In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: One thing about David, somehow he never forgot people who were kind to him. If somebody did him a favor, he never forgot it. And if there is ever a man in the Bible that could be said of him, "He is a man of steel and velvet," David is the man. Steel as a warrior, velvet and tender and compassionate as a man in his relationship to other people.

Guest (Male): A crisis reveals a lot, especially about what we say we believe. In today's edition of In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley reminds us that admirable character isn't suddenly forged in extreme situations. No, it's carefully crafted every day as we wisely choose between right and wrong. The first ten chapters of 2 Samuel provide the basis for today's study of the true test of character. Let's join Dr. Stanley now for his message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: 2 Samuel chapter 1. If I should ask you what is the true test of a person's character, is it what they do in the midst of a crisis or how they respond to life's situations continuously? That is, not on a once-in-a-time-of-crisis kind of response, but the true test of character is how we respond generally and continuously in little areas of life as well as the major ones.

That's what I want to talk about tonight, and that is the true test of character. What I want us to do—this sounds like it will take us a long time, but it won't—I want us to go through the chapters up until David has a moral relapse in his life. I want us to go up through the tenth chapter, and I'm going to do it in a way that if you'll follow me, it will not take us a long time. I want to show you something about him as a man, and I want you to get the sweep of what's happening in these first ten chapters.

If you'll recall in 1 Samuel, we took a ten-year period of his life or thereabouts when we were talking about what God is up to in David's life. We saw his relationship to Saul, his running continuously, and what God was saying to him. In these chapters, I want you to see the character of the man. Let's begin in chapter 1. If you'll just follow me as I refer to some passages and let me show you what's happening.

If you'll recall that before, in the 31st chapter, Saul was killed in battle or died in battle, and also his son Jonathan. The first chapter here begins with the fact that a man came out of that battle and found David. He said in the fourth verse that the people have fled from the battle, many of the people also have fallen and are dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. David said to him, "How did you know that they're dead?" Here's the story he told him.

He said he found Saul wounded, having fallen upon his own sword. He did not want to be slain by the Philistines, and so he asked this young man to kill him. He said in the ninth verse that there was anguish upon him because his life was yet whole, that is, he was still alive though he was wounded. The man said, "I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet and brought them to you after I killed him." Well, he didn't know David.

The Bible says that David took his clothes and rent them, and also his men. The next part of this passage says that David, in verse 17, lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. As I went through these ten chapters, almost every one of 50 main primary character qualities are found in David's life. I don't have time to go through all 50 of them, so I'm just going to pick out some as we go through here because what I want you to see is beyond David's actions and see David's heart.

For the ten years before this, all he's doing is fighting and running and trying to save his life. In these ten chapters, there is war, there is conflict, there is a civil war, all kinds of things happening, but I want you to find and listen and hear and feel the man's heart about which the Scripture says he's a man after God's own heart. Notice in verse 17, it says, "And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son." I can understand, and you can, why he could be so sorrowful over Jonathan.

But how would he be so sorrowful over a man who for ten long years did everything in his human power to kill him? I'll tell you why: because one of the character qualities found in David was that he was a very forgiving man. That's found all the way through these ten chapters. Very forgiving. Here's a beautiful example of David's forgiving spirit. He says in verse 19, "The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places. How the mighty fallen!" He says this about a man who tried to kill him for ten long years.

All the way through this passage, verse 23, "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions." He sang this about a man who tried to kill him every way possible, tried to take his life. He says again in verse 25, "How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee." Here is a man of a forgiving spirit.

Chapter 2. Naturally, Saul being killed, David knew that God had anointed him as the king. Notice if you will what he says. It came to pass after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" The Lord said unto him, "Go up." David said, "Whither shall I go up?" And he said, "Unto Hebron." Here is a beautiful example again of a beautiful character quality in him. Not only was he forgiving, but he was very cautious.

He knew that God had anointed him king. He got on his knees and said, "Lord, shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah or shall I not?" He waited for God, being very cautious that he followed the mind of God. In today's world, when an opening comes in business, the aggressive man wants to rush in and take it before somebody gets it. A man of character says, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Notice it took him seven long years after Saul's death to become the king over all of Israel.

He was a very cautious man. If you notice down in verse 8, Abner—now Joab and Abner are the two generals. Joab, who's the commander for David's army. Abner, the commander for Saul's army. Saul's dead, of course, and so Abner takes Saul's son, Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, brought him over to Mahanaim, and they crowned him king over the rest of the tribes. Now of course you know what's going to happen. We've got two kings in Israel. One over the major tribes, the vast majority. One over the tribe of Judah. Naturally, you can expect civil war to set in.

What happens here in the rest of that chapter is that Joab and Abner have a little contest. They get some of the soldiers out of both armies and they put them together to see who's the strongest. Joab, who is David's general, they just wipe out Abner's crowd and set them to flee. One of the things that happens is that Joab's brother is killed in the fight—not that fight, but he's chasing Abner. Abner tells him, "Don't chase me." He didn't really want to kill Joab's brother. But they fought and he killed him, which later cost Abner his life.

Abner returns to Hebron and so Joab and Abner, the two commanding generals, they begin to talk. Joab said, "Look, I want you to come over here quietly and let's talk." When he did, he killed Abner. Which meant that this destroyed Saul's general and now Ishbosheth's general, who was the commander of all of his army. Notice again David's response. How he responded when Saul, his enemy, died. How he responded now when Abner, who had fought against him before but now has come to say, "I'm willing to turn Israel over to you."

The Scripture says that when he found out that Joab—who is his general and whom he loves dearly, has fought with him—he found out that Joab has killed Abner. Instead of being glad, the Bible says he is in great distress. Look what happens. Look in verse 31, "And David said to Joab and to all the people that were with him, 'Rend your clothes, gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.'" King David himself followed the bier or the casket there. They buried Abner in Hebron and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.

The interesting thing about David, somehow there is a compassion about him that is evident at every turn. Here is one of those character qualities of compassion. Here's a man he'd fought against, a man who was his enemy. But here he is slain and the Scripture says that David lamented over Abner and said, "Died Abner as a fool dieth." Move on down to verse 38, "And the king said unto his servants, 'Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?'"

Here's another character quality of David. He had great respect for men who were skilled and gifted in whatever area they had as a responsibility. He says, "A prince and a great man has fallen this day." Chapter 5. Everybody comes and they decide the time has come and so if you'll notice in verse 3, the latter part says they anointed David king over all of Israel. Here he is now, he's become the king. David was thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

There's several things not many people can stand. One of them is power. Not many folks who can stand power and prestige and honor and position—it goes to their head and absolute destroys them. How many people has God offered opportunities of position and prominence, prestige and wealth and all the rest, only to end up on the shelf because they didn't know how to handle it. But here is David in his humility saying God's done all this.

As a result of that same chapter, verse 17, when the Philistines heard that they'd anointed king, they began to get all the troops together. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. David inquired of the Lord saying, "Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?" The Lord said to David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand." David was a man of prayer, and I'll tell you if he learned anything, David knew how to talk to God. He was a man diligently beseeching the Lord's guidance.

That's why he was a man after God's own heart. That's why he was a man of great character. He listened to God. He didn't say, "Well, if we've been successful here, we're going to be successful, don't have to ask God about that." Chapter 7. Here it came to pass when the king sat in his house that the Lord had given him rest round about from all of his enemies. Through all of this now he's been crowned king and he's whipped the Philistines in two big battles and so everybody sort of calming things down.

The king said to Nathan the prophet—we'll hear more about him later—"See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains." Here I think is a beautiful expression of his gratitude toward God. He said, "Look, I live in a house of cedar and God's house dwells in curtains. And that's not right." I wish I knew how to tell you what I feel in my heart. Only God knows what I feel. I want so badly and so deep in my heart that you learn something.

I can't make you learn it. I can't cram it down your throat. I can't shove it into your mind. My deep yearning, longing heart's desire is that not a one of you'd miss what God's got. David had a real grateful heart. Here is his reverence before God and his honor of the Lord. Reverence before God. Here's this mighty man. As a warrior, he's absolutely matchless. And if there is ever a man in the Bible that could be said of him, "He is a man of steel and velvet," David is the man. Steel as a warrior, velvet and tender and compassionate as a man in his relationship to other people.

So he sat before the Lord in chapter 8, which is just one long chapter of David's continuous victory. Chapter 8 says, "And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines and subdued them." Move on down to verse 2, "He smote Moab." Verse 3, "Smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob," and so forth. Verse 4, "He took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen, twenty thousand footmen. And David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots." Verse 5, "David slew the Syrians, two and twenty thousand men."

Verse 15, "And David reigned over all Israel. And David executed judgment and justice unto all his people." Watch this. Years have gone by now since Saul died. But here is the sensitivity of a great man. Chapter 9 says, "And David said, 'Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?'" All the way through these chapters you'll find him showing kindness to people. Watch this. He's been king for quite some time. One battle after the other. A lot of things have gone through David's mind.

It's as if Saul was a thing of the past and his friend Jonathan of course he'd never forget. But here he is now, king of Israel, and all this time has gone by. He says to one of his servants one day, "By the way, is there any trace of anybody left of Saul's family that I'm not aware of, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" There's that loyalty. Look in verse 2, "And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said to him, 'Are you Ziba?' And he said, 'Thy servant is he.'"

The king said, "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto him?" Isn't that beautiful? He says, "I want to show him the kindness of God. Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet." He says he's over at Lo-debar. You'll remember the story that he went and he brought him. Here's what he said. He said in verse 11, "He'll be like one of my sons." He never forgot Saul, he never forgot Jonathan. He says, "Is there anybody left of the house of Saul?" And Saul's grandson, Jonathan's son, was left. And he says, "He'll eat at my table."

Up until this time in the life of David, here he is, a man after God's own heart. All through the turmoil and the trial, here he is with this beautiful character. But if you'll recall in the first part of this book of 2 Samuel, what he said when he talked about Saul and Jonathan. He said in verse 25, "How are the mighty fallen!" How are the mighty fallen! Here he is now, king over Israel. One victory after the other. Down in the valley, God's sifting him and pruning him and getting him ready to be a king.

Here he is now, having succeeded as the king of the whole nation of Israel. All you see in him: mighty man of valor, mighty man of war, military genius. Never having really lost the battle. He really won ultimately every single time. And now the next event in his life proves that no man is beyond falling. I believe God has some lessons for us in chapter 11 just like He has in these previous chapters. Would you stand, let's pray together.

Father, so often we judge people by the world's standards. We place upon them qualities that don't belong to them because we only see them in decisions that seem to be evident of their greatness, when You see how man lives every day. What we are when we're all alone. What we are in our heart. You see us as we are when everything is going our way and when things are not going our way. So You see us as we really are. You know the true character of every one of us. Our faults, our failures, our strengths, our weaknesses.

Father, we thank You for the life of David, a beautiful example. You didn't hold anything back when You described the lives of these men. You showed them as they were in order to motivate us and help us to see what You are able to work out in our life, and also to see them, to see ourselves. As we look into their life, we see a mirror. Some things we may see of ourselves that we like, and some things we may not like. But Father, we do pray that You may so work in our hearts that You could say of us, as You said of David, a man, a woman after God's own heart.

We want that kind of life relationship with You. Then Father, how many people tonight are described in their hearts like we saw in this passage. We saw two kingdoms, two kings: David, Ishbosheth. As long as there were two, there was civil war. When only one became the king, there was peace. Father, we know in our hearts as long as self sits on the throne and the Spirit of God desires to sit there, there is conflict and civil war. Only when we give up one and yield everything to the Spirit of the Lord is there peace in our heart.

It's my prayer that somebody tonight would be willing to say, "Lord, giving up all my old ways, yielding everything to You. I want to give up the civil war in my life. I want Jesus Christ to be the reigning King in my life beginning tonight." We'll praise You for it, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Is there a civil war raging in your heart right now? A fight between selfishness and godliness? If so, continue to pray the essence of the prayer you heard at the end of today's In Touch program. Surrender the fight for control and yield to Jesus as Lord of your life. To listen again, click "Today on Radio" at intouch.org. And connect to our online bookstore if you'd like to order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "The True Test of Character," or order his teaching set entitled "Pursuing God's Heart." Our web address again is intouch.org. To call or text, the number is simply 1-800-INTOUCH. You can also write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

Think about a typical day in your life, what you struggle with, what you strive after. Now think about what heaven will be like. Is there a contrast? Stay with us for today's Moment with Charles Stanley, coming up next. Does your prayer life need a jumpstart? With the In Touch "Praying with Purpose" cards, the time you spend talking with God will take on a whole new life of energy and intimacy. Beautifully designed and easy to use, or to share with a friend. There are prayers to lift up each day of the month along with corresponding Bible verses and more. For your set of "Praying with Purpose" cards, call 1-800-INTOUCH or go to intouch.org/store.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this: that you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, wonderful, incomparable relationship with a personal God.

Guest (Male): Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus, as we all want to do. You can learn how at charlesstanleyinstitute.org.

Guest (Female): "From the Pastor's Heart" is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's "From the Pastor's Heart" letter, call 1-800-INTOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. If you believe heaven is real, does your life show it? With some points for believers to consider, here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Isn't it absurd to even think about our being selfish or stingy or failing to sacrifice something when you and I are going to spend eternity in the house of God, made by God Himself forever and ever and ever? I want to tell you something, friend, when you and I stand before God, the Bible says in Revelation that He's going to wipe all tears from our eyes. You know why we're going to weep? We're going to be ashamed and sorrowful over our little thinking, our selfish thinking, our greed, our littleness.

When we look back on earth and see all the times we held so tightly to what belonged to us when we should have been giving it to God, and God says, "Now here's eternity and you can just enjoy it time without end." My friend, I don't know about you, but there's no way in the world for me to justify go to sleep at night with a clear conscience and telling God that I can't afford to give him this and I can't afford to give him that when He says, "I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'm coming again to receive you to Myself that where I am, we are going to be forever."

The problem is, we read that but we say, "I believe that." But we don't picture ourselves and feel ourselves in the presence of God forever. That's the way it's going to be. This isn't it. Then why act like it is? There's no point in holding to ourselves when God wants us to give and give and give. Not only is He going to bless us here, but He says, "I have not seen nor ear heard, not only presently but in the future, what God's prepared for us."

Guest (Male): Learn more about living today with eternity in mind at intouch.org. Did you have a fresh understanding as you listened today to this program? Tell us what you learned. Next week on In Touch: how much focused attention do you give to God? As our study of 2 Samuel continues, we'll hear about David's habit of sitting before the Lord. That's coming soon on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.