Who Am I?

The message was brought by Rev. David Osborne.

I Samuel 18: ¹⁸ And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?

David came out of nowhere and killed Goliath.  You can see his heart and know why God said David was a “man after my own heart.”  Then in Second Samuel he is now king and still remembers who he is.  He still has a heart of a humble shepherd boy.

II Samuel 7: And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies;² That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.³ And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.⁴ And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying,⁵ Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? ⁶ Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. ⁷ In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? ⁸ Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: ⁹ And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. ¹⁰ Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, ¹¹ And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. ¹² And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: ¹⁵ But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. ¹⁶ And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁷ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

These verses were Nathan’s message to King David.  The next verses give us David’s response.

¹⁸ Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? ¹⁹ And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? ²⁰ And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.

What does it take to serve the Lord?  There should be a desire to do it, so what does it take?  David was the 8^th child of his father.  He was not part of the military but rather stayed and took care of the sheep.  While in the fields God communed with him.  He learned what it took to serve God wholly.  The seven older brothers passed by Samuel the prophet when he was looking for a king and told not this one by God on each of them.  When asked if there were no more sons David was brought before the prophet.  This young one of a small heart was chosen by God.

David made God big and himself small.  If we’re going to serve God we must mortify the flesh.  The enemy told a half-truth to Adam and Eve in the Garden.  He does the same today all in an effort to keep us from serving God.  We are to live our lives so that God shines.  The world wants their name to shine but Christians are taught we are to live so that God does.  The devil wants to distract, destroy, and devour you and me.  That’s his goal.  He is against us and will do all he can to keep us from serving God fully.

As a young boy David got the stepping stones to serve God.  The devil makes it his job to keep it from being said about us that we’re a person after God’s own heart.  What do we do?  Flee sin.  Don’t tamper with it like a game.  Run from it.  Joseph ran.  His God was as big in his eyes as he was to David.  In Second Samuel 22:47 David says the Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.  This was a victory song and opposite of what Saul did when he was king.  Saul wanted glory for himself.  David said the Lord was worthy because he gave the victory.

Hollywood and media are the opposite.  The philosophy is taught that you can do whatever you put your mind to.  While it is a good philosophy in itself, all glory must go to God.  He takes the little bit we have and makes it big if we let him.  He can do things through us for the glory of Christ.  Paul reminds us that we can do all things through Christ; he’s the one who gives us strength.  It’s not in us.  Some rely on self.  Some rely on their bank accounts.  It’s all about God.  We can’t do anything real for him until we see ourselves as nothing and him as all.

Isaiah got there.  He was a prophet of God and one day he saw the Lord high and lifted up. He said his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.  What was Isaiah’s reaction to seeing this?  He said:  Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.  The Bible says one of the seraphims flew to Isaiah with live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. He laid it upon Isaiah’s mouth and his sin was purged. Then he heard the voice of the Lord say Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? How did Isaiah respond?  He said Here am I; send me.  This only happened after Isaiah saw how unworthy he was and how great God is.

So who am I?  Someone who needs the Lord.  When I see myself for how small I am and God for how big he is, then I can serve him the way I should.  What about you?