Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Doing Right When You’ve Been Done Wrong │ Msg 3144 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Doing Right When You’ve Been Done Wrong │ Msg 3144 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Interesting lyrics in that hymn, aren't they? In the rustling
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Speaker 1: grass I can see him pass. Interesting that in the
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Speaker 1: everyday affairs of life. My mother used to say to
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Speaker 1: us three kids when things would get real quiet in
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Speaker 1: the home, which happened like every four years, when there
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Speaker 1: would be a real quiet moment. If you love to fish,
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Speaker 1: when there was a slick on the water, when it's
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Speaker 1: real quiet. she would say, be quiet, children, an angel
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Speaker 1: is passing through. I would always go, where is that dude?
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Speaker 1: Easy to forget that the angelic hosts surround us at
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Speaker 1: all times. And because they are supernatural and they are invisible,
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Speaker 1: space and matter and friction and all of that mean
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Speaker 1: nothing to them. They can move from here to the
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Speaker 1: center of Asia in a split second. They can hover
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Speaker 1: over a moment in our experience. Not only do we
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Speaker 1: not see them there, we often forget that they're there.
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Speaker 1: They learn from our worship. See, angels know nothing of salvation.
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Speaker 1: They are not born again. They are elect angels and
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Speaker 1: have no will to do anything but follow. And there
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Speaker 1: are presence angels that flood the throne. There are seraph
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Speaker 1: angels called seraphim. There are cherub angels called cherubim. There
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Speaker 1: are angels that bring messages to earth in various ways.
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Speaker 1: It's a fascinating study. There's an old gospel song that says, holy,
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Speaker 1: holy is what the angels sing. And I expect to
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Speaker 1: make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing
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Speaker 1: redemption story, they will fold their wings for angels never
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Speaker 1: felt the joy. that my salvation brings. They do watch
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Speaker 1: with enormous interest as we gather for worship. They learn
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Speaker 1: from our worship. Isn't that a great thought? May our
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Speaker 1: worship be magnificent and may it be contagious. Now, I
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Speaker 1: am reading a very convicting section of scripture. You thought
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Speaker 1: Romans 12, 1 and 2 was convicting. It was. And
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Speaker 1: then Romans 12, 3 through 13, convicting. And indeed it was.
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Speaker 1: But now we come to the section that really does
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Speaker 1: ring the changes. Because there isn't a person that I'm
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Speaker 1: talking to today who hasn't known the hurt of someone
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Speaker 1: who has done them wrong. We all have that in common,
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Speaker 1: some to greater degree than others. So I'm speaking today,
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Speaker 1: not only to myself, but I'm speaking to you as
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Speaker 1: if you and I were the only ones in the room,
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Speaker 1: you and I. Take it that personally, otherwise it'll be
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Speaker 1: just sermon number 31 in a list of sermons in Romans.
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Speaker 1: You need to be transformed in an area of your
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Speaker 1: life that has changed lacked attention long enough. You need
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Speaker 1: some habits broken. You need to respond in a transforming
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Speaker 1: way rather than a natural way. And God is ready
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Speaker 1: to do that if your heart's prepared. We love God's
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Speaker 1: word and in respect for it, we want to stand
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Speaker 1: as it is read to us today. May we stand
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Speaker 1: for the reading of Romans 12, 14. And then 17
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Speaker 1: through 21. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do
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Speaker 1: not curse. Verse 17. Never pay back evil for evil
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Speaker 1: to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of
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Speaker 1: all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you,
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Speaker 1: be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved,
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Speaker 1: but leave room for the wrath of God, for it
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Speaker 1: is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
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Speaker 1: But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if
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Speaker 1: he is thirsty, give him a drink, or in so doing,
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Speaker 1: you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not
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Speaker 1: be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. May
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Speaker 1: God honor the reading and may he be honored in
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Speaker 1: the living out of the truths from this passage of Scripture.
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Speaker 1: You may be seated. And if you will dig back
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Speaker 1: in your worship folder and find your outline for the
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Speaker 1: morning's message, I would like for you to place it
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Speaker 1: at 1 Samuel 24. Over in the Old Testament, 1
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Speaker 1: Samuel 24. Just insert it there in the crease of
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Speaker 1: your Bible, and we will return to that momentarily. To
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Speaker 1: give is a privilege set aside for God's people... Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: many of God's people never learned the joy of generosity.
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Speaker 1: I have folks ask me who know the Lord and
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Speaker 1: have walked with him for some time, is 10% an
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Speaker 1: appropriate amount to give? I said, not necessarily. You can
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Speaker 1: make it 15. You can make it 20. Don't ever
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Speaker 1: go less than 10. In the Old Testament, it was
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Speaker 1: about 25% that God's people gave to sustain the work
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Speaker 1: of the ministry of down through the history of the
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Speaker 1: people of the Jews, and down through the history of
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Speaker 1: the church. We who are God's people are responsible for
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Speaker 1: the sustaining of the work. And it is my moment
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Speaker 1: from week to week to thank you for your generosity.
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Speaker 1: You are wonderful models of what this means. I have
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Speaker 1: never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed baking bread.
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Speaker 1: Let's pray. As I look out across these wonderful faces today, Father,
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Speaker 1: I see pain and I see heartache and I also
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Speaker 1: see joy and relief. I see curiosity. I see a
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Speaker 1: little confusion. I even see resistance already. And so, Lord,
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Speaker 1: regardless of what I see, you do a wonderful work
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Speaker 1: that only you can do. You alone can change the heart.
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Speaker 1: You alone. You alone can bring peace in place of chaos.
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Speaker 1: You alone can bring relief in place of worry, anxiety.
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Speaker 1: You will say one thing to one person, something altogether
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Speaker 1: different to someone else. You will speak through words spoken
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Speaker 1: to one. You will speak through words not even mentioned
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Speaker 1: to others. You're like that. We do thank you for
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Speaker 1: the presence of the angelic creatures that hover about us.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for their magnificent, albeit invisible, invincible ministry. Remind us, Father,
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Speaker 1: that the real world is the unseen world. That the
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Speaker 1: real values are the priceless things. That the real reason
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Speaker 1: for living comes in what we give up, not what
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Speaker 1: we hold on to. That the real joy is in
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Speaker 1: loving others, not fighting them, not fighting against them. Speaking
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Speaker 1: of the fight, there are those who have taken the
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Speaker 1: fight to that other country far away. Some of the
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Speaker 1: men and women have come home with broken bodies and hearts.
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Speaker 1: To families who ache and grieve for them, others have
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Speaker 1: returned with relief. Many have not come back. Take good
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Speaker 1: care of them. Place your loving arms around family members
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Speaker 1: who long to have them home. And remind them that
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Speaker 1: you're sovereign whether here or afar. That our God is
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Speaker 1: in the heavens and he is doing what he pleases.
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Speaker 1: Our gifts are really yours. You've had them on loan
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Speaker 1: to us for a while. And now we as good
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Speaker 1: stewards return these gifts to you. And we do so
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Speaker 1: with joyful hearts. We smile inside as we give to
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Speaker 1: you today. Thank you for our guests. Encourage them and
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Speaker 1: reveal yourself to them in a special way, Father, as
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Speaker 1: you speak to all of us in this time of worship.
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Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, we pray. And because of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: we give. And everyone said, Amen. It was Will Rogers.
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Speaker 1: The late actor and author and humorist. Who once said.
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Speaker 1: I never met a man I didn't like. Can you
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Speaker 1: believe that? I mean, get real, Will. Some of you
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Speaker 1: ladies are thinking, that's because Will Rogers never met my
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Speaker 1: first husband. Some of you guys going, boy, Will Rogers
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Speaker 1: never met a guy I used to work for. I
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Speaker 1: would say Will Rogers never met Sergeant Fishburne of the
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Speaker 1: United States Marine Corps boot camp. Not even a mother
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Speaker 1: would love, as I recall. About three-fourths gristle and the
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Speaker 1: rest backbones. I mean, get real. All of us have
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Speaker 1: people we don't like. Make it worse, we've got people
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Speaker 1: that don't like us either. So there is this battle
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Speaker 1: going on, more often in strange silence than in verbal warfare.
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Speaker 1: But it's there nevertheless. They turn us off. Our stomachs
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Speaker 1: turn when we think of them. And mentally, we have
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Speaker 1: their face on our dartboard. What's interesting is we say
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Speaker 1: we have put them out of our minds, but they
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Speaker 1: hound us and they haunt us. Truth be told, we
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Speaker 1: think of them when we wake up and we are
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Speaker 1: thinking of them when we go to bed at night.
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Speaker 1: There's an old 7th century couplet that says he who
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Speaker 1: has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare
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Speaker 1: and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you have one you've been meeting everywhere these days.
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Speaker 1: To make it more difficult is that we're Christians. If
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Speaker 1: we were lost, we could just smack them in the
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Speaker 1: mouth and walk right on, you know? We just cut
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Speaker 1: their lips off and roll on. But we can't do that.
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Speaker 1: We have Romans 12, 1 and 2, crawled on the
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Speaker 1: altar and placed ourselves as a living sacrifice. I'm serious now.
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Speaker 1: We placed ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, H-O-L-Y, holy
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Speaker 1: and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable act of worship.
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Speaker 1: We've done that. We've done that. While there, we have
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Speaker 1: decided that we want our minds renewed and the Spirit
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Speaker 1: of God is armed and ready to transform our thinking
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Speaker 1: so that we think differently than we were raised, than
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Speaker 1: we were taught. We think in such a way that
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Speaker 1: old habits are broken and former actions are no longer taken.
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Speaker 1: It's transformed mind. But we keep bumping up against this
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Speaker 1: individual that has done us wrong and keeps doing us wrong.
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Speaker 1: What do we do? Now, I could pontificate on that
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Speaker 1: for the next 30 or 40 minutes. It would do
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Speaker 1: no one any good. Rather than doing that, I'd rather
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Speaker 1: start with a story. Let me tell you a story.
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Speaker 1: So just sit back and listen. It's a true story.
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Speaker 1: It's the story of a handsome, well-built, rugged outdoorsman kind
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Speaker 1: of person teenager in his mid-years, 15, 16 years old.
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Speaker 1: He's the youngest in a family of eight boys. He's
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Speaker 1: a shepherd, a sheep herder. One day, his father whistles
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Speaker 1: from the back porch and says, David, David, come in.
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Speaker 1: David walks in, and in this little house where The
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Speaker 1: family of Jesse lives. He finds his brothers in sort
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Speaker 1: of a semicircle. An old bearded man is there that
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Speaker 1: he's never seen before, mumbles something strange like, I will
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Speaker 1: anoint him for this is he. And the next thing
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Speaker 1: David knows, he has oil running down his hair and
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Speaker 1: the back of his neck. The brothers are sort of
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Speaker 1: frowning because it wasn't them. And words about being the
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Speaker 1: king of Israel follow again. And as quietly as the
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Speaker 1: old man arrived, he left and is gone. That's it.
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Speaker 1: There's no coronation. There's no parade. There's no applause. David
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Speaker 1: slips back out in the field and begins to keep
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Speaker 1: his father's sheep again. In the meantime, the one who
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Speaker 1: is anointed king named Saul is slowly losing it. His
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Speaker 1: acts of disobedience along the way have rendered him disqualified
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Speaker 1: to serve as the king of Israel. But he remains.
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Speaker 1: Remember that. He remains on for years, like over a decade.
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Speaker 1: And little by little, he's losing it. Word reaches him
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Speaker 1: through one of his confidants that there is a young
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Speaker 1: man who plays a fine instrument and might be able
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Speaker 1: to soothe his troubled conscience and heart. He says, bring him.
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Speaker 1: David moves from the sheep to the very throne room
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Speaker 1: of the king where he plays his instrument. And the
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Speaker 1: king's heart is soothed. And something happens between the two
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Speaker 1: of them that's that's wonderful to imagine. The battle turns
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Speaker 1: and the Philistines make a move in the Valley of Elah,
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Speaker 1: this vast valley over a mile across with a ravine
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Speaker 1: in the middle. And Saul and the Israel troops are
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Speaker 1: bivouacked on one side and Goliath is on the other.
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Speaker 1: Once again, The father calls David, asks him to take
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Speaker 1: some food to the front lines. David carries the food
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Speaker 1: to the front lines. He looks out, wonders why everybody's
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Speaker 1: so afraid. And they say, look, and you'll see. David
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Speaker 1: takes the tools with which he's most familiar, a slingshot
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Speaker 1: and a stone. And he finishes off Goliath. Man, who
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Speaker 1: doesn't love that story? I mean, the ground shakes when
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Speaker 1: Goliath falls. And the tremor is heard all across Israel,
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Speaker 1: and his name becomes a household word. Saul has slain
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Speaker 1: his thousands, but David his ten thousands. And Saul does
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Speaker 1: the math, and he hates him. He hates him. And
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Speaker 1: the scripture says he looked at him with suspicion from
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Speaker 1: that time on. All David's been doing is keeping the sheep,
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Speaker 1: letting oil be poured on his head, playing his instrument,
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Speaker 1: killing a giant. And now he's the object of Saul's ire.
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Speaker 1: His celebrity grows. I mean, he's more popular than Tom
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Speaker 1: Brady of the Patriots. Everybody knows David. More respected than
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Speaker 1: Peyton Manning of the Colts. Got more women after him
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Speaker 1: than Tony Romo with his new contract with the Cowboys.
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Speaker 1: But David's not interested in wine women's song. He's not
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Speaker 1: interested in that. He's interested in honoring God. He doesn't
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Speaker 1: know what the songs are all about. It's not why
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Speaker 1: he did it. He did it because he loves God.
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Speaker 1: And he can't figure out why Saul's after him. And
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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, flunk, a spear lands right near
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Speaker 1: his face. And within a matter of a brief period
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Speaker 1: of time, flunk, another spear. And he realizes this is
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Speaker 1: for real. I've got to get out of here. Saul
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Speaker 1: by now is disintegrating. H.G. Wells in one of his characters, Mr. Polly,
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Speaker 1: describes Saul. He was not so much a human being
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Speaker 1: as a civil war. If you've ever been around someone
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Speaker 1: disintegrating mentally, you know it's often good to stay out
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Speaker 1: of their way. They need help. But there's no one
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Speaker 1: to help. David's on his own. After a while, he
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Speaker 1: makes his... Existence possible in the caves of En Gedi.
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Speaker 1: If you ever go to Israel, be sure your guide
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Speaker 1: takes you to the caves of En Gedi. And look
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Speaker 1: in the caves. David slept in many of them for
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Speaker 1: over a decade, running from Saul. 1 Samuel 24, there's
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Speaker 1: a turning point in the scene where David has a
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Speaker 1: chance to get back, to get even. Allow me. Now
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Speaker 1: it came about when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines,
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Speaker 1: he was told saying, behold, David is in the wilderness
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Speaker 1: of En Gedi. You wonder if Saul was serious? Saul
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Speaker 1: took 3,000 chosen men from all Israel and went to
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Speaker 1: seek David. You know what the mission was? Terminate David.
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Speaker 1: Don't bring him back alive. And the boots of the
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Speaker 1: soldiers could be heard at the mouths of those caves
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Speaker 1: as David lived, wondering which time the soldier would walk
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Speaker 1: in and find him. And he's done nothing wrong. He
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Speaker 1: and a handful of warriors that have teamed up with him,
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Speaker 1: wondering if they'll ever get out alive. Now watch closely.
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Speaker 1: They went to seek David and his men in front
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Speaker 1: of the rocks of the wild goats. Verse 3 tells
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Speaker 1: of Saul who came to the sheepfolds on the way
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Speaker 1: where there was a cave. And Saul went in to
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Speaker 1: relieve himself. Okay, I'm just going to give you a
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Speaker 1: moment to picture that. Bible's a real book. Doesn't dodge
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Speaker 1: what nature calls. So Saul is in a very vulnerable position.
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Speaker 1: What makes it interesting is that it's the very cave
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Speaker 1: where David and his men are hiding. Can you imagine
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Speaker 1: the council? Well, you don't have to imagine. You're going
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Speaker 1: to read it. Verse 4. Verse 3 concludes, Now David
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Speaker 1: and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of
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Speaker 1: that cave. The men of David said to him, David, David,
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Speaker 1: this is the day which the Lord has made. Slice
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Speaker 1: his throat. He won't know it till he sneezes. Sort
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Speaker 1: of a Swindoll paraphrase of what we're going to read.
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Speaker 1: This is the day which the Lord said to you, behold,
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Speaker 1: I'm about to give your enemy into your hand and
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Speaker 1: you shall do to him as it seems good to you.
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Speaker 1: You know the problem with that? It isn't a verse
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Speaker 1: of scripture. But you always have people around you that
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Speaker 1: misquote things and tell you what you want to hear
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Speaker 1: when it's time to get revenge. So David hears them,
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Speaker 1: and for a moment he yields somewhat. This is where
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Speaker 1: the story gets very interesting. Remember Saul. He doesn't know
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Speaker 1: David's anywhere near. Verse 4. Then David arose... And cut
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Speaker 1: off the edge of Saul's robe. Secretly. Imagine. What a moment.
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Speaker 1: I love scenes like this. Saul has no clue. But
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Speaker 1: it bothers David. Swear you got to love him. That's
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Speaker 1: why he's called a man after God's heart. Verse 5,
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Speaker 1: it came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because
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Speaker 1: he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe. I mean, folks,
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Speaker 1: back in those days, they took the king of the
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Speaker 1: land seriously. We who shatter and assault and attack our president.
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Speaker 1: In the days of Israel, they respected the anointed king,
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Speaker 1: even one doing them wrong. And David is bothered. He
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Speaker 1: said to his men, far be it from me because
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Speaker 1: of the Lord that I should do this thing to
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Speaker 1: my Lord, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand
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Speaker 1: against him since he is the Lord's anointed. Can't you
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Speaker 1: hear the men? David, David, get a hold of yourself.
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Speaker 1: We're sick of eating roots, drinking from the waterfall. We're
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Speaker 1: sick of these nasty clothes we have to wear day
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Speaker 1: after day. This is your moment. We read David persuaded
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Speaker 1: his men. Take that for what it means. Guys, no, no, listen, stop. No, no,
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Speaker 1: we're not going to do that. He persuaded his men
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Speaker 1: with these words and did not allow them to rise
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Speaker 1: up against Saul. What were they saying? You may feel
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Speaker 1: bad about it. Not me. You'll always have people that
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Speaker 1: will want to run your errand for you when you
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Speaker 1: don't strike back. This is the best part of the story.
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Speaker 1: Verse 8. Afterward, David arose and went out of the
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Speaker 1: cave and called after Saul, saying, My Lord, the king,
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Speaker 1: King Saul. Saul looked behind him. David bowed with his
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Speaker 1: face to the ground and prostrated himself. David said to Saul,
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Speaker 1: Why do you listen to the words of men saying, behold,
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Speaker 1: David seeks to harm you. Behold, this day your eyes
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Speaker 1: have seen that the Lord has given you today into
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Speaker 1: my hand in the cave. And some said to kill you.
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Speaker 1: But my eye had pity on you. And I said,
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Speaker 1: I will not stretch out my hand against the Lord,
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Speaker 1: against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Now,
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Speaker 1: my father, look how close they were. They'd spent months together.
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Speaker 1: My father, see now. And he holds up the hem
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Speaker 1: of the garment. He holds up the robe, this piece
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Speaker 1: he cut off. See, indeed, see the edge of your
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Speaker 1: robe in my hand, for in that I cut off
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Speaker 1: the edge of your robe and did not kill you.
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Speaker 1: Know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion
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Speaker 1: in my hands, and I have not sinned against you,
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Speaker 1: though you are lying in wait for my life to
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Speaker 1: take it. Look, Saul, that's how close I was to you,
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Speaker 1: and I never drew my knife. To thrust it into you.
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Speaker 1: Verse 15. The Lord therefore be judge and decide between
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Speaker 1: you and me. And may he see and plead my
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Speaker 1: cause and deliver me from your hand. Please note that.
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Speaker 1: I now leave it with the Lord. I have my
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Speaker 1: moment and I'm ashamed of what I did in the moment.
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Speaker 1: I yielded even though it was not a treacherous thing.
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Speaker 1: It was a shameful thing. I'm not going there. I'm
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Speaker 1: going to stand and wait. I'm going to trust in God.
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Speaker 1: Look at the response. Saul said, Is this your voice,
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Speaker 1: my son David? You are more righteous than I, for
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Speaker 1: you have dealt well with me while I have dealt
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Speaker 1: wickedly with you. You have declared today that you have
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Speaker 1: done good to me. That the Lord delivered me into
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Speaker 1: your hand, yet you did not kill me. For if
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Speaker 1: a man finds his enemy, will he let him go
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Speaker 1: away safely? Watch. May the Lord therefore reward you with
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Speaker 1: good in return for what you have done to me
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Speaker 1: this day. Now behold, I know that you shall surely
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Speaker 1: be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be
26:52
Speaker 1: established in your hand. He heard words from Saul he
26:57
Speaker 1: could have never forced with the point of a knife. Saul,
27:04
Speaker 1: realizing how much more righteous this young man is than he,
27:10
Speaker 1: says to him in remarkable vulnerability, you deserve the kingdom
27:18
Speaker 1: more than I. Now, fast forward to the 21st century
27:28
Speaker 1: as you turn to Romans chapter 12. and get your
27:31
Speaker 1: pen handy because I am going to give you principles
27:35
Speaker 1: you will need and you will claim in the days ahead.
27:44
Speaker 1: Our focus now falls on the verses in Romans 12
27:47
Speaker 1: that I read earlier, but a warning is in order.
27:51
Speaker 1: I need to warn you of something. Not only does
27:54
Speaker 1: the enemy hear everything I'm going to be saying, You're
27:58
Speaker 1: going to be tempted to erase it from your mind
28:00
Speaker 1: because you're going to justify your situation thinking it's unique.
28:07
Speaker 1: You're going to want to push the delete button about
28:09
Speaker 1: the time you put your key in your car. You're
28:11
Speaker 1: going to say, if Chuck only knew what I'm going through,
28:14
Speaker 1: he would have said, except for you. There is no exception.
28:20
Speaker 1: I am talking to you. Don't tell me the excuse.
28:24
Speaker 1: I am talking to you. More importantly, God is speaking
28:27
Speaker 1: to you. And I am going to urge you for
28:31
Speaker 1: a few moments to think supernaturally rather than naturally. Verse 14.
28:38
Speaker 1: Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
28:43
Speaker 1: Principle number one. Write it down. Deliberately resist your natural instinct.
28:51
Speaker 1: Deliberately resist your natural instinct. That's verse 14. All of
28:59
Speaker 1: us have built-in instincts. When something comes too close to
29:02
Speaker 1: our face, we blink and we turn away. When we're
29:06
Speaker 1: about to fall, we throw our hands out. That's a
29:08
Speaker 1: natural instinct. We're in our car leaving. Another car's backing
29:12
Speaker 1: up quickly and doesn't see us. We honk, honk, honk.
29:15
Speaker 1: That's a natural instinct. When someone does wrong, the natural
29:19
Speaker 1: instinct is get even. Get back. Hopefully worse than he
29:28
Speaker 1: got to you But this says, bless those. Bless and
29:35
Speaker 1: do not curse. Isn't it interesting that the very first
29:38
Speaker 1: thing addressed is your mouth? The heart is a bucket.
29:43
Speaker 1: The tongue is a, the heart is a, well, the
29:45
Speaker 1: tongue is a bucket. And the bucket goes down into
29:48
Speaker 1: the heart and lifts out what's there. And in every
29:51
Speaker 1: depraved heart, which you and I carry around with us,
29:54
Speaker 1: there is a desire for revenge. There is a determination
29:58
Speaker 1: to defend oneself. There are a hundred excuses to justify
30:04
Speaker 1: what we have done and why we feel like we do.
30:07
Speaker 1: There is an ability to erase our wrong and to
30:10
Speaker 1: highlight their wrong. And out of our mouth come words
30:17
Speaker 1: of cursing. And they come out in all different ways.
30:21
Speaker 1: We speak against the person. Without a doubt, if you
30:24
Speaker 1: have had this enemy long enough, your friends know all
30:26
Speaker 1: about him or her. You've told them. You've told everyone
30:33
Speaker 1: that you can get to listen to you all about
30:35
Speaker 1: this individual. That's the natural thing to do. But this
30:39
Speaker 1: says to bless them. You know what the word bless means?
30:44
Speaker 1: It's worth looking at. It's a Greek term that means
30:48
Speaker 1: to speak well of. It's from which we get our
30:52
Speaker 1: word eulogy. Isn't that interesting? What we say at a
30:57
Speaker 1: casket to a corpse. We say nice things. We don't
31:02
Speaker 1: curse at a funeral. We bless. He's saying, don't wait
31:07
Speaker 1: till the funeral. Say the right things now. Give praise even.
31:16
Speaker 1: You see, the human nature when anger comes is to
31:19
Speaker 1: handle things in a natural way. Thomas Jefferson said, and
31:24
Speaker 1: passed this on to us, when angry, count to ten.
31:26
Speaker 1: When very angry, a hundred. Mark Twain changed it. When angry,
31:33
Speaker 1: count to four. Very angry, swear. So it intensifies over
31:38
Speaker 1: the process of time. God says, before you get angry, bless.
31:46
Speaker 1: You say, come on. Wait, wait. You're already turning defensive
31:49
Speaker 1: on me. I did not write this. I'm simply a messenger.
31:56
Speaker 1: That's why I use the word deliberately. Deliberately. Because if
31:59
Speaker 1: you wait for it to come naturally, you'll do what
32:01
Speaker 1: you're taught to do. And that's fight back. And the
32:04
Speaker 1: people around you call you a fool like David's friends
32:07
Speaker 1: in the cave. If you don't strike now, David, you're
32:10
Speaker 1: going to miss your chance. I was pulling my pickup
32:16
Speaker 1: out from a corner. I had paused at a light
32:19
Speaker 1: and then I turned right. And I figured a little
32:21
Speaker 1: closely because a guy in a great big pickup with
32:23
Speaker 1: tires about as big as this room was coming bearing
32:26
Speaker 1: down on me. And he saw that I'd pulled out
32:29
Speaker 1: in front. He thought I was kind of a smart
32:32
Speaker 1: guy trying to push him out of traffic. And he
32:35
Speaker 1: decided that he was going to make my life a
32:39
Speaker 1: little different than it had been up to that moment.
32:41
Speaker 1: And he roared around me and then squealed around and
32:45
Speaker 1: turned right in front of me and stopped and stared
32:48
Speaker 1: at me. I go, why did he do that? Hey,
33:00
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get on the same road he's on.
33:03
Speaker 1: And he's taking his half out of the middle. And
33:07
Speaker 1: what right do I have? He's going to set things straight.
33:11
Speaker 1: You know why? That's what you do. I don't mean
33:15
Speaker 1: this to be pious, but that's what you do when
33:17
Speaker 1: you don't have the Lord. Honestly, I didn't just wave
33:21
Speaker 1: and say hi. I tell you, I was scared spitless.
33:26
Speaker 1: I just kind of backed up. I felt like my
33:29
Speaker 1: pickup was about this big. You're not going to win
33:36
Speaker 1: if you decide to solve it by cursing. You will lose.
33:41
Speaker 1: You will lose. You will lose. You will lose. So
33:47
Speaker 1: start by deliberately resisting your natural instinct. Right in the
33:52
Speaker 1: margin of your notes, Proverbs 15, 1. A gentle answer
33:57
Speaker 1: turns away wrath. A gentle answer turns away wrath. But
34:03
Speaker 1: a harsh word stirs up anger. Verse 17, verse 18,
34:15
Speaker 1: principle number two. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
34:20
Speaker 1: Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
34:23
Speaker 1: Here's the principle. Consciously fight every temptation to get even.
34:35
Speaker 1: Consciously fight every temptation to get even.
34:44
Speaker 2: The.
34:48
Speaker 1: Opening part of verse 17 in the Greek sentence is
34:53
Speaker 1: to no one. It's out of place for emphasis purpose.
34:58
Speaker 1: To no one pay back evil for evil. Getting even
35:04
Speaker 1: by reacting as the person first treated you couldn't be
35:08
Speaker 1: more wrong. David and Saul. The most natural tendency for
35:16
Speaker 1: that young, well-built, outdoor celebrity warrior is to put Saul
35:21
Speaker 1: out of his misery. He's insane anyway. That's not his
35:26
Speaker 1: to do. That normal reaction would be wrong. When you
35:35
Speaker 1: do what is wrong, an offense is intensified. When wounded
35:40
Speaker 1: and mistreated and humiliated, the person wrongs in return and
35:44
Speaker 1: the fight is on. And the Hatfields and the McCoys
35:49
Speaker 1: relive their lives, except without guns, hopefully. Never pay back
36:01
Speaker 1: evil for evil to anyone. Well, then what's the alternative
36:06
Speaker 1: to respect what is right? It means to foresee, to
36:10
Speaker 1: take thought of, to have regard for. That would include
36:14
Speaker 1: talking it out, doing that sooner rather than later, searching
36:18
Speaker 1: for ways it will communicate respect and regard. Now, I'm
36:23
Speaker 1: a realist. Let me just have you relax. I know
36:27
Speaker 1: that some enemies don't want there to be reconciliation. I
36:31
Speaker 1: know that. I understand that. Some folks want to fight
36:36
Speaker 1: the rest of their lives, but you don't. You won't.
36:43
Speaker 1: So the Lord gives us some breathing room in verse 18,
36:46
Speaker 1: if possible. Don't you like that? If possible. As so
36:51
Speaker 1: far as it depends on you. See, it's your barn.
36:56
Speaker 1: And you're not trying to clean his barn out. You're
36:58
Speaker 1: trying to keep yours clean. So far as it depends
37:01
Speaker 1: on you, you'd be at peace with all. And Well,
37:09
Speaker 1: let me get to the third principle, then I'll apply
37:11
Speaker 1: that in a moment. Here's the third principle. This is
37:13
Speaker 1: the next two verses. Never take your own revenge, beloved,
37:17
Speaker 1: but leave room for the wrath of God. Principle number three.
37:21
Speaker 1: Get every word. Quietly trust God to handle all revenge.
37:32
Speaker 1: Quietly trust God to handle all revenge. Never take your
37:42
Speaker 1: own revenge, beloved. Leave room for the wrath of God.
37:45
Speaker 1: God is well able. You step back and say, Lord,
37:52
Speaker 1: if I get involved in this, I'm going to make
37:53
Speaker 1: a mess of it. You know how I am when
37:56
Speaker 1: I get my own way. Lord, this is your move.
37:59
Speaker 1: Take over. Take charge. And so you back off deliberately
38:05
Speaker 1: and you wait. You wait for God to bring the vengeance.
38:11
Speaker 1: which he will do in his own time, never fast
38:13
Speaker 1: enough for you, but he'll do it. He'll do it.
38:22
Speaker 1: In fact, it says, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
38:25
Speaker 1: If he's thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so,
38:28
Speaker 1: you will heap burning coals on his head. Let me
38:30
Speaker 1: make something clear, lest you're given to pacifism. That's not
38:34
Speaker 1: a national defense verse. Okay, this is a personal relationship
38:39
Speaker 1: one with one. This is not if the enemy is
38:42
Speaker 1: invading your shores. You stand back and go, well, whatever.
38:45
Speaker 1: Can I get you a drink? You're not going to
38:47
Speaker 1: do that. If a guy tries to break into your house,
38:50
Speaker 1: you don't say, hey, well, I've got a lot in
38:51
Speaker 1: the kitchen. You might enjoy yourself. You shoot him. Okay? So, no,
38:59
Speaker 1: I knew that would get. Some of you have been
39:02
Speaker 1: waiting for something to applaud, and you got, finally, you're
39:05
Speaker 1: on my level, Chuck. I got it now. We're not
39:08
Speaker 1: talking about that. We're not talking about self-defense. We're talking
39:12
Speaker 1: about disagreements, arguments, those things that lead to lawsuits, fights,
39:19
Speaker 1: neighbor problems, on and on and on and on. We're
39:21
Speaker 1: talking about the stuff of life. And here it says,
39:27
Speaker 1: quietly trust God back. off, wait, trust him. And here
39:32
Speaker 1: he quotes from Deuteronomy 32, 35, and 36, where Moses
39:37
Speaker 1: sets the stage and Paul picks it up. As we
39:41
Speaker 1: back away and focus on doing what is right, our
39:44
Speaker 1: good disarms our enemy. Trust God. Don't trust me. Trust God.
39:52
Speaker 1: When we back off and refuse to do what he
39:55
Speaker 1: or she expects, they're disarmed. And as in the case
39:59
Speaker 1: of Saul, who says, you are more righteous than I.
40:03
Speaker 1: To you, the kingdom should go. Why? Because the shame
40:07
Speaker 1: of his conscience forced him to be disarmed. I'm interested
40:17
Speaker 1: in the little phrase, you will heap burning coals on
40:20
Speaker 1: his head. It's a word for doing what is right,
40:24
Speaker 1: which results in shame, doing a powerful work in another
40:28
Speaker 1: person's life, where they can hardly stand it until they
40:34
Speaker 1: back away. Roy Lauren, in his old commentary on Romans,
40:39
Speaker 1: as a missionary to a group of Native Americans, worked
40:42
Speaker 1: hard to communicate the importance of not retaliating He urged
40:47
Speaker 1: them to do what is right. And doing so will
40:50
Speaker 1: heap coals of fire on the enemy's head. Explained it carefully. Later,
40:56
Speaker 1: one of the tribesmen carried it out. Missionary later asked
41:00
Speaker 1: him about it, hoping to hear that it was his
41:03
Speaker 1: love that prompted him to do it. The tribesman said, no,
41:08
Speaker 1: I just like to see his head smoke. When you
41:15
Speaker 1: do it God's way, the head will smoke. But you
41:20
Speaker 1: will not have lit the fire. His conscience will light it.
41:27
Speaker 1: That area you can't reach, no matter how many swords
41:31
Speaker 1: you throw or spears you throw, no matter how many
41:34
Speaker 1: curses you level, you will not bring about repentance. God
41:39
Speaker 1: does that. Saul's head smoked, if you will, when he
41:45
Speaker 1: looked up and there was David with a piece of
41:47
Speaker 1: his robe in his hand. And he realized he was
41:51
Speaker 1: close enough for me to feel his breath on the
41:54
Speaker 1: back of my neck. And he never touched me. What
42:00
Speaker 1: kind of man is that? That's God's kind of king.
42:12
Speaker 1: Deliberately resist your natural instinct. Consciously fight every temptation to
42:18
Speaker 1: get even. Quietly trust God to handle all revenge. You
42:26
Speaker 1: know what that requires? Listen to me. I know what
42:30
Speaker 1: I'm talking about, especially today. It requires you letting it go.
42:37
Speaker 1: Letting it go. Recently, I have gone through a terrible time.
42:48
Speaker 1: Only Cynthia knows how terrible. And I was on the
42:52
Speaker 1: verge of going too far, saying too much. And she
42:58
Speaker 1: heard me on the phone virtually screaming to a close friend.
43:03
Speaker 1: And she was dressing in the bathroom and walked out
43:06
Speaker 1: and came down to the bottom of the stairs, quickly dressing.
43:09
Speaker 1: And then she said to me, can I say something
43:11
Speaker 1: to you? And I got up from my desk and
43:15
Speaker 1: I walked over and sat down on the top stair
43:18
Speaker 1: and I said to Yam, let it go. She said.
43:35
Speaker 1: One of those verbal spears of wisdom. I mean, the
43:39
Speaker 1: point is like, can you see it? It's about three
43:42
Speaker 1: inches out of my back there and She said, I
43:46
Speaker 1: heard your voice. I heard your tone. I heard your volume.
43:51
Speaker 1: Way over there in the bathroom downstairs. Come on, honey.
44:00
Speaker 1: Let it go. I did. Can you imagine my trying
44:09
Speaker 1: to preach this if I hadn't? Imagine what kind of
44:12
Speaker 1: hypocrite I'd have to be. to tell you what to
44:18
Speaker 1: do and I'm not doing it. By the way, you
44:21
Speaker 1: notice the word I have not used since we started? Easy.
44:32
Speaker 1: The alternative is instead of being overcome by evil, you
44:36
Speaker 1: overcome evil. You know what happens when you're overcome by evil?
44:41
Speaker 1: Listen to me, you're obsessed. You're obsessed by wrong thoughts.
44:47
Speaker 1: If you will, you are possessed with plans for revenge.
44:53
Speaker 1: It occupies your waking moments and even accompanies your dreams.
44:58
Speaker 1: You are overcome by evil. And you become a victim.
45:05
Speaker 1: You're victimized by the very thing you're trying to get
45:08
Speaker 1: rid of. And some of you are living like that
45:12
Speaker 1: right now. right this hot little moment. Booker T. Washington
45:24
Speaker 1: once said, I will not allow any man to make
45:26
Speaker 1: me lower myself by hating him. In the midst of
45:35
Speaker 1: all of this, my dear daughter Colleen made me aware
45:40
Speaker 1: of a book I have never read before. I've now
45:43
Speaker 1: read it three times. It's A Tale of Three Kings
45:48
Speaker 1: by Gene Edwards. Listen to some excerpts and you'll know
45:54
Speaker 1: why I've not been able to put the book down.
46:00
Speaker 1: God has a university. It is a small school. Few enroll,
46:05
Speaker 1: even fewer graduate. Very few indeed. God has this school
46:12
Speaker 1: because he does not have broken men. Instead, he has
46:18
Speaker 1: several other types of men. He has men who claim
46:20
Speaker 1: to be God's authority and aren't. Men who claim to
46:25
Speaker 1: be broken and aren't. And men who are God's authority,
46:31
Speaker 1: but who are mad and unbroken. And he has, regretfully,
46:36
Speaker 1: a mixture of everything in between. All of these he
46:39
Speaker 1: has in abundance, but broken men Hardly at all. In
46:45
Speaker 1: God's sacred school of submission and brokenness, why are there
46:50
Speaker 1: so few students? Because all who are in this school
46:54
Speaker 1: must suffer much pain. And as you might guess, it
46:58
Speaker 1: is often the unbroken ruler whom God sovereignly picks who
47:02
Speaker 1: meets out the pain. David was once a student in
47:08
Speaker 1: this school, and Saul was God's chosen way to crush
47:12
Speaker 1: David As the king grew in madness, David grew in fear.
47:21
Speaker 1: But David had a question. What do you do when
47:23
Speaker 1: someone throws a spear at you? Does it not seem
47:27
Speaker 1: odd to you that David did not know the answer
47:29
Speaker 1: to this question? After all, everyone else in the world
47:32
Speaker 1: knows what to do when a spear is thrown at them. Why,
47:35
Speaker 1: you pick up the spear and you throw it right back.
47:40
Speaker 1: When someone throws a spear at you, David, just wrench
47:43
Speaker 1: it out of the wall and throw it back. Absolutely
47:47
Speaker 1: everyone else does, and you can be sure of that.
47:50
Speaker 1: And in doing the small feat of returning thrown spears,
47:55
Speaker 1: you will prove many things. You are courageous. You stand
48:01
Speaker 1: for the right. You boldly stand against the wrong. You
48:04
Speaker 1: are tough. You can't be pushed around. You will not
48:07
Speaker 1: stand for injustice or unfair treatment. You are the defender
48:11
Speaker 1: of the faith, keeper of the flame, detector of all heresy.
48:15
Speaker 1: You will not be wronged. All of those attributes then
48:20
Speaker 1: combine to prove that you are also obviously a candidate
48:23
Speaker 1: for kingship. Yes, perhaps you are the Lord's anointed after
48:28
Speaker 1: the order of King Saul. There's also a possibility that
48:35
Speaker 1: some 20 years after your coronation, you will be the
48:39
Speaker 1: most incredibly skilled spear thrower in all the realm and
48:43
Speaker 1: most assuredly, by then, quite mad. You can easily tell
48:53
Speaker 1: when someone has been hit by a spear, he turns
48:55
Speaker 1: a deep shade of bitter. David never got hit. Gradually,
49:03
Speaker 1: he learned a very well-kept secret. He discovered three things
49:07
Speaker 1: that prevented him from ever being hit. One, never learn
49:11
Speaker 1: anything about the fashionable, easily mastered art of spear throwing. Two,
49:17
Speaker 1: stay out of the company of all spear throwers. Three,
49:21
Speaker 1: keep your mouth tightly closed. In this way, spears will
49:28
Speaker 1: never touch you, even when they pierce your heart. Saul
49:35
Speaker 1: is in your bloodstream. In the marrow of your bones.
49:41
Speaker 1: He makes up the very flesh and muscle of your heart.
49:44
Speaker 1: He is mixed into your soul. He inhabits the nuclei
49:49
Speaker 1: of your atoms. We would say he's in your DNA.
49:56
Speaker 1: King Saul is one with you. David the sheepherder would
50:02
Speaker 1: have grown up to become King Saul the second. except
50:08
Speaker 1: that God cut away the Saul inside David's heart. The operation,
50:13
Speaker 1: by the way, took years and was a brutalizing experience
50:16
Speaker 1: that almost killed the patient. And what were the scalpel
50:21
Speaker 1: and tongs God used to remove this inner Saul? God
50:25
Speaker 1: used the outer Saul. King Saul sought to destroy David,
50:32
Speaker 1: but his only success was that he became the handmaiden
50:35
Speaker 1: of God himself. put to death the Saul who roamed
50:38
Speaker 1: about in the caverns of David's own soul. Yes, it
50:46
Speaker 1: is true that David was virtually destroyed in the process,
50:48
Speaker 1: but this had to be, otherwise the Saul in him
50:53
Speaker 1: would have survived. David accepted this fate. He embraced the
50:58
Speaker 1: cruel circumstances. He lifted no hand, offered no resistance, nor
51:03
Speaker 1: did he grandstand his piety. Silently, privately, he bore the crucible.
51:10
Speaker 1: Because of this, he was deeply wounded. His whole inner
51:13
Speaker 1: being was mutilated. His personality was altered. When the gore
51:17
Speaker 1: was over, David was barely recognizable. When God wants to
51:26
Speaker 1: do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and
51:30
Speaker 1: crushes him. And that may very well be you right now.
51:40
Speaker 1: This is your moment to do it God's way. I
51:46
Speaker 1: plead with you, let it go. Will you bow with me, please?
52:00
Speaker 1: I'd like our heads to be bowed and our eyes closed.
52:02
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask something unusual of you. I'm going
52:08
Speaker 1: to ask that you not share this with other people.
52:15
Speaker 1: Not for a while. I'm going to ask you to
52:20
Speaker 1: be quiet about it. Let it sink in. We get
52:29
Speaker 1: gabby and chatty and before we know it, we're busy
52:34
Speaker 1: about trying to sound eloquent rather than being people of brokenness.
52:42
Speaker 1: If God's breaking you, we don't need any announcement. Let
52:49
Speaker 1: it be. Let it go. May I urge you to
52:58
Speaker 1: Guard against putting your finger on that delete button. Don't
53:04
Speaker 1: let this message go. Get this CD. Just for yourself.
53:13
Speaker 1: Play it over and over and over and over again.
53:20
Speaker 1: Play it next year. Play it the year after. Until
53:27
Speaker 1: you finally begun to model. The truth. If there's never
53:35
Speaker 1: been a time in your life. When you have come
53:36
Speaker 1: to the cross. And submitted yourself. To the claims of Christ.
53:42
Speaker 1: Then that's job one. That's the place to start. Come
53:47
Speaker 1: there first. And go to your knees. Say to the Lord.
53:55
Speaker 1: I am a candidate for crushing. Start here. Start now.
54:05
Speaker 1: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Hear our prayer, O Lord.
54:14
Speaker 1: Incline thine ear to us and grant us thy peace.
54:24
Speaker 1: Dismiss us, our Father. with this sober message ringing in
54:29
Speaker 1: our ears. May we see that it's a message not
54:34
Speaker 1: for any other person except ourselves. And in the crushing,
54:44
Speaker 1: stay close, Lord. Help us through it. As you fight
54:51
Speaker 1: the battles, calm our fears. And as you bring the
54:58
Speaker 1: enemy to his knees, guard us from pride. May we
55:05
Speaker 1: kneel with the enemy. As you build that bridge back.
55:13
Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus Christ, who modeled this, I pray.
55:21
Speaker 1: Everyone sit. Amen.
55:26
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Doing Right When You've Been Done Wrong,
55:29
Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound
55:34
Speaker 2: recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
55:40
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
55:44
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
55:51
Speaker 2: is grateful to Tyndale House Publishers for permission to quote
55:54
Speaker 2: from the book, A Tale of Three Kings, copyrighted in