'Rejected' - Ps Wayne Peat

But, you know, sometimes rejection can be one of the most painful psychological and emotional wounds that you can actually experience.

It can strike... at the core of your fundamental need to be accepted and connected.

And there are deep kinds of rejection, been through some myself, and I'm sure that you have, that cause such hurt.

They are life-altering, shattering your sense of worth and your belonging and your security in your identity.

Now, the worst rejection, of course, doesn't come from strangers or those you might consider to be you know enemies it comes when you're betrayed by those who are close close to you the ones who sit at your table or have sat at your table the ones you've loved and trusted and who you expected to love you back In Samuel chapters 15 through to 18, we're going to have a look at David's rejection.

And we are considering one of the darkest moments of King David's life where he is rejected and betrayed, not only by his own son Absalom, but his closest and chief counselor and ultimately many of his own people.

So what we're going to do this morning is have a look at how David actually responded to to the pain and anguish that it caused him, and how we might be guided if we find ourselves struggling with this same assault, this assault of rejection.

So we're looking at an overview of three chapters here, so I'm just taking snippets of the story to put something together to you this morning and gleaning just three principles that you can take away with you, which will help you understand to some extent navigate and manage any experience of rejection that you may be even still wrestling with, maybe recently occurred.

You know, as I was thinking about the service, the Lord spoke to my heart and said there are at least two people here who are suffering from a degree of rejection, and it is hurtful and it is painful.

as a consequence of being bullied or excluded or put out in some sense in their work context.

And I just want to speak to you, those two people.

Like the Lord said, there's two people here who are wrestling with their work environment, and they are feeling that pain of rejection.

and they're feeling undervalued and losing their confidence in the context, and you may even be considering about leaving.

God wants to touch that this morning.

He'll speak to you and give you some encouragement and guidance in terms of how to push through and come out as a victor.

So we're looking at David, and David will show and demonstrate to us some very important principles that will help us if we're facing betrayal and if we're facing rejection.

The first thing that I want to share with you this morning, what I want you to take away today is this, in the face of that particular battle is, that he entrusted his future fully into God's hands.

Now think about that, okay? If you're wrestling with some sort of heartache, You've been disappointed.

You've been discouraged.

You've been excluded.

You feel like you're on the outside.

You feel like you've been betrayed.

Someone whom you loved and whom you thought loved you has let you down.

And that's a devastating place to actually be in.

This is this place that David finds himself in.