We are currently engaged in a three week sermon series about key characteristics of important Old Testament individuals. For the last week of the series it is important to recall the general ideas presented in the previous sermons. To help remember these things, I intend to summarize the main points from those sermons for you.
The Strength of Caleb
The subtitle for this sermon is “the power of positivity”. The main idea behind this is that Caleb was able to overcome difficulties because of his optimistic outlook. This was seen in at least two major situations. In Numbers 13, twelve spies were sent out to see the promised land and Caleb was one of them. When the spies came back only two had positive things to say about what lay before them: Joshua and Caleb. “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:20). Because Caleb and Joshua had this outlook they were allowed to not perish in the wilderness and go to conquer the land.
Another situation where Caleb was positive was when he as an 85 year old man wanted to go and possess Mount Hebron. In Joshua 14:6-15, Caleb gave a speech that he was able to overcome the giants in the land because of his faithfulness to God. He conquered Mount Hebron and gave it to his family as an inheritance. The main point behind discussing Caleb is that because of his outlook, he was able to overcome these trials.
The Heart of David
King David is one of the most important individuals of all the Old Testament. The thing we emphasized was his heart. We discussed that he had a strong heart from reading the text where he defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17:28-51). We also discussed in some detail 2 Samuel 12:1-25. From this we discovered that David was confronted by his friend and prophet Nathan. Nathan told him a story about a greedy rich man who stole a precious lamb from a poor man. This story enraged him, until Nathan revealed that David was that man. From this confrontation David truly repented of his sins against God. We concluded that the heart of David was tender. Finally we went to Acts 13:22 to read that David was a “man after God’s own heart”. What a wonderful compliment to hear that this human man had a Godly heart. Let us also strive to have this kind of heart within us.
As we begin our third week of this series, I look forward to connecting all of these traits together. I hope this is beneficial and encouraging to you.