"SPECIAL BLESSING" TRUE GREATNESS

I Samuel 18:5-16


Please Stand as we read I Samuel 18:5-14
5And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

6And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.

7And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

8And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

9And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

10And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

11And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

12And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.

13Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

14And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.

15Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

16But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

How do you measure true greatness?
Is it measured by the things that you achieve in life…Or, by the things that you have acquired in life…Or, maybe it is measured by what others say about you?

We often view those who have achieved great thing as great people…we often measure greatness based on position, popularity and/or by the praise that people receive…
The truth is that none of these things make a person great! What does then?

I am reminded of a quote that I once heard: “What you say, says much; what you do, says more, but who you are, says the most!”

The world’s view of greatness: An actor who wins an Oscar; an athlete breaks long-standing records or wins championships; a business person who climbs rapidly to the top of the career latter; or someone who accomplishes something that no one else has ever done before… BUT God measures greatness differently!

Let me tell you about a young man who was considered great! His name – Maurice Clarett – A super star athlete at Ohio State – destined for greatness….but during his first year at Ohio St. he received money illegally and lied to his coaches about…suspended for a whole season…wanted to go in the NFL draft, but the courts declared him too young…finally in 2005 the Denver Broncos drafted Clarett only to cut him from the team before the season began…where is this great young football superstar now? He was recently sentenced to serve 7 ½ years in prison for illegal gun charges and robbery.

“True greatness is not measured by what you have achieved in life, but how you live your life.”

Reference Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? – “Have you considered my servant Job?”
God did not say anything about what Job had done in life, but He did say something about who Job was: “A perfect and upright man, one that fears God, and shuns evil.”

In reality, true greatness is not what you say about you; not what others say about you, BUT it’s what God says about you!

We all know that David was a truly great man because God said David was a man after his own heart…but what was it that caused David to achieve such greatness?

There was the Presentation of David’s Life
Three times in our text we find the usage of an important phrase (5, 14 & 30) “David behaved himself wisely.” This simply means that David walked properly and carefully presenting himself in a godly fashion. This is commanded of believers in Ephesians 5:15-
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise…”

David Behaved Himself in Spite of Life’s Promotions (5)
After David had slain Goliath he was instantly promoted! A “nobody” becomes a national hero. Look at chapter 17:58; 18:2 & 18:5

Apply: Be careful about the way you deal with success in your life! If you are not careful you just might let it go to your head…and in doing so pride comes in…you begin to forget or fail to recognize that God is responsible for those successes.

Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Remember, we have already seen this in the life of Saul…promotion and success brought pride and he slowly walked away from God.

Apply: A walk away from God is always slow and subtle…you begin to compromise and get careless with spirituals aspects of your Life…and in relation to promotions, if we are not careful, a new position at work could position us in a direction of walking away from God! Has you job become more important than the things of God? Time to make a change before you wake up one day and realize that your compromise has taken you on a journey far away!

David’s sudden promotion did not change him a bit; he continued to behave himself wisely in spite of the promotion…

David Behaved Himself in Spite of Life’s Problems (14)
If you think you have problems at work, be thankful it’s not as bad as David experienced…His employer actually tried to kill him and who could he complain to? His employer was the king!

Saul liked David at first…However, when he heard the people ascribing more praise to David than himself, he got jealous and angry.

Look at verses 8-15…The Bible tells us that in spite of David’s problems he continued to behave himself wisely. Note that David was not afraid of Saul, but Saul was afraid of David…Why? …Because evil feels threatened by righteousness.

Apply: Often it is the problems of life that throw us off course. We can allow ourselves to be so concerned with our problems that we fail to walk properly…A sign of true greatness is the ability to walk properly in the face of adversity. Look at Job 1:20-22

When we learn to keep the faith in fearful times, we find that the fear subsides and our faith is strengthened.

David Behaved Himself in Spite of Life’s Possibilities (30)
Now think about this…through the providence of God, David had become more popular than the king. He had married into the king’s family and had become a captain in the king’s army. He had experienced great success and had grown in power and popularity.

Also, coupled together with this was the fact that God had promised him the throne…he could have led a revolt against Saul and probably won…but instead of taking matters into his own hands, he behaved himself wisely and waited for God’s timing.

Apply: Sometimes we have a tendency to be impatient with God’s plan and we get ahead of Him. “We want to charge hell with a squirt gun!” God says, “Be patient, I’ll work it all out!” We want something to happen now! Instant gratification! “I can’t wait God!” God says, “Be patient, just wait on me and I’ll do great things.”

David may have been a young man, but he was very wise in how he presented himself…in fact it was that wise behavior that caused him to excel in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

David walked wisely in spite of life’s promotions, problems and great possibilities, but what about us?

Regarding your promotions, your problems and your possibilities in life – Have you lost the proper perspective? Have you let your position go to your head? Have you let your problems get you down? Or maybe you have contemplated great possibilities and instead of waiting on God, you are charging forward.

As believers it is important that we behave ourselves wisely…people are watching us!
Notice too that it was the Lord who promoted David…it was the Lord who was with David during his times of trouble, and it was the Lord who finally put David on the throne of Israel.

If we will behave ourselves wisely…in a godly fashion…the Lord will bless us, He will help us, and He will bring to pass great things in His time.

One reason David was able to behave himself wisely in all things was because of His relationship with the Lord. The deeper your relationship with the Lord, the easier it becomes to walk wisely before Him and others.

Senior Pastor John Sweat, Sr
Crossroads Baptist Church
1595 Baxley Road
Middleburg, Florida