March 8, 2026 • 37 mins
What can you learn from looking closely at David's patience for God's promises?
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
On Cedar Street again, I love you so very much.
It's my joy that we could all betogether here this morning, and
good morning to those watchingon live stream as well.
We are in the month of March andwe're not turning back as we get
closer and closer to Easter andthe pollen is starting to pile
up.
Uh, it's that time of yearagain.
(00:21):
And um, I'm just grateful wecould be on this journey
together.
If you if you missed last week,we entered into a new sermon
series.
You may be able to see that onthe screen as we're gonna be
looking at the book of 2 Samuel.
Our series is entitled Faithfuland Flawed, as we look at the
life of King David, and we'remindful that he was a man of
great faith who ran after God'sown heart, but also a man of
great flaws who ran after God'samazing grace.
(00:45):
And um, and also he is a greatking that points us to the
better and perfect King Jesus,who we need in our lives.
I am grateful that we can walkthrough this together.
David's been an inspiration tome for so long.
Talked about that a lot lastweek.
Uh I mentioned last week that alot of scholars look at the life
of King David, and you're gonnasee this week after week as we
(01:05):
look at this together, that hislife is like the pitch of a roof
in 2 Samuel.
The first ten chapters, we wereat chapter 1 last week, we're
gonna look at chapter 5 today.
You see he begins to reign overIsrael, and he gets to this
absolute uh peak where he isjust faithfully walking with
God, and then this egregious sinthat he commits, the sin of
(01:26):
adultery that leads to anaccessory to murder, and then
all of a sudden his life is adownward pitch as well.
But I want to say this as wewalk through the whole series
together, we can learn as muchabout his flaws as we can do
about his faith.
But right now, as we're on theuptick of the roof pitch here in
2 Samuel 5, we're gonna learn aword that does not come easy to
(01:48):
any of us.
You can tell by the title of themessage, as we look at 2 Samuel
5, verses 1 through 12, it'spatience for God's promises.
Patience for God's promises.
Now, I don't care what church ordenomination you're from, this
is a universal joke among allChristians.
What is the one thing peopletell you to never pray for?
(02:10):
Patience.
Why?
Because it's a prayer that Godcannot wait to answer.
He is impatient about answeringyour prayer for patience.
And we know that when you askfor patience, God does not grant
you a supernatural power.
He puts you in a position whereyou are dependent upon his
(02:31):
grace, and that is how patienceis learned because it's not
about willpower, it is a fruitof the Holy Spirit.
Remember?
Love, joy, peace, patience.
It's one of the fruit of theSpirit from Galatians 5.
Now, why is it so hard?
If we know it's the prayer thatwe shouldn't pray because it's a
(02:54):
powerful prayer and God wants usto have it, what makes patience,
specifically spiritual patiencefor God's promises, what makes
it so hard?
You think about it for just aminute.
Well, first and foremost, welive in an instantaneous
gratification society.
(03:15):
If I can't have it right now,it's not worth having.
You know, as we get faster andfaster and faster, patience for
the promises of God gets harderand harder and harder.
And in the waiting, when Godmakes us wait for things that we
don't enable people to make uswait for, we get irritated, we
(03:36):
get frustrated.
God begins to show what'shappening beneath the surface in
the human heart.
So we get irritated becausewe're an instantaneous
gratification society.
But I will also say this (03:46):
when we get impatient, we show many
times a lack of trust in whatGod is doing in the suffering as
we wait, and a lack of trustthat He's going to do what He
said He will do.
We struggle to trust God.
Patience is an issue of trust.
(04:08):
All right, those who walk infaith and grow in their trust,
they celebrate the promisesbeing fulfilled before they are.
Faith is the evidence of thingsnot seen.
It's so rooted in hope, it's asif you could have it already.
You tasted and experienced italready.
(04:29):
And that comes out of intimacyand relationship with God.
I want you to get this today aswe walk through this.
Okay, David's not a perfect man.
Again, the series is calledFaithful and Flawed.
But if you read the Psalms andyou read what is said about
David in 1 Samuel as he firstjumps on the scene, over and
over and over, it's said thatDavid is a man after God's own
(04:50):
heart.
He is a man pursuing a personal,intimate relationship with God.
And that is the only place wheretrue patience for his promises
can come.
In the kingdom of God, we don'ttake matters into our own hands.
We don't bring the kingdom byforce.
Vengeance is mine, says theLord.
(05:12):
I will repay.
Our job is to be faithful in thewaiting.
Easier said than done.
But it comes out of thisrelationship.
And we're going to see a patternand a process of learning the
fruit of patience.
It is not by willpower, it is afruit of the Spirit.
But yet we can watch how Davidwalked with God, and we can
(05:35):
enter into that process.
We can cling close to him.
We can remember the things thathe's already done for us and let
that be the fuel of hope thatkeeps us trusting and patiently
waiting for the promises tocome.
So what's our big idea as welook at 2 Samuel chapter 5,
verses 1 through 12?
Here it is.
(05:56):
David's patience for thefulfillment of God's promises
reveals his faithful trust inGod's kingdom plan.
David's patience for thefulfillment of God's promises
reveals his faithful trust inGod's kingdom plan.
So if you want to know more howyou and I can join David in
(06:16):
having patience for God'spromises, join me by turning to
the book of 2 Samuel.
2 Samuel, if you're new to theBible, it's in the Old
Testament.
It's after 1 Samuel, it's before1 Kings.
If you don't have a Bible, justgrab the Pew Bible in front of
you or beside you.
We're on page 303 in your PewBible.
And if you would stand at thistime, out of the reverence of
(06:37):
the reading of God's holy,infallible, inerrant, and fully
sufficient word, we are in 2Samuel chapter 5, starting in
verse 1.
Hear God's word to us.
Then all the tribes of Israelcame to David David at Hebron
and said, Behold, we are yourbone and flesh.
(06:58):
In times past, when Saul wasking over us, it was you who led
us out and brought in Israel.
And the Lord said to you, Youshall be shepherd of my people
Israel, and you shall be princeover Israel.
So all the elders of Israel cameto the king at Hebron.
And King David made a covenantwith them at Hebron before the
Lord, and they anointed Davidking over Israel.
(07:21):
David was thirty years old whenhe began to reign, and he
reigned forty years.
At Hebron he reigned over Judahseven years and six months, and
at Jerusalem he reigned over allIsrael in Judah thirty-three
years.
And the king and his men went toJerusalem against the Jebusites,
(07:41):
the inhabitants of the land, whosaid to David, You will not come
in here, but the blind and thelame will ward you off, thinking
David cannot come in here.
Nevertheless, David took thestronghold of Zion, that is the
city of David.
And David said on that day,Whoever would strike the
Jebusites, let him get up thewatershaft to attack the lame
and the blind, who are hated byDavid's soul.
(08:02):
Therefore it is said, The blindand the lame shall not come into
the house.
And David lived in thestronghold and called it the
city of David.
And David built the city allaround from the Milo inward.
And David became greater andgreater, for the Lord, the God
of hosts, was with him.
Verse eleven.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sentmessengers to David and cedar
(08:24):
trees and carpenters and masonswho built David a house.
And David knew that the Lord hadestablished him king over
Israel, and that he had exaltedhis kingdom for the sake of his
people.
Let's pray together.
Oh Lord, we love you and thankyou for this day.
(08:47):
We thank you for our timetogether here this morning.
Lord, we we all know howincredibly difficult, yea,
impossible it is to be patientwithout your help.
It is not a fruit of humanwillpower.
It's not a fruit ofdetermination.
(09:07):
It is a fruit of the Spirit.
That can only happen by yourgrace.
But at the same time, Lord, weknow that we play a role in
that.
We have to surrender to you andenter into this process.
And so, Lord, I pray, I praythat today would be super
practical.
That we recognize it's all byyour grace, but we play the
role.
We play the role of seeking youand remembering you and praising
(09:30):
you and thanking you andlistening to you and walking
with you as we wait for you.
So, Lord, be with us.
I pray that the words that arespoken would not return void.
They would accomplish what theyare set out to do by your power
and your anointing, and they'dfind lodging in our hearts,
Lord.
That we would learn to be morepatient towards your promises
(09:51):
when we leave this place thanwhen we walked in this morning.
Be with us right now, I pray.
In Jesus' name, and God's peoplesaid.
Amen.
So if you missed last week, orif you're new to the scriptures
and you've never read 2 Samuel,let me just say last week was
chapter 1.
(10:12):
And in the beginning of chapter1, the first official king of
Israel, King Saul, dies by thesword, and a new regime is
coming.
And that's King David.
And last week we talked aboutgrieving for God's kingdom.
That even though Saul was thesworn enemy of David, Saul
chased David all over the place.
(10:33):
For many years, he was living incaves and serving in enemy
territories.
All these things that Saul did,and yet when Saul dies, David's
first move is not to celebrate.
David's first move is to grievebecause he was about the will of
the Father and he was about thekingdom of God.
And I said last week how hard itis for us to celebrate when God
(10:53):
does something good, but it'snot for our personal benefit,
and maybe even to the benefit ofour enemies, how difficult that
can be.
So that was last week.
Now we we skip ahead to chapter5, and in chapters 2 through 4,
David is officially anointedking, but he doesn't take over
all of Israel at first.
He takes over a portion ofJudah, all right, in the area of
(11:17):
Hebron.
Some pronounce it Hebron,Hebron.
I've heard two differentpronunciations.
I think both are acceptable, buthe takes over at Hebron, and he
is there for seven and a halfyears, and God blesses it.
But he has not taken over all ofIsrael, and he has not entered
into the capital city of Israelthat we know as Jerusalem, and
(11:38):
that's where we are here inchapter 5, where the fullness of
David's reign takes centerstage.
All that God had promised himwas finally coming to fruition.
And David models for us in thispassage the fruit of waiting on
God patiently for his promisesto be fulfilled.
(11:59):
So through this, I want to lookat three specific promises.
In these 12 verses, again, I'mjust going to take out some key
words, some key thoughts for usto think about.
And I want to be practical.
I want you to be thinking aboutyour own life right now.
How does this apply to rightwhere you are right now?
Because no matter where you are,if you're still here on this
earth, you're living by faithand not by sight.
(12:21):
You do not have the fullness ofGod's promises yet.
We live in what scholars callthe already and the not yet.
There's many things that havealready happened, many things
God has already declared, butthe not yet is we have not
experienced the fullness ofthose promises, and we won't
until Christ returns.
And so we have to learn to bepatient.
(12:42):
So I want to look at thistogether and look at three ways
that we can learn from David.
So number one, as you look atverses one through five, David
patiently waited for God'spromised throne.
God's promised throne.
Now in verse two, if you keepyour Bibles open, I want to show
you a few key words.
Okay, in verse two, it says, Intimes past, when Saul was king
(13:04):
over us, okay, the people ofIsrael are acknowledging the
anointing of David.
It says, It was you who led outand brought in Israel, and the
Lord said to you, You shall bemy be shepherd of my people
Israel, and you shall be princeover Israel.
They are acknowledging thatDavid is taking over a throne
that God had already preparedfor him.
(13:28):
Now, you and I can read this andnot fully understand the
timeline, so let me just speakin general terms.
Scholars believe it was twentyyears from the moment that
Samuel went into the wildernessto anoint David king over Israel
when he was a shepherd, theyoungest of Jesse's sons.
It was two decades, twenty yearsfrom the moment of that
(13:49):
anointing till the moment thathe takes the fullness of his
throne over all Israel in thecapital city of Jerusalem.
Twenty years from God saying,This is yours, to God saying,
Now take what I have providedfor you.
Twenty years.
And all that time he wasn't justsitting poolside waiting for God
(14:11):
to do his work.
No, he was on the run for mostof it.
First of all, he was serving aking that hated his guts, but he
was serving faithfully.
And then when the king turned onhim, he was hiding and living in
enemy territory and wonderingwhat was going to happen next.
And yet he had opportunities.
(14:32):
If you remember in 1 Samuel,several opportunities to take
the life of Saul and take whatGod had already promised him.
And he said over and over andover, I will not harm the Lord's
anointed.
In other words, I'm not going tohave God's promises on my terms.
I'm going to trust that God willdo what God has promised on his
(14:55):
timeline and not mine.
And finally, after two decades,he receives the fullness.
And something else that is soimportant, I want you to hear
this.
As he is taking the throne, hedoesn't have to stand up with a
megaphone and explain toeverybody that he's God's
chosen.
No, he allowed God to open theireyes and recognize the anointing
(15:18):
that was on him.
I think about this.
There's a passage in the book ofJoshua, and I've used it for
several ordination services.
Whenever I'm privileged to bepart of an ordination service,
I'll mention this because Ithink it's super important for
those that are ordained to theministry to allow God to affirm
that calling.
In Joshua chapter 3, verse 7, inthe nation of Israel, as
(15:41):
transition is taking place fromMoses to Joshua, first of all,
nobody wants to be Joshua.
You don't want to follow theguy.
You want to be the guy thatfollows the guy that follows the
guy.
But who wants to follow Moses?
Alright, Joshua has to followMoses, but God makes this
promise.
And in Joshua 3.7, he says, Thisday I will begin to exalt you in
(16:05):
the sight of all Israel, so thatthey may know that I will be
with you as I was with Moses.
God says, I've called you tothis.
I'm going to bring you throughthis.
You don't have to stand on thecorner with a megaphone.
You don't have to let everybodyknow you're anointed.
You don't have to prove thatyou're called.
You walk with me, and I willopen their eyes to see that as I
(16:25):
was with Moses, so I will bewith you.
That's what he says to Joshua.
Well, the same is true forDavid.
David does not have to go out toeveryone and say, guys, you need
to know this.
I was anointed by the prophetSamuel.
I was promised a throne.
I know Saul is gone, but just incase you don't know, here's my
resume.
Consider this when you guys calla committee meeting.
I am the next king of Israel.
He doesn't say anything, hewatches and he waits.
(16:49):
And again, for the first sevenand a half years, he's reigning
over a portion of the kingdom.
But seven and a half yearslater, he enters into the
capital city and takes thefullness of his reign, and he is
not the one who made thathappen.
He was surrendered to thepromises of God, and he learned
two decades of patiently waitingfor God to unfold his plan.
(17:15):
Now, I don't know yoursituation.
Everybody in this room isdifferent.
Chronologically, you're alldifferent ages.
Spiritually, you're all atdifferent places.
But I know this, as I lookaround this room, every single
one of you has received orexperienced something that took
a long time to wait for.
And sometimes we forget so muchabout all the things that God
(17:38):
has already given us, and all wefocus on is the thing that God
has not given us.
Maybe there's something hugeright now you're waiting for God
to give you.
Maybe it's the job that you'vebeen working for your whole
life.
Maybe it's a spouse that youknow God has put on this planet
for you.
Maybe it's having a child.
Maybe it's graduating or goingto a school that you've always
(18:01):
wanted to get into.
Now, I can't promise you thatGod has said yes or no to those
things.
That's between you and God.
I can say this (18:07):
as you're waiting for this big promise
over here, can you remember allthe promises God has already
fulfilled to bring you to thispoint?
Why do we forget so quickly?
We're so frustrated at whatGod's doing right now, making us
wait for something that wereally want.
We forget an entire span of timewhere God has been so faithful
(18:29):
and God has answered in so manyways.
You know, there are so manytimes that I'll be with someone
who I'll find start to complainabout their life, and I'll look
at them and think, you wouldn'twant to trade lives with me.
You wouldn't want to trade liveswith me because you're
complaining over what you don'thave, but there's about 15
things I can tell you right nowthat you do have that I don't.
(18:50):
Do you want to trade lives?
But as soon as I want to getdown to the dumps and play, you
know, pity me, sorry me, I canalso be in the presence of
someone and recognize that Godhas given me things that He
hasn't given them.
God is always at work.
He is such a good provider.
He blesses us far beyondanything that we can ever dare
(19:13):
ask or think of.
This is the God that we serve.
And if you and I are growingimpatient for something we want
to happen right now, maybe it'sbecause you have forgotten his
faithfulness to you up untilthis point.
You know, sometimes when thingsget tight financially, I tell
myself, I'm 45 years old.
(19:36):
From where I was to where I amright now, God has done so many
different things.
Would he bring me all the way towhere I am right now and say, I
brought you as far as I couldbring you, Bo.
It's all up to you now.
Fend for yourself.
No, the God that has brought meright where I am right now, I
(19:56):
have not missed a meal.
I've got clothes on my back,I've got a roof over my head,
I've got a vehicle that stillruns on grace, but it runs, that
same God is not gonna make me gowithout.
Now, he may withhold things Ireally desire.
Because either A, he's gotsomething better, or B, he's
(20:18):
gonna grow me in the waiting.
The same is true with you.
So maybe if you came into thehouse of God today and you're
really frustrated, you'regetting impatient, you know, one
of the things you can do is sitquietly with God and pull out a
journal and a pen and med andjust write down the things that
he has already done for you.
(20:40):
And as Eddie wonderfullymentioned in the Psalms, praise
him.
Thank him.
Be to him as you would want oneof your children or
grandchildren to be to you.
What would you do if you wenthome today after lunch and your
child or your grandchild satdown next to you on the couch
and said, You know, I've justbeen thinking over and over
(21:01):
about all the things you've donefor me.
And they started naming oneafter the other of what you've
done for them.
And they just said, Thank you,thank you, thank you, thank you.
You wouldn't know what to do.
You would not know what to do.
Well, God does know what to do,He's worthy of our praise, he
accepts our praise.
(21:23):
Let's praise him while we'rewaiting.
Let's learn from David, who tooka promised throne, but he waited
20 years to do it.
We can wait for the things Godhas appointed to us.
It will happen in his time, forhis purposes, if we trust him.
That's number one.
David patiently waited for God'spromised throne.
Number two, as you look atverses six through nine, David
(21:44):
patiently waited for God'spromised city.
All right, as you look at versessix through nine, it says in
verse seven, it says,Nevertheless, David took the
stronghold of Zion, that is, thecity of David.
Okay?
We'll talk about that in asecond.
And in verse 9, if you skipdown, it says again, and David
lived in the stronghold andcalled it the city of David, and
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David built the city around fromthe Milo inward.
So the capital city of the holyland is a sacred place.
All right, God promised thisland to Israel.
If you read the book of Genesis,you see obviously they left the
promised land in the book ofGenesis, and they had to go to
(22:27):
Egypt and they survived thefamine, and then Moses is called
to bring them back to thispromised land of Canaan, this
land of milk and honey.
And then you see through thebook of Joshua, they start
taking captive the land, andthen you see in the judges they
start settling into the land,and now they're in the need of a
king.
So the capital city of the land,this is a sacred place.
(22:47):
All right, the city ofJerusalem.
Now let me just say this.
I'm not a politician, I'm notmaking a political statement,
I'm just stating fact.
I don't care what your politicalview is, this.
Whenever the world comes to anend, however the world comes to
an end, you keep your eyes onJerusalem.
Because that is the epicenter ofthe beginning, the middle, and
the end of when God does whatGod does.
(23:10):
He has put his fingerprints onthat city in a way that he's not
on any other city on planetearth.
It's just the truth.
It is a sacred, sacred city.
And God appointed that forIsrael.
And David, the first seven and ahalf years of his reign, he's
reigning over Judah, but nowhe's going to take the fullness
(23:32):
of what God promised him, andhe's entering into a city that
from that moment on intoeternity is known as a city of
David.
A man after God's own heart, acity appointed for him to reign.
And we remember to this day it'sthe city of David.
In fact, in the new heavens andnew earth, when the heaven up
(23:52):
there comes down here, the holycity of heaven is going to come
right on top of the holy cityhere on earth, and we will be
living in what's called the NewJerusalem.
What a promise.
That's a promise worth waitingfor.
That's sooner than you think.
But just like he did not takethe throne by force, he waited
(24:13):
until the time was right torecapture and reclaim the city
that God had prepared for him.
Okay, he could, from the momenthe got anointed king over Judah,
he could have got the boystogether and said, let's go take
what's ours, and he would havegotten ahead of God's plan.
What was God doing in thoseseven and a half years before he
(24:34):
took the city of Jerusalem?
I don't know for sure, but Iknow this, it wasn't wasted
time.
Maybe you're getting reallyclose to God's something,
there's something God's promisedyou, and between now and the
moment that you receive it, youfeel like it's just you're
wasting time.
Nothing is wasted.
Nothing is wasted.
God has something in place foryou.
(24:55):
I I thought about this a lotthis week.
So I had a desire.
I've been a 90-year-old man anda young body my whole life.
I'm just an old man.
I always have been.
My mother used to call me herlittle old man.
I've been wearing suits sincesecond grade.
I have proof in my phone if youever want to see it.
Okay, I'm just an old man.
I have always wanted to besettled.
And yet in my 20s, when Ientered into sports casting, God
(25:18):
would not let me lay roots.
And I had this growingfrustration.
I wanted to have a city that Icould call my home.
I wanted to put my suitcases inthe closet.
I remember my first full yearout of college in broadcasting.
I got hired by the Daytona Cubs,and I actually made an agreement
(25:38):
with the management therebecause I had just enough money
to get a U-Haul down there, butI had no money for a down
payment on an apartment.
I asked if I could sleep in thestadium clubhouse.
I thought, man, this is great.
23 years old sleeping at astadium.
This is going to be awesome.
It was not awesome.
My first weekend there, I'llnever forget it, it was in the
(26:00):
wintertime.
It was a Saturday morning.
I thought, nobody's going tobother me.
I'm going to sleep in and thenjust wake up and just hang out
in a ballpark all day.
This is going to be great.
7.30 in the morning.
7.30 in the morning, aneighboring school you may have
heard of, Bethune CookmanCollege, that has a band of
(26:21):
about 300, had band practice atthe stadium.
I'm half asleep and I hear.
And I just, I thought, okay,this probably is not going to
work out well.
I had to remove billboards thatwere taken off the wall and put
in the shower just so that Icould take a shower in the
morning.
And I just remember thinking,okay, I just want this season to
(26:42):
start.
And then when I got an apartmentin state in Daytona, it was such
a tourist town.
It's fun to visit.
It's not as much fun to live.
I just wanted to get to the nexttown.
And I moved to California and Iwas only there a year and just
didn't feel at home.
And so I moved back to Georgia,then I moved back to
Pennsylvania, then I moved backto Georgia.
And I just longed to be, Iguess, right where I am right
(27:04):
now.
I've been in Metter now since2009, minus my time at seminary,
and I believe this is as closeas I'm going to feel to a home
here on earth until I get to myheavenly home.
But as I was putting the messagetogether, I was mindful of how
long it took for me to find acity that I could call my home.
Maybe some of you are thereright now.
(27:25):
Maybe Metter is not your home,but it's a transition to where
God has you to be, and you'regetting impatient.
I don't know.
But I know this.
My time from that first night ina clubhouse in Daytona to where
I am today in Metter, it was notwasted time.
I was not ready.
I was not ready.
For those of you that are thisclose to a promise God has made,
(27:47):
the reason you don't have it isyou're just not ready yet.
Wait just a little bit longerfaithfully for God to answer the
promises that He's made in yourlife.
Something to think about.
And that leads me to my finalpoint, third and finally.
David patiently waited, not justfor God's promised throne and
God's promised city, but this ishuge.
This sums the whole thing up.
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David patiently waited for God'spromised presence.
Listen to verses 10 through 12.
And David became greater andgreater, for the Lord, the God
of hosts, was with him.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sentmessengers to David and cedar
trees, also carpenters andmasons who built David a house.
And David knew that the Lord hadestablished him king over
(28:30):
Israel, and that he had exaltedhis kingdom for the sake of his
people, Israel.
Verse 10 says, David becamegreater and greater and greater,
for the Lord was with him.
And then it says in verse 12that he knew the Lord had
established him, and that theLord had exalted his kingdom for
the sake of his people.
He is acknowledging he isexperiencing a powerful
(28:52):
anointing and relationalpresence of God in his life.
He learned to wait on the powerand presence of God.
It is so obvious when you readthe Psalms.
How all those years in the cavesand running from Saul and
waiting for God to bring safetyand waiting for God to provide
(29:12):
the next meal, all of thosethings told him to trust that
God was going to be present inhis life.
Psalm 27, 14, David says, waitfor the Lord.
Be strong and let your hearttake courage.
Wait for the Lord.
He learned to wait.
And he learned what happens whenyou do wait.
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And he also learns what happenswhen you don't.
Do you remember in 1 Samuel whyit is that Saul was removed as
king?
He was told to make a sacrifice.
Or he was told not, excuse me,he was told not to make a blood
sacrifice, but to wait forSamuel to make the sacrifice on
behalf of Israel.
And he did not wait long enough.
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And he did the sacrificehimself.
And Samuel said in 1 Samuel 13,You're foolish.
I will take this kingdom fromyou and I will give it to a man
after my own heart.
David learned to wait, but itwas a painful lesson on learning
to wait.
And that is why, by the way,David can say these words that
(30:18):
you know by heart.
In Psalm 23, verse 4 Even thoughI walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear noevil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, theycomfort me.
He was not going to move withoutthe power and the presence and
(30:43):
the anointing of God on hislife.
Now, this is key.
I've mentioned this before.
In the Old Testament, before theresurrection of Jesus Christ and
the time of Pentecost when thechurch was established, the Holy
Spirit was always at work, butthe Holy Spirit was among the
(31:03):
people.
The Holy Spirit was sometimesbeside the people.
The Holy Spirit worked on behalfof the people.
The Holy Spirit temporarilyfilled and moved in the lives of
people.
But after Pentecost, the HolySpirit lives inside of you as a
believer.
You don't ever have to worry ifthe Holy Spirit is with you on
(31:24):
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Sunday, He will never leave you,He will never forsake you.
Once He moves in, He's notmoving out.
However, we can also say at thesame time that there are certain
moments where you and Iexperience a special filling of
the Holy Spirit, a specialempowering of the Holy Spirit, a
(31:47):
special anointing of the HolySpirit.
And those are the moments thatyou and I have got to wait for.
You don't produce those by humaneffort.
You don't produce those bygetting excited and hooting and
hollering until you workyourself up into a lather.
It has to be a work of God.
It has to be a work of God.
Like I said back in Joshua,Joshua God had to open the eyes
(32:10):
of Israel to see that Joshua wasthe chosen one.
So whatever God's called you to,can you wait for God to affirm
you instead of affirmingyourself?
Can you trust that He's going tobe present with you in a very,
very special way?
Can you wait?
Can you wait on the presence ofGod?
(32:30):
The way David did.
Let me sum it up in this way aswe draw to a close.
David's patience for God'spromises points us to Jesus, who
ultimately fulfills every divinepromise with an eternal yes.
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Again, David's patience forGod's promises points us to
Jesus, who ultimately fulfillsevery divine promise with an
eternal yes.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse20, Paul says, inspired of the
Holy Spirit, he says, For allthe promises of God find their
yes in him.
That is why it is through himthat we utter our amen to God
(33:13):
for his glory.
A summarized shortened way ofsaying it is all the promises of
God find their yes and amen inJesus.
They really do.
When you look at the Bible, Iwant you to think of Jesus as
the ocean and every promise ofGod as a river that eventually
is running to the ocean.
(33:34):
There will come a time whereevery single solitary promise
that God has made will find itsyes in Jesus Christ.
We're just not there yet.
But you can trust him now forthe promises that are to come.
You can look at his word and seeall the promises that he has
already fulfilled, but you canalso look at your own life in
(33:58):
everything God has done to bringyou to this point, and you can
either complain about what notis not yet happened, or you can
praise him for what has alreadyhappened.
I'm going with option B.
And I pray that you would joinme in that.
You know, as we close, I'll saythis.
Earlier this month, we werechallenged by Jim and Shelley
(34:19):
about witnessing to at least oneperson that God has placed on
our hearts.
Instantly, as they said that, Iwas reminded of a person that
I've been witnessing to andpraying for for a long time.
Friday, without even trying, Icrossed paths with that person
for the first time in almost ayear, and we talked for 30
(34:41):
minutes.
And then that person sent me atext message and said, It's just
good to connect with you.
Let's stay in touch.
I thought to myself, you don'tknow this, but you got a you got
a flower coming your way comeEaster Sunday.
Absolutely.
When you start praying and youstart asking for God to move, He
(35:02):
will move in your life.
You just may not see it rightaway.
But again, when you can't seewhat's happening in the present,
remember what he's done in thepast.
Let's not have amnesia over allthe ways that God has blessed
us, because you're going to seeat the end of your life how he
reconciled the issues that youhave right now.
(35:24):
It's who he is.
And David can help us.
He can help us to learn topatiently wait on God's
promises.
But I say this as we pray ifJesus is the yes and amen to all
the promises of God, and yourheart is not surrendered to his
lordship, you will not be ableto taste and experience all
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those promises.
In fact, you will be on thewrong side of those promises.
One of the reasons that Jesushas not come back yet is he's
waiting for the good news of thegospel to get to all four
corners of the earth.
And the gospel is good news thatJesus did everything necessary
for you and I to have arelationship with God.
You should have this memorizedby now.
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I've said it every Sunday foralmost ten years.
He lived perfectly the way thatwe should have lived but
couldn't.
He died sacrificially to takethe punishment that we deserved.
He rose from the dead, making away from death to life.
He ascended to the Father tosend down his Holy Spirit, and
he's coming back to judge theliving and the dead and make all
things new.
You know the interesting thingabout the gospel?
(36:31):
Four fifths of that's alreadybeen fulfilled.
Why can't we trust him for thefifth one?
He lived, praise him, he died,praise him, he arose, praise
him, he ascended and sent downhis Holy Spirit, praise him.
I don't know if he's gonna comeback.
Well, he did the first four.
Why can't we trust him for thefifth?
(36:51):
And until he comes back, whycan't you trust him with the
issues in your life right now?
He's worthy.
Wait on the Lord.
He is worthy to wait on becausehis promises find their yes in
Jesus.
Let's pray.
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Lord, we forget so quicklyeverything you've done for us in
our lives, everything you'vedone to bring us right to this
moment.
We are a forgetful people.
And we need to be mindful, Lord.
I just pray right now, in thename of Jesus, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, that whateverstruggles we brought into this
(37:32):
room, that we would leave themat your feet.
That we would trust you for ourfuture because of what you have
done for us in our past.
And what you have revealed isour eternity because of your
Son.
Be with us right now, I pray inJesus' name.
Amen.
On Cedar Street again, I love you so very much.
It's my joy that we could all betogether here this morning, and
good morning to those watchingon live stream as well.
We are in the month of March andwe're not turning back as we get
closer and closer to Easter andthe pollen is starting to pile
up.
Uh, it's that time of yearagain.
(00:21):
And um, I'm just grateful wecould be on this journey
together.
If you if you missed last week,we entered into a new sermon
series.
You may be able to see that onthe screen as we're gonna be
looking at the book of 2 Samuel.
Our series is entitled Faithfuland Flawed, as we look at the
life of King David, and we'remindful that he was a man of
great faith who ran after God'sown heart, but also a man of
great flaws who ran after God'samazing grace.
(00:45):
And um, and also he is a greatking that points us to the
better and perfect King Jesus,who we need in our lives.
I am grateful that we can walkthrough this together.
David's been an inspiration tome for so long.
Talked about that a lot lastweek.
Uh I mentioned last week that alot of scholars look at the life
of King David, and you're gonnasee this week after week as we
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look at this together, that hislife is like the pitch of a roof
in 2 Samuel.
The first ten chapters, we wereat chapter 1 last week, we're
gonna look at chapter 5 today.
You see he begins to reign overIsrael, and he gets to this
absolute uh peak where he isjust faithfully walking with
God, and then this egregious sinthat he commits, the sin of
(01:26):
adultery that leads to anaccessory to murder, and then
all of a sudden his life is adownward pitch as well.
But I want to say this as wewalk through the whole series
together, we can learn as muchabout his flaws as we can do
about his faith.
But right now, as we're on theuptick of the roof pitch here in
2 Samuel 5, we're gonna learn aword that does not come easy to
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any of us.
You can tell by the title of themessage, as we look at 2 Samuel
5, verses 1 through 12, it'spatience for God's promises.
Patience for God's promises.
Now, I don't care what church ordenomination you're from, this
is a universal joke among allChristians.
What is the one thing peopletell you to never pray for?
(02:10):
Patience.
Why?
Because it's a prayer that Godcannot wait to answer.
He is impatient about answeringyour prayer for patience.
And we know that when you askfor patience, God does not grant
you a supernatural power.
He puts you in a position whereyou are dependent upon his
(02:31):
grace, and that is how patienceis learned because it's not
about willpower, it is a fruitof the Holy Spirit.
Remember?
Love, joy, peace, patience.
It's one of the fruit of theSpirit from Galatians 5.
Now, why is it so hard?
If we know it's the prayer thatwe shouldn't pray because it's a
(02:54):
powerful prayer and God wants usto have it, what makes patience,
specifically spiritual patiencefor God's promises, what makes
it so hard?
You think about it for just aminute.
Well, first and foremost, welive in an instantaneous
gratification society.
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If I can't have it right now,it's not worth having.
You know, as we get faster andfaster and faster, patience for
the promises of God gets harderand harder and harder.
And in the waiting, when Godmakes us wait for things that we
don't enable people to make uswait for, we get irritated, we
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get frustrated.
God begins to show what'shappening beneath the surface in
the human heart.
So we get irritated becausewe're an instantaneous
gratification society.
But I will also say this (03:46):
when we get impatient, we show many
times a lack of trust in whatGod is doing in the suffering as
we wait, and a lack of trustthat He's going to do what He
said He will do.
We struggle to trust God.
Patience is an issue of trust.
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All right, those who walk infaith and grow in their trust,
they celebrate the promisesbeing fulfilled before they are.
Faith is the evidence of thingsnot seen.
It's so rooted in hope, it's asif you could have it already.
You tasted and experienced italready.
(04:29):
And that comes out of intimacyand relationship with God.
I want you to get this today aswe walk through this.
Okay, David's not a perfect man.
Again, the series is calledFaithful and Flawed.
But if you read the Psalms andyou read what is said about
David in 1 Samuel as he firstjumps on the scene, over and
over and over, it's said thatDavid is a man after God's own
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heart.
He is a man pursuing a personal,intimate relationship with God.
And that is the only place wheretrue patience for his promises
can come.
In the kingdom of God, we don'ttake matters into our own hands.
We don't bring the kingdom byforce.
Vengeance is mine, says theLord.
(05:12):
I will repay.
Our job is to be faithful in thewaiting.
Easier said than done.
But it comes out of thisrelationship.
And we're going to see a patternand a process of learning the
fruit of patience.
It is not by willpower, it is afruit of the Spirit.
But yet we can watch how Davidwalked with God, and we can
(05:35):
enter into that process.
We can cling close to him.
We can remember the things thathe's already done for us and let
that be the fuel of hope thatkeeps us trusting and patiently
waiting for the promises tocome.
So what's our big idea as welook at 2 Samuel chapter 5,
verses 1 through 12?
Here it is.
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David's patience for thefulfillment of God's promises
reveals his faithful trust inGod's kingdom plan.
David's patience for thefulfillment of God's promises
reveals his faithful trust inGod's kingdom plan.
So if you want to know more howyou and I can join David in
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having patience for God'spromises, join me by turning to
the book of 2 Samuel.
2 Samuel, if you're new to theBible, it's in the Old
Testament.
It's after 1 Samuel, it's before1 Kings.
If you don't have a Bible, justgrab the Pew Bible in front of
you or beside you.
We're on page 303 in your PewBible.
And if you would stand at thistime, out of the reverence of
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the reading of God's holy,infallible, inerrant, and fully
sufficient word, we are in 2Samuel chapter 5, starting in
verse 1.
Hear God's word to us.
Then all the tribes of Israelcame to David David at Hebron
and said, Behold, we are yourbone and flesh.
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In times past, when Saul wasking over us, it was you who led
us out and brought in Israel.
And the Lord said to you, Youshall be shepherd of my people
Israel, and you shall be princeover Israel.
So all the elders of Israel cameto the king at Hebron.
And King David made a covenantwith them at Hebron before the
Lord, and they anointed Davidking over Israel.
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David was thirty years old whenhe began to reign, and he
reigned forty years.
At Hebron he reigned over Judahseven years and six months, and
at Jerusalem he reigned over allIsrael in Judah thirty-three
years.
And the king and his men went toJerusalem against the Jebusites,
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the inhabitants of the land, whosaid to David, You will not come
in here, but the blind and thelame will ward you off, thinking
David cannot come in here.
Nevertheless, David took thestronghold of Zion, that is the
city of David.
And David said on that day,Whoever would strike the
Jebusites, let him get up thewatershaft to attack the lame
and the blind, who are hated byDavid's soul.
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Therefore it is said, The blindand the lame shall not come into
the house.
And David lived in thestronghold and called it the
city of David.
And David built the city allaround from the Milo inward.
And David became greater andgreater, for the Lord, the God
of hosts, was with him.
Verse eleven.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sentmessengers to David and cedar
(08:24):
trees and carpenters and masonswho built David a house.
And David knew that the Lord hadestablished him king over
Israel, and that he had exaltedhis kingdom for the sake of his
people.
Let's pray together.
Oh Lord, we love you and thankyou for this day.
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We thank you for our timetogether here this morning.
Lord, we we all know howincredibly difficult, yea,
impossible it is to be patientwithout your help.
It is not a fruit of humanwillpower.
It's not a fruit ofdetermination.
(09:07):
It is a fruit of the Spirit.
That can only happen by yourgrace.
But at the same time, Lord, weknow that we play a role in
that.
We have to surrender to you andenter into this process.
And so, Lord, I pray, I praythat today would be super
practical.
That we recognize it's all byyour grace, but we play the
role.
We play the role of seeking youand remembering you and praising
(09:30):
you and thanking you andlistening to you and walking
with you as we wait for you.
So, Lord, be with us.
I pray that the words that arespoken would not return void.
They would accomplish what theyare set out to do by your power
and your anointing, and they'dfind lodging in our hearts,
Lord.
That we would learn to be morepatient towards your promises
(09:51):
when we leave this place thanwhen we walked in this morning.
Be with us right now, I pray.
In Jesus' name, and God's peoplesaid.
Amen.
So if you missed last week, orif you're new to the scriptures
and you've never read 2 Samuel,let me just say last week was
chapter 1.
(10:12):
And in the beginning of chapter1, the first official king of
Israel, King Saul, dies by thesword, and a new regime is
coming.
And that's King David.
And last week we talked aboutgrieving for God's kingdom.
That even though Saul was thesworn enemy of David, Saul
chased David all over the place.
(10:33):
For many years, he was living incaves and serving in enemy
territories.
All these things that Saul did,and yet when Saul dies, David's
first move is not to celebrate.
David's first move is to grievebecause he was about the will of
the Father and he was about thekingdom of God.
And I said last week how hard itis for us to celebrate when God
(10:53):
does something good, but it'snot for our personal benefit,
and maybe even to the benefit ofour enemies, how difficult that
can be.
So that was last week.
Now we we skip ahead to chapter5, and in chapters 2 through 4,
David is officially anointedking, but he doesn't take over
all of Israel at first.
He takes over a portion ofJudah, all right, in the area of
(11:17):
Hebron.
Some pronounce it Hebron,Hebron.
I've heard two differentpronunciations.
I think both are acceptable, buthe takes over at Hebron, and he
is there for seven and a halfyears, and God blesses it.
But he has not taken over all ofIsrael, and he has not entered
into the capital city of Israelthat we know as Jerusalem, and
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that's where we are here inchapter 5, where the fullness of
David's reign takes centerstage.
All that God had promised himwas finally coming to fruition.
And David models for us in thispassage the fruit of waiting on
God patiently for his promisesto be fulfilled.
(11:59):
So through this, I want to lookat three specific promises.
In these 12 verses, again, I'mjust going to take out some key
words, some key thoughts for usto think about.
And I want to be practical.
I want you to be thinking aboutyour own life right now.
How does this apply to rightwhere you are right now?
Because no matter where you are,if you're still here on this
earth, you're living by faithand not by sight.
(12:21):
You do not have the fullness ofGod's promises yet.
We live in what scholars callthe already and the not yet.
There's many things that havealready happened, many things
God has already declared, butthe not yet is we have not
experienced the fullness ofthose promises, and we won't
until Christ returns.
And so we have to learn to bepatient.
(12:42):
So I want to look at thistogether and look at three ways
that we can learn from David.
So number one, as you look atverses one through five, David
patiently waited for God'spromised throne.
God's promised throne.
Now in verse two, if you keepyour Bibles open, I want to show
you a few key words.
Okay, in verse two, it says, Intimes past, when Saul was king
(13:04):
over us, okay, the people ofIsrael are acknowledging the
anointing of David.
It says, It was you who led outand brought in Israel, and the
Lord said to you, You shall bemy be shepherd of my people
Israel, and you shall be princeover Israel.
They are acknowledging thatDavid is taking over a throne
that God had already preparedfor him.
(13:28):
Now, you and I can read this andnot fully understand the
timeline, so let me just speakin general terms.
Scholars believe it was twentyyears from the moment that
Samuel went into the wildernessto anoint David king over Israel
when he was a shepherd, theyoungest of Jesse's sons.
It was two decades, twenty yearsfrom the moment of that
(13:49):
anointing till the moment thathe takes the fullness of his
throne over all Israel in thecapital city of Jerusalem.
Twenty years from God saying,This is yours, to God saying,
Now take what I have providedfor you.
Twenty years.
And all that time he wasn't justsitting poolside waiting for God
(14:11):
to do his work.
No, he was on the run for mostof it.
First of all, he was serving aking that hated his guts, but he
was serving faithfully.
And then when the king turned onhim, he was hiding and living in
enemy territory and wonderingwhat was going to happen next.
And yet he had opportunities.
(14:32):
If you remember in 1 Samuel,several opportunities to take
the life of Saul and take whatGod had already promised him.
And he said over and over andover, I will not harm the Lord's
anointed.
In other words, I'm not going tohave God's promises on my terms.
I'm going to trust that God willdo what God has promised on his
(14:55):
timeline and not mine.
And finally, after two decades,he receives the fullness.
And something else that is soimportant, I want you to hear
this.
As he is taking the throne, hedoesn't have to stand up with a
megaphone and explain toeverybody that he's God's
chosen.
No, he allowed God to open theireyes and recognize the anointing
(15:18):
that was on him.
I think about this.
There's a passage in the book ofJoshua, and I've used it for
several ordination services.
Whenever I'm privileged to bepart of an ordination service,
I'll mention this because Ithink it's super important for
those that are ordained to theministry to allow God to affirm
that calling.
In Joshua chapter 3, verse 7, inthe nation of Israel, as
(15:41):
transition is taking place fromMoses to Joshua, first of all,
nobody wants to be Joshua.
You don't want to follow theguy.
You want to be the guy thatfollows the guy that follows the
guy.
But who wants to follow Moses?
Alright, Joshua has to followMoses, but God makes this
promise.
And in Joshua 3.7, he says, Thisday I will begin to exalt you in
(16:05):
the sight of all Israel, so thatthey may know that I will be
with you as I was with Moses.
God says, I've called you tothis.
I'm going to bring you throughthis.
You don't have to stand on thecorner with a megaphone.
You don't have to let everybodyknow you're anointed.
You don't have to prove thatyou're called.
You walk with me, and I willopen their eyes to see that as I
(16:25):
was with Moses, so I will bewith you.
That's what he says to Joshua.
Well, the same is true forDavid.
David does not have to go out toeveryone and say, guys, you need
to know this.
I was anointed by the prophetSamuel.
I was promised a throne.
I know Saul is gone, but just incase you don't know, here's my
resume.
Consider this when you guys calla committee meeting.
I am the next king of Israel.
He doesn't say anything, hewatches and he waits.
(16:49):
And again, for the first sevenand a half years, he's reigning
over a portion of the kingdom.
But seven and a half yearslater, he enters into the
capital city and takes thefullness of his reign, and he is
not the one who made thathappen.
He was surrendered to thepromises of God, and he learned
two decades of patiently waitingfor God to unfold his plan.
(17:15):
Now, I don't know yoursituation.
Everybody in this room isdifferent.
Chronologically, you're alldifferent ages.
Spiritually, you're all atdifferent places.
But I know this, as I lookaround this room, every single
one of you has received orexperienced something that took
a long time to wait for.
And sometimes we forget so muchabout all the things that God
(17:38):
has already given us, and all wefocus on is the thing that God
has not given us.
Maybe there's something hugeright now you're waiting for God
to give you.
Maybe it's the job that you'vebeen working for your whole
life.
Maybe it's a spouse that youknow God has put on this planet
for you.
Maybe it's having a child.
Maybe it's graduating or goingto a school that you've always
(18:01):
wanted to get into.
Now, I can't promise you thatGod has said yes or no to those
things.
That's between you and God.
I can say this (18:07):
as you're waiting for this big promise
over here, can you remember allthe promises God has already
fulfilled to bring you to thispoint?
Why do we forget so quickly?
We're so frustrated at whatGod's doing right now, making us
wait for something that wereally want.
We forget an entire span of timewhere God has been so faithful
(18:29):
and God has answered in so manyways.
You know, there are so manytimes that I'll be with someone
who I'll find start to complainabout their life, and I'll look
at them and think, you wouldn'twant to trade lives with me.
You wouldn't want to trade liveswith me because you're
complaining over what you don'thave, but there's about 15
things I can tell you right nowthat you do have that I don't.
(18:50):
Do you want to trade lives?
But as soon as I want to getdown to the dumps and play, you
know, pity me, sorry me, I canalso be in the presence of
someone and recognize that Godhas given me things that He
hasn't given them.
God is always at work.
He is such a good provider.
He blesses us far beyondanything that we can ever dare
(19:13):
ask or think of.
This is the God that we serve.
And if you and I are growingimpatient for something we want
to happen right now, maybe it'sbecause you have forgotten his
faithfulness to you up untilthis point.
You know, sometimes when thingsget tight financially, I tell
myself, I'm 45 years old.
(19:36):
From where I was to where I amright now, God has done so many
different things.
Would he bring me all the way towhere I am right now and say, I
brought you as far as I couldbring you, Bo.
It's all up to you now.
Fend for yourself.
No, the God that has brought meright where I am right now, I
(19:56):
have not missed a meal.
I've got clothes on my back,I've got a roof over my head,
I've got a vehicle that stillruns on grace, but it runs, that
same God is not gonna make me gowithout.
Now, he may withhold things Ireally desire.
Because either A, he's gotsomething better, or B, he's
(20:18):
gonna grow me in the waiting.
The same is true with you.
So maybe if you came into thehouse of God today and you're
really frustrated, you'regetting impatient, you know, one
of the things you can do is sitquietly with God and pull out a
journal and a pen and med andjust write down the things that
he has already done for you.
(20:40):
And as Eddie wonderfullymentioned in the Psalms, praise
him.
Thank him.
Be to him as you would want oneof your children or
grandchildren to be to you.
What would you do if you wenthome today after lunch and your
child or your grandchild satdown next to you on the couch
and said, You know, I've justbeen thinking over and over
(21:01):
about all the things you've donefor me.
And they started naming oneafter the other of what you've
done for them.
And they just said, Thank you,thank you, thank you, thank you.
You wouldn't know what to do.
You would not know what to do.
Well, God does know what to do,He's worthy of our praise, he
accepts our praise.
(21:23):
Let's praise him while we'rewaiting.
Let's learn from David, who tooka promised throne, but he waited
20 years to do it.
We can wait for the things Godhas appointed to us.
It will happen in his time, forhis purposes, if we trust him.
That's number one.
David patiently waited for God'spromised throne.
Number two, as you look atverses six through nine, David
(21:44):
patiently waited for God'spromised city.
All right, as you look at versessix through nine, it says in
verse seven, it says,Nevertheless, David took the
stronghold of Zion, that is, thecity of David.
Okay?
We'll talk about that in asecond.
And in verse 9, if you skipdown, it says again, and David
lived in the stronghold andcalled it the city of David, and
(22:06):
David built the city around fromthe Milo inward.
So the capital city of the holyland is a sacred place.
All right, God promised thisland to Israel.
If you read the book of Genesis,you see obviously they left the
promised land in the book ofGenesis, and they had to go to
(22:27):
Egypt and they survived thefamine, and then Moses is called
to bring them back to thispromised land of Canaan, this
land of milk and honey.
And then you see through thebook of Joshua, they start
taking captive the land, andthen you see in the judges they
start settling into the land,and now they're in the need of a
king.
So the capital city of the land,this is a sacred place.
(22:47):
All right, the city ofJerusalem.
Now let me just say this.
I'm not a politician, I'm notmaking a political statement,
I'm just stating fact.
I don't care what your politicalview is, this.
Whenever the world comes to anend, however the world comes to
an end, you keep your eyes onJerusalem.
Because that is the epicenter ofthe beginning, the middle, and
the end of when God does whatGod does.
(23:10):
He has put his fingerprints onthat city in a way that he's not
on any other city on planetearth.
It's just the truth.
It is a sacred, sacred city.
And God appointed that forIsrael.
And David, the first seven and ahalf years of his reign, he's
reigning over Judah, but nowhe's going to take the fullness
(23:32):
of what God promised him, andhe's entering into a city that
from that moment on intoeternity is known as a city of
David.
A man after God's own heart, acity appointed for him to reign.
And we remember to this day it'sthe city of David.
In fact, in the new heavens andnew earth, when the heaven up
(23:52):
there comes down here, the holycity of heaven is going to come
right on top of the holy cityhere on earth, and we will be
living in what's called the NewJerusalem.
What a promise.
That's a promise worth waitingfor.
That's sooner than you think.
But just like he did not takethe throne by force, he waited
(24:13):
until the time was right torecapture and reclaim the city
that God had prepared for him.
Okay, he could, from the momenthe got anointed king over Judah,
he could have got the boystogether and said, let's go take
what's ours, and he would havegotten ahead of God's plan.
What was God doing in thoseseven and a half years before he
(24:34):
took the city of Jerusalem?
I don't know for sure, but Iknow this, it wasn't wasted
time.
Maybe you're getting reallyclose to God's something,
there's something God's promisedyou, and between now and the
moment that you receive it, youfeel like it's just you're
wasting time.
Nothing is wasted.
Nothing is wasted.
God has something in place foryou.
(24:55):
I I thought about this a lotthis week.
So I had a desire.
I've been a 90-year-old man anda young body my whole life.
I'm just an old man.
I always have been.
My mother used to call me herlittle old man.
I've been wearing suits sincesecond grade.
I have proof in my phone if youever want to see it.
Okay, I'm just an old man.
I have always wanted to besettled.
And yet in my 20s, when Ientered into sports casting, God
(25:18):
would not let me lay roots.
And I had this growingfrustration.
I wanted to have a city that Icould call my home.
I wanted to put my suitcases inthe closet.
I remember my first full yearout of college in broadcasting.
I got hired by the Daytona Cubs,and I actually made an agreement
(25:38):
with the management therebecause I had just enough money
to get a U-Haul down there, butI had no money for a down
payment on an apartment.
I asked if I could sleep in thestadium clubhouse.
I thought, man, this is great.
23 years old sleeping at astadium.
This is going to be awesome.
It was not awesome.
My first weekend there, I'llnever forget it, it was in the
(26:00):
wintertime.
It was a Saturday morning.
I thought, nobody's going tobother me.
I'm going to sleep in and thenjust wake up and just hang out
in a ballpark all day.
This is going to be great.
7.30 in the morning.
7.30 in the morning, aneighboring school you may have
heard of, Bethune CookmanCollege, that has a band of
(26:21):
about 300, had band practice atthe stadium.
I'm half asleep and I hear.
And I just, I thought, okay,this probably is not going to
work out well.
I had to remove billboards thatwere taken off the wall and put
in the shower just so that Icould take a shower in the
morning.
And I just remember thinking,okay, I just want this season to
(26:42):
start.
And then when I got an apartmentin state in Daytona, it was such
a tourist town.
It's fun to visit.
It's not as much fun to live.
I just wanted to get to the nexttown.
And I moved to California and Iwas only there a year and just
didn't feel at home.
And so I moved back to Georgia,then I moved back to
Pennsylvania, then I moved backto Georgia.
And I just longed to be, Iguess, right where I am right
(27:04):
now.
I've been in Metter now since2009, minus my time at seminary,
and I believe this is as closeas I'm going to feel to a home
here on earth until I get to myheavenly home.
But as I was putting the messagetogether, I was mindful of how
long it took for me to find acity that I could call my home.
Maybe some of you are thereright now.
(27:25):
Maybe Metter is not your home,but it's a transition to where
God has you to be, and you'regetting impatient.
I don't know.
But I know this.
My time from that first night ina clubhouse in Daytona to where
I am today in Metter, it was notwasted time.
I was not ready.
I was not ready.
For those of you that are thisclose to a promise God has made,
(27:47):
the reason you don't have it isyou're just not ready yet.
Wait just a little bit longerfaithfully for God to answer the
promises that He's made in yourlife.
Something to think about.
And that leads me to my finalpoint, third and finally.
David patiently waited, not justfor God's promised throne and
God's promised city, but this ishuge.
This sums the whole thing up.
(28:08):
David patiently waited for God'spromised presence.
Listen to verses 10 through 12.
And David became greater andgreater, for the Lord, the God
of hosts, was with him.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sentmessengers to David and cedar
trees, also carpenters andmasons who built David a house.
And David knew that the Lord hadestablished him king over
(28:30):
Israel, and that he had exaltedhis kingdom for the sake of his
people, Israel.
Verse 10 says, David becamegreater and greater and greater,
for the Lord was with him.
And then it says in verse 12that he knew the Lord had
established him, and that theLord had exalted his kingdom for
the sake of his people.
He is acknowledging he isexperiencing a powerful
(28:52):
anointing and relationalpresence of God in his life.
He learned to wait on the powerand presence of God.
It is so obvious when you readthe Psalms.
How all those years in the cavesand running from Saul and
waiting for God to bring safetyand waiting for God to provide
(29:12):
the next meal, all of thosethings told him to trust that
God was going to be present inhis life.
Psalm 27, 14, David says, waitfor the Lord.
Be strong and let your hearttake courage.
Wait for the Lord.
He learned to wait.
And he learned what happens whenyou do wait.
(29:33):
And he also learns what happenswhen you don't.
Do you remember in 1 Samuel whyit is that Saul was removed as
king?
He was told to make a sacrifice.
Or he was told not, excuse me,he was told not to make a blood
sacrifice, but to wait forSamuel to make the sacrifice on
behalf of Israel.
And he did not wait long enough.
(29:55):
And he did the sacrificehimself.
And Samuel said in 1 Samuel 13,You're foolish.
I will take this kingdom fromyou and I will give it to a man
after my own heart.
David learned to wait, but itwas a painful lesson on learning
to wait.
And that is why, by the way,David can say these words that
(30:18):
you know by heart.
In Psalm 23, verse 4 Even thoughI walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear noevil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, theycomfort me.
He was not going to move withoutthe power and the presence and
(30:43):
the anointing of God on hislife.
Now, this is key.
I've mentioned this before.
In the Old Testament, before theresurrection of Jesus Christ and
the time of Pentecost when thechurch was established, the Holy
Spirit was always at work, butthe Holy Spirit was among the
(31:03):
people.
The Holy Spirit was sometimesbeside the people.
The Holy Spirit worked on behalfof the people.
The Holy Spirit temporarilyfilled and moved in the lives of
people.
But after Pentecost, the HolySpirit lives inside of you as a
believer.
You don't ever have to worry ifthe Holy Spirit is with you on
(31:24):
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Sunday, He will never leave you,He will never forsake you.
Once He moves in, He's notmoving out.
However, we can also say at thesame time that there are certain
moments where you and Iexperience a special filling of
the Holy Spirit, a specialempowering of the Holy Spirit, a
(31:47):
special anointing of the HolySpirit.
And those are the moments thatyou and I have got to wait for.
You don't produce those by humaneffort.
You don't produce those bygetting excited and hooting and
hollering until you workyourself up into a lather.
It has to be a work of God.
It has to be a work of God.
Like I said back in Joshua,Joshua God had to open the eyes
(32:10):
of Israel to see that Joshua wasthe chosen one.
So whatever God's called you to,can you wait for God to affirm
you instead of affirmingyourself?
Can you trust that He's going tobe present with you in a very,
very special way?
Can you wait?
Can you wait on the presence ofGod?
(32:30):
The way David did.
Let me sum it up in this way aswe draw to a close.
David's patience for God'spromises points us to Jesus, who
ultimately fulfills every divinepromise with an eternal yes.
(32:50):
Again, David's patience forGod's promises points us to
Jesus, who ultimately fulfillsevery divine promise with an
eternal yes.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse20, Paul says, inspired of the
Holy Spirit, he says, For allthe promises of God find their
yes in him.
That is why it is through himthat we utter our amen to God
(33:13):
for his glory.
A summarized shortened way ofsaying it is all the promises of
God find their yes and amen inJesus.
They really do.
When you look at the Bible, Iwant you to think of Jesus as
the ocean and every promise ofGod as a river that eventually
is running to the ocean.
(33:34):
There will come a time whereevery single solitary promise
that God has made will find itsyes in Jesus Christ.
We're just not there yet.
But you can trust him now forthe promises that are to come.
You can look at his word and seeall the promises that he has
already fulfilled, but you canalso look at your own life in
(33:58):
everything God has done to bringyou to this point, and you can
either complain about what notis not yet happened, or you can
praise him for what has alreadyhappened.
I'm going with option B.
And I pray that you would joinme in that.
You know, as we close, I'll saythis.
Earlier this month, we werechallenged by Jim and Shelley
(34:19):
about witnessing to at least oneperson that God has placed on
our hearts.
Instantly, as they said that, Iwas reminded of a person that
I've been witnessing to andpraying for for a long time.
Friday, without even trying, Icrossed paths with that person
for the first time in almost ayear, and we talked for 30
(34:41):
minutes.
And then that person sent me atext message and said, It's just
good to connect with you.
Let's stay in touch.
I thought to myself, you don'tknow this, but you got a you got
a flower coming your way comeEaster Sunday.
Absolutely.
When you start praying and youstart asking for God to move, He
(35:02):
will move in your life.
You just may not see it rightaway.
But again, when you can't seewhat's happening in the present,
remember what he's done in thepast.
Let's not have amnesia over allthe ways that God has blessed
us, because you're going to seeat the end of your life how he
reconciled the issues that youhave right now.
(35:24):
It's who he is.
And David can help us.
He can help us to learn topatiently wait on God's
promises.
But I say this as we pray ifJesus is the yes and amen to all
the promises of God, and yourheart is not surrendered to his
lordship, you will not be ableto taste and experience all
(35:47):
those promises.
In fact, you will be on thewrong side of those promises.
One of the reasons that Jesushas not come back yet is he's
waiting for the good news of thegospel to get to all four
corners of the earth.
And the gospel is good news thatJesus did everything necessary
for you and I to have arelationship with God.
You should have this memorizedby now.
(36:08):
I've said it every Sunday foralmost ten years.
He lived perfectly the way thatwe should have lived but
couldn't.
He died sacrificially to takethe punishment that we deserved.
He rose from the dead, making away from death to life.
He ascended to the Father tosend down his Holy Spirit, and
he's coming back to judge theliving and the dead and make all
things new.
You know the interesting thingabout the gospel?
(36:31):
Four fifths of that's alreadybeen fulfilled.
Why can't we trust him for thefifth one?
He lived, praise him, he died,praise him, he arose, praise
him, he ascended and sent downhis Holy Spirit, praise him.
I don't know if he's gonna comeback.
Well, he did the first four.
Why can't we trust him for thefifth?
(36:51):
And until he comes back, whycan't you trust him with the
issues in your life right now?
He's worthy.
Wait on the Lord.
He is worthy to wait on becausehis promises find their yes in
Jesus.
Let's pray.
(37:12):
Lord, we forget so quicklyeverything you've done for us in
our lives, everything you'vedone to bring us right to this
moment.
We are a forgetful people.
And we need to be mindful, Lord.
I just pray right now, in thename of Jesus, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, that whateverstruggles we brought into this
(37:32):
room, that we would leave themat your feet.
That we would trust you for ourfuture because of what you have
done for us in our past.
And what you have revealed isour eternity because of your
Son.
Be with us right now, I pray inJesus' name.
Amen.
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