The place you most frequently see it is on a road sign. “In road transport, a yield sign indicates that each driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed.” - wikipedia
Keep that in mind as we look into what it means to yield to God’s will.
Background for today’s passage: Saul is currently king. David has been anointed as his successor, but hasn’t taken his place yet. We’re looking at a chapter in the midst of when Saul is angry with David and trying to kill him.
Read 1 Samuel 24:1-4. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about Saul going to the bathroom in the cave and I chuckle every time! But anyway...) So we see Saul was off fighting the Philistines and as he returns someone tells him where he can find David. We could talk a lot about how Saul is living his life and has not yielded to God’s will because he’s lost his focus. Instead of serving God and leading the nation of Israel, he’s off chasing down David for some personal vendetta. To yield to God’s will, we need to put our own will to the side. (deny ourselves)
Read 1 Samuel 24:5-7. Here we see that David feels bad about what he did and we learn why David felt bothered by what he had done. The Lord, through Samuel, had anointed David as the next king, but David realized that he needed to wait on the Lord’s timing. He felt that since God hadn’t told him to kill Saul it was wrong for him to do so. David could have easily killed Saul and justified his actions with a litany of excuses: “It’s self-defense, Saul’s out to kill me.” “It’s all right, because God promised me the throne anyway.” “It’s all right because I am in the right, and even Jonathan knows that I deserve the throne.” “This is a God-given opportunity and I should take it.” Or even, “I’m just so tired of running and fighting Saul. This can end all of that now.” But David knew they were all just excuses and he shouldn’t kill Saul. David put his will to the side and submitted to God’s will. To yield to God’s will, we need to do what’s right and quit making excuses. David felt convicted that what he had done was wrong and he doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t take matters into his own hands.
David trusted God and waited on His timing. When God promises us something, we can be sure that He will follow through on that promise. If we try to take things into our own hands, we can make God’s promises happen, but it doesn’t turn out as well as if we waited for God to do it His way. David trusted that God’s will was better than his own will.
(An easy excuse for us to make is that we don’t know God’s will. Much of God’s will for our lives can be found reading the Bible. More specifically though in Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus tells us 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. So if you are unsure about God’s will for your life, pray and ask Him and He will reveal it to you.)
This chapter ends with David revealing to Saul everything that had happened, then Saul goes home and David continues wandering around.
Read 1 Samuel 26:7-11. Saul heads out again to try and find David. When he takes break and makes camp, David finds him, again has the opportunity to kill him. Again his men encourage him to do so. Again he denies himself, and yields to God’s will and doesn’t kill Saul. To yield to God’s will, we need to repeat the process. David didn’t decide just once to follow God’s will. His decision was an ongoing decision, a daily process. Every day (sometimes every minute) we need to choose to yield to God’s will.
And we know that David wasn’t always successful. We know he married multiple wives, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he murdered Uriah. Everyday yield to God’s will, even if you messed up the day before. Being in process doesn’t mean being perfect.
The beginning of the Lord’s prayer summarizes these ideas. Matthew 6:9-11 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. To yield to God’s will, we need to pray for Him to help us. The only way that we will successfully yield to God’s will is if He helps us. Jesus taught the disciples to pray and to ask for God’s will to be done (not their own will) and figuratively asking for daily bread is showing that it is an ongoing process.
(Oh and I should probably cite my sources, as to not be accused of plagiarism :) I took the list of excuses David could have made from http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0924.htm.)
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the fifth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.
Read 1 Samuel 24:5-7. Here we see that David feels bad about what he did and we learn why David felt bothered by what he had done. The Lord, through Samuel, had anointed David as the next king, but David realized that he needed to wait on the Lord’s timing. He felt that since God hadn’t told him to kill Saul it was wrong for him to do so. David could have easily killed Saul and justified his actions with a litany of excuses: “It’s self-defense, Saul’s out to kill me.” “It’s all right, because God promised me the throne anyway.” “It’s all right because I am in the right, and even Jonathan knows that I deserve the throne.” “This is a God-given opportunity and I should take it.” Or even, “I’m just so tired of running and fighting Saul. This can end all of that now.” But David knew they were all just excuses and he shouldn’t kill Saul. David put his will to the side and submitted to God’s will. To yield to God’s will, we need to do what’s right and quit making excuses. David felt convicted that what he had done was wrong and he doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t take matters into his own hands.
David trusted God and waited on His timing. When God promises us something, we can be sure that He will follow through on that promise. If we try to take things into our own hands, we can make God’s promises happen, but it doesn’t turn out as well as if we waited for God to do it His way. David trusted that God’s will was better than his own will.
(An easy excuse for us to make is that we don’t know God’s will. Much of God’s will for our lives can be found reading the Bible. More specifically though in Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus tells us 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. So if you are unsure about God’s will for your life, pray and ask Him and He will reveal it to you.)
This chapter ends with David revealing to Saul everything that had happened, then Saul goes home and David continues wandering around.
Read 1 Samuel 26:7-11. Saul heads out again to try and find David. When he takes break and makes camp, David finds him, again has the opportunity to kill him. Again his men encourage him to do so. Again he denies himself, and yields to God’s will and doesn’t kill Saul. To yield to God’s will, we need to repeat the process. David didn’t decide just once to follow God’s will. His decision was an ongoing decision, a daily process. Every day (sometimes every minute) we need to choose to yield to God’s will.
And we know that David wasn’t always successful. We know he married multiple wives, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he murdered Uriah. Everyday yield to God’s will, even if you messed up the day before. Being in process doesn’t mean being perfect.
The beginning of the Lord’s prayer summarizes these ideas. Matthew 6:9-11 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. To yield to God’s will, we need to pray for Him to help us. The only way that we will successfully yield to God’s will is if He helps us. Jesus taught the disciples to pray and to ask for God’s will to be done (not their own will) and figuratively asking for daily bread is showing that it is an ongoing process.
(Oh and I should probably cite my sources, as to not be accused of plagiarism :) I took the list of excuses David could have made from http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0924.htm.)
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does it mean to yield to God’s will? What does that look like in your life?
- Can you think of a time that you did what God wanted instead of what you wanted and you saw positive results?
- What is the toughest part of yielding to God’s will for you personally?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the fifth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.
No comments:
Post a Comment