Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Successful (1 Samuel): Attaining Wealth That Money Cant Buy

BE SUCCESSFUL

Published by David C. Cook

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved; NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and NLT are taken from the New Living Translation of the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

LCCN 2010927438

ISBN 978-1-4347-6500-0

eISBN 978-1-4347-0246-3

2001 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Successful published by Victor Books in 2001 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-1-56476-705-9

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: Shutterstock

Second Edition 2010

CONTENTS

: An Introduction to Be Successful by Ken Baugh

(1 Samuel 13)

(1 Samuel 46)

(1 Samuel 711)

(1 Samuel 1213)

(1 Samuel 1415)

(1 Samuel 1617)

(1 Samuel 1819)

(1 Samuel 2022)

(1 Samuel 2324)

(1 Samuel 2526)

(1 Samuel 27:128:2; 2930)

(1 Samuel 28:325; 31; 1 Chronicles 10)

(Review of 1 Samuel)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Successful
by Ken Baugh

Over the years I have had the privilege of working with a number of young pastors. One thing I always tell them is that God has a leadership test they must pass in their early years in order to be successful in the ministry long term. If they pass this test, God will often expand the scope of their leadership and influence. But if they do not pass this test, they will be hindered in their progress until they do.

What is this leadership test? Its a test of submission, and it revolves around one question: Will I submit to authority? Why is this test so critical? Because the willingness to submit to authority reveals a persons true character, and I believe that successful spiritual leadership is all about character. Godly character counts, and this is the Big Idea that runs throughout the book of 1 Samuel. Lets look at Saul and David as two case studies of the type of character that counts before God.

King Sauls story immediately reveals cracks in his character at Gilgal (1 Sam. 13:714). He took matters into his own hands by offering sacrifices to the Lord in an attempt to gain victory over the Philistines. This was an act of grave disobedience to the Lord, because only Samuel the priest was allowed to offer sacrifices. Samuel said to Saul: You have not kept the command the L ORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure (1 Sam. 13:1314 NIV ). Saul did not submit to the Lords command, and this control problem led to his ultimate failure as king.

Later, when Saul defeated the Amalekites in battle, took King Agag prisoner, and kept the best of the plunder for himself (1 Sam. 15:79), Saul again failed to submit to the Lord. The Lord had told him, Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out (v. 18 NIV ). Instead of submitting to the Lord, Saul did what was right in his own eyes. His actions revealed a rebellious spirit and a heart full of pride, which the Lord despises (vv. 2223). Saul may have had some raw leadership skills and personal charisma, but he did not demonstrate godly character, and this flaw led to his downfall.

By contrast, David was a man after Gods heart (1 Sam. 13:14). He had godly character starkly different from Sauls. Samuel anointed David to be king in place of Saul while he was still a teenager, yet David did not take the throne for another thirteen years. During this time, Davids godly character was revealed. As the years went by, Davids mounting victories over the Philistines made him a rock star in the eyes of the people of Israel. David defeated Goliath and the enemies of God at Socoh, and from that point on, David succeeded in every assignment that Saul gave him. The people praised David and sang, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands (1 Sam. 18:7 NIV ).

And as you might suspect, as Davids fame increased, Sauls character defects flared up in insane jealousy that drove Saul to try to kill David. David fled, but Saul hunted him like an animal. Davids character was severely tested. The first test came at En Gedi, where he was given the opportunity to take matters into his own hands and kill Saul in the back of a cave as he relieved himself:

David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Sauls robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, The L ORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the L ORD s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the L ORD . With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. (1 Sam. 24:47 NIV )

David did not take matters into his own hands. Instead, he submitted himself to the Lord and His timing. David knew that God would deal with Saul, and he needed to just wait on the Lord.

The second test of Davids character came in the desert of Ziph as Saul continued seeking to take Davids life. This time, Saul was sleeping, and David and Abishai sneaked into the camp at night. Abishai volunteered to kill Saul. David had the ideal opportunity here to stop Sauls persecution, and he didnt even have to do the job himself. Abishai said, Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I wont strike him twice (1 Sam. 26:8 NIV ). David could have easily allowed Abishai to kill Saul and then rationalize that he didnt do it so he wasnt guilty. But David was a man of godly character who did not take matters into his own hands. Instead, he submitted to the Lord. He said, Who can lay a hand on the L ORD s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the L ORD lives, the L ORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the L ORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the L ORD s anointed (1 Sam. 26:911 NIV ). Even under immense pressure and given an ideal situation to end Sauls rampage, David showed the godly character of a spiritual leader: the character of a king.

God tested David to see if he really understood who was in control and if David would do what God commanded. And David passed each test with flying colors. Saul was clearly the weaker man of character; he did not trust the Lord nor submit to the Lords authority. Instead, Saul took matters into his own hands time and time again. This led to his personal failure and untimely death. David, on the other hand, was a man of godly character, a man after Gods own heart who trusted the Lord and submitted to His will. David understood that God alone was in control of his life. And God honored Davids character with great success.

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