has had God at the seat of his throne 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:12.270 in his heart. And at this point, for a man like 00:03:12.270 --> 00:03:14.370 that, this should be the stopping point. for 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:17.430 him and his interest in this woman. But this 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:21.969 desire keeps developing in his heart to the point 00:03:21.969 --> 00:03:24.270 where it becomes not just a healthy attraction 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:26.509 to someone, but an unhealthy attraction one. 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:30.530 And we see someone who has God seated in his 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:36.289 heart experience a heart deterioration. And it 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:38.650 says that David sent messengers to get her. She 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:41.650 came to him, and he slept with her, and then 00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:45.889 she went back home. And then it later says, So 00:03:45.889 --> 00:03:53.030 David has just gotten himself into a world of 00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:57.710 trouble. And when it comes to Satan and temptation 00:03:57.710 --> 00:04:02.270 and doing bad things, usually Satan doesn't tell 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:04.469 you about the aftermath of the initial choice. 00:04:07.069 --> 00:04:09.370 Satan tries to tell the young man to go out to 00:04:09.370 --> 00:04:11.210 the bar and party, he doesn't tell him about 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:12.870 the hangover he's going to experience later. 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.750 Or whenever he tempts the thief to steal from 00:04:15.750 --> 00:04:18.389 the store, he doesn't tell him about the lengthy 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:20.970 prison sentence he might have to spend if he 00:04:20.970 --> 00:04:24.470 gets caught. And he certainly did not mention 00:04:24.470 --> 00:04:28.550 any of the sort of pregnancies with David whenever 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:33.470 he tempted David to see Bathsheba. So right now, 00:04:33.490 --> 00:04:36.560 David is at a crossroads, essentially. He has 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:40.319 two choices. He can inquire of the Lord, come 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:42.500 clean and see what he needs to do to fix the 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:45.540 situation, or he can double down and continue 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:49.300 to make bad choices. And unfortunately, that 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:52.180 is what David does. And ultimately, he conspires 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:55.160 against the husband of Bathsheba and has him 00:04:55.160 --> 00:05:00.889 murdered. He gets away with it for about a year, 00:05:00.949 --> 00:05:02.790 but it's probably one of the worst years of his 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:05.910 life. He is totally depressed, totally detached, 00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:09.670 totally distant from God, not writing any psalms 00:05:09.670 --> 00:05:13.050 as he's known for, and he is just in a completely 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:16.870 miserable state. And it's about after a year 00:05:16.870 --> 00:05:20.089 or so that God tells Nathan the prophet what 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:24.610 David has done, and Nathan confronts David about 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:26.910 this, and he uses a metaphor about a rich man, 00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:29.490 and a poor man and the rich man taking from the 00:05:29.490 --> 00:05:31.370 poor man and asking David how he felt about that. 00:05:31.470 --> 00:05:34.949 And he was enraged with the rich man until Nathan 00:05:34.949 --> 00:05:37.569 points it out to David that he is the rich man. 00:05:38.430 --> 00:05:42.610 And David at this point, his sins have been exposed 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:46.250 and he now knows the severity of his situation 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:50.029 for nothing in all creation is hidden from God's 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:52.110 sight. Everything is uncovered and laid before 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:53.949 the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.379 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed 00:05:57.379 --> 00:05:59.980 or hidden that will not be made known. What you 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:01.879 have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:03.720 and what you have whispered in the ear in the 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.100 inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:10.399 So we've reached the climax of the story. We 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.899 had someone that had a pure heart, and now we 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.839 have someone that is in need of a heart transformation. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:21.420 And a lot of us find ourselves in similar situations 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:26.170 where... We are in a state of brokenness or emptiness 00:06:26.170 --> 00:06:29.389 or fearfulness or lustfulness, and we are just 00:06:29.389 --> 00:06:31.769 at a breaking point, and we're looking for a 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:34.829 way to experience heart renewal. And if we want 00:06:34.829 --> 00:06:36.949 to experience heart renewal, we should follow 00:06:36.949 --> 00:06:40.689 in the same footsteps that David takes. How do 00:06:40.689 --> 00:06:43.709 I experience heart renewal? Well, step one is 00:06:43.709 --> 00:06:47.149 to come clean before God. And we see this is 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.149 what David had... David does. He says, I have 00:06:49.149 --> 00:06:51.470 sinned against the Lord. And he goes into further 00:06:51.470 --> 00:06:55.089 detail in this confession in Psalm 51, verses 00:06:55.089 --> 00:06:57.949 1 through 2. Have mercy on me, O God, according 00:06:57.949 --> 00:07:00.230 to your unfailing love, according to your great 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:02.790 compassion. Blot out my transgressions. Wash 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:05.209 away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:09.949 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always 00:07:09.949 --> 00:07:13.310 before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned 00:07:13.310 --> 00:07:16.329 and done what is evil in your sight. So you are 00:07:16.329 --> 00:07:18.350 right in your verdict and justified when you 00:07:18.350 --> 00:07:21.649 judge. So the first step is just really just 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.009 laying it out before God and coming clean before 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:26.050 him and confessing what you've done and putting 00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:28.250 yourself in a position where you're ready to 00:07:28.250 --> 00:07:32.170 turn away from this behavior. And step two is 00:07:32.170 --> 00:07:36.310 to simply ask God for a clean heart. And we see 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:38.110 this in the Psalms as well. Create in me a pure 00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:41.350 heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:46.000 me. When we give it all to God, when we confess 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.879 ourselves and we ask him for a heart renewal, 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.839 for a new heart, God gives that to us. And it's 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:54.879 not just, it's not superficial. It's not just 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.399 on paper. We actually experience a true transformation 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:01.399 of who we are. And I know this because when we 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:03.779 look into the New Testament and we look at the 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:07.079 mentions of David, 50 some odd times that he's 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.100 mentioned in the New Testament, never is he mentioned 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:13.139 as an adulterer or a murderer. And Acts 13 .22 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:16.519 says, God testified concerning him, I have found 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.279 David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:25.160 This is a true experience, a true transformation 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:30.000 we can experience. We can go from total dejection 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:35.129 to complete and fullness and joy. Whenever I 00:08:35.129 --> 00:08:37.529 was a kid, I used to live in Sumner County, and 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:39.590 it was in the early 2000s, I think about 2006. 00:08:40.409 --> 00:08:43.370 There was this horrible, horrible tornado, like 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:46.230 an F3 tornado that just came and just absolutely 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:50.549 destroyed the county, caused millions of dollars 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:54.429 in damage, killed several people, just total, 00:08:54.570 --> 00:08:59.129 total catastrophe, destroyed homes. And there 00:08:59.129 --> 00:09:03.500 was one family in particular that... The mom 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:06.139 was at home with the kids, and the dad was stuck 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:09.320 at work, and the tornado was headed right for 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.940 them, and it actually went through their house 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:13.700 and destroyed their house, and the mother had 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:16.580 to lay on top of the kids to protect them. And 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:18.379 thankfully, they survived, but they were found 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:21.039 under a pile of rubble, and the mom actually 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.639 was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.820 the rest of their life. And the community got 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.419 together, and they did the best they could to... 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:32.649 get food and clothing and shelter for this family. 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:36.049 But they did something else as well. They got 00:09:36.049 --> 00:09:39.590 a bunch of signatures for a petition, more signatures 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:42.850 than there had ever been on a petition to get 00:09:42.850 --> 00:09:45.789 on a particular show. And it just so happened 00:09:45.789 --> 00:09:50.330 to be the extreme home makeover show. And this 00:09:50.330 --> 00:09:53.929 family was able to have a brand new home after 00:09:53.929 --> 00:09:57.919 having a completely destroyed one. So where you 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.940 would go and you would see rubble and death and 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:03.500 destruction, you now see a new beautiful home 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:07.399 and a beautiful family. And this is the same 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.240 kind of transformation that we can experience 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:14.820 with Jesus whenever we ask him for a clean heart, 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:18.820 when we confess our sins to him, because he is 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:22.779 the master builder of our life. It may seem at 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.200 times like there's no way to... change who we 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.279 are, to become a better person, but God guarantees 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:30.299 us and shows us in scripture that when we come 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:32.960 before him, we can experience true heart transformation. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:36.759 Dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing us 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.519 together here. I ask that you can create a clean 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.360 heart in all of us and strengthen us with your 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:44.340 spirit and continue to be the master builder 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:48.960 in our lives. Please bless the rest of this day, 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.460 and please be with the silent prayer requests 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:53.259 of everyone in this room. I ask these things 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:54.340 in Jesus' name. Amen.