KINGS | Week 3 | Full Service · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · May 1, 2023 · 73 min watch · 3 min read

KINGS | Week 3 | Full Service

Big Idea

Quoting the message: God is King, not a consultant, end quote. — and if you choose when to listen to Him, you are the one sitting on the throne.

Drawing from the contrasting stories of Saul and David in 1 Samuel 28 and 2 Samuel 15, Pastor Bill shows that the critical difference between a life that honors God and one that unravels is not the absence of sin but the posture of the heart. Saul treated God as a consultant — someone whose advice he could accept or reject depending on whether he liked the answer. David, despite his own failures, learned to treat God as King, choosing the obedient path over the obvious one and accepting apparent loss in order to pursue true victory: a life in right relationship with God.

Key points

1
1Treating God as a consultant — seeking His input but reserving the right to reject it — means He is not actually your King; you are.
2
2You reveal a consultant mindset when you seek a good thing in a bad way, just as Saul sought godly counsel through a forbidden medium while violating the very ban he had set.
3
3You also reveal a consultant mindset when you seek counsel on things God's Word is already clear on, looking for loopholes rather than obedience.
4
4David handled a bad situation in a good way by failing forward — owning his past disobedience with the Ark and refusing to repeat it, even when keeping the Ark would have seemed strategically advantageous.
5
5True repentance is not just feeling sorry; it means turning around and replacing wrong patterns with right ones — the obedient path, not merely the absence of the wrong path.
6
6Winning and victory are not the same thing; sometimes you must accept a loss in order to gain the true victory of being in right relationship with God.
7
7If God is a consultant in even one area of your life, He is not truly King — because you are the one deciding when to follow Him.

Application

Pastor Bill's challenge is direct: examine every area of your life and ask honestly whether God is truly your King or merely a consultant you consult when it suits you. The first step is owning it — not just feeling bad about it but actually turning around. That means moving from 'I'm sorry' to actively replacing wrong patterns with obedient ones: using your gifts to serve, giving financially, investing your time in what God has called you to, and refusing to keep shopping for the answer you want when God has already spoken clearly. In relationships — with God and with others — be willing to take what looks like a loss. Go first. Lower the flag. The win you're chasing will never satisfy the way victory does, and victory is found only in surrender to the King who loves you enough to have already taken the greatest loss on your behalf.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“we're gonna start in first Samuel 28. And what I'm gonna do is I'm start reading verse three. And and what's happening is Samuel, you know, we've seen, he he kinda rejected”
From the transcript
“first Samuel 28. And what I'm gonna do is I'm start reading verse three. And and what's happening is Samuel, you know, we've seen, he he kinda rejected, wouldn't listen to God”
From the transcript
“A matter of fact, in James chapter one, you can go read it. He talks about this idea. It says, if you need wisdom, ask God and he'll freely give it to you. But he says, but don't ask with a divided heart”
From the transcript
“in in second Samuel 15 starting verse 13, it says this, a messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell David, all of Israel has joined Absalom in conspiracy against you”
From the transcript
“And specifically something later on. If you skip down to verse 23 as he's leaving the city, it says, everyone cried loudly as the king and his followers passed by”
From the transcript
“If you've been reading through the Bible with us, you already read second Samuel six. And early on when David was king and he captured Jerusalem, the holy city of God”
From the transcript
“Because the Bible says over and over in the book of Proverbs, there's a way that seems right to man, but the end that leads to death”
From the transcript
“In the New Testament, it says, wide is the road that leads to destruction, but narrow is the road that leads to life. What do think that's talking about”
From the transcript
“See, in the book of Ecclesiastes, it says God planted eternity in our hearts. You know what it means? He built us for an eternal relationship with him”

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

There is a question underneath Saul's story that is easy to miss at first: why would a man who had already expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land turn around and seek one out? The answer is painful in its familiarity. Saul was not looking for God's will — he was looking for a way to get the answer he wanted through the trappings of seeking God. He wanted the appearance of obedience without the cost of it. Pastor Bill put it plainly: when we treat God as a consultant, we are really keeping ourselves on the throne. We ask Him for input, but we reserve the right to reject it if we don't like what He says. That is not surrender — that is management. The honest, uncomfortable question is whether there are areas in your own life where you have been doing the same thing: going through the motions of seeking God while already having decided what you plan to do. That kind of seeking is exhausting, because it never actually settles anything. Real peace doesn't come from finding a loophole. It comes from the moment you stop negotiating and start following.

For reflection

Is there an area of your life where you have been seeking God's input but quietly reserving the right to override it if you don't like the answer?

Pray

Pray for honesty — ask God to show you where you have been managing Him rather than following Him.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message sits with a question most of us don't ask out loud: Is God actually in charge of my life, or do I treat Him more like someone I check in with when I want a second opinion?

Discussion questions

1
Pastor Bill drew a sharp line between treating God as a consultant and treating Him as King. In your own words, what is the difference between those two postures — and why does that difference matter so much?
2
In 1 Samuel 28, Saul is trying to reach God through a medium — which is striking because he himself outlawed that practice. What does that contradiction reveal about what was really going on in Saul's heart toward God?
3
Pastor Bill pointed to James 1 and said a consultant mindset shows up when people go looking for loopholes on things Scripture is already clear about. What makes that kind of searching feel so natural — and what does it cost us when we do it?
4
In 2 Samuel 15, David is fleeing Jerusalem and chooses to send the Ark back rather than keep it with him as a strategic advantage. What does that decision tell us about how David understood his relationship with God at that moment?
5
Pastor Bill made a distinction between winning and victory — saying that accepting a loss is sometimes the only path to true victory. How does the story of David in this passage illustrate what that looks like in practice?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to ask honestly whether there is even one area of life where God functions as a consultant rather than King. How might a community of people — a small group, a church — help each other move from recognizing that toward actually changing it?

Pray together

Asking God to reveal any area where we have been treating Him as a consultant, and for the courage and grace to surrender that area to Him as King

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KINGS

Week 3 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

1 Samuel 28 James 1 2 Samuel 15 2 Samuel 6

Explore related topics

God as King Heart Posture Obedience Over Strategy Saul and David True Repentance

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