Beginning in verse 25 of 2 Samuel
chapter 15. And the king, I think it's interesting how
David is always referred to as the king. And this is the time
when Absalom said he was the king. But it's always pointed
out, a lot of times it speaks of David, but here it speaks
of David as the king. And the king said unto Zadok,
carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor in the
eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again and show me both it
and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no
delight in thee, behold, here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth good
unto him. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we ask in his blessed name that you, in
your mercy, would be pleased to meet with us and to speak
to us in power from your word. Lord, if you speak, what else
can we ask for? Don't leave us to ourselves.
Don't leave us to our own understanding, to our own will. Lord, cause
your grace to reign in each heart here according to your will.
Forgive us of our many sins and Lord, accept our thanksgiving.
We're so thankful for the salvation that's in your son. In his blessed
name we pray. Amen. That's a remarkable passage of
scripture I just read. And that is spoken of the man
whom God called a man after my own heart. I love that title, if you would
call it that, given to David. God says regarding this man,
he's a man after mine own heart. His heart beats with mine. What I love, he loves. What I hate, he hates. My agenda is his agenda. My will is his will. Now what a recommendation. A
man after mine own heart. Now Abraham was called the friend
of God. What a commendation. God saying
regarding this man, he's my friend. It was said of Moses that he
spake face to face with the Lord as a man speaketh with his friend. And you know I don't have any
doubt that what is said about David could be said about Moses
and about Abraham and in reality about all of God's people. If I'm a believer, if you're
a believer, you and I are men and women after God's own heart. Now what all does that entail. That's what I want to see. I want to see what it is to be
a man or woman after God's own heart and David displays that
in this passage of scripture. Now this was a time of great
personal sorrow for David. We saw last week when he passed
over the brook of Kidron that this represented Gethsemane. Christ going over the brook of
Gethsemane and experiencing all that sorrow when the sins of
God's elect became His sins. And He became guilty of those
sins. And He felt all the shame and
the humiliation of those sins. Now when David is passing over
the brook of Kidron at this time, he knew that everything that
was taking place with him at this time was his fault. And
that's such an important point. He wasn't mad at Absalom. Now,
Absalom was after his position. But he wasn't mad at Absalom.
He knew that God had raised up Absalom for this very purpose.
And he was not angry with Absalom. He knew, this is all my fault.
He wasn't mad at God. He wasn't saying, how can God
bring me into a place like this? He knew this was all of his fault
because of his personal sin. Would to God that you and I would
be brought right here where everything is my fault. And that's where
David was. This was a time of great personal
sorrow. And he expresses in verse 25,
And the king said unto Zadok, Zadok, carry back the ark of
God into the city. Now Zadok and Abathar wanted
to show their allegiance to David. And you know how they showed
their allegiance to David? By removing the ark from its
place. Where's the ark belong? The ark
belongs behind the veil. It symbolized the presence of
God. It was in the tabernacle in Jerusalem.
And Zadok and Habathar, they come up with this brilliant idea.
Well, let's show our allegiance to David by taking the ark and
having the ark follow David out of Jerusalem to show our allegiance
to David. Now, David realized that there
was a greater cause than himself, and David knew that this would
have suggested that the ark followed him. And David was dead set against
this. He did not want this to take
place. David knew that this put him
in a position of being more important than the ark. David knew my sins brought this
on. And I'm not going to accommodate
myself by bringing the ark of God out of its place to bring
me into a greater light. David would not do that because
he knew the cause here was more important than himself. He demonstrated
this all his life. Do you remember when his older
brother Eliab made fun of him? and said, you've just come out
here to see the battle during the time of Goliath. And his
reply was, is there not a cause? And David demonstrated this attitude
all of his life. Is there not a cause? So he was dead set against them
taking the ark out of its place and causing it to follow him.
He said, you bring the ark back to its place. Now look what he
says next in verse 25. This is the man after God's own
heart. He wouldn't have the ark accommodate itself to him. He
knew all this was the problem of his sin and he wasn't going
to do anything like that. He wanted the ark to stay in
its place. And then he says in verse 25, if I shall find favor
in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again. And show me both it, the ark,
and his habitation, his dwelling place. Now he says, if I shall
find favor with the Lord. Now this word is first found
in the Bible in Genesis chapter five. Would you turn with me
there? You know, the whole Bible is
understood in the context of these two verses. I'm sorry,
Genesis chapter 6, verse 8. But, Noah found grace. And that word grace is the same
word that's translated in our text, favor. But Noah found favor
in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found favor. Now look back at verse 5 of the
same chapter, Genesis chapter 6, verse 5. And God saw. Now I want to remind you that
what God sees is what is true. Amen? This is what God saw. Me and you may see things differently.
As a matter of fact, we always do. But this is what God saw. And that's what's all important.
And God saw that the wickedness of man Now who's the man he's talking
about? Me, you, and everybody else. You give your amen to that? And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and
that, what's that next word? Every. No exceptions to the rule. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart. He's not even talking about his
works right now. He's talking about what's going
on in here and in here. Every, no exception to the rule,
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was, what's the
next word? only evil, nonstop, continually. And that's what God saw. Every
imagination of the thoughts of man's heart, all men, only evil,
continually. Now, the question I want to ask
you, does that include Noah? Is Noah in that bunch, or was
somehow Noah better? You know, I remember as a boy
when I would hear read scriptures like Noah was a perfect man and
just and righteous and so on. And I remember thinking back,
you know, back then in those days, they were just better people.
I mean, they could keep the law. They were just better. This was
me speaking in my own ignorance. I thought they weren't faced
with the same temptations we have. They didn't have TV and
radio and all the media and stuff that exposes us to all these
different things. And they just were really right.
They didn't have anything else to do. I mean, what was there to
do? So they were really righteous people. Noah was a righteous
man, a good man. Well, Noah was somebody whose
wickedness was great. And every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But, but, Noah
found grace. Noah found unmerited unearned,
unsought for favor in the eyes of God. Does that interest you? I want to find favor in God's
sight, the eyes of the Lord. Now because Noah found this favor
in the eyes of the Lord, look what's said of him in verse 9
of Genesis chapter 6. Now, these are the generations
of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation. Now, like I said, I used to read
verses like that and said, wow, you know, those guys were, you
know, really good back then. But what is that speaking of,
if he was just and perfect? What's that speaking of? That's
talking about justification. God had favor on Noah, therefore
God justified him. through the work of his son on
the cross. That's why he was just and perfect
in God's eyes, because God justified him and that made him just and
perfect. Look in chapter seven, verse
one. And the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen. Have you noticed in reading these
verses of scripture, the emphasis on what God sees? That's all
that counts. That's all that counts. Thee
have I seen. As what? As righteous before me in this
generation. Now, David said, with regard to the
same grace that is spoken of in Genesis chapter 6 verse 8,
but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Back to our text,
2 Samuel 15. If I, verse 25, if I shall find
favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again. and show me both it and his habitation."
Now, where God's favor is, there is sure salvation. He says, if I find favor in God's
sight, if he does with me the same way he did with Noah. And you know, David had read
that verse of scripture before. He was very familiar with Genesis
chapter six verse eight. You know, David read scriptures
like you and I do. He didn't have the New Testament the way
we have, but he had, he was reading the same book that we were reading. And he read about Noah finding
grace in the eyes of the Lord. And he says, if I find favor,
if I find grace in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me. Now that's what I need the Lord
to do for me. I need him to bring me. To bring me to Christ. To bring me to the place of favor. And David understood, if I find
favor, this is the way God's grace is, if he has favor toward
you, you'll be saved. For sure. No ifs, ands, and buts,
no doubts, no conditions you need to meet. If I find favor,
I will, I will be brought to the ark, the place of God's favor. He didn't want that ark following
him. That seemed blasphemous to him. You bring that ark back
to the place it should be in the presence of God behind the
holy of holies. And if I find favor in God's
sight, He will bring me back again, and I'll see His habitation. Now, I love the word, He will. He will. If I find favor, He
will. Now, understand this with regard
to God's salvation. God's salvation is according
to His will. It's what He will do. You know, I love that scripture
in Hebrews chapter 10. By the witch will. By God's will. This is the supremacy of God's
will. He will bring me back. By the
witch will. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, if God has favor toward
me, His sovereign favor, just like He did to Noah, He will
bring me back into His presence, that I might see His habitation. Verse 26, now this is how David,
this demonstrates to us how David is a man after God's own heart. And that's what I want to be.
I want you to be that. But, verse 26, if He thus say, I have no delight in thee. If that's what he has to say
regarding me, if he looks at me and says, I have no delight
in him. What was David's response? Behold, here am I. let him do to me that
seemeth him good." Now David says, if the Lord says regarding
me, David, I have no delight in that man. You know what David would say?
I completely understand. Just and right And holy is His
name. You see, David believed this
about himself. And this is so important for
you and I to believe this about ourselves. David believed himself
to be a totally depraved sinner. He said, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. I came out of the womb bad, and
I've always been that way. That's me. And if God says regarding
me, I have no delight in Him, I don't have any delight in myself. I can see exactly why He would
say that to me. I could never say this is not
right, this is not fair, this is not fair for him to look at
me that way. If he says regarding me, if he says regarding Todd
Nybert, I have no delight in him. Just, righteous, and holy
is his name. Now I want to ask you a very
pertinent question. I'm asking myself this question. If God said regarding you, I have no delight in you, could you object? That's not
fair. That's not right. Now anytime someone calls into
question God's fairness in what He does, you know what they're
saying? God owes me something. God should
respond to my goodness. God should respond to my righteousness. God should respond to what I've
done. Anytime someone questions God's
fairness, and that's what people do with the gospel all the time,
how could it be fair for God to elect some and pass by others?
How could it be fair for Christ to die for only the elect and
not die for everybody? How could those things be fair?
Anytime that comes out of a man, what he's saying is God is my
debtor. He owes me this and He isn't
giving me what I have coming. Now did David have any kind of
attitude like that? No. You see, David was on God's
side. And isn't that what repentance
is? Real repentance? You take sides with God against
yourself. That's the very nature of true
repentance. You agree with God. Whatever God says is right, just,
holy, and true. David, the man after God's own
heart, he looked at things the way God did. And as a matter
of fact, he took some comfort in this. He said, if he say,
I have no delight in me. I understand that. And look what
he says next. Here am I. Let him do to me as
seemeth good unto him. Whatever he does is good and
right. Let him do to me whatever seemeth
good to me. Now, this is the man after God's
own heart. He's on the Lord's side. And
whatever the Lord says is right. And if he says, I have no delight
in him, it's right. Let him do whatever seems good
to him. Now, this is what happens when
someone really is like David, a man after God's own heart,
somebody who sees things the way the Lord sees. And this is
true of every believer. You know, Paul said, we have
the mind of Christ. This is true with regard to every
believer. We have the mind of Christ. We
think like He thinks. We agree with what He says. There's
David. Let him do what seemeth him good
to do to me. Whatever he does is right. There
I am. Now, I think of what Eli said, when Samuel came to
him and said, God's going to kill both of your sons. Now put
yourself in his place. What if God came to you and said,
God's going to kill your children? You know what Eli's response
was? It's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Now there is a man after God's
own heart. Whatever is good in God's sight,
it's good in my sight too, no matter what it is. And that's
the attitude David is demonstrating at this time. And then I think
of what the Lord said in Luke 10 when He said, I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these
things. Well, this goes against the grain
of modern religion, isn't it? Christ says to his father, you
have hid these things, the things of salvation, from the wise and
prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. And if it's good in God's
sight, it's good. So David says, oh, he feels terrible
about himself. He knows this is all his fault. His sin has brought all of this
on him. He's not mad at Absalom for trying
to usurp his throne. He knows God raised him up. And
God's in control of all of this. Remember that with regard to
every problem you have and I have. God's in control of it, and He's
doing it. He's doing it. And He said, if
I find favor in the Lord's sight, if He's pleased to look at me
the same way He did Noah and give me grace, I'll return back
to be with this ark and to be in His presence, to see His habitations. But if not, If he leads me to
myself and says, I have no delight in thee, behold, let him do what
seemeth him good. Now, turn with me in closing
to Psalm 3. The third Psalm. I love the way these Psalms are
sometimes given the reason behind them. And these are inspired.
This is part of inspiration. This is not some man's comment
on it. This is a part of the original text. Look in Psalm
3, the Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. And that's what's going on at
this time. Now let's read David's words. How are they increased that trouble
me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there's no help for him in God. How many people were saying at
this time, David's getting what he deserves? I mean, you look
at what he's done. He's getting exactly what he
deserves. God's hand of judgment is heavy
upon him, and he's getting what he deserves. And David felt the
acute pain of that and agreed with it as well. Verse three,
but thou, O Lord, He could say this in faith, but thou, O Lord,
art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of
mine head. Now the only way you can say
that when you believe your sins, all your faults, is if you believe
grace. He believed grace, didn't he? If I find favor, if I find
free grace the way Noah did, everything's going to be great.
And so he could say this. He said in verse 4, I cried unto
the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I cried, and he heard. Selah. Meditate upon that. I cried, and he heard. I laid me down and slept. with all these enemies against
me. I laid me down and slept. I wake, for the Lord sustained
me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have
set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord. Save me. Oh, my God. How many times have you prayed
that prayer? Is that just a one-time deal? Save me? No, that's a prayer that's on
the lips of the believer constantly. Save me. For thou hast smitten all mine
enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. And here's what David realizes. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. This is something all of God's
elect have in common. They all believe salvation is
of the Lord. He does it all. Thy blessing
is upon thy people. Selah. Okay.