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Amen. So it's been a few weeks since we've been back in 2 Samuel, but we'll just jump into it here in chapter 10. And what we see here in chapter 10 is that David is a guy who desired peace. A lot of times when you think about David, you read about his life, David's life was filled with a lot of warfare, a lot of battles, a lot of struggles. And that's not because David was one of these guys that wanted to go out on the warpath and pick a fight with everybody. David is actually a guy who desired peace. But he didn't always get that in his life. And we kind of see that here as an example of this. And it says there, and it came to pass in verse one after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died and Hanun, his son, reigned and then said, David, I will show kindness unto Hanun, the son of Nahash. You know, and that's a significant character there, Nahash. If you remember him from 1 Samuel, chapter 11, that's the guy who came to Jabesh Gilead before Saul was ordained king and wanted to put out, thrust out all the right eyes of the men of Jabesh Gilead. That was his covenant with them. That's the kind of guy that David was trying to show kindness to. And you say, well, why was he trying to do that? Why was he trying to show kindness to Nahash's son? Well, you know, there's probably some politicking going on there. You know, but it does say that Nahash, you know, he said he will show kindness unto Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father shown kindness unto me. Now, we don't know exactly when that was, but, you know, from what we know of the story of David, that's probably something that took place while he was out, you know, on the land from Saul, fleeing in the wilderness. Nahash was obviously an enemy of Saul. You know, he's the one that's, you know, that's Jabesh Gilead, that's Saul's people, the Benjamites. So there's a lot of politicking here, maybe a little bit. I won't get into all of that. But, you know, it does show us that David is one who desired to show kindness. He's somebody who desired peace. You know, he could have just said, well, you know what? I see an opportunity here. Nahash is dead, and now his son, who we're going to see here, is kind of a weak leader, somebody who has to lean very heavily on other people to tell him what to do. Maybe he could have seen, well, this is my opportunity to kind of get back at them for what he did to, or tried to do to the men of Jabesh Gilead. But that's not what he did. You know, the children of Ammon were somebody that, in Deuteronomy, when they were going through land, that they were told not to mess with, right, because they are the descendants of Lot. Okay, so they're kind of a relation to the children of Israel. So David, you know, he's kind of keeping his hands off, and he's trying not to just, you know, leave them alone, but he's actually trying to show kindness unto them, right? And he sends these servants unto the land of the children of Ammon there at the end of verse 2. And it says there in verse 3, And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanan their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, and that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it. So David's trying to show kindness, he's trying to show, you know, have peace with these people, and they take his actions and misinterpret them. You know, and they use it actually to try and wage war against David. Now, what we can take from this is that we should desire to be people of peace. You know, and the Bible teaches us to do this, you know, in several places in Scripture. Go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. You know, sometimes we can read about men in the Bible, we can read other verses in the Bible, and think that we just need to be, always be, just these, you know, hardcore, in your face, just gonna always, you know, start things with people, and tell everybody they're wrong. You know, sometimes, you know, we just need to learn to be people of peace. We don't have to go around trying to right every wrong in the world. We don't always have to go around trying to vindicate ourselves at all times, or avenge ourselves and other people. You know, David here is an example of somebody who desired peace. And that's really the message tonight, is that we should be people who seek peace when possible. Seek peace when possible. That's what David is trying to do here. And really, I mean, he's at a place in his reign where he has a lot of power. You know, he's brought all Israel under his command. They're all obedient to him. I mean, he probably could have just steamrolled these people and easily taken over. And we'll see, you know, you read the last of the chapter there, that's exactly what happens even when they bring in the Syrians. He just easily defeats them. But David is a person who, when possible, desired peace. He sought peace. And the Bible tells us to do that. And I'll read to you from 1 Timothy, it says, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving a thanks be made for all men. You know, and not just the people that we like. Just the people that are, you know, nice to us. You know, God wants prayer and intercession and giving a thanks to be made for all men. For kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life. So of course, there's a little bit of a selfish motive in these prayers. But you know, that's what God wants us to do. He wants us to pray for these people so that we can, what, have a quiet and peaceable life. We shouldn't be people that just always want contention, that people that always want to be in a battle, because here's the thing. All they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You don't have to go looking for the fight. You just keep living for God. You keep coming to church, winning souls, reading your Bible, raising your family for the Lord. The battles will come all on their own. You don't have to go looking for it. Even when you're trying to do something nice for people, sometimes things will get thrown right back in your face. They'll just come out of nowhere. You know, that's what's going on with David. He's trying to show kindness in these people and the battle just comes right to him, right? He didn't have to be a person that's just on the war path, looking for, you know, a chance to mix it up with people all the time. And Paul is telling us in 1 Timothy 2 to, what, to make prayers for all men, that we can have a quiet and peaceable life and all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. There in Romans chapter 12, look at verse 17. He said, recompense to no man, evil for evil. And this is what we're going to see here in the story, is that when this guy, Hanan, recompenses evil to David, David just, he still seeks peace. He doesn't recompense evil for evil. And it goes on and says, provide the things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. So God wants us to do what? If it's possible, as much as lieth in you, to live peaceably with all men. Now obviously sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes it's not going to lie within us to live peaceably with all men. When they're going to come and, you know, people are going to make it difficult for us to live a peaceable and quiet and godly life, then yeah, then we do have to draw a line in the sand. You know, when people want us to violate the word of God or people want to attack the word of God, you know, we'll get into that a little bit later in the sermon. You know, obviously there is a time for us to contend, for us to go to war, for us to fight, to have battles, but we don't have to go out of our way to find it. You know, and we don't have to look for people to give us an excuse to, you know, get in some kind of a, you know, a conflict with people. It's just going to come naturally. And, you know, Paul is telling us here that we need to live peaceably with all men. Look at verse 19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. And look, that can be a very difficult thing to do sometimes, can't it? I mean, why is he commanding it? You know, especially, you know, as men, a lot of times we want, you know, pride gets involved. And we want to put people in their place and show them who's boss and all of this, right? Well, look, it takes a humble person who's just going to say, you know what? I'm going to live peaceably. I'm going to give place unto wrath. I don't have to avenge myself. And it's not because God wants us just to be these, you know, these saps, these doormats. It's because it goes on and says, vengeance is mine. I will repay, sayeth the Lord. I mean, the best, if you really want to get somebody back, you know, the best thing you do is just commend them to the Lord. You got some enemy who's trying to do you evil and, you know, and, you know, work evil against you, trying to bring you down, persecute you, you know, a lot of times the best thing to do is to say, Lord, I put it in your hands. You deal with them, you know, and if God chooses not to or he does, it's up to him. And look, every single person that we have a problem with isn't God's enemy either. You know, we might get into some conflict at work and think, you know, this guy is just out to get me, you know, God, you know, open up the ground underneath his feet, you know. It's like, well, look, he's just, you know, it's just part of human nature. We're going to have conflict. You just go out there and live your life. You know, you're going to run into people that are having a bad day. You might be having a bad day. There's going to be conflict. You know, not every person that you might, you know, have, you know, have some friction with is necessarily an evil person, right? But look, we are going to run into evil people. You know, there are going to be people that are going to seek to do us harm, hinder the work of Christ. You know, I was talking about this on Sunday, Sunday evening in that sermon. You know, the persecution will come. The false brethren will come. You know, the battles will come. You know, and a lot of times what we need to do is learn to just say, you know what, vengeance is yours, Lord. You handle the situation. You take care of it. That's what he's telling us there. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. Be not overcome of evil, verse 21, but overcome evil with good. You know, that's a really good, you know, solution for conflicts too in our lives, is to overcome evil with good. You know, sometimes if we're at odds with people, if we show them kindness just out of the blue, a lot of times that will soften people's hearts and change their disposition towards us. That's, you know, that's an option that's on the table for us. You know, it's one we should probably try rather than just instantly going, well, you're on my intercessory prayer list. You know, that's not the way, it's not the prayer you're thinking, you know. You know, we don't, not everyone has to be on that list. You can do good to people as well. If you're there, then that's what David did here. And look, David, he's trying to do kindness. And verse 3, if you're back there in 2 Samuel chapter 10, And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanan their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father? He hath sent comforters unto thee. Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee? To search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it. So they're giving them this, you know, this bad story. Oh, David's not here to help. He's here to try to overthrow the city and take things and take you out. And really, these guys are probably just more worried about their own skin, their own position, because if Hanan goes, they go, right? So they're paranoid, they're worried, but you know what, they don't know David. They don't know what kind of man David is. And, you know, that's kind of the two polar opposites here. You have David, who's seeking peace, who's long suffering, who doesn't want conflict until it's absolutely necessary, until he has no other choice. And then you have Hanan, who's just at the drop of a hat, who's just ready to go to war and ready to pick a fight, and really quite brashly. You know, he doesn't even sit down and consider whether or not he has enough to fight this war. Because we read the story and he's like, oh, okay, now I got to get the Syrians involved. I mean, he doesn't even have enough sense to know that he couldn't win this battle on his own, and yet he's still willing to go out and pick a fight. You know, that just tells me that, you know, we don't want to be brash people. We don't want to just let our, you know, what's to say, and we don't want to let our mouths write checks our bodies can't cash, right? We want to make sure that, you know, we're, you got to back up, you got to walk the walk and talk the talk, right? And that's a good lesson to learn in life. You know, a lot of times you run into people, they, you know, they'll just start talking all kinds of smack, and then next thing you know, someone's like, oh, okay, well, I'll call you on that smack talk. And then it's, and then it's go time. And they're like, oh, wait a minute, I didn't mean it, you know. But that's kind of what Hanan's doing here. He's being very brash, right, with his mouth. He's just going along with these guys. He's not trying to go to David and say, hey, what's really going on here? You know, he's not, he just instantly jumps to this conclusion and this bad counsel that David is out to get him. That's why it says in verse 4, Wherefore Hanan took David's servants and shaved off one half of their beards and cut off their garments in the middle even to their buttocks and sent them away. So he treats these guys very shamefully. I mean, that's a very shameful thing to do to somebody. You know, of course, remember, you know, I mean, they're shaving off half their beards. So he's talking probably about, you know, like just taking one half, one side off, you know, and then, you know, obviously the clothing is pretty obviously shameful. You know, that doesn't need a lot of explanation. But you can imagine being these guys and then it's not like they did that and then, you know, gave them a robe or something. You know, they said, okay, now go home. Go walk out in front of all these people you don't know. Go, you know, go, go try to find another pair of clothes. You know, it's a very embarrassing thing that he did to people that were there with, you know, good intentions, right? So you would think at this point in the story that David's like, that's it. Okay, it's on now. You know, you treat my guys bad. It's go time. But really, and I'll get into that, that's not what David did. You know, he was not hasty even after this, okay? And that's a very wise thing, right? Because if you look there in verse 5, it says, and when they told David, he sent to meet them because they were greatly ashamed and the king said, don't worry, I got your back. We're going to go wipe these guys out. That's not what he said. He said, tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown and then return. And there's no talk of war. He's just like, well, you know, it's a misunderstanding. They don't get it. I'm sorry this happened to you. Just stay at Jericho and, you know, tarry there. Let your beard grow back. You know, here's some clothes. Get yourself a new wardrobe, right? And you know, this is something that the Bible teaches is that we need to be people that are slow to wrath. You know, a lot of people, you know, look, if somebody did that to me, I wouldn't go complain to the boss. It'd be like, all right, it's on, you know, after I go get a pair of pants. You know, I'm going to go find some clothes. But I'm coming back, right? And I'm bringing my buddies with me. You know, that could be the temptation. We get in the flesh, you know, we want to avenge ourselves. But what does the Bible say? The Bible says, he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is of a hasty spirit exulteth folly. And that's like the perfect description of David and Hanan in this story here. You have someone who's very slow to wrath, right? David's sending messengers to a guy who would threaten to put out the right eyes of the men of Jabesh Gilead, right? He's seeking peace with this guy, Nahash's son. You know, Nahash wasn't exactly the greatest guy, right? But he's seeking peace with his son. You know, there's a change in leadership. He wants to establish good relations. So he sends his emissaries. They get treated very poorly. And David's still very slow to wrath, right? Because he's of great understanding. Because he knows, look, you can buy new clothes. Hair grows back. You know, we can get over this, right? And we'll talk about how David, you know, it's interesting how David handled that situation specifically with those men. You know, whereas Hanan, you know, he's very hasty of spirit, isn't he? You know, he gets some bad advice and he's just like, oh, that's what's going on here? Yeah, you know, shave half their beard and, you know, cut off their clothes to the buttocks and send them on their way and treat these guys very poorly. You know, and it's a hasty thing that he did. There's no wisdom there. You would think that if David was such a threat, you would be more careful with these guys. You know, you'd say, hey, you want some beard oil? You know, instead of shaving it off, you know, you'd say, hey, you want to comb that? You want some new clothes? Or you would treat these guys very well. If they're so afraid of David coming in and spying them out and overthrowing the place, you know, you'd think they would handle them more carefully, not the way that they did. But why did they handle him that way? Because these guys are what? They are hasty. He's of a hasty spirit. That's why he exalts folly. You know, we can all learn from this. We don't want to be people that are hasty in our spirit. Even if somebody does us wrong or we're suspicious of somebody or somebody has, you know, is making us nervous or, you know, we perceive as some kind of a threat maybe, we don't want to be hasty in our spirit. We want to control our spirit and handle things wisely. I should have had you go to Proverbs. Go to Proverbs chapter 25. Proverbs chapter 25. Proverbs chapter 25 is really going, the Bible says in Proverbs 29, Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Look, we don't want to be hasty in our actions and we don't want to be hasty in our words. And Hanan is definitely making a statement, so to speak here, right? These are kind of his words. He's kind of expressing himself by treating these men, these messengers of David so poorly. He's saying something, right? And he's doing it very hastily. You know, the Bible says there's more hope of a fool than in that guy. We don't want to be people that are hasty in our actions and we don't want to be hasty in our words. You know, sometimes the best thing to do, especially if we're getting into like a, you know, a tense situation with somebody or we're getting into some kind of a confrontation, sometimes the best thing to do is just take a deep breath, walk away, think about the situation, calm down, cool off, and then come back and talk about it, you know? This could be good marriage advice, you know? Because look, marriage isn't always, you know, sunshine and rainbows and puppy dogs and everything else. There's a lot of work, right? You have two sinners living together and then eventually more sinners come into the picture. They're called children, right? And, you know, things can get tense, things can get difficult, right? And things have to be worked out. And, you know, a lot of times spouses, they can get hasty in their words and not, you know, and what do they do? They end up doing something foolish, right? So, that'd be good marriage advice, you know, if you're getting, if you feel that, you know, if you're talking to your spouse and you get an adrenaline dump, you know, you probably, you know, come see me later. But, actually, please don't. But you need to take, what, take a step back, you know, breathe, think about the situation, and come back to it, you know, and talk about it later. That's, that could, you know, or just, how about when you're just out and about in your business, going about your day, you know, and you run into somebody who treats you poorly. You know, it'd be wise to not just run your mouth at that person. You know, I had a recent, I was telling brother Adam about it, I just had a recent experience with this. I was up in Oracle Valley running for the ladies retreat, and I go to get water and ice at the gas station with my daughter Karen. And we park at the Circle K, and it's just this little gas station, and I get out the driver's side, and I'm motioning Karen to just come on out the driver's side, you know, because I don't want to have to go around and open the, and all that. She's right there. And as I, as she's coming out, I look, and there's this older guy, and he's like, you can tell he wants to pull in next to the space, right next to my, the van. And he's just, he's like, you know, he's like up over the wheel, like eyeballing me, you know, and like in a rush. And I'm just like, well, my daughter's coming out, right? So I just turn my back, and I'm going to help carrying it down, and he just, he just darts ahead. I mean, just, he's like from me to that wall away. And he just guns it and goes, and just pulls in, and he's like, from here to there. He just, vroom, like that. You know, and if it had been just me, I might have just been like, what a jerk. You know, when my daughter's there, you know, and Karen's like, whoa, she even made a comment like, she was a little scared. So I kind of bent down and was like, you know, and the guy gets out, and I said, well, what's wrong with that space? You know, I was mad. You know, I was getting upset. And maybe I got a little hasty in my words, I don't know. But he definitely was hasty in his spirit. And then despite all that, a guy who was clearly in the wrong, you know, he turns around and drops the F bomb on me. It cusses me out in front of my daughter. So, you know, I follow him into the gas station, and I'm like, you know, you got a lot of nerve. And the manager there is like getting all nervous. He's like, good morning. And I'm like, good morning. Can't say the same for that guy, you know. But I dropped it, you know. But that guy was, you know, you say, well, brother Corbin, you were being hasty. Yeah, maybe a little bit. But that guy was definitely being hasty. You know, what if I wasn't a Baptist minister? What if I wasn't, you know, bound by the scripture to not be a striker? You know, what if I, you know, what if I was, as I was told once, that wrong redneck, you know. Someone warned me of that once when I was younger, and I took keen to those words, you know, because I used to run my mouth, and I'd, you know, say, I'd, you know, say wise things, you know, wise. And one guy told me, he said, you know what? You're going to run your mouth, and one day you're going to say the wrong thing to the wrong guy, and you'll finally learn how to, not to be what, hasty in your words. When I was told that, I didn't believe him. I was just like, whatever. I'm 15. I know it all. Right? And then one day I was out skateboarding with my buddy in the middle of the street, in a residential street, and this car drives by and honks at us. I won't tell you exactly what I did, but I was being hasty with my words, okay? Let's just leave it at that. And sure enough, as soon as I do it, this car just pulls over. It just immediately pulls over, and this jacked, like, Marine gets out with like full fatigues, crew cut, and he's got like, his pants are like tucked into his boots, and he just comes marching right at me. And I didn't have anything to say at that point. I mean, I'm on my skateboard, just like, get me out of here. He's cussing at me, you get back here, I'll teach you some respect. And I was like, oh, that's what they were talking about. You know, if we just go around being hasty with our words, and think we're just gonna be a big shot, you know, someone might call us on it. Not everyone's gonna be like David, and just be like, hey, just let your beards grow. You know, then we'll come back, we'll deal with this later. You know, some people might just fly off the handle right back at us. So, you're there in Proverbs 25, look at verse 8, it says, Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof. You know, when the Jack Marine actually gets out of the vehicle, and you're like, now what do I do? You know, there's really only one option, run, okay? Or skate, or bike, get out of there, right? Because he's gonna twist you into a pretzel. When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame, he said, you know, if we go out and strive hastily, if we go out and are hasty to strive, you know, it might be that we're the ones that are put to shame. And that's kind of what happens here with Hanen. He's the one that ends up being made subservient to David. You know, his worst fears came true. You know, he ended up being, you know, made subservient to David. The Syrians didn't want anything to do with them anymore. So that's, you know, we don't want to be that type of people. We don't want to be hasty in our spirit. Now look, I want to, I got to hurry up here, but look at verse 5, it says there, when they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed, and the king said, tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. Now, I know these guys here, they did nothing wrong, okay? But I think there's a principle here, there's two ways I want to apply this, and there's a principle here that I think we could learn from. Now again, these two men that were treated shamefully did nothing wrong, okay? But something happened to them that was very embarrassing, right? They were greatly ashamed. And look, when we come across people in our lives where things happen to them, maybe of their own doing, maybe they are the ones that are responsible for it, not like these guys, okay, again, but maybe they did something, you know, that's kind of warranted. You can kind of say, well, what did you think was going to happen, you know? That, you know, we still don't want to, you know, just pounce on people like that. You know, we need to give those people space to repent. We need to give those people, you know, time to what? Let their beards grow back spiritually, right? And not just be, you know, quick to jump down their throat or to dog pile on them and just make things worse, okay? Again, I know these guys didn't do anything wrong, but I think that's a principle we can learn there. Go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, because look, you know, when we're in a church that has standards, that believes the Bible, that, you know, upholds certain biblical principles, you know, we believe here, you know, according to 1 Corinthians 5, that there are sins that people can get kicked out of church for. And look, that will happen. You know, eventually there will be an extortioner. There will be a fornicator. You know, there will be a, you know, a railer, covetous person, any one of these things where, you know, we're probably going to have to exercise church discipline, okay? We're going to say, look, you can't come to church here. And that is Bible, 1 Corinthians 5. That's your reading assignment if you don't believe me, okay? But look, that doesn't mean we have to, you know, pour salt in an open wound with people, okay? When people get themselves into a compromised position where they're embarrassed about something that they did, you need to let them live it down, okay, and forget it. The Bible says in Ezekiel that if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live and he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed shall be hung over his head all the rest of his days. No, that's not what it says. They shall not be mentioned to him. Look, when people, you know, when they do wrong and they get called out and they get dealt with, you know, if they get that right, that should never be mentioned to them again. It should act like it never happened. You know, they have a clean slate, you know, and would to God that our, you know, judicial system would pick up on this instead of holding things over people's head that they've already, you know, paid their dues for. They've already, you know, paid their debt to society, whatever you want to call it. You know, people need to be able to allow to what, live things down and not have things brought up over and over year by year and just have things held over their head, okay? And, you know, we could talk about that in society and the judicial system, but more, you know, we don't have any control over that. You know, don't hold your breath about that. You know, this isn't going to change our whole, you know, penal code, this sermon. But here's the thing. In God's house where we do have some control, this should be our attitude. Let people lift things down. Let their beards grow back. You know, if they've been embarrassed, if they've gotten themselves into a, you know, compromising situation, if they, you know, if it's shameful, they need to be allowed to not, you know, live that down and what, not have it mentioned to them again. Keep bringing up embarrassing things to people. And look, even if it's not something sinful, you know, sometimes when you do something that's embarrassing, like, no one wants to live it down more than you, right? And we could all go around the room and talk about, there's probably, I don't know about you, but there's things that I've woken up in the middle of the night and said, I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I did that. You know, you know, it keeps you up. The last thing I need is somebody else reminding me of it. Like, hey, remember that time? It's like, I'm trying not to remember that time. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I remember it now, you know, thanks. You know, let people live embarrassing things down. You know, David wasn't like, did you guys get a picture of that? You know, did someone get a photo of these guys? You know, they didn't go around and tell everyone. He tells them to tarry at Jericho and says, look, just go over there privately and go somewhere. Don't go home. Embarrass yourselves in front of anybody. You know, obviously they would have gone back clothed, but their beards were shaped, would have been shaved in half. Then people would have been like, what happened? Well, you know, we went over there to Hainan and he shaved half our beard. Anything else? You know, and then it's just, it's an embarrassing story. Okay. And David's letting them, wants them to live this down. Are you there in 2 Corinthians? Look at chapter 2, verse 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which is afflicted of many. Of course, it's referring back to 1 Corinthians about the fornicator that was kicked out of church, that Paul commanded to be kicked out of church. And he's saying, look, sufficient to such a man is this punishment. So that contrary, he ought to rather forgive him and comfort him. Look, that is the goal of church discipline is to restore people to right living. Right? That's the point. It's not for us to just get a notch in our belt, say, oh, another one bites the dust. You know, the point is so that people will get right with God, come back and join the body and go on and live for the Lord. And they're going to have a hard time doing that if they know, if I go back to that church, no one's going to let me live it down. You know, or what about what, you know, if they didn't even do anything sinful, sometimes people just get out of church for a while. You know, we don't want to be in these people like, where have you been? Been a long time, you know, like, in fact, last time you're here, like we've got it marked on a calendar or something. You know what I mean? And look, I've seen people come back from like being gone for like a year, year and a half, two years, and you should just act like, hey, like they were here last week and just shake their hands. Hey, it's good to see you. Glad you're here. And, you know, because that's kind of, that takes a lot of guts sometimes if you've been out of church. Because, you know, you're walking in and you're like, everyone knows I've been out of church, right? It could be embarrassing, okay? Don't make it any worse for that person. You know, restore him to faith. You know, sufficient unto that man is the punishment which is afflicted of many. Forgive him, comfort him. Why? Lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Look, people want to get right. People want to be forgiven. People want to be comforted. If they can't find that in the house of God, if they can't find that where they need it most, you know, they could be, what, swallowed up with overmuch sorrow and get this attitude of, well, God can't use me. You know, I got into this sin. I can't be used of God anymore. You know, they don't want me at church. You know, what's the point? And then they just go further and deeper into sin. They get more backslidden. Look, we don't want that. We want to forgive. We want to comfort. We want to, as he says in verse eight, confirm your love toward him. Let these people know that we love them. And look, if we genuinely love people, that's what we'll do. You know, if we really love people, of course there's tough love where we have to say, look, you can't be involved in this sin and go to church here. And when you're willing to get that right, you're welcome back with open arms and we won't even bring it up again. That's what it means to, you know, confirm your love towards them. Let them know you want them there. The Bible says charity suffereth long. Go over to Proverbs. Just go to James chapter one, James chapter one. Now, that's the first application there of verse five is that, you know, David, there's this principle of not, you know, embarrassing people beyond what they've already gone through, right? And we're kind of applying it there with, you know, when people get into sin or whatever. Of course, these guys did nothing wrong, right? This is really a diplomatic move in 2 Samuel chapter 10 by David. You know, it shows that David was, you know, a man who sought peace a lot of times where he could. So, because here's the thing, think about it. If he brings these guys back in the condition that they're in and says, look what they, look what Hanan did to these guys and all Israel finds out, you know what, there might be this cry for war. Like, they're not going to treat Israel like that. Let's go back and get them. So it was very smart of David actually to let these guys, you know, let their beards grow back. You know, he probably told them, hey, shave the rest of it off, you know, and let it all come back to full length. And when it looks like what it, when it looks like what it looked like when you left, come on home, because then no one will know. No one's really going to know the difference. You know, they're just thinking you were having a real good time over there, right? They'll think that you were just hanging out extra long. Oh, you were, boy, you were gone for a while. It seems like, you know, was it, you're just hanging out, having a good time. Yeah, that's how it's going on, right? It was a, it was a really, actually a really smart move by David. Why? But why did David do that? Why did David choose to have them tear at Jericho and not just bring them in and parade them up and down the streets and say, look how shamefully they were treated? Because David is a type of person who did what? Who sought peace when possible. He wasn't on this hair trigger to go to war with people. And we might get that impression about David because he was involved in so many wars, because he was involved in a lot of conflict. But, you know, we went through 1 Samuel already, you know, he wasn't instigating things with Saul. You know, with Saul that was pursuing him, the conflict was coming to him. You know, and later in his life, the same thing happened with Absalom. These things all kind of came about of their own accord. He wasn't somebody who was out just trying to cause trouble. And that's why even after his, you know, emissaries, his ambassadors are poorly treated, he still is trying to seek peace, saying, look, just go let your beards grow, suffer the wrong, and we'll try something else. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 14, He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. You know, David is a very wise man. Why? Because he was slow to wrath. He wasn't just like, that's it, we're going to war, because war is costly. You know, war is not a pleasant thing. David's trying to avoid that. He's pursuing peace. But he that is a hasty spirit exulteth follow. You're there in James chapter 1, look at verse 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. You say, well, that's just for David, you know, he was a king. You know, he had to consider these things. No, the Bible says, let every man have this attitude. Somebody who is be swift to hear, be swift to listen, to hear people what they have to say, you know, and what? Be slow to speak, slow to respond. You know, if we listen and somebody says something that bothers us or offends us, you know, maybe we should just be extra careful to, you know, not respond right away and take our time and be slow to wrath. Why? Verse 20, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Now go back to 2 Samuel chapter 10. Now obviously in the story, David, there is a, you know, I'm not saying we should never get involved in conflict, that we should just live our whole lives just trying to avoid any kind of conflict. That's not reality. You know, the conflict is going to come. And you know, and it comes here. You would think Hanan would have said, okay, I did that. You know, David gave me a pass and he would realize that he kind of dodged a bullet. But he kind of perceived David's actions probably as weakness. And so here's my opportunity. It says in verse 6, And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehab and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 footmen, and the king of Maacah, 1,000 men, and of Ishtab, 12,000 men. Okay, so now they go and hire an army. And this is when David finally says, all right, well now I have to defend her. Now I have to defend us. Not because, you know, someone embarrassed us. Not just because someone said something nasty. You know, that's why we don't have to go around trying to, you know, vindicate ourselves, you know, on the internet. Every time somebody says something nasty about us, make some rude comment, make some stupid video. I have to spend my life trying to say, no, it's not the way it is. Or, you know, try to make them look bad. You know, sometimes you can just, Terry and Jericho, and let things pass and they'll go away. But look, I'm not saying to just be a doormat. There comes a time where you have to draw a line in the sand and say, nope, now it's time to fight. When there's actually a threat. You know, shaving their beard off and cutting off their clothes and exposing them that way, it's embarrassing. But, I mean, is anybody's life at risk? I mean, is this, is, you know, life and limb at risk here? Are people being threatened with death? No, it's just, it's embarrassing, it's rude, it's shameful. But it's something that you could get over and pursue peace, right? But look, when you start, when you start, your enemy is starting to gather forces. When you see him trying, when they're obviously trying to, you know, become a serious threat and inflict some real harm, then we do have to stand up. Then we do have to say, well, you know what, here's where we draw the line in the sand. Because he's, it says in verse 7, when David heard of it, not when he heard about how his guys were treated, his two messages, when he heard of the fact that he went and hired the Syrians and was getting an army together, then he sent Joab and all the host of mighty men. And he said, okay, now it's on, right? But you can see again how David, you know, he wasn't hasty. He didn't go, he didn't go forth hastily to strive. He was slow to wrath, right? He even occurred some wrong, he allowed some bad things to happen and to be treated poorly. He suffered those things, but only up to a point, okay? That's what he said in Psalms chapter 120. Remember that? That's a famous, we hear it a lot. He said, for I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. Notice David said, I'm the one that's for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. And look, that's the way it's going to be with us as Christians. You know, we are for peace. We want to go out and sow peace between God. We want to preach the ministry of reconciliation. We want people to be reconciled to God, to have peace with the Lord. Go out and preach the gospel. We speak peace, that's what we want. We get up, we preach the word of God. We want people to get right with the Lord and live for the Lord. We want people to know the peace that passeth all understanding. You know, but we're going to preach the whole counsel of God. And when we speak, some people are going to hear some of the things that we say, some people, and they're going to be for war. They're going to say, oh, you can't say that. And war is going to come to us. Say, well, you can't preach that. Oh, you know, we're going to take your video down. We're moving your live stream option off of Facebook, you know. Right? Those are pretty, that's a little, that's pretty light persecution, isn't it? I can't live stream on Facebook for however long. I keep disputing it, but, you know, call them fascists, but they'll probably just extend it. I should probably knock that off, too. But here's the thing. What if, what if it turns into, you know, they're going to contact your employer and say, well, you know, he goes to that church. Or they're going to show up with a, with a bunch of their sodomite freak friends and, you know, have a, you know, picket line out there. Or they're going to protest. Or they're going to contact 11 o'clock news. They're going to put you on blast. Or, you know, or what if, as in times past, you know, they're actually going to physically harm you, you know, and torture you like they, they've done in the past. You know, when Baptists were, you know, called Anabaptists and they were literally re-baptized, meaning drowned in rivers, for believing in baptism. For saying, hey, the Catholic Church is wrong. You know, it's not infant baptism. It's believer's baptism. Okay, well, we're going to tie a rock around your neck and throw you in the river. Okay? Look, those are the kind of persecutions where we have to stand our ground. You know, we're not just going to remain silent. You know, we might have to suffer for it, but we're going to stand our ground. We're going to speak and they're going to be for war. They're going to bring the fight. Now, obviously, David's fight was physical. You know, David fought a physical war, an actual battle. You know, we're not called to take up arms and fight a physical battle. Ours is a, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in high places. That's our battle, a spiritual battle. But look, that battle is going to come. Go over to Jude chapter one. Jude chapter, well, the only chapter in Jude. Go to Jude chapter one. You know, it wasn't that Paul wants us to, you know, he told us, we read earlier where he's saying, you know, live peaceably with all men, as much as lies in you. You know, that prayer and recessions be made for all men, for kings and all that being authority, that we lead a quiet and peaceful life and ungodliness and honesty. You know, that is what we want. But he's not saying, look, be a doormat, be a sap. Don't fight at all. It's that we have to understand what we're fighting for. When it's appropriate to fight, when it's not appropriate to fight. What hills are worth dying on. He said in 1 Timothy 6, fight the good fight of faith. That's the fight that we're called to. Fight the good fight of faith. And, you know, we can make the analogy with David. Look, when they're mocking and they're scoffing and they're shading, you know, treating the messengers poorly, you know, when we go out with the message, when we're ambassadors and they slam the door in our face, they call us names, they cuss us out, they laugh at us, you know, that's not really a threat, is it? That's not really something that we have to fight. And, you know, knocking the door again, you try that again, you come back here and you do it right this time. You don't talk to me like that. Don't you know who I am? I'm an ambassador. You know, that's not our fight. That's not what we're there to do. You know, they're not rejecting us, they're rejecting the Lord when they do that. You know, but we are to fight for the good fight of faith. You know, when God's people are threatened, you know, when there's actual threat to God's people, when they're forming an army, when they want to come down and shut down the church or they want to, you know, try to silence us, you know, that's our time to fight and stand up. Well, you know what? You're going to have to cut my tongue out. You're going to have to throw me in jail. You know, I love the, you know, what Pastor Dave Berzen said when he had his, you know, his little go around with the sodomites out in Atlanta, you know, a couple years back. And he did that radio interview and he just looked that camera dead in the eye and said, you'll have to kill me to keep me from preaching this. You know, he meant that. There's no doubt in my mind that he meant every word of that. Right. There is a time to fight. We're going to say, look, I'm not going to back down. I'm not going to be silent. I'm going to preach the whole counsel of God. But that's not every little trivial thing that comes our way. That's not every little scoffer and mocker and, you know, comment here and comment there and people. You know, we got to learn what fights are worth fighting. You know, it's not just when we they're trying to embarrass us and treat us poorly. But look, when they're an actual threat to the work of Christ. Yeah, we fight. We stand our ground. We fight. You know, we send in the mighty men and we stand like mighty men. You're there in Jude chapter one. Look at verse three. You know, the Bible says for only in Proverbs, only by pride cometh contention. Only by pride cometh contention. But with the well of eyes is the wisdom only by pride cometh contention. But but look at Jude chapter one. He said, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful me for me to write unto you and exhort you. They should what earnestly contend for the faith. So the Bible says, look, only by pride cometh contention. But then he's saying, look, I want to also exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. So is this a contradiction? Or is it that God wants us to use some discernment about what's worth contending for and what isn't? You know, when it's just our pride, when it's just our ego that's on the line, that's not a fight that we have to fight. That's just pride. That's just us trying, well, I'm just going to show you how I'm better or I'm right and you're wrong. You know, that's that's not the battle we're called to fight. Where we are called to what? Contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints. You know, and that's that's the battle we're going to fight. We're going to we're going to fight for salvation by grace through faith. We're going to fight for eternal security. We're going to fight that, you know, against these reprobates and call them out for the these sodomites for what they are. You know, we're going to fight for our children. We're going to fight for purity. We're going to fight for, you know, marriage. We're going to fight for all these godly good things that are going to help us lead a quiet and peaceable life. But we don't have to fight every time, you know, someone wants to shave our beard or whatever and just embarrass us. That's not that's pride, you know, and people can get caught up in that. It's really easy to do, especially in the age of the Internet. Where you have a lot of, you know, these these bozos on the Internet that that's what they do. They're just trying to embarrass people. You know, they're just trying to, you know, I saw I didn't see it. Someone told me about it, thankfully, because I don't know how anyone could look at this. But apparently they took some video of a bunch of chicks, you know, you know, and photoshopped like preachers that we know on their bodies. That's a pretty embarrassing, I mean, that's a kind of embarrassing thing, you know, but you know who should really be embarrassed about that is the guy who made that video. You're telling me you're sitting there making videos of people that make them look like transvestites and you're staring at it for hours? Because look, I don't know how good you are at Photoshop, but I got to imagine that took some time. You just sit in front of that screen staring at that film. So, you know, should I go fight against that? Do I really need to defend ourselves against something that's stupid? You know, because somebody shaved their beards half off, you know, you try to it's just it's dumb. Those are not the fights that we're called to. And look, those people that they want you to fight them. That's they love that they want any kind of a response they can get, you know, and they come on our channel sometimes they leave a comment and it's just like block, delete. You know, I'm mirroring your videos over on my channel and I already know what filth is over there because I've been forewarned. I don't even comment. I want to be like, well, I'm completely ignoring all yours, you know, ignoring all your videos. No, it's just blocked. Forget it. Why? Because I don't need to defend against that. Look, that's, you know, that's the example of David. You know, when people try to embarrass him and shame him, you know, by treating his messengers poorly, he just said, you know what, we can forget this. But look, when there's an actual threat, when there's an army that's raised that are going to do harm to God's people, that's when we contend, when we're contending for the faith and not contending just to defend our own pride. That's the difference. We need to learn and know the difference between those two things. And look, you know, we'll get into here. Just go back to 2 Samuel chapter 10, we'll wrap it up. But in Romans, or 2 Samuel chapter 10 verse 8, it says, And the children of Ammon came out and put their battle array at the end of the ringing of the gate. And the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and Ishtab and Maacah were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against them before and behind, he chose all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians and the rest of the people he divided into the hand of Abishai his brother that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. Now some people kind of criticize Joab for this saying, oh, he took the choice men for his side. But it says there, and he says, and in verse 11, he said, if the Syrians be too strong for me. Now, so I don't think this is really something you could criticize Joab over. Because it sounds to me like, you know, he's fighting the stronger force in the Syrians, right? Because he said the Syrians be too strong for me. Because remember, if the Ammonites are the bad dudes, if they're the real threat, why are they hiring the Syrians to begin with? You know, the Syrians are the serious threat. So Joab, this is actually, don't get me wrong, Joab did a lot of wicked things and he was a wicked man. But this just goes to prove to you that, you know, even a child of God can do wicked things, you know, and that doesn't mean they're corrupt completely to the core. They could still be some good found in them. You know, and Joab, I believe, you know, in this passage is doing something good, right? He's, yes, he's taking the choice man, but it's because he's going to fight the harder battle where it's needed. And he says if the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me. But if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. Be of good courage and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God. Again, what's the motive here for the cities of our God, for our people? You know, let's not, you know, let's not play the part of the men so that we can teach them not to shave people's beards off anymore. You know, it's the real threat that matters. And the Lord do good, do that which seemeth good. So, seemeth him good. So again, this just shows you that Joab, you know, though he did a lot of wicked things, I believe was a saved man, you know, cared about the things of God. You know, he was trying to help David where he could. Obviously, he had a lot of selfish motives. He was power hungry. We've talked about him at length. He wasn't a great guy, but I don't think he was, you know, some wicked reprobate either. Now, look at verse 13. It says, and when Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him under the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. It's like, when you read this, it's like they didn't even have to swing a sword. They just see Joab coming and they just scatter. You know, and this just goes to show you that when you're fighting the right fight and God is on your side, you know, you're going to win. You know, it doesn't matter how many Syrians the world gets. It doesn't matter how many people they hire. It doesn't matter how many force they gather against you. If God is on your side, no one can beat you. But that's only going to happen if what? If you're fighting the right battle. You know, and you're only going to be fighting the right battle if you're a person who what? Seeks peace. Because a person who seeks peace doesn't just get involved in every little conflict and get offended over every little thing and have to right every single wrong. They know what battles are, when contention is of pride and when they're contending for the faith and they know the difference, there's discernment there. And we need to have that because look, when we do get in the right fight, we want God on our side. And of course, you know, go over to Psalms chapter 34. It reminds me of Romans chapter 8. What shall we say then to these things? If God before us, who can be against us? You know, Joab shows up against the Syrians and this big host with his mighty men, you know, and God was on their side and they just saw Joab come and said, yeah, never mind, we're out here. And just turned and fled. Like without him shooting an arrow or swinging a sword. Now, maybe they did. Maybe I'm missing something here, but that's how I read it. That's, you know, it says, he drew nigh the people with him under the battle against the Syrians and they fled before him. It wasn't, you know, and they fought all day and into the night and, you know, into the next day and they pursued them to here and pursued them to there, you know, and routed them in this direction. It's just he drew nigh and they fled. Why? Because when God is for us, who can be against us? The answer is no one. No one. Now, you're there in Psalms chapter 34. Look at verse 12. You know, we need to learn to be people like David that seek peace when possible. This is an important thing that we need to learn. To be people that desire peace as much as lieth in us and make sure we're only fighting the battles that matter and not every little thing that comes along. He says in verse 12 of Psalm 34, what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may say good? You know, that's probably all of us here. You know, it'd be, I don't think there's anyone that's going to say, you know, I hope I live a very miserable short life. You know, if that's you, you got issues, right? We desire life. You know, of course we want to be with the Lord, which is far better, but you know what? We also want to raise our families and enjoy our life with our friends and our faith here and do things for God. You know, we desire many days. We want to see good. Well, here's the recipe. You know, if that's what you want, verse 13, keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. You know, don't be hasty with your words. Don't just blow off your mouth at people. You know, because this could shorten your days, literally. You know, you could go out there, you know, I think about this on the highways. I mean, go watch these compilation videos, these road rage videos on YouTube. I mean, you get in a bad mood and you start tailgating a guy, he very well may brake check you at, you know, 80 miles an hour. You know what I mean? And your days could get shortened real quick. Why? Because you got a hasty spirit, right? And that's a modern example, right? Obviously. But, you know, people can go out and run their mouth at the wrong guy or the wrong person and it could literally end their life. I mean, especially today, you don't know who you're talking to these days. There's people out there that are suffering from all kinds of things, all kinds of people are out there on drugs and everything else, and it's a very tense world, okay? So keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. You know, that's what David did. He was somebody who sought peace, he pursued it. Even when Hanan took his messengers and treated them shamefully, he still sought peace. But again, up to a point. When there was an actual threat, when an army was formed, then he said, okay, now it's time to fight. And, you know, so he's saying, look, that's the recipe for a long life. To seek peace, to keep thy tongue from evil. Why? Verse 15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry. You know, at the Lord before us, who can be against us? Nobody. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Look, the Bible says vengeance is mine, I will repay. God will take care of the evildoer in his own time, and he'll do a much better job at it than we will. You know, our job is just to seek peace, to pursue it, and to keep our tongues from speaking guile, and not to be hastened in our spirit, but to be like David. Somebody who wants to love, you know, see long life and length of days and love life. You know, that's the recipe. Be like David. Be a person who seeks peace when possible. Let's go ahead and pray.