Please turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of First Samuel. We are going to be wrapping up much of 1st Samuel today as we see the final trajectories of King Saul and the king yet to come, King David. And then next week we're going to jump ahead and see David on the throne as a picture of the king of kings yet to come for Christmas week, which I am so excited about. So, but today we're wrapping up this. These sort of two separate trajectories we've been following in First Samuel. And fittingly, the end of First Samuel really is about a crucial choice Saul and David make right at the end of the book. So as we read in first Samuel 28 and then an excerpt from there, and an excerpt from 1st Samuel 30, I think you'll see these trajectories clearly.
So 1st Samuel 28, as we read, let's remember this is God's word, verse 6. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim, or by prophets. And then Saul said to his servants, seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, behold, there is a medium at Endor.
Now, 1st Samuel 30, if you would, 1 Samuel 36, 8. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God. And David said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Ahimelech, bring me the ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? He answered him, pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue. This is God's word.
And Lord, I pray your blessing over the preaching of your word and the hearing of it. In your name we pray. Amen.
Well, in the 90s and early 2000s, there was a cultural phenomenon in the form of a game show which was unusual. Game shows had fallen out of favor. It was unusual for a game show to suddenly become prime time viewing, but it became so popular that at one point this game show aired three nights a week, and airing three nights a week took the top three spots of highest rated programs in America. At its peak, the show had, at one episode in particular, had in May 2000, had 36 million people viewing a single episode. And it eventually aired in over 100 countries. Now, can anybody guess the show that I'm talking about? Anybody? Who wants to be a millionaire? That's it. Now, if you're younger, you're like, what is that? You'll never experience the joy and terror of a smiling Regis Philman looking dead into the camera saying, who wants to be a millionaire? And right. And it became. It was a cultural juggernaut. And then the movie Slumdog Millionaire, using the same format, won a bunch of awards. It was just a powerhouse show.
Now, like many people in America, I began to think, okay, how much trivia do I know could I win? And you put yourself in the position of the person on the show. And the great thing about Philbin is he would put people at ease. He'd be asking them, like, oh, you have some dogs and you have, you know, you have a life. And then, anyway, the most important question of your life. What's the capital of South Dakota? And you're like, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. And they're sweating. And the lights. Do you remember the lights going down? It was like, dun, dun, vroom. I was like, no more Mr. Nice Philbin. This is. This is a serious moment. And so I began to wonder about a number of things. But one of the things I wondered most was the answer to the question of one of the helps available to you on the show. Do you want to phone a friend? You guys remember this? So there would be. There was to be this segment where some question about, especially as you got deeper, astrophysics or whatever, who discovered the planet Neptune? And you're like, oh, no. And so you would phone a friend, and you would just hope in that moment that you happen to have on your. You'd. This is the way it worked. You'd have to give them a list of friends beforehand. There was a limited list and hope that somebody on that list knew who discovered Neptune, right? And you're going like, okay, not him. Not him. Not, you know. And so I remember thinking, okay, who are my smartest friends, right? You start to look at your friend circle a little bit differently, right? You're like, I need to make friends with some smarter people. You know, this guy's okay. That guy's okay. All right? So I'm going through this in my head, and that question, do you want to phone a friend? And then, who are you going to call? Was a defining moment. And I remember sometimes horribly, right, you'd phone a friend and they were like, I'm not sure. And you're like, the Lights are on, Regis is looking at you and you're sweating. You're like, are you sure? You're not sure? Could you be a little more sure? Could you be, how sure are you? They would ask their friend, I don't know, 70, 30. And then, right, you feel that moment.
6 · The pastor pivots from the illustration to the sermon's central question, mapping the game show crisis onto real-life crises (marriage, parenting, relationships) and setting up the text's controlling concern: who do you call when the pressure is on?
Now, the reason I bring up that old game show is the text we have today is all about who you phone in the most critical moments of your life. Right when the lights go down, when the music goes dun dun, right when Regis is looking at you, who do you call and look, the reality is this, none of us are probably gonna end up on who Wants to Be a Millionaire. I don't even think it's still airing. But all of us face, I think it is so worried. All of us face that question. Right? When you realize, I have a question about taxes and I have know nothing about taxes. Right when I have a question about marriage and I don't know how to reconcile with my wife, when I have a question about parenting and I don't know how to reconnect with my child, when I have a question about, about relationships, and I don't know if we should break up. Right when those critical moments come, when the lights go down, when the music thuds, who do you call out to?
7 · The pastor articulates the sermon's controlling theological claim: the text presents two opposite responses to crisis—calling on the dead among the living (Saul) versus calling on the living among the dead (David)—and that choice makes all the difference
And this text give us, gives us two opposite answers. We're going to see one person in the text surrounded by the living, call on the dead and we're going to see another character surrounded by death and destruction. Call on the living and that will make all the difference. So when crisis comes, friend, who will you call on?
8 · The pastor exposits 1 Samuel 28:1-5, setting the context for Saul's crisis: facing the largest Philistine army since Goliath, without David, without his family's trust, without the people's support, and without Samuel
Now, first section today is this calling on the dead among the living. First Samuel 28, verse 1 says, in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. Verse 3. Now Samuel had died and all Israel mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul and had put the mediums and necromancers out of the land. And the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel and they encamped at Gilboa. And when Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. Now put yourself in Saul's shoes here you can see why he's trembling. This is the greatest Philistine army assembled since Goliath of Gath, right? This is a, a legacy, defining, nation defining moment for him. But this time he doesn't have David in his back pocket. In fact, not only does he not have David. David has gone and taken asylum among the Philistines. And Saul has a legitimate fear that David is going to fight with the Philistines against him. And if he looks at his own nation, he's. He's isolated himself and estranged himself from his own family members. He's lost the trust of his people. He has pursued a multi year Ahab like quest to hunt down David and kill him, which has eroded his standing among the people. And he doesn't even have Samuel with him anymore to talk to. So who does he call in this critical moment?
9 · The pastor exposits Saul's inquiry of the Lord, diagnosing the fatal flaw: Saul inquires without repenting, seeking help without submitting to God's authority
Well, at first it seems commendable. 1st Samuel 28:6. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. Now it's very important though, to remember the context of first Samuel. Saul isn't just some neutral man in the middle of a crisis calling out to the Lord. Now Saul turns to the Lord not as his first resort, but his last resort. Because in first Samuel, we've seen him reject God's commands multiple times. We've seen him reject God's anointed David. We've seen him turn away from the Lord, we've seen him distance himself from the Lord. And now he comes running back going, lord, Lord, Lord, help me. But notice what he does not do in this moment. He inquires, but he does not repent. He doesn't go to the Lord and say, lord, I have sinned against you, I have done terrible things. But in this moment we need you, Lord. I place myself, notice this is the key. I place myself as the king of Israel, back under the king of kings. That is the thing Saul continues to not do. He, as the king of Israel, was meant to essentially extend the rule of God to the people of God. But he keeps going to extend his own rule. He keeps jumping out of the authority of the Lord. And in this moment, notice this, he doesn't want the Lord back on the throne. He just wants the Lord to help him out of a difficult situation.
10 · The pastor applies Saul's failure to the congregation, diagnosing the same pattern: we cry out to God in desperation while refusing to submit to His lordship
And friends, this happens with us today as well, doesn't it? We get desperate, we get to the end of our rope, and what do we do? We throw a prayer up. Lord, help me, Lord. I got in this terrible situation. Lord, help me. Right, but. And the Lord is always listening. Right, but often what we do in that moment is we like Saul, we don't want to put our life back under the Lord's lordship. We don't want to put our life back under the, the king's Authority. We want to be our own little king, right? And what we're looking for is not, hey, I'm going to come back under your authority. Lord, we're just going. Hey, I'd like to keep ruling, but can you help me out of a jam here? And that's not the prayer. The Lord answers, friend. I think some of us sometimes have even called out, and God, well, I tried that. I tried the Lord. Yes, but did you also try putting yourself under the authority of the Lord, being ruled by the Lord? If you haven't done that, friend, you haven't truly called out to the Lord.
11 · The pastor exposits 1 Samuel 28:7-8, highlighting the tragic irony: Saul, surrounded by all the means of grace—priests, ark, promised land—leaves them all behind to seek a medium in the night
So then what happens? Verse 7. Saul tells his servants to seek out a medium. And they tell him, okay, over here. So look at this. Verse 8. So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, divine for me a spirit and bring up for me whoever I shall name to you. So notice the irony here. Saul is surrounded by the things of the living God in his nation. He is God's king, dwelling in God's promised land. He's surrounded by the priests. He's surrounded by the presence of God in the Ark of the Covenant. He has all of the living God around him. And it's like he does it. He knows that the answer he's not gonna get, he's not gonna get the answer he wants from those things. So he goes out of those things to seek the dead in the dead of night.
12 · The pastor exposits the séance scene (1 Samuel 28:11-14), narrating the medium's shock when Samuel actually appears—suggesting she was a fake who did not expect her ritual to work
So after reassuring the woman that she's not gonna be punished, verse 11, the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, bring up Samuel for me. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. And the king said to her, don't be afraid. What do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a God coming up out of the earth, meaning somebody with radiance and power and impressive visage, right? Verse 14. He said to her, what is his appearance? And she said, an old man is coming up and he's wrapped in a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel. And. And he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage.
13 · The pastor, drawing on Tim Chester's scholarship, identifies the two things Saul sought from the medium: a comforting presence and a comforting word
Now, let's pause here because we learn two important things about Saul here. We learn that he is looking for two things in particular. And I'm very grateful for the scholarship of Tim Chester, who kind of helped encapsulate this succinctly. Chester points out that Saul, in seeking Samuel, is really looking for two things. He's looking for a comforting presence and a comforting word. Right? He wants a comforting presence and a comforting word. He goes after Samuel for those two things. Now let's break them down, because I think we often do the same thing.
14 · The pastor applies the first category—seeking a comforting presence in the wrong places—to contemporary temptations: adultery, toxic friendships, pornography
First, think about calling out to the dead for a comforting presence. There are many times we are desperate for the presence of someone. We are desperate for the presence of a lover to take away our loneliness, desperate for the presence of validation so we commit adultery. Desperate for the presence of friends that we know are not good for us, but we don't want to be alone. We're desperate for the presence of a computer screen with images that numb our loneliness. And we, like Saul, are desperate to hold onto something, to feel something close to us that will comfort us.
15 · The pastor offers a brief theological excursus on mediums and witchcraft, distinguishing between literary devices (like A Christmas Carol) and actual occult practices
And let me just say, because it is a rare text that allows me to comment on necromancy, some comments about mediums and witchcraft. Right. You probably didn't think that was going to be the Christmas message today, but here we are. Now, it's important to understand a couple things about mediums and witchcraft from this text. First of all, these things are very clearly forbidden in the Old Testament because satanic and demonic presence, they are real. And when I, when I talk about that, I don't mean often in our pop culture we have ghosts or that, you know, things like that, like in A Christmas Carol, where, you know, the three spirits of Christmas past, Christmas Present, Christmas future, they are essentially almost like parables or characters that teach us something. Okay, that's, that's not what the Old Testament is particularly looking at. So you can, you can read A Christmas Carol, it's okay. But what the Old Testament is looking at is occult practices that intentionally seek to contact the demonic or the dead. That is what the Bible very clearly says, do not play with, with them. And most commonly in the Bible, ghosts, or what modern culture would call ghosts, are most commonly demonic spirits manipulating or influencing people.
16 · The pastor extends the exposition on mediums with a personal anecdote (palm reader near Disney World) and a theological claim: most mediums are either demonic or fraudulent, and Christians should turn to neither
And people listen, they. They continue to be very popular even on the way to, to. To. To an area right outside of Disney World. When I was traveling, there's like Disney World, and then there's like a, a palm reader medium. And you're thinking, well, you're Disney World. Nope. Even in those moments, people are like, I need something. Right? These continue to be all around us. And so, friends, brothers, sisters, let me urge you, let us not pursue the occult, pursue witchcraft, pursue what is truly demonic. But let's also, according to this passage, see something else that often what appears to be mediums or witchcraft is nothing more than a fake grift. And, and in this case, it appears that this medium is a grifter, that she is a fake. And I'll tell you why I believe she's a fake. She's surprised that it works. Right? Did you catch that? Right, so. So imagine like she's got, you know, some incense. She does, and she's got a little thing, she mutters and, and notice she sees someone coming and she freaks out. She's like, oh, that's never happened before. That's not good, you know, and so let's all also remember this. So much of the fake astrology and witchcraft and all these things in our world, not they're either demonic or they're just a grift. Neither of them are where the Christians should turn for guidance or help.
17 · The pastor identifies the second thing Saul sought—a comforting word—and diagnoses the irony: God had already spoken to Saul (demanding repentance), but Saul went shopping for a different word
But why do people turn there? Because they're desperate for presence. And they're desperate in the second place for a comforting word, right? They want to talk to a loved one that will tell them it's okay. They want to talk to this person and get a comforting word from them. And that's what Saul is doing. He's seeking a comforting word in the midst of a difficult situation. The lights are down, the music is playing, the nation is looking at him. And he goes, I got to phone a friend. Who, who do I know who can get me out of this? And yet notice the irony. God has already spoken to Saul. He's going looking for another word, but the Lord has already given him a word, which is, you've rejected me, you need to repent. And Saul's like, is there another word other than repentance? Can I get a different one?
18 · The pastor applies the second category—seeking a comforting word in the wrong places—to contemporary sources: self-help books, pop psychology, media influencers
And friends, so many times we do the same things, don't we? We're desperate, in crisis for a word. So we turn to self help books, or we turn to pop psychology, we turn to media snippets, we turn to an influencer that's telling us, I know exactly how to find you. You know, fix what's going wrong in your life. But friends, like here, those words are so often empty. We desire a comforting word, but we look for it in the wrong place.
19 · The pastor exposits the climactic judgment scene (1 Samuel 28:15-19), where Samuel pronounces God's verdict: Saul has made the Lord his enemy, and tomorrow Saul and his sons will die
And in fact, tragically, Saul just receives a further word of judgment. In verse 15, Samuel says to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me. God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by profit or by dreams. Therefore I've summoned You to tell me what I should do. He's looking for presence. He's looking for a comforting word. And Samuel said, listen to this. Why then, do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? Tragedy is that Saul has made the Lord his enemy. And the Lord is distant. The Lord is his enemy. In verse 18, he talks about what he did not do. God commanded, Saul did not do it. And look at verse 19. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow. This is chilling. You and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines. Oof. Saul goes looking for another word. Can I get a non judgment word? Can I get a non repentance word? And the word just comes again. You will receive what you deserve.
20 · The pastor illustrates the sermon's theme with a vulnerable personal story: forgetting for a moment that his grandparents were dead, then feeling the grief crash back
Now, where does this apply to us? Well, all of us friends have moments. We may not have something as extreme as Saul facing down the Philistines, but friends, we all have moments of crisis, don't we? We all have moments where it seems like the lights go down, the music goes, and everyone's looking at us, and we're looking in the mirror going, what are you gonna do, mirror guy? You've got a problem here. Where do we go in those moments? Who do we call on? Look, I experienced one of these moments myself this week. I had this strange moment as I was thinking about the holidays, thinking about Christmas season and New Year's Day and all that stuff. That. For a moment. And I don't know how this happens, but I think you've probably experienced something like this. For a moment, I forgot that all my grandparents were gone. And I had that moment. I thought, well, I'm gonna go to their house. And then it was almost like it took me a full 30 seconds to catch up. No, they're. They're not there. They're not here. I'm not gonna see them. And in that moment, you feel that kind of sink into your heart. And the question then is, who do you call there? Who do you call out to in that moment? And listen, guys, I could feel my heart kind of calling out almost with the same impulses Saul had. I just, like, I need a comforting presence. I need a comforting word. Where do I go for that? Let me get my hands around something that'll make me feel distracted. That won't. That'll take away the pain. Maybe look up, you know, an AI guide to five ways to get out of grief in the next five minutes. You know, like I'm just looking around for something. And so many of the places my heart wanted to go, there was no real life there. Have you ever felt the same thing?
21 · The pastor cites Chesterton to make a theological claim: all sin is misdirected worship, a search for God's presence and comfort in places that cannot give life
GK Chesterton has this famous quote where he. He says this. Everyone who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God. Meaning that we long for presence. We long for a comforting word, but we look for it in all the wrong places. Who searches up porn? Who takes refuge in a smutty book? Who stares into empty alcohol bottles? Who reaches for too much wine? Who spends money they don't have? Who hooks up with a stranger? We are looking for presents. We are looking for comfort. And yet we are looking for the dead, because there is no life there.
22 · The pastor catalogs three specific categories of 'dead things' we turn to for comfort—materialism, lust, worldly philosophies—each supported by a scripture cross-reference
Look, here's some starter categories of where we might go to look for for the dead among the living. One is materialism. Jesus says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Look, maybe you've been there. You're like, man, I don't like this. I don't like these feelings. I'm just gonna buy something, and then for the next five minutes, I'll feel better, right? Have you ever done that? Maybe it's just me. It's just whatever it is. And Jesus is saying, friend, everything on earth, moth and rust, are going to destroy. It can be taken away. It's going to be like ash. Or maybe you think about the category of lust. In Proverbs 5, it says this. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, her feet go down to death, and her steps follow the path to Sheol or the grave, right? Lust is that mirage where we swipe for it and we think, okay, there's. There's presence, there's comfort, and yet it's death. Or even worldly philosophies, right? The latest fad of a political philosophy, pop psychology, philosophy, whatever it is. Colossians 2:8 says, See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world. And not according to Christ. Look, there's always going to be people that's like, I know what to do. I know how you can experience presence, joy, comfort. All you need to do is make three easy payments of $59.99, right? Like, give. I know exactly what you need. And you're like, well, maybe. I mean, he seems popular. So we do it.
23 · The pastor signals a major structural shift from Saul's negative example to David's positive example, moving from diagnosis (calling the wrong friend) to hope (calling out to the living God)
It's just calling the wrong Friend, all of it. But there's a better way. Friends. Second section. Today, calling out to the living among the dead. This is the good news. Calling out to the living among the dead. Because we see in David a better path.
24 · The pastor exposits the narrative context leading to David's crisis in 1 Samuel 30, tracing David's complex political maneuvering among the Philistines and then the devastating discovery: Ziklag burned, families kidnapped, men ready to stone David
Now, David, man, he goes on a journey. These last final chapters. He flees to asylum among the Philistines. He deceives, it seems, the Philistines, and makes the Philistines think that David is faithful to them and he's helping them attack the Israelites. But really, David is using their authorization to raid all the other nations around Israel, in a sense, to help Israel. And then he gets called up to battle against God's people. But it appears. This is my read on it. It appears that David is thinking, great, let me line up with you guys. I'll just wait till the fighting starts and then take you out from the back. That seems like what David is thinking. But the Philistines kind of realize, maybe we shouldn't have a war hero from Israel go with us to fight Israel. And so they tell him to go home. But when he's dismissed, look what David finds in 1st Samuel 30, verse 1. Now, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag, their city. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off, kidnapped them, and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. And David was greatly distressed for the people so spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.
25 · The pastor extends the exposition with imaginative reconstruction of David's experience—seeing smoke, running home, finding devastation, hearing silence—building emotional intensity and setting up the pivotal question: who will David call?
Now, can you imagine David in this moment? They arrive, they see, probably from the distance, smoke on the horizon, and they run or ride as hard as they can for home, only to discover all of their homes burning, only to discover, after calling out for their wife or their son or their daughter or their kids, no one answering. And realizing not only had everything they built been destroyed, they have been forcibly kidnapped. Where? Who knows what is occurring to them among the Amalekites. Now, you think, man, this is. This is similarly a crisis. This is the lights going down, the music coming on, the spotlight is on David, and. And his people are going, this is your fault. You have done this. And so you wonder, where will David turn? Who will David call?
26 · The pastor exposits 1 Samuel 30:6-8, contrasting David's response with Saul's: David strengthened himself in 'the Lord his God' (not 'the Lord his enemy'), inquired of God through the priest, and submitted to God's authority even when everything in him wanted to just charge ahead
Look at the second half of verse six. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his Notice the contrast between his Saul is spoken of Saul as the Lord his enemy and David the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, bring me the ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue after this ban? Shall I overtake them? And God answered him, pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue. Now notice something critical up front about what David does where Saul is not willing to put himself back under the full authority of God. Even in this desperate moment, David goes to the Lord and asks, should we pursue? Now look, if I'm a husband, if I'm a dad, I'm like, I ain't asking a question, man. We're just going to. But so fully had David put his trust in the Lord that he goes to the Lord and he says, lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want from me in this moment, God, you know what I want to do, but what do you want me to do? Guide me, God. Do you see the difference there where Saul is like, I'm going to come to the Lord on my terms. David says, no, no, no, I'm coming to the Lord on the Lord's terms. Whatever the Lord says, that's what I'm doing. See the difference? That's the kind of prayer for help God answers, not just, hey, God, help me and I'm going to keep ruling my life. No, hey, God, help me and my life is under your rule. That's the difference here.
27 · The pastor imaginatively reconstructs David's posture before God, picturing him dropping to his knees amid the chaos and praying Psalm 23
And notice then what David does where Saul is calling out to the wrong place for presence. And for a comforting word, David goes to the right place first. He calls out to the Lord for his presence. It says that David strengthened himself in his in the Lord, his God, right? He goes in the Imagine this just. I want you to get the picture to mind. His city is on fire around him. The men around him are screaming and wailing. And he, in this moment, drops to his knees and goes, lord, you are near. Lord, you are my shepherd. I shall not want. Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me, right? That's the attitude that David has. He goes to the presence of the Lord and takes refuge in him.
28 · The pastor makes a redemptive-historical claim: David's access to God's presence through tabernacle and temple was a preview of the fuller reality we have in Christ
And friends, oh, friends, we. We have even more clearly an opportunity to go to the Lord and. And trust his presence will be near. Because look, for David, the presence of the Lord Was, was, was. In a sense, through. Through the presence of God. In part, through the tabernacle, through the temple, later in Solomon's reign. But. But David still goes. He still goes to the presence. But, friends, that longing for the presence of God is more fully and finally answered when we arrive at the New Testament, when we read Matthew 1:23, which says, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name, what? Emmanuel, which means God with us. Friends, the longing we have for a comforting presence is not going to be found out there in the dead things of the world. It's going to be found in the person of Christ. Christ the great Emmanuel, who comes to dwell to tabernacle among us. And even better, when Jesus leaves, he promises that I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And then he sends the spirit of God that we might experience the presence of God, our hearts. Friends, do you long for a comforting presence in your life? When those moments of grief hit, when those moments of uncertainty hit, when those moments of difficulty hit, do you long for a comforting presence? Don't look out there. Look to the Lord. Look to Emmanuel. Look to the presence of God.
29 · The pastor anticipates an objection: David is flawed, so how can he enjoy God's presence? He resolves the tension with the gospel: Christ paid for David's sins (and ours), making the presence of God available to sinners
And look, here's the good news about David. We've seen David. He's flawed. It's not like he's calling out to the Lord with a perfect spotless record and is just going, yep, I never did even a single thing wrong in my life. No. And yet he's welcomed the Lord's presence. How can that be? The tension is resolved in the New Testament by Emmanuel going and paying for the sins of every sinner like David and you and me, that even sinners could have the presence of God with them. Oh, man, that's such good news.
30 · The pastor exposits David's second move: seeking God's guiding word
He calls out for the presence of God. And then David calls out for a comforting word, a guiding word. He says, shall I overtake them? Shall I pursue? David doesn't know what the Lord's answer is going to be, but he knows he needs to hear from the Lord. What does God want him to do? It could be David. Wait. It could be David. Go. It could be David. Not now. It could be David. Do this. Whatever it is, David is going. Okay, whatever you say, Lord. I'm ready. I'm ready to follow your ways. I'm ready to listen to you and maybe.
31 · The pastor applies the second category—seeking God's guiding word—by pointing the congregation to Christ, the Word made flesh, and Scripture
Listen, friend, maybe today you're like, I wish I had a word from the Lord, right? I wish I could, you know? I wish I could somehow experience the guidance of God today. Well, friend, boy, do I have good news for you. Because when we arrive in the New Testament, John 1:14 says this, and the Word, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Friend, are you wondering, how do I live my life? Go to the Word, the word of Scripture, but the word of Christ, who is the revelation of God himself. And you're wondering, how should I live my life? Like Jesus. How should I. How should I think about the world? Listen to Jesus. What do I do in this situation? Go to Jesus. Let him help you. If you are willing to say, lord, whatever it is, and you're like, lord, this relationship, I'm not sure what to do. Are you willing to say, lord, what do you want me to do? Because if you are, Jesus will speak, right? Are you willing to say, listen, I don't know how to reconnect with my kids, and I've estranged my family. Look, let the Lord speak. I don't know what to do at work. Let the Lord speak, right? The Word of God has been speaking clearly, if only we have ears to hear. And so, in this season, more than almost any other, may we lean in and listen to the Word of God.
32 · The pastor transitions from the theological claim (God speaks through His Word) to the practical question: how do we actually hear? He signals a shift to concrete instruction and frames it with a personal anecdote
Now, how do we do that, though? Because I just very briefly want to give a couple thoughts on how then do we actually hear from the Lord? I was talking with a brother recently that was like, okay, I get all of this, but how do I actually hear? So I'm gonna give you three ways to hear, and I'm gonna illustrate it this way.
33 · The pastor tells a personal story about being sick and isolated in a guest room, longing for comfort, and finding it in his 6-year-old son's nightly knocks on the wall saying goodnight
This last week, a couple weeks ago, I don't even know. It was a number of days ago, I got sick. And I was sick for, like, five days, six days. That felt like 50 years. I don't know if you've ever been there. But early on, we decided, okay, I'm gonna go stay in the guest room, try to keep everybody else from getting sick in the house. And so I'm in the guest room, and I'm thinking, initially, it's gonna be like a day, and then I'll feel better, and it'll be not a big deal. But it, like, went on and it kept going on. And so I kept staying in the. And by the end, you know how, like, sickness just. You stay in one room for a long time. Like, I was working from the room. I'd. You know, I was just in there. And after a while, by day five, I was like, I really. Could somebody give me a hug? I'm just. I'm by here, I'm in here by myself, you know, start to go crazy a little bit. And, you know, like at Costco or whatever, they have those giant teddy bears that. You're like, who buys those? Those are weird. You know, it's like this big. I'm like, how much are they? You know, is that still available? Can I get that delivered? Because I'm just in here by myself. I'm dying here. And yet this one small thing helped me. Okay, a couple days into it, my son Anson, who's 6, he was. When I was staying in the guest room and his room, the beds kind of backed up to each other and shared a wall. And so Anson figured out he could like, knock on the wall and I would hear him. And so we worked out a system where like, two knocks is like, hello, and three knocks is like, good night, you know, And I don't know. And then we would just do patterns back and forth. Anyway, so I'm. I'm in my bed thinking I'm gonna die here alone and from a cold, and I wish I had a giant teddy bear. You know, all that stuff going on in your head. And then as my son went to bed, I would hear the little. Right? It's like, oh, there it is. There it is. And he would say goodnight with the knocks. And it reminded me of what was actually true.
34 · The pastor extracts the theological principle from the illustration: we don't need new revelation; we need to apply what is already true (God is with us)
Cause here's the reality. Often what we need is not something new. We need something true. In those moments of crisis, we don't need some new revelation. We need to bring to bear the reality that God is with us into the situation. And so how. Here's what I want to say is like, how do we hear the Lord knocking? Because if we knock, he is knocking back.
35 · The pastor gives the first of three concrete practices for hearing God: open the Bible
So how do we hear Him? Three things. The Word, his people, and the common grace of God around us. Okay? Number one is the Word. If you want to hear the Lord speaking, open his word and let him talk to you, right? I mean, it's, it's, it's. It's hilarious. How many times even I, as a pastor, I'm like, I really wish God would guide me here. And my Bible's like, closed nearby, right? I really wish the Lord would comfort me here. The Bible's closed nearby, right? So that impulse of like, there's a crisis. I know the first friend I'm calling, it's this one, right? It's the living word of God. That's who I'm calling. And so getting into that friend, this is a perfect time. Even if you're like, man, I've not been great about Bible reading. Start right now. Start in this season. Start in the season that we celebrate the nearness of God by bringing the nearness of God to your life through His Word, right? Get into the Word second.
36 · The pastor gives the second concrete practice for hearing God: get into fellowship with God's people
Get into relationship with God's people. Look, the reality is this. The body of Christ is pictured as all. Each part of the body needs other parts of the body, right? Nobody should be this isolated body part flopping around like an extra hand, like a limp fish over here. We're all meant to be linked together. And there's so. There's so much grace, guys. As Christ says, when. Where two or three are gathered, I am there, right? In. In. What he means is, in our relationship, the presence of God is uniquely present as we gather together. And so, friends, it's also just putting yourself in a position where sometimes you. The last thing you want may be showing up to your home group because you're tired and you're discouraged and you're frustrated and you had a bad week and you sinned against somebody and you don't want to talk about it. And you're also thinking, I really wish there was somebody here who could comfort me and guide me. That's what the group's for, right? That's what our relationships are for. That the Lord comforts us through those brothers and sisters. So put yourself in a position where you can hear the knock of God in those groups.
37 · The pastor gives the third concrete practice for hearing God: notice His common grace in creation
And then last, the common grace of God. This is such a great season for this. The common grace of creation is that in the things God has made, we see not. Not fully revealed. The Bible is the full revelation, but truly revealed things like God is real, God is there, God is good, right? We see those things, as the psalmist would say, in the stars and in the skies. But we friends, we see them in a fire pit on a cold night. We see them in a mug of cider that we drink with our family. We see them looking at lights across the street. We see them in the common grace moments. And, and oftentimes we disconnect those from our relationship with God. But. But James 1:17 says this. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights, right? So part of this is, this is the season where you're like, man, I really wish I could just know God is there. Listen, the beauty of a sunset in El Paso speaks the glory of. Of God. It reminds you somebody painted that. And the same person that painted that painted your life and is painting your life, right? And so, friends, if you want to hear the knock of God and you're like, how do I hear you? Lord, Open the word, get into fellowship, and then open your eyes to see his glory in creation around us. Amen.