In this sermon, the speaker discusses the contrast between David's seemingly peaceful nature as a musician and poet, and his ultimate destiny as a great warrior. The speaker emphasizes that God knows what he is doing when he trains his people, even if it seems out of place. The power of music is highlighted, as David's playing had the ability to drive away evil spirits. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that believers can be both loving and worshipful, but also strong and capable of fighting against God's enemies.

We're talking about David, training for kingship. David's training was totally different because God wanted something totally different for the product that he was making. But to Joseph, training was specific to bring him to an understanding of punishment and pain and the preparation to be the deliverer of his family in the Jewish nation. God prepared Moses completely different. He was a very high intellectual, highly trained. And then God took all the high things out of what develops when people are like that and brought him down so that he could use him. He became the great lawgiver with a very keen mind and understanding and also the ability to write the code of laws that have governed nations from that day to this. In fact, we pride ourselves that this nation is ruled by law and not by dictators. The law is over dictators, even when the President of the United States found that the law was greater than he was. He was taken out of office. And many nations follow the basic tenets of the Judeo-Christian laws. Many nations in Europe. There are still many nations that are governed by the whims of man, and they are a suffering nation and a poor nation. Now we come to David, his preparation for kingship. David was a musician. He was a poet. God had a job to train him into adding to his abilities. He didn't take away his poetry. He didn't take away his music. But he wanted to add something. He wanted to make him a warrior. He was the conquering king, the king that conquered nations and built up Israel to what was the most powerful nation of his day. He was a man of war. I want you to go to Exodus 15.3, first of all. In the book of Exodus 15.3, I read, The Lord is a man of war. What do you know? The Berkeley version says, The Lord is a warrior. The Soberell version says, Jehovah, mighty in battle. And John Knox's translation is, He's a warrior God. How about that? We often think of God in those terms, do we? God is a man of war. He's a mighty man of war. We put that together. Then I want you to notice something else. I want you to go to the Songs of Solomon. Well, let's not go there yet. Let's go on a little bit further where we are. Let's turn to Psalms 44, 45, speaking of Christ. 45, verse 2, Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God has blessed thee forever. Thou fair one, thou gracious one, thou blessed one. And then what's next? Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty. Almost doesn't fit the two verses together, does it? Thou fair, beautiful, lovely Christ. Get your sword on. Take it out of its sheath. Gird thy sword, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. Ride prosperously because of truth and meekness. You know, that's the basic of a good warrior, truth and meekness. Strange it may seem. Remember, meekness means strength under control and righteousness. Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. God wanted to make David a warrior, but he took a poet and a musician to do it with. Isn't that interesting? You would think those two things don't go together. You'd think that they're very far apart. They're not. They are the only ones that can go together. Because otherwise, the warrior that isn't the poet, isn't the musician, isn't the lover, isn't the worshipper, that warrior would be cruel, tyrannical, vengeful, hateful. No, that can't be in God's warrior. God is not hateful. God's a mighty man of war. God will war against his enemies, but not vengeful. Not hating. No, no, no. That's not with him. You see what I mean? God's warriors are not that way. But they're mighty. They're powerful. They're invincible. Songs of Solomon now. Chapter 6. Speaking of the bride. Thou art beautiful, O my love. Beautiful as Tirzah. As beautiful, as crumbly as Jerusalem. And then, and then what? Terrible as an army with banners. Ooh, ooh, what a bride. What a bride. Beautiful and terrible. Verse 10. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning? Fair as the moon. Clear as the sun. And terrible as an army with banners. There it is again. That contrast. That strange, strange contrast. That which doesn't seem to go together. You see, it didn't seem that David was going to be the great warrior. He was out there with his harp, enjoying nature and beholding the things of God. And he wrote some beautiful poems. And a musician. And it doesn't seem like he would be the man. But you see, God knows what he's doing. When he puts his people in training, he always has an objective. He always has a purpose. And though his training might seem so out of place and seem that it doesn't fit. And say, well, what's he doing this with that person for? What's he doing this with me for? Maybe he'll tell you. Probably he won't. But you will have the training. And you'll have the training that fits you for where he wants you. First, as we said yesterday, he gathered together the genetic stream that made you you. Then he gathers together and puts you into an environment. And gathers together the happenings in that environment. That will train you for what you are purposed to be in the end. He purposed to make David a mighty warrior. Chapter 6, verse 13, Songs of Solomon. Return, return, O Shulamite. Return, return. Look upon thee. What will you see in the Shulamite? What will you see? It was a company of two armies. And Moffat translates this interesting. He says, we see in the Shulamite, we see a sword dance. How about that? We almost saw a sword dance up here, didn't we? Except there were arrows sharp in the hearts of the king enemies. What will you see in the Shulamite? That beautiful dancing girl. The sword dance. Beautiful and terrible. Beautiful and terrible. Beautiful in the eyes of God. Terrible in the eyes of the enemy. And the more beautiful she is in the eyes of God, the more terrible she will be to the king's enemies. Do you realize that? It's that very beauty. It's that very loveliness. It's that very purity. It's that very love. It's that very worship and adoration that the enemy can't stand. One that's got that in them. Do you know that a strong weapon against the enemy is praise? But I'll tell you a stronger weapon against the enemy is worship. Oh, how he hates that. The one thing he wanted. He said to Jesus, I'll give you the whole world. You won't have to go to the cross. I'll give it out to you. Just what? Worship me. That's all. Because he knew the power of it and the value of it. And he wanted it badly, but didn't get it. He tries to get it on Earth. A lot of Satan worshippers. Well, enjoy it, Satan. It won't last long. But those that worship the Lamb, there is an enmity. There is an enmity between the lovers of God and the haters of God. And it's implacable. Terrible she is. Let's go to 1 Samuel 16, 17. We find David here. Saul is having some problems. The evil spirit came upon him and tormented him. And Saul said unto his servant, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. Verse 18, Then answered one of the servants and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. He is cunning. He is expert. He is master in playing. But also, at the same time, he's a mighty, valiant man. And would you look at this? A man of war. A musician. A poet. A lover of God. A worshipper. He's a man of war. He's prudent in manners. And a comely person. And the Lord is with him. The Lord is with him. He was in training. We'll go to chapter 16 in 1 Samuel and chapter 13. You remember the story. Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. The fear of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. He was rejected by his brothers. He was the one that didn't count. And when his father called all his brethren, because Samuel had come there to anoint one of them king, and all those fine young men came expectantly, and they didn't even bother to call David. They didn't even bother to call David. They didn't think he was that important. He was just fine. He was the wart of the family. He was the one that, you know, out there just singing his little song, and playing his little harp, and worth nothing, and take care of the sheep. Ah, but you know, as we said, yes, the sheep are good instructors, even two-legged ones. They are good professors. And there he was, making up poems, strumming his harp, singing, watching the sheep. Nothing happened. But God's eye was on him. He had already compiled that personality. He had already put in there that poetry, that love of beauty. He had already put in there that music. But that music, it was different music, because it says in chapter 16, a little bit later, I think verse 18 or 19 or 20, that when he played, the spirit of evil fled away. Not what he sang. Just the music. And I'll tell you this, music has more power than you think it does. You play the right music and you have a wonderful servant. You play the wrong music and you'll have a dud. They know, the spirit world knows music. And they know the right, and they know the evil. He just played. But where did he learn to play like that? I'll tell you. Playing to his own heart, to his own spirit, to his own God. Out there with nature. You know, nature is the most wonderful teacher of God. Did you know that? Where do you think Abraham learned to know God? He had no Bible. And Isaac and Jacob. Where did Noah learn to know God? There was no such thing as a Bible until Moses, and he didn't have a Bible, he wrote part of one. Nature. What did Jesus use as illustrations for his spiritual truth? Nature, didn't he? Romans 1.20 tells me that the invisible things of God are clearly seen by the things that he has made, even his eternal power and glory. How did those that watch the stars know that there's going to be a baby born in Bethlehem? If you learn to know nature, you'll learn to know God. And that's one thing David had. He just sat out there. He was a good pastor. He didn't have to trace over them much. Just keep an eye on them. And learn to know God. And his music and his songs would lift him up into the heavenlies. He was a lover of beauty. He was a lover of God. He was a worshipper. You read that in Psalm 27, verse 4. We'll probably read it a little bit later. The sheep taught him. The sheep taught him to be a shepherd. A shepherd has to be one of kindness because sheep are very, very helpless and vulnerable. They can't be beaten. They have to be helped all the time. There has to be compassion. And David, Jesus said, the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep, didn't he? We'll find that David did too. Risked his life to save the sheep. You see, he was learning compassion. He was learning that it didn't matter if his own brothers rejected him and counted him a nobody and no good. It didn't matter. He had his God. That didn't bother him. He never made any recriminations. They did against him, but he didn't against them. But I read in that something happened when he was anointed. I read when Samuel anointed him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. And somehow at that moment when the Spirit of the Lord came, it gave him a gift of faith because he was anointed to become king. And he believed it. He believed it. There was the anointing. There was a spirit of God upon him. And in that spirit was a faith that held steady to all the things that came in his life. He knew just like Joseph knew. It wasn't renewed to Joseph. The vision wasn't renewed. It wasn't renewed to Moses for 40 years. It wasn't renewed to David again. But he had the realization the day would come when he would be king of Israel. And he believed it. When God gives us a glimpse into his purpose in our life, and you realize that's what he wants, hang on to it. Let faith lay hold of it. It might take years, but it will be. It will be. When I was 15 years of age, God spoke to me and said that he'd make me to be a fisher of men. When I was about 18, and typical 18, there came an evangelist to my church, to our church. And one day asked me, what are you going to be in your life? I said, I'm going to be a preacher. He just threw back her head and laughed and roared. You? Never. 15 years later, I talked to that man. He said, well, I couldn't have believed it. I knew it. I didn't know how, when, where. God will give us sometimes a vision, an inclination of what he really wants. And it may seem so impossible and so far away. But you see, he takes into his hands the preparation. We don't have to do that. He does it in his own way as he leads us on. He believed in that anointing. And that is why, when the lion came and took one of his lambs, instead of hiding and running the lambs away, the sheep away, and let the lion have one lamb, he rose up and fought that lion bare-handed. They caught him by the jaw. I don't know how he did it. And tore him apart. Like a spear, the strength of Samson came on him. But the thing was, he didn't run. He didn't panic. How could he put himself in the paws of the lion? Because he knew it couldn't kill him. I'm going to be king. It can't kill me. What a faith, right? But God, even then, was making him, was training him to be an overcomer, a warrior and an overcoming warrior. And that's why those things happen. Incidentally, the lion symbolizes the enemy. And we will meet it sooner or later. It will come. And what will we do? Hide, run, or realize it can't destroy me. I'll meet it face-on. And the same with the bear. He knew he was going to be king. That bear can't kill me. I will kill it. It rose up against me. It attacked me. If he'd left me alone, I would have left it alone. He wouldn't become a bear hunter or a lion hunter. But when it attacked him, it made a big mistake. He was being trained for combat. He was being trained for war. He didn't know that Goliath was ahead. He had no idea of that. And yet, when that day came, and he was talking to King Saul in front of Goliath, he said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep. And there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. I went out after him and smoked him and delivered it out of his mouth. When he rose against me, I caught him by his beard and smoked him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath denied the armies, defied the armies of the living God. Seeing he has attacked, he can't kill me. I'm anointed for kingship. He can't kill me. The Spirit of God is on me. He can't kill me. I have another destiny. What a faith! God was preparing a warrior. God was preparing a man that when he was king, would have the wisdom, would have the faith, would have the anointing, would be able to lead an army into victory after victory after victory after victory. And you find more than once when he was in that army and directing it, he would seek the Lord for directions and God would give him directions. This way yes or this way no. He was a deliverer. He was one that would stand in front of the armies of God and say, Let's go. God is on our side. We shall win. We shall win. There's a beautiful word there in the 118th Psalm. The Psalm they sang just after the Lord's Supper, just after the night and just before the cross. And he sang that 118th Psalm. And one of the verses in that 18th Psalm, as he looked forward towards the cross, it always said to his disciples that they would kill him. He said, I shall not die, but live and declare the glories of God. Hallelujah. No, you can't kill me. You can hang me on a tree. You can take my blood out of my veins. You can put me in a tomb, but you can't kill me. Hallelujah. And he came back and proved it, didn't he? You can't do it. He knew that bear couldn't. He knew that lion couldn't do it. And now he knew Goliath couldn't do it. He knew it. But there's that strange combination. You know, when God adds something to it, he doesn't take away the rest. There's that strange combination. Let's look at David again in another passage. Let's look at him over in Psalm 27, verse 4. Now, he's a warrior king. But in Psalm 27, verse 4, he writes, One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will seek after. I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And in Psalm 18, verse 1, this is when God delivered him from all his enemies. He wrote, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. There was compassion. There was tenderness. There was a love for God in spite of the fact he was a mighty warrior. Yes, his sword was dipped in blood, but it never touched one of God's people. He wouldn't touch Saul. He wouldn't touch any of them. But I tell you, the king's enemies, that was a sharp sword. He had no mercy on the king's enemies. He had no mercy on Satan or the devils or what they did. He would undo it. He would set people free. He would go to place after place and set them free, put the enemies to flight. He had that strange combination in his nature, and it takes that to be a good warrior. Do you know that? It wasn't Moses that God made a warrior. In fact, after the desert experience, he never led an army. Joshua did. He never made Joseph a warrior, but he made David a warrior. All three were rulers. All three were kings. All three were prepared for rulership, for kingship, but all three were different, very, very different. And to me, perhaps of all three, David is the most attractive. David's the most attractive. He could love and he could fight. He can worship and he could make war. And he was the one that built the tribe of Israel, the kingdom of Israel, into its finest strength because he was out against the enemies of God. He was not going to sit down and let them encroach and let them do their thing and let them have their good times. He was out to undo the works of the devil. And Jesus, David's a type of Jesus. He came to destroy the works of the devil, didn't he? He came to destroy the works of the devil. He wasn't going to put up with it. He came as a mighty conqueror. And yet, who was more tender? Who was more filled with the love of his Father? For the love of his Father came to this earth. Who was more filled with an understanding, compassionate heart? I read he had compassion on the multitude when his disciples said, Send them home. He said, No, I can't have compassion. They're tired. They're hungry. Let's give them a meal first. He had compassion. And yet, what a mighty conqueror. No, his sword never turned against God's people. But his sword turned against the enemy. Terrible. And overcame death and hell and Satan and all his demons, all his angels. And he has the keys of death and hell. He overcame everyone and made a parade of his enemies. Oh, yes. He's powerful against his enemies. He's a mighty deliverer. He can deliver. He can deliver from enemies of any kind. And everyone that came to him, he delivered them, didn't he? Or sickness, or pain, or demons, even death. He's a mighty deliverer. But he's a compassionate one. I'm glad that two are together in him, aren't you? I'm glad that, excuse me, saying it this way, I'm glad he didn't have Moses' temperament, aren't you? I'm glad that the two strange combinations of beauty, of the love of beauty, of worship, of a tender heart. It's an open heart, a broken heart like David. But he also had mighty power. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. And I'm so glad that his sword isn't turned against his people, aren't you? David never did. But his sword is against our enemies. And that makes me feel real good. Because our enemies are his enemies. And God is a mighty man of war. Just be sure you're on the right side. Just be sure you're on the right side. Poor Goliath, he didn't know he was on the wrong side. He didn't know that little David knew. He didn't know that the Spirit was with him. He didn't know. David warned him. He said, look, this is what I'm going to do to you. He warned him. He says, you come to me in your sword and shield, but I come to you in the name. I come to you with the Spirit of God. I come to you in the anointing. You can't kill me because I'm going to be the king. But I'll tell you one thing. If Goliath had any brains in that big head of his, he would have turned and run like a kicked dog. But usually God's enemies, they look at you, and they see you worship, and they see you weep, and they see your weakness. And they say, oh, I can run over him. Look out, enemy. Don't get on the wrong side. Yes, we can love. Yes, we can worship. Yes, we can weep. Yes, we can pray. Yes, we can sing. Yes, we can make poetry. Yes, we can sing songs. But don't think we can't fight. The bride of Christ is beautiful and terrible. Well, God loves that kind of bride. That's the one he's chosen. Hallelujah. Terrible as an army with banners. Terrible as a bride that knows how to dance a sword dance. Hallelujah. Beautiful, pure, bright, shiny. But look out. Don't get on the wrong side. And that's what God wants to do. You know, you can't really be a champion. You can't really be an overcomer until also you learn to be the soul of a poet, a musician, a lover. God will not give those anointings until he's also has something to go with it. Otherwise, as I said before, it will be wrongly used. It will be wrongly used and will turn eventually against God's own people. You read in Joel about the army of God. It's one thing they did. They marched in formation and not one injured his brother in the army. David was afraid to touch Saul. He had the anointing. He had the Spirit of God. He appreciated it. He valued it. And he would not touch Saul. He said, he's anointed. I will leave him alone. See, God can trust a man like that with power. He can trust a man like that with the overcoming anointings and giftings. He can. Because it won't be used wrongly. And that's what he built David for. The king of Israel. And to this day, David is no more. I mean, Jesus is no more as a son of David than he is. I don't even think I ever called him the son of Moses, for instance, or the son of Joshua. But the son of David, isn't he? And he said of David another occasion, he said, he's a man after my own heart. I like that. I like a king I can go to that's so strong and so powerful. Greater is he that is in you than he is in the world. But at the same time, his sword has never been turned against me. His wrath has never been turned against me. His wrath has never been turned against you. His sword has never been turned against you. He has never drawn your blood. But he's a mighty conqueror. He's wonderful, isn't he? I can love a king like that. I can love a king that's so tender and gracious and merciful and patient with me. And yet, when I see how he deals with his enemies, I'm so glad I'm not his enemy. Oh, so glad. Shall we stand? Wonderful, wonderful Jesus. You are the king of kings. Let the house of Israel know for sure that you have made this same Jesus Lord and Christ. This same Jesus so filled with compassion, so filled with mercy, so filled with patience, so filled with obedience, so filled with meekness and lowliness. And yet, and yet, death fled away at your command. Devils scattered at your word. Sickness melted. Bodies restrained. A mighty Christ. A mighty Christ. A glorious Christ. He is Lord. He's risen from the dead. And he is Lord. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue confess. Oh, woe to him that's on the wrong side. Woe to him that sides with his enemies. Woe to him that turns his sword against the church. Woe to him that turns his sword against the anointed of God. He's on the wrong side.