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Samuel I'm excited about this if you guys could just keep your place there, but go to Acts chapter 13 So we'd read from Acts chapter 13 and then we're gonna go to Psalms and then we'll come back to 2nd Samuel Well 2nd Samuel just like last week, you know, it's just a ton of stories, you know A lot of a lot of good information you could spend weeks and weeks in 2nd Samuel, you know It's it's been a great great study a great read-through, but these are just an overview. And so what we'll do tonight It's kind of like last week We'll just kind of hit some certain chapters and then see what we have time for and then you know The rest will be up to you guys to read and finish off but to bring it to boil it down Basically 2nd Samuel starts off with the beginning of King David's reign, you know We get to see him get crown get him now He gets to take over Israel and then all the way through his last words, you know And so it covers you can see just by that statement that it covers a broad You know time frame a lot goes on there and so definitely impossible to cover everything But another interesting thing here is they've only had one king But you can already start to see in this book here the nation of Israel fractured and you can and we'll go through that a little Bit, but I had you guys turn to Acts chapter 13 because I think it's important that we have the right Perspective of David before we study his life because you know, let's face it three to one penguins and veggie tails You know Stuff it's in this book, you know, and so we want to make sure that we Understand, you know what God felt and what God said about David because when you read some of the things he did you know who was this guy even saved but you know, I can assure you that he was and Not only saved but the Bible says that he he was a man after God's own heart And so that's the biggest lesson for us today is that we need to follow suit follow this example and become you know Men and women after God's own heart. See you there in Acts chapter 13 look down at verse number 16 Says then Paul stood up in beckoning with his hand said men of Israel and you to fear God give out the God of Israel shows our fathers Exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and with an high arm Brought he them out of it And about the time of 40 years suffered he their manners in the wilderness and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan he divided their land to them by lot And after that, he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the Prophet and afterward They desired a king and God gave unto them Saul the son of sis a man of the tribe of Benjamin by the space of 40 years In verse 22 it says now when he had removed him he raised up unto them David to be their king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart Which shall fulfill all my will you can leave your place there and go to Psalm chapter 62 So you have it even in the New Testament, you know, Paul's given a quick overview of the Old Testament You know Preach and he's reminding them of these things of the nation of Israel the different phases They went through the judges the prophets all that stuff the Kings, you know And then he recalls what God says in the Old Testament about David that he was a man after God's own heart So it's important to understand that God himself Says that David is a man after his own heart And so when you hear something like that, you can't help but want to know. Okay. What was it about David? You know that made him that way. What can we learn? What can we apply to our lives? So you're there in Psalm chapter 62 look down to verse number one. This will give you some insight On how David viewed God and says truly my soul waiteth upon God from him cometh my salvation So you see that he understood that not only did going to heaven, you know in Pertain come from God obviously But he understood that God was the one that would bail you out of trouble that he would save you out of your battles out Of your distresses out of your hardships look at verse 2. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain all of you as a bowing wall. Shall you be and as a tottering fence? They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight in lies They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly Selah so you see David's attitude right off the bat, you know I mean you just get the sense that he really is for God He really has God in all of his thoughts now look at verse 5 He says my soul wait thou only upon God from my expectation from him He only is my rock in my salvation. He is my defense I shall not be moved see David was a man who understood where true salvation came from where we're real You know that real foundation Comes from look at verse 7 and God is my salvation and my glory the rock of my strength and my refuge is In God verse 8 trust in him at all times You people pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us now go forward over to Psalm chapter 139 real quick So David just said in verse 8 he said trust in him at all times, you know, David got himself into a lot of you know Difficult situations and he had no choice but to trust God, you know when you step You can see that I mean he's been in several situations where he was overwhelmed By the odds, you know more more enemy than him and his people I mean how many times did Saul try to kill him, you know where we studied that last week, you know But God delivered, you know Saul into his hand and obviously because David was a man after God's own heart He did the right thing. He didn't kill the Lord's anointed. So Psalm chapter 139 look at verse number 21 Psalm 139 verse 21 says do not I hate them o Lord they hate thee and Am not I grieved with those that rise up against these so what David's saying here is hey I hate the people that actually hate you and you might think to yourself. Well, wait a minute I thought David was a man after God's own heart if he's a real Christian. What's all this hate business, you know But you've got to understand it's us. It's our society that has a misguided view of the word hate you know That's that's something that we need to as a church and as a body of believers be able to explain to people You know, it's not okay to hate your enemies, but it is okay to hate God's enemies And that's what David's saying here. Look at verse 22. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies So David's explaining to us what a perfect hatred is right and something that we need to understand ourselves Look at verse 23 search me Oh God and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way and lead me in the way of everlasting You know, so David's saying hey, look, I hate your enemies. I hate the people that hate God, you know Then he asks God to search his heart to find any wickedness in him So if that was a wicked thing that he did if it's bad if it's wicked for us to hate God's enemies Then why would he say hey search me Oh God and see if there be any wicked way and it doesn't make any sense So understand that as we study through 2nd Samuel because you're gonna see that God that David did hate God's enemies and You're gonna you're gonna definitely see that here momentarily. So go back to 2nd Samuel chapter 1 So just from reading those few scriptures Two Psalms about David you could see that he was a man that was humble, right? He was a man after God's own heart because he was humble. He was trusting He was zealous right and he was obedient, you know And you're gonna find all four of those attributes all the way through his life as well. And yeah, obviously, you know Saving the thing of Bathsheba, you know, he definitely falled, you know or fell rather not falled. He definitely fell I was thinking about the chapter here where it says they fell upon You know, you'll see that phrase too as we read throughout The Old Testament rather well, let's say hey go fall on these guys over there and it means to basically go kill him And so let's move on here so chapter 1 We just read it a lot of people a lot of atheists like to come to this chapter and say this is a contradiction in The Bible because the Amalekite comes up to David and says, you know that he is the one that stabs all and they'll say We'll see that contradicts First Samuel chapter 31. So let's just take a look at that real quick. Go back to first Samuel 31 Let's just take a look at something here So first Samuel 31 look down at verse number one. We'll just start there It says now the Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in mount Geboah and the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Melchiah Shua Saul's sons and the battle went sore against Saul and the archers hit him and he was sore wounded of the archers now Just from those three verses who is talking there? It's the narrator of the Bible, right? So it's important we understand now look at verse 4 Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith lest these Uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me But I would not for he was sore afraid therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead He fell likewise upon his upon his sword and died with him So Saul died and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men that same day together So here the end of first Samuel we have the Holy Ghost We have them the author of the Bible telling us. Hey, this is how Saul died, right? Now, let's go over to 2nd Samuel chapter 1 and take a look at the testimony of the Amalekite here Let's look down verse number 4. It says and David said unto him how went the matter? I pray thee tell me and he answered that That the people are fled from the battle and many of the people also are fallen and dead and Saul and Jonathan His son are dead also and David said unto the young man that told him how knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan His son be dead. You see he's asking on this is like aren't you on Amalekite? Like like what are you even doing here? And if you look at first number six, he says the young men I'm sorry And the young man told him said as I happened by chance upon male go Mount Gilboa Behold Saul leaned upon a spear and lo the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him and when he looked behind him He saw me and called unto me and I answered here am I so let's just stop right there. Who's talking? It's the Amalekite you see so the lesson here is the story Get trumped by the statements. You understand what I'm saying? So when the narrator is speaking in the Bible what the narrator says trumps what a person says in the story You have to understand that when you're reading the Bible It's gonna help you out tremendously Because the Bible is just recording what this guy said a lot of people said a lot of different things in the Bible But they weren't always true and so we have to know how to rightly divide the word of truth and one of the ways that we understand that is by Understanding when it's the Holy Ghost is speaking when it's the narrator we can say, okay So obviously the Holy Ghost told us in 1st Samuel 31 what happened and it's this Amalekite who's just trying to get glory and thinking that he's gonna please David in Chapter 1 here and we'll just keep reading here real quick Look at verse 8 says and he said unto me who art thou and and I answered him I'm an Amalekite and he said unto me again stand I pray thee upon me and slay me for anguish has come upon me because my life is yet whole in me So I stood upon him and slew him because I was sure that I could not live after that He was falling and I and I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and have Brought them hither unto my Lord and so right off the bat I don't know if you could just read into that a little bit but you can kind of see that like You know, he obviously thought this through pretty well So if you look back at first Samuel 31 and you look at verse number 7 It says and when the men of Israel That were on the other side of the valley and they that were on the other side Jordan saw that the men of Israel fled And that Saul and his son were dead They first took the cities and fled and the Philistines came and dwelt in them and then look at verse 8 It says and it came to pass on the morrow When the Philistines came to strip the slain that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gebel So somehow during the process of time that you read about in verse 7 and 8 I believe that Amalekite came by probably heard or knew what really happened saw the crown saw these items took them And figured okay. This is my way to prove that I'm not just an Amalekite You know that I can get on David's good side here because surely, you know in verse 9 When we read that the Philistines cut off Saul's head, they would have definitely taken his gold if it was still there They would have taken that crown. So it's true that this guy obviously took those things But what he's saying is obviously not true. And so it's just important that we understand that as well So let's go ahead and fast forward here look down at verse number 14 It says in David said, yeah, I'm sorry verse 14 of second Samuel chapter 1 doesn't David said at him How was thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed, you know? So it was David's expectation that everyone Israel whether they were the nation of Israel or the Amalekites or any of the surrounding nations It was his expectations that they would know the Lord that they would follow these things and that's why he says that hey What's wrong with you? How are you just so easily able to stretch forth your hand and kill a king, you know? And so that you know that that's a great question there and you look at verse 15 it says and David called one of the young men and said go near and fall upon him and he smote him that he Died and David said unto him thy blood be upon thy head for thy mouth have had testified against thee, you know So David's like, you know by that statement there It almost makes you think maybe David just kind of you know figured whether he's lying or not doesn't matter Hey, he testified against himself. So Dave was like, you know what? Let's just kill him You know you're gonna die and that also proves that David had natural affection I mean think about it Saul made his life a living nightmare, but yet David, you know didn't kill him He didn't he didn't speak negatively against him. You know, he was just sorrowful He was just sad and I mean I wouldn't be like that if you know pastor Menes was trying to kill me or something You know, I'd be pretty upset, you know, I would be angry but you know then again I'm not as good as David. None of us are but you know, we can always strive right? We can always strive to be better. So let's move on here Let's go over to chapter 2 here look down to verse number 8. So the process of time goes on Here and and we're gonna get introduced to two characters here one is Ish-bosheth Which was Saul's son and this guy named Abner, which was Saul's general He installs Ish-bosheth over Israel, but the house of Judah they follow David And so you can see that fracturing there of the nation just right off the bat here So in the beginning of the chapter talks about David he goes and he inquires of the Lord He says should I go up to to? To Hebron and God says yeah go up. So he takes his wives with him now look down at verse number 8 It says but Abner the son of Nur, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim and made him king over Gilead and over the Asherites and over Jezreel and over Ephraim and over Benjamin and over all Israel And look at verse 10 says Ish-bosheth Saul's son was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel and reign in two years But the house of Judah followed David and so there you go You can see that fracture and I wouldn't count Ish-bosheth in the kings, right? I wouldn't say okay it was Saul then Ish-bosheth and then Solomon Because Abner here was wrong in doing that. It didn't come from God. It wasn't a proper setup wasn't a proper ordination you look down at verse number 11 and the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months and Abner the son of Nur this and and the servants of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon and Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out to meet together by the pool of Gibeon and They sat down the one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool This here gets kind of interesting because these guys both sit down the both Remember the both of the house of Israel, right? They're both as they're both God's people both of these teens here They sit down and issue out a challenge look at verse 15 then there arose went over by number 12 of Benjamin which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and 12 of the servants of David and they caught everyone as fellow by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow side So they fell down together Wherefore that place is called Helcath-hazurim Which is in Gibeon and there was a very sore battle that day and Abner was beaten and the men of Israel before the servants of David. So you have these 12 guys You have these two generals these two mighty men, right? You have Abner and then you have Joab and they each say let's play these 12 guys together They both grab each other by the beard and just stab each other and they all die. And so what's the application? What's the whole point of even having this in the Bible? Well, it's for this it's when God's people fight each other Nobody wins, you know, that's the application. I think that's what God's trying to tell us, you know It was wrong for these people to do that. It wasn't right, but nonetheless, you know, they're warriors and they've just figured you know That's how they solve their problems, you know in their own wisdom and their own mind frame. They figured well Let's go you guys want to go and they all died but nonetheless, you can see that God is with David here because as the chapter plays out you can see that that the house of Judah waxes stronger and stronger and Israel gets weaker and weaker and Then look over here jump down to verse number 18 So what you're gonna read now is one of so we just read this name Zeruiah. That's David's sister, right? You're gonna read this phrase throughout second Samuel the sons of Zeruiah. These were three mighty men It was Joab Abishai and as a hell and these guys were were were warriors of I mean these guys were strong dudes these guys were you know, just just battle-hardened warriors and And We're gonna see one of them gets killed here and that basically sets the stage for problems for the rest of the book So look at verse number 18 It says and there were three sons of Zeruiah there Joab and Abishai and as a hell and as a hell was light I'm sorry was as light of foot as a wild rose This guy had good footwork, you know, it would have been nice to see him in our in our boxing class, you know He he definitely, you know had speed and agility on his side probably one of these guys that would have been a natural Professional athlete something like that the look of verse 19 It says an as a hail pursued after Abner and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner then Abner looked behind him and said art thou as a hell and he answered I am So it's my guess here that Abner probably heard about as a hell how he moved how he was and he looked behind him and said Looks like that guy I heard about look at verse 21 and Abner said to him turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left and lay thee hold on one of the young Men and take thee his armor But as a hell would not turn aside from following him and Abner said again to as a hell turn thee aside from following me Where should I smite thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother and this guy just doesn't get it, right? He's got it in his mind I'm young. I'm athletic. I'm tough. I'm faster than him I'm gonna get this guy But what you're gonna find out is speed doesn't always beat experience and it doesn't always beat strength look verse 23 He refused to turn aside Wherefore Abner with the hindering of the spear smote him Under the fifth rib that the spear came out behind him and he fell down there and died the same place and it came to Pass that as many as came to the place where as a hell fell down and died stood still So you can only imagine the fury and the anger that Joab and his brother that are still alive would have felt see their brother die But you know what? He was warned, you know, he should have listened People shouldn't have been fighting each other and it just goes to show you that it never ends pretty it never goes over Well, it's a look at verse 24 It's a Joab also in Abishai pursued after Abner and the Sun went down when they were come to the hill of Alma That lieth before Gaea by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon and so it goes on here that basically Abner says Hey, look, how long are we gonna do this? You know, are we gonna just continue to fight each other until we all die? And so they basically make peace for now and then the issue is gonna come back up here later So let's jump ahead over here to chapter number three It says now chapter three verse one It says now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David But David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker And then it just goes on to talk about the sons that are born to David. Remember he had many wives So obviously, you know additionally he's gonna have a lot of different children Look at verse number six doesn't it came to pass while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David the Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul and then basically Abner just gets it You know in his head that he better join David's forces, but before that there's a little problem here Look jump down to verse number seven Just look at verse seven says and Saul had a concubine. His name was Rizpah the daughter of Aya and Ishbosheth said to Abner Wherefore has thou gone and unto my father's concubine then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth And said am I a dog's head which against Judah do show kindness The this day unto the house of Saul thy father To his brethren and to his friends and have not delivered thee into the hand of David that thou Charges me today with a fault concerning this woman and so here you get to see a shifting in Abner's thinking He's gonna eventually go to David and say hey, let's just get together. Let's just you know, just make you King Let's just get this done and over with here. But you know, basically Ishbosheth here He backs down because he's afraid of Abner, right? And that's never a good thing when the leader is afraid of their own people It kind of reminds me of these Baptist churches that are deacon run, you know, or trustee run I used to have a pastor, you know, he's a great pastor, you know, great guy smart almost almost like us in many many different ways Unfortunately, we didn't leave there in the best of terms because of the church church plan Vancouver, but unless you always You know, we'd always start preaching about something started going off about the sodomites or something like that and say well I better stop, you know before the trustees throw me out or you know We would talk after the service and talk about different doctrines and you know different things You'd be like how I wish I could preach against that but you know if these trustees, you know Don't like it or whatever. They could just toss me out. You know, that's an Ishbosheth style Baptist Church You know, that's not how this church is rents. Not how God wants his house ran, you know, it's just not good Got a certain order the way things are supposed to be, you know, and this lesson be applied to anything, you know mothers fathers You know managers you leaders at work, whatever the case may be, you know, don't ever let the people make you afraid You know, you're just in leadership. You're just gonna have problems. You're gonna have wars you have battles You're gonna have trials especially as a parent. You just gotta let heads roll sometimes and you're gonna you're gonna definitely see that here as well So let's continue to move on here Go go over to verse number 12 It says in Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf saying whose is the land? Saying also make thy league with me and behold my hand shall be with thee to bring about all Israel unto thee And he said well, I will make a league with thee But one thing I require of thee that is thou shall not see my face except thou first bring my call Saul's daughter when thou comest to see my face So David hasn't forgot about his first wife who he got and in the way he the way he obtained her was quite interesting Feel good verse 14 says and David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul's son saying deliver me my wife Michael Which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines and he took her from her husband Even from the fall teal the son of lash so and the process of time of David fleeing David running and doing battles in this Time with the Philistines, you know in this time that he had to go pursue the Amalekites because his family got kidnapped You know my call she married somebody else Obviously not ideal not wrong, but let's look at this guy his attitude here in verse 16 It says and her husband went with her along weeping behind her to bar her To Bahram then said Abner unto him go return and he returned so I could just imagine this guy, you know He's just walking after his wife. You know, he's just crying, you know, and it's just kind of a kind of a sad thing there But Abner here you can see him, you know, he's got good communication He's starting to be a you know, be a team player, you know He realizes this fracture isn't gonna profit their nation at all And so he moves forward but don't forget Joab is still angry and Joab wants revenge, you know for his brother So you're gonna see that Joab comes up with a scheme here to kill Abner So look down at verse number 24. It says then Joab came to the king and said what is out done? Behold Abner came unto thee Why is it thou hast sent him away and he is quite gone thou knowest Abner the son of nerve that he came to deceive thee And to know thy going out and thy coming in and to know all that thou doest, right? So Joab's trying to convince David. He's like, hey look, he doesn't really want to make peace He wants to be king. He wants this bullshit. He wants his guy in there, but I don't believe that I think the Abner is really, you know getting things right here and wants to do what's what's right and so does Dave look at verse 26 and when Joab was come out from David He sent messengers after Abner which brought him again from the well of Syria But David knew it not And when Abner was returned to Hebron Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and smote him there under The fifth rib that he died for the blood of Azahael his brother, you know, so there you go Joab says, you know what? I'm gonna get my revenge. He gets that revenge. He's you know, he he deceives David, you know He comes up with a scheme to kill Abner and David's not happy about it You know, we got to remember like I keep saying it David definitely was a man after God's own heart He had natural affection with all the killing with all the blood that David shed, you know He still feels for these people because you can look at his attitude here Look at verse 28 says after and afterward when David heard it He said I my kingdom are guilty before the Lord forever from the blood of Abner the son of Nerg Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father's house and let there not fail from the house of Joab One that hath an issue or that is a leper or that leaneth on a staff or that falleth on the sword or that lacketh bread You know So even when the kingdom was fractured even though when Abner and Joab they were fighting they had a battle and David smote more The Israelites, you know, he never held a grudge. He just got over it He was just like, you know what? Let's just make things right it'd do good for all of us to have that same attitude So let's move on here Go over to chapter 4 And we'll start reading in verse number 1 It says when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron his hands were feeble and all the Israelites were troubled and Saul's son Had two men that were captains of bands the name of the one was Bana and the name of the other recap the sons of Ramon a Birathite of the children of Benjamin for Biroth was also reckoned to Benjamin and so what you're gonna read here is that these two guys? Murder ish Bosheth. And again, you're gonna see David's response very similar to when Saul died and very similar to when Abner died So jump down here to verse number nine It says who David answered recap and Bana his brother the sons of Ramon the Birathite and said unto them as the Lord liveth Who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity when one told me saying behold Saul is dead thinking to have brought good tidings I took hold of him and slew him in ziklag who thought that I would have given him a reward For his tidings see so now David's speaking like he knew the true intent of the Amalekite, right? So these guys they murder ish Bosheth They come into him while he's sleeping at noon the Bible says and they kill him and David's not happy about it How much more when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? Shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand and take you away from the earth? And David commanded his young men and they slew them and cut off their hands and their feet And hang them up over the pool in Hebron But they took the head of ish Bosheth and buried it in the sepulcher of Abner and Hebron So you go David's men were they look they would kill somebody and go eat a cheeseburger right afterwards They were there ready to go, you know, and you know again, you know, the Bible doesn't speak to highlight I mean if you read the law, right, I mean just read Exodus Leviticus That doesn't seem like a savory thing that these guys should do but not they wanted to send a message out to Israel saying hey Look, stop trying to please the king, you know All these people are coming up to David with you know They can sense that he's about to be crowned king or that we need to please the king We need to come up with some ways to you know to make him like us to get favor, right? But there's a right way to gain favor and there's a wrong way You know the Bible says that God is the author of promotion, you know We should never of our own accords try to lift ourselves up above our co-workers or above other people in the church because it's wrong It's not the right way to go, you know, God will set you up in due time But again, you have to be after his heart. That's how he's going to bless you. That's what he's going That's what God blesses and you can see that here, you know the message is, you know Do you think your way get slain get you know, I'm getting smoked by the sword. So let's move on again here in chapter 5 You're gonna see the gaining of Jerusalem at this time. It's inhabited by the Jebusites So let's take a look at this here. Look at verse number one This is then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron and spake saying behold We are thy bone and thy flesh also in time past with souls king over us thou was he That led us out and brought us in Israel and the Lord said to thee thou shalt feed my people Israel and now shall be A captain over Israel So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron and David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord and they Anointed David king over Israel. So right here in chapter 5 is where you get to see David becomes king He gets crowned and jump down to verse number 6 It says and the king said I'm sorry and the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites The inhabitants of the land which spake unto David saying except thou take away the blind and the lame thou shalt Not come in hither thinking David cannot come in here. So these people know David's on a roll all Israel's behind him He's king and they're like, hey don't even think about coming here You can't come in here unless you get rid of all of our handicapped people You know all of our the lame and the blind and David's like look. I don't care I'm killing everybody now look at first number seven and says nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion the same as the city of David and David said on that day Whosoever getteth up to the gutter and smite at the Jebusites and the lame and the blind That are hated of the whole he shall be chief and captain So think about that, you know, the Bible says David was a man the enemy is the enemy whether they're lame Whether they're soft whether whatever the case is they've got to go that land belongs to them God gave it to him and David said I'm not gonna be like Saul and spare the good stuff for myself I'm not gonna be like Saul and spare that you know a gag and get rebuked by God David says everybody dies because that's what God wants The rest of the verse says wherefore they said the blind and lame shall not come into the house verse number nine says so David dwelt in the fort and called it the city of David and David built round about from Milo and Inward verse 10 and David went on and grew great in the Lord God of hosts was with him Then verse number 11 says in here I'm King of Tyre sent messengers to David and cedar trees and carpenters and masons and they built David and house and David received that the Lord Had established him King over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people's Israel's sake So David understood right off the bat Hey God has made me King because I love God and because of the people the people need strong leadership is what he's saying here You know, he understood that he wasn't like, you know Heady or high-minded or prideful or boastful about it, you know, he understood it was other people first David Also, you know as you read through his life You'll see that he had a servant leadership style I mean despite having his men cut people's hands and feets off or feet off and all the other stuff that we're about to see So let's go ahead and move over You guys go to chapter 7 In chapter 6 David dances before the Lord The Bible says that he dances before the Lord with all of his might and remember how he got his wife back his wife My call well, she looked out the window and sees him dancing. She despises him in her heart, you know, and I you know, I guess You know, you got a kind of somewhat feel for her, you know David being King obviously being busy and not only being King having multitudes of kids and Multitudes of wives. I'm sure she was getting neglected I'm sure a lot of them were and so nonetheless the Bible says that you know She just despised him and then basically, you know, she she you know puffs up on him and David's like hey I'm not taking this and He shuts her up and she basically lives as a widow the rest of her life and they never have any children and she Died, you know as a result of her bitterness, you know as a result of her despising the Lord's anointed in her own heart And so chapter 7 here God gives David rest from all of his enemies look down verse number one It says and it came to pass when the king sat in his house and the Lord had given him rest round about from all His enemies that the king said unto Nathan the prophets, you know I dwell on a house of cedar But the ark of God dwells in curtains and Nathan said unto the king go do all that is in thy heart for the Lord is With thee and then as you keep reading this here, you'll see that God says, you know I don't have a problem dwelling in the tabernacle that I told Moses and the people to make me, you know, and then he goes on to say that, you know You've shed a lot of blood So you're not going to build me this temple and God's glad that that idea came into his heart Once again, because David extremely loved God it was always, you know, God was always at the forefront of his mind But nonetheless, he says, you know what your son's gonna do it. And so it doesn't really bother David, you know He understands that God's orders always go first But he rejoices in the fact that he's able to set stuff aside and you know Basically contribute to the house of God any way that he can so let's move over here. Let's skip for sake of time Let's go to chapter number nine. Let's go to chapter nine. So David, you know at this point is life He's got rest, you know God's given him a rest from all of his enemies and he's got it on his heart to do good to Saul's house and to other people that have helped him out And so if you look down here at verse number one chapter nine It says and David said is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake Remember Jonathan was David's best friend. I mean they were battle buddies. They they got along very well And obviously he's still hurt still sad, you know that his friend has died He wants to do good to him look at verse 2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba and when they had called him unto David The king said unto him art thou Ziba and he said thy servant is he and the king said is there not yet any of The house of Saul that I may show kindness Show the kindness of God unto him and Ziba said unto the king Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet and the king said unto him Where is he and Ziba said unto the king behold? He is in the house of Makir the son of a meal in Lodabar in verse 5 then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Makir the son of emiel from Lodabar verse 6 now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was coming to David fell on his face and did reverence and David said Mephibosheth and he answered behold I servant and so basically it goes on The Mephibosheth is very grateful, you know, he can't walk He's got a handicap and David says you're gonna eat continually before me in my very own house So, you know David says, you know what? I'm gonna take it upon myself to to ensure that my friends family's taken care of, you know And so they're there again, you know We see more of David's natural affection towards other people despite the head cutting off and all the all the other stuff here And so let's move on here We're gonna basically continue in chapter 10 with the same kind of kindness, you know, David's just going around He wants to provide blessings for everyone and this one here is I can't read this without laughing Why chapter 10 says and it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died and Hanun his son reigned in his stead then said David I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash and his father or as his father shown kindness unto me and David said To comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father and David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon So Nahash showed kindness unto David, you know prior to this and David hasn't forgotten about that He remembers that he says, you know what? I want to bless this guy I want to help these guys out and they don't really think it's true You know They these guys are paranoid look at verse 3 and the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their Lord Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father that he hath sent comforters unto thee hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee To search the city and spy it out and overthrow it Wherefore Hanun took David's servants and shaved off the one half of their beards and cut off their garments in the middle Even to their buttocks and sent them away So, you know, you know the body obviously God has a sense of humor, you know I mean, you know, he preserved this stuff in the Bible so that we can read it And this is the stuff that you're not gonna hear in your Sunday school class. I never heard this growing up I never heard this in the community church when I went there I never heard this, you know, even in a lot of Baptist churches I had a pastor one time who said, you know I don't think that the whole council of God was meant to be read before the congregation And he mentioned some stuff out of Ezekiel and this was one of the stories as well that he brought up You know up, but there's obviously a reason why God put this in the Bible, you know All these words, you know belong to God and they're profitable for doctrine for reproof, you know, and it's what happened You know, these guys wanted to shame them and they wanted to humiliate them and the result is gonna teach us something here So look down to verse number five It says when they told it unto David he sent to meet them because the men were greatly Ashamed and the king said terry at Jericho until your beards be grown and then returned So they had a different attitude towards shame. I mean think about this, you know the children of Ammon They do something pretty nasty, you know, they make them You know not modest right they make these people and modest against their will Right and that stuff ought not to have been done in this day and it shouldn't even be done now You know, we shouldn't allow the world to do that to us But that's what happens when we go out there and we decide you know, what let's fellowship. Well, let's play their game Let's uh, you know Let's harken to their counsel Right to their devices to the things that they invent and the things that they put forth now look at verse 6 and when the children of Ammon saw that they stay before David the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zob 20,000 foot men and of King Maka a Thousand men and of Ishtaab 12,000 men so the children of Ammon. They're like, oh, yeah, I think we might have messed up here, you know They aren't happy about this, you know, that's probably how they walk around They probably do dirty things and have perverted jokes and you know All the all the stuff that goes along with that so to them they thought well, you know Let's just teach him a lesson, you know, but David's like no now you're gonna die Under verse number seven and when David heard of it, he sent Joe out and all the host of the mighty men And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle on the right At the entering in of the gate and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and Ishtaab Maka were by themselves in the field and so the battle goes on here jump down to verse number 15 Says and when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel they gathered themselves together and had a razor sent and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river and they came to Helam and Shobak the captain of the host of had a razor went before them and when it was told David he gathered all Israel together and passed over Jordan and came to Helam and the Syrians set themselves in array against David and fought with him and the Syrians fled before Israel and David slew the men of 700 chariots of the Syrians and 40,000 horsemen and smoked Shobak the captain of their host who died there So because these people said we want to make you a modest we want to cause shame on your people they lost over 40,000 lives I mean think about that, you know, you never know what could happen when you go out and play a dangerous game You know when you go out and play a dirty prank or you know, something like that, you know it could cause a loss of life, you know, so sometimes playing games can go too far and You know, that's a perfect example of that right here. So chapter 11 here moves on to The story about Bathsheba, you know and the sin that David had The chapter starts off by saying, you know, there's a time where the Kings go out the war and David stayed back, you know, he stays back. We see him kind of being idle He can't sleep and so he gets up he walks around on the rooftop He sees a woman the Bible says who was very beautiful look upon, you know, and he sees that he lusts after it He covets her and he goes and he takes her and that's the the wife of Uriah the Hittite And I don't know this to be true or not But I have kind of wonder if maybe he reasoned with himself saying well Uriah was a Hittite He wasn't a naturally born, you know children of Israel Remember the Hittites God told the children of Israel to wipe them out completely, but they didn't do it I don't know. I kind of wonder if maybe that was an excuse, you know Maybe that was a reason that he decided you know what he's just a Hittite and so, you know the story many of you know That David comes up with a story, you know, he gets her gets her pregnant and he wants to now kill Uriah So he sends him out to the hottest part of the battle and tells Joab, you know Hey, make sure he doesn't come back alive send him to the forefront of the hottest battle And so that's how that plays out. He dies and in chapter 12, you know Actually, look at the last verse of chapter 11 verse 27. It says when the morning was passed And this obviously after Uriah died Says and when the morning was passed David sent and fetched her to his house talking about Bathsheba and she became his wife and bare him a son But the thing that David did or I'm sorry the thing that David had done Displeased the Lord, you know again just showing the fact that David is human made a grave mistake mistake You know, we should never allow ourselves to become idle because that's when we get in trouble in our minds That's when we start looking things up. We shouldn't look up That's when we start, you know Coming up with these convoluted ideas in our minds that we shouldn't have and it just gets worse from there And so you get to see Nathan the prophet He basically has a message from God that says all this destruction is now going to come upon you in your family Because you have taken your Riah's wife and you'll see that play out in David's family as his children get older But right now go over to Same chapter look down to verse number 24 so David's Child that he you know is gonna have by Bathsheba God God takes that child away David mourns and you know after a while he comforts Bathsheba and you can look down there at verse number 24 It says and David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He went under lay with her Son and he called his name Solomon and the Lord loved him and he's sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet And he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord In verse 26 we shift gears here Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon and took the royal city and Joab sent messages to David and said I fought against Rabbah and have taken the city of waters Verse 28 now therefore gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and take it list I take the city and it be called after my name and David gathered all the people together went to Rabbah and Fought against it and took it and he took their Kings crown from off his head The weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones and it was set on David's head And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance look at verse 31 and he brought forth the people that were there in and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them pass through the bricklin and Thus did he unto all the cities the children of Ammon So David and all the people returned to Jerusalem and that's what I was talking about when I started the sermon off You know, you have to understand. I mean a lot of the Psalms are written by David I mean think about his son, you know, why is this person that never lived Solomon wrote Proverbs because yes I mean these people they did make mistakes, but they loved God and here we see that David said, you know I'm not only gonna kill him. I'm gonna take him down in a very harsh manner cuts these people in half I mean they chop them with axes very gruesome stuff You know it and the the thing about it is God doesn't lay that to his charge I got doesn't say, you know that thing displeases me, right? It's the disobedience that displeased God, you know, David just obviously Chafed in his mind, you know battle-hardened wanted to do send a strong message to the surrounding nations And you know produce fear into other people which is you know is a mind game. It's a battle tactic It's it's what our military does when they go in other countries They drop these leaflets in their language and they say, you know on this date This stuff's gonna happen and then it doesn't happen and it causes people to not understand what's going on And you can see how a message like this will go out to all the people, you know And the surrounding nations of the area and so let's move on here. Definitely not a savory Portion of Scripture but nonetheless that's in there That's what David did but you know, we would see somebody who did something like this and be like that guy's reprobate You know, that's how we talked today. But no David wasn't he had natural affection. He loved God and so it's important you have that right perspective right off the bat before you read these things and it's even more important that you're saved because we got a lot of unsaved people out there that are reading this stuff and just causing contention and strives and just you Know a lot of a lot of stuff that we just don't need to deal with So let's jump over here to chapter 15 fast forward to chapter 15 David's children are grown there's been a family problem You know the story about Tamar and how she you know was forced by one of David's sons Absalom's half-brother so that that that story happens Well, we'll go through that at another time But basically we're gonna pick up in chapter 15 here where Absalom is basically got a conspiracy going on He wants to take over the kingdom. He's bitter about stuff that's going on in Israel, you know with his father with David And so he's got this plan, you know, he's basically he's sending gifts to people. He's speaking nice and the people he's gaining favor And stuff doing all of this stuff behind David's back and look down here at verse number 12 It says in Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gila night David's counselor from a city even from guy low While he offered sacrifices the conspiracy was strong for the people increased continually with Absalom so you starting to see people leave David's side and go over to Absalom because they Have bought into the lie that Absalom is gonna be the next king that he's gonna be crowned And so Absalom takes Ahithophel now the Bible says about Ahithophel It says that when Ahithophel spoke it was as the oracles of God So when he would give somebody counsel people would say wow, that is like from God That is that is an oriented speech there that has come to play So David's, you know top advisor right his his one of his most important people in his cabinet if you will Just leaves and has now gone over to Absalom side now jump down to verse Let's see well Let's keep reading here look at verse 13 It says and there came a messenger to David saying the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom and David said unto all His servants that were with him at Jerusalem arise and let us flee for we shall not Else escape from Absalom make speed to depart lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us and smite the city with the edge Of the sword and so jump down to verse number 30 You can see David's attitude towards his own son that's trying to kill him says in verse number 30 says and David went up by the ascent of mount all of it and wept as He went up and had his head covered and he went barefoot and all the people that was with him Covered every man his head and they went up weeping as they went on, you know, not again not bitter not mad that is I'm sure he's mad. I'm sure he's I'm sure he's heartbroken, but he loves his son Even though his son's doing all this stuff He his son conspired to kill his other son and it's just just a family message He remember he understood what he did to Uriah the Hittite was gonna come back because that's what Nathan the Prophet had told him So jump over to chapter 16 here Look at verse number 5 Says when King David came to Bahiram behold thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was shimmy I the son of Gara he came forth and cursed still as he came and he cast stones at David and at all the servants of King David and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left and thus said shimmy I when he cursed come out come out thou bloody man and now man of Belial You see it was here even back then you still had people saying you devil, you know And it's obvious that you know, David did a lot of bad things But he wasn't a son of a lie I wasn't a devil verse 8 the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul and Whose stead thou hast rained and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom my son and behold thou are taken And I mischief because thou art a bloody man. So unfortunately David did have that reputation He had that that stigma about him that he was a bloody man and he was now look at verse 9 Then said Abishai the son of Zaraiah unto the king Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king let me go over I pray thee and take off his head You'll see that throughout this entire book. These guys are like, you know, look, let me just go over and kill this guy Let me just take his head off. Let me stab him. Let me do this Let me first and David's, you know and keep my these are David's nephews All right, and a lot of people ask well, why didn't David just fire Joab in the beginning? Well, because it's his sister's son, you know family business. Look at verse 11 and David said to Abishai I'm sorry back up to verse number 10 and the king said what have I to do with you you sons of Zaraiah So let him curse because the Lord hath said unto him curse David who shall then say Wherefore has thou done so and David said to Abishai and to all the servants behold my son Which came forth of my bowels seeketh my life how much more now may this Benjamin do it? Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bitten him and David, you know later on we'll see next week He gives his son Solomon instructions on how to deal with Shimei and that's a gonna be a good lesson wisdom there But jump down to verse number 15 It says an Absalom and all the people the men of Israel came to Jerusalem and Hithafel with him And it came to pass when who shy the archetype David's friend was come to Absalom that who shy said unto Absalom God save the king God save the king now who shy Obviously is David's friend and what he's trying to do is he's trying to help David out and he's trying to convince Absalom that he's not on David's side that he's working for him And so verse 18 it says in who shy said unto Absalom nay But whom the Lord and his people and all the men of Israel choose his will I be and with him will I abide and Again, whom should I serve should I not serve in the presence of his son as I served in thy father's presence So will I be in thy present and Absalom just buys it hook line single verse 20 then said Absalom to Hithafel Give counsel among you what we shall do and so in chapter 17 We're going to begin to see the two types of counsel You got the counsel that who shy is going to give Absalom and then you have the council that a Hithafel is gonna give Remember I have to felt a very smart person. And so what a Councils Absalom is actually what would have caused Absalom to win but God's in this You know, he's working behind the scenes and he's gonna he's gonna basically snuff the council of a Hithafel here So, let's see look at verse number two of chapter 17 said well, hold on Yeah, look at verse number one, sorry chapter 17 verse 1 says moreover Hithafel said unto Absalom, let me now choose out 12,000 men and I will rise and pursue after David this night and I will come upon him while he's weary and weak-handed And will make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee and I will smite the king only and I will Bring back all the people unto thee the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned So all the people shall be in peace verse 4 and the saying please Absalom Well and all the elders of Israel then said Absalom call now who shy the arkite also and let us hear Likewise what he said, so he's like, okay Hithafel what you're saying? This sounds good Sounds like a good plan, but I want to hear what who shy says I want to see if he's really on my side if he's really gonna help our cause here In verse number six it says when who shy was come to Absalom Absalom spake and him saying Hithafel hath spoken after this manner shall we do after his saying if not speak down and who shy said into Absalom The council that a Hithafel hath given is not good at this time. So who shy is very smart here, right? Remember anybody who's gonna tell a lie or try to deceive somebody they're gonna give you some amount of truth And so he's saying like a hit fills not off his rocker What he's saying is true, but I know David better than him so keep that in mind It's not good at this time now look at verse 8 for said who shy thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men and They be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her Welps in the field and thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people So what who shy is saying here is true. It was well known that his men were chafed in their minds You know what the word chafe means you ever hear of chafing gear So like when electricians are gonna run cables over corners and you know over sharp edges like this here They'll put like a cloth or a plastic sleeve or conduit or something over it to prevent it from rubbing and fraying So the opposite of you know of that it would be you're just running it over the edge here and just you know Letting the natural, you know tendencies to are the the cables to basically to scratch and become you know Frayed or cut and just basically, you know spread out and he's like that's how these men are They're not all together. They're mentally they've got PTSD So to speak, you know, these people are crazy in a hit or absence like you know what? You're right These guys are crazy. I mean you could see that reading throughout this chapter, right? I mean how many times are they like look let me just go over there and take off his head You know They're going around or cut off people's hands or cutting off people's feet and stuff that we didn't even read about I mean these people really are were chafed in their minds So, you know who shy reminds them of that, you know, these people are like bears that have been robbed of their cubs You know just always ready, you know, never never you have the guard down Just basically people that we would probably say aren't maybe fit for our type of society They probably wouldn't fare too well with the laws that we have around here but nonetheless look at verse number 9 says behold he is hidden hour in some pit or in some other place and will Come to pass when some of them be overthrown at the first that whosoever hearth it will say there's a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom and he also that is valiant whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt for all Israel Knoweth that they father is a mighty man They which be with him are valiant men And so Absalom falls for it takes the bait and it doesn't go well for him because God's in it God's gonna you know He's not gonna let David's son take the kingdom from him. You know, God's about done with his chasing here So let's let's move on here real quick. Let's go over to chapter number 18 the Bible says about Absalom that he had Pulled his hair every year. He basically had long hair. He was a pretty boy You know, he probably had hair that most women would maybe maybe envy. I don't know, you know That's the way I view it when I read it You know, but if you think about it, I mean his you know Bathsheba, you know And all of David's wives the Bible says they were beautiful women It's the Bible says that David was a goodly person to look to you know So it would only make sense that their children were the same way and so keep that in mind I was read this here now look at verse number 9 and Absalom met the servants of David and Absalom wrote upon a mule So they're on the run here Joab's after him it says an Absalom met the servants of David and Absalom wrote upon a mule and The mule went under the thick bow of a great oak and his head caught hold of the oak And he was taken up between the heaven and the earth and the mule that was under under him went away so his head is he hits this branch basically and he flips upside down and You know, obviously his garments and his battle gear and stuff that I'm sure that didn't help verse 10 and a certain man Saw it and told Joab and said behold I saw Absalom hanged in an oak and Joab said unto the man that told him and behold thou Saw'st him and why didst thou not smite in there to the ground and I would have given the ten shekels of silver And a girdle and obviously David gave the command. Hey when you capture my son don't kill him So David doesn't want him to die David wants to still try to resolve the situation But nonetheless Joab's just you know chafed in his mind the guy's out for blood But you kind of see here that Absalom gets snared by his very own vanity I mean the guy had this long hair that wasn't a pleasant thing for him in this situation here So look down jump in verse number 14 it says Because basically this the servant here says you know what Joab, you know The king gave order not to do this not to not to kill him and I'm not gonna do it So verse 14 jobs, you know, he's gonna do it himself then said Joab I mean I may not Teary us with thee and he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet Alive in the midst of the oak and the and ten young men That bear Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him and Joab blew the trumpet and the people returned from suing after Israel for Joab held back the people and they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very Greedy heap of stones upon him and all Israel fled every one to his hand And so Israel's like, uh-oh we messed up Absalom didn't wind up getting the kingdom So the Bible says they all go to their tent and then you'll read about Shimei You know the guy who cursed David he runs up to Dave and he's like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry You know, you know that it was sin and he's gonna get dealt with next week as well in the beginning chapters of Kings Let's move on here. We're just about done Look at verse 19. It says I'm sorry chapter 19 verse 1 It says it was it was told Joab behold the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom and the victory that day was turned into mourning into all the people for the people Heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son and the people got him by stealth Got them by stealth that day into the city as people being ashamed steal away when they flee from battle So Israel is bitter, you know, and you're gonna see that carry off here as we read through Kings, you know They realized they made a mistake. It didn't go. Well God protected David, you know, but he allowed him to go through that as Chasing, you know as a result of what he did to Uriah the Hittite wasn't right And so we're just gonna finish this off here. We'll just take a look at David's last words here in chapter 23 Just kind of highlight a couple things here real quick. So first, I'm sorry second Samuel chapter 23 verse number one Says now these be the last words of David David the son of Jesse said and the man who was raised up on high the Anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said the Spirit of the Lord Spake by me and his word was in my tongue The God of Israel said the rock of Israel spake to me he that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God And so what do you get when we have the opposite of that you have treachery you have conspiracies You have turmoil you have governments and kingdoms that are just upside down the things just don't work out You know, the Bible says that people rejoice when there's a righteous person in office, you know And David's basically reaffirming that look at verse number four It says and he shall be as the light of the morning when the Sun rises even a morning without clouds As the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain in verse 5 He says although my house be not so with God yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow and We read verse 6 last week We'll jump down to verse number 8 and shifts gears and talks about the David's mighty men the men that fought with him They were the most valiant says these be the names of the mighty men whom David had the tachmanite That sat in the seat chief among the captains the same was a dino that he's night He lift up a spear against 800 whom he slew at one time and think about that a guy who could kill 800 people at one time with the spear I mean you would have a hard time finding a marksman today an expert marksman with a machine gun that could mow down 800 people that are scattered running around I mean This is just goes to show you that the mighty miracles and stuff the stuff that we'll never really fully understand That God did in this nation time. So look at verse 9. It says an after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo the Ahoyt one of the three mighty men with David when they defiled the Philistines that were gathered together to battle and the men of Israel Were gone away. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand Was weary and his hand clave unto the sword and the Lord brought a great victory that day and the people returned after him only as well So Eliezer fought so hard that his hand just naturally probably just cramped to that sword, you know And obviously the picture there is that we need to have that same Cleaving right that same clamp that same grasp on God's Word And so look down here at verse number 11 It says an after him was Shammah the son of Eddy the Harite and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop Where was a piece of ground full of lentils and the people fled from the Philistines and isn't that so true anytime? There's a problem anytime there's a battle. Most people will flee we saw that in judges recently you're seeing that here everybody runs away But there's one guy that says, you know, I'm not taking it. He's one guy that's willing to go upstream one guy that's willing to defy the odds verse 12, but he stood in the midst of the ground and Defended it and slew the Philistines and the Lord brought a great victory So God rewards Shammah for his bravery for his courage, you know for his faith that he had I mean you have how much faith would you have to have to see an entire truth an entire platoon of people coming at you Wanting to destroy you want to kill you and then you stand there and say you know what live or die You know, I'm not gonna look to stand, you know, and this is gonna go down and that's how Shammah was That's how the people that David surrounded himself were that was their mentality You know birds of a feather really do flock together this sort clung to David because that's how he was, you know That's the attitude that he gave and you know God rewarded him with those types of people and it was a blessing to him and so we're gonna be done right here and We'll be in first Kings next week. It's about our example word of prayer Lord Thank you so much for this this church Lord and for your word I just pray you bless the fellowship Lord and then the soul winning tomorrow and all that we do for you in Jesus name I pray amen