- Sermon Notes
- Scripture
What Goes Around Comes Around
I Samuel 30:1-20
You know there are some laws in the universe that always seem to come out true –
- What goes around comes around
- This law is made very clear in the scriptures; but we know it as You Reap What You Sow!
- David’s life was no exception and I found this unlikely application for our lives in the Book of 1 Samuel in Chapter 30.
A little background –
- David’s life grew weary because he was out of the will of God for a least 16 mo with the Philistines.
- He tried to fool them and convince the King in Philistine he was a traitor – against his own people…but he got caught.
- God intervened to protect him.He wasn’t there with God’s blessing.
•He would never become King without the Lord’s intervention.He’s allowed to leave and head back home to Ziklag, his home town.
1 Samuel 30; 1-20
I.God’s Hand On David
Think about it – David and his men have been doing battle and they are coming home…3 days…
•A bath
•Food
•Spouses look forward to seeing each other
•Sit down and relax, see the kids and maybe catch up on the “news”
•THEN they arrive and see the rubble – everyone & everything is gone – complete destruction.
•Is there anything right now for us to pause and recognize?
•Just how far we can get from the will of God. – we are all prone to wonder…
•Although he lost it all – – he still had the Lord – David demonstrates that in this story.
What did they do – – they wept! – he is greatly distressed – wondered way too far from the Lord.
What about you?
A. David strengthened in the Lord
David’s men were so upset they wanted to kill him…
- He sought God, “what do I do” and God said GO
- David was strengthened in the Lord
- He all of the sudden found himself compromised from his walk with God.
- The lesson here for us is to draw near to Him in times of need.
- Receive from Him – Wait on Him – be filled with the Word and receive renewal.
Romans 8:18; For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
B.Compassion in the midst of helplessness
Along the way they found an Egyptian and inquired about who and what he was doing…
- He’s near death – they help him with food and water.
David inquires of him as to who he is – why there?
- He tells them, “I was part of a raid but they left me behind.”
- Basically he’s saying, “I got sick, slowing everyone down, so rather than taking care of me they left me here to die…”
The Egyptian leads him to the raiding party.
- David could have killed him – – but he didn’t – he had compassion for the man.
Think about the smallest of thorns in our flesh that cause us to react to people negatively?
David’s land was burned and pilfered by this Egyptian!
- He spared his life, put him in his own “witness protection program”.
- And the Egyptian lead them right to them..!
- Imagine just how willing the Egyptian was to help David after being left to die in the field.
- And we are about to get our first glimpse into what goes around comes around for the Amalekites.
II.God Glorified Through David
David fought the Amalekites!
- All was recovered.He brought it all back…
- All wives & children & some property.
What’s interesting about this story; These Amalekites had only themselves to blame.Their slave was left to die in the desert and David showed him kindness.
- They could have treated the slave with compassion
- He wouldn’t be in the field for David to find him
- They would not have been found & conquered
- It was their own poor treatment of this slave…proves to us – –
What Goes Around Comes Around; you reap what you sow…
That brings us to the end of the passage and we should be asking, so what does this story mean to me?
A. Reap for God
Galatians 6:7-8; Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
- Nobody makes a fool out of God – you sow, you reap
- You can’t sow ungodly things and then be blessed – that would make a fool out of God – it can’t happen.
- I’ve had people say, “that’s a scary verse” – to which I would say, well, it all depends on what you sow!
•If you are sowing ungodly things you will reap accordingly.
- …corrupt…behavior…disobedience…
- Then yes, this verse is a curse for you…
But if you sow good things; obedience, honesty, righteousness, Godly behavior, integrity, moral actions, a Godly work ethic —
- The promise is a blessing – All depends on what you sow.
- Do not become weary – the Bible applies this to our lives in a positive way.
Galatians 6:9; Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Do not become weary in doing good!
- In the proper time we will reap what is good – emphasis should be on reaping a blessing, not just the negative…
- We all remember hearing teaching over the years on this topic, I believe you would agree with me that it is often from a negative context…
- Sow right things so when it “comes around” we will reap blessings.
- What a promise this verse in Galatians is!
In light of that, what are those right things to Sow?
B.He will sow blessing in our lives
1.Cultivation of our walk with God– don’t become weak & allow the flesh to take hold.
Psalm 1:1-3; How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
- We will reap the harvest of spiritual depth, spiritual stability, spiritual resilience, spiritual fruitfulness to handle any crisis that comes our way.
- Notice I didn’t say we wouldn’t have trials!
- The time is right to develop your depth now, your relationship now – – – in prayer now – – sow it now!
- You will be ready for the next crisis!
If you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ yet as your savior –
- When Sherri and I found ourselves falling through a trap door…
- If you have no relationship with Jesus then there are no hands there to catch you…
- Free Fall spiritually and emotionally
The benefit of Christ in your life is Not just going to Heaven, but you will have His hands to catch you.
2. Faithful in small things
- Do you remember when Steve Richardson was herefrom Pioneers USA – talking about Legacy?
Matthew 17:20; And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Matthew 25:21; His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
- This is an important principle for our children and for the young people in this church…
Personal interview of a sales rep…
- You want to get to the top of your career?
- Be faithful in the small things…
- Everyone in God’s Army starts out as a private – nobody else is higher – be faithful…
My Story – A Michael Jordan story – small things…
3. Get serious about financial stewardship
- “Recognize everything we have belongs to God.”
- What we have has been given to us out of Grace to handle with honor
- Now part of that is our family financial decisions…
Paul addresses the topic –
II Corinthians 9:6; Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Jesus said in …
Luke 6:38; Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
- Some of us share God’s blessing & gifts with a Thimble and some of us a Dump truck.
- Like everything else God teaches us, it’s a choice.
God doesn’t change because we sometimes want to sow the wrong things.
- Have a lifestyle to harvest God’s best relative to what we are sowing.
CULTIVATE YOUR WALK
BE FAITHFUL IN THE SMALL THINGS
BE A GOOD STEWARD OF YOUR FINANCES
C. God is calling us to make life adjustments
- Let’s take a real hard look at your life because What Goes Around Comes Around.
- I want you to be happy when things you sow come around and you reap blessing in your lifestyle.
- In this country we don’t “find” time for these things, we have to “make” time for them or they simply don’t happen…
1 Samuel 30:1-20 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
David’s Victory over the Amalekites
30 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the [a]Negev and on Ziklag, and had [b]overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, [c]without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the [d]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were [e]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
11 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit [f]revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. 14 We made a raid on the [g]Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the [h]Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”
16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were [i]spread over all the land, eating and drinking and [j]dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 David [k]slaughtered them from the twilight [l]until the evening of [m]the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and [n]rescued his two wives. 19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back. 20 So David had [o]captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of [p]the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.”
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