Humanity is searching for a Father

Hello, welcome to the second episode of this Sermon series “Why make seeking the presence of the LORD your “One Thing”?” In this message I want to cover another point for why humans should strive to make spending time in the presence of the LORD the one thing that we seek more passionately than anything else in our lives. In the first episode, I attempted to draw your attention to the truth that God is seeking us. We can notice His nudging in our lives as we slow down and listen to our intuition. We can become more in aware of what drives our behavioral patterns when we recognize our emotions. When we slow down and give ourselves space to do this, we move our lives closer to God’s presence. Ultimately, we find resolution and peace when we develop a practice of giving these moments over to God. At the end, I tied this full message back to the theme of God’s grace, given to us in response to our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In this message, I want to build onto the main point that seeking the LORD’s presence should be the one thing we prioritize as a people by stating the claim thathumanity, on a global scale, is in desperate need for a Father.

In the last message, I read to you verses 1 and 14 of Psalm 27 that show how David relied on and trusted in the safety that is found in God’s presence while he was being hunted by his father-in-law king Saul. Now, I’ll read you verses 7-12.

Psalm 27: 7-12

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will receive me.
¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

I want to draw your attention to the written resources below the audio player. I’ve included a PDF with some notes I took over these verses as I was reading. When we slow down and look at the scripture in this way, we can notice David’s reverence towards God. He asks for God to pay attention to him, and he asks God to answer.

He says that his heart cries out and tells him to go to God. He longs for God to stay with him and not leave him. David even acknowledges how much that God has already helped him, saying that God has been more faithful and reliable than even his own mother or father could ever be. David gives us an example of what it looks like to live a life with God as a Father. Take the emotions that he is expressing in these words: fear, anger, sadness, delight, longing… He’s taking all of those to God and venting. He goes to God for help. He goes to God for comfort, for direction, and for justice.

Because of the time that David has spent in the presence of God, he is able to live from moment to moment with the knowledge of who his role model is. He knows that God is not a made up and passed down legend. David has spent time with God and knows His character, His nature, and David trusts God’ssovereignty.

The word sovereignty means that God is in complete control. We can struggle to understand this concept and it’s a deep dive for a different moment. But, what we can have confidence in knowing, is that God knows that we can’t understand everything about Him that there is to know about Him. We’re not expected to understand everything. That’s why we need to be willing to take a deep breath, listen to what we can understand and try to hear what He is revealing to us. Without the leap of faith, we won’t be able to understand because it’s by God’s grace we are able to see and hear and understand the truth. Without faith we’re just fighting to be the ones in control.

So, back to the point, David trusts God’s sovereignty. He trusts that God is ultimately the one in control. With God as his role model, and because he has sat with Him, and listened to Him, David has a unique experience of how to respond when he finds himself in emotionally pressured situations. David is equipped with wisdom that other soldiers did not have and did not expect.

I’m going to show you an example of this in action. In1 Samuel 26,we see that David is able to respond wisely when tempted to give in to the pressure of his emotions. David can stay aligned to the truth when he’s confronted by King Saul. We see from his response that he has been formed through spending time with God. Because David sees God as his leader and caretaker, even above his own parents, he is able to be true to himself and respond in an unexpected way with a lot of self-control. This is the second time that David encounters Saul after Saul began hunting him.

This is what the scripture tells us.

David Again Spares Saul’s Life

26 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. ³ Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, ⁴ he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.

⁵ Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.

⁶ David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”

“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.

⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. ¹¹ But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

¹² So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.^”

Now, again, I added a PDF of my notes while reading the text below for you to see a visual representation of what I saw as I read through this chapter if you want to see those too.

So one important piece of context to know here is that David had married King Saul’s daughter Michal sometime before and now Saul has been hunting David. Saul and his army has set up camp for the night on the same mountain where David had been hiding. So, David goes down to Saul’s camp in the middle of the night with Abishai and they find that God had put Saul and his entire army into a deep sleep.

We see two very different responses between Abishai and David. Immediately they find that their enemy is vulnerable and that they can solve all of their problems right there. Saul even had his spear by his head, basically tempting David to react to his senses of fear and anger. And Abishai wants to take him out. He basically tells David, “Look at this! God has delivered Saul into our hands, now let me kill him.”

We can see the passion in Abishai’s reaction he said, “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.” He’s confident that he has the power built up inside him to drive that spear all the way through Saul and into the ground. He even believes that because they found Saul and his army in this position that it was God’s doing and it was what they were expected to do. He said, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands.” He’s prompting David to take revenge on Saul and tries to justify this by saying that God has allowed it.

Have you ever felt weighed down or held back by someone who seems like they are just out to get you? Maybe you’ve recognized that a person has something against you and wants you to suffer for no reason and they hold a role in your life, such that you cannot get away from them. In David’s case, Saul is his father-in-law. On top of that, Saul was the first King of Israel and He was anointed by God to be King. Now ask yourself, in this context, how would you respond if you found that person, who has led you into a painful position, in a weak and vulnerable state. Would you be tempted to react in that situation? What would that reaction be?

David’s reaction on the other hand is totally different and unexpected in this situation. We read that David responds to Abishai’s reaction with urgency and says “Don’t destroy him!” and with a wise reason he continues “Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” This is David enforcing better judgement. This is a really important and valuable insight here in 1 Samuel 26. Abishai tempts David by telling him that Saul’s vulnerability was kind of a gift from God so that David could have revenge, and David said “Nuh uh! Are you crazy?!” He doesn’t even have to think about it. He knows well and good that Saul is completely off limits even if God allowed him to be in such a vulnerable position. David knew better than to encourage that reaction to excitement that Abishai was primed and ready to execute. David held his composure even though the easier life was like an open door right in front of him with Abishai trying to persuade him to walk through it. David was able to stand strong and close that door without hesitating, even if it meant that he would have to continue living on the run from Saul.

Now we can see more wisdom from David’s response in verses 10 and 11. “As surly as the LORD lives, he said, “the LORD himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.” We see here clearly that David trusts God’s sovereignty, and His timing. David is patient. He accepts the unknown and basically tells Abishai, “God did not bring us here to kill Saul and I’m not going to be the one to take control of this situation. God has a plan for Saul’s life, and I know that I am not going to be the one responsible for his death.”

However it is that David knows that he can’t kill Saul, he is surely confident in the fact that whatever his actions are, there is an after-effect and he is accountable to God. We heard in Psalm 27 that David desperately seeks a close relationship with God. He wouldn’t do anything to put that in jeopardy. InPsalm 27 verse 9:“Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my savior.”That is an intimate desire that David has brought to God. In this situation where he is tempted with freedom, from the danger and hardship that running away from Saul causes, the freedom is nothing compared to the moments where he is in the presence of the LORD. David has a deep and sincere reverence for God. We see that David knows his place, and he lets God hold God’s place in the judgement seat. David also surrenders the desire for revenge.

He’s at peace with Saul’s outcome being determined by God, however it comes. And David, having a history of spending time with God shows us how finding true peace in the presence of God is the one thing that keeps him moving forward. 

Here are some questions to consider as we move on, you can find them written out below the audio player on this page as well.

What is one thing that you seek, one thing that you hold up and strive for and suffer to obtain?

What would it look like for you to surrender obtaining that thing at this very instant, to allow God the space to move in your life in a way that only He can?

What part of giving God control over outcomes in your life makes you most uncomfortable?

How have you noticed peacefulness in moments of your life? If you could close the door on the urgency to answer to the feelings of stress, anxiety and heavy burdens in your life and step through the doorway into that feeling of peacefulness, would you be able to?

Sometimes God allows hardship (allows Saul to pursue David), and He allows temptation (allows David to be tempted to go against God, by Abishai’s desire to kill Saul), and allows our own vulnerability (the deep sleep). These things highlight the moment-to-moment beauty of what it’s like to be alive and what it’s like to be human. At the end of the day, God is in control. But we are each living as a free agent here on earth. We are each given the opportunity to grow as a child of God. We do this by going to God during these hardships, when being tempted, when we feel weak, and by listening to what it is He is wanting us to learn to overcome moments of difficulty in a way that will bring us peace. Us learning and living out God’s teaching, will have a trickle-down effect, in turn, bringing peace to our communities, cities and ultimately the rest of the world.

Once we become aware of the truth in the goodness of God, and once we can see the truth that Jesus models for us when He teaches us to pray to God by addressing God as our own Father, we will find our identity. When we are able to witness how God allows for our hardship, temptation, and vulnerability we can see directly that God is the truest and most loving Father we could ever have. The role of a parent in our lives is to teach us how to grow into resilience. It is by natural design that a parent should want to equip their children to be strong enough to navigate difficult situations, to overcome obstacles, and to stay calm when we are weak and to respond wisely. It’s also in the loving nature of a parent to care about the wellbeing of their children. Parents want their children to feel like they can come to them to find safety and comfort and compassion. In Psalm 27:10 David says “though my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” Parents are human too, and just like everyone else, in this life, parents also face hardship, temptation and vulnerability. David describes that even though his parents fall short, God is always God right there.

So, the best news we can hear is that God is the Father of all people in every nation. In Ephesians, in the context of Paul speaking to the church in Ephesus about unity and maturity in the body of Christ he describes how we are all one through the Spirit and when we live with God as our Father we all live in unity through a bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:6“one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

So, I’m going to leave this point here because there is so much more that can be said about David’s response throughout chapter 26. We can see astonishing character and wisdom from David in the rest of this interaction which ultimately shows us how God has been a Father to David because David responds in a godly way. Meaning that David responds in a way that respects God and obeys the morals that God has taught David to uphold. I can build out this point later, adding resources and more audio clips below, in the meantime, you can find a preview of my notes from the rest of 1 Samuel 26.

In summary, my point that “humanity is in desperate need for a father” is in a sense centered around the idea of our individual duties towards this concept we all hope for to some degree, which is called world peace. We can easily see that there are difficulties and decisions made across the world that can make us angry or sad, and afraid. I think that it can be worse when we don’t see the light of love and unity in our surroundings on a community level. I want to share a message of hope to humanity that there is light! And it isn’t at the end of some long road. That light is in you. It’s in a quiet voice that is softly asking for you to honor it. And that voice is not you. That voice is the desire that God planted in your heart that cries out “Seek His face!” like David says in Psalm 27. When we take the time as a people to turn to face God, we learn who God truly is. We don’t have to guess anymore. We actually have the responsibility to try to learn the truth.

I think that’s a social responsibility too, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence our genuine human thought is at risk. Your attention is at risk. Every day you make the decision to give away your attention. If it feels like it’s not in your control, that you’re powerless to your temptations, then maybe it really isn’t in your control. Maybe your temptations control you and you haven’t been able to break free, or you haven’t noticed yet that you don’t have control. Here’s the good news, when you take a sincere step forward, however big or small it is, to put your faith in Jesus as a savior who breaks the bondage that you have felt to your addictions, and when you look up to God as a Father, you are guaranteed to be set free from the control of whatever thing has hooked your temptation. That doesn’t mean the battle is taken away from you, that doesn’t mean that you’ll never be tempted again, it just means that now through the Word of God, you have power over the things that once controlled you. You just have to practice using that power and you must let God in as your Father to teach you how to use it.

Okay, I’m going to end this message here. Point number three to why we should seek the presence of the LORD as our “One Thing” will be coming your way in about a week’s time. That point is that “In the presence of God we can see God Himself.”

Thank you to everyone who listened to last week’s message and who sent it to someone else. I want to encourage you again right now, if you appreciated this message and you know someone who would also like to hear it, or who could be encouraged by it please send them the link. I can guarantee that there is no other way that they are going to hear this unless you send it to them. When you come to this website you can rest assured that I’m not going to be reading you any ads or trying to generate ad revenue from other companies who just want to sell you stuff for the sake of profit, or building a business. Also, I don’t have any backend software on this site that is trying to steal your preferences and gather up your private information. I’m trying to make you less vulnerable so that’s why I’m doing it this way.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who prayed for my prayer request at the end of last week’s message. If you want to know how to pray for me this week, I would appreciate your prayers for God to draw near to me as I seek peace in His presence. I need this truth in my life as much as I encourage you to want it too. I want to point out the prayer request button above the audio player; I’ll pray specific prayers for everyone who wants to send a prayer request through that form. And also, right now, to close this message out.

“Dear heavenly Father, God your way is the one way that I seek to follow. Thank you for the way that you have transformed my life and thank you for the ways that you will work in the lives of every person who has listened to this message today, LORD. I ask you to make your path shine brighter in the lives of all those listening who have made the decision to seek you. I pray for your transformative power to help us all discern truth from the lies of this age and God, I ask you to close doors that lead us into darkness and temptation. Please protect us as we continue to move throughout our weeks. Bring your kingdom down to Earth and complete your work here in this place by building up your temple in the body of Christ in a powerful way. Teach us to pray God, guide us in how to see and hear your voice clearly in the scriptures and do not let us be thrashed to and fro by the waves as we try to anchor our lives in your Word. Shield us from unnecessary hardship as you deliver us from temptation. Comfort us also as we grieve over our mistakes as you show us the errors in our way. God, I ask you to become our firm foundation. We establish you here in this place as our Father, and as the Father of all nations. Draw near to us in a ground shaking way as we seek your face, LORD. Come to this place and may your will be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen”