Wednesday Night Service 7PM -

All right, good evening. It's good to see everybody. Glad you're here. Before I get started, if anybody drives a red Dodge pickup, your lights are on and your battery's about to die. So just want to throw that out there so you don't get out of here and have a really bad night. With that, if you guys want to stand with me, we'll pray. We'll get started. Lord, we just thank you for another day. Thank you for this time that we can gather

together. We can worship you, Lord, and we can spend time in your word. Ask your blessing upon this time. Lord God, help us to lift a joyful noise to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Mulligan, and you guys can go and have a seat if you like.

And yes, Lord God, that is our prayer this evening. Lord, you can take everything else. Just give us Jesus, Lord. Because that's the only thing that matters is you. Lord, we just want to glorify you. Lord, this evening, may your word go out with power. May you change lives this evening, God. May your Holy Spirit move mightily, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Open up your Bibles to the book of 1 Chronicles 9. We're going to cover some pretty good territory again tonight. We're actually going to cover chapters 9 through 12 tonight. So hold on to your hats. We're going to be rolling. So as we said, 1 Chronicles was really written probably by Ezra as almost a way for the returning captives to be able to be reminded not only of their

lineage, their genealogy, but also of the fact that they're going to be able to be reminded of their genealogy, but also a good way for them to identify sort of their family and to bring that nationalist experience. So that's what happens here. And so the first eight chapters were really all of the genealogy. And so when we come to chapter 9, as he's gone through all of the genealogies of the tribe, chapter 9 is really a listing of those that would return from Babylon back to Israel. And so the first, about three-fourths of chapter 9, which I'm only going

to touch on one thing because I don't want to read all those names to you. I can't pronounce half of them. Returning captives of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, and the Levites. That pretty well covers us all the way down to verse 21, and that's what I want you to pay attention to. Look down at verse 21. We deal with the Levites, and I thought that this was kind of interesting.

This was the biggest thing that stuck out to me as I read chapter 9. It says this, Zachariah, the son of Meshalamiah, was gatekeeper of the entrance of the tent of meeting. Again, these are the Levites. All of these were chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds. They were 212. These were enrolled by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their office of trust. So they and their sons had charge of the

gates of the house of the Lord, even the house of the tent, as guards. The gatekeepers were on the four sides, to the east, the west, north, and the south. Their relatives in their village were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them. For the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, even the house of the tent, as guards.

They were in an office of trust and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God. And they spent the night around the house of God because the watch was committed to them. And they were in charge of opening it morning by morning. Now, you're probably like, Ryan, why do we care about that? Well, because that kind of stuck out to me as I was reading through that.

In all of the things that God lists, in all of the things that God saw fit for Ezra to list, he lists these Levites. Now, the Levites were the priestly tribe, remember? And really a pretty tribe. But when you come to these guys, these guys are the gatekeepers, right? They were the security guards for the tabernacle. That was their job. Their one job was to be the security. Their job

was to open the gates of the temple so that people could come in morning by morning. But a couple of things stuck out to me. The first thing that stuck out to me is that their job was considered an office of trust, an office of trust. So these gatekeepers, which by the way, there was only a handful of them that had this job consistently. They were the security guards for the tabernacle.

And their families had to come and visit them because they had to be on premises all the time. These gatekeepers were the most trusted of the Levites at that point in time. Not only was it an office of trust, but they were over all of the treasuries. They were the gatekeepers that oversaw all of the treasuries. And if we would have gone one more verse, we would

find that they were also in charge of all of the utensils. And they had one job and one job only. Their job was to open the gates every morning so that the people could get in. But the one thing that they did is they spent their time, it says they spent their nights in the house of the Lord. Now, if we were never told about these gatekeepers, we would never know

of the job that they had because most people would consider the job that they have pretty insignificant. They're the security guards for the tabernacle. And yet, God, in this listing, in this accounting of all of the genealogy said, there is no such thing as a small job in the economy of God. As a matter of fact, what the rest of the tribes, including the tribe of Levi, probably thought it was the most insignificant job, was that they spent their time in the house of God and did their job well.

And I think that that maybe is a word for somebody here tonight because sometimes we can feel insignificant in the things that we do. Well, I am just this. Well, this is all that I do. This is all that God has gifted me with. This is all that God has given me to do. And because of that, I'm going to make sure that everybody knows about them. And I'm going to

oftentimes we feel insignificant in the kingdom of God. Sometimes we feel insignificant in the economy of God. And sometimes we feel very insignificant in the world. And I want you to know whatever job God has given you, it is not an insignificant job because whatever God has given to you to do is an office of trust where you are put over certain things. And the most important

thing you can do is be faithful in the things that God has given for you to do because the rest of the world may never know your name, but God does. The rest of the world may never recognize what you do, but God does. The rest of the church may never recognize what you do, but God does. And that's the important thing because in the economy of God, even the most insignificant servant as far as the world is concerned is worthy of being named in the scriptures that people would read for another 4,000 years. And I thought that that was kind of an interesting thing. But anyway, that's kind of

what I got out of chapter 9. The rest of it's just a lot of genealogy. Verses 35 through 44 are the genealogy of Saul. Again, I'm not going to bore you with all of that, but that's the listing of King Saul. And when we get to chapter 10, this is where 1 Chronicles starts to pick up its history. Remember, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles is mainly about the line of David and all of the kings in the line of David.

So it gives us a very small snippet of Saul. It gives us his genealogy, and there's going to be one short chapter about his downfall, but I'm going to bring everybody back up to speed to remind us who Saul was. So the children of Israel had been living in what we would call a theocratic government or a theocracy. God was in charge. The ones who oversaw the people were either the high

priest or the prophets of the nation. The last great prophet of the nation that was in charge of the nation was a guy by the name of Samuel. Unfortunately, as great of a man of God as Samuel was, as great of a man of God as Samuel was, as great of a man of God as Samuel was, as great as great of a prophet as he was, he did a very poor job as a father, and he raised some sons that were not the best. And so everybody said, we're not sure if we want Samuel's sons to be in charge of us. They don't feel like the right ones to continue on the line of Samuel, if you will, as far as a

priestly or prophetic office is concerned. But what was really at the heart of what the people wanted is they wanted to be like the nations around them. And they said, give us a king like the nations around us. And Samuel's feelings were pretty hurt by it. He said, Lord, I don't know what to do. I clearly have failed you because they want a king. They don't want you to be in charge of

them. They don't want me to be in charge of them. They want a king like the other nations. And God says, don't worry, Samuel. They're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. Let them know what a king's going to do. Make sure that they go into this with their eyes wide open. But if they want a king, I'll give them a king. So Samuel told them exactly what a king would do. So they went into it

with their eyes wide open. They're like, we're fine with that. Let's roll forward. We want to be like the other nations around us. Give us a king. And so that's what God did. So God provided them with the king that they thought that they wanted. He was this great, big, handsome guy, the most kingly looking man in the land, head and shoulders taller than everybody else. And you know, that man was fine looking, right?

Like Glenn Powell, right? That's what I'm thinking of when I think of Saul. Like he's the guy that everybody's like, that's the guy. He's the one. He's the king. The only problem was while he looked like a king and started off with a heart that seemed like a king, he wasn't really truly a king after God's own heart because he struggled to obey God fully. He had the right look. He had the wrong

execution. And there was one instance that sealed it as far as God was concerned. He was supposed to wipe out the Amalekites. And he, of course, did not fully obey God, even though he claimed to have fully obeyed God. And when Samuel confronted him, he didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He

didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't own up to his mistake. He said, no, I did exactly what God wanted me to do. And Samuel said, then why do I hear the bleeding of sheep? Because he was supposed to completely wipe them all out as a sacrifice unto the Lord. And he said, because you would not obey God fully, the kingdom has been torn away from you and it will be given to another. And of

course, that's when David was anointed as king. But the rest of Saul's reign was a decline in his political power until we come to the very end of his reign in chapter 10. The very end of his reign was a battle. And if you remember correctly, Saul knew that the Philistines were coming against him in battle because they had drawn up in battle array. In other words, they encamped against him.

The battle was going to take place whether he was ready or not. And in the last moment when he could have cried out to the Lord, he didn't. Instead, he went and sought a medium, a witch, basically, to find a way to defeat him. And he did. And he did. And he did. And he did. And he did. And he tried to find out, to try to bring up the soul of Samuel, to find out how the battle was going to

end. And Samuel said, dude, you're going to die. You and your household, it's dunzo for you guys. And so he goes into the battle with the knowledge that he's going to lose. And that's where we pick up in chapter 10. It says now, verse 1, the Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines closely

pursued Saul and his sons. And the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. The battle became heavy against Saul and the archers overtook him and he was wounded by the archers. And Saul said to his armor bearer, draw your sword and thrust me through with it. Otherwise, the uncircumcised will come and they will abuse me. But his armor bearer would

not for he was greatly afraid. Therefore, Saul took his own sword and he fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was not able to win, he fell on it. And he fell on it. And he fell on it. And he was dead. He likewise fell on his sword and he died. Thus Saul died with his three sons and all those of his house died together. When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they

had fled, that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and they lived in them. What an unfortunate end for what could have been an amazing king. What an unfortunate end for a man who started off so well, and for all intents and purposes was everything they could have wanted in a king as far as the way that he looked. But what we learn is that the heart of a king is more important than the look

of the king. Just like the heart of a man or woman of God is more important than the look of the man or woman of God. It's less important how you look on the outside. And it's a whole lot more important as to how you look on the inside. Because one of the things that we learned, not only through the ending of Saul's reign, but the beginning of David's, is a very famous line that God told to

Samuel when he went to anoint David as king. And Samuel started seeing all of the sons of Jesse, who God told him he was going to anoint one of. So all the sons of Jesse, and they all look very kingly. And he kept saying, surely one of these is it. Because all he had in his mind was the picture of Saul, the kingly looking man. And God had to remind him, God's not like man. I don't look at

the outward appearance. I look at the heart. Because the heart is the most important thing. Because if you can capture the heart, my words, not God's. If you can capture the heart, then the outside appearance is going to take care of itself. And so we see the ending of Saul very tragically as he ultimately falls on his own sword so that he will not be abused by the Philistines. And then we find out in verse eight, it says,

it came about the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And so they stripped him, and they took his head and his armor, and they said, to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and they fastened his head in the house of Dagon. When all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and they took away the body of Saul, the bodies of his sons, and they brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under

the oak in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. It's always fascinating to me that God is not God's less concerned about his reputation than we are. Have you ever noticed that? That God allowed Saul to be defeated. As a matter of fact, we're going to see in just a moment that that God caused Saul to be defeated. And he knew that in that moment, they would boast of the

greatness of their gods, because that's exactly what they did. They take the body of Saul and his sons, and they paraded all around the land so that they could boast that their gods have defeated the great God. And in all of that, God is not insecure, because he still knows that he is ultimately in control, because he has already raised up his people, and he has already raised up his people, and he has already raised up the next one who will ultimately bring defeat to the Philistines. And God's not insecure in that moment. And I think there's a really good reminder for us here that if

God's not insecure about his name, we shouldn't get too insecure about his name. Like, I think sometimes we get a little bit nervous. Well, God, what are you going to do in this situation? People are going to start saying bad things about you. And God's probably like, people have been saying bad things about me for 6,000 years now. I don't think that's going to stop until I ultimately

bring an end to everybody that does. I'm okay with that, because I'm not insecure. I already have a plan. And I already know how I'm going to deal with it. And so they take his body, they parade him all over the land, and ultimately they hang him up in the house of their god, Dagon. But I love what it says next. But they were valiant men of Jebesh Gilead. Isn't that wonderful? In the midst of the defeat of the armies of Israel, in the midst of

the fall of a man named Saul, in the midst of rebellion in the land, because of their leader, there were still valiant men. There were still valiant men who knew what they needed to do, and were willing to risk their lives to do what was right, to honor someone that they still respected, even though he didn't deserve respect. And I'm reminded of the fact that in the culture that we live in today, there are still valiant men. Sometimes they feel few and far between.

Sometimes it doesn't feel like there's very many of them anymore. But we need to be reminded that there are still valiant men, and we can still be those valiant men that hold true to what we know to be right, even if nobody else does. That are willing to do what we know needs to be done, even if very few will follow us. There are still valiant men, because God will always have his valiant men doing his work, even in the worst of times. And so the men of Jebesh Gilead, they go

and they bring the bodies of Saul and his sons back, and they bury them properly. And then notice what it says, we're given this last little summary of the life of Saul. Verse 13. So Saul died for his trespass, which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord, which he did not keep, and also because he asked the counsel of a medium in making inquiry of it, and he did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore, he killed him, and he turned the kingdom of David,

or the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse. What an unfortunate obituary for someone who could have been a great king. What an unfortunate eulogy for a man who started off so well. And in it, we are reminded, while it's important that you start strong, it's even more important that you finish strong. And because he couldn't finish strong, God ultimately had to bring judgment on him.

And as he brought judgment, he turned the kingdom over to another. Because while Saul was the king, he turned the kingdom over to another. David was the king that people thought they wanted. David was the king that God knew they needed. And so we pick up in chapter 11, and it says this. Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron, and said, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. In times past, even when Saul was king,

you were the one who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, You shall shepherd my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. And David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord through Samuel.

The writer of the book of Chronicles here leaves out seven years of David's life. He leaves out the seven years in between the death of Saul and David being anointed king over all of Hebron, or over all of Israel. Because for those seven years, David ruled over just Judah. The rest of them followed one of Saul's failed sons in his reign. And the writer of the Chronicles leaves that part out.

But it's interesting because finally at the end of those seven years, all of Israel gathers together there and they say, You're the one that needs to be king. You're the one that needs to rule us. Because quite frankly, even when Saul was king, you did two things for the people. You led the people, you were the prince. And you fed the people, you were the shepherd.

It's kind of interesting because anyone that wants to truly be a leader that God has called for them to be, whether that's a pastor or a Sunday school teacher, or a parent or a grandparent, whatever aspect of leadership God puts you into, there's two things that you need to do. You need to lead and you need to feed. You have to be a leader. And listen, men, I'm talking to us here right now.

We have to be leaders. We have to be more like the men. We have to be more like the men of Jabesh Gilead. We have to be more like David where we lead the people. And leading is not an easy thing to do. Because leading means that you stand in the front. And you know what happens when you stand in the front? You don't get to watch what the people behind you are doing

because you have to take the lead. You see, you can't lead from the back. If you lead from the back, you look and see what the crowd is doing and then you mimic what the crowd is doing. That's not leading. That's following. But as a leader, you step to the front and know that no one else can guide you except God and you have to be the leader. You have to lead even though it means taking steps of faith.

You have to lead even though it means sometimes you're going to fall on your face, but by God's grace, you'll get back up and you'll keep doing it again. Because that's what God calls us as men to do. He calls us to lead. Whether it's popular, whether everybody else is doing it, whether anyone even wants to follow us, we're still called to lead. And if we're going to lead,

there can only be one person that we follow and that's the Lord. But not only, men, are we supposed to lead, but we have to feed. We have to feed the people that God has given to us, whether that be our families or our congregations. It means that we have to feed them. And the best thing that we can feed them is with the word of God. I'm reminded of what Jesus told to Peter

when Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus, of course, restored him by saying, Peter, do you love me? And he said, yes, Lord, you know that I kind of like you as a really good friend. And Jesus said, feed my sheep. It's interesting because Peter took that exact same phrase in his writing of the epistles that he wrote, 1 and 2 Peter. Do you know what he exhorted the men of God to do?

What he exhorted those leaders to do? Feed the flock. It's kind of interesting. Whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament, the theme is the same. If you're going to lead, you're going to have to feed. That means you're going to have to know the word for yourself if you're going to give it out to others. If you're going to give it out to others, if you're going to give it out to others,

if you're going to give it out to other people. And so they say, listen, David, we're going to follow you because, quite frankly, we've always followed you because you are the one who shepherds us and you are the one who leads us. And so David made a covenant with them there. And for the third time in David's life, he was anointed as king. The first time was when Samuel anointed him,

but he wasn't ready yet because he still had to go through his backside of the desert degree in order to be prepared. And even when he thought he was probably prepared, he still needed seven more years of preparation. And so David, at the end of Saul's reign, he was anointed as king over Judah, but he still wasn't ready to be king over all of Israel yet. It took him seven more years for this last one.

And finally, he's anointed king over all of Israel because God said, now you're ready. You've put in your time. You've put in your waiting time. You've put in your training time. Now it's time for you to lead. And that's what David does. So the first thing he does is he establishes a capital. It was what it says in verse four. Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem,

that is, Jebus. And the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you shall not enter here. Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. And David said, whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander. Then Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went up first, so he became chief.

And David, who dwelt in the stronghold, therefore it was called the city of David. He built the city all around and the millow, even to the surrounding area. And Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him. I particularly enjoy the second Samuel account of this because you get to see the trash talk of the Jebusites

when they say, we're gonna send out the lame and the women to defeat you. And David says, bring it. And they attacked the city. Of course, Jerusalem was a hard city to attack because it sits up on a hill. That's why you always ascend to Jerusalem. It's the highest point in the nation. And so as far as cities go, so you always have to go up. So it was a hard place to defeat.

And yet David was able to do it. David and his mighty men that we'll get to here in just a minute, were able to do it. And David said, whoever takes the lead on this and is the first to defeat one of the Jebusites, he's going to become the chief of my army. And we read here about a guy by the name of Joab. Joab, the son of Zeruiah. Zeruiah was actually David's half sister.

So Joab was actually David's nephew. And so Joab is the first one to take the lead. And Joab becomes that leader of the army. And he becomes a fierce warrior that everybody's afraid of, including David. The one man in David's life that I think he feared besides God was Joab. And so Joab takes the lead and David builds up the city. It becomes known as the city of David.

But we're given an interesting commentary on David in verse nine. It says, David became greater and greater for the Lord of hosts was with him. It's an important statement to be made because David really was a great king. David really was a great leader. He was a very wise man. He was a great warrior. But the writer of the Chronicles does the exact same thing

that the writer of first and second Samuel does. And he makes sure to include the fact that the thing that made David great was not the wisdom that he had. The thing that made David great was not his leadership skills. The thing that made David great was not the fact that he was a mighty warrior who wasn't afraid of anything. The thing that made David great is that God was with him.

And I point that out because that's the theme that we have seen in all of the Old Testament. Every great man that God used had the same commentary about them. God was with them, whether it was Noah, whether it was Eve.

Abraham, whether it was Joseph, or any of the other great men that God used, the thing that made them great was the presence of God with them. And I think that that's a really good reminder for us, that if you want your life to be great, then make sure that the presence of God is with you, and God will make everything about your life, everything that he has intended for it to be. That's where greatness comes from. And so we're giving this commentary on David, and now the rest of chapter 11 is all about David's mighty men. Now these are the heads of the mighty men

whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all of Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Now before we get into these exploits of these guys, and we'll spend a little bit of time on this, because I think it's fascinating. This is some of the most fascinating reading in the Old Testament, in my opinion. These guys had one job and one job only. They had one goal and one goal only, and it was not to build their own kingdom.

Did you notice that? Let me read that verse to you again. These are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all of Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Did you pick it up that time? These guys' one job was not to build their own kingdom. These guys' one job was to build David's

kingdom. And I think that that's an important, again, note for us to pay attention to, because these men were mighty. These men were great warriors. We're going to read some of their exploits in just a moment, but because they had a singular purpose to build the kingdom of David, they became great and mighty men. And I think that there's something there for us.

We cannot be those, who want to build our own kingdom. The problem I feel like in a lot of the church today, especially with a lot of the famous pastors, which is always a term that bothers me a lot, is that oftentimes, not always, I think there's some really good ones out there too, but oftentimes we can become those who want to build our own kingdom. We can do it in small ways in our households and our jobs and our careers, where we think, I want to build my own kingdom. Or sometimes we do it in large ministries, where we try to build our own kingdom. And the problem is,

if you want to build your own kingdom, you can't. It just won't last. You can build your own kingdom. It will just be destroyed. You just have to know that. But if you build a kingdom that God wants you to build, if you build the kingdom of the greater than David, which is Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, you will find that that kingdom will never fail. Because you notice that we're still talking about the kingdom of David,

because that's who Jesus is in the line of. And so it says that this is what they did. So these, verse 11, constitute the list of the mighty men whom David had. I'm going to do my best here. Jashobeam, I don't even know if that's how you say that. It feels like how you say it in Kentucky and not really in Israel, but that's how I'm going to say it. Jashobeam, the son of Hachmanite, the chief of the 30, he lifted up his

spear against 300 men whom he killed. He lifted up his spear against 300 men whom he killed. He lifted up his spear against 300 men whom he killed. At one time. Can you imagine that? Right? Like, I always play like a war movie in my mind when this is going on, and I picture like, like sort of like 300-ish type of a guy, you know, where he's standing up, only this guy actually is really good at his job, not like the 300 that end up dying.

This guy stands up against 300 men by himself with a spear, and he takes them all out. I don't know how you picture this guy, but these are Israelites, right? They're not the largest human beings on the face of the earth. These are just average guys, but they're men of God, and he's able to take his spear and wipe out 300 guys on his own. It's interesting because the account in 2 Samuel says he took out 800. Which number was it? Hard to say. Either one

feels pretty good to me, but he takes out 300 guys all by himself. The next guy that we read about, and he's one of the most elite of the warriors, the next guy that we read about is in verse 12. It says, after him, Eliezer, the son of Dodo, which I feel like is a strike against him from the word go, but anyway, Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the son of Dodo, the son of Dodo, the son of Dodo, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, again, two strikes against that guy with the names there, who was one of the three mighty men. He was with David in Paz Damim when the Philistines were gathered together to battle.

And there was a plot of ground full of barley, and the people fled before the Philistines, and they took their stand in the midst of the plot, and they defended it. And they struck down the Philistines, and the Lord saved them by a great victory. You can just picture that. You can just picture it, right? Like he's standing in the middle of this barley field,

and the Philistines rise up against him, and everybody else flees. And it's Eliezer, who's dealing with the fact that he's the son of Dodo, and David in the middle of this field, and everybody else runs. And I can imagine them looking at each other going, why not? Let's do this thing. Quick little fist bump, and they go to town, and they defeat him. Why do they care that much about a barley field?

Why do they care that much to stand their ground in the middle of some barley field? Because I want you to hear this. I want you to remember something. This was the land that God had promised to give to the children of Israel. And this young man and David knew, you can't give the Philistines, the enemies of God, you can't give them one single foothold in the land.

Because if they have one foothold in the land, they will continue to take more and more and more. And so no matter who's with you, no matter how great the odds are, you have to stand your ground. You have to stand your ground. Listen, even if everybody else runs, because you cannot give the enemy a foothold in the land. You hear where I'm going with this? Brothers and sisters, we got to quit giving the enemy a foothold in the land.

Even if everybody else runs, even if it's just you and Jesus, fist bump, go. Because you can't give the enemy a foothold in the land. And listen, if he's taken one, it's time to take it back. It's time to take it back. It's time to take the land back because it's worth it. The promised land that is your soul, the promised land that is your relationship with Jesus Christ,

the promised land that is your family is worth fighting for. The promised land that is the truth of the word of God is worth fighting for. And we can't give the enemy any more footholds. And if he's taken them, we have to take them back. And so that's what they do. They stand in the middle of this barley field and they go to town and they defeat the enemy. And the Lord gave them.

He gave them a great victory that day. Verse 15. Now three of the 30 chief men went down to the rock to David into the cave of Adullam while the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. Now this was David was in the stronghold while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. And David had a craving and said, Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.

So the three broke through the camp. The Philistines and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate. And they took it and they brought it to David. Nevertheless, David would not drink it, but he poured it out to the Lord. He said, Be it far from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives for the risk of their lives?

They brought it. Therefore, he would not drink it. These things, the three mighty men did. It's a fantastic. Fantastic story that sort of has an odd ending. But I want to tell you why it has such an odd ending right there. They're in this cave. And as they're in this cave, David's overlooking his hometown of Bethlehem that's been taken over by the Philistines.

And he remembers a spring of water down there. And it's a hot day, undoubtedly, in the nation of Israel, which is a desert like climate anyway. So it's hot and it's dry and he's in battle. And he remembers the water he drank when he was a kid. He's like, Oh, man, I'd give anything. For a drink of that water. Well, three of his mighty men hear what he say, what he says.

Isn't that great that they had the sensitivity to hear what their leader said? And because they could hear what their leader said, they're like, Hey, let's go. Dude, this, that's a suicide mission. Why not? Right? We live on borrowed time anyway. Let's go. And so these guys, you know, they sneak down through there, through the camp of the Philistines. And they get a big old bucket of water.

And they come back. And they bring it to David. And then David does something really odd. He takes the water and he pours it out. Now, this is the first time I've read this that I've actually understood why David did this. I've read, I don't know how many times I've read this story. Every time I'm just like, still, man, if I'm one of those guys that like snuck behind the line,

went straight reconnaissance on this thing, you know, like Navy SEAL, get behind the enemy lines. I'm like, bro, drink the water. Right? Don't dump that thing out. But in my mind, David was always just dumping it out. Saying, I can't. I can't drink this because you guys risked your lives. But this time around, I thought, no, this was a sacrifice on the part of David.

Remember, why does he want this water? Because it's hot. And it's dry. And it's battle. And he has a memory of it. And so when they bring him back this water, everything in the fiber of his being that's hot and thirsty and craving something that brings a good memory back to his mind, everything within him would have wanted to chug that water. But he didn't.

Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. That's a sacrifice. He literally sacrificed that which would have meant everything to him, to the Lord. Because what they did meant so much to him. And as he poured out that water, I can just imagine not only them, but him realizing the sacrifice that he was making in that moment. And him realizing the sacrifice that he was making in that moment.

Because he says, your life is so important to me that this is now a sacrifice unto the Lord for you. Because of what you did. Because of what you did for me. And I don't know, it just struck me this time, like that's what he was doing. This wasn't just him pouring it out. This was him truly making a sacrifice unto God. And so, that's what these three guys did for David.

Now we move on to verse 20. It says, As for Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was the chief of the 30, and he swung his spear against 300 and killed them. And he had a name as well as the 30. Of the three in the second rank, he was the most honored, and he became their commander. However, He was the most honored, and he became their commander. But he did not attain to the first three.

Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabziel, mighty in deeds, struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and he killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. And in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam. But he went down to him with a club, snatched the spear from the Egyptians.

And he killed him with his own spear. That is, to me, that's the most Jason Bourne moment of this entire story, right? Like he takes his own spear from him. A guy twice his size, he takes his own spear from him and kills him with his own spear. That is just, that's next level stuff right there. But I want you to pay attention to the three things that Benaiah defeated.

He defeated the Moabites, and he defeated an Egyptian, and he defeated a lion. Why is that important? Why is that important? Well, because you know what? You know what 1 John tells us? 1 John tells us that, that, that we are always in a battle against the world. And we're always in a battle against the flesh. And we're always in a battle against the devil. Do you know what Egypt always represents in Old Testament Scripture?

Egypt always represents the world. Do you know what Moab always represents in Old Testament Scripture? Moab always represents the flesh. Do you know how the devil is referred to as, in the New Testament, as a roaring lion walking about like a lion? It's called a moab. seeking whom he may devour. In this moment, in this story, we see that this man, Benaiah, a mighty man of God,

was able to defeat the world, the Egyptian, the flesh, the Moabites, and the devil, the lion. Why? Because God gave him victory. Isn't that cool? That's such a great picture of what God's able to do with anyone who fully devotes themselves to him. It says in verse 25, Behold, he was honored among the 30, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.

Now the mighty men of the armies were Asahel, the brother of Joab, Elhanan, the son of Dodo, again, of Bethlehem, Shemoth, the Hororite, Helez, the Pelonite, and he goes through the list of all of the other mighty men. There's one name that I'm gonna point out to you that I think is important for us to pay attention to, and it's in verse 41. It says, Uriah the Hittite. Every time I think about the fact that David committed adultery with Bathsheba and her husband was Uriah, I just have to think, what a moron.

I mean, all sin aside, you just slept with one of your mighty men's wives. Like that was, that's the biggest mistake you can make. Not only is it against bro code, but it's the wrong thing to do. And I would think taking his own life into his own hands, which is why he knew he had to deal with Uriah. Anyway, so the rest of this is the listing of all of the mighty men.

The last thing I wanna point out to you about chapter 11 is this. You might write 1 Samuel 22, verses one and two, maybe in the margin of your Bible at the end of that chapter. 1 Samuel 22, verses one and two. Because in 1 Samuel chapter 22, those first two verses, it says that there was a group of men that gathered themselves to David. And this is how it describes them.

It describes them as distressed. It describes them as discouraged. And it describes them as indebted. And it says that they all gathered themselves to David. In other words, all of the losers in the land of Israel gathered themselves to David. And God took a group of losers, the discontented, the discouraged, and the indebted, and he redeemed their lives, and he turned them into the mighty men of David.

And I love that. Because that tells me that that's what God's able to do with me. And that tells me that that's what God's able to do with you. Is God takes the people who feel like they have nothing going for them, who have nothing but discontentment and discouragement and indebtedness. And when we bring all of that to God, God says, watch what I'm gonna do with you.

Watch what I can do with you. Because I'm gonna take you who think you have nothing to offer to anybody, and I'm gonna turn you into, a man of God that will be spoken of forever. Because that's what God's able to do with us. Because quite frankly, none of us come to God until we get to the point where we are discouraged and discontented and indebted. And then we finally say, I'm just gonna surrender now.

And God says, let's see what we can do with you. And it's amazing what God's able to do. Chapter 12. I have seven minutes left, so hang with me. Hang with me, kids. Chapter 12. It says, now these are the ones who came to David at Ziklag while he was restricted because of Saul, the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. If you remember right before the battle that we read about

at the beginning of chapter 10, David was actually living in the land of the Philistines because he had been fleeing from Saul. And as he had fled from Saul, many of the men that would have fought alongside Saul defected to David, not the least of which were many of Saul's own tribe, Benjamin. Well, these are the ones who are mighty men that ultimately helped David, not only in the war against the Amalekites that he will have to fight, but also as he becomes the king of Israel. It says in verse two that they were equipped with bows using both right hand and left hand to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow, which by the way, that was an incredible feat.

That's an incredible feat today. But it was especially an incredible feat at that point in time to be able to be ambidextrous with the way that you handled your weaponry. It says the chief was that guy, then Joash, the sons of Shammah, the Gibeathite, Jaziel, the Pellethite, and Pellet, the sons of Asmaveth, and Barakah, and Jehu, the Anathite, and the rest of those names. Jump down to verse eight.

It says from the Gadites, in other words, the tribe of Gad, there came over to David, and the stronghold and the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of a lion, and they were as swift as the gazelles on a mountain. I love that description of those guys, but what I love the most is that while they were men of valor, they could handle a shield and a spear, they had faces like the face of a lion, they were swift as gazelles, they were trained for war. Because no matter how much, no matter how much they had going for them, if they were not teachable, they would not be good warriors. Because no matter how much talent you have, no matter how much skill you have,

if you're unteachable, if you can't be trained, then you can't be used. If you're not humble enough to know that you need teaching, then you're not humble enough to be used by God. And that's who these men were. They came to David, and then jump over to verse 14, it says, these were the sons, these of the sons of Gad, were captains of the army. And he who was least was equal to a hundred,

and the greatest to a thousand. And these are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks. They put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west. And some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. And David went out to meet them. And he said to them, if you come peacefully to me to help me,

my heart shall be united with you. But if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no God, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide. All of these men have just defected from Saul. And while David was a wise man with discernment, he still knew the potential of someone being his enemy in amongst those who called themselves friends was really strong.

And so he said, listen, I don't know very much about you guys. And I don't know how to tell if you're for me or not for me. If you're for me, you're welcome. But if you're not, I'm not here to turn me over. Just know that God's going to deal with you. And I love the response. Verse 18, it says, Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty.

And he said, We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse. Peace, peace to you, and peace to him who helps you. Indeed, your God helps you. And then David received them and made them captains of the band. I love that in this moment when David needed that discernment of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of them. Which, by the way, was an abnormal thing in the Old Testament.

You usually only saw this when it was someone prophesying in some kind of way. And David needed that word from the Lord in that moment. And God gave him that word. And he said, no, no, we're with you because God helps you. And so it says, From Manasseh also some defected to David when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. And they did not help them,

for the lords of the Philistines, after consultation, sent him away. And as he went to Ziklag, there defected to him from Manasseh Adna, Jozabad, Jadiel, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, Zilathai, captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. And they helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were captains in the army. For day by day men came to David to help him until there was a great army like the army of God.

And so they were the divisions equipped for war. And so he numbers them all off. And we jump down to verse 32 and it says, Of the sons of Issachar there were men who understood the times with the knowledge of what Israel should do. Their chiefs were two hundred and all their kinsmen were at their command. Verse 32 really stuck out to me as well. Because of Issachar

they were at their command. We read that there were men there who understood the times and they knew what needed to be done. Men who understood the times and knew what needed to be done. And I just wonder in the culture that we're living in today, do we have some people that understand the times? We're going to talk about this Sunday actually. I'll reference this again on Sunday morning.

But we need to recognize the times that we're living in. Because that's what they realized. They realized that God was moving in the life of David and they recognized it and they knew that it was time to take action. I think that's an important thing for us to pay attention to because if we don't pay attention to what's going on in the times around us we won't be prepared for what God has for us.

And so it says they knew those things and they acted on those things. And so they go on to list the other men who were available and it says verse 38 all these being men of war who could draw up in battle formation with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king they were there with David three days eating and drinking for their kinsmen had prepared for them moreover those who were near to them even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and on oxen great quantities of flour cakes fig cakes and bunches of raisins wine, oil, oxen and sheep and if you're an underliner you might underline this last line and there was joy

indeed in Israel there was joy indeed in Israel I wrote this down I don't know how wise it is but I wrote it because I thought it was neat and it says there is joy when the king is on the throne there is true joy in our hearts when the king is on the throne because that's what you find with the nation of Israel they had surrendered to God's will and there was great joy in the house of Israel and it's the same way in our own hearts true joy is in our hearts when the king truly is on the throne and we have surrendered to his rule and to his reign Father we come to you now and we just praise you for the example that's given to us in your word and Father for the wisdom that's shared with us and so Lord may we be men and women of God who are ready

for what you have next for us and who keep you on the throne of our hearts as we bring you all of our nothing and see you do with it more than we could ever imagine and so Father we praise you in Jesus name Amen be blessed