Walking in the Favor of God

With Bishop Ronald K. Powell

Text: Psalm 5:12
•It is seen here that God is willing to bless the righteous and also protect him with the weapon of favor.
•When the favor of God is upon a man, he will be secured and protected against all oppositions and anti-favor moves of men.

EXAMPLE: Daniel

• -We can see this kind of favor operating in the life of Daniel. He and all the Israelites were prisoners in Babylon.
• For reasons that can’t be explained naturally, though, he had favor with the leaders of the land.
• -“Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs” (Dan. 1:9).
• -In other accounts we learn that Daniel had so much favor with the leaders of the land, he was elevated to prestigious positions in the Babylonian kingdom.
• -Even though the circumstances were stacked against him, Daniel eventually became the prime minister of Babylon.

We shall look at our study under 3 sub-headings:

• 1. The Description of Divine Favor (This Week)

• 2. The Direction of Divine Favor (Next Sunday)

• 3. The Destruction of Divine Favor (The Following Sunday)

1. The Description of Divine Favor
•A.)When a man / woman is selected for something good among many qualified counterparts.
•For instance, Esther was selected among several other beautiful ladies that are qualified to be the Queen. Esther 2: 15-17

Esther 2:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
•15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
•16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
•17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

B.)When a man is chosen for the position he is not naturally qualified for, especially among others that are far better than him.
•David was the most unqualified person naturally in his family, but God rejected others to look for him. 1 Samuel 16: 11-13

1 Samuel 16:11-13 King James Version (KJV)
•11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
•12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
•13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

C.)When a man seeks the face of God in Prayer, and have all his request granted.

• A very good example is the account of Jabez. 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
•9 And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
•10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

D.)When help was made available to a man at a time and from a place he least expected.
•Like the case of the man waiting at the pool of Bethesda. John 5: 1-15

• John 5:1-15 King James Version (KJV)

  •5 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

  •2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

  •3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

  •4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

  •5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

• 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

  •7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

  •8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

  •9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

  •10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

• 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

  •12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

  •13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

  •14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

  •15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

E.)When a man is called by God to do great work for God when he was not thinking about God.
•We saw the case of Paul, God called him when he was walking on the path to destruction. Acts 9: 1-6

• Acts 9:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

  •9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

  •2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

  •3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

  •4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

  •5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

  •6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

F.)When a man is guided to take a little effort, that lead to great achievement.

Peter toiled throughout the night with great failure, but at the word of the Lord, he had a great success.

•G.)When a man is always receiving kindness from others as a result of God’s hand on his life.

At every turbulent time in the life of Joseph, he was always finding help from somebody.

Several other things Divine Favor will do for you!

The favor of God found Moses at the backside of the desert
•It found David where he was looking after the sheep
•It found Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus
•Another thing that favor does, like we have been told is that it singles you out of a crowd.
•It doesn’t matter how many people are there, the favor of God will just zero in on you and say “You are the one I want!”
•You yourself will not understand how or why.

The favor of God will single you out for a miracle
•The favor of God will single you out for a miracle because if you read Mark 10:46-52, the Bible says Jesus came to Jericho and as he was coming out of Jericho a great multitude followed him!
•A multitude followed Him! But how many of the people in the multitude got a miracle?
•Only blind Bartemeus who was by the highway side begging!

Closing
•When David found favor with God, the boy who was despised by his relatives, the one who they would never have been presented for election to be king, became a celebrated person.
•Still today we still talk about King David.

Next Week 2. The Direction of Divine Favor.