David was a warrior. He led his people into many battles. He knew how to fight and win wars. And he did kill many of his adversaries. All of this was different from murder. David had almost shed innocent blood when he went after Nabal and his family. If it wasn’t for the grace of God and Abagail he would have gone through with it. David was now king over all Israel. God had given him peace in the kingdom. He had 7 wives and many children. His throne was established in Jerusalem. There wasn’t anything David had to worry about. It was springtime and David sent the army to fight without him. He stayed in Jerusalem. One fine day David went to the roof of his palace to cool off. While he was there, he saw a young woman taking a bath on another roof top. He was so struck by her beauty that he sent for her and brought her into the palace. And he slept with her. She became pregnant. The problem was that her husband, Uriah, was one of David’s generals. And he was on the battlefield. David called him back and told him to go home to his wife. David was hoping that Uriah would sleep with his wife. Uriah was an honorable man and wouldn’t enjoy pleasures with the army was in the field. David sent him back to the battle. He told his commanding general to put Uriah in the front of the heaviest battle and withdraw from him. Uriah died in battle. Then David took his wife and married her. God sent David’s son Nathanial, a prophet, to confront him. God said you will die because of all of this. David repented of his sin and God forgave him. But God said the sword will never leave your hand. You will fight wars until you die. And the members of your own household will rise up against you. His firstborn and most beloved son rose up and tried to replace him as king. David sacrificed everything for pleasure and it cost him everything he held dear. David loved God with his whole heart and did so all of his life. But he had shed innocent blood.

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When David became king over Judah, he lived in Hebron. He was the king of Judah for 7 years. Sometimes the stories you hear about great leaders are idealized. David was a fine man with a good heart, but he had to deal with all kinds of people. Not all people are honest or reputable. The Judeans who had served with David in battle, knew that he was a strong and fearless leader. He believed in God and trust Him to guide him as king. As a leader, he didn’t kill anyone without cause. David didn’t shed innocent blood at this time. There came a time when he did and it cost him almost everything. He was trusted and David didn’t break that trust. There wasn’t any enemy that could stand before him. The other nations feared and respected him. He didn’t have a giant army. What he had was the wisdom of God to guide him to victory. In the meantime, there ruled a son of Saul in Jerusalem. He was a fool and he surrounded himself with fools. His rule was so bad that finally the people rose up against him and killed him. The two men who killed Ishbosheth, brought his head to David thinking that they would receive a reward. David put both men to death for killing God’s anointed. The people of Israel finally came to David to ask if he would be king over them. After 7 years as king in Judah, David finally became king over all Israel. He was 37 years old. It was 22 years after Samuel had anointed David to be king. David moved his capital to Jerusalem, where David ruled until he was 80 years old. God’s timing is always perfect. He will bring to pass all that He said to us in His time.

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Although God chose David to be king after Saul, he had to wait for God’s timing. This story is about the time that David had to flee for his life. Everyone knew that David was going to be king. And it infuriated Saul. So much so that Saul wanted to kill David. David left the palace in Jerusalem. As he began to run from Saul, God had 600 men, warriors, join David in exile. Near Mount Carmel, there lived a wealthy man named Nabal. He had vast possessions. When his shepherd were watching their flocks, David made sure that no one harm them. As long as David was there, he protected Nabal’s possessions. One day David sent 10 of his servants to ask Nabal if he give them some food. Nabal laughed at them and chased them away. When David heard this, he became angry. He told his men to arm themselves. 400 armed men followed David to Nabal’s house. David swore that not one male of Nabal’s household would survive that day. Nabal had a beautiful and smart wife. When she heard that David was headed to her house armed, she took food and wine and sent it to David. She followed the men going to meet David. When she saw David, she fell on her face and asked to forgive her. She said let the punishment fall on her. David repented and accepted her apology. David took the food and returned to his camp. God literally took the sword out of his hand. Nabal’s wife told him the next day and his heart became like stone. Within 10 days Nabal died. His wife’s name was Abagail. David married her and they had David’s first born son, Absalom. Her wise counsel saved David from shedding innocent blood. She also helped him to rule the kingdom. David was on the run for 10 years and he was king of Israel.

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The king was impressed with David. At this time the king being rejected by God was tormented by devils. It was so bad that his advisers suggested that he find a skilled musician to play music to sooth his mind. The king asked who was such a skilled musician. They told him David of Bethlehem. So he was brought to the palace to live and play music for the king. David lived in Jerusalem with the king and played his music. This helped Saul when he was tormented. David met and fell in love with Saul’s youngest daughter, Michal. They married with the king’s permission. Life for David was blessed. As he grew, Saul put him into the army and finally made him a general. David would lead the army of Israel to victory because he was fearless. The people began singing songs about David. The songs said that David would kill his 10,000 and Saul would kill his 1000 troops. Saul became jealous and afraid of David. The king finally decided to kill David so that he wouldn’t become king. Saul’s oldest son and the person next in line to be king, was Jonathan. David and Jonathan loved each as brothers. They would do nothing to harm each other. Jonathan knew that David was the next king. He helped David to escape the king. Saul began chasing David to kill him. David moved into another country to escape Saul. Until King Saul died, he chased David to kill him. But he wasn’t successful. The day that Saul died, Jonathan also died which grieved David. But the kingdom was split and not all the people wanted David as king. So David became King of Judah. He ruled from Hebron for almost 7 years. God never promised that life would be easy. He promised that life would be simple. As the bible says that David’s heart was always after God.

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David was only a teenager when he was anointed to be king. He didn’t leave his father’s home for several years. During that time Israel went to war with the Philistines. Did you know that they are still there? They are called Palestinians today. In David’s day only men of certain age would go to war. The king would put out the call and the men would gather. David’s older brothers went. David wanted to go and see what was going on. So his father sent food for his brothers with David. When he arrived the Israelite army was camped on one side of the valley and the Philistines on the other side. David greeted his brothers and asked how it was going. They told him of the giant, Goliath. This giant would stand in the middle of the valley and dare anyone to come out and fight him. The giant Goliath was 9 feet tall and had a spear that looked like a large poll. He had a person to carry his shield in front of him. No Israelite would even dare to go out and met him. This angered David so much that he said he would go out and face Goliath. His brothers told him to be quiet and go back to his sheep. David spoke out even more until it was told to King Saul what he had said. David was brought before the king. He asked him what he had said. David said that he would go out and face Goliath. He was an affront to God and the kingdom of Israel. David also said that he had killed a lion and a bear and wasn’t afraid of this uncircumcised Philistine. The king offered his armour but David said he didn’t need it. He picked up some smooth river stones that ran in the valley. The giant laughed at David. He told the giant that he would cut off his head. The giant throw his spear at David and missed. David took a stone and his sling and shot a rock at the giant. The stone hit his forehead and God pushed it into his head. The giant fell down. David ran up on him and drew his sword and cut off his head. As David held up the giant’s head, the army of Israel ran at the Philistines, who were running for their lives. David used the skills he learned in the wilderness with God and his sheep.

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Samuel was prophet in Israel at this time. Saul was king over Israel. God rejected Saul because he wouldn’t obey and follow God. Samuel prayed that God would change His mind. God told him to stop praying for Saul. God had chosen another. He told Samuel to go to Bethlehem. Samuel obeyed God. As he entered Bethlehem, people became afraid that he came to their town to bring God’s vengeance. Jesse, being a town leader, came to Samuel to ask him what he was doing in their town. Samuel said that he had come to offer a sacrifice to God with Jesse and his family. Jesse and his sons purified themselves for the sacrifice. After the sacrifice, Samuel had Jesse to present his sons one by one to him. As each one came before Samuel, he asked God if this was the one who was to be king. Each time God said no. Finally all 7 sons were presented and Samuel asked if there were any more. Jesse said yes. His youngest son was tending the sheep in the fields. Samuel said go and get him. When David enter the house, God spoke to Samuel and said this is the king of Israel. Samuel anointed David with oil and prayed a blessing over him. David didn’t quite understand exactly what was going on. But he was willing to do whatever God said to do. David didn’t leave for the palace. He went back to tending the sheep in the fields, practicing his skills as a shepherd. Skills I would say that he needed when he was king of Israel. Never despise small beginnings. For whoever is faithful in the small things will be faithful in the large.

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David was the youngest son of 8 children. His father Jesse was a successful man who lived with his family in the town of Bethlehem. Before anybody knew that David was destined to be king of Israel, David was an upright child. He obeyed his father and did what he told. When he old enough, David’s father sent him into the wilderness to shepherd the flock of sheep. David used his time well. He could play the harp and sing very well. He would entertain himself with his music. The bible says that he was a handsome youth. He mostly played his music to sing praises to God. He and the sheep would worship God in the wilderness. David developed a relationship with God. And also built a relationship with the sheep. You see sheep will only follow their shepherd because they know his voice. David had to build other skills because he had to bring the sheep into the wilderness to feed. Also living in the wilderness, with lions and bears.  David had weapons, a shepherd’s crook, a sling or slingshot, and a throwing club. The shepherd’s crook was a staff with a hook on the end. It was used to reach into briars to pull sheep out of it. The sling was used to shoot a stone at some distance. The club was used to throw to stop or kill a predator. David loved being out in the wilderness. He developed skills that he would use all of his life. While in the wilderness, a bear and a lion came and took sheep. He killed both with the weapons he learned to use. But what he learned the most was that God was with him coming in and going out. And he sang praises to God all of his life.

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In the past few months there has been a series of storms throughout the nation. They have been consistent and unpredictable. Although the weatherman has his computer program models that he can try to predict the weather, it doesn’t always work. I don’t know what percentage of predictions he gets right but it isn’t that good. I will always look at the weather radar to see what is really going on. The same is true about life itself. There are many things that happen all over the place but you can never predict what will happen to people. Everybody wants life to go on with some degree of predictability. They want their lives to have some consistency. So they can live their lives are normally as possible. But it don’t work that way. The people that can adjust to life can live a fairly normal life. But for the most part people don’t adjust to the changes thrown at them each day. If only we had a way of knowing what was going to happen that day, we could adjust our lives to fit it. And things wouldn’t be as uncertain as we walk through life. I know that I have said it before, change is the only constant in life. Nothing will ever stay the same. It is always evolving. That is why many people believe there is no God or at least try to prove the He doesn’t exist. That one thing that can stabilize your life most people reject. I was like that before I met the Lord. It was up and down depending on the way the wind blew. God offers so much to us that we actually need to live this life. And all we have to do is to accept His offer and live. God will never threaten you or bully you. He offers a live worth living. As oppose to the horrible life of obsession, oppression and addiction the other side offers. Choose God and live. You know you only have so much time to accept this offer. Then it is gone forever. Choose God.

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Saul of Tarsus was a deeply religious man. He believed in the God of Israel. Saul had devoted himself to God. He graduated from the school of Gamaliel. Saul went to Jerusalem with Gamaliel to become part of the religious leaders there. He was young and energetic. The leaders of the day sent him out to try and stop the teachings of Jesus and the followers of the Way (Jewish Believers). It was on one these trips that something happened to Saul. He was on his way to Damascus to capture and imprison any followers of the Way. Because Jesus was died so they thought, it would be easy to capture His followers. Saul was traveling with many people when a light shown from heaven. Everybody saw the light but only Saul heard the voice of God. God spoke to Saul and asked him if it was hard to fight against God Himself. Saul was blinded by the light. The people with him had to lead him all the way to Damascus. He was blind for 3 days. God spoke a one of the followers of the Way to go to Saul and speak to him. As the man spoke to Saul the scales fell from his eyes. As Saul could see with his eyes and his heart, he became the Apostle Paul. The Jewish Believers were still afraid of him because he had done much damage to the followers of the Way. The story is in the bible for a reason. That God can take anyone and turn them into a mighty person of faith. God can even take a jackass and make him a preacher. He did this for me. God isn’t stopped by anyone or anything anywhere. God said that love is the greatest thing on this earth. It is a truth. God is love. And anyone who ask can receive from God. This is how Paul was converted.

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It is a fact that the night is the darkest before the dawn of the sun. It is the time of great turmoil for many people. The dawn has always been seen as hope for tomorrow. It is the beginning of a new day and a second chance. Hope is a fragile thing in our lives. We want to believe that there is a future. But after we screw up our lives we can’t see anything especially hope. And it becomes most apparent in the dark of the night when we are alone. Did you know that it is be design? The term is coming to oneself. Coming to the understanding that we can’t do anything by ourselves. That we need help to live our lives on this earth. That is why the dark of the night affects us so. King David had taken another man’s wife and she became pregnant. Then he had the husband killed in battle. For all that God gave him, he was going to lose his life because of this. For all the torment this caused, it wasn’t until his son, a prophet, came to him and confronted him. That David faced the Lord and the consequences. All this happened in the dark of the night, when David understood that he had sinned against God and was going to die. He turned to the Lord to ask for forgive him. God did forgive him, but the consequence was that his family was destroyed because of it. If we turn to the Lord, there is nothing that God wouldn’t forgive and restore us back into the kingdom. But that doesn’t always include the consequences. Consequences can be far reaching. It may go on for years. But there is hope in a new day. Perhaps God will change His mind about the consequences. There is always hope in God, when the sun arises after the darkest part of the night.

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