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Aftermath of a Giant-Killing Msg 524 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Fresh off the greatest moment of his young life, David
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  Speaker 1: was riding high. That high moment is recorded for us
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  Speaker 1: in the 17th chapter of 1 Samuel. But like all
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  Speaker 1: of us, when we experienced the joys of a victory,
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  Speaker 1: he had no idea what the following days would bring.
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  Speaker 1: Would it be more successes and greater glory? Or would
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  Speaker 1: he fall from his new lofty status? He didn't know.
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  Speaker 1: Either way, standing at the pinnacle of profound triumph, David
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  Speaker 1: had to trust the Lord, just as you and I
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  Speaker 1: have to do when we experience successes of our own.
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  Speaker 1: Turn with me now in your Bibles to the last
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  Speaker 1: verses of 1 Samuel 17. I want to begin reading
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  Speaker 1: at verse 55, and then we'll continue on through the
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  Speaker 1: 18th chapter, verse 9. This is 1 Samuel 17, beginning
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  Speaker 1: with verse 55. Now when Saul saw David going out
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  Speaker 1: against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of
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  Speaker 1: the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And
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  Speaker 1: Abner said, By your life, O king, I do not know.
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  Speaker 1: You inquire whose son the youth is. So when David
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  Speaker 1: returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought
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  Speaker 1: him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand.
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  Speaker 1: Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man?
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  Speaker 1: And David answered, I am the son of your servant
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  Speaker 1: Jesse the Bethlehemite. Now we're into verse 1 of chapter 18.
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  Speaker 1: Now it came about when he had finished speaking to
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  Speaker 1: Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the
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  Speaker 1: soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. Saul
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  Speaker 1: took him that day and did not let him return
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  Speaker 1: to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David,
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  Speaker 1: because he loved him as himself. Jonathan stripped himself of
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  Speaker 1: the robe that was on him, and gave it to
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  Speaker 1: David with his armor, including his sword and his bow
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  Speaker 1: and his belt. So David went out wherever Saul sent him,
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  Speaker 1: and prospered. And Saul set him over the men of war,
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  Speaker 1: and it was pleasing in the sight of all the people,
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  Speaker 1: and also in the sight of Saul's servants. It happened
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  Speaker 1: as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine,
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  Speaker 1: that the women came out of all the cities of
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  Speaker 1: Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines,
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  Speaker 1: with joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang
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  Speaker 1: as they played and said, Saul has slain his thousands
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  Speaker 1: and David his ten thousands. Then Saul became very angry.
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  Speaker 1: for this saying displeased him. And he said, They have
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  Speaker 1: ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have
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  Speaker 1: ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?
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  Speaker 1: Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like to begin the message by asking a rather
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  Speaker 1: unusual question. I want you to think about it, even
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  Speaker 1: though it may make you chuckle, as a serious point
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  Speaker 1: to it. When is the last time that you thanked
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  Speaker 1: the Lord for not showing you the future? It's true
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  Speaker 1: what Joni's saying. He never changes, but we certainly do.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I've made a note of
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  Speaker 1: some of the things that change over time. The passing
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  Speaker 1: of years. Let's take five years. Let's think about our
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  Speaker 1: lives as they have been altered and affected over these
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  Speaker 1: past five years. The places where you have lived. You
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  Speaker 1: know that the American family on an average moves once
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  Speaker 1: every three years. We have friends who live very near
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  Speaker 1: us who have moved over 30 times in their years
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  Speaker 1: in marriage. And it's very possible they'll be moving soon again.
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  Speaker 1: The places we live change. Well, how about the people?
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  Speaker 1: People that we knew and claimed as close friends today
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  Speaker 1: are not close friends. And some that we didn't even
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  Speaker 1: know five years ago we have among the closest of
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  Speaker 1: our friends right now. Friends change. People that once we
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  Speaker 1: held dear have become, on some occasions, enemies. They have
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  Speaker 1: misunderstood us. Today we live in the wake of that
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  Speaker 1: unhappy and unfortunate memory. People change. Jobs change, don't they?
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  Speaker 1: Very few people are working right now where they worked
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  Speaker 1: five years ago. In fact, some are not working tonight
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  Speaker 1: that were working five years ago. Some of you have
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  Speaker 1: been promoted. Some of you have entered businesses on your own,
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  Speaker 1: and others of you have left your own business and
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  Speaker 1: gone into corporate work. I was talking with a mother
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  Speaker 1: following the first service, and she said, my daughter recently
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  Speaker 1: graduated from a university and named it, and it's a
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  Speaker 1: fine university. She says, you know what she's doing? And
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  Speaker 1: I said, what? She said, she's a shepherd in Wyoming.
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  Speaker 1: Can you believe that? College graduate, highly qualified to shepherd sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you're working at a place you never dreamed you'd
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  Speaker 1: be working five years ago. Or how about your home?
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  Speaker 1: Don't things change there? Some parents here tonight, brokenhearted because
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  Speaker 1: they don't really know where their kids are. Some brokenhearted
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  Speaker 1: because they do. They're not walking with God. Some of
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  Speaker 1: you have parents that have changed over the last five years.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you have lost your parents. Some have lost
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  Speaker 1: those dearest and nearest to them. Death has come. How
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  Speaker 1: about school? We'll pass on to the next one. Our
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  Speaker 1: health has changed. For some of you, there are physical
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  Speaker 1: disabilities you never knew before. For others, there's been healing
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  Speaker 1: and you've never been healthier. And God has graciously provided
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  Speaker 1: for your need and your health. Ed Kemp is different
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  Speaker 1: tonight than he was this morning when he got up.
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  Speaker 1: Not in five years, but in a matter of a
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  Speaker 1: few hours. Stricken in the third morning service with a
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  Speaker 1: heart attack. Or how about tests in life? Like I
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  Speaker 1: make a list of those things that have happened in
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  Speaker 1: five years time. Aren't you glad God didn't tell you
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  Speaker 1: all of those things five years ago? Aren't you glad
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  Speaker 1: he didn't give you your life on credit? So that
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  Speaker 1: you can pick and choose those enormous things you could
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  Speaker 1: have worried about five years ago. You can just take
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  Speaker 1: them now just one day at a time. That's the
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  Speaker 1: way he dispenses life. Because he never changes and he
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  Speaker 1: knows what will work together for good. You and I don't.
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  Speaker 1: We sort of ricochet from one moment to the next,
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  Speaker 1: trying to put together what life is all about, and
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  Speaker 1: we can't figure it out. Some here thought for sure
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  Speaker 1: they would have a mate by now. Some of you
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  Speaker 1: wish that you didn't have a mate by now. It's true.
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  Speaker 1: Life changes. You know, life is like that. God did
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  Speaker 1: this in the days of a prophet named Habakkuk. I
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  Speaker 1: believe if he would have told us what he told Habakkuk,
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  Speaker 1: we wouldn't have believed it. And they lived in hard times.
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  Speaker 1: And Habakkuk said, God, you can trust me. Difficult days
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  Speaker 1: like this demand an understanding of where I'm going. And
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  Speaker 1: God says, no, Habakkuk, if I told you, you wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: believe it. Habakkuk said, yes, I would. You tell me.
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  Speaker 1: I want to trust you for your plan. And God
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  Speaker 1: told him and he didn't believe it. He said to
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  Speaker 1: God in so many words, I can't believe you're going
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  Speaker 1: to do that. And that's often the way it is.
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  Speaker 1: When God unveils that curtain called the future, we want
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  Speaker 1: it shut right quick. Isn't it strange? People spend literally
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  Speaker 1: millions of dollars every year to discover the future only
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  Speaker 1: to have their fears strengthened and their worry list lengthened.
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  Speaker 1: God's good not to show us tomorrow. That's what makes
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  Speaker 1: the Bible so relevant. How gracious of God to give
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  Speaker 1: David one day at a time I wonder how many
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  Speaker 1: people think that David, after he killed the giant, within
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  Speaker 1: a matter of just a few days, took the throne
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  Speaker 1: and became the youngest king in the history of Israel. No,
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  Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, the aftermath of the giant
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  Speaker 1: killing led David into the deepest low tides of his
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  Speaker 1: entire life. And God was good not to tell him
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  Speaker 1: it was coming. A man who proved himself faithful on
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  Speaker 1: the battlefield, a man who killed one that everyone else
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  Speaker 1: was afraid of, turned in his experience from the highest
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  Speaker 1: pinnacle of popularity to the lowest tide. Just like some
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  Speaker 1: of you, you have known in the past five years
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  Speaker 1: an elevation and now a depression that's unparalleled. well in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 17 of first Samuel we're going to be looking
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  Speaker 1: at some very practical things as the passage bleeds on
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  Speaker 1: into chapter 18 I think it's very unfortunate that we
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  Speaker 1: have a chapter break here they all tie together in
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  Speaker 1: sort of a panoramic flow of life David has just
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  Speaker 1: accomplished an incredible thing. It's a remarkable achievement. A young man,
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  Speaker 1: not yet 20 years old, not six feet tall, I'm sure,
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  Speaker 1: never wore a uniform from the Israeli army, never once
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  Speaker 1: suited up for battle, never once knew what it was
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  Speaker 1: to carry a sword under the kingdom of Saul. And
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  Speaker 1: yet he walked out on the battlefield and he faced
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  Speaker 1: a 9 foot 9 inch giant. And with one throw
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  Speaker 1: of the sling, he killed him. And you know what happened?
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  Speaker 1: There was instant popularity. Very few people can take that.
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  Speaker 1: Very few can take what David took. He suddenly flew
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  Speaker 1: into the attention of the public. Before we get into that,
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  Speaker 1: I want to show you something about verse 55 through
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  Speaker 1: verse 58 here. It's sort of a flashback. You've seen
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  Speaker 1: films or movies or television dramas where you're looking at
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  Speaker 1: the present and then suddenly the lens is fading out
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  Speaker 1: and there's a smear and you suddenly come back into
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  Speaker 1: focus on something that happened before. That's verse 55 through 58, flashback.
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  Speaker 1: When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he
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  Speaker 1: said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose
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  Speaker 1: son is this young man? Abner said, by your life,
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  Speaker 1: O king, I do not know. Now this is a flashback. David,
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  Speaker 1: we know, has already slain the giant. But God wants
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  Speaker 1: us to hear something that happened back in the tent
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  Speaker 1: of Saul while the giant killing was going on. There
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  Speaker 1: was a conversation that happened that's very significant. It ties
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  Speaker 1: David with Saul. He said, whose son is he? He says,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. Verse 56, the king said, you inquire
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  Speaker 1: whose son the youth is. When David returned from killing
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  Speaker 1: the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul
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  Speaker 1: with the Philistine's head in his hand. Must have been super.
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  Speaker 1: He stopped on the way to Jerusalem and walked up
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  Speaker 1: to the king and visited with him. Well, he had
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  Speaker 1: this gigantic head in his hand and he talked with
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  Speaker 1: King Saul. Verse 58 says, Saul asked him, whose son
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  Speaker 1: are you, young man? David answered, I am the son
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  Speaker 1: of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Critics just do backflips
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  Speaker 1: in passages like this. So you see there, we've got
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  Speaker 1: an unreliable text. Here's a perfect example of how the
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  Speaker 1: Bible is corrupt, say the critics. Why would they say that? Well,
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  Speaker 1: for a chapter and a half, David has been Saul's
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  Speaker 1: personal musician. He's played for him during his depressed days.
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  Speaker 1: He has been standing before him and suiting up for battle.
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  Speaker 1: He's been a man who has been a personal confidant.
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  Speaker 1: We saw that time and again in previous studies. And
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  Speaker 1: here he wants to know who he is. Well, I'm
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  Speaker 1: bothered by that kind of criticism because Saul never asked,
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  Speaker 1: who is this man? The critics build straw men and
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  Speaker 1: then set them on fire and say, you see there,
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  Speaker 1: the Bible's not reliable. Look at what Saul wanted to know.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't want to know who is David. He asked
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  Speaker 1: three times the same basic question. He wanted to know
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  Speaker 1: whose son is the young man, verse 55. Whose son
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  Speaker 1: is this youth? Verse 56. Whose son are you, young man?
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  Speaker 1: Verse 58. He didn't want to know who David was.
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  Speaker 1: He knew who David was. He wanted to know who
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  Speaker 1: his father was. Now the question comes, why do you
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  Speaker 1: want to know who his dad was? We need to
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  Speaker 1: learn to read the Bible for what it is, not
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  Speaker 1: for what we think it's saying. It's a good question.
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  Speaker 1: Look at verse 2 of chapter 18. It'll help you
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  Speaker 1: know part of the reason. He wanted to know who
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  Speaker 1: his father was. Saul took him that day and did
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  Speaker 1: not let him return to his father's house. Saul said,
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  Speaker 1: we want to know who your dad is because I
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  Speaker 1: want you permanently as my bodyguard. Anybody that can whip
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  Speaker 1: a Philistine that big deserves to be my bodyguard. So
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  Speaker 1: he wanted David to be in the court permanently. And
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  Speaker 1: that took the father's permission. Furthermore, look at verse 25
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  Speaker 1: of chapter 17. And you'll see another reason he wanted
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  Speaker 1: to know who his dad was. 1725, the men of
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  Speaker 1: Israel said, Have you seen this man who is coming up?
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  Speaker 1: Surely he's coming to defy Israel, speaking of Goliath. And
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  Speaker 1: now it will be that the king will enrich the
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  Speaker 1: man who kills him with great riches and will give
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  Speaker 1: him his daughter and will make his father's house free
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  Speaker 1: in Israel. Saul wanted to make his promise good. So
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  Speaker 1: he wanted to know who his father was so he
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  Speaker 1: could write the check. and unload his daughter. And third,
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  Speaker 1: he wanted to know who his father was because he
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  Speaker 1: wanted to give him tax-free benefits. Whose son is he?
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  Speaker 1: This man is out to slay the giant, and I
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  Speaker 1: need to make my promise good. That makes good sense,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't it? Pay close attention to those that attack the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: those that point out all of its fallacies and all
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  Speaker 1: of its contradictions, and you look close, you'll discover by
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  Speaker 1: just common sense interpretation, most of those can be given
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  Speaker 1: almost in an off-the-cuff manner. Critics work overtime to really
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  Speaker 1: confuse what is quite simple. Now here's a simple question
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  Speaker 1: that deserved a simple answer and frankly no one knew
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  Speaker 1: his lineage, but he was destined to greatness. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: some of you are too. You don't know that. Very
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  Speaker 1: few people can handle instant success. Carlisle was right. Affliction
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  Speaker 1: is bad. But for every person that can handle prosperity,
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  Speaker 1: there are a hundred that can handle adversity. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the greatest test is success. Some of you are highly gifted.
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  Speaker 1: You were on the verge of being used in a
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  Speaker 1: business or in a career or in the world of,
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  Speaker 1: who knows, entertainment, maybe in the world of music, perhaps
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  Speaker 1: as a writer or a composer. of books or music.
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  Speaker 1: And not knowing that, perhaps tonight God is saying, do
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  Speaker 1: you learn a lesson from David about instant success? What
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  Speaker 1: a man. I read Mark Spitz's comment after he won
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  Speaker 1: the seven gold medals in the Olympics, and he commented
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  Speaker 1: that he never dreamed that the pressure would be so
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  Speaker 1: great in public applause. Overnight success, a millionaire several times
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  Speaker 1: over just in the commercials, just in the ad world.
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  Speaker 1: Elvis Presley never did learn how to live with it.
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  Speaker 1: The highest paid male performer in American history. Never really
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  Speaker 1: learned how to handle it. Now David knew how to
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  Speaker 1: take success and live with it without it affecting him.
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  Speaker 1: That's a rare person. In fact, as I read this passage,
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  Speaker 1: it sort of unfolds into four different relationships. There's a
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  Speaker 1: relationship of submission with Saul. There's a relationship of affection
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  Speaker 1: with Jonathan, a relationship of elevation or exaltation, as we mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: with the nation, the people, and then finally of opposition,
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  Speaker 1: which lasted year after year after year. You see, God's
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  Speaker 1: hand was on David. He was going to use him
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  Speaker 1: as the great king of Israel, and he had to
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  Speaker 1: break him and hone him and sharpen him and crush him.
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  Speaker 1: Tozer is right. It's doubtful that God can use any
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  Speaker 1: person greatly until he's hurt him deeply. And that's where
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  Speaker 1: David was. In the crucible of pain. Now, you will
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  Speaker 1: notice that he brought him in. That is, Saul brought
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  Speaker 1: in David, verse 58, said, I am the son of
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  Speaker 1: your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. Verse 2 of chapter 18,
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  Speaker 1: Saul took him that day and did not let him
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  Speaker 1: return to his father's house. So Verse 5 adds, David
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  Speaker 1: went wherever Saul sent him. Isn't that beautiful? Here is
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  Speaker 1: the champion of champions, the slayer of the giant. And
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  Speaker 1: he went wherever Saul sent him. He was in submission.
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  Speaker 1: You might be a very gifted person, highly capable of
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  Speaker 1: many things beyond what you're asked to do in your employment.
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  Speaker 1: But you be careful about running ahead. You do your
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  Speaker 1: job in a submissive manner. If you work under an individual,
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  Speaker 1: you be loyal to that individual or you quit. You
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  Speaker 1: make a success of that individual that you serve under
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  Speaker 1: or you leave the company. Your calling is not to
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  Speaker 1: badmouth your superior. Your calling is to be a person
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  Speaker 1: of integrity and to go wherever you are sent. That's
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  Speaker 1: what David did. He served as sort of an intern incognito,
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  Speaker 1: a king in the making. That really does put down
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  Speaker 1: roots right now in some lives that are here. God
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  Speaker 1: talks in practical ways. In fact, I find four times
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  Speaker 1: in this chapter we read that David prospered. See verse 5?
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  Speaker 1: He went wherever Saul sent him and he prospered. Verse 14,
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  Speaker 1: David was prospering in all his ways. Verse 15, when
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  Speaker 1: Saul saw that he was prospering greatly. Verse 30, then
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  Speaker 1: the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle and
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  Speaker 1: it happened as often as they went out, David prospered.
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  Speaker 1: The scripture renders it, behaved himself wisely. Four times in
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  Speaker 1: this chapter, he behaved himself wisely. What a man. Not
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  Speaker 1: one whit of envy or jealousy. He simply did what
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  Speaker 1: God led him to do. And God gave him prosperity.
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  Speaker 1: He'll do that. Submitting to authority, God lifted up the
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  Speaker 1: life of David above his peers. So that's the first experience.
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  Speaker 1: Here's another one. Standing in the shadows as David stood
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  Speaker 1: before the king was a man who was named Jonathan.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 1. He is the son of King Saul. They
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  Speaker 1: have apparently never met until this moment. But suddenly their
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  Speaker 1: lives are knitted together. It came about when he, David,
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  Speaker 1: had finished speaking to Saul that the soul of Jonathan
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  Speaker 1: was knit to the soul of David. And Jonathan loved
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  Speaker 1: him as himself. Verse 3, then Jonathan made a covenant
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  Speaker 1: with David because he loved him as himself. I know
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  Speaker 1: for Bible students, this is a familiar passage, but maybe
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  Speaker 1: there's something that you haven't seen before. God knew that
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  Speaker 1: David needed an intimate friend to go through the valley
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  Speaker 1: that was ahead of him. And that's true in our
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  Speaker 1: lives as well. There are some here tonight who have
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  Speaker 1: a few intimate friends. Intimate friends are never great in number.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have a whole lot of intimate friends. You
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  Speaker 1: have a few. Often only one. Occasionally two or three
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  Speaker 1: in all of life. And there's something about an intimate
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: friend that allows you to knit your soul with him
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: or with her. See how it's rendered in verse 1?
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: The soul of Jonathan was knit. There is an interweaving
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: of soul with soul. It's what I call a kindred spirit.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Isn't it true? You will run across a few people
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: in life with whom you have a kindred spirit and
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: you don't even have to work at cultivating a relationship.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: It just grows. It just builds. And there you are,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: intertwined together. It's almost overnight it happened. I want to
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: share with you four characteristics of an intimate friend from
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: the passage we're looking at and a couple of chapters
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: before us. Okay, here they are. Number one, an intimate
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: friend is characterized by a voluntary willingness to sacrifice. You
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: don't have to beg a close friend for a favor.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: He is violent or she is voluntarily willing to sacrifice.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: See verse four, Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: was on him and gave it to David with his armor,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: including his sword and his bow and his belt. He
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: wanted to give David something that belonged to him and
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: was meaningful to him. Friends do that. They're not stingy.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: You can hardly presume on an intimate friend. Another verse
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: is in chapter 20, verse 4. Yes, it is. Verse 4.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Then Jonathan said to David, whatever you say, I will
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: do for you. That's the word of an intimate friend.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: You can hardly impose on an intimate friend. He's there
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: for the purpose of assisting. He doesn't keep score as
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: to whether it's your turn or his turn. Just loves
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to be with you. An intimate friend is there to
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: assist in whatever way is needed. Unselfishness prevails. Let me
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: give you another one. Chapter 19, verses 4 and 5.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: An intimate friend... is a loyal defense before others. He
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: won't talk against you when you're not around. Ever had
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: a fair weather friend? He's noted for doing the opposite.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: He speaks with forked tongue. When you're there, he says
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: one thing. When you're gone, he says another. He's not
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: an intimate friend. See, 19.4, Jonathan spoke well of David
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to Saul, his father. Hey, now listen, that was significant.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Saul was not only his father, Saul was the enemy
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: of David. And Jonathan stood up to his father and said, Dad,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: you're wrong about David. It says he spoke well of
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: David to Saul. He said, do not let the king
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: against you. Since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: For he took his life in his hand and struck
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the Philistine. And the Lord brought about a great deliverance
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: for all Israel. And you saw it and rejoiced. Why
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: to death without a cause? That's a defense. You have
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: a friend? You defend him when people speak against him?
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Or do you bad mouth him? He's not a friend
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: if you don't stand in loyal defense of him when
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: others say certain things against him. Sometimes it's hard to
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: do that. Sometimes envy fights. Ruth Harms Calkin in her book,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forget, writes about it. Lord,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: help me to be her friend, to care for her
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: genuinely without envy shrinking my heart. When I see her
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: at the banquet tonight, poised, radiant, beautifully attired, May I
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: congratulate her with honest enthusiasm, regardless of the fact that
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: both our husbands were eligible for promotion and hers won. Practical, huh?
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Sometime you will fight the battle of envy. But when
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: you're a close friend with an individual and that individual
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: or his partner or wife or husband is exalted, you
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: rejoice over that exaltation, that elevation. You applaud because God
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: has lifted them up. You know, a scripture that really
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: goes begging in the family of God, rejoicing with those
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: that rejoice. What letter of congratulations do you write to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: one who gets an honor that you sort of thought
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: you deserved? You're running for office in a school and
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: someone beats you out. How's your attitude? Don't tell us.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Just think it. It doesn't stop in school. It goes
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: right into business. You're working alongside or in a pool
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and suddenly they reach down and the management lifts up
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: one and says, she gets the promotion. Attitudes are affected.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Few are the individuals that say, hey, that's great. I'm
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: happy for you. Here's a man who stood in defense
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: of his friend against his own father. who was ready
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: to take David's life. This is what you call bottom
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: line theology. This is putting shoe leather to your belief,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: to your faith. And I'll tell you, jealousy can run
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: rampant on a mission field, just like it can run
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: rampant in a church right here in America. Jealousy can
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: run among the ranks of the ministers. And the ministerial
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: is affected because one fellow doesn't get the church the
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: other fellow thought he ought to have. Or vice versa.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: One gets the church that the other one thought. And
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: that jealousy runs through our bloodstream. And I'll tell you,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: you'll be a friend of one of those individuals and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: you'll need to stand in his defense. Because you're friends.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Here's the third one, 20 verse 41. We're talking about
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: an intimate friendship that Jonathan had with David. We've talked
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: about how there's a voluntary willingness to sacrifice, a loyal
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: defense before others. The third one is a complete freedom
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: to be yourself. When you've got a friend, you don't
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: have to explain why you do what you do. You
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: just do it. When the lad was gone, David rose
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: from the south side and fell on his face to
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the ground and bowed three times. He wasn't worshiping. He
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: was in anguish. He just fell over and he fell
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: over and he fell again. And they kissed each other
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: and wept together. But David more. When you've got an
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: intimate friend and your heart is broken, you can bleed
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: all over that friend and that person will understand. and
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: say that's fine you won't share with you three verses
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: to straighten yourself up non-friends are known for sermons ever
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: had sermonic friends and they always use such things as
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the Lord led me to give you these verses I
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: always wonder how come the Lord himself didn't deliver the verses.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: How come he had to use you to bring them
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: to my attention? You got a good friend and he's hurting,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: let him hurt. Good friend feels like weeping, let him weep.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Let him complain a little. He knows it's wrong. You
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: want somebody to hear him. Isn't it true that those
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: kind of people are rare? When you've got an intimate friend,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: he hangs with you. Even when you're to the point
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: of cursing, he stays right there. I had a friend
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: tell me, Chuck, you can build a wall around your house.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: I'll climb over that wall. I'm going to be near you.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: And there's a fourth characteristic, and that is he's a
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: source of constant encouragement. 23, 15, 16. David became aware
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that Saul had come out to seek his life. Think
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: of that. There was a hit man on David's life.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: His name was Saul. And he was in the wilderness
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: of all places. Behind every bush, every rock, down in
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: the ravine, there could have been Saul. And he lived
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: under the gun of Saul's haunting life. And look at Jonathan,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: verse 16. Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: at Horesh and encouraged him in God. Wow, that's the
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: kind of friend I want. Some friends come and tell
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: you the seven bad things that could happen when he
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: gets a hold of you. But others come and say, look,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: let me tell you what God's going to do. Isn't
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: it important when you have a friend like this and
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: you see them in a low tide, you're there and
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: wherever you can, you bring encouragement. Sometime an encouragement is
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: nothing more than I understand how that feels. You have
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: every right to have those feelings. I support you in them.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: I stand with you. There will be a brighter day someday,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: but right now it seems like the end. You know,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: in this family that we call the church, we ought
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: to have a few friends like that. That's what makes
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: the night air so lonely when you walk out in it.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: I had a dear Norwegian lady who lost her husband
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: in a password I had up in New England. She
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: used to call me Pastor Swindoll. She said, Oh, Pastor Swindoll,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: you do not know how lonely it is to fix
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: a meal for one. She had a marvelous relationship with
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: her husband, and then suddenly God took him. She didn't
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: have one friend. She said, night after night, I drown
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: in my tears. Someone has said loneliness is the most
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: desperate of all English words. Don't think it's a sign
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: of maturity that you don't have friends. That's a strange theology.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Even Jesus surrounded himself with them. There is to be
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: an interdependence in the body of Christ. That the world
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: witnesses and says, my, how they love one another. My
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: life is not the richer because I have no friends.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: I am the loser. My constant prayer would be, God,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: give me a few. I'll settle for one. And love
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: me and help me and encourage me. Like Jonathan did David.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I think it's a shame that some have brought this
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: low level of sexuality into the relationship and claim that
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: this is a biblical basis for homosexuality. It wasn't like
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: the love of a woman. It was beyond that. It
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: was a relationship that was a kindred spirit in God
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: so that these men could embrace and relate and love
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: one another and assure each other with God's encouragement in
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: the low tides. It's beautiful. The most shameless of relationships. Okay?
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: That was affection. Now let's read on. The plot thickens
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: in chapter 18. Verse 5, 18.5, David went out wherever
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Saul sent him and he prospered. Here's our word. He prospered.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Not only before Saul, but it says Saul set him
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: over the men of war and he prospered there. He
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: had never served over troops, but he did and he
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: did it well. It was pleasing in the sight of
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: all the people and also the sight of Saul's servants.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: David knew how to conduct himself with the servants in
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: the court. What a man! Young shepherd lad came into
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: the court and when he was with the servants, they
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: liked him. When he served over the troops, he was fair.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: When he served in Saul's presence, Saul loved him. It
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: says in verse 6, It happened as they were coming
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: when David returned from killing the Philistine that the women
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: came out of all the cities of Israel singing and
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines and joy and
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: musical instruments. Sort of an operetta in the street. They
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: were singing and dancing and banging around on those crazy
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: tambourines and doing their Israeli dances and they were saying this,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: What a great day. The champion really lives in our ranks.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: God has exalted himself in the life of David. Now
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: you would think Saul stood there and thought, may that
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: young man get the honor. That's a rare, rare response.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: Here is the king who is standing next to a
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: nobody who is being exalted and how great it would
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: have been if that king had said, Stand alone, Dave.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: You deserve that honor, man. Listen to him. But he didn't.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, he hated David. Before I
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: look at that relationship, I want to show you something
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: about a person who is wise. when it says he
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: prospered four times in this passage, turn to Proverbs. I
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: found three very insightful things about a person who is wise.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Proverbs chapter 10, verse 19, reveals the first thing. It's revealing. 10, 19,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: when there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: who restrains his lips is wise enough So one of
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the characteristics of being a person who is wise is
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: you know how to restrain your lips. You know how
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: to keep your mouth shut. You can keep confidences when
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: people say, look, don't share that. That's a characteristic of
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: a good friend, by the way. He knows enough to
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: ruin you, but he never tells. You've let your life
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: be open and vulnerable before him, but you trust him
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: with the dirty details because you've got to share him
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: with somebody. And he keeps his mouth closed. Furthermore, when
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: he opens his mouth, he opens it with discretion. The
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: living Bible says, don't talk so much. You keep putting
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: your foot in your mouth. Be sensible. Turn off the flow.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: That's a sign of a wise person. When he talks,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: it's sensible. And he keeps the flow down on low.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Doesn't tell everything he knows. You always know there's more
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: behind the counter than he is displaying. That was David.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Look at another one in chapter of Proverbs 1621. The
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: wise in heart will be called discerning. Sweetness of speech
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: increases persuasiveness. 1621 tells us that the person who is
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: wise is discerning. He isn't gullible. He sees through the phonies.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: He sees the situation for what it really is and
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: he acts accordingly. He is not irresponsible in his behavior. Wise.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: David had that ability. One more. 21.11. Oh, may this
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: one never be forgotten. When the scoffer is punished, the
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: naive becomes wise. But when the wise is instructed, he
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: receives knowledge. He's teachable. No matter how high the exaltation
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: may be, we never are to lose our teachability. You
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: will always find people who will be able to give
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: you input that's valuable. Don't turn it off. None of
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: us reaches the level where we are above criticism. And
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: let's continue to learn. Sometime our best lessons can be
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: learned from our enemies. That's the conversation. of man David was.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: He was discerning, he guarded his lips, and he's kept
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: a teachable spirit. Oh, may his tribe increase. Back to 18,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: and we'll wrap it up with this fourth relationship, which
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: is opposition. It's unfair now, I want you to realize it.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: David has done nothing to deserve the treatment Saul gave him.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Just like some of you have done nothing to deserve
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: the treatment you're getting at work or at school or
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: in your home or from another member of the family
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: of God. Your motive was right, your action was right,
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: but it's been misunderstood. Or out of just sheer jealousy,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: the person is making it hard for you. Stuart Briscoe
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: writes in his book, What Works When Life Doesn't, a
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: chapter on when being good doesn't seem to pay Listen
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: to his first comments. Few things are more infuriating than
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: seeing rogues go free while honest men suffer. There is
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: nothing more disturbing than knowing that the hard hit will
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: get hit harder while the protected will get more protection.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: This is particularly true if you're trying to do the
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: right thing and it goes sour. While people around you
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: are not even trying to do right, life is sweet
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: for them. The unfairness and injustice of life is one
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: of the hardest things to take. We may even get
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: so envious of the people who go their merry way
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: of irresponsibility and illegitimacy that we feel our struggle for
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: right and justice is futile. Others seem to get away
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: with murder and you can't even get away with thinking
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: about it. You try to do an honest day's work.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: You endeavor to be honest and frugal and the more
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: you try to do the things right, the more you
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: find you are not appreciated. You may even be ridiculed
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: while the other people get all the gravy. When you
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: look at some of the people in high places, you
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: know they got there by shady means. And they stay
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: there by even shadier tactics and nothing can be done
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: about it. You know your boss is adjusting, quote unquote,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: his tax returns. But he gets away with it. He
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: has a plush office and a plush secretary. While your
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: office is so small you have to go outside to
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: turn a page. And you answer your own phone. Hey,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: all of this is true, isn't it? Just change a
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: few details and that's life. I'll tell you, life is
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: not fair. It's not just. The wicked prosper and the
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: good and righteous are crushed and afflicted. God knows what
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: he's doing. The cheater gets the great grades. It's remarkable.
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: The studious often wind up with a C, and they're
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: grateful for that. And all the people said, Amen. All right,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: got it. Hey, now here's David standing with Saul. He's
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: done nothing more than kill a giant. You don't do
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: that very often. And he's walked back in the city,
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: and all the women are doing their dance and singing
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: their songs, and suddenly it hits Saul wrong, just like
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: it hit your boss wrong. When you did the right
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: thing and he took it the wrong way. Or your prof.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Or your mate. Or your mom. Or your child. Verse 8.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Saul became very angry. The Hebrew is vivid. Kara means
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: to burn within. He did a slow burn. He didn't
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: like that. For the saying displeased him. The Hebrew word
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: means inner turmoil. His stomach turned. He did a slow burn.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: And his stomach sort of gripped him. Notice how fear
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: and worry stepped in. He said they've ascribed to David
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: ten thousands. But to me. They've ascribed thousands. Now what
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: more can he have. kingdom. He's paranoid. See it? I
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: got a problem on my hands. I got a giant
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: killer that's going to become a king killer. What am
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: I going to do about that? All of a sudden
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: it says in verse 9, he looked at David with
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: suspicion from that day on. David, he's our hero. He's
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Except serve God,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: kill giants, and behave properly. In fact, verse 15 says,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: when Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him. Wow,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: that's eloquent. Why did he dread him? He saw that
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: God was on his side. He saw that he didn't
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: have that kind of power, and There's more he could handle. Boy,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: the Bible is practical, isn't it? You rub shoulders with
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: a jealous individual. He could be a roommate. He could
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: be a boss. He could be a friend. He could
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: be a mate. You got a hell on earth to
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: live with. I was so jealous the younger years of
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: our marriage. I can't believe it. Man, I kept my
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: wife in a box. I don't know why I did that.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: You do dumb things when you're newly married. The only difference,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: I did a lot of dumb things. Most people do
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: a few. I did a lot of them. And it
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: hasn't been until just rather recently that I've seen the
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: value of releasing her to a lot of people that
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: could get the benefits that have been mine to enjoy
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: all these days, all these years. She's got a lot
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: to offer, but I've held her in. Haven't released her.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Do I talk to a jealous mate tonight? You know,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: your mate has a lot of things to offer a
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: lot of people. You'll keep what you release. You'll lose
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: what you try to hang on to. He is no
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: he cannot lose. Let her go. Let her bless a
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: whole world of people. That's the kind of generosity God
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: will honor. Who knows, he may have a plan for
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: her that doesn't completely include you. You know, he's infallible,
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: you're not. He's irreplaceable, you're not. He's going to be glorified.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: So I've gotten to where in my premarital counseling I
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: talk directly with couples about helping that individual reach complete fulfillment.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: And they'll adore you for it. You won't lose them.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: They'll absolutely adore you. That's real love. God saves us
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: as he box us in. He unlocks the cage and says,
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: you're free to be all that you could have been.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: But you had no power before and I give it
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: to you. And there's David shackled with the suspicion of Saul.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: Let me lay three things on you and then we'll
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: go home. Number one, not knowing the future forces us
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: to take one day at a time. He gave David
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: one day at a time and that's how David lived
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: his life. When you don't know the future, that's how
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: you live. And that's a beautiful way to live. Not
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: knowing the future forces us to live a day at
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: a time. Moses wrote, sufficient unto each day is its
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: own evil. Jesus reiterated it in the gospel of Matthew. Second,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: having a friend helps us face whatever comes our way.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: If you don't have a friend, I really pity you.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: I would ask you to make that a regular prayer
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: that God would give you an intimate friend so you
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: can really know what it is to relate, to cultivate
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: that part of you that needs it. Make a better you. Okay,
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: here's the third. Being positive and wise. Is the best
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: reaction to an enemy. You're not careful when you see
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: your enemy coming. You'll start rolling up your mental sleeves.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: Thinking which jab you're going to throw. And David is
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: a beautiful illustration of how. To handle an enemy. He
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: just kept prospering. Just kept behaving himself wisely. You know,
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: I'm convinced that God has said one thing to one
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: person and something altogether different to somebody sitting right next
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: to you. He has a beautiful way of communicating truth
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: so that it's just a beautiful pattern that strikes one
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: person in an area, another person in another area, altogether different.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: And often he says the most that has never even
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: been stated from the pulpit. He's shared something within the
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: word itself or between the lines that says to you,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: this is what I want you to hear. I think
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: if we could learn one great truth from every message
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: and put it into action, we would be remarkable in
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: our maturity in a very brief period of time. One
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: thing that God has said to you tonight, that's worth
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: it all. Isn't it neat to live for Christ? Isn't
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: it the most exciting adventure in the world? But it's hard,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: isn't it? G.K. Chesterfield has said... Chesterton has said, Christianity
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: difficult and not tried. It is tough. It's a lot
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: easier to punch your enemy's lights out. It's a lot
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: easier to get even because that satisfies your flesh. It's
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: a lot easier to keep because that comes natural. It's
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: hard to give. It's a lot easier to work up
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: your own suspicions. And when he's not looking, get in
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: your stroke. But that's not godly. And that's not best. Lord,
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: begin to show us in our study of the scriptures
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: the difference between what pleases us and what pleases you.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: Start developing within us, our Father, such a sheer desire
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: for obedience that we'll less and less even consider the
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: options of disobedience. Bless in a very special way those
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: Davids that hear this message, both here and beyond here,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: encouraging to stand. To do what is right. Without tiring
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: of it. In Jesus name. Amen.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. Aftermath of a giant killing. Was copyrighted
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: in 1977.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: 1988.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: 1997. And 2009. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009.
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: By Charles R. Swindoll Inc.
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.