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1 Samuel 27 Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Powerful worship. Thank you for that.
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  Thank you for using your gifts. Praise team to bless us, and
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  thank you for participating with your voices tonight.
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  Now, we continue to worship, don't we?
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  We worship in the word, we worship over the word as the
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  word washes over us. And so meet me in the Old
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  Testament. in the book of 1st Samuel, Chapter 27.
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  First Samuel. Chapter 27.
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  And immediately you're going to recognize that this is a much
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  shorter chapter than what we are used to in this book.
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  And so we are going to by the grace of God cover every verse
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  though, we will not be able to expound as much as we would like
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  to on every verse We are going to buy the spirits, help, learn
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  what we need to learn, and you will probably hopefully pray for
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  Lee. Take what you here tonight and
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  be a Brian and experience the word for yourself.
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  As you get a taste of it tonight, let's ask God to help
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  us Loi, thank you for your word. Or we know that it is alive.
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  We know that it has been authored by you preserved by
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  you, provided by you for us tonight.
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  And so Lord just help us see the honor and the privilege that we
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  have to be able to open the scriptures together.
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  Thank you for this place for the people that filled this place.
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  Thank you for the shared, Love For Truth.
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  We ask Lord that it would not just be a love for knowledge but
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  that it would be a love for them.
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  Knowledge of you and so that we can love you and Obey you and
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  worship you. The way you've called us to
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  Lord, protect the service from distractions and protect our
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  minds and our hearts from unbelief.
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  We pray, Lord, that this word would not miss our hearts.
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  It would grip us. We pray that the Holy Spirit
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  would do what only he can do. Lord, help us.
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  See Christ. Help us Relish in your wisdom
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  tonight in Jesus name we pray. Amen. if you've ever taken the
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  time to study, The word of God, particularly the lives of
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  certain men that God has recorded for our edification.
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  Perhaps, you have made an interesting observation about
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  some of their God glorifying faith-filled accomplishments.
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  What I'm speaking about more specifically, what I'm referring
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  to is how there are great Temptations.
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  That often appear after some of the most renowned triumphs.
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  There are great temptations that seemed to immediately meet these
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  men almost right after their renowned victories for the glory
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  of God. And perhaps there are some names
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  running through your mind now and I'm curious to know if you
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  know what I'm speaking about or who I'm speaking about, it's
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  going to be David and this case but there are others who share
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  what David is about to experience.
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  Can you tell me some men in the scriptures who after great
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  Triumph have known great great turmoil.
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  Very good. Elijah Mount, Carmel.
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  Yes, anyone else? That's the most common one.
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  Job. We can say job.
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  Yes I think his life was just a long series of successes and all
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  for a sudden things change. Sure.
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  But I'm talking about like an hour of Victory.
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  I'm talking about like a testimony that changed the
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  course of someone's life. I just wanted them. no way, you
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  can argue Maybe Who remembers Hezekiah?
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  When Hezekiah was healed of his illness, what happened to him
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  afterwards? Is anybody remember?
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  There are visitors from where who came to to just check up on
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  him from where very good Babylon and what did he do?
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  Oh, he showed him all that. He owned.
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  All that God had given all the ins and outs of the temple and
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  his Palace, and all these things.
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  It was an act of Pride. So after his great healing, he
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  was rebuked for his pride. And as we come to this place, as
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  we come to this chapter, and there are other instances, you
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  not just on a individual level, you can think on a macro level
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  when you think about Joshua. And the conquest think about how
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  after certain defeats over the enemy, they fell because of
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  their arrogance. But when we come to this
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  chapter, in our study of David, we realized that this pattern of
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  potential failure, being presented after great success is
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  becoming very Obvious, it's becoming very obvious and
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  David's life because David after his first victory over the
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  temptation of assassinating Saul.
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  In the next chapter, in chapter 25 was met with the temptation
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  to do. What?
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  Kill nabal. The same David, the same David
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  who resisted the urge to to hurt the one who's been hurting him
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  after a man hurled a few insults to him and his men was ready to
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  destroy him and his family and all that he owned proving to us.
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  That it's it's quite difficult to be consistent with our
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  convictions. And then we come to this point
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  we're in chapter 26, there was a second occasion where David had
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  the opportunity to rid of Saul once and for all, and there is
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  great, great mounting pressure to do so.
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  But we learned that he overcame that because he learned from how
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  God intervened with Mabel and he's not going to make that
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  mistake. If God intervened for him, then
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  surely he will intervene for him once more But sure enough.
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  Just like the first time he overcame.
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  And the second time we're going to see that David is going to
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  reach. He's going to plummet actually
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  to one of the lowest lows that he will experience in his whole
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  life. It's in this chapter, it's in
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  this very chapter, we will see that after a great successful
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  encounter with the King He's going to find himself making
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  some serious mistakes this pattern that I bring before us
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  tonight is important for us as Christians.
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  And the reason why it's so crucial for us to understand how
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  this is very common among those who are faithful to God's work
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  and God's will is because when we talk about overcoming
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  Temptation, you know what we usually do, we focus on how to
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  be prepared with the lies and the fears that once.
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  Try to hinder us from moving forward in obedience.
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  But what's rarely talked about are The Temptations that await
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  us on the other side of obedience.
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  What we don't really prepare for is what is ready to ensnare.
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  Us once we actually do what God's called us to do. and
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  that's why we have this chapter because you and I are going to
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  see, just how, how easy it is for those who do great things
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  for God, who are consistent with God to fall off or a sudden, And
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  there are unique set of temptations that the obedient
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  experience like David that we have to be aware of less.
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  We are imbalanced in our preparation to overcome the
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  things that want to take us out. I remember hearing an interview
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  with a German pastor Europe is not looking too good in many
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  ways and one of the ways it's not looking good.
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  As in their spiritual climate that's been for years and years
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  decades. Actually, I don't remember how
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  old this interview was but I remember that this pastor was
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  known for his bold stance for the truth while his neighboring,
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  ministers and friends and Associates were crushed by the
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  culture and we're caving in to the pressures of the narratives
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  of their day. So this pastor was praised by
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  his congregation, Praise by people, who love the truth.
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  I were not in his immediate context But he was open in that
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  interview to say, though, I overcame the fears and the
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  persecutions. There are still challenges that
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  I faced in my obedience and in his broken English, he shared
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  that almost every week. When he preaches Faithfully from
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  the word of God without apology, the moment he says, amen.
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  The moment, he closes his message as he steps off the
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  pulpit to go sit where he usually sits.
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  He hears in his heart. What a wonderful creature you
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  are. There's no one like you.
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  Look at the courage that you have while everybody else is
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  crumbling. Oh, you're the man of the hour.
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  You're what people need. And he admitted that he has to
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  reject those thoughts on a continual basis.
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  So you see in that situation, you have on one side of
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  Disobedience, people who crumbled because of fear and
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  threats. And then on the other side, you
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  have a man, though he overcame such things, he experienced
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  things that the former did not and that is arrogance and self
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  worth and self, praise springing up in his heart. and so you and
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  I are going to see that it's not just Pride that dangles over
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  those who walk on the path of faithfulness.
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  There are other things that those who live for God will
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  experience as they move forward in obedience.
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  And this is a chapter in David's life where we will learn such
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  things. So let's read in verse one, mind
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  you that before we read David just finished, overcoming a
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  great series of Temptations to kill Saul.
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  Remember that look Happens. Immediately after the fact, in
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  27 verse 1, we read then, David said in his heart.
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  Now I Shall Perish One Day by the hand of Saul.
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  There is nothing better for me than that.
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  I should escape to the land of the Philistines.
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  Then saw Will despair of seeking me any longer with the Border
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  within the borders of Israel and I shall Escape out of his hand.
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  So, David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with
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  him to a, he's the son of Mayock, king of gath and David
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  live with a, he's agathe he and his men.
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  Every man with his household and David with his two wives.
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  I know him of Jezreel, on Abigail of caramel enables wind
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  Widow, and when it was told Saul that David had fled to gath, he
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  no longer sought him. We could stay in verse 14, the
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  rest of this Bible study, but we're not going to do that.
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  There is so much in verse 1 alone.
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  And what we can take out of this is what this man experienced,
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  the difficulty that he had to deal with.
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  After overcoming such great Temptations.
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  And the previous chapter was a massive flood of discouragement.
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  We're going to hear a lot tonight about discouragement.
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  Perhaps, we are not. Convinced of just how powerful
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  discouragement can be in a Believers life.
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  Would it shock you for me to tell you that discouragement is
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  one of Satan's favorite weapons to attack God's most Faithful
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  Servants. If the enemy cannot disqualify a
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  Christian and his ministry through Scandal or character
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  flaws or immorality, then he will ensure to.
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  So debilitate him Too. So suck the life and hope out of
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  his heart that he himself will not want to move forward in
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  God's will. And that's exactly what's
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  happening to this, man. He overcame his great
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  temptations. That would have ruined his
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  reputation he had at the same time, he is going to go in the
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  wrong direction still, and in the same way that you and I, as
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  Christians should be reminded of how we should be guarded against
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  sexual Temptation, for example, or how we should be aware of the
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  foot hole that we can give to Satan through our anger or
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  jealousy. You and I must also know what to
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  do when discouragement visits our hearts because if not, it
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  will lead you in a direction that you never thought
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  discouragement can lead you to it's quite fascinating to read a
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  case study of what power discouragement has over.
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  Someone who doesn't know how to discern.
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  There's not a discern what discouragement can do and this
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  is how we're going to learn it by looking at this man's life by
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  looking at what fueled his discouragement.
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  And though David situation is very uncommon unless you are
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  being chased by somebody in your living in the streets and it's
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  been a few months now. Though his situation is not very
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  relatable, his lack of rationale, his inability to
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  think straight is very very, very common.
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  Why do you think he was discouraged, any ideas?
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  Why do you think he's discouraged?
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  Very good. The situation, never seems to
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  change any disagreement with that.
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  Would everybody agree with that? I would say.
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  That's probably the main reason why that David is discouraged,
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  because this man is just weathering a persistent assault
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  of a crazy person. And there seems to be no final
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  intervention from God. The man who is attacking him
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  does not have any weight to his words.
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  He has a very impressive intelligence agency that finds
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  his every step. And so this, this David is worn
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  out. Now put yourself in his shoes
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  before we pick up our stones and ready to throw it at him.
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  Imagine living in caves for weeks and months.
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  Imagine having to always look over your shoulder.
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  Not knowing if at any moment 3000 of Saul's men can come and
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  Surround you around a mountain. Imagine having to take care of
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  600 men and their families, you have your own family You are
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  held responsible for their lives.
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  You don't know how you're going to make ends meet.
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  You don't know how you're going to provide for these people in
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  the most practical ways. All of this is crushing, it's
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  overwhelming and David here is ready to give up, he's ready to
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  just give in because trusting, God is not easy, it's not It can
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  if you don't know how God's work manifests and how his ways are
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  more complex than how we would like, then you are, you are not
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  going to no great strides and great longevity and this is
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  proven here. And we can relate to it in many
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  ways because I'm sure you have experienced disappointment while
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  serving God. I'm sure you have experienced
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  discouragement while trusting God.
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  In fact, the more we wait on something, the more you pray for
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  something with no result, the more open and susceptible you
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  are to not just being discouraged but Imagining the
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  worst possible outcome for your life.
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  It's incredible. What discouragement does it not
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  just makes you feel a certain way.
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  It actually deceives you It begins to magnify the - and blur
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  any positive. And what happens is like David,
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  you take all of that and then it reinterprets your future.
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  You just take. What is ugly and you take what
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  is not happening? You bundle it all together and
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  what you have is a complete different understanding of
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  what's happening in the now and what will happen tomorrow and we
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  panic and we get frustrated and we make strange Visions and look
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  what he says here. He says now I Shall Perish One
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  Day by the hand of Saul. Well, what about what Samuel
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  told you about being King? What about your friend?
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  Jonathan what about your wife Abigail?
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  What about, what even Saul said Saul even told you that you were
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  going to become king? What about all the times that
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  God has providentially and supernaturally rescued you from
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  Saul? What about even the fact that?
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  All the ways that God has provided you and your time
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  during the Wilderness, all of that was disregarded.
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  All that was forgotten. Why?
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  Because that's how persuasive discouragement is.
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  It's very convincing. It's extremely powerful. and
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  there are some people who are serving God even now maybe it's
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  you maybe it's not Who have come to a place where they just say
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  to themselves. This is getting too hard.
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  The frequency of the challenges waiting on God, the difficulty
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  of circumstances. And the people that I have to, I
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  don't know if I can live like this, I don't know if this is
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  really worth that. I don't know if I, if I want to
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  move forward. and if we're not constantly for not constantly
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  aware of the faithfulness of God, and if we're not
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  constantly, listen to this surrounded, by God's people, If
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  we don't have those two things, then there's no knowing how
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  discouragement. Can direct you.
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  To spiritual death. And it can happen very quickly.
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  Look at verse 1, again, what stands out from verse 1.
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  Not just now, I Shall Perish One Day by the hand of Saul.
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  Very good. We're going to come to that in a
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  moment. There is nothing better for me.
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  That's quite fascinating. Look at something before that
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  though. Very good.
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  Then David said, where It's there.
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  Wondering what people are looking at David said in his
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  heart. Now this is telling us more than
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  just Holy Spirit. Showing us what David is
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  thinking. No, no, there's an application
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  here. David is meditating, David is
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  internalizing. David is reflecting confining
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  within himself, and he is not communicating, what is
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  concerning him? There's a lot of wisdom and not
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  sharing certain things about your life or about what you feel
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  or about what you think. There's a lot of wisdom in that
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  but there is also wisdom in making sure that you share
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  certain things and not keeping it to yourself.
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  Because there are some things that come through sharing with
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  God and with others, that can rescue you.
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  That can deliver you that can save you David's.
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  First problem here, is that he said it in his heart, but
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  there's no indication that he was pouring out his heart before
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  God. There's no prayer here.
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  There's no song written, there's nothing.
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  He's keeping it within himself. And my question is, where's the
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  psalmist? My question is.
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  Where's the man who in difficult situations cried out to God and
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  God was able to give him almost immediate immediate answers.
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  Where's that David? For whatever reason, this man is
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  so dejected that he doesn't even feel the need to come before God
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  and just to share what's going on within him.
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  And here's the point, I want to make, if you are serving God,
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  let me give you a heads up. It's not a prophetic word, it's
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  very very obvious. You will know discouragement at
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  one point or another you will And when you feel that when you
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  feel that loss of enthusiasm, when you feel that loss of hope,
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  when you begin to question, whether you are supposed to be
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  serving God in this way, or if you are effective for God,
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  whatever the case may be, never let your discouragement bar you
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  from coming to God, let it be the reason to come to God.
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  Come before him, honestly come before him and be broken in his
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  presence because I want to tell you something very fascinating
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  that happens. As you express those emotions as
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  you express those thoughts before him.
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  Often times what will happen is in the process, there will be a
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  change. I can testify that many times
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  when I brought my worries before God, it's turned into worship.
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  Because something happens, as you are in faith, communicating
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  to the Lord, the the air clears, a little bit.
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  You realize I'm talking to God Almighty and then in that moment
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  you were reminded and though may not be immediate as you persist.
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  God begins to open your eyes and show you who he is.
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  And then you realize, I'm talking to the one who is in
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  control of everything. I'm the I'm talking to the one
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  who can make things happen like that.
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  I'm talking to the one who will be faithful to me, who has been
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  faithful to me. Something happens in the pursuit
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  of God. And sometimes God is encouraged
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  and supernaturally. Sometimes in practical ways, but
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  he will not leave you in that place.
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  If you in faith, come to him in your Brokenness, David doesn't
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  do that here. And that's a problem.
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  But what else did you not do? He doesn't share what he's
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  feeling with with others. He doesn't, he doesn't open his
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  heart. Do you remember what Jonathan
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  was able to offer David and one of the most depressing times of
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  his life. It says that he strengthen his
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  hand in the Lord. Jonathan did that.
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  Does anybody remember what Jonathan's name means?
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  That might be on a quiz one day. Because it's so precious God has
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  given Jonathan means, God has given and Jonathan lived out
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  that name because he offered so much.
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  He offered so much to David, his presence.
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  His words built David up. And though you may not have a
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  friend whose name is Jonathan. God has given people in your
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  life. Yes.
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  God has placed certain individuals in your life that
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  have the ability to not judge you in that state of confusion
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  or turmoil, but to help you realize who God is and who you
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  are in him. And I think David made the
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  mistake of not sharing his heart though.
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  Jonathan was unavailable. And though maybe he looked at
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  the 600 member, the sick, the 600 men didn't have the best of
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  Faith. They relied on David's Faith,
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  but there was somebody, I believe you could have gone to
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  do, you know, who I'm talking about?
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  Who do you think? Somebody said it Abigail his
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  wife, what a woman of discernment and discretion what
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  a profound woman she was she was she was able to speak it to his
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  life to persuade him not to make a mistake that he would regret
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  for the rest of his days. Oh David have you only just went
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  home to your wife and you just sat across the table though, you
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  didn't have one, you're in a cataract, whatever, you just
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  poured out your heart. And you said, this is what I'm
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  experiencing. I don't know why this dark cloud
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  is over my soul. Who knows.
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  Pause. What you could have been saved
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  from. Who knows?
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  How you could have avoided first Samuel.
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  Chapter 27. But he doesn't, he keeps it
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  within himself. Can I tell you something in
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  moments of discouragement? I don't care how crazy your
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  thoughts are. It doesn't matter how out of
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  touch with reality. Your imagination is about
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  something. Do not forget that, a simple
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  conversation with somebody who fears God and loves you can do
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  much, much help. Really.
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  Don't forget that one. Simple phone call saying
• 24:47
  brother. I know that this sounds silly, I
• 24:50
  know that this sounds, I know we've had this conversation a
• 24:52
  hundred times, but I just feel and fill in the blank.
• 24:57
  And as Believers, we should not be weary of hearing somebody,
• 25:01
  even if it's repetitive, because we're call to lift each other's
• 25:05
  burdens. So if somebody comes up to you,
• 25:07
  as a brother or sister says, I just feel like I'm going to be
• 25:11
  single forever. And you had that conversation.
• 25:14
  50 times. Have it 51 times, have it 75
• 25:18
  times. And provide faith and provide
• 25:22
  encouragement from the scriptures.
• 25:24
  If somebody feels like whatever the case, maybe you, and I can
• 25:31
  potentially save someone from sinking into a place that can
• 25:36
  destroy their testimony. As we're about to find out,
• 25:39
  don't underestimate. Somebody who is broken in
• 25:42
  Failure even I do understand don't underestimate the ministry
• 25:45
  of answering that text message or going for a cup of coffee
• 25:49
  with a fellow brother or sister and just speaking life to them.
• 25:54
  Because this man as he swirling in, these thoughts is going to
• 25:56
  make some serious mistakes. And it could have been solved.
• 26:00
  I'm sure if he had just opened his heart primarily to the Lord,
• 26:02
  and then to the Lord's people. Now, this is what happens if you
• 26:07
  are not careful to deal with discouragement and wisdom with
• 26:12
  what you just heard, then you can be misdirected and you can
• 26:16
  be derailed in significant ways. And that's what we see here in
• 26:20
  verse 2. He's about to make some serious
• 26:24
  decisions but before we go there look at what he says in verse 1.
• 26:26
  And we heard earlier from our dear sister, he says there is
• 26:29
  nothing for me. There is nothing better for me
• 26:32
  than I should escape to the land of the Philistines.
• 26:35
  Are you serious? There is nothing better.
• 26:39
  I can think of like, 50 things that are better than you going
• 26:43
  to the land of the Philistines. In fact, what David thought
• 26:47
  would be the best thing. Turn out to be the worst thing.
• 26:50
  God had never given permission to his people to move out of the
• 26:54
  promised land, read the book of Ruth and that is another
• 26:57
  principle of such a truth. God had never instructed, unless
• 27:01
  it was a clear. Clear, command to go to Egypt,
• 27:04
  or there or whatever the case may be.
• 27:05
  There is never a time where a person had the Liberty to go out
• 27:09
  of bounds of God's promises and his will without there being a
• 27:15
  price. And for him to come to this
• 27:18
  conclusion, shows how deluded David has become.
• 27:24
  He actually thought that the greatest remedy was to go to the
• 27:28
  Philistines because then Saul would not be as bold to find him
• 27:33
  in that place and to even do something about it.
• 27:36
  And we're ready to go. David.
• 27:38
  You lost it? We're ready to say David.
• 27:40
  You're you are so out of touch with God.
• 27:43
  And yet, I say how many people do this today even believers.
• 27:49
  Even Christians that end their moments where they are low and
• 27:53
  their moments where they are out of gas in the moments where they
• 27:55
  feel like this isn't worth that anymore.
• 27:59
  They go to the wrong remedies, they turn to the wrong
• 28:03
  Solutions, sometimes it's substance and sometimes it's a
• 28:07
  behavior, sometimes it's a way of life.
• 28:10
  Sometimes there's a door that you open that you think you can
• 28:13
  vent your frustration for a little bit when it's clearly
• 28:16
  sin. And you have some people that
• 28:19
  you know, they give themselves to Extended mindless
• 28:21
  distractions. So they don't have to deal with
• 28:23
  what's disturbing them and then you have people like David who
• 28:26
  just flirt and even entertained. About disobedience.
• 28:32
  I'm just going to do this because it's going to bring me
• 28:34
  some kind of relief, some kind of satisfaction, some kind of
• 28:37
  distraction from the pain and the difficulty.
• 28:42
  And the Darkness that I'm in Could you actually believe with
• 28:47
  me today, that discouragement can lead people to disobedience?
• 28:52
  It can we are seeing it right here and consider how these
• 28:58
  verses tell us. That David went somewhere.
• 29:00
  Where did he go? Exactly.
• 29:02
  He went to a specific person. Who is that person?
• 29:08
  I wish. Does he sound familiar or no?
• 29:14
  Who thinks we've seen him before?
• 29:17
  and if we have, where we've seen him before, Oh very good.
• 29:28
  A few chapters ago. That is one of the first places
• 29:31
  that he went when he was running from Saul initially.
• 29:34
  And so go back a few chapters look.
• 29:36
  I want to make a point from this connection and 21:10 First
• 29:41
  Samuel, 21 verse 10, we read and David Rosen fled that day from
• 29:44
  Saul and went to a quiche the king of gas.
• 29:47
  The same King, the same leader, the same ruler, the same
• 29:50
  environment the same atmosphere. He goes back to the place where
• 29:55
  he did what we read in verse 13 of 1st.
• 29:57
  Samuel 21, what do you do in verse 13?
• 30:00
  So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be
• 30:03
  insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate.
• 30:06
  And let's spittle run down his beard.
• 30:09
  Why would you go back to the place that encouraged you to be
• 30:13
  a crazy man? Why would you go back to such a
• 30:19
  vulnerable? Position where you actually
• 30:24
  behave in such an ungodly, inhumane way.
• 30:31
  And the point is so obvious. It's so clear.
• 30:35
  It's an illustration of how we are willing to go back to sin
• 30:39
  and not just sin sin that has at one point, brought us through
• 30:43
  much, shame, and dishonor. All you remember.
• 30:46
  I'm sure if you If you have a testimony where you went into
• 30:50
  the world for a bit or you grow up in a Christian household and
• 30:54
  you were never really born again till later.
• 30:56
  I'm sure you remember of doing certain things saying certain
• 31:00
  things participating in certain things where you told yourself I
• 31:04
  will never do that again. Only to find yourself doing what
• 31:08
  that very same thing. Again once the memories of
• 31:11
  disgrace disappear. But I'm not just talking about
• 31:15
  Sinners. I'm talking about how even the
• 31:16
  most righteous can revisit the unthinkable.
• 31:20
  They can, this is David were speaking about here and he's
• 31:25
  willing to go back to the same place where he rolled around as
• 31:28
  though, he had lost his mind. Why would you do this?
• 31:33
  And the point is very obvious, discouragement encourages us to
• 31:37
  do things like that and that funny Discouragement encourages.
• 31:44
  It encourages you to even do things that you never thought
• 31:48
  you would do. I know this sounds kind of
• 31:51
  exaggerated, but it's true. Because what is his reason of
• 31:56
  discouragement he is discouraged in the will of God.
• 32:01
  He is discouraged while obeying. God, he is discouraged.
• 32:05
  While trusting God. And so, what is the flesh trying
• 32:07
  to convince him of? Well, surely there's some kind
• 32:10
  of relief outside of the will of God.
• 32:14
  If this is what it is, serving God, the maybe you have to step
• 32:17
  outside of this Lane just for a little break, get a breather and
• 32:21
  it come back in. Do you know?
• 32:24
  There are some people who are in Ministry who after they've been
• 32:26
  caught and certain sin confess that what they told himself
• 32:32
  before sinning and usually in the case of sexual immorality
• 32:35
  was well I've been serving God so much I thought I deserved the
• 32:38
  break. And so it before we think that
• 32:43
  this is out there before we think this is fairy tale, you
• 32:44
  have some people who are convinced in discouragement in
• 32:47
  the and the weariness of ministry and serving people who
• 32:50
  have bought into the lie. That maybe I just need some kind
• 32:54
  of relief in the flesh. David's doing that.
• 32:59
  He just wants to step out into the territory, the Philistines
• 33:03
  for a little while, not for a long, while until salt gives up
• 33:06
  until saw just lays off. What is that going to lead him
• 33:11
  to? That's gonna lead him to messed
• 33:14
  up things. But here's the point, I want to
• 33:16
  make and this this topic of discouragement Davis decision to
• 33:22
  do this. It's not just going to affect
• 33:23
  David. Who else is it going to affect
• 33:24
  everybody with him? Look at verse 3 quickly and
• 33:29
  David lived with Alicia. Gareth, he and his men, every
• 33:32
  man with his household. So remember the 600 came to
• 33:35
  follow David and whether it was at that time or later on these
• 33:40
  men with their wives and their children.
• 33:42
  Now are with him and David is leading all of them into the
• 33:47
  land of the Philistines, not just him.
• 33:50
  And I read that today, and I thought to myself,
• 33:53
  discouragement is so powerful, but it is especially dangerous
• 33:57
  for those who are in leadership positions.
• 34:02
  I'm not saying this because of the position that I might be
• 34:06
  serving in. I'm saying this for all people
• 34:10
  in any position of authority, in any position of influence and
• 34:13
  anybody who has great responsibility.
• 34:15
  Can I, can I tell you something? Please don't, don't be a reason
• 34:19
  to discourage them. They already have enough
• 34:22
  discouragement to deal. They already have the lies of
• 34:24
  the devil to deal with. They already have the world to
• 34:26
  deal. With the already, have crazy
• 34:28
  people to deal with crazy emails.
• 34:30
  Crazy things that they have to answer and they have to try to
• 34:33
  all these assaults and attacks. Here's here's what Satan would
• 34:38
  love to do. Is to so overwhelm someone who
• 34:41
  is in a position with there are others under his influence
• 34:44
  because like David if they become so burdened by that
• 34:49
  discouragement they can make decisions that will influence
• 34:52
  others in the end and that can look like somebody quitting when
• 34:55
  they're not supposed to be quitting.
• 34:57
  And I can look like somebody who is so charged emotionally that
• 35:00
  they do things in the flesh out of exhaustion or whatever the
• 35:05
  case may be. That affects and has
• 35:06
  ramifications beyond their own lives, pray for your leaders.
• 35:11
  Be an encouragement to those. Now I'm not just talking about
• 35:14
  church leaders fathers who work hours upon hours in a week to
• 35:19
  feed their families. Those that, you know, that a
• 35:22
  servant a particular Ministry in and they're taking extra time
• 35:27
  out of what they would usually have what we call a break from
• 35:29
  their regular Works. Encourage them because
• 35:34
  discouragement can cause them to not just misdirect their own
• 35:38
  lives but even others. and so for the rest of this chapter,
• 35:44
  That clock is telling me something.
• 35:47
  We're going to keep going for the rest of this chapter.
• 35:51
  I want us to see quickly just quickly consider the insights
• 35:56
  that we find in the place of a righteous man who willfully
• 36:01
  choose. It's a step out of bounds in the
• 36:03
  will of God for the rest of this chapter.
• 36:06
  You and I are going to just we're going to take a flat
• 36:09
  Little Rock and skip it over a bed of this passage of scripture
• 36:13
  and just lightly tap and see. What becomes Of a man.
• 36:18
  What can happen to a woman? Who willfully like David
• 36:22
  willfully. David is making a choice here.
• 36:24
  He's not slipping, he's not caught off guard, he has
• 36:26
  calculated and been convinced to do this when a righteous man or
• 36:30
  woman chooses to go out of bounds.
• 36:33
  What can they expect? And I hope that this will
• 36:36
  protect you and I hope that this will be a source of wisdom.
• 36:39
  If, you know somebody that you love that is entertaining such
• 36:42
  thoughts. Let's look at verse 4. and when
• 36:47
  I was told Saul that David had fled to gath, he no longer saw
• 36:51
  to him The first thing that happens to David, when he moves
• 36:56
  out of God's promise, the promised land is that apparently
• 37:01
  he experienced some relief. There is, there is immediate
• 37:06
  success. And so we see here that he
• 37:11
  seemed to get what he wanted. The desire was fulfilled, what
• 37:17
  he had hoped for came to pass and David just wanted to avoid
• 37:21
  the surveillance of saw. He could not live knowing that
• 37:24
  there are spies in those Hills or there were those among his
• 37:27
  brethren in the land of Judah that were betraying.
• 37:29
  And he couldn't live like that any longer.
• 37:31
  So he goes to a place where no Israelite would willfully, go.
• 37:36
  And for a moment, he is enjoying the reward of his apparent
• 37:39
  wisdom. And I want to tell you this,
• 37:44
  that there is an element to sin. That is somewhat pleasurable and
• 37:50
  even to our understanding to the Natural mind profitable.
• 37:56
  Or else you wouldn't be tempted to sin.
• 37:59
  Hebrews 11 tells us that sin is pleasurable but it's fleeting
• 38:05
  pleasure. Psalms tells us that in his
• 38:09
  presence, is the fullness of joy.
• 38:13
  Sin offer something but it evaporates very quickly.
• 38:18
  And what we see here is that no matter what kind of reward you
• 38:20
  might experience in the place of Disobedience.
• 38:24
  It's temporary it's always temporary.
• 38:29
  Yeah, so you fulfill the Fantasy by living in an adulterous
• 38:32
  relationship but that's temporary exhibit.
• 38:33
  Turn into a nightmare real real soon.
• 38:37
  Okay, so you made extra money by lying and cheating with the
• 38:40
  numbers and so you can afford. I may be a little bit better
• 38:43
  vacation than you did before that.
• 38:45
  It's going to come to haunt you. It will that's just the rule.
• 38:48
  That's just a law that God has established in his universe.
• 38:52
  And so what we see here first is that there is a sense in which
• 38:55
  David experienced What are you desired?
• 38:59
  And this is a nearsightedness when it comes to sin we are able
• 39:03
  to see things very clearly up from but we can't see beyond.
• 39:06
  We can't see where this can take us and that's why God in his
• 39:10
  perfect love. Gives us a chapter like this so
• 39:12
  that we can examine and have a helicopter view of What Becomes
• 39:16
  of a man. When they willfully choose to go
• 39:18
  out outside of God's will, This is what he's experiencing. and
• 39:24
  if we fail to see it, or we are so confused, and Give into
• 39:31
  something without realizing where I'll take us.
• 39:32
  It doesn't matter. It will take us where we don't
• 39:34
  want to go. And so remember that whatever
• 39:38
  reward is in Rebellion, it will always always be temporary
• 39:42
  always no matter what it is. Now, we come to verse five and
• 39:46
  six. Then David said to a quiche, if
• 39:50
  I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one
• 39:55
  of the country towns that I may dwell there for.
• 39:58
  Why should your servant dwell in the Royal City with you The
• 40:05
  second thing that can happen to a person who willfully chooses
• 40:09
  to disobey God, and it's really just in one area.
• 40:13
  Let me remind you something. David is not becoming an
• 40:15
  apostate. He's not saying I'm not going to
• 40:17
  serve the god of Israel anymore. I'm going to serve the god of
• 40:19
  the Philistines. All he wants to do is just
• 40:20
  change his address changing your address isn't wrong but in this
• 40:25
  context it was it was sin. You couldn't leave the
• 40:27
  boundaries of the promised land so is just an area of his life.
• 40:32
  It was just a little Do in the house.
• 40:34
  It wasn't the whole thing. Wasn't burning the place down.
• 40:37
  Meaning The heart and his Devotion to God, just a sliver
• 40:43
  of it, but what begins to happen is first.
• 40:46
  You do it and you don't see any consequence to it.
• 40:49
  But s things begin to transpire. And here's what's happening with
• 40:52
  David. Now he is willing to associate
• 40:56
  with the unrighteous. He is willing to tolerate
• 41:01
  relationships that he should not be tolerating.
• 41:05
  Do you see how he's speaking to a quiche?
• 41:07
  Look how he's talking about if I found favor in your eyes?
• 41:11
  What are you saying? If I have found favor in your
• 41:14
  eyes, And some would say well this is David being strategic
• 41:18
  because he has a he has a he has an end in mind and it's for the
• 41:21
  good and for the glory of God so he's kind of tricking out, he's
• 41:24
  okay fine. If you believe that or not
• 41:26
  there's a matter. Why is he communicating with
• 41:29
  somebody that he's supposed to be at war?
• 41:30
  With? That's the point.
• 41:33
  You're dealing with a people that have defied, the god of
• 41:37
  Israel that you have went to war with since you're young adult
• 41:42
  years and now offer sudden you're willing to have these
• 41:44
  casual conversations and make With.
• 41:50
  And consider this consider perhaps why they would even
• 41:53
  justify this. Consider how he's treating
• 41:59
  David, because he does give it to him verse 6.
• 42:04
  So that day at he's gave him ziklag.
• 42:06
  Therefore, ziklag had belong has belonged to the kings of Judah
• 42:09
  to this day. It's no wonder that a person who
• 42:17
  is, especially been discouraged by how they've been treated by
• 42:20
  supposed Christians. Veer off and embrace those who
• 42:25
  are not Christians because who wants to really live with a
• 42:27
  hypocrite anyway, right? It's like this is how people
• 42:31
  think if I'm going to, I'm going to deal with those who claim to
• 42:33
  serve God, but live, like live, like heathens.
• 42:38
  I rather deal with those who live like heathens and admit.
• 42:41
  They're heathens. And I, I can't help but be
• 42:48
  embarrassed seeing how he's a Philistine is willing to embrace
• 42:54
  David and provide for David upon request. when you compare the
• 42:59
  treatment of his own brethren in the land of Judah, Who betrayed
• 43:03
  him and told on him over and over again and saw who was
• 43:07
  supposed to be not just his King but his father-in-law.
• 43:12
  This is how my father-in-law is going to treat, this is how my
• 43:14
  brethren from my own land, from the closest try possible are
• 43:17
  going to are going to relate to me.
• 43:20
  And then you come here and this is how this is, how the
• 43:22
  unbelieving are embracing me. I'm gonna stay here.
• 43:28
  I'm going to be, I'm going to be comfortable here.
• 43:31
  I've been lacking this kind of love and support for so long.
• 43:36
  And so, here's what we have to understand. as a community of
• 43:40
  Believers, the warmth and the welcome that we share with one,
• 43:44
  another should outshine should radiate without comparison to
• 43:51
  those who are outside the family of God.
• 43:54
  I mean there should be such an affection in this place.
• 43:56
  There should be such a service, such a kindness, such a
• 44:00
  willingness to support. And to sacrifice that it would
• 44:03
  never be a Temptation in anyone to Crave the companionship of
• 44:09
  those who are outside of Covenant with God.
• 44:12
  That makes sense. I mean, we should be able to to
• 44:16
  show walk in unity and so walk in love that when we look out
• 44:21
  there, we would see a cruel world.
• 44:24
  Nothing breaks my heart more and I've heard this more than once
• 44:27
  throughout my Christian experience, nothing breaks my
• 44:31
  heart more. When I here Christian a genuine
• 44:33
  Christian and a Christian that finds a negative and a demon
• 44:35
  under every Rock. But genuine Christians who say,
• 44:39
  you know, it's so sad that non-christians in this area,
• 44:42
  have been more of a blessing to me than Christians like it
• 44:45
  shatters me, it shatters me and it's not an unrealistic
• 44:48
  expectation. That should not be the case.
• 44:52
  Now, I know there are some who will make an excuse of
• 44:54
  everything and will magnify everything because they think
• 44:57
  Christians should be should just be perfect.
• 45:00
  I'm not saying that either, but I'm saying here is that the
• 45:02
  treatment that David has endured could possibly have been the
• 45:05
  reason one of the reasons why he was willing to just not visit
• 45:08
  the area the Philistines but now live there I can I can ride this
• 45:13
  out. But even though it may be true,
• 45:18
  that there are some Believers in our lives, that contradict their
• 45:20
  testimony and treat you and treat you like like dirt.
• 45:25
  It never gives you a neither right to yoke with those who are
• 45:28
  not yoke to Christ. Never When unfortunate, this is
• 45:33
  what he does. He begins to not entertain and
• 45:35
  associate with those that he's not supposed to and we read on
• 45:38
  and see something in verse 7. Here's a third point and the
• 45:41
  number of the days that David lived in the country of the
• 45:43
  Philistines was a year and four months.
• 45:47
  Wow, a year and four months. Why do you think the Holy Spirit
• 45:53
  told us how long he was there for?
• 45:57
  Maybe they tell us that he was there for a very long time and
• 45:59
  he shouldn't have been And the patience of God, we're going to
• 46:05
  see that next week. But not just that which is a
• 46:10
  great point. We're seeing here a very
• 46:13
  important point when it comes to entertaining, any disobedience
• 46:16
  in our lives. That when we think that we will
• 46:20
  just take a tour in the land of the Philistines, often you will
• 46:23
  stay longer than you have anticipated.
• 46:28
  You will end up finding a place that looks nice and you will end
• 46:31
  up buying that place and staying there.
• 46:35
  And I think the reason why David stayed so long is because he did
• 46:38
  not see any consequences to his compromise.
• 46:43
  He didn't if anything you're going to be here he's going to
• 46:46
  see prosperity and success. So he's like this is wonderful.
• 46:50
  I want to stay here. This is, this is better than I
• 46:52
  thought. And that's unfortunately, what
• 46:55
  many people do today? When Divine discipline is
• 47:01
  delayed. And when there seems to be no
• 47:03
  dangerous to your decisions, there is a deception in that
• 47:08
  that causes you to stay in Disobedience longer.
• 47:12
  Okay, so when David was with a quiche, the first time in first
• 47:15
  name of 21, he felt he felt the danger, he felt the threats.
• 47:19
  So what does he do? He falls over and he starts
• 47:21
  acting drooling and scratching. He wants to get out of there.
• 47:24
  This time when he comes, he's welcomed, he's given a town, not
• 47:29
  a car, here's a town. He's like, whoa, okay.
• 47:33
  And so, what's happening at? God is not saying I'm doing
• 47:35
  something wrong. And these people were supposed
• 47:38
  to hurt me. They're not hurting me.
• 47:41
  The stuff that I'm doing the stuff that I'm watching the
• 47:43
  stuff that I'm entertained, the stuff that I'm injecting.
• 47:45
  The stuff that I am. This isn't hurting me.
• 47:48
  It's actually helping me. And then what happens is you
• 47:52
  begin to begin to dig your heels in and you become more Concrete
• 47:57
  in your compromise. You don't have to turn there,
• 47:59
  but I want to read a verse to prove my point.
• 48:01
  It's in Ecclesiastes 8:11, just listen to this. it says, because
• 48:06
  the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily
• 48:12
  The heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.
• 48:17
  Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed
• 48:21
  speedily. The heart of the children of man
• 48:24
  is fully set on doing evil. So what happens is you press the
• 48:29
  button that you're not supposed to press and nothing happens?
• 48:31
  No doors open, no nothing underneath.
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  You opens up, you like? Wow.
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  And then you keep pressing and you keep burning says, do not
• 48:38
  press. And that's the point.
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  The point is, this that men are set in their Disobedience
• 48:43
  because there seems to be a delay in Divine discipline.
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  And it's a sad thing that the greatest encouragement that
• 48:52
  people have. To not sin is that they don't
• 48:56
  want to be punished for it. If that's your only motivation
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  to not sin. Then you're not going to know a
• 49:05
  joy in the Lord and you're going to be deceived when there is.
• 49:08
  As we heard an extended period of God's mercy over your life
• 49:12
  and you thinking that you're going to get away with it.
• 49:16
  David was there for a year and four months, that's a long time
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  and that's the point. I've seen it happen.
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  I've seen it happen in your house.
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  Can I tell you what? I've seen?
• 49:28
  I've seen what a person has been truly saved and then they
• 49:31
  backslide. Their backslidden state is worse
• 49:33
  than when they were before they were saved.
• 49:36
  Like you were messing with Satan's territory. and sometimes
• 49:43
  like David, it was a year and four months Sometimes people
• 49:47
  stay in that kind of condition for years before they wake up
• 49:50
  again. and I can tell you they were just looking for some kind
• 49:54
  of some kind of relief just for a moment and up becoming a
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  long-term commitment to compromise.
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  So, be careful. The scripture show is here that
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  we are able we are capable of remaining somewhere that we
• 50:14
  never intended to remain in. Because that is how powerful the
• 50:17
  pull of sin is the clutch of this obedience is so strong.
• 50:21
  Verse 8, we see another point. Now, David and his men went up
• 50:25
  and made raised against the guest rights.
• 50:29
  The girls attackers sites and the amalekites for these were
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  the inhabitants of the land from old, as far as sure to the land
• 50:34
  of Egypt and David would strike the land.
• 50:37
  And we'll leave neither, man, nor woman alive and would take
• 50:39
  away the Sheep, the ox, and the donkeys, camels, and the
• 50:43
  garments, and come back to a quiche.
• 50:47
  So now what's happening, is he has this place and I mean you
• 50:51
  can imagine how excited David and his men were.
• 50:53
  They've been living in caves for.
• 50:55
  Who knows how long now they actually have a house houses
• 50:58
  living rooms bedrooms. They can put their kids in a
• 51:00
  comfy. Warm place that can actually
• 51:02
  cook with instruments and tools that I have to wait for some
• 51:05
  raid before they get more. And so now they're set in once
• 51:08
  they're set, they feel boldness and a confidence to go out and
• 51:11
  perform more raids and we have to be careful here.
• 51:15
  David is not Killing Philistines.
• 51:19
  And David is not killing Israelites.
• 51:23
  These tribes are those who remain due to the failure of
• 51:29
  Joshua and that generation would initially came into the Promised
• 51:33
  Land. Remember, they were supposed to
• 51:35
  eradicate all of these men, and they failed to do so.
• 51:38
  So you know what David is doing? He's actually doing a good
• 51:40
  thing, David is finishing, what? The previous generations, could
• 51:45
  not complete. He is trying to actually obey
• 51:48
  God in this, he is zealously obeying God.
• 51:54
  How do you make sense of this? I think one way you can make
• 51:58
  sense of it, is this. That's sometimes when somebody
• 52:04
  is in this would be nice and they know the Lord, they know
• 52:06
  God's word and they have a they have an area of compromising
• 52:09
  their lives. One way.
• 52:11
  They think that they can quiet. Their conscience is busying
• 52:14
  themselves with righteous activity.
• 52:20
  And so to silence that nagging voice.
• 52:23
  That's saying that is wrong, that is wrong.
• 52:24
  They want to justify that by telling themselves and maybe
• 52:28
  even telling God. But look what else I'm doing?
• 52:31
  Look what else I'm doing? Look at all these other things
• 52:33
  that I am accomplishing for your will.
• 52:35
  If it's not for me, this would have been done in my church.
• 52:38
  Look at the role that I play. And so they begin to try to
• 52:42
  balance, Consecration and compromise and they begin to try
• 52:46
  to outweigh the good or the bad with the good.
• 52:50
  And and this is this is really the pattern of many people's
• 52:53
  lives. Unfortunately.
• 52:55
  But here's the thing, God is not looking for you to give him more
• 52:58
  good than your bad. He's looking for you and I to
• 53:00
  repent. He wants you to just get rid of
• 53:04
  the thing altogether. He wants obedience not
• 53:09
  sacrifice. And listen if you're trying to
• 53:12
  deal with your conscience it's not going to happen by getting
• 53:16
  busier with religious activity. It's going to happen.
• 53:19
  When you say I'm getting rid of this, I'm nailing it to the
• 53:21
  Cross once and for all when you just put it aside and died to
• 53:26
  that thing then you will know true Liberty then you know, a
• 53:30
  true rest then you will be whole again.
• 53:34
  But here's David think about it. He's in the land of the
• 53:36
  Philistines and he is trying to obey God in another area and it
• 53:41
  looks silly. It just it's actually sad.
• 53:44
  It really is in David's mind. He's probably thinking that he's
• 53:48
  right here. and often times, you see people He tried to do the
• 53:53
  same who try to do the same. Remember nothing will be able to
• 54:00
  truly. Give you that sense of healing
• 54:04
  and restoration and completion until you confess, and you turn
• 54:08
  away from it to try to spray it with righteous perfume isn't
• 54:13
  going to work. the death of the thing is going to overwhelm
• 54:18
  anything that you try to sprinkle it with, and I've seen
• 54:22
  many people like that. We come to verse 10 and we see
• 54:27
  another thing that happens when somebody willfully chooses to
• 54:29
  step outside of God's will. When I, he's a square, have you
• 54:34
  made a rated? A David would say against the -
• 54:36
  Judah or against an egg above German Lima lights or against
• 54:40
  the negative of the kenites. And David would leave neither
• 54:44
  man nor woman alive to bring news to God thinking less.
• 54:47
  They should tell about us and say.
• 54:49
  So David has done such was his custom all the while he lived in
• 54:54
  the country of the Philistines. So, what's happening here?
• 55:00
  David is making these raids and he's actually, he's actually
• 55:05
  chipping away at these amalekites and these different
• 55:08
  people groups. But then he's coming home with
• 55:11
  possessions and with animals and with clothing, and he's even
• 55:14
  giving a portion of that to the king for his kind treatment of
• 55:17
  him and his willingness to give him a town and all these
• 55:21
  wonderful things. So the man asks, he's like,
• 55:25
  where did you go to get this? Or probably with with Glee's.
• 55:29
  I who did you take over this time now?
• 55:33
  David told the truth. He's going to be in trouble with
• 55:36
  that he's schtupping because what David is actually doing is
• 55:39
  killing this man's allies. He and his people are enemies to
• 55:44
  Israel. These tribes that we read in
• 55:46
  verse 8, our enemies to Israel So what is David left to do?
• 55:51
  What he did earlier when he also was disconnected to the Lord?
• 55:56
  What was that he lies? He lies.
• 56:02
  David has a lying problem and the more he's out of tune with
• 56:05
  God, the more he gives into lying and he does it with ease
• 56:09
  and he's like a professional at it.
• 56:12
  And so he begins to tell him all, we went here, he's being
• 56:14
  very general and he's telling he's not telling the truth.
• 56:18
  Here's the point that I want to make that when a person who
• 56:22
  knows God knows God's word, chooses, to come to a place,
• 56:26
  where they compromised, in one area, it is inevitable where
• 56:29
  they will compromise in another area.
• 56:34
  Because when you think we'll look I've done this and nothing
• 56:37
  has happened. The flesh.
• 56:39
  Now, begins to tell you, well, if nothing happened here, that
• 56:43
  what makes me think that, if I do this, that nothing will
• 56:45
  happen. Nothing will happen.
• 56:48
  If it didn't happen here. Surely won't happen here.
• 56:51
  And what started as a little visitation to the land of the
• 56:54
  Philistines. Look what it says here such was
• 56:57
  his custom all the while he lived.
• 57:00
  So now he develops a custom. Now he develops a habit and his
• 57:04
  habit was to lie. His habit was to not tell the
• 57:07
  truth. I'm sure David did not plan on
• 57:10
  doing that. Back in verse 1.
• 57:13
  He just wanted to be in a different location so that he
• 57:16
  can be protected from Saul spies.
• 57:18
  You say oh he's there we don't want to deal with it.
• 57:20
  And now it went from that, give it a little bit of months and
• 57:23
  now he is now lying, his custom house to be a Deceiver.
• 57:30
  And so, it is with those who choose to who choose to go
• 57:33
  outside of God's will, it begins with one thing, and then you
• 57:37
  adopt another thing, and then another thing, and then now you
• 57:39
  develop new habits. Now you're talking differently.
• 57:44
  Now, you're regularly with those people regularly doing such
• 57:48
  things. David's relocation led him to a
• 57:56
  new habit. And he had no issue, adopting
• 57:59
  this habit because he didn't see any consequence to his first
• 58:03
  decision. But here's what we're about to
• 58:06
  find out. David's relocation and his lying
• 58:08
  is going to catch up to him very soon.
• 58:11
  And the coming chapters he's going to see how every move that
• 58:13
  he made, though. It did not show itself at first
• 58:17
  ends up saying, here's the bill. Happens to all of us.
• 58:24
  Look at verse 12, Here's the final thing and I he's trusted
• 58:29
  David thinking, he has made himself an utter stench To His
• 58:33
  People. Israel.
• 58:35
  Therefore, he shall always be my servant.
• 58:40
  Wow. So this is what happens David
• 58:45
  over, the months, lies Tahitian and he believes him.
• 58:50
  And because he believes him, his testimony is ruined.
• 58:56
  He sees him as a traitor to his own people and not only does it
• 58:59
  see him as a traitor. He actually sees him now as an
• 59:02
  asset and he realizes that there's something I can do with
• 59:06
  this David. And this man who came to a point
• 59:12
  where he was exhausted and trusting God.
• 59:17
  Has now reached the point where he's also going to be used by
• 59:22
  the world. It went from finding relief.
• 59:28
  To adopting a custom and now potentially being a vessel that
• 59:35
  would do damage to the side that you once stood for and that was
• 59:40
  God's side. Here's the point that I want to
• 59:44
  make. David at this point.
• 59:48
  Though he chose to be deceiving and maybe he thought that he it
• 59:52
  was working like this is it like it can't go any more than this.
• 59:56
  He's believing what I'm saying. What he didn't realize was that
• 1:00:00
  because of his sin because of his persistence, a quiche is
• 1:00:04
  going to make demands on David. And those demands will be near
• 1:00:09
  impossible to refuse without without a price.
• 1:00:13
  Meaning David could choose not to do what he's about to ask him
• 1:00:16
  to do but if he did, he would expose himself and he might find
• 1:00:19
  himself in a war himself. What am I trying to say?
• 1:00:23
  Just quickly. Look at verse 1 of chapter 28,
• 1:00:26
  in those days, the Philistines gathered their forces for war to
• 1:00:30
  fight against Israel. And he said to David, understand
• 1:00:34
  that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.
• 1:00:41
  You see what is he saying here? That's not an invitation that's
• 1:00:46
  a command and what is he saying? David, you're going to war with
• 1:00:52
  us against the Israelites. now compare verse 1 here and verse 1
• 1:01:00
  and verse 27 and think of how far those two things are from
• 1:01:07
  from discouragement all the way down to potential apostasy This
• 1:01:14
  is fascinating. And that's the point I want to
• 1:01:19
  make in conclusion. That what began as a little trip
• 1:01:28
  would end up becoming potentially.
• 1:01:31
  Total allegiance to the wrong side.
• 1:01:35
  And now David could potentially find himself going to war with
• 1:01:41
  somebody that he vowed that he would never touch and that's all
• 1:01:44
  himself. Be careful with discouragement.
• 1:01:51
  I'm going to end up this way. If you know somebody who is
• 1:01:54
  discouraged, don't underestimate where that can direct that
• 1:01:58
  person and be what Jonathan was like and be what Abigail was
• 1:02:02
  like a source of Hope. And if you are that person who
• 1:02:06
  struggles with discouragement in your will, in your ambition, in
• 1:02:12
  your, even your thoughts about God, your conclusions about how
• 1:02:15
  things turned out in life. Do not fail to First spill that
• 1:02:21
  before God's presence and do not in your pride Reserve, what you
• 1:02:27
  feel from those who care about you and are able to grab you by
• 1:02:31
  the hand and pull you out of that sinking sensation.
• 1:02:35
  Discouragement is powerful, but more powerful is godly
• 1:02:38
  encouragement so it can strengthen our hands.
• 1:02:42
  So it can provide fresh gray. So it can provide great, great,
• 1:02:45
  great and wonderful abilities to move forward and something that
• 1:02:50
  we thought we could never endure again.
• 1:02:53
  Let's ask God to help us showing its prey.
• 1:03:16
  Lord in this moment tonight. We are so thankful for providing
• 1:03:25
  us such Rich insight into something that we all have
• 1:03:30
  experienced before and perhaps some are experiencing even
• 1:03:33
  tonight. A sense of discouragement a loss
• 1:03:40
  of Hope. Feelings.
• 1:03:48
  Emotions conclusions. That might even lead us to make
• 1:03:53
  decisions that would harm us and harm our testimony.
• 1:03:57
  Laurie. Pray for those who are serving
• 1:03:59
  either trying to serve you. Oh God.
• 1:04:02
  But they are regularly choked by lies.
• 1:04:09
  They are bent on looking at what is wrong instead of what is
• 1:04:11
  right. We pray Lord that we would not
• 1:04:15
  fail to take heed to the warnings found in this chapter,
• 1:04:18
  we would long to pour our hearts before you and we would we would
• 1:04:21
  be humble enough to speak to a brother or to his sister.
• 1:04:29
  What make us sensitive enough to those around us, who might not
• 1:04:31
  be quick to share what they feel and to be sensitive enough to to
• 1:04:37
  show them that we love them so they can trust us.
• 1:04:42
  And we just ask that you would help us.
• 1:04:46
  Help us believe you in times where we don't see what we
• 1:04:49
  believe. We need to see.
• 1:04:51
  We feel like you're not giving us what we think we need and
• 1:04:55
  what we've been praying for for so long.
• 1:04:57
  Lord by your spirit. Would you just resurrect us?
• 1:05:02
  Build this up again for your glory.
• 1:05:04
  We don't want to fall into the Trap that David did.
• 1:05:07
  We don't want to dishonor you oh God we don't want to be let into
• 1:05:09
  disgrace because of discouragement.
• 1:05:11
  Keep a strong, keep a strong. Keep this church strong.
• 1:05:19
  May this church provide such a love.
• 1:05:21
  That would make it very difficult for anybody.
• 1:05:25
  To doubt. Your work in our hearts.
• 1:05:29
  We want to give you all glory and praise for this Bible study.
• 1:05:31
  In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
• 1:05:34
  And amen. Let's stand and worship, Lord,
• 1:05:35
  and closing, shall we?