Welcome to this weekend's In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley. Living for the praise of others can cost you more than you realize. Join us in 1st Samuel 18 as David's attitude teaches us how to recognize and manage the price of popularity.

Now, popularity is one thing that a lot of people are looking for in life,

and many people think that somehow when they find the popularity that they're looking for,

that that's going to satisfy something in them. But let me tell you something. If a person

is seeking popularity to satisfy anything, what they're going to discover is when they have found it and

they have reached it, it is simply an empty promise. Well, here I believe is a lesson about

the price of popularity in a person's life. David was no more than a mere shepherd boy. In fact,

he was the second son, or rather the son of the second wife of jess if you'll

recall as we've been studying and he was looked down upon by his brothers and when david came as the

shepherd boy over to bring uh something for his brothers at the time they were facing goliath

you'll recall that his brother said to him ask him he said why don't you get back out there with those

few sheep that you have simply implying that he wasn't much of a shepherd boy, because if he had a been, he'd have had more sheep. They scolded him, they looked down upon him, and he was more like a servant in that household than he was a son. So here he is standing before Saul, telling the king that he's willing to go out and face Goliath and he doesn't need any armor all he needs is his sling and he picks up five stones on his way out to meet Goliath

Here he is just a shepherd boy going out to face old Goliath

But he comes back from that war single-handedly he defeats Goliath

Saying to him I'm going to kill you I'm gonna cut off your head that the world may know that the God of Israel is God

One minute he's an unknown Shepherd boy and the next minute he's the hero of the whole army of Israel.

Now there's not many fellows who could take that kind of popularity, but David could take it.

And all through these scriptures, as you read between the lines how God is responding and how

God is acting toward David, you see that God sees David's heart.

And that's why Paul said about him, he's a man after God's own heart.

Because in spite of all the acclaim, there is always that spirit of humility found here in the life of David.

Now listen, there are three things here I want to mention that you and I have to deal with when we begin to face popularity.

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