Episode 82 – Heart Lessons – The Quiet Heart

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Life is hard at times. Our hearts often get bruised and battered yet God offers us words that help and heal those hearts when we turn to him. Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast, where we study his word and find strength for the day. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:28):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. This is episode 82, The Quiet Heart, and it’s also a brand new season of our podcast. Sharon it’s hard to believe this is season six.

Sharon (00:39):

I know.

Nicole (00:40):

That went really fast.

Sharon (00:42):

It did. And we still haven’t run out of things to say. (Nicole: I know.) which would not surprise either of our husbands at all.

Nicole (00:49):

No, no.

Sharon (00:49):

God has given you and me many words.

Nicole (00:52):

Yes, indeed.

Nicole (00:53):

And this season, Sharon and I decided we wanted to look at one very famous character in the Bible and learn lessons from the many stories about him. We’re going to study David, the greatest earthly king Israel ever had. We’re calling this season, Heart Lessons, Learning from the Life of David. Before we get to King David, though, we’re going to take a brief look at the fall from grace of the first king of Israel, King Saul. Saul was chosen by God and the people of Israel kind of against God’s best plan. God had not wanted the people to have any earthly king, but they wanted to be like all the other nations.

Sharon (01:29):

Isn’t that typical, Nicole? (Nicole: Mm-hmm) I wanna be like everyone else, even though everyone else is failing at life, what is that? Right?

Nicole (01:35):

I know, misery loves company I guess.

Sharon (01:36):

Man! They had the honor of having God, the one true God as their king. And they’re like, no, no, we want kings like everyone else. And God tried to warn them. Kings like palaces. They like really fancy houses. And guess where they’re getting the money from to build them?

Nicole (01:54):

Taxes.

Sharon (01:55):

Yes, exactly. So sometimes we desire what isn’t good for us. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) You know, that is just human nature. They desired something that really wasn’t best for them. We want the latest iPhone maybe, because we think, oh, that would be good for me. And we already know cell phones aren’t that great for us? Let alone the newest version. (Nicole: Right.) What about, can you think of anything else that we want that leads to trouble?

Nicole (02:19):

Yeah. Any, any wanting of possessions. You look at your friend’s house or car, anything. You’re like, oh, I need that now. That can lead you to debt. (Sharon: Yes) Or spending money that you should have spent on groceries or something to get that thing you think will make you happy right now (Sharon: Mm-hmm)you know, or even trying to get more money if you’re working so hard and so intently for the wrong reasons, you could be neglecting loved ones (Sharon: Absolutely) or things that matter, you know?

Sharon (02:41):

Yes, and oh boy, haven’t we seen that? Very highly successful men divorced. (Nicole: Yeah.) Because they never had time for their wives while they were building their little empires.

Nicole (02:50):

Right. It’s really sad. Be careful.

Sharon (02:51):

Yeah. And then they’re lonely. (Nicole: Yep.) Yeah. Oh, it’s so true. It’s so true. Well, okay. Well back to Saul. Saul was given a specific command sort of, I don’t know, mid-career as king or maybe early to middle years as king that he disobeyed. Until then he was an okay king. He didn’t really wanna be king to begin with. He was basically hiding from it when Samuel first appointed him. Do you remember?

Nicole (03:18):

That’s right. Yes.

Sharon (03:18):

He’s a big, huge hero-type looking guy hiding in the baggage. Which has just always cracked me up. He’s like, I do not wanna be king, but anyways, he’s gotten way too used to being king. (Nicole: Yeah) And there’s a saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And unfortunately Saul has gotten what they call in the South, the big head. (Nicole: Yeah.) You know, have you ever heard that? (Nicole: Yes) He’s got the big head.

Nicole (03:43):

The big head.

Sharon (03:44):

He got the big head. So, he was given a specific command at this juncture to wait for the Prophet Samuel after a battle. (Nicole: Mmm) And he got impatient. So we’re gonna read 1 Samuel 13:7-14. And in it is the very first mention of David before we even meet him. So why don’t you start with the second half of verse seven.

Nicole (04:08):

All right. “Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal and his men were trembling with fear.”

Sharon (04:13):

“Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away.”

Nicole (04:25):

“So he demanded, ‘bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings and Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.”

Sharon (04:32):

“Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering Samuel arrived and Saul went out to meet and welcome him.”

Nicole (04:38):

“But Samuel said, what is this you have done? Saul replied, ‘I saw my men scattering from me and you didn’t arrive when you said you would and the Philistines are at Mikmash (That’s a fun word) ready for battle.”

Sharon (04:52):

It is. You can’t say that with a straight face ‘Mikmash!’

Nicole (04:54):

No, Mikmash.

Sharon (04:55):

“So I said the Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”

Nicole (05:08):

“How foolish, Samuel exclaimed, ‘you have not kept the command, the Lord, your God gave you. Had, you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever’.”

Sharon (05:17):

“But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” Oh baby. Wow. (Nicole: Oh yeah) You disobeyed and that’s it. It’s over for you. (Nicole: Yeah) But it was a big disobeying wasn’t it?

Nicole (05:37):

It was, and it’s probably cause his heart was so arrogant. Well I’m gonna do it because I think it’s what’s best for my troops and me.

Sharon (05:42):

Exactly.

Nicole (05:43):

I think it’s cause his heart was just so—

Sharon (05:45):

Yeah, it’s a heart issue. (Nicole: Yeah) You’re exactly right. It was. He offered a sacrifice, which wasn’t even his place. That’s a sacred job only to be performed by priests. And in this case, Samuel was the priest and also the Judge of Israel. So Saul was fearful, impatient and prideful. I think you’re right. I think you’re right. Not good qualities for king. Right? So anyway, we’re gonna have to leave poor Saul for now cause he is not our theme guy, who will stay king a long time still, but without God’s favor resting on him. And we’re gonna turn to David. So the first thing we learn about David before we even meet him is that God sought him out because he was, quote, ‘a man after his own heart’, after God’s own heart. Nicole, what does that phrase mean, to be a person after God’s own heart?

Nicole (06:32):

I know it’s a beautiful phrase. Isn’t it?

Sharon (06:34):

It is. It is.

Nicole (06:35):

I always thought it meant that David had a heart that sought God first maybe? You know that he always went back to God, even after he messed up big time, over and over again. He always came back to God.

Sharon (06:46):

He did. He did. And I think that shows the continuing of his heart being after God.

Nicole (06:52):

Being drawn to God.

Sharon (06:53):

Right. Yeah, but when God says this here, David hasn’t messed up yet. He’s still this kid (Nicole: That’s true) watching sheep in a field.

Nicole (07:01):

So he hasn’t had these big moments, (Sharon: He hasn’t had the big moments, no.) the fall and coming back.

Sharon (07:03):

No. Which shows you that his heart did stay and we’ll see that as we unfold the life of David, but what’s fascinating to me is that God saw a heart that yearned for him in a little boy, out in a field (Nicole: Yeah) watching sheep, that no one knew and no one saw. (Nicole: Hmm) And it just warms me so much because I think he finds us sometimes most in what we do when no one’s watching, in obscurity.

Nicole (07:32):

Oh, absolutely.

Sharon (07:33):

Right? (Nicole: Yeah) Right. I had a field incident once. (Nicole: Oh) It was so fun. I was leading a high school Bible study. We were doing this Bible study thing and I just got it in my head that we needed to get closer to God. So we all sat in a field for a morning (Nicole: Oh) with our Bibles and our journals. And we weren’t allowed to talk to each other. So way back in high school, I actually did that one Selah thing. (Nicole: Yes) Isn’t that funny.

Nicole (07:58):

That’s cute. God was preparing you.

Sharon (08:00):

I guess he was cause then I didn’t do it again forever, but um, it was so funny cause the first hour in the field, the grass was like sticking on my bare legs cause it was summer and I was in shorts and there were bugs. Oh, and I was so embarrassed I’d asked everybody to do it because it was quite frankly awful sitting there, you know? And I’m like, oh for crying out loud. But everybody else looked like they were like really into reading the Bible and I was sitting there itching my legs, so it took over an hour before I could settle myself enough. Cause I was, I’ve always been kind of hyper.

Nicole (08:35):

Yeah, no, I feel you.

Sharon (08:39):

And then, and then God came in just such a holy, beautiful way. And I remember sitting in that field whispering and saying you are more real than anything I’ve ever seen. (Nicole: Wow, Sharon) You know, it was so glorious.

Nicole (08:56):

That’s amazing.

Sharon (08:57):

So I feel like there’s something about fields. And sitting in them for a while. And that’s how David spent his days, was sitting in a field.

Nicole (09:05):

Yeah, with no distractions.

Sharon (09:06):

Right.

Nicole (09:06):

Sitting in the silence out in God’s creation.

Sharon (09:08):

Right, right.

Nicole (09:09):

Watching those sheep

Sharon (09:10):

Yep. Yep. And unlike other shepherds, who probably did not choose to seek God there, he did and God saw it. And so that’s how God chose him. And then we’re gonna watch how his heart stays soft. (Nicole: That’s awesome) And that when it gets hard, he can’t stand it and he has to get soft again because he loves God that much.

Nicole (09:29):

I wonder if he remembers that closeness.

Sharon (09:31):

I wonder if he, yeah—

Nicole (09:31):

You know, as a little boy, I wonder if he’s like, I want that again.

Sharon (09:34):

Yeah, I want that back.

Nicole (09:35):

Cause he had it so, (Sharon: So deeply) yes, so intimately

Sharon (09:36):

Yes, so deeply when he was young. So wow. Okay.

Nicole (09:39):

Oh, I love this. Well today’s episode is called The Quiet Heart and that’s because David’s beginnings were really quiet like you said, Sharon. He was a little shepherd boy with only sheep for company. Our whole ministry Sharon is wrapped up in the idea that Selah Time, quiet time alone with God, is what equips us to serve God. And we’re gonna see this played out in David’s life.

Sharon (10:01):

We are, exactly. I’m so excited to unpack this for us because David actually did best when he had alone times with God as do we all. Even Jesus, who was absolutely perfect, often sought wilderness times to be alone with his Father while he was on earth and limited to a human body. (Nicole: That’s right.) We need to learn how to keep a quiet heart if we are to grow and if we are to serve in God’s strength and not our own, cause our own just fails us so often.

Nicole (10:32):

It does.

Sharon (10:33):

So one of the most beautiful glimpses into some of what David learned as a shepherd boy is found in the most famous psalm, Psalm 23. Let’s read it. Why don’t you read the first three verses and I’ll read the last three. I love this Psalm. I don’t care how many times I read it. I still wanna read it again. I memorized it as a child and I still recite it when I’m scared. It’s like my go-to. So.

Nicole (10:54):

It’s such a good one.

Sharon (10:55):

It calms me. It makes me nestle in, you know?

Nicole (10:58):

Tuck in close to him, you know?

Sharon (11:00):

Yeah. I hope you listener, who’s listening to this podcast, I hope you feel the same as we read Psalm 23.

Nicole (11:07):

All right. Psalm 23. And this was written by David. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Sharon (11:24):

“Yea, though, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I love it so much.

Nicole (11:56):

That’s beautiful. I memorized this in the King James as well when I was a kid. (Nicole: Yeah) So this is the one that I’m so familiar with.

Sharon (12:02):

It’s just got a rhythm to it. (Nicole: It does. It’s beautiful.) It’s the one thing where I can’t, you know, I listen, I do New Living Translation a lot. (Nicole: Yeah.) I have to have it in the King James.

Nicole (12:11):

Yes. So that’s what’s in your head. And so reading it through is a little bit clunky sometimes for me in the NIV you know?

Sharon (12:17):

Yes, yes it’s like no, no, that’s not, where’s the ‘Yea”?

Nicole (12:19):

Right. Well, it’s cute. My, my little one, Charlotte, she’s seven now. But back when she was five, they memorized this verse in Sunday school, but they memorized it in the N LT (Sharon: Uhhuh.) So as she was reciting it to her teacher she had said, ‘he lets me sit in grass’.

Sharon (12:38):

That is adorable.

Nicole (12:40):

The Lord is my shepherd. He lets me sit in grass. And it’s so funny cause Melissa Price was her teacher. And she just reminded me of that. The other day she goes, remember when Char-char said that to us? She wrote it in her Bible. It was so sweet because just the simplicity. So my, my favorite verse is verse two and Charlotte really brought it around for me.

Sharon (12:58):

Oh my goodness.

Nicole (12:58):

It’s such a beautiful, peaceful, simple picture of the Lord is my shepherd. He lets me sit in grass.

Sharon (13:05):

I love it. He lets me. (Nicole: He lets me.) It’s like, guess what? You don’t have to work every second of the day.

Nicole (13:10):

No, he lets me sit before him. And I love that. It’s so comforting

Sharon (13:14):

I do too. And we should just rejoice that we have a God who actually, in the Big Ten, said take a day to rest people. Right?

Nicole (13:23):

He knew our nature. He knew we would need a command to be still.

Sharon (13:26):

Oh, yes, we have to be commanded, but he lets us sit.

Nicole (13:29):

He does.

Sharon (13:29):

And I’m very, very thankful. Oh my goodness. That’s beautiful. I love that. Well, David clearly learned out there by himself that just as his clueless, sheep needed his careful watch care, he needed God’s. God shepherded David while he was a boy and their love for each other grew in that quiet place. I really see David and God having a love relationship after each other’s hearts. (Nicole: Yeah.) It’s really beautiful. That’s why I really wanted to study David because (Nicole: That’s exciting.) he’s just so unique in that, you know? (Nicole: Yeah. Yeah.) So, well, Nicole, there are seasons in life where it’s really hard to find those quiet places where you nestle in and you’re actually smack dab in the middle of one of those places where it’s hard to find the quiet. (Nicole: Yeah.) So talk to me. How in the world right now, are you finding quiet?

Nicole (14:23):

It’s never, ever by accident.

Sharon (14:26):

It doesn’t just magically appear for you?

Nicole (14:28):

It never has. And I think I always wanted it to, so badly and I just like, oh, I’ll, I’ll get to it and I’ll do it. And I never did. And so it’s been, it’s been a journey and I’m for sure still figuring it out. And recently Josh and I have been really trying to get time in the morning with God first thing. (Sharon: Yeah) It has been almost a changing of our whole life to get this quiet time first, We’ve had to change not watching TV late at night anymore.

Sharon (14:53):

Oh, yeah.

Nicole (14:54):

We no longer watch TV in the evening, like once or twice a week. We go to bed early now so that we can wake up early in the morning. (Sharon: Yes.) We actually rearranged our whole bedroom so that we can have quiet time room because with four children and three dogs (Sharon: Yes.) when you get up early and go downstairs, they’re all awake. And then (Sharon: You’re right.) I feel guilty reading my Bible when my puppies are hungry and my kids are crawling on my lap. So we put a giant dresser into our closet, made it squishy, but we put a chair in our room with a little bookshelf.

Sharon (15:21):

Beautiful.

Nicole (15:22):

A nice comfy chair. And it’s wonderful. We made space for it. We had to work for quiet times.

Sharon (15:29):

That’s beautiful.

Nicole (15:29):

But we made made it work and our door is closed and the kids don’t come into our bedroom in the morning because the door is closed and Daddy’s reading his Bible in the chair. And then we switch and I sit in the chair and read my Bible, if he’s bringing the kids to school. And then if I bring them to school, when I come home, I sit on the porch outside cause I, like David, there’s something about being outside (Sharon: Yes, yes) that calms me. Cause I am a very hyper person. I have lots of energy. (Sharon: Yes) So to get me still, it takes a while.

Sharon (15:54):

Mm-hmm. I am identifying,

Nicole (15:58):

It’s hard to sit and like, you know, okay ten minutes with God that I’m rushing through. And I’m like, God, I, what? Hello? I didn’t even say hi to you. I just did it. (Sharon: Right, right) So being outside, I’ve been sitting still for like five minutes. I’m trying to still my thoughts, but it’s a work. It’s a work in progress for sure.

Sharon (16:11):

A work in progress.

Nicole (16:12):

And some days it’s a little different every day, but I’m trying to still make it a first thing.

Sharon (16:16):

Yeah. I love that. If it were me, I’d have to have a little hot pot of tea so that I could make it in the room or a Keurig and do a coffee.

Nicole (16:26):

I mentioned that thinking we have like a little Keurig in our bedroom. He’s like, I don’t know. Maybe we should like, we’ll have breakfast up there soon.

Sharon (16:32):

And a fridge! (Laughter)

Nicole (16:35):

I’m like, we gotta commit to this, but we’ve had to really make it— a priority.

Sharon (16:39):

I am so proud of you. Yes.

Nicole (16:40):

Yes. But it’s worth it because we, it took us a while to rearrange the room, but God is blessing our time with him. He’s blessing the effort it took to get there in this crazy season.

Sharon (16:49):

And honestly you’re blessing your children because you’re coming downstairs then, with a peace you wouldn’t have had. (Nicole: Yeah) And you’ve already established by your actions and by your time sacrifice (Nicole: Right) who’s most important even though your kids are super-uber important, you know, and if they fell and were screaming in pain, I believe God would want you to take care of them.

Nicole (17:12):

Yes. I’m pretty sure he would encourage that.

Sharon (17:15):

But you know what I mean? (Nicole: Yeah) You’ve put first things first. (Nicole: Yes) I think that’s beautiful. But also the porch. I love your porch.

Nicole (17:22):

Oh yes.

Sharon (17:22):

You have an awesome porch.

Nicole (17:23):

Thank you. It’s perfect being out there and hearing the birds. It’s my favorite.

Sharon (17:25):

I know why you wanna sit out there. Yes. Oh, so cool. Well, I obviously have a much easier time finding quiet these days. I didn’t back in my heyday with children and dogs, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t still have to actively seek out quiet with God. And this is the struggle for my age group. Oh, there’s quiet. But you know what? Satan always wants to distract you. It doesn’t matter how much ‘time’ you have. In fact, sometimes if you have too much time, you think you can always do it later.

Nicole (17:56):

Oh right.

Sharon (17:56):

And you can’t. (Nicole: Right) No, you cannot. So, you can be quiet when you’re scrolling on your phone, but that’s not really quiet with God at all. For example, it’s not the kind of quiet that makes you fall in love with the Good Shepherd. So, you chose the porch. I love my deck. I love a walk on the ocean. I love wilderness quiet times with him because there’s something about creation that just speaks. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) It really does. So I seek those as well as my, you know, my daily quiet times, so.

Nicole (18:26):

Oh, I love that.

Sharon (18:27):

So anyways, I think the reason God chose an obscure shepherd boy in Bethlehem to be the next king was because that quiet boy out in the wilderness chose to seek God.

Nicole (18:40):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (18:41):

Even though he had a lot of time, that didn’t mean that he’d necessarily seek him.

Nicole (18:44):

Yeah. He sought God.

Sharon (18:45):

All right. So let’s look at the story about what happened after God withdrew his favor from Saul and how David gets introduced. (Nicole: Yeah) Because we hear about him and you know, this is a man after my own heart, but we haven’t met him yet. So.

Nicole (19:01):

All right. We’re gonna read from 1Samuel 16:1-13 and I’ll start first.

Sharon (19:06):

All righty.

Nicole (19:06):

“So now the Lord said to Samuel, you have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel. So fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there for I have selected one of his sons to be my king,”

Sharon (19:21):

“But Samuel asked, how can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me.”

Nicole (19:25):

It’s a valid question.

Sharon (19:26):

Yes, it is valid. “Take a heifer with you, the Lord replied, and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord.”

Nicole (19:34):

“Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you which one of his sons to anoint for me.”

Sharon (19:39):

“So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. What’s wrong, they asked, do you come in peace?”

Nicole (19:49):

“Yes, Samuel replied, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice too.”

Sharon (20:01):

Okay. So I just have to stop here because I just noticed this for the very first time ever, the elders were at the sacrifice too. This wasn’t completely secret. I was always thinking it was Jesse and his sons (Nicole: Yeah) but the elders are there. Wowsers.

Nicole (20:12):

No wonder they were a little nervous.

Sharon (20:14):

I know.

Nicole (20:14):

Like what’s going on?

Sharon (20:15):

Okay. Verse six. “When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, surely this is the Lord’s anointed.”

Nicole (20:22):

“But the Lord said to Samuel, don’t judge by his appearance or height for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Sharon (20:34):

“Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, this is not the one the Lord has chosen.”

Nicole (20:42):

“Next, Jesse summoned Shammah, but Samuel said, neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.”

Sharon (20:48):

“In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen any of these.”

Nicole (20:57):

A lot of boys.

Sharon (20:58):

I know.

Nicole (20:59):

“Then Samuel asked, are these all the sons you have? There is still the youngest, Jesse replied, but he’s out in the field watching the sheep and goats. Send for him at once, Samuel said, we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

Sharon (21:13):

“So Jessie sent for him, he was dark and handsome with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, this is the one. Anoint him.”

Nicole (21:24):

“So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.”

Sharon (21:39):

So what did we learn about how God selects kings evidently?

Nicole (21:43):

Yeah.

Sharon (21:44):

And his people from this passage?

Nicole (21:45):

Definitely very different than how humans select Kings, huh?

Sharon (21:48):

Oh, my word. Yes.

Nicole (21:49):

I mean he went first, right to the tallest, handsomest, oldest, most capable-looking son.

Sharon (21:54):

Logical, right?

Nicole (21:55):

Yeah. You would start with there. And then he worked his way from oldest to youngest.

Sharon (21:58):

(Laughing) Oh man.

Nicole (21:58):

It’s so funny. But God clearly is looking beyond their strengths in their outward appearance because he did find David in the field and said, no, this is the one.

Sharon (22:07):

This is the one. I see his heart. (Nicole: Yeah) Which is why our whole season is Heart Lessons (Nicole: Yeah) cause don’t you want a heart that God is pleased when he looks at?

Nicole (22:16):

Oh yes. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Sharon (22:18):

God just loved David’s heart. I want him to like my heart.

Nicole (22:22):

That’d be awfully nice.

Sharon (22:23):

Yes. So sometimes it’s hard to see inside a person’s heart. I mean, for you and I. It’s easy for God. (Nicole: Yeah) But not so easy for us. What are some clues to look for when we wanna see if something’s okay on the inside?

Nicole (22:36):

Yeah. My first thought was our actions like, oh, a person’s actions can show their heart, but even that’s tricky because we’re really good at fooling people and we can fake it for a while (Sharon: Mm-hmm) but I think watching someone’s continued actions or what they do when no one’s looking like how they are at home or how they are when they’re not in the spotlight. I think that can really reveal the state of our hearts when we’re not being scrutinized.

Sharon (22:57):

I agree. I agree. Over time I think you see that. Yeah. (Nicole: Yeah) You know, and I have this theory about David’s beautiful eyes.

Nicole (23:03):

Oh yeah. I know. I don’t remember ever reading that. I’m like, his beautiful eyes?

Sharon (23:06):

God saw it. You know how Jesus said that the eyes are the light of the soul. (Nicole: Oh yeah) Have you ever looked at a person’s eyes and they’re dull or they don’t look at you?

Nicole (23:18):

Yeah.

Sharon (23:19):

I wonder if something was shining, you know, out of David’s eyes? (Nicole: Oh, like his heart right) That they were beautiful because the joy of the Lord was in them.

Nicole (23:28):

Wow, that’s really cool. I wonder?

Sharon (23:30):

Yeah. So sometimes, sometimes I can tell a lot by a person’s eyes. (Nicole: Mmm) I really can. (Nicole: Yeah) And I think they are a window to the soul.

Nicole (23:37):

Oh, for sure.

Sharon (23:38):

Yeah. You know how supposedly you can catch a person lying cause they don’t look directly at you.

Nicole (23:42):

Yes.

Sharon (23:43):

So I feel like maybe there’s something in the eyes there, but that’s just a theory.

Nicole (23:45):

Hmm. That’s Interesting.

Sharon (23:47):

Just a theory. Well, I also think we need to remember that we can go from having a soft heart to having a hard heart so we can like initially see someone with a soft heart. (Nicole: Yeah) Because you can slowly move away from the Lord towards apathy or selfishness.

Nicole (24:02):

Yeah.

Sharon (24:03):

Right. And we’re gonna see David do that later in his life. But for now he’s a kid who was watching sheep who suddenly finds himself anointed king, evidently with the elders of the town looking on as well as his family. (Nicole: Yeah) And he has no connection to the reigning king and the reigning king probably won’t like it. So I feel like that was unsettling.

Nicole (24:23):

Yeah. And in front of all of his older brothers who probably were a little indignant about being passed over by the youngest.

Sharon (24:28):

No kidding. Excuse us. This is a kid.

Nicole (24:32):

Like, um, what?

Sharon (24:34):

Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Nicole (24:34):

It’s so funny. And yep, and I guess he just went back to watching the sheep after that, right?

Sharon (24:39):

I guess he did. He’s like, right. So now I’m king.

Nicole (24:42):

Now what?

Sharon (24:42):

I mean, I think I’ll go back to the sheep. The goats need me. Right.

Nicole (24:45):

They didn’t just usher him into the city all of a sudden.

Sharon (24:48):

It’s so weird.

Nicole (24:49):

It is very strange how this all kind of came out.

Sharon (24:51):

Oh, yeah. It’s like they kept it hush, hush, but somehow not just his family, but the elders of the village knew that Samuel had anointed him for the next king.

Nicole (25:00):

And this was going to happen.

Sharon (25:01):

And it was going to happen.

Nicole (25:02):

So he had witnesses. That was good.

Sharon (25:03):

Yeah. Well sometimes God tells us something special is going to happen. And then there’s a long delay before it actually does. I remember when Ray was waiting to hear if he was gonna be, um, picked up for Lieutenant Colonel, he was a Major, but there was a major drawdown going on and so many, many people were being asked to leave the military.

Nicole (25:25):

Oh wow.

Sharon (25:26):

And it’s so funny, Nicole, because our neighbors knew that he’d already been passed over once for major. So this was like his last chance to be Lieutenant Colonel. (Nicole: Yea) And for most of them it would be the end of the world if Ray didn’t get that. But Ray and I really were settled that in fact we prayed, don’t let him get it if you want us to go home. (Nicole: Oh, right. Yeah.) So we were pretty settled. So there’s a neighbor out like trimming the hedges in front of our apartment and Ray comes in and he tells me he didn’t make it. And we’re like, right. So now we had a long wait, which I’m about to get to, the long wait. (Nicole: Yeah) So the neighbor says to me, so Ray made Lieutenant Colonel. I said, no, he didn’t. He said, but he looked happy.

Nicole (26:03):

Oh my word, oh Sharon.

Sharon (26:05):

We’re like, well, we kind of are.

Nicole (26:08):

Yeah, that’s God. That’s his peace no matter what the world tells us we are, you know?

Sharon (26:12):

That’s right. Cause he’s gonna get to retire (Nicole: Right) With, you know, a pension at seventeen years, when normally you have to be in for twenty. (Nicole: Right) But because it was a draw down, he wasn’t being, let go cause he was bad, (Nicole: Right) you know? We got a pension.

Nicole (26:27):

Well that’s nice.

Sharon (26:28):

And he served three less years.

Nicole (26:29):

So he’s okay with that.

Sharon (26:30):

I mean, we were all, we were fine, but anyways, then we had this long, long wait. We knew he was getting out. We knew that his heart was to teach Christian school. Which is the other reason he was excited about it. (Nicole: Yeah) He wanted to teach history and God did not show us the job for nine months.

Nicole (26:46):

Wow.

Sharon (26:46):

We were literally having to go live with his parents in our forties, like little kids without a job.

Nicole (26:54):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (26:55):

Can you stand it?

Nicole (26:57):

That’s awesome though.

Sharon (26:57):

And then the last week, I mean we’d shipped the car. We were gonna go live with mom and dad with our two kids. Then he got the job at Portsmouth Christian where he’s been for twenty-six years.

Nicole (27:07):

Oh that’s wonderful.

Sharon (27:08):

The job God wanted for him. (Nicole: Yeah) Absolutely.

Nicole (27:10):

Oh, that’s cool.

Sharon (27:11):

So sometimes, in conclusion, that was really long story

Nicole (27:16):

We had to wait for the ending. It was so exciting.

Sharon (27:18):

We have to wait a long time and David’s gonna have to wait a long time too. So.

Nicole (27:23):

It’s hard to wait. It’s so hard to wait on God. Especially, it teaches us patience, but it’s not my favorite time, to wait. (Sharon: No) I know when I talked to Lydia about starting doing dog breeding, I was so excited and I wanted a dog like the next day. It took me nine months as well to find (Sharon: See?) a dog. And I was just like, but I’m ready to start now, God.

Sharon (27:43):

Now!

Nicole (27:43):

Like, where are the puppies? So it’s been a long wait. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) So, many good things.

Sharon (27:48):

God teaches us through the wait. He does.

Nicole (27:50):

He does. He does.

Sharon (27:51):

Oh boy. Well we are gonna watch David’s life and be amazed at all the twists and turns and hardships along the way. Being picked by God to do something special sure doesn’t mean you’re going to get to take it easy. (Nicole: Nope) God allows hard things in our lives, way more often than we think is advisable. But let’s not forget that it started with a close relationship and a quieted heart. No matter what the world throws at us, let’s guard that quiet time with God fiercely against all the lions and bears and wolves out there that would distract us.

Nicole (28:22):

Yes.

Sharon (28:23):

Let’s pray. Oh Lord, I’m so happy that we’re doing this series. I want a heart that pleases you. Would you teach all of us who are entering into this study what that heart looks like through the life of David? In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (28:41):

Amen. We hope you enjoyed our first episode in our new series called Heart Lessons, Learning from the Life of David. We’ve got so many wonderful things to unpack. If you’d like to comment or make suggestions, you can find us @SweetSelah.org/podcast. If you want to see more of our materials and studies, make sure you look for us on your favorite social media platform. We are on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. In addition, you can join our app by typing in Sweet Selah app on your search bar. We also send out a weekly email that is sort of a summary of what’s happening in the ministry with links to connect you. Email us at Sharon@SweetSelah.org to get the weekly news. And we send out a special newsletter to our podcast partners. If you’d like to become a podcast partner donor, for donations, go to SweetSelah.org/donations. That’s a lot of information friends, but we do love to connect with those who listen. So now you know how. Come back next week for episode 83, it’s called The Worshipful Heart. Let’s talk about worship together. And this week we wish you times of quiet where your heart can hear God’s big loving heart, whispering how dear you are to him. Have a great week.

Speaker 1 (29:55):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @SweetSelah.org. Thank you for joining us.