2 Samuel 17. I'm sorry, 1 Samuel 17. And we'll be on page 25, lesson 6. Lesson number 6, page 25. And if you have a memory verse you want to share, let me know. Anybody with a Bible memory verse? Yes, ma'am. All right, very good. Anybody else? Philippians 1.6. If you need a book, there was one on the back table. If not, I've got another one up here if anybody needs a book. Otherwise, we'll get started today. And I owe Mrs. Bruner again. All right, well, let's go ahead and read 1 Samuel chapter 17. And we've been looking at the life of David. And of course, this is one of the most important parts of his life is just the Goliath story. And 1 Samuel 17 and verse 40 is where I'm going to start. I'm going to read quite a bit from there. Verse 40, all right? So 1 Samuel 17, 40, and he took his staff in his hand. and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had even in a script and his sling was in his hand and he drew near to the Philistines and the Philistine came on and drew near unto David and the man that bare the shield went before him and when the Philistine looked about and saw David he disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a stave? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defined. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee, and will give thee the carcass of the host of the Philistines this day, and the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. It came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead. And he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling, and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until thou come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way in Sherem, even unto Gath and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. and put his armor in his tent. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he saith unto Abner, the captain of the hosts, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. And David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine. And Abner took him and brought him before David. with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And David said to him, whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And so we have a long passage here, but we see the complete story of the giant getting killed and being slain by David with a sling and a stone. 1 Samuel 17, David dedicated himself to God in the private secret place of his heart. I do believe that God and David didn't get to know each other that day. I believe that God and David knew each other for quite a while. That David had a relationship with God for quite some time. And he was ready to be used of God, but God wasn't necessarily ready to use him until now. in a great way. He walked down the hillside and faced Goliath. He did battle with the giant and cut off his head. He lifted up the head as a testimony of God's power and shook the head of Goliath in the face of the Philistines." I know some of that is just imagination, but can you imagine? I mean, or something like that. I don't know, but anyway, that's probably how it happened. And lifted up the head as a testimony of God's power. and probably dangled it or shook it in the face of all the Philistines. The Philistines ran in fear all the way to the Mediterranean Sea as the army of Israel chased them. In verses 57 and 58, again it says, and as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. The Bible says David returned. And if we had a part, been a part of the army of Israel and had seen David going down to face Goliath, most likely somebody in the army, and probably even Saul himself, as he was saying, whose son is this? Probably was saying something like, he's never coming back. Or thinking it anyway. We most likely would have said something like that. There's no way that he can go down there and fight that giant. This is ridiculous. This is a waste of time. He's just gonna be squished. He'll never make it. However, we need to remember that the Bible says in Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. There's a plaque I have on my desk. I got it at the Reagan Library in Simi, California, because it used to be on his desk, not the one I have, but a replica. And it says, IT CAN BE DONE. And CAN is all capital letters. It can be done. And never say it can't be done, because it can be done. If God wants it to be done, it can be done. It can be done, it can happen. And we need to remember something. In the box here, it says, faith in God takes us into great conflicts of life, and his promises see us through. Look with me in Psalm 34. We'll keep our finger in 1 Samuel 17. But Psalm 34, David wrote this years later, And it's a good reminder. We were in Psalm 34 last Wednesday night. Psalm 34, verse number 18 and 19. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saith with such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. There are many things that we face that are not fun. If you were here Wednesday night, I was talking about how that whole chapter and how that many are the afflictions of the righteous. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. I don't know for sure, but I'm sure if it had been me and I had been sitting there with the sheep on the backside of the hillside, I might've been having a pity party and feeling sorry for myself because the older brothers got to do more than I did. The older brothers got to go and have fun at the battle and they get to act like men and I got to take care of sheep. I don't know, I might've had a pity party. I might have been feeling sorry for myself or whatever, but all I know is that David did have communion with the Lord and I do think a lot of the Psalms were developed on the back side with the sheep when he was just with the Lord playing Psalms and praising God. And many of the afflictions of the righteous. I mean, it's obvious from reading between the lines that David's family did not necessarily treat him greatly. They didn't treat him with a lot of respect, the boys didn't anyway. And so he might have been hurt and brokenhearted about that, I don't know. But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. The Lord's design for us who are saved is a life of conflict. Paul said, all that live godly will suffer persecution. All that are living godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. We need to recognize that when you get saved, things don't get better. That's a lie. You tell people, oh, you need to become a Christian, because then all your life will be just wonderful. No, your life won't be wonderful, but your underlying foundation will be strong. And you'll have a purpose and a plan and a goal that you didn't have before. And you'll recognize that these are just battles and trials to try to get you down and defeat you. I can do all things through Christ. Which strengtheneth me and every battle even this goliath battle was for a strengthening purpose for later on I mean this just bolsters our strength David himself. I know the rest of the people around there were more confident in david after the head came off But david himself walking back with the head in his hand Was more confident than when he just walked down there with the sling in his hand I'm sure he had a lot of confidence, because we read it, it sounds like he was very confident in God. But walking back and carrying that head, he was even more confident. than before. And I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. There are things that God would have us to do and we might be scared to do it. I'll go ahead and give a little commercial right now. I've been talking about this for a little while, not very much, but I've been talking about it. The need for more help with junior church teachers. You know, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. If it's a good thing and if it's a needed thing, And if it's something God wants us to do, God wants you to do, you can do it. It might be scary, but you can do it. And there's confidence that comes from obeying and seeing God bless and providing the victory. Look at page 26 and 27. We got three points today. The Lord delivered David, number one. The Lord delivered David because he trusted God. The Lord delivered him because he was trusting him. Verse 45. 1 Samuel 17 verse 45, Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, with a spear, with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. This day The Lord will. Not I will, not my talent and ability, but the Lord will. As David carried the head of the Philistine giant in the presence of the cowardly king Saul. And I wish I could see that. Maybe one day I'll get to watch that on a video. There was a testimony given without saying a single word. I mean, really. You walk back with the head of the scary guy in your hand. You know, and here's all the scaredy cats staring at you. Nobody needs to say anything. Message has been delivered. And the Lord delivered him. Actions speak more loudly than words. Well, David must have been a really good slingshot. Well, I'm sure David was good with a slingshot, but that wasn't just God. That wasn't just David, that was God. That wasn't just David's ability, that was God's ability. Faith is the victory. And it wasn't just a boy with a sling. It was gone. And David's victory was a sure sign of the defeat of Saul's life. Saul never was the same after this. David went down into the valley and faced the giant and came back alive. The victory in David's life was a sure sign of defeat for Saul. He could see the handwriting on the wall and he began to get jealous about David and concerned about what's going to happen next. After that battle, both men would never be the same. The Lord delivered David, and the Lord was introducing David to the whole nation and letting folks know that, hey, you know what? You guys picked Saul, but here's who I picked. You guys wanted this guy, but here's who I'm going to pick. Here's who I want. And of course, we know the lion of the tribe of Judah had to come through Judah. Jesus had to come through David's line, not Benjamin, which was Saul was Benjamin. And so God was setting up prophecy as well. Shredda quoted, it's one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Philippians 1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Confidence is a huge, huge benefit to being a Christian. Confidence is something the world doesn't have. They have to swear and cuss and boast and yell and scream to try to show confidence. Think about a braggart who was quite a braggart when I was just a kid. Didn't really know much about him, even just heard the adult men in my life talking about him. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. You know, there's a lot to be said about self-confidence, but it only goes so far. And there's many times when Self-confidence makes you look like Goliath instead of David. And, you know, David's confidence was not in himself, but in the Lord. God assures us, in that verse, Philippians 1, 6, it's a great verse, being confident of this very thing, that he, which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Something you gotta remember, even though it didn't look good to everybody else, and even though his own brothers were not impressed with him, Don't you think that maybe David, as he's walking down to face Goliath, was remembering the fact that the man of God had anointed him? The man of God had anointed him to be king. Well, if God says I'm going to be king, then this giant can't kill me. And uh, and so there's the confidence in god in that and being confident that he which hath begun Did god save you god if god saved you if you're saved he's begun something in you that he wants to finish If god has begun something in your life, I love that's why I love the verse He which hath begun a good work, by the way, that's why I so laugh at global warming The reason why I laugh at the concept of global warming is because I know who started the globe He which hath begun a good work will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now, when God is ready for the globe to burn up, it'll burn up. But until then, I don't need to worry about this global warming stuff, because he's in charge of the globe. Same thing with our health. Who gave you your breath? Who gave you your heartbeat? Who gave you your blood that circulates? Who gave you all that? God did. Well, when he's ready for it to stop, that's when it's gonna stop. And boy, we'd have a whole different society right now if we'd remember that. who the creator is. That's the problem with what's going on right now, with the fear of dying, is that people forgot who the creator was. They don't believe in a creator. And I'm gonna die when God wants me to die. And Philippians 1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he which be, who wrote this book? Who gave us the word of God? Well, man wrote it down. Who gave them the words to write? I mean, the secretary is not the author. The secretary just writes the words down. But the author's the one that dictated the words. Being confident that he which hath begun. I know that there's all kinds of false Bibles out there and there's gonna be more coming. But even though there's false Bibles out there, the word of God is still his word and I'm confident that it's not gonna go away. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away. My words will not pass away. So God says he'll finish what he started. And if you find yourself in a situation that God allowed and God started, then be confident. If your marriage was started by God, then don't finish it. Don't stop it. If your marriage was something that God began, I mean, we get married before God and we recognize God's will, then that's it. But how many of us know, boy, there's some rocky roads and there's some rollercoaster rides and there's up and downs. You know what? He which hath begun a good work in you. Who gave you your children? Who gave them to you? I don't know, kids these days. It's not kids these days, it's parents these days. He which hath begun. He gave them to you. He didn't give them to the state. There's such a mindset right now. We're so conditioned to drop them off at the state government program place every day. Let the state, because they're professionals and we're not. Let them deal with it. That is so wrong. God gave you your children. Those children belong to you. You need to raise them for the Lord and trust him that his way and what he says in his book is the right way to do it. And so he'll see his children through. We need to have confidence in Him. What has He started in you? Are you saved? Then that can't be taken away from you. Has He started some other things after salvation? Some things that He'd want you to do, some things in ministry, some things He'd have you to do. He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The church was started by Jesus. The whole idea of church was started by Jesus. Yeah, there's lots of lousy churches and pastorettes out there and clergy. But that doesn't mean that God's church doesn't exist somewhere. I don't appreciate it when people say there's no good church. I'm going to stay at home and sit on the couch and have church on the couch. You didn't look very hard because God said that I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Oh, well, that can be the body of Christ. You know what? Until we're all assembled together, we can't call ourselves church. So you can't have a universal church until Jesus calls every saved person home. So we practice the local church. That means assembly locally. And every book of the New Testament practically starts out saying something like the church or assembly at Philippi, the church in Philemon's house. You can be in a house, but it's a church. It's not just a family. They were meeting in a house. See, the church is in a building. But it's so sad in America when we have freedom of religion still that we can't meet and assemble because we have some issue. I was just listening to someone tell me how the church back east, larger church with bigger ministry, they have a problem right now. They have a problem because half the people don't want to come to church because not everybody else at church is wearing a mask. The other half of the people, not half, but the other percentage of the people don't want to go to church because they're told if they're going to work with the kids they need to wear a mask. I think both sides are wrong. Look, I don't think we should wear a mask, and we're not wearing masks here, but you know what? If we lived in one of these states where they said you gotta wear a mask, are we gonna drop our children's ministry just because we gotta wear a mask? I mean, think about it. Do you go into Walmart once in a while? I mean, think about it. So I think both sides are extreme. Jesus is building the church. Can you still meet? Yes. Now, thank God we live in South Dakota. We should fight it as much as we can. And we should applaud the leadership that's saying, no, that's dumb. And I roll my eyes at the leadership in other parts. But if you're missing out on church, silly, Jesus started the church. Yeah, but Jesus didn't know about COVID-19, really? I mean, the truth is, is that there are places right now that are having church, but they don't even put a cross on their building. They don't even put a sign that says church, because they don't want to get in trouble from the government. You say, well, they ought to just do it anyway. Look, what's the bottom line? The bottom line is assembly. All right? The bottom line is assembly. And we've caved in to all this compromise. I appreciate the attitude when we were talking about buying a video camera. Well, I don't want it to become an excuse for people not to come to church. Well, hopefully right now nobody is sitting at home watching this that could be sitting right here right now, all right? But I do know that there's people in Africa watching this, and that's a different story. There's a guy in Rapid City that's been stationed in Africa for military duty, and his church doesn't have the same access on live stream that we do, so he's watching our service. That's the reason for the video camera. But it's not so that we can accommodate people to stay at home and not assemble, because if you didn't assemble, you didn't church. And Jesus built the church. I'm giving off on a real rabbit trail here, but Jesus built the church, and he built it knowing COVID-19 would happen someday. He built it knowing that the elections of 2020 would happen. He built it knowing that 2021 would look like even before we do. He knows what he's doing, and he gave us his word, he gave us his church, and it might not always be comfortable, but it will be what he started. And whatever he starts, I just wanna stick with. I just wanna stick with what he started. because I know he'll finish it the right way. So the Lord delivered David because he trusted God. Faith is the victory. And then the land was blessed because of David's return. The whole land, the people were blessed. We learn from this story that what we do or refuse to do has an effect on other people. And that's the beauty of this story. Look at verse 46 and 47. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee and I will give the carcasses the host of the Philistines this day and the fowls of the air and of the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and all this assembly remember remember the word church means assembly all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands David knew that what he did had an effect on all Israel the land was blessed the people were rewarded All Israelites were encouraged by David's faith in God. Probably the only Israelite that wasn't really excited was Saul. The rest of them were excited. The whole earth and this assembly will know about my God today. Hey, you know what? When you do right, the assembly gets encouraged. In fact, that's what the Bible says. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, encouraging one another. I mean, this is a defeated assembly out there on the hillside. They're all just, ooh, and they're all just living in defeat. And all of a sudden, one guy comes up and says, I believe God. I believe God was right, and I believe God's worth fighting for. And boom, the whole assembly's attitude changes. And so the influence The blessing that other people receive, the Lord can work through the life of one person to bless millions of people. Husbands, fathers, grandfathers can have an influence on their family. But do you? What kind of an influence do you have? Wives, mothers, grandmothers. your influence, your lack of faith or your faith. We influence both ways. How are we influencing? One person can make a huge difference. Children, cousins, uncles and aunts, extended family. One individual has strong influence. Wilma and I were out yesterday, we were making some visits and we saw someone, we passed someone on the road And I said, you know, it's amazing the difference that one person makes in a family sometimes. And you don't know that that thread was the difference, was the anchor until it gets pulled. We were talking about someone who's passed away and gone to heaven, but since they've passed away, The entire family has just completely fragmented, just falling apart. But you didn't realize that was the binding thread until they were gone. I want to be that person that makes a difference. I want to be someone who is a blessing to everybody around. That's what David was. He was the difference maker. Now, a lot of times the difference maker is not recognized. And that was the point that Wilma and I were saying. At the time, no one patted that person on the back and said, you are the difference maker. Cause we didn't, we didn't recognize, but now it's so obvious, you know, and you, you see what one individual person and what they do can have. How about coworkers? People we work with. students at school fellow students just our general soul winning everywhere we go every person we talk to and and communicate with We go to the store or whatever. We say a kind word. We give someone something to read we talk to him about the Lord that all those things are Influential and we don't realize how influential they are. The land was blessed when David returned He stood before King Saul with Abner standing good general Abner standing by his side Goliath's head was in his hand. Gathered outside of Saul's tent was an entire army. I guarantee you they weren't talking about anything else except what they just saw. They were people who had lost all courage and hope, who believed that they were in some pitiful bondage from which they would never escape. And one man's deed aroused the whole nation to believe in God again and to trust God. And we're all an example of something. We all exemplify and influence in some way or the other. You know what my favorite Hollywood movie is? And I said it yesterday at Wilma, I said, that's why I love that old movie, It's a Wonderful Life, because it illustrates how one man makes, I mean, the whole town changed when he was out of the picture. One man, the Bible tells us, you're the salt of the earth. Salt is a difference maker. Salt's not neutral. Salt has influence. You're the salt of the earth. Look with me at two places. Keep your finger in 1 Samuel 17, but Proverbs 31 and Ephesians 6, 4. Proverbs 31 and Ephesians 6, 4. Proverbs 31, verse 28 says, children arise up and call her blessed her husband also and he praises her and Then Ephesians 6 4 says and you fathers? Provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord so mom dad Does your child see you walking with God? You have such an influence on your child Does your child hear you singing and praising the Lord? You say, I can't sing. It says, make a joyful noise, all right? Does your child see you encouraged and being encouraged by the word of God? Are you talking about the word of God to your children? Do you talk about what God has done in your life? What's the thing that they get most from you? And your fathers, provoke not your children to rap, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Her children arise up and call her blessed parents. There's influence there. One person, Timothy, was greatly influenced by his mother and his grandmother. Doesn't say anything about his dad, but his mother and his grandmother obviously was a positive influence in his life. What are we doing and how are we influencing others around us, good or bad? People who know the Lord Jesus need to live so that others can see Christ in them. I do believe that a lot of times the reason why we have trouble is so that people will see Jesus. And if everything's going just fine for us, people are not gonna really be impressed with us because they'll say, just like Satan said about Job, they'll say, well, the only reason why he's religious is because everything works out for him that way. It just seems to work out for him. The only reason why he goes to church is because he gets free teeth. And that kind of thing can be said. But you know what, sometimes God allows bad things to happen so that you can prove, no, that's not the only reason why I go to church. That's not the only reason why I read the Bible. It's not because of the benefits, it's because I know it's right and I trust the Lord. And that which he started, he'll finish. And if you demonstrate faith in the Lord, someone you work with, someone who lives under your roof with you, someone who sees you every day, will be affected for good, for God, and for eternity. It's interesting when people are having a really bad time and when their family is going through a real trial, it's interesting how sometimes they'll go to the Christian they work with and ask them questions. It's interesting that they'll go to that one person that they know talks and walks with God. All the Israelite soldiers believed in God. If you interviewed any soldier that day, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob your God? Oh, definitely. But this is a big deal here. This is bigger than God, I think. All the Israelite soldiers believed in God, quote unquote, but only one man proved that he had faith in God. And that's kind of where we are in most cases in churches today. Oh, sure. What do you mean? Of course I believe in God. I go to church. Yeah, but let's act like it. Let's really make a difference and let's get right with the Lord ourselves so we can walk with him and talk with him and sing praises to him and not be down in the dumps when things don't go well, but to recognize that God's got a purpose. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivered them out of the mall. That should be our testimony. So the Lord delivered David and the land was blessed because of David's return. And of course, the life of David was changed Forever, verse 57 says, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, Abner took him, brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistines' hand, and from there on out, things were different. David never did go back home and take care of sheep, as far as I know. I think after that, things changed for David. He was not the same, his life was not the same, and that's what happens when we obey God and we serve God and we get challenged by God. Our life changes, and it's a good thing. And here's what I want to say about that. Once you've stepped out of faith and you've seen a great victory, you're like, wow, I don't like the challenges I gotta face next. And David faced even bigger challenges than Goliath. David's life had more problems to conquer. But you know what? As bad as it looks ahead, I don't wanna return to where I was. I've grown. I don't wanna go back. I'm still thankful for what, And I turn around and I look back and say, well, he brought me through that trial and he brought me through that situation and the giant was scary, but we got through it. The bear and the lion were scary, we got through them. And you just keep going forward. And have you returned and are you still following the Lord? When David started out the day before, he was singing to the sheep. Now the entire nation was singing about David. Once David went down into the valley, And God proved himself to David by killing the giant. David's life was never the same. God did something for David that he could never forget. As long as he lived, he would remember that God delivered him. The Lord proved to him in a deeply personal way that he is real. I'm real. And our lives are changed forever as God proves himself to us. Did God do something for you or through you? Has he? Was it something you have to talk about a long time ago? Or can you talk about it just a week ago? Is it fresh? Is it a new conquer? Is it a new battle that's been won? Is it a new victory? Because the Bible says the faith life is just the natural Christian life. We live by faith. We live by faith, we don't live by sight. And God wants us to live by faith. God does not want I want, that's hard for me to even say this, God does not want a millionaire to fund this church. God wants us to live by faith. God wants us to trust him. There are some churches that they pretty much live off of some endowment and some interest. Nobody's living by faith that way. God wants us to live by faith. And once in a while, he'll show us, hey, I got the cattle on a thousand hills. I can handle this. God just wants us to trust him. It doesn't mean that millionaires can't go to church. I don't mean that at all. But God doesn't want us to live trusting in anybody else but him. Trusting in any other thing but him. I mean, what if next week I told you, hey, listen folks, something amazing happened. They discovered oil in the back two acres of our property here. And I looked it up and we have the mineral rights. I think that would be horrible for our church. I really do. I think it'd be terrible. We'd turn into a business. We'd have no more faith. No one would have any desire to strongly give and serve the Lord out of a heart of sacrifice. We'd just point to the well and say, well, there it is. We would. God wants us to live by faith, and so he makes it challenging on purpose. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivered them out of them all. He gives us those challenges. And so what zeal do you have for him now? What promise did you make sometime in the past? And are you still living up to them? Are you still abiding by what he's given you to do? Do you remember what you said? And like David said, I will. I'm gonna cut your head off. And sure enough, he did, and brought it back. And praise God for it. God gets the victory, God gets the praise, God gets the accolades, and we just enjoy the ride. And that's living by faith. Well, let's stop. We're a little bit early today, but we'll close. And if you have any questions or comments, please ask and try to get those answered for you. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the word of God and for the challenges, the examples in the faith life. I'm sure there's someone here right now that thinks that their problem It's so big and different than anybody else has ever seen. But you're not impressed with their problem because you know it can be won. It can be defeated. So help each one of us who think that we have something that's just too big. and too complicated. Help us to just trust you and live by faith and let you handle it, let you defeat it. And help us to give you the glory of when it happens. And to just be thankful that we were able to return. And it was terrible, we were scared, but we returned. And we're here, and we're still alive, we're still going forward, and God's good. Help us to trust you, help us to live by faith, in Jesus' name, amen.